"Hogs Get Candy"

My title is NOT referring to the Razorbacks, though I did vote multiple times for them in the CBS Sportsline Most Dominant Mascot contest this week. Nope, this is really a post about hogs.

Most of you know that I'm a news junkie. My day is not complete without a thorough reading of the Denver Post. If you wanna know what's up in the world, or in our great state, chances are high that I can tell you. The daily paper provides me with endless blog fodder too. I could tell you all about the 60-year old woman who gave birth to twins this week, or the new Coca-Cola museum opening in Atlanta, the price of gas right now and how it is affecting millions of working Americans, or how 39% of homes in Utah have 4 bedrooms or more (due to the huge Mormon population there I'm sure) but I won't. I came across an article on Tuesday that has the nutrition freak in me all riled up. So about those hogs and that candy...fascinating, and quite possibly the most digusting thing you'll read today.


Currently, corn is in high demand in this country. That's because of the growing demand for a corn-based ethanol. Therefore the price of corn right now is sky high. And that's a concern for pig-farmers. The article says that 60% of our nation's corn crop is consumed by the livestock industry. So, with the price of corn through the roof, pig farmers are having to come up with some cheaper feeding alternatives for those pigs. Human food is cheaper, and so pig farmers have turned to feeding their pigs things such as trail mix, cookies, fruit punch, tortillas, beermaker's yeast, cereal, cheese curls, cocoa powder (they mix it with cereal to make "cocoa puffs" for the baby pigs--yes, the article *really* said that!) licorice, peanut butter cups, candy bars, french fries, and much more stuff we're better off not knowing (I'm stopping on purpose 'cause it just makes me feel sick). And if you think they're getting the first quality stuff, think again. It's the surplus stuff the farmers buy on the cheap that they're feeding these hogs; the stuff that was unfit for manufacturers to sell or for humans to eat. So they feed it to the pigs...which are then butchered and consumed by humans, and the stuff that was unfit for us to eat in the first place ends up getting eaten. Yuck, yuck, yuck. We don't eat a lot of pork at our house, but that is seriously enough to make me stop buying ham and bacon, and the occasional pork roast. Or at least make me consider buying the pricey organic stuff. Bluck!

Frankly, I'm a bit surprised that the FDA let this story go to print. I think it reflects very poorly on the quality of the food they say is fit for human cosumption. I guess most folks might not be grossed out by cheese curls and candy bars...but I don't think everything those pigs eat is as tame as the article suggests.

At a MOPS meeting years ago a nutritionist was our guest speaker. One mom asked about organic produce, meat, dairy, etc. and the importance of it to our diet. Of course, the nutritionist advised buying it whenever possible, but she also understood and made clear that it isn't always feasible on a limited budget. However, there are some organic products that just make sense to buy. When animals consume toxins, the toxins in their body get stored in their fat. So to avoid consuming harmful toxins, she advised buying organic when buying any product that contains animal fat. Things like butter, milk, and all PORK products. Am I the only one who doesn't ever want to eat a slice of bacon again?

Gratitude

Today was the first official day of summer vacation. I told John I'd like to sleep in this morning, "so please don't bother waking me if I'm still sleeping when you leave for work". Yeah, like THAT was gonna happen. Everyone in my household was up before 7am. They don't even wake up that early on school mornings. So much for summer slumber. By 8am I had everyone fed and the dishwasher unloaded (John did that for me, sweet, huh?) and the kitchen cleaned and the newspaper read and now I'm blogging 'cause I don't know what else to do. This may be a long day. But I love long days, so all is good.

I'm so full of gratitude this morning and I want to tell you how much I love Will's teacher. I love all of my children's teachers, but Will's was extra-special this year. She has officially replaced Mrs. C as his *all-time favorite* and Mrs. C was a tough contender! Last year was a rough one for our boy. He finished the school year pretty dejected--"I'm not a good kid, I'm not a smart kid, etc, etc". None of that was true but somewhere along the way he started believing those things. So we spent most of last summer praying about his new teacher and asking God for a good group of boys in his class. Wow. How incredibly God answered those prayers this school year. Mrs. P is the best thing that could have happened to Will. He is a totally different kid. She has challenged him in so many ways and we have seen his self-confidence soar. She absolutely loves Will and believes in him and tells him that all the time. I've watched her with her students and they LOVE her. The girls are always hanging on her and even the boys give her hugs. But they respect her too. She's nurturing to the core, but she's firm at the same time. She's really got the whole balance thing down.

So yesterday afternoon I was waiting for my kids on the school grounds instead of in the pick-up line. I wanted to help them carry all their "stuff" and I wanted to take their picture on the last day of school. I was standing and shivering with a couple other moms from Will's class (it was 39 degrees and raining at the time!) and one of the girls from his class walks up with big 'ole tears streaming down her face. We said our goodbyes, and got in the van. I asked Will once we were home why his friend was crying. He said that Mrs. P started crying when she told the class goodbye and then all the girls started crying and it was one big emotional hoo-ha. Well, I was crying by that point too. I'd been crying off and on all day in fact. I cry almost as much on the LAST day of school as I do on the first. I cry because my children are one year older and more independent of me, and because one year has passed that can never be recovered or re-lived. And that makes me sad. But I was also crying because Will's teacher touched not only his young life but those of a couple dozen more and they were all genuinely sad that a very good year was coming to a close. And there goes my tear-faucet again.

Seeing that little girl walk over to her mom yesterday with tears in her eyes--tears of sadness from saying goodbye to one she loved--will be etched in my mind for a long time. I've been telling God this morning how thankful I am for the gift of Mrs. P. And for her tremendous influence on my son's life. She is amazing.

Fare Thee Well

Well, today is the day I say goodbye to lunchboxes, homework, reading logs, backpacks, volunteer duties and to four really great teachers. Whew. What a year it's been! Very, very good, but I must say that I'm looking forward to doing much of nothing for the next 3 months of summer.

Only it's not feeling much like summer here today. Highs in the 40s. Yuck. No sooner do we pack our fleece away than we're pulling it back out and over our heads! Actually I never really pack it away; we need it for our cool summer nights! But it's pretty chilly out there today. Abbey's class had a party to celebrate their last day of school and I couldn't believe the teacher insisted on doing it outside. I should've protested because it was freezing out there...even with my layers on. I was thankful when we could go back inside just so I could thaw out! Definitely not feeling like May. And I'm not even going to tell you what is in the forecast for tonight. It's becoming a very bad four-letter word around here.

Yesterday was a weird weather day too. Went to the park with Sarah's class for the annual end of the year picnic and they were there about 15 minutes before it started raining. And lightning. At our elevation, lightning is something you don't mess around with. I wasn't feeling real safe in under the metal pavilion, let me tell ya. The kids loaded the buses in a nick of time before the hail started POURING. Bizarre. Here's a pic I took on the way back to school. The hail was a 'comin down let me tell you! Minnie-the-van was fine, but I was worried 'cause it sounded like rocks hitting our car!

And lest you think they went back to school and actually did some school work, let me assure you they DID NOT! They went to Plan B which included a Disney movie and huge quantities of popcorn. Why they even make 'em go to school the last few days is beyond me.

Miss Abbey and her daddy had their date last night. He took her to dinner and a movie. Dinner was Chick-Fil-A (her choice, I'm sure) and the movie was Shrek the Third. If I didn't tell you already, don't waste your $$ at the theater. It just wasn't a very good movie. Usually by the third film in the series, they're having to try HARD to come up with original stuff. They had fun though and that's the most important thing.

Will and Sarah and I stayed up and watched the Dancing With the Stars finale. Way to go Apolo!!! We love that guy!!!!! So glad he can add that lovely trophy to his Olympic medal collection!

The Good, The Bad, The Ugly

Okay...I'll start with the good. I just got back from the grocery store where I saved $35 in coupons. $35. That's a lot folks! I probably can't do that well every week because I just used up a big wad of coupons and now my stash is rather slim, but that's okay as long as I try and save a little. It took me some time last night to plan, make a list, and clip the darn things, but for about one hours worth of work, I think I did rather well. And besides, last night was a good tv night, so I didn't mind the task too much.

Which brings me to the bad. True confession time. I'm addicted to The Bachelor. It's a sorry show with an even sorrier premise, but I can't help it that I've been sucked in. Three seasons now I've been watching. The beginning of the season is always somewhat amusing. Girls are so petty and I think the drama of the cat fight is hilarious. And true-to-life. But as the season goes on and everyone starts to get emotionally drawn in, it's just downright sad, not to mention unrealistic. I mean, who do you know that finds true love cafeteria-style? So last night was the season finale. Andy had to choose between Bevin and Tessa. He chose Tessa (my fave!) and Bevin was devastated. Wow, nothing like watching heartbreak unfold on national television. Just sad. John watched the end with me. He's usually too busy to be bothered with such shallow stuff, but I think he was kinda bothered by the whole thing too.

I can't find a good segue into the ugly, so I'll just give it to you. This whole birthday-jury duty thing keeps getting worse. As if it's not bad enough to have to report on your birthday, I just found out that my birthday is the day before Air Force Academy graduation. If that means nothing to you, you need to know it is one of MY FAVORITE days of the year. It is the day that the Thunderbirds practice for the graduation flyover and they fly over our house for HOURS. On graduation, the show is quite short, but on practice day it is amazing to watch them over and over and over. And seriously, we have the best seat in town. And of course that would all be happening on my birthday. And chances are high that I'll be stuck inside some courtroom downtown. Ugh, ugh, ugh! Seriously ugly!

Would you guys please pray for my little neighbor Caroline? She and her twin brother turned two on Sunday and this morning she was taken by ambulance to the hospital. She was having febrile convulsions and they don't know yet what might be wrong. She's adorable and she needs our prayers. Thanks!

Winding Down

Things are winding down for me. I can't believe I'm saying this on a Monday morning. Mondays are when things usually start crankin' up around here. But I'm so thankful for the change of pace this week.

Abbey is feeling much better today. She's looking and acting like herself and I think the worst is behind us. I kept her home from preschool this morning just to be sure, and because of the 24-hour rule about vomiting. She's not 100% but all seems well. And we're thankful. I was tucking her in last night and she likes me to lay on her bed with her for a few minutes. It's one of my favorite moments of the day. I told her we needed to thank Jesus for answering our prayers for her to stop throwing up and feel better. And she says, "Yeah, mom, 'cause Jesus healed me". And we believe He did and thanked Him for it. I love how tender her little heart is and how tender it is towards the heart of her Father. Very sweet.

She felt well enough for us to go to the awards assembly today for Will and Sarah. Thankfully they had a combined ceremony for their grades (saving me two trips up to school!), and it was outside and beautiful. Will got an award for Effort and Sarah got an award for Problem Solving. Don't ask me what that specifically means; it wasn't explained well even to me. But I'm proud of them both. Extremely proud. They've both served their classes as Student Council reps this year so they had the honor of serving cookies to the parents afterwards. I know that Abbey isn't 100% when she refuses a cookie.

So we have some new neighbors next door. They moved in on Friday and we met them briefly on our way out the door. They're from Illinois and have a girl Abbey's age, and a little guy who's 2. Will was bummed about that. He's way out-numbered by the girls in our neighborhood and was hoping someone close to his age would move in. Anyway, they seem nice. We'll miss our old neighbor though. He was a single guy. His name was John and he was really nice. He had a pond in his front yard which he stocked with goldfish and it was a huge attraction for all the neighborhood kids. Prayers of the People is part of the liturgy at our church and every Sunday we participate in a few minutes of guided prayer. During one part, we're specifically asked to "pray by name for those who need salvation in Jesus". So every Sunday for the last 2+ years we've been praying for "John, our neighbor". Even though we like him, we don't know him well, but I had to laugh a few months ago (and wonder if my prayers availed much!) when he told us he was moving to a larger city to enter seminary to become a priest! Who knows? Funny though isn't it?

Shrek the Third

Okay, we're Shrek fans. I didn't let my kids watch Shrek for a long time, but once I caved in to the pressure, we were hooked. I took them a few summers ago to see Shrek 2. My sister went with me and we laughed so hard we had diet coke coming out our noses. Very, very funny. So, we've been gearing up all week for the release of Shrek the Third. We schemed all week to get John to take us to see it and that was our plan for today.

We were awakened at 5:00am this morning with a small hiccup in the plan. Actually, John was awakened. I generally sleep through almost everything...even my children puking. That's what woke John up. He heard Abbey in her bed coughing her "I'm fixin' to frow up" cough. Yep, our baby was sick. We always hold our breath when Abbey starts vomiting. Once that kid gets going it is difficult to get her to stop, and almost impossible to keep any fluids in her. We've made at least 4 trips to the ER in the last couple of years for IV fluids and two of those times they've admitted her overnight because her dehydration was so severe. Scary stuff. So we hold our breath and pray like crazy.

The morning was rough, but I'm very thankful to report that she's doing fine this evening. She's running around bossing everyone around and that means she's back to her normal self. I overheard her tell John she doesn't feel so "frow-uppy anymore". She's kept some saltines and a couple popsicles down and she's not looking so pale anymore. I'm very grateful that when this stuff happens these days the duration seems to grow shorter.

So back to Shrek 3. Will and Sarah woke up this morning and realized what was going on with Abbey and knew that kinda changed our plans. They were sweet about it. They each put their hands on Abbey and prayed for her and then said we'd go see Shrek another day. Mid-morning, John decided I should go ahead with the plan and take Will and Sarah to the movie. So we went. And enjoyed it very much! John and Abbey are going to go see it together as soon as they can find time. Abbey is thrilled that she'll have daddy to herself. It's her "daddy date". We're so glad she's better. It is so pitiful when she's sick. But please pray that she'll continue to improve and fully recover before her last day of school on Wednesday!

Field Day

Yesterday was the first ever Field Day at Will and Sarah's school. And it was so much F-U-N. I volunteered to help for the morning while Abbey was at preschool and it was the most fun I've had all week. I was assigned to the Egghead Balancing Race. That might help explain the picture. The kids had to assemble the egg and then put it on their head and race around the orange cones without it falling and "busting". Hilarious! My little friend, Maddison, was the most "egg-cellent" champion. I had a blast and so did the kids. They had all sorts of games and activites, like sack races, long jump, volleyball, 1-mile run, chalking, tatoos, face-painting, stilts, pogo-sticks, and so, so much more. It was incredible, the weather was beautiful, and I can't wait for next year!

I think it might be a long summer...

I love, love, love summer. Especiallly summer vacation. My kids' last day of school is Wednesday and I'm soooooo looking forward to being home with them. But I'm dreading it a little too. Not for the typical reason that most moms dread. A lot of friends of mine don't like to hassle with bored kids or feel like they need to keep them entertained. Sure I can get frustrated with my children, but more than anything I love being at home them. We have a rhythym to our days and we just have a lot of fun together. The only thing that tops that is John being home with us too. Weekends are valuable time for us to re-connect and play as a family and all five of us need it What we don't need are "others". Oh yeah, sometimes it's fun and important to welcome others over for dinner and sleepovers and picnics and outings. But we have a couple of neighbor kids who call and come over WAY too much for my liking.

This morning I was talking to a friend on the phone. It was 9am and my other line beeps. I recently got caller id call waiting so I could see that it was the neighbor girl and I chose to ignore her call. What the heck is she calling us for at 9am? It's Saturday for pete's sake. She's a persistent kid though and when I didn't answer the phone she decides to pay us a visit. At 9:02 am?? Folks, if this happened once in a blue moon I think I'd be okay with it, but it happens with much more frequency than I want to think about. 9 out off 10 Sundays our family goes to church. You'd think she'd figure that out, but every Sunday our caller id shows multiple calls from this little one, usually starting around 9am and continuing til we've arrived home. We've designated Sunday as family day and our kids aren't allowed to have playmates on Sundays. Been telling the kid that for YEARS and she still keeps calling and coming over. Even on days like Easter, Christmas Eve, Mother's Day, etc. It's actually quite sad.

I used to feel a little guilty. It's obvious that the kid is dying for attention from anyone who will give it. But I've put my guilt aside because I can and will give her attention, but not to the point that it interferes with mothering my own three children. And believe me...the possibility of interference here is high. You give an inch and they'll take a mile. I pray for this kiddo when I see her or her name on caller id. And I pray for my attitude towards her. It's bad sometimes...and it's off the charts this morning.

So, I'm dreading summer just a bit because I don't like the daily hassle of telling her (and others) why my kids can't play every single day and why she (they) can't call our house so early and blah, blah, blah. It just sucks all the fun out of it for me some days.

Busier than a Bee

We are swamped around here. If you were to look at my wall calendar, you would probably start to wonder about my sanity these days. I'm certainly wondering about it. I am busy beyond belief. The end of the school year is always full of activity, but add three kiddos to the mix, each with different activities and you have a recipe for mom-insanity! Thankfully we only have six more days of school and I'm thinking of mandating six days of recovery after that. The sloth in me is crying for attention!

Yesterday I went with Sarah's class on a field trip to the Denver Museum of Science and Nature. Very, very cool! Abbey went along with us and was intrigued by the Egyptian Mummy exhibit. She forgot the word "mummy" though and kept asking me what those things wrapped in tissue paper were called. Sarah loved the Gems and Minerals exhibit (me too) and I loved the Colorado Wildlife exhibit. The Space exhibit was really neat too. Lots of interactive lessons for the kids. I can't wait to go back there sometime when it's not so crowded. I was in charge of a gaggle of girls and I think they loved making me crazy trying not to lose one of them among the 3000 other elementary school visitors yesterday. Not fun!


Last week I got to go with Will's class to the Sky Sox baseball game. The Sky Sox is the local minor league team and it was a great game! I think Maddison and I were the only ones watching the game though. The other kids in my group spent more time eating, listening each others ipods, and dumping their water bottles on each others heads (then asking me to refill them?) instead of watching the game. Why, oh why, do I torture myself like this???? The Sky Sox won, by the way.

John and the kids were really great on Mother's Day. They let me choose how to spend the day, and we went on an amazing hike in Palmer Lake. We hiked up to a reservoir (beautiful) and just took our time going up and coming back down. The kids did great, especially Abbey, and I forsee many a hike in our summer plans. We went for ice cream after that, because you really can't go to Palmer Lake without stopping at the Rock House for a cone or shake. And that evening they made dinner for me--quiche. It was yummy, and very nice to have the night off from dinner.



Today is another full day...but thankfully I'm seeing an end to all this madness. As crazy as I feel sometimes, I really wouldn't trade it for anything. I'm grateful that John works so hard for us all so that I can be available for field trips and end-of-year parties, and watching track meets in pouring rain, and all the insanity of this week! I really wouldn't trade it for anything. Except maybe lying on the beach somwhere with an umbrella drink in hand. Just kidding. Sorta.

Don't I Look Beautiful Like This, Mom?

Those were the words that Abbey asked me last night. She was fresh from the tub where the grime of the day had been washed away. Normally, I blow her hair dry after we wash it, but last night (after much begging on her part) I let her skip the hair drying and we let her hair dry naturally. She LOVES it when I let her do that. Her hair is stick-straight except for about 2 wavy pieces in the front. And she loves those waves. I mean loves 'em. That's what prompted her question last night...don't these waves in my hair make me look beautiful? And they absolutely did. I love the self-confidence that girl has, and I love that she's not afraid to ask questions like that all the while knowing the answer is YES, you're beautiful sweetie!

first things first

So Will had a track meet last night that was cancelled because of the snow. Well actually the snow had melted but the field was a muddy, mucky mess, so they gave us the night off. John got home from work and said to Will, "Sorry about your track meet, bud." But Will wasn't sad. His response? "It's fine dad, really. Now I don't have to miss Dancing With the Stars." To which John and I laughed, but John was mostly laughing because he knows that Will is like me in so many ways. Yeah, I'm kinda obsessive about things like thar too. And anyway, we're cheering for Apolo (our local boy!) and Julianne. They ROCK!

It's not really pleasant...

to be awakened before dawn to the sound of steel scraping asphalt. That would be the snowplows out ridding our neighborhood streets of last night's snowfall. Yep. More snow. Several inches. Two-hour delay for schools this morning (no preschool for Abbey). And did I mention that it's M.A.Y.? This is getting a bit ridiculous.

laundry limit

i'm feeling kind of bloggy today; this is my third post. maybe it's because i'll do just about anything rather than attend to my laundry at this moment. how many loads of laundry can one do before reaching her laundry limit? i'm on my 8th load. seriously. this is what happens when i have a day i get to spend *mostly* at home. i get to (have to) play serious catch-up. i have a couple more loads to go to be completely caught up. but i may put it off until tomorrow, because while 10 loads of laundry in one day may make it sound like i'm incredibly productive (are you reading this honey?) the truth is that is just crazy. remember, i have a lot of sloth in me. sadly, if i had more days at home like today i might not have to do 10 loads to catch up. and we've have the pick of our closet to choose from every morning. *sigh*

Found!

After lamenting on Monday about the myriad of things lost in our home, I have to tell you about something I found yesterday.

I was heading up to school one morning this week and needed to give some of my yearbook committee their copy of the yearbook. We want the students/parents to be surprised when they get their copy in a couple of weeks so I was searching for a manila envelope to conceal the book. I rummaged through my closet, found what I was looking for, and dumped the contents of an old envelope onto my bed.

On my bed were a dozen or so birthday cards...the juvenile type...that I'd saved from a long ago party, probably to include in their scrapbook or something (which obviously never happened). The cards got moved from the bed to a pile in the floor and yesterday Abbey picked 'em up and reading them. Turns out they were from Will's first birthday. 10 years ago. And in one of the cards I found a $20 bill. $20. Wow. And when I read the card it was from one of the Sunday School classes at our church in Stephens. They asked me to use the money to buy something he'd like.

For a nano-second, I considered giving it to Will, but I figured that after 10 years I've bought him TONS of things he likes. I pocketed the bill before Abbey saw it (and tried to claim it), and then promptly spent the entire twenty dollars on my afternoon trip to the grocery store. ugh.

But I actually *found* something this week and I'm truly amazed.

salad, anyone?

We've had a very wet winter. Lots of snow and lately, we've had lots of rain. Things are greening up quite nicely here and it's nice to see things starting to bud and bloom. One thing I haven't been pleased to see bloom are the dandelions in our front yard. I'm not talking a dozen or so...I'm talking hundreds and hundreds. We have the worst lawn on our street (no kidding) and everyday this week our yard full of bright yellow dandelions have drawn some serious attention to our lack of lawn upkeep. Ugh. I'm trying to talk (beg is more like it) John into getting outside tomorrow and doing some yard work. He's not enthusiastic and he's probably praying for rain. Anyway, this morning I open the Denver Post and pull out the GROW section. Chock full of gardening tips, one of which touts the edibility of dandelions. Even includes a dandelion salad recipe. Folks, I think I could get away with not buying lettuce until October. But for terrific flavor it says you should eat the greens before they flower. Looks like we missed our salad window.

bummer!

I got home a little while ago after picking the kids up at school. Stopped by the mailbox as usual. Sorted through the stack of stuff...bills, dvds from blockbuster.com, wednesday grocery ads, catalogs, junk, junk, and more junk. One item in particular caught my eye. The State of Colorado seal makes things look official, as do the words Legal Document: Jury Summons. Summoning me. And get this...I have to report on my BIRTHDAY. Unless of course, I call the recorded message a few days prior and hear those glorious words that I am not needed. Start praying NOW! I can't really think of anything worse than that.

LOST

Despite the title of my post, I'm not going to blog about this season of LOST with all those spellbinding plot twists and turns building up to the season finale...no, not today.

It is simply amazing the number of things that can get lost in our home on a daily basis. I can't count how many mornings I get ready to blow-dry my hair only to have to stop and search for my missing hairbrush. Or the girls socks. Or Polly Pocket's centimeter-long shoes. Saturday morning John was helping me out the door and he was on a mad quest for my car keys. Funny thing is mine were right where I left 'em...where I ALWAYS leave 'em. Only he thought they were HIS and he was looking for mine. About 10 minutes later, he found his in his jeans pocket. Guess who wasn't laughing?

Saturday here was georgeous. Beautiful, blue cloudless skies, temps near 80, and the afternoon was long and lazy. The kids were outside playing most of the day and the last of the snow from last week finally melted away. Amazing...I thought it would last until May, but thankfully it's all gone. Anyway, the girls came inside after hours outside and got in the tub. John helped me get them bathed and then he left for a dinner to kick-off a new ministry of one of our friends. When he returned later that evening, he comes in with a weird look on his face and Abbey's flip-flops in his hand. She left them in the driveway and he ran over them. He also held one of Sarah's flip-flops, but oddly, it was missing its mate. Remember, this is a post about things lost. Turns out she put them on the back bumper of the van. And not knowing that, John drove all the way to downtown Colorado Springs and home and ONE of her flip-flops amazingly survived the drive and was still on the back bumper. Weird. John even went on a search mission in the van, driving the path he traveled earlier and searching in the dark for a solo flip-flop. We trekked in the same direction yesterday to church and kept our eyes peeled hoping to "find" it on the side of the road/interstate! No such luck. Would've been a cool story though, huh? So, Sarah's sad she lost her stinkin' cute shoes, and I'm sad she only got to wear them 2-3 times before she lost 'em. Good thing they were inexpensive...and replaceable. And we know one little girl who likely won't use the bumper as a storage shelf anytime soon.

Sarah turned in a book report today. She worked very hard on it and drew an amazing illustration of The BFG by Roald Dahl. She was finishing up on Saturday morning and left her art on the kitchen table. John asked her to get it off the table so it didn't get messed up. After a VERY full day yesterday, we came home and were trying to get the whole project in its final form and all we needed to do was glue the art onto the display. Only we couldn't find her illustration. We searched high and low, and both of us were in tears. It was getting close to bedtime and I really didn't want her to have to stay up and re-do it. But our searching was in vain. I even went through the trash thinking I might have mistakenly pitched it...but no...it was nowhere to be found. How does stuff like this happen??? Our house is really not that big. Anyway, she drew another picture that was beautiful and got it finished up and turned in this morning...but still on the lookout for all things lost. And Sarah was very aware of the fact that this weekend's "losing" theme was particular to her. And it broke my heart that she was feeling the weight of all that.

Is your house like that too...a black hole for objects large and small?? Or are we just blind to the things around us? This morning I found one of Abbey's hair-clips that I've been looking for...in the drawer where I've looked everyday for the last 2 weeks. Has it been there this whole time and I just couldn't "see" it??? It's truly baffling to me.

**UPDATE** I walked upstairs after posting this (and listing in my mind all the other things that have been lost recently in our home) and began to gather items to return to the library before I start running up a tab. I was searching for one more dvd to add to the bag and THERE IT WAS...Sarah's BFG illustration sitting on top of the dvd player. Unbelievable. Mere minutes after this post. I picked her up from school and Abbey immediately blurted out that we found her artwork. She was a good sport about it (she liked the former drawing much better than the latter one) and said she was just glad to be done with it. Now...if only we could find my calculator, my camera case, Jess' (the doll) swimsuit, etc. *sigh*

After I posted the snow pics yesterday afternoon, I was looking at all the pics stored on my camera and thinking that I really needed to download to my computer. One of my *darling* children was looking at them with me and basically wrenching the camera from my hands. I finally just handed it over, and this child (who will remain nameless) immediately dropped my camera. I groaned and made a not-so-nice remark and glared at this child for a minute before they left the room in shame--with my camera still in hand. About a minute later, this child returns in tears and hands me my beloved camera...broken. Nothing on the screen and totally unresponsive to the control panel. Ugh. Ugh. Ugh. My camera is dead. And I am depressed. I totally wanna blame the kid who dropped it...but I think I already made them feel bad enough. I called John at work near tears, and he made me feel a *little* better promising we'd get another one. But I spent the remainder of the afternoon and evening sulking in my chair in front of the tube. I even managed to catch the episode of LOST that I missed last week and even stayed awake for the new episode that followed. WOW. Impressive.

So this morning we're heading out the door for school and errands and I look at the beautiful sunshine and my kids in shorts and see about 18 inches of snow in our front yard and driveway and think I need to take a picture before we leave. But then I remember, I can't. And I feel mad again. Yuck. Abbey and I drop the kids off and head to Target so I can get the stuff I need for a baby shower I'm helping host this weekend. At Target I coast by the cameras and see red clearance stickers on ALL the models in their case. Okay, that gets my attention. And the camera that I want, which is the newer model of the one I have is marked down from $350 to $200. So I call John and ask if I can buy this (getting close to payday and we're on a tight budget) and he says he's been praying about the whole camera thing, but he'll let me decide about buying it. So I walk around Target for 20 minutes or so (praying) and decide it's a deal. God's will?? Who knows, but I think this is a phenomenal deal and it's a whole lot easier for me to justify $200 than $350. So I'm happy, happy, happy again. Even tried it out while eating lunch. I think I hit the jackpot. The kids were sweet this morning. They knew that I was upset about the whole thing yesterday and they gave me a beautiful picture they collaborated on coloring. Will said they were saving it for Mother's Day, but thought I needed it earlier. And then they asked if they could put up a lemonade stand and use the earnings to buy me a new camera. Sweet, huh? If they decide to sell lemonade this afternoon, you can guarantee I'll be taking lots of photos...and they'll be pleased to get to keep their money.

Gotta Love Springtime in Colorado!

What a dreary day we had yesterday. A full blown blizzard. I think it's our 4th this year but I've lost count. We had over a foot of snow, the really wet and heavy kind which is a nightmare to shovel. But the kids had fun playing in it this afternoon. Didn't have school again today which kinda surprised me. I love snow days but am growing really weary of snow. However, we're supposed to be back in the 70s this weekend. Woo hoo!

Some fun photos for you to enjoy. We ended up with some huge drifts in the backyard which the kids LOVED jumping on.

Can you believe this?

Okay, so the few faithful readers I have might remember me trying to give away our NordicTrac cross-country exercise thing last year. I put it out in front of our house with a FREE sign taped to it...and it was gone within hours. I was feeling pretty proud of myself for ridding our basement of that monstrosity (sp?) only to see it sitting back on my curb the next day. Whoever took it decided to bring the stupid thing back-arghhh. WHO does that? Couldn't believe it, but hauled it back into the garage anyway. So, a week or so later, our UPS lady knocks on the back door and asks if anyone has claimed our *free* machine. Obviously, no, it's unclaimed, so her friend in Denver calls me telling me she wants it and will come and get it sometime when she's down this way. That was OVER A YEAR AGO and I'm maneuvering around this *@$#! thing in my garage, nearly taking off a shoulder or arm just to get into my van, but holding on to the stupid thing because I'm so nice and this lady in Denver told me she really wants it and will come get it and I don't want it to "not" be here when she comes. Last month, I gave up hope that she's coming to retrieve it and we put yet another free sign on it and sat it out on the curb. Nothing. Nada. Even forgot it was out there and left it out that night in the snowstorm, but of course that thing is indestructable.

Over spring break I was visiting with some friends and the NordicTrack subject came up. After laughing at my plight for a while, one suggested selling it on Craigslist. The very next day I posted an ad, and within a few hours I had a taker. I was pumped. I was willing to give the thing away, but someone was willing to pay me $25. Wow. Except the buyer never showed up. Twiced we tried to connect, and twice she didn't show. Still hasn't. Last week John loaded the *@$#! (okay I really, really HATE this nordictrack?) into our van and went to a men's breakfast at church before dropping it off at Goodwill. Before he made it to Goodwill, one of the men from chuch was calling and wanting the NordicTrack and hoping/praying we still had it. And now it is once again sitting in my garage waiting to be picked up. Why, oh why didn't he go by Goodwill first??? I wish the story ended there, but this morning after I got off the treadmill (love that machine!), I had a message from that lady in Denver asking if it was still available. No kidding. You're crazy if you think I'm calling her back, and besides, it's promised to the guy from church. I'm hoping we can get that contraption delivered to him this weekend. I'm ready for it to be someone else's problem. Unbelievable, huh?

Also unbelievable is the 6+ inches of snow we've got outside. Still snowing too. Predictions for our area are 8-16 inches before it stops tomorrow morning. School was cancelled today b/c of the weather, and therefore my plans were re-arranged as well. John and I have been at a conference at Glen Eyrie this week. A pastors conference. Interesting, but very good. The speaker is a guy that he's hoping to sign for his next book. Great guy. And the guy leading the devotion each day is also an author John is working with. I just met his wife and they're a great couple. I enjoyed myself very much and was a little bummed that I couldn't just take the kids with me this morning. Just talked to John and while we have 6 or more inches of snow on the ground, Glen Eyrie has none. Just rain and the occasional snow shower. We're about 15 miles north of there and about 800 feet higher in elevation and we're getting pounded. It's all about elevation folks. I'm very tired of snow, but can be excited about it for the nice, new friends we met from Oregon and Texas who don't see snow very often. Only they'll have to trek up our way to really experience it this week.

Stay Close...

John wrote this yesterday and I said I could share it here. Beautiful...


I checked on our girls last night before I went to bed. They had finally fallen asleep after several water runs, a quick check to see who got booted off of Dancing With The Stars, and some last minute giggling. My "check" on them is routine; turn off the radio, make sure they're covered up, and switch off the night light.

Our youngest, Abbey, had crawled over in the bed with Sarah (they have twin beds bumped up against each other) and I was going to pull her back over in her bed. When I hunkered down to lift Abbey over, I noticed the girls' arms were intertwined. I followed the arms to the hands and then on to the fingers. My girls, my princesses, my fathers- be-good-to-your-daughters daughters were asleep, holding hands with their fingers interlaced. I backed-up and just looked at them. I went and got Meredith, saying, "Come see this" and we both stood, arm in arm, at the wonder of our girls.

We spent some time last night watching a little, a little mind you, of the coverage of the Virginia Tech shooting. I asked the kids if their teachers had said anything about that at school and they said, "No." I didn't need a day-long symposium on the event, but I did feel like the teachers owed the kids at least a nod to this tragedy.

We didn't make the kids sit still and watch the news report; they came and went as they pleased. But we did answer any questions they had and made some comments at points in the report. We cried at images of lives cut short, a "cold" shooter who may have just been "sad," and shuddered at the reporters' insatiable quest for the answer to "how did you feel?"

Our son, Will, watched intently, but the girls came and went, playing in their rooms for awhile and then returning to the den for a few and then back to playdough and dolls. I wonder if the girls saw and heard more than I realized? In the beauty of their innocence, they could stand just a little and then had to return to the safety of play? Maybe. I don't know for sure. But it sure felt like the final thing they did before surrendering to sleep last night was to lock arms and hold hands, fingers and all. To shrunch up next to each other, as close as possible, and hang on...for they were entering the night, where things are dark and unseen and alma maters become via dolarosas in the twinkling of an eye.

I don't know much about processing the next few days. I'm sure experts will tell us all how to feel, what to look for, etc., etc. But I'd like to offer this suggestion, per my girls: shrunch up next to one another, lock arms and hold hands, fingers and all. The darkness around us is deep...

Alphabet Update

I was looking at the title of my last post "the B word" and it struck me to give you an alphabet update. A little challenging, but kinda fun!

A--At home day. I get about one a week and I love it when I can stay home ALL day.

B--Blizzard. It didn't happen last week. The storm tracked south and we got snow, but it didn't stick. The kids didn't have school (but probably should have). I loved having them home.

C--Cleaning. That's what is on my agenda for the day. Our house is a mess.

D--Depleted. That's the status of our bank account right now. Pay day is tomorrow!

E--Enchiladas...what we had for dinner last night. Chicken and black bean. Yummy.

F--Friday and Friends. We're having some friends over for dinner tomorrow night. Will is excited because that means dessert. The girls are excited because it's a family with two of their best friends. They have four girls, two of which are named Sarah and Abbey (cool, huh?) and they're from the south. They're a gift to our lives and we're thankful for their friendship.

G--Glen Eyrie, or The Glen. John and I are going to a conference there this weekend. It's the Navigators ministry headquarters and retreat center. Beautiful place. One of my favorite spots in Colorado Springs, and it's right next to Garden of the Gods. More "G" words. Oh, we're going to another pastor's conference. John's publisher is sending him to meet/recruit authors and I get to tag along and go to a few sessions and enjoy some yummy meals.

H--Helper. I was recruited to help out in Abbey's preschool class on Monday. Her teacher's son was throwing up across the hall and had to leave. I had a blast and we learned all about the letter "X". Hard letter.

I--Ice Cream. We met some friends in Palmer Lake yesterday after school for ice cream at the Rock House. We took our cones over to the lot where they're building a new house to check out their progress. Fun!

J--John. Man, he's working hard these days. Today he's trekking up and down I-25 for meetings and such. And tonight he's getting together with his guy friends for some guy stuff I guess. I'm not privy to their agenda. Smile.

K--Kindergarten. Abbey and I went to kindergarten orientation this week. She is SO ready. They checked out their classroom, the school, and even took a bus ride. Big girl.

L--LOST. Our favorite tv show these days. I slept thru 95% of it last night and when John woke me up to go to bed, I asked for an update. He said it was too involved. That didn't really go over well with me. Anyone wanna fill me in on what I missed?

M--mortgage. Our payment is due tomorrow.

N--newspaper. I love starting my day with the Denver Post and a cup of hot tea. But all this Virginia Tech stuff is making that ritual a little more depressing this week.

O--Odwalla bars. Yummy snack bars. I just bought some this moring. I took the kids to school and ran to the grocery store for a few things and they were 10 for $10. Score.

P--Pastor's Wives. I recently read an article in Time magazine. Not impressed with it though. Talked a lot about wives not having formal training like their husbands and how the internet has created online communities where these women can bond, vent, ask questions, get answers, etc. One thing in the article that struck me was the phrase "first ladies". A lot of older pastor's wives tend to see themselves as such. Rings true for most pastor's wives I know. How 'bout you? I personally could never be the "first lady" and I might be the only pastor's wife you know who would show up for the photo shoot in jeans and fleece and flip-flops rather than an elegant suit.

Q--quiet. Something I crave but usually only experience around here after 9pm. Sad, huh?

R--Remember. Last night was Devo Night and we looked at the Shema in Deuteronomy 6. God's instructs us to Remember, lest we forget all that He has done. And He's done a lot for us. So we're practicing rememberance this week.

S--Student Council. Will and Sarah both serve their classes as SC representatives. Their meeting was before school this morning.

T--Taxes, Treadmill, Track, and Tying. Taxes...need I say more? We owed. Yuck. The treadmill has been my early morning friend for a few weeks now. I just feel so much better when I exercise. Will even tried the treadmill a couple of weeks ago. He started track and was wanting to run inside. First track meet is next week. He's really good at running! And I'm trying to teach Abbey to tie. Most shoes these days have velcro, but we have one pair with laces and she's working hard. It's VERY challenging to teach a lefty to tie when you're demonstrating as a right-handed person. VERY challenging.

U--underwear. I've got a load in the washing machine right now.

V--Virginia Tech. So terribly sad and heart-wrenching.

W--it is so windy here today.

X--eXotic butterflies. The art project we did at Abbey's preschool on Monday.

Y--Yuck. The condition of all of our tennis shoes after trekking across our friends lot in Palmer Lake yesterday. Very muddy from our melting snow.

Zzzzzz--ah...wouldn't that be nice?? A nap???

The "B" Word

The dreaded "b" word has been mentioned a few times this week by our local weather forecasters...blizzard. Apparently one is headed this way late tomorrow night. Ugh. We've had a really hard winter and I am very ready for spring. But alas, we live in Colorado and April is our snowiest month and spring time blizzards are more normal than tulips and daffodils blooming. So, we're bracing for it and if I could get a snow day out of it on Friday I might just be okay with this storm.

John and I had a date last night. We were supposed to meet with our small group from church, but the family that was hosting had to cancel. I had already gotten a sitter, so we let her come anyway and we went out for dinner. Then we went for coffee. I'll drink tea all day long but I'm not the biggest coffee fan. Last night, though, I opted for a cup of joe and I was awake forEVER last night. What was I thinking??? Tea doesn't have that effect on me, but that's the last time I have a cup of coffee after 7pm.

Do you ever think about what you'd do if you weren't doing what you do now? Like if you could go back to college and train for a different career? I don't technically have a career, but from time to time I think about what I'd study if I went back to college (and I'm NEVER going back to college--once was enough for me!). I have a B.S. in Religious Education (it seemed like a good idea at the time!) but here are my top three choices: Meterology--I'm fascinated with the weather but don't understand a lick about it! Library science--one of my volunteer jobs is working at my kids' school library, and I love it. It's logical and orderly and I just really love books. Nutrition/Dietetics--in the last few years I've taken quite an interest in nutrition. I love how eating right makes me feel. Ahhh...if I coud just bring myself to love exercise. I don't like it much, but I do it anyway. I hear the treadmill calling...

Happy Easter!

We've had a good, but unusual day! Hope yours has been blessed (and warm and dry!!).

I picked up a book the other day at the public library and I can't put it down. It's called, The Devil in the Junior League, and it is laugh-out-loud funny. I think I like it because the author pokes such fun at the socially elite do-gooders and all their societal rules. I laugh because most of those rules are familiar to me and my southern upbringing. It's super-light, purely indulgent reading, but as Abbey's little friend would say, "who weally cares?". I'm enjoying it.

John and I realized the other day that we've now lived in Colorado the same amount of time we lived in Arkadelphia, AR. Wow. And you know what? Right now, I just might prefer Arkansas' warm temps. It's 28 degrees and is snowing outside right now and we have a 70% chance of snow tomorrow. When we moved here, I didn't really believe the locals when they told me that it snows every Halloween and Easter, but I believe 'em now. In the almost 4 years we've lived here, we've consistently had snow on both holidays. Okay, maybe not actually on Easter Sunday, but ALWAYS on the day before. Makes for some interesting egg hunts and Easter outfits.

Abbey has the day off from preschool today, and John has the day off too because it's Good Friday. Will and Sarah had to go to school today and they were pretty bummed. Abbey is in heaven though since she has mom, and more importantly her daddy, all to her self. Tonight is the night the Easter bunny visits the Blase home. That tradition started many years ago when John was a pastor and Sunday mornings were crazy-busy. So, tomorrow our kiddos will awake to Easter loot and will have all day to gorge on candy and play with their trinkets and Sunday we can get off to church without begging and crying for candy (hopefully!). We're planning to get together with families from our small group at church for a picnic and a hike after church on Sunday, but the weather isn't really cooperating with our plan. No snow, thankfully, but cold temps are still in the forecast and I can't see how a picnic and hike with kids can be very enjoyable when it's barely 50degrees.

I had a huge milestone moment this week: I wrote my very last check for preschool tuition! Abbey goes to kindergarten in the fall! We had a one-year break from tuition when Sarah was in kindergarten, but I think we've been paying tuition of some sort for the last 6-7 years. WOW!

After having the week off from school last week, it was pretty hard to get back in the groove yesterday. We've officially started counting down the weeks until summer vacation begins. 35 school days left. That seems do-able! Yea!

We enjoyed spring break very much but it didn't feel like spring at ALL. It snowed all day on Thursday and some on Friday. John took a couple days off and we went to the ranch that our friends live on just west of Denver. They were in Florida with their family, so we were basically house-sitting for them and we had the lay of the land. It would have been nice if it wasn't 30 degrees and snowing, but days like that are very relaxing and we just cozied up in the house with games, books, cable tv (the kids LOVED that!) and made cookies and just enjoyed being together. John loved it that he could don a Carhartt jacket and cowboy hat and venture out a few times a day to feed their horses. I think he would love living and working on a ranch. We both would for that matter.

We came back on Saturday because John was given the opportunity to preach on Sunday. As always, he did a fantastic job. If you care to listen to his message, follow the link to International Anglican Church on the right side of this blog, and from there find "Sermons". He usually gets a lot of affirmation after he preaches and this week was no exception. I've posted on here before that I struggle with my feelings after he preaches. When I'm listening to him and he is in "preaching mode" I know that he is doing what he was created to do, but our years in ministry have left me very wounded. I prefer for him to just continue in publishing and let me lead my safe and comfortable life. But, I know down deep that the door to ministry isn't completely closed for us...and it scares the heck out of me. Sounds selfish, I know, but it's honest. And it's just as confusing for John sometimes. But I'm feeling more and more like it's a timing thing and for now I'm okay to let both of those realities be true...there is a calling on his life, and God has more in store for John (and for us)...and I'm wounded and my self-protective stance wont' even consider ministry right now. After church we had lunch with some friends and one made the comment that she wished John were her pastor. As jumbled as all my feelings are in regard to this, I have to agree with her...I wish he were my pastor too. There's no one I'd rather listen to.

Spring Break!

This cute photo was taken at Abbey's birthday party yesterday at Build-a-Bear workshop! Very cute, huh? I think we can call an official end to the birthday week and enjoy our week of Spring Break!!!

The snow stopped Saturday afternoon and melted very quickly, and yesterday temps were in the 60s. Spring-like weather is on tap for the first part of this week and we intend to get outside, ride bikes, and picnic at the park amongst other things! It was so nice this morning to wake up and realize that I had nowhere to be and nothing to do ALL day. I haven't had a day like that in such a long time. And I think we all need days like that more than we realize.

Our kids have been watching the "Grease: You're the One We Want" show for a couple of months now. If you're not familiar with it, it's basically a large casting-call where men/women audition for the roles of Danny/Sandy on live tv, and week after week, America votes to choose who the Danny/Sandy they want to see in the Broadway production of Grease opening this summer. We don't let our kids watch too much stuff like that, but this one has been kinda fun, and they're very hooked on it. Last night was the final episode and the 2 lucky roles were awarded to very talented people. Abbey got the soundrack to Grease for her birthday and her favorite song is "Greased Lightning" and she walks around singing and dancing to it these days. She puts on quite a show, let me tell you. Sarah's favorite tune is "Hopelessly Devoted" and Will likes "We Go Together" (or track number 22). They're upstairs listening to it right now. They keep asking when we'll let them see the movie, and we keep telling them it will be a loooonnnnnnggggggg time before we say "yes" to that, but they think they're cool listening to the music. Very funny.

Well, today is March 24 and it is snowing outside. Hopefully the snow is on it's way out, especially since this week is Spring Break!

John and Abbey shared a birthday on Thursday. John is 40 and Abbey is 5! John took the day off to spend with Abbey, and they hung out together all day. Abbey picked out a restaurant for the birthday dinner...Noodles, followed by ice cream at Coldstone Creamery. She's been given the royal treatment for the last few days and that will likely continue through tomorrow afternoon when we have her party. We're taking her and two little friends to Build-a-Bear workshop. They get to each make their own teddy bear. She's very excited. I feel a little (okay a LOT) guilty that John must share his birthday with Abbey. I doubt he would have chosen Noodles for his birthday dinner (though he does love Coldstone's milkshakes for dessert!) and I don't think that pink birthday cupcakes or Build-a-Bear with three little girls is his ideal way to spend a Sunday afternoon, but he's a good sport. And Abbey loves it so much that she and her daddy share this special day! Thanks to all of you who wished John a happy birthday. His inbox was full of birthday greetings and blessings and he loved it.

John got an early birthday gift this week. He got to meet and have dinner with an author he greatly admires. Brennan Manning. John's company secured a book deal this week with Mr. Manning and John will be the editor for the book and get to work with him during the process. Very cool. There are a lot of neat details involved in this story, and it's evident to us that God's hand is at work in all of this, and we are both very humbled and very much in awe of God's kindness to John this week. Will keeps asking if Brennan Manning is related to Peyton. Go figure.

LOTS and LOTS going on around here!

There is just so much stuff going on around here that I can barely keep up with it all, much less post about it.

We've all been a little on the sick side lately. Mostly just colds and allergies, but last week Abbey had strep, and John has some sort of stomach bug right now. Really yuck. I'm so ready for everyone to be healthy again!

One of our good friends from Arkadelphia is in Denver this week and we got to have dinner with him last night. It is always such a treat for us when old friends are out this way and we're able to get together and visit. It is very very good for our hearts!

Cool story: Last month when we were in San Diego, Sarah called us on our way to dinner one night and was telling us that her teacher was in a small group at her church and her group had just started a new Bible study. The study was called "Living the Questions" and it dawned on her mid-way through the intro session that Sarah's dad WROTE the study. She was excited to tell Sarah about it and Sarah was excited to relay the info on to us. Neat, huh???

We're enjoying some amazing spring-like weather this week. I only hope it will last. Snow is in the forecast. John and I went on a date last weekend and it rained the entire time we were in Colorado Springs. That kind of rain is pretty unusual around here; we get showers, but not long, soaking rains. In our little town just north of the Springs, we got snow instead of rain. We were laughing as we drove back into town and saw cars covered in powdery white stuff. Even though this is our 4th spring to live here, it just still seems incongruent for snow and March to be in the same sentence. Oh well!

John is working on a pretty big book deal right now and it looks like a celebration will be in order. It's a cool deal and he will get to be the editor on the project which is nothing short of amazing. I'll post more when things are a little more final! John is up to preach again on April 1, Palm Sunday. He enjoys it when he gets the opportunity and I love getting to hear him.

Oh, how could I forget?? Two more days until two big birthdays at our house. Abbey turns FIVE on March 22, and John turns 40 on the same day!!! We're gearing up for a big celebration. Abbey keeps telling me she's going to have LOTS of sugary stuff to eat that day and she's got her party all planned out. It should be a really fun day and I have a feeling we'll be celebrating through the weekend!

March is here!

I didn't realize it had been so long since I last posted. Where does the time go? I flipped my calendar over this morning and was amazed at what a blur February was. I know it is the shortest month of the year, but it seems like it just FLEW by.

Here's some of our February highlights:

We celebrated Will's 10th birthday. He chose to have a rock-climbing party at our local indoor sports center. He and 5 other boys donned harnesses and did some indoor rock-climbing. Will is a natural. It was very fun to watch them and even made me want to give it a try sometime. Will is a great kid--ultra responsible, smart, and handsome. He got a BIG, red, candy-filled heart from a secret admirer on Valentines Day. His mother is dying to know which adorable 4th grade girl gave it to him, but he doesn't seem too curious.

My mom got to be here for Will's birthday. In fact, she spent two weeks with us! Part of the time she was here, John and I were in San Diego. I've been wanting to go to California for such a long time and John's company was sending him to the National Pastors Conference to meet/recruit authors. He asked if I could tag along and so I did. I LOVED California. How nice and sunny and warm it was compared to our cold, snowy state. I keep telling John that the further west he takes me, the more I love it. But don't worry...I don't want to move to California. It was very refreshing to see all that green grass, flowers blooming, and the ocean. The highlight of my trip was going on a whale-watching tour. California grey whales migrate this time of year from the Artic Ocean down to the warm coastal waters of Baja, Mexico. I went out on a 4-hour tour and saw LOTS of whales. So, so cool. I'd never seen whales before and they were literally right in front of our ship. The ship photographer befriended me (I was solo on this adventure) and invited me up to a prime viewing spot on the ship! He even gave me a photo cd with some of his best whale photos on it. VERY COOL. This guy moonlights as a paparrazzi photographer so we had a very interesting conversation about that. He has recently photographed, "Paris, Brittney, those kinds of stars, you know". Funny!

I'm the yearbook coordinator at our kids' school and February was crunch time for me. I'm happy to say that we are 98% finished and the book is going to look great. It has kept me extremely busy this month, but I'm seeing the light at the end of the tunnel! Yea! All that stress and work though compromised my immune system and I ended up getting a yucky cold. It has cycled through our home, with all but John having caught it. Sarah missed 3 school days and is actually still not herself. The kids are out of school today and tomorrow for teacher conferences. I'm thankful that they'll have a 4-day weekend to rest and recover.

It snowed here all day yesterday. I think we got about 3-4 inches. Maybe less. Who knows these days. Since those 2 blizzards pounded us in December, everything is relative. If we can't measure snow in FEET, then we're okay...no big deal, why bother to count a few inches! If it's not blowing and creating white-out conditions, then driving is fine. I wasn't that way until this year. Our snow from those back-to-back storms in December has FINALLY melted. We've still got 18-inch drifts in our backyard, but our driveway/front yard/sidewalks are completely snow free (or they were until yesterdays snow!) Keep in mind that April is our snowiest month, with March coming in at a close second. We had some really nice days in February with temps in the 50s/60s (hence, the snow melt). What a tease! I love those days and we're definitely seeing more of them, but I know the reality is that we have seven more weeks with snow being a very real possibility.

Did you hear about the Denver zoo keeper that was mauled to death (in front of park visitors--ugh) last weekend? A jaguar named Jorge attacked her. Apparently the door to the room she was in wasn't locked. Denver Zoo officials are trying to find answers, but such a sad story. I really think I'd like to see a bear one day, and my chances in Colorado are good...but mountain lions and other big cats scare me out of my mind. That is something I NEVER EVER hope to see face to face. EVER!
I dont' even like seeing them at the zoo!

Febrrrrrrrrruary!

It is seriously cold outside today. Temps an hour ago were -17. C-O-L-D. This is the coldest, snowiest winter we've had since we've lived here. I like the snow, but I dont' like the cold. We still have 2-4 foot drifts and snow banks in our yard from our twin blizzards back in December. It's just crazy.

We were supposed to get more snow last night, and we did, just not as much as they were predicting. The kids have a 2 hour delayed start this morning (mainly due to the dangerous wind chills -33). I was hoping for a snow day, but since we're running low on snow days, I guess a late start is the best option. Beginning next week all elementary schools in our district will begin classes 15 minutes earlier every day. We've used almost all of our snow days this year and we haven't even hit our snowiest months (April/March). It's highly unusual for us to have used this many days so early in the year. So the recovery time begins. Our district has also taken away our 4 remaining early dismissal days with the possibility of taking away more days we have scheduled "off". Interesting stuff. And it's not just our district...it's almost every district in our county.

Enough about the weather!

One of our good friends was at our house for three days this week PAINTING for us! We've lived with white walls for 3+ years now and I can't believe the difference that COLOR has made! I love it. He painted most of our upstairs (kitchen/den/hallway/etc) and it looks great. Love it! He painted one wall a dark red and within minutes of finishing, BOTH of the girls had touched it/brushed against it. He was a good sport and touched it up before leaving. I wasn't too happy with them though.

Will is coming up on his 10th birthday next week. 10 years old...wow. And just this week I went to a Kindergarten Orientation for Parents. My baby will start kindergarten in the fall. When I ask her what mommy will do without her during the day, she always looks at me and says, "You'll cry." She's probably more right than she even knows.

Let it snow. Let it snow. Not Again!

The title of my post is the headline from the metro section of today's Denver Post.

Here are the first two lines of the story:
Forecasters predict a third snowstorm in as many weeks today, with up to 8 inches in some parts of the metro area and up to 18 inches in the foothills. That's unwelcome news to communities still digging out from the past two storms.

Yeh...that about sums things up. After being hit by two blizzards in two weeks, it's fair to say we're a little tired of the snow. Yet it's snowing right now and school is closed for the day. Yippee! Having the day at home with the kids is always welcome. Just wish I could figure out how to get the day off without more snow piling up out there. This is their 3rd snow day in three weeks...they've had to close for three of their six scheduled days. Makes me very thankful I get to stay at home with them.

We had a wonderful Christmas. All of John's family drove out here the day after Christmas and we got to spend almost a week with them. That was a little longer than originally planned, but they were snowed in as all of the roads east and southeast of here were closed for a few days after the storm. We enjoyed their visit very much and were only house-bound for a couple of days, and even that was fun for me. The kids LOVED being with their cousins and had the best time together. We were excited we had so much snow for them to play in and they loved it too. I have no doubt it will be one of their more memorable Christmases for years to come.

I won't bore you with all of the details of the blizzards we've had, but here are a few of the more "interesting" stories I've come across during the last two weeks:

One news stations interviewed a young girl who missed her wedding when DIA shut down and she couldn't get a flight out. She said she was out of tears...she'd cried them all.

It took 15 days for UPS to get a Christmas package delivered to us. My kids got Christmas...round 3! Loved it. One of our friends didn't get her gift from Santa until a few days after Christmas...according to the note he left it was too special to ride on Santa's sleigh and so he had his elves shipped it from the American Girl store in Chicago...but the blizzard fouled things up for a timely arrival (despite the $23 in non-refundable express shipping charges).

A family in New Mexico took in 44...again 44...stranded motorists when they were stuck in their cars on a rural highway. Their saving grace was an Affiliated Food truck (also stranded). The driver got permission to break the seal and distribute the surplus. They ended up having one big party and making some life-long friends. Don't you think that sounds fun??

Sure there's more, but those are the most interesting I've come across!

Enjoy your day wherever you are...and if you love the snow...COME SEE US! It's not going anywhere for awhile!

Holiday Blizzard 06

Got snow? We sure do. 18 inches and counting!

The news media is calling this the Holiday Blizzard 06 and let me tell you it is a MESS! Here's a sampling of what's going on "in our neck of the woods". The wind has been howling since just after midnight Tuesday. Sustained wind speeds of 25-30 mph (gusts up to 65mph) have been blowing snow creating blizzard conditions for over 30 hours. We've got 4-5 foot drifts in our yard. I'm sitting at John's computer downstairs in the basement and our window wells (at least 4ft deep) are completely filled with snow. They haven't plowed our streets (wind would just re-cover the cleared area in minutes) and snow is up to the bumpers of cars outside (most of which are stuck in the street).

In Colorado Springs, malls are closed, banks are closed, and the Post Office and UPS called their delivery trucks in yesterday just after noon. Denver airport shut down, the interstate was closed from Denver to the Kansas border AND from Denver south to the New Mexico border.

John made it to work yesterday morning, but they sent him home at 10am. His return trip wasn't pretty. When the wind is blowing that hard, it creates white-out conditions where you literally can't see anything in front of you. He told me he had to stick his head out of the window (into blowing snow) to TRY to see if he was even on the road. His windshield wipers were freezing up, the defroster couldn't keep the windshield clear, and so he had to keep clearing the window everytime he stopped. Talk about a scary commute! He arrived safely two hours later, but had to walk the last block home when his car got stuck in deep snow at the end of our street. It's still there as are dozens of other cars, which is going to make plowing an interesting job--more likely a major headache for the plow drivers.

One of our good friends has been in South Africa since Thanksgiving on a sabbatical trip. His return flight was supposed to arrive in Denver last night around 6pm. Cancelled. Because of the heavy holiday traveling, he wasn't able to re-schedule his flight home until 10pm Friday night...and if he didn't take that one, his other choice was to arrive on Christmas day. What a NIGHTMARE! He's just one of THOUSANDS of passengers trying to get somewhere.

And think about retail. They've officially been closed for 1.5 days now (most have said they'll open at noon today). We're at the height of the holiday shopping season. When John worked at REI, it wasn't uncommon this time of year for daily sales to be in the $85,000-100,000 range. Think about what closing down does for them...yuck. And think about what malls and Walmart are gonna look like around here on Friday/Saturday/Sunday. I'm already cringing b/c I have some shopping to finish up myself.

I think that UPS and the USPS are feeling some stress right now. I just read on the newschannel's website that we won't be getting mail service again today. Their trucks can't get to our neighborhoods. Someone's gonna be busy on Christmas Eve, huh?

I'm am thrilled though that the kids didn't have school yesterday or today. I was whining about today being their last day, but things definitely worked out much more to my liking. We got started on some of our Christmas baking yesterday, and just enjoyed having the day "off" from errands and from holiday stress!

Holiday Blizzard 06! Fun, fun, fun! We're under a blizzard warning until noon today and hopefully the storm will move on out and things can begin to clear up around here. We're definitely going to have a white Christmas because this much snow isn't going anywhere!!!

Got It

We got that snow day I was hoping for. Started snowing last night and is quickly piling up out there. 8-16 inches predicted...whoo hoo!...and should continue through tomorrow afternoon. Snow is in the forecast for the weekend and again on Christmas Day! I LOVE it!!!

Surprise!

Today can best be summed up as a day of surprises--some good and some not so good.

John usually leaves about 7ish in the mornings, but this morning he had some things to do in Monument and left a little closer to 8am. He stopped at home right before I was leaving to take kids to school and offered to start my van...only it wouldn't start. Surprise (and not a good one!). John took everyone to school, took the morning off, and eventually we got Minnie-the-van going again ($2xx later--ugh!).

The kids and I got home this afternoon and found two packages on our front porch (surprise!). I wasn't expecting anything so that was extra nice, as were the 12 Christmas cards we got in the mail. I love going to the mailbox this time of year.

And tonight we had a babysitter come so we could attend a surprise 50th birthday party for one of our favorite friends. Her husband rented out a jazz club and it was a cool party. She was semi-surpised by it all...it's hard to pull off a surprise that big, but she loved it and we felt privileged to be a part of her special night. And while we were there, we got to visit with a couple from our church that we sorta/kinda know. They invited us to grab some coffee after the party and we were again surprised by the easy conversation and the common ground we shared! Cool new friends! Surprise!

We had some other not so good surprises along the way today...it felt more like opposition. A lot of stuff today felt really, really HARD! But...God also showed up and surprised us in some very personal and life-giving ways...and I'm thankful for the eyes to see His hand in it all.

I'm heading to bed in a few minutes...hoping to wake up to another surprise. Snow is in our forecast and I'd love to wake up to a snow day! That would be a very welcome gift! I'll keep you posted!

One week until Christmas...man, oh man. My mantra these days is "It will all get done, it will all get done, it WILL all get done". John and I started our shopping last Friday night--online. We don't usually wait this long to begin shopping but between his new job (and finishing up the work he was previously contracted for) and my volunteer project, we were both swamped and unable to find time to shop. Thank goodness for the internet. I didn't even mind paying the steep shipping costs to insure on-time delivery. Anything that saves me a trip to the mall is a very good thing. I did have to get out and do some other shopping yesterday and again this afternoon, and I'll probably take Abbey tomorrow afternoon and finish up. They're forecasting a pretty big storm this week, so my hope is to get things wrapped up tomorrow.

My kids are in school until Thursday (Wednesday for Abbey)! Thursday! That seems so late to me...especially since most districts in and around Colorado Springs dismissed last Friday. I'm a little bummed that only gives us 2 days before Christmas Eve, but after further consideration, I realized it gave me a few extra days to get some things done before I have everyone at home. I'll take it!

We were excited last week to visit with some of our best friends from Arkansas. They spent several days skiing at Copper and then came and spent Thursday night and most of Friday with us. They brought their little guy with them and we enjoyed hanging out them so much!

When John began his new job a month or so ago, a fellow employee from the art department approached him and asked if he'd be willing to be Jesus in an upcoming photo shoot. If you've seen John lately, you'd know why they asked him. His hair is long and he's got a full beard, and people jokingly refer to him as Jesus quite often. In fact, one lady at church told me recently that her little boy asked her when "the guy who looks like Jesus" was going to preach again. Funny. Well, today was the photo shoot and John came home with a lot of make-up on his face and a check for $25 in his pocket. I'll let you know what they use his photo for--some upcoming publication of some sort. He's becoming quite the model, huh? If you'll remember back to January, John and Will had their photo taken for an article in Pray! magazine. This time though, they actually took a photo of his face!

The North Pole!

Today a friend and I took our kids to the North Pole, a family theme park just outside of Colorado Springs. It was so FUN! I let them have the day off from school and that proved to be a very good thing. There were no crowds and therefore, no lines! We didn't have to wait for anything...not even our visit/photo with Santa. It was GREAT. We rode lots of rides, and because it wasn't crowded, the operators let the kids ride for as long as they wanted. I got to ride most of the rides too because Abbey needed an adult to go with her, and I realized that I'm not the biggest fan of roller coasters (even the kiddie coasters) and those pendulum-type rides that swing back and forth. Ughhh. Abbey was so fun to ride with though. She squealed with glee and her delight was contagious. It was a good day to be a kid! It even snowed on us...which just made it feel all the more like the NORTH POLE! I think we've discovered a new December tradition!

Today in Colorado Springs there was a memorial service for a police officer who was shot and killed during a traffic stop last week. So very sad. As we were driving back from the North Pole, we got to see the police motorcade. Cars were stopped all along the interstate (a 10-mile stretch of interstate was closed for the procession) and people were standing out in the cold saluting the officers as they drove past. It was very moving. Amond those standing outside were firefighters, highway department workers, truckers, and families. I've never seen anything like it, nor have I ever seen that many police cars. There were hundreds and they were from all over Colorado and many other states as well!!! They were all driving with their flashing lights on and you could see them coming for miles. I don't even have words to describe how moving it all was. It was a good opportunity to talk to the kids about sacrifice and honor...and it was a rather serious moment until Sarah cracked a joke and things went south from there. Check out photos from the procession at www.newsblab.com (click on blog and scroll down)

I'm hoping to get our Christmas cards mailed this week. It's a big job, but I've been chipping away at it...and John just finished our letter tonight. Yea. Almost finished. If you haven't gotten our letter in the past, send me your address and I'll add you to our list. You can reply to this post or click my profile and there's an email link! Merry Christmas!!!

What a Week!

To say that last week was busy for me would be a major understatement. It was insanely busy. I have a whole lot of stuff going on. All of it is good, but it's a lot to add to an already busy time of year. So this weekend was restful for me. And now I'm ready for another busy week (I hope!).

So in the midst of this busyness, I had a really, really cool gift delivered to my door last Wednesday afternoon. The gift was dinner! One of our friends in Chicago overnighted 2 world-famous deep dish Chicago pizzas to us. I just had to thaw and bake, and it was Y-U-M! It was THE best pizza I've ever put in my mouth...and there are some terrific pizza places in Colorado. Thanks RM (aka St. Nick!)! You rock!

Last week I got together with a friend and spent the morning baking. We made lots of cookies and some fudge and ran out of time to make some of our other Christmas favorites. I finished some of that up this weekend with the kids (relaxing for me!). While we were baking last week, we hatched a plan to take our kids to see Santa at the North Pole. Seriously. The North Pole is a mini-amusement park outside of Colorado Springs. They have rides, Christmas shops, elves, and of course Santa is there. The only problem was finding a time during all this craziness to actually GO. We decided it would be fun to let the kids miss school and go, so that's our plan for tomorrow. I didn't tell them until this afternoon, but they're pretty pumped! I'm just thankful that it won't be as crowded...unless there are other moms out there who are thinking what we're thinking. We'll see. It's supposed to be pretty cold tomorrow (fitting for the North Pole!) so we're taking hats, mittens, and plenty of hot cocoa!

Woo Hoo--It's a SNOW DAY!

When it started snowing last night, our kids started praying for a snow day. Will even did a little snow dance--quite hilarious I must say. John woke me up about 6am to tell me our district had a two hour delay, but at 7am when I turned on the tv, they had upgraded the delay to a CLOSURE! Woo Hoo. We're all excited about having a day at home! The only bummer in it all is that John had to go to work. We all prayed for him to arrive safely (he did) and prayed for us to enjoy our day without him--the kids were really sad to say goodbye this morning. Me too. I like it best when we're all home together. We're all still adjusting to this full-time thing.

It's VERY cold outside so I don't think we'll be venturing out. Our temp right now is 16degrees...and it will continue to drop throughout the day. We only have about 3-4 inches of snow, but we're supposed to get 3-6 more inches today. The kids want to bake cookies and just veg. Sounds great to me. We stopped by the library yesterday afternoon after running a few errands and the kids have new books to read and a couple of dvds to watch. They're upstairs reading right now...and I'm not far behind them.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
UPDATE: We've had a restful, relaxing day. Baked cookies the easy way--from the dough we got from our dairy delivery service! Read some books, did some laundry, and right now the kids are upstairs watching The Electric Company. Now THAT'S a blast from the past, huh? I found a dvd yesterday at the library and my kids are glued to it. It's hilarious. HEY YOU GUUYYYSS! Remember that? I'm reliving my childhood while my kids are mesmerized. But hey, it's educational! So I'll let them watch a while longer!

Yesterday morning, I woke up and got my Sunday paper and sat down at the kitchen table with my tea to read and enjoy a slow Sunday morning. It's my favorite part of Sunday. Will stumbled into the kitchen just a few minutes after I did and asked for part of the paper. When I was his age, I did the same thing. And you know what part of the paper I wanted? The comics, of course. But not my X.5 year old. He specifically retrieves the Best Buy and Circuit City flyers EVERY week and proceeds to pore over them. Weird, huh? My kids are only in elementary school, but they have a Technology class. They're learning keyboarding, power point, and from time to time get to surf the net. When I was in high school I typed all my papers on a typewriter...using CORRECTION tape. They know nothing more than the delete key. I feel ancient when I think about that...but grateful for the role technology plays in each of our lives. Technology allows me to communicate with all of you via this blog. Cool, cool, cool!

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving with our friends. It was so relaxing and FUN. We rode horses (just the kids) and four-wheelers and the weather was perfect. It was a perfect holiday really! The ranch they live on is beautiful and I think we explored every part of it. We saw deer and coyote and beautiful scenery everywhere we looked. We're going to go back this weekend and take our family Christmas picture!

Oh...I have a great movie recommendation for you. Last week we watched Akeelah and the Bee. It was terrific. It's about a young girl from the ghettos who shines at spelling...especially spelling bees. It was a beautiful story and the little girl will win your heart! We loved it.

Abbey and I went to Walmart this afternoon. Have I mentioned how much I dislike Walmart? I watched a documentary about the discount giant this summer and swore I'd never shop there again. One should really never say things like that unless you have an iron resolve. Walmart just opened in our town 2 months ago, and I've already been there 2-3 times. I think today was visit #4. They really are the cheapest place to shop--you know--Always Low Prices. My motto though is Always Bad Mood. Every time I leave that place I'm in a foul mood. I don't know why, but I am...just ask John. Anyway, we got what we needed and left. One thing on my list was a snow shovel. We're expecting another winter storm this week and our pitiful shovel broke during the blizzard last month. Now we're prepared!

Have you ever heard of Nooma? While at our friends last week, we watched 3 Noomas. They're short films about everyday stuff that convey a spiritual truth. I think the films are intended to be a springboard into discussion. And by the way, they are EXCELLENT. I'm hoping our small group will decide to use this format for our next semester. Really, really cool! The guy behind the idea is a Michigan pastor named Rob Bell. He also wrote a book titled "Velvet Elvis" which I'm reading right now and it is fantastic. Check it out at www.Nooma.com

I forgot to mention...

I forgot to mention in yesterday's post that we STILL have snow on the ground from our blizzard last month. On Thursday, October 26, we got over 2 feet of snow in about 12 hours. It was CRAZY. At some points throughout the day, we were getting 3-5 inches PER HOUR!!! Colorado Springs was deserted...schools were closed, offices were closed, malls were closed, even the interstate was closed. We were scheduled to fly to Arkansas the next day. We were able to make it to Denver the next morning, but it took us 20 minutes just to get out of our DRIVEWAY! It was a mess! Despite our nice temps this week 50s/60s, there is still quite a bit of snow on the ground all over town, our backyard included. Not really enough to play in, but enough to remind us to be thankful for the beautiful week we're having!!!! Hope yours is nice too!

Thanksgiving!

I didn't realize it had been so long since I've posted. I've been meaning to, really I have, but time just seems to escape me these days. I've LOVED today because we've stayed home ALL day. That has got to be one of my most favorite things...I'm definitely a home-body. The kids have the week off from school. That's a first since we've lived in Colorado, and it's unfortunate that we're not traveling this year. Those two extra days would have been very nice!

Our original plans were to join my family for Thanksgiving at my sister's house, but that all changed two weeks ago. John was offered a job at Cook Communications Ministries, a Christian publishing company in Colorado Springs, and he took it! Last Monday was his first day. His official title is Developmental/Acquisitions Editor (fancy-schmancy, huh?) and he'll be part of a team working to build the book division at Cook. It's definitely a change for our family, but he's excited about it and feels like it was time for this next step. I'm happy and a little sad too. I've loved having him work from home for the last two years, and not just because he has helped me so much...I just enjoy being around him. We'd eat lunch upstairs every day, run errands on his slow days, go for Starbucks dates when the kids were in school, and prepare dinner together each night. That all came to an abrupt end last week, and I'm grieving the loss. BUT, having a consistent paycheck will be so nice. It is a blessing for us.

So instead of traveling this week, we're taking it easy at home. Some very good friends of ours are caretakers on a ranch just west of Denver and they invited us to come spend some time this week with them. We're super excited about it. They're like grandparents to our kids who ADORE them. And Kathy called this morning with a great surprise: they got two horses over the weekend--Doc and Pale. I don't know who's more excited about that...them or our kids. They're already trying to figure out who's riding which horse first and which adult they want to go with them. So, it should be fun. We're heading there after we have our traditional Blase family Thanksgiving breakfast at IHOP (in our pajamas!). The kids think it's great because they don't have to wait on everyone to get dressed to go out to breakfast! We do get some strange looks, but it's FUN, and I guarantee you my kids will remember that for their lifetime!

Are you keeping up with the Razorbacks this season? They are ROCKIN'!!! I am pumped they're on television Friday (national television!) and will be glued to the tube. At Will's class Halloween party a few weeks ago, I was talking to another mom who is new to our school this year and she mentioned they were from Missouri. When I told her I was from Arkansas, she got so excited because she and her husband are UofA alums. Sarah and I had just been to the Razorback game in Little Rock that weekend and she was in disbelief. It's been fun to have a new friend who is as crazy about them as I am...AND who lives in Colorado! I've seen her at school the last few Mondays and we always talk Razorback football! I'm thinking I could get her to go with me to a game next year! Go HOGS Go! Beat LSU!!!