Here's my "wordle"

The Lull

I'm pretty sure that's where I am today. I think a storm is brewing, one of much activity. Next week I will be "oriented" for my new job - VERY part time special ed. person. I'm not sure I'd call it teacher, but I'll be working a 7 hour a week job. Fun.

The girls have "orientation" for school next week. Moving.... we have this unbelievable opportunity to move closeby, we're just in the process of weighing the options - pros and cons - and trying to get some info about selling a house that is in no shape to be sold. More on that if it actually comes to fruition. Just pray for us - I'm feeling really anxious about not know what we're doing and whether or not I should be working my butt off to be ready for something or not. It's a bit crazy.

I wish we had a couple more weeks of summer because I'm not nearly ready enough for it to be over. Especially with this crazy decision we have to make. It's times like these when I really miss my dad - he always had some wise words of advice for me.

Pride

I have to admit, I love watching the medal ceremonies when the USA wins a gold, but I keep wondering to myself. Is there a single male swimmer who even knows any of the words to their national anthem?? Just wondering...

Sacrifice

Would you give up everything, your family, your home, your culture and your religion, all for Jesus? I could not stop reading about this man who did - a very informative interview. I'm completely inspired by him, but saddened by the realization that for hundreds of thousands of believers, there is great sacrifice in believing.

That Little Thing Called Vacation

This is probably the most difficult time of year for me, wife of the short term missions maniac. We have come home to a very quiet neighborhood, many of our favorite pools closing for the summer, and many of our friends at the beach on vacation. T arrived home Monday with -3 vacation days. Yes, you read that correctly. He has NEGATIVE three days. Even though he tries to tell me he has just the same vacation time as he had at Verizon, I don't believe him. He's never had negative days.

Growing up with two teachers for parents, we always had summer vacation in August. In fact, we pretty much had the entire month of August for family vacations. I never imagined life with no family vacation time!! I think this might be the first year that happens. Every other year I've been able to squeeze out at least a long weekend for our family to go somewhere fun, but I don't see that as a viable option this year. It's kind of beat because after the last two weeks of traveling in a such a large group, it would be so nice to go away and be a family for a little bit.

Where would we go? I have a list of places I'd love to vacation with my family, beach destinations topping the list, but at this point I'd go pretty much anywhere! So, I'm off to Connecticut. It's really the one place in the world I feel relaxed. The epitome of relaxation for me is putting on some comfy shorts, an oversized sweatshirt, picking up Duchess and heading down to Penfield Beach to do nothing but walk by the water and nap. It's the place I feel most at home.

I'm off to pack. My mom just called to let me know Em has the stomach flu. I guess no beach for us this time... again. Oh, I give up!

Spam

It shouldn't surprise me at all, but today I kind of snickered when I was erasing all my spam and read one subject: "Wanna be a psychologist?" No, I don't "wanna" be a psychologist, nor do I ever want to see one that "wannas" to be one!

Freedom

I was ruminating on the idea of freedom today. I was prompted by thoughts of what it's like to travel outside the US, to feel like a foreigner and have "natives" stare at you strangely, or balk at you in disgust that you don't even know how to say "hello" in their language. It's quite uncomfortable, lonely and slightly depressing for those who choose to relocate to a foreign land.

I was thinking how the United States of America was founded upon the idea of freedom and welcoming those from foreign lands, but how that ideal seems lost these days. Are we really that welcoming? Do we go out of our way to offer freedom to those who can no longer live freely in their native countries? Or do we mutter things like "why don't you learn English!" and "go back to where you came from" under our breathes, like we're entitled to more than the next human being?

My home right now is in the middle of a very diverse, very multi-ethnic area. There are many opportunities for me to be welcoming to those from far away lands. Am I doing that? and what does it mean to others when I do?? I know what it means for our friends we met last week when they finally feel like France or Belgium or Spain is really home for them. It's a feeling of belonging and connection. They are no longer just foreigners, they are members of a community. And I think that many times they are proud to be accepted.

As I was pondering all these things, a story popped up on CNN about the flag bearer for the US in Beijing. I LOVE this story and was really moved that it flowed with my thought for today. Imagine being referred to as a "Lost Boy" only to be accepted in this way by a country that could offer you freedom. I'm sure there is much more to his story, his struggle, and I'm sure it wasn't as easy or as wonderful all the time as he makes it sound. I was just moved that his teammates accepted him in this meaningful way. It makes me proud to be an American and know that we are a country that still offers open arms.

The New Colossus

Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,
with conquering limbs astride from land to land;
Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
a mighty woman with a torch
whose flame is imprisoned lightning,
and her name Mother of Exiles.

From her beacon-hand glows
world-wide welcome;
her mild eyes command the air-bridged harbor
that twin cities frame.
"Keep ancient lands your storied pomp!"
cries she with silent lips.

"Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"

Emma Lazarus (1849-1887)
(inscription inside the Statue of Liberty)

Call to Adopt

This is a great piece on CNN from Steven Curtis Chapman, the Christian musician whose youngest daughter from China died a few months ago, about the call to adopt orphans. It's great and truly from his heart. In response to this, a friend of mine posts:

Diana and I were actively discussing adoption before our recent pregnancy and we still intend to adopt in the near future. But as we’ve explored the options, a glaring impediment to adoption has become very real: prohibitive costs created by bureaucratic inefficiencies, non-profiteers and (especially overseas) political corruption. Just last week in Denver, a newly adoptive father told me it cost him and his wife nearly $15,000 to complete the adoption process for a US-born child. As the process dragged on, the more it felt like he was “buying” a son. I’ve heard horror stories of international adoptions that require bribes from beginning to end, to secure a child that would otherwise be relegated to a garbage dump, labor camp, the streets, an understaffed institution, or worse.

Read more here.

I've never actually thought of adoption as a response to a social injustice, but I can see that more clearly now. I've had several friends who have adopted - each of them has been blessed in so many ways. While the process can be grueling and expensive, I think the benefits are priceless. I think it's an honorable response to heartbreaking hopelessness so many orphaned children face daily.

Post trip mishmash

So, here I am, in a very quiet house. I sent the girls off to Connecticut with my mom, so it's just me and my house for now. Everyone else is off at work. Did I mention how quiet it is? I thought about going shopping, but I think our credit cards are maxed out by the trip. When you are charging meals and transport for 26 things can get a bit crazy!!

My house is suffering right now from post-traumatic trip packing syndrome. In other words, there is stuff in every corner that is likely of no use to us right now because it was meant to be packed but left behind... in my messy house. While I enjoy solitude, I prefer it to be a bit more organized. I kind of want someone to come here and clean it all up for me. Or at least tell me what to do with the 150 T-shirts, half used rolls of masking and duct tape, empty/used tie dye bottles, thousands of ziploc bags that are floating around in odd places (found one on top of my 3 wick candle...?) and the 15 or so duffel bags that don't belong to us. It's all very messy. That's the best word I can think of for us.

The mess here resembles the mess in my head right now. I'm facing all those things I put off until we get back. Which we are. Make doctor appointments, dentist appointments, take care of school stuff, decide if we're going to move (long story, but the prospect of getting my house ready to sell isn't making onto my mental radar right now!) and the myriads of other thoughts from our trip are racing through the superhighway that is my brain. I'm really not sure where to start, although the trip to the grocery store yesterday was a good starting block! Must eat.

Things in Europe are so different yet so the same. We don't live next to or even close to Communism, so we don't understand the mistrust in people's eyes, or the hopelessness they feel. Homelessness isn't our neighbor so much in this county, so watching homeless men take over a children's playground in Paris while parents let their children play around the blankets, shoes and mattresses was eye-opening. Urban life, where everything you need is within arms reach, but grass is difficult to come by is a stretch for this suburban chick. Going to sleep to screeching train brakes as opposed to the rhythmic whistle of crickets also leaves an indelible mark on the mind. The personal touch of flowering window boxes, multiple ornate fountains and narrow, cobblestoned streets bustling with shoppers adds life to sometimes cold history surrounding European city blocks. It all makes me wonder how suburban America emerged from that! All very strange. Even our cities are no match in agelessness to what we find in Europe.

For all the differences, the smiles are the same. The laugh of a child, the discipline of an elder, the protectiveness of a mom, the adventurous mindset of a dad... it's all there. In a different world, far away. I'm sure some 38 year old European woman is sitting alone in her quiet home wondering how it will ever get tidy. She's wondering what teacher her child will have next school year, wondering how her life might change in the next year and wanting to savor the last days of summer. In a different language, in the same mindset. In a different setting, in the same wonderment. It's a lot to grasp but it's a beautiful reality. So much in common, yet worlds apart.

OK... back to life, back to reality. Better go fold the last of my post trip laundry and unpack the last of the team junk that we brought home. The world is much bigger than even I know. I think I just need to keep opening the doors to see it.

Creating Creative Creation

Main Entry:

¹cre·ate

Pronunciation:

\krē-ˈāt, ˈkrē-ˌ\

Function:

verb

Inflected Form(s):

cre·at·ed; cre·at·ing

Etymology:

Middle English, from Latin creatus, past participle of creare; akin to Latin crescere to grow

Date:

14th century

transitive verb1: to bring into existence created the heaven and the earth — Genesis 1:1(Authorized Version)>
2 a: to invest with a new form, office, or rank created a lieutenant> b: to produce or bring about by a course of action or behavior created a terrible fuss> <create new jobs>
3: cause, occasion creates high food prices>
4 a: to produce through imaginative skill <create a painting> b: design<creates dresses>
~Merriam Webster

I'm totally convinced that our students will do ANYTHING if it's their idea! That's really the driving force behind the children's programs they created this summer. Sure, we did a LOT of filling in the blanks, helping generate thinking and ideas... but the drive behind the program lay in the hands of the students. As I'm looking through the pictures what these creative individuals created, I'm really amazed by the creation! Sounds silly, I know, but I know that as a leader team, we could not have come close to providing what they did unless they were fully invested!

Here's how it happened. We did not use a curriculum, we did not recycle something we'd already used, we did not tell the students what they should do. We did provide them with some brainstorming session, we did give them an idea of what children need and how to scale their ideas to fill up 3 hour time frames, we did ask them to produce. We also divided them (actually, they chose) into teams: teaching, games, crafts, skit and music. We also tried to keep tabs on what was (or was not) getting accomplished. We started with a theme for the week (they chose the Olympics) and a teaching theme (inspired by Pilgrim's Progress, one of our seniors from last year came up with a teaching model for obstacles in a Christian's life) and tweaked it as leaders to fit into 5 days.

After all agreeing on our themes and our 5 days, we started filling in some blanks: crafts, schedules, activities, small group discussions/activites, skit (amazing - all on video and edited by the students) and music. There were many last minute things we all had to pitch in to do, but the week before we left we went over all of it as a group - every last detail - and they did a great job filling in the missing pieces. I think they were proud of what they accomplished, and they should be!!

Finally, we divided our team up into smaller groups for the evening programs, which we really centered around fun. Last year, we had grueling 3 session days and were doing a program in the morning and a different one at night. The kids were BEAT!! This time, we made our evening adventures - pirate and princess party, campfire/pajama party night, wacky/tacky superhero night and our opening and closing ceremonies. I really think it was a great program - and we also sent out an email to all the families with a little invitation so the kids could come prepared to dress up. I was AMAZED at how creative these kids are - I'm not sure why! They really came prepared and obviously the parents joined in the fun.

If you want a team to participate, commit, and enthusiastically serve, you have to give them the controls. It may not be easy, but I can assure you that with a little guidance and wisdom, it will pay off in the end. When we let our creator be our guide, it's even more impressive!

Hungary 08 - The Reinvasion of CA!

Hehe... what a silly blog title! Anyway, it is sort of what we did. We don't typically repeat a trip with SPACE, but this year we gave it a try. The added responsibility of being solely responsible for the kid's program this year as opposed to having "directors" over us made it entirely different. Not to mention having to navigate our group of 26 through Europe as opposed to 16 - big difference!!

Now that we're home, it's a bit easier to look back at this trip and see that we really accomplished everything we set out to do. We had some bumps in the road - as we always do - but nothing that wasn't divinely ordained for the purpose of our growth and amusement. Yes, we are confirmed in our belief that God has a sense of humor and he chooses to lavishly bless us with it!

Low points of this year's trip:

~I spent all two of our Vienna days in the lime green hostel.... miserable! I had a combination of stomach issues and the likely probability that I overdid it on my blood pressure meds due to our very late departure, 6 hour loss of time and early to bed.... very dizzy, very nauseous! Anyway, it was fortunately a very nice, very clean hostel and the weather was chilly, so my room was quite comfy!

~Miscommunication among our scattered team was very frustrating for me, T and the rest of our group. It's always a challenge, but with 26 of us it was just really an issue we could not find a decent solution to. Add to that the loss of electricity on our team's hotel floor, seemingly being blamed on our iPods, appliances, etc., walkie talkie's that only worked out front and we had difficulty coordinating and other various "issues" that came up - hiding out in the baby room was a good distraction for me!

~Lugging all our baggage through the Paris subway to our hotel was a totally anticlimactic event for me! We had originally intended to check our large bags through to Washington, DC, but were unable to do that. While I sort of begged T to at the very least contact United about storing our bags at the airport, I was quickly outvoted for the alternative of taking them all by train and subway. It was pretty wacked. 26 of us, our arms full, dragging very large suitcases and team duffel bags behind us and me with two children to keep track of - not my idea of fun! I'm totally against this kind of activity, which is an interruption in the daily lives of regular subway users!!!

We first stepped off our express train to find our subway and were greeted by a line of 6 armed guards in full military dress. I won't tell you what went running through my head as my girls looked at them wide-eyed! We proceeded, very slowly, through the maze of tunnels and stairs (lots of them!) with our bags, stopping every 100 feet or so to count everyone, to try to navigate to our correct subway trains. At one of our exchanges, I watch Em get shut in a subway door yet hop on the train (alone), then Kt got shut in the door yet also managed to hop on with Em. T then had his turn while asking if we should get on... at this point it was clear we would not all fit on the standing room only cars... he also got shut in the door, then our luggage.... and I watched them all ride off, wondering if he'd be able to get everything and my children off at the next stop!

At our final stop, we had to lug our luggage up what seemed like an endless number of steps and fortunately found our hotel right above the station - I've never felt such relief!! Of course, listening to the trains all night and day was a bit of a reminder for our two nights in Paris of that crazy evening!!

HIGHLIGHTS!!:

~ We all made it and the few bags that didn't were delivered within a day.

~ Meeting up with friends from last year's conference. Amazing people, creative, innovative, family-oriented, missionally minded and this year I feel like they made an effort to really connect with our team. We were completely blessed by them in many ways.

~ One of my goals this year was to provide a baby room that parents actually felt comfortable leaving their babies in. We had 13 children aged 0-2 registered in our room and we saw 11 of them!! In fact, our room was well used and while it was crazy, I was really excited that we could serve the parents we did and the conference as well. And the babies we had? For real, folks, they are the future of missions for sure. Watching them and the children at this conference made me really excited for the future of the kingdom. It's amazing that all these families are committed to not only serving the way they do, but introducing and raising their kids to living a life fully for God. It's very humbling!

~ Em finally connected with some girls on this trip! Kt met up with all her girlfriends from last year and had a BLAST! Em actually spent some time with a couple of super sweet girls and we learned quite a bit about how to be a good friend. It was such an answer to prayer for me!!

~ We had the honor of meeting one of T's missions mentors (of course, it's someone who has no idea the impact he's had on T's missional beliefs), Alan Hirsch. Alan and his amazing wife, Deb, came to talk to our team one evening. Along with their ridiculously sweet Australian accent, I could have listened to them all night talking about missions, church, the future of the kingdom and just about anything they wanted to share with us. T told our kids before they came along that people pay $300-400 to hear this guy talk - funny how much impact a pricetag has on teenagers. From that point on, our kids nearly monopolized any free time these poor people had, and they were truly good sports about it, even finding our kids on the playground to chat with them. I'm pretty sure they have no clue what their time meant to us - we were awed, blessed and pretty much floored by their investment throughout the week in our team through their encouragement, advice and love. Amazing folks!

~ We spent some time with our friends, the Rapps, while at Connect. Not as much as I would have loved to. Not even a meal together... but our kids hung out, they came to share very openly and honestly about their first grueling year on the field and how God has continually blessed them in their obedience. Nice to know such authentic people!! Wish we could spend more time with them!

~ Paris!! One Sunday in Paris was just not enough for me. I SO want to go back there!! At least now I have a list of places to go, things to do and pictures to take on my next visit to that beautiful and complex city. We climbed the Arc de Triumph - the four Shengs, visited the Eiffel Tower, saw the Louvre (it was closed =(), and saw Notre Dame. We ate at a french cafe, walked down the Champs Elleysee ? and walked along the river Seine. For real, it was almost dreamy! I had wanted to cap off our one day with a nighttime taxi ride, but T had a bunch of things to do, like find us a way to transport our luggage to the airport the next morning!!

For those of you who prayed for us, supported us and have followed us on this journey, we can't really thank you enough. I'm amazed we're all home in 26 pieces, that God moved in many hearts and that many seeds were planted in our own team to extend what we experienced and apply what we learned to our everyday lives. As a final note, we had one team member ask to be baptized on our trip - it was amazing. It was more than a highlight because in many ways it represented the change we only sometimes witness to in the lives of the kids we serve. It was an honor to be there and for T to be the one who baptized him. Neat, life-changing, forward thinking. Thank you for coming along on our journey of transformation!

New Favorite Snack

I knew when I came here I'd have to get a Milka bar (to go with my Fanta Citrom =)), but I found one in particular that is SO AMAZING!! You see, this incredible chocolate comes in many "flavors", so being a huge fan of Cadbury Carmellos, I got the Milka Caramel and it's just, well, THE BEST EVER. No other way to describe it! It's a good thing I only bought a small one or I'd just skip dinner tonight. ;-)

Of course, I had to get myself a 2 liter bottle of Fanta Citrom. I'd been having the ones here at the hotel and spending a bit too many forints on them.... quite the bottle collection (I'll add that pic later). Apparently, I bought the big bottle just in time. One of our teammates told me she tried to buy one from the bar because she's tired of hearing me talk about them and, well, they ran out. Hmmm.... I wonder if she took note of the 7 empty bottles sitting in my room. Yup, I'm embarrassed, but I can assure you it was worth every drop (and my rosy red cheeks!).

So, tomorrow we're off to Paris and I'm really excited, hoping I don't get sick! Everyone here is getting the fever, sore throat, runny nose thing. More importantly, I'm hoping my kids will last a few more days. It's always miserable when I'm feeling great but have to stay behind with a sick kid. Should be fun!!

Airlines

Let me just say this - airlines in America need to step up! While we waited to get on our United flight, we were asked to fill out a survey with the following question:

Which would you prefer instead of a complimentary meal on your international flight?

1. Meals you pay for
2. Snacks you pay for
3. Meals made by famous chefs that cost an arm and a leg and possibly a kidney
4. Just to bring your own food.

OK, so they weren't that ridiculous, but seriously, why bother asking?? I simply wrote that I would prefer two complimentary meals on my flight overseas - dinner AND breakfast like all other airlines provide!! I mean... seriously! Are they kidding??

Anyway, we sat on our plane for 2.5 hours waiting for various technicians to check out power issues - very disconcerting! Then we took off, had dinner on the plane at 9pm and a snack before we landed.... late, missing our connecting flight with Lufthansa, which is currently striking so they had already reassigned us to a later flight with Austrian air.

Here's a REAL airline!!! (It's the one we flew non-stop last year to Vienna, and they fed us two meals and a snack... like back in the old days!) For our 1 hour 5 minute flight - in the US you might get a drink, maybe even a small bag of 5 mini pretzels - we received beverage service, a salad with cheese something on it, hard roll and dessert. My kids also received a kids package with little puzzles and games and crayons. We've never gotten anything like that on our 3-4 hour plane rides around the US - ever! United gave them wings for our 7 hour flight to Frankfurt!

Anyway, I wish Austrian air had some domestic US flights - I'd fly them every time!!

Vienna

We are finally in Hungary, and it's so nice! I loved Vienna last year, but this year was really kind of beat... just for me, though. The team had an AWESOME time - sightseeing, hanging out, shopping, eating cheaply, etc. I made the mistake of overdosing on my bp meds... sort of. I just didn't take into account our delayed flight - which made my Tuesday evening dose even later, and our early Wednesday bedtime in a 6 hour earlier time zone dose only 12 hours (instead of 24 hours) later... equals - lots of nausea and dizziness. It took me some time to figure it out, but let's just say our wonderful hostel was about all I saw in Vienna. That and the airport!!

All while I was sleeping, I learned that my family got to visit Shonbrunn Palace again (I SO wanted to visit the gardens), my youngest daughter almost hopped off the subway at the wrong stop - well, actually she did jump off and T just made it out in time to grab her!, she also walked into a pole - not pretty, and Kt went all out navigating her team's trip to City Hall - very enthusiastically. I'm sad to have missed it all, but I also know that everything happens for a reason.

So, while back in my hostel closet, I mean room, I started reading a book about being foolish. I mean, what better time to pick that up than when I'm hauling my family half way around the world with 22 other people to run a kids program? It led me to John, where I read this:

There was the true light which, coming into the world, enlightens every man. He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. He came to His own, and those who were His own did not receive Him. But as many as received Him, to them he gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth. John 1:9-14

I read these words a few times and then reflected on the idea of what truth really is. It's really why we - T and I - do what we do. We don't take students to far away places to make them better people or turn them into the future leaders of the world - not that that's a bad thing. We do it, really, out of our love for truth. Our desire to share truth with the world.

This passage in the Bible speaks of only one person, Jesus. There is not, was not, nor will there ever be any other like Him. For me, there is so much power in this passage - the Word became flesh - and so much love - and dwelt among us - and so much awe - and we beheld His glory - and so much humility - glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth. We do what we do because we believe these words with all our heart, and we believe it's an all-inclusive message for every single person. We do what we do to further truth.

Sure, we have many other reasons why we give up vacation time, hours of personal time and put blood, sweat and tears into this volunteer stuff, but in the end if we aren't doing it for this reason alone - because Christ did so much more for us - then it's all in vain.

I'm excited to be here in Hungary. It's so great to see all these families from last year, meet some new ones and serve with some amazing students. Already, as a leader team, we are awed by things we never noticed in these students - and when we turned our backs for one moment, there they were in spontaneous prayer outside our hotel, and we were humbled. God moves here, and I'm so excited to serve Him in this capacity because I really and honestly believe that we are going to further truth in a dark world, that we can shine a light where one has not yet been lit. It's exciting. Don't you wish you were here with us?

And... I'm feeling much better, now that I've just finished my first Fanta Citrom of the week! ;-)

Marathon Laundry

I have two days to get it all done... well, actually, I have 1.5 days since it's already time for dinner!! We took the girls to see Space Chimps today (I almost fell asleep, having nothing to do with the movie, which I think must have been cute?), stopped by LL Bean to pick up a few things, like microfiber towels, American Eagle, where Kt picked up some tank tops for her friends in Hungary and then on to Target, where, as a family, we spend a ridiculous amount of money together. Some of it was for our friends in Hungary, some of it was for our friends here and the rest of it was stuff we needed for our trip. Why is it that there are so many things you have to bring with you on a trip? It makes it more difficult when you don't know if you'll be able to find what you need or have any way to get to a store!!

I spent 1.5 hours at church today making copies and putting books together. I'm feeling rather ready in respect to stuff we are taking, just not my own stuff!! I do need clothes, meds, deodorant would be nice! =) I just haven't even gotten around to even making the list of things I need to bring. I have a list of things to print, of things to copy, things for the team, things for the babies, things that are in every team bag... but still no packing list for me... and kt... and em. It's a good thing that T takes care of himself, at least!

We are at 71% of our trip support - another $11,000 to go. It should be interesting to see how it all works out!! Pray for us! and my laundry! =)

Coming Up for Air

I dove in and now I'm coming up, lighter than before! =) Today another amazing friend took both my girls for the afternoon AND evening!! It was a little hairy there at first, with me getting stuck at Target in the return line, filling my cart with back-to-school supplies that I missed last year because of our trip, showing up late to pick up Kt and having my "tank empty" light shining the whole way. I picked Kt up early from tennis camp - last day - and met her friend there. We spent our early afternoon painting pottery after picking up Em and having some Ledo's pizza.... yum. We then met her friend's mom at the pool and I came home to dive in...

It's crazy here. My house is a bottomless pit of junk right now. I decided when I got home to retreat to my basement - the International Office of Space - and work on those activity books for Hungary. And I finished them!!! Now I just need to copy and bind them. WOOHOO! Then T came home and we went to a Tapas bar in Maple Lawn Farms. Very cool, very chic, very... well, we were completely underdressed - didn't think about that before we went there because my mind is just way too jumbled to care, but I did notice! we were the only ones in shorts and T-shirts!! And, of course, my husband looks to be about 28!! Very funny and yummy. We had Bruschetta Rojo, Duck with butternut squash, hazelnuts and celery, Curried chicken (which was to die for!) and some potatoes with some incredible dips. Next time we go, I'll dress nicer - I promise!

Once we got home and found out our children were playing the wii outdoors at someone's house on a projection screen, I dove once again into those wedding invitations... and they are done, for the most part. I have one question and one missing.... gotta find that. Then they are outta here!! Which is super, because tomorrow night is the packing party, and boy do we have a lot to pack. I can't really walk through my living room anymore!!

Oh, tomorrow morning, bright and early... swim meet. I guess I ought to go to bed!!

Quick update.... we are personally about $700 away from our support goal as a family. WOW! And our team is at 71%... minus the electronic giving which hasn't been updated in over a week - vacationing accountant. So... I wonder if there will be any surprises in there? I mean, I'm hoping! LOL

Some prayer requests:

I ordered 2 boxes of materials from Oriental Trading over a week ago. The two boxes have been sitting in Martinsburg, VA "sorting" for almost three days now... and I need them!! Pray they make it before we leave! (Further challenging in this effort is the fact that we have not had house numbers up for almost a year... when we had the rotten wood on our house replaced!)

My laundry - I have not even started that laundry, packing, cleaning... in fact, I've hardly thought about it. Now that my two large projects are out of the way, pray I can refocus enough to get it all done in half the time it normally takes!

My mom is traveling here Monday, then going on her first cruise to Alaska on Wednesday. Pray for smooth, safe travels for her and my aunt. I know they anxious and excited all at the same time!

Pray for the girls... who are clearly getting a bit stressed at this point. We all are!!!

Pray that God is glorified in all that we do, before, during and after our trip. It's about way more than just while we're there. Just look at my living room!

5 days and counting!

In five very short and fun-filled days (typed sarcastically!), we will be departing for Vienna, Austria. I have no financial update, and that's OK... I have a peace that it will all come in. I do have a domestic update, however.... living room is half full (of "stuff" we are packing Saturday night), dining room is full (of wedding invitation envelopes I'm calligraphying for someone - over 250....), kitchen is only semi-functioning because nobody seems to have the time to fix it, laundry room is fully loaded. I still don't even have our suitcases up from the basement, so we're not in "full steam ahead" mode quite yet. I imagine that will happen after.... the swim meet.

Yup, we're crazy. Why are we even bothering? Well, for starters, we need to do something as a family before we go. We'll do the swim meet Saturday and then Kung Fu Panda on Sunday, because I can see our fuses are short with our children! We need to regain some semblance of family unity before we travel with 22 other people on a missions trip. Also, it will be T's only competitive swim meet he can attend this year - and I think he needs to experience that! I think he'll be proud of the girls and it will be a good breather for him.

Today, I have this amazing babysitter/housesitter/dogsitter/friend who has taken the girls to the JumpZone for the afternoon - she is amazing. I'm completely indebted to her. I'm going to take a little break from putting together some activity books for Hungary and get some more work done on those wedding invitations so I can hopefully get them out of this house before our packing party Saturday night, when all mayhem breaks loose on my house!

TONIGHT!!!!:

If you're in the area and want to join us, we're at Maggie Moo's this evening for our last Hungary fundraiser, because yes, we are all about ice cream on this team!!

6:30 - 8

Be there or be round (like a scoop of ice cream!... get it?)

Maple Lawn Farms

And not to scare you off, but they are letting us scoop the ice cream! ;-)

My Brother

My brother is....

.... the kind of person who makes you laugh until your sides hurt, and you can't even talk anymore.

.... smarter than anyone realizes. Even he doesn't realize it!

.... the best debater I've ever known. He never loses a debate, even when he's wrong, he will leave you speechless.

.... the most incompassionate person I know. But will still go to the ends of the earth to help someone really in need. I know - that makes no sense... unless you know him!

.... the only person I know who can make me go from fuming mad to hilariously silly in a matter of milliseconds.

.... very deliberative. He calls it cautious. We call it lazy. In reality, it's both. =)

.... a mean percussionist. I mean, really mean. I'd stay out of his way when he's holding a pair of drumsticks!

.... a liar. At least that's what his niece, Em, says. She does not understand his sarcasm at all!

.... a brainwasher. If he says it, you'll believe it. Trust me. And don't trust him if he offers you Kool-Aid. (Remember - I warned you!)

.... loves candy, even though he'll say he never touches the stuff. I've seen him down a Fun-Dip faster than you can say "sugar!"

.... will make an awesome Dad someday. Of course, he's still deliberating on that one. And while we think he's incompassionate in his stance to remain childless until he finds his dream house, he did just give a co-worker some baby advice yesterday (and then ran it by me just to be sure!). I know he'll make a great daddy.

.... pretty much only needs affirmation from one person. And since he's in heaven, I get the calls now. (Talkin about my dad, not the other guy up there!)

.... so much fun to be with - anyone would agree. And he is so prideful about that fact!!

.... the most wonderful uncle ever. Just ask Kt, who thinks the world of him.

.... makes me wonder why didn't have a third child.... but only once in a blue moon.

I am really thankful God gave me such an intriguing brother - just don't tell him I said that. It will surely go to his head!

happy birthday, old man!

My Brother's Birthday

Just to give you an idea of what my life is like... after talking to pretty much everyone about my brother's birthday (this past Sunday) I didn't remember it until around 11pm that day! UGH! I am just doing way too many things!! Anyway, I sent him a little belated birthday message and he sent this picture of him after the festivities.

You’re a little late…almost. Here is a photo of me from the celebration.

He's much older than when I last saw him! about two weeks ago. So like my brother. I just love him! And even though he's my younger brother, I can assure that I haven't aged as quickly! ;-)

Manicures

I took Kt at the end of school to get a manicure. She has been asking for one, no kidding, since she was in kindergarten!! Which I thought was absolutely ridiculous, since I got my first one when I was 24. Anyway, this was her reward for memorizing the armor of God passage in scripture. She loved it, it was fun and it was only $10 at this little nail place up the street. There were other kids there getting pedicures (you know, I still don't know what I think about that!).

Last week, the girls hopped in the shower one afternoon and spent quite a long time upstairs. When I went up to check on them, they had set up a full fledged nail salon and were in the thick of giving each other manicures. Actually, they were almost done. When I asked what was going on, Em said,

"We are getting manicures. But don't worry, we didn't cut our cubicles."

Kt added, "No, no cubicles!"

(That is not a typo.... and I could hardly keep from laughing myself silly!)

Travelocity

Why do people still use this site?? I've never used it, mostly because I prefer to make direct contact with hotels, car rental and airlines myself. A couple years ago, my brother and his wife planned a trip to Seattle and use Travelocity to make their hotel reservations - what a big mistake! They missed their JetBlue flight - and JB was amazingly accommodating. Especially because they missed the flight due to traffic - which around NYC is pretty status quo. When I called to cancel their first night in Seattle, however, the hotel informed me that I would have to call Travelocity to cancel.... and they were not at all accommodating. In fact, they were quite annoyed that I would think the standard "call by 6 pm the day you check in" would apply to them - no, they wanted three days for cancellations! Too bad my brother didn't know three days before he set out for the airport that it would take more than 5 hours for that hour long trip!

Anyway... moving ahead... my mom is heading to, of all places, Seattle, for an Alaskan Cruise. For some reason, she used Travelocity. Had I known she was making the airline reservations without the help of her travel agent, I would have helped her do it herself. She planned a nice day and half in Seattle before her cruise so they could be adjusted to the time and be ready, get their bearings and head off on a nice, leisurely vacation.

Enter: Travelocity, the unnecessary vacation wrecker. They have twice changed her flights, cutting out an ENTIRE DAY of her vacation.... have "rebooked" her on a flight with a connection in Chicago - and only 1/2 an hour between their flights and did not assign her seats. She has been unable to connect with them to get seat assignments. What's worse - they tried to charge her more money for changing her flights!!! Um, she didn't change them, Travelocity, duh, you did!! Makes you wonder!! She has also tried to call them for help, and the general consensus is (from both of our experiences) don't bother!

So, my aunt, who is in her early 70's and just had hip replacement surgery a couple years ago, will be sprinting through Chicago O'hare to make it to her next gate before the plane leaves without them - someone at Travelocity should know this would be an impossible feat for even an athlete in his prime! This is not the 80's, when they would hold a place for you. Instead, this is the year 2008, when you can get in trouble for running in an airport and they stop boarding people 15 minutes before the door of the plane even closes. Get with the program, folks!! As for the expensive hotel they booked right by the dock of their ship... I think Travelocity should pay for that night that they will likely miss. Boo on Travelocity!

Camelot

It feels a bit like Camelot here - rain all night, sun all day. I'm sure that can't last forever!! But I do love the legend. =)

It is 10 days until we leave, and as usual, I have a million things swarming through my head.... I have program stuff to do, still more to purchase, laundry, packing, and cleaning for our housesitter! My mind is getting really disjointed!

We are close to raising what we need for this trip and we have one more fundraiser this Thursday night - scooping Ice Cream at Maggie Moo's in Maple Lawn. After that, we'll just have to believe that God will provide because I'm pretty sure we won't be able to do any more at that point! To date, we have raised..... over $94,000 for our summer trips. That is one significant and humbling number. It is also about half of what we need to cover all our expenses, so keep praying for us - please!!

After we leave next week, the Cameroon team will follow us in early August with the England team right behind them. We won't have a status on our funds while we're away because the three of us who take care of them will be, well, serving overseas! I guess I'll add that to my list of things to ponder in my really foggy mind.

I cannot thank those of you who are supporting us, in prayer and financially, for EVERYTHING!! We are all so excited to go - so happy to be sent. We know we couldn't do this without support. We know we won't be going without provision from God. We know all our efforts are in vain unless we believe both of those things. So thanks for co-laboring with us!

One more team meeting Tuesday... EEK!

America

Just read this article, and I think it speaks to every American. Should be read by all. We live in an amazingly generous country, and we should not forget that!

Self Manicure

I'm getting ready to paint my nails. It's a luxury not many stay-at-home moms can afford, so when it *needs* to be done, we do it ourselves sometimes. Even when we can afford it, we don't always want to explain to the manicurist why our nails are green. I mean, not painted green, stained green. If I explained they are green from the Jungle Fungus cleaner that my husband used in his daughter's betta fish tank because she has some flesh eating bacteria, it still might not make any sense. Why would that turn my nails green? Well, when you put half a tablet into a fishbowl (enough for 20 gallons of water!) full of plastic rocks, a fake plant (whose base has disintegrated) and bamboo (whose roots have become dark green astroturfish feeling weeds), everything turns a super dark shade of green. Not to mention, aforementioned betta fish is now having difficulty breathing, not moving anymore and definitely not eating. She probably couldn't see.

So, back to my fingernails. On his way out the door to take a group of middle schooler to Baltimore for the next two nights and days, I mentioned that the fish was not looking so good. He agreed. I then called him and mentioned that maybe he put way too much of that Jungle stuff in the tank and he said, "How would you feel about cleaning that tank for me?" What kind of a question is that? I don't do animals, and I'm already having to take care of his two dogs (who will undoubtedly bark all night, relieve themselves numerous times on my kitchen floor and not eat or obey in protest of T being gone), his children, attend swim meet number two without him - again - a host of other obligatons. Do I want to clean a fish tank? Not really, but I also don't want fish funeral duty.

Off I go, and let me tell you, scrubbing every surface of every little rock (I'm sure he's never done that - judging by the amount of crappola on them!) with a little scrubby sponge does strange things to fingernails. Especially when everything is coated with Jungle Fungus remover. I guess I should have worn gloves!!

For real?

I found a dollar store today right next to the tennis courts that Kt has been attending camp at this week. This morning, Em and I ran in and found a bunch of things I've been looking for for Hungary - Yay!! We carried our loot up the counter, both of us almost dropping our items. Before I placed them on the counter I asked the man at the register if they take charge, and he replied yes. We unloaded our stuff and he proceeded to ring it all up. Once he hit total I swiped my card.... and he said to me, "Is that MasterCard?" I looked up and said, "Yes." He replied, "We only accept Visa." Are you kidding?

Anyway, all my loot is still at the dollar store. We had to go get Kt! Bummer... and I've never heard of such a thing!

$100

Sometimes, God can be ridiculous. T paid for all the airline tickets for Cameroon (16 peeps), England (12 peeps?) and Hungary (26 peeps) and maxed out all the churches' credit cards. Hmmm... As a little surprise, God raised the stakes for us and added a $100 surcharge for jet fuel onto each ticket (minus Kt and Em). Hmmm.... seriously, at this point, there would be no doubt that it's a God thing, making it to our goal. I'm kind of wondering if we'll also get slammed with a baggage charge!

Off the subject of money, T and I hammered out the final details on what the team is teaching at the conference - Running the Good Race. We've divided the week into some different themes (based on one of our team member's recollections of Pilgrim's Progress - very loosely based once we got our hands on it!) to Complacency (having to rely on God's strength, not our own - Samson), Humiliation (letting God use us even when we feel "silly" - Jonah), Despair (connecting with other members of the body - Paul and Silas in jail), Servants Heart (serving those in need - The Good Samaritan) and finally the Reward (heaven, reaching our goal, Paul's life as a missionary). I think we've finally connected all the pieces, so our last tasks include adding more substance and coming up with some good games - one more meeting, so it must happen there. You can pray for our team (pray, pray, pray!!)!

It's really a race we are running to get to Hungary, (Cameroon and England)... I'm not leaving out New Orleans (they returned Sunday!) or Baltimore (they are there right now!). Both of those teams have met their goals in support. The Hungary team is getting there, but we still have a way to go and two weeks to get there. TWO WEEKS! Crazy.

Backpacks - Check

OK - we're just one month into summer vacation and I'm ready for school to start! Seriously, I'm just feeling completely stressed and the whining level among the children is really getting to me. I don't know if it's the change in our normal summer routine (of waking up late, laying around until the pool opens and swimming the day away) to one that is way more hectic (waking up at the crack of dawn, running to 8am swim practice, now 9am tennis camp, then running errands all morning for our Hungary trip and eating at odd times). I am completely stressed out, overwhelmed and so irritated with children.... two of them.... and am heading overseas to take care of more kids.

On top of this, my aunt needs help with a scrapbook (that she'll be bringing over here for me to work on) and I'm starting a huge calligraphy job (remember that auction/fundraiser we did? well, that is coming to fruition...) on Thursday - don't these people know I have a crazy two weeks ahead of me? My living room is slowing becoming overtaken by craft and preschool supplies, my every spare minute is spent dragging my children around while I hunt down every single last supply we need for our trip/adventure/?? and the level of whinery around her has risen to an all new high. I had to drag them to get my hair cut yesterday - and spent the whole time just trying to get them to stay in one place!! They were all over, running around, getting water, following the person cutting my hair.... NEVER AGAIN! Is there no relaxation in summer? Well, not for me!

They both have backpacks, and I may just take some time out of our next two weeks to collect all their school supplies while I dream of quieter, more relaxed days coming my way.... in September! For now, I'm looking at my week/weekend ahead with a feeling of dread. More stuff in my house, more organizing to do, more errands to run, more kids wanting, more projects to start, a couple days of single parenting, another swim meet with no father to help....

Ah, I'm going to go take a breath while the girls are happily frolicking in my shower! (before I have to go clean up after them AND throw in another load of laundry!)

Believing

It's coming down to the wire, with so many things to do!! We bought about $400 worth of supplies for Hungary this past weekend and at tonight's meeting we hashed out more items we need. We are also hoping to bring along supplies that can't easily be found in Europe - such as American candy and children's meds, arts and crafts supplies - for the missionaries to bring home. I still have a list of things to do before we leave, and other things that are just popping up in between. I'm slightly overwhelmed.

We have two weeks left before we leave and still $22,000 to raise. I have to admit, it's quite daunting, except when I think that we have to date raised $47,000! I mean... that's a huge number. Do I think God has $22,000 to give us? I do. I have no idea where it's coming from, but I know it's out there somewhere!

We have four Bible stories that make up our Olympic journey as our theme - Samson, Jonah, Paul and Silas and the Good Samaritan. Our final day, we have not yet chosen a story, but tonight I was thinking that for our "Reward" on the last day, we really should just talk about the person we are doing all this for - Jesus. It seems like a big piece to be missing, but I think we've known all along that's the story for our last day with these kids. He's what it all comes down to - the reason we are going, the reason we are pulling this together, the reason all these families are living so far from "home" to reach hearts that God wants to reclaim.

So, will God provide $22,000 in the next two weeks? I think in many ways He already has!

Wanna Buy a House?

Here's how one family is choosing to invest in the future of the world with their most prized possession. What a challenge!

Countdown

I guess this is a good place to insert an update on Hungary - since I have some time and quiet to myself! I sent the girls on ahead to Connecticut at their request AND because we have a Hungary team meeting here tonight that I wanted to be here for. If you are supporting us in prayer, here are some things we are offering up fervently!

1. Lot of prayer! We are praying for lots of people to jump on board and pray with us for Europe, for the families we are serving, that our opportunity to love these third culture kids is an extension of God's love - and that they recognize it as just that!

2. Logistics - God is amazing! All the time!! Things have really come together, and that is a huge blessing. We know at any time they can "fall apart" according to our human standards, but when that happens, it's God's chance to shine. We have been becoming more believing and faithful through working out our logistics in a way that only God could make things happen. He repeatedly has reminded us that it's really His trip, and his resources are unlimited - something our feeble, tiny minds have a difficult time grasping.

3. Learning - We have seen many opportunities already for our team members to learn from this experience. It's very faith-stretching being involved in something that requires dependence on God. We have some team members who are really struggling with the financial aspects of this trip and we've seen God working in our hearts over this. Please pray that we can pull through the doubting that often plagues missions work - God is rich in so many ways, practical and ridiculous!

4. Love - and unity. We need this on our team. We've seen it on our team. We want to exude this on our trip.

Thanks so much for your prayers and the financial support so many have offered us. I have found myself this year - and this is really unusual for me - being anxious over money. Even today I was having a little chat with God over this and He just keeps telling me to believe - that nothing is too big and no anxiety is too insignificant for Him. It's humbling, it's exciting and it's scary all at the same time. I hope that I have many more opportunities to see God this summer and for the rest of my life - otherwise life would be so boring!

Summer Politics

I'm still dabbling in politics. I thought this was interesting, of course B. McLaren seems at the helm of this one. I have to admit - I'm not a fan of Obama, but I'm not a big McCain fan, either! I'm a little disturbed by Obama claiming he wants a "real" relationship between the White House and faith based groups. In a year or two, I'll come back to that one!!!

Here's an interesting question: How is it that the "right" evangelicals are so wrong in believing in issues such as abortion and gay marriage and the "left" evangelicals are right to want to end global warming and the war in Iraq? Is it possible to be someone who is interested in all of those things? and in truth?? I guess I'm just a backwards republican who is not only concerned about all these insignificant "issues" as well as one that isn't mentioned - stem cell research. I'm not dumb enough to think that there will ever be a presidential candidate who is a dream candidate for someone like me, but I am tired of having some people make me feel like I'm some old school republican who should no longer fight for the rights of unborn children - I'm insulted by other christians who do this. I would like to think that, as a Christan, I can want truth over any one of my "little social issues" to prevail - I don't need other Christians making me feel like things that Christ has laid on my heart as important are things that don't matter anymore.

This election is intriguing to me, mostly because of the part that religion has played in it up to now. Maybe it's something I haven't paid much attention to in past elections, or it hasn't been so much on the forefront. I think that Obama is going benefit from a division in the church... that is created not by him, but by Christians themselves. It's a sad state to be in.

One more thing...

I totally forgot to post this funny story....

For those of you who know me (and T), we aren't drinkers. We don't have anything against it, we just don't. I do occasionally enjoy a mixed drink or wine coolers, so when we were in Savannah, my mom bought some Bartles & James for us. We broke them out one night and I wasn't 2 sips into it when I (embarrassingly) belched, which my daughter found incredibly amusing. It was rather deep and long.... figures!!

Anyway, while we were recovering from our hysterics, I noticed a little note on my bottle that read "Contains Sulfites". I had a hard time reading it (after my two sips) so I asked my sister if she knew whether or not it really said that. She said sure, and that you can buy sulfite free wine, but it's expensive. I was curious because I have a sulfa allergy and not being a drinker, I had no idea wine contained sulfites. (Of course, I'm wondering now if that's why I've never enjoyed wine.)

My brother-in-law joined the conversation at this point, so I recounted all the occurrences (minus the belch) to him up to that point. He asked me what my symptoms were from my sulfa allergy. My daughter chimed in at this point, not wanting to be left out, "Well.... for one thing, she belches! Really loud and long!!" After that, the conversation about sulfites was all but lost in our ridiculous laughter. Summer and family - two things I love!

Pit Stop

It's been a loooooong blogbreak this time around. Just so much going on, I'm finally coming up for some air!!

Since I last wrote (I can't even remember when that was!), we've had a full house - full of houseguests, that peaked the night before we left for Savannah. That weekend is a complete blur. It was Mission Advance, we had a couple from down south staying with us until they got settled in Baltimore, LeslieB and my mom popped up for a night. I took the girls to their swim meet pep rally, then on to church for the evening of MA. We came home to sleep (didn't think we'd make it to the meet at 7 if we slept at church!), got up at 6:15, spent all morning at our first swim meet (no pics because T had the camera), left early, met everyone at church and on to a HOT afternoon downtown. Then back to church for the evening, home to meet my mom and finish packing for our trip to Savannah. I did, literally, about 30 loads of laundry the week before.

We had a fun, hot week in Savannah. My mom, Em and I were babysitting my nephew, Brendan. Kt helped at preschool camp with my sister and Skyler. We pretty much stayed put, spent some time at the aquarium, swam in the easy set pool in my sister's backyard and tried making Brendan sleep! He's giving up naps! We did go on a Dolphin cruise - lots of dolphins! The girls went swimming at the YMCA and we finally made it to the beach the last night we were there - amidst storm clouds and bathroom trips. While the girls played in the sand, we watched dolphins swim just off the shore. It was beautiful.

Some funnies:

One morning, Skyler put on her ballet outfit - something she puts on the second she steps through the door from wherever she just came from! I noticed something on the skirt that looked much like a large flower petal. I asked her what it was and she said, in her little 4-year-old articulate speech of hers, "Oh, that's just a scratchroach." Like it was not big deal. I had to get my mom and kids to take care of that nauseating bug!

Brendan has a great vocabulary for an 18 month old - he had us in stitches all week! He very appropriately uses, "OH GOSH!", "Golly!" and "Cookie, peese!" He's eaten more sugar in his 18 months than his sister had eaten by the age of 3. (Last year my sister gave her her first jelly bean!) That kid is going to eat my sister out of house and home soon and has quite the affinity for fruit. Our favorite thing to do with him? Dance and giggle - together! We had a blast with him.

Our trip home last night leaves much to be desired. Fortunately, we had an intermission in our trip to visit with a college friend of mine and her son. That was super fun - I wish we all lived closer!! We are already planning to get together somewhere in between our busy lives - I can't wait!!

The pit stop I'm talking about is our two day stint here in MD before I head back to CT with my mom and the girls. T is going to join us this weekend - YAY!!! Finally! and then drive us home for Kt's tennis camp that begins Monday. No swim meet this weekend, so we're feeling a reprieve. Tonight - Wall-E!

Summertime

So, it's finally here!! I totally wish we lived near the beach. Instead of hanging out there all summer, we're doing something totally Maryland - swim team. We finally gave in to the pressure! This is new for all of us in many ways. T and I never were involved on any sports teams and where I grew up it was the beach or a pool someone invited you to. There were no town owned pools and any large pools were indoor. The whole swim team thing was something I only heard of in high school, where our team swam at Bridgeport University! Our school system didn't have a pool to speak of.

Anyway, here we are, getting up at some ungodly hour on our summer vacation to go to swim practice, forcing children to swim laps over and over again and then subjecting them to perform in front of hundreds of maniacal parents every Saturday morning. Everyone has assured me it's a lot of fun, so not only are we participating, but we paid for it! And we bought towels! Now we're really "in"! ;-)

This past Saturday we had time trials - Kt, who has "no way, no how" going to join swim team miraculously changed her mind and is now wholeheartedly swimming. She swam all four strokes on Saturday and I was really proud of her. She has friends who swim, so they showed her the ropes. Em, who was "so excited" about swim team, even getting her hair cut short enough to not have to wear a bathing cap, all of a sudden does not want to swim anymore. She woke up Saturday morning, looked at me and said, "I am not going to swim today." Long story short, she swam! Then I made her swim a second time, despite lots of complaining and tears. I have to admit, I felt awful making her do it - to me, that's just not what summer is about. Fortunately, she loves practice. If we survive this Saturday's big meet, I will be relieved.

About this Satuday.... we're supposed to be at our big training weekend at church. I'm taking the girls on Saturday morning to this meet. Then we'll be spending all day in Baltimore, then training Sat. night until 8pm, then I come home to pack us up to leave sometime (hopefully early) for Savannah.... I'm feeling exhausted just thinking about it. Please pray for some strength!!!

Pictures: Coach Dad, Kt attempting butterfly!, Em - the cheese sandwich elicited a smile after all those tears.

Happy Father's Day!

Today is Father's Day and I think it's been an OK start. We have very little planned other than preparing for the arrival of some people we've never met to stay at our house for an undetermined amount of time. We've known about this for a while, but there are always things that need to be done at the last minute, like laundry. Yes, T did some laundry this morning! =) No worries, I did pretty much everything else - vacuum, clean, garbage, made him breakfast.... and there's some more to do! It won't be a total loss - -I promise. He's sitting next to me here playing Super Mario Galaxy, and I imagine he'll be there later playing Super Mario Kart.

As far as fathers go, T is one of the best. I think most of the kids he works with would agree. I like to share all the compliments given to us at the girl's school because I know that this job of "Dad" is not easy, dads need to be encouraged! Being futuristic, sometimes the day to day things are kind of lost on this dad, but the big things are constantly swirling in his mind. He's already planning a special trip with Em for next summer, thinking about places to take our family with the girls in mind and being involved in their lives knowing that his biggest impact on the world may come from the two kids in his life that he spends the most time shaping.

Having friends who are tackling single parenting, I don't take for granted the luxury we have in parenting together and the importance we place on taking care of our own relationship for the sake of our family. Our trip to Key West in April was the first of hopefully many that we will take together in our commitment to maintaining a marriage that is able to sustain and develop world changing generations. I feel fortunate to have a husband/father in my life who feels that's just as important as his ministry.

OK - I'm off to finish "helping" my girls clean up their bedrooms.... getting ready for our guests. I'm sure T can take care of himself - and our Wii! He's wearing his new Germany soccer jersey and later... possibly watching the extras on the I Am Legend dvd we picked up for him.

My Top 10 Favorite Films

My husband tagged me. Here's my list (although I'm sure there are more):

1. On Golden Pond
2. St. Elmo's Fire (so 80's!)
3. Grease
4. School of Rock
5. Braveheart
6. How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days
7. Pride and Prejudice
8. Schindler's List
9. Ghandi
10. Beauty and the Beast

I know I have a lot more, but I base my favorites on whether or not I'd watch it more than once, since I don't really watch movies multiple times.

1 More Day

One more half day for the girls. I went in today to help pack up the office for renovation. Sadly, I found out that our awesome, amazing GT teacher has been appointed Assistant Principal of another elementary school. We knew he was in the pool, but selfishly were hoping he'd remain at our school at least for one more year. Kt had tears in her eye when she told me. He is seriously the best teacher she's ever had. We will miss him immensely.

Score

My mom has been wanting a Wii ever since we got ours for Christmas. The problem is that they aren't readily available. I had heard from a friend last week that Best Buy had some, so on our vacuum hunt we checked it out - and the had "one left" that they happily sold to me for her. I'm sure once I left, they found another last "one left" for the next sorry soul! LOL It was a nice score, nevertheless, and my mom is excited to have an end-of-the-school-year-gift. Now we'll never get her to visit!

And my mom is so cool - I mean, what 38 year old has a mother who wants a Wii? I did have to laugh when I called her to see if she really wanted it and whether or not she wanted an extra controller. She told me only if it was wireless. Hehe. The guy in the store was cracking up at us! =)

Prayer

My mom emailed me yesterday about a family from her school who had a 4 year old child of a friend drown in their pool. Instantly, this story is just scary. Sadly, the father of the child who drowned is someone many of my friends know from our church youth group growing up. I know the news will be devastating. Apparently, they were visiting from Pennsylvania and fortunately have family in CT. Please keep that community in prayer.

Heatwave

I think this thing is over. Last night, T and I went out in search of a new vacuum cleaner since our other one bit the dust, went up in smoke, etc. When we came out of Walmart (empty handed), the temperature registered 97 degrees. It was 10pm. That is just crazy ridiculous for Maryland!! It has been unbearably hot!!

What have we been doing to stay cool? Swimming! and drinking lots of ice water, keeping our ac on, barbequing as opposed to turning on the oven (well, not really!)... it's really impossible to stay cool. I have been keeping lights off, though. They are just way too hot!

On a lighter note, today was my last day of work. I even turned in my key. I'm currently jobless, yet for some reason I still have a boatload of things to do. How does that happen? Oh, wait, it's the volunteer thing again. I need to stop doing that! ;-)

How Bad is the Economy?

I keep reading all kinds of doomsday reports on the economy. I'm no expert, in fact, I'm pretty much a failure when it comes to economy! However, I just don't see around here that we are sinking fast when it comes to the economy. Sure, gas costs an arm and a leg, but wake up America. Gas has cost this much in other parts of the world for years. Yes, house sales are slowing down, but in the years leading up to this they were overpriced and we all knew there was no way to sustain that much and that quick of an increase in home sales and prices. In years past, I believe they were Clinton years, we had many unemployed friends, people losing their own houses (not ones they were trying to flip) and people losing everything they has intended so save for retirement. I don't know one person now who is unemployed, anyone going into foreclosure on any of their properties and so far as I know, people have been able to save. I'm not saying it's not happening, I'm just saying for the past few years I have not personally known anyone in those categories - and that's unusual.

So, how bad is our economy REALLY? The news makes me nervous, a little on edge and keeping me a bit frugal, but in reality, I'm just not seeing what they are seeing. Maybe it's the area I live in - with many people working for government agencies and in defense, maybe our recession is coming when the democrats step in. I don't know. All I know is that the malls are more crowded than ever, the wait at almost every restaurant every night is 20-30 minutes and despite gas prices there is still an unbelievable amount of traffic. I see little change or difference around here. Anyone else seeing it?

It's Over

Well, one big event down.... and I'm honestly not really sure if we raised more money or more awareness. Awareness of the kind we had not attended: how our church handles fundraising! Our actual event had a meager turnout. It is arguable about how/why that happened, and we could analyze it until we're blue in the face. The good news is that, despite poor turnout and even more meager participation... we raised almost $2000. That will help with our immense budget.

We've been throwing around our thoughts about fundraising for missions and we've learned a lot this year about just that thing. Once we hash it all out, we'll talk about it more. For now, let's just say: God always provides. If that is not clear in everything we are doing, then we're totally missing the point. Impossible looking things scare us, they also allow God to step in and be God. Until we admit our weakness, our inability to make things of God happen without Him we will be anxious about the "insurmountable" task at hand. We are realizing we have so much to learn about God.

So, we are plowing ahead here - moving on to getting things done for our trips. I'm not sure we'll do another fundraiser. There's only so much we can do as volunteer leaders!!

Perspective

I think sometimes God stops us in our tracks, our "busy" tracks, to remind us how precious life is. I've been running around today.... volunteer breakfast, making brownies for our fundraiser tomorrow, having our last set of beautiful lights put in over our island, picking up Subway for my 4th grader's end of the year picnic, hanging out with parents, goofing around on the computer, taking my girls to swim team practice.... when something has really stopped me in my tracks. I found out this afternoon that a 6th grader in our youth ministry, someone who never had a chance to meet T and I or go on any summer trips, just passed away. Even without knowing this young girl, I am still heartbroken for her family, friends, youth workers and everyone who has been fervently praying for her recovery for the past 10 weeks that she's been hospitalized. When we stop to think about life, and death, it really puts things into perspective. And it makes it a little bit harder to feel busy - at least for me. I'd rather live than be running around trying to catch my breath all the time. And I'm going to take more time to be with my own kids while we're all here!

Please keep this family in your prayers.

A Day to Myself

It's strange to have one of these, but I'm enjoying mine!! In many ways, it's my last hurrah. Tomorrow is Kt's picnic, Friday I'm working, then we have that silent auction, this weekend - well, those are never really just mine, Monday the girls have their dentist appointments (and if they are anything like mine yesterday, I'm petrified for them!!) to have their cavaties filled, Tuesday I work, Wednesday is Em's class picnic and a half day, Thursday and Friday are the last two half days of school and I'm signed up to help pack up our school office for renovations. Then, that's it until the end of August.

So, what does one do on their last quiet day? I spent some time on the computer catching up with friends, ran over to drop something off to T, made a little trip to Trader Joe's - we've fallen in love with their frozen chinese food since I can't cook chinese and it's too expensive to order out, swung by 5 Below for some auction decor, came home to clean up the kitchen, doing laundry and eventually I hope to make it upstairs for something... not sure what yet, but I'm sure I'll think of something on my way.

Tonight, I'll be baking some zucchini bread for the bake sale portion of our silent auction. If you live around here and want some free ice cream sundaes on Friday night, come see us!! You can meet our teams and hear about our trips - it will be fun!!

OK - I have 45 minutes left of freedom... let the countdown begin!

Dumbfounded

Remember my neighbor's new deck? Well, I just found out that the little dugout area next to it is going to be filled with concrete to create a backyard basketball half court. They are taking out the gorgeous cherry blossom tree to do this. On a brighter note, at least it's more like 30 feet away from my bed!

Colorblind?

For real, I'm wondering if Em is colorblind. I'd always wondered that when she was a toddler. It took her forever and a day to learn her colors. In fact, once she could actually distinguish them, she knew them but wouldn't tell me - she'd just get them ALL wrong. I mean, 100% of the time. That's when I realized she was pulling the wool over my eyes and wasn't really colorblind at all.

At least that's what I thought then. She aced her colors on a kindergarten entrance exam, although they actually only show you about 7 colors - all basic. She hates coloring and typically colors everything in either one or two colors or just colors everything the wrong color. Her art teacher has never been impressed with her seeming disinterest in art - matching colors, painting, etc. I knew she was not really into colors, but she is artistic...

So, today is hero day and the girls were supposed to wear red, white and blue to school. Em had on a pink shirt, so when we sent her to find a red one, she came back with an even pinker one! I asked her if she really thought it was red, and she held it up, shaking her head and said, "Well, it looks red to me!!" She was not kidding at all, even to the point of asking her sister what color it was, as if they were going to prove me wrong!!

Of course, this reminded me that lately, her coloring has improved a bit, at least on color choice. BUT, just the other day she was coloring in a picture and went to choose a sky color, she said, "Ah, Cornflower Blue, that will be the sky." I just realized it's the first time she's been able to read all the names of all the colors! and that's how she's choosing her crayons now. Very interesting.

My dad was colorblind, so I've always been in tune to the fact that not everyone sees what I see. I imagine for a child who is colorblind, art would be a challenge, coloring would seem a little pointless and for a child who is always concerned about doing something wrong, it makes even more sense that she might choose to not draw a picture if she thought someone would criticize it. It's all beginning to make more sense... intersting. Of course, I could be totally wrong, too! =)

UPDATE: So, I did one of those online quicky tests and this child passed with flying colors! LOL Anyway, she will always be a mystery!

Sorta Busy Weekend

So, it was semibusy, but also restful. We got our extra room ready for our summer house guest, who stopped in, dropped off her stuff and headed out to see those friends of hers she has all over town. No sooner was she off then T took Em to the Nighttime Pediatrics. She's been complaining since dinner that her ear hurts - which is unusual for her. Unfortunately, the unusual thing is her complaining - we are no strangers to nasty ear infections. The trouble is, by the time that one is complaining, it usually a really bad double ear infection... and that's what it is!! Poor little girl. This is no way to start off our swim season, first practice tomorrow and our first cavity is supposed to be filled on Tuesday.

We had our fence guy come out today. Our backyard is a bit larger than we thought. It's still a triangle, but we own 18 feet off to one side of our house - not what we expected. So far, a fence is likely not an option because the neighbors we love aren't very interested in a fence... so we'll wait. It was some good info and some great ideas, though, from our neighbor the fence builder - we're going to have to repay him generously for his time. =)

Sounds like they're back - getting down our first dose of penicillen. I've been working on a few auction things - that's this Friday. More on fundraising ideas that've we've been throwing around in a bit.... for now, it's a go. So, this week... busy, busy, busy!