Lack of Posting

Things have been busy! For those of you that don't know me well, I don't like for things to be busy. I like to be home with my kids during the week without much running around. Most people call it the daily duldrums or the daily grind, but I like it that way!

Our real estate agent came over on Wednesday night, so I had cleaned and de-cluttered the entire house. That was alot of work! She thought the house looked so much better than when we bought it, so that was encouraging. We have replaced the ceiling fans, light fixtures, taken down wallpaper, painted rooms, cabinets and did a neat, simple trick with spray paint. We (by we, I mean Jeromy) spray painted the handles to the bathroom cabinets silver, they were an ugly gold color, and spray painted the rusty old gold pendant lights in the back bathroom. They look great and we saved money. The cheapest pendant lights , those are the kind that hang down from the ceiling, we could find were $25 a piece. She also thought we should list it for way more than we were thinking, so that was even better! She is going to give a virtual tour to the agents in her office (30+ of them), and then the house will officially go on the market April 19. By then we need to clean up the property, weed wack the river front, weed the flower beds in the front, and have a massive garage sale.

Oh, and my in-laws are in town for the next week, so things are busy!! Their visit will be good because we will have to take a break and have some fun too. I will try to take lots of pictures of all the fun, but bear with me as it may take a while to get back into posting very often.

~Tozer- Thoughts on the Cross~

The cross would not be a cross to us if it destroyed in us only the unreal and the artificial. It is when it goes on to slay the best in us that its cruel sharpness is felt.
-Born After Midnight

We must do something about the cross, and one of two things only we can do- flee it or die upon it.
-The Root of the Righteous

Every advance that we make for God and for His cause must be made at our inconvenience. If it does not inconvenience us at all, there is no cross in it! If we have been able to reduce spirituality to a smooth pattern and it costs us nothing-no disturbance, no bother and no element of scarifice in it-we are not getting anywhere with God.
-I Talk Back to the Devil

One of the reasons we exhibit very little spiritual power is because we are unwilling to accept and experience the fellowship of the Savior's sufferings, which means acceptance of His cross
-I Talk Back to the Devil

The pain of the cross means that we are in the way.
-That Incredible Christian

I have not read, in their entirety, all of these quoted works by Tozer, but I have read, and am currently re-reading, The Pursuit of God, A 31-Day Experience by A.W. Tozer compiled by Edythe Draper. It is the complete text of his classic, The Pursuit of God, divided into 31 daily readings with added quotations from his other numerous works (40+) and from additional contemporary and classic authors as well. It is so rich with insight and passion for Christ and is truly a wonderful devotional. If you are looking for a new companion to your time in the Word, you will love this book!

House Selling

I love those shows on HGTV that have an expert come in and tell people what they can do to make their homes more desirable to prospective buyers. What is always so frusterating is the fact that they make their house look SO much better than it did before for SOMEONE else. If they would have done these improvements earlier, they could have enjoyed living somewhere nicer. I always have had the feeling that I wanted to enjoy the nicer home instead of just fixing it up before selling it. Well, we are in the process of fixing up some things (for someone else) because we are going to talk to our real estate agent about putting it on the market in a month or so.

So far Jeromy has painted the front bathroom and cupboards, changed the light fixture in there and repainted the bottom of the shower that was rusty and gross. It looks so much better and I can't believe we (by that I mean he) didn't do it sooner! Granted we have only been here for a year, but still! Today he replaced the two very outdated ceiling fans in our living room/dining room, one of which had lights that didn't work. Now he is in his shop painting the drawer and cabinet fronts to the back bathroom cabinets that we started before we moved in but never finished. He is also spray painting all of our bathroom hardware silver instead of the gold they are now.

Our house will look so nice for those next owners to enjoy! There is just something so fundamentally wrong with that!

(For those of you that didn't know we were considering selling, well, we are! We want to start living debt free and this will be our ticket to that lifestyle! We will stay in this area and just rent for a while.)

Girls That Love Shoes

Rachel has been going through a rough patch lately. She has been super fussy and temper-tantrum prone. She is usually really happy and easy going, so these rough patches are hard for all of us. She has still had sweet moments mixed in with the fussies, so I thought it would be good to write a positive post about her to make parenting her easier right now! She has been spending alot of time outside since our weather has been so nice lately. She even outlasts Bennett out there, if you can believe it. The other night, Bennett was helping Jeromy paint our bathroom, so I let Rachel go play outside with her little push bike. She was a happy little girl, and I had to take some pictures of her because she looked so cute.






Her other new obsession is shoes! She has been spending so much time putting on Bennett's shoes lately. His rubber boots are her favorite, and she gets so excited when she manages to get them on. She says, "Did it!" It is so fun to watch her concentrate so hard, and she is really patient.

Bennett's Elmo tennnis shoes.


Maybe it would help if I lie down.


Ouch, I dropped it on my head!


I still love you shoes!



We all had dinner with my mom and a family friend on Sunday night. The friend was telling us a story about when her daughter was around Rachel's age, she would insist on wearing what she wanted to wear and wouldn't let anyone pick her clothes out for her. I had made the comment that it was so nice how easy going Rachel is and that she is happy as long as it is a "pretty" (that's what she calls her dresses.) Well, the very next day Rachel insisted on wearing sandals (it was cold out) and I told her she had to wear her boots. She was really upset to say the least. Every day since then, she is really picky about what shoes she wears. Unbelievable! The purple sweater she is wearing in all the above pictures is also something that she has insisted on wearing for several days now. I just tried to take it off of her because it is warm in the house, and she wouldn't let me. I told her that it was too hot and she said, "No, warm." I guess it is about time for the little self-will to make its appearance. Bennett was pretty well worked into shape by her age, so she's just a little late I guess. Unfortunately, she can talk though, Bennett was too little and would just grunt or something. I never look forward to the talking. If only they would have all nice things to say. Parenthood......Gotta love it!

One last story....... Bennett was just trying to tell Rachel he was sorry for hitting her in the head with a plastic hanger. He gave her a hug and said, "I forgive you." (He gets confused with that one) A hug apparently wasn't good enough. She needed a kiss too. I just looked up to see him chasing a screaming Rachel through the living room, tackle her to the ground, and kiss her. Man, what an apology. We need to work on that one I think.

Midwife Appointment #2

Okay, I am perturbed with myself that I can't come up with a witty title for this blog entry, but alas, I cannot. This was my first visit to the midwife with the kids, who are normally well-behaved, but you never know what can happen. They did very well and enjoyed getting weighed on the scale, getting to help put the goopy stuff on the doppler, listening to the baby's heartbeat, and getting lollipops after the appointment. The midwife remembered our disagreement with my due date, and we were both anxious to see where she thought I was at now. Last visit, I thought I was 10.5 weeks and she thought I was 14-16 weeks along. This time I think I am 14.5 weeks and she said it felt like 17 weeks at the most, 18 weeks would be stretching it, so not the 18 to 20 weeks that she had expected. I usually feel the baby move on a regular basis around 20 weeks, so I think that is going to be the best way to tell gestation. She still wants me to have an ultrasound done to get a more definite due date to ease both of our minds. I told her that Jeromy wants to know the sex of the baby, and I only want to have 1 ultrasound, so it has to be after 18 weeks. She told me to call her when I feel the baby moving for sure (I might have felt the baby, but am not positive yet) and she will schedule the ultrasound. For all your that are hoping for twins, she said that I would still only measure 2 weeks bigger, so that is still a possibility. So.........I don't know anything more than I knew before. It was nice once again to hear that little heartbeat. When you can't feel the baby moving in there yet, it is hard to know how things are doing. That's all the exciting news for now. I wish I had more definite answers, but for now I have to wait.

I JUST DON'T BELIEVE IT!

Yesterday at church some of the women were talking about strange pregnancy stories. There is a woman locally, she sees the midwife that one of the ladies from my church sees, that is 37 weeks pregnant and just found out she was carrying twins. I just can't imagine the war going on inside my womb and thinking I just had a really active baby. I can't imagine 2 people kicking and pushing in there and not thinking something was different. That led to the story of someone else's friend who gave birth to twins when she didn't even know she was carrying multiples. She birthed one baby but her abdomen was still huge and she was still having contractions and out comes a second baby. She even had an ultrasound done but one of the babies was hiding behind the other. That led to a story that one of the women had read in the newspaper about a local woman who gave birth in the hospital parking lot. She was on her way to the ER because she was experiencing strange abdominal cramping. (DUH!) She didn't know she was pregnant. I just can't believe that! I guess she was overweight and just didn't notice the signs?! Anyone that has felt a baby try to poke an elbow out your stomache skin or crack a foot up into a rib would understand how CRAZY this is! How could you miss all the signs? My thought was that I hope they didn't let a baby go home with someone that didn't even notice she was pregnant. How could you trust that she would notice things like, oops, did I leave my baby somewhere, or how long has that baby been crying, or when did I feed it last? I just can't imagine. The last crazy story was of a woman who called her husband to meet her at the hospital, she had just given birth, and he never knew she was pregnant. I guess she too was a plump woman, and he just never noticed. "Boy honey, you sure do use the bathroom alot these days!" That is not so far fetched as the woman herself not knowing though.

That whole conversation was brought about because I see the midwife tomorrow, and I think that I am looking much more pregnant than my normal 14 weeks. I am sure I am over-analyzing things now because I can't really remember how I look at any given stage in the pregnancy. It is weird how fast you forget. We'll see and I will let you all know.

ARGHHH!! Food Allergies!!

I am so frusterated by food allergies. Why do my children and I have them, and how can I get rid of them? There are so many theories and philosophies on the subject, and truly I just think no one really knows. One of the more frusterating things about my own food allergies is that I didn't think I had any (aside from the allergy to dairy that I have always had.) I didn't think I had any OTHER food allergies. Rachel started getting eczema around 3 months of age, and I knew enough to know that a food allergy was most likely the culprit. I already don't eat dairy, so I decided to go off wheat and sure enough, within 3 days, eczema gone! Bennett has had physical symptoms as well, but I was never sure what his trigger foods were.

When we moved to WA, we went to see the local naturopath doctor who sent us for blood testing to determine what exactly our allergies are. Granted, these tests are not 100% effective, but I figured they would give us some good information to go on. I was shocked when the results came back that I was allergic to gluten and eggs. I never had any symptoms after eating them, how could this be? The other thing was that the test rated how allergic a person is to different foods, non-reactive, moderate, or severe. I tested off the charts, past severe, reactive to gluten and eggs. (I also showed up moderately reactive to garlic and pineapple. Weird, I know.) Bennett tested moderately allergic to gluten which meant he should be able to eat gluten once every 4 days.

I have read that food allergies can get better if you stay off your trigger foods and allow time for your body to heal. With that goal, I was willing to give gluten-free a try for a year and then be retested to see if anything changed. During this trial period, instead of feeling better and like my body was healing, I seemed to be getting other problems (like IBS, I'll spare the details!) I didn't think I had before. Could it be that I have other food allergies that didn't show up? Am I eating more corn, for instance, since I can't have wheat? This is SO frusterating! Bennett used to have bumps on his legs that went away after he went off wheat, but he seems to have IBS as well. Rachel has been symptom free since I went off wheat and isn't fed any now that she eats real food. She seems to be doing the best out of all of us.

Enter pregnancy and morning sickness and the inability to eat much of anything but only wanting wheat foods. I fell off the GF bandwagon pretty hard and didn't feel like I was having any sypmtoms (In fact, my IBS seemed better). Within the first week of eating wheat, I started to notice I was getting headaches I wasn't getting before. I realized I needed to pay attention to when I was getting them and sure enough, it was after I ate wheat. Not only that, but the headaches have started getting worse with each wheat-eating episode. I had a sandwich yesterday and had a migraine that afternoon, and I don't get those normally! Jeromy doesn't believe that the wheat is giving me a headache, but I can't imagine I am crazy enough to be giving them to myself. I don't WANT to be allergic to wheat.

I was reading the Above Rubies website recently and came across the idea of culturing food (ie. saurkraut, kim chee, yogurt, kefir, beets, etc.). The process of culturing food creates the good bacteria (probiotics vs. antibiotics) that can in time heal a problematic digestive system when the good guys outnumber the bad guys. I like saurkraut well enough, so I will probably give it a try. My only question is.... How much saurkraut does one person have to eat? I'll keep you posted!

Homeschooling

My kids love to "help." The amount of water outside of the sink during dishwashing is the main reason that I try to talk the kids out of "helping" me wash them. I struggle with this as I know that encouraging them to help is so important but getting frusterated with them is not. Bennett has had his chores that he is in charge of since he could walk. He unloads the dryer, puts away his clothes, helps put away his clean dishes, keeps his room clean, fills water cups for himself and Rachel, and the new addition is clearing the table after dinner. It is so amazing what he is capable of. I started teaching him to wash the floor with a rag, but he wasn't very close to being able to do it himself, so we'll hold off on that one.

Rachel likes to do everything Bennett does, so we have modified chores for her as well. She picks up her own toys, pushes the wet laundry into the dryer (I put it on the door for her), throws away the dirty napkins and trash from the table after meals. It may seem like we have a forced labor camp going on here, but the great thing is that the kids WANT to do these things. They like to be with me and doing the things I am doing. They also like to feel productive and proud of the good jobs they are doing that help the family. I want my kids to feel like an important, integral part of our family. It isn't because I am lazy and want someone else to do my chores, I want them to value our family as a unit and see that we all rely on one another to keep it functioning well. I think parents often lose the hearts of their children because the children simply don't feel needed, so they drift to their peer group for somewhere to belong.

What does this have to do with homeschooling you are wondering? I consider myself a homeschooling mom. Me teaching and my children learning is what fills our entire day. From reciting the alphabet to reading the Bible to learning a new chore, we are home and we are learning. To coin a phrase that I have heard before, we are homelearning. Life is integrated with learning and that is my biggest "homeschooling" philosophy. Learning isn't something that has to be separated from life. It is life, or at least it should be. People ask Bennett all the time if he has started school yet, and he says, "Yes, I homeschool!" I smile and people usually just walk away at that point, but it is the truth. We are homeschooling!

Nice Day

Here in Eastern Washington, we have started to have a few nice days sprinkled into the normal cold days and the ever possible snow flurry. The kids have been spending hours outside playing and having so much fun. Bennett has been waking up asking to go play outside. When I ask Rachel if she wants to go play outside, she tells me, "No, cold." She is conditioned to think it is ALWAYS cold outside. Poor thing!



This is what they were playing before I "released" them outside. Bennett spread out a big blanket and said they were playing "picnic." It was pretty cute. (Notice Rachel's face. Everytime I pull out the camera and she sees it, this is the face she makes!)


Lunch outside at their table.



These are my tulips starting to come up. See the green leaves coming up in the bark. I am so excited.


These are more tulips I am assuming. A wonderful woman from church brought me a bunch of bulbs last year, tulips and gladiolas, and I tried to keep the different bulbs separate. I had something that I think were lavander crocuses come up in the fall, so I am not really sure what is going on in this little space. I had a bigger plant growing there until I saw the crocuses and had to move the plant somewhere else. One of our resident bunny rabbits has since eaten the plant I am afraid.

Brotherly Love

This is what brotherly love looks like..................



Although, sometimes brotherly love turns into a headlock.

Aebleskiver Christ: A call to conscious conduct

Last week we worked our way through the Westminster Shorter Catechism (WSC) question #31 which reads:

Question: What is effective calling?
Answer: Effective calling is the work of God's Spirit, Who convinces us that we are sinful and miserable, Who enlightens our minds in the knowledge of Christ, and Who renews our wills. This is how He persuades and makes us able to receive Jesus Christ, Who is freely offered in the gospel.

So what does this have to do with Aebleskivers you might ask? Some of you might be wondering what an Aebleskiver is. An Aebleskiver is a Danish treat much like a filled donut which is made in a special pan.

When we were in California we used to watch PBS rather regularly and we liked a show called California Gold. The show was hosted by a guy named Huell Howser who would go throughout California showing different landmarks and sites and interview the people who lived there. Being from the central coast we always loved to see things in our backyard (Harmony, San Simeon, Morro Bay etc). One show we watched was on Solvang, CA, a cute Danish tourist town near Santa Barbara, which was about an hour south of us.

So now you may be asking what Aebleskivers might have to do with the WSC. I'm telling you, kids have the best memories. We were working through this question and Bennett was reciting the answer when he said " This is how He makes us Aebleskiver to receive Jesus Christ." Samantha and I instantly broke out in laughter knowing what he was referencing even though we saw this episode nearly 2.5 years and 4 moves ago! He has never even had an Aebleskiver (he likes his food, like his dad), but it was locked into his memory.

So if you think your children are not paying attention to what you watch on TV, how you do business or talk to your spouse you are quite frankly wrong.

Let's do a better job of filtering what we place before the eyes of our precious children and ourselves for that matter.

Psa. 101:3 I will set no worthless thing before my eyes

The (RED) campaign

I recently added a (RED) tag to our blog to show my support for the campaign, so I thought an explanation would be in order for those of you that have never heard of it. The following is the (RED) campaign manifesto:

ALL THINGS BEING EQUAL. THEY ARE NOT.

AS CONSUMERS, WE HAVE TREMENDOUS POWER.
WHAT WE COLLECTIVELY CHOOSE TO BUY OR NOT TO BUY,
CAN CHANGE THE COURSE OF LIFE AND HISTORY ON THIS PLANET.

(RED) IS THAT SIMPLE AN IDEA. AND THAT POWERFUL. NOW YOU HAVE A CHOICE.
THERE ARE (RED) PHONES, (RED) SHOES, (RED) MP3 PLAYER, (RED) FASHION BRANDS.
AND NO, THIS DOES NOT MEAN THEY ARE ALL RED IN COLOR, ALTHOUGH SOME ARE.

IF YOU BUY A (RED) PRODUCT, AT NO COST TO YOU
A (RED) COMPANY WILL GIVE UP TO HALF THEIR PROFITS TO BUY AND DISTRIBUTE
ANTI-RETROVIAL MEDICINE TO OUR BROTHERS AND SISTERS DYING OF AIDS IN AFRICA.

WE BELIEVE THAT WHEN CONSUMERS ARE OFFERED THIS CHOICE
AND THE PRODUCTS MEET THEIR NEEDS, THEY WILL CHOOSE (RED).
AND WHEN THEY CHOSE (RED) OVER NON-(RED), THEN MORE BRANDS WILL BECOME (RED)
BECAUSE IT WILL MAKE GOOD BUSINESS SENSE TO DO SO. AND MORE LIVES WILL BE SAVED.

(RED) IS NOT A CHARITY. IT IS SIMPLY A BUSINESS MODEL.
YOU BUY (RED) STUFF, WE GET THE MONEY, BUY THE PILLS AND DISTRIBUTE THEM.
THEY TAKE THE PILLS, STAY ALIVE AND CONTINUE TO TAKE CARE OF THEIR FAMILIES
AND CONTRIBUTE SOCIALLY AND ECONOMICALLY IN THEIR COMMUNITIES.

IF THEY DON’T GET THE PILLS, THEY DIE.
WE WANT THEM TO LIVE.
WE WANT TO GIVE THEM THE PILLS.
AND WE CAN. AND YOU CAN. AND IT’S EASY.

ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS UPGRADE YOUR CHOICE.

The Sky is Falling?

A friend of ours (Thanks, Matt!) recently had this link on his blog, and it is an interesting commentary about global warming.

I listened to a radio show called Generations recently talking about the same subject. There were a few interesting things though that one would never hear from the mainstream media.

-Global temperature, with the current means of measurement, is reported to be 6/10 of a degree warmer. The error factor in that measurement is plus or minus 2 degrees. That is not even in the realm of measureability!
-Did you know that the Vikings used to farm Greenland?! That is that really big mass of land that nowadays is just ICE! Greenland used to be about 2 degrees Celsius warmer.
-The early arrival of migratory birds in the spring is supposed to mean that the north is getting warmer, but did you know that Anarctic penguins are arriving at their spring nesting grounds 9 days later than 50 years ago, and East Anarctica is getting colder?
-Sea ice is diminishing in the Arctic, but did you know that sea ice has grown 8% in the south ocean?

To listen to the audio of the broadcast click on What to do When the Sky is Falling.

The cooking dadda and Jonathan Edwards

That's right. I have been cooking at least dinner for the past 3 weeks. And yes we are still alive. Praise God. I have a much greater understanding of what women and especially working women go through and I feel for them. When I get home in the evening the last thing I want to do is cook and then even worse is having to clean up afterwards.

But you know, this has been a good time of character shaping. The Lord is working through some issues with me and I am learning more patience and understanding. I must admit my attitude was not the best the first week or so. It was hard for me to get over self and serve my family. I could justify by saying "isn't going to work all day long enough?" The answer is a resounding "no!" My calling is not to do enough, it is to do, PERIOD!

I am sure this is not going to be easy, and I would appreciate your prayers as the Lord makes this transition in me. It's all about routine. Once I was in the routine of coming home and playing with the kids and relaxing, that is what I expected to do. Correspondingly, I would not have the best attitude when asked to break from this routine. It is my prayer that I will be able to continue to serve my family as I should.

I was reminded today of Jonathan Edward's Resolutions. He wrote these to empower himself in the moment of decision. They are very inspirational and I would suggest you take a look. He thought out what his life was supposed to look like in advance so that when the moment of decision came he would act rather than react. I am going to work through his and write my own. Here is just a peek:

Jonathan Edwards on road rage (probably not what he was resolving, but think about. Problem solved):

15. Resolved, Never to suffer the least motions of anger towards irrational beings.

To this end, I believe it is my role as head of this household to be the vision setter. Yikes! I am going to be working through and setting some longer range goals for our family. Please pray for us as we try to figure out what the Lord would have us do to further His kingdom. It is exciting not knowing where you will be in 3 years or 6 months! All I do know is I want to start setting goals and working toward them. I'll keep you posted.

Cravings of a Pregnant Mama

For all of you SLO County readers out there, can I tell you how much I am craving Firestones today! We just don't have anything close to as good as Firestones here. The only substitute I have found is a place in Kennewick called Majors. They have BBQ and other sides (it is more like JD Boones). They just don't have the yummy sweet BBQ sauce and really good seasoned fries like Firestones though. Jeromy doesn't like Majors all that much, so I can't even get him to go very often. Sigh! (Jeromy misses In-N-Out the most!)

(I just had to take a 5 minute break from writing this post because Bennett hit his finger with a hammer outside and was screaming like a crazy person. No broken skin, just a blood blister. Boys, I'll tell ya!)

I think I am hungry because all I feel like writing about is food. I don't mind eating food these days, just preparing it. I am fighting with myself about going to Burger King. I know it isn't good for me, but I really want a fish sandwich and french fries. Oh, for those of you that don't know, I fell off the gluten-free wagon. I tested really allergic to gluten and eggs last year and have been really good about staying away from it. Well, since being pregnant all I want is starchy food, bread mainly! To tell you the truth, I don't feel physically worse since I have been eating it which makes it hard to think that I am allergic to it. I had the testing done because Rachel and Bennett were reacting to foods and they are both gluten intolerant with physical symptoms if they eat it. I don't know what I will do in the long run, but for now, I am eating wheat! My only concern is sensitizing my unborn baby to it. I have read that food allergies are very hereditary and you can sensitize a baby to foods that you are allergic to if you eat them while pregnant. No one knows for sure. I guess I would have to stay off the foods while pregnant to see if I get a kid with no food allergies. Not this time I am afraid.

(Okay, that was my second break. Rachel was running and fell in the gravel and scraped her hands and got mud on her face. I remember how bad it feels to scrape your palms when you are a kid. Ouch!)

I lived on Taco Bell, Fatte's Pizza and Tacos de Mexico when I was in my first trimester with Bennett. I guess he turned out all right. I should probably add donuts into that first list as well. I was working at Lifeline in Grover Beach, CA and Taco Bell was right across the street and a donut shop was at the end of the block. Maria was my partner in crime and we enjoyed many a donut from that establishment. Dawn used to get so mad at me for eating Taco Bell because of all the "junk" in it. Ah, those were good days. I wonder how much healthier babies were a 100 years ago when all there was to eat was "real" food. Salt was the only preservative they had.

Now I am REALLY hungry and need to go do something about it. Bye for now!

Daily Life

I don't have much to post about because we haven't been going anywhere except for church and story time once a week. I haven't been reading, knitting, cooking, or scrapbooking. What have I been doing you ask. Absolutely nothing. It is strange, but true. I don't feel like doing anything. I read to the kids alot these days because I get to lie on the couch while doing it! I have been taking vitamin B-6 supplements, and the nausea is waning, but it is being replaced with fatigue. I would take fatigue over nausea any day!

I have been spending way too much time on the computer reading other people's blogs and web surfing. I love reading adoption stories and all the faith that it takes to get through the process. I just read the blog of a woman who adopted an HIV+ teen girl a few months ago and how the process has been for the new daughter and the adoptive family. I just can't get enough adoption stories. It is such an amazing thing to open your heart and home to a child or a sibling group without a mom and a dad, loving the fatherless. It just seems like such a Christ-like thing to do.

Spring seems like it is just around the corner. I have been enjoying the warm sun streaming through the windows! My tulips are starting to come up (the green parts) which is SO exciting! Our apple tree has a ton of little buds on it. The weather has been warmer lately, high 40s and low 50s. The kids have been playing outside everyday which is easy to tell by the piles of dirt all over the deck and walkways. Bennett is an excavator, moving dirt from one place to another, and Rachel is following suit! I can't wait for spring and warmer days, not summer mind you, but the 60s and 70s. That is my favorite! You can tell I am a SLO county girl. I love those mild temperatures.

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

Just a little bit of snow, but it reminds me how much I like living somewhere that it snows. So beautiful. It doesn't look like this will "stick," but it is so fun to watch it fall.

Do it yourself and save!

The check engine light on our MPV went on... well too long ago. I decided I would figure out what the problem was and fix it myself. My theory is (when possible) to do it myself and buy the tools rather than paying someone else to do it. When Samantha called and told me the check engine light was on I asked if it was yellow, blinking yellow or red. Luckily it was solid yellow telling me that it was most likely just a smog system that had thrown the Trouble Diagnostic Code (TDC). For those of you who are not familiar, newer vehicles have computers and sensors throughout the car that can tell you when there is a problem. They do this through the check engine light. Since the light was solid yellow I told Samantha to do her shopping and head home. I purchased a TDC reader which told me I had a bad O2 sensor. The great thing about these readers is that they will even tell you which sensor has failed (our van has 4). I called the dealership to find out how much it would cost to have them replace it and they wanted $220 to install a new one. I don't think so. I bought some ramps, ordered a replacement generic O2 sensor offline and today installed it. Here is what it cost me to do the repair:

Trouble Diagnostic Code reader $40
New Generic O2 Sensor $52
Ramps $40

So basically I saved myself $90 doing it myself and no I have not figured out what I "paid" myself per hour to do this repair.Not much. I look at it this way, I got some experience, and I have the tools for next time.

Jeromy

Feeling Better

Well, it has been 3 days now that I have been feeling a little better. Evening/nightime is still a little hard at times and going into the kitchen is still a trigger, but I am definitely feeling better. I have started taking ginger and vitamin B-6 to help the process along, but I am holding off on the vitamin B injections and accupunture, for now. I don't think I'll need them. I have been feeling much hungrier lately as well, so things are progressing nicely. I don't know what this all means with my due date. It would seem that I shouldn't be feeling better yet if I am only 11 weeks along, so maybe I am farther along than I think. I should be able to figure that out when I feel the baby moving around. That usually happens for me around 18 weeks. Some friends of mine, who will remain nameless, are still rooting for twins, but that is only because they are a twin themself!

Midwife Appointment

I had my first pre-natal appointment today. The same 'ol stuff. "No, I don't use IV drugs. No, I am not a victim of domestic abuse. No I don't smoke or drink during pregnancy." I have never seen this midwife before. She is one of two midwives in our area that are licensed to do homebirths. The other one is a naturopath doctor who I see for my food allergy problems and also take the kids to. The doctor doesn't accept insurance for homebirths and the other midwife does, so the choice was simple.

I was hoping to hear the heartbeat today. You can sometimes hear it as early as 10 1/2 weeks, which I am today. We heard the heartbeat right away and very easily. That fact coupled with my uterus size and placement makes her think that I am 4-6 weeks further along than I think I am. She did say that she has been wrong before. I asked her if my long torso and being so tall could make that happen, and she said that it would do the opposite. It should be lower and smaller.

There are a few things that makes me think that I am further along and a few things that make me think I am only at 10 weeks. I started getting sick around 5 weeks when I don't usually feel sick until 8-9 weeks. I should start feeling better any day now if I am indeed 14-16 weeks along, but I have been feeling worse which is is usually true with week 10 and 11. I have a friend that is convinced I am having twins. I mentioned it to the midwife and she said that I would be only showing 2 weeks bigger, not 4. (Maybe I am two weeks further along with twins?) She said I could have an ultrasound done to date the pregnancy accurately, but I was so sure that I do have the accurate date. I think I will probably wait until my next visit to see if I am still measuring large before having the ultrasound done. Jeromy and I were thinking that we might like to know the sex of this baby. We have done it both ways and it is nicer/easier for Jeromy to bond with a baby before it's born when he knows if it is a boy or a girl. We'll see.

My due date if I am 10 weeks along is September 15th. My midwife will be 3 hours away in Seattle on September 14th, for her neice's wedding. That would be a bummer! It is nice to know that my baby is doing well and has a little heart beat. Thank you Lord for letting me hear that today!

What a Difference a Day Makes

Kids are amazing. Bennett spent the entire day yesterday lying on the couch and hardly ate a thing. He didn't even want to watch a video. His face was bright red, (he has his own body thermometer, it's helpful) and his cheeks were on fire. He woke up this morning cool as a cucumber, hungry and full of energy. Kids are so resilient, I just can't get over it. He is jumping around and playing like nothing happened. It was nice that he didn't want to eat anything yesterday. It kept me from having to go into the kitchen and think about food. Today, I am not so lucky. It is lunchtime and I don't know how I am going to get through lunch prep. Maybe more cold cereal for lunch? My poor kids!

Sick

Poor little Bennett woke up this morning with a high fever and a sore throat. I have had a headache and sore throat as well, so I stayed home with him from church. My morning sickness seems to be getting worse, but I recently read that week 10 and 11 are usually the worst. I have my first midwife appointment on Tuesday and hopefully I can hear the baby's heartbeat. That is always so reassuring! I am going to talk to her about acupuncture. I know, it's kind of weird, but I have been reading about women with bad morning sickness that have been helped by it. At this point, I am desperate enough to try just about anything. Please pray I don't get the full blown flu, I don't think I could handle it with how bad I already feel. Pray that Rachel and Jeromy stay healthy as well. That is all that is going on here, but it is enough!! Thank you for your prayers.

Blessed

It has been so awesome to see the body of Christ step in to help me since I have been feeling so sick lately. A friend brought over dinner last night and someone else offered to come over this afternoon to do some cleaning. I have a hard time asking for help, as I know many of us do, but how blessed I feel to have people that are willing to offer their help to me. I know that is what brotherly and sisterly love is all about, but it has become a pretty foreign concept in our culture today. People keep to themselves and don't want to intrude on others or don't think they have any extra time to give. But what an example to non-Christians about what love in action looks like. The whole concept of giving your brother the cloak off your own back is something that I want to concentrate more on (when I can get up off the couch that is!) Servanthood. I think that is what it is all about. Life isn't about what we can get out of it, but what we can give. We all have something to give. God has given us each talents to use to serve the body of Christ, and He has given us universal mandates in things like hospitality. You don't have to be good at it, you just have to DO it and afterwards you will realize how blessed YOU were because of it. That is my challenge to you for the day. Reach out to someone that you know could use some help. Invite someone you have been "meaning" to have over for dinner next week. Actually DO it instead of just thinking about doing it. You will bless someone else and in turn will feel blessed yourself.

Bigotry, Racism and Eugenics

Check out this link:
The Most Dangerous Woman of the 19th Century


(The following is an excerpt taken from Alexander C. Sanger's Amazon.com profile. He is currently the Chair of the International Planned Parenthood Council and the grandson of Margaret Sanger.)

Swinging the Vote

To get back into political play, feminists should be looking at ways to swing the women's vote--both in midterm elections and in 2008--by claiming the rubric of successful family life. They should represent parents' desires to have children when it is best to have them, to raise their children safely to adulthood, to get them to adulthood in good health and educated for the jobs of tomorrow. And those jobs are just as much for daughters as for sons.

The anti-choice approach, by contrast, brings back the involuntary motherhood of old, with all the problems and suffering that entailed for women and children. Feminists should talk about abortion, as well as birth control, in terms of family formation, not just as a right or a matter of individual autonomy.

And feminists, even more than they presently do, should talk about child care, school quality, health care reform and national security in terms of the safety of families. Emphasizing these issues will get feminists out of the single-issue abortion pigeon hole and enable them to talk to U.S. women and men, on a broader set of issues about which every citizen has deep concern.
I am the third generation of a family that has been fighting for reproductive freedom, which is in peril now as never before.
Now is not the time to sweep support for abortion rights under a barrel. But new approaches must be found to persuade the American people that being pro-choice makes human sense. Since a one-dimensional approach to abortion rights has not worked, let's try something new.

Too cute!

This morning Rachel was wearing a beautiful dress her Aunt from GA gave her for Christmas. She looked too cute. She also found my hat and decided it would look good with her outfit. It is blue so at least she can coordinate her colors. Enjoy.







Jeromy
for the Markworts

Just Checking In

Just wanted to post to let you know that I am still here and realize that I do have a blog! You will have to excuse the lack of posts for the next few weeks while I get through this first trimester. I have been having a pretty rough time and don't have anything remotely interesting or clever to write about. Keep up with Jeromy's new blog as he is going through Hebrews and would really like some interesting conversations and feedback. It will keep him motivated to work on it too. Please keep me in your prayers and for Jeromy's patience with me while he is having to take over kitchen duties for the time being. It is hard as a housewife not to be able to keep up with my job here, but I am thankful for a helpful husband. I am also excited that our new baby is going to have alot of new friends the same age as I have gotten severalf pregnancy announcements lately. What a blessing!

New Once Far Post

I wanted to let you know there is a new Once Far post. I will be updating the link name at the right to include the verse and date it was posted so it will be easy for you to know when there are new posts. Please don't be a lurker. Post your comments. I am really hoping this page will not just be my thoughts, but a collaboration of ideas.

Thanks, Jeromy

Music at the Markworts

I know that I have recently posted about the musical exploits of my family, but Rachel has now joined in on the fun. Bennett has always enjoyed playing one of Jeromy's harmonicas while Jeromy plays the guitar, but this past Sunday Rachel tried for the first time. She was so good that she impressed herself.


She was so excited about the noises she was creating. It was too cute.


I would not be surprised if one day there was a Markwort family band. (I will not be any part of it, don't worry. Maybe I can do sound or something!)


Bennett is intrigued by the trumpet which he has seen played by one of our pastor's sons. He thinks it is pretty great. He of course wants to play the drums too just like any other active boy that loves movement and NOISE!

Once Far

I have created a new blog. More to come. Check it out (linked above or among our links to the right)!

Jeromy
for the Markworts

Same 'Ol, Same 'Ol

Not much to report from here. I am still sick and tired which means the baby is still doing well I assume. I will go in for an appointment around 11 weeks when they can listen for a heart beat. That will be a great day to hear the heartbeat and know that, at least for now, things are okay. There are never any guarantees, but hearing that little heartbeat is always reassuring.

I don't feel any better physically, but I am finally mentally coping a little better. I am trying to not dwell on the fact that I feel like I have a bad case of food poisoning or the stomache flu and just trying to function despite of it. I am starting to fall behind in things like laundry and house cleaning, but I am willing to give myself a little grace in those areas. Motivation is the hardest thing right now when I don't feel like getting off the couch.

I have been reading the blog of a woman who adopted two baby boys with dwarfism from Acres of Hope in Liberia this last year. She hadn't posted in a while, since before Christmas, and she just posted the other day saying that she, one of her daughters and one of her new sons all have Hepatitis A. She didn't say, but I assume she got it from Liberia which is pretty common. The baby who was on his death bed when she finally got him to the states, congestive heart failure from untreated pnemonia for so long, is in the PICU because he just had his adenoids and tonsils removed. I don't know if it is all related. Anyway, all that to say, that things could always be worse. At least my children are healthy and we have not been nearly as sick this year as we were the last.

I have been reading alot lately again. I go in waves. I am either reading all the time or not at all. I never just read once in a while. I have two books that people have loaned me that I need to read (I have started both, but haven't gotten very far) Teaching the Trivium and Hudson Taylor's biography. I instead have been reading a couple of books that I checked out from the library and feel more compelled to finish quickly before they are due. I already finished Francine River's, The Prophet, the story of Amos. It was pretty good, a novellla so it was a fast read. I am about 3/4 of the way done with, There Is No Me Without You, by Melissa Fay Greene, the story of AIDS in Ethiopia and one woman's response to the crisis. She was a widow and started taking in orphaned children with nowhere to go. It is a pretty powerful look at the devestation the disease has caused in one country. It has been a good read because it takes such a thorough look at the crisis from a historical, political, economic, moral and healthcare standpoint. I have learned alot and am gaining more compassion for the entire issue and all the repercussions that go along with it. I live in a pretty sheltered, Christian environment where the topic du jour is never the AIDS crisis in Africa and what should our Christian response be to it. I think that needs to change. I will definitely be posting more about this topic in the future.

That's all for now, I need to eat!!

Job Interview

For those of you that knew Jeromy had a job interview for a different position within his company, he won't find out this week as previously thought. They have one more interview to conduct later this week and won't have an answer until next week sometime. I'll keep you posted if we have any good news to post!

Good Customer Service?

I have recently needed to contact two different companies with complaints. Each offered to make the situation right.

First, our printer (Epson CX5400) stopped printing following a replacement of ink. This did not make us too happy needless to say given the high price of ink cartridges. So I took the printer apart (it was out of warranty) and cleaned the heads and put it back together (with a few 'modifications'). I broke a small retaining clip which was (if I don't say so myself) rather ingeniously repaired with a staple. I also tore the print head guide which I fixed with, you guessed it, super glue and a staple. After taking it apart several times going deeper each time I came to the conclusion that I was not going to be able to fix it so I went to the last resort. I called Epson. After about 3 calls they agreed to send us a shipping label and either fix or replace it. We were told it would take around 3 weeks. I was just getting impatient as the 3rd week came and went and the next day there was a new printer at our gate. They replaced it with a new one. Not bad.

The second company was Lighthouse Foods. Patty (my mother-in-law) brought over some blue cheese dressing one night and I have been on a kick ever sense. But a week or so ago the store was out so Samantha bought their ranch instead. I was hopeful as I like ranch, but it was one of, if not, the worst I have ever tasted. Not good. So I emailed the company and with in hours they had emailed me a coupon for a free product and 3 $1.00 off coupons. Good responsiveness. I was also pleased with their response.

All this to say that companies (at least good companies) are responsive to their customer's comments. Try it!

Take care and God Bless

Jeromy
for the Markworts

Sympathy

We don't have a dishwasher. Well, actually we do have one. She goes by the name, Samantha. I don't like feeling like am doing dishes all day long, so I usually rinse them and put them in the right side of the sink until after dinner when I do them all at once. The problem is that sometimes we aren't home in the evening like we weren't this past Saturday and Sunday night. This means I have a ridiculous mess to clean up on Monday. Mondays are my busy out-of-the-house days as well. I had to make my shopping list (which I generally do Sunday night, when I am home) when food in general doesn't sound appetizing, get myself and the kids dressed and ready to go, pack snacks (for myself), load everyone up in the car and head out. Thankfully I was feeling pretty okay this morning which was a blessing because yesterday I woke up feeling awfully sick and it never went away. We got home late for lunch and I bought all sorts of weird things that I never usually buy because they sounded good. (fruit cocktail, chicken and rice canned soup, frozen french fries, taquitos, baked beans and potato chips- those of you that know me and how I eat are laughing right now, I know!)

I got all the groceries put away and everyone fed, put the kids down for their nap and now feel tired and nauseous. (sniffle, sniffle, cue the violin) What do I do about that kitchen?

Update

Sorry I haven't been posting much this week. I have not been feeling well and this has meant I am hardly on the computer anymore. I don't have morning sickness. I have noon until bedtime sickness, so mornings are the time I try to get things done because I feel pretty good. This pregnancy must be really strong, which I keep telling myself is a blessing, because I have never started in on the sickies so early. Keep me in your prayers.

Our Mechanical Engineer

Bennett is really amazing on so many levels but his manual dexterity and ability to build interesting things from a young age has always astounded me. He received a wooden work bench for Christmas that came with wood pieces, nuts and bolts, and he creates the coolest things with them. He came in the room a while back yelling, " Mom, mom, look what I built. It's a helicopter." Sure enough it looked just like a helicopter. I wish I would have gotten a picture of it because it was so great, and he was so proud. Mostly he builds things that look like drills or saws or guns or weapons. He made one that he called a router yesterday. (He loves tools and knows the names of them all.)



Bennett showing off his newest creation


Showing me how it works

Have a stove you want to get rid of or need somewhere to live?

We have decided to rent our mobile home, but there is one small problem. We need a stove for it. If you have one you have been wanting to get rid of, great! It needs to be electric and the standard size and of course, work!That being said we are also looking for tenants and would prefer to rent to someone we know or someone with a good referral. Our house is just to the left in the pictures so it is important that we rent to someone we can trust. If you know of someone please don't hesitate to send them our way!

Take care and God Bless, Jeromy
for the Markworts

LibriVox.org

I thought I would post a quick note about one of my favorite resources. I drive close to an hour a day back and forth to work and what better way to make use of that time (other than praying of course) than to listen to a good audio book. LibriVox.org is a site where people volunteer to record themselves reading books. All of these books are in the public domain so, you guessed it, no copyright issues. You may be saying what good books are in the public domain? Well here is just a sample of their offerings:

Aesop. "Aesop's Fables"
Austen, Jane. "Emma"
Baum, L. Frank. "Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz"
Bédier, Joseph. "Tristan and Iseult"
Bunyan, John. "Pilgrim's Progress, The"
Carroll, Lewis. "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland"
Chesterton, G. K. "Innocence of Father Brown, The" (Good book, you're right Matt, it's not Doyle, but good none the less)
Conrad, Joseph. "Heart of Darkness" (the book Apocalypse Now was patterned after)
Dickens, Charles. "Christmas Carol, A"
Stevenson, Robert Louis. "Treasure Island" (a good ol' Pirate story)
Wyss, Johann David. "Swiss Family Robinson, The" (My favorite so far. Such a great tale and great content)
Wells, H. G. "War of the Worlds"
Chaucer, Geoffrey. "Canterbury Tales, The"

Of the longer works they currently have 198 completed books with 181 in progress. There are a couple of things to note. Not all recordings are created equal or equally. They can vary quite a bit so if you download one you don't like try something else. Also there are some that are read by several people. At first I thought this might be acted out be people playing out the characters, but alas it is not. The chapters are read by different people which can be rather distracting. Especially if the main character's name is something hard to pronounce and now you have 5 people with differing opinions.

All and all a good resource for those of us who like audio books, and did I mention the downloads are free! That's right free! Gotta love that.

God Bless and take care, Jeromy

COSTUMES

Popgrandma (Jeromy's mom) sent the kids some costumes a while back and they have so much fun wearing them. Rachel has been pretty afraid of the Tigger costume until recently. Jeromy told her that Tigger ate Bennett, and she wouldn't get anywhere near it after that. This last week was the first time she has asked to put it on herself. She didn't like her own costume at first either, but since seeing other little girls wear it while they were over visiting she is happy to wear it now.


Bennett as Tigger standing still for a brief moment. When he wears the costume he jumps up and down saying, "Boing, Boing, Boing," because that is what we told him Tigger does.


Rachel as our little "Angel," "Fairy," "Princess." We haven't decided what to call the costume yet.


Rachel trying out Tigger for the first time. She was pretty happy with herself. She jumped around just like Bennett does when he wears the costume. BTW, Rachel is a really good jumper for only being 19 months. We kind of marvel at it! Disregard our "Angel," "Fairy," "Princess," son in the background. He couldn't resist and my mom indulged him!

Dance Party

Every night is a dance party at our house. Most nights it is to the music of the Beatles, Bennett's favorite. Get back Jo Jo and I am the Walrus are his favorite songs off of a complilation CD that my mom let him borrow. I am sure glad it isn't ours because I get to give it back! Lately he has been dancing to the Supertones, Jeromy's least favorite. It helps the kids get out all the last of their energy before bed and gives them adequate time to just be silly. They usually get me to join in too, although none of you will ever see that! Bennett's dancing includes spinning, jumping and kicking in crazy ways that always make him fall. Rachel does an interesting jump/spinning thing as well. They are hilarious to watch, and Bennett always sings into his microphone, holds a tambourine and a maracca.

Unrelated Subjects

I have bought things from ebay several times, but have now entered the realm of ebay seller as of yesterday. I just don't see how people make it a business. I am selling some DVD's that Jeromy found in my parent's yard. We think someone threw them over the fence or something. I know, weird. I am also selling some various clothing items. The margain on most items is so small that you would have to sell hundreds or thousands of items per month to make any decent money. You would first have to go out and find hundreds of items to sell and then spend hour upon hour taking pictures and setting up the selling pages. Then you have to package everything and make sure it is going to the right person. I just don't get it. Pocket money, yes, a living, no. Is there some secret thing these ebay sellers are doing that I don't know about. I look forward to any advice from you ebay savvy blog lurkers out there!

On another note, do I actually know anyone from China or the Dominican Republic? We do know a family living in China right now due to a rule that they can't adopt their daughter unless they have lived there for five years. I don't know all the details, but think it is a pretty amazing story. I doubt they know about our humble little blog though. To those two individuals who have signed our Frapper Map, please unveil yourself and let us know who you are. We think it is pretty interesting!

Thankful For My Husband

It is truly wonderful to have a husband that is a fix-it kind of guy. I have a great dad with alot of talents, but this was not one of his strong points (love you dad :D), so I never even knew how great it would be to live with someone who can fix things. Cars, plumbing, electric..... You name it, Jeromy can fix it. Even if he has never done it before, he will take it apart and figure out how it works and then can find out what's wrong (He recently had our printer taken apart 3 times!) He would rather do it himself and have to buy the tool for the job instead of paying someone else to do it because he gets to keep the tool out of the deal. It is a good skill to have when you live on a farm where things break all the time! Jeromy works all week and then spends all weekend fixing things. Luckily I have a hard-working husband who enjoys staying busy because there is a never ending lists of things out here to be done. Most will have to wait until spring when it warms up, but Jeromy will even brave the arctic temperatures to do things that can't wait. I am amazed as I huddle in the warm house how he can motivate himself to work outside. Burrrrrr! I am very lucky to be married to a fix-it man!

The Saga Continues

Check engine light was blinking (Jeromy says that's BAD) after I got everyone bundled up and into the car to go on our adventure. I guess God gave us our answer. He told us to STAY HOME! Could have used some groceries. :o)

The Start of an Interesting Day

The thermometer says that it is 9 degrees outside. Jeromy says that the roads are a sheet of ice. Both of my kids have a cold and I need to go grocery shopping. Hmmm..... We'll let you know how it all turns out!

Christmas

We have always spent Christmas at my parent's house even when we still lived in California. It was always the time of year Jeromy had a break from school or work, so we came to Washington for a vacation. That being said, this year Christmas was different from years past. The kids are older and much more excited about the festivities than before. Rachel didn't really know what was going on but saw the excitement in her brother and knew it was something great. Having little ones around brings back the specialness of the celebration to those of us that are Scrooges out there! We decided to make a turkey dinner this year because we had been gone for Thanksgiving which gave us more to do all day than just sitting around. It was nice to be a little productive. We also played many hands of Pinochle which was a treat for us. Playing with 3 or 4 people is much more fun than playing with 2 people, like we have to do when we are alone at home. All in all, it was one of the best Christmas' that I can remember.

FIRST THERE WERE STOCKINGS


Rachel opening hers.



Bennett excited about his flashlight.



Rachel trying to open Grandpa's candy.



Rachel and Grandpa.



Family picture.



Bennett received his first two "guns" for Christmas complete with bandana and holster for the pistol. They are both capguns and he goes outside to shoot "coyotes" almost every day. It was all I could do to get him to take off that holster for a good two weeks!



Rachel's first "baby." She got a purse to go with it, so now she puts her purse over her arm, grabs her baby and says, "Bye, bye." It is funny.



The PIECE DE RESISTANCE. A wooden workbench complete with tools and bolts and wood. Bennett has built the neatest creations with the wood peices. He is so mechanical and the things he makes look exactly like the objects he is trying to replicate. It is pretty amazing! He is our little engineer.

Prayer

Jeromy came home last night with a dry erase board and announced, "We don't pray enough in this house." He is right, of course. The dry erase board was first used by Jeromy when he worked for Alpha Academy (www.alphaacademy.com). They wrote down prayer requests for each day of the week and then prayed for them during lunch. The only meal of the day we are together is dinner, so I think we will be praying before dinner each night. On the board I have listed a theme for each night and then specific people and things under that heading.

Monday- Our family
Tuesday-Samantha's family
Wednesday-Jeromy's family
Thursday-Our nation- leaders, lawmakers and judges; the Tri-Cities; local pregnancy help centers
Friday-Global issues; missionaries
Saturday-Our church- the members, pastors and their families

I am hoping to incorporate these prayer requests into my devotion time with the kids as well as to help Bennett think of new things to pray for. He is getting into the habit of praying the same thing each day and could use some new inspiration. It will be a good example to both of them.

Silly picture montage

My kids make the funniest faces when you say, "Smile!" I almost never say it because I know it will not give me the smiling face I desire. I have to tell Bennett to say, "Sweetie," to get the desired sweet smile and haven't figured out what to do about Rachel yet.




I decided to take the kids pictures myself this year because going to Sears is always such an awful experience for everyone involved. One of the kids always gets scared by the lady trying to make them smile and then they only take crying pictures. Here are some of the funnier ones.