Zoe's torpedo's

Zoe: Mom, do you notice whats different about me?

Me: ummm. No you look the same to me.

Zoe: I'm wearing my new bra!!!!

Me: Well I guess its good I cant tell, thats not something people are supposed to notice.

Zoe: But look at these huge torpedo's on my chest!

p.s Zoes bra is a slightly padded size A :)

Oh the joys of having a daughter.

Cooper Claps!

Darby has been clapping for at least 2/3 months. But Saturday night, we had an amazing breakthru; Cooper clapped. He is 19 months old and he finally clapped!!!!

He was trying to climb on our headboard shelf like Darby can but up until Sat night he could not. When he finally did, he sat up and looked around proud of his accomplishment, so Zoe, mike and I all started clapping for him. He was so happy, he clapped!!
He spent the next hour climbing up and down, clapping each time he made it.

Thank you God!!!!

The Best sleepover ever

Miles had a sleepover at his friend Nathans house this weekend. He asked me to pray for him earlier in the week that both his legs would not be broken because Nathan told him his older brother was going to beat them both up.

When Miles came home on Saturday...

Mike: Hows your sleepover?

Miles: It was the best sleepover I've ever been too. I really learned alot about myself.

Mike: wow, thats good, what did you learn

Miles: Well, last week at school I fell down and was bleeding, so Nathan took some of my blood home because he has a microscope. So we looked at my blood.

How to become Popular

Zoe told me yesterday that a few weeks ago she had gone done am internet search..."How to become popular". She found a site that listed the path to popularity in three easy steps.

1. Talk about what othe people like to talk about
2. Become friends with someone noone else wants to be friends with
3. Condition you hair like this...(followed by illustrations on the correct way to condition your frays)

She says she faithfully followed these instructions and low and behold she is now one of the most popular girls in 5th grade at Peach Plains. Then she squealed " I just LOVE the internet!"

Hitler

did you ever realize that the Nazi sign is a twisted cross? Thats huge. The definition of twisted is:mentally or emotionally unsound or disturbed .
The Nazi's also used Martin Luthers book "On the Jews and their lies" as the basis for the Holocaust. This was evidence used in the Nuremberg trials.
Martin Luther(founder of the Lutheran church) is the christian who reformed christianity away from the catholics. He translated the Bible from Greek to German so everyone could read it and would not have to depend on the High catholic priests for biblical knowledge. He is still regarded as a hero by christians today, most ignorant that this book was even written by him.
He tirelessly tried to convert the Jews, and when it didnt work he became so frustrated, in his old age he wrote this book advocating that christians take Jews money, burn their synagogues and they be killed. It's a very perverse (or twisted) book. Hence the great symbolism of the "twisted cross"

Saving pillars

This morning it was announced that AIG insurance was crumbling. In an effort to save a "fundamental" piece of our economic structure, the US Government (under the last legs of the Bush admin.) "saved" AIG in an $85B bailout. Thats $85,000,000,000.

One thing I wanted to note was how the reporter explained the reasoning behind the bailout and the imagery he used. He said:

"Imagine a Pyramid, AIG is like one of the columns supporting the structure of the Pyramid, without it, the Pyramid would crumble"

I can't help but think our nation is clingling to its colliseums and pyramids. Can we really save the Pyramids, can we really do anything on our own? How many columns support the Pyramid? Are we going to start shelling out $85B per column, and won't an added deficit of that size only increase the crumbling of the US economy as witnessed in the last 8 years?

Father God, you know the answers to all of this, as we scramble to hold it all together, you already know the outcome. I trust you today and in all the days ahead. Suffering is consequential of our own sin, that is evident in light of things we see daily in our own lives and in the lives of those around us.

I pray for the Garden of Eden and your triumphant return. In the meantime, guide me in spirit and wisdom and let me not fear the events of today. I know that you have it all under control. You are amazing!

ignorance is bliss?

I feel terrible today and like a total loser. Last week I had a discussion with my friend Jen at work about politics, my first mistake. She REALLY likes Sarah Palin because she is a christian, and i am basically terrified of her for a number of reasons. The problem is this: Jen doesn't pay attention to events in the world, she hears "christian and pro life backed up by a polished speech on Fox news and all of a sudden, the other opponent (pro-choice) is the spawn of Satan.She doesn't want to be bothered with facts or spend the time to know why people on the left are so compassionate about the things they are passionate about, animal rights, environment, pro-choice, ect. They are all basically going to hell as far as shes concerned. This is unsettling to me because I come from a very different place. I want to know EVERYTHING so I can make an informed decision. I am skeptical of polished speeches, and even more skeptical of people who claim to be christians, Im not so easily sold. Possibly its knowing that throughout history we've seen people mame and kill and commit atrocious acts all in the name of christ, so I think it's VERY important to be educated. So I take it upon myself to educate this friend, but in the end she just feels dominated and uncomfortable. She doesn't want to be educated, she is happy being ignorant. And I feel retarded for even trying. She thinks people who care about animal rights are retarded and wasting their time, I told her I could send her videos that would make her easily understand their position within minutes, shes not interested...too busy..."God has not convicted her in this way". This just further reinforces why people on the left, compassionate on lefty issues want nothing to do with christianity. Isn't it our obligation as stewards of Gods creation to take good care of his creation? I thought so, but maybe Im wrong. And seeing a bunch of christians who are uninterested in things ,that are actually biblical, and they are so compassionate about is a big turnoff, how are we building a bridge by this attitude? Do you ever feel like you just dont fit in anywhere? Thats where I am right now, do I do this to myself, am I just to argumentative??? I feel so misunderstood and alone sometimes. I guess I just need to keep my opinions to myself and pray for Gods direction.

a letter to Tim

Tim,

Just wanted to say thankyou for speaking yesterday on the topic of covenenats using grace, truth, and a heart for Gods children.

The other day i was thinking about Gods love for us, trying to wrap my mind around it, because I struggle with this myself. Sometimes it's almost easier for me to give a break to friends and acquaintances I don't see on a day to day basis, or strangers even.

God gave me crystal clear insight into his love and he showed me the unconditional love I have for my children and how His love works in this way. So simple, but something I've failed to consider for years. When my kids behave badly I am angry with them.  But I  delight again in them  when they come back to what is good and right. It is easy to forgive my kids when they say sorry, I forget about their blunders and folly. The truth is we are living as brothers and sisters in this world, and as brothers and sisters often do, we fight and get angry with each other, vying for the attention of our Father in  heaven in some cases, competing for the attention of man in others. It's so simple, and it's so easy now for me to understand how easy it is for God to forgive and love us and rejoice when we exchange our hearts and confess our sins. It's the same way I feel about my own children (who fight with each other constantly.

N.E ways, the sermon spoke to me, and I wanted to thank you ( and our king) for this.
We had an interesting week, Mike stumbled upon Buddhism and has been talking to me about it all week. He thinks its the same as Christianity, he's under the "all is one" notion that god is everything (the earth, you, me, a leaf on a tree) I tried to illustrate the example that a creator is seperate from his creation by showing him a picture we had hanging on our wall. I said this is not the artist standing here, but his picture hanging on the wall, a created piece of work that we can enjoy, but not worship. The painting is not the artist but simply a piece of work he created. He doesn't get it, and thinks I am corrupted now by Christian terminology. I'm telling you Tim, I am the worst disciple...everyone I marry turns to Buddhism and drugs and ends up at Christ Community church to learn about eastern mysticism, under the falsehood that it's partly christian!!

What a world we are in, thank God for Jesus.

The Maverick

Tonight is a great night of accomplishment. The kids and I are watching public tv waiting for McCain to give his campaign speech, and Zoe and Miles got into a got debate over who theyre each voting for. Miles waffled for a minutes saying first he wasn't going to vote for Mc.... wait I change my mind, says Miles, I'm voting for McCain...he's a pronto pup guy like me. Zoe says McCain is too old and cranky and she's voting for Obama. Miles wants to know why she likes Obama, and she says "cause he's sweet dude. Was that on the Obama campaign website??

In other big news, Cooper started walking tonight!!!!!!
Darby just started clapping last weekend at the apartment pool, so while he's not walking yet, he is clapping for Cooper.

Way to go Cooper!!!

Cookies and Milk

Miles was upset last night about his new second grade class. He has no friends to play with, and his buddy Trevor Kallis from the previous year doesnt want to play with him on the playground because he's playing football with Brock and the other boys. So Miles was pretty hurt. So we had cookies and milk after everyone else in the house was asleep. We talked about Miles problem and how we could solve it. He could sign up for football, even though he's not really interested in it just to be part of the football crowd...we decided that wasnt the best idea. So we started discussing the possibility of Miles making friends from his new class. I said "who sits by you?" He said theres a Mexican kid named Mancilla who always plays with his best friend Anna, so I thought he could ask him if he could play with them. Miles insisted that Mancilla and Anna were like 2 years younger than him and couldnt't play. Then he unleased this on me...."I guess I could play with Zach", he says. I said okay, who is this kid. Well, he says he lives down the road on Charles court and hes in my class, and he walks with us to school. So theres a kid in your grade right down the road?,He's lived there as long as we have (more than three years!), why do I have no idea who this kid is???. I think Miles might have a new best friend soon. We'll have to wait and see.

Waking up early

Cooper woke up last night at 1:00, 2:00, 3:00 and about 4:30. He decided to stay up at this point so I gave up sleeping and just started getting ready for work. Darby slept okay, he was only up once during the night, but he went back to bed. As soon as Cooper started screaming at 6:30 am, Darby was up for the day as well. It wouldn't be so bad if I could get them to sleep by like 8/8:30, but those boys dont go to bed until almost 10pm.

The big pink camaro and little white Korean car

I have a confession. I took Zoe and Miles to the beach yesterday and got into a fight over a parking spot.  Well, I didn't exactly "fight"  anyone I just REALLY infuriated  some young  girl wearing a  bikini while driving her hot pink Camaro in the city beach parking lot.

Let me explain,  we had sat at the entrance to the small and free city parking lot for several minutes patiently waiting for another car to leave so we could take their spot. Finally , people headed  to their  car to leave and this girl quickly drives around us (who are obviously waiting)  and turns on her blinker  where said people would be pulling out. Since they were still putting all their belongings in the trunk, I decided  to get out of my vehicle, walk over to her,  and tell her politely we had been sitting in that "nonspot" for several minutes waiting for the next car to leave,  anticipating that she would understand that we really had first dib's on that spot and she would oblige. She didn't exactly respond that way...it went more of something like this: "Sorry sweetie, you should have made your move".

So I had a decision to make...would I show mercy and self control and just leave the beach that day? Perhaps go to the paid parking lot instead?, or choose a more psychopathic route? I went right to option B.  I walked back to my car patiently, sat down in the drivers seat and decided to make my next calculated move. This is what the move looked like:  basically  me wedging my small car right in front of her car  and the  "about to leave" car,  backing up slowly  until she started screaming that I was going to hit her pink car. I stayed calm throughout the entire episode exercising some could argue ,a bit of self control.  I even refrained from responding to her obscenities with other obscenities but instead chose psychopathic silence and calm as I nearly backed into her vehicle. It was quite a scene and drew a pretty good crowd.

It ended with the three of us getting the parking spot and her screaming she would call the police, who never came. In hindsight,  I might have let her just take the parking spot if she hadn't called me sweetie and was driving a less obnoxious car.  Perhaps if I'd had more sleep the night before, or more sleep every night for the pervious several months, perhaps if I didn't have to wake up eight  times a night  to take care of  my infant twin boys, or wasn't paying a baby sitter $30 to watch the twins for 2 hours  just so I could take Zoe and Miles to the beach for their  first time all summer.

 It probably wasn't the best thing to do, but I have to tell you that it felt really good to win one, and I think the kids felt proud of their mom for standing up to this twenty something bikini laden foul mouthed parking space stealer. Thank God I didn't get shot.

A wall of Clouds...just ahead

The other day after my prayer walk I was driving down Pontaluna rd over highway 31 and I saw a giant wall of clouds in front of me. Stretching all along the skyline as far as I could see was a wall of clouds heavy with rain waiting to pour out. God was showing me that blessings are ahead, just ahead he is ready to pour out his blessings on me. I just need to continue to look up and seek him through everything. Thankyou Lord for the wall of clouds, and the dry times we endure so we appreciate the blessings when you pour them out over us.

I was also reminded of how Moses led his people through the desert for 40 years, following a cloud by day, and a fire by night. And look what was at the end of that blessed cloud, the promised land!! Please Lord help me to remember you when the rain falls down on me, so you receive all the glory when my family is blessed.

Terrys Tree Service

So my tree crew showed up at 11:00 yesterday, it rained at 11:30 and they left. It quit at 3:00 and they never came back. So I called up Terrys Tree service to haul away all these logs and theyre worth $$. I figured my tree guy would be pissed when he pulled up today but the word rippled through the tree cutting service community that Terry took the trees so he didn't show up. His dad did though and he's there cleaning up the rest of the mess.

Watching the world go by.

Darby and Cooper LOVE to stand at the window and watch cars drive by. I just wanted to share a picture of what I see every day.

A family fair

My crackhead tree guy recommended some stump grinders to me . This unfortunately was before I knew he was a crackhead. They gave me a decent estimate but I was told that they would use a hydraulic grinder to do the job. (A hydraulic grinder takes 20 minutes to cut a stump 12 inches below the soil) Theyre hydraulic grinder was broken. So they used a small manual grinder that was WAY too small to do this job.(*A manual grnder takes 6 hours to grind a stump flush with the soil) Now they have 6 stumps to grind and theyre getting paid 300. After 2 days they had 2 stumps flush with the soil. I think theyve spent that in gasoline already and parts to keep the grinder working.

Heres the history of the stump grinders. The business was owned by Randy who committed suicide last fall. The wife, Jean, and her son, Mike decided to cotinue the business. The hydraulic machine is broken and they dont have the $400 to fix it. They smoke, they all smoke and drive a big old rusty truck.

Did I mention that Mike was a carny 10 years ago and was ran over by a garbage truck and has severely mangled legs? He can still walk but he's got some seriously messed up looking legs. So Mom, and aunts and cousins and basically this whole family shows up with kids and bikes, lawn chairs and everything in tow. the women sit in lawn chairs smoking while the crippled guy runs this manual grinding machine for hours, or until it breaks down over and over again so someone has to run uo to autozone to buy parts for it every few hours, thats when the smoking aunts get out of their lawn chairs and go to work.

Oh and the guy with the mangled legs has blood and fluids oozing from his legs so I'm freaking out and none of these women seem to think this is a big deal. I offer bandages, protective eye wear, lemonade. No thanks, he's fine. He's used to this. Are you freaking kidding me?!
I fired them yesterday and found someone else to finish the job. I fired my crackhead tree guy an hour later but he begged me to stay so I'm giving him another chance.

I really wish I had pictures of all this

When a crackhead cuts your trees

I've had a crackhead at my house for 2 weeks cutting Oak trees down. I didn't know he was a crackhead until a neighbor who knows the crackhead community herself informed me that he was an "active crackhead". This explains why he spends 2 hours at my house and leaves for 6 hour lunch breaks, then comes back and works for 20 more minutes. I fired him Sunday. He called and begged me to let him finish the job and I said he had 2 days to finish the one tree he'd been cutting down for three days and remove the gigantic mess from my yard. This is the worst business of all businesses I've ever known existed. Crackheads are difficult to work with, I understand the necessity of drug screening now.

Zoe's 4th grade party

Since I went to Miles party yesterday, of COURSE I had to go to Zoe's 4th grade field day. She asked me at least 5 times if I would come, so I went for an hour. She wasn't so enthusiastic to see me though. I offered to race her in the flip flop race and she told me to be quiet. She told all her friends to not speak to me because I was too embarrassing, so I dont even know why she ever asks me to come to anything. When I came to the jump roping marathon last month I thought she would like it that I danced to all the high school musical songs while she jumped rope with her friends. She didn't.

I did see Jeremiah's sister, Michelle, and her baby Jonah and got the 4th grade crush scoop; the scoop is that Eli Holt has a heart for Zoe, its very sweet. If he knows whats good for em though, he'll steer clear cause that girl causes nothing but grief for the boys. Zoe, i love you but it's true my dear. Remember Ian Lovvitt, the hospital incident?? It was all the talk of third grade:)

Miles 1st grade party

Miles celebrated his year end 1st grade party yesterday at Pottawottomie Park so I spent my lunch hour down there and was able to snatch up an extra hotdog. He was so happy I came he thanked me at least 6 times that evening and even once in the morning he mentioned to Mike how I did so much work, even managing to come to his party. He is so sweet, so grateful, what a blessing he is. Heres a few pics of the event...

(the little girl in the middle is hilarious!)

The Alpha and Omega

I have always had the feeling that I would live to see some crazy shit go down. When I read the prophecy of end times I've always sensed that i would be a part of that picture. I've tried to talk myself out of it rationalizing that every believer throughout history has had a similar feeling. They've come and gone and the earth remains spinning. Under that pretense, it only makes sense that my life on earth shall pass also and the world and future generations will remain. The end times exist for generations ahead of me? But the feeling is still there and I pray that God continues to call his elect until that time, rescue his children before the sun goes dark and it all goes down.

Father God, have mercy on all those who remain and give strength to those who need it most.

So I was with friends last night and we discussed having church in our living rooms. I've been scouting churches the last 3 or so months since the community at Lakeshore eroded. In a nutshell, my pastor who I am so thankful for, opened the door to sin just enough to let the devil in. The devil slipped into the crack, came in the house and started trashing the place, tearing out drawers, jumping on the couches, poisoning the hearts of Gods people. It's okay Gods got a plan to make it better, but in the meantime I've been staying away from the drama and visiting area churches.

The experiences are nice, but something is always missing, just a little bit. So we discussed the home church, service among friends in Christ. Helping eachother in our walk, stretching a hand out along the way. Then this was revealed to me while we prayed :

When we are born we come into the world as infants, weak and vulnerable, one foot in heaven and one on earth. When we are on the brink of death whether we are elderly or sick (or both) we return to that infant state. God is calling his people to return to the early church, which is not a $300,000 building with a $15,000 marketing budget, but a group of believers, the body of Christ performing as the hands and feet of Jesus.

If you are searching for a church, open your hearts and your doors to your friends around you and pray for Gods blessing. God wants us to have close relationships with eachother. Lets be the body of Christ again.

God bless
Keep your eyes and hearts open!

Giving In

Hello,

I'm starting a blog, not entirely because I want to share my daily existance with the world, I really just want to look back and remember what I've been doing over the years because the last decade I honestly remember like 20 % of what happened. I have a terrible memory, and my closest friends will vouch that I can be a bit scatterbrained. So, I will be documenting my life which includes my 4 kids and Mike my husband from today forward. The good, bad, and everything in between, so enjoy, this is my life....