It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood...Oct 15th verse (20)

We've been having the kind of weather that makes people want to move here.

The boys and I either biked or walked to the playground four days this week.  (Well, I biked two days and walked the others.  While it may be true that one never forgets how to ride a bike, one's posterior may need some readjusting....)  Our neighborhood playground is tucked away behind some houses with lots of tall pine trees almost completely shading it.  And it is vintage playground.  No primary-colored plastic interactive multi-purpose play structures here.

There is a large metal swing set with 6 swings on one side.  Another large metal swing set with 6 faded baby/toddler swings on the other.  Metal monkey bars.  A metal merry-go-round.  Are you getting the metal theme?  Lots of nice hard surfaces.  Old school, I tell ya.  And they love it.

And today, just like last Saturday (which I do realize is the 16th and not the 15th and I'm a day late posting my verse), was spent outdoors.  Carpentry style.  Sam and I drove up to my mom and dad's house so my dad, who is a major handyman-and-fix-it guru, could help Sam with his Boy Scout Carpentry Merit Badge.  (My dad took wood shop every year in high school, and was his teacher's favorite.  I totally get why.)

Here's a picture of the almost completed project.  In case you can't tell, it's a book trough/shelf that will sit at the end of my avid reader/book-a-holic's bed.  (Hmmm, wonder where he gets that?)  Next week he'll add trim and then paint it.  I think it's going to look great and he's done a super job working on it with MacGyver Grandpa.  We did let the professional handle the use of the shrieking, saber toothed table saw though.

And in other news, I've been re-infected with the decorating bug.  It lurks below the surface, then, usually after I've been in the company of others who are infected (and you know who you are), it rears a "needs-to-be-sanded-primed-and-painted" head.  Or a "pull-out-a-hundred-staples-so-you-can-change-that-ugly-red-fabric-seat-cover-to-some-cute-burlap".  As shown below....  Thankfully (at least Jack thinks so) it comes and goes.





Well, I'm sure I've got lots of other earth-shattering news that's fit to print, but it's getting close to bedtime and I had better help feed the posse and herd them off to dreamland.  And I'd also like to collapse on the couch with some Goode Company BBQ and give some serious thought to thanking my lucky stars I'm in Texas.  Except it seems like they've gotten a little proud of their BBQ.  So next time I might just give some serious thought to thanking my lucky stars that I'm saving a few sawbucks at the BBQ joint down the road.

Without further ado (you're welcome), here's my verse.

Psalm 30:1-3 NIV

I will exalt you, O LORD, for you lifted me out of the depths and did not let my enemies gloat over me.  O LORD my God, I called to you for help and you healed me.  O LORD, you brought me up from the grave; you spared me from going down into the pit.

In the wee small hours....(Oct 1st - Verse 19)

when the whole wide world is fast asleep....

Two boys lie awake insisting that they can't go to back to sleep.  And I, envisioning the crankiness that is two boys who have been awake since 3 AM, is equally insistent that they must.  But now, it is quiet, so hopefully the "just-lay-there-with-your-eyes-closed-and-don't-talk-to-each-other" approach worked.

It did not work for me, however.  But, as an adult, I can use the "all the caffeine I can injest" approach to the day.  Which hopefully will be especially effective since I haven't had caffeine in about 5 weeks.  (But who's keeping track?)  (And chocolate doesn't count.)  And since since the day involves me leaving the house at noon (at which point one of my fellow escapees will be tapping her toe at my front door) and not returning until Sunday, and I can sleep late all weekend if I want to, I may just do that.  Woohoo!

I am so thankful for Jack's willingness to hold down the fort.  He is such a good sport to bless me with this time away and I am grateful.  For him and the R&R.

I've been cooking like a fiend all week in anticipation of being gone.  Because while Jack has many skills, culinary abilities are not among them.  If he had his way, everyone would eat Raisin Bran all weekend.  Hence, the cooking.  So, in a few minutes I'll finish here, hit the shower, and then the kitchen, for my last bit of feeding the brood and prepping before I head out.  And again I say...woohoo!

On another, somewhat verse-related note, I've been reminding the boys lately that their words have power.  (And I'm sure there's no correlation whatsoever between what I hear from my boys' mouths and what comes out of my own.  Uh, uh, no way....)  So, we're trying to cut back on the complaining and the "I can'ts", and take seriously the creative power of our words.  So for this time, I'll be working on Isaiah 55:11 from the NKJ.

"So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; It shall not return to Me void, But it shall accomplish what I please, And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it."

So with that I'll say adios, and this is the day the Lord has made, rejoice and be glad in it!  Talk to you in a couple of weeks.

And post a verse!

Our little secret...Sept 15 verse (No.18)

Good morning.  I'm stealing a few (give or take) minutes this morning before the whole feeding people routine kicks into motion.  I've got health on the brain today so that's the focus of my verse this time.  Not only because, durn it, I still have a a blasted (or should I say, NOT blasted, since apparently the lithotripsy didn't totally work) 4.6 mm kidney stone, but also because I'm so focused on it for one of my kiddos.  So, needless to say, diet and nutrition are on the front burners of my mind.

The kiddo's diet and nutrition, I should specify.  No one needs to know about the secret stash that only mommy is privy to....  Although, I'm working on changing that.  I need my beliefs about health and nutrition to more consistently line up with my actions.  Anyone?  Anyone?

Proverbs 4:20-22 NASB, "My [daughter], give attention to my words; incline your ear to my sayings. Do not let them depart from your sight; keep them in the midst of your heart.  For they are life to those who find them and health to all their body."

And in this morning's "true confessions" (as if the secret stash confession weren't enough), I'd have to say this year has been more of a "meditating on" (some might even go so far as to say "scanning over", but let's not nitpick) than "memorizing" year.  I'm not sure, in fact I'm pretty sure, that I couldn't remember this year's verses without significant prompting.  (I guess it's a good thing no one's testing me.)  Hopefully this verse will be a good reminder and encouragement to me to keep His word ever present and in the midst of my heart.

But isn't that the way it is with good habits?  They don't seem to come nearly as easily as the bad ones.  (TMZ much?)

Well, my "few" minutes is up and we'd better get to business around here.  As I'm sure you can identify, it's far too easy for the day to get away from us, and lo, there are still miles of homeschooling to do before we sleep.  Thank you, Robert Frost.  (And this is where you're supposed to think I'm really smart and sophisticated because I remembered a poet and one random line from a poem enough to plagiarise it.  See?  More confessions.  Boy, I'd better get off of here before I air all my dirty laundry.)

Papa was a rolling stone.... and Sept 1st Verse

Well, actually it should read "Mama had a kidney stone...." since that's what's been going on around here for the last week or so.  Those of you who either haven't born children yet or had yours under the influence of drugs should know that if you've had a kidney stone, you have indeed felt pain nearly the equivalent of childbirth.  And while I am loath to become one of those individuals who is always lamenting her latest ailment, let me just lament for a moment.  Ouch.  And thank God for hydrocodone.  And the sleep-inducing, pain-free state it results in.

And the no-waiting, five-star, spa-like emergency center, with its flat-screen TV, small fridge stocked with a variety of cold drinks, hot beverage machine and basket of snacks wasn't bad either.  Too bad I didn't want any in my doubled-over-in-pain-condition.  I would've stayed much longer, had they let me.  I just hope we continue to have access to such joints when the new health care bill takes full effect.

Seriously though, since that first day I haven't had much pain, for which I am very grateful.  It's hard to function on any level on pain meds, so I'm glad to not have had to take them much since the first couple of days.

But enough about my kidney stone; let's talk about my sciatica.

Oh, I KID.

I guess everyone is back to school; at least those of you for whom school is a part of your yearly calendar.  For the rest of you, carry on without us.  We have waded back into schooling; we're not quite up to a full load yet (although some days it feels like it), but we're getting there.  (BTW, do you ever just want to get in a Winnebago and drive and drive and drive....?  No?  Me neither.)

Well, let's get to the business at hand.  In keeping with my "stone" theme, I contemplated a "stone" memory verse, but then thought better of it as they didn't seem applicable to the rest of my life, and really, do I want to memorialize what I hope is a one-time occurrence in life?  No, I thought not.

So, here goes.  1 Cor 15:58, NKJ, "Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord."

Because some days I just need to remember that it's not for nothing....

It's Sunday afternoon and time for Verse 16

It is hot outside.  Really hot.  Like get-into-your-car-and-can-barely-take-a-breath-sweltering-hot.

Which makes me all the more grateful for air conditioning.

Speaking of air conditioning, Jack figures electricity is my love language.  Maybe because I leave lights on all the time.  I really am getting better at turning them off when I'm not using them; I'm making a concerted effort, honest, I am.  (Also, they put off heat, and we've already determined that heat = uncomfortable, thereby making it easier to remember to turn them off.)

And we're informally counting the weeks until the first cool front wings its way southward.  Now granted, it probably won't be a biggie, but any cool weather will be greatly appreciated.

Alright already, enough about the weather.  (That makes me think of that line from the movie Beaches, where Bette Midler says to her friend, "Oh, enough about me.  Let's talk about you.  What do you think about me?")

So, what's on the agenda for all you out there in blogland?  We are easing our way back into school.  However, the key is not to ease for too long, so I'm going to have to kick it into higher gear next week, but so far our easing has gone well.

Well, while all the males of the family are enjoying John Wayne in Flying Tigers, I'll get down to business and post my verse before they finish and start asking for their next meal.  Who knows, maybe I'll even have time for a rousing game of Spider Solitaire.  Yes, I'm that lame.

I'm going to do Ephesians 2:6 NASB this time:  "(But God) raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus..."

The concept of "who we are in Christ" is certainly not a new one.  We hear it a lot in church circles, and I'm learning more about it - the depth and power of what it really means - lately.  My prayer is that it will become revelation to me - not just head knowledge but heartfelt belief.

What verse are you going to work on?

A day late and a dollar short (and your August 1st verse)

I packed hubby and 3 boys off for a day of fun in the sun at Six Flags early this morning, and rather than going back to bed, which sounded like a really good option, I plan on hitting the gym instead.  And when I say "hit the gym", I mean "set-the-treadmill-at-a-snail's-pace-and-watch-cable-on-my-individual-tv-screen".  We did finally join a local gym on Friday, after thinking about it for eons, so I'm hoping to become a little more active then I've been.  In fact, I went to an aerobics class on Saturday.  Water aerobics, to be exact.  Because I'm a maw-maw.  (No offense to maw-maws everywhere.)  I could feel a few of my unused muscles gently reminding me of their presence the next morning, so in spite of the fact that working out in the water didn't feel very challenging at the time, apparently I really was using some of them.  Either that or it's an indicator of how long it's been since I exercised.  Ugh.  Scary thought.

On the bright side, I felt really young in that class.

Our summer fun is winding down.  Jack and Sam and all the assorted and asundry Scouts survived their week of BSA summer camp in a very hot corner of Oklahoma....where the wind goes sweeping down the plain.  Actually it was quite hilly and rocky where they were; no plains to speak of.  Jack was kind enough to take a picture of Sam's feet, namely the line of dirt around Sam's ankles, so I could see for myself how dirty he got.  Actually I expected worse; at least one of his t-shirts will never be the same and may be relegated to the rag basket.  One of the first things Sam told me when he arrived home was, "I didn't brush my teeth all week."  Oh, yes, we're all about the good hygiene.










Well, onto our August-1st-on-August-2nd memory verses, and, my, wasn't that a nice, smooth segue?

I don't have one this time.  Nothing has jumped out at me and, to be honest, I haven't completely gotten my last couple down, so I'm going to use this two weeks as a review time.

Do you have a verse to share?

Short and sweet, Verse 14 (July 15)

Ugh.  Sickness.  It has visited us this week.  Thankfully we are at the tail end of it and we will prevail.

In the meantime, it's July 15th already and time for another verse, so here goes....

2 Cor. 9: 10 NIV, "Now He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness."