Validation

My husband went on a camping trip toward the end of last week. He went with five other guys that were his friends in high school. They have remained friends throughout the years, and it's been cool to watch them get married (three of the couples, including us, met in high school), and have kids. Each of the families has three kids, except one couple, who has two girls. And, somehow, the rest of us managed to either have two girls and one boy, or vice versa. In August, the families are all going to try to get together for a BBQ. I am looking forward to seeing all of the kids and how they have grown. We've been married the longest, and have the oldest kids. The youngest of the high school friends' kids is still a "bun in the oven." :) Joe is the guy in front with the goatee. What a bunch of goofballs. I think they forgot that they are not teenagers anymore, because they played sports so hard, a couple of the guys ended up with injuries: one sprained ankle and ...

Macy, my kitten, gets in wild moods. As I was uploading my card pics, she was running up and down the sofa, and then she ran headfirst into the window. I swear, she could have been knocked unconscious. But no, the wildness was still in her eyes. After tackling the dog a couple of times, and seeing the pleading looks for assistance from him, I knew I had to do something. Finding her a toy always works to distract her from hurting herself or destroying furniture, so I cut a piece of ribbon and threw it on top of her. It worked for about five minutes!

*I still find myself tearing up today when I get on my blog, and out of habit, click on "Leslie's Journey." I never could have imagined that following their story, and praying for them would entertwine my heart with them in such a way. The most impressive thing was their perseverance, in spite of the suffering and "why" questions. So genuine. So authentic was their faith. So realistic, yet so full of hope. And, today, they rejoice in the fact that Leslie DID win! She DOES have the victory. She IS healed! This is why they can celebrate.... *Switching gears now. I've been sneaking off to make cards, and having more fun with my circle cutter. I made a few cards by cutting two circles from matching paper and adhering them with a brad or an eyelet. They are 4 1/16" circles, so they will fit in an invitation envelope. (Most of my cards are 4 1/4" X 5 1/2"). The card then swivels open. Here they are: The bird is a rub-on, and the phrase is a sticke...

Please pray for Leslie's family, as Leslie went to be with the Lord today. (see my sidebar: Leslie's Journey) Somehow, it's not hard to be in tears over the death of someone I never met in person. Through her blog, I learned a lot about Leslie's husband, their son and Leslie. I thought about my son when I saw the cute pictures of their little boy, and I think of him now.... I admired Leslie's husband's faith in God, even when all of this wasn't making sense. I wanted so much for her to get better, so I could read the victory stories and celebrate in front of my computer.... I prayed many times since I started reading their blog.....Well, it looks like God had another plan. I sure don't like how sad it is, why a young mommy would die, but I trust Him....It is pretty wonderful to think about, though, that Leslie is WITH God. She gets to be in front of His lovely face - even embraced by Him, forever and EVER!! WOO! That's amazing. And, she is truly heal...

I've been studying my kayaking trip equipment list, and I'm wondering about something. Under "personal items," it says: -toilet paper (include a plastic bag for packing out after use) OK. Does this mean, if I go pee or poop in the woods, I have to pack out my toilet paper I wiped my butt with? And, does it also mean I have to pack out my poop? It probably just means I have to pack out my toilet paper in a plastic bag, so it won't get wet. I hope.

Have you ever thought much about "the favor of God?" I hadn't, until I heard a message, given by our high school pastor, entitled "From Faithfulness to Favor." I have to say, even though I've been following God since I was four years old, and read lots of scripture and heard lots of messages, I've never laid hold of the idea of God's favor. I think we Christians know and believe in the unconditional love of God toward everyone. God loves everyone! The Bible says so: For God so loved the world......BUT - what about the people in the Bible who had God's FAVOR? Why did they have God's favor? If He loves us all, what did they do to get it? Why were they, in reality, a "favorite" of God? Hebrews 11 comes to my mind, as having a whole LIST of them. Even Jesus: "And Jesus kept increasing in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men." (Luke 2:52) Well, our high school pastor showed us three characteristics (or t...

I am a protective mom with my kids when it comes to movies. I am often the "bad guy," because I don't let my teens (almost 15 & 17) watch some PG-13 movies. My kids are expected to call me from their friends' houses to ask if they can watch certain movies. I explain that I am an adult, which means I can watch any kind of movies I want to, but that doesn't mean I CHOOSE to. I believe that God wants us to be careful what we invite into our minds and hearts, because it leaves an impact. Watching whatever we want to can also desensitize us to sin. All in all, it's not the subject matter I fear, it's the images and messages my kids will take in, by seeing these types of mature movies. When I was 13, I went to a big slumber party at a friend's house. The girl's parents rented us several movies, one of which was "Risky Business." This movie was rated R, and had graphic sex scenes. I remember feeling sort of trapped watching it, unprepared to...

So, my birthday is coming up. I mentioned to Joe that I would like to go kayaking. He did some research, and found a sea kayak excursion trip, up and around the San Juan Islands. It is a full day tour, with a trained natualist guide. Since we will be going on the longer trip, we have a good chance of seeing some Orca whales, porpoises and otters! I am so excited! This is something I have always wanted to do. Afterwards, we're going to stay in a Bed and Breakfast. This is going to be awesome!

Whoa. I was really feeling tapped out as a mom, and quite in need of some card-making escaping. So, I made a few cards. I even bought a new tool: a circle cutter made by Martha Stewart. Yeah. Martha Stewart has a new crafters' line at Wal-Mart. It's pretty cool stuff, actually. I was eyeing some clear stamps, but I bought the circle cutter instead. It's a great tool, except that, the paper you cut a circle from has to be either held down or taped down. This bugged me when I had to cut a circle from a small piece of paper. I have saved the smallest pieces of paper, just for this kind of thing, but I didn't like that I had to tape the little piece down to cut a circle out of it, because then the tape made a mark when I pulled it off. That means, I can't really use the remaining paper as a frame or anything. Oh well. I like that I now have a tool I can cut circles of any size I want! This card was done with Stampin' Up stamps. The scalloped edge was done by punchin...

Don't let other people's expectations masquerade as God's will. (Found on www.gatewaygirlfriends.blogspot.com )

So, I'm feeling like a good mom because I've been encouraging my kids to read this summer, and it's actually working! How? Well, in Ben's case, I signed him up for a program at our local library, where, if he reads 600 minutes, he gets a pass to the zoo. Since he loves to use the computer, he especially likes that he can log onto his own library account and record his minutes. I also threw in the carrot of a new Webkinz creature if he read 600 minutes. That kid did it! We bought the Webkinz grey cat on Saturday. Now, I told him if he reads 500 more, I would take him to get another Webkinz. I think he just might do that too! Amanda has already been reading one of those popular vampire books by Stephanie Meyer. There's three in the series, and Amanda is on the third one, eagerly anticipating the release of the movie next year. Plus, I bought her a ginormous SAT study guide that should keep her plenty busy. Got her covered. On to Melanie. Melanie wanted to ...

Hey! I found a cool Mom blog, and this Christian mom actually wrote a book called "Confessions of an Irritable Mother." HAHA! Just what I need! :) So, my mom-friends, check out the new blog on my sidebar: "Surviving Motherhood."

There are times when one celebrates motherhood, and other times when one just wants to escape.

I may have mentioned that I read a blog about a young mom who is fighting a battle with cancer. If I have this correct, it started with a tumor behind her eye, which spread to her body. The blog is usually written by her husband, and his faith in God is most admirable and amazing. I encourage you to visit their blog, and please include this little family in your prayers. http://forleslie.blogspot.com/

I encourage everybody who checks out my blog to go check out another: www.flowerdust.net . There is an awesome woman named Anne Jackson who is on a mission trip to the Dominican Republic right now and is blogging about her trip. A few months ago, it was Uganda. I think we get so comfy in our US of A, that we forget (or maybe don't know) about the poverty and suffering in other parts of this globe. Anne's blog reminded me of these things, and has inspired me to think about sponsoring a child. I hope you will check out her blog each day for the new things she experiences on this mission trip!

While we still have some camping trips coming up, the highlight of our summer is probably going to be our Disneyland trip. Here's some more pics, so I can bask in the glow of the fun-ness one more time.... We stayed in a suite hotel that had a decent pool. The kids were dying to swim! The hotel hot tub made great bubbles for beards. We're ready for our adventure!! Melanie, who keeps asking me when she can take driver's ed, will have to settle for Autopia for now. It only took about 30 seconds for this to happen on the ride home from our first day at Disneyland. Ben and I riding on one of the Bug's Life rides.... What Joe looked like after the Grizzly River Run! HAHA! Sigh......What a great time we had......

Every summer for the past four years, Amanda has attended the Evergreen Music Festival with the Tacoma Youth Symphony. This year is special, as it is her last one. Last night, Amanda took part in a student recital, which she had to audition for. It is such an honor, because she auditioned with a "septet" and they were chosen to play! They played an unusual piece, which included a string quartet with the addition of a trumpet, bass cello and piano. I was so proud of her! Here they are taking their bows in front of a standing ovation! The camp will end on Saturday, with a wonderful outdoor concert showcasing all of the students - the culmination of all of their hard work during the week. It's always impressive how professional these kids sound!

After my mom and I bought the loose leaf tea, I realized that my tea infusers suck. I have the metal mesh, ball kind, but the Rooibos tea leaves are so fine, they get through and I end up with a cup full of floaties. So. I caught up with the "Tea Madame" at her shop, and she sold me what she calls a "gravity infuser." The contraption contains a silk filter at the bottom of the clear cup. You first put in your tea leaves, then add hot water. You close the lid and allow the tea leaves to steep. Then! You put the infuser on top of a cup. When the bottom is pressed, it releases the floaty-free tea from a spout in the center. When you lift up on the infuser, the spout closes. SO COOL!! The picture you see above is my attempt at green tea. Here's another new fav of mine. A mini garden in a strawberry pot! Here's a couple of views of my cute little garden. There are sedums, wooly thyme, mondo grass and blue star creeper Isn't the mini tree so CUTE? He will...

Last week, Ben asked for a new Super Soaker squirt gun. I told him I would ask his Dad about doing something around the house to earn the money for it. Ben decided he wanted to sell Lemonade. He made $9! The mailman gave him a dollar and didn't even take any lemonade. One gal took Ben's last glass (which ended up only being a half a glass) and gave him a dollar, too. I told Ben that it was probably because he was so cute that he did so well, so the next time I have to sell something, I'm going to have him do it!

Yes, I believe there is still goodness in the world. I received an actual, hand-written, thank you note from a high school graduate for the graduation gift we sent. I love it!

I just wanted to let you know that I just pre-ordered my copy of "Mad Church Disease," due to be released in February 2009. If you would like to learn more about the book and the author, click on the graphic of the book cover on my sidebar. She (the author) has backing from some pretty cool ministry leaders such as Bill Hybels and Wayne Cordeiro. The author, Anne Jackson, has a great blog that I read everyday. She is a real, honest, transparent Christian who writes beautifully. I encourage you to subscribe to her blog and be inspired, as well as challenged!! You can also click on the link located on my sidebar, entitled "Flower Dust," to see her personal blog. ENJOY!

Today, I'm going out to lunch with a gal I met at my Beth Moore Bible study. She's really cool, and I want to get to know her better. She's probably in her late 20's, married, no kids. I was thinking about how I don't really see age in people, maybe because I have always wanted people to not see my age. I have always appeared younger than I am, and in the past, I haven't liked it, because I felt like people couldn't see me for who I am. Now, it doesn't bother me. Anyway, (I don't know how I got off on that!) I am excited to get to know this gal. She's really smart, has depth and great character. I realized that I am in a new stage in life. It's sort of a lonely and weird stage, actually. When I was younger with little ones, it was so easy to get together with other moms or families with young kids, and hang out while the kids played. Or, getting all the kids together for little birthday parties and connecting with other moms. It w...

Like I said, previously, I love summer. We've had a mix of weather. Some really, hot days, followed by some amazing thunderstorms. Here's what my kitty does when it's hot. She finds her strategic place where she can get the coolest, and stretches out as long as possible: Last week, we had a lot of fun going on. I tracked down a bunch of free, community events for kids and we've begun to take advantage of those. First, I took Ben to a "bug show" at the local library. A guy came with this personal bug collection (dead ones and live ones). He taught a little, and then let the kids explore and observe the bugs. The fun part was when he brought around live bugs for kids to see and touch up close! There were African stick bugs, scorpions and a giant millipede! I even touched the stick bug. As Ben and I were looking at all the butterflies, I commented to him that isn't it cool that God could have created just one kind of butterfly, but He didn't. He made all ...

Oh, that we might know the Lord! Let us press on to know him. Then he will respond to us as surely as the arrival of dawn or the coming of rains in early spring. Hosea 6:3

I love summer.