Saturday, July 28, 2007

Family time

We've been having a very full summer and not much family only time so last night after SLUFY we went and had a dinner at Applebee's and planned to come home and have a family tv night. Well the best laid plans were not last night. Instead we came home to find this:

Meet Snowbell or Snowball. The girls had her named in about 10 minutes but keep going back and forth on which of these two names they like. If you were the "wonderful, thoughtful" person that left this precious gift on our doorstep, Mommy and Daddy would like to meet you so we can personally.... ahhh.... "thank you". She is a very sweet kitten and we're not sure what we're going to do with her. At the moment she resides mostly in the wash house with some trips into the big house. Mom isn't sure if the itchy eyes and sneezing last night are from her or being on the floor on the carpet. If they are because of snow then other arrangement might for sure be in the future.


Another part of our family time was getting up today and going biking. Daddy packed the truck yesterday so we could get an early start today but we were alll so tired that we sleep late. That's okay, we still made it to the county farm out by Maumelle Park and went for about a 5 mile ride. We found a new part of the trail that they've constructed and rode it.


It was a beautiful day and we really enjoyed having time together. We ate lunch at Maumell Park after the ride and just enjoyed the day. It was hot but the breeze from the river was really nice.
Then in the afternoon we went to the Launius' house and swam in the pool for a while. It was really nice to cool off and relax. Now were going to watch Mary Poppins before we go to bed. Family is a wonderful thing to have.

Friday, July 27, 2007

New Blogger

Welcome Cre8iveOne to blogging. I helped my friend, Wendy, last night in setting up her own blog spot. She has been staying at our house for the last 2 weeks while she works at SLUFY. This has worked very well for us as Emily and Erin are attending SLUFY and she has been able to help us with transportation.

I don't know if she will use her blog much but it was her idea and I said I'd help her. Though her first post says I pushed her into it, this was her idea. I do hope she'll do it so that I can keep up with her and her family. It's too easy to loose touch when your more then an hour away and though I think of her and my other friends from college often, getting time to really chat with them is slim to none most of the time.

Thursday, July 26, 2007

My arm hurts

Have I told you my arm hurts? If you haven't seen me recently then you haven't seen me wearing my brace again. The wrist that I had the ganglion cyst removed from in July of 1999 is having issues again. I've been to the specialist and have had an MRI. The MRI shows nothing so the Dr. suggested getting a shot in the location of the pain and if that didn't work, he would order a bone scan. Well, if you know me, then you know I don't like shots so I refused that idea. He said he would put me in a brace for 6 weeks and we could see what I thought after that. I think he thinks this will change my mind about the shot. Though I'm very uncomfortable and it hurts to be on my beloved computer, I don't think so. Shots hurt and don't try to tell me I'm being silly. I've talked to too many people that have had cortizone shots and EVERYONE has said they hurt. Thanks. No. I'll pass.

The weather here is unusually comfortable. It's not too hot and in the evening and early morning it has actuall been in the lower 70's and upper 60's. I so wish we have been camping. We love to camp and have not been able to get out as much. If we do go, I've got to be back for Sunday morning so we can't go far. Gonna have to get a better plan for this some how.

The girls are loving SLUFY this summer and we have had an extra bonus with them going. My friend, Wendy, from college is one of the teachers and she has been staying with us during the week. It has been a lot of fun seeing her and her girls and just being together.

Tuesday, July 24, 2007

Harry Potter is complete

I finished it! Now I'm waiting on Marty so we can talk about it. Until then I have to remain silent or go outside if a friend calls who has finished it so we can talk.

Yes. I got my copy at 12:01 am and read the first 2 chapters before turning the light off and going to bed. I then got up at 8:00 am and read until 9:30 pm only stopping for short breaks. I never went outside and I understand that it was a beautiful day out. Oh well. I still read it and am glad I did. It was very well written and I really enjoyed it and I plan on reading it again to see all that I missed the first time.

Wish I could write like that but since you've read my blog, you know I'm not gifted at writting. Oh well.

Just wanted to let the world know that I've read it and that it took me 14 hours to do it.

Friday, July 20, 2007

VBS is over Wahoo


Okay, I can finally get back to blogging. Last week was VBS and I had NO time to set at my computer. If I wasn't at VBS, then I was back at work working on a deadline that came up. Both are complete now so I have more time.


Well, okay, no I don't but it isn't as hectic at the moment.


I do need to call a Children's Ministry meeting and a Scout Leaders meeting; plan the Back to School Scout party; the Emmaus Quarterly is on the 5th of Aug; Marty's birthday is the 4th of Aug; Mom's birthday is the 6th, Bryce's birthday is the 12th, Dylan's birthday is the 22nd; there's a walk the 9th-11th; disciple IV starts the 19th; School starts back the 20th; our first scout meeting of the year is the 6th; and the Sunday School promotion day is the 19th.


I did say it wasn't hectic didn't I????


Any how VBS is over for another year and was a huge success and there were an average 90 kids there. Most we had never seen and some that are promising to come back in the fall and Kristi has already said that she wants to be the director next year. She's already looking into the 2008 VBS material and is excited about it. That is awesome!!!!!!!!!


Wednesday, July 04, 2007

Happy 4th of July

Just wanted to wish everyone a safe and glorious 4th of July. Celebrate and enjoy the freedom that we so take for granted. Pray a prayer for those that are at this minute are fighting to keep that freedom for us who are not at home with their families today.

Sunday, July 01, 2007

A River Runs Through IT!!!!!

The start of this 2 night Girl Scout weekend started with lots of laugher and excitement. Here are the girls just before we loaded up and headed north to Blanchard Springs Recreation Area, just north west of Mt. View, Arkansas.

We got to our campsite about an hour and half later then planned due to several traffic delays on Hwy 5, but we got the tents up before dark and got the girls fed. We had 6 brownies and 5 junior Girl Scouts this trip and 6 adults. The campsite was beautiful with a clift to our south, an open field to our west and restroom facilities to our northwest. We had 5 tents, though you only see four in this picture. Two of our dads went and their tent was located to the south east of the girls. The brown patches in the grass show the location of tents from previous campers.
We woke to a beautiful morning on Saturday and after breakfast we allowed the girls to explore the shallow cave at the base of the clift just beyond the fence of our campsite. Below you can see a picture of us at the mouth of the cave.


We did some try-it/badge work and then loaded the vehicles for the short drive to the Ozark Folk Center in Mt. View (about 14 miles away). Upon arriving at the center, the girls were asked to help make soap and wash clothes as they did in the pioneer days. We headed from the soap making to musical instruments. The girls were allowed to try different musical instruments such as spoons, guitar, lyre, and mandalin. Several of the girls showed some real musical talent. Next was a visit to the candle maker's shop where each girl received a pair of candles that they each got to dip in hot, colored wax to decorate.

The Center offers a program called Pioneer Kids that at specified times has activities for them to do. We headed there next and the girls were able to work with clay to make pinch pots. They really seemed to enjoy making a creation of their own. It was lunch time so we headed out of the Center to the picnic area for our lunch and rest. Then it was on to more adventure. We visited: the toymaker, basket weaver, broom maker, art gallery, blacksmith, country kitchen, seamstress, cooper, wood shop, quilter, pottery maker and finally the jewerler. It was a very busy afternoon.

They learned many new things. Below they are pulling cotton seeds out of the cotton boles. We had a very hard time getting them to leave. They wanted to stay until they finished the whole basket of cotton.

We headed back to camp and gave the girls a break while we started prep for dinner. The brownies gathered up to work on a try-it while the junior began working on their outdoor cooking badge. They learned how to prepare food for cooking, what a dutch oven was and how to use it. They learned how to do dish clean up using the 3-wash basin system. They were cooking tater tot casserole and brownie cheesecakes in the dutch ovens when a small rain shower hit. It was just an hour light rain and then back to business. Since they hadn't learned about fire and fire maintenance yet, after the rain they listened to Mr. Marty and Mr. Kevin on what they did to keep our cook fire going during the rain. They then prepared their hamburgers with the option of carrots, mushrooms, potatoes, onions and celery in foil packs. They gave them to the dads to place in the fire then helped the Brownies make their foil packs. Dinner was a real delite and the girls heard lots of praises from the Brownies and the adults on their hard work. After dinner, the Brownies headed to the showers while the Juniors learned about clean up, then they got their showers.

Quick note: Never sing "Johnny Appleseed" grace before dinner while camping, even if it has already rained that day and the weather report said that there was only a 20% change of showers. We all agree that this songs must be completely erased from the Girl Scout song book.

We set around the camp fire for about 10 minutes then s'mores were the next on the list. We had just gotten everyone theirs and had just started the adults when drops of rain began to fall. We had already received a weather report from home and knew that we would likely have rain for about an hour (according to what the radar showed). So we were expecting it, we just thought we would have enough time for S'mores first. Not so. The girls headed for their tents, while the adults started getting everything under cover. The light rain turned in to heavy rain quickly and all I can say is never trust the radar. Trust your gut. The rain grew heavy and set in for the night. Everything was going well until Tent 2 hollered that they were getting wet. I head to check out what was happening there and discover that the floor of their tent was indeed taking on water. It was like walking on a waterbed at first then it started to seep through. We moved these girls to one of the leaders tent and moved their wet gear to the other leaders tent. Did I mention that it is still POURING down rain? We get the girls in the new tent and then we have a discussion of what options we had. We decided that since most, if not all, of Tent 2's sleeping bags and clothes were wet that it was best to get them home. We decided to leave the adult men behind to stay with our stuff and us leaders would take the girls home to warm beds. We went to Tent 1 to let the leader who was sitting with those girls during the storm know, only to find that those girls were sound asleep. I mean dead to the world asleep. Oh well, they were dry now but it wasn't going to be long before they weren't, so stick to the game plan. We woke them up and started loading cars. We loaded all of them in two vehicles. Every trip to the vehicle, we noticed that it was getting deeper and deeper. Not a good sign at all. We finally got them all loaded in and I must say I'm very proud of the girls in our troop. Though they were in a scary situation, they cried some but we were able to calm them down easily and no one completely freaked out on us. We got them all back to Cabot safely around 1:15 am and everyone's parents came and picked them up.

After 4 hours of sleep, Kristi and I headed back up to get the equipment that the guys couldn't get loaded in their two trucks, while Cris watched our girls and had her husband cook us a wonderful lunch/dinner (what do you call it when you eat at 3:00 pm). Below is our rain soaked camp site. After getting everything loaded, we made a quick stop to walk the short trail to the Blanchard Springs Caverns exit. Below is the picture of the exit. This was what the girls were suppose to get to see today and then go in the caverns to see what the water made inside, but I guess we'll be planning another trip.

We made it home with everything and then started sorting all the stuff. We washed all the dirt off the tents and now have them hanging out to dry on my back porch.

We had a great time that I'm sure everyone will remember but I'd rather not have a "River Run Through Our Tents."