8/18/15 - TEN ON TUESDAY

Birthday money - Silas and Devon were each happy about some new toys they bought with birthday money. Silas has a story to tell about how he got a smokin' deal on his RipStik, so be sure to ask him about it.

Phone - Teebs loves to send "funny texts", which are just a bunch of emojis, to Tim and my dad, but he also likes to call Silas and Tim when they're at work or my dad when he's home.

Brothers, books & blankets - Our mornings usually find kids hunkered down with books somewhere.

OMSI  - We took another family along for our last trip to OMSI and got a picture of all the kids, including Mr. Jazz Hands, on a huge chair at The Science of Ripley's Believe It Or Not!

A quick picture of Laura and I, simply because we have no photographic proof of our friendship.

Strong & funny - Devon's acting like a task he did in about 30 seconds, which I had struggled with for quite a while before asking him to help, was just as hard for him as it was for me.

Bike, round four - This little bike was given to Silas a decade or so ago and each little W has taken a turn on it. Tim put the training wheels on a couple weeks ago and Teebs has spent a lot of time on the bike since then.

Dad & Hunter - My dad picked up my nephew from Tracy's and then they came into town to celebrate Naomi's birthday. The big boys introduced Papa to parkour on YouTube.

Devon asked Papa to scoot over so that he could sit with him. Blurry picture, sweet moment.

We took a picture of 5/8 of the Perkins cousins before Naomi's party ...

... a picture of the 6 Ws after the cousin picture ...

... a smiling picture of the all the relatives when we were back home  ...

... and a silly picture, because that's how we roll. Or because that's how I try to bribe people who are sick of pictures into taking just one more with smiles on their faces. Or both.

Ben & Char - The plan was for me to drive Hunter back to Tracy's, but that morphed into he and I stopping to see my brother/his dad for a little bit on the way up, which morphed into all 6 Ws spending about five hours with Ben, Char, and Hunter, then leaving Hunter there for the night and driving home. We hiked around the property, ate tacos, chatted, swam, boxed, played guitar, threw rocks in ponds, and looked at pictures.

My attempt to get a group picture turned out like this. Oh it cracks me up! Some silly faces, some smiling, some expressionless. Some looking at the camera, some not. I think we had a communication breakdown or something.

Smoothie - You know it's a good smoothie when it gives you a mustache and an eyebrow connector.

Comfort - Sometimes three year olds wake up feeling kinda cruddy, which, thankfully, turns out to be nothing more than a need for breakfast. Sometimes eight year olds spend their birthday morning rubbing the back of cruddy-feeling three year olds.

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1/27/15 - TEN ON TUESDAY

Book - Silas found a random spot to soak up some winter warmth while he was reading one morning.

Candle - A friend gave me a gift card to Bath & Body Works and I spent part of it on a candle that I love. The scent is cinnamon and clove buds, the brand is White Barn, and I got it for 50% off. It smells wonderful and burns completely without any unmelted ridges along the side. And it was a bargain. What's not to love?!

Facebook - I took a spontaneous break from Facebook for the last two weeks of December. Nothing prompted it - no drama, no time management issues. My mind was just wandering one night and I realized that I regularly took breaks of various lengths from a forum I was very active on for several years, but I'd never taken a break from Facebook. So I took one, effective immediately. It was neither wonderful nor challenging. It just was. I'll probably do it again sometime just because I can.

Game - Ashley gave us IQ Twist on Christmas and I don't think it was set down for the next 24 hours. The initial novelty has worn off, but it still gets played with several times a week. It's interesting to see who is able to nail it time after time and who has to strain their brain to figure it out. I fall into the latter category, but I still think it's a fun game. The goal is to arrange the various pieces, all of which have different shapes, and pegs in a multitude of ways that all fit on the board. It includes an answer key in case you get completely stuck and hints for the first several combinations.

Goals - I'm not a big goal-setter, but I recently bought a little notebook to write down the goals I do come up with and the date I accomplish them. I made it retroactive to last year so that I could include baking yeast breads and finishing Couch-to-5K, just because those were both a big deal to me.

Heels - Naomi had to throw on a pair of heels and walk out to the corner in the drizzle to wave goodbye when Aunt Tracy left earlier this month. She believes heels make everything in life better. Even saying goodbyes.

Pinch Me - I found out about Pinch Me from a magazine and have been getting a couple samples a month ever since. Once a month I choose the samples I'd like to receive in the mail, then I post a review after I've tried the sample. Easy peasy.

Reading - This was the view from my end of the couch on Friday night. Everyone else had gone to bed early or on time, but Devon and I stayed up late, each hunkered down with blankets and books. Perfect evening.

Soap - My favorite sample from Pinch Me so far has been this Shea Moisture African black bar soap. It smells sooooo good! And it cleans us up well. But, really, it just smells so good.

Wildlife - There was a lion roaming around our home one day.

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12/23/14 - TEN ON TUESDAY

Almond syrup - Monique knows how much I love almond flavored and scented things, so she shared some homemade almond syrup with me. I hate coffee, which is what most people would add it to, so I hunted down a recipe for baked goods instead. This almond bread turned out great and you could easily make it with some Torani syrup, which is actually how it was intended to be made.

Crafty decor - I gathered way too many twigs for a project with our homeschool group a couple months ago, so I decided to stretch myself and do something crafty with some of them. My original plan involved twig stars, strung on twine, hanging from a branch that fell off a tree in our yard and got mounted to the wall at the head of our bed. It would have been headboard-ish. That didn't work out very well and I ended up hanging twig stars randomly on the wall instead. It's not what I had in mind, but it's growing on me. Step one in turning our plain and boring bedroom that we've had for three years into a place that I like to relax in.

Dara Maclean - My sister introduced me to this artist a year or two ago. I love her music, voice, and lyrics. Good stuff! You can check out her site, then, if you're like me, listen to her on Spotify, Pandora, or Youtube.

Gratitude - Devon spontaneously drew up a card for our whole family to sign, thanking the recipient for things they've done. Oh, it made me smile! Sometimes parenting (and I mean parenting anyone, not just little Ws) can be discouraging or just simply tiring, but those moments where you see maturity and character make it worthwhile.

Leaves & dirt - I got to rake a ton of leaves and move compost to some flower beds. In sunshine. While wearing shorts and a t-shirt. In December. If you've known me very long, then you know that's my happy place. So thankful for a warm afternoon, fresh air, and a yard to work in!

Open houses - We decided a couple months ago to start hosting a monthly open house, a time for people to pop in for however long they want and visit, eat, and/or play games. We've had two so far, one in November and another in December, and they've been exactly what I hoped for. We've had a mix of families and singles, people from all the different circles of our lives, and a wide age range all hanging out together. I love it!

Marriage tips - Jessica, my brother-in-law's sister, linked 36 Things I Know After 36 Years of Marriage on Facebook a week or two ago. It's a quick read filled with many good things to remember. And, really, it's a good read even if you're single because what's true in marriage is usually true in any relationship. Here are a few of my favorite things on the list.

** The term wedded bliss should be stricken from every couple's vocabulary. Marriage is wonderful in many ways, but expecting bliss makes the inevitable rough times seem like a problem when they're simply part of the deal.

** Marriage doesn't get good or stay good all on its own.

** Learning how to make up is essential since you'll never, ever, get to a point where neither one of you screws up.

Phone - It's pretty rare for me to lose things, but I lost my phone in mid-November. We knew it was lost at home, but all our efforts to find it, and there were many of them, were in vain. We'd been talking about getting another phone for the kids to have when they're home alone (they just keep mine and I go phone-less) or for Silas to take if he's babysitting, so we just did a complete update of our phone situation. But my old phone never turned up. Tim thought I'd dropped it while working in the yard. I didn't think so, as I don't keep my phone with me all the time and never take it outside if there are people inside. It turns out he was right. I found it buried in some leaves when I was working in the yard yesterday. A dirty, water-logged phone. I guess "never" wasn't the right word to describe how often I take my phone outside when people are inside. Oops.

Smiles & waves - Naomi suggested that we wear Santa hats on a recent run. I obliged, but she told me she was disappointed that people didn't honk and wave when they saw the hats. That girl loves to get honks and waves when she's out for a run and it happens a few times a week as people that we know drive by.  She was pretty sure that the hat would spur more friendliness and was bummed when it didn't.

We went on a run yesterday and I suggested we wear the hats again because it's Christmas week. She obliged, but without any enthusiasm. We'd finished about two of our three miles when she told me again that she was bummed no one was responding to the hat. I told her again that seeing a smiling kid running down the road with a Santa hat probably brought smiles to people's faces, even if she couldn't see it, and that's the point. That didn't help, so I suggested that she initiate the kindness that she was seeking. Life lesson there, right? She did. In fact, she waved at every car that passed us for the last mile. And guess what happened? Every single person that looked her way smiled and waved back. Several of them honked. One gave her a thumbs up. She was a very happy girl ... with a sore right arm.

Younger brother - Teebs is one of three boys in our family, but he's the only one who has an older sister. Which means this happened.

10/7/14 - TEN ON TUESDAY

Fun - The little Ws are really looking forward to the end of this week! We're all heading to Bauman's with our homeschooling group on Thursday. Devon and Naomi will be participants and Silas will be helping at our church's annual Maze Craze for grade schoolers all day Friday, an event they all look forward to each year. Silas will be attending a dodgeball event with other middle schoolers from church on Saturday. So much fun! I'm incredibly thankful for the generosity of those who have made those outings possible. 

Humor - I think the following posts are so funny because sometimes it's hard to see how ridiculous the things we say are until we reverse roles or see someone else saying what we say. First up is When Suits Become a Stumbling Block: A Plea to My Brothers in Christ. The arguments that people make for why women should or should not wear certain clothing sound pretty silly in the context of women who find certain clothing on men to be very attractive. Next up is If Asians Said the Stuff White People Say. It's a comical look at how ridiculous the stereotypes we make about entire people groups are, taking the things white people often say to Asians and flipping them so that the opposite thing is said to white people or highlighting specific stereotypes.The last one is Weird Things All Couples Fight About. Tim and I may or may not have been able to relate to some of them, We'll never tell. All of us laughed our way through it multiple times, though the one we saw was edited and had the bad word at :32 beeped over. I can't remember where I found that one, so just skip over those two seconds on this one if you want to.

Pumpkins - A friend offered up pumpkins from her garden to a group I'm part of, so we picked some up on our way home from church one day. I ended up with ten quarts and seven pints of pumpkin puree in the freezer, plus about seven cups of roasted pumpkin seeds. Yum!

Words - Teebs says a few things that are cute. Hot air balloons are "hot balloons". He was given a paper bat from a Halloween display by a librarian who said something about how it flies around like a bird. He loves baseball, so he's been calling the animal type of bat a "baseball bat bird". He combines two different hoops when describing a basketball hoop, calling it a "basketball hula hoop".

Yogurt - I haven't bought flavored/fruited yogurt in at least ten years and never buy yogurt in individual servings, but there was a free 6 oz. container of yogurt on my account when I went to Safeway a few weeks ago, so I got it. Keep in mind that we've all been almost dairy-free since Teebs quit eating dairy. I miss dairy products a lot! We've started a little bit of experimenting to see exactly what he can and can't handle, but in the meantime there's been a serious lack of yogurt, cottage cheese, and cheddar around here. That free carton of yogurt was a sweet indulgence, a little bit of dairy bliss that was inhaled by yours truly in my kitchen while the kids were outside,

Seeds - I harvested some seeds while I was working in our yard a few days ago and am going to try planting them next year. I have hollyhocks, black-eyed Susans, and Shasta daisies. We'll see how it goes!

Running - I asked for some running advice on Facebook a couple weeks ago because I was really struggling with running the same distance Devon and I had done before taking August off, which was three miles. I'd also started Couch to 5K with Naomi in September, but the amount of running in the beginning of the program is minimal and I didn't think it was a big deal to add it to my days. I described all the problems I was having and the consensus was that I was doing too much too soon after taking a month off and needed to slow down, give myself some walking breaks, bring water, and delegate a run or two out to Tim each week.

What I ended up doing was slowing down (I wasn't fast to begin with, but I'm slower now), giving myself a 20 step walking break at the end of each mile with Devon (I'd passed the point of needing breaks in July and it's always a bummer to regress, but I did it anyway), and taking water (less than a cup in a water bottle and I take a sip every 1/2 - 1 mile, probably less than a quarter cup consumed during a run, but it's been helpful). I didn't delegate any runs to Tim, as I really want to run with Devon and Naomi, but I restructured our running schedule so that I'm never doing double runs. The trade-off is that I'm running six days a week, but I did two weeks like that and it worked well. Over this last weekend I dropped from two breaks, one at the end of each mile, to one break at the halfway point. I'll do that for a couple weeks and then drop the break completely. We may restructure again once Naomi reaches the three mile point, but we'll see. Meanwhile, the combination of cooler temps lately and the changes we made mean I no longer feel like I'm dying when I run. Progress!

Breakfast - A couple of Fridays ago Silas asked if he could make breakfast the next morning. We agreed, but that's not an unusual thing for him to do. However, the next morning Tim and I were banished to our room, along with a squirrely little boy who kept getting in the way of the kids who were cooking, while Silas and Naomi made breakfast. They served Tim and I in bed, then all the kids ate at the table. The picture of us isn't great and the one of the food doesn't do it justice, but that's fine. It's the thought that counts.

Scrambled eggs with cheddar and pancakes served with whipped cream and strawberries. They used a new pancake recipe and decided to toss some coconut in it. So good!!

Studio C - A girl from our homeschooling group recently told Silas about Studio C, a bunch of short comedy videos on Youtube, and the little Ws have been laughing their way through them ever since ... and so have the big Ws from time to time. They're put out by BYU, which means I don't have to wonder if they'll have things that are inappropriate for the kids to be watching. Love that!

Fall - Frugal Living NW puts out a great list of fall activities (pumpkin patches, fairs, and so on) all over Western Oregon and SW Washington, The list is broken down into geographical area, which makes it pretty easy to find out what's in your neck of the woods. There are also links to activities in the Puget Sound area, Eastern Washington, and both Central and Eastern Oregon.

9/16/14 - TEN ON TUESDAY

Blood - I donated blood during college and in the first few years after graduation, but stopped when I got pregnant with Silas. In the years since then I've either been pregnant or just forgotten about it. A year or two ago I tried to donate again, but my iron was too low. I take iron supplements now and was able to donate a couple Fridays ago. I'm excited to get back in the donation routine! Here I am with my stylish proof of donating.

Budgets - I mentioned a while back that we voluntarily went off food stamps in the spring, but a month later realized we weren't going to be able to eat during the summer if we kept that up. So we opted not to reapply, but did use up the remaining balance on our account. We were getting an absolutely ridiculous amount of money each month, so we had a lot of unused money that had accumulated over time and we ate off of it for a while. This month we're back to fully supporting ourselves and it feels good. And a little bit scary. We've always had a very small grocery budget, which is fine because I'm a frugal shopper and am home full-time to cook for my family, but things get more expensive as the years go by, kids grow up and eat more, and so on. Needless to say, I've been a little apprehensive about how this is going to play out, but I'm determined not to go back on food stamps, even if that means eating beans and rice five nights a week. I'm incredibly grateful that help was there when we needed it, but I'm ready to  move on.

Anyway, God has once again proven to be faithful at meeting our needs. We've been given produce from people's yards and gardens, beef from friends who gave it as a gift or as payment for books they purchased at my book sale, turkey from someone who needed to get one out of their freezer, and chicken that Tim earned (more on that below). We eat vegetarian meals three or four nights a week, so this stockpile of meat and poultry will last us a while and we're able to share a chicken with someone else. How cool is that?! I don't know why I always get nervous about stuff like this. Time after time after time we see that when each person chooses to pay kindness forward in whatever way they're able (financial help, providing free childcare, doing yard work for those who can't do their own, delivering meals to people in difficult circumstances, etc.), then everything tends to work out for everyone.

Chickens - We know the owners of Marion Acres and they recently asked if Tim would be willing to help with harvest day. He drove out to the farm early Saturday morning and spent several hours slaughtering chickens, then got to bring some home in exchange for his labor. If you're interested in local, pasture-raised chickens and turkeys, then check out the link above or visit the Marion Acres Facebook page. If you're just interested in a fun video, then spend a couple minutes watching some footage from their 2013 Ladies Chicken Harvest event.

Dairy-free - Teebs has been dairy-free for a while now and it's going pretty well. We don't really drink milk, but we use a lot of dairy products, so it's been a bit of an adjustment. Some things we make as usual, but use a non-dairy milk and/or leave cheese out of a portion of the dish and we've kept some popsicles in the freezer for him to eat when the rest of us have ice cream. Other things, like eating yogurt and cheese, have been harder. We haven't been able to find an easy way for everyone else to keep eating those things and have a comparable food for him to eat at the same time. I miss yogurt and cheese. A lot. A whole lot. I'm not sure how this is going to look over the long-term, but I think dairy is one of the easiest allergies to live with, so we'll figure it out.

Jobs - Tim is currently subbing. He was contacted a couple weeks before school started for a sub job that is for just over two weeks and started on the first day of school. Sub jobs can be hard to come by early in the year, so that was a huge blessing! Other calls have started to come in, which he's had to turn down because of the one he already committed to, and it looks like he'll be right back in the swing of full-time subbing in no time at all.

As for permanent jobs, the charter that he'd been talking to since the spring hired someone else. We had wanted clarity and closure on that job and got both, so we're totally fine with how it played out, but it was the only job he landed an interview for. He applied to countless school jobs, a totally random job that has nothing to do with education, and a job that seemed ideal at a community college, but nothing ever came from any of those applications. Another school job was recently posted and will close later this month, so he'll apply for it and we'll see what happens. Meanwhile, we're thankful for the great summer job he had and for sub jobs during the school year.

KidCheck - Our church moved from using wristbands to match kids with their guardian to an electronic check-in system called KidCheck a while ago and it's been great. However, I recently needed to update information for Teebs and was unable to do so. Attempts at home and church by both me and church staff had been unsuccessful.  I finally sent KidCheck an e-mail last Wednesday morning that explained what I needed to do and what attempts I had made to do it. Twenty minutes later I got a phone call from an employee who was ready to help me. By that time I was in the middle of lunch prep, a math meltdown, and a toddler with more energy than was good for him, so I let it go to voicemail. I called back a couple hours later, though, and got the help I needed.

As it turns out, part of it was user error (I didn't remember that I'd given myself a new username when I first created my account ... oops)  and part of it was that no one realized it's impossible to edit a child's information from the church kiosks (it's a safety precaution in the event of a security breach at the church). The woman I worked with was Nancy and she was friendly, helpful, and prompt. Excellent customer service!

Library - We go to the library a lot, participate in their activities, and frequently have items on the hold shelves. A couple of weeks ago we were attending a city anniversary celebration in the library park and I was chatting with a group of people, including John, the head librarian.

I'm pretty sure your family makes up 5-10% of our circulation.

~ John Hunter

Ha! We obviously don't make up that much, but we do love the libraries in whatever place we happen to be living.

Popcorn - Our West Bend Stir Crazy died recently. It was our second one over the course of our marriage and it's a fantastic popper, but we're not going to replace it. I'm not spending money on something fairly frivolous right now. Even if I was, then I'd want to wait until it drops to twenty bucks around Christmas time and spend gift cards I earned through Swagbucks for it.  Not only that, I'm in purge mode around here and just want to have less stuff in our home. However, we eat a lot of popcorn. So, what's a girl to do? Learn how to make it in my cast iron Dutch oven, that's what! I tried doing that several months ago and it was a little burnt, but yesterday's batch was awesome! I can't just walk away from it while it's popping like I did with the Stir Crazy, but it tasted great, I'm able to save cupboard space by not replacing the broken popper, and I'm getting more use out of my Dutch oven. Win, win, win!

School - We have everyone back home again this year, it's going well, and I'm loving it. Deciding where Devon would be this year was actually a really hard decision. Last year there was a huge list of reasons why it was clear that sending some of our kids out for school was the best option, but many of those things are different this year. His school is K-5, so he could have gone one more year, but he didn't need to go. Last year was great and we like the school, but we weren't sure that we should send him just because we could. Either option, sending him out or keeping him home, seemed great this year, but we opted to keep him home. If we realize we chose wrongly, then the principal has told us that the fifth grade class is not full and we could probably get him back in. Meanwhile, I'm still volunteering at the library there because I love doing it.

Selfies - Brett was talking at church on Sunday about how people use Facebook. I don't even remember how he got on the subject, but he started out saying something about teens who post seductive pictures of themselves, but then mentioned people whose pages are filled with screen after screen of selfies. His words of wisdom? "Deny thy selfies." Ha! That evening I read Streams in the Desert for the day, which I hadn't had time to do before church, and the verse it was about was the one Brett referenced.

Mark 8:34 Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.

I don't post seductive pictures or take lots of selfies and I make a deliberate effort to use Facebook as a way to connect with and learn more about others, but I guess hearing that verse referenced twice in one day meant I needed a reminder to think past myself. Sure enough, the last couple days have consisted of me being irritated and crabby because things aren't working out the way I'd like them to. Denying yourself is much easier to talk about than to put into practice!


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7/15/14 - TEN ON TUESDAY

Clean towels - We have white towels that get grubby pretty quickly from little hands that didn't get washed thoroughly and I recently found a way to get back to super white. We wash laundry in cold water and neither bleach nor Oxi was getting them totally white. Now I toss in a cup of vinegar and a cup of baking soda with the detergent and they come out white as snow. I'm not sure if it's more of a bleach alternative or a stain remover, as I haven't tried it on any non-white laundry, but I'm happy with the way it's working on our towels!

Dad & Debra - These two came up to celebrate the big boys' birthdays last month and we enjoyed having them here. I'm pretty sure God wants them to move near us, but they're in denial. Or something. It couldn't possibly be that they prefer living where they're at. Nope, not possible.

Father's Day - I know I posted a picture of Tim and the little Ws on Father's Day, but you didn't see how many pictures it took to get that one. It was a lot. We started with one in tears over something ridiculous and ended with one hamming it up so much that they were never looking at the camera. It was hysterical! I present Evolution of a Father's Day Picture.

Abortion signs - Some person or organization put up anti-abortion signs along the freeway in our neck of the woods. Some other person or organization cut all the text out of them and/or wrote comments over the top. I am confident that both groups have good intentions and truly believe they're doing the right thing, but I'm pretty sure that few, if any, people are going to determine their beliefs about abortion because of a poster a stranger displayed on the freeway or because another stranger destroyed the posters. I'm all for standing up for what you believe is right, but neither of those approaches seems like it would be particularly effective. I could be wrong, though. Have you ever changed your views on an issue, not necessarily abortion, because of a poster or someone's response to a poster?

Last birthday - My 38th birthday was last month. That's the last birthday my mom had. I'm not emotional about it or anything. In fact, my neurotic junk that's related to her death stopped once I passed her diagnosis age. I find that's how most things related to it go - the anticipation of a milestone is often harder than the milestone itself. Anyway, I'm fine, but it is a little strange to wonder what it would be like to know this was my last year of life. Perspective.

Garden flop - We had a huge (well, at least for a residential lot) garden when we lived in Beaverton and I've missed it. Our current lot is smaller and doesn't have such a big sunny spot, but I planted a small garden this year. Twice. Things either didn't grow or got eaten by critters shortly after sprouting. So frustrating! We do have some tomatoes, thanks to a friend who had three starters she didn't need and some volunteers from the compost that I transplanted, one zuke that survived, some pumpkins from a friend's starters, three wimpy kales, three wimpy basils ... and that's it. I'd planted tons of cukes, zukes, basil, kale, spinach, lettuce, beets, and green beans ... but they flopped. I don't know what we'll do next year, but I really miss having a nice garden. Maybe I'll just make my own starts.  Meanwhile, we've been given some goodies from friends' gardens and that's been a treat!

Hedbanz - Some friends recently gave our family Hedbanz. We've had fun playing, but it quickly became clear that the game can't be played with Teebs in the room. In case you're unfamiliar with the game, you stick a card in a band around your head. Everyone can see each other's cards, but no one can see their own. The object of the game is to guess what card you have.  Like this.

Unfortunately Teebs thinks it's great to answer everyone's questions by identifying what's pictured on their cards. Stinker.

Humility - It's good to remember that no matter how powerful, knowledgeable, experienced, or influential that we are, the world wouldn't stop revolving if we were to drop dead.

Sometimes, when you're feeling important,
Sometimes, when your ego's in bloom,
Sometimes, when you take it for granted,
You're the best qualified in the room,
Sometimes, when you feel that your going
Would leave an unfillable hole,
Just follow this simple instruction,
And see how it humbles your soul.
Take a bucket and fill it with water,
Put your hand in it, up to the wrist,
Pull it out, and the hole that's remaining,
Is a measure of how you'll be missed.
You may splash all you please when you enter,
You can stir up the water galore,
But stop and you'll find in a minute,
That it looks quite the same as before.
The moral in this quaint example
Is do the best that you can,
Be proud of yourself but remember
There is no indispensable man.

~ Anonymous, quoted in Finish Strong: Living the Values That Take You the Distance, written by Richard G. Capen, Jr.

On the roof - Devon had to get on the roof to clean off some things that were up there. Dream fulfilled.

My thoughts - Your difficult circumstances can explain your feelings, but they don't justify your bad behavior.


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5/27/14 - TEN ON TUESDAY

Fun - Devon melted a bunch of old crayons together and made crayon cakes. Silas made a boiled egg go through the narrow opening of a bottle. Naomi lifted up a bottle of beans with a pencil

Garden - We've been without a shovel for a year and it finally occurred to me that I could just borrow one for the projects I've wanted to take care of all that time. Better late than never when it comes to being brilliant, right? A friend offered their shovel on Sunday and I spent almost five hours working in the yard, shoveling to my heart's content, on Monday afternoon. I moved some perennials around and planted seeds around the yard. I have one little area that's designated garden space, but the layout of our yard has me planting seeds in little areas all over the place. I actually planted several things a few weeks ago, but hardly anything came up. That's never happened to me before, so I'm hoping yesterday's efforts will be more successful. Time will tell!

Hair - It's been two and a half weeks since I had my hair chopped off and I'm really liking it. It's curly, so it never looks the same way two days in a row, but here's how it looked on Sunday.

Memorial Day - My parents used to always take us down to the port in Brookings on Memorial Day for the ceremony they held there. I thought it was kinda boring, but I also knew it was important. As a parent, however, I have never done anything similar with my own kids. I just never think about it ahead of time, so I never know what ceremonies are in my area when the day actually rolls around. This year I finally looked up info weeks in advance and our family went to a local ceremony yesterday. I'm sure the little Ws found it somewhat boring, though some of them wandered around reading names and figuring out how old people were when they died for a while and they all liked the flyover, but I also hope they realize the importance of acknowledging the reason we have a three day weekend at the end of every May.

I think Belle Passi cemetery, which is where we went, is beautiful! The flags that are up over Memorial Day weekend obviously add a special touch, but I love how there are flowers, shrubs, and trees planted among the rows of grave markers and headstones. So pretty!

Music - I love the variety of music we can listen to on Pandora, but I always listen to this station of hymns on weekday mornings as everyone gets ready for the day.  It's a peaceful and positive background to what can be a very chaotic time of day.

Pictures - I got waaaay behind on loading pictures to Picasa, but got all caught up over the weekend.  If you want to see pictures of what we've been up to lately, then click right here or the Picasa link on the sidebar.

Pounding - A few years ago someone coordinated a pounding for our family and it was a huge blessing. This month I've been able to coordinate a pounding for another family and it's been an even bigger blessing. Anonymous and identified givers, people who know the family well and people who don't them at all, food and household items, cash and gift cards ... just a bunch of generosity. I love seeing people rally around those in need, doing whatever they're able, whether a lot or a little, to make someone else's life easier.

Recycling - I came up with a new use for our old crib. I'm not sure if people will think it falls in the "cool way to re-purpose something" category or the "that's really tacky and you should have just thrown it away" one, but I kinda like it and don't really care if it's tacky. The first picture is the head and foot of the crib with peas starting to grow, the second with the peas much taller. The third picture is the sides and bottom of the crib, which will also have peas growing up them and will serve as a visual barrier for the compost piles behind them.

Reflux - Four years ago I thought I was going to die of a heart attack, but it turned out that I had a random case of reflux. At the beginning of May I started having chest pain again and eventually got diagnosed with another case of reflux. I have no idea why I've had these two cases, as it's obviously not a chronic problem, and I don't know why my only symptom is chest pain, but I'm sure thankful for medicine that gets it under control!

Veteran - Grumps, which is what we call my dad's dad, is a World War II veteran who joined five other Marines for a trip to New Zealand earlier this month, visiting the place they had been stationed during the war and turning over the remains of their comrades who had been MIA. Such a neat opportunity for these men! My grandpa is the first Marine shown in the footage of this brief news clip. He's also in a bunch of pictures that the U.S. Embassy staff took, wearing jeans, a red plaid shirt, and a navy blue jacket. He e-mailed a report from someone who was on the trip, but it's long and I'm not going to copy it here.  I've posted it as a note on Facebook and made the setting public, so you can read it here. UPDATE: I also found another short news clip and Grumps is interviewed near the end, at 2:30.

TEN ON TUESDAY - 4/22/14

The little Ws - If you're a parent, then do you ever have those moments when your kids seem suddenly older? That happened to me recently. Teebs is seeming less like a toddler and more like a little kid. Naomi says things and asks questions that prove she's no longer a little kid ... just a kid.  Devon is about to hit double digits and only has one year left before middle school. Silas is about to enter his last pre-teen year and has so much freedom now. Time flies!

Nice view - I was sitting in a corner of our living room recently, curled up in a chair with a kid, and realized how much I loved what I saw. The whole house isn't always this tidy and not every room is all color coordinated like this one, but the bright blue and green, crisp white, wood, natural light, plants inside, trees out the window (can't really see them in the glare of the picture), evidence of the little Ws, things that remind me of friends ... I love it. There was a camera within reach, so I quickly snapped a picture. A little moment of ordinary life that makes me smile.

New-ish friends - Last school year we started attending a local homeschool group, but this year we've become even more involved. It's been fun getting to know the other moms better this year. We have varied personalities, beliefs, and circumstances, but that's part of what makes me enjoy their friendship. I'm thankful for the chance to laugh with and encourage each other. Neat ladies!

Skyble study - Beep and I have a weekly Bible study via Skype that recently morphed into an ongoing e-mail/Skype study. We started off with a particular study, ditched it about halfway through, went through the book of Matthew, and are now reading The Complete Green Letters, written by Miles J. Stanford. Excellent book! If you're looking for something that will make you look less at yourself and more at Jesus, that will get you grounded in some Biblical truths, then read this one.

Gift - Earlier this month Connie gave a few people some dishcloths that she had made. I love handmade dishcloths, these colors are perfect, and I think this pattern with the edging on these is neat.

Sonlight code - A lot of people are making school decisions for next year right now. If you plan on ordering from Sonlight and if you'll be a first time customer and if your order will be for $50.00 or more, then this link will give you a $5.00 discount. In the interest of full disclosure, that link is for their referral program and any qualifying purchase made through the link will give me points that turn into money off of my own orders. I'd actually forgotten about the referral program until a month or two ago. That's when I realized I had about $70.00 sitting there and I was able to buy a year's worth of math for Silas for $.71...  a savings of about 99%.  Such a blessing that turned out to be! If you already have a Sonlight account and plan on ordering from them again, then be sure to share your own referral code. Every little bit helps when it comes to saving money!

Zaycon - Speaking of referral programs, I signed up for a Zaycon account after the chicken fairy blessed us with a bunch of poultry in the fall. That chicken was so much better than the frozen breasts I usually buy that I figured I would start ordering from them once we were off food stamps. That time recently came to pass, so I figured I should share my referral link.  Zaycon has events all over the country and sells all kinds of things - various chicken, milk, sausage, honey, steak, salmon, ribs, strawberries, peaches, and more. They sell in bulk, so split an order with a friend or two if you don't have the space or desire to freeze a bunch of food. If you order through this link right here, then I'll get a little bit of credit when you pick up your order. As with Sonlight, if you are a Zaycon customer, then pass your referral link along to people!

Milestone video - Grumps, which is what we call my dad's dad, recently posted his first video on Youtube. He lives on a houseboat in California and frequently e-mails pictures of sunsets he can see from his home, but he decided to make a movie of his surroundings one morning and share it with the world. I love that he's still having fun with technology as he comes close to his 90th birthday!

Nice weather - I love the weather this time of year! It's a perfect mix of warm sunshine and cool rain.  Last week I was able to sit on the front porch in the evening and bask in the sun as I corrected math.  Bliss!

I also planted a bunch of seeds two Saturdays ago and have seen a few sprouts peeking through the dirt in the last few days.

Worthy cause - Devon's technology teacher currently teaches class with seven different types of computers, many of which are missing keys. Devon and his classmates sit through technology class in mismatched chairs, about half of which are not tall enough for the tables they all sit at. Needless to say, it would make life much easier if all the computers were the same and the students could all sit high enough to reach the keyboard comfortably. If that sounds like something you'd like to help with, then please visit their Go Fund Me page and donate whatever amount you are able.

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