Discovery Channel field trip

We had a great field trip today to the Discovery Channel TV station!!

My cousin, Jonathan, works there and was able to score a couple of tours for our homeschool field trip co-op. There were about 25 of us in each of the 2 groups.

This is their library - where every episode of each of the 13(?) stations (Discovery Channel, Discovery Health, Discovery Kids, Animal Planet, Military Channel, TLC, Science Channel, Discovery Home and more!) they broadcast is housed:

More library (that's a whole lotta episodes!!):
Control room where Jonathan works:
Other side of control room:
Travel Trailer is now torn. He still wants to work with RV one day ..... but on the other hand, he DOES love all those Discovery stations and thinks it wouldn't be a bad gig to get paid to watch tv for a living. I don't know - it looked pretty stressful to me, making sure everything gets on the air without a hitch. The amount of work involved was astonishing! They, however, made it look like a piece of cake!

Thank you, Jonathan, for spending part of your Saturday showing us around ..... the kids will be talking about it for years to come!

Under the microscope

The boys just came RUNNING in here ..... clammoring and yelling enthusiastically as they approached ...

"MOM!!! MOM!! PopUp fixed the microscope!" -- a yardsale find several years ago whose sole purpose, since it wasn't in working order, has been to grace the shelves of our schoolroom. Hey, it's all about the decor!

"All he did was move around the light and change the batteries! It works!!! Isn't that awesome?!"

They sat and looked thru it for a few moments, mesmerized. Then excitedly exclaimed "We're studying dust!!!!!"

I can assure you, it looks even nastier up close and personal than it does on our tabletops, shelves, counters, nooks & crannies and everywhere else it can be found in abundance in this house.

When they trotted off from showing me their latest discovery, they gleefully shouted "Let's find some dustbunnies!" Hey, why were they so confident and certain that they'd find such a creature living among us?

Most days we are lacking at least one ingredient in getting our science experiments done, but not today! No, today I can provide my children with enough material to entertain them for hours on end. What a blessing!!

Now, if only RV was so excited about living in the midst of one big science project!

ATTN: Parents of Sons!!

Speaking of "the sophistication of females" ... haha! ... (see yesterday's blog)

I just sent this to a few of my homeschool email loops and thought I'd post it here too. It was a GREAT radio broadcast, and I presume the whole week will be fantastic!! I just listened to 3/26 and am listening to 3/25 now.

I recently had a conversation with a mother of boys who was lamenting the fact that the Christian community has largely ignored boys and their purity (there's lots of stuff out there for girls)!

I just listened to today's Family Life Today broadcast. IT WAS EXCELLENT!!!!!!!!! So fantastic!! They are discussing aggressive girls all week, and giving tips on how to help your SONS maintain their purity. I missed yesterday's broadcast, but plan on listening now. And will definitely tune in all week long! GREAT STUFF!!!

click here: http://www.familylife.com/

you can listen directly on their website or download to an iPod

3/26 BROADCAST: Training & Educating Your Sons in Dealing with (sexually) Aggressive Girls

When? Beginning in elementary school! The radio broadcast gave examples of (sexually)aggressive girls/children in 5th grade!

6 assumptions in training & educating your sons in how to handle aggressive girls:

1. Young boys are clueless - when do you start preparing them? Elementary school! Teach them to make wise & not foolish choices.
2. Aggressive girls will likely occur in your son's life. You will likely not know about it because teenage boys don't talk about it.
3. As a parent, you need a pro-active plan.
4. That plan will involve fathers/sons and mothers/sons.
5. Your teaching & call to accountability with your sons doesn't end with the adolescent years. It continues into adulthood and possibly even after they are married. Why? Because women still prey upon married men.
6. Ultimately the call to a young man is to step up and become a noble, moral, spiritual, Godly man.

Proverbs 24:5 - a wise man is mightier than a strong man ..... a man of knowledge is more powerful than a strong man

Read Proverbs chapters 5-7 with your boys. "The Message" version is particularly effective for these passages.

Tune in & enjoy!

Interestingly, this was on my "verse of the day" sidebar today:
Do not be misled: "Bad company corrupts good character."
1 Corinthians 15:33 (NIV)

The sophistication of females

During Science today, we were studying insects and .......

Firefly Patterns

male flashing pattern:
1. flash, flash, pause, pause, flash, flash

female pattern:
1. pause, flash, pause, flash
2. pause, pause, pause, flash, flash, flash
3. pause, pause, pause, pause, pause, pause, flash, flash, flash

TT excitedly exclaimed: "Who knew females were so sophisticated!!?"

Oh yes, my darling boy ....... so much to learn! ........ :-)

A few happier events of the weekend

There were a few happier events of the weekend (thank goodness)!!



The smile returned, momentarily. Oh, I love his smile! Pop Up and I worked on these:
Talk about breaking my heart - just a few minutes ago while the boys were taking a lunch break today (Monday), he said "thanks for making those cookies with me, Mom, so I didn't have to be alone" (after receiving "the news"). This bunny he created is my favorite, although PUp wasn't happy with the way the nose ran - it was supposed to be a triangle:
These were such fun!! I got the recipe from a friend of a friend: http://www.stillhisgirl.blogspot.com/ Thanks, Cindy! (It's in her archives from her 2/14 post - sorry, I don't know how to link to it.) While Travel Trailer & RV were outside fixing this (the reason for the aforementioned newly purchased toolboxes). The winds are horrible up here on this hill where we're perched, and during the last 2 storms, about 6-8 playgrounds in the neighborhood toppled over - including yours truly:

Can this toolbox mend a broken heart?

(aeriel view):

Travel Trailer has been drooling over this toolbox at Costco for about a month. Begging for it so he can help dad fix stuff. So we thought it'd make a great Easter basket this year. Even filled it with candy in addition to the tools it came with. The boys were beside themselves this morning when they found them. So ecstatic! So short lived.

On the way home from church, Travel Trailer asked Dad if he bought it. RV hesitated and then said "yes, Bud, I did." Oh my goodness. Oh no you di-int! We wanted the truth to come out this year, but ON Easter?!!? Oh no you di-int! You've got to be kidding me. It's not enough that you scarred my children to begin with but now you're going to finish the job off - on Easter!?! One of us wanted to start the whole Santa, Easter Bunny, Tooth Fairy thing years ago and one of us didn't .... but I won't say who was in which camp.

You could see the wheels spinning in the back seat. By the time we got home, Pop Up was in tears. He ran upstairs. His poor little heart was broken. I don't know who cried more, him or me. So then came the questions. Was the whole Santa thing a lie too? And what about the tooth fairy? So, we hugged and cried some more. He said "I can't believe my parents have been lying to me." Finally, Travel Trailer came up and bounced in the room "what's going on"? Pop Up instantly declares that their parents are liars and tells him everything. TT says with a smile on his face "oh, that's ok, I still love you! I don't care about those other things, I just love you so much!"

Now, RV and I have had discussions along the way about how each child will take "the news". We couldn't have gotten it more wrong. We totally thought each of them would react the opposite of how they actually did. But PUp is my very sensitive child. He has always worn his heart on his sleeve.

So I did what any good mother would do and tried to solve the situation at hand with food. And since I didn't want to cook anyway, tonight we'll dine at one of Pop Up's favorites: Texas Roadhouse. A good steak can solve almost anything. I even told him to order dessert to take some of the sting out of the day.

My children will always remember Easter 2008 as the day part of their childhood and innocence ended. About the only redeeming thing I can find out of it all is: Those other things might not be real. But Jesus IS real and your Heavenly Father won't let you down like those earthly parents have been known to do.

And I'll remind him of that every time he laments over the fact that his Easter Day was ruined. I know there will be hundreds, if not thousands of times over the years that he'll remind us. He already HAS mentioned it 1/2 dozen times just today since noon.

It's a lot for a 9 year old to take in. He vascilates from: "I'm not going to lie to my children" to "I'll wait to tell my children the truth until they are 20 so they can still have a happy childhood" to "I'm still going to believe". :-)

18,250 days young

Tonight was a surprise birthday party for an old friend. No, not that kind of old. Well, yes, maybe. Ok, both. Pastor Kelley turned:
Without 2 of these people, 2 of these people wouldn't be here: *
That's Pastor Kelley & Jane. If it weren't for them, we wouldn't be blessed with these 2 beautiful and amazing boys. Kelley & Jane led the Singles Ministry where RV and I met, 23 years ago. They taught us pretty much everything we know about anything, as far as relationships and life in general. They even helped talk me into marrying RV, when I thought cooler guys were more interesting (how could I have been so wrong?! young & stupid is all I can say). So, thank you, K & J, for the foundation you gave us & so many others along the way, and pointing us in the right direction (and always toward Him)! Sorry we gave you so much gray hair. Although, RV says "at least he still HAS hair!"

I think he's the first of our friends to turn 50. Wow, life really is but a mist. Totally unbelievable how fast it all goes by!

Happy Birthday! Hey whazzup wif dat? I always thought your birthday was the 1st day of Spring, but now they're saying Spring is on 3/20 -- did they move Spring!?! Or is it like new math?

* without 2 of these people, 2 of these people wouldn't be here ... when RV walked by, he said "oh, I thought you meant without Travel Trailer & Pop Up, Kelley & Jane wouldn't have moved back from Michigan!" haha

Awwwww - great way to start the day!

When I came downstairs this morning and passed Pop Up in the family room, he started cheering:

"Mommy! Mommyyyy! Mommyyyyyyy! Mommyyyyyyyyyyy!" (go team!)

So I made a detour and gave him a kiss. At which point he said:

"I'm just excited to see you. My inner cuteness accidently came out."

Awwww. It'll probably all head south when we move on to the schoolroom, but at least it was a nice way to start the day! He CAN be so dagonne sweet when he wants to! :-)

Happy "Gotcha Day" Solomon!!

Dear Solomon (aka "Pup Tent"),

It was one year ago today that you joined our family. What joy and happiness you've brought us. (edit: As I was just re-reading this post with Travel Trailer, when I got to this point, he said "oh yes, Hallelujah, Praise God!" LOL!)

Almost every day as Travel Trailer frolicks with you, he joyfully exclaims "every boy should have a dog!!". The boys often thank us for getting them a dog. But thank YOU for getting us and capturing our hearts! At first, you were shy and uncertain, but now, you are more confident and want nothing more in life than to be sitting at our feet and loved. And you are much loved, Pup Tent! You are SUCH a GREAT dog and we're so glad we "gotcha".

So, Happy Gotcha Day, Solomon. And to the rest of you, Happy St. Patty's Day!!!

Horton Hears a Who

We saw Horton Hears a Who tonight at the theatre. What a cute movie! Two thumbs up. If I had MORE hands, I'd give it more thumbs up! The animation was astoundingly breathtaking. You might even enjoy it & get more laughs out of it than your children do! RV almost laughed till he cried, during the dentist scene. I think this could quite possibly be one of the best children's movies I've ever seen. Or maybe I just need to watch more of them. Nahhhh, it really was ALL THAT and more.

Boomin' Beyond Measure concert

The little redhead was feeling better today, so we were able to make it to the concert. Even managed to sneak in a steak dinner beforehand. Ate there (Texas Roadhouse) for cheaper than junk food was priced at the concert. $4 for a small bottle of water. :-0

Above: Matthew West was in concert too. Didn't know that beforehand. Recognized a lot of his songs from the radio (Next Thing You Know/Thirteen was one of them). He had surgery last year on his vocal cords and was not able to even speak for 2 months.

Above: Jeremy Camp - loved his music. He shared some of his testimony. I had forgotten that his first wife died from ovarian cancer (she was only 21, he was 23). He's now remarried with 2 little girls. He also is an ordained minister with Calvary Chapel, if this music thing doesn't work out for him (no chance of that)!

Above: TobyMac - we recognized about 2 of his songs and realized he's not quite our style ;-) But he did have a big ole heart for the Lord! He grew up here and his family was in the audience.

All in all, we had a great night!

Mourning the loss of a church

Tonight I'm in mourning. RV met this evening with the pastor of our church, resigned from the church board and told him we won't be worshiping there anymore.

We've been there for 17 years. Started attending the week we got back from our honeymoon - so our entire married life, it's been all we've known. RV has been on the board for probably 14-15 years.

I worked there for 5 years before we had kids and loved every single minute of it. It truly is my passion to work in full-time Christian ministry, behind the scenes, using my administrative gifts, lifting the burden from the people out in front. I'd rather do that than almost anything else. Ok, if I could sing like Darlene Zschech, I might rather do that, but I can't. One day when the boys are grown & gone, I hope the Lord will bring about a similar opportunity to serve Him somewhere in an administrative role. That would be sweet.

But tonight, I'm sitting here crying over the loss, for so many reasons, on so many levels. We've been there almost half our lives. It's hard to start over. And yet, there's really nobody to say goodbye to. It's been a very lonely place for me - as you know if you've been reading my blog for any time. Any acquaintances (dozens of them) we've had there have all moved on to other churches. We haven't made any deep, lasting friendships there like we did in our old church (I loved those people so much - some of them are still 'family' 23 years later). Different stage of life? That's what some people say, but I don't buy it. I mean, I'm just as busy as the next mom with pre-adolescent kids, but I'm still willing to make time for adult friendships. When we're empty-nesters, I know I will cherish friendships made along the way. I want to look back with fond "remember then" memories through the years. I'm not so sure how I'll feel about people 10 years from now saying "ok, my kids are gone, I'm bored, now I finally have time for you." I hope I can be gracious. I'll probably feel like screaming "where were you when I was out there dying?" It reminds me of a story RV tells of when he was in his high school youth group. Melinda called him one day after she'd gone through all her other friends, and said "I'm bored, so I decided to give you a call." He laughed about it, but I often feel bottom-of-the-barrel-ish, myself. Hmmm, how'd we get here? Back to the story at hand:

I've probably been mourning our departure for about 5 years. Trying to hang on, but not fitting in anywhere. Watching people leave and figuring one day it would probably be us. I needed a place of service, but never found one. Many Sundays I stayed home in bed and cried for hours, as RV and the boys went to church by themselves. I hope it doesn't take 5 years to come through the other side of this loss. Grief cycles. Blech!

So, you'd think it'd be easy to leave. But you'd be wrong. I think I'll miss Ross C. most of all. I love that he's so real. We would often have dinner with him at Roy Rogers, before church board meetings. Then he and RV would go to their meeting and the boys and I would go home.

We're moving into some of the most important years of our boys' childhood. Where they will make their faith their own. Godly friendships are important during these years, when they will test their wings and fly. They soon won't be with us every waking moment. I know the next 5-10 years will go by as swiftly as the last. I pray that we are making the right move. For them and for me. I hope we can all find deep, lifelong friendships in our next church, that for whatever reason, were so elusive for almost the last 2 decades.

So, tonight I'm just sad for the things left behind that never will be.

And just before I was about to click "send", this song started playing on my iPod:

Glory to the King by Darlene Zschech/Hillsong

You're the comforter to the lonely
The lifter of my head (what'd she say? I start crying again)
I see You veiled in majesty
We cry glory, glory
We cry glory to the King

Lord, my heart cries out glory to the King
My greatest love in life, I hand You everything
Glory, glory I hear the angels sing
Open my ears, let me hear Your voice
To know that sweet sound, Oh my soul rejoice
Glory, glory I hear the angels sing

You're the Father to the fatherless
The answer to my dreams
I see you crowned in righteousness
We cry glory to the King
Comforter to the lonely
The lifter of my head
I see You veiled in majesty
We cry glory, glory we cry glory to the King

Piano (and sewing and choir) interrupted

As we were running out the door for piano this morning, Pop Up started saying he didn't feel well. I thought perhaps he was faking it and just didn't want to go to piano. Figured it was one of those cases where, apples don't fall far, since when I was a girl, I used to hide in the neighbor's yard before school in the morning to avoid my before-school piano lessons in the school's music department.

As luck would have it, I was wrong. He sat down on her bench and then ran for the bathroom to throw up. He later said in the car "I tried not to make a mess all over her beautiful piano, because I know how expensive those things are. Ridiculously expensive." And I quote.

He said he was feeling better so we managed to get through Travel Trailer's 2nd orthodontist appointment of the week. Still insisting he was all better, and figuring maybe it was something he ate, we headed 25 min. down the road to sewing, when he felt wave number two coming on. So we turned around and headed home.

Well, that took care of nearly 1/2 our weekly "to do" list, since Wednesday is our very full, busy day. I suppose I can also scratch children's choir off for tonight.

I hope he's feeling better tomorrow so our $150 worth of Jeremy Camp/Toby Mac concert tickets aren't for naught. Or at the very least, come up with a "plan B" for the little redhead.

Right now he's plopped on the couch with a blanket, watching How Mount Rushmore Was Made on Modern Marvels. He just might learn something today, afterall. He's paused the show a couple of times, commenting on this or that, and how he would like to visit it one day in our camper. I told him that has always been on the "master gameplan" - along with Niagara Falls, Grand Canyon, the Creation Museum, and all those fascinating sights out west, like the California Redwoods. I just hope diesel isn't $10/gallon by then.

Prayers appreciated for a speedy recovery :-)

The tailors & their projects

The boys LOVE their sewing class! It's definitely a highlight of the week for them. Both are excited about "sewing camp" this summer and want to take lessons again next school year. They enjoy using their creative energy and having something to show for it. Their instructors couldn't be any sweeter (or more patient). Below are some pictures of completed projects:
above L to R: John Deere quillow (blanket folded into a pillow), lounge pants/pj's, Disney stocking, John Deere apron, Disney stocking



above L to R: John Deere quillow, 2 Disney stockings, lounge pants/pj's, not pictured: cooking apron

A whole lot of nothing going on

Dear Diary,

I'm sorry to have been so neglectful. I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive me. I've been a little pre-occupied with a new toy. I finally got an iPod. I've been clammoring for the ability to download podcasts from various ministries and such - like Cornerstone, Focus on the Family, Family Life Today, etc. And it IS nice to download the music to it that the boys are singing in their new children's choir - so they can practice memorizing songs while they wait for doctor appointments and such. Multi-tasking is the name of the game when you're a homeschooler. Never enough time in a day!!

Couple that with the fact that I've always wanted a PDA (even though I never really NEEDED one - I think I've mentioned before I'm all about the gadgets) ...... and when I stumbled upon the iPod Touch, I knew I had to have it. So, now my address book, calendar dates (into 2009) and a bunch of well loved songs are right in the palm of my hand. Ahhhh, I'm in love. Now RV wants one. As do both boys. The boys can share mine. RV deserves his own, though - so he can listen to podcasts driving down life's highways. Slowly but surely, we're crawling into the 21st century.

Basketball finished up on Saturday with an awards ceremony after their last game of the season. The boys wanted to sign up for baseball this spring, but registration is closed (registration started in December! we've never done baseball before, so I was clueless).

This week will be chocked-full, with 2 orthodontist appointments, piano, sewing, children's choir, regular dental checkups & cleanings for both boys, Jeremy Camp/Toby Mac concert (it will be the boys first big Christian concert experience - I must remember to bring the earplugs), Father/Son Co-op on Saturday, a couples date with 3 other couples on Saturday night (to the Melting Pot - yum, can't wait!) ...... and any other things that come up at the last minute in the next 6 days.

Yikes, tomorrow is supposed to start bright & early so I can get some school under our belts before all the dr. appts. start up ..... and it's already almost 1:00 am!! Sigh!

Just wanted to let you know what was happening, and get that "clean plate" out of here.

Oh - and as I was out and about tonight, getting Easter shirts for the boys before the pickings get too slim, I noticed diesel (now that RV has a diesel pickup truck after all these years) is $3.89/gallon! Oh, the things that make you go "grrrrrr!" ....... especially when he's only getting about 10 MPG!!!!!!!!!!! What gives?! With Ford's new engine this year, he gets 12 mpg on a good day, 10 mpg if he's towing. 'Course we didn't know THAT when we bought it - as they don't advertise MPG's on diesel's.

But at least Pop Up will look good for Easter. God didn't give me a girl, so He gave me him instead. He loves for things to match and has had impeccible taste all his life. He's always our "go to" guy for fashion advice. Whenever we need to decide between "this and that" we ask him and he's ALWAYS right. That little guy is a total fashion mongrel - he LOVES to dress up for special occasions and would wear a shirt and tie every week to church if he had his druthers. So, he insisted on a shirt/tie in every spring color that Kohl's carried. I don't think I can tolerate his pink, yellow and almost neon-green shirts in the middle of summer (because I need the colors to match up with the seasons - just another of my many Monk-like qualities). He was drooling over all the gorgeous ties in the men's department (oh, and they WERE gorgeous!) longing for the day when he'll be big & tall enough to wear them. He will have some serious tie collection one day, that boy will.

Travel Trailer on the other hand will wear anything I put in front of him. And when he's older, I'm sure he could care less if he even owns ONE tie. Those 2 boys couldn't be any more opposite if their lives depended on it. Cracks me up. They really did come from the same gene pool ;-)

Clean plate club

As RV was headed to bed tonite, he saw me checking some comments on my blog and laughed as he went by. He said "Why don't you show them what you've cooked since the Mex-Italian Weekend to Remember?"

TA DA!!! Nuttin, honey!

I always have been a feast-or-famine kind of girl. Good thing he's such a good sport about things.

Weekend with Lysa

Several people have asked about the weekend. It was really great!

Click here for Lysa's recap: www.lysaterkeurst.blogspot.com .

Her testimony was simply A-MAAAA-ZZZING!!!!!! If you ever have a chance to hear it, you absolutely must!

Other than that, what I got from it was: the importance of saying "yes" to God and the things He asks of you, and the importance of having a daily quiet time with Him. Both of which, I often struggle with and need to work on. So, I guess He knew what he was doing when he sent me there.

They said in 2 weeks, the sessions will be available on the McLean Bible Church website: www.mcleanbible.com. Perhaps you can hear her testimony when they upload it.

How'd they know I've been clammoring for an ipod? I can't believe I don't already own one. I'm all about the gadgets! An added benefit to camping, you know, is all the cool gadgets ;-)