About Me

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WA, United States
I home school my kids, highly involved in my church, love to read, drink tea, and design tags.

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Sunday, July 25, 2010

Tee Pee Creeping Gone Bad

Family Reunion Plans Ruined

Have you ever had one of those things that you really wanted to do, but you keep getting little signs that tell you you shouldn't?  That is what happened to us yesterday and my husband and I took these as signs from God to STAY HOME.  We just wished we would have took notice a little sooner than we did.
Most of it started Friday night, the night before we were planning on leaving.  We had had Vacation Bible School all week long, which I will be blogging about in another post.  That morning Stinky had woke up with a sore throat.  She is not one to complain about being sick, so I knew something was wrong.  Later that evening she ended up with a fever.  It was very low grade, never got over 100.  She had it for most of the night, but early morning it left.

Hubby and I had planned on leaving the house by 6am to get on the road.  It was only a 1 hour 45 minute drive there and we thought we'd get there bright and early to spend the whole day.  Greg was even looking forward to our trip so he could go fishing.  I did let Stinky sleep in though for a bit.  When she woke up, we could tell that she didn't feel good, but there was no fever and she wanted to go.  We all got ready and packed for the day.

We got gas, drinks for the ride and a small snack for the kids.  Off we go.  We had about 30-40 minutes left until we reached our destination and hubby needs to use the little boys room.  He pulls over, beside a cliff mind you because we are going over a mountain pass.  Chinook Pass, in Washington, to be exact.  A tiny road on steep mountains is not my ideal place to be.  He gets out, I hear the van start to die and try to save it but I'm too late.  It dies.  

Greg gets in the van and tries and tries to start it.  It won't start.  He thinks it's my fuel filter or fuel pump or something of that nature.  We're of course, parked uphill, as we were still going up the pass.  Because he can't get the van to start, the power steering and power brakes won't work, of course, so that makes things even harder.  Greg knows we can turn around and get faced downhill and probably be ok, but there isn't room to turn around and my van won't start anyhow.  

There was a point when he was trying to position the van to turn around and boy he was getting close to the edge with hardly any brakes for me!  Stinky felt the same way.  Bubba stayed pretty calm, surprisingly.  Poor Stinky was crying.  We were all praying by this point.  Greg and I both tried our HARDEST to stay calm, so the kids would feel better.  I was shaking so bad that I thought for sure I was going to pass out.  I was envisioning many things that could happen to us.  I don't like being parked on the side of a highway with the kids.  Anything could happen.  Especially with a cliff on one side.

So since we couldn't start the van, we tried pushing it.  The kids got out because it was so close to the edge.  I unloaded my purse, and things I knew we would need if I have to walk with the kids (sunblock, etc.).  A man pulled over, of course it was AFTER I helped Greg push the van out of a hole.  That was hard!  We had to rock it, and rock it, and rock it.  There was one point that I just kept pushing and pushing and we got it out.  After a guy stopped to help, a forest ranger found us.  He told us to just wait it out and see if it will start.  lol  Ok.

I am thinking of many things right now.  It's hot in the van, I don't want the kids to overheat.  I checked Stinky's temp to make sure it hadn't gone up, it hadn't.  Thank the Lord.  I also thought we could get hit by a car and have it push us over the edge.  So I took everything heavy that could hit the kids in the head while we are rolling down a hill and shoved it into the back so hopefully it wouldn't get them.  I made sure we stayed buckled for that reason also.  

Greg had been outside of the van by now, checking all things.  He was tapping things, laying under the van and whatever else he tried.  He came up to the window, tried to start the van and we heard this strange noise.  We both look at each other with shock written all over our faces.  That weird sound was the engine running!  Greg yells, "Hurry!  Let's go!!"  I jump out of the van because he had just opened the side door and pull it shut!  He runs to the gas tank, shuts it, then runs to the hood, shuts it and he jumps in.  We scramble to buckle up, praying out loud to please get us turned around.  We thankfully got turned around and we go on down the hill, towards home.  

Now we are yelling, "Thank you Jesus!" and so happy to have it running.  We had already decided that this was too many weird signs and that we need to get home.  All of us are upset, it would have been  a fun day.  But what can we do?  We don't want to go further over the pass, into Eastern Washington and break down there.  

We stopped in town to get some food to take home before we got there and while me and the kids were inside getting the food, the van died and Greg couldn't get it to start.  So while we wait for it to start, we ate lunch.  Then Stinky had to go to the bathroom, and it was gonna be a while.  Greg got it started then, but it took us too long to get out and it died again.  We sat a little longer.  By now, I am so tired of the sun on my legs because every position that the van has died in, I am in the sun.  I was trying to get out of the sun, but running out of room!

After we got it started, again, it died on us, again.  We finally got it going and made it home and it died in the driveway.  I am glad that church was planning on me being gone today, so that didn't really mess anything up.  Hopefully, we can get it fixed before Wednesday night, when I need to be at church to help watch kids during Family Bible study.

I am bummed that we missed our Tee Pee Creeper reunion though.  I had heard it was the last camp out reunion and that is uncool that we missed it.  But the Lord had different things in mind.  We truly felt that we should go home.  It was such a strong feeling.  Especially to me, while I was praying.  It was way too strong to ignore.  And the worse part for everyone else was that the family was expecting us there and we never showed up!  People don't get cell phone reception there and so when I called to let them know what happened, it was only voice mail I got.  I did leave a message, but Grandma won't get it until after she gets reception.  :-(       

      

Monday, July 12, 2010

Fun in the Sun









Our short little week of Summer weather that we had last week gave us some time to play in the sun!!  On Wednesday we went to the lake with my bestie, Shyann.  It was a delightful day and the kids really enjoyed themselves.  Stinky and Bubba were able to play in the lake, which was a first for them!  And S was a great baby all day long!



S even enjoyed getting in the water.  He got a little angry with his mother when she removed him.  lol
 
Shyann and I spent most of the day just relaxing in each other's company.  There was no need for words the whole time.  We just enjoyed the weather and water.  Having friends like that is the best!




After spending some time in the sun and water we took the kids over to the little playground to expend some more energy.  All of this with hopes that our little ones will tire out and sleep beatifully for us that evening.






I couldn't resist taking this picture.  I am sorry if this is you or someone that you know.  But this is my example of a bad haircut:






Beautiful, Yet So Dangerous

 
Have you ever wondered how something can be so attractive and pleasing to us but at the same time is deadly to our very being and health?  Foxgloves are one of those things.  These flowers are beautiful.  They stand straight, proud, tall and just scream "I'm beautiful!"  But did you know that these flowers are deadly?

Foxgloves (Digitalis purpurea) grows wild and can be planted in your garden.  I love to drive down the highways and see them alongside the road, standing in rows waving in the breeze.  Unfortunately, these flowers are extremely poisonous even in small doses.  I was reading a little bit of information on this from this website called What's Cooking America? and here is a little tidbit from there.  Please read more of this article as it tells of some of the symptoms of getting into this plant.
The entire plant is toxic (including the roots, sap, flowers, seeds, and leaves), although the leaves of the upper stem are particularly potent, with just a nibble being enough to cause death. The upper leaves of the stem are more dangerous than the lower leaves. Foxglove is most toxic just before the seeds ripen. It tastes spicy hot or bitter and smells slightly bad. This plant is so poisonous that ingesting only .5 gram dried or 2 grams of fresh leaf is enough to kill a person.

I wonder if God creates these kind of things to remind us of an important lesson.  Is it there to help us learn about temptations?  In our daily life we are surrounded by beautiful, pleasing and tempting things.  It may be alcohol, drugs, being unfaithful to your spouse, over-spending, collecting too many material possessions, having the wrong friends, parties, having idols or whatever it is for you.  

Jesus says that we are to be sure that we don't collect too many material items because we have no use for them in Heaven, and getting to heaven is our main goal.  Right!?  RIGHT!!

Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth currupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:  Matthew 6:19-20 
How can we be sure to go to Heaven?  We must accept Jesus Christ as our Lord, Savior and the son of God.  


No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day.  John 6:71
 There are many other Bible verses that talk on these subjects.  Acts 8:20; Acts 4:12; Proverbs 1:10; Proverbs 14:22; John 12:43; John 15:19; Romans 12:2; Colossians 3:2; 1 Timothy 5:6; James 4:4; 1 Peter 2:11; 1 John 2:15-17.  


We encounter so many things that look like they are exactly what we need and they certainly do look beautiful.  But by participating in these temptations can poison our very lives and souls.  As we see the lovely colors and we are tempted to pick the flowers, bring them home into our lives and families, and poison the very place where our hearts feel safe.  But we mustn't do that.  Just as we are tempted to fill our lives with the fun and possessions of a secular world, we should not bring them home, into our lives and families, to poison the very place where our hearts feel safe:  In His Love.





Some of my information was used from these websites:
About.com Landscaping Foxglove Plants 
whatscookingamerica.net Foxgloves, Beautiful But Deadly
Fancy Meeting You

I have found yet another new meme.  This one looks really simple and I like that.  It is by 2 of the people that used to host Friday Follow.  I also really like the button for it!  ;-)

We came back from camping a day early.  There were a couple of reasons why.  I will blog about all of that in another post so that I can add my pictures.  I am thankful for all of my new followers and I hope that you sincerely follow me because of the content of my blog!  I don't want followers who don't read my blog.  It's about quality not quantity!  But I love those who read my blog and I hope that I can inspire you, help you, make you laugh or just make you thankful that you're not me!  lol

  

Thursday, July 8, 2010

Friday Follow: Building Friendship One Blog Hop at a Time – July 9th


Friday-Follow
Welcome to the 7th Friday Follow hosted by our awesome hostesses, Crayon Wrangler from Coloring Outside the Lines, Christy from Aunt Crazy’s Here Y’ALL, and Danielle from A Peek Inside. Thank you ladies for being willing to host! Please stop by and see these awesome ladies.
We invite you to join us every Friday to get more blog followers and to find many interesting blogs that you like. This is all about sharing and having fun.
We expect you to be on your honor and to have fun. These are only guidelines to make it more enjoyable for you. Here’s how YOU can join the Friday Follow celebration:
  • Link up your blog below.. One Link per blog
  • Grab our Friday Follow button include on your side bar, or post.. grab the linky information if you want it
  • Follow the Friday-Follow blog and the hostesses in slots 1, 2 & 3 that have volunteered today to host
  • Follow the blogs you want, leave comment saying you are from Friday Follow – use common courtesy
  • No spammers, or xxrated blogs – family friendly
If you need more guidelines about following see Friday-Follow.com
This list is new each week and closes on Saturday at 11:59pm EST. The links do not carry over. Please link up each week for new participants to find your blogs. It will be visible all week to visit the blogs listed.
Congratulations to our Three Friday Follow Winners!!!
Each week we will randomly draw from three (3) blogs from the links for the next week’s Friday Follow, and each blog chosen will be placed in the highly coveted number #7, #8, and #9 position on the blog hop. The first blog chosen will also be given the option of doing an interview which will post on Friday-Follow.com on Thursday the next week. We love your participation and want to give back to you! You could be next!
Also, let us know how we are doing and what ideas you have by taking our Survey.
Want to advertise on our site and be seen by thousands of people? If you sign up TODAY Advertising is $5 per spot. You must sign up today to qualify. This offer expires at midnight CST. Ads normally cost $10. Find out more information.
Spread the word about Friday Follow by grabbing our button for your blog and linky and come celebrate again every Friday. Feel free to also send out a tweet, blog, stumble or share the news in your own special way!
If you are interested in being a sponsor for Friday-Follow, please fill out the sponsorship form here.
Fashion in the ForestToday’s sponsor is Tiffany from Fashion in the Forest. She is offering a Zombie Candle from her Etsy shop- at http://www.etsy.com/listing/46556500/pain-de-banane-8oz.
It’s an 8 oz. banana bread scented candle. All Zombee Candles are made with 100% soy wax – no paraffin! Cotton, no-lead wicks and non-diluted fragrance oils make burning our candles a clean and wonderful experience!
Pain de 
Banane (8oz)
Have a product to promote? Become a sponsor
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Advertise on our site- learn how here
NEW! If you are hosting a Friday Meme- be sure to list it on the Friday Meme Linky below.
Also! Join us for our new weekend comment club!
Thanks so much for your support and Happy Commenting!



I will be out of town for the weekend.  Please be assured that I will read every comment that I am left while I am gone and will be visiting blogs of my visitors when I return on Monday.  

I already have my camera packed and I'm going to be taking pics!  Have a great weekend and I hope that you are blessed by something spectacular! 


Summer Devotions Challenge 2010

I am a member of The Homeschool Lounge and joined the Summer Devotions Challenge 2010.  Here is what is posted from the link before in the group Walking With God:


Summer is upon us and most of us are as busy as ever and lacking in our devotion time. It's time to dive into the Word this summer and refresh our thirsty souls just as we would refresh our bodies with a cold glass of iced tea!
Basic details:
  • Dates: Begins July 1st and ends August 31st.
  • Spend at least 15 min. a day (or more!) in devotions with the Lord. Devotions can include; prayer, Bible reading and study, etc. (Do at least 5 minutes of Bible reading during this time!)
  • Memorize at least 1 Bible verse a week -  solo, with an accountability partner or with the children.
  • Check into the group at least once a week to let us know how you are doing with devotions and scripture memorization, and to share prayer requests.
  • Keep track of your time on your THL Summer Challenge Chart.
I did take this challenge and I found myself an accountability partner, April.  April and I have never met in person, but we have known each other for a couple of years.  She is a cleaning-blogging-praying-laughing-photo sharing-facebooking-crafty-beautiful friend and sister.  I love you April!!

This last week I did my devotions every day and I kept track of the times.  When you mail in your times at the end of the devotions, you get a surprise!  I am doing that fer sure!!  You may notice that each day I should spend at least 15 minutes doing this challenge.  My minutes for this week were 216.  That is not counting every single little prayer I said or including the Bible reading and studying done at church.  



The unfortunate part of this week was that I was dealing with a serious accident in the family.  My uncle was in a horrific motorcycle accident on June 12.  His body fought and hung on to life for as long as he could.  This last week were his final moments and an extremely emotional week for my family and I.  With as much time as I spent with my Bible and in prayer, I could not focus my mind enough to memorize a verse.  I did choose one though, I chose:


Let them give thanks to the Lord for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for men, for he satisfies the thirst and fills the hungry with good things.  Psalm 107:8-9

So I will be working on that verse this week, and hopefully by next Thursday I will have it memorized!  I am reading through a few different books and using them for my devotions.  They are:
I also bought a new prayer journal, but I haven't had the time to actually sit down and write in it yet.  It is such a pretty journal too! 

 

Happy Birthday To Me!

Today I am 33 years old young.  Thirty-three years.  Wow.  I remember when I was a kid I thought 33 was old.  But I don't feel old.  Well, parts of me do.  ;-)


So what are my special birthday plans for today?  Cleaning house, preparing to leave and packing.  Oh and a trip to the grocery store and library.  But don't worry, that doesn't bother me.  I don't expect grand celebrations for my birthday.  

The best thing that I can get for my birthday is just to have a nice day with hubby and kids, no fighting, no problems and just enjoy our time together.  What more could a mother really ask for?  Well I suppose the dishes washed and the garbage taken out for me wouldn't hurt......

We are taking another trip over by Lake Chelan again this weekend.  Both Greg and I are a little nervous because the rattle snakes should be out this time, it's warm enough.  Actually, plenty warm enough.  We have just had our first day of summer here in Western Washington, yesterday.  I am not sure how hot it actually got, but I think I saw 88 degrees.  That is quite a jump from the 65 degree highs that we've been having for this so-called Summer.  Tomorrow, the temperature at our destination is going to be around 96 degrees!  Quite a drastic change in temperatures to me.  

I have some exciting news to share!  I follow the meme Friday Follow to find more blogs to read and to help get my blog out there to other readers.  I don't need a huge follower list, and I don't really want any followers who follow me just to get me to follow them.  I want readers!  This week for Friday Follow I am the #3 slot for hosting!  That means on all of the blog hop link lists, my blog will be the 3rd one seen!  At this moment, there are 432 followers on Friday Follow.  That is getting my blog out there!

Next Thursday, my blog will be the blog that Friday Follow does a showcase on to tell others about my blog.  That is like jump up and down for joy excited there!  I also get to use this new button on my sidebar now...

  friday-follow  

So make sure to watch for that!  To get the blog directly sent to your dashboard follow this blog, Friday Follow. 

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