Flips without Flops

Dana had to go to Florida for more Computer Science stuff. He got back from Nevada about a week before and will have another cs conference in California soon. He has been able to fly for each destination, but I think this past flight was the most fun for him...more fun than even his next flight. He took some videos of his adventure:

flips and loops

the plane and the pilots---well, the official pilot (on the right)
and then the ten-second pilot (left)

Dana said this flight was one of the smoothest flights he had ever been on. The plane was built by the man who is flying it (the official one).

Jonah Days

Ever have one of those days where in order to escape the storm, you jump in an ocean of sharks and whales and octopus and jellyfish and other big fish...only to be swallowed by one of those said "big fish" and then later spit back up on dry land? Then you have to walk through the desert to a town of really mean people to talk some sense into them? Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah...aren't those the days?!!?

Though we have had it much better than this Old Testament prophet, we have felt some "Jonah Days" in regards to our vehicles.

When we first moved here, we knew we would have to get the truck's transmission rebuilt. We held off as long as we could, but then one day we had to take the truck to a mechanic. After it was fixed, we happily drove it until the transmission messed up again---about 6 months and one day later. One day past the warranty.

yeah.

The mechanic was great and never charged us again for working on the truck...however we really had the truck only about 4 days out of 3 + months it was worked on. We got the truck back around the first week of June, left for the beach in the van, returned to Dana driving his truck around blissfully for about two weeks when his transmission goes AGAIN. We decided to take the truck to a different mechanic, getting it back just a day before we leave for a quick visit to our old home.

Kids, suitcases, snacks, movies, tv, etc... were all loaded in the van...and then, the van wouldn't start. After working on the starter, Dana figured it must be the battery, so we charge it and !!! are able to head out. We travelled quickly and well until we get across the Mississippi River and a huge truck that has to merge in our lane merges without seeing us. Dana slams on the brakes, swerves to the teensy shoulder, then gets back on the road. He heard a loud popand we are wondering and listening for other strange noises, thinking the pop was a tire, but we are not wobbling or thulumping down the hwy...and we are soon going to exit for a gas, potty and food break. After we all come out of the gas station, ask someone to jump start our van(yes...it died again!), Dana notices that it is hard to get the van moving...as if the emergency break is on. We are directed one way and then another and finally find someone to help us. We are afraid that we will have to stay overnight in Memphis, but fortunately (and thankfully), the mechanic there said that when we hit our brakes so hard, it locked the rear breaks up. Just a turn of a screwdriver and we were on our way again. Whew!!! Over the weekend we still had issues with our batteries (charging one battery while using the other), but we have made it home and are still holding our breath whenever we need to use the van.

Since the van dies while not in use, we are working at figuring out what could be draining it. We aren't moping under a dead tree right now (like Jonah did) but we are laughing around a crazy---sometimes dead, sometimes working fine---van.

Keep Smiling!!

You know those moments that are so beautiful and perfect you wish them to stay etched in your heart and memory forever? They are not always life-changing instances of great epiphany-like flashes, but simple little pleasures. They are the times you hold your breath just to keep it all still and unchanging while everything inside you is jumping for a way to capture and remember it forever!!! In that twinkling you ache for the camera because as breathtaking as those seconds are, they are the ones that the heart often remembers only by the feelings they evoke but cannot always recall the details it saw with such vivid clarity just ten minutes earlier. As the picture fades, those are the memories you are praying that God lets you keep for always.

I had one of those brief, fleeting moments today. I was outside first with Z, then a few minutes later, E joined us, followed by D-D and finally M-G. After the kids all played throughout the backyard for several minutes, they all came over to the swing set to be with Z. D-D and Z happened to be swinging in sync and M-G and E wanted to do the same. It did not last long, this synchronized swinging, but they were all so happy and joyful to be doing something together...to be going the same way, the same speed, the same rhythm. The smiles on their faces and the laughter in the air was the most spectacular moment of my day. There was no arguing or bossing, no pestering or teasing, but a working together and a comfort in seeing that accomplished.

I closed my eyes to see if I could hold it in. Praying I would see them still. My mind was blank, but my heart was certainly full...

"Keep smiling!!! Keep swinging!!! Stay there!!! I'll be right back!!!" I say as I run get the camera. The moment I did catch on digital was not the moment above, but it was still sweet.

More E-isms

Tonight as I was snuggling with E, he said something that made me chuckle. I was hoping this snuggle would be a fast one in that he would fall asleep quickly. I think that he was almost there when he sat up and said, 'Mom! Even in the song 'Do, Re, Mi' they sing about fossils!!!" (for those of you who may be unaware...E is on a dinosaur kick). I am too tired to argue, and I also want to see where this is going, so I ask, "They do? When do they sing about fossils?"

"Do, re, mi, fossil, ah, ti, do!!" he sang.

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Several Christmases ago E got a "Craftsman Work bench" from Santa...fully equipped with plastic tools and plastic pegboard to hang those tools on. Several months before we moved (in order to have a much less cluttered, more sell-able house) this got broken down, folded together and put in the attic. Since we have moved, it has been in the storage area above the garage door. After asking for the past few months if he could have it down, I finally fulfilled that wish today. It has been reposing for more than a year now in attic-like spaces so the cobwebs, dead bugs and dust was abundant. Regardless of said ickiness, we got the tool/workbench put back together and E soon began making man grunts and tool noises. M-G, however, saw the dust and dirt and began cleaning his bench of all the grime. E very adamantly said, "NO!!! I like the dust!!! It belongs on here so don't clean it off"

M-G did really good listening to him for quite some time, but it got to be too much for her sensibilities. All was quiet and peaceful when E began to cry and scream---almost as if the hornets flying around outside had decided to sting him. We turned around to see what was wrong and saw M-G wiping off the rest of the dust...and E crying because she was making his workbench "pretty" and clean. He began looking through the garage for more dust to throw back on his tools!!!

~~~~~~~~~~~

All of us miss home, but we continue to work at living where we are and connecting as much as we can, making this as "home" as we can while we are here even though our stay here is not of a long duration. The kids continually ask us how much longer we will be here and when we will move back to that "promised land." E especially. He also asks us how old he will be when we go back, what grade he will be in and how old the other children will be. Though he still asks, he is finally understanding that we have about 3 more years.

Not too long ago, E asked us how old he would be on his birthday.
"Six. You will be six on your birthday."
"Will I have a birthday party?"
"Yes, though maybe not a big one."
"Will it be ON my birthday?"
"It will probably be a day or so after your actual birthday."
"Hmmmm...I'll be 6?"
"Yes."
"I think that for this birthday, I will need three parties."
"Three? !!!!! ? Why do you need three parties?"
"Because then I will be 8 instead of 6 and we can go back home!"

M-G's Menagerie

Nearly every night one (or both) of us go in to check on the children before we go to sleep ourselves. One night, early in this year, we went to check on the girls and could not see M-G anywhere. Her bed looked neat and her stuffed play-things were lined up beautifully. After quickly looking in D-D's bed and finding only D-D, we checked M-G's bed a bit more diligently and found her sleeping behind her menagerie. The thing that really makes me giggle with this picture is that it looks like her baby doll just couldn't take it anymore and decided to try to escape the funny farm in a most desperate attempt. "I'm gettin' outta this zoo!!!" she seems to be saying. Or maybe she is calling for help from the dolls under the bed.

Facing the Music

My sister has always been fortunate in surrounding herself with really funny people. There are three of her friends in particular that make me laugh so hard my face hurts, my sides ache, and my throat becomes a little raspy and a bit sore from all the jovial-ness passing through it. Not only do loud guffaws and endless giggles come from my mouth, the laughter streams from my eyes. This is a good thing...I would much rather the laughter stream from my eyes than have to run to the bathroom and miss out on any of the jokes and hilarity going on with my sister and her friends. I am sure that I was, and still am, quite a pest when it comes to sis and her pals getting together, but I really do not like to miss out on their wit and sunshine. One of the things that one of her friends said recently really made me chuckle. For some reason my sweet sibling and her friend think that their younger siblings have immaculate houses (me...with four kids and the other sister, my former college suite mate, with four or five kids...and in all fairness, SHE might live immaculately, but me?). Now there was a good chuckle, a nice guffaw, followed by a few minutes of side-splitting laughter. No, no, noooo...ooo...if I lived in an immaculate house, this situation would not have happened, but since I do not, I have had to come face to face with that chord of music that sings of my disorganization and yet is made beautiful only by the harmony of laughter...

While talking to my sister on the phone this morning, I became a bit disconcerted. For some reason (for some reason) everything that I said (everything that I said) was coming back to me (was coming back to me). I thought my sister (I thought my sister) was mimicking me (was mimicking me)...but I was just hearing(but I was just hearing) a very good echo of my voice (a very good echo of my voice) even when I whispered (even when I whispered).

Not only was this disconcerting, it was more than distracting and downright annoying!!!!!!! So as I was talking on the phone and cringing at the sound of my own voice, I was getting myself and little Z ready to run some errands. We got all seat belted into the van, stroller loaded, box all ready to be mailed, keys, diaper bag, wallet, phone---I've got it all together. We get to the post office, pay the postage, and begin to leave. I look down after moving Z to the back seat of the stroller and notice...

.....

I am wearing two different tennis shoes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Highly embarrassed (and extremely thankful it was only my shoes), I am thinking, "At least one of them matches the shirt I am wearing"...however, I am also thinking that it is best to not multi-task while on the phone. ESPECIALLY when you keep hearing your own voice (additionally...I realize, it is not good to put your shoes on in a darkened room or to keep them in a pile on the other side of the bed hidden from anyone's sight as they look through our bedroom door). I laughed at myself on the walk back to the van, on the drive home, and am laughing now. Needless to say(though I am still saying it), no more errands were accomplished this morning.

Aaargh!!!! I am such a dork!! Probably sharing it with you makes me even more of one!! But, I had to give you a good laugh---even if it is at my own expense. :)Yup!! That's me
---the most un-put-together mother of four

**Disclaimer...for those of my precious friends who I feel extremely blessed to call my friends and who also make me laugh the same way---and even do cause me to have to run quickly to the ladies' room---I am not meaning to imply that you are not funny and are all seriousness all the time. Your talent to bring laughter and jolliness just didn't fit in with the direction of this humiliation. :) ly!!

Home Improvements

M-G, E, and D-D have taken a little trip to see their maternal grandparents. While they have been gone, we have been working on things for their rooms. We have painted M.G's and D.D's room a color called "Lavender Sparkle" . We were hoping it would take only one gallon of paint, but we forgot to include the height of the walls in our estimation. Ten feet. One gallon gave us only one coat of paint. Barely. ugh. And this did not include the inside of the closet. Double ugh, triple groan. Soooooooooo...we are hoping that this next bucket of paint has been blessed by God through the prophet Elijah (or was it Elisha?) and will not run dry until we do not need it anymore. :)

We are also putting ceiling fans in both the girls room and the guest/play room. Dana has been up in the attic securing in some two-by-fours to anchor the fans. It is July Fourth...and I think that the attic is hotter than the date!!! We have also been sanding and priming a chest of drawers (which will be E's) and will begin on the dresser (for the girls) soon. Since we lack imagination and artistic talent (mom? "Aunt" Crunch? Rachel?: your expertise is needed!), the dresser and chest of drawers are white. Last night and this morning Dana spray painted the drawer hardware silver. I think when it is all together, it will look very nice though a bit boring.

So over the next few days, once all has been painted, there will be a lot of moving around, rearranging, quite a bit of purging, and finally there will be rooms where the kids have drawers for their clothes and the house has some extra storage space for our sheets and blankets and such.

new fan in guest room

we are wanting to find a
lamp to go on E's dresser.

OUR Job

ready for a Bible study? umm...
no...we're watching Curious George

I am realizing afresh that it is OUR job to teach OUR kids about:
God
Salvation through Christ
His grace
His love
His ways...

NOT the church's responsibility to teach my children. Mine. It's my responsibility. I have depended entirely too much on Bible class at church, our wonderful preacher, the songs we sing, Christian radio, VBS, etc... I have been so intent on keeping the kids busy, that when I do try to teach them something important, it gets lost amidst all the activities and business around them. This did not concern me too much until I began to watch their activities with their Bible classes. I realize it is a growing trend throughout the Christian community. We are competing with so much other stuff: radio, tv, ipod, Nintendo (or other games), go-carts, sports (pick one), movies...everything in our world is so focused on entertaining us, keeping our eyes and bodies busy, our minds focused on getting things done and enjoying the things that don't last. Result: our hearts and minds cannot see the beautiful and wonderful things God has given us that are eternal. We (probably, mostly me) as Christians often fall into the same pattern when teaching our children about God:

"here's a fun show about playing too many videos...let's watch...OK, everyone, let's watch this pantomime/play...look, there's someone pretending to trip and someone else pretending to help them up...free play for a few minutes...anyone know their memory verse?...time for some games...let's have sack races!!!...Oh, yeah, and Jesus died to save us and now we can have life forever, too!...Craft time: here are some stickers...here is the glue...here is a cardboard box...let's decorate it....now everyone come over here for a game of Christian checkers...here is your snack...have some juice...let's decorate our juice cups!!!...here are the puzzles...here's a great video game where you can choose to be Paul or one of the apostles...the goal is to heal as many people as possible before your time is up...everyone pick up your trash...clean up the tables...crayons here, toys there, Bibles on the shelf...whew!! Let's play Simon says for the next few minutes---er---I mean, Jesus says!!"

Keep things fast paced, keep things going, going, going. The kids can't sit still, so let's make sure there is no reason for them to. Happens in Bible class...and sadly, in my home, too. Did you hear the Bible lesson in there? Well...neither did my kids. They played a video game, watched a play that didn't really connect with the video they saw, and decorated boxes and juice cups. "What did you learn," I ask. "Nothing," they say. "But when that guy tripped, boy was it funny!!! You should have seen the face he made and heard him groan...and look at my box! I'm gonna put dinosaurs in it later or my sea shells!"

I am not complaining about my church or yours...but trying to focus my eyes and heart again on what mission God gave me. I am on my mission field everyday and forget so often what that mission is and what God desires me to do. And please do not think that I think activities and games are bad when working with kids. My kids know that I need help in that area...I have a hard time remembering HOW to play and am always thankful when someone has planned an activity and I can use that to teach my children about the Lord. I repeat: I need BIG HELP in that area and am always thankful to get it. I am just wanting to encourage any of you who have children or work with children to not get so busy doing things that His message gets lost or seems disconnected and then doesn't make sense to the children. I also want your admonishments when you see me stray from what is really important. Fortunately and thankfully, I serve a gracious God who has not fired me yet from this job. So, to you (though you may not need it) and for myself as well...let's keep up the GOOD WORK!!!