This Week's Daily Reading Guide

Sunday: *Psalm 61, Isaiah 7-8, *John 21

Monday: *Psalm 62, Isaiah 9-10, *Acts 1-3

Tuesday: *Psalm 63, Isaiah 11-12, *Acts 4

Wednesday: *Psalm 64, Isaiah 13-14, *Acts 5

Thursday: *Psalm 65, Isaiah 15-16, *Acts 6

Friday: *Psalm 66, Isaiah 17-18, *Acts 7-8

Saturday: *Psalm 67, Isaiah 19-20, *Acts 9

*SPECIAL NOTE: I didn't look closely at this reading guide schedule before I started and now see there are parts of the Bible you read more than once. For those of you who are following along with me, I'll keep posting them as listed, but make notations of the parts we have already read in case you would prefer to eliminate them from your reading schedule.

Happy 1st Birthday, Cousin Lincoln!

Today you turned one. We were so excited to get the news you had joined our world last year. And now we hear and have witnessed you're turning into a little social butterfly. Cheerful "hi's" for any familiar face or random stranger who happens to be lucky enough to be walking by. Not to worry. You still have some of your old tricks up your sleeve. Like how you purposefully ignore anyone trying to get your attention by not making eye contact and looking anywhere and everywhere but at the person vying for said attention. Pretty cute. Happy Birthday, Cousin Lincoln! It hardly seems possible you're one already. And you're shaping up to be a mighty fine looking cowboy, too. I'm sure you make your Grandpa L. proud.

Solid Gold

Happy 50th Wedding Anniversary, Mom and Dad!

Then:









Now:



A happy marriage is a long conversation that always seems too short. ~Andre Maurois

Me In Cartoon

Which is so much better than me in stereo, by the way. I was playing around on Facebook the other night. I'm pretty clueless when it comes to all the functions, etc. of the whole thing, but they have some kind of fun mindless, time waster game type things you can goof around with. You know. The sort of things you spend time on when you should be in bed or should be making dinner or should be packing for an upcoming trip. Here's a couple of images that are supposedly me. What do you think? Any of these close to the mark?

To Grandmother's House We Go

This is what going to Grandma's house looks like in 2008:



I'm gonna miss our Sunday evening bike rides to Grandpa and Grandma's house for dinner. See? I'm already reminiscing and summer's not technically over yet.

Learning As I Go

Things I've learned recently:

1) After 12 years of trying, I think I've discovered the secret to making Craig's Mom's chocolate chip cookie recipe so they "taste just like Mom's". More egg. Less flour. Undercooked. They flatten out really nicely and are chewy. Here's the recipe:

Mary's Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 cup brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 cup shortening
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon soda
2 cups oatmeal
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 bag of chocolate chips
nuts (optional)

Bake on a greased cookie sheet. Oven 325 degrees. 10-12 minutes.

My alterations are 3 eggs, 1 1/2 or 1 3/4 cups flour, cook for the minimum (10 minutes).

Legend has it, the cookie jar was never empty. Which leads me to why this legend will never live to see another day in this household...

2) Chocolate chip cookies and I can NOT, under any circumstances, coexist under the same roof.

3) Being in optimum physical shape has it's benefits. Depending on how you look at it, I suppose. Craig went back to work today. I suspect his speedy recovery was largely due to his Core Performance workout. It also helped with various aspects during his illness and recovery. He's looking forward to getting back to his workouts after Labor Day.

4) No matter how much effort we put into our physical well-being, the end result is the same. The body dies. The soul, however, lives forever. It's important we're putting more effort into the future of our soul than into the future of our body.

The more you live, the more you learn, huh? Or sometimes it's just a matter of being reminded and/or "relearning" what you already knew.

What's Not to Love?

How can I complain. I'm married to a man whose repertoire includes vehemently exclaiming, "Oh, Fart Blossoms!" anytime something goes awry. And I'm not even kidding. It doesn't get any better than that.

Popeye Wannabes

I bought some $1 sheets of temporary "kat-toos" for the boys of the Caped Crusader the other day at Target (Don't ask... I fell off the wagon again after the first time a long time ago. I'll blame it on the diapers. That's a whole 'nother post in itself. There's always next year, right?), and of course they wanted the biggest ones right on their forearms. They look like miniature sailors walking around in their wife beater t-shirts with their giant forearm Batman and Batmobile tattoos. All we're missing is the can of spinach. Toot-toot!

One Last Time

We spent one last weekend at our home away from home for the summer. It's hard for me to say goodbye to summer, but it helps knowing we're going out with a splash.





There were very few people at the pool the last couple of days. The small population consisted mainly of those of us desperately trying to eek the last rays we could out of the late summer sun as it inched its way lower across the sky.




No need to watch the videos unless you're a grandparent. The second video of Kekoa is very long, but at the end he does two perfect somersaults under water. In the first one above this paragraph (of Gavyn), watch for the water spitting at the end. If things are looking a little out of focus, never mind that. It's just a little water on the lens. Nothing a little sunshine can't eventually dry out.

Deja Vu

Does this little boy look sick to you? Yeah... me neither. But in the wee hours this a.m., believe it or not, he threw up three times. Granted there was nothing much to throw up. Mainly just dry heaving. He then promptly went to bed with me and after a little cramping was fine. He ate Mexican for lunch. And went swimming for three hours this afternoon. This kid, I kid you not, is made of iron. Pain threshhold? What pain? Oh. That's pain? He's had a bit of diarreah, but not bad. And no complaints of a tummy ache since early this morning. I'm blaming it on the three bites of a very green apple he ate last night. He pilfered it from a tree along the bike path we took home from DQ last night.

This Week's Daily Reading Guide

Sunday: *Psalm 54, Job 35-36, *John 11

Monday: *Psalm 55, Job 37-38, *John 12

Tuesday: *Psalm 56, Job 39-40, *John 13-15

Wednesday: *Psalm 57, Job 41-42, *John 16

Thursday: *Psalm 58, Isaiah 1-2, *John 17

Friday: *Psalm 59, Isaiah 3-4, *John 18-19

Saturday: *Psalm 60, Isaiah 5-6, *John 20

*SPECIAL NOTE: I didn't look closely at this reading guide schedule before I started and now see there are parts of the Bible you read more than once. For those of you who are following along with me, I'll keep posting them as listed, but make notations of the parts we have already read in case you would prefer to eliminate them from your reading schedule.

What? What? What? Why?

We have our own little owl in the house these days. When you tell Gavyn something, his automatic response is, "What? What? What? Why?". And in much the same sing song way an owl hoots, "Whoo..whoo.whoo.. whOOoo." Sounds something like, "Wuh-t (emphasis on the "t" sound)? Wuh-t? Wuh-t? Why-eye (or sound out the letter Y while sliding up and down the scale, low-high-low)? If its in a whiny tone, that makes it even more authentic. The three whats in a row are his way of stalling when you're telling him to not do something and he wants to see if you're serious. If you're not, well then, carry on. But if you are and you repeat the same thing after each of the three what's, well then, we must know why now, mustn't we. It's a slightly different version of Kekoa's "whad you say?" at approximately the same age.

The other word he uses frequently? "Tanks." His version of thank you. It charms his mother every time.

The Tea Pot and the Tease

They're back! Where do I start? I'll just call them the "tea pot" and the "tease". Not necessarily the best combination, as you can well imagine. Kekoa likes to push Gavyn's buttons, and Gavyn's buttons are easily pushed.

We weren't too far into the day today before Gavyn's squawking made me mention to Craig how much he sounds like a tea pot. He heartily agreed. We're still in the honeymoon stage (feeling happy and fortunate to have them in the house again), so the sound still remains slightly endearing. Give us a few days.

Kekoa kept calling me Grandma this morning. "I need to go potty, Grandma." "Grandma, look at this." It was unintentional at first (out of the habit of being at Grandma's house for the last while), but the last half of the day he's been teasing me with it. "Grandma," he calls out on repeat until I acknowledge him. Then he grins. I've started calling him "Gavyn" in retaliation.

Kekoa went with Daddy to their favorite store of games, super heroes and comic books this afternoon. Gavyn and I laid down to cuddle, read books, and take a nap. Tonight, we made a colorful and obnoxiously loud parade to and from the park around the block. Gavyn rode on the John Deere loader and Kekoa pushed him from behind with his new bike laughing maniacally all the way. Overall, the chaos that has returned to the house has been a welcome change. I have my excuse for avoiding housekeeping back.

Progress Report

Craig went to the doctor today and they gave him the green light to head back to work on Monday. Problem is. He has Monday off, another doctor appointment on Tuesday morning, and he goes on vacation on Thursday. But if you want to lose weight fast? This just might be the way to do it. He got on the scale this morning. 178. He started out at 187. I suspect, though, this method wouldn't come with a very high recommendation from him.

Two Weeks Too Long

It's been almost two weeks since I've spent any quality time with my boys (talking on the phone is NOT quality time), and Craig and I are both more than ready for them to be home. They've been having the time of their lives up at Grandpa and Grammy's farm. I think the cats will be happy to see them leave. Kekoa's been tormenting them as far back as 2006. Sounds like this time both boys are sporting a few scratches to prove it. And Kekoa was right. He and Gavyn are coming back Thursday. While I feel we lost almost two weeks of summer, I am content knowing they did not.

I MISS my boys!!! Can't wait until tomorrow. I'm sure Grandpa and Grammy feel the same. Now I need to get some beauty sleep before the house comes alive again. It might be on short supply in the next little while. Stand by while we all adjust to each other again. It should be quite the show.

A Mother's Love

My interpretation of what these flowers say:

Dear Son,

You are my everything. Get well sooner than soon. And that's still not soon enough.






Love, Mom

P.S. Did I mention I love you?

These flowers were handpicked and arranged for Craig by his mother from her garden. Isn't a mother's love breathtakingly beautiful? It's pure poetry for the eyes. And I get to reap the benefits. In more ways than one.