Furry Visitor

When you first see this picture, you probably think, "oh, how cute!" I thought it was cute too, until it wouldn't go away.

This kitty roamed our backyard for about five days. She tried to get in the back door (and even the front door) every chance she could get. The milk in the picture is from Allie, who snuck it outside when I wasn't looking. She and Emmie also named the cat "Ella", much to our dismay. (Once you name them, you have to keep them, right?)

Anyway, Ethan and I finally decided we better call Animal Control. This didn't upset either one of us because:

1) we aren't cat people

2) the poor thing was going to starve or freeze in the backyard

So I called Animal Control. And the woman on the other end of the line asks me, get this, "Do you have the animal contained in a box or carrier?"

What?!

I politely returned her question with one of my own, "You mean I'm supposed to catch the thing?" (In my head I'm thinking, 'if I wanted to chase cats around all day I would have gotten a job at a pet store!')

By her silence I assumed that was, indeed, what she meant. So then she told me the animal control officer would be out to our house sometime in the next few hours.

Meantime, I had to catch a cat. I went into our garage and got a little box. Then I thought that maybe cats could jump higher than 6 inches, so I better get a bigger one. I settled on a Rubbermaid container with a lid. I put an old towel inside and some shredded turkey. (I knew we would get rid of that turkey one way or another.)

After leaving the door open for a fraction of a second, the cat was inside the house. Next came the Rubbermaid. I quickly learned that the cat wasn't going to stay in there longer than it took to get a mouthful of turkey. After about seven attemps, I finally got the lid on with the cat inside. Whew! Oh, and for my cat-loving friends reading this, don't worry, there were air holes.

In the next hour or so that kitty was headed for the humane society. I'm sure she'll be some lucky little girl's Christmas present soon.

As for us, I think we'll stick with kids and dogs!

Disappointment

Sometimes life just ain't fair. We were supposed to have Emmie's friend birthday party tonight. The theme is "BIG" and I had made her a gigantic rice crispy treat, decorated with streamers and balloons, and for once all of her friends were able to come.

Then she got up this morning.

She was coughing, and it sounded like a barking seal. Probably croup. Then she was listless and complained about being cold. Her temperature was 102. Right now I am holding her; we just took her temp again and it was 104. Poor kid. I still think she doesn't understand that she's not having the party tonight.

We're going to try to reschedule, but in the meantime . . . rice crispies, anyone?

Three years ago, three minutes before Thanksgiving . . .

. . . our precious baby girl was born. (Here she is at her family birthday party with her cousin Mackenzie.)

Her current faves:

song: "I like to move it, move it"

food: cake

saying: "I'm funny."

toys: My Little Pony and anything princess

activity: dressing up like a ballerina with Allie

Happy Birthday Emily!

Let It Snow!

Aaahh . . . the first snow of winter. I love it. The kids just had to race outside and let the snowflakes fall on their faces. I didn't blame them. Even the dog was ecstatic.

When they were frozen and ready to come in, I made them hot chocolate and turned the fireplace on. Then we listened to "The Chronicles of Narnia" on a cd.

Perfect day!

Baby Shower Gift

One of my best friends since middle school is having her first baby! She and her husband have decided to name her London. Her middle name will be Joy. I wanted to make something special for her so I painted this for the baby's room (on a canvas). They are doing pink and chocolate brown in the nursery. I need opinions because the baby shower is tomorrow . . . do you think she'll like it?

Thanks!

Ridiculous

So I was just browsing one of my favorite clothings designers online when I came across this:

What the heck is that? According to the listing, it's a winter frock. Yeah. I wouldn't be caught dead in that, winter OR summer.

Seriously, people.

p.s. And you can have it now for the low, low price of $69.99!

Sometimes I feel like the bamboo seed

The Bamboo Story

One Day I Decided To Quit. I quit my job, my relationship, my spirituality. I wanted to quit my life. I went to the woods to have one last talk with GOD. "GOD", I said, "Can you give me one good reason not to quit?" His answer surprised me.

"Look around", GOD said. "Do you see the fern and the bamboo?" "Yes", I replied. "When I planted the fern and the bamboo seeds, I took very good care of them. I gave them light. I gave them water. The fern quickly grew from the earth. Its brilliant green covered the floor. Yet nothing came from the bamboo seed. But I did not quit on the bamboo. In the second year the fern grew more vibrant and plentiful. And again, nothing came from the bamboo seed. But I did not quit on the bamboo." GOD said. "In year three, there was still nothing from the bamboo seed. But I would not quit. In year four, again, there was nothing from the bamboo seed. I would not quit." GOD said. "Then in the fifth year a tiny sprout emerged from the earth. Compared to the fern it was seemingly small and insignificant...But just 6 months later the bamboo rose to over 100 feet tall. It had spent the five years growing roots. Those roots made it strong and gave it what it needed to survive. I would not give any of my creations a challenge it could not handle." GOD said to me. "Did you know that all this time you have been struggling? You have actually been growing roots?" "I would not quit on the bamboo, I will never quit on you. Don't compare yourself to others." GOD said. "The bamboo had a different purpose than the fern. Yet they both make the forest beautiful." "Your time will come," GOD said to me. "You will rise high"

"How high should I rise?" I asked. "How high will the bamboo rise?" GOD asked in return. "As high as it can?" I questioned. "Yes." GOD said, "Give me glory by rising as high as you can."

Just a little encouragement. :)

I just have to share a lovely email my husband sent me yesterday. It read,

"Can we PLEASE at least go meet this pretty little puppy dog?"

Then I scroll down, way down, to . . .









Aaaagh! This is not my idea of a new addition to the family. Although I will admit that anyone who has talked to Ethan in the past couple of years has probably heard about his desire to own a mastiff. I certainly am well aware that he wants one. :)

We used to have a dog. Her name is Taylor. She's a very sweet, 40-some lb. boxer. She lives with my parents now. We are actually dog-sitting her this week while my parents go to the coast. We love having her here, the kids love her, and I enjoy not sweeping. But it does remind me the not-so-fun aspects of dog ownership, like picking up after they go potty. I don't even want to think about what that would be like with a mastiff!

Next Tuesday ought to be interesting. We have an all-day staff meeting at the church and we will be having childcare here at our house. Last year our kids got a little crazy being in the nursery all day so I offered to let the caregivers use our house. I'm sure it won't be hard at all to care for 7 kids and an energetic boxer! :) (Right.) Actually, I'm going to try to come up with an alternative plan for Taylor during the day. Does anyone want a visit from a lovable, furry friend?

Sometimes we underestimate them . . .

So I wanted to touch on something that really stood out to me at the retreat last weekend. Our speaker was Connie Julin, formally Connie Pent, of the famous Pent family who traveled and performed around the country years and years ago. Someone in her family wrote a book about them titled "Ten P's in a Pod". Anyway, she told us dozens of funny, sweet, and inspirational stories from the time she was growing up. Her father was a visionary, and he took the path less traveled when he decided to raise his children by the Bible and show the world the results.

One thing Connie talked about that surprised me was how much she incorporated Bible reading into her family once she was married. Ethan and I do read Bible stories to the kids and we also do devotions with them, but it really is a different thing to just have them listen to God's word. So I started last week reading 15 minutes every morning from my NIV. I let the kids color pictures of what they heard or hold a doll or just cuddle with me, but they weren't allowed to talk. I am AMAZED how well they have been doing! I never really thought kids could handle sitting like that -- it's nice to be proven wrong. :)

The best benefit to this is . . . I'm actually reading a lot more of the Bible myself now! We are going to try to work up to 30 minutes a day. Wish us luck!