Moments

That awkward moment when you and your friends pull out a random sci-fi date and freak out because 2020 is only four years from now. (And the freaking out just happens to be while everyone else is trying to concentrate!)

That interesting moment when you are having a heart to heart with your dad, and he uses characters from a Marvel movie as examples of emotional immaturity. (Someone from another movie got used as an example of double predestination.) ; )

That adorable moment when you are playing outside with your nephew, and you realize he's not holding on safely to something like he usually does. You remind him, and he responds with "It's hot. It's hot!" Poor southwestern baby.

That hilariously weird moment when you are teasing your sister by running in slow motion pumping both arms (on your way out of the grocery store, no less), and you bang one fist into the other. I will never be one of those people who look cool walking away from an explosion. ; )

That amusing moment when you are all walking out of the grocery store (same one--it was Walmart so no regrets here), and you are vaguely aware of your family being counted. Two ladies who are walking directly behind you accidentally get included in the count. My dad had to explain to the 'counter' that they weren't with us. ; )

That unbelievable moment when the dog comes to lick your hand while you're reading on the Kindle and the page turns. I'll never know if it was her tongue or my hand.

That cute moment when your youngest sister informs you that "this is not the Long Winter, it's the Long Summer." Poor southwestern baby again. ; )

That twin moment when you're playing charades with your brother, and he draws a stick figure man in the air then shrinks it with his fingers for the word "boy". There are some things only family members understand.

Long Time, No See (Literally)

What have I been doing? And what am I grateful for? I'm glad you asked!

I'm grateful for...

1. Bible studies. Our Evangelism training and Reclaiming Beauty studies ended earlier this month. It was sad to say goodbye to acquaintances who have become good friends, but we all agree that we should do something together again soon. ; )

2. House cleaning! Top to bottom deep cleaning. And yardwork. ; ) I got to organize our history bookshelves chronologically which was helpful to organize my own brain. (Believe it or not, I had the Alamo in the totally wrong mental place!)

3. Out of town guests. It was so much fun to catch up with friends we haven't seen in over a year! Balderdash, Chik-fil-a, thrifting, Studio C, a water fight, and just plain hanging out... Good times. ; )

4. Family. ; )

(The crazy sisters on the slide. We're screaming because we're falling of the end as Anna is taking the picture. And yes, that's all of us, Blue is just hiding next to Aimee's head.) ; )

5. Homeschooled Authors work. I'm now officially part of the team helping out with emails and keeping the booklist updated. It's been a ton of fun to work with the amazing Sarah Holman and all the other authors I come into contact with. ; )

6. Short story inspiration. A couple weeks ago Em and I spent a couple of days at Perry and Tyler's. During our nighttime talking time together, we told each other stories. I recently expanded my idea into a full short story which I hope to have up on Noble Novels soon. I had her and Blue read the finished version to give me their opinions. They enjoyed it and found a few continuity errors/missing words which was really special. ; )

7. More book related stuff believe it or not. ; ) I'm part of a summer reading program on Homeschooled Authors (more details Wednesday!). It was quite a bit of fun work to get my entries put together, and Anna helped me a ton by taking the pictures for me. ; ) We had a hilarious time together trying to pick poses. I'm a bit of a photographer's nightmare since I like to photobomb myself; but she did a good job, and we got it figured out. ; ) Here's one of my favorite pictures we took...

The necklace is one of my birthday gifts from Dad and Mom this year. I put it together from components from Hobby Lobby, and it's now one of my favorites. (Chum loves it too. He'd open and shut the locket for hours on end.) Since it's a bit whimsical, what book could be better to pose it with?

8. Library books. We are so funny when we go to the library. We usually hit the limit of books that can be checked out, which means both book bags are full and still everyone has to carry something. ; ) I'm enjoying reading all the juvenile fiction that is too adult for it's age group but is just perfect for mine. It's a lot safer and more fun than the adult section! 

9. A store. Em, Blue, and Pearly put together a little store of things they had made and invited us all to come browse through it. There was some pretty neat stuff; and, when all the shopping was done and the store was closing, they generously gave us all gifts. ; )

10. Nephews!!! Like I said, Em and I were over at their house a few weeks ago; and there's been visiting between our families a few more times as well. We also get the blessing of seeing them at church (and chasing them all around the play area--in medium-high heels!). I'll post some newer pictures of the little friends sometime.

11. Grace. We are weak, but He is strong.

So that's what I've been doing in a nutshell! (Not that I've personally been in a nutshell, but what I have been doing has... Oh, forget it. Grammar.) ; P

Questions, Questions

The last survey I did was so much fun, I thought it was high time for another. This is borrowed and tweaked from Aimee's Google+, so you can thank her later. ; )

1. Name: Kate Marie
2. Age: Young enough and old enough. ; )
3. Role model: Jesus Christ, Mommy...
4. Hobbies: The three r's (minus the 'rithmatic), cooking/baking, nephew chasing, singing with my family, writing letters, test reading, amateur sewing, talking.
5. Favorite actor: Jimmy Stewart, and Gregory Peck. (And if you're asking about ones currently living I'll add Kirk Cameron, and David Tennant. And James from Studio C!!!)
6. Favorite actress: June Allyson, Julie Andrews, Donna Reed, and Amy Adams 
7. Best friend: I live in an artist colony (yeah, creative people who wear weird clothes--we qualify when we're still in pjs), so I'm pretty much best friends with everyone here. Outside of my family, I'd say Esther, Rebekah (both of them), Anya, and Susie.
8. Favorite band: Andrew Peterson and all his folks!!! (Though I'm beginning to branch out into some of the other Rabbit Room-ers...)
9. Favorite song: Kung Fu Piano by The PianoGuys and Rejoice by Andrew Peterson.
10. Favorite movie: Fireproof, A Man Called Peter, and Toy Story 3.
11. Favorite animal: Big dogs and small cows.
12. Favorite subject: English. (That covers about all of the wordy stuff.) ; )
13. Pens or pencils? Pencils, because I'm a fallible human. 
14. Summer or winter? Winter. It's so moody and good for inspiration and a really good excuse for reading.
15. Tea or coffee? Chai tea! It's like coffee without the dirt flavor.
16. Good day or bad day? So far, so good. I've made breakfast, read my Bible, and done my chores while talking waaay too much with my crazy siblings. 
17. Birthday: In the springtime. Lovely, lovely springtime.
18. Something that makes you happy: God's love, babies, books, breaking 13k words in my story, my family, our sweet dog Ella... I'm sorry, there are too many. ; )
19. Something you're looking forward to: In the future future, having a family of my own and Christ's return. In the present future? Eating lunch, publishing, writing more, and seeing the nephews again.
20. Tell a story in one sentence: Once upon a time, there was a problem that was solved so everyone could live happily ever after.
21. Nominate any number of people: I think it would be fun if Rebekah, Holly, and Lauren answered these questions! ; )

Now it's your turn! Answer the questions if you like or ask me an extra one. ; )

I'm Back!

Yes, I'm here again. There's a lull in the storm of things to do, so I thought I'd pop in and tell you what I'm grateful for...

The auntastic adventures I had while Aimee and I stayed at Perry and Tyler's house for a few days helping out. Chap and Chum were so hilarious and adorable with their clip-on ties, cowboy boots, and sunglasses (that don't quite stay on their heads or their noses). Their two favorite things definitely are playing outside (except one time when the sprinklers were on--then Chum was happy to just sit on the porch with me) and eating. (Eating a lot. Especially if it is "callilip", known to everyone besides toddlers as cantaloupe. The score was 8 for Chap and 5 for Chum.) ; ) We also had a great time with Perry and Tyler when they were available. Perry took us grocery shopping and treated us to Starbucks. (I got to try out their Chai tea for the first time!!)

My birthday celebration. On my actual birthday, I had a nice quiet day hanging out with my family. My two littlest sisters treated me to a treasure hunt (with very hard clues! They had recently got a kid spy book from the library, so there were a lot of really creative ones.) with a package of cards they had bought together as a prize at the end. Then all of us sibs (and Mom for awhile) played a crazy game of Ultimate Monopoly. Near the end it was just Paul and I switching back and forth, back and forth. We called it a draw, especially since it was time to eat Chik-fil-a and ice cream since Dad was home. Soooo yummy!!!! After that they showered me with presents and appreciations (that were so sweet I almost cried). It was truly a great day!

My other birthday celebration. ; ) Because my birthday landed on a Monday, the Perry and the Tyler and their very silly babies weren't able to come so they had us over that Saturday for more celebration. Ice cream, politics, silly babies, my local aunt and uncle, and leftover wedding cake from my cousin's wedding combined to make it another great celebration. (And the gifts too! More on one of them later...) ; )

Evangelism training. We are going through the Way of the Master training videos with two different groups (north and south since we are so spread out!) from church. It has been great to be able to get to know these church friends better and to grow in our ability to share the Good News. (And this lucky pastor's family gets all the info twice!) ; ) Please pray for me that I would get over my shyness and actually reach out to people.

Reclaiming Beauty webinar by the Botkin sisters. My mom and a friend of hers are leading this study together for their own daughters (that includes me!!) and some other mother/daughters from a homeschool group. It has been so amazing!! I've been learning exactly what God thinks of the whole topic, that I must dress as His ambassador and an example to my younger Christian sisters, and that it really is okay to enjoy it as long as I keep it in its right place just like any other art. ; ) (If you want to find out more about it, you can download the first episode for free here.) It's also been a ton of fun too. ; )

Anna and I spent a several sister-ly hours decorating our study guide notebooks together. (Yes, that's us! Looking weird and horribly lit.) ; )

My book on the left, hers on the right. I love how our different styles came out in the process. ; )

Over the past several weeks, we've also gotten to know some girls that we had never met before, collected a ton of info for our style files, figured out face shapes and colors (vaguely, anyway) ; ), and I had the insanely irritating and wonderful privilege of doing an entire closet inventory. ; ) Which actually turned out very helpful when we went on our field trip to our local modest (unfortunately Mormon) thrift store together. We all found some amazing things and had a great time. ; )

Our Ladies' Bible study. It only happens once a month, but it has been amazing so far. We are studying through "Living the Gospel in Relationships" by Tara Barthel. We like it so much that we've actually been watching it as a family and gleaning a lot.

Stories. What would a blog post by Kate be without her stories? (Don't answer that question. It was purely rhetorical.) In my "Year of Editing Six Large Works", I have four down and two to go! I just finished editing "Fiddler's Bargain" last night, and I can't wait to move on to its companion story. (When I say these are edited that doesn't mean they won't get more later on, but it is a step forward.) ;) "The Book of Dreams" project has progressed in one exciting way--Perry and Tyler have offered to give me a free cover!!! (That's my birthday gift from them. Aren't they just the best?!!!) I have a story spinning in my mind, but I'm not sure it will ever make it out of the idea stage. (The fact that I have 7k+ words does help to encourage me a bit. I'll share an excerpt of the beginning some time here...)

My crazy family. Right now my mom and I have ganged up on my littlest sister and are tickling her mercilessly. Other fun times include another treasure hunt Em made for Blue and I yesterday, watching the second National Treasure movie together yesterday on VidAngel (Anna and I love quoting Riley Poole to each other), coming up with eighty business/book/movie/ministry ideas a day, and listening to Mom read a book about Marco Polo aloud. Pretty great. ; )

That's just a bit of the awesome things that have been keeping me busy. ; ) What have you been doing?

Real Men Wear Pink (Helmets)

This week has been really amazing, but I think this part has probably been my favorite...

Sorry, boys, your aunties really don't own any other helmets. Pink is the only option. You both look awesome anyway!!! ; )

A Camping We Did Go

Last weekend, my family and I had the awesome adventure of going to our church's family camp together! Since it was an hour or so north of here, we got to enjoy a taste of greenness once again. The best parts, though, were sharing a cabin duplex with Perry and Tyler (and the BABIES!!!!!!) and getting to know our church family better.

After packing way too much clothing; gathering card games; baking and popping food (I made these cookies and popped four huge batches of popcorn. I even used up all the coconut oil and melted the lid just to make it more fun.); finishing up the sermon (Dad did that part. We only pack things and melt things.); collecting random forgotten things; and smashing it into the back of the van (Paul saying his typical, "Hey guys, don't open that one door. Everything will come out.), we started off on our adventure. Wow, that was a run-on sentence if ever I saw one!

Some of my lovely road-trip buddies. (My angel mother is in the passenger seat, but since she is shining like the sun you can't tell she's there.) We are veteran road-trippers now from our move down here last winter, so an hour doesn't feel like much. ; ) Dad had an awesome time pointing out real and imagined landmarks to us, and we kept ourselves clapping and bouncing with the PianoGuys.

The rest of my lovely (????) buddies. Weird angle because I'm sharing a seat with them, but you get the idea that it was pretty fun. ; ) (Oh, is Paul an angel too? I'll leave that for you to decide... No, he is an angel for sharing a seat with all the copious amounts of bedding we brought.)

 A little while later (we used to drive this far to go grocery shopping). we arrived at Friendly Pines just in time to throw everything into the cabin and run off to the cafeteria for dinner. After that came a chapel session, organizing our cabiny-messy-thingy, and games in the cafeteria until the wee hours of the morning.

Next morning we all walked to church. (It should always be this way, shouldn't it?) It was beautiful outside!!! At just about every session of chapel our family enjoyed mixing with Perry and Tyler's little family and the H. family as well.

Our fantastic little neighbors. They were the best thing about the weekend!! Unfortunately, they were so cute that we had a really hard time not laughing out loud during the sermon.

Especially when this one sneezed so hard he almost fell over...or when his older brother dumped a toy dump truck load of dirt into my lap...or when the camp cat startled one of them out of their wits when it came scampering by. Yeah, pretty cute. ; ) Don't you just love those funny eyes???

The theme of the weekend was revival, and Dad chose a really amazing aspect of the whole topic for his sermon Saturday morning. I HIGHLY suggest you listen to his sermon "Don't Lose Heart". It was very encouraging!!! (Special thanks to Anna for taking the picture because I couldn't see Dad very well through some people's heads.)

Saturday is probably everyone's hands-down favorite day of camp. That's because of....

FIELD GAMES!!!! I watched the first few games from the sidelines, but after a while I wished I had joined in. ; ) This game was a crazy relay race of trying to bat a balloon down the field without popping it. Add to that an ornery breeze and some surprisingly sharp grass--you get the picture. ; )

Another great one was passing a hula hoop around a circle of people without letting go of each other's hands. That was pretty crazy, but a high-five to everyone who managed it especially those wearing skirts.

We didn't get pictures of my favorite relay race (also the first game I played), but it was pretty fun/funny! All of us players threw our shoes in a huge, stinky pile at one end of the field and lined up on the other. You've probably guessed the objective--run across the field, find your shoes, cram them on, and make it back to your team without them falling off. There were some pretty hilarious stunts too, like my brother-in-law throwing his best friends' shoes out of the pile so they would have to go farther to find them. Thumbs up, Tyler! It was pretty hard to find my shoes (since apparently brown is the most common color); and I found myself wishing for one of the first times ever that I had flip-flops. ; ) I'm not sure how the scoring came out, but my team was awesome!! ; )

The tug-o'-wars were awesome!! This picture is kids against adults. You'll find me on the kids' side because this was taken before a couple of older girls and I realized that we belonged on the other team. ; P We lost the first one since our church is mostly children, but we won the second! ; )

That's my little buddy!

The rest of the weekend consisted of more hanging out (I did a little exploring with my friend Hannah and chatted some with her older sister), chapel sessions (I loved the history of the laymen's revival), an amazing bonfire (S'mores. That's what we exist for.), and amazing games in the cafeteria. (Some of my family members brought crafts to do with everyone, but I never got around to doing them.) Those times of all sitting around together laughing and talking or trying to beat each other at Dutch Blitz were my favorite times of all. That's when I got to know people (and sometimes got to beat them too!). ; )

Hanging out with the H. girls was my younger sisters' favorite thing about their first family camp (that they can remember, at least). I got to hang out with them a lot of the time which was so much fun! We visited their favorite spot at camp (nicknamed "the L tree"  for it's unusual shape), visited each  other's cabins (this picture was taken in ours), and sat together during church and the group picture. ;)

Altogether, it was an amazing time of fellowship and learning from God's word! And I highly suggest you all check out my Dad's sermon. ;)

Ultimate Monopoly

For a stretch of time that seemed like one hundred years, we played Monopoly every day. It speedily went very low on our list of favorite games, but recently we've added a few house rules to make it a little more interesting. (We also thought it would make it faster, but that is apparently impossible.)

1. If a player lands on a monopoly that has none of its properties owned, they may buy the entire monopoly.

2. If someone rolls snake eyes or double six's while rolling to move:
    a. Everyone moves their piece to the position of the piece to the left of it on the board.
    b. Everyone moves to the chair to the left of them leaving their properties and money behind and possessing those of their new position.
    c. The player who rolled the doubles may then roll again for their turn.

3. If someone rolls a seven while rolling to move, everyone slaps the middle of the board. (We usually have free parking money there.) Player with hand on the bottom passes Go and receives their money, while the player on top goes to Jail.

4. If a player is in jail and a second player joins them, the first player is bumped into Just Visiting and loses all houses and hotels on one monopoly.

5. If a player must pay rent, they must roll the dice. If the player rolls doubles, they are released from the debt. (This rule does not apply to taxes and fines.)

Optional rule: If players are slapping the middle when a seven has not been rolled, they must pay a fee of ten dollars.

This version of the game can get pretty crazy especially when it is down to just a few players who are battling it out and building dynasties only to have their places switched. : ) We played a game of it today and enjoyed it a lot--well, actually it's not over yet. If anyone comes up with a way to significantly shorten the playing time, I'd be very grateful. : ) I'd also love to see your house rules in the comments!

How to Spell "Aimee"

How do you spell Aimee?

Affectionate

She is such a good friend...big sister...and is always smiling.

Intelligent

She can make anything from scratch as long as it is sparkly. She can also remember everything she has read especially random historical facts.

Mischievous

Always ready to do something funny during a photo shoot (especially  on the spur of the moment), always ready to be in on some joke, and always ready to throw the first snowball.

Energetic

She loves action. Nuff said.

Egg-nog

And she's random. That's probably the best part. : )

(Cereal earrings...)

(Yam decorating...)

(Anatomy lessons...)

(Posing for a fake prison picture...)

And she's my older sister--that's definitely the best part. 

Happy Birthday, Aimee! Love you!!!

Evenings at Home

I love evenings at home. Evenings when our family gathers together to
hear a story, watch an episode of "What's in the Bible?", share funny
stories with each other, or prepare for the next day's meals. Yesterday
evening I spent reading a story aloud to my sister while she soaked her
burned finger. (We had so much fun laughing over the silly parts in the
story.) Tonight I'm just generally hanging out and waiting for my brother
to work all the 'bugs' out of the stock market game he is programming so
I can play it. (I think he has it about perfect now!) I'm so grateful for
this family!

Summertime

Summertime is full upon us, and it seems like every day holds a new adventure. Whether it is visiting the adorable county fair, playing the new game my brother invented, or just chatting with visiting relatives, I'm enjoying it quite a bit and I thought I would share with you some of the best things about it.

I'm thankful for...

• Letters to read and write!
• Free ebooks!!! I recently enjoyed The Sparrow Found a House.
• www.noblenovels.weebly.com They've taught me lessons in writing and deadlines. : ) (My latest story "This Is Home" should be posted today.)
• "Resurrecting" an old character I had invented around eight years ago. Enter Gabriel Smith the pony express rider!
• The fact that my latest food experiments have actually turned out! I was never able to do that when I was younger.
• The Pioneer Woman and The Joy of Cooking cookbooks that tell me exactly how to hardboil an egg or make lemon zest.
• That cool lemon smell on my fingers that I got to smell all the rest of that day and some of the next. : )
• The way those lemon bars tasted. Heavenly. It was so amazing that, even though it was time to go grocery shopping, we had exactly the right amount of lemon for them. : )
• The chance to do two sets of neighbors chores. Betsy Bea thinks of it as a petting zoo and talks to all the animals. "Hey, duck! Watcha' doing with all these chickens? Are you friends or something?" "Canon, Canon." (Said in a cooing voice while she feeds the baby goat little bits of hay. In the next moment, she was giggling because he was lipping her fingers.) : )
• All the surplus organic eggs and raw milk people have been giving us.
• A baby sister who taught me to play her own version of hopscotch on the kitchen tile.
• People having relatives visiting them which means BABIES AT CHURCH!
• Haying opportunities for my gigantic-ly tall little brother. (And Aimee did some too, I might add.) ; )
• Lunch and wi-fi at an adorable local café on the way to the county fair. What could be better than a bagel sandwich?
• The cool decorative lamp posts at the café. We took lots of pictures near them and there were many references to Lucy in Narnia. : )
• My gigantic-ly tall little brother who took most of the pictures. He did an awesome job taking them and since he is taller than us there was none of that dwarf effect.
• Those nice purple smiley faces that show we got to go to the fair even two days afterwards! : )
• My dad who promised my baby sister a Ferris wheel ride and helped her stay calm as the wheel went 'round and 'round.
• My baby sister who bravely rode the Ferris wheel, laughing nervously and excitedly and waving to us each time she came around. : )
• The animal barn. I had never been to one at a fair before, so this was a new experience.
• Getting to stroll around with my family, my friend, and her pygmy goat Fatso. : )
• All the cute baby animals.
• The beef judging (where my friend's brother showed a steer). It was so interesting! The judge was very knowledgeable, so if anyone asks—yes, I did science that day. : )
• That deathly yummy carnival food. 'Nuff said.
• Grocery shopping when Costco was about to close. : )
• Dad asking what we wanted to eat in the drive-through and my sister saying, "I'll take a cheeseburger, fries, and a milkshake with ketchup." We laughed over that new ice cream flavor for a little while. : )
• Doing chores at midnight with flashlights. I'm not one of the main chore-doers so I was in the van while this all happened. : )
• Two window air-conditioners and several fans!
• A clean house the next day, even though we had to clean it to get it that way.
• A set-up foosball table! Through the efforts of Mom, my gigantic-ly tall little brother, Yours Truly, and some random little sisters it is now standing in the school/game room. : ) Dad even brought home balls from town for it!
• "Babysitting" my younger sisters and building a blanket tent for us to play games, color pictures, and hang out in before bedtime.
• My middle-sized sister who was my right hand in tent building. Fortunately, all the blankets were still accessible since we had used them at camp.
• Sorting through pennies with my gigantic-ly tall little brother. He's super into coin collecting right now, and I'm actually finding it quite fascinating. : ) (Now I can explain what it means when there is no mint mark. Cool, huh?)
• Relatives visiting! Those nephews are too cute to be true!
• My brother-in-law, my sister, and my gigantic-ly tall little brother (time to invent an acronym!) playing foosball really, really hard!
• The older nephew splashing with my little sisters in the baby pool. : )

So we've been having lots of joyful times together, and I can't wait to see what God has in store next! : )

 

 

P.S.- I'm also super grateful for Mom who edits all of my writing and makes sure I don't sound too goofy. : )

Laughter and Siblings

We invented a new meaning for the term "stock market crash" when we
knocked over the bank for our board game. It actually did delay business
a little while we cleaned it up. Thanking God for laughter and
siblings... they go together. : )

Winter in Autumn

Today, even though it is below freezing outside, we decided to go out and
play since it wasn't raining. : ) Now we're indoors, and what do you know
but wool socks are really good for "skating" in (on wood floors). The
sink is running so the water lines don't freeze, and we keep asking Mom
about it. We're all well-trained not to waste water. : ) If you are ever
cold inside step outdoors, and you are immediately grateful when you come
back in!

1. Betsy Bea loves to jump on the trampoline!
2. Everyone is ready to see Aimee's big shot!

Adventures in Dollhouse Land

In our new school schedule each of us older kids has a scheduled time to play with Emma and/or Betsy Bea. Betsy Bea's hands-down favorite thing to play is dollhouse. Although I keep branching out to other games for us to play, we always return there. I thought I'd share some funny things that have happened while we are playing.

Betsy Bea insists on always using a certain dollhouse Daddy and when I asked her about it she said, "He looks like Tyler."

Any other dollhouse daddy was declared to look like "Goob from Meet the Robinsons." : )

Yesterday, I threw her doll a birthday party with real miniature books I had made as the presents. One of the books was called "Christy Hunt". Her doll replied, "Oh, thanks, I'm sure my dad will read the hunting one."

Today, she was looking through a bag of accessories before our dolls went camping. She discovered an interesting hinge that was in the bag for some reason and the 'wheels' starting turning. "I can use this for a tortilla press," she decided.

Whenever our dolls would go places, my daddy doll would open and shut the door for the mommy doll. Her people used to always explode out of their separate doors and get to business. Now her daddy opens the door and the mommy politely thanks him.

We played dollhouse dentist one day, (BTW-the dentists were always washing their hands in a bird fountain rigged up for the job), and the boy doll named Avery had a cavity. A few days later I was talking to Anna about a story I was writing with a character named Avery in it and Betsy Bea pipes up with, "Avery had a cavity." That took me a little while to make the connection.

So, it's been fun and she even sings me a Josh Groban love song while we play. I asked if she liked the song and she said, "No." "Then why do you sing it?" "Because it is dumb."

Summer is Almost Over!

Yes, summer vacation is coming to a close. I'm not sure if can bring myself to be sorry because the best season is coming next, but when I think back I have a lot to be thankful for.

I'm thankful for U-pick farmers, their blueberries, and their generosity as well as God's sun and God's rain to make the berries grow.
I'm thankful for friends that liven the days with their picnics, invitations, silly games at camp, and emails and letters.
I'm thankful for relatives that want to come over, soak my brother, watch a movie, and let me hold their baby.
I'm thankful for the garden that God has made grow so amazingly with 5 inch long green beans (some smaller too), potatoes, tomatoes, lettuce and spinach coming out of our ears, the radishes early on and more vegetables to come.
I'm thankful for the fawn that visits our yard and makes me love God's creation even more.
I'm thankful for the lawn mower that has taught me perseverance, steering, and kept the lawn so nice. (Thanks for not acting up as badly as you did last year!)
I'm thankful for the van that started the year badly, but has taken us numerous places like the miracle vehicle it is.
I'm thankful for the weeds that help me to be grateful for when they are not there and get my vitamin D when they are.
I'm thankful for the Family Vision Library, the scholarship they gave us, and the books they send us, G.K. Chesterton for writing awesome things for my Dad to read to me, and all those good movies we've enjoyed this vacation.
I'm thankful for our church that has enjoyed social and spiritual things with us.
I'm thankful for new friends, and ones I have gotten to know better.
I'm thankful for balls that seem to be the center of just about every game.
I'm thankful for our forefathers who gave us something to celebrate with loud noises and ice cream.
I'm thankful for creativity that keeps things interesting.
I'm thankful for pencils and notebooks that work together so beautifully if I can just get over my writer's block.
I'm thankful for dishes that provide interesting conversations with my hilarious siblings, and a chance to listen to "The Reckoning" all over again.
I'm thankful for the internet which helps us keep in contact with faraway friends.
I'm thankful for Blue, she livens everything, makes things cute and funny and is my buddy. : )
I'm thankful for Em, she loves to set up paperwork and hilarious doctors' offices and we are learning to be better friend's every day.
I'm thankful for Pearly. She is hilarious and we've written together up in her bunkbed. (Or at least tried to). : )
I'm thankful for Anna, she was willing to listen to "The Reckoning" with me while we scrubbed the kitchen floor. (She volunteered to help!)
I'm thankful for Paul, he makes cool things, and funny things, and talks when we are trying to write things.
I'm thankful for Aimee and that we go to the mail together, and dig in the garden and have an awesome time of it.
I'm thankful for Perry, she is so cool (no she's not into rock) and she'll listen to me talk about writing for half an hour, and she has really good ideas. And she has a nice baby I'm extremely thankful for too!!! : )
I'm thankful for Tyler, the valet for Perry and nice baby, and the soaker of brother. : )
I'm thankful for Mommy, who gives me motivation to pick blueberries, blueberries to eat, compassion, advice, tips on growing up, etc. (She gives me dishes to do too, that comes under the growing up heading.)
I'm thankful for Daddy, who reads cool books to us, lets us stay up later for that, gives really convicting sermons, advices, etc.

And I'm thankful for God who makes all these things work, all these things beautiful, and gives us salvation.


I'm ready for school and autumn, anyone else ? Who wouldn't want books and leaves and rain and sweaters?

This week is one of the last big summer events and the week after is getting ready for school. (You'd think we'd have it down to a science, but our family grows and changes). : )
Then school. And sweaters!!!!!