In case you didn't know, my husband teaches math and science at the Christian school in town.  This year he was given permission to teach his high school students in our church building.  We converted one of the Sunday school classrooms into a school room and this week the resource room became a laboratory.

 I wish I could have been down there with them.  Labs were my favorite part of science, especially dissections.  I hope Todd has a pig or two left over for the kids and I to dissect.

 Bonnie will be taking Biology next year and I can't wait. 

Ken Davis - Trouble at the Airport

Todd and I got to have a date night this past Thursday. Ken Davis was in town and thought it would be good for us to go out and have a good laugh, especially after our house sale. If you get a chance to see Ken Davis, I highly recommend you go.

President's Day

Doing anything this President's Day?  Shopping?  Sleeping in?  School?

We aren't doing much.  Bonnie has been gone all weekend at various youth events.  She began the weekend at a Winter Blast that is for all the youth from all the northwest Grace churches.  She had a ton of fun and was making friends, but I had to pull her out yesterday afternoon to attend another youth function. Bonnie goes to a youth group at another church in Cashmere and they are participating in World Vision's 30 Hour Famine.  I wouldn't have let her go, but before she realized both events were on the same weekend, she had several people sponsor her to go on a fast for the event and raised quite a bit of money.  So she went over to their youth event which included ice skating, inflatables, dodge ball, and a community service project today.  At three they break their fast for a pizza party and then she comes home.  I am pretty anxious for her.  By yesterday her voice was almost gone, but she insisted that she felt fine and was ready for the next all nighter.  I told her she can plan on sleeping in all day tomorrow.

Todd is back at the church with all the youth that are visiting with us.  They plan on taking off at noon.  Once they are gone, Todd is hoping to go kayaking.  He really needs a break from it all and that is his best way to relax.  Fortunately, he has no school tomorrow so he can stay home and sleep in as well.

The boys are soaking up all the tv and wii time that they can.  Later today, they are swimming at one of the hotels in town with a friend, then it is a pizza party tomorrow for a friend's birthday.

Me...more house cleaning and cooking for tonight's Bible study.   Exciting right?

On a serious note, our town is mourning today.  Three locals were caught in an avalanche yesterday while skiing at Stevens Pass.  You might have heard about it on the national news.  All three were experts and were doing everything right when it comes to skiing in an avalanche prone area, but there are no guarantees and they were caught in the avalanche and died.  I did not know the men but some of my friends did.  It is another reminder that we are not guaranteed our next breath and need to know where we stand with God today.

Moments That Make Mom Proud

Yesterday, my eldest son spent the day skiing up on Ski Hill here in town.  He had been gone a couple of hours so I decided to drive up to the ski area to check in with him and see how he was doing.  He skied up to me and the first words out of his mouth were, "Mom, I got to preach to someone today."  The someone wasn't just anyone but a young boy who attends our Awana club on Wednesday nights.  This boy isn't just any clubber either, but a young boy who is being raised by relatives and has some issues that he is working through.  We have been working hard with him and his family trying to make it possible for him to be a part of our Awana club. I was excited to hear that Brian had not only taken time to ski with this young boy, but also to spend their time together talking about God.  Isn't that what we desire for our children once they have accepted Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior to then share that Good News with their friends and acquaintances?  I know it is my desire, and after hearing my son, I couldn't be more proud of him for being a witness to those around him.

Ski Hill, Leavenworth, WA

SOLD

Our house has been officially sold. The deal was finalized this morning (or afternoon if you are in North Carolina).  Thank you for all your prayers and concerns.  Now it is time to move forward and see what God has in store for us here in Leavenworth.

Our Gourmet Meal

For Christmas, Bonnie received a subscription to Taste of Home magazine.  In the latest edition, she spotted a recipe that she wanted to try so she got to make the meal tonight.

 Bonnie got busy browning the chicken.  A friend of mine gave me garlic olive oil from the Oil and Vinegar Cellar  in Leavenworth.  Boy, did that smell yummy as the chicken cooked in it. While Bonnie was busy with the chicken Alyssa diced up some portabella mushrooms and garlic.

 Doesn't that chicken look yummy.  Once the chicken was browned, Bonnie added a little more garlic olive oil into the pan and Alyssa added the mushrooms.  Once the mushrooms were soft she added the garlic.

 A little Marsala wine to loosen up the brown bits of chicken stuck to the bottom of the pan, then some whipping cream to thicken up the broth, and a delicious gravy was made.  Finally she added the chicken back to the skillet, some gargonzola cheese and a final garnish of parsley.

 It was delicious!  Even Todd ate some. (Of course, Todd eats whatever you give him, but he doesn't like mushrooms at all)  A salad on the side and some biscuits and our meal was complete.

Thanks girls for the delicious gourmet meal.  They will have to make it again sometime.

Goodbye to our North Carolina Home

Well, we signed the official paperwork to sell our house yesterday.  It has been notarized and sent back to North Carolina.  I figure the paperwork won't get there until tomorrow evening at the earliest.  The final closing process probably won't occur until Tuesday, at the earliest.  By this time next week the whole process should be over. 

I have to say the last few days have been very depressing for me.  In all reality, this should be a time of rejoicing, but my pride, and my desires have been getting in the way.  I should rejoice that God has faithfully provided for us in so many unexpected and undeserved ways.  He has made sure that all of our needs and even some of our wants have been met.  So why am I sick at my stomach?  Maybe it is because, once again, I had everything figured out and things didn't go my way.  Maybe because I put too many hopes and dreams into things that I couldn't control.  Maybe my focus is on this world and what I think I need in it to make me happy and secure.  Maybe it is all of those things.  So I am doing what I can to remind myself of God's goodness, His faithfulness, His provisions, His unfailing love for me.  Someone has stepped up and is buying our house.  I trust that they will love it and take care of it.  I trust they will be good neighbors to our old neighbors.  I trust that God will continue to provide for us here.  One day we will have to find a house of our own and when that day comes, God who is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow will be there to help us along.

Bringing Up Boys

Have you read Dr. James Dobson's book Bringing Up Boys?  If you have then you may remember that the first chapter starts off with the crazy and insane things that young boys do.  Today was one of those moments.  When I heard that crazed, maniacal laughter coming from the back yard, I knew we were in trouble.  Flashbacks to the time when the boys were left alone in the living room with a bowl of popcorn flashed through my mind.  On that particular day, I heard that same laughter as the boys dropped handfuls of popcorn into the large floor fan that they had tilted upwards.  The entire surface area of the floor was covered in miniscule pieces of popcorn.  I wish today's mess was as easy to clean up. 

The kids have been working on making cardboard cars for our AWANA Drive-In Movie Night.  Brian found a can of spray paint and wanted to paint his car.  I am a bit leary about letting the kids spray paint, but I figured they can't hurt much if they do their painting out in the snow.  Everything was set up.  Saw horses covered in plastic, box car sitting on top, and everything on a bed of snow.  Should be ok, right?! A  few minutes later the maniacal laughter began.  It took a few seconds for my mom alarm to turn on, but when it did you can be sure that I started running for the back door. Imagine my horror when I saw that can of spray paint laying on the one area that wasn't covered in snow and my son holding a large log over his head.  He had already smashed the can several times and a pool of paint surrounded the area.  My husband said this was a perfect Love and Logic moment but I am afraid I wasn't thinking too clearly at that moment.  Those boys got an earful from me.  The funny thing is that the whole time I was chewing them up and down, a little voice kept saying, "What do you expect...they're boys!"

It's my birthday and I am sitting at the kitchen counter listening to my Spike Jones and His City Slickers station on Pandora. Talk about some FUN music.   If you haven't listened to Pandora, I suggest you check it out.  You can plug in any artist or song and they will not only start playing that artist's music but any other music that belongs to that same genre.  Of course, I have been pleasantly surprised with the mix of artists that they have paired up with Spike Jones.  I expected artists like Ray Stevens and Danny Kaye, but I didn't expect them to through in some Johnny Cash or Jerry Reed, but I don't object to them at all.  Right now they are playing Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka-Dot Bikini.  lol  We listened to The Monster Mash and Purple People Eater earlier.  Remember those songs? Fun Music!

So with my fun music playing over the computer let me tell you what's going on.  First,  we still have the house in North Carolina.  Hopefully, (crossing every appendage) we will close this week.  Will it ever end?  A broken floor board in the upstairs garret deemed the house non-saleable.  Fortunately, the buyers offered to fix the board and have the house reinspected.  It is not too late for that tornado I am praying for.  Come on, Lord.  Give a girl a break and let us collect the insurance money on it.

School is going ok.  We are still trying to find our rhythm.  I am praying about next year.  I have been seriously looking at Classical Conversations but for my kids to be in that program I will most likely have to teach the Challenge classes.  To teach, I will have to go to some training meetings and it could be that my children would be the only ones in the program since the CC group in Wenatchee is relatively young.  For whatever reason, I have all the paper work filled out but I can't bring myself to mailing them off. This is still a huge prayer matter for me.  Another option I am looking at is that Tapestry of Grace offers on-line classes.  This means that we can continue with our current school program but that my kids would have a TOG class to answer to and to be held accountable with. Big decisions.  So many choices!  Need LOTS of prayers.

So other than my silly music, there is not much going on today.  I hope to walk to town and pick up a few things. Todd and I might go out for dinner or we might just take the whole family.  Bonnie is doing the laundry and the kids have cleaned up the house.  I think it will be a great birthday.