Almost three weeks ago, BC’s truck died. Well, temporarily died. He spent some time trying to replace the alternator, but it was very difficult getting to it because of the way the truck was situated. I have always appreciated how BC tries to fix things on our cars, I mean, vehicles…for some reason I tend to refer to most vehicles as “cars”. He has successfully replaced numerous alternators, but this one posed a real challenge. So, having no alternative, we let it sit, and he took the Suburban to work. We hoped to take it to a mechanic soon, but it was early January, and we typically do not have enough money saved in our emergency fund during this month.
Wait! We did have one alternative to our alternator problem…prayer. So, we earnestly prayed as a family. It had been a long time since the days of only one mode of transportation. The one day I needed the car, I dropped BC off at school. Later that day, BC received a call from a friend. He told BC that an anonymous person wanted to take care of our car. All we had to do was take it to a certain auto shop. What a praise! We managed to get it to the shop by charging it several times along the way. I followed him in the suburban. It only took us one and a half hours, but we were thankful we got it there.
Two days later, we received the call from the shop that his pick-up was ready for pick up. Wow! That was fast! we thought. The owner told BC that he fixed the alternator, a power steering leak, and put in a new air conditioner. BC was amazed, and slightly shocked! We all were. A new A/C is expensive. BC had been without A/C in his truck for awhile. It had been on our list of “things to fix”. That night, when we went around the table sharing our favorite part of the day, Daddy shared about the surprise blessing we had received from the LORD! We all praised the LORD for His goodness. He not only meets our needs, but also goes above and beyond even what we might expect. God always provides!
Recently, I ordered some fun Thanksgiving crafts from Oriental Trading Company. I love Thanksgiving, and we try to do a few crafts each November. I save one from each year and we decorate the house for Thanksgiving with the kids artwork (past and present).
So, I bought some foam “Pilgrim people” that we put together and we cut out our pictures for the faces! These have made us laugh daily! You have to be able to laugh at yourself sometimes, you know?
I also found some magic art leaves that were cool. You just scratch off a design of your choice with a small pointed stick and colorful rainbow-like designs appear underneath.
Then, I purchased some small turkey cut-outs. I wasn’t exactly sure what I was going to do with them. I thought I might use some to make some napkin holders. Then, I thought we could play a “hunt for the turkey” game with one.
So, I put blue painting/masking tape on the back of a turkey cut-out and called the kids over. I said, “We are going to play a fun game each day until Thanksgiving. Someone has this turkey, and tries to put it on someone’s back without that someone knowing about it. When the turkey person realizes it, they continue the game by putting it on an unsuspecting someone’s back, until the end of the day.”
The kids said that sounded like fun, pats on the back and all, and the game began. We all chuckled behind the back at our little turkey friend on the back of our loved one; the younger ones pointed and laughed. It was all in fun.
When daddy came home, the kids were quick to explain the new turkey game, as BC wondered why Paige had a turkey on her back. The master quickly caught on, and got my back, unbeknownst to me. So, when I had to trot over to Walgreens last night around 8:00 p.m. for some dry eye lubricant and pads, you guessed it…turkey went along for the ride. As I was checking out, there was a line behind me, and I felt like people were staring (I usually feel a little self-conscious when buying pads anyway.), and they were smiling. I just smiled back and attributed it to the cheerful Christmas music.
So, when I arrived back home, my husband sent me a text with a picture of me with a turkey on my back. I felt like I was a roasted turkey! I did laugh, though, but wondered if there was fowl play. I’m thinking we should keep this game “in house only”. As BC laughingly chided, “I got your back!” that saying took on a new and opposite meaning. But as I said earlier, “You have to be able to laugh at yourself sometimes, you know?”
Two years ago, we bought a nice, new fridge. Well, my sweet parents gifted us with half and we paid the other half. This was a huge blessing, as our old fridge was 15 years old and slowly jogging along on the verge of a collapse (another appliance on borrowed time scenario). The new fridge was huge and it was a special blessing because we bought a cool ice-maker (and one on the outside door) for the first time in our married life.
Actually, we had an ice-maker in the first place we lived after we were married. Some dear friends of ours from church moved to California for a short while. They asked us to “house-sit” and all we needed to pay for was the electricity and water. This four-bedroom house was a blessing to us. Being a light sleeper, I sometimes would wake up and wonder what was the source of the noise I just heard. Poor BC. Misery loves company, so I would wake the soundly sleeping man lying next to me and ask him, “Did you hear that? What was that noise?” And almost every time, he would mumble out that it was just the ice-maker.
When we lived in our first apartment, I remember hearing a noise, so I woke up BC. He replied with the usual: “Just the ice-maker, honey”. But then I woke up and realized we didn’t even have an ice-maker in that apartment! He actually got out of bed for that noise! So, for the last two years, when I have occasionally heard a noise downstairs, BC has truthfully said, “It’s the ice-maker.”…and I have believed him…until recently…
Well, they say the ice-maker is the first to go…after about two years…and it was. Thankfully, we bought the extended warranty at Lowe’s. So, I called the fix-it dude out to see if he could repair or replace it. He quickly determined that he was not able to fix it because it had literally frozen up. So, he said he would talk to someone and try to order a new one, and that I would need to defrost the fridge if he could get the part in. Eh…I was a little bummed as he told me to call him in a week and a half if I did not hear back from him before then.
So, I waited, and we served our guests room-temperature refreshments. I reminded my crushed family and myself that water would freeze again someday, and we would survive. After all, it was just ice. I meant to buy some at the store, but unfortunately, I had brain fog when it came down to remembering to buy it. Just two years prior, we were making our own ice and I regretted getting rid of those plastic ice cube trays.
Ice cube trays…my mind floated back to childhood days as I remembered how we were the ice-makers! How many times had we filled the ice cube trays growing up? And how frustrated were we to find them empty. My favorite memory of ice cube trays was making homemade ice pops. First, we steadily tried to pour lemonade or Kool-aid equally into each container. Then, we tried to arrange the toothpicks “just so” (one per cube). Last of all, we carefully carried this magical science experiment to the freezer. Every ten minutes, I’d pop my head in the freezer just to see if our ice pops were ready. After watching the process (the thin layer forming on the top, etc.), it was now time to break the ice. When I was asked to perform the bending of the ice mold, I felt like I also was breaking out from the mold from “weak child” to “strong conqueror”. Seriously, those ice pops were transforming! How my heart melted when years later I watched my children concoct their own yummy homemade ice pops.
Wow! That was a major bunny trail through some icy patches there. Sorry about that. Let me get back to the story about the fridge (also called “ice box” by older generations)…
So, I got a call a week later and they (Lowe’s) wanted to let me know that I had a merchandise credit (like a gift card) at Lowe’s for the amount that I spent on the first fridge, and that I could keep the other fridge! This was a huge blessing! So, we bought a new fridge on sale. It was a little smaller than the one we previously had purchased, but it had a good ice-maker. Because of this, we had money left over on the Lowe’s card to buy fencing supplies for our much-needed backyard fence. Isn’t it marvelous how God provides solid answers to prayers by allowing things to break? We are counting our ice cubes, I mean …blessings (including the new fence posts, and the second fridge). (I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice…!)
Last weekend, we all joined forces to put up the new fence. We had such pleasant weather, and a great time together (although homemade ice pops would have been cool). Check out Michelles’s blog for pics…
Benjamin’s special day of salvation…
This picture by the tree was taken shortly after Benjamin was saved.
Psalm 1:1-3 “Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night. And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.”
On March 6, 2006, young Benjamin placed his trust in Jesus Christ as his Savior. He was six years old, and his heart was tender. We believe it is God who saves, and God uses hard things, even death, to reveal His love for us. After all, he did send His only Son to die for the sins of the world. Earlier that day, the doctor told BC and I that our unborn baby (3 months in the womb) had died. Naturally, Benjamin had questions and wanted to know exactly what he needed to do in order to spend eternity with Jesus, where his baby sibling was. He prayed a prayer confessing that he was a sinner in need of a Savior, and he thanked Jesus for providing a way by dying on the cross. A sad day was definitely made sweeter! We sang the hymn, “Happy Day”, and we praised the LORD together!
On a humorous note:
Earlier that year, his brother Bradley was praying at nighttime prayers. He mentioned our family members names, but out of order. Benjamin whispered to me, “Momma, he didn’t pray in birth order!” I smiled. We certainly do not need to pray in birth order or get “saved” in birth order. Benjamin’s heart was ready before his older sister’s, and that was okay, too. We are thankful that on October 22, 2011, he was baptized.
His favorite verse: John 3:16
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
Bradley’s special day of salvation…
This picture, also by a tree, was taken shortly after Bradley was saved. (Psalm 1:1-3)
On February 20, 2007, at the young age of five, Bradley asked Jesus into his heart and asked Him to be Lord of his life. He acknowledged that he had sinned “lots of times” and that he believed that Jesus died for him, and that His blood was the only thing that can wash away his sin. We sang the hymn, “What Can Wash Away My Sin” that day, and he was smiling big. After that, Bradley asked, “Does this mean I’m one of His men?” Praise the Lord! Yes!
Earlier that month, God used two funerals to speak to Bradley. On the previous Tuesday, we had buried his sweet great-grandmother. Then, on the Tuesday before that, we buried a young friend, Timothy Kyler, who had cancer, but most importantly, he had Jesus. His dad shared the gospel as requested by Timothy, who didn’t want any possible excuse for anyone attending his funeral not to join him in heaven. The gospel message was clearly presented and Bradley, age five, was listening. He started asking questions, and he put his trust in Jesus Christ two weeks after Timothy’s funeral.
On a humorous note:
When Bradley was four, after viewing a friend’s baptism (Prisca), he said, “Me want to go in the water with my clothes on right now!” We are thankful that he is saved, and that he was baptized on October 22, 2011.
His favorite verse: Psalm 23:4
“Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.”
I am thankful that BC could baptize our boys in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord. I am also thankful that my dear friend’s girls were baptized, too. It was a beautiful morning at the lake. Due to the wind noise, the four children being baptized made their public profession of faith to those gathered around before they went into the waters.
Interestingly, this was the same date that I was baptized…many years ago. Also, this date is a favorite of ours because 23 years ago on October 22, BC and I began dating each another.
2 John 1:4 “I rejoiced greatly that I found of thy children walking in truth, as we have received a commandment from the Father.”
Romans 6:4 “Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.”
A beloved tradition around our house is to wake up the birthday child to the sound of the birthday song. My parents started this tradition with us when I was growing up, and I always looked forward to it. I mean…how tragic would it be for a child to wake up and not realize that it was their b-day, right?
Around here, the rest of the family attempts to wake up before the birthday child. The first one up gets to quietly wake up the rest of the gang. The birthday child might be awake, but their eyes remain closed, possibly fluttering a bit as they listen to the nearby “shushing”. The birthday child quickly remembers what day it is as “Happy Birthday to You” begins. (It’s an unspoken rule, but they have to remain in bed till the song is finished). Mind you, I don’t think the sound quality is super because our voices haven’t warmed up, but the thoughtfulness is always appreciated.
This was tradition, and yes, it was predictable. However, on Bradley’s birthday, I could not have predicted what my boys would do (How many times have I said that?). As I peeked into their room, I thought I saw Bradley stirring, but he was all covered up in his covers facing the wall. So, I decided to quickly sing to him, and then I would gather the others later (because it was so early…we had stayed up late the night before). Well, when I got to “Happy Birthday, dear Bradley…” he sprang out of his covers and it was Benjamin! At the same time, Bradley popped his head down from Benjamin’s top bunk! Those two had switched places! They got me good! So, I said, “Let’s do this again. I’ll go wake the girls!” And they fooled the girls as well! Each new year definitely brings more smiles!
My dad always calls cookies: “cook-cooks”. He is just cute like that! So, this month, you can trade your “book-books” for “cook-cooks”!
The Great American Cookie Company is having a “Reading is Sweet” book drive during the month of October. If you donate a new or gently used book, you will receive a free chocolate chip cookie. They are kicking it off this Saturday between 10:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m.
Go to their website to find a participating location near you.
http://www.greatamericancookies.com/fun-stuff
P.S. If you have never tried one of their cookies, this is your chance. They are very yummy!
The other day I received an email from my mom sharing a “novel” writing experience with us (my sisters, brother, grandkids) which consisted of writing a novel in November.
And I know what you might be thinking….C.C. is going to write a novel…it would be really novel if she posted on her blog more than once a month.:)
But seriously, we are thinking about trying our hand at “NaNoWriMo” (National Novel Writing Month) as a group effort, and perhaps individually.
Here is her email…
“I want to let all of you know about NaNoWriMo. Everybody’s busy, I know, but this could be the year that you and/or your kids write a novel. November is National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo), and hundreds of thousands of adults and kids write novels in November. Yes, complete novels. If you meet your word count, you’re declared a winner — yes, a novelist. It doesn’t matter if it’s really bad or not. If it’s a finished novel, you’re a winner.
Adults have to write 50,000 words (short novel), and children set their own word-count goals. Does it sound like something you want to explore?
Check out these links:
Young Writer’s Program: http://ywp.nanowrimo.org/what-is-nanowrimo
General Writer’s Program: http://www.nanowrimo.org/eng/whatisnano
Check it out! I’m doing this as part of a class, but it sounds too fun to keep to myself. Most people want to write a novel but can’t get started. This lets you get started — and finished — by giving you deadlines for each day in November. It’s going to be crazy fun! (I haven’t checked out the website for language, so please look at it with your kids.)”
So, how about you?
Last fall, when I was watching my five nieces (twelve kids altogether) during our “cousin camp”, we played some fun games.
Clothespin Hairstyles…
Find or buy some clothespins (like 60-we had some plain wooden ones, and some colorful plastic ones). Seriously, they are so inexpensive!
Then divide into two teams (or more if you need to-somewhere around five or six per team)
Give each team some clothespins. Draw names to see which team member will provide the hair. Then the team members decide on the style for the hair. The teams compete in fun to see which hairdo is the most creative, or uses the most clothespins. We separate the teams, and time them for about five minutes. Oh yeah, then take pictures!
Another game we enjoyed was Clothespin Tag.
Pass out six clothespins to each player. When the leader says “go”, each person tries to pin clothespins on six different players (on their clothing, not the hair for this one). Students must keep moving to avoid being pinned while trying to pin others at the same time (not pin them down, of course…remind the boys we are not wrestling). Before the game starts, make sure these modern-age kids know how to open the clothespins, and that they all understand that they are not to remove a clothespin once they are pinned. You may play until one player gets rid of all six and is declared the winner, or you may have everyone continue playing (even if they do not have any more pins, but they just try to avoid acquiring any more!
Finally, we have a new game that I came up with, and thought I would share with you…
Clothespin Clean-up…
Here is how it is played…
On the sides of the clothespins, Mom writes with a fine permanent marker all of the individual jobs that need to be done when your family does weekly/daily/monthly clean-up. For example:
Daily: unload dishes, load dishwasher, sweep floors, wipe off counters and table, vacuum, etc.
Weekly: clean out the fridge, dust furniture, toilets, sinks, tubs, etc.
Monthly: dust ceiling fans, dust blinds, wash windows, clean baseboards, etc.
Then, you start the timer and see who can collect the most clothespins. Grab one and stick it on your clothes, then go clean. This has really motivated my boys with clean up, too. Oh, and when you are done, have them return all of the clothespins into a baggie labeled “clothespin clean-up”, and store it with the cleaning supplies.
What about you? Do you have something different that you do with clothespins? Let me think…what else …oh, I also use them as “chip clips”.
My twin sister is the best.We have shared many wonderful times together over these past “few” okay, forty, years.
We spoke the same language, shared similar thoughts, and just had a lot of fun together.
Sure, we fought at times, but mostly we laughed…and sometimes it wasn’t at the most appropriate times (like during a class or a prayer).
We also loved talking together. Unfortunately, we never mastered the art of talking while driving…and ending up at the correct location-lots of examples to share there. I remember in seventh grade, the youth minister was trying to take us home (this was way before GPS and cell phones) after a youth group function. We knew our address, but we had no idea how to get to our house. The only thing we could remember was that we lived by a Kroger. So, hours later, we finally made it home. Then, the night before we started college, we practiced driving out to the university. We were so happy we made it there, but just because you arrive at your destination, it doesn’t always mean that you know how you got there, or exactly how to get back home. Lost in a bad part of town, we frantically called our parents from a pay phone and told them that we had no idea where we were, and that we saw some scary-looking biker dudes, and then we hung up. Needless to say, that was one phone call my parents did not like to receive!
When we started babysitting together in fifth grade. The mom was leaving and said (to her kids):”Y’all be good.” And C. and I said: “…We will!”
We worked together, and even when we had different jobs, they were right next to each other in the mall. We were usually a good team.
However, we broke a few things along the way.
There was that time where we broke a window to get into our house because we had to go to work (I think we were freshmen in college). We were very disappointed to find our other sister had been home the whole time…but she was taking a shower when we rang the doorbell!
We broke our fingers on the same day, at about the same time, but different places.
We made a game of everything. When we were in third grade, we would take our dirty socks off and throw them at a picture on our bedroom wall. We even kept score. The loser would have to stand on the rocking chair to get them down. Sadly, C. broke her arm retrieving socks, and that was the end of that game.
Then, there was the time we burned the wall by the oven when we were making popcorn. The way I remember it, we each thought the other one was watching the oil in the pot for popping popcorn on the stove top. That was when we learned not to pour water on a grease fire!
We married best friends, too. They both shared the same name. Our first born daughters were born on the same day, just five years apart. Our second daughters were born only a week apart. Also, I had contractions when I was trying to help C. with her second delivery (I was four months pregnant), and they ordered me to go home, but I was able to get them under control, and came back.
Back in the days when we didn’t even know what a carb. was, and frankly, didn’t care, we devoured an entire extra large pizza…and we were proud of this feat!
We also have always loved singing together, and I am thankful that the Lord has blessed us with each other and He is the theme of our songs.
Now, at forty, we both have a G.P.S., cell phones, and we microwave our popcorn:).
I had to get her back for "decorating" my house. After all, she is five minutes older!
Pictures from our “funeral” given by my wonderful, yet crazy, aunts and relatives!
While driving to church meeting the other day, one of the lenses on Faith’s glasses fell out. The screw was still in the side, but unfortunately, I did not have my “handy dandy” small screwdriver. While I was looking for something else that might work (like duct tape), Faith suggested that I use my fingernail to twist it back in place. “Well, that just might work,” I thought. Sure enough, my fingernail transformed into a screwdriver and her glasses were fixed! That was a first for me in the mom business!
How about you? Have you ever had the convenience of using a screwdriver at your fingertips or am I the screwycrazy one?
