oobleck

Mix 1 part liquid starch with 1 part glue. Voila. You've got oobleck. I think it was my parents who gave me Bartholomew and the Oobleck by Dr. Seuss when I was a kid. This oobleck book fascinated me. Even the word OOBLECK is neat! The illustrations are great. Only the oobleck is colored; every other picture is in black and white.

stirring...

Mom taking over

testing...

Ew, yuck! It's stuck! (alarm)

digging in, making tough-kid sounds

"My fingers are dirty!"

letting loose

random

For you grandparents out there who'd like to know how our week went, here are a few random things we did.

• Played at the park. The kids came away with their pockets stuffed with acorns. We cracked one open and tasted it. Not bitter like I'd expected. Maybe we could've put them in brownies. I asked Jared if he wanted to take some home to plant some pretty trees. He refused, saying that we shouldn't plant anything they grow down here; his allergies have been driving him NUTS. (no pun intended--I guess that wasn't a real pun)
• Wasted time reading part of the Dee Henderson's O'Malley series.
• Baked raisin bread. It was great fresh and warm with butter, but I left the bag open overnight. In the morning, it was dry raisin bread.
• Listened to Jared preaching again that I use too much butter. C'mon, isn't there anyone else around that thinks butter (milk products in general) is the best? Honestly, I never used it until Jared told me in 1999 that it was good on toast. I was a margarine girl, but butter is my pal now. He shouldn't have introduced me to it.
• Went paddle boating Saturday. It was a beautiful day.
• Got more books. The Mary Cotton Public Library has the brilliant idea of putting stamps and stamp pads at the checkout counter to occupy kids while you check out your books. The Tom Green County Public Library doesn't do that, so our kids always have a hard time waiting patiently. I've been seen tearing out of the library with a bag full of books and two kids barely keeping up. Seriously.
• Isaac tried on the BEARD. I crocheted a beard for them, so they could sing their own Soggy Bottom Boy songs. They've been afraid of the beard until now.
• Isaac attempting to play outside in his underwear, just waiting for me to scold him.
• Counting down. Pulling off the chain links. 38 days left.

activities

So many ideas of things to do...

Lisa sent down books filled with activity ideas. Yesterday, we were belly-aching with utter boredom, so we passed our time with an activity using old magazines.

We love you, grandmas and grandpas.....even those unrelated grandmas and grandpas who have treated us like spoiled grandchildren. ;)

And now, for our happy faces...

Carly's

Isaac's

Isaac got a little carried away on the body parts. He thought it was funny to put 4 ears, 2 noses, and 2 mouths on this picture.

Myra's

If Newsweek has no other purpose besides publishing infuriating liberal news articles, at least it has good photography for making faces like these!!

Have a happy Monday!

images

Nothing new this week, but here are some pictures from the week anyway.

Umm...I'm not sure what's going on here besides the kids putting bowls on their heads.

our swimming pool landscaping

Family Art Night

We cannot paint, but it was fun acting like we could. Look at Jared's "happy little trees!" He must've learned a lot from...was it Bob Ross? Oh, Jared would go nuts if he knew I posted his painting on here.

I'm not sure what was so funny here, but it was good to hear the kids laugh for a reason other than naughtiness.

And now I'll give you a rest from blog posts for a few days (unless there's something pressing to publish). Alan and Sally are coming down to visit us this weekend! Yippee!

images

A trip to Baskin & Robbins

She's typically neat and tidy...until she gets an ice cream cone in her hands.

Monkeys

The best snack in the world. We call it GCPB&CC. You have to dip it for 5 seconds to get the full effect.

At a church picnic beside Spring Creek

lately

Today is... french toast, laundry, and wiping noses. Isaac had a fever yesterday and through the night. His sinuses are mildly crazy, but he can still say his Ns. And he was still singing Fee-Fi-Fiddle-E-I-O, Fee-Fi-Fiddle-E-I-O-O-O-O, riding his trike to the laundry room. We've all taken our turns with being sick since we've been here, except me. Jared is just now getting over his month-long cough. Carly's cough doesn't sound quite so bad anymore, but she's sniffing something up her nose right now. A part of us is hoping it's H1N1 so we get it over and done with.

Yesterday, Jared stopped by a barber shop in a Mexican neighborhood on the way home from class. A co-worker back home had recommended this place. He needed a haircut, so he gave it a shot. Jared sat and waited his turn, looking around, feeling like there was something strange about the place, or at least something strange about the guy getting his haircut ahead of him. The man and the barber noticed a police car driving by. Jared found it equally strange that they were interested in this. He began to conclude that these people must be into drugs, and he thought his conclusion was verified when the man opened his wallet to pay. The man and the barber started talking in Spanish instead of English like they'd been doing all along. Jared tried not to stare, but he noticed the man giving the barber extra cash. Thinking this was surely a drug deal, he got his haircut anyway. When he pulled his wallet out to pay the barber, the barber told him that his haircut had already been paid for. A drug deal? Nope. Just a guy doing an act of kindness.

Carly has been taking her big-girl-ness a little bit more seriously lately. She's been helping Isaac dress in the mornings, and she willingly helps me wipe the dishes at night. Carly also bosses Isaac around and consistently gets mad when he states that he's bigger than everyone else in the house. "NO! God is bigger! And you're bragging. And it's not nice to brag!"

Isaac has made an executive decision that no one else can toot in his room except HIM! Especially not Daddy. We think this is quite unfair, as he frequently toots in our room. His decision still stands. We've been trying to work on Carly and Isaac's "L" sound. So the other day in the pool, you could hear us practicing saying "LLLLLISA," but the only sound you could hear was "YYYYISA!" The L sound is just not there yet, but the soft th- sound is. Finally, it's three, not sree. Next sound up is "R." Now, how to do that...?!?

bored

Pig was feeling fed up. "I'm bored," he moaned. "Bored, bored, bored, bored, bored! There must be something to do that's fun and I'm going to find it!" So off he trotted. Pig, thinking all the other animals had more fun than he, decided to try being something else: a giraffe, a kangaroo, a bird... He figured out that being a pig was the most fun of all.

As a kid, I remember moaning "I'm borrrrred! There's nothin' to doooooo!!!!!!!!" as I would dramatically fall into a living room chair. I'm glad our kids haven't figured out the word yet. Lately, I've been comparing the San Angelo summer to Sabetha winter. The temperatures are on the opposite ends of the thermometer, of course, but their extremes make it simply unpleasant to do much outside. Except swim. But there's only so much you can do in a swimming pool where the kids can't touch.

So we need your feedback. What should we do while we eagerly await Sabetha winter? (We're already excited to tromp in pastures, hunting for sticks to break for kindling. But we can't think about that just yet - it's only August.) :) How about commenting with cheap/free ideas of ways to pass the time?

We did go to Wal-Mart this morning thinking there must be something to do that's fun. Here's what we came back with:

perler beads

pinto beans

Isaac is making pretend lamb eyeballs out of his pile of beans. This stems back from our time living in temporary housing on base, where there was cable TV. The only channel in the evening fit for kids was the food channel. One night a man was trying delicacies, which included lamb eyeballs. This was a memorable moment for the kids apparently.

we are

It was my last day of school at Jardine in Wichita. The kids knew every teacher was killing time until 3:10. I gave a quiz, but this one was supposed to be fun. A 20-question true/false quiz about the teacher - Ms. Hartter, given orally. "True or false...I grew up on a farm." "True or false...My mother was born in Germany." "True or false...My great-great-great grandma was the daughter of a Belgian prince." The last question on the test was, "True or false...I go to church." A snicker came from Taylor Murphy's side of the room. He looked at me, laughed, and said, "Yeah, right!" Now, Taylor Murphy was a big, squirrely eighth grader who often got in trouble, but he taught me an unforgettable lesson. Even after spending at least 30 minutes each day with him for 10 1/2 months, he would've never guessed that I was a church-going person.

Who are we? We call ourselves Christians, but do we act like it? Do we even talk like it? At Jardine, I had apparently done neither. Pray for us - that we would walk as faithful believers. Pray for boldness to seize every opportunity to spread the Word. "For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline" (2 Timothy 1:7).

images

from this week

mix and paint

Carly: the new photographer

Myra: enjoying a 10-minute kneading session. I attempted to make homemade bagels. I added blueberries, thinking they might turn out like Sara Lee's. Messing with the dough was fun, even therapeutic (something I recommend for an uptight woman needing something to squish)...

...but my bagels turned out tasting like yeast-flavored cardboard.

the kids making muffins and quickbreads for Grandma and Grandpa...

Carly wears this dance outfit (was it from Lisa?) when she wants to listen to fast music. She'll dance, but only if she's sure that no one's watching. If she's alone, music makes her come alive!

the purpose of alum

Alum is a chemical compound, also known as hydrated aluminum potassium sulfate. You can find it in the spice section of your local grocery store. Alum can be used for pickling foods, in developing photographs, for preventing bleeding due to small shaving cuts. It was even used as a deodorizer years ago. And alum can also be used in punishing a child for saying naughty words. Just a tiny finger, licked and dipped in the alum will do the trick.

A year ago, we were using Dial soap. I remember getting soap as a kid if I called one of my sisters "stupid" or if I stuck my tongue out at one of them. It didn't taste good. We were using it with our kids if they had a problem with something bad coming out of their mouth. Soap would "clean out their mouth." (That came with an explanation of the reason why we use words that are pure.) I know that prayer for our kids is the ultimate solution; even being a strong, Christian model for them is crucial. Jared and I felt that using soap was a practical, immediate solution to the naughty-words problem. By "naughty words," I mean a defiant "NO!" or something of that severity coming out of the kids' mouths. Later, the kids started thinking it was funny to baby-talk in a snotty, sing-songy tone. Soap was the answer for that too.

But then, the kids overheard me laughing with Jared about Kaden's soap issue. If I can recall correctly, my sister Jeanne told me how Kaden claimed that he didn't care if she gave him soap anymore. He proclaimed, "I LIKE soap! It makes me STRONG!!!" Isaac adores Kaden. Shortly after that, Isaac started liking soap too. We needed something that didn't taste so good.

Enter ALUM

This idea came from sister-in-law Tara. Jared and I both tried it before giving it to our children. It does the trick. It does not taste good when smeared onto your tongue. And it fits well in my purse.

Now, as much as we try to shelter our children from bad language, they somehow come to learn it anyway. A lot of this comes from the words we say. For example, when the kids were just learning how to talk, I heard Carly say "DARN IT!" during her play. Years later, we caught Isaac saying "Dag nabbit." And we realized that what came out of our mouths truly shaped what came out of our kids' mouths. When I say "bad language," I'm talking about purposeful language, not the made-up syllables/words that end up sounding like bad words.

A few days ago, they learned and started using "Oh my gosh." This is not a terrible phrase, but it sounds terrible coming out of a small child's mouth. I looked at them and said that I didn't want them to use that word because it wasn't nice. Battle picked. A couple hours later, Isaac tried it again and looked at me. I looked back and reached for the alum. I told them that "Oh my goodness" sounded nicer. Then yesterday, he said, "Oh my....." and looked at me. I looked at him and didn't say a word. He smiled. Seconds later the kids raced for Carly's bedroom closet. I heard them both laughing loudly, saying "Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh!" They weren't laughing anymore when I joined them in their closet with alum for each of them. Okay, so maybe this was a petty battle to pick, but I don't want them to end up changing their phrase, using the Lord's name in vain.

ALUM. Our current answer for pickling-the-tongue needs. Any other suggestions?

images

Okay, maybe I'm an annoying parent who takes too many pictures and posts too many kid pictures on this blog. My excuse: the grandparents following this blog probably don't mind seeing pictures of their grandkids.

Here's a little bit of our week.

Coloring Sunday School pictures...

Isaac got a little carried away.

It doesn't usually rain in San Angelo. The kids loved this shower.

A new park

Isaac chose his outfit this day.

ABCs

lately

It seems self-centered to write a blog just about us, but I suppose that's why people check this blog - to see what we're up to. Posting plain pictures (especially of food) is more fun. Nevertheless, here is an update of lately.

Jared goes to class daily. He has PT (physical training) on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. He enjoys this, even though it's at 6:30 a.m. He'd rather exercise for an hour than show up in class at 6:30 and sit there listening to an instructor that early in the morning, which is what he has to do on Tuesdays and Thursdays. So far, he has gotten lunch breaks at home and gets out of class around 4:00.

Isaac doesn't like it when I call this apartment "home." He usually says he wants "to go back to the apartment." Until two days ago, he was still saying "I want to go hommmme," but these last couple days, he has used the term "home" for the apartment when he wanted to leave the swimming pool or Wal-Mart or something. Carly, on the other hand, has never seemed to mind being gone from home (the real home), or else, she hasn't acted like it. The other day, she said that she missed Lucy. Isaac said that he missed the cats. Carly got big eyes and a smile when I told her that Grandma Sally and Grandpa Alan were coming for a visit in a few weeks.

The kids' days have been filled with play, whatever suits their fancy. Lately it's been trains and tracks (what's new?!). Carly lines all the farm animals up on a big wooden train car. The other day I watched them line up their 40+ markers, naming each one of them with every name they could think of. Isaac insisted that Loren was brown. They like playing preschool and Curious George games on the computer, but we limit them, reminding them that computers make you dumb if you spend too much time on them. I wonder what they think of me typing on this blog. Probably: Mommy must be getting real dumb! One particular preschool game plays songs as a reward for completing a task. Yesterday I saw a different side of Carly and Isaac as an Elvis tune with the words "gimme that barnhouse rock" came on. Carly immediately stood dancing on the desk chair with wheels. Isaac starting head banging from side to side. After Carly's dance, she started flinging her hair around everywhere. Isaac jumped off his chair. Oh my.

On regular weekdays, we run errands in the morning so as to avoid the heat. Early afternoons are spent doing school activities followed by swimming in the pool. 100 degrees doesn't feel so bad when you're splashing around. Twice a week we go to the complex's laundromat. Carly and Isaac race there with their trike, bike, or scooter, and Carly gets mad if Isaac wins. Starting in September, we plan to attend MOPS meetings, where the kids will have more interaction with other kids and I will have more interaction with other Christian mothers.

I asked Jared a couple weeks ago if we could start a new tradition eating out for Sunday lunch every week. This has eliminated the "I'm hungry" wails and my scramble to find something edible from the fridge leftovers as soon as we return home from church. Now this is rest. Or maybe I should just plan better. But my excuse for no more do-ahead Sunday lunches is: my oven here doesn't have "delay start." Church and the people in this tiny church have been a blessing to us. We SO appreciate the bold Truth being preached. Monday night, a church elder (who happens to be the pastor's dad) came to visit with his wife. I might write more about our conversation in another blog, but the evening was a true blessing; it's just what we needed. We enjoyed listening to their testimonies and sharing ours as well.

And talking about blessings...

It is an understatement to say that we appreciate all of you. It's rather humbling to try to grasp how much time has been spent on your loving us. Prayer for us. Sermons and Bible studies sent to us. The kids' Sunday School lessons sent, written in the form of personal letters. Packages sent to make us feel special on our anniversary and my birthday. Emails, I mean personal ones, sent just to fill our day with devotions, thoughts, conversations and news from home. Regular phone calls. And there are other ways I'm forgetting. Just thinking of all these undeserved blessings makes me cry. Not that we're so homesick; we're not as bad as we were. But to wonder: Who are WE, to deserve this kind of love?! What's even more amazing is how God loves us, even died for us, even though we're dirty, rotten sinners. Okay, I didn't think this blogpost was going in this direction, but this song comes to mind. Who Am I?!? (Click on it to listen.)

Have a meaningful day. We love you all!

childlike innocence

Sunset Mall sits right across Loop 306 from our bedroom window, so I took the kids there last week. A cute little mall, it is. Our goal was to window-shop. The kids aren't great shoppers because I'm not a shopper myself, but they did fairly well. Stopping at the coin-operated riding toy sections of the mall every now and then helped. I am thankful that Carly and Isaac love these toys even without quarters. In fact, I'm not sure they even know that the cars and trucks GO when you put quarters in them.

In one particular cowboy store, I was checking out some trinkets on a display. Carly watched a family pass closely by. One particular man was in a wheelchair, his leg chopped off at the knee and bandaged up. Carly is a quiet, thoughtful girl, but she seems to be more vocal lately for some reason. At least she was on this day. "What happened to that guy's leg?!?" she asked loudly for all to hear. The silence and shock that followed was purely deafening as I processed the thought, Did Carly just say what I think she said?! Keeping my head low, not wanting to look up, I tried to answer while I felt the family's stares poke me all over. "I don't know, Carly." I tried to sink into the floor as I made wide-eyed eye contact with who seemed to be the man's brother. Because of the silence and lack of something better to say in this awkward situation, I kept talking to try to correct the situation and fill the empty silent space...which never helps. "God just wanted him to be that way. He makes us all different." Since the family was only 3 feet away from us, we ended up talking with the man and his family about the accident, where he got crushed on an oil rig just a year ago.

Jesus said, "I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven" (Matthew 18:3-4). Carly's naïveté in asking this question made me catch a glimpse of the kind of child Jesus is talking about here.

different

One good thing about being in a new place is the opportunity for learning flexibility. For lack of a better thing to write, I'm providing you a list of differences we've found in Texas:

• Having neighbors. This apartment complex is satisfactory, but apartment living in a city is somewhat different from living on a farm. We share walls with neighbors to our west and south. The south neighbors must be gone or very quiet. But we danced to the west neighbor's music at suppertime tonight, then sang a rock 'n' roll version of "1, 2, 3, Jesus Loves Me" to their beat. They must've really loved that song, because it repeated several times.


• Fireants. These cute little critters build HUGE mounds. Their bites burn and sting. Carly still has two bumps on her big toe from getting bit two weeks ago. We do not currently have any bait to get rid of these ants by our front porch, so I have been temporarily conquering them with bleach and vinegar.


• Unknown by all (well, almost all). One advantage of grocery shopping in a big city is the fact that no one knows you. You can go out in public and be unknown. I have fixed my hair maybe three times in the past three weeks. And no one notices. Yesterday, I took the kids to Wal-Mart, wearing ratty clothes, greasy hair, and a ball cap. I thought to myself, Should I look more presentable? I quickly answered myself, No one will know me anyway. We know, like, 10 people in San Angelo. There's not a chance we'll meet someone we know. We were greeted in the checkout line by a Mesquite Ridge Church elder's family!! It was good to see them, but how it would've been nice to be presentable. ;)


• Wal-Mart....is practically in our backyard. Nice!


• Laundromat. We didn't bring our washer and dryer. I now understand why High Rise tenants stuff as much laundry as they can into each load. Except washing loads here are $1.00 each, not $.50.


• Temperature and humidity. It may be hot here, but laundry hanging outside sure dries fast. I wonder if San Angelo's 95 at 36% humidity right now feels better than Sabetha's 83 at 72% humidity. Somehow, I doubt it, but the lower humidity is good.


• Drinking water. The tap water here is not good. We've been buying jugs of water and refilling them at Wal-Mart. When I'm carrying a strong, canvas bag filled with 3 gallons of water, I think about those poor women years ago who had to lug jugs on their heads because they didn't have any running water at all. We've got it good, really.

The best thing about a different place with unfamiliar surroundings is the ever-present fact that God is constant. He is forever with us. That VBS song rings loud in my head: "Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD.your God.will.be.with.you.wherever you go" (Joshua 1:9) (periods added where you're supposed to point your finger in the air). ;)

A favorite picture of mine that doesn't have anything to do with anything I wrote here. :)