WOODEN YOU LIKE ONE OF THESE....

awesome cutting boards? All it takes is about 6 weeks in Wood Tech class at EMHS! I think it's AWESOME and BEAUTIFUL and will be displayed prominently in my kitchen for a long time! He's my first to take this elective so I'm pretty excited!

TIME CAPSULE OPENING...

We celebrated my daughter's birthday over the weekend. Not just ANY birthday. Her 21st! Her 21st birthday has been anticipated for a long time. Not for maybe the reasons you're thinking, though.

20 YEARS AGO on her first birthday we asked our family to participate in making a time capsule for our baby girl. I put the items in a box and wrapped it up and marked it "to be opened September 2010" It's been in the top of my closet wherever we've lived. Finally we got to get it down and open it! She didn't know anything about it until I mentioned it a month ago. So now my other two are wondering if they have them, too. (TIME TO FIND A NEW HIDING PLACE FOR THOSE!)

It turned out to be a wonderful time of reminiscing for everyone, especially us. Lots of expressions of love and affirmation for her. Many relatives put in an heirloom type item, instead of something about the year 1990. I didn't ask for those, it just happened. Here's some of the goodies from her time capsule party:

A time capsule cake, too!
Finally the moment has arrived...
Hard to read some of the sweet notes from our loved ones no longer with us...
Lots of treasures!
Collage card about 1990 from aunt and uncle
Our local newspaper 9/30/90
Sermon book signed by Great Grandmother Amy
Doily made by her Great Grandmother Betty
Toothpick holder from her Great Grandmother Flora's collection - she got to attend the party too!

A silver certificate dollar bill
Pictures of the twin history in Dad's family
Unfortunately this cassette tape made by her uncle singing a song wouldn't work for us!

I didn't post everything - there were lots of pictures and encouraging letters in it. I would urge any of you with young children to do something like this! It wasn't exactly easy - I'll admit I had to bug the family a bit and even give some suggestions - but it turned out really well. 21 years old turned out to be a really good age, too. She's past the unappreciative teen years (well, she never really was that way too much!) and starting to appreciate her parents and extended family more.

Go make some memories!

JOYS AND SORROWS...

yeah. My week. Parenting. Life.

So, let's focus on JOY. I just started a Bible study this fall on the book of Luke. The theme is "Good News of Great Joy," and after just 3 lessons, I am seeing the application of the need for MORE JOY IN CHRIST, MY SALVATION. Life, sickness, burdens can really weigh you down. How do you find joy and remember what's really important?

Contemplating this while walking this week, a song came to my mind. Don't know where it came from, I think I learned it back in the 6th grade. Hadn't thought about it for YEARS. That's the beautiful thing about songs. Just thinking about "JOY" and it popped into my head:

OH BE JOYFUL
OH BE JUBILANT
PUT YOUR SORROWS FAR AWAY
COME REJOICE AND SING TOGETHER
THIS HAPPY DAY!

It's actually a round with 3 parts. Fun stuff. I'll sing it for you if you're interested!

The JOYFUL thing that happened this week has to do with music, actually. My son who recently went off to college auditioned and made a small acapella singing group, NEW REIGN. They perform mostly in the summer and recruit for the university. I am so excited! After years of piano lessons, band, vocal music, special camps, musicals, and tough auditions my son had not enrolled in any kind of chorus on campus. I felt sure he would miss singing and performing. But I didn't say anything and just let him make his own decisions.

Anyway, totally on his own, he chose to audition for this and made it. After congratulating him, my next response: "Oh, does that mean you won't be home all next summer?" Yep. Okay, I'll survive.

TOTALLY GROSSED OUT...

is how I felt when walking into Party Galaxy on 2nd Street this afternoon. I went in there looking for some birthday party stuff, and was DISGUSTED! Halloween stuff has taken over, and it definitely is more gruesome than I ever remember...

A pool of very realistic blood greets you when you walk into the store.

Bloody footprints lead you to another gross display of fake body parts.

Right in front of the cash register is another very realistic life-sized HALF of a human body,with intestines and other stuff spilling out. I couldn't even look at it really. Right behind it is some other human-sized creature looking to eat it or something.

So, you've been warned: DON'T TAKE YOUR KIDS THERE TO BUY A COSTUME!!! They'll be scarred for life.

I'm boycotting them.

HIS ONLY REQUEST...

for his first home-cooked meal after moving to college was these! They are Banana Drop Cookies with Banana Butter Frosting. I've made them for years, from the Better Homes and Garden cookbook I received as a wedding gift. They are delicious, but don't keep well since they are a cake-like cookies and the frosting may turn dark since it has bananas in it.

He didn't care about anything else...so I made Pasta, salad, bread and corn for the group he brought over! Maybe they'll let me take a picture of them next time!

SOUL SISTER...

Every once in a while you meet someone who just thinks like you and does things like you and it's just pretty cool! That happened to me recently. And it's fun because she is quite a lot younger than me! She has twin boys and well, I am married to a twin...

One of my volunteer jobs is working with the women's ministry at our church. I LOVE women's events. I think it goes back to my college days when I loved my social service club. LOVED singing devotional songs with those girls, doing all that fun college stuff together. So anyway, I work with a program called RefresHER. It is a quarterly event for women that involves dinner and a speaker, kind of a mini-retreat. A big part of my job is recruiting different classes in our church to host it - along with giving them some basic guidelines. I help in various ways and usually run the sound system and powerpoint at the event. It's fun because I always meet new people and especially love getting to know the young mothers!

Back to my soul sister - the young mother that chaired this event last night. Everything she did, from the decorations to the food to the door prizes was just what I would have done! Crazy! The theme was "RefresHER goes Back To School" and three women spoke about different aspects of teaching. One had not grown up in a Christian home, but an aunt was her Christian mentor and sent her to Bible camp and took her to church as a teen. Another spoke about how she came to the decision to become a teacher after an unpleasant experience in elementary school. The last young mother spoke about the responsibility she has to raise godly sons. It was a great evening and I'm so blessed to have these new friends!

Awesome young women of the Christian Couples class
Such cute tables!
My soul sister!

MOM COMES FIRST...THIS TIME

VERY CHEESY picture of my son and his girlfriend


So this has been a pretty hum-drum week. Getting back into the routine, stuff like that. But probably the moment that MADE MY WEEK was on Wednesday. I had just picked up my son from cross-country practice. He gets a call from his girlfriend about going to eat at the church building before class, which he does a couple of times a month. He says, "No, I don't really like their nachos." Then after some more persuasion, he finally tells her, "No, I don't want to leave my Mom all alone for dinner, I'm not even driving yet!"

My husband was out of town on business and he didn't want to leave me alone for dinner!! SO SWEET!

And that little part about driving, well, my other son basically disappeared from our lives once he started driving, so I guess he is anticipating that happening next summer. I may have to change some expectations there!!!

SPICE UP YOUR LIFE...

with this yummy dip! If you like Jalapeno Poppers - and we do - you will love this dip! It's a lot easier than filling jalapeno halves, wrapping them with bacon, and broiling them. No bacon-y flavor, but I suppose you could add some to it if you really miss it.
Click HERE for the recipe!

P.S. We used fresh jalapenos and doubled the amount.

P.P.S. It was a hit at the family Labor Day cookout and not only was it used as a dip, but as a condiment on the burgers for some!

IN A FUNK...

I haven't been sick in so long, when it happened this week, it really knocked me for a loop. I wasn't sick, sick, but had a little crick in my neck Wednesday and Thursday, which grew into a HUGE pain on Friday morning. I COULD NOT MOVE MY HEAD WITHOUT PAIN. Rode in the car to my son's Cross-country meet, and every little bump or lurch in the car almost brought me to tears. Anyway, I wore a scarf around my neck and pulled it tight for support. I found out I could do nothing productive. Any movement with my arms affected my neck. I did a lot of sleeping and reading Friday and Saturday. I don't know what it was, but it's getting better.

Anyway, I am just reminded how depressing physical ailments can be. It makes me thankful for the health that I have. It makes me remember those who are suffering. It reminds me that there is more to life than our physical bodies. Thanks, God, for the reminder. And thanks for making my neck feel better.

A BIG SOUVENIR OF EUROPE...

is this collage she made. She collected postcards wherever she went. Some are fancy watercolor-type and others are vintage looking. Anyway, she bought a frame when she got back and arranged them into this! Have I said before what a resourceful, creative girl my daughter is? :)