She was standing on the back of the couch saying, "Careful. Careful. Careful. Careful. Careful."
She likes to climb up the stairs, walk through the railing, then jump down on the couch. She makes the circuit continuously, giggling the whole time. Yes, I anticipate several ER visits with this one as well!Today at church, one of our friends shared an experience that totally impressed me. In our church, the first Sunday of each month is called Testimony Meeting. After a few songs, prayers, and the passing of the Sacrament, anyone who would like to can come up to the microphone to share his/her testimony of the gospel. One of our friends, Brad, felt inclined to share some of his feelings.
First, a little background: Brad had some trauma at his birth that has left him permanently disabled. He walks with a pretty severe limp. He has faced numerous surgeries through out his life. He also has a significant speech impediment that can make it hard to understand him at times. He had a pretty rough childhood. Fast forward to his adult life, he married and had two children - a four-year old girl, and a six-year old boy. His son has ADHD and can be a challenge. About two years ago, kind of out of the blue, Brad's wife decided she wanted a divorce. Even though they share custody of the kids, Brad has them most of the time, as he juggles part-time college with a full-time job at a residential facility for trouble teen-aged boys. He is the type of person who deserves so many breaks in life but never seems to get them. He just keeps plugging along, doing the best he can with a positive outlook.
Back to today: He was sharing with the congregation his feelings of gratitude to The Father for his trials. TRIALS! He related the following story: A few weeks ago, he was dropping his nephew off at home after church (he diligently brings the 11 year-old to church, along with his own two children). As he was slowing down to turn into his sister's driveway, he stopped to let a pedestrian cross the street. The man waited, and Brad motioned for the man to go ahead. The man motioned back, so Brad went ahead and turned into the driveway. As Brad got out to help his nephew into the house, the man said, "Sir, I would like to talk to you." Brad said, it was obvious the man was drunk, and he was rather intimidating looking because he was 1.) covered in tattoos and 2.) very large. Brad has a hilarious, dry sense of humor, and he said, "I thought, 'There's no way I could take this guy if he wanted to do me harm'." He told the nephew to go on in, and he got his own two children out and sent them in, just in case this wasn't a good situation. Anyway, this man basically just fell into Brad's arms, sobbing that he'd lost his wife and children. Brad began hugging him and telling him he, too, knows how devastating divorce is because he has also been through it. The man told him it wasn't because of a divorce, and he began saying he wanted to join them. Before he knew it, Brad was sitting on the curb with this man, this stranger, giving him comfort. He said his arm was around his shoulder, and he was holding his hand, just as he would a small child. The man talked of wanting to end his life because it was too much to bear. Brad continued to show compassion to this broken man. After a while, the man made mention of wanting a cigarette, so Brad told him he would go in the house to find one, knowing full well that he would take that opportunity to call the police instead so they could provide the man the adequate help he desperately needed. As Brad got up to go into the house, the stranger pleaded, "Don't leave me." Brad returned to the man's side to offer him his shoulder and the unconditional love he was deserving of. A few minutes later, three police cars pulled up, as a neighbor had made a call upon realizing what was taking place. He was then taken away to either sober up in a holding cell or to receive mental health care.
Brad didn't tell this story to be boastful - that is not in his character at all. He simply told the story to relay his gratitude to The Father for the life he has been given. He was reminded that so many others have if far worse than we.
Upon hearing the story, I can't help but think, how many of us would think badly of the drunken man stumbling in the streets? How many of us would take the time to speak to him? Or would we come up with some excuse as to why we couldn't? Even more, would we put our arms around him, and embrace him as he hopelessly cried on our shoulders?
I am touched by Brad's humble Christ-like service. He has certainly made an even bigger impression on me. His story made me think of Matthew 25:31-46. Jesus speaks of the day when He returns and will separate the people of the earth as a shepherd divides the sheep from the goats. The sheep on His right hand are those who have served others while the goats on His left are the selfish, thinking only of themselves.
He tells the sheep (34-40) "Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: For I was an hungered, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me."
"Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungered, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink? When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee? Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?"
"And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me."
The last verse is what immediately came to my mind as I was hearing the story -- "Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me." Compare that with what he tells the goats who did not serve others, "Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me."
As I've been thinking of this today, I ask myself, "What do I hope to be -- a sheep or a goat?"
Bathing Beauties - Mallory & Katrina
The whole gang minus Jani & Papa Otto (I think they decided to stay home and nap and enjoy a quiet home!) & Uncle Andrew (studying at law school)
Chocolate Chips.
And doesn't she look so pleased to have gotten her way?Last night, Edward and I were able to go to a St. Louis Cardinals baseball game. He and his two secretaries, through lots of hard work, qualified through a promotion in his district to attend the game with their spouses. All in all, about eight agents were there along with their office staff and spouses. It was a lot of fun, and the Cards pulled through in the end to beat Milwaukee 5-3. They were down the whole game, and everyone from our group had left except for his district manager, his secretary and her family, and us. It paid to stick it out because the Cards rallied in the seventh and eighth innings to pull out a win. I think that's the best kind of game to attend!
We parked right under the arch to make the LLLOOOONNNNGGG walk to Busch Stadium. It was only about four blocks away, but those are city blocks. Then, when we got through the gates at the stadium it was quite a haul up the three stories of winding ramps, and then we had another flight of stairs before we reached our seats. We were running a bit late (shocking for us, I know), so we were really bookin' it to get to our seats. My little legs were quite tired by the time we got there.Do you ever see people out and about, and upon seeing their attire or behavior wonder, "What were they thinking?" I've been asking myself that a lot lately. Today I was at the store where I observed a young man wearing shorts and a THICK wool sweater. What? It's August. In Missouri. Granted, it's much cooler here (80 degrees) than it normally is in August, but that hardly warrants breaking out the winter clothes in my opinion.
It had me thinking about the people I observe in theme parks during the summer. I'm always baffled when I see people who wear black from head-to-toe, especially long pants and long sleeves. I recognize some religions require the head-to-toe dress, so certainly that's not what I'm talking about. It's usually "Goth" teen-agers. I don't get it. I understand they are trying to express themselves, but is that a higher priority to them than comfort?
And what about the ladies at theme parks or malls that walk around in stiletto heels? How in the world do they do that?!!? Or bling out with 47 pounds of jewelry. Give me comfort any day!
And what about extreme thrill seekers? I really don't get that! Specifically this guy:
What in the world was he thinking? I'm guessing he's really going to regret making that decision. But apparently he wasn't the only one who thought kite-boarding in a tropical storm sounded like a good idea. There is another guy helping him that is also in kite-boarding attire! Birds of a feather...
We are happily being bombarded with green peppers from our first ever garden. I'm trying to come up with some new recipes to use them up. I found some on my favorite recipe site, and they were delish! They were in no way healthy, but oh, so yummy!
Philly Cheesesteak Skillet Dinner
2 cups uncooked elbow macaroni
1 pound lean ground beef
1 medium onion, chopped
2 green bell pepper, seeded and chopped
salt and pepper to taste
1 (8 ounce) package processed cheese food, cubed (I actually used 4 oz. of Cheese Whiz)
1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed cream of mushroom soup
1/4 cup milk, or as needed
DIRECTIONS
Bring a pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add the macaroni, and cook until tender, about 8 minutes. Drain.
Meanwhile, place the ground beef and onion into a large skillet, and cook, stirring to crumble, until meat is no longer pink, and onion is tender. Just before the beef is done, add the bell peppers, and cook until tender, but still green. Season with salt and pepper. Stir in the cheese food, condensed soup and milk to make a thick sauce.
Remove from the heat, and stir in the macaroni noodles. Serve and enjoy!
Spicy Sausage and Rice Casserole
28 ounces fresh, ground spicy pork sausage
1 cup uncooked long-grain rice
1 slice onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1 (28 ounce) can whole peeled tomatoes, crushed (I used fresh tomatoes.)
1 cup chicken broth
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
In a skillet, brown sausage and drain grease. Stir in rice, onion, garlic and peppers. Cook 5 minutes. Stir in tomatoes, chicken broth, salt, pepper and cayenne pepper. Pour into 9x13 inch pan.
Bake for 1 hour or until rice is tender and most of the liquid is absorbed. Or, at this step, you can cover and freeze it. (I actually just cooked this in a skillet on the stove - much quicker!)
I am a bargain queen. I love the thrill of the victory when I know I've saved money. Even though I have found a hairstylist that I really love (I enjoy her even more because she just charges $12 for a cut!!), I had a $5 off coupon to Great Clips that was burning a hole in my pocket. Normally, I'm comfortable going there if I just need a trim. For a new style or a shorter cut I usually go somewhere else.
Today I decided to take advantage of my niece's babysitting services before she goes back to school. I made a quick dash to Great Clips while Mallory napped. I got right in and told the "beautician" that I just wanted a little trim. Apparently, that translated to "cut off two inches and do whatever you want." She literally was done in 10 minutes. My left side had layers while my right didn't appear to have any. She started to blow dry my hair when I spoke up and said, "Um. This side looks quite a bit longer than the other side." She took out the scissors again and barely cut anything. I spoke up again and said it still looked longer. I part my hair on the side and she told me, "It's really because of the side part. When I pull both sides down, they look even." In my brain I was saying, "That's fine and dandy, but I don't go walking around in public pulling both sides down now do I!" She picked up the scissors and started cutting some more. I was terrified because she made way shorter layers than I wanted. They were about an inch shorter on my right side." I had to tell her three times to please trim my bangs. She snipped the scissors, but I don't think any hair ever fell down. She would ask, "How is that?" After the third time I just said, "That will work" all the while knowing I would cut my own bangs when I got home.
I feel like I'm walking around with a helmet. I hate the back the most. I wanted to keep it slightly stacked. There is NO shape at all - just a straight, blunt cut with one shorter layer. Ugh!
After I got home, Ross commented that my hair looked longer on one side. Ahhh! I hadn't even mentioned that to him! For a nine year old boy to mention it, it must be pretty obvious. Then later tonight, as I was bathing Mallory, I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror and I said, "I HATE MY HAIR!!" Drew, not to go against the grain, said, "I hate your hair, too, Mommy."
After MUCH work (and hairspray) tonight, I'm feeling a bit better. This short of hair shouldn't have to take so long to make it look decent. I'm worried I'll find myself in the black of Glamour magazine as their "Don't."
It doesn't look as bad in this picture as I think it is. I will let it grow out for about a month before I go back to get it fixed. Remind me not to use my Great Clips coupons again! 
This was my favorite picture of the trip. I accidentally deleted it in the previous post, and I wasn't about to re-type the whole thing.
The Wright Family
Our last night in Florida we waited for a ridiculous 2 hours to eat at this restaurant (The Fish House) in Pensacola. Pretty good food, but SO not worth the wait!!!!
Grammy & Grandad & the kids
Mallory
Drew
Elizabeth
Ross
Felker Family
Playing around at the beach
The routine of most of our days was to eat a late breakfast, head to the beach, then I would leave early to bathe Drew and Mal in the garden tub. Taking long baths in the whirlpool was probably their favorite part of the trip. Mallory liked catching the drips from the faucet.
We took a dolphin cruise while we were there, and it was awesome! This company takes two boats out at a time, and where they know the dolphins are, they speed together side by side. The dolphins swim in between the boats and jump up out of the water. It was amazing! I would definitely recommend it to anyone!
Poor Drew was scared to death! All kids 8 and under had to wear life jackets, but no one could give him any comfort for the first 20 minutes. He was glued to the floor for fear of falling overboard. Poor little guy! It got a lot easier for him after he got more comfortable.
We went to a cheesy souvenir store (the entrance was through the shark's mouth) where there was plenty of junk for everyone! There was a lot of goofing around in there. Check out some of the charming merchandise:
goofy hats, mullet wig/hats, dog head staplers, faux kittens, and real alligator heads
We'd been promising the kids all week we would go hunt for crabs one night. On our final night there we made good on our promise, and we had a really fun time. We headed down to the beach with nets and flashlights. There were a lot of laughs because the of darkness and the thought of creatures scampering in the sand. Drew was particularly jumpy that night. We released the crabs back into the sea and sand after we'd caught about 10. The kids had a blast.While we were on our trip Edward and I celebrated our eleventh wedding anniversary. We both agreed it seems like we've been together forever. It's hard to remember life without each other, and that's a great thing!
We celebrated by going out to eat at a great little restaurant. Edward was happy with a cheeseburger, and I was in heaven with crab legs. He joked that I always enjoy the "Polo" while he gets the store brand.We survived! I've been messing around editing my pictures, so no update right now. I hope to post about our trip in the next day or two. It could take a while because I have over 500 pictures. That's just nuts.
We are leaving Friday night for a fun beach vacation to the Gulf Coast. Every other year, my wonderful parents treat my family, my sister's family, and my two brothers to a vacation. We all get to cast our votes to where we might want to visit. We've been to the great St. Louis sites, the beach in Florida, Bar Harbor, Maine, and Disney World. We've voted to head back to the beach, since the last time we were there, there were only four grandchildren. Ross was only 13 months old when we went last, so I'm excited for the other kids to have a chance to play at the beach. Anyway, we found a great 6 bedroom/6 bath condo on the beach near Pensacola.
My dad travels the country for business usually on a weekly basis, so he can really rack up the frequent flier miles and hotel points in a hurry. We've usually always flown, but we've voted to save up his frequent flier miles to use in two years so we can all fly to Hawaii or Puerto Vallarto (that's my vote so we can put our passports to good use!) or some other tropical paradise. So, we're driving the 11 hours to the beach this time. I have to say, I'm VERY NERVOUS (I know, I know... I'm a wimp!) about the trip, especially with Mallory!!!! She is NOT a good traveller. The longest our kids have ridden in an automobile at one time is 5 1/2 hours. Since they've never travelled in the van this long, they don't know what to do either. We do have a DVD player, but I don't want them to be vegging out watching it the entire time. We'll of course pack lots of toys and books which they all love, especially Mal & Drew.
I've been on a search to get some other ideas to help keep them entertained, and I found a GREAT website! It is called StoryNory. They have over 100 children's audio books you can download for FREE! I've already filled two hours worth of stories, and I'd like to try to get some more. As I've been downloading them, the kids have been BEGGING me to let them listen to them. Yay! I've told them they will have to wait for the trip.
Anyway, just curious if any of you other seasoned travellers have any suggestions for me. Do you have any tried and true methods for keeping your kids and your self sane on long car trips?
Ahhhh, the joys of summer! I'm feeling like I've been stricken with a plague! Thankfully, my arm is completely back to normal after the wasp sting. I'm good there. However, the mosquitoes are getting re-acquainted with their Ole' Buddy Stephanie. "Hey Herb! Remember this ole' gal? We're gonna have a feast tonight!" I must taste really sweet or something because they've always loved me. In fact, Edward says he doesn't even need bug spray when I'm around. He says I'm his bug repellent. Anyway, after weeding in the garden last Saturday for a mere five minutes, I returned with 34 mosquito bites on my left leg and 37 on my right - from the knee down on each leg. And that was at 1:00 in the blazing sun! Forget going down there in the cooler evenings!
As if I wasn't already itchy enough, I've picked up poison ivy somewhere along the way. Now, normally that's Edward's affliction du jour. He is terribly susceptible to it. When he was younger he would swell like a balloon, sometimes having his eyes swell nearly shut. For me, I've prided myself in only having it once in my life, and I think it was a tiny patch on my pinkie. Every time Edward has ever had it, I've never gotten it. Until now. Yay me! I was itching before Drew, Elizabeth and I went blueberry/blackberry picking Saturday. The week before, we did go out to a state park for a little while (Elizabeth went camping with our friends, the Williams, and when we picked her up at the campsite, we stayed to roast hot dogs, make s'mores, and visit for the evening), but I stayed in a chair by the fire the entire time - never venturing out into the woods. Who knows how I got this. It started out as one tiny little itchy place on my neck. I just figured it was another mosquito bite. Within a few days I was itching on my legs and thighs, all around my neck, on my chest and back, arms, and a little spot on my chin. Drew also has it on his arms and now neck and side. I asked Edward if his was poison ivy, and he said, "Yes." I asked him about mine (before it had spread so much) and he answered the same way. Nice.
So last night I did some searching on the Internet about how to get rid of it. Here are some suggestions:
The only over-the-counter poison ivy medication which contains the urushiol killing mineral spirits is called Technu. This stuff works wonders to kill the oil that causes the skin infection, thereby also preventing spread of the oil to other parts of the body. So, buy Technu, and follow all the instructions and warnings on its label.
Isn't that the name of a video game?
If you can't afford to buy Technu, or are just too cheap, then there is another option for the desperate: paint thinner.
Um, won't that burn?
You can put tooth paste on the infected areas and let it sit for 5-10 min. Do this twice a day for 3 days and it will go away.
And your arm will smell minty fresh, too!
Apply cool, wet compresses. Moisten a clean washcloth in cool water and apply to skin for several minutes. Re-moisten the cloth as needed to keep it cool. Using cold whole milk instead of water has proven more effective for some people, and an ice compress can relieve particularly nasty swelling or burning.
Do you now how expensive milk is these days?! Heck no!
Swimming in a pool with chlorine may assist. The chlorine cleans and disinfects the rash. Spend as much time as possible in the pool. Try at least 3-4 hours at a public pool. After doing this the itching will usually stop completely, it will start to go away within days, and will barely spread.
Now you're talking my language!
Bleach also seems to work well when it comes to treating poison ivy. If the poison is on your hand, find a small bowl and soak your hand in it for several minutes. It will sting quite a bit, but it would clean it right out.
And then if that doesn't do the trick, get a blow torch and burn the first 27 layers of skin off. That should make the rash disappear completely!
rub gasoline on all affected areas, then rinse well with soap and water……
And DO NOT light a match! Yikes!
OK this is a really gross way to get rid of poison but it works. it is from the mountains and my grandparents told me about it and how to do it. when u have the poison ivy/oak/sumac then urinate in a plastic container and put a washrag in it and wash over the affected spot, once applied evenly wait till it dries and then go take a shower and wash over spot really good so you get the urine off. i used to have poison ivy really bad but now that i have tried this method i haven't had it in years
Okay, okay, my poison ivy isn't THAT BAD! I'm sure three out of my four children would be happy to help me with this remedy!
If you can find good, old fashioned lye soap, scrub the heck out of the affected area. It will burn when you are doing it, but it dries it up faster than anything I have tried.
The next time I run into Pa and Ma Engalls, I'll be sure to ask to borrow theirs.
Find Jewel Weed, instructions for applying the remedy can be found here:
Um, I think that's illegal every where except California. I'd better not.
Use common sense when trying home remedies. Some of the suggestions you may hear or read about may actually be harmful, so exercise caution and ask your doctor’s advice before trying anything questionable.
You think? Thanks for the permission.
I discovered there are some really weird people in the world. Anyway, I'm thinking this fluffy, pasty white, rash-laden body is gonna look mighty fine on the beach next week! I hope I don't run into any blind people. If they touch my skin they might think I'm a walking billboard, advertising in Braille!
We certainly have plenty of room on our property for one. We put it back in the corner of our second lot, so as not to disturbs Ross' baseball field :) The garden is right next to a creek bed, just close enough for the mosquitoes to feast on us when we go weed or pick the veggies.
We have tomatoes, zucchini, yellow squash, and peppers right now. I really need to stake the tomato plants because they are getting a bit droopy. Also, something keeps tasting the tomatoes for us! Arg! Just when one is just about ready to pick, I'll come out to get it and there are bites taken out of it! I'm guessing a turtle. The okra is coming along now that I'm staying on top of sprinkling them with 7 Dust to keep the critters from sampling the leaves. 
Our biggest success is the pepper plants. There is nothing like fresh homegrown vegetables! It's one of my favorite parts of summer!
This is one little girl that keeps her Momma on her toes!
The kids took turns sleeping on the air mattress recently. This is the funny sight Edward saw one night before turning in.
...really sunken in. It's kind of hard to tell from this picture, but she was practically touching the ground. Somehow (I don't know how it could happen - it's not like I have four monkeys jumping on the bed each time the air mattress rolls out.) the air mattress got a hole in it, and it deflates while you're sleeping on it. I've looked and looked, but I can't find the hole to patch it up.
