Sunday, June 29, 2008

Friday, June 27, 2008

Wonderful Wall-E



*Pic Removed per K's request.

Today was Kari's last day of fourth grade......finally! :-) She's the only one of my children on a year-round schedule, so she's in school much later than the rest of us; she'll tell you what a drag that is!

Anyway, it was off to the movies to celebrate the last day of school. We went to see Wall-E, and I LOVED IT! I'm not usually one who likes animated movies much, but I truly appreciated the message of this movie. The lack of dialogue required interpretation of the viewer's part, and I must say, I found that refreshing. Much of what I don't like about animated movies is the over-the-top noise, action, and screaming dialogue. Don't get me wrong; there is dialogue in the movie, and some funny dialogue at that! This movie has heart and reminds us that life has meaning in the context of relationships. The subtitle on one movie poster says, "After 700 years of doing what he was built for, he'll discover what he was meant for." The cool thing is that the movie-goer gets to discover what Wall-e was meant for right along with him. It's a movie that addresses the themes of loneliness, longing, and the need for relationships and love. This movie also gives a glimpse into what our live might look like if we keep heading in the direction we are going with all of our electronic gadgetry.

I give Wall-E a "thumbs up," and I'd even like to see it again, so that's really saying something. If you have a free afternoon and need something to do that keeps you out of this awful valley air, head on over to the cinema. I don't think you'll regret it.

Thursday, June 26, 2008

Lots of Life

Although I've not been posting lately, there's been lots (isn't that a good, descriptive word) going on. I've started a couple of posts in which I attempted to get my thoughts down, but those thoughts have been deep and complicated, and in my current state of burnout, I just can't find the words to spell it all out. Lucky you! :-)

My oldest daughter attended her new student orientation at CSU Stanislaus and is officially enrolled in her classes. She was able to bypass all placement testing and scored well enough on her AP exam that she gets college credit for freshman English! Yeah; that's three units we don't have to pay for!









My two oldest kids (Hannah and Eric) left last Sunday at 7:00 AM with our youth group to work in Mexico for a week. They'll be back home in Turlock tomorrow evening, and I am so, so grateful for our youth leaders who call out the best in our children! To Jake, Jennah, Vince, and all the other youth leaders......Thank you! Here's a picture of the group praying before they head out.
*Pic Removed per K's request.

Also on this past Sunday, my youngest daughter was baptized!  It was a special moment for us as Dave was able to baptize the last of our four children.  It took place during our outdoor service, and we were blessed to have some of our family join us for the special event.  I love that my children have each individually chosen to live in obedience to God's call to be publicly be identified with Christ's death and resurrection through baptism.  Kari just received her baptism certificate in the mail today, and she was so thrilled!  

Friday, June 20, 2008

My Miner Forty-Niner


My mush-mind has nothing to say, but I thought you all might enjoy a picture of my other husband. You didn't know I married a miner, did you? :-) I am proud to say that my husband (my one and only) was willing to play and sing old California mining songs with ten groups of fourth graders earlier this week. He played the guitar for 3 1/2 hours straight, causing his fingers (and I'm sure his rear-end) to go numb. And just for the record, the song, "Clementine," is one funky song. I knew it was about a man who lost his daughter, but there are a few verses that are pretty funny, or should I say, tragic?

*Pic Removed per K's request.

And this is a picture of my daughter who just happened to like the miner's gambling games just a little too much. She ruled this hand with two face cards, and I'm not sure that it was the best thing to teach her how to play Black Jack (or 21). The other games didn't involve gambling, thank goodness! Kari also was able to mine for gold, stake a claim for a homestead, participate in a reader's theater, make flapjacks, and sew a pouch to hold all her "gold." Quite educational, really.

Anyway, we're off to another swim meet tomorrow, and then.....BAPTISM SUNDAY! I'd better wear my waterproof mascara.

Sunday, June 1, 2008

Missing Church

I am home this morning with a sick one. Last night, I awoke to the sound of little feet making haste to the bathroom with the ensuing echo of sounds that let me know that someone was throwing up. Amazing how that can make a sound-asleep mom jump up fast as lightening! Anyway, I am missing church this morning to be here to attend to her needs. I think it may be that there has just been too much activity the last week, and her little body seems to has less resistance to stress than some. I found myself feeling the same way yesterday; exhaustion seemed to overwhelm me after the intense last week of school for four of us here in this house.

I don't know why we would be tired. We only had the following activities/functions in the last week: An awards assembly, my day at Funworks with my junior high students, a wedding, our first invitational swim meet, an interrupted burglary, a graduation party, a Servolution debriefing meeting, a field trip to Boomers, swim practice four nights, a dentist appointment, finals, housecleaning for our graduation party, an 8th grade banquet, shopping for our graduation party, a school "market" day with needed items to sell, getting my final grades in, set up for the senior all night party, cleaning out my classroom and signing out for the year, an 8th grade graduation, a Hannah's graduation, Hannah's grad party at our home, working at the all-night grad party until 4:00 AM, Hannah gone to her senior grad party until 6:30 AM, and another graduation party. WHEW!

We all basically "crashed" yesterday! And I think some of that over-activity is why little Kari is not feeling well. She slept a lot yesterday as well as sleeping in today. She is now on the sofa again, drifting in and out of sleep cuddled with our dog. It is wonderful to have some time to let her be home to recuperate.

It's great to know that although I had to miss church today that I'll be able to listen to the message online when it's posted. Today's message is on forgiveness, and I know God wants us to walk in obedience to His word in that area, so I'm sure the message will challenge some to examine their relationships and to take steps to make amends or to offer forgiveness. I don't want to miss out on what God wants to say to me today, so I'll make sure to listen. (I guess I could just ask Dave to speak the message to me personally, but he is so exhausted after Sunday mornings that I know I would be "pushing it" to ask him, so I'll wait for it to be posted online! :-)

Blessings to you all on this beautiful Sunday morning!