Medieval Feast, Finis Est.

In other words, the feast is over! And it was a big success too! We had very little food left over, always a sign of a good party. We had 14 kids, 2 teenagers, and 11 adults, so it was a full house, especially when it was full of rampaging knights (we had 9 knights and 5 fair maidens). We started the kids off decorating their crowns with "jewels" and glitter glue, since I knew they would take awhile to dry. Then everyone put on the capes I had made (a big hit), and we went outside to play games. First, they shot lima beans at a cardboard castle I made (not the big one we spent tons of time on--that's a different castle!). They used the catapults I made from toilet paper rolls, cardboard, and skinny leastic. They worked pretty well, although eventually the boys got tired of just sieging the castle, and so they attacked it with swords. Then we played a game straight out of one of the library books on medieval times that we got out. One person stands in the middle of a circle and closes his eyes and says this chant:

Cobbler, cobbler, mend my shoe, fix it up and make it new. One, two, three, four stitches will do."

While he is saying this, the kids are passing around, behind their backs, a shoe. When he stops, they stop passing it, and then he has to guess who has the shoe. It was fun, but we didn't play too many rounds because were were melting in the humidity, plus it was time to eat. Everyone chowed down on the chicken legs, veggie platter, cheese cubes, bread slices, and grapes and melons. Then we had to shoo all the knights outside to run around because things were getting hairy inside. They ran around for quite awhile out there. We kept seeing flashes of purple (the capes) go past the front door. When they came in, we ate our gingerbread and lemon squares for dessert. They played some more, the adults visited, and people left around 9:15. Then it was bathtime for our stinky boys! It was a really fun time, and now I am so exhausted! We took some pictures with our digital camera, and maybe we'll try to post them tomorrow, but not right now--I can hardly type straight! You would not believe how many times I have had to go back and correct things tonight! Tomorrow afternoon I have a massage scheduled at the massage school nearby, so hopefully I'l be nice and relaxed tomorrow night and ready to learn the new skill of posting pictures!

Demotivating Clutter

Here are a couple of web sites for you to check out. The first is The Demotivators Collection , filled with demotivating slogans and pictures that mimic those cheesy inspirational posters with soaring nature themes or whatever that now litter all sorts of buildings, even the WPAFB Medical Center. They are pretty funny, if you are the least bit cynical, and you can get calendars, posters, mugs, t-shirts, etc. Here are some of my personal favorites:

Change--When the winds of change blow hard enough, even the most trivial of things can turn into deadly projectiles.

Mistakes--It could be that the purpose of your life is only to serve as a warning to others.

Futility--You'll always miss 100% of the shots you don't take, and, statistically speaking, 99% of the ones you do.

Pessimism--Every dark cloud has a silver lining, but lightening kills hundreds of people each year who are trying to find it.

Underachievement--The tallest blade of grass is the first to be cut by the lawnmower.

And my new personal motto (LOL!)

Risks--If you never try anything new, you'll miss out on many of life's great disappointments.



The second site is one I found today after someone on the WTM board asked about it. It's pictures of a house that is absolutely filled with stuff that a woman has bought off of Ebay. Her college-aged son is documenting it, but to be honest, this is where I think my in-laws would be if they could buy stuff off the internet and have it shipped to them. As it is, they are limited to what they can actually bring home in their car, but their house looks a lot like the pictures where there aren't any boxes, but there are tons of knicky-knacky things all over every conceivable surface, plus no floor space for walking. They also buy lots of food from the dollar store that is now expired, and they, likewise, never throw it away. In fact, the picture of the dining room table there looks amazingly like their table, which is actually a pool table, even down to the expired boxes of marshmallow peeps. I am told that at one time, people ate big meals at this pool table, but now there are so many layers of junk that that would be impossible, so I have never had that experience. There is also a picture where he says that his mother fell onto a chair trying to open a window or something, and I am surprised that my in-laws haven't fallen yet. For example, there is just a narrow pathway to their stairs because at the foot of them they have, in several layers, a few bookcases with pictures and knick-knacks that you can't really see because they're too far back, a chair, an end table, and at the very back, an old huge console record/8-track player. It would be so easy to trip and go crashing into that stuff. I always worry about the boys falling. All this stuff is why we no longer stay at their house when we visit--we simply do not fit. They have a hard time understanding this though, and are always making a big deal about us staying in a hotel. I think that if this a problem, though, you can't be helped unless you admit it is a problem, and they certainly aren't there yet. This lady lives in Fulsom, so maybe your parents were neighbors, Mel? LOL!! I don't think so! Just looking at the site made me want to rush through my house and throw stuff, anything--everything!--away! I will NOT end up like this!!! LOL!

White House Tour

On Saturday, Bob, Nathan , and Luke had the opportunity to take a tour of the White House. A friend of a friend set up the whole thing, which is quite a hassle now, due to all the security measures since 9/11. I remember just standing in a huge long line snaking for a block or 2 with my family when I was in jr. high (with Mom talking about zoos and USAFA to strangers. LOL!!!), but all that is no more. Now you have to apply about 6 months in advance, then you have to send in names, SSNs, birthdates, etc. for everyone in the party. You get a specific time to come in, and then once you have gone through the security checkpoint, you are basically on your own. It's a self-guided tour! There are lots of Secret Service people in the various rooms to answer questions, but they don't volunteer information.

Nathan is going to be our guest blogger today, telling you his impressions of the President's house. First off, he said it was very big. It was also very colorful--lots of colorful rugs, furniture, and wall coverings--and there were also a lot of lights, like chandeliers and big candles. Nathan liked the East Room, which was where they have balls and ceremonies, because it was so very big. It was also pretty much empty, except for some carpets. This was also Luke's favorite room because it had a really big chandelier and also a big picture of George Washington. That is the famous picture that Dolley Madison saved when the British burned the White House down in 1814. The Blue Room was very nice and colorful, especially because of all the gilded furniture in there. One really neat thing they experienced was the President flying overhead in his helicopter, getting back from his physical! It's not the same as meeting him, but it's still a lot closer than most of us will get to the President! Overall, Nathan said it was an interesting tour, and he was glad he got to go.

As they were going through with Christine (the friend) and her 2 oldest kids (I kept her youngest and our youngest at our house) , they were telling the boys about how Washington did not want to live in a mansion, like the king of France (there was a picture of Versailles on display), but he did want it to be a house that commanded respect for the position. At that point, a complete stranger walked up and said, right in front of all the boys, "I don't know why you're bothering to tell them all that. They'll never remember any of it. I have 2 teenagers, and they don't remember anything they've ever learned." Bob and Christine just sort of stared, open-mouthed, at her rudeness, and she walked off, but I really thought that was absolutely amazing! I'm sorry she didn't make history very interesting for her kids, but that doesn't mean that everyone else is repeating her mistakes! on the same note, we went out to Chevy's on Monday night (kids eat free then!!), and Nathan said, "Hey look! They have decorated the walls with images of the Mayan sun god!" I turned to Bob and said, "Hey, I thought they would never remember anything I taught them!"

Mourning

Today we are grieving because our friends Ed and Elizabeth have lost their baby. I am just so devastated. When Bob told me last night, my mind refused to believe it. The boys were so sad too. Luke started crying when I told them this morning. I just don't understand God. Why give someone a wonderful surprise and then snatch it back, just as everyone was so excited? It seems so . . . capricious. Cruel. Like a cat toying with a mouse or something. Oswald Chambers says in today's devotional,

"In the Bible clouds are always connected with God. Clouds are
sufferings or providences, within or without our personal lives, which seem to
dispute the rule of God. It is by those very clouds that God is teaching
us to walk by faith. . . . What a revelation
it is to know that sorrow and bereavement and suffering are the clouds that come
along with God. God cannot come near without clouds, He does not come in
clear shining. It is not true to say God wants to teach us something
in our trials: through every cloud He brings, He wants us to unlearn
something. His purpose in the cloud is to simplify our belief until our
relationship to Him is exactly that of a child--God and my own soul, other
people are shadows. . . Unless we can look at
the darkest, blackest fact full in the face without damaging the character,
we do not yet know Him."

I guess I'm not there yet, because I'm having a very hard time with this. I canceled school today because I just didn't feel like I could do that as I work through this. Thanks for your prayers, both for Elizabeth and Ed, and also for us, as we grieve the loss of a precious baby.

Medieval Feast Preparations

Well, we have set the date for our medieval feast for Aug. 6, and we even finished our invitations. This involved sealing wax from Michaels, as well as a crown stamp from a medieval activity book thing from the L's. It was complicated and took a whole morning, but the seals turned out somewhat recognizable! We delivered them to our neighbors, and they were a big hit. We still have to deliever them to our Bible study families. If everyone comes, we'll have 15 kids (and one baby), and 13 adults and teenagers. Thanks to some help from Aunt Claire , I've settled on a menu as well. It's all finger food, of course--no utensils back then! We're going to have chicken legs, which Bob will grill outside (and I'm going to marinade in Italian dressing for some flavor, although not historical acuracy), a raw veggie platter (with dip, although again not accurate!), big slices of some crusty bread I have yet to find, cheese chunks and crackers, and fruit like grapes and melons. Then for dessert we'll have gingerbread and lemon squares, although not from any accurate old recipes. I looked at some, but they were too weird, and I do want the kids to actually eat!

Yesterday was "cape-making day". We hit the jackpot at WalMart a few days ago when we found this great shiny purple fabric on the sale rack for only $2.00 a yard. This fabric SCREAMED "capes"! In fact, when the guy was cutting off our length of it, he said, "Let me guess--you all must be making capes". The boys were astonished at his perspicacity. So yesterday I cut it all into cape lengths for varied sizes of children, and the boys of course had to wear them all afternoon. That was when I realized the capes weren't going to make it to the party without unraveling if I didn't attempt to do some kind of sewing. Now I haven't used my sewing machine for years. I remembered it having all sorts of problems and something being broken when we were in Ohio, but Bob seemed to think we had fixed it. I went off to the dark recesses of our basement storage room to find it and bring it up to our dining room. We had some troubles getting the bobbin wound,but eventually we would up with enough to start. It worked fine for a little while, but then it got all tangled up inside the bobbin case, which is what I always remembered happening. I was so frustrated, but I decided to just try raising the bobbin thread again, and miraculously it started working agian. I was able to completely hem all 4 of the capes for my boys (yes, this took me several hours!), and now I am actually thinking of just hemming the bottoms of all the other capes. That seems to be where they unravel the fastest, and since I am not what you might call a "good seamstress" (my hems are not, technically, "straight"), I have no desire to sew everyone's all the way. I'm sure any other mom would actually do a much better job, so they can feel free, if they so desire! Plus, I think it would take me the rest of the time to finish it all, and I still have lots of other stuff to do! We also want to finish building our model castle out of boxes, and we need to finish making the little catapults. We're going to use them to shoot dried lima beans over a pretend cardboard castle wall for a game. So things are coming together, and the boys are all really excited about the party. Hopefully it will be a lot of fun for everyone.

Spectacular Service

There was a great devotional from the writings of Elizabeth Elliot that I read today. I just signed up here to get a daily email. I think her words hit right at why I can be so dissastisfied with being a stay-at-home mom, and certainly the last paragraph is my prayer as well.

Most of us would like to do something special in life, something to distinguish
us. We suppose that we desire it for God's sake, but more likely we are
discontent with ordinary life and crave special privileges. When Israel asked if
they should offer some spectacular sacrifice--thousands of rams, ten thousand
"rivers of oil," a firstborn child--the answer was, "He has showed you, O man,
what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to
love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God" (Mi 6:8 RSV).
There is nothing conspicuous about those requirements. It is not a "special" service for
which one would be likely to be decorated or even particularly remembered. But
it is worth more to God than any sacrifice.
Lord, deliver me from the delusion of imagining that my desire is to serve You, when my real desire is the distinction of serving in some way which others admire.

Family Reunion

So this past Saturday was the reunion for Bob's Dad's family. Frank comes from a Slovakian family, and his parents were the ones who came over here (as children), settling in a very small town in PA. Frank had 2 brothers and 3 sisters, just like Bob does, and now he is the only one surviving. We went to the reunion last year too, and a lot of the same people were there then too. I got the impression both years that everyone else socializes during the rest of the year too, whereas our branch of the family only sees the others once a year at this reunion. 

 The reunion was at the house of Mark and Debbie, who live in this small PA town. Mark is the son of Frank's brother John, and he has 3 grown children who all live close and have grandchildren. They live in a house that used to belong to one of Bob's cousins, Peggy, who is actually old enough that he always called her "Aunt Peggy". She is the daughter of Bob's Aunt Mary, who is the only sibling of either of Bob's parents that I ever met. She was able to come to our wedding in Ohio, but she died a few years back. Before that the house was somehow in the family too; I got lost on all of that. I need a flow chart or something. Literally everyone in this tiny burrough is related somehow, and the houses must not have changed ever. Peggy's son and daughter-in-law were there too, along with their 2 children. They actually live near us, in Falls Church, VA, and are even looking at buying a bigger house out this way! Peggy has a younger sister named Helen, who must be about 60. 

Everyone else seemed really comfortable around each other, laughing and joking and dancing the polka (no, really!). But Bob's Dad doesn't totally fit in, though, and I'm not exactly sure why. Once, he came back to the table and said he missed the kielbasa, and Helen says, "Dumb Slovaks". Now, of course, she is one herself, so she must be joking, right? But he about knocks over his chair to stand up and glare, and people quickly say stuff about how she always was the one to joke around like that, etc. Awkward. You would think Bob's parents would be like the honored elder couple, the last link to the past, but they're not. I think it's because they are just so weirdly prickly about little things, and I'm sure they must have gotten mad at or offended these relatives at some point in their lives too. The wife of Franks' brother George, Aunt Augie (short for Augustina maybe?), is also still living, and she also came last year and this year. She seems to be more included and liked, even though she is not really mobile anymore, and she can't move her neck. People make an effort to go over and talk to her, and she seems like a really nice older lady. I wish I could have met more of Frank's siblings, because it would have been interesting to see how they were. Some of them were weird too--Bob tells a story of how, when he was maybe Caleb's age, he went over to Aunt Aggie's house on Easter, and she said she had hidden a lot of candy for a hunt. He got all excited, and then she told him it was all for her cats. He was really upset, but that's exactly what happened, and he didn't get any candy. That's a bit odd, wouldn't you agree? But Aunt Mary seemed perfectly nice and normal at our wedding.

So, as a summary, there was a lot of drinking and smoking. In fact, Uncle Mark has rigged up this refrigerator in this outside shed connected to a nice covered patio area with a beer spigot so he can have cold beer on tap. He just drilled a hole in the side of the fridge, and then there are tubes inside to the keg. But people were not rowdy and drunk, so it was a nice time. It just smelled like beer and smoke, which was hard for a newly pregnant woman! There was lots of food. I brought my spinach strawberry salad, and it was almost completely eaten. I also brought my cookie-dough brownies, which have a layer of cookie dough spread over the brownies, and then a layer of chocolate frosting. They are very good, and they all went too. So at least people think I'm not a bad cook! 

 They also have some different traditions at these things. One is a gift pass event, sort of like a cake walk, except that everyone is sitting in a row, men on one side and women on the other. Then each side gets a present, and they pass it up and down the row until the music (polka of course) stops. Then that person takes of the first layer of wrapping paper. The game continues for about 15 more layers of wrapping paper, and finally someone gets to the box itself and gets to keep the present. There also is an auction where everyone donates some piece of junk they don't need anymore. People bid up these things to raise money for the meat, etc. at the reunions, and you also have to take home the junk you bought. I'd really rather just pay a few more dollars at the get-go! Bob restrained himself and only bought a set of 3 car air fresheners for $1.00. We brought 2 very cheap and ugly little Christmas towels that don't match, and each one got around $3.00. Believe me, they were both not worth half of that together! It was fun, though.  I also got to talk with several of the women, and they even asked about homeschooling, so we talked some about that. We also told people we were expecting again--always nice to be able to do that in person, and we certainly got better reactions than over the phone with Bob's family! Next year it will be at Aunt Peggy's house. Maybe I'll have some more of these relationships straight by then.

A Long Overdue Update

I see that it has been over a week since I've posted, and I apologize! Last week was a busy one for me. We worked on our medieval feast plans as well as normal schoolwork, I had a homeschooling meeting one night, and a moms' night out with our church ladies another night, and I've been falling asleep on the couch every afternoon. That didn't leave much time for blogging! At least the afternoon napping was explained away by the positive pregnancy test I took Friday morning, although it doesn't give much hope for the future 8 months or so of blogging. We're excited! I didn't know if we'd have any more, but I was hoping we would. Sometimes I would just look around the table or whatever and just feel like everyone wasn't there, even if I counted 4 boys. It's hard to explain. We just got back from a weekend with Bob's family. Yesterday was his family reunion (more on that in another post), and then today we went back to Idlewild. Fortunately it was cooler today, and it was cloudy. I don't think I could have stood another day at Idlewild where we roasted. Also, we didn't have to do the pool thing, so that was nice. Jonathan was very tired though, since he didn't have a nap yesterday, so he was pretty grouchy and uncooperative. He had to be taken off 2 of the kiddie rides--a bus called the "Doodlebug", which let me tell you is just as scary as it sounds (it goes slowly in a small circle), and a boat ride that also goes slowly around in a small circle. Embarrassing. After those 2 rides, however, he bucked up and did everything else with the other boys with no problems, even ones that went up in the air. Who knew the Doodlebug would be scarier than an airplane or flying dragon ride?! After we did the kiddie land rides, we met up with Bob's family (Rose and girls, Sherry and Brandon, and his parents), and ate lunch. Then we became very disorganized and kind of wandered around not really pleasing anyone for an hour or 2 more until it was time to go. It is hard to do things with everyone else, we have found. We were able to leave around 4:00, but we didn't get back home until 9:00. We did stop for dinner, but there was tons of traffic on I-70, and there was also night paving on the 2 lane road that comes down into VA. That was a long delay. It will be good to sleep in our beds tonight, although we did have a great room last night. We stayed at the Comfort Inn, and we were able to get a free night with some of the points we saved up by staying in Choice Hotels and being part of their Guest Privileges program. They won't give you just an ordinary room when using your points, though, so we rarely can use them in PA. But we had a great room last night! It was the "Governor's Suite", and it was so big! There was a room with a king-size bed, and then there was a huge other room with a kitchenette, table, pull-out couch, and a single roll-away bed, plus plenty of other floor space. It was nice to have all the room, and it was nice for Caleb to be able to sleep on a bed, instead of his sleeping bag. Also, it had a fridge, which most of the rooms there do not have. Wow! I wonder how much it costs per night normally! I doubt we'll be staying there again! Also, the hotel has gotten a waffle maker since we last were there, which was a big hit for breakfast. Bob actually wrote a letter to their management several years ago suggesting they get one, so we are taking full credit for this new addition! : ) I will write more about the actual reunion tomorrow, that is if I have time and don't fall asleep on the couch in the afternoon!

Concert

This was a busy day! Tonight we all went to a free concert by the National Symphony Orchestra in Rock Creek Park, in the NW part of D.C. Bob and I went last year to celebrate our anniversary, but this year we brought everyone. The paper said it started at 7:00, so we left here around 6:00. Of course, traffic was heavy on the Beltway, and I fretted the whole way there about not leaving in enough time. We got there right before 7:00, and there was still tons of parking. We hurried out, and then we saw a line at the security checkpoint, but no one was moving. We asked around, and it turned out that the gates opened at 7:00, but the concert didn't start until 7:30! So we were quite early and got our pick of seats! This should be our strategy for all future events of this nature! The NSO played a more modern selection of music than I had hoped, but we all really enjoyed it. The theme was "Summer Vacation" so they played light music from for example, Carousel, as well as the theme from Jaws. They played the "Buckaroo Holiday" from Rodeo, which was the one we werer the most familiar with. They palyed a large piece from The Wizard of Oz because they are going to accompany a movie screening of it at Wolf Trap in a few weeks. There were lots of selections I had never heard before, but it was all very good. The poor conductor was sweating away in his suit and tie, while the musicians were fairly cool in short-sleeved shirts. The boys did pretty well up until the very end, where Jonathan and Caleb got pretty antsy. Fortunately it was quite a casual crowd, so it wasn't a problem. As soon as we got back to our car, the skies opened, and we had a tremendous thunderstorm. We were so glad to have made it back before it started pouring! So it was an exciting day, and the boys are exhausted, as are we.

Biking Adventures

We borrowed a kids' bike trailer from the L's, and today we hit the W&OD bike trail not too far from our house. It was a very hot, humid day, so I was not really looking forward to going. That, and it's been . . . many years since I've ridden a bike. I was afraid I wouldn't remember how. I guess it's true though--you never forget how to ride a bike. Anyhow, I told the boys I had never worn a bike helmet because the last time I rode one, hardly anyone wore them! I think Bob and I rode bikes in a park in Fairborn before we moved on base, but I think we were married. So 1993 or 94?

It turned out that I had a good time. Bob and Nathan and Luke went one time before, but it was nice to have us all out there. We stopped after about 2 1/2 miles at this playground that is a little off the trail, and that's where we had our adventure. You have to go across this little narrow bridge to actually get to the playground, and Bob misjudged how widely he needed to turn to clear the trailer. So the trailer hit the wooden side of the bridge and stopped completely, but Bob didn't! He hit the handlebars (but didn't fall off), and the momentum totally made his front tire all crooked. Totally unusable. Fortunately he was riding his old bike that he's had since way before we got married, so without too much angst, he just left it by a trashcan in the park. He moved the trailer to the new bike that I was riding, and I volunteered to walk back. It was a long, hot walk back, but I actually enjoyed the time to myself. You can notice so much more when you're walking! There were a lot of wildflowers beside the trail that I was able to get a closer look at. Also I saw tons of blackberries. The boys would ride ahead, then double back, so they never got too terribly far ahead of me. We were all so hot when we got back to the car, though. A/C sure felt good! Maybe when we get another new bike, we can do this again. (Maybe in Autumn?!)

Scrapping

This morning we had French toast for breakfast. Ahh, the life of ease one lives when one has a live-in breakfast cook! : ) Last night I actually scrapbooked for the first time in . . . let's see. . . maybe 8 months? I think the last time I did anything was when we were back home in November and I did some with Amy. That's the problem--I am not motivated to scrapbook without being able to do it with anyone! When we were in Ohio, Amy and I would get together about once a month at her mom's house, since it was in between us AND didn't have any kids or kids' stuff strewn about to distract us! We would get there around 6:00, order pizza, and scrapbook (and visit!) until around 11:00. It was so much fun! So you can see how going down to my basement all by myself just doesn't hold the same attraction. I did some last summer so that I finished up all of our Ohio pictures, but I have never even started on any of our Virginia pictures. Hmmm . . . . what's that saying? Mainly, that I just haven't felt like bothering, nothing too deeply psychological. I also have smaller books for each boy that just have 4 pages for each year. Caleb's is caught-up, but Luke and Nathan have since had birthdays, and I have never even started Jonathan's! That was making me feel so guilty, and that is what finally motivated me to do some scrapping last night. I finished the first page of his book, which is a page dealing with his actual birthday. Next will be a 2-page spread on his family members, then a 2 page spread on his first year, and then 2 pages for when he was 1. Then I'll be caught up on his book! Maybe tonight I'll actually do some more!

Shrieking Girls

Yesterday we got Nathan's Stanford Test scores back, and he did really well, so today we all went out to lunch at Chick-Fil-A to celebrate. Today is "Cow Appreciation Day" there, and anyone who came in wearing a cow costume eats free! We saw no "cows" though. Maybe next year. For our family, that would be quite a deal! : ) Anyhow, after we finished eating, the boys went into the play area. It is pretty effectively sound-proofed, so we really could only hear loud noise whenever the door opened. Bob and I were sitting at a table right by the glass so we could see everyone just fine. There were lots of kids in there, and they were playing some kind of "Monsters" game, which involved kids chasing, jumping out, etc., at other kids (mainly girls), all of whom would shriek at the top of their lungs for several long seconds. Someone jumped at Caleb, and he was a bit scared, and didn't want to play the game, so I went in to see what was going on. Oh. My. Goodness. The decibel level of these shrieks were deafening. I could hardly stand it. Bob and I sat in there a few minutes before Bob said to tell the boys we would only stay 5 more minutes. After about 1 minute, I decided I couldn't stand it any longer, and told the boys we were leaving right now! I really don't like loud noise, and I absolutely abhor shrieky girls. As we were leaving, I told Bob (in a suitably carrying voice) that if this was how girls acted, then I was GLAD I DIDN'T HAVE ANY!!!! Why wouldn't a parent come in and tell their [girl] that it is totally not acceptable to squeal like a stuck pig in a crowded, enclosed space? In the car we talked about how thankful we were that the girls that we know do not act anything like this.

Big Breakfast

Nathan made a great breakfast for us yesterday morning! We went to Sams the day before and bought a big tub of blueberries, which made Nathan want to make blueberry pancakes (just like Grandpa!). He also was thinking about scrambled eggs, so we bought a big pack of eggs too. Yesterday morning Nathan got up, searched my "Beginner's Cookbook" for recipes, and made both scrambled eggs and blueberry pancakes! I woke up to the smell of pancakes cooking. His recipe for scrambled eggs only used maybe 3 eggs, so I had to show him where to find the serving size ("Serves 1"!). We added a whole lot more eggs! The scrambled eggs were very light and fluffy, and I think it was because I read an article on them in the paper not too long ago. Apparently the right technique is to melt your butter and cover the whole bottom of the pan. Then pour in the egg mixture and just let it sit for a while. Then kind of move aside what's already been cooked and let the uncooked stuff fill in. Keep doing that, then break everything up. Who knew there was a "right" way to scramble eggs? Mine are usually pretty flat, but these weren't at all, so I guess it worked. This was a big cooking day for Nathan because he also made banana bread in the afternoon. Woo-hoo! I am working myself out of a job!

Praise the Lord!

We found my keys this morning! They were in the glovebox of Bob's car(?)!! I'm not sure how they got there, but I believe God is able to put them there, no matter where they originally were! What a relief. And I am happy to report that after typing my post last night I was able to settle down and have a good night's sleep. When things are bothering me, I tend to sleep very lightly and fitfully, with vividly weird dreams always focusing on what I'm bothered about, but that didn't happen. It's a fuuny thing, but now I feel . . . relaxed, I guess . . . like things are right in my world again, since I am not currently missing anything. Maybe someday I'll be less obsessive--maybe when Luke takes over as the "Finder of the House"!

Losing Things

Today was a good day. A friend from Ohio who now lives in Maryland came to visit with her 3 children for the day, and we had a wonderful time together. We got our air conditioner recharged, so it will be comfortable upstairs to sleep tonight, a big change from the last few days, where it's been in the mid-80s. My parents accepted an offer and signed a contract to sell their house for their asking price. But then tonight after dinner I realized that my keys are missing. Technically I realized I was using Bob's keys yesterday, but I just assumed mine were hanging up in his place or something. I looked all over, and they are not somewhere obvious. In fact, I think they must have been lost at Idlewild, even though I can't imagine how that could have happened. I am so sick about it, and it's all I can think about. I "keep track of things". That's just what I do, the way I am wired. When things are missing, it just consumes me, and I can't let go. one reason I'm having such a hard time with this it that I just can't figure out what happened or how they even could have gotten lost. But I believe that I put my set of keys into the backpack we took there (which stayed the entire time in the stroller, which was always with us), and I haven't seen them since. Frustrating. I'm hoping that just putting all this down will help me not think about it so much so that I can actually get some sleep! Of course, they could just be somewhere odd, and that is what I am praying. I know God knows where they are, and I pray He will show me.

An Idle Day of Sun . . . I mean Fun

Yesterday was an exhausting day. We left here around 9:00 and drove to Idlewild , an amusement park not far from Bob's family in PA. It took us 4 hours to get there because we didn't choose the fastest route. Lots of construction! We learned frm our mistakes, though, and went home a different way, so it only took a little over 3 hours. Anyhow, we arrived at Idlewild around 1:00, and our first bed omen was the line of cars waiting to get through the front gates where you pay! We finally got through (after having been asked if we were part of the "school picnic", another bad sign), and I was alarmed to see that all the near parking lots were full. In fact, even the far parking lots were full! We drove around for awhile but finally found a parking place that ended up being good because it was near a little pedestrian bridge, so we could just walk right into the park. We ate our picnic lunch at a little pavilion near the car, then went off in search of Bob's family. It was such a hot, humid day, and they (and everyone else) were at the pool part of the park. When we walked into Soak Zone, my first thought was of basically wall-to-wall people, like the Iwo Jima Memorial for the Fourth of July fireworks. We found his parents, sister-in-law Sherry, and her 2 kids Brandon and Sara thanks to the modern miracle of cell phones. We managed to get everyone changed, a feat in and of itself, since we had to wait in long lines for dressing rooms (well, actually that was probably just on the ladies' side--i'm thinking the guys don't "do" dressing rooms, esp. if there's a long line!). Then Bob took the older boys to the big pool and water slides, and I took the little boys to the baby area. As it turned out, the Mount Pleasant School District was having their end-of-the-year school picnic, and there was also a big daycare party that day, so that helped explain why the park was so crowded. There is a baby pool and also an area with spigots, a fountain, etc. for little kids to play in. The whole area was jammed with kids and parents. I had to play all sorts of mental games to block from my mind the fact that I was standing shoulder-to-shoulder with complete strangers clad only in my swim suit. I was a little afraid of the actual baby pool itself because there were so many people there that it really didn't seem safe to have the boys there where I could easily lose sight of them or they could get knocked over. So we spent a greater majority of the time by the spigots where I (and everyone else) didn't even have the water to somewhat be immersed in. There was a lot of gaping, bunching, riding up, not to mention just general flabbiness, surrounding me, and I was really ready to be done and have my personal space back! After the pool, the older boys rode the roller coaster twice, we all rode the Merry-Go-Round, we ate a quick dinner, and the boys played in an area called "Jumpin' Jungle", which has a ball pit and some climbing ropes and stuff. Then it was after 7:00, and it was time to leave. We slowly made our way back to our car, after prolonged goodbyes, and we left around 7:45. The drive back was quicker, so we made it home at 11:00, with the boys fast asleep. It's hard to say if the whole day was "worth it". If it was just up to me, we wouldn't do this sort of thing, since it's not fun for me at all, and I don't even love amusement parks without the kids, especially on hot days. But we want to build more relationships with Bob's family, and maybe this will help, that is if they don't think we are insane for driving 7 hours to play for 6 hours. Now today we must pay the terrible price of keeping the boys up late, and Jonathan is indeed a fragile crab. Good thing I decided not to do any school today! We're building a castle from cardboard instead. We've been planning on doing this since we got the issue of "Family Fun" magazine that had the plans. Hopefully Jonathan can just make it until after lunch!

Homeschool Convention

Yesterday I spent the day at the NoVa home Education Convention, which was held pretty close to us, at the Dulles Expo Center. I had a really great day. It was nowhere near as big as HEAV, but I think that was good or I would have been very overwhelmed! I went to several workshops. I was able to hear Jessie Wise (who co-wrote "The Well-Trained Mind" with her daughter, Susan) speak two times, once about doing WTM with grades K-4, and again on grades 5-8. I also went to a workshop given by a very dynamic woman who works at the NASA Educators Resource Center at NASA Langley. They have TONS of free materials for educators, and since I'm going to be teaching during our co-op's space unit next year, I have already sent away asking for some of their materials. I bought several books at the used curriculum sale, and I also bought several new things from exhibitors, including some games. I bought 2 math games, and one that should help us learn more bird identification, something we are very weak in but also very interested! I ended up ordering Bob Jones math for Nathan next year, their 4th grade book. I don't think it will be too terribly challenging, but it is quite colorful, and I think he will enjoy doing it. Also, in listening to Jessie Wise, I became even more inspired to help Nathan this next year especially with his spelling and writing. We are really going to focus on those areas. He's doing just fine with math, so he'll just kind of be able to coast there this year and feel confident while we work on his weak areas.

I saw lots of homeschooling friends from here at the convention and even met some people from the Well Trained Mind Message Boards! I've never met anyone from there in real life before, so that was neat. Elizabeth and I were able to go out to lunch too. She and Ed just announced on Friday that they are expecting again, so we had lots to talk about! We were all pretty excited to hear their news, but it seems like the person who is most excited is their youngest, Amanda. She hopes it is a baby sister, since she's been praying for one for a long time! Elizabeth is due Feb. 10, and we all know what a great month February is. Luke and I are hoping to have a February birthday buddy!

A Small Miracle

My Aunt Claire posted a story about my uncle miraculously finding the diamond from her wedding ring in her blog yesterday. That story reminded me of a miraculous ring story of my very own! In April 2000, we were stationed in Colorado, and we rented a cabin for the weekend near Fairplay with our friends the L's and the B's (yes, the same couples we went camping with just a few weeks ago!). It was a pretty nice cabin, big enough to hold all of us, but it did have some odd quirks (one being bedbugs, but we didn't find that out until later!). The kitchen was kind of in the middle of the house, with a breakfast bar between it and the family room. Right by the bar on the floor on the family room side was a big grate for the furnace air intake. It just went straight down a big shaft, right there by the counter! I was standing by it, taking off my rings to go into the hot tub (why, I have no idea). I have my engagement diamond and wedding ring, and then I also have a small anniversary band that I wear on the other hand that Bob got me when I was working in a lab and needed something flat to wear under my gloves. Well, the anniversary ring slipped, fell on the grate and as I reached down to get it, fell down the shaft. Ack! I panicked, got all shaky, etc. We took off the grate and looked down. We could see the ring! At the bottom of the shaft, there was a seam dividing the bottom of the shaft from the duct actually going into the furnace. There in the seam, balancing on its side, was my ring! Well, it was great to see it, but I could not figure out any way to actually get it. But fortunately there were 3 well-qualified Air Force officers there, ready to come up with a ring rescue scenario! They rooted through the house, and Bob found a fishing tackle box. He put a hook on a line, lowered the hook down the shaft, and then proceeded to snag the ring on his first try!! This makes it sound really easy, but it was truly a miracle, I think. Bob is not by any means a practiced fisherman, and if he had hit the ring at all and knocked it out of the groove, it would have either rolled down into the furnace or just been laid flat so there would have been no way to get it. I know the Lord was guiding his hook! I was so shaky afterwards. It was really amazing, and I'm still so thankful that God chose to answer my desparate prayers for help!

Happy Fourth of July!

Yes, I know it is, technically, July 5th, but we had a busy weekend! The amazing thing is that we did 2 things which were very crowd-intensive, and I enjoyed myself both times! Bob's sister Ann and her husband Wally decided not to come up until Sunday after church, so we had more time to get ready, which was nice. Right as church was ending, another sister, Rose, called to say she would also like to come for a night. We had invited her before, but she didn't have her girls this weekend and didn't want to be around other kids because she was afraid she would be too sad. But she was with some friends up in Hagerstown, which isn't too far, so she thought she'd come by, and we were all so glad she did. Everyone got here around 3:00, and we went to Great Falls Park. It was packed with people! The falls are very nice though, and we walked to 3 overlooks to see them. It was so hot and humid--we all thought we were going to melt. The boys enjoyed climbing on all the rocks. It seemed like a nice park, but I don't think we'll make a habit of going Fourth of July weekend! We'll have to go back a less-crowded time and hike around. It's a really pretty area. I think it's pretty touristy, though, so maybe it's always packed. I laughed at some of the completely inappropriate footwear women were wearing to scramble around on these rocks to get to the first set of overlooks--little strappy sandals with spiky heels, etc. Yeah, not your real outdoorsy types!

We came back home, and Bob grilled steaks and hot dogs. Then all the adults stayed up late talking--my favorite part of having company! Rose left early the next morning but the rest of us slept in a little later. i put sop on the stove, then we went swimming for a little while. The day was overcast, so the water was appreciably cooler than it has been, so we didn't stay too terribly long. We came home, ate lunch, then the boys took naps while we got ready to go in to D.C. for the national fireworks. We went with (who else?!) our friends the L's, who had been last year. Let me tell you, this is NOT something we would ever have attempted on our own! We left a little after 5:00 to drive to Rosslyn, near the Iwo Jima Memorial. We wandered through the streets, trying to find parking. Thankfully Ed used to work down there, so he knew places to try. We saw a continual stream of people walking past us, which made me worry that we would have to park about 10 miles away and still have no place to sit! But my worrying was for naught, and we found great parking fairly close in the Hyatt underground parking garage. We trundled all our assorted picnicking supplies over to in front of the Netherlands Carillion, where there is a great view of all the Washington and Lincoln Memorials, as well as the Capitol. We found room for our blankets and had a nice picnic, trying to stay relatively cool. There was a "misting room" set up, which was a tent-like thing that sprayed you with a fine mist--sort of like being a vegetable in your grocery produce section. Very refreshing. After the sun set around 7:40, it got a lot more comfortable, although still plenty humid! Some of us went to look at the Arlington Cemetary, which is right next to where we were, and also to the Iwo Jima Memorial. I stayed behind and read a book, so the evening was very nice and relaxing for me! The firworks started at about 9:20 and lasted 25 minutes or so. They must have been so huge because they looked big to us and we were on the other side of the river! A very impressive display indeed, with lots of different types that we had never seen before. I guess D.C. gets all the new firework technology first! I was glad we were so far away though. It was not too loud where we were, but I know the little boys would have been scared by the noise if we would have been right under the fireworks by the Capitol. Afterwards, we and several thousand of our fellow Washington D.C.ers made our way back through Rosslyn, completely jamming the streets. When we left the parking garage, we found out the parking was free! Wow, our opinion of Hyatt just jumped a whole bunch! Bob did some creative driving manuevers to get us back onto the freeway, and we were home by 11:00. That was late, but the boys did fine, and it really was a lot of fun. Ed brought the kids these "glow sticks"--you bend them and then they glow different colors. You can connect them to make bracelets, necklaces, crowns, etc. They boys had a lot of fun playing with those, and then they wore them when it was all done so we could see them in the crowd. It was a great idea, and it kept them occupied quite well! Today will probably be a day of early naps and early bed though. We have had some crabbiness this morning, which is to be expected! Ann and Wally left this morning, so now we can really settle back in and get back into our normal routine. We did some math review this morning, and we'll keep on reviewing this week, then get back into school next week.

We're back!

Well, we made it safely back to VA after 4 weeks of being gone. Somehow, in my mind, we left the house neater than we did in reality. Bob's sister and family are coming this weekend, and frankly I am overwhelmed with the amount of work to do. It just seems like there is so much stuff to be put away and gone through--tons of mail, swim stuff, shoes everywhere, food from the car, etc, etc, etc. At least I unpacked all the suitcases last night when we got in. Probably a record for me! So anyhow, that is why I am here on the computer instead of doing something productive. I just can't figure out exactly where to get started, since there is just so much. The boys cleaned their bathrooms, and now they are outside playing in the sprinkler. I just want to lay on the couch and take a nap!

Contentment

Amy made me a beautiful cross-stitch for our entry way. Let's just say it's an early Christmas present! : ) It has some Colonial houses, which are certainly very appropriate (actually it's very elaborate, and I am in no way doing it justice here), and it has the verse from Philippians, "I have learned to be content in whatever state I am in". Perfect for a military family, and it will go wonderfully in our foyer! This trip has made me think alot about contentment though, and I really am not content to live in whichever state I am! Visiting Colorado made me so want to move back there. It's so beautiful, and I love all the stuff there is to do out there. Visiting back here in Ohio has made me want to move back here. I so miss being able to see Amy and my parents all the time, and I miss our church! I would still like to have an assignment down in Texas, so we could see Dan and Melinda more often. The one place I really don't feel at home in is Virginia. But I'm sure if we moved from there, I would remember and miss the good things about there, like living so close to the L's, and also our great homeschool co-op. I guess really I'm longing for heaven, since I know there will be no place on earth that perfectly satisfies all my longings. in the meantime, however, we do have to live someplace, and currently the Lord has us in Virginia. But does he want us to stay there when Bob retires? I think this question is what is causing all this consternation. I kind of like having the Air Force tell us where to go, knowing that in a few years, we'll move. That way, if there are things I don't like, then we'll be going someplace different, and almost no 2 places have the same things wrong! Picking a place to retire has such an air of finality about it though. I think I'm afraid to settle down, maybe because I know there are so many other great places out there, and secretly I'm always wondering if one of them might just have all the things I'm looking for. Ahh, contentment . . . I'm off to go meditate on Amy's cross-stitch some more!

Nathan's Birth Day

So Nathan is 8 years old today, hard as that is to believe. He was actually born on a Tuesday, at 5:24 PM, at the Air Force Academy Hospital in Colorado. Bob was the aide for a 3 star admiral at the time, and he was scheduled to be TDY Sunday through Tuesday. My due date wasn't until July 2, so the Navy considered that to be very far away, and besides, none of the other men in the office had been around for the birth of their kids, so what did it matter if Bob wasn't? That was the attitude, anyhow. I was nervous to have Bob be gone so close to my due date, but I was praying for peace. Sunday morning after church, I started having contractions, which did not make me feel peaceful! Bob went off a few hours later to go TDY, but at the last minute a guy from another office who was also on the trip stepped in and told Bob he would do his duties as well so Bob didn't have to go. Whew! But then we both kind of felt under pressure to have this baby before everyone got back, or else they would think I was just making it all up! I kept having contractions throughout Monday, but they were never strong enough to make me think we should go in. I didn't sleep much Monday night though, and we went to the hospital around 7:30 AM. My parents were on their way, driving out from Ohio, and they were supposed to arrive that afternoon. When I went in to be examined, the nurse told me she thought I wouldn't be dilated very far, since I was so calm and it was my first baby. She was quite surprised to find out that I was 6 cm dilated! I still wasn't feeling anything too much, so I visited a good friend of mine who had just had her baby 2 days before. Once I got to 9 cm, things just kind of stopped for awhile, and the doctor actually asked me if I was waiting for my parents to come! I was given some pitocin, things started up again, Mom and Dad got there, and Nathan was born at 5:24. Praise the Lord! The only bad thing was that then just a few short hours later, visiting hours were over, and Bob had to leave me alone with this tiny scrap of humanity, who was now totally dependent on me. I was terrified! And since it was in a military hospital, a tech came around and gave me this raft of forms to fill out--when I nursed, how long on each side, bowel movements, wet diapers, etc. And he gave me one of those nose aspirators and told me how to use it. I asked how I would know if I should use it, and he replied ominously, "Oh you'll know." I was so scared. I was sharing a room with a lady who had just had her third baby, and she breezily told me that she never slept well in hospitals, so she always just kept the TV on all night. Hope I didn't mind! That was not a very restful night, but thankfully she left the next morning. I was so glad to go home a few days later, where our wonderful neighbor Pam had put up a "Welcome Home" sign on our house, and even better, had put the "Noah's Ark" border all around Nathan's room! It's amazing how far I've come, but I so clearly remember the feelings of helplessness and incompetence that I had those first days (weeks?) as a new mom. One thing that really helped was our good friends the L's moved to Colorado right after Nathan was born, and they actually lived with us for 8 months while waiting for their house to sell. It was wonderful to have Elizabeth's calm and competent self around all the time to help me feel like I could handle things, or, more importantly, know that whatever Nathan was doing was perfectly normal. I guess that won't work for many other people, but it has made me really try to reach out to new moms to help provide some of that same support I got from Elizabeth!

Aslan tales

I read an amazing story this morning in the Dayton Daily about a 12 year old girl from Ethiopia who was abducted and beaten by a gang of men who wanted to force her to marry one of them. But then she was rescued by 3 lions who chased off her attackers! She was beaten repeatedly before she was found June 9 by police and relatives on the outskirts of Bita Genet, Wondimu said. She had been guarded by the lions for about half a day, he said."They stood guard until we found her and then they just left her like a gift and went back into the forest," Wondimu said. I said yesterday that we had been listening to "The Chronicles of Narnia", which of course feature a huge lion named Aslan who is a type of Christ. This news story so reminded me of "The Horse and His Boy" which is the story of an orphan slave boy who is escaping to Narnia with a talking horse. He finally meets Aslan and he tells him what an unlucky life he's had--he was washed up on shore as a baby and doesn't know who he really is, he was a slave, he's been chased by lions a few times, etc. Aslan says to him that he has really had a fortunate life because Alsan was the one who pushed the boat to the shore so as a baby, he didn't die of starvation. Aslan was the lion who chased off the jackals that were going to attack as he hid outside a city. Aslan chased his horse to make it run faster so they could deliver a message in time, and so on. In every part of his life, Aslan was there watching and protecting. It's a really beautiful scene of the book, and it's such a wonderful allegory for how Jesus is in our lives, even if we don't understand what he's doing. Those lions in Ethiopia sound like relatives of Aslan. I pray that the little girl in the story will some day be able to find Christ. He must have had a reason for her life to be saved in such a dramatic fashion.

Beautiful Colorado

We're back in Ohio after 2 weeks in beautiful Colorado without any computer access. Did we miss anything while we were out of www contact? No. But now that we're back in the realms of civilization, I figured I would tell a little bit about our trip. The boys traveled very well. It took 3 days of driving (about 1700 miles to get there), and our friends let us borrow Focus on the Family's Radio Theatre presentations of some of the Chronicles of Narnia. Wow, are those spell-binding! We listened to "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe", "Prince Caspian", and "The Silver Chair" on the way out, and that made the miles pass by so quickly. In fact, we visited Focus's headquarters while we were there and bought the entire set so we could listen to the others on the drive back. We also bought "Anne of Green Gables", but I just now made the disappointing discovery that somehow I bought the cassettes instead of the CDs. Gee, I wonder how I could have made a mistake like that, considering all I had to be distracted by was 4 tired kids (one of them, Jonathan, fussing and squirming to get out of the stroller!) who were ready for lunch after the tour of the admin building! Oh well. I am recommending these series to any and everyone, though--they are really well-done. 

The first week we were there, the boys and I went to a lot of museums in Colorado Springs that Bob and I had never been to while we were there. We visited the Mining Museum, the Money Museum, Pioneers' Museum, had a picnic at Memorial Park, and of course went to the Air Force Academy and Garden of the Gods. We also did some shopping at places like Media Play, which they don't have in Ohio or Virginia, and I also got the boys' picture taken at Kiddie Kandids. The pictures turned out really well. I have always had good experiences there, and I so wish they were back East too! It's a challenge to get 4 young boys to all smile at the same time, but the photographer we had did a wonderful job. Bob had his class every day and got back to the hotel around 5:00 or so. He enjoyed it, so it was a good TDY for him too. We did things like walk around Manitou Springs in the evenings, and on Saturday we went to the Rock Ledge Ranch, which is a living history place with volunteers who dress the part and do things the old-fashioned way. That was really interesting. 

Then our good friends the L's from Virginia got there too, and we had a lot of fun the second week with them. We went to the North Pole Amusment Park Sunday, which was Nathan's big wish. The clouds kept coming in and going out, and it sprinkled a few times, so there weren't very many people there. The boys could ride whatever they wanted and stay on for another ride if they so chose, so really it was a perfect day. We visited the Ghost Town Museum, the Van Briggle Pottery Factory, and Focus on the Family with the L's the next week, as well as the Flying W Ranch for dinner. We actually ate outside there for the first time ever. It was a gorgeous night. Wednesday night our family went to the Ringling Brothers'/Barnum and Bailey Circus. It was Opening Night, and tickets were only $10.00! The boys were transfixed by all the action and excitement. It started at 7:30, and Jonathan was mesmerized for about 45 minutes. Then he just was tired and wiggly, so I felt like I wrestled through the last half of the circus to keep him on my lap and quiet. Actually it didn't much matter if he was quiet or not, since the whole place was so loud! On Friday, our last day in Colorado, the boys and I hiked with the L's. We hiked to the Crags, which is one of my favorite trails. It's only about 1.8 miles one way, but at the end you are on a big rocky promontory, and you have views like you are at the top of Pikes Peak, even though you are only around 11,000 feet. Of course, I didn't really pack for hiking, so I didn't have a baby packpack or anything for Jonathan. Ed carried him most of the way up, with some help from Jessica, and Anthony carried him (and my regular backpack!) most of the way back down, while Jonathan took a nice nap (Thanks, Anth!). Caleb was a real trooper, but he conked out about half-way back, and Ed stepped up to carry him the rest of the way. Caleb's quite a chunk--Bob wasn't so sorry he missed the hike when he heard about all the heavy lifting he missed! : ) I was thankful to have all the help though--I had just assumed I wouldn't be able to go all the way to the top with the little boys. It was a beautiful, cloudless day, and I must say it was the perfect way to end a wonderful vacation in Colorado. 

I will confess that after being there a few days, Bob and I were both thinking about ways we could get back out there to live! I think those mountains just stay in you after you look at them for a few years. I bought a new "mountain-y" calendar for next year. At least that way I can keep a reminder of the mountains in my kitchen!

Track Meet

Nathan and Luke had a track meet yesterday. We had to be there at 7:30 in the morning, although events didn't officially start until 8:30, and it didn't end until after 1:00. Whew! Since we had to get up so early (the school was 30 minutes away), we wisely decided that just I would go, and Bob would stay home with Caleb and Jonathan. That was so the right decision for many reasons. For one, the stadium is an old stadium, and the bleachers were definitely not "safety" bleachers. There was no railing or anything under the seats to prevent one from falling through, and at the last meet there (while we were camping), a little 5 year-old boy fell through and had to be medevac-ed out. Scary. Also, there was tons of just waiting around. I know that's how track meets normally are, but still, I was so glad I wasn't having to entertain 2 crabby little boys and keep them from falling under the bleachers while waiting! Thirdly, it was very sunny all day long, although it was pretty chilly in the morning, and we all got sunburned. That brings me to my fourth reason--I was totally unprepared for this meet! Now I used to run track--I've been to lots of track meets. And in general I am a VERY prepared person, one who makes lots of lists and is ready for any potential situation. I don't know if it was just the early time, but I waltzed out of the house with some granola bars, a jug of water, a crossword puzzle, and my cell phone (yes, I remembered that!). We drove Bob's car, and I forgot to switch my sunglasses so I didn't have those. I had no sunscreen, no cushion to make the bleachers softer and help my poor back, no sandwiches or anything for lunch. It was a LONG day, let me tell you! The boys had a fun time running and throwing the turbo-jav (the little javelins with rubber tips), but they were so tired (and hungry) by the time it was all over. We'll be in Colorado for the remaining meets, but I must say I'm not all that sorry! Once was enough for this year. The meet itself was interesting. It's run by the Potomac Valley Track Club , and it was completely open meet--anyone from I think 2 - 89 could compete in as many events as they wanted to for one entry fee. What a deal! So there were seniors as well as people who were in training and quite good, as well as the kids in our track club, kids in other track clubs, and other random kids who just decided to do this that day on their own. I've never heard of anything like it, but I really like the concept. I will say this for the D.C. Metro area--there are a lot of opportunites here that you don't find other places! [Paragraph break--I'm having trouble with "enter" again] Today we went swimming right after lunch, so we got even more sun. At least I brought sunscreen this time! We got summer passes to a pool that's not too far from here. It's the one our next-door neighbors are also members of. Nathan really wanted to swim on the swim team this year, but we're going to be gone for a lot of the practices with our trip. Since he's not really that great of a swimmer, he certainly needs a lot of practice, so I told him maybe next year. Hopefully we can do some more lessons this year, and then he'll be more prepared next year. The pool seemed like it would work fine for us, but the water was freezing today! Almost as soon as we got there, the clouds started forming, which really made it cool. Now it's pouring down rain--hopefully it will soon stop so we can still grill out our steaks and hot dogs!

Remembering

This Memorial Day weekend, we've pretty much gone about life as usual. And because we were able to do that, we are so thankful for the men and women who have served our country and especially those who have given our lives to allow us to have these freedoms we enjoy so casually. We've read with the boys some of the articles in the papers that talk about some soldiers who haven't come back home because I think that really puts a human face on things. Our homeschool co-op supports and prays for a platoon over in Iraq, and this past week one soldier from there was killed and 2 more were wounded, so news like that certainly makes an impression on the boys. One soldier is for sure coming here to Walter Reed, so our group is looking forward to being able to help him and his wife get what they need. Sometimes when I'm out driving around, I think about what it would be like if I lived in a country that wasn't free. It's hard to imagine, and for that, I thank our soldiers, and we remember those who paid the price of their life. And here's a big personal "thank you" to all the Air Force men in my life--my Grandpa, my Dad, and of course, my husband!

Great Recipes!

Okay,I'm up late and certainly wasn't planning to post anymore today. But I was reading the Well-Trained Mind Message Boards, and someone posted this most hilarious link to old Weight Watcher recipes. I laughed so hard, and now I'm ready to start cooking! I'll be in that new bathing suit in no time! : ) There are a couple of bad words in the descriptions, so just be warned, though. Scroll down to where it says "Click here to start the tour." LOL! I'm still laughing! I must go get Bob. . .

New Swimsuit!

Today my new swimsuit came from Land's End! It looks like this, even down to the "light cobalt blue" pictured. I really like it. I even got the "long torso" version. I am long-waisted, and I love being able to reach up and not have the suit ride up and show all my lovely stretch marks (or "racing stripes" as Zoe from Baby Blues calls them). Unfortunately, I do not look anything like the model. Oh well. I have discovered that I am now almost the same weight that I was 8 years ago--when I was 9 months pregnant with Nathan! So in 8 years, I have gained almost 25 pounds. Actually, it's worse than that--in the last 10 months, since I've stopped nursing, I've gained 12 pounds! Before that I just kind of held steady in the middle--bigger than pre-babies, but not too big. As my Grandma would say, "My sands shifted." But something happened to my metabolism during the 3 years we were in Ohio. Those 3 years I was either pregnant or nursing all but about 1 month of the time. After I had Jonathan, I went back down to my usual weight, but after I stopped nursing him in August, I started noticing that I was gaining weight. Ack! It seems that my metabolism has slowed down, and now I am unable to just eat whatever I feel like and not gain weight. I was doing great at exercising, but then we all got so sick in February, and I still haven't been able to get up and exercise in the morning since then because Jonathan has started waking up very randomly and early. Seeing myself in the mirror with a swimsuit on tends to have a galvanizing effect, though, and you can bet I was down in the basement exercising during his naptime this afternoon! : )

Another Weekly Update

1. Here is what our cell phones look like. Although they don't show the different colors online, mine is "champagne rose", which actually is a very light color, not really pink at all. Bob's is "blue ice". I still haven't gotten used to it, although I did remember to take it with me when I ran errands on Saturday. I am finding it tlhard to program numbers in it, although to be fair, I haven't devoted much time to learning how to. Let's just say it's not intuitive.

2. Jonathan has started using the little potty chair. Since I am a firm believer in waiting until boys are near 3 to even start, you can be sure this wasn't MY idea. I'm calling it "Brother-Directed Potty Training". Whenever Caleb has to go, he takes Jonathan in with him and helps him out of his diaper and onto the little potty. Then they both do their business. Caleb even dumps out Jonathan's little potty, so all I have to do is put the diaper back on. Jonathan likes to go, but only if he is reminded. He doen't tell me on his own, so I'm not going to push any farthur on the issue. It's just not worth the stress of accidents and reminding all the time for a few fewer months of diapers. But hey, practice is always good.

3. Jonathan is also talking alot. Here are some of his favorite expressions: "Mine!" "I want that!" "Heeeyyyyyy!" "Give that back!", and of course, "Noooooooo!" Where did all those cute little baby gurgles and coos go? I want those back!

4. I got another cankersore, so my new toothpaste is not the cure-all wonder that I had hoped. I waited the sore out for awhile to see if it would be less intense or anything, but alas, it got just as big and painful as the others. I then tried another home remedy to supposedly take away the pain and promote healing--mixing 1 tsp. of Benedryl liquid and 1 tsp. of Milk of Magnesia, and swishing that around in my mouth several times a day. It did numb my mouth pretty effectively, and the sore did go away quickly when I started using it, but since the sore had already gotten so big, it wasn't really a very valid trial. I'll start using that as soon as I feel the next sore coming on, and then we'll see if it makes the sore go away faster.

Alright, update over. Time for dinner!

Teacher In-Service Day

Do you remember those teacher in-service days we used to get off in school? I always wondered what exactly the teachers were up to, but I didn't really care much since we didn't have school. Today was an in-service day for me. Doing all this organizing prompted me to issue an invitation at Bible study last Friday to the other moms (all of whom homeschool). I invited them to come here and talk about curriculum this morning while the kids all played. This prompted a round of thorough cleaning (WHY is it that I am only really motivated to clean when I have people coming over?!), so really the house has never looked better than it did this morning! : ) Of course, having 15 kids here for several hours left it looking rather um . . . cluttered, but at least the underlying surfaces are clean. Anyhow, there were 5 of us, and it was so helpful to see what everyone brought and talk through different curriculum choices, discuss pros and cons, etc. I got several good ideas. There are so many resources out there that if I can't see it, I'm probably not even going to consider buying. It's just too big of a risk that we might not like it or it might not work for us, even if it is really great for someone else. The kids all played so well together--no fusses at all! That may have been a result of all the food we had to munch on. Nathan made banana bread last night, I made blueberry muffins this morning, and I had lots of fresh strawberries and grapes also. So my first "Curriculum Day" was a success, and it was just a lot of fun to get together and talk . What an encouragement!

Organizing

I haven't blogged much lately. We've been busy, I guess. One thing that we've been doing is trying to get on top of the piles of papers we have around, especially in the kitchen. What a never-ending chore! We are the worst for dealing with papers, especially mail. I've even read books (library ones, of course!) on various systems to deal with paper coming in, but so far nothing has seemed to help. When we moved in last summer, we put our computer on the little built-in "planning desk" in the kitchen. It was convenient, albeit a bit crowded there, but it also took up space that could have been used to at least PUT papers--instead we let them pile up on our kitchen island, making it basically unuseable most of the time. Now with Bob's realtor stuff beginning to take up even more space, we finally decided that the computer and all accompanying paperwork, especially of the real estate variety, really needed to go into the study. And, since we got all those new bookcases (which are finally all assembled and filled--with space left over, let me say happily!), we actually have room on the desk in there to do it. Wow, it makes the kitchen seem so much bigger to have that space opened up! Baby steps to organization . . .

Summer School

We pretty much school year-round, since it just seems to work better that way. We take a week off here and there, but long periods off, like when I have a baby, just seem to throw things into disarray, so we try not to do that too often. As an aside from that thought, lots of parents don't like summer vacation because their kids are always saying they're bored, but for us, if we keep in the same routine we've been in all along, then they have plenty of free time in the afternoons, and they really enjoy it because they know they could be inside doing more schoolwork. Routine is my friend! That said, we do lighter stuff over the summer, and with this trip to Colorado looming ahead, we will certainly be taking some time off of our formal studies. Right now, Nathan just finished his achievement testing. Over the next few weeks, I'm planning on doing a little unit on classical music using Story of the Orchestra as a kind of base. Since getting Beethoven's Wig (a CD where they have put words to famous classical pieces--it is so fun), the boys have been pretty interested in classical music, so I figured it would be a good time. For science, we're busy with our "deck garden", which is coming along nicely. Bob made an impressive pole structure for our beans the other day. We also have a creek not too far from our house, along a little walking path, so I imagine we'll spend plenty of time down there observing. In math, everyone will just continue where they are--Nathan is almost through with Saxon 3, and Luke is almost halfway through Saxon 2. I still haven't decided what Nathan will be doing next. I guess I'd better get on that! We're only halfway through Story of the World 2 (Middle Ages) , so we'll keep plowing on there too. I think we take too much time reading the extra literature and history suggestions in the activity guide! Ah well, there's no hurry. One fun thing we're planning to do is build a castle out of boxes and other stuff like that. It was in the the March issue of Family Fun, and it looks like a really fun project. Nathan loves stuff like that, and he's been collecting the various parts since we got the magazine! We're also planning on having a "medieval feast" party maybe in July. Since we don't really have birthday parties with lots of other people, this will kind of be our one big celebration where we invite kids over. For Latin, we're going to do a fun thing over the summer. It's called Minimus, and it combines Latin language instruction with Roman history in a cartoon-like format. It looks fun, and I think it will be a nice break while helping the boys retain what they learned from Prima Latina. Then in the fall, we'll start Latin Christiana. We probably won't do much formal grammer this summer, but I am planning on continuing to work with Nathan on his abominable spelling! So that will give you a little summary of our summer school plans!

Vacation Plans

In the latest issue of Kiplinger Magazine , there's an article about saving for vacations. They highlight a family with one child who have saved $5,000 for their annual vacation to Florida. That is a really great thing, saving so much money like that, but I think I would have a heart attack if we ever spend even half that much on a vacation. Instead we prefer a plan I like to call "government-sponsored vacations". Bob has some training out in Colorado this summer, so we'll be driving out there for 2 weeks. The Air Force will pay us to drive (since they'll be saving the cost of a rental car), and they'll pay for our hotel too, as well as give us per diem for food. What a deal! Now it will take us 3 days to drive out there, and they only give one travel day, so Bob will have to use some leave, but that's literally a small price to pay. We're all so excited about going back to Colorado. We still have friends there, and of course there are so many things to do. For sure we'll stop by the Air Force Academy to see our old house and stock up on USAFA apparel. Nathan can't wait to go to the North Pole Amusement Park . We last went on his third birthday. It's a great place for kids. We'll also be sure to go to the Flying W Ranch for dinner and to hear the Flying W Wranglers sing. Those are some of our favorite places, and there are many more. We'll see what else we can fit in after Bob's training is over each day. Much more relaxing and cheaper than fighting the crowds at hot Disney World this summer! : )

Welcome to the 21st century!

We got cell phones today! Bob and I each have one, and they even work at our house! We went with Sprint, since that's the only one that seems to work here for any of our neighbors, and we got 2 phones. I guess we're about the last people in the US to get these (the people in the Sprint store were astonished when we said we had never had a cell phone before), and I do see how it will be convenient, but I'm never very excited about adding another monthly bill. At least we get a 10% monthly discount for being credit union members or somesuch. My diaper bag has a cute little holder on the strap for a cell--now I finally have something to put there!

A Grand Camping Adventure

This weekend we went on a "practice" camping trip with our friends the L's--only one night, to work out the kinks, since it's been almost 4 years since we actually camped. We planned to go to Shenandoah National Park and camp at the Mathews Arms campground. Since it doesn't require reservations, and doesn't have showers, we figured it was more like our kind of camping and it wouldn't fill up as fast. Imagine our surprise as we drove up to the park entrance gate and read the sign which said "Mathew's Arms closed", and the other 2 campgrounds were listed as "Full"! So it turns out that the campground wasn't going to open until May 29, a fact which is listed nowhere on the park website (the site says in several places that the campground opens "mid-May", and since the other campgrounds are already open and taking reservations, and they also were also supposed to open in mid-May, we figured that this one would be open now too). We forgot we were dealing with government beaurocracy, however, and they probably determined different campground opening days by throwing darts at the calender. We paid our entrance fee anyway, and went to the Visitors Center to ask more questions and regroup. The rangers there were apologetic, and they tried to direct us to some commercial campgrounds in Front Royal; you know, the types that have miniture golf, etc., "and a few sites that are in the shade", as the ranger said. No thanks! I knew there was a national forest nearby, so I asked if there were any campgrounds there, and if they would be open. The rangers were surprised but went to call. It turned out they were open, so we ate a picnic in the park, then drove on to seek a good campsite elsewhere. You can't say we aren't flexible! As we drove out, we noticed dark threatening skies ahead, and sure enough, the heavens opened as we drove back through Front Royal and headed west. After some very heavy rain, the sky grew lighter and clearer, and it stopped raining. We found the NFS campground, and we even found 2 good sites next to each other. Our trip was looking up! We started to set up the tents when again the skies grew dark, and another downpour ensued. Bob struggled manfully with the tent, getting it up and covered with the fly so it didn't get drenched inside during all the rain. Of course, HE got soaked! Then the rain lessened, the sky lightened, and behold, a sunny day again! This process repeated itself actually 5 times during the course of the evening. We would finally decided that the sky looked good, we would get the camping chairs back out of the car or tent, or start fixing something like dinner, and then the sky would suddenly darken and the floodgates would open. After several minutes of drenching rain, it would all stop, and we would slowly emerge from wherever we had taken shelter to find the fire sputtering and smoking. Eventually we all just wore ponchos and left the chairs inside the tent (to appease the rain god--"You must stand in my presence"--LOL!). Our master firekeeper, Ed L., certainly had his work cut out for him, espcially since one of the items we forgot was those firestarter sticks. Let's just say our fire was smoky from damp sticks much of the time! Fortunately we had brought firewood, and our first priority when evacuating for these downpours was to save it, so it remained fairly dry.

We were supposed to camp with another set of friends, the B's. They are preparing to move, so it would be one last time to visit. Well, Jeff decided they really didn't want to camp, since they never really had done it before, but they would just meet us at our campsite, eat dinner with us, then drive back that night. Their daughter had a soccer game Saturday afternoon, so they couldn't leave when we did. Elizabeth L. called them while we were still in Shenandoah and told them we were heading to "Elizabeth Furnace", but then they got cut off, and she couldn't get a signal again. We figured the B's would never be able to find us in this remote little NFS campground, so after we got the tents up, Elizabeth and I were planning to drive back into Front Royal until we could get a cell phone signal to call. As we were getting ready to leave, who should drive up but the B's! We were mightily impressed, not only with their navigational skills, but also with their determination, since they were driving through these terrible deluges to find an unknown remote spot in the middle of a forest with no one to guide them! As it turned out, they were the perfect addition to our camping trip. Due to some foresightful procrastination (or the leading of the Holy Spirit!), Dawn B. had 3 garbage bags of clothes destined for Goodwill in the back of their van. Since we were all getting soaked, the extra clothes came in very handy. At one point Jeff emerged from the back wearing a classy tweed suit jacket, which really set the mood for the evening. The rest of us bemoaned the fact that we had forgotten our dressy camping dinner attire. There were also some sheets in there, which we used to mop up all the water and gravel that puddled in our tents after we kept running in and out of them several times. I doubt even Goodwill really wants those anymore! I think the B's were secretly glad to leave after s'mores and go home where it was dry. We had a great time visiting with them though. We told them they had dropped in on the "Advanced Family Camping" course--it had never been like this before for us!

While all the rain excitement was going on, another drama was also playing out. Caleb ate part of a cookie that turned out to have some peanut pieces in it. He gave it to me and told me he didn't like it, and that's when I realized what was in it. After beating myself up for not being more observant, I gave him some benedryl. He never got hives or anything, so that is a praise. His stomach hurt though, and he did throw up one time. He just sat around for a little while, but then he was fine, praise the Lord. I was scared though.

The kids all had a great time. It's hard to believe this is the first time for both Caleb and Jonathan to go. They dug in the gravel with our construction toys and buckets. The sites were nice, but the nicest part was that the campground had flush toilets! I was shocked! All the NFS campgrounds in CO only had pit toilets. There was also hot water here, and you could take a shower! All we could figure was that the Forest Service gets more money on the East Coast, or maybe they don't have to pay for all those pesky forest fires or something. Anyway, it was a very pleasant surprise, and certainly made the day more enjoyable. All in all, it was a very fun time, with a lot of memories. We all agreed that this camping trip would always be remembered, and it would never blur into any of the other ones! And we really only forgot a very few things--things went very smoothly, even with 8 kids! The hardest part was coming back here and having to unfurl everything all across the front yard to let it all dry (yard sale, anyone?). Bob and the boys are making good use of that time though--they have opened a lemonade stand and are selling cups to all our curious neighbors. Of course, today is a hot sunny day. Oh well!

New Toothpaste

Well, I'm sure everyone has been dying to know what is happening in my great toothpaste experiment. To refreash your memories, I have suffered from horrible cankersores for years and years, but some internet research that I did recommended switching toothpastes to one that did not have sodium lauryl sulfate. That does not include any that you might find at a place like WalMart, so I had to venture out to our local health food store. There I found Doctor Burt's Lavender and Mint Toothpaste, which is made by the Burt's Bees company. It proudly states "No sodium lauryl sulfate!" on its label, so I figured it was exactly what I was looking for. It smells good, sort of like an herbal tea , but unfortunately that is also exactly what it tastes like when you use it to brush--very bitter! So far it has received a thumb's down from all the boys as well as Bob (the only one who actually brushed with it). I never really thought much about the importance of "foaming agents" in my toothpaste, but it turns out to really make quite a difference. I don't feel like my mouth is really *clean* after I brush anymore, so I'm ending up using a lot of mouthwash too. But I'm definitely going to keep with it. When I started using it, I had 2 cankersores that were beginning to get big at the front of my mouth. To my surprise, they just sort of disappeared. They never peaked at the huge, raging stage like they usually do. I'm sold! And I haven't had any more since then. In a way, it makes sense--when I start to have canker sores, I brush my teeth ALL THE TIME because mouth acid is irritating to the sores, so I want that clean just-brushed taste in my mouth. But if the toothpaste itself is actually an irritant, then the sores will just get bigger and bigger, and I would keep getting more of them, which is always what happened. Praise the Lord! It's hard for me to even imagine life without cankersores, but I'm so thrilled with this relief!

"Design on a Dime" Wannabe

I'm a big fan of the HGTV show Design on a Dime. The designers have a budget of $1,000 to make over a room or something, and they always end up doing something that looks great but stays within budget by just whipping together a few pieces of furniture or light fixtures--you know, stuff any average Joe could do (not!). Well, for Christmas we got Nathan and Luke each a "Crusader" set of plastic armor, which all the boys have loved. In fact, the armor has been TOO well-loved, and the breastpieces have cracked in half due to being stepped on. So I came up with the bright idea of making some armor out of some sort of fabric so it would stand up to typical battle abuse here in the house. We trotted off to Joann's Fabrics last week to see what we could come up with. We went all through the store, and I though I was going to have to go with plain black vinyl because I just didn't see anything else that would be sturdy enough or looked enough like armor. But I couldn't figure out how I could attach straps to the vinyl. We wandered over to the upholstery part as I looked for some kind of tack or something. Then I spotted it--a roll of upholstery fabric that was black underneath but had silver intertwined all over it. Picture something used to cover seats in cars maybe 10 or 15 years ago--that sort of a design. It looked exactly like chain mail! I was quite excited, and it was only $6.96 a yard. When the lady cut a yard and then unfolded the fabric, she realized that there was actually a big piece missing from the other half, but there wasn't enough left to just cut a second yard. So she asked me if I could still use what she had cut, and she said she would give me a big discount. Of course I said sure! She gave me 50% off! I spent Friday cutting the material into 4 breastplate-like shapes and sewing elastic to make little armholes. Hmm, it's hard to explain. It looks sort of like an apron with thicker shoulder straps and elastic under the arms so it stays on. Anyhow, it does look like armor, and the boys are so happy! So I made 4 breastplates, and it cost less than $5.00 (counting the elastic). Success--I AM a successful "Design on a Dime" graduate!

Caleb in particular is going through a real "King Arthur" phase. By that I mean he IS King Arthur. We have one book called "Tales of King Arthur" which I picked up off a Barnes and Noble bargain books table awhile ago. He has paged through that so many times, and now everything is referenced back to that book.

Me: "Time to take a bath, Caleb."

Caleb: "King Arthur doesn't take baths, Mom."

Me: "Yes, he did."

Caleb: "No, there are no pictures of him taking a bath in the King Arthur book."

Me: "Well, when his mom told him to take a bath, then he took a bath!"

It's not that Caleb doesn't like baths, he just can't do anything that King Arthur wouldn't do (since he IS king Arthur). The book shows Arthur wearing a cape, so Caleb ties a red bandana around his neck for that. Arthur always wears boots, so Caleb wears his cowboy boots. With his armor on and carrying his shield and sword, the picture is really one of a "cowboy" King Arthur. I guess my next trip to Joann's will be to look for material suitable for a kingly cape (on a budget of only $4.00 or less--just kidding!).

Congratulations, Nathan!

Our homeschool co-op group has been taking the Presidential Physical Fitness Test the last two Tuesdays. The first Tuesday they met at the church and did most of the events, like the push-ups, sit-ups, and so on. This past Tuesday we met at a local park so they could do the run, and they also had the chance to redo some of the other events if they wanted to try to better their scores. Nathan and Luke had to run a quarter mile, and Nathan ran his in 1:46, while Luke was not far behind at 1:54. Nathan chose to redo a few events (push-ups and the shuttle run), and by doing those and raising his scores there, he qualified for the Presidential Physical Fitness Award, the highest level! Yay, Nathan! Luke was pretty close to getting a National Award, but he chose to play on the playground instead of trying some more situps! Here are the standards that Nathan had to meet (he's 7, in case you forgot!). He was pretty happy, but I think I was even more excited. This is a measurable thing that I can pass on to Bob's parents when we see them this weekend! Bob used to be a Presidental winner too, so I know they've heard of the program. I could really tell that the track team has helped Nathan and Luke, not only in their running, but also in their flexibility and stomach strength. Nathan just said today that he hopes they can run on the team again next year. They got their uniforms on Monday, which they were so excited about. They would wear them everywhere if they could! Hey, I'll have to take some pictures! : )

Another Birthday!

Today is a special day--my husband's birthday! And he turns 40! We've been married almost 12 years now, and the longer we are married, the more I can see that he is just the right man for me. He's a fun, life-of-the-party kind of guy (and I certainly am not), but I can tell that I am more outgoing and confident since we've been married! Also, I don't like confrontation at all (still don't, really), but I used to not even be able to return things to stores without total embarrassment. That's all changed, thanks to influence of my bold "the customer is always right" husband! He encourages me and supports me in our homeschooling, and just in being a stay-at-home mom, which is so important to me. He's a good provider, a faithful husband, and a loving daddy to our boys. These next few years of transition are going to be stretching times for us, but I am confident they will eventually bring our family even closer together. Happy birthday, Bob! I hope we celebrate many, many more of them together! : )

A New Love For Philately

First of all, does everyone even know what "philately" is? It is the hobby of "stamp-collecting", and we are new initiates. For CHristmas, Nathan recieved from Uncle Dan, via Grandma, a whole bunch of old loose stamps, letters with stamps on them, etc., as well as 2 stamp collecting albums (is that even the right word?). Nathan has looked thorugh the books, but we never actually got around to putting any more stamps in the books. Yesterday afternoon, he brought down the whole kit and caboodle, and asked if we could work on it. I said we'd start by sorting the loose stamps into groups, figuring that was a safe place to start, since I didn't really ahve a clue as to how to actually go about putting the stamps into the albums. So we all started sorting, and you know, it was fascinating! There were all these countries we couldn't even figure out ("Magyar", "Republik Maluku Selatan", "Helvetia"), as well as ones we could make guesses about but were obviously pretty old ("Ceskoslovensko", "Republik Osterreich"). There were several from the old Soviet Union and East Germany. Overall, we must have sorted over 200 loose stamps--it took several hours, and I actually broke away in the middle of it to go to the library for a stamp book to answer all our questions! The only book they had though was just a stamp atlas, so while it was helpful in determining some of the countries' old names, it didn't answer a lot about the stamps themselves, and there were still some countries we couldn't get. I did some internet research last night, and discovered that "Republik Maluku Selatan" was actually some islands who didn't want to become part of the Republic of Indonesia. They issued 130 different stamps between 1950 and 1954, but since they were never actually a country, the stmaps aren't recognized anywhere. We've got tons of them here though, including the one at the bottom of that link. Interesting! We're just gluing the stamps into the book because all of ours (except the ones from Maluku!) have been canceled, so they're not pure, mint collecting ones. The pictures and designs on old stamps are so interesting, and you just have to wonder about the letters they took around the world. Here's a trivia question for you--what country has no country name on their stamps, and why not? (I'll tell the answer at the end.) I asked my mom last night where we got all these stamps, and she said they were all on letters that came to her and Dad! I said I really didn't think they could be, unless she had tons of pals in East Germany, as well as over in "Jugoslavija", and what were they doing corresponding with a whole bunch of Cubans? Then she said she thought they might be from our old neighbor in Xenia, Miss Evelyn, who gave them to Dan. Does that sound right, Dan? It certainly is an eclectic collection, and it's been alot of fun going through. This afternoon, the boys wanted to do some more. Luke is busy gluing in the stamps from "Magyar" (I'm sure everyone immediately recognized that as "Hungary"), of which there are enough for several pages, and Nathan is starting to go through the more modern ones that actually are from Grandma and Grandma, from their extensive international correspondence. This will really add to our Africa and Asia pages! I'm sure whenever anyone comes to visit, you will be invited to see this collection! And now for out trivia answer: the only country with no name on their stamps is Great Britain. They were the first country to issue postage stamps, in 1840, so they didn't need a country name, and the tradition still continues.