Nathanael's home!

Nathanael finally came home Sunday afternoon. No delays! No breakdowns! It was an uneventful ride home. This picture was taken on the bus though on Friday afternoon on the side of the mountain. Imagine sitting there for four hours!
Watching the cars go by....... Funny thing is, Nathanael's cousin went to camp that weekend also and drove by the bus on the side of the road!
At least the view was nice!
They finally arrived and had a lot of fun on Saturday. Nathanael took some great pictures of the snow. Unfortunately, nobody took a picture of him.

Of course they had to have a snowball fight! I don't think anyone went swimming!

And of course, the group picture. This was his last junior high camp. Next year it will be high school camp. Yikes!

Go White Sox!

It's baseball time again! It was opening day today.
Jordan is on a new team with a new coach. So far so good!
Here he is getting ready to bat.
So serious. He loves this game.
No blog post is complete without a picture of Caleb! It rained on and off, but the game went on. It was cold! Baseball kept my mind off of Nathanael being gone!

Patience

Well, after many cell phone calls later, I am assuming they actually made it to camp about 8:30 last night. That would have put them on that school bus for approximately 7 hours. Nathanael broke the antenna off his cell phone a few months ago, so now his cell phone isn't working on the mountain and he is having to borrow other kids to be able to call me. I heard they finally made it from another mom, who spoke to another mom, who had heard from another mom that her daughter had texted her and said the were finally there eating dinner. They finally sent another school bus up there. I believe it arrived around 7:15. Then they had to put the chains on and then they got stuck in traffic. Being on a school bus for that long on the side of a mountain in that kind of weather is just wrong! So, anyway, he is there, he is excited to finally be there. Now I just pray they don't get snowed in and can actually come home tomorrow!!!!!

Camp update...

So, my cell phone rings a little while ago. It is Nathanael calling to say the schoolbus has broken down on their way up the mountain. He says they are fine. They will be there a couple of hours. It has started raining but all the windows are rolled up so they are staying warm. Ahhhhhhhhhh!

My baby has gone to camp :-(

Yes, Nathanael has left us again. He is at junior high winter camp. We were much better prepared this year, packing was a breeze, he had everything he needed. So why did I still cry when I dropped him off?
Does he look like he is going to miss me?
He did give me two hugs before I left.
I couldn't stay until the bus left. I did last year and that is when I really fell apart. I only cried a little. I tried to hold myself together since I had Jordan and Caleb in the car. I know he is going to have a great time. I bought him a new camera for the weekend so I can't wait to see what kind of pictures/videos he comes back with. It has been snowing there and is supposed to snow again Sunday, so it should be just beautiful. I will be happy when he is safely back home though!

Alaska cruise pictures

Make a photobook - it's easy!

Well, I really wish I had never found this website. I really need to get some things done. I wasn't even looking for this website for me, I was looking it up for a friend and now I am hooked! I found some old pictures of our Alaska cruise and put them in this album. It is kind of thrown together and the music doesn't really match, I just liked the song!

video experiment

Make a slideshow - it's easy!

Okay, I have been trying to put videos on here for a while. I have never wanted to take the time to figure it out, but I had this video of Caleb singing. I am sure there is an easier way than the way I did it, but if you have the patience and want to watch the video it is really cute. Caleb got mad in the beginning because he wanted to see himself while I was taping, so once I swung it around so he could see himself, he had no problems. The other pictures I just threw in there of Nathanael because I had them open because I was e-mailing pictures for the homeschool yearbook. So anyway, hope it works and hope you like it whoever watches it!

By the way, Caleb loves this song and sings it all the time. I am not even sure of the exact name of it, maybe Mighty to Save?

The best book

I had put this book on my "Christmas list" for Scott, but he didn't buy it for me. Well, when he was out of town last week he came home with "gifts" for all of us and he bought me this book. It was a fantastic book. I couldn't put it down. It was like watching a movie, and even though I already knew the ending, I couldn't wait to read all the details of his life. This book is a must read!

Tea Party

It was that time of year again. Our annual tea party for our Pioneer Club class. They all looked so pretty dressed up, even the teachers!
The girls practiced for their talent night before we got started.
I brought all my tea cups and tea pots again.
Here are the girls waiting to eat! We had peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and cucumber sandwiches, fruit, and chocolate chip cookies, and of course tea, well it was really lemonade and apple juice, but they drank it out of tea cups. Next year will be out last tea party. Sixth grade is as high as it goes. How sad :-(

Mother/Son Outing

On Saturday, Jordan and I went on a mother/son outing with the church. It was a lot of fun. Jordan and I hadn't done anything by ourselves in a really long time. I had to get this picture of him in front of the bus before we left.
When we got to the church, we had our picture taken and then we had lunch. Pizza, potato salad, hot cheetos and brownies!
Jordan wanted to be the first on the school bus so we could sit in the front. I'm so glad we did!

Jordan had fun with his friends Vince and Jeremy.
We went to see the Harlem Globe Trotters in Anaheim. I had never seen them before. It was interesting!

They did a lot of fun tricks with the kids in the audience. This girl had the ball spinning on her finger.

Ellen and I got to ride the bus too! You just have to love riding on a schoolbus!

Valentine's Day 2008

Scott was out of town on Valentine's Day, but he had these roses sent to me and the boys. They thought it was pretty cool that he did that since he was in another state! On the table is the beautiful card that Caleb made at preschool and the valentines he received from all his preschool friends. He had fun with this holiday.

"Silly Boys"

Scott has been out of town this week. He is supposed to come home tomorrow. He is going to want to know what we did while he was gone and these are the pictures I can show him!
I am sure everybody knows who they are trying to look like! I think it is funny. It scares Caleb, poor thing. The sad part is, even though they can't see the tv screen, they still play Guitar Hero just fine! Oh, how I can blackmail them when they are older! ha ha :-)

Jordan's Wednesday "Class"

On Wednesdays, while Nathanael is at his class at Biola, Jordan has his "class" at Ellen's. This past Wednesday they made ice cream.
As you can tell, the kids have a lot of fun hanging out together. Three moms switch off each week. One teaches cooking, one science, and the third California history. It breaks up the week a bit and gives Jordan a chance to get out of the house and be taught by someone other than me!

God's love

Another quote from Beth Moore...

"What heartbreak we must bring to God when we continue to disbelieve His love. What more could He have said? What more could He have done? Believe even when you do not feel. Know even when you do not see. He gave the life of His Son to demonstrate His love. The time has come to believe."

Night out with the girls...

On Saturday night, we met for dinner/desert for Ellen's birthday. We had a nice time of fellowship and getting out for a while. It is always such a blessing to spend the night with good friends and being able to talk and share about our lives, kids, and husbands. Encouraging and uplifting one another in the Lord. Again, I am so thankful for the friends the Lord has brought into my life. And again, thanks to Ellen for bringing the camera, because I forgot mine!

Sweethearts Dinner

On Friday night, our church had a Sweethearts Dinner at the Rio Hondo Country Club in Downey. It was a lot of fun. The worship was great, the food was incredible, and they had one of Scott and I's favorite pastors speak. His name is David Rosales. He is such a great speaker. He talked about marriage. He was so funny and yet so honest. It was a blessing to hear his message.
Here are the friends we sat with at our table. Lisa and Joel.
Victor and Ellen. And thanks to Ellen for these pictures because I left my camera in the car!
Michele and Rusty.
Shelley and Paul.

I was thinking that this was the same group of people we went out with last year for Valentine's Day. We had gone to Khoury's and the show. The Lord has blessed us with wonderful friends and we are very grateful!

The Year of New Appliances

One year ago exactly, our oven died. It was old, I think about ten years or so, but wanting to be a good steward of our money, I decided to have someone take a look at it. Well, it was $80 just for him to tell me it was pretty much shot, and it would cost a couple of hundred dollars to get it fixed. I paid him the $80 and asked Scott if we could buy a new one. He said yes and let me pick out what I wanted. Since I finally feel like a grown up and am tired of buying cheap stuff, I picked the one in the picture. I love it! It has five burners, the broiler is inside the oven. With our old oven the broiler was on the floor and I always burned everything because I could never see the food cooking. Now the bottom has storage, which is so important in my tiny, tiny kitchen. So I love it! I thought that would be the end of new appliances for a while, but I was mistaken!

About six months later, the dryer dies. Now that wasn't quite as old, only about six years or so, but after the fiasco with the oven, and with the amount of laundry I do, I decided to buy a new one. And it wasn't going to be another cheap one! I wanted a high effiencey dryer, but discovered you could only buy one if you had a high efficiency washer, which I did not have. So, I bought the best, biggest dryer I could find, it even has a rack inside for sweaters and things like that. It is so cool, I love it! It has so much room inside it actually dries our clothes!

Fast forward to last week, our washer starts leaking water all over the floor. I checked everything, I can't find where the water is coming from. All of the hoses are dry, the back of the washer isn't wet. Now the washing machine was really old. It was older than Nathanael and had been moved everywhere. I went straight to the store to buy a new one and this time I was able to get a front loader! You don't need a high efficiency dryer, any old dryer will do. They don't match, but that is ok. They are both white and about the same size. I have always liked doing laundry, weird I know. But I do two to three loads a day. I have always hated not having clean towels, or sheets, or someone complaining becuase they don't have any clean clothes. That never happens in my house. Everything is always clean. Now, with my new washing machine, I am actually excited to do my laundry! I have looked forward to it every morning. Weird obession of mine, I know, but it is so much fun!

I think we might be done with new appliances for a while. The microwave and refrigerator aren't that old, maybe a couple of years. So hopefully that will be it!

"Passionate Housewives Desperate for God"

Yes, I have started another book. The title caught my eye, and though at first I was a little put off by the title, because I generally don't like it when Christians "borrow" something from the world and try to make it Christian, it fits with this book! It is the perfect name for it. Whether you have no children or grown children, if you are a Christian who is married this book is a must read. I am only about half way through, and the beginning does concentrate somewhat on moms with toddler-age kids, it doesn't matter, you will be able to relate. It is such an important book for all Christian women, because we can still be pulled by the allure of "feminism" without even realizing it. The enemies lies are all around us and it is so easy to get pulled in and believe the lie. I just finished reading the chapter on "perfectionism" which is a huge weakness of mine. It hit home! I just wish I had this book 13 years ago, when I was just starting out. This book is especially a must read for anyone who is raising girls! I could go on and on, but I won't, I will just say read this book!

Pride

Ok, I know I keep talking about this book, but that means it is good, right?

New topic. Pride. No one seems to like to talk about it, or admit they are prideful. Or that it is a sin. Ouch. Here is something from the book on pride...

My name is Pride. I am a cheater.

I cheat you of your God-given destiny...because you demand your own way.

I cheat you of contentment...because you "deserve better than this."

I cheat you of knowledge...because you already know it all.

I cheat you of healing...because you're too full of me to forgive.

I cheat you of holiness...because you refuse to admit when you're wrong.

I cheat you of vision...because you'd rather look in the mirror than out a window.

I cheat you of genuine friendship...becasue nobody's going to know the real you.

I cheat you of love...because real romance demands sacrifice.

I cheat you of greatness in heaven...because you refuse to wash another's feet on earth.

I cheat you of God's glory...because I convince you to seek your own.

My name is Pride. I am a cheater.

You like me because you think I'm always looking

out for you. Untrue.

I'm looking to make a fool of you.

God has so much for you, I admit, but don't worry...

If you stick with me

You'll never know.