AM Pranksters

OK, I will give you an update on the Valley Home Educators Conference when my brain returns and life gets back to normal. I came home to some article due dates! :+)

Anyway, I had to share a tiny prank my oldest naughties pulled on me this morning. I have been overly exhausted and this morning was no exception. I woke up to my clock registering noon!! Needless to say I was stunned. I thought perhaps my daughters had just let me sleep (or something!!) because they were concerned about me. LOL!! HA! They had set all the clocks forward! It was not until "5:00pm" when I called my husband that I realized (by his surprise when I shared it was 5:00) that it was indeed only 1:00!!! What little snarkleheads. I will have to get them back sometime, but it may take some good scheming. LOL

Have your children pranked you before? :+) If so, I would love to hear I am not alone! :+)

I'm going!

I hope any of you going to the conference in Modesto will say hello to me if you see me! I may be scatter-brained enough not to recognize you since this week has been one of sickness and slight insanity. :+) I am leaving with my best non-blogging buddy tomorrow AM and dropping my five chillies with a dear sweet kind (can I say more?) friend for the day while Daddy works to support us. :+)

Anyway, I am grateful for the time to go, for my dear non-blogging friend, Grace for watching my wee bairns, and I hope to have a lovely time! If you think of us, whisper a prayer for road safety. Blessings to you this weekend!

Prayer Request

Please pray for our brothers and sisters taken by the Taliban in Afghanistan.

Michelle Malkin has the whole story with links and pictures. Please read it and pray with me.

May God go before them!

A Good Anniversary

It was a lovely evening of festive food and good company - my husband's! :+) We spent several hours at Marrakech Morroccan Restaurant in Sacramento. Yum!! The tables are low to the ground and you sit on cushions. They begin by pouring water over your hands and handing you a towel. You keep that towel because you will use it for the rest of the meal or you will be really dirty! :+)

 

Once your hands are rinsed they bring you a wonderfully savory lentilish soup with bread and a platter of five different salads. All these you eat with your hands and the bread. Once you have finished this they bring you out their Pastilla Classique. This marvelous creation is: "chicken, egg, and nuts baked in a flaky filo dough pie and topped with cinnamon and powdered sugar." Does that not sound yummy? I did not know there was egg in it - there is not an egg flavor at all! It comes out piping hot and you also get to eat that with your fingers. Then, to top it off, they bring you your choice of fantastic main meat dish. I chose chicken with lemon and olives and Mark chose honeyed lamb. Both came in bowls of fantastic sauce and both had to also be eaten with your hands. :+) It was a tricky adventure and now you see the need for the towels! They ended the meal with mint tea and a baklava-like dessert. SO good!

 

We were the only ones there that night because it was not a busy night. On belly dancing evenings they are packed. (NO thanks! LOL!) But it was really truly special. I feel so blessed to be married to my man and it was a wonderful celebration for us. Fifteen years, five beautiful children, and a Savior ruling our home - it does not get any better than that. :+)

It's Crystal!

Yes, it has been fifteen years since my beloved and I made our wedding vows in front of God and man.  Each of us wrote our own.  Just what did I say when I promised my life to my husband?  It was very good for me to read them again. Here is what I said:

 

Mark, I will always love you. I promise to make Jesus Christ the head of our lives, giving my heart to Him first, and then to you. I promise to make our home a warm place. A place of comfort, peace, and happiness. I pledge to respect you, honor you, encourage you and rejoice with you, through our sorrows and our joys, praising the Lord for all things.

 

Though adversity will surely come, our love will never fail. I will hope with you, pray with you, worship with you and above all will be one with you in the Lord Jesus Christ. I commit my life to you eternally, to cherish you from deep within me, and to be your best friend.

 

Mark, in front of our Sovereign Lord, our loving families and friends, I pledge myself to you forever. I love you.

 

And so, after these fifteen years, I pledge this again. I say to all the world that I love my husband, that I would do it all over again - the good times and the bad, the laughter and the tears. You are a precious gift from God to me and I am blessed to be your wife.

Happy Anniversary!

Caspian

Well, we have a new family member and his name is Caspian. This is our newest little man:

 

And he is only this big!

 

 

 

He is awfully snuggly. :+)

Summer Sun

For those of you who wonder why California is called the "Golden State" it is not because of the gold rush, but because of the hills. This was on the road to and from our Clear Lake adventure.

 

 

I am not so sure why "golden" is the term, but they have a lovely peaceful quality about them that I really enjoy. I think I would honestly miss the lonely oaks and scrub brush if we moved away! We even saw elk on the hills. Below is our the bread-basket of the state - the central valley.

 

 

The tall rows are corn. I loved the mountains in the distance. This was taken, as you can probably tell, from the car. :+) 

 

Here is where we ended up! A lovely timeshare my mother-in-law participates in. It was really wonderful!

 

 

 Here is the happy party of the first part:

 

 

And the party of the second part (notice we brought along our firecracker and our sparkle to prepare for the fourth)  - don't leave home without it!

 

 

And the party of the all-of-us part all together:

 

 

And they are all musical save ME. Ah well, we can't all be the same, right? :+) My brother-in-law is a drummer and his wife, my lovely and talented sister-in-law with the baby, is a singer. And as you can see, the other lovely and talented guitar-playing sister-in-law is, well, guitar-playing *in addition* to being a beautiful singer. And, if that was not intimidating enough for this sings-by-herself-in-the-car person, my mother-in-law also sings well! :+) I just hope it transfers in the genes somewhere along the lines! :+)

 

 

Cousins running...

 

 

Siblings sibbing...

 

 

Sunflower fields blurring on the drive home...

 

 

But somebody had had enough. :+)

 

 

It was a very good trip! Thank you, Grandma Linda!

 

 

Please Give to This Family

"The Spirit of God has made me; the breath of the Almighty gives me life."
Job 33:4 

 

As He has given us life, let us help to give life to a little one - one of the least of these. Thanks for reading.

 

 

This gift opportunity expires in seven days. Please be a part of it today!

 

 

Happy Independence Day!

It is good to be free, isn't it? I feel the ease of it every day. I have no real encumbrances upon my freedom to love my Savior openly and I can homeschool in whatever way I wish. There is a great deal, really, that I take for granted because it is natural and expected here in the United States. It is a blessing that is often overlooked. I don't want to do that today. I want to take stock in all that I have and what some people, even today, will give up for me.

 

I want to mention people like the Fightin' 6th Marines - these amazing people are doing what I never could do. This post says it all for me. Let's not forget these guys in prayer and let's not forget to say a great big THANK YOU! This is a blog for those of you who want a first hand look at what is really going on.

 

 

 

 

These ladies are honoring those that gave all because Freedom isn't Free. I have joined them. I cannot tell you what it feels like to give so much. I cannot tell you what it would feel like to give up my son--and if I am honest I hope I never have to know. There are so many though, that do. Let's not forget them today.

 

To all the families who are waiting for their loved ones today; to all the mothers and fathers who have given of their children; to all those who served in any war we have ever had; I want to say thank you today. There are no words to convey the grateful heart I have for all the sacrifice given the 231 years we have been a nation.

 

As we celebrate with barbeques and fireworks, sparkling eyes and happy smiles, let's remember those in the dirt and the heat of battle. As the Fightin' 6th said in their blog post today:

 

So please, with all sincerity, enjoy the Independence Day celebrations. Spend time with your families, savor your hamburgers and hotdogs, have a cold one (or two) for us. We will be here, doing that which must be done.

That's what we're here for.