Looking For The Fountain Of Youth...

... If you're over 30, you probably shouldn't read this! Don't say I didn't warn you!

So... I am going to turn 30 this fall. THIRTY! How the heck did that happen? Tonight I found myself getting irritated with the kids in the health and beauty section of Wal-Mart, because I really wanted to read the labels on the different bottles and jars of lotion to see which one had the best shot of making my face look... let's say 25 ... And it was then that I realized that I am old!

But I don't really want to be old...

Not yet...

Lisa

Priorities...

... Can Be Overwhelming!

The next few weeks are going to be insanely busy in the homeschooling department. We have two weeks to make sure that Seth and Grace are prepared to take the ITBS (Iowa Test of Basic Skills), because homeschoolers are not (get this) ALLOWED to take the ISTEP (Indiana's standardized test). And then we'll spend a week actually taking the ITBS. This would be rather consuming in and of itself, but then there is Grace... little super star that she is...

Grace has to prepare for the District Finals quiz in April, accounting for lots and lots of hours... She is also preparing to play in the Guild Auditions (comparable to a solo and ensemble event) in early May, accounting for more lots and lots of hours...

And it's hard to get all of the priorities straight... I mean... we did, indeed, make it to library story time this morning (about 2 1/2 minutes late since we had to park halfway across town... the library is the happenin' place to be around here on Tuesday mornings, let me tell ya)! And, we got our new Y cards, even though we haven't darkened the door of the Y in months... Then there's a play date this afternoon... and a portrait shoot (or maybe two) tonight... and Elevate tomorrow night... and Illuminate on Thursday... which leads straight on in to "Fire" on Friday... and I have to do my school at some point, I suppose...

And it's past time to make lunch!

So... when all else fails, and I just can't get it all done, I've learned that the best thing to do is just to sit down and blog... because, after all, that's very productive, you know! I can take the half hour that I really should be doing 15 other things, and instead of doing any of them, I can stare at my computer screen and ramble on about all of the mundane things in life that no one really wants to read about... even if I did have more than three or four people who regularly visit this site...

Ah... I feel better now! I might even be able to clean out the toilets after we munch some mac and cheese...

Lisa

Funny, Runny Noses...

So... here's the quote of the day... from yesterday... from Ian, "Mommy, my nose is poopy!"

What he meant was that his nose was runny... hehehe... That child cracks me up lately!

Here's a quick video clip:



Lisa

Happy Spring!!!

A few quick notes from the past few weeks of my life...

*** Children will try the things they see on video games. If Mario and Sonic can do somersaults on the trampoline, then they think they can, too... This may result in severely bloody noses... Please keep in mind that if you shove gelatin under you child's upper lip when he or she has a nose bleed, the bleeding will most likely stop. This is not professional medical advice... just words of wisdom from experience. I do not know why it works, and I don't really think I want to... If you need any more proof, you can ask Grace about her recent experience. She will be trying less innovative tricks on the trampoline for the foreseeable future...

*** Four year olds are very intelligent. We were out on Wednesday, and around 5pm Seth and Grace started whining that they were hungry. We played with them a little bit and acted as if we weren't going to get them anything to eat. They were frustrated. But Caleb knew exactly what to say. He informed us that, "If we don't eat, we'll die!" This netted him (and everyone else) a good laugh and some McDs...

*** I took my CAAP exam and my business outcomes test on Wednesday night. I passed the business outcomes test and have no reason to believe I did not do well on the CAAP, as well. This is hurling me at the speed of a snail toward graduation, as they still can't get my transfer credits squared away... You would think it would be pretty obvious that if I can pass the business outcomes test; I have taken the required courses... duh!

*** For anyone who doesn't know, Grace and I are planning a trip to Orlando this summer for her to take part in the Children's World Bible Quiz competition and the other children's worship services and service projects that are available. We have been selling candles and cookie mixes (even door to door). We are not that great at selling stuff, but we have friends who have been helping us out, so we are doing OK. If anyone wants to order candles you can go to www.abbycandles.com and designate First Christian Church/Firehouse ministries when asked if you want your order to support a fundraiser.

*** I have finally posted a couple of back blogs. You can check out our experiences at NYMC '09 and Disney on Ice if you scroll down.

*** Lately, I am really exhausted, but life is still good, and God is still amazing! However, if you tell Ian that he is wonderful he will respond by saying, "No I'm not, I'm Ian!"

I'm out...

Lisa

Girl's Night Out...

... Disney On Ice!

Grace and I really like to get out and have "girl time", but lately we have not been able to do that on a regular basis. When I heard that Disney on Ice was going to be in our area (well... sort of... nothing is really in our area, but it was close enough), I decided to purchase tickets to surprise her.

I got a babysitter for the boys (thanks, Monica), and Grace and I left the house a little after 1pm. We drove and listened to Disney music for an hour and a half and finally arrived. This is the point at which I told Grace what we were doing, and she was excited, but she also said something like, "Is that all we're doing?" which nearly sent me into a tirade... nearly, but not really, because I was determined to have a great girls night with her...

When we got inside, we purchased a program. It came with a lei, which was kind of fun. Then we looked over the souvenirs that were available and finally decided to purchase a Minnie Mouse cup with a snow cone in it. At this point, the MasterCard commercials started running through my head...
Two Tickets to Disney on Ice... (You really don't want to know)
One Program... ($12.00)
One Snowcone... ($10.00)
Seeing your daughter's face when she realizes that Tinkerbell is going to be in the show...
(priceless)... There are some things money can't buy... for everything else...
Well, you know how it goes, but actually I don't have a MasterCard...

At any rate, after a quick trip to the bathroom we finally settled into our seats. Grace had a great view. Mine was kind of obstructed, but I can live with that, because Grace was pretty much jumping up and down at this point saying, "Mommy, these are great seats!"

The show kicked off with Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Daisy, and Goofy. I am trying to remember now if Pluto was on the ice or not. The classic Disney characters also appeared between acts.

The first scene was "The Lion King", and within seconds of the characters appearing Grace looked at me and asked, "Is this real?" And I knew that if I was going to preserve the Disney magic at our house for just a little while longer I was going to have to think quickly...

So here was my response (which I am pretty proud of):

"Of course not! You know the real characters live at Disney World! These are just people who want to share the character's stories with us!" If anybody thinks this is a terrible thing to do to a child, whatever... We are going to go on believing in Tinkerbell for as long as I can make it last...

Well... it turned out that I made a good call, because when we got to the Peter Pan scene it was pretty obvious that all of the skaters were hooked up to cables and that was what was making them fly, as opposed to "faith, trust, and pixie dust"!

The other scenes were "The Little Mermaid", which we thoroughly enjoyed even though some younger children screamed at the appearance of Ursula, and "Lilo and Stitch", which we didn't really get into, as we have never seen the movie. I do own it, but I am not in a real hurry to watch it. For some reason it has never appealed...

Here are some pics. of our Disney on Ice adventure, including the Zamboni, because Zambonis are cool:
After the show, we had dinner at Cheddars, which is really my favorite, but Grace enjoys it, too. Grace loved getting to order dessert!

It was a fantastic girls night!

Lisa

I Should Go To Bed...

... and if I'm not going to go to bed, I should do some school.

Instead, I got all wrapped up in thumbing through the swimsuit edition of a catalog... which was depressing... I mean... where are all of the people with cellulite... and stretch marks? Hello! There is absolutely no way for me to know how I would look in those swimsuits if every one of your models is a size 2!

Which, of course, created stress... and in turn sent me spiraling toward my ever faithful computer... and since I've already paid my bills... and since I don't really have the brain power to take an exam after battling the respiratory flu for 4 days and watching Dora the Explorer for something like 18 hours... I though, hey... why not write a blog with some substance? You know... like something about swimsuits and cellulite?

But seriously... I knew this illness had hit it's low when I found myself hugging the toilet this morning, and there stood Ian next to me holding his own little mask to take his meds. through a nebulizer and shouting over the noise, "I do it, Mommy! I do it!" This was interrupted by Phil peeking his head in the door and saying, "Are you throwing up?" At which I almost laughed, because I thought, "No... I just really like to kiss the toilet first thing in the morning!" But he did pick Ian up to finish his treatment, so I guess that's redemption!

Following this insanity, Grace proceeded to make breakfast... on her own. Everyone had eggos. She did just fine. Grace is going to be a chef when she grows up (at least this week). She wanted to own her own restaurant until she found out that she would have to pay for a building. Since Grace has little concept of how earning money works in the real world, she panicked. Now she just wants to work for somebody else. Oh yeah... go Mom. Talk your kid out of entrepreneurship and into flipping burgers... I think she'll get over it and be rich and famous someday...

Even Caleb took a nap today. I think his body was fighting off getting sick... again... It is unheard of for Caleb to take a nap! But at any rate, he seems to be doing pretty well, and he has been on the calm and extremely loving side, even though I keep telling his that I can't touch him, because I don't want him to get sick! He continues to sing, "My Mommy Loves Me," over... and over... and over again. It is cute every day, until the 80th verse or so!

Seth has been very, very helpful these past few days. I don't think he has refused to do anything I have asked him to do, and I have asked a whole lot of him! Everything from, "Can you please refill Ian's drink cup," to,"Could you just sit with us through one more episode of Dora," to, "Hey Buddy, could you do something worthwhile for school today?" I have been very impressed.

And Ian is getting better, slowly but surely. He is probably going to think that life revolves around the television when we are through with this, but that's something I think we can deal with. The kid is starting to greet me every morning with something that sounds like, "Ola!"... but I know he is really saying, "Oh-ah"... which is how he says "Dora"...

Phil and I are still sick, but we can lift our heads again, and we managed to eat a meal today... sort of... if you can call frozen pizza a meal. Maybe I will feel capable of cooking something in the near future.

Grace and I have a big day coming up, which I will hopefully have the chance to blog tomorrow... You never know... my blogging habits are a lot like my life... consistently inconsistent!

Lisa

PS Wish me luck... I'd better go flunk a test now...

Too Sick To Care...

... That I haven't blogged in over a month
... That my kids are eating lunch meat out of the package and drinking hot chocolate for lunch
... That my 8 year old is avoiding school like the plague
... That my 7 year old is avoiding a shower like the plague
... That my 4 year old is irritating them both
... That my 2 year old started watching Dora at 4am

I hate the flu...

More life updates to come later, when the never ending winter ends, and I am not continually sick...

Lisa

NYMC '09...

Wow... what a weekend!

Let me begin by saying that all weekend long we kept hearing people talking about how NYMC is the most relaxed of the youth ministry conferences. If this is true, I will never go to a different one, because the schedule would kill me! We hit the ground running on Friday morning, and it never stopped...

There were a lot of really fun things to do at NYMC. I only took pictures of the fun stuff. You will understand why later. It was a huge plus for me that Caedmon's Call and Derek Webb were there, and even though I did not get to sit in the center section of the front row, our seats were just about as good as you can get. It is always a good day when you are sitting close enough to Caedmon's that you could zoom in on their nose hairs with your camera if you wanted to... which I didn't. Probably the best part of the Caedmon's concert, though was when Cliff was asking whether you are supposed to call teens youth... or teens... or something else altogether, and I shouted out, "whatever", and Andy Osenga actually acknowledged me from the stage. This is the closest I will ever get to being a part of a Caedmon's show, so I was a little psyched.

After the show, Phil and I went to the talkback session with Caedmon's where I met their self proclaimed number one fan who couldn't even think of the names of their albums... or songs. I felt my blood pressure rise just a bit, to say the least... I did get to ask a couple of questions. I am disappointed to say that there is absolutely no where in which you can purchase the demos released before "My Calm, Your Storm". I am happy to say that it is supposedly not complicated to set up a trip to India through Dalit Freedom Network, as one day I would really like to meet my sponsored child and do something physical to help.

The other late night options I took part in were a talkback session with Braddigan, where they showed a documentary of the trash dump where they live (This is absolutely literal. It is astonishing.), and the movie screening of "To Save a Life", which will hit theaters in the Fall. I had the chance to talk with the producer of the movie and to share some concerns I had about it. Overall, I didn't really like the guy all that much, but his movie will hopefully be a useful tool. With that, let me warn you right now that if you work with teenagers, they are going to see this movie, because they see everything that goes to theaters. And... if they see this movie, there will be a lot of issues that surface. That's not a bad thing... at all... unless there isn't anyone there to help them debrief and work through the issues they have. Then, it is a very bad thing.

All of the large group worship sessions were great. I especially enjoyed hearing from Kay Warren. I was rather humored by the fact that even full grown adults still like to compete in ridiculous games during worship services... My favorite was the remote controlled airplanes that were supposed to be shot down by rocket launchers... I did not especially enjoy the texting polls (as I am technologically challenged when it comes to text messaging), and the American Idol spoof was pretty lame... I loved the artistic outlets, and there were these videos from this rapper guy that were absolutely hilarious!

Now... deeper learning tracks...

On Friday afternoon I spent several hours in a seminar entitled, "Church Kids Gone Bad". It was really interesting, and I gained a lot of insight, but I kept going back to the concept that it really isn't just kids who have "gone bad"... it is the entire family structure. That's a lot to think about.

Then, on Saturday and Sunday, I took part in an eight hour workshop entitled, "Helping Hurting Kids". It was rough. I have seen a lot of things in my own life (probably more than anyone would venture to guess), but I sure haven't seen it all. The graphic depictions of self injury, and the messages of hopelessness from kids was overwhelming. I think that even the presenters realized that this was more intense than they had perhaps originally planned, because they made mention to us that there were counselors available for those of us who participated in the seminar if we needed them. Wow... To tell you the truth, it was a draining 8 hours. I have often found myself coming home refreshed after a conference, but that was not the case this time around. This is not really a negative, though, because I learned a whole lot, and it is going to shape some of the things I do in ministry and perhaps even my direction in school and eventually in a career when my own kids are older.

On Monday I decided to go with something a little less intense, so I attended the workshop for YP spouses. Phil isn't really a YP, specifically, where we are at now, but his job description does give him primary responsibility for youth in addition to other things. It was an enjoyable hour and a half. I definitely appreciated what Kathy Fields had to say about balancing family time and working through the unique challenges of raising PKs.

All of this only begins to touch on the conference, itself. We had a great time with Robert, Amber, and Aubrie... except maybe when we walked a mile or so in the cold to get dinner one night... and when Robert smashed a dozen donuts that were supposed to dub as breakfast for the weekend... hehehe...

This is a conference that I would recommend to anyone who is involved in youth ministry (paid or volunteer). It was a wealth of information and will prove to be extremely useful over time.

Here's some pic. highlights:
Lisa