New Breakfast Item

When we were on vacation, one of the breakfast foods they offered at our hotel was breakfast burritos. Ben loved them. So yesterday morning I decided to make my version of them. I grated a couple of small potatoes and fried them into hash browns, scrambled a couple of eggs and mixed in some cheese, and I had some bacon already fried. I warmed up a tortilla and then put a little of each of those things in the tortilla and wrapped it up. Put a bottle of ketchup on the table and waalaa...Breakfast Burritos! :o)

***Side Note*** Be careful with hand held shredder. It does not feel good to shred one's thumb! ahem...not that I would know or anything.

Miracles and Other Such Happenings...

I just finished talking to my kids' piano teacher. Her daughter was diagnosed last month with a very painful condition called Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy (RSD). RSD is a very painful condition and can lead to irreversible skin and bone changes, muscle atrophy, severe limited mobility, etc. Her daughter is 14 years old and very active in dance. She had continuous pain in her legs and was showing some stage 2 symptoms of RSD. They just returned from a specialist in North Carolina and the latest tests show that she is RSD free! They are claiming this as a miracle. Even the nurses and specialists at the hospital are saying it's a miracle of God. There was no "she was misdiagnosed" or anything...it was obvious that she had the disease, but now does not. We are praising God for His miracle in this young woman's life!

As for "other such happenings," not a whole lot is happening. :o) We're still finishing up our school year. We'll have piano today and Fun Summer Club at church tonight. Tomorrow I'll start getting ready for our cookout Friday night. We're having the single moms and their kids from our church over this Friday for a cookout.

In case anyone is wondering, I'm still in last place on my Yahoo baseball team. I really don't think I'll be moving up anytime soon. :o) I really only do it so that I can "spend time" with my brothers and my cousin who also play. I know "squat" about the national and american league baseball players!

Next week is our homeschool conference. I'm going with three of my friends and I can't wait! I love this time of encouragement. It gives me that little boost I need to get me through the next year!

Our Trip To Amish Country

We left for Lancaster, PA, on Thursday morning at 6:30. When the alarm clock went off at 5:30 I was ready to go! Why is it that getting up at 5:30 on an average day would be torture, yet when you know you're going on vacation it doesn't seem that early? :o)

We crossed the Pennsylvania line around 10:30 and stopped at the Visitor's Center. We perused the brochures and found one for the Hershey Chocolate Factory. Hershey wasn't on our itinerary, but when we found out it wasn't too much out of the way, we decided to add it! We hopped back in the car and a little over an hour later we were in Hershey, PA! We went to the Chocolate Factory and did the free stuff. :o) Which was quite fun! The kids got to package Hershey's Kisses and received these adorable hats:

Of course when you're almost 13 it doesn't seem so "adorable." But 9 year old boys think it's cool! So cool in fact that he now has two (the other donated by said "almost 13 year old.")

Then we went on a ride that took us through the "chocolate factory." We were able to see the entire process from picking the beans to packaging the candy. It really was fun to watch and the best part came after the tour...SAMPLES! :o) When we left the tour and were making our way to the gift shop, a lady stopped the kids and asked them if they were between the ages of 8 and 12. After assuring her they were, she asked if they would like to participate in a taste test. Now, how many people would say no to a taste test at Hershey?!!!

She guided us to a small room where the kids were seated with a partition between them. They were given strict instructions not to compare answers, and then they were given a saltine cracker and a cup of water. I could see the questioning look in Ben's eyes, but I didn't say anything. We later told him it was to clean his palate and he just said "ooohhhh." Then they were each given two kisses. They ate them and then filled out a two page survey. Then they were each given one more cracker, a cup of water, and two more kisses. Then filled out another sheet comparing the two samples. That was it. They had fun, we got free chocolate, and everyone was happy! :o)

Then we left for the gift shop. I let the kids get two candy bars each, I got one for me and a jumbo size dark chocolate Hershey bar for Neal. Mom got a couple of bars for herself and some things to share. I had never seen such a selection of chocolate and they had great prices too!

After we finished there we drove another 40 minutes or so to Lancaster. We stopped at the visitor's center there and were helped by a very nice man by the name of Jim. He gave me a map of Lancaster County and showed me where some of the Amish owned shops were. The map is really simple to follow and we had no trouble finding the places we wanted to visit.

The first thing we did after leaving the visitor's center was to find a place to eat. We went to the Bird-In-Hand Restaurant. They have a wonderful smorgasbord, but you can also order off the menu. We arrived just in time to receive the lunch price, so we were able to get the buffet for $9.95 (less for the kids). Their buffet also included the drink, so it was a really good price. The food was excellent and I would highly recommend that restaurant to anyone! After eating we took off for a ride in the country and went to a couple of Amish farms that had stores on their property. The countryside is so beautiful, and it was fun to see the horse and buggies everywhere. There were also many Amish boys, girls, men and women travelling around on scooters. (the push with your foot kind of scooter) And many of them were barefoot! Some of the scooters had baskets on the front and it was not uncommon to see a toddler sitting in the basket.

We looked through the stores at their crafts, quilts, etc. I had hoped to find something to hang over my bed, but I couldn't find anything in the size I needed that was in my price range. That's okay though, it was still fun looking! I did buy a potholder that was made like a quilt. Maybe I'll take a picture of that later and put it on here. The one I purchased had a spice packet in the middle so that you could use it as a hot pad. It smells really good. I also bought one for my mom and my friend Jackie. Jackie had planned on going with us, but ended up travelling to Florida to see family the same day we were leaving. So I bought her a little souvenir since she didn't get to go.

While we were driving around Thursday evening we saw lots of signs for yard sales. My mom and I LOVE yard sales! So we made note of where some of the sales were and made plans to go there on Friday morning. We then drove on to the hotel and checked in. We stayed at the Best Western in Paradise. It's not a fancy hotel, but it was very nice and clean. I would go back there another time. They had an excellent continental breakfast, so that helped on our trip budget! Everyone found something they liked to eat!

Friday we hit the yard sales bright and early (they start at 6:00 am there!). We didn't get to them until about 8:00 though. At the second yard sale I hit the jackpot! They had lots and lots of clothing in Beth's size. I bought her 5 pair of jeans/pants -- name brands -- sizes 00, 0, and 1 -- for $4.50. I ended up buying for Beth: 4 jeans, 1 pants, 1 shorts, 5 belts, 4 or 5 scarves, two pair of sandals, and 3 or 4 shirts. For Neal - 1 shirt. For kitchen: 2 containers with lids. For school: 3 or 4 books. I paid $13.25! I couldn't believe how nice everything was and how cheap! We stopped at a few other yards sales and picked up some odds and ends, but mostly had fun looking.

After those yard sales we drove over to Strasburg and purchased our tickets for our ride on the steam train. It was a fun 45-minute ride through the countryside.

Mom, Ben and I before we left the station.

Mom and Beth during the ride.

One shot (of many) of the gorgeous countryside!

Ben and Beth with the conductor. He laid some pennies on the train tracks behind them and let the train run over them. Then Beth and Ben got to pick up the flattened pennies and bring them home as souvenirs. We all enjoyed the ride on the train. We purchased tickets for the open air train and it felt really good on a hot spring day!

After the train ride we decided to eat lunch. We had asked a lady at a yard sale earlier where her favorite restaurant was and she said Deinners (pronounced Deaners). It's a Beachy Mennonite restaurant/smorgasbord. It was good, but we all agreed we liked the Bird-In-Hand restaurant the best. Prices were comparable too, since beverages were not included at Deinners. It's a good place to eat though.

After eating we went back out in the country and found more Amish farms/stores to visit and we found the Bird-in-Hand bake shop which is out in the country.

I bought Ben an Amish straw hat. Now he and his Daddy will match when they work out in the garden. Beth wanted a bonnet, so I bought her one. Then they each had a little spending money of their own. Ben bought an Amish boy doll, and Beth decided to buy another bonnet. Ben would have spent all of his money at the gas station on the way to Lancaster if I had let him, or he would have spent it at the yard sales, or he would have bought any stuffed animal that I would have let him purchase, but I asked him to please buy something that will be a reminder of Amish country...thus the Amish boy doll. It is cute, but the funny thing is that when we got home and showed it to Daddy we found out that it was made in CHINA!!! LOL Ben also bought his friend Kellen an Amish girl doll. (again...made in China -- but we cut off the tags. ;o) She bought Ben a gift on her last vacation, so we thought it would be fun to get her one.

At our last stop on Friday they were setting up for a yard sale for Saturday. We were able to go through some of their stuff and buy while they were setting up. There were probably 10 or 15 Amish families selling stuff at this sale. Beth bought herself an authentic (not made in China) Amish outfit. The lady said her 14 year old daughter just grew out of it. It's a really pretty deep purple dress with a black apron to put over it. She got the entire outfit for $2.50. I'll have to take a picture of her in it and post it here. She liked it so much that when we went back to the hotel she changed into it. Then we went to Target to buy some water and she wore it there. She really did look Amish and she got a lot of stares. I told her that she now knows what the Amish feel like. They were probably staring even more though because here was this little Amish girl with a group of Englishers! LOL

Saturday came too soon! We did do a bit more shopping on Saturday -- yard sales and the Bird-In-Hand farmer's market. I bought some Whoopie pies. YUM! I like the traditional ones with chocolate cake and white filling, but they also had red velvet, pumpkin, and oatmeal.

Well, that's about all I can think of right now. We had a great time....left Lancaster a little after 1:00 and arrived home at 8:00. We made a few pit stops along the way. Ben got car sick and we had to stop twice just for that. Thankfully he started feeling better and the last hour and a half was pleasant!

Here's a picture of a family carriage. The Amish do not take pictures of themselves and they do not like their pictures taken, so I was careful not to offend anyone by snapping pictures of their faces.

Here's one of the four covered bridges in the area:

Here's the huge Amish yard sale we went to. Mom wanted me to take some pictures because it was so big and she wanted pictures of the pretty flowers they were selling. Again, I didn't want to take too many pictures because their were Amish all around. This is just half of the yard sale...there were several more areas on the right side of where this picture was taken.

I know it was long, but I hoped you enjoyed hearing about our trip to Lancaster. We sure did have lots of fun!

Almost Summer!

Tonight starts Fun Summer Club at our church. It is for K5 through 5th grade. I'm going to help out with the 1st and 2nd graders and Neal is helping with 3rd-5th grade. Instead of doing Bible school one week a summer, we spread it out all summer long. Each Wednesday night they have crafts, games, and a missionary story. My group will start out in crafts, then move to the missionary room, and then to the game room. Tonight Beth and I are in charge of the games for the 1st and 2nd grade girls. I am so clueless in this area, but I figure with Beth helping me I'll do okay.

Tomorrow my Mom, the kids, and I leave for Lancaster, PA. We'll be touring the Amish areas...going to craft stores, farms, etc. I'm planning on looking at some of the covered bridges in the area and taking pictures. We'll also be going on a steam train ride. The kids (and Mom and I) are very excited about that. I'm sure we'll visit at least one smorgasbord or family style restaurant.

Last night my mother-in-law took me out to dinner for my birthday. We went to Applebee's. We had a very nice visit. We don't often get to visit alone, so it was nice to have uninterrupted conversation! I am blessed with a very good mother-in-law.

This afternoon I'll be packing for the trip, so I'd better get off of here! I'll check back in next week.

Wii Had Lots of Fun...

...visiting Neal's sister on Sunday. Jessica's roommate has a Wii and it was tons of fun! I didn't know you could get an aerobic workout playing a video game!

These two beautiful characters are me and Neal. Neal goes by the name of Egg...he came up with this "name" when he had to type in his name on our Wheel of Fortune game and he didn't want to use too many letters. Of course his real name only has one more letter. ;o)

This is Neal and I boxing each other. We made it all three rounds. I knocked him down a few times and he knocked me down a few times, but we kept getting back up. Neal ended up winning though -- 2 rounds to 1. (do you see the bands around our wrists? That's to keep the remote from flying through the TV. I laughed at first, but then realized you really do need it strapped on!)

Here are our characters boxing.

Beth and Ben boxed each other. They made it all three rounds, too, and Ben won.

Max knocked Jessica out in the 2nd round. Poor Jess!

Math Man!!!

Have you ever had a super hero show up at your school?

It's a common occurrence here at the Busy Bee Academy!

My 41st Birthday...

In Pictures...

My birthday dinner consisted of yummy Ribeye Steak,

(And no that is not my plate of steak)

Grilled Zucchini and Squash, and spinach salad

We ate out on our deck. That's my Mom beside me.

I wasn't allowed to do anything all day, so this is what I did while everyone else was in the kitchen getting my cake ready.

Beth made me a beautiful cake. It was butter-pecan with coconut and pecan frosting. She wrote Happy Birthday Mommy on it. There were so many candles that....

everyone had to wear sunglasses.

Neal had to wear them while lighting the candles. I wonder whose idea that was!!!

Here I am preparing myself mentally to blow out all those candles.

Here I goooooo......

I did it!!!! WooHoo...but due to my age I forgot to make a wish. Ben wanted me to light the candles again so I could make a wish, but I didn't have enough breath left to do it all over again!

After we had our cake and ice cream, they told me I had to go to the Living Room. There they presented me with my very own "Queen Bee" sleeping bag!

It's yellow and black...zips up the middle...and has memory foam on the bottom! Ahhhh......

Doing Nuthin...

That's what I was told to do since today is my birthday. Do you know how hard it is to do nothing? This morning we slept in due to watching Spiderman 1 and 2 last night and getting to bed really late (or early depending on how you look at it). I read some in a magazine before getting out of bed -- luxury -- then I took my shower and went out to the kitchen. There I was greeted with many happy birthdays and was sung the happy birthday song. Then I was escorted to the living room where everyone gave me my cards. Ben made me several "games" to play. They were guessing games on paper and a maze. Lots of fun! Then Beth made breakfast for me while I climbed back on my bed to read some more in my magazine. After breakfast I talked with a friend on the phone and checked my email. (where I got a really cute email birthday card from my friend Perri). The plan for today was to go see Spiderman 3 and then go out to dinner. After much contemplation, I couldn't think of one restaurant that I wanted to go to, so I decided on home grilled ribeye steaks, grilled zucchini and squash, spinach salad and ice cream (my choice). So we decided on the 1:00 showing of Spiderman. We arrived at 12:55 -- I was a bit afraid they would be sold out -- but as it turned out they cancelled their 1:00 showing. Hmmph... We went ahead and bought tickets for the 3:00 showing and then went to SAMS to buy the ribeyes. They look SOOO good. (Neal's firing up the grill as I type this) Then we ran by Food Lion and purchased the zucchini, squash and ice cream. I picked out Blue Bunny's Guilty Conscience ice cream. Sounds good already, doesn't it? :o) It's dark chocolate ice cream with ribbons of peanut butter running through it and chunks of peanut butter cup. Oh my...it sounds soooo good. I hope it tastes as good as it sounds! After our food run we took the food on home and had 15 minutes before we needed to drive back to the cinema. I spent a few minutes with Mom out on her swing and then we drove on to the movies.

I loved Spiderman III!!! There were so many different villians and once again they had some good humor in it.

(okay, I am having a really hard time not doing anything here! Beth is cooking bacon for the salad, Ben is getting ready to wash strawberries and clean the table, Neal is boiling eggs and grilling steak. I feel like I should be doing something!!!)

Okay -- back to Spiderman III. If you are a Spiderman fan, I don't think you'll be disappointed. Of course if you're a Spiderman fan you probably didn't wait until May 19th to go see it. :o)

Now I'm off to find something "not" to do. :o)

The Tell Tale Heart...

And the mind of Poe.

Neal and I went to see this play tonight in a little community theatre downtown. For some reason I like the weirdness of Edgar Allen Poe. Neal was only familiar with The Raven, but the one that I was most familiar with was the Tell Tale Heart. It had been many, many years since I had read the story, but as soon as the actor started reciting it I remembered. The EYE, the EYE!!!! Ewwww.....

Mother's Day

I know this is a bit late, but I've been busy with awards and such. :o) Beth and Ben surprised me this year with a very thoughtful gift. They took a bunch of pictures and made a collage for me and had it framed. Beth, Ben, Neal, and my Mom wrote special messages on the right side of the pictures. It was really nice and, of course, made me cry!

From Neal I received a new shower caddy. It was a much needed purchase...one of those things you keep saying you need, but never seem to get around to buying. It's stainless steel, so it should never rust. Yaah! He also gave me an early birthday present...a salad spinner. I guess he got tired of me holding wet spinach in my hands and spinning around really fast flinging water over everything! Go figure!??

Here's a picture of my pictures! Hope you can get an idea of how wonderful it is!



Here's what it says on the side (from top to bottom):

Mommy,
I love you so much! I'm so glad you're my mother. I just love spending Mother-Daughter time with you. Happy Mother's Day!
Love,
Beth

Mommy,
You are the best mommy in the world! I Love you
love,
Ben xoxoxo

Teresa,
Hope you have the best Mothers day ever.
Love,
Mom

Teresa,
The reason we all look so happy in these pictures is because you are the BEST mommy in the world!
I Love You
Daddy (Daddy is Neal) :o)

Wasn't that sweet?!!! We went to church Sunday morning and then went to Neal's grandfather's house for lunch. We had a big potluck dinner. After church Sunday night we went out with some friends to McDonald's for a snack and conversation. I really had an enjoyable day.
Happy Belated Mother's Day to all of you wonderful mothers out there!

Awards Nights

We've had two awards programs this week. Tuesday we had our homeschool end of the year awards banquet. After an international potluck dinner, we listened to a formerly homeschooled young man tell of his homeschooling experiences in China. He was funny and interesting. Then we had the presentation of awards. This year Beth and I made the certificates. Beth actually designed them. She came up with about 5 designs and we let our group leaders pick which one they liked best. Beth was very excited that they used her design. Each parent sent me information on what they wanted their child's certificate to say and I typed it in with a calligraphy font. We handed out 51 certificates! Here are Beth and Ben's certificates (minus their full names :o):




Last night we had our AWANA awards ceremony. AWANA is a program our church has for elementary age children. It stands for Approved Workmen Are Not Ashamed which is taken from II Timothy 2:15. It was a fun night for all the kids. This was Beth's last year and she received the Timothy Award for completing the fourth book in the T & T group (Truth and Training). She also received the Merit Award for completing book 3. We've only been at our church for three years so she had to complete four books in three years. We were very proud of her accomplishment! That's a lot of verses to memorize! Ben received a participation award. This is his first year not completing his book. He's now determined to work harder! :o)

What to do with leftover mashed potatoes?

Make Potato Cakes! My Mom used to make potato cakes out of leftover mashed potatoes, and I found out this morning that Neal's mom did too. I made them this morning for breakfast and they were a HUGE success! The kids wanted more. I told them the next time I make mashed potatoes (which isn't very often) they probably won't be so quick to get seconds. :o) This is what I did:

I had quite a bit left over so I beat up two eggs and mixed into the potatoes. Then I added flour a little bit at a time until I got a consistency I could work with (you want enough in there so that you can form patties. they will still be a bit sticky). Then I added chives (normally I would used diced onion, but since we had fresh chives I used them), a little salt since my potatoes were quite salty enough, pepper, and a little grated Parmesan cheese. Heat a little canola oil in your skillet at medium-high heat -- enough to lightly cover bottom of skillet -- and place patties in skillet. Flip every minute or so until both sides are golden brown. They are delish! We ate them with a little ketchup, but they're good without it.

A Man of God

I've been contemplating what to write about Jerry Falwell, or if I should even try to write anything. I've decided to just write what's on my mind.

There are so many people I've talked to through the years who have nothing but negative things to say about Jerry. I can understand that. He was very controversial. I do believe, however, that he was made to look much worse by the media and press. That makes sense, doesn't it? The media rarely gives unbiased reports, and they certainly wouldn't support Jerry's views.

I was visiting with an aunt and uncle in Kentucky last summer. This was the first time I'd really spent any time with this particular aunt and she asked me if I lived near Jerry's church. As I told her that I do live nearby, I fully expected to hear something negative about him. Boy, was I surprised! She just went on and on about how wonderful she thought Jerry was, and what a great ministry he has out there in Virginia. She told me all about his kids -- naming them by name and telling me what their careers are. She was telling me about the new church. It was all stuff that I knew, but it was so neat to hear her enthusiasm over the ministry.

Sometimes Jerry spoke first and thought second...don't we all? Fortunately our comments don't make front page news! If Jerry did say something that he felt bad about or regretted, he was good about apologizing for it. If he didn't believe he was wrong he would stand by his words and not give in to the pressure of the media. I admire that.

What most people who have not had personal contact with Jerry, or who do not live in the area, don't realize is that he was a very "real" person. He wasn't a standoffish celebrity. He was known for remembering people's names. It was not uncommon for him to meet someone one time and then be able to call them by name from then on. He always waved when we passed him on the road. He loved to pull practical jokes. He was very generous.

I met him for the first time in 1985 at Liberty University. My Dad was a supporter of the Moral Majority, so I grew up hearing about Jerry even though I lived in Ohio. When I had the opportunity to go to Liberty University (Jerry's college) I was so excited. Our church received a few Pastor's Scholarships in 1985 that covered our room and board. My best friend and I both received one and packed our bags for Lynchburg, Virginia! I remember be extremely excited and my friend not really wanting to stay. She ended up loving it and I got homesick and barely made it through my first year! LOL I headed back home the following spring and said I'd never move back to Lynchburg. My friend stayed on in L'burg and got married to a local boy. Then I ended up moving back in 1988, met a "local boy," got married, and I've been here ever since (minus a 5 year stint in Georgia). God does have a sense of humor!

Back to the story...it was very common to see Dr. Falwell walking around campus chatting with the students. He was a hands-on Chancellor. He liked to meet the students and get feedback from them. I even heard that he was up on the mountain talking to students the day before he died.

I also had the privilege to visit with him at some family reunions. My husband's grandfather was first cousins with Jerry. Our families do not do things together, but he would come to our family reunions. At our last reunion he had his museum opened up just for us. The museum is on campus at the university and was a birthday gift to Jerry a few years back (I believe for his 70th birthday). It goes through his entire life. So part of it was of great interest to my husband's family since pictures of some of their family and ancestors were displayed. Our reunions were usually on Sundays and Jerry didn't have a lot of free time on Sundays, but he always stopped by and would stay about an hour or so.

For those of you who have read this and do not have a good opinion of Jerry Falwell, I hope that you can see that he was more than what the media portrayed. He was a man who truly loved God and wanted to serve Him to his fullest extent. Many lives have been changed for the better because of Jerry's ministry. I will always be grateful to him and his vision of Liberty University. I would never have come to Lynchburg or met my husband if he had not followed God's calling on his life.

Got It!

On Tuesday we had to take my mom's cat, Shadow to the vet. For the second time in one month he got bit in the behind by another cat -- a black cat we called Mystery -- and it abscessed. The vet told us we needed to get a Have a Heart trap and catch that cat, or else we'd be coming back to his office very few weeks. So after dishing out the $60 to the vet, we went and purchased a $30 trap (I say "we", but actually it was Mom who did all the bill paying).

We set the trap out on Tuesday evening and checked it on Wednesday...nothing. That was kind of a relief, because I kept thinking we'd catch an opossum, a raccoon, or a skunk. This morning (Thursday) Neal and I got up for our 6:30 walk and I went down the path first to check on the trap. When I was still several yards away from it I could see that we had caught something. It was black. I hollered back to Neal and told him we'd caught it, but I was still actually wondering if it was a skunk. As I got closer though, I could see that it was the black cat! Yaah!!! I couldn't believe it. The funny thing is it looks exactly like Shadow. They're probably brothers.

So, at 10:00 when the Animal Shelter opened, there we were with cat in hand -- or in cage -- and we passed him on to their care. I did make a request though that no one on our road adopt him!!! :o)

41 - 60

41. I almost have the entire collection of Trixie Belden books. I'm missing 37, 38, and 39.

42. I wanted to live next to Trixie and Honey when I was a kid so that I could help them solve mysteries and ride on their horses.

43. I also wanted to be one of the Boxcar Children.

44. When I was a kid, the "book mobile" would come to my neighborhood in the summer. I can remember sitting at the kitchen window waiting for it to pull up (about 1/2 a block away) and I would run out the door with my library card and go pick out some good books!

45. I'm still on a reading break.

46. I almost started reading a book today -- but I didn't!

47. I decorate cakes. Have I mentioned that before? I've made 4 wedding cakes.

48. I hate to make wedding cakes. I get too nervous!

49. I am now in 11th place on my Yahoo Fantasy baseball team.

50. My brother Darrell is in last place.

51. I got my first pedicure in December last year and I loved it!

52. I'm going to get my second, ever, manicure this Saturday. The first one was three days before my wedding.

53. I'm taking Beth and Mom with me to get their nails done too.

54. My dog snores and burps.

55. My cat passes gas.

56. Have I mentioned I'm not an animal lover?

57. I have a fear of driving off a bridge.

58. I have reoccuring nightmares about planes crashing.

59. 9/11 felt like one of my nightmares coming true.

60. I used to have a reoccuring dream that I was back in high school. After a few years of that dream I finally graduated. I stopped having the dream then.

Two More

Episodes of 24, that is. :o) Monday night is mine and Neal's TV night. We watch one show regularly, and that's 24. Our TV guardian kicked in more than usual on it tonight. The tension is building...

I finished my handwriting job last night (FINALLY!). It was so nice to be able to sit down on my couch tonight and relax and not have to address envelopes or write on cards! I'll be thankful for that paycheck though!

It looks like my Mom and I are going to go on a mini vacation with the kids in a few weeks. We're going to head out to Amish country in Lancaster, PA. We went on a bus tour a couple of years ago, and have wanted to go back ever since. We'll drive this time, and hopefully be able to do a bit more sight seeing and shopping! I'm on the hunt now for a good hotel for us!

Our waterbed sprung a leak! We were changing the sheets Saturday morning when Neal remembered that he needed to "burp" the bed (for those of you who are waterbed challenged, that means that there's an air bubble in the mattress and he had to let it escape). :o) When we unzipped the mattress top and pulled it back, the underside of it was wet and molded! So apparantly it's been leaking for a while. We found the whole and it's just a little pin size hole. We tried patching it with a tent patching kit, but it didn't work. I went out today to a local bed store and purchased a waterbed patch kit for 5 bucks. We drained the bed tonight and he patched it and we'll let it sit overnight. Tomorrow we're going to take advantage of the bed being empty and change our bedroom around. I'm excited about that part of it! I've been wanting to change the room around for a while now, but a king size bed full of water is mighty heavy to lift! I sure hope the patch works though, because I priced mattresses today and we'd have to take out a small loan to get one!

Well, I'm off to bed. Sleeping on airmattresses tonight in the middle of the living room floor! WooHoo!!

Ben's Baptism

Ben asked Jesus to be his personal Savior on September 11, 2006. We had gone to our church's production of Judgement House the night before (it was a walk-through drama depicting the lives of a few different people. You witness a bit of their lives and then through some tragedy they die. Then you go to the "judgement room" and watch while each person has to stand before God to find out if their name is written in the Lamb's Book of Life. Then you go to a room depicting Hell and then a room depicting Heaven. It is a very moving drama.). We didn't let Ben go into the Judgement or Hell rooms, but he walked through the rest of it with us. Anyway that night he had a dream that he died and went to hell. A couple of hours after awakening he came to me and told me he wanted to be sure he was going to go to heaven when he died. So I took my Bible and showed him how to be saved (I showed him Romans 3:10, Rom. 3:23, Rom. 6:23, Rom. 5:8, Rom. 10:9, and Rom. 10:13.) After we read those scriptures and talked about what they meant, he bowed his head and prayed and admitted that he was a sinner, and asked Jesus to forgive him of his sins. He told Him that he believed that Jesus is the son of God and that he died on the cross for our sins and rose again three days later, and he asked Jesus to be Lord of his life.
So now, a few months later, he decided he needed to follow Jesus' command to us to be baptized. Last night was that night! At our church, the person being baptized has to tell the congregation how they came to know Jesus as their savior. That's a big deal! It's very hard for some people to talk in front of large groups, so baptism is not taken lightly at our church! We were very proud of Ben to take this step. He did a great job (and he didn't touch the microphone! :o) Here's a picture of him right before he was baptized.



This is a picture of our chapel where he was baptized. Our congregation is too big to meet in here on Sunday mornings (we're building a new sanctuary) so we only have smaller services in here.


A picture of Ben and my mom.


Ben with Neal's parents and Neal's sister Janet.

About Me 32 - 40

32. I love barns. I love the way they look out in a field...especially old barns.

33. My Mom is one of my best friends!

34. I am not an animal lover even though we have two cats and a dog. My favorite animal though, is a cat.

35. I enjoy camping.

36. I like the beach in the winter.

37. I like the mountains in the summer and fall.

38. I am blessed to be in contact with many of my childhood friends.

39. I love to read Christian fiction books. Right now I'm having to take a "reading break" because if I start reading a really good book it's hard for me to put it down and I've got too much to do!

40. I've always wanted to learn to play piano. I can pick out a melody on the piano, but that's as far as it goes!

Driving???

Here's Ben "driving" and Beth telling him what he's doing wrong!

Beth driving and feeling victorious! Ben SCARED to death!

Thank goodness we have several years to wait before they really get behind the wheel of a car!

Aren't they sweet? :o)