Am I There, Yet?

I had a bit of a rough morning, so after church we decided to take the afternoon off and get out of town.  Can you guess where we went?  Here’s a hint:

We went to the beach!  It was a fun afternoon.  I just wanted to share some pictures:

My little cute stuff.

A bucket full of collected shells.

Playing in the water.  The Atlantic Ocean is just as wet and cold as the Pacific Ocean…imagine that!

Digging holes…isn’t that a beach ritual for everybody?

Burying people in the sand…another beach must-do.

Before…

…and after.

Me and my soulmate.

Packing up to go home.

It was a fun afternoon…I love hanging out with my family.

I have one more picture to share with a question for my West Coast friends:  What’s wrong with this picture?  (Hint:  This picture was taken at 6:00 PM.)  I’ll send some East Coast Saltwater Taffy home with Deb to the first person to figure it out.

Did you know that I have super powers?  My son loves everything superhero and so, in order for me to speak his language I have to speak the language of superheroes.  One of my superpowers is that I have powerful eyes.  Titus was the one who discovered this superpower.  One day I caught him in the act of doing something naughty and he didn’t think I could see him.  He asked me how I knew he was doing this naughty act.  I told him it was a secret.  He then asked me if I had super powerful eyes.  Of course I told him that I did.  This must be genetic because I think my parents had this same superpower when I was growing up.  My powerful eyes help me to see through walls and know when he’s climbing up on top of the counters in the kitchen to get the special treats that are high in the cabinets.  My powerful eyes help me see him in the back of the car taking one of his sister’s toys from her while I’m driving.  My powerful eyes can see through his pockets to find candy that he’s hidden in them.  My powerful eyes can even see him sneaking out of his bedroom when he’s supposed to be in bed.  This is a very important superpower for all parents.

Not only do I have a superpower…I also have a superhero persona.  I can morph into “KissyGirl.”  KissyGirl has various shades of brightly colored lipstick that she applies to mark those that she loves.  KissyGirl can show up at any unexpected moment and attack her prey. 

KissyGirl showed up today…and here’s a picture of the aftermath: 

KissyGirl was in a good mood today…you should see the faces of her “victims” when she’s feeling especially rotten.

So…what’s your superpower?

I discovered spring!!!  If I would’ve known that springtime can be so wonderful I would’ve moved someplace that has spring a long time ago.  I lived in Oregon since 1989.  Half of that time was spent in the valley.  Springtime there means sogginess.  It rains all the time.  The second half was of my life in Oregon was spent in the Cascade Mountain Range area…aka the “Central Oregon High Desert.”  They don’t have spring.  They have winter and summer.  The rain in the valley turns to snow by the time it gets to Central Oregon.   It’s been rumored to snow on the Fourth of July.  I never saw it snow that late in the year, but I did see it snow on Memorial Day once…and plenty of times on Easter.  I even saw it snow on Halloween.  There’s nothing like dressing the kids up in their costumes and then covering them up in snow gear.  LOL!!!

The best part about springtime here is the change of color.  I’ve visited this place in October when the trees were vibrant with orange, red and yellow leaves.  Breathtaking.  We moved here in November after the trees lost their leaves, so I’ve been staring at bare, black and gray branches for the past five months.  Every once in awhile we get to see the naked trunks outlined by a blanket of snow.  I don’t really care for the gray winter landscape, but it’s worth it because without it we wouldn’t be able to see nature showing off this time of year.  The landscape is painted with greens and pinks and whites and maroons.  I drove under a canopy of beautiful white flowering trees today.  Gorgeous.  I felt like I was in a magical kingdom.  Even now I’m typing this on my back deck and I’m distracted by all the birds and the different colored leaves and flowers. 

The Pacific Northwest is beautiful with its evergreen forests.  But, I’ve discovered a newfound love and respect for the always changing deciduous forests here in the northeast. 

IN OTHER NEWS:

Josh is getting home tonight.  He’s been in Orlando attending the National New Church Conference.  At least that’s what he says he’s doing…I think he’s been hanging out at Disneyworld all week and using a “conference” as an excuse.  LOL!!!  I’m just joking.  Actually, the mission for the conference this year is:  Connect. Inspire.  Equip.  Challenge.  Before I saw that on the website…I was praying those things for Josh.  Well…it happened.  He connected…that’s for sure.  He ran into a couple of guys he knows from Fuller Seminary.  He ran into a couple of guys we met at the church planting boot camp we attended last summer.  He met a guy who works for the same ministry organization as two of Josh’s friends.  He met several guys from our current denomination who are working on church plants in this region.  Josh is a person who thinks outside the box.  He’s got a creative mind and he works hard.  He knows how to produce results.  So, he’s energized when he gets together with like-minded people. 

Both of us know in our hearts that we will be connected to church planting on some level.  But, neither of us knows where or when.  The idea doesn’t scare me as much as it did a couple of years ago.  In fact, my heart now says this is something we have to do.  It’ll be interesting to see where we’ll be in a few years…this current place definitely isn’t our final resting spot.  However, we do want to be faithful to whatever it is that God has planned for us here and not rush out of here the first chance we get. 

We’d appreciate your prayers. 

Nine years ago we were living in Eugene, Oregon.  My husband was a youth pastor at a small local church and was getting ready to graduate from college.  May 21^st started out as a day like any other.  I remember going to work and turning on the radio.  This is when the world stopped.  I heard the unimaginable…the unfathomable.  The initial report was that there were people with guns inside Thurston High School in neighboring Springfield and shots were heard throughout the school.  What in the world was going on?  Nobody got any work done that morning.  We all sat around listening to the radio for hours…trying to piece together the story…waiting for names…feeling helpless.  Everybody knew somebody who attended the school…or they knew somebody who knew somebody.  I remember the terror I felt in my heart and praying hard for the students that I knew who attended the school.

That morning, a 15-year-old boy terrorized our community.  He shot and killed his parents in their home and then went to school and shot random bullets into a crowded cafeteria.  Two students lost their lives and 25 others were injured.  Some student heroes emerged during that nightmare.  Some students, Jake and Josh Ryker and Doug and David Ure, reportedly tackled the killer and brought him down.  Some say we shouldn’t focus on the one who was responsible for the act…but the heroes.  That’s why I don’t mention the perpetrator’s name….only the names of the heroes.    

That was one of the worse school shootings in American history…at that time.  It now no longer registers on the radar when the topic of school shootings is brought up…things have gotten progressively worse.  Less than a year after the Thurston tragedy we all mourned for Columbine.  I remember watching the news and hearing people say things like, “Why us?  This sort of thing happens in other places…not here.”  My first initial thoughts to those questions were, “It happened here…what makes you think you were immune to it?”  But, I think the questions are a typical reaction.  None of us are immune to tragedy…but, none of us want to think these sorts of things could happen to us.  None of us want to (nor should we) live in fear.  I’m sure that many who are affected by the recent Virginia Tech events are asking the same question.  We always ask, “Why?”

My heart is extremely heavy those whose lives were turned upside down this week as the worse school shooting in history took the lives of 33 people in Virginia.  The parents, siblings, grandparents, friends, spouses, classmates, roommates and co-workers of the victims aren’t able to shut the TV off and go on with their lives.  These people have to live out this nightmare and grieve their tragic loss.  I’m glad that we are finally able to put some faces on the 32 victims.  It’s time to humanize each of these individuals instead of lumping them into one big faceless, nameless group.  As I look at their pictures and read their bios, it’s easy to see that each was unique.  Each one of them had skills, accomplishments, beliefs, passions, secrets, dreams, loves, and names.

Ross loved jazz music.  Jamie lived in Germany for four years.  Brian loved the Detroit Tigers.  Ryan’s nickname was Stack.  Austin was a lifeguard.  Jocelyne was originally from Nova Scotia.  Daniel was born in Peru.  Kevin served in the military.  Matthew enjoyed playing basketball and softball.  Caitlin was a sorority sister and played tennis.  Jeremy was an avid long distance runner.  Rachael was a follower of Jesus Christ.  Emily loved horses.  Jarrett just celebrated his birthday.  Matt had dreams of being an Air Force officer.  Henry’s parents are Chinese emigrants.   Liviu was a 75-year-old holocaust survivor.  G.V. was born in India.  Lauren liked science-fiction movies.  Dan played the guitar and wrote songs.  Juan was a newlywed.  Erin was a star basketball player in high school.  Michael played lacrosse and was a bartender.  Julia was environmentally conscience.  Mary loved to bake chocolate chip cookies.  Reema loved to dance and act.  Waleed was a follower of Allah.  Leslie liked to make people laugh.  Maxine wanted to breed dogs as a hobby.  Nicole had a kind heart.    

My sincerest sympathy and prayers go to those who lost loved ones.  I am so sorry that this happened and I wish there was something I could say or do to take the pain away.  I pray that this sort of thing never, ever happens again.  I pray for the safety of students and young people everywhere. 

We all continue to try…and fail…to understand.

My first…and it’s ridiculous.  Here’s a picture of the usually small creek that trickles through our backyard…now a lake.

Josh tried to get to work today…but the town he works in is shut off because of overflowing rivers.  My daughter’s school was cancelled…much to her delight.  My parents are here and are not sure that they’ll be able to fly out of here tomorrow as scheduled.  So we’re all hanging out…one big happy family.  The kids have already talked Mom into playing Yatzee Jr. and Disney dvd Bingo this morning.

We’ve had a great visit with Mom and Dad.  On Saturday we took them to the city.  We had beautiful weather on Saturday.  We took them to the Empire State Building, Ground Zero and Times Square.  Not a drop of rain in sight.

Dad took this picture…I thought it was hilarious.  This bird walked up to the camera and posed.  Only in Manhattan:

Just a quick “hi” from me!  I’m going to get back to my family now…

I hope everybody had a great Easter weekend! 

This Easter was a little different for us.  For one…my birthday landed on Easter Sunday.  Since Easter is typically an extremely busy day for us, we decided to celebrate my birthday on Saturday and save Sunday for Easter. 

On Saturday, Josh took me to MoMA.  I loved it.  It was a really great date.  It was really quite amazing to see original works of art from the masters.  I was especially impressed by Monet’s Water Lilies.  I didn’t realize how gigantic it was.  It was really breath taking.  I also enjoyed seeing Van Gogh’s The Starry Night.  I was also surprised by the size…I expected it to be bigger than it was.  I also enjoyed the Andy Warhol exhibits…especially the Campbell’s Soup Cans.  It was really cool to see diversity of art from masters such as Picasso, Ansel Adams and Frank Lloyd Wright.  All were pioneers in their fields of expertise.  They were the best at what they did.

We lost track of time at the museum and didn’t have time to sit down for a nice meal…so we walked into a deli near the train station for a late lunch.  We sat across from some people who were in the middle of a working lunch.  They were casting for a show and they were combing through stacks and stacks of head shots and resumes of actors trying to break into show business.  It was kind of depressing to me to watch and hear their comments.  “This girl was beautiful, but didn’t have the talent.”  (Head shot thrown to floor.)  “She was talented, but doesn’t have the look.”  (Head shot thrown to floor.)  “Beautiful, but only from the head up.”  (Head shot thrown to floor.)  And on…and on…and on…  It made me sad…and reaffirmed the fact that I have no desire to try to break into show business.  LOL!!!

Yesterday was interesting.  It was weird to go to a new church for Easter.  I’m amazed at how easy it is to get used to a certain church culture…and then to really miss it when it’s gone.  We spent the last nine Easters at our last church.  I have to admit that I really, really, really miss the worship from our Easters in Oregon.  We’re in a different cultural setting this year and I admit that it’s a matter of my personal preference.  I’m not idealizing the past and I can celebrate Jesus’ resurrection anywhere.  But, it was really hard not to compare.  That’s all I’m going to say about that.  I will say that I am enjoying church more and more each week as we are building relationships with people here and I recognize more familiar faces in the crowd each week.  Relationships are the #1 reason I go to church.  But, that’s another subject altogether…

Two more days of Spring Break.  My parents are coming for a visit on Friday…we’re really excited to see them.  We have much to look forward to.

P.S.  Thanks to all my friends and family for the phone calls, text messages and email birthday greetings.  You really made my day!  Luvya!!!

After all of my whining yesterday I suddenly came to the realization that I have no sympathy for my children.  Why the sudden change?  Because I realize how fortunate they really are. 

Do you realize that in their short 4 and 6 year lives that they’ve seen more than a lot of grown-ups?  Lilly has been to 16 states and Titus has visited 18.  They’ll both be adding Virginia, North Carolina, Delaware and Maryland to that list by the end of next month.  They’ve been to many major cities:  Seattle, Portland, LA, Phoenix, Denver, Chicago, New York City and Philadelphia.  They’ve seen Mt. Rushmore and the Statue of Liberty.  They’ve been to Yellowstone and Disneyland.  They’ve seen the Pacific Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean.  They’ve visited aquariums, zoos, museums and national parks and monuments across the nation.  They’ve attended a college basketball game and a semi-pro baseball game.  They’ve even visited a radio station that their uncle works at and recorded a demo.  How many people get to do that? 

They’ve worked on some humanitarian projects.  They helped out with a Hurricane Katrina relief project, they’ve given money to help babies with Pregnancy Resource Center and they’ve even helped sponsor a child in Swaziland.

They have friends and family who love them in every single time zone across the U.S.  How fortunate are they?

No sympathy from me!

Speaking of traveling…I saw this video and thought of how fortunate I am.  This woman needed a professional to fix up her car…I got all of this done to my car during our many travels as a family.  Lucky me!  LOL!!! 

May I whine for a moment? 

This weather isn’t cooperating with my spring break plans.  I have to admit that I’m a bit frustrated.  Right now it’s 39 degrees (feels like 29.)  How am I supposed to take my kids to the shore with temps like these?  No ferry boat ride, either.  Six flags is out of the question.  Unless the kids want to do a polar bear plunge, it looks like another day inside for us.  I gave them a choice for today.  I told them we could go to the children’s museum in Philadelphia and then go see the Liberty Bell, or we could hang out here, play some games, do some crafts, have lunch at McDonald’s and play in the playplace.  They chose McDonald’s.  This is O.K. with me…I should get some house cleaning done and I wouldn’t mind taking some time to read a book or catch up on some knitting projects…which is something I enjoy on a wintry day like this.

Yesterday we went and saw Meet The Robinsons…cute movie.  The kids enjoyed it.  Tuesday was a beautiful day.  We went to a friend’s house and played in the park.  That was the only day the weather cooperated with my plans.  Tomorrow we plan on bundling up in sweaters and winter coats for an Easter egg hunt at church.

I have some friends in Costa Rica who are reportedly swimming with turtles and eating with iguanas.  I’m beginning to think that they had the right idea for this week. 

I’m dreaming of warmer weather.

EVENING UPDATE:  We had a snow squall this afternoon.  This is a new thing for me.  It’s currently 40 degrees (feels like 30).  There’s something seriously disfunctional about a spring break with a snow squall.  *Grumble*

I want to be a part of it…New York, New York!

Today we kicked off Spring Break with a trip to the city with the kids.  I wanted to share some pictures from our trip.  Sorry these are so fuzzy…I didn’t discover the dead batteries in my camera until after I tried to take a picture.  So, I had to use my cell phone.

This was the kids first time to Manhattan and their first time on the train.  Lilly reminds me that she rode the train in Disneyland last year, but I would argue that there’s a tiny difference between this train and the Disneyland train.  LOL!!!  However, she is right…she did ride a train in Disneyland.

(Lilly and Daddy on the train)

I knew the day would be great early on when we actually found a parking spot at the train station.  This is unprecedented…one for the record books. 

We decided to hang out at The American Museum of Natural History.  We spent several hours browsing the exhibit halls.  The dinosaur exhibits were the highlight for the kids. 

(Dinosaur bones)

(More dinosaurs)

(No bubble gum)

After we got tired of the Museum, we took the subway to Times Square.  The kids really wanted to go to Toys R Us, so we went straight there.  What a fun store…it has a way of turning everybody into children as soon as they walk into the store.  I even saw a grown woman throw a temper tantrum.  LOL!!!  The kids also talked us into riding the Ferris wheel…and much to Josh’s horror we were assigned the My Little Pony cart. He probably would’ve preferred the Scooby Doo or Spongebob carts…but, he’s a great sport.  At least it wasn’t Barbie!  There was a fabulous dinosaur inside the store that was actually more fun (albeit less realistic) than the one in the museum.  Titus’ favorite part of the store was Superman stopping a semi truck from crashing down on him. 

(Superman saving Titus from the semi-truck…don’t ask me what the truck was doing and how it got in the air…)

(In front of the Jurrasic Park dino)

(Josh and Lilly in the My Little Pony cart on the ferris wheel)

(Me and my little guy on the ferris wheel)

After our toy overload we made our way to the M & M store.  Imagine…three stories of everything M & M.  After our chocolate fix the kids were hungry for dinner, so we stepped inside Olive Garden.  I know, I know…how lame can we be?  Here we are in the mecca of amazing restaurants and we find ourselves in Olive Garden.  But, when the kids are tired and hungry…you take what you can get.  Don’t get me wrong…I like the Olive Garden, but when in Rome…well…you get my drift.

(Lilly in front of the Hershey store)

(Josh and Titus in front of the green M & M Statue of Liberty in the M & M Store)

We decided to walk back from Times Square to Penn Station.  It’s about 10 blocks.  After about 6 blocks, Lilly asked if we were coming to the end of the city soon.  I had to laugh and then inform her that we’d have to walk a long, long, long way to get to the end of this city.

We checked out the line to the observation deck of the Empire State Building and after discovering it was about a 3 hour wait, we decided to do that later and catch the next train back home.

The kids were great.  We did a lot of walking and they were obviously tired by the time we boarded the train.  However, a woman on the train commented on how well behaved they were.  That was the highlight of my day.  I love my kids and love hanging out with them.  I thought for sure that they got their city fix, but on the way home Lilly asked me if we could come back next week for my birthday.  She wants to do a mother/daughter day at The American Girl Place.  Sounds like fun to me…that’s my girl!!!