Mama On The Move

We've lived in this house for a year now, and Kerry still can't remember where the light switches are.  This is one of the hazards of moving so often - sometimes you can't remember which house you are in and where things are positioned. I clearly remember waking up in Hawaii while it was still dark and trying to head to the kitchen for a drink.  As I stepped into the dining room I stood still for a minute in the dark trying to remember which wall had the light switch so I could turn it on.  In many houses, I have walked around in the dark feeling walls, trying to find the switch so I could see. So, I was teasing Kerry this morning because as he passed through, he flipped the switch that turned on the light over the dining room table instead of the laundry room. I pointed to the small light that is situated directly over the kitchen sink.  "I'll bet you don't know how to turn on that light." He pointed to a light switch on the wall which (as far as

 Our church dug a big mud pit for the youth group to play in.  Katie jumped right in. She said it was a lot of fun.  She wants to make sure that I emphasize  - it was A LOT OF FUN !  Her hair was slimy.  She had to be hosed off.   Then she had to be hosed off again. Then she had to come home and shower off. Then I had to get dirt out of her eye. I think we may be finding dirt on her for quite a while.

We have not had the best of luck with camping lately.  I don't know why.  Kerry and Ben are seasoned campers, and while the girls and I are not as experienced as the guys in our family, we have done our share of camping as well. Our last campout wound up being in the middle of a flash flood.  We had a pavilion at that campground , so we were able to still interact with our friends who were with us. This past weekend, we went on our first campout since we left Hawaii.  We went to Missouri with six families from church.   There was no pavilion. Three of the six families packed it in and went home after the first night. I wanted to go home too, but Kerry wanted to stay, so we decided to stay.  We actually had a pretty good time.  Kerry's marvelous dutch oven cooking was the highlight of the trip.  Because of the rain and the cold, his hot breakfasts, dinners, and deserts were especially welcome.  It has been very hot all summer and we didn't take sweat

Hello, readers of my mother's blog! Emily here. I've been having some really amazing experiences this summer, so of course the first thing I actually write about is this: I love Teddy's Bigger Burgers. It's one of my favorite restaurants.  They have these amazing teriyaki burgers that I absolutely adore. I've been planning to get one, and today I finally had my chance. My friend Gaby and I had just finished teaching our last 5-Day Club for the day and went to hang out at a local strip mall to get some smoothies. And while we were there... Lo and behold..... a Teddy's! I went inside while Gabby went to get a smoothie, and she came back right around the time my teri-burger was finished.  It was probably the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen. I took it outside to eat at one of the tables. Gabby was reading and I was just enjoying my burger when out of nowhere a pigeon just dive-bombed me. It whacked me in the head with one of its wings and sat

We were very excited recently to go check out The Muny.  The Muny - short for Municiple Theater Association of St Louis - is an outdoor amphitheater.  We've heard a lot about it but hadn't had a chance to go. Fortunately, Shrek the Musical was playing  and we decided that would be an excellent opportunity to take Katie and experience a little musical culture. I'd never heard of Shrek the Musical but now I will never get some of the songs out of my head.  We enjoyed it enormously! We had decided to drive over early - we live on military time and we have learned the hard way that the first time we go somewhere we should plan to be lost, have a flat tire, possibly hit traffic, or lose our tickets.  We don't like to be late, not by one minute, and we tend to be very, very early on a first outing in order to resolve all obstacles which somehow always seem to be out to get us. We found it with no issue, and saw two cars parked on the curb.  We debated whe

Yep, that's Katie's finger.  No, it's not magic marker.  She whacked it between two eight balls at church yesterday.  She said she could feel her heartbeat in it for quite a while. This reminds me of when Fred Flintstone would hit his thumb and it would swell up and throb.

Apparently Ben has gotten in touch with his feminine side while he's been in Hawaii. That boy is impossible to embarrass.

Remember when I said Ben's girlfriend was in Argentina petting lions and tigers and bears? I was kidding. There were no bears. At least, there are no pictures of bears. But there is definitely a picture of a lion cub. And a camel. And an elephant.  Have I ever mentioned that elephants are my favorite land animal?   They are.   I love elephants.  I think they are so cool.  I've always wanted a coffee table book about elephants.  I love to watch specials on TV about elephants.  Elephants are cooler than bow ties and fez's. When we go to the zoo, they always have a couple of fences between us and the elephants so no one can get close enough to touch the elephant and possibly get injured. Apparently zoos in Argentina are different. Very different. Very, very, very different. Can you imagine being allowed in the cage with a lion or a tiger in America?  That would never happen because of the p

 My kids have got to be some of the most blessed kids on the planet. Not only did Ben and Emily get to go to Oahu for the summer, but guess who got picked to work on Maui for a week?    Ben.  That's who. This is his fifth year working with CEF in Hawaii and he's always hoped to get picked to go to one of the other islands and it finally happened.  CEF picked three students and two adults to fly to Maui and teach kids about Jesus. Freakin' Maui , ya'll.  Of course, I haven't really heard anything about it from Ben, but one of the adults posted pictures of their trip, and I can surmise from those photos what they did. Apparently, Ben taught a Bible story while wearing a yellow shirt.   On Maui.   On another day, he taught a story while wearing a red shirt.  On Maui. Another day, he....sang a song....while wearing a gray shirt, with a little girl who looks remarkably like his sister, Katie.  Clea

My first baby girl has turned sixteen. I just can't believe it. She was our first girl, and the first female grandchild. I've seen her through her "princess warrior" phase. Her ballerina phase. The years when she wasn't allergic to dogs. A basketball tom-boy stage.  Short hair, glasses, braces, we've done it all. And wound up blessed with a gloriously beautiful, brilliant sixteen year old. Happy Birthday, Emily!

Katie is growing up...... This week, she wanted to try curly hair. So we coiled her hair up all over her head for a few hours. When we took it down, it was like rope all over her head. Or snakes. But when we combed it out, she had these soft. beautiful waves.   Isn't that gorgeous ??   She also put on her first pair of earrings that came below the earlobe. Ah well, she's almost a teenager.  Come September, I will be the mother of three teens and no babies. Man, that's weird.