Jingle, jingle, jingle...

Christmas is such a happy time. Especially if you have cute little kids to dress up in goofy outfits. Doesn't Santa's Little Helper look cute though? And how about Grampa Claus and his reindeer? Hopefully by the time Christmas roles around Genevieve will be a little more excited about it. Though I have a feeling this is going to be Wyatt's year. Courtney, Hayden and Cam do their share of spoiling as do the other Auntys. Can't wait for Uncle Rylan to be back home to be able to sit back and observe the antics of this busy, busy boy.

Oh Christmas Tree!

It was a beautiful drive to cut our trees. No rain. Sunshine. Happy smiling faces in the back seat. The kids even got to haul the family tree out of the field to the van. Alyssa and Harlan tied them down. They are both in stands with water and ready for their trimmins. The guy at the gas station made some wise crack about not waiting long before getting on with the next holiday. He OBVIOUSLY hadn't driven by the Webberley's house BEFORE Thanksgiving. We celebrate the SEASON not the day. So there.

It's time for CHRISTmas!
Amen.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Our boys, Hayden and Cameron have been having fun with a class called Home Life. They have various projects to do such as: cooking, baking, sewing, home maintenance, wood craft, and lots more. So far they have made pizza from scratch, changed the filters on the furnace, and just last night made pumpkin pie from scratch (store bought crust though).

We had a very quiet Thanksgiving this year. Just our kids in residence, Jess, Joylynn and their kids, & Bob and Lita. Smallest group here in years. Now that dinner has been eateh everyone is either downstairs watching football on HDTV or in the den watching Madagascar. I just put the first batch of dishes through the dishwasher. Time to tackle the hand wash and get all the cooled leftovers in the fridge. Tomorrow starts the Christmas shopping and decorating. I think more than sugar plums have been dancing in heads here for some time now. Christmas music has been tuned in on our van radio since Halloween. Somehow seems more appropriate to listen to it this afternoon.

Hope you all found a quiet moment today to reflect on how blessed you all are in so many ways. Happy Holidays to you all!

Granny, Pa, & Aunty Alyssa love Genevieve

When Wyatt was this size he lived far away in Montana. We are so fortunate to have the grandbabies close by. The other Montana grandparents were able to come and see Genevieve last week. It was good to see them again. They have 3 grandchildren in Bozeman and 4 here. Jess' brother Luke's boys live in North Portland. I imagine Rich and Jane (Pa and Granny to the younguns) will be making multiple trips per year to see these kids. The great-grandparents back in Michigan and New Jersey sure look forward to pictures. Many have been e-mailed back East already. Isn't technology wonderful? Just think how long the Oregon Trail pioneers families back East had to wait for word from them. Many families didn't hear anything at all. So few photos were taken back then too. We have so much to be thankful for.

Cousins' and other relations

We had a quick trip to Goldendale yesterday. Came home today. On the way up we had dinner at a restaurant in The Dalles called Cousins'. We had breakfast there on the way home today. It's a fun homestyle restaurant with a funky country theme. Lots of "critters" on hand for photo ops. See Cam and Hayden with a sheep. The other picture is Harlan with his 94 year old father, Ray Hilman. He just flew home from Canada (unfortunately he was up there for his brothers funeral) but he has been to Hawaii and California also in the past month. He still lives in his own place and when he was home briefly between trips he drove the tractor and turned over the field next to his house to prepare it for winter. Har looks alot like him don't you think?

Christmas Nut

In case you didn't know Wyatt and Genevieve, your Gramma is a Christmas NUT! Hence the purchase of pictured snowman and dog musical cute thing. Actually Wyatt loves this thing. He has learned to squeeze the hand to make the snowman sing "Jingle Bells" The dog barks along in time to the music. Wyatt will dance to just about any tune. So he was dancing around the living room yesterday hugging his new musical buddies.

The Webberleys plus one

Here is a picture of our friends Chris and Robin and their adorable son Ethen. (Sorry Lil Guy I don't have the red eye fix on this computer) Also in the picture is our precious grand-daughter. Robin practically melted when she first took Genevieve into her arms. They look quite natural with two don't you think? Even Chris got to hold the baby. He wasn't quite as affected. Maybe it's a man thing :)

Hallelujah Party

October 31st has been such a fun time for us in the past 6 years or so. Since that crazy, wacko, party-animal of a Children's Pastor happened to land at New Song. Hallelujah Party 2005 didn't disappoint. It was busy with hundreds of little costumed urchins and their parents weaving their way to various rooms to play games and win CANDY! What more do you need? Even many of the adults were thrilled as their game of choice to win that candy was BINGO. Most kids make out much better there than they would walking door to door in the rain. Mother Nature didn't disappoint either. Though the torrential rains eased up for the party we have had a ton of it before and since.

I'm happy to be in November. Yay for pumpkin pie and cozy warm fireplaces and wonderful aromas coming from the kitchen. Only 55 days until Christmas. Can't wait.

Showers of blessing

Here is a picture of three-quarters of one of the best families I know. We had a Baby Shower for Joylynn today. It was really nice to sit and visit and to introduce Genevieve to friends. She got some nice little outfits and a few other little things. She is still so small. But there is such a lot of sweet wrapped up in that little package. She is following in the footsteps of her big brother in stealing hearts. He is a darling. Joylynn and Jess are very blessed, not only in having wonderful & healthy children, but in their relationship together. We are very proud of the job they are doing with the kids.

My thanks to all those that were able to share tha afternoon with us.

Zoo

We went for a little outing to the zoo today. It was nice to walk around with Joylynn and her little ones. Cell phones are awesome in some ways. The past few times I've taken the family to the zoo we have been able to split up and go at our own pace. We then phone each other and hook up for snacks or to head home. It was a nice day. Krystle, Courtney, Hayden and Cameron along with Krystle's friend Derek took off and did the zoo while Joylynn and I and the little ones took a more leisurely pace. Such fun.

Aunty Lita Loves Genevieve

I was out of town for the weekend. It was a very nice relaxing Ladies Retreat. But I missed my Genevieve and Wyatt! I also missed my Cherise and Lita ;O( But someone did take a picture of Lita with Genevieve. So here is is.
I need to catch that little cutie with her eyes open more often. Here is one the day that they came home from the hospital.

Wyatt loves Genevieve

I think this picture is adorable. I also believe that an 18 month spacing between children is pretty much a minimum. We had the following spacing between our 8 FYI : 25 months, 19 months, 19 months, 16 months, 59 months (yes almost 5 years), 30 months, and 48 months. Sixteen was a little too short but the 19 month spacings were great. The hardest the 5 and 4 year gaps. Just so far out of the swing of things baby wise. It's like learning all over again.

We are surely enjoying getting into the swing of things with this Grandparent thing. Both of these little cuties are soooooo precious. Wyatt has been with us for 3 days and has been visiting his baby at the hospital. So cute. Hope he still likes her when they get home :o)

She's Here!

Genevieve Kay Marie arrived at 2:56 p.m. on October 11th, 2005. She weighed 6 lbs 12 oz and is 18 1/2 inches long. She is a sweetie.

Update

I told Rylan that I wouldn't update until after Joylynn had her baby, but it's been so long since I posted.
Our lives are needing to be very flexible but ordered. School is going to be a long learning curve for me. I have been way too much of a free agent in recent years. Time to be making responsible decisions and being accountable to a schedule. I'm trying to convince myself that this is a good thing. The kids too are slowly adjusting to this more regimented life.
In the mean time. It's great partnering with Harlan in this endeavor. He is spending a lot of time with the kids and their studies.
I was hoping to put a new baby picture in this post but I'll put a picture of Wyatt "The Big Brother" instead.

School Daze

Well we wait no more for curriculum. It arrived yesterday and the day before. The kids are excited. My brain feels like it's going to explode. There is a lot of stuff that needs to be done ahead of time. We had no ahead of time. So we jumped in with both feet. So far so good. We have had to communicate with the teachers a couple of times. Courtney's teacher lives in West Linn. He will probably be able to come over sometime a couple of months from now. The boys' teacher is in Scio. We may be assigned a different one before all is said and done. Oregon Connections Academy was hoping to have between 500-700 students. They had only 300 some and then they did a news story and newspaper story on it. They now have over 1100 students and are scrambling to get more teachers. I nice problem to have. Anyway. We are an official Connections Academy family and proud of it. Notice the difference between last year's (ghetto homeschool) and this year's pictures.

Waiting

We wait. For curriculum for our first year of Public School for Courtney, Hayden and Cameron.

We wait. For Jess and Joylynn to have their baby. Actually only Joylynn is having the baby. But it should be within the next month.

We wait. For direction for the year ahead. I'd like to get some more fellowship time in. Adam, Start that home group we could visit and see if we like it.

We wait. For any kind of news from the army as to where and when Logan will be deployed again. Wedding plans have to be pretty flexible at this point. So far they are still a go for June 3rd, 2006.

There are a whole lot of things that we can be doing while waiting though. Given the motivation and financial resources that is. The kids are starting to want me to decorate for Fall. Christmas stuff is in the stores already!

It sure is weird having only 3 kids at home that are needing direction. The other two of them are only needing guidance and encouragement. Seasons are changing. I need to embrace and welcome the change.

Happy Birthday JOYLYNN!

Hope your birthday is extra special. You have been a "source of joy" in our lives for the past 23 years. Now that you are a wife and mom we can see even more what a wonderful woman you are. We are looking forward to sharing the day you bring that second little grandbaby into the world and making memories with your family for years to come.
We love you LPSM! Mom and Dad

Travels

I have been driving a great deal lately. Up and down the Columbia River Gorge. To Spokane and back to Walla Walla and back twice. I think I'd like to slow down a little here. We need to get into school mode. Routines, bedtimes, schedules. Never thought I'd be looking forward to any of those but I am. I'm looking forward to more rain too. Yay for FALL!

With this ring...

Weddings. We rarely get invited to weddings. This summer has been an exception. We have been invited to 9! Each one we've attended has been unique but very lovely. It has given us many new ideas for future events that we will be directly involved with.

Thank you Stacey & Josh, Christy & Justin, Tiffany & Jeff, Karyn & Brandon (all pictured) along with Brooke & Jason, Eric & Kisha. It's been fun being a part of your day. We look forward to celebrating with Lita & Bob, Katie & Brad, and Kristel & Brent.

Traveling again.

The younger 3 children and I are heading to Spokane for a wedding tomorrow. "Home Fries" is going to add a few miles to it's odometer but I enjoy the drive up there.

Haydenwill be celebrating his birthday on Wednesday. I'm including a few pictures of him taken in the past couple of monts. A self photo, a "Good Uncle" photo and a freaky photo from his trip to the lagoon. HAPPY BIRTHDAY HAYDEN! It's been a fun 11 years.

We are hoping to be back in the area in order to take him out to lunch. He has been talking about going to Olive Garden for months and months. I'll have to double check with him to see if that is still where he wants to go. I know if I asked Cam he'd like The Old Spaghetti Factory. Either that or his new fav Taco Del Mar.

It's hot and we're heading to the pool.

The Wallas!

Our trip was lots of fun. Cam had a wonderful birthday. Hayden even got in some of the present action since Cherise and Adam and Lyssa and Logan won't be here on the 17th for his 11th birthday. The Robinson's dogs even got into the party mood.

As I said Hayden will be 11 on the 17th. Rylan turned 25 on the 1st and with Cam's on the 7th we have all the boys celebrating in the same month. Whew August is one hefty hit in the old pocketbook.

This summer has been so eventful it seems. With kids camp being in the middle of July instead of the end of June it has made the summer just fly by. Back to school pretty soon. We are looking into an online public charter school. Would be a lot of record keeping for me but I think it would be good for our kids. Lys and Krys will both be at PCC.

My sister and her husband and kids are coming this weekend. Their daughter is getting married next week in Spokane. It will be another fun trip for the kids and me at least. Har will be home holding down the fort. Then Cherise will be home for Lita and Bob's wedding! That will be a great day. Lots to still look forward to but lots to get accomplished too. I'm trying to enjoy each day as it comes and not be too focused on future events or looking back on what I could, shoulda, woulda....

Enjoy the wonderful weather this coming week. Yay for a week in the 80s!

Walla Walla Walla Walla Walla

Do you wonder what turkeys say in Walla Walla? I like that some people we know just call it the Wallas. Anyway you say it we are going there!!!! It's never been high on my list of destinations but now that we've been there a couple of times and experienced some of their wonderfully laid back town, it's real nice. Besides our CHERISE is there and her fabulous boyfriend ADAM and that makes all the difference in the world. It's spectacular & wonderous & we are going to be there tonight. I wish the whole family could be together but some people have to work and some people have to work and shouldn't travel that far by car because they are going to have a baby and some people live in Korea and don't swim that well to get here in time. So CHERISE is going to have to settle for just those of us who can make it. And CAMERON is going to celebrate his 7th birthday on Sunday. Seven on the seventh! Yay for golden birthdays! CAM you are quite a kid! Yay for summer!

I'll Blog back at ya when we return.

New Pool

The pool was actually purchased and enjoyed in Michigan last summer. We had a lot of help from the kids doing prep work. BOY is it refreshing!
Notice the blue ring. It is the same one that Wyatt is wearing in the previous water picture.

Camp

Summer camp, Day camp, Bible Camp, ... Summer time! I have been to camps where the kids are soooo tired that, in my opinion, a big part of their "spiritual" breakthroughs are pretty much emotional exhaustion.

Not this camp. Our fire time and opening our hearts and minds to the things of God happened just after supper. Six-thirty. It was powerful. And usually more "decisions" are made on the final night of camp. Not this camp. Day one on through the final night. I found myself drawing near to God. It was an awesome ( in every sense of the Word) Kid's Camp!!

Water Fun

Kids love water. This is our little splash pool. Wyatt's first time playing in it. He isn't too sure about the spraying. I'll have to post another picture when we get our other pool set up.

In the mean time stay cool. Especially you Walla Wallaians.

A yummy looking pic

This is one of my favorite pictures I took in Michigan last summer. Those berries were soooo yummy.

I think I need to get out and see if there are any berries still left in this neck of the woods.

I have enjoyed a few basketfuls from a farmer's market. But there is something about picking them yourself that adds to the enjoyment.

Grandson's are Special too!

This is Wyatt Earl Martin and he is 15 months old. He has a multitude of nick-names. Cherise calls him Googie. He is a cutie and lots of fun. Most of it is on his terms though. He is in for a rude awakening in a couple of months when his brother or sister comes along.

Lys and Logan

We are having fun watching those two develop their relationship. They are good kids. The time that he was deployed wasn't easy but it seems to have deepened their commitment to keep each other in prayer and heightened their awareness of where their strength comes from.

It is nice to know that our girls are finding men that seem tailor made for them. Yay for the best son-in-law, fiance and boyfriend ever!!!!

Anniversary

Yesterday was Harlan and my 26th Anniversary. It was tiring. We spent our morning and a bit of the afternoon getting packed and out of Kid's Camp. Then we went to the Enchanted Forest in Salem. It has been years since we've been there. Courtney, Hayden and Cameron have never been there. Joylynn, Jess and Wyatt were able to come with us. The hiking up and down the hills up there wasn't too cool after having hiked up and down the hills at Kid's Camp since Sunday but we survived.

We enjoyed our involvement this year at camp. Have a ton of pictures. I needed to run out and get ink and photo paper this a.m. to be able to print some of them.

We also have the pleasure of having Logan (Lyssa's fiance) home safe and sound from serving in the Middle East.

God has been so good to us over the past 26 years. He has given us so many blessings. Our desire to serve him has only increased.

No time to think.

Isn't chaos a weird looking word. Weird is also a weird looking word. But chaos is the prevailing noun in my life at the moment.

Synonyms confusion, disarrangement, disarray, disorder, disorganization, havoc, hell, jumble, mess, muddle, shambles
Related Words anarchy, lawlessness, misrule; knot, snarl, tangle; labyrinth, maze, web; maelstrom, storm; clutter, litter, mishmash, shuffle; hodgepodge, medley, miscellany, motley

Near Antonyms method, pattern, plan, system
Antonyms order, orderliness

It's interesting to me that there are 30 synonyms and related words to this state and only 6 antonyms and near antonyms.

"Peace be still." I guess HE has it right all along.

Seize the Day

How does one go about living in the day? So much of my time seems to be spent lamenting the fact that I "coulda, should, woulda..." or anticipating upcoming events that I really think I am missing out on all that God has for me today.

Scripture says "whatever your hand finds to do." Seems to fit in with my ADD type of personality. But it is followed by "do it with all your might." That requires focus.

Priorities? What is the definition? How do you go about getting them in line when bombarded at every side with meeting the needs, wants, whims of others?

Calling? Do I have one?

I think I need to spend some serious alone time with God. Where can I go to be alone?

Marshmallows

Smores, Rice Krispie Treats, Fudge.

Food, family & adjustments

We had a couple of friends over for dinner the other night. Thanks for coming guys! Alyssa was working and Krystle was at church for YC. Courtney went to Jr High. So here there were only 6 people eating with food for around 20. Three desserts. We have had 3 more meals from the leftovers. I'm not doing so well with this semi empty nest thing. It is rare that all of us are home for a meal together. :o( And I don't know how to "do" small food.

This fall is going to be weird with only 3 kids home for the days. I guess Wyatt and the new baby will more than make up for the lack of Hilmans proper in residence.

Adam is moving :0\ He is going to have a spiffy new room though. It used to be scary orange. Kinda like being swallowed by a giant gourd. Now it is the color of smooth ripe avocado a serene light green. He is not going to be lonely with the mouse and possibly mice that live in the window well. Also there is a nice closet that Cherise fashioned out of pipe and fabric.

Harlan and Hayden will be camping overnight tonight. Alyssa went to the beach with Megan. Krystle has to work tonight. So that will leave me alone with Cam and Courtney. More adjustments.....

I wish my life fit some sort of norm. But it doesn't and that's going to have to be OK.

Boundaries, blogs, reality checks

I have never read the book "Boundaries". I think I need to. Life is hard. Choices are hard.

I have learned a ton from peoples blogs. I am just like them. I don't feel at home here. I can't embrace any of the world's solutions as much as I'm drawn to them. I must remind myself that I am not living for myself. I have been bought.

I want to start being more real. Except for my nails......I like them acrylic.

I need to learn more

I'd like to post a photo every now and then. How do Chris and Robin make their posted pictures look like polaroids? That kid of theirs is sure a cutie. I have a cute little guy here multiple days a week that I'm sure many of you would love to see.

To change the subject. If a headache goes away when you drink coffee does it imply that it was a lack of caffeine causing it? If that is the case I'm in trouble.

Birthday Boy

Harlan's birthday is Monday. He "forgot" to take the day off so he'll be working from 6:30 a.m. until 6:00 p.m. He does get an hour and a half for lunch so I'll have to think about where to take him out to lunch. Most times he just comes home.

I don't like having his birthday and father's day so close together. I suppose it could be worse his birthday could be in June. Guys are hard to buy presents for. Especially if you have a limited budget and everything that he would really love is in the multiple hundreds of dollars.

I have a few ideas. A new picture collage for his office at work. Perhaps some organizational stuff for his shop. I'd love to get him a comfy recliner type chair that he could just chill in.

In any case "Happy Birthday Har!" You are one of the good ones.

Mother of the....

I am going to be the Mother of the Ring Bearer! Cam is going to be in our nephew Justin's wedding on Jun 4th and I'm excited. For him and me. I like weddings a lot! I like the decorating and such. None of it seems like work to me.

Justin called yesterday to see if Cam would do it. He initially said no but after seeing some pretty nice tuxedos online and getting the book "10 Cool Things about being a Ring Bearer" he is pretty pumped about being in the wedding.

Mom and Don are coming on the 31st. As much as decorating and wedding stuff isn't work. Cleaning and dejunqueing is a major pain. I have not even 3 weeks to accomplish something. I think maybe we'll move and not tell anybody.

It's Mother's Day!

I need to call my mom before it gets too late. It is 3 hours ahead in Michigan. I had a very nice day. We had our traditional "Mother's Day/Molly's Birthday" party at Zywicki's. I got to talk to all my kids and see most of them.

I hope all you kiddettes and kiddoes got to spend some time with your moms. Or at least thought of them.

Next month we get to celebrate all over only with a more masculine theme. It's hard to decorate the breakfast room at church for Father's Day. There are so many things that guys are into. With Mother's Day it's like duh! Flowery stuff. I need to get votes on this June decor. I have 3 tables that need something on them. The choices I've come up with are: sports such as Football, basketball, baseball. Then there are sports such as golf, and various recreational sports horse shoes, badmitton, tennis.... Then there are the fishing and hunting themes. Then there are the handyman type of stuff. Then there are the pipe, cigar and classic literature types. How about the computer guys? Camping, hiking and other outdoorsie activities. Then there are the car and truck guys. What about the musicians? What about the Starbucks and Jazz, Berkenstock wearing dads? How about the kite flying beach dudes. Surfing? Snow, water, web? Men are so multifaceted. One theme doesn't fit all dads. HELP. I need suggestions.

What a drag.

We are enduring a day without a sewer line. Yippee. It should be done by the end of the day. I'm thankful that we have such nice and experienced men doing the work. What a messy job!

Read a few blogs this a.m. Watched Wyatt. Made coffee for the plumbers. Still debating on whether or not to get my hair cut. It is lacking style in a big way. Yesterday I looked like Albert Einstein for most of the day. Only fatter.

I may give myself another couple days to think of all the options. Perhaps I'll jump on the Whipple bandwagon :o)

Rylan has another picture of a cute cat on his blog. I wonder where his cat, Sabre, is with all this activity going on downstairs and outside. I'll have to try to find him later.

Just in case you didn't know. My girls have the best husband, fiance, and boyfriend in the whole world.

News and not so

For those of you that wondered. Frodo was adopted within a couple of weeks of being at the Humane Society. We only reduced our cat population by 25% here but it seems like a 75% reduction in stress levels pertaining to petdom.

Sick and Tired:

That pretty much describes most of the occupants of the house at this time. Har has been trying to get rid of a nasty chest cold. Cam and Hayden are coughing now :o( Wyatt seems to be doing pretty good. He is walking around more and more. Constant motion that one. But he does crash for a couple of hours every morning and around an hour in the afternoon so even little guys need to recharge.

Taxes are pretty much done for everyone here. Rylan's federal return is the only one left to file and he has an automatic extension for being overseas. Gotta get some help to decipher some of the requirements and exclusions. I like doing it though.

I'm doing a little bit of sewing for MJ Wallace. I like it. Makes me wish I had everything in order around here so I had a space to do some projects for myself. If I have anything spread out in the dining room it has to be shuffled away by Friday evenings when Young Adults meet here.

I think that is about it for any update. I have been bugging Mr Relational to update his blog and he recently did so now it was my turn to give it a whirl.

Until next time....

There there-apy

Does it imply overload if you want to just sit in your vehicle in a parking lot and watch rain run down the windows because it's quiet. Even those few brief moments of solitude were refreshing. It seems as though I have constant audio and visual stimulation from the time my feet hit the floor in the morning until the 3rd, 4th or 5th time Cam comes back into my room at night for a hug and a kiss. But it's the "Goodnight, Have a good sleep." that comes from his lips and heart just before he shuts the door that is kind of a benediction on the day signaling that everyone has shuffled off to their beds. All is calm.

Being a mom is not easy

I want to smack somebody. I hate when life happens to one of my kids. Tonight Hayden was so happy to have set the VCR to tape "Survivor" while he was at church. The swine VCR didn't prompt him to turn it off in order for it to record at 8 o'clock. He was sad to find that it didn't record and there was only the tribal council vote left to see. He did manage to tape that but was planning on watching the entire taped show with Cherise and Adam this weekend. Hopefully we can find someone that recorded the thing successfully. We will know better for next week's show.

Anyone out there in the TV biz know why they are playing it on Wednesdays this week and next?

Like anyone in the TV biz is going to read my goofy blog. Yeeeesh :-}

Goodbye not so old friend.

Krystle had to make a very hard decision in the past couple of weeks. She decided to bring Frodo (her cat) to the Humane Society to be adopted by another family. He is a wonderful loving companion but thinks he needs to be the only male cat in the home. Frodo has attempted to mark "His" territory to keep Sabre (the one true King) from enjoying the years he has remaining with us. We weren't about to put Sabre out so the only thing was to allow Frodo to claim a new domain somewhere else. Anyone want to adopt a great kitty that needs to be the one and only male cat in residence? His profile should be on the OHS websight shortly.

I'm going to miss the stupid thing. But just think, I now have a grandchicken!

OK Maybe YOU'RE not

Harlan happens to be "on call" this week. Not only is he on call in his rotation he is also manager on call for the guy he is standing in as manager for. I was sort of thinking about what being on call means. Isn't it being there for somebody when they have a need that you can meet or try to help them figure out how to solve the problem on their own. Isn't it putting down what you had planned, to do something for another. But it's not just sitting anticipating the phone ringing or a pager going off. You must still be about your business. Doing what it is that you have purposed to do. We all have that sort of stuff. Purpose stuff. Hopefully when we get the "call" to reach out or help we are available and not wrapped up in our own pursuits. I think we all should be ready and willing to come along side a fellow human to help illuminate the path they are traveling when they have need of vision.

Sounds almost Biblical.

I don't see it.

When did Starbucks start putting cutsie little quotes on the side of their cups. Har and I happened to read ours by accident when we happened to both pull the sleeve off of our cups. Don't they know that if your beverage is hot more than likely the cute little quote is going to be covered up by a sleeve? Are there a lot of people going around sleeveless? What is the percentage anyway? I'm sure there are stats somewhere. Also I don't get what the bottom box labeled "Drink" is for. Do they serve other things besides drinks in these cups?

Coffee People used to be the trivia kings of the coffee world. I guess in the great melting pot of coffee companies nowadays what works for one is going to be tried by all. Especially since they are all now one.

Have you seen the new Coffee People logo? The "People" are GONE! What in the world?

Is it soup yet?

I have weird children. I've known that for some time. Each quirk just makes me love them more. However I think this caboose of ours is going to be entertaining us with his wit, creativity and dance skills for some time to come. He was just break-dancing for me. He invents food. At least he believes he has. He has a pancake spread that he concocted consisting of peanut butter and sopapilla syrup. It is mixed together in identical quantities and is very yummy. He also believes someone stole his invention of microwave oatmeal. He has made microwave oatmeal from scratch since he was 4 years old. Someone has had the audacity to market a new product. It is kinda like instant oatmeal but you have to cook it. Adding hot water isn't sufficient. Cam thinks "someone" was watching him and is now marketing "his" idea.

Interesting hey? You never know when you are being watched. So be circumspect at all times.

Spring has Sprung

Something near miraculous has occurred. I certainly don't know how it has come about. I don't know what to make of it. Aside from a couple in times in recent weeks, I have managed to have a least one of my kitchen sinks dish free (if not both of them) for the better part of a month. Now for those of you who have experienced our home. You must also be awed by that fact. Usually any phrase with the word "clean" referring to actually doing something to attain said state is followed by the question "Who's coming over?". Is there a law against having a somewhat pleasant environment for just those humble souls who dwell here?