We went to a rodeo today. It was fun, but cold. I mean really cold. Like probably 29- degrees-cold. We shivered so hard and for so long our muscles ached the next day. But it was fun. Something we’d never done before.
I’d love to do it again. But next time I will make sure it is at least 49 degrees… And we’ll wear better outerwear.
Valentine’s Day 2014
Last Valentine’s Day I was heavy with child and had been out of commission for over two months.
We celebrated by eating a lot of sugar for breakfast having a breakfast party. Valentine’s Day 2013.
It was so much fun I purposed to do it again. This year with an additional guest.
Nene is 40!
My little sister is 40.
Which makes me…
Happy?
Happy Birthday, Kelly!
L.O.V.E.
We got the idea from the site we get all our art ideas from.
We are very blessed. There are a lot of people we love dearly.
We couldn’t make them for everyone… As it was it took two different days. Daddy put magnets on the back.
But we had such a good time talking about how much we care about the folks we did share them with.
I loved watching their individual styles come out as we painted and glued. And I loved how excited the kids were about delivering them.
Sometimes…
You just have to stop right in your tracks and
write down what is running through your mind.
She’s our current novelist. She fills notebooks with
stories and reads them to Tabitha and Johanna.
AWANA Grand Prix and Drive-In night
The girls were encouraged to make homemade cars from cardboard boxes for the AWANA Grand Prix (or Prikx as Tabitha says) and Drive-In Movie Night.
John got boxes from Wegmans and the girls helped design their rides.
I wondered if they were taking it a bit too seriously until John reminded me who his employer was… He has a reputation to protect.
We had one Volt, one Corvette, and one Escalade.
Fauna
Our new game from Christmas. It is really cool. The problem is finding somewhere to play it where we will all FIT but can all see the board well.
From the manufacturer: Do you know where the panda lives? Do you know where the babirusa lives? Do you know what a babirusa is? In the game Fauna, you are not expected to know all the answers, simply gather your wits and make an educated guess. You are right on target? Great. You are close? That’s good too, since you score partial points. The more you play the better you get.
Amazon $27.95
A Mighty Fortress.
My Rock and My Fortress
Of David.
who trains my hands for war,
and my fingers for battle;
he is my steadfast love and my fortress,
my stronghold and my deliverer,
my shield and he in whom I take refuge,
who subdues peoples under me.
Passport production…
Do you have any idea how much passports for 8 people costs? Well… if we go to the Post Office and they take the pictures it will be $1,010. USD. They can at least do it on Saturdays. But not at our local Post Office. No. When I called the Post Master there to make an appointment his voice squeaked when he heard how many we needed. He all but demanded gently suggested we go to the MAIN Post Office 15 miles from here. No problem. I called the Post Master out there and he indicated they could do the 8 of us in an hour to an hour-and-a-half. And to bring 9 checks. He was really pretty nice.
Then I learned our Town Hall could do them. And they would only charge $964 to include the photos. But, she straight out gasped when she heard we needed 8. She asked questions in a way to discourage me from going there. She kept saying it was Tax Time. They were really busy because it is Tax Time. Maybe if we could come after Tax Time. I finally asked when Tax Time was over. She said 2/11. Um – three weeks? Yeah. Um – we can wait three weeks to save the money. But, then John has to take half-a-day off work because they only do them from 10:00 A.M. – 3:30 A.M.
A wee bit of a hassle, no? And technically, we don’t even really NEED them. We are going to go on a closed-loop cruise meaning we get on and off the ship in the same US Port. And as the only places our cruise ship is stopping is in the Bahamas and Disney’s private island, we really do not need them. BUT – if we had to be flown back to the US from some other country (due to illness or injury) we would need them. So, they are like an insurance policy. And they cost 25% of what the cruise costs.
We still don’t have them. Nor do we have an appointment. But we do have pictures. Sort of.
You see, I went on the US Department of State website and they seemingly understand that passport processing places are charging ridiculous amounts to have ugly 2 x 2 pictures taken and processed. So they quite clearly and carefully offer guidelines for photo-taking for the purpose of passports. One of the rules is not to smile. Hard for these disciples to do. Another one is to be mindful of shadows. Shadows are hard to contend with in the winter. Even with the boys green screen/light set up.
And this is my wordy introduction to the following mug shots photos. You can’t say I didn’t try.
I ended up finally getting pictures.
Was it worth saving $110? I refuse to answer that.
Dayspring Disciples 