Blessings of a Cubbie

Overheard tonight while on of my Cubbies was asking God to bless our snack:

"God, thank you so much for this wonderful snack that I made! And thank you for all these boys and girls. You make great kids, God! God, please give each boy and girl a hamster for Christmas. Thanks, God!"

I just love my Cubbies!

There's No Joy in Mudville

Well, the news isn't good. Travis insists he was rejected by Duke. I insist he was not accepted. I maintain there is a difference, although I'm not sure what it is.

He chose to escape and head to his favorite cousin's house to hang out and get his mind off it all. They're gonna talk baseball. I'd go there, too, if I could.

On a brighter note, it was a beauuuuuutiful day outside today! We did some school outside. After school I worked in the garden a very little bit, planting spinach, lettuce, peas and onions. Then, in a concerted effort to not come inside, I cleaned the front porch furniture.

Holly watched her cousin "kick booty" in volleyball, then she treated with Andy's. That is two nights straight she went to Andy's....hmmmm...... Annie had one of her best games ever in soccer. It was too bad she could only stay for half the game, but volleyball called. She really liked that, too. Nathan hunted worms and frogs with his buddy down the street, then they had a rather successful fishing trip. All in all, it was a pretty good day. Perhaps there is some joy in Mudville.

Now, I'm gonna snuggle up to watch the Lost episode that I think I tivo'ed last night. My hope is that my eyes can stay open that long.

Oh, on a random note: forget butterfly pictures. Annie released them today and I completely forgot to get pictures. Typical. The ones I took earlier were....bad. So, just know it was an educational, inspirational, and enjoyable experience to raise a few butterflies.

Tonight is Very Important

Travis is a senior, as you know. He has applied to Mizzou and been accepted. He has also applied to Washington University, Vanderbilt, and Duke.

If anyone ever tries to minimize the importance of campus visits, don't believe a word of it! In Trav's case, it was life-changing.

First, we visited Mizzou, a place of legacy in our family, and he really, really liked it. He became excited about college. Annie pledged her loyalty immediately and refuses to ever entertain any ideas about attending elsewhere. Nathan loved it. Holly loved it.

Then, we visited St. Louis University, and the love? Not so much. Wonderful school, but just no chemistry with the family and SLU. Then, after much begging, we agreed to visit Duke. We flew to Durham and back in a day. There, Travis fell in love. His teachers have said repeatedly that they don't know what happened that day, but he returned a different person. He wanted so very much to get into Duke that he poured everything he had into doing what was necessary to give it his very best shot. He was motivated.

We didn't ever visit Vanderbilt. If he is accepted there, we will make the visit. It was difficult timing, and now it makes sense to wait. We should hear from them within a week or so.

He was wait-listed for Wash U. That's really good, because they had over 23,000 applicants for 1,400 spots and he is on the waiting list in the case they aren't filled. We did visit Wash U, and it was nice. He may be able to play baseball there.

But tonight? Tonight we find out the question we have asked since September. Is Travis accepted to Duke? I have prayed for God to guide us and open and close doors for us, making our way clear. I know He has a plan for Travis, and Trav's future is in His hands. I'm not sure how we will afford it if he goes, and I really don't know how I'll do with him so very far away. If he doesn't get accepted, he will be devastated, and I fear a loss of motivation. Either way, God knows what the answer is and will prepare us and work us through it. Please pray for His will to be clear for us tonight, and for us to trust Him, and accept His answers.

I Get to Stay Home Today.....Stellar!

It has been awhile. I'm trying to recall when this last happened...I'm really not sure. I'm so happy, though. I'm drinking coffee, reading my Google reader with its hundreds of articles, and I have no less than 12 tabs on this Explorer screen.

We do have to leave at some point, although I'm not sure where I will go. Annie has volleyball and soccer tonight at exactly the same time....I hate it when that happens. I was soooo hoping for rain, but the day looks to be fabulous.

It has been a wild 'n woolly week. Sunday: church, baseball, soccer, AWANA, whew!
Monday: work and baseball. Small group was cancelled. Hmmm....Monday.....
Monday was one of those days when I would make small progress and fall back in a much more significant amount....you know, I ended the day farther behind than when I started. So, when I got home to pick up a daughter who had left already and I realized I had driven at least 30 minutes extra for no apparent reason, I pulled a stubborn mule and, figuratively, sat down. I decided I was not attending Trav's first baseball game. Ok, please know there was more to it than just the frustrations of the day....but as I settled down, I knew I should go. So, I headed on down to the town on the other side of the world from here, and discovered Trav wasn't playing. I muttered more than once, "He should've just missed practice on Friday and gone to the concert with us!"....well, it may have been a bit more than a mutter....then lo and behold, they bring him in....to pitch. Ugh.

I love, love, love watching the boy play baseball....put him in, coach! In the infield, that is....NOT PITCHING! I found myself unable to take a deep breath. I quickly became very involved in a friend's request to load her new cell full of cool ringtones via bluetooth. (Yes, I have some pretty fab ringtones, if I say so myself.) We were up 9-7 when he came in.....it was tense. He allowed one unearned run until we found ourselves in the bottom of the last inning, 2 outs, runners on, (of course with the new run, it is now 9-8), and he delivers the pitch. The batter, who I know well and is one of the best players in the region, hit a screaming line drive waaaaaaaaaay out......straight to the center fielder, who caught it quite handily. Game over. My victorious, "Yes!" set my physical therapy back a few days, but it was so very worth it. I might add, in case you haven't heard, that the regional newspaper called my son's performance, "Stellar". I like that word very much.

After some Pizza Inn and "24", I was happy to put that day to rest. Then Tuesday came along.

Tuesday began with roughly 473 items on my "to do" list. Not one was checked off by the end of the day. I became frustrated with "less than stellar" customer service (don't you just love that word?), extreme rudeness displayed by a larger than normal amount of people (there are some great stories there, but unless you can see the storytelling in person, the entertainment value gets lost...sorry) and the fact that we get to shell out ANOTHER few thousand dollars for MORE braces this summer. By the later part of the day, I was lower than a snake's belly in a wagon rut. Well, not really, but it sounded good. I was ever so glad to get to the baseball game and see another "stellar" performance. Fifty mph winds across a dirt infield make for some gritty teeth, but hey, it's part of it. What isn't part of it, however, is playing two innings through torrential rains with players sliding in the mud trying to get to the ball and get the out. Considering that the conditions were a bit of an improvement to the rest of the day wasn't very comforting, so I was happy to get home, fix supper and bask in a short but very warm bath, knowing Wednesday would be much better.

And it was.

A good haircut does wonders for a lot of things, doesn't it? That and a trip to my favorite BBQ place for lunch and I was a happy camper. I taught the Wed night class of upper elementary kids...we talked about the tongue. I'm forever in need of reminders about the evils of my tongue. The number of scriptures about it astound me. There are so many places where the tongue and the heart are so closely intertwined, it is apparent that the state of the heart is instrumental in what escapes our mouths. I'm glad I was able to teach...I needed to hear it. I think maybe they did, too.

So, I have high hopes for today. Laundry (lots of wet, muddy clothes in there, you know...from that ballgame). Online work. Homeschool research. A blog post (check). LOTS of homeschool. Housework...ooohhhh, the housework. But if I'm actually home, I can get at least some of it done. Thank you, Lord!

One last thing: The Revive/Brandon Heath/ThirdDay concert Friday night was spectacular. They rocked the place! We LOVED all three performances! If you get a chance to see any of them, TAKE IT!

Oh, My Heart Be Still.....

They're coming!!!!! According to Luke Holzmann, and he should know, the Sonlight catalogs are in the mail. It seems when I am just about to the end of my homeschool rope, all the new catalogs come and hope springs eternal.

Lighter Fare

On a lighter note, cruise on over to Boo Mama's March Madness. I think it will be fun to follow the brackets and see who wins!

I was reminded that we used to have green pancakes, clover cookies, and we celebrated St. Patrick's as if we actually had some Irish blood in our veins. My sweethearts are not happy with donning green shirts and calling it a day. So, I guess I will get along and begin our traditional corned beef meal. Or, semi-traditional. I just don't wanna make a grocery trip for cabbage. Perhaps I can try out these clover cupcakes. HT to Melanie for the link.

Coming soon: We had caterpillars. Now they are in their chrysallises...or is it chrysalli? Whatever, I'll have pics as they emerge as beautiful butterflies!

One Trillion Dollars

These bills Congress is passing for bailouts and stimulus are making me crazy. Everything they are doing flies in the face of every concept of free market. Senator John McCain has been twittering. For a few days, he twittered the top ten porkiest earmarks in the bill. It was pretty interesting. Several would have been funny if it had been Monopoly money we were talking about. However, it isn't. It is our money.

I am completely incapable of wrapping my mind around the kind of numbers in these bills. To help visualize it, I found this website. Check it out. I'll be listening for your "Wow!" (I would HT the blog that first directed me to this site if, for the life of me, I could remember who it was!)

24 Tonight

I like 24. There. I've said it. I spent years avoiding it, enduring the gaping-mouth stares of friends and family saying, "You don't watch 24? You would love it!" So, last January - March, my hubby and I watched Season 1...and 2....and 3....and 4.....and 5...and 6. At some point during nearly every episode, my adrenaline kicks in and I sit and just shake. No, I'm not cold, thank you. No, I'm not sick. I'm watching 24. This is how I watch it. Teeth chattering, and body quivering.

As an aside, a year or two ago, we had a night where the teens in our youth group were assigned to find certain parents in the mall. I had gotten a new cap and hoody, knowing my daughter wouldn't look for me like that. I don't even wear my hair up much, let alone in a ball cap...ANYWAY. I was having so much fun. My secret agent-FBI moves gave a new meaning to "stealth". I've gotta tell you, though, my adrenaline was pumping. Every time I ducked behind a display or slid into a store to get out of sight, my heart pumped and my breathing all but stopped. I decided then and there, life as a real secret agent isn't for me. This is all the excitement this ol' girl can handle. So, you see how it is when I watch 24. My excitement level has exceeded anything I hear on Adventures in Odyssey, so my adrenaline goes into overdrive.

Some seasons I like better than others. I wasn't crazy about the first season, and I didn't like the one where he was addicted to heroine fighting the Mexican drug lords. I still watched it, glued to every scene, but it wasn't as enjoyable as other seasons.

Now, this year, I'm liking. I think Jon Voight makes a great bad guy. I'm suspecting who the other bad guys are. You know, the surprises. My issue with this season is, how stupid do the writers think folks are? If they are going to take the time to write complex, plot twisting stories, at least let's try to make it a little believable! There have been too many times when I want to say, "Hello? Use the cell phone?" or "Yes, while Jack stood in front of you, he was really rigging the a/v feed to loop so you couldn't see what he was doing and you would think he was really still standing right in front of you. Larry Moss, you are a MORON!" Unfortunately, although I tell myself it's all scripted and not real, I fear there is a bit too much "reality" in this drama. The writing works well, in part, because although it is a work of fiction, we see alarming similarities to our own bureaucrats. It draws us in, as we root for the good guys to win, again and again. It gives us hope that maybe in real life, they will.

I Won!

Staci, at Writing and Living, had a giveaway for this book:




Just guess who one of the winners was! Just guess! Just guess once! Well, okay, I guess since the title of this post is "I Won!", I probably took the mystery out of it. Yup, I did! Can you tell I don't win much? I'm sooooo excited! Thank you, Staci!