Flashback Friday

Going back quite a bit on this post as it includes people I never even met...

My paternal great-grandparents - Romulus and Iva

I never met either of them.  I don't see any family resemblance to my dad and his children.  However, I do see some resemblance to my uncle and my cousin.

This is my grandpa, son to the couple above.

another picture of my grandpa

This is my grandma with my dad and my uncle.  My dad is on the left.  Do you see any resemblance to the little guy below--my nephew, Ira?

For the record, this picture was taken in July.  Ira is a true blond now, no more red highlights. Oh and by the way, Ira is going to be a big brother.  Yes, you read that right!  In late July or early August, Jonathan and Danielle will be outnumbered with three kiddos under the age of three, and this one is another boy, so Regan will remain the queen bee.

or maybe you see some resemblance to this guy - yep, that is Zach on his first birthday, and his eyes were always wide open just like that

Zach gets his coloring from Andy.  In fact, he is the only biological grandchild on my side of the family with brown eyes.  If my limited knowledge of genetics is correct, the two new babies on the way will not have brown eyes either.

My dad and my uncle, my dad is on the back of the horse, I think?  Dad is older but shorter.  Their age difference in only 11 months, so I am not sure when the height difference showed up.

This is my dad and uncle with their cousin Edith.  Aren't they a great looking bunch?  Dad is in the middle.

My dad, no idea how old he is here.

This is the picture that kind of surprises me.  This is my dad with his cousin, Edith, standing behind him.  He is surrounded by her children, and this was taken shortly after he returned from Vietnam.  Dad served in Vietnam after college as a commissioned officer, so he would have been in his early 20s.  He looks like a high school student to me.

These pictures all came from my cousin Susie.  Tessa (also expecting and due in November) and I went to a bridal shower at her house, and she had these scanned, printed and on a CD for my sister-in-law.  Of course, I loaded them into my files and did some touching up while awaiting the opportunity to give them to Danielle.  I have so much fun with pictures.

so ready for spring break

Very early Monday morning, Andy left for an out-of-town business trip.  

This is our life when Andy leaves town.

He loads the freezer up with frozen food.  Andy is the family cook, and between work and getting the kids to and from practices and other activities, I can barely manage a simple meal.

He has not traveled in over a year.  In the past, I had to switch my hours at work to get everyone to school.  That really isn't an option any more, so our new plan goes like this.  Zach takes Julia to the bus stop, then he takes Wyatt to before school care and then drives Savannah and himself to school.  This week was our maiden voyage with this new plan.

As of last week, I have been officially packing a library for a move.  Andy left Monday morning, and I packed 80 boxes of books at work that day.  A team of just eight people packed 728 boxes in just under four hours.  I arrived at home exhausted.

The kids managed the morning quite well except for a missed medication that resulted in some minor challenges that afternoon.

Tuesday brought more packing at work followed by a skating party for Wyatt's school-definitely felt too old and tired for that.  The kids once again managed to make it to school on time.

Today was not so smooth.

The first thing I did this morning was start a load of laundry.  Then I found this:

That would be potting soil all over my living room floor.  Oh joy!  The dog bedding was a mess, and the washer was already busy.

The accused:

I quickly assessed that Shiloh was the guilty party.  While the evidence was circumstantial, I do believe it would hold up in a court of law.

1. She did not sleep in her crate last night.  She was pretty stubborn about the crate thing in Andy's absence.

2. She has torn up a bag of potting soil before.  Why, you may ask, did she have access to potting soil based on her history?  Well, we have a garden growing on a table in our living room until the weather clears enough for it to be transplanted outside.  The potting soil was supposedly out of Shiloh's reach on the table.  Clearly, not so.

3. Nobody else with any freedom spent the night in that room or area of the house.

4. She has a history of throwing herself parties that get pretty messy.

Guilty as charged!

So this morning started with a hurried sweeping job and quick text to Andy to let him know what he would be finding at home as he was not exactly coming into a haven of rest from a grueling business trip. 

I was late to work.  Zach missed Julia's bus and had to drive her to school.  That made him and Savannah late to school.

We are all grateful that Andy returned today.  When he announced this trip, Wyatt told him to watch out for piranhas and killer spiders in this state.  Where do kids get this stuff?  We are glad Andy skirted the piranhas and killer spiders while away.

We have 2 more days until spring break.  We need a break. Can we get some spring weather with that break?  We are all so tired here.

Yes I Did!

Reader beware: This is such a meaningless post that you may get to the end, and say to yourself, "really?- I am not getting that 3 minutes of my life back!"

A few days ago I posted about my plan to save for a bracelet.  The bracelet purchased is pictured above, and I am going to share a peek into my manic mind regarding this purchase.

My wrestling went like this.

I never spent my Christmas money on myself other than to buy a much needed pair of jeans.  I paid bills with it.

I have an extra check coming this month.  I can recoup my Christmas money.

The kids all need things. I need shoes and clothes. How ridiculous am I to consider buying something I don't need?

My mom would say that money given for a Christmas gift/birthday gift etc. should be spent on something personal, not necessarily practical. That was what the giver intended (she was usually the said giver, and this time the giver was Dad).

I have a friend who received one of these as a gift, and it broke the first time she wore it.  I have read on line that this is not uncommon.

There is a sale on this that won't occur again for six months. Now that I know about this sale, there is no other way I will buy this as this is the best deal they offer.

I can wait six months and save for this.

It would be fun to have it to add a bead on vacation.

I am possibly going on two vacations this summer, and I need the money for both.

Zach may be going to China, and I need money to help him pay for that.

Zach's class ring cost more, and he almost never wears it.  I could have expected that. I will definitely wear this a lot. In Zach's defense, he doesn't want to leave it in the locker room, and he goes straight from school to conditioning or practice of some sort.  He then works every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday and can't wear it to work.

 I love wearing bracelets but have only one that can be worn with almost anything, and it really gets in my way, so I can't wear it everywhere.

What if an emergency comes up, and I need the money for something else?

How can I justify this when everyone in the family except for me had a least one cavity that had to be filled last month at the dentist.  Those bills are still coming in as we staggered having the work done.

If I buy it, I can just ask the kids and Andy to give me some cash for Mother's Day to contribute to this purchase.

What about starving children in Haiti?  How can I justify this?

If I wrestle this much, will I be able to enjoy it?  That was the big question because I have found that in the past when I really wrestled over a purchase, the wrestling didn't stop, and I didn't enjoy my purchase.

Not one penny of this purchase goes to a good cause.  Shouldn't I get a necklace to support a missionary?  Those are fun and meaningful too.

I always come back to this one too:  I have spent as much or more money on stuff that was only used once - think bridesmaid dresses, wedding dress, and just about any dress for a formal occasion.

What if Jesus comes back next month?  I wouldn't care one bit about this bracelet.

I said I would not use my credit cards during lent unless it was a store card that resulted in a good discount. While I could pay cash for this, I wanted it tracked on a card in case something went wrong, and I needed the backing of the credit card company.  Does that break my lent vow even if I pay it over the phone immediately after the purchase?  - Vow broken anyway by a car repair.

Wrestling about this is pulling my focus away from God.  Will I focus better if I get this over with and buy it or if I let this go?

So you see how difficult it is for me to buy something that is fun but useless.  I have an easier time spending money on an experience than a trinket.

I knew about the sale and wrestled for days before I just went to the store on my way to pick Julia up from school yesterday.  I figured I would look for the beads I had preselected from the catalog and if  the store was empty enough that I could make the purchase and still pick Julia up on time, I would go for it. Though the store had a sign in sheet and was busy, I was able to quickly get in and out. I did not wear the bracelet out of the store but had the clerk box it up for me - just in case I would return to return it over the weekend.

Julia was the first to know, and her immediate reaction was, "you make unwise decisions."  Wow!

Savannah was the second to know, and her reaction was, "You do not do nice things for yourself often, and you really wanted this for a long time.  You should keep it."

Wyatt followed Savannah's example and became my greatest defender.  Whenever Julia opened her mouth, like to tell Andy as if I had done something awful, Wyatt overrode her, and declared there was nothing wrong with this.  Andy agreed.

So, I am keeping it, and now I will explain my bead choices. (side note, I am not wrestling any more)

I was sure that my first bead would be a camera which is so, so appropriate for me.  However, I started thinking about what would best represent my affection for bracelets in the first place and decided on the blue bead which is called "ribbon."  That bead represents the blue cord of faith that I wore during my time studying Beth Moore's Believing God.  To me, this bead represents the truths that we memorized during that study.  1. God is who He says He is.  2. God can do what He says He can do. 3. I am who God says I am.  4. I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.  5. God's word is alive and active in me.

I also bought two clips to keep the bead in place.  The clips are called "Crazy" which I think represents this journey well and definitely represents my fun-loving and funny family.  I actually chose these by playing with different clips on the bracelet using the Pandora site and just liked the way these looked the best.

How did you like that walk in my manic mind?  Exhausting, huh? Does anyone else do this?

March 27, 2013 Update

I received my check stub today for this week, and this check has a little extra in it because it is the third check this month. Monthly payments for things like insurance premiums do not come out of this one.  The difference between the extra and the price of the bracelet is only $23.  God is so good to me.  Hopefully, I will have opportunity to use this trinket to point others to Him.

Flashback Friday

I am celebrating my feisty, funny, and strong-willed grandma (aka Grandma-by-the-Lake).  She turned 96 on March 3rd.  I saw her just a few weeks ago.  I don't think she knows who I am, and I get out to visit far less than I should.  I want to take the kids to see her soon.  She loves children, and I think they will put a smile in her heart.

That's my mom on the left and me in the middle.  Judging by the shirt I am wearing, I am guessing that this was taken at least 22 years ago.

When an alien invades

This week we had an alien among us, and it was a very good thing.

Julia (said alien) decided to get up extra early in the morning.  I think she did this by accident on Tuesday, but she was up and ready to help. She made my lunch, picked out Andy's work clothes, and made cinnamon rolls for the family.  She liked it so much that she put herself to bed early Tuesday night, and awoke ready to do the same on Wednesday.  She added making Andy's coffee to her morning "to do" list as well.  It all ended on Friday, but it was sure fun while it lasted.

Our week wasn't all rosy.  On Tuesday, one of our cars was towed making it the third tow in a week's time.  This time the repair was extra-pricey, and there was much anguish and flaring tempers over the whole ordeal.  Grr.  However, overcorrecting when coming out of a hydroplane could be so much worse than 1/2 a months salary to repair a car....counting my blessings on this one.


We started the week with Wyatt very excited about The Bible which is airing on The History Channel on Sunday nights.  It was interesting to see how much was left out of this mini-series and very exciting to see Wyatt so excited about it.  He is anxious to watch the whole thing, so we will allow for a late bedtime on Sunday nights to accommodate this - an especially hard thing with the upcoming time change.

We ended this week with an early morning 5K for Andy and Savannah.  Savannah has to run/walk a 5K as part of her P.E. class, so that is one more school project checked off the list.  They had a good time. We all wish the whole family could participate in one together, but that would be pricey.

Julia also hit the gym for some extra time and got her back tuck on the trampoline.  She is so close to getting a round-off, 2 back handspring combination accomplished.  I am sure she can do it.  She just needs to go for it.

That's life this week with the Pages.

I will leave you with some photos from the last 10 days:

Andy and I got a rare night alone when all four kids attended our church's annual overnighter for 3rd and 4th graders.  Zach (not pictured because he was stationed in a drop off room when we arrived with Wyatt and Julia) and Savannah chaperoned and racked up some much needed service hours for school.  Wyatt and Julia just had fun.  We learned that at least one of our kids and probably two of them should not pursue careers requiring night work...we paid for that night off.


These next two pictures were taken after Andy registered himself and Zach and Savannah for our church's high school trip to Bible and Beach.  After registration, the kids were supposed to promote the trip on social media with a picture of themselves and the hashtag "I'm on the bus."  You might recall that Savannah sold her artwork to raise money for this trip.  She wasn't quite ready last year, so she put the money in the bank and let it sit there safely for this year.

5K This morning.  Zach volunteered (desperate for service hours at this point as he is very busy, so fitting them in is very difficult).

Savannah ran with a friend.  E is pictured here with her sister, A, who also ran.  Andy accomplished a personal best on this one, so he was really excited.

One year ago today...

One year ago today, I launched my personal joy dare.  (See http://onethousandgifts.com).  It was an interesting day as it was a much anticipated day off of work.  However, a neighboring community was decimated by tornadoes that day.  We had Jim Cantore in our city which we all know means bad news on the weather horizon.  I committed to count to 1000 in a year on that day, and well, I failed.  As of this morning, I have 685 things listed in my joy journal.  I do continue to count as I try to make it to at least 1000.

Flashback Friday

Bracelet of Faith

The bracelet pictured above was worn through much of our journey to adopt Julia.  After completing Beth Moore's Believing God study, I felt I would miss the blue cord of faith around my wrist.  Through that study I learned that a bracelet could be so much more than a pretty ornament.  It can also be a reminder to pray as it is always in front of you and often in your way.  It can be a conversation starter for a journey you are taking which opens the door to plant seeds.

This bracelet has three charms on it.  There is the Chinese symbol for love.  Love launches adoptions, and China is a culture and a people we have come to love.  There is a small disk with a reminder to "trust God" engraved on it.  The engraving is wearing thin.  Finally, there is a mustard seed because the mustard seed of faith was all I had sometimes during that journey.  This is to be one of Julia's final Gotcha Day gifts as she reaches those last years before adulthood.

I have been thinking of bracelets quite a bit lately.  For years I have looked for something meaningful and beautiful to wear around my wrist, something to remind me to pray for needs and represent my life.    I have not come up with anything yet and am now considering a Pandora charm bracelet.  I have seen them around for years and like the idea of charms that do not dangle so much, but they seemed too bulky for my taste.  They also seem prettiest when they are theme based, and my style in charms is too varied.  Therefore, I have not really looked at them too closely. I finally paid a visit to the store, tried one on, and brought home the catalog.  I have decided that this is the way to go to build a meaningful bracelet, so I will start saving for one.  I have looked at other brands but really like the new Pandora clasp.  I have charms on an old bracelet that I would like to transfer over which is concerning because Pandora voids their warranty for bracelets that have other brands of charms on them.  Really?! Yet, I still think this is the way I will go to get a meaningful trinket to remind me daily of the blessings in my life, to remind me to thank God for them and to continually bring them to Him in prayer.