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This year, I'm trying my hand at competing at an old fashioned county fair in the horticulture and baked goods categories. Since my only experience with county fairs comes from books like Charlotte's Web, I'm looking forward to the atmosphere and fair food (but no Templeton, thank you)!

Here's what I'm making:

peanut butter cookies
gooey butter cookies
fudgy butterscotch bars
pumpkin cream cheese muffins
cherry almond granola
cookie dough truffles

I'm hoping for just one award, a small recognition for all the cooking I do around here.

I'm also submitting some yellow wax beans and tomatoes. I was hoping for more green beans and zucchini to enter, but alas, they aren't producing like I'd hoped they would right before fair.

I told hubby if I do win something, then next year will be insane with layered cakes, cheesecakes, preserves, candies, flowers...it could get pretty crazy come fair time '08...

In every job there is an element of uncertainty. You get called into the boss' office and your heart sinks. And any employer can, pretty much, fire you at will for a poor performance.

But there's something inherently different about the job of pastor because in addition to it being the way your husband earns a living, the church is also your spiritual support group, your family, so that when they decide they don't want you anymore it's more than just losing a job. And if you live in the parsonage, then you lose your house, too, all in one fell swoop: you're unemployed, homeless, and without a church family. This is staggering.

I say all this not because it's happening to us, but being the pastor's family makes you think about things and try to brace yourself for if it ever really happened. If someone calls you up and says they need to talk to you about something, until you actually meet you wonder, you worry, you replay conversations in your head and how they might have been mistakenly taken...as the pastor's wife you wonder if YOU said something to make people mad and now they want to fire your husband because of it.

These are things that don't happen in other run of the mill professions. If you flip burgers and your wife comes in and says something obnoxious to a coworker, you probably won't get fired (maybe embarrassed, but not let go).

So again, I'm pleading with all you out there who AREN'T pastors' wives: be patient with us. Please be gracious. You don't know the thoughts that swirl around in our heads.

Torment

My 4 year old LOVES to be tickled. He also loves to watch TV. Yesterday he's begging my husband to watch something so hubby says, "Put your hands on your head and if you can leave them there for ten seconds while I tickle you, then you can watch TV."

The child endures the torment he wanted TV that badly. And Daddy had a little fun in the process.

My silly boys.



I've been saving this author because she's probably my favorite of all time. I think I've grown to love her more with time because she was a minister's wife, and kind of a reluctant one at that. I resonate with her.

She wrote the famous book for young women called Anne of Green Gables, about a red headed orphan named Anne Shirley who goes to live with an aging brother and sister at their family farm on Prince Edward Island. Withtout spoiling too much of the story, let's just say she has a vivid imagination and her temper is as hot as her hair color! Montgomery wrote an entire series about her: Anne of Green Gables, Anne of Avonlea, Anne of the Island, Anne of Windy Poplars, Anne's House of Dreams, Anne of Ingleside, Rainbow Valley, and Rilla of Ingleside. These books were written for teenage girls in the first part of the twentieth century, but they still captivate readers today. The themes of acceptance, discovering your place in the world, navigating romance, education, and the role of women are just as important today as during Anne's time.

Kevin Sullivan has also produced some amazing movies based on the first three books: Anne of Green Gables and Anne of Avonlea (which is a combination of books 2 & 3). He has also made a movie called Anne-The Continuing Story but it is completely unlike the books and, I think, misrepresents who Anne is. It's entertaining in its own right, but it's NOT the Anne Shirley that Montgomery created.

Although Montgomery is best known for her character of Anne Shirley, she has also written a number of entertaining stories. Her personal favorite (and a favorite of mine) is The Story Girl, a story about Sara Stanley who spins the most marvelous tales and spends the summer with distant relatives on Prince Edward Island.

She wrote many short stories for magazines, too, that have been collected into books such as After Many Days, Against the Odds, By the Sea and Akin to Anne. Additionally, she carried on with tales of the fictional Avonlea, which was based on her hometown of Cavendish, with Further Chronicles of Avonlea and with Anne Shirley's family in The Road to Yesterday, which I just started.

I am a HUGE L.M. Montgomery fan. I am so looking forward to reading them with my sweet baby girl someday!

I grew up in the public schools with a working mom and I was fed the line: "Don't be the nurse, be the doctor!" You know that feminism is something I really, really struggle with. But I also struggle with how some parts of evangelicalism have swung the opposite direction, in glorifying feminity by way of long, pretty dresses, not sending girls to college, only training them to be homemakers.

I guess I lean toward some of the feminist ideals I grew up with, but I know that most of those are unbiblical. On the other hand, I don't particularly like some of the alternatives set before me.

I want to start changing the way I think of being a mother and home educator. If I could start to view it as my profession, maybe I would take more joy in it. Maybe that would develop into a sense of calling on my life.

Best go get ready for church and stuff all this stuff down into my heart and put on my smiley face. :)

Delight

It's a command I can't seem to keep. Suggestions?




We got the travel edition as a gift, but we've bought the four person version about 6 months ago. The age range of who can play it is what makes it so great. My 7 year old, my dad, my mom, my husband, the boys down the street can all have fun playing it.

It's a tile laying game that requires you match up the corners of your colored piece to another corner of another piece of yours. Sounds simple enough, but with 4 people it's quite a challenge.

I've never found a more enduring game. Our family just loves it.

You can buy it from the www.timberdoodle.com website!


From the Netflix website (where I got the movie):

"A delightful Iranian movie about a boy who accidentally loses his sister's shoes and must share his own sneakers with her in a sort of relay while each attends school at different times during the day. Finally, the boy enters a much-publicized foot race, hoping to place third. The prize: a new pair of sneakers. Directed by respected filmmaker Majid Majidi, Children of Heaven is just that -- heavenly."

This is a movie with subtitles, but usually after a few minutes that's no big deal. I'm fascinated with Middle Eastern culture and found the buildings, Persian rugs, dress, and music beautiful. You just want to wrap your arms around the main characters, a brother and sister, with their expressive brown eyes that communicate so much more than what they say.

What a precious story! I'm hoping to buy this one.

A New Look

It took me a while to find a template I like. I've just been changing colors for fun for a while now. I think I'll be sticking with this one-finally. I'm slowly learning more about this whole blogging thing!



Here are my guys at the top yesterday! I'm so proud of them!

Mt. Elbert


Well, my hubby and my oldest sweetie pie climbed the tallest mountain in Colorado. Now they're on the road again, 12 hours after they started, and my poor son is sleeping in the back, blisters on his feet, hasn't eaten, needs water...I'm worried about him, so if you could, pray for him. He did an amazing thing today with his dad. They're stopping at a hotel tonight and then will come home tomorrow. I'm sure he'll post about it soon.

Update: My big boy is feeling better. He's eating, slept a little, and doing OK! I'm looking forward to seeing them tomorrow. They weren't suppose to be gone two nights. Hubby told me he said something funny, though. At the end of the climb my poor, pathetic 7 year old says, "Elbert's BEATEN me!"

On contraire, little man. YOU'RE THE BEST! I'll be sure to post a shot of my FIRST sweetie pie on his first 14er soon! WAY TO GO!

Hubby preached a wonderful message today about money, from the Sermon on the Mount. He made an astute observation about our culture.

Billions of dollars are spent each year to make you feel unhappy. Advertisers parade beautiful people before us to make us feel fat, ugly, and out of style. If we would just go buy that cream/bodywash/mascara/hot dog then we would be fulfilled and popular. Flipping through a magazine, you find your dream kitchen and now the kitchen you have just seems dated and cramped. You see the latest model traipse across the TV and suddenly you notice how old you've become.

Pastor Hubby's point was that it can be so difficult to keep your focus on Jesus in our country. It's like telling a kid who goes into a toy store not to look at the toys. We must keep stored up for ourselves treasure in heaven, where moth and rust don't destroy. We must be like Moses who considered the reproach of Christ to be worth more than the riches of Egypt in Hebrews 11.

Such excellent thoughts (I have a wise, wonderful husband.) and important to keep in mind as I navigate the world around me.

As proof that I'm not leaving the blogosphere (and as a reward for getting a lot done today in the way of housework, cooking, and my Bible study), I took a fun quiz I found over at Lisa Writes.

You Are a Cappuccino

You're fun, outgoing, and you love to try anything new.
However, you tend to have strong opinions on what you like.
You are a total girly girly at heart - and prefer your coffee with good conversation.
You're the type that seems complex to outsiders, but in reality, you are easy to please

I've been reading about more and more moms who have decided that blogging is taking up too much of their time and they want to focus more on family stuff. I totally admire and respect these ladies for making the choice that's right for their family at that particular season of their lives.

But I can't do it. Blogging has become for me an outlet. As a pastor's wife, there are few people I can confide in or just call up and chew the fat. I feel like blogging serves an essential purpose in my life: to vent, to be creative, to be myself. I don't want my identity so wrapped up in my role as wife, mother, and pastor's wife that I forget who I am. I'm still ME. I still love to read, to learn, to write, to create. For me to enjoy my children more, I need some time to just reflect and think about things OTHER than them sometimes. (I realize a LOT of my posts do deal with these hats I wear.)

I will make time for blogging, gardening, reading. I want to have interests that will continue for my entire life so that when my children are gone and grown, I won't be wringing my hands wondering, "What do I do NOW?" I am a firm believer in raising your own children. I homeschool by default and don't think that EVERY SINGLE Christian family has a biblical mandate to homeschool. I'm not about trying to turn my children into "little mes".

I don't want to fall into the trap, that many homeschooling families fall into, and begin to make my famiy my god. As with everything I think there is a healthy balance between spiritual things, family, housework, and hobbies. All things in moderation.



Many of you might be familiar with Jennie Bishop's books. She's written two for children about keeping your heart pure. Since we have two boys, we have read The Squire and the Scroll many times. Written as a parable of a Christian's journey, it follows the story of a young man whose parents taught him the value of the Scroll (the Bible) in keeping his heart pure. He battles temptations as he seeks the Lantern of Purest Light to save his kingdom from darkness, and in the end is victorious and blessed because he has kept his heart pure.

Bishop's first book was The Princess and the Kiss and on her website, www.jenniebishop.com she describes how it came about:

"The Princess and the Kiss was written after Jennie’s daughter came home with a story of how all her girlfriends had boyfriends—in kindergarten. Realizing that she couldn’t wait for a “big talk” in the teen years, Jennie asked God to help her find an age-appropriate way to teach young children about purity and the importance of 'saving themselves for marriage.'

The unexpected grassroots response to The Princess and The Kiss catapulted Bishop into a speaking and conference ministry to bring the message of biblical purity to children and parents alike. The Princess and The Kiss was followed by a companion devotional book for mothers and daughters. Then a similar book for boys, The Squire and the Scroll, followed, and so did another companion devotional."

Jennie continues to write books that celebrate purity, marriage and family and to speak internationally on the subject. She is a frequent speaker at parent/child banquets, churches, crisis pregnancy gatherings and AIDS events.

Her other books include The Crayon Kingdom, Jesus Must Be Really Special, and The Garden Wall.

My Garden!





The first photo is my box of four tomato plants still surrounded by those magic walls o' water and a whole bunch of green bean and yellow wax beans plants. I already have harvested a gallon size zip lock bag full of beans and I probably have at least 50 green tomatoes.

The second photo is my zucchini and yellow crookneck squash plants. I also have a mini pumpkin plant and some flowers I can't remember...I've gotten a lot of squash already!

The third photo is my two boxes of corn (lots of baby ears already), my sunflowers, onions, shallots, basil, and marigolds.

My only casualities so far have been my Romaine lettuce (DIE DEER) and my peas. I was too lazy to get them a trellis until it was too late. (I don't really like peas anyway.) My cool weather box full of spinach also has gone to seed and the radishes produced nicely and were devoured by a certain 10 year old I know with a penchant for spicy vegetables.

So far, I think I will continue with the square foot method next year. I will not be planting any flowers in the boxes except marigolds, though. I'd rather have a less structured flower garden. I'll take a photo of my flowers after I weed that huge bed! I should do it fast, though, because everything is blooming right now.

Oh, and if you know me personally I'd advise you to check out our family website to see photos of Ouray.

I was down in the nearest big city today for some medical stuff and had a most delicious creation at Red Robin. Here's the gist of it. I'm hoping to copy it at home.

Picture this:

an italian ciabatta roll
a juicy delicious gourmet hamburger
sauteed red and green bell peppers
tomato sauce
a circle of fried mozzarella (think mozzarella sticks)

served with garlic parmesan steak fries.

WHOA...

For those of you who haven't spent much time in the south, this might not be as funny to you...Every time I watch it I find something else to make us laugh. Besides, those guys remind me of some cousins I have...

Looks like I'm back in the saddle again. I was feeling overwhelmed from returning from vacation and couldn't think of anything to write...so here's a recipe that hubby said was "outstanding" and a keeper. We were brainstorming all the different things you could put in it, too: a cheeseburger braid (cooked ground beef, cheese, mayo, ketchup, cooked bacon, montreal steak seasoning) or a pizza braid (pepperoni, cheese, sauce, oregano) or a mexican braid (black beans, cheese, salsa, maybe some meat of some kind, cilantro) whatever! Here's the one I made tonight:

3 cooked chicken breasts, chopped
1 cup cooked broccoli, cooled and chopped
1/2 cup diced red bell pepper
1 cup cheese
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 tsp. dill weed
1/4 tsp. salt
2 tubes crescent rolls

Heat oven to 350. Gently combine everything except the crescent rolls. Set aside. On a large cookie sheet press the crescent rolls into a large rectangle. Put filling down the middle about 6 inches wide. With a knife, cut slits on the long sides of the crescent roll dough almost into the filling. Now fold the first strip of dough over the filling on the left, then do the right side, and so on until you've covered the filling with a nice braid and covered it with dough. Seal up the ends as best you can.

Bake for 20 minutes or so until golden brown.

Let me know if you try this or if you have another filling idea!


This author is for all you Texans out there--I know you folks are brainwashed from a young age with Texas pride, (I hope you can see me smiling!) so you'll just love these Hank the Cow Dog books by former cowboy and theologian John R. Erickson.

I like to call these books the Don Quioxte of kids' literature. If you remember, Don Quioxte thought he was a very important and valiant knight, when in reality he was a deluded peasant riding a rather lame horse through the countryside performing "noble" deeds.

Well, Hank thinks he's "head of ranch security" and that his position is respected and terribly important to the safety of the cows, chickens, and Little Alfred, the rancher's young son. He can't seem to understand why Sally Mae, the rancher's wife, gets so mad at him for digging in her garden or eating something she's set out to cool, why the cowhands aren't more thankful for all he's done.

My 7 year old was on a Hank binge for the last six months and made it all the way to number 27 (there are close to 50 now in the series). He would just be reading and start laughing. When I read them, I noticed lots of dry humor and sarcasm that he didn't get yet, but I've been told by other moms that their their teenaged sons pick them up again and reread them, laughing all the way.

These are great to read aloud, too, to your younger kids, too. I'm thinking I might just buy the entire set, but most libraries do have them.

Here's the official website:
www.hankthecowdog.com

Enjoy!

Mormonism

As I've mentioned, we had the LDS missionaries show up today. I must say that every single LDS person I have encounted in my time in the Western US has been gracious and kind to me, even when we disagree. I hadn't talked to one in a while so I got on line and surfed about, mostly looking at actual stuff from the top (namely, what the LDS church puts out).

I was wondering what kinds of songs they sing, and I found their hymnal online. I will admit I was disturbed to see songs like "A Mighty Fortress is Our God" in their collection of songs, alongside hymns like this one, called Praise to the Man (and they're not talking about Jesus here):

Praise to the man who communed with Jehovah!
Jesus annointed that Prophet and Seer.
Blessed to open the last dispensation,
Kings shall extol him, and nations revere.

Chorus
Hail to the Prophet, ascended to heaven!
Traitors and tyrants now fight him in vain.
Mingling with Gods, he can plan for his brethren;
Death cannot conquer the hero again.

Praise to his mem'ry, he died as a martyr;
Honored and blest be his ever great name!
Long shall his blood, which was shed by assasins,
Plead unto heav'n while the earth lauds his fame.

Chorus

Great is his glory and endless his priesthood.
Ever and ever the keys he will hold.
Faithful and true he will enter his kingdom,
Crowned in the midst of the prophets of old.

Chorus

Sacrifice brings forth the blessings of heaven;
Earth must atone for the blood of that man.
Wake up the world for the conflict of justice.
Millions shall know "Brother Joseph" again.

"Great is his glory" "ever and ever the keys he will hold" "his kingdom" WHAT?? These are statements about a mortal man! Christians sing things like this about Jesus, our risen Savior and Lord. Mind boggling...that they call themselves Christians.

Which makes me wonder, should evangelicals vote for Mitt Romney for president? When he claims to be a Christian just like you and me? While I love the Mormons I know and grieve over the falsehood of the Mormon church around me, I absolutely cannot endorse someone who outright perverts the gospel of Christ. I almost think it would be better to deny it all together. *sigh* It honestly makes me not want to vote next year.

Cults

In one day, I had both the Jehovah's Witnesses and the Mormons show up on my doorstep. I had prayed this afternoon after the JWs came that God would PLEASE give me someone to witness to because it strengthens my faith and I've felt convicted of how unevangelistic I am lately.

I was able to preach the gospel to them and I pray that something I said would take root in their souls. I pray that God would open their eyes to the truth of who Jesus is.

I've noticed a pattern in the ministry of pastors' wives, and I've written a lot about the loneliness of being a pastor's wife. Perhaps it's just my personality, but I tend to look for ladies in the community or the church who don't seem to have any close friends or even friends to do stuff with.

So I befriend them, call them, have them over and it's great for a while. If they have kids, we do playdates, if not they come for a meal with us.

Then, maybe they get plugged in at church or I introduce them to another person I think they might get along with, and I start to fall by the wayside. The relationship seems to gradually slip and the third wheel gets pushed out. This has really bothered me in the past, but I had an epiphany this morning about it.

No matter what we do as pastors' wives, there will always be that invisible barrier that exists between us and our church members. No amount of sharing or praying will make it disappear. There will always be issues going on in our lives or the lives of people we know that we cannot express, but that are heavy burdens to bear. I'm coming to accept this truth, even though it's difficult.

But as the PW, what I can do is to network. I'm friendly by nature and like to do things with people, so it isn't hard for me to be outgoing and initiate get-togethers. I also seem to have a sixth sense about if people will click or not, so I like to introduce them. Then, they go and do their own thing.

This has happened recently, and at first it was pretty lonely, but then another young mom has found a place in my life who is looking for a friend, whose husband isn't a believer, and who wants to work out in the mornings with me. Now I'm not trying to "pawn" her off on someone else, but I know of two different ladies who she might really gel with. I like this gal a lot, but I'm always her pastor's wife. I've become a networker.

This was a role I didn't expect. Thoughts, anyone? I love your input!

We just got back from Ouray, Colorado, nestled in a valley in the San Juan Mountains of Southwestern Colorado.

We spent 6 days at the KOA with high temperatures and bloodthirsty mosquitoes, but with excellent customer service, a well-kept, clean campground, and friendly campers. Overall, it was a great experience. Our oldest son caught some snakes in the pond (YIKES!), our little guy had a ball getting down in the dirt, and sweet baby girl did her best to stay cool and happy (most days, she was neither). I'm not much of a camper, so I spent the first few days whining like a spoiled brat and making everyone miserable around me. I've apologized for that...and I'm thankful I have such a merciful family.

We shopped, ate out, hiked, swam in the hot springs pool, watched the water fights (teams with fire hoses trying to shoot each other off the hose!)and fireworks, ate out, played at two great parks, ate out, visited the Ouray County History Museum, ate out.

My boys went on a mine tour, white water rafting and rode the Durango Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad. Hubby said the train was the highlight of the whole trip. I didn't go with sweet baby girl. We went shopping and out to lunch in Durango then I drove to Silverton to pick them up after their ride. Boy, were they dirty from that soot! I'll find a link to our vacation theme song soon and edit this post on my PC with hyperlinks (I know I always say that and never do it...maybe this time I'll make the effort!).

We stayed in a clean, relatively comfortable MOTEL. I've already mentioned this, but it goes to show you how friendly innkeepers can make all the difference. Had these folks sympathized with the fact that we wanted to veg out on some satellite TV instead of blowing us off and making excuses for their false advertising, it would have been no big deal. But, see, we don't have TV at home so it's a treat whenever we're gone to watch Food Network, the History Channel, stuff like that. And after camping for 6 days, I was ready for some a/c and TV! The owners, who I discovered are trying to sell the property, acted like their guests were more of an inconvenience than a source of income. They seemed to have a philosophy of business that WE were doing THEM a favor by staying there. So their bad attitudes colored the whole experience there for us so that we will not go back. Just be nice already!

While we enjoyed Ouray, we feel like for us it's something you do once and that's it. There wasn't enough down there for us to want to return every year.

I will say that there is some mighty fine eating out in this area. If you know us well, you know how much we LOVE to eat out. We found Mouse's Chocolates and Coffee in Ouray (oh, baby) and restaurants in nearby Ridgway, CO that we frequented the most: the True Grit Cafe, The Dog House BBQ, Oriental Chinese and Thai Restaurant, the Adobe Inn, the Holy Grounds Cafe, Panny's Eats and Treats, and the best vanilla organic ice cream at the Season's Harvest. We'd go out to eat, then play in Ridgway's park. I got a fabulous local cookbook from Ridgway.

I also bought two books about some of the local history. Plain Anne Ellis is about a mountain woman who beat the odds (I'll do a post on her-she's fascinating!) and another one about the Walsh family, who found millions of dollars worth of gold in the Camp Bird mine near Ouray.

Reflecting back, it was a great trip. The San Juans are just stunning Maybe I'll post a few pictures soon, too.

Alida over at blackpurlsknitpickings tagged me and I'm not sure who I'll tag yet! But here are my 5 things, which came at a perfect time for me to ponder.

Here are the rules:

1. those tagged will share 5 things they dig about Jesus…
2. those tagged will tag 5 other bloggers…
3. those tagged will post a comment here with their name and a link to their “dig” Jesus list…


1. He is faithful-even when I am distracted by His good gifts, He continues to love me and draw me to Himself.
2. He is mighty-all powerful, totally sovereign over all. When the world seems to spin out of control into darkness, I know that He does indeed hold the whole world in His hands.
3. He has spoken-through His word. I love the hymn "How Firm A Foundation" which goes, "What more can He say than to you He has said, to you who for refuge to Jesus have fled." What extra revelation do I need? NONE!
4. He will welcome me into heaven-Another song that reminds me of this is called "I Will Glory in My Redeemer": "I will glory in my Redeemer who waits for me at gates of gold. And when He calls me, it will be paradise. His face forever to behold, His face forever to behold."
5. He loves little children. So often, I fall into the trappings of the culture around me and see children as a nuisance, when Jesus presents the opposite example. In a time when children who were unwanted were just abandoned in the desert (hmmm...now they're murdered in utero, has much changed??), Jesus welcomed them.

So I'm tagging:

Anita at averagegirl.wordpress.com
Music Minister's Wife at musicministerswife.blogspot.com
Helpmeet at dustandrib.blogspot.com
Finish the Race at Finishtherace.blogspot.com
Kara Guffey at karaguffey.blogspot.com

Max Lucado


This guy is pretty familiar to most people in Christian circles. I've not read much of his adult literature, but I just love his kids stuff.

We brought two of his books with us, Small Gifts in God's Hands and With You All the Way.

Small Gifts is about the little boy (Lucado names him Elijah), who gives Jesus the fish and bread he needs to feed thousands of people. Elijah in the story is the disciple Peter's nephew. I love how Lucado expounds on a familiar story and gives it some creative twists without changing the meaning at all. He makes you start to imagine more vividly the lives of Biblical characters.

The illustrator of this particular book has painted the most beautiful pictures. While some folks have problems with pictures of Jesus, Cheri Bladholm makes His eyes full of love and strength in a way that makes you wonder what He'll really look like when we get to heaven.

Lucado also intersperses other stories from the Gospels, like Peter catching a boatload of fish, the friends of the lame man lowering him into a house for Jesus to heal, the woman covering Jesus' feet with expensive perfume, Jesus healing the sick, and finally, closing with the little boy, Elijah, his cousin Aaron, and the apostle Peter watching Jesus pay the ultimate price for sin on the cross.

I bought this book for 50 cents at a garage sale and it's been one of my favorite children's Bible storybooks ever.

Another book we brought is called With You All the Way, also by Lucado, and illustrated by Chuck Gillies. It's more of a fairy tale. Without spoiling the ending, it tells the story of three knights all vying for the hand of the king's daughter. Each one must make it through a dark, dangerous forest and can choose one person as his companion. I'll leave it at that! Just know it's a fabulous book!

Lucado has also writen a series about the Wemmicks, little wooden creatures who learn all kinds of important lessons from their Maker.

Because I Love You is another favorite. A curious little boy learns just how much his father loves him. My boys really enjoy this one. Again, the illustrations are just gorgeous.

He has a whole series called Hermie and Friends, both books and videos. I've only seen one of the videos, but anything with Vicki Lawerance has to be good, in my opinion. She's hilarious.

I know Lucado is a prolific writer of adult, teen, and children's books. And while I don't always agree with all his theology, I think, for the most part, his books, especially for children, are helpful and fun to read.

Crying baby-better get her up from her nap!

I'm such a whiny spoiled brat. We're finally at the motel after having spent 6 days at the KOA in a sleeper cabin. I was pretty unhappy the first few days. I'm not a camper (AT ALL) and it was unseasonably hot so our little cabin (with electricity and nothing else) was a HOT BOX. Getting sweet baby girl to sleep was impossible in the afternoons because of the heat and the mosquitoes ate their fourth of july BBQ on my ankles. I finally adjusted and was so looking forward to coming to the Inn--but it's really more like a MOTEL. There IS a difference.

The two room suite is really just two adjoining rooms. The satellite TV is 8 channels. The kitchen smells greasy. When we called about the TV, the girl said, "Well, most people want to do things outside when they're here." That's fine and dandy, but we've been camping for 6 days and were hoping for some A/C, TV, cozy, plush Inn time. The owner says, "Too bad, so sad." He was rather rude to my very gracious husband. And there's no chance of a refund. When we're gone I will write a scathing review of this place. ARG. It's a MOTEL.

Just goes to show you that the internet isn't always accurate!

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