Monday, July 30, 2007

Good Grinding!

Judson spent this past week at Skate camp at our local skate park. He wanted a skateboard so bad for his birthday, but really had not set foot on one before. The guys running the program did a great job. They broke the kids up by skill level and were very encouraging with them. Judson took several falls and speed is definitely not one of his strong points, but he improved a bunch and had a great time!!! We all learned a lot about skateboarding although I still feel odd saying, "Good grind, Judson!"

Saturday, July 28, 2007

Come in and have a seat!

We signed the lease on our church building last week and we should officially move in mid-October. Now this is exciting for many reasons, but one of my top ones is no more set-up/tear-down. Audio equipment can remain on stage, kids toys/supplies can remain in their room, coffee supplies can remain set-up, and I can get to lunch before 1:30pm! The bad news is that you might like to sit somewhere when you come to church. So we have started encouraging people to donate to the building fund to purchase chairs. In the mean time, Carrie and I went garage saling (how do you spell that??) yesterday. And for those of you that know me well, I am not a good garage saler (see there it is again, how does one spell that?). I might as well have a sign around my neck that says "SUCKER". But I was good, I found a few game-boy games for my kids and a bowling pin and then we hit pay dirt. Wait, you want to know about the bowling pin? Doesn't everyone wish they had a bowling pin? Well, I have this area as you head down to the basement that I have tried to decorate with all sorts of games (old looking kind) and for some reason I got it in my head that it would look good with an old bowling pin as part of the display. Well, what do you know, there was a bowling pin for sale! And remove my SUCKER sign, because I only paid $1.

Now for the pay dirt and the reason I started this story...we stopped at a church sale and they had 40 folding chairs, $1/piece. They aren't the prettiest things, but they're better than bean bag chairs or lawn chairs to start with!! And I think they are good to have as reserves. (Kind of like Heartland's black folding chairs - we were so thankful for them and so excited to get rid of them!)
Now, they do say, "Church of the Air" on them, and I have no clue what that means since we bought them at Billings Bible Church, but maybe they'll feel like you were sitting on air after and hour and a half - we can only hope!!! So if you're in town come October, stop in and have a seat!

Thursday, July 26, 2007

Brace Face


Yes, we have braces!!! Mikky is beginning to adjust to them, although brushing her teeth at night has become a five minute process!! She wanted to have her sissy in the picture with her. They both are getting too big, too fast!!!!

Morgan has adopted the "Thomson scream" (ear piercing for those of you not familiar with the Thomson children that are so cute you overlook the high pitch scream!!! :) ) to let you know that she is there. At least in this picture she looks sweet and innocent. As I am typing both she and Meredith are sitting by my feet singing "Waves of Mercy" (the na-na-na-na part) and doing the hand motions - very cute!!!

Tuesday, July 24, 2007

We now return you to your regular scheduled programming...

I had this brilliant idea to come home from our vacation and post a bunch of pictures and tell you all about the fun we had. Until I realized that my husband put all of our pictures on his laptop while we were on vacation and then he has his computer with him at work while I'm at home...with no pictures. Rather than wait any longer to post I'll just tell you we had an awesome time with Mike's family here. The water was beautiful and the kids water skied or rode the hotdog. We all came home having experienced priceless family memories, tired (I forgot to pack a bottle for Morgan...she no longer takes one - wouldn't want to waste three sleepless nights!), and all looking like little brown nuts! Despite being 10 miles from Yellowstone Park, we just stayed by the lake and played. It was sooooo relaxing! I think it will become a yearly thing if not more often. So I will post pictures soon....

That's one goofy family!

On a side note Mikalah went through the torture of getting braces on Monday. Well, it wasn't really torture, but I'm now signing her up for theatre camp ASAP!!! She also wanted to share a picture of her guinea pig, Chocolate (Daddy thinks he should have been named "Bacon") so her friends could see.


Saturday, July 14, 2007

How is it possible?

How is it possible that my ten year old daughter can download music to her MP3 player and my nine year old son can defeat the Emporer on Star Wars Legos video game, but ask them to put something on the table and their response is:

"What table?"
"The one in the living room or the dining room?"
"I just don't understand!"

Or it just ends up in the kitchen counter or in the bathroom.

Wednesday, July 11, 2007

8 Things About Me...

I was tagged for a meme by Deanne, the rules are to reveal 8 interesting facts/habits about yourself and then tag eight others to do the same.

Here are my facts:
  1. I love to do laundry! I know sick, but it is fun...especially stain removal - so satisfying!
  2. I hate mopping the floor. I saw something about the Gosselin Family that mom mops the floor three times a day - and she has eight kids!!!
  3. I love to cook and decorate and entertain for special events.
  4. I miss good Mexican food soooooooooo much!!!!
  5. I've always wished I could be a runner. I've tried several times, but these legs seem to be made to just walk.
  6. I am very nervous that my daughter is getting closer and closer to "becoming a woman"!
  7. I hate lake water - too many years spent in East Texas (lakes you can't even see your toes in ankle deep water!)
  8. Some day I want to own a vehicle that only seats two!!!!

Now, I'm supposed to tag eight more people, but I don't really know that many to tag and the ones that I do know have either already been tagged or have done this meme before. So if you'd like to share your eight facts, just leave a comment and a link!

Tuesday, July 10, 2007

Where has all the fruit gone????

Our family has decided to concentrate this summer on healthy eating. Before you start thinking what a noble cause this is, it really stems from the fact that hubby and I have a few more inches than we would/should like to have and the fact that I had fallen into a rut of having ice cream every evening after the kids were in bed. Ice cream was my drink of choice - the more stress the day held...the bigger the bowl of the delectable goodness. Oh I could reason away the calories because I really hadn't sat and eaten lunch (never mind the bag of Doritos I ate throughout the day) or I put berries on top so it was healthy (chocolate covered raspberries really don't count); but when it really came down to it I needed ICA (Ice Cream Anonymous). So as a family (to make it easier) we are eating better. One of the changes is more fruit. You can have a sandwich and some veggies for lunch and if you are still hungry eat some fruit. Well, the summer is a great time for this, because there is LOTS of good fruit. Not your standard apples and oranges and bananas. So last Sunday I went to the store and stocked up. Today is Tuesday - we are out of fruit!!! My kids are inhaling the fruit: watermelon, peaches, raspberries, nectarines, Saturn peaches, bananas, blueberries, and cherries - that is what I did have in my house. So today we made what seems to be a daily trip to Costco for fruit. Today's menu? White flesh peaches and Rainier cherries (sorry, Chris!) and blueberries. We'll see how long they last.

The latest phrase in our house..."Candy is dandy, but fruit makes you poop!" And there is too much truth in that!!!!

Friday, July 6, 2007

Some Like It HOT!

It is 3:45pm
The thermometer reads: 108.9
That's Hot!


Just practicing, because the river rock is moving slowly....

Thursday, July 5, 2007

50th post...50 things

  1. I was born in Paterson, NJ.
  2. To a teenage mom.
  3. Then adopted on July 1st - Gotcha Day!
  4. My parents thought Jennifer was an unusual name.
  5. I asked Jesus to live in my heart when I was four.
  6. Kneeling at the "throne" in the bathroom.
  7. I was an only child for 13 years.
  8. I prayed for a brother or a sister every night from the time I was four.
  9. My parents adopted 7 children in the next three years (from Korea & Costa Rica).
  10. I have lived in Virginia, Florida, Nebraska, Texas, Washington, Indiana, and now Montana.
  11. I said I'd never live in Montana.
  12. I went to a private Christian School for grade school.
  13. I skipped the third grade.
  14. I tried out for the cheerleading team in sixth grade.
  15. I didn't make it.
  16. I was home-schooled for junior high.
  17. I remember when the Space Shuttle blew up on lift off.
  18. I was watching Dallas instead of doing my school work.
  19. At junior high camp, the boy I liked said he'd pay me to eat a fly if he caught one.
  20. He caught one.
  21. I ate it.
  22. He never paid me $5.
  23. I ate another one the next week when someone didn't believe that I had the week before.
  24. I took two years to finish 9th grade, because my brother and sister spent a lot of time in the hospital.
  25. I went to public school for high school.
  26. I gave a speech at my high school graduation.
  27. That was my first official speaking engagement.
  28. I was extremely scared!!!
  29. We moved to Texas on my 18th birthday.
  30. Three months later I went to LeTourneau University in Longview, TX.
  31. I majored in Electrical Engineering.
  32. I chose LeTourneau because their male to female ratio was 10:1.
  33. LeTourneau was an old Army hospital.
  34. The woman's dorm was rumored to be the psych ward.
  35. It was also rumored it had a burn time of 7 min.
  36. We weren't allowed to burn candles or leave anything plugged in.
  37. Mike and I met our first day of college.
  38. He dated my roommate (hi Trish!) for six months.
  39. I said I'd never date him.
  40. He grew on me!
  41. We married the summer after our Sophomore year.
  42. We were married in Roundup, MT (yes it is a real place) on August 6, 1994.
  43. We had a horse drawn carriage take us down Main Street from Mike's parents church to the Catholic Church for the reception.
  44. The Catholic Church had air conditioning.
  45. The church we got married in did not!
  46. I was sweating in places I did not know you could sweat!
  47. We honeymooned in Canada.
  48. I saw my first mountain goat.
  49. I didn't get my drivers license until 1 week before my 21st birthday.
  50. They still stamped "UNDER 21" in big red letters on it!

*****For some reason even though I can compose with numbers and preview shows up number, when I actually post it comes up dots - not numbers. Sorry!!

Monday, July 2, 2007

I Could Be the Next Paris Hilton!

Friday I received a notice from the Code Enforcement Division of Billings. It seems that we are accused of obstructing a city right of way with our gravel pile. I am hereby required to remove the gravel from the street within ten day of the notice. Failure to due so "will result in appropriate legal action by the City of Billings."

Now this is the part I love! "Violation of a City Ordinance or failure to comply with written notice of correction constitutes a misdemeanor." A MISDEMEANOR!!!!! for a gravel pile that is on the edge of the street and not protruding beyond the parked car that sits next to it??!!??!!

Oh, but it gets better..."Any person who fails to comply with the requirements of the City Ordinance 'shall upon conviction thereof be fined not more than $500 or imprisoned for not more than six months, or both, and in addition shall pay all costs and expenses involved'." WOW! I certainly don't want to pay $500 because of stupid gravel!!! But now imprisonment...let's think about this one for a minute...no whining children?...no laundry?...no cooking?...no cleaning?...just sitting in a cell? what, you say there is not privacy? what is privacy? This a word that I do not comprehend. Do explain. I only have one choice of clothing - no decisions? I do hear orange is the hot color this summer.

oh, but there is more..." 'Each day such violation continues shall be considered a separate offense'." So if I don't have said gravel removed by the 8th of July, and still don't by the 12th of July I could be charged with 5 counts of a misdemeanor? for gravel?

Okay, now really it's not gravel. It's pretty river rock for my garden beds. It's not ugly. It has some beautiful green growth beginning because of the seeds that have planted themselves at the edge. The kids all love to play king of the mountain, so technically it's playground equipment. And did my neighbor who hasn't mowed his lawn in say, four weeks and now has thigh high growth receive a similar notice? or is his yard a natural habitat? I do have orange cones out surrounding this beautiful pile of river rock just in case some speeding driver happens to miss it when swerving with in two feet of the curb.

In light of the seriousness of this situation, I have been working for the past three days to rid ourselves of the "gravel pile". While it really doesn't seem that we've made much of a dent, there is a noticeable difference. I guess imprisonment probably wouldn't be as glamourous as it sounds and really I don't have an extra $500 laying around - I just purchased 17 tons of river rock for my garden beds.

The most humourous part of all of this...the letter was addressed to Mike's parents - because they own the house - we are just renting.

Sunday, July 1, 2007

Gotcha Day

July 1,1974
I was welcomed into my parent's home!
Thank you, Mom & Dad!
I love you!
Thank you to my birth mom for her courage!
I pray you will know that I am grateful.
--- Jenn