Lemonade $tand

Our youngest son is a true Christian rock band lover to the nth degree.  He has been listening to not-my-favorite-kind-of-music since he was three or four years old.  It is purely because of the guidance and counsel of his head-banger father.  I’ve tried to sway him to no avail. 

Next weekend there is a Christian concert not too far from our home and Keeve’s favorite band is performing: Kutless.  Yes, that’s their name.  Yes, it’s phonetically incorrect.  The other bands are Esterlyn and Stellar Kart.  (another K……. but I digress.)  Keeve started asking if he could go to the concert in December.  In December we said, “Sure, but we’re not paying.”  Thus began Keeve’s mission to raise $19 plus money to buy stuff at the concert.  This is monumental for him… as he’s truly MY child and spends frivolously, often, spur-of-the-moment, and without deep thought.  (It’s no wonder Rick changed banks three weeks ago and STILL hasn’t given me my new ATM card!)

Keeve is down one week and only had $13.  Which is really good for him, but not enough for rockin’ the house with Kutless.  So he decided he was going to have a lemonade stand out at the entrance to our neighborhood.  No clear-thinking, child-loving parent in this day and age would let their kid go three blocks away in Phoenix with a table, chair, lemonade, cups… and a ziplock baggie of money.  I had drama-driving-duty so Rick said he would sit in the van next to the lemonade stand.  (What a nice dad.)

When I arrived back to our neighborhood, there was my cute, freckle-faced son and his lemonade stand…. surrounded by 5 or 6 twelve year old girls from the neighborhood, who also find my freckle-faced son…. well, cute.  They were helping him by yelling, “Lemonade!”  It was hilarious.  Larisa was with me and she made the comment, “And he doesn’t even have his shirt on that says ‘Girls Love Me’”.  He had to refill his 3 gallon lemonade jug twice.

In two hours, with 5 assistants, Keeve made $24!  He told me that one guy pulled up and asked what he was raising money for.  Keeve told him it was for a Kutless concert.  The guy gave him $2 and didn’t take the cootie-juice.  What a nice guy….. probably a headbanger. 

Rock on, Keeve! (Now I know where my boys are getting their crazy hairdos from!)

Sweet Victory! (well, at least sweet progress!)

See?!  It worked!  I took a two day sabbatical from MSJ and cranked on my stories for my book.  (Laughing in the Midst of Marriage: Finding Joy in Being a Wife) I was so “in the groove” after Wed. night hockey writing time (wasn’t that phrased positively?!?) that I got back out of bed at midnight and wrote two more stories while the family sawed logs. 

Just so you know, I’m a highly visual learner.  I have to SEE progress…. on charts and graphs and calendars.  I’ve made all three for this book.  So I made a chart of all of the devotionals I’m writing, divided into the four wedding vows: Better or Worse, Rich or Poor, Sickness and Health, and Love and Cherish.  (I’m not doing “til death do us part….. those stories cannot be shared in this lifetime.)  Each story has  five columns to check off before I consider it “done” and they are: written (duh), moral, Bible verses, edited and moved to final document. 

I’m sure this is scintillating information for all of you, so I will continue.  I’m shooting for 56 stories and 27 have made it through to the final document so far.  I’m one shy of half way, baby.  This is good news, considering that I was only able to work on it six of the 18 time slots I scheduled.  The problem there was the SuperCon super hero dance deal.  It wiped out a week of work time for me.  (I’m still feeling the pull in my hip flexor muscles, BTW.) But I’m back in the saddle and quite focussed for a change.

See?!?  I’m a bit on the anal side, as well as visual.  I gave myself 20 two hour work slots for Feb.  The pink circles are progress.  Notice how Wednesday night hockey practice has been my saving grace this month?  I never thought I’d be happy to sit at hockey practice.  Ever.  But I am.  Just so you are aware of my progress, there are 57 two hour slots before the deadline.  If I got one story done EACH time, it’s clear sailing.  I just passed the 17th time slot and there are 27 stories completed.  As you can well imagine, I’m breathing easier than I was a week ago.  I was a tad nervous last week.

It did dawn on me last night that I never discussed how many stories the publisher is expecting.  Perhaps I should give them a jingle.  Stay tuned…. every other day or so…. for YOUR insider information on the writing progess of Laughing/Marriage right here at MSJ.

What’s Not to Love at the Dentist?

You know how you can tell this is not me at the dentist?  My hands aren’t in the picture and the nostrils aren’t flared nearly enough.  Yes, you guessed it, I went to my friendly dental establishment today…. just for a cleaning.  Well, as my sister and I both whole heartily know, levitation is possible just from a simple cleaning.  I think there is red warning tape tied around my file that says “Hyper Sensitive Wimp”on it to protect the hygienist from bodily harm.  Yes,  I have a few highly sensitive teeth.  No, there is absolutely no reason to spray cold water on them to check if they are still sensitive.  No, there is absolutely no reason to shoot cold air on them to check if they are still sensitive.  THEY ARE!  I’m just saying.

Over my sensitive years, I’ve learned to brush my teeth with warm water.  If I drink cold water my tongue naturally shields my upper left molars without me reminding it. And ice cream can bring me to tears.  It’s not just the frigid temperatures…. it’s hot too.  Hot soup, hot pizza, hot lasagna.  All must be blown on with tender care before inserting near the upper left quadrant.

So today, my tooth doctor, whose name is for really Montana Skylar, (sounds like he should be on a dusty horse roping cattle in tight Levis) comes up with a suggestion that I’ve never heard before for my tender teeth.  It’s called tooth varnish.  So I say, “YES! ANYTHING!  BRING IT ON!”  And for only $457 I can be sensitive free!  (just kidding, I was checking if my hubby still reads my blog.)  Anywhooo, I am currently sitting here typing with a mouth full of wax coating my teeth.  It feels like I just ate a bee hive.  It’s pasty white and filmy and Larisa says it makes me lisp.  WHO CARES!?!?  I might be able to bite into a Mint Filled Dilly Bar without spilling tears.  I’m not to have anything hot until tomorrow and I’m not supposed to brush my teeth until tomorrow morning.  That’s a first.  The dentist telling you to skip brushing.  I’ll report in when I’m wax free as to my level of sensitivity.  Pray that this wasn’t a scam.

Bed Sweet Bed

There’s nothing quite as inviting as your own bed.  Can I hear an amen?  Not that the beds up at Scrapping in the Pines were that bad… I simply didn’t lie down in them quite long enough to feel rested.  I slept last night from 9:30 PM to 8:15 AM and am feeling much more alert now.  When I arrived home last night to free Chipotle burritos… which I declined… and an invitation for a family game of Settlers of Catan… which I also declined.  SEE?  I was a bit tired.

Today I had a rude awakening when I realized February is over in one week.  YIKES!  Where did this month go? I have quite a long TO-DO list for my book that I’m supposed to have done on April 3rd.  I’m afraid My Sister’s Jar may turn into an every other day event as I am strapped to the computer chair with humorous and not so humorous marriage stories running amuck in my mind.  Nothing like a deadline to start the fire in the basement.

OH, minor adoption news posting today:  www.zazasmama.wordpress.com

Make it a great week!

Scrapping in the Pines

It’s that time of year again….. YIPPY SKIPPY…. Scrapping in the Pines.  It’s a yearly pilgrimage to Prescott, AZ, up in the snowy mountains of Arizona for four days of uninterrupted scrapbooking.  Well, we do get out of our seats for meals and can I just add that the meals at Emmanuel Pines Camp are the BEST!  It’s not your average camp food.  Far more care and concern goes into feeding hungry scrapbookers, thankfully.  There are 12 of us ladies heading up tomorrow and I wanted to share with you the 70s decor that we will enjoy!

Here is Skipworth Cabin.  No, the entry is not remarkable…. well, nothing really is about the cabin other than we don’t have to cook, clean or tend children while there.  It looks small but it is two levels and sleeps 14.

It is on the side of a hill and the view is tremendous… pine trees, blue jays, gigantic bugs… and the occasional deer.  Here is the livingroom before we have remodeled it into a scrapbooking haven.  LOVE the carpet.  There is even olive green shag carpet in one of the bedrooms.  Takes me back to my childhood.

The computer reception up in the mountains is sketchy at best, so I may not post again until Sunday night, but please know that I am relaxing and having fun and fellowshipping with my sistahs. (Wish you were coming, Christy!)

BOYS!

Notice how they both have their hands around the poor dog’s neck?  The white fluff is stuffing from her dog bed that she shredded.

We are just finishing up a unit on poetry and I taught the boys about haiku poems a few days back.  We went over the syllables for each of the three lines (5,7,5) and I told them to write one haiku poem together and then two each separately.  They asked what it had to be about…. unfortunately, I said “Anything.”   Wrong move for a mother with boys.  If your stomach is squeamy, don’t read their poem.  And Lala is Larisa’s nickname…. it’s her dog… and her responsibility.  Welcome to Poetry by Aus and Keeve.

Dog poop in the yard.

It squishes between my toes.

Pick it up, Lala.

Pure poetry in motion.  I actually did laugh out loud when I read it.  What do you say to a poem like that….. they totally understood the syllable deal.  What smart boys.  I did lay down some forbidden topics for their individual poems:  no poop, toots, barfing or burping.  There!

Old School Music

I don’t know if other parents are battling the same thing as us, but our kids hardly know any of the old hymns of the church.  Solid hymns like Leaning on the Everlasting Arms, Blessed Assurance or Standing on the Promises.  We’ve done our best, short of torture, to get these songs of faith into them.  We bought a hymns cd that has all current artists singing the songs with slightly more upbeat rhythms than when we were kids.  We play it most Sundays on our 30 minutes drive to church.  This has been going on for maybe a year now and they actually sing along these days.

It was around 1980 when my parents bought a station wagon with tasteful wood siding that only had an eight track tape player included.  There was also a solo eight track tape…. of The Statesmen, a gospel group from the 50s??? maybe early 60s???  I’ve mentioned this on MSJ before, how my siblings and I can sing every part to every song on that entire tape.  It brings back happy memories of traveling the I5 from California to Canada each summer.  OK, I HAVE to share the names of the Statesmen…. they are hilarious…. Rosie Rozell; Jim “Big Chief” Wetherington; Jack Toney; Doy Ott and Hovie Lister.  Nope, no typos…. Rosie, Doy and Hovie….. what were those mothers thinking???  Here’s one of the songs embedded in our brains: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MkWpNdo-syU&feature=related  Not only can you hear them, but you can see their sunny faces as they hit notes as high as Hercules’ half-goat friend (remember THAT cartoon??)

My kids were getting off easy with the updated version of hymns until my husband happened on an Oakridge Boys hymns cd at Tuesday Morning.  It must have been close to free…..  anyway, he put it on in the van this morning.  None of us know any of the songs at all, so we’re all enduring bizarre harmonies together.

One song came on and the guy was seriously singing higher than I can…. REALLY high for a guy, and Rick told the kids, “Hey you guys, this is a man singing.”  No response from the back except for a couple of snickers.  A few songs later featured the bass singer from the group soloing.  Our 12 year old son said in a mockful tone, “Hey you guys, this is a girl singing.”

Why so sassy????

Long live Martin Luther and A Mighty Fortress is our God!

Happy Heart Day!

Well, Valentine’s Day 2009 went down pretty low-key around our house.  After last night’s super hero conference, I slept straight through until 9:58 a.m.  And I felt like I needed a nap around 5:00 p.m.  My hip flexor muscles are still crying out when I stand or walk.  (It’s NOT funny either.)  Rick was gone most of the day making Pinewood Derby cars with the boys at church and then to Austin’s hockey practice.  He did send me to get a cute hot pink pedicure while he was out.  It’s truly amazing how much prettier you feel when your toes are painted…. and you didn’t have to bend over to do it.  Thanks, Honey!

We planned on dinner and movie tonight, but by the time we were out the door at 7:45, it was too late for both.  We had a romantic dinner at Chipotle…. no, really…. I LOVE it, so it was ok with me.  (Hey, better than a monster truck rally !)  Then we went underwear shopping at TJ Maxx.  Boy, does Rick know how to do it up right.  If you’ve not yet been married 22 years…. THIS is what you have to look forward to.

Quoting Jessica Heath,  “Love is in the air….. hope you have your gas mask!”  <3

SuperCon 2009 (nine…. nine… nine…)

“Defend and Protect!”

Yes, it’s over.  Thank God!  Here we are as members of the Justice League….. Wonder Woman and Superman.  It was a mystery dinner theater that our youth group puts on each year at Valentine’s Day to raise money for camp.  So this year, instead of just using youth, they decided to ask the 40′s group if they would like to participate.  Well, at least two of us did.  It actually was really fun…. despite having to learn hip-hop dances and singing a duet of Islands in the Stream together, while we climbed into a boat made out of people. 

The audience was trying to figure out who stole the super hero powers from all of the super heroes.  There was quite the commotion of room changing for the sessions, like “Having it All” with the super heroines, “Brand Marketing” with the Justice League, and “Conflict Resolution” with the Fantastic Four.  A fun night to participate in, but BOY HOWDY, we’re glad it’s over and we can get back to our normal busy lives.

Here is a link to the STAINWOWcommercial that they played at the SuperCon convention in case us supers needed to remove stains from our outfits.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xG64qaHA_P4

And one more picture, including Spin Sister….. she could spin her pony tail to fly, fight bad guys and cool off menopausal woman.

Wherever there in injustice, you’ll find us.  Wherever there is suffering, we’ll be there.  Wherever liberty is threatened, you’ll find the Justice League!

There’s Snow in them thar Hills

A rare sight for sure from our Phoenix, Arizona backyard.  We’ve had a cold snap of late, it was 38F yesterday morning when I awoke.  Freezing for here!  These were the temperatures we moved AWAY from.  I’m not trying to illicit sympathy from those in frigid winter conditions.  I’ve heard our cousins in Winnipeg haven’t had school this week, as the city is covered in ice. 

I remember those days in northern Alberta when I would scrape the ice off the kitchen window in the morning in order to view the thermometer on the porch…. hoping for -37C… and no school!  I always hated -35C and -36C… it just wasn’t fair.

One cold school day when I was teaching kindergarten in LaCrete, Alberta, I left for school in freezing weather.  During the day, the sun came out, warmed things up and the meltdown started.  By the time I came home, however, it had dropped below freezing again.  I arrived home to find our screen door covered in ice.  Using the snow shovel, I pounded on the ice until I broke through and could open the door.

I told that little story to say that I DON”T MISS IT AT ALL.  :o  I’m sorry if you live under a sheet of ice at the moment.  Know that you are welcome in sunny Arizona!