Fall Fun

We are enjoying the fall and all the activities that come with it.

We spent Sunday afternoon at Baugher's. We took a hayride out to the pumpkin patch to pick pumpkins, enjoyed some Baugher's apple cider, and spent some time with the farm animals in the petting zoo. Next we went to Hoffman's for a treat. I tried their pumpkin ice cream and it was great.

We also went to the fall fest at Rachel's elementary school last week.

Dolphins, and Turtles, and Sharks . . . Oh My!

I spent a day with Hannah last week on a field trip to the National Aquarium in Baltimore.

We enjoyed the dolphin show and the new Australia exhibit.

But, I think that Hannah's favorite thing about the day was the slime she bought in the gift store.

4 Year Old Wisdom

Chloe told Lance yesterday that "diarrhea is when your poop is melted."

Out of Control

Our power was out for a couple of hours yesterday morning. I had to keep telling Chloe that we couldn't do certain things because there was no electricity. It was fun explaining that to her and answering her questions.

Our microwave has been acting strange for a few days. Today it won't work at all. Chloe heard me say that it wasn't working and asked me if "our house had gone out of control again". She was referring to the two hours without power.

I feel that to some degree our house is always out of control. Especially without a working microwave. I just made lunch using the stove top and oven to heat up ravioli, chicken noodle soup, and left over pizza. Weird. I bet we make an appliance purchase today.

Here It Goes Again . . . and Again

This is the first video I have posted on my blog. And, what better to start with than this one? Lance, Jason, Jeff, and Ben did an incredible job on the treadmills. You may have seen it on Lance's blog, but this is a better quality version. Enjoy!

Year of the Dog

I had Chinese food today for lunch and brought a fortune cookie home for Rachel. She loves them. I left the cookie in my purse, and sat my purse on the floor when I got home. We came in from playing outside tonight and saw the empty cookie wrapper lying near my purse. Annie (our dog) had found a little snack. The slip of paper with the "fortune" on it was on the floor beside the wrapper. Rachel asked, "So, what's Annie's fortune?"

I picked up the paper and read this:

"Today it's okay to make a few choices by going with your instincts."

Retreat

I spent the weekend at LifePoint's annual women's retreat. It was fun to get away and spend time with friends. The location was the same as last year, so that meant great accomodations and lots of good food. Not a lot of sleep. I am tired.

Great Stuff

It was such a privilege to have Ross King here with us for a few days this week. I have enjoyed his music for years and have been inspired and challenged by his words. So, it was an honor to be able to sit and listen to him speak and sing for a group of our friends and us right here in my living room. He also played one night in the Underground at LifePoint. He is currently traveling and playing house shows and concerts, just him with a percussionist. If you don't yet have a copy of his new CD, you should make a purchase. The lyrics are challenging and thought provoking. The sound is terrific. This is really great stuff!

The 2nd Century

My husband is amazing! Yesterday he finished his second century. 105 miles on his road bike over hills and mountains in about 8 hours. The Civil War Century is not an easy ride. High temperatures made it tougher this year. But, he did it again!

Soccer

Rachel had her first game today. They won 2 - 1. Go Revolution!

Back to School

The first week of school has been a crazy one this year. All three of my girls have had a virus that causes fever, soar throat, and headaches. At least it only lasts for a couple of days. Rachel missed the first day of school and Hannah came home sick Tuesday and missed school yesterday. Today they're all well.

This is the first year we have had kids at 2 different schools with 2 different schedules. We are getting used to this.

The first week of middle school is going well for Hannah. She is meeting new friends and is excited about her classes. Rachel loves school and is doing terrific, too.

We've been to the back to school/meet the teacher nights, and the school year is now in full swing.

S-A-T-U-R-D-A-Y Night!

Well, this is it. I am pumped! A new ministry year kicks off this weekend at LifePoint.

For Children's Ministry (infants - 6th grade) that means promotion. Chloe will now be in KidPoint Green (the older pre-k class), Rachel will be in BreakAway (4th-5th grade), and Hannah will be in 6th Street (just for 6th graders). Hannah is also serving on the presentation team for KidPoint. Last week she met with her team and brought home a cool puppet and some scripts.

I am so excited about the nursery team this year. Most of them are returning from last year, but we have some great new additions as well. There are 56 members on the nursery team that will be staffing the 4 rooms for the 3 services.

Yes, I said 3 services! This weekend we will begin having a Saturday evening service at 5:30 in addition to the 2 Sunday morning services. During the Saturday service, classes will be offered for infants - 3rd graders. Our family will be worshipping together on Saturdays. And on Sundays, Lance and I will be working while our kids go to their classes and serve.

It has been an amazing summer and I can't imagine what is in store for us this fall. I love this place!

Vacation

We had a great time in Virginia last week. We stayed at Big Meadows Lodge in Shenandoah National Park. Big Meadows is in the mountains just off of Skyline Drive. The views there are incredible. The lodge was built in the 1930s and has been kept up and restored to preserve it's original look and feel.

We went on two hikes while we were there. The first was a hike/climb called Bearfence Rock Scramble. It was a 1.2 mile loop trail that took you up to and over a summit where you could enjoy 360 degree views. This loop also follows the Appalachian Trail for the last half mile. I've been on the AT before, but this was the longest I've hiked on it. So now I can say I've hiked the AT, if only for half a mile of its 2,175 miles.

Another day we hiked about 5 miles total. We started on the nature trail from the lodge and then continued on to Dark Hollow Falls. The hike down to the falls was steep and after playing in the water and taking a lot of pictures we had to hike back up. The girls all did great on the hikes.

We also saw some wildlife up close. A skunk, a wild turkey, 2 black bears, and as Hannah said, "tons of deer." We decided to keep count of all the deer we saw on one day, but quit by the afternoon when we had already seen over 30. One thing the girls loved was walking out in the meadow (that the lodge was named for) in the evening with deer all around us. It was amazing how close you could get to them. And, it was fun to see the little fawns running around and playing.

A couple of times we left the park to eat at some of our favorite restaurants and to tour Luray Caverns.

After a really busy summer, this was a great week to get away, relax, and make some memories.

Wow

I came across this while on vacation in Virginia last week. I wish I could have gotten a photo of the Native American man that I saw in Wal-Mart just before I exited and saw the car. It had to be his, he was dressed to match the vehicle, all black and yellow, with beads, leather, and stuff from head to toe.

HSM 2

All summer my girls have been counting down the days until High School Musical 2 airs on the Disney Channel. Only 5 more days!

Ouch

Can you believe this? Finally some relief after a lifetime of pain.

Barnabas Bound

Instead of going back to Student Life Camp this year, Underground Student Movement went to Shippensburg University, Pennsylvania for the first ever Reality Week. This was the first time for Lance and Jason to "do" their own summer camp. It was a lot of work, but it seems to have been an incredible week for everyone involved. Over 90 students and about 20 adults attended. Scott Murrill was the speaker, and Billy and Cindy Foote and band led worship.

While Lance was at camp, I enjoyed having my mom here with me and the girls and Chad flew up to spend a few days with us, too. It was good to have Lance home for a week after camp, but now he is off again.

Today Lance and a group of high school and college students are headed to Camp Barnabas in Purdy, Missouri. He just called to let me know they are in Atlanta. After a two hour layover they will depart for Missouri.

The group will go through training for a day, then for the next seven days of camp each one will be assigned to a special needs camper. This week at Barnabas is set aside for blind campers, so all attending camp will be visually impaired. Once assigned to their camper, they will be "on duty" day and night, with the exception of about an hour rest time each afternoon.

Lance took a group to Barnabas two years ago and it was one of the most tiring but rewarding trips he has ever made. After Lance was there in summer 2005, Barnabas was featured on Extreme Home Makeover and received lots of publicity. It should be neat for them to see the improvements that show made possible for the camp. I can't wait to hear all about this year's trip.

What?

This was parked down the street from my house the other day.

Porpoise Pink . . .

Might be a good name for a crayon. Have any of you seen this?

7 Random Facts

I was "tagged" earlier this week by Robert, Kristen, and Clay. Since my super cool friends are all playing this game, I'll join in.

The rules: each player should list seven random facts about themselves on their blog as well as the rules to this little game. At the end of their post, they need to tag seven people. Let those folks know they've been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

1. I've always wanted to play the drums in a really rocking band.


2. For years, as a kid, my favorite movie was Xanadu. I set up a roller skating rink in my garage and made up routines to each song on my Xanadu movie soundtrack cassette. Then I taught neighborhood friends, and my brother all the moves. We had shows where we charged admission. I think maybe 2 or 3 people paid to see us.


3. I majored in psychology in college. I graduated Magna Cum Laude.


4. I worked at a law firm for 2 years. Most of the work I did involved breast implant cases. Several times I had to pick up implants that had been removed from our clients and ship them to experts to be studied. I also flew with my boss (he owned a plane and was a pilot) to depose national experts on the subject.


5. I love the Bee Gees.


6. I've always hated the color "country blue." I had a wedding shower at a small "country" church where Lance was working at the time. 99.9% of the gifts I received were, you guessed it, "country blue." At one point during the shower someone stated that, "Country blue goes with everything."


7. I once caught a fish from a river in Yosemite National Park with a piece of string and a little bit of cheese. It was big enough to keep and eat for supper.

Tags:
Chad
Danielle
Ericka
Jen
Lou
Susie
Suzie

Mom's in Route to Maryland

I will be picking my Mom up at the airport in just a few hours! I love it when she comes to visit. We haven't seen her since she was here with us at Christmas, and we can't wait for her to be here again. The girls know that they are going to have a super fun week with Gigi. And, to make it an even better week, my brother is flying up on Thursday to spend a few days with us all.

Everything's Bigger In Maryland?

Hannah loves donuts. Imagine her surpise when she spotted this one at Union Staion on a trip to DC last week. She finished it all, with a little bit of help.

Ride

Underground Student Movement's first annual Ride of Passage begins today. Lance and Jason left this morning to bike about 140 miles of the C&O Trail with a group of high school guys. Today they are driving to Cumberland, Maryland, where they'll begin their ride at the far western end of the trail. From there they will ride about 40 miles each morning then set up camp for that night. They will be riding through a really interesting historic area and will see some beautiful scenery along the canal and the Potomac River.

Independence Day

Happy 4th of July.

Signs

I actually saw this on a church sign last week:

"Our Sundays are better than Baskin Robbins"