Good Bye Crop Circles

We've had a pool up every summer in the last 6 years.  After our family grew, we upgraded to a larger pool which in the end left us two different sized "crop circles" where all the grass had died off.  We've had fun joking about that especially because the little kids see the big antennas and red lights at night that are beyond our back yard, and they call them a spaceship.    

So, we spent the afternoon a few weekends ago planting grass.

I am really going to miss our yard.

I made 2 of these Milky Way Cakes for the Bake Sale at Church, but then Hannah got into one of them! First time that I've had a child do something so deliberately naughty with a cake! She is only 3 and desire gave way to self-control!  So we kept the cake she goobered, cut off the nasties and ate it for ourselves.  Hannah didn't get any though :( poor girl

The kids enjoyed the story of when I was little and our dog jumped on the table and ate my dad's birthday cake, just like Hannah did.

Nothing beats a warm bath from daddy to end the day.

Proverbs 20:11 (KJV)

"Even a child is known by his doings, whether his work be pure, and whether it be right."


Thank you Lord for work, please cultivate ready hands in my children as they go about helping in the home and church.

A Weekful (and Mouthful) of Happenings

I am so off my game this last week!  No routine, moderate chaos, planning only from one minute to the next, can't find anything because it's packed or I packed the place that it belongs, 2 poison fast food meals, 3 or 4 other unmentionable-cleaning-out-the-freezer "meals", piled high laundry (I'm thinking of just doing swimsuits this week, lol!), and here I sit on the computer. :o      Despite it all, we are all excited and I can't even begin to explain the deeper trust I have in the Lord because of it all. He is so very faithful and has worked in such very clear ways in the last several months.  So... what have we been up too?

*Took a The Dalles Damm Tour on Saturday morning.  After living here 6 years, it's about time!  The damm tours had been closed for a long time.  It was very interesting and the kids enjoyed it--  especially the part that we could say "we're having a damm tour"  ha!ha!ha!

*Had a Chouinard Children Farewell party for all their friends in the Game Room at the Corps.  They had such a good time, although it was sad that many of them we were seeing for the last time.  I let each of the kids pick a junk-food for the party.  David picked Doritos, Elijah picked Mint Oreos and Fig Newtons (not junk in my book ;)  , Ann picked Nutter Butters, Hannah picked generic chocolate cookies because it was the closest thing to her face.  They played video games, foosball, air hockey, etc. and I was able to get a picture of them with their friends. 

*Last trip to the Library. Boo hoo, we love that place.

*Our last Advisory Board was well attended and I got a good group photo and lots of hugs.  One of the Board members gave me a hand-spun-hand-made wool shawl that she had made.  I looove it!  I stuck the kids in the kitchen with their lunch and a Bible Man movie.  Mary made her rounds with the Board members. She's so spoiled.

*A very nice (but sad) good-bye lunch with a good friend.  God has blessed me with a handful of wonderful women friends in The Dalles.  It's too bad I have to say good-bye. Thankfully our time here is short and heaven is forever. 

*I watched a National Geographic video on Stress this week.  Quite informative, made me ask myself some hard questions too.  And just today, the kids and I watched Food Inc. after my friend talked about about it and I said to myself,  "Self- you've had that que'd forever, you keep hearing people talk about it, why don't you just sit your booty down and watch it once and for all?" So that's exactly what we did.  This afternoon, we sat around the computer for an hour and a half and watched it.  Fascinating for sure.  I have been hoping that with San Francisco being all "hippie" and everything that organic foods will be more affordable.  Right now we do about 25% organic (rice, eggs, yogurt, pnt butter, bread, ground beef, berries, certain fruits and veggies, and maybe some other sale items,   but when money is tight, organic is the first thing to go) and about 65% real (whole) foods. (convenience food mixed with home-made)  I would like to one day go to an entirely organic diet, but, you know $ca-ching-ching$.   Even making everything homemade is what I want to do, but then there's the time involved with that that I have to consider.  "Sorry, Divisional Commander, I was making home-made worchestire sauce for my freshly killed deer meet stew"  LOL!    The other thing I could do is quit eating!  Or at least pay attention to how many times the fork goes in my mouth!

*Let the kids watch far too much TV (at least they really like the "educational" ones like Mythbusters, Sliced, Dogfights, Dora, etc.) because they are not involved in anything right now, all the toys are packed, the weather has been yucky, and I'm too pre-occupied with Farewell Briefs, Cleaning and Packing! 

*One of our staff and her husband, who we have really enjoyed knowing, took us out to a good-bye lunch, all 7 of us and gave the kids some departing gifts.  Very, very sweet. 

*Kicking myself for all the things I wanted to get done at and with the Corps (Church) but never did.  There's no going back now but there's still so much I want to do :(

*Had our farewell interview with the newspaper.  The kids were so excited to see it in Friday's news, all I could see were Hannah's eyeballs going sideways. 

*Let the boys invite one friend each over from school to spend the night (2 separate nights).  Friends they will probably never see again.  Ann got to invite her friend from church to spend the night and those girls stayed up until 10:30pm talking! Seriously, what in the world do 5 year old girls have to talk about all night long??? 

*Celebrated our 13th Anniversary!  Got a babysitter one last time so Paul and I could go out for dinner at Highway House and to see "Prince of Persia" (I loved it!).  It will probably be a while before we can go out again, so we savored it!   We shared a lobster tail just like we did in Rockefeller Center on our honeymoon in New York City.

*And a verse that I've been thinking a lot about lately...  

"And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose."  Romans 8:28

For some the above verse is valuable because it is from the Bible.

I hate to leave anyone feeling left out so,

if you don't believe the Bible, then let me rephrase it...

"And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose."

-Paul

PS I have fiddled around with my settings and I can't figure out what's wrong with my comments.  Sorry!

Ann's Recital

Ann's recital was 3 weeks ago... guess it's been awhile since I emptied my camera, but the day was memorable thats for sure!

She was so excited.  They have been rehearsing for months for their dance.

It was another crazy day for us.  Paul was at Men's Camp so I did the whole sha-bang on my own- get my children ready and out the door,  pick-ups, opening building, Assembly, Sunday School, Chase kids (not just my own),  Call the Police to report my computer stolen from my office!!!, meet with cop to file a police report with babe on my hip,  tell him "I have to go start church NOW", get weird look from cop,  Lead the Church Service and Preach, visit with people, lock-up the building, drop-offs, hurry home, shove lunch down everyone's throat, get Ann ready, leave Mary with a babysitter (smart move there if I do say so myself), make Ann "beautiful" (didn't take much work ;) and show up at the recital like I have it all together, only to find out my skirt was on backwards and that I had oatmeal in my hair.  I'm not kidding!  Paul arrived home from Men's camp just as we were pulling out of the driveway.  I swear men know how to show up as soon as all the work is over! hee!hee!

Pretty is as pretty does.

There were tons of people there. We sat up in the balcony with a great view. 

Ann was excited and nervous at the same time.

Ann third from left, next to our dear friend on the right who we miss so much already.

Third from left.  I was actually way down there kneeling in front of the stage.  I let Elijah take the pictures.  He didn't do as good as I hoped, but he tried and he's got to learn anyway.

We had some running around time afterwards while Paul got the car that was parked 3 blocks away.

Afterwards, Paul and I took advantage of having a babysitter and we went out for a long dinner and to see a movie, Iron Man 2.  It was so nice to see a movie without having to pause it 100 times.

We are in crunch time here.  Less than two weeks left and so much to do.  We are soooooo excited, but sad too.  Kind of a strange thing to feel.

Thank you Lord, for my first daughter!

  " ...and our daughters
will be like pillars carved to adorn a palace."   
Psalm 144:12b