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2007-09-21T10:56:00.001-07:00

http://bohemianscandinavity.blogspot.com/

personality test results...

2007-08-14T11:55:00.001-07:00

"old" pictures

2007-08-14T11:21:00.001-07:00

These were taken a few weeks ago at my parents' house...

Kyrie with a Curious George band-aid on her nose...

This was a couple of Sundays ago at Isaac & Heather's...

And this was the same day, at Riverfront Park for the Royal Fireworks concert...

Good grief...

2007-08-14T10:28:00.000-07:00

I haven't blogged in so long. Well, between being a hostess and a wife/mother, I really have hardly had time to even get on the computer...and it takes me a bit to actually blog something, either because pictures take a little while to get off the camera and edit before uploading, or I have to think of something to say if I'm not posting pictures.
It's crazy here right now...we have all of Forrest's brothers. I'm not complaining, it's nice to have them over and they do help out with stuff. But it also helps me put my own relatively calm & quiet little family into perspective. I thought that my kids were loud...
So then after our company departs to go back to Nevada, we're going up to Canada for a couple nights with my parents & siblings. I'm looking forward to it...I think it'll be a little bit relaxing and diverting. It's a vacation my family took several times when I was growing up so there's nostalgia in it. It'll be fun to do it now with Forrest and our own kids.
Then, after we get back, a return to "normal life". As if there is such a thing. I'm wanting to can or at least freeze some peaches from Green Bluff, probably stew some tomatoes from our garden, do major cleaning & organizing up here upstairs (it's a complete disaster) and finally finish Noelle's quilt. I also want to get ready to do a little bit of school with Timothy, as he is eager to learn all his letters and is good at counting. The other day he counted up to 39 correctly, without missing a number, and then skipped to 80. "81, 82, 83, 84, 85, 86, 87, 88, 89, 30." he counted, and then was back to the 30's.
The nights are finally getting a little colder, and the days not quite as hot as they were, which I'm enjoying.
Well, we'll try to get some pictures posted some time soon.

Stuff

2007-06-30T14:42:00.000-07:00

Well, our camera officially doesn't work. We need to find out whether it's more expensive to fix or to buy a new one. Boo hoo. (BTW, it's not related to my leaving it out in the rain.)
We've been having a lot of fun-filled days lately with our company and other close friends. The other day we picked strawberries at Green Bluff, and everyone enjoyed that a lot. It's also very cool that we got the berries for like half the price you'd normally find strawberries at the grocery store. I have I think three gallon ziplocs full of them in the freezer now. (That's including Rick & Rachel's berries though.)
I got Noelle a doll stroller at the store the other day. She loved playing with the ones at Ryan & Taneisha's, and I figured it would be worth a few dollars to get her something she enjoyed that much. She loves it, although now I'm having more issues training her not to be selfish when her friends want to play with it.
Here are some pictures we took before we started having problems with the camera.

The first two are taken by Timothy.

From Father's Day up at Granite Falls:

Woo hoo!

2007-06-19T09:51:00.000-07:00

We have a lot of stuff to do this week. Rick & Rachel and Kyrie are coming in 6 days, and we've been working on the kids' room, getting it all finished. That means we have to have it finished pretty much by the end of this week, because the boys' boy table (along with all their toys, scattered over the room) is in our guest room. We also have a bunch of other stuff in the guest room that doesn't really belong, that I'll have to figure out where to put. Forrest is down working on painting the kids' room (it's lookin' good!) and when that's dry, we can stain the wood trim (and put in stained trim around the base of the walls)...then we can finally move them back into their room! Last Saturday Forrest & Isaac put in the new windows, which is exciting. For the last week we've been sleeping on an air mattress in the living room and letting the boys sleep on our bed. It's cute to have them in there but I'm looking forward to sleeping on a real bed again.
Anyway, that's what's up with us lately and what's going on for the rest of this week. I'm getting excited to see my Louisiana family again--it's been so long!!!

Dum da dum dum...

2007-06-08T21:06:00.000-07:00

This is my hair.

Noelle was feeling better today (which is good, 'cause we HAD to go grocery shopping), but still not 100%. We went to Costco and Yoke's...we decided to get the organic macaroni at Costco because it was almost as good a price. We tried it for dinner tonight (with enough fresh veggies, it makes a good meal if your children are still small!) and it was really good. Last time I got celery, the organic was actually a better price (it was on sale) and it turns out that it's more flavorful too! Maybe I'm just going to have to start getting more things organic--'cause the flavor is almost always superior. And you know, the price isn't always that much more than the other stuff.

In other news, I got my first salon haircut today. It was nice. I like the job she did. And I'm gonna donate my hair also.

Okay. The other day, David, after he went to the bathroom, was told to pull up his underwear, and Daddy would get him a chocolate. (This is his reward for #2, and by the way, he's potty-trained!) So he starts singing to himself, "Chocolate - underwear! Chocolate - underwear!"

And then Timothy, when the boys were getting stories for us to read, points at one book on the floor and says, "There's the crappy story." It was A House For Hermit Crab.

Okay...now for some pictures of Noelle wearing a bra. This is when she had put it on herself.

These are after we helped her put it back on. hehe.

Okay, okay....my hair.

Hooray

2007-06-07T13:04:00.000-07:00

...for not being sick anymore! On Sunday night I got sick...and it lasted until last evening. And no, I'm not pregnant. Noelle and Matthew got it too. Actually, Noelle is still a bit under the weather, which makes me so mad at whatever is making her sick, and so sorry for her. She hasn't been feeling consistently bad but her diapers testify that she's been sick since Monday...and she threw up Monday morning, and then again yesterday afternoon and this morning. What's that all about?? Well, it lasted about three days for me...so hopefully she's on the mend now. At least she's taking a good nap--sleep will help, I'm sure.

In regards to the haircuts I gave, I think I had a harder time letting Forrest & Timothy part with their hair than they did. I really liked Forrest's hair how it was. However, I really like it how it is now too. Pretty much as long as he doesn't get a flat top or a buzz/shaved head, I'll be happy. Timothy's hair was getting too shaggy in my opinion...but I really like his curls. Well, there's always next winter...and he's really cute with his little Caesar cut. By the way, the pile of Timothy's hair was pretty big, but only about half the size of Forrest's hair AFTER the ponytails were cut off. And also, each of those ponytails met the 10" requirement for donation to Locks of Love, and I think two of them would be about the thickness of my hair...and there were four of them! My husband has THICK hair!

Ah. I love feeling normal.

Phew!

2007-05-29T13:33:00.000-07:00

On Sunday we were at my parents' house, visiting outside when it started to rain. I accidentally left the camera out there, and fortunately found it before we left, but it was all wet. So I tried turning it on--nothing. Took it home, let it dry out overnight--nothing in the morning. Went online, looking for what to do about a digital camera that gets wet, and really scared I had ruined it. Found some advice, let it dry until this morning, and *phew* it works again! Thank God. BTW, if any of you ever do this, make sure it's fresh water, not salt water, and take the batteries out, and open any place it can regularly open, and let it dry at least 24 hours.

Anyway, in celebration that I don't have to buy us a new camera, here are some pictures!

From Saturday before last, on our hike around the Spokane River:

From the next day, at Ryan & Taneisha's:

And some pictures of my beautiful little girl:

A good article on crying it out:

2007-05-25T14:30:00.000-07:00

This article explains some of the reasons why I parent the way I do:

http://iparenting.com/sears/columns/cry.htm

2007-05-10T17:23:00.000-07:00

You WOULD Survive an Animal Attack!
	If you were attacked by Killer Bees ... you would win.

'Would You Survive an Animal Attack?' at QuizGalaxy.com

Funnyness, Cat Tales, & Pictures

2007-05-02T14:18:00.000-07:00

Yesterday in the car, Timothy, as he often does, said, "Daddy? Um,...."
While he went on to say whatever it was to Forrest, Noelle pipes up in the back, "Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. Um..."
Oh, and her new thing is, "Mine! no... Mine! no... Mine! no..." I think it's because I usually tell her "Don't say mine" or "No-no."

So we went to Cat Tales yesterday for Esther's 8th birthday (they weren't open on Monday, her actual birthday). It was fun, although it wasn't a very long visit (they close at 4 this time of year). We got to watch the cats being fed. This one cougar looked like it was going to eat the hand of the zookeeper that slid the dish into his pen. Very eager for dinner. They also had their White Bengal Tiger exhibit open (which it was not last year when we went) and that was really cool. They told us that white tigers are sort of like blond people--it's just a recessive gene that happens, not a distinct species. Anyway...I found it very interesting.

From Esther's birthday:

This is her expressing excitement at the gift we gave her. Hilarious.

Noelle has an ice cream cone at home:

The other day at the park, Noelle & Arayah

2007-05-02T09:11:00.001-07:00

Percent

Rank

Item

(100%) 1: Anglican/Episcopal/Church of England

(97%) 2: Eastern Orthodox

(96%) 3: Roman Catholic

(88%) 4: Lutheran

(80%) 5: Presbyterian/Reformed

(75%) 6: Congregational/United Church of Christ

(47%) 7: Baptist (Reformed/Particular/Calvinistic)

(40%) 8: Seventh-Day Adventist

(32%) 9: Methodist/Wesleyan/Nazarene

(27%) 10: Church of Christ/Campbellite

(21%) 11: Baptist (non-Calvinistic)/Plymouth Brethren/Fundamentalist

(18%) 12: Anabaptist (Mennonite/Quaker etc.)

(18%) 13: Pentecostal/Charismatic/Assemblies of God

Your results for "Christian Traditions Selector"
URL: http://SelectSmart.com/plus/select.php?url=denomtradition

Some words I forgot that Noelle says...

2007-04-27T08:58:00.000-07:00

She also can point to eyes, tummy, toes, hair, nose, and ears, hands, and she can say:

Eyes!
Nose
Hahh (hair)
Toes
Shoes
'Bye

Basically, she's one smart cookie.

2007-04-26T23:42:00.001-07:00

Read my VisualDNA™ Get your own VisualDNA™

Random

2007-04-26T16:11:00.000-07:00

Life has been good lately. I feel like I'm finally on top of a lot of things...though still juggling, I think I'm getting the hang of juggling. That probably means another ball...or pin...or flaming torch... is coming soon! Ha.
We're working on getting the kids' room finished finally. Forrest has stripped almost all the remaining paint off the trim & doors, and we'll stain those; we need to paint the ceiling and walls, put trim along the bottom of the walls, and soon we'll put in new windows! I'm excited about it. I'm also going to make new curtains for their room.

some of Timothy's artwork--Spiderman. On their bedroom door. In crayon.

Forrest taking paint off the window trim...

meanwhile, Noelle helps herself to pretzels.

Last night and this morning I transplanted all the plants my mom gave me (her leftovers, of which there were many)--lettuce, a few mustard greens, broccoli, tomatoes, and peppers. It's really exciting to have such a good start on my garden already! The past two years I've just been awful at it...not that I didn't have a very cute little excuse, but this year she's big enough to play with the boys while I work in the dirt, so I plan to keep diligent at it!

a bee that stung me when I accidentally put my hand on it...

tomatoes & peppers

pretty much the whole garden, at a weird angle

lettuce, mustard, broccoli, & leeks

NotBand is going good so far...we had a practice last weekend that went well. It's new and different for me to have to do so much improvisation on my viola, and though difficult, also fun not only to figure out but to have that challenge. It's also cool how although while we play the songs they're familiar, they also have such a different sound than the original. Which in a way makes them sound better...for example, we'd never be able to play like the Sons of Korah. But we can improvise, using the instruments we have (some the same, some different than their band) and come up with something that sounds better than a pathetic attempt at professionalness. I don't know if that came out right, but oh well.

It smells so nice outside. Spring is finally here. Trees in blossom, tulips, hyacinths, daffodils...and pretty soon lilacs too. I love this time of year. The kids and I have been spending our mornings, from after breakfast until lunchtime, outside the past few days and I love it.
Well, I should go--my house is coming back to life as naptime draws to an end.

P.S. New words in Noelle's vocabulary (which is suddenly growing a lot!) include:
Noo-null (noodle)
Bea's (beans)
Amen
Dit-a-baaa (take a bath!)
Nanny (candy...I know, awful)
Nuhh (nurse)
uh-uh (which can mean uh-uh or uh-huh...it's very confusing.)
Wa-woah (water, or other drinks)
Wah-wee (sorry)
Ball
Ow! (while hitting her brothers...or occasionally, hitting herself, to reenact her getting hurt)
Mine! (ugh! she started THIS one tonight, at choir practice!)

Noelle feeds herself.

and helps make pizza crust.

With Grandpa Eyre & Grandma Lisa

What's up.

2007-04-20T09:34:00.000-07:00

I feel like now I am officially a scrapbooker. I FINALLY finished my first scrapbook (which I've been working on for either 4 or 5 years now...can't remember) and it's really funny to see the evolution of my style through it. It was a lot of fun, and now I'm ready to start another one. I went and got myself a The Stack and a couple of albums, and a file thingy to keep my hundreds of papers in. I've gone through pictures from 2001 and think I'd like to make a scrapbook of the entire year, even though some of that stuff was covered in my finished album (my wedding album, which has stuff briefly about our courtship, engagement, etc.). I want to be able to have more pages devoted to pictures, and I think I won't do as much journaling in this one.
Yesterday Heather and I went to a baby shower for Meggan. She is looking very cute, and has I think two more months to go. The shower was fun; it was at Maylene's house, which I hadn't seen before, and I got to visit with her, her mom, and a few other people. Heather and I had a nice visit on the way to & from it too, and then the Teilborgs stayed for dinner yesterday. Forrest had been watching the boys while we were at the shower, and took them to the park with Matthew. It sounds like they had a lot of fun.
I'm excited about my new clothesline. I've only dried one load in the dryer since it was built...I think we're going to save some money on electric, besides doing something good for the environment!
This morning when it was still dark, I looked out the window and was bummed because I thought it had snowed. Then I realized that I was just seeing the flowers on the maple trees, and being half-asleep, mistook them for clumps of snow clinging to the branches. Silly me!
I can't believe I've typed this entire post and my kids haven't got up yet. I guess they all really got worn out yesterday, which is great. It's nice to have a peaceful morning all to myself.

Evidences of spring

2007-04-16T15:05:00.000-07:00

2007-04-16T11:36:00.000-07:00

Dylan pushes Harrison, Jacqui, and Timothy in the big stroller...

Look how strong he is!

Or I could say, he enjoys pushing them around!

That night, at Ryan & Taneisha's, we practiced some music for our not band...Ryan playing, and Forrest singing a Sons of Korah song.

And I try to figure out harmony on my viola; or I do backup vocals.

Noelle's hand reaching for it...

The guys singing again...

And laughing at themselves.

The kids were watching a movie in the girls' room meanwhile.

They were so adorable sitting all in a row.

Noelle and Jacqui wore their matching dresses on Sunday.

Matchy-matchy green!

Tyrel, being happy on the floor.

We got the kids new summer pajamas.

The shorts are a little long on David...

They both like them a lot!

And Noelle tries to see the front of hers...

I think she likes 'em.

Pictures again!

2007-04-11T21:34:00.000-07:00

The view out our front door...

Again...

Timothy and David each got a Black Spiderman 3 toy for Easter...

And Noelle got a little set of pots & pans, which the boys like to use also.

David tries to feed Noelle.

Timothy again.

Noelle is Bat-girl!

Playing peek-a-boo with the mask...

Peek-a-boo!

The boys, coloring eggs for Easter.

The kids, watching a movie.

Daddy reading Goodnight Moon to his kids.

More pictures, sorry for the lack of captions. Not that you probably care.

2007-03-31T16:32:00.000-07:00

Picture Strike!!

2007-03-29T22:10:00.000-07:00

All right, people. You didn't comment on that last post of pictures, so no more until I get some feedback!!
But I will give you a little bit of update:
Noelle finally got her other two teeth on bottom (next to the middle two), so she had eight teeth...until a couple days ago I realized she has a molar poking through! I had wondered why she started getting fussy after the two teeth came in, and felt around in her mouth and found it. The other day she was teething on everything from games to Forrest's guitar.
Speaking of Forrest, he's been learning chords, and got himself some picks. It's so cool to hear.
And speaking of speaking, Noelle now says "Appo" for apple. She also has this baby word she likes to say, "Mambo," that usually means "I want that" or "I want something". David has picked it up and uses it similarly, which is annoying since he obviously knows how to talk.

I'm getting excited about Holy Week coming up. Palm procession into church on Sunday!!

I don't have time to caption these pictures,but thought you'd enjoy them now rather than never!

2007-03-24T17:57:00.000-07:00

Maybe now I can go through more of the recent ones and get some up soon!

How well do you know me?

2007-03-02T10:02:00.000-08:00

It took me about three years to do it, but this is my 100th post. And I'm going to use it for this.

Create your own Friend Test here

Random #4

2007-02-26T16:10:00.000-08:00

A week and a half ago, I spent two nights away from my family (except Noelle) to go to Minnesota, to see my grandma who was at death's door. We rejoice that God has allowed her, after all, to live a bit longer--she is still in the hospital but no longer in ICU. I'm glad I went. Not only did I get to see my grandma again, but also we had some good visiting with my mom, my aunt Pari, Uncle Trevor, and my cousins Brooks, Heather, and Pari Beth.

My nephew Tyrel was baptized on February 18th, the day after I got back. We had a good number of visitors at church for the occasion, and afterwards a big dinner at Isaac & Heather's, which was very good.

Ash Wednesday service was at Emmanuel this year, and was well-attended, as was also the soup supper beforehand. One of the things I loved about our Lenten mid-week services last year was the time of eating and fellowship at the soup suppers.

Forrest and I are giving up sugar and coffee for Lent. Giving something up really helps to remind me how human and subject to my own selfish desires I am--all day on Thursday last week, all I kept thinking about was what kind of treat sounded good. Although discouraging, it's also a good thing to be reminded of how weak I am, because then I really just fall into the arms of God and rely on Him to be all I need. I agree with Forrest and Rachel: Lent is a very important time in our church year and life, for redirecting, repentance, and drawing closer to God.

Yesterday we took a walk--going up to Wellesley, over to Monroe, and then back down and over. We saw our first robin of the year in Aunt Billie's yard, and just a couple houses down, there were about 10 to 15 robins, all flitting about in leafless trees. The kids did really well, although Noelle got scared by something almost halfway through the walk and I carried her in the sling the rest of the way. About three blocks away from the Garland Theatre, we could smell the popcorn....we were really hungry by the time we came home.

Noelle had her first birthday last Friday. We had a party for her, with her Grandpa, Grandma, aunt & two uncles on one side and an aunt and uncle on the other side, four cousins, and her friend Lily and parents. It was fun, and she had a good time; she napped through dinner, but was awake for strawberry shortcake and presents. She and Lily and Esther had a little "tea party" with Lily's metal tea set, water, and toddler cookies earlier in the afternoon also.

Noelle is talking more. She now says "Tsee" for cheese (sometimes I'll ask her, "Are you hungry?" or "Do you want a snack?" and she'll smile and say either "num!" or "tsee!"), and "Tsees" for Jesus. She has said "yeah" a few times, which is really cute.

My husband and I have matching cornrows. (Nathan asked, "What's a cornrose?") I think I might take mine out tonight, though, because they're starting to look really frizzy at the scalp. My hair isn't nearly as thick as Forrest's, and since it's longer and thins toward the tips, they look a lot more sparse than his do. But it's been fun. Lynné and I were talking about how it would be cool to put Forrest's hair in cornrows, so on Friday morning she called up and asked Forrest, "How about I do your hair today?" It took her about 3 hours, 31 braids, of which I did maybe 3; she did the rest. But afterwards I kept looking at his hair and wanted to do it to my own hair--so I spent Sunday afternoon off and on doing my own.

We got to play Lynné and Youssef's Wii the other day, and had a blast. Now we're actually considering getting our own. Good-for-you entertainment, in my opinion, since it gets you up & moving to play Wii Sports, and it's a lot more oriented around people having fun together rather than by oneself.

Well, that's about all I had to say. I'll close with some pictures from last night:

Forrest's hair

My hair

Noelle loves brushing her teeth!

David brushing his teeth.

Random ramblings

2007-02-09T21:23:00.000-08:00

I've been meaning to post for a long time now, and really haven't had the time. I swear. Forrest is gone to Blockbuster right now to return our Pretender disc and get the next 4 episodes of 24. So I thought I'd seize the opportunity, hopefully before Noelle wakes up again.

We all have colds. Bleh. Hopefully we'll be over them by next week, since David's birthday is then, and also Valentine's Day (on which we might go out) and then Forrest's parents come into town, and then we have a baptism for my nephew Tyrel, and dinner with the family.

Okay. Some funny things my kids said:

Noelle, when looking at anyone, but especially babies: "Pitteh-baby! Pitteh-baby! Awww." While eating: "Mmmmm!" and lots of other cute baby chatter.

David, when I told him not to do something. "Mama, you're not my Daddy."

I can't remember the thing Timothy said today that was so funny, because it was so intricate. But I'll let you know if I remember.

I'm working on a quilt for her, for her birthday. I procrastinated, and have a ton left to do...I hope I can get it done in time!

I was annoyed recently because we found out there was a saints' day for Charles I, king of England and Scotland, and not having remembered hearing about him in school, I looked through a couple of history books my parents have, and found in them nothing but bad things to say about him. He was actually put to death, partly because he refused to allow bishops to be abolished from the Anglican church. It's awful to read about the disunity of the church at that time, the mudslinging, and utter hatred that Christians of differing convictions had for each other.

Forrest has been practicing chords on his guitar. It's really cool to hear.

Noelle is now walking all over the place. She still looks like she's about to fall over with almost every step she takes, but ends up making it across whole rooms. And when she doesn't make it
that far, she picks herself right back up and continues.

Oh, and part of the reason I didn't post earlier was because SOMEBODY got me Zoo Tycoon for Christmas and it's been really fun. Thanks! :-) Although more recently it's more due to the fact that I really haven't had more than 10 minutes at once to sit down and do this.

Okay. Pictures!

This is from a couple weeks ago, at Ryan & Taneisha's:

David, wearing some of Victoria & Bella's play glasses...

The kids having dinner...

This isn't a good picture of Matthew, but it is of Arayah (hope I spelled that right) so I thought I'd put it up anyway.

Forrest relaxes while holding a sleeping girly

Noelle thought she was pretty funny...

Ryan and Arayah...

Three Subway employees and a Baby.

Taneisha & Ryan.

Timothy jumping off a bed--the shirt, given by Ryan & Taneisha, says "I do all my own stunts."

Victoria laughing.

And at our home:
The boys being goofy in the bath

This dress was given to Noelle by someone at church...at first I didn't like it, just 'cause the material is very bright & busy, but Noelle makes it look cute.

The cutie in ponytails.

Pictures!

2007-01-17T09:48:00.000-08:00

Here's Forrest opening his biggest gift (from me, Matthew, Isaiah, and my parents):

He knew what it was, but not what it looked like yet....David and Timothy were very excited about getting the present with me, and immediately after Forrest got home the day I bought it, David says, "Daddy, you have a guitar." A couple days earlier, I told the boys about my plans and Timothy let it slip to Forrest then, too. So, next time I want to surprise Forrest, I learned, I won't tell the boys either!

Noelle and Kyrie at a couple of their favorite playtimes:
The Containers Cupboard

And The Dishwasher

Noelle was so proud of herself for figuring out how to get on this little chair of Esther's, and loves to kneel or stand on it, holding onto the back, and bounce-dance.

And here she is getting off the couch. The color on this one looks a little fake to me; it's 'cause I "auto enhance"d it to brighten--it was really dark otherwise.

Anyway, that's all for now. Although it's nice to have life slow down a bit, we miss our Capezza company. It was great having y'all here.

In Other News...

2006-12-30T15:42:00.000-08:00

We had a good Christmas. Let's see...on Saturday (I think it was), Forrest and the boys went down to pick up Tim & Heidi and Elbereth and bring them up here for a few days. Sunday was a long day. Church in the morning was a joint 4th Sunday in Advent service, done with the three sister churches we normally do joint stuff with, but the location was the Museum of Arts & Culture Auditorium, which was different. The liturgy wasn't quite like normal--it was okay but lacking, and although I didn't notice this very much, I guess at least a couple of the messages were kinda trite. Oh well. Actually, I thought the best aspect of the service was that Carolyn, Rachel and I played the accompaniment as a string trio. I really enjoyed that.
After church we went home, had Sparky's subs for lunch (yum) and then got stuff ready for our additional company, Isaac & Heather and kids. They came over around 5, about the time our kids got up from their much-needed naps, and we had them open their presents from us and then during and after some madlibs, had appetizers, clam chowder, and a fish dinner. We had a ton of leftovers because by the time we got to the main course, everyone was already all but stuffed. Then Forrest and I with Noelle and Matthew, hurried down to the church to rehearse with the choir. Matthew played the tambourine for one of our choir pieces, and also used it on a couple of the congregational hymns; it really added a nice touch. The service was lovely and joyous, and it was nice to have it in a real church, in a real sanctuary. Salem's sanctuary is so beautiful anyway.
After the 10 PM service, we came back home and opened presents. Stayed up until about 12:30 or 1 AM. I got to give Forrest his family-group-effort gift. (My parents, Isaiah, and Matthew chipped in a great deal to it and Isaiah actually picked it out.) It's a Yamaha guitar, and it's black. He doesn't know how to play yet, but this was step one in him learning since he really wants to. I got some cool gifts--pretty earrings, hair jewelry, nail polishes, The Story We Find Ourselves In, the Zoo Tycoon (original version) complete collection. There's a gift for the boys that we ordered that hasn't come yet...but hey! Christmas isn't over yet. Maybe it'll get here before Epiphany.
Monday was spent first in raiding our stockings and in Forrest and me cleaning up from the night before, then in going to church, then in going out to my parents'. It felt really relaxing to me after all our responsibilities the day before.
Hilary is visiting now, which makes me want to wrap up this post (which really I've just been finishing a draft I started the other day) to spend more time with her as her visit won't be for long. Timothy is going to be four years old tomorrow. I can hardly believe it!! How did this happen?
Pictures eventually forthcoming. Happy New Year and Eighth day of Christmas!

My Baby is Growing Up!

2006-12-30T14:17:00.000-08:00

Yesterday Forrest and I went out on a double date with Rick & Rachel. This was the first time we have ever had Noelle babysat, although when we first planned to go out, I was thinking we'd take her along. Forrest asked my mom if she could watch Noelle also and she said sure, so that was that. I was a little unsure about the whole thing, even up to the point of us leaving, because she was supposed to be having a nice long nap when we left, and just about when we were supposed to leave, she started crying. I went in to put her back to sleep, and thought it had worked until I laid her back in bed and she woke up. I thought she'd be too crabby if left with Grandma (no jab to my mom; it's just that Noelle is a big Mama's girl) but as it turns out, she did just fine. (Phew!)

It was really fun to go out. We went and saw "The Pursuit of Happyness" (with Will Smith and his son Jaden); it was a good movie. Rick laughed, saying he had never seen me in "date mode" before. I'm almost always in "mom mode!" So after the movie we went out to Chili's. It was yummy.

We got back and the kids had all been good. (It helps to have Aunt Esther there--she's a very good entertainer and big help with the kids.) My mom starts telling how things went, and gets this expression and tone like "why didn't you tell me?" as she says, "How many steps has Noelle taken in a row?" Well, Forrest and I both were like, "WHAT? None!" It turned out she took six steps in a row, and Grandma Lisa got to see these first steps! She felt very blessed to be the one to get to witness this. I was so surprised and excited that I started just laughing until I cried, and then when we tried to get her to take some steps for us, and she took three or four toward me, I laughed and cried at the same time. Six is still her record. I'm so proud of my baby girl for being so good for her first babysitting, and for learning how to walk!!

Cappucino-fudge cheesecake

2006-12-30T14:01:00.000-08:00

I've never made this, but I used this recipe as part of my guide in making my mocha cheesecake. Here's the recipe for the mocha one:
(Questions marks denote that I don't remember if I actually put this in or not but it probably won't hurt to.)

Crust:
1 1/2 c. graham cracker crumbs
6 T. cocoa powder
1/3 c. powdered sugar
1-2 T. medium-grind coffee grounds
6 T. melted butter

Filling:
2 lbs cream cheese
5 eggs
1 3/4 c. sugar
2 t. vanilla
2 shots espresso
12 T. cocoa powder
1-2 T. medium-grind coffee grounds
1/4 c. flour?
4 T. butter or oil?

Topping:
1 1/2 c. sour cream
1/3 c. sugar
1/2 T. espresso
1/2-1 t. vanilla

Mix crust together, press in bottom of 9" springform pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes.
Mix filling very gently; mix until smooth but do not overbeat. Pour on top of crust. Bake in 325 degree oven, in water bath* for approx. 1 1/2 hours. Allow to cool until warm; mix topping together and spread evenly over cheesecake. Return to oven (turned up to 375-400 degrees) for 10 minutes. Cool completely, at least 4 hours.

*This is how I do a water bath for cheesecake: After baking crust, wrap tinfoil carefully & tightly around outside of springform pan, to ensure that water can't seep in. Pour in filling. Set springform pan in a large roasting pan (I use a disposable foil one) and carefully add water to roasting pan until it comes about halfway up outside of springform.

This recipe may require a bit of playing around with.

2006-12-25T12:10:00.001-08:00

Well, I know I have not posted for a while...had too much going on! But it has been a good Advent season. MERRY CHRISTMAS! I am posting from Forrests phone...bye

2006-11-21T20:46:00.000-08:00

My Christmas list... so far.

Happiness is...

2006-11-08T09:59:00.000-08:00

...making pumpkin pasties with my husband.

...eating them over a game of Catan (which I won without realizing until Forrest said, OK, let's put the game away!)

...getting to sleep with the window open in November. (only got down to the 50's!)

...a little sleepy girl with moist, messy hair and sparkly eyes.

I finished The Goblet of Fire, and it was good. Definitely better than the movie, and kept me on the edge of my seat about 100 pages in, which is something since it's 734 pages long.
I made Noelle a coat last week...pictures below.

Noelle with her sweet aunt Esther and superhero brothers.

Asleep in her new jeans, which are adorable on her.

Daddy made the boys a fort.

Sunday night she fell asleep on the floor.

ATTENTION CHRISTMAS SHOPPERS! "Tucker Family" has a wishlist on Amazon, and even if you don't buy the items there, you can look to see what we'd like. There are family gift ideas and individual kids' gift ideas on it. Forrest and I each have wishlists also. ;-)

2006-11-02T08:20:00.000-08:00

The corn maze at Siemer's, at Greenbluff. Saturday before last.

It was a lot of fun.

At Siemer's they have this little log cabin...here are the kids inside it.

And Noelle, sitting at the little table in it.

Matthew and several of the Stapps, waiting for hot cider.

Sunday before last, we went to the arboretum. It was gorgeous.

Timothy and Nathan in a tree.

We found this plant that had giant leaves...here's David with one of them.

Timothy, almost buried in leaves.

And in another tree.

Noelle really liked the leaves...mostly to try to eat them.

Esther, David and Timothy make "leaf angels".

Noelle again. You can see a little bruise on her forehead...the falling-and-bonking-a-bunch stage has begun.

He looks like he's trying to be Canadian or something.

Kids sprawled in the leaves.

More cute girlyness in the sunshine.

We got a new mouse.

2006-11-02T07:24:00.000-08:00

It's an optical mouse...which we didn't have before.

Oh. I made two cheesecakes the other day...one Mocha, and one Pumpkin. I have a plain cheesecake recipe that I've made before (following techniques I got from Forrest's Uncle Jerry, and overheard ingredients from his secret recipe...sneakysneaky) so I used that as kind of the base...telling me how much of the cream cheese and eggs, and for the pumpkin one I found a recipe online for a pumpkin one that took the same amount of cream cheese and eggs, and altered it slightly. For the mocha one, I could not find a recipe online that was satisfactory so I made it up. Both cheesecakes turned out great, if I do say so myself. Maybe I'll let it become like my specialty item.

Oh, and speaking of good food...Forrest and I made really good spaghetti sauce & meatballs (we also had noodles of course) yesterday. Forrest put together the sauce...I spiced it a bit, then he spiced it more, and it was just right; and it had a lot of mushrooms in it. I had never made just plain meatballs before but they turned out good. And "Barilla Plus" pasta is, we found out, pretty good. It tastes pretty much like regular pasta.

I keep having dreams that Noelle is walking. I don't think it'll be long. She's starting to let go of whatever she held onto to bring herself to standing, and a few times she's just stood there without help for several seconds. She's starting to learn how to lower herself down slowly to the floor too. AND, she learned last week at Grandma's how to climb an entire staircase (I was right behind her) and so now she's been doing it on our stairs. This, if I recall correctly, is earlier than the boys, who learned the stairs somewhere between nine and ten months. I need to teach her how to safely come down soon, but for now usually just get her off. Forrest & I need to get a gate.

I could not get pictures to load. I'll try one more time, on a new post, but if it doesn't work, sorry. I'll try later.

Random

2006-11-01T13:05:00.000-08:00

Using the computer without a mouse is a little challenging, if you're not used to it. Our mouse suddenly went kaput earlier...while Forrest was using the computer, it all of a sudden stopped working...and doesn't even show up in the control panel under "mouse". Also, now our computer isn't making that "rrrrrn" loud groan/buzz that it used to make. Could it somehow be related? Seems unlikely, but what do I know?

Forrest & I have colds. Blah.

Forrest is gone to run a work errand & stop at the library; the kids are all napping, and I thought I'd take this opportunity since it was knocking. If I can figure out how to mouselessly post pictures, I will, as long as Noelle doesn't wake up first.

Noelle got her sixth tooth last week, and is now making words like "Ah-oh" (which I think can mean "hello" but doesn't mean "uh-oh" yet) and "Aow!" (which I think really means "ow" sometimes, like when she shouts it as she grabs at the boys' faces or hair). She's very vocal. On Sunday evening we were watching a movie at my parents', and she kept just saying "Aaaaaah" very loudly, and we couldn't hear the movie. Cute but annoying.

I'm now very addicted to Harry Potter books--on the fourth one presently, and reading it every time I put Noelle down for a nap. (Have to have a nightlight in our room when she goes to bed, for that reason.) I've seen all the movies, so I should know how certain stuff turns out, and I remember vaguely some of the stuff, but it's riveting knowing just a little and reading the book, which has a few tons more details than the movie anyway. Part of what got me reading them was the fact that Forrest, Lynné, and Youssef all have read all the books, so I can't discuss it with them. I guess I'm in for some really big stuff in the next couple of books.

(I keep reaching for the mouse. Durr.)

And then there was a Hungarian Horntail dragon. The end.

Just a Quick Post to Say...

2006-10-23T19:26:00.000-07:00

...that I'm sorry I haven't been posting lately. Our DSL was down for a few days. I enjoyed catching up with pictures of my Goddaughters Kyrie and Elbereth this afternoon. AAAAH, they're so ridiculously cute. And speaking of cute, my own little Noelle is pulling herself up to furniture all the time, crawling at an increasingly fast pace, saying things like "Mama," "Daddy," "Itty" (kitty), "Baba" (bye-bye, with a wave of open-and-shut hand) and something that sounds like "Pah-pah" for puppy. She also says "BA-BA-BA!!" when the boys start singing, "Ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-Batman!!" She got her fourth and fifth teeth last Wednesday; I knew one was coming in, and was surprised to see two new ones!
So, I need to go because it's almost time for me to read the boys' Bible story and Forrest is going to Montana tomorrow, so probably no more from me until Wednesday or later. Will put up pictures soon!

2006-09-29T12:03:00.000-07:00

Videos...

2006-09-29T11:12:00.000-07:00

My Little Girl Is Growing Up!

2006-09-29T10:55:00.000-07:00

My three kids all play together now...Noelle finds the boys' blocks fascinating and fun.

She goes to find a new block to inspect...

And she LOVES to splash too!

She gets into the spirit of it at least as much as her brothers!

This is how I found her yesterday when I came back from checking on the boys...It seemed really precarious, mostly because she was next to so many hard-bonk-able things, but she stayed steady the whole time. First time she's pulled herself to standing and stayed up!! *Sigh*

Pictures

2006-09-28T13:43:00.000-07:00

These go back a couple weeks...more recent pictures and videos coming soon!

Forrest and David at the fair...

Matthew, doing something with David; Miriam, and Bethany.

Ryan takes a picture of me taking a picture of him.

What a poser. At least this year he wasn't afraid of the fire truck.

Timothy with his cotton-candy beard.

Miriam playing with Noelle.

Last Thursday and Friday, we got to see Holly and Bryan again briefly, at the end of their honeymoon. Here we are at breakfast, also with Tim, Heidi, and Hannah.

David, having a little too much fun with Esther's stuff.

Andrew, Matthew, Isaiah and Forrest playing MOHAA, Nathan playing Nintendo DS.

Me & Noelle. What a little sweetheart she is.

Stuff

2006-09-26T21:29:00.000-07:00

I've discovered anew that I like reading. Having not done it much in the last few years, I kind of forgot about the lure. But lately, since Noelle takes a while to put to sleep, I decided to try helping myself to be patient with her, and read while nursing her to sleep. The first book I read while doing that was Unexpected Journey. Then just today I finished Very Good, Jeeves! and am almost through A New Kind of Christian. It makes me feel like talking about more...and yet what I'm gleaning in the latter is still in its developing stage in my mind and although there are bits and pieces to talk about, I don't feel like I have the gist yet. I really like it so far though. It makes me really want to re-read Ancient-Future Faith again, but it's at Forrest's parents' house. Where we were just a couple weeks ago, but I thought they were still reading it. Found out afterwards that they probably were done with it...*sigh*.
On a different note, I found out tonight that if you brown the butter by accident while melting it to make beef gravy, it actually contributes positively to the gravy's flavor. I think I'll make it that way regularly now--only I'll brown the butter on purpose.
Pictures will be coming soon...

Last Weekend

2006-09-13T14:24:00.000-07:00

As you all know, we went down to Nevada last weekend to go to Holly & Bryan's wedding! Everything went well (except I got sick Saturday night to Monday night); the wedding was lovely, and Bryan's family was very nice. Here are some pictures....

From the trip down:

David, asleep when we arrived at Tim & Heidi's to pick them up, and waited for Isaac & Heather, so we could have Timothy ride with them.

Noelle, awake early in the morning.

Sunrise in central Idaho, from a rest stop we were at for breakfast.

Berry Enloe, being her normal bright-eyed self,

Noelle, napping in the afternoon,

and sunset along the last stretch of road to Fallon.

Friday:

This is a dress Mrs. Lester gave me, size 24 months, but when I saw it last week I realized I should not wait to try it on her. It fits just right!

Holly & Bryan at the rehearsal dinner.

Hailie, at the rehearsal, which was late enough that before it was time to leave,
Bryan & Holly were able to say, "Just twelve hours left!"

Without meaning to, I caught Bryan making a funny face. He was in the middle of talking. To the left is Chris, one of his groomsmen.

The Wedding Day!

As Heidi buttoned her up in the back, Holly looked over at her tired little sister-flowergirl, and said, "Hailie, I love you."

Hailie is cheered up a bit by that.

Married!! Mr. and Mrs. Bryan Dove. I didn't get any pictures from the wedding site, being myself one of the matrons of honour. This is at the reception site.

The happy couple again.

Mr. and Mrs. Rodney Dove, and Mr. and Mrs. Bryan Dove.

Aww.

They make SUCH a cute couple!

Uncle Bryan opens a Dove chocolate for David.

Later that day....Brother and Sister of the Bride, with David and Berry, fall asleep on the couch.

And Thereafter:

Hailie holds her littlest born niece, Elbereth.

Dad & Mom have seven grandkids, in just four years! There is one more, unborn, but we didn't think of trying to get Heather's belly in the photo.

On Sunday evening Forrest's mom invited my parents & siblings, and Bryan's extended family over.

David (Bryan's future bro-in-law), Tim, and Forrest, in a game of croquet.

And I'll end the pictures how I started them--with David asleep in his carseat. This was on our way back home.

New Pictures, just not here

2006-09-05T11:03:00.000-07:00

Okay, people, check out Forrest's blog for new pictures.

We've had a busy week...last Wednesday, Holly and Bryan came up for Meggan & Cristian's wedding. Thursday, Heather and I gave Holly a shower here, while Forrest, Bryan and Tim took our boys and Heather's boys on a hike at the Bowl & Pitcher. That evening we had a brief picnic and feeding of the ducks at Manito Park, and came back here for cupcakes. I started late that night on the flowers for Meggan's wedding, and with several interruptions (including a very important one called "sleep") finished them early Friday afternoon. Bryan and Holly went up to Gillette Lake to visit Grandpa & Grandma Workman, who were camping up there--because they won't be able to go to their wedding on the 9th. They came back later in the afternoon and all of us went to the Garland to watch Cars. It was a good movie, and very cute. The next morning (Saturday), we left the house about 6:30 to get up to Usk before 8 AM for the wedding. It was in a clearing in the woods and was cold and beautiful. Meggan and Cristian both loved the flowers, so I was very pleased. After the ceremony, we had coffee and doughnuts up above the wedding site, then headed into town for the reception at the Davenport Hotel. It was beautiful. The food and fellowship were both great.
Holly and Bryan flew out later that afternoon, so once we fed the boys, the kids went to bed and Forrest and I had a very relaxing evening and went to bed early. We had a wonderful visit, and it was fun to watch Holly and Bryan being all lovey-Dovey (pun intended), and now we're getting excited about going down for their wedding, coming up this Saturday. My bridesmaid dress is almost finished, and we get to pack tomorrow and head out at about 2 AM the morning of my birthday!
So that's part of why I haven't been posting very faithfully lately. Will try to do more after we get back next week, and hopefully you'll get to see lots of pictures from our time down there.

David is cute

2006-08-10T17:08:00.000-07:00

The boys were playing out in the garden yesterday, and David made Timothy's toy pickup truck drive over to the gate going to the alley. "He's go to New Zealand!" he tells me, pointing at the truck.
It's raining (Hallelujah!) and David was just outside, jumping and dancing, yelling, "Lightning and Thlun-low! Lightning and Thlun-low!"

2006-08-08T15:57:00.000-07:00

Pictures

2006-08-08T15:35:00.000-07:00

The boys' new bed, that Forrest made. Was that the week before last? I think so. Toddler-size bunkbed.

Noelle on her tummy. Yes, in front of the TV. She's interested in anything that moves and/or makes noise. She is extremely distracted.

This is how tall Noelle is next to Bella Hathaway, who is a year and a day older.

Daddy tickling the girlie. Hope Forrest doesn't mind I posted a shirtless picture of him.

Baby news and Toddler potty-training

2006-08-08T14:31:00.000-07:00

Noelle has started sitting up by herself. She still usually falls over if I'm not right there to catch her, but she can balance for a few seconds or so, especially if she has a toy to lean over and play with. She also got her first and second teeth, and has been babbling a bunch lately. Some just "Aaahh" and a lot of "Bababababa" and some "Dadada" even! It's so cute.
And yesterday I decided I needed to get motivated with the whole idea of potty-training David, so had him try lots of times throughout the day. He went two or three times yesterday, and already today he's gone three times, had one "accident" (if you can even call it that this early in training) and seems pretty excited about becoming a big boy. Especially when a little piece of candy is the reward!
I love it when all the kids are quiet in bed. When Forrest is at work and all the kids are taking a nap, it's my chance to do whatever. Yesterday I got to really get the house much cleaner than the disaster it was. Today there isn't so much to catch up on, so I decided to update. I was going to put pictures up, but have been having problems. We'll see.
My brother Matthew got a HyperStatic Union album, and now that I've discovered their music I'm a fan. Musically, they are of an extraordinary caliber. I've really enjoyed the Lifegiver album and recommend it to everyone who doesn't dislike rock.

Back again

2006-07-21T13:57:00.000-07:00

After an incredibly busy late spring/early summer, I think I may again return to blogging. At least, I will this once.

I'm anxious to get pictures online before Forrest has a chance to (hehehe...always fun to be the one sharing the photos!) so there will be several down below.

It's been hot lately--gladly, we have an air conditioner downstairs (in the kitchen) and also one up here.

Yesterday I took the kids outside after dinner (Forrest was gone) and they ate popsicles, ran in the sprinkler, and sat in the warm, slightly dirty kiddie pool. They had a lot of fun. I put Noelle's feet in and she kicked them in the water and thought it was exciting, too. When I put the boys to bed, Timothy was looking at a "Frog and Toad Together" book (Arnold Lobel stories, very cute.) He was looking at the story where Toad makes a list of things to do, one of them being "Take walk with Frog". Timothy says, "I could make a list, and it would say, 'take walks with Frog.'"
"Is David 'Frog'?" I ask.
"Yeah. My list could say 'Take walks with David.' Like, walks outside.......and walks in the living room....and walks on the front porch...."
Noelle is getting better at grabbing toys, and now she can hold onto one and bang it up and down. She tries to grab anything and everything within her reach, and loves putting a cup to her mouth.

My Big Girl!

2006-06-03T15:09:00.000-07:00

At 3 months:

your child is 15.5 pounds, and that is
at the 94th percentile for weight.

your child is 26 inches, and that is
at greater than the 97th percentile for height.

Random

2006-06-01T17:55:00.000-07:00

I'm sick. This is the first excuse I've given myself to come up here and spend any length of time on the computer for a while. (Well, I have been up here playing Spider Solitaire for a few minutes at a time...but mostly right before we're all supposed to play a game or watch a movie.)
So, lately I've been thinking about (here it comes, controversial phrase) The Environment. How we really don't care for this Earth that God has given us. We Americans consume so much more than is necessary, buy all kinds of things that we never use, throw it out in our landfills, shop at Wal-Mart....etc., etc. Even though gas is 3 times as expensive as it was five years ago, we still don't really make the effort to conserve by using non-fuel-powered transportation, more fuel-efficient vehicles, or simply driving less. I, for one, complain at least inwardly when I can't afford something I want but don't need. And in addition to all this, although we can do a few things to make lives better in third-world countries, we often opt not to. I don't know what everybody's excuse is, but mostly the attitude I've come across has been something like this: "I earned this money by my own work. Those who want to have more should learn to be self-sufficient, and I'm not responsible if they can't afford enough food.... It's the culture they're in--if they were Christian, like us, they would be blessed with wealth. It's up to them to get that blessing.... I hardly make enough as it is." And in regards to the environment: "Environmentalists are wackos who care more about dolphins than humans; therefore, I'm going to be completely opposite and care only about people and nothing about endangered species, forests, rainforests, the ozone layer, or any of that. Besides, God told us to take dominion, which means killing whichever animals we want to, right?"

Personally, although I think our wealth in America is sometimes a blessing, it's also a curse--which may be hard for many to swallow.

On a lighter note, we've been having a great time with Rick & Rachel. Kyrie is so adorable--got her first tooth here, has been walking around the furniture (holding on, of course) and is much entertained by the boys. Although I did have to get after David for punching her. I don't think it was out of malice, just he got too wild.

Noelle turned three months old last week. In the past three weeks she's learned to laugh, discovered her hands, started "talking," and learned how to grab her left foot. She gets more beautiful all the time.

Bored....

2006-05-24T21:43:00.000-07:00

Stealed this from my brother Matthew

1. What time did you get up this morning? 9 maybe

2. Diamonds or pearls? Both! Diamond for ring, diamond & pearl for necklaces & earrings

3. What was the last movie you watched? Mobsters & Mormons

4. What is your favorite TV show? MONK!

5. What did you have for breakfast? a waffle.

6. What is your middle name? Sarah

7. What is your favorite food? Chinese food (China Dragon/Cathay Inn), homemade pizza, shrimp scampi, jambalaya

8. What foods do you dislike? tuna, too much mayonnaise, any miracle whip, split pea soup

9. What is your favorite chip flavor? Sun Chips original flavor

10. What is in your CD player right now? Sons of Korah--Redemption Songs (for the boys to go to sleep by)

11. What kind of car do you drive? 2002 Kia Sedona

12. Favorite sandwich? Chicken, bacon, swiss, guacamole, lettuce, tomato.

13. What characteristic do you despise? The kind that says, "Let's cut off those people and those people from us because they don't believe exactly the right doctrines."

14. Favorite item of clothing? I don't really have a favorite right now.

15. If you could go anywhere in the world on vacation, where would you go? To NZ after Holly & Brian get married.

16. What color is your bathroom? White walls, blue shower curtain, icky greenish window trim (needing painted.)

17. Favorite brand of clothing? Nope.

18. Where would you retire? In Spokane.

20. What was your most memorable birthday? My 21st comes first to mind...Forrest drove up from CO as a surprise and we had dinner at home with my family and friends, and Forrest got to meet Ryan & Taneisha.

21. Where were you born? Spokane

22. Favorite sport to watch? eehh.

23. Who do you least expect to send this back to you? Everybody. "Sending" surveys to people is so passé.

24. Person you expect to send it back first? Nobody. See last answer.

25. What fabric detergent do you use? Weird question. Fabricare (by Arm & Hammer). SHOUT! for stains and OxiClean for stains and light fabrics.

27. Are you a morning person or night owl? I used to be a night owl, now I feel like I'm neither.

28. What is your shoe size? 8 1/2

29. Do you have any pets? Nope.

30. Any new and exciting news you'd like to share? Um....Jesus is risen! (I'll stick with this answer)

31. What did you want to be when you were little? A teacher, I think

32. Favorite Holiday? Christmas!

33. Do you consider yourself political? No.

34. Are you religious? Yep.

35. What is the latest book you have read? I started a book about conversions from different religions to Christianity, can't remember what it's called, by Thom Rainer.

Manito

2006-05-01T14:53:00.000-07:00

On Thursday last week we went to Manito with Lynne' and Youssef and LilyAnne. It was a beautiful day, warm and sunny; the flowering trees were in bloom, and although the roses weren't blooming and Duncan Gardens isn't planted yet, there were still a lot of things to see.

Timothy gets ready to throw a frisbee...

And there it goes. He can throw them really well--puts me to shame sometimes.

David sees Timothy throwing one, so wants to play too. Here he runs to get his frisbee.

In the conservatory, Forrest found a statue that looked just like Youssef!

David, Timothy, and Youssef, and a couple rocks.

We walked over to the Japanese garden, which we knew would be beautiful. It was dreamy. A weeping cherry tree drooped its flowery branches over the pond; azaleas were in bloom; everything was lovely.

Noelle and I.

Forrest and the boys

LilyAnne is pretty savvy about UV rays and protecting her eyes

Lynne' was the only adult Forrest could get to "break the rules" and go out on the rock beyond the fence.

Friday Night fun

2006-04-22T11:37:00.000-07:00

We had Ryan & Taneisha and Jamie over yesterday. Some of us stayed up until 2, so I slept in this morning until almost 11....can't remember the last time I did that!

Before I put the pictures in, some funny things that David & Timothy said:

"Have sword-fight bullo (brother--i.e., Timothy). He'ss a bad guy! Bullo bad guy! Fight bad guy!"--David

Forrest: "How much do you love me?"
Timothy: "Um...twenty." He pauses, then says, "David loves Mama fourteen."

Okay.

Ryan thought he looked pretty cool with the du-rag/bandana (whatever you want to call it)...later we let him know David's nose had been wiped on it.

Timothy was having fun putting pillows and pillowcases on his head...here's Matthew helping him get one on his feet too. Forrest & Jamie laugh about stuff.

Victoria says, "My duck is poopy," and gets a clean diaper ready to put on it.

Noelle snuggled up to Daddy.

It started out with the hat, glasses, and jacket, and this outfit evolved to what you see here. Ryan told Matthew he'd pay him $2 if Matthew went into the video store dressed like that. He made good on it, although Matthew thought it should have been $6 since they ended up going to three stores.

And that was our Friday. Earlier in the day, my wonderful husband put up the frame for our little greenhouse. A few days ago I started tomatoes, peppers, basil, parsley, and some flowers. I got a late start on those first 2--but our growing season should be long enough, especially with the increased warmth and humidity the greenhouse will offer.

Me, an ape?

2006-04-19T13:28:00.000-07:00

I don't know whether it's technically legal or not to copy paragraphs from wikipedia, but I'll take a chance...

I was curious if it was incorrect (as I've heard) to refer to chimps as monkeys (and it is--they're apes) and realized that we humans are currently classified by zoologists as great apes! Came across a funny paragraph on the page on apes:

"Human beings are the only ape recognized as persons and protected in law by the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights^[11] and by all governments, though to varying degrees. Chimpanzees, Gorillas and Orangutans are not classified as persons, which means that where their interests intersect with that of humans they have no legal status."

It's a little crazy and hilarious to me that scientists still believe in evolution as accepted and proven. There's a bit on that page, too, about how many don't accept classification of humans as apes because it was not until a few decades ago that we were thought to have common ancestry.

ALLELUIA!!

2006-04-17T15:53:00.000-07:00

"He is alive, He is aLIVE, He IS alive!" said the choir yesterday morning, processing up from the back, going through every row slowly so that they could tell everyone the wonderful news. Carolyn played the piano up front, chords that the choir spoke in rhythm with, and when they got up front to their own rows their speaking turned into singing, a joyful Easter hymn*. It was so moving and exciting. MaryLou's enthusiasm in her "He IS alive!"s, as she went about telling us all and shaking our hands, reminded me a little of Grandma Eyre.
We got to shout and sing our Alleluias Saturday night and Sunday morning, and still we shout it! He is risen indeed! Alleluia! There was a baptism both at the Easter vigil (which was an amazing service) and yesterday morning. Glory to God! Praise the Lord! I can hardly wait until Noelle's baptism--which will be on Pentecost Sunday.
It was so nice to have much of the liturgy sung again yesterday. Throughout Lent we spoke our Psalm, didn't get to sing our "Alleluia!" before the Gospel reading, and spoke our "The Lord be with you, And also with you."
We had a nice breakfast feast at church before the service, and a great feast at my parents' house that afternoon. Actually, we have so many good leftovers that we're still feasting.
And now I can hardly wait until Rick & Rachel & Kyrie arrive! 3 weeks, 2 days! The upstairs room is almost ready for painting, but it'll take a few days because it needs primed first, and will probably take two coats of paint after that. Then I get to set up the room for them. Exciting!!

*(By the way, the word "hymn" is typed all by the right index finger, if you know how to type.)

2006-04-15T16:36:00.000-07:00

Pictures of Noelle
I'm actually glad we had to exchange her original dress, because this was our favorite before, but we thought a 9 month size would be too big. Turns out it's not!
Giving up sugar for Lent hasn't necessarily made me holier, but has made me realize what a creature given to fleshly desires I am. I think so much about what to do to please myself, and what will satisfy for the present moment. May God help me become selfless and desiring His kingdom above earthly pleasures.

2006-04-13T19:52:00.000-07:00

A Bit Of Both

You are 60% Calvin and 40% Hobbes

Calvin & Hobbes, like a scruffy yin and yang, are in perfect balance within you. Like Calvin, you're weird, a bit insecure, and can be a trouble-maker. But like Hobbes, you're down to earth and sensitive. It's a risk to say it here, after just a ten question test, but I'll bet you're smarter than most. Both Calvin and Hobbes are crafty, clever characters, and any one made from equal parts of each is a force to be reckoned with.

My test tracked 2 variables How you compared to other people your age and gender:

You scored higher than 69% on calvin
You scored higher than 13% on hobbes

Link: The Calvin Or Hobbes Test written by gwendolynbooks on OkCupid Free Online Dating, home of the 32-Type Dating Test

Funny kids

2006-04-12T20:21:00.000-07:00

Overheard...
David, the other morning, got in our bed next to Noelle and kept saying, "Hi, liddo boy! Hi, liddo boy!" (I kept trying to correct him...there have been plenty of times he's called her a girl, you'd think he'd know.)
Timothy, in the van: "I saw two buses! There were two buses...but, just one at a time...and then three at a time, and there were buses three at a time, and...." He kept going on along this strain until he found something else to talk about. He's a chatterbox.
And Noelle just says, "ggglll." But she's by far the prettiest.

2006-04-06T22:20:00.000-07:00

My Nohari window--tell me what my negative qualities are! I know, not a very nice thing, to put you on the spot, but really, I'm interested in your honest opinion.

Six Weeks

2006-04-06T21:54:00.000-07:00

Noelle is six weeks old today; she had her 6-week check-up yesterday (our final appointment with our midwife, whom we probably won't get to use with our next baby since she's moving to the coast.) So, the stats are: Noelle is 25 inches long now, and 12 lbs, 3 oz. She's such a big girl! We got her size 2 infant sandals today, which fit her, plus a couple of cute shirt/pant outfits, with gift cards we had gotten from the baby shower. She was really good and quiet almost the whole time we were shopping.
It's getting late and Forrest has to get up early, so I'm going to end this post now.

This template is weird...

2006-04-03T14:42:00.000-07:00

It's funny, I don't know why, but now my "family" links are bulleted. This happened after I added html to my template for a picture of me (the one that's in my profile). I also think it's a little bit funny that the picture shows up in the top part next to my profile, because I thought I added it into the template below where it said "sidebar". Heh. Who knows. I don't know that much about html, and here I am playing around with it, so I suppose I shouldn't expect everything to be predictable.

2006-04-03T14:11:00.000-07:00

Sickies

2006-04-03T13:21:00.000-07:00

It's been almost two weeks since I came down with this cold. That's actually not any longer than colds normally last for me; it's just been such a bad one, keeping me feeling like I'm at the lowest point, for a whole week. I think finally it's sloooowwwwlllyyy abating. David still has nose stuff, and Timothy's got it in his nose and his eyes still. Noelle still has a bit too, poor girl. She's the one I'm most concerned about...as long as we stay at home and take it easy, I think she'll be just fine, but if the rest of us get better before she does, I'll still not want to go out shopping or anything, so that she doesn't get complications. Forrest has had a sore throat--I pray he doesn't get as sick as the boys and I got! He doesn't seem to get things as bad as I do.

And while I wait for us to recover, I'm thinking about the things I'll do when we are better.

I want to try to get the storage boxes to fit in our storage closet (so they won't be in R&R's summer bedroom),
have Forrest take one or both of the recliners out of there too, and possibly the stereo,
paint in there,
paint the boys' room,
get my garden going,
and (probably first of all,) buy Easter clothes for all of us!

The Easter clothes shopping is what I'm most looking forward to--and also spending a Macy's gift card we got for Noelle at her baby shower. I like clothes shopping, whether for myself or for the kids. Actually, it's more fun to do for the kids because it's easier to find nice things that fit. Sometimes I'm too picky when it comes to my own clothes, which makes it harder to settle on anything. Besides, adult sizes cost so much more!

It's interesting having three kids. Right now it seems difficult, mostly because I'll have situations with the boys, that require my intervention, and Noelle really needing me at the same time. Sometimes I have to ignore one child, or two children, for a minute, to take care of the other one. And new challenges to my authority have been happening with the boys since Noelle was born.

Having said all that, this is the only job I want to have, and I love it. I love being the one that the rest of my family needs to take care of them--make them food, wash their clothes, tend to their hurts, keep a nice home for them.

2006-03-27T14:33:00.000-08:00

I'm sick. I can't remember having a sore throat this bad since I was a kid. Forrest has been good to me and gives me vitamins and zinc lozenges and cups of tea and water at regular intervals. And he read that I should try gargling salt-vinegar-water. It is so nasty. I thought I was going to throw up--and I'm not even pregnant anymore! But, I have to say it did soothe my throat a bit.
My poor little kids have colds too--even Noelle. Please pray, especially for her, that it doesn't get seriously bad.

On Saturday, some ladies from my church threw me a baby shower. It was great. And we got so many things (mostly outfits, and most of those pink). We're really blessed. It was a potluck-lunch party, so everyone brought a dish--there were some yummy fruit salads, good, soft bread, a good oriental salad, sandwiches, veggie trays, etc. Helen Bryson came up with some games that we ended up not playing, basically because opening the gifts took so long. I think Connie organized the whole thing, and JoAnn Stewart hosted it. I just feel so loved in this church--I mean, everyone is so kind to us and generous, and willing to go out of their way for things like this. It was also cool because I got to know several more ladies by their names. It strikes me as funny that I don't know half out congregation's names, but a large majority know me by name.
My aunt Marilyn also got to meet Noelle for the first time at the shower. She held her, and Noelle was awake and good for quite a while with her. My aunt is talkative, and my mom commented, of Noelle, "She just wants someone to talk to her!" It was sweet.

I just found out last week that my brother Matthew has a blog. One more link for me to add.

Stir-fry vegetables & beef sounds really good. Actually, we're having chicken soup for dinner, and that sounds good because of the salt in it. And the warmth. I should go, I want something salty or garlicky.

Church

2006-03-15T20:48:00.000-08:00

I am now semi-officially a Lutheran. Monday, Salem had a staff meeting and yesterday Pastor Tom let us know they received us into membership. We should be received officially before the congregation a Sunday early in the Easter season. Praise God for giving us such a good church, and for how He works in us. Not many years ago, I would not have thought of becoming a member of such a church; now I'm happy to be.
During Lent we've had our Wednesday services joint with several other area ELCA's, with a soup supper beforehand. It's been great to fellowship, worship and receive the Eucharist twice a week. And to be able to really observe Lent for the first time.
Speaking of being holy, gotta go watch a movie!

2006-03-13T14:32:00.000-08:00

Okay, this survey is for you to fill out about me! Aren't I full of myself. :-) Yes, I know, a few of thte questions are retarded; I didn't feel like thinking up (and typing in one-handed) new ones.

My name:

Who is the love of my life:

Where did we meet:

Take a stab at my middle name:

How long have you known me:

When is the last time that we saw each other:

Do I smoke:

Do I drink:

What was your first impression of upon meeting me/seeing me/messaging with me:

Do I have any siblings:

What's one of my favorite things to do:

Am I funny:

What's my favorite type of music:

What is the best feature about me:

Am I shy or outgoing:

Am I a rebel or do I follow the rules:

Do I have any special talents:

Would you consider me a friend/good friend:

Would you call me preppy, average, sporty, punk, hippie, glam, nerdy, snobby, or something else (what):

What is a memory we have once had:

Have you ever hugged me:

Do you miss me...do you think i miss you:

What is my favorite food:

Have you ever had a crush on me:

If there was one good nickname for me, what would it be:

What's your favorite memory of me:

Who do I like right now:

What is my worst habit:

If you and I were stranded on a desert island, what is the one thing I would bring?

Are we friends:

Will you repost this so I can do it for you?:

R-a-m-b-l-i-n.....apostrophe

2006-03-13T13:41:00.000-08:00

Noelle met her Uncle Isaiah yesterday. He came up to take a friend to the airport and went to church at Salem with us. He ended up having car trouble, so instead of going right back home, came out to our parents' with Forrest & me. It was Noelle's first trip to Grandpa Eyre & Grandma Lisa's. We had a nice, relaxing afternoon (as always out there) and the guys--i.e., all my brothers and my husband, played MOHAA all afternoon (3 at a time). They had a blast, and I'm told Matthew is ridiculously good at it.
I found out I've lost at least 26 pounds since before Noelle was born, which is encouraging. I plan to get back in shape through exercise mainly.
Noelle is now up to 10 lbs. 14 oz. as of last Friday. She continues to grow in size and beauty. She's begun to smile a little more too.
She also got to meet her Uncle Tim and Awntie Heidi on Friday; we had a good visit with them and the Teilborgs (Isaac & Heather & kids).
Well, I should go and eat, and decide what to make for dinner! So long.

My friend's Johari window

2006-03-03T11:43:00.000-08:00

Most of you, I think, know Lynne'...here's her Johari window. Fill it out if you know her!

My little Noelle

2006-03-03T11:21:00.000-08:00

My midwife recommends not climbing stairs for the first few days after having a baby, so I haven't been up here more than once since Noelle was born until today. Now it's catch-up time for me--I get to see the new Kyrie pictures & read what's up with everyone.
I have to tell you, I have a beautiful little girlie! She's got long blonde eyelashes and sweet wisps of blonde hair, beautiful sober blue eyes, a cute buttony nose and pretty pink lips, delicate feminine hands with long fingers, and everything else about her just as perfect. She's done a lot of smiling in her sleep, and a little bit when awake. This morning when Tamy (my midwife) had her on the scales, Noelle smiled at her. :-) Our little girl is 10 lbs 8 oz now, at 8 days old. At the rate she's nursing (about every 1 to 2 1/2 hours), I'm not surprised! I'm really enjoying being a mom of three, and so glad to give Forrest his little girl. We're loving getting to put her in dresses and in pink and purple.

Personality Visibility

2006-02-13T09:48:00.000-08:00

What six words do you think best describe me?
Please take a moment and choose from the list on the link; I'll do the same for you (if I know you).

My cute boys and my big belly

2006-01-14T13:07:00.000-08:00

The other day I went to take a shower while the boys were up. I told them, "Okay, boys, I'm going to shower--be good. No hitting..."
"Or screeching or grabbing?" Timothy finished for me.
I got to thinking, he knows what he's supposed to do, and what's naughty...but so often doesn't follow it. But how is that really any different from how we adults are?
Well, I'm at 35 weeks today, feeling like there's hardly any more room for me to breathe, getting strained muscles too easily, and at the same time really not ready for this baby until my house is clean from top to bottom. The upstairs has all kinds of stuff that needs both straightened up, and organized into proper places for storage (particularly Christmas stuff). The basement is a big mess, both on the side with old stuff my parents have to go through, and on our side with all our garden stuff/tool stuff/boxes, etc. The main floor is OK, but I do want the kitchen, our room, and the boys' room organized better before I won't be able to do that sort of stuff for a while.
So that's what's up with me.
Yesterday on our way home from the store, I had the radio playing, and saw David in the rear-view mirror, with a blank stare on his face, keeping rhythm with the song by hitting his hand on his car-seat. Definitely a drummer!

I liked these results...

2005-12-13T14:22:00.000-08:00

Your Scent is Lemon

Vivacious, tangy, and lively
You are one gigantic ball of energy!

What Scent Are You?

Your Nail Polish Color is Purple

How you're unique: You are artistic and expressive

Why your style rocks: You pay special attention to color and fabrics

What this color says about you: "I'm creative and know how to take care of myself"

What Color Nail Polish Best Fits You?

2005-12-13T13:48:00.000-08:00

Well, I'm 30 1/2 weeks along now...and very glad I'm in the (long) last stretch of this! I love having a new baby, but the waiting period is very patience-trying. I'm sure it's good for me. Through this Advent season we've been reminded through Scripture readings, devotions, sermons, etc. that the expectation, the hope, the waiting, is as it should be. God meets us in the wilderness. No need for us to conjure up some kind of "goodness" for Him to reach out to us. And though we need to prepare for Him, we don't need to rush into the climax of things. So, I'm learning, pregnancy is such a great picture of us waiting on the Lord, and definitely builds character. :-)
Anyway, I'm starting to feel like I'm running out of room for my lungs and digestive system...hehe...and trying to remember to sit up straight. Feeling Noelle move a lot more...her feet are up towards my rib cage and I often feel her move them. David loves to blow on my big tummy and talk to Noelle and "tickle" her.
Advent seems like it's been flying by...I can hardly believe we're already in the third week! The Capezzas have been here for almost a week now, and it's been fun but has also flown by so far. We're hoping to go Christmas shopping together later this week (minus our boys), and out to eat, so that should be fun.
Kyrie is a sweet little chub--so pretty and happy and cuddly. Timothy and David love her...I have to remind them not to get in her face so much and not to overdo the kisses. I said to David, "That's enough kissing; talk to her." So he, in a voice suggesting she was hard of hearing, said, "Hi Ka-wa-yay! Ka-wa-yay Alay-sa-song!" And she replied with a squeaky "Aah!"
It's been wintry here for a couple weeks now, and I'm so glad we're finally having a bit of real winter, for the first December in years, it seems. We've had a good bit of snow that stuck around ever since the first snowfall, and a couple times we've gotten this thick frost that clings to the branches of the trees and makes them completely white and sparkly. It's so pretty.

Kyrie Eleison

2005-10-02T16:44:00.000-07:00

My little baby niece is so adorable...very beautiful and delicate! She's been asleep most of the time I've been around her, but yesterday I got to hold her a little bit while she was awake. She hardly cries at all, and Rachel is trying to feed her whenever she's interested. She's a good mom. I just wanted to say a little something about her for y'all's benefit. We've had a good time visiting down here in Louisiana, and everything's wonderful now that the baby is born. Rachel and I did, at least, get to have pictures of us pregnant together, which we hadn't thought would happen. I'm really glad Kyrie was born the day she was (Sept. 30th) because Rachel really wanted her to have a September birthday, and also wanted it to be on a day divisible by 5! So Kyrie gets to share a birthstone with me. :-)

According to a Quiz....

2005-08-12T13:06:00.000-07:00

You scored as Evangelical Holiness/Wesleyan. You are an evangelical in the Wesleyan tradition. You believe that God's grace enables you to choose to believe in him, even though you yourself are totally depraved. The gift of the Holy Spirit gives you assurance of your salvation, and he also enables you to live the life of obedience to which God has called us. You are influenced heavly by John Wesley and the Methodists.

Roman Catholic

79%

Evangelical Holiness/Wesleyan

79%

Neo orthodox

61%

Emergent/Postmodern

61%

Reformed Evangelical

54%

Fundamentalist

39%

Charismatic/Pentecostal

29%

Modern Liberal

18%

Classical Liberal

11%

What's your theological worldview?
created with QuizFarm.com

2005-08-12T12:37:00.000-07:00

Okay, I'm back, and if you've seen Forrest's blog, you'll already know that I'm pregnant (13 weeks tomorrow), and there's a ton to say, but for now I'm just going to fill out a survey, even though I know some will cringe. :-)

1. First Name: Rebekah
2. Were you named after anyone? The one in the Bible.
3 . Which finger is your favorite finger? Huh, don't know.
4. was missing.
5. When did you last cry? Probably really recently, I dunno.
6. Do you like your handwriting? It's OK.
7. What is your favorite lunchmeat? Roast beef, I guess?
8. Any bad habits? Of course.
9. The most embarrassing CD on the shelf? I'm not embarrassed of my CDs.
10. If you were another person, would you be friends with YOU? I don't know what it's like to be another person, so I couldn't say!
11. Are you a daredevil? Not really.
12. Have you ever told a secret you swore not to tell? I hope not.
13. Do looks matter? If looks didn't matter, then we wouldn't be physical.
14. Have you ever misused a word and it sounded absolutely stupid? Yes, and I've mispronounced words, etc.
15. Do you think that there is a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow? hahahaha....
16. Do fish have feelings? That is a weird question. How would I know? I'm not a fish!
17. Are you trendy? Not really.
18. How do you release anger? I don't think "releasing anger" is an OK thing to do, but I do it.
19. Where are your second homes? None.
20. Do you trust others easily? No.
21. What's your fav toy as a child? Probably my dolls, rag-doll Mary, and vinyl doll Kirsten.
22. was missing
23. Do you have a journal? Yep.
24. Do you use sarcasm? Yeah right.
25. Have you ever been in a mosh pit? No...I didn't know what a mosh pit even was until I was twenty-one.
26. What is your (realistic) dream car? An actually cool-looking vehicle that could hold like 10 people or so, and not be a gas-guzzler.
27. What are your nicknames? Bekah
28. Would you ever bungee jump? Not now, although I used to think it'd be fun.
29.Do you untie your shoes before taking them off? How do you untie flip-flop-style sandals?
30. Do you think that you are strong? Not very.
31 What is your favorite Ice Cream flavor? Cookies & cream, the chocolate Moose Tracks, bubble gum.
32. What's your favorite color? green.
33. What is your least favorite food? Garbanzo beans, kidney beans, tuna
34. How many wisdom teeth do you have? None now.
35. Are you in love with anyone? And how!
36. How many people have a crush on YOU right now? Hopefully no one...unless I could say my husband has a "crush" on me!
37. What sports do you play? None.
38. Do you want everyone you send this to, to send it back? I'm not "sending" it to anyone.
39. What color pants are you wearing? Pajama, with red flowers.
40. What are you listening to right now? The boys, in the process of going to sleep.
41. What are the last 4 digits of your home phone number? haha, wouldn't you like to know??
42. What was the last thing you ate? Chex mix. A cinnamon roll sounds good.
43. If you were a crayon, what color would you be? Kind of peachy-pink
44. How is the weather right now? Pretty warm.
45. Who is the last person you talked to on the phone? Forrest.
46. First thing you notice about the opposite sex? eyes
47. Do you like the person who sent this? Yeah
48. How are you today? Hungry, as usual.
49. Favorite Drink? Cold, non-weird tasting water.
50. Favorite alcoholic drink? I like margaritas.
51. Favorite Sport? Gymnastics and figure skating.
52. Eye color? Blue
53. Contacts? I have four contacts in my e-mail program, so far.
54. Hair color? Blonde
56. Favorite month? September!
57. What is your favorite food? Presently, Zumé pizza.
58. Favorite show you watch? Dick Van Dyke, X-files.
59. Favorite day of the year? Either Thanksgiving, or one of the days of Christmas.
60. Are you too shy to ask someone out? Who would I "ask out?" My husband? I don't really do that...I might suggest to him that we go somewhere.
61. Scary movies or happy ending? They're not at odds with each other. I can't do very scary movies though. I'm a wimp.
62. Summer or winter? Yep.
63. Hug or kiss? Lots!
64. Relationships or one-night stands? That's a stupid question.
65. Do you want your friends to write back? If they like doing surveys.
66. Who is most likely to respond? I dunno...
67. Who is least likely to respond? Forrest
68. Living arrangements? A house.
69. Books you like to read? The Inimitable Jeeves...a laugh every few seconds!
70. Favorite smells? Rain on hot, dusty pavement.
71. City you've always wanted to visit? Not really.
72. Do you go into chat rooms? No.
73. Favorite eye color on opposite sex? Blue.
74. Favorite hair color and type on opposite sex? Dark blond, wavy when long.
75. Are you afraid of spiders? Depends on the spider.

Busy

2005-06-15T14:41:00.000-07:00

Well, we're back online, thanks to Matthew! Life has been extremely busy lately. Just briefly: Heidi & Tim get married in 4 days, we go down there in 2 days and come back the day after the wedding, and in greater number (two Tucker brothers will be with us); I made my dress (except it's not hemmed yet) and it's really pretty; Rick & Rachel only have 3 Sundays left with us, and one of those we'll be gone--we've loved having them here and will miss them a lot even after such a nice leisurely visit; Evie and her little Isabella are with us presently, and David loves the baby; my parents are putting a bigger-pitched roof on their house. Timothy's funny lines recently: "Is dat toothpaste, or somt'in'?" "Mama? The Uncle Rick bein' naughty?" And David is starting to try saying lots of words. The cutest is ball, which he says "ba-ooooooo", forming his mouth into an "o" shape when he gets to the end. He also says, "Peeeeese! Peeeeese! Kay-koo," before he even gets what he's asking for.
Speaking of David, he's getting restless on my lap, and needs changed. So, until who knows when, this is Rebekah with Clippership Blogspot, signing off.

N.T. Wright, and Unity

2005-05-12T15:44:00.000-07:00

Lately Forrest and I have been reading some books by N.T. Wright and they are really great. I don't think I'd heard of him until R&R got together...but he's an Anglican bishop and he has some wonderful things to say. Challenging, moving--he gets you really thinking about the Gospel, and what it's all about. His little book The Meal Jesus Gave Us is a wonderful introduction to the what, why, and how of Holy Communion. The Millenium Myth is a good book, in my opinion, for those of all millenial views. Partly, he talks about the biblical "thousand years" that Satan is bound, and partly about the (then) upcoming year 2000 (published in '99). He doesn't focus so much on which millenial view is right, or which is wrong, but on biblical language, the Jewish/biblical way of thinking, and most importantly, practical application in the real world. For All God's Worth is one Forrest has been reading in family devotions, and every chapter is just so moving. It's on worship and the true calling of the church. I can't tell you much about it yet, since we just started it fairly recently.
And what I've been thinking about lately, is along the lines of: What really does matter in life? How do I live my everyday life so that my children, my neighbors, the people at the grocery store, and whoever else I come in contact with, see Christ through me? Hear of my Lord and Saviour? And with my brothers in Christ: how do I need to change how I treat them, and how I feel about them, seeing they are not just family members in Christ, but actually members of the SAME BODY? I mean, how ridiculous would it be if your thumb felt superior to your ring finger, and your elbow had a grudge against your shoulder?
I think that for one thing, continual prayer for brothers and sisters who either you disagree with, or who disagree with you, or with whom you have mutual grudges, or whatever, is going to change us. But also worshipping together with them.
Back to Bishop Wright... I have a hunch that the reason several of his insights are so fresh is that I've been in reformed circles, influenced somewhat by fundamentalism, all my life, and Wright is coming from an Anglican background (? I'm guessing?). We the church need to become more catholic. If you prefer, ecumenical. I'm not saying that we need to compromise truths for unity. But we have too long compromised unity of the one body, one church, for our own petty ideals.

Mother's Day

2005-05-11T14:27:00.000-07:00

Forrest got me "Life is Beautiful" (La Vita E Bella) on DVD, Italian with English subtitles, for Mother's day. Along with the Chieftains' album "The Wide World Over"...celebration of 40 years of their band! Pretty impressive. Good album. And I already knew the movie is good, I've seen it several times. One of the best movies ever, IMHO.
We went to Manito Park on Sunday. It wasn't too busy, and we got to visit the perennial garden, conservatory, Duncan Gardens (although we just sat at the top and let the kids roll down the little hill, since the flower beds were still empty and the fountain, as far as we could tell, wasn't going!), Japanese Gardens (which they've done some sprucing up to, and it was beautiful) and the Lilac Garden. Ahhh. It was nice. I was tired after all that walking. Afterwards, we went out to Cold Stone Creamery for ice cream...first time there, and it was delicious. I had their "Paradise Found" which is white chocolate ice cream mixed with coconut, pineapple, and bananas. Like a banana-colada in ice cream form.
Forrest & I have been watching X-Files lately, and just got into the first season of "24". It really draws you in! I think my mom didn't like how that season ended, though. Oh well.
I'm making beer beef for dinner. I should probably go cut that up & get it stewing, and try to make a couple phone calls.

Pillbugs

2005-05-11T13:38:00.000-07:00

I wonder if any of our neighbors heard me this morning telling Timothy, "Hey! I don't want a pillbug in my pants!! Do not put a pillbug in my pants."
I was weeding out an overgrown area to start prepping it for some flowers I'm going to grow, and Timothy found a pillbug. He lost it, and was pretty upset. "My pillbug go? my pillbug go??" he asked. I told him it wanted to find its home and it was okay. So then the next one I found and gave him, after he played with it a little bit, he put on my back...I was suspicious, so felt between the top of my jeans and my lower back...and there it was. I hate pillbugs, by the way, but try not to freak out around the boys, because there's no reason to be afraid of them. And Timothy happens to like them.

My American

2005-05-06T21:00:00.000-07:00

Your Linguistic Profile:

55% General American English

20% Yankee

10% Dixie

10% Upper Midwestern

5% Midwestern

What Kind of American English Do You Speak?

Missing my Forrest

2005-04-27T21:31:00.000-07:00

Well, I was going to get a headstart on tomorrow morning's cleaning, but I got the pattern pieces cut out that I wanted, so decided to sit down & do a little of this.
I don't like when Forrest has to be gone. At least he should be home early tomorrow afternoon.
Bread & Air Supply are good musical accompaniments to my mood. :-) *Sigh* what poetry in Bread's lines "I miss the girl...And I'd go a thousand times around the world just to be / Closer to her than to me"

Snuggles

2005-04-27T13:54:00.000-07:00

David gives such nice hugs. What a snugglebug.

Survey time again!

2005-04-25T14:49:00.000-07:00

Got this one from Jake's blog...

1. Name: Rebekah
2. Nicknames: Bekah, Larry, and a couple people call me "Mama".
3. Birthday: September 7.
4. Place of Birth: Sacred Heart Hospital in Spokane
5. Zodiac Sign: Voygo
6. Male or Female: Why don't you guess?
7. Grade: AA
8. School: nope.
9. Occupation: Wife of Forrest, mama of 2 boys
10. Residence: Home
11. Screen Name: whatever.

__Your Appearance___
12. Hair Color: Blonde
13. Hair Length: about shoulder length, a little longer.
14. Eye color: Bloo.
15. Weight: 130
16. Height: 5'2"
17. Braces?: nope
18. Glasses?: Sunglasses, when I have to.
19. Piercings: 2 holes in each earlobe
20. Tattoos: on a girl? eeew.
21. Righty or Lefty: Left!! Ha!

___Your 'Firsts'___
22. First best friend: Lynné
23. First Award: Um, I got one for a poem from a small publication put out by a homeschooler, where she spelled "congratulations" with a d instead of a t. I don't know other than that.
24. First Sport You Joined: And the answer is "none".
25. First pet: Snit, the family cat. My own first pet was Sunny, a goat.
26. First Real Vacation: Probably going to Banff when I was 4 or 5.
27. First Concert: I think that might have been 4HIM, in 1995.
28. First Love: That depends on your interpretation of "love"...I considered myself "in love" when I was 12. But it wasn't lasting. Forrest is my one true love.

___ Favorites___
29. Movie: Where do I begin? I really like Sabrina (Julia Ormond, Harrison Ford) and Return to Me (David Duchovny, Minnie Driver) but then there's Much Ado About Nothing, Pride and Prejudice (Colin Firth et al), The Importance of Being Earnest, and lots more...
30. TV Show: Dick Van Dyke, although we've enjoyed watching the X-Files on DVD lately.
31. Color: Green. I heard somewhere that there are more shades of green than of any other single color.
32. Rapper: Wayne on "Whose Line is it Anyway?" lol.
33. Band: Chicago, probably.
34. Song Right Now: ugh. I don't know. A lot.
35. Friend: Forrest.
36. Candy: mmm...peanut butter cups.
37. Sport to Play: I'm terrible at sports.
38. Restaurant: I dunno. Maybe Chili's or Olive Garden.
39. Favorite brand to wear: Whatever is inexpensive without being cheaply made.
40. Store: Costco.
41. School Subject: eeeent. (gameshow buzzer noise)
# 42 was missing so I'll just make something up. 42. Seafood: Halibut.
43. Book: The Meal Jesus Gave Us by Tom Wright is an excellent little book.
44. Magazine: not
45. Shoes: My brown leather sandals with the embroidered flowers on them that Melissa has also.

___Currently___
46. Feeling: lazy.
47. Single or Taken?: Taken!
48. Have a crush: ooh, I have a crush on my husband.
49. Eating: Not right now, but I want some more of those cheapo wafer cookies...mmm!
50. Drinking: need to get a drink of water.
51. Typing: Yep.
52. Online?: Yep.
53. Listening To: Traffic out the window, and birds singing out the other window. Ah, spring!
54. Thinking About: What to put down for this answer.
55. Wanting To: plan dinner. get a hairdryer & curling iron. get Forrest's b-day present.
56. Watching: The computer.
57. Wearing: The Africa shirt Holly gave Forrest, and my old jeans with a hole in the knee.

___Your Future___
58. Want Kids?: Well, yes, but I've already got a start on that. I would like a few more though, over time.
59. Want to be Married?: Already am! And love it!
#60 was also missing...but can't think of one to put down.
61. Where do you want to live: In this area. The best place in the world.
62. Car: Well, we have a van now that'll hold up to 3 more kids...after that, we'll probably have to get one of those big gas-guzzling vans. I wish Subaru made old Legacies that could hold like 10 people and still get great mileage and have the power of a little 5-passenger sedan.

__Which is Better With The Opposite Sex___
The Opposite Sex being Forrest, that is...
63. Hair color: Dark blonde/light brown
64. Hair length: Well, this varies from summer to winter--I like it short, but also when it's a couple inches long, and gets wavy. I even like it when it's almost to his shoulders.
65. Eye color: Sparkly blue.
66. Measurements: I don't know his measurements! except something like a 36" waist.
67. Cute or Sexy: ;-)
68. Lips or Eyes: I love both features.
69. Hugs or Kisses: I need both.
70. Short or Tall: 6'
71. Easygoing or serious: He can be both. But you know when he's serious because his voice changes quality. :-)
#72 was missing too!
73. Fatty or Skinny: LOL...the word "fatty" to describe a person is really funny to me! Well, I suppose that depends on the features we're talking about.
74. Sensitive or Loud: Why is it one or another?? Not that I can think of Forrest being loud all that much. He sings loudly. But he's sensitive--to others.
75. Hook-up or Relationship: what?
76. Sweet or Caring: Like, you're either sweet, or you're not and you're caring instead? Huh? both!
77. Trouble Maker or Hesitant One: More the former than the latter, I suppose. ;-)

___Have you ever______
78. Kissed a Stranger: Not to my knowledge.
79. Had Alcohol: yes. But never been drunk.
80. Smoked: I think I had a pipe in my mouth a couple seconds. That's it.
81. Ran Away From Home: no
82. Broken a bone: Not as far as I know.
83. Got an X-ray: Yeah, at least twice.
84. Been with someone: yep
85. Broken Someones Heart: Possibly.
86. Broke Up With Someone: Yeah
87. Cried When Someone Died: Yes.
88. Cried At School: Not "at school" as in non-homeschool. At least, I don't think so.

___Do You Believe In___
89. God: Yes.
90. Miracles: Yes.
91. Love At First sight: I think it can happen.
92. Ghosts: Yeah, if you're talking about souls. Beyond that I'm closed to some ideas and a little bit open to a select few.
93. Aliens: As in life on other planets, no.
94. Soul Mates: I think so.
95. Heaven: Yes
96. Hell: Yes
97. Angels: Yes, biblical ones.
98. Kissing on The First Date: Well, that depends on if you know the person yet or not.
99. Horoscopes: LOL no, but sometimes they're funny to read. Like when Timothy's says something about him needing to be tighter with finances.

The last question was stupid so I got rid of it. And then the dragon hit the pavement. Long pants, long pants!

his foolishness--or ours?

2005-03-17T19:23:00.000-08:00

Forrest and I have been noticing lately that Timothy likes to talk about what we say he can and can't (mostly the latter) do. In fact, sometimes he construes what we say as a "no"...for instance, he'll ask for something, like cocoa, and we say, "Clean up your toys first" or "Take off your jacket first", etc. So he says, "Daddy say no cocoa?" It sometimes gets to where we have to tell him to stop talking about the thing, because he's focusing so much on what we tell him to do, that he doesn't do it. Augh.

But then...isn't this like us with our Heavenly Father? Forrest likened it to Phariseeism--caring so much about doctrines and externals that they became legalists. (Except--in Timothy's case, hopefully as he grows in grace, he'll be able to avoid legalism to an extent, Lord-willing, that we his parents can't, having the advantage of Christian heritage behind him.) And I said, don't you mean he's 'reformed'? We take a simple command or declaration of His and turn out all these doctrines, to explain what it means so that we're not "wrong" in our intellectual understanding. But in our endless talking about it, we forget to DO it. And for us, I think there's more behind it than is behind Timothy's childish reason. Ours is bigger foolishness, partly because we ought to know better, and partly because we do know that what all this is, is selfishness--pride. Wanting to know more than the "other" Christians...or something ridiculous like that. What is knowledge, though, if we don't know HIM? If we know "it"--a doctrine, a formula, whatever, and don't bother so much to know the Lord of it all, we've missed the point. The Word is personal. So personal that He is a Person.

It's like pulling teeth...

2005-03-17T19:07:00.000-08:00

I had two wisdom teeth, thankfully both (only two have ever existed in my mouth) were fully emerged, and got them taken out yesterday. It was not fun. On the other hand, it was inexpensive, and they weren't really any good to me, especially the bad condition they were in cavity-wise.
The only part I dislike presently is that I can't eat much other than soft foods...and when all you've had all day is oatmeal and yoghurt, almost every food imaginable sounds so good. I did have a little Chinese noodles & fried rice this afternoon, and Forrest made homemade mac & cheese for dinner, so I can't complain too much. I'll be happy when I'm able to eat those almond M&M's we have again. Oooh, and Forrest made us Irish coffees this evening and they are so good! Bushmills is yummy--especially mixed with cream & coffee.

Whazzup

2005-03-15T14:27:00.000-08:00

Well, I haven't been online much lately. A lot of that is because whenever I've been on the computer I've played games instead of going online...but for a while there I did have a real excuse--we were sick off and on through February.

David took seven steps yesterday...the first time he took more than one was Sunday the 13th. He was 13 months old exactly! He's so excited when he successfully walks by himself. Well, Forrest already posted about David and Timothy...so some of that would be old news.

We ordered some stuff from Amazon...something for R&R--joint birthday gift, a Bartender's Bible (so we've been having a little fun with that), an Oregon Trail computer game, and another book that hasn't come yet...by N.T. Wright.

I have sewing I need to do, if possible, before our company gets here. But if not, well, oh well. Cleaning the carpets before company arrives is more important to me.

Speaking of company, we bought eight more place settings of our Corelle dishes. So now we have 16! The cool thing is, this set came with glasses instead of mugs, so now we actually have glasses that match our dishes.

Rick and Rachel and Heidi all fly in on Good Friday--that's NEXT WEEK! Hopefully R&R will stay with us a couple days. And I'm doing a bridal shower for Heidi the next Wednesday, and really looking forward to that. Mom (Forrest's) and Hilary and Hannah will be here for that too.

April 1st is a hearing for Rachel and my parents. It's a long story if you don't already know the details. Please pray that the commission will be be wise and just, that God would be glorified, and that He would be pleased to show grace and mercy. My family, particularly my dad, has really been hurt in this whole ordeal, and needs peace and healing.

Then the next Sunday, my little niece Jacqueline will be baptized at Forrest's & my church, by Dad (Forrest's), and the following week will be spent visiting with Isaac & Heather and the Big Tucker Family. Busy time!

Don't tell Esther, but we're getting her something soft and snuggly and rambunctious for her birthday at the end of April.

And I think the boys are waking up. So I'd better get.

Many congratulations!

2005-03-03T15:58:00.000-08:00

Congratulations to Isaac & Heather on their baby girl, Jacqueline Mae, born February 28th! Holly has pictures of the baby on her blog.

And congratulations and best wishes to Heidi and Tim, who are engaged to be married this summer! I love weddings. :-)

2005-02-26T06:49:00.000-08:00

Hilary and Hannah left this morning. They've been up here for three weeks, and we've had a good time visiting with them. Hilary had planned the time she booked her travels for to coincide with her older sister's baby being born, but the baby hasn't come yet.
Tim E. also headed down to NV this morning to see Heidi for the weekend. Awww. :-) Hope they have a sweet time together.

I keep meaning to mention how much I love my pastry cloth. Forrest got it for me for Christmas, and I've used it numerous times already for pie crusts, pizza crusts, etc. It is a Bethany Pastry Cloth, stretched over a round board. The dough never sticks to it, I can turn the board around instead of having to lift the dought to turn it, and I don't have to scrape the bits of dough that used to stick to the counter. Just wait till I make lefse next time...it should be great.

Heidi and Rick & Rachel fly in the same night next month--Good Friday. I'm very excited to see them all!!

Birds are singing this morning. It's beginning to feel very early-springish, and I hope we get some rain this month, because we're behind on precipitation. But I think I'm ready for spring now--no more winter's my preference at this point.

Babies

2005-02-26T06:37:00.000-08:00

Congratulations this time go to Ryan & Taneisha on their little Isabella Faith, born February 22nd!
Taneisha's mom had a baby boy on the um, 18th? also, and congratulations to them. :-)
I wish I could say congrats to Isaac & Heather (my sister in law/brother in law) on their baby, but, well, he hasn't been born yet!

A Baby Girl

2005-02-11T08:27:00.000-08:00

Congratulations to Evie & Matt on their little baby Isabella (hope I spelled it right!) born February 8th!

What a weird feeling

2005-02-11T08:22:00.000-08:00

I've been meaning to post this all week!
On Sunday, Peter Roise came to preach, and after church, as people were standing around talking, he goes over to the piano with Lewis (his toddler son) and plinks on it with him. I didn't really take notice of this at first, being in conversation with others, but then he started playing "Heart and Soul"--but not the original one. This was the "jazz" version...and I was thinking, "Was I wrong in assuming Mr. Minnich made that up???"
So I went over to him and said "I didn't know anyone else knew the jazzed up version of Heart & Soul!"
"Oh, well, your brother (i.e. Isaiah) taught it to us," he said. "It's going to spread like wildfire; it's been pretty popular down there."

Cool.

Another Blog

2005-02-04T09:41:00.000-08:00

I have a new blog now; I'm assuming I'll keep this one around, but just wanted to let y'all know about my new one:

http://www.livejournal.com/users/haikupoetess/

Chubby Holy Hands

2005-01-31T12:37:00.000-08:00

At the end of our church service, we sing the Gloria Patri, and raise our hands. Lifting holy hands is such a beautiful worship posture, and one that both our boys can partake in easily and joyfully. We also lift our hands at home in our morning and evening devotions, and the other morning after breakfast, while singing the Doxology, David, as he often does, lifted up his little hands and arms, looking up with a smile, and then he did something he doesn't often do--sang along. In his way. More of an "Aaaaaaaaa....aaaaaaahhh...."

Taken from Isaiah's blog

2005-01-29T08:00:00.000-08:00

This survey was stolen from my brother, who took it from someone else for whom it was particularly intended! Can you believe it?

1) What would you say your most outstanding characteristic is?

My big mouth.

2) What are your favourite: colour, name, sport, food, season, hobby, and toy?

Color: Almost every shade of green. Blue, yellow, cranberry, purple, brown, grey, etc. The color of a sunset from up on my hill.

Name: I like way too many names to list. There are a few, though, that I don't like as much as I used to. (Jedidiah, for instance, has a very cool meaning, but I don't think I'd bequeath it on a child of mine.) I really like my own name.

Sport: speed skating, figure skating, um, if I'm going to a game, I can follow hockey...baseball I like more for the summertime atmosphere than for the game itself. I'm not a 'sports' person.

Food: Here we go...Mushrooms, tomatoes (and sauces made therewith), garlic, coffee, pie, ice cream, potatoes, homemade bread products, fettucini alfredo made by Bethany, Chinese food.

Season: Presently spring. In late May, it'll be summer. In early September, it will be Indian summer. In mid-September, it will be fall. In early November, it will be winter; and in January it'll start all over again. My all-time favorite time of year (i.e. when I'm not looking forward to the next season) is early September. And not just because it's my birthday.

Hobby: Writing a good poem. Actually, writing in general. And singing.

Toy: Hmmm....dunno.

3) What is the most interesting thing you remember ever doing?

Not sure. I've done lots of interesting things. Interesting to me; not necessarily to anyone else.

4) What is your dream vacation?

For this year I'm thinking, a trip to Steamboat would be dAwesome, or up to Kootenai Lake and the Ainsworth hot springs, or again to the Oregon coast, or down to Monroe maybe to see a new baby niece or nephew. :-)

5) What would you do if a long-lost uncle willed you $1,000,000?
a) refuse it
b) shopping shopping shopping!
c) give it away
d) your choice (please elaborate)

How much of that would be spirited away in taxes? is what I'd like to know. So okay, we might have $300,000 left? Buy a house, and give to the poor.

David

2005-01-29T07:02:00.000-08:00

A toddler's dance

Smiles and bounces in pajamas

His joy in the morning

There is much rejoicing

2005-01-17T11:45:00.000-08:00

Check out Rick & Rachel's latest post!!!
That's all I have to say. :-) :-) :-)

Writing etc.

2005-01-12T10:18:00.000-08:00

Funny thing about that is, I wasn't even trying, but ended up writing that haiku in "proper" form-- 5/7/5. I actually made that one last night at about midnight, while trying to fall asleep.

I've been thinking about reading and writing lately, and while I love to write, there's no way I'm going to be able to do it well if I don't get reading a great deal more than I have been. Life is a bit busier now than it was four years ago, and seems to just keep getting busier. However, I feel more "on top" of my everyday life now than I did even a year ago...not to mention a couple years ago. While it's gotten busier, I've been forced to be more diligent. A very good thing. My greatest desire right now, and you could say in a way my new year's resolution (which I've really never seriously made before) is to read more. Primarily from Scripture, but not limited to that. I want to read good fiction and poetry, and maybe further into the year I'll try reading some Christian living/commentary/theology. We'll see. Personally I've been a bit turned off to theology, not that it's bad or unuseful, but because I've seen too often people (including myself) trying to interpret Scripture by the system, and I just want to read for a while the Bible itself, to kind of get the center back in focus, if that makes sense.

And speaking of books, we have a bookshelf (even occupied by books!) in our livingroom finally! I'm very pleased. Forrest is planning to make a bigger one for that room, and I think then we'll move the current one upstairs, where we'll keep our less-liked, less popular books.

And I found my Jeeves book, after thinking it had been missing. All's right with the world.

Haiku

2005-01-12T10:03:00.000-08:00

A tiny sunset

glimmering, drops from the end

of an icicle