Last week my son was reading a list of words in one of his readers. One of the words was “keg.” He asked what a keg was. I was trying to figure out the best way to describe it and so I said it was like a a big container with a spout that you could get a drink from. “Oh,” he said with a look of recognition. “I know what your talking about, like what we get lemonade from at church.

If you were interested in the book and didn’t win, you can always order it here. (by clicking through my site you will help support refugees in Sudan)    Now for the winners… (thanks to random number generator) Random Integer Generator Here are your random numbers: 14 18 6 19 Timestamp: 2010-04-27 00:31:20 UTC #6- Nicola #14- Happy #18- Heather #19- Your Mom Congratulations!! Use this __ to contact me and send me your mailing address so I can get your copy of the book out to you soon!

As the kids and I frolicked around the local farm park with friends the other day, I couldn’t help but smirk at my youngest in her “farm girl” attire. As she eagerly peeked in on the baby piglets in with her dazzling shades and hot pink purse… She wrinkled her nose and said, “Mommy, something is stinky!” I couldn’t help but think of Za Za Gabor in Green Acres.

Today I’d like to give a shout out to my maternal grandmother, whom I have lovingly called, “Mema” for as long as I can remember. I have this vivid picture in my mind of me in high school showing her and my Pap how to work our computer. I recall her being completely baffled by it and saying something to the effect of, “You’ll never catch me on that thing!” I remembered there being a picture of the event and when my parents were visiting last week I asked my mom if she knew where it was.

In the interest of keeping it real, I’m going to tell you that I have not really been much for the whole green fad that has swept my generation. While we do recycle, that’s about the extent of it. Then a few years ago my pastor gave a sermon during a series on stewardship that hit home for me. He talked about the fact that while God did make the world for us to enjoy and inhabit, it didn’t mean he made it for us to squander and trash.

10 years ago we came…spread a blanket out on the sandy shore to watch the sunset. Today we came, with sandwiches and Doritos. This time there was a picnic table where we had spread our blanket. And we watched the sunset mirrored in the faces of our three children.   10 years ago it was quiet… we held hands and sat close on the blanket. Tonight there was sand in our shoes and children squirming….

My daughter really is a very patient teacher’s assistant. She will sit quietly without ever saying a word and listen to her big brother as he sounds out the words to read the Bible story each night. It is quite precious. And the other day I discovered that having her quiz him on flashcards is the perfect way to let her be involved in school. She happily sits and holds the cards up for him and will praise him when he gets the answers correct.

As I’ve already made well aware, I am not exactly a fashion guru. You won’t find me flipping through the pages of Cosmopolitan in my free time. My nails are rarely done and my idea of styling my hair involves taking the time to blow dry rather than air dry. I wanted to look cute when Scott and I went on a date a few weeks ago. I was so excited because my friend had just lent me some adorable maternity clothes so I didn’t really give my thought to my wardrobe till about 30 min before we were going to leave when I began to change.

You know warm days are once again upon us, when you stumble across your bathroom sink looking like this. Probably had something to do with the hours my kids spent digging in the dirt in our backyard this afternoon. While they didn’t quite make it to China, they were thrilled to dig down to clay.  I love spring… even with the rings round my tub and the dirt deposits left in my sinks.

6 years ago, I was also carrying a baby in my belly. (In fact, this picture was taken exactly 6 yrs ago to the date). The nursery was prepped, the hospital bag had long been packed. I was basically sitting around waiting to have a baby. I do not recommend going with that strategy… what a long week of waiting that was. Now I try to plan things right up to and past the due date, so I am not in that hurry up and wait mode.