Hot Summer Days

Our summer has kicked off nice and.....hot.  (Busy, too!)  The heat makes great business for me at the Coffee Caboose - every little kid wants snow cones - but not so fun on the bike ride home from work.  :-)  Thankfully it's a short ride so it's nothing to complain about.  However I'm very thankful for air conditioning when I get home!!

 Josh, in all his cute glory.   He has so many nicknames that I collaborated them all into one long one:  Chunky-monkey-snuggle-bunny-cute-big-Joshua.  I call him our snuggle bunny because he is such a snuggler; and also our emotional one.  He and Isaac disagree hugely on the subject of kisses:  Isaac hates them and Josh loves them.  Whenever they get to disagreeing about it, Joshua will say "I love kisses!" and then come give me one just to prove it!  It's so cute.  Thank goodness I still have a brother who likes kisses and snuggles!  :-) 

 We recently got a basketball hoop!  Actually, when we went to Nebraska a few months ago, one of Dad's renters left their hoop after they moved out - so, amazingly enough, we took it apart and drug it aaaaallll the way back here.  David got a basketball for his birthday, and we've been having great fun with it.

Poor Jonathan is finally making his appearance on my blog after, oh, months? of being absent from my bloggy world!  He has been gone and busy with so many things that it seems like he's hardly around when we take pictures.  He just got certified as a lifeguard and swim coach, so I will be doing a post about that this week.  Anyway, here he is, doing a progression of basketball shots.

 I thought this was a particularly cool photo!  Mid-air anything always looks neat.  :-)

Courtney recently got two new things:  a truck and glasses!  It's so nice to finally have a third vehicle around; it certainly solves some transportation issues we were having.  Courtney keeps asking me if her glasses make her look 'weird' or 'like an old maid'......I keep telling her that they make her look very distinguished, sophisticated, fashionable, smart, etc.  Don't you agree?

David is keeping busy with school, piano, baseball, and (as you can see in the picture) basketball with us kids.  :-)  He's almost taller than me ~ getting a deep voice too. :-)  I couldn't believe it when I was forced to make him shave his upper lip a few weeks ago due to the noticeable uh, fuzz? he was accumulating.....no way!  My little brother is getting too big!

Mom, doing the ever-present laundry! A little over a year ago, Mom and Dad decided we kids needed to do our own laundry, and it has worked out pretty well.  Thankfully that has hugely lightened Mom's laundry load, for sure!  (Maybe that's why she's smiling while holding the laundry detergent - laundry has become a "breeze!")

Lastly, Dad and I attended the Crisis Pregnancy Center mid-year fundraising event last week.  We had fun!  And I was able to get signed up for the volunteer orientation in next month, too.  I can't wait to get involved.  I will keep you all updated on how that (as well as the training) goes.

Well.....what else is new?  I learned again, and finally accepted the fact, that bike riding + skirts = an embarrassing ride to work.  *Sigh*  I don't care how graceful Anne of Green Gables makes it look, it just is not practical.  I bought some nice dress pants a while ago when Courtney and I went shopping, so that's what I wear now.  :-) 

We went to a graduation ceremony last night for one of the guys in our church ~ we had a wonderful time!  Mr. Doughty, our head photographer for almost every church event :-) took pictures the whole time, so hopefully I can post a few later this week.   When we pulled into the church parking lot, Isaac pointed to the three crosses out front and exclaimed totally to my surprise, "Look Rachel!  Three crosses, where Jesus died for all the sins of the world!"  It was so precious!

And that, my friends, is about it - hope you have a wonderful week ahead!

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Then and Now....

Jostie Flicks strike again!  Another HILARIOUS movie!  And very true, as well.  Watch and enjoy.  :-)

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Graduating. Meet My Class.

I feel slightly.....weird.....posting nine pictures of ME in one post.  However, I'm graduating.  And I've anticipated taking these pictures with Courtney forever....actually, it's been almost a year now that I've been seeing it as an approaching reality, and been thinking up ideas of how I want them to look.  Now that graduation is only weeks away, and my party is being planned for, and school is closing to an end ~ I can hardly believe that it's all going to be over.  And a huge chapter of my life will be closed.

So ~  here they be.  Here's to the "next chapter"! 

 And it was time to head home and then leave for a baby shower.......thank you Courtney for taking my pictures! 

My graduation party is on the 3rd....very much looking forward to that.  But mainly I am just so relieved to be through with everything.   Looking back on the years that my parents invested in me through homeschooling, I can only say that I am so thankful for what they did.  I have truly loved being home schooled, and anything I've achieved academically can only be credited to my parents - and especially my wonderful mom.  

To those of you still in school?  Keep going strong!  Graduation will come ~ so don't doddle.  But also, don't rush it either.  Relax, take your time, and learn what you need to learn.  And enjoy where you are right now. 

Homeschooling parents?  Please don't give up on us.  We need this education at home, whether we say it or not.  As a finished graduate, I can objectively look back and say that I believe homeschooling is SO WORTH IT.   The effort, sacrifice, and sometimes painful moments of schooling us at home is hugely outweighed by all the good we students get out of it. 

"I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith."

2 Timothy 4:7

(Lest any of you place me on a pedestal of glory, I am still facing eight modules of Chemistry and some lingering English lessons.  *cough*  Not done yet.  Probably won't be officially done for....a few months? *another cough*  Still working at it!)

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What Made Me Smile Today

First I have to say that I was having trouble with the camera today.....totally not cooperating....so these pictures are not the best.  :-)  Just warning you. 

But anyway, I found myself taking pictures of things today that just made me smile ~ everyday things that make me happy and I thought were worth posting.

My graduation mug filled with steamy hot chocolate.......yes, definitely makes me happy!  I've been on a chai tea kick ever since I started working at the coffee shop; it's the best stuff ever....but I'm a little sick of it by now and having hot chocolate was a nice change. 

And yes I'm allowed to have that when it's 100* outside.  :-)   (I had it early-morning in my air conditioned house.)

Re-reading a text from my dad put a smile on my face too.  I love it when he texts me because he's my dad!   There's just something about it that makes it special.  :-)   I have only started texting this month due to my job situation....my manager likes to be texted the day's total.  And I have to say?  That I don't like it.  I've finally got the hang of texting *slightly* fast, but it's still slow.  I find myself having too much to say in one little message and only one finger to peck with ~ phone calls are just better, in my opinion.  (Though I know plenty of people who would disagree with me on that one!:-)  There's some things that just don't go "out of fashion"....talking is one of them.

 Now this is something that really put a smile on my face.  Today was my glorious day off of work.  And I enjoyed every minute of it - right down to re-enacting Adam and Eve and the Serpent with broken bits of the game Mouse Trap from a by-gone era.  Adam was a red mouse, and Eve was a green one.  And God was the diver-guy figurine.  And Isaac was thrilled.  (And the whole thing was HIS idea, just so you know.)

It was a hilarious ten minutes with this little guy.  Especially when I pointed out to him a piece that he had broken last time he played with what's left of my board game, and he chirped back, "It's okay Rachel, see, it still works!"  (Good thing no one wants to play a real game of Mouse Trap around here.)

 Like I said, today I had the entire day off - and so did Courtney!  We went shopping in the afternoon and I was so excited to find clothes with THIS kind of a price tag on them.  This is the price range where I die and go to heaven.  :-)  I got three shirts, dress pants, and a necklace all for $25.  Yay!  We had such a fun time browsing together.....then we ended it all with dinner at the Olive Garden and ice cream at a nearby shop.  Kind of "lived up" the day!  It was a lot of fun.

Another thing that made me happy was registering for another Crisis Pregnancy Banquet that's happening next week!  These are fun to go to and I'm hoping that this one will give me more detailed information about actually volunteering there.  That's one of my goals for this summer - I want to get involved with this ministry in some way.

This happens to be my favorite song this week.  Makes me smile when it comes on the radio!

I can walk across the world, and never find the answer

I could search the sky above, and never get any closer

You made it all...
And I am left to fall

At the feet, of the One

Who fell for me

Just an uplifting song, for sure! 

So that's about it from here - of course there's dozens of other random things I could say, like how I was told by my elderly neighbor that I was definitely "dateable"  (hmm!?), how I found a new way to curl my hair today, how we've figured out that Isaac needs to snack on the hour to keep from having major melt-downs, how Joshua voluntarily climbed into my lap and put his arms around my neck in a heart-melting hug (he's a swooner!), how I'm preparing to take another Chemistry test, how glad I am that the weekend is here and church is coming up with a great fellowship meal to boot......

I could go on.  Life is good and I'm enjoying my summer so far.   

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The Odd Things That Go On Around Here

  Let me list for you some of the things that made me question my sanity this week.

0) I lined Isaac and Josh up next to the wall and had them model their Thomas the Train briefs for a picture.  They were just too stinkin' cute.  And then I got ready to post it.   And I started wondering is this maybe just a *little* bit uh, r-rated?  To avoid offending some of you out there I decided against posting it.  Although every time I see Joshua's GREEN Percy underwear it makes me smile.  

1) The phrase of choice around here lately (among the little boys, that is) is "Let my people go!"  Yeah.  They've been watching a lot of Moses videos recently.

2) I had a customer at the Coffee Caboose let me know that I had under-charged him for his iced mocha the other day.  I was so embarrassed when he came in later that day with his family and I under-charged him again *cough* for a snowie.  And he caught the mistake - both times.  At least it wasn't an over-charge.  I felt like a seriously dumb person for about an hour.

3)  A guy told me he thought I was deaf the other day when I filled his order for an iced chai latte.  Yes.  Quite the compliment, huh?  I think he was joking.....at least I sincerely hope he was.  All my customers mumble like you wouldn't believe, and on top of that I have a super loud air conditioner that drowns out everything. 

4) David has been playing a ton of baseball ever since he joined his team, Copper Hills.  (I personally think Copper Heads would be a little more appropriate considering we live in the land of snakes.)  He practices five days a week and two of those days he also has games.  I wish I could say I am a faithful sister who comes to each practice and  watches admirably as he hits ball after ball......wish I could claim to have gone to every one of his games for moral support and cheered wildly from the stands.  BUT the reality is that hard bleachers = very sore backside, and there's no popcorn or hotdogs at the games, and it gets cold and kind of boring.  *Cough*  Did I just say that?  It doesn't help matters that I feel like an airhead when I go because I don't get the rules of the game so half of what goes on flys right over my head.  Dad had to explain the game as it was happening while he laid in my lap and napped on the deserted bleachers last game.  And I still didn't get it. 'Twasn't fun. 

5) Something that bugs me right now is Pinterest.  Everyone blogs about it and I just don't get what the big fuss is all about.  Surfing Pinterest for cool pictures that trip your trigger and then posting them on your blog just grinds on my nerves.  And I'm pretty sure I'm about the only 19-year old that feels that way.....everyone LOVES Pinterest.  It's definitely not for me.

6) I took an order for an Iced White Chocolate Mocha the other day....and the lady made a special point to tell me that she wanted an addition of caramel syrup on it.  So I promptly made her the drink, handed it out to her, and then remembered a FULL 24 hours later that I totally forgot to put any caramel in it at all.  Do I lose my mind when I go to work or something? 

7) I'm feeling slightly house bound this evening and plan to do a little shopping tomorrow before picking Courtney up at work.....there's a skirt at Walmart I'm eyeing and I may just splurge. 

8) A rather unpleasant trip to Urgent Care for an IV was the highlight of last week.  I never like going to doctors when I'm sick because when I'm sick, I not only feel sick, I also manage to look sick, too.  Going to a medical center in your pajamas with no make-up on and feeling too sick to shower is NOT a way to boost one's self-esteem.  And now I am finally beginning to question my heretofore budding desire to become a nurse.  As the nurses were preparing to shove a massive needle/plastic-something up my arm, I warned them how bad I am with needles and made audible wincing noises as it happened.  I felt about as small as an ant when they asked "What are you going to do with yourself now?" and I answered pathetically, "Uh, I want to be a nurse."  Which was met by the most encouraging statement of "Oh, well you better get over your fear of needles then!"  Don't tell me.  I already knew that.

9)  I have this wonderful little stash of chocolate in my closet right now......everytime I put away clean laundry I hear it calling.  My closet smells incredibly chocolatey as well.  Good thing I lost seven pounds during the flu last week.  :-)

10)  Anyone have any good reads they can recommend?  I just finished re-reading (perhaps for the 20th time) Marsha Drake's The Submissive Wife and Other Legends as well as The Assertive Woman and Other Anamolies.  Love, love, love those books!  They are so funny and uplifting. 

And finally, if anyone has made it to the end of this post, I congratulate you!  Because looking back over what I've written, I realize I've been rambling big time.  :-)  Coughing big time, too.  Like I said, we're still getting over being sick.  :-)

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A Reminder

I posted over at Being Remade today.  Join me as I try to be a little more regular at posting! 

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Birthday Re-cap

Well, here I finally am, posting birthday pictures from almost two weks ago!  At least I already posted about Isaac.  These pictures of my birthday was before the atomic bomb of all flu blugs hit - I was feeling kind of gross but not too bad at this point.  I basically got dressed for pictures, opened presents, and then laid down in my room listening to AIO the rest of the day.  :-)

The boys (aka Mom) gave me a bag of chocolates! Yum! 

 More AIO from Dad.....I managed to listen to every new episode we got during the course of our sickness.

 This is how Jonathan was feeling that day.  The illness hit him first.  :-(

 Don't come near Courtney! She doesn't want the flu!  I think she somehow escaped most of the sickness that everyone else got around here.  Must be because she has her fingers crossed or something.

 Courtney bought me decorative flowers from Bealls, where she works!  I just painted our bathroom green, so they go very nicely there.

 Then it was His Cuteness's birthday.  He was SO excited.....we told Isaac that he was going to have to be big and brave while Josh opened his presents.  (We have a serious jealousy thing going on during toddler birthdays:-)

 We hung green streamers in the kitchen and blew up green baloons, because green is Joshua's "favite" color.  All-time favorite.  It's no secret around here what the boys' favorite colors are....orange for Isaac, and green for Josh. 

 Look at those cute little feet!  Toes are just so much cuter when you're four.  He's no exception.

 Can't believe he's four.....what a special guy! 

 He'll make some young lady swoon someday for sure....so handsome.

 Then came David's birthday. You know you're in trouble when you get hygiene products as a gift - body wash, toothpaste, and toothbrushes.  :-)

 I don't think we had any trouble with the boys being "big and brave" while watching David open his gifts.  There's something about socks that doesn't strike jealousy in a five year old? 

 Courtney and I got David a basketball for our new basketball hoop!  He's enjoyed using it so far.

 Thirteen years old!  I remember when David was three and the cutest kid in church...literally. I had friends that were so jealous when he came home from Korea.  Now he's just getting downright handsome....love you David!

Isaac and Josh gave David a package of licorice - as soon as David said "thank you boys" Isaac came back with "you're welcome, can you share some?"  :-)

Well, in between trips to Urgent Care, numerous doctors visits, and days spent in the bathroom, we somehow managed to celebrate all four birthdays plus another Gotcha Day satisfactorally.  And now we have a huge break until November, when Jonathan becomes an official adult. :-)

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Back to Living Again

Wow.  That was quite the illness we just got over.......I don't think I've ever been that sick from a simple flu bug in my life. 

It's a good thing that you can't see through my blog to the other side called reality in which I truly live....because you would have seen some gruesome sights this week.   Like....never mind, you don't want to know.  :-)

Let's just say, it's good to be back among the living again.  It's good to feel glad I'm alive instead of wishing for my expiration date.  Eating real foods, sleeping through the night, sitting upright with no ill-effects on the stomach....ah, the life!

So, I will hopefully post some birthday pictures later today ~ back to regular posting, I think.  Thanks ya'll for hanging in there and being patient with me.  It's been a rough week.

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Sick, sick, sick

Oh man.

We are so sick over here.

Think bad colds for about two weeks.  Followed by a horrible round of the flu. 

Think younger brothers (um, I won't mention which ones) having stomachs that defied the forces of gravity in the worst places.  Think hosing off the porch.  Think bad timing during a two hour drive.  Think frantic "Give me a bag, a box, something! Help me people!"  coming from my strong and normally macho brother.

Although I did have a nice birthday yesterday, there's just something about getting the flu on your special day that kind of ruins it for ya.

Sweet Joshua seems to be the only one among us that is completely healthy; so I think he enjoyed his birthday today (he turned 4!).  Thankfully he seems to be oblivious to the fact that big sis promised to make Pooh bear cookies with him today.  Toddlers have very short-term memories; thank goodness for that.  Maybe we can post-pone those cookies for, say, next....year?

Because that's about how bad I'm feeling right now.

Oh to have a body that doesn't feel like a limp rag doll.  Oh, for a nose that can actually....breath.

Ugh.

Blog posts coming....well, whenever I get over this awful bug.  Since I've been told I look like death warmed over right now, pictures of the last few days will be minimal.  Perhaps non-existant.

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