Year End 2010 Update

Wow... Such Great Children...

My oldest child gave my youngest child a "movie date" for Christmas... and then took all the brothers as well!! Since Hubby is working today- first of four this week- I am HoMe AlOnE!!!! OH MY!!! WHAT TO DO!!??

I honestly Do Not Know.

I am staring at three loads of laundry... and listening to the washer complete a fourth, and the dishwasher complete it's cycle, but that is NoT on the list! I am fully persuaded to COMPLETELY ENJOY THIS TIME... and when I figure out exactly what I am going to do, I will start the enjoyment. Sadly, I am just in a quandary now!

What will I do when I become an empty nester??!

Fortunately, that wont be for many, many years!!

"Flip this Camper"...

The new reality show starring US! We seem to be blessed with the ability to trade up campers. We buy them, use them for a good while, and then sell them for a profit. This wasn't our initial desire, mind you! We had this pop up... 

and while it was wonderful  (we would have never gotten rid of it except our current situation of deputation) it is not at all practical to set one of these up in a Wal Mart parking lot. I am just saying. So we sold it this spring, and bought this... 

... thinking it was absolutely the answer to our prayers! AND it WAS! We thoroughly enjoyed it, and traveled it nearly 10,000 miles since May. We had a few "situations" and "on the go repairs" but all in all it was an amazing camper. All except for the part that- shockingly- it was too small. With these little giants we call sons, it was quite impractical for living in it for 6+ weeks at a time. And the thought of this being our sole dwelling... that just seemed like insanity a very detrimental situation. So we sold it (in the middle of a blizzard and for a profit I might add...!!) and JuSt ToDAY  bought this one... 

YAY!! 

This literally was a gift from God. The dealer is a small little shop in Herkimer, NY. That is where Dan is from- a podunk little town in the center on NY state, but the owner got this little beauty in just a few weeks ago.   

It was a bank repo which means he got it at an amazing deal and passed the savings on to us!

Truly incredible and several thousand dollars less than anywhere else we had looked for a camper like this! A kitchen with counter space!

 And a slide! And a TV cabinet with a built in DVD player and stereo. No TV, but we will make do!

But most importantly... QUAD BUNKS!! A space for each child to call their own- a mini  (and I mean MiNi!) little hideaway for each one of them to spread out curl up and have a little private place. 

We will be taking this on the deputation journey we have planned in January and we will be gone until nearly the beginning of April. I am sure we will have a great many opportunities to use every square inch of this blessing from the Lord... and whether they are interesting or not... I will chronicle them here!

I pray the "Flip this Camper" show only has three episodes... but stay tuned just in case there happens to be a fourth!

Reject, Receive or Redeem?

Our family has never adhered to telling our children the American tradition of Santa. We do, however, explain him similar to the way Mark Driscoll does in this article. Driscoll has done a very good job of summing up my exact position and reasons... much better than I ever could so I won't even try. 

He also did a lot more research than I ever have about the actual person "Santa" supposedly represents. Double thanks to you Mr. D!

7 New iPads for Christmas...

Well that would at least make this non-musical missionary family a little less challenged in that department!

Who could be bored...??

Today is the last day of gun season in our area. For Deer, just in case you were unaware of what season this is. (I was completely and blissfully unaware until October 14, 1989. My wedding day) 

Anyhow... this is the "note" that was left on our counter this morning from son #1 (aka Si) to the two hunters who would be leaving "Way Too Early" for the message to be delivered in person. 

"DAd & LEVi     FrANK  **written note**" 

The reason that son #1 had to be involved in the message At All is because son #2 (aka Levi) lost his phone at the Sap's (see note...) while hunting there last Thursday... which amazingly Sap son #1 (and only) found in the deep snow using a rake. Of course! :) So Sap son #1 texted our son #1 the message. Who calls anymore? NO One. And in this case thankfully so, because I am sure all of this transpired well after midnight! 

"FrANK  'will be at the Sap's tomorrow, Mr Sap wanted to let you know! Idky

JOSiAH

hehe..        IdiOT!! "

"P.s   Its' a lot faster to write with a Pen and not tape. =P"

Can you feel the love? It is warm and fuzzy and oozing all over that note!  The "idiot" is meant to be read with the crazy French accent of the Pink Panther (Steve Martin's version) and is a household word for "Dearest Loved One".  And look at all of the smileys on the note. Families with all girls will have a hard time grasping all the love here, but we fellow M*O*B's take what we can get! And truthfully we do get a lot. I mean a WHoLe lot! 

Here is our little buddy peeking his head out! It went up to mid 30's yesterday so he had a bit of a chance to show himself. He is still looking happy :) 

A Holiday Gift Giving Idea...

I am sure you were riveted by a previous post on Duck Tape dresses. Well it seems anything goes when it comes to whacked out clothing choices fashion. Olivia sent me a link to these dresses.  Now I am not suggesting them for everyone on your list, but one of these may be perfect for that special someone that is on the "hard to buy for list". Or, perhaps for the girl that has it all and you don't want to add to the redundancy of her opening gifts filled with items she already has... one of these beauties is the gift for her!

Please click the link for yourself, but here are a few of my favorites... 

 This is the Red Cabbage Dress. A stunning look for the party girl I think.

 This is Bubble Gum!! I tell you no gum I have ever had, chewed or not, has ever looked this good!

This is Eggplant, people! It is unlike any eggplant I have ever seen. This is stunning! 

And lastly, I will leave you with the Lotus Root dress. I don't even know what lotus root is. I guess a lovely option for a dress. Who knew??

There are many more I did not post the pictures of. Had to leave some motivation for you to check out the link yourself. You never know, maybe someday you will be on some trivia game show and this topic will be the Million Dollar Question. If you do, and it is, and you win... don't forget to share!

A Photographic Chronology of Snowfall...

We have had a full week of snow. Lovely, fluffy, big and small flakes. While the actual Winter Season does not start until December 21st, I think this is here to stay now! I already got The Beast stuck in the driveway last night. I just left it where it was, went inside and thanked the Lord for my husband. He lives for stuff like that. 

11-30-2010

We got a new camera on Black Friday. This picture was taken on November 30th as a test picture. Little did we know that it would be a necessary starting point in The Snow Accumulation Chronology! 

12-01-2010

This was to record the first official snowfall. It usually doesn't last too long, so having it forever memorialized on film digital was thought to be a needful thing at the time. Then remember I posted about our visitor on December 2nd. 

12-03-2010

This was taken after our visitor added a much needed neck warmer. Micah crocheted his little scarf in a jiffy. He did look a little bit more snuggly with his Caribbean blue accessory! 

12-07-2010

Here is todays picture. It has steadily snowed every day for the whole week. Mr. Man is in there... see the teeny little bump to the left of the umbrella? (And yes I know... what is the umbrella still doing outside and not in the garage? Good question!) I think he will be cozy in his little snow cocoon for many days to come. Perhaps even until spring! 

See... there he is:) 

Little Boy No Longer...

I will likely be a little late for work because of all of the snow, but not because I had to do any of the clearing of it off The Beast. 

I grabbed my keys to begin the process, and Micah RuNs to catch me before I get to go out. HE will do it. And He DID! 

These are blurry from my window being freshly wiped off of all the condensation! 

 It really is a nasty day out there, and a 15 passenger van is no small task to clear off. We use the large garage brush more out of necessity than expediency!

Windows all cleared, Lights brushed off and heat is on HiGh. All ready for me to take off into this Winter Wonderland.  

My baby boy is becoming a man, more and more like his daddy every day. 

Gratitude...

This was actually started three years ago... at least that is when it was uploaded onto youtube. It is something I have experienced, being in the airport not knowing the servicemen personally but wanting to let them know I support them. Sign language is more universal than many think. And it costs nothing, but you never know how far it will go.

Here is a link to the "gratitude campaign" site.

http://www.gratitudecampaign.org

Our first Visitor of the Season...

As the snow was falling this little guy just appeared. 

He is precious and totally loving the fact that if he is truly blessed he will be able to stay a very long time.

Day #2... so far so good. And from this angle it even looks like he has grown a bit!

Welcome Winter... even if a bit early.

I have only one thing to add to this...

I am sure many have seen this as a bumper sticker on many vehicles. Many that have seen it probably have no idea what it all means, so this little picture provides a handy little legend to help understand it all. 

My only thought... 

It ALL ends with the cross. 

Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, 

and given him a name which is above every name: 

That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of [things] in heaven, and [things] in earth, and [things] under the earth;

And [that] every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ [is] Lord, to the glory of God the Father. 

Philippians 2:9-11

Our new camper!

We are looking to upgrade our camper. While it truly is a blessing, we are finding it very difficult to manage the living in it for weeks at a time. While we don't want to go overboard or get into debt, we realize that a dwelling for our family is perhaps one of the most important investments we will make. So in light of that, this is what we have decided to purchase. 

 I think you will agree it is perfect for our young family traveling on the road. While the children are still in school, we need the extra space to conduct classes while on the road. You can imagine how cramped we have been in our current camper. This will provide a much greater level of basic human comfort, and what more would we want? I mean really!

 You can agree, I am sure, that it is just sufficient for our needs. We are on the road 50-60% of our time. We really must make sure the children aren't crammed, stifled, or otherwise overly burdened by our current situation, for they may become bitter or be disillusioned as to this path we are on. After all, God has promised to provide for our needs, and this is just what we think He means.

 As you can see, the interior is much like many of the homes Americans live in. It is our basic privilege as Americans, therefore, to live like this as well, even while on the road.

This is our school room. While it may be a little narrow for many peoples standard, we will make due. I am sure the children will suffer only minimally in this, as we have a very good handle on what is really important. Being thankful for the little things in life. Don't you agree??

Did You know ... ???

This is just a bit if info that often saves me moolah, buck-a roos, and mucho dinero.

Whenever I order anything online, I search for codes that will give me anything from free shipping to overall discounts on the entire order. You know at the end of the checkout process where it asks "discount code"  or "coupon offer"? Well they are out there in cyber space for anyone willing to take the three extra minutes to search for them!


Just today I ordered from CBD and got free shipping. ($8.00 savings - thank you very much!) 

A few months ago I needed to order a new laptop screen from a company I had never even heard of, and a quick search produced a 20% off coupon for them! That netted me almost $40!

So that is my tip for today. Take the few minutes and save a few bucks. Then support your favorite missionary with the savings!