God's protection

You never know what a day will bring. Yesterday we left our house around noon for South Carolina. Last night at around 8:45 we were about two hours away from David's parents and got in an accident. We collided with a tractor trailer, spun around, went into the median and ended with the trailer of the semi hitting the left side of the van, blowing out the windows. It was all quite terrifying, of course. Thankfully, no one is hurt except for a few little cuts, just very shaken. God's hand was upon us and protected us from flipping over. The rescue workers were so kind. One of them took me and the kids to a truck stop after we had sat in her truck for about an hour. The people at the truck stop brought us food, water, coloring books, and just kept asking if there was anything we needed. So this Christmas, God has shown us His mercies in a whole new way! Life can change or end in a blink of an eye! God is a merciful and forgiving God. We praise Him for the gift of His Son who has saved us and continues to hold us.

19 years ago

Nineteen years ago yesterday, David proposed to me!!! It was on my Dad's birthday. I am so happy to be stuck with him! Remember that Huey Lewis and the News song?? (So Happy to be Stuck with You)...I liked them.

crunch time

We are going to South Carolina this week. Mary Ellen has her annual strep throat so we might not be able to leave tomorrow as planned. She usually gets it on our trip some time around New Years Day. She gets it when she is worn down, lack of sleep, etc...Last week was crazy with midterms, Christmas program, parties, etc...thus the lack of sleep. I am the same way. If I don't get enough sleep over an extended period of time, I always get strep. I have so much to do before we go. I haven't finished my Christmas shopping, gotta clean the house, pack and all that fun stuff. We are looking forward to seeing our friends and family, going to the fish camp, carousing with the Avera's in beautiful Beaufort, SC. I hope it is warm down there. It's windy and cold here, but nothin' like it is in the midwest. Maybe I will post some pictures while we are on our trip...if not. I'll see ya when we get back.
Goin' to Carolina.... yippeee!!

Christmas cookies

Jacob working on his cookies

We had so much fun baking on Sat. These our two of our neighborhood friends that come over quite a bit to play. Glenn (on the left) actually lives in Baltimore, but comes to see his grandma on the weekends in our neighborhood. Tristan (on the right)lives across the street. He loves to play football with the boys and is pretty good at it. He is a little guy, but holds his own. I think there was more eating than frosting going on, but that's part of the fun. Glenn thought that we made the gingerbread men brown just for him... He is so funny. He didn't know that gingerbread IS brown. He saw me putting them in the oven, after I made the "white" cookies and said, "You made some black ones?!" I said "Yeah, we did that just for you!" He was touched until I started laughing and explained that they are gingerbread men and gingerbread is brown. We have so much fun when he is around. When he comes over, everyone is happy to see him. It's nice to have neighborhood friends that we enjoy having in our home. We have kind of adopted Glenn. His grandma says he is our stepchild. So that was our Sat. I also made peppermint cheesecake brownies for a party Sat. night. I wasn't too impressed with them. I tried a new recipe.
This is our last week of school. The girls have midterm exams this week and the teachers have to have all our grades in by the end of the week. I am sooooooooooooo looking forward to Christmas break.

looney

Yesterday morning my brother called me to wish me a happy birthday. He called early to be the first one! You know how everything is a competition for us Calhouns!! :) I was on my way to my friend's house to work out. It is a drive through the country from my house to hers. I have been there several times by now and should know my way. Well, I am not good at multi-tasking or maybe it has something to do with age. I am talking away on the phone and come to a stop sign. I look both ways, look around me, and realize that I have no idea where I am! I have never been on this road and don't know how I got there! So I say to Ron, "I have no idea where I am!" He says, "Wait a minute, I think I have the wrong number. Is this Elsie?" ha.... I laughed the rest of the way (once I figured out where I was)!!!
So thanks,mom, for passing down all kinds of wonderful traits! I am so blessed by you! :)

birthday

Thank you all for your birthday greetings! If any of you are discouraged or feeling a little down on yourself, just spend a day in a first or second grade classroom. If the one at Tall Oaks is available to you, I highly recommend it! I wasn't feeling low or anything, but if I had been those beautiful children yesterday would have picked me right up! They were so cute yesterday. In second grade the tradition is for the girls to wear a crown for the day of her birthday and they are princess for the day. I kept teasing them that I was going to bring in a great big one and wear lots of jewels on my birthday! I got to wear the little toy crown yesterday and they all thought it was just the greatest thing to see the teacher wearing that little crown. Then about 10 min. into science class, David comes in the classroom and just starts dancing with me right in front of them all. So we did a little jig and they LOVED that! In first grade you get to wear a sticker. So I wore the sticker and then both classes threw a little party at the end of the day! It was so nice. You know me I love parties...no matter what the size! Today is the faculty/staff Christmas lunch and party. The kids have a half day. We are going to have an Italian feast! I'm so excited!

Ruth Graham...and Christmas

Christmas is in full swing!! I went to two Christmas teas this weekend, sang lots of Christmas songs, did a little shopping, sat in my cozy living room by the fire and Christmas tree and watched a movie. It even snowed a little bit! Now we just need to make time to go to Longwood Gardens before the end of the season.
I heard a quote by Ruth Graham yesterday, "I saw what I want on my tombstone the other day while driving down the road, 'End of construction. Thank you for your patience.' "
I love that...what a lady!

doug

After we picked out the tree that we wanted at the Christmas tree farm, the man comes and puts a tag on it and tears off the stub. He wrote the word "Doug" on it for douglas fir and handed it to Jacob to give to me. Jacob came running to find me and says with all the excitement and sincerity in the world, "He named our tree Doug!" :)

festivities

I am not sure why these are small and the others are bigger. I can't get this formatting thing.



The tree behind us is our tree, not the one in the front. :)

This is the traditional chili supper. We always have chili the day we get our tree and decorate. We started the first year we were married.




Wow, it's been awhile! I took a break from the computer last week. Partly because we had the whole week off of school and because my kids are always sitting here....I had better things to do. I felt like I got a lot done last week, although I didn't get my bathroom painted like I wanted to. I got my haircut on Tues. and visited my friends in Chestertown. I can't wait to get back there before the end of the Christmas season. It was so good to catch up with them and go for a nice brisk walk and talk with Cheryl. We slept in every day, and watched movies just about every night. I have almost all my Christmas decorations up. I have to confess I started the day before Thanksgiving. I didn't want to waste any time and want to enjoy every moment of the season! We try to get the most out of it! I have told you before that I have CDS (Christmas Deprived Syndrome). :) Thanksgiving was spent in Lancaster at my sister's with the nieces, nephews, grandnephews, and significant others! Sam's girlfriend is so fun...loved her! You can tell they have so much fun together!

ups and downs

Which one do you want first? Sometimes you just want a break from being a parent. As they get older, the issues get bigger. Tonight I felt we were dealing with everything from the mundane to the not so mundane....exhausting!!! At the same time, I felt like God was using each situation that David and I dealt with to make us lean on Him more. I really sensed His strength and He was helping me to not get angry but to deal with each situation in the right way...kind of foreign! It was a "wow, that was God not me" kind of thing. God used each experience in parenting tonight to help our kids get a better picture of Him...that was the work of the Holy Spirit. I pray that it will grow their faith and God will use these difficulties to show them more of Himself and His great love for His children, even when we mess up! I am just standing back in amazement of what God is doing in each of my children tonight...it ain't easy, but God is faithful!
Sooo....David and I are getting a little bit of a break this weekend. We have all week next week off of school. Just the two of us are going down to VA, to see our friends and get a little rest and relaxation! We are so ready!
Kate is all done with drivers ed. ! yeah! She got her blue certificate tonight! Now she takes that to the DMV and gets her permit!
Science fair tomorrow...gotta go make a snack for it

sad note

Our favorite coffee shop, Harrington's, closed!!! When we came up to Kennett Square to candidate almost nine years ago. I was taken to this coffee shop by two friends and have loved it ever since. I am so sad it closed...so many memories there! Yes, we even shed some tears over it! I guess I will have to find Jingle Bell Java somewhere else.

coziness

The one thing I love about winter and cold is being cozy...sitting by the fire, drinking hot beverages. Tonight we are having homemade chicken noodle soup and beer bread for dinner. I don't buy that packaged beer bread...what a rip off. I figured out you are paying for self-rising flour and a little bit of sugar in a box. Go on line and find a recipe. I threw some cheese in it tonight to make it more interesting. It might snow a little bit tonight...we are hoping it will! On Sat. we had our shorts on and tonight we might get a dusting of snow! That's how it is these days in Delaware!

362

I gave Kate 362 reasons why she needed to study for her driver's ed. final exam! She did and she passed with flying colors!!! yeah!! That is how much it would cost HER to take the class again. Delaware has decided that if you homeschool or send your child to private school that you have to pay $362.00 to take driver's ed. which is required in the state of DE. So we are pay our taxes like everyone else....I don't get it. If you go to public school it is free...I think I need to write a letter to someone.
I'm so glad it's Friday. I am taking Mary Ellen and two of her friends to the movies tonight. We are going to see Madagascar 2. I already it saw last weekend with Kate and her friend and friend's mom.

observation

It's been a busy week (aren't they all) and my mind has not been in a good place for most of it. You ever have those times?? It is a battle and I need Jesus!
Yesterday, I was observed by the headmaster and principal...brought back all kinds of memories. Thanks to everyone who prayed for me. I was able to relax...a little. Actually, this wasn't as big of a deal as it was during student teaching. So it wasn't near as stressful. But I am glad it is over! I had taught the lesson and the kids were doing an activity to go along with it. I had just asked them to do it quietly and heard someone whistling. I said "Who is whistling?" The headmaster responds "oops!" and puts his hand over his mouth! I just died laughing! It was so funny...caught him! :)
Katelyn has been talking a lot about colleges lately. We are hoping to go visit some in the spring. She wants to be a Literature major...any suggestions from those more experienced than I??? She might be taking a year off before college. She is young for her class anyway...turns 18 in June after she graduates. She wants to go on a mission trip, earn some money, read a lot...so give us any wisdom you have in this area. For now we are just hoping to make through driver's ed. :)

can't wait...

...for Christmas! I am so excited to for Christmas (not just because I have two weeks off!). I love Christmas. It comes from being deprived as a child. By the time I came a long my mom was sick of decorating, getting a tree, etc... So I get so excited every year. In fact, I start the day after Thanksgiving. We get our tree that first weekend and keep it up as long as possible. I can't wait to decorate my house...I didn't do a whole lot of that last year because of our life situation. So this year feels like the first Christmas in this house. Let's listen to some Christmas music!!

Monday

I am tired this Monday morning. We had a busy weekend. My house hasn't been cleaned in weeks. I wish I could stay home today....oh well. Katelyn is in the driving part of driver's ed. Saturday she spent a good portion of the day up in Wilmington driving around the city. I am so glad that someone else is teaching her how to drive. :) I-95 is not good place to be stubborn! Her teacher threatened to fail her as they were driving through the city. I am so glad she learning how to drive in the city where there is a lot of traffic and on I-95 because then she will be able to drive anywhere! Maybe she will be able to drive on our trip down to SC this Christmas!

Isn't she lovely??

Isn't she wonderful!
Yeah! Mary Ellen got her braces off. It was something to celebrate!



I am not sure I doing this formatting thing the right way...we'll see. Why can't I figure this out?

thoughts of mine

I keep thinking this morning about when Israel asked for a king. Samuel warned them that this was not wise and what this king would do to them. They basically said, "We don't care! We still want a king", ignoring God's warnings. So God gave them what they wanted. "Lord, help me to desire what you desire! My heart is so prone to wander. Please don't just give me what I want all the time! Give me Jesus!"
Praise God for men like Joe Pitts who continue to fight for what is right. He is a United States congressman in PA (He still is Melinda and Joel's). I was so sad that I could not vote for him anymore when we moved away. We need to lift up these men who are in the thick of the battle day in and day out. He won again last night and what a great man of God! He fights for the persecuted church around the world, the unborn, capitalism, our constitutional rights such as the !st amendment which is in jeopardy, and does so many things for the good of our country which no one will hear about. We will press on and stand up for what is right no matter what happens. I was telling my kids this morning that God strengthens our faith when we go through difficult times. I want them to be strong men and women of God and they won't get there by the easy path. I told Jonathan this morning (he was a little down in the dumps), "You will be the leader in your home and in your church and in the community! You cannot be a wimp for Jesus! You have stand up and speak out for what is right and that won't be easy. Someday we might be voting for you!" (He wants to be a congressman). Today I am just so thankful to be where I am! God has given me waaaaaaaay more than I deserve! He will never leave us! I was singing "Oh the Deep, Deep Love of Jesus" yesterday with my first graders. His love surrounds us like an ocean and will lead us homeward to our rest above. It is an everlasting love. So on with a new day with many opportunities to do great things for His kingdom and for His Name's Sake!!

paninis...and cross country

The best school....

Yeahh!! Carly got first place!!

The coach...yep, that's me! I was pretty excited!

Matt, our star. He makes me proud! He is a great runner!

That's my girl!!! Kate placed 5th in the girls division!

The best team!!!

mmmmmmmm....yummy paninis for dinner with the works on it...pesto, dijon mustard, red onions, red peppers, swiss cheese, ham and roast beef! It was WAAYYYY better than Panera's. I got a panini maker for this past Mother's day and I use it a lot!
Yesterday was our last cross country meet. Just bear with me as I brag a little. I love these kids and am a little sad that it is done. They are so much fun and have such a great attitude (most of the time). I know I have posted pictures of them already, but I just had to post these too!
We won second place in the girls and boys. Yes, we got two trophies! What a great way to end the season and it was a gorgeous day---70 degrees!! We had 5 kids get medals (including my daughter)! yeah!!! Go Kate!!! She is awesome! I am going to miss running with these kids every week. I better go do suicides with them on the basketball court!

PHILLIES WIN!!

Philadelphia finally has a championship. The whole family stayed up tonight and watched the game amidst grading papers and doing lesson plans! :) It was fun! The phone rang right after they won and I said, " I bet that's Meredith". It was and she was in FL cheering her Phillies on! YEAHHHH!!! Nick called David and said there were fireworks in Lancaster.
Now we can get some sleep!

Longwood Gardens

This is in the new children's garden inside the conservatory.

This is one of the new treehouses that they have built. They are pretty cool. There are three of them around the gardens.

My beautiful girls in another one of the new treehouses...this one is on the edge of the forest by the meadow.



We have been wanting to go to Longwood this fall and haven't been able to get it together to do it until this past Sunday. We are up there for church on Sundays. So we just left early and spent a couple hours on a GORGEOUS fall day. It was a great family time. As we were walking around, I was thinking how perfect it was and what a gift from God it was to us to be there. It was like a love note from my Heavenly Father to be able to be there and enjoy the scenery, my family, the weather, etc...I feel incredibly blessed!

tonight's the night

Let's hope the Phillies win the World Series tonight because we all need some sleep. I am letting Jonathan stay up and watch the game tonight. He is the most avid Phillies fan in this household.
Go Phillies!!!

2.29

Yep, got gas for 2.29 last night on my home from our cross country meet! I was pretty excited about that. It's been a long time since I have seen that price.
I got to stay home all day today! aaaaaahhhhhhhhh I did tons of laundry, cleaned house and rearranged the boys room. We took down the boys' bunk beds. Mary Ellen is the queen of rearranging. So she helped me figure out how to do it.
We had fun at our meet yesterday after school. Cross country is competitive but not as vicious as basketball. The coaches of the other schools we play are so nice. Everyone cheers all the runners on, not just their own. Then yesterday we played a school at their homecoming and they invited us to stay for dinner afterwards. Wooohoo free food!!! They had some good food, too.

spread the wealth

How about sharing some Phillies tickets?? I don't think it is very American that only a very small percentage of Americans get to attend the World Series...how about spreading the wealth around. After all, it's good for everyone!

new gym

A couple months ago we had to cancel our gym membership because we just can't have any "extras" in the budget. So I have been running with my cross country team and trying to stay in shape that way. I don't particularly enjoy running, but it is better than nothing. But the running thing has only happened about once a week because I obviously can't run at their meets. Anyway, I was groaning the other day to a friend about not being able to work out as much as I used to and i am going to get fat and lazy again! I have been in this funk lately with sadness hanging over me and just not able to shake it off. She said, "We put in a gym over our barn. Come work out at my place!" So I did today and YIPPPPPPPPPPEEEEEEEEEEEE!! I feel like a new woman! I might even get a cup of coffee out of it every once in awhile! :) Cathy and her husband have a farm out in the country b/t here and Dover. They carpool with us to school. I will have to take a picture of my new gym and post it....I love it!

the young one

I hardly ever say anything about my youngest son. He is in first grade and life is just goooooood for him. Here he is on an outing with his friends. My comment was, "Jacob, can't you just smile one time? Do you have to be goofy all the time?" Do you know anybody else like that?? :)
He had such a good time at the orchards. The boy in the red sweatshirt is his good buddy in his class. They are both head and shoulders taller than the rest of the class. The three boys with Jacob are brothers.

more pics

On your mark,get set, go....

NATE THE GREAT!

MATT IS READY!!

Go Kate, Go!!!

Mary Ellen is standing in the middle...ready to hit the ball!

cross country meet

Top ten boys...two of our runners placed 5th and 9th. Way to go, Matt and Nate!

being crazy...

Run, ladies!!

run for the prize

Yesterday was our second cross country meet. We had a gorgeous day for running. It was a little chilly...perfect for running. The team did great. Several of them had a personal best time. We are so proud of Matt for breaking 20 with a 19:13!! Way to go! Kate finished in 24:38 a personal best for her. She was really bummed she missed the top ten by 6 seconds. She didn't realize she was anywhere near the top ten. I should have kept better track and she learned that you better give it all you have no matter what!! It was great to be outside enjoying the fall air with a bunch of really great runners!! Today I am sick with a bad cold...and quite worn out from a really busy week.

fightin' Phillies

Forget McCain and Obama...go Phillies!
What a fun game to watch tonight. If it can't be the Braves, I am so happy to see the Phillies go to the World Series!!!

God's provision

We had a great weekend. The weather was absolutely GORGEOUS!!! How many times have I said how much I love fall. I LOVE FALL!! David and I drove up to my sister's on Sat. I was hoping to leave a little early and go to Longwood Gardens, but I had too much to do around the house and needed to get it done. Hopefully, we will get there soon while the autumn season is in full bloom. The drive up to Lancaster was delicious! Can I say that?? I was drinking it in and savoring every scene! It will probably only happen once this fall. I wanted to get pumpkins on the way up and then realized that we took the wrong road. My favorite amish pumpkin place is on 896 not 41....guess I will have to find pumpkins somewhere else. This guy just leaves his wagon out by the road, loaded with pumpkins, 75 cents each, leave your money in the box welded to the hay wagon...love it! We celebrated her big 5-0 birthday. We all told funny stories about Melinda and Melinda told funny stories about Melinda...she remembers the stories better than any of us! good times.
I am reminded of God's faithfulness to us. In the midst of turmoil we can rest in Him. His love is everlasting and never changes even when our hearts grow cold. My mom wrote an email about a missionary who was feeling far away from God and God revealed his love to her right where she was at...He didn't make her earn it or get out of the emotional state of mind she was in....He ministered to her right there. I was feeling the same way as that woman yesterday morning, not feeling like going to church, not loving people, not desiring to read His Word or care about the lost. God met me right there in the worship service while we were singing, "Alas, and Did My Saviour Bleed". Who am I that God would demonstrate such extravagant love for me!? Why would God choose this broken vessel to show His love to others when I fail Him so miserably? I need the gospel every day...God continues to show me my pride and selfishness and how He is the one at work in me and through me! It's all Him! His grace is up to the task! After church we had dinner with friends. We weren't planning on doing this but did the spontaneous thing and had so much fun! They also gave us a cooler full of venison! Once again God is faithful to provide for his children. God has used friends, mom, and the local church to show me that He will go to great lengths to warm my heart toward Him. Without Him I am doomed!

fun quote

I like to remember quotes that I hear or read and blogging is a way to do that. I was looking at my niece's twitter thingy...and found this quote. It might be a Jeannette original...I loved it.
"EZ pass means not having to put down your coffee" (I love EZpass)!
You can tell she's not getting much sleep when she is talking about not having to put down her coffee.

family pictures

For those who are interested, my sister has posted some family pictures from way back on her blog. She is my oldest sister at Over the Ord and Back...she listed on my list of favorite blogs.

craziness

Today after school I had to get Katelyn to drivers ed. Mary Ellen had volleyball. Jacob had soccer. David had to do the books at the v-ball game and I had to coach cross country. Thankfully, we are like a family at school and we all just help each other out in whatever way we can. So one of the other teachers took Kate to drivers ed., Mary Ellen found a ride with the team. I dropped David and Jonathan off at the gym on my way to cross country and someone else brought Jacob to the gym after he was done with soccer! :) I love my TOCS family! Then I came home with a yummy dinner someone else made for our family from the the teacher appreciation committee. So I didn't have to cook! Thank you to whoever you are! The meal was a HUGE BLESSING!!!

new ministry

My new area of ministry is the bus ministry as in public transportation. Most of you know that I take the bus every morning to work. Today I had a long conversation with my friend who also rides the bus every day from Smyrna. We usually greet each other and chit chat while waiting for the bus, but today we talked all the way up to my stop (about 40 min.). She was sharing with me some pretty big struggles in her life. You never know who God will put in your life each day to share the hope of the gospel and the love and forgiveness that we have in Christ.

the big 5-0

Wow, another sibling hits the next big decade!!
Happy Birthday Melinda!! I can't wait for the big party on Sat. night. It's all adults ( a rare treat for me)! You know the great thing about getting old is that you just say what you think and you don't care anymore what anything thinks. Of course, Melinda has always done this so not much has changed as she got older! :)
I am so glad we moved up here 8 years ago and have lived fairly close to Melinda and Joel for the last eight years. I didn't really know her until I moved up here because she got married when I was 9 years old. So I have the privilege of sharing most of lifes ups and downs, birthdays, graduations, weddings, etc. with her.
She started practicing being a grandma with my kids, especially Jacob. Jacob loves her. Melinda has been a great source of wisdom and encouragement for me as a mom and wife. I am so thankful that God has caused our paths to cross. It has been so nice to live close to a sibling, especially one who has gone down the path of life a little ways ahead of me and who loves her Heavenly Father. We can't move too far away from each other now because I need her input and wisdom to help me raise Jacob. He is a lot like Sam!
Happy Birthday! I love you, Melinda!

Jonathan

Yesterday was Jonathan's birthday. He turned 12...I can't believe he is almost a teenager! We had a volleyball game after school and Katelyn is now taking drivers ed. So we didn't get home until after 8. David had stuff at church, so we are going to celebrate his birthday tonight as a family. By Jonathan's request, the kids and I went to Moe's after drivers ed. on our way home. While we were sitting there we all decided to share our favorite "Jonathan memories". Katelyn's was the time he got into the baby powder and had it all over him and all over his room. Mary Ellen was the time the were wrestling and he busted his head open on the corner of the wall....I'm not sure why she chose that...tramatic memory! Jacob didn't share one. Of course, at the top of my list was the moment he was born and the doctor said, "He's a boy!" Second, for me, was the first time he smiled at me. My mom and I both were talking to him ( I think he was about 3 weeks old) and he grinned really big at us and we both said "He has dimples!" Of course, that was the end of me right there. That boy melts my heart every time he smiles at me with that sweet smile of his! He is such a sweet boy, very tenderhearted. He is so smart and wants to do well in school. He hears something once and pretty much gets it...very quick learner. He also loves sports and has now become a Phillies fan in the past few years. His dad isn't too happy about that. One of my favorite pictures of him was when he was about 4 and he is wearing cowboy boots, superman cape with a three cornered "George Washington" hat and he is aiming his musket at something! so cute!!!
He is very sensitive to spiritual things and from a young age could be found reading his Bible in his room from time to time. He LOVES to read!!! I have to make him go outside and get some exercise. Some of his interests are different from other kids his age. He enjoys classical music and loves taking piano lessons (although we had to quit this yr. ). He wants to be a congressman someday. When he was little, he loved George Washington. Living in PA, provided many opportunities to go "see George Washington". There was a guy in the area who goes around the area as GW talking about him. We have gone to GW's birthday party a few times, the reenactment of the Brandywine Battlefield. We visited Valley Forge and Mount Vernon....This is a great area for field trips.
I love all these things that make Jonathan who he is...my sweet boy. Happy Birthday!

commenting...Miriam Cooley

I tried to fix the problem that some of you have had with commenting on my blog. Hopefully, it worked!
We had a busy week last week. I am kind of brain dead right now...
Pray for our friend Aunt Miriam (from SC) who is dying of cancer. I talked to her on Sat. and she sounded good. She said that she is excited to go to heaven. That is good. Pray for her family as well...especially Uncle Eb. We love the whole family. Miriam's birthday is Thurs. We really wish we could go down and see her one more time...it would be fun to surprise her on her birthday! We are praying about it. We have a half day on Wed. at school and no school on Fri. So this would be a good weekend.
Let me tell you what a special person Miriam has been to our family. She loved us from the time we walked into the door of our first church. It was David's first pastorate. We met her and Eb and Edwin, their son right away and then we met their daughter Beth at Christmas when she come home from school. She was going to Covenant Seminary at the time. I hit it off with Beth right away and she became a kindred spirit and a safe person I could talk to about life. I felt kind of alone and odd at times while living in Williston. Beth helped me feel like I wasn't totally losing my mind. Miriam and Eb took care of our kids for David and I to go on dates or overnighters many times. My kids (Katelyn, Mary Ellen and Jonathan) loved Aunt Miriam and Uncle Eb as much as their own grandparents. We had many good conversations about the Bible, life, our struggles and our joys. We watched Miriam and Eb grow spiritually as they listened to every word David preached and soaked in all the good meat of the God's Word. They were so teachable, generous, and faithful. Even since we have moved up here, we have stayed in touch and go see them every Christmas. So we are sad to let go of this dear friend but we know we will see her again...someday.

only one

There was only one debate and she hit it out of the park!!
As Tom Brokaw said afterwards, the democrats are glad there is only one VP debate.

the weekend

My Friday was everything I hoped it would be. I cleaned house, did at least 5 loads of laundry, made pumpkin bread, chocolate chip cookies, and dinner. I told my kids "I am just a mommy and wife today!" :) They loved coming home to a nice smelling house. It was a rainy day, but it wasn't very cold. All weekend it was just kind of warm and moist. Sat. we had a 5k first thing in the morning and Kate and I did so much better than the last time. I think we both improved our time by at least a minute and a half. She got second in her age group and I got second in mine too! :) yeah!! Then Sat. afternoon we went to our friend Kyle Martin's spy b-day party! My friend Katie is one of the most creative moms I know. She amazes me! You rock, Katie! You can find her blog at "Life with 4 kids". I so enjoyed chatting with Andrea, Carolyn, and Katie after the party. The party itself was a spy party and it was amazing. (MaryEllen is patiently waiting to get on the computer so I won't go into the details). We got home late that night, but feeling blessed by friends.
I can't wait to get some mums and pumpkins!
I am helping the kids throw a surprise birthday party this weekend for one our high school boys. It was actually Kate's idea. I am so excited for him. His mom told me that it will make his year! He is on my cross country team and is such a hard worker and a GREAT runner! Maybe I will have some fun pictures next week.
quote of the day:
"I am really going to try to be nice now. I am turning over a new tree!"---one of Mary Ellen's classmates said this today.
One more quote of the day:
"When you wake me up in the morning, my body goes into shock!" --our firstborn. She is not a morning person! :)

Rachael

I tried to find a funny picture, but couldn't. Den doesn't look too happy here. Maybe I should find a better one of him. Of course, Andrew is a cutie!
Happy birthday to my sister, Rachael! She is my oldest sister and was moving out of the house by the time I started kindergarten. We didn't really get to know each other until after she was done with college. Then she was my teacher for two years (5th and 6th grade). It really wasn't a good time to start getting to know me! So it had it's tough times those couple of years. However, since then we have enjoyed many fun times together. One summer in high school I went and lived with her while her husband was out to sea for six months...serving his country. By then she had her first child and I taught her all kinds of things that aunties enjoy teaching their nieces. I had so much fun that summer, going to the beach and going to a youth group! My home church didn't have one and didn't want one. Being the social person that I am, I loved hanging out with all my friends and went back to see them even after Rachael moved away from the area.
I went to the same college as Rachael (even had the same room assigned to me that she had one year!), met my husband there, and started teaching after I graduated...so you could kinda say I followed in her footsteps. Dennis (her husband) spiced things up for Rach....what we would ever do without him. Life would be so boring. My sisters and I always joke about how we like our brothers-in-law more than each other. We'll take them if our sisters ever try to leave the marriage!
Some of the things that I appreciate about Rachael:
Her love for God and desire to walk with Him
Her love for Den...and all his craziness!
Her love for her kids and desiring God's best for them
She loves to PARTY!!! She married the right guy for that! :)
Along with the above is that she HATES to miss anything fun!
She will lose sleep to have fun...well maybe not now that she is in her fifties!
I love her energy. We have a video of her chasing one of our little nieces around my brother's farm with a squirt gun, letting her have it!! :)
She loves to read!
She loves life and I love her!
Happy birthday, Rach!

through and through

This was a quote given to us last week at our upper school retreat and I thought it was so good.
"We are sinners through and through. Once we see this truth, we can cast our gaze on the One who forgives perfectly, redeems us constantly, and embraces us in arms of compassion and forgiveness. In the strength of grace, God lifts us to our feet, draws us away from sinful choices, and grants unspeakable hope!"
Thank you, Jesus, for the gift of forgiveness!!

autumn

Yeah for fall!!! It is going to be cold and rainy the next few days! I have the menu all planned out. Tonight it will be chicken corn chowder, tomorrow it is going to be chicken and veggies in the crock pot (kinda like a homemade chicken noodle soup when I am done with it) and not sure about Sat. Tomorrow we have a half day at school and I am hoping to make some pumpkin bread! I am so excited!! I love fall food! :)

retreat

group picture!


Isn't he cute?!! Our fearless leader....





This weekend was our fall retreat with 7-12 graders. We left Thurs. afternoon after school and returned Sat. afternoon. We had it at Cape Henlopen State Park which is on the beach. It's the beach we always go to. They have youth camps their. Our camp had a big building with a meeting area and eating area and then the boys dorm off one side and a girls dorm off the other. We had a separate girls dorm down the road a little ways for the 10-12 graders. I got to stay with them. David and I both went as chaperones. We went for a walk Fri. afternoon up to this lookout place. It was clear sky and you could lookout across the ocean and see Cape May, NJ to the right....beautiful. We were chatting as we were walking and both of us agreed that we absolutely love doing stuff like this together. Maybe Tall Oaks is our new place of ministry...well we know it is because that is where God has us! I was talking to a couple of the high school girls about ministry and missions. They both want to serve God somehow in missions. Sometimes it looks totally different than what you think it will look like. Ministry might be serving your country in the military. It might be with international students at a local college. It might be the role of a pastor's wife, or a teacher....who knows. David thought he would always be a pastor. Then he thought maybe I should be an associate pastor. Then God led him into church planting and now teaching. Who knows where or what it will look like next. For right now we love ministering to these kids at Tall Oaks Classical School.
It was REALLY windy on Friday and the waves were huge! It was kinda scary! We took all the kids down to the beach around 11 and you could not even sit on the beach! The waves and water were all the way up to the sand dunes! I have never seen it like this before. It looked like a hurricane...unbelievable. We played games, ate, didn't sleep much, talked, sat around a campfire, listened to our speaker, Blake Hardcastle. He was fabulous! Blake is a parent at our school. His little boy is one of Jacob's best buddies.
A good time was had by all and I hope lessons were learned and lives touched with the gospel.
Time to get ready for a new week!
Time to get ready for another week!

grumpiness

Why is it that the grumpy ones poison the whole bunch instead of the cheerful ones rubbing off on everyone else???

I love Southern Living

This month's issue of SL has some really great recipes that are calling my name!
So tonight for the birthday dinner we are going to have Rosemary Grilled Chicken thighs with grilled veggies and couscous. Now I am feeling inspired! It was a toss up b/t the chicken and the Grilled Pork Roast with Fruit Compote. I already have chicken in the freezer. Anyone want to join us for a birthday party?!

feeling uninspired

First 5k....here she comes!


I guess I better write something today. I haven't felt like I had anything to say...how unusual for me! :) I have had a lot on my mind, just not anything I want published on the world wide web. So for what can be out in public....
We had a fabulous weekend which started with pouring down rain for running club practice and getting my keys locked in the car, probably ticking off some parents for calling off running club practice, sitting at the school until after 6
We woke up to a new day on Sat. morning! Kate and I went and ran our first 5k of the season. We both had horrible times! It was very warm and muggy. I felt like I could hardly breathe! Humidity zaps me. I felt zapped the rest of the day. Yesterday we went to the beach all afternoon. It was fabulous!! It was a really hot, humid day yesterday...perfect for playing in the water. We were in the water a lot. Mary Ellen hasn't downloaded, uploaded....or whatever....her pictures yet. So I will have to post pictures on a later blog. We had a great time together as a family. Back to work today...David's b-day! I am reminded today of how blessed I am to have a wonderful Christian husband. It's also a bonus that he is incredibly romantic, loves to have fun, puts up with all my craziness! The other night we were having a heart to heart. I am pouring out my heart to him and he says, "I have NO idea what you are talking about! "...poor David. That is probably the story of his life. It wasn't funny at the time, but now it kinda makes me laugh.

Happy birthday...

...to the one I love!

Friday night football!

Kate and Mary Ellen enjoying the game..


This is not that great of a pic....but that is the only one Mary Ellen took of No. 44...
When we moved up here from SC 8 years ago, we really missed Friday night football. In the small town that we lived in, it was the social event of the week. Everyone went to the f-ball game. They always prayed before the beginning of each game (yes, this was public school in the south). The local pastors took turns praying before the game. When it was David's turn to pray, we would all get to go for free! :)....fun times. Well this past Friday night we got to go to a high school football game. Our school doesn't have a team. So one of our senior boys plays for another Christian school. It was so fun and made David a bit home sick...I love football season. Another reason I am excited for fall....

good friends

Today I had a visit from a good friend. We have known each other for almost nine years. She has been such a blessing to me. We met when we came up to candidate at Willowdale almost nine years ago. She and another good friend, Katie Martin, took me to Winterthur while David was being "entertained" by the elder board, staff, pastor and whoever... We hit it off from the beginning. In fact, we were having such good conversation over lunch that we didn't realize how time had gotten away from us. Good thing Katie was nursing or we would have been there way past our time limit! It is interesting to me that both Katie and Sarah have become such dear friends and that they were the first ones I met. Sarah has since moved out to Spokane, WA with her family for her husband to go to Moody's mission aviation school. They have been invited to join an organization that helps missionaries in the very remote places of Alaska. These places are only accessible by plane or boat. There are no roads. Paul is very skilled with his hands and now has his pilot's license. He has already been to some of these places this past summer to help work on a house of a missionary. Both Paul and Sarah have the gift of helps. We have been the recipient of it and have also enjoyed Sarah's wonderful gift of hospitality. It truly is an act of love. I always loved being in her home...so comfy and cozy. He finished our basement in our old house in West Grove, PA. We had a lot of compliments on it when our house was on the market. It is sooo good to look back and see how God has blessed us with dear friends. Sarah brought her kids with her today. My kids had a great time with them and we hope it isn't so long before we see each other again. I think Jonathan and Sam picked up right where they left off a few years ago. So once again, God manifested himself to me today through the gift of friendship...he gives good gifts!

God's grace...

Don't use change for your career, use your career for change.
---Sarah Palin
I liked that quote from her speech last night.
Another thing I read this morning that I didn't want to forget...changing the subject
"So God's grace isn't always comfortable because he isn't primarily working on our comfort; He's working on our character. With violent grace He will crush us because He loves us and is committed to our restoration, deliverance, and refinement. And that is something worth celebrating."
---Paul Tripp taken from "Whiter Than Snow" meditations on sin and mercy
This is referring to Ps 51:8

Palin power

I just finished watching Sarah Palin's speech! She rocks!! What a great speech! I can't go to sleep. I was in the middle of making lunches for tomorrow and ended up sitting down in the LR to watch the speech....might as well do lesson plans.

picnic

We had our annual school picnic today. It was so much fun. It was at a family's home in Chesapeake City, MD...yes, one of my favorite states. It was a beautiful drive over there. There were a lot of people there, but they have a lot of room. We are met a new family that we feel have become our new friends, the Mercers. They live down here near Dover. They own a 34 acre farm out in the country. They used to live in SC and love all the SC stuff that we love...except for the fact that he graduated from Clemson. That is where we will differ as we are USC fans (South Carolina not Southern California) :) If you know anything about Carolina football, then you know that you go for the Gamecocks and whoever is playing Clemson.
We all have survived our first week of school. We are still working out the kinks. Running club starts this week and I am the coach. I am actually pretty excited about this. I love these kids and it is a pleasure to work with them!
I am SO looking forward to fall! I love football, cool weather, sweaters, soups, raking leaves (I'll have to go find some to rake). I love my sister's homemade pumpkin pie, drinking coffee on a cool morning, watching the leaves change, mums on my front porch, decorating my house with fall stuff....it goes on and on. I am going to hold out on pulling out the fall stuff until the first day of fall. Jacob and I used to go get our pumpkins from an Amish guy who just left his wagon full of pumpkins on the side of the road on our way up to Melinda's. He had a box for your money and they were all 75 cents. I guess he just expected everyone to be honest and leave there money in the box. I haven't seen Melinda's house yet, so maybe sometime this fall I will go up and get some pumpkins. Jacob called it "punkin day".

one reason for voting for Obama.....

....to get Biden out of Delaware! :)

things just got exciting

I am so excited about John McCain's pick!! woohooo!!! I cannot wait to watch her debate Joe Biden!! I couldn't believe Obama picked him....He is not very popular around here. Sarah Palin is going to kick some Biden boo-tay! Good job, McCain! This is definitely a big boost to his campaign!

heart attack

Tonight after Mary Ellen's volleyball practice we went to a friend's pool. While we were all sitting around enjoying the company of friends and eating pizza, Jacob comes over and wants me to watch him go off the diving board. Okay, great...no problem. So he walks straight over to the high dive. I said, "Look at that boy. He has no fear. I should have known he would go off the high dive." Then he climbs to the top and I think to myself when he gets to the top and walks out on that board, he might chicken out and go back. OH NO!! not Jacob.....INSTEAD he DIVES head first off the high dive. I of course jumped out of my seat and about had a heart attack. He was fine and didn't know what the big deal was. One of Kate's friends went over and told him not to jump off like that again but go feet first. It took me a few minutes to recover from that one....I wish I had a picture or better yet a video! It was unbelievable. What am I going to do when he is 16 and wants to drive!!! We are in so much trouble.

big news

Mary Ellen found out that she gets her braces off in November!!! Yeah!!! We have the best orthodontist in the world. We drive a long way to see him. He told us, "You go plant a church, I'll take care of the braces!" and he did....for free!!! So it is the worth the drive.
One of my friends said to me, "Mary Ellen never went through the awkward stage." Maybe it was because she didn't have braces and glasses at the same time like Kate did. We will definitely post a picture when she gets them off.

summer slipping away

School starts on Monday. This year the whole family will be at the school everyday. I will be there in the afternoons and all day on Wednesday. I think all the preparations are finished. I have a couple more things to do for my classes, but the kids are pretty much ready. The girls are ready to see all there friends, but the boys are wishing summer lasted a little bit longer. David and I have been in teacher in service four days last week and three days this week. The feelings of panic and "oh my, what have I done!" have come and gone for both of us. Fortunately, it hasn't hit at the same time. I think it is time for me to find a chiropractor down here. All my stress goes to my shoulders and they are feeling tight! So summer time is almost gone....sad. It goes by so fast. I love fall and all the colors, cooler weather, bonfires, etc... yes, it is my favorite season. I love fall food, too. :) I think we will fit one more trip to the beach somewhere into our schedule.

eeeeeeeek!

I must be really rusty at this teaching stuff or it just stirs up old emotions from when I taught before. I had a great experience when I taught school, (didn't enjoy homeschooling...but that's another story), but there are just some things that I do not enjoy about teaching. Today, I just got in the car and cried all the way home from the school. I feel overwhelmed (I'm such a wimp). Then I think, "Why are you feeling overwhelmed? It's only 3 classes!" We started this week and a lot of stuff is thrown at you. Do this and do that and have that done by this date and this how to do this and don't forget that..... I feel so inadequate, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. I feel like everyone else knows what they are doing and I feel like I am stumbling in the dark. Then I think "Emily, this will pass it will get better as the year goes on and you get the hang of things. The first time doing anything is an adjustment. " So I need Jesus to remind me once again of who He is and that His grace is sufficient for today. I belong to Him and He is not going to leave me. The picture above is how I feel right now. My friend, Jennifer, looks beautiful!

Sunday

Here is the nicely posed picture picture where everyone is doing what they are supposed to do!

Here is the crazy picture of my kids at the beach last Tues. We got there early...like 10. It was a gorgeous morning.
We have church in the afternoon on Sundays for now until our building is finished. So we sleep in on Sunday mornings and have a big breakfast. Today we had the traditional grits, eggs, bacon, and biscuits...oooooooeeeeee....it was good! David got to preach this afternoon and that was almost as good as my big breakfast!! :) Actually, it was really good. He preached on battling unbelief. Sometimes I think white people are too quiet in church because this afternoon I wanted to stand up and shout at a couple places in the sermon! My man was on fire today!

Maryland

I have become a big fan of the eastern shore, crabs, and Maryland. Yesterday we got to go pick up my niece on the western shore. When we were crossing the big Bay Bridge, the view was awesome with lots and lots of beautiful sailboats on the bay. The bridge is really high and about 4 miles long. I enjoy it when I am not driving...not so much when I am driving and it is two-way traffic. We took a beautiful drive through the countryside to Edgewater,MD. The summer camp that she worked at was right on the water. It was a beautiful day, so we enjoyed walking around the camp while she said her good-byes. The day before we went to Galena, MD to swim and visit a friend (finding grace). We also love visiting our friends in Chestertown, MD. It seems like whenever it is a beautiful day, we like to take a drive to MD, enjoy conversation with friends and being in MD. Now if I could just have some crabs for dinner.....

summer food

We had some good summer food last night...yummy. Then afterwards we were entertained by our neighbor friend...he's 9 but has a crush on the girls. He is so funny. He was showing us some of his dance moves and teaching them to Jacob.

friends

Today was such a good day. Last night I took Katelyn, Mary Ellen to the movies with some of their friends. We spent the night at our pastor's house (they are out of town on vacation). Then today the plan was to play in their pool. I called a good friend and spent part of the afternoon with her while the girls played in the pool. The time with my friend was so good. I love her so much and it was so good to sit and talk for almost two hours...time flies. Friends are such a blessing from God. We have helped and encouraged each other through good and bad times. I left her thinking, "That was so good and I wish I lived closer so we could do that more often!" It is so good to have people in our lives who pick us up when we fall down, comfort when we are sad, confront when we are wrong, laugh when we are happy, etc...you get the picture. I remember when I moved up here and left my good friends in SC. I wondered who I would connect with in a deep way. God has blessed me with several deep friendships up here and I can't imagine life without them. You know everyone wants to be loved....everyone. I have never met anyone who didn't want to be loved. We all have quirks and imperfections, warts, shortcomings....When we love others through all their imperfections we reflect the love that Jesus has for us. He loved us even when we hated him....talk about imperfections! Jesus knew ALL of ours and loves us anyway. When we feel like we have to "measure up" with people, it builds walls and prevents us to love others genuinely. I know I have made people feel like that before and I really don't want to be like that anymore. I remind myself all the time that I am not better than anyone else. Once I start thinking that I am better than someone else, it prevents me from loving them. Of course, my love is not perfect, but Jesus takes even my sin-tainted love and can use it for His glory. :)wow. I was in a situation about a year ago where I felt like I always had to measure up, say certain things, act a certain way,etc. The bar was set and it always kept moving. It was sucking the life out of me. Once I was removed from that situation, it took awhile for me to come out from under that condemnation, but God used people who understand the gospel and God's love to help me. My friend that I spent time with today is one of those people. thank you. Okay, so this is my blog and I just had to write my thoughts down. If you don't agree it's okay. I just needed to write what I have been thinking....sorry if I rambled or didn't make sense. I warned you at the beginning that I am not the best writer in the world. Sometimes it just feels good to write it all out and get it out!
So today was sweet. Time with a good friend is like a cold glass of water on a hot day! :)
One more thought. My daughter loves being with her friends. In fact, kate's friends have become Mary Ellen's friends as well. They have so much fun together! I love there zeal for life, their love for each other and their times of laughter. It is SO fun to listen to them laugh! Sometimes I just sit and listen. I don't have to be in the same room, or be a part of what they are doing at all to be blessed by their laughter! You know how good you feel after a good laugh...it's a good thing!