Barefoot Runner

Here's a picture of Rachel after her run last night. She's really enjoying it, but does need to work on pacing a little. (forgive the blurrieness of the pictures)



Here is a picture of her dirty, red little feet after the run.

This 'n' That

First of all, as you can see, my blog is undergoing a much needed facelift. Thanks, Lindsay! The pictures in the banner are some of the women from my family; sadly, most of them are no longer living. Three of my great-grandmothers are pictured, although I only have vague memories of two of them. The baby, excepting the one in the picture in the top left corner, is me. I have many special memories of these special ladies in my life and look to the different qualities of each as inspiration.

I hope that you enjoy the changes we've made(that's definately the proverbial "we"). There will be more pictures in the sidebar shortly. The blogroll is also in the process of being updated with sites that I frequent and enjoy. I hope to add new blogs as I find them.

My homemaking blog is also undergoing some changes. I hope that you will check in there to see how things are shaping up. As of this writing, you can't see the changes; everything that is being done is prep work, but the changes should be visible in a matter of days.

Do you ever go through times where you feel you need to have a pager on everything you own in order to keep track of things? That's how it's been for me lately--lots of little things have been misplaced. The one I did the other day was the topping on the cake for me...I lost my cellphone Though compared to Lindsey's method of crushing hers, my method of losing mine is just plain boring! I went to Walmart Tuesday, and while in the store, I spoke to the girls on the phone. When I went to get it out of my purse later at home, it wasn't there. A mild panic set in. We began calling it and standing in various places to see if it could be heard. We tried the van 3 times, all of the bedrooms, even standing by the trashcans outside to see if they were ringing. All to no avail! I called Cingular and told them to kill the phone and then proceeded to drive myself crazy trying to figure out what I could have done with it. Yesterday I went back to Walmart to see if anyone had turned it in. Well, they had about 10 other phones, but none of them were mine. Since it wasn't at Walmart, I called and got a replacement phone. I was very thankful to have insurance on it (which I had considered cancelling on Monday). The phone is being shipped out and should be here tomorrow or Saturday.

Gene, Lindsay, and Rachel have started running---barefooted!! Thanks, Bonnie! Now all of my rules about wearing shoes have gone out the window. Gene ran for years before, but this is his first time to try it shoeless. You can read about Lindsay's running adventures on her blog. It appears that Rachel seems to be naturally suited for running, as she is doing quite well at it. Hannah and Caroline don't have the stamina for running as of yet--so they are barefoot scootering.

I hope and pray that things are going well for you all in your neck of the woods--wherever that may be. I'd love to hear from those visiting my blog-so please take the time to introduce yourself.

Garden Thoughts

Why is it that when I'm working in the solitude of my garden, I can have such clear and consice thoughts? Then when I come indoors and put pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard) my deep thoughts sprint away to some unseen chasm, often never to be heard from again.

Last night while working on my roses, I had many deep thoughts, but upon returning inside, alas, they flittered away again. I hope to be able to retrieve them soon and to get them onto paper before they escape.

Around the Yard

Today Kim posted about everyday things that we often take for granted. I wanted to share with you some of the everyday things that bring joy to my life; if I had to list them, the laughter of my children would be at the top of the list. Nothing brings me more joy than to hear them laughing. Looking at God's creation gives me a great deal of pleasure, though we often tend to overlook the simple beauty of things.

I love to take pictures after a good rain, and this week I was provided with many opportunities. Here are some of the pictures that the girls and I took.

Hannah took this picture of her hibiscus.



Lindsay took these pictures one evening after a storm had blown over.










I took these pictures of my roses.










Rachel and I took these pictures of some of our vegetables.

Million Dollar Ruling

Lindsay has posted the update on her blog about the court case; you can read all about it there.

Million Dollar Fiasco

The insanity of the million dollar fiasco is now making national news. World Net Dailyhas a couple of articles reporting what has happened to date. I don't think we could have paid a million dollars for the publicity these ministries will receive.

Please don't let my encouragement over the Lord using the situation for His good in any way give you the impression that it has lessened the severity of the actions of the overzealous agents in the least. I have growing concerns about the "long arm of the law" and how they are using/abusing their powers.

Editor's addition: Today Darrell Rundus was interviewed by the local news in Dallas. Here is the interview.

Pot Cleaning Tip

Tonight we made our first WWII era meal, more on that later, and it left one of my pans with baked on goo. I remembered back to a book I had read on baking soda uses and decided to try one of the tips. I dampened the pan and sprinkled baking soda all over it and let it sit for about 20 minutes. I went back to it thinking it was going to take a while to scrub, and low and behold, the mess just rinsed off! I couldn't believe how easily it came clean. So, save your elbow grease, and use your baking soda!

For those who have a Sam's Club nearby, they sell baking soda in a huge bucket for a great price.

The Government has Gone Crazy!!

Today I received this in an e-mail from Living Waters:

Millions Confiscated



Today (Friday, June 2nd) the Secret Service seized a large supply of our Million Dollar Bill tracts from The Great News Network in Texas. They told them that someone in North Carolina tried to deposit one in their bank, and that if they didn't give up their supply, they would arrest them. Then they said they are going to seize our supply in California.


In actuality, and as hard as it is to believe...I'm speechless about this. I'm stunned beyond belief. My 11yo, Rachel, could even see how insane this is. She said, "It says on the tract that it's not real money." She also pointed out that they sell play money at the store.. so what's the problem?! I'd love to know your thoughts on the subject; please share!


For those of you who are unaware, Living Waters is an evangelism ministry headed by Ray Comfort and Kirk Cameron. They work with The Great News Network which does practical training such as the Bootcamps Gene attends. They utilize tracts as a means of spreading the gospel, and these Million Dollar bills are just one type of their many tracts. The really funny thing is... there is no such thing as a million dollar bill.

I found this at the U.S. Treasury site:

Did the Treasury Department ever produce a $1 million currency note? I have one that I want to know about.

We receive many inquiries asking if the Treasury Department ever produced a $1 million currency note. People have sent in copies of these notes. We have found that they are nonnegotiable platinum certificates known as a "One Million Dollar Special Issue." These notes were from a special limited copyrighted art series originally sold by a Canadian firm for $1.00 each as a collectible item. They are not official United States currency notes manufactured by our Bureau of Engraving and Printing (BEP). As such, they are not redeemable by the Department of the Treasury.

You may be interested to know that the BEP learned of these certificates in the spring of 1982. All related correspondence was forwarded to the United States Secret Service to decide if there were any violations of Federal currency laws. The Secret Service subsequently advised, however, that these certificates did not violate any United States law.

So if these don't violate any law (which Living Waters checked before having them produced) why did they raid GNN and take the bills?? Big Paranoid Government gone mad???? I think so.

Swiss Family Robinson

What Type of Homeschooler Are You?

Swiss Family Robinson If you can grow it, pick it, preserve it, or butcher it, you own it. Otherwise, you do without. You'd prefer to live off-grid from the power company, since you're nearly self-sufficient already. You enjoy unit studies for the way they utilize all facets of life and truly incorporate life and education as a whole, not as separate entities. Visit my blog: http://www.GuiltFreeHomeschooling.blogspot.com
Take this quiz!








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It really amazed me how accurate this was in describing me. One of our dreams would be to be solar/wind powered, producing our own food. I am probably a cross between this and the Abraham Lincoln result (which is what Lindsay got).