JSUK - It is Beatrix Potter's Birthday!

You may, or may not know that Beatrix Potter is the author of several children's books including, "The Tale of Peter Rabbit." All that I could really recall about this book (that I surely heard numerous times during my childhood) was that Peter disobeyed his mother by going into Mr. McGregor's garden for a feast. What I learned after doing a little further research is that his mother asked him not go to to Mr. McGregor's garden because his father was in an unfortunate accident there and was made into pie!!! What a sad story - but, I suppose the moral is to listen to your mother, or you may be made into pie.

Guess what else? Beatrix Potter was a mycologist - she studied Lichens & Spore Germination. What a strange combination a mycologist and a children's author. Just goes to show you, you can do anything you want - don't put yourself into a category!!

Favorite Photo Friday

Reasons that I love this photo: DDR!! Dance, Dance Revolution. It is an arcade game where you get points for following the screen and tapping out the correct moves with your feet, to the beat. It is fun. Diana & Mindy were visiting us in Pennsylvania and we decided to go to a new restaurant/arcade that opened. This picture makes me laugh everytime I see it because we had to wait quite awhile just to get on the game. There were these two boys on the game for forever - AND they had been on it so long that they were sweating. The game is really fun, and I still concede that I would play it everyday if i had one in my basement! Also - I like this photo because everytime I get together with Mindy and Diana - I always have my cowboy boots handy - Diana loves to wear them. I think she has her own now, but I'll still be bringing mine, just in case. ...And the boy that did not want to share his game, See! I told you, he really is sweating!!

Ironman Triathlon

Re-Using Dirt

Sometimes I have these moments where something slips out of my mouth, and before I can realize how "blonde" I sound (i.e. not intelligent) - Dave jumps right in and cracks a joke. 2 actual examples: "Does all cotton come from trees?" ; "You can re-use dirt?".... ah, yes, I really said those things - and for a moment I can sympathize with Jessica Simpson when she's been caught on tape saying, "Is this chicken or is it tuna, because it says - 'Chicken of the Sea'? Which is what she asked her husband while eating a can of tuna. [Of course - I could never make this error because you will never catch me eating tuna - I can smell it a mile away.]

When we moved from PA to MI - I was getting rid of a plant that had died, and Dave told me to save the dirt because we can re-use it. To which I said, "You can re-use dirt?" To which Dave has gotten many, many laughs out of since then.... of course I know that you can re-use dirt, I just wasn't thinking when I said it. Just last week as we were re-planting a few things he was able to bring that line up again, and laugh about it some more, which certainly will not be the last time he gets a good laugh from the dirt comment.

So lately I have been thinking about the idea of re-using dirt. In fact some of the dirt that I was re-using came out in one big clump because the roots from the previous plant were so engraved into the soil that I had to break it apart bit by bit to get the soil that I needed. I stuck my hand in between the roots and took out all of the rich soil that the roots were clinging to. And, at the very end as I shook the roots the last remaining soil crumbled off very easily.

Sometimes Christians forget that God re-uses dirt all of the time. He wants to re-use dirt. He says, "Come to me, all of you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest." Matthew 11:28

In fact, haven't we all been dirty at some point? I do not mean being dirty physically. I mean being "life-dirty." Sometimes the dead roots cling to the rich soil and don't want to let it go - should't we reach out to those with dirt in their lives? "Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it."
1 Corinthians 12:27 From a song: If we are the body, why aren't his arms reaching, why aren't his hands healing, why aren't his words teaching?

So, if we are all part of the body of Christ - how do you think Christ would prefer that we make good use of his hands? I would humbly suspect that he would want us to reach out, and love those that have stumbled in their walk.....and welcome the "dirty" with open-arms - where else will they be welcomed home?

....sometimes it just takes time and prayer to get rid of the dead roots and let the rich soil prepare for something new, and beautiful.

JSUK - Dogs & Grooming

JSUK - Dog Groomers are bossy! Ours told us we must use conditioner to keep Snickers hair from getting knotted during the summer, when he plays in the water (he is getting his legs in, now).... we think, he's a dog - let him have some fun. I don't think he minds the short haircut (due to his knots) at all. :)

Favorite Photo Friday

Okay - I admit it, I completely stole the "Favorite Photo Friday" idea from another blogger....but, I like the idea.

So, this is my first favorite photo Friday. The picture (which I need to return along with some others to Dave's mom) is dated June 1999. I guess I like this picture for a number of reasons..... two brothers working hard on the farm. (I think Chris just took off his shoes for dramatic effect in the picture perhaps, or maybe he was working really,really hard - and already had to go in for a shower.) I also like this picture because - well, look at them! Aren't they good-looking farm boys?

And lastly - what do you think the difference is 1999 vs. 2008 to fill that big truck up with gas?? Love your farmers that feed you.

Balloons, Birds, and Baby

I have been meaning to get an update blog together for quite some time.... I haven't even posted the 4th of July pictures yet!! So, they will be below - what I have discovered is that we didn't take any pictures of people... as you'll see.

We spent the 4th here in Michigan. In Battle Creek they have quite a celebration with a Hot Air Balloon festival - and THE Birds - Air Force Thunderbirds that is. We live very close to the airport (which isn't a commercial airport, so typically not too noisy), thus we were quite close to all of the action. We were able to see the balloons, the birds, and the fireworks all without leaving our neighborhood - it was great!! Dave LOVED all of the flight shows, and wished he was a fighter pilot. He carried our camera around all weekend. You will see some of the moments that we caught in the slideshow. Some of the balloons actually landed in our neighborhood - they weren't supposed to, though. Did you know that hot air balloons don't have much accuracy as they are landing? It was really cool to see them up close and personal!! Snickers, on the other hand, hated the balloons... the sound that they make as the blow the hot air is a sound he had never heard before - and it frightened him a lot. I was outside doing something, and Dave was still in bed sleeping...when he woke up to the bed shaking. Snickers had jumped up next to him and his legs were trembling in fear! He eventually got used to it, but it was quite scary at first.

And lastly - and most importantly - we have a new nephew!! Esther (Dave's sister), Jason & Ava welcomed Oliver Christopher on Friday, July, 11th. Oliver is a family name from Jason's mom, and Christopher is in memory of our brother, Chris. Oliver was 8lbs, 12oz.... I guess this was bigger than anyone thought, incuding the doctor. I don't have any pictures yet, but I have seen pictures, and he is a cutie!!! Ava is very excited that her baby brother has finally arrived! Next on the list.... my brother and Maritza are expecting a little girl in September.

Without further adieu...a few pictures - mostly from the 4th in Battle Creek & a short movie of Snickers freaking out about the balloons - you can see how hard he was breathing!! (Sorry it is sideways, I didn't flip it before I downloaded):

Word Associations

Most of you that know me to any extent know that 1. I love to sing - even though it is not always on-pitch or on-key. :) and 2. I love dogs!

Last night Dave was working on his monthly PPV report, which is quite time-consuming.... think "Office Space" and TPS Report. It was getting late, but I wanted to wait up - so I was looking through our DVR (Digital Video Recorder - this is the latest version of a VCR that comes with your cable box and is amazing.)

Anyway - back to the story - I had a new show on there called "The Singing Office." Intriguing to me because if I still worked in an Office this would be so fun to be on! It is a singing/dancing competition between 2 real-life offices. It is on TLC - couldn't quite make prime-time, but good try Joey Fatone. (Host & Former member of boy-band N'Sync)

One of the chosen songs for last night was The Four Tops, "I Can't Help Myself" or better known as "Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch." (....you know that I love you, I can't help myself - I love you and nobody else....") It was a 1965 Billboard hit on their Motown Label.

Whenever I hear this song - I immediately think of the 1988-1991 TV Show "China Beach." What???? Does anyone know why? I do know why. We would sometimes watch this show at my house - it was about an evacuation hospital during the Vietnam War - and was at a beach in Vietnam called - China Beach. Anyway -in one particular episode of this show, the nurses that were the main plot of the show were going to perform for the troops - and they were going to sing "Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch." One of the nurses simply couldn't do it because prior to this she was purchasing a puppy at a street-stand and she was going to call him Sugar Pie.....well, if you know anything about that area of the world - they eat dogs. And you guessed it, they didn't hand her a puppy but began to fry up the meat! Aughhhhhh. She, of course, could not perform that song - if I remember right, she ran off the stage and vomited.

I thought of that last night while watching The Singing Office --- and decided that I have such a love for dogs that whenever I hear that song, I remember the poor nurse that had her dog fried up.

Is it the power of word associations - or just the power of music/songs. I think the latter. We can memorize song after song after song... but, try to recall some basic facts - and you really can't do it unless you have put those facts into a song, or some sort of memory trick. Of course, this isn't true for everyone - especially the male species. Dave can quote line after line from movies..... my friend H., her husband can remember baseball facts in seconds.... and there is a guy in Dave's hometown that can tell you the lineage & relations of everyone in town.

When I was a young gradeschooler doing my multiplication tables, for whatever reason I could NEVER remember 9x7!! My mom told me: "Up a ladder, down a tree, nine times seven is sixty-three." I never forgot that one again! What tricks, songs, and associations do you remember?

P.S. Coming soon to a blog near you....4th of July pictures!

JSUK Monday - Mosquito Tones

Okay, so I am probably the last person to hear about these things.....perhaps I should rename this JSIK.....

Mosquito tones are new ringtones that kids can download for their cell phones, and adults cannot hear them!! I definitely thought that I would be able to hear them.... there are different levels of tones for different age groups. If you damaged your ears from rocking out to loud music - you may not hear the appropriate level for your age!

I could hear down until the 24 & Older category. A little bit above average for my age, - and Dave could, as well.

Apparently they were originally developed to keeps kids from loitering outside of certain business areas - since adults didn't hear the tones it didn't bother them at all - but kids stayed away. NOW - the kids are using them to bring their cell phones to school and other places where they should not have them..... the typical teacher cannot hear the tone, so nobody knows they are using their phone during class!!

Try them out for yourself, start at a higher level and work your way down - I'd turn your speakers up full blast, just to be sure!!

http://www.freemosquitoringtones.org/