He's Grown A New Body Part

 

Don't they say that anything you do regularly for at least 6 weeks becomes a habit? How about, after 3 months of constantly playing the guitar, it becomes attached? Seriously, all around the house, to the mailbox, out back to feed Kodiak, at the table doing homework... welcome to the new image! I'm secretly very happy about it, of course -- except when I'm awakened to the tune of 'Axel F'. I never liked the song in the first place and now I have a very proud son who was able to figure it out and plays it all the time. I look more forward to the days of "Clare de Lune" or a little James Taylor. For now, I just smile and say, "I love it! Play it again!"

No matter what it is.:)

Under Construction

What do you do when it's 100+ degrees outside? The best thing around here is to go play in the spring-fed creek. Finding a shallow, shady spot to plop your chair in and dangling your feet in the 68 degree water feels sooooo good! The boys did a different thing all day and it was this...

 

 

All in the effort to find these...

 

To add to the completion of this...

 

Look closely and you will find, cleverly camouflaged, 3 turtles, 3 small catfish-looking things, 2 bottom-suckers, 2 baby trout(?), and several crawdads. There were also some tadpoles in there but they made a nice snack for the turtles pretty quickly (fortunately I convinced Joshua that we don't name everything that ever goes in the tank). So we're teetering on weird, but in the process, we've developed quite a microcosmic North-American, freshwater ecosystem, huh? Now we just need some old tires and a toilet seat...

Summer in 3-D

 

I guess we'll never again get to go to a movie without having to wear these stupid glasses. You're suppose to be enjoying the effects they give you as you're watching all the excitement, but as they keep slipping down your nose, you can't help but wonder, do they really clean these between uses? Anyway, let me warn you if you haven't already seen Toy Story III -- if you have a child/children growing in your home faster that you can swallow the transpiration of, these glasses actually help disguise the ugly cry that comes with watching this incredibly emotionally manipulative movie. Usually I'm not such a sucker. The song "Christmas Shoes" makes me roll my eyes and switch stations. Hallmark movies, oh my goodness, they have no subtlety whatsoever (Come on! At least make me like your characters before they die, have a baby, fall in love, etc. -- all the usual tricks). Toy Story, however, broad-sided me. My shirt was wet. Joshua was looking over at me asking, "What's wrong with you?"

"Despicable Me" was much more merciful. All three of us enjoyed that one together. I SURE wouldn't have wanted to see Greg do the ugly cry! We left him at work for that other one...

Almost Qualified

Joshua mentioned the other day that it's a little disappointing he can't marry me.

"You like turtles, you're a good Christian woman... too bad your hair is blonde."

Skipper

No, we're not pregnant. The addition to our home is.....

Another turtle! (Which makes 4)

 

It's a baby softshell! Gotta tell you the story so humor me on yet another tale. First of all, have you ever seen a softshell turtle? I hadn't. Except for one in an exhibit. They're not very common to see at all, let alone as a baby -- which is the ultimate prize in this family. We never in a thousand years thought we'd really find one. And that's not for a lack of someone always looking...

Here is Josh hanging over a dock trying to catch some fish he was feeding french fries to. Some common adult turtles were in the crowd but no softshell. This is just one example of MANY!

 

Actually, the way it happened was at this spot below. This is my favorite lakeside hangout -- the place where I plop my chair, get out my 'Southern Living' magazine and watch the boys swim. On this particular occasion, we were walking down to our spot and Greg reminded us to be on the lookout for a baby softshell. I stuck my toes in the water, said "We'll never find one", and looked down to see one sitting right next my foot. I kid you not, it was just like that! I thought Greg was gonna lose consciousness...

 

For the rest of the afternoon I relished again at how good God is. I sat in my chair, watching the boys swim, and wondered, "Is it really a miracle that these things happen, or are things like this more common than we think and we just miss it?" I decided that the glory of God's creation is incredibly common. The real miracle is when our eyes are opened to see it...

Our 4th

Thank goodness for long weekends and family with a lakehouse! Thank goodness, too, that our forefathers had a vision worth fighting for -- a vision for the country I love and call home. God bless the USA!!

 

 

 

 

It was the 4th of July, there's a 4th little one in our mix, and there's also a 4th of something else now...

Do you hate it when I do that?

Strolling The Grounds

 

Penn State is a beautiful campus. We had a great time just walking around gawking at the dates on the buildings and reading their plaques. We had to also take note of every tree and decide what it was. Such blatant tourists! It could only have been topped if we'd had white sun-blocked noses and were running around with a big, blue foam "We're #1!" sign. Wish we would've.

 

The scene below was so funny to me but I was the only one laughing. No one else noticed the duck feeling very comfortable in the conversation...