Joanne Heim

Ta-dah!

I finally sat down to redo the shop after all the code disappeared when Typepad changed. But it's up and running once more. So, take a peek...

Now I just need to finish up those ABCs of Living Simply. I have not forgotten about it, I just ran out of steam for a while! I'm anxious to finish, so I can print them all out and make myself a little book.

Crafty girls

Audrey, Emma, and Ava at Allison's wedding at Twin Bears Camp, Alaska

(Though the Alaska state flower is the forget-me-not, I think it should be the dandelion!)

Just had to share this photo of my girls! Audrey and Emma "helped" make their dresses--pinning and cutting out and sewing some of the straighter seams.

Audrey's dress is Simplicity 4255, view A (without the bow and ruffle). Making it again, I would change how the bodice lining is done. It has a raw seam inside and looks kind of messy, instead of hand sewing the lining inside to make it neater. I did mix sizes for Audrey--an 8 for the bodice and a 10 for the skirt. Be sure to measure your daughter before making it! The size 10 bodice would've been too loose and hard to adjust once it was made because of the lining. Next time, I'd also maybe add a little length--just an inch or two.

Emma's dress is McCalls 5613, view A, with rickrack added to the seam between bodice and skirt and also to the hem. I didn't add the elastic to the back seam between bodice and skirt--it seemed unnecessary. I'd add some length to this pattern too--my girls are tall!

I'd definitely make both of these again.

(As for Ava, her shirt is a hand-me-down from Emma from Old Navy!)

Monday morning and time for a giveaway

Happy Monday morning!

Does it ever take you ages to get going in the morning? Even though I'm an early riser (Joey the cat starts going beserk at 5:30 on the dot tearing around the house and jumping on me; I manage to stay in bed until 6:30 or so in the summer) it takes me forever to start my day.

Well, maybe that's not quite true. In the three hours I've been up, I've had my quiet time, gone for a run, eaten breakfast, read to the girls, surfed blogs, and signed up for Google reader to keep me updated on all of you other bloggers. But I'm not showered yet and so it feels like my day hasn't officially started.

Anyhoo...

My friend Janna gave me a coffee holder for my birthday and I love it. I decided to try making one myself; here it is--and it's up for grabs. 

Leave a comment here by the end of the day on Friday (July 4) and I'll do a drawing!

The great baby bunny rescue

We were just sitting out back eating bowls of strawberries after our evening walk when I strolled over to look in the window well. Here's what I saw:

Can you see down there? That little brown ball was really this baby bunny:

Poor baby. Who knows how long he'd been down there? Toben ran to get some gloves and I ran to get the camera. 

When it was all over, the girls were thrilled. Because they actually got to pet a bunny--something they try to do each and every day! (And I petted him too--so sweet and soft and little.)

So much excitement! Now it's time to wash hands(!) and take baths.

P.S. This morning I was sitting in my chair having my quiet time and noticed something come to the front door. It was a coyote and then he stood by the window and looked in at me. I was so shocked I forgot to take a picture. 

I saw him three more times this morning, and will be sure to have my camera handy tomorrow morning in case he comes back.

Time for a new look

I upgraded my account on Typepad so now I can customize things a little more. So I've been playing around with a different design. The old one was getting, well, old, and it was time for a change.

So after our outing to the Bass Pro Shop this morning for a little field trip and target practice at their fake shooting range (I got the mountain lion!), I learned how to make a blog banner.

Do you ever feel like you need a change? Rearranging the furniture, a new outfit, a new haircut--those are the things I usually turn to. But a new blog banner is much easier than a new haircut--especially one that ends in tears (as so many of mine have...).

Alyeska Tram

Tuesday was our last day in Alaska, and in the morning we rode the tram to the top of the mountain--straight up about 3,000 feet (at least I think that's what the guy said).

I've been skiing since I was about six years old, but I'm not sure I'd want to ski here. This mountain is STEEP!

Take a look at the view from the top--breathtaking! They get a lot of snow--last year 79 feet at the top of the mountain. I can't quite imagine that!

That's an arm of the Pacific Ocean in the background. Ocean, mountains, snow. Pretty incredible!

Finally...

One of the biggest vacation challenges for me is having my quiet time. Somehow time away from my usual routine doesn't equal extended quiet time, more reading with the girls, or any of the other things I pack with great hopes.

Is it the same for you?

I did pretty well while we were in Fairbanks. We rented a house with room enough for everyone to have their own bedroom and bathroom, and a living room to share. Because I got up early, I made the coffee and found a spot on the couch to spread out and read and pray each morning. But as soon as we ended up in a hotel room in Alyeska, it just didn't happen.

And it showed.

I've often said that about a day or two is all I can handle without my morning time with God, and it's so true. By day two, the wheels came off and it was ugly. Yes, there were some parenting issues that came up and needed to be dealt with--but nothing really out of the ordinary. What was out of the ordinary was that I was running on empty--so everything felt blown way out of proportion and like the world was falling apart.

One of the verses I love is this one (in fact, it's on the back of my business cards):

Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love,

that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days.

Psalm 90:14

I need my time in the morning with God--because without it, I'm dissatisfied and joy is awfully hard to come by. I need God to fill me so that I have something to offer my family and those around me. Without it, I feel needy, like I have to grab satisfaction from others--who may or may not have something to give me. 

We got home Wednesday morning and I went right back to bed. Yesterday I overslept and rushed out the door to get to our appointments on time. This morning, I got up and grabbed some coffee, sat in my favorite chair, and soaked in the satisfaction that God had waiting for me. 

Everyone's still asleep--and I've been able to catch up on some email, be still and quiet, and just rest. Finally...

When women ask me about my quiet time, this is what I usually talk about. Satisfaction. Rest. Peace. Quiet. Having my quiet time every morning isn't about getting up early and checking it off my list. It's not something I do because I think I should or because I feel guilty if I don't. I need this time. Desperately. Each and every day. 

More than anything else, quiet time in the morning--reading the Bible, praying, studying, and journaling--is what God has used to teach me, to reveal himself, to give me hunger for him, and to satisfy that hunger with his presence.

Some of you have asked, and this is what my new book is about. It's coming out in the fall from Kregel. Here's the working cover and title--which may change, but I really like it:

Download misplacing_god_cover.pdf

I can't get the picture to show up in the post, but you can see it if you click on it--it shows up huge, not sure why. Anyway, what do you think?

We're home from Alaska!

Just taking a quick break from laundry and housecleaning to say we're home. We flew out of Anchorage at 11 p.m. on Tuesday night, landing in Denver at 5:54 a.m. yesterday. A long, uncomfortable, and bumpy flight.

We came home, dumped suitcases, and went to sleep until almost noon. Then spent the rest of the day lounging and letting our souls catch up with our bodies.

I waaay overslept this morning and Audrey and I rushed out the door to get her to her first tutoring appointment at school (while I went to the grocery) and then rushed to get to her vision therapy five minutes late. By the time we came home it was lunch time and time for laundry and unpacking and vacuuming and such.

We had a great last day in Alyeska on Tuesday before flying home--more about that and pictures as soon as I catch my breath a little.

Portage Glacier and the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center

This is just a taste of the scenery around here:

We took a boat tour on the Portage Lake this morning--to see the Portage Glacier:

The sign on the door of the boat place said this:

But the only bear we saw was this one at the Chugach Visitor's Center:

Until we stopped at the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center:

Yes, it's behind a fence, but there's no way I'd see one that close in the wild--though I'm still hopeful. We got close to animals here--l mean CLOSE. Take a look at this moose just inches from my face!

We're headed out in a bit to Bird Point to try to see the bore tide--a wall of water up to six feet tall that can roar up Turnagain Arm when the tide changes. Here's hoping today's one of those days!

Wildlife count

Yesterday we drove down from Fairbanks to Anchorage past Denali. And saw a bald eagle and a Dall sheep. We're at Mount Alyeska outside of Girdwood on the Turnagain Arm. Wow! Is it beautiful!

The kids at Denali Visitor Center where we stopped for a runaround and lunch break (see Tyson run?!).

Audrey and Emma at Beluga Point--we didn't see any beluga whales--yet!

Along the Turnagain Arm...there are no navigational charts for these waters. The tides change 41 feet and there's quicksand. So when the tide is out, the guide books say DON'T walk out there!

More later...

Goin' on a moose hunt...

 

We were totally determined to see a moose today. So on the way out to the camp for the wedding, we followed every side road with river access to search out moose. As you can see, we have a pretty good technique.

The first thing we found was a frog, or is it a toad? Anyway, he's hiding in there--can you see him?

No moose. But the river was beautiful!

We drove on a for a while, calling moose out the window. And then...

TWO MOOSE! 

And the call must have lasted, because on the way back down the same road hours later...

ANOTHER MOOSE!

It's kind of hard to tell just how big they are--but they are HUGE!

Three moose! Hooray and yea God! (Because I was really about to give up hope, and was telling God just how cool it would be to see a moose--and then we did. So we all yelled "Thank you, Jesus!" along with our moose calls!)

Riverboat Discovery

We spent the morning on the Riverboat Discovery--a must if you're ever in Fairbanks. We saw bush pilots take off and land on the Chena River and on sandbars, saw sled dogs in action (pulling at ATV rather than a sled!), and visited the Chena Village where we saw trapper cabins, native beadwork and sewing, reindeer, and got to pet sled dogs up close.

It totally looks like a place where there should have been bear fishing for salmon--but no luck! Mom and Dad saw another moose this morning on their way into town to meet us...I'm still hoping...

Audrey and Emma aren't quite ready to move in for the winter!

Look at this amazing shelter--I had to take a picture to use as an example the next time we need to build shelters at Girl Scout camp!

Hanging out at Twin Bears Camp

We drove out to Twin Bears Camp this morning and hung out for the day. It was great to see Mom and Dad after almost a month and see their trailer set up (I had only seen pictures so far), to meet some family I'd not met before, to watch the girls do their best to catch a fish, and to kayak across the lake (something I've never done before--I went in a lot of circles!).

 

Emma and I walked down this nature trail for about two minutes--and found ourselves deep in the middle of nowhere. So we turned around--figured before we went further we should tell someone where we were headed! We'll explore the rest of the trail with a larger group another day...

We also visited the Large Animal Research Station--Allison's fiance Jesse works there and gave us a private tour. So we got to see musk ox and baby musk ox and caribou and reindeer up close and personal. Very cool.

We had dinner with Mom and Dad and are back at the house. (The camp is just as rustic as the website said--we're feeling especially good about the decision to rent this house! Especially after our long, hot showers tonight.)

We're headed down the Chena River in the morning on a riverboat--should be fun!

Made it to Alaska!

Landing in Anchorage at 9:45 p.m. we found that it really is The Land of the Midnight Sun...

It was bright enough to need sunglasses!

We were all so tired, and made it to a hotel just a few minutes from the airport for a quick and short night of sleep before heading up to Fairbanks yesterday.

We drove the Park Highway 3 from Anchorage to Fairbanks--about 350 miles and 6 hours. We watched for animals out the window, but this is the most moose we saw:

The scenery was amazing--deciduous forests, pine forests, huge mountains. We drove past the entrance to Denali and I hope we'll make it to the visitor's center on the way back to Anchorage next week. 

Here's a bit of the scenery we say--taken out the window as we sped along:

 

We made it to Knoll House by mid-afternoon, got unpacked, and went looking for a grocery store. Toben made chicken spaghetti while the girls and I worked on our trip journals and the house smelled delicious by the time Wade, Kristen, and their kids arrived about 6:30 p.m.

We bathed the kids, tacked some towels and blankets over the windows to make it dark as possible, and slept great.

This morning, we're headed out to the camp along the Chena Hot Springs Road where the rest of the family is staying and my cousin Allison's wedding will be held on Saturday. We'll stop by Walmart on the way for some heavy duty bug spray and a few random supplies. More later...

Just for Papa

Dear Papa,

Here's what we've been up to lately!

Love, 

Audrey and Emma

***

While we were hanging out at the pool yesterday afternoon, Audrey and Emma earned new nicknames. Emma is "Otter" because she rolls here and there, frolicking in the water like an otter. Audrey is now "Seal" because she's much more interested in swimming smoothly and learning to dive in cleanly.

Happy Father's Day

The psalm for this week in my prayer book has been Psalm 84. And it tied in with our father's day in a roundabout way. Psalm 84:11 says this:

No good thing does he withhold from those whose walk is blameless.

Now here's how it ties in...

The Hebrew word for good thing is towb, which means "good, pleasant, agreeable; excellent; better (comparative); a good thing, benefit, welfare; prosperity, happiness." And towb is pronounced "tobe"--exactly what I call Toben for short.

I'm by no means saying that my walk is blameless, but my Tobe is definitely a towb given to me by God. He is good. He is pleasant. He is agreeable. He is an excellent husband and father. And for me and my girls, he is better than all the others. He has our welfare in mind, works hard to provide for our family, and brings us happiness.

Happy Father's Day, Tobe. I love you.

First trip to the last frontier

We are headed to Alaska on Tuesday. 

My cousin, Allison, is getting married on the Summer Solstice at a camp outside of Fairbanks and my whole family is headed to the wedding. Mom and Dad have been on their way for the past three weeks or so (you can keep up with them here) and we're flying out on Tuesday with Kristen and her family.

Toben is so darned excited and has been packing in his head for something like the past three weeks. Part of the reason he's so excited is that we're not staying at the camp with everyone else. He does not rough it--and the camp is rustic! Here's one of their "primitive" cabins:

We're staying here and sharing the house with Wade and Kristen and their kids. It's not "primitive"--given that there's lots of hot running water and internet and satellite television.

Pretty, huh?! I'm getting more excited as I think about running along that road in the mornings--maybe running away from a bear will help me pick up the pace some...

I haven't given packing much thought. Somehow packing for me plus two girls feels like something I just haven't wanted to think about much. Plus, I have to do laundry first. I can't pack unless ALL the clothes are clean and I have a comprehensive list to pack from!

But I have started gathering the important stuff--like stickers and books and paints and pencils. 

When we went to Washington, D.C. two years ago, I took along blank books, stickers, glue, scissors, markers, and the girls and I made travel scrapbooks. They loved it! Each day we took our books with us wherever we went and took time to sit and copy our favorite paintings or cut up magazines and museum brochures. We wrote about our favorite part of each day and glued in lots of postcards, pictures, and anything else we thought was fun.

Here's a peek at those books. (I did all the journaling for the girls--writing down their words for them--since they were younger at the time and Emma, especially, couldn't do it herself. They did all their own pictures and cutting and gluing though.)

This was a great way for the girls (and me!) to record our trip and they still love looking at their books two years later.

So we're going to do the same thing again for this trip. We stocked up on fun stickers and stuff at Jo-Ann's the other day, and are off to Michael's later today for the blank books that we like best.

I'm also thinking about what other projects and such to pack--card games for certain, a knitting project or two for me, and maybe some more embroidery for the girls. I think I'll also pack some embroidery floss so they can work on friendship bracelets. And movies are a must too.

What are your must-haves for your kids for vacation? Other than clothes and sunscreen and other necessities... I'm sure I'm forgetting something!

Exercising those eyes of faith

Audrey's vision therapy starts everyday with eye calisthenics--exercises to strengthen her eyes. 

She sits perfectly still, keeping her head facing forward, and follows this little red ball with her eyes. I move it up and down and all around, and her goal is to follow it smoothly with her eyes. When we first started therapy, her eyes jumped all over the place while we did this, but now her eyes are moving so much more smoothly and easily.

Then I hold it still at different points to help her stretch her eyes. She's so tempted to look away--because it can hurt. Try holding your finger off to the side of your head, almost out of your line of sight, and focus on it for a count of 10 or so. I promise your eyes will feel it as they stretch!

So what stretches your eyes of faith?

I was thinking about it in terms of these exercises and realized that focusing on Jesus, even when it seems as if he's almost out of your line of sight, stretches our faith. Of course it's much easier to just turn your head and look straight on at him. But circumstances and life pull us in another direction and so we use our eyes of faith to look at him, stretching them and strengthening them to focus on something that seems hard to see. And as we do, our eyes get stronger.

An afternoon at the pool followed by some sewing

We spent the afternoon in the sun at the pool--our usual summer afternoon activity. Then worked on a dress for Audrey and finished this simple tote.

Off for some stir fry for dinner...

The Big Backyard Bloggy Bash

After our fun luncheon earlier this winter, we definitely needed another bloggy get together--this time with kids included. So with lots of prayer for good weather, we hosted The Big Backyard Bloggy Bash today. It was super fun!

(We needed prayer because I think there were 16 kids at my last count--waaaay too many to have inside my house, but just perfect for the backyard!)

So fun, that I only took one picture! (I don't feel too badly though, because Meredith mentioned that she forgot to take pictures too. I did see Holly take some--in fact, she's taking a picture in the picture below!--so maybe she'll share some...)

Here's the list of who came--you can find links to their blogs/websites over on the links page: Meredith, Holly, Kimberly, Janna, Kristen, Kate, Angie, and Amy. We really missed Wendy, and are praying you feel better soon!

My favorite parts of the day? Seeing Audrey really connect with Meredith's daughter Sarah; hearing Janna say, "I just love that Meredith;" and watching Angie's little Addie walk across the deck clutching an armload of juice boxes. "What are you doing?" her mama asked. "Just getting some juice for me," she said. Oh, and we had okra pickles, which I just love. And popsicles. Mmmm...

Summer routine

I think we've settled into our summer routine--it took a while since the first week of summer is always a bust (staying in our jammies and watching way too much television and eating things like Pop Tarts and Trix for breakfast) and we were in Phoenix for the second week. But here we are in the third week of vacation and I think we've hit our stride.

I am totally a chart/list kind of gal, and I really wanted the girls to have some sort of a summer checklist--not only to keep them on track, but to keep me on track too. It's all too easy to get to the end of the day and realize that I didn't quiz Audrey on her multiplication facts or help Emma with her reading. Or to finally sit down to breakfast at 10:30 in the morning and not get dressed until noon.

I spent some time thinking of the basic things that need to be done each morning and evening, and fiddled with a chart on the computer, but it didn't turn out quite like I wanted. Then I remembered that Meredith lets her kids make their own charts and that they love that, so that's what we did--sort of. They got a little frustrated in making things fit on their charts, so I wrote the words for the girls and then they chose the colors for all the little check boxes, drew lots of decorations, and ran them through the laminator.

Now their charts are hanging up in the bathroom, and they've been really good about checking things off.

Like I said, it's pretty basic--make bed, brush teeth (it's amazing how often that gets forgotten around here!), get dressed. The thing that's great is that it puts things like vision therapy homework for Audrey and independent reading for Emma first thing in the morning so that it gets done early in the day. Then we're free to have fun.

It's been great too, because it's helped me get out and walk or run in the morning before we have breakfast at 8:30. Even though I love to get out each morning, this spring it just didn't happen.

Part of our summer routine is spending a couple hours at the pool everyday--usually after lunch. Then we come home and the girls get showered and wash their hair (but end up with green hair pretty quickly anyway!) and put on their jammies. Evenings are long and relaxed and full of popsicles.

We have just enough time to get this routine down before leaving for Alaska next Tuesday. But once we get back, we're home until August.

I'm curious--what are some of the things in your summer routine?

P.S. My parents have been updating their travel journal like crazy with lots of great photos from Alaska. Here's the link again if you want to take a peek and tell them hi.

Toben needs your help, part 2

You guys (well, gals!) have totally come through for Toben--he's blown away by your responses. So,thank you!

He'd love some "guy comments" too...would you consider asking your husband/boyfriend/fiance/guy friend to answer too?

Thanks in advance!

Audrey's guest post

Audrey wants to share her embroidery with you too! So here she is:

This is the zippy I made. It is called "Backyard Bumblebee." It was fun to make it and my favorite part is the bumblebee. It's the first thing I embroidered and was really hard to fill it in completely. I love the flowers too. My favorite color is the pink on the flower.

I'm going to keep my Puppy in My Pockets in it too. And I'll take it to Alaska just like Emma.

Here's a close up of the front:

I didn't put my name on the back; instead I put a little A on the front. Do you see it?

Red Card Kids

We started a new Sunday school class at church yesterday--for the life of me I can't remember the name of the class or find the class description on the church's website.

Anyway, this is the curriculum the class uses:

Their website isn't quite up and running with full information, but here's the link.

What drew me to the class initially is that it's a class for families to attend together. Emma's a little too young for their requirement (though there were some kids her age anyway, so we may take her next week if she wants to go), but Toben, Audrey, and I went yesterday. And the class is all about kids around the world.

This is a brand-new curriculum and this month-long class is the pilot for it. Here's how it works. We begin with a small group of two or three families and talk about the previous week's at-home activities.

(We missed last week because we were in Phoenix, but they talked about poverty and hunger and everyone did a water usage activity and had the opportunity to make porridge to eat for a meal. Did you know that when you flush the toilet, you use as much water as many people around the world use in an entire day?)

Then we learn about the new topic--yesterday it was orphans and street kids. We learned about why kids are orphans and live on the streets and how many there are in different countries around the world. Then we watched a video about J.R., a street kid in the Philippines who scavenges to earn money. We looked at some household items we throw away and thought about how a street kid would use it. Then we created shelters out of cardboard boxes and trash bags. We wrote prayers on sheets of newspapers and taped them to the outside of the shelters.

We received prayer cards too--with a Bible verse, facts, and specific prayer requests for orphans and for street kids. Next week, we're going to learn about child laborers.

Did you know that if you named every street child and orphan--out loud--it would take you three years?

Wow.

I learned a lot--and Audrey and I had such an interesting conversation last night before bed. We talked about how many pairs of shoes our family probably has--and how J.R. had one pair of raggedy flip flops. We talked about her room--bigger than J.R.'s entire house--and how many people would live in a room that size in other parts of the world. We talked about how much the ice cream at Cold Stone cost last night and how much money J.R. made in a day. After just one class, our perspective has changed.

This can feel so overwhelming, but I loved this, printed in the front of our workbooks:

I am only one,

but still I am one.

I cannot to do everything,

but still I can do something.

And I will not let what I cannot do

interfere with what I can do.

--Edward Everett Hale

It's not good enough to say that we can't make a difference. Because we can do something. Each week has a section called "Take a Stand" with ideas for how we can do something as a family. This week we're encouraged to make birthday cards for children in an orphanage in Cebu, to make "Jesus Cares" kits for homeless children and adults, to pray for street kids and orphans.

Toben needs your help!

Hey all!

Toben (my sweet husband for any of you who are new) is working on a book and needs your help. Would you please leave a comment here for him?

In a sentence or two, what are one or two things you wish you'd known before you got engaged? For example, Toben says he wishes he'd known how different our families are--despite the fact that they seemed so similar on the surface.

If you're single, he'd love to talk to you even more. So go ahead and leave a comment saying you're single and what you want to know about a person or relationship before getting engaged. And expect him to send you an email!

Please leave your first name and location.

I know there are a ton of you out there, so now's another opportunity to de-lurk and leave a comment!

Thanks so much!

Joanne

Emma's guest post

Emma decided that she'd like to be the one to tell you about her latest craft project... So, take it away, Emma!

This is the zippy purse I made this morning. It's called "Spring All The Time." 

First Mom gave me some fabric and I drew the picture. And then I embroidered it using a needle and doing the backstitch. It was hard at first but it became easier and easier because I practiced a lot. My favorite part of the picture is the bunny because it was really hard to do it because of all the curves. It was just amazing that I did it!

I just really love bunnies and they're one of my favorite animals. We have a new baby bunny that just got born a while ago that's really cute. It lives under my deck and that's why I decided to put a bunny on my picture.

Today I sewed it into a zippy. I put a different type of fabric on the inside. It was really fun. Mom helped me with the sewing. We used the sewing machine.

Here's the front:

And here's the back:

I'm going to bring it to Alaska and put my Pet Shops and my Puppy in My Pockets in it. 

P.S. from Joanne:

I should mention that she didn't make the whole thing today. It took a day or two to do the embroidery and to wash and press the fabric afterward. This morning, we just sewed the zippy!

Home again, home again, jiggity jig...

Somehow that little phrase gets said a lot around here...but only by me. Seems like it must be something my mom said a lot and I picked it up from her. 

Anyway, we're home...and it was totally worth the money to change our flight. Audrey was pale and ache-y yesterday morning, but so much better than she'd been the day before. I think she felt really special that we'd go to the trouble to change our plans to accommodate her.

Of course, I still think that United should have changed everything for free. Somehow I think that if the manager Toben worked his way up to had had children, I think they'd have been all too glad to help us out more.

Thank you for all of your prayers... I read all of your comments to her and they definitely helped lift her spirits.

Don't know what it is about stomach flu and my kids. I wish I could be so much more nurturing and gentle, but instead I tend to freak out a little and treat them like they have the plague. Maybe it's because I hate throwing up so much and don't want to catch it myself. I do much better when they have a cold or a fever or a cough. But I'm more aware of it and am working hard to fight against it. So thanks for your prayers for me too! Ya'll are wonderful.

I'm waaaay behind on responding to email and such, so I'm going to catch up today. And the girls are going to finish up a cute crafty project they started before we left for Arizona...pictures coming later. Toben's going to mow the lawn. Oh, and I need to get some Girl Scout paperwork wrapped up for the year.

Happy Friday!

Stuck in Phoenix

Poor Audrey came down with stomach flu in the middle of the night, so we've changed our flights home until tomorrow. Toben spent a bunch of time on the phone with United, explaining the situation and talking them down from the $600 change fee they originally quoted. It's still not free, but better than having a sick, freaking out kid of the plane.

She's not a good sick person. No laying in bed and just resting. She cries and totally freaks out a lot, surprised by the fact that her tummy hurts. I don't do great with sick kids, so I'd appreciate any prayers shot our way. 

Toben's sending Emma and me out for a shopping adventure to get out of the house while he hangs with Audrey for a while...

It's hot in Arizona

The plane went up and down and side to side a little too much for my liking, but Audrey held my hand and assured me that the people flying the plane were professionals and "they're not gonna let you get hurt, Mom." We arrived safely just like she promised and headed over to Michael and Allison's house. 

The kids all hit it off immediately and swam for a while, and then we headed to dinner here. 

Joe's Farm Grill is such a great place--one of those places I think we'd eat at all the time if we lived here. Toben and I both had barbecue--yum, yum, yum. Audrey and Emma thought it was pretty neat that the kids' meals came with lollipops (and free replacements for when your sister drops yours into the grass and gets it all yucky).

We hung out some more and the girls are getting the chlorine rinsed out of their hair before bed. We're staying at a house down the street from Michael and Allison--so nice to have more than just a hotel room! 

Tomorrow, we (the grown-ups) will be in meetings all day, while they (the kids) hang out and swim together--and make cookies with the babysitter. Toben's doing some consulting, and his fee for these meetings was for the whole family to come. He'll finish up meetings on Tuesday morning and then we'll all just hang out some more until we head home on Wednesday.