Still no electricty. I don't have much time to write, but wanted to share some pictures.
Despite having no electricity, the weather was incredible and spending time outside was wonderful. The kids and I went exploring the woods to see all the damage from the storm. We found this tree. It made a great place for a fun picture. I think next time, we might just have to crawl through it.
I can't help but laugh at this picture. Elizabeth was truly enjoying walking all over this tree. It is huge! The kids both loved climbing on it. I asked them to sit down and place their hands on their faces and elbows on their knees. It was fun to watch them pose. Ri was really getting into the picture. I think Elizabeth had had enough.
She was a much better sport by for this shot.
Our kids were amazing after the storm. The next day, we all spent several hours cleaning up the backyard while Daddy was at work. Our goal was to surprise him with a clean backyard. Sam and Emily worked their tails off. Jacob had the flu. Erin worked hard too, but had to quit to do some homework.

I love this picture. In order to make the sticks small enough for the fire, we all broke them using our feet, legs, or 2 trees. Elizabeth kept picking up sticks and breaking them with her feet just like us. Too cute!!
Erin kept Ri feeling very useful. She would get sticks and then pile them in his arms so that he could dump them on the fire. He LOVED it!
We had two fires going. At one point, it became a competition as to where to put the sticks. Emily was in charge of making this fire.
It is hard to tell, but this is a huge tree that fell. Jacob and I watched it fall and were both in shock. We were quite thankful that it missed the bridge Mark JUST repaired a few months ago!

Sunday marked a very memorous day for us. Marks parents celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary. God has truly blessed them. We celebrated with them enjoying a wonderful meal and great family time together. It is hard to believe that they have been married so long. To me, it seems impossible. In many ways, they seem much younger then me. I look to them as I watch them faithfully overcoming any obstacle that God has allowed to enter their life. They have stayed together through the good and the bad. They have raised 4 children, struggled through the "lean" times, and rejoiced in any abundance. They have lived and loved life together. I rejoice in the gift of their marriage and the example that they have set.

It also experienced another memorable moment as our state was hit hard from the remnants of Hurricane Ike. We experienced winds that hit gusts between 60-85 mph. It was rather unexpected and extremely cool to watch (though at times, rather nerve racking). We were at Mark's parents when it came on and quickly headed home. On the way home, we watched the wind become quite furious. At one moment, steel roofing sheets from a construction site flew across the road. Mark was able to avoid them. It was pretty crazy watching them fly through the air. When we arrived home, we were without electricity (& still are). Mark made a brave walk through the woods, investigating any damage. As he walked, he heard trees snapping. It was pretty wild. The winds were intense, but oh so fun to watch. At one point, we heard a man screaming. We continued to hear him scream, so Mark, Sam, & I took off through the woods trying to locate the man. We realized that it was a man looking for his lost rotweiler. He came into our drive a little later asking if we had seen it (we had the day prior). He mentioned that if it weren't so windy, he would go through the woods and look. Me, being silly, offered for him to go look (mentioning that Mark had been back in it earlier). He took me up on the offer. Mark and Sam went with him. The winds were pretty furocious by now. After a good 20-30 minutes, I was getting pretty nervous. Jacob and I were standing by the back window watching for them (and praying for their safety). The winds had picked up even more. As we watched, a huge tree in our backyard fell. A few minutes later, I heard a knock at our door. It was the gentlemen who went with Mark and Sam wanting to know if they were back yet. At that point, I took off running through the woods.... full speed, yelling for them. The guy was at my feet, both of us rather worried. I jumped over limbs, trees and anything in my way. I ran across the bridge Mark had made (that is veyr high off the ground and normally I am very, very nervous even walking acrossed it). We yelled and yelled. We called home, and they had not come back. It was getting dark, I was getting turned around with all the fallen trees and the storm was still wild. We heard a scream and I took off in the direction of the scream. They screamed again and I screamed back. I was going as fast as I could, until I saw the house and realized they were in the backyard screaming for us. Needless to say, I was quite relieved!

Since then, we have been cleaning up debris left over. The kids have been out of school for 2 days.

Well, I will tell more later. I have to go. Just wanted to let everyone know why I haven't been on. I am borrowing my parents computer as we speak. I hope we have electric when we get home :). It has been quite an experience!

A conversation between Erin and Elizabeth

Tonight, when the kids came home, Erin was enjoying a few moments with Elizabeth. They were both eating pizza. Elizabeth got all excited and the conversation went something like this:

Elizabeth: "Tomorrow, when I get very big, very, very big, I'm going to be your teacher"
Erin: "You are?, You're going to be my teacher?"
Elizabeth: "Yes, when I get very VERY, very big, tomorrow, I be your teacher"
Erin: "When you get big?"
Elizabeth" "Yes"
Erin: "Are you going to teach me the alphabet?"
Elizabeth: "Yes, when I get big and I be your teacher"
Erin: "Good, because I forget what the A sounds like"
Elizabeth: "aaaa"
Erin: "What does a G sound like?"
Elizabeth: "Ghhh"
Erin: "What word starts with the letter G?"
Elizabeth: (big smiles) "GGGGHHH.. Cat"
Erin: (laughing) "What words starts with the letter B?"
Elizabeth: (very proud) "BBBBB .. pizza"
Erin: (laughing) "when you grow up, you can be my teacher"
Elizabeth: "yes, when I get big, tomorrow"

As Erin walks out the door to go to the football game for marching band, she repeats "GGGG-cat (laughs), BBBB-pizza (giggles)"

I have blogged about the kids playing soccer, but have never taken any time to video it. After Erin attended the soccer camp this summer, we were advised to make a video of her playing soccer so that we could give it to a college coach if she were interested in them seeing her play. So, I am beginning to dabble with videoing soccer games. I have to admit that I am quite an amateur at this! Here is a series of clips I took at one of her games. It is kind of fun to watch, especially if you have never seen her play. Any suggestions on improving the video are very welcome!

The results of our Letter E hunt:







Today, I am struggling with knowing when to fight and when to let things go. I have been facing the School Board for nearly a year now. What began as a mere fight for an FCA club's survival, has since become a fight for something far bigger. Today, I am not sure where God is leading me. I am having an inner battle. My battle is deep and very intense. There is much I fear for our schools. My question is "How do I fight against this giant and should I? And if I should.... WHERE ARE MY STONES!!??" Right now, I feel weak. In the begiining, it was much easier; though still difficult for me. Originally, I felt as if the School Board was tying the hands of the club in order to protect themselves against a family who did not want their child attending the club. I stood in the gap, trying to fight for the rights of my child's club and ultimately, the rights of Christian kids. I watched our School Board become cold against any suggestions and watched the administration begin to really put pressure on the FCA advisor. What I thought was a simple battle between me and the School Board quickly shifted when the School Board demanded this teacher to remove the 10 commandments off of a poster in his room and remove his Bible from his desk. They had been pressuring him on a weekly basis, drilling him on the FCA club and seemingly looking for anything to pin on him. When he was told he had to remove his bible, I was in shock. I knew they were pushing for everything they could, but this was unbelievable. I felt their purpose was to make a powerful statement to him.

Many of you know the continuation of this story; especially if you are from around here. I don't need to expound on it. I need wisdom and courage. Many are sick of the "bible on the desk" fight. The problem is, they aren't seeing the bigger picture. It's easy to dismiss what is going on or to let someone else fight. It is easy to criticize (and many have). It's not easy to stand and defend what you feel is right. It's not easy to come up with the words to describe what truly is going on. THis is far more then simply a man who refused to remove his Bible. No - there was much more going on and unfortunately too many people are unaware of that and are so quick to judge.

Boy do I wish I knew what was involved in being on a School Board! I've taken them for granted far too long. It is time I find out what decisions they truly are making and why.

The Capital D
A small d
The "homemade" version of a "natural" D in the woods. Elizabeth insisted on making a D, it was fun to watch them create it.
We found berries on the way to the creek. To keep Ri from desiring to eat them (his favorite thing to do), since they were poisonous, we squished them and painted the letter D on our arms. We also found Dora tatoos and used them yesterday as well.
A perfect letter D for our book!
Elizabeth is seeming to get the knack of forming some of the letters. She really sits and concentrates and is quite happy to inform me when she does it right!
Ok - I need to let you know that I helped with his picture. But.... I only colored the black on the hat and red scarf. I can't believe how well she is doing staying in the lines. She is such a girl! :)
We went on a letter D hunt and ended up in the creek (after finding apples, feeding horses, collecting buckeyes and throwing rocks).
Did I mention collecting buckeyes? This boy LOVES to collect them and stuff his pockets full!!
See what I mean? He must have pulled 20 buckeyes out.
This morning, we were working on "preschool". Elizabeth was practicing coloring in the lines and Ri was practicing matching things. I then started Ri practicing writing the letter A. They both needs a ton of work learning how to write ANY letter, so we are slowing working on them. He got a little frustrated and wanted to switch to something new. He laid on the ground and began to whimper. Elizabeth (who had had many moments of whining already this morning, but was presently in a great mood) looked at me and said "he's fussy". Then she preceeded to inform me that he was "very fussy", but a few seconds later she said "just like me". Whew - I am so glad she remembered that she had been that way just a few moments earlier!

Introducing the letter C:





We have gone on our letter C hunt. Unfortunately, I chose to hunt for the letter C in a field. I never realized how little C's there are in a field! I should have headed for the woods again. :(

Here are the results of the C hunt. I think we will have to repeat the hunt. Ri seemed to tired out on this one pretty quickly. Maybe we will go again this morning. We just might make it a C and D hunt. We will see.



Jacob was blessed this weekend with an envelope from the Veterans Benefit Foundation. He opened it up and was in shock. They had sent him a check for $100.00 to help him reach his goal for his trip. What a blessing. He is less then $300.00 from his goal. God is so faithful!

Our weekend was pretty uneventful. Erin and Sam played in the band at the football game Friday night. Mark, Jacob, Elizabeth, Ri, myself, and a neighbor friend all went to watch them. We enjoyed it; even with the small amounts of rain that hit us. Our favorite part of the game was watching the band play.
On Saturday, we watched Sam and Jacob play their games. Erin was a referee for Jacob's game. Mark and I felt like we were on a date all day. Emily had taken Elizabeth and Ri to visit Mamaw. So, after the games, we took advantage of the time and enjoyed a meal. Sunday, was filled with church and preparing to enjoy the teen youth group for the evening.

On a very cute note ... Jacob whispered to Elizabeth that she was his favorite little sister and he loved her with all of his heart. Soon after that, she announced to him that he was her favorite little brother and she loved him with all her heart. It made Jacob's heart melt! A little later, she was leaving with Emily. She walked out the door and then peeked her head in. She looked at Jacob and pointed her finger at him and said "just remember, I love love you with all my heart... just remember" and off she went. It was ADORABLE!!!

I decided that when I put together the book for the alphabets, I thought it would be cute to have Ri and Elizabeth forming the letters themselves. We made A and a small b (I can't figure out how to make a capital B just yet). As soon as Daddy got home, they showed him how they could make the letters out of their bodies. This should be fun! Here are the letters we "made" yesterday:



We've gone on the Letter B hunt and today we head for a letter C hunt. Here are the results of the letter B....


This is the small b. I'm not quite sure Ri ever did understand that he was standing on the base of the letter b. This was the first b we discovered. It took a while for him to catch on to what we were looking for.







Sam is playing a ton of soccer. Last night, we watched yet another game. So far, he has had 3-4 games each week. And Erin has had at least 2 games. Jacob begins 2 games a week starting on Saturday. It is another busy soccer season; only I think Sam is keeping us the busiest.

It amazes me to listen to Ri and Eizabeth. I thought I would share how far they have come in learning their ABC's.

This weekend, we have enjoyed a few visits to some garage sales. Ri, Elizaberh and I like to explore through the treasures that we find. This costume was one of those "treasures". He makes a mighty sweet musketeer, doesn't he?

Jacob leaves for Washington DC in less then 4 weeks. I can hardly believe it is here. He is struggling over it right now. It is not that he does not want to go. He really, really wants to go. But, he has had so many people tell him how expensive it is and make remarks about it that he is feeling pretty miserable about going. On the other side of it, there have been so many who have helped him near his goal and who have tried to encourage him but I think he is feeling guilty about how much money it is. I keep reminding him of all that he will experience and how Washington DC has been his dream since first grade. I remind him how if this trip was anywhere else and any other child, I would have to agree with the cost and that his dad and I would never have even considered it. But it is for Jacob, who soaks up everything he is ever taught, who has dreamt of visiting WAshington DC and who loves every facet of the history of our country and is very into government and politics. I am convinced that this will be worth every penny and that there is no possible way that he could experience DC in such a way if he had visited it with his family. I just can't seem to convince my little boy. So, please pray that he will not focus on how much money it cost, how much he has worked to earn it, and how much others have helped him. I know Jaocb and I am afraid that if he can not let go of that, he may not be able to enjoy the experience. I want him to have no regrets, to learn what it takes to reach a goal, and to come back loving his country even more then he already does.

He has been doing a lot of babysitting for us, but has not seemed to have (or maybe the better phrase is "taken") many opportunities to earn more money. THis weekend, his Mamaw held a garage sale and raised $140.00 for his trip and Mark's Aunt and Uncle generously added to his fund. Mamaw had already held a garage sale in the spring for Sam and Jacob and gave each of the boys $100.00. Mark's brother and sister have been generously adding to the fund as well. With all of their help, the ticker is moving once again! I am confident that Jacob is learning more from this experience of raising funds then anything he would ever have learned out of a book. What an incredible experience he has already had! We are so thankful for all who have encouraged our son through this endeavor.

Not much more has been going on. The kids have completed a full week of school. They are all adjusting well. Jacob seems to enjoy being back in school, though his knees are suffering from cross country. We ended up making him take a few days off of running. Sam seems to really enjoy high school. He is amazing us. It seems as if he has grown up so much in the past few weeks (and literally grown up - he is at least 2 inches taller then me... when did that happen????). His schedule is absolutely crazy. Last week, he didn't get home until 9:00-10:30 at night every night. He had soccer and band practice Monday, soccer matches Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, and then a Football game (Marching band) on Friday. So far, he is handling his schedule wonderfully. Erin has a very, very difficult academic schedule, including honors and college courses as well as a very intense extracurricular schedule. SHe is the treasurer for her class, a student council representative, involved in FCA and in the marching band and varsity soccer. CRAZY!! But God has been so faithful. Erin is maturing into an incredible young lady and an absolute joy to be around. Emily is enjoying the fact that this is her final year of High School. SHe is a Senior mentor. She is busy trying to find a job that will give her more hours. Right now, she is only working 1 day a week and really only about 3-4 hours. That is definitely not enough. We had some friends over Saturday night. One of those friends happens to be a Psychologist. Emily was thrilled to have a chance to speak with him about his occupation. She is feeling very pulled in that direction. We were so thankful for the opportunity she had to speak with him. Em is such a help around here. On Saturday, she took care of the 2 little ones all day so that Mark and I could spend some time together and so that we could go to Erin's game. She didn't complain once and even shared with me how fantastic it was to be with them. What will I do without my sweet, thoughtful, helpful little girl next year???