Archive - April, 2005

10 more days!

My kids are getting tired, the end is in sight and summer is almost here!!! They have been excited about school all year, bouncing excitedly around the house each morning. As of late, they are starting to begrudgingly get ready for school each day. Sometimes they are just too tired to go or they say they don’t feel good. Each day I get an update on the count down. As of today, there are 10 days left!!!

SICK
by Shel Silverstein

“I cannot go to school today,”
Said little Peggy Ann McKay.
“I have the measles and the mumps,
A gash, a rash and purple bumps.
My mouth is wet, my throat is dry,
I’m going blind in my right eye.
My tonsils are as big as rocks,
I’ve counted sixteen chicken pox
And there’s one more–that’s seventeen,
And don’t you think my face looks green?
My leg is cut–my eyes are blue–
It might be instamatic flu.
I cough and sneeze and gasp and choke,
I’m sure that my left leg is broke–
My hip hurts when I move my chin,
My belly button’s caving in,
My back is wrenched, my ankle’s sprained,
My ‘pendix pains each time it rains.
My nose is cold, my toes are numb.
I have a sliver in my thumb.
My neck is stiff, my voice is weak,
I hardly whisper when I speak.
My tongue is filling up my mouth,
I think my hair is falling out.
My elbow’s bent, my spine ain’t straight,
My temperature is one-o-eight.
My brain is shrunk, I cannot hear,
There is a hole inside my ear.
I have a hangnail, and my heart is–what?
What’s that? What’s that you say?
You say today is. . .Saturday?
G’bye, I’m going out to play!”

Honoring those who serve

Here is a pic of my bro-in-law, Dave. He is serving our country in Iraq. Fortunately, at least as far as I can tell from this picture, it doesn’t look like he’s suffering too badly. Of course, being the ham that David is, it would be hard to tell otherwise! I posted a pic of his wife, Christie and her M-16, last week.

Since I’m on the subject of honoring our military, I’d like to post a very touching picture. I love the generational sentiment!


Pearl Harbor survivor Houston James of Dallas embraced Marine Staff Sgt. Mark Graunke Jr. during a Veterans Day Commemoration. Graunke lost a hand, a leg and an eye when he defused a bomb in Iraq last year.

Here is a pic of my Marine dad in Vietnam. He was a heavy equipment operator. He dug artillery implacements (ammo dumps) and cleared fields of fire around small bases.

“All the great things are simple, and many can be expressed in a single word: freedom; justice; honor; duty; mercy; hope”
Winston Churchill

“Freedom’s enemies are waste, lethargy, indifference, immorality, and the insidious attitude of something for nothing.”
William Arthur Ward

Time In a bottle

I love this word given be Sandy Warner of The Quickened Word. For me it is a follow up of another word I posted called, Cast Your Bread. Both remind me of this verse, ” Do not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.” Galatian 6:9

My Beloved, I have saved your time in a bottle and recorded all of your journey. I have treasured your every step in your pursuit to overcome and be with Me. All your tears, all your smiles, all your rabbit trails and all your bull’s eyed targets… they are all numbered one by one. Each treasure is safely tucked away in the deep recesses of My heart. How I cherish your innocent trust in Me, My Beloved.

Like a bottle tossed into the sea, you cast your prayers upon the waters of life and waited for the return of your harvest. In those lost and lonely times, when you saw no return and continued to span the horizon, you did not give up hope. You waited as an innocent child while I kept your bottle and held your heart in safe keeping as you continued to hold on to your faith. I AM your High Priest Who has been touched by your deepest wishes. I have prayed you through your darkest hours and I understand those things you carefully tucked inside that bottle, including your time of waiting. We both have had a time of waiting, precious one. I have waited eons for you and you are so greatly worth it. When I think of the rest of time and eternity, it is My extreme joy to think of spending it with you!

Ps 56:8-13 NKJV
You number my wanderings; Put my tears into Your bottle ; Are they not in Your book? When I cry out to You, Then my enemies will turn back; This I know, because God is for me. In God (I will praise His word), In the LORD (I will praise His word), In God I have put my trust; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me? Vows made to You are binding upon me, O God; I will render praises to You, For You have delivered my soul from death. Have You not kept my feet from falling, That I may walk before God In the light of the living?

motivational video

Let me preface this video by saying, Percolations does not condone violence of any kind.

Home Improvement Catalog

“If you treat your wife like a thoroughbred, you’ll never end up with a nag”

sleeping double in a king size bed


Lydia took this picture for us!!!

Well, I’ve already told you about my chiropractor, which undoubtedly would have been my biggest highlight of the week, except that this week James and I got a king size bed, changed our living room into a master bedroom, our dining room into a living room and moved Lydia into our old bedroom!!!

It seems James is sleeping in the next county!!! I swear this sucker is the size of a country acre. We have been sleeping on a full size mattress for 11 years. Big difference. I love it, but James says he misses me. He’ll get used to it!! I’m tired of rolling downhill on a broken down mattress. This thing was a big blessing from God, believe me!!! Thank you Jon and Amber! They helped us purchase the mattress set for a really good price through Jon’s work.

The first night that Lydia slept in her new room was heart wrenching for the girls. Jessica cried till her eyes swelled up cuz Lydia was so far away (across the hall!) Lydia, who hasn’t slept in a room by herself since she was 2, was scared. Eventually, Jessica ended up in bed with Lydia, and Elaina, who was upset about being left all alone, was with us, and all was well for the night!!! They are starting to get used to the change. We’re going tonight to pick up Lydia’s bedroom furniture that she’s inheriting from Grandma B.! Thank you!

“It’s okay to laugh in the bedroom so long as you don’t point.”

Jehovah-rapha

Last week, I began seeing a chiropractor. James wanted me to go to the family doctor, but I had no peace about doing that. I was suffering from a chronic cough that had become progressively worse over the last two or three months. My muscles were sore from my coughing fits and I hardly slept. My asthma came back and I was wheezing all the time, especially when I laid down at night. My sinuses were always full and my head hurt a lot. I used hot pacs on my head to bring me relief. Sudafed was my closest friend. I was miserable and I felt physically tense all the time. I prayed about what to do and I felt led to give Dr. K. a call. James had gone to him a couple of years ago. Well, praise God for His guidance, after several adjustments, I feel like I have a new body! All the symptoms I just listed are COMPLETELTY GONE!!! After attending a women’s conference a few weeks ago, I couldn’t get the word ‘adjustment’ out of my head. Well, now I know why!!!!

Dr. K. seems to be a very passionate person. After seeing him the first time, he sat down with me, his eyes full of tears, and told me I need to take care of my body. He gave his testimony of his fight with colon cancer last year and how his faith pulled him through it.

Well, this morning, before I left, he asked me if I wanted to hear a song he wrote. “Sure!” He got out a piece of paper. I figured he was going to read me some lyrics. Next thing I knew, he opened some doors in a cabinet in his office- revealing a stereo, cranked up some music, grabbed a microphone and began singing as if before a church full of people!!!! It was a worship song he wrote to a Neil Diamond tune. It was beautiful and his voice was super! He worshiped with all his heart. I thought, for a minute, that he may start dancing!!! After the song, another patient came in. Dr. K. began telling us about his cries to God, during his chemotherapy, and asked the man if he would like to hear a song that he wrote during that time. It was to the tune of Shiloh and it was a very touching song about crying out to Jesus during suffering. The man, who was displaying symptoms of Tou·rette syndrome or something similar, sat with his head bowed and eyes closed, while my kids danced.

I’ve never had an experience like this one, especially at a doctor’s office!!! I wondered on my way home, what my life would be like, if I had half the passion that Dr. K. has. Selah. . .

“Love without passion is dreary; passion without love is horrific.”

i think i ripped my pants!

oops!

Jessica can’t wait to get home from school each day to watch her favorite cartoon, Spongebob Squarepants. It’s an outrageously wierd show about a sponge that lives in a pineapple under the sea. I think it’s the best thing to come along since Bugs Bunny. In one of the episodes, Spongebob bends over and rips his pants and everyone laughs. He loves the attention and decides to make “I ripped my pants” his punchline for everything. At the end of the episode he sings this SONG.

“I ripped my pants” has become a family chant. It’s actually quite entertaining. For example, tonight I was trying to get the kids settled in their beds and I was getting firm with them about going to sleep. Lydia very thoughtfully and sweetly says “Mommy come here, I need to talk to you about something”. Without missing a beat, she says very seriously, “I think I ripped my pants!”. Even my three year old has joined in and thinks it’s great fun to tease me with this silly one liner!

“Happiness is like peeing in your pants. Everyone can see it, but only you can feel it.”

girl power

How’s this for real girl power!! This is my sister-in-law, Christie, James’ ‘little’ sister. She and her husband, David, live in Utah with their two boys, Andrew and Cameron. They are both members of the United States Air Force. David is stationed in the middle east, at this time. These pictures were taken this week! Gee, I feel like a weinie!! I can’t imagine carrying around a M16! Go girl!!!!

“Courage is fear holding on a minute longer.” ~General George S. Patton

“My decision to register women confirms what is already obvious throughout our society-that women are now providing all types of skills in every profession. The military should be no exception.”~ Jimmy Carter

Happy 7th Birthday, Lydia Grace!


Lydia~ 8 months Julie~ 25 years.

Our home would be boring without Lydia!! Not a day goes by that she doesn’t create something! Yesterday she decided she wanted trees in her room, so she found sticks, taped green vegetation to the top and stuck them all over the walls of her room! She loves to draw, especially cats. They are the love of her life. She wants to be an illustrator when she grows up.

Lydia’s always been very good at finding a way around things. I began to notice this when she was two. She loved filling her plastic tea party dishes with water. Well, I got tired of having wet socks all the time, so I told her no more water. She asked for juice in a sippy cup, so I obliged. Next thing I knew, I caught her spitting juice into her tea cups!!! She is full of ingenuity.

Lydia was born with amazing self-esteem and stubborn independence!! Her sisters complain all the time about her bossing them around and enforcing her rules on them. She is always in charge and if you take away her power she gets upset! She’s much more of a leader than a follower.

Besides her cat infatuation and creative projects, listening to music and singing and dancing are her favorite things. As soon as she gets home from school she turns on music and cranks it up! I must have every word to every Lazy Town song memorized by now. She loves worship music, too, and even took the song “Here I am to Worship” a couple of weeks ago to show and tell and played it! It may have been the first time some of the kids in her class had ever heard a song about God.

I think she will be a great witness for God as she grows up. She loves being in Uncle Craig’s Super Church and always talks about the worship. She also loves being a Daisy in the Missionette program at church. I think she likes doing the craft projects the most.

Lydia is a super sweet, loving kid. I thank God for placing her in our famiy. I can’t imagine life without her. It would be a grey, dull place.

Our daughter, Lydia, will be like a pillar carved to adorn a palace. ~Psalm 144:12b

my family


I love this picture! Carl took this after church Easter morning. Thanks Carl, great pic! There are more Easter pics in my gallery.


Anjelia absolutely loves being outside. A few days ago, she was playing at the bottom of the stairs to our deck. Next thing I knew, she was sound asleep with her three favorite blankies! We’re all enjoying this beautiful weather!

Having a family is like having a bowling alley installed in your brain. ~Martin Mull

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