hard curve

Life rating:
I'm going with a B-.
Here is why.  I grade on a curve - and by comparison and my life is so generally wonderful that a kidney stone, a sinus infection, a knee surgery, and two cases of the stomach flu in the family within ten days qualifies as a plague.  I know - for the general population it is nothing.  For modern medicine it is a laugh... but I'm telling you it felt a bit like a plague.  Also - two kids in 3rd grade common core math homework. That is a plague as well.  Seriously - I'm calling all math teachers - WHAT IS WRONG WITH THIS SYSTEM???


My mom is the chattiest sick patient ANY hospital employee ever met.  She should get an AWARD of some kind.

Who is living with us:
I introduced them already so I'd like to do a highlight the birthday girl.  Bianca turned 20 this week!  She told me the most beautiful story about how her mom called in tears on her birthday saying she never imagined it would come to this... her little girl so successful studying in America.  Doctors told her that Bianca would never make it and the pregnancy was a danger to her life so she should terminate the baby.  She chose life for Bianca - and the preemie little Kenyan girl now stands six foot tall proud in my kitchen laughing while washing dishes - holding a U.S. high school diploma and making her way quite nicely through college.  She has blessed my world.  So Maggie of Nairobi - thank you for making such a sacrifice 20 years ago - may God continue to bless you greatly!!



State fair fun




Sorry Maggie - I totally enjoyed scaring your daughter to DEATH on YE OLD MILL

One hilarious or horrible thing the students have said this week:
So pretty much we have had some pretty sassy dinner time conversations recently.  It boils down to this.  There are people in my house who "generally assume that the United States motivation is to take over the world!"  Let's just say in a global household there are some opinions - well thought out and not - about motivations in global interventions.  It also boils down to this.  There are people in my household who think that the best years of life are those which one's face looks the most charming.  It all goes down hill from there. Period.  It doesn't matter the quality of one's life if the face is wrinkled.  I get strange visions of botoxed nations in eternal cold war some times when I leave the dinner table.


Also - at the state fair they learned we could get one gallon of milk a day from a goat and now they want me to get a goat.


How the children are:
Other than the stomach flu - they are doing well.


Ok - this photo is old but was just given to me and it is my new favorite photo.


Or - maybe this one .. from a wedding in May.  This is what the professionals capture folks - so the bad photography of my children is not my fault.


But sometimes circumstances do help :)


Best friend sleepovers.


And crazy hair nights


And cheese billboards at the State Fair where Maysyn had the stomach flu.  AWESOME. That was a B- moment. Poor kid.

How work at Bethesda is going:
Only three weeks of salsa bags and now we are moving into pumpkins and butternut squash.  And it looks as it the butternut squash will last until the next century. Actually - I hate parties but I am considering throwing one for 300 people just to get rid of some squash.

The watermelons are now AWESOME!

About the house:
My cousin Paul is SUPER excited to power wash my garage so I may actually get some stuff painted!! And we are going to get the dormers sided... and maybe the gates finished... so the work carries on.

One thing God is teaching me:

We had our church missions conference amidst our household chaos... and it was beautiful.  To learn about what God is doing in Papua New Guinea and Japan... and church dinners... can't beat those.  Even if my son licked every single cheese ball and put them back in the bowl.  Yeah - so I'd say humility - is what God is teaching me :)