Moses, the acrobatic kitty

This is what Moses does when he sees a bird outside. He's about 4 or more feet off the ground here. :)

Cute Pictures

She just kills me!

Hannah took this, of Toby in his favorite position on the kitchen floor.

Post birthday excitement. :)

Weekly Update

Whew. What a week that was...

1. I gotta say..I'm tired. Lately I've been functioning on somewhat of a cycle - work and play really hard, crash, defend rest time with a vengeance for the next week or two, repeat. I'm not sure I actually have time for the crash this week, but maybe a mini-crash. Next week can be the real crash...maybe.

2. Saturday my parents invited us and all of my siblings to go to the Denver Aquarium. It is so neat! I gotta say, Denver isn't really a place I think of when I think of water. However, they did a pretty good job. Huge indoor waterfalls, a surprising amount of variety, and a real live tiger thrown in for good measure. Afterward we ate at the Hard Rock Cafe (yelling over the music - don't think my parents really thought through that restaurant choice), and walked around 16th Street some. Fun stuff!

3. Sunday consisted of church and more church, when we went back Sunday night for a "family meeting." Pastor Brady discussed a very interesting project - mobilizing the churches of Colorado to adopt all of the children available for adoption in Colorado (there are only 800 in the foster care system in all of Colorado). They're hosting a huge adoption fair on November 22nd. Foster Care adoptions cost $300-400 if you go through an agency, and it's free through the state. Most of the children seem to be 3-17. Children younger than that are quickly adopted. They plan to provide a huge amount of support for families willing to take children into their homes. Very interesting... Not sure the timing is right for us yet, but we are definitely open to adoption in the future. What a cool thing!

4. Sunday is the bridal fair for Maeve. Our sign should arrive Tuesday, I have a few little paperwork things to throw together, have to get prints of pictures to show, we need to figure out follow-up stuff for afterward. Pretty simple stuff, really. Why does thinking about it make me freak out? It's not that big a deal...except it cost a lot to do, and I really really really hope we get clients out of it.

5. Nick and I are doing an instrumental audition at New Life on Wednesday night. I have no idea what will come of it, but they're having it, so we're going, trusting that God will lead us where we're supposed to be serving. We would love to re-enter the worship ministry world, if it's God's timing. Trying to keep it in perspective and not get nervous. Anyone want to sing My Savior Lives and Here In Your Presence with me? Because I could play and sing them in my sleep.

6. Um, it's October on Wednesday. Why?

7. Our small group is doing girls and guys' night out on Tuesday - the girls are getting pedicures. Oh, am I looking forward to this.

8. God is so faithful. There is so much behind that statement, but I will leave it at that for now. It amazes me how He reaches each one of us in a totally different way, but still manages to blow us all away if we will seek Him. He has been faithful to me, faithful in my marriage, faithful in my church, faithful in the lives of people I know...in any situation we face, we as Christians can fully rely on Him to work it out for our good. Sometimes that doesn't mean our comfort, but His love never fails through any circumstance. Just a reminder, in case you needed it today, and because I'm excited about what He's doing in my heart. :)

Have a great Monday today - do more than survive!!

Sad!

Paul Newman died yesterday. What an interesting life...

Flu Shots

Hey everybody,
It's that time of year again - time for them to start pushing flu shots. Obviously everyone has to make their own choices about this. However, I'm going to share my reasons for avoiding this one. I highly encourage you to do your research before spending your $15...

1. Most of the vaccines contain mercury and aluminum preservatives. Some studies have found these to be harmless. I hope they are. However, we know mercury is a toxic substance. Remember all the scare over mercury thermometers? Even if it is a tiny amount, I don't want it injected into my children. Dr. Sears wrote an article for Mothering magazine a few months back about aluminum toxicity.

2. The vaccines are grown on egg protein, and my children and I have egg allergies. If you've never been tested for allergies, you may allergic to egg as well and just not know it. Egg allergy can cause severe gastrointestinal issues.

3. Last year's flu shot was reportedly only 44% effective anyway. This article goes into depth about the efficacy testing. Sounds pretty flawed to me. Every year the strain they put into the vaccine is a guess, because they never know for sure what strain of the flu (there are hundreds) will actually be active and make people sick. Usually the vaccine you receive contains two or three strains. Not good odds. I do have to hand it to the vaccine makers - obviously they guess pretty well, if they can get it anywhere close to 44% effective...

4. The nasal vaccine contains live virus, as opposed to the dead virus in the shot. Um, does anyone remember how live Polio vaccine actually CAUSED polio? No thanks. It's a money-maker for the drug industry, I'm tellin' ya. It sounds easy and more pleasant than a shot...no thanks.

5. Cutting out cane sugar would probably keep you from getting the flu anyway. White sugar is poison for your body. The sugar in one can of coke is enough to deplete your immune system for 24 hours, according to Dr P.

6. If you do get sick, alternative medicine treatments will help you recover quickly. Taking Oscillococcinum when you first start to feel yucky sometimes wipes out the flu altogether. We rarely are sick for more than 2-3 days around here. Black Elderberry is another thing we keep on hand, and take at the first sign of symptoms. You can take mega amounts of vitamin C - far more than the RDA, to help your body wipe out sickness. There are various homeopathic remedies depending on your symptoms, to help you be more comfortable without the dangerous side effects of cold/flu medicines. (Tamiflu, by the way, is incredibly dangerous. Scroll down to the "Observed During Clinical Practice" part. Is a chance of those things worth a day less flu to you?)

7. Vaccinating children doesn't really protect the elderly from the flu, though drug companies would like you think it does.

So, there's some of my research. If you have solid information against any of this, I would be happy to see it. My only request is that you keep to the facts. Any attacks of a personal nature will be deleted and ignored. :)

Though the mountains fall...

This chapter is on my heart today, in light of the financial/political/war crises in the world. In The Message translation it's even more poignant.

Psalm 46
A Song of the Sons of Korah
1-3 God is a safe place to hide, ready to help when we need him.
We stand fearless at the cliff-edge of doom,
courageous in seastorm and earthquake,
Before the rush and roar of oceans,
the tremors that shift mountains.

Jacob-wrestling God fights for us,
God-of-Angel-Armies protects us.

4-6 River fountains splash joy, cooling God's city,
this sacred haunt of the Most High.
God lives here, the streets are safe,
God at your service from crack of dawn.
Godless nations rant and rave, kings and kingdoms threaten,
but Earth does anything he says.

7 Jacob-wrestling God fights for us,
God-of-Angel-Armies protects us.

8-10 Attention, all! See the marvels of God!
He plants flowers and trees all over the earth,
Bans war from pole to pole,
breaks all the weapons across his knee.
"Step out of the traffic! Take a long,
loving look at me, your High God,
above politics, above everything."

11 Jacob-wrestling God fights for us,
God-of-Angel-Armies protects us.

Artificial Fragrances

Do you get headaches often? Susceptible to rashes? Occasionally feel nauseous for no good reason? It could be the artificial fragrances in your air freshener, candles, or soaps. They actually contain toxic chemicals, and are not tested for safety - shockingly.

This is an interesting site (or scary, depending on how you look at it!). I have selected a Bath and Body Works product. They list the ingredients of the product, and you can click on each ingredient, and then click on the possible effects of each ingredient. Carcinogenic (cancer-causing) compounds, skin irritants...now why would you put that in a body lotion?

So what do you do to keep your home smelling fresh? Here are some great suggestions. If you are used to using chemical air fresheners, you may have to rethink your idea of what smells "clean."

There are many personal care products (lotions, soaps, etc.) that do not use chemical fragrances - they are easy to find at health food stores and online.

Over time, I have rid our house of any of these artificial products (it does take time!), and I have found something interesting: my nose is MORE sensitive now than it was. I pick up on things I never would have noticed before. My children each have their own smell. I can often tell at the grocery store if something will taste good, because I can smell it while it's still packaged! Were those chemicals burning my sense of smell? I can't help but wonder.

This is crazy!

Didn't Oceans 13 have a gadget like this? It amazes me they can actually do this.

Weekly Update

I contemplated writing a really witty post about why I didn't get this done this morning, using the Emergency Broadcast System Test recitation that I'm rather proud of. (Yes, I am a geek, I can recite the entire EBS Test thingy, along with the beeps. I watched too much tv as a child.) But, I was too lazy. It WOULD have been funny. Except I didn't do it.

NUMBER one: 10 year high school reunion this weekend was a huge hit, I have to say. There were several little kinks, but everyone seemed to enjoy each other, and I even have to hand it to my classmates - they let go of the cliques for the most part. Overall I found my old classmates to be beautiful, successful, down to earth, and loving God. Kinda makes me smile. You hope for that, for people... Now, I'm so glad it's over.

2. Oh, my goodness. I had so much to do this morning. Everything from Maeve stuff that literally could not wait another day, to cleaning the house for students, to fighting with my very old computer. Now I've thrown most of it into someone else's court - not that it's done, just that I can't do any more until someone else does. Waiting on other people to do stuff...this is what my job at Maeve consists of...

3. Friends. If you ever have marriage issues, please, PLEASE don't be afraid to seek out help. I've said it before and I'll say it again. Yes, this is cryptic, and no, I won't be able to explain myself. Our hearts are with not just one couple, but multiple friends of ours. -End of public service announcement-

4. Did you know that today is the Autumnal Equinox? Neato. Bit of trivia for you. Not that you really care that much.

5. Just finished reading Lost Women of the Bible. I was a little wary - sounds like Christian feminist lit. But it isn't. It is a solid Biblical survey of the way God relates to women throughout the Bible. I loved it. And I'll tell you a little secret, in case you didn't know: we're not second-class citizens. He likes us a lot. :) Definitely going to look up this author again.

That's about all I got today. This week=The Reunion, so pretty much everything else has been on the back-burner. Hope you have a great week!

Whew

Lots to do this morning, before piano lessons this afternoon. We will soon return you to your regularly scheduled Weekly Update.

Random thoughts

How do you like our new Maeve logo? We're having a sign printed for the bridal fair that will incorporate this with a gown illustration. I think it will look super classy. I'm excited. I'm also about to start redesigning our site. It's time for a new look, especially now that we have more pictures.

The first of two loads of dishes are washing at the moment (I never did get caught up from Tuesday this week - I've done one load a day and there have been dishes on the counter anyway, since then. Sick, I know), there are about three loads of laundry to be done, the house needs to be picked up and vacuumed, we're all in our jammies still at 10:30, and what am I doing? A combination of playing and working on the internet. Oh well. We'll get it turned around by naptime. And the girls are happy.

Hannah emptied the cabinet that has my baking pans and kitchen linens, and is using a cooling rack as a baby gate for her dolls, who are in the cabinet. Very funny.

Minor argument, resulting a 3 minute time out for a certain little girl.

The final fitting last night went okay. I wish we could not only dress people well, but make them feel good about their own body. One thing that did go very well, I felt, was the pairing of that bride with Heather, our photographer for the night. I try to choose which photographer to use for which bride very thoughtfully, matching personalities in a way that will make everybody comfortable. Can't wait to see the pictures, in spite of the quickly failing light we had!

We have got to start going to bed at night. I must admit we've seen 1am several times this week. The girls have been in bed on time, but Nick and I have been up chatting, watching political shows (an interest we share, at least to a point. :), working on finances, and/or watching football (him) and getting backrubs (me-I think I get the better end of the deal!). My kids sleep until 7 or 8, so it's not too bad, but naptime is calling to me!

Alright. I guess I'll head off to something more productive. :)

Breastfeeding Vs. Formula

Came across this article today. I was fascinated.

I get so tired of arguments about important things that stray from the issue, to guilt or personal attack. This article sticks to the issues, and gives very interesting arguments for each side.

For me personally, I wouldn't trade the bonding I experienced with my kids through breastfeeding even for the relatively incredible freedom of bottle feeding. I personally would miss it too much. But I found what Joan Wolf had to say about the weight put on mothers to keep their children from any possible harm to be refreshing. By way of a tiny glimpse into what I'm thinking about right now, I do not believe that Christians need to live under a immense load of guilt and fear for their children. What if there are times when, in weighing the child's needs vs. the mother's needs (or the needs of a marriage), the mother (or the marriage) wins? Is there a place for that? I think maybe so.

Weekly Update

1. We had a pretty restful weekend, due in part to the fact that Hannah got sick Friday night and didn't feel like doing much Saturday. None of the rest of us got it, and we did lots of napping over the weekend. Not a bad deal...

2. My 10 year high school reunion is this weekend. We started planning this over 6 months ago. Can't believe it's finally here. Hope it ends up being fun. I'm a little nervous. Do people grow up enough to be friendly outside of their cliques?

3. Our small group is reading The Rest of God by Mark Buchanan this semester. Um, go get this book. Sorry guys, I think I'll actually be done with the book within a week or two. This is not over-achieving, this is demonstrating how badly I need rest!! Don't worry - I'll re-read the chapters when we actually get to them in the group. :)

4. Maeve - we're preparing for the bridal fair we're in on Oct 5th. Putting together a "look book" of our gowns with illustrations, having our logo readied for printing on a sign, having a sign made, printing pictures, bracing ourselves... What if we get like 20 people who are interested? Exciting, and a bit overwhelming.

5. The little weather thing on my browser says it's going to be 78 and sunny tomorrow. This makes me happy.

6. The sourdough starter is not working so well so far. That's probably partially because I keep forgetting to feed it every day. I also had missed the part about not stirring it with a metal spoon, so I had to start over. Other people have done this, so I'm sure it can be done.

7. Somebody, probably my husband, will have to explain to me what the deal is with the stock market today. I don't want to concentrate hard enough to figure out what it means.

Meeup Baby Carriers

Shelly just started selling her super-cute baby carrying pouches. If/when we have another baby, I'm definitely having her make me one of these! Fun to give as baby shower gifts too. :)

New Life Worship

This is the recording Nick and I had the honor of singing on with the choir. So excited for it to release!

Okay, okay

...I'll exercise!!!

5-6 Meals Per Day

By request, here's a typical day eating for me. (Check out the great discussion going on down on yesterday's post!):

8am - wake up, start breakfast
9am - sit down with the girls to eat (you actually digest when you're sitting!)
2 Turkey sausages and cooked rice cereal with rice milk and pure maple syrup
12pm - lunch, open faced sandwich with turkey deli meat (no preservatives, free range) with 1/4 avocado on 1 slice rice bread. Sometimes I have a handful of carrot sticks.
3pm - All natural beef hot dog in a paper towel, maybe a handful of raw macadamia nuts and/or a date or two for the sugar craving (eat on the go! :)
6pm - dinner, stir fried chicken and veggies in olive oil, brown rice
10pm - a piece of toast with raw almond butter

It's small amounts at a time. And I go for half carbs and half protein. Organic and raw is important, but if you can't start with that, don't worry about it. Start somewhere and move forward. Hope this helps!

You're so skinny - I hate you!

If I had a dollar for every time I had heard this from people who are actually friends, I would be...well, richer than I am. :) I think the most frustrating thing about people saying that, is they assume it's not a struggle for me and I wouldn't understand. Well, it's not a struggle, but that's not an accident.

They say if you want to be rich, hang out with rich people and figure out what they do differently. If you want to be skinny, figure out what skinny people do. Here's the thing: I understand how our bodies work. I gained 35-40 pounds with both pregnancies, eating everything I wanted - everything in sight! :) It literally fell off afterward. Today, I am 25 pounds thinner than I was at 18 years old. I even weigh 15 pounds less than I did when I got married 4 years ago, and I've had 2 babies since then.

A friend of mine is embarking on a "journey to a healthier" her. I'm so excited for her. I hope you all won't find it arrogant that I want to share what I know about being thin. I understand how painful it must be to struggle with weight you cannot lose, and I genuinely want to help in any way I can. Losing weight is not the mystery many have made it out to be. It doesn't even require daily strenuous exercise. If you want to be toned, you must work out. I confess that is the part I'm not so good at. But you need not carry around extra weight, if you just eat correctly.

Dr P is famous on my blog. He is my naturopathic doctor/chiropractor/nutritionist. I originally saw him when I was 17, to help treat my seizure disorder. That's a story for another day. But I've been following his advice for 11 years now, and seen amazing differences in my body and in the bodies of other people who took his advice. A good friend lost 70 pounds in about 6 months with almost no exercise. Nick lost 30 pounds in 3 months. It just works. So, with that background, here's some tips:

1. DON'T drink diet anything. I can give you a BAZILLION reasons. It will actually make it harder to lose weight. Seriously. People who are regular diet drinkers often lose 15 pounds when they switch to regular! Drink regular if you have to, and just limit yourself to one can a day, or something like that. If you need/want the reasons I'll give them to you. It's a whole blog post. The stuff is poisonous. I'm not even exaggurating. If regular is bad (and it is), diet is 10 times worse. Switch to tea or coffee. You'll look more cultured anyway. ;)

2. Eat protein and a whole-grain carb for breakfast every day. This is important.

3. Eat small amounts (preferably protein AND carbs) every 3 hours. This kick-starts your metabolism. Seriously. People who cannot get the weight off generally do not eat more than once or twice a day. Our bodies don't work that way.

4. Drink as much water as you can stand. Keep some in the fridge if you like it cold. Buy lemon to put in it if that helps. There's no substitute for water, and it flushes toxins from your body and helps you lose weight faster.

5. Try to eat your 5 fruit and veggie servings per day. It's insane, and I usually don't get there. But you need the fiber and vitamins. The closer you get, the better.

6. Work toward getting rid of the white stuff - white flour, white sugar, white carbs (like potatoes). Everything should be whole grain and unrefined. The fiber and vitamins are intact then.

7. Eat raw stuff that grows (fruits and veggies, nuts, seeds, etc.) whenever you have a chance. They contain enzymes that help your body break down food. Cleans out your digestive system, and gets rid of waste sitting in your gut. Yes, it's gross. It's also true.

8. Stop buying the junk you don't want to eat - don't even have it in the house. If it's there, you will eat it.

Start there. These things all affect each other, so they are all important. If you're doing this and it doesn't work, there are other things that may be affecting it:

-Food allergies. Most people have some. Do you have frequent headaches, stomachaches/digestion issues, achiness, acne, mood issues, etc.? It's very possible they would go away if you found out what your body just doesn't like and quit eating it. This is simple and profoundly hard at the same time. How badly do you want to be healthy? To figure this out, do an elimination diet. I can tell you how to do it if you're interested.

-Get as much sleep as you're able. Lack of sleep causes your body to produce cortisol, a stress hormone. Stress hormones keep weight on your body. Do what you can to lower your overall stress. If you're often stressed, sit down and think about what's causing it and see if there's some way to fix it. This kind of emotional maintenance is so important to our overall health.

-Food additives. There are so many chemicals in prepared foods. I know how much you coffee drinkers love your flavored creamer, but that stuff actually has aluminum in it, which has been directly linked to alzheimer's and other issues. It's super scary, actually. I don't understand why the FDA allows manufacturers to put that in foods. Food coloring, preservatives, and other chemicals are bad news. If you can't pronounce it or it has a number attached to it (Red #5, for example), don't eat it.

Food is a very private thing to many people. From the age of 14, I have had to share every detail of what I eat and how it affects me with a whole group of people. I have no sense of privacy about this subject left. :) I would be overjoyed to help anyone who wants help, to figure out what they can do to be healthier, even if it means discussing delicate details. :) If you don't want to talk to me about it, go see Dr P in Denver. I'll give you the number. It's not cheap, but if you do it, it will work. I promise.

Please take this post in the spirit it was intended. If we all share what we know about, we will all be better off. This is something you really can do - and your life will never be the same!

Protect yourself against cancer

I asked for prayer last week for Melody's brother Jon who has been declared terminal with brain cancer. My heart goes out so deeply to people who have to fight that battle.

There is so much fear related to cancer, and sometimes it feels like there's little you can do to protect yourself and your family. This article has some good suggestions of ways to protect yourself and your family, as well as some interesting thoughts about the research being done to cure this frightening disease.

Weekly Update

Last night: Hannah didn't want to go to bed, and continued to get up and ask for various things for about two hours. Each time, we calmly picked her up, laid her back in bed, and told her to go to sleep. She would cry, and then be back in 15 minutes. Where does this child get her persistence? Then, in the course of all of that, the cat got in their room. At 2am, Hannah started screaming her head off. It looked like Moses had attempted to jump into the stuffed animal net that hangs over Hannah's bed, and had dumped half of its contents on her head while she was sleeping. I'd be screaming too. Then Audrey cried for at least 20 minutes because she was mad to be awake. I just don't find those nights very restful. At least Hannah agreed to lay in bed with me and watch Dora until I was ready to get up this morning. Regardless, I'm a little out of it so far. And, I'm very aware this doesn't even compare to those of you who have just had babies... :)

With that, here we go:
1. One new school of worship student starts this week. That's pretty neat.

2. I get to play again for worship for the women's prayer group I played for last year. Pretty excited about that.

3. Maeve got two deposits last week - dresses for April and June. Yay!

4. What a great sermon yesterday - if you go to New Life and missed it, definitely check it out online. :)

5. Been a while since I mentioned Paperbackswap.com.



Basically, click on the icon, list (I think) 10 books you wouldn't mind getting rid of, and you're ready to go. You immediately get 3 credits to order books from other people. You pay the postage to send your books when someone requests them, and you get a credit for each book, for only the cost of postage. It comes out to getting a book for about $2, total. And if you say I referred you, I get a credit! (my email is sara kay [at] gmail.com - remove the spaces, etc.) This has saved me literally hundreds over the past couple of years. I have a couple of books to mail now, that's what made me think of it. :)

6. Took the girls to the library on Friday. For myself, I picked up a book called, "Before Green Gables." Brand new book - had to finish it within a week. How about 2 days? :) It is the prequel to the Anne books. A sad story in many ways, but made me thankful for what I have. Even though it's just a novel (although for those of us who grew up with Anne, she almost seems like a person!), it's about the hope you can have regardless of circumstances. And about what makes people do the things they do. I really enjoyed it. And I rarely read fiction these days.

7. I was NOT ready for fall yet. Today it is gloomy, cloudy, and cold. My heater has been running all morning. Trying really hard to not be mad about this.

8. We went to another bridal fair yesterday. It was in Denver, run by the same people who are doing ours next month. We left much encouraged about our ability to pull it off well. This is not over our heads at all. Come see us October 5th!

9. Took a look around my house this past week, and realized STUFF is taking over once again. Being only 800 square feet, our house is less forgiving of clutter. There is no room for more than the essentials. Time to de-clutter and fix some things.

OK, am I boring you yet? I'm boring myself. Guess I'll end here. Have a great week!

Raw

Sometimes I wish I had thicker skin.

All the political talk wears on me after just a few days of it. I start to feel emotionally...raw. I haven't even had any arguments about it. But I'm amazed at how many different STRONG opinions there are about what our country needs in a leader, even among people who agree on almost everything else. And because it's such an emotional issue, it's scary to even try to talk about those differences.

If it could be a non-emotional conversation, I would love to discuss politics. I feel like discussing ideas actually means something, and you can learn a lot about other people by how they relate to ideas. But most of the time I feel too thin-skinned to be able to take it when someone else has a deeply held view that feels completely contrary to mine. It literally makes my stomach hurt and I feel all shaky. Why is that? Am I just needing to be liked by other people?

Here I go anyway...

I want the United States to be a great place for my children and their children. I want leaders who will govern with principles that line up with my other beliefs (not forcing religion on other people, but defending its freedom, since that's what our nation was founded on). I don't agree with legislating morality, I think taking care of abortion, for example, is a job better done with the love of God's people, but neither do I want to pay for someone's abortion with my taxes. I believe the government takes enough (or too much!) of my money in taxes and should be responsible with what they have, not ask for more. I believe churches do a better job taking care of people in need than the government does with programs. I believe foreign policy is best left to someone with a much better understanding of the world than I have, but I believe it's the job of the government to protect and defend its people - that's what the Bible says is its job. I do not like angry, victim mindset people, just in general. If someone is angry and not doing anything about it, they just really want to stay angry in my opinion. If I work hard, I want to see the fruit of my labor. If someone refuses (not where they can't work, that they refuse) to work hard, they should not live off my work. I want people to tell the truth, to live with integrity, and be no-nonsense about...nonsense.

That's what is important to me in a politician. So, here's my idea. Give us your list of what's important! Don't attack what I believe, tell me what you believe, because I'm interested. Follow the format I just set up, and tell me what you think a politician should do and be. No being mean! Remember, I'm thin-skinned. :)

More on Palin

My husband wrote a post today that, for multiple reasons, deeply moved me. He wrote it as satire that could also strike you as funny, but that's not how it affected me personally. :) See what you think!

On Palin

This post said very eloquently what I'm feeling about making a judgment about the Sarah Palin deal. In addition to the reasons this blogger listed against Palin, I've also seen someone talk about Deborah in the Bible, and how it was an insult to Israel that there were no men willing to step up and lead. Then she quoted a passage from a minor prophet that talked about Israel's sin, and mentioned that women lead them. I'm unsure how much of that was related to culture, and how much is God's intended authority structure.

So for right now, I'm reserving judgment. Palin is an interesting person, for sure. She obviously stands up for what she believes while showing love and compassion for people (her daughter, for example) who make mistakes. I'm watching the whole thing carefully.

Illustration

I couldn't wait to share this with somebody... We just started working with a new illustrator for Maeve. Tell me, if you had a consultation with us, and then we sent you this, would you let us make your gown? :)

(Shhhh...the client hasn't seen it yet - I'm waiting on the back view.) :)

What a weird day

We really know how to celebrate around here... Nick felt terrible, so he went to bed, and I just put the girls down for naps. I wish I didn't feel a little disappointed when it feels like my days are all the same, even the ones that should be different.

Monday Headlines

1. Yay for Audrey's birthday! Still can't believe she's 2...

2. We had a good visit with Nick's parents this weekend. Friday night for dinner I made homemade fish sticks and steamed zucchini because they are Audrey's favorite. Nick's dad said, "I can tell why they are her favorite - they're really good!" That is a HUGE compliment coming from him. It was really nice. :)

3. Tried this recipe and made cupcakes for Audrey. They were really good and didn't even make me sick - my tolerance for eggs seems to be improving, thankfully. Hannah, on the other hand, was very sick. Wish I knew what bothered her so much all the time...

4. Went to the dentist on Wednesday, and I need a root canal now. Lovely. Here's a link to the information I have about root canals. This guy isn't the only one saying this, and my dentist (who is one of the best in the state) even told me that he's read studies confirming this. Therefore, I will eventually have the tooth pulled and once of two things will happen - I will get a bridge, or an implant. If I decide to go the implant direction, I will actually be without a tooth for several months while the implant heals. You will be able to see it. I'm 28 years old. Can you guess how I feel about this? Dr P says that now that I'm off gluten my teeth should stop decaying like that. They were doing it because I wasn't absorbing enough nutrients because of the gluten issue. Super weird. Super frustrating. I cried about it all Wednesday afternoon. By now I'm accepting the whole thing. It'll be okay, though not fun.

5. No students this week! Nice to have a break. Sure hope I get some school of worship student calls this week...money is always good. :)

6. Joanna is starting her mom's group this week! Yay!

7. I actually finished a row of my crocheting yesterday - Bek, you'll be proud of me. Maybe I'll be a crocheter yet!

I can't think of anything else. Quiet week this week. I'm glad life runs in cycles - we've had two insane weeks.