That's us! And I don't mean that we all cut off 9 fingers, LOL. The Ram gave us a "window" of dates when we can expect to pick him up. (He can't give exact times/dates--for security reasons.) So, though we don't know *exactly* when he'll be back, we do know it's soon!! The GrandRams came up last week and helped us clean out part of the garage and the "warehouse." (It's a big barn-ish outbuilding we use for storage.) Didn't get completely finished with it, but definitely got enough done to be an encouragement...and to make it seem "do-able."
We found some treasures that had been missing for years. We also found some "treasures" that made me wonder, "Why did we keep this????" LOL I realized I have enough clothes that are not being used that we could open a small Salvation Army. We are planning an indoor yard sale (the warehouse is BIG) in a few weeks. Fifteen years of clutter...sigh...
Well, I'm not sure how often I'll blog before we go to get the Ram. (Why are you laughing, L.A.?) We'll be spending several days away while the Ram does the necessary paperwork to get to come home.
We are all very excited about Daddy coming home. I think everyone has her list of Things to Do with Dad. :-)
Gotta run...got a V.I.P. coming soon... ;-)
Y'all keep your wool dry,
The Ewe
Friday, October 28, 2005
Tuesday, October 18, 2005
Update to Breaking Gnus
Uhh...for those who know me well...very well (hi, Honey!) I wanted to assure you that The Ewe's use of the word "snot" in the previous post in no way indicates a general change of policy at The Fold. It is still a four letter word, however, in this case, The Ewe judged the phrase "double barrel *mucus* gun" to not have quite the same ring to it...
Carry on...
Carry on...
Breaking Gnus
...Tater Tot has discovered that his nose has two parking spaces--one per thumb. We're calling it the "Double Barrel Snot Gun." Stay tuned...
Thursday, October 13, 2005
Just the Quote, Ma'am
Quote of the Day:
(Overheard at The Fold): Musical and Lovable were playing...
Musical: "I'm not going to talk like a stylish teenager; I'm going to talk like a nice one."
:-)
(Overheard at The Fold): Musical and Lovable were playing...
Musical: "I'm not going to talk like a stylish teenager; I'm going to talk like a nice one."
:-)
Wednesday, October 12, 2005
God's "It's-No-Problem" Laboratory
Hello F.O.T.E.s!
You know, Our Lord is so good about providing opportunities for us to "work out" the things He's teaching us.
For instance...Sunday, I wrote the "No Prob, Bob" blog. Sounded fine, but God wanted to be sure I had a chance to test that concept. So....Monday...on our way to Town, the van began making a terrible sound--like a flat tire, but under the hood. I pulled off the road and started to feel panicky. Then, just as I'd rehearsed, I began telling myself, "It's no problem! Just an opportunity." I'll admit, I needed to rinse and repeat that several times as I drove my wounded craft to our pastor's house for an emergency landing. Pastor's Family graciously welcomed us to stay in their home while Pastor's Mechanic worked on our van. My children are now forming an alternate reality about mechanical probl...uh...opportunities. The last two times we had van issues, we landed at friends' houses to regroup. The children look forward to vehicles mishaps, as that's when we are forced to make time to do some visiting. LOL We will endeavor to "spread the love" and land at different friends' houses, so as not to overburden any one bloodline. ;-) Not that I'm planning on any more breakdowns. In fact, I'm planning on not doing that again. For a really, really long time. Though I imagine my children get a little thrill whenever the van starts making funny noises. :-)
Well...gotta run...got work to catch up on from all our recent "visiting." :-)
Y'all keep your wool dry!
The Ewe
You know, Our Lord is so good about providing opportunities for us to "work out" the things He's teaching us.
For instance...Sunday, I wrote the "No Prob, Bob" blog. Sounded fine, but God wanted to be sure I had a chance to test that concept. So....Monday...on our way to Town, the van began making a terrible sound--like a flat tire, but under the hood. I pulled off the road and started to feel panicky. Then, just as I'd rehearsed, I began telling myself, "It's no problem! Just an opportunity." I'll admit, I needed to rinse and repeat that several times as I drove my wounded craft to our pastor's house for an emergency landing. Pastor's Family graciously welcomed us to stay in their home while Pastor's Mechanic worked on our van. My children are now forming an alternate reality about mechanical probl...uh...opportunities. The last two times we had van issues, we landed at friends' houses to regroup. The children look forward to vehicles mishaps, as that's when we are forced to make time to do some visiting. LOL We will endeavor to "spread the love" and land at different friends' houses, so as not to overburden any one bloodline. ;-) Not that I'm planning on any more breakdowns. In fact, I'm planning on not doing that again. For a really, really long time. Though I imagine my children get a little thrill whenever the van starts making funny noises. :-)
Well...gotta run...got work to catch up on from all our recent "visiting." :-)
Y'all keep your wool dry!
The Ewe
Sunday, October 09, 2005
No Prob, Bob
Hello F.O.T.E.s! (Friends of The Ewe ;-)
Something has been stirring around in my head this week. I thought I'd better share it with you...
Talking with The Ram this past week, I stated, "I have no problems." We were discussing how that your attitude determines whether your life is "full of problems" or you can say "I have no problems, only opportunities for growth." Now, I haven't always been able to state, "I have no problems." It's not that the circumstances were any worse--it's that my attitude was. In the New Testament, when Peter stepped out on the water to walk out to Jesus, he did fine for a short time. He was saying, "I have no problems!" But soon, those waves caught his eye and he doubted. His former "opportunity for growth" quickly became A Problem. Once his faith shrunk away, he began to sink. (glug)
I have so much to be thankful for. I reflect on the prob...umm..."Opportunities" others have, and I realize what a life of ease Our Lord has graciously granted us. I am so grateful to Him for his loving care for us. There have been situations in our life that, during the heat of it, it seemed like A Problem. I thank God that He has oftentimes allowed me to look back later and see that that Problem was, alas, just an Opportunity!
I'm praying that The Lord will help me to discipline my mind and continuously declare, "I have no problems!!!" I realize I cannot do that on my own. The faith to trust in God is not something any of us can conjure up. I am always tickled by the verse in the Bible found in the Book of Ephesians, the 2nd chapter and 8th verse: "For by grace you have been saved through faith, *and that not of yourselves* [emphasis mine] it is the gift of God..." I love that! I can almost picture the writer getting excited, explaining how we can never work up God's good favor toward us. He reminds us that we didn't do *anything* to earn God's gift of salvation...Yes, we did have faith to believe, but doggone! Even THAT came from God. So...do I have faith at all times to confidently state, "I have no problems!!"? NO! I don't have enough faith for that. But, praise the LORD! I can ASK for it! Wow. It is such a relief to know that I don't have work myself into a frenzy to "have faith." If my faith is waning, I can ask God to grant it to me. So, with that in mind, I will say, *by God's grace* I will declare my "problems," OPPORTUNITIES and trust the Lord to work it out. Besides, 27 years ago, I told God I accepted His free gift of salvation. If I can trust Him with my eternal soul, shouldn't I be able to trust Him with all the piddly little details in the here and now? I want to confidently declare, as Paul did, "For me, to live is Christ and to die is gain!" In other words, what do I have to lose? If I live, I can serve my Savior. If I die, I get to go live with Him. Where's the unfavorable choice? LOL If the worst thing that can happen to me is death, it's All Good. :-)
Now, Dear Friend, you might be saying, "Yeah, sure...but you don't have my problems..." You're right. I don't. I cannot even imagine the pain some of you live with. Please know, I do not want to sound harsh or lacking in compassion! Far from it! I just want you to know that life doesn't have to be filled with fear and worry. If our Lord truly is in control (and I believe He is!) we can relax in Him. We can stop trying to wrestle the steering wheel out of His grip. It's awfully tiring to fight against Him! Oh, Friend. I pray God's rest for you. :-)
Many blessings,
The Ewe
Something has been stirring around in my head this week. I thought I'd better share it with you...
Talking with The Ram this past week, I stated, "I have no problems." We were discussing how that your attitude determines whether your life is "full of problems" or you can say "I have no problems, only opportunities for growth." Now, I haven't always been able to state, "I have no problems." It's not that the circumstances were any worse--it's that my attitude was. In the New Testament, when Peter stepped out on the water to walk out to Jesus, he did fine for a short time. He was saying, "I have no problems!" But soon, those waves caught his eye and he doubted. His former "opportunity for growth" quickly became A Problem. Once his faith shrunk away, he began to sink. (glug)
I have so much to be thankful for. I reflect on the prob...umm..."Opportunities" others have, and I realize what a life of ease Our Lord has graciously granted us. I am so grateful to Him for his loving care for us. There have been situations in our life that, during the heat of it, it seemed like A Problem. I thank God that He has oftentimes allowed me to look back later and see that that Problem was, alas, just an Opportunity!
I'm praying that The Lord will help me to discipline my mind and continuously declare, "I have no problems!!!" I realize I cannot do that on my own. The faith to trust in God is not something any of us can conjure up. I am always tickled by the verse in the Bible found in the Book of Ephesians, the 2nd chapter and 8th verse: "For by grace you have been saved through faith, *and that not of yourselves* [emphasis mine] it is the gift of God..." I love that! I can almost picture the writer getting excited, explaining how we can never work up God's good favor toward us. He reminds us that we didn't do *anything* to earn God's gift of salvation...Yes, we did have faith to believe, but doggone! Even THAT came from God. So...do I have faith at all times to confidently state, "I have no problems!!"? NO! I don't have enough faith for that. But, praise the LORD! I can ASK for it! Wow. It is such a relief to know that I don't have work myself into a frenzy to "have faith." If my faith is waning, I can ask God to grant it to me. So, with that in mind, I will say, *by God's grace* I will declare my "problems," OPPORTUNITIES and trust the Lord to work it out. Besides, 27 years ago, I told God I accepted His free gift of salvation. If I can trust Him with my eternal soul, shouldn't I be able to trust Him with all the piddly little details in the here and now? I want to confidently declare, as Paul did, "For me, to live is Christ and to die is gain!" In other words, what do I have to lose? If I live, I can serve my Savior. If I die, I get to go live with Him. Where's the unfavorable choice? LOL If the worst thing that can happen to me is death, it's All Good. :-)
Now, Dear Friend, you might be saying, "Yeah, sure...but you don't have my problems..." You're right. I don't. I cannot even imagine the pain some of you live with. Please know, I do not want to sound harsh or lacking in compassion! Far from it! I just want you to know that life doesn't have to be filled with fear and worry. If our Lord truly is in control (and I believe He is!) we can relax in Him. We can stop trying to wrestle the steering wheel out of His grip. It's awfully tiring to fight against Him! Oh, Friend. I pray God's rest for you. :-)
Many blessings,
The Ewe
Saturday, October 08, 2005
My Garage...
...grows pink bicycles.
Hello, F.O.T.E.s!
Ahhh...this is my FAVE time of year!!! I tend to "reverse hibernate"--I only come outside when it gets cool enough. LOL And, Sister, it's cool enough!!! The last few days have been downright fall-ish. Which is fine, it being Fall and all. :-) The trees around our house are sending down more confetti every day. Yup. Life is good...
Tonight after dinner, I went outside to enjoy a bike show. My children delight in putting on fine shows of the two-wheel variety. This evening it was a bit nippy out there, so I made myself a "spot of tea" to fend off the chill. While I was snuggled down in the lawn chair, sipping my peppermint tea, my eye fell on a pink bicycle (c'mon now...enough jokes...you know it didn't *fall* on the bike ;-). I thought, "Hmmm...I forgot we had that bike." Then, all of a sudden, it was as if my viewpoint zoomed out, and I saw the whole driveway--with countless pink bicycles, and one pink trike strewn about like an explosion at the Schwinn plant. How did this happen? How did we accumulate (what?) 4 pink bicycles?! That's not even including the black one I donated to Carnival when she outgrew her (you guessed it) pink one. I wondered how I'd not noticed the abundance of pink bikes through the years. It wasn't as if we were constantly buying pink bicycles. We did buy a couple of them--usually for Carnival, as she outgrew the others. One of them Lovable won at a restaurant give-away. One was given to Musical. I guess we were predestined to have a plethora of pink two-wheelers. Well...that's ok...I think the Pink Bike Owners are pretty neat folks.
Might not be a bad idea, though, to begin some sort of registration program for the bikes. I think they're colonizing in the garage and I want to be sure they do not become too powerful.
Must run...getting oh-so sleepy...
Y'all keep your wool dry!
The Ewe
Quote of the Day: "YoujusSOfunny!" Tater Tot
Hello, F.O.T.E.s!
Ahhh...this is my FAVE time of year!!! I tend to "reverse hibernate"--I only come outside when it gets cool enough. LOL And, Sister, it's cool enough!!! The last few days have been downright fall-ish. Which is fine, it being Fall and all. :-) The trees around our house are sending down more confetti every day. Yup. Life is good...
Tonight after dinner, I went outside to enjoy a bike show. My children delight in putting on fine shows of the two-wheel variety. This evening it was a bit nippy out there, so I made myself a "spot of tea" to fend off the chill. While I was snuggled down in the lawn chair, sipping my peppermint tea, my eye fell on a pink bicycle (c'mon now...enough jokes...you know it didn't *fall* on the bike ;-). I thought, "Hmmm...I forgot we had that bike." Then, all of a sudden, it was as if my viewpoint zoomed out, and I saw the whole driveway--with countless pink bicycles, and one pink trike strewn about like an explosion at the Schwinn plant. How did this happen? How did we accumulate (what?) 4 pink bicycles?! That's not even including the black one I donated to Carnival when she outgrew her (you guessed it) pink one. I wondered how I'd not noticed the abundance of pink bikes through the years. It wasn't as if we were constantly buying pink bicycles. We did buy a couple of them--usually for Carnival, as she outgrew the others. One of them Lovable won at a restaurant give-away. One was given to Musical. I guess we were predestined to have a plethora of pink two-wheelers. Well...that's ok...I think the Pink Bike Owners are pretty neat folks.
Might not be a bad idea, though, to begin some sort of registration program for the bikes. I think they're colonizing in the garage and I want to be sure they do not become too powerful.
Must run...getting oh-so sleepy
Y'all keep your wool dry!
The Ewe
Quote of the Day: "YoujusSOfunny!" Tater Tot
Friday, October 07, 2005
Happy Birthday to......
Lovable!!!
Hello, F.O.T.E.s! Actually, tomorrow, Oct. 8 is Lovable's birthday, but we'll be celebrating today. We'll be meeting her buddies at the park to enjoy a picnic and cake and ice cream. It's hard to believe this girl is 8 years old! She asked me yesterday if I remembered when *I* was 8. I told her I remember my 8th birthday, because I got a swingset. I hung upside down on the bar and thought, "Wow. I'm 8 now. I've got to start acting my age." LOL I remember feeling very old and mature. Yes, turning 8 was a very serious event for The Ewe. LOL
In other news, we rolled the trash dumpster out to the curb last night. Another trash day down...we have tantalizingly few more "roll outs" left before The Ram returns home to us. I'm getting awfully nervous--to the point of frantic, truth be told, LOL. I keep thinking of things I wanted to have done before he got back...Frankly, I fear some of those just aren't going to happen at this point. I think he'll still want to come home, though, even though the garage has yet to be cleaned out. ;-) Surely all the "wags and licks" he'll be assaulted with will distract him from the clutter in the garage. Don't you think? :-)
Well, I'm going to sign off for today. Many Big Doings to get ready for.
Y'all keep your wool dry,
The Ewe
Quote of the Day: "Carnival, I'm going to the bathroom...TAIL your brother." (The Ewe)
"Ok [turns to baby]...Tater Tot, Mom's going to the bathroom." (Carnival)
Hello, F.O.T.E.s! Actually, tomorrow, Oct. 8 is Lovable's birthday, but we'll be celebrating today. We'll be meeting her buddies at the park to enjoy a picnic and cake and ice cream. It's hard to believe this girl is 8 years old! She asked me yesterday if I remembered when *I* was 8. I told her I remember my 8th birthday, because I got a swingset. I hung upside down on the bar and thought, "Wow. I'm 8 now. I've got to start acting my age." LOL I remember feeling very old and mature. Yes, turning 8 was a very serious event for The Ewe. LOL
In other news, we rolled the trash dumpster out to the curb last night. Another trash day down...we have tantalizingly few more "roll outs" left before The Ram returns home to us. I'm getting awfully nervous--to the point of frantic, truth be told, LOL. I keep thinking of things I wanted to have done before he got back...Frankly, I fear some of those just aren't going to happen at this point. I think he'll still want to come home, though, even though the garage has yet to be cleaned out. ;-) Surely all the "wags and licks" he'll be assaulted with will distract him from the clutter in the garage. Don't you think? :-)
Well, I'm going to sign off for today. Many Big Doings to get ready for.
Y'all keep your wool dry,
The Ewe
Quote of the Day: "Carnival, I'm going to the bathroom...TAIL your brother." (The Ewe)
"Ok [turns to baby]...Tater Tot, Mom's going to the bathroom." (Carnival)
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