After reading my posts about accountability in the area of packing our home for Our Great Adventure, you may be wondering how I did today. Are you ready?

Zip. Zero. Zilch. Nada. Well, maybe a little progress was made but nothing was touched in the school room. My sweet daughter started feeling yucky around 10:00pm last night and by midnight was on the pot with a bowl in her lap. Poor kid. I truly despise vomiting. I was up with her well after midnight. Then I was up for personal reasons (tinkle tinkle) like 5 times! (This happens almost every time I eat dinner out. We ate at Chili’s last night with my SIL Jen and the boys. Eating out always makes me uncommonly thirsty.) I was pretty pooped today and while Kaity stopped needing a bowl, she still felt blah this morning. She perked up considerably by this afternoon and after dinner was back to doing gymnastics in the living room.

I did fill a box and a large trash bag full of items to throw away and cleaned out a file cabinet. I confess that I napped today too.

New subject! The kids and I are celebrating our first ever Lent! After our little study about what Lent is and the reasons behind it, we each chose something to give up (mine is soda, CJ’s is TV and Kaity’s is also soda) and collectively committed to pray more earnestly for Daddy and his heart (in a spiritual sense) for the next 40 days. I printed a Lent countdown that looks like a game board (love Pinterest!). Plus they each have an opportunity to earn .05-.10 cents a day for alms. This will be an neat experience. I am excited!

So below is my picture for this post. It has nothing to do with packing or Lent.

My sweetie nephew, 6 year old Michael, spent two nights at my house this last weekend. I found to my delight this message:

I am so loved. And I love him!

Psalm 127:3
“Behold, children are a gift of the LORD, The fruit of the womb is a reward.”

Last week I was in an area of Tucson looking for a business that wasn’t what I thought it was. I noticed that we were really close to the train tracks and on a whim I said, “Let’s put pennies on the tracks!”. CJ was thrilled and Kaity was sure I was breaking the law or was going to get us all killed. I knew a train would be by soon for a few reasons. I saw one way off in the distance, and, there are always trains coming and going so we wouldn’t have a long wait. I parked the van in an empty lot as close to the rails as I could, gathered all my eight pennies, and persuaded Kaity we’d be fine as I hiked with the CJ the rest of the way to where the tracks were. There were two sets of tracks so we put four pennies on each set, marked where we put them then headed back to the van to watch and wait. Eventually, the train I originally saw slowly made it’s way to the crossing then stopped. Some men got out and were looking at or doing something to the train so we just waited. Five or ten minutes later, a train from the other direction zoomed by (the noise is shocking) and we were thrilled! As soon as it was gone we hopped out with camera in tow and scrambled up to see what was left of our pennies. We found two of the four within a foot of where we’d left them. As we began walking back to the van, the stopped train turned it’s lights on so I waved and they blew the whistle, twice! When we were back at the van, they whizzed by and waved! We waved back, waited until they were gone, then ran back up to retrieve our remaining coins. This time we found three of our four. CJ kept saying “This is the best day ever!”. I loved his excitement! We were definitely having a blast!

So you will notice in the above picture that there is a piece of pottery in CJ’s hand. That is because as we were leaving CJ found this awesome piece of Indian pottery near the tracks on our way back to the car. I was so excited!

What a treasure!

Today (February 21, 2012) I surprised the kids with a trip into the monument to look at the wildflowers. I have been wanting to stop for a week or so and knew if we didn’t do it soon, they’d be gone.

So beautiful.

“Let the rivers clap their hands, let the mountains sing together for joy before the LORD”         Psalm 98:8-9a

So. I need to pack. I am wayyyyyy behind schedule. What schedule? The one in my head. I am flexible. I have to be. I have to consciously choose to be. The alternative is an unhappy momma and wife and who wants that?

I finally took more packing accountability pics. I sort of don’t want to post them because it’s kind of embarrassing but on the other hand, it is what it is. I am only human. I like being human. I was just thinking as I hiked with the kids today, how glad I am I’m a human and not some sort of animal. We saw the evidence of various animals as we trekked through the monument. I am a creature of comfort. So my mind began envisioning where these animals slept, which animal poo was I looking at, whether the rain bothered them.  I remember actually thinking about how glad I was I didn’t have to sleep in the desert, trudge through cactus searching for food and water or sleep on a rocky floor.

The pics I am going to post are of the school room. This has been a dumping ground and staging area as I have been sifting through things.

The next pictures are broken down by section. This is so I do not bite off more than I can chew when I have time to pack.

I guess my goal is to complete each section pictured here, one at a time, then post the after pics as I go.

The hubs called tonight and said he’d like the house completely packed by the end of this month. That gives me eight days. I feel like laughing hysterically. At least I do not feel like crying! I will do my best!

” Do everything without grumbling or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, ” Philippians 2:14-15a

We met up with my cousin’s wife and her kids, (they are our neighbors too!) and my best friend and her daughter and all spent the afternoon at the Tucson Gem And Mineral Show. They have University of Arizona students host the Junior Education Exhibit. Last year was so fantastic that we vowed to go again this year. We were not disappointed!

We began the afternoon with a scavenger hunt. Each family had a list of questions and locations to where we would find the answers for our geological investigation. The creator(s) of the scavenger hunt did a great job drawing us into the depths of the gem show and the displays.

The kids all earned a special gem/mineral/rock when they completed the scavenger hunt. They were aloud to pick the one they wanted. CJ’s weighs literally 8 to 10 pounds and is rather large. In CJ’s world, bigger is always better!

There were trays of minerals and rocks when we entered the Junior Education Exhibit that were manned by U of A geology students. Each student introduced their specimen to the kids and gave them information about each one. They also received a label and were allowed to select a specimen of their choice from the tray. The kids LOVED this! They were each given an egg carton to store their treasures.

After we made our way through the trays of treasures, we explored the various booths set up to educate!

You have to understand CJ’s love and curiosity when it comes to gems and minerals and rocks. He is forever bringing me interesting or beautiful specimens he finds outside. You can often find him with a hammer and a pile of smashed rocks on the bricks in the front yard. The gem show is right up his alley.

We will likely go again next year. We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.

Thank you Father for the beauty we see everywhere in Your creation. A feast for the eyes!

As my mother would say, “I have been remiss.” I was supposed to check back in and show my progress on some areas of packing that needed to just. get. done. And I have made progress! I will update with photos very soon. Hopefully this evening.

This last week has been simply a flurry of being-gone-ness. In helping my folks find a suitable 5th wheel for Our Grand Adventure, I have had the privilege of traveling hither and yon with my dad on our quest for the perfect home on wheels (we threw in some doctor appointments for good measure). My dad has medical issues that we must consider as we look at various models of 5th wheels. My mom has some reasonable requests as well. I want very much for Our Grand Adventure to be one of pleasure, renewal and enjoyment for my folks so choosing a comfortable and spacious trailer is very important to me (and them too I am sure!).

As I type this, I am on the road with ma and pa. We are headed to the boonies to look at a 5th wheel that is stored at an RV park. From there we will head to Phoenix and look at a few we saw listed on Craigslist. Mom is driving the truck so she can get more practice. She will be the sole driver on Our Grand Adventure unless I relieve her (daddy is not allowed to drive).

When I look at the calendar and compare it to our timeline, I freak a little. I am anxious to bring our 5th wheel home (it is in the White Mountains). I am eager to clean it and realisticly assess the amount of room we have for necessities. As of now, I am just guessing. I know I will need to add some shelves in a few places to maximize our space. The way my brain orders things, it wants to know these things first. So I am fighting against my sense of order and am slightly uncomfortable. :o)

I found a project on Pinterest that I think will serve nicely for a downsized version of the work boxes we use. I would love to work it out so the cushion can be flipped over and used as a lapboard.

I also have great hopes to line the milk crate so that it will be purty too.

“Cute liners for milk crates.”

So I will have to fiddle with the instructions and see if I can make these work together and if I can incorporate a lap desk into the deal.

*a side note. The 5th wheel we just looked at has potential. There was some water damage to an exterior section that looks to only be cosmetic but generally when I hear the words “water damage” I run!

I posted earlier today about my lack of motivation and ho-humness I was battling. I decided embarrassing myself may be the push I needed to accomplish what I was ignoring. I believed it worked!

Below is what I accomplished.

“Before!”“After!”“Before!”“After!”

I also have cleared the table of school stuff but it isn’t all put away so I won’t post a pic until I have finished the job.

Bedtime!

Today is kinda blah for me! I do not like these kinds of days. Depression is an issue in our family. It actually wasn’t much of an issue for me until a few months after I finished my cancer treatments. I do not live with depression now per say but I do have to fight it rather frequently. I am not depressed today but certainly . . . ho-hum. Mornings are the most difficult time of day for me. And I LOVE early morning. I used to relish getting up with the sun. It is rather hard to describe why I struggle with mornings. Certainly I am tired and don’t want to crawl out of my comfy nest but there is more to it than being tired. I find so many things looming ahead of me that I just know I am going to fail at, that I dread even starting. Now, as I type this I realize that Satan has found an area where I am weak and he is taking full advantage. Yet even knowing this, I fight to get going. And I kinda-sorta-in-a-round-about-way procrastinate when I do get up. I have my quiet time/office time right away. I tend to spend time over-organizing with lists and lesson plans and charts. I love these things and in many ways they are great tools and are helpful. But in the morning when I am in the funky-funk they delay me from the inevitable. I am amazing under pressure and under a timeline. I shock myself. So I wonder if I somehow subconsciously wait til I am down to the wire to get my groove on.  I just don’t understand me. I decided to take a few pics of things I must accomplish today and post them here as an accountability tool. I am going to embarrass myself into action.

“Groceries from this weekend that need to be put away but cannot until I clean out the pantry.”“The little pantry that needs a serious clean out.”“Various Household decorations that need to be sorted and packed that have occupied the couch for nearly a week.”“Our temporary school table (our real one is in the middle of our packing area).”

We didn’t do school Friday and aren’t doing school today. That frustrates me beyond measure but I didn’t have things perfectly ready so we won’t do it. I am an all or nothing thinker. Some days I can close my eyes and get past that kind of thinking and some days (like today) I cannot.

Time for a new subject!

Yesterday we went to Catalina State Park with my brother and sister in law and their kids. It was such a gorgeous day for Tucson. It is actually spring here in Tucson which bums be out because we just began winter temperatures after Thanksgiving. But it is beautiful nonetheless.

“As you can see, lots of green grass but the trees are still bare!”“My sweet nephew enjoying the hike in the back pack.”

“There were some wonderfully gnarled and low branched trees for the kids to climb.”“We were surrounded by the Catalina Mountains on all sides.”“The hubs wearing CJ’s t-shirt on his head.”“The wash was barely running from melting snow from the Catalina’s peaks. The kids rolled up their jeans and got in anyway!”“CJ had his shirt off the entire time we were there. I am going to start calling him Mogli.”“I love Jace’s eyes. ““Jace and Uncle Chad taking a break.”

This was such a great trip. It reminded me of the trips we made to Catalina State Park with my cousins when I was a child.  Not photographed are the pictures from our picnic, the trips behind the bushes to go pee and the hot dog toss initiated by Uncle Chad.

Blessings!

Psalm 8

“O Lord, our Lord, How majestic is Thy name in all the earth, Who hast displayed Thy splendor above the heavens! From the mouth of infants and nursing babes Thou hast established strength, Because of Thine adversaries, To make the enemy and the revengeful cease. When I consider Thy heavens, the  work of Thy fingers, The moon and the stars, which Thou hast ordained; What is man, that Thou dost take thought of him? And the son of man, that Thou dost care for him? Yet Thou hast made him a little lower than God, And dost crown him with glory and majesty! Thou dost make him to rule over the works of Thy hands; Thou hast put all things under his feet, all sheep and oxen, And also the beasts of the field. The birds of the heaven,and the fish of the sea, Whatever passes through the paths of the seas. O Lord, our Lord. How majestic is Thy name in all the earth!”

My sweet niece turned 9 recently (9!!! It has gone so fast! I remember the day she was born . . . ). This year I gave her a gift certificate for a date with Aunt Jenn and Cousin Kaity. I gave her three choices. A trip to Dairy Queen then shopping at Justice, -or- a round of miniature golf and then out to lunch, -or- a trip to Starbuck’s then shopping at Barne’s and Noble to buy an American Girl crafting or cooking book then on to Aunt Jenn’s to make something from the book(s) she chooses. After a lot of mind-changing, we finally wound up at Barne’s and Noble and made a quick stop at Justice. We came back to our house and set to work. The book she bought was an American Girl Doll Party Book (sorry, I do not know the exact title). The girls got busy decorating the house while I attended to some things. They also prepared a dog show. I attended the show and took pictures. They were fancied up in dresses (we are talking bridesmaid and Easter fanciness here) although Kaity did wear a cowboy hat with her dress. It was then requested that I do a photo shoot of the girls and their dogs. Afterwords, we prepared some American Girl Doll miniature food.

“Here are the dog trainers posing with their dogs. Cailey and Azula are on the left. Kaity and Daisy are on the right.”“My daughter looks far too grown up in this photo.”“American Girl doll donuts. Cheerios with melted chocolate chips for frosting and sprinkles!!!”“I did this, not the girls. I spilled nearly an entire container of these teeny-tiny-bouncy-roll-everywhere-sprinkles. It made for interesting clean up!”“Posing with some of the decorations that came with the kit. Kait is wearing a shirt they picked out at Justice. Cailey has a matching one.”“The girls were making cinnamon toast rolls for breakfast.”“Miniature cinnamon toast rolls.”

These are fun and easy. By trimming a slice of white bread then rolling flat with a rolling pin, you have a beautiful platform for butter and cinnamon and sugar! Roll them up tight then slice. Spread them on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper and pop into an oven. Bake at 350 for 5 minutes and viola! The brad does develop a little toast like consistency but they are still tatsey little treats. Plus, we drizzled them with homemade icing made from a little butter, powdered sugar, vanilla, and milk.

I love my darling niece. She is exuberant, has a healthy curiosity, laughs easily, is extremely bright, fun loving, beautiful. She loves God and I am desperate to see that relationship deepen and strengthen.

“My beautiful niece, Caileanne.”