Camp and The Great Cow Game

Today was a great blessing.

Aidan went to camp Timber-lee this morning. His first camp experience and at the same camp I went to when I was a kid. A group from church was carpooling and I was going to have a neighbor watch Garrett and Rachel so that I could just go with Aly and Aidan.

"In his heart a man plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps" Proverbs 16:3

I had made my plans. I was looking forward to carpooling and visiting with friends.

And the Lord determined my steps. He threw my plans right out the window. My neighbor has 4 kids of her own and three of them had VBS every morning this week. When I found out, and informed her, that I would have to leave the house at 7:15 to meet my carpoolers, she surprisingly did not back out. But she smiled very sweetly and told me that she didn't want to tell me "no." So I said "no" for her and I hope she had a really nice morning with Wyatt while the girls were at church :o).

As I pondered the question "what is plan B?" I had a peace. I immediately felt that I couldn't view this as a disappointment but just that God had other ideas. I'd love to say that this is always my reaction to plans falling through, but that would be a lie.

This morning at 7:40, we all loaded into the van. We headed off with a full tank of gas (very expensive gas), 4 kids, 3 gatorades, 2 pages of mapquest directions, and 1 very excited new camper.

We said our safe trip prayer and put in Aly's SuperChick CD. And everything from that point on made me feel both young and old, and very, very grateful to God that He doesn't let me carry out every plan I make.

The kids played the great cow game. I played this "game" when I was younger, with my brothers and my Dad. I don't know who came up with the game but it's very simple. You count the cows you pass on your side of the car. If you pass a cemetery on your side, you lose all your cows. If you pass a church, you double your cows. (Who did come up with this game?)

As a kid we played it every time we drove up to my Dad's house in Wisconsin. There was a cemetery, I believe on the right side, as you pulled onto his street, so you knew when you started that the driver's side players would win. And yet, we kept playing.

Today the only cows we even saw were packed into a trailer that we passed on the highway.

And today, I was the grown-up, driving while my kids laughed about cows.

We pulled into the camp and it hit me that this was the trip I'd taken with my Mom driving, just a few (we'll call it a few) years ago. I was now the one who had to make sure the car had plenty of gas and follow the map directions. And it was my son, now, who sat in the back, anxious to get there.

We actually made it there just a few minutes before the carpool. The girls and boys played kickball with their counselors while parents chatted. And Aidan stood with his counselor while the girls and boys played kickball. Then we all got to climb into the hay-ride trailer to go with our campers to their cabin. We settled Aidan in and headed to the commons for muffins and coffee (well, pop actually). I was already seeing the blessing of having to drive myself and take all the kids, but at the commons I found out that the carpoolers were not staying for the meeting.

But we didn't have to leave because we drove ourselves. So, the kids ate while I got the "camp shpeal" (is that an actual word, and how do you spell it?) and then they offered a tour of the camp. The camp director took us and 2 other moms, down to the lakefront and then to the science center. It was just a quick tour, we didn't even go through the whole science building. But as we stood checking out all their turtles, one of the staff members came by to feed them and asked the kids if they wanted to help. And they did, of course. Even Rachel got to pick out some worms and drop them in. They had a blast. I had a blast.

We walked through Pine Bluff and past Maple Knoll. It was so fun to be seeing the cabins that I had stayed in. We also walked past the ampitheater. Which is where I sat for a bonfire one summer night and heard a fellow camper talk about waiting too long to talk to his grandpa about the Lord. His grandpa slipped into a coma just a few hours before he and his mom visited him at the hospital. He sat and talked to his grandpa but regretted that he was left unable to know if his grandpa accepted Christ, or even heard him at all. I remember lying on my bunk that night with the overwhelming realization that Jesus was more than Sunday school lessons and summer camp. God was very, very big. And being a Christian was about life, all of it. I had asked Jesus to be my Savior at the age of 5, but that was the night I asked Him to be my Lord.

God has perfect plans, so if mine have to fall through, that's more than okay with me.
Thank you God, for the gift of today.

***
6/14 - I have some new information...

It's spiel. Go ahead, check it out for yourself.

(Thanks Mom!)

Marking My Calender

Something happened today that really marks the beginning of a new era for me and my daughter, who will be turning 11 this summer.

Here's the story...

Aly was wearing her favorite shorts today. All day long she had to pull them up. It didn't seem odd to me until this evening as we were standing in line at the Subway inside Walmart. We had just bought her a new pair of shorts for camp in a week. We bought a size 8 because the ones she was wearing were 10's. Well, as she was admiring her new shorts at Subway, I noticed that the new shorts had an adjustable waist-band. You know, the kind with a button inside the waist-band so you can pull the elastic tighter or let it out.

Anyway, it dawned on me that they were the same style shorts just a different pattern/color. So, I did what any mother would do standing in line at Subway. I reached for the pants she was wearing and pulled at the waist to see if the waist-band was in need of an adjustment.

It turns out the elastic had come off the button, probably in the wash.

So, I adjusted it.

In line at Subway.

As I worked, Aly pleaded with me to stop and looked around to see if anyone, especially anyone she knew, was watching.

And then I adjusted the other side.

For the first time, I managed to completely embarrass my daughter in public. (Now, I may have given her plenty of reasons before this to be embarrassed by me in public, but this is the first time she has actually been embarrassed by me in public.)

And poor Aly has no idea that this is just the beginning.

"Let There Be Light, Let There Be Love...

Let There Be MUSIC!!!" But sadly, no accordion solo.

Okay, if you aren't an Andrew Peterson fan and you didn't see him play in Green Bay, then you are probably lost right now. What I'm trying to say is...

...I've added a play list to my blog!! I'm so excited.

I hope you enjoy. They are some of my all time favorite songs!

And as long as I'm talking about music, I should share with you a few places online where you can find my favorites if you want to check them out.

Andrew Peterson - if you know me at all, you know that he is my very, very favorite artist.

Alli Rogers - she is quickly becoming a favorite and you can check out her blog too if you want.

Andy Gullahorn - I was introduced to his music at an Andrew Peterson concert and I love it. He is also hilarious, and you know how I love to laugh.

Selah - I just recently found them although they've been around for 10 years. I feel I should mention that one of the members is Todd Smith. It is his wife Angie whose blog has so inspired me. They lost their daughter in April just 2 hours after her birth and Todd's sister just lost her 2 month old son to SIDS the end of May. I highly recommend checking out Angie's blog.

Well, I should be going now. I've left you with plenty to do and it's "Mug-shot Monday" here, so I'd better go get the camera.

Makeovers

I had the Today show on yesterday. I don't watch the show but I had turned on the t.v. to get weather updates during our tornado watch. Anyway, I happened to hear that they were going to take 2 audience members and give them a makeover. I didn't watch it but it got me thinking about makeovers.

People seem to love makeovers. I've seen enough to be able to picture the audience members all trying to get noticed for the sake of being chosen for a makeover. And they always treat the victim, I mean, volunteer, so sweetly. They shower them with compliments. Telling them how they have a really pretty face or a great smile, any number of things. What they really mean is "you have a feature or two that are actually nice but the rest of you is a mess so we're going to fix you." Why would they have chosen them for a makeover if they didn't see anything that needed to be made over?

Now I know that not everyone loves makeovers. I think there are plenty of people, myself included, who recognize the truth that despite all the kind words and gooey compliments, someone has looked you over and sees you as a "before" picture. No thank you, I'm not interested. I may very well be a "before" picture but let's not make a public statement about it.

But what about a real makeover? The kind that matters. The "you" that matters. Not a change in what we look like on the outside, but of who we are on the inside. God is the only one who can bring about such a makeover. Our best attempts without Him leave us looking good on the outside and being a fraud on the inside. Not the ideal "after" picture.

So, would audience members volunteer as quickly for a makeover of their heart, compliments of their Creator, as they would for a beauty makeover? Would people be jumping up and down and saying "God, here I am, find all my flaws so I can be new?" I'm guessing not as many.

So why is that? Oh, yeah, our sinful nature.

We would rather live a life of trying to hide our flaws, than to confess them and let God bring them into the light to free us from them. (I say "flaws" but of course we're talking about sin here, and sin is sin no matter what you call it.)

I have made the decision to stop peacefully existing with my sinful nature. We are now at war. I will battle it til my body lies in a grave, but battle I will. To confess my sin is to allow a "before" picture to be taken. To repent is to allow Jesus to create an "after" picture, because we just don't have a fighting chance unless we have the Spirit.

Psalm 139:23-24 "Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting."
(my life verse)

At some point, you may feel a nudge to just take a peek in the mirror and look for flaws. If you are ready to check for "flaws" you'll need to know what a "flaw" is. As I said, it is sin. Let me direct you to Exodus 20:1-17, there you will find God's law. If you've broken any of them, you've sinned. I don't know if you'll ever let God make you over, but there's where to start if you're willing.

I Call This "Mmmmmm..."

Our first official "Tasty Tuesday"!

We started the summer off with the best chocolate chip cookies ever! Which is the recipe from the email that goes around every now and then about the Neiman-Marcus cookies. Do you know the one? Check it out at Snopes. The story is false but try the recipe, it's wonderful!!







Everyone chipped in to make the dough...















...and I think that it was...










...a success. Mmmmm...

Adventures in Babysitting

I am so excited about summer that you'd think it was me who just finished up a year of tests and quizzes. Months of quiet lines. Lines for lunch. Lines for the bathroom. Lines for recess, music class, gym class. Oh, the lines!

And now...an open yard begging feet to run wild.

Well, anyway, I thought I'd share the letter I typed up today for my friends who bless me with a job. I gave it to them as a "let you in on what the summer holds" kind of note. Enjoy!

***WARNING***

In an effort to become somewhat organized and to enjoy my summer as much as I know our children will, I have devised a plan.

Each day of the week has a theme. The themes will remain the same each week.

Mug-shot Monday: we will spend a little part of the day taking some pictures (I predict very, very silly pictures)

Tasty Tuesday: the kids will choose ahead of time a new/fun/favorite recipe for us all to bake/cook/concoct and taste. (We will also be sharing with you so plan your work-out schedule accordingly)

Whadawedo Wednesday: I could not come up with a catchy Wednesday theme so I settled on this. It is pronounced whad da we do? As in, the kids don’t know what they will be doing because it’s my day to surprise them. It may be anything from tie-dying shirts to a scavenger hunt...you get the picture.

Theater Thursday: my plan is to get myself to the movie rental place on Wednesday nights to rent a new movie for us to watch. (If you ever have a movie your kids enjoy and that they would like to share with us, that will work too. I will also take suggestions and honor restrictions, although I think we are always pretty much on the same page.)

and finally

Foto-page Friday: when we will take those great mug-shots and put together a scrapbook page. My hope is that when everyone heads back to school in August they will each have a fun little memory book of their summer.

Thanks for sharing your kids with me!!

Robin

p.s. – those were the themes I told the kids to get them excited about coming, here’s the real list:

mop-my-floors monday

tackle-laundry tuesday

wipe-down wednesday (as in toilets, sinks, counters...)

thirty-dollars-buys-you-lunch thursday

and finally

fan-Robin-poolside-and-bring-her-drinks-and-bon-bons friday (non-alcoholic of course)

It’s going to be a great summer!!!

How Can It Be?

Garrett and Rachel are lounging around spending their last lazy morning without Aly and Aidan.

How can it be the last day of school already?

I started my day by sending a 1st grader and a 4th grader to the bus stop. At 3:05 today I will have a 2nd grader and a 5th grader. Or will they be nothing until August? No longer a 1st grader but not yet a 2nd grader? Officially passed on from the 4th grade but unable to enter 5th grade until school resumes?

No, I think they will be a 2nd grader and a 5th grader. Which makes Garrett a Kindergartner.

Wow! How can this be?

And so, today we begin our summer!!! We get to kick it off with a pizza party with friends and sleeping in tomorrow...at least they'd better :o)

I really am looking forward to summer. Four kids in this house can be crazy and a bit chaotic but it's just, well, right. Something just feels right about the world when they are all home. Don't get me wrong, though, something feels right about them going off to school and the house being quiet, too! But that's because their absence is of a temporary nature. As nice as it is when the house is peacefully quiet, I thank God when it fills again with all the noises that come with raising four kids. I would take the noise times ten over not having them at all.

So, God, bless us this summer with lots of time. Time for family, for friends, for rest, and for play. Time for making memories and time for growing. But mostly, time for knowing more of You.