Awesome Weekend!

Oh man I should not have waited until now to blog about the weekend. :)) Now I'm going to forget all the good stuff.

Saturday was Grubstake Days here in Yucca Valley. It's kinda like a Founders Day type thing. My Mom came to spend the weekend with us and check it out. We got up early and went to the Farmers Market, came home and had breakfast. Then we all headed into town for the big parade. Ok, I know that sounds strange, but we really did. I've always wanted to live somewhere that we had to "go into town". We got there early and found a good spot near the end of the parade route. We had to fight the crowds just like Disneyland...NOT! :)) There were a lot of people there though. The parade was great. Tom said it was cheap. Damn Disney raised kids! Jake told me that he was "growing weary" about an hour into it and I have to admit I was pretty done too. We went over to check out the fair. It was cute. They had panning for gold and softball between the police and fire departments "Guns & Hoses". There were lots of crafts and food. Dan and the boys headed home while my Mom, Nikki, and I shopped. The we called them back and had lunch at our favorite Mexican place. It was a good day. My Mom had to head back to Orange County because she had to work. Dan's Dad called and we went to Morongo to have dinner with his family. That proved to be a fun evening as well. I should have taken pictures, but my camera died during the parade.

Today was the Homeschool Fair at Ontario Christian High School. The boys and I drove down and picked up Grandpa and took him to the fair with us. It was really great. The boys are all excited to enter things in the fair next year. We saw a kid that built a Tesla coil and some other high voltage stuff that they were demonstrating. I bought some cool books and CD's. Grandpa found some videos. We met up with some friends while we were there and the boys spent the whole afternoon running around the fair and coming back for more money. It was super nice.

Home again. Tired. Filled with pizza. Must vegetate at computer games for a moment, then hit the hay. The boys are playing Roblox and listening to Green Day and Linkin Park.

Miracles

Bible Study - 4th Day in a Row! Yay for me! I'm attempting to teach my children by example and actually plan time to study and learn the things I want to know about. So I told them all this week, while sitting at the dinner table reading and typing away, "When I'm done with my studies I'll help you with that. Ok?"

One interesting point from bible study this morning, the occurrence of miracles. I want to tell you about miracles in my life. Several times the Lord has shown himself to me in a very real way. Years ago when I was arrested, I went through it all calmly and without a nervous breakdown. There were moments when I remember sitting in jail and thinking I should be freaking out right now. I've been arrested for a felony and I'm in jail, this is nuts. Then I would feel the peace of Jesus lay over me. The first few ours I spent asleep since I was alone in my cell. Then when I was transferred to the county jail, I was surrounded by women I had only seen in movies. That was when the Lord really wrapped me in His arms. It was not a feeling, it was completely real.

Another time was when my Grandma passed away. I spoke with her the day before she died and I prayed with her and I could feel the Lord speak through me. I did not know enough scripture to pray with her the way I did that day. I laid my head on her shoulder and could just see her walking hand in hand with Jesus and she knew we would all be OK without her and would see her again in the blink of an eye. And when she passed, God kept her there at the house until I could arrive and see that empty shell that was completely changed from the woman I had grown up with. She was not there. She was with God and in her glorified body free from the pain of this life.

The last is recently with our big move. It was a very stressful time and I prayed each day that God would use each moment to strengthen us and show us which way to turn. When the house sold in five days in a market where houses stayed on the market for months, I knew something great would happen. We did move. We found a home five days before we were supposed to be out of the old house. We found a loving church. I have found a wonderful homeschool group. Nikki is happy and content with her new homeschool situation. Life is good. We love it here. And I know it could have turned out very differently if it weren't what God wanted for our lives. Now that we are here, I started to think about the future. What does it hold for us? Where is this country going? Will it be the best situation for our kids? Last night I was reminded to let God handle it. These were all the questions I had when we first moved to the old house and look how things have changed. Things will change for us here too. And God will always be there to show us the way we need to go, as long as we are asking for His guidance.

Wednesday

I read this in my Beth Moore Bible study this morning. "Don't get the feeling that we signed up for suffering when we received Jesus. Beloved, we live in a fallen world where every human being suffers to some extent. The difference is that our suffering need never be in vain." It touched me because two high school kids killed themselves last week at our local church school. Why? Our suffering, as believers, causes us to learn and grow through Christ. It is never in vain that we suffer. There is a reason and an outcome even if we can't see through it. I feel so badly for those kids and their families.

LEGO SORT!! Tom and Jake wanted me to do a great lego sort. They know I'm good at it and I love to do it. I would do it everyday, but I can become obsessed and then I get nothing else done...as happened today.

My friend Liz was driving into California from Arizona today and stopped in to say hello, a very nice surprise! She's going to see a Jimmy Buffett concert with her brothers this weekend. Lucky!

I tore myself away from the Legos and went to Church with Ann and Nikki. I always get a lot out of it and enjoy the service, but it is so hard to let go of those Legos!! He he he! When I got home I stayed up until 10:45 finishing the last of the little pieces. Now if they will only let me build something. :)

Another Beautiful Day

No seriously! It has been cloudy and windy the last two days. Yesterday we actually got a few drops of rain. You know, that wet stuff from the sky?

Today we met our homeschool group at a skate park. It is still pretty hot (for us new desert dwellers) but they had the spray park on too! Yay! The kids would skate around on the ramps and then run over and get soaked and then hop back on the scooters and ride around again. This was the first time they had been to a place like this, so they were pretty excited about it. I'm sure they will be professionals by the end of summer! It was a nice day even though we had to cut it short so that Dan and Nikki could take the truck into Orange County.

The boys and I went out to dinner at Applebee's with Grandma Ann and then we went for a walk to get the mail. I took some pictures of the flowers and plants we saw. Tom says I'm obcessed...well, maybe I am. :)

Now we're back to playing games on the Wii and relaxing until Dan and Nikki get home.

Fishing?!

That's right! We went fishing in the desert. A couple times driving around I've seen a sign that said "Joshua Tree Lake RV & Campground" and always wanted to go check it out. We did that yesterday. We dropped off some things at the thrift store, stopped at the post office, and got some fishing supplies at Walmart. Then we drove out to that lake.

It was very nice. A guy met us at the car and told us all about the place. We paid to fish and went to find a spot. There was another man fishing there and he showed the boys how to use their new poles. He gave them some worms because he said that the fish here love them. We didn't catch anything. It was hot and late and we were ready for some lunch so we left.

This morning, Tom really wanted to go try again. I wasn't up to it because I had so much work around the house to do and it was going to be hot there again. But they both convinced me that they would help me if we went fishing first. So off we went. It was much cooler there today since it was only 10am when we got there. We bought some worms and I broke down and helped put them on. Yuck! I'm getting used to it though and I even took fish off hooks! :) I caught one and Jake caught one. And Tom was so proud because he finally caught a fish and then he caught another one while another little boy was watching. We couldn't bring them home because it is spawning time, it's catch and release only for a couple months (must really mess up the mood underwater though). So it was a good fishing day.

My favorite comment today was Tom telling me to feel the negative and positive G's as we went over the dips in the road on the way to the lake (we call them whoopdy doo's). They did help me a little. But they were so sweet to think of helping out so that they could do something fun.

Does Once A Week Count?

Ok, so I'm not doing so well with the "blog every day" idea. But at least I'm trying. I have two topics today, schedules and heat.

Do you schedule your day? I don't work (at a paying job anyway) and the boys don't go to school, so there is nothing that needs to be scheduled around here. Nikki and I have worked out a good schedule for her school work at Laurel Springs and that gave me an idea. If I can work out one for her, why can't I do one for myself? Maybe I would actually do more of the Rosetta Stone Spanish, or finish my online Bible Study, if I scheduled time each day to do these things. I feel like I go from thing to thing that needs to be done all day and I end up not having time to read, study, or write. I'm going to try it!

How about the heat?! You know, people laughed when I said I was moving to the desert because they know how much I hate being hot. If it got about 75 degrees, I started to complain. By the end of September, I was miserably hot. I felt like I was drowning in a pool of sweat and I couldn't breathe. But here, it is different. Today I was out in the new RV (more about that later) and there is a thermometer in it. It said it was 92 degrees! I was cleaning out the RV and making things nice, but I didn't feel hot. I mean I was cool, but I wasn't uncomfortable. The wind was blowing nice. When I got back in the house, I checked the thermometer inside and it said it was 86 degrees inside. Wow! I was vacuuming and playing on the Wii. Usually, I just sit in front of a fan and cry when it gets that hot. Now the sun went down and the windows are all open. There is a cool breeze playing through the house. It's nice. I think I'm going to like this desert place. Oh, by the way, I put the thermometer on the porch and it said it was 117 in the sun. Yikes!

Ok, one more thing. We got a new RV!! Yay!! It is new to us anyway. It is an '86 Ford Fleetwood. Very nice. It is so great! I love it. Dan has been working on it feverishly to get it in vacation condition. I have been making new curtains for it with cool desert camo cloth. The old ones were falling apart. I've cleaned it all out. The old owner left all his stuff inside, even food and shoes! The place was pretty gross. But it runs well, and there are no leaks, so it was a good deal. We all can't wait to go on our first trip in it. I'll take some pictures of it tomorrow and post them for you to see. Now we are all trying to figure out a good name for her. I said we should call it the Thunder Home. Nikki says Mac. Dad said we should call it the RV or better yet the camper. What do you think?

No really, I have an excuse!

It was Easter weekend, for crying out loud! :) I was just too tired and busy to stop and blog over the weekend, but here are the highlights.

Good times were had on Saturday with my Dad and Step-Mom. Lots of food and sitting around talking. We decorated eggs and I made world famous caramel.

Sunday, the rabbit came and the kids were thrilled with their candy and gifts. Jake told us he is well aware that the Easter Bunny is not real, but he likes to pretend. I hid eggs and all three of them had fun trying to find them all. Tom was concerned about how eggs and rabbits came from Jesus coming back to life. So we talked about all that.

Here are some great things that I heard from my children lately.

Jake, when he found the baskets on Easter morning, went running to tell his brother and sister before he tore into them.

Nikki, when questioned about dying her hair purple, said that she wouldn't just go and do it because she "respects the opinion of the people who are raising her".

Jake and I were star-gazing last night and he wanted to know how to find the north star. After I showed him he said,"You know that star is a lot like Jesus was. Nothing very special too look at, but it always leads you in the right direction."

Tom and Jake went to bed by themselves last night. They have been planning on doing this for about a week. I went to bed and they stayed up playing video games. I told them they could go to bed whenever they wanted as long as they were quiet. And they did!! I woke up in the middle of the night and it was dark and they were sleeping. Crazy. I asked Tom how it went last night and he said that he "felt like his head was going to explode from nervousness, but he prayed about it and God let him go to sleep".

Church was extra special on Easter morning. I was brought to tears a couple times. :)) I am seriously in love with Jesus and watching him hurt just breaks my heart and when he appears to Mary, I squirm with joy!

On Sunday, after church, we headed down to my Aunt's house for an Easter lunch. The boys spent the entire day in the pool and jacuzzi even though it was not a very warm day. Jake said he wasn't cold because he has blubber to keep him warm. Tom doesn't, so he got out and got dressed for awhile and then went back to it later. Jake and Tom both entertained us with some music at the end of the day. Hopefully, I can get the video and pictures up here soon. That is, if my computer will cooperate!

Today, Ann and I went to the thrift store to drop some things off and look around. It is such a nice place! Wow! I found the perfec thing, too. I needed some kind of toy box for the boys' stuffed animals (to protect them from Whiskey) and I found the best steamer trunk for $40! I came home and I had some denim fabric that I sewed into a liner for it and hot glued it in. It looks great!! I'm very happy about it.