HELP! I need my Mother-In-Law!!!

I have to SEW again!

Tomorrow (yeah...waiting til the last minute here...) is Prom. Caleb is going, with his girlfriend Katie. He's going to look SO sharp in that tuxedo that we bought him...unless the pants are still 6 inches too long! I have to HEM them...and put a cuff on. Now that doesn't seem like it should be to complicated, but man...I'm afraid to make that cut...I sure wish Mary were visiting again this week. I'd delegate this job to HER :)

Who really looks at the hem of pants anyway? (unless they are too short...)

A New Favorite Web site

A friend on my pastor's wives yahoo list recommended this new web site today. It's called Pandora Radio You basically create your own favorite radio station(s) and can listen for free. When you get to the site, it will ask you for the name of an artist. I chose Queen. Then it names your radio station "Queen Radio", which is easily changed later. It then begins to play a song by Queen. You can give that song a thumbs up (I really like this song) or a thumbs down (never play this song again!) It then continues to generate and pay songs based on what you've said you like! You can create up to 100 of your own radio stations...country, oldies, Christian...

I've been listening to Styx, Foreigner, Journey, Queen, some Elton John and even a bit of AC/DC on my "80's" radio station (formerly known as Queen Radio).

I think I'm going to have lots of fun with this!

Spring is in the air...

and we are SO ready for it! In spite of the chill in the air on Sunday, the sunshine made us just head outdoors! After we got back from Cameron's lifeguarding classes (which he PASSED...yay!) most of us headed over to the football field while the kids flew their kites with some friends. Here are two scrap pages I did of the day. There will probably be more coming eventually!

When you combine

a 9 year old photographer (Ethan) and a digital scrapbooker (me)...this is the result!



This is a freebie from April Mouse. Be sure to check out her beautiful things!

Amazing Grace ( My Chains are Gone)

Any of you who know me well, know that I'm a music lover. I love all types of music, from twangy country, oldies from the 50's through the 90's (I know...you can't consider the 90's oldies just yet), (some) classical, easy listening, gospel, contemporary Christian...well..you name it, and I have at least some type of it on my iPod!

This song has become a favorite. I've always enjoyed the song Amazing Grace, but this version of it, combined with these pictures, can bring me to tears. I hope you enjoy it. I've had it stuck in my head for 3 days straight and counting!

Heard around our house tonight

and we're STILL laughing...

Caleb "A really weird thing just happened! I was in the garage. I had 2 Sprees in my mouth. Then I sneezed, and I only had ONE spree in my mouth!"

And we realized yet again that Ethan is SUCH a 9 year old boy! We were finishing up at the supper table, and he...well..he tooted. He, of course, giggled a bit. But the next thing that Ron said was "Sandy, how's the gas in your van?" And Ethan was the FIRST one who made the mental leap...and he just laughed and laughed and laughed! Caleb? Well...it took him a minute. But pretty soon we were all just laughing.

Ahh...the joys of having a nice family dinner together. Hopefully we're making memories. We don't have many opportunities lately for all 6 of us to eat together. So when we DO get the chance...we try to make the most of it, and have fun!

How to Brew Your Own Beer

Homebrewing has been a hobby of Ron's for many years now (he learned at the seminary).  It's been many months since he's had a chance to brew, but finally, tonight, he decided it was time.  I hope I get all the steps right!  If not...I'll be back to fix them!

Step 1:  Pour yourself a nice cold beer!

Step 2:  Boil your water and your grains                             

 

Step 3: stir it and watch it boil

Step 4:  Remove the grains

Step 5:  Add the Malt (either in powder or liquid form)  (and yes...please notice that Ron is doing this in the SNOW!!!  And YES...it IS April 8th!!)

Step 6:  Add hops (in either pellet or raw/fresh form.  Our hops plant didn't produce last year, so he had to resort to the pellets this time.

Step 7:  Let cool for a while.  Then transfer to a carboy. 

Step 7-a: first add a bit of water

 

Step 7-b: Then add the hot wort (you have to get your children involved in helping when your wife is too busy taking pictures to be of any assistance at all).

Rachel LOVES to help!  Really...she does! 

Step 8: Let cool til around 80 degrees or so.

Step 9:  Add the yeast (this can be in liquid or powder form.  This time he used powder for both batches)

Step 10:  Shake it up to get the yeast all mixed in with the wort

Step 11:  Cap it with an air lock and let it sit  in a dark place for a week to 10 days!

(look for the continuing story when we get to the next step!)

A Good weekend for my high school boys!

Wow...have Caleb and Cameron had a GREAT weekend so far!  Last night was a track meet.  Since it was outside, (and I'm a FAIR WEATHER fan!)  and the two boys had conflicting thoughts on exactly WHICH town they would be running in (it was Waverly),  I chose to have a girls' night out with Rachel (hair cut, shopping, eating out...ya know...all that stuff that dad and the boys don't enjoy doing!)   

So, Cameron called me at around 8:30 to say that he had placed FIRST in his JV open 800 meter race!  Woo HOO, Cameron.  His time was 2:26.  He also ran the 4 x 800, but he said that race didn't go quite as well.  I think this might be the first time Cameron finished first in an 800 m race!  Way to GO!

Caleb ran the 2 mile, and while finishing last, he still improved his time by 25 seconds over his fastest race so far.  Way to GO, Caleb!

Today, both boys had to leave at 6 am to catch an early bus for Solo and Ensemble conteste.  Cameron played in a quartet and a quintet.  The Quintet he played in received a I rating!  That's the best!  The quartet received a II, which is still pretty darned good.  Cameron enjoys his trumpet and plays it quite well!  Awesome job, Cameron!   Caleb played tuba in the same quintet that Cameron was in, so HE received a I, also!   He also played in a duet with his tuba and the duet received a rating of II.  Great job, Caleb! 

Keep up the great work, fellas!

Testing Windows Live Writer

Ok, many people have recommended that I try Windows Live Writer, as it is supposed to make blogging SO much easier. So, I bit the bullet and downloaded it just now. So far, it has worked flawlessly, getting this blog so that it is recognized and I can type text and all. Now, to see how easy it is to add a few photos...

ok...that was pretty easy :) This is a picture of Rachel and Ethan at the waterpark in Burlington this past week. It really is a fun place for a family get-away!

Right before heading home, Ron, Rachel, Ethan and I stopped at the Port of Burlington for a little while. It was a bit chilly, but we enjoyed watching a barge go down the river, and feeding the seagulls some stale bread!

So, ok...it's easy to add photos (I still want to figure out how to center them, though...I don't like them clear over to the left like that!) The pictures upload MUCH faster than through blogger, so that is a good thing! I'll have to say that so far...I'm liking it a bit.

Now...to get the church blog added to my account so that I can publish to THAT blog through Windows Live Writer, too!

Love is in the air!

or is it just indigestion???

Here is a scrapbook page of Ron and me from the Port of Burlington on Tuesday. Rachel took the pictures.

Good times with great friends!

Each year after Easter we take a short vacation with our great friends Erik and Kelly and their 3 boys, Aaron, Aidan and Adam. Kelly found this great Best Western Hotel in Burlington, IA. It had a waterpark, a bowling alley, a go cart track, laser tag and a big arcade. We brought snacks and drinks, and enjoyed buffet meals at several restaurants in the area. One huge treat was the HUGE 28 inch pizza we had for dinner on Sunday night! (see the scrapbook page below!)

As always, we had just a great time visiting, and as always, the time together was WAY too short! We already can't wait til the next time we get together!

Here are a few scrapbook pages from our trip!

Is it REALLY spring??

This is what we woke up to on Friday morning. Yuck, Yuck, and MORE yuck! We are SO ready for spring! Is it ever going to arrive? The calendar says it already has, but....

This snowfall, while depressing, did give a lovely new, fresh white coating to cover all the mud, dirt and filth that we were seeing this past week. A great reminder this Easter week, that the suffering and death of Jesus, and His resurrection on Easter Sunday, causes God to see us this way. All the mud, dirt and filth that sin brings into our lives are covered and no longer visible!

God is good!

Track Season Has Begun!

Caleb and Cameron had their first track meet this week. It was at Luther College, and it was at their indoor 200 meter track. Which means that when you run the 2 mile race like Caleb does, you have to run 16 (yeah...SIXTEEN) times around that track!

which would explain why he looks like THIS when he's done! Whew!

Cameron ran in the 4 x 800 race...which was "only" 4 times around the track!

which would explain why HE did this when he was done!

They certainly have much more stamina than their mother!

Booty Bag

hee, hee...no one is going to believe me when I say that I AM NOT A SEWER! Here I have two blog posts within a week or so, involving ME and a SEWING machine!

But this one is SOOOOO easy! And CUTE! I followed the directions from a website (www.craftbits.com) You simply take a pair of jeans, (size 0-5 in juniors makes a really cute sized bag) and cut the legs off in a straight line. Turn inside out and sew straight across to make the bottom of the bag. Then, take 2 side seams from the legs you cut off...cut 1/2 inch on each side of the seam, and unravel it/fray it. (THIS is what took the longest time of the whole project!) Then...sew them on for handles. How easy is that? (Of course, I can say this because my mother in law was still here giving her assistance!)

It really only took about 10-15 minutes (except for the fraying!)