HOORAY For Garrett ! ! ! ! ! ! !

Garrett completed the Association level Bible Drill today. He studied this morning before church. He studied some during church. He studied some more at lunch. He was still studying in the van on the way to St. Matthews. I was nervous for him. He kept getting stuck on attaching the correct reference to the verse. We changed gears and I asked him to recite Romans 8:28. I was sure he would get it this time since I fussed so much about it last time, but he still didn't know it! I told him if my FAVORITE verse was called and he missed it again I was leaving him there and he could find a new home! (Empty threats don't really work though do they. . . ) He walked into the church saying Romans 8:28 aloud.

While waiting for the drill to start I told Garrett how proud I am of all his hard work and that no matter how many mistakes he makes during the drill his efforts will pay off in life. It might take longer than 10 seconds to pull it out of his big head, but he is tucking God's Word away in his heart for future use and you can't measure that in a competition.

Well. They didn't call my favorite verse, but Garrett did an excellent job in the drill anyway. He only had 4 mistakes (he was allowed 8) and therefore moves on to the state drill in a few weeks. HOORAY for Garrett! He got the gold seal on his certificate of achievement, but more importantly he is learning God's Word and how it will lead him through the rest of his life.

He Is Risen !

"Men point to the sad incidents of human life on earth, and they ask “Where is the love of God?” God points to that Cross as the unreserved manifestation of love so inconceivably infinite as to answer every challenge and silence all doubt for ever. And that Cross is not merely the public proof of what God has accomplished; it is the earnest of all that He has promised."

Robert Anderson

They Grow Up So Fast

Tonight while Robby was making fun of the way Cynthia talks about her boyfriend Lindsay decided to show how much she picks up from her older sisters. Robby was telling Lindsay about "Rrryyyyyyan" and how he is "SO cute" and "he makes the BEST pizza" and on and on. As Lindsay was walking away she turned her head towards Robby and said "You're a LOSER." And without missing a step she continued on her merry way.

Disclaimer: She did come back a few minutes later and apologize and give her Dad a hug.

What Comes out of a Cardinal Butt ?

A wildcat fan of course!

Go Cards !

Here's a true fan. Can't you just feel the intensity

WANTED: experienced odor remover

Lindsay decided to make her own pizza rolls in the microwave. I'm not sure how many minutes she set it for, but it was long enough for the pizza rolls to emit a stinky dense smoke and leave a nice black mark on the microwave tray. Now I am left with the challenge of trying to get rid of the horrible smell the deceased pizza rolls left behind!

So far I have tried baking soda, vinegar and lemon (each separately, of course). The only thing I accomplished was making the house smell like a rotten salad. Does anyone have any secrets for eliminating offensive odors from the microwave?

According to the Script . . . .

It has been hectic at school lately. Pharmacology is kicking my butt and our midterm practical evaluation in Health Assessment was totally nerve racking. Pharmacology is a lot of memorization mixed with a little application and "review" of physiology. The problem is our professor is extremely scatterbrained and therefore totally confusing! I spend more time trying to figure out what he meant to say than I do actually listening to him teach.

Our Health Assessment midterm involved using a "fake" patient and completing their "check-up" with no notes (or chart). Our "patients" are from Actor's Theater and they have learned the appropriate medical terminology and the procedures for a head-to-toe physical assessment. They really do a good job and it's nice to have someone to practice on that actually knows if I am doing something wrong. But at the same time, it's tough to complete an assessment on someone who is grading everything you do from conversation to comfort to knowledge of procedures. I made it through, but not without drama.

Of course, not knowing what to expect and knowing that I had to pass the assessment to pass the class made for some stressful times. I was so nervous that I was nauseated waiting for my scheduled assessment time. We are timed (we had 45 minutes) so all the students enter their exam room at the same time. While waiting in the hallway I tried to mentally review the script we had written out to study from. Our instructor told us that for the purpose of our midterm we would assume that all of our findings were "normal". We had to verbalize everything that we did and (everything that we were looking at) as well as the appropriate terminology for a "normal" finding. So we wrote out a script and memorized it.

So here I was. Standing in the hallway thinking to myself "skin in slightly pink with no lesions or scars. . . . Hair is full and evenly distributed. . . . etc. . . etc. . . . etc. . . ." When the instructor announced it was time to enter our rooms I took a deep breath and knocked on the door. I thought I was totally prepared, but when I opened the door and looked at my "patient" my mind went blank. Sitting on the exam table was a big, BALD, BLACK man. I smiled and introduced myself and turned to the sink to wash my hands all the while trying to compose my thoughts. See, we didn't ever practice on an African American (or any ethnicity other than Caucasian) and we had never discussed appropriate wording for things such as the color of skin or lips and gums. Obviously they aren't "slightly pink" as we had practice repeatedly! And it didn't help that the man was bald. "How do I describe his hair? He has none. Am I going loose points if I don't describe his hair that doesn't exist??" I washed my hands for what seemed like forever thinking maybe if I washed them long enough my "patient's" color would change and he would grow hair, but it didn't happen.

During the exam the "patient" can't say anything a real patient wouldn't be expected to say. He did laugh a little though when I said "hair is . . . um . . . thinning."

I ended up doing fine. At the end the"patient" gives feedback about their experience as a patient. Needless to say I was quite embarrassed when the first thing he said was "Girl. I know I'm bald. Don't be afraid to say it."

You Wanna Wrestle ? ? ? ? ?

Tonight we had the joy of watching Robby's grandson Brayden while his Mom enjoyed a night out with friends. Grandma Helen made her famous spaghetti and meatballs for all of us and we spent much of the evening relaxing at her house. At least I was relaxing. Robby on the other hand, got challenged to a wrestling match and LOST! In his defense, it wasn't really a fair fight - Three against one most of the time,

but it was quite humorous to watch!
There's no denying who the winner is here!!!!

After all was said and done, the cute, sweet boy showed himself again. He enjoyed looking at the pictures I took of him kicking Grandpa's butt, but he also posed for several "nice"pictures for me. My favorite is this shot with Great-Grandma Helen!

More Pics From Last Week . . . . . .

The church level Bible drill competition went well with all the kids/youth moving on to the Association Drill. Kimberly's drill is Sunday the 16th and Garrett's is Sunday the 30th. They were aloud to have 12 mistakes at the church drill and are only aloud 8 for Association drill. Kimberly's goal is to have no mistakes (which she can totally do! She only had 1 at church drill) and Garrett will be happy to just pass. It's his 1st year so I think that's a pretty good goal! I still can't believe he missed my absolute favorite verse though! I guess I will be reciting Romans 8:28 to him every chance I get for awhile!!!!!!

I'm so proud of them both!

Pics From Last Week

What's Under the Snow ?

Today while I was outside playing in the snow with the kids I was taken aback by it's beauty. I love the way the untouched snow is so flawless, so smooth. As I looked at the world around me, completely covered with a blanket of white, I couldn't help but think about what it was covering. The snow(as beautiful as it is) is nothing more than a temporary mask to reality.


When I look around today everything seems to be in order. The imperfections are all covered by the foot of snow that fell in the last 24 hours. It's beautiful now, but when the snow melts you will once again be able to see all the flaws. Without the snow you would easily see that my roof is waiting to be repaired. There are several rows of missing shingles and several more loose. You would also see the weeds in my flowerbeds and the leaves still waiting to be raked around the hedges that desperately need trimmed. You would see the cracks in the sidewalk and driveway, and the sticks that litter the yard from the latest wind storm. You would see some toys scattered about and some cardboard that blew out of the recycle bin on the porch. I could go on and on, but I think you get the point. ---The snow hides things.


As I was thinking about all the things that the melting snow will reveal, I was struck by the parallels to life. Sometimes what's true and real is hidden beneath a temporary veil. Sometimes the snow lasts so long that we begin to believe that things will always be so beautiful. We start to believe that everyone else sees the snow and nothing that's underneath.

--We think that because we attend church and volunteer to serve every now and then that others don't notice our negative attitude or foul language. We think that because we sit with our family and smile on Sunday mornings that no one knows what a mess our home life is. We think that because our church starts new programs (and maybe even gets the numbers up for a few weeks) no one realizes there are lingering problems that desperately need to be addressed. We think that adding new members is a true sign of the health of our church, but we choose to ignore(or rationalize) the many members we have lost.

We think that because God continues to use us to do His work that we must be living by His Will.

We are human. Our thoughts are flawed. The snow WILL melt.

When it does I hope we aren't shocked by what we see. I hope we haven't been blinded by the beauty of the snow. I hope we can accept the reality of our problems and see the opportunity to repair what is broken.

We don't have to do it alone. We have a mighty force on our side if we choose to accept His leadership. God will see us through, but He won't help us hide under the snow.

I'm Still Here . . . . . . . . . . . . .

I have been neglecting my blog lately. When I have time to write, I have nothing to say (Yeah. I know. I NEVER have nothing to say!) and when I have something that I think is interesting or funny (or I just want to share a thought) I don't have time to write! The result is several "drafts" that never make it on my blog. I apologize to those of you who actually enjoy reading my blog, those of you who just read to confirm what you already knew about me (that I'm CRAZY!) and are looking for a laugh, and those of you who actually read it to keep up with the happenings of my family.

Well. Basketball is over, so no more weekly updates there. The kids are already sad. They are going to have to re-adjust to not having practice or games five days out of the week! I, on the other hand, am looking forward to doing something besides sit in a loud gym for hours at a time trying to get some homework done!

Here's a quick run down of our latest. . .
Saturday-heard Chip Ingram speak at Southeast. AWESOME!
Sunday-study group then going away party for children's minister at Carlisle
Monday-Mad Scientist at the grade school. Very Interesting! And they had Moe's cater dinner. (Free food and no dishes! YEAH!)
Tuesday-dinner date with Robby's parents.
Wednesday-Garrett's school team played in their single-elimination tournament. Disappointing.
Thursday-Studied for Pharmacology from 1pm till midnight! Information overload!
Friday-Pharmacology exam. NO FUN! Garrett came home sick from school. Debated taking him to E.R. for breathing issues-but resolved on it's own. SCARY! Kimberly's last game of the season-played good, but not enough in the end.
Saturday-Lindsay and Garrett's last games then a pounding headache and nap for me. Study group from 11pm-2am.
Sunday-Study group 2pm-5pm with Cynthia as our "patient". Then Church level Bible Drill competition for Kimberly and Garrett. They both did excellent and move on to the next level. They make a Momma proud!
Monday-Midterm practical exam at 8:30am. STRESS! Then UofL girls against Villanova at 7pm. GO CARDS!

I'll try to elaborate on some of those events soon, but for now I'm not sure if I'm coming or going! My spring break starts next Monday, so I should have some time. The only interesting thing I have going this week is teaching puberty to 5th grade boys. I'm sure that will be VERY interesting!

Oh Yeah. And Friday is Robby's birthday. I won't tell you how old he is, but I'm not sure how I'm going to get 52 candles on his cake!!!!