Thirty-Three Dollars ? ! ? ! ? ! ? ! ? ! ? ! ? ! ? ! ? ! ? ! ?

Thirty-three dollars. That's the price I paid for keeping some idiot from taking the front-end off my van.

I was driving down the parkway this afternoon when a little silver car came flying up behind me and changed lanes to pass me only to find a car waiting to turn left in front of him/her. They gunned it and swerved back over into my lane barely missing me. I hit my brakes and moved as far to the right as I could without hitting the curb, but I didn't escape unscathed. Trash pick-up was today and there were several garbage cans lining the parkway. I managed to find the only trashcan that wasn't pushed back off the curb with my passenger side mirror. The force of the mirror slamming into my window as it folded in caused the mirror to shatter. I was NOT happy. Especially when I found out that it's going to cost me $33.00 just to replace the glass part of the mirror!

I know. It could have been worse. But thirty-three dollars for a little mirror seems quite ridiculous. Oh. And can someone explain why the passenger side mirror is $10.00 more than the drivers side? Sounds like a money making scheme to me!

State Bible Drill

All the Carlisle kids were state winners today! Congratulations!

Garrett finished with ONE mistake!

Garrett was excited that Grandma Helen was feeling well enough to watch his drill.

Lindsay enjoyed goofing off with old friends.

It's a Birthday Party !

Happy Birthday Zeke!

Happy Birthday Yana!

"No Dad! Don't say it! The party CAN'T be over already!!!!"

Who Needs a Bed Anyway

Distractions

So. I have finals starting Wednesday and I am totally stressed out! My study group has been meeting overtime to try to get ready. Tonight two of us were at Starbucks when we were subjected to a HUGE distraction. A man walked in, walked directly to the bathroom, and then walked back out all the while singing aloud (I think he was singing Jesus Loves Me). He didn't leave, but instead he turned around and came back in and walked straight over to the corner where my friend and I were studying. He said "Hey ladies! How are you tonight" as he approached us. We looked up and smiled and quickly went back to the books. He stopped right in front of us and announced "I am a prophet sent by God." He continued with a matter-of-fact tone and straight face to tell us that we shouldn't worry because he "can't read our minds or anything" but that he gets directions straight from God and he was sent to the coffee shop to give us His message. After our "enlightenment" he turned around and walked out.

Now I'm not the least bit convinced that this man was any kind of prophet sent by God to enlighten me. HOWEVER, the distraction this man provided helped to remind me that no matter what I am faced with - I am not alone. God is always there (even on our endless days of studying) and He always knows exactly what we need. Sometimes I need to be reminded of that. And sometimes His reminder comes in the form of a distraction

A Day with Sophie

THUNDER

The kids huddling in the tent to stay warm and dry caught the attention of the Fox 41 news crew. Garrett was the only one brave enough to make a television debut though. Everyone else just giggled.

There's nothing like waiting in line to use the port-a-pot along with 300 thousand other people!



A quick nap while waiting for the fireworks

I took about 20 pictures of the fireworks to get this shot of the hearts for Cynthia.

Basketball

Garrett won something pretty cool at his basketball banquet for school.

Check out the autograph on that basketball!

! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! G A R R E T T ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !

While packing the car for Thunder I realized why I am not going to be a veterinarian. I was collecting up the blankets, chairs, rain gear, cooler, etc, etc, etc for our trek to the river bank to watch the airshow and fireworks. I have a system to ensure that I don't leave anything behind that involves collecting everything that I intend to take in one area and looking at all of it before packing anything into bags to be carried to the car. I had everything stacked next to the couch on the basement floor ready to be crammed into backpacks and duffel bags. I was focused. I was ready to get the show on the road. I started grabbing things and stuffing them into bags while thinking about what else we might need for a day outside in questionable weather. When I picked up the last blanket I saw something MOVE. I jumped back and made some funny noises while I watched this helpless little lizard try to hide under the jumbo Ziploc bag I had stuffed full of blankets.
I climbed up on my bed and screamed "G A R R E T T ! ! ! ! " Of course he immediately came to my rescue---He's my knight in shinning armor--- and he quickly captured the beast by grabbing it's tail. Like any skilled hunter, he carried his prize around the house showing it off to all the squealing girls with a huge grin on his face. Sadly his glory came to an abrupt end. The lizard's TAIL BROKE OFF! Garrett dropped the tail and it continued to wiggle around on the floor as the tail-less lizard scurried off to hide. The highlight of the event was when my Mom stepped on the amputated tail and it's inner contents squirted out onto the floor.
Thanks go out to Garrett for using his skill to capture the ferocious beast and his elbow grease to scrub the guts off the floor!

Winning With God's Word

Yesterday was the state level Youth Bible Drill competition in E-Town. Our girls completed their drill at 9am with all 4 of them finishing as state winners! Kimberly was upset about missing her perfect drill by one mistake (on the LAST call of the drill!), but the day wasn't over yet. Shelby and Kimberly were chosen to continue on in the "speed" round. This consisted of a preliminary drill followed by a final drill to name a state "winner" who would represent Kentucky at the National Drill. Kimberly started strong with no mistakes and quick response times. She moved on to the finals. Was she ever nervous! She did an excellent job, but again had one mistake towards the end of the drill. After a long day and extremely sore arms (try holding a Bible out in front of you for 3 drills in one day!) Kimberly can say she is one of the 11 fastest (and most accurate) drillers in the state of Kentucky. Not bad for her first year in the Youth Bible Drill!