I once read or heard somewhere that kids need to draw in spaces bigger than 8x11 sheets of paper.

I tucked that little nugget of info away and to be honest did absolutely nothing with it, till last week.

During one of our 3 sick days last week, I looked down at a brown bag and got inspiration!!

 

I cut the bag open much like you do when making book covers and gave each kid one half of a brown bag to draw on.  They were so excited at the big space to draw in.  And they loved the fact that white crayon showed up on brown paper.  Equally exciting was the fact that it had a handle for hanging.

Classy, don’t ya think?  No worries… this isn’t their permanent home. But they enjoyed the display for the day.  And they loved carrying their pictures around all afternoon.

The girls had fun making loops and scribbling.  It honestly was not their best art work, but they were enjoying the experience.

My son, however, became inspired.  He drew a sunset beach scene which turned to night with stars.  Can you see it?  I was thrilled and am begging him to let me frame it as it is one of the best pictures he’s drawn.  He drew sunsets all afternoon and told me how he wants to grow up and be an artist (so now he’s going to be an author, artist, astronaut, fireman, and “dinosaur digger”)

Next time they say paper or plastic, might I suggest you say “paper” as it’ll provide you with a delightfully easy backdrop for your little Picassos.

I saw this line on a tee shirt this weekend at the Annapolis 10 Mile and loved it.  But, it cost $27 so I decided instead of buying the tee shirt, I’d make it my blog title. 

Yea, I was so excited when I signed up back in June to run this race with my high school friends. 

And somehow 3 months came and went and I ummm didn’t really train adequately for it.   But, they did.

So, I ran/walk/ran/walk/ran 10 miles this morning. 

And I finished.

But, ummm that’s really about all I can say about that. 

Though I wrote two weekend thought blog posts in my head as I plodded along, one foot in front of the other, which I will share with you all the next 2 Fridays.   Because deep thoughts are born in adversity, right?

Before:  (minus Jami who was peeing at the time of this picture)

After: (minus Jen and Jake who left right after they finished so they could go and do nursery duty at church…amazing, huh, I went home and slept, they went to church and worked in the nursery).

The best part?

Hanging out at the park that evening enjoying fellowship, crabs, and steak)

…plus that fact that in just 4 days we’ll all be hanging out again (plus 2 other families) for our annual Labor Day Weekend Getaway together.

Have you ever experienced complete darkness?  I’m not talking about shutting out the lights before you crawl under the covers, but total darkness.  In our electronic world of LEDs, it’s something we don’t often experience. 

During our time exploring Carlsbad earlier this week, the ranger brought us into a cavern 830 feet below the earth and shut off the lights.  No flash lights.   No matches.  No floor lights. Nothing.

It was dark.

As in, total darkness.

As in, so dark I literally held my hand in front of my face and saw nothing.

Then she lit a match and suddenly that one match lit up the entire cavern.

It’s amazing how much light one match can put off.  Honestly, I don’t know which struck me more, the black of darkness or the amount of light cast by that one match.

I got to thinking about this world.  We know it’s a dark place.  The Bible talks of it often.  And sometimes in this day and age, you really feel it, don’t you?   Sometimes you turn on the TV, or enter your place of work, or walk out in your street and it seems you can see the darkness everywhere.  You wonder where the other Christians are.  Why does it feel so evil and cold? 

Jesus tells us in Matthew 5:14-16 “You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden.  Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house.  In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.”

You might feel alone in this dark world.  But when you live for Christ, when you let his light shine in your life, you are the light of the world.  And one light, one small little match, can light an entirely dark cavern.  One light can make a difference. 

So, I encourage you to let your light shine around you.  You don’t need to wait until you have an entire candelabra to light the room.  One tiny little match can make a difference.   1 John 5-7, “God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.” 

What are you thinking about this week? Why not use your last post of the week to highlight something a bit "deeper" then the average “Momblog” fair?  I’d love to read your thoughts.  Please feel free to write and link up a  “thoughtful” post below.  You can write a new post or link up one you wrote earlier in the week.  Please include a link back to here in your post.

Well, the local public schools went back in session at the beginning of the week and even though we are homeschooling this year, we’ve already got sick germs at the circus.  Seems we’re not holding out for long sleeves and sweaters to welcome in those lovely, little germs.

But, can I tell you a little secret?

Part of me likes sick days.

No, I don’t like to see my kids suffering, and no I am not a big fan of the whining or continual moaning. 

But, I do love the extra snuggles that come with sick days.

Today my youngest had a fever…followed later in the afternoon by a lovely little blister on her tongue.  Seems she has a virus of some sort which I can’t pronounce, let alone spell.  The end result is she wanted held from the time she woke up from her nap till she went to bed this evening.

So, I sat on the couch with her on my lap.  For awhile she snuggled with her baby and sippie cup while I engaged in a one handed light saber battle with my three year old.  A little while later my husband called and let me know he wouldn’t be home for dinner, he was aiming to get home in time for stories and kisses before bed.  So, I popped in Winnie the Pooh, passed out cereal and apples for dinner and snuggled on the couch with my kiddos.

Time well spent if you ask me.

I know you can’t do this every day.  I gotta make dinner and fold laundry and clean out closets.  The kids need to go outside and run around.  They gotta build lego castles, take care of baby dolls, and fight bad guys.

But some days, it’s nice to drop everything and do nothing but snuggle.   My youngest will rarely sit still for more than one episode of Dora, but today she practically fell asleep on my lap as we watched the Silly Old Bear and his friends in the Hundred Acre Woods.   The older two who’ve watched this movie countless times over the years giggled at antics which they now understand the humor behind.  With my youngest on my lap and my arm around each of the other two, I smiled and told them how I liked snuggling with them.  My son answered, “I love it too Mom!”  (oh, how I know these days are fleeting).

Tonight as I go to bed, I will pray for restored health of my youngest and protected health for the other two.  But, I will also say thanks for the precious time spent cuddling with each of them.  I must remember to drop everything and snuggle more often…no need to wait for fevers.  

As a side note, I decided this evening, that no matter how many times I watch the Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, I still find the characters endearing and enchanting.  I really don’t think I can tire of it. 

Here’s a random Crystal factoid for you.

I hate flying.

It not the getting to the airport hrs early or the waiting in lines for security that gets me. It's the act of actually flying that I am opposed to.  Don't get me wrong. I do it and though I am no frequent flier I would say I fly with some frequency; at least once sometimes twice a year. But, I hate the feeling of queasiness I get during take off and landing.  Even worse than that, I lament the fact that unlike a 5 hr car ride, in a 5 hr plane ride there is no stopping for fresh air to stretch your legs a bit.   No quick pit stops to grab a snack or two. From the moment the cargo doors shut until you are safely taxied up to the terminal at the end, you are stuck.

And this always creates a certain feeling of panic inside me.

I know what your thinking… oh Crystal is a claustrophobic.  Maybe a little yea, but that’s not really the panic I’m talking about.  This is a panic of much grander scale.

Will I have enough to eat???

Each time we pass through security I am scouting to find food to get me through the flight. “Were going to miss lunch,” I'll tell a Scott as I make a dash for Subway or Starbucks or ahem both.  And no matter how long the flight (it could literally be an hour flight before we transfer to our connecting flight), I still enter the terminal starved and convinced  it must be dinner time somewhere (whether it's home or our future destination) and therefore we better eat now or “our body will be out of whack.”

Somehow my fear of missing dinner due to the time zone changes and the long hours in the air, ensures that I ate three dinners instead of one… I won’t be stepping on the scale anytime soon as I am sure I put on 5 lbs this weekend thanks to the fact that Southwest doesn’t serve meals on flights. 

During our recent visit to El Paso, we survived the desert trek to reach Carlsbad Caverns ( number 23 of the 47 U.S. National Parks we plan to visit in our life together). 

It was a perfect day alone with the man of my dreams exploring and enjoying God’s creation. 

We spent 5 hours exploring the caves 800 feet below the earth’s surface.

Pictures truly can’t do it justice, but I’ll try.

Can you guess what this rock formation was called? Look closely.

After spending the afternoon in the caverns below, we came up for dinner and then sunset with the bats.

Yes, you read that correctly.  At dusk 400,000 (no that isn’t a typo, I meant to put all of those zeros there) bats fly out of the caves each night to feast on insects.   It was amazing (and no I am not some crazy bat loving girl of the night).  As we waited for the bats to fly out of the cave, I was totally grossed and freaked out, yet I knew it was something I didn’t want to miss.  We sat and watched in hushed silence for over an hour as the bats continually flew out of the cave like a river flowing off into the desert.

Afterwards, we enjoyed a starry ride home in the barren desert.

It was one of the best days I’ve spent with my husband in a long, long time. 

For more Wednesday pics, try here or here.

Our continual quest to visit each of the US National parks, prompted us to take a day trip to Carlsbad caverns while in El Paso this weekend.

Oddly enough we were quite familiar with the route has we were only about 11 miles from there this April when we visited Guadeloupe.
To get to Carlsbad from El Paso you travel 138 miles on a rather barren and desolate road in the desert. I am not exaggerating even slightly when I say that there is literally nothing along the way.  No gas stations. No bathrooms. No food of any kind.

As we embarked on our journey we though it prudent to stop for water. I ran into a kwick mart for a gallon of water and 3 water bottles.
A few moles down the road (still on the outskirts of El Paso) we thought that perhaps some food would be wise. So into another gas station quick market I went.

What food would you grab for a trek into the desert?

As I stared at the options,  lunch meat sandwiches, doughnuts, chips, candy, I was perplexed. I needed to make wise choices. Suddenly I was overcome with the feeling that I was responsible for purchasing the food that would sustain us as we baked in the dessert waiting to be rescued. My mission had somehow changed from grabbing a few things to hold us over till we reached our destination to one of planning for survival.
I quickly began filling my hands with food...

• muffins to snack on now as my Cheerios left me wanting more
• apples b/c they were nutritious,
• cashews b/c they would fill us with protein so we wouldn't starve to death,
• cheese sticks   b/c even though I know they are kids food the truth is Scott and I both like them,
• and 3 king size candy bars (they were buy 2 get one free).

I figured we could each eat one early on before they melted and I grabbed a bag of M&Ms b/c if I was dying of starvation in the middle of a hot desert I thought some M&Ms  would make me smile.  (clearly I wasn't thinking logically b/c you know the M&Ms would melt long before I reached the starving point... Leaving me starving and lamenting the loss of my precious milk chocolate candies).

Feeling satisfied with my provisions we set off yet again. But before we hit the barren wasteland that is west Texas we spotted a Subway.  I suggested we stop to grab sandwiches to eat once we reached Carlsbad (or to add further substance to our last meal in the dessert).

Now we truly were ready to go subs, chips, fountain drinks, water and our last supper in hand we set off for New Mexico.

I am happy to repertoire that we made it to Carlsbad and enjoyed our subs outside the Visitors Center before embarking on our 5 hr journey  800 feet below the ground. We enjoyed our chips on the beautiful and starry ride back to Karen’s that night. And I polished off the M&Ms on my plane ride home this afternoon. But as I learned in my youthful days as a Girl Scout, it's always good to be prepared. 

Friday morning I hugged my sweet kids goodbye and with tears in my eyes I waved as we backed out of Nana and Pop’s driveway.  And even though I know they are in capable and trustworthy hands with both sets of grandparents and our best friends taking turns watching them this weekend, I still hate the thought of flying two time zones away from them for 4 days.

Very, very few things (or people) could motivate me to willingly part from them for a long weekend away.

This little man is one.



When we found out that my sister in law was pregnant, Scott and I knew we must find a way to get to El Paso and meet our nephew.  And yet, we knew that no new mom needed to have the entire circus crew descend upon her a mere 10 days after giving birth.  So, off we went for a weekend away (sans kids) with our nephew and his parents.

His arrival into the extended family makes our family complete.   He is every bit as cute (ok cuter) in person than in pictures.  I am so glad we came out here to spend this precious time with them.  And while I know that Karen is technically Scott’s sister, I honestly think of her as mine as well.  So, I have enjoyed this time with her and Jim.  In addition to cuddling my sweet nephew, we’ve played some Rock Band, and Dr Mario, had our first sonic, and gone out for dinner.  It’s been a great mix of relaxation, hanging out, good times, and taking in this sweet face.



I am so glad we had this time with all three of them.  Especially, since Jim will be deploying again this fall.  And saying goodbye is going to be hard since I don’t exactly when we’ll see them again.

But, 4 days is my limit for time away from the circus.  And as I board the plane in a few hours, I am glad that I am homeward bound.  Because now that I’ve already said goodbye, I just wish I was home, home where my thoughts escaping, home where the music’s playing, home where my kids lie waiting, silently for me. (ha, ha) silently for me.

A few weeks ago I wrote about going through the ACTS acronym when praying with my kids.  We’ve done it a few times over the past two weeks and it has been a special time of prayer.  It takes a long time and I don’t intend to do it every night.   They need to be attentive and focused and my two year old needs to be occupied by Daddy.  I want to teach them to converse more with their heavenly father, but I don’t want to turn prayer into a long or burdensome process. I have loved hearing their hearts though as they pray about about what is important to them. 

The other night we spent some serious time talking about confession.  It had been a rough day at the circus.  A day were disobedience and meanness abounded.  So, I spent time talking about sin.  We talked out what they did wrong and their need to confess that sin and ask for forgiveness.   We also talked about how the penalty for their sin had already been paid for by Jesus on the cross.  Then I had them pray to God about their sins before asking each other for forgiveness. 

I thought things went pretty well.

Then my three year old started praying.

“Dear God.  Please help make my sister’s heart clean b/c it was really dirty today and she hit me and was unkind.  And please God help clean my brothers heart because it is very dirty and he was mean to me and hurt me.   Please clean their hearts God.  In Jesus name, Amen.”

I know it’s not funny, but I must confess I had to bite my lip as I listened to her pray. 

Reminded me of another prayer by a Pharisee in Luke 18:9-14.

Seems she missed the point as she was quick to point out the sin in her siblings hearts, but failed to confess her own sin.

While it’s easy to smirk, I must confess I am often guilty of the same thing.  Oh, I don’t pray it aloud as she did.  But how often do I look at others and see their wrong doing, yet fail to spend time in confession of my own?  How much time do I truly spend contemplating and confessing my sins before my Holy Father?  It’s something I plan to spend more time on. 

1 John 1:9 states, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” (emphasis mine)

What are you thinking about this week? Why not use your last post of the week to highlight something a bit "deeper" then the average Momblog fair?  I’d love to read your thoughts.  Please feel free to write and link up a  “thoughtful” post below.  You can write a new post or link up one you wrote earlier in the week.  Please include a link back to here in your post.

Can you tell she loves her Daddy? 

You can almost hear her giggle with glee as she hugs him. 

That’s love…

So pure and sweet

 

 

 

 

May it only grow stronger with time.

This weekend in addition to enjoying some fishing and campfire doughnuts, we also got to par take in some Pittsburgh Steelers revelry.  While camping is always a good time, the reason for our camping trip was so we could spend the afternoon checking up on our boys in the burgh!

This was Scott and my third trip to Latrobe, PA to watch the Steelers practice at training camp.   It’s always fun to see the players you watch and cheer on T.V. live and in person.  I particularly enjoy watching them interact with each other.

  

We met my parents in the parking lot and entered the campus proudly wearing our black and gold jerseys.  My son started chanting, “Here we go Steelers, here we go… Pittsburgh’s going to the Superbowl.”  (Steelers fight song)

 

As we sat and watched them play we snapped a few (hundred) pics of our favorite players. 

 

And we sweated, A LOT.

While we downed water bottles and tried to block the sun with our terrible towels, I couldn’t help but reflect on the last time Scott and I watched the Steelers play.

Last time it was 27 degrees.  This time it was 95 degrees.  Seems we’re willing to go to either extreme to watch our boys play ball.

(While Saturday was a ton of fun, I think freezing my legs off while watching the Steelers beat the Ravens in the AFC Championship game, still goes down as my favorite)!

 

(though they are wearing dresses)

Visit here or here for more Wednesday fun with pictures!

This recipe for warm and gooey deliciousness is courtesy of Scott’s college room mate.   It’s not as easy as popping a mallow on a stick and roasting it, but it is oh so worth the effort! 

You must try camp fire donuts on your next over night camping trip...

First you take a can of Pillsbury breadsticks (or a generic equivalent)

Pop it open

Then you begin to wrap the bread dough around a stick

 

Next you get some chocolate…chips work best, (but I forgot to put the chips in a cooler so we had to opt for broken bits of Hersey bars b/c my mom put her chocolate in the cooler). 

  

As you wrap the dough around the stick you add the chocolate and wrap the dough around it.

When you finish make sure you pinch and tuck the top and bottom.

 

Next you toast the “doughnut” over the fire

 

till it is golden brown.

You take the golden dough nut and rub it around in butter (ours was melted due to the extreme August heat, but melted just makes it all the better)

Roll the buttered, golden doughnut in brown sugar.

Slide it off the stick

 

and enjoy!

I have no idea why they are called doughnuts since they aren’t round and don’t have hole in the center.  But, I do know they are fabulous (and messy (see Rules of Camping).  Camp fire doughnuts definitely, work for me.

**Updated Below!

Once we finally departed, the kids were ecstatic about our camping trip this weekend.  As we were preparing to leave, my son already started talking about the very, important rules of camping, as he’s discovered them over the years.

And the number one,  most exciting rule is that camping is messy!

This one cracked me up, because while it is true, to hear him talk you would think he grew up in a house where he was never allowed to get dirty.  You’d think his mom washed his face after every meal and dressed them in their Sunday finest before departing out the front door every morning.  Yet, this child was raised at the circus, where bare feet and messy faces are the norm.

To prove my point, I submit to you the following photos and ask you to tell me which was taken while camping.

Exhibit A:

Exhibit B:

Exhibit C:

 

A good, messy time was had by all this weekend and I look forward to sharing some highlights with you this week, including a delicious campfire dessert recipe that you must try!!

I enjoyed reading your responses…and for those interested parties, here’ the scoop…

Exhibit A:  taken in downtown Annapolis on a ice cream run

Exhibit B:  taken in our backyard sand box

Exhibit C: taken on our camping trip after eating Smores

(as was this little gem)

Van is fully packed… literally, I don’t think we could fit another thing in there. Careful opening the back door, the sleeping bags will fall when you life it up.  Kids buckled in.  Dog ready to drop off at my friend’s.

Wait, forgot the tip of the fishing rod.  Back in the house.

Scott’s needs a ball cap.   Back in the house. 

After packing, repacking, rearranging the car seats, returning to the house, oh 3 or 4 dozen more times, we are set.

All we gotta do is drop the dog off, grab some nuggets from the drive through at Chick-Fil-A and we’re off for our 3 hour journey to the camp site.

The plan was to set up camp tonight, then spend some time at the camp site in the  morning, before making a short day trip excursion to Latrobe, PA. 

As we set on our way, after a very long day of work for Scott, we did some mental math and realized we’d be arriving at the camp site around 11pm.

The question then became, do we carry on, arrive at 11, hope the kids fall asleep and stay asleep while we set up the tent, transfer them to the tent, and then go to bed?  Or do we go back home, sleep in our own beds and wake up early and hope to arrive by 11am?

The advantage for carrying on is we maximize our time at the camp site tomorrow.  The advantage for going home is we get to relax this evening.

And after much deliberation, trying to weigh our options, we decided, it would be easier to get a good night sleep at home, wake up in the morning and hit the road early. 

So, we aborted the plan. 

Because, here at the circus, we are all about being flexible and changing plans.

It’s what makes us circus like.

The kids were quite agreeable, b/c of the careful phrasing by dad… “we’re going to go camping in the morning and it’ll be so fun, but right now we’re going to go to Chick-Fil-A and then go sleep at our house.”

We had them at Chick-Fil-A.

So here we are van fully loaded, kids asleep on their floor (camping style) and fishing, campfires, grandparents, and the Steelers waiting for us in the morning.

 

Wait, did she say Steelers? 

More details to follow next week.

When the summer began I had big goals and plans for myself.  I signed up for the Annapolis 10 Mile Run again this year, this time running with several of my high school friends.  I had high hopes of running 3 or 4 times a week all summer.  I had already envisioned how great my new, sleek running body would look come the end of August.  I also enrolled in a Bible Study at a nearby church that was a hosting a Beth Moore study on the book of Esther.  I was so excited to get into the word on a daily basis.  

Here it is August 14th and I have run literally a handful of times and I made it to about 3 of the Esther studies.  The study is now over and I sit with a 3/4 empty workbook.  The race is in 15 days and the longest I’ve run is 6 miles, and I even took a break to walk.

One thing this summer has definitely lacked is discipline.  We’ve had some great fun going fishing, swimming, cook outs, trips downtown… and I’ve loved every minute of it.

But, I’ve also developed some bad habits.  Staying up late is one…sleeping in the next morning is the other.  Each week I tell myself, that next week I gotta start getting up early so I can have a quiet time and run before the kids wake up.  And each week I find myself staying up late watching tv or commenting on blogs till midnight or beyond. 

Our school years stars on Sept 14th with our tutorial.  I plan to officially start school here at the circus the week after Labor Day. But,  I’ve got three weeks in the middle to get myself on track. 

I really feel that mornings at the circus would be less circus like if I was up, had some me time, and showered before my kids woke up.  Then instead of struggling to wake up myself, I could greet them with the energy and attention they crave in the morning.  Since the crew likes to wake up at 7 (or earlier), I need to make a conscious effort to be up by 6.   

I once heard or read somewhere that as moms we need to be the thermostats for the house.  We need to set the tone and environment for everyone else rather than simply reacting to the chaos.   I try to keep that mental image in mind as the chaos invokes around me.  I don’t think getting up at 6 is going to rid my life of chaos, but I do think it could help to set a better tone in the mornings. 

So, this week, I’m going to try again.  I’m going to run in the remaining 15 days I have till race day and I’m going to work through my Bible study workbook on my own.  I am confident that God still has much to teach me through the study of His word.  And while I know I won’t be as fit on race day as I could have been, I figure better late than not at all in the training department.

Lamentations 3:22-23 (New International Version)

Because of the LORD's great love we are not consumed,
       for his compassions never fail.

They are new every morning;
       great is your faithfulness.

What are you thinking about this week? Why not use your last post of the week to highlight something a bit "deeper" then the average Momblog fair?  I’d love to read your thoughts.  Please feel free to write and link up a  “thoughtful” post below.  You can write a new post or link up one you wrote earlier in the week.

**I’m going camping this weekend, so I won’t be able to read and comment on your thoughts till Sunday evening… I do look forward to reading them when I return though, so please link up below!**

Super Girl!

!

Fighting for justice for little sisters everywhere!!

Bad guys (and brothers) beware!!

The kids have been into “experimenting” these days.  We even have science journals with which to record our results.  (Yes, we can thank Sid the Science Kid for that brilliant idea).

It started with freezing stuff.

I overheard my son tell his sister with a hushed voice of excitement, “Sis, you watch…we’ll put this cup of water into the freezer and then later when we come back it will be ice.” 

Ah, the thrill…

From cups of water, they then moved to other random objects, slippers, plastic toys, juice boxes…

Here they are “investigating” their frozen juice box.  Do you see those eager faces of anticipation as they removed it from the freezer? 

Later I opened the freezer to find this.

Seems the poor little people girl was frozen into a cup of ice.  They loved watching her melt out on the deck later that afternoon. 

He also tried sticking ice cubes into a cup of water and then freezing it.  We liked how the ice looked different in the cup this time. 

On Monday, my son asked me to write some instructions onto sheets of paper.  He wanted me to write in all capitals, very small, “like a printer” in the center of the paper.

One sheet read, “make experiments”

Another read, “use a crane to make something”

Still another said, “make fire.”

And my favorite, “make experiments with fire.”

When Daddy got home he said that these were their directions for experiments they needed to do together.

So Daddy seized the day and came up with a fire experiment for him to do with the kids.  They took 3 different colored papers.  Then Daddy burned each one and they had to watch the flame to see if it looked different for each paper.  They made predictions, talked about the results, and recorded their findings by drawing pictures in their science journal. 

 

For simple, fun boredom busters that can involve the whole family, might I suggest a little science?   It’s been a hit here at the circus!