Stars and Stripes Forever--the MUPPETS version

I couldn't resist. The only thing wrong with this is that Fozzy Bear isn't in it.

Facebook....

Facebook--the social networking site--has finally sucked me in. Took a while, but now that I'm there, it is pretty interesting. I love getting to know my friends better: relatives, church folks, Families with Children from China, and homeschool moms.
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There are tons of quizzes. They are almost all silly. Some are icky. Most are kinda fun.
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Today I spent some time letting Luci give me the answers to the questions. We took several Disney quizzes (she is Demi Lovato, Cinderella, and Prince Phillip would be her Prince). One of the quizzes was "Which Disney Prince best suits you?" (That was the one that gave Luci the answer of "Prince Phillip.")
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One of the questions:

In a man, you seek...someone who appreciates my
talents and would do anything for me.

her response:

Not that one! I'm a big girl, I can do it
myself.

I love that answer! She takes after her mama.

Happy Independence Day!

also--thank you for your prayers for my mother--she is in rehab after her hip operation and doing great!

and John made it to his duty station safely. He called home at 7:20 a.m. :)

Luci-Speak

Tow Truck: a truck that carries toads
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Naps: that's what Mommy needs, but she tries to make me take one.

CrossPoint Fellowship

We had a big devotional/hamburger cook-out/sprinkler party Wednesday night with our church. Lots of fun! (Feingold families--Bryan grabbed that Vault drink and started guzzling before I could catch him. Everything else there seemed to be Feingold safe, except for the cookies that were served.)

Luci and very good friend Cole.

There were about 100 kids playing on this soccer field--TONS of fun! Luci and Cole in the foreground.

JT and Bryan with two young ladies....the boys have no idea that I "caught" them talking to females.

Luci...in her Army Kid hat. I tried to get another shot of her without that spot of light on her face, but every other photo came out blurry.

It was so fun! The breeze Wednesday night made it feel cold to this drippy princess.

Little Things in the Garden

marigold cucumber
squash

pumpkin

cherry tomatoes

cantaloupe blossom

Corn Week 4

The corn is now 24 inches tall! I am trying my best to line up the shot with the same angle each time...sorry it's not quite right. But you can see the progression pretty easily in these shots.

Trip #4

Get a hanky!

Got this on Facebook this evening. How timely! We just put John on the plane. Six more months to go.

Birthdays

Today it was my turn to have a birthday--and JT and Luci tried to fit the correct number of candles on my cake! JT made this cake for me while I was at the homeschool convention. He made it ALL BY HIMSELF! John only helped with keeping track of how long the cake was in the oven. I am so proud of JT--and thrilled to bits. I'm pretty sure the only other person who's ever made me a birthday cake is my Mom! (No, Feingold friends, it is not Feingold acceptable...but it was from his heart and filled with lots of love. Remember, he had Dad helping him pick stuff out. John can't remember Feingold when he's shopping.) After the birthday bash (I got a DVD, some books, and some chocolate!), we did something I've been wanting to do ever since we moved in to this house. I guess I was just waiting for a very hot, humid day to do it. This is in the garage.

I'll outline it with black to give it more definition, and I've already painted over the worst of the dribbles into the white stripes. The new flag is right next to our old basement door, the one where we measure kids and milestones. I love this flag! Since taking this picture, we signed and dated it.

Homeschool Convention

Diane and I took our daughters to the first day of the Alabama Christian Home Education Fellowship (CHEF) convention. We got to listen to some good lecturers, talk, look at books, talk, buy books, and talk. It was a fun time. Since our last names both begin with W, Diane made matching t-shirts for the girls. Each had her name embroidered across the front on a little banner. Very cute!
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Luci and Rachel Luci ready for the first lecture we went to--she was prepared for a noisy speaker, but ended up not needing these.

Making a polymer at one of the booths--Elmer's glue, borax powder, water and a little food coloring.

Look at what I made!

Cracker Barrel always makes the list on any important trip.

It's Really Going to Happen...

John's trip, that is.

All of the "Honey-Do's" are done. That list began months ago as I found things that needed doing, and the kids thought of things that they really wanted to do with Daddy before his vacation was over.

He turned in his cell phone at work. So now John belongs to us, instead of his job, until we put him on the plane on Sunday afternoon.

Sigh.

Workin' at the Car Wash....

JT and Luci washed the van for me today. It hasn't been washed in a long time...there even was part of a tumbleweed stuck in the front grill which was caught in Colorado last month!

Mom! He's squirting me!!

What-cha going to do about it? (Nothing.)

Luci got over it pretty quickly, because she came up with an idea....

Squirting him back!

Luci-Speak

John called from work yesterday...Luci knows that Daddy is going back overseas soon, but got confused as to when, exactly.

Luci begged me for the phone, and said,

Hi, Daddy--

How's 'ghanistan?

John has now retired from the US Army Reserves (Hoo-Ah!), and gave J.T. and Luci his army berets. My, these two kids were delighted! Happy children, so proud of their Daddy. I just noticed that both kids are wearing USA shirts!

I'm as corny as Kansas in August...

wait, that's not right. It's June, and we're in Alabama!

Today

Progress: June 7, 15 and 22

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My Mom's surgery is today, Monday--late afternoon. Please remember her in your prayers.

Tea Party

What a great thing--a real tea party with Daddy! John talked to Luci about the nationals in Af ghan istan with whom he had tea, and told Luci that he wanted to have a tea party with her. Friday was the day...Some of Great-Nana's China, the table and chairs from Nana and Papa, and a princess dress. Feingold friends, don't despair over that Little Debbie cake. She didn't eat much. :) She seems to only react to wheat, not the artificial colors and flavoring in the cake.

Look at Luci's eye-ball watching her Daddy!

They had iced tea in their cups--too hot for real, hot tea in that teapot.

Afterwards, Luci and John worked in the yard. Luci lasted quite a while in the heat. It was a good day of playing and working with Daddy!

Gardening

Monday's picture: The corn is about 8 inches tall. Everything is growing, we are happy!

Luci and Daddy

Luci helped Bryan hold the ladder for Daddy, while he cleaned out the rain gutter. She held on to Bryan and Bryan held on to the ladder.I love my Daddy!

Something Simple, Something Good

This is a 3 minute or so powerful video. I hope you will watch it!

The Simple Truth

Work in Progress

We are finally adding to our driveway, to make a half-circle so people can get in and out of our driveway more safely. Today was the beginning of the process:

Luci--this is as close as she would get. She dressed herself, don't blame me for the outfit! :) No, it wasn't raining. She just likes umbrellas.

I got Luci settled in, watching from the dining room. She was eating her yogurt as she watched. She wrote, "I (heart) JT" on the window. In yogurt. If you look at the area just above the the front porch railing, you can see it. I was sitting just TWO FEET away! Yes, she got to clean it off, too. No, I don't have a picture of that. General Mayhem, indeed!