"Lucy, You got some 'splainin' to do ..."

Okay, so my name is not Lucy ... but well, I have some explaining to do. I've been VERY bad this week. I have been in a serious FUNK! I mean from Sunday evening on ... I have been just BLAH, BLECK, BLUB ... and several other horrid funky sounds.

Okay, so my explanation is this ... the Rooster is not in the nest ...

Today, we are cleaning like mad ... trying desperately to get some symbolance of order going in our lives. We did do school, and we did go to church last night. YESTERDAY, I drug children to the park with weiners in tow ... but it was like we really didn't want to do anything. We really need the Rooster home, or well, we just aren't a complete circle. I don't know how women raise their kids alone, I know I was a single mom for 6 years. I hated every stinkin' minute of it. AND I sure don't wan't to find out how to do it again.

So tomorrow when my nest is feathered again with my Rooster, I will get myself together, download the camera and post like a nut. But until then, well ... just know that his plane lands in 5 hours and all will be right with my world again then!!!

Catching up ..

Okay ... last week the farm girl, put on her city duds and stayed the week at the Hilton working a training class ... way cool.

However by day three of said training class the farm girl was quite ready to ditch the city duds and run around barefoot in her Aggie shirt and shorts. Can I just say I'm glad last week is now over.

Now, this week the farm girl is home, and the Rooster has flown the coop. WYOMING ... I'm hearing that Wyoming is an awfully pretty place to be right now. LOL, hubby has fallen in love with another state.

This week the farm girl is trying to catch up laundry, cook for her kids, and just enjoy life at home. However since the Rooster is gone, his little Princess Peach is NOT doing well. She has run a low grade temperature all day ... been a lousy conversationalist ... can I say GROUCHY PANTS ... slept nearly all afternoon ... and well, has been VERY clingy!

Oh, and I am desperately trying to catch up on my grading/grade book ... sad state of affairs!!

Pondering something ...

Sometimes, I get something stuck in my head ... and I can't get it out. I can't leave it alone. And usually it is one of those questions that there is no answer to. This week ... the question on my mind is ...

"What happened to Barabbas?"

Oh, I know ... we have Mel's Passion that shows him "realizing" what he has done. Hmmm, I think I need to drag that one out and watch it again. And I know there has been speculation, and Hollywood inference. But I want to know. That is one of those questions that will plague me until the end.

I realize the "story" isn't that Barabbas was set free. I realize that the story is that Jesus was crucified instead, and that the Jews chose to set Barabbas free. I realize that ... I just have this burning desire to know if Barabbas changed his ways, did he become a Christian, or did he turn back to his life of crime?

Beef ... it's what's for dinner ...

Ode to Bubba T-Bone

Oh, dear cow friend

we have so loved you...

we have given you plenty of fresh grass

and freshly ground feed

cool fresh water

You have mooooooo-ed

your perfectly pitiful moo

when we pull in the drive

with groceries

whether they were for you

or us

You have looked at us

with your soft loving eyes

somehow I think

knowing what was on

our minds ....

Thank you Bubba T-Bone ...

Your 800 lb sacrifice has already been appreciated by the hands that fed you.

We have all thoroughly enjoyed your delicious ground beef, and

Last night we all noshed on Club Steaks that you have so generously provided!

You, my dear steer, will forever be remembered as our first freezer full of home grown beef!

Maine-Anjou's everywhere .... I salute you!!!

Okay ... enough silliness! The beef is the BOMB. Last nights steaks had NOTHING on them except for salt and pepper. That was to date the MOST flavorful steak I have EVER put in my mouth. And all I did was throw them in the broiler and cook them ... nothing fancy. No grilling ... no barbque-ing ... nothing except salt, pepper, and the broiler of my propane stove. It isn't the method ... it is the meat!

Fast Trip ...

No real blog post today ....

I had laid aside time this afternoon to post ...

But alas instead of being at home blogging ... I'm defrosting the freezer, and getting ready to go to Wolfforth where I can pick up meat from the butcher shop!

I'll have pictures to show tomorrow ...

Bible Bowl-ing

At first I thought this was some weird church sport. Okay, I'll admit, I didn't have a CLUE!!!! I'll be the first to admit it ... I'm not ashamed. Not at all ... well, of not knowing. But I am ashamed of me because ... I'm NOT smarter than a Bible Bowler ... MAN, these kids are awesome!!!



Do you know ... what book the Ethiopian was reading when Philip caught up to him? Or how about ... who spoke after Paul and Barnabas at the Jerusalem Conference? Or maybe ... before dawn, on the 14th day of the storm, what did Paul encourage everyone to do?




If those aren't enough ... I have more ... I have FIVE HUNDRED TWENTY-SIX more facts that these AWESOME kids learned.

Our church, Sherwood, sponsors our 4th, 5th, and 6th grade children. These kiddoes study for about four months in preparation for this one day awesome event. We traveled to San Angelo this weekend, and met other children from not only another local church, but also kids from around West Texas such as Bronte, Robert Lee, San Angelo, etc. I think all total there were 8 different churches participating with about twenty six - three or four "bowler" teams. Then, these kiddoes were divided up between experienced (the ones that had been there at least one time) and inexperienced (obviously the ones that had not ever been before).

Enter Smiley

and Ranger ...

Well, my little darlin's were on the inexperienced teams ... the Ranger and Miss Smiley had not had the opportunity at our last church to participate. The church didn't do Bible Bowl ... wow ...what a missed opportunity!!! I know every church can't afford this, but WOW ... what a ministry for the "FUTURE" of the church!!! These guys were well, can I just say "AWESOME" one more time ... and I'm not braggin' about my kids ... I'm talking all of these kids were just well ... OUTSTANDING. Everyone of our kids missed less than 20% of the questions.

Okay, okay ... on with the 'splainin' Lucy ...

Six rounds of thirty questions each ... One Hundred Eighty Multiple-Choice Questions!

With all the kids missing less than 20% of the questions that means they got at least 144 right ... well, our lowest score out of our 18 children was 159!! That's right ... the most missed was 21 questions ... and that means that child only missed 11%. And to add to that outstanding accomplishment ... our kids had at the top end of the spectrum a 179/180, a 178/180, a 176/180 (the Ranger), and a 172/180 (Smiley) ... now isn't that just incredible!!!

One book of the Bible ... Acts!

Each kiddie has their own cubbie with "A,B,C" flip cards. They must listen to each question being read nice and slowly by a very well eunuciated voice, with their three choices, THEN they can flip their card. And I'm not talking about three choices that you or I could go oh yeah that was this one ... we are talking about three choices with just MINUTE differences in the answers.

Anyway ... we went ... we saw ... and we had a BLAST. And we've got the t-shirts to prove it!

Let's see ... you say you want pictures of this fun time ... well let's see ... let's start with my guy ... hehehe ... he took a day of vacation to get us (our family, not the church) ready. But hmmm, guess he will be taking a day of vacation next year since he committed to helping with Bible Bowl next year as in he wants to be a team leader. He is such a good earthly Father ... a whole lot too hard on himself, but such a good example for his children. Okay, now I'm gonna get all weepy if I don't move on ... but hey it is POWERFUL when you see God move! We just have seven more years of Bible Bowl ... maybe in seven years I'll be smarter than a Bible Bowler ... hehehehe!

Also, in this picture you can see my grinning Wolfman, and the back of the Georgia Peach Princess' head ... she had a one-sided-over-the-head-catch-all-the-bangs-you-can-braided-do that day. Sir Hiss-a-Lot was also running around there ... he just moves too fast for the camera. These three guys were just AWESOME too ... they stayed out of the way, out of trouble, and were EXTREMELY supportive of their older brother and sister, and their teammates, too.

You will also notice lots and lots and lots of uhm, yellow in these shots ... man, I'm telling you if I never see yellow again it will be TOO SOON!!! YELLOW - ouch - my eyeballs hurt from all the yellow ... And it wasn't a bad yellow ... it was a rather mellow-yellow ... it was just well ... I really don't like yellow! Hahahahahahaaaaaa !!!! But the design on those yellow shirts was rather awesome ... their theme was "where the Kingdom began" .... and boy howdy ... what a Kingdom it shall be with these awesome kiddoes there!!! Every "kingdom" should be so lucky to have subjects such as these learning it's history.

Enough for this morning ... I gotta catch my breath, beat the washer into submission, coax the drier, and get my little dwelling back to "un-packed" status!

Teaching the little ones ...

Lately, I have been wondering ... what am I supposed to be doing?!?!

I know some of the things I "WANT" to be doing, but I wonder if they are truly what I am supposed to be doing.

I SO love being at home with my children teaching and training them ... but I so love training others where they are aware and thus, they are safe / safer from harm, they are healthier, and our environment is protected.

I am torn between two hearts ... and I do not feel led to quit either path.



Mr. "D" asked me Wednesday why in the world I would want to teach, after I had him in the sixth grade. HAHAHA ... little does he know but that one class a day, with him was probably what spurred me more into being a teacher of my children. I remember the care that he took teaching us, making sure that even though we were the cream of the crop readers, we never stood still, we never sat back and just coasted. He challenged us ... he dangled the carrots, and he made sure we were stretching just as far as our little minds could possibly stretch. Thanks Mr. "D" ... you are one of the very best that OUR education system has to offer.

So, really why do I want to teach my children ... well, beyond the obvious reason of I want them to have a well-rounded academic base when they go to college that has been well nurtured in all areas, not just football ...

• I also LOVE being the one that is there with them when they learn these new things. I love being the one that sees that "I GOT IT!!" moment.
• I want to be there first hand to hear those cuties - Momma, I want to study about the pyramids where all the mommies live. Hehehe ...
• I want to be the one that holds their little hands and explains the wonders of God's world while we sit outside at night gazing at the stars, walk through the zoos marvelling at all the animals or through the aquarium watching all the fish swim by, or when we watch a rain storm and they realize the water cycle that we have been discussing.

Now, I have added to my plate VBS for our church this summer. I get to teach 4 and 5 year olds ... I AM SOOOO EXCITED! I can't wait for VBS to get here. LOL, you'd think that I would get tired of teaching ... but I love it. It is a way of life for me ...

Wind ...

Wind ... wind ... wind ....

Whatever happened to "in like a lion, and out like a lamb" ... I would love to know.

The wind has blown today at around 900 mph ... maybe more ... my head is just SWIRLING!



At church tonight we played "Are You Smarter Than a Bible Bowler?" WOW, our two Bible Bowlers might just be tough to beat. I can just imagine what the Wolf-man will be like for the next four years ... San Angelo watch out here comes the Wolf-man! Right now they better be careful because the sweet innocent smile of Miss Smiley is lethal when it comes to answering those multiple choice questions. She would reach over real stealthy like and press the buzzer - and then in her soft sweet voice just whip out that little answer with her award winning (not really but golly gee whizzy, Ms. Julia Roberts doesn't have a smile that pretty!) smile and just barely whisper her answer. LOL, she could charm the scales off a rattler with that smile. And then, there is the Ranger ... once he was able to take a breath ... well, let's just say there was no stopping him ringing that buzzer and answering those questions! He didn't need he multiple choice for most of his ... he just answered the quesiton flat out. AMAZING!!! My children amaze me daily!!!

I would like to say I have more to post about tonight ... but my allergies are KILLING me ... I have a horrid headache and I'm going to go find a quiet spot to lay down and crash for a few hours. I didn't get much sleep last night ... I snored all night. Needless to say, my poor Rooster finally got up and went to work at 3am ... just to be rid of me.

Nighty night ... dear friends ....