need more photos

I've written too many blog entries without photos. So I decided I'd best post one with. These photos were taken on Mother's Day, at my grandparent's house. They are of Josiah with his Grandma and Grandpa Bethune and his Great Grandma Bethune.

congrats again

So I hear that I need to congratulate Stephen again. He shot himself a big old bear. Like a 400lb bear. YIKES! So the question is... What are you going to do with him? Mount his head, tan his hide, stuff him, make a bear claw necklace? Could you throw us a bone? How about enough meat to feed a small group of 20 friends or so? We could take it to community group and bbq it up for everyone. I bet a couple of our veggie friends might even be willing to try a small bite. How about you email me a picture to post here?

A photo has arrived from Stephen. Nice black bear, Bro.

Ants!!!!! - again

So all our ants vanished for a while. We saw about one a week on average. Wes had me convinced that they were just living out in the back forty behind the house and were occationally finding an open door to sneak into the house.

Did you know that you can hear carpenter ants in the wall? It sounds like a little romatic fire. That's what we heard a week ago.

On Tuesday, Todd the exterminator, came over to our house. Everything he did stired the ants. Suddenly they were back inside in large numbers. On Wednesday I smooshed and vacumed up 94 ants. On Thursday, I got 45. Today, I got just 4. I haven't seen any live ants since about noon. I don't hear them anymore either. Could it be that Todd brought an end to the nest's existance? For the structural sake of our home, I sure hope so.

I believe I'm a day late, but...

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!

Congrats to my big brother and his wife, Stephen and Amy, on making it to 10 years. May you have 65 more wonderful years together. I'd wish you 75 or 100 more years, but I'm guessing you'd rather go home than spend that much more time here.

they don't read it

So yesterday I discovered that our parents don't read my blog. I was talking to my mom on the phone yesterday and she started talking about things and asking questions about things I thought she'd know the answer to. But she didn't. So I asked if she's been reading my blog and she said she'd read it once. I don't think Wes's parents have been reading it either. Not after the phone conversation I had with his mom last night. If they have, it's been a skim job. So then what am I writing all this stuff about Josiah for? I was writing it for his grandparent!

So Mom, Dad, Linda, Roger:
If you're reading this, come back and read it often. You'll know what's going on that way.

And the fever goes to...

Josiah! What a great prize, Daddy's bug. What a lucky Mommy I am to get a sick toddler for the next few days. I bet I get the prize next. Joy.

And after 7 years...

I still love him.

Yesterday was our 7th anniversary. Wes was sick all weekend. So we didn't get to go out or anything. He's gone back to work today, although still not feeling great. Last night I decided that I didn't care if he was sick, it was still our anniversary. I made a nice dinner, lit some candles, and opened a bottle of wine. The three of us had as romantic a dinner as one can have as mommy, daddy, and toddler.

I love you, Wesly.

a month and a half later...

I've finally gotten Josiah's official 2 1/2 year photos done. Better late than never.

For those of you who don't know... We started taking pictures of Josiah with "Rhino" when he was a newborn. We've done the same with one of the yellow ducks. It has been interesting to watch him grow and watch the way he relates with them as the months and years pass. And no, it's not the first time we've taken his picture in this three. This tree is an old friend of mine. It's a huge walnut tree in my grandparent's front yard.

Aiden James

We went to meet little Aiden the day Beth and Michael brought him home. I thought since I posted a photo of Beth that I'd best get a photo Aiden in there too. So here are two photos from last Monday.

exhasted

Usually, Saturday mornings are all mine. But yesterday, Wes woke up sick. Really sick. That stressed me out. So I couldn't sleep past the point of when he made his announcement. Why did it stress me out? Because we're teaching today. I was way short on ideas for filling our 2+ hour teaching shift. So I was counting on him being able to help with Josiah a lot. So at 5am, I got up. I sent an email off to Brenda, crying, begging for help. I desperatly needed someone to fill Wes's slot and ideas.

So yesterday I spent the day juggling. I worked on my serious project that I started Thursday (One of the few ideas I actually had.) I somehow came up with two crafts for my class. I prepared to use CD's for music instead of my sick guitarist. I still don't know what songs I'm actually going to do. But that doesn't really matter. I took care of my sick hubby. I took care of most of my toddlers needs. (Wes was able to help a little so I could do some of my painting.) I got zero house work done. I didn't have any energy left to make Josiah clean up his toys. They're everywhere. It was an exhausting day. And guess who thought 5am was a good time to get up this morning? (I made him go back to bed till six, but that doesn't mean I got any more sleep.) So once again, I'm so tired. Hopefully I'll make it through my class this evening. Hopefully Brenda found me a helper.

Of course no one seems to read my blog on a regular basis, so I might as well state for the record what I've been up to. Thursday I had this plan to paint these boards that I got to do my final school project, which was over seven years ago. They've just been sitting in the garage or in storage since graduation. So I got them out and started cleaning them up. I don't know why I had this impulse. I just did. But while I was cleaning them up, it hit me. Or perhaps it was God hitting me over the head with a hammer. No, it was gentler than that. It was more like He reached down to turned on the idea light bulb over my head. So I started working on a much bigger idea than painting.

(fade into flash back)

Scene:
Two weeks ago. Chatting with Rachel about resources that Ethnos has available for the teachers. At the Ketah's house. Children's ministry meeting has just ended about a half hour earlier.

Rachel: We also have this box of assorted puppets. Juli gave them to us. (catching Juli's attention and bringing her into the conversation.) Hey Juli, tell Angie about the puppets.

Juli: It's just a couple dozen puppets. They're in one of the boxes. They're all animals, we don't have any people.

Rachel: I've had this idea that the older kids might do puppet shows for the younger groups.

Juli: (In a doubtful tone) That'd be a great idea. But someone would have to write the script.

Angie: So do we have a stage of any kind?

Rachel: No. (Joking tone) Hey Angie, you could build us one.

Angie: (Just laughs)

(fades back to the present)

Okay. I'll do it. Rachel planted an idea I never thought I'd do. I forgot about it till Thursday. God jossled it to the forfront of my thoughts. I'm not laughing anymore. I'm wondering if my puppet theater will fit in our trunk. Mind you, it's not the greatest thing I've ever done. It's not nearly as perfect as this perfectionist would like it to be. But it will be usable this week and I can work on improvements over the next week. I don't think I've ever done a project like this in just 48 hours. It barely takes up any more room now than the boards did before. I wrote a play for it too. I know, crazy.

I'm sore, from building and painting. I'm tired from a lack of sleep. Perfect body conditions for catching what Wes has got. Grand.

Here's a link to the funny conversation I've been having with everyone on the forum. Fred and the apostle Paul are the main characters for my play.

http://www.ethnoschurch.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=861

Beth may kill me, but...

SHE'S BEAUTIFUL!!!!!
So I do a bit of photography. Mostly just for friends and people they know. I've invited several preggo friends over for a photo shoot. Beth has been the first one to accept. So I won't post any of the sexy ones, because she really would kill me. But this one is just beautiful. Isn't she amazing. Of course Aiden is pretty amazing little guy too. He was born just four days later.

artistic genious?

My son is an amazing artist. He astonished us the other day. We were drawing on the windows with these cool window markers. Wes asked him if he could draw a circle. Josiah drew a circle and kept drawing circles, in a spiral motion. Then he picked up a different color, drew with that marker. He then announced that he had drawn a snail and proceded to draw a mouth and eye. Look at the picture. I know, it's a bit tough to see on the window and all. But it's a snail! Holy chowder, the kid is barely two and a half!

Now he's working on whales and dolphins ("splashing in the water") using sidwalk chalk.

At least we all know where he gets his artistic abilities.

The day after 30

Of course Josiah wanted nothing more than to head back to the beach for more sand time. So we were back to playing by about 9am. My boys played with their trucks and shovels and made themselves huge holes. While I built a sandcastle closer to the water's edge. I needed wet sand and water afterall. Besides, being 100 feet away from Josiah is probably the only reason I was able to build my Gaudi style sand castle. As soon as he saw it, he got this look in his eyes, and I knew it was all over. Of course by this time we had about a half hour before check out and one sandy little boy. So off we went to clean up, pack up, and check out just in time. After lunch we headed down the road to a little dock. Wes decided we need some ice cream. Our next known destination was Gerabaldi. I needed to do some shooting at the marina. We discovered an old parked steamy and had to check it out. Trains are one of Josiah's favorite things. Then I was off to the marina while Josiah and Wes hung out at the playground. Then as we headed for home, we opted for one last stop. Cheese is Josiah's favorite food. So a stop at the cheese factory was a must. Josiah had a great time. There was cheese everywhere. His first trip to the factory was a blast for all of us. Finally we made the last of our drive home, munching squeeky cheese.