Mr. Bad Ass goes to W@shington

That's right. Johnny Bad Ass is in W@shington. There are times when the Johnny Bad Asses of the world MUST go to W@shington. Most in W@shington don't like it when they show up. And most J.B.A.'s would rather be ANYWHERE but there. The sheeple will never understand the J.B.A.'s of the world. And granted, their view is not the norm, and probably somewhat difficult to comprehend.



Thank God for the true Johnny Bad Asses of the world.You can tell who they are, because they get the job done and never require any thanks or recognition.

Thank-you for the prayers for my mom and dad. As it turns out, Dad's trouble can be taken care of WITHOUT major surgery, and with a procedure that he is already familiar with. AND my Mom didn't have to stay in a hotel. They are resting comfortably at home now. Thom had the fires going, the house warm, and soup on the stove when they got home from their long day.We are very, very thankful.

It's been a good day here. School went well, and then the kids helped me to get a little organizing done. Jackson only got hurt about 10 times today, so...ummm..that was good..(weak smile)I got in some cardio and lifting at lunch time. I got dinner started. Savannah went to dance class, and then we came home to homemade vegetable-beef soup for dinner. Add in the good news from my Dad and all in all it was a pretty great day!!

Melissa

Pass another St. Johns Wort, please...

Race had to leave tonight. He will be gone all week. He has to go up north to visit the Head Hauncho's office. I miss him so much already. At least he's staying in a cushy hotel room, instead of bunking out in the desert!I just wasn't really ready to be without him again so soon.(Yes, that's me whining....)

We did have a good day today. Church was amazing. The title of the message was "A Wife's Hope". You can listen to it if you'd like(MP3).I'll put the link below, and they should have it up tonight or tomorrow. Very challenging and very uplifting. We ate lunch out, and then came home to help Race get packed up, and to see him off.

I have to go and do lesson plans for this week before I can get ready for bed. But before I go, I'd like to ask you to say a prayer for my Mom and Dad tomorrow. My Dad has to have an angiogram (sp?) done tomorrow for his heart. He has had 2 of these done before, and we are praying for the very best possible outcome. Also, my Mom might have to stay in a hotel room by herself.....which she WILL NOT like....but is slightly hard headed and won't let my sister come and stay with her;-). So we will be praying for them both tomorrow, and waiting by the phone for the update. Thank-you for your prayers.

"God has no problems, only plans"
-Corrie ten Boom

G'night!
Melissa church sermon link

Happy 13th Birthday Savannah!!

That's right. We now have 2 teenagers in this house. Savannah is 13 today. She and her dad go out on a date every year on her birthday. She really looks forward to this really special time with her dad, and so does he. I hope that she will measure every guy that she ever dates (and how he treats her) against her father. Last night, for the first time, she wore make-up. I actualy got to be the one to put it on her.

---As an aside, both of my sisters just screamed in terror simultaneously at the thought of me puting make-up on Savannah. No doubt they had immediate flash backs to our youth when I was a make-up zealot, and would hold them down and pack the fashionable 80's style make-up on their faces, and then close my door in disgust when they did not thankfully worship at my feet for their new-found beauty. (sigh)--


Relax girls,this wasn't much, just some Bare Minerals, and some sparlkly clear lip gloss. She looked so beautiful. And she was just beaming. Her dad let her open his present to her before they went. He had gotten her a new jacket that she had been wanting very badly. So she got to wear that out to dinner.

Savannah is an amazing girl. She was born an artist, and her gifts in that area leave us in awe.Seriously. She has such a good heart. She is sensitive to others, and always has her eyes wide open. She doesn't miss much, but she also doesn't see the need to make her own opinion always known. (ahem, must be from her father) She is wise beyond her years, but because she is so quiet, it sometimes catches me off guard. I tend to underestimate her.
She has grown into an amazing young woman. She is smart, beautiful, talented, and courageous. She loves the Lord with all her heart. She has a quiet determination about her that I just DARE you to try and bend. She loves her brothers to death, and would do anything for them.

Savannah is an artist, and she sees the world through her artist's eyes. Black and white are only used for "shading" in her world. She notices every beautiful sunset, the colors of every pretty mountain range,the way that the rain drips off the trees, and every other delicate thing in nature that most of us overlook. This past year, she began to seriously try her hand at writing. She is learning to use WORDS to pour out what she sees in her mind. And she is very good at it. She works hard to make her reader VISUALIZE what SHE is seeing. Truly amazing.

This year music has begun to really SPEAK to her, and her ipod is filled with everything from hard rock, to opera, to christian. Acting has become a serious passion for her. She auditioned and got a leading role in "The Emporer's New Clothes" this year, at the Fine Arts Academy. She is still enjoys her dance classes and has several good friends there. She loves the church that we go to, and has her closest friends there.

Next month she will get braces on her teeth.Which she will handle with grace and determination, as always.

Race and I could not be more proud of our daughter, and the young lady that she has become.
We Love you Savannah Rose. Happy Birthday honey.

Game on, Race! I need your help..

Race and I have this game that we play, and I need your help to win. It goes like this:

When we have to enter any public establishment at different times, (for instance if he drops me off at the door and then goes to park the car), we pretend like we don't know each other. Then we act as if we are just meeting one another for the first time. You have to be loud enough to attract attention, or it's not fun. It is HILARIOUS to see the reaction of other people!

The object of the game is to say or do something so outlandish that the other person laughs and goes out of character. We do this A LOT, and Race is getting good. The other night at Panera Bread, the following took place:

We enter at different times, and I am standing waiting in a long line, when he comes up:

Race: HEY!!! I LOVE your Mountain Hardwear jacket!

Me: Thanks, I like yours too

Race starts being loud and animated about a whole lotta nothin', and attracting attention. I am doing my best to make him laugh, but I can't get ANYTHING on him. We clearly have the attention of everyone standing in line. Then:

Race: HEeeeeyyyyy.....I am LOVIN' those pants! They make your butt look really nice........Mind if I touch that??

I LOST.

We started this little game sometime last year, and it always cracks me up because either can start it and it is always spontaneous. But he has clearly upped the competition. How can I win? What would you do? Ideas anyone? I need to be ready the next time we play. Race doesn't like to lose......so..this could get dangerous.

Game on!
Melissa

School update

I haven't written anything about the kids schooling in a long time, so I thought that I would put in a little update. It's encouraging for me to go back and read through their progress in my old posts. Sometimes it feels like I am too close to see the larger picture, so that really helps me.

On the school front: Savannah's writing continues to be amazing, and the Lightening Lit program seems to really fit the bill for her. She would love to forget about math and science altogether, and Jack thinks that it is incredibly cruel that I don't allow her to "just study about animals" in science. But, she's a really good egg, and she never complains.Her work is always neat, and done on time. I try to give her as much lit-based learning as I can. She learns so well this way.

Austin is really doing well with his new and increased work load. In Algebra we have all (Myself, Race, and Austin) been slogging through slope-intercept equations. Only 5 more chapters of these to go....(Oh.MY.WORD) His writing has shown real improvement this year, and he has actually stopped dreading each and every writing assignment! Science? Well, what can I say? We LOVE this Physical science!!! AND this year he is doing the labs and writing up the lab notes all on his own, so I am really thrilled about that. And best of all...(drum roll, please)...he is learning organization!!!(hallelujah chorus)

Jack is finally settling in too.(READ:I no longer have to tie him in his chair) His math and science is going really well, and he loves to work way ahead in both of them. Language Arts is finally improving, but he has definitely been slower in this area. He is becoming much more independent, and and confident, and that is really nice to see. One surprising thing, is that his cursive penmanship is REALLY beautiful. I am AMAZED by this, because his printing has always been just horrible. And we have taken the Latin plunge with him, as well, and he really likes that.

I'll touch on their History lessons another time. They are all doing something different, so it'll take awhile to explain!

I wish that I could say we were all in our groove again, but mostly we're all still walking around bumping into one another. It feels like we spend a lot of time spinning our wheels each day, as a family,while we try to figure out how to work "all together" again. We're having fun.....we're just not accomplishing a whole heck of a lot! But it's all good. And we all know the drill. We are so incredibly thankful to have Race back home with us.

G'night!
Melissa

Last Isr@el Picture post! IT.IS.FINISHED.

O.K, now for your viewing pleasure,as the finale', I give you some random, dorky shots from our trip to.
This land and it's people have a very special place in our hearts. We were so blessed by our time there.

Isr@el post: #1,032

All of these pictures are from the top of Mt.Masada and then down at the Dead Sea.

We all made the grueling climb up the side of Mt. Masada, to Herod's unbelievably preserved fortress. In my own opinion, it was Herod's absolute paranoia that ensured his survival for so long. There is/was no easy route up to the top of this mountain!I was really proud of the kids for making the climb. Austin read Eusebius last year, so he had quite a bit more personal info on Herod. Of particular intrest to him, was his long and agonizing death. He was apparently parasite-ridden, and ...well...Eusebius doesn't really mince words. The palace was amazing, and a real testament to Herod's wealth as well as his Roman "influence". The hot baths, steam rooms etc, are all still in place.

Behind the pictures of the three kids, you can see the Dead Sea, far below. LAter the afternoon, as you can see, they took a dip. The water has so much salt in it that it is actually 26% solid. You can see Austin holding up his hand s and feet............and floating! He said that you could actually feel the pressure of the water pressing in on you. It holds you up and you cannot sink. Jack is holding up one of the salt balls that cover the bottom of the Dead Sea, (making it a bit difficult to walk on). This is the lowest point on the earth. What a great experience for the kids!!

We're back!

Corrected: It appears that my posting capabilities are a little rusty! I fixed the cabin link below. It should work now!




You guys, we had the most wonderful time!!
We have been camping and hiking in this particular area since we were in college, and it is still one of our most favorite places to go. I don't care what season that you head into the Blue Ridge, it never dissapoints. It is always so quiet, and secluded. It was, of course, too cold to camp, so we stayed in our favorite cabin. You can read more about the cabin hereThe Cabin In 3 days we spent time in Lexington, Staunton, Charlottesville, and Fredericksburg. We pretty much saw most of central VA!! One evening we hiked up to Spy Rock. It is so named, because it was a lookout for confederate soldiers during the war. The climb is hard and steep, and it crosses the Appalachian trail at one point. When we got to the top, we had to do some real climbing....or bouldering...or whatever you call it! WOW!! It was amazing! ANd my tip to you, if you ever do this, is.........DON'T....LOOK...DOWN! Just keep your eyes on your husband who is climbing handily, with ease ahead of you.....and try to do what he does. Anyway, after reaching the top, it was SO WORTH IT. It was a gorgeous 360o view of the Blue Ridge. The tops of the mountains are all at your level. It was so beautiful, and we made it just in time to watch the sun go down. Just breathtaking. We had all of our cold weather gear on, so we were feeling o.k.,(You can see in the picture that I had shed my down jacket at the top....for about 5 minutes!) but after we stopped at the top the temp started dropping super fast, along with the sun. Nothing but ice up there, and the water in my water bottle had already started to ice up! It was easily in the teens when we started back down, and we had our headlamps on long before reaching the bottom. In that area of the state, you are so far from any major city, that when it gets dark, it REALLY GET'S DARK, and the stars seem unbelievably bright. And without the stars, you can barely see your hand in front of your face. We just had a wonderful time. A crackling fire in the woodstove, inside a 170 year old log cabin, no phone, no tv.......just heavenly!
Race and Austin are camping tonight with the Boy Scouts. This is part of the cold weather camping training for the boys. I guess if you don't get hypothermia.....you done good! LOL! It is supposed to be 22o here tonight. My guys are fine, but I hope that some of the other boys have enough warm gear. I am sure that they will all work it out and share. I guess it's all part of the learning experience!!

About those other pictures...

I haven't forgotten, we are just on the road right now.

We are at mom and dads, and then Race and I are off to spend a little time(ALONE- can you believe it???) in the mountains doing some hiking. We are really looking forward to it,and I can hardly wait to spend a little time with my husband again. When you are away from one another so much, it feels really strange when you get back together, because you have both changed. Not in a bad way at all,but you are not the same people that you were when you last saw one another, just because of normal...(or maybe not-so-normal) life experiences that happen while you are apart.

In a "normal" (LOL) marriage, you grow and change together, experiencing things daily, and discussing them, blah,blah, blah...But in our situation, it's like we have to play catch-up. It's always fun, but you really do have to make time, and make it a priority. And I am SO looking forward to getting these few days!

The kids are thrilled to be able to grab a few days at mam-maw and pap-paws house, so I can relax and have fun knowing that they are having fun, too. My mom and dad are the best.

So, anyway, I don't think we'll have any wireless connection for the laptop up where we are going,(nor any cell coverage) so the pictures will have to wait a little longer, but they're coming! But just so you know, it's for a good reason!!

See you soon!
Melissa

O.K., I have tried to post pictures 5 times tonight, and it's a no-go. I'll try again tomorrow. Ugh! So frustrating!!! grrrrr..

The Obligatory Camel Pictures

Are y'all getting tired of these yet??

Tonight, for your viewing pleasure, I give you some of our camel riding pictures. We were on our way down to the Dead Sea. It was just before this outing, that Savannah looked out the window, and pointed to a boy riding a burro out in these mountains. Jack said, "Hey....look at that! A boy......riding a wild ass!" (Long pregnant pause as the words "wild ass" just sort of hung in air of the car.) Sensing that there is just SOMETHING about that word...he uses it often now. We have to pass several fields every day, and each time he will say something like," Hey, I think I saw an ass", or "There were a couple of asses out there". Yesterday, able to stand it no more, Savannah sighed and uttered quietly, "Jack couldn't you just say"donkey"? Which of course brought on an onslaught of repeating the word. "What's wrong with "ass'? It just means a donkey....you can say "ass"...what's wrong with "ass"? (sigh) But now when things get quiet between Race and I, inevitably one of us will say, "Look! A boy on a wild ass!"

Part 3

We went to a small village (ack! can't remember the name!) and had lunch at an awesome outdoor cafe'. It was here that Jack and Savannah decided to play with a few cats that were scurrying around, while we were waiting for our food, (cats are everywhere in Isr@el). They decided to make up names for them. Much to the horror and surprise of his mother, Jack proudly announced that the name of his favorite cat was "Crappy". Yes, that's right......"Crappy Cat".It was then that we had to explain, (over the roaring laughter from his siblings), what the word "crap" meant. Of course this just made it funnier, and the name "Crappy Cat" stuck.(ugh)

Now, besides being the home of "Crappy Cat", this village is also the Church of the Visitation. This is on the site of Elizabeth and Zecheriah's home. This is also where Mary came and met Elizabeth, after learning that she was carrying the Son of God. This is a convent, and was absolutely beautiful, with it's gardens and architecture, and art work.

I still have about 3 more posts on the trip, so I'll try to keep it up. Meanwhile, we are all back to school, and Race and I have gotten to know one another again. It is so great to have him home again! He never ceases to amaze me, and after 16 years I am still discovering new things about him. I realized this week, that 2006 was probably the hardest year of my life....but I love my life.I love my husband. I love my family. And I wouldn't trade the things that I've learned this year for anything.I am incredibly grateful to God for the life that I feel so privileged to live.

G'night,
Melissa

Part 2

This is a seemingly small boy in front of the VERY LARGE Church of the HOly Seplechure. This was emotionally over-powering to me. This church encases the site of Christ's tomb. Golgotha is here. To walk inside the tomb of Christ and see the empty stone slab, beyond words.

Sorry about the awful "blank-faced Race" (sigh....). Anyway, the church itself is actually Crusader-built, and the architechture reminded us very much of some of the things that we saw in London last year. Truly amazing. The church feels stony cold. And one cannot help being struck by the volatility of the area. As we arrived in the plaza, we could hear the m^slim call to prayer, coming loudly from the m0sque a few streets over, and at the same time, to see the hassidic J@ws rushing by on their way to the Western Wall for prayers. Very, very moving.

The last one is the kids standing in front of Christ's tomb. I will post again tomorrow. Everyone have a wonderful Sunday.

Isr@el with the Am@zing Race

The kids and I got to meet Race in Isr@el! I have been so late inposting about this, but it's been a bit of a whirlwind around here. Race had to go back to work, and couldn't come back with us. But he is home safe and sound now, and we are all learning how to live together again. Thank-you so much for all the kind wishes and prayers for safety. It will take me a few posts to tell about our trip.

The flight over was memorable. I was pretty much a nervous wreck at the thought of navigating myself, 3 kids, and all of our luggage from my home and through the airport, etc. Typically I cannot find my way out of a paper bag without proper directions, and there were a lot of "unkowns" for me on Race's end of the trip, and some sticky security issues. We made it through everything in the airport o.k, aside from getting the thorough shake-down and having Jack's toothpaste cofiscated for being too big. When flying to Isr@el, you must go through a second security screening,(Isr@els' before boarding the plane. In our experience, this one is much less rude, and much more efficient and effective. As it turns out, the plane was full. Not one empty seat. And there were 4 people on that plane who were NOT orthodox J@ws. Guess who they were???? Suffice it to say, we were fortunate enough to sit beside a super-nice lady, who was also orthodox. She was so sweet to answer our questions, and to explain so much of what we were seeing. I have NEVER experienced anything like that flight! Everyone was up moving around and talking.....for 10 hours. There was also an odd tension the whole time, that I really couldn't place. The men got up to pray twice during the flight. It was kind of strange to see all the men begin getting out of their seats, reaching into the overhead bins, putting on their prayer shawls, etc., and then all heading to the back of the plane!! But the lady beside us explained everything, and we really ended up learning a lot before we ever even got off the plane! Admitidly, I was terrified that Jack would innocently blurt out something offensive, but thankfully, he was tired.
When we arrived Race had arranged with work for us to get VIP treatment at our arrival. So someone was there to meet us and walk us straight through, instead of having to stand in line and wait. That was so cool! Everyone was wondering who we were to get such treatment!
When we got out Race was there to meet us. He had a beautiful bouqet of roses and a big latte'.(Awwwwwwwwwww....!) The roses were gorgeous, and the latte' was really NEEDED!!! It was so awesome to see him again.

One of the first things that we did, was to walk the wall of the Old City of Jerusal@m. The walls were actually built by Saladin.


The picture above is Jack running ahead, and scaring his poor mother to death. The picture to the right is, of course at the Western Wall. This is the only thing left of the 2nd Temple, and is the holiest site for the Jewish people. I cannot tell you what a learning experience this all was for me. The people were warm and welcoming, and we made many friends(thank-you, Race) from many different religious and cultural backgrounds.

I will post more pictures and descriptions later. Race is watching the Colts and the Chiefs play, and I need to go and fix him some wings....(No, they're not from H@@ters!!LOL!) Thank-you for checking in, I'll post more tonight, I promise!

Melissa