All Done Cutting

Isn't it pretty? We laid out all the quilt blocks this weekend.

Next step: sewing

Are you sure it's not Halloween?

I don't know what's going on with the weather where you live but in Tennessee it's crazy. Lately I've felt the urge to double check the calendar just to make sure. Yep, still August.

In the last 30 days we have probably had 8 days of lows in the 50's & highs under 80 and we have 3 or 4 more coming next week. Like take a jacket when you leave the house cool and it's really starting to freak me out a bit.

I know everyone in Texas is thinking "awww, your diamond shoes are too small for your feet? I feel so sorry for you." No, no people don't hear me wrong. I'm not complaining I'm just saying what's going on this year? Maybe this is God's way of saying "see it's okay you had to cancel your Y membership you wouldn't have been swimming as often anyway because it's too cold."

For your viewing Pleasure

Joshua loves this band. And yesterday I came across this on a blog I read.

This is a fan video, not the official video so this guy just made this for the love of creating it. The illustrations remind me of my friend's art so maybe that's why I love it. Or maybe I love it just because of its awesomeness.

You decide.

Two Weeks - Grizzly Bear from Gabe Askew.

Oh the Shame!

So in yesterday's post you heard all about how Joshua serves at church. This is his 3rd year to work in the 2's and he is totally the pro now. They actually made him "Volunteer of the Month" which comes with a parking spot and ... well I think that's it, but still it was nice to know that no matter when we got there we were going to have a spot.

All the women who run the children's programs just think Joshua is the greatest. They tell him all the time how everyone was talking about how great he is, etc, etc. I can just hear it now "Joshua signed up again this year. I just can't believe he's hanging in this long. I mean, his wife doesn't even volunteer and yet he still does it."

Yeah, every time I wait to pick up Joshua one of the ladies walks by and says "You have the greatest husband. You know there is a place to serve with him. You could join us whenever you're ready." My response to that was "Sorry girls, I'm upstairs teaching in 4th grade wish I could help you out." However, this year because I've volunteered to run the tutoring program for one of the Youth Encouragement Centers I decided not to bite off more than I can chew. So I'm back to church every week and I pick Joshua up in his two year old room.

I think I've grown up quite a bit because I know they wonder how their "Volunteer of the Month" could be married to someone who doesn't serve with him - and here's where the grown up part comes in: I don't care.

"Terrible 2's"

Last Saturday was promotion day which means a new year in the 2 year olds class at church. It just reminds me of the transformation that happens from age 2 to 3. Now I realize I haven't FULLY experienced this phase of a child's life since I only see them one hour a week. But working with the same age group year after year is quite telling. It's a bit like the movie Groundhog Day, living the same year of life over and over again.

Anyway, the start of a new year is always a shock. One week I'm working with kids who are mostly potty trained, talking like adults, running around and singing. The next week everyone promotes and I have these little guys that don't speak and are making all kinds of mess in their diapers. It feels a bit like life went backwards. But I also know how much they will grow in the next year.

The best part is I get to watch and play while the woman who teaches with me is left to change the afore mentioned diapers - thanks class regulations!

First time in 2 years

What are we looking at?

That my friends is the first time my bangs have been pulled off my face in 2 years. (Technically, I did the same thing yesterday but I didn't have the foresight to photograph it) Also I think it's the first time in about 5 years that I've used hairspray since we're counting.

Kinda freaks me out every time I see myself in a mirror. When you're used to hair it feels like a lot of skin above your eyes.

Pro/Con

Joshua and I are all about the Pro/Con list lately. We have decided that too often we save the pro/con list only for large decisions. What about the small things in life? Don't they deserve a pro/con list as well?

Did we have a good "mini-vacation"?

PRO - Drove an amazing bridge between Kentucky and Indiana
CON - Discovered wooden roller coasters are more painful than fun now
PRO - Even if you have to walk around in your bathing suit, water parks are FUN
CON - Camping it what can only be described as the Holiday World parking lot
PRO - Unlimited soft drinks (and they actually had Dr. Pepper)
CON - Being a little stressed out about our dog dying of a heat stroke in the hot tent while we splash around in the water
PRO - The shows at the park sounding so lame we don't have to feel like we should stop in and see one of them
CON - Stupid work stuff blowing up during the 2 hours that my phone was in the locker
PRO - The park was the perfect size to see and do everything we wanted in one day
CON - That sinking feeling we got when the GPS said we were .2 miles from the park and we see NOTHING. Like we were going to have a National Lampoon's moment of arriving at this supposed amusement park and it was nothing more than a playground.

Verdict: The pros out weighed the cons.

See, now wasn't that fun?

Mini Vacation

And when I say "mini" I'm not kidding. We left our house on Sunday afternoon and headed home from Indiana on Monday afternoon. However, no matter how miniscule the time away I think it was worth the trouble. Joshua on the other hand wouldn't shut up about how much stuff we had to pack for such a small trip. Turns out camping for one night involves just as much junk as camping for one week. On the upside we were able to test out our GPS on the open road and also test the "are we too old for roller coasters" question.

The GPS worked great but I think the answer to the second one is maybe.

We went to Holiday World in Santa Claus Indiana. This is the theme park that's advertised on TV every 20 minutes during the summer in Nashville. While you'll hear all about the free soft drinks you get, they fail to mention that the only roller coasters they have are of the wooden variety. We got on the first one pumped about life. And we loved it right up until you hit the bottom of the first drop which throws you right into a curve. I thought for a second my neck was going to separate from my spine. We got off the ride 80 seconds later feeling about twenty years older.

Did we ride the other 2 roller coasters? Of course! We didn't drive 3 hours for nothing. We just braced ourselves better and that cut the pain from a 9 to a 6.5.

After a quick lunch to make sure our dog wasn't having a heat stroke in our tent we hit the water park and that is where the whole trip was worth it. Turns out water roller coasters still make your stomach drop which is the sensation we love but without feeling like the next 45 seconds MIGHT kill you. We are now looking forward to a trip back to the Disneyworld of water parks....Schlitterbahn. Anyone interested in that trip we'll be planning it for summer 2010.

Found It!

Remember those pictures I promised you? Yeah they aren't going to happen. Seriously, what a horrible blog right?

We decided to pack the point and shoot for the trip to the amusement park but the problem with the point and shoot is that it's tiny. So tiny that when I said, "hey grab the camera and get a picture of me sitting at our camp fire with the brightly lit parking lot behind me" we weren't able to find it.

So tomorrow we can give you an excellent blog about the trip but you'll have to rely on the written word for pictures. And since they are my written words you're probably gonna be out of luck.

Sorry!

Joint Juice

I think I'm getting old. Or perhaps I should say, I think I'm starting to FEEL old. Two things have happened recently that prompt said "feeling".

1. After getting off a roller coaster, having not ridden one in 6+ years, my first words to Tiff were: "wow, do your joints hurt too?"

Apparently somewhere in the last six years my body lost the pliability necessary to ride roller-coasters and not feel like I just went through some sort of medieval torture known as the "bone rattler". Don't misunderstand, I still had a blast, they just aren't as pain free as they used to be.

2. My sleep has become much more delicate.

Let me expound. I used to be able to sleep through a category 5 hurricane without batting an eye. I once slept several hours past the time my alarm was set to go off....with the alarm blasting for those several hours. Thunderstorms - I called those "nap time". Now I find myself getting up half way through the night to use the restroom, waking up 30 minutes BEFORE the alarm even goes off, and after being asleep only an hour or two waking up suddenly. And I don't just mean wake up like "oh, that was a weird dream, let's see if I can roll over and pick it back up where we left off". NO, I mean "oh, let's get up and go jog a couple miles, fix some breakfast and then see if there's any wood that needs choppin" I'm not gonna lie, it's just a bit annoying, but hey this post is a product of just such an occurrence, and once we have a baby, no need for "IT'S YOUR TURN", I'll just be up anyway.

Feeding time? No problem, "how 'bout I knit you a blanky while I'm at it?"

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm gonna go get some laundry done.
Yeah we'll see who gets that worm now suckas!

We are bad friends this week

We promise to be better friends next week once our life calms just a bit. And just to make up for it we promise you camping stories and pictures of roller coasters.