• We had a great service in church this morning. A visiting evangelist (whose name I simply cannot remember) brought the message. His opening question was "Are you famous in Hell?" He then went on to challenge us to be the kind of Christ followers who make Satan cringe because of the way we allow Jesus to work in our hearts and lives, allowing His Light and Love to shine to those around us.
• I made another batch of homemade playdough this afternoon since the kids had mixed up all our other playdough until we simply had a big grayish, greenish, brownish mass. I always think it's so fun to mix the colors and see what shades I can come up with and Tammy and Amanda joined the fun, mixing up some colors of their own.
• It was a fairly quiet day as far as the daycare goes. One child stayed overnight and left just before we went to church. Another came just before time for church and left this afternoon. Three more came this evening and left around 8:30.
• This afternoon Doug took Austin to his friend Aaron's birthday party. Austin and Aaron have been best friends for years and spend as much time together as possible
• I'm looking forward to beginning a new week and hoping it brings us some good news about the house.

I hope everyone had a great weekend and has a great week.

What an Interesting Day

The morning started out with The Coffee Klatch. If you don't know what the The Coffee Klatch is and you are the parent of a special needs child or work with a special needs child you really want to check it out. The Coffee Klatch can be found on twitter @TheCoffeeKlatch and describes itself like this -

• Bio A morning cup of coffee with parents of special needs children. Meet, share, laugh and take a little time for yourself. 9am est 2pm gmt

This morning was the first morning and it was wonderful. It's encouraging to "meet" others who are walking the same road and truly "get" the issues involved as well as the joys in raising or working with children with special needs. I'm looking forward to tomorrow's session.

I missed the last ten minutes or so of The Coffee Klatch because I was meeting with a grandmother to discuss providing childcare for her granddaughter. It was a good meeting and I'm sure the little girl will soon be joining our group of kids.

Amanda had a Dr. appointment this afternoon. It was just a well child visit. She's as healthy as a horse, as the saying goes. She did have to have a tetanus booster shot, which she did not appreciate at all. But she handled it well.

My favorite part of the day was going roller skating this evening. Every so often our church books our local skating rink for an evening. We've missed the last several skate nights but we managed this one. As a teenager I roller skated a lot. Now my skating skills are a little rusty but I still love to get out there. I managed to fall twice - the first time wasn't too bad. The second time, well, I think I may have left a dent in the floor.But, you see, they were playing the Chicken Dance and I was having fun. I was only doing the clapping part but apparently even that is too much for me. But it was worth it. I hope I still think so in the morning when I try to get out of bed and every muscle in my body screams at me.

My least favorite part of the day was what we found when we got home. We have a cat who is mostly an indoor cat but he does go outside as well. He was waiting at the door to be let in and before I realized what he had gotten into he was already in the house. There is a dairy farm behind where we live. It has been very rainy and there was a lot melting snow which has made this dairy farm very muddy. Apparently Scout (the cat) somehow managed to get into the very muddiest, smelliest place on the farm. He was covered! Amanda tried to give him a bath which he fought. Austin tried to help and Scout tried to bite him. Austin was ready to throw the cat back outside in the mud. The whole bathroom smelled like a farm. The cat was crying at the top of his lungs. We finally got the worst of the goo off of Scout. Now he's upstairs shut in a bathroom for the night. Amanda just asked me if she could take some blankets and make herself a bed in the bathtub so Scout will have company overnight. I said no. Scout still smells pretty bad and I just know he would try to curl up with her to sleep. Ick!

I never know what a day is going to bring, but around here it's certainly never boring.

Photo of the Day



Romans 8:28 And we know in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to his purpose.

In church yesterday the pastor talked about faith. He talked about how often we are afraid to do what we know God is asking us to do because we can't see the outcome, the end result. And yet, when we read Romans 8:28 we see that we do not have to be afraid. Knowing that God is working for our good, not in some things, but in all things, allows us to step forward in the confidence that He is not, will not, cannot, lead us into anything that will ultimately bring us anything but good.



Recipe of the Day

Hamburger (or Turkey, or Sausage) Chow Mein

1lb. ground meat
1 cup rice
2 cups water
2 stalks celery, chopped
1 small onion, chopped
1 small can cream of mushroom soup
salt and pepper to taste

Mix all the above ingredients in casserole dish and bake at 350 for 1 hr. When serving sprinkle with soy sauce and top with chow mein noodles if desired.