"Feed my sheep"

At times, when I am thinking about a my life or others, a piece from the bible will make sense in a deeper way, even if I've read it over and over before. When Jesus asked Peter if he loved Him in the last chapter of the book of John, and Peter said, "Of course I do", Jesus followed it with "then feed my sheep". Maybe I'm a little thick, but I had never realized the depth of that conversation. I was thinking about my kids and how much I love them and pour my life into them, and realized that if someone else claimed to love me, I would probably say something similar to what Jesus said... If you truely love me, then show me be pouring yourself into what is most important to me. Jesus knew he wouldn't always be around to shepard the people that he cared so deeply about. He also knew that Peter's desire to serve and love the Lord would be the driving force he needed to care for those "sheep" that Jesus was talking about. I am so thankful to the people who help "feed my sheep" out of their love for them, and me.

Girl's Night Out!!

Last Tuesday, we had a girl's night out for Ginger's 30th birthday. We went to Hamada of Japan in Tinley Park. I had never been to a Japanese steakhouse where they cook the food in front of you and do special "food tricks" with fire and knives! It was tons of fun and a good time to get away with just the girls. There were 12 of us moms and we counted up the kids between all of us... 70! Well, 67 with 3 on the way... What a prolific bunch! The most in one family was 9 and the least was 3, but most were inbetween (where I would fit in). We could start our own school!! (but most of us homeschool, so I don't think it would fly...)

Man, what a bill!!

Missouri Slideshow

Here are pictures from our trip to Missouri.

Scratch Colorado...we're headed to Missouri

Well, we decided to go down to Les and Connie's (Paul's parents) lake house on Lake of the Ozarks in Missouri instead of our trip into the Rocky Mountains in Colorado. There were a few reasons, namely not being able to breathe at 8 months pregnant and 8000 feet above sea level, along with having to miss out on white water rafting, repelling, and all the other things that I would need a center of gravity for (which I seem to be lacking right now). Plus, there's that lovely 21 hour car drive. BTW, does anyone have any idea how hard it is to find a hotel room for a family of 7?? All suggestions say to "camp", but the idea of sleeping without a pillow stuffed under my oversized belly makes me ache- much less actually sleeping on the ground!!

Sooooo... the drive to Missouri was much more manageable. And the lake house was great!! Thanks Les and Connie. The weather was awesome and not too hot in the 80's and the water was the perfect temperature to jump right in- which the boys did ALOT! Grace kept her distance, but didn't mind riding the wave runner with daddy or mommy. She kept saying "This is fun! This is fun!" Ellie was too cute doggie paddling around the swim area. She took to the water like a duck to... water?? (or however that goes). The boys caught bunches of fish, mostly bluegill, with a bass and a catfish thrown in. The first day, Paul didn't get a chance to fish because he spent his time taking them off the boy's lines. Caleb was fishing a bit different. He had his worm pushed up on his fishing line just above the hook and he'd watch in the water for a fish to nibble at his worm. As soon as he saw one, he'd yank the line, and many times, catch a fish. It took me a while to figure out how he was hooking them on the outside of their mouths or in the gills??

Pics still to come...

My arch enemy!

The tomato hornworm!! Nasty looking little buggers! So far, I've killed three that were feasting on my tomato plants. This was the last one I found and it was about 4 inches long. I've learned my lesson on how to kill them. The first one was huge, too, so I cut it with my scissors, and green slime poured all over my hand. Now, I cut off the branch and give it to Paul to do our part in the circle of life. It's actually an interesting looking creature. God was pretty creative. The mouth is on the bottem of the picture (the side without the red horn), and it's lined with "fake eyes" along the side to freak out its predators- Freaks me out for sure.

Who said school was out for the summer?? If your eyes are open, you can be constantly learning, right?