Also part of the fire fighting class at Crystal Cave Heather and Heidi Race to see how hard it is to get into a Fire Blanket. One girl had an easier time than the other :).
Warren Learns to Fight Forest Fires
Part of our vacation was spent at Crystal Cave, the second largest cave in the United States. There we took part in a Junior Ranger program which included a lesson on fire safety. Warren was chosen as the volunteer to demo the fire fighting gear and had me in giggles.
Vlog–Hiking in the Badlands
Is posting a 4 part video of your family hiking in the badlands as bad as making family members sit through 300 slides of the vacation they did not go on? I decided it’s not, since you can stop watching at any time and I’ll never know, lol. So you are spared the “I’d better look interested or look rude” awkwardness.
Anyway, the Badlands were a completely amazing part of South Dakota. Sections of it had Prairie Dogs which I’ll show you later. They are cute little things! It was extremely hot and dry. The eroded landscape reminded me of what I imagined parts of the moon are like. Some areas had beautiful colors–which I’ll show you later in the week too.
We stopped and hiked at one point on a medium difficulty trail. It got super steep and the sandstone crumbled underfoot making it slippery too. At one point we missed the trail markings and got into an area that was really tough. You’ll hear Darren ask me something and you can’t quite make out that I said, “I think I’m having a panic attack.” To which my Dear Son said, “It’s okay Mom, you can do it.” And Darren said, “Can you breath through it or do we need to stop?” Which I thought was a very sweet way to respond. Right at that moment I felt there was no safe place to step that wouldn’t slip out from under me and send me rolling down the mountain to my death. But then I did take a deep breath and I did take another step and I was okay again.
If you haven’t fallen asleep by video 4, you’ll see we did make it to the top :). At least the videos are short :).
So much to blog so little time
My family and I drove home all day yesterday from South Dakota. We had a fantastic time seeing the Badlands; Mount Rushmore; Crystal Cave; Driving the Needle Pass; Hiking the Black Hills; Visiting the Journey Museum; climbing all over Dinosaur Park and more. And our hotel had a lovely indoor pool and hot tub, so we stayed up late every night enjoying that too. I wrote my menu’s partly in the car and partly by the pool. It’s wonderful to be able to work anywhere my family happens to be.
I just downloaded the pictures off my camera and wowee! I have a lot blog about. There are ballet pictures; baby gift tutorials; recipes; and of course vacation. But it will have to wait until our school supplies are purchased and the laundry is done. Until then, here are a few of my favorite pics from last week.
Be careful with the Baby!
Possibly the only piece of shade in the badlands. Look out for rattlesnakes!
One of the ways we saved money on the trip was to buy picnic groceries and make our own lunch at on of the plentiful picnic areas along the way.
The most important thing…
There’s still a giveaway for a bodywrap going on around here. You can enter by leaving a comment on the previous post.
I sat in the community theater crying this afternoon, thankful it was dark. Thankful my children are safe, healthy, and home. It felt wrong to cry over our last moments with Heidi’s beloved ballet studio, when so many people are truly suffering. And yet, it is because of that suffering that my emotions are so raw and close to the surface. In the wake of the news of the Colorado shooting, two church friends were diagnosed with stage 4 cancer, a Grocery Shrink reader lost her 2 year old nephew in a tragic drowning, a local police officer was killed on his motorcycle while performing an ordinary traffic stop, 3 houses burned in the neighborhood nearby last night, a facebook friend’s father is lost in the woods and faces his second night alone while the search pauses for morning light.
All of these things remind me of how precious life is, how precious family moments are. I’m supposed to be writing my menus right now for the GSPlus mailing tomorrow at noon, but I had to stop and remind myself and my dear readers of the most important thing. I’m not talking about faith–of course that is at the top of the list. I’m talking about the most important FOOD thing.
It’s so important that I’m going to use big bold font, and leave lots of space around it, so it’s easy to find.
Eat Together As A Family
I don’t care if you eat macaroni and cheese out of box with hot dogs sliced in it. Just do it together, with the TV off, and reading material put away. Look at each other, smile, talk to each other.
The only certain thing in this life is that it is temporary. And if a loved one is called home early, it won’t matter how many organic foods he had or whether he stayed under budget. Relationships matter–they leave the legacy. It’s easy to build relationships bit by bit around the dinner table. It just takes commitment–one meal at a time. Now, go hug your kids and give your husband a big smooch.
Run for a Life–Get a Gift
I signed up for my first 5K yesterday. It was a whim. I paid my fee quickly so I wouldn’t change my mind. Then I convinced Heidi to run with me.
Your Donation Saves a Beating Heart--Click to learn more.
I’m not a runner–I generally dislike running, but I’m ready to change my mind about running.
This cause is enough to change my mind.
The race benefits The Women’s Clinic of Kansas City. My home town has a Planned Parenthood clinic right across the street from the high school. It’s been there for years, making me feel sad and helpless at the same time. In 2004, the next door space in the strip mall opened up, and The Women’s Clinic took action. Now side by side across the street from the high school are TWO choices. In 2011, thanks to the generosity of donors they opened a second clinic in Grandview, MO. As donations flow in, more clinics can open.
The Women’s Clinic offers a free pregnancy test and SONOGRAM to every woman in crisis. Plus ongoing support, medical referrals, and post-abortion counseling for those reeling from past decisions. They take donations of maternity clothes, baby clothes, toys and gear too. And offer classes and volunteer opportunities to those who want to help make a difference.
All of these services take money to keep real choices available. If you feel passionate about life, will you donate today?
To Say Thank You…I have some gifts for you.
Hurry! Offer Ends July 15th.
Everyone that donates $5 or more, will receive a free week Menu Plan–just like the ones I mail out weekly for Grocery Shrink Plus Subscribers. Everyone that donates $20 or more will receive a free set of all 4 of my ebooks. Donate $25 or more and get both! You can donate either on my page or Heidi’s page and qualify for the free gifts. Be sure to include your email address on the donation page so I can send your gifts to you. 100% of contributions go to The Women’s Clinic.
If you live in the Kansas City Area, will you join my running team? Sign up here. And select The Pitterpats for your team. I’ll email you my training schedule (from the Couch to 5K), so we’ll be fit and happy in time for race day.
My Best Friend…
We were laying around over the weekend, talking about our dreams, our family, our future. And how hot it was. And I said,”I don’t want to run today. It’s hot and I’m tired.”
And he said, “Drink lots of water. You’ll feel better if you go.”
I gazed out the window and said, “I wish you could go with me.”
He said, “I’ll go get my shoes.”
That’s love. He was right… we both felt better.
Whole Fruit Popsicles
It’s raging summer here and temperatures are expected over 100 degrees tomorrow and Thursday. To get ready, we made some whole fruit popsicles.
I peeled whole kiwi (6) and sliced each into 3 pieces. Inserted a stick (we used craft sticks and no one died or got sick.) and froze them on trays. I also found 6 ripe bananas, that we broke in half and froze too.
Then we melted 1 1/2 cups of chocolate chips with 1/2 cup of coconut oil. To make a really thin chocolate that hardens immediately on the cold fruit.
Then dipped each piece.
As the chocolate got shallower in the cup, we used a spoon to help.
We had just a touch of chocolate leftover and used it to drizzle designs on the finished pops.
Brandon somehow managed to get chocolate all over his white shirt--should have seen that one coming, lol.
The Kiwi popsicles were so cute–but pretty sour. The bananas are by far our favorite. Now I’m wondering…what other fruit can I put a stick in to freeze and dip?
The pool is broken…
So the directors at our reunion improvised.
I found out this week that reunion is a unique thing to my denomination. The first one was in the year 1888 and they stayed in tents in September for a week to worship and fellowship together.
We do it about the same today but we are staying in college dorms and the ladies don’t have to wear dresses. It’s a week where we have prayer service every morning, religious class right after that, and worship every evening with some of the best preaching we will hear all year. The afternoons are full of visiting, sports, and games.
Grant decided to join in the fun
We play together, eat together, and worship together. There’s no news, no TV, no radio, no video games. It’s wonderful. I’m filling my cup to over flowing for the year.
But not for long
A White Dress and a Promise
“Is that Heather’s wedding dress?” Brandon wanted to know.
I started to laugh…but then stopped. It sort of is. It is the dress she will wear to become part of the bride of Christ. It’s her baptism dress.
I put off sewing for awhile. My sewing room has been such a mess since we moved, and I’ve had so many other responsibilities, that I just couldn’t get in the groove. It has been at least 6 months since I attempted anything (except a whale–and that ended a little tragically.) I wondered if I would remember how?
I thought I would try to buy a dress, but tradition dictates the dress be pure white and fully immersable! I’ve seen lots of first communion white dresses…but they weren’t meant for the water. And talk about pricey! Plus white tends to turn clear when wet–so I’m going to need lots of layers. It’s hard to buysomething like that.
I taught my first sewing class in the new house Monday night–so had to get my sewing studio in order. I thought I had taken inspiration photos to show you how messy it really was….but I can’t find them. Convenient..I know. Imagine a room from the TV show hoarders without animals or rotten food. That will get you close. I shoved all the stuff to one side of the room so Mark could work. Here’s before:
After Mark came and built out shelves for the triangular room.
Since then, I’ve been working for a week on folding my fabric onto comic book boards (The economical way to make mini-fabric bolts. I spent $20 on 2oo boards, saving $400 over buying these.) I have a LOT of fabric. Caleb’s closet is still full of boxes of fabric waiting to be rolled. I’m getting rid of a lot as I go.
I love being able to see all my choices without digging through boxes. I’m hoping they are far enough away from direct sunlight, not to be faded.
Anyway, a clean room with space to work is very motivating. I made 3 ballet costumes the next day.
And yesterday I cut out Heather’s dress. Heather was on the farm visiting her grandparents so couldn’t be fitted. I had to guess. (When she arrived, I had to take 4″ out of the width of the dress!) I chose a piece of fabric and a pattern from my stash. The fabric was a remnant of white on white embroidered gauze with woven stripes that I fell in love with years ago, but never found the right purpose for. It was going to have to be very special. There’s nothing more special than a baptism!
In our church, we believe baptism is a public declaration of our covenant to follow Christ for the rest of our lives. The children have to make the decision themselves, but can’t decide until they are at least 8 years old. This gives them time to mature enough to be able to understand how imp0rtant this decision is. When Heather turned 8, she wasn’t ready yet. I tried to tell myself it was okay. That I was glad she was making the decision on her own and not falling to peer pressure. But mostly I worried. I worried about the questions she asked…the deep thinking she showed that she was struggling with faith. And I prayed…a lot.
You wouldn’t believe the deep discussions we had late at night after the rest of the children were asleep. We would talk about how I knew God was real. I would tell her my testimonies, about how God sent an angel to comfort me in my deep grief and I actually felt his arms around me, but saw no one. About how God healed Caleb’s smashed fingers instantly while Heidi prayed and Grandma and I watched. How I saw Christ in a vision on the cross and He told me that his sacrifice was for ME. And how his face looked like love. And that even though I was worthy of his contempt and condemnation only love was in his eyes.
We talked about that if the big bang theory was true—-where did the first life come from? How we have all the chemicals in the lab that are in living things, but that without life–life cannot come. Life must come from life. So where did that first life come from?
And we talked about how fulfilling a Christian life is. I mean if I live my whole life by Christ’s teachings, I will have a pretty happy life. Loving, forgiving, serving, holding no malice. And if I die and I’m wrong, I still had a fanstastic life. But if a non-believer lives his whole life in sin, he will feel the misery of it his whole life. And if he dies and is wrong, will continue in his misery. And after all that, she still wasn’t sure. She wasn’t ready.
So I stopped talking to her about it. And just prayed in silence. Prayed that God would reveal himself to my daughter in a way that would affect her life forever. Prayed that she would have her own tesimonies and not have to rely on my witness alone. I prayed that fear or anxiety of the water, of germs, of other people watching wouldn’t get in the way of her desire to follow Christ. I don’t know what happened between Heather and God, but one day a few weeks ago, she said to Daddy, “I’m ready now.” He smiled; I cried.
So that is why I am making a white dress. The best reason in the world. Now I’m off to buy a zipper and then we’ll take pictures of the finished dress.