Yum - Icebox Cake

Made this tasty treat for my sister's arrival today. She's coming in from the Seattle area (by way of Mom's house) and I thought I'd try something new. Found the recipe online, and it is YUM-MY. (I made a small version with single cookies as layers to test on my family first.) The recipe is here but I added raspberries to mine.

Try it!

Pigskin Paranoia

I should have known it would lead to this.

Despite growing up in an all-girl household where football was reviled, I've always had a sneaking fondness for the sport. So when Scott decided to renew his interest several years after our marriage (he knew my family's opinion of sports, and had been pretending not to care) I quickly jumped on the football bandwagon. I went with the team nearest my heart - the Packers, from my childhood Wisconsin home. Of course, I picked the best team out there, so that worked out well. I learned everything I could about the game and my team, and since then, it's been several years of rivalry and ribbing, and lazy Sunday afternoon (and Sunday evening, and Monday night, and Thursday night) football watching.

But I have a son. And now he's been brought up in a 24-7 fall football environment. So it shouldn't have come as a surprise when he wanted to PLAY football.

I refused. I waffled. I refused some more. And I finally gave in. Heck, I let the kid DANCE, the least I can do is let him play sports. And he only wants to play this one sport.

Is it really mommy paranoia to constantly worry that he'll get injured when he came home from his first practice dressed like a tank and STILL had an injury?

Ok, so it's a scratch. BUT I WAS RIGHT!

Scotty's Birthday

In addition his trip to training camp, Scott had a pretty great birthday. He got a watch from his parents, an iPod Nano (which he loves) from me, Aerosmith Guitar Hero from Nicky and a cool Eagles plaque from Kairi. He also got the football he had signed at training camp.
Everyone came over for dinner of pulled pork, and then Cyndy and Barry gave him their present - babysitting for the night so we could go out to see the new X-files movie. (Which was not bad, but not great, either. Fun, though, and entertaining, mostly.)

I just have to mention, though - you'd think with a substance abuse counselor for a father, Juli wouldn't be such a "coke" addict! *wink* You should have seen her going after her mom's soda all during dinner!

They're Baack!

The Eagles are back in training camp, just in time for Scott's birthday! He took his birthday morning to go watch practice. It was a perfect day, not too hot, and the seats we got were in just the right place to watch tons of offensive drills and even a few offense vs. defense plays.

Kairi was also decked out in her Eagles colors, but was a little cranky still from the sprained ankle she got at VBS. Still, she looks like she was having a good time.
One of the really great plays we saw was when Brian Dawkins broke up a pass to one of the new receivers - he sure wasn't pulling any effort because it was practice. I enjoyed watching the plays in person until the kids dragged me off to the play area.
We even got a close up of Westbrook in action - and on the sidelines. He really is the man on whom the Eagles' fortunes hang, and Scotty's hoping for a good season. (Of course, so are the rest of us, and someone's gotta lose. But since the Pack won't face the Eagles until the playoffs, I can root for them for now!)
Best of all, our tickets on the way in got picked for autographs! So we went over to the tent after practice and Scotty got to talk to a few players and get some signatures. He could tell you whose - I frankly don't remember! They were all linebackers, though!

Since it's Scott's birthday, just this once I'll say it - "Fly, Eagles, Fly! On the road to victory..." (Until you meet the Pack!)

Amazing Week of VBS

This year's VBS had the perfect formula for success! We ended up having 35 kids on various nights, which is pretty good for our church, although I'd still like to improve those numbers!
The first day included giant bubbles to help us bubble over with thankfulness. As you can see, they were quite the hit!
We also learned the story of the ten lepers, only one of whom came back to say thanks. The kids loved being "quarantined".
Our Bible blast room was decorated with a Bible times village and the posters from the Bible stories - a nice break from other years where the whole room had to be darkened!
The pastor was a crew leader this year, which was really special for the kids who got to know him better. They were making shrinky dink Bible buddies on the first day in crafts.

Even snacks are themed to the Bible point in Group - something I love!
The program was full of great science experiments. Here's me messing up the experiment the second time I did it! We put dry ice in water and created a giant soap bubble to show us bubbling over with thanks. The second time, in this picture, I got soap in the water and it really did bubble over - a huge column of crazy bubbles! But the kids liked that even better, and it still got the point across. Other days found me sinking and floating various objects (did you know cherries sink, but watermelons float?) mixing up gallons of slimy oobleck, and on the last day, exploding a candle flame into a fireburst with lycopodium. (This wasn't written in the program by Group, but it fit Pentecost so well, what was I gonna do? It was an awesome display, and a friend got a picture I'll have to post when she gives it to me.) We also added an experiment where a cross (dipped in bleach) cleans the sin (iodine) out of a bowl of water. My hands were pretty wrecked by all the various chemicals by the end of the week!
Of course, sometimes the easy experiments make a big reaction - such as the Mentos and Diet Coke that illustrated the amazing power of Jesus to give us eternal life.
The kids had fun in every station, and they really learned a lot.
But I think some of them may remember walking on water the most! If they stood still, they sank. If they walked quickly forward (as though towards Jesus) they stayed on the surface.

The whole week was just so exciting. I had great volunteers, and willing, happy kids, and I know God blessed our endeavour. I can't wait for next year!

Everybody's Talkin' 'Bout His Power!

Our Vacation Bible School this year had everyone talking about Jesus' miraculous power! It was hands-down the most exciting VBS we've ever run, and our decorations were one reason why! It was the work of a few very full weeks to deck out the fellowship hall as a crazy science lab, but the results were completely worth it!
My science teacher at school lent me some great beakers and test tubes as props for our main table. Rope lights and fiber optics made the whole display shine, and an aquarium bubbler brought some of the beakers to life.
Little details like this barrel overflowing with balloons were fun and easy ways to fill up the lab.
We even decorated the long hallway into the fellowship hall with a variety of tactile obstacles and called it a "decontamination chamber".
It took a full day of painting to put together this crazy computer for our Cinema Science room.

We finished the room off with silver streamers and the cool Bible verse posters.
The craft room was scaled down, since too much decorating just adds to the clutter when the kids are all crafting there, but we liked the spinners hanging in the kitchen pass through and the big Bible Buddy posters.
We also added a corner just for Missions, where the kids learned about the kids around the world who would be helped by our soccer ball project.
The mega beaker was overflowing with the good deeds the kids of VBS did with their Daily Challenges by the end of the week.

Test tube treats was accented by a giant model of Fizz and some cool science cut-outs.

We also had a wonderful periodic table of the books of the Bible that I found through the Group forums and placed on one of two easels that marked off the edge of the stage with caution tape. Trust me, we needed the caution tape to keep the kids back from all the exciting experiments we did during the week. The decorations were a huge hit, and I'm very thankful that I got so many good ideas on-line and from Group! Since Kairi, Nicky, and I did almost all of the decorating all by ourselves, we were pretty impressed by how well it came out!

Real Pirates and Other Adventures

The kids and I went with Cyndy and her kids to the Franklin Institute to check out the new exhibit "Real Pirates". Unfortunately, no pictures are allowed in the exhibit because it is beyond fabulous - we all got to touch real pirate treasure and explore a model of a pirate ship, along with experiencing the storm that sank it and hearing the romantic story of its captain. We had so much fun, but no one had more fun than Hannah! She explored every nook and cranny of the museum - and even crawled beyond some tendons of the giant heart!
We all love the wind tunnel in the Franklin Air Show, but Kairi and Hannah went a step further and actually rode the flight simulator. That is, until it went upside down a few times and they freaked out and hit the emergency stop!
Both Hannah and Nicky were chosen for the science show about pirate science. Hannah found out that salt water helps bouyancy when her ship full of eight sank first. She got to raise the pirate flag on the onstage ship, though!
Nicky used sonar to find a treasure - which unfortunately for him only contained a rubber chicken!
Throw in a little soccer in the Sports Challenge, and a good time was had by... almost all. Juli was a bit cranky, which made Cyndy's day rough, but we're still glad we went, especially since Hannah had to go back to her mom in just a few days. We can't wait until she comes back to us in August!

A Fabulous Birthday

Scott will be the first to tell you, he usually screws up my birthday. Either lack of planning, lack of funding or lack of time results in going out on my birthday for me to pick out a few presents at the scrapbook store, or just staying home all day. But this year, he went all out! Not only did he have a delicious feast of tacos and enchiladas and my favorite spice cake with chocolate chip frosting cupcakes, I got mountains of fabulous gifts that exactly suit me. My gifts really tell a story about who I am, so I thought I'd recount why here.

First, I got a lot of beautiful hand made cards, and one fun one that plays music. I had mentioned my fondness for those silly musical cards to my sister, who made a point of buying me one just to make me smile. (Even though I told her they're too expensive!) I got to babysit the girls on the morning of my birthday, and Kairi and Nicky and Hannah and Faith all made me cards. My life is full of children as a teacher, children's ministry director, drama coach and mom, so it is always fitting to get crayon drawings for presents, and I love them all!

Next, as a teacher, I decided to embrace the traditional apple symbol and made it the focus in my kitchen. But then I didn't actually find too many apple things to use in my kitchen, so it's only a little apple-y. At least it WAS, until my birthday!

First, Kairi made me these beautiful apple napkin rings and holder. She worked really hard on them in ceramics and they're so cute!

I had found a gorgeous apple teakettle and put it on my wishlist on Amazon, but when I knew Scott hadn't done my shopping online, I figured I was out of luck. Not so, as I got not only the kettle, but an adorable apple kitchen set as well!My final teachery apple gift touches on one of my other loves as well. I collect Willow Tree figurines, so what could be more perfect than a Willow Tree Angel holding... apples!

I love the Beatles and romantic musicals, so the soundtrack to Across the Universe, a romantic Beatles musical is a just about perfect gift for me from Jon and Laurie!

And I'm very much a believer in fairy tales. This retelling of Beauty and the Beast by one of my favorite authors, Robin McKinley, is another great gift from Jon and Laurie.
Last from my in-laws was a Jane Austen movie. I love Austen, and can recite the opening lines of Pride and Prejudice - again, perfect!

My big present was an iPod shuffle from Scott. I was very surprised - I still don't know how he got me so many great gifts on his budget! I've already become quite addicted to carrying around so many of my favorite songs on a tiny little square of metal!

I adore Robin Hood in all his forms. Something about the dashing, but chivalrous outlaw fighting injustice while wooing fair maid just gets me. Even better when it's the hysterically funny Men In Tights, which Nicky can't watch, but he can give me. Someday Nicky - I know you're just as big a Robin Hood fan!I am such a sucker for flowers! The roses Nicky picked out for my birthday table and the two beautiful rose bushes that Cyndy and family gave me are beyond great. I just love roses, and always make a point of going to the rose garden when they're in bloom - now they'll bloom for me at my own house!
I was completely positive I would get this next gift from Scott, because I love Nora Roberts, and her new book had come out the day before my birthday. What I wasn't expecting was the signed copy! Course, it turns out Scott wasn't expecting it either - he didn't even notice that the copy he picked up was one of the autographed ones. Oh, well, I'll give him credit for it anyway! Especially as the hero of the book turned out to be a smart, funny, comic-loving nerd who helps the main character through all of her hard times and completely reminded me of Scott. How perfect is that?My last present was the biggest surprise. Scott had found out that Gaelic Storm, one of our very favorite bands, was releasing a new CD the day before my birthday. The first 100 people to order would get a signed set of liner notes - signed by the WHOLE band! He had no way to be sure he was going to get a signed copy, but he went ahead and ordered and added super-express overnight delivery. Sure enough, I got a signed copy of the new CD What's the Rumpus? which turns out to be a GREAT album above and beyond the autographs.

To sum up... wow. Made turning 32 quite a GOOD thing!