You Have to Check this Out....

Everyone, you HAVE to see this.

My old music minister from FBC Merkel who is now a minister at Watermark, Wes Butler, and his wife and 2 kiddos are adopting a precious little boy from Ethiopia. I am following their journey here:

http://thebutlersadoption.blogspot.com/

Wes just posted pictures of little Malachi, who will join big siblings Selah and Josiah very soon.....

I have been following their journey because my heart goes out to international orphans, or any orphans, for that matter. And as Christians, God commands us to have a place in our hearts for the poor, widows and orphans (Psalm 82:3-4).

Wes had a blog link you must see. PLEASE go to this website:

http://www.drawnfromwater.org/

There is a video at the top of the page about Bale, the precious little girl who helped to get this ministry started.

PLEASE CHECK THIS OUT!!!!!

Monday, Monday....Dah-da, Dah da-da-da

Helloooo, all! I hope this blog post finds everyone well and without the crazy swine flu that's been all over the news. (Don't you just love how the media dramatizes everything? I mean, c'mon....)

I haven't posted since this weekend, have I? Logan, Weiss and I took a fun little trip on Saturday to Johnson City, Stonewall, and Fredericksburg. We had quite a time. We had been wanting to eat at the Hill Country Cupboard in Johnson City for a chicken fried steak, so we finally got our wish! We had chicken fried steak, fried green tomatoes, and the works. Very good, I might add. Weiss got to get his first toy out of the old fashioned toy machines (that were EVERYWHERE in the '80s) where you put the coin in, turn the knob, and get the toy out of the plastic bubble... So he got this little slimy baseball...(You all know....like the sticky hand/foot???) He played with it all the way to Stonewall. But before Stonewall, we stopped at LBJ's birth home there in town. He lived there until he was 10, and we didn't want to take the tour because we knew Weiss would not stand a 30 minute tour at this age, especially where you are standing still for several minutes in one room of the house at a time... (Thankfully, it is only 20 minutes from home, so we can do this when he is a bit older and will appreciate it more...)

We then proceeded up the road to Stonewall, where LBJ's other home was and the state park is located. We went to the living history/working farm of the Johnson's neighbors, a German immigrant family that had lived there since the late 1800s. This was AWESOME!!! I had heard about it from friends, but had not been... They are open every day of the year except Christmas, New Years, and Easter, and people dress in period clothing and do everything on the farm as they did in the "old days..." There are sheep, turkeys, pea hens, chickens, roosters, cows (and calves), horses, and pigs, and most of the animals are roaming on the property as they would have years ago, in a perimeter fence around the entire property. Weiss LOVED this!!! We had fun whistling to make the turkey gobble.... Funny! He also had fun with Logan on the porch swing of the house and looking at the gigantic garden, which they use to make meals each day on an old coal stove. The foods were very interesting and looked great; they serve the workers a meal each day, and they even can for the winter, milk the cows daily, and make molasses! Super interesting! There's a smokehouse, blacksmith, and many other demonstrations on the property. And best of all, it's FREE to the public! We will definitely be back....soon! Logan and I--and especially Weiss--were super impressed, entertained, and learned alot!

We then drove down the road to Wildseed Farms in Fredericksburg and wandered around there. It is HUGE!!!! They had a huge field of red poppies (they just finished the bluebonnets, so there were still some left) and we took some pictures. I'll have to upload some soon... Weiss had a blast running in the trails. There was live music, which was really good, and lots of food. We ate some homemade peach icecream and all shared a cherry cream soda. They had a great plant selection and great gifts for anyone who likes plants, birds, or Texas stuff in general. Of course, we spent plenty of time with all of the food sampling and displays they had and brought home a bunch! They had a chuckwagon making homemade biscuits to eat with the samples....YUM!!!!! I got a few plants, and then we headed in to Fredericksburg....

We got there just as most of the stores were about to close, and we just got to go in Zertz and Weiss's favorite--and a SUPER cool vintage toy store--Spunky Monkey. Weiss got some cool stuff and I got some stuff in Zertz, which has super funky and cute clothes, shoes and jewelry.... We tried to go to Hill Country Outfitters for Logan (he loves that place), but they turned their sign around just as we crossed the street....MAN.....

We took the scenic route home.... We took Willow City Loop out of Fredericksburg back to 281. We knew it was a popular route for motorcyclists, and NOW WE KNOW WHY!!! Absolutely one of the most breathtaking roads I have been on in the state. The road is narrow and windy, and the views are incredible. If you've never taken this route, it is stunning. There are places on the route were people have made areas to pull over and take pictures of the views because they are truly incredible. We will definitely be back down this route.

We got home and had a bite to eat. Logan and I were zonked and went to bed early.

Sunday came and went--too quickly. We went to church and Lo watched Mr. Weiss while I did some homework. I managed to get Weiss down for a short nap. Our Lifegroup went bowling at the local bowling alley. We had never been there before, but we all had a great time. Weiss bowled for a little bit, but quickly lost interest. He had more fun sitting in the seat of the race car video game that had a big "out of order" sign on the black screen. Haha!!! Our silly son.... He started getting cranky, so Logan and I ordered some yummy, greasy, bowling alley food. It was good going down the hatch, but I knew I would regret it later.... And of course, when we left, I was saying to Logan, "I never should have eaten that food.... I feel like Shamu...." Logan beat me one game, and I beat him one game... We definitely need to brush up on our bowling skills, but we had a good time....

We got home, and turned on the bubble machine. Logan got out this giant bubble wand and we went out in the front yard to blow bubbles. Zoey LOVES bubbles.... she loves to pop 'em and bite 'em. (If I can figure out how to do a video of that, I'll have to sometime, because it is so funny....) So of course, we let her in on the fun, after she ran halfway down the block. (That dog runs like a gazelle.... she's crazy....)

And in the middle of the night, there was an awesome storm. It was lightning so much, it was like God had turned on a strobe light. I got up to go to the loo, and I didn't even need the light. I went to check on Weiss, and normally I would have to turn on like three lights or so. I could even see his face in his bed, asleep, from across the room. It was lightning so severely, I just knew some electronics were going to be fried... I was worried about our new "electronic" in the house getting zapped... The lightning was CRAZY!!! Logan and I couldn't fall asleep for a long time....

It continued to rain. Weiss and I went in to Bee Cave/Austin to Target. Bee Cave has a new Target, and it was nice, but I am a VERY discriminatory Target shopper. If it is a regular Target and not a SuperTarget, it already has point deductions in my book.... And there was absolutely nothing--NOTHING--for Weiss in the children's department. (And for me, either, for that matter.) So despite the "flashy" appeal of the new store and its cleanliness, that Target didn't cut it for me. (Kind of like the Target at the Rim in San Antonio that is always picked over.... And the new SuperTarget at SA on 281.....don't even get me started on how picked over it is.......).

(NOTE: I am a BIG FAN of the SuperTargets on Blanco and Fredericksburg Road in San Antonio.....they always had what I needed....Or the De Zavala Target.....)

So---I was looking for a certain item, and the dude at customer service said the Mo Pac Target was the only Target/SuperTarget in the Austin area to have it. GREAT. So he gave me directions, and after a quick stop to pick up Chick-Fil-A, Weiss and I were off to ANOTHER Target.

AND I FOUND A GEM!!! Although it is an older Target and NOT a SuperTarget, it has a HUGE clothing section that is EXTREMELY well-organized. I found what I wanted for me, and found the motherload of clothes for Weiss..... They even had stuff on sale that the Bee Cave Target didn't.....I know which Target I will be hitting up in Austin now..... YIPEE!!!!

Okay. Enough about Target. (I know. I love that store and everything about it.) We headed to Central Market, and got drenched---even with an umbrella. Weiss helped me get groceries, and we are trying out some new Rachel Ray recipes later this week. (I love her mag and always try her new stuff...) When we got back to the car, it was raining so hard, I literally looked like I had showered.

The babysitter came later in the afternoon while I went to meet Kim Edwards to go BACK to Bee Cave/Bee Creek for our monthly Emmaus gathering. It is not always there; it is normally in Marble Falls, but the Bee Creek United Methodist Church was BEA-U-TIFUL. Kim and I will be doing music on the ladies Walk to Emmaus this coming October, so if you have never been, you should go. You will be richly blessed!!! It's like a retreat on major steroids. No---WAY more than that. Bloggy friends, let me know if you are interested. It is a non-denominational retreat that focuses on the many elements of God's love. There is also an Emmaus for men, and versions for college students and high schoolers. I would love to sponsor you or anyone you may know.

De Colores!

SNAKES x 2!!!!

So not much has happened since I have been ill. However, Logan came home last night, which was great. He kept his distance from his ailing wife; even when taking precautions, we are always "great" about passing things to each other. So Cinda and Dickey still have Weiss. I think we are going to get him late this afternoon or this evening. Lo wanted me to "disinfect the house" and "get some rest" this afternoon before we got the little man. So--I vacuumed and went around wiping down everything I could think of that I had touched in the past few days with Clorox wipes. I bleached our sheets (thankfully they're already white!) and "Lysoled" the bathroom and kitchen. Ahh! I felt like I could have my piano lesson with McKenna today, so Nancy and the girls came over.

As I was walking them out to their car in the front of the house, Rachel saw A SNAKE in the flowerbed, under Weiss's window. It was not your typical "tiny" snake that you see in flowerbeds, either. It slithered around the corner of the house quickly, and disappeared into an area in between the bricks and foundation of the house. As I walked over there, ANOTHER SNAKE was slithering in the grass. All four little girls said in unison, "There's ANOTHER SNAKE!!!!" Although this one was small, it still gave me the creeps. After the girls left, I called Logan to make an executive decision. Should I (gulp) kill the snakes if I could find them? YES--he said... He didn't care if they were "good or bad" snakes.... He didn't want to take a chance. And I agreed.

So---never having killed a snake before, I grabbed the big shovel from the garage. I went over to where the snakes were, and the small snake was still sunning in the grass. I bopped him with the shovel. I know it may not be humane, but with Weiss and his small buddies around, I don't want to chance it. And being only one block from the lake, I am always paranoid that a snake may be a cottonmouth or some other mean water snake. Or a copperhead. Or a coral snake. Or a rattlesnake. Or a cobra. (Just kidding.) (I know.... I have the "Doomsday" scenario with snakes. You get the picture.)

Anyway, I went inside and although I didn't even come close to touching the snake, I felt dirty after I had killed it. I washed my hands with soap several times.

But about the other snake that escaped: I am assuming it is some type of grass or rat snake, but I am not sure. Little Rachel said it was "cream and green" in color. Does anyone know--for my peace of mind--what kind it could be?

Sick---AGAIN!!!

I consider myself a healthy person, but this year alone, I have been sick THREE TIMES!!!! It is quite frustrating, especially when you have children; you don't want them sick, but you need time to recover. So anyway, when I was at Mom and Dad's (or BePaw and LuLu's) this last week, I slept in the bed with Weiss. He is a CRAZY sleeper, and Logan and I are not. I am also a heavy sleeper, so when I am with Weiss, I wake up ALOT because he thrashes around and makes noises and kicks me in the night. Anyway.....

I attributed my slightly sore throat to the West Texas weather--which always gets me--and my slight exhaustion and soreness to sleeping with Weiss and being kicked. On Tuesday afternoon, Weiss and I return home, and I get many things done around the house. I assemble the compost, I pull weeds in the yard, I do laundry, I unpack our carload of stuff we brought home.... Weiss and I were pumped because Hannah and the girls and the two of us were going to the Austin Zoo in the morning! Weiss went around all evening singing a song he knows about the zoo and talking about the different animals. He was super excited. So I put Weiss down for the evening, talking to him even more about our fun day in the morning, hop in the shower, and get in bed. I can't go to sleep. I also attribute this to my massive intake of caffeinated beverages when I am driving...

And then the lovely chills began. I toss and turn all night. I wake up about 5:30 AM and check my temperature. And remember, Logan is STILL out of town at the Pankey Institute, so my in-house medical consultant was no where to be found. My temp is 101.2. LOVELY. I am home alone, with my kiddo, whom I had made a promise to go to the zoo with, and I am sick. And of course, I don't want him sick, and I can't just quarantine myself. So I call the in-laws. PRAISE THE LORD for family that lives near and are always ready to help. (And YES, Mom---I know if you and Dad lived closer you would, too!!!)

At about 9:30, Cinda comes to get Weiss so I can spend my day in quarantine with my big goofy dog. She brought me some Vitamin D and some sublingual Texas flu suspension to take. (By the way, it is so crazy how dogs know when you feel bad. Zoey always follows me around, but she has been especially underfoot since I've been sick.) I spend all day in bed, dozing on and off and watching 1980s classics like "Back to the Future," "Gremlins," and "Wall Street." I also watched "So I Married An Axe Murderer." Super funny! (Mind you, I had to play each movie about 2 times because I would doze off, and I STILL didn't catch most of the movies!!!)

I was craving sweet potatoes all day, and they were the only thing that sounded good. I had some in the kitchen, but I felt so bad, I didn't want to get up and cook. Hannah called and told me she was bringing over dinner. (THANK YOU, HANNAH!!!! YOU ARE AWESOME!!!) And guess what??? Not only was dinner great--I ate it ALL--but there were the most wonderful sweet potatoes on my plate with coconut!!!!! I've never had them that way, and they were INCREDIBLE!!!

Anyway, Dickey came over later to give me a vitamin C IV at about 7:30. He said he would come back to take it out when it was finished, but I didn't want him to drive into town (our house is about 15 minutes from their lake house). So when the IV finished at 1:00 AM, I took it out! It wasn't bad at all!!!

Anyway, so I am still running a bit of a fever, but my appetite is somewhat back. I still have aches and a MAJOR, constant headache, but I should be fine by tomorrow. Cinda is keeping my little dude until tomorrow, and Logan will be back tonight!!!!

We Are Starting a Compost....

(I am lazy right now...it's late....I'll give a weekend recap at a later date....)

As most of you know, ever since I got married, I have discovered I enjoy working in the yard/growing things/pulling weeds/learning about plants. Not only do I enjoy working in the yard because it produces something beautiful with some perseverance, but it is stress-relieving and calorie-burning. (And, I get a nice farmer's tan, to boot!) I have been wanting to start composting for some time. YES, it's good for the environment, but I have really been wanting to do it for my plants. Some of the best soil is to be had via compost material.

So---I have noticed that composts are expensive. However, Mom and I were in Sam's the other day, and there was one for $40. Impressive. So today when Weiss and I returned home, I let him play in the yard while I assembled the compost. Tonight I was shredding cardboard boxes and junk mail to put in it. I had about 3 lbs. of coffee grounds, courtesy of Dad, one of our family's many coffee aficionados. (Originally I was going to use the coffee grounds to give my hydrangeas and citrus trees more acidic soil, but instead, I dumped the huge thing in the compost.)

And yes, I am SUPER excited about this. When the compost gets going, it will be about 140 degrees inside. It heats up naturally to break down the organic material.

Anyway, I was wondering what exactly I could put in my compost. I knew the basics, but it is a very LARGE compost, and I want to get it filled up to get it started. (You have to have quite a bit of organic waste to get going, folks.) So I happened a website with 163 things you can compost. Okay, DISCLAIMER: some of them are gross.... (We're just putting the basics in our compost, folks, just so you know....)


Paper napkins
Freezer-burned vegetables
Burlap coffee bags
Pet hair
Potash rock
Post-it notes
Freezer-burned fruit
Wood chips
Bee droppings
Lint from behind refrigerator
Hay
Popcorn (unpopped, 'Old Maids,' too)
Freezer-burned fish
Old spices
Pine needles
Leaves
Matches (paper or wood)
Seaweed and kelp
Hops
Chicken manure
Leather dust
Old, dried up and faded herbs
Bird cage cleanings
Paper towels
Brewery wastes
Grass clippings
Hoof and horn meal
Molasses residue
Potato peelings
Unpaid bills
Gin trash (wastes from cotton plants)
Weeds
Rabbit manure
Hair clippings from the barber
Stale bread
Coffee grounds
Wood ashes
Sawdust
Tea bags and grounds
Shredded newspapers
Egg shells
Cow manure
Alfalfa
Winter rye
Grapefruit rinds
Pea vines
Houseplant trimmings
Old pasta
Grape wastes
Garden soil
Powdered/ground phosphate rock
Corncobs (takes a long time to decompose)
Jell-o (gelatin)
Blood meal
Winery wastes
Spanish moss
Limestone
Fish meal
Aquarium plants
Beet wastes
Sunday comics
Harbor mud
Felt waste
Wheat straw
Peat moss
Kleenex tissues
Milk (in small amounts)
Soy milk
Tree bark
Starfish (dead ones!)
Melted ice cream
Flower petals
Pumpkin seeds
Q-tips (cotton swabs: cardboard, not plastic sticks)
Expired flower arrangements
Elmer's glue
BBQ'd fish skin
Bone meal
Citrus wastes
Stale potato chips
Rhubarb stems
Old leather gardening gloves
Tobacco wastes
Bird guano
Hog manure
Dried jellyfish
Wheat bran
Guinea pig cage cleanings
Nut shells
Cattail reeds
Clover
Granite dust
Moldy cheese
Greensand
Straw
Shredded cardboard
Dolomite lime
Cover crops
Quail eggs (OK, I needed a 'Q' word)
Rapeseed meal
Bat guano
Fish scraps
Tea bags (black and herbal)
Apple cores
Electric razor trimmings
Kitchen wastes
Outdated yogurt
Toenail clippings
Shrimp shells
Crab shells
Lobster shells
Pie crust
Leather wallets
Onion skins
Bagasse (sugar cane residue)
Watermelon rinds
Date pits
Goat manure
Olive pits
Peanut shells
Burned oatmeal (sorry, Mom)
Lint from clothes dryer
Bread crusts
Cooked rice
River mud
Tofu (it's only soybeans, man!)
Wine gone bad (what a waste!)
Banana peels
Fingernail and toenail clippings
Chocolate cookies
Wooden toothpicks
Moss from last year's hanging baskets
Stale breakfast cereal
Pickles
'Dust bunnies' from under the bed
Pencil shavings
Wool socks
Artichoke leaves
Leather watch bands
Fruit salad
Tossed salad (now THERE's tossing it!)
Brown paper bags
Soggy Cheerios
Theater tickets
Lees from making wine
Burned toast
Feathers
Animal fur
Horse manure
Vacuum cleaner bag contents
Coconut hull fiber
Old or outdated seeds
Macaroni and cheese
Liquid from canned vegetables
Liquid from canned fruit
Old beer
Wedding bouquets
Greeting card envelopes
Snow
Dead bees and flies
Horse hair
Peanut butter sandwiches
Dirt from soles of shoes, boots
Fish bones
Ivory soap scraps

Spoiled canned fruits and vegetables
Produce trimmings from grocery store
Cardboard cereal boxes (shredded)
Grocery receipts
Urine

Speaking of Southwest Airlines.....

Speaking of Southwest Airlines in the previous entry, I would LOVE to fly with this guy!!! His name is David Holmes, and he is based out of Southern California. He is relatively new, and is AWESOME!!!!!

Bathroom Emergency on Flight Prompts Felony Charge....

(NOTE: Logan and I are big drudgereport.com fans, and I could not believe this article. I am TOTALLY on the poor man's side. And after being in Honduras, the dude probably had a horrible case of Montezuma's Revenge.....Unfortunately, I can relate to that. Plus, what is the RIDICULOUSNESS of using a bathroom within your "class?" PUH-LEASE! And, of course, if he was flying Southwest, who still have a sense of humor, this would have not been a problem!)

ATLANTA - A man who says he desperately needed to use an airplane bathroom after eating something bad in Honduras faces a federal charge after being accused of twisting a flight attendant's arm to get to the lavatory, the FBI said Wednesday.

Joao Correa, 43, told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution he had a bathroom emergency 30 minutes into a March 28 Delta Air Lines flight from Honduras to Atlanta, but found the single coach aisle on the Boeing 737 blocked by a beverage cart. He said he asked if he could use the lavatory in business class, but was told no.

Transportation Security Administration policy requires passengers on international flights to use the restroom in their seating class.

When the cart wasn't moved after a few minutes, Correa said, he ran for the business class lavatory. He said the flight attendant put up her arm to block him, and he grabbed it to keep his balance.

A Delta flight attendant said Correa grabbed her right arm, pulled it down and twisted it, according to authorities.

The man was arrested after the plane landed in Atlanta after a three-hour flight and Correa was held for two days in jail, authorities said. He was charged with interference with a flight crew, said Gregory Jones, head of the FBI in Atlanta, and released on bond after appearing before a U.S. magistrate.

"I'm devastated," the Concord, Ohio, man told the paper. "I've never had any event with the police in my life."

Correa could not be reached Wednesday by The Associated Press. A message was left on his home telephone.

Delta spokeswoman Susan Elliott released a statement saying flight crews "do everything within the limits of the law to ensure the safety and security of our passengers."

(CORRECTS man charged with interference with a flight crew, not assault.)