Last week I took Sarah and Rachel to get their hair cut.

Sarah definitely needs a fresh cut.

Or is it hairs cut?
Hair cuts?

Yikes. Do we have to work on grammar during the summer?

When I made the appointment for Rachel I mentioned Sarah getting her hair done later in July, “When I have some fresh funds in my hair cut budget,” I mumbled. The stylist heard me and generously encouraged me to bring in both girls. “I can give you a discount,” she offered kindly.

Sarah loved her new look.

Just when I am frustrated with the constraints of a budget and the limits on my spending, I see God working. He is not limited by funds.

…for every animal of the forest is mine, and the cattle on a thousand hills. Psalm 50:10

It’s always nice to be pampered.

Not only does the Lord hold out His hand to bless me, He uses the people around me. In the famous words of Professor Oppelbaumer, “it’s a vin, vin, vin situation.” They are rewarded in their gift of time, energy and resources, and I am honored by their kindness.

A blessed mother and her precious jewels.

Kathy

Hello loyal blog readers! And not so loyal blog readers, just kidding! Ha ha! Oh, this is Rachel by the way. My mom wanted me to write this blog/story. Probably because I really love this certain subject!

It all started one normal afternoon. Rachel E. was sitting on ‘Big Blue’ like a good girl, reading her slightly dull, but historic school book, when she heard a very loud noise.

“Oh my goodness,” she thought to herself. “That sounded like someone dumped a load of wild elephants on our fount porch!” (Rachel has a tendency to exaggerate a little.) Then she heard a small and pitiful meowing that seemed to come from the same area.

“Well If its meowing I hear, a kitten must be near!”

Actually she thought, “Oh no, something terrible must have happened, I should go investigate!” So Rachel quickly ran outside. As she ran around the corner and down the stairs, a big brown cat slipped under her parents’ car and into the neighbors yard.

“Oh,” thought Rachel. “I wonder if that was the meowing I heard, hmm I’ll check just in case.” So she hurried down the stairs, and knelt in the dirt. There in the blackberry bushes was an adorable, perfect, completely terrified, little kitten. She reached her hand under to rescue the poor thing from its cold, and sharp surroundings, but the little imp clawed and bit her. Rachel decided it would be smarter to have gloves for this sort of rescuing. After rushing to gather the very large gloves, she gently lifted the tiny kitten from the thorns. She then showed it to the rest of her family. Some were just thrilled to see a real live kitten, but some were not as pleased.

“Now you may play with the kitten outside, but it does not come in to the house,” said Rachel’s beloved father.

“Yes sir,” Rachel replied but inside, she sighed.

Her mother chimed in, “Aww it’s so cute! Don’t let me get attached to it, or I might want to keep it.”

“And that’s the last thing we want!” Rachel thought. She reminded her mother of how little and sweet it was.

Rachel spent the next glorious hour holding her favorite and most sought after animal in the whole world. Then Rachel’s youngest siblings babied and cuddled the darling kitten. But eventually all good things have to come to an end, (Until we get to Heaven! There good things NEVER come to an end!! ) But in this story, Rachel’s good thing had to come to an end.

Rachel’s father said, “Okay, now take it back where you found it, so its mother can find it again.” This is a very logical statement, but at the time, Rachel thought she would be a much better mom to that little kitten. After all, the mother just abandoned its child! But Rachel knew she must obey, so sadly she took the kitten back to where she found it, but in a slightly more comfortable place, and went back to her school.

That is the end of our tale, Rachel has not rescued the kitten again, and she knows that she probably never will. Even though at this very moment she knows where her little friend is. (And one or more of it’s siblings) So, if anyone of you loyal blog readers think that Rachel should be allowed to keep, or at least attend the kittens, please comment!!

Thank you,
Rachel

P.S. if you don’t believe that this tale is true, just ask Sarah, she saw it too!

This warm sunny day found half of our family INSIDE. Tragic, really. Joshua and Rachel had a swim meet this afternoon. Was it at the local outdoor pool? No! The lake? No! There we were in our bathing suits. Okay, we weren’t in our bathing suits (surely it’s not swim suit weather YET) but the kids were. Still, there was water, splashing, lounge chairs (I brought my own) and nary a bottle of sunscreen in sight.

You have to ask yourself, what I’m not sure, but something.

Sigh.

Okay, surely I jest.

David managed to get outside for most of the day.

We had a wonderful afternoon! The children and I set off for points south/west, leaving Tim at home to run errands and work on the car. We picked up Joshua’s team mate and enjoyed the gorgeous sunshine, windows rolled down and music blaring.

Rachel is a very determined swimmer. She rocks!

Along the way we met up with some friends and dropped off David, Daniel and Sarah. They had a glorious time playing all afternoon with dear friends who moved out into the country several years ago. Thank you, Jennifer, for letting the kids descend upon your home and disrupt your relaxing Saturday.

First stop into town … Starbucks! Whew, nothing like a morning without coffee to whet the appetite for some caffeine. We found the YMCA without any problems. Hooray for GPS technology! I’ll have to work much harder to get lost. Of course, I’m talented that way.

Daniel and Adam had knives, bows/arrows, and the makings of a fun day.

I managed to secure a front-row spot on the pool deck. Rachel and Joshua each swam in four events. They did great! I’m so proud of them. They are cheerful participants, respectful kids, supportive teammates, and good sports (whether they win or lose). I prayed hard during each of their events that they would swim with strength and endurance.

Joshua challenged himself in this meet. Great job, Joshua!!

What a privilege it is to be a mom of these 5 blessings!

On the way home we stopped back through Starbucks.

“Hey, this is just like deja vu,” the barista said to me, “except it’s later in the day.”
“Um, yeah, I’m faithful customer,” I mumbled. Just hand me the coffee, sir, I’ve got a long drive home.

Ah, we’re smiling easy, now that the meet is over.

More sunshine and mountain views on the way home, this time minus the extra swimmer (parents picked him up), but with the addition of Sarah’s 6 year old buddy (for an unexpected overnight). Everyone was hungry and tired. Signs of a full day?

Kathy

Last Saturday was a big day for our two oldest swimmers, as they celebrated the end of the swim season and their first year as Swim Team members. The local YMCA offers swimming classes, and (for those who take it a bit more seriously) a swim team, separated into A, B and C sub-teams. Joshua started in November, as a ‘B’ team swimmer, and Rachel followed in December, qualifying for ‘C’ team.

Rachel found swim team to be very challenging at first, but has overcome, and now enjoys it.

The Swim Team Sleepover was held at the Y, and included a meal, an award ceremony, and many games and activities. Kathy and the older two stayed until midnight, while the younger three and I made our exit after the ceremony (and the meal).

Joshua nearly had to go down on one knee to receive his medal. He towers over the landscape, these days.

Joshua and Rachel were both honored with medals for participation, and Joshua was given the ‘Golden Goggles Award’ for being the ‘Best Male All-Round Swimmer’. As the coach commented, Joshua’s discipline, commitment and willingness to give 100% at practices, distinguished him among the others and he was singled out for the coveted Golden Goggle award.

As it turned out, the ‘gold’ was spray paint, but this award is none-the-less cherished.

I was very proud of him, and of the significant effort he has invested into the team, with three weeknight practices each week, and additional swimming time on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons. Joshua and Rachel have both worked hard to improve their swimming skills and physical fitness, and they are an inspiration to their parents in the areas of discipline and ’stick-to-it-iveness’.

Earlier that same day, Joshua played the role of Duke Orsino in an adaptation of Twelfth Night, performed by a group of players from our homeschool co-op. As he rattled off line after line of Shakespearean verse, I couldn’t help wonder to myself: “Where did this versatile man-child come from?”

I remember when this boy was a pipsqueak. Now he gathers honor by the bushel.

Kathy and I shake our heads a lot, watching our children surpass us in a variety of ways. “I didn’t teach them that,” I’ll confide to Kathy. “Me neither,” she’ll agree. But for all their discipline and accomplishments, I think the thing that makes me proudest is that each of my children, to one extent or another, has given their heart to Jesus and is working hard to be a worthy and devoted disciple.

As the apostle John said in his third letter: “I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth. “

Well, it appears we have another teenager in the family. I try to keep the kids from growing so fast, but they refuse to obey. Just the other day, David informed he was going to turn 8 whether I was ready or not.

The nerve of these kids.

In case anyone might forget, Rachel’s birthday year was written in bold letters for all to see.

Last year Rachel celebrated her birthday in grand style. It took two vehicles to transport us all to her Sleepover Extravaganza. There were gingerbread houses, games, explorations in the woods, and lots of giggling.

A lot of giggling.

More giggling than sleeping, I think.

It wouldn’t be a birthday in our house without some sort of decorations greeting you in the morning.

This year Rachel wasn’t sure how she wanted to celebrate. Perhaps an ice skating outing with one or two friends. Or maybe just a family party. The days went by and we still didn’t have anything planned or organized. Finally I realized that this was the perfect opportunity to steal Rachel away for some mother/daughter birthday fun.

Nothing says, “Let’s head off for some fun!” quite like Starbucks, so that was our first stop.

One eggnog latte and a grande Americano, please!

From there I surprised Rachel with a trip to the mall. She’s been begging, plotting, scheming, okay, waiting patiently to see if she would be allowed to wear make-up when she turned 13. The discussion among parents went something like this:

K: Tim, so, are you okay with Rachel starting to wear make-up?
T: (hyperventilating) Absolutely not! My baby will not go around like some painted hussy. Over my dead body!
K: Hussy? Dead body? Not being dramatic, are we love?
T: Dramatic? You haven’t seen dramatic yet. I haven’t even begun to be dramatic. Hand me some tools, I’m going to barricade Rachel in her room.
K: Watch the blood pressure, dear.

The topic was dropped for several weeks until a calmer moment could be found. Finally we decided, some amount of make-up would be allowed. Rachel suffers from being shorter (and therefore quite a bit younger looking) than Daniel (a year and a half her junior). It’s difficult to be asked if you are 10 years old when you’re almost 13.

My hope is that make-up, granted with permission and teaching, can be something that enhances and spotlights Rachel’s natural beauty. We didn’t want it to become a subject of rebellion and frustration for Rachel.

Rachel is a mature, beautiful young lady, growing in wisdom and knowledge of the Lord. It is a delight to see her seek after Him. We have faith that she will handle the freedoms of teenage-life with grace.

Our birthday outing was sadly short as the day was busy and there were other needs (needy children) demanding my attention.

Rachel requested an eggnog ice cream cake for her birthday. The spaghetti and meatballs she wanted for dinner were easily acquired. The eggnog cake is proving to be more difficult. One of the local grocery store carries eggnog ice cream. At least they feature a label with the name of the ice cream. So far, and we’ve been in twice, and another friend 3 times, all we’ve found is an empty spot on the shelf.

Poor Rachel, 13 years old and no cake to celebrate her special day. I wonder if we can make our own eggnog ice cream. Anyone ever tried it? Share your recipe!

Rachel - Happy Birthday, precious daughter! We are so very thrilled to have you in our family. What a joy it is to be your mother.

Kathy