Rachel helped lead worship for VBS this year. She was especially delighted to work with some of her closest friends from church.
Aren’t these girls beautiful!! They did a fantastic job of teaching the children to sing, shout and praise the Lord.
Thanks for all your hard work – Rachel, Hannah, Katie and Allison!
Kathy
Project 366 – Day 193
As if there weren’t enough things to occupy my time and distract me from life, now I can add Facebook to the list. Blogs, email, homeschool groups, online carnivals – I could spend my entire day glued to the computer screen.
It’s wonderful! Especially when you are sun-burnt and afraid to go outside. Well, maybe it’s not really wonderful since eventually the family needs food and clean laundry. It’s a little hard to wash dishes or fold laundry (as if I ever do that) while the keyboard is on your lap and the mouse permanently glued to your fingertips.
I keep trying to get Sarah to do all the cooking and cleaning but she gives me that Princess Smile and I’m lost.
Anyway, back to Facebook. Basically it’s a social networking utility where you can connect with friends, family, co-workers, and fellow students. It was originally created by a Harvard sophomore, exclusively for other Harvard students. Gotta love those brilliant (and slightly bored) college students! Facebook expanded to other Ivy league schools (no need to be exclusive when there’s money to be made and students to exploit, I mean reach), high schools and finally the general public.
I can’t quite explain why it’s so fun, something about reaching out through the cyber world and connecting with friends. I know that I’m way behind the times, but I can’t help it.
“Girl, Facebook is, like, so 2006. Get with it! This homeschooling thing is keeping you unsocialized and ignorant.”
Not only did I lose precious hours of my day adding “friends” to my list, I pulled Tim into the Facebook world.
“The woman you put here with me – she invited me to her Facebook, and I joined.”
This picture has nothing to do with Facebook but I just love the little playhouse and therefore it deserves a spot on the blog.
On the other hand, I connected with some College of William and Mary alums and found one of my closest high school friends. I couldn’t believe it! I haven’t seen Jennifer since Tim and I were married. What are the odds that she would be one of the first people I ran in to? Even stranger is the fact that I was talking about her just last night with Rachel.
Hardly a waste of time!
No time for Facebooking, we’ve got basketball to play.
Next thing you know I’ll be hanging out at Twitter.
Maybe not, there’s only so much coolness I can handle in one week. So, tell me, do you Facebook? If so, what do you like about it? Do you share photos, connect with friends, poke people? This is a new world for me. Share your wisdom and insight!
Kathy
Project 366 – Day 192
This may not be a surprise to some of you, but if you go out in the sun two days in a row you stand a very good chance of getting a sun burn.
Even in Washington state.
Even if the temps only hit 75 or 80.
Ouch.
My scalp is tender. I think I managed to get a sunburned head. It’s a unique talent, I know.
Meanwhile, VBS continues. Joshua is a crew leader and all around helper. Rachel is on the team leading worship. Daniel, David and Sarah are participating in groups this year. I helped with food on Monday and Tuesday. The church is providing dinner for the workers each day before VBS starts. My kids have latched on to this idea and think it’s great.
“I think we’ll have dinner at home tonight,” I said to the children this morning. Stunned silence followed my announcement. “Um, you know, because Daddy will be home and we can all eat together.”
Finally one of the children spoke up, “But I like eating at church. They feed you. What would we have if we stayed home?”
Obviously my culinary skills are being wasted on these children. Not one to fight the inevitable, I called Tim at the office. “Honey, I have good news and bad news,” I informed him cheerily. “The good news is that they are serving dinner at church this evening. The bad news is that they are serving dinner at church this evening, and we’ll all be there when you get home from work.” Thankfully Tim is a resourceful lad and didn’t mind eating leftovers in peace and quiet while we were gone.
I hear they’re serving chalupas tomorrow night. Sounds delicious. I wonder if Tim would go for a church sponsored date night. 
Kathy
I’m tired.
My knees are sunburned.
The summer is slipping away.
My birthday is coming up and I’m moving closer to 40, not farther away.
I can’t get everything done during these relaxed summer days, how will I possibly do it all PLUS school in the fall?
I am out of shape and eating too much.
Eli, Daniel and David were not afraid of the cold water.
Sometimes you just have to find a good log and sit down.
Harumph.
On the other hand…
It’s only the beginning of July, that’s hardly the end of summer.
My birthday is coming up!!!
This little girl shares my birthday – best present EVER!
My knees are sunburned because I spent two hours at the ocean with some dear friends.
I walk/jog (wogged?) yesterday for 30 minutes with the kids and went to the Y this evening for some more cardio.
The downstairs is tidy and picked up, the floor mopped and the dishes clean.
AND I can go to bed right now and get a good night’s sleep.
Sigh.
Rachel has the right idea – grab a book and head down to the water.
Excuse my grumbling.
Kathy
Rachel (age 12 and 1/2) is flying through the Elizabeth Gail books by Hilda Stahl. And by flying, I mean reading two books a day. I stumbled across this Christian juvenile collection at a homeschool used curriculum sale in May. The books looked interesting so I bought the entire lot – 19 books in all. How could I resist? A big fat stack of books for Rachel – just my type of present.
At first Rachel was reluctant to begin the series. Frankly, they seemed a little too thin, not meaty enough for her. Thankfully there’s nothing like the combination of a prodding mother and a long summer afternoon to encourage one to dive into a waiting book.
I’ll do my best to snag Rachel for a real review of the books this week. She can give us her opinion and recommendations.
What are you pre-teen daughters reading this summer? Are you participating in the summer reading programs at your local library? Rachel told me she recently passed the 10 hour reading mark and is ready to collect her first prize.
Ah, the joy of raising a family of readers!
Kathy
Project 366 – Day 188