Day at the Lake

I think I write in bursts at a time. It drives Tim crazy (probably a bit of an extreme statement). I should say it mildly bothers Tim as he thinks I should dole out my blogs in dribs and drabs. Ah, when the blogging bug bites, I think you have to run with it. My friend De’Etta blogs several times a day. She’s my blogging hero! Not to mention she has 9 children, grinds her own wheat to make fresh bread, can study the Bible with the best of them and ‘fun schools,’ as she calls it.

David
David is ready to jump off the dock.

Even when I point to other multiple post bloggers (MPB’s) like De’Etta, Tim just shakes his head in confusion (or maybe it’s disgust). We watched some of the musical Oklahoma this evening. My blogging habits remind me of the song, “For Me It’s All or Nothing.” I have several blogs going at once and then a week or two will go by with neither Tim not I posting anything. Not a good way to develop a real blog following but it’s our life so there you have it.

Mama and David
Kathy and David posing at the edge of the lake.

On to the actual subject of my blog. See how easily distracted I am. It’s a good thing Tim is here to write the deep, insightful, challenging blogs while I chatter on. He always was a bit more melancholy than I.

Last week we had the opportunity to go to the lake home of one of my friends from church. I worked with Nancy on last year’s Women’s Retreat and thoroughly enjoyed getting to know her. She was kind to share her home, and little slice of lake, with us for an afternoon. I brought snacks, sunscreen, and my wonderful new digital camera. I took picture after picture. I told Nancy that I had enough photos to make it look like we had been at the lake for a week. Ha!

Sarah's float
This float has been Sarah’s constant companion over the summer–a great Dollar Store purchase!

One thing I particularly enjoyed was using the ‘burst’ function on the camera to take action shots of the children. They would climb up on the deck, run and jump off the diving board while I snapped away.

Rachel jumps
Rachel makes an incredible jump off the diving board!

Since it was a bright, sunhine filled day, I had no trouble with my flash and was able to capture the children running and jumping with abandon. Even David had me take multiple pictures of him as he sat at the edge of the dock and jumped in.

David jumping
David jumped into the lake to a waiting Joshua.

He’s made tremendous progress in his swimming skills this summer. I’m very impressed with how well he’s doing. I think he’s going to have an excellent time at the pool in Texas.

I think we’ll string the action pictures together for a fast slide show. The children (and, I must admit, I) had great fun taking the photos and then watching back at home.

Daniel jumps
Daniel’s turn to jump for the camera.

I’ve taken over five or six hundred pictures since Tim gave me this camera for my birthday. Of course, we have a big family so we have to take more pictures just to make sure everyone is getting equal screen time.

The kiddos, despite my best effots to put on sunscreen, are all turning quite brown. They will definitely have a nice ‘base tan’ for our trip to Texas. I’m not sure children really require a base tan. You don’t notice how tan they are getting until you see a blinding flash of white bottom at bath time.

Tim doesn’t like to violate the programmer code of ethics and remains a constant shade of pasty white throughout the summer. He says he’s allowed to burn but computer programmers are not permitted to have any sort of tan. I think it’s something they sign when they begin their life of programming. He does his best to find an umbrella and some shade whenever he joins us at the pool.

Tim at the pool
Keep this man stocked in diet Coke!

This blog was mainly an excuse to put out some fun pictures from our time at the lake. I do love summer!!

Boating
Rachel and Daniel thoroughly enjoyed the floats and boats on the lake. They even managed to hang on to the oars. I thought for sure we would lose one to the lake bottom.

Kathy

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Blueberry Picking

I used to think watermelon was my all-time favorite summer fruit. I have many memories of eating huge amounts of watermelon in the summer when I was growing up. I especially remember these plastic red bowls that my mother and grandmother used to have. I would cut myself a large slice of watermelon, trim off the rind and fill my bowl with watermelon pieces. Yum!! Nothing quite says true summer to me like cold, juicy watermelon.

And yet…

I LOVE blueberries! I can’t get enough of them. If I am fortunate enough to have fresh blueberries in my house, I will eat them by the handfuls. I think they are delicious! They are addictive and completely irresistible. Tim teases me and says when I move I sway the entire blueberry market and am able to keep whole farms in business.

When we used to live out on the peninsula, I discovered a local blueberry farm. It was wonderful! The berries were big and sweet and amazingly affordable. A good friend of mine knew the gardener and would make appointments for us to pick blueberries each summer. I would bring a child (usually Rachel) and pick until I couldn’t stand it anymore. Then, I would be in blueberry heaven! Enough blueberries to satisfy me (for a while anyway). I could eat them to my heart’s content, freeze big trays of them, and just basically enjoy these sweet treasures of God’s creation.

Blueberries

A month later I would usually be totally out of blueberries. Sigh. In the winter I survived on Costco’s frozen blueberries. Costco (here in WA) carries delicious frozen berries. They make wonderful smoothies. We put them in a glass of cold milk with a little sweetener and enjoy a perfect “ice cream” like treat.

Daniel Boy

Recently several people have told me about a free blueberry picking place in Tacoma. On Thursday a friend called and happened to mention she went by the free blueberry patch but all the ripe berries were gone. I told her my mother in law had heard about a (very affordable) U-Pick blueberry place in Olympia. This friend (you have to love spontaneous people) said we should go right then and pick blueberries. We didn’t have anything going on that afternoon so I immediately agreed! We both packed lunches for our children, met at the nearby gas station and headed south on a quest for blueberries. I think she is a mutual blueberry fanatic.

We wound our way through Olympia and found three blueberry farms. Can you say Heaven Here On Earth!!! We settled on Gile’s farm and picked blueberries for $1.00/pound. Blueberry Picking in Olympia The kids did their best to help. They were all enthusiastic and cheerful (for the first half an hour). Joshua went around gathering everyone’s blueberries in a big bowl — until he was stung by a bee. He spent the rest of the time in the van reading his book. He told me, “I don’t like blueberries, I didn’t want to come in the first place, and I was stung by a bee. I think I’d like to read my book.” Ha! Even the threat that he would miss out on the bribery (I mean reward) ice cream cone from McDonald’s didn’t draw him out of the car (“We’re not supposed to be eating sugar anyway, Mom,” he told me.).


Blueberry Heaven

Ah well, the rest of the crowd rose to the challenge (I mean bribe). Rachel and Daniel were my best pickers. David was a trooper and stuck with us the entire time — even if he ate more than he picked.

David Picking Away

Sarah worked hard the first half — filling several small containers — before she ended up in the van with Joshua. It was a widely successful trip. I came home with several large bowls of blueberries and the promise to return. Michelle and I said, several times, that we would have to come back WITHOUT children and really stock up (it would be nice to make it at least a month and a half before running out of blueberries).

More blueberries

All of this writing is making me hungry. I think I’ll go have some blueberries right now!

KME

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No Artificial Shortages

It is strange, but I often feel sad at this time of year. The sun is shining on the slopes of the mountain and the early morning sky has not quite finished its transition from silvery-gold to deep blue. The trees along the railroad track shout their joy to the world in rich shades of green. Horses stand in quiet contemplation in pastures as we pass, and cows lay contentedly. This is a glorious day, and I am grateful for it.

It isn’t just that I must spend the day in the office … I am resigned to my fate in that regard, and I hope to get out at lunchtime to enjoy the sunshine. What makes me sad is the knowledge that the equinox has passed, and the days are getting shorter, and that soon these days will be no more. As long as Kathy and Sarah’s birthday is still in the future, I can still pretend that we are in the height of summer. But once their birthday is passed, and Day Camp is over, I have to face the ugly truth: winter will come again.


Pink girls sharing a birthday

Winter holds no real terror for a Washingtonian … we keep snow on the mountains where it belongs, and it rarely dips below freezing. But the rains do sometimes settle in, and it is easy to forget why one lives here, at least until Spring arrives.

I really find that being temporal cramps my style. My spirit seems to rage against the passing of time and entropy. To put it rather melodramatically, I feel the loss of this day like the death of a friend, even now when the sun is barely over the Cascades to the east. I guess it is no surprise that God created me as a spiritual being to be with Him for eternity. On days like this I hug to myself the truth that He will set all things right when He returns, and that no more days like this will have to fade away.


Any day spent with a good book is a day well-spent.

In a novel that Kathy and I have read, there is a cheerful (but obviously brilliant) old professor who loves pastries and desserts in general. One of the things he is famous for saying is “No artificial shortages!” to the delight of those who share in his largess. (No doubt this is to justify his purchase and consumption of a large number of pastries.) I’ve always understood this to mean that we shouldn’t stint our enjoyment of things that are not legitimately scarce. I sometimes wonder what it will be like when we live with the King of Kings and experience His limitless generosity … I can just imagine Him laughing and booming from the throne, “No artificial shortages!”

Obviously Heaven will be a place where there is no shortage of love, which will be very strange. I think most people carefully set boundaries around themselves with regard to the people they choose to care about … there is a sense that one only has so much time and emotional energy and thus must limit the number of people that one cares for. (I suspect that I am guilty of contriving an artificial shortage of love where one does not really exist). It is certainly true, however, that time is limited – what fun it will be to no longer hear the relentless ticking of the clock.


The clock is ticking away on the Refuge … we eagerly look forward to it being ready for guests!

From what I understand, other resources will be equally unlimited – the scripture talks of using gold for paving stones, which even King David could not afford, although he had 7,500,000 pounds of it dedicated for use in building the temple (roughly $77 billion in today’s dollars). We can assume that there will be no limit in terms of food, water, clothing or shelter based on scriptural descriptions of New Jerusalem and God’s provision for us. Even daylight will be unlimited, as God Himself provides the light, and there will not be any darkness.


Nobody really knows what the New Jerusalem will look like — I picked this picture because it is the most fanciful of the guesses I saw. Whatever it is, it will be like nothing we have ever seen before, I suspect.

I wonder if one of the secrets to living in this life the way that God would have us to live is in living according to that Heavenly economy, even now? What would my life look like if I (and other believers) acted as though I had unlimited wealth, unlimited time, unlimited energy?

It certainly changes the way I view this day, when I try to see it in that light. Rather than mourn the impending loss of this day from my meager store, I can confidently look forward to an unending barrage of days, refilling my stock of them any time I feel short. Jesus said, “I have come that you may have life, and have it abundantly.” I guess this is what He meant.

tje

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Rambling thoughts…

The pool has been closed since Sunday. Argh! We were all set to swim–the sun was shining and the kids were restless–but when we got there we found out the pool filter had exploded/broken/caught fire. Whatever happened, it wasn’t good and the lifeguard told us it would be until at least Wednesday before the pool was up and running.

Pool boys
This picture is from last week–squirt guns definitely add to the pool fun!

It’s been cool and cloudy most of this week so no one has minded the pool being off limits. Today we were definitely ready for the pool to be re-opened. Of course, what does it do but RAIN! Harrumph. Joshua had a lake party in the evening with the church middle school group but they persevered and carried on despite the weather. The sun actually came out in the middle of the party, isn’t that lovely. Joshua (remember he’s a twisted soul) said the water was perfect–not too cold that you couldn’t get in but not so warm that it’s “boring.” Sigh. Not sure where he gets his Otter Boy swimming preferences. He really dislikes the club pool because they heat it. Gasp! It’s a wonderful, 84 degrees on most days. I must say I heartily approve!

David and Sarah at the pool
Doesn’t that water look inviting!

Of course, Joshua will get his fill of cold water when we go to Fort Clark, TX in August. The pool is fed by a natural spring and is CHILLY!!! You really need the temperature to be over 100 degrees outside in order to stand getting in to such cold water. Ha!

Needless to say we haven’t gotten much exercise this week. My favorite walking partner is out of town. The pool has been closed. It’s been grey and cloudy–perfect weather for getting in a little bit of extra school. The kids and I did go to the park yesterday with some friends. The other mom and I tried to walk around the school track while the children played but we weren’t very successful. We did make it around several times but there were a lot of summer school kids on recess break and we had to watch our little ones.

After dinner this evening, we all went for a walk. Sarah (who has recently acquired a great deal of summer dresses) delayed us for a bit as she ran to put on yellow socks to match her ‘pretty yellow dress.’

Sarah's yellow dress
Since we found this outfit, Sarah wears this hat almost every day.

We walked up and down the cul-de-sac. It was nice. The sun came out and it felt good to be out in the fresh air. After we came home, Rachel and I did some weight lifting. I had an article in a magazine for a 20 minute workout that I wanted us to try out. Rachel was less than thrilled but we managed to give it a good try. Sarah came down and counted for us. She has this strange habit of skipping fifteen and going straight to sixteen. Not sure why but it was cute (and consistent). Finally she couldn’t stand it any longer and had to get on the floor and work out with us. Tim came by and took some pictures of us.

Pink exercising girls
Working out in pink.

Rachel’s not sure she wants to do this work out every day as she might become a “muscle man.” Ha! I doubt we could get there with this gentle routine but, you never know. The pediatrician said the older children could all do a little bit of weight training. I thought it was fun and it only took us around 20 or 25 minutes. Sarah did add some levity to the push ups with her bottom sticking straight up in the air (no pictures of that one).

KME

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Visit to the Duckabush

We had beautiful weather, last week, for our trip out to the Duckabush. The cousins are getting ready for their next move (this time to Norway–sob). They have packed up and moved out of their rental home and are currently staying in our Duckabush house.

The girls
Rebecca, Rachel and Aunt Koffee taking a break from a relaxing day.

Since the drive is double what we used to face, we obviously haven’t been having our weekly Family Game Nights. This is a great sadness for those of us who are addicted to Settlers of Catan (oh yes, and the nice time gathering with family). I think the children, in particular, (well, and maybe an adult or two) miss having Papa John’s pizza every Friday night. I know I miss having dinner all planned and prepared for me (especially a meal that is always a hit with the kids).

With great resolve and fore planning (ahem, okay with great lackadaisical casualness and no planning whatsoever) we decided to have a Game Day (not quite as catchy as Game Night) out at the Duckabush. (I don’t know what is with me and the parenthesis today). We remembered to actually bring Settlers of Catan with us this time — last time we left it at home since we were “sure the cousins had the game”. They, in a terrible rash of packing, had already sent the game on to Norway. Trying to retrieve the game would have been a bit of a trip. We ended up playing cards that evening and barely suffering through (I mean, having a great time).

We got to the Duckabush in the early afternoon and, silly me, I thought we would have plenty of time to finish a game of Settlers before dinner. I had forgotten about the Cousins of Lengthy Turns. Settlers of Catan is a creative, ever changing game that can be as long and involved as you want to be. Obviously there are some among us who like it to be as long and involved as it POSSIBLY can be!

Liz & Timothy
Elizabeth and Timothy in front of the Settlers of Catan game board.

Sigh, we did convince them to take a break so Elizabeth and I could prepare dinner (homemade pizzas this time–oh how the mighty have fallen, or is it risen?). Even though the game runs on turns, there are things that happen throughout the game (even when it’s not your turn) that need your attention. There are roads/cities to build, people who want to steal your cards, resource materials to gather depending on the roll of the dice, and so on.

The Refuge
What a gorgeous picture of The Refuge Retreat Center in the making!

Sometime amidst the visit, Tim did manage to go out and take some beautiful pictures of the retreat center. The building is taking shape and coming along nicely. The children had a nice time playing together although I think there were many mosquito bites by the end of the evening. Ouch.

Cousins at the Refuge
David, Daniel, Samuel, Rachel, Joshua and Timothy–outside the retreat center.

I did my part in the visit by valiantly winning the game of Settlers. I had to do something as Tim has had MUCH too long of a winning streak and really had to be stopped! Hopefully we will manage to fit in several of games during WNW day camp next week. Tim suggested we leave our set of games out at the Duckabush, that way we don’t have to haul them back and forth. It was a smart idea but ever since we drove away, I have had a terrible hankering to play Settlers of Catan. In fact, we have company coming this weekend and I had to tell them that they will actually have to bring their own copies of the game with them since ours were out at the Duckabush.

David and Sarah
David and Sarah play by the water.

Talk about poor hostessing. I hope I can live it down.
KME

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The musings and ravings of a bloggart family