Ladybugs & Stinkbugs

Here's where we started

Then we were here.

Now, I've finished the top of my "soon to be" quilt. I've crocheted all of the squares together, and crocheted a border around them. As you can see, they weren't all the same size to begin with, so once they were all put together, they are not exact or even (by ANY stretch). Still, it was a good first effort and joining squares, AND it was my Nanny's work that I was working with, so it is very special to me. I'm thinking, too, that when we tack it and quilt it together, we can stretch it a bit to look more even.

Anyway, there ya go!

Get 9 free audiobook MP3s from Barnes & Noble (ends May 16th) | Gizmo's Freeware

Follow this link to download 9 free audiobooks. I tried it, and it really is free. Downsides: you do have to enter a credit card number (even though they don't actually charge you anything), and you have to set up a Barnes & Noble account. Still, they don't charge you anything, and there are nine actual books:

"The Babysitter's Code" (short stories)
by Laura Lippman
Well known for her popular series of mysteries starring the fearless Tess Monoghan, Laura Lippman has won every major mystery award, from the Anthony to the Agatha.


"Super Goat Man" (short stories)
by Jonathon Lethem
Jonathan Lethem has a talent for bending literary genres. He has been entertaining readers since 1994's Gun, with Occasional Music, a debut novel that contained all the ingredients of his future career as a writer: science fiction, pulp detective noir, westerns, and award-winning coming-of-age stories.


"Best New Horror" (short stories)
by Joe Hill
Joe Hill is the author of the New York Times bestselling novel Heart-Shaped Box, the award-winning collection, 20th Century Ghosts, and a critically acclaimed comic book series, Locke & Key.


"Great Day: An Unabridged Short Story from Armageddon in Retrospect"
by Kurt Vonnegut
The first and only collection of unpublished works by Kurt Vonnegut since his death-a fitting tribute to the author, and an essential contribution to the discussion of war, peace, and humanity's tendency toward violence.


"Fathers: An Unabridged Story from The View from Castle Rock"
author?
Alice Munro is hardly the typical writer of love stories. Throughout her more than fifty-year career, she has never pandered to an audience used to happy endings and perfect relationships. Instead, she writes with a maturity and honesty that reveals the true nature of love in all its heartbreaking complexity.


"Truth or Dare"
by Elizabeth Berg
Elizabeth Berg is the New York Times bestselling author of many novels, including Dream When You're Feeling Blue, We Are All Welcome Here, The Year of Pleasures, The Art of Mending, Say When, True to Form, Never Change, and Open House, which was an Oprah’s Book Club selection in 2000. Durable Goods and Joy School were selected as ALA Best Books of the Year, and Talk Before Sleep was short-listed for the ABBY Award in 1996. The winner of the 1997 New England Booksellers Award for her body of work, Berg is also the author of a nonfiction work, Escaping into the Open: The Art of Writing True. She lives in Chicago.


"Ysrael"
by Junot Diaz
Dominican-American writer Junot D�az has spun the heartbreak and loneliness of the immigrant experience into literary gold with memorable stories of marginalized outsiders caught between two cultures.

"Merrano of the Dry Country"
by Louis L'Amour
When Miguel Merrano first came to Mirror Valley, the land was green and lush . . . and off limits to Mexicans. Ranchers such as Tom Drake and Joe Stangle tried to drive Merrano out, to fence him out; and when we warned them that greed and overgrazing would ruin their land, they refused to listen.

Now Merrano's predictions have come true. Mirror Valley is so dry it's about to blow away. The cattle are hollow-ribbed and dying. And the ranchers are broke . . . flat broke. Only Merrano's ranch is still thriving. As the ranchers watch him pay for goods in gold and sell his cattle at a mighty profit, their hatred grows and festers . . . until they draw their guns in a desperate act that will pit daughter against father, friend against friend – an act that could tear the valley apart forever.


"The Adventures of Tom Sawyer"
by Mark Twain

Tom Sawyer is the classic adventure story of a boy growing up in a fictional Missouri river town.

Drawing from his own experience, Mark Twain (Samuel L. Clements) violates the rules of the times and creates a novel of boyhood without the preaching common in other boy's novels of this time.

First published in 1876, Tom Sawyer introduced to everyone those memorable characters: Tom Sawyer, Huckleberry Finn, Injun Joe, and Becky Thacher. Tom Sawyer, as a character, went on to appear in two more books and in Huckleberry Finn.

I haven't reviewed any of these books, so I can't vouch for them. I've included as much info as was on B&N's site, so listen carefully! :)

Last night was our Psalty musical at church! After months of a LOT of hard work, we were finally able to share with our church, friends & family what God had put on our hearts. That might sound "preachy" but it is totally how I feel. The kids did an AWESOME job! I really enjoyed watching them sing their hearts out. We will have one more performance, next week, at an apartment complex here in town. It is a "mini-mission-trip" for our 1st through 5th graders, and I think will be an awesome experience.

Here are a few pictures. I don't want to post pics of OTHER people's kids without their permission, so you won't get the whole "effect", but my babies sure looked darling! I will have some video up soon for you!




Jeremy and his friend Jeremy they worked very hard on all the "tech" stuff.









Mom & Aunt Betty - they worked soo hard!















Katie-girl looking all pitiful

















Annie singing her heart out

This year, I decided JUST to go with tomato plants. I thought I'd rather have a lot of one thing than a little of a few. It had been kind of dry right after I planted, but we've had a lot of rain this last week, and they're looking really good now.

 
 
 
 

Ever been there?

 
 

Of course, I'm joking. But when Jacob got in himself, and shut the door, I couldn't resist snapping a picture. :)

 
 
 

I got this from my friend Georgia, and thought I would pass it on!
(By the way, this is SOOOOO accurate)

CHANGING A LIGHT BULB THE CHRISTIAN WAY

How many Christians does it take to change a light bulb?





Charismatic: Only 1
Hands are already in the air.




Pentecostal: 10
One to change the bulb, and nine to pray against the spirit of darkness.





Presbyterians: None
Lights will go on and off at predestined times.




Roman Catholic: None - Candles only.





Baptists: At least 15.
One to change the light bulb, and three committees to approve the change and decide who brings the potato salad and fried chicken.




Episcopalians:3
One to call the electrician, one to mix the drinks and one to talk about how much better the old one was.





Mormons: 5
One man to change the bulb, and four wives to tell him how to do it.




Unitarians:
We choose not to make a statement either in favor of or against the need for a light bulb. However, if in your own journey you have found that light bulbs work for you, you are invited to write a poem or compose a modern dance about your light bulb for the next Sunday service, in which we will explore a number of light bulb traditions, including incandescent, fluorescent, 3-way, long-life and tinted, all of which are equally valid paths to luminescence.





Methodists: Undetermined
Whether your light is bright, dull, or completely out, you are loved. You can be a light bulb, turnip bulb, or tulip bulb. Bring a bulb of your choice to the Sunday lighting service and a covered dish to pass.




Nazarene: 6
One woman to replace the bulb while five men review church lighting policy.





Lutherans: None
Lutherans don't believe in change.




Amish:
What's a light bulb?"

These are the cutest pictures EVER - Annie & Matthew holding Andrew right after he was born. He was screaming...as usual...

 
 
 

Okay, so I got asked where Annie was in my earlier post. I just picked some random photos, and she didn't happen to be in any of them!

So, to rectify my error, here are a few of her from April 2007 (4years old) - oh, and one cute one of Andrew I found!

 
 
 
 

In the same nostalgic vein as some of my previous posts, I thought I'd share with you our pictures from TWO years ago - April 2007. This year Andrew turned 2, Matthew turned 6, and Annie turned 4 and, of course, Jacob wasn't even THOUGHT OF yet!. They all looked like such babies!!

 
 
 
 

This is actually a test post...I've been having trouble with Photobucket, so I'm trying a new way of posting pictures.

Here's a cute one I did of our Baby Jake. I want this one printed and hanging on my wall. I plan on doing similar ones for each of the kids.

 

I thought you might enjoy seeing pictures of our family ONE YEAR AGO!! It's weird to look back. Anyway, if you're interested, check them out!

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Matthew was really into this one!



Red corvette


Cap guns - because those are always a good idea!


Bakugan

We had a great time at Andrew's party! Here are some pictures (and a running commentary...)

Annie was passing the time while we were waiting for everyone to get there by doing some artwork at the table. I actually have no idea what she is working on here.




Visitors:
Nanny, Ashley & Jeanne, Aunt Betty (I only have pictures of Nanny & Ashley)




Granny made the cake. We were having Madi's and Andrew's party together, so half is white (with blue cake) and half is pink (with pink cake). They also had their own little ones to eat:








The princess & king of the day:




Presents!