I like to rehearse before I leave a message. I am not sure why, but I always hang up, think of what I’m going to say, and call again to leave the message. It may have something to do with my ability to put both my feet in my mouth at the same time.

Well, the news is now out. In a few months, we will be the proud parents of six children. His name will be Thaddeus Augustus Gedeon. Stay tuned in about 5 months to find out his height and weight.

I have taken quite a vacation from my blog! Have you missed me? Oh well! Even if you haven’t, you’ll have to put up with my writings about daily life. I have missed sharing it with you. Stay tuned for more every day details and the continuation of my 100 Things series.

We’ll start off with some sayings from (almost) 4 year old Bethany. (If you follow me on twitter, these may sound a bit familiar).

“I was a pencil, but then I grew up into a person.”

“Boys don’t have brains because they can’t talk.”

Bethany (to Peter): “I will never like you again!”
Me: “That wasn’t very nice.”
Bethany: “OK, Peter, I’ll like you tomorrow.”

Today I told the kids that we should pray for someone we love, who does not know Jesus. Peter’s response brought tears to my eyes. He said, “I’ll pray for him right now.” Then he folded his hands, leaned his forehead against the wall where he was standing, and kept his head bowed for a full minute, praying for his unsaved loved one. When he was done praying, he wiped his eyes and said, “I really want him to have Jesus in his heart.”

Hey! This is half way!! Are you getting bored yet? Hopefully not!

I mimic laughs. When I hang around someone awhile, I tend to start laughing like them. I don’t do it on purpose, and I’m not making fun or anything. It just happens. Does any one else share my weirdness?

Candice got to taste watermelon for the first time this summer! She tasted every part of the watermelon including the rind! What do you think? Did she enjoy it?

I mentioned awhile back that I have switched to one-ply toilet paper (something I thought I’d never do!).

For some reason, I have been noticing Scott’s motto lately. “Scott. Common Sense on a Roll.”

It is just common sense to assume they are saying that the toilet paper is sensible and that it is on a roll. But sense common since cannot be had by a brainless roll of toilet paper, I think they might mean something else. Maybe not, but may be.

Not only is it common sense to use Scott, but Scott is “on a roll” with it’s sensible toilet paper. I love the double meaning!

I actually like to do laundry! I always thought I hated it. I think he reason for this is that I always waited until I had 5 or 6 loads before I started. Now that I am doing about a load per day, I actually enjoy laundry. I am not sure what difference this makes, but at least I don’t dread this necessary task any more!

I like to run. Now, I don’t mean that I like to run miles at a time. I probably could not make it even half a mile without having to stop to catch my breath!

When I was growing up, I ran everywhere I went. When my dad sent me next door to my Grandma’s, I ran! When we went to the park, I ran. There was no better way to get from here to there (until, of course, I learned to drive!).

I learned recently that I still like to run. Over the summer, I played volleyball and soccer a few times. Whenever the ball got away from us, I almost always ran for it, even if others were going after it! There is just something exhilarating about running. The wind is in your face and you almost feel like you are flying! There’s nothing quite like it! I am glad to have rediscovered this long lost love for running (short distances!).

I have always hated sports and anything relating to sports! At least that is what I always thought.

I never played sports in school because my classmates liked to make fun of people when they messed up. Since I “messed up” a lot,  I figured that I just had no natural talent at sports and decided then and there that I hated them.

What I didn’t know was that if I had just laughed at myself with my classmates, things would have worked out a lot better, but that is an entirely different post, isn’t it?

I have learned since having children, that I really do like sports! I am just now learning to risk looking silly in front of others as I attempt to play sports.  I think it has something to do with the fact that I am playing with my homeschooled children. I can’t deprive them because I am afraid to look silly, or worse yet, unskilled at something that I truly have had no practice at!

I have played baseball, kickball, and actually got the opportunity to play soccer tonight. I had a blast!

So, I guess today I discovered something new about myself! I genuinely like at least some sports. I think I even like them enough to get together with friends to play games regularly! Sounds like fun!

I was getting ready to tell you the 47th thing about me, when I discovered something that just had to be posted on my blog. Yes, I know,  you are so disappointed to have to wait a whole day to read about that 47th thing, but alas, you must wait!

So, are you ready to see what caused this dreadful disappointment? It is the picture on the right that I found on Zemanta! Zemanta is easy and cool to use. Unfortunately, I have no idea how it got on my blog. My husband is responsible for that. So, if you have questions about how to get it on your email or blog, you’ll have to talk to him.

On a side note, remember when I mentioned earlier that I don’t have much trouble with spelling? Evidently I have trouble with one particular word. For awhile I thought Zemanta was misspelling the word “license,” but after looking it up in the dictionary, I see that according to dictionary.com, “licence” is actually acceptable. I would like to point out, however, that my spell check does underline “licence” in bright red, but then again, it does the same thing to Zemanta!

I wear glasses. Now, I know you may have seen my picture already and know this fact already. I also know that I tend to take my glasses off in a picture (because of glare), so it is possible that you didn’t know this already. So, now I’m telling you!

I remember visiting the eye doctor for the first time when I was in the 5th grade. When I put my new glasses on, I could actually read writing all the way at the end of the hall! I was absolutely amazed that everyone else could see so clearly all the time!

Within one year of getting my glasses, my grades in school went from C’s and D’s to A’s and B’s. So much work was dependent on being able to see from a distance. Since I assumed every one saw the same way I did, I never thought to tell the teacher that I was having trouble seeing.

I will not say that I was never called “four eyes” or teased in other ways about my glasses, but I will say that I was so thrilled with being able to see that, after my initial embarrassment and refusal to wear my glasses, I eventually came to the conclusion that seeing was awesome enough regardless of  the teasing!

I wrote this poem in March of 1997 at the age of 19. I lost this poem and had a bit of a time finding it. I decided to post it here, so I can find it when I want it!

I fight so hard to keep the things
I know I do not need,
Seeking approval in the world
In every thought and deed.

I find myself in deep despair
For life seems dark and dreary.
The world just shoves me all around
Until I’m weak and weary.

I reach out to the world
To have it spit right in my face,
Trying to find in every crevasse
My very special place.

Soon I see what I have missed
And why I could not find it;
For up I look into the sky
To see my Daddy’s face all lit.

I see His arms stretched out to me
Waiting for me to utter.
I jump up to my Daddy’s side
With just one thing to stutter,

“Daddy pick me up
Hold me in Your grasp.
Daddy pick me
Ignore me if I gasp.”

“For deep down in my heart I know
You hold the key to every space,
And now I know that I’m made whole
For you ARE my very special place!”

Robert Hruzek from Middle Zone Musings has a group writing project going on that asks that you link to an old funny post. I am actually linking to several. Enjoy!

Peter’s Ponderings

Headless Trucks

What a Surprise

Just A Husband

Scary Bathrooms

This poem came to me today and is still a bit rusty, but I decided to post it anyway. If you have corrections or suggestions, feel free to comment.

I am the potter
You are the clay;
However I shape you
So you must stay.

You are the potter.
I am the clay;
I’ll stay how you shape me
Just do it my way!

I am the potter
You are the clay;
You’re pliable, moldable
Just bend where I say.

You are the potter
I am the clay;
I can resist you
Your mold will not stay.

I am the potter
You are the clay;
Please don’t resist me
For your heart, it will sway.

You are the potter
I am the clay;
My shell is hardening
But do I like it this way?

I am the potter
You are the clay;
Please heed my voice
Just trust and obey.

You are the potter
I am the clay;
I’ve lost control now
Help me, I pray!

I am the potter
You are the clay;
The only way to help
Will be painful, I say.

You are the potter
I am the clay;
Help me, Help me
No matter which way!

I am the potter
You are the clay;
I break you completely
And hold you, my clay.

You are the potter
I am the clay;
The pain is unbearable
Take it away!

I am the potter
You are the clay;
Now I can fix you
Renew you this day.

You are the potter
I am the clay;
You’re awesome, magnificent
I’ll serve You Your way!

In the 10 years that I have spent with my husband, I have never spent a single night away from him. I know it is very possible that we will eventually have to break this trend, but I am enjoying it for as long as I possibly can!

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I absolutely love board and card games! I could stay up and play games all night long, and then if someone asked me to play again the next day after being up all night, I would probably accept!

To me a game is better than a movie because there is more interaction and getting to know people. Of course, there is definitely a time for watching a movie, too. (I must admit, I’m kind of in a movie mood now).

When I was young, my favorite games were Clue, Monopoly, and Uno. Since then, I have been introduced to a few other games.

Now, I think my favorites have changed to Scattergories, Scrabble, Phase 10, and Hand and Foot (scroll down in link). Okay, maybe I am having trouble choosing favorites. I also enjoy Carcassonne, Murder, Skip-Bo, and Sequence! Did I mention that I really like games?

Do you like games? Which one(s) so you like?

I have kept a journal since I was nine years old. It started out with me writing about my pets or exciting events. Then it became a place to write anything that was on my mind.

For a while, my journal was about Luke. I have a journal of over 200 pages that covers 2 years of my life written about my husband and his family when he and I were both 12 (to age 15)!

After I got married, I got out of the habit of writing in a journal. I am not sure why. It is quite unfortunate, though, because it would have been really cool to have a journal of different events with the family, especially the kids.

Funny. You don’t really ever hear of people wondering which husband or wife they did something with, but it seems quite common to forget which event was shared with what kid (or so I am told).

Fortunately, I have begun my journal yet again. It is called Denim and Silk (this blog), which also includes my twitter updates. Between these two, I am able to remember and share small things that happen with each member of my family!

I am learning to be positive. It is very tempting to think thoughts like, “This is going to be one of those days!” Do you know that every time I have thought I will have “one of those days,” I have been right?

The thing is that when you tell yourself that you will have a bad day, you expect things to go badly. When you expect everything to go wrong, you are already giving yourself the negative attitude that causes a bad day.

Try saying this instead. “This is going to be a great day!” I wonder if your outlook won’t be better and you find yourself having a pretty good day!

I used to have a habit of saying, “I hate this day!” when I was having a bad day. One day my mom pointed out that God made each and every day and that I have no right to call it bad. After all, “This is the day the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.” (Psalm 118:24)

I’ve never had much trouble with spelling. Although there was a time back in 2nd grade, when my teacher thought my class would never learn to spell “because.”

The funny thing is that even though I don’t struggle much with spelling, I would not do well at a spelling bee. If you ask me to spell a word that is longer than 7 or 8 letters, chances are, I will have to write it down to see if it “looks right!”

What about you? Which subject has always been your “easy” subject?

I like to drink hot herbal teas, yet I don’t care for the taste of cold tea. My favorite flavor has always been vanilla hazelnut. Not anymore.

Since I have cut back on my sugar and have experimented with unsweetened hot tea, I no longer care for vanilla hazelnut. It is awful with no sugar!

My new (for now) favorite is Vanilla Chai. The only other flavor I can tolerate completely sugar free is Apple Cinnamon and regular tea (as long as it has cream in it).

What about you? Are you a coffee or tea drinker? Or are you neither? Or both? It would be cool to find out. Leave me a comment here or in twitter, and we can compare notes.

I love sunsets and sunrises!

In the past, I have always tried to take a picture of every sunset/sunrise I saw. Recently, I have decided that the they are much more enjoyable to just sit and observe. And the cool thing about sunsets/sunrises is that you can thoroughly enjoy it alone or with a loved one!

If you’ve never taken time to just sit and watch a sunset or sunrise, it is time you did. Grab blanket and maybe even a loved one, and get yourself outside. But make sure it is the right time of day before running out. Otherwise you might see a moonrise or moonset.

I can’t stand to have others say or think negative things about me. I realize this is not logical because of all the people in this big world, someone is bound to think something negative about me. But I guess logic doesn’t always rule, especially when it comes to feelings. 

If someone does think something negative about me, I would rather that person tell me than go on thinking those negative thoughts! At least then I can do something about it!

I would love to know your thoughts on this issue, positive or negative! Just leave me a comment!

I have a dream of helping those holding positions of leadership. It all began about 4 years ago. I had always held pastors and their wives as almost holy. Because I thought they did no wrong, I also thought that they could handle a lot! I never dreamed of offering to help them with anything because they were perfect, right?

About 4 years ago, I realized I was wrong. Now,  you are probably wondering what my pastor or his wife did to make me see how imperfect they were. The answer is nothing.

I was sitting in Sunday school one day listening to the pastor’s wife as she taught my class (and doing a great job!), when it came to me. I realized she was a human being just like me. She has problems and cries tears just like I do. She is no more perfect than I am!!

After realizing this fact, it dawned on me how full my pastor’s and his wife’s work load was. They were each carrying enough work for 2 or 3 people! That is when I started doing things to try to make things easier for them.

We have since been called to another church, but I am still keeping my “minister to the ministers” attitude!

I like routine. Now those of you who know me may be saying, “huh?!” It would seem that my life has very little routine.

I have discovered that I actually have several routines that I perform throughout the day. One is at bedtime. I always check the door and windows, cover the kids up, get water and chapstick and then go to bed. I do this just about every night!

Another routine I have noticed is that I can’t just wash dishes. Because I do not like to sweep a wet floor, I have to sweep before doing dishes (because the floor ALWAYS gets wet!). Well, if I’m sweeping, it makes sense to clear the table first, so that nothing falls off the table onto a freshly swept floor? I pretty much end up cleaning up the whole kitchen when all I set out to do was wash a few dishes!

So, I have routines and I enjoy them. Yet I can’t sit down and write a routine that I will stick to. It has always been an accident for me. Maybe I’ll eventually learn to intentionally write my own routines on purpose.

What about you? Do you have specific routines that you perform on a daily (or almost daily) basis?

I married my childhood sweetheart! We met when we were 12 and the rest is history. Well, I guess it is all history, huh? Oh well!

For more on how we met check it out on my blog and/or on his. We have two different perspectives on the same events! Check it out!

Music is addictive to me. If a person sings one line of a song, it is very possible that I will be singing that song the rest of the day. If someone else starts whistling, I will do it without even thinking.

Once when I was in the high school band, my flute broke while we were playing at homecoming. I ended up standing there pretending to play, so I would not mess up the song completely. I was so disappointed, and I think I even ended up crying because I couldn’t be part of the music.

When I lose my voice and cannot sing at church, it is very disappointing. There’s just something about being a part of the song that is so much better than just listening to it! This is why I sing at church unless absolutely nothing comes out when I try to sing.

While I wouldn’t say that music is my passion, I would say that it is one of my favorite hobbies! Surprised? Oh well! I’ll keep trying! Meanwhile, why don’t you tell me what you like to do?

I want to interrupt my normal “100 Things About Me” series tonight to say goodbye to the first vehicle I have ever missed after getting rid of it. I hope you are not too disappointed!

About 3 years ago, we bought a 1997 Dodge Caravan within 24 hours of knowing we were in need of it. It was a short search but one that was most definitely led by God. It now officially belongs to someone else. I hope it serves him well!

Thank you, God, for providing this van for us. Please help it to be as useful and loved to its new owner as it was to us.

I have not had many favorite colors. For some reason I usually just pick a color and stick with it. The only ones I can remember since childhood are blue and pink.

Amazingly, my favorite color seems to be shifting now. Wanna guess what color? C’mon, you know you want to. Go ahead!

Okay, my favorite color right now seems to be yellow! What’s yours?

I love studying personality types! As a matter of fact, somehow the topic came up this evening, and I was involved in conversation about it for 3 hours! It was so interesting!

I was first introduced to personality types using the Myers-Briggs test, but I think Type Talk (a book) is much more useful than the test because it gives explanations for every possibility.

If you are wondering, I think I am an ESTP. What is your type?

I’m a country girl. I wasn’t raised on a farm, but my grandparents, who lived across the road from us, had a garden that we got to help with. Most of the vegetables we ate were home grown. I’ll never forget the wonderful smell of dirty potatoes!

We also had apple trees and tons of natural space to run around in. We were allowed to walk and ride our bikes up the road with no adult supervision. We had woods to play in and our own rope swing hanging on a tree.

While the city life that I now live is convenient, I don’t think I will ever be a true city girl. My country roots will always show through!

Two years ago at Thanksgiving, we got together with Luke’s whole family to celebrate an early Christmas together. Since I was 7 months pregnant, we could not travel far from home. I was grateful and felt very special when I learned that Luke’s family was willing to drive all the way from Mississippi and Tennessee all the way to Pennsylvania to spend time with us!

I took on the project of handling almost all the planning of this gathering of 21 people. I did research for cabins, along with planning the food, events, and sleeping arrangements. It was a busy couple of months, but guess what?!

I thoroughly enjoyed myself! We had a great time together (even though it went way to fast), and on top of that, I learned how much I like to plan! I doubt I’ll ever be a professional planner, but it is cool to know that I can plan relatively well! You never know! That may come in handy some day!

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I have no natural organization skills. My idea of organization (at best) has always been just to have everything out of sight wherever it fit! Fortunately, my husband came up with a brilliant plan for organization that works!

Luke’s idea is to throw tradition out the window and to basically put things where it makes sense. For instance, I always spot treat my laundry in the kitchen because the lighting is bad in our laundry room. Because of this, I store my stain remover in the kitchen pantry instead of in the laundry room.

Luke’s system really works, and it has made my life SO much simpler. So, honestly, I am glad I have no natural organization skills. Otherwise, it would be harder to adopt a new and better system!

I put babies to sleep. I am not quite sure what it is about me that puts babies to sleep, but it almost never fails. If I pick up a baby, sleep is bound to happen while the baby is in my arms!

I find myself wondering if I’m so boring that I even put little babies to sleep. I’d rather think, though, that I have such a peaceful and calm nature about me that makes others relax and fall asleep!

When I was in the 5th grade, my grandpa gave me a very difficult decision to make. He offered to pay for either piano lessons or for me to play the flute in the band. After much thinking, I chose the flute (although I would still love to be able to play piano)!

The very first time I tried to play the flute, I could get no sound out! For some reason I chose it without ever getting a sound out. Of course, I did eventually get the flute to play and now, 23 years later, I am still playing.

I no longer play regularly – usually only for offertories at church along with whatever practice makes that possible! But regardless of how often I play my flute, I think I will always enjoy it!

This is one of my more personal “about me” posts, and it is a bit hard to explain, but I will try. I am recovering from tone deafness.

It all began, when I noticed once that my dad talked to me in a tone that sounded like he was upset when I had done nothing that I knew of to cause him to be upset. I was completely boggled and slightly hurt.

Then a good bit later, my husband asked me  (very nicely) why I was upset with him. I was shocked!  I wasn’t a bit upset! Then realization struck. This was the moment when everything began to make sense!

Daddy was not upset with me that day! He didn’t even realize he had talked to me like that! I have the same tone issue. It is a learned tone that to me just sounds matter of fact, but to most other people, sounds like I am upset.

Since I am aware of it, I work hard to control that tone, but it is very difficult to stop doing something that I never knew I did. Not only that, but I can’t trust my own judgment of tone. It is like my ear for tone is warped due to my own use of it.

Because of my “tone deafness”, it is very easy for my kids to use the tone that they have so often heard by their mom without my noticing it. Then when I do notice it, I have to control my own tone when I try to help them control theirs. It is very difficult! Fortunately, I have God to help me do what seems impossible!

I would like to point out that since that day when my dad seemed upset with me, he too, has become aware of his tone (without my help). He is also working on it. Pretty cool, huh?

I believe I have come a long way in allowing God to work on getting rid of my tone deafness, but I still have a long way to go. I will continue to work on it because no matter how hard it is to master, it is worth it to control the hurt I could cause to my children and the generations to follow!

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I love the smell of rain! Today I had to run out and close the windows in the van because it was starting to rain. Because it wasn’t raining hard, I was able to take in that wonderful scent of rain! There’s just nothing quite like it!

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I was never a girly girl. I wasn’t the type who dressed up in dresses or painted my nails all the time. I did dress up for church, and I did occasionally paint my nails but not enough to speak of.

However, I was not necessarily a tom boy either. I did do my fair share of climbing trees and such, but again, not enough to speak of.

Maybe I’m just a nice balance of the two? Me? Balanced in any way whatsoever? Naw! It couldn’t be!!

I love cats but will probably not ever have one of my own! During my childhood years, we always had at least one cat. On a nice day, I would sometimes go out and sit on the hood of the car with a cat in my lap. I LOVE cats!

But from from now own, I will probably not own a cat. Wanna know why? No? Okay….good night!

Just kidding!

Phillip has an allergy to cats, and I am suspicious that I am slightly allergic, too. Because of this, cats will not be a part of our household. But that’s okay! I know of five little people who would gladly sit on my lap on the hood of a car or anywhere else! God had truly blessed me!