Flash flooding in my back yard! It was as deep as my knees.
Mount Elbert
2 Jul
On top of Colorado, Mt. Elbert summit, 14,440 ft elevation.
The Man of the House and Blueberry Pie submitted the high point of Colorado this week. They drove out, camped one night, summitted the mountain, got in the car, and drove home again. That was probably a little too fast to enjoy the trip, but they bagged the peak and drove on the sky highway thing- which 2 things they will never forget.
On the way down, a storm began forming. They very nearly were struck by lighting. They gave a trekking pole to a man in another group who had hurt his leg. Everyone was trying to get down before the storm hit in earnest. Rain and hail happened as well.
I’m glad they did this. They built memories that will last a lifetime.
And I’m not glad they did this.
I am 24+ weeks pregnant with twins, and I did not want to be left home while they went and climbed a mountain. They went anyway, and I was very unhappy about it.
If I weren’t such a Coward…
29 Jun<insert rainbow picture here>
If I weren’t such a coward, I would post these thoughts on my Facebook status instead of here on my blog. But Facebook has burned me before, and I’m gun shy. (although if I weren’t such a weenie about unfriending people, it might be safer…)
The last couple of days I’ve had the most icky unbearable feeling. Not because of the Supreme Court’s ruling to allow Gay Marriage nationwide, but because of the reaction of many of my friends on Facebook. I’ve seriously considered unfriending some, but as I mentioned before, me = weenie.
My feed looks like this: All my gay friends and people who love them are rejoicing with sincere happiness. There is no “haha we won” there is no “you losers suck”. Just sincere happiness for a day and a ruling they have longed for.
Meanwhile my “Christian” friends are mostly posting damnation, doom, and gloom. It feels like sour grapes and ignorance and major jerky temper tantrums.
My personal reaction to the ruling:
1. Dude, this ruling has been inevitable for over a year, why is everyone so upset?
2. Predicting that the U.S. is suddenly heading for immediate destruction and damnation because of this ruling is ridiculous. There are tons of laws in this country already that make stuff legal that I or others believe is a sin. This one doesn’t suddenly shift the balance.
3. Since when did posting bible verses denouncing other people’s sins and inevitable damnation ever help anyone be better?
4. What is up with that acronym “SCOTUS”? Every time I read it, I think “scrotum”. Can’t they come up with a different one?
5. This ruling by the Supreme Court really just seems like fairness to me. I like fair.
6. I truly believe that we need to fight to protect families. But I believe the fight needs to begin with eradication of child abuse, pornography, drugs, and poverty. When we have gotten rid of those, then we can worry about whether those 2 gay women/men over there are somehow undermining families because they want to be married. (Even then I think it will sound ridiculous to me).
I will continue to teach my children in my home that sex outside of marriage is a sin, and that God’s plan is for a man and a woman to be married to bring forth children on this Earth. However, I will never think it is my place to go up to someone on the street, much less Facebook and tell them they are evil bad & nasty. My kids will know that it is never okay to be unkind or rude to someone because they are doing something we believe is wrong or because they believe differently than I.
Anecdote: I knew a young girl who became pregnant and was not married. At first, I felt a little unsure how to act towards her. If I was nice to her, would that send the message that I approved of her sin? But I quickly decided a few things:
1. She knew what her mistake had been better than I, and my being unkind to her wouldn’t change either the mistake, the results, or her feelings about it.
2. Jesus would have been kind.
3. My snubbing her or lecturing her would not make her “see the light” or make her feel welcome at church, which is where she needed to be.
I feel the same thing applies to gay people. My only part is to be a friend. Not to judge, not to preach, certainly not to declare their sins to their face.
My part is to work on repenting of my own sins. Worrying about other people’s sins will not get me where I need to be.
#lovewins
#gaymarriagemightbewrongbuthateiswronger
#NOH8
We claim the privilege of worshiping Almighty God according to the dictates of our own conscience and allow all men the same privilege. Let them worship how, where, or what they may.
June 2015
11 Jun
We had this fun family party. Katie was there. She took these darling pictures. But I remember nothing😬
This next part I remember- I remember swimming at my dear friend Nancy’s house. I brought the kids swimming here multiple times a week, because floating in the water while pregnant with twins was such a relief. It was the only time my hips did not hurt.
Obviously Mary’s kids and Peter’s kids came too this day.
And then, clearly, we went to Grannie’s house for more fun’s.
Win Win
27 MayDefinition of win/win solution:
I went to grocery store and now require nap to recover.
The kids found last year’s left over water balloons and asked if they could use them.
I said yes to kids using the hose and the water balloons.
My kids think I’m the best and nicest mom ever.
& I get a nap.
#hellosweetnaptime
#pregnantwithtwins
#winwin
My Kids Are Not Just Numbers
13 MayBecause I’m obviously pregnant now, I get lots of strangers asking me how many children I have. I tell them I have seven, and they are shocked. I then have to decide whether I’m willing to tell them that I’m expecting twins which will bring the total up to nine, and shock them further. Their responses generally fall along the lines of “I don’t know how you do it, I was overwhelmed with just 1 (2-4).”
I say something about how helpful my big kids are, or how much fun we have as a family, or that I think being a mom takes all your creative energy whether you have 1 kid or 10. All of these things are true. It is also true that the numbers seven and nine are just as overwhelming to me as they are to these strangers.
But the thing is, I don’t usually think of my kids in terms of numbers. The only times I think in terms of numbers is while I’m setting the table for dinner, while I’m buying 1/2 price shakes at Sonic, or when someone asks me how many kids I have.
Most of the time,my kids are not numbers, my kids are my kids. I think of my children as Blueberry Pie, Cherry Pie, Pumpkin Pie, Peach Pie, Key Lime Pie, Banana Cream Pie and Baby Bean. That’s not overwhelming, that’s my kids. (That’s also a list of delicious food.) I love them each.
It struck me this week that maybe God feels the same way. We think of 7 billion people in the world and are overwhelmed and wonder how our Father in Heaven can watch over us and answer our prayers. But to Him, we aren’t 7 billion. We are Sally and Suzy and David and Daniel and Josh and (you get the idea.) We are not numbers. We are His children, and He loves us.
And the Lord God spake unto Moses, saying: The heavens, they are many, and they cannot be numbered unto man; but they are numbered unto me, for they are mine.
Psalms 147: 4 He telleth the number of the stars; he calleth them all by their names.
5 Great is our Lord, and of great power: his understanding is infinite.
Apple Pie loves bedtime stories
9 May
“The evidence shows that the difference between those who get bedtime stories and those who don’t—the difference in their life chances—is bigger than the difference between those who get elite private schooling and those that don’t.”
Hooray for Bedtime Stories!! Give your child the gift of better life chances today.
Marvelous Pigs in Satin 