Pics of the Visit with Bob & Staci

Doesn't Ginger look so sweet! She is a pitbull, and many people are afraid of pit bulls (ha, I'm afraid of dogs in general), but Bob & Staci truly believe that it's the owners who turn the dog into a vicious attack animal. I must say that Ginger has never given me or the girls anything to be afraid of.

This last picture was taken by Staci, hence the "finger" right in front of the lens. She was still able to see us in the viewfinder, so she figured the picture was okay. As I'm sitting here typing this, little Staci is by my side, on the couch, asking "can I do some letters?" So, here goes - I'm handing the keyboard over to her.

ggvccvbcxvcuswbiuhft jughyubkgrv ufhhvsby t63ty yrvgtyvt56etx7y466r78ytyrertyetrtyuuiysughteytyuqwwytswteytyertyergyuhhhy

Yummy Veggies!

Homegrown Vegetables!

My friend Staci was generous and let the girls pick "as many cherry tomatoes as they wanted." She said she only planted four cherry tomato plants - I definitely have to plant a garden next year! Her plants were huge! The girls also got to pick some of her bounty of cucumbers and a bell pepper each.

Swimming at Staci & Bob's House

The Countryside - Outskirts of Vacaville, CA

On Friday night, the girls and I drove to Vacaville to see my friend Staci, whom I used to work with about 10 years ago. We took her out to Fresh Choice for her birthday dinner, and then stayed the night at her "geodesic dome" house (see the roof in the last picture) out in the countryside, as Shauna called it. It was a wonderful time! Here are some pictures of the deer we saw on Bob & Staci's property, as well as one of their pitbull, Ginger.

Shauna Snuggling up at the Shower

Here's a cute picture of Shauna snuggling up with Sis. Marissa's throw blanket.

Baby Cohen Peabody

Here is a picture of baby Cohen's first night at church, when he was 4 days old, along with a few pictures from the baby shower, which was held the next night, July 31, at Marissa's house. The beautiful handmade afghan is from one of the sweetest ladies ever in our church, Sis. Maudie Burns. She is such a precious lady! And the outfit is from Sis. Wrinkle, our former pastor's wife, who is now retired - she got her an adorable "puppy dog" outfit with matching sweater, bibs, and baby blanket. They were just too cute!

Pray for Rob Biagi Family

I don’t mean to bug you, but God loves you

I don’t mean to bug you, but God knows who you are

I don’t mean to bug you, but God loves you

He’s got a big, big love for little, little you

I don’t mean to bug you, but God loves you

Two or three years ago, I took the girls to see Rob Biagi in concert for the annual Kids 'n Company Birthday Celebration hosted by Brent Randall and KYCC in Stockton. One of the songs he sung was "The Bug Song" which is on his V.I.P. to G-O-D cd. Every time I see this cute picture of the girls and the bugs, it reminds me of his song, which reminds me of the need to pray for the Rob Biagi family.

Below is an excerpt from Rob's website, http://www.robbiagi.com/

7.1.2008 - ROB BIAGI'S LEUKEMIA
In a freaky, "one-in-a-million" case, Rob Biagi has been diagnosed with Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia. We say "freaky, one-in-a-million case" because it was exactly 9 months ago (to the day) that Rob's youngest daughter Natalie was diagnosed with another type of Leukemia: Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia. That makes two Leukemia patients in one family with very different versions of the disease (extremely rare). And if you add in Rob's son Matt (who has had nearly 65 potentially cancerous moles removed from his body in the last 18 months), that's a large burden for any family. The Biagis need prayer, encouragement, and help from you. If you wish to send a card, letter, or gift to Rob or his family, please send it to: Rob Biagi Productions , 17941 Skypark Circle, Suite J , Irvine, CA 92614

10 Quotes about Character

I found these quotes while trying to find out who Duane Alan Hahn is (a different post, maybe later this week).

1. Character is much easier kept than recovered. Thomas Paine

2. The time is always right to do what is right. Martin Luther King Jr.

3. Men of genius are admired, men of wealth are envied, men of power are feared but only men of character are trusted. Unknown

4. The rotten apple spoils his companion. Benjamin Franklin

5. Right is right, even if everyone is against it and wrong is wrong, even if everyone is for it. William Penn

6. We are far more liable to catch the vices than the virtues of our associates. Diderot

7. It's not hard to make decisions when you know what your values are. Roy Disney

8. Aim above morality. Be not simply good, be good for something. Henry David Thoreau

9. You are only what you are when no one is looking. Robert C. Edwards

10. The measure of a man's real character is what he would do if he knew he never would be found out. Thomas B. Macaulay

It was labeled "Standards/Convictions/Morals" but really, I think a better word to summarize them is "character." However, the word standard reminded me of a sermon Pastor Kenneth Sullivan preached about a month ago regarding the Bible verse "So shall they fear the name of the LORD from the west, and his glory from the rising of the sun. When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the LORD shall lift up a standard against him." Isaiah 59:19.
Numbers 2:2 in the New International Version of the Bible says "The Israelites are to camp around the Tent of Meeting some distance from it, each man under his standard with the banners of his family." I've always known/heard the preaching that the standard is a flag; however, it wasn't until this sermon preached by Pastor Sullivan that I learned the symbol on the flag denoted what the family's standards or values were. It was a very interesting message, and I wish the church had recorded it, but our recording system is down until the church is fully remodeled. Please pray that the City of Citrus Heights will approve our plans so we can continue with the work!

Children and Messes

It seems like I can't take Staci anywhere without her causing some sort of trouble. A friend of mine at work commented the other day that Staci sounds like Dennis the Menace based on the stories I've told about the messes she gets into. Like what? Well, for example, the first week we moved into our new place (rental house), Staci did the following: 1. Got into the pink paint I used for Shauna's room, and spilled it on the carpet and left splotches on the wall by the closet (which I still haven't touched up with the white paint, and we've lived there a year). 2. Poured a whole bottle of baby bath soap on her brand new bedroom carpet. 3. Completely destroyed the brand new blinds in Shauna's room. 4. Tore off the wallpaper border I had stapled (for easy removal if we ever move, so we wouldn't have to deal with wallpaper glue). Yes, the wallpaper border is still half on/half off. :) That was all in one week. And yes, it was a year ago, but there've been things after that too, especially regarding markers.

What do Daddy and the girls fight about the most? MARKERS. Because the girls, Staci mostly, but Shauna has too, like to draw on themselves. Red markers for blood, blue markers or highlighters for "makeup" so they can look like Hannah Montana, and so forth. One time one of the girls was complaining about their ear hurting - I looked, and the veins looked terrible, so I said turn around, let me see your other ear that's not hurting - it looked the same ... what do you know? They had drawn with light blue marker on their ears! I yelled (yes, I admit it) at the girls "HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO TELL IF SOMETHING'S WRONG WITH YOUR EAR WHEN YOU DREW ON IT WITH A MARKER? GO TO BED."

Last night we had a wonderful time at Marissa's house giving Jenna a baby shower for her beautiful boy, Cohen. (See http://www.mmspage.blogspot.com/ for pics of Cohen.
When we first arrived at Marissa's house, Alyssa, Marissa's daughter, told Staci not to go upstairs. The next thing I know, Staci comes downstairs with black ink on her hands. She had gotten into Alyssa's drawer, where she had a feather quill and black ink well. Alyssa was devestated, and I felt terrible. There was black ink all over her antique desk, area rug, floor, and the walls going from upstairs to downstairs. The ink came off the walls and actually off most of the desk, but the rug ... I'll have to replace that - and I don't even know where to START looking, because they bought it at a yard sale.
{Sometimes I think I'm somewhat smart, and then something like that happens, and it puts me in a daze = what am I supposed to do now? God, please help me.}
I didn't know what to do, I didn't know what to say. "I'm sorry" seems so inadequate sometimes.

Oh, the joys of being a parent! It seems like I can't take my eyes off of that kid for a few seconds without her getting into something. I know she's only 4 1/2 years old, and I should be more patient. Of course, then, God reminds me that He as our Heavenly Father is disappointed in us so much more than we will probably ever be with our children. I'm sure if I allowed myself enough time to think about it, God could remind me of many times that I've created messes and confusion in my life too.

I love my children dearly, even if they do act like Dennis the Menace or Little Miss Bossy. One of my favorite sayings to the girls at bedtime is "Daddy loves you, Mommy loves you, Grandma loves you, Aunties and Uncles love you, but Jesus loves you most of all."
It's truly amazing when we think about just how much Jesus does love each and every one of us. I don't think we can even begin to comprehend just how much Christ loves us - Our God is an Awesome God!

I don't have a picutre of the ink mess, but this one shows how Staci is always doing silly/crazy stuff. Here she is "sleeping" in the windowsill at the local Wendy's fast food joint.