We had our last family of three vacation this weekend. Since our second child will be joining us in the middle of November, we aren't planning on going on any trips during that month. We are planning a trip to the cabin in two weekends, but my parents will be joining us.

We headed off to the Jersey Shore Friday evening. And the trip that should have taken us maybe two hours, afforded us three and a half fun hours together in the car. On one of our detours G made the comment that he always wanted to know where the road we were on went. Surprisingly E didn't nap the entire trip. And also surprisingly neither did I.

We had a relaxing weekend of reading, watching TV, spending time together, playing on the beach, and walking on the boardwalk. Tragically we didn't get to play any games. We didn't think we would get to the beach, because we woke to rain on Sunday. But by the afternoon it was sunny and beautiful.

Saturday night we went out to dinner and quite possibly experienced our worst dinner night out with our daughter. She hadn't napped and was hungry, a rather lethal combination for a two year old. She felt that if she couldn't have something, it should get tossed somewhere. She also has recently begun to hit, kick, or head butt when she doesn't get her way. She had at least three time outs, which my dear husband administered. And to top it off, between the time we ordered and when our food came, there were several tables that we noticed where the patrons were seated, they ordered, their food was brought out, they finished eating, and they were wrapping up their time at the restaurant. And of course when our food finally came, after I mentioned to the hostess that we were still waiting for our food, it was luke warm and our waitress, who had gone missing, did not apologize for it taking so long. After she took our order, we didn't see her again until she brought our food. She didn't get a very good tip. E fell asleep on the way home, helping our sanity.

Lunch on Sunday was delicious pizza on the boardwalk and went a lot better then the previous eating out experience.

Our time on the beach was a fun experience. E didn't have a problem with the sand, as in her last two encounters with it. She happily frolicked along beside us. She did however feel that touching the water with her toes was unnecessary and only consented to stomping in a very shallow, nearly non-existent tide puddle. I did savor the small prints her feet left behind in the packed, wet sand. She also enjoyed digging in the sand, covering our feet with it, and smashing "castles" G built.

We left to travel home much later that we planned, because we forgot about washing our linens and towels, and because we just take forever to get ready to leave. But thankfully our ride home only took us an hour and forty minutes, much better time than going. E and I both fell asleep for a portion of the ride.

We have a new heater. We have central air on three floors. We have new pipes carrying untainted water to our faucets. We had our amp service changed from 100 to 200 and other miscellaneous electrical work done. We have removed the not so nice carpet in the living room and our bedroom. We are starting to replace window sash cords with chains. We have ripped out unruly plants that have overgrown our walk. We have purchased a new couch, dining room table, ceiling fans, and a dining room light. We are searching for rugs to grace our nice hardwood floors.

We are making progress.

I awoke this morning at around 7:00 am to the ridiculous report that there were fans already at the stadium for the Eagles home opener. The game didn't start for at least six hours. I am sure the stadium didn't open that early, so those fans would be sitting in the parking lot for most of that time. I find that absurd. (The Eagles didn't even win.)

My husband took me to an Eagles game once. I vowed never to go again. Football fans are not that nice of a group of people, when all together in one place. Especially when their team is losing. When my husband left to go get us food, I was actually scared being by myself in a sea of pumped up testosterone. I don't need that experience again. If I watch the game at all, the TV does just fine.

Baseball is what I like to watch - the Phillies. Even though the Phillies aren't always the best or even near the top. But I still would never show up for a game six hours before the first pitch.

I guess some people have nothing better to do.

G and I have tried to have yardsale twice in our married life. Both times it rained. Yes this morning dawned wet with precipitation. We thought we might try anyway, seeing how we have a covered porch. But really only the diehard yardsalers come out on rainy days. So, we have to live with our junk another week. And to rub it in, the weather thought it would actually get sunny and nice in the afternoon.

Although no yardsale occurred, I did get a few hours to myself. G went to pick up a cedar chest from his grandmother and took E with him. I was able to read my Bible and just have some time to myself.

Those hours were forgotten though, when later in the day our darling girl thought she might not take a nap. And her tiredness was compounded because she had gotten to bed after 10:00 last night and awoke early this morning. The girl was running on much less sleep than she requires. She was not a compliant child. And making matters worse, dinner was very late. We were at my parents and G was helping my dad put up dry wall on the kitchen ceiling. Since the kitchen was a mess, dinner was held up.

After we finally ate, I had the bright idea of giving her a bath. Normally I would have held off, but she needed one. Many screams and one clean girl later, we headed home glad to get our child to bed.

Tonight was our first choir practice. I am going to sing at least till my baby is born in November. Then I'll have to see how things go. For a year after E was born, I didn't sing in the choir. Inevitably she would be hungry right in the middle of the church service.

It is good to sing in a group again , though. I think I will try to make it work this time.
At least still sing the Christmas Cantata.

My legs were much better yesterday and today, though I have already ordered those stylish and trendy compression stockings.

We are having a yard sale this Saturday, and I still have to get organized for it. We also need some tables on which to put stuff. My sister (J) is raising money for a marathon she is participating in for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, and much of what we earn is going to that. She has also been making jewelry to sell to raise money. If you'd like to donate, email me, and I'll give you her information.

Our kitten is very, very, very,very close to losing her claws.

My legs remind me of relief maps. I am 30 weeks pregnant, and my legs have looked quite blue for a while now. The veins are just popping to the surface to show their ugly selves.

Until this weekend they didn't hurt me. They pained me yesterday and today. I wore my sneakers, which helped immensely, although my feet much prefer flip-flops. I usually spend my summer in them. But I acquiesced to my aching legs and put on my sneakers.

Yesterday was a family reunion filled with people whom I don't much remember. But nonetheless, I feel it important to go to family reunions. Saturday evening was spent walking the main street of Lansdale for Bike Night. Motorcycles everywhere. Four times as many people. I would like to own a motorcycle. But I don't know how to drive one and being in the family way, it is not recommended for me to learn anytime soon. But just you wait until my son is born.

Today, we had my husband's (G) work picnic. We went to a golf recreation place. We received lunch, arcade tokens, batting cage tokens, a round of miniature golf, and two go cart rides. With me being pregnant, G made out pretty well. He got one of my batting tokens and both my go cart rides. We had our daughter (E) with us for lunch, but my mother (B) came to pick E up for us. Miss E really needed to get her nap in today, because yesterday she only got about 15 minutes while in the car. Naps are important things for two-year-olds.

Our plan was to go to Lowes between the picnic the covered dish dinner at church. We didn't make it to Lowes, and we were late for dinner. Though we were not late enough to miss out on the food. Following the dinner was a time when those who went on mission trips could tell us about their experience. E ate enough to get dessert, a rarity for her. Everything was very tasty. The program was too long for E's attention span, and we ended up listening over the speakers in the toddler room, while she played.

We had a very busy weekend and the next two months of weekends are all filled up as well. It is a busy Fall.

There was another article about the child getting hurt by the cat. I need to go back and read the other article, because my husband only skimmed it, which means he didn't quite get all the facts correct., which was evident when I read the second article.

The owner of the cat was actually the girl's mother's boyfriend, not her father. The girl wasn't hurt as badly as I thought, though she did require some staples for her scratch. The mother apparently suggested the cat be killed, to which the owner complied. I did find out how the cat was killed but will leave that detail out.

The man plead guilty to cruelty to animals, and the woman plead guilty to conspiracy to commit cruelty to animals. After having more facts, I now feel what happened to them fits what they did.

One thing did still make me shake my head in sadness. The Assistant District Attorney made this remark, "This kind of depraved act against a defenseless animal shows a level of cruelty which we hope wouldn't exist in a civilized society. We take these cases very seriously." Is he not aware of the depraved acts that occur everyday in a "civilized" society to unborn humans, which are far more defenseless than cats with claws? How serously does he take the ending of unborn human life?

After my last posting I decided to do a search on google for pro-life groups in my area to see what I could do.

I stumbled upon a quote by Mother Teresa. "It is a poverty to decide that a child must die so that you may live as you wish."

I think she said it all.

My husband was telling me of a story he read in our local paper. I haven't read the article, so I am only going by what he told me.

The story told of a man who was arrested and now sits in jail for killing the family cat, because it had seriously hurt his young daughter. I don't know how he did it or any other details. When pets hurt people aren't they usually put to sleep? Personally, I think that he should have taken the cat to the vet to be put to sleep, instead of taking care of it himself. But I also think that jail time seems a bit steep with these circumstances. A fine seems more in order.

But it brings to mind one wrong I have always been against. Abortion. That man sits in jail for killing his cat, who seriously hurt his child, but his wife could have killed their child before she was born. Doesn't something seem wrong there?

Another wrong . . . there is a very high penalty for killing unborn eagles . . .

. . . but millions of mothers are killing their unborn children every day. How is it that animals are protected but a child is expendable?

Why is it that unborn children are not held as more important that animals? How can people fight for the rights of unborn eagles and not even blink an eye when a woman walks into a clinic pregnant and walks out not pregnant? Why does that child not have rights too? Than I wonder what am I doing about it? And I realized that I am not doing much at all, besides voting for pro-life advocates. This realization bothers me. I need to be doing something more.

Another thought I came across was from my pastor during a sermon awhile back. American pets have better health care than most children in the world. I never considered this, but I know it to be true. This is also troubling to me. Again, what am I doing about it? My husband and I sponsor two children, from Nigeria and Ethiopia, through World Vision. But again, is it enough?

How am I changing this world? What am I doing to right the wrongs I see?

I have a Get Together planned for tonight. I had two women say they were coming for sure. I had one maybe. Now I am guessing I have one coming and a maybe. I originally called, emailed, or sent a card to over fifteen women. There are several ladies who still have not gotten back to me. In fact I have not even made contact with some. I have left message after message after massage and still no word from them. I find it rather discouraging. I know that some people may be on vacation or something. But I have made my calls over a two month period. I am trying not to assume or judge was to why I haven't heard back.

On another note . . . my sister has my daughter, so I have a free morning. We did go to the ball game last night, and there was no rain. We went with my cousin and her family instead of our neighbors. Our neighbors were busy, but we will be going with them on Thursday night.

We had a good time. The Reading Phillies won the first game and we left before the second was over. They were winning when we left.

My sis and parents watched our girl for us. Trying to watch a game with a squirmy two year old ( and with no nap to boot) is not a fun time. You don't really get to watch the game.

What to do with my time . . .

Today's Sermon

Today's sermon was titled "There and Back Again: A Prodigal's Tale." I thought it quite clever to use a play on Tolkien's title for the parable of the lost son (Luke 15:11-32.)

I have heard this parable more times than I can count. But I have never heard it preached on like this morning. Pastor B concluded that both sons were lost. That both sons had essentially abandoned the heart of their father, but where the younger son comes to his senses and returns home in humility for forgiveness, the older son refuses to accept his sinner brother. Pastor B also reminded us that the Pharisees were like that, refusing to accept sinners. They always held themselves in high regard.

I had never thought of the older son's behavior as akin to his brother's, but just in a different way. But he never repents, either. He is actually angry at his father's joy in the return of his brother.

The Bible always leaves us learning new things from the passages we have read many times before. It is an amazing thing!

To print or not to print . . .

After about 70 photos, our color ink cartridge was empty. I put a brand new full one in to start printing. I decided to upload photos to winkflash.com. I was sorely mistaken at the very economicalness of having them print my photos. Besides for it being my first order, my first 50 prints were free. I uploaded 170 photos and it cost, with my discount, $10.00 less than the ink cartridge of which I only got 70 photos.

I am on my way to York Photo to see what they have to offer.

We received our first digital camera for a baby shower gift. I was very excited to join the digital world. I liked the idea of being able to take pictures and not worry about if they were perfect, because I could just delete them if they weren't. I could also take as many more than I would if it was just film.

Well, I have been taking pictures with a digital camera for over two years now. If I had to make a guess, I'd say I have stored on my computer over 600 photos. I have printed several here and there, but I have not printed them as a whole. Which means I have a lot of work ahead of me. My goal is to print them by Christmas.

I have held back in printing, I think because I haven't taken the time to "fix" them yet. Fix the red eye, crop, or alter it in the way I want to. I think that I should not be worried about most of that at this point. I will take care of the red eye, and possible other facial flaws, but mostly print them as is. I am far too behind to be particular.

I also have been concerned with naming and saving them by date. And what about the ink and photo paper? - it all has to be just right. All are excuses that have put me behind where I should be. I could send them out to a place on the web. I have considered it. But I think I will do it myself.

Anyway, I am printing as I write. 120 photos of our vacation to Ocean Isle Beach. I figured I'd start with them. I had to do it in two printing lots, because the printer couldn't handle 120 at once. My printer doesn't make me the happiest person, either. I think I would have chosen a different one, if I could go back. But you don't always know until you start using it.

Anyway, this little photo printing session has taken me over three hours, with renaming photos, fixing them, selecting them for printing, reselecting some since the printer balked at 120 at once, and monitoring the printing. I am guessing that the printer will take over an two hours to print all the photos. It's been going for over twenty minutes and only 11 are printed. Actually if you do the math, 2 minutes to print a photo, it will take 4 hours to print 120 photos. Oh my, the last photo took 3 minutes, which averages to 6 hours of printing. I may have to go to bed, and let it finish while I sleep.

My daughter has three times now accurately predicted when she has to have a poopy. She pulls at her diaper and says "Yuchy." We whisk her away to her very own brand new potty. She however is much more interested in toilet paper. She always needs some and is wiping nothing. We try to convince her to put her poopy in the potty, and she has twice. The last time she wouldn't stay put, and my sister decided she wasn't going to chase after her. Or course, she did have to go but ended up going in her diaper.

My husband and I do not look forward to this potty training experience. My brother and sister-in-law have had a hard time with my niece. She knows when she has to go, but at times just chose to use her pants instead. She finally decided to do things in the potty. But now since vacation she has lapsed into old ways.

Things to look forward too?

Vacation - Is it time to go home?

At the end of every vacation, you are somewhat glad for it to end. Fighting the waves and being with so many people was taking it's toll. I was tired.

Although I was sad to see my family leave and know I had no idea when I would see some of them again, it was good to know I would be at my own house with my own stuff soon.

On our way home we stopped at my husband's cousin's house. We hadn't seen his cousin in almost a year. They had a baby girl in January, whom we also wanted to see. We had a very nice visit with them. We actually got to relax. We didn't have to prepare any meals. It was a good way to end our vacation.

We also got to play Rummikub all Sunday afternoon. They didn't have the game, so we stopped on the way home from church to buy it. They enjoyed the new game and were happy to add it to their game collection.

Our drive home was also relaxing because we tend to take the road less traveled. We usually avoid I-95 when possible. We also take a bit longer to get places, but feel it's worth it. We consider our drive to be part of our vacation, so we try to use scenic roads or smaller highways. Our drive is usually much better that way.

Vacation - Family Time

Although our beginning evening of vacation had its rocky moments, our time at the beach was time well spent.

Family from afar (four different states) was joined in one house. We all ate dinner together, which was a fun affair. The table only had chairs for six but had room for at least ten. By the time the end of the line got their food, seats were opening up. Remember we were a family of 23. The couches were kept busy at meal time, too. But don't worry if there was a spill, they were vinyl. Easy wipe up.

A typical day for us went like this - woke to the musical sound of our daughter chiming "Out. Mommy out. Daddy out." Or she just would babble on about things she had to say. And once she knew we were awake, she would be more fervent in her pleas to get out. And then she learned that if she positioned herself just so and grabbed the bed, she could climb out of her portable crib. She would crawl upon us in our waking slumber.

Once ready for the day, we would head up for breakfast (our room was downstairs.) Breakfast choices abounded. Once breakfast was consumed thoughts of the beach were upon us. Suits were donned, skin was slathered, towels and other beach gear was gathered. Our trek to the beach was short - just down our walkway and steps and across the cool dry sand to our spot at the edge of the never ceasing ocean.

After gear was set up and umbrellas positioned for ultimate shade coverage, the hard decision of relaxing in a chair, playing in the sand, or going in the ocean had to be made. For us we had to decide who would hold our daughter, for if her feet touched the sand, cries of alarm would sound. Yes, our child wouldn't walk in the sand willingly. She had to be stuck in it crying. She eventually realized that the sand posed no threat and enjoyed herself. She did not however, become enamored with the ocean. She did tolerate it from the safety of an inflatable boat. We also came to realize that if there was a bucket of water nearby to rinse off the offending sand, our girl would be more willing to touch feet and hands to sand.

Soon rumbles in our tummies told of our food needs and some things were gathered, and the trek back to house would occur. However, the once cool dry sand had transformed into a scorching hot expanse, and the walk across it was cut in half if no shoes were worn. The outside shower was very helpful in washing away some of the pesky sand that insisted on clinging to skin. Young children were stripped of suits and if present, diapers, rinsed thoroughly, rediapered if necessary, and clothed.

Another chaotic plentiful food time ensued.

Nap time for our girl was now upon us. Sleep my child, sleep. We could now relax. Sometimes we got to, sometimes not.

After nap, we sometimes followed the morning suit up routine, or we decided to just stay in the house for the afternoon. Dinner would follow, then sometime much later, bedtime.

That was a typical day. We did have some other interventions occur, though.

Vacation - Time with creation

We went to a turtle talk on Tuesday night. Ocean Isle Beach, NC is an important beach for female sea turtles. There are many nesting sites, and it is quite the penalty if the turtles are hurt or killed - from $10,000 to $100,000 fine and/or jail.

During the talk, we were informed that turtles were hatching from on of the nests. So, we went back to the house and gathered anyone else who wanted to go see the little babies make their way to the ocean.

It was quite the sight. The babies are smaller than my palm and are very cute. The waddle their way down the beach to the ocean. Since it was quite the trek, the volunteers let them walk a little while, put them in a Styrofoam cooler, take them to the water's edge and let them out. The stress repeatedly to be careful stay back and don't move your feet, when you are near the water. They tend to wash in and out with the tide a couple to times before they can get out to sea.

I tried to capture the experience using my camera, but I didn't really get any usable pictures. I wasn't allowed to use a flash. I haven't read up on my camera enough to use it in the dark with minimal light and get a clear photo.

Watching little turtles make their way to the ocean was a very cool experience.

Vacation - A time to get away

On Wednesday night, our parents watched our kids. All us cousins were able to get out for dinner and some walking without our children.

We decided on a Japanese restaurant. We sat around a hot grill and watched our food being cooked. Our chef felt himself funnier than I think he actually was. He also wasn't Japanese. Neither was our waiter. In fact I think I saw more employees who were not Japanese than who were. I didn't expect that.

As I watched him cook, I told my husband that there is something to be said for not seeing what happens to your food before you're served it. He didn't spare the butter or oil. Some things you just don't want to know. I did like the rice, because he added sesame seeds to it. He could have used more, even.

After dinner we walked around the shops of Barefoot Landing. I found two pieces of jewelry and candy and barrettes that change color in the sunlight.

We got back to the house late, but it was an enjoyable night with my siblings and cousins.

Vacation - A time to relax?

We left Friday morning for our family vacation to Ocean Isle Beach, North Carolina.

We stopped for a long lunch at a business acquaintance's vacation house of my husband's in Maryland. They have a beautiful large house with a barn and stables for two horses and at least seven antique carriages. Plus a boat load of land all nestled on an inlet of the Chesapeake Bay.

We continued on and crossed the Chesapeake Bay Bridge/Tunnel for a mere $12.00. We stopped off at the pier and visitor's center for a slower look see at the Bay.

As we mosied on our way, we thought we might travel at least to Virginia and settled on Elizabeth City for our overnight destination. I have a few things to say about that town. The person who put up all the route signs needs to try to follow them first, before letting the general public try it. The managers of Wendy's need to get their act together and not let the drive-up window take twenty minutes when it is only five cars long and to give out spoons when people order chili. All the hotels and motels need to have more non-smoking rooms.

We finally just got out of that town. I think in all we tried probably eight motel/hotels before we rested at a Super Eight several towns down the road. It was a very nice place, and they had a continental breakfast that didn't consist of donuts and coffee.

The house we rented didn't bring up tons of warm fuzzies either. The owners opted not to have the realtor spring clean, so all the insects that climbed behind furniture and under beds than died were still there, dust was a little thick, it was not up to our expectations. The people who come into clean between renters did their jobs, since they are not expected and don't have time to spring clean each Saturday. It was the owners. And have you ever tried to relax, sit and enjoy yourself on vinyl furniture in varying degrees of disrepair? There were two chairs and three couches from which you could pick.

The house had seven bedrooms and four bathrooms and claimed to accommodate 20 people. The actual number of beds slept 19. They possibly were counting the roll away cot in the laundry area, but we didn't attempt to use it after seeing the condition of the place. Thy also advertised a sleeper sofa, but that was scary too. I can say that the price probably reflected the condition of the house.

There are other things I can go on about, but I will let it go.