confirmation at kamp kipa

Sometimes a mom could get a bit weepy.

It was a beautiful camp and they had a wonderful time.

The first confirmation camp to be held at Kamp Kipa held

20 students with 5 of the students coming from outside of Arizona.

In the beginning I'm sure there were plenty of

"I really want to go somewhere else and meet other people" kind of comments,

but this group was incredibly blessed to be able to spend this time together.

Not one of them was ready for this camp to end.

I went up for Family Night and was able to spend the night at the Kamp.

Awesomeness!!

After some fun moments of laughter, I was able to take a turn at the piano while the kids sang ...

and can they sing. It was a treat to listen to.

The quiet of a cool night with the drizzle of rain drops.

  

Confirmation Day itself dawned with brilliant sunshine on equally brilliant smiles.

I have to say that I cried.

Tears of joy that this time was so precious to each and every one of them.

Tears of joy that these young have forged relationships that will last a lifetime.

Tears of joy that God was with these young ones and blessed their days.

Dad and Alyx were tootling their way through British Columbia over the weekend,

working their way back to Arizona.

We certainly wished they, and Blayde, had been able to join us.

I'm thankful, though, that I was able to be there with my three youngest children.

Finally, the goodbyes.

Confirmation camp goodbyes rival a good Minnesota goodbye anyday!

With this Confirmation Day, we passed through yet another phase of life.

It is nearly incomprehensible.

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This weekend also marks the right of passage for Tia.

Which means .... I'm sitting at home alone this evening while she's off running.

Jari and Alyx are winding their way through California.

To this point, our least favorite state to traverse is Nebraska.

Do you s'pose these two will have a different state in mind by the time they hit the Arizona border?

Being as the house is quiet for the evening, I should do something productive.

I have a presentation to prepare.

I haven't been to the grocery store in so long that I don't remember when.

I'm sure I could drum up a few other things as well ....

like a swim perhaps?

City girls meet the farm.

"God breathes and the beauty of nature is revealed,

You are His most beautiful creation & I am left breathless."

I can't wait to see you tomorrow!

mother's day in july?

Without a doubt.

I have another app (I think that means application) on my phone that I love, love, love.

Craigslist.

I typically don't haunt craigslist, that is my husband's department.

Yesterday I moved all the dog droppings into a pile and out of the weeds grown tall.

For some reason I have a sprinkler that kicks on in the morning and then

when I clean the pool I drain even more water into the yard.

Makes for wild growth.

Then I tried to start the lawnmower that was left by the landlord.

Push that little red button repeatedly.

Crank that handle back and forth several times.

I'ved watched this method of lawnmower starting by dear hubby.

Then I give a good yank on the pull cord.

And.

Nothing.

Nada.

Yank again and get the same results.

Mutter at the machine and do the same thing I've been doing for nearly a year.

Wheel it right back to where I wheeled it out of.

If hubby was home, I'd run in and say "um ... would you come start the lawn mower?"

He's not here.

He's in parts north of here at the mailing/shipping store on Bogard shipping fish home.

He's excused ... this time. Only because my mouth is watering for a halibut fajita.

So after a dip in the pool this morning that is finally swimmable thanks to the dust storms

avoiding my yard last night, I hit that little Craigslist icon on my phone and typed in lawnmower.

Some of us have husbands that seem to think they know what we want

 better than we know ourselves sometimes.

I've really been wanting a lawn cutting device that doesn't include the possibility

of shoulder surgery as a result of cranking that pull cord.

He didn't think I needed one.

I think he'll change his mind when he comes home because he won't hear me saying,

"hon .... when you have a minute ...." anymore.

7 mere blocks away from me was this little treasure just calling my name

and priced less than a quarter tank of diesel fuel.

If I hadn't had a vehicle at my disposal I probably would have biked over there to pick it up.

The blades are sharp and it works.

Dear hubby thinks I could probably get on the bike and push this thing making it sort of

a riding lawn mower and it might get the job done faster.

I'm certain it's Mother's Day.

In fact, now I'm eyeing an antique rocking chair I found at the same icon.

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While my house has been incredibly quiet this past week ....

* I may just get more of that Christmas gift done this year than I thought I would!

* QuickBooks and I have had some serious together time and all of my spendings are recorded up to date.

* My children are coming home to roost and I have to find a place to store all my crafty stuff.

         *No. 3 was in Kansas this morning on his trek south.

         *No. 2 has several nights of work left and will be heading south.

          *No. 5 will be home from camp on Sunday.

*While everyone has been gone and I've been dining solo after work, I've had many moments to contemplate what on earth people do for dinner when they don't have a tribe to feed and aren't enamored of salad.

* Maybe if I cooked something, No. 4 might be home once in a while, eh?

* I've only run the dishwasher once in the last week.

* The washing machine has only done several loads of laundry.

* The dog has whined constantly.

* I was able to have lunch with No. 1 on Sunday which was a big treat for this mom.

* I've probably listened to at least 5 audio books. No wonder the dog is whining!

family, friends and fellowship

we were able to see all of our siblings ....

we visited with our parents ....



 Photo thanks to Frans & Jenny

we rejoiced in the fellowship at the Summer Services in Baxter ......

we were blessed with another godchild and a baptism ....

 we were able to share in the joy of a wedding ...

we shared countless stories and laughs

we shared tears of joy and tears of sorrow

coffee cups were refilled many times

while we visited

and swatted mosquitos



charms of my charmed ones

I was really suppose to be catching up on blogging our vacation during these quiet days at home.

If you noticed .... I haven't been.

Instead I've been nursing a post vacation sinus/chest congestion and sitting at the computer working on something for Christmas.

Someday I'll share it with you and you'll understand why I've been working on it all year long.

Yesterday I got a text message that read:

Meeting for breakfast paradise bakery & cafe. Phx airport..

Coffe's on! U coming?

You bet! I was about to do something really exciting like vacuum and mop the floors.

Instead I lit out of here. Anna was dropping off Jenny at the airport so she was able to join us as well.

It doesn't always work out to hop up and do something like this. So glad it did.

As I was doing the airport thing yesterday I noticed yard sale signs all over the place.

Thought about going this morning, but being as I'm still feeling punky, I ran to the local Urgent Care instead. I have to be feeling better next week. Z Pack in tow, after a stop at WalMart and Target, and we're on the way to feeling better. (At least by Monday morning for work!) Two weeks of using everything under the sun and it not doing any good was enough. I really have to be able to function next week. As I'm typing this there is a nasty dust storm blowing outside my walls. The sky is brown. Also got an inhaler today .... maybe I'm thankful!

While at WalMart today, I picked up a few things like color crayons (they're on sale Anna!) and Elmer's glue (also on sale). It's only 110F outside today. I'm home alone. I have craft supplies and an idea. So .... I ran with it. Please excuse the photos ... I'm not impressed. Tutorial may leave a bit to be desired but you'll get the idea!

 

Start with Jumbo Craft Sticks.

(You can probably pick them up at the dollar store. If you need a few and live near me,

I'll gladly share! The package came with 75 and I used 2.)

Cut squares out of the sticks. My sticks measured about 3/4 inches wide, so my squares are that size.

I ended up using a handsaw to cut them with because I couldn't make that dull yellow object work.

(I only cut about halfway through the stick and then snapped the pieces to break.)

Next I took a foot sanding thing and a nail file to even out the cut edges of the stick.

Now comes the fun! You need to drill holes in the pieces. Half of the pieces I set the hole

diagonally in the corner. The other half of them I placed it in the middle toward what will be the upper edge. A nail to poke a hole through won't work. The stick breaks immediately.

Even the drill bit was challenging. I broke about half the pieces using the drill.

I'm assuming that means that my drill bit is dull?

I was pretty pleased to be able to find even one small drill bit in our conglomeration of stuff.

I wasn't about to run out and buy another one.

Remember ... it's 110 outside.

Next came the spray paint. You could craft paint the backs of the wood pieces or leave them plain.

I happen to have some Hammered Silver spray paint hanging around so I used it.

(Only the back side of each piece.)

While my pieces were drying, I used that On Sale Elmer's glue and made some modge podge.

I have to tell you that the cost of a jug of Modge Podge at Walmart is over $6.

This one cost me 50 cents.

1 part glue + 1 part water.

I almost used a precious canning jar and then found an empty yeast container.

Next up was finding pictures of my loved ones.

I hunted my computer files and found pictures of my dear hubby and my precocious precious children. I copied and pasted photos to a Word Document. I just guesstimated the size of them.

Knowing that my squares were 3/4" each and I only wanted faces on the squares ... I guessed.

Once they were printed, I cut each of them to fit a square.

Remember ... the back is sprayed silver.

The front is still popsicle stick tan.

I was about to start swabbing paint on it and realized that a Sharpie would work.

A black Sharpie blackened the sides of each square and around the front of each.

(In case there is some stick showing around the picture, I didn't want to see tan.)

On to try my new Modge Podge. Give it a nice shaking to make sure it's mixed nicely.

Apply the MP to the stick (wood side), attach your photo and then MP over the photo.

I did several coats on top of the photo, allowing them to dry in between ... just because I wanted to.

Remember that we drilled holes through the wood that are now covered with photos.

Starting at the back, where you can see what you're doing, poke a small hole through the photo.

If you start with a small hole from the back and then a larger hole from the front, the paper of the photo ends up inside the hole ... not outside on the front.

After finishing the holes (or was it before?), I sprayed both back and front with polyurethane.

I couldn't find the Alene's Paper Glaze I wanted today.

It may add some extra dimension that straight poly doesn't.

After everything is dry (and probably still causing a stink), have at playing with adding jeweled goodies. I wanted to attach these to a certain type of chain, but I couldn't find the one I wanted today.

In fact, if you're looking for any crafting supplies ... I'd highly recommend avoiding the WalMart at 19th Avenue and Bell. They have one aisle. That's it.

I did have one of these black ribbon things left over from doing salt dough jewels a while back.

I may move them to a chain later ...

but for now ....

I like it!

Credit for this idea goes to this lovely site.
You might like her tutorial as well. She used the Alene's stuff I couldn't find.

Tia to Confirmation Camp

Yesterday I took a drive up to Kamp Kipa to drop off a few kids at the first Confirmation Camp being held there.

Our youngest, Tia, is attending this most special camp as well.

Many wishes and prayers have gone out from this heart of mine that the camp

experience is as special and meaningful as I expect it will be.

I love the goods the guys were packing along!

After working today, I came home to a HOT house. Not the kind where the tomatoes are

growing, rather the kind where sweat threatens to drip. We've been having a problem with the heat thing this week. I finally flipped open the cover of the thermostat and played with the settings. This ought to help. If it isn't set to hit 85 degrees in here at 8:00 a.m. .... maybe it won't.

I've been sitting around playing with photos on the laptop since I cooled off in the pool.

Was sitting here on the couch and the doorbell rang.

My doorbell doesn't usually ring unless it is Schwan's calling.

The ice cream sandwich addict man is gone so I very nearly didn't open the door after checking the peephole, but I gave in.

Not only to the door but to this scrumptious treat as well. So worth it!

The Schwan's may help this little situation over here.

I've never been separated from this young lady for 10 days.

In her entire life.



I'll have plenty of computer time to mix in nicely with my chocolate. 

4th of July in Eveleth Minnesota

There is something incredibly special about celebrating the 4th of July in a small town in America.
Perhaps it was made extra special because I watched these same fire trucks slowing moving down this same street many times as a youngun.
Perhaps it is because the candy is still flying in Eveleth.
And maybe because patriotism is so alive in small town America.

 The sun was warm and bright ... the day beautiful!

The night before we swatted mosquitos while we watched fireworks and ate Poor Gary's Pizza.
I can't believe I don't have a pizza picture!
If you're ever in Eveleth and have a yen for a fabulous thin pizza .... give it a whirl!

I'm going to slowly get around to posting pictures from our vacation ... perhaps one theme at a time.
I really don't know how else to do it!

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I survived my first day back to work.
I'm coughing up a lung after 2 weeks of no sleep turned from sinus to chest yet again.
Seriously.
I'm boycotting Minnesota.
This makes it 2 for 2 and I have things to do this week.
Lots of them.

78 mph across the plains on July 12th

Yes.

We are home. 

We had a grand time.