and I couldn't love you anymore than I do right now

take the time to treat your friendly neighbors honestly

Oh these girls. They keep Annie and Kristen busy, tired, and pulling our hair out. Most mornings at the SlaughterHouse begin with "When can I play with my best friend Erin and she wants to tell me that I'm so pretty in my new dress and play dollhouse with me and then Non (aka Annie) will give us snacks and put a show on and we'll be sweet because I'm a ballerina and Erin doesn't want to be a ballerina but I'll show her and maybe I won't bite her and she won't push me today". Sigh. And so they do. They are fun to watch and Carrie would for sure be lost without her best friend/cousin who brightens most every day.

diamonds and roses

Here's the latest mess we found ourselves in. (I mean, in which we found ourselves.)
Roses.
Our sweet dad decided that our church needed to give each mother in our church roses for Mother's Day. That's a sweet, thoughtful idea, right? We think so. Dad called me on Saturday to say that he had bought the roses and that when I got home, I needed to be in charge of cutting them and making sure they were presentable. I thought, no problem, we'll trim the roses really quickly when I get home and they'll be ready for Sunday morning.



I drove up to the house after work and what did I see when I got out of the van?
20 DOZEN ROSES.

Oh yes. You heard me.

I'm pretty sure I just stood on the deck starring at Dad for a few minutes, not quite sure what to say.
It was immediately apparent that this leaker would not be able to handle 240 roses on her own. I needed reinforcements. Of course, all the little boys volunteered their services, but I am a very picky leader and decided that I was going to force Beth and Shelley to help me, and we would not start anything until every short person was in bed.
The kids went to bed, Dad brought in the big buckets of roses, and we gathered the essential supplies: Drpepper, cheesecake, and my laptop so we could watch "Ugly Betty".
We started at 9pm.
These roses were llooooonnnngg, so we had to cut about 7 inches off of each one, pull the bottom leaves off, cut off every single thorn, divide the bunches of Babies Breath into 20 equal parts, trim those to the size of the roses, group the roses into dozens according to size and color, rubber band them together, and then try to make somewhat pretty bows around them with the silver ribbon.


Dad wanted to help, but he was really just making us nervous. We gave him the camera to keep him busy, and this was his attempt at an "artistic shot." The people he said would be proud of his artsy picture? Johanna and Shane.

At 1:30am (yes, you heard me), we finally had 20 finished bouquets for the COG moms. (Beth thought they were all for her.)


We hoped all you COGers liked your roses! For all of you who didn't come on Sunday, I hope this makes you think before you skip church next time! ;)
Happy Mother's Day!

down by the river, just you and me

This weekend was the COG campout/picninc/Sunday service up at Canyon Lake. All the men and boys of the church left on Friday evening, and had a great time sleeping on the ground in the rain with snakes and mosquitoes for 2 nights. All of the women and girls were wishing they could be up there in the rain, too. So this morning, everyone who wasn't already camping drove out to the lake to, as Mom says, "crash the boys' party."
We took pictures, but they're not great because of the rain, wind, and mud.
Here's Dirk giving last-minute directions.


Boys coming to help the girls out of the cars.
Once everyone was there and sufficiently muddy, we all gathered under the shelter to sing a couple of hymns and hear Dirk preach a (short) sermon.




Then it was time for skipping rocks, getting dirty, falling down, jumping in the cold water, and building the fires for the meat.


The rain made it difficult for us (I mean, the guys) to grill, but they pulled it off beautifully.
The food was great, the fellowship was even better, and we can't wait to do it all again...in the sunshine.

All that, and we only lost one person. RIP

the best dad in the world

Pray for Dad tonight. He's on his way to Australia for a TDY and it will take him over 30 hours to get to there. He left around 2 oclock this afternoon, and won't get to Sydney until early Sunday morning. The flight from LA to Sydney is 15+ hours, which is by far the longest flight he's ever been on. He'll be there for only 3 days before he has to make the 30+ hour journey back home. So please pray for him as he travels that he will have a very smooth trip, and that the Lord will keep him safe. He's a homebody and doesn't like being away, so pray that he will be able to stay busy and that he will have an enjoyable, profitable time there. Thanks!

open up the curtain!

Last weekend was CSDC's big spring play, A Century of Broadway. It went spectacularly (is that a word?). Caleb was Yankee Doodle Dandy (and various other parts), I was none other than Glinda, from Wicked, and Beth was a tech (as always). Over the course of 3 evenings, we got a total of 586 people come see it, and 3 (count 'em, 1,2,3!) standing ovations. I'm really glad that Mom, Dad, Tim, the Russells, Krugs, and Pawpop and Grandma all got to come:)

Cast of Hair, from Hair

Cast of 76 Trombones, from The Music Man

Cast of So Long, Farewell, from The Sound of MusicCast of One, from A Chorus Line
It's not very clear, but you get the idea of what my dress was like ;)
Beth was an awesome tech as always,and sis came to help out like she does every year. (thank you!!)

Overall, it was a really great play. Now, excuse me while I go buy Nathan and Dad some really nice expensive presents for driving us to and from drama EVERY day for 2 weeks.

Dear old Alamo!
With confetti in our hair,
We remember you.

The boys and I have been practicing the art of Japanese Haiku. Because the basic concept of Haiku is easy to grasp yet difficult to master, I thought this would be good brain exercise for us. Jonathan and David would much rather spend hours writing Haiku about Werewolves and Star Wars, but I read in the paper that they are looking for entries of Haiku in honour of Fiesta. This is the boys' entry, with only a tiny bit of help from me. I guess this home- teachin' pays off every once in a while!

*So, who wants to answer w/ a Haiku of their own? Come on, YOU are not being graded!

ice ice baby

this is beth jumping out of her (and sis') 2nd story bedroom window on one of the ice days in january.

i didn't know whether to scream or laugh, so i took pictures.

she made it down to the yard (twice) without any serious injuries.

it wouldn't be that bright of me to say I had no choice

How is it that Liam looks happier being held by the uncle with the doofy expression on his face? I won't speculate any more. But maybe he just doesn't like Ninjas (or robots....oops!)

lots of chocolates for me to eat

When Papa came to visit last week, he brought a plethora of M&Ms (not pinatas, however), and the little girls were very pleased about that. Papa put the candy in little measuring cups and Carrie & Erin sat down to enjoy the bounty of sugar. These girls are pretty sure that they have the best Papa in the whole wide world.

Today it is your birthday and we sing to let you know that you will be queen for the day, whatever you say goes!

Four years ago, God was gracious to let us bring a little princess into our home full of boybarians. Dirk and I have been forever grateful for the sweetness and wonder she brings to all of our lives.
After so many boys (and a daughter in heaven) our Christian doctor knew that Abigail's name must have special significance...he asked Dirk while I was in labour why "Abigail Hope?" Dirk said emphatically: "Because we HOPE its Abigail! She was and we are so glad!
Abby wants to be a "Princess Mommy" when she grows up. I told her that she could be like me b/ I was sure that I was a Princess Mommy. She looked at me apologetically and said, "No, you're just a Plain Mommy!" Happy Birthday, Abigail Hope!

**props to anyone (except Tami!) that can tell me from whence the title comes**

Our one and only

Happy Birthday to Dok (or Sis or CJ, whatever you call her)! For 20 years she has been the light of the A team's lives. When Mom brought her home from the hospital, the three of us girls fought over her...ten months later, after a catfight about who would get to sit next to her in the car, Mom cried in frustration: "I thought you'd be tired of fighting over her by now!" We still fight over who gets to sit by her and we still Love her THAT much.

and now we have a song that we'd like to play you...

Last night, Nathan's band, Christos Soter, had a gig at the Lighthouse Cafe and it was AMAZING! So amazing, in fact, that a well-known pro-wrestler, Shawn Michaels, attended for a little while. They had a really good performance. Here are some pics from it!

Nathan Warren - lead vocals, guitars

Daniel Mitchell - lead guitars, vocals

Steven Navarro - guitars, keys

Luke Mitchell - drums, percussion

Brandon Huber - bass

The one and only Shawn Michaels, listening to Christos Soter play. Sorry I couldn't get a better picture of him.

All in all, they had a great show and the people who worked at the cafe said that it had NEVER been so packed!

I love my Granny, oh yes I do!

Granny & Papa gave Abby her "vewwy favit" Christmas present...a little princess-sized baking set! She and I had lots of yummy fun making banana muffins and little cakes. The boys ate everything and approved. Abby called Granny to thank her and sent her these pics.