tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32254162012-01-27T13:48:55.727-05:00hmmm...she saida wife, a mom, a sojourner, a wonderer, a homeschooler, God's Own.lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07978807747611924170noreply@blogger.comBlogger2671100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3225416.post-6349760879756102662011-04-18T23:39:00.001-04:002011-04-18T23:39:25.445-04:00It was an early spring day, evidenced by the slight chill in the breeze that kicked up intermittently. The interludes where it died down were delicious as the unfiltered sun soaked into the winter pale skin of her arms. She could hear deep clangy church bells ringing a mile off, mingling with wind chimes as well as the creaky lopsided whir of the neighbors' ancient Kansas windmill tilting on lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07978807747611924170noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3225416.post-36172756857915459722011-04-15T10:49:00.002-04:002011-04-15T10:59:16.146-04:00it is a watercolor outside today..grey skies dripping onto green earth, smudging red tulips and brown tree trunks.it is a watercolor inside me today..my husband has a co-oworker whose family is preparing to bury their 2 year old - could anything else feel this wrong? fits and starts as we parent & live with our teenagers - what will the next few years look like? The next few hours? i turn to my lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07978807747611924170noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3225416.post-45345963591023508872011-04-14T11:45:00.002-04:002011-04-14T11:49:06.117-04:00running a lot this week..2 kiddos have testing in Topeka. 3 days of zipping down 75, heavily under repair work - no fun to drive on the shoulder when someone stops in front of you to turn off or try to navigate through all the dust clouds the workers' machines are making - anyway, thankful that the van is running fine, I had a full gas tank when the week started, and there's a coffee shop across lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07978807747611924170noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3225416.post-69591301951737173872011-04-11T13:37:00.003-04:002011-04-11T14:30:57.466-04:00I spent 4 years in Florida living in a rented house with a sandy yard and no clue how to garden in the tropics. Life moved along at a fast and busy clip..working, homeschooling, running a household, kids' activities, on and on..I would see books at the local libraries here and there - "Florida Gardening: The Newcomer's Survival Manual".."Home gardening "Florida style" : a guide for growing lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07978807747611924170noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3225416.post-12769628690223835382011-04-11T01:02:00.002-04:002011-04-11T01:17:42.043-04:00Well it's been awhile. I'm going to start this blogging thing up again, we'll see how it goes. Here's the skinny on life these days - back in the Midwest, loving that..Chad is having to work 2 jobs and still in pain with a back injury he sustained in a car wreck 3 years ago, not loving that. Living up in Holton, seems too far away from where the rest of our life is happening and we warily watch lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07978807747611924170noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3225416.post-58045816356728559062008-10-28T22:44:00.002-04:002008-10-28T23:13:03.914-04:00Sometimes life just HURTS. Sometimes I just feel bad about something, and I don't really want to hyperanalyze it to death - Am I just being selfish? Is my perspective all skewed? Maybe I'm just a raving complainer, I'm not counting my blessings..things could be so much worse...When I'm facing a hard thing, and it's not moving on, I tend to throw a little fit at first - "What's this? No! I don't lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07978807747611924170noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3225416.post-62284738509844302472008-10-07T22:14:00.003-04:002008-10-07T22:26:07.835-04:00"The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want."These familiar words speak out from the Psalms, convicting me time and time again. When I feel uneasy about the fact that we are still living in a rental house, over two years after our major cross country move...When we try so hard to stick to our budget, live within our means, and we're still borrowing from the next check here and there...When a quietlisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07978807747611924170noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3225416.post-36737509149788924962008-09-28T15:43:00.002-04:002008-09-28T16:18:30.017-04:00So I managed to dig out the big blue rubbermaid box containing my autumn decorations this morning - this after several weeks of Lucy asking for it to emerge and be opened, its red, orange, and brown contents arranged, candles lit, pumpkin bread baking underway. She keeps me going in a lot of ways, I have to say. This is my third fall in Florida, and it hasn't gotten any easier for me to get in lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07978807747611924170noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3225416.post-12572920253382700982008-06-25T10:26:00.000-04:002008-06-25T10:27:08.045-04:00"At the deepest levels of our humanity, it is true that we are prone to wander, prone to sin, prone to flee from God. But it was in our deepest state of ruin, our deepest plunge into sinfulness, when God stepped forward unwilling to let us remain in such a state...Long before we could even articulate our lostness, God in his mercy set out to find us, setting forth a plan to make right within us lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07978807747611924170noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3225416.post-34253484257776491972008-01-31T11:00:00.000-05:002008-01-31T14:34:27.590-05:00went to see over the rhine last night. *sigh* my only complaint was that it seemed too short! over too quickly for sure. but let's not start at the end...we drove by the lyric theatre in stuart, florida and caught sight of the van & trailer with ohio plates..that got me smiling. the theatre is in a walk around downtown area, near the water and with train tracks running through the middle of lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07978807747611924170noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3225416.post-79345069787885740392008-01-27T22:06:00.000-05:002008-01-27T22:12:19.392-05:00when the opportunity arises,stare for awhile ata full moona newly unfurled flowera sleeping babya sleeping preadolescenta majestic oak treetake a deep whiff ofyour morning coffee feel the warmth run through your fingersclose your eyes and listento songbirds above the yardto a tinny radio playing an old tuneto yourselfbreathingbe still as to make yourselfawarelisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07978807747611924170noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3225416.post-81286892188001965072008-01-14T09:11:00.000-05:002008-01-14T09:31:51.214-05:00well i find i have neglected my blog in the face of..facebook. not only that, but in the busyness of the homeschooling year, i have not carved out much time to sit back and let thoughts form beyond "how far behind is kansas in latin?", "ahh..it's 1:00 and what about lunch!?", "do we have everything we need for running club?" (this as we're racing out the door before 8 two mornings a week).I have lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07978807747611924170noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3225416.post-3725161363849489222008-01-03T10:19:00.001-05:002008-01-03T10:19:51.475-05:00Our response to the holiness of God is to reflect his character in our lives--in one phrase, the pursuit of holiness. In our endeavor in this direction, however, we need to be careful to note that what we have come to call personal holiness--what is inward--is only a potential that has to be constantly actualized in inter-personal relationships. The time I spend with God must enable me to relate lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07978807747611924170noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3225416.post-37459852835378668542007-12-07T09:42:00.000-05:002007-12-07T09:43:43.336-05:00"as Linford has said, we give standing ovations to the wrong people in this world. At the end of every shift change at every hospital, nursing home, and care facility there should be a line of folks standing at the door applauding those nurses, aids, social workers, and caregivers that give so much of themselves day in, day out."-Karen Berquist(amen.)lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07978807747611924170noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3225416.post-43128063885425846852007-10-17T14:01:00.000-04:002007-10-17T14:25:10.082-04:00well, i'm not sure how to feel...dedicated wife or overzealous helper? we've been getting to bed way, way too late for awhile now (i won't even tell you what time, it's quite ungodly), and last night was no exception. c has to get up and go earlier than usual on wednesdays to be to work in time for mandatory ministry wide chapel. i generally lay there for awhile after the lights are finally out, lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07978807747611924170noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3225416.post-40984692874422401472007-10-05T17:09:00.000-04:002007-10-05T17:38:16.159-04:00the sky has been slate grey all afternoon, with intermittent showers rapping on the western facing windows. it's in the upper 80's outside, but in here with the air conditioning cranked up, i'm almost getting the sensation that it's really fall. who knows, i may even drag my big blue rubbermaid tub full of autumn decorations out of the garage (no basements here) and have at it this weekend. lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07978807747611924170noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3225416.post-34857574579071455002007-10-01T12:23:00.000-04:002008-12-09T04:17:18.385-05:00the street last nightlisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07978807747611924170noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3225416.post-38919673464935251612007-09-26T14:05:00.000-04:002008-12-09T04:17:18.632-05:00the beach todaylisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07978807747611924170noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3225416.post-51790765146646595322007-09-11T19:43:00.000-04:002008-12-09T04:17:18.778-05:00I am writing this by the lowlight of the moon, pale yet voluminous, bathing my hands blue grey whiteScribbling on a stray index card fished from my ruby red purse while at a stoplightMany times I have said to You on the road under that low full gazing ball planet"How am I supposed to be a responsible driver at the hands of this glowing beauty I cannot avert my eyes from?"I have stood at the edge lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07978807747611924170noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3225416.post-13727096662195842202007-08-24T00:50:00.000-04:002008-12-09T04:17:18.906-05:00some of you who come here will remember my baby. all that black hair, that red face the first week or two..she looked native american! you might remember her dimpled baby cheek, her early and often heard laughter, her squealing babbly adoration of her older brothers. maybe you recall holding her while she was wearing one of her pink onsies (what a nice change for me to shop the baby girl lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07978807747611924170noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3225416.post-34117686522430356072007-08-05T23:38:00.000-04:002008-12-09T04:17:19.050-05:00this is kind of fun...lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07978807747611924170noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3225416.post-48629845862410617212007-08-05T23:23:00.000-04:002008-12-09T04:17:19.141-05:00had friends come down from kansas for a much anticipated visit last week..with ten kiddos and six adults we didn't plan anything, just hung out at the ocean and pool in cocoa beach - it truly felt like a vacation as afterwards i only had to recover from piled up laundry and that empty feeling you get when good friends go far away.now we're tucking our heads down and walking into the winds of lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07978807747611924170noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3225416.post-16511590827164010222007-07-16T09:56:00.000-04:002008-12-09T04:17:19.557-05:00it's the rainy season here, which means it's hot and sunny in the morning, and hot with a rumbling, flashing thunderstorm in the afternoon/evening most days. last night the rain started hammering in the early evening, and then cleared up just before dusk, giving us a fantastic double rainbow right over our house. i love to see rainbows..they are a quite tangible reality of a promise straight lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07978807747611924170noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3225416.post-61672634724576334102007-07-07T10:28:00.000-04:002008-12-09T04:17:19.857-05:007-7-07...many are considering this to be a special day, according to news reports. gamblers, brides & grooms, yoga masters, & christians have all planned events to surround this unusual date, hoping for a stroke of luck, an extra meaningful experience, a spark of some sort. for us, this is genuinely a special day: our oldest turns twelve today. twelve! in some parts of the world, that is lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07978807747611924170noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3225416.post-20171401524003612702007-07-02T21:34:00.000-04:002007-07-02T21:44:42.804-04:00so i went to the local piddly library tonight to see what was what in the 'will this be a good resource for homeschooling' department. not suprisingly, i was disappointed. i think i've said before, i went from one grand library for the whole county, newly renovated and well stocked, to many, many little libraries spread out all over the county i now live in, none seeming to have what i want on lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07978807747611924170noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3225416.post-52153428636883203352007-07-01T14:10:00.000-04:002008-12-09T04:17:21.066-05:00the fam, recently -lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07978807747611924170noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3225416.post-82400097003332410612007-07-01T11:45:00.000-04:002007-07-01T12:01:13.775-04:00at the moment, lucy is playing pbskids on the (other) computer wearing headphones, as she was discouraged from bringing her casio keyboard to the party kansas and c are throwing on drums and bass, respectively. jesse is trying to beat his rubiks record, and i just got done fiddling with my five pound weights, browsing through an old friend's photos online, and emptying my camera as it has been lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07978807747611924170noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3225416.post-9550519821420764002007-06-27T23:48:00.000-04:002007-06-27T23:59:16.092-04:00i've been itching to go swim laps at the local pool for some weeks now. today a friend called and said "do you want to meet us to swim?" and i said "of course!" not thinking..i love to swim, and so do my kids. it's summer, it's hot, of course! why not?before i hung up the phone i managed to remember that one of my feet still sported a super unstylie surgical shoe..i can get my scars wet now, but lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07978807747611924170noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3225416.post-28107432644843280892007-06-26T22:58:00.000-04:002007-06-26T23:12:59.701-04:00being a glass half empty (or even more so, say three quarters empty and what are we supposd to do when it all runs out???) kind of gal, i have to work at counting my blessings. here's a try...*air conditioning (we're in florida in nearly july, you know)*c's job*being done with crutches for a good long while, Lord willing*libraries*those moments to rest in*singing in church communally, feeling lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07978807747611924170noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3225416.post-91620793115331010842007-06-21T23:37:00.001-04:002007-06-21T23:37:55.723-04:00too brighttoo soon after the raintoo hotmost daysblurring the graini'm awkward hereit doesn't fit meno hills no shade noblack maple treesit's sandy it's scrubbyit hurts my eyesmy aesthetic sensethese blazing skiesthe rhythm is offthe seasons are wrongmy sweaters lie limpthey do not belongin this suess like complainti'm just blowing off steami know it's right for this time in my life...but a girl lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07978807747611924170noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3225416.post-67946026528505027592007-06-21T23:02:00.001-04:002007-06-21T23:02:40.032-04:00Over The Rhine Hallelujahquite a worthwhile five minutes...lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07978807747611924170noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3225416.post-57873268278530520992007-06-14T23:38:00.000-04:002008-12-09T04:17:21.308-05:00well i have not posted in quite awhile, here are some of my lame (and not so lame) excuses...-dealing with that radical life change (relocation)-getting a myspace page like all the other lovely swimmers and other friends-going through two surgeries, 6 weeks apart, with long recoveries-always thinking i ought to be writing, but rarely putting "pen to paper" to do so-general apathy and feeling lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07978807747611924170noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3225416.post-1162960140271069342006-11-07T23:16:00.000-05:002006-11-07T23:34:43.220-05:00i voted. and strange to think that in two years from today we'll be electing a new president.on a totally seperate note, a few pics from lately...the barker kids squinting in the sun, throwing a football around on the beach, and i just got glasses for the first time ever..strange. i keep thinking i need to take them off when i go inside, as the only glasses i'm used to wearing are sunglasses. lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07978807747611924170noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3225416.post-1161094540076775472006-10-17T09:50:00.000-04:002006-10-17T10:15:40.090-04:00chad and i went on an actual date on saturday night after spending the afternoon at the annual Medishare company picnic, thanks to our wonderful new friend who insisted on babysitting (our kids are actually getting old enough to be offended by the term). we went to heidi's jazz club in cocoa beach..chad had gone around getting recommendations at work, made reservations and everything - what a guylisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07978807747611924170noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3225416.post-1160240414818369462006-10-07T12:58:00.000-04:002006-10-07T13:00:14.836-04:00a wise and thoughtful use of your money...lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07978807747611924170noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3225416.post-1157909703280632692006-09-10T13:16:00.000-04:002006-09-10T13:35:03.290-04:00waiting and watching for Atlantis while the kids goof offup up and away!lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07978807747611924170noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3225416.post-1157600510819395002006-09-06T23:26:00.000-04:002006-09-06T23:41:50.833-04:00life in a nutshell...i started working very, very part time at medishare, our kids got to go tubing on the indian river over labor day, lucy's sixth birthday has come and gone and jesse's ninth is just around the corner, still working my way through reading crunchy cons..very good, but somewhat dense reading, found out today i'm missing a jane austin fest with my good friends in Topeka - *boo hoolisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07978807747611924170noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3225416.post-1155356662936762052006-08-12T00:23:00.000-04:002006-08-12T00:24:22.953-04:00(drum roll please....) we're closing on our house in kansas on monday!! praise be to God, who takes good care of us.lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07978807747611924170noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3225416.post-1155304963367561502006-08-11T09:39:00.000-04:002006-08-12T00:29:49.486-04:00two mornings ago i woke up to an alarm (actually, the first djembe beats of Enter the Worship Circle) for the first time in a long time, flipped on the lamp next to my bed, opened my Bible and bleary eyed read these words - "Aliens will shepherd your flocks". not an encouragement right off as this was the first day my kids were going to don school logo embroidered polo shirts, grab backpacks and lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07978807747611924170noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3225416.post-1154751709253485042006-08-05T00:06:00.000-04:002006-08-05T00:23:24.826-04:00From troubledwith.org, a website of focus on the family..."The world’s going on without me. Another common reaction to a major move is feeling like no one really misses you … and maybe they’ll forget you. This panic generally begins following thoughts of how your “old” life — the people you love, your church, your friends and your family — are carrying on moment-by-moment without you. Yes, life lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07978807747611924170noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3225416.post-1154392204072517502006-07-31T20:10:00.000-04:002006-07-31T20:30:04.143-04:00So I turned 34 last week. I gotta say, it helps that my dear sis is always a year ahead of me (happy birthday, Gina). It's not that I feel old..I just may be starting to have that thing that older people tell me about where I look in the mirror (or at my bunions) and think - huh? I feel so...25!Anyway, C did his best to make my day special. Roses (twice!), a big box of chocolates that I had the lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07978807747611924170noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3225416.post-1152896913738433102006-07-14T12:41:00.000-04:002006-07-14T13:08:33.826-04:00well, here we are under the great big sun a fifteen minute drive in the beach van to the ocean. (in kansas it was known in our family as 'mom's van', but since our first trek to the atlantic, it has been a sandbox with skim and boogie boards taking up the wayback, where i used to put groceries. now groceries are precariously piled around kid's feet, but i digress...)we love the city, the surf, lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07978807747611924170noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3225416.post-1151332079937932902006-06-26T10:14:00.000-04:002006-06-26T10:28:00.000-04:00i took the kids to the library the other day, as i have packed and stored away just about every book they own. lucy actually said to me, "mom! i want to read but there are NO BOOKS!" strange to hear such a thing in our house...anyway, we checked out our stash and heard the librarian tell us our due date was long after we'd have moved out of town. yesterday i bought milk and the date it will lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07978807747611924170noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3225416.post-1150142235609431512006-06-12T15:41:00.000-04:002006-06-12T15:57:15.666-04:00currently reading through crunchy cons, a book to which i'm finding i heartily relate. conservative christian who also owns a copy of the moosewood cookbook and shleps around in birks half the time and tevas the other, that's me. on a completely different note - we've painted several rooms, replaced the bathroom floor, made countless trips to goodwill to donate our unwanteds, held a suprisingly lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07978807747611924170noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3225416.post-1147012942099727032006-05-07T10:29:00.000-04:002006-05-07T10:42:22.133-04:00sometimes i get glimpses of how to love..mostly, i muddle through unaware. this is a wild month for the barkers..between the five of us, ten flights scheduled for points southeast and southwest. dealing with a major breakdown between two of our children we will probably need outside help with. c's job very possibly changing drastically, including a very possible relocation for all of us. plans lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07978807747611924170noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3225416.post-1145167091468774512006-04-16T01:43:00.000-04:002006-04-16T01:58:11.503-04:00"Jesus took the Twelve aside and told them, 'We are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written by the prophets about the Son of Man will be fulfilled. He will be handed over to the Gentiles. They will mock him, insult him, spit on him, flog him, and kill him. On the third day he will rise again.'" -Luke 18:31-33~~~~~~~~~~~~"The angel said to the woman, 'Do not be afraid, for I know lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07978807747611924170noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3225416.post-1143267496894921342006-03-25T01:01:00.000-05:002006-03-25T01:19:02.246-05:00this evening we were watching some dumb show about child stars and chad kept saying things like "what is that smell?". at some point i made some toaster waffles (standard barker recreational eating fare) and he said distractedly when he saw them "when did you make those? is that what i'm smelling?"...i am on the mend from nasty crud and can't smell a thing - i was no help. finally he went lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07978807747611924170noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3225416.post-1142884157113718792006-03-20T14:41:00.000-05:002006-03-20T14:49:17.806-05:00we had a great time in colorado..the kids had a great time here with friends, we're phasing into post-mountain reality. really, i could live out there in all that vast and amazing natural beauty, but our life is here, so..i have a very sore throat today, playing catch up with the kid's homeschool, trying to unpack, do laundry, make a big pot of chili because, well, it's chilly out - they're lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07978807747611924170noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3225416.post-1142266607534415582006-03-13T11:01:00.000-05:002006-03-13T11:18:56.553-05:00...spending the week in keystone with the hubby. he's here on business, but we came up a day and a half early to ski/snowboard. and sit in the hot tubs on the roof of our hotel. we're going to owe our good friends who are taking in the barker kids big time, for sure!lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07978807747611924170noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3225416.post-1141832926035979602006-03-08T10:46:00.000-05:002006-03-08T10:48:46.050-05:00 we made chad a shirt with this picture on it for his birthday.lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07978807747611924170noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3225416.post-1141022808652483652006-02-27T01:27:00.000-05:002006-02-27T01:46:48.706-05:00i drew a picture of lucy last night. it's ok, nothing too special, but resemblant (?) enough to warrant an "I didn't know you could draw that good, Mom!" from my ten year old. drawing is one of those things with me that i love everything about, learned in the most minimal way how to do, and take it up as a transient hobby a few times a year. i have lots of these hobbies - gardening, writing, lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07978807747611924170noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3225416.post-1140623251819701512006-02-22T10:39:00.000-05:002006-02-22T10:47:31.833-05:00well, we're more than half way done with our first year homeschooling all three bambarinos. it's been..challenging. it took me most of this time to figure out what i'm doing, yet somehow we're pretty caught up for the year. mindful of the fact that this could've been the first year in a decade that i could've sent them all off to school and taken a few months or so to breathe..here we are. i knowlisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07978807747611924170noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3225416.post-1133222748897033522005-11-28T19:03:00.000-05:002005-11-28T19:05:48.913-05:00it's snowing! in honor, i give you make-a-flake. enjoy!lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07978807747611924170noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3225416.post-1132552131375445102005-11-21T00:29:00.000-05:002005-11-21T00:53:02.643-05:00when i was in high school, my friends and i frequented a pizza joint, often on lunch break or after school. it was owned by an italian man and his mama, who spent her time in the kitchen making fantastic oily pizza and selling it by the slice. silvio was an artist, fashioning sculptures out of cement and stone, steel rods and junk, some anatomically correct, in stages of various ancient costume. lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07978807747611924170noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3225416.post-1132464224365482702005-11-20T00:23:00.000-05:002005-11-20T00:23:44.366-05:00hmmm...fun and thinking.lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07978807747611924170noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3225416.post-1130427766144503802005-10-27T11:19:00.000-04:002005-10-27T13:05:15.580-04:00we had a little impromptu gathering the other night..c got a permit, dug a firepit where the pool used to be and lined it with stones; i bought brats, hot dogs, and made a mess of homemade mac and cheese, also, i put on a big pot of hot cider. friends from church who have kids that ours are good pals with came (toting pop and chips) who get frequent visits from us, but haven't been out to the lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07978807747611924170noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3225416.post-1128306591399468322005-10-02T22:27:00.000-04:002005-10-02T22:29:51.406-04:00my girl lucylisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07978807747611924170noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3225416.post-1127536765802514102005-09-24T00:33:00.000-04:002005-09-24T00:39:25.806-04:00our thursday night group is starting a new study - it's called 'restore my heart - God's passionate love for his bride' by denise glenn. it is based on looking at jewish wedding traditions and drawing from them parallels in the way God loves us. it reminds me of beth moore's first study (which i still think is the best one she ever wrote) that talked about the old testament tabernacle and how in lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07978807747611924170noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3225416.post-1127073386199057122005-09-18T15:32:00.000-04:002005-09-18T16:00:08.006-04:00...and these are from cocoa beach, florida. last week i tagged along on chad's business trip and had had all kinds of fantastic time to myself and with him, courtesy of some wonderful and generous friends who kept our kids for us.lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07978807747611924170noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3225416.post-1125885365847543922005-09-04T21:50:00.000-04:002005-09-04T22:05:13.020-04:00...taken yesterday a mile from my house, with my new camera.lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07978807747611924170noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3225416.post-1125723546664830202005-09-03T00:42:00.000-04:002005-09-03T00:59:06.670-04:00so today, after i'd called my senator and congressman's offices to leave my thoughts on the situation down in the gulf coast, i decided to try the white house comment line. i didn't have to wait long before a super nice woman (cannot for the life of me remember her name) came on the line and asked what state i was calling from. i told her, then proceeded - with emotion that suprised me - to tell lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07978807747611924170noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3225416.post-1125464163605028622005-08-31T00:17:00.000-04:002005-09-01T09:07:32.886-04:00tonight i'll take the familiar wayi need the road to carry me homeno adventuring out on strange country lanesworking to remember how to get where i knowtonight the stars are bright in the darkthe moon is nowhere to be seeni'm tired, i'm spent, i'm thinking too muchabout then, about sand, sky and seatonight i feel it, the gaping achemissing what was supposed to bei don't like that this still lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07978807747611924170noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3225416.post-1124593066507740842005-08-20T22:36:00.000-04:002005-08-20T22:57:46.516-04:00again, it's been a little while. to explain, i'll let you in on a scene from two mornings ago...watching out the front window by my desk, i could see the line of six kiddos down the hill, new backpacks, new shoes, new haircuts. Watching still as the big yellow bus pulled up, red lights flashing and they all tromped aboard; having to remind myself with some resolve why there were six instead of lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07978807747611924170noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3225416.post-1122476400129463342005-07-27T10:55:00.000-04:002005-07-27T11:00:00.136-04:00today is my dear sister's birthday, ending the two days a year we are the same age. you see, she was born on july 27th, and i was born the following year on july 25th, narrowly missing sharing a birthday outright. we've had great fun with this little fact over the years, sharing for only a couple of days the fact that we are not TWINS, but we are identical in number of years..sort of. nowadays, lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07978807747611924170noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3225416.post-1120760489521999192005-07-07T13:51:00.000-04:002005-07-07T14:21:29.550-04:00one of our pastor and his wife's four daughters left last week for europe with a group, college girls studying abroad for the summer. we did hear news from her today, she and a friend were heading into london on a train that ended up being diverted. she wrote from "the church which is only a block and a half away from the Welwyn Garden City train station...God is watching out for us and I feel lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07978807747611924170noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3225416.post-1120274797057701662005-07-01T22:41:00.000-04:002005-07-01T23:26:37.100-04:00well, per comment #3 at the post below, i guess i've been tagged...thanks, bridget :). as far as i understand, there are two (or more?) parts to this business..first, to answer the question in my own words; then, to pass this dealio on to, let's see, eight other bloggers. i'll do my best..let me know if i missed something here..Five Things I Miss From Childhood...1. Hours and hours to curl up andlisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07978807747611924170noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3225416.post-1118948007970574482005-06-16T14:51:00.000-04:002005-06-16T14:53:27.976-04:00four year old lucy, leaning over the arm of the couch this morning to get to the library book box and having a bit of a hard time - "I am getting TOO OLD for this!"lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07978807747611924170noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3225416.post-1118890395111334422005-06-15T22:15:00.000-04:002005-06-15T22:53:15.160-04:00i have a few friends i call when i'm on a walk, so that i can walk farther. it's amazing what i can accomplish in the productively healthy realm when i'm distracted. i talked to a friend tonight who is in the post marsupial but still highly vigilant stage of raising her first child, currently a two year old. he's amazingly fast and infinitely curious, and has, like most two year olds i've known (lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07978807747611924170noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3225416.post-1118589545509873392005-06-12T11:06:00.000-04:002005-06-12T11:19:05.516-04:00anne lamott, speaking of her writer father, said "i think he believed that our job, the job of a writer, is not to get up and say, "tomorrow, in battle, most of you will die..." instead, a writer must entertain the troops the night before."i'm finding that i tend to be more of a reporter lately than a writer...if the ship is sinking, i want to blow the horn, blast the siren, swing the floodlightslisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07978807747611924170noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3225416.post-1118104527780912542005-06-06T20:34:00.000-04:002005-06-06T20:35:27.783-04:00one word for you - carpetball.lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07978807747611924170noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3225416.post-1118035430145353232005-06-06T01:08:00.000-04:002005-06-06T01:23:50.153-04:00...so, five months later...i actually forgot for awhile that i had a blog. and when i came back to the realization, i visited and found that two friends had been here in the meantime...so i guess i'll start up again (no telling how often i'll post) and see what happens.five months in a few words, just to catch you up - chad's birthday, had toe surgery, reading stepping heavenward by elizabeth lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07978807747611924170noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3225416.post-1106358013968786732005-01-21T20:38:00.000-05:002005-01-21T20:42:20.353-05:00so linford detweiler is playing in my hometown tomorrow, while i am stuck in kansas thinking "there's no place like home". oh, the irony...lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07978807747611924170noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3225416.post-1105241818280622062005-01-08T21:07:00.000-05:002005-01-08T22:40:58.750-05:00when i was a kid and had all kinds of time to indulge my library nerd desires, i went through a phase of reading through all of Jill Krementz's books in the series "a very young..." (skater, musician, circus flyer, etc..). i loved the oversized picture books, the real life documentary style accounts of kids who had special talents or were just born into artistic or performing families, and were lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07978807747611924170noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3225416.post-1102302072219393082004-12-05T21:55:00.000-05:002004-12-05T22:01:12.220-05:00after much recommendation from two unassociated friends, i finally brought the first of jan karon's mitford novels home from the library. nearing the end of it, i am so glad that i lugged home the next three in the series on top of it. after wrestling with some heavy reading on motherlessness and trying in vain to keep up with my beth moore study, i'm finding jan's stories just about as lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07978807747611924170noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3225416.post-1101841826773800792004-11-30T14:54:00.000-05:002004-11-30T14:10:26.773-05:00so today is our tenth anniversary, we've officially been married for a whole decade. that's a long time on one hand, and on the other it has flown. i look back and wonder how we got here so fast. i also look back and am very thankful that we've made it this far...we have been through a lot together. as i review the years and all that has happened in them, i am struck most by the fact that i lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07978807747611924170noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3225416.post-1100818014770302852004-11-18T17:26:00.000-05:002004-11-18T17:46:54.770-05:00so my jesse turned seven on monday, and tuesday he woke up covered head to toe in chicken pox. i woke up to hear his brother tell him "you have a TON of bug bites!"
i called the school to excuse the absence, and it turns out only seven out of the eighteen in his class showed up that day, everyone else home spotted and itching. it has now spread to the other two first grade classrooms, and the lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07978807747611924170noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3225416.post-1099531793520364202004-11-03T20:14:00.000-05:002004-11-03T20:29:53.520-05:00they say these things happen in threes. i have no idea why, but it's (often enough to make you wonder) curiously true. in the past two weeks, i've had three friends who have had to deal with sad baby news. a routine checkup turned instant hospital admittance for failure to thrive, this mom having had severe post partum depression to deal with which may have accounted for the slow start her lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07978807747611924170noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3225416.post-1097674815618703042004-10-13T09:35:00.000-04:002004-10-13T09:40:15.616-04:00(conversation with almost seven year old jesse this morning over cereal...)
"do you want to take the bus or for me to drive you to school today?" (my grammer is nothing to write home about before say, eleven a.m.)
"take the bus, but i have two things to tell you about school."
"what are they?"
"well, the first thing... ...i forgot the first thing."
"ok, what was the second thing?"
"mom, lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07978807747611924170noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3225416.post-1096650274091660752004-10-01T12:57:00.000-04:002004-10-01T14:03:49.973-04:00i don't get it. why, after the close of the first presidential debate, does the conversation immediately turn to possible voter shift - did people feel more safe with kerry, or with bush after hearing them debate for 90 minutes? who seemed more composed, relaxed, nonalarmist? who stood taller, smiled more (or less), followed the majority of the legion of rules concerning the debate itself? and lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07978807747611924170noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3225416.post-1095386962566346742004-09-16T21:55:00.000-04:002004-09-16T22:23:05.506-04:00"pictures painted hastily don't tell nothin' 'bout the heart" - victoria williams, who made some excellent music to listen to in the car.
i'm heading to nashville in a week with seven other mothers of preschoolers for the annual MOPS convention. i'm looking forward to time with these fine ladies, road trip fun, encouragement to pass on to our own MOPS group back home, and sending postcards to mylisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07978807747611924170noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3225416.post-1094394027586076342004-09-05T10:08:00.000-04:002004-09-05T10:20:27.586-04:00i've been struggling lately with some health issues, some financial issues, definitely some discouragement issues. i'm beginning to think that God is trying to get my attention, and i'm also starting to respond in a bit of wonder - He has something for me! something wise and wonderful, something helpful, something loving and right. he is my father, my protecter and provider, my rock and fortress.lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07978807747611924170noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3225416.post-1094013528652238492004-09-01T00:15:00.000-04:002004-09-01T00:38:48.653-04:00spent the morning with three four year old girls and their moms, the beginning of an impromptu tuesday morning preschool. my friend is a teacher by profession, stay at home mom by choice, and has lots of displaced energy as a result, thus - tuesdays with mommies. today we explored the kansas history museum where not only can you walk through displays of life sized buffalo, train engines, and lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07978807747611924170noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3225416.post-1093287056225736212004-08-23T14:50:00.000-04:002004-08-23T15:04:57.250-04:00
ok
...this is the card that my almost seven year old made of his own volition for his sister on her fourth birthday, which was yesterday.
sometimes this overwhelming adventure is all worth it, and much more...
lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07978807747611924170noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3225416.post-1090977073088822672004-07-27T21:06:00.000-04:002004-07-27T21:11:13.086-04:00she found herself alone a lot; solitude grew on her as she passed through childhood like leaves on a tree in the springtime; grew thicker and fuller until by the time she turned twenty she only felt comfortable under the umbrella of it. she would venture out, but when out she was not herself, she wore her mask and lowered her voice; shook her hair around her face and quickened her pace. back in lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07978807747611924170noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3225416.post-1090883841226304862004-07-26T19:14:00.000-04:002004-07-26T19:18:20.786-04:00yesterday i turned 32. i'm taking it in stride, not too worried, still feeling plenty young. i sat in church in the morning, reflecting on how God created me, in His image, for a reason..that He knew and knows all about me, and loves me so much. we had swapped some babysitting, so in the afternoon/evening Chad and I went to get a coffee, chat with a friend, strolled through the rose and rock lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07978807747611924170noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3225416.post-1089611121804773182004-07-12T01:36:00.000-04:002004-07-12T01:47:12.940-04:00it's really POURING out there right now..i hope i don't lose power while i'm inspired to attempt blogging. it's rained so much this summer i can count the number of times i have watered the good sized garden out back on one hand. i love it, i feel the near nightly thunder in my bones, i hear the hammering on my roof and somwhow feel secure - i am in out of the weather. if not for the ceiling, i'dlisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07978807747611924170noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3225416.post-1088796680854837442004-07-02T15:20:00.000-04:002004-07-02T15:31:20.853-04:00fourth of july, my oldest turning nine, sunflowers in bloom (i get such a kick out of planting a seed and watching the result grow to be taller than my 6' 3" husband ;)...summer is defintely in swing. i am working on inviting God into all areas of my life..handling my kids' sibling rivalry, being late for a meeting, the minutes after i've first awoken in the morning, second guessing if we lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07978807747611924170noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3225416.post-1087838885867140052004-06-21T13:16:00.000-04:002004-06-21T13:28:05.866-04:00kansas was baptized yesterday at lake shawnee with many friends around. a few other friends were baptized also, then we had a potluck and good conversations for quite awhile. our church is so homey, like a family, and the morning and afternoon times i spent with those fine people were so filling deep down where it matters. i'm thankful..for my son's faith and excitement to take it to this step...lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07978807747611924170noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3225416.post-1087017297982338742004-06-12T01:13:00.001-04:002004-06-12T01:14:57.983-04:00the garden is growing, the tomatoes are babies, green little balls full of promise of glorious red spheres bursting with flavor, with summer itself in just a matter of weeks...the cukes are finally sprouting some raggedy edged leaves, telling me it's time to plant them in the ground to begin their viney, climbing labor which will produce solid green cool satisfaction soon also. i weed, i water, ilisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07978807747611924170noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3225416.post-1087017271848169792004-06-12T01:13:00.000-04:002004-06-12T01:14:31.846-04:00the garden is growing, the tomatoes are babies, green little balls full of promise of glorious red spheres bursting with flavor, with summer itself in just a matter of weeks...the cukes are finally sprouting some raggedy edged leaves, telling me it's time to plant them in the ground to begin their viney, climbing labor which will produce solid green cool satisfaction soon also. i weed, i water, ilisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07978807747611924170noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3225416.post-1086921630161177152004-06-10T22:39:00.000-04:002004-06-10T22:40:30.160-04:00went to a friend's farm today..kansas in the spring, grey cloudy day, bright green grass, tan wheat field against the chalky sky. helped chase the goats out of the pea patch, looked at a buffalo head hanging from a tree, drying...played with boxer puppies, horses, and one heartbreaking kitten. fading red paint barn, wildflowers here and there, old, old trees, stately and sheltering; breaking up lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07978807747611924170noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3225416.post-1086733974733253232004-06-08T18:32:00.000-04:002004-06-08T18:32:54.733-04:00went to a wedding last saturday they read poetry classical music was played she was so different in satiny white than the birkenstocked overalled comfort sweater she was usually found wearing he was calm and confident he was right for her they asked us for help and surroundings of wisdom advice listening ears and room to grow they kissed long and often that day they danced dipping in happy tears lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07978807747611924170noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3225416.post-1085717463297613502004-05-28T00:01:00.000-04:002004-05-28T00:11:03.296-04:00why do i eat so much at night? and why so much sugar? why don't i read and take my shower (after a day of gardening, 'lifeguarding' in my backyard, riding my bike with lucy in the little backseat in the late-may-but-feels-like-august heat) instead of putzing about cyberspace, cereal bowl at hand, frozen snickers on my mind..why oh why did i eat that pie (even after i knew what the calorie count lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07978807747611924170noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3225416.post-1084828075681271492004-05-17T16:36:00.000-04:002004-05-17T17:07:55.680-04:00spent the better part of today standing in a crowd facing the Monroe school in Topeka, where it was being dedicated as a national historic site. fifty years ago today, the supreme court unanimously decided that it was unamerican and against our nation's constitition to allow segragation in the public schools to continue (legally, at least) in response to several lawsuits filed by families lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07978807747611924170noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3225416.post-108372676048502812004-05-04T23:12:00.000-04:002004-05-04T23:15:52.153-04:00last night bible study ended early..a rarity since we all love to sit around and talk after the video and prayer time. i had not had a chance to give waterdeep's new live cd a good listen, so i headed out of our small town with it on loud, windows down, the weather intoxicatingly hovering between warm and cool. i was heading to the auburn cemetary, where there is a long road that ends at an lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07978807747611924170noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3225416.post-1083605655265671082004-05-03T13:34:00.000-04:002004-05-03T13:37:13.716-04:00mmm...a five hour run from waterdeep on saturday night - it was good to be there. it's a little sad that it was the "farewell to touring" show, but knowing them, I can't imagine there not being a slam bang kickin' reunion tour oh say, next year...
it was so good also to see friends..the kind of friends you can not see for months, even years - and pick up right where you left off. and of course lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07978807747611924170noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3225416.post-1083123249041054072004-04-27T23:34:00.000-04:002004-04-27T23:37:13.436-04:00another lucy one...i just had to share - she hates when i leave for work (it's rather rare, but i do go in now and then), so today when she saw me tying my shoes and gathering my things she said "Mom! are you going somewhere??" to which i replied, "Yes, honey; to the MOON!!" she pondered this for a moment, then said "well, can you just go to work?"
lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07978807747611924170noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3225416.post-1082727715345281742004-04-23T09:41:00.000-04:002004-04-23T09:44:55.030-04:00at the moment lucy's parading around the house, doll in one hand, bell-on-a-stick in the other, singing at the top of her lungs - "and i'm so happy, so very happy, i have the love of Jesus in my heart!!"
lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07978807747611924170noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3225416.post-1082433179900915372004-04-19T23:52:00.000-04:002004-04-19T23:55:56.793-04:00i guess all the movies she's been in so far have slipped right under my radar screen, but it's just recently been brought to my attention that judy greer, currently working in hollywood, is the same judy (evans) that i had a ball with in and out of acting classes in high school. i dug out my yearbook and sure enough, there we were, in all our black and white glory, in various poses from A Thurberlisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07978807747611924170noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3225416.post-1081188147002863712004-04-05T14:02:00.000-04:002004-04-05T22:25:40.670-04:00i talked to my dad yesterday and discovered that he'd up and sold the farm...the house he bought when i was six months old will be home no more as of the last week in june. it's strange, it's unsettling to find out how tied i can become to things of this earth, as well as how stinking sentimental i get sometimes. i think back to two christmases ago, the last time we visited...the last time i'd lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07978807747611924170noreply@blogger.com0