Monday, August 31, 2009

A prayer request for sweet friends of ours

Please be praying for Adrian and Susan Smith. Adrian is the head of technology here at Northland, and they attend church with us in Norway. Susan was 38 weeks pregnant and found out that their baby died sometime this last week. I don't have any other details, but I can only imagine the grief and pain they are experiencing. I know the family would appreciate your prayers. And please pray for us as a church--we are really experiencing some tough times right now--all in the Lord's providence, but tough none the less!

Sunday Picnic







Brent had to head in to work right after church Sunday, and I made the executive call to skip the church picnic/baptism service at one of the area lakes. I choose my battles carefully these days. I decided I did not want to take a 2 year old who LOVES playing in the water to the lake to watch other people get in the water knowing full well I would not allow her to play in the water and battle that all afternoon by myself! The fellowship might have been sweet, but I'm convinced I would not have been able to enjoy it! So the kids and I took our lunch outside and had a picnic of our own under our weeping willow tree. We had a great time telling stories about when I was little and talking about school starting this week. Here are some of the better pics from that great end to the summer. BTW...it did officially end this morning about 5:00 when Brent finally came home from work and had to wait for the defrosters to melt the ICE off his windshield. Apparently he did not have an ice scraper in the car with him. That'll teach him, heh? We will now be carrying ice scrapers in the car starting in August. CRAZY!!!

Sunday, August 30, 2009

A quick update on the database system

Not that anyone really cares much about databases and whatnot, but I thought you might like to know the Lord worked out some kinks for Brent, and they are planning on going with the new system. This is a huge praise, but a huge prayer request at the same time. They are working like crazy now to get it so they can be ready to register the students as they begin arriving this week. Please pray for wisdom for Brent to be able to see the problems, the solutions to them, and the understanding to deal with things quickly. This week is the culmination of 6 months of work on this project. Please be praying especially for this week.

You've got to be kidding me!!!

COOL AIR ACROSS THE REGION...COMBINED WITH LIGHT WINDS AND MAINLY
CLEAR SKIES...ARE EXPECTED TO LEAD TO WIDESPREAD FROST ACROSS
NORTH-CENTRAL WISCONSIN TONIGHT. CLIMATOLOGICALLY COLD SPOTS COULD EVEN FALL BELOW FREEZING FOR A FEW HOURS.

This is the actual frost warning for tonight. Yes...you read it right, but you might want to go back and read it again to make sure you read it correctly. It's August 30, and it could get below freezing tonight. Let's just think hypothetically here...if it were to get below freezing and there was enough moisture in the air...it could snow. Just looking for a bit of sympathy here, folks. that's all...just some sympathy over the loss of the summer that never was...

Saturday, August 29, 2009

I will gladly clean up her messes...

Click Here for an amazing story of a family who is really going through the fire right now. I must say that I don't have a clue who they are. I didn't take the time to research his doctrinal stand. I'm not endorsing anything. I found his website through a blog of a blog of a blog...you know how it is. They have a beautiful 5 year old little girl who is battling a rare and agressive form of brain cancer for the past6-9 weeks or so from what I can tell.

As I sit typing this, Sarah came up to find her blankie to snuggle with while she watches Curious George. I, of course, was bawling like a baby, and she just looked at me strangely. I asked her for a hug, and she so sweetly obliged. I know that I fume and fuss quite a bit about the trouble she gets into, but I just want to go on the record as saying that I have so much to be thankful for. I will gladly clean up her messes and give her a gazillion baths a day after reading about this sweet girl and her family's godly response to the trials they are going through. Thank you, Lord, for the good health you have chosen to bless my children with. It is more than I deserve.

Something to pray about

Just a quick note to ask you all to pray for Brent and the implementation team he's leading right now at Northland. He's been working since before January to get to this point he's at now--actually today! The school is switching to a new database that involves any and every sort or record and tracking they do for any and every one involved in any and every sort...all that to say it's a really big deal...HUGE!!! They took the old database off line on Wednesday and today is the day they take the new system live. Brent will make the decision this afternoon/evening to stay with the new system or go back to the old system (if there are too many hitches with the new system, they'll go back to the old and have to start all over)

Although Brent doesn't do much with the technology department anymore, he's the one with the most experience in this sort of project management so he's been leading this one. It really is crunch time right now and for the next week. Brent has this amazing ability to look at situations and see potential problems that could arise, and that's exactly what he needs right now. Please pray that he will be able to foresee any difficulties that would be show stoppers when the students arrive. He's been working incredibly long hours this last week, and he needs the Lord's strength and help now. Your prayers on his behalf would be greatly appreciated.

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

all is quiet...is that a good thing?

Not much has been happening on the Sarah frontier as of late. Unless you consider her dumping an entire box of powdered laundry soap all over the carpet in the basement exciting. Or perhaps you think it's interesting that she also pulled out a great deal of clothes that I was storing in rubbermaid totes and strew them all over the laundry room. She has finally stopped covering herself from head to toe in washable markers that are not actually washable after all--next time I'm going for the cheaper kind since neither of them seem to come off her squishy arms! She went into the church nursery for the first time since June without screaming and having to pry her fingers off the door jams. That was exciting--dealing with a screaming 2 year old every time we went to church for the last 3 months...but that behavior has stayed away for 3 church services in a row now. Sarah's vocabulary is definitely increasing and she is able to tell her brother and sister exactly what they are doing that is annoying her. She shook Hannah's hand tonight in the car and very clearly said, "Good to meet ya!" She gave us an ever so slight glimmer of hope when she put her "stinkies" in the commode for the first time a couple of days ago (is that too much information?!?) that's ONCE in the last 2 months of potty training--I'm starting to view the big girl panties as cloth diapers...at least they're washable and saving us money over regular disposable diapers. Daniel finally stopped sleep walking after 3-4 times a night for 3 weeks straight. Yep...it's been pretty boring around here the last couple of days. Suffice it to say that I'm holding my breath for what she's storing up for us...I can pretty much assure you it won't be nearly as cute as you all think it is!

Monday, August 17, 2009

An all-time record for me!

I went to Kmart tonight to shop the sales taking advantage of their double coupon event. I am so very excited about all that I brought home. You can't see everything in the picture so let me just list it all--it makes me feel so good to take so long to type such a long list! :-)
2 jumbo pull-ups
2 mega easy ups
2 containers of lotion
2 containers of window cleaner
2 furniture polishes
4 huge containers of shampoo
2 bottles of men's body wash
2 men's deoderant (I'm getting tired of typing...I'm starting to take short cuts!)
barrettes for Hannah
toothbrush
large bottle of dish soap
1 hand soap
dryer sheets
1 laundry soap
2 toilet bowl cleaners--will last for 12 weeks if I use one a week as suggested
8 rolls of tp
4 boxes of fruit snacks (legos!!!)
jar of jelly
4 big boxes of poptarts (12 each)
4 mega size pringles
6 boxes of cereal
2 boxes of baggies

Now for the exciting part... I added up the retail cost (not the sale prices, but what the actual price tags said) and it was $199.38 before tax. The sale prices after tax was $179. After the sales, the coupons, rebates and Kmart credit towards my next purchase, I ONLY SPENT $54!!! I came home with $200 worth of merchandise for only $54!!! I'm just a bit excited, can you tell?!? Couponing takes time and a great deal of effort and organization, but after a night of shopping like this, it is so worth it! (all the extra exclamation points are just for you, Pastor Albert!!!) And when you think about it this way...$26 of the $54 I shelled out was for the pullups/training pants for Sarah. So I only paid $28 for that entire list (minus the diapers). There were many items that I wanted to purchase, but couldn't because our Kmart has a very limited grocery section and doesn't stock some of the things I had coupons for and was hoping to get for free after the double coupons...so it could have been even more! Gotta love shopping nights like that--and gotta love a great husband who's willing to keep the kids even after a very long day of work so I could focus on the coupons--what a guy!