Kids say the darndest things

Here are two stories that happened recently. I'm numbering them because I don't feel like writing transitions. :)

1. On Sunday, I made baked potatoes for dinner and gave the kids each half of one. I cut it, but not all the way through the skin because they usually pick the potato off the top with their forks. Nick was having some trouble with his, though, and he asked Daddy for help. So, Daddy cut his potato some more, all the way through the skin. When Nick saw what he had done, he said, "Oh, no. Oh, no. It's broken." (Thus the broken potato reference in the video from my last post.)

2. Catie cannot say chocolate. We think she saying "choco" but it sounds an awful lot like "taco." One night last week our conversation went something like this:

Mommy: "Say 'choc'."

Catie: "Choc."

Mommy: "Say 'let'."

Catie: "Let."

Mommy: "Choc-let."

Catie: "Choco!"

My mother's day present

Brad bought me a digital video camera for Mother's day. Yay! As soon as I got the battery charged up, I started taking videos of the kids.

A while ago I found this YouTube video where a guy sings songs about Star Wars to the tune of popular John Williams songs in four part harmony with himself. It gets stuck in your head, let me tell you, and Brad and I frequently find ourselves singing it. The kids especially love the wookie part, and will often randomly yell out "wookie!" Brad makes a wookie noise by covering his mouth with his hands and warbling, and the kids' impression of him is hilarious to us.

By the way, the camera scared Nick at first. That's what's happening in the first part of the video.

Wookie! from Erica Herzog on Vimeo.

A Passion Denied

Summary: Elizabeth O'Connor has been like the little sister John Brady always wanted, sharing his love of literature and his thirst for God. But in the throes of the Roaring Twenties, Lizzie has grown up. Suddenly she wants more from the man who has been her friend since she was a child. When this shy little bookworm blossoms into a beautiful young woman bent on loving John, she discovers that his past won't let him return that love. But Lizzie refuses to give up--until his shocking secrets push her away.

A note from the author: I’m Julie Lessman, an Inspirational Romance author with a passion for God and a passion for romance. Since the age of twelve, I’ve been in love with the idea of being “in love.” It happened the moment Scarlett seared Rhett with a look on the winding staircase of Twelve Oaks. Suddenly I was a goner, spellbound by the emotional ebb and flow of romantic relationships.

As an adult, I quickly learned that true romance is spiritual as well as physical and emotional. And one pass through the “Song of Solomon” in the Bible told me that God was the biggest romantic of them all, deeply passionate in His love for each of us. Through my love affair with Him, I have discovered that romance can transcend to another dimension where romantic passion and spiritual passion merge, creating a 3-D love story: the hero, the heroine, and the God that brings them together. I hope you enjoy my stories ... and may they bring you closer to the Father’s heart.

My review: This is the third book in the series, which I thought would be a difficulty, but Lessman adds just enough of the back story to keep me from confusion without boring readers who have read the previous books. In fact, I think I could go back and read the first two books, even though I already know who the girls end up with. For readers who have read the other Daughters of Boston novels, this book would add satisfying details as to what happens to Faith and Charity after the close of their stories.

The front cover of this book announces, "This isn't your mother's inspirational fiction!" and that description doesn't disappoint. For the woman who finds guilty pleasure in romance novels, this book provides the romance without the guilt, featuring not only the story between Lizzie and Brady, but also her married sisters and parents.

An incredible honor

Click on this link; you won't believe the award I've won.





No literally, you won't believe it.





(Thanks, Lori. I totally stole this idea from you.)

In the Garden (Well, outside our front door)

"Those are moose tracks," Brad casually says.

"What are?"

"Those tracks next to our house."

"You mean the tracks that I assumed belonged to our neighbor? The ones right next to our house?"

"Yes, those."

"Hmm."

Hopefully, he wasn't coming to eat our brand new flowers.

Petunias

Wax begonias
Marigolds are supposed to keep the deer away. Maybe they work on moose too?

Marigolds and Spearmint

Strawberries and more Marigolds

We put pansies and violas in a window box planter on our back porch.

I have a hard time looking at pansies without imagining little faces on them.

Look, it's a mommy and baby.

Mother's day brunch

About a month ago, I was sitting next to our MOPS coordinator at Bible study and she turned to me and said, "I heard that you were involved in MOPS before; would you be interested in helping with our MOPS program." After being a part of the women's ministry at our church in Doha, I knew that I wanted to do it again, so I said yes.

They happened to be having a meeting that afternoon, and Brad's mom was in town to watch the kids for me. During the course of the meeting, I mentioned that I was suprised that the church didn't have an Easter egg hunt, and then I mentioned a Mother's day brunch, and an idea was born.

We had 30 ladies there yesterday for a potluck brunch with games, music, and testimonies. Sharing the work with 5 or 6 other ladies made it easy, and everyone had a wonderful time.

Free books!

So, I wanted to warn you, my faithful readers (all 10 of you), that I'm going to be doing a little something extra with my blog, at least in the next couple weeks. I responded to a survey from MOPS, Intl., and as a result I was asked to review books on my blog. Since I love books, especially free ones, and all things school related (did someone say book report?) I immediately accepted. Right now, I have three books to read and review before mid-May, so you'll be seeing those soon. With any luck, it will be something that I can do regularly. I hope you all enjoy it too.