Argiope aurantia

No...I did not misspell the title of this post. And no....these pictures are not from an online encyclopedia.

They are from my camera....taken by my husband....in my backyard. EEK! This crazy huge spider was trying to build a residence in my yard. That is, until it went toe to toe with my brave and virtuous husband. He stomped that thing right to death. Of course, not before snapping some pictures of our potential yard mate. Thank goodness I was out shopping and did not see this beast for myself. I may have died....well, that may be a bit of an exaggeration. But, I can promise you this....I would have peed a little!

When Rayden showed me these pictures I immediately went to google and tried to identify this monster. I typed in "black and yellow spider" and instantly I found out more than enough data on the suspect (how many incriminating names do you think I can come up with for this creature???). I learned that it has 8 eyes, the females can grow to be as long as 28mm in length, their webs have this distinct zigzag pattern in them, and (most importantly) I learned that they are harmless to humans. Halle--stinkin---luyah!

Although I must be honest....if another one of these perpetrators shows its ugly, eight-eyed face in MY yard....it.will.not.be.pretty. And then, I will go change my underwear.

when pigs fly...

We've got it. Here. In our house. The swine flu (insert spooky music here). Kaleb officially has the swine flu (and strep too....but that's a little more mundane). He came home from school on Wednesday and reported that he was pretty sure he had gotten a fever while waiting for me in car line. I blew off what he was saying ----I mean, uh, wait....I never ever dismiss anything my kids say....I hang on their every word--- but when he persisted I got out the thermometer. Sure enough....the little bugger was telling the truth. His temperature was a steamy 103. With all the swine flu going around, we went straight to the doctor. Sure enough, he tested positive for both the flu and strep.

Now. Let me tell you. I was ready. I was ready for whining, and moaning, and sanitizing, and bathing, and "magic soaping", and crying, and laying around. And while I did sanitize, bathe, and magic soap the heck out of my kids and house, we had none of the other things on the list. Kaleb acted as though nothing was wrong. He played, scampered, fought with his brother and sister....all just like normal. Praise the Lord....the swine flu has come and gone and it has not beaten us to a pulp.

So, should the swine flu hit your homestead....don't panic. Maybe it won't be as bad as you are expecting.

weigh in pending

I don't know if you know or not, but I am a Weight Watcher. I started 7 weeks ago after being completely inspired by my mother in law. She has seen such great success with this program and I am anxious to see if I can achieve similar results. So far, I have lost 9.4 pounds. It doesn't seem like very much, but I am thrilled. I have never been able to consciously lose a pound in my life. I lack discipline and knowledge. But, I know that if I stick to what this program asks of me I can be successful. I have actually already moved from a size 14 in pants to a size 12....and a medium shirt instead of a large.

Well, I didn't do so hot this week. There were a few nights that I splurged with extra treats. I weigh in at 6:00. I am kind of dreading it. I have yet to go and gain weight, but I feel like today may be the day. But, I am NOT shying away from the weigh in. I am committed to walking this journey....my goal is to lose 16 pounds by Thanksgiving (that would be 10% of my starting weight). And overall my goal is to lose 30 pounds.

Will you pray for me as I walk this road? I will post later about the results of tonight's weigh in.

"I two"

When asked her age, Aubri answers, "I two" while proudly holding up her whole hand of fingers. I guess her fine motor skills will catch up to her verbal skills soon!


My little angel is two now. And she definitely acts like it. Don't get me wrong, she is simply the more precious little darling the Lord ever created. But, the girl can throw a mean fit. Oh yes...Aubri + age two = d.r.a.m.a.


We had a blast at her party. My dad was able to join us...and thankfully he took some pictures because half way through the party (yes, after presents and cake) my observant husband noticed that although I was snapping away I had forgotten to put the memory card in my camera. Oops. Oh well, PawPaw to the rescue. These are some of the pictures he sent me...

our tiny theologian

It's been WAY TOO LONG since I last posted. Life has seemed to be on fast forward around here. I promise, though, to catch up this weekend. There is much to share.

There is a story, though, that I want to post before I forget. Some of the little conversations you have with your kids are so meaningful, but you seem to forget them so quickly. I do not want this one to drift out of my memory.

On the way to preschool yesterday Nathan and I had an interesting conversation.

N: Mommy, why did God send Jesus to die on the cross? Why didn't he just do it himself?
M: (after a brief pause to take in such a deep question) I don't really know, baby. That's a great question. I'll have to think about it and talk to daddy and then get back to you.
N: Maybe God was just being shy. Do you think God is shy?
M: No, I don't think God is shy.
N: Maybe he just didn't want to so he made Jesus do it.
M: Well, I don't think that's quite it either. I am sure God didn't want to do it. Even Jesus didn't want to do it, but he knew how important it was for us so he did it anyway. But, I don't think God was just trying to get out of doing it.
N: oh. okay.

I love how his little mind works. I can see God drawing him near to Himself. He is always thinking about spiritual things....he has such deep questions and ponderings. I love that. I also love how he is content to not have all the answers. We never really answered his question, but still his response was "okay" and then he playfully moved on to another topic. It didn't bother him in the slightest that he couldn't "figure God out". I envy that in him. He is such a sweet boy and I am already rejoicing in the hope that he will grow into a godly young man who works to make His Kindgom great!