Fun in the sun

Here's how we spent the last couple of days on our mini vacation!

Lake of the Ozarks getaway

B is attending a conference at Lake of the Ozarks, so us girls are hangin` with him for a couple of days. Tonight we enjoyed kicking back at the hotel while he had a meeting (tomorrow we play!) Here we we are enjoying room service, cable and wifi while just hanging out. Check back here for photos. I`ll just add them to this post throughout the weekend.

The Zoefamily blues

We're now going on Day 8 without the Daddy around here, and we no like it. The kids are sad, the cat is sad, the dog is sad ... the mom is sad. The novelty of having some girl time and getting some extra work done has worn off. We did that; we're over it. We want the dad back home.

When the cat's away, the mice will ... work

With B away for the better part of July for work-related stuff, the girls and I are getting ready for the big M-O-V-E! I don't believe I have ever worked as hard as I have this weekend. I'm cleaning. I'm packing. I'm organizing. I'm preparing for a garage sale. (Plus taking care of B's horses!) I'm just in the zone here. And my little soldiers are ready and willing to help. We took Little A's room and turned it into the staging room for the move (Little A moved in with Big A). Here's Little A's room before this weekend and after:

Before:


And After:



Yup, Daddy ... we are working HARD! Big A and Little A have cleaned toys and helped in pretty much any manner asked of them, so they've been rewarded as well. On Saturday we went to see "Up." And on Sunday we managed to fit in lunch at the Olive Garden (of course ... all work and no lunch at the Olive Garden would just be wrong.)

Today they are spending the day with Grandma and Papa, so I am working alone. Gotta get going and get working!

Happy Birthday Brother C

I woke up with you on my mind and just wanted you to know how proud I am of the person, husband and father you have become (even if you do have the goofiest Facebook posts!) I love you and miss you so much today!

Furnishing La Casa Zoesphere

Found a brand-new, never-been-out-of-the-packaging Ashley living room set being sold for half price because it is discontinued. I did my homework to verify that various retailers were selling it for twice what I got it for! I found it via Craig's List from a family that has a furniture wholesaling business. Yippee!

It's just so very exciting to finally be replacing everything we lost and watching my new home come together.

Cool Web sites I've found

I think I may have found the greatest thing since sliced bread ... it's called SwapTree.com (www.swaptree.com), and it is a free service for trading books.

If you are done with some of your books and willing to part with them, you can just list them on Swap Tree. All you have to do to list them is enter the ISBN number, and tell the condition of your book.

Then ... you also create a list of books you would like to read.

And Swap Tree sets up trades for you. There are thousands upon thousands of books to choose from -- and they are not all two-way trades. The site has an algorithm set up that figures out three-way trades, etc ... but all you do is mail your book to the person the site tells you to. And then you'll get your book in the mail as well.

There is a feedback system like eBay, so you can be sure you are trading with a reliable person.

I didn't find this myself -- the idea comes by way of my good friend S. Thanks S! I am so excited. Why sell books in a garage sale or to a used book store for $2 when you could just trade them for books you want to read?

The second new Web site that I am excited about was found by Big A. Leave it to my 10-year-old to find great Internet opportunities! It's called MyShape.com. The site creates a shape profile for you (takes about 20 minutes to enter your measurements and answer questions about clothing/style preferences). And then it suggests clothes from all kind of retailers that will best fit your shape and size.

You can order straight through the site, and it's free shipping. Way cool.

Musical Mania camp

Big A has spent this last week at Music Mania camp -- learning to sing and dance Broadway-style! She had a blast. Here`s a big shout out to my mom, who heard that this was something Big A wanted to do, and so she paid not just for Big A, but also her best friend K to go. I was so blessed that my mom would offer to do such a thing. She is a wonderful Grandma!!!

Big A with her teacher and the other campers.


A little peek at their final performance.

Big A and K -- best friends since age 3!!!

Conversations with Big A and Little A

Two recent conversations with my enlightening children (Big A is 10, and Little A is 6):

----------------------------------------------------
Big A: Mom, I don't think I'm going to be able to be a writer when I grow up after all.

Mom: Why on earth not? That's your dream. Of course you can be a writer, or anything that you want to be.

Big A: Well, with the economy the way it is, I figure I'll have to take any job I can get.
-----------------------------------------------------

Scenario: Big A and Little A are looking at a place mat with all the American presidents, and Big A says to Little A, "Did you know not all countries have presidents?'

Little A: [shocked] Mommy, is it true that all countries don't have presidents?

Mom: Yes, that is true.

Little A: [still shocked and now upset] Well, what do they do about the TV weather?

Mom: [confused] What do you mean?

Little A: Well, you have to have presidents to have the news, and you have to have the news to know the weather. So what do they do?

--------------------------------------------------------
Much conversation ensued to conclude these conversations appropriately, but those are the cute parts!

Change at Evangel University

If you know and love Evangel University like I do, I think you'll be interested in my latest project at work.

Last Friday, EU's final WWII-era barrack was razed, completing a project that has been ongoing for more than 10 years. EU has a rich 55-year history, and the story of how Evangel purchased the old World War II O'Reilly Army Hospital is a fascinating one. Generations of EU students took classes in those old, sprawling barracks that gave our campus so much character. The earliest generation of EU students even lived in those barracks.

Many of us are so sad to see the barracks all gone -- but we also know that the state-of-the-art campus that Evangel students enjoy today is worth the change. Those old barracks were only built to be temporary structures during the war. But the memories we will always have.

Go check out the Photo Blog and feature that I wrote, which also includes memories from alumni. I'm really proud of this one!

I Love America

An Amazing ILA weekend

I'd like to encourage everyone to read this blog post by my pastor, John Lindell, about "I Love America," which is my church's annual Fourth of July event.

ILA started 10 years ago as a simple idea to get the choir together to sing some patriotic songs and show a few fireworks. The church had just bought new property for our current building but had not started building, so the land was available. A few plans were made, and they hoped that 5,000 people would show up.

B and I were among the 13,000 who came that first year (I was pregnant with Big A!). The attendance shattered the goal then. But this year ... we had 120,000 people at ILA. The event is totally free for families. We have a midway, air show, Christian music artists, politicians (this year the Governor of Missouri and a U.S. Congressman spoke) and the like to entertain families throughout the day. The highlight, of course, is the fireworks show in the evening, which is choreographed to our choir (which is singing in the "living flag.")

The goal is to share the gospel as well as provide a great day of fun and fireworks to celebrate America.

ILA is an amazing, indescribable event. Our girls wouldn't even know how to do the Fourth of July without it. It's all they've ever known for celebrating the holiday.

I posted all my pictures on Facebook the day after ILA, but here are a few for those that didn't see them. But, seriously, read Pastor John's blog about the day. God is doing amazing things through ILA.

The choir members are standing inside that flag -- in this shot the choir, along with about 120,000 people are singing "God Bless America." Talk about goosebumps!

Updates on La Casa Zoesphere

So the inspections were done last week, and we are rolling right along! The well and septic were declared to be a "fabulous" system. There are no termites, and the other inspection only turned up some pidly things that are consistent of a home that age. We are asking to have some plumbing related things fixed, but really they are rather minor.

In light of these positive developments, I had to start buying some new things for the new place. I`m excited about redecorating bedrooms. Here`s what we found at Overstock.com (which has some amazing deals, by the way.)

We got this canopy for Little A`s room. The bedding pictured just happens to be what she already has.



For Mom and Dad`s room.


This is the new set for Big A. The next picture shows the best feature of Big A`s room -- a whole wall built in with bookshelves and a desk. Even a window seat. I have always dreamed of her having something like this. She has a million books, so the shelves are ideal. And of course at her age she is ready for a nice desk in her room. And if you know Big A, can`t you just picture her sitting at the window seat, looking out at the peaceful view, and reading or writing in her journal? Just perfect!


The shelving continues on the other side of the window seat. Clearly new curtains will be in order!

Jon and Kate

So, I’ve been trying not to blog about the mess that is “Jon and Kate Plus Eight.” Hoping, I suppose, that it all would just go away. I imagine Kate Gosselin has been hoping the same thing. This ugly tale affects us in a difficult way because Big A has been a complete fanatic over the show. The day I had to tell her that Jon and Kate were getting divorced was really difficult.

We don’t have cable, so Big A didn’t start watching it at home. She got hooked at the babysitter’s last summer. And both the sitter and I thought this was a sweet, wholesome show for her to watch—and it appealed to her love of kids, babysitting, etc. We eventually got the first three seasons on DVD and have watched the episodes over and over. Fortunately, we (she) have not seen a bit of season four or five.

Big A has read Kate Gosselin’s books. She makes posters and Powerpoint presentations with pictures of the family. She adores the show and all the kids. She's even e-mailed the family and sent e-cards on the childrens' birthdays (not that she's received a response back.)

So it makes us very sad to watch this story implode through the eyes of our little girl.

I have been questioning my own judgment in allowing her to watch the show. Should I have seen this coming? I’m old enough to know that reality television is just a sugar-coated version of whatever truth the producers want to us to believe. Did I set my daughter up for this disappointment? I guess I am angry that I fell for it … I thought it was a safe show for her to watch, and it wasn’t. I should have known better – sticking to the usual fare of Little House and Disney movies for the kids. Letting the kids (particularly Big A) put a reality show family up on a pedestal and setting her up for this disillusionment, that’s a failure on my part I think … I am really struggling with that.