Happy Thanksgiving from the Family of 9!

1 Thessalonians 5:18

give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.

"Thou shalt not steal" Exodus 20:15

To some extent, the rising incidence of theft in our community is expected. These are difficult times and people are getting desperate. What I don't understand and what pains me the most is being robbed by a "Christian". And I put that in quotes because these are just people professing to be Christian, only God knows their hearts and I'll leave that for him to decide.

Last month, on Wednesday night I was rushed leaving church and forgot to fetch my yoga mat from the school coat room. Sunday morning I stopped by to pick it up and was shocked to find it gone. First of all, why would you steal someone's exercise mat? With all their germs and sweat on it? But secondly, in a church? Despite my plea, it has yet to be returned.

More recently, a fellow child care provider I know from an online group, requested an item I had for sale on craigslist.com. She's a Baptist Sunday school teacher with a link to her church's website on her web page. She signs all her posts "Have a Blessed Day". I sent it media mail out to Columbus. She claims to have sent 2 separate money orders for the item, but I have neither.

Lesson (FINALLY) learned.

Happy World Toilet Day

George and I just happened to have scrubbed the toilet this morning before I heard but, November 19th was declared World Toilet Day in 2001.

I'm speechless...

Someone tell George the election's over...and his candidate lost.

Driving to the library this morning I heard a 3 syllable chant coming from the backseat. It took a few seconds, but then I realized what it was. "We will win, we will win, we will win."

He heard this at the Sarah Palin rally in Lakewood earlier this month. I haven't heard it from him since but it's obviously stored up in his brain somewhere.

Let's look to 2012 George!

That's our boy!

I had to take the car in for another tire repair this morning.
A woman in the waiting room almost fell off her chair after my two year old climbed up into a chair, opened a magazine, and announced to the room that he found a picture of Michael Phelps!

Skeleton Run - George's First Race

Back on October 25th, Luke, Brooke, Rachel, George, and I went to Amherst for the Skeleton Run. I'm not close to racing shape yet but the kids have run the 1-Mile Funny Bone Run for a few years and they also have a Silly Bone quarter mile for George.

Weather was crisp, a nice day for running. Rachel kept George company and he got a t-shirt and a ribbon for finishing a lap on the track.

Luke ran very well, starting 11th at the start and 5th at the next watching spot. He finished 3rd overall and was 2nd in his age group. He really runs an even race and finishes strong, a rare trait for a young runner. His final time was 6:31, just 22 seconds behind the winner. He was 10th overall last year in 7:20.

Brooke also did great, starting at the back of the race with Rachel, moving up from 39th at the start to 19th after just another block. I missed getting a video of her finish but she did get a medal for 3rd among girls 9-10. Her time was 7:54 and she was 19th overall. She was 18th overall last year in 8:24.

Rachel ran just over 10:00, an improvement of about a minute from laste year's 10:59. Here is a video of her finishing.

My dad and his biker babe

My dad recently emailed me about how much he is enjoying spending our inheritance. He emailed me a picture of him and my mom on a rented Harley. I thought he would enjoy seeing this one I just found of the two of them before I was born.

Go Dad Go!!!

Toilet Troubles....it doesn't take a genius

to figure out this mystery with the facts.

I can not get the toilet completely unclogged. Every time it gets used it blocks up completely then I plunge it but it seems like something is in the way. I can't get a fast clear flush.

I just put my 2 year old in the bathtub. His favorite Sesame Street bath toy was missing the Elmo piece. I said "uh oh, where's Elmo?"

He looked at me with his gorgeous chubby face and said quite clearly..."Elmo's in the toilet."

Good thing we have 3 toilets! I'll let my husband handle this one.

Update: Kevin did get Elmo out but he went straight into the trash can. "My Hero!" (Kevin, not Elmo.)