Vacation at the Beach!

It was HOT today!  69 degrees!  Whooo Hoooo!
I said we needed a vacation, but how to do you take 9 people on vacation when you are broke?  You pretend!  Leave your cell phones off for a day or two, make random plans at random times, stay up late, wake up early, and go to the beach.

69 degrees is seriously a heat wave here, and the water was only 52 degrees, but we have acclimated because it was lovely.  We made a "hot tub" and a fort.  It was an awesome vacation!

Out of sorts...

My life has been a bit of a whirlwind lately.  I can't pinpoint exactly the cause, but it seems like I'm on a treadmill and I'm not loosing any weight.  Or something.

It has been one thing after another, summer birthdays, figuring out how to overcome rising grocery costs with 9 mouths to feed, several friends having new babies, my broken thyroid and possible adrenal problems...

Mr. Pilot has been "working" almost every night.  He hasn't been flying so he doesn't feel like its work, but he has been standing duty until midnight even on weekends because that is what they are having him to do right now.  It's makes having a normal schedule kinda hard.

We start school on Monday.  We normally school year round but had planned to take the summer off.  We did take some time off after Biscuit was born, but had to press since we still had a lot to finish.  We still have some straggly-loose ends so it feels like we never took a break.   We are excited for the new school year though, we will be starting Tapestry year 3.  We still love that curriculum and highly recommend it, especially if you are teaching more than one grade level.

I think, mostly, my frazzledness has to do with the perpetual "my husband could be leaving tomorrow for a very long period of time" predicament.  I read that pre-deployment really puts a strain on a family, but I can't find any advice about the supposed-to-leave-two-months-ago-so-deployment-is-any-day type of pre-deployment.  Thankfully, the details of the delay are so ridiculous that we find comfort in knowing only God could orchestrate this and are attempting to simply enjoy this "extra" time.

My husband has requested to take some leave so that we could perhaps enjoy a few days of respite.

and this little Biscuit is growing so fast, she just loves to make eyebrows, coo and gurgle at us!

Thank you, Mr. North!

All right!  (I found out recently this is actually two words, but for some reason had imported the idea that it was one word by my poor english...)

I've been a subscriber to Gary North's free weekly tip web-site.  He is absolutely filled with fantastic Christian ideas, is a strong promoter of biblical economics, is extremely well read, and has written almost too many books for me to absorb, most of which are FREE because he's more concerned about the ideas then about the profit.  For example, Dr. North has been publishing his lifelong project, an Economic Commentary on the Bible, in pdf form, a book per week, for FREE.  He's been working on it since the 70s and it is absolutely filled with good biblical information that far exceeds the economic landscape.  I highly recommend poking around his website.

www.garynorth.com

Anyways, he sent out as this morning's weekly tip, to start a book review site.  Focusing on one author,  that I like, and write a review on all of that author's books.

I love this idea!  It incorporates a few of the things I already love:

Reading books
Sharing a Christian message with people
Using cultural tools to further a biblical worldview

I also really appreciate that this would be a blog that could be useful to someone who really wanted to know what this author is about before getting engaged in more of his work.

My wife already gave me a fantastic author to start with, one who hasn't written 50 books! but would still be interesting to review.

After we both got done watching the Vision Forum conference last weekend, I was inspired.

 I think it would be fantastic to review Joel Salatin.  He's a very interesting author, and he gets a lot of exposure in crowds that don't always run in Christian circles.  Plus, it will give me the ability to promote another Christian's work in a field that isn't receiving much Christian exposure!

Please pray for God's blessing in this new endeavor.

Mr. Pilot

Baby Biscuit, awww!

My Biscuit is growing!

I took this one when she was 1 week old.

and a friend took these a couple weeks ago.  

She is 13 lbs 6 oz and loves to smile and "chat" with us, cooing and gurgling and such.  Every time she smiles her eyebrows raise and her dimple shows.  I'm so busy looking at her sparkle that I forget to snap a picture of it.  It is so precious!

Date Night with Pops

A few weeks ago Mr. Pilot took me out to a fancy restaurant for a date night.  He said I could get anything I wanted not the very pricey menu (I think he was trying to make up for the lack of date nights, it has been over a year!)  I enjoyed brie fondue, filet mignon, and the best cheese cake I have ever tasted. Most of all, I delighted in a wonderfully slow and quite meal with my favorite person on the planet!

This special date inspired all the little girls to request date night with dad.  How could it not, getting all dressed up and going out like a princess??  Butter actually had her date this morning, breakfast at Whidbey Coffee with daddy.  She was so giddy and I had to paint her nails early this morning.  I didn't even paint my nails for my date, lol!

The boys don't want to get left out, so there are plans for dates with mom, too.  Everyone is discussing where they would like to go and making big plans (while Mr. Pilot is wondering how he is going to pay for it all!)

This morning Pops announced his plans to take me out.
"I'm gonna take mom to the Joe-nut shop first.  Then we're gonna go to the ice cream shop and since mom doesn't like ice cream, I'm gonna eat her's and mine's!"

Sounds like a good plan, right?  

The righteous shall live by his faith!

A couple of months ago (please excuse our lateness in this post), our family, friends and church body were excited to welcome the two oldest children:  Belle and Boy as self-professing believers in Jesus Christ!  They made their profession and we welcomed them through the administration of their baptism.

I was very happy to have the opportunity to give the "Father's Blessing."

I shared with my children the tremendous joy that I have to be a part of their lives, and the job that we share together in sharing our growth in Christ.  I am grateful to share with them the significance of this milestone in their lives, and charged them that this is only the beginning of a lifelong journey, that there would be many ups and downs throughout their spiritual lives.  But reminded them about a famous Puritan preacher, Richard Alleine, who told us that "The World (is) Conquered by the Faithful Christian," and that we are a part of this great battle that is occurring all around us everyday, remembering that we must take up our swords, which is the Word of God, which will give us encouragement and is the most powerful weapon in the hand of a diligent steward of the grace of our Lord, Jesus Christ!

Pastor was excited to administer this sacrament to the children, sharing with them, and all the body, the importance of baptism as a public demonstration of God's grace in their lives.  It was a tremendous encouragement to all the faithful.

We were elated to have a fellowship meal the following day, and the family was able to share together their first communion with the new professors also!

We provided a floral arrangement, demonstrating the blessed transformation that we experience, from a mixed bouquet (sinners), through the precious blood of our Savior (crimson roses), to the glorification of a redeemed family of God (white tulips).   The cake also shared one of our favorite verses:

For by grace we have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God. 

Ephesians 2:8

Great Uncle and Aunt were on hand also, making a trip up to our neck of the woods, to celebrate this special day.

We did a little shopping for everyone so we could together share and communicate that we are clothed in Christ's righteousness, and it is by his stripes with which are healed.

May all men everywhere know that the Lord Jesus is able to save any man from his sin, and present them new to himself as a glorious creation forever worshipping his Redeemer, saved by the grace of God.

The righteous shall live by his faith!  

Habakkuk 2:4

Local. Organic. Small Family Business.

I am all about it!

and on the way home we saw this beauty:

If you find yourself with nothing to do this weekend,  join me!
Well, sort of...  I am attending this conference online:


The Reformation of 

Food & the Family

Discussion Topics Include:

• Food as Family Culture
• The Theology of Mealtime
• The Politicization of Food
• The Future of Food in America
• The Joy of Culinary Wisdom
• Avoiding Food Heresies
• Food and Frugality
• The Art of Hospitality
• Informed Stewardship of the Body
• And Many More!

Speakers Include:

• Joel Salatin
• Chef Francis Foucachon
• Doug Phillips
• And Many More!

Napping in North Dakota

Mr. Pilot gets paid to take a nap.  In North Dakota.
Seriously.
A Growler broke down in North Dakota so Monday night my husband took a commercial red eye flight to bring it back.  The air crew's job was to fix the jet and my husband's job was to take a nap and then fly it back.  They literally paid for a hotel room for him to sleep in the middle of the day so he could safely fly the jet back. He was home by dinner.  For some reason this makes me laugh.  What a job.
Love it!