here's a couple picts from the closing vbs program.

veto

again, president bush does the right thing.

he realizes that we don't have the right to "create" life in order to destroy it. life is not ours to do with as we wish. don't be fooled by the rhetoric of certain others running in 2008. i want a president who will put [God's] "ideology before science." what kind of society would we become without moral ideology. if we put science before morals how long will it be before other folks who are no longer viable members of society are just cast away, and what about little children born with downs or other horrible diseases are thrown away. just imagine for yourself how far science can go without a moral compass.

critics also stated that president bush "placed politics before the needs of our families." oh please, what political gain? perhaps spiritual gain, but no political gain. he did what was right in the eyes of God. not in the eyes of men.

good for him.

"are you understanding me?"

this video is hysterical. it comes straight from japan and members of the the ni team.
apparently there are large arachnids in nippon.

last day of k5

em on her
last day of
k5

















getting
autographs














1st annual
k5 picnic










mad w/
dad at the
picnic












three hungry
birds waiting
for us to clear
out, so they could
get their food

if you want a good read

check out the nippon blog on my sidebar.

yummy

try this recipe:
1 package of dunan hines moist deluxe dark chocolate fudge cake mix
2 large eggs
1/2 c butter, melted
1/4 c firmly packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 c semi sweet chocolate chips
1/2 c chopped walnuts or pecans (OPTIONAL for those who are ALLERGIC or if you are baking and someone ALLERGIC is around)
:-)

preheat 350
stir til blended - cake mix, eggs, melted butter, brown sugar, and vanilla
add chocolate chips and/or nuts (which as previously mentioned are OPTIONAL :-)
drop by leveled tablespoon on a greased cookie sheet
bake at 350 for 12 minutes for chewy cookies (they'll still be puffy when you take them out)
or 14 minutes for crisp cookies
cool 2 minutes and remove to cooling racks
store in airtight container

consumed

"i'd rather be eaten by you than fed by anyone else"
hwin upon meeting aslan for the first time
the horse and his boy by cslewis

not just one but two

fractures




the good news:
"i don't have to write!"



















of course she wanted a red cast.

twice as big as the other one

em had a little
accident
yesterday
guess which
arm is injured

forgiven by his love

angels
worshiping
before the fall













satan being
cast out











Jesus
breathing life
into "sinner"











satan tempting
Jesus' new
creation












satan's true
colors revealed
to sinner











sinner realizes
she is separated
from Jesus


















Jesus healing
the blind
(before this
Jesus came to
earth, but i
didn't download
that picture)






healing the
lame














sinner putting
the crown of
thorns on
Jesus' head as
satan watches










satan punching
Jesus













whipping














whipping
from another
angle















hammering
in the nails














arms
getting tired
he holds them
in this position
for 6 plus minutes













sinner sinning
Jesus and satan
looking on











satan

















those healed
worshiping
at the foot
of the cross










coming off
the cross















coming down
still
















coming down
still















after
ressurection
coming back
to forgive
















sinner
about to be
reconciled














yeah!




















the mime
team








a mime from eppic ministries (who wrote forgiven by his love) helped us learn this mime. the teens will be preforming forgiven by his love while in japan in july. check out the nippon blog.
if you ever have an opportunity to see a mime preformed by an eppic team, check them out. i was impressed by the thought process that went into the details of this mime.

this might offend some, but...i've never claimed to be diplomatic so why start now.

Best. Speech. Ever. From GWB

...but it will never be delivered.

written by some guy in Maine:

“Normally, I start these things out by saying ‘My Fellow Americans.’ Not doing it this time. If the polls are any indication, I don’t know who more than half of you are anymore. I do know something terrible has happened, and that you’re really not fellow Americans any longer.

“I’ll cut right to the chase here: I quit. Now before anyone gets all in a lather about me quitting to avoid impeachment, or to avoid prosecution or something, let me assure you: there’s been no breaking of laws or impeachable offenses in this office.

“The reason I’m quitting is simple. I’m fed up with you people. I’m fed up because you have no understanding of what’s really going on in the world. Or of what’s going on in this once-great nation of ours. And the majority of you are too lazy to do your homework and figure it out.

“Let’s start local. You’ve been sold a bill of goods by politicians and the news media. Polls show that the majority of you think the economy is in the tank. And that’s despite record numbers of homeowners including record numbers of MINORITY homeowners. And while we’re mentioning minorities, I’ll point out that minority business ownership is at an all-time high.

“Our unemployment rate is as low as it ever was during the Clinton Administration. I’ve mentioned all those things before, but it doesn’t seem to have sunk in.

“Despite the shock to our economy of 9/11, the stock market has rebounded to record levels and more Americans than ever are participating in these markets. Meanwhile, all you can do is whine about gas prices, and most of you are too stupid to realize that gas prices are high because there’s increased demand in other parts of the world, and because a small handful of noisy idiots are more worried about polar bears and beachfront property than your economic security.

“We face real threats in the world. Don’t give me this ‘blood for oil’ thing. If I was trading blood for oil I would’ve already seized Iraq’s oil fields and let the rest of the country go. And don’t give me this ‘Bush Lied People Died’ crap either. If I was the liar you morons take me for, I could’ve easily had chemical weapons planted in Iraq so they could be ‘discovered.’

“Instead, I owned up to the fact that the intelligence was faulty. Let me remind you that the rest of the world thought Saddam had the goods, same as me. Let me also remind you that regime change in Iraq was official US policy before I came into office. Some guy named ‘Clinton’ established that policy. Bet you didn’t know that, did you?

“You idiots need to understand that we face a unique enemy. Back during the cold war, there were two major competing political and economic models squaring off. We won that war, but we did so because fundamentally, the Communists wanted to survive, just as we do. We were simply able to outspend and out-tech them.

“That’s not the case this time. The soldiers of our new enemy don’t care if they survive. In fact, they want to die. That’d be fine, as long as they weren’t also committed to taking as many of you with them as they can. But they are. They want to kill you. And they are all over the globe.

“You should be grateful that they haven’t gotten any more of us here in the United States since September 11. But you’re not. That’s because you’ve got no idea how hard a small number of intelligence, military, law enforcement and homeland security people have worked to make sure of that.

“When this whole mess started, I warned you that this would be a long and difficult fight. I’m disappointed how many of you people think a long and difficult fight amounts to a single season of ‘Survivor’. Instead, you’ve grown impatient. You’re incapable of seeing things through the long lens of history, the way our enemies do. You think that wars should last a few months, a few years, tops. Making matters worse, you actively support those who help the enemy.

“Every time you buy the New York Times, every time you send a donation to a cut-and-run Democrat’s political campaign, well, you might just as well Fedex a grenade launcher to a Jihadist. It amounts to the same thing.

“In this day and age, it’s easy enough to find the truth. It’s all over the Internet. It just isn’t on the pages of the New York Times or on NBC News. But even if it were, I doubt you’d be any smarter. Most of you would rather watch American Idol.

“I could say more about your expectations that the government will always be there to bail you out, even if you’re too stupid to leave a city that’s below sea level and has a hurricane approaching. I could say more about your insane belief that government, not your own wallet, is where the money comes from. But I’ve come to the conclusion that were I to do so, it would sail right over your heads.

“So I quit. I’m going back to Crawford. I’ve got an energy-efficient house down there (Al Gore could only dream) and the capability to be fully self-sufficient. No one ever heard of Crawford before I got elected, and as soon as I’m done here pretty much no one will ever hear of it again.

“Maybe I’ll be lucky enough to die of old age before the last pillars of America fall.

“Oh, and by the way, Cheney’s quitting too. That means Pelosi is your new President. You asked for it. Watch what she does carefully, because I still have a glimmer of hope that there’re just enough of you remaining who are smart enough to turn this thing around in 2008.

“So that’s it. God bless what’s left of America. Some of you know what I mean.”

just to clarify, this was not written by our president, but some guy in maine.

many of you who venture onto this blog are christians, so is President Bush. so while you might not like everything about him, you are his brother or sister in Christ. and he deserves respect not only because he is our president but also because he is a fellow believer. be on your knees for this man and our country.

those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it - santayana

nippon

the college team from our church left today to travel to japan. i've linked to their blog on my side bar. please check it out and pray for them throughout this month. the teens leave for japan on july 2 which is the same day as the college group returns home. i'm working with several of the teens on a mime to present in the schools. please pray for them as it is an intense and long mime!
thanks so much.

start your engines

em participated
in the 2nd annual
kindy 500 at
school last week

here she is in
her racing
machine











the other cars
and racers
in her heat











her table
at school












the parade
of cars













finishing
touch












em named
her car
"two fronts"
b/c it had two
fronts - her idea

the jeep












the semi


















sisters in
the kindy car










all the kids had a great time at the kindy 500. there were a few crashes and minor injuries, but nothing to bad.

by the way em won third place in her heat. not too bad.

how does my garden grow

here's the list of things in our garden. mostly to help me remember what we planted and how to care for them in the years to come.

stonecrop sedum (info) sedum spurium fuldaglut (picture)
evergreen ground cover with showy crimson flowers in summer. and apparently it's slightly poisonous. green and purple

althea rose of sharon (info) - hibiscus syriacus 'amplissimus'
double red blossom - summer, prune late winter early spring

dwarf english boxwood
prune to keep compact - evergreen

ballerina blush (info) - gaura lindheimeri (picture) - mine didn't like the transplant, but i really like this one. bloom late spring to fall. to prune cut to ground in the winter. pink and white blooms

iresine 'purple lady' - not sure this will survive the winter. low growing purple leaves

bee balm
wild flower which attacts humming birds and butterflies, blooms july and august - red

purple coneflower
attracts birds, midsummer to autumn blooms

firewitch dianthus
magenta pink bloom spring to fall with dead-heading, apparently some parts are poisonous

crimson pygmy barberry
purple red leaves, deciduous shrub


big blue lily turf
blue, purple flowers in summer, cut back late winter

butterfly weed
pink and white, spring to summer, attracts butterflies

butterfly bush purple emperor
ours will only grow to 4-5 ft and attracts butterflies prune back in spring
butterflies and humming birds

mystery yellow flowers

do we need further proof that

a little energy
cocoa before
a hard workout












































































































































































































mad needs to be enrolled in a gymnastics class?
can any of you do this?