My precious little furry babies!

Skittles' little kittens are growing like crazy! The little babies are running around all over my room and have little rolly-polly tummies! All I have to do is walk into my room and start talking and the little babies come running out from under the bed. They love attention. :)

They are so fun to play with and I've had more time this week to enjoy them. They are growing up so fast, so I know I have to play with them now before I have to give them away. I've started bringing them upstairs and they just run around and play much to the dismay of their ever-protective mother who is constantly screaming at them. :)

Skittles has gotten quite upset with Jena when she takes her kittens out of my room. She's attacked her a couple of times and yes, Jena has scars. Minor, but still little teeth marks. Sunday afternoon I taped the video below and Skittles started attacking Jena on the floor. It was hilarious! Not for Jena, but certainly for me! :) Too bad I wasn't taping at that time! That could have won an award! lol!!

Family Game Night Fun

Usually every New Year's Eve we stay up for a while and play pitch. We gather some snacks such as nacho chips, veggies & dip, popcorn (gotta have that!) and peanuts with punch and/or Diet Mt. Dew (of course!) and settle in for an evening of laughter.

This New Year's Eve, Krissa was in Florida, well actually Philadelphia, well in reality New York City Times Square (silly girl, I know - long story!) and so we played pitch when we went to AL for Thanksgiving. Krissa's been asking me to edit the movies we took and here's a recap of our evening. There are times that we're laughing so hard you can't understand what we're saying. And for most of you, it probably won't make much sense, but to us, there are good memories!

Enjoy! It's in three parts since it's too long to upload as one.

Skittles and her kittens

Skittles had her kittens on July 23rd. I was so glad she waited until after we arrived home from camp! She had five little ones, but one was born dead. Four little white ones and one little black one. The little white ones were so cute! White with little dark ears and tails...I'm sure they would have had some Siamese markings like Skittles.

I'm not sure what was wrong or why, but all the white little kittens died. By the time 5 days had gone by, there was only the black kitten left. Of course, you know, that is the very way it works. The very ones I wanted were the very ones that didn't live. Not that the black one is cute, because it is, but I really wanted some Siamese.

I can't say that Skittles is the best of mothers. The kitten is in my room and she will stay in there at night with me (sleeping on the bed with me instead of with her kitten on the floor half the night!), but when I am upstairs or in my sewing room during the day, half the time she is with me. And then her kitten is downstairs screaming! But at least it's here and still alive! :)

one day old four little kittens

One night I woke up to a screaming kitten and discovered that Skittles had moved one of the two remaining kittens into my closet and left it there. I got up and moved it back into the box. A couple of hours later there was more intense screaming and I got up to discover that she moved both her kittens this time. I moved them back to her box. Finally after I got home from church that same day, she moved them again and I decided just to leave them there. I couldn't take another night of that screaming and moving around! :)

only one little black one left!

Camp 2008 Week 2: A review of the week!

The second week of camp was another great one! We had a full camp which is always exciting...the downside being that the second week is always hotter and busier than the first. This week we had lots of kids from rough and broken homes which is harder to deal with as well.

With many of these kids they have never heard the Gospel (which is why we are so pleased they come to camp to hear the Good News of Jesus Christ) and need to know just basic principles, even in just being nice and kind to one another.

I taught the youngest group of campers; second and third grade which was a real treat for me! I just love that age group and my class of kids. I had 21 in my class, so it was a full bunch and I challenge for me at times to keep their attention.

In the gym where I taught both weeks, we had an unlikely visitor almost every morning: a frog. That was the first thing the kids would spot when they came in, so I would have one of the boys put it outside, which was a real treat for them.

Not too long after I would get started teaching, I would see pairs of eyes and little hands pointing to something behind me...our little visitor was back. Therefore I taught them a new rule for our Bible class: Don't watch the frog! Which then I was bombarded with from one of the boys, "It's not a frog, it's a toad." And then one of the other boys, "No, it's not. It's a frog." And then one of the girls, "I think it's a frog."

I came to the conclusion, "It's a reptile. Just remember that you're are not to watch the reptile...frog...toad...whatever it may be....that thing hopping on four legs." That made our Bible class....well...a little more exciting than others, I guess. :) I never knew I would be incorporating this reptile into the story of Ruth, but that I did! :)

I always look forward to the two weeks of camp and being able to make an impact on the lives of the campers that are there. Not only do they learn many things during the week, but it never fails that God has something to teach me as well. It's a wonderful opportunity that God allows me to minister and be a witness for Him those two weeks.

As the second week draws to a close, it's always a little sad to see the two weeks go by, knowing that it will be another year until we are back. But the prospect of being able to sleep in my own bed, not swamped in heat and sweat for most of the day and a little quieter of a day never sounds so good by the time Friday rolls around. And once I've had a few weeks break from camp, I'm ready to go back again! :)

Here's a review of the week and you can see more photos here.

teaching in the gym

The oldest girls had a massive shaving cream fight! :)

Jena and her girls played with balloons and shaving cream!

One of my little tag-a-longs for the week - Luke!

memory verse prizes and footprints

Shannon and I

Krissa's Graduation Party!

On May 28th (yeah, I know, I'm a little late in getting this posted!) Jena and I took Krissa to Wichita for a surprise graduation party with a couple of friends - Shannon and Ruth. They met us at Wild Buffalo Wings and just totally surprised Krissa when she saw them!

Then we headed to the mall so Krissa could "graduate" from Jena's list of credits. She had to do certain things worth so many credits to gain 150 credits to graduate. Finally...after much walking around, many giggles and lots of photos, she did manage to "graduate" with over 150 credits! We finished the day eating ice cream at Cold Stone. What a fun day full of memories!

You can see more photos of our day here...

Shannon taped Krissa coming into the restaurant
We had Krissa close her eyes until we reached the table.
It was so funny! :)
Click the play button to see the video.

taking a ride on the kiddie rides

seeing double????

things did get a little dangerous! :)

...and sisters! :)

ice cream....perfect end to the day!

Kid's Club Cook Out Final Night!

For the last evening of kid's club, we had a hamburger and hot dog cook out! The Bible Study group that meets on Wednesday evening also joined our group of kids! The kids had fun and did a wonderful job attending and memorizing for the year!

They even had some fun water games!

The teaching team - Jena, Terri, me
We decided it must have been the unofficial
jean-jacket-wearing night! :)

We also put together a video reveiw of the year!
The kids had fun seeing themselves up on the BIG screen! :)

Camp skit

I mentioned a couple weeks ago that I found a way to rotate videos in Windows Movie Maker and so now I am able to post the skit we did at camp a couple years ago. I haven't posted it online because the video was sideways and you had to turn your head to a 90 degree angle to see it.

Most of you viewing this probably won't be able to understand what is going on, but those of you - Josh, Ruth, Jenna and Jena - who were in it, you will find it funny. It's about 10 minutes long and the the tape ends before the skit is complete, but it's still fun to see again. I watched it to make sure it was playing ok here and just about laughed all the way through it!

And the part where I burst out laughing is not part of the skit. You see, Ruth and Jena had on these ridiculous looking glasses (not to mention their clothing!:)) and Ruth took hers off to see the Bible verse I was pointing to and it was just so funny, I started laughing.

Jena and Ruth got dressed with their clothing and wild makeup in the nurse's room at camp and I can still remember the first glimpse I had of them. It's a good thing I saw their costumes before we started the skit that night, because they looked so ridiculous.

In fact they were so dressed up that most of the campers didn't know who they actually were!

Because of the large video file, the skit is in three parts. Enjoy! :)

part 1



part 2



part 3

Holiday recap: Laughing videos

The last two years we have video taped our card games and it so hilarious to watch and brings back so many memories and fun times! This year we had many episodes of laughter, silly conversation and missing cards.

During our game, the phone rang. No big deal excepts when you have been laughing for the past hour, you can't help but laugh on the phone. Thank goodness it was just Grandma on the other end and she knows us well enough that she knew were crazy and laughing.

In this video we were all laughing so hard that Dad was the only one still sitting at the table. The next day Grandma asked what in the world was going on when she called last night. We just had to tell her we were laughing so hard we could hardly talk!

Here's the phone conversation:

And here are some snippets of our family fun evening:

Go get the bell!

I've wanted to use the new video feature Blogger has created, but haven't had something worthwhile taped to upload until today. I finally was able to tape Skittle running after her toy bell. This is one of her favorite things to do, but I never have a camera with me when it happens or the times that I go get my camera, she's done playing catch the bell.

You'll have to ignore the table legs obstructing the view; I was on the other side of my sewing room table, throwing the bell under the table to her. She's done this ever since she was a kitten and needless to say she will do it over and over.

Cinderella by Steven Curtis Chapman

Jena and Mary (a friend from camp) went to Wichita for a Steven Curtis Chapman concert last weekend. When Jen got home, she said I just have to listen to this song - I will absolutely love it!! But his cd is not out until the end of the month.

Well, my getting-more-and-more-knowledgeable-about-the-computer sister looked online for a clip of the song and found it! So here it is with audio and video! I just love it!! Thanks, Jen!!

Wheat Harvest: The "Hired" Truck Drivers

Dad started cutting wheat last week and "hired" two new truck drivers - Jena & Krissa. They have never driven a truck before, but did a good job after the first trip.

Dad drove with them the first time to the elevator at Ensign and then the next trip they were on their own. They had quite an adventure and were laughing so hard, it's a wonder they made it back in one piece in an undamaged truck.

They made it to the elevator while video taping their driving. Jena had to back up and the truck died. The guys at the elevator come outside and ask if they need any help; they were laughing so hard that they could hardly answer. Among all their giggles, she managed to get the truck started and headed home.

When Jen & Kris came back into the house, they were laughing so hard and said I just HAD to see what they had taped! They were so right; the video clips are just hilarious. I laugh everytime I see them again!

They had fun and the great part of it is that Dad can continue to cut wheat and not have to stop and take the truck into Ensign. That saves hours of time! He was a little skeptical when he heard about their adventures for their first trip, but he hasn't fired them yet!

Dad's hoping to finish cutting today or tomorrow. Jena has been driving the truck yesterday and today and had done very well so far!

Here is the clip that I think is the most hilarious - Krissa trying to get into gear!



Just acting like silly sisters! They didn't know I was taping as they were throwing wheat! :)



You can see more video clips and photos on my online photo album here.