Sunday Sound Out

What a long tiring week this was. Vacation bible school should really be renamed because it is NOT a vacation. Nor is camping, but we're getting ready to go camping this week too. Joe and I had a date for the first time in many years on Friday. It was nice to go out without any kiddos. Then Saturday, we all went to the Jelly Belly factory in Wisconsin and bummed around Kenosha for the day. Here are some pictures from that trip...











Here we have all the kids except...


...Brooklyn, who didn't want her picture taken thankyouverymuch.






This was taken right before Brooklyn fell in the lake necessitating a trip to a very icky Walmart to get her some dry clothes before stopping at Cracker Barrel on the way home.


It was raining when we left Cracker Barrel. The whole sky was very dark. Except this one little spot of light. As we watched, the heavens opened up and the sun peeked through. It was very cool. I wish I'd been able to capture just how dark the sky was around it, for as far as we could see.


And now for a little question answering before I go to bed...

Okay, question for you...What were some of the best ideas that you received from your fellow blog fans about car design? I'd be curious...Did you get to pass them on to Ford?
Did I miss where you posted the winner of the drawing for your autographed book for posting info to share with Ford?
Thanks for the reminder. I did get to talk to the Ford people and pass ideas on. You wouldn't believe how many of your ideas are already in the 2010 Ford line-up! I'll write up a post about my visit to the Ford manufacturing plant this week and announce the winner of the book.

It was great to meet you Dawn and I just loved it how everyone screamed when they saw you in the Expo Hall. You really are a famous blogger!
LOL! Yeah, in case anyone's interested, the way to get a group of people to scream when you enter a room is to enter just in front of an actual celebrity. In this case, I walked in right before Tim Gunn and everyone screamed for him. I only bowed, thanked everyone, and offered to sign autographs for a minute before I realized he was standing behind me.

Did you go to Sears (Willis)Tower and have someone take a pic of you standing on the ledge (new glass enclosure - even the floor - where you feel like you're floating in mid-air?
Nope. I was too busy napping going to BlogHer seminars and didn't have time to sightsee.

Do you ever feel overwhelmed by the gifts that God has given to you?
I'm overwhelmed by 6 particular gifts daily.
In a nutshell (or nut house, as the case may be) - yes.

I have a question for you... I'm thinking of going to the next BlogHer convention... firstly, are foreigners allowed? (Yes, Canada is 'foreign') And how do you get a roomie? Did you know your roomie and make arrangements ahead of time or can you request to be shacked up (ooo la la) with somebody (and, if so, is Matthew Perry going to be there?!?)? I think having a roomie would help me meet people. As long as they aren't lame, stinky or prone to stealing my half of the toiletries!
Yes, Canadians are allowed. LOL Two of my favorite Canadians were at this BlogHer, in fact. Susan and Janice from 5 Minutes For Mom were there. (They have an awesome site, btw. Check it out when you have time.) I just went to the hotel without a reservation and started knocking on doors until I found someone who took pity on me and let me room with her. But you can check the BlogHer website for information on booking a room and such for the 2010 BlogHer conference.

Weren't those butter bars delish? btw the fruit flies kept following me all weekend. Did they eventually leave you alone?AND did you make it to vacation bible school on time!
I didn't actually try the butter bars. Can you believe it? I had just chugged down 2 Izze sparkling juice things (I had never heard of these until BlogHer, but now I'm addicted) and I was too full to try one.
And fruit flies? Ummm no. I'm thinking maybe it's just you, Michelle...
As far as vacation bible school...well, I really thought of 9:00 as more of a guideline, if you will - a kind of a ballpark time to shoot for.

Awesome artwork Austin! Thinking about using that as a career path? I'm sure you'd be great at wherever that road would take you!
According to Austin, he wants to be either a hobo or a bagel salesman when he grows up. Yep, that's working up to your potential, hon. Go for it.

So is Austin going to school in Savannah or Sarasota when he graduates? Awesomeness.
I'm just praying he makes it through his freshman year of high school.

Question: When your first child was 3 yrs old, did you get to sleep in at all? I have been trying to sleep in even though Jazz wakes up super early. Then I got "yelled at" by some other moms. Just wondering what you did before you had the older ones to look after the younger ones in the morning.
I can't even remember back that far. I think my memory has suffered from lack of sleep.

Was Joe home polishing the shotgun?!
No! He's much more calm than I am about the whole dating/boys talking to our daughter thing. What's up with that???

That's right! They had the story about Jesus asking Peter to step out of the boat in the middle of the lake with him, didn't they?
I don't think they did that story. They did have the kids write down a mistake they'd made and felt sorry about on a piece of paper though. Then the kids gave the papers to the leaders who lit them on fire while holding them in one hand. The message was - when you tell God about your mistakes, God forgives you and forgets about it; the mistakes disappear. So the leaders lit these pieces of paper on fire and they instantly (poof!) disappeared in mid-air. They used magic paper that completely went up in flames and vanished before it hit the ground.
I give it a week before Clay burns down the house trying this one out despite my telling him a thousand times that they used special paper and he can't try it at home.