I want to thank Damon for putting into words just how special this pregnancy is to us. When he stood up in church to make our announcement he said something along the lines of how the blessings of Jesus are more important than football. I’m paraphrasing, and maybe I’m just writing what I wanted to hear, but really I am feeling so blessed by Jesus in this pregnancy. (And I say that while pushing down my heightened anxiety, a pregnancy symptom harder for me to ignore than morning sickness.)

Last week, during one of Fuller’s quiet times, I was resting on the couch watching Scrubs. It was an episode I had seen several times, but still special because it was the episode where Turk and Carla finally get pregnant. There are hi jinks involved in Carla finding out, but in the end there is a big scene where all their friends are gathered to hear the announcement and congratulate them.

And in the many, many times I have seen this episode, I never really paid attention to the song playing during the scene. It heard the words “I lift up my hands and I worship” and my ears perked up. Then the lyrics I heard were “It’s not that I’m worthy I thank you Jesus” and I guess my eyes got big because my favorite TV show was using a Christian rock band to support this wonderful scene celebrating new life.

We aren’t worthy for anything God gives us in our lives. It is just the reality of sin. But by the grace of God, here we are blessed with ten weeks of pregnancy and looking forward to a lifetime of love and care for a new little one. I thank you Jesus.

How do I speak of the indescribable to You
I will try to explain these feelings that are true
So looking to the sky I will sing and from my heart to You I bring

All of the words in all of my life that could never explain and never describe
All of my love, which is nothing to hide so I lift up my hands and I worship
I worship You

In your presence I forever choose to live
I will praise You for it’s all I have to give
So looking to the sky I will sing and from my heart to You I bring

All of the words in all of my life that could never explain and never describe
All of my love, which is nothing to hide so I lift up my hands and I worship

By Your grace You let me come talk to You
It’s not that I’m worthy I thank you Jesus
For the love that You have shown

All of the words in all of my life that could never explain and never describe
All of my love, which is nothing to hide so I lift up my hands and I worship

With all of the words in all of my life that could never explain and never describe
All of my love, which is nothing to hide so I lift up my hands and I worship
I worship You

Technorati Tags: Scrubs, Kutless, pregnancy, grace

While we were visiting Lake Martin, Damon busied himself with plenty of projects. His water canons were a big hit (best. dad. ever.), he installed wheels on his parents’ gate (best. son. ever.), and then he started planning his foray into the best. Uncle. ever. category.

As a kid, when Damon and his sister Vicki were at The Lake for two weeks in the summer, Albert (their dad) would set up a treasure hunt for the kids. This usually involved money and possibly diving to the bottom of the lake (a shallow part). Damon has probably told me in more detail, but I’ll spare you.

Damon decided it was time to bring the treasure hunt into this century and introduce it to Fuller, Nick, and Vivian. It stemmed from our Memorial Day present, a Garmin GPS. (What? You don’t give Memorial Day presents? You totally should.)

Damon and I picked up a nine piece puzzle from the dollar store and wrote a “secret message” on the back. We then wrapped each piece in saran wrap with an identifying symbol so the kids knew exactly what they were looking for.

Damon then attached each piece to nine different trees along the road.

Then he used the GPS to determine the lattitude and longitude of the clue and saved it in the GPS as “Clue One,” “Clue Two,” etc.

Damon planted an invitation to the kids in the mailbox. Getting the mail was a daily ritual for the kids, so Vivian (the only one who can read) was thrilled to find something in the mailbox for them.

The package contained a CD with a message from a mysterious looking man in the shadows. (The mysterious looking man looks like he needs a haircut.)

Soon after the message was played, the computer blew up.

Just joking. That only happens in the movies.

We took off in the golf cart and followed the GPS directions given by the lovely British woman trapped in the gadget. Vivian and Nick were having a grand time finding the clues and bringing them back to the golf cart. Fuller was moaning and groaning, and then threw up around clue four. Damon quickly drove Fuller back to the house while Vivian, Nick and I walked to clues 5, 6, and 7 which were all in the emergency landing area for medivac helicopters. We accidentally found clues 7 and 6 in the wrong order, but it didn’t matter. The kids were having fun!

After the nine clues were found, we ventured back to the house to put the clues together. It was rather easy for the big kids and soon they were looking at a picture of Diego.

Once they realized they had to put the puzzle upside down, it became clear. Or did it?

Turns out the message on the back was out on the lake, so we had to wait until Grandpa Albert came home and helped us go to the secret location of the treasure.

The treasure was found, the bag opened, and the loot distributed to the cousins. Candy, hats, kickboards, and some silly string were welcomed with open arms by the kids. Nick was constantly heard saying, “This is so much fun!” And Cool Uncle Damon enjoyed giving the kids an updated version of something he enjoyed as a kid.

Next year we will have to figure out how to top it.

Technorati Tags: Lake Martin, GPS, treasure hunt

The highlights of Fuller’s 2008 Lake Martin trip include the following:

• An allergic reaction to sunscreen, prompting a trip to Wal-Mart for Benedryl. Fortunately the hives subsided within 12 hours or so, but he did look pretty puffy and blotchy for a while.

• Stomach monkeys causing problems coming out both ends. Today a canoe trip was postponed when he vomited on the porch steps and his Spider-Man shoes.

• Fighting with his cousins causing plenty of time outs and life lessons. He is learning people who are older than you don’t always like it when you are in their face at 7 in the morning. And sometimes behavior like that gets you a knuckle sandwich.

But this fun is counterbalanced with lots of swimming, boat rides, and plenty of attention from four grandparents. He might be able to have ice cream again tomorrow, which will turn the fun quotient up over 100%. And if he gets to start running around the house with his cousins again, he won’t want to leave next Monday.

I’ve written before about Vista Print. They have supplied my husband with business cards before, and they were really great. We will definitely be using the cards next football season when Auburn Elvis makes his appearance at home games.

I will be heading to Orlando in September for a conference, and business cards with our updated URL is a must. When I traveled to Vegas last November, I had Moo cards, but they took such a long time to get to me.

At Vista Print they offer free business cards that look very nice. You have to stick with their designs and just put in your information, but the cards are still quality cards. (You still have to pay shipping, but it isn’t high.) The premium cards (the kind Auburn Elvis has) are really easy to create. You can pick from their designs or upload your own through the design wizard.

Also, the shipping is really fast. Damon ordered his cards and they arrived in a couple of days.

I would check out Vista Print. They have lots of products offered for free (self inking stamps, pens, magnets) and premium products like you can order checks for people who still do that (we don’t use checks any more).

Technorati Tags: Vista Print

On Sundays we relax a lot, usually napping and watching TV. As the day moves to evening, the television is usually turned to the Food Network, since food is pretty much rated G and Fuller is running from room to room playing his imaginary games.

This Sunday, after Fuller goes to bed, I’ll be waiting for 10 p.m. so I can watch USA Network’s new original series In Plain Sight. It looks like an interesting cop-type drama. The main character, Mary Shannon, is in charge of watching over federal witnesses entering the witness protection program.

I really like Mary McCormack, who plays Mary Shannon. She was great fun to watch on The West Wing and I think she will be excellent in this role. In fact, I think it is because of her I am excited to see this show come on USA.

The show has some other interesting characters. The one who peaks my interest is Stan McQueen, Mary’s boss. Except the bio says he is more a father figure than a boss. And apparently he is boss in name only since Mary seems to run the show. I don’t really know anyone like that in real life, but in my TV dramas, it does add an interesting twist to see how much the employee can get away with when undermining her father-like boss.

If you have USA, think you will watch it?

Technorati Tags: In Plain Sight, USA Network, Mary McCormack

Vacation stories later.. right now I just wanted to pass along some interesting links:

~Ikea Hacker posted our paper train stations hack the other day. We have been getting new visitors all weekend, so “Hello, new visitors!”

~Subway restaurants hate homeschoolers. This is very disappointing. I understand the prize is for a group, but as the commenters in the blog post suggest, a homeschool co-op or sporting organization of the homeschooler’s choice could have also benefited from the prize. Guess it is a good thing we like Chick-Fil-A and “Happy Donald’s” (aka McDonald’s) more.

~We might be heading toward buying a new all-in-one printer. The old one we have (a Dell) doesn’t pick up paper on its own anymore. We have to force feed it sheet by sheet. Very annoying. I keep seeing this Kodak printer on infomercials, starring Caroline Rhea. Anyone have any experience with it? The ink is cheaper because the microchip is not on the printer head, but in the printer. And the ink is supposed to be more durable because it works with pigments. I also like the idea of the separate tray for the 4 by 6 pictures. I love to know if anyone has one and likes/ dislikes it.

Technorati Tags: Ikea, Ikea hacker, Subway, homeschool, Kodak printer, Caroline Rhea

When I was sharing with a friend our lake house plans, I mentioned we would be going to church on Sunday. Her response was, “You say that like you don’t go to church.” The truth is, we don’t normally go to church when we visit The Lake. But this visit is special.

The church Damon grew up in is merging with another church. Today is Faith Presbyterian’s last Sunday before their merge, so Grandma Linda asked her children to come for the last service as just the Faith church family. So this morning is a mad dash to get ready and out the door before 8 a.m.

We are all rested and happy after a beautiful day yesterday. Some of us are a tad pinker than we were on Friday when we arrived, but we will live (and I will remember to reapply sunscreen sooner than I did yesterday).

Damon’s Aunt Frankie invited us over to her house to swim in her heated pool. This was a welcomed invitation since someone put ice in Lake Martin (as Damon said when he attempted to go in yesterday morning). We took the boat to Aunt Frankie’s house, so we had a relaxing time on the lake.

And with no intelligent segue to this topic, the wireless here isn’t working correctly. I might try to fix it this evening, but I might not try too hard. Keeping my laptop off is kind of relaxing, but I do suffer from a bit of withdrawl. The downside is I’m keeping our pictures to myself until I can upload them to flickr from the laptop. If you don’t see an update from us again until Monday evening or even Tuesday morning, all should be well. And, as mentioned previously, I do update from twitter when I have cell reception (which I don’t have here at The Lake).

Technorati Tags: Lake Martin, family travel

Gardening requires lots of water - most of it in the form of perspiration. ~Lou Erickson

After the poison ivy scare of 2008*, I suited up in long sleeves and finished clearing out the mass of growth behind our house. I was left with a rather tidy spot of dirt that looked… dirty. It was blank and boring.

I had imagined we would have a flower or vegetable garden in this area. It wraps around the side of the house going from total shade to full sun, making it tricky to pick out the perfect inhabitants. And then there was the concept of keeping up with the stuff… I would have to water and weed, deadhead blooms and keep the three year old from mutilating the pretty ones.

I worked hard last Saturday. I went to Lowe’s (by myself!) to pick up various plants- annuals, perennials, herbs, and one tomato plant. When I got home Damon had to help me get the tiller going and then I prepared the soil. Eventually I got down to digging holes for the perennials, found flower pots for the annuals, and put the herbs in a strawberry pot. Damon took charge of making an upside down planter for the tomato plant.

Originally I was really excited about the hydrangea plants, because I have always thought hydrangeas would look good next to our house. And I look forward to cutting the flowers to bring in the house to spruce it up. I bought two that already had pink blooms. We will see if they stay pink or turn blue (it depends on the pH of the soil).

However, my excitement shifted to the Sentimental Blue Balloon Flowers we planted on the side yard. They require full sun, and their picture looked pretty on the plant tag. Within a day of putting them in the yard, the blooms were starting to puff up to look like balloons. As they got bigger, they started to turn blue, and today our first “balloon” popped open.

Small blooms like that make me think our garden will survive and maybe we do have a little bit of green in our thumbs.

*I am still not sure if it was poison ivy or not. But I prefer to be safer than sorry.

Technorati Tags: garden, flowers, hydrangea, tomato plant, upside down tomato plant, sentimental blue balloon flowers

Comic books, cartoon characters, and Speed Racer have been at the front of Fuller’s mind these days. He really enjoyed seeing the movie last Friday with Damon and has been requesting comic books to be read often.

Damon has been playing with the Maredas Cartoon action in photoshop and decided to turn Fuller into a comic book hero. Basing his inspiration on Frank Miller’s The Dark Knight Returns, he dressed Fuller up in a black helmet and goggles. Then we spent about five minutes taking Fuller’s picture, much to Fuller’s delight.

After Damon’s photoshop voodoo was applied, Damon used tabblo to create a twelve panel comic page to replicate the first page of The Dark Knight Returns.

You can see the a bigger version of the comic on tabblo.

Technorati Tags: Dark Knight Returns, Maderas Cartoon action, photoshop, comic book, tabblo

Today was Free Comic Book Day!

We found out about this special day last year about an hour before the comic book store closed. When we went to the location on the website the store wasn’t there. It had moved and there wasn’t enough time to get there.

When other bloggers started twitting reminders about today, I made a mental note and reminded Damon of the special day. He did some more digging and found the actual stores in our area, including one having a costume contest.

Today, after getting through a few items on Damon’s to-do list, we dressed Fuller in a costume we happened to have on hand* and then we made our way to Comic Hound on Ringgold Road.

Here is Speed Racer and a guy who admires Speed Racer and shows it by wearing a t-shirt with Speed’s picture on it. You might know them as Fuller and Damon.

Comic Hound is the first comic book store I ever stepped foot in. This shocked Damon. It had lots of comics, some figures, and a table in the front with the stacks of free comic books to pick from. In the back of the store were the owners, sitting at a table with a Polaroid camera and some posters. They were really nice and Fuller got a little shy, not wanting to tell anyone who he was dressed up as. It was about 2 p.m. when we got there and we were told Fuller was the first person to come by in costume.

They took Fuller’s picture, I gave his information, and then we went to pick out our free comic books. There was a limit of one per customer (my friend Drew was allowed 5 at his comic book store). Fuller picked out the one with robots and cars (aka Transformers). I picked up Amelia Rules! and Damon settled on Hellboy.

When we got home (after a trip to Sam’s Club) the phone was ringing. Damon answered and found out Fuller was the winner of the $100 shopping spree at Comic Hound! Fuller wasn’t too sure about it (mainly because he was fighting going down for a nap) but Damon was thrilled to learn about the prize.

Comic books are already read to Fuller as bed time stories, and we look forward to the day he can read them to us. Probably not as bed time stories.

*Damon made this Speed Racer costume for himself in 1996. He was a waiter then and wore it to work on Halloween. The shirt was waaaaay to big for Fuller, but he still looked cute. Especially when the helmet would tilt funny on his head.

Technorati Tags: Free Comic Book Day, Speed Racer, Comic Hound