All 4 of us were home, so we (some quite reluctantly) posed for a quick photo by Curt-man! It may need a little photoshop work, but it holds some fun memories!!

me & Buddha

THE BOSSES photo

Mom & the 4 kids

Mom & Mrs. Goodman -- BFF!

Mom & Mr. D

Lindy, me & Steph (87 grads!)

Dawn & me

My dear Pastor & his wife w/ Mom

Mom surrounded by all of her bosses
What fun memories :)

What I Should Have Shared

I want to say just two words, “She’s real.” She’s the same Jody at home as she is here, to all of you. Isn’t that reassuring? She’s authentic. I wish I’d ordered my t-shirt. It’d say, “Don’t you wish Jody was your mama?!?” I’m not wishin’ – ‘cause she is!

And, for Daddy, another few words, “Mrs. Proverbs 31.” He always praised her as that to us. May we arise today & call her blessed. She’s worth more – is that not what I heard? Yes, she’s worth far more than rubies! Yes, she’s worth more than a computer, desk chair, camera, and all that. She is– and one day I know she’ll receive the crown of life. One day, she’ll get her rewards. It may not be while we’re alive here on earth, but that’s because Jody didn’t pursue things for herself, did she? She pursued things of eternal value. She could’ve pursued her own goals – a career, or whatever. She’d have been far greater than a secretary. But, I’m convinced that the four of us wouldn’t be the men/women we are today if she had. It was 10 a.m. prayers each day one summer and things like that that have forever changed us.

What is easier? To make much of yourself – to follow after your dreams – or to make nothing of yourself – to make yourself a servant to all – and to point others to Jesus? Yes, I think the title I heard wasn’t “Jody, competent secretary whom nobody can replace,” but “Jody, one who points others to Jesus” who will SORELY be missed (evoking tears from the best of us, eh?!?). She’s not the lady about whom you all say to your children, “Aspire to be like her” – is she? Do you say, “Go, be a secretary?” No! We want MORE for our children, don’t we Dr. Bradley??! J Ahh, but I don’t.

I never realized how smart, how capable, how admirable my mom was ‘til I had to fill her shoes – to make nothing of myself, my own selfish pursuits – to be a servant, love others and most of all to love & be like Jesus. But, yes, I’m telling my kids that here’s a lady worth emulating. “Be like Grandma Jody.”

My thirteen-year-old daughter wrote a paper this past fall. It was about her cheerful servant of a Grandma. The one who’s always giving gifts and thinking of others before herself. It was “Jody, pointer of others to Jesus.” So if my teenager doesn’t want to chase after all kinds of things to be all about herself, that’s fine with me. I’m glad she’s recognizing that the truly important character qualities are those exhibited in her Grandma.

So, is Jody retiring? No! She won’t be secretary of _________ any longer, but she’ll still be “Jody, pointer of others to Jesus.” And, selfishly, I’m glad she’ll be more available to be that to my children. May her children arise and call her blessed. Mrs. Proverbs 31. She’s real … because she’s like Jesus.

I love you, Mom.

Love,

Lara

(3 am thoughts by Lara)

Well, here's a quick photo summary of our Memorial Day. (except for the parade -- no camera then) We slept in a bit, had a quick breakfast & Dan took the kids in for the parade. I was grateful to have a jog, hang out some laundry & deliver cupcakes to the park all by my lonesome! We went to Liberty Park for the annual chicken bar-B-Q. Boy, can Doc cook some very juicy, delicious chicken! We had fun playing in the creek, tossing a frisbee, exploring the beaver dam, etc. Dan scared me with this frog right in my face while I was talking on the phone to his mom. I'm sure she's deaf in one ear as a result of my scream.

We came home for a restful afternoon. I headed to the mall for wedding gifts while Dan worked on his pick-up. The kids just lounged around reading, playing Webkinz, etc. This evening after bagels & such for supper, the boys had much-needed hair cuts by Daddy. Then we had s'mores around the campfire. It was fun to stay up late. Hope I won't be regretting it tomorrow when I want lots of good help cleaning out the school room! :)

Emily's hymn

Marci - Pop Goes the Weasel

Jared - The Pet Shop; Just as I am

Marci on violin. She thinks this sounds pretty terrible. I'll blame it on our archaic recording system! I think we need to updgrade to a digital video camera.

Well, that's all I have time for at the moment. Maybe I'll put some more clips of my favorite students up later on. I'm very proud of "my" musicians!

Well, today we were diligent students until about 12:30. We had a picnic lunch again -- sandwiches, pretzels, fruit & veggies. The kids enjoyed smoothie-popsicles while I read a story from Mrs. Piggle Wiggle. They LOVE those stories and her ingenious solutions to every-day, real-life kid problems! Today was about table manners. :) I think I have forgotten to insist upon some of the manners, so they found it quite amusing as well as informative. (i.e. Jared didn't realize he should wipe off his milk-moustache every time he took a sip of milk!)

This afternoon Emily & I read more of The Hobbit. She keeps begging for another chapter, but I had to get the car washed this afternoon. While washing up the old Herbie, I noticed two old tires. I was moving one of them and it took off down the hillside very quickly. It rolled across the road & all the way down to Jones Creek. The kids thought that was incredible. After we dried Herbie Sr., we all hiked down the hill to find it. Marci found it first, but Emily brought it back up to the garage. She's buttering me up for a couple books that are in the surprise box. A ten-minute task for two books. Hmmmm. Not quite enough work in my book. So, now she's making me dinner (chicken quesadillas!)

Briella is noticing signs of spring for her Math Meeting book. We are amazed at the transformation as the leaves pop out! Titus is showing me the surprise from K12 for guessing a riddle in an e-mail or something like that. Jared is telling me about a picture in his latest Nature Friend magazine. The rest is self-explanatory & my dinner is ready!!!

Just more photos of stocking the trout.

Fun spring days here -- with daffodils all blooming. It's really, really hard to make the kids stay inside and do much school. We've been taking our books to the deck, but I confess that I've been a slack teacher. I know these 70-degree days of warm sunshine just won't last ... and then we'll buckle down again! In the meantime, the forts in the woods have had a lot of action. Grandpa Verlin will be pleased to know the hammock is rarely empty as well.

Today we met some friends at Snake Creek (just down the mountain) and helped stock the creek with buckets of trout. Fun, fun! It was a gorgeous day -- and who cares about Spanish class when you can touch fish & slip into the creek?!? This evening we had dance lessons, so the younger kids and I played at the park while the big girls danced. I had fun reading a couple chapters of a book, walking the path & helping little people go potty. The last part really wasn't fun, but it's part of it. I called Jenny & she had to take little people potty right when they got to B's soccer game. Goes with the territory of motherhood I guess!

Goodnight -- and don't forget to remind them to go potty BEFORE leaving the house! (although, sometimes it doesn't matter). And, goodnight!

E & I are reading The Hobbit -- one of the perks of homeschooling -- a justified excuse to sit in the sun & savor a good book! :)

We saw a really cool woodpecker on our mailbox as we drove out to the library program this afternoon. I talked to him and he pecked the mailbox back to me! Too bad the zoom is so poor! He was awesome!

The bee program was really cool too. The beekeepers shared that only God could have designed such an incredibly efficient animal (when considering the hexagonal shape of the honeycomb). How cool is that?!?? Marci got to be the queen bee. Jared & Briella were baby bees. I'm just glad Jared wasn't one of the drones! Jonah was a drone -- he didn't quite understand and piped up loudly, "I'm a Jonah Bee!" He was too adorable.

All for now!

Here's a family shot taken by Becky. And, then here's Bill, Becky, Phil, Jared & Briella. We had a fun afternoon at the Maynard's. Superb food, wonderful friends, fun games, beautifully decorated table w/ really cool napkins by Sarah, other people to play with my kids, etc.

We had four kids in the song time: "Run, Peter, Run!" Later Dan sang in the choir & Marci played her violin, but I couldn't get a good shot of them. We had our new Pastor fly up from Florida to preach. We are excited about their move and helped clean the house they will stay in for a while.

Will try again later on the video... 3 attempts is enough for me!

Last Saturday we celebraetd Shannon's shower at Aunt Terrie's. Grandma Ree was looking good with freshly painted nails and all! Shannon was the most adorable, of course. Aunt Terrie and girls had a wonderful spread of food. We shared lots of laughter and met some of A. Terrie's dear friends of many years. Got to see the boys too, but no photos of them. The girls enjoyed the trampoline, as always.

We watched a bit of TV Land with Grandma before heading back home. Here's a quick photo of my girls!

We celebrated Marci's 12th birthday today. Usually we get to celebrate with family, but this year we had 6 girls over to commemorate the day. (Turn your volume down when watching the sledding movies!) We started the day with games in the living room. They liked the secret signal game & trying to guess who had the signal. It worked better with adults, but you should see the way Titus raises his eyebrows & wiggles his ears! After game time we gather for lunch with Marci's requested menu: cheese soup & frog-eye salad followed by strawberry cake. The girls liked the soup, but were a tad suspicious about the salad because of Jared's description of how they caught all the frogs. After food, we opened gifts. Marci loved all of them! Then, for the best part... s l e d d i n g! Marci had been praying for snow and just overnight we got some fresh powder perfect for some outdoor winter fun. Like I warned you, turn the volume down:

The only "downer" was that Emily was feeling sick most of the day. She perked up & ate cake for supper this evening, so she's on the mend. Unfortunately, I'm feeling very worn down. I think it must be going through the ranks. Dan flies out to Iowa tomorrow, so he's trying to stay away from all of us. Have a great weekend!

The best part of opening gifts for me, the mother, was when Briella gave him one of her old toothbrushes. It was such a genuine token of generosity and she was so pleased with her gift to him. When he opened it, we weren't quite sure if it was used or not. Then she proudly proclaimed, "And I gave Titus one of my old toothbrushes!" I could not contain the laughter as I hugged her tightly. She loved that toothbrush ... and she unselfishly gave it to her little brother. Fortunately Titus had a visit from the dentist at Story Hour the very next day and was given a brand new toothbrush!

Grandma Jody gave Titus the "Little Man of the House" t-shirt. The clothes fit perfectly & Titus certainly lives up to the tee. He loves the pick-up & trailer because it matches Daddy's. He hauls his little tiny CAT on it ... just like Daddy. I had to chuckle to myself that night as I looked over the arrangement of toys before bedtime -- he had everything all lined up & that CAT was on the trailer. The next day he was in heaven playing with his new airplanes from Grandpa Verlin & Grandma Jane ... and filling them up with gas whenever they ran out. At least it was free gas! Thanks for all the generous gifts from all :)

Titus had a very yummy chocolate cake made by his big sister, Marci. It was the recipe off the Hershey's chocolate cake box and boy, it was good!

Titus talked on the phone to Grandpa & Grandma just before the gifts were opened.

This weekend we had the Luce's over for dinner. Mrs. Luce brought a chocolate cake, so we sang to Titus. We had planned to sing to Ben too since I had his birthday marked as last Wednesday, the 13th. I called him & everything thinking he was certainly teasing me by saying, "Hey, it's not my birthday!" How did that get recorded on my birthday list last fall, Benjamin!??

And, then Christie helped Briella get rid of that last front tooth!! So, she's got the cute toothless grin now :)

This evening we took the youth group to serve at the Scranton Rescue Mission.

Testing out a scrapbook page.

Look! I’m 40!!
Come celebrate with me!
Wednesday June 13th 5-7:30pm, Liberty Park
We’ll have hamburgers, hot dogs, cake, etc. Wear your creek-playing clothes! Fun games for all!
R.S.V.P. 967-0976

We drove over to Kessler's Tree Farm for a Christmas tree today. Unbelievably warm weather, so it didn't quite seem like "Christmas weather." More importantly, it's not suitable for hunting deer. Today was opening day for rifle season, so the orange could be seen throughout the surrounding woods. Dan was lamenting the fact that there was no snow and that the deer would not be about, but I saw a dozen on my jog up the road and about nine on the way back down. Who knows?!? What would you do to cool the meat down with temps in the 50's?
Tomorrow we hope to get some lights & ornaments on the tree. Our deck has some lovely clear lights decorating the railing. I love cheery lights! The more the merrier!

Thanksgiving 2006. We had such a nice, quiet day at home -- just the seven of us. Wednesday I spent a good portion of the day in the kitchen making jello, cranberry bread, pies, sweet potatoe souffle, etc. It would make the next day more restful! Wednesday night we attended the Thanksgiving Service at church where we looked at Deut. 8. This passage was in my Beth Moore study. It would come up again during the 30-hr Famine. Was the Lord trying to tell me something or what?!?
The girls played with their American Girl dolls. The boys played nicely as well. I was able to get some photos in an album before 11:00. Then we started to work on mashed potatoes, fresh bread, setting the table and baking all of the side dishes. The turkey was smelling GOOD! We ate about 1pm. Later that day we enjoyed a game of dominoes. Briella was excited to make her own train and she ended up winning the game! Daddy followed with a close second and Jared came in third.
Although we desparately missed being with family, it was restful and relaxing to have a quiet day at home.

Biography Dress-up Night was Monday, November 13, 2006.


Here we have Johnny Appleseed, whose favorite book was the Bible and favorite place was being alone in the woods; Marie Curie, the scientist who invented radium and the first woman to win the Nobel prize;
Johnny's big sister Elizabeth Chapman who took care of him when their mother died while the two youngsters waited for their father to return from the Revolutionary War in NY; and Willa Cather the author who spent her formative years in Red Cloud, Nebraska.

Briella's cast is removed! Nov. 10, 2006:

The latest in fun at the Rose house : "Rock-n-Roll in my car jammies!"

Haven't had much time for keeping you posted. Here's a quick photo from a family camping trip with several friends from Iowa.