crayola factory

Next stop was the Crayola Factory in Easton, Pennsylvania. Easton is a neat little town. At the Crayola Factory, there was a demonstration about how they make crayons and markers. The kids really liked that. There were many, many stations set up that the kids could use to make different craft type things.

Nice photo opportunity. :)

The top floor of the Crayola Factory was the National Canal Museum. They had a very large water table thing that had locks and canals. The kids were able to work the locks and take their boat from one end to the other. They really liked that too.

I think we actually make it to the New York City pictures tomorrow! :)

lehigh valley ironpigs

The Lehigh Valley Ironpigs are a minor league baseball team located in Allentown, Pennsylvania. They have a brand new ballpark called Coca-Cola Park. Handsome was still really excited about ballparks at this point but the rest of the family, including Baseball Addict Jr. (aka Little Man), were pretty much over it. Just for the record, this is ballpark #3 so far in the trip.

hershey's chocolate world

We stopped in Hershey, Pennsylvania at Hershey's Chocolate World. In the town of Hershey, all the streetlights along the main road where Hershey kisses. Some were silver like this one and some were brown. Sorry this picture is not so good - we were in the car.

The entrance to um, Hershey's Chocolate World. :)

The Hershey factory has a free tour with a sample of chocolate at the end. The kids thought it was neat. We ate dinner in the food court and wandered around the store. The parking was free for a certain amount of time (I can't remember but it was plenty). This was very family friendly, cheap outing. Of course there were PLENTY of places to spend money but it wasn't a necessity. Which was a good thing, because New York City was expensive! :)

what's the capitol of pennsylvania?

The capitol of Pennsylvania is Harrisburg. Here is a picture of the State Capitol Building. I find State Capital Buildings interesting. We have quite a collection of pictures started.

And of course, there is a baseball park in downtown Harrisburg. I believe this is the one that is on and island in the middle of the river. Really neat. Commerce Bank Park is the home of the minor league team, the Harrisburg Senators. I promise that tomorrow we will move on to something other than ballparks (briefly).

vacation pics - finally!

Lots of pictures to share so I'll share a few a day for the next week or so...Feel free to skip them if they are boring. :) We went to New York City for a few days but we took our time so the first few sets of pictures are places we stopped along the way.

This is Consol Energy Park, home of the Washington Wildthings, in Washington, Pennsylvania. Beware - there are a few more minor league parks coming your way! The Wildthings are part of the Frontier League (and that hopefully means something to someone, because I have no idea!).

common ground

I've been waiting patiently for the magic day when I would just feel better and back to normal. I would be able to jump back into the swing of things and ta-da! it would all be smooth sailing.

Not so much. That magic day has been elusive. I do feel stronger every day and I ditched the heavy pain medicine a couple of days ago. Still have pain, but would rather know what day of the week it is and that kind of thing, if you know what I mean. And the pain isn't all that bad, really, considering the scheme of things. Have I been vague enough for you?

If so, you'll enjoy this story. The kids started soccer practice this week. Little Man was practicing in the front yard with his dad, Handsome. With one well aimed shot (or not so well aimed, you decide), Handsome was out of the game for a while. He came slowly walking into the house with Little Man trailing after him. Little Man kept asking him why he was leaving the game, it wasn't over yet! Handsome kept saying that he just needed to sit down for a minute. Little Man was clueless. I figured it out just by looking at them and in order for the game to continue, I offered to just stand in the goal (because I'm sure not running these days). As I went out the door, I asked Handsome to rescue me as soon as possible. He said that I just didn't understand. I looked at him pointedly and reassured him that I was still recovering from a surgery that clearly made me understand - if not trump - his momentary handicap.

He acquiesced. (Wow. Big word for me. It really just came to mind like that. The meds must really be gone! I surprised myself!) We were amused by the irony of his injury. By the way, he's fine. Thanks for asking. :)

Anyway, the schedule got all messed up and I have Baby Girl here with me for a few days and we've been trying to get school supplies and the like. I can only handle being gone a few hours at a time so it's been hard to accomplish much. We did get her school supplies. We also were able to get her physical so she can run cross country. But that's a whole different story for another day...

Glad to be back among the blogging...I've missed it. And yes, I promise for the second or third time, the vacation post is coming, as is one on the book I've been reading...soon...

life happened

I know, I know, I promised vacation pictures and deep thinking posts not too long ago.

Life happened.

I'd been on a waiting list to have surgery. The kind of surgery isn't important (or more accurately, I don't want to go there out here on the interweb) but they called on July 1st and said I finally would be able to have it done on July 23rd.

Right smack in the middle of Vacation Bible School at our church. And I was in charge of the Preschool part of the program. Notice I say was, because although I did two days of it this week, my wonderful mom rescued me by doing the other three.

Surgery was successful and I have a long term recovery ahead of me. But at least there is light at the end of the tunnel now.

So I still will get there with the pictures and the posts. But first, let me get these pain meds out of my system. Otherwise, who knows what I will say?! It's taken me two days to get this much written, as it is.

I'll be back soon. :)

last tween year

i remember
the awkwardness
of twelve

being big
but little

having my opinions
but not being heard

wanting to play with dolls
but feeling dumb for doing it

my body changing
but not making sense to me

hating the peer pressure
but not knowing how to say no

wanting to be respectful
but my mouth having other ideas

putting outfits together
but not knowing if they really match

playing with makeup
but seeing a clown in the mirror

wanting a best friend
but never knowing who i could trust

trying to be confident
but second guessing my every move

the list goes on and on
and some of them are still true

but mostly
God and i worked it all out

i'm excited to see
how God works it all out for you

my baby girl

happy number twelve

braces

a trip to the orthodontist
in preparation for the big day
little rubber bands
jammed between her molars

today her mouth hurts
as the teeth protest the move
and a diet of jello and pudding
is quickly growing old

two weeks and counting
until the big day of braces
she is actually excited
in that unknown kind of way

i took a moment
to look at her smile
being with her dad for the summer
i don't see it much

(well, i don't see it much
anyway
she is almost twelve
after all)

i watched those big teeth
in her small mouth
and thought back to a time
when her teeth were small too

she'll be twelve on sunday
it's so hard for me to believe
she's almost as tall as i am
but in her mind, she's much taller

every year
as the birthdays pass
i wonder just where the time has gone
and how they got to be so big

so yes
she is excited about her braces
i'm sure the novelty will wear off
way too quickly

but for me
those braces symbolize
yet another step forward
another step in growing up

and i wonder just where oh where
my little baby girl has gone
but i look forward to watching
her blossom into a young woman of God

pretty smile and all

julio

Meet Julio. He's 5 and from the Dominican Republic. He lives with his mom and dad and one sibling.

He's also the newest member of our family. Well, kinda. We are sponsoring him through Compassion International. I love their motto: Releasing children from poverty in Jesus' name. How cool is that? By committing to give monthly, we help ensure that Julio will receive medical and dental care, be able to attend school, and be given at least one balanced meal a day. Most importantly, he will be involved in a program that will teach him about Jesus Christ.

For a long time now, I've had it on my heart to sponsor a child. Ever since I was a little girl, I've felt the God-hurt of compassion when I see people suffering. It just doesn't make any sense to me. I want to reach out and put my arms around them and help them know it's going to be okay. The children are what touch me the most. They have no control over their circumstances, nor do their little hearts understand what is happening. Luckily, they are resilient but that doesn't mean it's easy.

I think that if I hadn't got married and had a child so young, I would have ended up in some foreign country loving the daylights out of some kids. That's actually still a dream I have. I hope one day to have the financial resources to be able to go on mission trips. Right now, it just isn't feasible monetarily but someday. There is no fuller feeling of Christ than loving and working hard in His name. Sometimes God has to take our mistakes and make blessings out of them. And I am blessed for the road I've taken, and I wouldn't trade my daughter for all the love in the world. I'm just saying that I have always felt the pull of these kids.

I hope to make this a family project. It takes you out of your comfort zone to think of another's needs. My kids need that. They forget or don't care about how blessed they are. Unfortunately, they are materialistic. Common for a kid, but worth working on. What better way for them to understand than to show them an actual child who they can pray for and write letters to? Julio's favorite activity is baseball and that will go over well here. I also picked a child close to my son's age so it would make it more real for us.

I'm not saying this is for you. But I do ask that you think about it. We are so incredibly blessed and we could, in turn, pass that blessing on to another family. That's what being a follower of Christ is all about.