Good Books

I finished Karen Hancock's, Arena recently. It was fabulous!! A thoughtful and entertaining read with a strong allegorical message.

"Plagued by fear and disillusionment, Callie Hayes volunteers for a psychology experiment that promises to turn her life around. Unnerved by the mounting evasiveness of the research workers, however, she soon changes her
mind and asks to be released from the project. To her horror, the workers refuse, dropping her instead into a terrifying alien world amidst an ongoing battle between good and evil. With limited resources and only a few cryptic
words to guide her, she embarks on a journey that will change her life
forever. Will she decipher the plans the Benefactor has established for her
escape, or will she succumb to the deception of the Arena?"

I've moved on to my first Francine Rivers book, A Voice in the Wind - the first in her Mark of the Lion series. What a find! I'm loving it, too!



Waiting on base are:

• I Promise, Gary Smalley (reading for small group - on ch. 4)
• The Door Within, Wayne Batson
• Into the Deep, Colleen Coble
• From a Distance, Tamera Alexandar

Chocolate Chatting...

This is the new phone - and it's SO fun!! WAY too gadget-y for me, but cool to play with. It's the Verizon Chocolate - and lest you think us beyond our means - it was free - and it's my work phone. Nonetheless, it's been fun to tinker with...

Pass Me Not

I love hymns!!! While our church does the more contemporary praise-band thing, I still sing my favorites to my kids... What will I do when they're old enough to realize mama's bellering isn't all that cool? Anyhoo, I heard this one this morning on Pandora, and remember how much I loved it...

Pass me not, O gentle Savior,
Hear my humble cry;
While on others Thou art calling,
Do not pass me by.

Refrain:
Savior, Savior,
Hear my humble cry,
While on others Thou are calling,
Do not pass me by.

Let me at a throne of mercy
Find a sweet relief;
Kneeling there in deep contrition,
Help my unbelief.

Trusting only in Thy merit,
Would I seek Thy face;
Heal my wounded, broken spirit,
Save me by Thy grace.

Thou the spring of all my comfort,
More than life to me,
Whom have I on earth beside Thee,
Whom in Heav’n but Thee.

Fanny Crosby wrote Pass Me Not (that's her in the upper right), along with like a billion other well-known hymns, despite being blind from shortly after birth. She's got a really inspiring story... Check it out: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fanny_Crosby.

Fourth of July Festivities

My niece, Kate, snapped some shots of Noah at the annual Kahle 4th of July party. We both love his expression in the one on the left... and the others are fun, too. He was really into the firework thing this year - and LOVED the sparklers!!!! I can't believe he'll be 4 in a few weeks... We've come a long way from the little guy in the NICU. He's so funny, too. He's really proud of the fact that he's been to Children's Hospital twice...what a hoot! Like it's some badge of honor... heehee. I'd like to think he's calmed down a bit this summer. He'll sit and color now - and can write his name, so we're getting there. He's does have quite the vocabulary on him, for a half-pint, which makes Daddy extra-special proud. Like father, like son....

This One's for Shelly...

My sister-in-law lovingly hinted perhaps I oughta update this, considering I started it in January... and nothing since. I appreciate the kick in the pants!
I've been wanting to add recent pics of the kids at Easter, but I don't have access to any at the moment - so this'll have to do.
These are pics we had done at Sears on Good Friday. The photographer was SO patient and God bless my mom, who volunteered to come with me - because without her, I think we would have went home with shots of ears or feet - or better yet, Mommy's backside as she attempted to wrangle the two rugrats into sitting still for 1.5 seconds - at the same time - while looking at the camera - nicely. Nonetheless, I'm very pleased.
Don't let the sweetness fool you - they're zesty!!!

Sadly, the pic behind our title bar is the best family pic we've managed so far - and it's from this summer! Trying to cajole two *active* kiddos into simultaneous, singular attention on a fixed point is not for the faint of heart.