what do ya'll think???

So, how do you guys like LAUREN'S blog?????? Yup, this blog is now officially mine!

Question??????

Ok, so who thinks that I should take-over my mom's blog?????

that is all for now

~*~*~*~*~*~ Lauren ~*~*~*~*~*

Bored

wow, i am really bored. Let me see how many times that I can write that word:

bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored

I am too bored to go any further.
by the way, i think that was 51 boreds.


~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* Lauren ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Bowling

So, we went bowling on saturday at the Lighthouse Lanes... I must say that I did pretty good! I got a score of 84.... WITH bumpers, thank-you very much! Yup, i used bumpers.... it was a blast.... well long story short, I lost to Camille Reynolds who scored a 117!



~~~~~~~~Lauren~~~~~~

Rascal Flatts

I Have Been Singing Rascal Flatts all Day!!!!! I love that one called Stand.....

~~~~~Lauren~~~~

Apologies

Please excuse my mother's absense...... hopefully she will realize that her standings in Hillenblog's rating system is going down..... maybe we will finally hear from her sometime soon.... again, I apologize for her.

Sincerely,
Lauren

Baseball Season is in FULL SWING!

What I Love About Winter

As we all start throwing open our windows, going to the parks, taking walks on something that doesn't tell you how few calories you have really burned in 45 minutes... I am reminded that we are not far from saying goodbye to Ole Man Winter for the first part of 2007. I say, "good riddence!" But in my efforts to remain a positive person and always striving to think the best, I will share with you what I will miss, come Spring:

Scrapbooking (yeah right)

A fire in the fireplace that burns the REAL wood

A predictable, although full, schedule

A Big Cedar cabin getaway, complete with movies, hot chocolate, and plenty of stuff to read, sprinting to the out door hot tub with the kids, and yet another fire in the fireplace. Yeah, I love that.

NO PESKY HOUSEFLIES!!!!! I forget, they will be coming back soon, and I will cry on that beautiful, sun drenched day when I spot the first one in my house. Oh please, God, spare Roygersville of this plague!

That's all for now, I would list 10 things if I could think of 10.

Ode to Lauren

Being a Mom is an awesome trip and I have the most amazing 12 1/2 year old girl on the planet.

She is strong willed and a little stubborn, yet tenderhearted and concerned for the needs of others. She the type of girl who will always stand up for what is right even though it won't be easy. She is daring enough to ask those really hard doctinal questions that send me running to my husband for the words to explain it. She has endured 6 years of parent imposed piano lessons even though she doesn't want to, and she is quite good .
On top of all this, she is an awesome swimmer!! This weekend she went to the Div. II swimmeet, where teams from MO, AR, and KS come compete and try to get Div. I times so they can move on up to the really big meet in Wichita. Not only did she qualify for the meet, but she WON the 100 yard breaststroke!! Out of approx 30 girls in her age group, she won 1st place! Way to go Lauren!! We are so proud of you and all your hard work! Although this blog will probably embarrass you, it's just my way of announcing to the world how wonderful you are! However, you will never have to win a medal or make all A's to get us love you any more than we already do, you are incredible just the way you are.
I know that you can do anything in this life that you want to, if you set your mind to it and God leads your way.

I am so glad I get to be your Mom.

One Man Band

I have nothing of interest to say today, so I'm just gonna dig through my archives of pictures and find something that will make you smile. Ah Ha! Here's one...

"Tho none go with me, still I will follow..."

:-)

Blogger blessings via my sister:

Go here to read a story about a precious little baby, friends of my sister's family. But don't do it without a Kleenex box ready. You will be encouraged by the faithfulness of God to this family, especially at the bottom where the Dad quotes scripture about the child with some beautiful pictures. Go ahead now, click on the link...

http://www.xanga.com/NateDogg34

Summer longings...

Just study this picture and remember... Summer is coming. Though it may not be right around the corner, it is coming.

But for now, with numb fingers and a cold nose, I'll put on my running shoes and hit the treadmill... inside where it's warm.

Day 13,696

I am pensive this morning. I just finished reading up on many other bloggers out there, and I am amazed at the extremes. I read about missionaries and their travels, friends finding a dream home, watched the Rachel adoption video (quite a tear-jerker), and even read about a teenager dealing with serious health issues. As I read through the poems and pictures, I felt as though my day is quite uneventful. That can be a good thing, really. And I'm not depressed, just feeling small, I guess. This world is huge and there are so many people out there, some experiencing sheer delight while others deal with pain. I have been in both places and somehow, it makes me thankful for my ho-hum day of buying groceries, planning my calender, picking up my kids from school, and going to choir practice tonight. Funny thing is, I know that it's all in God's care. The mammoth events as well is my kids homework. I am reminded, though, that each day is a gift, it's also a number, too. If, Lord willing, I have 27,300 days to live (75 years), then I am currently somewhere around 13,696. So, whatever I do with my day now, I should do it well. I should set my goals and work hard to reach them. I should run that 1/2 marqathon this year, I should finish college (someday). Because, at best I have only 13,604 days left, Lord willing. :-)


So, this is what my day holds...

Meeting Shannon at "Social Supper's" to book a date and try out a meal, more on that later...

Getting a space heater for Nathan's room becasue it is so cold in there.

Watching over Greg and a friend tackle the double oak tree that collasped on our fence and let 4 cows and a bull out onto our front lawn last night. They even made it to our front porch!

Kids home from school, homework, dinner, church, and finally bedtime.

It may be ordinary, but it's my day, and I will love it.


By the way, a huge CONGRATS to the Burch's. What a JOY to bring that baby home!!!

Happy 10th Birthday, Nathan!

Disclaimer

After that backlash of comments on my most recent post... ahem... I thought I should clarify something. My perspective on the Great Ice Storm of 2007 was very "cushioned," you might say. I know that and was not trying to take away from the sufferings of so many other people in our area. Many of you are still without power and I have offered a warm place to sleep for as long as you like. Some are dealing with the loss of trees, and major damage claims. To that I do not turn a blind eye. For that is my husband's main job right now, handling all that who have business with his company. He is, in my eyes, up for sainthood after last week. My heart goes out to all of you who have shivered in the dark for 10+ days. It is quite creepy to drive by certain neighborhoods of Springfield after dark. I so wish I could help them rewire and be normal again.

So for those of you who happened to read my last post, [and I know you have because I have the counter ( thank you Hillen)], I was just trying to show how much fun we had in the middle of a trial! Really people, let it go! Know that I am the eternal optimist and I try to look for the party in the midst of disaster. By the goodness of kind hearted friends and family, we found some fun!
My Dad always said, and I think this is from Ronald Reagan, too... "If you enter a room filled with manure, start diggin'. Why? Because with all that manure, there's gotta be a pony somewhere!"
So that brings up a question for you, my readers for whatever reason: what blessing did you find? Did you see character blossom, or recieve help from others? did you find a good meal or a hot shower because someone else was nice to you? let me know what you think, if you dare to find the good, if you dare to comment... :-)

Ice Storm 2007: How we passed the time

Oh, I'm so glad everyone I know is still alive! How we have suffered! We lost power for 6 whole days, but are now up and running at full capacity. This is what happened in memo form:

*Pre-ice storm... Our precious Duke got kicked by Cheri, the overprotective Mom of Presley the calf and broke his leg clean in two! Well actually it wasn't so clean, more like 6 chards of bone. This is now Greg's main sidekick, next to me, of course, so Duke had a 2 hour surgery to repair the leg. He will soon be able to do amazing things.... being bionic and all.

*Big breakfast with the card guys who stayed over, that was fun, cooking on my gas stove, I felt so pioneering.

*"When the going gets tough, the tough go to the CHATEAU!" Yep, we really did. And a big THANKS to HelterShelter, I loved it and I am not embarassed to say so!!! You see, we thought this whole power outage scam was about a 2 night deal, so we thought we'd have fun with it, there's stuff for the kids to do AND they allow dogs! It was a white dog convention everywhere. But don't worry, my dogs were the ones NOT wearing sweaters.

* Day 3, out to the Rodery's in Roygersville - fun, games, and my first try at sleeping on a water bed. very sloshy, but so warm!

*Days 4 and 5, back down to Branson, this time we were at Big Cedar! Another shout out to the Lennards for providing this fun, warm, place to sleep, complete with an empty your freezer protein feast one night, a new dressing called "Power Outage Viniagrette," and endless hours of swimming for the kids. I haven't laughed that hard during a game of Taboo in a very long time.

*Day 6, Dinner with the Reynolds, TACOS, yum. But I'm sorry we ate so much! :-) The kids had so much fun there, it just feels like home. I stayed with Greg's Mom while Greg babysat the generators and eventually got to unhook them! Yeah!!

So, Friday we were back up and running, Saturday Nathan had his awesome 10th birthday party, 10 boys, 10 light sabors flashing everywhere. Sunday we went to Nakato to celebrate again!!!

There you have it, our ice storm woes. I have learned to say "yes, thank you," when someone offers me a blessing and I am eager to return the favor any chance I get. I just wish I could do even more...

Finally, my first post of the new year! Some of you consistant bloggers are way ahead of me. However, I personally had a bit of a rough start to 2007.
Here you see a picture of my kids in snow gear - yes, we went skiing the first week of Jan!! A huge shout out to our friends, the Lennard's, for taking us to their place in Beaver Creek, CO. It was a tight fit for traveling with all 11 of us (equalling approx. 15 suitcases) but everyone had a blast. What an awesome place! It's beautiful, so much to do, lots of people from all over the globe, fantastic dining, healthy, more natural lifestyles... I'm wondering if the Lord needs my family's help in starting a church there... Ha.
I could show you many pictures of happy smiling kids, friends, mountains, etc., but the truth is, I didn't take but a few. So all the shots I have are courtesy of Miss Suzanne who happily hosted my week. She cooked all the meals, gave me medicine, picked up a sick Nathan from ski school one day, and flat out took care of all of us. I now call her "Mother." It's hard to be so sick when on vacation, I only stepped outside the condo into that fresh mountain air 2 times in 5 days. I regretted both times. Bronchitis set in deep with a fever and quickly the highlight of my day came when I could take another dose of Tylenol. I traded in my lift ticket and all my gear for a nice visit with a Resort Doctor who came to my room with the much needed antibiotics, and left with my right arm. ($$$)

Ahh, but it's Colorado, and how can you go wrong there??? Although I was sick, I still think the entire trip was well worth it. The kids went to ski school for 3 days, Lauren only 2 days. And here is my quick thought on that: it may be expensive, but WOW, it was worth the investment. All 3 had a great time, loved their instructor, and now can enjoy it anytime we want to go. They each have the basics down and will just build on the skill level every chance they get.

Greg's highlight - skiing all of day 3 with his 12 year old daughter who not only kept up with him, but even beat him down the mountain a few times! Green slopes no more, they were hitting the Blues!! and Lauren with NO POLES!

"Thy righteousness is like the great mountains; O Lord, thou PRESERVEST man and beast." Psalm 36:6 I'm not sure who the beast was last week, but we all were preserved and made it home safe!!

So we're all home now and settling into this new year, a new schedule, new challenges, goals, and dreams. Rough starts can be just that, a rough start and ONLY a rough start. There were just too many other great things that happened to our family to think of it as a bad sign. Here it is, Jan 10th, and I am resolve not to make any resolutions, but I will set goals. I may even share some of those with you here in my online journal... But for now, let's just get started.

Have a great day!!

The Gift

A special Gift, a starry night,
a chill is in the air,
friends new and old come gather 'round,
a joyful time to share.
Melodies dance on open hearts
as we celebrate the Life,
remembering the promised One
born in a manger that night.
Our Saviour, Messiah,
the Prince of Peace,
took on human flesh
to wrap 'round Diety.
This little Child,
He gave me hope,
and now I want the world to know...

For Him we sing,
To Him we pray,
Remembering the Gift this Christmas Day.

A Picture's Worth... Felony Charges?

Note: This is not a paid advertisement. :-)

I found this great new photographer in town, a gal I've actually known for several years now. Her name is Dawn Shields. Write that down. A few years ago she got into photography and now it's pretty much her thing. So this past October we actually organized a real sitting at the Veteran's Memorial Cemetary out near Springfield Lake. We showed up right at 6pm to get the perfect light and she went right to work. We had to trespass onto private property in order to get to this really cool bridge, but getting this awesome shot is worth being a perp. Ahh, but trespassing on private property isn't the only trouble we got into that evening. Read on...

We finished all the pictures at about 6:40pm, we stood around and chatted for a few minutes, then we all piled in our cars to leave the park. The sun is now setting, and we pull up to the gate only to find it LOCKED. Yes, we are now LOCKED inside a cemetary during the last week before Halloween. Not good. The kids thought it was really fun at first, till Daddy had to call 911 to come get us. Fortuantely, the 911 people called the Sherriff, who called somebody, who called somebody, who finally came to unlock the gate and gave us all a good talkin' to. I thought our photographer would die of embarrassment, but it all turned out fine.

Back to that photographer, I think she did a great job and I wanted to tell you all about her. Go to Dawnshields.com and check her out. She's traveled all over the place now and learned from some incredible teachers. Thanks Dawn, and I hope you don't get me in trouble for scanning this image in order to brag on you! :-)

The Roy Rap sheet now includes:
Trespassing onto private property
Being in a Public Park after it's closed and locked up like Fort Knox
Not stopping to pray for the soldiers who have passed on to Heaven
Copyright infringement

A great portrait IS worth it, unless this blog gets me into trouble now. 

The Falling Ice Story

Many, many thanks to these guys for literally bailing us out of a tough situation.

May I explain? Greg's Mom (who will remain nameless for privacy sake) has had a few bad turn of events lately. First she took a faceplant on some concrete a day before Thanksgiving. Now that she's all healed up from that nasty fall, we thought we'd keep things interesting for her.
This past Sunday, Greg got up early to go to the office and try to shovel the melting ice off the roof. The workspaces below were quickly turning into a scene from the Titanic with a steady stream of water filling trashcans and ceiling tiles falling down with the water. OK, so it wasn't quite like the Titanic, but it was bad and needed some immediate attention. So, Greg loaded up the ladder and a shovel and went to work. Later that morning, his Mom stopped by to make a few calls to see if we could get someone there ASAP. Ice was melting fast, computers below, not a good thing. They talked inside the office first, then Greg said, "I'm getting back to work." He goes up to the roof to keep shoveling, and his Mom continues to work the phone. Or so he thought. For only moments later, he sends a shovel full of ice over the side of the building, right on top of her head! She had stepped out at just the right(wrong) time, at just the right(wrong) spot to be on the recieving end of a hunk of ice. She yelled and ran in the office, blood all over, and began to worry about her suede coat. Greg called 911 who came and took her to the ER, and 7 STAPLES and a CT scan later, she was released to go home.
During all this, I'm taking the kids to their band and piano recitals, Lulu, the other Mom, is coming into town, and the office is STILL CAVING IN. That's when these guys showed up. They brought their shovels and a willingness to give up their Sunday afternoon at the busiest time of the year. I'm sure they all had somewhere else they'd rather be, but instead chose to shovel ice off the nasty, flat roof of an office building. It was hard work, but they got it done, and seriously came to our rescue that day.
The office is drying out and Betty (oops) is healing up nicely. She is amazing, by the way. Took those staples in the scalp without painkiller or even tears. She has not complained or even accused my husband of attempted murder. :-) For that I am grateful. For EVERYTHING we are grateful!

Guys, I publicly say THANK YOU:
HILLENBLOG ( no suprise, headed it all up and made the calls)
HILLENBLOG JR
MATT B. (Do you have a code name??)
NICK BURNS
JEFF B. (I know you have a code name, but I forgot it)

And to my husband... You are such a hard worker, diligent, and dependable. When something is wrong you fix it right away. Thank you for sticking with your job all these years and placing your family first in your life. Our family is reaping the rewards of having you be the one in charge of our home. Thanks for never letting your kids win at the board games because you want to teach them that life is not fair, putting the real score up in the basketball game even when we're losing by 35 pnts, driving faster on the curvy roads when I'm nauseated, and basically just putting up with me. I love you more today than yesterday, and just wanted to let everyone know it. :-)