It had to happen sometime. It was my day to write a blog, and I just plain forgot. I got home from work, rassled up some supper, watched an episode of Sherlock, read my book, and went to bed.
Let’s face it — some days are just not that interesting.
Fortunately, I have control of the blog publish date, so I can just tweak it a little, and no one will be the wiser.
Problem solved.
Project 365, Day 50.5
Tim
In our home, AWANA days are bursting full with the energy of family ministry. This year, Tim is heading up a new Drama and Serve team with 9 or 10 kids from the AWANA program. (Too much pie in the face last year, Dear?) Daniel is running the games for the Sparks and the T&T groups. David splits his time between being on the Drama Team and working as a leader in Sparks group. Sarah is on the Drama team with Tim, and I’m firmly planted in T&T administration.
Side Note – hugely miss having Rachel and Joshua here!! Joshua was an excellent games director and actor in Tim’s weekly skits. Rachel ran an amazing Sparks group with David as well as acted in the skits. Sigh. These kids who are wonderful and then grow up and go off to college. Harrumph.
Joshua and Rachel – summer 2007
Meals are always a challenge on AWANA evenings. We leave fairly early after, what is often, a crazy AWANA prep afternoon. Tim is usually gathering props, re-writing his scripts, printing things out, or coming up with creative serve projects. The kids are finishing up school, learning lines for skits, or helping me with admin stuff. I’m either already out of the house at a mentor meeting, or racing around printing out paperwork for the Sparks and T&T leaders. Full. Energy. Ministry. Serving. Faithful. I hope those are words spoken about our family.
Dinner?? Um, sorry family. Grab what you can for a snack, we’ll eat later.
David can always be counted on to help when needed.
Over the years of our involvement with AWANA (and I’m sure this is the same for families with busy sports schedules) we have tried all sorts of things:
Freezer crock-pot meals
Take-out
Eating out
Rotisserie chicken from the grocery store
Pasta w/meatballs
Soup
Sandwiches
Eggs and pancakes
Tonight I decided the kids could assemble a simple meal and have it ready for our evening dinner. Sarah filled an oversize casserole dish with frozen vegetables from Costco. Then she placed frozen chicken breasts on top of the veggies. Olive oil and seasoned salt and that dish was ready to cook.
Meanwhile David did the dishes while Daniel prepped a potato dish. He cut up red potatoes and layered them in another casserole pan. Sarah chopped up a big sweet onion and added it to the potatoes. Olive oil and seasoned salt and the second dish was ready.
Both pans into the oven. Timer oven set for 45 minutes. Delay start to make sure dinner was ready when we got home from AWANA. So easy.
Chicken & Veggies plus potatoes and onions. YUM
And then, because I Don’t do dishes anymore, after we enjoyed a delicious dinner, I cheerfully left the children working while I finished up some correspondence. Another busy day.
My evening kitchen crew!
Project 365 – Day 49
Kathy
When I agreed with Kathy to restart our blog with Project 365, I didn’t think she would be quite so … relentless about it.
My share of the project sounded like not such a big deal — just post a quick picture every other day — what could possibly go wrong?
I didn’t know there would be all kinds of rules.
Today is an odd-numbered day, so I’m responsible to uphold the sanctity of the Project. Never mind that I’m tired, and my bus was late, so I missed my train. Never mind that I spent all day in a 5th floor cubicle, and that I didn’t take any pictures today. Never mind that it is 10:40 pm, and I have to be up at 5:30 tomorrow morning.
“I’ll just use one of the great pictures I took yesterday,” I told Kathy, confidently. I took 87 pictures yesterday while we visited Mount Rainier for David’s birthday. A number of them were pretty darn good pictures, if I do say so myself.
“No, you can’t do that!” Kathy was aghast. “You have to take a picture today!”
“Since when?” I challenged, lamely.
“That’s what Project 365 means,” Kathy insisted, rather scornfully.
Fine. She doesn’t want one of my great pictures from yesterday, and hogged the day for her own pictures of that glorious mountain? I can roll with that.
This is the face of a man who forgot to take a picture today.
Today is also an historic moment in the life of our blog — with this blog we will exceed (in 2015) the number of postings from all of 2014, so some might say we have already succeeded in our effort to enhance our blog-writing.
It looks like it might be a pretty good year, for blog-writing.
Project 365, Day 48
Tim
Today is David’s birthday, and what a glorious day we had.
Awaiting his birthday breakfast.
Next weekend all three children will be heading off to winter camp with the church middle and high school youth groups. Normally they can count on plenty of snow with sledding and outdoor games to fill their happy hearts. This year, however, it’s been unseasonably warm, and the kids are starting to panic in the fear that there won’t be any snow at camp.
Cue – snow starved, sad, pathetic, worried faces.
I know, I know, obviously we do not live on the east coast. Sorry Boston, but here in Washington we have NO snow anywhere in sight, and the kids fear spring is rapidly approaching.
David decided he didn’t want a big birthday party this year. When he turned thirteen last year, we celebrated in style with an Olympic Theme. There were games, friends, pizza and an entire sundae bar.
How to make this year special without a party?
Snow! That seemed a pretty obvious answer. In the summer the answer is usually the beach or lake or pool or some combination. But, with camp looming SNOWLESS in sight, we definitely needed to do something.
Thankfully we live near an incredible mountain. “The Mountain” as folks call it around here.
If I would let him, Tim would pretty much take pictures of Mt Rainier ALL DAY!
The weather promised to be good. The Mt Rainier webcam promised some sort of snow. Even if it was just along the edges of the parking lot, I was determined to go. Daniel suggested everyone bring a friend on our mountain adventure. Smart idea! So James, Eli and Julia joined us. I brought Tim as my bff. 
I also let him drive and treat us all to food on the way home. I’m smart too.
Friends – check
Boots – check
Snow pants – check
Gloves, scarves, hats – check
Picnic lunch & sodas – check
Sleds (borrowed from friends) – check
And off we went. The drive was beautiful. It was sunny and warm without a hint of snow except for glimpses up on the mountain. Uh oh.
No jacket needed until we get to the mountain on this gorgeous Feb day.
On the way to the lodge – sunny and mild.
We walked the trail around Longmire – beautiful, but still no snow! Thankfully we “adventure” with the best group ever. And they know how to find fun in every aspect of the day.
The birthday crowd!
Climbing a tree
Upon reaching Paradise Lodge we discovered the sledding was closed (not enough snow), but, oh my, there was definitely plenty of snow! We bundled up in our assorted winter gear and set off to explore. The kids were soon way beyond us on the slope. Tim and I clambered, slid, climbed, and walked alongside the Lodge and up into the mountain snow enjoying the gorgeous day for ourselves.
Julia and Sarah
Run up that hill or slide down it – all fun!
At one point, we saw the birthday group – WAY up on the top of a snowy spot. We were down below, on a walking trail of some sort. The kids had climbed up from the other side.
Look closely – you can see them.
They had discovered a way to “sled” without sleds – basically going down on their backs with a “catcher” at the end of the hill. Thankful they weren’t careening wildly off the mountain, Tim and I climbed up to join them.
The kids are “thatta way.”
Or you could try sledding face down.
“This is the happiest I’ve ever been,” David exclaimed at one point.
My birthday boy!
That’s a pretty good thing to be able to say on your 14th birthday.
As always, I wish I had taken dozens (hundreds?) more pictures of our wonderful Birthday Celebration. But all that means, I’ve decided, is that we need to go back for another adventure soon!
Project 365 – Day 47
Kathy
From March of 2000 until September of 2004, our family lived in a green house, tucked in a small clearing in the forest about two miles up the Duckabush valley. Although our time there ended in difficulty and sorrow, I still remember being astonished almost every day that we were allowed to live in such a beautiful place.
Our little green house in the forest — there was a family staying there, so I had to take my picture rather stealthily, so as not to disturb them.
Personally, I really liked living there. Now we reside in the suburbs, but there is a part of my heart that still yearns to wake up each morning in the Duckabush. There is something about the tranquility of the valley that seeps into my soul — I feel like I can let my breath out … all the way out, and really be at peace.
Unlike Boston, we’ve had very little snow, this winter — Mt. Jupiter is bare in February! Very unusual.
That isn’t hard to imagine on a day like today. As occasionally happens in February, we’re experiencing a warm and sunny spell these days, and the whole valley was flooded with golden sunshine and blue skies, promising that Spring will come soon. (Of course, such days of promise are lying through their metaphorical teeth — Spring in Washington means rain, and lots of it.)
I never get tired of taking pictures of the gold leaf Refuge sign at the top of the driveway.
There was a Counselors in Training (CIT) meeting this afternoon at Wilderness Northwest (WNW) and I was the designated adult driver for the Lakewood contingent (we brought ten kids out in two cars). The meeting lasted for about three hours this afternoon, so I had some time to kill. Unfortunately, I neglected to tell my parents I would be coming, so they were away for most of the afternoon. I only got a few minutes to visit with them, which seemed rather ironic, after such a long drive.
The main lodge of the Refuge — locked, so all my pictures today are of the outside.
So I spent the hours being reflective. I reflected on how beautiful the Refuge is, and how much I miss living in the valley. I reflected on God’s goodness to me over the years, and how my eyes delight to soak in the gold and brown and blue and green of God’s creation. And I reflected on how I really should have brought a book with me, or at least a laptop.
The view from our road — such a pretty blue sky — what a treat, in February!
Being reflective is good for me. It gives me the time I need to shake all the thoughts in my head so that they fall down into their proper places, sort of like one of those toys for toddlers with progressive-diameter sieves, so that different sized pieces can sort themselves into discrete layers by size.
Like this toy, my brain needs time (or some pretty brisk shaking) to properly sort its thoughts properly.
I admit, some of my thoughts get stuck in the wrong layer, and then the metaphor breaks down pretty quickly.
One of the little ‘camping cabins’ that my parents have added, to expand the capacity of The Refuge.
It was a lovely afternoon, and I was a more than a little sorry to dispel the peace of the day by piling back into the car with six teenagers for the drive home. But we sang and joked and wended our way back to Lakewood, where I am also very much at home. Maybe my heart can learn to live with two homes, and take joy in both.
Project 365, Day 46
Tim
