Can I Pass Algebra?

Yes, I can.  Actually, I can ace it!  I have crossed several items off of my "101 Things to do" list, though, I have to say, I'm most proud of this one. 

I know what your thinking, "Okay Miss. Smartypants.  Quit bragging now!"  You need to understand something before making your judgement.  I worked HARD and PRAYED harder. 

In my mind math, especially in the form of algebra, is an atrocious, dreadful, monstrosity!  Yes, I know that it is needed at times but, hey, isn't that why they invented calculators?  The honest answer is that I am simply horrible at math.  Junior high and high school were a nightmare for me when it came to math.  I can not even begin to explain to you the sheer panic that rises up in me when a math equation is set before me and I don't have a clue were or how to tackle the problem. 

This difference between this math class and all the others that I have taken is that I gave it to God before I ever entered the first day of class.  When I did finally walk into class for the first time, panic just about paralyzed me.  It was even worse than in high school.  If you think about it, it had been 10 years since I had taken any kind of math.......and I was thinking about it! 

One of my favorite verses popped into mind.  2Timothy 1:7 "For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline."  I suddenly went from math phobia to "I can conquer anything!" 

Anytime I felt that fear rising back up in me I would think on this verse and pray, "Lord help me.  You designed all this math anyway.  Will you put some of it in my head?" He did!  I found my self praying this multiple times a class in the beginning but as the days went on my math confidence grew.  I didn't neglect prayer, I just didn't feel panicked. 

Thank you Lord for being the master of everything!  Thank you for answering my petitions in such a way and for growing my faith in you.  You alone are God and there are NONE like you!

Home Grown Goodness

I LOVE to garden. When hubby and I first got married, we rented a small home with a smaller yard. There started my fixation on gardening. At that time, it was only flower gardening. I just wanted my home to look different from all the others.

A couple years later, we moved to a home with a little more than an acre. The landscaping was already very pretty with lots of flowers. My only job was to beautify more without ruining what was already there. I think I succeeded.

My favorite part has been learning the names of all the plants that grow around our yard. We are surrounded by wooded land and there are all kinds of wild things that grow next to our yard. I have learned uses for many of these things. For example, did you know you can make a salve out of jewel weed to put on poison ivy? It works extremely well! You can also take some of its flowers and rub it on mosquito bites and the itch leaves in seconds.

I have also tried vegetable gardening in the last couple of years. I can not explain to you the complete delightment that I get from growing something from a tiny seed, watering it, weeding around it, harvesting it, and then finally serving it with, or as, a meal and having my family relish it.

Have you ever tried fried pumpkin blossoms? It must be food of the angels. It tastes like a cross between a morel mushroom and a fried green tomato.

Do you like to garden?  What is your favorite home grown treat?

Day Dream Believer

I did it! I finally finished my list of things I want to do. I was inspired to finish this list after watching the movie "The Bucket List." Tell me what you think and what you would put on your list.


Not in any particular order...

1. Read through bible in one year
2. Get a degree in Elementary Education
3. Learn to drive a stick shift
4. Get an A in algebra
5. Read every book that Liz Curtis Higgs has written
6. Walk in a marathon
7. Camp at Yellowstone National Park
8. Travel to a different continent
9. Learn Spanish
10. Skydive
11. Lead my "little sis" to Christ
12. Read the Word of God everyday for the rest of my life
13. Get 50 blog followers
14. Get to a healthy weight
15. Finish painting Olivia's room
16. Memorize 10 scriptures this year
17. Camp 3 times this summer
18. Buy JJ Hellers newest CD
19. Scrapbook 10 pages this year
20. Go on a mission trip
21. Finish every page of my Bible study
22. Go one week without any sweets
23. Do one art piece on canvas
24. Stand in two states at the same time
25. Eat at a formal resturant
26. Go on a cruise
27. Complete one nature journal
28. Try sushi
29. Have at least one family night every week until kids are grown.
30. Have date night with hubby at least once a month
31. Give an encouraging word to someone everyday
32. Learn 10 new words this year
33. Read 10 books this year
34. Play in the mud while it's raining
35. Make a birdhouse
36. Complete this list
37. Break 100 in AWANA
38. Sing a duet with my sister
39. Write the novel that is floating around in my head
40. Raise children who are after God's own heart
41. Clean my room and keep it that way for more than a week
42. Put a walking trail in our woods
43. One summer with NO sports for the kids
44. Get a full body massage
45. Pray for my children's spouses daily
46. Train my dog not to eat my flowers or shoes
47. Complete a fast without cheating
48. Attend a midnight Christmas mass at a beautiful cathedral 49. Visit Jeruselum
50. Get some teeth whitening strips
51. Learn to do a cartwheel
52. snorkel
53. figure out how to display the header I made on Powerpoint
54. Figure out strike through
55. Coordinate VBS 2010
56. start small group study
57. Take another vacation to Williamsburg
58. Be in a play at the Park Theatre
59. Learn to identify 50 kinds of trees
60. Build a shed/craft barn
61. Get all the laundry done
62. Pay off all credit cards
63. Make a quilt
64. Go to an opera
65. make a pottery piece on a pottery wheel
66. milk a cow
67. drink fresh cows milk
68. talk to someone in sign language
69. go snow skiing
70. go house boating with family
71. stand on an active volcano
72. sit on a jury
73. conquer my fear of math
74. worship with persecuted church
75. take dance lessons
76. work in a soup kitchen
77. learn to pan for gold
78. be able to make breakfast, lunch and dinner from things I've grown.
79. hike the Appalacian trial
80. take an art class
81. go canoeing
82. have lunch on an airplane
83. Leave a 100% tip
84. watch a broadway play in NY
85. Visit Ireland and Scotland
86. Sleep under the stars (not in a tent)
87. Attend the Olympics
88. Play paintball
89. Make maple syrup candy-Laura Ingle style
90. Get a passport
91. Drive a motorcycle
92. Go to the Kentucky Derby
93. make exercise a regular habit
94. Keep in touch with my closest friends, forever
95. Ice skate with my husband on Christmas Eve
96. Blow glass
97. Carve my name on a tree
98. Stand on the Great Wall of China
99. See the northern lights
100. Shower in a waterfall
101. Learn to juggle

The Big Choice

Hello bloggy friends!

My daughter has been asking me for awhile if she could write on my blog. She loves to write but at the age of 11 is not ready for her own blog. That said, friendly reader, please read below and if you would be so kind as to leave her a comment, then she would be a mighty happy little girl.

The Big Choice

Almost every body thinks life is so hard. But I am about ready to prove that wrong! Because if you trust in God things may not be so hard. That does not mean things won't be tough or that you won't have to work but things may be easier . You should trust in the Lord anyway though. I feel that if you don’t believe and trust in the Lord with all your heart and all your soul you will NOT go to heaven! That’s why I am on the mission to bring people to Christ. I think that everybody has a choice of where they go or where they do not go. I believe everybody has a choice.


Written by: Olivia Rice
7/1/10

Letter to the World

This is a post that I published several months ago. I've decided to repost this after lots of questioning about sending my children back into public school. Enjoy!




Recently my husband and I made the decision to send our little ones back into public school. This was after 3 years of homeschooling. It was not an easy decision.

When our little girl went off to Kindergarten, it was exciting and melancholy. She was (and is) the sweetest thing. We watched her as she came home excited to be reading her little books and telling me all about counting pumpkin seeds. She also brought home something else...an attitude! She was picking up mannerisms and phrases from her friends that went against the things we had taught her. We also noticed how she suddenly shied away from praying in public and later found out that a teacher had scolded her for praying aloud at the lunch table.

A year later our little boy was off to Kindergarden. He was also bringing home this attitude. Although he wasn't shying away from prayer, we found that he wasn't standing up to what he knew to be right. He was following what ever child he thought was most exciting.

The hubby and I prayed and prayed and worked and worked and prayed some more. We just couldn't seem to alter what they were picking up at school.

We discussed this with several family members and close friends. Most of them just said, "Well, that's just what happens. Nothin' you can do about it." One or two suggested homeschooling. Homeschooling? Seriously?!

After more prayer, that is exactly what we decided to do. There were other reasons also but this was by far the biggest. I wasn't raising my children! I can't even say their teachers were. It was their peers. Ummm, that doesn't work for me.

Not long after we made the decision, I went to a homeschool conference. So much information cramped into one tiny weekend. One thing stood out to me. There was a father who gave a talk about "Sending you letter to the Word." Your letter(s) being your child(ren). I don't remember all of what he said but I remember what the Lord said. It went something like this:

Kristi, your letters are not finished. You are allowing someone else to write on them. They are confused and jumbled and contradictory. You need to earse. Rewrite and revise. Be honest. They can understand more than you think. I will let you know when the letters are ready to be sent.

It went something like that.

I learned long ago that when the Lord speaks, follow! No questions, just go.

So for the last 3 years that is what we have done. It has been quite a trip. Within a couple of months of homeschooling and lots of prayer my children were being transformed. People were commenting on it. I'm not trying to paint a picture that my children were awful, because they were not. It was more like a return of their innocence.

Let me tell you, I (and hubby) have poured everything we have into those letters. I don't want to look back and see that I held anything back or that there was an area that I didn't give myself completely. Sure, we have made mistakes, but I always ask my Father to let them learn of Him inspite of my wretchedness. He does. He is faithful when I am not!

Then, in the middle of this school year (December) He told me it was time to put on the postage. This was much harder of a task than any other. "No way Lord!" I said. He gently reminded my that He loved them far greater than I or hubby could ever hope to and that He had great things planned for them. So we, however relectantly, sent our letters.

Let me just tell you, for anyone afraid of letting go of the letter, it is wonderful. God is doing amazing things. This is nothing like when we sent them off before. That was when the world told me it was time. This is God's timing.

Our son, in 3rd grade, now has half of his class coming to church every Wednesday and Sunday night. He is known throughout the school as the "little evangilist." Our daughter, now in 5th grade, has the sweetest tempermant and makes sure to include everyone. She also is bringing friends to church. They tell me about praying with friends. They tell me about how they have stood up to peer pressure. They tell me how they have messed up but then asked for forgiveness.

I thought of this this morning as I sent them off to school. These letters are not yet finished even though they have been sent. Our God is so mighty that He allows me to continue to write. So this is my prayer, "God, breathe the words you want written onto us. We can't write this letter, but you can. Give us the words, guide our quill, just as you did those who wrote the love letter that you sent to me."

Gone but not Forgotten

I just wanted to take a moment and let my bloggy friends know that I have not forgotten them. The start of this summer vacation has been tremendously busy. I will be writing about some of my adventures in the near future so please stay tuned!

Home Sweet Home

“He is the happiest, be he king or peasant, who finds peace in his home”

You know that house out in the country on about 5 acres that has haunted your dreams for years? The one that you have to take a long twisting drive and go through it's own covered bridge when you finally arrive at the 3 floor brick home that is surrounded by a forest. Well, it's for sale! Yes....I'm serious....I saw it. Yeah, and the housing market makes it affordable!

I have dreamed about living in that house since I was about 12 years old. Our family moved in 2 miles from "the house" at that time. Every time we drove past my face would be plastered to the car window. When I rode my bike to my friends house I would always stop to take in the sight. I would try to peak through the trees to get a glimpse of it's splendor.

Our family moved about every two years. I would try to imagine that in my adult life I would have a sweet little family, a garden, woods, and a home that I never wanted to leave or move away from.

I've had my eye on that house since Joel and I began our family. A couple of years ago the house came up for sale, but it was sooooo out of our price range. Still, I have paid close attention for my opportunity. Somehow, someway, I was going to get this dream. Of coarse I would. After all, I have petitioned the Lord for so long. "Lord, let me have this one thing! The home of my dreams. A place where I can go to feel peace, get rest, and raise my little family."

A dear friend told me the other day, "The house is for sale!" "What," I thought, "I missed it?" She then went on to tell me that not only was it up for sale but that it had been foreclosed on (imagine that in this economy) and was well within my price range. Oh glory! I rushed right over and took a long look at the home. I then rushed home and called my husband up, "PLEEEASE, let's go look at it!" I said.

When the conversation was over I was on cloud 9! I hung the phone on the receiver and spun around to go get the number to our realtor. When I turned, there on the wall adjacent to the phone was something that caught my attention. My children's growth chart. Nine years ago, when we moved into this home, I started the chart. I wrote right on the wall. There was Ethan's height marked on the very bottom. He was just one when we had moved in and now is 10. He had grown so much and Olivia's latest mark was just inches from the mark that read "mommy."

Tears flooded my eyes as I saw my home in a whole new light. Memories flooded my vision as I remembered Ethan's first steps, Olivia playing with her kitchen set, highchairs, slumber parties, puppies, standing in the middle of the living room, devastated as I watched the world trade center fall into crumbles. As, I walked around our home I came to the realization that God have answered my many pleas.

We have been here NINE years. I always love being home with my family. I feel peace and know that God dwells here. Joel and I have worked on this home all these years, molding it into our haven, our retreat center.

I got into the car and drove past the dream home one last time. You know, it just didn't have that power that it had held over me all these years. As I was driving home the Miranda Lambert song came on, "The House that Built Me." As I pulled into my own driveway I was filled with emotion as I thanked the Lord for His great love for me. It's really not the physical house, it's my family. Wherever they are, I will be happy. So, for now, this is were home sweet home is to me♥

GO VOTE!

GO VOTE!!!!!!!!

Politics, not the Place for a Christian?

This video was taken secretly by a woman posing to be a 14 year old girl who is pregnant by a 31 year old man. The woman who is "helping" her does not care in the LEAST. She tells her nothing about the health risks of an abortion. She gives her lots of help when it comes to how to pay for it and how to bypass her parents.




Do we no longer have any rights over our children? They can walk into a clinic, get an abortion, birth control and a judicial bypass without ever telling us? Something has to be done now!

It is time to rise up as a holy nation! We can't stand by any longer and say that politics is no place for a Christian. There is NO WHERE else we are more needed. We can't stand by and just keep letting this happen to the unborn. Nor can we allow our children to continually be put under attack! Let me tell you, THE WORLD DOES NOT CARE ABOUT YOUR CHILDREN. No where does the Bible say we should separate our Faith from our country. Read for yourself the book of Esther. Especially the following selection:

Esther 4:14 "For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father's family will perish. And who knows but that YOU have come to royal position for such a time as this?" I know that this is talking about the Jews but I believe it applies to all God's children, especially the unborn.

Remember, all Christians are in that royal position. 1 Peter 2:9 "But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light."

That is exactly my prayer at this time. That all Christians would rise up at this hour! That they would claim the freedom that Christ has freely given them and rise "out of darkness into His WONDERFUL light." Then, and only then, will thousands of innocent lives be saved!

A Little Prayer Please

It's been 4 1/2 years since the day I thought my world was crumbling. That was the day that my then 6 year old was in a terrible ATV accident and was lifelined to Kosair Childrens hospital where she spent 4 days in intensive care and 8 days total. She went in and out of the hospital for a little over a year and was in more pain than I can bare to imagine.

After that first year it took a lot of time for her to even feel safe playing. She was so scared. After a year of therapy her doctor told us she should stop taking physical therapy and start riding a bike like other kids. It took a lot of convincing and a lot of prayer but over the last 3 years she has gotten back into a normal routine. She plays basketball, dances, rides bikes, runs, climbs trees, and even skate boards. We have been praising Jesus all the way. Even the day of the accident, we praised His name.

You always think that there are certain things that you just don't think you could get through. A very wise lady told me something one day that I will never forget. She said, when I thought about something that was happening to someone and the idea came to me that I just didn't know if I could make it through it, that I was exactly right. Neither could that person have made it before that very moment. But at that moment and that one only does God extend His grace in order for you to survive, more than survive. He gives you the grace to go through it, as I did, knowing that all is okay, that He is in control, and that I can praise His name no matter what storm arises.

That's why today when we found out that our beloved little girl will have to have addition surgery(possibly 3 maybe more) I will continue to praise His Holy Name! I am clinging to the promise of Matthew 10:29-31 which states: "Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So don't be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows."

So, as the song so poetically states, "I will praise you in this storm and I will lift my voice!"

If you have a couple of minutes, please pray for our little one. Thank you beloveds!

Spotlight Artist of the Week

I'm so happy to present to you, Liz Curtis Higgs. She is my favorite author. She wrote the series "Thorn in my Heart." If you haven't read it, you must!

This is her new book, "Here Burns my Candle." I just got this book and haven't been able to put it down (other than to write to you dear reader). Hey, we all need some mommy moments! So watch this little blurb about her book and then come borrow it from me and sit a spell up in one of my Northern Red Woods with a cup of Earl Grey and let Liz take you back to 1700's Edinburgh.

Letter to the World

Recently my husband and I made the decision to send our little ones back into public school. This was after 3 years of homeschooling. It was not an easy decision.

When our little girl went off to Kindergarten, it was exciting and melancholy. She was (and is) the sweetest thing. We watched her as she came home excited to be reading her little books and telling me all about counting pumpkin seeds. She also brought home something else...an attitude! She was picking up mannerisms and phrases from her friends that went against the things we had taught her. We also noticed how she suddenly shied away from praying in public and later found out that a teacher had scolded her for praying aloud at the lunch table.

A year later our little boy was off to Kindergarden. He was also bringing home this attitude. Although he wasn't shying away from prayer, we found that he wasn't standing up to what he knew to be right. He was following what ever child he thought was most exciting.

The hubby and I prayed and prayed and worked and worked and prayed some more. We just couldn't seem to alter what they were picking up at school.

We discussed this with several family members and close friends. Most of them just said, "Well, that's just what happens. Nothin' you can do about it." One or two suggested homeschooling. Homeschooling? Seriously?!

After more prayer, that is exactly what we decided to do. There were other reasons also but this was by far the biggest. I wasn't raising my children! I can't even say their teachers were. It was their peers. Ummm, that doesn't work for me.

Not long after we made the decision, I went to a homeschool conference. So much information cramped into one tiny weekend. One thing stood out to me. There was a father who gave a talk about "Sending you letter to the Word." Your letter(s) being your child(ren). I don't remember all of what he said but I remember what the Lord said. It went something like this:

Kristi, your letters are not finished. You are allowing someone else to write on them. They are confused and jumbled and contradictory. You need to earse. Rewrite and revise. Be honest. They can understand more than you think. I will let you know when the letters are ready to be sent.

It went something like that.

I learned long ago that when the Lord speaks, follow! No questions, just go.

So for the last 3 years that is what we have done. It has been quite a trip. Within a couple of months of homeschooling and lots of prayer my children were being transformed. People were commenting on it. I'm not trying to paint a picture that my children were awful, because they were not. It was more like a return of their innocence.

Let me tell you, I (and hubby) have poured everything we have into those letters. I don't want to look back and see that I held anything back or that there was an area that I didn't give myself completely. Sure, we have made mistakes, but I always ask my Father to let them learn of Him inspite of my wretchedness. He does. He is faithful when I am not!

Then, in the middle of this school year (December) He told me it was time to put on the postage. This was much harder of a task than any other. "No way Lord!" I said. He gently reminded my that He loved them far greater than I or hubby could ever hope to and that He had great things planned for them. So we, however relectantly, sent our letters.

Let me just tell you, for anyone afraid of letting go of the letter, it is wonderful. God is doing amazing things. This is nothing like when we sent them off before. That was when the world told me it was time. This is God's timing.

Our son, in 3rd grade, now has half of his class coming to church every Wednesday and Sunday night. He is known throughout the school as the "little evangilist." Our daughter, now in 5th grade, has the sweetest tempermant and makes sure to include everyone. She also is bringing friends to church. They tell me about praying with friends. They tell me about how they have stood up to peer pressure. They tell me how they have messed up but then asked for forgiveness.

I thought of this this morning as I sent them off to school. These letters are not yet finished even though they have been sent. Our God is so mighty that He allows me to continue to write. So this is my prayer, "God, breathe the words you want written onto us. We can't write this letter, but you can. Give us the words, guide our quill, just as you did those who wrote the love letter that you sent to me."

Spotlight Artist of the Week: JJ Heller

I adore her voice! What a gift from the Lord and what a powerful message to us all to reach out to people and love them just as they are. I will definetly be posting more by Ms. JJ Heller in the near future. So tell me, what was your reaction to this song?

Please Consider

I don't know if you have ever been to the Dare 2 Share Conference but you should consider going. We take our junior and senior high every year. The last couple of years we have taken them to the Chicago location for the conference. Dare 2 Share is exactly what it sounds like. It gives teens the know how to talk to their friends, family, and strangers about Christ in a way that makes it a little easier for them.

The kids are challenged while they are there to call one of their friends on their cell phones (no teenager is without one!) and share the Good News with them. Some of them graduate right away from P.U. (persecution university)! We all consider that an honor.

When we first started attending (a mere 6 years ago) there were only about 400-500 teenagers that attended. This year there were more than 6,000! Praise be to God!!! These "krazy kidz" are really impassioned about The Cause of Christ (the great commission)!


One thing really gave me Holy Spirit bumps this year. Greg Stier, the pastor, was talking to all of us about the next Great Awakening. He was telling us that all the "Great Awakenings" have started with teenagers. He then began to tell how he thought the first one did also. You know, Pentecost.

You may not agree with me but just consider this. It is very possible that Jesus--the Promised Messiah, the Only Begotten of the Father, our Savior and Lord--was a youth leader and that the Apostles were under the age of 20 Consider: Jesus Himself was only 30 years old when He began His public ministry.

Consider: Jesus paid the Temple Tax and provided the tax coin for Peter. Men had to be over 20 years old to pay that tax. The Bible doesn't mention that the others had to pay the tax, so they possibly were younger than 20.

Consider: Only Peter's wife is mentioned, so it is possible that the others were not yet married.



Consider: The Apostles readily left their regular jobs to follow; they might have hesitated more if they had had wives and children to care for.

Consider: They had the passion and energy of youth.

Consider: A couple of them squabbled over position in the Kingdom, and the others got upset over the issue. That seems a rather youthful response--although I've certainly known older folks who have acted like bickering children at times.

Consider: I Timothy 4:12~Let no man despise thy youth; but be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity.

Consider: America is ripe for another Great Awakening. Will it begin with you, young man? Or you, young woman? May this generation, empowered by the Holy Spirit, boldly lead in such a work. Take up the Cause of Christ.

Can you say Green?

We were feeling very festive yesturday. Partly because it was Ethan's birthday, but also because it was beautiful outside and maybe also because well...we just love the color green! So here are some random shots of our green day. Thank you Lord for my family and the sun and...the Son!

This is our St. Patty's day meal. Yummo! The kids had not had corn beef and cabbage before so I was not sure how they would like it. It was a HUGE hit and so was the shamrock punch





Some photos of our dinner table.





Also, my babies. Here Olivia is doing her homework and of coarse I had to get a shot of Ethan and Bella.




So tell me, how was your St. Patties Day? Did you do anything special? Did the Lord whisper any treasures in your ear?

My "Yeller" Dog

I can't fathom the idea of not having any children in the single digit age group. As of today, that is exactly what has happened. Where did the time go? My St. Patty's day boy has turned 10. We thought we would do something really special to mark this occasion and so decided to give him a pup...a yeller pup.

This all started this summer when my Ethan's(my son)cat ran away for the zilynth time. He decided he was fed up with cats and that dogs were the way to go. My response? Heck no! I had just had brand new carpet laid. No way were we going to house break a new puppy!

Then, my big mistake. See, the fall is my absoulte favorite time of year. I am an outdoor girl. I still love to climb into big old trees with a good book. I thought is would be sooo nostalgic to take my children along with me and read a classic novel. "How about 'Old Yeller.'" I thought. Well, let me tell you, it worked out just how it had in my mind...no, better. My children loved the book! Ethan especially loved it. At the end of the novel, he looked up at me with that tear streaked face and said, "Momma, I want a yeller dog." Oh boy, if that didn't pull at my heart strings!

That brings us to this past Saturday. A fellow homeschooler emailed me that he had Golden Retriever pups ready to take home. This was after I put out a search to see if anyone knew where I could find one.

It was road trip time! Olivia and I (daddy had buisness to attend to) took Ethan in the car. We told him we were taking him to get his birthday present. His eyes lit up as he spoke with that wide eyed expression. "Are we going to Wal-Mart or Target?" he asked. Olivia and I laughed. Neither, was our reply. We told him he would never guess in a bizillion years where we were going.

When we pulled into the home of the dog owners, Ethan asked, "Where are we?" I said, "You don't remember this place?" He of coarse had never been there. "Uh...kinda..." was his reply. hehe

The front door opened and a very smiley man invited us in. "Ethan doesn't know why he is here. He just knows he is getting his birthday present." I said. The man's smile brodened even wider. The man then said he had to go put the big dog away and then we could take a look.

As the man walked away Ethan looked up at me with the same face I remember from right after we had read "Old Yeller." My heart melted and the tears burned my eyes. "I'm gettin' a puppy?" he spoke softly with tears starting to sear down his face. Oh boy, I lost it. We both stood their in these stranger kitchen weeping. The man returned with a look of bewilderment on his face. I couldn't even speak to tell him what was happening. I'm not sure that I would have been able to explain it to him anyhow.

Ethan entered the kennel room and within 5 minutes had snuggled up to one "yeller" pup in particular. Now that pup, which he named Lady Bella Elizabeth Rice, is living in our home.

We have already had some pretty exciting adventures which I hope to tell soon! So here is to that sweet all-American boy of mine and his yeller puppy!