No Shame (...and No Picture!)

Ahh....the joys of boys. Tonight we went to a birthday party. There was a kiddie pool set up in the backyard and several of the kids had brought their swimsuits. Midway through the party, someone called me to the backyard.

Apparently, Steven decided he wanted to go swimming and didn't need a swimsuit. Yes, my son was running around the backyard, naked as a jay-bird. No shame...and not a stitch on. Sheesh!

Happy Birthday Eden Jo! You add some sparkle to all of our lives!

Alaska or Bust

Ken had to go back to Anchorage for business this week and decided it was the perfect opportunity to take Megan with him. We dropped them off at the airport this afternoon. They get home early Thursday morning.

Steven and I feel a little lost without them, but one of our super-cool friends, Kate, is coming over to stay with us, to help fill the void.

Have a great time you two! Give Grandma and Poppy, and the rest of the family big hugs for us!

Last Day of School

Good bye 3rd grade! Have a great summer everyone... See you all in 3 weeks!

(Megan goes to year-round school, which means she has several 3 week breaks spread throughout the school year. We love it because we can take vacations, when no one else is taking them. And there is very little time wasted reviewing, because the kids don't have so much time off between school years. But it does make for an anti-climactic summer break.)

Keepin' It Real

Okay, so the dinner in the Summer Lovin' post...Ken made it. Not me. Although I am an awesome cook. And it was probably my recipe. And I helped. And I did do the strawberries. But he gets the credit, not me.

Get used to it son...

...being led around by a beautiful girl with cheddar bunnies.

Jumping on the Summer Hair Bandwagon

Presenting Megan's new hairstyle....Isn't she adorable? Steven got his hair cut too, but I couldn't get him to stay in one place long enough to take his picture.

Mrs. Bell's International Potluck

What do you get when you combine a room full of 3rd graders and diverse multi-cultural food experiences?

...A LOT of leftovers.

(Megan's country was Italy, so we brought homemade pizza and Italian sodas. We didn't bring any food home!)

Pregnant on Purpose

Apparently, a group of teenage girls in Gloucester, MA made a pact to all get pregnant and raise their babies together. The number of pregnant girls at the local high school has quadrupled this year. School officials began to pay attention when an unusual number of girls began filing into the nurse's office for pregnancy tests. Many of them seemed more upset when they weren't pregnant, than when they were.

Community officials are denying that there was ever a "pact", but regardless, these girls represent an alarming trend...teenagers getting pregnant on purpose. Little girls having babies. But what else do they represent?

Little girls...who are so lonely and desperate for love that they will give away their bodies and their futures to a boy who will throw them away when he is done with them.

Little girls...whose daddies never said "You are a treasure worth more to me than all the gold in the world." Little girls whose daddies never said anything to them.

Little girls...who delude themselves into thinking that babies are all dimples and bows and have no idea of the realities of childbearing and childrearing.

Little girls...whose mothers never told them they were precious and held them when they cried.

Little girls...whose school tried to fill in the gap and teach her about choices and consequences, but it was too little, too late, and seemed irrelevant coming from someone she had no personal relationship with.

Little girls...who were written off by the adults in her life when she began to fit a "certain profile" and who live in a state of self-hatred and shame.

Little girls...that somewhere along the way, had their dreams dashed, their hopes squandered, and their future tossed away.

It breaks my heart.

Dream big, my little girl, you are treasured and precious, and God has a big plan for your life.

No More Camo Bag...

Yesterday, this bag went with us to swim lessons, and ended up coming home with a pair of Steven's underwear in it. This morning, he was looking for something and I asked him, "What do you need?" He replied..."My underwear bag."

From this day forward, this bag is officially dubbed "The Underwear Bag"!

Summer Lovin'

One thing that characterizes a Holsinger...we love food! And so, one of the things we love about summer is summer foods! This was our dinner last night...

Strawberries picked from our backyard...
Mmmm...
Did I mention how much we love summer foods?

I'm So Blue...

We are in the process of redecorating our bonus room. The kids use it for watching T.V., playing, and doing homework/artwork. The furniture is here and I just got done repainting.

Before: (Beige, beige, and more beige)

After:
The kid's new desks. I've ordered bulletin boards for the wall.
New couch and cabinet from Crate and Barrel and pillows from Pottery Barn.
I'll post final pictures when we get done.

VBX Countdown!

Last year...3 days...250 kids...over 100 volunteers. We went Western at "gcRanch".





This year, it's Slime Lab time! Vacation Bible Experience is coming in a little over 2 weeks. Don't miss it!

Meridian Dairy Days Parade

Presenting...the Holy Cows




Yes, we do live in Idaho...

What kind of mother...

...allows her children on that thing, with that guy, without a helmet? Someone should report her!


(No really, that's Mark Francey, one of our good friends and new daddy! They were just riding for a few minutes on the camp grounds....really...I promise...it was pretty safe...)

Going All Gwyneth

Before: Boring...drab...dingy color...



After: I went blonder and shorter! Good summer hair.


(Gwyneth)

Zipedee-doo-dah

Where? Youth Camp, Cascade, ID
What? "Scare-the-crap-out-of-you" Zipline
Who? Me!Suiting up...this goes where?
The green helmet really makes the ensemble.
Here we go! I think I can...I think I can...I knew if I could just make it up the tree, I would be golden. Because there was no way I was climbing back DOWN. The only option would be to jump.
Don't look...don't think...just jump!
::Insert screaming and yelling:
Basking in the adrenaline after-rush...

Blog Title...

So why the strange blog title? The obvious answer is that I frequently say things that I shouldn't. My husband has a knack for saying the things we are all thinking, but are afraid to say. But he has a great internal edit button. He always seems to know where the line is, and whether or not to push up against it. My edit button is constantly on the fritz. It's not because I'm gutsy enough to say bold things, they just pop out. Sometimes I wish that I could grab them in mid-air and pull them back in my mouth. More often than not, I don't even realize I've said something stupid until later. And then it hits me...oooh, that didn't come out right...did I really say that?...did anyone hear me?

The deeper issue is really a heart issue. Matthew 12:34 says "Out of the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks." If my mouth is speaking inappropriate things, then fixing my mouth is not the answer. Changing my heart is. So that's what God's doing in me right now, teaching me to love others and have true grace for them in my heart. I'm still a work in progress...and thank you, Lord, for continuing to work on me, and showing me the love and grace I lack toward others.

Rock Star...

Hi! I'm Steven. These are my peeps. Yea, I'm pretty good with the ladies. We're thinking about starting a band. Right now we're brushing up on our piano quartet skills.
Peace out. Steven

Off to Neverland...

Here we go again...

I've considered my last attempt at blogging a failure because I couldn't keep it going. (Although, after reading through it the other night, I think it's a pretty darn good blog!) But, I'm ready to give it a go again with a simpler, more picture-oriented format. I don't know who my audience will be this time around, but I won't hold back. My life is crazy, my house is a mess, and sometimes I feel in over my head in ministry. But I promise to be real and fun and sometimes passionately in love with my life and my God.