I've got a few minutes as I have fish sticks, tater tots and corn dogs cooking in the oven for lunch. Today is Wednesday and it's the first one I've had off in several weeks (not including the ski week, but that's not necessarily time off). I can honestly say that it feels weird to not have anything to do tonight. It makes me feel so much more free.

To add to this great day, Vance is around as well. He's been working down in Pueblo so he usually leaves at 6:30am and doesn't return home until 8pm. Today he has a small job here in town that should only take about 3 hours and he and his friend Kyle from Double Diamond Homes are starting on a huge renovation for our pastor today - felling trees. They're even going to let one fall on the garage - which they're demo-ing anyway. Hopefully, we can get some video of that.

I made a good breakfast of cream of wheat, toast and fresh oranges then we started school. Glen started with Algebra. My absolute favorite subject. It took some time, but he got used to the idea that "x" is actually a number and you need to go through all these rules and steps to figure out what "x" is. Ryan is reading (and still reading) Acts 3 and 4 and answering questions about the passages. He's been working on this assignment for two days. Today I told him he will be sitting there until he finishes.

After Glen was finished with Algebra I told him to find the Presidents book and choose one to do a research paper. He chose Theodore Roosevelt. He read about three pages of summation on President Roosevelt and stopped about every five minutes to say, "Mom, guess what..." I'm glad he's excited about it because he wasn't when I first told him the assignment.

Glen was really emotional today. I think it was because he couldn't get the math right away. He excused himself and said he had to go to the bathroom, but when he came back I could tell he had been crying. I asked him why he was upset and he said he didn't know. He said, "I don't know why I cry when I talk to you and Dad. It's so stupid. Even now I can't keep the tears back. I don't understand why I'm so sensitive." I told him that God made him sensitive and he said that he didn't like the way God made him. I said that sometimes I didn't like the way God made me either, but He knows a ton better than we do. Truthfully, I think it may be more than just sensitivity. Glen is 12 and already showing signs of puberty.

While all of this was going on I did an exercise for all the "Littles" plus will. We started with stretching. Then, I showed them how to do push ups and sit-ups. Then we did a song called Shake Freeze where you shake until the music stops then freeze. We Will Rock You was clapping and marching to the beat. Pollywog in a Bog was squats (that looked like frogs). I we ended with Fireflies - kind of a cool down - walking all over the living room pretending to be fireflies.

I felt like is was a productive morning and I wanted to remember it.

A few weeks back, Vance picked up a young dog that was about to get squished up off of Hwy. 83. It was snowing and his poor little face was all covered with icicles.

We don't normally pick up strays because we always hate it when someone picks up our dog and takes him 20 or 30 miles out of our way when he probably would have just come back home, but this was a special case.

We called him Eli and he stayed with us for a week. He's a beautiful German short-haired pointer and he had a great personality, loved the kids and obeyed very well. So much so that it made us all start to think that we wouldn't mind if the owners never called us.

They did, however. I think poor Glen was the most disheartened. He really wants a dog of his own. Eli stayed with us for about a week and when the owners came to pick him up they gave us a $100 gift card. We'll have to pick up strays more often - HA!

Pictures

New Year

The last couple of weeks have been the most abnormal in quite some time. My sister and her husband came for a visit and...I have to say things have changed a bit around here.

Actually, I should probably go back about 6 weeks or so. We started with a visit to the assisted living place. I took all the kids for a visit. I don't know what it is, but the elderly in these places absolutely adore children and it was great to see their faces brighten. Then, when I went to California with Tristan I watched as my sister and brother-in-law made it their mission to be missionaries wherever they went. My heart was stirred. Then, when they came here for a visit, we went to the streets downtown, to the tent city, talked to just about every pastor and homeless shelter in town, made videos to give people ideas how to serve their community such as "Laundry Love" where you go to a laundr-o-mat and pay for every one's laundry, shovel snow for people in your neighborhood just to show Christ's love and maybe open a door to talk about HIM. It seemed as though everyday they got up and asked, what can we do for the Kingdom today?

I still home schooled. I still cleaned the house. I still made dinner. I still did all my other jobs. What hit me hardest was that it wasn't that hard to take a few extra steps from my regular walk.

You know what the amazing thing is? I've been hearing stirrings of people doing or wanting to do this kind of thing all over the place. This week we had IMPACT meetings everyday at our church. New Life Church did the same thing. Every where I'm hearing people talking about changing the way people think about Christians and about church in general. For years the unchurched have thought of us as hypocrites, people with too many rules, we don't do anything for the homeless or for people in need. Our divorce rates as Christians are the same as non-Christians - what makes us different than the people who don't call themselves Christians? What I'm hearing is that Christ followers want to change that. What good are we if we've lost our saltiness?

For anyone who read this, go to www.forgottenchurch.com. Watch the videos, make some calls, get some people together, go do some ministry downtown, or some laundry love or just start a conversation, ask questions you never know what God is going to do.

Isn't he cute...when he's sleeping :) We have this little rocking horse and Tristan fell asleep on it. Ryan collected all the pillows and bean bags and put them all around him so he wouldn't cry when he fell off. Just had to slip this one in.

So, update continued...

The love of my life turned 48 this year. Neither of us can believe that in just two years he will be 50. I'm sure everyone who has turned 50 has felt the same way. What's hardest to believe is that I will be married to a 50 year old - lol.

We continue our Terry tradition: Mom and Pops came over with the ice cream cake. Mom, I know you're reading this, our kids our going to grow up and remember how much they loved this tradition and will probably continue it themselves with their own families (as long as Dairy Queen stays in business :).

Rachie turned 5 in October. We went to Itz. The food was horrible, but the kids had a BLAST. Rachie asked for a doll house, which she got, but we haven't put it together yet *blush* - and we again had Grandma and Grandpa over for cake and presents. The picture above of the 4 "Littles" dancing has become a Terry family tradition as well. After EVERY movie, as soon as the credits roll, they all get up and dance in front of the T.V. I think Morgan started this one. It's the cutest thing you've ever seen.

There will be an update Part 3 coming soon. So much more to share about more birthdays and hunting season and other trips. Hopefully, it doesn't get too boring, but this is mostly for my memory anyway *wink*.

Three months!!!

Three months goes by faster than the wind blows! I've neglected a little duty here. I have so much to share I hardly know where to begin. One thing is certain, I must add the great tool of keeping a precious log of the Terry family back into my daily activities.

Over the last three months I've gotten off all my routines. Vance's business is slow so I've focused on ways I could earn money to help out even if it's just a little bit. I've picked up some more classes at Villa and that's thrown off quite a bit because I do that in the evenings. So, basically it boils down to home schooling as usual during the day, but having to prepare approx. 2 hours earlier for dinner, etc. The house has been neglected as well.

Here's my promise to myself and my family...I'm getting back on the FlyLady bandwagon, I will be using my timers and checklists, etc. Since I've been working out a lot I've got quite a bit of energy so I know I can do it physically - I heard Dave Ramsey say the other night, "The best motivation is self-motivation." There aren't any motivational speakers out there that can get you do get it together. So, physically I've got it down, mentally I'm getting there and spiritually I'm praying every day that God directs each step -everything else will fail without this part!

So, here are some pictures and a little story behind each one to get us up to day. Let me know what you think.

One of the neatest things that happened over the last three months was a trip to California to see my family. I couldn't have asked for better weather (especially for November). I so loved seeing my dad and Rachel and my sister Sarah, by brothers Stephen and Jonathon and James and Joey. I got to see family that I haven't seen in 20 to 30 years...Uncles, aunts, cousins, second cousins, family I've never met before...we packed a lot in just a week.

Today we went to an Assisted Living Center and visited with the residents there. This is something we used to do a lot when I was young and living with my dad. We would go every Sunday after church to visit the "old folks" and sing and my dad would give a little message. The kids were a little uncomfortable at first, but I plan to do this more often. The residents absolutely loved the kids.

Another big milestone was Glen turning 12. I don't even know what to say it's so hard to believe. He's turning into a wonderful young man. Thank you, Lord for the blessing you've given us in Glen. This year he will be preparing for his manhood ceremony which we will have on his next birthday. I bought "The Dangerous Book for Boys" for he and Vance to go through together this year so they can make some memorable moments together. Grandpa bought him a real "man's" knife and Grandma bought some young man's clothes. Soon he will cross over from boy to man. It tears at my heart a little.

Well, I was going to do more, but I'm tired. Will post more tomorrow. 'night all...