Sent from my electronic thingamajig

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I woke up the boys this morning with "Happy Valentine's Day!" in the hopes that it would get them moving a bit faster. It didn't, really, but as I made my way back and forth between my room (getting ready), the kitchen (getting their school stuff ready), and their room (cajoling the 3 of them to get up), I did eventually encounter each one of them in various stages of dress. Quinn stood outside my room smiling in a sweatshirt that was at least 2 sizes too small and announced happily, "Happy Valentine's Day, Mom!" giving me a huge hug and a kiss. Apparently this was before he headed back to the kitchen and saw what was waiting for him on the dining room table, though. I try not to give them lots of candy and sweets as a rule but I did cave in and ask Loys to buy them each a big candy bar on the way home from work last night which I then custom-wrapped with a special heartfelt Valentine's Day message. I also made handmade cards for each boy, listing out what I especially loved about them. It was nothing much, but I hoped they would feel loved. I put both the candy and the cards at each of their places at the table so they'd see them first thing in the morning.

Fast forward about 10 minutes from my happy Valentine's Day greeting from Quinn, during which time I was in my bathroom finishing getting ready for the day, praying that the boys were eating their breakfast so we wouldn't be late for our co-op day. When I walked out of my room, I saw Quinn looking quite sad in the hallway leading from his room.

"What's wrong, buddy?" I asked.

"I don't know, Mom," he said, his voice quivering. "I just feel sad."

"Why do you feel sad, baby?" I answered. "I don't want you to be sad."

"I feel so sad because it's Valentine's Day and I forgot to get you a card!" he managed to choke out, in between sobs of genuine sorrow as he threw his arms around my waist and gave me a huge hug. I stole a glance over at the kitchen table and saw that the boys had found their candy and cards, at which time he apparently made the connection that he had neglected to get a card for me. 

I knelt down beside him, wiped away his tears, and told him that I didn't need a card to know how much he loved me, trying to assure him that it was quite alright that he hadn't thought to give him one. Seeing that it was little comfort to him, I reminded him that Valentine's Day lasted all day long, and that if he really did want to make me one, he had plenty of time to do it later. He looked at me with his little tear stained face and gave me a brave smile, nodding that he understood, and I gave him one more squeeze as I told him how very much I loved him.

It's truly a great feeling when you receive a heartfelt card from someone you love who cared enough about you to send you something personal. Honestly, I would never have dreamed that discovering that someone wasn't thinking of me would feel anywhere as good as it feels to know they have. However, I'm quite sure that it will go down as one of my favorite memories of Quinn ever. And further confirmation that this boy has one of the biggest hearts of anyone I know.

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Well, it took 5 months, but the goldfinches have finally discovered the sack hanging from a tree in our backyard. I've been watching them in the front yard for the past few weeks, silently hoping that they would make their way to the back yard and discover it. They never seemed to show up in the back yard, though, until today. It was Quinn who noticed them enjoying the nyjer seed--just one at first, but up to 3 at one time (and I'm sure more will come once the news spreads).

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My cousin Stacey wasn't the only unexpected visitor to Mayhaw Lane this afternoon. I loved seeing these guys as much as I loved seeing her. 

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It's been a year now since I received my iPad for Christmas, and since I figure some of my friends may have received one as a gift recently, too, I thought I'd share some of my favorite apps. These are basically the ones that I use on a daily basis, and all but one are free.

Bible (Free)

This is quickly becoming my go-to Bible. I love the fact that the iPad is small enough to take anywhere, and with this app, I have access to any number of versions of the Bible that I might want to check out. I often find myself switching from one version to another in the context of a Bible study or sermon, just to see how different passages have been translated.

DirecTV (Free)

This is a killer app. Obviously, you need to be using DirecTV but if you do, it's a must. The interface is basically 3 columns: currently watching, live TV streaming, and guide favorites. You can configure the streaming channel to display what's currently playing on a wide variety of channels. If you see something that looks interesting, you can watch that show directly on your iPad. Guide favorites shows what's currently playing on the channels that you set, and so if you want to switch your tv to one of those shows *or* set up recording for that show, it's just a simple press of the button. You can also use the search function to find shows happening in the future and set them to record. It's been invaluable to me as a tool for setting up recording because it's much simpler than tracking down the tv remote and going through the menu system there. Also, I can set the tv to record something while members of my family are watching something completely different--I don't have to interrupt what they're watching to hurriedly set up another show to record before I forget! I can't say enough good things about this one.

My Fitness Pal (Free)

I became hooked on the Android version of this app last spring, but they've recently released an iPad version of their calorie/exercise tracker. The user interface is great and they make it easy to keep up with the ins/outs of your calories on any given day. No matter where you update your stats--online, on your phone, or through the iPad--they are always synced. Nice.

All Recipes (Free; upgrade available for $4.99)

I've used All Recipes for many years now online, but I love being able to access their database from my iPad, because I keep it docked in my kitchen. It's super simple to find a recipe and refer to it while I'm doing the cooking, avoiding the necessity of having to print out the recipe on paper (which I then have to figure out where to file). The free version of this app is adequate, but I did choose to upgrade so I could save all of my recipes in a recipe box. It's got some neat features like "Inspire Me" where it displays photos of recipes that you can then click to read more about, and "Featured," where they feature 12 recipes that are generally related to the season. For example, the ones there now are titled "New Year, New Start" and are healthier versions of standards. One more note: All Recipes has another app called the Dinner Spinner that's super fun to use. You may want to check it out, too (designed for iPhone/Android). 

Pandora (Free)

This works just like the website does: pick a genre of music and get an instant stream of it delivered straight to your device. Again, the upside of this for me is that I generally have my iPad docked in the kitchen and so this expands my music options while I'm busy in that part of the house.

ABC Player (Free)

Admittedly, I don't watch that much TV. But it seems like the shows that I do watch happen to be on ABC more often than not. You have to wait a day until after the original air date, but this app basically brings you ABC's lineup to your iPad: find your show and you can watch back episodes on demand for free. I was able to keep up with Dancing With the Stars last season by using this app!

This American Life ($4.99)

This is my favorite radio program, hands down. I have no idea when it actually airs in my area, though, because I've set up iTunes to download the most recent podcast and I can access older ones using this app. The way I use it most often? I love finding interesting-sounding episodes just before we're going to be traveling in the car: by using an adaptor, I can listen to up to 3 episodes (1 hour each) without being connected to Wi-Fi. And when Loys and I went to Orlando ealier this week, we were able to download 3 new episodes at our hotel room before heading back home (because we got free wi-fi there). The app has a feature where you can press a button to play WBEZ live on your iPad (this is the home station for the show), along with a countdown clock to when the next episode airs. As I type this, it looks like the next episode will air tonight at 7 pm Central time: "Where Your Crap Comes From." Sounds like a winner to me! :)

So, that's my shortlist for iPad apps that are not child- or school-related. What's on yours?

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Well, our trip to the Citrus Bowl is already becoming a distant memory (I can't seem to recall who sponsored it at the moment--oh yeah: CAPITAL ONE!) and even though it's old news now, I wanted to post these few photos to the blog just to remember some of my favorite things about it:

1) Loys got to enjoy a Runza. And because he gets SO excited about these tasty midwestern treats, so do I. That was fun. 

2) I took Loys' picture with the Huskers coach, Bo Pellini. Well, a cutout of Coach Pellini, but it looked fairly real. Watching Pellini argue with the refs during the 2nd half of the game turned out to be the best entertainment for Huskers fans since the team pretty much fell apart then. Watching him yell at the refs--who deserved it, by the way--was fun.

2) We saw an escalator and the Goodyear blimp, which reminded us of how much the boys would have loved seeing those things. That was fun. It was good to think happy thoughts of our children all the while knowing that they were being well cared for and we were getting a break from them.

3) We went out to a yummy Greek restaurant called Zorbas and had an amazing dinner, including perfectly fried french fries SPRINKLED WITH FETA CHEESE. Divine. Enjoying those was very fun (I even shared some with Loys, who doesn't even like feta. They were THAT good.) They also had two for one sangria margaritas so of course we each had one of those. Getting a deal on a combo made from two of my favorite drinks was cool. Fun!

So in spite of the Huskers losing the game and not getting to see the two friends I really wanted to see the next day (next time, Thao and Barry!), we had a fun trip. Next time: Legoland!

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Decker and Tina seem to have made peace with each other:

As they say in Casablanca, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

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Decker and Tina seem to have made peace with each other:

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Quinn invited me along this morning as he headed out the back door to do some fishing. It was a gorgeous morning, perfect for ambling around outside to see what you could see, which is why I grabbed my camera instead of another fishing pole.

It warmed my heart to spot my baby walking across the dam to join in the fun:

Could he be any cuter in his soccer shirt and overalls? I don't think so. And holding his gun like that over his shoulder? Where did he get that?

He's only had his Red Ryder BB gun for a week and already he knows how to shoot it like a champ. Definitely a case of nature versus nurture.

Although we didn't see any fish, we did run into a wake of buzzards. I'm not sure why, but there were probably 20 of them hanging around down at the new pond. I didn't spot anything dead anywhere around, but maybe they were considering the possibility of some fish?

As I used to write in my diary when I was 10 or so, "it was a very good day."

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The name of the park pretty much summed up our day: trying to keep up with 7 kids who each wanted to do something different; watching 3 of them enjoy the thrill of a rollercoaster for the first time; and discovering that we'd lost one just as we were exiting the park. Thankfully, we found Liam pretty easily and everyone seemed to have a good time. 

The best part about it--in my humble opinion--was that the park was practically deserted as theme parks go. There were no lines for food, no lines for restrooms, and best of all, virtually no lines to ride the rides. As soon as the kids finished a ride, they would run back and ride it again with little to no wait. Also, the day was cool (downright cold as the sun started to go down) and if the kids had had jackets, we might have even stayed for another hour.

If Quinn, Kyle, and Aaron can work on the etiquette associated with mini golf (sorry to the cute couple who were on a date!), I just might take them back one day.

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I'd forgotten how much baby kittens can get into.

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He came back this afternoon and since I wanted to test out my telephoto lens before tonight's Christmas presentation at church, I walked out and took some photos of him while he fished. I don't know how much he would attribute to his tools (the lures he was using and the type of poles/reels), the weather, luck, or skill...all I know is that this boy can fish and it was so much fun just to watch him do his thing. I think he ultimately ended up with 7 fish and only came up empty-handed twice the entire time he was here. Those are some good odds!

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Mama was able to catch one of the kittens yesterday while she, Liam, and Quinn were down at the shop feeding the cats. All of the cats are wild, and generally run away when any of us get close to them, but Mama walked right up to this little tabby and picked it up. After giving it a bath and checking it for fleas, she put it out on the upstairs porch with some food and the boys started trying to think of a name for it (we're still not sure if it's a boy or girl but I'm hoping for the latter).

It wasn't much of a hard sell to convince Loys to bring her home. He's always loved cats and even though he hasn't missed cleaning a little box, I suspect he's secretly wanted to have one for a while now.

Decker still isn't quite sure what to make of her. The kitty is holding her own against him and just hisses whenever he comes near, but I'm hopeful that they will learn to love each other in time. If not, the kitty may find herself joining the extended family back down at Daddy's shop!

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Quinn asked me to go fishing with him today. In spite of having a full afternoon of work to do, I said yes and I'm so glad I did. From the first moment we both cast our lines into the pond (after Quinn very gallantly baited my hook) 'til the last one when we loaded up our gear, we each caught a fish almost every time. Granted, they weren't huge fish. In fact, we probably threw back at least a third as many as we kept because they were too small. But it really is a lot of fun to go fishing when the fish are biting. I've never been big on fishing, but my middle son may end up changing my mind about the sport.

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Almighty and everlasting God, whose will it is to restore all things in your well-beloved Son, the King of kings and Lord of lords: Mercifully grant that the peoples of the earth, divided and enslaved by sin, may be freed and brought together under his most gracious rule; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

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Blessed Lord, who caused all holy Scriptures to be written for our learning: Grant us so to hear them, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them, that we may embrace and ever hold fast the blessed hope of everlasting life, which you have given us in our Savior Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

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O God, whose blessed Son came into the world that he might destroy the works of the devil and make us children of God and heirs of eternal life: Grant that, having this hope, we may purify ourselves as he is pure; that, when he comes again with power and great glory, we may be made like him in his eternal and glorious kingdom; where he lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

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