shucks, no pics!

So here it's been a whole week, and not only have I not updated, but we actually went hiking today, and I should have had the camera but didn't. I'll confess, I did NOT want to go hiking, but knew that my going would make the hooligan crew happy, as well as provide much needed exercise, so I went. I went with an exceptionally sinful rotten attitude, hoping that all the good endorphins provided by the exercise would help. Incidently, what I really wanted to do was take a nap and enjoy an empty house with NO kids! So, I wasn't even thinking about the camera while we were getting ready to go. Sigh. Well, we hiked up the cyn at the end of San Fernando Rd. to the waterfall......we've done this before.....and it took me the whole way up to get unfunked. I spent the whole hike in, confessing my nasty thoughts to the Lord. On a positive note, it's a beautiful hike, VERY local (10 min from our house to trailhead), and the waterfall had lots of water due to all the rain we've had. We climbed up to the second level of the falls, which is a pretty steep climb up from the first level, and we had never done that before. When all was said and done (all 3-4 miles), I DID feel better, it was a gorgeous day, the kids had a wonderful time, and the exercise WAS good for me. I had to ask Kendra's forgiveness for some unkind words, though, AND, I missed what could have been some great pictures..... :o( . Oh well, next time, and I'm glad that the God is gracious and forgiving. We got back just in time to get ready for church and go, which accounted for Kendra, Cami, and I taking turns falling asleep during the service. Oh, and adding a bit of insult (smile) to everything else, the plant we saw on the hike that my dear husband assured me was lupine, and I was "sure (!!!)" wasn't, turned out to be.........lupine (according to the picture in the field guide). I should know better by now than to argue with an Eagle Scout over plants.

Next week should provide a few opportunities to trust the Lord with everyday stresses (emphasis on "everyday"....there are families in our church that have SERIOUS stresses....these don't even begin to fall into that category!) . Mark's corporate tax deadline is next week, so he needs grace for that last minute scramble to get it all done. Next Sat. is the Certificate of Merit exam for both Cami (violin) and Ben (piano). They each have to take their respective written theory exams, and be judged on their 3 or so pieces and technique (scales, chords, etc.). So this week is music practice crunch time, which tends to stress me out. Ben is also doing his audition for "Joseph" tomorrow night (he's trying out for a duet/dance in the Potiphar scene, and a group number at the beginning of the Pharoah scene), which doesn't stress him out in the least, but gives me the willies. Not to mention I HATE wating for callback lists to be posted. Any outcome is fine, and it's all in the Lord's hands......its just for fun anyway.......but I still get that teensy bit of adrenaline flowing during weeks like this that makes me tired. I'm trusting the Lord to help me to let his Word "dwell in me richly", so that by the end of the week I can still be "singing with grace in my heart to the Lord".

We'll probably finish the "bunny book" tomorrow (Watership Down), so that will be fun. Cami and I both *cough cough* know the end..*cough*..ing, but it will still be fun to read it outloud. Alas, Kendra is the only one with enough self control to not read ahead. A terrible vice, I admit....maybe....I've been known to read books backwards before :o).

And so a new week begins, loaded with "appointments" from the Lord, blessings yet unknown, lessons to be learned, children to be discipled, challenges to be faced, and.......a bit of laundry. Actually, a bit of...............

THIS!!

Ha! my one picture, to accountable-ize my domestically challenged self for tomorrow!

MARANATHA! (if you don't know what this means, look it up :o) )