CC Meet 4

Rose Bud, in spite of having been fighting a cold all week, did GREAT at this meet. It was damp and cold and windy and fairly miserable, but she had her second best finish ever--5th place! She ran under 12 minutes (about 11:45).

Brrrr! It's really cold!


Heading for warm-ups at the start.

Rose Bud and her teammate in 4th and 5th place in the first lap. (Rose Bud is the second runner)

CC Meet 3

Rose Bud and Jay Hey


Like racehorses


About 2 min into the race


Up the killer hill (they'll do this hill once more shortly before the finish!)


Finishing strong with a good sprint (but look at that finish in front of her!)

She finished 15 out of 62 with a time of 12:03. She was really pleased with this race.

CC Meet 2

Here she comes, finishing strong! She had energy left in her for a sprint at this race and passed up a few competitors at the end. She was 18 out of 57 runners with a time of 11:31. It was a beautiful night for a run.

Surprise!!!!

Look at my handsome boy! Doesn't he look smart?!

Turns out he has astigmatism and his poor little eyes have been working so hard!

We tried to pick these up last Friday, but they weren't ready (after we ran errands and killed FOUR hours in town), so we got them today after Sunshine's dr (ear tube and hearing check) appointment.

Banana Boy is thrilled! Sunshine is jealous!

Isn't he darling?

Meet Saffron

He is very sweet and mellow. Also curious and alert. He seems like a great kitten.

We actually picked him out at the Humane Society 6 weeks ago, but he's been sick and they just called us yesterday to say he was well and we could finally pick him up.

Hay! A Story With a Happy Ending

Conversation in the car today:

BB: I wish I wasn't a horse.

Me, trying to drive: What?

BB, more sadly: I wish I wasn't a horse!

Me: You're NOT a horse!

BB: GOOD! Yay!

Me: Why are you glad you are not a horse?

BB: Because I would be so sad when the riders whipped me.

First Cross Country Meet

First Cross Country meet of the season! Rose Bud did really well! The meet was a high school invitational and the middle schoolers were invited to see what a HS meet is like.

The races ran JV girls, JV boys, small school varsity girls (including Gibraltar!), large school varsity girls, small school varsity boys and large school varsity boys. Finally, the middle schoolers ran. All of them. 7th AND 8th grade, boys AND girls. There were over 250 runners just in the MS race!

And it was hot. The thermometer on the car said 78 when I left the meet.

Rose Bud placed 29th of 140 girls, maintaining her trend of finishing in the top quarter or third. Her time was 14:37, which is about 2 min longer than most of her times last year, but she thought the course was longer than 1.5 miles.

She was really hot and tired and wobbly at the end. Her legs were super tired, she said. They had to walk her off the finish mat to keep her moving out of the way.

She ran strong, though! Way to go, Rose Bud!

Here is a tired picture of her with about 1/2 mile to go.

They Close Their Eyes And Just Breathe

If you read just one post from Sarah's Blog, please read this one. (This is the one I want you to read)

Rose Bud and I are going to India in January to help out at Sarah's homes and we are SO excited!

I have to admit when I first heard about Leslie's trip to India, I was mostly--selfishly--excited just to go to India. The "missions" part of it was really an excuse for me to go back. I looked at Sarah's blog and all the photos of her kids and I didn't really want to go "there."

Why is it that we have that kind of reaction to the handicapped? They are humans, they are children. But they look different. Is the feeling based on previous interactions we've had with real people who looked "funny," made strange noises, whom we couldn't understand? What makes it so hard for us to treat them as we treat any non-handicapped person?

But....it didn't take long for me, reading Sarah's blog on a daily basis, to catch hold of her wonderful attitude, her compassion and love and enthusiasm for these children and their possibilities.

When you read her blog everyday, you get to know the children by name. You learn their strengths and gifts, their personalities and their needs. You learn that they are human and they are just children. They look different, but they have hearts just like ours.

Sarah absolutely has a God-given gift for what she is doing. Her heart is 100% for the children.

Please read the post I linked above. Please feel the love Sarah has for all God's children. Please pray for her ministry and for our trip. And please read some more of her blog and meet all the children we will be meeting when we go.

I can't wait to hold them and love them, play with them and teach them, share their joy and their tears. KNOW them. They are human. They are GOD's children.

New Global Wonders series

These are so cute. My favorite is the India video, of course!

Pics From the Last SSA

Remember the last Super, Secret Adventure? I promised pictures and here they are. To catch you up, there was

T-Ball

Apple Picking (well, apple tree-shaking to get the good apples down)

Food--lots of food

Apple Throwing (Jay Hey, with his pitcher's arm, won, of course)

Dolly Rides

Astronomy

S'mores, wonderful s'mores!

More tree climbing

More s'mores

And some reading by the campfire before bed

Kissyface

Sunshine has been so kissy and snuggly lately.

When I put him to bed, I always kiss him all over his face. Today at naptime, he took my head in both his hands and kissed my forehead and both cheeks, then my lips.

True Love!!!

And at bedtime he always says, "Nuggle me, Mama!"

He's slept with me since the day I got him and last week we moved his bed out of our room. He has his own bed in his room, but he starts out there every night, then moves into our bed sometime in the night. Last week, we made him a "nest" of quilts on the floor next to my bed. He's gone right into his nest every night and stayed in it. No more boy in my bed.

It literally makes me teary.