Sunday, July 31, 2011

The Beach Ball- Mamo Camp Day 1

My sisters and cousins spent the last week up north at our grandparents’ cabin on the lake. It is such a blessing to have grandparents that are willing to take all 5 of us, ages ranging from 5 to 17! This was my 11th year of what we call “Mamo Camp” after my grandma, and what a week we had!

Over the next couple of days or so I hope to let you in on what we did that week through some pictures, stories, and funny happenings over here. Enjoy!

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After the anxious wait and drive up, we were there- the lake. Unloading began, and giggles were already erupting around the front porch as we considered what to do to start off our week.

A vote taken, me and Grandpa went to set up the new-old net to play some Badminton and volleyball in the front yard while the rest went to start up scooters, bikes, and rollerblades.

Mamo went in to find the new beach ball she had purchased, and handed the box out to my sister M, who ran down to the garage to ask Grandpa to pump it up with his air compressor.

Not long after that, a crowd had gathered in the garage to watch the unveiling.

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Me and Mr. Fisher, who had just arrived from down the street, tried to figure out the net while the air compressor screeched and growled from the garage, where exclamations of amusement and thrill continued to punctuate through the noise.

Just as we had put the final stakes in the ground, I hear a shout of joy- “IT’S HUGE!”

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What Mamo had perceived to be a regular sized beach ball had morphed into a multicolored extreme beach ball that could have crushed small children.

But oh my was it fun to play volleyball with…

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T-man, the youngest cousin at 5, was so funny to watch as he ran with it- he could have fit inside!

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The game progressed and teams were made, but no score kept other than who had been able to bounce it up in the air the longest.

What a great start to the week.

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More to come later…

Kaye Ann

Monday, July 25, 2011

blessings abound up north this week...

so many blessings this week as I spend the time up at my grandparent's house...
God's beautiful creation never ceases to amaze me...

Counting the dozen blessings of a week away...

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perfect lake weather- warm and breezey- not hot at all
fishing off the dock... well, watching my sisters and cousins fish :)
bike rides to explore and giggle and think about the 11th Annual Mamo Camp
fuzzy warm golden retrievers on my feet at dinner
watching the tacos disappear from the pan at dinner
homemade strawberry pie... YUM! (recipe to follow...)
taking way too many pictures
dancing to the hamster dance song at breakfast from the card mom sent to Grandpa- de de dee da dee dee do do!
baseball, tag, and just plain fun at the park in town after a bikeride
1 liter water bottles from the SA across the street from the trail start
talking with Mamo on the balcony/porch of the boathouse
prayer in the early morning hours, listening to the wind in the trees...
this lake... how blue it can get!
imagining the lake in 4 months- frozen solid

loving the lake life this week...
blessings!
Kaye

Saturday, July 23, 2011

Weekend Wonderings 7/23/11

hello! on most saturdays I try and send out a collection of links for stories/pictures/fun sites to check out. enjoy!

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Shaun Groves shares his story of meeting his sponsored child and his new album. Amazing… simply amazing…

Jasmine Baucham talks about her new book… can’t wait to read this one!

Anna shares a great C.S. Lewis quote to challenge you in your prayer life…

This ladyoh her story! how amazing… adopting thirteen children at the age of 22, leaving everything to serve Christ in Uganda… powerful and challenging stories this gal has…

And the next great adventure from Vision Forum… D-Day and the Providence of God! This is a wonderful series that me and my sister are tuning into!

 

have a blessed weekend!

Kaye

Friday, July 22, 2011

Three City Things to Love, Three Country Things to Love

if you were to come and ask me today about our new house, here’s what my answers would be:

Yes! God is so good!

Yes! The house is perfect for us!

Yes! The country is a beautiful place to live!

and Yes! I do miss our little city house.

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It takes time to get used to things.

And though 6 months seems like a long time,

17 years of my life (aka all my life until 6 months ago) centered around this 1500 sq foot home base.

So what do I miss about it?

The charm.

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The easy access.

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the memories tucked in every corner.

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But do you want to know something?

I love this new house of ours.

It is so us…

so me.

While being three minutes from shopping, I am also a window away from farm country.

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I can have the beauty of living near a farm, watching corn grown, seeing silos at sunset,

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and still be 15 feet from a neighbor, a community of homes with street lights.

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Because God is good.

And I couldn’t have written this story myself,

and am thankful each day that He is eternally in charge and trustworthy- so trustworthy.

So I follow,

watching the trees like shadows against a dusk sky, the silos standing guard over the jungles of corn, and the sun peeking through one last time under the incoming clouds,

and the bright white lights from the outlet mall signaling the Mother Ship to land.

:)

May God bless your today friends-

Kaye

thankful

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for the little things-

water on a hot day,

clothes to keep me cool,

and a curious little brother.

Thankful.

Wednesday, July 20, 2011

why we skipped the Twins Game

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We looked at this on the thermometer and went NO WAY at about 5 o’ clock. The dew point hit a state record of 82, so we stayed in our nicely air conditioned house.

Then we had some fun seeing how hot it would get…

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if you sent the temperature reader on the driveway in the sun :) .

Stay cool today!

And just remember the –20 degree windchills that are bound to come…

Kaye

Monday, July 18, 2011

dear Mamo,

It was great seeing you and Mrs. T when you came to visit on Friday. Loved seeing you both, and thanks for helping me figure out the fabric I needed to use for the dress I’m making- you always seem to know what to do with sewing patterns, and I am very thankful for you sharing your wisdom. And yahoo! I have almost finished the dress!

I hope you have a great time up north where (hopefully) the weather is less sweltering.

And thanks for those cookies.

They are almost gone.

There are only three left.

Well, actually,

(wipe crumbs off of desk)

there are only two now.

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So I have written this letter as a request.

And though it presents the danger of increasing the cookie consumption in this house, I will take the risk…

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and ask if you could pretty please send me the recipe?

your risk-taking granddaughter (smile),

Kaye

(to be continued… :) )

sunshine and blessings

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thanking Him in the high heat today…

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R’s birthday at Granny and Grandpa’s, swimming!

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sparklers on the back patio

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R riding his new BLUE scooter from Granny and Grandpa- so excited…

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Mamo and Mrs. T laughing in our kitchen

Granny and Grandpa over for dinner and a few games of soccer

the car being alright after rolling down the street a bit :)

air conditioning when the heat index hits 115

this play and all the work that is going into it

Abbie’s directing skills

all of the gals laughing and giggling in the serious parts of the play, because really this is too funny

visits from pastors and visions for the church

A Final Farewell- what me and L are tuning into today

soccer field built right next door- heaven for younger siblings

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this sunflower that I keep watching out the back window, its face always turned towards the Sun and I think why can’t I do that more? my face turned towards the Son?

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blessings!

Kaye

Friday, July 8, 2011

Saturday Links- 7/9/11

hello! on most saturdays I try and send out a collection of links for stories/pictures/fun sites to check out. enjoy!

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~The Importance of Family: what He gives in the Dark: This story just made my day. Ann tells her story of when the lights go out on a pig farm and God’s faithfulness...

~ Thai Coffee Art: How fun! Maybe you could try this with your cup of coffee this morning?

~ Note to Self: :) For all you photographers out there… keep your flashes away from candles. :) Too funny…

~ The Company we Keep: Super sweet story about all this family in Maine is doing with their bees, chickens, cats!

~ Confessions of a Wordaholic: to all those who read the dictionary, Jasmine Baucham is a lot like you! Love her stories…

~ Please Don’t Say This to Me: yes yes yes yes YES! please don’t say this to me either- Jasmine Baucham gets this one right on- and I have to TOTALLY agree- please don’t say this to me.

 

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blessings dear friends!

kaye ann

Wednesday, July 6, 2011

just how it works

Ann Voskamp’s experience at the airport just made me smile and I wanted to share it with you.

Isn’t this just how God works?

read more here…

and Beth Moore’s story on her airport witnessing with the Hair Brush is awesome as well!

hear the whole story over here…

blessings friends!

Kaye

Sunday, July 3, 2011

what we watched tonight

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I must’ve left it at Granny and Grandpa’s house, because try as I might, I couldn’t find the camera.

and of all the nights, too.

Oh well.

So then I got to thinking that maybe I could just… tell you what it was like.

You know, try and get these thoughts and mental pictures of mine into words.

So, here goes nothing.

 

Tonight we were all in a mess about what movie to watch. So we each went to our separate screen and watched our separate films.

At about 10 o’ clock, we found ourselves, the three girls together, standing in the kitchen, looking out the sliding glass door.

Fireworks were going up all over the town. And it was beautiful.

Pulling up our kitchen stools, we sat and watched them together.

…(enter mental photograph)… :)

L and M were perched on their stools, chatting in between the booms and sparkles. The kitchen was dimly lit, only one light on over the sink. All you could see were their silhouettes.  Outside in the middle-ground, the lot next door was cast in a green grey light by that one street lamp on the corner. Across the street and field, the Candy Land houses shone, and above them echoed out flashes of green, silver, blue and red. All so fast you could blink and miss it.

Standing behind them, I watched as they oohed and aahed at the colors and bright moments of light, then laughed.

And right then, I wouldn’t have wanted to be anywhere else.

From the far distance, you would catch glimpses of color, a flash of silver then the echoing boom. On the right over slumberland some ‘whistler’ fireworks shot into the sky. People cheered across the way as 5 in a row shot up, swirled, boomed, and exploded.

I tell you, we could see the world from right there. All those fireworks being shot into the warm (hot) night, and we just sat, watching from our kitchen.

We did a quick history quiz ( ;) ) on July 4th dates, people, and places. They aced it, of course :) .

Then when the booms and crackles started to fade off, we each started to walk towards our rooms, glancing over our shoulders to get one last glimpse of the beautiful fireworks displays.

 

Happy 4th of July everyone!

May the Lord bless you on our Nation’s 235th Birthday!

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God bless (America) !

Kaye :)

Friday, July 1, 2011

aren’t they beautiful?

I was off and running early this morning to play practice and heard vaguely as I ran out the door that Mom and L were going strawberry picking.

When I came home a little later, I was so surprised!

Strawberries were everywhere!

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and aren’t they the prettiest ones you’ve ever seen??

Mom and L were busy mixing and sorting and cleaning and I noticed some other things sitting on the counter.

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That’s when it came to me-

they were making strawberry freezer jam. from Frugal Girl.

Yes!!

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Soon, the whole kitchen started to smell deliciously like strawberries and sugar.

I was handed a spoon and instructed to stir at the stove.

After clicking some pictures, of course. ;)

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While I stirred, L and M lined up their 4th pan of strawberries to freeze for cool smoothies and other recipes later on.

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After stirring for 1 minute exactly, I poured in the fruit pectin to the sugar and strawberry mix, and proceeded to stir for another 3 minutes…

then came the best part…

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pouring them into the beautiful ball jars…

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Gorgeous!!

L put the labels on them, and we were ready to freeze!

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Yeah!

Hooray for homemade!