Wow! Anybody still around...

Wow. I knew I'd not posted here for a while, but just realized it's been well over a month. I'm sure any of the few somewhat regular readers I had have given up hope on any new posts. Sorry about that. I'll try to get back into the swing of things.

Let's see. Updates on family and writing are in order.


Family first~Jon has been having a really hard time lately. He started school a few weeks ago with a great teacher, but keeps getting in trouble. I couldn't figure out what was going on, but through talking to his dad, Kenny, I've come to believe that Jon is suffering from fear of rejection and inadequacy. Apparently, he's putting up a cocky, rude attitude to protect himself from the fact that he believes no one will like him anyway.

This made me realize how wrong I've been about him. I never thought about him acting out because of insecurities, we just thought of him as a know it allish little brat. (which he has been, but at least now I think we know what's been behind it.)

I'm picking him up this afternoon and hope to work on his trust ans self worth issues to see if we can turn his attitude around. I'm going to talk to his teacher tomorrow to let her in on all of this. Maybe she'll have some advice on how to help him work through all this.

His dad want us to sign him up for karate to help with his socialization and confidence. At first I was afraid that would be a bad idea. I thought he would be too disruptive in the class and get kicked out or learn things he didn't have the self control to refrain from using on his brothers.

I did a little reading online last night, and looks like other parents found karate to be very helpful with ADHD kids. Having the belts as a visible statement of their progress really helps with self esteem issues, among the other benefits. So, looks like I'll be signing my little Chuck Norris up as soon as we get some cost info etc from local gyms.

Matty has been doing really well, but apparently caught a flu bug. This morning, he woke us all up by throwing up in our bed. Such a lovely way to start the day. lol He seems to be feeling a little better and is asking to eat. I gave him a graham cracker and some water and told him he has to wait awhile to see if that stays down before he can have some more to eat. LOL He just told me that that cracker made him get crumbelies in his belly button--on the inside! Kids. hehe

Jacob seems to be doing better too. He had been waking up quite a bit and had a pretty bad cold for a few days. Now his nose is clearing up, his cough has quieted down and he's been sleeping more at night.

He's still not talking much at all though, and he's almost a year and a half. I guess this is average for babies, but Jon talked extremely well at a very young age and Matty was an early talker too, so that's making me impatient. I asked the dr. about it the other day and he suggested teaching him a few signs. He said this would encourage him to communicate and relieve some of the frustrations that might be keeping him up at night.

Mark just had his birthday on labor day. I bought him a video game that he asked for and Matty picked out a Scooby-doo in the Mystery Machine van gift bag for it. lol The afternoon of his bday, we all sat at the table and had brownie cheesecake and I helped everyone make banana splits. I had three kinds of ice cream, bananas, chocolate syrup, whipped cream and cherries. It was a lot of fun and knowing how much we all love ice cream, I think that's one family tradition we'll be able to keep. :)

We also bought a bike for Mark and one for myself with a trailer to pull Jacob. We've gone on one family ride with all of us and I did one nice ride with just the two babies in the trailer with me. I'm hoping that we can get in the habit of having regular rides with the boys to fit in some family time together.

Now for the writing update. I wrote an entry for FW challenge on the topic of 'melody' and actually won 2nd place in Advanced. I was hoping that meant it would also be an EC winner, but a couple Beginners and one Intermediate scored higher and knocked me down to 12th overall. Oh well, it would have been really cool to be published again, but the last one that made EC was about postpartum depression and a lady thinking about killing her baby. This one was about Christians being tortured to death for their faith. I wouldn't want to get a reputation for just being a crazy person with a bunch of dark writing. lol

Ne'ikio on the other hand....sigh....

I worked on it the other night and am now up to eighteen pages. That feels like nothing, but Jezz did point out that that is about 20% of a completed script, so I guess that's not too bad. It's also up to 4330 words, which is a definite record for me for one story. The cool thing is, I know there is still so much more story to come, IF I can just force myself to get it out of my head and onto my computer screen so I can get it onto the movie screen. :)

Well, guess that's about it for now. If anyone actually stopped by and took time to read all this, thanks. I'd love any comments about any or all that I've posted. Especially if you have any advice for helping out Jon. He is really heavy on my heart right now, as you could probably tell from his extended portion of this post. Please pray for all of my boys as you think of them. It's always greatly appreciated. :)

A Special Monday Memory I Will Never Forget

I wasn't sure how I was going to handle things or what I would say when I got there. He asked me to go, so I went. A part of me wanted to be there too, so I was actually relieved when he asked me to go. It was a good excuse for me to see the damage for myself.

Ken's phone call hadn't surprised me, after all, our son had been visiting all week, and I figured he was just calling regarding the upcoming exchange. I wasn't prepared at all for his news.

I pulled up to his parents' house, or what was left of it, and opened the van door to unload the kids. The scent in the air immediately reminded me of the fourth of July. Only there wasn't much celebrating going on in the exhausted looking group resting on the porch.

His mom, Diana met me at the van as usual, along with his sister Barbie and her daughter. I still wasn't sure what to say, but Diana's typical warmth and love for my kids, even the two that weren't her family, melted the ice quickly.

After a quick hello, I walked to the back of the van and got out the air purifier Ken had brought to me for them when we picked up Jon. I handed it to Diana and after getting the boys out of their car seats, we all headed to the porch.

Diana asked if I thought Jacob would stay with her so I could have a look around inside. Seeing the dozen or so baby kitties of various ages lounging around in the shade of the porch, Jacob was too excited to miss me much. I grabbed Matty by the hand and we headed inside with Jon and his Aunt Barbie.

They said it was the window cooler that started it all, but how one little fan could do so much damage to twenty plus years of memories is beyond me. The rafters were showing where the ceiling once was. The sixty-gallon aquarium that I was once to inherit, was sooty black, fish boiled alive still floating inside.

Though I'd lived there with Ken and his family for a few years as a teen, I could hardly recognize the ashen mess before me. Their new black refrigerator's once shiny enamel finish was streaked a pale gray. The microwave and the shelves above it were melted into a single tangle of metal and plastic. I couldn't even go into the rest of the rooms where the damage was the worst, but I saw a fluffy layer of ash where the carpet used to be. The air was thick and dark.

We talked a while about how they were all doing and what the insurance company said: two month minimum before any kind of settlement and at least nine months to a year before the reconstruction of their home would be ready for their return. For now, they would call a doublewide trailer home.

We said our goodbyes after about a half an hour and I began the long drive back to my own home. I had handled seeing the damaged shell a lot better than I thought I would, at least until I had a chance to process the images.

As I headed down the freeway, I began to feel nauseous, then overwhelmed with the mixture of memories, guilt, and fear. Tears welled up in my eyes as I struggled to sort through it all and maintain control of the wheel.

They had moved into their home when Ken was in sixth grade. He's now thirty-one. I've only been here in my house for a little over three years and can't even begin to fathom the heartache of loosing all our memories.

Monday we will be leaving for a hotel for three days while our house is being tented for termites. I've been worried about forgetting something and not being able to get back into the house. That's for just three days. My belongings will be waiting for me when we comeback home. Theirs are gone forever.

I began to recall so many memories of my time in that house. While a few were directly linked to my relationship with Kenny, most actually had to do with my love for his family.

They had taken me in at sixteen years of age, when I felt like I had no other options. My father had been arrested a few short months prior to Kenny and I meeting. Right after high school, while I was still living at home, my mom decided to marry Mike, whom I had met only once. She said we'd be moving into his house out of town. I couldn't handle it and the Stocks' opened their doors.

I still remember the time we were all sitting around their dining room table and his dad, Ron, called me kiddo and told me for the first time that I was part of the family. Ken and I had just started dating not long before that. It felt so good to be accepted and before long, I grew to love his parents, his mom especially, as my own family as well.

I smiled a little when I remembered meeting Diana for the first time at the front door that's no longer standing. Ken had brought me to his house after school and she unlocked the door for us. Let's just say she was nothing like I expected and the image will stay with me forever.

Laughter almost broke through my tears as I remembered making taco salad with his oldest sister, Mona, one night. We had a large bowl full of the lettuce, hamburger, and other ingredients. It was time to make the dressing.

Mona and I worked together to get out the mayonnaise and taco sauce and pour the proper amounts into a mixing bowl. She got out the hand held electric whip and with out thinking, turned it on before inserting it into the goo. She lowered the spinning beater faster than she could react, spraying the entire kitchen and us with pinkish dressing.

Today those same cupboards were black, their contents no longer fit for consumption. It was hard to realize that although I only visited a couple times a year, the house where I grew up so much, would no longer keep those memories safe for me.

When I got home, it was such a sharp contrast to see my clean hardwood floors. My table and chairs in tact. Sofa cushions on my nice sofa, just as they should be. Not even a hint of the choking smoke I'd breathed less than an hour ago. Tears threatened to gush again.

We tend to live our lives with a certain amount of certainty that all will continue on as we know it. We've already survived the worst of it, what else could happen to us? Then some one you know wakes up alone on a weekend morning, her life in flames around her, and some how your life is changed as well.

I'm no longer frustrated about strangers coming to my home to rid it of unwelcome insects. I'm no longer as anxious about leaving things behind while sitting in a comfortable hotel for a few days. I walk by the cracks and peeling paint and push past the grudges I once held for my husband's incomplete repairs. There is no room for those things now. They've been replaced with the knowledge that I am truly blessed.

Publishing Surprise!

Lately the only writing I've been doing at all is when I'd work on my script and even that hasn't been as frequently as I wish it was. Until last week, I hadn't entered the Faith Writers' Weekly Challenge since the beginning of May. That was partly because I wanted to work on Ne'ikio, but also because I simply couldn't come up with anything.

I'd struggle all week long, trying to formulate a half way coherent thought that would fit the current topic, and always ended up frustrated. When I did finally enter last week's, I wasn't very proud of my entry. It was an attempt at writing a skit and I didn't think it turned out well enough to want my name on it. I felt like if I couldn't even write a simple script, that I have no business working on an entire screenplay.

I was very discouraged with my lack of creativity seeming to overwhelm me.

Then late Wednesday night/Thursday morning, I was laying in bed and had a heart to heart with God. I don't even remember exactly what I prayed, but something along the line of pouring out my frustrations with myself, saying I wasn't sure what was wrong and if my attitudes, etc. had been inappropriate, and just told Him my desires to be a good writer.

I laid there for a few more minutes and slowly dialog and characters began to visit my mind. I saw a setting and a scene. I had a line I couldn't get out of my head. I had to get up and write.

An hour or so later, I'd written 650 of the best words that have graced my screen in the last two months. I went to bed happy and planned to finish up in the morning.

Thursday came and I began working on it much later in the day than I should have. I checked how many entries had been entered thus far and all seemed ok. The number was getting up there, but hadn't changed much in the last few hours. I thought I was safe.

I went over my story, adding here, deleting there and got it to exactly 750 words, the maximum allowed for the challenge. I started writing an email to Amy, asking her to proof read for me before submitting.

Then I thought I'd better double check the entry tally first.

200 entries. The submissions were closed for the week and here I was sitting on the best entry I've come up with in so long. I wanted to cry, but knew that it was my fault. I also knew that it could still be used somewhere else, if I was willing to do the work of finding somewhere to submit it.

I went to the message boards and posted my disappointing news. Then as an after thought, I posted a second time, asking just how long we needed to wait before posting in the regular articles section if we hadn't made it in on time.

Deb Porter replied quickly that she thought I should post right away to get in some feedback before everyone else started their hinting frenzy.

I posted a link immediately.

Then I went on to chat with Amy and realized I had a couple emails saying my articles had been reviewed. With having just posted and still having my skit up for the current challenge, I wasn't sure which had been reviewed at first. I just let the emails sit for a minute while we chatted.

When Amy asked if my newest article had been reviewed yet, I decided to check them out. They were both for the new one, which was entitled, Teatime at Auntie Ethel's, so I casually clicked the link to read the comments. I expected a few sympathetic "sorry you missed out" type comments.

Then I saw it. The second comment was from none other than Deb Porter. I haven't had any comments from her in months. She had said long ago that she just didn't have time to pop over to everyone's entries like she used to. I was instantly curious what she had to say.

Here's her comment:

"Debbie, I loved the message in this story. Everyone needs an Auntie Ethel! This line made me laugh out loud: “Honey, do you think my boobies were touching my toes when Harvey met me?” Just as well I had already swallowed my diet coke--or it could have been kinda messy on my monitor. Deb, this has to be somewhere. Could I use it in FaithWriters' Magazine in October? I know it's a long way off, and it probably would have been better if I'd suggested that before it started getting sympathy reads :-) but it's such a good reminder, and it will work VERY well in our "Woman's World" section. Let me know if that's okay with you Deb, and if it is, please send me a short bio note to go with it. Love, Deb (Challenge Coordinator and Editor, FaithWriters' Magazine)"

I almost had tears in my eyes as I read. I am still in a bit of shock. Deb and I are rarely on the boards at the same time, due to time zone differences. So for her to reply so quickly when I asked about posting a link was odd enough. But then for her to not only go read my article, but to also request to use it, is simply amazing. It had to be God's timing.

I'm thankful for Deb's kind words, as well as those of others who have left comments so far. I do have to wait until October to see the story in the magazine, but I think I can wait pretty happily.

As I started off by saying, I had gotten fairly discouraged about my writing and being a part of FaithWriters. Now thanks to Deb's request, I thought about how much of my work has already been used and was surprised yet again.

I started with FW less than a year ago. In this past year, I've had a story published in print with Cross Times, one used online at OneBoxLife, another online with Christian Witness, one in the FaithWriter anthology "Come Away With Me" and another already in FW online Magazine.

So including this latest request, that is six stories being published in a year, or one every two months on average. That definitely encouraged me to feel like there might be something to my writing after all.

Sorry if this sounds like bragging, I don't mean it too. Just needed a place to share my excitement and to thank God. I hope you all will continue writing in confidence too, knowing that He can and will use your words, all in His timing.

BOOK REVIEW: Never Ceese by Sue Dent

Never Ceese, is an unusual twist of cursed creatures and faith. Ceese, a naive young lady who has spent the last couple of hundred years as a wolf, is paired up with Richard, an uptight vampire who lives in a castle full of all the latest modern conveniences. That alone is an unusual storyline; werewolves and vampires typically war with one another in most fiction. Sue Dent doesn't write typical fiction.

Ceese, whose father was a minister, desperately wants to break her curse and be reunited with her family in heaven one day. Penny, a mutual friend who believes the two need to help each other, asks Richard to put aside his distaste for Ceese. He reluctantly accepts the request and their journey begins.

I was a new fan before I'd finished the prologue. I didn't want to stop reading even after the last word of the epilogue (which has an exciting twist I didn’t see coming, so I’m glad I read it). Never Ceese is full of characters that you will grow to love. Just like family, they are flawed with their own unique failings, but Sue managed to take creatures that are commonly viewed as blood thirsty, evil beings and made them likable.

For those who are hesitant to read a novel about such creatures as werewolves and vampires, your apprehension is understandable. Most books or movies on this topic would be full of grotesque scenes of carnage that would not be suitable for sensitive audiences.

With a few scenes of violence and a handful of swearing, I wouldn’t go as far as saying Never Ceese should have a G rating, but the ugliness that does lie within its cover was skillfully crafted with care, not to cross the line.
Sue's sense of humor shines through with comical misunderstandings created by Ceese's unfamiliarity of the modern world. Her intellect is reflected in scientific explanations of why the moon effects werewolves and how stem cell research, mixed with cursed blood, could grant one immortality.

Never Ceese isn't about horror and titillation. It is a story about two people, suffering a horrible fate, trying to be set free to love God again. Ceese endures great physical pain, going against the ways of her curse, simply to speak the name of her Creator. They will risk everything in search of a way to have that relationship they know they need. If only we could all seek God so intensely.



Sue Dent is currently working on the eagerly awaited sequel, Forever Richard, which promises to be equally full of great characters and exciting plot twists.

Amy's List

Accent: Don't really notice one, but I'm from California, so I must have a Californian accent. Though I do live in a valley, I do NOT talk like a valley girl. lol

Best personality trait: I tend to be very empathetic. It allows me to put myself in other people's shoes easily and find the best in people, even ones I don't particularly like.

Chore I hate: Dishes. They get dirty faster than I can clean them. That's why we always have a huge supply of paper plates on hand for dinner. :)

Dad's name: James Wesley Snyder, Jr.

Essential make-up/skin care products: Mascara, foundation and lipstick for the day and a good moisturizer at night. Plus I have a soy cleanser that's really good to use in the shower.

Favorite perfume/cologne: I stopped using them because half of my family has such bad asthma they can't handle the scent of even fragrant lotions. I do love Victoria Secret's body sprays though. Their Passionate Kisses and Love Spell are yummy. Oooh, and their Strawberries and Champagne too.

Gold or silver?: My wedding band is gold, so I'd say gold. But growing up, I'd say silver because it was a lot cheaper and I could actually afford a silver bracelet from Kmart once in a while. :)

Hometown: Just one? I was born in the Mojave Desert, but moved to Sanger when I was one. Then we moved to Orange Cove when I was seven and stayed there until I was about thirteen. I guess the town I feel the most like home at would be Reedley where we lived until I was nineteen. Now, Fresno is home and I've been here longer than anywhere else in my adult life.

Interesting fact: I taught myself how to ride a unicycle when I was in about the sixth grade. (Goes well with the tight rope stunt I talked about in my last post. Now if I could just get a hang of that whole juggling thing...)

Job title: Mommy and aspiring writer.

Kids: Three boys. Jon 8, Matty 3, and Jacob 1.

Living arrangements: We own a single story, three bedroom, two bath home in the suburbs of Fresno. It sits on a quiet little side street in the historic Fig Garden area, though we are WAY outside the ritzy area of homes that are usually associated with that neighborhood.

Mom's birthplace: Missouri, I think.

Number of apples eaten in the last week: I don't do apples. Sorry, Amy.

Overnight hospital stays: Three. One stay for each of my kids' deliveries. Stay clear of hospitals mostly.

Phobia: Try not to indulge any. The only thing that comes to mind is hurting myself by being clumsy and doing something foolish. Is that a phobia or do I just know myself? lol

Question you ask yourself a lot: Can't think of any.

Religion: Christian.

Siblings: Cheri, six years older, Michele, three years older, and Billy, 5 years younger. We also had four foster siblings off and on growing up.

Time I wake up: Whenever the boys force me out of bed. Usually between 6:30 and 8:00.

Unnatural hair color: Typically some shade of medium to dark brown. I have had it dark blondish brown and also auburn, which my mom likes the best, but was REALLY bright.

Vegetable I Refuse to Eat: Asparagus.

Worst habit: Being lead by my feelings and mood too much. I need to plan ahead and stick to the plan more.

X-rays?: Plenty of dental X-rays and just recently for my toe that I broke.

Yummy food I make: I don't do much cooking over the last few years, but I love to make chicken noodle soup, lasagna, fajitas, chicken strips, and even made some awesome tamales once.

Zaniest thing about you: My odd since of humor.



Okay, now it's Alex and Georgiana's turns. :)

Sight Seeing Down Memory Lane...

Today I did something that I've been wanting to do for almost fifteen years. I drove to the tiny town of Orange Cove. Why would I want to go to a town if it's so small? What could there be to attract my attention? Absolutely nothing. Nothing spectacular to see, no national monuments or landmarks. Nothing except the fact that I grew up in Orange Cove would ever compel me to return.

The town is all of about one mile long. There are two grocery stores. One at one end of town. One at the other. Not much besides liquor stores and a few beauty shops in between.

I moved there with my family when I was about seven years old. My father was the new pastor of their Assemblies of God Church. We lived there until the middle of seventh grade, when I was about thirteen. I had never been back. Until today.

I took the nearly hour long drive with Matthew and Jacob. (Jon is still with his dad until Sunday.) Armed with an "Ice Age" DVD, extra diapers and a bottle for Jacob, tea for Matty and myself, and a picnic lunch consisting of hot dogs, cheese slices, pretzels, fruit snacks, applesauce cups and graham crackers, we were off.

Jacob pretty much just watched the DVD for the majority of the drive, while Matty took in the unusual country sights of grape vines, orchards, and canals. We saw hay, cows and horses, a small airport and even an old graveyard. I played the tour guide while Matty played the perfect tourist, taking an interest in most of what I shared with him. Pretty remarkable for a three year old sitting in front of his favorite movie.

When we got to Orange Cove, the first thing I wanted to see was one of my favorite homes I've ever lived in. It's located on the outskirts of town, so was the logical starting point for our trip.

It was a two story house with five bedrooms. My bedroom and my sister Cheri's were my favorites. Hers because it was really two of the bedrooms joined by french doors. Her main bedroom had a small bathroom someone had created out of the closet prior to us living there. Then to the side were the French doors that lead to the second room. It was sort of a screened in porch, with the upper half of the three outer walls being glass.

My bedroom there was my favorite for two reasons. The first cool feature was a small cutout in the wall of the closet. It was just a small square, slightly above my head, that lead to my sister Michele's closet. We had fun throwing each others belongings onto one another's heads while "cleaning" our rooms. :)

The second reason I loved the room was far less cheesy. The house had a small balcony, accessible only from my room. I could open the door and step out into my own private three by five sanctuary. Something much needed in a house with a mom, dad, two sisters, a younger brother, and two foster sisters who all pretty much faught none stop.

Seeing the house today brought back a lot of memories and it was interesting to see how it has changed.

From there, our tour continued down the main street of town. We saw the two grocery stores I mentioned earlier and spotted a park I didn't really remember being there before. We found the other house we'd lived in during our stay in Orange Cove. It was a fairly decent, mid-sized house and somewhat better cared for than the other house, which was pretty cluttered with junk strewn about the yard.

This house didn't bring back quite as many memories because I was younger when we lived in it. I wasn't even sure I'd recognize it if I managed to find it. Surprisingly, I recognized it by the front windows. They were a central part of one of my worst nightmares of all times for some reason. lol (In the dream, a demon was knocking on the windows and laughing an evil laugh. I couldn't even get out of bed to run to my parent's room I was so scared afterwards.) Anyway, I also spotted the fence that my dad hit with our van while moving in. He managed to hit it twice in one day. lol

We then moved on to find my old elementary school. There was some road work being done in front of the school and the workers looked at me as though I was crazy when I pulled up and took a picture with my cell phone. lol Driving around to the side of the school, I saw the play equipment that I used to hangout on with my sisters after church each Sunday. The church was across the street and was our next stop.

The building itself looked about the same, but the name had been changed and a new fence put up. There was also a rather large tree missing from the lawn. I remember once while I was stuck at the church one afternoon, I went outside to play. That day, up in the now missing tree, I saw a thin metal poll. It was laying across the branches and reminded my of a tight rope. So of course I had to climb the tree and pretend I had run away with Ringling Bros.

The bar was only about half an inch thick and twisted under my feet as I walked its entire length, reaching out for the tips of thin branches to steady myself. I was about eight feet or more off the ground and really felt like an aerial acrobat. My mom would have fainted if she'd seen me. :)

The grand tour of my child hood over, we drove back to the park we'd seen earlier. After such a long drive, I was sure Matty would have to use the restroom. No restrooms insight, only Port a Potties. Ugh.

You have not lived until you've taken a one and a three year old into a Port a Potty. Eeew. Matty wanted to use the urinal, but was too short. While I was trying to pick him up high enough that none of his boy parts would touch anything disgusting, Jacob was behind my back trying to play with the toilet. I had a vision of him falling in head first. Double eeew!! I would have just left, but I REALLY had to go and there was no place else around, so I stuck it out and did my best to keep them sanitary. lol

Anyway, for anyone not too disgusted to continue reading about our adventure, we went on to the playground and the boys had a lot of fun going down slides, up ladders and through a tunnel. Just wish it hadn't been so hot and muggy. Our faces were all bright pink and dripping with sweat after only a short play time.

We decided to take a break and have our picnic. I spread out a little blanket and we took off our shoes. We ate our hot dogs and had our tea. The boys didn't eat much though, I think it was just too hot.

After lunch, we all piled back into the van and headed for home. I took a different route back so Matty could enjoy some more new country sights. He liked looking at the wide canal and small towns along the way.

We ended our trip with a surprise stop to see daddy at work. We pulled into the parking lot at Pelco and I called Mark on my cell phone. He came out to the car for a few minutes and gave us all hugs and kisses before h going back to finish his work day.

The boys came home and had a nice long nap. It was a very nice afternoon. :)

So, have any of you ever gone back to where you've grown up? Did you take pictures like I did or am I the only one dorky enough to do that? :P (If I ever find the software that came with the phone, I'll try to get the pictures onto my laptop and post them here.)

Quick Update

It's been a while since I've posted here, so thought I'd jot down a few lines before bed.

Not much has happened since my last post. I've still been working on the script, though I've put it off this weekend so far. Tomorrow we will be in the car all afternoon/evening to take Jon to his dad's, so that will be a great time to get myself in gear.

Although, I may also use the time to read. I've been working on a great book that most of the FaithWriters have probably already heard of, "Never Ceese", by Sue Dent. I'm a little over one hundred pages into it and love it so far. It's about a werewolf named Ceese and a vampire named Richard. Ceese wants to break her curse and go to Heaven some day.

His long time friend, Penny has asked him to look after Ceese, so Richard is reluctantly stuck with her, though the two cannot stand each other at this point. Sue uses some great descriptions and the plot is very interesting. It reads like a movie to me and I find myself imagining how I could turn it into a script. lol

All the kids are doing well, though I think they are getting board with summer vacation already. Jon loves to swim, but gets carried away with splashing, so it makes it hard to go out with him and the other boys. I REALLY hate being splashed. I try to not be too grouchy with him, but he doesn't listen well.

Tonight I bought a little floaty thing for Jacob to sit in with his feet in the water and it has a shade canopy plus toy shelf on it, so that might make things a little easier. Until now, I've had to try holding on to him while Matty paddles around with water wings trying not to drown in Jon's splashing. :)

The pool is small enough that with the boat for Jacob, I can let go and still be within arms reach anywhere in the pool, so that means I can chase Jon around a bit and give him some of the attention he's been looking for. Too bad he's leaving tomorrow. He'll be gone until next Sunday, so I'll have to wait until then to see if not holding Jacob helps with Jon.

I think I'm going to buy the stuff for home made playdough and make a bunch when he comes back. We found a great recipe that says to use Koolaid to color it, which leaves it smelling really yummy and since it's just flour, salt and a bit of oil, it won't hurt Jacob to snack on a little. :)

Matt and Jon are always wanting to play with clay, but it is so sticky and the dye stains skin, the table, etc. so I have to limit clay time to when Jacob's sleeping or stick him in his highchair. With the playdough, I can make a bunch for each of them to have their own and hopefully limit fighting.

Anyone have anyother good indoor ideas to keep the interest of an eight, a three and a one year old boy over the long hot days of summer?