Well, I'm back. It's certainly been awhile. I have been tempted to write on numerous occasions, but didn't have the gumption to get in the trenches and actually do it.

Hope is at a new daycare. She is loving every minute it and complains when I get there to pick her up. Her previous daycare was at a friend's house and they moved to get their house ready to sell. Strange situation, but it is what it is.

It's a little setback on the Financial Peace dream. We went from $50 a week to $150 a week. Huge impact on the budget. Dave Ramsey tells us that getting out of debt takes time, but we were so hoping for a closer end date. Oh well, they will both be in school before we know it.

Ethan goes back the end of August. He doesn't know who his teacher will be yet. I hate that they wait until the last minute. Especially when it comes to school supplies. They are on sale not, but no list has arrived. Ugghhh.

The kids are heading back to Florida this weekend with my mom. It will be quiet. I have plane tickets on Skybus and will hopefully be going for a couple of days. Time off here at work might be a problem though.

I'd like to see the ocean. But I don't do hot, so it's a toss up.

Doing better at this blog is a new goal. I am trying to organize my time so that at least once a week, I journal here my thoughts and the goings on in my household.

We are back in the swing of the school mode, I guess. Ethan started 3rd grade yesterday. It was the first year that I didn't stay home to get him on the bus. That was hard for me, but he seemed to take it in stride. First day jitters weren't a problem. Ethan's school loops, so he has the same teacher and kids in his class this year that he did last year. No anxiety with that at least.

I did, however, get a call from the school. The dreaded first day call.... Ethan was stung by a yellow jacket. I guess he and other boys from his class had stumbled on a nest in the "peace garden." Not so peaceful yesterday. He got iced down and covered in baking soda toothpaste. He managed to breathe in and out like we practiced and made it back to the classroom.

I wonder sometimes how to prepare he and Hope for all that is coming. I've lately been teaching a lot more a reliance on the truth that God is always with them. We have been praying more on the spur of the moment for things big and small.

Charlie and I go tonight to meet Hope's preschool teacher and see the classroom. Hope will be going to preschool two mornings a week. Ugg... she's only 3. I'm not ready for this. She also has taken to dressing herself in the morning in the most delightful outfits. They make me smile, so I actually let her get out the door with them. Except for Sundays... we have to have some standards for church.

I have been reading a lot lately. How much is actually absorbing, I don't know. I have also been struggling to "be there" for Charlie. He is discouraged about a lot right now and I haven't done the greatest job of lifting him up. It's something I have struggled with for the whole almost 10 years of our marriage. You would think I would have learned how to by now.

I have learned this week that my children are very different beings. Now, I knew that before this week, but it has really hit home. Ethan, who is now 8, has always entertained himself. Even as a baby, he would sit quietly in his bouncey seat and eye the toys hanging from the activity bar. As he grew, he was fascinated with building and books. I could sit him in the living room and he would stay put happily exploring his toy basket.

Now, Hope, on the other hand has never sit still. She needs to be right on my leg all the time. She doesn't play by herself at all. Her toys do not keep her attention. Her brothers toys do not keep her attention after the initial thrill of having one of the forbidden toys wears off. Only other people really hold her attention. She thrives on interaction, relationships and sharing. Not so strange considering that she is a girl and genetically linked to me. However, occasionally it would be nice for her to entertain herself for a few minutes.

This week has been one of the longest of my life. I can't wait for the boys to return, so Hope will have more people to interact with.

In other news, Baby Stump arrives today. If it is a girl it will be Anna Jean Stump and if it's a boy it will be Jesse Andrew Stump. Either way, it will be our godchild. And it will be loved beyond measure.

Wow. That was a long break. Lots of stuff happened. Let me let you in on the highlights.

The week of July 17th was a church week. I spent every moment not at my job at the church directing our Vacation Bible School. A week of train whistles, songs and candy. It was a great enjoyment, but a lot of work. All of the kids seemed to love their time and I pray they took home a story or two.

I remember going to every local church VBS when I was growing up. From the Lutherans to the Methodists and around to the Baptists, I experienced them all. I think it was so my mom got a break from the 24/7 of three young children home from school in the summer.

Anyway, OUR VBS was successful. We had about 125 kids and 55 volunteers participating. We were able to do the VBS for free for the first year since I have been going to the church. Yeah!

I slept almost the whole day on Saturday AFTER I cleaned up the remnants at the church. Sunday, we met my family in Dayton to retrieve our kids. We were overjoyed to see them with their slightly golden skin. They were gone so long. Charlie says that they can't go back again for that long. We will do our own family vacation next year. Where we will go and where we will get the money are their own mysteries.

Monday night, Charlie's brother and sister in law, Mike and Roxanne, stopped by for a short visit. They live in Charlotte and were in town for the weekend. All of Roxanne's family live here in the area and they usually stop to see us for a while. You can read about their lives on their website www.mikeandrox.com.

The family spent the rest of the week getting back into a routine of sorts. We had suitcases to unpack and new clothes from Grandma and Grandpa to put away. Then we had to turn around and pack suitcases for Charlie and Ethan as they set off for the wilds of Ironton, Ohio to work with a mission team.

My two men left on Saturday embarking on their adventure. They are not to return until August 5th. Hope reminded me that "we are girls" and she asserted that "we don't need any boys." I disagree, but it's nice to have girl time for a while.

Amazing insights... I am reading confessions from an honest wife by Sarah Zacharias Davis which I highly suggest that you check out at http://www.revellbooks.com. The chapter on the "trinity of marriage" was so "me." Well actually the whole book so far is me. It's what I think and how I feel in marvelously crafted words which didn't flow from my mouth or fingers. This quote is what I just read and I had to post.

She writes, "I must approach God as I am. I must ask him to purge my current way of thinking and being ...... My dilemma is making this head knowledge real in the practical workings of my life. I must also learn to be, not only do ...... But I know that I have to work and to try -- and I know God will somehow meet me where I am every single time. "

That MY dilemma.... how can all of this knowledge that I read, hear and digest translate into action. I guess I just need to keep trying and trust that God is in it if I ask Him to be.

Charlie asked me this morning who had a meeting tonight. Neither of us do which is unusual lately. We will be home together, which should be a time to connect and talk. It probably won't be though. We each have so many projects that we are working on.... that sounds like an excuse. Maybe it is. I want to want to spend time with him. Just like I want to want to spend time with God. Some days it just isn't that easy. It's a choice that has to be made.

I will make some tortillas for dinner to eat together and we can decompress the day. Maybe I will suggest a short walk around the neighborhood unless it's raining again. Try not to nag, try to be energetic, try to smile, try to be positive, listen, don't offer too many suggestions, be ready for physical intimacy. All that running around in my head non stop...... and have FUN.

Sometime soon I will figure out how to post pictures here and find our digital camera in the area in our house known as "dad's desk." I will brave it soon, I promise.

Yesterday evening I spent time sorting through school supplies with another lady from church for the Mission Trip to Ironton that our church is taking in 2 weeks. That particular area of Ohio is pretty economically depressed and we are collecting supplies to fill backpacks for the kids in the area. It's amazing to me that God always seems to work it out. He puts on one person's heart to bring crayons and another scissors. There is nothing more miraculous than having a project from God come together because of His leading the people in His kingdom.

Later in the evening, when she should have been asleep, I chatted with Hope in Florida. She told me all about their trip to Silver Springs, the glass bottom boat she rode in, the bell on the boat that she rang and that she ate and ate and ate. She informed me about riding the big ride high in the air with Grandpa, Ethan and Maddy. She told me that Aunt Sarah rode with Grandma because Grandma was scared of heights. She also said that she rode the bear on the merry go round and waved to Grandma every time she went by her. She forgets nothing and fascinates in everything. What a gift I have been given. God is SO GREAT!

They are gone. My kids. Away in Florida in the heat, which I probably couldn't handle. They are having a great time. I have been able to go hours without talking to them. I only check in once or twice a day.

Hope got in trouble on Saturday. It seems that the crayons I sent caused a problem when she used them on the kitchen floor. "Grandpa was mad," she said. She also told Charlie that she "was naughty." I'm pretty sure she learned her lesson, at least at Grandma's house.

They went to the ocean Saturday afternoon to swim. Hope in her Elmo bathing suit and Elmo water socks. Ethan with his boogie board, able to swim without the life jacket. They searched for shells, swam and played in the sprinklers at the beach to get off the salt.

Hope told me Sunday morning that they wouldn't be going back to the beach because they had already been there. She called me later to tell me that she was back at the ocean and running with Grandma.

There was an interesting development. There is at least one rule now at Grandma's house. A one taste/try rule. Ethan informed me that he tried salsa, blueberries and cucumbers, which according to him taste just like watermelon. Hmmmmm..... Not so much.

We here, the ones left in Ohio, are taking it easy. Finishing up VBS stuff, watching movies together and talking in quiet. Charlie will be at Promise Keepers on Friday and Saturday. Maybe I will have the gumption to get a garage sale ready. Then again, maybe not.