Getting ready

Today we start getting ourselves back into school routine.  Although we don't actually start school until next Tuesday, I thought we needed practice and prepare our bodies for the early mornings.  It has already been a difficult morning but not too bad.

My alarm went off but I didn't get up.  I was interrupted from a very strange dream.  Ok, no more late night snacking.  Late night snacking means strange dreams.  I've had 2 in a row and it's very hard to get up when I was just in a dream state - even if the dream is awkward and I'm happy to be out of the dream.  This morning's dream was some odd competition.  I was racing against someone - someone whom I know, but not sure who it was.  We were seeing who could drink the most gasoline in 2 minutes.  The person who lost had to refill the conatiner and bring it back to the shop.  This wasn't like those red containers.  It was a huge metal machinery thing with 2 spouts which is, of course, what we drink from.  This was my first gasoline drinking competition so I got some help from my cousin - this time I know who she was.  But, even with 2 people, we still lost against the other guy. I went home (which wasn't really my home, I have no idea where I was except that it was supposed to be where Seth and I lived).  I told Seth about the competition.  Just then, my uncle knocked on our door and shoved the huge gasoline machine into the house.  Then I realized that I had to figure out how to fill it up and take it back to the shop before it opened in the morning.  At some point while I was driving around with this thing, the alarm woke me up.  Whew!  I didn't really drink any gasoline.  I didn't have to fill the monster machine and find a way to take it back to the shop.  I was glad to be done with that dream, but ugh.  I had to get up.

Seth reached up and looked at his alarm clock.  His didn't go off because a couple hours earlier he accidentally turned it off.  Yep, a couple hours earlier, A came into our room because she was scared.  Let me rewind to last night before we went to bed....

Usually, if A falls asleep in the living room, we carry her to bed when we go to bed.  Well, last night, A dragged her blanket and pillow upstairs from her room, set them out in the living room and layed down.  She proclaimed that she was going to sleep in the living room.  It wasn't long before she was fast asleep.  Seth and I decided it was time to get ourselves to bed and he asked if we were taking A to bed.  I said I didn't think it was necessary since she puprosely fell asleep there.  Seth reminded me that I always say to put her to bed because if she wakes up in the middle of the night not knowing where she's at, she'll be scared.  This is true.  But I insisted that if A made herself a bed in the living room and wanted to sleep there, then she would be fine.

Well, obviously I was wrong.  As A climbed into bed with us I said, "I should have listened to me."  I cuddled with A for a bit but there was no way I was going to sleep with her there so eventually I told her she needed to go to her own bed.  We both trekked upstairs.  She grabbed her blanket so I grabbed her pillow and we dragged them back downstairs.  She climbed into her own bed and I tucked her in.

Back to this morning.  We figured that when A came to bed, Seth had accidentally turned off the alarm when he reached back to check the time.  So, anyway, we both get up and start the day.  Seth went off to work while I sat and read my Bible.  The problem with that is I was hardly awake to pay attention to what I was reading.  Normally I love sitting in the presence of God and soaking up His Word, but I am typically more awake - but more distracted by children who are also awake.  I was hoping that getting up with Seth would give me the opportunity to spend time with the Lord without the distraction of kids.  I didn't expect to be so tired that I couldn't focus on my reading.  Perhaps as I get more used to getting up so early, I will be able to pay attention better.

This week is basically our practice week and to tweek the routines if we find something that doesn't quite work.  I know I will already have to change some things on my morning list.  We have to really work with K and A to get moving which I already knew would be the case.  K will find every excuse to avoid her chores until she has no other choice.  That's not gonna fly so if she can't figure it out by the end of this week, she'll be looking at some very bad mornings.  A is just little and just learning to do chores.  I help her out.  J always does a great job.  For the last month, he has been getting up early on his own, finishing his chores and is playing the Xbox by the time I got up.  I can usually depend on him to get things done.  Obviously he's the firstborn.

We are currently in our school time but we're not really doing school.  J is drawing.  K is working on last year's math.  A is doing her pre-k books.  We will keep on with our new routine the rest of the day.  Monday afternoons will be busy ones with cleaning up the kitchen and washing dishes.  I would say the kitchen is my weakness.  I can never keep the counters cleaned.  The kids are in charge of the dishwasher, but I admit, I probably let that get behind as well.  Apparantly, we have no basketball players because people keep missing the trash.  And I have a tendancy to not empty it when it's needed.  I will work on changing these bad habits this year so we have a nice clean kitchen everyday....or at least every week.  :)

My main goal is to get ourselves into the habit of keeping things cleaned and picked up so that when we try to sell our house again, we will be able to get the house ready for a showing in 10 minutes.  A quick pick up and vacuum and out the door - not an hour rush of cleaning hoping it's good enough for the potential buyers.  I'm guessing we have at least 2 years to master this plan.

So, here's to another year of challenges, learning, and fun.

I am a Greenlee

I'm also a Cannon, Campbell, and Stowell.  At least those are the names of my 4 grandparents.  Earlier this month, we traveled up to Iowa for the Greenlee family reunion.  I believe our last reunion was 1995.  I was about to enter my senior year of high school.  That is the last time I saw some of these people.

I enjoy family reunions.  I love geneology.  I love figuring out how I'm related to people.  There were several pictures of my grandma and her siblings along with their parents sitting around on tables for people to look at.  There were also a couple of family trees.  I wish I had the time and money to really get into geneology.  Someday, I might.  I want to pass on my knowledge of my ancestors to my children so they can pass it on to theirs.

We have a Cannon reunion every other summer around the 4th of July weekend.  There's a Campbell reunion every year in June.  I haven't attended that since K was born and I don't know that family very well.  We don't have a Stowell reunion but I wish we did.  This year, the Greenlee family decided to get together every 3 years.  The next reunion will be held in Wyoming, where they always used to be held, in 2014.  I sure hope we can make it.

Of all the siblings in my grandma's family, only her brother still lives.  Both he and his wife are doing well.  The wife of another of my grandma's brothers was also at the reunion.  There were several people missing, however.  Some of my 2nd cousins I remember hanging out with as a kid at our other reunions in Wyoming were unable to come.  And the only 3rd cousin generation were my dad's grandkids.  Maybe we'll get more to attend in 3 years.

Here's the whole gang.  All of the Greenlees who were able to attend are here.  There's 4 generations represented here.

We are the descendants of my grandma, Esther.  All of us were able to be there except my sister's younger soon-to-be step son.  Her fiance and his older son came.

These 3 couples all celebrated their anniversaries on August 13th.  This is my parents (on the right), with my dad's brother (on the left) and sister (in the middle) and their spouses.

This is quite the crew.  These are the 1st cousins and they are so fun to be around.  I think they're all 25 years old on the inside (some even younger - lol).

This is the last of my grandma's siblings.  Her brother, his wife, and another sister-in-law (sitting) who moved to Iowa from Seattle just in time for the reunion.

We are the 2nd cousins.  There are many more of us out there who were unable to come.

And this is the 3rd cousin generation.  However, these all happen to be 1st cousins because no other 3rd cousins came.  These are my grandma's great grandkids.



I don't know much about my grandma's history.  I believe while she was in her late teens or early 20s, her mother passed away.  Her aunts came to take care of her father and the little children and some of them moved with their father to Wyoming.  My grandma stayed in Iowa where she eventually met my grandpa.  They had 3 children, my dad was the baby.  My dad was about my age when he lost his mom.  She became very sick with a rare disease.  I remember her laying on the hospital bed in their living room.  She passed away just before I turned 4, I think.

There is a rumor that it is through the Greenlees that we are related to the Wright brothers.  One theory is that the Wright brother's mother's sister is my grandma's grandmother.  So I believe this means that the Wright brothers are my 1st cousins 3 times removed.  But there is some dispute with that as it seems too closely related.  Ah well.  It's just fun to say I'm related to the Wright brothers.  :)

So, there it is.  I am a Greenlee and proud of it.

A Blogging Vacation

I'm so sorry that it's been so long since my last blog.  My laptop needed some repair and I don't like using the kids' laptop so I have not been able to blog for a while.  So I guess I went on a little blogging vacation, although not by choice.  :)

I do have a blog to write and share and it will include pictures which is the main reason why I haven't blogged using the other laptop.  I don't want to upload my pics on that computer.  lol  I just got my laptop returned to me last night so hopefully I'll get those pics uploaded and the blog written soon.

Thank you for your patience.

A Week Without J

A couple weeks ago, J got to spend a week at Kansas Bible Camp.  This was our first time for any child to be gone for this long.  What an interesting week it was!

We got J all packed...except we couldn't find one of his flip flops.  We searched and searched but could not find it in time.  After the potluck at church that Sunday, we headed to camp.  It was a very hot day.  Seth wasn't feeling well; he had come down with yet another cold.  We pulled up into the camp and got J's stuff out of the van and he started the check-in process.  But not before he gave me a quick hug with a "Bye Mom" as if we were just leaving right away.  lol

Check-in went smoothly and J was shown the room in which he would be staying.  I took a quick picture and left him to set up his things and change to go swimming.  Seth, the girls, and I sat waiting to say good-bye.  But he didn't come out.  Seth finally went in to see if he needed help with anything, but he was gone.  So, we went on a small search, starting with the pool.  No sign of him.  We looked around again.  Still nothing.  Finally, we took one more trip and Seth spotted him in the pool area.  We walked up to the fence, said our goodbyes, and left.

I did a lot of praying on the way home.  My stomach was unsettled.  Will he use enough sunscreen?  Will he drink enough water?  Will he sleep ok at night?  Will he make friends? Will he shower?  Will he change clothes everyday?   "Lord, calm my heart.  He is in Your hands and I know You will take care of him."

By Monday, I was doing fine.  My girls were having a difficult time, however.  A continued to ask where J was and if he was going to eat with us and if he was going to sleep with us.  I let A and K sleep together most of the week.  We wrote him letters and sent them on Tuesday.  Seth and I realized during this week that J is the source of calmness among our 3 children.  Without J, it was like someone removed the pin from a hand grenade.  The girls went absolutely crazy!!  K is generally the one to be loud and hyper, but this week she took A with her and their bouncing off the walls was multiplied by 10.  lol

On Thursday, we went swimming at a friend's house.  Several people were there from church.  After a while, I saw K sitting on the edge of the pool looking very upset.  I walked over to see what was going on.  "I can't dive without J to dive with me."  Poor sweetie was lost without her brother!  It is true, when we do go swimming, they dive together.  He gives her the confidence to dive in the water and without him, she didn't think she could.  So, she sat there bawling because her brother wasn't there to dive with her.  I told her just one more day, and he'll be home.  We can wait one more day.  "I can't!  I can't!  It's too long!"  :(  It's nice to know that she loves her brother that much and she missed him a lot.

Well, Friday finally came after a very hot week with temps over 100.  Seth was unable to join us because of work.  The girls and I could hardly wait until it was time to leave.  Finally, the time came, and we got in the van and headed back to camp.  As we pulled in, I noticed a few kids with T-shirts wrapped around their heads.  "Why are there kids dressed like Ninjas?"  I thought to myself.  One ninja was kinda following our van, jumping up and down all goofy.  Then, I noticed his face through the T-shirt that covered most of it - it was J.  J was one of the ninjas and just as goofy as ever.  lol  As soon as we parked, the girls got out and practically mauled J with hugs.  :)  We collected his art projects among other things and then sat down for supper.  I met a couple of his new friends as well as his counselors.

K was just too excited and took off to explore the campgrounds.  A wanted to join and J did also.  We all walked over the scary bridge to the tree house and looked at the animals.  Finally, I got K to follow me back to the van.  It was time to go home.  I helped J get his stuff from his room into the van.  He lost his sleeping bag cover which is a big bummer since the sleeping bag won't stay rolled without it.  I had him take a few more pictures with the disposable camera I bought him.  And then we all climbed back into the van to go home.

J had fun.  We survived.  And we'll do it again next summer.  Except K will get to stay at camp, too.  *sigh* They grow up so fast.  :)

An Adventurous Drive in the Storm

I stayed late chatting after prayer meeting last night and we didn't leave until around 9:45ish. As we walked out the door, it was very windy and there was lightning. Once I got all the kids in the van, it started to sprinkle. It was full raining before we left the parking lot.

I live all the way across town and before I even drove a mile, the wind was so strong, I could barely see the road. Due to some construction, I had to drive 3 miles to get to the freeway that would take me to the other side of town. Seth wasn't with me. It was just me and the 3 kiddos.

Walls of water crashed into the van. I was traveling about 10 mph and still could barely see the road. I couldn't even see intersections, or the curb. I didn't know where to pull over to wait out the storm because I couldn't see! I knew there was a QT just before I would turn onto the freeway.

Street lights went out right beside me. I finally saw the QT sign just ahead. I couldn't exactly see where I should turn left to cross oncoming traffic to pull into QT. I knew there was a small median there, but I couldn't see it. I lined myself up with the QT entrance, and turned in.

The wind shook the van. The rain pounded so hard that I had to yell to the kids to be heard at all. I called Seth. I yelled into the phone and he yelled back that he couldn't hear me. So I texted him. He called me back. We yelled into the phone, this time getting our messages across.

I turned up the radio reporting on the weather as we sat and waited in the storm. Several other cars were waiting in the QT parking lot. The storm had come in so quickly that cars on the freeway that I would be taking home had stopped in the middle of the road. I don't blame them. With zero visibility, no one could see where it would be safe to pull over, so they just stopped.

Finally, the rocking seemed to stop, the rain let up a tad. Cars were starting to leave QT, I followed. Still traveling slowly on the freeway, I made it across town to my exit without a problem. Visibility was still low, but I could actually see the lines on the road.

As I made my way north on the street that leads to my street, I drove through several deep puddles. I knew that flooding was likely, but I had never driven through such large puddles before. One, I wish I had never started through. All power was out so no street lights were on. I couldn't even see when I was going to hit a puddle until I was already in it. One puddle was pretty high and lasted quite a while, I wasn't sure if I was gonna make it out.

Finally, I reached my street. Seth had to run outside and clear the driveway of our garbage bins that had blown into it as well as a large branch. I pulled into our driveway and let the kids out and then I carried little A. The rain was still coming down pretty hard. The lightning was bright and the thunder had an occasional boom. With no power, and it was nearly 10:30 by this time, we all just headed to bed.

A ended up joining Seth and me in bed. I just wasn't tired and my shoulder was in pain (I don't know why) so I got out of bed. I blindly walked upstairs, took a couple of snoozes on the couch, and then went back downstairs and climbed into A's bed. Normally, I would move her to her bed, but since I couldn't see anything, I was afraid I would trip while carrying her or run into something so I left her in my bed and I slept in hers.

I woke up at around 6:45. The power was still out, but I could see with the early morning sun lighting up the room. I switched with A, but her bed messed up my lower back, I could not get comfortable. Seth got up around 7:30 for physical therapy and then work. The power was still out. I couldn't go back to sleep. I sat up and twisted and stretched and tried all sorts of positions to relieve the pain in my back. Finally, something worked and I went back to sleep.

By the time I woke up, power was back. This was the 6th time this summer we've lost power but this was the longest the power stayed out. Branches are all over the yard and street. A large branch broke off one of our trees. Thankfully, that's all the damage we have.

Even with the adventurous drive home and the practically sleepless night, I praise God for the rain!!! After setting records for high temps in the last few weeks, and everything turning brown, it was much needed!!

Vacation Bible School

I never thought I would get so involved in a children's ministry because I do not consider myself a kid-person whatsoever.  My college degree is for working with teens so I was somewhat surprised to have been asked to pray about working with the VBS.

We had settled on a new church home in 2004 after attending another church since we moved to Wichita in 2001.  We fell in love with the people and felt more welcomed into their family than any other church we had attended.  Just several months after officially making it our home church, I was asked to consider being involved in their VBS program.

I had never done anything like a VBS before.  I was not a fan of dealing with other people's children.  I hated being a leader in the AWANA program while in college.  What on earth would I do at a VBS?  I reluctantly agreed to at least pray about it.

I remember attending my first VBS planning meeting, having no idea how anything worked.  Everyone seemed to know their jobs and came up with ideas to tie the theme together.  Then the woman who had first approached me turned to me and asked if I could write skit on that theme.  Hmmm, a skit.  Well, I've written skits for fun but never really one to be performed by real people.  I suppose I could try to put something together.  This way, I would get to work with the teens and young adults in the church and not worry about the kids.  Sure, I agreed.

That was 2005.  This year I wrote my 7th VBS skit.  My skits have become longer and more challenging.  My cast has grown in numbers and as actors.  And my writing has improved with each year.  But, I know that I would not be able to throw these skits together without God.

The last 2 skits, I felt lost.  The 2010 theme was heroes and I had a very difficult time coming up with a good plot.  In fact, my original thought got completely tossed out the window and I started all over with something new.  Seth helped me quite a bit last year, giving me plot ideas, character ideas, among other things.  This year, I felt even more lost.  In fact, I about backed out completely because I knew nothing about the chosen theme: Pilgrim's Progress.  I asked God to just help me.  And, what do you know, He did.  :)  All of a sudden, this flood of ideas came rushing into my head and I could hardly contain them!  I did research on the book, the characters, the places.  I talked to the man who would do the speaking for the week and got his outline and theme verses.  I skimmed the book and watched a movie based on the book.  Once I got approval to move forward with my idea - which took some things from the book but also added my own flavor - I typed out the 5-day skit within 3 days.  Yep, only God could have made that happen.

Last week was our VBS.  We did not have a single practice with everyone there except on the nights of the performance (and sometimes not even then!).  We did not always have all of our props until the performance itself.  One set was not even completely ready until the day we needed it.  But God worked it all out in His timing.  He used each of us to share the message that He sent His Son Jesus to die on a cross and take away our burden of sin forever and anyone who chooses not to believe in His Son as Savior will be thrown into hell.  It was a strong message given in the skits.  I was even moved by it as I watched my cast bring the skit to life.  Although several people have told me what an amazing job I did on the skit this year, I cannot take any credit.  It was all God.  Every year, it comes from God.

2009, Pirate Theme

 All of my cast members as pirates or parrots.

Me with my own 2 little pirates.

The villains of VBS 2010.

 And the heroes.

I was Daniella Vince.

VBS 2008 theme: Trains

 VBS 2007 theme: Titanic

VBS 2006 theme: Western

 Unfortunetely, I have no photos of my first VBS in 2005.  The theme was Deserted Island Treasure or something like that.  lol

VBS 2011: Pilgrim's Progress.  This is the City of Destruction.

The Celestial City

 The countryside as Christian and his friends traveled to the Celestial City.

 The cross where Christian was released of his burden.

The tomb where Christian's burden was taken.

So, I thank each and every one of my cast members for doing such a great job every night.  I thank all of the talented artists who created our sets.  And I thank God for bringing such an amazing church family together to create an awesome VBS to share God's Word with kids.  What an awesome God we serve!!!  All glory to Him.

The Other Side of the Bed

No, I don't mean the wrong side...just the other side.

I have been in a hospital bed a few times with my husband by my side.  Of course, these were because of childbirth.  Our first was born naturally, then we had a miscarriage, and our last 2 were born via c-section.  I was in the bed with the gown and the IV's and in pain while Seth sat next to me wanting to help me somehow but couldn't.

Last Friday, the roles were switched.  My husband was in the hospital bed while I sat beside him.  I was on the other side of the bed and I hated it.  I felt so helpless.  Seth was doing fine before he went in for the surgery on his ankle.  In February, a ladder slipped out from under him and he fell 6-7 feet badly spraining his ankle.  After a few months of physical therapy, they decided they needed to do surgery.  The surgery went well and he's recovering ok.  But sitting there next to his bed before and after surgery was the worst feeling.

The first time I saw him in that bed, my stomach turned.  There my best friend, the love of my life, was in a hospital with an IV and moniters.  It wasn't anything serious, just a minor surgery, but I felt so sick seeing him there.  He did a good job at making me laugh though, like he always does.  Still, there were moments I thought the tears were going to flow.  Finally, it was time to wheel him back into surgery and I had to just wait.

A couple hours later, I was brought back in to see him.  This time he was very out of it.  He said a few things but couldn't remember it later.  It was a little better afterwards because then I felt like I had something to do, although I still didn't like seeing my husband of 13 years in that bed with the IV and gown.  I gave him water and asked the nurses for more when he ran out.  I helped him get dressed when he started to wake up a little more.  It was such a relief when the nurse finally took his IV out.  (The whole idea of the IV is what kept me from following my dream into the medical field).  His ankle was wrapped up and Seth was still a bit loopy.  After about 4 hours in the hospital, I was able to take him home.

I cannot imagine having to be on the other side of the bed as many times as Seth as been.  It is such a helpless feeling, seeing the one I love on the bed in a hospital.  I have a much higher respect for what he's been through as I labored and cried and birthed and recovered.  I thank the Lord for giving me such an amazing husband and that he has been pretty healthy all the years I've known him.