My Own Account

Just in case you guys have read Joshua's post I believe mine will give a different view point. Upon entering the garage this morning to feed the cats I immediately smelled a disgusting smell which seemed to come from the back of the garage. Because our kittens in the garage I thought perhaps our mother cat had pooped back there. All I found were our mewing kittens. So I decided to feed the birds. When I reached my hand into the bag I noticed that it was wet and then I saw a hairy opossum's face right on top of our seeds. I was so startled that a yell erupted from me and I fled into the house. The smell was so awful that I immediately assumed it was dead and heralded the news to my whole family. Joshua was unanimously voted to take care of the carcass. Out of curiosity I followed him outside but would not get even close to the garage doorway. Joshua poked it with the pitchfork several times to no avail further confirming to us that it was dead. He tried to get me to help him carry out the container but I kept a wary distance. Once outside he said there were two in there. Of course I had to go see them. After all dead possums don't jump on people do they? He decided to dump them down the cistern in our backyard and once again he was on his own. Then he said, "Hey Michaela I think it's breathing." And sure enough it was. Well he then tipped over the container and started poking both of them with his pitchfork. All they did was bare their teeth and try to go out the back door(which didn't exist). I got a shovel from the garage and started banging on the sides and top of the container which was a very satisfying action after my fright. Finally they both ran out and Joshua hit them so hard with the pitchfork they flipped over which was also very satisfactory to see. They weren't even full grown but even as young it is my opinion that possums are the most ugliest, smelliest, most disgusting creatures in North America. After that Joshua made me wash out the container. To conclude I have been washing my hands regularly throughout the day. Ah, it felt good to get that out.

A Little Surprise

This morning began as all mornings, nothing particularly special. Until Michaela entered the house after feeding the cats with a shriek. Now Michaela does not usually enter the house with a shriek (and our cat already had its kittens) so Grace and I immediately drew our attention to Michaela. Michaela instantly declared "There's a dead opossum in our bird food container!!!!" There was a brief moment of silence, and then my mother noted the obvious "Well get it out of there." Of course, I, the "man of the house" was instantly selected for this glorious and envious task. My first decision was to make sure that this opossum was dead. I armed myself with a pitchfork. I carefully prodded the opossum with the pitchfork, the opossum didn't even flinch. Obviously it was dead (right?). Of course, I wasn't about to stick my hand in there gloves or no gloves. So I brought the container out into the light. Our little surprise suddenly turned into two. Now I had two dead opossums on my hand, and two sisters giving pointless commentary on the whole proceedings. Still not wanting to touch them, I decided on the course of dumping the whole container into our cistern. Fortunately, (for the opossums) I noticed one was breathing. Although I am a homeschooler, I'm positive I learned somewhere that dead things don't have a tendency to breathe. I prodded the opossum once again to make sure, to my great consternation the only movement it did was breathe. (And people think I'm a heavy sleeper). I turned the can sideways, still no movement. After about ten jabs with the pitchfork, one opened its eyes, and the other moved its leg. After another ten jabs, they were both making definite action to get out of the can . . . the wrong way, through the bottom of the container. (Just to make sure you know there is no opening in the bottom of a container). Finally I managed to get them out, and sent them scurrying out of the yard each with an extra jab. Then turning to his sister Sir Joshua, Opossums-bane, quoth "Now I leave thee to clean out the can." Thus ends the narrative.

Here are my pictures

The Washington memorial in the reflecting pool.
What a breathtaking sight!
The Lincoln Memorial
The capitol from a view on the bus.
The statue of Martin Luther King Jr. in the Capitol
The ceiling of the dome of the capitol.
My Uncle Frank, Grandmother, Granddad, Auntie Sherri, and Aunt Jessie
Washington's D.C.s national harbor.
Baltimore harbor on Sunday.
My grandparents and I at the Dallas airport at 4:30 in the morning! We look pretty good for that time.

Exciting News

On Saturday Eddie and I went to the YMCA to start our family membership and for us to begin swimming again on a regular basis. This is exciting news after being away from regular swimming for more than a year now. Previously, we swam regularly at the high school ( 7 years or more for me) but because of new policy concerns we are no longer allowed. Therefore going without swimming this past year or so has been sorely missed. I am grateful to my generous daughter who helped encourage this idea with her Mother's Day gift and instruction booklet that we finally redeemed as a helpful benefit for the entire family. SURF'S UP! Yeah!

Good For the Soul

Today we started what we hope will become a new Creer tradition. We gathered in the living room and spent a time of confession. We confessed offenses to each other and general instances of falling short of God's standard for us. We will conclude the time with a celebration meal where we will share answers to prayer and personal victories. Besides the benefit of God's forgiveness (I John 1:9) we are also expecting healing and our effectual fervent prayers to avail much (James 5:16). It also is an added bonus that we are having hamburgers and french fries tonight :)

Sound Effects

Yesterday marked the beginning of choir. This year we are singing Christmas music which has both pros and cons. The good news is that I'm familiar with most of the songs. The bad news is some songs the only thing I do is sing ding-dong and brum-brum (supposedly the imitation of a drum). Oh well, I'm sure I'll still have a great time.

SMS has started!!

Every year we do something called SMS. It stands for Scripture Memory System we memorize Bible verses every week. It started on Tuesday, I'm so excited!! ( I'm the only one in the family who's young enough to do it.)

Over&Out

GRACE

The Return of Michaela

Hello everyone, I'm back! Ok, well I'm back in Dallas and will return to Kansas next Thursday. Here is a brief recap of my time in Washington D.C. On Sunday morning I arose at 3:30 so we could catch our flight at 6am. All the way to the airport my grandparents and I yawned and yawned. We arrived in D.C. around noon and my cousin Warren picked us up. Then who should drive up but my Auntie Sherri who surprised me. She was supposed to be in Dallas! We went to Baltimore harbor and D.C. harbor that day and didn't go to bed until ten.
Bright and early Monday we set out to see the sights. The American History museum was simply amazing and I definitely want to go back to finish seeing all of it. A highlight was seeing the original Star Spangled Banner which flew over Ft. McHenry sparking our national anthem. We also saw the Air and Space museum. You could barely see the ceiling of the building there were so many planes hanging from it!
Tuesday was my favorite day because we finally got to sleep in. Then we took an excellent tour of the nation's capitol and took a bus tour of the Washington, Jefferson and Lincoln memorials. These two tours let me see what our nation was made of when we started. The monuments were awe inspiring, gigantic, beautiful, thought provoking... I could go on and on.
For a grand finale on Wednesday we (drum roll please) took a tour of the White House. Need I say more? In the afternoon we went to Arlington national cemetery which was full of interesting things. I know what you're all waiting for: pictures. Well as it so happens I did take over 200. Please place your ordrs here and each picture sent to you will be $15 a piece(just kidding) Pictures will be posted on a later blog. You see in order to transfer pictures on a computer you need a little magic cord to help you. I left the magic cord in Kansas so you'll have to wait at least a week. But don't worry, they are coming so be prepared for the blizzard.

Catsup

I'm going to do a little 'catsup' about events after the post by Michaela about our trip to Horn Creek Camp. After the camp we drove North to Focus on the Family in Colorado Springs. It was very picturesque with the mountains in the background. While there we passed through the wardrobe into Narnia and Grace had some fun in the imagination station. Upon leaving Colorado Springs we visited a high school friend of mine in Golden. You will see Rob and Kathleen Farrington playing ping pong. What you don't see is that Velda and I are the opponents. It is probably best that way. I will say that we mixed up the teams and Rob always was on the winning team. Home court advantage. Next came Velda's birthday that we celebrated at a friend's house. I will let her tell you how old she is. I don't have Velda's permission to post this but since I suspect that she doesn't read our blog that much I feel fairly safe from repercussions. Our garden is in full swing. I think that we harvested over 90 carrots. About 200 tomatoes was this week's tally not to mention cucumbers (which is an oxymoronic type of phrase). There was a late frost that affected our pear blossoms adversely. I was hoping for 20 from a tree that usually produces over 100. There are maybe 5 and I took a picture of the only one that looks edible. Michaela is gone for a couple weeks to spend a time with Velda's family. Her grandparents gave her a trip to DC for a graduation gift. Some of the blog is to keep her updated. We started our fall garden last Saturday and Thursday the radishes had already sprouted. Today some black seeded Simpson lettuce also sprouted so it looks promising. The green beans seem to be recovering from the attack of the grasshoppers. Mom's canned 30 quarts of tomato soup, a fair amount of spaghetti sauce and (are you ready Beckmans) she and Joshua

will now start on a new batch of salsa. By the way if Rob is reading this blog, after we put paper bags on our grapes we got a rain storm with 90mph winds within a week. I guess you don't get that kind of weather in Golden.

50 to 0

I typed fifty words per minute, with no errors. Mommy and Daddy are very excited about it, so that's why I put it on the blog.

Over&Out

GRACE