I Agree With Anne Rice

Legendary author Anne Rice has announced that she’s quitting Christianity.

Rice wrote, “For those who care, and I understand if you don't: Today I quit being a Christian ... It's simply impossible for me to ‘belong’ to this quarrelsome, hostile, disputatious, and deservedly infamous group. For ten years, I've tried. I've failed. I'm an outsider. My conscience will allow nothing else.”

Rice then added another post explaining her decision on Thursday:

“My faith in Christ is central to my life. My conversion from a pessimistic atheist lost in a world I didn't understand, to an optimistic believer in a universe created and sustained by a loving God is crucial to me," Rice wrote. "But following Christ does not mean following His followers. Christ is infinitely more important than Christianity and always will be, no matter what Christianity is, has been or might become.”

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I know that God is not a God of manipulation, deceit, abusive control, alienation and emotional abuse so if this is what your fruit looks like, you might want to consider what "god" you are following...

Treasures....

"For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also." Matthew 6:21

I think my definition of "treasures" has evolved over the years and will probably continue to evolve based on finances, my heart, time and creativity. I have never been a name brand kind of girl. There was that time in High School when I was a little self involved and thought I needed whatever new thing there was but then again I only thought about myself. Now, I have at least 6 other people to think about and somehow Coach purses, expensive perfume, fancy clothes and knick knacks are not important at all. Shelter, clothing and food are my top priorities and now that we live in a blank canvas the artistic opportunities seem endless.

I am working on recycling items that people discard and turning them into new things. I have so many projects going right now that some days I am overwhelmed and can't figure out where to start. I have never had to BE this creative to save money before but my mom did it once and I am pretty sure her creativity pumps thru my veins too...the funny thing is that I THOUGHT I was thrifty before but nope...I was spending money that I didn't need to...all I needed to be was a little more creative...

I wish that the loft was all painted, sanded and completed before we moved in but that was not possible so we seem to be living in a home that is  "under construction" most of the time. I am trying to get everything where it belongs so I can create more order before the kids start school. I LOVE organization and when we can all find our stuff, it makes for a happier household. I am learning to "think outside the box" and to find new uses for old items...

Some of my current projects include:

1. Creating an artsy, organic, moving piece of art that will serve as a breathable wall. It is important for us to have air flow thru the loft so I came up with a unique wall idea. I found some free wooden framed screens on Craigslist and brought home 16 pieces. I laid them on the floor and worked out the puzzle of how they would fit hanging from our 15 ft ceiling. I have discovered that hanging "things" from our awesome ceiling is the easiest way to construct things around here. I needed lots of strong wire for all of these projects and luckily my mother had just saved some ATT wire. Now, ATT gave us a big box of white phone line so that we could run our phone line ourself. We ran it down the big elevator, along the outside of the building and then connected it to the ATT box ourself! After the job was done we had a ton of phone line left...and if you strip it you will find 4 beautiful cords made up of red/white, blue/white, green/white and yellow/white. They are super strong and so far I have hung 18 cords from the ceiling. That was prob. one of the best recycling things we have done...and we still have a tone more! Jewelry maybe? Who knows...Anyway, this wall hangs from the ceiling and moves a little bit. Because they are screens it blocks some of the light but not all of it so I am going to put a sheer fabric over each frame. The fabric will block out more light, create a cozy room, let air in and out and become a piece of art...

2. Hanging up more of our curtains and fabric to break up the space and create more rooms. I already had to replace the wire that held up Scott's music room walls but with my trusty ATT wire it is holding fine! Our home is rich in a variety of textures and colors now. I am loving how it is evolving!

 

3. Painting every available wall. My great friend Ashli gave me all of her half empty (and almost full) paint cans and I have been mixing and creating my own colors. The boys have enjoyed picking out and mixing the paint and Lucas is especially good at creating unique colors. We now have orange, white, black, guacamole green, salsa red, chinese red, purple, lime green, spa green and beach blue on our walls...we are painting the pillars black as well as all of the trim. It looks so good!! The exposed brick is awesome and I will be sealing it this fall. (pretend my brick photo is turned 90 degrees...)

4. Cleaning up new "treasures". A camp friend gave us 2 beautiful rugs and one found a home next to Eli's new Queen size bed and the other is just perfect for the dining room! The colors match and it is huge! I am so thankful because the wood is a little rougher in there and even with sanding it needed a lot of work...so the huge carpet is PERFECT!!! My mom is going to clean it tomorrow and we will put it in place. I am so excited to have both leaves in my table all the time! Then I just need guests!

I also found an old entertainment center on the side of the road on my last road trip to Ottawa so I snatched it up. I will take some before and after photos for you but I have plans that require my handy dandy power drill and lots of paint. The boys picked out a color and I am going to do some cool designs on it too. I think it will be a perfect "armoire" for the kids' jeans. We are low on storage so new containers/shelves/cabinets are exciting treasures! I might start painting that tomorrow too....

I also got a beautiful buffet with wrought iron hutch for the top. It needs a little bit of elbow grease but will look great in the dining room. I can't wait till all of my kitchen utensils/appliances/dishes are in their new spots!

I also acquire a new craft/art table that is awesome; a big chalk board, a twin size wooden headboard, some folding closet doors and lumber. I am not sure what I am going to do with the headboard but the rest all have a purpose in mind...and last night while trying to sleep I decided that the boys might love a wall made out of rims...so who knows...but in all of this I am learning that my Creator made me creative and that my heart and focus is on my family...and that is a priceless treasure!

Emotions Are Everywhere...

It has been a very emotional 2 weeks for me. My unemployment ran out, my extended benefits application was delayed, I desperately need a job and my mother's house was robbed of about $20,000 worth of material possessions. While we have recovered some of the big items the thief is still at large...and the sweet deputy who was working the case was killed in a car accident last night. Officer Smith was ONLY 22 yrs. old!!! While on his way to a domestic disturbance call, he lost control of his car, hit a tree head on and then the car burst into flames. I just met him last Thursday when he came to collect some evidence from an item we tracked down. He was very polite, courteous and helpful. He even followed us into Ottawa so he could check out a rental house for us. We thought the thief might be hiding out in one of my mom's empty rentals (according to another renter) so Deputy Smith drew his gun and searched the house. He was a big help to us and I am just sick about this tragedy...

We are dealing with Parental Alienation that has rocked our family to its core. We are shocked, grieving and in pain. My husband has had to deal with a lot of issues this week including my meltdowns and his Lyme seems to be fighting back...I also upset some people unintentionally this week and I feel bad about it. During an emotional and in depth discussion I used an example from my husband's past life to explain religious manipulation to the kids. While I did not use names or gender references in my story...I did use a true story that appalls us...and those involved in the story heard about the discussion and felt I was bringing up issues that had been dealt with years ago...and in doing so they basically revealed the "offender" to the kids...which started something I did not intend...

Thankfully, our week ended on a high note yesterday. A very painful wrong was righted after almost 7 years and it feels like we might actually be able to survive now. It was refreshing to have the important people on OUR side...who clearly saw the facts and made an informed decision based on the numbers...not based on a cloud of suspicion...and we look forward to the changes that are coming our way! Thank you Lord for this huge victory!!!

This photo is a great visual of how I have felt this past week while dealing with so many emotions...this is the view from the north side of the loft...

The Solar System...in Dowtown KC

Two weeks ago I took the kids on another free downtown adventure. I am loving KC Kids Fun more and more and I found a gem of an activity on there last month. The Kauffman Foundation funded this fun, educational project called, " The Voyage: A Journey Through Our Solar System." 

Voyage is a scale-model solar system you can explore and it runs south along Baltimore through the Crossroads District, then ends in front of historic Union Station. 

Voyage is based on the original model that currently stands on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. Kansas City’s exhibition was the first to replicate the scale of the original. It is different from the original in that two new stanchions were commissioned by the Kauffman Foundation. One stanchion is for Eris, a dwarf planet that is the farthest object now seen in our Solar System, and the final stanchion is called Explorers. The Explorers stanchion marks the location of Voyager 1 – the farthest human-made object in the exhibition... 

We started at 13th and Baltimore and headed thru the Solar System starting with....the Sun...The thing that was hard to comprehend was that this model was built at ONE TEN-BILLIONTH the size of the actual solar system...like I said...hard to grasp that...

 You can see how the tour started...the planets closer to the sun...seemed really close to the sun because they were only 25-30 paces away...times ten billion that is...

Behold...the Sun...at one ten-billionth of it's real size...If I stretched my hand out as far as I could...it was as wide as the space between my thumb and pinky...so hard to imagine it as full size!

The stations were very creative and informative...

My goofy-Icanwalkthepacesfasterthanyoucan-kids...

Learned a lot about asteroids and comet's too...

And enjoyed the downtown scenery while on our hike...Noah loves this wall...

And to cool off after our 2 hour hike...we had some yummy Gelato at one of our favorite spots...I had yummy pear...how refreshing does that look? Yum!

It was great to get more exercise, learn about science and get reacquainted with the Solar System. 

Great Exhibit!

More Free Adventures...

It has been a quieter week this week because the boys are on vacation in Branson with their mom. They have called almost every night to tell us about all the places, museums, rides, trinkets and toys they have seen, done and acquired so far. I have a feeling they are going to be exhausted when they come home tomorrow...The first day they called they had already played on some bumper water boats, gone to the Titanic museum, wax museum, eaten lunch at a restaurant and were waiting to ride The Ducks...that is one busy day! I love the excitement in their voices and just how much fun they are having together...

Being a bonus mom can be tricky sometimes...taking on huge responsibility, learning to love new little people, learning to be a part of a delicate balance and sharing the people you love. It is so rewarding when you can get to a place where there is no competition, jealousy or hurt feelings and you can truly be happy for the experiences your kids have with the other side. I was very happy for them and I can't wait to hear more about their fun...more importantly I can't wait till they come home!

Last week we spent some time exploring KC and found some new treasures...The first one is the Central library downtown...it is the BEST library we have ever been to. The kids LOVE it...see why....

This is the entrance to the kids place...books! And inside it is brightly colored, creative and awesome.

This is the parking garage!!! How awesome is that??

The kids ask to go almost every day...and it doesn't hurt that they have AC either... :)

We also took some time to go to City Hall in downtown KC. They have an observation deck 30 stories up that you can tour...for free...and the kids have wanted to go for almost a year. We parked downtown, found a meter with 1.5 hours left (free parking!! - im obsessed) and made our way up....such cool elevators and a great tour guide...

Such a cool building...

Such a great view...we could see the west bottoms!

And my cute little crew...what a great little tour!

Our next little adventure...touring the solar system in downtown KC....

CNN Money - #7

So I happened to read an article today from CnnMoney.com on the 100 Best Places to live in America...and while I love our little town (K.C.) and its quaint suburbs...little did I know that the place where we spend most of our time....IS NUMBER SEVEN in that TOP 100! I was so excited I looked around for someone to tell...and since I was alone I am telling YOU!

100 Best Places to Live in America, 2010 edition

by Beth Braverman, Veronica Crews, Anne C. Lee, Jessica Levine, Ismat Sarah Mangla, Vanessa Richardson, Donna Rosato, and Pieter van Noordennen, CNNMoney.com

Overland Park, KS

Population: 175,000 

Unemployment: 5.3%

Pluses: Good schools, low cost of living

Minuses: Some job losses, not much excitement

Ask residents why they chose this Kansas City suburb and you hear one thing over and over: the schools.

Other draws include a 300-acre arboretum and botanical garden, a biweekly farmers' market, and a brand-new 12-field soccer complex, which hosts local and national tournaments.

Overland Park's biggest challenge in recent years has been from its largest employer, Sprint. The company laid off more than 3,000 people here from 2007 to 2009.

But the town has had enough success attracting new employers that its jobless rate is still well below the national average. What's more, a division of J.P. Morgan plans to move 800 positions here early next year.

4th of July Fan Fare

The 4th was probably our busiest day of the week! We planned a day full of activities and started off by going to VillageFest in our old town. We loved PV and were excited to go back for the 4th. We started with the kid rides and though they looked puny the kids enjoyed them...because they made them dizzy...go figure! We were sad that the rock wall and fireman shooting water game were missing this year but I think after the kids made themselves sick they forgot all about them...

The kids must have been too rowdy because this cute little police officer rides up on his motocycle...

...and arrests the big kids and puts them in the back seat of a buddies cruiser...

...And it took all my negotiating skills to get the cute little officer to let them go...don't they look like bad criminals? Nah...I didn't think so either...so I was glad to spring them from possible jail time...and directly sent them to the water slides and PV Pool...where we swam for THREE hours! It was such a great relaxing afternoon and I finally got to work on my tan!

 

After the pool we went home to make dinner, walk the dogs and get ready for fireworks...since grandma was still at OMC we decided to drive to the hospital to pay her a visit and then watch Olathe's fireworks...but as we got closer to Olathe the sky got darker and darker and by the time we pulled up it was pouring...and to be honest...we were all a little grumpy by this point...until Noah got out of the car with the puppies and stood in the rain...and I couldn't let him do it alone so I joined him (in a dress!) and then the other 2 boys joined us giggling and I slowly coaxed sissy out too...After we ran around in the rain Scott joined us too and the kids played in front of OMC while sissy and I were firework lookouts. They kept teasing us...by shooting off one and then waiting another 10 minutes...and just when we thought it was a lost cause the rain slowed to a sprinkle and we got to see a beautiful, much appreciated firework show...and the night turned out to be a success! I am so glad that my family can turn a bad situation into a happy one!

Hope you had a great 4th of July and took a minute to remember what we are celebrating!

KC Living

Now that we are living downtown we are really getting into KC activities. Downtown has gone thru an amazing transition in the last 3 years and it is cleaner, safer, revitalized and pretty busy with new restaurants and venues. The kids LOVE the big city experience and are enjoying our exploring adventures. I like finding the hidden gems but am not used to someone asking me to pay for parking...or not being able to drive our big white van because it won't fit in a parking garage...so while I work that out on my own time I will share with you our busy week...

Sissy came back home this week after a long 3 week break. She went on a youth group mission trip and missed camp this year. She had a fantastic time and came home with a new appreciation for kids with disabilities. She had a great time but we really missed her! Her  brothers could not WAIT to see her! As soon as we picked her up we went to a favorite Mexican restaurant and she got lots of lovin' from her pink haired brothers...we all had pink in our hair...even Scott who had a hot pink gotee...not sure how it started but once Lucas had his mohawk sprayed the others begged for it too...and then we joined in...

The FREE friday night Crown Center movies started last week so we took the whole family (minus grandma who was in the hospital) and went to play in the fountains before the show. Scott was feeling ok (and by that I mean his pain was tolerable) that night so he came with us and the kids loved having everyone together for a night out. Scott made us hamburgers after the show and we all stood around the stainless steel table in the kitchen talking and laughing while we ate dinner...it was a great ending to our fun night.

*Off The Record- You may notice Noah is wearing this shirt a lot...and I mean A LOT...and unfortunately we have 2 that are very similar and he has acquired both...and as much as I KNOW I should be happy it is a nice, upstanding, could pass for dressish shirt....I have seen them so much that I almost can't stand it...and can't wait till the washer eats them both...or Aslan...whichever is fine with me....*

On Saturday we had pool plans which were derailed by the rain...so we went to the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art and the Nelson Museum instead. We love going to the museums and Autumn and I decided it's a perfect rainy day adventure. We specifically went to the Kemper Museum to see their exhibit of Hurricane Katrina inspired artwork. It was great stuff! Since Noah studied hurricanes last year we thought it would be a great way to make that education more personal.

We also posed by the Crying Man and Lucas picked his favorite piece of art...he picks a new piece every time we go...I LOVE that!

At the Nelson we started with the new Egyptian pieces and they were so interesting. I was enthralled with the new mummy....and its inner and outer coffins....and their fixation on the after life...all the drawings, writings, stories, carvings and even slaves were meant to protect their spirits and status in the afterlife...and some objects were meant to do work for them too....interesting....

Inner coffin

Outer Coffin

The 2,000 yr old mummy...

And the four reasons why I am a mummy....bad joke, I know...

After the museums, I took Autumn, Eli and Lucas to go see Grandma at the hospital while Scott and Noah spent some one on one time together. Noah just doesn't seem to get enough of his best buddy and constantly asks for more time with him...they are really the best of friends...

Grandma was feeling great and we had a nice short visit. When we got home from the hospital we ate dinner and then went to watch some early fireworks...but I will save all of our firework fun for tomorrow...

P.S. I forgot to post one of my favorite pieces of art at the Nelson. I have a great photo of it HERE and this time it is off the wall and being analyzed. They are taking microscopic pin prick size pieces of paint off of this Monet to check its composition. They are using some amazing technology to see the images that were painted over and how the brush strokes changed and how the paint changed. It is fascinating stuff! I highly recommend a trip to the Nelson!

I LOVE Summer!

Every summer I book the calendar full of activities and I am always surprised by how quickly it goes by! The last week of June we went to several parks and found one that had water buckets, sprayers and guns. The boys had a lot of fun cooling off and even though the puppies didn't enjoy the fountains/sprayers that much they loved all the kids running around....and they begged to play with each of them.*Since I had the dogs tethered to my foot these are my water park photos...the two legged kids are somewhere in the background having fun. Look how big Aslan is! He is just now 5 months!!

Last week we also went on our annual Greek picnic at a local park. The kids are already talking about the Ethnic Festival and we were inspired to have some lamb gyros in anticipation of the food festival...oh how we love Greek food and oh how I LOVE summer!

Pica Graduation and Midnight Swim

Last Friday I packed up Eli and Lucas and took them to girls camp in Warsaw, Mo. Our family friend Emma was graduating from C.I.L.T. (Camper in Leadership Training) from my very favorite NeKaMo Camp. I was a camper from 1st-11th grade and graduated from C.I.L.T. in 1994. Emma is the 4th of 6 kids and we have unofficially adopted her as our own. She stayed with me in 2005 and helped me work 18 hour days at the coffeehouse when she was only 12 and every summer since she has spent a week with our family. The boys are secretly in love with her...but when she is around she is just like their big sister. She calls me Mommy Dawnua and we just love her so much! Soooo, all of that to say that we couldn't miss her graduation! Our original plans included Scott and Noah but when Noah got invited to a sleep over birthday party we changed our plans and Scott stayed to take him to the party.

We got to camp before 5 and once we made our rounds the staff put us to work. When Tross (did I mention that when you graduate from CILT and are a counselor/staff you get to pick a bird name?) saw me she said, "It's DAWNUA! DAWNUA is HERE! DAWNUA can decorate the dining hall for us! DAWNUA is here!" and so off we went to get the dining hall ready for the celebration dinner. I forgot what it's like at camp when you don't have enough time to get everything done and you could always use an extra hand cause you can't handle everything you need to do...Oh wait a minute...I haven't forgotten...It's just like my life....so Yes! I know exactly how they feel... The boys did a great job helping me pick flowers, make center pieces and decorate the tables...and we finished with only seconds to spare as the campers lined up for dinner...

We had a great dinner followed by the graduation ceremony in the air conditioned chapel. The three graduates were the stars and all the different divisions made their presentations of gifts, songs and skits. Emma's bird name is Pica (peeca) and her cousin Sara (who has also stayed with us during the summer) is Sugar. Very cute names. My only advice for C.I.L.T. 1 is to practice your bird name in a whiny voice and see if it can stand the test of 6-20 Pathfinders crying your name without you going insane...if it doesn't bother you then THAT'S the name you should pick! Lucas was our photographer for the evening and he ended up sitting right next to Pica on the front row...can't get much closer than that! After the graduation the entire camp walked down to the 22 rifle range for our friday night camp fire. We sang the graduates favorite songs and listened to each of them give their testimony. It was great to hear Emma's heart and to listen to what is important to her.

After the campfire, Candy (One of Emma's Aunts) and I took Jake (One of Emma's Brothers), Quinn (a cousin) Eli and Lucas to the pool to swim. I meant to be home by midnight but when the campfire lasted till 10 pm I knew it was going to be a long night..and after a long, hot day I surprised the boys by telling them I had brought their swimming trunks for them to swim. They were so excited and ended up playing till midnight. Candy and I enjoyed our pool side conversation and I felt like I was where I needed to be...and someday I hope to be able to go back to camp!

As we were leaving camp Eli said, "I love girls camp...and not just because of the girls either!" The three of us had a great time and we are looking forward to our time with Emma this summer.