Do You have the Hand Grenades?

Sleeping can be very entertaining. Well, to be honest, I guess this falls under the category of “not sleeping” or “trying to sleep” but still, when a person is in bed, and not sleeping, it’s good to have entertainment. On occasions such as last night, my husband is the entertainer.

There I was lying quietly, somewhat regretting the food I’d had earlier in the evening, when I hear a very stern, commanding voice call out “If you’re up there you’d better come out or we’re going to throw a ‘b . . . b. . . “ up there.” “What did he say?,” I wonder? Was it a Bible or a bomb? He must have been saying bomb, I reason, because a Bible doesn’t seem like much of a threat and his voice indeed indicated he was threatening someone. I suppose if the people he was threatening were say Buddhists, a Bible would have been a bit of a threat, but if someone was threatening me with a similar type book it wouldn’t cause me to throw my hands in the air and surrender.

Soon, I hear similar words being thrown out again, “o.k., if you aren’t going to come out we’re going to have to throw the bomb up.” Yes, I’m fairly certain by now that he’s saying “bomb.” At this point, I’m still wondering why in the world he’s threatening people with bombs and suddenly, my sweet, wouldn’t hurt a fly husband, lifts his body up off the bed, turns to me and says “Do you have the hand grenades?” Rats, I knew I forgot something in my pre-bedtime routine!

Clearly, I need to more closely monitor the things he’s watching on television before bed. Then again, entertainment at 2:00 AM has its merits.

Friends

Well, this is the last in my series of catch up pictures; friends. Now technically, some of people in here are more acquaintances than friends, which is why I like the quote above. It reminds me of one of my favorite songs from my Girl Scout days. You all know where I'm going don't you? "Make new friends, but keep the old; one is silver and the other gold." I apologize to you if you now have that song in your head and will struggle to think of anything but that song for the next four hours.

My first picture is of my friend, Roxanne. She had patiently been waiting for a part to come in for her water heater and had just about enough of cold showers so I invited her over to use mine. Of course, had her water heater held out until today, with our temps reaching 101° she might not have been quite so desperate, but this was taken in the end of April. I can't have my friends freezing to death!

You may have heard me talk, in other blogs, about Bridging the Gap, the women's ministry that I work with. At our conference in April I had the incredible privilege of working with Paulette Kutlzer (on the right) from Praise FM radio doing a couple of interviews with the conference speakers. The truth is that PK is FAR more qualified than I am to do interviews but we always have a blast together.

Our first interview was with author and speaker, Shaunti Feldhahn. Shaunti's newest book is The Male Factor. If you want to understand men, I'd highly recommend it. And, truly, it's not a slam on men. Turns out, they just don't think like women do. Go figure!

Saturday morning I ran into my friends, Beth and Deanna, at the conference. As we were moving to a good spot for a picture I heard them whispering and laughing behind me. Normally, that isn't something you want to hear when someone is behind you but I quickly realized that they were wondering if perhaps they would be the subjects of my picture of the day. So, of course, they were!

Anthony told me early on in this 365 project of mine that it was his goal to be a subject one day. On May 1, I thought it would be fun to include his sweet wife, Beth, and son, Park. Hopefully, next year Park won't need a winter hat on May 1. It's hard to believe this was just over a month ago!


I suppose it had to happen eventually. Paul and Erin were bound to need a sitter on a night I wasn't available. I was, however, in the area and stopped by for a picture of Amelia and her first babysitter, Emily.


These are the girls that I used to teach at the Mom's group at our church campus in Faribault, MN. Well, technically some of them are new since I was teaching. I made a surprise visit on a Wednesday morning because I knew it would be one of the last times my friend, Lisa (lower left), would be teaching before she moves to Texas. Getting a good picture of six moms and four kids is quite the challenge!

I met Pam at the Bridging the Gap conference. Something (or Someone) told me that we should connect. I happened to have a meeting in her neck of the woods just a few days after the conference so we met at Caribou and hardly had enough time to fit in all we had to say. Imagine that!

My friend, Joanne, is the pastor at a little church in Wisconsin and invited me to speak for their Mother/Daughter brunch on Mother's Day weekend. Joanne and I have been friends since 1992 when she came on staff at the church we were attending at that time. I had hoped to get a picture of Joanne with her daughter because I was a labor coach for Joanne when she was born 16 years ago! But, as it goes with teenagers, she slipped out and went home before I remembered to pull out my camera.
My daughter-in-law, Erin, had clued me into the fact that Hannah had it as her goal to be part of my 365 project. She's not always easy to find at church because she so often helps in the nursery or in one of our many kids areas. She even lovingly takes care of my little granddaughter some days. She's the best! Not only is Hannah "super-volunteer" at our church, she also works and goes to college. And, she is one fine photographer! I get exhausted just hearing about what she's doing.

Tania probably had no clue how special she is to me (until she read it on my 365 project page.) She works at the Food Co-op where I started shopping last year after finding out I have a soy and lactose intolerance. Tania was there on my first visit and not only did she not laugh at my tears (yes, there were tears) but she also found the perfect person to help me find things on the approved food list. Because of our schedules, I don't run into her very often anymore but it was fun to see her today. As it turns out, her husband is one of the band directors in our town (16 miles from the city where the co-op is) and her mother-in-law was my son, Scott's, high school German teacher.

I took this picture of our Global Project Switzerland team after our first team meeting. We are excited to be a part of the team going to Switzerland in September. Since that time the girl next to John had to drop off the team but another one has been added. And, there's another couple going on the trip, also, so John won't be the only guy. I think he's relieved by that!

I first met Jackie when we were in Russia two years ago. This picture was taken at their going away party. She and her husband, Matt, have now moved, with their three Russian born children, back to Russia to offer hope to orphans there who are "aging" out of the system. When a Russian orphan reaches the age of 15 or 16 they "graduate" from the orphanage but really have nowhere to go. Ten percent of them will commit suicide in their first year "on the streets" and another 80 percent will get involved with drugs and prostitution. Jackie and Matt plan to help more of the orphans succeed by providing a place for them to live and the opportunity to get a job or go to school. If you are interested in reading more about their hearts for the orphans or watching a powerful video go to http://change30.org/. I'm very proud of my friends.

Every year our church has a volunteer appreciation night. This year's theme was "Back to the Prom" with somewhat of an 80's theme and we were to dress accordingly, if we so desired. I desired, but didn't really manage to pull it off. My friends, Cindy and Martha, made themselves prom queens for their respective graduation years. So cute! They are pictured here with their husbands, Mark and Allan.

Laura falls into the "acquaintance" category of my friends' post but she is a girl with a big dream. Laura was one of the Rotary exchange students in Japan when the earthquake/tsunami hit there in March. Though she wanted to stay after the earthquake Rotary Club International pulled all students out once trouble arose at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant. Since that time Laura has made it her goal to help purchase Shelter Boxes for the people of Japan. She is pictured here inside the tent included in a typical Shelter Box. Great cause! Check it out.

I am blessed that my daughter-in-law, Erin, is not only family, but also a friend. And, it goes without saying that Amelia is always the best part of my day when I see her. She's just so kissable and lovable!

So, this catches me up to May 28. Wow, I'm already behind again. Stay tuned for further updates! In the meantime, as always, As always, keep making memories, taking pictures, and most importantly, spend time with the ones you love.

Worms from Hell

There was an article in the paper today that caught my eye. It was titled They’re ‘worms from hell’ – or close to it. Personally, I think all worms, and really anything creepy and crawly are from hell, but I’m pretty sure that’s not what the writer had in mind with this title. (Technically, I believe editors are in charge of titles, but does it really matter?) I decided to investigate further, which translates to “I’m actually going to read the article.”

It seems that scientists have found “complex, multi-celled creatures living a mile and more below the planet’s surface” in South Africa and have subsequently named them “worms from hell.” So, THAT’S where hell is located! In my mind, that would really be a more significant discovery.

I have to admit, I’m not terribly “scientific” by nature. Sure, there are plenty of scientific types of things that fascinate me, but I suffered through an entire year of Spanish in college just so I could get a B.A. instead of a B.S. and avoid any more science classes than were absolutely necessary to graduate. The fact that there even are scientists looking for “life” below the surface of the earth just baffles my brain. Do our tax dollars go towards paying for this?

Apparently, the fact that there is “life” below the surface of the earth is BIG NEWS! If I understood the article correctly (and it’s entirely possible, I didn’t), here is why finding these worms, or nematodes, as they are referred to, is important. It seems that if complex beings can be found so far below the earth’s surface, in an environment that was formally deemed uninhabitable, it has “important implications for extraterrestrial research, or astrobiology.” What? We’re looking for proof that E.T. really could exist? Borgonie (one of the scientists) said “that if life did originate on Mars and if it had sufficient time to go underground deep enough to survive worsening conditions” (atmospheric changes and harmful radiation) “then evolution of Martian life might have continued underground.”

In other words, there may well indeed be an entire underworld of Martians out there somewhere. Come on, people! Seriously? Maybe I’m missing something but how does this affect me? Wait, that could be construed as selfish; allow me to rephrase. How does that affect anyone? Are they thinking that we’ll all move underground when conditions on this planet get too dangerous? Or, is the concern that the Martians may someday emerge from their underground world and invade the Earth? Someone, please help me understand why we’re spending money on this when people are dying from starvation all over the world; real people, people we can actually see!

Like I said, I’m not the scientific type, and perhaps all of this research is going to benefit us someday, but right now it seems to me to be the stuff written about in science fiction novels. Who knows though, maybe they’ll find the cure for cancer digging around down in “hell.” I doubt it, but I guess it’s possible. Personally, I think that if they’re really that close to hell, I want to stay away; far, far away!

Flowers Make for Easy Subjects

Again, I'm catching up on my blogs about my 365 project. Today's feature is flowers. I love photographing flowers, especially following the longest winter EVER! Flowers are great subjects; they don't squirm, cry, close their eyes right as you push the button, or complain. And, as an added bonus, at this time of the year, they are as close as my backyard (or front yard as the case may be.)

In April, this crocus showed up unexpectedly in our yard. What a fun surprise!

O.K, this isn't a flower. It's a picture of the buds on the maple tree in our front yard. It was taken on a very rainy, nasty day and I was desperate for a picture that didn't require a lot of effort.

We usually have some interesting flowers blooming in our woods this time of year. On May 3, I took a little walk to see what I could find. I discovered this plant that had taken over some huge areas in our woods but I had no clue as to its name. I called my horticulturist neighbor who was unable to identify them from my description. Though he'd promised to come check the next day to see what they were, I decided to investigate a little further. I saw an online ad for a book about Minnesota Wildflowers and then it hit me; I HAVE that book! So, about one minute after picking up the book I was able to identify it as a Cut-leaved Toothwort. I should have been a detective. Oh wait, I'm a mother. That's probably where I honed my skills.

I was once told that a weed is simply a wildflower out of place. Well then, this violet would qualify as a weed. A pretty weed, but a weed nonetheless. It's growing between the slabs on my back patio. I'd prefer moss, I think.

It's easy to miss the blooming of the bleeding heart in the spring, but since I'm on this "picture a day" kick, I'm always in search of a subject, and like I said, flowers make such nice subjects.

It has been fun to watch my Coralburst Crab tree bloom this year. It's the first year we've had it. Here it is as it's just starting to bloom.

Though this picture didn't make it into my 365 project, I though I'd share it with you anyway. Think of it as a bonus - because I love you. It's my crab tree in full bloom. Is it not gorgeous?! But then again, the blooms haven't fallen all over my yard yet.

A visit to the garden center gave me a few minutes to click a few quick shots of some very cooperative flowers.

Lilacs are always in vast supply this time of year so a picture of a lilac isn't really all that special. BUT, this particular lilac is the first bloom to grow from a shoot I planted over 10 years ago. I'd given up hope.

And now, to conclude the flower series (and most recently - purple flower week) . . . a wild geranium. We transplanted this into our yard from the woods behind our house about 15 years ago. Technically, it's a wildflower but, since it's not growing in my patio, I don't consider it a weed (though it does have the tenacity of a dandelion!)

Spring is my favorite time of the year. I'm always amazed at how flowers just come shooting out of the ground after a winter with temperatures dipping below zero. Good job, God, is what I like to say!

Take some time to enjoy the flowers in your corner of the world. Spend time with the ones you love, grab a camera, and gather some memories; especially if you get a dandelion bouquet.

Catching Up

Well, clearly my mother and my friend, Leslie, have not been bugging me about my blog. There's a lot going on (when isn't there?) and I realized tonight that my most recent 365 project update was over a month ago. So, instead of putting all 30-some pictures up at once I'll break them down by types. Tonight, surprise of surprises, I will focus on my two sweet grandchildren. I try to make them my picture of the day as often as I can without being totally annoying. This could get to be more of a challenge once they catch on to my craziness.

Easter Sunday - and little Amelia was over-the-top ADORABLE!

Amelia, again, (thank God they aren't dressing Charlie like this) all dressed up for her daddy's birthday. We got to babysit while they went out for an evening alone. Love the tutu!

Amelia's first time with a sitter. I had my small group that night otherwise I'd have been there. As it so happens, my small group meets about a mile from Paul and Erin's house so I was able to stop by for a picture before my meeting. Amelia is looking at her parents with an "I hope you aren't planning to leave me with this person" kind of look. Emily took good care of her and she did fine.


28 hours with Charlie - certainly not enough time but I made a quick trip to Wisconsin because I simply could not go another day without seeing him. Oh what fun to kiss those sweet cheeks!

Don't you think he looks like the Gerber baby; perhaps with an Elvis kind of smile?


Sadly, five pictures is all I have of my adorable grandchildren in the past 30 days. Wait, that's not right. I have many more pictures than that. These are just the ones that made it into my 365 project. There will be more soon. If you want to view my entire 365 project, click here.

As always, keep making memories, taking pictures, and most importantly, spend time with the ones you love. If you don't get them up on your blog - that o.k., I'll totally understand.

Smart Boy

Personally, I think all of my boys are smart. I am, after all, their mother so what would you expect? Last Sunday, however, we experienced a first in the Holte family. Our youngest son, Scott, received his Masters Degree; specifically a Masters of Science in Mass Communication. So, we have documented evidence that Scott is indeed, smart. As you might guess, we are very proud, and thus, I decided to share a few of my pictures with you. And yes, this is just a few.

First off, we headed to the Student Center where there was a reception and hooding ceremony for the College of Fine Arts Masters students. As you can see, Scott is VERY excited about getting his hood. Um, Scott, maybe next time you could give your professor a break and lean down a little. Hopefully, no shoulder surgery will be necessary.

The interim department head explained to everyone the significance of the colors on the hood. The red and black are the school colors and on Scott's the gold signifies his specific degree. Intriguingly enough, not all of the students getting the same degree had the same color hoods and one man had clearly forgotten to even pick his up. I'm sure his mother was thrilled.

I decided if I ever get a master's degree, it'll be in music. Their hoods have pink trim. Enough said.

Congratulatory handshakes from the department heads. (I think that's who there were.) Scott told me later that they had put the hood on upside down. He fixed it before the graduation ceremony. Apparently, he'd watched the video about the "proper" way to wear a hood!

Angelina and Scott after the hooding ceremony. The logo is for St. Cloud State - the college from which he graduated.

A quick picture with his proud parents before heading over to the commencement ceremony. I'm feeling very short!

Scott thought the quickest way to get to the Hockey Arena was to walk . . . in the rain. Hmmm . . . By this point, Scott had "flipped" his hood so it's facing the right direction. It is kind of pretty, isn't it?

After the two-hour ceremony, we emerged from the building to a beautiful, sunny, afternoon. We headed over to the Munsinger/Clemens gardens in St. Cloud. They are always beautiful. The rest of these pictures were taken there.


Not graduation related, but pretty nonetheless.

Angelina wasn't sure how she felt about pictures of him by himself. As she pointed out, he couldn't have done it without her. :-)


Their future looks bright!

In Appreciation of Mrs. Black

Do you ever have things pop into your head from many, many years ago? It happens to me all the time. I refer to them as “A Blast from the Past.” Tonight, I had one such “blast” and being as it’s Teacher Appreciation Week, I just had to share it.

When I was a kid, every August we’d get a postcard in the mail telling us who our teacher was going to be for the next year. It cost about 3 ¢ to mail a postcard back then so I guess the school considered it a good use of their funds. Anyway, when that fateful day arrived right before the start of my 3rd grade year the news wasn’t good. I was assigned to Mrs. Black’s class. There were stories about Mrs. Black and none of them were good. She was very strict (which is probably why they’d put me in her class) and I just knew from the get-go that this was gonna be bad.

I remember a little bit of a crying/tantrum session in the backyard. Such sessions are always so helpful yet never seem to change anything at all. But, that was not the worst thing I did in regards to my upcoming tour in Mrs. Black’s classroom. Oh no! I actually went to school on the first day (or so I’m told) and said to Mrs. Black, “I told my mother if I got your for a teacher I was going to kill myself.” My girlfriend says I am forthright but the truth is, I don’t always have a very good filter between my brain and my mouth! Well, in fairness to me, it’s better than you might think.

Anyway, once I declared my disdain and suicidal thoughts to Mrs. Black, I’m sure what she wanted to say was “Well then, what are you doing here because clearly you aren’t dead?” but she took a somewhat kinder route. She said (again, this story has been passed down as I don’t recall my rudeness), “Well, Nancy, I might not like having you in my class either.”

You may have guessed this by now, but I loved Mrs. Black. She was strict, but she was also kind and a great teacher. The one thing I do recall of third grade (without my mother’s help) is sitting inside during recess on the last day (or perhaps the second to last day) finishing up some reading assignments that I’d slacked off on. But, I don’t recall being bitter about that - probably because I got to be with Mrs. Black - who really was pretty cool after all.

So, as teacher appreciation week comes to a close I’d like to thank all of the teachers out there who work so diligently even when they might not feel very loved. And, a special thank you to Mrs. Black.