YouTube of the Week

I don't think I've posted this before.  It's an old SNL sketch about a Canadian Border Patrol agent.  Enjoy.

3 Games

In this video I give you a quick rundown of three board games that we've been playing in our house.  Chances are you haven't heard of any of them.  Hopefully this will give you some ideas on adding some new games to your shelf.

Black Widow

Oh!  Look who made a nest on my back porch.  

She must have been doing pretty good down there because she was fat.
As I took my photos, Cari grabbed a bottle of insect spray.

The spider ran for cover, but it was too late. The poison coated her.  

It didn't take long for her to curl up and die, but we put gloves on before we continued to clean up the storage box.

I normally don't have any problem killing a spider when it's the bitey kind.  But this happened on Earth Day, so I had a feeling we should relocate her or kill her on a different day.  That feeling was quickly replaced and overwhelmed by, "OOOOHHHH! Kill it!  KILLLLLLLL  ITTTTT!!"

I'm Wearing a Dress!

Here's some artwork that Brenna created during church yesterday.  It's a sketch of our family.

She pointed out that she drew me wearing a dress.  When I asked her why I was wearing a dress she said she doesn't know how to draw shirts yet.

YouTube video of the Day

There were several videos I thought about posting as a YouTube video of the week but had a hard time deciding on the best one.  So I chose this video to be the YouTube video of the day.  It didn't sound too interesting, just based on the title, but as it started playing, I wanted to see it to the end.

There are a lot of videos of this scene out there, and this may not offer the best views, but I liked how the music blended with the images. Hope you enjoy watching the last time Discovery will be in the air.

Nature at Junaluska

As the boys and I walked around lake Junaluska last weekend, we found some things I wanted to share with you that didn't seem to fit into my previous post.   I also want to share a bit about the name of the area with you.

Lake Junaluska is named for Chief Junaluska of the Cherokee nation.  Chief Junaluska is credited for saving the life of Andrew Jackson during the war of 1812 at the battle of Horseshoe Bend.

Later, as President, Andrew Jackson would sign the Indian Removal Act in 1830.  That's the act that would remove the Cherokee and other tribes from their lands and put them on the "trail of tears" as they were forced westward to Oklahoma.  The Cherokee would leave in 1838, but Junaluska returned to North Carolina before his death in 1858.

Here's some photos of some things we found on our walk:

Your activity will determine which side of the sign you stand.

Look closely, and you will see this white goose chewing on half of a fish.  I hope he was on the correct side of the sign.

 This Mallard followed us around the lake.  Later to be named, "Stalker Duck".

 Tent caterpillar nest. It was rather large and probably filled with creepy crawlies.

 This was the US survey marker at the dam of the lake.

 Here's my son trying to climb up a while.  We were tempted to step on his fingers.

 This goose was chasing something so deep in the water we could only see his butt.  It was worth a photo, don't you think?

Lake Junaluska Confirmation

I joined the youth from church on a trip to lake Junaluska for a confirmation retreat this past weekend.   I had seen plenty of photos and heard about lake Junaluska, but this was my first trip there.

When we arrived I found that it's a beautiful place tucked away in the mountains.

Friday night we heard some speakers before the band got up to play.  I described it that night as a "rock concert, Christian style".  It was loud, but it was fun.

Saturday morning came quick and after breakfast we met for worship at 8am.  By 8:30 the band was introduced onto the stage. Everyone was kinda quiet and waking up as the band walked up.  Then they started playing. . . louder than they played on Friday night.  I think everyone was awake after the first song.  Still a good way to kick start the day!

 Here, our speaker, Duffy, built a human pyramid.  He asked the girl in the middle how she was doing and she said, "UNCOMFORTABLE!"

Most of Saturday was spent in various workshops and activities.

After dinner, I walked up to the cross with the boys took some photos.  This cross overlooks the lake from high up on a hillside.

We finished our walk by taking the long way back, following the trail all the way around the lake.

 Here's the dam holding back the water to form the lake.

There was more worship and singing before the end of the day.  We finished up around 9pm and our group headed back to the room while I walked back up to the cross.  The cross was lit up and and many other church groups had the same idea that I did.

 I walked down and sat on some steps just below the cross.  With the cross at my back, my view was of the dark lake with house lights dotting the shore.  Small lights in the mountains revealed the locations of homes under the stars.  The wind coming across was pretty cold, but I stayed for an hour before heading back to the room. That quiet hour hour below the cross was the best way to end the day.

Sunday morning was different than Saturday morning.  The band played quietly in the background as communion was served to all.


As we were leaving I thought about some of the photos and stories I had heard about lake Junaluska in the past.  It was one of those places that I don't think photos does justice to.  You just have to see it yourself.

Winning Shot

Guess who hit the ball over to score the winning point in the last game of the season.

The Hunter

On this day, I was the hunter.  My son threw on a gillie suit and took off to some nearby trees while I grabbed my camera.  Honestly, I didn't see him for a while.  He chose a good spot.

 After I found him we discussed some other spots that may or may not hide him as well.

He told me he wants to wear it camping sometime.  Before I agree to that, we're going to check the calendar to be sure it's not hunting season.

Spring Flowers

We've had some super warm weather over the past month.  All that sunshine told our flowers to leap from the ground and soak up some rays!

It's been very beautiful in South Carolina for the past several weeks.  This also means it's pollen season.  So, if you have allergies I'd recommend you view the beauty through your computer screen.

Now that all the flowers are out and enjoying the Spring weather, Mother Nature has decided that we'll get near freezing temperatures tonight.  This cruel joke doesn't end with the suffering of the flowers.  No!  I'm also a victim of the frost because Cari has already packed our jackets away in the attic.

When can I have Spring back?

Happy Easter

Over the Easter weekend, we did a lot of the traditional things.  We started out by coloring Easter eggs. . .

and then we talked about Easter eggs.  What does the egg have to do with Easter? I did a little reading about the history of the Easter egg and what I found out is that eggs were part of the Lenten fast along with dairy and meat. During Lent, the hens would still be laying eggs and there would become a surplus of eggs.

One of the stories I read suggested that hard boiled eggs wouldn't spoil as quickly (not sure this is true) and the families that were fasting would hard boil some of the excess eggs.  This resulted in eating eggs on Easter.

Tradition continued Sunday morning with Randy and I getting up early on Sunday for the community sunrise service.  It was a little cold sitting out there, but it was worth it!

After regular church, we had our Easter egg hunt at home.  I spent a few extra minutes trying to hide them better this year, but it still went quick.  The kids are getting pretty good at this game.

Finally, we celebrated Easter with friends and family joining us for dinner.

Easter is my favorite holiday of the year.  As a Christian, it should be the most exciting day on your calendar and it frustrates me that it seems to take a 2nd place to Christmas in our society.  Ranting about the importance and excitement of Easter probably deserves a blog of it's own at some point, but not today.

Easter weekend was terrific in our house.  I hope it was just as good at your house.