Unfortunately, the house that this girl lived in happened to be infested with earwigs, for some odd, coincidental reason. Fortunately, she managed to avoid them, for the most part. Except the one night she was sitting there and suddenly felt a tickle on the back of her neck. She thought it was the tag of her shirt and reached up…and an earwig landed on her lap. She had a mini-freak and jumped up…and the stupid earwig disappeared!! She felt very creepy-crawly, and changed pajamas (from the ones she had on) and went to bed.

But fast forward now. One time her father had had an earwig in his ear. So when she was laying in her bed, her hands curled up by her pillow, and felt a tickle on her hand…and looked in the dim light onto the evil form of an earwig…which had been BY HER PILLOW…she almost decided to sleep somewhere else. But telling herself she shouldn’t be so silly, she positively couldn’t bear the thought of an earwig in her ear. She imagined the scenario: “AHHH!! MOM! THERE’S AN EARWIG IN MY EAR! I FEEL IT TICKLING!!! GET IT OUT!!!!!!!!” No way. So she rolled up a square of toilet paper and inserted it into one of her ears. And did the same with the other. And slept very peacefully.

The only downside was, she couldn’t hear the guy talking on the radio very well.

Oh well.

This is Ben. He’s 20 (21 in October), has dark brown hair, really cool aqua-green-hazel eyes, and is tall and strong. He likes to work and he doesn’t like pictures taken of him. He doesn’t like technology, Apple (the brand, not the fruit), slow people, and cats. He does love God and family, and likes food, reading, working, food, wearing out clothes, food, working, cutting open various body parts, making knives, black powder, lighting black powder, shooting a black powder pistol, guns, making movies with guns, and food.

And last but not least, Eric. (Of course, there’s the little boys, but these ones are the currently eligible ones. The littler boys will be eligible in oh…about forty years. Mm…make that fifteen. ) Anyways. Eric is 17 so he should be given a few years yet…(maybe forty…just kidding!)…at least until after he graduates! He has dirty blond hair (he should wash it! ), hazel-brown eyes, and is also tall and strong, and tan. He likes electronics and posing for pictures. He doesn’t like peppers, mushrooms, tomatoes, cherry pie, apple pie, or germs. He loves God and family, and likes not taking very many showers, reading, food, electronics, drawing comics, knives, making movies with knives and guns, tinkering with his Scout, and eggrolls.

Oh, and his sense of humor is a bit odd.

But he’s cool anyways.

And without further ado…

Yes, someone is engaged…

Hmm…somebody looks a little excited here, don’t they?

Yes, you saw right…that’s my crazy brother Joe. And my ’sister’, Katie. (See, Beth and I already called her a sister…we are the triplets, you know…she just had to go and make it all official-like. )

Yes, they are a goofy pair!

Katie wrote this and graciously allowed me to post it here for your reading enjoyment:

Joe and Katie’s Story [so far]

Some of you have been asking about how Joe and I met. Joe and I met two years ago at our mutual friends’ house and later God provided ways for our families to get together and I got to know his sisters. After that, Dad and Joe got together for lunch on a weekly basis for several months. It was a good time for Dad to get to know Joe and for Joe to get to know Dad because they were able to talk freely about their beliefs. These are some points that I’ve kept in mind and that I believe are very important in relationships.

I believe that dating is dangerous because it encourages a false sense of feelings. In dating, there is a greater chance of getting physical before the proper time. Also, when people date, there is no real commitment to each other. People sometimes will date several different people before they marry anyone and by then, they’ve given a little bit of their heart away each time.

I believe that God’s timing is always perfect. When we give ourselves and our relationships to God, He will bring things to pass when it’s best. It is important to always give everything to God, not just in relationships, but in all of life. When we give something to Him that maybe we really want, He will bless that. He will either give it back to you, or He will give you something far better! God knows what is best.

God’s hand has been so evident in my relationship with Joe! He knew just when for us to take each little step. After each step, I would pray that if this wasn’t God’s will, that He would end it right there, and He never did! He continued to open doors and we continued to go through them.

It is very important before even considering someone, to make sure that they are a believer. If they aren’t it causes so much pain and trouble in the long run. 2 Corinthians 6:14

I also believe that parents need to be involved. Joe first went to his Dad before he went to my Dad. Everything we have done has been with our parents’ permission and approval. Parents have so much wisdom and God has placed them over us to train us and guide us. They see things that we don’t, so if they say, no this isn’t a good thing, we need to listen to them and trust them. Proverbs 23:22, 24

One thing that our culture doesn’t seem to understand, is that love is not a feeling. It’s a decision. There are times when we don’t feel love for people, but we must love them anyway. I believe that we must be able to think rationally before we allow feelings to come out. In dating, I think feelings become involved so soon that people are unable to see what the other person is really like. Dad and Joe were able to talk about things and think rationally before feelings came into the picture.

I also think that getting physical too soon is very dangerous. Even something as “innocent” as holding hands, if done too soon can cause problems. It can cause feelings (there they are again!) to show themselves.

Most importantly, I think that in everything we do, our ultimate goal should be to glorify God. If we seek to do things for our own glory or if we do what we want, when we want instead of in God’s timing, he can’t bless that. I have prayed through this whole process that God would be glorified in all that we say and do.

“Let no man despise thy youth; but be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity.” 1 Timothy 4:12

Mocha Pudding Cake
[recipe found here]
3/4 cup all purpose flour
2/3 cup sugar
1/2 cup cocoa powder, divided
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup milk
3 tbsp vegetable oil
2/3 cup brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups hot coffee

Preheat oven to 350F.
Combine flour, sugar, 1/4 cup cocoa powder, baking powder and salt in an 8 inch square baking pan and stir with a fork to combine. Add in milk and oil, and stir with the fork until batter is uniform and no patches of dry ingredients remain.
Sprinkle brown sugar and remaining 1/4 cup cocoa powder evenly over batter.

Add vanilla to the hot coffee and pour over everything. Do not mix.

Place pan in oven and bake for 30-35 minutes, until surface of the cake looks dry. The pudding will be bubbling around the edges. Allow to cool for about 10 minutes before serving. Serve with ice cream or whipped cream, as desired.
Leftovers, if you have them, can be stored in the fridge. Reheat before serving.

Now, of course, I used a 9×13 pan (a real 9×13 pan works a lot better than the 10×14 pans we call 9×13!), and double all ingredients. I suppose your coffee would be alright to put the full amount in; mine was too strong so I had to back off a little (2 cups coffee, 1/2 cup water) last time, and it was…wondamous.

Oh yes, and I also mixed my ingredients in a different bowl…I just find bowls easier to mix in! I also used Rice Milk because Mom doesn’t like it as much as soy milk. It may be a little bit sweeter because of it!

And sorry, I forgot to take a picture of the finished product in the pan…I was too eager to get to EATING!!

Then she brings me down this brown lump on a saucer. It was steaming and looked slightly odd. Then I tasted it, and I didn’t care if it looked odd. It was GOOD. Fresh, moist, rich chocolate cake. It tastes kind of like pudding cake, but with the pudding mixed in.

Cake in a Mug
4 tablespoons cake flour
4 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons cocoa
1 egg
3 tablespoons milk
3 tablespoons oil
1 mug

In the mug, mix flour, sugar, and cocoa.
Spoon in egg.
Pour in milk and oil, and mix well otherwise you’ll get little pieces of egg white in your cake!
Put in microwave for 3 minutes on maximum power (1000watt).
Wait until it stops rising and sets in the mug.
Tip contents out of the mug onto saucer and enjoy!

Beth read that if you use all-purpose flour, it’ll work, but just be a bit more dense. I liked it the way it was! And I thought a glaze would be good on top…or whipped cream, if you’re so inclined, or it would be really good with vanilla ice cream.
Oh yes and I forgot…Beth substituted coffee for the milk in mine. ^_^

I was trying to upload another of her sleeping in her highchair but it wouldn’t upload! Oh well!

A few days ago, we all got new phones…our old ones were kind of wearing out and now have been given to the kids for alarms (which sometimes creates confusion as they like to play the ringtones as ‘background music’ and Mom and I keep reaching for our phones when familiar tones play!), while we got some spiffy new phones. Dad, Mom, Ben, and Joe got Alltel Hue II’s, while Eric and I (such nonconformists!) got the much-cooler LG Banter.

Hue II pros: Better camera, camcorder. Comes with earbud headset.
Hue II cons: Ugly GUI! Worse than the last phones, IMO, sucky ringtones. No customized menu (I loved that about my last phone!)
Banter pros: Neat slide-out keyboard!! (I don’t text but I’m ALWAYS writing notes to myself!) Pretty GUI!! (Black with pink selector!) Cooler ringtones!
Banter cons: Not *quite* as good of camera (half a megapixel less), no camcorder, and the headset jack is less than 1/8″ (weird!) so I can’t snitch Mom’s headset earbuds and doesn’t come with them! Can’t figure out how to get the customizable menu to somewhere handy! LOL

But I love my Banter! And wheee! I can plug it into my computer and actually get pictures off it!! Eric and I ordered USB cords (a friend of mine found a Bluetooth USB thing for $8, but the cords were only $4.50 apiece) on the 14th so they should be here any day. Expect to be overloaded with pictures!

Both phones also have mp3 players (listen, my last one didn’t, and I couldn’t get pics off my last one so humor me a bit, ok? I KNOW most other people’s phones have both capabilities, but yeah…), but need microSD cards so Eric and I ordered those as well. I don’t imagine it being the best quality, but I really wanted an mp3 player again since my last one’s headphone jack broke!

Hmm let’s see…a couple of the kids have a cold, and Abby threw up a couple times a few nights ago. It only lasted one night, though, fortunately!

We got a scanner, so Beth has been scanning in old pics and putting them on Facebook. Pretty entertaining! Brings back a lot of memories!

A few days ago, Pi was sleeping on my bed all day, and when I went in there for bed, she had pulled out some of her fur on her shoulder, and spread it all over my bed! I had to clean it up before I could go to sleep! She’s done this before, pulled out some of her fur. No clue how she does it, I didn’t think kitty teeth were that…that…something-or-other! Anybody know why a cat would pull out her fur?

*hopes some cool stuff comes in the mail today!!* (like the USB cords!)

Hmm…I think I lost my hyperness (it’s only internal, anyway). Oh well! I guess that means I should post this then!

And I’ll leave you with two funny pics! (Yes, words are misspelled!)

*insert technical spiel* Sorry for the lack of pictures…the gallery I was using messed up and was too hard to redo so I’m uploading my pictures to Facebook (since I usually do anyway) and discovered a plugin for my blog to insert my Facebook photos. So you can have pics now! Yay! *end technical spiel* (if you didn’t understand it, that’s alright…the point is, I can post pics!)

Without further ado! (If you click the link it’ll take you to my Facebook gallery…the larger pictures were too big for my template! And evidently it didn’t work to click the individual photos…so click the Facebook gallery link below! Hover for descriptions…if none pop up, don’t panic, it means it doesn’t have a description! And there are a few more in my Facebook gallery that aren’t posted here.)

(Thank you to Mr. H. for a few of those pictures!)

Time goes by so fast. You can’t do anything to slow it down.

Ephesians 5:15-16 See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil.

What then should you do? Consider the foremost commandment:

Mark 10:28-31 Then one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, perceiving that He had answered them well, asked Him, “Which is the first commandment of all?”
Jesus answered him, “The first of all the commandments is: ‘Hear, O Israel, the LORD our God, the LORD is one. And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ This is the first commandment. And the second, like it, is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”

I suppose love is a good place to start then. Love God, love others. What does it mean to love God?

John 14:15 “If you love Me, keep My commandments.

Think love isn’t a big deal? Check this out:

1 John 4:7-11 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. He who does not love does not know God, for God is love. In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.

and…

1 Peter 4:7-9 But the end of all things is at hand; therefore be serious and watchful in your prayers. And above all things have fervent love for one another, for “love will cover a multitude of sins.” Be hospitable to one another without grumbling. As each one has received a gift, minister it to one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.

Hey…if love covers a multitude of sins, I say everybody could use more loving! If you love God, you will do what He says. If He says to love your neighbor, you will. If you love your neighbor, you will be looking out for his better interest above yours. If you love your neighbor, you won’t be focussing on yourself. If you love your neighbor, you can look past his faults to see a creation of God’s who needs the Truth, no matter if the Truth seems harsh.

John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”

For instance, if your neighbor was about to be run over by a speeding car, but he was talking to you and you didn’t want to interrupt him because that would be rude, he would soon be run over by the truth of that speeding car. Truth isn’t always easy. In fact, it’s rarely easy. But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t share the Truth.

Ephesians 4:9-16 And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ—from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.

How about some “truth in love” in action?

Jude 22, 23 And on some have compassion, making a distinction; but others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire, hating even the garment defiled by the flesh.

James 5:19, 20 Brethren, if anyone among you wanders from the truth, and someone turns him back, let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save a soul from death and cover a multitude of sins.

Annnd…I don’t know if I really have a point, other than use your time wisely: love God and love others.

Men in the Kitchen – Valentine’s Day Edition.

The girls are gone and it’s Valentine’s Day…what should the boys do?

The answer is: Get creative!

And Happy Valentine’s Day!