Favorite pics from Arizona

Altogether, between my dad and me, we took over 300 photos in Arizona this weekend. Here are my favorites in no particular order!

Regan's Talent Show Performance

Exactly one year ago, I started this blog with a post about Regan's talent show performance. It was my test to see how this thing worked.

Since then, I've posted 116 times (this is the 117th), so I think I'll congratulate myself on my first anniversary!

To honor that, I'm posting Regan's picture from this year's talent show at Mark Twain. She danced to "Walking on Sunshine" with her Girl Scout troop and like every other year, she did fantastic. Her confidence always amazes me, since she is so nervous right before going out. Once again, we are very proud of her!

Arizona

We've been in the Phoenix area since Saturday afternoon, visiting my mom's brother, Kent. We have spent much of our time in the pool, since it's over 100 degrees here. Josh and Malia are loving that!

Today, we ventured up to Payson, a small town about an hour away. It's up in the mountains and you would never know you were anywhere near Phoenix. It's beautiful and the weather was perfect. We also went to check out a nearby lake.

Tomorrow, it's more swimming and off to see Shrek the Third. Should be fun.

Is Are Kids Learning?

Had to report this:



FORT WORTH — Students who had been planning to walk across the stage at graduation ceremonies this weekend were instead walking a picket line Thursday morning.


The Trimble Tech High School seniors marched in front of Fort Worth Independent School District headquarters to protest Wednesday's decision by trustees to bar students who failed the TAKS (Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills exam) test from commencement exercises.

The best part of the story is a photo of a woman with a sign reading, "Let are kids walk". I can't make this stuff up!

LOST FINALE!!

WOW! I watched last night, waiting for the big promised reveal, but it seemed the show was going along at a normal pace, with normal things happening, but then the last 5 minutes!

A FLASHFORWARD! It's never been done before (or has it?)!! So we would have never guessed. And Jack's father... alive...??? What the heck??? And Jack wants to go back???

Mindblowing!

What could make Jack want to go back so bad that he would contemplate suicide? Who was in the coffin? Ben? Locke?

Here is a picture of the funeral home. It is an anagram that spells... you guessed it... FLASHFORWARD.




I LOVE THIS SHOW!!!

Why I blog...

I find it funny that so many of us keep these on-line diaries, AND THAT OTHER PEOPLE READ THEM! I know when I was a kid, I would have DIED if anyone had read my private thoughts. (I'm not sure why I would have found it so embarrassing... kids are weird I guess.) Anyways, quite a few people check out my ramblings, and I have no idea why, but the beauty of it all is that we stay connected as well as connect to new people.

When I check out the stats, I have people from all over the world taking a look at what I and others have to say and I think that's cool. (I wish all who visited left a comment so we could have a more two-sided conversation, but that's another post.)

Anyways, off to more pertinent matters. Today, I was contacted by a friend who had been contacted by a friend that I knew from high school days. She referenced me specifically mentioning that although there was much animosity between us back then, so much has changed and she wishes things could have been different. She has been reading this blog and has expressed a desire to have the weight of hard feelings lifted.

Of course I responded to her directly and she wrote back with extremely kind words. She is following Christ and has made a nice life for herself.

It's amazing how much things that happen in high school affect us! I look at my life now and think, "Why in the world would I ever bear animosity towards someone from so many years ago? I'm a grown-up now!" Yet I guess those hurts in our most formative years go deeply. So I had to search my heart and ask, was I still holding onto it? Honestly, my first answer was a surprising, "Yes." But I immediately thought, "That's insane. She is my sister in Christ. She is no different from me! We are both imperfect and striving to be more like Jesus. What right do I have to hold any grudge AT ALL?!?"

Seeing my own black heart brought tears to my eyes.

It took about a half a second, but I let it go... and she so generously did the same. (Thank you, God, for this amazing opportunity.)

That's why I blog. My life is an open book and God is using it to form me into His image.

Sometimes it's painful.

Dangerous Book for Boys

I saw this book reviewed in the Wall Street Journal and I had to blog about it!

This book is aimed at boys around the age of 10 and tries to impart all the knowledge the authors feel boys need to know. It is an instruction manual on making paper airplanes, skipping stones, building go-carts and tree houses, playing poker and it even has a section on girls! It is definitely an un-television, un-video game kind of book.

According to the WSJ, "The unapologetic message is that boys need a certain amount of danger and risk in their lives, and that there are certain lessons that need to be passed down from father to son, man to man. The implication is that in contemporary society basic rules of maleness aren't being handed off as they used to be."

It is certainly not politically correct and unequivocally states that boys are hard-wired differently from girls. You know that's gonna get them some grief!

So for all of you with sons, what do you think? I think it sounds great.

There is also a FANTASTIC video showing how to use this book. It's only a couple of minutes; I encourage you to check it out.

Chandler and Her Limo Ride

A little while back, Chandler won a contest at church in which she brought the most visitors. Darrenn told them the prize was a limo ride and lunch. He graciously invited the others who had come very close to winning, so altogether there were 9 kids and 2 adults. Darrenn even invited Regan to go with them and since Chandler is such a good big sister, she had no problem with that!

They went to In and Out and then cruised 2nd street and Seal Beach. They watched Napoleon Dynamite and drank Coke from champaign glasses. Too much fun for a 12-year-old!!

Too Good to be True!!!

I just found out about THIS. It is the Disney Youth Education Series!!! You can actually have the Disney people take you around their parks teaching Physics, Animation and California History using their rides, shows and attractions.

OH MY GOSH!!!

We already go to Disneyland all the time during the day and call it "educational", but now, IT REALLY IS!

I think I need to go lay down now.

Universal Thoughts

Apparently I stirred up the ire of an atheist with my last post, but it really got me to thinking... so off to my ramblings.

The subject of God as a creator fascinates me. I have heard it said that without God, all life is meaningless. I know some will say we derive meaning from our work or our relationships, but to what end? Should Planet Earth end today, who would care? We are but an insignificant speck in an insignificant suburb of an insignificant galaxy off in a far corner of the universe. We might feel a sense of purpose within our lifetimes because of these things, but in the end, they are meaningless. Without a God orchestrating our world and using our lives for eternal purposes, Solomon is right. All is vanity.

There was a New York Times Magazine article the week of March 11 that stated that 96% of the universe is made up of "dark matter". Scientist have no idea what it is or what principles govern it. Some speculate that we may never understand, indeed we may be incapable of understanding it. So if every planet, moon, star, galaxy, asteroid, nebula or any other item making up our universe account for only 4% of what exists, we quickly become even more insignificant without a God who knows us and loves us. No wonder so many secularists have made their life's work to "Save the Planet". It's all they have!

Psalm 19:1 says, "The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands."

I know I personally see the glory of God here:

and here

and here

and here

and here.

All of this got me thinking about a list of books I have had highly recommended to me, so I am publishing my summer reading list:

A Meaningful World by Benjamin Wiker and Jonathan Witt. I read a few pages online at Amazon.com, and I CAN'T WAIT!!!

The Privileged Planet by Guillermo Gonzalez and Jay Richards. This book states that our universe was carefully designed for us to discover

The Hidden Face of God by Gerald L. Schroeder. He states that science reveals God and it is in the complexity that we see Him most clearly. See more here.

And if I have time: Does God Exist?: The Debate Between Theists & Atheists by James Porter Moreland and Kai Nielsen

The Griffith Observatory

We went on another homeschool field trip yesterday, to the Griffith! I was so excited to be able to go now that it is open. I love space and the study of it fascinates me. The planetarium show was awesome. I was worried it would be too atheistic, but it actually was presented in a great format. They began by saying man has always searched the heavens to discover who we are and why we are here, and they ended the program by saying we are still searching. So I thought that was a good way to frame it.

Here, Regan posed with Albert Einstein. Lots of fun..

The best part was finding out what I weigh on the moon! I'm about 20lbs! Woo hoo!!! I wonder if your thighs are thinner on the moon as well?

My Toes Are Numb - Update

This is to update my previous post on my toes. So many expressed support and some have asked how I am doing, so I decided to give a short update.

My feet are still numb, but after reaching up all the way up to my waist, the numbness has gone back down to the bottoms of my feet. It was painful for a time, but now it is only irritating. I actually hardly notice it at all anymore. I do have a weird problem with the muscles in my legs turning to jello if I engage in strenuous activity, or even walking quickly, but even that goes away after a few minutes.

So there you have it. Overall, I am fine!, and getting better everyday.

Thanks for your prayers and support.

Regan and Rawhide

Regan is back from Rawhide! She used her Girl Scout cookie money to pay for a weekend trip to an incredible camp where they learned horsemanship. My parents and Tim and I and Chandler drove up there this afternoon to watch her show her skills. She got to show a pony and was judged on her ability to do it properly. She did great. She had a good time, but was glad to see all of us.

Weight and Genetics

This fascinating article from the NY Times on the role of genetics in weight really rang true for me: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/08/health/08fat.html?pagewanted=1

Best quote: The researchers concluded that 70 percent of the variation in peoples’ weights may be accounted for by inheritance, a figure that means that weight is more strongly inherited than nearly any other condition, including mental illness, breast cancer or heart disease.

Email Replies

O.K., so I've been having an email ettiquette discussion with a friend. He feels you should not include the original message in a reply. I guess he thinks it clutters up the email. I however feel you should include the conversation threads so you can easily see all that has transpired in the past communications.

He found this Dilbert cartoon and decided to throw in the towel. I thought it was great!

Addicted to Lost

O.K. I know this marks me as an official Lost nerd, but last night, we saw Jacob, the ostensible leader of the island.

I missed it the first time but after checking out this blog, I went back and did the uber-nerd thing of watching it frame by frame. It's so clear I can't believe I didn't see it at first.

Anyway, someone far nerdier than me cleaned up the image and posted it.

What do you think? Who is this "Jacob"?

The Last Mimsy

Chandler and Regan have both memorized this poem. Apparently it is a lot of nonsense words made up by Lewis Carroll, but it is fun for them to quote, and they are quite good at it. Since they worked so hard to memorize it, I told them we would see The Last Mimsy when it came out at the cheap theater. So tonight we went to see it. It was an interesting take on what a Mimsy could be. Strong in mysticism, but overall, good, family fun.

JABBERWOCKY
Lewis Carroll(from Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There, 1872)

`Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe:
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe.

"Beware the Jabberwock, my son!
The jaws that bite, the claws that catch!
Beware the Jubjub bird, and shun
The frumious Bandersnatch!"

He took his vorpal sword in hand:
Long time the manxome foe he sought --
So rested he by the Tumtum tree,
And stood awhile in thought.

And, as in uffish thought he stood,
The Jabberwock, with eyes of flame,
Came whiffling through the tulgey wood,
And burbled as it came!

One, two! One, two! And through and through
The vorpal blade went snicker-snack!
He left it dead, and with its head
He went galumphing back.

"And, has thou slain the Jabberwock?
Come to my arms, my beamish boy!
O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!'
He chortled in his joy.

`Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe;
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe.

New Blogger Buddies!!

I just got word that two very good friends of mine have blogs. How fun is that?! Sharon just started one and I hope she keep it up. The first two posts are great (mostly because I'm mentioned a lot!). So I can't wait to see more.

The second blog is one my sister-in-law, Angela, has had for a few months and never told anyone about. Sounds familiar. At least she didn't say anything she regrets (that I know of) when she thought it would forever remain her secret. Tons of pics, which I love, and lots of fun everyday life stuff.

I absolutely love the blogs everyone has. What a fantastic way to keep up on other people's lives. And if you leave a comment, it is interactive!!

So welcome to the blog world, girls. Can't wait to see what you have to say.

Thanks Dad

As he is wont to do, my dad once again rescued me. When he heard about my laptop being stolen, he IMMEDIATELY ordered another one, exactly like the old but even a little better. He says we will work out some kind of deal - you know, I help him out with his photography a little and he spoils me rotten. I'll take that deal.

It arrived today, and I am having an easy time setting it up. Just a few more things to do. I lost a little data, but oh well... life goes on.

I may have lost my email stuff, so if you are reading this, email me at MLasch@Charter.net so I can get your email address!

Thanks for the sympathy I have received from so many of you.

The Pool is Open!

With the heat today, pool season officially began! Both girls hopped in, and although it was a little cold, they perservered and had a great time.

Summer's so close I can't stand it!!!

Welcome Emma, what took you so long?

With a nod to Jamie Lee Curtis' book, Tell Me Again About the Night I was Born...

One day, Emma will say, "Tell me again about the day I was born."

Tell me of all calendars marked up with big red circles and all the hopes of nine months building up into one single day.

Tell me about all the people waiting by their phones for calls and messages.

Tell me how so many people came to cheer my mom on that day, that they couldn't even fit in the room and had to wait for me in the waiting room.

Tell me again about all the people gathered around a cell phone, waiting for the joyous news, "It's a girl!" and the cheer that went up.


She will say, "Tell me again about how everyone found out I was a girl."

Tell me about that Thanksgiving day and the room PACKED with people all anxious to hear the verdict.

Tell me about the silly game everyone played to be the first to open the package that would announce pink or blue.

Tell me how Grandpa revealed my first little girl outfit to a cheering crowd.



She will say, "Tell me again about how excited everyone was when it was announced I was on the way."

Tell me of the many, many tears of joy, and the thanks given to God for His awesome gifts.

Tell me about the hugs and prayers and disbelief that the long waiting period was over.

Tell me again how you all prayed every day that I would continue to grow big and strong.

Tell me how you held your breath for nine months.



One day, Emma will say, "Tell me again about long you waited for me to make my appearance."

Tell me about my brother that I never got to meet.

Tell me about all the people that grieved with you over him.

Tell me how so many people prayed that God would bless you with another miracle.

Tell me again how I am that miracle.


One day, Emma will say, "I am a miraculous gift sent straight from God. And I got here right on time."

stupid, stupid, stupid

Today, I did something unbelievably stupid. I took my laptop to the hospital to visit Jenny as she went through labor with our precious Emma, and while I was outside, paying for parking, getting ready to go, I set down my laptop.

Fifteen minutes later, while in the car, I realized I had left it there.

It's gone.

I went back to see if anyone had turned it in, and of course the answer was, "No."

Much crying ensued and entreaties to God to no avail.

So while I am unbelievably happy and praising God for the miraculous birth of Emma, the child God promised to Darrenn and Jenny for many years, I am sad at the state of humanity.

At least I can log on to my blog from the girls' computer! I think I can get my email here as well...

Bummer.

FREE Pizza from Pizza Hut

Jenny Uribe emailed me to let me know about the free pizza that Pizza Hut is giving away from 3:00 - 5:00 today. We just rode our bikes there and she was right!!

So if you read this and can get there in 2 minutes - GO FOR IT!!!