Apparently Julia likes Cheetos

Our friend Joel through church took a picture of Julia and his daughter Selah together this last Saturday night.  Julia had been eating Cheetos (apparently SHARING mom's was not good enough; she had the bag in her hands when this photo was taken)... and as you can see, she became encrusted with them...!  Bath time that night involved a lot of unwanted (by Julia) scrubbing.

Adam had a little fun with the picture today and emailed it out to some family.  Enjoy!

erin

Looking Back

When I look back on this last week, this is what I see: frustration, irritation, discord. I try to look back and think about ways in which I have loved and serve others, but instead all I remember are the ways I was disserved by and frustrated with my job, unloved and misunderstood by my friends, and laughed at by the constant rain.
Suffice it to say, by the end of the week, I was in a foul mood.

Matthew 25:34 - 45 says...

Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.

Then the righteous will answer him, Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?

The King will reply, I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.

Then he will say to those on his left, Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.

They also will answer, Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirst or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?

He will reply, I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.

How shameful my heart is when I remember my feelings from this last week, when I remember my foul mood.

Not only are there heavenly blessings apparent in this Scripture, but earthly ones as well -- for you, for me, and for those around us. If I had only been looking outward instead of inward, I would have been serving and blessing my fellow man. If I had only been looking outward instead of inward, I would have experienced more joy, contentment, and peace in my life.

Instead of expecting to be served and kept content by my job, I would have given everything in me to do a good job and feel blessed that I even have a job. Instead of dwelling on my friendships and whether there was any disaccord there, I would have tried harder to love, listen, and be a better friend to those around me. And, instead of cursing the rain, I should have thanking and praising God for his beautiful creation.

Next week I plan to change my focus. I know it will be difficult; I heard similar words to these two weeks ago and obviously they did not sink in that well. I hope to listen instead of expecting to be listened to, serve instead of expecting to be served, love instead of expecting to be loved, give of myself instead of expecting to receive. I want to set my heart on Christ. I am asking him to change your vision -- to focus my sight on the world around me instead of on myself.

I am asking God to give me his eyes, his love, his heart, so that I might see all that I have been missing and serve his kingdom.

"Give Me Your Eyes" by Brandon Heath
Look down from a broken sky
Traced out by the city lights
My world from a mile high
Best seat in the house tonight

Touch down on the cold black top
Hold on for the sudden stop
Breath in the familiar shock
Of confusion and chaos

All those people going somewhere
Why have I never cared

Give me your eyes for just one second
Give me your eyes so I can see
Everything that I keep missing
Give me your love for humanity
Give me your arms for the broken hearted
The ones that are far beyond my reach
Give me you heart for the ones forgotten
Give me your eyes so I can see

Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah

Step out on a busy street
See a girl and our eyes meet
Does her best to smile at me
To hide what's underneath
There's a man just to her right
Black suit and a bright red tie
Too ashamed to tell his wife
He's out of work, He's buying time

All those people going somewhere
Why have I never cared

Give me your eyes for just one second
Give me your eyes so I can see
Everything that I keep missing
Give me your love for humanity
Give me your arms for the broken hearted
The ones that are far beyond my reach
Give me you heart for the ones forgotten
Give me your eyes so I can see

Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah

I've been here a million times
A couple of million eyes
Just move and pass me by
I swear I never thought that I was wrong
Well I want a second glance
So give me a second chance
To see you the way you've seen the people all along

Give me your eyes for just one second
Give me your eyes so I can see
Everything that I keep missing
Give me your love for humanity
Give me your arms for the broken hearted
The ones that are far beyond my reach
Give me you heart for the ones forgotten
Give me your eyes so I can see

Give me your eyes for just one second
Give me your eyes so I can see
Everything that I keep missing
Give me your love for humanity
Give me your arms for the broken hearted
The ones that are far beyond my reach
Give me you heart for the ones forgotten
Give me your eyes so I can see

Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah
Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah

A Tour About Town

While I was working at the quilt show (in the Opera House) during
Tulip Time, Adam and his parents took Julia for a tractor tour of the
town and for a bit of a stroll!

erin

Tiptoe Through the Tulips

This last weekend (May 7 - 9) was the Tulip Time festival in our town.
We were blessed with visitors (Adam's parents, Ron and Marcia, and
Erin's aunt and cousin, Chris and Leigh), and we all had a wonderful
time...

... eating Tulip Time food...
... checking out the Dutch Market at West Market Park...
... touring the Scholte House...
... watching (or being in) parades...
... taking the tractor tour...
... and attending Adam's beer garden in the garage.

These are a few pictures of Julia in her Dutch finery. She wore a
Marken style costume, and we took a number of pictures of her next to
the tulips. Julia is almost 18 months old. While she didn't enjoy
being dressed into her costume, she had no trouble tooling around once
it was one. I figured out how to pin much of it together so she
couldn't mess it up, even when she was crawling around in the grass.

More pictures / posts to come... hope you enjoy the pictures!

Erin

Tulip Time Beer Garden

A beer garden? At Tulip Time?

Well, yes, believe it or not, there WAS a beer garden at Tulip Time
this year, though it wasn't on the map or in any brochures. It took
place in our backyard / garage / driveway!

There were about eight beers / brews of sorts on tap, a number of
bottles, and quite the assortment of breads and other edible goodies.

Also, I believe ~ 25 gallons of beer was brewed as well... some by
individuals and some by the club (CSP).

Throughout the day it is estimated that ~60 people attended. Quite a
good turn out!

Adam has been brewing on the Saturday of Tulip Time for the last few
years now, and it progressively becomes a larger "party" as each year
goes by. This year much planning went into it and Adam sent out a
number of emails / invites for this fest.

Saturday night I washed glasses in the dishwasher -- the beer / pint
glasses took two full loads (that's right -- glasses only -- TWO
LOADS!) to clean them, and a number of family members helped to put
the glasses away back on the beer glass shelf in the basement on
Sunday morning.

I think a good time was had by all attended... even the little ones!

Erin

--
*** Visit my Blog at: erin-quilter.blogspot.com ***

Sickness Update

I do NOT have the Llama Flu or any other sort of flu... yay!

I have a simple head cold, which I KNEW, but the main goal of the day
was to get some eye salve and THAT was accomplished... YAY! The funny
thing about it, though, is that it is the EXACT SAME eye salve that I
used on Julia last weekend to treat her goopy eyes... go figure! But,
we shouldn't be sharing eye salves, so I am glad that I have my own
little expensive tube of it now. YAY!

And, since we did all of the OB checks today (minus heartbeat), I
don't go back again now until June 3rd...!

Just thought you'd like to know I have nothing more than a cold. Ha!

erin

A Visit

While Adam was busy epoxy-ing the fiberglass onto his canoe, my friend
Angela and I took Julia out on the town. Adam was busy with our
camera, so Angela took a few pictures of tulips and Julia... the
tulips are beautiful yet again this year and I never tire of walking
around and looking at them!

A Few Canoe Pictures

Adam and his friend Lee put fiberglass on the outside of the canoe
this weekend... looking good, Adam!

Tulip Time, the Llama Flu, and Other Life Events...

I haven't blogged for a while because life has been sort of hectic...
and not because the calendar is overly busy either...!

About two weeks ago, Julia came down with what seemed like a sinus
infection that really was a cold, and it included mucus-y eyes.
(Gross, eww!) I did a little doctoring and her eyes started to clear
up within a few days, but not before I came down with what she had.
She became ill on a Tuesday... by Friday (April 24) I had a stuffy
head and wasn't wearing my glasses for the grossness coming out of my
eyeballs. (Gross, eww!)

Now, I am not one much for going to the doctor and I pretty much just
thought it was a cold and it would go away on its own. And, if you
have ever been pregnant, you might know that it seems when you get
some sort of illness, it lasts way longer than it should... ha!
Seriously, though, everything I have ever had while pregnant seems to
be more severe, last longer, etc., than it did in the person from whom
I caught it.

So, it didn't surprise me that all this last week, I wasn't feeling
100%... but what did surprise me was that I wasn't getting better...!
In fact, I just have gotten worse and worse! I have had a good day
here and there, but then bam, I am right back in the thick of it.

In the midst of this being ill, the H1N1 (formerly known as Swine) Flu
came out, and after much joking and stealing the name from a friend, I
decided I had the Llama Flu. (Ha!) Thankfully Julia has not seemed
to have contracted the Llama Flu back from me and seems to be healthy
and has been for about a week. Adam also seems to be escaping this
dastardly thing that I have.

Also in the midst of being ill, I had two costumes and a quilt binding
to finish by Tulip Time, because I am a bit of a procrastinator. In
the few hours that I stayed awake long enough last week to do
anything, I managed to finish the two costumes (one for Julia and then
really just part of a costume for my friend's son, Ben), and then
really committed a Cardinal Sin by taking about 15 hours of
hand-binding and chopping it down to 2 hours of MACHINE STITCHED
(GASP!!!) binding on my quilt... done, done, done!

Tulip Time starts on Thursday but of course one million other things
have to happen before then. Today I take the quilt in to be hung for
the show... tomorrow we have an "appearance" in our costumes...
tomorrow some time I need to bake two pies for church... tomorrow
night is a meeting for the quilt guild prior to the show starting...
Wednesday our quilt show starts... and then Tulip Time starts on
Thursday and we are in a parade... Adam's parents are coming... my
aunt and cousin are visiting as well... it will be a busy week!

So... I broke down and called the doctor today, seeing as how I am
getting no better, have been sick for 12 days, and am ready for this
eye goopiness (Gross, eww!) to be gone, gone, gone! I am terrified of
re-infecting Julia, and I am sick and tired of not sleeping because I
am coughing all the darn time and waking up with my eyes glued shut
(Gross, eww!).

Do I complain much? Ha!

Oh, I forgot, I am pregnant too...! Hee!

Other things have been going on as well... Adam had a great weekend
working on his canoe (see pictures in the canoe post) doing some
fiberglass and such with his friend Lee who was kind enough to come
and help. The canoe is looking beautiful and I know I have turned a
corner and truly believe Adam is capable of finishing it prior to this
baby being born...! Go, honey, go! It has been neat to see the
progress of the canoe over the last year and it will be awesome to see
it finished and to take it out on the water.

Also, my dear friend Angela came to visit this last Saturday and she
was just to boost of energy I needed to get out and do some garage
sale-ing, walk around to view the tulips uptown, and plant some
flowers in my barren planters. it was wonderful to see her too, and I
know Julia enjoyed showing off for the day!

Soon I'll be posting pictures of Julia and I in our costumes... it
will be a whirlwind of a week, but we are all looking forward to it!

later, my friends!
erin

Through the Screen Door

Yesterday was a beautiful day here in Pella, and we decided to have
brats and 'tatoes out on the deck for dinner. While I cooked dinner,
Adam hung out on the deck with Julia. She loves to be outside! It is
so wonderful that she is walking and willing to explore and that the
weather has been cooperative the last few days... the outdoors is her
favorite place to be!

She thought it was terrible fun to watch me walk about the kitchen
through the screen door... I thought I should take a few pictures as
she was really hamming it up for me. And yes, ooh, gross, she loves
to lick the screen door. But then, don't kids this age like to lick
EVERYTHING? Ack.

erin