Rain and More Rain

All right, now sing with me in a normal volume:

"The raindrops fall with a pitter-patter-pit,
a pitter-patter-pit, a pitter-patter-pit,
the raindrops fall with a pitter-patter-pit,
showing God's great love."

Now we sing in a whisper:

"The raindrops fall with a pitter-patter-pit,
a pitter-patter-pit, a pitter-patter-pit,
the raindrops fall with a pitter-patter-pit,

showing God's great love."

Now we sing very loudly:

"The raindrops fall with a pitter-patter-pit,

a pitter-patter-pit, a pitter-patter-pit,

the raindrops fall with a pitter-patter-pit,

showing God's great love."

(I'm not sure who wrote this song.)

We are getting the rain we expected. I rained off and on yesterday. Jon plugged in our pump before he went to work. I didn't have to venture into the dungeon. Last night it rained all night. It's coming down pretty hard right now. I notice, as I walked out onto the porch with Jon this morning, that he had stretched out the hose that is attached to the pump. The water was poring out of the hose as if a spigot was turned on. Jon checked the basement (dungeon) this morning and the whole floor was wet, but there was no standing water. The pump is working.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

I decided to make today a fun day for the kids. During several of our class times, I let them play with homemade, green playdough. We made shamrock badges and necklaces out of green construction paper and yarn. Then for supper, we had a green meal.


green milk, kiwi, green "shamrock" rolls in two sizes (homemade), and green tuna casserole with peas (made with homemade green noodles)


green cake with green frosting

That Crazy Ohio Weather

Last Saturday, we had our "Civil War" snowball fight. We had somewhere around a foot of snow. Throughout the rest of the week, we experienced a weather roller coaster. A couple days we were able to go out in t-shirts or light jackets. One or two days it rained. Yesterday, we woke up to a very thick fog. Visibility was close to that of a blizzard. Jon had to drive to work about three hours before the following picture was taken, when visibility was even worse.


The girls had choir practice yesterday morning at nine. I took this picture just after nine from our spot in our church's parking lot. I included the parking lines to give you an idea of distance. The space between the sets of parking spaces is about one and a half times as long as the spaces.


This picture was taken of the same area at a little after eleven when the girls got out of choir practice.


This is a picture of the area where our snow "forts" were (Fort Leaf was on the left and Fort Bush a.k.a. Fort Mush was on the right). Yep, that is green grass growing. My tulips are about four to five inches tall now. Last Sunday, the snow and roads were so bad that church was canceled for the whole day. This picture was taken today.

I about forgot to mention that several days this week were cold enough to need our winter coats. On our way to church our van temperature gauge said that it was 34 degrees out.

NORTH BEATS SOUTH ONCE AGAIN

Yesterday (Saturday, March 8, 2008) the North once again prevailed over the South. The South was totally dominated by the power and resources of their northern opponents.

It was a girls verses boys plus a volunteer. The boys chose the northern location for their fort and Officer Jon proceeded to use the recycle bin to build their fort (instead of the allotted bucket). Kitty Kat offered to join the boys, and Officer Brandi, against her better judgment, allowed her most promising soldier to defect. The girls built their fort using the allocated bucket. Fort Leaf in the North was fortified with a supply of wetter snow for better ammunition; thicker, higher walls; and a stronger officer. Fort Bush in the South had a nice supply of lower quality snow, thinner weaker walls, confused soldiers, and a commanding officer whose back went out while building the fort.

Both sides put forth a valiant effort. The Fort Bush soldiers had a hard time packing their snowballs. Officer Brandi had some pre-made ammunition, but her soldiers have not yet acquired the dexterity and strength needed for making snowballs. The Fort Leaf soldiers did not make ammunition ahead of time but Officer Jon and his soldiers were able to make their ammunition quickly during the battle.

During the battle, Private Bear came out into the open in enemy territory. He was met with an onslaught of snowballs from Officer Brandi. Officer Jon put himself in dangers way to rescue his brave, wayward soldier.

The battle ended when Officer Brandi received a cannon ball sized snowball to the chest at the hands of officer Jon. The blow was enough to "knock" her over. She went down and stayed down. Officer Jon then stormed Fort Bush and declared, "We are victorious over Fort Mush!" Officer Jon then proceeded to help Officer Brandi to her feet to receive medical attention (read kisses and hugs ; ).

This is on the north side of Fort Leaf.

This is behind Fort Bush looking toward Fort Leaf.


Do you see why the girls were at a disadvantage?



The girls didn't have a chance, but they get Fort Leaf next time!
(That is if Officer Brandi's back recovers.)