The Life and Times of the Watters Family

starting a new year

Bible study

With the study, A Woman’s Heart: God’s Dwelling Place, ending I am really thankful to be starting a new study already. It’s always sad for me when a good thing comes to an end. One thing that makes this transition a bit smoother is that the majority of our table group is continuing on with a new study together, No Other gods, by Kelly Minter.

Our group is joining thousands of women around the US and the world who are taking time every other Tuesday to meet together and study God’s word throughout the summer. Beth Moore and her team at Living Proof Ministries have organized this unique study. Each time we meet together we will share what God is teaching us through His word. We will share prayer requests, snacks and we will work together on memorizing our summer verses. Beth challenged us to memorize Jude 1:24-25.

No Other gods challenges us to “confront our modern-day idols”. In the introduction to the study Kelly says:

A few years ago I was feeling stuck. Stuck with God, people, career, living space, finances, convictions. I constantly cried out to God, “Please deliver me.”….. I was not ready for the simplicity of God’s remedy; He wanted to be God in my life.

Though somewhat unaware, I had been depending on false gods that were at the bottom of much of my pain. They were taking up room in my heart– room God desired to occupy. Through this process I became desperate to discover who the true God was in all of His glory so as not to return to the lesser and baser things. These idols could only offer temporary relief– promising what they could never deliver. How relieved I’ve been to find that through the dismantling, God has planted, built, restored, and redeemed. He has done nothing short of miraculous.

Idols are objects of worship and can be anything that we spend more time thinking about, interacting with or trusting more than our God. The subjects of idolatry and worship have been reoccurring themes recently and for me this means–God is speaking, pay attention! Pastor Mark Driscoll preached a fantastic message on the subject of worship. Mark teaches that whatever our issues may be, all our strongholds and addictions all boil down to having a worship problem. I highly recommend checking out that message, it’s one of the best I’ve heard on the subject.

This last season of Bible study has been life changing. The studies, the decisions, the clarity that came and life experienced throughout this spring will be one of the stones of remembrance in my life. Studying the Tabernacle, God’s presence, His glory and His plan for our salvation all the way back to Genesis has been indescribable. God has drawn near and I am forever changed. I am so grateful for His faithfulness and the journey He continues to call me to take with Him. Following God is exciting, challenging, refining, peaceful, restoring, and so much more. I just love Him.

pain in the neck (and back)…

I read this really amazing post several weeks ago that my old friend Kirsten wrote and it’s really stuck with me. I have found myself thinking about it quite often. This post will not be nearly as eloquent or much of an apology or reconciliation — I’m just not there yet. However, I was inspired by her and thought I would note it. I have been thinking for a while that I should, in some small way, document my journey with Pain. I think it may be easier to start with the present and work my way backward.
read more…

tagged

Cambria tagged me and now I get to answer the questions to this little quiz…

Five things I can’t live without, under $5.00

1. Jesus
2. Spending time with Cam
3. Spending time with the boys
4. My sisters (Holly, Sara, Heather and Kelly)
5. My friends

read more…

big, fatty external hard drive!

Hooray! We finally got an external hard drive (750 GB) and I am so excited. Every single one of our computers have been maxed out for some time (my macbook was so full I couldn’t even do my security updates the other day!). So, now we have a place we can dump and store tons of stuff (mostly pictures and movies). Oh, happy day!

Just for fun try…

POM POM hair!

soccer

I wouldn’t wanna meet these two on a soccer field, how ’bout you?

5 more days!

Christmas Songs releases on October 16th and in case you couldn’t tell from the fact that I am posting about it — I’m excited! I think we’ll start listening to Christmas music a little early this year. Why not? Jesus’ birth should be something we celebrate everyday anyway.

favorite movies

Last night Cam and I watched Good Will Hunting — for probably the 10th time. I love that movie! It really is a well written movie, I am surprised that Matt and Ben haven’t tried to write anything else together. I can’t help but cry every time Sean (Robin Williams) assures Will (Matt Damon) that “it’s not your fault”. My favorite line from the movie is when Morgan (Casey Affleck) says, “My boy is wicked smart” (you have to read that with a Boston accent). I think this movie is a favorite because of my personal experience with a “wicked smart” boy who is very guarded and kind of a mystery to figure out (he’s not so much anymore — with reference to guarded and a mystery, still smart, probably more so).

We have watched several new movies throughout the spring. We put lots of stuff that was nominated for one thing or another on our Netflix queue and frankly I wasn’t all that impressed with any of them. This week I updated our queue and added in a few of my old favorites. Today we will be receiving my all time favorite movie, Life is Beautiful. I can’t even describe how much I love this story.

Another favorite, Finding Neverland, will also be arriving today.

vacation brain, Caleb’s costumes and Sean’s paper

So, we’ve been back for over 2 weeks now and I still don’t feel normal yet. This time of year is just crazy and so I am sure that contributes to me feeling unsettled. We have 8 days of school left this year, less than 4 weeks until Holly’s wedding, 6 weeks until we go to the Oregon Coast beach cabin, 9 weeks until I turn 30 and I think Sara said 12 weeks until Baby Girl (my un-named neice) arrives. It is going to be a whirlwind summer. I am really excited for each individual event but when you put them all together it makes for a very full and busy summer. We are going to have to pace ourselves and make sure we take time as a family and appreciate our moments together. We love summer and we have to make sure we get lots of time outside to enjoy the sunshine.

Caleb has been really creative lately with his costumes– his current staples are his ripped in the knees jeans, cowboy boots, and a black vest. From those items he creates a cowboy look, a pirate look and a rockstar. He just adds a couple other accessories and he becomes a whole new character (with new personality, voice, mannerisms and swagger). The other day he was Luke Skywalker, Batman, Captain Jack Sparrow and a Cowboy all within about 2 hours. His newest prop is the “electric guitar” he made from cardboard. He spent over an hour making one for him and finishing the one Sean had started.

I know these days will not last much longer and that is why I want to be so intentional about appreciating them. The boys have been pursuing more individual activities lately. Sean is really excited about reading right now and spends as much time I as I will allow him, reading Harry Potter. He has mostly out-grown the dressing up thing but Caleb is still very into it. I was feeling really sad last week about how the boys are growing up too fast and fearing that they would eventually not be close. I talked (cried) to God about it. The very next evening we went to school for an open house and read a paper that Sean had written that day. The paper was titled “The 3 Most Important Things In My Life”. #1 Jesus, #2 Cam and I, #3 Caleb. He said the sweetest things about Caleb. He said he was “so blest” (spelled that way) to have Caleb for a brother and that Caleb “brings so much joy into his life” and that “without Caleb I would be so boring”. That was such a gift from God to me to assure me that the bond the boys have is incredibly special and that they truly love each other.

Here’s a picture of the “rockstar” look Caleb is currently sporting.

Visual DNA

This was fun! I saw it on Elsie’s site. Go check it out! Click the link below the image to go create your own “Visual DNA”.

Perfect

Everyone who knows me, knows I hate getting dressed up. I don’t like wearing dresses — never have, even when I was a little girl! The only times I have ever actually felt like myself in a dress was my wedding day — I also didn’t mind getting dressed up for Sara’s wedding. I will admit, having a dress that is custom fitted to you definitely helps. Anyway, with Holly’s wedding quickly approaching the anxiety about finding a dress began to come over me. Sara and I went shopping about a month ago and found a dress that would work for the occasion. I didn’t love it, but I was sure that finding a dress that I loved was out of the question. At least I had something and I could stop stressing over it. Holly and Shane came up to Bellingham for the weekend and it just so happened that Holly brought a dress with her that I could check out to see if it would be something I would want to wear to the wedding. It was PERFECT! Totally what I would have picked if I knew it existed. It is very pretty and more importantly, very comfortable. Yeah Holly! She should be a personal shopper!

The next dilemma– SHOES!! We (the girls in my family) were blessed (I mean cursed) with having what my dad calls “Fred Flintstone feet”. Cute, little, delicate and dainty shoes are not our friends (although occasionally it can be pulled off if you are willing to totally sacrifice comfort). I set out last week to find shoes to go with my workable, yet not lovable dress and practically came home in tears!! It was not a happy trip. There are lots of strappy, cute sandals out there right now but nothing I would want to wear ALL day long at Holly’s wedding. I think I must have tried on 20-30 pairs of shoes. I gave up for that day.
Yesterday Heather and I went shopping for her dress for Holly’s wedding. We found a dress she loved and then thought we would look for shoes again. I found the PERFECT shoes at Journey’s — and the best part was they were the very last pair, my size and on clearance for $19.99!! Miracles do happen! I know it may sound funny, but I am incredibly relieved. I am actually delighted that I have not only a dress that I love but now shoes too. I can leave for Disneyland knowing that I won’t have to come home and frantically search at the last minute for wedding attire. Happy Day!

Mother’s Day

Being a mom is my favorite! I love my boys and I am so thankful to be their mom. Cam does such a good job modeling for them how to honor and appreciate me. I love my new red teapot — thanks boys!

We love our moms and grandmas! Happy Mother’s day!

music

Today my ipod was randomly playing through what I have on it. I don’t usually listen to it that way- but it was kind of fun.
Here’s what we (Sean, Caleb and I) listened to while driving around town this afternoon–

1. Mr. Big Stuff- Jean Knight
2. Drive My Car- The Beatles
3. Senorita- Justin Timberlake
4. Bohemian Rhapsody- Queen
5. Baby Got Back (only for a minute and I edited it with the volume control)- Sir Mix-a-Lot
6. Sweet Home Alabama- Lynrd Skynrd (Sean asked if it was Rascal Flatts–my parents would die!)
7. I Can See Clearly Now- Jimmy Cliff
8. You Give Love a Bad Name- Bon Jovi (totally rocked out to that one– the boys are totally into this)
9. Great Balls of Fire- Jerry Lee Lewis
10. When I See an Elephant Fly- from Dumbo (I don’t know who sings it)
11. For Once in My Life- Stevie Wonder

I do my best to fill the boys in on all of the music trivia that my dad imparted to me. Our play list is a bit more random than the music my dad had us (or forced us to) listen to. I love music and the feelings and memories it conjures up. I think that this is definitely an area I am like my dad. I ask (or force) Cam and the boys to listen to songs all the time and then ask them what they think the song means- agghh- who’d have thought? Thanks a lot dad!

May Day!

Here are some flowers for May Day– I know tulips are kind of an April flower but I love them and I wanted to post this picture. I have been having fun with these new photo borders I bought on 2peas. Getting stuff crossed off my “to do” list feels so good today!

We are proud to announce that a piece of Sean’s artwork was chosen to be displayed in the Bellingham School District office for the Children’s Gallery walk. Each of the Bellingham schools chose one piece of art from each grade at each of the schools. Sean’s piece was in the style of Henri Matisse (paper collage). Selected Artwork from this show will be chosen for the 2007-2008 district calendar. We are so proud of Sean!

emergency dental visits

We just had our second visit this month! The first trip was for Sean, who broke off about 1/3 of a lower permanent tooth when he collided with Caleb during a game of catch in the back yard.

Today we went in for Caleb, who smashed his face on the monkey bars at the school. No broken teeth this time just lots of blood– we’ll have to wait for better x-rays in a couple weeks to see the full extent of the damage done. He did have to have some stitches to pull the skin back over the exposed bone (YUCK!) between his two front teeth. Caleb’s front teeth are a little displaced and we’ll have to wait and see how they want to treat it when we go back in two weeks.

Okay, so I know that this all goes with the territory of having two boys– but can I just say this part really sucks! It sucks for them for obvious reasons (injury, pain, etc.) and it sucks for us as parents because I don’t think there’s anything worse than seeing your child in pain. Personally, I have a very high tolerance for pain but I am such a wimp when it comes to seeing other people hurt! I am so glad that Cam was with us because I am almost useless when it comes to seeing my child bleed (almost passed out and threw up- told you I’m a wimp).

So, we spent our family time today at Dr. Bisese’s Pediatric dental office– which is a really nice office but not our ideal place to hang out on a sunny Sunday afternoon. Poor Caleb!

recent photos

Seany playing catcher in his baseball game last Monday.

Caleb and I entertaining ourselves at Sean’s game by taking self-portraits.

Cam and I on our date night last Saturday. I really like Cam’s new glasses.

Today

I liked this picture that Cam took Monday at Pike Place Market.

I started the Daniel study– wow– that’s all I can say. I know it’s gonna be another great adventure. I am really excited for what God is going to teach me during these next months through this study.

Sean & Caleb hung out with Grandpa Mike all day and had a BLAST! Caleb came home with cowboy boots and a cowboy hat– he was delighted. It was fun for them and a nice little break for me.

Sara and I shopped for baby decor. It was so fun! There are so many adorable little girl things. It’s gonna be so hard to wait for 20 more weeks to meet that little girl!

I am getting used to new hair– I had “low-lights” added to my hair color yesterday and it made my hair much darker (and a little burgundy). I think it will just take a little while to get used to it.

I read this great blog post by Beth Moore about being a Mom and the importance of having friends- it made me think of my friends and how we have done so much life together with our little kids–how much I love them and their families. The post also made me think of 2 other mommies-to-be I know and how much they have to look forward to in raising their babies together. What an amazing gift is an encouraging, supportive and loving friend who loves your kids almost as much as you do.

Today was a good day.

this weekend we’re …..

(found this pic on 2peas) 

loving this

Cam bought me this CD for Christmas and I have loved it more each time I listen to it. I have been listening to Jars of Clay since their first album came out in 1995. I have appreciated the lyrical quality of their music– even though sometimes I am not smart/deep enough to totally get what they are saying. My faith and walk have been impacted by their music. I find it amusing that their music kind of reflects whatever season I am in with God. This album is what I’d call “melancholy rock”. It’s good– I highly recommend it.

pictures from Caleb’s party

I had a request for pics from Caleb’s party. Check out this photo-set on Flickr to view them.

new shoes and Cam

I got these Mary Jane Crocs yesterday at Hilton’s in downtown Bellingham. They are my new favorite. I have been wanting some since I saw them on Elsie Flannigan’s blog last month. When Sara got some the other day in pink (of course) I was reminded that I wanted them. Anyway, Cam is super picky about shoes so I never know if he’s gonna hate the shoes I like. When he saw Sara’s he thought they were okay–as long as I didn’t get pink. He only has a couple things he is picky about so I do my best to try to accommodate his preferences (although he hates flip-flops and I wear them anyway). Cam’s things to be picky about are shoes and hair. He likes closed-toed, non-pointy shoes and LONG hair (well and speaking of hair, none on the legs). I can’t complain too much because ultimately if ugly shoes or short hair were important to me he’d be okay with it. He is the most flexible guy I know.

We have been working on a lot of projects around the house– kind of like spring cleaning on steroids. Well, Tuesday Cam had to have a filling fixed at the dentist and it was very painful (almost a root canal) but we still had a lot to get done on our projects that evening. He really sweetly asked me to make soup and biscuits for dinner because he was in so much pain. I wish I could say I sweetly responded with “sure honey, anything for you”, but I can’t. I was grumpy and frustrated–made the requested food anyway. By the time we sat down to dinner I was fine but I regret not being more selfless when he made the request. He has been so sweet lately (being so helpful, making time to talk, flowers yesterday) and I need to remember to show him how much I appreciate it. I watched Borat with him last night– that’s gotta count for something, right? He laughed so hard he’d have to pause the movie til’ he’d get a grip. Gotta love him, he’s the best–ever!

The Smartest Turkey, by Sean

One day there was a turkey. But not just any turkey, the smartest turkey in the world. One day before Thanksgiving he grew so plump and so beautiful everyone in the U.S.A. wanted to eat it. But the turkey did not know that quite yet. Until Thanksgiving when the men were hunting for him. But the turkey was smart so he dressed up like a Pilgrim boy. But when the men could not find the turkey they where very mad. All they wanted was to invite him to their Thanksgiving. But the turkey did not know that and he got scared and put on a disguise. When he found out he was sad for the men so he took off his disguise. They all had dinner together.

The End

By Sean Watters

Sean wrote this today after school. I am so proud of him! His new ambition is to be an author of children’s literature.

Thanksgiving Recipes

Here’s a few of our family favorites:

Thanksgiving Turkey

1 Reyonld’s turkey size oven bag
1 tbs. flour
2 celery stalks, sliced
1 medium onion, sliced
12-24 lbs turkey, thawed

Preheat oven to 350˚F, shake flour in oven bag, place in roasting pan at least 2” deep. Spray outside of bag with a nonstick spray to reduce sticking.
After properly cleaning and drying turkey, add vegetables to oven bag, place turkey in bag on top of vegetables. Close oven bag. Cut 6, 1/2” slits in top of bag. Tuck ends of bag in pan.
Bake until meat thermometer reads 180ËšF (3-31/2 hours for a 20-24 lb turkey).

Sweet Potato Delight

3 C. mashed sweet potatoes
1 C. sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
1/4 C. milk
1/2 C. butter

topping:
1 C. brown sugar
1/3 C. flour
1 C. chopped pecans
1/3 C. butter

Combine ingredients and pour into a casserole dish, top with pecan mixture. Bake at 350Ëš for 30 minutes.
Serves 6-8

Cranberry Sauce

1 C. sugar
1 C. water
2 C. fresh, whole cranberries

Bring sugar and water to boil until sugar is dissolved. Add cranberries and slowly boil until skins pop (3-4 minutes). yields 2 cups

Green Bean Casserole

1 can (10 3/4 oz.) cream of mushroom soup
1/2 C. milk
1 tsp. soy sauce
dash ground black pepper
4 cups cooked cut green beans
1 1/3 cups French’s® French Fried Onions

Mix soup, milk, soy, black pepper, beans and 2/3 cup onions in 1 1/2-qt. casserole.
Bake at 350°F. for 25 min. or until hot. Sprinkle with remaining onions. Bake 5 min.

Pumpkin Pie

3/4 C. sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ginger
1/4 tsp. ground cloves

Mix in small bowl. In a large bowl combine the following ingredients.

2 eggs (lightly beaten)
1 3/4 C. pumpkin (15oz.)

Mix in other ingredients.

12 oz can evaporated milk (gradually add in)

Bake at 425Ëš for 15 minutes and 40-50 minutes at 350Ëš.

Apple Pie

5 -7 C. apples (sliced and peeled)
1 &1/2 C. sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/3 C. flour

Pie Crust

3 C. flour
1 tsp. salt
1&1/3 C. butter Crisco
2/3 C. cold water

Sift flour and salt together. Add in butter Crisco until pea sized mixture. Add 1/3 C. cold water and continue to cut into mixture. Add additional water until consistency is moist but not sticky (add more flour if it gets sticky). Form 2 dough balls and pat with flour. Using 2 pieces of wax paper roll out both crusts until they are larger than your pie pan.

Gently add apples and apply small pats of butter to the top of the fruit. Place top crust on and flute edges. Using a fork, poke holes in the top crust. Cover edges of pie crust with foil while baking the pie. Place a cookie sheet below baking pie to avoid dripping.

Bake at 425Ëš for 50 minutes

Seany Sings (video)

“There Were Never Such Devoted Sisters”

8 Years Baby!

Happy Anniversary! Can’t believe how the time has flown by. I love you more today than I could have ever imagined. You have changed my life in so many wonderful ways and I consider everyday with you a wonderful gift from God!

“I cannot fix on the hour, or the spot, or the look, or the words, which laid the foundation. It is too long ago. I was in the middle before I knew it had begun.” - From Pride and Prejudice, Darcy to Elizabeth on when he fell in love with her.

Here’s to us and many, many more anniversaries!

All my love!

so far this summer…..

beautiful, summer sunshine. playing at the beach. boat rides and wakeboarding. campfires at sunset. s’mores. family and friends, and family that are friends. flying kites at the bay. superman fanatics in matching t-shirts. mad-libs, rummikub and one-word stories on the 4th of july. fireworks and boat parades. pirates hiding and finding treasure. eating watermelon and strawberries. tanning on tubes and wrestling sharks. togetherness and making memories — it’s all good.

It’s pretty much my favorite animal.

A couple of the guys from Audience Central (Geoff & Lach) were at the TechCrunch Party in Seattle on Wednesday night:

Happy New Year

‘Nuff said.

When Ad Optimizers Go Wrong

That’s odd

Link to the original.

Directions To Winthrop

These are from Google, so I can’t be blamed if they’re difficult to understand. Be patient, and we’ll all get there.

1. Take I-5 South to the US-2 Exit 194 to Wenatchee. Stay on US-2 for approx. 119 miles (at this point, you’re getting close to Wenatchee).
2. Take the US-2 E/US-97 N ramp to Okanogan/Spokane — go 0.4 miles (Do NOT go all the way to Spokane. If you do end up in Spokane, well…I can’t help you.)
3. Bear right at US-2 E/US-97 N — go approx. 54 miles
4. Turn left at WA-153 — go 31 mi
5. Continue on WA-20 — go 1.4 mi
6. Continue on E Methow Valley Rd — Go 0.9 miles (Welcome to Twisp)
7. Continue on Division St. — Go 0.8 miles
8. Continue on WA-20 - go 7.7 miles (Bye, bye Twisp)
9. Turn left at Riverside St. - go a little less than .5 miles until you come to a 4 way stop.
10. At the four-way stop in Winthrop, turn right onto Bridge St. and follow the main street (it keeps changing names, but stick with it) up a hill, past the ambulance garage and town maintenance shop. Proceed north one-and-a-half miles as the road turns into East Chewuch Rd. Turn right onto Bear Creek Rd. (look for park signs) and continue to the end of the pavement. Turn right and follow road into park.

It’s about 270 miles (a little less than that actually). It’s probably going to take in the vicinity of 5.5 to 6 hours depending on the traffic and how fast you drive. This is definitely the long way around and it’ll be hot. Make sure you bring enough water.

My cell phone is 360-224-XXXX if anyone gets lost or stuck or broken down or whatever. Unfortunately, I’m not sure how much of a help that’ll be as the cell coverage was pretty awful when we were there last year.

Anyway, have fun and see ya’ll soon.

Marathon Training - Week 2 - Day 1

My Blogging Co-worker

In passing this afternoon, I thought I’d check out the website of one of my co-workers, which I’d never read before. It looks like he hasn’t posted recently. Maybe I should ask him about that. He’s a good guy and I enjoyed what I read while poking around the archives. Hopefully he’ll start writing again.