Welcome to the world, Audrey Quinn

I have to take some time out to brag! Today was a special day around here. See, there hasn't been a girl born in my family since me. I have four younger brothers, and now have four sons. Until today, I had the only grandchildren on my side of the family.

But today, Audrey Quinn Brandel joined the family! She weighed in at 8 lbs. 11 oz. and was 21 inches long. I cannot tell you how much we've all looked forward to this little girl!



Audrey means noble strength, and Quinn means queen. Queen reminds me of how we are the bride of Christ the King, so I'm praying little Audrey will be a noble and strong bride of Christ!

Those With Young Blog is Live!

The Those With Young Blog is finally live! That means if you aren't a facebooker, you can now participate. You can find it by clicking the blog tab on the website or by looking up the blog directly.

You will be able to comment on the posts without having any kind of account, so it should be easy for everyone. You will have to leave your e-mail address, but it isn't published. The advisory panel members and I are the he only one that can see the e-mail addresses on the back end of the site, so that we can reply personally if desired/able.

Hope to see my mom friends there!

First Day of School '09

Today was the first day of school. We've been gearing up for days. The most important thing this weekend was shoelaces. The kids all wear uniforms to school, so things like shoes show a definite sense of individuality. Ian needed a haircut (and I just can't get his right by myself), so we headed to the mall where we hunted down the best shoelaces a few bucks could buy so they could express themselves.


Clayton started 7th grade today!! He is at Lakes Magnet School (formerly Lakes Middle School) in downtown Coeur d'Alene. It has gotten a full remodel over the summer and will be a magnet for health, science, and art. His first year of changing classes and lockers with padlocks.





Riley started fourth grade today. His teacher doesn't know what he is in for. Asher, Riley, and Josiah were all put in the same class. No one has ever done this on purpose before. But Mr. Vaughn is a military man, and I think he'll handle it just fine.


Ian began second grade. He was so ready for school. Yesterday, was spend labeling supplies. I kept asking, "Do you keep these or turn them in? Do you keep this and turn it in." He finally just rolled his eyes at me and said, "Mom! I'll just handle it when I get to school. You don't know what you are doing. I do."



Ian gets to sit by Danielle. heart. sigh.

Hayden had his first day of kindergarten! My baby! He was so excited to join his brothers at Sorensen Magnet School for Arts and Humanities. It was hard for him to understand that he didn't get to go in the morning. He had to wait until after lunch. And it was especially hard for him to understand that on the first day, he only got to go for an hour with his mom. He must have ran around the house for two hours with his backpack on, waiting for the time to leave. :)


Everyone had a great day, though. I think it is going to be a good year!

The God Who Cannot Deny Himself

"...if we are faithless, He will remain faithful, for He cannot disown himself." 2 Timothy 2:13

Very few verses in Scripture touch me like this one. In fact, I'm tearing up now.

Can I just be honest here? I've really been struggling with my faith lately. Not altogether - just one particular area, one that I seem to cycle through over and over. I've been pouring my heart out to God like a spilled pitcher of cranberry juice. Why cranberry juice? Because it is the color of my bleeding heart. It leaves behind a messy, sticky, staining residue. Okay, I'm a bit strange, but that is the picture that comes to my mind.

Sometimes when I struggle with God, I then start to beat myself up a bit. "Where is your faith!!??" I'm often tempted to believe the lie that He cannot act on my behalf unless I have enough faith...that somehow I can change His character. Isn't that ridiculous?... Read More

Then comes this verse. No matter how faithless we are, He cannot deny His own character. He will always be faithful, reliable, sure, trustworthy. It is just Who He is. Period.

What to hold on to?

"You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary. Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love." Revelation 2:3-4

I've been slowly working through Beth Moore's study on the life of John. Last night, I read this passage. She made a point that was absolutely profound, so today I want to share it with you.

The word for "forsaken" here, is the same word translated "forgive" many other places. It is that word that means to let go, abandon, give up, desert, cancel, leave behind. Sometimes it can mean to divorce.

We can do that with the offenses others have committed against us. Or we can actually do it to the offender. We kind of choose.

When others hurt us, Jesus immediately invites us to go deeper with him. The rejection of others is always met with an invitation from Him.

How often, however, do we (as Beth says), "forsake our first love - our indescribably glorious sacred romance - because we refuse to forsake our grudges and grievances. Please allow me to say this with much compassion as one who has been there: We cannot hang on to our sacred romance with Jesus Christ and also our bitterness. We will release one to hang on to the other."

Wow!

This week, my family is once again making the choice. What do we hold on to? The grudges? The people? The intimacy with God?

I've never thought about it quite like this before. So challenging!

The Hot, Lady Cop

I had an adventure tonight. I went shopping with just Hayden and Ian. They both needed uniform pants. On the way, Ian told me how he had popped his blister inside a blister and how it had squirted all over the place and how much better it felt.

We grabbed four pair of pants and after a break-dancing model demo that entertained the Ross staff, we headed towards the checkout line. I couldn't help notice this stunning, thigh-length denim jacket hanging on the end of a row. I tried it on and buttoned all the big brass and navy buttons down the front, tied the belt, and stood admiring the look in the mirror.

"How do I look!" I asked the boys.

"You look like a ho-o-ot lady." swoons Ian

"You look like a cop." chuckles Hayden

"You look like a hot, lady cop!" says Ian

Massive giggling.

Hangs jacket back on end of rack and leaves.

Schwarzenegger, Scandals, and Stupid Phones

I consider myself a fairly techy person. I love new technology. I live on my laptop (well, when it doesn't have the Koobface Worm). I manage three websites, soon to be four, and am employed by another.

HOWEVER, I have decided that my phone is not an area that I enjoy being so high tech. After dropping my phone on the tile for the 13, 329th time, it finally really did need replaced. There were so many nice options that I could get for free or just $20 or so, since I was due an upgrade. I finally settled on a Motorola Rival. It had a full slide out keyboard, for easier texting, a touch screen dial pad, and several other cool features.

I had it for about 3.6 hours before I decided I hated it. But I've always been taught to give things a fair try. So I did. I tried for three weeks. Still hated it. I don't like needing two hands to text. I don't like switching my brain from landscape to portrait when I tilt my phone. I don't like having to slide the keyboard open to tell it what letter in the contact list to look for and then close it and turn it again to actually talk to them once I've dialed. Several times, I have entered my pin to hear my voice mail, then put the phone to my ear. My ear graciously dialed another number on the touch screen and "presto" I have now entered an invalid code.

Example: I received this e-mail this week:

Hi Friends,
Gov. Schwarzenegger is being pressured more from all sides to sign this bill. If signed, SB 572 would pressure every California public school to have an official Harvey Milk Day promoting the homosexual, bisexual, and transsexual agenda to children as young as kindergarten. The sky is the limit on what a school considers suitable commemorative exercises. This is written so broadly, SB 572 could allow gay-pride parades on campus, cross-dressing, and homosexual marriage dramas, etc. It all going to come down to how much pressure California 's governor feels. Remember, last year the Democrat- controlled Legislature passed Harvey Milk Gay Day, but Schwarzenegger vetoed it. This year, Schwarzenegger is being lobbied more heavily by homosexual activists. Sean Penn, who played Harvey Milk on the big screen, and Milk's homosexual activist nephew, have both personally lobbied Schwarzenegger to ask him to sign SB 572. Other differences from last year is that there are four more Democrats in the Assembly voting for Harvey Milk Gay Day. And for the first time, a Republican, Senator Abel Maldonado, is supporting this anti-traditional family value bill.

Make this call, it will only take about 60 seconds to complete.

Call: Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger at 916-445-2841. This is an automated call. Listen to the recorded message and press in the following order:
1 for (English)
2 for (legislation)
1 for (SB572)
2 is (against)

THAT'S IT-HANG UP.

I don't know if I can really help California or not, but I thought, "Why not try?" So I dialed the number, pressed 1 for English, pressed 2 for legislation, pressed 1 for SB572 and put up to my ear, where my ear promptly dialed 1. I VOTED FOR IT!!!!

I really wanted to chuck my phone on the tile that smashed my last one. Really, I did. However, I restrained myself. Instead, I traded a co-worker for a Moto 755 in purple. We are both happier.

Take that!, you stupid phone!! The Rival is no rival to a flip phone for me.

So, I now urge you all to get out your phones and make up for my vote.

....and I also tell you this, so that when years down the road, I vote for public office, and the scandals begin about how in 2009, Angela Gifford voted for SB572, you will already know the full story. Yes, I was a victim of phone vote rape.