RUNNING WEEK 3

Running selfies!  I can't believe that I made it to week 3!  It's hard.  But I can do hard things!  It helps that I have some GREAT running buddies who encourage and help me: Amy Bettenhausen, Key Lime Pie and Kotten Kandy!
I'm not a great selfie taker... but I thought these turned out OK.  And I figured I needed to take a couple of pictures to prove that I'm a runner:

BTW I'm the one wearing black socks!

I LOVE READING....

I just finished reading two great books.  But they are polar opposites.  Here are my reviews:

It IS About Islam by Glenn Beck was very informative.  This book begins with an overview of Islam in the historical context and then proceeds to dismantle 13 key lies that have been said over and over and over again by propaganda, the media and our government.  The lies are proven as lies using quotes from the Quran and leaders of the Islamists.  It is crucial that we are aware of the danger that Islamism poses to us as a society.  This book is a wake up call to Americans.  It faces the issues head on.  If anyone is paying attention, they should read this book.

Do not fear the bad guys.  Learn from them.  That's the premise in Dennis Gaunt's new book, Bad Guys of the Bible.  We read Bad Guys of the Book of Mormon a few years ago as a family and LOVED it!  I was so excited when this book came out.
One of the things I love about this book is the humor that Gaunt has - even when dealing with such serious subjects.  He knows how to keep the old Bible stories refreshing and relevant to today.
This book jumps right in starting with the beginning of the Bible and the original bad guy: Satan.  Gaunt says, "It's essential that we learn to spot his tricks and traps early so we can avoid them."  Gaunt also discusses Cain, Nimrod, Sodom and Gommorrah, Pharoah, Mrs. Potiphar, Goliath, and tons of others.  It's such a great book, that I think I'll read it again... After I re-read Bad Guys of the Book of Mormon again.

ARE YOU READY FOR SOME FOOTBALL?

The rallying cry for the NFL:  "Are you ready for some football?"  And our answer?  YES!  We were sooooo lucky to get to go to a professional football game last night: The New York Jets vs. The Indiana Colts.  Of course, being DeGooyers, we are HUGE Jets fans (even though this is only our 2nd time to go to a game - the first time the girls were 5 and 4 years old!)  Lollipop has declared the Jets her favorite football team too!  (See, she fits right in!)  And what was even more fun was that the Jets won last night: 20-7!  We had so much fun cheering them on!  It's exciting to be a part of the game.  And the Colts fans were mostly nice to us even though we were definitely in the minority.

Key Lime Pie looks so pretty in green!

Lollipop showing her loyalties with a Jets scarf!

Kotten Kandy is a fan through and through!

Before the game we loved seeing the blow-up Colts

player... and the band was cool too!

Eating dinner in the stadium minutes before the game begins!

Scott and I were there too!  See?!

This flag was AWESOME!  It covered the ENTIRE field!

Cheering: "J-E-T-S!  Jets!  Jets!  Jets!"

We got Chris to be in a photo with us!  Yeah!

He joined us on our adventure.

This is right after the game...

We are number 1!

Here is the skyline of Indianapolis 

- and the three prettiest girls at the game!

(They were definitely much prettier than the cheerleaders!)

COLLEGE DREAMS WITH TEENAGERS & RUNNING & THE TULIP RESISTANCE

The girls came back from the College Fair totally pumped and ready for future education!  It was funny to listen to them talk about colleges and what they were looking for in a school.  It was also sobering.  It's kinda sad to see them all growing up.  Apparently, some of the cute college boys even flirted with the trio... but they were too smart for that.  They are all looking forward to degrees in Business Management, International Business Relations, and Creative Writing.  What smart girls we have!

Lollipop after the fair....

Kotten Kandy laughing cuz she's only a sophomore!

Key Lime Pie and Lollipop got matching UK hoodies!

Guess what?!  I'm a runner now.  I started Couch to 5K (C25K) last week.  My daughters got me great shoes for my birthday and last year, Key Lime Pie got me a cool health watch that tells me my distance, speed, etc.  I actually am still alive today... although sore most of the week.

I just finished reading The Tulip Resistance by Lynne Leatham Allen.  I have read a lot of books about WWII in Germany so when I saw that this book was based in Holland (and DeGooyer is a Dutch name) I was really intrigued.

This book is the story of a Dutch girl, Marieka Cordoven, who lives with her parents and brother on a farm.  Marieka finds a wounded German soldier who is a deserter and does not want to fight for Hitler.  She decides to help him.  Her family also helps a few Jews hide from the Nazis and also a couple of British spies.

Honestly, although I liked the premise, I didn't care for the book.  I didn't really like the style of writing and I didn't think the author had a great grasp on how to write about war time and horrible atrocities of war.  It's not a bad book.  I just didn't care for it.

GIRLS x4

Reeces, Kotten Kandy, Lollipop and Key Lime Pie

Scott and I always wanted four children!  Yesterday and most of today we got our wish!  And we LOVED it!  We had four beautiful daughters!  Two from Germany and two from America!
First we went walking for about 2 miles.
Then the girls spent most of the day shopping for Homecoming dresses. They plan on going to Oldham County High School's Homecoming dance together next month.
After they had been shopping for over 4 hours, Reeces and Lollipop made us a really yummy German dish called Pfannkuchen.  It's like homemade tortillas with veggies and cream cheese and different seasonings.  Delicious!

My German Daughters making a dish I can't pronounce!

Reeces flipping the "tortillas."

Lollipop cutting up the vegetables.

Pfannkuchen - if you can pronounce this,

you are doing WAY better than me!

Then the girls went to see Mission Impossible.
Taking pictures before Church was one of my favorite things to do!  The girls looked so beautiful!  I told everyone that they ALL belonged to me!  I love raising daughters!

Four Beautiful Girls!

WATERCOLOR CLASS

We decided to take a watercolor painting class tonight as a family.  We learned about different kinds of paper, brushes, and a few techniques.  It was really fun!  And these girls are SUPER talented!  Check out these beautiful girls and their skills:

Hard at work...

A masterpiece in the making....

Brushing colors together -  blending!

Kotten Kandy LOVES the color green!

Key Lime Pie signed her masterpiece:  A Study of Snow

Lollipop is naturally talented!  I love the shading of her apples!

"I'm not finished yet"

All of the beautiful works of art completed.

We learned a lot and had a GREAT time!

ANOTHER PLEASANT LABOR DAY!

We had a really fun Labor Day!  I love having my whole family home and spending time with them....  And that's what we did!
We started off with a 3 mile walk.  The girls lead the way!  It was hot at the end... but we felt better about getting some exercise!

Then we decided to go see Inside Out at the theater - again.  We LOVE this movie!  I've seen it 4 times now.  (Key Lime Pie has seen it 5 times.)  And I've cried every time.  It's such a classic.  Lollipop loved it too - and cried also!  We're so glad it came back to the theater so we could take Lollipop and enjoy an air-conditioned, big-screen movie with movie theater popcorn!

We spent the evening BBQing and playing Loaded Questions with the Bettenhausens and the Thorntons.  We laughed and ate too much!  But we sure love our "adopted" family!  Scott and Lollipop got to meet Raisin for the first time!  They loved her!

Another Labor Day in the books.  Guess it's back to "real life" today....

AMERICA'S FAVORITE PASS TIME

Lollipop and Kotten Kandy

Key Lime Pie and Scott

Scott took the girls to the Bats baseball game last night.  They had a BLAST!!!!  They got free hats, gourmet hot-dogs and were even featured on the Bats billboard.  (Which they all cheered for as their photo graced the scene!)  All four came home happy and elated!

Before the game....

Key Lime Pie, Kotten Kandy and Lollipop

Here is the FAMOUS billboard 

with the "famous" picture!

Macaroni and Cheese on hot dogs?
Scott got sourcrout and pork on his....

They also got Sweet Frog (frozen yogurt) after the game!  Mmmmm!

Sweet Frog is our FAVORITE!!!  YUM!!!

The most gorgeous girls in the world - or at least at the ball game!