Really, Really Random Ramblings

I just got back from a wonderful couple of days in Colorado Springs for our annual church convention. It's something I do every summer, and I enjoy it so much. I see old friends, I hear wonderful messages, I stay in a nice hotel room, eat out, and the business parts of the meetings are okay, too.

Summer is flying by! School starts in less than 4 weeks - much earlier than in any other year. Feisty will be in kindergarten - hard to believe!

This will be a long post full of pictures - it's catch-up time for me, since I haven't written and posted much recently. Thanks for all the fun comments on the FedEx/NKOTB story. Following are some pictures of the event.

The "kids" brought their own kids out for the final number. Cute!

I'm going back to the 4th of July, believe it or not. Remember the trip to the prairie? When we got back that afternoon, we went out to dinner with DC's mom, sister, and BIL. We had a wonderful time together, but as we were eating, a sudden downpour appeared. We wondered what would happen to the fire works. Before we even got home, there was already a beautiful rainbow over the lake, appearing to land in our neighborhood park.




While we sat in the park waiting for the fire works display, I enjoyed experimenting with my camera's settings to capture God's beautiful display.

Feisty, who had been looking forward to this holiday for many days turned out to be afraid of the loud booms. But the babies thoroughly enjoyed it.




I love the juxtaposition of the moon and the fire works.

I mentioned in a post recently that Care Bear lost her first two teeth. My dear blog friend, Needled Mom, sent her and Feisty these adorable Tooth Fairy pillows. Thank you so much! You are SO talented!

Then I had to take pictures of each tooth!

The other day Kristen found a tub full of clothes in her basement, many which fit the twins. We don't know where these clothes came from, but it's fun to have such a discovery. We'd love to know who created this adorable dress - it looks so simple, but I wouldn't know where to begin. All of you crocheters out there, what do you think??

One recent day, DC was trimming some branches off one of our very large trees in the front yard. He was on a tall ladder, using his chain saw. The girls were watching from the porch swing, when suddenly, somehow, the ladder gave way and he fell to the ground - with the trimmer still running! There are so many miracles involved in this situation that I can hardly even imagine that he wasn't seriously injured. Care Bear immediately ran in and captured the situation on paper. If you click on the pictures, you can see her thanking God for His protection of her grandpa!

We've had such a beautiful summer so far, with lots of moisture keeping things green and lush, and with no horrendous heat yet. The thunder clouds to the east have been massive. On a bike ride one evening, I captured the sky in many different scenarios.

When we got home, we felt like we were going into a Thomas Kincaid painting. Our house looked so cozy and inviting.

Jungle Mom has a great feature on her blog where she captures "Things I See" around her home in Paraguay. I spotted a couple of interesting things that I thought I'd share in a similar vein.

There are many kinds of people - those who are proud of their yards and keep them in immaculate condition, with great flowers and bushes neatly taken care of.

There are those who do just enough to keep the grass cut.

There are those who do nothing with their yards and make the neighborhood look tacky.

And there are those who do very strange things to "decorate." This guy falls into this last category. I have watched his yard deteriorate for years, but this latest scenario has me totally puzzled. For some reason he seems to think that children's toys and/or trikes and bikes are decorative. And he has so much growth in his front yard that you can't even see the house. I have never actually seen a person, but we're assuming it's a "him."

I was riding my bike past this house when I did a double take. Don't get me wrong - I think the flower garden is lovely. But as I looked closer, I realized for some reason they are using china plates as a border. I would love to know where the idea came from. Has anybody seen anything like this before?

Well, if you've made it this far, Congratulations! I now feel kind of caught up. I'll be back soon with a celebration of my dear DC's birthday.

I Have a New Hero

So what in the world does this . . .

have to do with this ???



Let me start at the beginning.

Kristen was 13 or 14 years old. She suddenly, overnight, turned into a teen. The New Kids on the Block hit the scene and she was totally infatuated, especially with Jordan. Her walls were covered with pictures of the boys. She had plans to name her first child Jordan, whether it was a girl or a boy.

I actually liked their music - they had a good sound - decent lyrics, nice harmony. When they came to Denver, I took Kristen and her best friend to the concert. We even stayed in a very nice hotel room - the same hotel where the boys were staying. They spent some time trying to find the floor they were on. Of course, they did not succeed.

Since they didn't have driver's licenses yet, I took them to Fiddler's Green, where the event was happening, went back to the hotel room, waited the whole long evening, then went back to pick them up. We almost didn't connect - some scary moments ensued. But we were finally back together and they were very, very excited with the whole experience.

Naturally, the girls had all made posters to hold up, sending out their affection for whichever "kid" they loved the most. As a matter of fact, Kristen ended up on the news that night, riding high on another friend's shoulders. I tried to get a video of the broadcast, but the $200 price tag was a tad steep for me!

I found this picture of her favorite t-shirt. We still have a very large box full of her memorabilia in our basement.

So, I know you're asking, what does all of this have to do with FedEx and superheroes??

Last week-end when Kristen went to Denver to visit this same best friend from high school (with whom she has recently reconnected because of Facebook), she learned that her friend had ordered tickets to tonight's concert of the not-so-new, no- longer-Kids tour, which was back at the same venue - Fiddler's Green. She not only ordered them for herself and Kristen, but for both Care Bear and Feisty. They have become quite enamored of the "boys", since Mommy has been telling them all of her stories.

So -- last week-end, while Kristen was still visiting her friend, they went shopping to try to find t-shirts to wear to the concert. No luck whatsoever. I decided to check the internet to see what was out there. I found plenty of sources, but everything was $30 and up. But then I came across a clearance sale and found shirts for $5.00. They were left over from their 2008 tour, but who cares?? Right?? For $5.00?? Turns out it cost more to have them shipped than it did to buy them. But it was worth it.

I asked for the two-day delivery. As I tracked it, I found that it would arrive by 4:30 this afternoon. Problem is - they needed to leave by 3:00 or 3:30. I e-mailed FedEx customer service to see if it was possible to get it delivered before 3:00. They said it was not possible to guarantee it would be earlier than 4:30, but it would not be any later.

Our little prayer warrior, Feisty, asked Jesus to make it happen.

Today, I decided to take it a step further. I actually called the 800 number and got a real live person on the line. I asked her if it was possible to schedule the delivery by 3:00.

I actually had a person with a heart on the line. She said she couldn't guarantee anything, but that she'd call the driver who had our package to see what could be done. She took our phone number and promised to get back to us.

She called not once, but twice - the first time to say she was still working on it, and the second time to say it would be arriving in the next 30 minutes. We were eating lunch on the picnic table and the girls got so excited. We all got the giggles. We decided to sit on the front swing, read some library books, and watch for the big white truck.

TEN MINUTES LATER - I heard the unmistakable sound of a truck turning into our cul de sac. It was them. The boys in blue had arrived! Our heroes!!

I asked them if they minded posing for a picture with the very happy girls. They were so gracious. I told them I'd be spreading the word about their extraordinary customer service!! So that's what I'm doing.




The package had a special marking on it -

There was a bit of discussion as to who got the black one and who got the white - they were the same size. I probably should have ordered the same for both, since they are extremely competitive about EVERYTHING. But they resolved it amicably and were happy with their choices. Mommy's shirt matched Feisty's, and her friend's matched Care Bear's.

We all gripe and complain about the lack of customer service in this world, so I wanted to let everyone know about this extraordinary happening.

It's now 9:45 p.m. and I'm dying to know how it's going. I'll have to give you an update soon!