Madame Butterfly

So-
Halloween came and went. XiXi wanted to be an azure butterfly and she wanted me to be a butterfly too!

I was on a quest- make a butterfly costume.

Saw a video clip on Martha Stewart.com

it looked SOOOO easy and doable.

Martha Stewart lies.

I spent days trying to figure out how to make the wire work with the panty hose. no luck. the best I could do was make the wings look like dragonflies. maybe. that would be a stretch.

the wings on Martha's video are fake. at least I think so!

anyway- glitter pant, gems, and lots of pretties later (all added by XiXi) we had a costume.

Assessorized with the help of matching black velvet dresses found on Ebay, 2 head bands, 4 pom-poms, and 4 pipe cleaner.

Ross completed the look by being an entymologist (which he made XiXi learn so she could sound smart!).

we were off on the quest for candy!

the wings didn't look THAT bad!

especially in light of the fake ones on martha's site!

REFRESH 2008

So tomorrow-Sunday is REFRESH 2008- InterVarsity's Fall Conference for students in the Baltimore/Western Maryland area.

I'm super pumped about what God will do this weekend.

We have a RECORD 198 students attending! We are maxing out the camp! This is the largest turnout we've ever had- the highest attendance before this being 145.

Our speaker is Michael Koh- a pastor at a church in Pasadena, CA. He is an incredible speaker- he has such incredible spiritual insights and is so in-tune with the Holy Spirit. He spoke at our conference in 2005 and I have never seen so many students respond as powerfully as they did that weekend. Lots of students received prayer and major healing and several students made decisions to follow Jesus that weekend. Powerful stuff!

So- I'm expecting God to do great things this weekend. He is doing a mighty work in this generation of students in our area.

So- if you're the praying type- PLEASE PRAY for this weekend!

we have 47 McDaniel students attending (record number!) including several seekers!

also- please pray for me- I woke up yesterday with my 4th cold this fall (ugh!)! and I'm the MC this weekend (I know- shy little old me- what were they thinking?) and leading a seminar on "Power Packed Prayer- intercessory prayer for your campus".

I will pretty busy and wired all weekend and I need God to strengthen me- otherwise the gig is up with me!

Thanks Guys!
God is GOOD!!!

one more picture

so- for my 4 friends who chimed in with their ideas of where XiXi was sleeping- it was in the linen closet at the end of our hallway-

and yes- it wasn't until I posted the picture that I realized it was once wired- which makes me think the "linen closet on steroids" as my friend, Tami, calls it- was not always a linen closet on steroids.

this last sleeping picture was taken in February- she made a bed in a box.

today she made a bed of pillows on the living room floor and we "took a nap"

oh to be 4.

encore

since I have have at least 5 people following my blog- here is an encore sleeping picture- taken last fall-

can anyone guess where xixi was sleeping?

unusual spot

so- last week xixi was being really quiet in the living room. I started to get nervous- as a good mother should. What could she possibly be getting into?

I went into the family room and couldn't find her- wasn't on either of the sofas asleep, or behind them, or in any of her usual napping spots.

fear and panic levels increased. where is she and what is she doing?

then I thought- look up.

there she was- balanced perfectly on the top of the sofa- sound asleep.

a very unusual spot to take a nap. but hey- whatever works!

ps- yes- for the 3 of you who actually read my blog- this is my 2nd post in less than a week. please try not to panic or die of shock over this!

Double Entendre

Yes- I'm back- don't all of you drop dead of a heart attack over the SHOCK of seeing something next after a 10 week hiatus!

So- here are a few highlights of the last 10 weeks of my life
1) I became an aunt on August 12. Helen Katherine Crader made her debut into the world at 10:52pm weighing in at 7 pounds 2 ounces.
2) I've managed to be sick about 4.5 of the last 11 weeks- yuck!
3) I finally joined the IPod revolution and got an IPod nano for the my birthday (can you guess the color?) complete with the Nike running/walking feature so I can track my pace when I walk with my friend, Amy, who is the bomb diggity of a power walker!
3.5) I turned 39 on September 15- counting down the last days of my 4th decade of life. When did I get so old?
4) I spoke 3 times in 4 weeks at our Wednesday Nite Fellowship Meetings on campus- I was in the SWEET SPOT! LOVED IT!
5) XiXi started ballet and tap and actually likes it (YAY!)
6) Went on an amazing women's retreat last weekend with my church, played all 4 worship sets, had a blast with my roomies and small group and am now super energized!

So- for those of you who are still reading...here's the double entendre of the week....
Conversation in the car on the way home from school:
X: Mom, I really love Jesus and God.
J: That's great! Why do you love Jesus?
X: Cuz I do- I love everyone- Jesus helps me do that.
J: What does Jesus do in your heart?
X: He cleans my heart and puts all of my dirt on him. Then he cleans himself.
J: Can you clean yourself ?(trying to get a bit theological/faith vs works based at this point with her)
X: NO- WE NEED TO TAKE BATHS TO GET CLEAN.

enjoy! hopefully my next post won't be in 10 weeks.

Picture guides:
1) Helen Crader at 3 weeks
2) My freshman Bible Study surprised me with a pink cupcake party during our time weekly time together! They are so great!
3) XiXi - the aspriring jewelry designer (can you guess what her earrings are made out of?)

my wordle

http://wordle.net/gallery/wrdl/87437/julie_blauwkamp
here is my lovely wordle.

I don't know exactly what a wordle is- is it like a girdle- only with words instead of cellulite?


okay- so I must confess that I did not spend countless hours perusing the internet for the latest, coolest thing to post on my blog.

i copied this from my friend Jen's blog.

she gets the kudos for the mindless, countless hours of searching to find this cool program.

and while I'm on the subject of my dear friend, Jen, if you haven't seen her blog- you should. it totally rocks and inspires me onto great things like this! :)

SQUASH the SQUASH!

We've been growing yellow squash in our garden- YUMMY! here's a great recipe for a super yummy, southern-style, squash casserole-

try it and give me your feedback! enjoy! :)
******************************************************

SQUASH CASSEROLE- southern style :)

2 lb squash
1 cup chopped onion (I use vidalia)
4-5 slices of bacon- cooked and crumbled
1.5 cups of sharp cheddar cheese- shredded
2 eggs
1 1/4 -1 1/2 cups of breadcrumbs
salt and pepper to taste
2 Tbsp butter

preheat oven to 350

slice squash into thin slices- place in dutch oven- cover with water- brink to boil, reduce heat, cover and cook for 10 minutes. Drain water

meanwhile- saute onions in butter until tender. Add 3/4 cup of bread crumbs, cheese, eggs, bacon, salt, pepper and squash- mix well

pour into casserole dish or 9x 13 pan

cover with remaining bread crumbs

bake for 45 minutes- until brown and bubbling

enjoy! :)

face painting fun

Last week, I watched my friend Amy's two daughter- Rachel and Chloe- for 2 days while she was helping out at Reality Week.

We had a super fun time together. XiXi especially enjoyed having two more girls around with whom to get into all sorts of mischevious fun!

one of the fun things we did was face painting. XiXi and Chloe were a bit more enthusiastic about the whole ordeal than Rachel was. This was one of the first times I'd tried face painting- good practice!

Here's a sampling...

w

psalm 119:15-16 in action

I caught XiXi doing this the other day...

I've been told (and I humbly say this) that some things are caught and not taught...

when I asked her what she was doing she said, "I'm doing my Bible Study and I'm writing in my journal."

Sleepy Time

I took these pictures of XiXi a few weeks ago- I took about 3 dozen shots and she just slept and slept- completely oblivious...looking like a complete angel!

RIP Simon!

So- as the title indicates- we had to put our beloved Simon to sleep late this afternoon.

as some you know may know- simon was diagnosed with bone cancer back in late january. fortunately the cancer had not spread past his leg so the doctors were able to amputate the leg with the primary aim of alleviating any major pain from the cancer growth and the secondary hope of the cancer not spreading/matasticizing. There has always been a chance that there were some cells that spread and hence a possibility of growth elsewhere.

since the amputation he has not been as active as before- mainly on wood floors and going up and down stairs- otherwise- he was still pretty active and happy. He had fun with xavier and with us.

last week we began to notice a drastic change in simon's behavior. much more reluctance to move around and a decreased interest in eating/drinking. we started giving him some anti-inflmatory medicines in hopes to help with the pain. Monday morning he was yelping to go outside but not wanting to move.

we were suspecting the worse and made an appt. with the vet that morning- thinking this may be the day we have to put him to sleep. We all said our goodbyes and ross and I took him to the vet's office.

the vet looked him over and reported that his back leg was very stiff- it being obvious he is in a lot of pain. she gave us some more pain meds and told us to call her back tomorrow.

Last nite Ross and I were not seeing much change in Simon- he wasn't interested in water or much food and he was having trouble standing to even go to the bathroom- he simply can't support his weight on his back leg. He pees on himself as a result- something I'm sure he is not happy with. He just wants to sit down as quickly as possible. It is obvious he is in a lot of pain. Ross and I decided if we did not see a drastic improvement by this morning (tuesday) we were going to go ahead and have him put to sleep today.

i spoke with the vet this morning and gave her the update. She agreed with us that simon's comfort and quality of life were the most important things to consider and that it seems like this is the best decision for simon.

We put Simon to sleep late this afternoon. As God does have impecable timing and a sense of humor- he went peacefully to sleep during a loud and violent thunderstorm outside. He hated thunderstorms!

He had a loving, happy last day. We went to Burger King and got him 5 cheeseburgers this afternoon- which he seemed to enjoy. We groomed him all pretty and I took a lot of pictures. He had 4 pieces of cheese to eat at the vets office. He was a full, happy dog!

needless to say-we are deeply sad and grieving. Simon was our last remnant from our time together in Illinois- an era in our lives has ended. we are grateful for the 10 years we've had with simon and that we now have xavier to keep us company. there are a lot of things I will miss about simon...his head butts to get us to pet him, his glomming all over us, the way he ran circles around our backyard in IL to the point where we had to re-seed the yard twice, the way he would bark when you would say, "daddy!", his ability to catch treats/snowballs/balls in midair- sometimes jumping up to 2 feet!

xixi is aware simon was not well and needed to go to heaven in order to not be so sick as best as a 4 year old can comprehend. We expect a lot of question in the days to come as she processes all of this.

RIP Bubby! You were deeply loved!
Simon- 4.15.97-6.10.08

pictures speak > words

so-
here are some pictures of my beloved students and me at our week at chapter camp.

chapter camp= week at beautiful Lake Champion (Young Life site) where we spend 7+ hours/day intensely studying scripture (mark or genesis).

the other 14 hours- well- the pictures speak for themselves.

I should make the contextual note that it did not get above 65 all week and it was very windy.

I love these guys.

they are my kind of crazy! :)

Elephants!

So- we went to the circus last nite- all day long XiXi talked and talked about riding the elephants! couldn't wait.

we arrived and walked up to the elephants.

"no mommy- maybe later!"

intermission comes.

"maybe"

so we walk up to the elephant- I give the guys $10. we start climbing the steps to get on.

crying. major protests.

being the loving and supportive mom that I am, I put XiXi on the elephant and proceed into Cheerleader Mom mode. I want to ride the elephant- haven't ridden one since I was 4!

half way around the cirle- tears stop.

get off.

go back to Ross "that was okay mom"

after the circus to my folks on the phone "I rode and elephant. at first I was scared but it was SUPER FUN"

oh to be 4!

I wonder if this is what I was like when my mom plopped my and my 2 sisters on one!

I was tagged by my good friend Amy in this question game, so here it goes:

1. The rules of the game get posted at the beginning.
2. Each player answers the questions about themselves.
3. At the end of the post, the player then tags five people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know they've been tagged and asking them to read the player's blog.
4. Let the person who tagged you know when you've posted your answer.

What were you doing 5 years ago?

1. Starting Weight Watchers
2. Working for InterVarsity @ Johns Hopkins
3. Co-facilitating a covenant group with Ross at our church
4. Taking conga lessons
5. getting ready to participate in a great week of prayer ministry training

What are 5 things on your to-do list today (not in any particular order)?

1. Finish putting mulch on all of my beds in the yard
2. finish decorating the hall bathroom
3. finish decorating xixi's room
4. start planning for next year's ministry calendar
5. finalize summer activity schedule for everyone

What are 5 snacks you enjoy?

1. hummus and pretzels
2. fruit- watermelon, strawberries, and berries
3. anything chocolate
4. kettle corn
5. guacamole and chips

What 5 things would you do if you were a billionaire?

1. Help in major ways to help end the AIDS and other world health crisis
2. Pay off my house and put away money for my kid's college education
3. adopt 3 more kids instead of just one.
4. Set up a living trust so that I may be able to significantly support the ministries of my local Church, Lifepoint, and other people in fulltime mission work
5. make sure my extended family was provided for financially

What are 5 of your bad habits?

1. biting my nails
2. not finishing big projects that I get excited to start
3. too much time of facebook!
4. nervous graze eating
5. freaking out about people being mad at me for no apparent reason!

What are 5 jobs you have had?

1. Head of waterfront activities at a summer camp
2. Education coordinate at a psychiatric wildnerness camp for girls with severe emotional problems
3. Special Education Teacher
4. Marketing Director for an academic publishing company
5. Campus Staff Worker- InterVarsity Christian Fellowship

What are 5 places you have lived?

1. Clemson, SC
2. Anderson, SC
3. Champaign-Urbana, IL
4. Baltimore, MD
5. Westminster, MD

Everyone has been tagged or tagged me- I'm late in the game on this!

from fear to faith...

that's the title of the women's conference I'm speaking at this weekend...at my former church in Baltimore

www.fcfchurch.org

yes- you read that correctly- I am the featured speaker at a women's conference!

pretty scary!

this is my first whole weekend speaking event- I've done a oodles of talks at various IV large group gatherings, taught hundreds of Bible studies, coordinated and lead dozens of Sunday school classes..

but this is my FIRST full out retreat!

so- 3 days- 4 talks

I've been marinating in the passage, praying, writing, re-writing, editing, listening to God, practicing, praying some-I mean ALOT more, working on the creative elements...

and today's the day!

my friend, Amy Burch will be traveling with me to be my "rock" of support! I'm so grateful she will be there!

so- here are my talks...I'm looking at 4 passages from Mark 4:35-5:43
Friday Nite: The Perfect Storm (the storm at sea - Mark 4:35-4:41)
Saturday Morning: Telling your WHOLE story (the bleeding woman - Mark 5:35-34)
Saturday Nite: Don't be Afraid (Jairus and his dying daughter in Mark 5:21-43)
Sunday Morning: Rescue (the Gerasenes Demoniac in Mark 5:1-20)

I covet your prayers...I'm excited

party trivia....

here are some tidbits for those of you who are curious... (my 3 readers out there!)

1) my AMAZING MOM made all of the poodle skirts for the girls...custom sized and all!
2) she made matching bandanas for the dogs
3) there were NO icing, pizza or rubber stamp stains on the WHITE carpet after the party- AMAZING!
4) Xavier has yet to eat any of the presents XiXi received that day.

more party fotos!

XiXi's Poodle Party

only a few words...the rest I think are captured by the fotos...these are some of the best of the 300 that were taken between 2 cameras today...


PINK
POODLES
FUN!