Hello to Mike, brother of Smurf and CheesePuff.  Are you reading this voluntarily, or did your sisters have to alert you?

My pool is cloudy, and no one seems to know why. We’ve done all the chemical level checks and this and that, but it remains cloudy!  I like my pool to be clear and tidy.  It’s not. Boo.

TGD has been overwhelmed at work, and life isn’t getting any slower for him.  If God brings him to mind, could you pray that he would be caught up with his work and find time for relaxing? 

My broken toe is healing slowly.  I still wear the velcro foot thing–my denim sandal–and I feel that it helps. It’s been 3.5 weeks, and I walk most times without a limp.  Of course, I whacked the pinky toe on that foot tonight into the door, but that’s just typical.

I’d like to paint my bedroom and the entry way/stairway. I just need to figure out what colors to use. So, with only a few weeks of summer left, what big plans do you still have or hope to get done?

Enough with the big font. I just couldn’t take looking at it anymore!  The talks went well, although it was awkward for me to use a computer in the middle of a talk. I’m used to just lecturing–no power point or anything–so I was stepping out to sign up for a new Xanga account in the middle of a talk.  (No, I don’t have a new account; it was just to show people how to do it.) 

I really do enjoy public speaking.  I’d be glad to come and speak to your homeschool group! Just send me an email! 

Mary Bressler of Curwensville, PA

For those of you who came here expecting a real entry, I’ll be glad to oblige this weekend, once all the excitement has died down.

But, for those of you who can’t wait, the Ulmers went home after a wonderful visit.  Nathan and I are driving to Carlisle with several other homeschoolers to go to the PA Homeschoolers conference where I’m giving two talks.  One is on blogging, and the other is on setting up an online co-op.  All is well, other than that, except maybe for the fact I seem to be losing my voice, even though I’m not sick. Go figure.

Here are two photos of that intrepid bird.

Later in the day, three of the kids rode in the Curwensville Days Parade with my mom who was the Citizen of the Year.  It was their first parade, and they had a great time tossing candy to the crowd.

When the parade was finished, we all headed out to the park for an evening of BPW (Business and Professional Women, a group to which my mom belongs) Bingo and feasting.  Michael won $10; Libby, $6.50; and David, $6.50.  James was a money runner, and I got to call the numbers.  Bee nine..Oh forty-four…  Funnel cakes, cotton candy, meatball subs, and more graced our table as well.

After the excitement ended, we headed for home at 11:20, a tired crew.

Speaking of crew, the whole family went to see Pirates of the Caribbean on Friday night (except Rachel, who stayed with Papa John and happily watched a Franklin the Turtle movie).  It was a lot of fun, and I liked it, although I heard negative reviews from others.  Yes, it really leaves you hanging, but it was good fun while it lasted.  You should have seen the number of jumbo popcorns we consumed!

These are the questions I’ve been pondering lately, and I don’t think it’s just because we have a lot of people in the house. Sure, that contributes to it, but I think there is more going on.  We have a habit of laziness.  Get out the butter and knife?   Leave it there with a glob of butter on the counter.  Play a game? Leave all the pieces everywhere and all the games you pulled out of the cabinet to get the one you wanted.  Shower?  Leave the towel and dirty clothes on the floor–any floor.

Charlotte Mason (an educator from the 1800s) had some wonderful things to say about the formation of habit and how we need to instill good habits in our kids.  Of course, we all know this, but a habit of orderliness and attentiveness and initiative aren’t “habits” I usually consider.  But, I must! 

On a less whiney note, I’ve got a stomp-around, Velcro foot cast-thing.  It’s like a shoe with an open toe and a very rigid sole.  I think it is helping my now-x-rayed-and-definitely-broken toe. But, two different doctors told me that broken toes can take up to three months to heal. THREE MONTHS!  (Uh, guess I’m getting whiney again. Must stop.)

Tomorrow, the whole family drives to Clearfield to the cheaper tickets, cheap snacks movie theater to watch Pirates of the Caribbean.  The kids’ excitement is contagious, especially since the hunter keeps blaring the soundtrack from the first Pirates movie all the time. I bought a Jack Sparrow jigsaw puzzle which was the occupation of the day. Even though we’ve heard the movie has a lot of loose ends and isn’t as good as the first, it’s still going to be a fun time.

I’ve been reading through Philemon lately.  Yes, I know the book can be read in about two minutes, but I’ve been really pondering the meaning of the verses. For example, in verse six, Paul says that he prays “that the fellowship of your faith may become effective through the knowledge of every good thing which is in you for Christ’s sake.” What does this mean, exactly?  Other translations say “that the sharing of your faith” or “telling others of your faith.”  Is that truly what “fellowship of your faith” means? To witness?  Anyhow, tiny Philemon has a lot of food for thought for me. 

I’m feeling brief, and since there’s been such a while since I updated, I’ll just make a list.

1.  We just got back from a wonderful time of camping. The weather was in the mid-70s and perfect!  We rented a pontoon boat and cruised around Glendale Lake. Of course, I had delayed-reaction seasickness and felt like I was still on the boat for hours afterward.

2.  I broke several toes. Yes, Mrs. Grace N. Poise did it again. This time, it was late Wednesday night and I flicked off the light to go upstairs to bed.  WHACK!  My left foot made significant contact with the huge Rubbermaid of towels, etc. waiting to go camping.  Ow and owie, ow, ow!  I have some impressive bruises, and I’m still limping.

3. My mom won the Service Above Self Award.  This used to be called the Rotary Citizen of the Year. It’s given to the person in Curwensville who knocks himself or herself out serving others in all sorts of ways (for years, not just for that one year).  However, for the first time ever, the recipient was not at the award ceremony. She’s off at the beach with a friend!

4. Rachel learned to ride her bike without training wheels.  We’ve had the training wheels off three different times, but this time it is for real! It was just perfect at camp because we had the road to the bath house right next to our tent site, a wonderful place to practice. 

It turns out that a Catholic priest named Demetrius Augustine Gallitzin founded the town of Loretto, PA, in 1799. It became the first English-speaking, Roman Catholic settlement west of the Alleghenies.  He spent a lot of his own fortune in establishing the town, leaving him in debt, which kept him from becoming promoted later.  The prince part of his name comes from the fact that he was born into the Russian princely family line, the Gallitzins. He is not a saint, but is on the track to sainthood as of June 6, 2005.   So, there you go.

We had a great picnic today at my mom’s.  It was relaxing and fun.  We played pinochle and Balderdash, had a birthday party for PapaJohn, and I got to visit my Grandma Bressler in the hospital. She seemed quite good, but as the visit went on, she got rather tired and a bit forgetful.  But, then again, I get muddled when I’m tired, too!  After that, we went to Jordan’s game, the Tri-County All-Star playoffs, which they won. 

Here’s what David drew for Papa John’s birthday present.  (The pinkish glare is due to the picture frame’s reflection. Ignore it, please.)

And here’s the real dog, Molly.  Pretty good likeness, eh?

Poor TGD is hard at work grading exams.  He had to drive to and from Kentucky (10 plus hours each way) and then gets to sit all evening and grade. Bummer and double bummer. 

As to that Kentucky trip for the International BB Gun Competition, there was good news!  Nathan took third place in the nation with a score of 480/500 and first place in the sitting category (one of four shooting positions) with a score of 99/100 with nine dead-center bullseyes (also called “X-es”).  He also got a perfect score on his written test as well.  We were rather tickled. 

So, what did you do to celebrate Independence Day?

Could you please add my Grandma Bressler to your prayers? She was in rehablilitation for a shoulder injury when she fell on Thursday, breaking her hip.  She had surgery yesterday, and it was wonderful news–everything went better than expected considering her fragile bones.  How quickly good news can become bad. They’ve discovered a number of blood clots in her lungs and aren’t sure of the best way to treat them due to other health problems she has. 

My grandma is one of those wonderful, hard-working people, but to the best of my knowlege,she isn’t a Christian.

Pray for healing and also for my grandpa (Pap Bressler) as he goes through this with her.