posted by Julie Walton Shaver at 10:17 am
To help generate interest in my blog and reward my regular readers (who quite often forward my slide shows to people who then end up booking me! Woo hoo!), I thought I’d start a fun quiz contest! I’ll come up with the questions and Bradley and Gregory have agreed to serve as lifelines for you. Prizes will be in the form of a gift certificate for an online store, like Amazon or iTunes, and the questions will come from anything I can think of that won’t be so easily Googled.
The answers can, however, usually be found in my
archive quotes and thoughts if you are a resourceful searcher! So, if you like contests and winning things, bookmark the blog, link in your friends, and check in often!
Here’s the first quiz. The first person to answer correctly via a blog comment wins a $10 gift certificate for Amazon delivered via e-mail.
(Kathryn and immediate family members are not eligible, you cheaters!)
What did Gregory do when he was 2
that earned him the nickname, “Big Cricket”?Bradley and Gregory will serve as lifelines, so if you need help, post a comment and maybe one of them will help you via the blog! But, no asking at school, and you must be 18 to win. (Gabriel, I know you’re reading this, so if you want to win, you’ll need to get your mom to post the answer!)
The contest is open to everyone (exceptions noted already). You don’t have to be a client of mine to win! Good luck!
posted by Julie Walton Shaver at 6:17 am
Gregory is a typical 6-year-old boy. Though he’s been told a thousand times, he almost always wipes his hands on his shirt, on his pants, or on the chair, while eating just about anything. Chicken nuggets: on the shirt. Biscuits: on the shirt. Hot dogs, grilled cheese, apple sauce: on the shirt. Still, he knows “the look” he gets from me and once he sees it, he reaches for his napkin and apologizes with a sincere whine. “I’m sorry, mommy,” he’ll say. “It’s just that I forget!”
The other night at the dinner table, Gregory got “the look” several times. (Spaghetti. Ouch!) He was getting frustrated. Frustrated with his failure to remember. Frustrated with the rules. Probably more of that second thing than the first.
“Dad,” he said, “what did they use before napkins?”
Mike thought for a second, I’m assuming visions of cavemen in his head. “Their arm,” he said.
With no hint of hesitation, Gregory threw his hands in the air, shouting, “YAY!!!!!!”
I have not seen my son so happy since the day he figured out how to add wheels on Legos.
posted by Julie Walton Shaver at 8:43 am
Lost two more
arborvitae this winter, and not only that, but my
Tree Grower’s Diary Web site was dead all last week. Little problem with the host not receiving the check I sent, and they never responded to my online customer service ticket, so anyway, after more than an hour on the phone this morning, all seems to be up and well again. Well, except there ain’t nothing that’s going to bring those dead arborvitae back. I need a new screen tree! Help!
posted by Julie Walton Shaver at 11:41 am
On this day last year, I got some really nice pictures of my dogwood blossoming. It was a series leading up to Easter in which I was hoping the tree would blossom in time for the holiday. (It did.) The 2006 series is documented on my Tree Grower’s Diary. Unfortunately the diary Web site is down right now.
Note to self: don’t forget to pay bills tomorrow. *A-hem*
I can’t remember the date of Easter last year, but there’s no doubt the dogwood tree has at least two weeks before it hits full blossom this year.
I can’t get the Diary back up until tomorrow, but I did manage the Easter basket thing, egg hunt and all, finally.
As of the 9 a.m. church service, I still hadn’t made the purchases for the basket contents. 
But, finally, we pulled it together and had the hunt. It’s such a raw day (it snowed earlier), the hide and seek was quick.
I was thinking that if I made the picture black and white it would’t be so obvious that my yard is mess of brown leaves which I never raked last fall.
And then there’s the little hideout Bradley, Kathryn and Gabe built behind the shed. I’m sure my neighbors just LOVE the blue plastic tarp. What do you suppose the kids do in there? No, nevermind. I don’t want to know.
Bradley is a big fan of M*A*S*H these days. Can you tell?
Bradley is, of course, “beyond” egg hunts. He just does it for the chocolate. Once he emptied out all his eggs, I told him I’d trade him kisses for his Mr. Goodbars. “Ok, you owe me four kisses,” he said. He got four kisses on the cheek. I got a nasty stare.
Little candy wrappers all over the house, including atop the pile of newspapers. Interesting accidental art here. The pope and chocolate on Easter Sunday. Hmmm.
Note to self: don’t leave the candy wrappers all over the house until fall.
posted by Julie Walton Shaver at 4:42 pm
The youth group at my church held a 30-hour famine last weekend.
The program emphasized the problem of hunger throughout the world, especially in under-developed countries.
The church lawn was planted with 1,200 crosses donated by members of the community as a fundraiser for World Vision and local assistance. The crosses represent the number of people who die every hour from starvation. Between the crosses and sponsorships, the youth raised over $9,000 so far!
Cars were slowing down all day and people asking questions about what the youth were doing. It was a great way to spark conversation.
One of the activities was to collect food for the church’s food pantry…
…and to spend the day preparing the dinner they would eat that night. It took all day to make the stone soup, salad, and rolls from scratch. And torture, too, considering the fantastic smells of the food cooking, and the fact that we hadn’t eaten anything since lunch the day before.
By late Saturday, everything tasted SO GOOD!
I did not hear anyone complain about being hungry.
Not once.
By the end of the day, the pantry was full to the brim, just in time for assembling the Easter food baskets!
You all should be proud of the sacrifices of time, tears and treasure you gave this weekend!
To view the slide show, you will need a password. Post a comment below and I’ll e-mail it to you!
The church is still accepting donations. If you’d like to contribute, send a check marked “30-Hour Famine” to the First Presbyterian Church office, 270 Woodbridge Ave, Metuchen, NJ 08840.
posted by Julie Walton Shaver at 2:12 pm
Mom’s Diet
Last sliver of cake
But moms will never eat it
Save for growing hands.Leah and I became instant friends when we met. Not surprising considering how much we have in common. Unfortunately all that came to an end when
she wrote in her blog that I had to write haiku. (The members of my writers group will attest to my unwillingness to follow writing rules.)
Normally, the way this meme thing works is that a blogger tags me with a list of questions I’m supposed to answer in my blog, and then I’m supposed to tag three other bloggers with lists of questions, and on and on. At the risk of serious bad karma, I can’t think of anyone who wouldn’t hunt me down and stuff a gas-soaked rag down my throat for making them write haiku, except maybe the members of the Writers of Metuchen, none of whom are bloggers that I know of except Leah and me. Leah, I’m STUCK! So if you’re a blogger and you want to save my karma, feel free to haiku!
A flighty poet
am I! Haiku drives me nuts!
But I’m game — I’ll try.
Holy Week by our Front Door
Lazarus the dove
waits alone on two small eggs
sign of life renewed.
Leah, you not only got haiku; you got illustrated haiku!
(Marcia, Maddie, Jan, the two Donnas, Joni, Jackie, Mickey and Jennifer: maybe you can get me off the karma hook by posting a haiku comment? All things are possible in haiku, right?)
posted by Julie Walton Shaver at 2:35 pm
It happened during the Scripture reading: “…every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord…” POW, all the lights went out in the Sanctuary.
There was nervous laughter, several men went to check things out, and Pastor Sam went on with the reading, then prayed thanking God for pulpit candles. Just as he was beginning the sermon, Frank came back in and announced that there was a fire in the basement. All those years of fire drills paid off because the church, packed for Palm Sunday, cleared out calmy and quickly. Most people were concerned about the things they’d left inside: car keys, purses, music folders, that sort of thing, but me? First I noted that Mike, Bradley and Gregory were safe, then I remembered that my camera was in the car and my car keys were locked in the choir room. So, no pictures of the fire trucks and all the people standing around outside.
After a while the all clear was given. Soon my camera was wrapped around my neck and since church got out so early, Bradley, Gregory, Gabe and I went to see the Lexi cat…
…palm in tow.
I think she liked the palm leaf.
I think she liked the company too.
And of course, the boys were loving her soft fur and sweet purring…
…and she was loving her treats.Don’t worry, Matt and Elisa, even though the power went out at your house too, there was no sign of fire. Enjoy Europe and bring us back some Spanish palms!
Oh, and P.S. that whole fire-at-church story? NOT an April Fool’s joke.
Oh, and one more thing: the fact that my boys were dressed in the same shirt for church was a COMPLETE ACCIDENT, truly I tell you!
EDIT: I just remembered when it was that the lights went back on. The congregation had gathered in the Social Center (where the lights were off too) on the opposite side of the grounds from the main building. We herded the children of our two youngest choirs together to sing some of their favorite songs. Just after the children sang the phrase “Ask — it will be given you” the lights flicked back on (to a big laugh)! It was a miracle in timing. Praise be to God!
posted by Julie Walton Shaver at 5:22 pm
