Gifts come in interesting packages sometimes

Today, during chapel, a third grader got up and came over to me at the back of the gym.  This kid is a very quiet studious little guy.  He whispered to me that he thought he was sick and needed to call his mom.  So I whispered back, "What's wrong?"

Him:  "I think I might have the plague."

Ha ha.  I almost laughed.  It would have been much funnier, except this kid was dead serious.  And very worried about himself.  I found out later that the third grade has been studying the plague in history.

Me:  "Don't worry, buddy.  I'm positive you don't have the plague."

Him:  "How can you be sure?  I really don't feel good."

Me:  "Trust me.  There hasn't been a case of the plague in this country for a long long time."

Him:  "Ok, well then it's West Nile."

Me:  "The West Nile Virus?  No, really.  I don't think you have anything like that."

Him:  "But you can't be absolutely positive.  I feel dizzy and sick."

Me:  "Were you playing on the tire swing at recess maybe?"

Him:  "Yes, actually I was. I was spinning around.  And that's when I starting feeling sick."

Me:  "Ok.  Well I'm thinking that's why you're feeling dizzy.  Spinning around on a tire swing will do that."

Him:  Still not convinced  "But you really don't KNOW for sure.  There has to be some sort of test to make sure I don't have those diseases."

Me:  "Ok, tell you what.  I'm going to hold up some fingers and you tell me how many you see...."

Him:  "I see 4 fingers..."

Me:  "Ok!!!  There ya go.  You're right.  People with the plague or West Nile Virus would have said 5.  You're FINE, buddy!  Go back and sit down with your class.  You're gonna be just fine!"

Him:  "WHEW!  What a RELIEF!!"

 

Yeah, I probably shouldn't have lied to him.  But I soooo wanted to comfort him.  I wanted him to STOP worrying.  There are so many other things he needs to focus on.  Worrying about whether he has a disease or not is not one of those things.  (And also?  I could relate to this kid.  I am a worrier.  I may not worry whether I have a disease or whatever, but I tend to worry about stuff.  And this kid reminded myself of meeeee.)

Anyway.

Right there during chapel, I started thinking....I bet God does that.  I bet He sits up in heaven and watches us worry about things and I bet it seems ridiculous to Him, just like this kid worrying about the plague seemed ridiculous to me.  I bet God wants to go - "Hey!  Will you STOP?  I am in control.  You have so many other things you need to be doing.  So many things I have planned for you.  You have things I want you to focus on right now.  And worrying about things you have NO control over is NOT one of them!" 

So yeah.  This little West Nile plague kid gave me a gift this morning.  And since I have some struggles I'm dealing with right now, it was given just at the right time. 

Bleh

Life is....HARD right now.  Overwhelming.  I feel like I'm in a deep valley looking up at the top of a mountain wondering... HOW will I get up there again? 

But mostly I keep asking myself, "How did I get HERE?  What in the HECK happened?" 

But, just hearing myself say that irritates me.  I wanna grab myself and say, "What do you MEAN?  Were you NOT paying attention?  Were you just along for the ride?  Get your head in the game, will ya?  This is NOT a dress rehearsal.  There are no do-overs.  BUCK UP."

I know this makes no sense.  I guess I'm not ready to pour it all out here for all to see.  I'm not sure if I ever will be.  But if you're reading this, I humbly ask you to bow your head right now and say a quick prayer for me and my family.  Please.  I know you don't know the details.  But God does.

Even though this is going on, I know that I'm going to be ok on the other side of it.  I am scared, but at the same time I have peace that it's going to be ok.  I guess I'm scared of the ride.  More than likely it's going to be a rough one, and it's a matter of gearing up for that.

It's funny - I keep hearing the same verse over and over in my head:

Jeremiah 29:11  For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

I am clinging to this verse.  When I pray?  This verse comes back.  It's my life vest right now.  I take such comfort knowing that SOMEONE has a plan.  SOMEONE knows how things will end up.  SOMEONE is in control.  Because I'm sure as HECK not.

Thanks for your prayers

Tadpole Watch...Day 6 :)

Oh my.  LOOK how big these guys are getting!!

Compared to my last post, they're so big!  Aren't they?  And only SIX days after eggs were laid!  Before the weekend, they were just little translucent lines.  But they look like tadpoles now.  They have great big eyes, a black pigmented body, and a long gray tail.

The kids LOVE to come into my office and check them out.  Some come every day!  It's fun. 

Meet my frogs

Ok.  We all know by now that I'm a total Science and nature geek, right?  No surprise there.  My desk at work is a total zoo.  Literally.  I have an ant farm, about 100 praying mantises, 2 shrimp, 3 butterflies, 2 cocoons, and sproutings of venus fly trap plants.  Oh.  And I have frogs.  Yep, 2 aquatic frogs.  I got two little tadpoles the beginning of last school year.  So the kids here at school (well, and so I) could watch them turn into frogs. 

But as much as I love all of my critters, I love it even more when I get to show the kids here at school about nature and God's creation.  I LOVE it when kids get excited about science!  This makes me happy.

But anyway, back to my frogs.  When I got them, these tadpoles were about the size of my pinkie nail.  Tiny! 

Now look:

Ha ha!  Yeah, she's huge. 

And ummm, I found out I have a male and a female.  How do I know this?  Because they started doing this a lot:

Ha ha!  Yeah.  Notice how much smaller the male is.  This (apparently) is normal.  The big female is named Delilah and the male is Sumo.  (Yes, I had a Samson to go with Delilah.  But sadly, he died in a tragic fake log accident.)

ANYway, so they did that for two days.  And THEN, I walked in Wednesday morning to find 1000's of EGGS!

See all those dots?  I know they're hard to see, but they're ALL EGGS.  You can see some in the picture above that one, too.  Crazy!

I'm not quite sure what I'm going to do now.  I separated some eggs (like 50) in a little bowl.  (Because I noticed that the parents were eating the eggs.) 

Starting Thursday and especially Friday, I noticed that some of the tadpoles are already hatching!  (Just two days after eggs were layed!)  They're itty bitty and curled a little bit.  They look just like this ---->  c     That's to scale and everything.  TINY! 

I know this is a terrible picture, but here is a shot of the little tadpoles.  I put that penny down there to show the scale.  You can see 2 tadpoles here.  That little line just to the left of the penny and then the line directly below the penny are the tadpoles.  There's about 50 in this jar, but you can only see those two in this picture.  Tiny!

I have a feeling these guys are going to grow quickly!  We'll see...

WHY do the bees LIKE the hive boxes?

And what makes them stay?

We've been asked these questions a lot.  In fact Lynn asked them after reading my last post when I described us capturing the wild honey bee swarm.  Lynn says, "I always wonder what makes the bees "like" the hive box? What makes them WANT to stay there and call that box 'home'? What would be their preference to live in and build the comb and have babies and honey in - if they didn't get shown the box?"

Great questions!  I will try to answer as best as I can...

The hive boxes are made up of individual frames.  Each frame looks like this:

Beekeepers construct those wooden frames, and then buy that comb that's in the inside of each frame.  Here's a close-up of the combs that make up a frame:

See?  The comb is already 'started' for the bees when they're introduced. 

The bees feel right at "home" with these combs because the dimensions of each cell is exactly the dimensions that they would make their hives in the 'wild.'  Someone named Robert Kerr figured this out, and invented these hive boxes.  They're called Stewarton Hives (named after the town in Scotland where they were first used.)  Also, bees find the sweet smell of the comb foundation irresistible because it's made from beeswax!  After introducing the bees to the hive boxes, they quickly feel 'at home' and begin to draw out each frame sheet into 7000 beautiful uniform cells where they store food, raise brood and deposit honey!

So that's why bees like hive boxes, and why they stay.  It's exactly what they need and want in a home.  A lot of their work is already done and I suppose they find no reason to leave!

So, what would the swarmed bees do if they weren't shown the hive box?  They'd find a hollow tree or other suitable 'natural' spot to move into and get to work building comb.  Or, more likely, they'd die.  :( 

So there ya go!  Hope that answered  your question, Lynn!  

Swarm Captured!

What an exciting afternoon we had yesterday!

Across the street from the school where I work, there's a neighbor that periodically gets swarms of bees in his trees. (FYI: Bees swarm when they get too crowded in their hive. They sense the crowded conditions, and make another queen. This new queen takes half the hive, and swarm - usually on a branch of a tree - until another home can be found.)

Anyway, so when my husband learned that this neighbor gets swarms in his trees sometimes, he asked this guy to call him, so we could come over and rescue the swarm. That's what happened yesterday! This guy called Derek, and we rushed right over with our hive box. This is what we saw: (excuse my photo quality. All I had with me was my phone to take pictures.)

Isn't that cool?!

So the first step? Of course, Derek got in his bee suit.

And put the hive box under the swarm:

Then, he carefully snipped the branch the bees were hanging on:

And lowered it down into the hive:

Success!!

Is that amazing or what?! Then we just put the lid on, and took the box home!

The part that stunned me was how calm the bees were. When they are in that swarmed state, they are very docile. Their only job is to protect the queen (who is in the middle of the swarm.) They don't have any young or honey to protect so they are not aggressive AT ALL. It was incredible.

The other amazing part was how the swarm moved in a fluid state. It was like the whole swarm was one body. It was remarkable!

We won't really know if this was a successful transfer until we open the hive (in a day or two when they're settled in) and see the queen. If there's no queen? The colony will die out. Keep your fingers crossed. I'll keep you posted!

*UPDATE* We have a queen!!!

It's GARDEN time again

I LOVE this time of year... SPRING! I love it when the weather finally gets warm...I love flip-flop weather! And I especially love when it's time to plant the garden.

We have a greenhouse, and my husband has been busy since about February tending to all his seedlings, getting them ready to transfer outside. This year, we even grew tomatoes from seeds. See the tomato plants on the bottom right picture?

I didn't have to buy any flowers this year for the yard...we grew all those from seeds also! (See? On the top row on that right picture, and on the floor of the greenhouse underneath...) We have petunias, zinnias, asters, begonias, geraniums...we had so many flowers we had to give most away.

Planting the vegetable garden is a family event. So much fun! The kids look forward to it every year. Especially Lexi. She stayed out with Derek well after dark last night.

We planted peas, beans, corn, cauliflower, brocolli, peppers, tomatoes, garlic, potatoes, onions, radishes...what else? I know I'm forgetting something. And, as always, we will have an organic garden again this year. We don't use any fertilizer...well except 'natural' fertilizer that we have PLENTY of. (The chickens kindly produce that for us!)

Ahhhh...Spring. I love it!

Even the Pigs are HOT!

We're having a mini heat wave here in our area!  It's LOVELY after all the rain and cooooold weather we've been having.  Today was 94°at our house.

The poor pigs were parched.  I filled up their water trough three times today!  The last time I noticed that they were trying to run under the water to cool off.  Ha ha!  So I gave them a nice cool shower....

They're so funny!  Look at those two in the back rubbing on the tree while they take their shower. 

BEYOND frustrated

Ok.  I am soooo mad right now.  And since I can't afford a therapist?  I will pour my frustrations out here for all to see.  (Lucky you.)

Today I went online to buy some make-up.  (I don't have time to run down to the mall, so thank God for clinique.com)  But, ummmmm...at check-out my credit card was declined.  I try again.  DECLINED.  Okaaaaay...

Knowing that I had PLENTY of credit available on this card, I call my credit card's 800 number, go through their little recording and option menu, and sure enough, there's plenty of credit available.  I press '0' and talk to my 'credit card account representative.'  They proceed to tell me that there's been some "suspicious activity" on my card, and they've locked it.

"Oh!  Ok.  That's good.  Well, so... what suspicious activity?" I ask.  They won't tell me.  They say I'm not the primary card holder.  My husband is.  Well, I'm his wife, and I need to know what suspicious activity is on my card.  She tells me to go online and check the account balance and activity online.

So I hang up.  I go online, and.... I can't log in...my online account has been locked...because of SUSPICIOUS activity.  DUH.

I call back.  I explain that I can't get into my online account.  They tell me - that's right.  Because of suspicious activity.  REALLY?  Ok.  Well, I NEED TO KNOW what this activity is so I can tell you if it's SUSPICIOUS OR NOT.  And yes, I REALIZE MY HUSBAND IS THE PRIMARY ACCOUNT HOLDER.  But he's in a meeting now, and cannot be reached.  They agree to temporarily unlock the online account.

I hang up.  I go online to see my account.  I log in, and everything looks... fine.  !!  What the HECK?

I call back and explain that I've looked at the account and everything looks legitimate.  They proceed to tell me that's because they didn't put through the suspicious charges.  They won't show up online, because they're SUSPICIOUS and didn't go through. 

ARRRRGGGHHHHHH!!!!!

Ok.  *deep breath*  That's fine.  But I NEED TO KNOW THESE CHARGES.  How can we resolve this?  They tell me that the primary card holder, my husband, needs to call.

Alright.  Sigh.  Fine.

I call my husband and get him out of his meeting.  I explain the situation.  HE calls the credit card company.  The person on the line BARELY speaks English, and he cannot make heads or tails of any of the conversation.  He finally hangs up out of frustration.

He calls back.  THIS time, he understands the person, BUT since there has been so many inquiries on our account, they have suspended further inquiries.  (DUH!!! IT'S BEEN US TRYING TO GET TO THE BOTTOM OF THIS!!)

My husband is now fuming as much as I am.  He calls BACK AGAIN.  This time, he refuses to hang up until someone helps him.  He's passed around to various 'managers' some English speaking, and some not.  FINALLY someone helps him.  They list off the charges.  Sure enough, they are not legitimate.  There are about 100 of them in a span of 2 days, and they're all online gaming type sites.  So finally, they allow my husband to file a fraudulent claim, and end up canceling the card. 

Finally.

And it only took up 2 hours of my day (and almost that much of my husband's.)

And I still don't have my makeup ordered. 

Thursday Woes...

So this morning on the way to work, inexplicably, the windshield wipers on my practically new Suburban were stuck on HIGH.  I mean stuck on SUPER, WHIPPING BACK AND FORTH, HYPER SPEED, high.  I live in the Seattle area, so ordinarily this wouldn't be a problem.  But today?  It's supposed to be near 80 degrees and NO RAIN in the forecast.  Of course.  And, there certainly wasn't a single raindrop falling from the sky onto my windshield for the entire 35 minutes it takes me to commute from my house to school. 

But, from the moment I left my driveway, the wipers went into high gear and stayed there.  No amount of fiddling with the knob, stopping/restarting the car, slapping the dashboard, or cursing would alleviate this problem.  Have you ever heard wipers on dry glass?  On high speed?  It's a sound akin to fingernails on chalkboards. 

When we got into town, and I would stop at stoplights, the screeching must have been deafening for the pedestrians on the sidewalk.  I draw this conclusion, because these people were covering their ears and glaring in our direction with a look of horror on their faces.  The part I find amusing though, is that many people would try and get my attention and motion that my windshield wipers were on HIGH and that it WASN'T RAINING.  And it was an ANNOYING sound, and would I turn them OFF?

Oh REALLY??  My windshield wipers are ON?  Really. And this ANNOYS you??  Thank you SO much for letting me know.  Because I NEVER would have noticed!  The SHRIEKING noise?  Oh - I wasn't aware of it.  Especially since I've spent THE LAST 35 MINUTES TRYING TO CONCENTRATE ON MY DRIVING and not GOUGE MY EARS OUT with whatever I could find to alleviate the EXTREMELY GRATING SCHREECHING noises coming from my windshield SIX INCHES from my face.

*deep breath*

ANYway.

In other (more cheerful) news...this week is 'Staff Appreciation Week' at our school.  Now, ordinarily this means that parents will give teachers and other staff, including me a MUG filled with candy.  (This is like the default gift for teachers.  Ever notice that?  I wonder why that is.  Who came up with the mug idea?)  As a result, teachers and the rest of us end up with 3945789827345 mugs by the end of the year. Not that we don't appreciate being remembered.  But PEOPLE.  Let's try and be a little more creative.  The MUG idea has been EXHAUSTED.  Let's MOVE ON.

And side note?  To the person that gave me a mug with a picture of YOUR kids on the front?  Ummmm, let me say that I'm not even sure if I want a mug with MY kids on the front.  Don't get me wrong.  I LOVE kids.  That's why I work here.  But, I see enough of your kids when they pee their pants, vomit on the library floor, and need splinters taken out.  I don't need their picture splashed on the front of a mug so that I may gaze at them while I have my morning coffee.  I'm sorry if this bursts your bubble.  But please.  A nice card next time would be lovely.

Anyway, I said ORDINARILY Staff Appreciation Week means just mugs filled with candy.  But today?  Parents got together, gathered donations and gifts from other parents, and have come up with DINNER!  For the entire staff!  Tonight we have DINNER taken care of!  Isn't that wonderful?!  I LOVE this idea.  On our way out the door tonight after work, all we have to do is stop by the kitchen, and pick up our dinner - for us AND our families!  Yay.  THANK YOU, parents! 

So on my way home tonight, I will have a smile on my face (despite the screeching windshield wipers...) knowing that I don't have to cook tonight!!  THAT beats a mug any day of the week.

Excuse me while I VOMIT all over my desk.

Just now a kindergartner came running in from recess into my office. She had tears streaming down her face.

Her: "Waaaaaaah! I have DOG POOP all over my hands."
Me: Oh great. THIS is all I need today...."Ummm, ok. Well you'll need to go to the bathroom and wash up really really well with soap and water."
Her: "Ok. But don't you want to know how I KNOW it's dog poop?"
Me: Oooooh man...not really, no. No I REALLY don't, kid. "Because you can smell it?" Gross, gross, gross...
Her: "NOPE!!!! Guess again!!"
Me: Oh, dear God. I'm soooo not in the mood. For this I went to college? "Ok. PLEEEASE tell me you didn't TASTE it."
Her: "NOPE!"
Me: Oh, whew! RELIEF! Thank you LORD...
Her: "I didn't have to taste it..I just knew after I LICKED it!!!!"

Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day, everyone!  Hope all you moms had a wonderful day.  I sure did!  Remember my whiny post about how much I hate Mother's Day?  Well, I'm happy to report that I've changed my mind.

I had an absolutely lovely day!  We decided to skip the baptism and I have absolutely no guilt about it.  (For those of you just tuning in, read my whiny Mother's Day post and you'll be up to speed in no time...)

Some highlights of my day:

1. I got to sleep in!
2. We went out to brunch (Yum!  It was delicious.  The kids behaved themselves. The place had chocolate fondue there!)
3. The kids played a game of Monopoly BY THEMSELVES when we got home...for THREE HOURS STRAIGHT...with NO FIGHTING.  Ahhhh - it was pure heaven
4. I got my nails done. 
5. My husband got me an outdoor table/chair set for the deck.  For some reason, in all our married life (17 1/2 years) we've never had one.  It was waaaay past due.  It's a lovely set!
6. I also got 4 (FOUR!) hanging flower baskets for the house - three fuschias for the front and one mixed full sun basket for the back.

See?  It was a lovely day.  Also, I got some very lovely gifts from the kids that they made in school.  I loved them all!  But Lexi's was so sweet.  She made me us a journal (that she and I share.)  The first page says:

Mom and Lexi's Journal

This journal is for me and you to share the things that we go through.
Life can be hard and so I thought this would be a way that we could talk.
I love you, Mom, and so I say,
Let's use this journal starting today!
Happy Mother's Day!

Awww!  Isnt' that sweet?!  And what a great idea.

Gage made me a little heart pillow that he made in school.  He kept saying, "I know you think this is store-bought, Mom.  It isn't.  I MADE IT.  I'm getting better at this sort of stuff."

I'll leave you with the sweet note Cole wrote to me.  (He says he was the only one in his class that wrote a note on the front AND back of the paper.  Heh.)  It says:

Dear Mom,
You are kind, loving, and caring.  I like it when you play 2-square with me.  Thank you for helping me with my homework sometimes.  You are good at cooking.  Remember when we went to Northwest Trek for my birthday?  And the Pacific Science Center?  That was fun!  You make me feel good, cheerful and happy.  Thank you for making me happy when I am grumpy.  Thank you for everything.  I love your smile.  It is so pretty it makes me smile.  I love you Mom.  I am going to pray that you will not get sick and that you will have a good life.  Happy Mother's Day.  You're a really good Mom.  I'll love you even when you're in heaven. I'll still love you.  Love, Cole

Helping those who need AND want it!

Ok, so we all know that teachers don't make much money. And at private schools (at least the private school where I work) they make JACK SQUAT. (FYI - that's my new favorite saying...JACK SQUAT. I say it as often as I can.)

ANYway, most teachers at my school are married, and so even though they don't make much, they're able to combine it with their spouse's income, and be ok. But there are a few single teachers here, and for them, it's very tough to make rent and all the rest of their bills. With rising gas prices and food bills, it's nearly impossible.

There's one single teacher in particular that really struggles. She's young - in her early 20's, and just got her first apartment. She resorts to eating top ramen and mac & cheese because she just can't afford anything else. She owns one dress, and she wears it every Friday for chapel. She doesn't participate with the other teachers when they chip in for take-out because she literally does not have the money. Sometimes she has to borrow money for gas because she simply doesn't have the money to fill up her tank to get home from work. But I never hear her complaining! She seems to be happy working here because she is sure she is making a difference in the lives of the children here. And I know she is.

Ok, so in all my wisdom, I decided last week that I would help this teacher. So, I put a grocery store gift card in her mailbox here at school. I did this because I wanted to help! I was sure she would be blessed by this gift of mine. I didn't put my name...I wanted to remain anonymous. (Well, it's not really anonymous now that I'm telling the entire Internet, but I'm telling you not to toot my own horn, but because I'm about to make a point. Really I am.) Anyway, I wanted to help her buy some decent groceries for once. To take a break from top ramen and get something GOOD!

Alrighty. Well, my plan backfired. She came to me in the office yesterday and asked, "Do you know who put this gift card in my box?"

I said, "I'm sure it's someone who knew you've been struggling lately and wanted to help!"

And she said, "Well, please tell that person thank you, but no thanks. It makes me sad that I appear to be struggling. I'm really not. I appreciate that someone wanted to help me. That's really sweet. But I'm excited to be out on my own, and I want make my own way. I don't want to appear ungrateful. But there are a lot of people that don't even have a roof over their head or a job to go to every day. Please tell the person that gave me this gift card to please help them! Help someone who is truly struggling in this world. That would be make me happy."

Wow.

It's all in perspective, isn't it?!

Not everyone that we perceive as "struggling" wants help. I completely respect that! And from now on, I will try and figure out if the want is there before I give to someone who I think must need the help.

By the way, I took this teacher's advice! I used the money and made a loan to an entrepreneur on KIVA.

Wordless Wednesday: Mt. Rainier

My husband took this shot one early morning on the way to work. Isn't it beautiful?

Colony Collapse Disorder?

Well, there's bad news on the bee front...  You may remember that we have three bee hives. Two brand new ones, and one established one that we inherited from Derek's Grandpa.  When we checked on the established hive this week, there was...nothing.  No bees at ALL.  It was like a ghost town.  This is very strange considering that the hive was flourishing just last week. 

The colony just up and left.  For no apparent reason!  It was healthy and thriving one week, and COMPLETELY GONE the next.  We were shocked!!

My husband called his 'bee buddies' - friends of his that have been in the beekeeping business for a long time.  They talked to him and took a look, and they've decided that these bees are a victim of Colony Collapse Disorder.  "Colony Collapse Disorder (or CCD) is a poorly understood phenomenon in which worker bees from a beehive or Western honey bee colony abruptly disappear."  The Burt's Bee's website sites, "The bee disappearance is so widespread that it is blamed for losses of up to 70% of the managed bee colonies in U.S. beekeeping operations."  "While the causes for Colony Collapse Disorder are unknown, we do know that forces like habitat destruction, misuse of pesticides, invasive species and global warming create risks to honeybees."

And the Burt's Bee's website goes on to say, "Did you know that every third bite of food we eat depends on bees for pollination? You might not have given much thought to the role honeybees play in our ecosystem. But fact is, 30% of the fruit- and vegetable-producing plants we rely on to feed our families need honeybee pollination to thrive. That’s why the mysterious disappearance of honeybees known as Colony Collapse Disorder is a critical environmental issue that must be understood and reversed for The Greater Good."

Wow.  This is a big deal.  We need to save our bees!  Because by saving bees, we're doing a lot more than JUST saving bees.

So what can we do?

1. Educate yourself!  Visit these sites for more information:
   Burt's Bees
   American Beekeeping Federation
   North American Pollinator Protection Campaign
2. Plant bee-friendly plants in your yard!  This will help attract native bee populations.  Get free seeds here.
3. Donate to help find a solution to Colony Collapse Disorder.  Penn State is conducting research in this field, as well as UC Davis.
4. Support local beekeepers!  No one is more affected by this crisis than local beekeepers.  Buy local honey and hive products.
5. Support local farmers.  "Because organic farms grow fruits and vegetables without pesticides, they are naturally bee-friendly places that actually need bees to grow their crops."  Learn more here.

I'll keep you posted about this sad turn of events.  My husband is actually at a class about Colony Collapse Disorder tonight.  I just hope we can hang onto our other two hives...

"If the bee disappeared off the surface of the globe then man would only have four years of life left. No more bees, no more pollination, no more plants, no more animals, no more man." ~ Albert Einstein.

Strivin' For That Mustard Seed

I'm pretty sure I have the flu.  Ugh.

It hit me like a ton of bricks.  I was sitting at my desk at school yesterday afternoon.  Suddenly, I realized my throat hurt like crazy.  So I got up to get a throat lozenge, and BAM.  The shakes, the headache, the body aches...came on with a vengeance.  My boss walked by right about then and said, "Ummm, you look terrible.  Go home."

I suppose it was inevitable.  We had 25%, or close to it absent at our school the week before last.  Out with the flu.  Both my son and my daughter had it.  Now it's my turn.  Oh joy.

So I got home yesterday.  My husband called and said he was working late.  "Please come home as soon as you can," I begged.  "I'm pretty sure I'm sick."  He promised to wrap a few things up and get home soon.  I then called and PLEADED with our local pizza place to PLEASE come out and deliver to us.  (That's one downfall to living in the country - no one will deliver.)  But this place came through for me, and I tipped BIG.  (Thank you, Frankie's Pizza.  You have a loyal customer for life.)  But the poor delivery guy basically threw the pizza in through the door and ran. I caught a reflection of myself in the mirror later and realized I looked like death warmed over.

So dinner was handled.  And, as soon as my husband got home at 7:00 or so, I went to BED.  Even the sheets hurt my skin.  Body aches SUCK I tell ya.  Later, when I got up for a drink of water and more ibuprofen at what I thought was the wee hours of the morning (but was really 8:30 that same night) I heard my kids in Lexi's room.  They were all in there praying together.

Dear Lord,

Help Mom PLEASE.  She's sick.  She's never gone to bed before us EVER so I'm pretty sure she's very very sick.  Heal her.  And whatever you do, don't let her die.  She's our mom and she needs to stay here and take care of us.  She's the only one that makes our lunches right.  And the only one that knows how we like our pancakes cooked.  And Daddy would be so sad without her.  Heal her QUICK, Lord.

In Jesus' name we pray, Amen.

Ooooh man.  I welled up when I heard that sweet prayer!  I made a mental note to talk to the kids in the morning to ease their fears.  No one was dying.  I was just sick.

So this morning that's what I did.  I called them in our room, and explained that I just had the flu.  I tried to reassure them by telling them that I seemed a lot sicker than I was.  I was going to be fine.  I just needed to rest for a few days.  Daddy would take over for me during that time, and everything would be fine.

They listened to me politely, and then Gage said, "Uhhh Mom?  You need to stop worrying so much.  We know you're going to be fine.  We prayed together last night and gave the whole thing over to God.  Everything is going to be ok, Mom."  And then all three went outside to ride bikes, climb trees, and lasso pigs. 

Ok then.  Wow.  I realized then, even in my flu-induced haze, that these kids have amazing faith.  I need to take a lesson from them!  I don't always have the faith they do.  In fact, I don't even have a fraction of that kind of faith sometimes.  I need to have faith like a child! 

I know these are taken slightly out of context, but I was reminded of these verses:

Mark 10:15

"I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it."

Matthew 18:4

"Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven."

 

So there ya have it.  My deep thought for the day.  And now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to take my kleenex, my hot tea, and my cat and go off to bed again.  Hope you all have a better weekend than I'm having.

Ick!

Ok, I love bees. But... THIS! This gave me the CREEPS.