KristenJoyWilks.com http://www.kristenjoywilks.com/blog Wed, 08 Sep 2010 12:00:31 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 Breaking News http://www.kristenjoywilks.com/blog/?p=1606 http://www.kristenjoywilks.com/blog/?p=1606#comments Wed, 08 Sep 2010 12:00:31 +0000 Kristen http://www.kristenjoywilks.com/blog/?p=1606 That long awaited day has finally come to pass. Sweet Boy#2 once again removed his training wheels and once again after 1/2 a circle around the sports court decided that he wanted them back on. “No”, I said. “We will try some more.” And although half crippled by fear, this time I let go of the bike…and he kept riding. He is 4 1/2 and I am so very proud of him. I think I was 7 before my training wheels came off. He is pretty wobbly but just keeps popping up after each crash and can even start on his own without a push. And so the growing up begins. Am I ready…I’m not so sure.

]]> http://www.kristenjoywilks.com/blog/?feed=rss2&p=1606 1 The Week in Haiku http://www.kristenjoywilks.com/blog/?p=1598 http://www.kristenjoywilks.com/blog/?p=1598#comments Tue, 07 Sep 2010 12:00:49 +0000 Kristen http://www.kristenjoywilks.com/blog/?p=1598 Monday

I’ve lost the car seats

With Grandma at the dentist

School open-house calls

Tuesday

School’s first day comes nigh

In slippers I weep and wave

Loves recess and bus

Wednesday

Play, and wait for bus

Scrambling up the bank, we climb

Is our dog a bear?

Thursday

Giant spider drowned

Crouch and peer at each bent piece

Ants seize the body

Friday

A snake in a can

Escapes, then pooping it flees

But snake poop is cool

CLICK

]]> http://www.kristenjoywilks.com/blog/?feed=rss2&p=1598 1 Writing News http://www.kristenjoywilks.com/blog/?p=1594 http://www.kristenjoywilks.com/blog/?p=1594#comments Mon, 06 Sep 2010 12:00:37 +0000 Kristen http://www.kristenjoywilks.com/blog/?p=1594 I got two devotionals done this week. I wanted to do four, but I’ll take the two and work toward four next week. But I did stumble over an invaluable idea this week. Each devotional is supposed to have thee sections: a verse, a story, and  the serious spiritual bit. Well, I decided to do the verse and the serious bit for all of the rest of them and then do all of the stories at once (revising the ones I’ve already done) and make the small stories come together to tell a big story. So that one section of the devotional will read like a novel. So I’ll need to come up with a story arc and plot points and character development just for those little snippets. I’m excited, this will make it a much better read. So, that was my brilliant idea this week, we’ll see how it turns out.

]]> http://www.kristenjoywilks.com/blog/?feed=rss2&p=1594 1 Boy Quotes http://www.kristenjoywilks.com/blog/?p=1616 http://www.kristenjoywilks.com/blog/?p=1616#comments Sun, 05 Sep 2010 15:03:52 +0000 Kristen http://www.kristenjoywilks.com/blog/?p=1616 Momma–”Why did you put yogurt on your leg?”
Sweet Boy#3–”Because I want to.”
Momma–”Why did you want yogurt on your leg?”
Sweet Boy#3–”Because the whole earth is the sun.”
Ahhhhhh, now I understand.

Sweet Boy#2–”The moth alarm!”
Sweet Boy#1–”When the moth alarm goes off it’s the worst!”
Sweet Boy#3–”Fire are getting on those moths and they’re burning up!”
Dangerous times.

Sweet Boy#3–”I actually can…” pauses for dramatic affect “…eat backwards!”

Sweet Boy#3–”Jesus is a bad guy.”
Sweet Boy#1–”No he’s not!”

Sweet Boy#2–talking about a moth–”I named him cheesester.”

Sweet Boy#1–”Oh no you can’t jump that far!”
Sweet Boy#3–”Oh no I can’t!”
Sweet Boy#1–”You say: Oh yes I can.”
Sweet Boy#3–”Oh yes I can!”
Sweet Boy#1–”Oh no you can’t!”

]]> http://www.kristenjoywilks.com/blog/?feed=rss2&p=1616 3 The Harrowing/Heartwarming Parent Moment of the Week http://www.kristenjoywilks.com/blog/?p=1579 http://www.kristenjoywilks.com/blog/?p=1579#comments Fri, 03 Sep 2010 12:00:48 +0000 Kristen http://www.kristenjoywilks.com/blog/?p=1579 Big, big week up at the Wilks house this week.

Someone (?) put my glasses case into a big bowl of water to swim with “Sharky” one of those miraculously swelling water toys.

Someone (?) put paper clips into The Hunky Hubby’s coffee grinder.

All three boys smuggled a diaper and a small garbage can into the tub with them. Just in case you didn’t know, diapers explode when submerged in the tub for any length of time.

Sweet Boy#2 and Sweet Boy#3–Were in time-out for not cleaning up toys. And so they dumped their brother’s piggy bank out, tore all of his handmade pics of the solar-system off of their places of honor beside his bunk, and ripped about 5 feet of wall paper off the wall. Makes you not want to put them into time out anymore…not that that would help things any in the long run.

But the winner this week…Sweet Boy#2′s hastily applied first aid (8 band-aids without washing) turned into a strep or staff infection that spread rapidly to the other 2 boys via an all-boybath and now we spend an enormous amount of our day applying salve and band-aids and giving antibiotics. Who knew that a box of 60 sterile strips and two rolls of gauze only lasts 2 days. I am trying not to panic about this. The Dr. wasn’t panicking, that’s a good sign right? And the spots seem to be getting better, so it must be responding to the antibiotics…but this was scary nonetheless. Harrowing indeed.

]]> http://www.kristenjoywilks.com/blog/?feed=rss2&p=1579 2 Reading Tai-Bo http://www.kristenjoywilks.com/blog/?p=1575 http://www.kristenjoywilks.com/blog/?p=1575#comments Thu, 02 Sep 2010 12:00:51 +0000 Kristen http://www.kristenjoywilks.com/blog/?p=1575 This week I finished “Catching Fire” by Suzanne Collins. This is the second book in her “Hunger Games” series and I was enthralled. The first book was so good that I feared the second would fall flat. In fact I couldn’t think of any way it could help but fall flat. But no, this lady is skilled. The second book was just as awesome. I loved it and zoomed right through to the end in no time at all. A good book, fast paced action, but delving into the deep waters of war, conquest, servitude, poverty, entertainment, wealth, love, duty, freedom… Thank you Momma Griffith!

]]> http://www.kristenjoywilks.com/blog/?feed=rss2&p=1575 0 Breaking News http://www.kristenjoywilks.com/blog/?p=1586 http://www.kristenjoywilks.com/blog/?p=1586#comments Wed, 01 Sep 2010 12:53:51 +0000 Kristen http://www.kristenjoywilks.com/blog/?p=1586 The Hunky Hubby and Sweet Boy#1 just got back from their backpacking trip. It was a four day, three night hike up into several wilderness lakes. Copper, big heart, little heart. These are some of the names I recall from my little boy’s lecture as he held the map and explained the route that they took. My guys came back hobbling and exhausted, brown with dirt, and glowing with the joy of their adventure. Sweet boy #1 was one of the fastest hikers, speeding ahead of his Daddy much of the time. Although carrying his over-sized backpack really hurt his shoulders and on some occasions others lugged it around for him. They showed me their pictures, of alpine lakes and windswept precipices. Looking at that distinct high mountain foliage in their pictures, recalled for me that fresh bitter scent of wilderness air and the feel of the wind trying to blast you from the path. And I realized something important.

If you have never spent time in the wilderness, not just the woods, but the wilderness there are some things that you will never understand about God. Now I live in the woods. Not the same. But when you put all of the supplies to survive on your back and hike up into that wildly rugged territory that does not make any allowances for you, a land that just is and there is nothing you can do to tame or turn it to your ends. You realize something about God. Why are we drawn to the wilderness? Because we have no business being there. It is not safe.

The Hunky Hubby and Sweet Boy#1 stood at the lip of a 1,000 foot drop down into a mountain lake. Just one little slip, a tiny accidental nudge the wrong way and their fragile human bodies would have be destroyed. Shinobi and Splinter (two of the counselors who went along) took a quick day hike up an extremely steep ridge. About half way up they realized that going down the way they had come was impossible. They would pick up too much speed sliding and be killed. So they were really hoping that there was a milder way down at the top. There was, but even then they were going dangerously fast, stopping themselves by crashing into small rocks and bushes as they slid down. But what if there hadn’t been a better way?

They could have died. Not because the mountain was evil, or unloving, or lacking understanding. But because the mountain was great, mighty, awesome, unreachable. Those who want to be safe and sound have no business climbing up into the untouchable heights. The frightful power of the wilderness is why we trek into it. And yet many people do not understand why we are to fear God. Those who have stood on those alpine heights, seen the fragility of their lives and felt the easy power of the wilderness. Fearing God comes easy. We have no business stomping up to the Almighty and making demands. He just is. He is terrible. He is fierce. Mighty. Wondrous. Beautiful. Deadly. Frightful.

Now of course the crazy thing about God is that all of His creation tells us something of Him, and so there is also something you will never understand about God if you have never seen a butterfly, or a duckling, or a grizzly bear. But fearing God…if you have stood there on the precipice with that rushing mountain wind pressing you toward the edge, you just understand. God is frightful.

But that does not make Him any less Good. And in the wilderness you can see that as well.

]]> http://www.kristenjoywilks.com/blog/?feed=rss2&p=1586 1 The Week in Haiku http://www.kristenjoywilks.com/blog/?p=1566 http://www.kristenjoywilks.com/blog/?p=1566#comments Tue, 31 Aug 2010 12:00:41 +0000 Kristen http://www.kristenjoywilks.com/blog/?p=1566 Monday

Hike with “Little Boys”

A lengthy tromp for short legs

Sunshine, bugs, and snacks

Tuesday

Family videos

All piled in a scramble

Now on DVD

Wednesday

Fircones at Grandma’s

Like giant squirrels boys gather

Get planes with new wealth

Thursday

Hikers coming home

Anxious for brother’s return

Tell tall tales, then bath

Friday

Infection appears

Pills, band-aids, and rolls of gauze

Swarmed by sterile strips

Click

]]> http://www.kristenjoywilks.com/blog/?feed=rss2&p=1566 2 Writing News http://www.kristenjoywilks.com/blog/?p=1562 http://www.kristenjoywilks.com/blog/?p=1562#comments Mon, 30 Aug 2010 12:00:37 +0000 Kristen http://www.kristenjoywilks.com/blog/?p=1562 Kind-of a boring week, but I did get some work done on my devotional idea. It uses a fun extended metaphor that I think will appeal to Jr. High and H.S. boys and so the writing is enjoyable to create. Long way to go though. Long long long way to go.

]]> http://www.kristenjoywilks.com/blog/?feed=rss2&p=1562 0 Boy Quotes http://www.kristenjoywilks.com/blog/?p=1583 http://www.kristenjoywilks.com/blog/?p=1583#comments Sun, 29 Aug 2010 17:43:11 +0000 Kristen http://www.kristenjoywilks.com/blog/?p=1583 Sweet Boy#2–”Give me my spaceship you dumber!”–just starting in the school of the insult. Hopefully his skills won’t improve all that much.

Sweet Boy#2–talking about a very soapy bath–”It can make you shiny as a new plane.”

Sweet Boy#1–was concerned because I was unable to punch holes in the lid of the box that held his pretend baby snakes, but then he had an idea–”That’s their power! It’s breathing through the box!”

Sweet Boy#2–”Where’s a short sleeved snuggly shirt? They keep me not contrary.”

Sweet Boy#3–”There’s a sharp grubby in mine piggy.”–a piggy is of course a toe.

Sweet Boy#3–”Darth Vader throwed that moth at me!”

]]> http://www.kristenjoywilks.com/blog/?feed=rss2&p=1583 0