Spring weather in Texas!

Storm #2

No tornado this time...but we have lots of hail! I have never seen this much or this big of hail before! This one Christopher is holding is 1 inch in diameter...shortly after this we found some that were 2 inches!

Calixto is in the attic trying to catch the leaks! Unbelievable how loud the hail, rain and wind were just a few minutes ago. It smells strongly of pine in the air...so there must be a tree or trees down...we did hear some cracking sounds earlier. Ok, I'm off to find towels to dry up the puddles from the leaks in the window sills.

Elizabeth and Larry

Here they are for those of you who asked for a clear picture. Awww aren't they cute.

Signs of Spring...

Catholic Good Friday Procession in Mx

Update on Connie

Thank you for praying for Connie Puryear and her family. Yesterday she went to Dallas for a biopsy of the spot on her lung, the following was written last night...

Dear Warriors, Johnny and I arrived home this afternoon around 4:00 pm. This morning we arrived at Baylor at 6:00 am and were meet with kind nurses and staff. The Doctor informed us that he was not 100% sure he could reach the spot that they had in question. My prayer that morning was that he could indeed reach the spot to avoid another procedure. Anxiety took over me from about 6:30-6:50. I could not stop crying and a friend had prepared my MP3 player with worship music and I began to sing and focus my heart. I quickly found my place of peace again. Right before they wheeled me downstairs Johnny and I again prayed. "This is yours, you can have this spot, and this lung. We will love you no less and will continue to praise you the same." God's goodness and presence were not absent. I remembered dreaming and hearing someone say..."Connie, you are okay." I did not know if it was my conscience that held all the worry or if God was speaking to me in this long dream. I awoke three hours later with Johnny at my side as always. The Doctor came in and repeated - YOU ARE OKAY! He had a pathologist with him during the surgery. He was able to reach the spot and the lymph gland. There was NO cancer!!!!! He said he will continue to check the spot in months to come, but felt confident in the cells that he found. His nurse began to kiss my head, I cried, Johnny cried and the doctor held my hand. Some good news. We needed some encouragement. The surgery for the abdomen still is place, but this keeps things uncomplicated. There are still waters to walk through, but we have been given a hug breath in this storm. The ride home was great. I felt just as good coming home as I did going yesterday. I have not been sick at all...I FEEL GREAT!!!! Praise the Lord with us - today is a great celebration and we are still singing.

Easter

Prayer Request

Our Head Administrator at school, a woman I've known for at least 14 years, is battling cancer. Over 20 years ago she beat ovarian cancer and now she is fighting this awful disease once again. She has been doing chemo treatments for the past several months. She has been doing extremely well, is still working and looks wonderful. She received some unsettling news this week after some tests were run to check the chemo's effectiveness. Here is what she wrote on her blog:

"Well, I can't say this is one of my favorite days, in fact I have given myself permission to just dedicate this as a, "I am tired of this crap (excuse me...) day. It has been such an emotional week for me. My armor is thin, thin during these evaluation intervals. I'm not hard to spot...give me one little poke and I just spill over. I have tried real hard this week to stay positive, hang on to truths, and expect the best. Well, I simply am all used up. So I am going to sit on my porch and simply have my time.
Today we got good news and sobering news. The good news is my blood work that measures the cancer in my body have gone down 33%. The doctor is thrilled because it means my body is responding to the chemo. The fluid is not returning and my weekly blood work continues to come in strong. My body is also staying strong throughout this war. The disappointing news is they can now see the mass in the lining of my stomach, which they could not see the source of the cancer cells before. The new news is that they also saw a spot in my lung. It is a small spot, but one to watch for sure.
So, I declare this my official crap day and then tomorrow I will get up and start over!"

She is usually very upbeat and positive and sweet but, obviously she had a breakdown after hearing this news. Please pray for Connie-for healing and for strength to endure this painful journey! (She and her husband, Johnnie, have 2 adopted children in Jr high and highschool.)

Dishwasher soap

After making homemade laundry soap I decided to make some dishwasher soap as well. I did one load last night...the results were great! I thought the glasses might be spotty but they weren't. Here is a glass for proof. Hopefully, it will continue to work as well as the first load. There were several recipes to choose from online-I tried the following:

2 Cups of Borax
2 Cups of Baking Soda
4 Packages of unsweetened lemonade Kool-aid or store brand (or 1/2 Cup citric acid)
Mix that together and put in your dishwasher...about 1 TBS or so-whatever fills up your dispenser.

Now I'm going to make liquid hand soap...

For the Fame of His Name

Please pray for Calixto this week-he left this morning for Mexico-he's taking a small team from Grace Comm Church in Glen Rose, Tx. You can pray for us too as we stay home. There always seems to be some kind of problem situation that arises when he is gone! Thanks! Below is a map showing where Tamazunchale is. They will primarily be working in the remote village of Jalpa which is about 2-3 hours from Tamaz...way up in the mountains.

March is full of birthdays!!

Happy Birthday!!!!!

Wade turned 12
Victoria, Alexia and John turned 10
Tracy turned "29" again!!!

I couldn't find any other pictures of the kids...this is from Cat's birthday in '05! How sad is that?! I guess the past few times I went home I didn't take any pictures!

Homemade laundry Soap

I made my own laundry soap this week. Here is a peek at it. So far, I think it works pretty well and is so much cheaper than Cheer etc.
If you want to try it out the recipe is below...

Home Made Laundry Detergent Recipe #70088

Make your own laundry detergent! This is really easy and really does save money! Great for people with allergies or fragrance sensitivity. This lasts a long time!

1 bar bath soap

1 cup Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda laundry detergent (not baking soda)

1/2 cup borax

hot water

80 loads (aprox.)

1. Place grated soap in a pot.

2. Cover with water and simmer over medium heat until all soap is melted, stirring occasionally.

3. Pour into 5 gallon bucket.

4. Add washing soda and borax.

5. Add enough hot water to fill the bucket.

6. Stir (I use a long measuring stick, but any long stick will work).

7. Let sit overnight to gel.

8. Use 1 cup per load.

9. (You can pour this into old detergent containers or leave in the bucket. Please cover with a lid if leaving in the bucket to protect children and pets.).

Art Gallery

Can you guess who the artist is of these beautiful drawings??

These works of art are brought to you by none other than Elizabeth!! Of course she was only 5 or 6 at the time!

See Elizabeth-I kept all the artwork that you sent to me! I love the last picture of Calixto and Toni-Balonie-burgers (the cat)!!!!