How the Vaccuum Vanquished the Wasp

I hate bugs. Really and truly, I could live without ever seeing or having to dispose of most of them. I know, they are the Lord's creation, and I look forward to seeing their perfected forms one day when the new earth comes. But until then, I really hate most of them (not all), especially the buzzing and stinging ones. So know that what follows really really reallly freaked me out.

I locked my keys in the house one day, and had to throw a brick through the girls' window to get back in. We put up some boards over the window - one on the outside and one on the inside - to keep out cold/moisture, etc, until we could get it fixed. One of our wonderful Sunday school friends volunteered to fix it for us, and we didn't set a date, but thought that would work just fine. Well, that weekend, the kids and I were home alone that night, and I had just gotten everyone bathed. The girls came running into the kitchen, distraught that there was a wasp in their bedroom. I ran in there, and sure enough, it was buzzing behind the blinds. I put the kids in our son's bedroom, with orders not to come out until I got them - I really didn't have a clue how I was going to get rid of that thing, but wanted to be sure I was the only one in harm's way. I started praying, and then noticed I had the vaccuum in their room already. I put the hose attachment together (which is about 3 feet long) and prepared for battle. After turning it on, raising the blinds, and praying some more, I sucked up the wasp the first try!!!! I was so proud and soooooooooo thankful - I never even got near the thing! Plus I could show the kids it was buzzing around in the bottom of the vaccuum. Well, after getting 2 more that way over the next day, we called our friend, and he came over Monday to fix the window for us. He started on the inside, pulled off the first board, and hollered for me - there was a HUGE nest there!!!! I almost passed out - that is my horror of horrors!! Especially in the girls' room - it was almost as big as my fist. I showed him how to use the vaccuum to get the remaining live ones (3 more....), and he quickly removed the nest and fixed the window. (Micah, I'm forever grateful!!) I took these pictures with my phone, so you can see how close it was to Az5's bed....UGH!! I still get shudders when I think about it. We now are the proud owners of wasp spray too...lol!

Brother Went to Camp

I know summer's officially over, but I'm still trying to catch up from summer on here....

This year, our son was old enough to go to church camp. Quite a big deal in our house - he'd never been away from us this long before except with family. He had a blast!! He went with our church's 3rd-5th graders to a state-wide camp, and our church had the biggest group go. He loved it - archery, fishing, b-b guns, sports, swimming his guts out - all the things a little boy loves to do over the summer. Plus, each night they had great worship and Bible study time. He was in a family group with several of his friends from Sunday School, and Mr. George was their leader. (And we love Mr. George!!) He did go down during decision time the last night, and talked with a counselor about what it means to ask Jesus into his heart, but did not make a decision. I asked him about it later, and he said he just wasn't ready yet. I was pleased that he was listening to the Lord speaking to his heart. And boy oh boy were we glad to have him home on Friday!