I stumbled across Psalm 45 by accident earlier this week. What a beautiful paralell of the relationship between Christ and the Church!

My heart is inditing a good matter: I speak of the things which I have made touching the king: my tongue is the pen of a ready writer.

Thou art fairer than the children of men: grace is poured into thy lips: therefore God hath blessed thee for ever.

Gird thy sword upon thy thigh, O most mighty, with thy glory and thy majesty.

And in thy majesty ride prosperously because of truth and meekness and righteousness; and thy right hand shall teach thee terrible things.

Thine arrows are sharp in the heart of the king's enemies; whereby the people fall under thee.

Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: the sceptre of thy kingdom is a right sceptre.

Thou lovest righteousness, and hatest wickedness: therefore God, thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.

All thy garments smell of myrrh, and aloes, and cassia, out of the ivory palaces, whereby they have made thee glad.

Kings' daughters were among thy honourable women: upon thy right hand did stand the queen in gold of Ophir.

Hearken, O daughter, and consider, and incline thine ear; forget also thine own people, and thy father's house;

So shall the king greatly desire thy beauty: for he is thy Lord; and worship thou him.

And the daughter of Tyre shall be there with a gift; even the rich among the people shall intreat thy favour.

The king's daughter is all glorious within: her clothing is of wrought gold.

She shall be brought unto the king in raiment of needlework: the virgins her companions that follow her shall be brought unto thee.

With gladness and rejoicing shall they be brought: they shall enter into the king's palace.

Instead of thy fathers shall be thy children, whom thou mayest make princes in all the earth.

I will make thy name to be remembered in all generations: therefore shall the people praise thee for ever and ever.

~Kirsten

Our Fabulous week....

Mom, Dad, and all the big boys are gone, some to Atlanta and some to Alabama. So, the little ones and I are having a partay!

Shoe shopping at Younkers. Notice the nylon skullcaps :)

On Thursday we drove to Waukon, Iowa to visit Grandma Flage. Sari and Grandma are going to play at the park!

Andrew and his "Gwamma"

My little friends and me on Grandma's porch swing.

"So you're the one who ate that apple!"

The little boys are great at laundry!

Sari and Danny were arguing, so I made them hug all the way home from Figaro's Pizza. Such brotherly/sisterly love!

Treasure Hunt!

Going on a treasure hunt, X marks the spot . . .

I don’t know exactly what brought it to mind, but I suddenly remembered yesterday that one of my favorite things to do on an otherwise boring afternoon is to hunt for hidden treasure. Since that obviously wasn’t an option, I did the next best thing. I made a bunch of other people hunt for hidden treasure!

The first clue was quickly solved (once “Caesar” was spelled correctly) and the chase is on!

Behind the picture of Great-Grandma, an enigmatic bit of morse code was discovered: P-H-R-E-A-M.

After they had puzzled for quite some time and begged for a hint, I obliged.
Me: “It’s an anagram.”
Them: “What’s an anagram?”
Someone: “Do an internet search! A-N-O-G-R-A-M.”

Oh, this is rich!

Someone else: “No, anogram is just some word game.”
Someone else: “Try two Ns!”

Ooh. Annogram. Very creative.

Eventually they stumbled across one of those sites that unscrambles it for you, and the clever computer figured it out in a matter of seconds.

This one proved to be quite a poser.

“El Dorado by-by Egdar Allan Poe. I bet it’s in our poem book! Let’s go check!” And off they ran.

Meanwhile, (I found this particularly amusing) Ellie took the clue over to the couch and sat down with it and her doll and promptly taped it shut. After they’d finished chasing the wind, I suggested that they take another look at the clue.

Someone: “But he grew old, this knight so bold—maybe it’s dad!”

Someone else: “And o’er his heart a shadow. Do we have any hearts?” (The paper skeleton hanging on the wall in the schoolroom was promptly searched. No heart.)

Under the carrots (Bugs Bunny snack!) in the refrigerator, Annie and Lydia at last located the prize. No chests of gold coins, today. A giant chocolate bar will have to do.

In Which We Make Sugar Cookies

It was a slow, hot, summer afternoon. Soo...we decided to make sugar cookies!


This is Ellie's....beaver?

Justin's portrayal of Mr. Kosobucki, the Basketball Player

And...the leftover cookie dough by yours truly. :P

Lord, prepare me

To be a sanctuary

Pure and holy

Tried and true

And with thanksgiving,

I'll be a living sanctuary

For You.

--"Sanctuary," Third Day

Fotografias

Rather a clever way to reserve a parking spot, I thought...

A typical--or rather nice--apartment building. They're (usually) prettier on the inside.


Ellie turns 8!


no comment.

they're good kids. really.

HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY!

4th of July isn't much of a holiday here in Iasi, so we're going light Justin's two sparklers and bang on a couple of caps with a hammer. Gonna be fun!

Enjoy the big show!

(there is a restaurant in town called "Little Texas," [in Romanian, "Leetle Teksas"] which has a fourth of July celebration, or so I've heard . . .)