An aside...

You know, I have been thinking. Reflecting. I began this blog to just talk about what it is like to be an apostolic mom, raising kids in an everyday kind of way, from a Christian perspective. I started out doing just that. Lately, all I do is just describe life... not a lot of spiritual-ness to it (there, Joey, I can make up words too! LOL!) Sorry. My friend Joe made up a word while he was leading Sunday morning service.... De-confuse. I thought it was great!

Anyway, I have succumbed to the temptation of using this blog to keep distant friends and family members abreast of what is happening in the very busy lives of the Ziters in Vermont. It has lost some of its spiritual flavor... so I will try to get back on track with future posts. I'm sorry! :(

Here is a spiritual thought... I am getting too busy again. Time to revisit my pastor's preaching ( at www.lifeteaching.com ) with regard to prioritizing your life. I just signed my younger son up for Tiger cub scouts tonight. I have NO PROBLEM with scouts... they are great! They focus on raising your son to be a person of strong moral character, good citizen, responsible, respectful, resourceful, etc etc etc. However, they do not have a tiger cub den leader for our pack, and I opened my BIG MOUTH and said I would "help". DUH! Why did I do that? Will you all pray for me? I need to learn to say NO! I am not as bad as my husband, who is completely unfamiliar with the word no, but it was a moment of weakness for me, and I guess I need prayer! My neighbors are beginning to comment that I am NEVER home anymore. They are noticing. I need to be a strong witness! They are watching! If I do too much and neglect the things that really matter in my family, it will not be a good witness to the wonderful souls in my building I am trying to reach for the Kingdom of God! So... if you don't have anything to pray about tonight, you can pray for ME. Thanks. :) Time to go do my dishes, fold my laundry, pick up my house, and read my Bible. Goodnight!

Sick kid, panda cam, and great photography :)

Home with a sick boy today. Actually, Adam has been feeling pretty horrible for over a week now. Today he just needed a day to REST so he can kick this thing.

We are thinking about going to the national zoo when we go to Maryland for Christmas. The boys have been having so much fun watching mama panda and her little cub on the panda cam, that it has sparked interest in going there. Will be FUN! Just hope the weather is good.

The boys had school pictures taken yesterday by a man at our church who has his own photography studio right in his home... he does AWESOME work! Click here to see some of his work online. The nice thing is that you can SEE the pictures, and if you don't like it, he takes another, and another, and another, until you like it. You don't get that option at school.... click.....NEXT! Thanks, Jeff!

Cub scout sign-ups are tonight. Life group on Wednesday, and soccer practice on Thursday. Never a dull moment at our house! Sometimes I think we are too busy! Be blessed this week! Love ya!

Energy fair

Today was an excellent day! The Red Sox whooped the Yankees 9-2 at Yankee stadium, and my boys began soccer on this perfectly crisp and cool, tons o' sunshine Saturday here in Vermont! They each had an excellent first game of the season! Unfortunately, mom forgot the camera, so no pictures today. NEXT WEEK! :) I like soccer season WAAAY better than baseball season. Cub scouts also begins in a week, and we'll have BOTH boys in that as well.

This afternoon, we attended the GMP Energy Fair, and it was a ton of fun! The coolest part was that the kids each got to take a ride up in the bucket of a electric company truck... 55 feet high! Check out these cool pictures!


Adam in the GMP power truck bucket


Nick in the bucket... going up?



In other news, my mom and my upstairs neighbor Leonard are in mourning as Jeff Gordon FAILED to make it into the Chase for the Nextel Cup championship tonight. Needed to be in the top 10... he finished in 12th. Ouch. Sorry guys.

Well, it is totally late, and I am exhausted. We had such a nice afternoon/evening with our friends Joey and Kathy. Today was their son Kenny's 16th birthday, and after the party we had a little campfire in their backyard, and roasted marshmallows for s'mores. Yum! Joe and Kathy are awesome to hang out with. Love you guys!

Time for bed! Night!

Busy life

Hey... haven't posted much lately because I have been busy with LIFE! My older son's teacher is apparently handing out disciplinary "warnings" for natural body functions like coughing and going to the bathroom, and my six year old lost a major front tooth, just one week before school pictures... how cute will that be? Hee hee hee! Soccer season has also begun with a vengeance. Adam has practice on Thursdays and the both play on Saturday morning. Six weeks of soccer. Yippee! Also, my little brother (who is MUCH taller than me) is turning 34 today! Happy birthday bro!! Love ya! I am thankfully back in the classroom substitute teaching and having a ball! I love it! We got to sing the school song today at UMS for all-school assembly... I love that song!

What other ramblings can I post here? OH!!! I finally got my car back today with brand new radiator on board. Thank God! Having one car is like having only one leg! NOT GOOD.

Well, it is late... time to hit the sack. Before you go, though, CHECK OUT THIS AWESOME VIDEO!!!!!!!!!!!!

Peace. Michelle

Donate Blood

You want to help the disaster relief efforts, but don't have the money? Give the gift of life... DONATE BLOOD TODAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Good news on my classmates

I spoke with Charlie's parents in Maine yesterday. Charlie and Lisa and their four children were able to evacuate in their RV to Lafayette, LA. That's where Lisa and the kids are now. Charlie is in the coast guard, so he is very busy right now working in the rescue/recovery effort out of Alexandria, LA. My other classmate, Tracy, and her family are headed back to Gulfport, MS to repair their home. Evidently, part of their roof caved in, so they need to get it fixed before it rains again and totally destroys their home. They headed home with enough supplies to last them about 4-5 weeks. I cannot imagine.

I'm feeling a bit "off" right now... will have to write more later. Check this out... on our church headquarters homepage, there is a picture of Chalmette, LA where one of our churches is... wow.

Back to school... for me!

The boys went back to school yesterday. Today was MY first day back substituting in the classroom! How wonderful it felt to be back! I was at my favorite little school in Colchester today (I love the people there dearly!) and had the time of my life! Tomorrow, I will be subbing at my oldest son's new school... never been there before. This will be the perfect opportunity to get to know the people at his new digs. I love what I do!

I also received two phone calls this evening from my sons' soccer coaches... yikes! That time of year already! And I had completely forgotten that I signed them up! I planned two weekend trips in a row (one to Kittery, ME and one to Guildhall, VT). The games are on Saturdays... oops. Sorry coach! Oh well. The cool thing about soccer this year is that the games will be at the new Tree Farm Soccer fields right across the street from us! YES! We can walk or ride our bikes there! Nice! I totally love where we live!

Still no word on my classmates Charlie and Lisa, who live in Slidell, LA... all in our class of 1984 are holding our breaths waiting to hear if they are okay. They have four children.....

Enough for tonight. Time for bed. A freight train is plowing past my house right now at 11:15 pm... grrrr. Love to you all... keep praying for those in the south... and those in Taiwan being pummelled by typhoon Talim. The earth's weather is getting a bit out of hand, I think. It's like it is throwing a temper tantrum! I think it needs a spanking.... Good night!