Smackdown 101

Our local paper ran an article this week reporting several cases of paddling in a neighboring school district. I wasn't aware that spanking was an option for doling out punishments in schools these days, but that wasn't the part that of the article that bothered me. What stood out most to me was that the schools that paddled kids were middle and high schools.

I don't want to get into a huge debate on corporal punishment. I was spanked as a child, and I didn't like it. I have spanked as a parent, and I didn't like it. It tends to work, but there are so many other ways to go about raising well-behaved kids. That's not the issue that grabbed my attention.

First of all, IF someone is going to paddle a child, shouldn't it be the parent? I wouldn't want a teacher or principal whacking away at my child any more than I would want my husband's employer to smack him when he and his buddies play around on YouTube while he's supposed to be working. (Or maybe...ummm...no never mind. Love you, Hubby!) I remember when the "bad boys" used to get spanked in the spare room when I was in school. The teacher would always return feeling terrible and the spanked kid was humiliated, red-faced and furious. It never made a boy behave for more than the rest of that school day.

And then there's the matter of age-appropriate discipline. These schools are spanking kids who are well beyond the age where a swat on the butt would deter bad behavior anyway. Who paddles a 17 year old?? They're just going to wish they could turn around and hit you back.

If a high school student is behaving so badly that it comes down to paddling, perhaps they don't belong in school in the first place. A repeatedly unruly 17 year old should just be made to leave school. If they're acting so rotten, they must not want to finish their education anyway, so why not go home and stay there? Let the ones who CAN behave have some peace so they can learn.

What are your thoughts?

Birthday Cake!

FUN on a Saturday afternoon.

We got to go to Claire's third, third birthday party today. I think that's right. Is she on her third party? Well, she deserves every one...since she never had a party for the first two years. I think she's got the hang of it now, though. Cake and presents...oh yeah.

What girl doesn't love that?!

It was especially exciting because this was the first time we got to meet Claire.

Her mommy and I went to school together...a long, long time ago.

And it was extremely exciting for another reason, but I'll let her mom tell all those details!

(You'll have to click to the right on Gour Family to see. Go ahead, I'll wait.)

Here's the giggly three year old birthday girl...

Exercising Darling Daughter round and round in circles.


Charming little miss Goldie Locks!

"Oh my gosh they're SINGING to me!"

Claire knows all her letters...she spelled them out on her birthday cake.

Ever tried to get two sets of twins to be still for the camera?? It's not easy!

Parker, Noah, Quatro & Pip.

(Am I right?)

Me & Chelsea...haven't seen each other in 20 years!

We had a terrific time! Can't wait to get the kids together again.

I promise Darling Daughter will actually TALK next time.

Wednesday Prayer Meetin'

Psalm 139:13-16

13 For you created my inmost being;

you knit me together in my mother's womb.

14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;

your works are wonderful, I know that full well.
15 My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place.

When I was woven together in the depths of the earth,
16 your eyes saw my unformed body.

All the days ordained for me were written in your book

before one of them came to be.

This week is all about praise and giving thanks to God for the gifts He has given us.

I want to get started early today by thanking Him for giving my son the gift of determination.

He earned his first stripe in Jiu Jitsu Tuesday night...earlier than expected!

Not bad for a little boy who wasn't supposed to function well throughout this life.

But God has plans for each of us; He knew us before we were even conceived.

He knew Pip Squeak would have challenges and He gave Pip an extra dose of persistence.

I'm so thankful for that!

Congratulations, Pip!

Do you have a praise?

Leave your comments and let us know what you're thankful for this week!

Need an extra prayer...leave a message and we'll keep your requests in our prayers this week, too.

Here she is...

This is my girl.

A blurry picture of my girl. With unnaturally straight hair.

My girl who likes attention. Lots of attention.

Preferably focused on HER at all times, thank you.

After all, why should you be paying attention to anyone else?

This attention-seeking girl of mine is really missing her cheerleading competitions where she could show off on stage in front of hundreds (or thousands, depending on the competition) especially this time of year when competitions are in full swing. She hates missing the excitement, crowds, overnight trips and trophies.

So she decided to enter another type of competition.

One where all eyes would be on her, at least for a few seconds!

And so, this Saturday, we (well, she) did her high school pageant.

Her very first pageant, I might add.

Here she is standing with the other contestants, waiting on the big announcements...Miss Freshman, Miss Sophomore, Miss Junior and Miss Senior. And then, finally, Miss "Insert School Name Here" High School.
The spotlight is on my girlie...in the hot pink dress.

Yes, the shortest in her group despite wearing heels.

That's because she doesn't do 6 inch heels with her knee.

There were a lot of gorgeous dresses at this pageant.

And some really UGLY ones, too.

These girls are the Freshman and some of the Sophomore contestants.

They were told to dress according to what would be appropriate for their age, which is 14 and 15.

Most of them complied. Some, well, not so much.

My baby girl didn't win, but she sure had a terrific time. She enjoyed the practices and dress rehearsals and getting all fixed up (although she didn't let me have her nails done) and showing off in front of a crowd. She wants to do it again. Her best friends came to watch her and brought her flowers. Her big brother even came home from a camping trip to watch his sister.


Here are the Senior and Junior girls. Some of these dresses look like they came from Vanna White's wardrobe. However, I LOVE the lime green one. (Third from right.) It looked awesome on stage.

The Seniors had to perform a talent routine. One of them recited a poem. One played the flute. Another played the piano, one danced, there was a gymnast, and a Tina Turner umm...impersonation. All very interesting. Yeah.



It was a fun experience. Darling Daughter says she's going to do a few more small pageants for practice before next year's high school pageant. And when she's a Senior, she plans to knock them dead with her talent. Literally. She wants to twirl a flaming baton! Good thing we have firemen in the family.

Friday Night Concert

Darling Daughter loves singing to Youtube videos. She doesn't like me to videotape HER while she's singing, though, so I have to be sneaky! She hit a few clunkers, there, so overlook those if you will.

And wish us luck tonight...something exciting is about to take place!

The sister blog!

My sister just called & informed me that she's bored and she doesn't feel good. She told me to write something on my blog so she'd have something to read. Since she asked so nicely (yeah she's not REALLY nice, she just pretends) I will oblige her. This one is all about my sister!

1. When she was a tiny baby she got pneumonia or something and had to be put back into the hospital for several days. This was just the beginning of her trying to HOG all of the attention! Just kidding Sissy.
2. When I was little I thought there was nothing so pitiful as the pictures our mom took of my poor baby sister in her humongous hospital crib.
3. Did I mention out mother is weird? Who takes pictures of their sick BABY? Well, nowadays maybe, but in 1973??
4. Oops. Did I just let it slip how old my sister is?? That's OK, I'm older!
5. When she was small, I could get her to call me "Ma'am". But only until she was old enough to know better.
6. We used to put on pretend pageants and award each other our trohpies. The hall was our runway. We even had X's taped on the carpet and interviewed each other.
7. She REALLY liked to drink "Sock-it Meek" when she was a little girl. (Chocolate milk, for those who don't speak her language.)
8. She could pitch one heck of a fit when she was a kid! (Still can, when she wants to!)
9. I have a picture of her sleeping on the kitchen floor amidst all the pots and pans she used to bang on for fun.
10. She and I took all the cross bars off of our swing set and made it into bars for playing gymnastics.
11. She broke her arm at gymnastics and our mother sent her to school the next morning!! The first grade teacher had to call Mom to come right away and pick up her broken child!
12. She was better at gymnastics than me.
13. My sister always had better hair than me! And more hair! Still does!
14. She got to have bangs because she doesn't have a stupid cow-lick, like me.
15. She and her friends made up a dance to "Shout" by Tears for Fears. I still crack up thinking about it!!
16. She used to get up before DAWN on Saturdays to watch the Smurfs!
17. She would sit in the recliner with the remote handle to our brand new VCR and record Smurfs (without commercials) so she could watch them again later!
18. Ohh...one time Santa Claus brought her a BROKE TV!!
19. And once he brought her a jar of grape jelly, too!
20. She knows all about the top secret "Fudge on the Stairs" deal!
21. She and I had matching pink gingham dresses for Easter one year. Blech!
22. One of her best childhood memories was when our grandma took her to Macy's for a haircut when she was about 12.
23. SHE SNUCK OUT OF THE HOUSE when she was a kid! At night! (I didn't do that until I was much older!)
24. I bet she remembers how well our mom had us trained...we would call her at work and ASK if we could have a snack! Like she'd have known the difference!
25. She technically has more kids than I do.
26. She has had WAY more speeding tickets than me.
27. Her hair has been a lot more colors than mine has.
28. She's a lot skinnier than me, too.
29. She never answers her cell phone when I call.
30. She's going to have our dad over to her house for Thankgiving.

I'm glad she's my sister!!

Cold under the collar.

We don't often get very cold temperatures around here for days at a time, and guess what? That's fine by me! It's one of the reasons I LIVE here, hello?? I think my kids wore their jackets for about three weeks in a row last winter. I mean, why bother when you're going from a warm house to a warm car and then into a warm school and it will be 60 degrees by recess time?

So today I am expressing my displeasure with the weatherman. We've had temps in the 20's every morning this week and I'm sick of it! Can you change your forecast for next week? Please! I've had all I can stand now, and I don't like the looks of things. Ten more days with temps in the 20's & 30's every morning? That's going to require some extra laundry duty on my part because I know we don't have that many pairs of SOCKS!

Here are things I dislike about COLD (since you're dying to know, right?).

1. I don't like BEING cold. Cold fingers. Cold toes. Cold nose. Yuck.
2. I have to wear sweats and sock in the HOUSE and that's just not right!
3. I don't like getting all sweaty working out at the Y and then going outside only to be blasted in the face with frosty air.
4. I hate getting out of a warm shower and freezing my butt off for the next 30 minutes.
5. When it's cold the kids want coffee, like EVERY morning. That means I have to do extra work. No one wants cold iced tea for breakfast when you can see your breath. Except me.
6. The toilet seat is freezing!! Geesh, can't somebody invent a thingie to keep the seat warm?
7. And while you're at it, invent something to warm the steering wheel!
8. There's frost on the car windows and you can't see through it!
9. The dog's water is frozen in the mornings, too.
10. It's too darn cold to go outside with Lucy in the mornings. My children are turning purple out there waiting on her to do her business. And I don't think Lucy likes peeing while she shakes.
11. I don't like wearing coats.
12. I don't like the smell of the heater the first few times it cycles on.
13. When it's very cold, the stupid fire pager goes off all night & day. Because people put space heaters right next to their beds. Or right next to their baby's cribs. And guess what that means? If you're not careful, either you're going to get carbon monoxide poisoning or catch something on fire.
14. If it's GOT to be so cold, couldn't it at least SNOW a little bit?
15. What am I saying? No snow. NO snow! Snow makes it worse because if one little flake falls people are bombarding the grocery store fighting for every last loaf of bread and pack of batteries...cause you know that snow ain't melting for at least three hours and what if you need a sandwich??

The only GOOD things about cold...a warm hubby to snuggle with. And a kid or two to share a blanket with while watching movies.

Wednesday Prayer Meetin'

Welcome to Wednesday Prayer Meetin'. If you've visited before, I'm glad you're back! If you've never stopped by on a Wednesday before, please stick around. You don't have to comment if you don't feel like sharing.

But if you need to know someone else is on your side today, we're happy to pray for you.

This morning's video is in honor of two dear bloggy friends, Momster and Tonggu Mom. They're going through their own storms this week, each different but both painful. Momster asked me a question yesterday. I didn't really have an answer. Except, the words of this song. They're my answer. That's how you get through. Keep on praising God. He loves you so much.

I pray that these moms will feel God's presence in the midst of their storms. I pray that they will cling to God's promises in their pain. I pray that their families weather the storms they're facing and come through stronger than before the rain began.

Oh, and my daughter, (who's only 15 and doesn't have a clue what these two are facing, really, she only knows they're hurting) offers this advice: "Remember that we walk THROUGH the valleys...we don't have to STAY in them! And God walks through with us." She also says, "Go read Matthew 6:25-37." She says this song has special meaning to her because it reminds her of the Hurricane Katrina victims she met this past summer. They were still prasing God years later...still living in their FEMA trailers and still without much help...but still praising God.

If you would, please add these two to your list this morning, and take a moment to lift these two moms up in prayer. Pray for Momster's family. Also lift up Tonggu Mom's Hubby. His dad is at the end of his battle with cancer.

As for me...well, I feel pretty silly asking, because it's nothing compared to what others are facing...but Darling Daughter is up to something this weekend. She's trying something completely new and exciting and her mama is really nervous! Pray that she does a good job, has fun and is a good example to others. I'll get tell you all about it on Sunday! Maybe.

Tell me how you need to be prayed for this morning.

Love to all of you!

**Updated to add...the tiny twins, Erin and Tyler, are doing well this week. Erin has pooped! A huge deal because it means her bowels are working again. God is good.**

Also, please read the comments so that you can read how others need your prayers this week.

Only I can prevent forest fires!

In case I haven't mentioned here before, we have some terrific neighbors. Really. They have come to our rescue on more than one occasion. Like when the Hubby and teens were out of town and the water line to the ice machine burst and spewed all over my new kitchen floor...and under my house...and everywhere. Neighborly Neighbor went to the hardware store, got under my house and stopped the leak! And then there's the time my oven caught fire and my kitchen was going up in flames. Neighborly Neighbor came running with fire extinguishers and bravely charged into my smoke-filled kitchen to put out flames!

But today...well...let me just say it was a good thing I came home when I did!

Over the weekend the neighbor burned a huge pile of leaves and pine straw across the street in the woods. This morning the pile was just barely smoldering...a thin puff of left-over smoke wafted up into the air. This afternoon as I drove down our street and stopped at the mailbox, one of the twins called my attention to the huge plume of smoke clouding over the road. I drove a little further to check it out...and there were flames flickering all back in the trees, through the underbrush and such. Like...the beginnings of a forest fire. Like...good thing it rained three inches over the weekend!!

Darling Daughter called her daddy and asked if he thought we should call 911. I called Neighborly Neighbor and asked if he knew his little pile was burning out of control.

Well...no, actually, he didn't. He came running out and grabbed a hose! Luckily, he got it out within minutes.

But I'm keeping my eye on the pile for a few days. Just in case!

He's Got My Back...

Ten second conversation at the drive-in window of McDonald's this afternoon:

Drive-in Dude: "How ya doing, Sweetheart? You order an ice cream sundae, Baby? OK, here ya go, Darling, have a good one."

Pip Squeak (leaning over to see in the drive-in window): "Hey! You hittin' on my woman?!"

And then he says to me: "Don't worry, Mom, I got it covered when Dad's not here!"

Wednesday Prayer Meetin'

The song in the video above was originally meant for a friend I haven't heard from in months. She lost her sweet, precious baby boy this past summer and her family literally fell apart.

But God holds the world in His hands, and He knew that Niki wasn't the only one hurting this morning. Momster, I think He picked this one out especially for you.

I love that song. Sometimes I need to be reminded that Jesus is the only one capable of meeting all of my needs. Don't you? He's our healer, our heartbreak mender and our best friend. There's no person on earth who can meet all of our needs. No human can always cheer us up or make us happy. No one can really make it all better when we're hurting. We call our husband our soul mate. We say our boyfriend is our everything. We refer to our best friends as our lifesavers. Our moms and dads as our rocks.

They're people, just like us. People make mistakes, and they let us down. People turn their backs on us when we need them most. People don't always K NOW that to do.

They hurt us just as we hurt them.

Jesus IS our lifesaver. He's our rock, our soul mate and our best friend. He will never let us down. Turn to Him when you're hurting. Hold on to Him. Tell Him what's on your mind. Let Him love you through your pain.

If you've stopped by today, please leave encouragement for my dear friends in the comments.

If you're hurting, please let us know how we can pray for you.

Prayer Requests:

1. Please pray for The Momster. She and her family are going through tough times right now. Pray for wisdom and guidance so that she'll know what to do next. Pray for hearts to open up in love and their family to heal. Pray for God's will.
2. Pray for Niki. Her family has fallen apart and she feels betrayed. Pray for comfort and peace for her and her two children. Pray that she can feel God at work in her life, even though she may not understand. Pray that she'll feel happiness again.
3. Pray for Terry. Terry and his girlfriend lost their little boy this week. The baby was only 2 years old. He choked to death. These parents are very young. They are devastated over his loss.
4. Pray for my "Boss" at work. Her little boy is hurting from their family's break-up and lashing out at his mom. Pray for their Mom-Son relationship to strengthen and for her son to feel safe in her love.

Add your needs below. Let us know how we can pray for you. Go by and visit Momster and give her a word of encouragement. She could use it today!

Just a reminder...

Come back by tomorrow for Prayer Meetin'. If you're not already in the habit of stopping by on Wednesdays, please visit! You'll find that we all need a little prayer in the middle of the week. Share with us what's in your heart or on your mind. Cause you know we love ya!

Veterans Day with the Fourth.

Today was the Veteran's Day program at the twins' elementary school. Of course the boys had all but forgotten about it until 7:30 this morning. All of a sudden it occurred to Pip Squeak that they had not asked any of "their" veterans to come to the program. (Well, they did ask their great-grandaddy last week, but he's 87. It's never a sure thing whether he's going to feel like doing something or not.)

So, as I said, this morning it suddenly dawned on Pip Squeak that they weren't going to have a veteran of their own to show off in front of the school. So he had me make a quick phone call to my step-dad. Otherwise known as G.F. (Grandfather, that's what the boys call him.) I wasn't sure he would go, since the program started at 9:00. When I called, G.F. was already headed out the door for his morning workout. However, being the kind-hearted old softy that he is, he changed his clothes and headed to the school. The boys were thrilled beyond belief. If you've read much of my blog at all, you may know that Quatro is a military fanatic. All things having to do with country, patriotism and soldiers are on his mind constantly. He was in heaven having his own Grandfather, a graduate of the Naval Academy, and retired Navy Captain by his side. The only way it could possibly have been ANY better would have been to drag poor old 87 year old WWII Great-Grandaddy there to put on display, too!

After the program, a reporter from our local paper approached them to ask a few questions. This particular reporter has done a few stories on Pip in the past, so he recognized his name. He turned to ask Quatro's name, to put it in the paper with their photo. At which point my son asks, "You mean my real name?"

Umm...yeah kid, your real name. Not your undercover superhero name. Not the name you took when the government put you into hiding. Your real name.

"Oh, well, I'm Insert Real Name Here the FOURTH."

Right. Except he's not. The fourth that is. Well, not really. Technically, I guess he IS the fourth boy in a row to have that first and last name. His dad and grandpa and great-grandpa all had the same. But they all have different middle names. There's a Junior, but no 3rd and certainly no 4th. He doesn't even go by the same name as his dad. Or his grandpa. How in the world the boy came up with this fourth business is beyond me. We're not the Rockefellers.


I guess our little part of the world will see a touching photo in tomorrow's paper of two little boys, their grandfather, G.F., and a child who made up his own distinction. Life is NEVER dull.

SOOC

"The covers of this book are too far apart."
Ambrose Bierce (1842 - 1914), The Devil's Dictionary

It only took him 7 weeks to finish Harry Potter #5.

He loves to read, but there are so many more important things a boy needs to do each day!

For other Straight Out Of Camera shots, please visit Slurping Life by clicking here or on the SOOC button to your right.

Martial Art Monsters

Here are the dudes, dressed in their Monday, Tuesday and Thursday evening attire.

Pip Squeak is stylin' in his bright blue Gracie Barra Brazilian Jiu Jitsu gi...complete with patches & stuff. It's all about intimidation.

Quatro is all serious and stoic in his plain, white, non-attention-getting white

Korean Tae Kwon Do umm...outfit thingie. Because Tae Kwon Do is NOT all about intimidation.

In case you don't know the difference, I will explain. Jiu Jitsu is all about grappling. If someone knocks you down and tries to choke you, Jiu Jitsu teaches you the proper way to flip that bad guy over on his back, pull his arms backwards behind his head, and make him kick like a stomped cockroach. Whereas, with Tae Kwon Do, if a bad guy approaches you, you will be able to kick him in the head and then punch his lights out. All while remaining very calm, respectful and centered.

Jiu Jitsu is perfect for Pip...because he's not so much about the balance. He's all about ripping arms out of their sockets. And choking. And squashing. Also he's a sucker for an instant reward, and belts are earned much faster in Jiu Jitsu.

Quatro loves Tae Kwon Do because discipline and respect are stressed. It's very orderly in class. There is bowing, and there is quiet, and there is paying strict attention. He thrives on that. He would have a COW if someone threw him down and started choking him, but he can kick a board in two any old day. Plus, he can wait for a reward if it's worth it to him. It takes longer to earn a new belt color because you have to learn many moves, kicks and punches and then test on them first.

Pip Squeak did ask me this question yesterday, "Jiu Jitsu is all about rolling around on the floor with people, so how am I supposed to get a bully down in the first place? Am I supposed to say 'please lay on the floor for me so I can kick your butt now?'" I didn't know the answer to that one. Luckily, tonight he learned some take-down techniques other than the polite verbal request.

So, you see, by having one twin in each form of Martial Arts, we are creating the perfect Dynamic Duo. Twins of Terror. Bad guys, beware! If you mess with these boys, you will get a round house kick to the gut, and when you fall to the ground in agony, the other twin will twist your arms into pretzels. There will be no begging for mercy. But, if you wouldn't mind, hold off on the attacks until they've at least earned their yellow belts.

The Dingbat Diaries, Vol.3

For this installment of The Dingbat Diaries I won't be naming any names. I'm protecting the guilty party from embarrassment, here, but she knows who she is. We dearly love her. But she definitely qualifies for The Dingbat Diaries. And for once, the Dingbat isn't my daughter. She might as well be, she's with my two older kids all the time as a matter of fact. She even took a Zumba class with my mom this week. Anwyay...

Today's Dingbat works part-time (works, see, I told you she's not mine) at the local burger joint. One day while working, the restaurant ran out of tea. Someone suggested that she make some more tea. She discovered that there were two boxes of tea bags. And she inspected them. And then she held them up and asked, "Which ones make the SWEET tea?"

Oh yes, she did.

Now you see why she fits in so well with our family? She could be Darling Daughter's twin. She even has the curly hair.

Some time I will share all about the night she and Darling Daughter cooked dinner together...and the trouble they had figuring out how to measure 3 and 3/4 cups of water in a measuring cup that only holds 2 cups.

Wednesday Prayer Meetin'

"Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God."

Matthew 5:9

However you voted yesterday, this is an important verse for all of us to remember.

We are one nation, and we need to pull together and pray for our leaders.

Prayer requests today:

1. Pray for our new president-elect and wisdom as he selects his cabinet and advisers and gets ready to lead.
2. Pray for my son who really, really needs a job! He has applied, interviewed and completed his physical fitness testing for a position with our local public safety. He would be able to work AND continue school, they'll even let him leave to attend school when he's on shift. He has money for college, but gas and insurance are necessary, too. Please pray that if it's God's will, he'll be chosen for this position. It would be perfect for him!
   
   

A Place to Pounce From

Kristin from We Are THAT Family recently posted about the kitty door her dear hubby installed for the family pets. Which reminded me that I haven't posted yet about the doggie door WE recently put in our laundry room. So yeah, I'm totally going to steal her idea here and post about the pet door. But, I'm not really stealing since we have a DOGGIE door, not a KITTY door and we put it in for SANITY not SMELL.

About two weeks ago, the Hubby put a tiny doggie door into our laundry room door. Because all of a sudden it got cold for three days in a row, and Lucy the Demon Dog was pitiful out there in the mornings all shivery and pathetic while we were eating breakfast. (Well, she was SUPPOSE to be doing her business and eating HER breakfast. Instead, she just sat by the door, whimpering and freezing. I never said she was all that smart.) The laundry room is a good size, there's a little bit of light, it's warm and it's downstairs and it can be entirely closed off when we don't want Lucy begging at the table. Or flying through the air and landing smack in the middle of my stomach when I'm TRYING to watch CSI.

So the door went in and Lucy promptly decided there was no way in heck she was going through that confounded piece of plastic. The boys enticed her with treats. They sat on either side and called her name. She wouldn't budge. So then they pushed her, nose first, back & forth. Well, she was not having any of that, thank you very much! She ran to another side of the yard and hid.

It took her about 10 days and 2 inches of rain to figure out that she liked having her own private entrance. We were having breakfast this weekend...bacon, eggs and grits...when all of a sudden taa daa! Here's Lucy. One of the boys put her back out. She ran right down the steps, through the doggie door, up the stairs and taa daa, here's Lucy again. Then it dawned on us that maybe we should shut the laundry room door. Ahhh. Her evil plan was foiled. She ran down the steps, through the doggie door and...umm...whimper, whine and squeal. "Those mean humans won't let me beg for bacon!"

Now she tries it every single time we put her out. Sometimes it works. We get a doggie bomb to the stomach just when we were about tofall asleep. But mostly, she has a place to come in from the cold when no one is home. And to hide from the meter reader...just before she makes her attack!

By the numbers

1 weekend

30 hungry teenagers

3 youth leaders

25 hours without food

3 hours of lazer tag at 3am

36 sleepless hours

40 degree weather

countless games of football and cards

4 cooks

6 dozen eggs

120 biscuits

30 full stomachs

900 dollars raised

10 needy families will be fed Thanksgiving dinner!

One 15 year old girl slept 17 hours in a row afterward.