Cop Eek At

Last Thursday, Beth Moore posted "Malapropisms" on her blog, The LPM Blog. It included the definition of a malapropism and an invitation to readers to post their own examples. In case you need a little help, here's the definition of a malapropism from the online dictionary: (I not only needed help with the definition, I also had to hear it pronounced a couple of times before I could get it right!)

1.an act or habit of misusing words ridiculously, esp. by the confusion of words that are similar in sound.

2.an instance of this, as in “Lead the way and we'll precede.”

I started reading the comments, which were already up to 43 in the first morning after posting. I was laughing my way through them when I decided to add one of my own. Before doing so, I went back to the original post and realized it was now up to 122 comments! I was blown away -- I'm not a reader of many famous blogs so this was a new experience to me to literally watch the comment counter go off the charts before my very eyes. As of today, there are like 519 comments. Kind of reminds me of my own comment counter! Ha!

If you want a good laugh, check them out:

http://livingproofministries.blogspot.com/2008/07/malapropisms.html

I'm including a couple of favorites to whet your appetite and start your brain in motion...

Phylis R. said... One day my sweet mom was marvelling at how fast the grandkids could do all that "tex-mexing" on the cell phones.
My Grandmother excitedly told me, "I'm knitting you a beautiful African for your wedding!" She meant "Afghan"- as in wool blanket!

vonda said... my sweet grandmama always called a cellular phone a secular phone. She never could say it right, even when we tried to sound it out for her!

I was reading some of the comments to Scott and he said, "You ought to do a post like that and get examples from our friends because they are a lot more fun when you know the person." So, at the risk of being a copy cat, I thought I'd do just that. How about sharing some of the malapropisms from your family. Before you do, I'll share a few of ours...

When Michelle was debating medical malpractice, at the age of 11, she kept referring to the "genealogist" rather than the "gynecologist"...she also had a hard time saying "specific" and instead repeatedly said "pacific".

Lately, she's been rather "confuddled".

When Johnny was a little guy, he wanted to be the "ring barrier" in his uncle's wedding and thought I ought to make him a "broom" costume to go with Catie's bride costume. In his first year of debate, he cited problems with the "electrical college" rather than the "electoral" one we're all familiar with.

I remember being in a restaurant with my Grandfather when he ordered the "quickie of the day" -- the rest of us had quiche.

Yesterday Scott warned us our "fertilized" marshmallow sticks would be hot. And we thought he was just "sterilizing" them!

Oh so many examples! My sister, very innocently, had the mother-of-all-malapropisms in sixth grade, but it was so bad I cannot even include it here. All I can say is, my poor, poor mother.

* * *

Now, I'm not holding my bread that I'll rake up 519 comments lickety spilt, but I'm sure you might have a few choice exemplaries to submit.

So I'm a copy cat -- bring it on!

If am uh leek amp

If you can get my madgab before you read the post, good job. Well last week we added a new twist to a long-standing family tradition. We joined our church for the annual trek to Hartstone, but instead of kicking back and savoring the most relaxing week of the entire year, Scott & I followed our girls lead and decided to volunteer for the "week". (It wasn't really a week this year -- rather a long weekend). Though he lobbied to let the rest of the family experience a working "vacation" while he relaxed as a guest, in the end Johnny also asked to volunteer making it an entire family affair.
***
It is delightful to see what can happen when a beautiful piece of God's creation is under the care of people with vision and a willingness to work. Stan and Valerie Walker have been such a blessing at Hartstone. It is evident as you walk the camp, especially if you've been coming a few years and have a basis for comparison, how much they have done to make Hartstone a real charmer. In staff devotions each morning, we also got a less-obvious glimpse into the miracles God has provided for Hartstone and the way he has continued to build Stan & Valerie's faith as they trust Him. All that to say, it was very satisfying serving alongside capable people with a vision for what God can do.

A little background on the pictures I included: 1) Scott & I slept in the trailer but all of the kids stayed in staff housing. The first picture is of the three girls, Catie, Michelle & their friend Kayla, carrying their stuff to their cabin. I got such a kick out of all the pillows Michelle brought along -- the purple one is a full body pillow -- the picture does not do it justice but as you can see from their facial expressions, I was not going to get a second chance to get a better shot!







2) When Johnny wasn't doing dishes or other tasks, his main Hartstone activity was playing games with Sam Boyd. (I'm not sure why Sam had his name tag on his forehead -- maybe when you're a member of a large family its helpful to keep things very obvious!) Johnny and Sam played chess, Stratego, Life, Monopoly, poker, spoons ... and sometimes Johnny even won.





3) All of us girls worked very hard in the kitchen. Here Catie & Kayla are diligently cutting strawberries for the pie that evening. Yummy!! BTW, we ate sooooooo well. I had to come home and begin a two week diet after all the good cooking I enjoyed, but it was worth it. And, one of the perks of volunteering was access to all the leftovers. That pie was enjoyed more than once, as well as the delicious carmelitas.


4) Scott's official volunteer position was evening host which meant he did it all -- except the cooking. He got his hands wet with dishes, dirty cleaning bathrooms, smoky building fires, and possibly a little greasy with all the fix-it jobs he took on. He is very handy and was able to be a big help -- boy did he go to bed tired each night!





5) I got a kick out of my sweet little great-niece, Bekah. She was so cute with her little baby doll and looked like she was going to make such a tender mommy in most of the pictures. In this one though, I think the baby was getting a little tiresome.
***
It was a very satisfying, though not necessarily relaxing, visit to Hartstone. I'm really glad we did it and would not be surprised to do it someday again.
***

* * *

***

One of the fun things that came out our time at Hartstone, was an opportunity to join the Kuhners and their fellowship group on a camping trip next month. More opportunities to spend time with family are always a good thing (at least usually) AND the added bonus is Sarah's sister, Megan, will also be camping with us. She and her sweetie, Taeya, will be flying out from Colorado for a visit so we will really enjoy some extra time with them. It will be our first time meeting Taeya so we are very excited!!
***
The only draw back is that we can't bring our trailer and have to tent camp.
***
We have tent camped many times throughout our lives and loved it, but for the last three years we have thoroughly enjoyed upgrading the experience in our trailer. If Kludge gets a chance to read this, he will probably take great satisfaction knowing we will be leaving behind our comfortable queen size bed, our freezer with the ice cream, our refrigerator with the classic Coke, and our air conditioning. (Apparently we gloated over the perks of trailer life quite a bit at last year's family camp!) Bottom line -- the company has to be pretty good to lure us away from our beloved trailer and into a tent. I guess it could make for another post: If am uh leek amp in nut ant...

Fought Her Stay

Mad gabs in the title are back -- at least for today.

***

At the risk of sounding a little boastful, I have a really good idea to share in this post. You might have noticed my absence of parenting advice -- not only am I at an insecure phase of parenting (three teens!!!) but it seems like those of you raising little ones are doing a great job without my two cents!! But today I have an idea I can share. And I can share it with great enthusiasm because it is actually one that I have faithfully done for the last fourteen years with great success. Sticking to my guns and actually being consistent is not my strong suit, so this is rather remarkable not to mention really rare!!
***
Here it is...drum roll please...a perpetual Father's Day card. I got the idea out of Family Fun Magazine and being the scrap booking enthusiast I am, I modified the idea a bit to be a perpetual Father's Day card/scrapbook. Catie and Jonathan were very young in 1994, the first year I did this, and Michelle was still three months away from being born. After including Father's Day well wishes, I decided the best way to get some good thoughts from my little ones was to interview them and include the questions and answers in the album. Pictures of each child along with a bit of artwork and hand prints were included. I mounted everything into a small scrap book and presented it to my husband.

***
With Father's Day 2008, I had to begin a fourth small album, having filled three others with the previous 13 Father's Days. The kids have grown and so has the value of this gift. We love looking back at the albums and being able to see how the kids have changed -- one more reminder of how fast it truly goes. I no longer include their hand prints, that was left by the wayside several years back, but the photos and interviews and some form of artwork have remained.

***

The interviews particularly are a hoot. I always interview the kids separately so they cannot be influenced by what the others say. They could be real wild cards in their younger years! I may pick some of my favorite interview moments over the last 14 years to include in a few posts to come -- inspiration for posts no longer comes easily so that sounds rather appealing -- but for now I'll just choose a bit from Catie's 1996 interview when she was 3 1/2. Imagine a very high, squeaky voice.

***

Q: Why do you love Daddy?

A: Because he loves me.

Q: What makes daddy a good daddy?

A: Jesus and God.

Q: What is your favorite thing to do with daddy?

A: Make a picture.

Q: What would you do with daddy if you could do anything?

A: Paint a picture and color a picture. That's all I want to do.

Q: What is something daddy is good at?

A: Mowing the lawn & cleaning the car and I don't know anything else.

***

What father wouldn't want to remember that for the rest of his life?
***

Wow, a new mad gab and a good idea to boot. Does it get any better than that?