Horn Creek "Talent" Show 07

Every year, our church goes away for a church-wide retreat. It is such a wonderful, relaxing weekend. These are some of the shots from the Talent Show, which is always on Sunday night:

Believe it or not, the man in the picture and the woman just to his right in the America t-shirt are my fearless worship team leaders! They are doing a silly do-wop song here. It was really cute and funny, and they are a lot of fun no matter where you catch them doing music!

Recognize the little imp on the right? That's Nate with 2 of his best buds from church. They came up with 3 skits they called "Time Wasters" all on their own. The last 2 were actually kind of cute, but this one almost got them gonged! They sat there and counted to 120....seriously! And then told us they had just wasted 2 minutes of our time! I think if anyone had had rotten tomatoes, these guys would have gotten them in the face!



This is our beloved, fearless pastor in one of his newest metamorphoses, Joey Rocky Road the Boxer. His daughter interviewed him, and his age kept going up throughout the interview (every time she asked him how old he was, it was older!). Chuck never seems to be afraid to try anything!





This is our dear family doctor and part of his family (his son is the one sitting next to Nate in the picture above, and is also a Nate). Every year they come up with the cutest skits. His wife is seated, acting as the patron of Bubba's Burgers. His oldest daughter is the waitress in the foreground, and he is the chef, Bubba. The patron tried to order a burger, but kept finding a hair in the burger and sending it back, until finally she asked to see the chef. Out steps Bubba to explain he didn't know what the problem was since he made them all the same, at which point he proceeded to smash the "hamburger meat" flat under his arm! Needless to say, they got the laughs and groans they were looking for!!

Here is our pastor with his family (the twins were the only ones not there...his wife is on the end, and his daughter and son-in-law are in the middle). They proved that they are not afraid to be complete sillies even without a disguise as they played a kazoo medley together!

This was our offering for the talent show. Lotti and Nate are playing the part of a couple at home when the phone rings and it's a telemarketer on the other end. Steve and I are hidden behind the curtain on the right, where we played the parts of the telemarketers. We got some good laughs out of these, and have a whole book of them, so we'll definitely do more next year. The other boy in the photo of Nate and his buddies couldn't wait for a telemarketer to call their house, since he wanted to try out some of the strategies we gave them!

Here's our pastor again in what has become his yearly skit as Rev. Ima Fundy. He worries that people will get tired of it, but we've told him it's like a great movie you watch over and over until you know the lines (people have begun quoting some of the lines with him...they are hilarious lines!). This picture was actually taken last year, but this year's pictures were really blurry (he's pretty charismatic as Rev. Fundy). The only real difference is that he has no beard now.


This has been the final act for the past 2 years. This is the pastor's son-in-law. He's fire-breathing. Every year, he reminds the kids that this is not something to try at home, and how much training he's had. His wife has said she can't kiss him for days afterward. He puts some kind of igniter in his mouth to do this. It is really quite amazing.

Well, that's it. There were other acts, but they don't translate as well to the blog. Needless to say, we all had a great time again this year!

1st Day of School 07

Well, nothing stops them. When it's time to go to school, they both head out the door.

Nate left for 5th grade this year, where he is doing very, very well. He has a man for his homeroom teacher, and he and Nate have really hit it off. He thinks the world of Nate, and tells him so at every opportunity. He's told me he really "gets" Nate, and that Nate reminds him a lot of himself at that age. At Nate's school, 5th and 6th graders share portables and classes together, being known collectively as the Upper Team (since they're the "top dogs" of the school). K-2 is the Primary Team, and grades 3-4 are the Middle Team. While the other 2 teams do do some activities together, it is not to the extent that Upper Team does. We fell in love with the Upper Team when Lotti was there, and they are still just as great now. They do a fabulous job of preparing the kids for middle school and, believe it or not, high school. The way they handle the kids' responsibilities (or rather, impress upon the kids how to handle their responsibilities!) and the way they teach has a lot to do with that. Nate is really flourishing and has shown everyone what we've known all along: he's quite creative, extremely smart, and very responsible.

Lotti started her freshman year in high school. Wow. We are all still reeling a bit from that. The high school here uses a schedule somewhat like a college schedule, except that the days simply alternate rather than being a straightforward MWF and TTH. They have what they call Green and Gold days (those are the school's colors), and you alternate days, period. So, if you have Green days on MWF this week, you'll have them on TTH next week and so on. That means she only has 4 classes each day. While she has the same 1st period class every day, the other 3 switch from day to day. I think she really likes the way that works, and she's said she loves her schedule. I have to admit, when I went to Open House (more of a Meet the Teachers night here), I really liked her schedule and her teachers. So, what does she have for her freshman year? More than I did, that's for sure! She has physics, literature (a genre lit class where they cover a variety of topics), culinary arts this semester and photography next semester (they're each one semester courses), Latin (this is her choice for her foreign language...when I was in high school, we could choose French or Spanish!), geometry (which is SO different from when I was in high school...I thought I'd be able to help her some with this, but it's not at all like when I had it...who knew geometry could change???), world history (her favorite subject), and band. Since the whole high school eats lunch at the same time, she gets to eat with a bunch of the kids from youth group at church, and she really enjoys that too.

They're growing up! But they're doing it so well!!

Lotti's 1st Parade

Every August, our county holds a county fair. One of the first events is the County Fair Parade. There are the usual floats (I have no pictures of those for some reason) and crazy cars (those are used in the Rodeo, and the white one here bucked up on the back wheels and shot water out of the roof of the car....there is a clown on the back),




cars with local celebrities in them,











and of course, horses.











One of the highlights has always been the high school band. This year, it was an even bigger highlight for us since Lotti is now in the band. This was her first experience marching, and her first parade. The route is about a mile long, and while the parade began around 9 or 10 in the morning, it was August and it was plenty hot by the time those kids came through.


The kids in the gold t-shirts are the drum majors. The one on the right is a boy from our church. He's a neat guy who's really got a heart for the Lord.









The band stopped right here and we were able to enjoy one of their songs before they moved on. Even this early, they sounded really good!






Here's Lotti as she marched past us. We had brought shorts for her to change into after the parade. Her thoughts immediately afterward: "It was cool. But I am so hot and thirsty!" She did keep her band t-shirt on as we wandered around the craft booths and the fair entries, which made her feel like a bit of a local celebrity herself (and so she was!). It was fun to see her reaction to people we knew tell her what a good job she'd done, and especially the little kids we know who seemed a bit in awe of knowing someone in the parade!

Lotti begins baking

Every summer, I have my kids do "homework" (I know, it's the curse of having a former school teacher for a mom!!). In the past, they've used the unfinished portions of the workbooks they bring home at the end of the school year to do a little grammar and math each day (which Nate still did this summer). But with Lotti going into high school this year, we all realize how limited our time with her at home is growing. So one of the things I began to work with her on was learning to do some basic baking and cooking. This was her first batch of muffins. She chose the recipe, a chocolate muffin with a struesel on top. We did them as mini muffins, and they didn't quite turn out, although they look good in the picture. The tops were good, but the bottoms burnt. She was pretty excited, as you can tell.


Here, Lotti is making a rolled bread. This was her second baking attempt (the muffins were the first). This is a loaf of French bread with a basil pesto in the middle. That's the green stuff you see in the middle of the dough. She's spreading it around the dough, after which you roll up the dough like you would for cinnamon rolls and bake it like that. This turned out beautifully! You can see one of the rolled loaves on the cookie sheet in the left of the picture. She and I made these side by side, with each of us making 2 loaves a piece. We took them to a bridal shower for the guy who's been our youth intern at church. They were a BIG hit!

This semester, Lotti is taking a Culinary Arts class. She is learning even more than I had time to teach her this past summer. She's made Tres Leches (3 Milks in Spanish), a cake that has you pour a mixture of evaporated milk, condensed milk, and half-and-half (the 3 milks) over the baked cake and then let it sit for several hours. You then "ice" it with whipped cream and sprinkle cinnamon on it. She had to make that for homework for the class and then take a piece to the teacher along with comments from us. She did this one all on her own, and it turned out really well. Lotti is discovering that she enjoys being in the kitchen!

Our Air Force man

This is my handsome nephew, Tyler. He finished Air Force boot camp this past summer. We are all so proud of the young man he is. He is learning to work on the engines of planes, and is really excited about the potential he has for using that skill to see the world, courtesy of the USAF.

catching up

Okay, we all know life gets busy. While I don't like using that as a reason for neglecting the blog, it's the best I've got right now! But I do want to fill in several gaps from these past few months. The dates on the blog itself won't match the dates of the actual events, but at least you'll get a chance to see and read about a few things that have happened over the past several months. I'll go ahead and put them under headings that will describe the events so that at least they each get their own space. And so, now on to the first past event....

Ask what you wish...

“In Gibeon the LORD appeared to Solomon in a dream at night; and God said, “Ask what you wish Me to give you.”

1 Kings 3:5

The God of the universe offers Solomon an enormous gift: “ask what you wish.” God Almighty, whose resources are completely unlimited, says in effect, “Solomon, what is your heart’s desire?” Imagine---having all the treasures of Heaven made available to you, and being told to ask for what you wish. What would you ask for?

I’ve been considering that question over the past several days. You see, Solomon and I have a lot in common (Don't laugh! Keep reading!). He was a king who had been handed the throne of an infant nation. Although Israel had come a long way in the years since taking possession of the Promised Land, there was still much that needed to be done to make it into a productive and cohesive whole. Military, administrative, financial, diplomatic, and religious problems stared him in the face, begging answers. I am sure he spent many days and nights thinking through possible solutions, keeping one, discarding another, trying to discern what was his best course of action. Maybe the question, “How am I going to do all this?”, crossed his mind. His responsibilities weighed heavily upon him. So many decisions to be made…none of them small…and he didn’t want to misstep.

For me, I find that in the “Bublitz Kingdom”, school days make for very hectic days. Administrative, financial, diplomatic, and religious obligations stare me in the face, begging answers (while I didn’t mention military, there are moments when my role as mediator between the Land of Lotti and the Nation of Nate sometimes force me to have to threaten military force!). Thinking through the list of myriad responsibilities that fall under each of those broad headings makes my head spin on the best of days, and crushes my spirit with its overwhelming demands on the worst. I have spent many days and nights over the past few weeks thinking through possible solutions, keeping one, discarding another, trying to discern what is my best course of action. I have asked many, many times during those days, “How am I going to do all this?” My responsibilities weigh heavily upon me. So many decisions to be made…none of them small…and I don’t want to misstep.

Like Solomon, I have gone to the Lord. And like Solomon, I find that my Lord says to me “ask what you wish” in John 14:14: “If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it.” So, what do I ask for?

Just as there were many fine and reasonable things Solomon could have asked for (riches, long life, death of his enemies), I can think of many fine and reasonable things I could request: riches to pay for the mounting monetary demands of having a teenager and a pre-teen; death to the enemies who assail my gates (Interruptions, Squabbles, Misunderstandings, Worry, Impatience, Time Constraints, to name but a few!!); children who obey my every command the first time without grumbling or complaining (I can dream, can’t I???)….. When I first think about what I might ask for, I find that I tend to focus on the need of the moment (that death to my enemies thing is one I find myself requesting constantly from God!!). But if I follow my friend Solomon’s example, I remember another verse Jesus gave us: “Seek first His Kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” (Matt. 6:33). That’s exactly the way it worked for Solomon. When he sought God and His desires first, God took care of all those other issues. In seeking God’s wisdom, he requested something that would enable him to handle his adversity rather than simply being relieved of stress and trouble. And when I seek His wisdom, I find that He gives me another promise: “But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without [Lit. does not reproach ] reproach, and it will be given to him.” Wow, talk about the treasures of Heaven….

Seeking the Heavenly Treasure of His Wisdom,
Sherri