NJHS

Last Monday we went to the school auditorium to watch Jesse be inducted into the National Junior Honor Society.
He's in that crowd someplace.  You can see Will's friend David on the frount row.  He's the one about a foot taller than everyone else.
Here is Jesse getting his membership pin from the sponsor.  A little blurry, but I was to far away for the flash to be effective.
He then signed his name to the member book in blood.  OK, maybe not blood.
After the ceremony all the kids pretended to be happy so their parents could take their picture.

Stiles

I was reading my book last night (see "What I'm Reading Now" in the right hand column), and one of the characters was sitting on a "stile".  That made me wonder, "What is a stile?".  According to Wikipedia, "A stile is a structure which provides people a passage through or over a fence or boundary via steps, ladders, or narrow gaps. Stiles are often built in rural areas or along footpaths to allow access to an adjacent field or area separated by a fence, wall or hedge."

These first two stiles are crossing Hadrians Wall in England.  There are many different styles of stiles.
This last one has a dog gate that you can lift up to let your dog through the fence.
And that is what a stile is.  Since my grandmothers maiden name was Stiles, I can't help but wonder if there is a connection somehow.

We were a host home for DNOW at our church.  We hosted the 9th adn 10th grade boys again this year.  It worked well for Will because he didn't have to pack up and go anywhere.  In fact, he slept in his own bed every night.  Piper enjoyed having people to sleep on at night.  I think she thought that her pack expanded.  The boys played cards, visited, got to know each other better, and chased each other up and down the halls with nerf guns.  At night, the living room was wall to wall bodies.  There were kids sleeping in the gaming nook, Jesse's room, and under the dining table.  It was funny.  Will wouldn't let anyone in his room.  He likes his privacy.  HAHA!!!  Feeding this crowd was an adventure.  I made the mistake of not getting to the grocery store on the first night so when they arrived at 1100pm the boys were starved.  They ate popcorn, chips, cereal, and fig newtons (they were hungry!). They drank a gallon of sweet tea and 1/2 gallon of milk.  The next morning I got up and cooked 2 pounds of bacon and 42 pancakes.  They also went through a gallon of orange juice and a gallon of milk.  Jeff and I went to the grocery store and I had asked the boys to give me a wish list of snacks.  They really had a pretty fair list of snacks.  Cheetoes, beef jerky, bean dip, Cheezit crackers, Ritz crackers, and lemonade.  We bought that and then I made 4 dozen cookies.  I made up 3 gallons of lemonade, a gallon of sweet tea, a gallon of unsweet tea and when I got up the next morning it was all gone.  On Sunday morning, I cooked a pound of bacon, 30 sausage patties, 2 dozen eggs, and 4o biscuits.  I also made a gallon of orange juice and had a gallon of milk set out for them by 815am.  All this disappeared by 845am.  I was totally exhausted when it was all over but I really do love cooking for the crowd.  I enjoy watching people enjoy eating what I cook.  I hope the boys enjoyed being here as well.

Game of Hope

We watched channel 5 news today at 4:30 after I got home from work. They played this story and I thought it needed to be shared with everyone.



You can also see it at the channel 5 web site.