twice bitten
Last night as I got into bed, I felt something bite me. I smacked at my back under my shoulder and thought I killed whatever it was that bit me, assuming it was a mosquito. We get those in our house sometimes. But then it felt like I got bit again... in the same spot. I figured it was just the first bite being irritated... but when I went to scratch at it I squished something big... definitely not a mosquito! I think it was a spider. My husband said the bites were swelling up fast so I put peppermint oil on me and he put hydrocortizone cream on me. I think the swelling stopped at that stage. But today they have been itching and buring, and my left arm has started to hurt as well, down to my wrist. Maybe the two are unrelated. It's the same arm that I got the infection from the dog bite in back in January and could still be residual effects from that too. But it sure isn't fun to get attacked by spiders in my own room.

Other than that, had a pretty good day. I got a new mouse for my computer today. My old one was running off to the left all the time, making it hard to draw the models I've been working on. This one is cordless, and I like it so far.

I also had a wonderful experience this afternoon. We were driving down the highway toward home from shopping, and suddenly my husband slammed on the brakes. Half frightened I asked, "What happened?!" And he said, "I want to go back and look at that". My husband never wants to go back and look at anything so I knew this had to be good!! I was very interestd now, and half expecting to see a motorcycle or a Datsun-Z for sale or something. He turned around on the highway and drove back about a half a mile. And there on the side of the road, with two large orange-spray-painted signs saying *FREE* were three boxes of used picture frames! All shapes and sizes of picture frames. I didn't ask twice. I jumped out and loaded them into the truck. Getting frames for my drawings has been very much the most intimidating and expensive part of trying to use my art. And here God provided 3 boxes of frames for me. Not very many large ones, but perhaps I can start drawing some small pictures too. :) Miracles do still happen, just people don't know how to recognise them anymore. Yet small miracles are every bit as amazing.

"Thank you God, for providing for us and for directing our paths in the direction You would have us to go. And thank you for continually reminding us that You are here, and real, and alive, and helping us. Amen."

-Sparkling

We have babies!
It HATCHED!

We had this Praying Mantis Egg case, and all of us had given up on it really. Because some of them in the store were hatchingthe day I bought this one so we started to believe that ours was among those that had hatched already. But today, it hatched! We have baby mantises! Or mantii... or whatever the plural of a Praying Mantis is... about 150 of them I think. At least 100. I took a picture of them in the jar before releasing them in our yard. (Yes there are wild mantises here, we're not introducing anything that wasn't here already.) Quite impressive, all those babies at once! We didn't see them actually coming out of the case. Just saw them after it happened. I have read that they all come out all at once, and they must have because this morning there were none, and then I got up from my computer as I walked by the jar it was full of them!
Yes yes, I know, you want to see the picture and not listen to my babbling on endlessly. Alright then...

I know it's not the best picture in the world but I don't have a very good camera. This is the best of 6 shots I took. You can kinda see how many there are in there. Quite fascinating.

And yes, I apologize for not posting to my blog more often lately. I have been VERY busy, working on both games simultaneously (mostly working on drawing models for DawnTide) and not had time enough to stop and write a post. I've been drawing fairly non-stop since last week, and feel like I have a tremendous distance yet to go before we get to a point where I feel like I've contributed anything much to DawnTide. Wiz has put together a team of enthusiastic volunteers, and is coordinating the progress of Dawntide quite impressively. I'm honored to be on the team.

Also last week, a friend of ours (Obsey) donated server space and his time to help us set up the FTP & Web server and keep it running. So now we have our official website for Visions up and available for viewing! Very exciting things happening! We hope to be adding an IRC server and Forums in the near future as well.

So those of you reading my blog for updated news on the game, stay tuned, and bookmark the new website! It's official now! www.visionsgame.com

Blessings to you.
-Sparkling

Winds of change
Yesterday I stumbled into a most surprising situation. I was in an IRC chat (something I almost never do) about an online game, and through the course of discussion it was mentioned that they needed more artists for their development team, for this game that hasn't been released yet. So I offered my talents as a 3D Modeler and artist. They looked at some samples of my work and accepted me on the team!! It is a volunteer position (as in no money, work for free, hope the game succeeds, that kind of thing) rather like my own game, so I'm familiar with the "have game idea, need help" scenario. They have announced development of the game to the public, and have a preliminary website up now, which you can see here: DAWNTIDE Needlesstosay, it's somewhat exciting to be part of a develpment team (other than my own) that is in the early stages of development. I'm getting some excellent experience working on a team, and meeting some nice people in the process.

My current task is to create 3D models of animals. Something I have some experience with, so I feel up to the challenge. I'm working on a predator today. You'll have to play that game when it comes out to see my work in action! As of this writing, they still need more animators to assist the development team as well, so if you have talent and interest in that area, please contact me or somenoe from the Dev team on the DawnTide website and they will see what you can do.

Yes this means I've added another iron to my fire. But hopefully it will be a positive experience. It is already a learning experience, and knowledge gained is nearly always a good thing.

Blessings to you all.
-Sparkling

Crying in Song
I had a restless night of nightmares last night. Crokodiles were chasing me all night, boat had a leak, motor went out and we were paddling with our arms, I fell off the dock trying to climb up... lots of narrow escapes from certain death all night long. Why are animals always trying to kill me in my dreams? I like animals...

Anyway, we were late for church (as usual, doesn't seem to matter how late the service, we're late attending it) but did get there in time for songs. After a rough night, and a rough morning, I really wasn't attending because I was excited about it, but more out of an act of faith - demonstrating to myself or God (not really sure which) that I will still choose Christ, even when it's not convenient and even when it is difficult. The worship songs felt empty and just didn't captivate me, even though I usually enjoy and am uplifted by the praise and worship. In the middle of one song I just opened my heart to God and told Him, "I can't sing these songs. They mean nothing to me. It is not from my heart, and I know it is supposed to be. I'm here, and I'm supposed to be worshiping YOU, and I just can't sing these songs" and at that moment I was overwhelmed with a wave of... hard to descibe as anything other than inspiration. I had to finish the songs. Not for me, but to help the people around me so they could lift their voices in praise. And then I had to write a poem. to describe all that I had experienced in that moment. The poem itself came out as lyrics to a song (ironic considering it was singing itself that I was struggling with) and this is how it went...

Crying in Song
by: Laurene Wells - June 26, 2005

I come before You here today
Crying inside as I silently pray
The words to the songs roll off my tongue
My voice follows the notes as they are sung

1st Chorus:
But my heart is not in it
The songs don’t reach my soul.
My voice drops to a whisper
And I sing in low tones.
The pain in my heart wells up into tears.
I can’t sing anymore
So I cry through a prayer

As I open the depths of my heart up to You
I feel You come closer and talk to me too
You invite me to worship in word and in song
And You offer Your hand for me to hold on

1st Chorus...

I cling to the promise You’ll never let go.
I come here in faith as I seek renewed hope.
And I sing out these words as You ask me to do
Hoping my voice will bring glory to You.

2nd Chrous:
And now my heart is in it
And the songs reach my soul
My voice rises to soprano
As I sing higher tones.
The pain in my heart
Melts into Your hands
And I sing lout once more
Praising God where I stand.

As I sing out Your praise I feel strength in my heart
I lift up Your name through my talents and art
And feel driven to sing out to all who will hear
So you Lord can comfort the source of our tears.

2nd chorus...
END.

Copyright (c) 2005 by Laurene Wells

I hope this is uplifting, or encouraging to you as well. God bless you and may He grant you peace.

-Sparkling

Sometimes you feel like a nut... sometimes you don't
Just a quick update today. Have lots of running around to do and errands to run. And as usual, just about the time we're ready to go it's time for lunch. And since we're out of sandwich stuff, it's difficult.

Anyway, last week I invented a cookie-bar recipe that turned out really well. Wanted to share it with you. I call it:

Happy Bars

1/2 c. butter
1 c. (+/-) crushed Honey Grahm crackers
2 c. sweetened flaked coconut (like Mounds brand)
1/2 to 1 c. chopped roasted salted almonds
1 can Eagle Brand Sweetened Condensed Milk (NOT evaporated milk)
6 oz. (or more) milk chocolate, chopped or chips

using an 8-9 inch square glass baking dish, melt the butter in the microwave. Stir it around to butter the sides of the dish. Add cracker crumbs. Stir well. Press down to make a crust.

In a medium bowl mix together coconut, almonds and condensened milk. Spread over crust. Bake at 350 for about 30 minutes (until lightly golden on top). Remove from oven. Immediately spread chocolate over the top. When chocolate is soft & melted, spread out evenly. Allow to cool. Cut into squares.

Makes 16 2x2 inch servings.

Bon appetit!
-Sparkling

Where the rainbow's grow...
Several things I wanted to post, don't think I will get time enough to post them all. But first I will say that coming home from our trip, as we entered town, there was the most beautiful golden sunset to the west and a full arch rainbow filling the sky to the east. After admiring both for quite some time, I said to my husband, "This is why we live here. This is where the rainbows grow!"

Yesterday I worked on some art. I experimented with oil pastels a bit. It has been a while since I played with them.

And today worked on my website a little bit again. I added a page here: Status Report And I wrote some business related letters. Hoping the effort of that results in some positive feedback.

And now my husband is home and I have to return to making dinner. I am attempting to make a Potato chowder with leftover spicy sausages (and potatoes of course). I think it might be TOO spicy for the kids though. In which case I'll have to figure out something else to make for them.

Blessings to you.
-Sparkling

Hasta luego
Amidst another day of common chaos, I have only the briefest moment to post a thought. I will be spending all my time this weekend with my Grandma and other relatives. So you won't hear from me again until Monday or later.

Be excellent to one another.

-Sparkling

Whirlwind of chaos
WOW! It's been so busy around here I hadn't even realised how long it had been since I posted a new message! And the chaos hasn't completely subsided yet either, just a lull in the storm I think. So I'm taking a momentary breather to post a few words.

The big news is...

IT'S A BOY!

His name is George, he is 4 months old and he is already potty trained and behaves very well, and knows the commands Sit and Off, and is learning Come. Yes, we got a puppy!

For the more detailed version of the story... As some of you know we've been really tight on money, and last week Hubby said *Don't spend any money on my birthday, we can't afford it* but also over the past couple weeks/months he has sent me some links about finding a dog at the humane society, and other such puppy-related websites. Well I learned that it costs $150-250 just to adopt from a shelter now! So that wasn't going to happen. And while I had gotten him a night out for dinner, I truly did not have a present for him. And Monday morning he started sounding really depressed, like very down & out. And I had come up with some kinda cheezy sounding homemade gift ideas, but I knew every one them just screamed "we're too poor for birthdays" and that wasn't the message I wanted to convey. Hubby is making better money now, we're just trying to dig out of the hole we got in while he wasn't making enough money, and we will get there, and I think we will be ok - we're just not there yet. So I really wanted to be able to get him something that would encourage him, and that would show him that God does care and God IS helping us. So I prayed for the Lord to help me find a present he would really like, that would really make him happy, and to provide a solution to our bill problem.. And then I went back to searching for our Mortgage bill (to see about refinancing, for the purpose of being able to skip a payment - but that's not the smartest thing for us to do right now because our interest rate is only 4.625% which is lower than anything they could get us in the market right now - so we won't be doing that). And while I was digging through the pile of papers on my desk I came across an old want-ads newspaper and saw a listing for Australian Shepherd puppies for sale here in Newberg. The ad is 6 weeks old, but I thought oh well, what can it hurt? So I called. And the lady who answered said her puppies were gone, but she knew someone else who had a litter of puppies that had the same stud as her litter had. So I called the number. The husband answered, they still had 3 left, one was definitely spoken for, one was maybe spoken for, and one remained but had to figure out first which 2 the other adoptive owners had decided on. Then I asked how much, $400 he replied. And I winced and then explained that I didn't actually have the money but wondered if we could work out some payments or if I could do some work for them or something in exchange, and he didn't say no outright, but continued to tell me about the puppies and he asked when I could come see them, and said he had to talk to his wife first, and they would call me back about a time to get together. So I waited a few hours, and then I had some errands to run so I decided to call first, and this time I got his wife on the phone, and she was very very nice, and we chatted a bit, and she hadn't understood that I still wanted to look at them, so we arranged a time the next day (the 14th). And I reitterated my concern, that I didn't have any money right now, but that I was hoping to give the puppy to my husband for his birthday this week, and asked if she had any concerns about that. And she said, "Do you believe in God?" (I about fell out of my chair at this point. It was the second time that day I'd talked to someone who said they were acting out of a faith in God, the first being a phone call we got from a man who might be able to pay Hubby for some technical consulting over the phone.) Of course I answered "Yes, yes I do!" And she went on to say that she is even more willing to work with me than her husband is, that the important thing was the puppies go to a good home. After driving out to their farm to see the puppies, and see how they acted around the kids (not timid at all, but not dominant either, great temperment - after my experience with the dachsund I wanted to be very careful not to make the same mistake twice!) and how the kids felt about them and how they looked, I knew this was perfect. And she was happy to see the puppy playing with all the kids. So you see, God provided a show quality, registered puppy that is already housebroken, gentle, intelligent and good with kids... for free, well for work. All I have to do is clean her house a few times in exchange for payment, at which point she will give us his papers. But she let me take him home with us yesterday, so Hubby got his birthday present a day early.

Just goes to show, that with God, all things are possible! Even birthday presents and puppies! I wanted to share that with you, and hope that the Light of the Lord brightens your day.

Other than that I'm fighting allergies as normal and looking forward to seeing my Grandma and other relatives this weekend. Fun stuff! God is working everything out splendidly... now if I could just get MY act together, we'd be great! Hopefully this will be my last *lock the keys in the truck experience* for a while. /sigh Walking home from the store with 4 kids and 2 gallons of milks isn't exactly my idea of a fun outing. But, at least we didn't have a whole big heavy armloads of sacks to carry... And as soon as hubby gets home with his keys we'll be able to walk back, open the truck, and all will be well again. Just another day of chaos in the Tiny Zoo!

-Blessings to you

Cross-linking
Welcome to my sleep-deprived, sneezy, itchy, watery eyed, puffy, allergy attcking day. I was up half the night with an allergy attack, awoke with an allergy attack, and hopeing desparately it will rain and wash these infernal pollens out of the air. Meanwhile, I'm sitting at my desk, spacing out, surfing websites, feeling tired, sipping my chai tea, and hoping I will feel better soon. On one such site Blueyes I found this link, Burnout Selt-test which I found rather amusing (considering I have the dream-job of a stay-at-home-Mom) but does perhaps identify the stresses and frustrations of parenting. I scored a 50. For a score of 50 – 59 You are at severe risk of burnout - do something about this urgently. Only one rank below the most critical risk of burnout. LOL I can't imagine turning over the raising of our children to anyone else, so I don't see what alternatives they might reccomend. And yes, I realise this was meant to evaluate a "day job" so some of the questions were sort of stacked against me. MOST Mom's I know often feel exhausted, and drained of emotional and physical energy. Especially moms of very small children who wake them up at all hours of the night for innumerable reasons, which mine are finally escaping that age. Which also goes to show that the problem of sleepless nights fixes itself... eventually. The question *Do you feel yourself getting easily irritated at small problems...* was especially funny. Yes, my small problems are ages 11, 9, 6 and 3 and they do irritate me often! Usually because they are not being obedient. HAHA Anyway, I will let you all browse the questions and take the test yourself. Feel free to post your results in a comment, and tell me about your translation of the test and what it meant to you.

Blessings to you!
-Sparkling

TGIF!
I did it! I finished the 3rd drawing. Was a bit tricky because I usually draw the face first, but the face was on the wrong side, and if I had drawn it first I would have smudged the whole thing working from right to left, so I had to start with the tail and go backwards. There were a few anxious moments as I was working on tricky parts, especially the eyes. But I think I got it alright. I believe the drawing is at the point now where if I work on it anymore it will start messing up, so I'm done. I am going to try and buy some fixative before taking them over to be presented, and let God do the rest from here on out. I've done my work. :)

Here is the drawing I finished today. It actually took 2 days to draw, but I went ahead and put today's date on it since I finished it today, and did most of the detail work on it today.

And now, I have to eat a late lunch and get all the kids shoes on, and ready to go. I have a dentist apt. this afternoon. Yuck. Not going to get most of the errands done today that I wanted to do, but at least I got the drawong done. That is a weight off my mind.

Blessings to you all!
-Sparkling

EDIT: Had a little problem with a filename conflict which was preventing the image from displaying properly. I believe the problem is fixed and picture should be displaying correctly now.