Fun Stuff

Friday Funnies

We leave you this week with a woman whose age caught up with her. Have a good one! Nicole for the girltalkers

A woman was sitting in the waiting room for her first appointment with a new dentist. She noticed his DDS diploma, which bore his full name. Suddenly, she remembered that a tall, handsome, dark-haired boy with the same name had been in her high school class so many years ago. Could this be the same guy I had a crush on way back then? she wondered.

She quickly discarded any such thought when she met the balding, gray-haired man with the deeply lined face. He’s way too old to have been my classmate, she thought to herself.

Still, after he examined her teeth, she asked, “Did you happen to attend Morgan Park High School?”

“Yes! I’m a Mustang,” he gleamed with pride.

“When did you graduate?” she asked.

“1959,” he replied. “Why do you ask?”

“You were in my class!” she exclaimed.

“Really?” he said, looking at her closely. “What did you teach?”

--from the archives

Friday Funnies

I haven't watched this video (first posted in 2007) in years; but as a mom, these songs still make me laugh and cry. Enjoy!

Nicole for the girltalkers

Friday Funnies

Our good friend Cindy from PA sent us this cute anecdote.

Have a super weekend,
Nicole for my mom and sisters

A mom was concerned about her kindergarten son walking to school. He didn't want his mother to walk with him. She wanted to give him the feeling that he had some independence but yet know that he was safe. So she had an idea of how to handle it.

She asked a neighbor if she would please follow him to school in the mornings, staying at a distance, so he probably wouldn't notice her. She said that since she was up early with her toddler anyway, it would be a good way for them to get some exercise as well, so she agreed.

The next school day, the neighbor and her little girl set out following behind Timmy as he walked to school with another neighbor girl he knew. She did this for the whole week. As the two walked and chatted, kicking stones and twigs, Timmy's little friend noticed the same lady was following them as she seemed to do every day all week.

Finally she said to Timmy, 'Have you noticed that lady following us to school all week? Do you know her?'
Timmy nonchalantly replied, 'Yeah, I know who she is.'
The little girl said, 'Well, who is she?''
That's just Shirley Goodnest,' Timmy replied, 'and her daughter Marcy.
''Shirley Goodnest? Who is she and why is she following us?'
'Well,' Timmy explained, 'every night my Mom makes me say the 23rd Psalm with my prayers, 'cuz she worries about me so much. And in the Psalm, it says, 'Shirley Goodnest and Marcy shall follow me all the days of my life', so I guess I'll just have to get used to it!'

--from the archives

Home With the Lord

On July 27, 2010, our beloved father and grandfather, Ezra Layman, went home to be with the Lord. He was 87 years old, and had suffered for eight years in the aftermath of a severe stroke. We miss him terribly, but rejoice that he is now free from pain and worshipping in the presence of our Savior, where he longed to be.

The funeral will be held tomorrow morning in Newport News, VA.

We will not be posting for the remainder of the week so that we may spend time with our family. 

Thank you for your love and prayers!

"Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting? The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." 1 Corinthians 15:54-56

Friday Funnies

This morning, there was an earthquake here in Washington, DC. Crazy! There was a loud rumble that reached some sort of crescendo and shook things up a bit. I guess that’s what 3.7 feels like.

Of course, it was nothing compared to the earthquakes many of y’all have experienced; but for DC locals, it was “breaking news.”

I thought it was funny to learn how each member of our family reacted. Keep in mind that it was 5:04 a.m.

Me – I immediately thought: “earthquake.” But then I didn’t think we could get those around here.

Mike- Was sure his worst fears had come true, and that one of the huge trees in our yard had finally fallen on the house.

Caly- Woke up screaming bloody murder and wondering why the house was “wiggling.”

Mom – “DC has been bombed!”

Dad – Like father, like daughter, he thought earthquake.

Chad – Zzzzzzz…

Kristin – Zzzzzzz…

Brian – “Wow, that was some loud thunder.”

Steve – told Nicole it was the train near their house. Tough day for him, as he prides himself on knowing about things like earthquakes. Maybe next time, Stevie!

Nicole – Didn’t remember the train ever shaking the house like that before.  She thinks every loud rumble is a bomb or an earthquake. For once, she was right.
 
Did I mention that Chad and Kristin slept right through it?

All right, to be fair, Kristin had a very late meeting last night. And Chad, well, Chad is a teenage boy.

Ok, we're off to Tennesse this weekend, but check back Monday to see what we have planned for the next two weeks.

Janelle for the girltalkers

Fathers, Sons, and Sports Radio

My brother Chad, and his friend, Zach, have been doing an internship this week with David Stein, host of “The David Stein Show: A Celebration of Life Through Sports.” The boys joined David on the air from 2-6 each morning; and today, on “Humble Wednesday” (yes, this is a rather unique sports show) Chad and Zach answered the question: “Who has influenced you the most through sports?”
 
I think you’ll enjoy their answers--even if you don’t like sports, and especially if you do.

Zach went first (episode 7, 6:06).

Listen online.

Chad answered next (episode 8, 5:19).

         Listen online.
 
Then Dad called in and talked with host David Stein.

Listen online (episode 11). Listen online (episode 12).

(Picture courtesy, David Stein; left to right-Zach Newquist, Chad Mahaney, David Stein)
 

Our Book Translations

When Alice emailed us recently and asked if Feminine Appeal had been translated into Korean, we realized we never told you which of our books are available in various languages. Unfortunately Feminine Appeal is not in Korean yet, but Girl Talk and Shopping for Time have been translated—and they have beautiful cover art!

Here’s a complete list of translations for Feminine Appeal, Girl Talk and Shopping for Time, along with links to websites where you can purchase them. We are so humbled and grateful to these publishers for translating our books. We pray they will serve many women who read them in their native language.

 Feminine Appeal

·         Chinese (Simplified) – published by ZDL Books

·         German – published by 3L Verlag

·         Portuguese – published by Editora Vida

·         Russian – published by Grace Publishing International, available here

Girl Talk

·         Korean – published by Sallim Publishing Co., available here

·         Russian – published by Grace Publishing International, available here

Shopping for Time

·         Korean – published by Sallim Publishing Co., available here

Friday Funnies

Pam sent us this adorable story about her son:

One communion Sunday my 3 boys were getting restless as they waited to be dismissed to their Sunday School. Eventually, one of the rascally 4-year old twins decided to take matters into his own hands. He angrily looked up at us with his arms crossed over his chest and exclaimed: “God said, let my people go!” Thankfully the rest of the congregation was singing a hymn but his dad and I had a good chuckle over that. I suppose he did retain something from family devotions.

We'll see you all next week!

Nicole for the girltalkers

Photography Talk: Kiddos

Children are the hardest subjects to capture with your camera. They don’t typically sit still (at least mine don’t--please write me with instructions if yours do) and they normally don’t smile on command.
 
But for most of you, children are probably your primary subject! So here are a few pointers for taking pics of kids:
 
To begin with, don’t ask them to say “cheese” (or any of those other annoying little words) In fact, I wouldn’t recommend asking kids to sit still or stop wiggling. This almost always results in an unnatural looking shot or, in my case, kids having a bad attitude.
 
Kiddos are the most photogenic when they are simply enjoying themselves. So rethink your tactics for taking their picture. Interact with them as you are shooting. Ask them questions that will make them laugh or smile. Have them play games or look at something that will capture their attention.
 
A photographer friend of mine took pictures for our little fam last year. Caly was three and MJ was not even one--tough ages for shooting. But she was fabulous! She had these little toy people (or maybe they were animals) that she would stick on her head. The kids loved looking at them and watching them fall off. She would snap away as they were completely engaged with the toy. Brilliant!
 
If I really want a child to look at the camera, I ask them to see if they can see my eye through the lens. This recent image of Tori (after some ice cream!) was taken while she was trying very hard to find Auntie Na-Na’s eye. They won’t be able to find it so you can usually get a few shots in before they give up.
 
These are just a few ideas to get you started. But try and think of ways to get your children (or others you are shooting) to enjoy an activity and forget about the camera and then start your picture-taking. Your images will improve, I promise. And you will never ask anyone to say “cheese” again.

Friday Funnies

We very much enjoyed watching this imitation of Dad by Jonathan Rourke at last week's Resolved conference. He's good.

For all those in the U.S., have a wonderful holiday weekend!

Nicole for the girltalkers

Jonathan Rourke as CJ Mahaney from Resolved on Vimeo.

A Little Competition

Kristin’s middle son, Liam, was born with his Pop-Pop's (Mahaney that is) competitive nature. He turns every ordinary situation into a contest, which must have a champion and a loser. And while his parents are working hard to channel this competitive drive toward godliness, as the auntie, I just get to smile and enjoy this little guy.

Liam’s latest competition has been between the Mahaney grandchildren. There have always been more grandsons than granddaughters and to Liam, that means the boys are “winning.”

But Liam’s winning streak has been threatened by the news that his mommy is having a girl. The birth of baby Claire will bring the boys and girls even. And you know what that means: my new baby is going to determine the new winner. That’s a lot of pressure when you consider that the self-appointed captain of the boy’s team has a fierce desire to “win” this one.

Well, I had my sonogram yesterday and the results are in.

"Liam, congratulations! Your team is going to remain in first place. Auntie Na-Na is having a boy. I know he is going to be proud to play on your team."

Friday Favorites

For ten years, my husband's and my favorite way to spend a dollar...

Dear Ann Landers: Last weekend, we celebrated my parents' 50th wedding anniversary. This morning, they left on a long-awaited trip to Hawaii. They were as excited as if it were their honeymoon.

When my parents married, they had only enough money for a three-day trip 50 miles from home. They made a pact that each time they made love, they would put a dollar in a special metal box, and save it for a honeymoon in Hawaii.

Dad was a policeman, and Mom was a schoolteacher. They lived in a modest house and did all their own repairs. Raising five children was a challenge, and sometimes, money was short, but no matter what emergency came up, Dad would not let Mom take any money out of the "Hawaii account." As the account grew, they put it in a savings account, and then, bought CDs.

I can remember Dad coming home and telling Mom, "I have a dollar in my pocket," and she would smile at him and reply, "I know how to spend it."

When each of us children married, Mom and Dad gave us a small, metal box and told us their secret, which we found enchanting. All five of us are now saving for our dream honeymoons. Mom and Dad never told us how much money they had managed to save, but it must have been considerable, because when they cashed in those CDs, they had enough for airfare to Hawaii, plus, hotel accommodations for 10 days, and plenty of spending money.

As they told us goodbye before leaving, Dad winked and said, "Tonight, we are starting an account for Cancun. That should only take 25 years." -- A Loving Daughter in Abilene, Texas

Reilly CD Giveaway

My husband Mike runs the music department here at girltalk. Didn’t know we had one of those? We don’t. We girltalkers aren’t known for our musical abilities, nor can we identify good music when we hear it. Hey, if we like a song, we like it! It’s all pretty subjective.
 
So when the Reilly band sent us their new CD, Around the World for review, we passed it along to Mike (who does know a good song from a bad one). Mike and I have enjoyed seeing Reilly in concert a few times—at NEXT and at Covenant Life. So here are a few of Mike’s thoughts on Reilly’s new release:

Fans of Reilly’s unique “violin rock” sound will be pleased to know that Around the World is a continuation of Noele and Dan’s dueling violins, Matthew’s interesting bass riffs, with more progressive guitar work from Dan and John (often trading his acoustic for the electric).  The addition of Jordan Lenhoff on drums adds a percussion side that we have not heard until this latest effort.  Check out the following tracks for a good sampling of their sound: "Around the World," "Free," "Light Up the Darkness" and "Wake Us Up."  Vocally interesting, John refuses to deliver the predictable melody lines.  Noele takes the lead vocals on a beautiful ballad titled, “Yahweh”.  Well done!
 
The sound will entertain you as you are reminded of your need for a sovereign God and His grace revealed in the cross through their thoughtful lyrics.  This truly is the most important part of a song and Reilly did not loose sight of meaningful, biblical, faith-filled songwriting.

Reilly, I don’t know anything about progressive guitar work or interesting bass riffs, but I am enjoying your CD. I’m even listening to it while I write this post. Nice job on a really good CD!
 
Special giveaway for 5 O’Clock Club Members: If you woke up early—at whatever time you committed to—for the past week (Monday to Sunday) contact us. We’ll send a free copy of the new Reilly cd to the first three members who respond.

UPDATE, 11:33 AM: Contest officially over. Thanks to those of you who responded and congratulations for getting up early! We'll contact the winners shortly.

Friday Funnies

For most of our married life, Mike and I have shared one car. It’s a 1996 blue Camry. The driver’s side door is broken so I can often be seen climbing over the passenger seat to get in. (I wonder how that’s going to work at nine months pregnant?) But I’m not complaining. It’s been a very reliable car.
 
Recently Mike has added a special feature to our reliable little car. You see, Mike oversees the annual kids camp here at CLC known as Summer Celebration. And each year he has car magnets made in order to get the word out to the community.
 
Well, this particular year Mike came up with a rather unusual plan for the leftover magnets. Yep, you guessed it, he put them ALL OVER our car. (I’m including pictures so you can see for yourself.)
 
I’ll be driving along and notice people staring at me. Forgetting about the magnets (for a split-second) I try to figure out what they are looking at. Then I remember, and sink a little lower in my seat.
 
Recently, Caly attended a week-long class for which I drove a daily car-pool. I’d park my Summer-Celebration-mobile (Mike’s name for our car) smack in the middle of the row of mini-vans. While leaving class one afternoon, Caly asked me why we had such a funny car. “Cuz you have a funny daddy” was all I could say.
 
The other night we went out for dinner and upon returning to our beloved car found that someone had re-positioned all the magnets to spell the word “hi” over and over all around the car. Hmmm…creative.
 
Then, just a couple of days ago, someone side-swiped the front of SC-mobile and didn’t leave a note. My personal theory? After seeing all the magnets, they were too afraid to get in touch with the owners thinking they might be crazy. I can’t blame them.
 
I think the owners are crazy.
 
Happy Friday!
Janelle for the girltalkers

Friday Favorites

Our favorite of your favorite....

Gifts for Grads:

My favorite gift to give grads is a laundry basket filled with a towel set a thing of laundry soap and a big jar filled with quarters along with the book, Just Do Something by Kevin DeYoung. --Jessica

A college emergency kit: Sewing supplies, first aid kit, shoe goo, phone card, etc. --Rebecca

I just graduated college and this year my parents got me a kitchen aid mixer, which I am absolutely thrilled about! It is kind of a large gift but for any bride or grad who loves to bake/cook, then this is the perfect gift. --Paige

Knowing God by J.I. Packer is my favorite grad gift to give because it was in college that I slowly studied this book, digesting it a little at a time and it was the first time I ever understood the place of my faith in my life. It's still my favorite book. --Kerry

Gifts for Brides:

We like to get newlywed couples a gift card to a local restaurant so that they can enjoy a date night even if resources are tight. --Jessica

I loved receiving customized stationary with my new name on it--a great gift for all the thank you notes to come. --Diane

My favorite present I recently got as a bride was a homemade cookbook filled with my best friend and her family's delicious recipes. There was also plenty of spots left for my new family's new favorites! --Lacee

For Bridal showers: Confessions of an Organized Homemaker by Deniece Schofield (or your favorite homemaking book) in a basket with pretty/funky office supplies to set up a little home office. A month of simple menus with thorough recipes and shopping lists. If she'll be in the area tuck in a local grocery store gift card, if not, cash. --Rebecca

I like to give brides a subscription to a cooking magazine (Everyday Food is my personal favorite). --Andrea

A favorite gift for newlyweds you know well is to pay for their wedding night hotel/bed and breakfast. Just contact the place and ask them to charge you instead of the couple. The couple will be so surprised and grateful since it is unexpected and most newlyweds are low on funds. This can get pricey, so you can involve other givers, too. --Kelli