Running the Race

"Being sensible that I am unable to do anything without God's help, I do humbly entreat him by his grace to enable me to keep these Resolutions, so far as they are agreeable to his will, for Christ's sake." -Jonathan Edwards


I just finished reading the 70 Resolutions of Jonathan Edwards, written in 1723. All I can say is, WOW. They put all other resolutions to shame.  You can read them here, if you want to be inspired.


I've always looked at the seasons of my life as a marathon race. There are easy stretches with the wind at my back where I feel refreshed. There are uphill climbs that burn my thighs and cause me to gasp for air, downhill coasts that allow me to catch my breath, and the occasional long, flat, boring lengths when the scenery never changes and my mind begins to wander.

This year, I feel like I tripped on my shoe lace, got hit by a truck, and rolled into the ditch in the middle of the race.  It took me a while to get back up on my feet again.  I've got some road rash, some band-aids, and I've shed a few tears, but I'm limping on towards the goal.

Today, my resolutions are more about getting back into the race.  I know what I've got to do, and I know that I can't do it on my own.  As Jonathan Edwards so eloquently put it,  I've got to "humbly entreat him [God] by his grace to enable me to keep these Resolutions".  Without the Lord's help, they're all just little wishes on a piece of paper.

Some of my resolutions are BIG! I think it's healthy to make long-term goals that take more than a year to accomplish, but I always break them down into small, bite sized pieces that I can chip away at... one year at a time, one day at a time, one step at a time.

My ultimate resolution is to glorify God in everything that I think, say, and do.  Whether my goal is to study my Bible more, take better care of my body, reach out to others, or save more money, it should be to the glory of God.  Otherwise, it's all for nothing.

I'm looking forward to the race in front of me.  I'm excited to pursue things that matter to God! I'm challenged to live each day to the fullest!


Lacing up my running shoes,

Nell

The Danger of Testing Out Your Children's New Toys

It's that time of year when parents are obligated to perform a rigorous trial-testing of all of their children's new toys...but purely for safety reasons, of course.

Not for pleasure.

No. That would be wrong. Very Wrong.

My kids got some new games for the Wii from their grandparents. The games were called, "Just Dance" and "Just Dance III".  After watching them dance to a few songs, we became concerned that the remotes were malfunctioning because their scores were very low.

We did what any concerned parents would do.

We ripped the remotes out of their tiny little hands and had a fierce dance competition!

Because of my competitive nature and my impetuous need to win at all costs, I hesitated to accept the challenge.  This is the one area that my husband could really kick my tail.  He's got moves. John Travolta moves. Patrick Swayze moves.  Twirl your partner 'round the floor moves. It's one of the reasons I married him....so we could dance in the kitchen with our socks on.

He selected a totally random song, "Eye of the Tiger".  It's the one from the Rocky movies, so naturally the dance we performed was full of boxing moves.

We punched, we shuffled, we shook our hips.  We even did "Jazz hands".

The whole song, our scores were neck in neck.

The dance meters were overflowing with bonus points!

The kids were cheering.  My husband was sweating. I was huffing and puffing.  It was intense!

In the end, my husband beat me by a hair. I'm telling you...he's got moves!

We were so exhausted after all of the boxing moves that we agreed to hand the remotes back over to the children.

Yesterday, we were so sore that we could hardly get out of bed. We could hardly bend over. We were sore in places we didn't know we could be sore in.

As soon as the muscle spasms and tightness go away, we're going to have a "Just Dance" re-match.

This time we'll wait until after the kids go to bed so we get the Wii to ourselves.
This time I'll choose the song.
This time, I shall be victorious!

MWAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

See? My Man is always taking every opportunity to "dip" me. I told you he's got moves!

The Best, Worst, and Funniest of Christmas

The Best of Christmas:

 My husband bought me a new American West Cowhide Handbag!!!!!!

Hello Gorgeous! I've been waiting sooo very long for you.

 I know that Cowhide isn't for everyone, but when it comes to purses, I like to walk on the wild side!

The Worst of Christmas:

My brother bought my husband this Michael Bolton Concert Shirt circa 1994 from the thrift store as a gag gift.  It's a women's size XL.  The worst part is that my tough, cowboy husband is secure enough in his manhood to wear it out in public with absolutely NO shame at all! When he lifts his arms up, it shows his belly button! I sent him to the grocery store early in the morning, and was completely mortified to see that he wore the dreaded apparel to the store, despite laughter and weird looks from strangers.

I don't even know what to say about this picture.

The Funniest of Christmas:

The annual Chia Pet exchange went beautifully. For those of you who are new to the blog, my brother and I have been exchanging an Elmer Fudd Chia pet back and forth for 12 years. 

 After surgically extracting the Chia Pet from last year's decoy, I wrapped it up in ordinary Christmas wrapping, and then put it in a Christmas gift sack. 

My brother had his "Chia Radar" tuned all the way up, and was leery of opening any gifts from me.  I secretly chuckled when he unwrapped his real gift because he was SURE it was the Chia. It wasn't. When the gift exchanging was over and the Chia hadn't made its appearance, Mega-Mind was flabbergasted! I didn't say a word.  I left the gift-wrapped package down at my Dad's house, and made my way back up the mountain.  

Here's how the whole thing went down: On Christmas day, while I was 220 miles away and enjoying the festivities with my husband's side of the family, my side of the family was gathering at my Dad's house for Prime Rib.  I knew that my brother would never open a suspicious gift from me, so I had to enlist the help of someone innocent. I had my grandpa hand the gift to my brother.  He conjured up some great story about it being a gift for the baby from one of his neighbors.  He bought it...hook, line, and sinker!  When the wrapping paper fell to the floor, he knew that he'd been hoodwinked! MWAhahahahaha!!( Evil laugh).

Mega-Mind, if you're reading this blog, I have a simple, heartfelt message:

This year, I'm starting a new Christmas tradition of "Hope and Change".  I "hope" you "change" your mind about your Christmas gift.  The Chia belongs to YOU.

(I owe my Grandpa another batch of Oatmeal Raisin Cookies for his help in my plot because the word on the street is that my brother ate his first batch as retaliation for the evil deed.)

Basking in Chia Pet Glory,

Nell

Not the Brightest Idea...

 When I woke up this morning, it was snowing outside. Again. I guess that's what happens when you live in the mountains above 7000ft. Yet, all of the locals agree that they can't remember ever having this much snow in December.

Even though it was snowing, it was also a mere 3 days until Christmas, and I just HAD to get to Walmart for some last minute baking supplies.

When I pulled out onto my road, I saw something in the trees.

Upon further inspection, I found a group of turkeys hanging out by my house! Did you know that the proper thing to say is that I saw a "rafter of turkeys" hanging out by my house...like a "gaggle of geese" or a "flock of pigeons"?

See? You can actually learn things by reading this blog.  Go ahead and say the word "rafter" the next time you see turkeys.

It will impress your friends.

Or, they'll think you're totally weird.

Anyway, I digress.  When I left the house, the snowflakes were teeny tiny. The weather reports said 1-2" of snow the last time I checked.

By the time I got to the highway, things were getting a bit hairy on the road. People were sliding off everywhere. Thank the Lord for 4 wheel drive.

(In the interest of full disclosure, my 10 year old son took these photos from the back seat of the truck. I was busy driving with both hands on the steering wheel...thank you very much. I'm always thinking about public safety.)

A few minutes later....White out.  This is about the time that I was thinking to myself, "Self, are Christmas baking supplies so important that you are willing to risk sliding off the road for them?"

I had no idea that the weather would turn so quickly. 

But I forged ahead in my big truck with the wipers going full speed.  I was in too deep. I had to complete my mission.  When I turned into the Walmart parking lot...low and behold.... all of north eastern Arizona, and half of western New Mexico was there too! It was like all of us were making a death defying journey to the promised land.  

The place was packed like an alleyway full of steers at the sale barn.  My husband always has the urge to start mooing like cattle whenever we're in a crowd of people.  I refrained.

I was prepared, though. 

 This ain't my first "Walmart at Christmas" Rodeo!

No sir! My six year old slid under the cart where the dog food goes, my 9 year old rode drag, and my 10 year old scouted ahead of the herd for openings.  Then I'd throw an elbow into the crowd and say,"Ho,Ho, Ho!"

Totally kidding about that last part. I try to be extra cheerful when I'm shopping in a crowd. I always wear festive pins and I tell everyone, "Merry Christmas"!

After checking out, my kids and I schlepped our purchases through the snow covered parking lot to the very back where we parked the truck.  Carts don't travel through heavy snow too well.  We made the white knuckled journey back home, and when I pulled into the driveway, I let out a sigh of relief and thanked the Lord for our safe travels.

From the time I returned from my death defying adventure, I've been inside my warm house, baking all evening.  First, I made these delicious Cherry Cheesecake cookies. They're a new recipe that I've been eyeing for 6 weeks. They have so many steps to them that they take hours and hours to make, so I had to pick a day when I had hours and hours of spare time.  Today was not the day, but I did the steps in between other activities.

I also made a batch of these peanut butter cookies for tomorrow.  I hope there are a few left by morning.  They're disappearing before my eyes!

I've got much more baking to do, so I'd better get to it!

Hope everyone is having a lovely Christmas week!

Nell

Delivering Beef for Christmas

 Today, with the help of my three little elves, I'm going to deliver some beef to a few people on our Christmas list.  Dairy producers give cheese, farmers give fruit and nuts, and ranchers give roasts. LOL!  Our gifts of beef were home-grown, and raised with love for over a year. We're so excited to share our bounty with good friends.

(We've even got some smoked beef bones for some of our canine friends!)

I'm so giddy that my babies are BACK! They had a ball at their grandparents' house, and I got lots of things crossed off on my "To Do" list while they were away, but I missed them so much! I'm excited to have a noisy, boisterous house again.

Grandma sent me these frequent photo updates while they were gone. They had a full schedule of activities! Grandma bought them new winter hats,  and they all made a snow family.

They also went Christmas shopping, baked cookies, took a hike, made crafts, and went Christmas Caroling at the Senior Center. 

 Pop Pop and Grandma must be EXHAUSTED!

We're off to deliver Christmas cheer! I hope your week is going well!

Nell

So Much to Enjoy on this Snowy Day!

It's Monday morning, and I woke up to an eerily quiet house. It's snowing heavily outside...again.... and the only sounds I hear are coming from a crackling fire in the wood stove. The kids went to spend the night at Pop Pop and Grandma's house, and my husband left early this morning to go and work out in the white stuff.

So what's a girl to do with a WHOLE day by herself?

1. Turn on some Christmas tunes! The house is way too quiet without the kids.

2. Work on the Christmas letter and Christmas cards since I have the little lap-top all to myself, today.

3. Procrastinate Christmas shopping for one more day. Heavy snow + shopping = No fun.

4. Wrap some gifts.

If I get the first 4 things on my list completed, then I'm going to try a new cookie recipe!


This weekend we had dinner with friends on Friday night.  During dessert, my husband used us all as his audience so he could record himself making a persuasive speech for one of his on-line business communication courses. On Saturday morning, my friends and I went shopping at some of our favorite shops on the mountain, and then out to lunch at a delicious cafe. It was so much fun,  and we love to support local business! Saturday night, the kids had a church swim party at the (indoor) pool, and we got a little shopping done.  My husband finished his 15 page paper, and he now has a small break before his next semester starts. Hallelujah!

Sunday morning, we woke up early for church. It was our family's turn to light the advent wreath on stage while my husband read from the book of Luke.  There's only one candle left to light!  My husband and I attended a Christmas party without the kids, then dinner and games with friends.

What a busy weekend!

I can't wait for the exciting week ahead filled with church, baking,  family, friends, and gift giving! I'd better get started on those Christmas cards, or they'll never arrive on time!

Nell

Of Cows and Christmas Parties

1. We moved the "ladies" over the hills and through the woods to Grandmother's house... OK... a few miles from grandmother's house to be exact.  They were so happy to be out of the deep snow that they actually frolicked when we unloaded them. Frolicking cows and frisky heifers are one of my favorite sights to see.

2. We attempted to take our Christmas picture with a tripod and our new handy-dandy remote. Obviously this will NOT be one of the finalists for this year's card. My husband couldn't get the remote to work, and the kids were goofing off when the camera finally snapped. All I have to say is that family photographers are grossly underpaid for the grief they endure. Getting five people to all smile and have their eyes open in the same photo is a daunting task. We had snow blindness in one location, high winds that blew our hair in our mouth at another, and curious cows fighting and pooping in the background of another. Just keep this in mind if you receive one of our cards.

3. Later that evening, my husband and I had a date at his company Christmas party. Here we are enjoying the merriment of the evening.  If you don't recall from last year's Christmas Party Post, it's held at our local steak house.  The one that a famous country singer comes to when he's elk hunting on our mountain.  He wears Wranglers and his initials are G.S. That's all I'm going to say about it.

4. Here, my husband and his friend /co-worker were asked to entertain the masses with a few Christmas carols and cowboy songs.  They're sort of local celebrities, except they don't make millions and own a ranch in Texas. But they do hang out at the same steak house as someone who does.

5. My husband bought a bag of  heavy winter socks from Western Drug for the Christmas gift exchange. We always buy a gift we want so that if there's nothing opened that we like, we just pick our own gift. It's called  "Stra-tee-gery". :) I was sure that no one else would want a bag of socks, but we had endured a long day of picture taking so I didn't argue with my husband when he bought them.  Turns out, the socks were a big hit and got stolen the maximum number of times. Who knew a sack of socks would be so popular? Several guys requested for my husband to pick some up for them the next time he goes to Western Drug. We ended up with a great cook book in the gift exchange so I consider it a win/win situation...although my husband would have rather had the socks.

6. My computer is still dead, and I'm still forced to share the little lap-top with my husband who is writing a 15 page paper for one of his college courses. This is the final week of the semester, so he's totally hogging it from me. It's as if he thinks "college" is more important than writing ridiculous little blogs. Can you believe it?!? Totally Kidding.   I think a new computer is on our horizon, and it can't get here soon enough! Sharing a lap-top is cramping my blogging style...not to mention that I don't have enough space to upload pictures for editing.

7. I'm only 3/10ths of the way done with Christmas shopping and it's T-minus11 days until Christmas. AAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

For the Glory of the King

Last night, my trio of cuties starred in a beautiful Christmas musical at church along with the rest of their fabulous homeschool co-op. Whenever you dress up little kids like characters from the Nativity, it's gonna be adorable, no matter what!  They worked hard, and did such a great job!

They've been practicing for the big performance all semester in music class, and every day at home.  Whenever three kids play a musical CD every day, the entire household can't help but learn all of the songs.

My girls were each in a duet with one of their friends. My middle daughter was so excited to sing her song, and she looked precious on that stage.

My son was one of the main characters who narrated the musical.  We were so proud of him! Four years ago, we paid $50 for him to be in a music class and he refused to even move his lips. This year, not only did he sing but he also memorized pages of lines for his part.  This boy really moved out of his comfort zone in this area. He loves sports, but singing is not his first choice of extracurricular activities, so it meant the world to us that he put forth his best effort to have a great performance.  

( He did shed a small tear over having to wear a tie, but we let him wear his cowboy boots and buckle instead of making him wear shiny black church shoes. It's all about compromise with boys. LOL!)

 My baby was so cute to watch.  Look at those little hands.

My oldest daughter looked heavenly in her angel costume. She practiced so much, and sang her songs all day long as she did school, chores, and played around the house.  She took her job very seriously!

 My baby sang "Away in a Manger" with one of her friends, and the crowd just melted.  Her soft little voice was just precious to this mama.


 The Musical was called "For the Glory of the King", and the kids did a great job of sharing the true meaning of Christmas with the audience. It was a beautiful night.

"Pretzel Jesus" Shares a Timeless Lesson

My Mother-in-Law has a sentimental side, and there are many treasures in my in-laws' home that carry wonderful memories with them. Many things around their house serve as reminders of special people, family history, fun times, and milestone moments.

Their Christmas Tree is no different.  You won't find boxes of generic ornaments and trendy Christmas balls hanging on its branches. Instead, you will find 4 decades of family memories dangling in the midst of twinkling lights. It's the kind of tree that tells a story.  A number of times, my family has stood around the tree while my husband recites the history about the different ornaments he made as a kid.  He talks about watching the train that used to chug  slowly around the tree, and about the Nativity Set that he and his siblings played with under the glowing lights.  They have many Nativity sets through-out the house, but baby Jesus never makes his appearance in them until Christmas.

Recently, my Mother-in-Law decided to put all of her Nativity ornaments on a special little tree to highlight their beauty.  Among the gold, crystal and wooden ornaments lies three family favorites.  They don't look like much to the untrained eye, but they are true treasures to the family.

This is Pretzel Jesus.  He holds the highest honor among the ornaments on the tree. 

Pretzel Jesus was a preschool project made by one of the kids at church over 30 years ago!  The fact that it is still mostly intact after three whole decades is a testament to it's high quality craftsmanship. Evidently, Elmer's glue and glitter will preserve virtually anything.  They just don't make craft projects like this anymore! Some of you may wonder why Jesus is oddly surrounded by pretzels. It has significance, of course!

The Legend of the Pretzel

In the early centuries of the Church, Christians would fast on bread and water during the seasons of Advent and Lent. One day a creative young Italian monk rolled his Lenten dough of water, flour and salt into the shape of two arms crossed in prayer. He called his new bread bracellae-- little arms--in Latin. German Christians called these breads bretzels, and over time, they became known as pretzels!

Below you will find another family favorite: Popsicle Stick Jesus.

This Nativity ornament is made by recycling old Christmas cards and framing them with Popsicle sticks.  It's a timelessly classic; a church craft project made by one of the kids as well.

And finally, they have an ornament that we refer to as "Hair Ball Jesus".

"Hair Ball Jesus" is a newer addition to the tree.  A few years back, several of the womenfolk got together to go on the annual Christmas Home Tour in our town.  After the last house was seen, we went shopping at a few of our unique shops on the mountain.  At one stop, my MIL's best friend spotted this ornament for sale on the tree and had to show the rest of us. It was so weird, we couldn't determine what it was made of.  Finally, someone said, "It looks like Jesus is sleeping in something that the cat coughed up!"  We all started laughing to the point of tears! Then we flipped the ornament over to reveal an outrageous price tag! It was like $12.00!!! We all continued to laugh about it the entire drive home, and so my MIL's best friend secretly went back and bought it.  She presented it to my MIL as a special gift to remember the laughter and fun they shared on that day.

Seeing the joy that these lowly hand-made ornaments brings to the family serves as a good reminder to me that it's the little things that are important in life.  It's not the fancy bows or shining ribbons that make Christmas special. It's celebrating the birth of our Savior surrounded by family and friends.  It's looking back on old memories and laughing about the past that bind families together.

Because of this lesson, I don't put the kid's handmade ornaments to the back of the tree.  I let the children hang them front and center, knowing that the kids are forming memories with their ornaments. When they're grown and have kids of their own, perhaps they'll stand in front of the tree with their families and re-tell the stories of Christmases long, long ago.  They'll remember the loved ones who gave them ornaments, and the teachers who helped them make their own.  Above all, they'll realize that the stories behind the ornaments are what make them beautiful, and that the best things in life are priceless.

What Really Freaks You Out?

Spiders, snakes, heights, germs....everyone has an irrational fear of something, and I think I've finally discovered mine. Every winter, it rears it's ugly head and terrifies me.

Electrocution.

Yep. During the cold season, I'm forced to plug things into the power outlet, and then submerge them into water!!! I know...it goes against everything we all learned as a child! It's in the top 10 things that are taught by moms across the world:

Stop, drop, and roll.
Look both ways before crossing the street.
Don't run with scissors.
Don't touch the stove or you'll get burned.
Wait 30 minutes to swim after eating.
Don't cross your eyes or they'll stay that way.
Never stick your finger in a light socket.
Don't swallow your gum.
Wear clean underwear in case you get into a car accident.
Never submerge electrical things into water or you'll DIE!!!!!!!!!!!

In the last week alone, I've had to plug in a water- pump and submerge it...cord and all... into a river, and then into a water tank MULTIPLE times to haul water to the cows. I've had to plug in a de-icer and submerge it into the chickens' waterer to keep it from freezing. Then, I've had to submerge multiple stock tank heaters into water for the livestock. Each and every time I plug something in and go to submerge it, my mother's words of wisdom scream in my mind! Flashing lights and sirens buzz in my head.  It goes against every instinct I have. I break out into a cold sweat.


Consequently, I usually plug the cord in, and sort of toss the heater, letting go before it touches the water.  Then I wait for an unsuspecting chicken to come for a drink. If the feathers fly and I hear squawking...I'll run for the breaker box! If all is well, then I know that things are working despite my fears.


The stock tank heaters are the worst because:
a. They are heavily used and deteriorate quickly.
b. There isn't much between the electricity and the water; just a thin piece of rubber and plastic.
c. Curious calves gnaw on things. What if they chew through the cords and ZAP? Dead.

I'm sure that if I had a better understanding of how these things are made, I might not be so worried. Ignorance about electricity is to blame. I'm sure that there are some protective measures in water heaters: like those switches that pop the breaker every time I plug my curling iron, hair dryer, and hot rollers in at the same time.  But what if those switches malfunction? What if they're faulty?

Does anyone test these things before they are sold? If so, what is the turn-over rate for a water heater tester and is there hazard pay? In olden times, the king had a royal taste tester/ cup bearer who ate and drank everything before the king did so that if it was laced with poison...the tester was the one to die, and not the king.  I guess the chickens sort of serve this purpose, but what about the stock tank heaters... cattle are much more valuable than a chicken. I wouldn't want to lose one.

I'd much prefer to just chip ice every day, but with temperatures in the negative numbers, some things start to freeze solid this time of year. So for the next few months...I have to re-conquer my fear of electricity. I've done it every winter since I've lived in the frozen arctic tundra...and I'm still alive to tell the tale. But I'd like to research some alternative ways to keep the tanks from icing up...that don't involve electricity.

What about you? Do you have a creepy fear of anything? Just shout it out in the comments section...whatever it is. I need to know that I'm not alone in this.

Nell

Ditching the Snow for a Day!

It's Monday morning, and it's STILL snowing here. In case you're counting, that's the fifth day in a row that the snow's been flying. Despite the winter storm, we had to drive to Phoenix this weekend for our son's baseball tournament.  It snowed on us for the first two hours of the trip, and then the weather got better as the elevation dropped.  Here's what we drove down to:

It's fun to drive from snow to desert in a few hours.  Arizona is so diverse!

Here's my boy pitching in one of his games.

 He's so serious!

Here's an action shot of my boy running home. It was a close play and we were all yelling, "down!!"  Evidently he felt like he had plenty of time to leisurely stomp on the plate without sliding.  No worries.

After the tournament ended, we had to head back up the mountain in time for the evening feeding. I took pictures along the way so you can see the progression from desert to mountains.

 Guess who came sprinting to the corral when they heard the diesel engine? That's right, I've got these heifers fully trained in a day. I told you they'd be eating out of my hand in no time.

It looked like the ladies had just had an Elvis sighting when my husband walked in with hay bales. They stampeded and were all over him like he was the "King".  Raising heifers is like having a bunch of Jr. High school kids.  They're little punks who show fleeting moments of maturity, and then turn around and do incredibly stupid things.  I love this age!

When we finally arrived home that night, we had a slight crisis on our hands.  The Nativity scene was in disarray.  It appears as though Joseph, Baby Jesus, and the livestock have been burried alive in snow, and the stable roof caved in.  Mary is the only one that seems to have survived the incident, although she looks a bit chilly in that cool night air.  We're gonna have to dig them out ASAP!

Stay toasty on this chilly Monday!

Nell

Feeding Time

This winter storm has reeked havoc on the whole area.  We debated moving the cows to their winter pasture last week, but the weather reports called for rain at their current pasture(1500 ft lower than our house), so we held the move off.  There's still plenty of grass here, and we like to utilize as much of it as possible before moving them to the other side of the mountain. 

As you can see, the gamble didn't pay off and the rain came in the frozen form. For the next four to five days, we'll have to feed hay.

I had to plow my way back to the stock tank at the back of the pasture to check for ice.  The snow was past my knees, but my trusty Sorrel snow boots kept my feet nice and toasty.  Schlepping through knee- deep snow is quite a work-out!

Dearest Sorrel Snow Boots,

You + Me = True Love 4 ever.

 I love the way cows walk in a single file line through the snow when they're coming in for feeding time.  They really are smart creatures.

Feeding time always attracts the most precious little birds.  They hang out on the gate and wait for a little morsel of food.

In true heifer style, some of the young gals were leery about coming into the corral for hay while I was still around.  After all, this is their first winter feeding of the season, and they've been out to pasture for 9 months with little human interaction.  But you just wait.  After a day or two, they'll come running when they hear that diesel engine pull up to the gate, and I'll have them eating out of my hand like the Pied Piper.