I am changing sites! Due to my inability to function here, I am moving to blogger. Please come visit me here!
And yet Another Blog!!!
Baseball boy felt the need to jump on the bloggy bandwagon. Not to be left out, he had to start a blog himself. Check him out here. Enjoy these blogs. The children have lost every privilege ever had today, including computer privileges not to be earned back until they learn to obey. The FIRST time! But that is another blog entirely and I am trying my hardest to be sweet! Have a great day!
Women’s Weekend
I am not one to go off by myself. In fact, I NEVER do. NEVER. BUT, last weekend, on very short notice, I got the opportunity to go to Middle TN to hear Priscilla Shirer. PRISCILLA SHIRER, people. If you do not know who she is, she is the daughter of evangelist Tony Evans, who is himself, amazing! Anyway, I have done two of her Bible Studies and absolutely love her. She is right up there with Beth Moore. In fact, don’t tell anyone, but I might even like her a little bit better…and I LOVE me some Beth Moore!
Anywhoo, to make a long story longer, I searched and searched for someone to go with me but could not find anyone who could. I had about decided not to go, but Tigerfan talked me into it and I decided to do something totally out of character and go with a bunch of women I had never met. In fact, the lady who offered me the chance was someone I had only met once about two weeks before. I decided the opportunity was just too good and I would be a big girl. As it turned out, about three days before we were set to go, one of my friends worked things out and was able to go with me. So, I did go out on a limb and made myself willing, but my Precious Heavenly Father chose to bless me by sending me a little lifeline! Praise Him!
I went nuts trying to get things in order before leaving. Poor Tigerfan even had to leave work early to take us to the meeting place and then keep the kids all afternoon. He was so gracious (he really is a good egg!). We had a fun little trip on the church van and ate an early lunch before the evening session.
And then…we worshipped. Girls, I am telling you, we worshipped! The singing was amazing, the message was amazing. She talked (Friday night) about the children of Israel leaving Egypt and how we are freed by Christ when we receive him but that so many times we remain in captivity on our own. Just like the Israelites begged to be returned to Egypt rather than wandering in the wilderness–often we go back to what is comfortable even though it keeps us captive! That is so me! She also talked about how important it was to expect to hear from God and we spent time just praying silently getting prepared to hear from Him. It was really amazing!
Afterward 23 of us went to Shoney’s for a little treat. My friend and I had decided just to visit and withstand the temptation of sugar at 10:00 at night, however, the waitress accidentally brought out four too many hot fudge cakes and we felt it our duty to help her out and eat one. But we shared. And we did not eat it all. Really! We had another surprise when we returned to the room to find our roommates had checked out. It seems they did not want to share a room. So, we even got our own beds to sleep in aaaaaaagh!
We got up bright and early on Saturday for the second session. More great music and then teaching on how to have a more meaningful Bible study time. She gave a great plan for studying on your own without a “published” aid and let us practice with a few verses. What an amazing thing–this has been something I have always struggled with. I do great as long as I am doing a structured Study but when I am in between books, I flounder. I have been using this method for a few days and while I am still getting used to it, I can see where it can be really great and life changing. After a short break (outside where we could thaw out because surely that church was only about 30 degrees), we met back for the final session where she talked about the Children of Israel finally making it into the promised land and being obedient. She also stressed that that obedience was IMMEDIATE. Wow, how hard is that? And yet, our God is so faithful. I tend to really question, wonder, pray, make sure that HE really means what He says and THEN obey. So, I was really challenged to just obey (like I always tell my own children to do) and not question.
When we finally made it home, Tigerfan had vacuumed the whole house, done the laundry, cleaned the laundry room and bathed all the children. Why is it that he can accomplish in two days what I cannot do in two months? He even made a welcome home card/banner type thing including a “picture” of me with very ample “girls” and a nice tight, flat tummy complete with belly button ring. Don’t you just love a good photo shop session!
Anyway, I do not for one moment regret going off with a bunch of strangers. I would do it again in an instant even if my surprise friend didn’t get to join in at the last minute. In fact, I think perhaps I saw God’s hand a little more and felt less pressure to “perform” because of the situation. I am really going to try to implement the things I learned this weekend and really be prepared to hear from God and allow Him to work in me. It really was a great weekend and I am so thankful to Tigerfan for letting me go.
I’ll be back later this week and get back to my normal, meaningless posting, but thanks for letting me share a little about the weekend! I love all my sweet internet friends!!!
I Have Company!
Yet Another Reason I Will Not Be Mother of the Year
I mentioned recently that Football Boy had had a mole removed on his arm. He has been a little trooper, going through daily sessions of cleaning the wound and changing the dressings. He has been a tough little cookie as we have had to rip the bandages off over and over (although, he did insist we stop using the huge square bandaids that removed the first two layers of skin every time it was removed, and opt instead for gauze and medical tape). He has asked questions and made sure everthing was healing up okay and yesterday (Sunday) the big day arrived when Daddy got to remove the stitches. They tried to convince me to do it–yeah, right! Anyway, daddy removed the stitches and all was well. He proudly showed off his scar at church yesterday and we thought we were through. Until last night. Now, let me say, I am sleep deprived (both from having four children and from a weekend Women’s conference) and the children are sleep deprived so we were not “at our best”. We got home from church and started the Sunday Night routine: Eat a bowl of cereal, brush your teeth, etc. Only the children were not doing it with the speed and precision that I would have liked, so I was getting just a tad cranky. We finally got them in their beds and I walked upstairs to find my bathroom COVERED in toothpaste, which really irritated me and then Tigerfan found a stash of ten T-shirts hidden all over the boys’ closet where they had deposited them in lieux of actually, you know, hanging them up. They got out of bed to clean up and it was at that point my sweet, compassionate mommy side sort of disappeared. Soon after, Football boy came downstairs to talk to Tigerfan. It seems that, as he was hanging clothes, he jabbed a hanger into his wound and reopened it. He was okay until Tigerfan squeezed it ( I have no idea why he would do that) and it started bleeding again.
Oh, people! He LOST it! He went into a full blown panic attack: Am I going to be okay? What are we going to do? Tears are pouring, breathing is erratic! Am I going to bleed to death? You get the picture. And this is where my finest moment came in. because, you see, I have a tendency to be a little sarcastic. And while I realized he was scared, I could see that this was really not the end of the world, it was really okay. And so, in a moment to make all mothers proud, I said. “No, honey, you are Not going to be okay. Let’s go upsatirs and Mommy will just cut off that part of your arm!” I am not kidding. That is really what I said! It was a bad choice! The panic escalated and it took a while, some sweet talk, some tylenol, some bandages,an elevated arm and a LOT of praying to calm him down.
This morning, I am letting him sleep. Tigerfan is calling the doctor as soon as they open. And I, well, I am keeping my mouth shut!
Quick Updates
I can’t find time to do anything these days…so, in a nutshell, these are the things I feel called to share.
1. In reference to the previous post, Tigerfan would like me to explain that it was not a sissy woman scream…it was a MAN scream!
2. My precious in-laws went to see Mama Mia! Friday night. They thought it was so cute that they offerred up free babysitting so we could go see it Saturday night. It was the most fun date Tigerfan and I have had in a long time. We laughed till we cried! Now, let me now say, it was NOT because of the high caliber movie. The actors were Meryl Streep and Pierce Brosnan and it was produced by Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson…How could it not be good? The movie was a musical and, people, I am a HUGE fan of the musical! I can sing show toons from every decade imaginable (and I frequently do, much to the despair of my children!) I am totally not offended by people spontaneously bursting out in song at the strangest possible moments. But…I am not sure if it was on purpose or not but it was just cheesy. I mean, really. Meryl would begin singing and suddenly all the little Greek townspeople were there dancing right along with her…with some mighty strange choreography. During one song, every bachelor on the island sprang up with flippered feet and began dancing like penguins. And…while I enjoy Pierc as 007–he CANNOT sing. Really. At all. No talent. AND the music was all inspired by, taken from songs by ABBA. I think that says it all. So…go, have fun. But do not buy the expensive tickets. Go to the matinee, go to the dollar theater, rent it on video and be sure you go with an open and very free mind!
3. Dance starts tonight. Dancer wore a bun to school. She wanted to wear her leotard and dance tights. I said no. I am unreasonable like that.
4. My sweet, precious Tigerfan helped me make arragnements to go see Priscill Shirer in middle TN this weekend. Can I tell you how excited I am! I love her. I want to be like her! I hope to give a recap sometime this century when I have more than 5 minutes to sit down and type. Unfortunately…Baby is screaming his blessed little head off right now, so I must go. I will be back. Sometime!
Note: This message has not been proofread or spell-checked. Forgive mistakes, etc.
School Days
How quickly the lazy days of summer can turn into the harried days of school. We have officially been in school for four days now and I am EXHAUSTED!
Monday was home organization day. Since most of our books had not yet come in, we did what we could and then cleaned and organized our school storage room…believe me, that was a whole day’s work in and of itself! But, oh, the sense of accomplishment at one room all organized neat! I feel certain it will look like that for about 1 more day!
Tuesday, we began tutorial. People…how do those with large families get out of their house. I thought we were going to have to rent a Uhaul just to carry our supplies to school! It was insane! I had wrestled with whether to put Baby in Mother’s Day Out or find a college student to watch him, but in the end we settled on MDO. I took him down and dropped him off with just a tinge of sadness at leaving the little guy. However, I was too busy to dwell on it. Dancer was THRILLED to be starting kindergarten and the boys had their classes to go to (3rd and 6th) and I had orientation to attend and to hold in my 5th grade room. We made it through the day with few casualties. Dancer was so excited that she kept going up to complete strangers and saying…out of nowhere…”I started kindergarten today!” It was so cute because it is so totally out of character for her! I had a few issues with MDO but I think today they were all resolved so I will refrain from getting into that.
Wednesday we began settling into our routine. We had most of our books and were able to make a relatively full day of school and didn’t have to rush to handbells this year so it seemed like a breeze.
Today was another tutorial day. Everything was less crazy. Not much to tell, although one of the Pre-K kids did go home Tuesday and was talking to his mom about school. They have an aid to help in Pre-K and kindergarten and he told his mom all about how his class had a servant that just took them to the bathroom and stuff. How funny is that? After school, Tigerfan had an appointment with the dermatologist. He had a few moles cut off a few years back that were pre-cancerous so he is now on the yearly checkup list (that, by the way brings to mind an embarrassing story I may have to tell on him one day–with his permission of course). He wanted Football boy to go and get a mole checked out. So, we dropped F.B. off at the doctor, drove across town to the dance studio to get Dancer,s shoes and tights for this year’s dance class and in the meantime, scare the begeebees out of the guy at the dance shop. I know it isn’t nice, but it was funny! He was in the restroom (which is in the middle of the store and doubles as the dressing room) when we came in and didn’t hear us. We thought everyone was in the backroom. We were looking at the tights right by the door and when it opened, the poor man about had a heart attack! I kindly suggested that he may need to reenter the bathroom and clean himself up! Ha! He suggested that Baseball Boy use my cellphone to call China! Anyway, we then went back to get F.B. and he did indeed have to get the mole cut off. Daddy said he was quite a trooper so we let him choose a place to go eat a very late lunch. We then came home to do homework and change clothes so Baseball boy could go to ball practice. F.B. has decided to play fall ball this year as well but is restricted from practice for a few days due to his wound.
That is where we are now. I just updated my class website and checked the others for homework. We are SWAMPED with it! UGH! I have a dishwasher full of clean dishes and a sink full of dirty ones that need to be put in it! School bags are everywhere, the counters do not have an inch of space and I can’t get anything done because my 7 month old will not stay off the treadmill or scaling the couch! Just a note, 7 month olds are not supposed to be pulling up on couches or crawling on treadmills! Anyway, that is why it has been quiet around the ole blog for a few days and unfortunately, I just don’t have the gumption to think up anything clever to write about. Hopefully I will get my act together soon. Until then…okay, never mind, I was going to say something clever, but I got nothin’! Be back…sometime!
Myth Buster
As has become the norm as of late, I have had a little trouble finding the time to do much blogging. I have had this little post in mind for a few days however so this morning, before the rush of starting school begins, I am going to try.
Last week was a bit of a rough, busy week. The events of the week left me challenging two commonly held recommendations for families.
1. Teaching your children to do household chores is good for them, teaching them responsibility…yada, yada, yada, and relieving some of the duties of mom. Until this last week, I have bought into this one hook, line and sinker. My three oldest make their own beds, sort their own laundry, set the table, etc. Football boy can do a load of laundry from start to finish. I have learned (with difficulty) the art of praising the effort of folding the towels and I wait to refold them my way until no one is looking! I turn my eyes when Baseball boy “hangs” his own t-shirts by putting them in the closet between two other shirts and squeezing them together really tight so he doesn’t have to go to the effort of, you know, getting a hanger. My sweet little ones have even been scrubbing the bathrooms for some time now. And there, my friends, lies the problem. I have allowed myself to live in an oblivious place where pre-adolescent children actually clean things. This revelation came this week when the stomach bug attacked me and I had a very close encounter with every commode in my house.
I have always retained bathroom duty in my master bath–it is only right. So, when my unfortunate meetings with porcelain began, everything was okay. But as the day progressed…other “thrones” (so to speak) began calling to me as well and these little meetings were, well, disgusting. The smell alone surely extended the life of my little bug. Toilets that are “scrubbed” every other day were nauseating–literally! There was evidence of little boys’ lack of ability to hit a target everywhere! How could I have missed this?
I think as a public service, I must ammend this commonly held belief. Yes, teach your kids to fold laundry, teach them to empty a garbage can, show them how to dust the furniture. But if there are germs or bodily fluids involved–take care of it yourself. Believe me, it is worth it!
2. The second theory I would like to challenge is this–and don’t judge me, I am trying to help! I am not entirely convinced that family meals around the table really do promote closeness and family unity. Just hear me out.
Let me give you a picture of our family at meal time. I have spent all day, alone, with four children. Baby probably has not taken a nap because he has three older siblings who make sure of that. The laundry is piled, well, everywhere. The house was vacuumed once last month–although the appliance is sitting out in the middle of the floor because I totally intend on doing it–sometime. The boys have played playmobile which means every room in the entire house is covered in tiny little men and I must continue to rescue baby from choking on a pirate. Dancer is screaming for me to come watch her dance recital.
I finally begin dinner. I call to the kids to begin cleaning up and ask them to come set the table. Around this time Tigerfan gets home and his OCD kicks into high gear as he begins having convulsions at the state of his abode. We finally settle down and begin supper. After a knock down, drag out fight over who is going to pray, the food is blessed and all the children get up because they “forgot” to wash their hands before sitting down. I use the term sitting down loosely. For some reason unbeknownst to me, boys seem to have an inability to sit on their bottoms. The closest they come is a half sit/half stand position with one foot under them and one foot on the floor.
I look around, Dancer is sitting! I give her some positive reinforcement! Suddenly, the boys remember how to sit–until B.B. realizes he forgot the ketchup he must drown his food in. He hops up to get it from the refrigerator. When he returns–he forgets how to sit again. I comment on how nicely F.B. is sitting! Dancer begins crying because SHE is sitting to. B.B. then fusses because he was sitting but he had to get up and he just forgot and I ALWAYS pick on him! Suddenly, F.B. looks at supper and discovers nutritionally sound food on his plate. He is no longer hungry…can he be excused. No, eat! In the next few minutes, a drink will be spilled, the baby will start screaming, the children will fight over who is eating better, faster, weirder… and F.B. will begin gagging at the disgusting meal I have tried semi hard to prepare. By the end of our lovely meal, we will not have discussed the events of the day or planned some family together time. In all likelihood, I will be mad and my feelings will be hurt because no one liked my low-fat,low taste but high fiber and vitamin meal, Tigerfan will be stressed because there are grapes smashed on the floor and the children will be mad because in all likelihood they are now going to bed early.
I say, order in, eat outside, and bond over an ice cream cone at Baskin Robbins. That, my friends, will be much more effective in promoting family unity!
