Thanks, Dad!

Posted by cokelady

Okay, I'm going to do something totally out of character for me. I try to never blog about anything too serious because this is an outlet for me. I like to come to Blogland and enjoy fun, crazy things and forget about the rest for a while. It's nice to just take a breather and relax. That's why I so seldom engage in any serious conversations on here. It sort of defeats the whole purpose of blogging (for me, anyway!), you know?! Anyway, I'm sorry to do it, but this is the only thing on my mind tonight, so here it goes...

James and I were just talking about some things and I was reminded of a certain conversation I had with my Dad several years ago that probably altered the course of my life to a great degree. I was 13 or 14 years old and in that not-a-little-girl-anymore stage of life. Somebody had given me a little gray knit dress--like a t-shirt dress, but it was rather snug. I remember wearing it with a black belt to a Revival service or something in Pueblo one night. Let me first say that my Dad never had any input in the way that I dressed, not because I wouldn't have welcomed it, simply because he just wasn't interested in such things and (even more) because he's not the type to notice. (I could wear a dead chicken around my neck and it might not draw his attention--he's just not real observant.) But this particular night he came to me and said, short and sweet, that he didn't want me to wear that dress again. I was so unaccustomed to having him say anything at all about my clothing that I was shocked and asked why. I don't remember how he worded it--if he said it was not modest enough or too tight or too revealing, or what--but I was stunned. And horrified. In retrospect, I recall even thinking (before this conversation) that I "looked good," if you know what I mean, in that dress. I wasn't aware that I was thinking "worldly" things or following a sensual line of thought. "Everybody else" wore things like this (and much worse) and without even knowing it I was following their lead. But one 10 second conversation with my Dad awakened me to the truth that I was headed a wrong direction, seeking the wrong things, and for all the wrong reasons. I was appalled. I was heartbroken to have done something that my Dad deemed unacceptable, and even more heartbroken to think of the things that were in my heart to cause me to desire to "look good" in that way. (I probably didn't anyway, but you get the point!)

So it got me to thinking... what if my Dad hadn't taken the time to notice when I took a step in the wrong direction? What if he didn't care enough to mention it to me? What if he figured it was none of his business and I'd get it all worked out on my own in due time? What if he had waited until I'd been wearing that dress (and then others, getting increasingly worse) for some time--long enough for me to get used to it and think it normal, long enough for it to become engrained in my heart and mind that it was "okay"--and then tried to tell me no? And the biggest one of all: what if my Dad didn't have my utmost respect and admiration and I rebelled against his counsel?! It was so easy for him to aim me back in the proper direction!!! One little 10 second conversation stopped me dead in my tracks and made me re-evaluate my heart and it's motives. All because my Dad had my heart. So many fathers miss the mark because they don't take the time to build good, solid relationships with their kids. The worldly ones spend their time in their own pursuits, never caring enough to include their children in their lives. And the "spiritual" ones spend their time harping at the children and nagging about every little thing as if rules and regulations themselves can make a child holy and godly. But a father who has won the love and respect of his children has sooooooooo much influence over them when it really matters! If my Dad had not won my heart throughout my childhood, I might have rejected that counsel that night so long ago. And how different my life would have been! I was taking the first step down a road toward worldliness! Seeking to look like the world and gain the favor of those around me--and the wrong kind of favor--and I didn't even know it. What if I had continued down that road? What would I have been wearing the next year, or the one following that--or right now? And more than the clothing, what would be the desire of my heart?! That night I was so heartbroken. I rememeber being crushed by the whole encounter and suddenly realizing that I had wanted to "look good" in that dress instead of wanting to look pure for the Lord. I began evaluating a whole lot of things and it was probably the first step down the right path--the one that God intended for me to take. A path of holiness and purity. Not to say that I have never strayed from that path in some way or another, but I'm on it! And I'm not insensitive to the times when the devil or the world tries to allure me in some way. I've been made more conscious of that line between worldliness and godliness that so many good Christian people seem to struggle to find. So many good Christian people look so much like the world, but don't even realize it! They're a degree or too "better," so they feel like they're "holy," but they're on the same road--just a few steps behind! What is in our hearts that causes us to desire the things that we desire? Why do we wear what we wear? Do we wear it to look good to those around us? Or do we wear it because we believe it would be a good representation of our Lord and His Church? We have it spelled out for us in our Advice: Neat and clean, but not for show. -- I LOVE THAT! It's so freeing to walk away from the trends and what everybody else is "into." There have been times in my life that I've found myself starting to fall into that same "want to look good" trap--even recently--but I'm always reminded that it doesn't matter what those around me think. If God can look down at me with pleasure instead of heartache, if He can see a heart (an consequently, a life) that is seeking to please Him instead of find the favor of the world (or sadly, even some church folks!), then I have succeeded in the world of fashion! ;-) It's liberating to be able to dress to please God instead of to try to "look good." It's feels soooooo good to know that your heart is crying out for His favor instead of the favor of others. There is such rest and peace in that!

I have never talked to my Dad about that night so long ago and the effect that it had on me. But I've never forgotten it and as I've been thinking about it tonight and realizing how much it has changed my life, I am soooooooo thankful. I'm sooooooooo thankful for a Dad with a heart for holiness and who loved me enough to aim me in the right direction. (And that he loved me enough to win my heart ahead of time so that I could be led! It's my heart's desire for my own children--to win their total love and respect so that they, too, will have hearts that are humble and teachable instead of stubborn and rebellious.) And I'm sooooooooo thankful for the love and mercy that God showed me in giving me the wise Dad that He did. I can't begin to imagine the mess I would be right now if it weren't for the love and mercy of God, and the wise and loving direction and correction I received from godly parents who were watching for my soul. It just makes me feel that all is well in my world! I'M SO BLESSED.

That's it for tonight. I promise you a crazy kid story or at least some pictures next time. Thanks for bearing with me!

~Rebekah~

8 comments

A Plethora of Pictures!

Posted by cokelady

So this post should be somewhat enjoyable, even for those who don't take the time to read. Enter: Ray Adams. ;-) We'll get to the pictures in just a minute, but first let's see if I can recall what we've been up to around here.

Hhmmm. I guess not! Okay, so it's on to the pictures! The only thing I remember doing yesterday (aside from school and the house stuff) is helping the kids build a really great track for their trains. It takes up so much space and the mess drives me batty, so we don't get 'em out very often. But this set is just so versatile and so cool!

We all played with that for quite a while. The mess is still there today, but it's not exactly intact anymore. Another reason we don't get this set out very often! We'll probably rebuild it again tomorrow morning and let 'em have another day with it, then put it all away until next time.

Katie did great in school yesterday, just so you know. :-) Yep, this time it was Joe who was not cooperating. Why can't they both have a good day on the same day?! It would be sooooooo nice!!! Joe just was not in the mood to do school and tried every trick in the book to get out of it. Before long he was saying, "I don't want to do school today, Mom--can't I just be dumb???" It made me think of Melissa's twins. One of them was grumbling about his school work one day and suddenly became concerned and asked his Weese, "Mom, do they have school in heaven?" She assured him that there was no school in heaven. He was greatly relieved. Then he got a sly smile and asked, "Do they have school in hell?" Ha! Could you die?! What a crazy kid!!! (It's sad that Melissa doesn't keep up on her blog better--I would love a steady string of stories like that!) Anyway, Joe didn't want to take the time to do anything right--just wanted it done. The answer to one question was "night" and he asked, "Can't I just write 'day'? It's shorter!" Oh, brother. He did manage to finish everything up and it didn't kill him after all. Or me either!

Did you know there is a reason why tubes of Super Glue come with the plastic lid not on yet? The tube is sealed by a thin piece of foil, but the lid isn't actually on. I don't know what causes the phenomenon, but when you put the lid on before the foil is removed, the tubes leak. I know, because I did just that. I opened the pack (two tubes) and went ahead and screwed the lids on so I wouldn't lose them (I know me!) and tossed them onto my desk. Shortly thereafter I sat down and noticed them sitting in little puddles. I scooped them up and did my best to clean them, but how in the world are you suppsed to clean Super Glue schmozz??? I was actually able to get most of the gunk off of my desk (it's covered in glass), but didn't have the same luck with my fingers. I've got a streak of long, hard, crusty schmozz on my index finger that is just going to have to wear off over the next few days. I tried to peel the glue off, but it had formed quite an attachment and wasn't going to leave without taking some serious flesh with it. Live and learn. I ought to know. Since Sam came into our family I've used more tubes of Super Glue than I had in the previous 26 years of my life. For real!!!

Back to the pictures. I took these last night as we were putting the kids to bed. This is the nightly post-devotions tickle ritual.

And I took this today. Look closely. See anything unusual???

Here's a closer shot, just in case you missed it...

That's right, folks, my children have found a way to grow their very own weapons in the back yard!!! Or something like that. This was Joe's doing. I told him he's just going to have to wait for the next big storm to knock it out of there for him 'cuz I'm not going up after it! A sword in the tree. Of all things.

We've been doing this thing with the kids where we give them a sticker on their charts when they do something really good--usually something that exhibits good character such as sharing toys without being ordered to or helping somebody else clean up their mess "just because," --just anything that is genuinely kind. When they get five stickers in a row, we do something fun--like have a pizza party or ice cream cones in the backyard. When they fill up their whole chart (20 stickers, I think) we do something really special, like go to Chuck E. Cheese or something. Well, Katie and Joe both filled up their entire charts this past week (Sam is lagging way behind--imagine that!) and we decided to get them something special this time instead of going somewhere special. So here they are with their much appreciated loot...

Joe got a new Garfield 3-pack book. He was soooooooo excited! He's had it for two days now and I think he's probably read the whole thing already!!!

And Katie had her eye on this $4 Amish doll, so James picked brought it home for her tonight. She hasn't put it down yet!

Okay, I've got something really great to tell you. Are you sitting down?!?!? (I can't recall ever seeing anybody standing while checking out the blogs, but you never can be too careful!) You will never believe what I did today!!! I can't believe what I did today. I'm so proud of me!!! I deserve a Vanilla Coke. Or two. ;-) Okay, okay, I could tell you, but I'd rather show you, so here ya' go!

I realize that bloomers are meant to be used as an undergarment and not to be put on display, but how could I not display this?! I whipped out four pairs of bloomers today!!! How could I not show you what I've done?! And good ole' Katie--always ready to strike a pose. Or six or eight. Anyway, I had HAD it with crazy Katie and her complete lack of grace and decency and was determined that we were not going to keep being exposed to her ghandi's every time she took a tumble or wrestled with the boys. Or threw a ball. Or just sat down. Or about anything else. (The girl's got less decorum than a water buffalo.) Anyway, she's been needing these for a long, long time. And I did it!!! I actually did it! I made the first pair to make sure they would fit. (I had to come up with my own pattern.) When they did, I dug out three more scraps of fabric and just went to town! And get this... I didn't use a seam-ripper all day long!!! (I must confess that there toward the end I had to take out just three or four little threads, but I used my scissors so I'd be able to blog that I didn't touch the seam-ripper--and I didn't!!!) ~sigh~ Where's my Coke...

Okay, enough is enough. I'll spare you any more. After this. I was reading Joe's Garfield book with him yesterday (I think we should buy him a new book every time he fills his chart--it's a reward for him and Mom, too!) and I CRACKED UP when I saw this picture!!! It was one of those things that just gets funnier and funnier the longer you look at it. Isn't it great?! HA! Emilee, be sure to show Jon. If nobody else out there appreciates it, I know he will. :-)

Still Laughing,

~Bec~

6 comments

Holiday? What Holiday???

Posted by cokelady

Just hasn't exactly seemed like one around here today. Oh, it hasn't been a bad day, just kind of blah. Not that Memorial Day is a "great big" holiday, but still--you ought to do what you can to make it holiday-ish! I felt bad for the kids. Katie kept saying with great enthusiasm, "It's a holiday--we can do anything we want!!!" But... we didn't really do anything! The kids weren't impressed with this particular holiday--it was pretty boring in their book. We just cleaned house and did the same ole, same ole. We didn't do school today, but that was really the only noticable difference! And James grilled for us tonight--he does make the best burger in the world. That part of the day felt slightly Memorial Day-ish, but not entirely. We didn't even have any pork-n-beans. Oh well. When I came to the table James had fixed everybody's plates and had a Vanilla Coke there waiting for me. That helped the celebration mood a little bit! Katie saw it and asked if she could have some. It made me chuckle. Yeah, RIGHT! To my knowledge, I possessed the only remaining case of Vanilla Coke in the whole wide world--liquid gold, I tell you!--and it is NOT meant to be squandered on children!!! I found out later that it isn't the only case after all (more reason to celebrate), but still.

When I put the kids to bed tonight James told me that he wasn't feeling up to it, but that I should go over to Sam & Tammy's for a while. I think he felt bad because it had been such a blah kind of a day and he knows how much I like to be with people--especially on holidays. Days like this are a great excuse to just get together and hang out, you know?! So I did. We played a couple of games--both of which I won handily. ;-) Made it feel more like a holiday after all. Oh, and they had Vanilla Coke, too. I had just had one with my dinner at home and I wasn't the least bit hungry or thirsty, but hey, it's a holiday! And it was Vanilla Coke. Mmmmm.

Let's see, what else has been going on... Of the visitors we've been having lately, two ladies have been there every single service--for three or four weeks now. Praise the Lord!!! It is soooooo exciting!!! And they are settling in more all the time and feeling like a part of our congregation more than just visitors any more. As we were leaving yesterday one of them said, "You have no idea how good it is to go to church and actually feel like you've been to church!" :-) And they have no idea how good it is to have visitors coming around and being blessed in our services--and returning over and over again! Praise God!!!

Just to set the record straight, despite what my mother says, I do not deserve the homeschooling woes that are upon me now. We had our bad days on occasion, but I was always a pretty laid-back kid. I, on the other hand, have a little girl who is nothing but a great big ball of jumbled emotions and every little thing either sends her into sheer ecstasy or into the deepest, darkest dungeon of despair. There is no middle ground with that kid. (I really wonder if it's a good thing that I'm reading her Anne of Green Gables right now--she hardly needs the influence of an intensely emotional girl such as Anne with an "e"! Ha!) Anyway, if I can just keep the kid in happy-go-lucky mode all will be smooth sailing. She was struggling with her spelling the other day and not handling things very well. (She's not one to allow adversity to push her to succeed; she's one to throw her hands in the air and wail at the injustice of having to do something that is unreasonable--meaning whatever it is she doesn't want to concentrate on at the moment.) Something that she could sail right through if she was in the mood to can turn into an hour-long battle of wills. This is the trial of having a deeply Melancholy child. But the glory of having a heavily Sanguine child is that at the flip of the page she was transformed into the giddy, bouncy, jolly Katie who can whip through her school work in no time flat. What caused the change? Homophones. She loves them. As soon as she saw the word at the top of the page all of the gloom dissolved from her eyes and the sparkle was back. I'm assuming she developed interest in them from her Veggie exposure. You know...

Whether, whether, whether, whether,
whether you like it or not

Weather, weather, weather, weather,
weather is cold, warm and hot

Two, two, two, two, two of my favorite toys,

I'm bringing to, to, to, to a place the first one enjoys

--and I like it, too.

Okay, I know you're all into it by now--sing with me!!!

Oh! Homophones! Homophones!
Where the crews go cruising down the plane!

Homophones! Homophones!
I need my kneaded biscuits plain!

I know a pear, pear, pear, pear
with a pair of really soft shoes,

He wears them to pare, pare, pare, pare
bushes that easily bruise;

I planted rows, rows, rows, rows
of a horribly bad smelling rose,

Now nobody knows, knows, knows, knows,
if the scent will be leaving my nose

--But most likely, no.

Homophones! Homophones!
Where the toads are towed out on the plane!

Homophones! Homophones!
I need my kneaded bisquits plain!!!

There now. Go ahead, admit it. Even if you'd never given it much thought before now, you like homophones too, don't you?! Uh-hu!!! I thought so! If only I were a vegetable I could make all of school fun for my children and thus stop the war of the workbooks. Maybe I'll write to Big Idea and see if they won't consider going into the homeschool curriculum field. I'm sure there would be a great market for such a thing! :-)

That's my cue. When you go to quoting Veggie Tales songs you know it's time to call it quits. :-)

G'night!!!

7 comments

Much Better, Thank You

Posted by cokelady

That's how I'm feeling since my whopper of a nap this afternoon. I was feeling really crummy again today, so when I put the kids down at 2:30 I crashed on the couch and was out cold until the phone rang at 4:00!!! Whoa!!! And it was one of those weird not-really-awake kind of sensations. Don't you hate those?! You know, when you wake up, but not really. I wandered around the living room listening to the phone ringing and thinking, "What is that? Where is it? What do I do when I find it???" I finally got it figured out (kind of) and even remembered to say hello. Luckily it was just Tammy. She didn't even seem to notice my condition, so I guess it all worked out. Anyway, once I finally felt truly awake I realized that this is the best I've felt in several days now! I feel very nearly GREAT! :-)

Been a good day around here, for the most part. School went great with Joe, but I had an all-out war with Katie for a while over hers. It brought back so many bad memories. Remember those things your Mom used to do when you were a kid that drove you nuts and you secretly vowed that you would never do those things to your kids? Like when she would lick her thumb, then use it to scrub your face?! Eeeeewwww!!! That one still gives me the willies! Well, I remember that first year Mom and Dad decided to homeschool me. It was cool for the most part, but we had some bumpy times, too. Well do I remember the image of my mother standing next to me nearly in tears, her head thrown back and her flexing hands outstretched and pounding the air with every syllable as she screamed, "'OF' IS A PREPOSITION!!!!!!!" This was not a one-time occurance. In fact, it was repeated so many times that it is the one and only piece of English that I have never doubted. I will never forget that the little two-letter word is a preposition. Why it matters, I never did figure out--but I know that it IS and I think that was the point. Anyway, after 47 failed attempts today I was the crazed mother hovering over a little girl screaming, "CARRY THE ONE--YOU ALWAYS HAVE TO CARRY THE ONE!!!" Math was quite a trial today. We finally took a break and had a good, long talk about attitude and how it affects everything we do. I told her to just relax for a few minutes and work on the attitude thing, then we'd try again. After a few minutes she was in the office hollering for me with great excitement. She'd done it! She'd figured it out and had done the rest of the page all by herself! It was done correctly and--more importantly--it was done happily. ~sigh~ Success. It felt really good. For both of us!

The kids have been carrying their load around here lately. By that I mean that they've been providing us with lots of entertainment. That's why people have kids, right?! If not, they don't know what they're missing out on! I forgot to blog about this, but last Sunday morning Sam got up real early to go to the bathroom. I heard him go into the bathroom, then I heard Katie in the boys' room trying to wake Joe up. "Joe, just open your eyes and you'll be able to wake up just fine. Come on, Joe." I looked at the clock. 5:45am. I got out of bed and went into the boys' room and found Katie fully dressed, sitting on Joe's bed and Joe sort of moaning as he blinked his eyes trying to figure out what was going on. I told Katie it was too early to get up and to go back to bed. She said she'd already made her bed. I went and looked. Sure enough, the kid had gotten up and dressed herself, cleaned her room and made her bed. There was a stack of books on her bed that she'd been reading, too, and some pictures she had drawn. I asked how long she'd been up. She told me that when she made her bed she thinks the clock said 3:28!!!! Since that time she had just been biding her time, waiting for the rest of us to rouse! Can you imagine?! What a freak!!! Katie is usually our latest sleeper, so this has never been a problem before. I made up a new rule on the spot. No getting out of bed until the clock says 7 or 8 something! What a weird-o!

The kids have just discovered the game of checkers this past week and ask to play with it all the time. Katie's the only one who actually knows how to play though, so it never goes very well. It usually ends with her playing by herself and the boys taking all of the chess pieces and setting up their armies to play "the Alamo."

Joe is quite proud of his manliness this evening. For some time now Katie has been giving piggy-back rides to the boys, but Joe hasn't been able to support her weight in return. Well, tonight he called me into the living room and reported with great pride that he is now strong enough to carry Katie. She stood on a chair and climbed onto his back. He actually made it to his intended destination (the couch in the other room), but I have no idea how! He took sharp, quick little steps and weaved the whole way there like a drunkard, Katie nearly toppling one direction and then the other for the duration of the trip. I couldn't help but laugh at the sight, but was sure to praise him for his great feat of strength and manliness. :-)

Ah yes, that reminds me. Joe has decided that he hates girls. It's the influence of Calvin, I'm sure. (The little boy with the stuffed tiger, not the founder of the religion!) When I put him to bed tonight the song was playing on his radio, "This is my commandment, that ye love one another, that your joy may be full." I asked if he loved everybody like God has commanded us to and he said that he did. All except the girls.

A few days ago he came to the table in all of his cowboy garb and Katie came wearing a blanket on her head, vail style. Joe said with a hint of disgust in his voice. "Katie's just dressed like that 'cuz I'm a cowboy and she wants to marry me. But cowboys don't get married." There was a long pause and then he ventured nervously, "Do they???" I said, "Well, now, let me think... Matt Dillon never got married. And... Paladin never got married." That's all the confirmation he needed. "I'm not gettin' married." "Never?," I asked. "Nope." "Well," I said, "if you don't get married you can't ever have kids." You should have seen the look of surprise and disappointment on his face! "You can't???" "Nope, you've got to have a wife if you want to have kids." He looked at his plate and I heard him mumbling something about "no kids" under his breath. In a few seconds he looked up with an I've-solved-the-dilemma sort of expression and said, "How 'bout if I get a wife and we could have some kids... Then I could sell the wife and keep the kids?!" Ha! Could you die?! I told him that he can't sell his wife, but he needed a valid reason why not. I told him that God says he can't and the law of the land says he can't. He was quiet a little while longer before asking what exactly they'd do to you if you sold your wife. After all, it might be worth it! Ha!

Well, I should go. I'll slap some pictures up here first though. I've been meaning to show you the flowers that didn't get washed away in all of the flooding after all! Look at all the big, bright color!!! I can't believe how much they've grown and how many blooms some of them have now. Wow!!!

And here are some pictures of my little heros. Sam is our resident fireman and Joe is our little cop... with a cowboy holster and cap gun--which he finally enjoys shooting, by the way. (Although I still catch him sometimes looking away when he pulls the trigger! Ha!) I took the pictures tonight to show how filthy they were, but you really can't tell at all. Eeew. You should have seen the bath water when they were done! Boys are so gross.

Hope you all have a great night and really great Sunday services! We're trusting that we'll see our visitors back again tomorrow. :-) God bless!!!

~Rebekah~

7 comments

Ugh and More Ugh

Posted by cokelady

Been a couple more of those days around here. Nobody truly sick, just... well, ugh. That's just kinda how we feel. As far as I know, James is still doing fine. HA. "As far as I know," I say. As if I wouldn't know if he were feeling ugh like the rest of us. Everybody knows when James isn't feeling up to par! It's a guy thing.

Yesterday, in spite of the ugh, I got all of the laundry and ironing caught up again. That always feels so good. It's amazing how quickly it piles up with a family of five. I can't imagine how Emilee keeps up, much less folks like Betsy Cox! Anyway, I watched Happy Feet while I ironed. James and/or I always preview movies before we let the kids watch them and somebody had lent (is that right?! It looks weird!) this one to us a few days ago, so I figured I'd check it out. Not recommended. From the opening scene I thought Hu-uh!!! No way are my kids watching this! I don't care if they are penguins, it is soooooooo sensual! There's a bunch of other craziness off and on throughout the show that I would deem unacceptable as well, but the sensual stuff and all of the environmentalist stuff was just more than I could handle. But even if it weren't for all of that stuff, the movie's just not that good! It has a cute part here or a funny part there or a suspenseful part over there... but in between all of that it's just dumb. And not one my kids will be watching. Or me, ever again! I'm sure some folks will think I'm totally over-reacting, but I can't help it. I felt guilty that I'd even watched it the first time!

I am excited, however, to learn that there will be a sequel to National Treasure! Wa-Hoo!!! I love that movie. I just hope they keep #2 (Book of Secrets, I think it's called) as clean as the first one. Fun, fun, fun!

James worked Mardel today, so Tammy came over to hang out for a little while. It's been a long time since she's been able to do that! She even brought me a Frito Wrap and a Cherry Limeade. What a pal! We usually play games when we get together, but I'm in the midst of a game dilemma (long story), so we decided to forgo that today and watch Anne of Green Gables. Wow--this whole post is about movies! Bad, bad, bad! Ha! It had been a long time since I'd watched the Anne movies and even longer for Tammy, so it was nice. I remember watching those movies while I was in the beginning stages of labor with Sam. I waited until the movie was over before I mentioned it to anybody 'cause I didn't want to interrupt the show. ;-)

The only other thing that happened around here was vacuuming the house, cleaning the kitchen floor, and ziti and breadsticks for dinner. At bedtime I finished reading 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea to the little ones (what a flop--I was sooooooo disappointed!) and Katie is now wanting the two of us to read Anne of Green Gables together, her interest being sparked by the movie today. We may do that, then I'd like to get into the Elsie books Mom has been telling me about. Anything that would help build good Christian character into that little girl of mine sounds great to me! :-)

I'd best be on my way. I'm trying to get a little extra sleep in hopes of beating the ugh and getting back to 100% working order. That would make that slave driver husband of mine happy, too, I'm sure. ~crack!~ Is that a whip I hear?! HA! Okay, I'm outta here. G'night!

~Becki~

7 comments

The Good, the Bad, and the Groggy

Posted by cokelady

That pretty well sums up our day around here. There's been a little bit of all of it! The groggy is the part that just won't go away. The boys have been sniffling for a few days, then I started noticing Katie running for the Kleenex's, and it finally caught up to me today. I've been so stuffed up and lethargic! Just felt tired and clogged up and groggy and all that other stuff all day today. I think everybody around here has caught it except James. Oooooooh, I hope he doesn't. I'd rather have three sick kids than a sick man, any day! Whatever we have doesn't really classify as being "sick"--more of a nuisance than anything--but still, it would be awful if James were to get the groggs. Men are sooooooo pathetic.

Brother Ellis' funeral was at 10:00 this morning. Brother Sam did a really, really good job with it and it was very nice. There were so many really nice things said about him and good memories shared. We really will miss having him with us, but are so thankful that all of the "mess" that's been going on the past several weeks is finally over and he's free from it all!

The funeral was rather uncomfortable because Bobby and Betty (the same ones from my two previous posts) were there. I knew they would be and and was extremely uncomfortable with the idea of taking my children where I knew they would be, but it hardly seemed right to not attend this funeral of a sweet old man who was a member of our local church! So we prayed, prepared, and went. We got there just in time, conveniently leaving no time to go around and greet people. Upon the dismissal prayer, I immediately escorted my children to the get-away car and started the engine. It sounds terrible, I know, but it just had to be this way! God knows my heart. I'm not a mean, stuck-up person. I just know what I felt the other day and felt like I had to keep my children as far away from that spirit as possible.

After the funeral we went to Aunt Sue's store and visited for a little while with Sue and Stacey and Sam & Tammy. We enjoyed a nice meat and cheese tray together, but I can't tell you why. Ha! Let's just say this wasn't your typical funeral and we weren't able to do the proper things that you typically do. It was nice to have some time with our church family and talk some things through and just be together. We've all been through a lot the past few weeks and it was nice to just get together without any stress or strain on us. And it's sooooooo good to have Tammy back home!

Then we came home and just crashed--called an early nap time because James and I were wiped out! The kids did great and just quietly read books in their beds for a while so we could get a good nap. I never did feel like I really woke up from it though. The groggs had really kicked in by then and I was feeling pretty lousy. Oh well, life goes on!

James took us out to eat at Cassidy's tonight--my favorite place in town. It's just a little sandwich shop on Main Street. Nothing special, but they have the best hot club sandwich in the whole world. Mmmmm! It was great. And the kids get a scoop of Blue Blell ice cream with the kids' meals there. Can't top that!

We came home and James went out back to work on Katie's bike. I think it's finally ridable again. He worked on Sam's bike too, but I think he's going to have to buy a new tube for that one as well--the current one just won't hold air. After all the repair work, James got out the hose and started washing off the sidewalks. It wasn't long before he was washing off the children as well. It turned into a really fun evening! Just look...

First rinse...

Drying out...briefly!

Rinsing again...

"Da-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-ad!!!"

What goes around, comes around!

Yup, believe it or not, James actually let the kids have their turn with the hose--and he was the target!

"This is sooooooooo fun, Mom!"

"Ri-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-ight. Lots of fun."

I ended up with some very, very soggy kids! Made them step inside the back door, strip down, wrap themselves in a towel and run to their bedrooms to get their pj's on. In fact, there's still a pile of wet clothes over by the door--I'd forgotten about them! Ha!

Anyway, it was lots and lots of fun. I was the camera lady, so I managed to stay out of the line of fire. Everybody around here knows the don't-aim-anything-at-the-person-with-the-camera law, under penalty of death. :-)

One last shot before we go. This one is primarily for Mama and Emilee. Loo-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-ook what we found tonight!!!

At Alco, of all places!!! This was the one and only, lonely little case in the whole store and I scooped it up and told James, who was looking for the price, not to waste his time--we were buying it even if it was $10! I am sooooooooo excited!!! Does this mean they've actually brought back Vanilla Coke?!?!? Either that or this is one that had been lost in a store room somewhere and finally made it's way out to a shelf. Either way, it's liquid gold to me and I intend to enjoy it every precious drop of it to the fullest. :-) So how 'bout it, Ma and Em--wanna come over and play games and enjoy a nice cold one with me?! You'd better hurry. There are only 12 of them, you know. And I noticed that the box has already been opened. In fact, there's an empty glass sitting on my desk right now that appears to have Coke residue on it. I'll check for fingerprints and see if I can solve the mystery. ;-) ~sigh~ I am soooooooo happy!!! Life is Grand. :-)

~Becki~

10 comments

Misunderstanding

Posted by cokelady

I think that's what we have here. I wasn't being vague in my last post for the sake of cruelty, I was being vague for the sake of discretion! I was trying to be careful about what I said--I don't ever want to speak ill of anybody or say something that would negatively affect somebody's view of somebody else. But apparently I have whetted the curious appetites of some of the blogging crowd out there! In reviewing the situation, none of my blogging buddies have ever, or probably will ever, meet the parties in question and the chances of the people themselves actually reading my blog are about one in a billion... So let's throw caution to the wind and blurt out all the gory details!!! Ha!

Actually, I don't know that there's really all that much to tell. It's much, much more what I felt than what I experienced. I met a couple, Bobby and Betty, we'll call them. They were rather dirty and unkempt in appearance and just seemed to be the kind of people who have a pretty rough lifestyle. We shook hands and introduced ourselves and spoke with them for a few minutes. Betty just looks sad and miserable, her face drooping down into a permanant frown--and she rarely if ever makes eye contact; just keeps her face to the ground. She reeks of smoke. Bobby, on the other hand, has plenty to say--all of it very strange. He was thanking us for helping out a family member of his and saying how much he appreciated us and how he liked us so much (this was our first meeting with him) and how he likes everybody "who likes 'The Big Guy'," referring to God. He then pointed to a red rubberband he had on his wrist and began explaining how it is his "cussing band" or something like that. It's supposed to remind him to watch his language and any time he slips up and says something he shouldn't, he grabs the band and gives his wrist a snap. He has three colors of bands for when he moves from one stage into the next. The red reminds him of the devil and just makes him mad, then he'll wear a blue one that reminds him of something else (apparantly it didn't remind me of anything since I can't recall what it was!) and then a white one to remind him of who he's doing this for--God. Weird. Anyway, James and I both left our little encounter with the same feeling: these people are weird. And that was about it. But you always want to be a good witness and hope that something you say or do will help them to see God and perhaps their need of Him, you know?!

Later that day, kind of spur of the moment, I had to give somebody a ride over to these folks' house. I was surprised--to say the least--when we pulled up. It was soooooooo bad. Half of the siding was missing, revealing just that black paper stuff underneath, it looked sooooooo old and dilapidated and just rough, rough, rough. Let me insert here that I have nothing at all against poor people and am not "snooty" about the conditions in which some people live. I recall being in a home in worse condition than this one some years ago when we'd gone to visit some church folks. That doesn't bother me in the least--I thoroughly enjoyed that visit. So it wasn't the poverty or the living conditions themselves that made me uneasy, it was the people. Betty was standing outside screaming at the dog--who happened to be the only pleasant thing in the entire setting. Friendly dog. She shoved her arm and face into her shirt so she could light her cigarette without the wind blowing out her lighter, and she began telling me in a coarse voice how the doctor's gonna give her a patch to help with her cravings.

I helped carry some things inside and was surprised at the cement floor and filthy couch--the only piece of furniture I recall seeing in the room. Although I hardly stayed long enough to notice anything! I passed the goods I was carrying over to Bobby's brother, who also lives there. This guy looks like somebody who's been moonshining for the past 40 years someplace deeeeeeeeeeeeeep in the mountains of Tennessee...but mean. He had a long, bushy white beard and these great big bugged out eyes. And he doesn't speak, he just stares at you and will occassionally nod. I'm tellin' you, he walked straight out of an old Vincent Price movie or the Twilight Zone or something! Ha! I headed back outside and Bobby followed me all the way out to my van and then still continued to talk and talk and just wouldn't give me a chance to leave. Even after I got in the van he started talking again and made me roll the window down so he could keep talking. And I felt like he was looking around the inside of the van or something--it was weird! By this time I was feeling almost sick and couldn't get out of there fast enough!!! And it had nothing to do with the house or the things I'd seen or heard... it was all about what I felt. I can't begin to describe it, but I just felt soooooooooooo creepy!!! I'm sure some of you will think I'm just nutty or something--and I can't blame you--but I know that I have never, ever felt anything like this before. I am sooooooooo not a paranoid person and I do not get scared of people, even people I probably ought to be scared of, usually! (I'm more the kind of person to be get myself into trouble by being too careless and trusting than the kind of person to freak out and expect the worst.) All I can say is that those people (especially Bobby) freaked me out. I did not like the way that man looked at me. I did not like the way he looked at the little boy across the street. "I'm gonna go say hi to this little boy over here, he wants to talk to me--he's a sweet kid." Nothing I've said here would give any reason for anybody to think that there was anything really out of place or "wrong." But what I felt was weird, weird, weird! I never felt any fear for my safety or anything even close to that, I just felt sooooooooo creepy. And like something was driving me to get out of there.

I came straight home, found James and told him all of the feelings I'd been having (and how happy I am to have him and the feeling we have around here instead of the feelings that are over at that house!)... then I went to the bathroom and took off every stitch of clothing I had on and threw them all in the hamper (!) and took a long, hot shower and scrubbed and scrubbed and scrubbed! Strange though. I didn't feel any cleaner afterwards. I still felt so crummy and dirty and troubled on the inside. It lasted for a couple of hours, at least. I talked to James about it and then Sam called and I talked to him (he had been to the house and had the same creepy feelings), and then my Dad later on. I don't know how it is that I've been raised in a Christian home my whole life and am too dense to think of such a thing as "spiritual warfare" without somebody taking my hand and walking me through it (!!!), but somehow it just never crossed my mind that the "creepy" things I was feeling were probably "spiritual" things--and very bad spirits at that! All three of the guys (James, Pastor Sam, Dad) said the same thing--God let me feel those things for a reason and I need to take heed to that and follow what I'm feeling. They said that there could be so many reasons why I was feeling those things and feeling them so strongly--and especially since I've never felt anything like this before to take it very seriously. I have strict orders to never again step foot on that property, to keep my distance and pray for their souls from the safety of my own home-- and that if these people are to be led to the Lord (and we pray they are!), that I am not the person God will use to lead them! I was receiving warnings from God and need to listen to them. No problem there!!! I've never been so creeped out in my life. It was just weird, weird, weird.

Okay, do you all feel better now?! You're probably sorely disappointed. You were probably expecting some fantastic and hilarious story about the freaks with the mohawks at Wal-Mart or something. Sorry, this is the experience I had, so that's all I've got for you!

ANYWAY, today has been a much better day. Oh, and the news I've been dying to blog about but haven't been able to...!!!

We church folk here in Andrews decided several weeks ago that we wanted to paint Tammy's living room for her. She had this one wall that was a dark orangish-brownish kind of color (from the previous owners) and has had a hard time figuring out how to decorate in there because of it. She's never really done much painting and for some reason painting always seems like a huge project to people who haven't given it a shot. It's like telling them to build a deck out back. "Who, me?! I can't do that!!!" Anyway, we've been planning this for the past 6 weeks or so and were waiting for Tammy to skip town for a few days so we could get to work. ;-)

She left last Wednesday, so that afternoon James and I went over to their house ("Sam, give us your house key and keep your mouth shut!" ;-) Ha!), moved all the furniture out, and slopped some primer over that orange wall so it would be easier to paint over. The next day Stacey came from Odessa and she and I painted the living room and got to work decorating it. There was a big picture at Aunt Sue's store that Tammy had said she loved, but knew it wouldn't work because of that crazy wall. Well, we all went in together to buy it for her and since Sue was unable to help with any of the actual labor, she donated more stuff from the store to help decorate with. How fun is that?! We got a lot done that day, then Stacey took some things home to paint and bring back.

On Saturday James took Sam to Odessa and they found an old antique armoire that had been converted into an entertainment cabinet--something Sam and Tammy were desperately in need of. And penny-pinching Sam actually bought it!!! Wa-Hoo! (He actually got pretty excited about the whole project himself and seems to love it!) Then they came back to town and ripped up the old carpet from the living room (it had several stains) and brought in the piece from the garage that somebody had given Sam several months ago. Unfortunately, we weren't able to get anybody to come over and actually install it before Tammy got home (!!!), but the piece fit perfectly in the living room and you really don't even notice that it's not actually "laid." And it's much better than the old stuff. It'll work until next week sometime when they can get the carpet guy to come install it. Stacey and I went back over after church on Sunday and finished up the decorating. Then James and I went over today and put all of the furniture back in there and did the finishing touches so it would all be ready for Tammy when she got home. It was sooooooooooo fun to do all of this--it was just so exciting!!! Here are some pictures we took tonight of the finished product...

This is what you see when you open the door.

And this is from the opposite corner--notice the brand new (but really old!) entertainment cabinet! And the mirrored shelf on the wall. The mirror on the top right was cracked, so we broke it out of the frame and put some cute little word signs in there. Neat, hu?! Oh, and Stacey painted it black, along with the frames of the other two pictures on that wall and the large shelf in the first picture--and a floor lamp that I didn't get a picture of. In fact, I had very little to do with how all of this turned out. It is mostly due to Sue's generous donations and Stacey's creative eye--I'm just the "what do you want me to do now?" girl! ;-)

This is that picture that Tammy liked so much and some stitched prints we knew she liked as well--and a candle sconce on the left.

And these are some shadow boxes and "fillings" to the left of the picture. And notice the cool faux painted wall--Stacey worked her magic there, too. She's the Mad Painter around here and she's really good.

We were so excited about it all that we decided we had to be there when Tammy got home. So we got the kids in their pj's and headed over there to wait it out! This is a picture of the kids hiding in a bedroom watching for their car.

And this is Tammy discovering her new living room! Her reaction was better than we ever could have hoped for--she was soooooooooo surprised and soooooooooo amazed and soooooooooo excited! She even cried for us! What a great friend!!! :-) Although I think she was emotional enough she might have cried over just about anything! Ha! She's had a really, really stressful month and I hope this helped her to know how very much her church loves and appreciates her. Made me think of the old Queen of the Parsonage days we used to have for the pastor's wife (always Mom, for me!) when I was a kid and how neat they were.

I'm glad that the secret is finally out and I can actually start blogging about what I've been doing! Those few days I missed last week were full of nothing but things I couldn't talk about, thus the lull around here. It will be much easier to blog now that I don't have any secrets! (I couldn't blog about it 'cause I knew Tammy would be around computers and would surely stumble upon it if I posted anything about it!)

Well, I think that's quite enough for one night, don't you?! I hope you're all satisfied!!! :-) I'm going to go join my husband. He, too, is sooooooo tired tonight and crashed in the den a little while ago. By the music I keep hearing, I know that he's watching National Treasure in there. Without me! Of all the nerve!!! I'm going to join the party. :-)

~Bec~

16 comments

Soooooooooo Thankful!!!

Posted by cokelady

Okay, so it's been several days since I've blogged and I finally have the time to do it... and I have NO IDEA what to say. I know I've said before, "things have been crazy around here lately." Well, I take back every time I ever said that--I had no idea what I was talking about. NOW, things have been crazy. Beyond crazy. And today has been a day like no other.

Let's just start by saying that I am sooooooooooooooooooooooooo thankful!!! For everything in my life. God is sooooooooooo good to me and I am soooooooooooo blessed and I've never felt more gratitude before in my entire life. I came home from a certain experience today, almost ran in the house to hug and kiss my husband and tell him how very, very, very, very glad I am that I married him and how very, very, very, very happy I am to live here in this house with him and to have our wonderful children and to know God and to have the peace that we have in our home and, and, and... I just can't begin to express it.

I met some people today that... I can't find any better way to say it, so honestly, they CREEPED ME OUT. I am not an easily creeped person (gotta love that phrase) and I'm the one always telling James to relax and not think the worst of people, they're not all out to get you, blah, blah, blah. Well, today I'm the one locking the doors and closing the blinds! Ha! I can honestly say that I have never before felt what I felt today around these people. I didn't feel fear, really, just... creepy!!! I was soooooooo bothered that I was still shaken by it hours later. I struggled with guilt in the beginning over what I was feeling--knowing the great love that God has for all souls and that I should have, but all I could feel was creepy, creepy, creepy. I was praying (and still am) for God to help me to love their souls as He loves their souls. But through the wise counsel of my husband, pastor, and General Overseer (I have connections--HA!), I have come to get over the guilt! They all feel like--since I am not the kind of person to feel this way and since I felt it so very strongly--it must be an unction from God and to take it very seriously; that I was probably detecting some "spirits" and God was letting me know to keep my distance from what could potentially be a very dangerous situation. I can love the people and pray from their souls, but there are some times that you have to do it from a distance. Well, I'm all for that, let me tell you!!! Yee-ee-ee-ee-ee! Gives me the heeby-jeebies just thinking about it. And I am worn out. It has been a very, very long day and I'm soooooooooo glad it's almost over. Surely tomorrow will be better, right?! ;-)

Okay, on to my LIFE. I can't tell you everything I've been up to--for several reasons. One is that there's no time to cover it all. Another is that it's just not time to tell everything yet. But it will be very soon. Draw your own conclusions. ;-) The biggest happening around here is that Brother Ellis passed away yesterday. Yesterday--WOW. It seems like at least a week or two ago!!! We got the news during Church service, so as soon as we finished we all went up to the nursing home for a little while. Sister Elizabeth is doing well, all things considered, but she could really use all the prayers she can get. She's got some big life changes now that he's gone and we all just want God's very best for her. Anyway, we brought her home to stay with us last night and helped her get some things taken care of today. She's with her family here in town now and is planning on living with them. The funeral will be Wednesday morning.

Tammy has been gone since this past Wednesday and will be home tomorrow night. She had really gotten close to Brother Ellis and I'm sure she's taking it really hard that she was away during this time. Yet, through it all, we all feel so thankful that Brother Ellis is in heaven right now, free from all of his earthly troubles. And how wonderful that God led him to us and helped him to re-discover The Church of God "just in time" so that he could be a member of her before he died! God is just sooooooooo good.

Okay, this hasn't been the brightest, cheeriest post I've ever written. (Hey Jenna, can you whip me up a dark, gloomy looking template that I can slap up on occasion when I have nothing but glum things to write about?! This cheery cherry one just seems out of place tonight! Ha!) But this is the story of my life the past few days. Actually, it's only the story of a very small part of my life the past few days, but you just can't and shouldn't share everything, right?! Believe it or not, I left out a lot!!! ;-) I'll try real hard to have a better day tomorrow so I can have a happier post tomorrow night. Assuming I get a chance to post tomorrow night. Isn't the suspense just killing you?! Ha! I've got you now! Now I know you'll all be back tomorrow to check and see what may or may not be here! Bloggers are such suckers. ;-) G'night!

~Rebekah~

5 comments

Thanks!

Posted by cokelady

For starters, thank all of you who offered advice on my last post--I've read and re-read it and I'm sure I'll use it for a reference when things get tough with my little flunkie. ;-) Today I drew a great big "A" on a piece of paper, surrounded by lots of little A's, B's, and C's. I had Sam trace the big A, then color it in, then circle all of the little A's in red, then the B's in green and the C's in some other color. He did it all without a hitch. Matching shapes isn't a problem for him, just remembering what they're called! And despite how it might sound, I'm really not freaked out about him not knowing all of the stuff Katie and Joe learned early on. It's so true that kids are different and they all learn at different times, different rates, and in different ways. He's just the first kid around here who hasn't been interested in this stuff and I was wondering if there was something I could do to get him interested. And you've given me lots of terrific ideas--thank you!!! And if they don't work, I'm perfectly prepared to let him play with his miniature cowboys and indians on the floor during school time for a while longer. It actually makes "school" much easier on me when he does! Joe still needs pretty constant direction with his school and Katie (although she could do most all of it on her own) seems to need the attention and praise over her accomplishments. More than anything, she just wants company! Throw Sam into the mix and it's just about more than one Mama can handle! Makes you wonder how kids in school ever learn anything at all, 30 of them in a room with one teacher. Crazy.

My day started out rather slow today. I wasn't feeling well at all, so my wonderful husband agreed to keep an eye on the kid-o's so I could soak in a hot bath for about an hour. ~Aaaahhhhh~ It was so nice and I felt sooooooo much better afterward. Did some school, then had some pretty heafty chores to tend to in the afternoon. Went to the nursing home for service tonight, came home, had a late dinner, got the kids to bed, then went back to the nursing home to pick up Sister Elizabeth and take her back to her house for the night. Aunt Sue is picking her up in the mornings and taking her up there to be with Brother Ellis during the day, and I'll be picking her up and taking her back home each night. Up until this week, Tammy has been doing it all pretty much by herself. Well, she and Sam--he does so much for them, too. Tammy left today to go to her nephew's graduation and will be gone until next Tuesday. I'm sooooooo happy for her! She needs the time away--God arranged the timing of all of this just right! :-)

The nursing home service tonight... HA! It was a riot! First of all, Tammy is usually our fearless leader and this was our first time without her. We usually sing three or four songs, Katie and sometimes Joe will sing a special, Tammy will do a little devotional, then we'll sing a few more songs and Brother Sam will dismiss in prayer. Pretty easy, really. Except nobody was prepared with a devotional tonight. Tammy had asked me to pick the songs and said that Sam would do the devotion. So after the third or forth song I asked Sam if he had a devotional ready. Nope. I said, "You don't?! Tammy said you would!" "She did? Oh, okay--" and he took off. He said something like, "We're going to do a little devotional now--I've got a few scriptures I wanted to share...!" Ha! As if he was fully prepared and just waiting for his chance! The good thing about Sam Kaufman is that he's always reading his Bible and praying--in tune with God--and always has something really and truly on his heart that God has been speaking to him about. He never just pulls something out of a hat--he truly feels the things that he's sharing.

So the devotional was actually pretty good tonight! And the singing went pretty well, I thought. But there were lots of... distractions, shall we say?! First of all, there are these two really sweet simple-minded sisters in the home who always give packs of crackers to the kids and draw pictures for them and things like that. Well, today was Hippie Day at the nursing home and everbody had been stringing beaded necklaces and doing all sorts of hippie crafts, and these ladies had made enough necklaces for me and Aunt Sue and Katie and Tammy--and were quite disappointed to find that Tammy wouldn't be there. I was able to get to Katie ahead of time and give her some time to prepare herself before the girls gave her a necklace and she freaked out. "Katie, these ladies don't know anything about what the Bible says about jewelry and we do not want to hurt their feelings, so just take it and tell them thank you--and we'll get rid of it later." She did great. We took our strings of beads and put them over by our stuff on the chair. But the girls (Mary Jane and Carol are their names, I think) just kept asking about the necklaces and wanted to make sure we weren't going to lose them and that we were going to get that extra one to Tammy and on and on. They were dying for us to put them on and Sue was trying to figure out what to do since we weren't going to wear them, so she decided to just hold hers and twirl it as we sang! HA! You would have to know Sue Fox to appreciate this, but she started bopping and slinging one hip out to the side and twirling her beads round and round--it was hilarious!!! (Don't worry--we got her calmed down and stuffed the beads in her purse before we actually started singing!) AND... there's another lady there who always has a little something for each of the kids that she's picked up at the dollar store for them. This week it was goggles. I'm wishing I would have had my camera with me because there's no way to explain the atmosphere there tonight. We've got 25 or 30 old people in wheelchairs loaded down with beady necklaces and other hippie paraphernalia (one old lady in the back had a crazy looking headband wrapped around her head--you know, Karate Kid stlye--with curly white hair sticking out above and below it! -- I was DYING!!!) and Sue slinging her beads around and my kids looking like this most of the night...

I took these pictures when we got home, but this is really what they looked like through most of the service--except Katie kept hers on the top of her head most of the time. They did have the decency to take them off when they stood out front to sing their special. Without even being told, now that I think of it. Anyway, it was a crazy night! I can't wait for Tammy to get home--everything just seems to go nuts around here without her! Ha! I guess that's not true. Everything has been totally nuts for the past week or two before she left.

Okay, I'm outta here. Got a big day tomorrow--lots more heafty work to be done. I think I'm going to let Katie go "work" with Aunt Sue at the store for the day. She'll LOVE that and it'll free me up a little bit to be more productive. We don't do it very often and Aunt Sue never seems to mind, so tomorrow will be a good day. James works Mardel tomorrow so I'll have both boys to myself, but they're usually better when Katie is gone. Actually, any time you take any one kid out of the mix the two remaining ones seem to get along better. Weird. Okay, I gotta get going. G'night!

~Bec~

6 comments

School, School, School

Posted by cokelady

We've actually been doing it! Ha! I shouldn't say it that way. We've always done it, just not as faithfully as I would have liked. We have spurts where we are really good at doing it regularly, and then we really struggle for a while and it gets kind of sporadic. Truthfully, I've not been concerned about it up until this point. Katie loves anything scholastic and could probably give the majority of 3rd graders a run for their money. (Nathan excluded, of course!) Joe is doing great too and, for a five year old, is reading quite well and seems to have a real flair for math. So I haven't been concerned about the school regimen all that much. Their little brains seem to be thriving and they're learning things so quickly that I've hardly seen the need to push the issue. But of late I've been praying for God to help us to get back in whack with a regular school schedule. Honestly, it's more for the discipline aspect of it than the actual bookwork--although I don't mean to belittle the latter. We just need to get into a regular daily routine that will lend more security and orderliness to our lives, you know? Anyway, God's been helping us and the past week or two have been great. Katie and Joe are each doing 5 subjects a day, I believe, and are doing great at them. Katie just started adding double digit numbers today and is loving it. Joe is learning his nouns and verbs and seems to be liking it pretty well.

Then there's Sam. He is probably the real reason I'm writing all of this. I need help!!! Sam is our class flunkie. Ha! I know, I know--he's far too young to be accused of such a thing, but for real! And don't start rebuking me, Mom--I haven't been calling him that, thus placing the thought in his head. ;-) But the kid is three and a half years old and doesn't have a clue what any of his letters are--except "S" (for "Sam"), he can usually recognize that one. He's got his colors down, but shapes and numbers are still a mystery to him. I've been wanting to start him into a preschool book (we have toyed around with a few of them), but there's really very, very little bookwork that can be done until the kid knows his letters! He can sing the alphabet song, but doesn't know what any of the letters look like. Weird!!! By the time Katie was 18 months old I could say any letter in the alphabet and she'd trot off to the kitchen and retrieve the proper magnet--correctly at least 95% of the time. Joe knew all of his colors, shapes, letters, and numbers by age 2 as well. And I don't recall ever really teaching them. I suppose I did, but it just happened so easily I couldn't really take the credit for anything. They just got it! I've never had to try to teach a kid these things before and I don't know how! Yesterday I took just three magnets from the fridge, the A, the B and the C. I worked with Sam for 15 minutes or more rehearsing which letter was which over and over and over again. I would think he had it and we'd move on to the next letter. A few seconds later when I asked him what the first letter was he would look at it, then me, and say, "What was it???" This happened dozens upon dozens of times. I had James try for a while tonight and he came up with basically the same results. What is this kid's problem?!?!? I know for a fact he's not dumb. He's as clever as can be--and learning some things is no problem for him. We've been doing memory verses with him for a year or more now and he does fine with them. He's currently memorizing a passage from James, chapter 1, and he's got verses 19-24 down pretty good--even the part about "laying apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness"! Ha! (It is soooooooo cute!!!) So how is it that a kid can master large passages of Scripture, but he can't seem to remember 3 little letters by sight??? James said he doesn't seem to have the desire or the attention span for it right now. He knows the verses because he listens to Katie and Joe rehearse them night after night, so I know that repetition gets through to him... but not visual repetition?! Why can't he figure out what letter is what?! I'm not panicked about the issue--he's still so young and I never want to put pressure on him to do things that he's just not ready to do. He's just much older than my other two were when they learned the basics. I would like to find a way to pique his interest in learning without cramming it down his throat and making him hate the whole "school" thing before he even gets started. I know one thing--I'm going to have to make it FUN if he's going to have anything to do with it. Any ideas would be helpful!!! Especially from anybody who's actually been through this before and has found a successful solution. Well...???

That's about it from here. School, school, school. Play, play, play. Clean, clean, clean. I spent a couple of hours with Mr. Clean earlier, working on the kitchen floor, table and chairs. I don't know how I ever made it before those nifty little Magic Erasers came along! I did the big scrub job on the floor, so that feels good. Sammy came to help me. It's not exactly a help, but it's always fun. Until he spills the bowl of sudsy water all over the floor. That kid. But he likes to help and rid the world of germs. He was telling Joe the other day, "I eat germs. I don't like germs, so I just eat 'em." I was too scared to ask him what the "germs" looked like that he had been eating. There's no telling. Weird-o. And the last three times the kid has had a bath he's forgotten to take off an article of clothing! The first time he worked and worked and worked to get his socks off and once he finally did he just slung his leg over into the tub, blue jeans and all. He'd spent so much time on the socks he forgot about all the rest, I guess. The next time he took off everything but the socks. Then tonight he was so excited about getting to the toys in the tub that he forgot to take his shirt off. Hey... maybe there is something wrong with his brain! Ha!

Well, I'm off. Got a few things I'd like to do before turning in. Until next time...

~Bec~

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Posted by cokelady

Seems like there are so many things to blog about I don't know where to start. Actually, there's nothing all that monumental--just a bunch of little stuff I've been forgetting. Like the kids' bike ride the other day. I decided that it was time we go "out" for a bike ride so they can experience more than riding around the little triangle of sidewalk in our backyard where they have to make a sharp turn every 8'. So a few days ago we got the bikes out and headed toward the highschool where I knew there was lots of sidewalk space and parking lot to make use of. (I also knew classes were out for the day.) Sam asked for help right away--was just having a hard time getting his bike to move as fast as he wanted it to. So I was pushing him as Katie and Joe sped off in front of us. After about a block it suddenly occurred to me that it was a lot harder to push that little bike than it should be. I looked down and noticed that the back tire was completely flat. Great. Can't turn around now--the kids are sooooooo excited to be on their very first real bike ride. So I just kept on pushing. We made it to the highschool and Katie took off full speed across the parking lot. She was just flying... aimed straight for the curb! I didn't have time to respond, so all I got out was, "Katie, don't...!!!" just as she rammed into it. Her bike kind of hopped, made her lunge forward, then jumped the curb and kept going--she never missed a lick! I couldn't believe it. Unfortunatly Joe was following her and didn't have the speed she had. He hit the curb head on and came to a dead stop, immediately jumped off and commenced crying while holding his backside. I called them over to me and went over some biking basics (that I don't recall ever having to be told, personally) such as not hitting curbs and light poles and open manholes. So Katie chose to simply ram into Joe's bike instead. Not really. They've both got training wheels on their bikes (I know, I know, I'm a bad Mom--I'm just letting them get used to the new bikes for a few weeks before we start trying to teach them to really ride!) and she tried to pass him (at warp speed--the only one she knows) and their training wheels caught. Nobody got hurt, but from that time on Katie's bike would sometimes refuse to let her pedal. I finally discovered that the chain guard had been knocked out of whack (by the now out-of-line training wheel) and was pushing against the back wheel. We worked around that, but decided to head home pretty quick. Things weren't turning out as well as I had hoped, you know?! And while all of Katie and Joe's action was taking place I was still stuck pushing the kid with the flat tire. When we got home Katie tried to ride her bike up the walk and suddenly found herself pedaling for all she was worth, but to no avail. Her chain had come off! Good grief! How many problems can a kid encounter on one bike ride?! The very first one on a brand new bike, no less! But that's not all. The next day when she went to ride around the back yard we discovered that her front tire was flat! I know because I went out to work on it in my bright pink pajamas Saturday morning before the Sno-Cone sale. (I didn't want to take a chance of getting grease on me after I was dressed and ready to go. I did, however, serve Sno-Cones all day with that can't-get-the-grease-out-from-under-your-fingernails-no-matter-how-hard-you-try thing going on. Gross.) Anyway, I got the pump, but it wouldn't pump up at all. All I can figure is that she must've blown the thing when she slammed into the curb. So now her brand new bike is sitting out back with one wheel on and miscellaneous parts scattered nearby, waiting for Dad to find the right size tube to replace the one she busted. He worked on it for a while today, but she'll have to wait until the next Odessa trip for the new tire. Nothing like the joy of a new bike, let me tell you!

James found a turtle in the front yard the other day, so we took it out back, introduced everybody, tried to make friends, offered it some dog food (that's what my cousin feeds her turtles!), then kept an eye on it for as long as we could. As soon as we got distracted it made a run for it. It either found a very, very good hiding place, or it found a way out of the backyard--which is precisely what I would have done if I, as a turtle, found myself locked in a yard with three lively kids and a dog. Anyway, here are some pictures we took before we lost him.

"Anybody in there???"

"Hello in there...anybody home???"

"Just wait, Mr. Turtle--you only think you're scared now. Wait 'til you get to know me a little better...Bwa-ha-ha-ha-ha!"

Hershey was thoroughly impressed, as you can see. He wasn't nearly as calm when I was offering his food to the new little guy, I assure you!

We had a good Mother's Day service yesterday complete with four adult visitors and the two little ones. :-) One of these adults was brand new--a daughter of one of the other ladies. It is sooooooo exciting!!! They seem to really enjoy the services and talk and act like they intend to be around for a while. I trust and pray that they will! Tammy (with some assistance from James and Emilee--on different projects) had arranged some very, very nice gifts for all of the Moms (more on that later) and it was just a really nice service.

Afterwards James asked Sam & Tammy if they wanted to go to Odessa with us for a nice "Mother's Day" dinner. Tammy, although having no children of her own, has been an amazing mother to Brother Ellis and Sister Elizabeth--for months now, but especially this past week!!! She's been killing herself trying to take care of their every need and beyond. It's been a very, very long and stressful week for her and she needed a break so bad! (Not that she would ever complain or ask for a break, but she sure deserved one!) We had planned on setting up the Sno-Cone sale again, but Tammy said the trip to Odessa sounded wonderful so we loaded up and went to Johnny Carino's for dinner. Way too rich for our blood (any of us!) usually, but hey, it was a holiday! And if you order a family platter it all evens out pretty well. It was soooooooooo good and just so nice to have some time to relax and visit with Sam and Tammy. It hasn't been all that long, but after the past week it seems like ages! It was a great time. And I got the best cherry cream Italian soda I've ever had. Then another one. And one more to go. ;-) Hey, you get unlimited refills and when you pay $2.25 for a drink it's only right that you try to get your money's worth, right?! :-)

We drove back to Andrews and everybody changed clothes and headed to Thriftway to set up the sale for another hour or two. James even joined us this time and had a blast. He loves the whole selling thing. It's in his blood or something and he gets a real rush out of it. It was great to have him there with us. Of course, he and Sam probably ate more Sno-Cones than we sold (no kidding!), but we still made some extra dough and after the two days we ended up with about $65, I think--which is enough to pay for two kids or one adult tuition to Camp. Every little bit helps! Here's a picture of James hamming it up, Tammy cheerily awaiting another customer, and Sam doing what he does best: talking! Ha! That guy knows everybody in town. It helps a lot at fund raisers like this!

And here's a picture of that last minute sign we scribbled up on Saturday morning. You know, the one that is so offensive to Church of God (elders) ministers. ;-) Only some of them, I'm sure! Tammy said he probably didn't like the way we looked and didn't want people to think we were part of his church. After meeting him, I don't want people to make that mistake either! Ha! That's not a very charitable thing to say, is it? Hhmmm. I don't mean it in an ugly way--really! I'm just all the more thankful to be in God's Church after meeting him. :-)

Okay, I'd best get going. I intend to relax with my Country magazine and Reader's Digest for a while tonight. ~Aaaaaaahhhhhh~ I feel relaxed already, just thinking about it! But just a few more pictures before I skedaddle. These are the flowers James got for me for Mother's Day. Actually all of the church Mom's got one rose, two carnations, and three or four lillies in a small vase with pretty ribbon and a bookmark attached. I got that and this because I'm married to James. :-)

And here's the gift that Tammy had Emilee prepare for us church Mom's. (She gave them to us after church once the visitors were gone.) Aren't they fantastic?! THANK YOU TAMMY AND EMILEE!!! (Sorry I forgot to mention it on the phone today, Em--I love it!!!) The verse is one of my favorites: "Except the Lord build the house they labour in vain that build it." It goes on to say, "Except the Lord keep the city the watchman waketh but in vain." I always think of the things we're doing to try to raise our kids right and bring them up to fear God and serve Him wholeheartedly. I love the reminder that even all of our heartfelt efforts and good intentions are doomed to fail unless God is the one doing the work and guarding their souls. I can't do it; He has to do it. I needed that reminder just last night and it spurred me to a wonderful time with the Lord in prayer and much needed surrender once more. So double thanks, Tammy and Em--I needed that verse right now! :-)

Okay, I've kept you all far too long. Me too. I have reading to do, you know. ;-) Have a great night, all!