What Was That I Said About This Week?

Ok, did I say this week was going to be the relaxing easy week of summer? Guess again! God is really stretching me to flex with His plan, especially when it is very different than mine! I have childcare this week. Some of it--the baby--was planned. But now I also have several other chidren I occasionally take care of. I have discovered the delight of my heart is caring for children. God has been very gracious to fill my house with them, even if I can't have the big family I dreamed of having.

In addition to childcare, we have a first in our home. Andrew broke his arm yesterday. I knew that with three very rough and tumble boys, it would only be a matter of time before somebody broke something. This is a very mild break--a chip in an arm bone, but it has upset the balance of my restful week. We will have to go in a few days to see an orthopedic doctor and have the cast put on. Plus I get the fun of helping Andrew bathe, dress, and do all kinds of other activities he usually uses his right hand to do. Once again, this is the life of a mom that I love so much!

AJ is quite thrilled with his injury. It is wrapped in a splint for now, and he has it in a sling. For a six-year-old, it is a badge of honor, and something his brothers haven't had yet, which makes it even more special! My favorite part? The really great drugs the doctor gave me for pain (OK, for Andrew's pain, not mine!). I'm trying to figure out if it's better to use it on one boy for six days, or on three boys for two days! Ya know what I mean? A girl needs a break every now and then! (Just kidding--anyone who knows me knows I'm a stickler about using meds the right way!)

Ahhhh . . . Relaxing Summer! HA!

Funny, I remember summer being something where the pace slowed and I finally had time to work on lots of little projects, as well as sleep late. Not this year. Between my trip to the state homeschool convention, sending one boy to Cub Scout Day Camp, two to Bible camp downstate, and beginning to work on getting my house in order, I'm beat. And of course we have VBS this week.

The biggest change for me has been a marked improvement in my health. For the first time in over a year, I'm feeling like "myself" again. I'm not really sure who I felt like before, but I am certain it wasn't me. I didn't realize it until last week when I finally managed to overcome the mountains of papers in my bedroom, and began once again working out each day. The regular excercise has given me amazing energy, and within a few days I began feeling great! Best of all, I am spending lots of time most days with God. This has given me new perspective in the direction He is taking me. Not that I've actually figured out what direction we're going, but I'm again staying focused on letting Him know even if I don't.

Fortunately next week we finally get to have "summer." The boys and I are going to do nothing but sleep late, work on projects, and maybe watch a few movies. Hmmm . . .I wonder if I'll be ready to get back to school this year with the crazy summer we've had?

If Mom Gives a Mouse a Cookie

Often I wonder why I can't get anything done around here. There are several reasons. One of them is that I feel like I have ADHD, or something like that. Maybe I do. But I really think I have a mouse living in my house. It's not just any mouse, it's the one from If You Give a Mouse a Cookie . . . .

My day goes something like this:

If you wake a mouse in the morning, he'll want to snuggle longer. As he snuggles, he'll want to tickle. Once you've started tickling, he'll want to wrestle. As he wrestles, he'll kick the bedcovers off. When you finally start making the bed, he'll remember that it's morning and want to eat breakfast. He'll whine about being hungry until you go downstairs to help him find breakfast.

He'll start off wanting cereal, but after getting the milk and cereal out, he'll see the waffles and want them. Then he'll want a banana to go with the waffle. He'll remember the Curious George book you promised to read him the night before, and will remind you of your promise and insist you read it right away. As you read the book, he'll have to play with Legos, but just as you finish and the phone rings, he'll run upstairs to get his Star Wars toys.

Though you know you need to do some picking up, the buzzer on the dryer will sound, and since this is the third time you've tossed the laundry, you'll go right away to get it folded and hung so you can start drying a new load. Seeing the clean laundry, your mouse will remember he's not wearing his favorite shirt, and will complete undress and change clothes right there in the foyer. While he has his shirt off, he'll want to paint, but after painting a few pieces of paper, he'll be bored, so he'll head outside to play.

Just as you start to pick the clothes off the floor, you see the mail that was moved from the place you put it to remind you to put it in the mailbox to some obscure place (that mouse!), so you'll take the mail out to the box. You'll find the mailman has already delivered, so you take the new mail in to look over. As you bring it in, the mouse will see the latest toy ad, and want to look at it. Then he'll want to plan his birthday party, even though it's not for another eleven months. He'll go to get you a piece of paper and a pen, as you start to pull out stuff for lunch. After lunch he'll want you to read him another book. . . .

OK, you see where this is going. So now I have: an unmade bed, half my pajamas still on, milk, cereal and waffles on the counter with the banana peel, several books laying out, half finished Lego creations and lots of miscellaneous blocks, Star Wars toys, dirty clothes, outgoing mail, incoming mail, a toy ad spread out, a piece of paper and a pen, lunch fixings . . . . Aaarrrggghhh! And the day's less than HALF over! And I have THREE mice! Now do you understand why my house is so hard to keep up after? Please?

Look at Him Shine! The boy is nine!

Ahhh . . . Stephen! Yesterday you turned nine. Nine years. You're still in as much of a hurry now as you were on that day you were born. A two hour labor, top to bottom--who'd ever heard of that! You left me a little tired, but fully able to just enjoy you. That still sums up who you are in our family. You are a bundle of extremes--either emotionally on top of the world, or having the worst day of your young life. You are either running at ninety to nothing, or you're asleep! You either talk my ear off, or have nothing at all to say. But even with the energy and emotions, you leave me always able to enjoy you.

We usually don't get to make a school holiday out of your day. It just falls too late in our school year, and so we're usually done with school anyway. But yesterday was the day. You and Josh worked all weekend on your schoolwork to take off. We served you the traditional breakfast in bed yesterday, and then let you open your presents. Then we just let you run the day. You started the morning listening to Hank the Cowdog CD's on your new stereo system (thank you Walmart, for the really good deal!). You told me all day how that was your favorite present. It made me kind of sad, not much in the way of toys this year for you. You're growing too fast.



Around the middle of the day, I gently reminded you that you would be upset if you didn't plan out exactly what you wanted. This happened a few weeks ago when we planned some certain things to do on a family day, but instead only watched Lord of the Rings. I didn't want your birthday to be a disappointment. You really struggled with the decision--choices are so hard for you! You finally decided on take-out pizza, rented videos and games at home. So that's what we did. In the evening you had your last Cub Scout Pack meeting, and went bowling at the bowling alley. You didn't bowl so well, in fact, I was worried about it ruining your day, but you pulled it off at the last minute and began hitting pins in the last few frames.

After bowling we came home and had ice cream cake and watched the rest of a movie. Now you are nine. We are still planning on having a celebration with some friends. You want a Redwall feast. What an imagination! The next few weeks will be busy with summer activities, so we'll have to do that in several weeks. I'm sure it will be interesting.

Stephen, you are the joy of our family. I love your heart, so tender and compliant. You have a tenderness for pleasing the Lord that . . . well . . . I wish I had! Yesterday you picked out the biggest ice cream cake I would let you buy, and today you were agreeing to share it with a bunch of friends. It is just like you not to keep something good to yourself. I pray the Lord will lavish all His best on you. I love you Stephen. It is a joy being your mom. I look forward to the next nine years and more!

Love, Mom

What Goes In, Must Go Where?

Time for a quiz! What do Philippians 4, Horatio Hornblower and Andrew have in common? Last week, I let the boys watch the first four Horatio Hornblower movies. I discovered them on an old videotape, and after watching the first one, realized they are great entertainment fodder for boys. So we quickly got school out of the way last Thursday, and spent the rest of the day "learning" about the British navy during the Napoleanic era. (Are you impressed with how educational I can make sitting in front of the TV sound?) All of the boys were quite taken with the stories (which are wonderful!), but Andrew has especailly enjoyed "acting out" the things he saw.

He told me a few minutes ago, "I'm not pretending Horatio Hornblower, and I'm not acting out 'The Wrong War,' [one of the Hornblower movies--AJ's favorite] I'm just being a guy and he's named Horatio Hornblower."

O-key Dokey. I guess he has temporarily had his name legally changed. Either that or he's practicing running for office.

So what does this have to do with Philippians? In Philippians 4 it says,"And now, dear brothers and sisters, let me say one more thing as I close this letter. Fix your thoughts on what is true and honorable and right. Think about things that are pure and lovely and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. Keep putting into practice all you learned from me and heard from me and saw me doing, and the God of peace will be with you." Whether he knows it or not, little Andrew just proved this scripture true. We become a little of what we meditate upon. Even if we don't admit that we are "pretending."

I'm actually a little glad that one of Andrew's heroes is Horatio Hornblower.

A Different Account?

Remember the recent camping trip that Josh went on? Remember how much he talked about it when he got home, leaving me thinking he actually enjoyed it? In a writing assignment this week, this is what he wrote:

Rain. We couldn't stand to hear the sound of it. Richard, Drew, their dad . . . Matt, and I were all in a car being pelted by rain and hail on our way to a camp . . . . When we got there, we pitched the troop gear, and then our personal gear. That night I had set up my tent and organized my backpack gear, when I realized my sleeping bag was soaked through with rain. That night was titled, "The Night of Agony," during which I used a bag of clothes as a pillow and a towel, small and skimpy, for a blanket. Breakfast the next morning was bacon and French toast. Afterwards we sat around, talked, and made fun of ***** until we all went canoing to a platform where some of the older scouts and adults were staying for the night. The rest of us canoed back. Later we canoed in different directions a little ways. When we got back to camp we made and scoffed several grilled cheese sandwiches. A little while later the cooks of our patrol burnt our chicken. I slept much better that night because Mr. Evans . . . loaned me a small sleeping bag. The next morning e made and ate breakfast before coming back to the bare necessities: food, beds, water, and air conditioning. I still don't know how I survived.

Is this the same trip I heard about? Does my son have split personalities? Hmmmm . . . maybe I need to assign some other writing assignments.

VERY Creative Writing!

Andrew was telling me about a story he was pretending today, so I asked him if we could write the story from it. He dictated it to me just as I have written it below. Read it and see if you can find the underlying theme!

The Knights and the Camp
By Andrew

When I was a little boy I lived with my parents in a good place near some woods. One day my parents came to me. They said,”Go out in the woods. There you will camp until all of us and all the other parents come to find you and bring you back to home. A king told all of his knights to come kill you.”

I brought this portable CD player. We brought horses. We brought knives just in case bears or snakes or other ferocious animals tried to hurt us. We killed them and roasted them over a fire. We also brought knives to kill the knights if they tried to kill us. Every single parent gave their kids a knife. We also brought our favorite beanie animals and backpacks with clothes and toys in them.

We packed up all of our stuff because we weren’t very far in the woods. We packed up and went farther into the woods. We camped, and after one night, our parents came to get us. The knights were knocked out and the parents bought knives to stab them just so they wouldn’t wake up. We still got to keep the knives.

This story was made up by Andrew.

Do you notice the theme? Kids really need to have knives! Because . . . everybody knows . . . you could face a dangerous knight or a ferocious animal who wants to kill you at any time! Incidentally, he also has a thing right now about getting a horse when he grows up. I noticed he slipped that into the story too!

How I Hate Age Six . . .

No, it's not what you're thinking. I LOVE the creativity, and even the energy of a six-year-old boy. I just hate the way that age magically causes them to leave behind thier babyhood. Andrew and I went shopping together today. In the car we were talking. I was teasing him about "girl stuff," you know, Barbies and princesses, and dress up clothes.

He said,"I HATE all those girl kinds of things!"

I asked him,"Aren't you going to get married some day?"

"NO Way!" came the response. He professed even to hating the color pink, a color that was his favorite just yesterday! (Yesterday? Or did I blink and two years flew by?)

Now, he's never getting married. He hates to be hugged and kissed (sometimes!). He loves to go out with mom, then hates that he had to come. We're on that roller coaster, and I've already seen in the other two boys where it leads. I'm finally losing my baby to manhood, and he's only six! And a part of me grieves the loss of having my babies in my arms and their need for only me.

How am I ever going to manage the empty nest?

Another Camping Success

Well, the weekend camping was a success. The oldest, now in real Boy Scouts, went on a camping and canoeing trip to the Okefenokee Swamp. The night before he bacame very sullen, complaining that he should have never signed up for it! He trudged off still a little mad that I wouldn't let him out of the committment of going on Friday. I wondered a little this weekend how he would feel when he came home--it rained quite a bit! But today, he came home all bubbly and chatty (NOT a boy thing!), and couldn't tell me enough about what they did, what they ate, the gators they saw, etc. It was great. I asked him if he planned on the next camping trip, and got,"Yeah. I think so." He's still not interested in going to Scout summer camp. Good thing since the sign-up date has passed!

The other two were delighted to spend the weekend camping in our air conditioned, electronically equipped living room with a bathroom nearby. Stephen, the eight-year-old, would really have prefered to be canoeing with his brother, but was glad to at least spend the weekend in a tent. I even let them leave the tent up last night. Gave me one more night alone in my bed!

My goal for the day yesterday was to sort through piles of stuff as I moved one boy into his own room. I actually planned to get two rooms in order, and while I still have several bins of assorted stuff to sift through and a couple of pieces of furniture to move to yet unknown locations, I am pleased to say that I accomplished my main objective. Good thing too, since I found out today that the bunk beds we loaned out have to go back in one of those rooms this week! Today I got the downstairs back in order and rested--a much needed rest! And I'm going to bed early tonight so I can recover from my busy weekend!

Everybody's Campin' 'Cept Me!

Ahhhh . . . my kind of weekend. All the boys are camping except for me. No, I haven't lost my mind. I am not letting the younger ones out in the back yard unattended. Josh is on a Boy Scout canoe trip, a decision that he started regretting last night (and I think might regret more since rain is supposed to pass through tomorrow). After attending a play tonight, I came home and set up a tent in the living room for the other two. They are down stairs watching Zorro while settled on their campout! My kind of campout. The kind with no bugs . . . no sunscreen . . . no hauling and unlaoding of gear . . . no hours of set up only to know I'll have to get up tomorrow and tear it all down . . . well, you get the idea. The only thing that would make this weekend better for me would be to NOT have to tear through bedrooms to move one kid into a different room. I'd rather be scrapbooking . . . but at least I'm not camping!

Thirty-nine Things I've Learned in Thirty-nine Years

1. God really is faithful.


2. Life definitely isn’t fair.


3. Even though friends let you down, it’s still worth the risk to trust them.


4. Boys really are different than girls.


5. No one loves you like your mom and dad.


6. A five-year-old, left alone for five minutes, can make a mess that will take five days to clean up.


7. The house never does stay clean.


8. Credit card debt increases faster than it decreases.


9. The only way to make progress on a project is to start working on it.


10. Girlfriends are more desirable than deserts! They make life sweet, but don’t make you fat.


11. Things change. They might not always get better, but they rarely stay the same.


12. Doing something God’s way the first time is much easier than trying to clean up the mess.


13. Some things never stop hurting.


14. The things that seem to demand my time are rarely worth spending it on.


15. You can learn a lot about God by having kids.


16. What you watch, listen to, and read, and who you talk to, actually shape who you are and what you believe.


17. Children draw their energy from their parents, and leave their parents exhausted.


18. Things usually cost me twice the expense I imagine they will, and offer half the return.


19. Quiet time with the Lord in the morning really does make a difference in my day.


20. Watching your son becoming a man is an adventure.


21. GET AN ESTIMATE!


22. After you get an estimate, GET ADVICE!


23. Life really isn’t about me.


24. You never have to completely grow up if you surround yourself with kids.


25. Don’t trust what you hear in the news, on TV, or in a movie.


26. Gossip actually hurts everyone, not just the person being talked about.


27. It is possible to deeply love someone without them ever knowing.


28. Giving is a whole lot more fun that receiving.


29. A lifetime warranty isn’t a guarantee that something won’t break.


30. Everybody needs late night friends, but for a night-owl, they are a necessity.


31. Sometimes you have to do what doesn’t make sense.


32. Plans, schedules, and budgets are tools. Not everyone uses every tool for every job, but it’s nice to have them when you need them.


33. When I’m feeling down, I usually need to look up.


34. God’s surprises are always better than my plans.


35. God loves to hear me talk to Him. God even loves for me to ask Him where the watch I lost is (or the keys . . . or the remote . . . or my wallet . . .).


36. There is no such thing as too many books.


37. We can give up and endure a lot more than we think we can


38. Solomon was right. There is nothing new under the sun.


39. Music is essential in life. It soothes the savage beast . . . including my kids!

Again I Ask . . .

. . . what IS this fascination with water that my youngest son has? Last month he left the hose dripping. I think it was days before I found it! (Fortuately my water only went up a little bit) He overflowed the sink for no apparent reason. I think he has started stuffing the whole role of TP down the toilet! What do I do?!?!

Today it goes something like this:

"Mom! You HAVE to come see what is on the floor in the bathroom upstairs! It's brownish and SO GROSS! I think Princess did it!"

I move toward the stairs, picturing a pile in my head. I'm curious.

"AJ, what is it?"
"I don't know. But it's DISGUSTING!"

I move a little faster. I'm worried!

Guess what I found! A toilet overflowed . . . hours before (probably before we left for church) . . . and it had . . . poop! . . . which was all over my bathroom floor . . . and soaked into the towels and clothes left laying on the floor . . . and smelled awful! Gross!

And I ask this only out of fairness to my son: When did the DOG learn to use the toilet?

One thing I hate about being a single mom: I always have to do the gross jobs! But this time, I DID make AJ help me. He's been complaining about still smelling it all evening! I hope it's a while before I see an overflowed toilet again!

Makes Sense to Me!

Tonight AJ was prattling on about his philosophy of life. I did what I usually do when he talks on and on--I mulititasked . . . until I started to catch what he was saying.

"I used to think that boys came from daddies, and girls came from mommies. You know? That was until I learned that boys and girls come from mommies."

Now, aren't you glad I didn't miss that?

Can We Take Another Spring Break?

Our house is in mourning because Spring Break is gone. I am totally frustrated because all the relaxing things I was going to do somehow didn't get done, and all the little projects I was going to get done still loom over me! So I'm left wondering what we did do! I do remember at the beginning of the week going out of town for a Choir Trip. The kids performed twice, slept in the homes of members of the church where we performed, and spent an afternoon at Blue Spring State Park, all exciting but exhausting fun.




After arriving home on Monday, I needed Tuesday to rest and recover, so the boys and I and a friend who spent the night slept late, watched TV, and played on the computer (me!).

On Wednesday we had a birthday party for AJ at a friend's house. He had a wonderful time, and all the kids swam and played for most of the day. Thursday I started getting worried that we weren't going to get anything done, so we did a little housework, but I mostly played on the computer with my new photo and movie editing software. Friday was about the same, and today I worked like mad trying to get assignments graded and lessons planned and getting the house ready for my small group meeting tomorrow.

OK, looking back, it has been a pretty busy week. No wonder I feel tired! I think Spring Break is just a teaser to make you want summer more. And it worked!

Yet Another Difference . . .

. . . between boys and girls! Last night I ended up sitting through King Kong, so tonight I needed my chick-flick fix. I decided a little late this evening to watch You've Got Mail, but I was tired, so we moved upstairs to watch it on my computer. Of course, being TV junkies, the boys didn't particularly care that it was a chick-flick, so they piled in the bed with me to watch it. Wouldn't you know it! By half-hour into the movie, I was dozing off. Of course, the younger ones crashed too, but 'ol reliable Josh was awake right until the end! I woke up to him leaving the room--just before the part where Kathleen discovers that it is really Joe whom she has fallen in love with over the Internet! Can you believe it? HE LEFT AT THE GOOD PART! I, of course, woke up enough to watch that part. Last time I watched the movie I rewound it about six times so I could watch it again and again. But my son had no desire to see the end! Go figure!