Monday, December 31, 2007
Guess what I gave myself for Christmas?!
2 nights before Christmas and all through the house, not a creature was stirring, especially not the lady on the couch with a broke leg! Yes, I broke my leg @3:30pm on Sunday, December 23rd. I would love to say I will soon post a wonderfully courageous story....however, it is just a story about my fun day of golf.
Wednesday, December 5, 2007
Two posts in less than a week!
I am tracking down pictures from the service. I KNOW they were taken, I just have to figure out whose camera was flashing! LOL!
This morning I got a phone call that every parent of every child that is really moving in some weird directions wants to get......My oldest son called me this morning. The conversation started with "Guess what really great thing I did last night?" Okay, the boy is 19 years old. His father and I eloped at 19, his girlfriend's parents eloped at 19....and, aside from that...he acts like a 19 year old boy......My mind sped from one idea to the next and finally settled on...."you got engaged or you eloped?" His response included a chuckle at my answer. "No, Mom. Better than that!" Okay....what could be better than that....was it better than that like he stuck his truck so far in the mud it took 3 trucks to pull it out? was it better like he joined the circus? was it better like, he......hmmmmm..... "I give, what did you do?" His response brought tears to my eyes. This is a young man who has spent the last 8 months trying to spread his wings and fly in almost every direction we have taught him not to go. He was drinking (not driving but still drinking), he was smoking (not anything illegal but still smoking), he was running around with people who did not see any since in going to church. The scariest comment he made to me was when he told me, it was his time to live and he would try to find time for God later. Yikes! But back to his reponse..... "Mom, I reintroduced myself to Jesus last night".......Wow! Thank you Lord for staying with him and putting the right people in his life, and giving me the strength and courage to just hang on and have faith. Amen.
This morning I got a phone call that every parent of every child that is really moving in some weird directions wants to get......My oldest son called me this morning. The conversation started with "Guess what really great thing I did last night?" Okay, the boy is 19 years old. His father and I eloped at 19, his girlfriend's parents eloped at 19....and, aside from that...he acts like a 19 year old boy......My mind sped from one idea to the next and finally settled on...."you got engaged or you eloped?" His response included a chuckle at my answer. "No, Mom. Better than that!" Okay....what could be better than that....was it better than that like he stuck his truck so far in the mud it took 3 trucks to pull it out? was it better like he joined the circus? was it better like, he......hmmmmm..... "I give, what did you do?" His response brought tears to my eyes. This is a young man who has spent the last 8 months trying to spread his wings and fly in almost every direction we have taught him not to go. He was drinking (not driving but still drinking), he was smoking (not anything illegal but still smoking), he was running around with people who did not see any since in going to church. The scariest comment he made to me was when he told me, it was his time to live and he would try to find time for God later. Yikes! But back to his reponse..... "Mom, I reintroduced myself to Jesus last night".......Wow! Thank you Lord for staying with him and putting the right people in his life, and giving me the strength and courage to just hang on and have faith. Amen.
Sunday, December 2, 2007
Has it been that long?
I didn't realize how long it has been since I have posted anything. Life does get a little hectic!
Our youth are in charge of one service a year, and that is the Hanging of the Greens. This is the first Sunday in Advent and we have the opportunity to set the stage for the rest of the Advent season. And.....tonight was the night.
One should understand that this is one of the most stressfull yet fun things that I do with the youth all year. We start the end of October giving out the parts.....Mary, Joseph, Simeon, the Innkeeper, Zechariah, the Maji, the Shepherds, the Angels......not always the same characters (except of course, Mary and Joseph), but parts to be given.
The first and second year I was in charge of this, I had found the most wonderful book with the service already spelled out and all I had to do was decide if I liked the hymns that were suggested or if I wanted to put in some different ones. Year 1 was fairly smooth, stubbling over lines and difficulty keeping them focused but overall okay. Year 2 was the year my husband and I went on a cruise so I was not there for the next to the last rehearsal and just barely (due to plane trouble) made it to the final rehearsal we do the afternoon of the service. But then, year 3 came along. I decided to combine a new service with parts from the old. Added a little bit of humor and off we went. The final rehearsal before the service was spent searching for my son when it was his time to play guitar or his time to speak, shutting down all the noise and just keeping up with everyone! I turned into someone I did not know existed. I became a woman on a mission. A mission from God. I spoke in a scary deep voice that used every bit of "projection" I had ever learned in any speech class. I was firm with that "MOM" look that would put any teenager, with even a smidge of since, into silent submission. The time came for the service and I did not see how it was ever going to work. I still had kids who did not know their lines or their cues or their places. Even though they had been in on every single rehearsal. And yet, through the Grace of God, it came off without a hitch (except the pastor missed his cue).
This year, I found 3 services and pieced them together along with parts written by me. Parts were handed out the first week of November and the rehearsals began. Last Wednesday, I sat all the kids down in the sanctuary. Half of them were too busy trying to text their friends and make jokes to have a clue what was going on and I started to let "that lady" back out. But, God took over. I began speaking to them about what this service is all about. It is an opportunity for the youth to set the mood of the church for the rest of Advent. To reach out to everyone present and touch them with the message of God. I cannot remember all the words I spoke, I know I was fighting tears as I spoke. It has been awhile since I truly let God take over and speak through me. When I finished, I realized I had been talking to myself as well. I had pointed out that this was much bigger than the kids and much bigger than me. This was not about what the church thought about my job as a youth director, but about what I was doing to glorify God. The kids quietly left the sanctuary. I don't know if it was quiet contemplation but I like to think God had touched their hearts. One of them came up to me later and said he just wished everyone "got it". That all of his friends realized what this was truly all about. I picked up my phone only to hear a voicemail that left me tears. "You gave a great message tonight. God has a plan for you. Hang in there." Those words will stay in my heart for a long time. "God has a plan for you"...... Tonight we got together and did a final run through, working through the logistics of the banners hanging, the poinsetta placement, the candles, the speed of speaking, the songs...... At 6pm it began.... I cannot tell you how it all went as I was behind the scenes and helping people make their entrances......I can tell you the solo I sang felt "right". I can tell you everyone was in their places and speaking their lines....and I can tell you the sanctuary was full and the comments that followed were good and praising the youth. Once again, they surpassed my expectations and amazed me. God bless each and every one of them. They are the biggest part of my heartbeat. God is so awesome to bless me with the opportunity to work with each and every one of them.
Our youth are in charge of one service a year, and that is the Hanging of the Greens. This is the first Sunday in Advent and we have the opportunity to set the stage for the rest of the Advent season. And.....tonight was the night.
One should understand that this is one of the most stressfull yet fun things that I do with the youth all year. We start the end of October giving out the parts.....Mary, Joseph, Simeon, the Innkeeper, Zechariah, the Maji, the Shepherds, the Angels......not always the same characters (except of course, Mary and Joseph), but parts to be given.
The first and second year I was in charge of this, I had found the most wonderful book with the service already spelled out and all I had to do was decide if I liked the hymns that were suggested or if I wanted to put in some different ones. Year 1 was fairly smooth, stubbling over lines and difficulty keeping them focused but overall okay. Year 2 was the year my husband and I went on a cruise so I was not there for the next to the last rehearsal and just barely (due to plane trouble) made it to the final rehearsal we do the afternoon of the service. But then, year 3 came along. I decided to combine a new service with parts from the old. Added a little bit of humor and off we went. The final rehearsal before the service was spent searching for my son when it was his time to play guitar or his time to speak, shutting down all the noise and just keeping up with everyone! I turned into someone I did not know existed. I became a woman on a mission. A mission from God. I spoke in a scary deep voice that used every bit of "projection" I had ever learned in any speech class. I was firm with that "MOM" look that would put any teenager, with even a smidge of since, into silent submission. The time came for the service and I did not see how it was ever going to work. I still had kids who did not know their lines or their cues or their places. Even though they had been in on every single rehearsal. And yet, through the Grace of God, it came off without a hitch (except the pastor missed his cue).
This year, I found 3 services and pieced them together along with parts written by me. Parts were handed out the first week of November and the rehearsals began. Last Wednesday, I sat all the kids down in the sanctuary. Half of them were too busy trying to text their friends and make jokes to have a clue what was going on and I started to let "that lady" back out. But, God took over. I began speaking to them about what this service is all about. It is an opportunity for the youth to set the mood of the church for the rest of Advent. To reach out to everyone present and touch them with the message of God. I cannot remember all the words I spoke, I know I was fighting tears as I spoke. It has been awhile since I truly let God take over and speak through me. When I finished, I realized I had been talking to myself as well. I had pointed out that this was much bigger than the kids and much bigger than me. This was not about what the church thought about my job as a youth director, but about what I was doing to glorify God. The kids quietly left the sanctuary. I don't know if it was quiet contemplation but I like to think God had touched their hearts. One of them came up to me later and said he just wished everyone "got it". That all of his friends realized what this was truly all about. I picked up my phone only to hear a voicemail that left me tears. "You gave a great message tonight. God has a plan for you. Hang in there." Those words will stay in my heart for a long time. "God has a plan for you"...... Tonight we got together and did a final run through, working through the logistics of the banners hanging, the poinsetta placement, the candles, the speed of speaking, the songs...... At 6pm it began.... I cannot tell you how it all went as I was behind the scenes and helping people make their entrances......I can tell you the solo I sang felt "right". I can tell you everyone was in their places and speaking their lines....and I can tell you the sanctuary was full and the comments that followed were good and praising the youth. Once again, they surpassed my expectations and amazed me. God bless each and every one of them. They are the biggest part of my heartbeat. God is so awesome to bless me with the opportunity to work with each and every one of them.
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
Monday, October 29, 2007
What a Weekend!
Friday night I took the youth to the local Haunted House where we donated canned food and had a fun time. Half of the fun is watching the kids jump and scream as we went through. The other half was watching the other adult with me jump and scream....hee! hee!
Saturday morning (after oversleeping 1/2 hour due to kids waking me in the middle of the night) I jumped up grabbed the girls and off we went to our first cheer competition of the year. Mind you this is the 5th year for the oldest and the 3rd year for the youngest. Half way to the competition which was about 1.5 hours away in the middle of nowhere, I realize that I never grabbed the girls socks! Had everything else except the socks! We got into the town where the competition was located and found....yep, you guessed it.....Wal-Mart! I haven't been that happy to see one in a while! We ran in grabbed the socks and headed to the high school. As we are driving I realize that every place I go, I seem to find a need to visit Wal-Mart....hmmm.....is it a mental thing...... Anyway, I digress.....we get to the competition and I have the coach calling me as I am trying to finish makeup and pull rollers out of the youngest as she performs first. Fortunately, she is the one whose hair curls on command. I get her ready and inside and it is on to the other one's hair. This is the one whose hair you ask....beg....plead...anything just for it to hold the curl long enough to compete She has 24+ small sponge rollers in her hair as they are the only thing that we have found to at least try to curl it. If I ever wanted to invest in a fake curly pontytail....saturday morning was the time. Finally she is ready too and in we go. Coaches are freaking out as they are afraid my girls are going to be nervous because they did not have the same amount of time to settle in.....mind you.....this is NOT their first time and they actually prefer not to be there before they hit the warm-up mats. But, we will do better next time as I will NOT forget to turn the alarm on after I set it! The girls' teams did great and the oldest won 2nd in their division while the youngest won first in theirs. And back on the road headed home and in the driveway by 1:12PM.
One would think this would be the perfect opportunity to sit and rest.....NOPE! We have to go to.....yep, you guessed it.....Wal-mart! WhooHooo! This time it is for the extra stuff needed for the Fall Festival at church.
We get home and get costumes together and mom drops for about 20 minutes and believe me I cherished all 20 of those minutes. And then we are off again to the church. Just before I am leaving I notice the tell-tell signs of a migraine! No! Not now! In goes the advil and out we go. Final preparation and rules for the haunted maze.....fall festival has begun.....food is served and let the games begin. This year was awesome as I had plenty of warm bodies in the maze and I did not have to work it! We had an estimated 150 people (members and non-members) attend our fall festival. It was great! Fall festival over....clean-up done....home by 9:30pm and one would think I would have the intelligence to fall into bed! Of course not! I have not at this point seen my husband for more than about 20 minutes so we crash @ midnight.
Sunday morning up and at 'em we have church. I really did not expect that many youth to make it to Sunday school but they fooled me and about 2/3rd of them showed up! After church I headed to the golf course to spend some quality time with my sweetheart and then back home to take the kids to Crusaders and have our sunday evening youth gathering. Needless to say, I skipped choir and dinner was chinese take-out. Everyone was in bed by 9pm except....yep, me....LOL! At this point, there is not enough left of me to really care.
Got up this morning and the youngest child is running a fever. Personally I think he is just worn out from the weekend but, I am now home, disinfecting and feeling bad about letting my boss down today. But, if keeping him home today will keep him well....I will gladly do it. (no, i would not take him to school sick but there are grandparents around). He is feeling much better now so the trick will be to keep him quiet today.
And the thing about weekends like this.....I really do enjoy them....I know that far too soon, my kids will be grown and gone and doing things in their life that they do not need me. But, I also know (from my own mom) that because we have fun together now, they will still want me to be there later.
Counting all six of my blessings this morning and thanking God for giving me the ability to allow them to do things they enjoy doing.
Did I mention their is a baseball playoff game tonight!?! LOL!
Will post pictures as soon as I get them from the other cheer mom....something about not only forgetting the socks but the camer too! OOOPS! :)
Saturday morning (after oversleeping 1/2 hour due to kids waking me in the middle of the night) I jumped up grabbed the girls and off we went to our first cheer competition of the year. Mind you this is the 5th year for the oldest and the 3rd year for the youngest. Half way to the competition which was about 1.5 hours away in the middle of nowhere, I realize that I never grabbed the girls socks! Had everything else except the socks! We got into the town where the competition was located and found....yep, you guessed it.....Wal-Mart! I haven't been that happy to see one in a while! We ran in grabbed the socks and headed to the high school. As we are driving I realize that every place I go, I seem to find a need to visit Wal-Mart....hmmm.....is it a mental thing...... Anyway, I digress.....we get to the competition and I have the coach calling me as I am trying to finish makeup and pull rollers out of the youngest as she performs first. Fortunately, she is the one whose hair curls on command. I get her ready and inside and it is on to the other one's hair. This is the one whose hair you ask....beg....plead...anything just for it to hold the curl long enough to compete She has 24+ small sponge rollers in her hair as they are the only thing that we have found to at least try to curl it. If I ever wanted to invest in a fake curly pontytail....saturday morning was the time. Finally she is ready too and in we go. Coaches are freaking out as they are afraid my girls are going to be nervous because they did not have the same amount of time to settle in.....mind you.....this is NOT their first time and they actually prefer not to be there before they hit the warm-up mats. But, we will do better next time as I will NOT forget to turn the alarm on after I set it! The girls' teams did great and the oldest won 2nd in their division while the youngest won first in theirs. And back on the road headed home and in the driveway by 1:12PM.
One would think this would be the perfect opportunity to sit and rest.....NOPE! We have to go to.....yep, you guessed it.....Wal-mart! WhooHooo! This time it is for the extra stuff needed for the Fall Festival at church.
We get home and get costumes together and mom drops for about 20 minutes and believe me I cherished all 20 of those minutes. And then we are off again to the church. Just before I am leaving I notice the tell-tell signs of a migraine! No! Not now! In goes the advil and out we go. Final preparation and rules for the haunted maze.....fall festival has begun.....food is served and let the games begin. This year was awesome as I had plenty of warm bodies in the maze and I did not have to work it! We had an estimated 150 people (members and non-members) attend our fall festival. It was great! Fall festival over....clean-up done....home by 9:30pm and one would think I would have the intelligence to fall into bed! Of course not! I have not at this point seen my husband for more than about 20 minutes so we crash @ midnight.
Sunday morning up and at 'em we have church. I really did not expect that many youth to make it to Sunday school but they fooled me and about 2/3rd of them showed up! After church I headed to the golf course to spend some quality time with my sweetheart and then back home to take the kids to Crusaders and have our sunday evening youth gathering. Needless to say, I skipped choir and dinner was chinese take-out. Everyone was in bed by 9pm except....yep, me....LOL! At this point, there is not enough left of me to really care.
Got up this morning and the youngest child is running a fever. Personally I think he is just worn out from the weekend but, I am now home, disinfecting and feeling bad about letting my boss down today. But, if keeping him home today will keep him well....I will gladly do it. (no, i would not take him to school sick but there are grandparents around). He is feeling much better now so the trick will be to keep him quiet today.
And the thing about weekends like this.....I really do enjoy them....I know that far too soon, my kids will be grown and gone and doing things in their life that they do not need me. But, I also know (from my own mom) that because we have fun together now, they will still want me to be there later.
Counting all six of my blessings this morning and thanking God for giving me the ability to allow them to do things they enjoy doing.
Did I mention their is a baseball playoff game tonight!?! LOL!
Will post pictures as soon as I get them from the other cheer mom....something about not only forgetting the socks but the camer too! OOOPS! :)
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
October Fun
It has been so busy lately. Can't imagine why?! We had the rose parade last weekend and both girls and my oldest son were in the pre-parade performance. Then my two oldest boys marched in it with their bands and my oldest daughter marched with her cheer team. We had to be at the stadium at 7:45am and did not leave the stadium until 11:30 as my boys marching bands were the last two units! I have to say the two youngest boys were good as gold. So, off to McDonalds we went for a celebration then when we finally got home, Mom took a nap!
This weekend we have a baseball game, cheer competition and the youth group is running the Haunted Maze for the church's fall festival.
The next weekend we are doing my youngest daughter's birthday party a early so my dear sweet husband can take me away for a weekend with another couple for golfing and fun. He usually goes on an exotic bow hunt but this year he and his friend decided to spend their money on the wives! How sweet is that!?!
Fall weather has finally arrived and I was so happy I had already gotten out the warmer clothes. I sent the kids to school with coats in their backpacks and they came off the bus yesterday afternoon wearing them.
I will post pictures from the competition and from the parade as soon as I can. Not that I am a proud mom or anything! *grinning*
This weekend we have a baseball game, cheer competition and the youth group is running the Haunted Maze for the church's fall festival.
The next weekend we are doing my youngest daughter's birthday party a early so my dear sweet husband can take me away for a weekend with another couple for golfing and fun. He usually goes on an exotic bow hunt but this year he and his friend decided to spend their money on the wives! How sweet is that!?!
Fall weather has finally arrived and I was so happy I had already gotten out the warmer clothes. I sent the kids to school with coats in their backpacks and they came off the bus yesterday afternoon wearing them.
I will post pictures from the competition and from the parade as soon as I can. Not that I am a proud mom or anything! *grinning*
Monday, October 8, 2007
Where did September go?
Wow! It is already October 8th! We have put out the Halloween stuff and my #5 child has become a 7 year old. We had a family party on Sunday and the kid party will be later this week.
Saturday morning #3, 4 and 5 wanted to go for a walk and I said okay. When they were not back in a reasonable time I walked outside to discover the neighbors having a garage sale and guess where my little dumplings were...... We now have "new" toys to play with. Next time they ask to go walking, I will check the neighborhood first. LOL.
Not much is going on around here other than just life. Trying to get Christmas shopping done but I am having trouble finding things I want. We already have too many toys and movies out the wazoo. So, I am looking for things that are fun but they can learn from them as well. Nothing like giving myself a challenge!
Saturday morning #3, 4 and 5 wanted to go for a walk and I said okay. When they were not back in a reasonable time I walked outside to discover the neighbors having a garage sale and guess where my little dumplings were...... We now have "new" toys to play with. Next time they ask to go walking, I will check the neighborhood first. LOL.
Not much is going on around here other than just life. Trying to get Christmas shopping done but I am having trouble finding things I want. We already have too many toys and movies out the wazoo. So, I am looking for things that are fun but they can learn from them as well. Nothing like giving myself a challenge!
Tuesday, September 18, 2007
Busy, busy, busy
I am the proud parent of an 8th grade Student Council Reporter! I went today to hear his speech. Wow his voice has gotten deep! Yikes! Another cool thing was the kids I knew wanted me to sit with them. So, there I was, in the middle of a bunch of teenagers listening to my son's speech while all the other parents were on the front row.
We had our youth lock-in on Friday night. I was expecting @ 18 kids........Actual head count.......drum roll please........31 youth! We had a video scavenger hunt, played games, ate lots of food and stayed up all night long! Yes....I stayed up too! Saturday was spent asleep on the couch while my husband kept up with where the kids were. Gave him a chance to watch golf and college football too. He kept saying he was going to the lease but, I am sooooo glad he didn't! I finally came back to life @ 5pm and was back in bed by 10pm.
Progress reports come out tomorrow so we will have some idea how everyone is doing. I don't know if I am looking forward to that or not. Everything coming home looks good so we should be okay.
I finally got the living room finished and am going to order the window treatments this week. As soon as I get it all together I will post pictures. Of course, all this painting has made me want new kitchen cabinets and furniture. All in due time.
Jason's birthday is coming up quicker than I want it to so we are going to sit down and make our list of invitees and what the theme will be.
We are also getting ready for a flamingo fundraiser in youth. I hope everyone who gets flocked has a sense of humor about it!
We had our youth lock-in on Friday night. I was expecting @ 18 kids........Actual head count.......drum roll please........31 youth! We had a video scavenger hunt, played games, ate lots of food and stayed up all night long! Yes....I stayed up too! Saturday was spent asleep on the couch while my husband kept up with where the kids were. Gave him a chance to watch golf and college football too. He kept saying he was going to the lease but, I am sooooo glad he didn't! I finally came back to life @ 5pm and was back in bed by 10pm.
Progress reports come out tomorrow so we will have some idea how everyone is doing. I don't know if I am looking forward to that or not. Everything coming home looks good so we should be okay.
I finally got the living room finished and am going to order the window treatments this week. As soon as I get it all together I will post pictures. Of course, all this painting has made me want new kitchen cabinets and furniture. All in due time.
Jason's birthday is coming up quicker than I want it to so we are going to sit down and make our list of invitees and what the theme will be.
We are also getting ready for a flamingo fundraiser in youth. I hope everyone who gets flocked has a sense of humor about it!
Thursday, September 6, 2007
My baby's birthday
I can't believe my oldest is 19 today! Yikes!
We are into our second week of school and everyone has been early every day!!! Hurray!! After last year, I wasn't sure that would ever actually happen. It is really great because the kids are really helping out in the mornings. We pick out our clothes the night before. Well, the 13yo just lets me know if everything he plans to wear is clean. Yes, he will be learning how to work the washer and dryer this fall. :) Most nights we are in bed by nine and only once have I had to wake everyone up. Of course that was the morning after the 13yo had a ball game and nobody got in bed before 9:45pm and nobody remembered to set their alarm clocks!
This morning I was out of bread. I have been setting the bread machine every night so we have fresh bread for sandwiches every morning. I was just going to bite the bullet and give everyone lunch money. Not an easy task when they are at 4 different campuses and because of the different grades, they each have a different cost for lunch. This is when my 1st grader said, "Mom, we don't have to have sandwiches, we can put together a lunch of snacks like carrots and stuff". So, on the advice of a 6yo, we made snack lunches! I love it when the kids help out.
Now that they are back in school, I am working on finishing painting the house. I finally picked out a color for the living room. I don't know if I like the actual color or the name the best! Friendly yellow! Now isn't friendly what we want people coming into our home to think?? LOL! Now if I could just come up with a color for our bedroom.
We are into our second week of school and everyone has been early every day!!! Hurray!! After last year, I wasn't sure that would ever actually happen. It is really great because the kids are really helping out in the mornings. We pick out our clothes the night before. Well, the 13yo just lets me know if everything he plans to wear is clean. Yes, he will be learning how to work the washer and dryer this fall. :) Most nights we are in bed by nine and only once have I had to wake everyone up. Of course that was the morning after the 13yo had a ball game and nobody got in bed before 9:45pm and nobody remembered to set their alarm clocks!
This morning I was out of bread. I have been setting the bread machine every night so we have fresh bread for sandwiches every morning. I was just going to bite the bullet and give everyone lunch money. Not an easy task when they are at 4 different campuses and because of the different grades, they each have a different cost for lunch. This is when my 1st grader said, "Mom, we don't have to have sandwiches, we can put together a lunch of snacks like carrots and stuff". So, on the advice of a 6yo, we made snack lunches! I love it when the kids help out.
Now that they are back in school, I am working on finishing painting the house. I finally picked out a color for the living room. I don't know if I like the actual color or the name the best! Friendly yellow! Now isn't friendly what we want people coming into our home to think?? LOL! Now if I could just come up with a color for our bedroom.
Monday, August 27, 2007
The first day of school
Last night as spent making lunches, making sure school supplies were all together and loading the back of the suburban with more supplies than Wal-Mart!!! And, there will be more to get when my oldest gets home from school as the jr high does not have a specific list. It has to come from each teacher! I think I am just going to open my own school supply store or become a professional supply shopper. I have shopped every two weeks for the last 6 getting things together for 5 kids in school. Whew!
This morning the bread was baked sliced and turned into sandwiches (yes, I am going for mom of the year here!LOL). Breakfast was served. The clothes laid out last night were put on, hair brushed, teeth brushed (I hope *grinning*) and we were off to school. We left early which around here, as I am sure it is true everywhere, the first day of school makes for more traffic than any other day. My first grader is asking me to walk him into class. I am trying to decide how I can do this and still get everyone to school on time and not get into the really heavy traffic when he grabs his stuff, gives me a kiss and hug, and disappears out the door. There goes one! My #5 is starting 1st grade! Mommy moment 'sniff' Then we venture to the next school where it dawns on me as she steps out of the car that #3 child is now in middle school. Another mommy moment - sniff, sniff, tear - On to campus number 3. Oh No! #4 child is now in intermediate school!!!! What is going on here! None of them are that old!!!!! Sudden major mommy moment with mommy wanting to grab all her babies and bring them all back home! But, no. Now it is to campus number 4. On the way, my #2 child reminds me that next year he will be in high school. Well, not if I have anything to say about it! I can keep him in 8th grade forever!!!!! HA! Of course, we all know that is not going to happen. As I started driving to #6 child's pre-K, he starts singing happy birthday...... yep, I am glad I took the day off from work as the tears are flowing. It got even worse when #1 child who is in college and lives with my dad called me and remembered my birthday. Then my husband called to see if I was home. He stopped by and brought me roses and cupcakes.
Needless to say it has been an emotional day! And it is just now 10:30am.....
This morning the bread was baked sliced and turned into sandwiches (yes, I am going for mom of the year here!LOL). Breakfast was served. The clothes laid out last night were put on, hair brushed, teeth brushed (I hope *grinning*) and we were off to school. We left early which around here, as I am sure it is true everywhere, the first day of school makes for more traffic than any other day. My first grader is asking me to walk him into class. I am trying to decide how I can do this and still get everyone to school on time and not get into the really heavy traffic when he grabs his stuff, gives me a kiss and hug, and disappears out the door. There goes one! My #5 is starting 1st grade! Mommy moment 'sniff' Then we venture to the next school where it dawns on me as she steps out of the car that #3 child is now in middle school. Another mommy moment - sniff, sniff, tear - On to campus number 3. Oh No! #4 child is now in intermediate school!!!! What is going on here! None of them are that old!!!!! Sudden major mommy moment with mommy wanting to grab all her babies and bring them all back home! But, no. Now it is to campus number 4. On the way, my #2 child reminds me that next year he will be in high school. Well, not if I have anything to say about it! I can keep him in 8th grade forever!!!!! HA! Of course, we all know that is not going to happen. As I started driving to #6 child's pre-K, he starts singing happy birthday...... yep, I am glad I took the day off from work as the tears are flowing. It got even worse when #1 child who is in college and lives with my dad called me and remembered my birthday. Then my husband called to see if I was home. He stopped by and brought me roses and cupcakes.
Needless to say it has been an emotional day! And it is just now 10:30am.....
Tuesday, August 21, 2007
School starts tomorrow???
My baby starts school tomorrow!
We have put him in private school for Pre-K and he starts tomorrow! Yikes! His teacher is Miss Amanda (yes, just like his sister) and he will be going 3 days a week. Fortunately, he does not need his school supplies until next week. I will probably pick a few up this evening so he has a reason to carry his backpack tomorrow.
Meet the teacher is this evening for Amanda and Jason. The school district was generous enough to give 15 minutes between the meetings to get from one school to another. Hmmmm.....we will see how it works!
Wish me luck!
We have put him in private school for Pre-K and he starts tomorrow! Yikes! His teacher is Miss Amanda (yes, just like his sister) and he will be going 3 days a week. Fortunately, he does not need his school supplies until next week. I will probably pick a few up this evening so he has a reason to carry his backpack tomorrow.
Meet the teacher is this evening for Amanda and Jason. The school district was generous enough to give 15 minutes between the meetings to get from one school to another. Hmmmm.....we will see how it works!
Wish me luck!
Wednesday, August 15, 2007
Last night was interesting
My oldest boy came by last night to get his guitar and bring me the football schedule so I can watch him play in the band. (We love marching band, it is paying for his college). While he was here my husband came home and decided to challenge Ben to some wrestling. Ben did not want anything to do with it as he was afraid his dad would get hurt. I did not want them wrestling as I was afraid they would go all out and I would end up at the emergency room with both of them trying to explain what had happened and that it was not abuse! LOL! I insisted they agree to not break any fingers as Ben has band camp this week. Well, they went at it and Ben got the best of his dad twice. And, of course, this was in the front yard where all the teenagers walking around the neighborhood had a front row seat! Johnny kept saying that he had "let" Ben get the best of him. After it was all over Ben, with a silly grin on his face, asked me if that now meant he was the "dominate male" at the house. I asked him if he was ready to start supporting the whole family and he decided he did not want that role.
And, as is typical around here, at one point when Ben was getting the best of Johnny, the youngest boys jumped on Ben to help their dad. It got him laughing enough that he lost his grip. Then we learned how fickle their loyalty is........Johnny was starting to get the better of Ben at one point and they jumped on HIM to save their brother! They were just watching to see who was winning and break it up so it would last longer.
Ben and Drew were wrestling and Drew would start laughing every time he picked Ben up so he naturally dropped him and Ben got him. I think if they ever seriously got into it, Drew would win. But, playing......Drew just laughs too much!
I should probably call Ben this morning and be sure he can still move with all the wrestling he was doing!
We are picking up the packet to enroll Luke in preschool today. Please pray everything goes smoothly. I have a really good feeling about this.
I have to finish up the fall calendar for youth today too. Everything is pretty much in place, I just have to finish getting the materials together and do the final planning for the activities in September.
Which means I had better get busy!
And, as is typical around here, at one point when Ben was getting the best of Johnny, the youngest boys jumped on Ben to help their dad. It got him laughing enough that he lost his grip. Then we learned how fickle their loyalty is........Johnny was starting to get the better of Ben at one point and they jumped on HIM to save their brother! They were just watching to see who was winning and break it up so it would last longer.
Ben and Drew were wrestling and Drew would start laughing every time he picked Ben up so he naturally dropped him and Ben got him. I think if they ever seriously got into it, Drew would win. But, playing......Drew just laughs too much!
I should probably call Ben this morning and be sure he can still move with all the wrestling he was doing!
We are picking up the packet to enroll Luke in preschool today. Please pray everything goes smoothly. I have a really good feeling about this.
I have to finish up the fall calendar for youth today too. Everything is pretty much in place, I just have to finish getting the materials together and do the final planning for the activities in September.
Which means I had better get busy!
Monday, August 13, 2007
Where did the weekend go?
Wow this weekend went by fast! And I don't really think we did anything!
I started Christmas shopping on Friday! Yeah Me! Friday afternoon I took the kids to Hobby Lobby and will be going back today as I got some more Christmas ideas. I used to have all my shopping done by October 1st and all my wrapping done by Thanksgiving. It certainly made the holidays easier to enjoy. I am determined to get as close to that as I can this year. For reasons of growth spurts, some of the shopping will have to wait until a closer time but if that is all I have left, I am doing great!
Saturday was the big grocery store trip. Come to think of it.....that is all I left the house for besides church this weekend. It was just too hot to do much of anything. Sunday evening the kids wanted to kiddie pool out. Johnny, Drew and I got out our pitching wedges and did our best imitations of the pro golfers we had been watching.
All in all it was just a great family weekend.
The kids are looking forward to school! At least most of them are. Ben actually starts a week before we do. Ha! Ha! Big college man has to start school before his siblings......awww...poor baby! Of course, he gets out before we do for Christmas. He did get moved back in with my dad. I am soooo happy about that! The rest of the kids that are in school start on the 27th, which just happens to be my birthday! Happy Birthday to me! I'm kidding. I will really miss having them around. I am looking for a good preschool for Luke. Please keep me in your prayers on that one.
September marks the beginning of Flamingo season in our church. It is a fundraiser where we flock peoples yards with pink flamingos for a price. Once you are flocked, the removal fee of $5 is paid and you can flock whoever's yard you want to! The pastor has asked that we limit the number of times his yard can be flocked! Gee! I wonder why?
Our golden retriever is officially an inside dog right now. She will go outside with me to get the laundry off the line and if the kids are outside but then it is in the house for her! Lots of vacuuming at my house! I think the neighbors dogs are jealous. Especially since everytime Abby gets out she goes over to them. I really do think she is saying something akin to "HA HA I get to go inside and you don't!" I think this because they don't seem to want to talk to her......
We have this week and next week before school starts so I will probably finish up supply shopping today and clothes shopping this weekend. It feels good to actually be getting this stuff done before the night before. It has only taken me 5 years to get back to that.
I started Christmas shopping on Friday! Yeah Me! Friday afternoon I took the kids to Hobby Lobby and will be going back today as I got some more Christmas ideas. I used to have all my shopping done by October 1st and all my wrapping done by Thanksgiving. It certainly made the holidays easier to enjoy. I am determined to get as close to that as I can this year. For reasons of growth spurts, some of the shopping will have to wait until a closer time but if that is all I have left, I am doing great!
Saturday was the big grocery store trip. Come to think of it.....that is all I left the house for besides church this weekend. It was just too hot to do much of anything. Sunday evening the kids wanted to kiddie pool out. Johnny, Drew and I got out our pitching wedges and did our best imitations of the pro golfers we had been watching.
All in all it was just a great family weekend.
The kids are looking forward to school! At least most of them are. Ben actually starts a week before we do. Ha! Ha! Big college man has to start school before his siblings......awww...poor baby! Of course, he gets out before we do for Christmas. He did get moved back in with my dad. I am soooo happy about that! The rest of the kids that are in school start on the 27th, which just happens to be my birthday! Happy Birthday to me! I'm kidding. I will really miss having them around. I am looking for a good preschool for Luke. Please keep me in your prayers on that one.
September marks the beginning of Flamingo season in our church. It is a fundraiser where we flock peoples yards with pink flamingos for a price. Once you are flocked, the removal fee of $5 is paid and you can flock whoever's yard you want to! The pastor has asked that we limit the number of times his yard can be flocked! Gee! I wonder why?
Our golden retriever is officially an inside dog right now. She will go outside with me to get the laundry off the line and if the kids are outside but then it is in the house for her! Lots of vacuuming at my house! I think the neighbors dogs are jealous. Especially since everytime Abby gets out she goes over to them. I really do think she is saying something akin to "HA HA I get to go inside and you don't!" I think this because they don't seem to want to talk to her......
We have this week and next week before school starts so I will probably finish up supply shopping today and clothes shopping this weekend. It feels good to actually be getting this stuff done before the night before. It has only taken me 5 years to get back to that.
Thursday, August 9, 2007
Is it time for school yet?
I love the summer with my kids. Yesterday I came home from work around 1pm to find a hole in the girls' bedroom door. Seems the youngest was being kept out and decided to find a way in with the bathroom stool. Someday they will be gone and the house will have no more holes or broken windows......ahhh the dreams of the parent. Of course reality snaps back in and you realize that along with that neat house comes a very quiet house too. Yesterday afternoon we were dealing with the typical "there's nothing to do outside" and me saying "use your imagination" to which my youngest replied "I put mine in the closet and I'm not getting it back out!" He just turned 5. How do you argue with that! LOL!
I had youth last night and it was a very small crowd so we started trading stories about things that happen in our lives and my coffee habit came up......let's just say if I don't have a cup of coffee in my hand, you really don't want to talk to me yet. This is a well know fact at church camp. One of my campers the first year decided to get up with me (I get up an hour before them so I can have my coffee, wake up and get that all important alone time before kids). She very brightly said "Good Morning!" as i walked past her and muttered in a not so inviting voice something akin to "whatever". I was not aware that she had followed me out of the cabin as I was completely focused on the coffee I was promised would be ready at 6am. I got my cup and went out front to sit on the swing, drink my coffee, thank God for the beautiful day and just be alone and quiet when all of a sudden I became aware of this camper standing beside me. What was she doing? She appeared to be talking. I tried to non-chalantly glance around to see who she was talking to when I discovered it was me. My mind began to look back on the day before trying to decide what I had said or done that gave her the impression I wanted to speak to a teenager at 6am. Heck! I don't even really speak to my husband at that hour! And, yet there she was.... I started listening thinking maybe there was some great catastophe in her life that she was trying to overcome. To have disturbed my quiet coffee time it was going to have to be big.... much bigger than my boyfriend broke up with me or my mom doesn't like me. It was going to have to be something along the lines of I just found out I'm dying big. But as I began to listen I realized......this was just noise....mindless drivvle. I can only imagine the look on my face as my mind was still trying to comprehend WHY she was there. As the coffee began to soak into my brain and my brain began to function on a semi coherent level, I tried to explain to her that this was my time alone. She did not seem to be hearing what I was saying. So, I finally looked her in the eye and stated "you are interrupting my time with God". An uncertain look came over her face as she realized that I did not want her there at that particular moment. She took her leave and I realized what I had said. So, now, instead of pondering the days events I realized what I had done. And at church camp of all places. I had claimed I was spending time with God. Pretty sure he had been listening, I spent the next 20 minutes drinking my coffee and praying.......ALONE. :)
I did see the camper later that day and had a great conversation with her. She did not get up with me the rest of the week, though.
I started this about my kids and summer didnt' I? Well, after youth last night I got home and my husband asked me to get steaks for he and I. Like I am going to turn down a steak dinner. As I am heading to grocery store the kids are getting ready to sit down in front of the tv again. I yelled something as I walked out about shut it off and go outside not really thinking they would listen to me. I came home and there was nobody in the house. As I walked out the back door (I should mention it was now dark), I saw my husband mowing. (I will check how he did in a little while) . I walked out to our patio to see if he wanted the steaks inside or outside (we have a shop building where the grill is) when I saw my 6 and 8 yo doing something in the grass. The six year old (Jason) was doing pushups with the 8yo (Amanda) on his back. I should at this point say that Amanda is actually a pound lighter than Jason and just barely taller than him. Suddenly, I was passed by a streak of blue, it happened again and again when I realized my 5yo (Luke) was running laps around the patio. My 13yo (Drew) and 10yo (Sydney) were asking if they could go run in the neighborhood. As Luke went whizzing by for the 7th time or so I asked what everyone was doing. As he passed me on the next round he grinned and said they were all in training. I don't think I want to know for what but they were outside so I did not argue.
I cannot wait to see what today holds. This is one of my days off.
In case anyone just counted in that paragraph and only found 5 children, my oldest is living with my dad while he attends college. He is 18 and graduated in 2006. I will tell stories on him another day! :)
I am trying to figure out how to post pictures and as soon as I do I will put them up.
Off to the wonderful world of parenting!
Maggie
I had youth last night and it was a very small crowd so we started trading stories about things that happen in our lives and my coffee habit came up......let's just say if I don't have a cup of coffee in my hand, you really don't want to talk to me yet. This is a well know fact at church camp. One of my campers the first year decided to get up with me (I get up an hour before them so I can have my coffee, wake up and get that all important alone time before kids). She very brightly said "Good Morning!" as i walked past her and muttered in a not so inviting voice something akin to "whatever". I was not aware that she had followed me out of the cabin as I was completely focused on the coffee I was promised would be ready at 6am. I got my cup and went out front to sit on the swing, drink my coffee, thank God for the beautiful day and just be alone and quiet when all of a sudden I became aware of this camper standing beside me. What was she doing? She appeared to be talking. I tried to non-chalantly glance around to see who she was talking to when I discovered it was me. My mind began to look back on the day before trying to decide what I had said or done that gave her the impression I wanted to speak to a teenager at 6am. Heck! I don't even really speak to my husband at that hour! And, yet there she was.... I started listening thinking maybe there was some great catastophe in her life that she was trying to overcome. To have disturbed my quiet coffee time it was going to have to be big.... much bigger than my boyfriend broke up with me or my mom doesn't like me. It was going to have to be something along the lines of I just found out I'm dying big. But as I began to listen I realized......this was just noise....mindless drivvle. I can only imagine the look on my face as my mind was still trying to comprehend WHY she was there. As the coffee began to soak into my brain and my brain began to function on a semi coherent level, I tried to explain to her that this was my time alone. She did not seem to be hearing what I was saying. So, I finally looked her in the eye and stated "you are interrupting my time with God". An uncertain look came over her face as she realized that I did not want her there at that particular moment. She took her leave and I realized what I had said. So, now, instead of pondering the days events I realized what I had done. And at church camp of all places. I had claimed I was spending time with God. Pretty sure he had been listening, I spent the next 20 minutes drinking my coffee and praying.......ALONE. :)
I did see the camper later that day and had a great conversation with her. She did not get up with me the rest of the week, though.
I started this about my kids and summer didnt' I? Well, after youth last night I got home and my husband asked me to get steaks for he and I. Like I am going to turn down a steak dinner. As I am heading to grocery store the kids are getting ready to sit down in front of the tv again. I yelled something as I walked out about shut it off and go outside not really thinking they would listen to me. I came home and there was nobody in the house. As I walked out the back door (I should mention it was now dark), I saw my husband mowing. (I will check how he did in a little while) . I walked out to our patio to see if he wanted the steaks inside or outside (we have a shop building where the grill is) when I saw my 6 and 8 yo doing something in the grass. The six year old (Jason) was doing pushups with the 8yo (Amanda) on his back. I should at this point say that Amanda is actually a pound lighter than Jason and just barely taller than him. Suddenly, I was passed by a streak of blue, it happened again and again when I realized my 5yo (Luke) was running laps around the patio. My 13yo (Drew) and 10yo (Sydney) were asking if they could go run in the neighborhood. As Luke went whizzing by for the 7th time or so I asked what everyone was doing. As he passed me on the next round he grinned and said they were all in training. I don't think I want to know for what but they were outside so I did not argue.
I cannot wait to see what today holds. This is one of my days off.
In case anyone just counted in that paragraph and only found 5 children, my oldest is living with my dad while he attends college. He is 18 and graduated in 2006. I will tell stories on him another day! :)
I am trying to figure out how to post pictures and as soon as I do I will put them up.
Off to the wonderful world of parenting!
Maggie
Tuesday, August 7, 2007
Welcome!
Welcome to my blog! I have never done this before so it is definitely a learning experience. I have no idea who will read this but here goes.....
I have always liked writing and this is a great outlet for me. With six kids there is always something going on here. Last night I learned the ins and outs of tape-ball (new use for duct tape) and also learned how patient a 13 year old boy can be with his siblings.
Someone once told me I should write a book so I sat down and came up with a title...."Yes, I am crazy and Yes, we know what caused it" Now I just have to come up with the pages to follow.
Besides my crazy crew, I am a youth director. My kids just weren't enough, I had to go and adopt everyone elses!
I look forward to writing here and seeing if and who reads it.
Maggie
I have always liked writing and this is a great outlet for me. With six kids there is always something going on here. Last night I learned the ins and outs of tape-ball (new use for duct tape) and also learned how patient a 13 year old boy can be with his siblings.
Someone once told me I should write a book so I sat down and came up with a title...."Yes, I am crazy and Yes, we know what caused it" Now I just have to come up with the pages to follow.
Besides my crazy crew, I am a youth director. My kids just weren't enough, I had to go and adopt everyone elses!
I look forward to writing here and seeing if and who reads it.
Maggie
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