Need a laugh?

I often go to Cake Wrecks for a giggle or two. Today I ran across this blog that brought tears to my eyes (the good kind). Have fun!

Dinnertime

We do try to eat dinner together each night, but it never lasts as long as I like. By the time the children are served it's about three minutes until they are done and ready to go back out to play. Someday.

Occasionally, there is some dinnertime excitement. Last night was a prime example. Earlier in the afternoon Joseph let a "grasshopper" in through the sliding door. He was watching it for a long time jumping all around the kitchen so I decided to check him out.

His "grasshopper" looked a little to much like this guy:
So I simply trapped him under the table in a glass for Sean to deal with later.

Well, we were sitting down to dinner when I heard the clanking sound of a glass on the floor and suddenly remembered our little friend.

"Oh, no, the cockroach! Don't let him go!"

Mayhem broke out. Shrill screams of terror sounded as 18 legs suddenly recoiled into their chairs. Hysterical!

Sean chased him down with the fly swatter. He's no longer a threat.

It's a good thing we sit down to dinner for three minutes or we'd miss all the excitement.

May Garden

The weather this past week has been PERFECT. This has inspired me to spend a lot of time digging and moving plants around. It's kind of like rearranging furniture. Most of these plants came from my mom's, sisters' or friends' gardens. I can't help but think of them when I'm tending to my Garden. I love to share, too, so let me know if you ever need some flowers to fill in your garden. The pastel spring colors are fading and soon the bright yellows and reds of June will be here.

Underneath our living room window. It's fun to watch the birds come and feast (before the bird feeder broke).

I saved these lillies from my dear friend, Carrie's, house last Spring before they started a landscaping project. I'm excited to see what will happen now that they are established.

Our up and coming butterfly garden- a part of our Certified Wildlife Backyard Habitat.

The tree is finally tall enough to provide some afternoon shade. Nothing has ever survived this spot in the garden. Now, hopefully, the plants won't get fried in the July sun.

And lest you think all is perfect, this is our backyard "garden". Grass wouldn't grow here so we dug it up a few years ago and it has sat there since.

I have visions though:

Coram Deo

Coram Deo

In the Presence of God

God is the God of all creation. There is no corner of life that His light does not fall upon. Indeed nothing good exists in our lives that His light does not permeate and sustain, and nothing bad that His light ever fails to illuminate. The eyes of God are ever upon us, but His eyes upon us are not an imposition. They are, rather, an invitation. They are a call to a relationship of divine love and freedom. Freedom not to do as we please, seeking to wrest control from God, but freedom to live joyfully in the understanding of God's love and sacrifice for us, of His intimate concern for us, and of the glorious union with Himself He has one day promised us.
To live life Coram Deo we must begin at the point of understanding that we are not fearful slaves following strict orders, but we are a son and a daughter who together joyfully and creatively walk through each moment of each day under the loving gaze of our Father who receives the totality of our existence as an act of worship unto Himself.

Sean gave me these words handwritten and framed when he asked me to be his wife. It remains on our bedside table to this day. There is no secret formula for marriage. It is a daily giving and receiving from one another. It is a choice to put the other first, to remain vulnerable, to ask for forgiveness or to grant it again.

Fourteen years ago we committed to living together in Coram Deo. We had the words engraved in our rings. I had no idea at the time that loving and being loved could bring such fulfillment. Marriage just keeps getting better and better.

Nashville

While Sean participated in a meeting of the minds last Saturday, the kids and myself sought to take in Nashville. We were there a few summers ago and saw some of the standard Nashville attractions. We only had about six hours so originally, I had planned to surprise the kids with a day of cowboy fun. The weather, however, did not cooperate.

Instead, we enjoyed the Frist Center for theVisual Arts downtown. The Medieval Exhibit was fascinating. We particularly found the sculpture series of the life of Jonah of interest. Also, the many broaches and earrings displayed were so ornate and individually beautiful. It was fun to imagine who might have worn these and what their lives would have been like. There were also manuscripts on display with perfect writing and scrolled designs in bright colors. When I explained that these were not printed off the computer, that a person actually worked very carefully to create these, the jaws dropped. Perhaps a little more attention will go into handwriting now.

This museum boasts about being family friendly and with good reason. The top floor is devoted to children’s exploration of visual arts. There were thirty different activities. The workers were themselves artist who shared their knowledge as the children worked. This was such a change of pace from our past art museum experiences where I spent the whole time shushing everyone and making them keep their hands behind their backs. And to even sweeten the deal, kids are admitted for free. If you ever have some time in Nashville, the Frist Center is a must.

After three hours at the museum, lunch was on the agenda. It was the Spaghetti Factory for us! We even got to sit in the trolley car.

The final stop was the Parthenon. Nashville has the only live scale model of The Parthenon. I’m not quite sure why that is, but it was fun to explore nonetheless. We decided to forgo actually touring the museum and it’s replicas of various idols and just stayed outside to watch the thunderstorm roll in. I might build on what we saw by using some lesson plans this summer on those rainy days or days that are just too hot.

When picking Sean up, we met some of his math teacher friends. One man was sharing about how his friend from another country has several children. In their home country the families did most everything together. If one child was invited to a skating party, than the whole family joined in. An opportunity for one was an opportunity for all. There was quite a culture shock when they came to America and the family was split in so many directions.

Again, I am thankful for the opportunity to homeschool and have these few years together as a family to live, explore and learn. I know that it might seem like a crazy hassle to make such a quick trip, but for us time is precious. These years all together in the span of their lives is very short, yet God has given them each sibling for a purpose. It won’t be long before schedules will be full and responsibilities greater, so I’ll embrace each opportunity we have now.

I often wonder what our children will look back and reflect on when they are older. Will they remember tracing each other’s hands to make prints? Or the Parthenon? Or laughing themselves silly over Shirley Temple movies in the van? Perhaps this blog will jog a few memories:)

I do pray that these times of togetherness builds in them a bond stronger than experiences. I pray that they truly do enjoy one another’s company. I pray that they are refreshed to see other parts of the world and it used by God to give them inspiration for their own lives. I pray that they will inspired in their own families to stay together and not be pulled apart.

**Sean and I have a fun time dreaming about what we want to show the kids. The discussion stems from this: “I really want to see their face when the see/experience (blank) for the first time." How would you fill in the blank?**

I resemble that remark

I've been known to say that natural childbirth is useful in the sense that it completely changes one's reference for pain. "It prepares you for motherhood. After that you can slam your hand in the car door and just walk away thinking, 'Well at least it's not as painful as giving birth.'"

I'd now like to reascend that comment, because as of today I can testify that shutting one's own finger in the door is in fact MORE painful than childbirth. And now here's a little story:

I had a coupon (naturally) that needed to be used for haircuts so I took the three youngest to Great Clips. Our usual lady was there and made John as cute as ever. The unusual lady was there and did not listen well (or chose to ignore) my instructions for dear Joseph. "Use #4 clippers on the back. Scissor cut the front to be shaggy. Long sideburns, please. We do not want to see his scalp."

Well, let's just say she got a little crazy. Maybe she made a mistake with the clippers and used the rest of his hair to cover it up. I don't know, but he ended up with a Lego hair cut. He, too, is as cute as ever, but he does resemble a Lego man.



(I'll add a picture here tomorrow. He's sleeping right now.)

Getting back into the van, I was pondering his hair and whether that really is what a $6.99 haircut looks like, when I shut the door with all my might on my right thumb. My response to this pain was one of flight (not fight) and I pulled my thumb out of the closed door. SERIOUSLY, I have never been in so much pain. The nail immediately turned purple. I drove home with my thumb stuck in my Diet Coke while moaning loudly.

Of course, I had Joseph there to encourage me. "Mom, do what you tell us to do. Just relax, Mom. Breathe. Think about something happy, Mom. Try not to think about it. Are you breathing, Mom?...."

We were to leave for our weekend trip in an hour and I was sure that my thumb was broken. The pain would not let up. By God's grace, I found a hand doctor that agreed to see me as a walk in as his last appointment of the day. Why go to the ER for a three hour $800 visit/Xray, when I knew they were just going to send me to see the ortho doctor who wouldn't be in until Monday?

The xray showed a small chip which will cause some discomfort, but no casting was required. He said the major pain will come from the nail which may or may not fall off. I kind of which it would fall off right now to relive some of this pressure. I can sit here and count my heart rate.

So with only a slight delay we made it to Nashville in good time. Tomorrow looks to be a fun day!

Not my finest parenting moment...

So, Sean met me with the kids after work at KFC so we could use our free meal coupons before they expire tomorrow. We were denied the free meal, but instructed to fill out a form to receive a coupon by mail for another time. Filling out eight forms took both Sean and myself a few minutes. We sent the kids out to the car together to get buckled in, got in our respective cars and drove away. About two minutes into the drive I realized that Lydia and Betsy were not with us. A kid can hide in a fifteen passenger van without a problem. Looking in the rear view mirror I could see Lydia with Sean. But where was Betsy?

We quickly did a U-turn and with my heart in my throat we made a B-line right back to KFC. She was waiting eagerly by the door with an employee. I expected that she would be in a crying heap, but she was not. Our Elizabeth is growing up and handled the situation beautifully.

When we got home there was this message on the machine:

Hi. This is Elizabeth B...... I'm lost mom, um, and I'm at a restaurant. Do you think you could come back and get me? Ummm....I'm at KFC in Avon. That's where I am. Bye.

Betsy had gone into the restroom and come out to find herself abandoned. She told the lady at the counter that her big white van was gone and asked to use the phone. We asked her how long it took for us to come back. She said, "Oh, about 20 seconds." Yeah, that 20 seconds added about 200 white hairs to my head.