Just another day at the office......

We ended up having a fairly eventful afternoon of running errands. The first thing we did was take our dearly departed bat to the Animal Shelter. Yes, the animal shelter. This surprised me, but according to the Health Department, this is starting point for any testing that might take place on a suspect animal. The guy at the Shelter did say, though, that it wasn't very likely that the bat could be tested since we didn't know how long he'd been dead. Oh well.

From there we headed to the doctors office to chat with them to see if there was anything to be concerned about. They said unless I had been bitten, there was nothing to worry about....And oh by the way..."When was your last tetanus shot." Uh.......1990 or so. "Well, then we need to update that." Fabulous. Now my arm hurts.

From there we headed to pick up Daniel's new glasses at Lenscrafters. Yes, he looks just the same as he did in his former pair....same basic frame, just brown as opposed to the blue. He looks great and loves his new specs
.
Daniel---age 11 (don't ya love the goggle outline under his nose)

After that, we ran into Walmart to return a couple of things and while I was standing in line at Customer Service, I realized I was 4 kids short. Before I knew it, Joshua had taken one of his dollars and decided to play one of those games with the crane where you have to try and pick up one of the cheap toys inside. He was trying for the really nice, high-quality watch, but ended up with the '24-karat gold' chain instead. Problem is....the chain dropped off the tines before it got to the well. Poor kid. He wasn't too happy. Then he took another .50 Cents and put it into the machine that gives you a bouncy ball and......nothing. The machine ate his money. Again, he wasn't too thrilled. I thought long and hard about using this as an object lesson about stewardship, but decided having him go and ask for his .50 Cents back made more sense. (He wouldn't have 'heard' me anyway). He had to fill out a form stating which machine took his money and he got his money back.

As we were strolling through the store to see if there was anything we couldn't live without, the children mentioned they were hungry and asked if we could head back to the McDonald's. I held them off as best I could, but eventually the french fries began to win out. We each got a large fry and a drink and sat and had our snack. Good times were had by all.

After picking up a few things, Josh decided he needed to go to the bathroom. We were finished shopping, so we headed toward the checkout, and chose a checkout right in front of the men's bathroom. One problem....the men's bathroom was being cleaned and Josh was suddenly nowhere to be found. I sent Daniel to the back of the Walmart to see if Josh had gone back there.....Nope. No Josh. Great......This is EXACTLY why I don't go to Walmart. Too stinkin' big and way too many people inside. The cashier asked if I wanted him paged over the intercom.....I said that was fine and within seconds I heard, "Joshua, please meet your mother at Register Number 20" We pulled the cart off to the side and waited to see if he would come. Sure enough....about 30 seconds later there was Josh sauntering toward the game room where he'd lost some money earlier. I motioned for him to head our direction.

I asked him if he'd heard the page...."No, when I couldn't find you I decided I would come up here to the game room and wait for you to find me." What a smart kid. We then went to Target to return more stuff and surprisingly, I resisted the urge to look around. A first for me.

We came on home and the three younger children decided that if Daniel was going to have his picture taken.....they wanted theirs taken too. So I obliged. They are beautiful, aren't they?

Trey---age 10


Joshua---will be 9 on July 17


Julia---age 7

I continue to be amazed at the love my God must have for me. I can see it in the eyes of my children. I can feel it in their hugs. I can hear it in their laughs. They are amazing. And the fact that my God has entrusted such precious children to me is a reality I sometimes have trouble coming to grips with. Oh Father, how I want to glorify You in all I say and do.

I praise my God for these children.....for the husband He chose for me.....for the life He has granted me....for the people He has placed in my life that need to see Jesus.

What a mighty God we serve!!!

FOUND........Dead!

I am such a girl. I love being a girl. I love looking nice, wearing makeup and curling my hair. So, tonight, as I was thinking about what to wear for our Rehearsal, I decided on a light blue, short-sleeved sweater and khaki capris, with the appropriate light blue accessories. Cute, in my opinion.

I had already done my makeup and my hair....all that was left was to finish getting dressed. I put on my capris and went into my closet to get the sweater.

My husband knows me well.....so well, that when he designed our home, he made the Master closet huge. Gigantic, by some standards. I have 12+ feet of rod and I use every bit of it for my hanging clothes. Under some of the clothes are big, plastic bins that hold those clothes that my children wore as babies that I'm not willing to part with as well as some sweaters that I wear when the weather warrants. On top of the plastic bins are some lightweight sweaters that I wear throughout the year. They are folded neatly. I reached in to grab the light blue sweater I had planned to wear tonight. I put it on and walked out into my bedroom.

Something wasn't right. There was this funny odor coming from my sweater. "That's odd," I thought. Why does my sweater smell like...........................death. My eyes opened wide.

I ran into my closet, throwing the sweater into the hamper and pulled my hanging clothes apart. There it was. Batman Returns!!! Only this time, he couldn't run and hide. He had met his Maker. He was dead. So dead, that that area of my closet smelled like, well......death. I decided that wigging out would be appropriate at that particular moment, so I did. My children, who adore their mother immensely, ran into the room. Keep in mind, I hadn't finished getting dressed yet......

I told them what had happened and boy did the curiosity come out. They wanted to see the bat. We grabbed the flash light and shined it on his final resting place. Yep, sure enough it was a bat and it was dead. Thankfully. But this presented yet another problem. Who, of the five of us, was going to go get it. Me........Out of the question. Julia.......No way. Daniel.....Forget it. Trey....Nope. Joshua? Hmmmm, now there was a possibility. After going and getting an old shoe box, I called him into the closet and gave him his mission....should he choose to accept it. No, this was not Mission: Impossible....This was Mission: Go, Josh, Go and I just knew he could do it. (He's 8, by the way)

He happened to have on his baseball gloves, so that was good....HE then asked ME to go get him the tongs from the kitchen. I figured....he's either done this before or he's just really smart. So, I got him the tongs. Trey took the lid to the shoebox, Josh grabbed the bottom of the box and the tongs and began to make his move, when all of a sudden..........

He chickened out and said he couldn't do it. Hmmmm, now what? Once again, I knew I couldn't do it, but for a moment did consider trying. Suddenly, it dawned on me. Alex. Our lawnmowing friend who tried to capture our guest the day he arrived. He did say to call him if we found the bat. I figured it wouldn't be a good idea to not allow him the blessing of finishing the job, so I called him.

He was home. And he was more than happy to come over for the Recovery effort. The kids waited outside for him to arrive and sure enough, less than five minutes later, he drove up. (I straightened up my closet a bit before he arrived)

The kids showed him where batman was and gave him the box. And the first words out of his mouth were, "Oh wow...Oh geez. Yeah, he's big." Within minutes our dearly departed friend was safely taped up inside the shoe box and placed into the garage.

I have decided to contact the Health Department as I did touch the creature and he was in my room for 6 days...dead for who knows how many of those 6 days. I know that not all bats have rabies....I also know that I'm not taking any chances should this bat be one of the not-so-lucky ones.

Praise God from Whom all Blessings Flow.....and this is a blessing.

All by myself

I love Target. I love Target so much that a friend of mine recommended a Target gift card to someone else who wanted to thank me for something I had done and wondered what to get me. I love Target. American Express is glad I love Target. My husband ~~~ not so much, but he understands my need to shop there and loves me anyway....(Insert, "When a Man loves a Woman.....")

Being a stay-at-home mom during summer break means, if I feel the need to go to Target, I must take the children. I have decided, though, that going to Target with four children is about as much fun as poking myself in the eye. The difference is....I will only poke myself in the eye once before the pain is more than I can bear. Going to Target with the kids......I'll take my lumps.

Tuesday night is karate night and because Daniel and Trey help teach during Joshua and Julia's class, I decided to head to Target as I needed to pick up a couple of things anyway. As I was driving through the parking lot, it dawned on me...........I'm at Target.....without the children. All by myself. I was actually going to be able to walk through one of my favorite stores (next to JCPenney's) without distraction...without four children asking me if they can have this or if they can have that....without having to break up an argument about whose turn it was to push the cart....without having to listen to my kids tell me how mean I am for not buying them something they really 'need.'

Unbelievable. I didn't know what to do. I grabbed my cart and decided I would take my time....savoring the silence and enjoying the leisurely stroll through one of the greatest stores ever to open its doors. I grabbed the three things I needed.....and even grabbed a couple of things I didn't and headed to the checkout. There was no line, so I was through paying in record time and back in my car before I knew it. I looked at the clock.....It said 5:07.

It had taken me exactly 22 minutes to get from the karate studio to Target.....from the parking lot into the store....getting what I needed and through the checkout and back to my car.

22 minutes.

So much for taking my time.

Karate Graduation

Every three months my children graduate to their next belt in karate. Today was that day. As previously posted, my boys have been taking karate since August 2002. Julia began about a year after her brothers. Today, Joshua graduated to his brown/black belt and will test for his black belt this fall. Julia graduated to her red belt and has another 18 months before she tests for her black belt.

Daniel and Trey, even though they earned their black belt last month, have committed to at least two more years of training in the Masters Club.

They are also part of the Demo team for the studio and get to perform at the graduations.

It's been a busy day already. Thankfully, though, we don't have anything else to do today.

I think I'll watch my Phillies and chill out!!

No new news on our bat-friend who invaded our space yesterday. He has either curled up and died somewhere or he found his way outside and we didn't realize it. It was an interesting night last night, though, as the boys were very concerned for their mother....possibly sleeping in the same room as a bat...and for me as I kept one eye open pretty much the whole night. And just so I wouldn't miss anything, should batman decide to come out of hiding.......I slept with the bathroom light on.

Adventures in bat-catching....

Oh yes....I said bat-catching.

We went to the pool today for the first time in a week and it was wonderful. The children had a great time swimming and I had a great time sunning. I even wore my bikini, but that's another story.

When we got home, we saw a red truck in the driveway. We have a friend who mows our lawn for us and today was the day he came. We went into the house while he began edging the driveway. A couple of the kids went upstairs to take showers....I went to our room to check the news and email. I was sitting on my couch and reached around my laptop to get the remote. Much to my surprise.....was this creature. This brown thing laying on the remote.

I freaked. Ok....I REALLY freaked. I looked it to make sure it wasn't some rubber toy my kids had left in my room, then I realized my kids don't own a rubber toy that looks like a bat. I freaked again and hustled out of my room.

My children heard me and came running. I told them what happened and they huddled behind me as we went into the office to see if it was still on the ottoman. It wasn't. So, we went around the other direction and peaked into the room. There it was on the floor....flopping around. With its wings open, it is close to 8 inches across....no small thing. We ran outside. Yuck!!

Double Yuck!!!

I asked Josh to go get our friend who was mowing the lawn to come and get rid of our guest. He came in and I told him where our new 'friend' was, but lo and behold.....he was no longer on our bedroom floor. He was gone!!! Alex walked around our bedroom, even going into the bathroom and closet (now that's a scary thought) looking for batman, but he was nowhere to be found.

As I sit here, I am still covered in goose bumps. The thought of that disgusting thing in my house...possibly even still in this bedroom totally creeps me out. How can I rest tonight knowing that 'thing' is still out there.

I even tried to take comfort in the fact that this bat is one of God's creatures.

It didn't work.

I will update this developing story as new facts become available. Stay tuned.

What? Are you nuts??

These are the words that came out of my sweet Number 3 son, Joshua....and they were directed at me.




God gives us blessings....some of which we are or should be most aware of....like our homes, our families, our 'things'....some are not as obvious. Sometimes blessings come when we least expect it. Today we got an unexpected blessing. My parents sent each of our kids a card congratulating them on finishing their school year and finishing it well. In each card was a $5 bill. You would have thought there was a bar of gold in that envelope. The children were so excited.

Thursday night is Recovery night at church and since I serve as the Ministry Leader, I am usually the first to arrive and the last to leave each week. As we were heading to the car tonight, the kids were telling me that they were hungry and asked if we could run through Chick-fil-A. A thought occurred to me and I realized that I am, in fact, a genius. I gave the children my counter-argument. Sure, we could run through Chick-fil-A....and you can use the $5 that Grandmom gave you.

"What? Are you nuts?"

I laughed. No, as a matter of fact, I'm pretty smart, thank you very much.

I just wish I could stick to my guns. I learned a long time ago that there are some battles not worth fighting, especially when it comes to my kids. Some might say I give them too much liberty and decision making power, but I'm not sure I buy that. They are great kids. And if my buying them a Chick-fil-A means they can save their $5 to go toward that Ultimate Light Saber Kit they want......so be it.

Am I nuts? Maybe.

If I am, it's my kids fault.

A whole lotta nothin'

When I think about what's been going on around here lately......I realize that there's not much really going on around here. Our second son, Trey, has been sick and according to the doctor, it's nothing that can be treated with antibiotics. Now, as a mother, of course I don't want my kids to be sick.....but, if they're going to be sick, I'd rather they be sick with something that is treatable.....But no...Not Trey. He has to go and get some kind of virus that has to run its course. In the meantime, his ears are ringing, his throat is sore and he's congested. Poor kid.

The others, thankfully, are doing alright.

Because Trey hasn't been feeling well, we haven't gone to the pool, so....because I needed to water the grass anyway, the other 3 kids decided it would be a blast to jump around in the sprinkler. And I decided I would take some pictures of my flowers. I love my flower garden. The Lord has blessed us with a lot of space to plant and we've tried to take advantage of that space. Being out in my garden brings me peace and serenity and a chance to thank God for all of His blessings. We have zinnias, Hydrangeas, Polar Star Mockoranges and lots and lots of roses and azaleas.

Tomorrow is Day 2 of teaching music at our church. "Colors" is SO not part of my lesson plan, but the "B-I-B-L-E" is as is "My God is so Big!" It will be another long, but great day.

A Man's World

I am not a feminist. I am not the wall-flower, silent, submissive type either. I guess you could say I fall somewhere in the middle. I do not have a problem with a woman being President, or CEO of a major company. But I also do not have a problem with a man taking control when he needs or is asked to.

This, among other reasons, is why my husband and I fit so well together. He likes being the head of the family. I like him being the head of the family. He likes that I'm OK with cleaning bathrooms and doing the laundry. I like that he's OK with taking the trash can to the corner and cleaning out the garage. He likes that I like being a 'girl' when it comes to makeup and clothes. I like that he lets me be a 'girl' when it comes to makeup and clothes.

So his being gone has brought a new dimension to my thinking and has caused me to take care of things around the house that #1--I normally wouldn't do and #2--I really have no desire to do.

And today I had to take care of a couple of things that I really didn't want, but had to do.

For a couple of days now, every time I open the refrigerator, there has been an interesting odor that wafts its way to my nose. And for those few days, I allowed denial to run supreme in my life.....You see, I hate to clean out the refrigerator. I loathe it. Emptying out tupperware full of science experiments is something I have always left to my darling husband. But since he's away, I had to do it. I did consider leaving the project until he is home for his two week break in September....After all, he enjoys feeling useful, but after a minute or two, I thought better of it and decided to tackle the task on my own. A major sense of accomplishment filled my soul after I was done. Of course, the dishwasher was completely full of plastic. I think I counted 17 different containers. Impressive, even for me.



Something else I won't do is go under our front porch. Our house is 72 feet wide with a porch that extends the entire width. It's very beautiful, I must say. But I'm sure there are all kinds of creepy things that inhabit the vast space under there. I decided a long time ago if they don't bother me....I won't bother them. But someone had to get under there to get the hose. And I knew it wasn't going to be me. Thankfully, I have boys. The oldest one is just like me.....there's no way he's going under there. The second one hasn't been feeling well and he was laying down. That left Josh. My tough, I-can-tackle-anything kid. I knew he'd help me and sure enough he did. He got under there without even thinking about it and helped me pull the soaker hose out. He's so awesome!

The other thing I did today that I would normally leave to Joe is grilling out. Our family loves to grill, but that's always been a 'dad' thing. But we decided tonight that hot dogs and hamburgers were the order for dinner, so that meant mom got to be dad yet again. And I think I did pretty well. A couple of hot dogs for Trey. A burger and a hot dog for Daniel. A couple of bacon wrapped filets for Josh and burgers for Julia and me. Rice and broccoli finished out the menu and just about everything was eaten.

After the kids played outside with some squirt bottles, they jumped in the shower and will be heading to bed in a bit. I am sitting here watching my Phillies lose again. No, they didn't pull one out last night. In fact, they just plain got beat......again. But I'm a fan and I'll keep watching.

Tomorrow is Father's Day. And I am away from two men that are special to me and to the children. My father is in Oklahoma City. And the father of my children is in Iraq. So, this Father's Day will, for all intents and purposes, be just another Sunday for us here. But to the two men who mean the most to the people in this house............HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!!!

We wish we could be together on this....Your day! Oh, and the card's in the mail ;-)

I only thought no one cared...........

Wow...what a day! All 5 of us have one reason or another to feel that today was a great day. My kids....because they got to go to the pool and did not have to go to karate. Me, for reasons I shall explain in a bit.

In prepping to go to the pool today, I decided to shave my legs.....Yes, it had been several days since I'd done this and to be honest....who cares? My husband, for one, does not. He's in Iraq doing his thing, so the fact that I haven't shaved since Monday was irrelevant to him. I, for another....don't care either. My kids........please.

Well, as I was sitting on the side of my tub shaving, my daughter.....that sweet angel of a 7 year old comes in to check on me. And she says, "Thank goodness you are shaving. I don't wanna feel no hairy legs on my momma."

Nice.

Who knew????

After lathering up in Sunblock, making lunches and gathering our towels, we headed out. We got the pool around noon only to find just a few people there. My kiddos pretty much had the run of the place and they took advantage. They had decided before we left the house that they wanted to stay at the pool until 5:00 or so.....I told them there was no way, but that we would see how things went. (I'd post pictures but they won't upload for some reason)

Sure enough....by 2:00 they were ready to come home. 2 hours. Not bad. I did get some good sun so I was OK with that. And when I got home, lo and behold....the makeup kit I'd ordered had arrived. Much sooner than I had imagined, but there it was......on the front porch.

When it comes to makeup, shampoo, even skin cleansers...I am like a kid in a candy store. I can't wait to rip the package open and see what's inside. Two months ago, I decided I would try a different type of makeup....Bare Minerals. I have always had a hard time finding foundation that didn't settle into my skin or cause my forehead to shine like a spot light. Until I found Bare Minerals. This stuff is awesome and when I began to run out of my starter kit, I purchased the big kit off their website. I can't wait for tomorrow, so I can try the new colors.

The only rough part of today was watching Tiger Woods unravel at Winged Foot. Yes, I watch golf. Yes, I love watching Tiger play. And this weekend, he won't be competing for his 11th Major Championship Title....for the first time in 37 tries. Very impressive, nonetheless.

Maybe my Phillies will pull one out tonight against the D-Rays......

Mom, my ear hurts.....

These are the words every mom has heard at some point in her motherdom. With four children, I've heard these words a bunch myself, though.....it's been awhile. But that lapse in time came to an end at 3:06 am, when our son, Trey, who is 10, came into our room..... crying.

Anytime any one of our kids comes to our room in the middle of the night, they are relegated to the mini-couch we have in our sitting area. Trey was no exception. He laid there for a little bit, still upset, even asking if he could stay home from Vacation Bible School. I told him we would see how he felt in a few hours. I got up to get him some medicine, only to find one dose left. Thankfully, though, I only needed one. Within a few minutes of taking his medicine, he was asleep.

Waking him up at 7:00 to get ready for Bible School was more of a challenge than I would have appreciated, but he got up and got dressed. I didn't ask him about his ear....figuring he would offer on his own to stay home from Bible School because of his discomfort. What I got instead was, "Can we go to the pool today?" Seeing as how he was in the water for close to 4 hours on Wednesday, which likely contributed to his ear pain at 3:06 in the morning, I struggled to find logic in going to the pool. And I mentioned this to him. And I got what I expected. "My ear doesn't hurt anymore, Mom. I can go swimming."

That figures. Miraculous healing. That Tylenol sure is powerful stuff.

Needless to say, they had another great day today. What kid wouldn't? Go to church to hang out with friends and do cool stuff, then go to the pool so that mom won't make them do any work around the house.

It's a kid's perfect world. And it will be perfect again tomorrow, when we do it all over again.

Water Babies

After yet another successful day at VBS, we went to a friends house and to their pool. Very nice. Between our kids and the kids that weren't ours but that we were responsible for....there were 8 school age children and 1 teenager swimming, jumping, diving, cannonballing, splashing, squirting, eating, fishing frogs out of the skimmer and making a home for the two caught geckos. A good time was had by all. Especially by us two moms who had a chance to lay in the sun and catch up with what's been going on in each others lives. It was wonderful...so wonderful, I had a hard time getting them out of the pool and into the car to come home. They are my water babies.

And for the first time, our little girl dove and flipped off the diving board. She's such a little daredevil.

On another note, for those of you who are wondering about my husband.....He is in Baghdad, a place visited by someone pretty powerful on Tuesday. He is blogging as well.....http://joe.oakum.net

God is good! All the time!!

You don't have to wear pants

This has been a day........I've laughed more today at things my kids have said than I have in a long time. I've always known my kids can be a little 'twisted' in their thinking....tonight it was Trey's turn. It's Tuesday night....karate night. I have discovered I am the quintessential karate mom. All four of our kids are in karate and have been since August 2002. Two have earned their black belt, another is within 6 months of earning his....and the little girl......well, if she even tests for her black belt, it'll be a miracle as she is the queen of flakiness.

We are at the karate studio three, sometimes four days a week. Tonight was day one for this week. One class ran from 4:00-4:45, then the next from 4:45-5:30. The third class is from 7:00-8:00. Normally, we would go home for dinner in the 90 minutes of blank space in our night, but tonight the children wanted to go out to dinner and frankly, so did I. I decided on IHOP and all of the children were in agreement. Because the children left the house in their karate uniforms, they did not have shoes on. As we pulled to the IHOP, it dawned on me that they could refuse service to us as the sign on the door says, "Shirt and Shoes required."

As we walked in the door, the kids pointed the sign out to me.....I quickly hushed them, thinking if we don't draw attention to ourselves or to the sign....there would be no problems. We ordered. I, my usual french toast combo. Julia, her baby cakes. Joshua decided to go against conventional wisdom and ordered the cod fillet and mashed potatoes. Trey got the Rooty Jr. with no fruit or whipped cream. Daniel decided he didn't want to order off the kids menu and got himself the Pancake Combo. I checked the menu...........his dinner cost more than mine. Ugh.......And he's only the first of three boys.

After polishing off every bit of food, and eating off each other's plates, the boys made me aware of the fact that they were still hungry....so a short stack of 3 pancakes was added.

Suddenly, Trey hunkered down next to me and in real hushed tones said, "Mom, the sign says that shirt and shoes are required. That means you don't have to wear pants."

This comment by my Trey sent off a chain reaction of comments from the rest of the children...most of which I won't repeat, but needless to say, it was a fun night at the IHOP. A night of laughs. A night of yet another person asking me if "they" were all mine (yes) and if "they" were all the same age (no). A night of scarfing down an amazing amount of food. A night of no cooking. A night of being able to love on and be loved on by my kids.

What more could this quintessential karate mom ask for?

Smell my armpits!!

I thought about entitling this entry..."Kids say the darndest things," but I figured "Smell my armpits" was more of an attention grabber.

It's Day 2 of VBS at our church and getting the children up to go was a bit of a chore this morning. The boys all slept together in Daniel's room and I'm sure were up later than they should have been because they are either talking or fooling around. The little girl is always hard to rouse in the mornings. She is her mother's daughter.

After feeding the boys, I headed into my room to finish getting ready for my day. Shortly thereafter, Julia ended up in my bathroom looking like Medusa with her hair going every which way. Surprisingly, though, she was dressed with her shoes on. As she was combing her hair, I made my way back to the kitchen to get her some breakfast.

A minute later, here she comes.

She climbs onto her stool and begins to eat her Target brand of Fruit Loops. (At least one of my children can appreciate the finer things in life). Joshua was standing in the kitchen and I decided he needed a hug, so I walked up to him and gave him one....and he gave one right back. He is getting so tall these days, so his head comes just below my chin....and I could smell his clean hair and I commented on that. "Mmmm, your hair smells good."

Suddenly, out of this sweet little angel of a girl, with her arm raised high into the air, comes......"Smell my armpits. They smell like Berry Blossom."

Josh gives me a look to end all looks, you know......the one where the eyebrow goes up and one corner of his mouth goes into a smirk..... and heads upstairs to brush his teeth. I thought I'd die laughing. It was hysterical.

Of course, on Saturday when she used her new deodorant for the first time and asked her brothers to smell her armpits.........They did!

Kids say...and do...the darndest things.

Love Languages...

God has a sense of humor. No doubt in my mind. In our Sunday School class, we are going through a Master Work Series workbook that discusses Gary Chapman's book called, "The Five Love Languages." I have always loved the study of the Five Love Languages, so I was excited about what God was going to show me through this. What I didn't realize was that He would teach me something so quickly.
This week we have Vacation Bible School at our church and I had told the children that we would go to the pool after we came home and had lunch. Today, we followed that plan perfectly. We ate hotdogs and baked beans, threw on bathing suits, lathered up in sunblock, put drinks and ice into the cooler and grabbed the towels. We were at the pool by 1:20. 90 Minutes later, thunder was heard and we were ushered out of the pool, much to the chagrin of the children and to me as I had a pretty good nap going. After hanging around to see what the weather was going to do, we headed home....noticing that rain was headed our direction.

The children got cleaned up and I began a load of towels in the washer. Our oldest son, Daniel, then came up to me and asked, "Mom, would you please come downstairs and snuggle with me and watch Star Wars with us? This way I get a double blessing" Ugh!!! No, not about the snuggling, as I love to do that with the children. But UGH!!! Star Wars.

Anyone that knows me knows I am not and I repeat NOT a Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Harry Potter or Lord of the Rings fan. Just not me. And I've never apologized for that. But here was my Dan...my sweet soon-to-be middle schooler asking me to snuggle with him while he watches Star Wars. How could I say no! For one of the Five Love Languages is Quality Time. Another is Physical Touch. And for Daniel he was having both of these needs met at the same time.

I am 35 years old....almost 36 and I have never seen Star Wars. Never. So, you might be thinking....How on earth would she even know if she was a fan or not? Trust me. I just know. So, the movie starts. I have Daniel to my right with Trey next to him. On my left is Julia with Joshua next to her. It's amazing how four active children can sit so still and be so at peace with each other. And we're watching.....and watching...and watching. I even find myself nodding off once or twice. Suddenly, just as Obi Wan was talking to Luke about his father...just after Obi Wan had given Luke his father's light saber.....Daniel looks up to me and says..."Mom, you can go now if you want to."

And just when the movie was actually becoming slightly interesting.

I decided to sit there for another minute rather than racing upstairs like I'd just been released from prison. Then I quietly got up and went upstairs. As I was walking up the stairs, I realized that God was using this study to teach me to be more aware of my own children's love languages. For Daniel, today....this afternoon....he needed some quality time and the ability to link his arm with mine. It was a simple thing to me....but something that meant the world to him.

And who knows....this fall when he is in middle school....wanting his mom next to him while he watches a movie could be most uncool.

It's Saturday!!!

I love Saturdays. It's my favorite day of the week, for it means I can sleep in. There are only a few luxuries I afford myself and sleeping in on Saturday is one of them. Thankfully, I have a husband that has always allowed me that indulgence as well. When he's home, he gets up and makes coffee, then makes sure each of the kids stays as far away from mom and dad's room as possible so mom can sleep. It's a beautiful thing. But now that he's overseas, I do not have anyone to run interference for me on this my favorite (lazy) day of the week.

But, as it turns out, I didn't need that interference. The children slept in, too. I ended up getting out of bed around 7:15 this morning suddenly remembering that our oldest son has been asking to go to Chick-fil-A for breakfast. And this caused me to pause.........Why on earth would an 11 year old boy choose a Chick-fil-A cinnamon cluster over the Target Brand of Fruit Loops? I just couldn't understand it.

After I'd gotten my shower and put some makeup on, I went to look for the children as it was far too quiet for my liking. I found one boy on the couch in the basement watching Star Wars Episode II, I found two other boys up in the bedroom on the computer, and I found the little girl still in bed which got me to thinking....."They are so precious, when they're sleeping........"



Once again, our son reminded me of his desire to eat breakfast at Chick-fil-A. But alas, it wasn't quite that simple, as our third son decided he would throw in his two cents and suggest Mcdonald's instead. He wanted a McGriddle. Realizing this was one of those battles not worth fighting, I told the children we were eating at the house as there was a disagreement on where to eat. As I left the room I heard exactly what I was expecting to hear, "Dan, let's go to McDonald's instead of Chick-fil-A. They've got McGriddles." I knew it was coming. And I knew just how Dan would respond.

We moms know our kids too well. As I was getting ready to dry my hair, Josh comes into the bathroom to tell me that Dan changed his mind and wanted to go to Mickey D's. After much discussion about what a great example Dan was being to Josh, I informed Josh that I was not allowing Daniel to change his mind.

This was a great lesson for Josh as he has a tendency to ask others to change their thinking to match his, but is rarely willing to do the same for them.



We went to Chick-fil-A.

After eating in the parking lot, we headed down to the Post Office to pick up what I thought was Daniel's yearbook. As we were driving a tad over the speed limit, the car in front of me decides it wants to stop, right there in the middle of a fairly big 4-lane highway. I hit my brakes.....the stuff in my passenger seat goes flying and gasps escape from the children in the seats behind me. All I can say, it's a good thing I had my coffee in my hand, as it would have gone flying had it been in the cupholder. I ended up in the next lane, as I never would have been able to stop...and No, I wasn't tailgating....The brake-ability on that little green car was just so impressive........

Suddenly, from the back of the car, my sweet Josh says, "Wow...it's a good thing God is good." It was a nice thing to come out of his mouth............It left me wishing I had been so nice with my words. (the word idiot came out at least three times, I shamedly admit)

God has given us such wonderful children.....a constant reminder of God's love.....a constant reminder of the responsibility we have been given. We spent the rest of the afternoon at the pool, the children playing in the water almost the entire time, and me...laying in the sun. I have decided I simply do not have enough freckles. It has been a wonderful day!

Tomorrow will be even better! For God has promised it......"His mercies are new every morning....Great is His faithfulness." I love Sundays as I get to worship and praise my God as well as hear His Word preached unashamedly. I can't wait!!

Especially since I begin every Sunday with a Large Coffee from Dunkin' Donuts. Another one of those little luxuries I afford myself. And there's no better coffee out there.

Trust me.

My first day of teaching music

I love music. It's a big part of who I am and I find great joy and peace in singing and praising God through music, so when a friend of mine asked me to consider teaching music at our church's summer program, it didn't take me long to say, "Yes!"

But I didn't realize what I was getting myself into when I gave that resounding, "Yes!" During the school year, I have the pleasure of teaching 4th and 5th grade music, so teaching music is not a new thing. Teaching it, however, to anyone younger than the age of 9, 10 or 11, is. You see, 4th and 5th graders can read. (Yes, so can 3rd, 2nd, 1st graders and a lot of K's). 4th and 5th graders are fairly easy to please. 4th and 5th graders either like music or hate it. There's not much second guessing with this bunch. But then I find out I'm also to teach the babies....Yes, the 1 year olds, the 2 year olds, the 3 year olds and the 4 year olds. The first thing that crosses my mind is....18-month olds can't even talk, let alone sing. How am I supposed to teach music?

I was stumped.

But thankfully, I had the chance to speak with said babies' teachers and they gave me some ideas. And we had a good time beating cymbals together, playing the rhythm sticks and ringing bells. The kids loved it and the teachers enjoyed a few minutes of a teaching reprieve.

One song I chose to sing with the 3, 4 and 5 year olds is a song called "Colors," and it goes like this...."This is a song about colors. Colors. You see them all around. There is red on a stop sign. Green on a tree. Blue in the sky and sea. This is a song about colors. Colors. You see them all around. It's about the happiest song in town. All you have to do is stand up and sit down. All you have to do is stand up and sit down."

The children are all sitting in chairs holding either a bean bag or a piece of paper that is red, green, yellow or blue. Throughout the song, the singer says things like..."Red stand up. Blue stand up. Yellow and green stand up." "Red sit down. Yellow sit down. Blue and Green sit down." And the children are to follow these directions based on the color bean bag or paper they are holding.

Oh and did I tell you I taught 7 different classes this week. I decided it would be hilarious to see how the older children took to this song, so I led all of the classes in this song and unbelievably, none of the children scoffed, thought I was weird, or decided not to participate. They seemed to enjoy the levity of the moment. Yes, even the 6th graders.

But because there were 7 classes and because the song has the children (and me) standing up and sitting down so many times, my thighs, by the time I was done with my last class, were nothing but blobs of jelly inside stretch-marked skin. By the next morning, I could barely walk up and down the stairs. And my sweet children were so empathic. Julia decided she would 'help' me down the stairs by placing her hand on the small of my back and 'loving' me all the way. It was sweet.

I realized I had done the equivalent of 50 140 lb. leg presses. No wonder my legs were killing me!

Needless to say, I won't be doing that song again for awhile. I'm sure my 5th and 6th graders are breathing a sigh of relief as a result as well.

By the end of the summer, we will present a mini-concert to the congregation of our church. No, we will not be singing "Colors," but some songs I found that speak of Jesus being our Best Friend and how we can have a peace that passes understanding.....Because of Jesus.

These songs speak of my life.....Because of Jesus! I have a strength, my Hope is in the Lord. Because of Jesus.

My first blog

Well, here we go!! I'm a first time blogger, but not a first-time talker. Just ask my friends.

My life as a single wife, as I call myself, is one of fun, stress, busyness, peace, and yes........kids, lots and lots of kids. I have four of them and they keep me busier than I could have ever imagined. Someone once said, "Take a look at your checkbook. You'll see where your priorities are by who you are writing checks to." Ok, so I looked. Hmmmmm.......karate studio (kids), Ballet studio (daughter), The school for lunches and field trips (kids), Piano teacher (3 kids), french horn teacher (oldest son)......I guess that means my highest priorities are my children. And thank goodness for that!

After all this talk of kids, you might be wondering.......what about the husband? Yes, I am married. But I am a Single Wife, or a Military Widow whose husband is still alive. Currently, my husband Joe is at Camp Slayer in Baghdad, serving with the Army as a Naval Officer. I am very proud of my husband and what he has chosen to do with the effort in Iraq.

But, his being gone makes me a single wife. Married, but single. A life I did not choose, but that was chosen for me. But I take comfort in the fact that my God is standing right beside me as I endeavor the task before me.....raising my children in the love and admonition of the Lord (Ephesians 6:4), and living my life in such a way that Christ is glorified in all I do..."For it is better, if it is the will of God, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil." (I Peter 3:17). "My God shall supply all (my) needs according to His riches in Glory." (Philippians 4:19)

I am often told by many people that I am strong.....that I handle life so well, despite the fact that my husband is overseas.....that they could never survive if they were in my shoes. But I say this.....being able to raise these kids, live my life, and keep from going insane does not make me better than anyone else. I still mess up royally. I get irritated at my children. I get frustrated, at times, with the life that God has given me. But, I know that I have Christ, the Hope of Glory, living in me. I know that no matter what I do, my God is never going to leave me or forsake me. I know that my kids are always going to love me even when I get mad at them. And I know that my husband is coming home sometime next year.

So, sit back and enjoy a glimpse into my life.......It's going to be a fun, fun ride.