Adventures in bird catching...

Today I had the opportunity to work at my favorite school. I knew it would be a good day...and it was. My kids know....from the moment they get on the bus in the morning....where I'm going to be that day in case they need me. Only one time have I gotten a phone call while I was in the classroom. Today, was the second.

Josh called at 3:00 this afternoon....telling me there was a bird in the house and he couldn't get it back outside. He said he had all the windows and doors opened, but he could not shoo the bird out. He wasn't panicked...he just didn't know what to do.

Then I got another call that the bird went into the laundry room...but he couldn't find it. So, I told him he could either stomp around and scare it out or he could just not worry about it. I told him I would be home shortly to pick him up, grab the other kids and head to the airport to pick up Joe. We would worry about it after Celebration Night. After all, we have cats. If there was a bird in the house...it wouldn't take long to get the attention of our pretty kitties.

I grabbed Dan and Trey from the bus and headed to the house. When I walked in the door, I found myself looking up at the ceiling...almost ducking down expecting to be dive-bombed by this bird. Harken back to the days of bat-catching and you'll know why. I scanned the house but did not see anything. Trey went in to get his basketball shirt and drop off his backpack and I headed into my room to check email. Nothing seemed out of sort. In my room, at least.

When I walked into the kitchen I could see that yes....a bird had, in fact, been in the house...as there were feathers strewn around the kitchen floor. I stopped right there and decided that looking for the source of the feathers was not in the cards for me at this moment. We needed to get back in the car to get Joe. He had already arrived and was waiting for us at 'our spot.'

We picked up Joe and headed to dinner then to church. We had a wonderful time at Celebration Night. The speaker/entertainer was fantastic. Juggling, unicycling, fire, bouncing balls. It was great. The kids were captivated and I laughed until tears were stinging my eyes.

Then, home. Julia and Josh were the first up the stairs. Daniel and Trey were playing basketball in the basement. Joe was grabbing his suitcases from the car and I was close by. That's when I heard it. Her voice. In a nice, even tone. "The bird is laying in the middle of the kitchen floor. And there's blood everywhere." Then Josh. Again, in a nice, even tone. "And it's still breathing!"

Wh-What??

Bird. Blood. Breathing. Three words I really didn't want to hear in the same three sentences.

But Praise God from Whom all Blessings Flow! Because I didn't have to worry about it. I had a husband who had just come home from drill....and he was more than happy to come to my rescue.

Before I knew it, Daniel and Trey were upstairs checking out the 'victim.' Joe told me to stay on the staircase and not look at 'the mess.' Julia decided to let me know that the blood looked like ketchup.

Nice.

Within a few minutes, Mr. Bird was put in the back yard, the blood was cleaned up and the cats were found. None of our pretty kitties owned up to the deed, but I'm sure they had a lot of fun playing with the moving target.

I know cats are smart....but ours are really smart. The decided to maim the bird on my tile kitchen floor....instead of my white berber carpet.

They're so good to their mama!

Again....it's just another day in our crazy household.

Let's Go Upward!!!

Our little girl, Julia, told us last year she wanted to be a cheerleader. This really didn't surprise me because she does 'girl' very well. She's adorable. She's spirited. She loves to flip her hair and stick out her hips. She's a mess. I frequently refer to her as 'all that and several bags of chips.'

Those of you that know her....know I'm describing her to the letter.

Because we've always had so much going on, I hadn't thought of signing her up....until this year, when her asking finally got me to say 'yes.' A church in our city does have a cheerleading team for their Upward Basketball league, so off we went. She's had a ball and has been in her element. Today was the last game she can cheer....because next week she gets to participate in a 5-hour boot camp to get ready for her black belt testing.

Yep....

She's a ballet, tap and jazz dancer.

She's a cheerleader.

And soon, hopefully, she'll be a black belt in karate.

So, when she needs to defend herself, she'll do it with grace and spirit.

A doofus, shoe polish and R2-D2

Oh the joys of having small animals.

First, our fish births 18 babies....then they all die. We had them for several months, then one by one they began to die. It was actually pretty sad. We were enjoying hearing the pitter-patter of little fins around the house. And having grand-fish was a lot of fun.

We have three cats, who decided their scratch posts of choice were two beautiful Queen Ann chairs that I love. Yes, it's only furniture. Yes, they can be replaced, but when I gave the cats the choice of keeping their claws and moving outside or continuing to live in the lap of luxury and lose their beloved tips-of-their-fingers.....they chose the latter.

We added a puppy last year....much to my husband's joy.....and my dismay. We have enough critters in the house, I always say, but I lost that argument. His name is Max....and he is intelligence-challenged. Not much between the ears, as they say.

Which brings me to the present. We had the cats de-clawed this week....and we had to transport them to the vet using Max's cage. I obviously didn't think this through, because when it came time for bed, we had no place for Max to sleep. Two nights ago, Max stayed outside, but last night we decided we'd bring his favorite daytime sleeping pillow upstairs to Josh's room, so Max would have a comfortable place to lay. When I saw Josh this morning and asked him how Max did, he said he was fine. No issues. That he woke Josh up with two licks around the face, then went back to his pillow for more sleep.

Or so he thought.

This morning, as Josh went upstairs to get his trashcan to empty, he noticed the present Max left. Because I am mom of the year, (tongue in cheek, of course), I got the paper towels to clean up said present. As I moved something laying on the floor, I found the second present. A huge black stain. And next to it......the empty bottle of shoe polish. Oh boy. This was going to be fun.

I asked Josh to get the carpet cleaner and a rag and had him begin the process. Not knowing how much was actually in the bottle before the 'spill' was unnerving, but before long we realized the bottle must have been full. The clean up was tough....as the polish kept spreading. Poor Josh was trying so hard....I commend him for making such an effort. Finally, I was able to make it upstairs to help out. And boy, was I in for a shock. What started off as a stain the size of....maybe three silver dollars, grew into an area twelve inches by eight inches, at least.

So, I did the only thing I knew to do.....get water and get R2-D2, our beloved wet-dry vac.

We sprayed the cleaner. We dumped the water. We sucked it up. Then we sprayed some more. We dumped some more. We sucked some more. And wow, was there a lot of ink in that stain. And when I thought I'd gotten most of it, there was more to get.

After 45 minutes of spraying, dumping and sucking....this was the end result. No, it's not perfect, but it's probably as good as we can do......for now.

And because I don't like to wear gloves when I clean......now I need a manicure. ;-)

A doofus, shoe polish and R2-D2.

Just another day in our wild and crazy household.

Ch- Ch- Ch- Changes....

Here we go again.....

I decided since I wasn't able to figure out how to change to a template that I liked, that I would add some personal pictures to one of the ones on blogger. And so far, I'm liking what I'm seeing. It's nice to be able to 'Jennifer' it up a bit.

And speaking of changes...........this week is going to be a bit different. We're on Winter Break, so that's a blessing. I think we were all ready for some down time. But besides being home all week, I'm short two kids until tomorrow afternoon and a husband for the next two weeks, which always makes things interesting. Daniel and Trey are at Snowball and Joe is on Active Duty. Come tomorrow morning, we'll be short three cats, too....as they're going to be de-clawed.

If you know of anyone who gets bored this week....send 'em on over. I'll give 'em something to do.

Have a great week, everyone!

Grumbling and Complaining

Ok...so I thought I'd be smart and change my template. And I believed blogger when it said I could access my old template if need be.

Then I didn't like how my blog layout looked.....it was all squishy and narrow-looking, so I tried to access said former template...........but no. It wasn't there. Then I thought....Oh well. Now I've messed up, so I might as well change my look. But the blogger templates are kinda boring. I'd love some flowers....or an Americana theme. But blogger doesn't offer anything like that. So,I tried to find some free templates on the web. And I found one that was absolutely gorgeous.......beautiful flowers cascading down the page. But my most recent post was 'lost' in the foliage.

So, I kept looking.

I found several templates that I liked, but I can't get blogger to identify them. Now, I'm back with blogger until I can get Joe to help me figure out how to get some of these other ones I liked to work.

This is Tracey's former look and it's nice, but I'd love to find something original.....that looks like me. If anyone has any good websites to offer, I'd love to hear 'em.

Happy Valentine's Day!!!

Yeah, yeah....I'm a day late, but I've been busy. :-)

Joe and I ended up having one of the best Valentine's we've ever had. We went out to dinner with Mark and Allyson...enjoying each other's company and exchanging gifts. Even though they live right next door, we have to plan WAY ahead in order to get together and last night was one of those nights.

We went to Baci for a nice 4 course meal, got caught up with each other's families and laughed and laughed. And two and half hours later....I walked out with my Valentine's present----a brand new Niken D40 camera. I am so excited! It's exactly what I wanted and now I'll be able to take action shots of the kids while they're playing.

And it just gets better.....Today, the second part of my gift arrived. A new cell phone. My Palm Treo has been flaky since the day I got it---less than a year ago. I've had to have it warranty-replaced three times and it just drives me nuts. It has trouble holding a decent signal and freezes up no matter what application I'm trying to perform. I figured I would just gut it out until my contract expired, but Joe surprised me with a new Palm Centro. In Sooner, Phillie and Bulldog red. It's absolutely wonderful.

Yeah, I'm pretty spoiled, but I do know how so very blessed I am. I have a husband that adores me, four children who bring me a ton of joy, and a God who is more loving and gracious than I deserve.

Shock and awe...

I'm speechless. Literally. Maybe I'm dreaming. Maybe I'm not. But one thing's for sure......God is AWESOME!!! Of course, that's not exactly a Fox News Alert, but that's the only explanation I can come up with at this point.

Last month I blogged about taking the teacher certification exam in Special Education General Curriculum. I mentioned that the test was crazy hard and that I had little hope of passing. Yes, I'm my own worst enemy. Yes, self-doubt is something I battle on a regular basis. No, it doesn't honor the Lord, but it is what it is. And I am who I am. The Lord is working on me, though...thankfully.

Today was the day I've been waiting for since January 12. Today....February 11...was the day the 'unofficial' scores would be released. Today...February 11...was the day I would register to take the test again, because I was certain I would need to.

Apparently, the Lord had other ideas. Because when I logged onto the GACE site to check my scores, one little word changed my entire perspective.

PASSED.

Yep, the screen said, 'Passed.' Not just on one part of the test, but both parts. I passed the test.

That's the shock.

No, I'm not looking for a lot of 'strokes' from people. I 'honestly' did not think I had a chance of passing this test. It was one of the most difficult things I've ever done. Three hours I sat in that room. Three hours. Without getting up. Three hours. 120 questions. 4 essays. On a subject I hadn't studied within a classroom setting as a student.

That's the shock.

But, in the mortal words of Junior Asparagus.....God is bigger than the boogeyman. And in this case, the boogeyman was me and my negative self-talk.

That's the awe.

Yesterday in church, Dr. Minnix talked about this very thing. How we have to guard our hearts against ourselves and our sinful thoughts and desires. He may have meant more overtly sinful thoughts like lust or greed or pride, but you know what.....self-doubt is just as big a giant to overcome as these others. And I was reminded of this yesterday.

God doesn't need me. But guess what? He uses me anyway.

That's the awe.

God is Faithful to me. Even when I'm not faithful to Him.

That's the awe.

God is Gracious. And Kind. And Loving. And Forgiving. Even though I don't deserve it.

That's the awe.

Now, we move onto the next step.

School. Yikes!

But that's OK. God is clearly in all of this, because I'll be the first to tell everyone that I could NOT have done this without Him. No way. No how. It's all God. He called. I'm just answering. Am I still scared? You bet I am, but nowhere does it say that God calls the equipped. But He will equip the called and that's what I'm counting on.

He promised it and I'm believing it, because He ALWAYS keeps His promises.

What a day...

You all know how much I love my Sundays. I so love going to church....to worship my Lord and to study His Word. I love the songs, the preaching and the fellowship. It's my favorite day of the week. And today was no different from any other Sunday....or so I thought.

It started off like any other Sunday. Only slightly differently. Today was the first Sunday, Dr. Minnix...our transitional preacher until we find a new pastor....was in the pulpit. And he delivered a powerful message on the heart. How we need to guard our heart and protect it from not only the devil and the world, but also from ourselves. How we need to lock it up and keep it safe from evil desires and thoughts. It was a wonderful reminder. The Choir sang one of my favorite songs...."Before the Throne of God Above" and Rick, Julie and Carla led in worship with a song called 'I Bow Down.' It was truly a worshipful experience for me.

After Sunday School, we headed to a chinese restaurant to eat and then headed home.

I love being home. My home is place of refuge for me....a place of safety and of security. A place of comfort and of rest.....which is another reason I love Sundays. This is the only time I get to sit down and close my eyes for a bit. I don't get to do this every Sunday, but today I got to. But only for a couple of minutes.

As I laid on my bed, I heard the kids playing basketball outside...laughing and playing and having a wonderful time. Then they stopped and started riding their bikes. The next thing I knew, a blood curling scream came from the driveway....and resonated through the house. Joe jumped out of his chair in his office and went to find out what happened, only he went the wrong direction. He went out the front door looking for the source of the scream.....The screaming child went through the basement and came straight to our room, where I was laying down. It was 12:30.

It was Josh. Our precious 10-year old boy. Clutching his arm and crying. He wasn't hysterical, but it was clear he was in a lot of pain. He only said one thing. "I broke my wrist. I broke my wrist. I know it's broken." My first thought was that he was over-reacting. That he had just jammed it. But once we looked at it...we weren't so sure it was just jammed. Here's what happened...

Josh had decided to ride his bike in the backyard...pretending he was on the trails. He went down one of the slopes toward the driveway and tried to navigate his bike between Joe's car and the basketball goal. The ground was apparently just wet enough to cause the bike to shift beneath him just as he got to the car. He hit his head, (he has a black eye), as well as his hand....causing it to roll upward....breaking his wrist. Thankfully, though, the break was not near his growth plates. It was more his lower forearm. It shouldn't cause any problems for him, unless you count his inability to play baseball and the drums.

His wrist wasn't grossly out of place, but it did begin to swell and it didn't look quite right. So, two minutes later, Joe, Josh, Julia and I were in the car headed to the ER. We didn't have to wait too terribly long....if you're talking ER standards. By 3:30, the X-Rays had proven what Josh had said. His wrist was broken, but it wasn't as bad as it could have been. It wasn't snapped....more like cracked. He was put in a splint and we were sent on our way. The next step is to get with his pediatrician and then the orthopedist for his permanent cast....sometime this week.

He was such a trooper. After the initial shock of pain, he was OK. The only other time he cried was in the car on the way to the hospital when he realized he was going to have a difficult time in drum lessons and in band. Even with both the doctor and X-Ray tech poking and prodding, he took it like a man. I was proud of him.

We got home right at 4:15...in time to change clothes and hustle to church. The kids were about 25 minutes late for Bible Drill and Choir, but it's understandable. Prayerfully, Josh will sleep through the night and will be OK in school tomorrow.

So there you have it. Our Sunday. My favorite day of the week. Spent first at church, then in the Emergency Room, then at church again. Who could ask for anything more?

Wow, I'm full

God is good.

And tonight, He showed just how much He has blessed me and Joe. About 10 days ago or so, we made a plan to go out to dinner with some friends. We don't get to do this very often....and when we are able to do it, it ends up being adults and kids. Of course, I love my kids and I love my friends kids, but sometimes I just want it to be the adults. And tonight was that night.

We took Tom and Kathy, John and Jill, and Matt and Missy out to Pura Vida, one of our favorite restaurants. And boy did we have a blast. We laughed and laughed and talked and ate and laughed and ate some more. Hangar steak, salmon, malanga chips, cheese and nuts, shrimp, chicken empanadas, and oh so much more. It was wonderful. And we topped it off with chocolate creme brulee, churros in chocolate and two different kinds of ice cream. Oh yes....it tasted just as wonderful as it sounds.

We ended the night standing in the church parking lot for another twenty minutes talking.

We've decided that since we had such a wonderful time that we need to make this monthly and prayerfully we'll be able to find that one night where we are all relatively freed up and can get together. It's clear that God has brought us together for such a time as this.....so we can love and encourage each other. That, my friends, is true Christian fellowship.

I love you guys.....thank you for tonight.