Home...safe and sound

We've made it home. After spending a couple of days with family....chilling, shopping and just hanging out...we drove home yesterday. Picture this.....two adults, four kids, four car size pillows, two blankets, a laptop computer with an Air card, a portable DVD player, five ipods, a Nintendo DS, a PSP, an electronics box with chargers and cables, a food box and a coffee thermos in an Envoy pulling a UHaul trailer filled with a full size bed, 15 boxes of books, Christmas presents (including an XBOX 360 with two Guitar Hero guitars, random mish-mash, suitcases and winter coats making the trek from Oklahoma City to Atlanta, GA...only able to drive 68 miles per hour.

What normally would take 12 1/2 hours (driving an average of 78 mph) took 15. But the kids were great, save for Trey and his moments of whining about why should fly everywhere we go...or at least rent an RV.

We spent Christmas Eve with Joe's mom, sister, and her two kids and son-in-law. It was a very nice time. Christmas Day was spent with my parents with lunch with Joe's dad, his wife and Joe's 90 year old grandmother.

The kids made a haul...as usual. They get to share the XBOX 360--as the family gift. They each then got one special gift that defines each of them. Daniel got his Papasan Chair, Trey--his guitar. Josh was told his new drum kit was on layaway and he would be helping pay it off and Julia got the portable DVD player because of her love of movies.

I did well, too. I was able to enjoy an IPOD itouch. Very cool.

I love Christmas. It's a wonderful time with family, but more than that, it's a celebration of the birth of a Savior. That precious Baby Jesus, born over 2,000 years ago, would grow up, become a man and give Himself up on a cross....taking our sins and placing them on His back because we could not pay for our sins ourselves. Only a perfect, Holy Lord could do it. And because of His love for us....He did. Now, provided we've accepted this Gift, can live eternally in Heaven with God. What an awesome reality!

Where has the time gone?

Ok..ok...I know it's been awhile. 10+ months to be exact, but when you've got four kids, two dogs, three cats and several fish....not to mention being a wife and house-manager, it's hard to sit down and blog with regularity.

What have we been up to, you ask? Well, here it is...in short:

Daniel: In 7th grade. Still playing the French Horn. Is doing well in school. Sings in the Middle School Choir at Church. Loves to read. Is a black belt in karate. And the scariest fact of all........he turned 13 on the 21st. Holy Cow!

Trey: Now in 6th grade. Plays the piano, the saxophone and now the guitar. Plays baseball at the county league and basketball at the church. Is doing well in school. Sings in the Middle School Choir at Church. Loves to play computer games. Is very good at Guitar Hero. Loves to give his mother hugs and tell her he loves her. Is a black belt in karate. And turned 12 the end of November.

Josh: In 5th grade. Plays the drums and is quite good at it. Plays baseball at the county league. Is doing well in school (when he feels like doing the work). Sings in the Children's Choir at Church. Loves to play computer games. Is taller than both of his older brothers. Loves to give his mother hugs and tell her he loves her. Is a black belt in karate. And is 10 years old.

Julia: In 3rd grade. Plays the piano. Takes ballet, jazz and tap. Is a cheerleader with an Upward Cheerleading league. Will begin testing for her black belt in karate in March. Is doing well in school, but needs to work on multiplication facts memorization. Sings in the Children's Choir at Church. Loves to watch movies and is a High School Musical freak-a-zoid. She turned 9 on December 16.

And the best part is......all of my children know the Lord....have professed Him as their Savior and have been baptized. What a wonderful legacy we, as parents, can pass on to our children. My prayer will always be that they continue to pass the love of Jesus on to their children.

We are doing well. Life is busy...as it is for everyone, but my going back to work has made it much busier. I began substitute teaching last year and to be honest....it has brought me more joy than I expected. I was scared to death when I started, but the moment I walked into that 6th grade classroom last year....I was hooked. So hooked am I that I will be taking the state's Teacher Certification Exam in two weeks....in Special Education. I love middle school kids and I love working with kids who need a little more help....a little more love....and a little more encouragement. Whether it's learning disabilities or emotional or behavioral disorders....it doesn't matter. I'm nervous but I truly feel that God has given me a love for middle school kids that I need to respond to.

Joe is doing well, too. He loves his job and his job loves him. He is also working with a new unit in the Navy which has him very busy, too. We fully believe that God has answered our prayers for Joe to 'love' going to work and for him to be productive.

That's about it...in a nutshell.

I pray all of you had a wonderful Christmas and will have a safe and Happy New Year! May God bless each and every one of you.

Undeniable grief

I am not the most sentimental person in the world. It's not that I'm hard-hearted....it's just that 'things' don't necessarily make me or break me, so to speak. My Joshua, on the other hand, is sentimental. He is sensitive and caring. He loves flowers, puppies, kittens and babies. He is very soft-hearted and wears his emotions on his sleeve.

So, I wasn't too terribly surprised at his reaction to what happened in the fishtank while we were at church. We bought the fish on Monday night and since then....every chance we've had, we've sat in front of the tank marvelling at how they interact with each other, calling them by the names the kids gave them and just enjoying the serenity and calmness having fish brings to the house. This morning, one of Daniel's fish--Moonbow--our black molly, died. We're not sure of the cause.....he was swimming around, seemingly fine, then was still.....then finally died. Daniel was OK with the outcome. Joe and I had already set the kids up for the fact that the fish may die in their new environment....there are no guarantees with tropical fish.

But tonight, when we got home from church, Daniel called us over to the tank and what we saw was very difficult to watch. Now, please understand, we know it's just a fish. No biggie there, but this was just sad. One of Josh's fish had part of his under-fin chewed off. We're not sure if one of the larger fish got a hold of it, or if he caught it on something, but it was hard watching him try and swim. He could move in a straight line, but he twisted like a corkscrew. Very sad.

We watched him try and swim for about 20 minutes, then he gave up....laying on the gravel and seemingly trying to catch his breath. He tried swimming again....this time only for a couple of minutes, then he gave up again. He did this two or three more times, finally just stopping and laying down.

What came next is something this blog cannot do justice. Once my Josh realized what was happening to 'Pearl,' he broke down into these gut-wrenching sobs. Unspeakable grief over the loss of his fish. He cried for a long time and at one point when he thought Pearl had finally died, came running into my room almost hysterical. It's hard to sit here and type this without tears coming to my eyes. My boy was so heartbroken and there wasn't a thing I could do about it.

He wanted to stay up until his fish died completely, but I assured him he needed his sleep, so off he went, asking me to wake him when Pearl dies. I tried waking him, but he was content staying in bed.

Pearl and Moonbow are now resting comfortably in a Ziploc bag in the cabinet and tomorrow we'll take them back to Petsmart as they have a two-week money back guarantee, in case of death.

Hopefully, we'll be able to find a fish for Josh that he can learn to 'love' as much as he did Pearl.

What an angel. I love my little man.

The Greatest Show on Earth

This week is Winter Break, and because we don't want the kids sitting around all week playing mindless video games, we thought it would be fun to do some things together. A couple of months ago, we bought circus tickets to congratulate the kids on their great semester report cards and today was the day we picked to go. And what a day it was!!



Technically, I wasn't supposed to take pictures, but I just couldn't resist. The tigers, elephants, acrobats and the motorcycle guys in the big sphere were just way too awesome to 'not' take their picture. I thought Josh was going to come out of his seat he was having so much fun.

I have to admit--the acrobats were probably my favorite part of the show. I can't imagine being able to swing high above the ground with no net---a harness, yes, but no net. Unbelievable. My stomach was doing flips just watching them! The boys loved the motorcycles in the sphere. Julia loved the horses and the 'cute guy with long hair.' The lady with the trained cats was pretty fascinating, too. Not the big African white tigers....but common housecats. Running around on cue...jumping into her arms on cue...walking a tightrope (ok...he took a couple of steps, then slipped and shimmied his way to the other end) on cue. It was pretty impressive.
Everything was great, although I was a little disappointed there was no human cannonball or high wire act.

But I'll get over it.



From there we headed to Spaghetti Factory for a great meal and a little entertainment on the side. The boys were standing back to back to see who was taller when Daniel bumped Josh. It just so happened Josh was standing right on the edge of the stairs and when he waved his arms to catch his balance he knocked over the water pitcher.....(Splash!!!) It was pretty funny.

Here's a picture of the mess he made.


We got home and grabbed the dogs and headed back out again--the day was not yet done. Last Thursday Joe and Julia picked out the stuff for a fish tank. Joe and I put it together and we let the water settle over the weekend. We checked the water today and it tested as 'acceptable' for tropical fish. So, off to Petsmart we went. Well, Joe and the kids went to Petsmart. I went to Ulta.

We now have four kids, three cats, two dogs and eight fish.

And two parents who have gone off the deep end.

Dodgeball Tournament

Why didn't they have this kind of stuff when I was growing up?

I loved dodgeball as a kid. I hated PE, but I loved dodgeball and I was pretty good at it, too. I couldn't necessarily throw that hard, but I could catch someone else's throw....almost every time. My kids love dodgeball, too and today Trey got to take part in a county-wide all-school dodgeball tournament. He was so excited.

I had him at the school by 7:50 this morning, then headed up to church for a Women's rally. Thankfully I knew several of the parents there and was comfortable leaving Trey for the morning while I went and helped lead in Worship and enjoyed learning about a new ministry the church is birthing. The tournament was over by 1:30....I got to the school at 2:00 and learned that my little man's team.....the Average Joe's.....won the tournament for their age group---4th-8th grade. Yes, Trey's team---mostly 5th and 6th graders beat the 8th graders and took the honors of (drumroll, please)..........

DODGEBALL CHAMPION!!!!!

Pretty sweet.

So, on Friday night, at the High School basketball game, his team will be honored and will receive their 1st place medals....in front of everyone.

Too funny!!

Our day ended with an awesome dinner at the Spaghetti Factory, then at the Fabulous Fox Theatre where we sang and danced to the Theater of the Stars performance of High School Musical and it was fantastic. Two thumbs up from this mama!! Beth and Michelle gave it a resounding "Hooray" too. The girls loved it. (I think my ears started to bleed from the screaming.) My Josh thought it was great. Trey---well, let's just say he was a little disappointed that the dance moves from the movie weren't performed on stage. And the fact that the songs were changed a little bit bothered him, too, but that's alright. He'll get over it, I'm sure.

After all, he's the dodgeball champion.

What is a Name?

Well, I finally decided on a name. Like all moms in this world, I wear many hats. I am a wife, a mom, a friend, a daughter, a sister, a teacher, a board member, a volunteer, a student, a fan...but mostly I am a Child of the King.

But one title I can no longer claim---a hat I can no longer wear---is Single Wife......and it's a crown I'm thrilled to turn back in. Joe has been home for a little over a month now and it's been great. But all this time, I was trying to figure out what to call myself, or, more so, my blog. Lots of things came to mind, but only one really seemed to be 'right.'

And that's 'JPV.' That's pretty much who I am. My email addy begins with 'jpv' and a lot of people call me 'jpv.'

So, JPV it is.

Kinda boring, but I am what I am.

And I am 'JPV.'

Shameless brag

This blog has allowed a different side of me to come out. Normally, in social settings, I don't offer up little tidbits about my family. I figure if someone wants to know something...whether it's how we're doing, what's been going on, or even just idle chit-chat about the kids, they'll ask. But blogging gives me the opportunity to 'talk' about what's going on....what the kids are up to.....and to give a little glimpse into the lives of the PV's, without wondering if anyone really cares.

Throughout the life of this blog, you all have seen how busy our lives can be. Running kids to karate, ballet, music lessons and church takes up almost all of our evenings, leaving not enough time for family dinners or movie nights. Joe and I decided that keeping our kids busy and giving them access to different types of extra-curriculars would give them a jump-start on life and to allow the Lord to reveal their gifts and talents to them.

Here's a rundown of what we do throughout the week:

Monday: Piano (Trey and Julia)

French Horn (Daniel)

Tuesday: Karate (Julia)

Saxophone (Trey)

Master's Club (Advanced Karate--Daniel, Trey and Joshua)

Wednesday: Weekly Wednesday church activities

Thursday: Karate (Julia)

Master's Club (Boys)

Friday: Ballet (Julia)

Once or twice a month we have to throw in an orthodontist appointment and I believe all children should have a chance to watch mindless TV (Hannah Montana, Suite Life of Zack and Cody), play video games and play outside. We protect our Friday nights and Saturdays for family movies and special times together. This would, seemingly, leave little or no time for school or homework.

Oh, but fret not. Not this mama. I've always told my kids that their A #1 job was school and homework. Everything else, besides their relationship with the Lord and their family, comes in a distant second.

On Tuesday, report cards came home. This is the day, four times a year, that I literally wait by the door in anticipation. I look forward to seeing how well they've done and reading the comments by their teachers. This Tuesday was no different and I'm thrilled to offer this shameless brag.

Four kids. Four report cards. 25 different letter grades.

24 A+'s, A's, and A-'s........1 B+.

The B+ was in Math. No biggie. And the child that got the B+ loves Math, so I'm not too concerned. The grade will come up. I was and am so proud of my kids. Lots of stuff going on. Middle School. Dealing with their dad being gone. And they've come out shining like gold.

Praise God from Whom all Blessings Flow!

Back in the swing of things

Thank goodness! While I love Christmas and all of the fun involved, I love the kids going back to school that much more. Don't get me wrong, I have fabulous children and I love spending time with them, but not having school, karate, ballet, music lessons, and regular Wednesday night activities has caused me to lose track of what day it is.

It's Thursday, so that means tonight is karate night. Tomorrow is Friday. Ballet night.

Our schedule has returned...bringing with it, in all its busyness, my serenity.

And now that Joe is home from Active Duty, the title of this blog is no longer valid. Let the renaming begin!!! I thought about just taking off the 'Single' and calling it 'Wifery,' but that sounds kinda goofy. Then I thought about another title I have--Mom. Thus, calling the blog 'Quadruple Mommery,' but that sounds too much like Quadruple Mammary and since the two mammaries I do have don't amount to one decent-sized one, I don't think that's a good idea, either.

So, what to call myself. I just don't know. SAHM of 4? atlphly? jpv? Joe's wife? DTJJ's mom? If any of you has any ideas, I'm open to hearing them.

Have a great week!

CHRISTmas

Christmas has always been a much-anticipated time of the year for me. I love the lights, the trees, the decorations, the gifts. I love spending time with my family, lounging around in my housepants and taking time off from the usual busyness of life to reflect on what really matters.

But Christmas isn't about lights, gifts or housepants. It's about a little baby. A precious, pure, and perfect little Child sent from Heaven above to redeem all of mankind from it's own sinfulness. It's about the Child, who would grow up to be a Man.....a Man who would willingly lay down on the cross and allow Himself to be crucified to pay for our sin. Because He knew we couldn't pay for it ourselves.

In a word...Amazing. Thank you Jesus for loving me so much that You would die for me. Thank you, Father, for sending Your Son to earth to redeem me....to offer me the gift of grace. Without Your love, without Your grace, without Your Gift, life is meaningless.

Praise the Name of Jesus. Praise the Name of Jesus. He's my Rock. He's my Fortress. He's my Deliverer, in Him will I trust. Praise the Name of Jesus.

And thank you Father, for bringing Joseph home to us safely. What a great Christmas this has been!!

Not a day of rest.....that's for sure

Whoever said that Sunday is designed as a day of rest, hasn't been in our house too much. I love my Sundays. I love worshipping with my friends and family in church and I love coming home and spending a good part of the afternoon chilling out with my children. Today was a very different, but just as wonderful a Sunday as I've ever spent.

This morning, my Ensemble had the chance to lead in worship. After church, we headed to McAlister's for lunch, then home to change clothes. We were at the house for all of an hour before heading south to attend the Karate Extravaganza. All of the karate students, if they have attended the classes and know their material, graduate to their next belt every three months. And once a year, in December, the graduation is the big extravaganza at a local high school. Everyone looks forward to it because all of the students from all three schools are together, the instructors get to show off their moves, and the students that earned their black belts and are continuing on in advanced training get their swords. My boys all earned their black belts this year and are continuing in the Masters program.....so they got their swords today and they were so excited.

They also got to perform their demos for the entire crowd, which is always a thrill.

I figured I'd get in a picture to since I'm the one that has carted them to karate hundreds of times....I'm the one who has washed these uniforms hundreds of times.....I'm the one who always seems to know where the belts are that the kids have misplaced. Jiminy Christmas...I should get a black belt for all the work I've done these last 4 1/2 years.




After graduation, we raced back home (I forgot Daniel's pants), then headed to church. It was the Middle School and High School Choirs turn to lead in Worship and it was fantastic.

I'm so proud of my kids. They have worked hard these last 4+ years and now they have their sword and their black belt to show for it.

Tuition---payable over 6 years: $13,000.
Three different uniforms for four kids: $500.
Nunchakus, Bo staffs, kamas, and escrima sticks for four kids: $325.

Being the mom of three black belts and one first brown belt: PRICELESS!!!!

Happy Birthday times three!!

The last 24 hours have been an incredibly busy time. Having three children born between Thanksgiving and Christmas is a dynamic all its own. Throw in Christmas programs, parties, end of year concerts, graduations, and recitals from various extracurriculars......and you have a completely different kind of animal.

As a result, celebrating birthdays ends up being almost an afterthought....a time shoehorned in amongst all of the other things we do. This weekend has been deemed Birthday Celebration Weekend. Last night, Daniel and Trey each had some friends over for a sleepover....which ended up being a big lie, because no sleeping was actually done. Trey's birthday was two weeks ago.....Daniel's is next week. Today is Julia's birthday and she wanted to go to Chuck E. Cheese's for her family dinner. Ugh!

Double Ugh!!

But we survived it. We are all exhausted and so looking forward to bedtime, which will be very shortly.

Tomorrow is another crazily busy Sunday......but more on that later.

Here are a couple of funny pictures of the party animals.

Trey, Joshua, Jordan and Cory---at 6 am.

This is Justin----I guess that XBOX game wasn't quite exciting enough to keep him awake.

And tonight, after dinner with Chuck E, Daniel came home and literally passed out on his bed. I just left him there. Hopefully, he'll get a good night's sleep. He's going to need it for tomorrow.

The Family Notebook

For the last several weeks....months almost....Trey has been working on this project. He asked me for information on my and Joe's parents; he asked for our three favorite family recipes; he began writing sentences about Joe and me and about Daniel. I knew he was putting these things together for something for school, but I didn't know what the end result would be. Today, he came home with the finished product and it is beautiful.

What struck me more than anything else was his creation of a Family Crest. This is how he described it:

My family crest has a lot of symbols that mean a lot of things. I put a cross on the crest because of our Christianity and the church. There are music notes on there because I've taken piano lessons for four straight years. Everyone in my family is in the choir except for my dad. I put a little bit of white on the crest because of our very pure family. The yellow on the cross stands for intellect. We have a very smart and united family. The family crest tells over 1,000 things about our family.

I could only smile as I read this. As a mom of four very opinionated, stubborn, willful, bright, amazing children, I see a lot of things. I see Daniel---our quiet, easygoing, nonplussed eldest child. Very little rattles him. I see Trey---our instigating, talented wonder of a second son. He believes he can accomplish just about anything. I see Joshua---our often misunderstood, most sentimental and physically loving child. He is our most strong-willed and the most difficult to parent. He is the one who could do just about anything if he only believed he could. I see Julia---our princess. Our sassy diva of an only daughter, who has the world by the tail and most everyone wrapped around her little finger. I see my two middle children arguing with each other more than with anyone else. I see my oldest block the world out as he reads his extra time away. I see my little girl wishing she had more little girls to play with her.

I think---How I wish I could do a better job. I say to myself---If only I'd done that differently. But as I read Trey's description of our family crest, I can only thank the Lord for four children who bring me more joy than I could have ever imagined. Where I feel frustration about the children arguing, Trey sees a family united. Where I see the mistakes I've made, Trey sees purity. When I think I'm forcing Trey to play piano, he includes music notes. When I wonder if my kids will have the same kind of love for my Lord that I do, Trey includes a cross.

Thank you, Father for this reminder to view life through the eyes of my children.

"I got hit in the head with a tooth."

Today has been a day!!! It began at the orthodontist where Trey got his braces off. He looks great and now he gets to wear a retainer for awhile. (Here's to hoping we don't have to dig through trash cans like we did with Daniel and his retainer.....twice)

After I dropped Trey off at school, I headed to Michaels to try and use the 40% coupon that came in the mail. As I'm trying to find a metallic gold three-wick candle (to no avail, by the way), my phone rings. It's the nurse from the school and she has Josh with her. All I heard were the words tooth, blood, suture and that he was in good humor. By the end of the conversation, I understood what had happened. Josh was in P.E. and they were playing a game of flag tag, where each child wears a flag and everyone else tries to take it from them. As Josh was reaching for Rachel's flag, she turned.....and her front tooth embedded into Josh's forehead. Thankfully, the tooth stayed attached to Rachel, but Josh ended up with a pretty decent gap in his face.

Of course the nurse and I had a chuckle at Josh's expense.....I mean, if he was going to be felled by a girl, hopefully she was cute!!! She's a redhead...I've seen her and she is cute.

I finished up at Michael's and went to pick up Josh. The nurse was right....he was in good humor, he looked like he was fine and I questioned, silently, why I was checking him out of school. I called the doctor but they couldn't see him until 2:00, so since I was already out running errands, I told Josh he could tag along. We ate at Moe's, then continued to try and find that elusive metallic gold three-wick candle. No such luck and by the fourth store, he had had enough, so I took him home for a bit of Game Cube time.

He didn't have a headache and his head only hurt when he scrunched his forehead up, so again, I didn't think the doc would do anything. He would probably have a decent scar, but otherwise would be fine. When the doctor came in and starting asking questions, we both learned from Josh that the nurse hadn't put anything on his gash.....no peroxide, no alcohol. According to Josh she told him to get a dry paper towel and hold it against his head to stop the bleeding.

Alrighty then.......maybe school nurses aren't allowed to put antiseptic on wounds. I don't know, but that seemed a little odd to me. So, because the human mouth is so very nasty inside, the doctor had to commence with cleaning out Josh's wound. And Josh did not appreciate this at all. He didn't cry but he was clearly uncomfortable. After several minutes, the doctor decided that in order to minimize the scarring, Josh would need some stitches.

Let me put it this way.....I only thought the yelps coming from this strapping black belt during his wound cleaning were bad. The mini-screams when the doctor injected the lidocaine were quite impressive, but once the good stuff kicked in, he was good to go. He took his stitches like a champ and is now quite proud of them. He told me he couldn't wait to get to school to show them off.

The afternoon ended with Josh's teacher calling the house to see how he was doing, which I thought was a very nice thing to do.

December 7.....this day will live in infamy for a lot of reasons.

And I wonder why I'm tired all the time..........

P.S. Happy Birthday, Jill

P.P.S. Please forgive the continuous wordage of this blog entry. I've tried several times to separate the paragraphs, but the blogger won't allow it.

Full Metal Mouth

Phase 2 of my relationship with the Orthodontist began today at 9:30 this morning. Our eldest son, Daniel, had braces put on...installed....cemented into his mouth today. And it wasn't just the top four teeth, as it is with Trey, it's the whole shebang...the whole kit and kaboodle. He's big-time. Glinting brightly in the sunshine.

And he better take care of his mouth for the next 24 months as I make payments on this newly installed hardware. It gives a whole new meaning to the phrase 'Million Dollar Smile.'

This picture isn't the best one he's ever taken, but it shows off his new bling. Kinda nice, wouldn't you say?

I love my Dan-man. He's such a great kid.

Happy Birthday Trey!!

I now have two 11 year olds. Yesterday, our second son, Trey, turned 11. In three weeks, our first son, Daniel, will turn 12, but for now I can say that I have two 11 year olds.

Trey is fun-loving, talented, bright and wrote the book on instigating. (He only looks innocent). Most of the time, he eats standing up (I have no idea why) and loves to play baseball. He earned his black belt in karate in May, is gifted in piano and has just taken up the saxophone. Look out, Kenny G!! Happy Birthday, kiddo.

On another note, due to some pressure put upon me by the grandparents, I have taken the children to have their hair cut. Personally, I didn't think the mop-head look was that bad, but apparently it was to the generation above me. So, Fantastic Sam's got our business on Sunday afternoon. Here is the result.

As for Julia.....this is how she went to school today.......In my "Random Pictures" folder, this shot is entitled 'Julia Gorgeous,' because she is.

Wow!

BLACK BELT!!!

Four and a half years.....225 weeks.....close to 500 classes and now, Joshua can call himself a black belt and this mama couldn't be more proud!!

Four and a half years ago, this day seemed a lifetime away. As I look back, I realize how quickly it has come. A lot has happened since that first karate class back in August of 2002. Joe was on active duty at the time and I wanted the kids to have a positive male role model in their lives. What I got was more than I had bargained for. Josh has made some of his closest friends in karate. His instructors have become like family to us and he has learned some of the most valuable lessons a kid can learn........perseverance, respect, self-discipline, teamwork. Josh has learned that when you work hard, it pays off. When you don't, there are consequences. He has learned that he can accomplish his goals when he sets his mind to it. He has learned what Excellence really means. He has learned what it means to be a friend....to pick each other up and cheer each other on. He has learned how to take care of himself as well as those around him.

And, at the same time, he has learned how to defend himself if he ever needed to.

He has worked very hard these last 4+ years, but his training isn't done. Now he gets to be part of the Masters Club and the Demo Team where he will learn advanced training in martial arts, weapons and self-defense.

Congratuations, Josh!!! I love you, son.

(This is Adam--the Head Instructor of our studio)

This is Matthew, Joshua's sparring and self-defense partner.

Fright Night

I'm not much into Halloween.....I mean, it's a great night to get candy, but beyond that, not so much. I don't like the witches, ghouls and goblins. The 'Scream' masks and Leatherhead faces aren't my kind of thing. And spending a ton of money on four costumes plus accessories doesn't do anything for me, either.

As a result, we haven't trick-or-treated too many times in my 12 years of being a mom. This year, though, we decided to go for it and I actually got out of Party City with only $30 being spent. I found Julia a Hannah Montana wig, (it was actually a Barbie wig, but it passed for Hannah nicely....) and some face paint for the boys.

We targeted certain houses.....and the kids made out like bandits. One man, who's porch lights were on, told the kids he didn't do Halloween, but told them to 'hang on...' After a few seconds, he came back to the door with four $1 bills for the kids. It's amazing what a dollar and some candy can do to a kid's demeanor. All I heard all night was...."Mom, this was the best Halloween EVER!"

Kids are so easy to please.

(I pray no one thinks less of me because of the weird face paint on the boys.....Josh was into this zombie old man thing and Trey....well, I'm not sure what Trey was. Dan's picture wouldn't upload, but he wore a camouflage face)

Hannah Montana.....

Ok.....could she be any cuter???

We watch a lot of TV in our house. I like watching TV. My kids like watching TV. I grew in a TV-watching house. Sports, news, soaps, comedies, dramas. You name it.....we watch it. Well, except the History Channel, that is. That's for Joe. I've even been known to watch the Golf Channel.

Don't get me wrong.....we do not sit 24/7 in front of the TV, but FoxNews stays on my TV as long as I'm awake.....I'll watch Fox and Friends in the morning while I'm piddling around my bedroom getting ready for my day. I get my daily Hemmer fix at noon, then Jane Skinner and Shepard in the afternoon, all the while doing housework and helping kids with homework. I'll throw a load of laundry in, empty the dishwasher and clean the kitchen, then walk back here and check my email and the news headlines, then I'll go straighten up the living room and clean a bathroom or two, then walk back here and check the news again.

The kids like typical kid-shows, but a couple of months ago, I decided I was going to put a block on Cartoon Network. They were watching it too much to begin with, but what they were watching wasn't all the great anyway. So, I told them they could watch Disney Channel...maybe Nickelodeon, but that was it. The fallout was enough to make a grown man cry......."Disney Channel!!!! That's a dumb channel. There's nothing good to watch on Disney! That's for babies!!" I begged to differ and told them that's the way it was.

Before I knew it, 'Hannah Montana' and 'The Suite Life of Zack and Cody' were taking over my TiVo. They can't seem to get enough of either show. A couple of weeks ago, when Disney had a Hannah Montana Marathon, Trey TiVo'd 7 or 8 episodes.....and they watch them every day. Same episodes. Same jokes. Same giggles coming from my kids. And to top it all off.....last Saturday, as I was laying in bed trying to pretend morning hadn't arrived, all four kids were on my couch watching Hannah again.....and suddenly out of the mouth of my 11 year old comes...."Who thinks Hannah's hot?"

Oy!

And Christmas came early for my bunch.....for today in the mail, via Amazon.com, came the just-released DVD and CD by Hannah Montana. It's been played so much, I've almost got the lyrics down.

I'll say it again.....could Miley Cyrus/Hannah Montana be any cuter?

He did it!!!!!

Our fall ball season is coming to a close. Joshua's team, the Braves, ended their season this evening. Daniel and Trey's final game is Saturday. The team Josh played against tonight is a team that many of Josh's friends are on and apparently Josh and Jake, one of the member of the opposing team, made a bet in class today. Jake would pay Josh $1 if Josh's team won. Josh, on the other hand, wouldn't have to pay Jake anything if his team won. I guess it goes to show you which of the two is more confident in his team.........

It was a fun night. I got to catch up with Tanya V. and Tom and see Stafford, Drew, Jake and Quinton play. The game consisted of sparkling pitching by both clubs as well as several spectacular defensive gems. And finally, after 9 games played this fall ball season, my third son.....my angel-boy Joshua got his first hit! Actually, he made contact both times up to bat, but his first AB resulted in a pop out to the shortstop. His second AB resulted in a single to left field. And this was no sissy single.....this ball was hit into the air.....landing in left field. It was awesome! Josh told me later he could hear me yelling over everyone else. Well duh! That's my boy!!!

What's even funnier is that his best friend Drew was playing first base when Josh got his hit. When Josh arrived at first, Drew looked at Josh and said...."Don't say it!" HA!

I love it! These boys will probably be friends forever....they are that close, so it's interesting to see the dynamics of them being on opposing teams. I'm sure tonight's game will be the topic of a lot of conversations in the classroom tomorrow. In the end, Josh's team won 4-2 and ended the season with a winning record. I think it was a great experience for Joshua.

On a more yucky note.....our dog, Bumper has gotten himself into something. And I don't know what that 'something' is. What I do know is that he was not around for awhile earlier today and tonight, while we were leaving for the ball game, he showed up on the front porch.....wet and smelling like something so disgusting, I can't even identify it. Kinda like a combination poop, puke, murk and just general nastiness. We do have some workmen on our property shoring up the earthen dam that is behind our house and they had to drain the lake in order to do the work, but Bump would have had to have gotten outside of his Invisible Fence line to get wet via the creek. Shooooo-weeeeee. Whatever it is....it's gonna get scrubbed off of him tomorrow.

I have to have Joshua to school tomorrow morning at 6:30 as his Gifted class is heading to Wahsega for an all-day field trip. (Who thought of that brilliant idea----6:30...good heavens!) I'm sure he is going to have a blast.

Humbled.......and thrilled

This has been quite a weekend already and it's not even over yet! It started last night with Joshua having a SuperWorkout in preparation for his Black Belt Testing, then continued with Daniel having his first Science Club meeting (thank you Allyson for playing taxi for me last night) and ending with a rehearsal to a wedding I was privileged to sing for.

This morning all three boys had baseball games and the wedding was this evening. And Julia....well she had to skip ballet last night as there was just no way to get her to her class. So, she got to tag along with me wherever I went and she was a trooper for it, too.

Singing is something I've been doing since I was a little girl and it's something I love to do. But I've never considered my singing as anything other than a personal worship service with my Lord. Just me.....and Him. So, when I'm asked to sing a solo in church or for a funeral or wedding, I'm always surprised. This time was no different. Two months ago, I was asked to sing for the wedding of the daughter of a lady in our choir. I know Glenda, but had never met her daughter Amanda and before Celebrate America....Amanda didn't know who I was and had never heard me sing. So, imagine my surprise at the message left on my voicemail!!!

I was humbled to sing tonight, but thrilled just the same. Was I nervous? Of course. I get crazy nervous when I sing, but that's OK. Because it's then that I know that I am not singing in my own power, but in the power of the Holy Spirit and tonight, I believe He was glorified. Amanda chose 'How Beautiful' to be sung after her father gave her away and 'Ancient Words' while they lit the Unity Candle. It was beautiful.

But the weekend is not yet done. Tomorrow evening my children's choir, the Young Musicians, will be singing one of the specials in the evening worship service. I am so excited to be able to lead such a spectacular group of kids in corporate worship. Directing 'my kids' has become something I look forward to more than anything else in ministry. I love it! Thank you, Lord for giving me such amazing opportunities to glorify You.