I Know Where There Is Bread

I might start calling you my Fellow Travelers
if I keep listening to that song.

Which song? you ask.

Well, go over to the juke box
(right hand side of the screen---SURELY you can't
miss it, it's the reason music jumps out
at you on this page unless you stop it before
it can start or have your speakers turned off
----and if you HATE HATE HATE the music,
I understand. And I'm sorry.
I stopped reading a few blogs a long time ago
simply because I hated their music
and it started automatically.).
It's the Ginny Owens song Fellow Traveler.
I love that song.
Love what it says.
Love the quote she must have been inspired by
in writing that song
(if indeed she wrote it; I don't know if she did or not).
Love it all.

And before I get off the topic of the music and
the juke box here on Ordinary Days,
let me say something else.
I have worried lately that you might be missing out
on some of my musical treats for you
if you don't come here in a timely manner.
Not that you have to, of course.
But since this play list named "pertinent" was created,
I have really enjoyed changing up the music
to suit my moods or the weather
(did you catch that last weekend?)
or what I am writing about.
And I change it often. Sometimes I change it before
you might have read what it referred to.
Like the Monkees song the other day.
If you didn't know the Monkees song I was referring to
and didn't hear it when it was on the play list,
then you might not have understood
anything I said about that.

I think about this kind of thing
when I am washing my hair in the shower.

So I just felt like I needed to tell you that.
Just in case something doesn't make sense to you.
Or if I direct you to song #7 on Tuesday,
but you don't read it until Saturday
and the whole play list is different by then.
I guess I'm just saying....
there's a reason I named that play list pertinent.

Anyway....Fellow Traveler.
Love the message of that song.

And I just wanted to say that on this journey we are on,
Fellow Traveler,
I have found happiness.
I do indeed know where there is bread.
You know, the message we as Christians are supposed to be
sharing is as simple as that.
"Hey--I noticed you are having a problem there.
I had that same problem.
Can I show you what helped me?"
We let so many things get in the way of the simplicity of that.

Am I so busy sitting over here feeling full and satisfied
and thanking God for the bread
that I don't even notice the people around me
who are starving to death?

But I think I'll keep calling you Dear Reader.

110

Yesterday I woke up with this monsoon of a headache
(don't ask me to explain my analogies).
And nothing helped it. It wasn't like a migraine
or that would have been a whole different type of story.
It would probably be in all caps. And red letters.
But it was just a headache. Somewhere in the middle
of the day, an old childhood friend of mine told me
that she hoped it wasn't my blood pressure going up again,
making me have the headache.

Oh. Yeah. Blood pressure.

I had forgotten all about that.

So I checked it.
And it was high. I don't want to tell you how high
because I don't want you
writing things to me in all caps or red letters.
Just know that it was higher than it should be.

So those pills that I am supposed to be taking.....I got them
out again and put them in that little daily pill box thing
and I started taking them yesterday. And of course
my BP is down to a more reasonable number.
The headache is gone. I guess I am going to have to take
these things for a while. At least until I get to a place in
my life where I can get into an exercising routine again
(if I can even remember how to do that)
and shed some pounds.

Some one I know is wanting to sell their Nordic-track
elliptical machine. Ever had one of those?
And if you did, did you like it?
Did you use it?
Did you lose 40 lbs in 10 days?
Did you hang your clothes on it and
sell it in a yard sale?
Would a used piece of exercise equipment bring with it
the curse of not being used from the previous owner?

Today was a much better day.
My mom came over this afternoon and ended up taking
the 3 big kids with her for a couple of hours.
That was nice.
I left the house with just Baby J.
"I left the house" being the most important part.
I feel like I haven't done much of that in a very long time.
So it was nice to have a few minutes and less of a posse.
And what did I do with my time?
I went to a junk store and nosed around.
Living on the edge.
That's me.

The Case of the Green Lake Monster

Too much Scooby Doo.

That's what I think the problem is.

My kids are all enchanted with mysteries.

Lovely K has been reading mysteries for a while. That's the type of book that interests her the most. In an effort to broaden her literary horizons, I started her reading the Anne of Green Gables books yesterday.

Yesterday I had Big E go select a chapter book himself from our bookshelves (since I owe the library about $4,028 for keeping two DVDs an extra day) and he came down with The Hardy Boys (which is a mystery, in case you didn't know). At first I didn't think he'd be able to read it, but then I looked at it and thought he might as well try. I never seem to find books that I think are perfect for him. (Any suggestions, mothers of boys? Like...what did Things 1 and 2 read at age 7? Or your boys, Laura? Or you there in the red shirt---do you have sons? 'Cause if you do, I'd like to know what they read?) I keep forgetting to advance him in my mind. He is seven now, not four. I have him boosted a grade ahead of where he would be in regular school so I often think I don't need to push him academically. But I am going to end up making a lazy brain out of him if I don't push him. So he's reading the first book in The Hardy Boys series. His reading has really taken a leap recently so we need to jump on that development while it's fresh.

And then just now I was reminding Sweet T to return the tractor piece to the farm puzzle. Nothing makes me crazier than having a wonderful puzzle with a missing piece. He said he was still playing with the tractor puzzle piece and I just reminded him to put it back in the puzzle when he got done. Heaven knows we don't need to do a search a rescue number for a puzzle piece today! But he seemed to think that was a great idea. "If I lost the tractor," he said with a hopeful gleam in his eye, "we would have a mystery!"

I'd like to share his joy at the thought of this,
but I have enough mysteries going on
without adding a missing puzzle piece to it.

Did you ever notice in Scooby Doo that it was like the same story over and over again with a different setting? There was always like some vacation resort place or a hotel and some old guy who wanted to keep people away (often because of some hidden treasure or something like that). It was always the same story. If they were such great detectives, they would have started pulling the sheet (or lake monster costume) off of the old man the first time he tried to scare them away. But then there'd be no story. And the kids never seem to mind. I'm sure I didn't mind when I was a kid either.

I think now as an adult I just notice things in kids' television because I am never watching, I'm just hearing it from the kitchen. Back in the day (old house, first child was probably about 4 years old), I reached a point with Blue's Clues where I just couldn't be around it without breathing fire. "Don't ask the dog a question of any kind in the first two minutes of the show!" I wanted to scream at Steve (who was WAY better than Joe, btw), "Because you know what it will lead to! We'll have to play Blue's Clues and sing all those songs! Don't ask the dog a question!!!!"

Preschool television programs
can really push a mother over the edge.

Ancient Chinese Secret, huh?

Many years ago when I was first in my own place
with my own kitchen
and my own life and all that,
I wanted to make some banana bread one day.
I just picked up the nearest banana bread recipe because,
you know, what could be simpler than banana bread?
I probably thought there was just one recipe and the whole
world had it. How complicated could it be? I mean, banana bread. Anybody can make banana bread. I think that's how they discovered the intelligence of apes. They left them alone in a kitchen for a while and when they came back, they'd made banana bread. It's that basic.

But then my banana bread was never turning out
like I expected it to. So that was probably when I realized
that there was not one universal recipe. I tried out a couple
of different ones, but no, they weren't what I wanted.
So one day I asked my mother about this
and she got this look on her face---and I realized
that she was holding out on me. She'd been
letting me make all these other unworthy banana breads
while she sat at home in her comfy chair with the recipe
that I was looking for all along.
That woman!

I'm not saying that there's anything magical
or astounding about this recipe. It was just that it
was the banana bread I was used to. The kind
I ate growing up. It was the recipe I wanted.
So when I got it and made it, I was happy again and able
to move on to lead a well-adjusted, normal life.
That's all I'm saying.

So when I mentioned the other day that I made
"the best banana bread I had ever made,"
someone asked me for the recipe.
That's why ALL of (all 1.5 of you)
are having to suffer through this whether you want to or not.
I'm sharing it here.
And here it is:

Recipe for Banana Bread
that Bell's Mother Didn't Share With Her At First

1 1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs
2 cups SR flour
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup Crisco
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 cups mashed bananas
Cream sugar and Crisco. Add eggs and vanilla. Sift flour and soda and mix with milk into mixture. Stir in bananas. Cook 30 minutes at 350°.

(I think of JP every time I type the temperature in a recipe.)

Now let me tell you what I did different that might have affected the taste this time, making this bread seem like a bright and shining star in the world of banana bread.

1. I didn't have any Crisco so I used coconut oil instead.
2. We have the fresh eggs from our chicks now---haven't always had that.
3. I bought Watkins double strength vanilla last time I bought vanilla....and I think I actually measured it when I made the bread this time instead of just pouring some in like I usually do.
4. I had about 5 bananas that were beyond the point of being ready to meet their Maker. But it is my opinion that the riper your bananas, the better they are for the bread. The blacker the better.

I didn't do it this time, but sometimes instead
of the vanilla, I put in almond flavoring and add
cinnamon and/or nutmeg.
I like nutmeg.
Nutmeg is my friend.

So everyone run out and buy some bananas and
wait for them to get old and gray....and then make my
mother's recipe that she selfishly hid until I demanded
that she hand it over. I think you'll like it.....as much
as any other banana bread.
Like I said before: it's banana bread, people.
Not rocket science.

you would not believe
how many times
and how many different ways
i misspelled
BANANA
while writing this

You Know I'm A Dancing Machine

Okay....we have talked recently about my habit
of singing continually to every person in my household
(and a fortunate few outside of it), and maybe I should
further tell you that sometimes it's just a line or two
from a song that I sing throughout the day.
Just blurting it out at random times.
The same line, over and over.
I'm sure this is pure magic to my family.
Imagine their delight when I start doing this.
Like a broken record.
A happy little broken record dancing through the house.

I'll tell you what phrase I've been singing over and over
to Baby J lately (probably warping that child's tiny
little brain). You can even hear it yourself.
Song #2 on the juke box.
Just the first line or two.

What a night for a dance.
You know I'm a dancing machine.

I don't know why that line in particular
gets stuck in my head, but it does.
Listen to it a few hundred times and maybe
it will get stuck in your head too.
But I also use that whole song to sing to
Baby J in one of those original tunes I was
telling you about. Only it goes along
the lines that whatever I am singing in the
verse, it comes back to the chorus that "all the while"
Baby J is spitting up on me.
(instead of dreaming of revelry as the song says)
'Cause that's what he does.
I sing and he pukes.
Then I change both of our clothes and we do it again.

Tomorrow Mr. Popsicle is coming over
to get my kids for belated birthday revelry
with my children.
He's taking the oldest three to McDonalds for lunch in honor
of Lovely K's recent birthday. I guess he didn't get enough
of it the first time he took the kids there.....or maybe he's just
now adequately recovered. But this means that since
Lloyd Dobbler will be in The Big City
and the kids will be gone,
I will have an hour or two of
PEACE and QUIET tomorrow
(provided Baby J cooperates).
Hip hip hooray.
All day I have been going back and forth in my mind
with what I will do.
Will I redeem the time and clean bathrooms
or dust or CONTINUE to attack the endless laundry
situation......OR.....will I watch a movie and eat the kids'
Easter candy while they are gone?
Stay tuned.

In other news:

I met this woman at the grocery store this afternoon
and it was just the most interesting thing. She got in line
behind me at the check out.
I was helping Lovely K and Sweet T
unload the grocery cart onto the conveyor belt.
This lady and her small toddler son were looking at Baby J.
What made me go back there at first was that my open purse
was on the far side of Baby J where I couldn't see it and that's
where this lady was standing. Lloyd Dobbler rolled his eyes
when I told him that little detail in the story,
but that's the truth. Hey, I had a friend turn her back on her
purse in her buggy not so long ago and somebody lifted her
wallet right out of it. So anyway,
I stepped back there to make
sure I wasn't being knocked over
(like I'm a bank---you knock over banks, right? Not people?).
This lady also had a baby carrier on the back of her buggy
where I had Baby J. She asked how old my baby was
and I told her four months. She said that her baby was four
months old too. I told her what day Baby J was born on
and she got this funny look on her face.
Her baby was born the same day.
And get this: we were at the same hospital
(in the next Tiny Town over so it's not like we were in,
you know, New York City or something).
We both had C-sections that day.
I bet I saw that baby girl in the nursery.
I just thought that was so interesting.
She gave me her husband's business card because it has
their e-mail address on it. She suggested we meet at the
park or something. She's German and it occurred to me
when I was walking away that maybe
she doesn't know many people here.
She seemed so nice. So I'm going to contact her
and maybe have them over for lunch or something.
I haven't had a German buddy since I was 5.

So that was my Walmart adventure today.
Big E was at baseball practice so I just had three
of the four with me. As we were finishing up I realized
that Lovely K and Sweet T had been unusually good.
Not that they are ever WILD THINGS when we are
in the store, but usually I am riddled with questions
throughout the store and have to stop people from touching
things here and there. Not today. I don't think I had to
get onto them at all---except Lovely K for dancing around,
but that child is always dancing around.
I figure she'll get self-conscious someday.
Anyway, I bought them M&Ms to scarf on the way home
as a reward for their unsolicited excellent behavior.
They were thrilled.
I'm so glad I can thrill my kids with a bag of peanut M&Ms.
(It wasn't even the king size.)

What a night for a dance, Dear Reader.
You know I'm a dancing machine.

Oh, if only you were here to hear me
belting out those lines to you.
Then your life would be complete.
I'm telling you, DR,
you don't know what you're missing.

HE'S BACK!!!

While I was out recording myself singing
in my minivan the other day....as I often do
as I am sure you do in your own vehicle as well,
it occurred to me that we have not
checked in on our good friend,
your security guard and mine, The Auto Crooner.
I had totally forgotten about him.
I know we've both had better things to be thinking of,
Dear Reader, but really--
how could we forget The Auto Crooner?
We had such a good time with him.
He kind of creeped us out, yes, but we loved him.
Didn't we?

So I had to dig around to find him.
Here's an old post where we visited with him before
in case you have totally forgotten him to and think that I am
reintroducing someone who was
never introduced in the first place.
(and you'll have to scroll all the way down
to the bottom of that post to get to him)
It seems that some things have changed. The uniform is
gone so I don't know if our own personal Sinatra has had a
change of jobs or what.
Also--the glasses.
He didn't have glasses before.
Then there's something else that I should warn you about:
he's mixing it up on us, keeping us on our toes.
The man is moving the camera.
While singing.
While driving down the road.
Who knows what else he was doing at the same time.
I think he may have been filing for an extension on his taxes.
Talk about multi-tasking.
I was afraid we were going to wreck through the entire song.
It was really putting a damper
on my passion for this song selection.

And am I the only person
who has never heard of Alfie Zappacosta?
I like to think I have at least heard of people who are
making a splash in the world of music of most any genre
(being so hip and current as I am---yeah,
don't bother commenting on that),
but before hunting down The Auto Crooner tonight,
I might have thought that
the Alfie Zappacosta
was a fun name for
a particular gyro combo meal or something....

But here he is, your old buddy The Auto Crooner
back to haunt your dreams once again:
(You'll need to stop the music on the juke box
if you have it playing---I know,I'm filling your head
with so much noise pollution...I'm sorry)

I hope The Auto Crooner has not fallen on hard times or had his little crooning heart broken or anything like that. Something just seems sad about him. Or am I imagining it? Maybe it's just this song, this awful song.
Merciful heavens.
I think I know why I've never heard of Alfie Zappa-whoever.
That mystery is solved.

Welcome back, Auto Crooner.

Here We Come! Walkin' Down Your Street...

This has been a pleasant Sunday.
If I lived between two mountains
and I had experienced previous pleasant Sundays,
I would have a great song for the Monkees on my hands.

Do you remember the Monkees?
I went through a phase
where I LOVED the Monkees.
(and they are people
so it's appropriate to say LOVE, right?)
Micky was my favorite.

A friend of mine who is getting married soon
came over with her fiance to eat lunch with us after
church. I have known this girl for a long time.....since
Junior high school, I guess. I'm excited about her upcoming
wedding and very happy that she has found the perfect
person for her. I can remember many times praying for
her in her romantic endeavors and it has been great to
watch God bring this guy into her life.

Today we were talking about how we are at
such very different points in our life even though we
are the same age. It's strange to me to think of being
at that point in life now. It seems so long ago to me,
the starting out on the marriage journey. And she can't
imagine being in my shoes---I can tell how she
constantly says something about
"four kids"
that she thinks that's just something she couldn't handle.
But she could.
If she had to.
I hope the Lord gives them a child (or children).

The cake was so good today.
So glad I made it.
I need to go take a picture of it right now though
and show you the damage Sweet T did to the thing.
We ate about half of it after lunch as our dessert.
While we were cleaning up from lunch, Sweet T kept
trying to stick his fingers in the icing. We went out side later,
walking around the yard and stuff, and one time Sweet T
came out the front door while my friend and I were sitting
on the porch talking. I saw crumbs on his face and knew
he'd been into the cake. He admitted it when I asked him
and I told him to leave the cake alone.
And that was the end of it--I didn't know the damage
had already been done. It wasn't until I went back inside
that I saw what he'd done. He had made a MESS of that cake
trying to eat bits with the icing on it.
(It's a bundt cake with the icing drizzled on it).
I couldn't believe he did that.
But it was kind of funny.

It was just amusing to watch our friends today with our
kids, in our home and all that. She kept pointing out aspects
of our life to him like "this is what's about to happen to us"
and he would just say basically "one thing at a time."
I wonder what Lloyd Dobbler and I would be like if we were
just getting together at this age. I can't even imagine
what my life would be like if I had taken
other paths.
I feel like anything other that what I am now
would be a different person.
This is where I am supposed to end with a poignant
verse from a poem or some sagely wise quote,
but I'm too tired to recall anything right now
and if I take the time to look one up, I'll miss the
beginning of Masterpiece Theatre.
So you are on your own to add some beautiful words
on the end of this post.

Let Them Eat Cake

It's Sunday morning
and I have been up for a while,
just me and Baby J in the downstairs
while everyone else was sleeping.

That child is getting to be so cute--dangerously cute.
I could just play with him and kiss him all the time.

I've got the roast and carrots in the crock pot.
I just got the chocolate covered cherry cake out of
the oven. Since I cooked most of my potatoes yesterday,
we aren't having holiday potatoes (sniff, sniff).
There's a bunch of left over mashed potatoes and while
that's not exactly something I love to eat
(left over mashed potatoes= no thank you),
I'm not in a position to let them go to waste.
So we'll eat them.

I have got Mr. Cuteness (Baby J) bathed and dressed
for church and he's asleep again. Now I've got to
hop in the shower so I can have time to make the icing
for that cake before church.
So after church, I'll have my cake and eat it too!

And it's a beautiful day!

"This is the day that the Lord has made:
I will rejoice and be glad in it."

Games People Play

Stormy weather.
That's what we've had. How about you?

It's actually been a nice day here.
We slept in and then I got up and fixed a late breakfast.
We had bacon and eggs and cantaloupe and some of
the best banana bread I have ever made. It was
a nice breakfast. And it wasn't too long after that that my
parents called to say that they would come over. It was
supposed to be crazy weather today anyway, so rather
than making a mad dash over here if the weather got
severe, they came over and we made a big late lunch
(they had a late breakfast too) and just had a nice day
together. The kids played Monopoly Jr with my dad
while my mom and I fixed the meal.
It was a pretty basic meal.
We had pan fried steaks and mashed potatoes and green
beans and my mom's great homemade rolls.
Basic, but good.
And we had Oreo cookies for dessert.
Talk about basic.
There were other games. The match game. Scrabble.
I don't know if the Rook game ever materialized or not.
My song-writing brother brought over the new CD his
friend made---just came out today, they are having the
big party for it tonight---and it was quite an impressive CD.
Wouldn't be surprised
if he has a record deal
before too long.

So when we were cooking lunch and the Monopoly
players were all around the kitchen table involved
in their game, and the CD was playing and the phone
was ringing as we tried to figure out if Big E's ballgame
was canceled or not----my kitchen was SO FULL of noise
and bodies and activity.
Some might call it chaos.
I remember standing there for a moment and thinking
that this is how I love it to be. It's crazy, but wonderful.
I love to have the house full of people and laughter
and music and all that. I loved it.
But that's what I talk about when I say that I love time
spent with my family. My family has always been one for
having a good time. And we do enjoy ourselves.
We laugh until we cry so many times.


And here's the thing about the game playing---
my immediate family has always been
big game players.
We love to play games. And we must be somewhat
competitive, but we have a good time above all.
And now Lovely K and Big E are getting to where they
can play the big people games. My parents have been
teaching them to play Rook when they have been out at
their house. Today they played Scrabble with me and my
father. Poor Sweet T is the one feeling left out---we had
to break out the Match Game for him and make sure he
got to play a game of that. He is fine when they play
Monopoly Jr. because he is always the assistant banker.

But I love for them to be learning how to play these games.
All the family favorites.
Croquet. Badminton. Rook. Rummy.
Scrabble. Dominoes. Password.
Many more.

Also, during the craziness today,
my mom was pointing out to me that my life is going to be
very full and exciting (to the point of insanity maybe?)
as my kids get older. Someone else said the other day
they wanted to see what I was like when I have
3 teenage boys. (That's the stage of life that always seems
so attractive to me, especially in big families,
when they have older kids and the home is so full of activity.)

They won't really all be teenagers at the same time.
When Big E is 19, Sweet T will be 16, and Baby J will be 12.
Lovely K will be 21 at that time.
Hard to imagine my babies being those ages.
Young adults.
But I know it will happen. I see it all around me.
These stages change before we are ready for them to. It's so good for me to be friends with these older women who are surprised to find themselves with time on their hands in their empty nests. Helps me keep perspective and realize that someday I will wish I could get my kids all under my roof at the same time and it might not be an easy thing to do. They will have lives of their own, families of their own.


While I am writing these words, song #8 on the old juke box over there is playing: It's Sara Groves' "You Cannot Lose My Love." What a precious song, a mother-to-child song. It's beautiful and I love the message it holds. Go listen to it. I think you'll like it.

Sing-a-long with the Bell

I had the kind of mother who was always singing.

They say that whatever kids grow up with is what they think is normal because that's all they know. If they grow up with violence, they think that is normal. If they grow up with drama and craziness, they think that is normal. If they grow up with vast riches, surrounded by famous people, they think that's normal. If they grow up with a mother who sings all the time, they think that everyone else's mother is singing too.

Do you know what I have discovered?

Everyone else didn't have a mother who sang all day long.
I think I first learned this when my little childhood best friend
spent the night with me when I first knew her.
I remember clearly waking up in the morning and this little
friend of mine was laying there with big eyes.
"What's that?"she asked.
I looked around. I didn't know what she was talking about.
"What is what?" I asked.
"It sounds like singing."
Oh yeah.
It was singing.
I didn't even hear it.
It was like the hum of the refrigerator: always there.
Mama was probably singing about the breakfast she was making or about the out-of-balance load of laundry that was making a racket in the pantry.....or anything else under the sun. Or else a hymn. Or some other Christian song. She likes the Gaithers.

So fast forward a couple of decades
and here's what happens to someone who grows up with
a mother who is constantly,
every moment of the day singing:
That person will sing constantly.

I did it before I ever had kids, but I think having children makes me do it more. And having a baby like I do now, well, that's just like ramping it up into overdrive. Maybe it's because you have this little person you are with all the time and they can't join in on the conversation, so when you get tired of a one-way chat, you start singing to them.
And this is what I do.
I just saturate these poor children with the sound of my voice
(and I have to say that it might not be a bad idea
because my kids all speak early and very well
and have great vocabularies....and I'm sure it's a direct result
of something I am doing, right?).
Everything becomes a song.

My little brother may be the song writer in the family,
but I have been known to create a tune or two myself.
Most of them have to do with poopy diapers or
taking a bath or being a naked baby.
So there's not a lot of overlap in what he and I sing about.

I have to admit though
that while my lyrics are totally and completely original,
the tunes I set them to are not.
It seems easiest to borrow from old hymns. I don't know if that's because of the familiar, steady rhythms or just because those are songs I have known so long that they are just in my head and a part of me. But it's not always hymns. Every song I ever hear is apt to be used.
From Keith Green to Hank Williams to the Bee Gees.

I found myself singing one to Baby J the other morning
that I think is a re-occurring favorite. It'll be on my greatest hits album. I have probably sung it to all of my children seeing as how they all have used pacifiers--which we call "pap" for some reason. The song there is from a Cheap Trick song.
"If you want your pap, you got it.
If you need your pap, you got it.
I won't hide it. I won't throw your pap away."
Call me and I'll sing it for you over the phone.

Lately I've been singing little baby songs
to the tune of Kings of Leon numbers....and if ever
there were two things you don't want to mix,
that's Kings of Leon and small children.

(They're a rock band---and I find their story
so interesting
because I can really identify with their early life.
They were (3 of them) sons of an evangelist
who traveled around the south preaching.
And then when they were teenagers,
if I have the story right,
their father ran off with another woman,
left the church and his family.
So these boys just went to the total opposite lifestyle
and now they are this famous band who are known
for being the heaviest drinkers in the music scene
....and you can't watch an interview with them
where they aren't cussing....so don't even look them up
if you don't want to hear any of that because
it's not going to be bleeped out anywhere on the Internet.
But they are totally like guys I grew up with
and that just captures my interest.....how they went
from that sheltered, separated lifestyle to
having a bad reputation among rockers.
I find myself praying for one of them in particular
because I think he really struggles with things
because he's turned his back on many things he knows
he should be embracing.
He can't have any peace. You can't have it both ways.
And I think of their mother
(being a mother of 3 boys myself)
and wonder what all of it seems like to her.
I'd love to sit with her and hear her story
....and why am I talking about all of this?)

ANYWAY...
Music....singing....
I'm all for making a joyful noise.
All the time.

I would have a whole big pile of dollars if I had a dollar for every time Lovely K has said to me "Do you have to sing when you fix my hair?" And oh my word, if you don't want me to sing, don't make some negative comment about it---because that's just going to make me sing all the more. It's best to ignore it and it might go away.

I always told this one lovely friend of mine (Hello Turtle!)
that there is a song for every situation in life.
And if you give me a moment,
I'll think of it and sing it for you.

So if you ever need someone to sing your blues away,
come see your old faithful Bell here and I will do my best.
It might be a little pitchy, dawg, but it'll be from the heart.

I LOVE the cake

Hello Dear Reader!
I hope the sun is shining where you are. It is shining here.
I thought we might have a rainy day yesterday and
I was all primed for it.
I know I have told you 437 times
that I love rainy days (and yes, Eddie Rabbit, I love
rainy nights too---and why am I talking to a dead singer?),
but that's only because it's true.
I really do love rainy days.
Lloyd Dobbler always says I like depressing things.
He usually says this when he thinks some melancholy
music I am listening to is depressing, but I see the
beauty in a melancholy song and even a melancholy
mood. For me, those times are inspirational.
The creative juices start to flow.
Instead of reaching out and getting swept up in the busy
tornado of everyday life, those melancholy moods can
be times to reach inside yourself.
I see the beauty in a rainy day.
I don't have to have sunshine and rainbows to see the
beauty in the moments around me.
But I do have the sunshine right now
---and I love it.


That just brought to mind how a family I know has this thing about using the word "love" inappropriately. They enjoy correcting everyone who does not use the word in the way that seems appropriate to them. If you say something like "Oh I love this cake" they will tell you that you love people, not things. You love your mother; you like the cake.
I cannot tell you how much this annoys me.
IT'S A FIGURE OF SPEECH.

Do you ever get over-the-top-annoyed by something
like that? Or is it just me?

I'm making Creamy Italian Chicken in the crock pot for supper tonight. I have been smelling the chicken cooking for several hours now. It's made me hungry all day. So glad that the smell of cooking chicken being the nastiest smell on earth was just a part of that last pregnancy of mine. I'd hate to have to avoid cooking chicken for the rest of my days.

I have been wanting to just cook all kinds of things lately,
but I really haven't cooked much. Well, I guess that's
a very relative statement. I have fed my entire family
three meals a day like I do all the time, so yes,
I have been cooking, but not cooking for pleasure.
I've had the stuff for a chocolate covered cherry cake
in my pantry since I don't know when
(only I don't have the heavy whipping cream for the icing)
but something keeps me from making it.
Maybe because I know we will never eat it all
ourselves and I'm not up to inviting someone over
to help us eat it right now.
Maybe I'll make it Saturday for dessert on Sunday.
I think I'm going to make The Big Meal for
Sunday dinner. Feels like I haven't done that lately.
I've been looking for an excuse to make holiday potatoes.
I must be really hungry right now because every
single food I can think of sounds incredibly good.
My mouth is watering.
Let's go get that supper underway....

Call It A Night

Okay, people.
We are back from the chiropractor
and I feel much better.
Just thought I'd give you the update.
He said our little Sweet T wasn't messed up
and he adjusted what needed to be adjusted.
Sweet T ate supper and really seems to be fine.
I am so glad.
And now it's 8:30 and Baby J just went to sleep.
I know it's kind of early....but I think I'm going to bed too.
Remember the bottom line
of my stressed out post
was that I was TIRED?
Well, what better thing to do with a tired body
than put it to bed?

I think I shall.

Freaky Friday

Oh, you lovely Dear Readers. You are so sweet.
I thought about going back and deleting that post.
I thought about not ever hitting
the "publish" button when I wrote it,
but then I thought of that much over used phrase
"just keepin' it real"
and I thought I would do just that.
I mean, these are MY ordinary days, aren't they?
And sometimes I am a crab.
But thank you for your words of encouragement.
Thanks for reaching out to me.

I hope you didn't think I was out on the ledge about to jump.
I can be totally frustrated like that and not be out on the ledge, can't you?
So don't think I'm anywhere near there.
Just the normal stuff that comes with the territory.

Today's dramatic event was a little accident at our home school co-op involving the sweetest of Sweet Ts. My little buddy got shoved off of a piece of playground equipment. I was in the nursery at the church where our co-op is held and a friend of mine came in carrying Sweet T---that's enough to stop a mother's heart right there, seeing someone bringing your child to you like that. The friend that brought him to me (and several others I have learned since then, because they have called to talk about it) was really mad about what happened. This boy that pushed Sweet T off the playground equipment has been trouble and they were just ready to string him up. So anyway, Sweet T fell from about a six foot height and landed flat on his back in those little brown pebbles they sometimes have in playgrounds. He complained mainly of his back hurting. What had me concerned was his behavior for about an hour after this incident. He was very quiet and still and not himself. He had this strange look on his face too. So we went by the doctor's office after we left co-op. The nurse looked at him and told me of things to look for. We are fixing to leave to take him to the chiropractor. He's still complaining of his back. I will be glad once our handy-dandy chiropractor takes a look at him. So that's where we are off to right now.

It's always something, isn't it?

I'm just glad that something really crazy didn't happen.
It could have.

Have a Coke and a smile.

Monday we went to the park with some friends.
It was sunny and warm but with those pleasant spring
breezes blowing---just the perfect time to be outside.
And since then, it has been hard for your faithful Bell
to get her nose anywhere near the educational grindstone.
I would love to be able to just write off the rest of this
school year and go on picnics everyday and just
read books aloud to the kids and send them outside
with popsicles. No more pencils, no more books, no more
teacher's dirty looks. Sounds like a plan to me.
If only I could...


I ran into a friend yesterday that I used to
do stuff with a lot a couple of years ago. She has
a boy and girl the ages of Lovely K and Big E. She got
burned out on homeschooling and the year before last
put her kids in a private school nearby. She was
selling me hard on this school too, made it sound like
the answer to everything.

And I must confess,
little has appealed to me more
in the last three (almost four) months than
sending my students to school.
Life would be so much easier for me if I didn't have to
deal with the schooling. I could just be a wife and mother
and homemaker. I could spend more time with my
preschooler and my baby and maybe actually get some
housework done.
There might be more order and purpose to our days.

This has just been such a crazy time for me,
since sometime around October.
It started out just a little crazy,
but things continue to happen
to us to make things
crazy and complicated and hard.
I am exhausted in every possible way.
And I don't know what to do to make it simpler or better.
I just feel like holing up inside my home
and cutting myself off from the world,
wearing pajamas all day every day
and just pulling my hair up into a ponytail.
I'm tired of dealing with other people.
I'm tired of the endless list of things
that I am not getting done.
I'm tired of everything.
I'm just tired.

Ever get this way?

I mean, I could honestly just load up in the van and drive off
and just keep on driving and driving and driving.
I know that all this stuff that's going on will pass
and that I'm just in a difficult stage of life....but knowing that
doesn't make it any better when you're just treading water
and wondering how long you can keep it up.
I'm just looking for that fast forward button.

I know it does get better.
After having four kids, I know that you do eventually
feel like your body returns to "normal" and you do
feel rested again. I know it will happen.
I know I won't always be changing diapers
and grading math tests
and stepping on army men on the stairs
and cleaning up from incredibly bloody noses
while the pot boils over
and getting puked on throughout the day
(usually immediately following putting on clean clothes)
and having four people asking me what's for supper
and can they have a snack
and where is their belt
and can we go bowling instead of doing school today
and why haven't I filed 157 papers
and why can't they walk to the mailbox by themselves
and can we never ever take apart the lego ship that they built
and will I come and wipe their bottom?

I think what I want is to just have a little time
where I could actually be left alone.
That's what it is that mother's of young children often want.
Just to be left alone.
Not forever.
But for a while.

And I know that someday
my kids will all be gone and busy with lives of their own
and I will wish I had them back to be under my feet
and constantly talking right in my ear and spilling things
on the floor as soon as I mop it
and getting permanent ink stains on their new clothes
the first time they wear them.
I know I will miss these days.

But not today.

Picture this:

Here's Easter 2010 from my neck of the woods!

First of all, how cute is this baby?

I found those rabbit ears in the basement and I just had to put them on somebunny. He was the only one who couldn't run away from me.

Here you see my lovely quartet of blessings:

This is the best picture
I have of the whole family.


And yes,
that is the same dress I wore last Easter.

After church and a fabulous feast at my parents house
we had a little egg hunt (just for my kids because my brothers
refuse to procreate. Hopefully my two younger
cousins will get themselves into matrimonial
bonds and bring some children of their
own onto the scene).


And look at these two sweet boys---what a pair they are!


We seem to be at this phase in their lives where they are
just completely enchanted with each other or fighting.
And it can change from minute to minute.
(Any secret for abolishing these petty little "fights" that
pop up constantly between siblings sometimes?
I don't recall this ever being such an issue before.)

I was so pleased with this picture.


I took it as Big E was trying to get a red Easter egg
down from the tree branch. Do you see the egg in the air?
Just call me Action Photographer Bell, at your service.
If you would like your mid-air eggs captured on film,
feel free to give me a call.

Going against tradition,
my aunt insists on putting all her eggs in one basket:


Guess which person in this picture is the song writer?
"Here comes song-writing brother of Bell,
hopping down the bunny trail...."


I suppose Lovely K was directing Sweet T where
to find more eggs....


They couldn't wait to pop open the eggs and find out what they had actually found. You know, when we found eggs in an egg hunt when I was a kid, we found eggs. Actual eggs. From chickens. (hard-boiled and dyed, of course) But that was back before we had all these landfills just aching to be filled with plastics.

Sweet T had to have help. As he ran with his basket, he scatted all the eggs he had found so far. Someone had to follow him for rescue and recovery.

After the egg hunt,
we had the little family party for Lovely K's birthday.

I really hate that we forgot to bring the "pin the tail on the donkey" game that we always play at the family parties. My kids so enjoy making their grandparents and aunts and uncles play this game with them. It has become our little tradition. And they were excited about sucking some new players into the game....but we forgot to bring it with us.
I also forgot to take a group picture of everyone that was there for the Easter festivities at my parents' house. Why do I do that? I would love to have had a picture of everyone. I need to just start making it standard procedure to take a group picture each and every time there is a group assembled. So next time you see me with a group, remind me to whip out my camera and take a picture of everyone.


We had such a good time with the family.
The kids were WORE OUT. Look at Sweet T here:

If he sat down like this for even a minute,
he could barely keep his eyes open. Every few
minutes you would hear someone say
"Sweet T is soooo tired"
and he would always pipe up (unconvincingly)
and say "I'm not tired!"


I was only one week late showing those to you. Wow.
Right now being only a week late for stuff feels like
being on time. Let's give Bell a little pat on her
procrastinating back.....or you can
wait and do it later...

Come Saturday Morning

Hi friends.

(Should I use the plural when addressing 1.5 people?)

It's a sunny Saturday morning here.
I am supposed to be downstairs cranking up breakfast
....and I will in just a minute....just thought I'd
sit down and say hello to you first.

I know I seem obsessed with telling you about the loveliness of spring lately, but it's another beautiful day here. And last night was a gorgeous spring night. In case you were wondering, I haven't been blind or locked in a dungeon for the last twenty nine springs that I have lived through (do you like how I slipped that little reference to my age in there?). I'm just enchanted with this lovely weather and the new life and all that comes with this season. After a fall and winter like we have had, it's nice to see some beauty and feel some warmth. It's nice to be able to at least have fresh air blowing through your windows when a large stink has settled on your life. I find myself pointing out the good qualities of this blessed season to others around me. Even in an e-mail to one of my oldest friends, I was telling her about the changing seasons like it was something she wasn't going to know about apart from me giving her the information. Have I appointed myself Spring Ambassador?

It's nice to have a baby in the spring.
My oldest, Lovely K, was born in the spring.
The boys have all been born in colder days so they were bigger babies when the warmth and sunshine rolled around. It's so nice to be able to go out without bundling up the baby until you can't even see them.

Yesterday at our home school co-op
I was out walking laps around the church
with Baby J in the stroller, trying to get him to sleep
(he won't sleep while we are there on Fridays
and it kind of messes him up)
and it was so nice to be able to do that.
Well, it was nice aside from my encounter
with the schizophrenic woman who stopped me
to tell me about the government's plan to boil
all of our dead bodies in these special pots
to make purified water.
Yeah....right.
But the rest of the walk was nice.
Would have been even nicer if Baby J
had slept more than three minutes.

Oh yeah....the pictures I promised you....don't think I have failed you, Dear Reader. I have downloaded those things about 5 times while sitting here, not making breakfast. And I don't know what is going on. It all acts like it's happening until I go to look at them (we use Picasa--is that my mistake? Is that a stupid thing to be using?) and then they aren't there. So I download them again and think that I have until I go to look at them....It's a vicious circle. And I've got to get off of it for now before I get too dizzy to fry bacon and make blueberry muffins. I'll try again later. Or I'll mention my difficulties to Lloyd Dobbler and they will magically disappear in the un-ending efforts of our evil computer to make me look like a dolt. Sigh.

Have a nice Saturday, people.

Hello, it's me.

Hi, Dear Reader.

Remember me?

It's your old faithful Bell....only I've not been very
faithful, eh? Sorry to leave you all alone like that
....since mine is the only blog
in the whole entire world and all....

What has happened in this past week?
Well, spring has sprung out all over.
We had the loveliest Easter weekend. Warm weather and sunshine. Family. Fun. Great food. Laughing children. Beauty all around. I have had the windows open more this year than I ever remember doing in the past (perhaps because Big E's air born allergies don't seem to be so bad this year). So nice to have the fresh air. And guess what I have? (Thanks to Lloyd Dobbler and Mr. Popsicle) I have forsythia bushes! I have wanted some for a long time and this winter LD and his botanical buddy found me some and transplanted them to our yard. They are just babies and I honestly didn't expect them to have any blooms at all in this their first year. But they have lovely little yellow flowers just like the big ones.
Don't you just love to see forsythia bushes?
And the red bud trees and the apple blossoms?
Beautiful.
Buttercups and tulips
and everything just swaying so peacefully in the breeze.
Just gorgeous.

Also, this past week, my lovely Lovely K entered double digits---that's right, I am now the parent of a ten year old. Can't believe that it's been a decade since that child came onto the scene. It's really hard to remember how things were before these children started showing up. How they have changed my life--enriched it, directed it, filled it to overflowing. She is just such an amazing girl. She always has been (and I hope she always will be) absolutely her own person. Sometimes I find myself wanting her to "follow the herd" and just do what everyone else is doing, but I love that she is independent and somewhat immune to peer pressure. She follows the beat of her own drum. Sometimes the beat gets a little wild, but she is just such a fun person. Add some maturity and wisdom to that drum beat and we'll have the most beautiful music.
What a joy she has been to me in these ten years.
A definite gift from God!

Lloyd Dobbler's parents were here for the Easter weekend and the birthday. We had a very enjoyable visit with them. Baby J kind of got out of sorts, but we have since re-sorted him.

After the grandparents went home and the birthday was over, it was kind of hard to settle back into normal school work and such. Perhaps it is a bit of spring fever that is making me want to toss aside the books and just let everyone go outside and soak in the sun. It's hard to keep the students on task when the teacher is having to reign herself in.

I have pictures. I could just go downstairs and get the camera and slap them up here for you....but I also have this nice comfy bed right behind me, whispering my name. It's just Baby J and me in the quiet house right now and he is fast asleep.....I could steal a little nap......and you can see the pictures later. It'll give you a reason to come back.....

Fooling Around

I always loved April Fools Day when I was younger.
I used to do something every year.
Some joke or trick.
Large or small.
And people would fall for it every year.
Because I was good.
I was so good at pulling stunts.
I'm wearing a big smile of satisfaction right now
just remembering one I pulled off that was so good.

I really did have the April Fools Day gift.

But I haven't really even thought about that in recent years.
One of my oldest good buddies asked me on Facebook today
where my big April Fools Day joke was?
Like they miss being tricked.
I know my old friends got to the point where they would
remind each other that this date was coming up
and say "Don't believe anything
Bell tells you on that day."

Did you know
Lloyd Dobbler purposed to me on April Fool's day?
That was the night our parents met and
we all had dinner at a Chinese restaurant.
Then we went down to this beautiful lake
and it was a nice spring night, kind of like tonight.
And then he popped the question.
I hadn't thought about that in a long time.

AND because of my stunts
on previous April Fools Days....I had to drive over
to my best friend's house very very late at night
to show her the ring because she wouldn't believe me
over the phone. She said "Call me in the morning and
I will believe you, but tonight I don't."

What does it say about LD and I
that he purposed on this day?

Any of you ever pulled stunts on April Fools Day?
Ever fallen for one?

By the way, I'm loving this spring weather!
Are you? Oh my goodness, it is so beautiful.
I didn't realize how cooped up in the house I'd been
for so very long.
And now it's sunny and warm.
We had the windows open today and
it is just WONDERFUL to have that fresh air
blowing through the house.
Beautiful.
I hope you are enjoying the weather as much as I am.