Cooties on Sunday

I think I
have been around
too many people with cooties.

And their cooties
have gotten on me.

I have felt like
a dead squirrel
in the middle of the road
all day today.
In my Sunday School class this morning,
I thought I was going to fall asleep.
I took something before we left the house
because I was feeling so badly. Every time I would
look down to read out of my Bible, my eyes would
just close and it was like if I had 2 seconds of silence,
I would have been laying in the floor snoring.
Church wasn't much better.
I just had to hold on until the end.
I was so thankful to have lunch in the oven already.
All I had to do when I got home was steam some broccoli.
I laid down afterward. Didn't take much more than
the closing of the eyes for me to drift off...but of course
I had a parade of phone calls right about that time.
Oh well. At least I got to lay down for a little bit.
I think it's mainly the change in the weather.
And the aforementioned cooties.

Baby J had his first piece of cheese tonight
and about half of a blueberry muffin (that was a first too).
This was after already eating two jars of baby food.
That child just loves to eat. And he's getting to where he'll
smile this little smile when he signs "more."
He's so cute.
(and he's a Mama's boy for sure right now,
got to get him out of that phase!)
We have hit that stage where I can't remember
what I started feeding my kids instead of baby food.
That's why I whipped out the piece of cheese tonight.
I don't think he'll be picky.
He seems to like everything he has encountered so far.

What first foods did you give
your babies around the 1 year mark?
Or have you forgotten everything too?

You would think by the fourth baby
I would be able to do things blind folded,
or at least remember what I did at each stage
with the three previous babes. But it is amazing
how much you forget from one child to the next.
I hear other mothers say this so I know it's not just me.
I'm beginning to understand why my mom had forgotten
everything she ever did or used with us when we were babies.
She's had about a 25 year break between her own kids
and her grand kids. I hate to think of what
I'll be like in 25 years.
Mercy.

Week three of our second quarter of school
starts tomorrow---and it's a field trip! Woo hoo.
I am totally not ready and people will be showing up
at my house at 8am in the morning.
And I have a splitting headache and a completely
stuffed up nose. And a dirty house--and someone
I admire very much will be coming to sit in my dirty house
with my baby tomorrow. Sigh.
Should I go to bed or clean?
Decisions, decisions.

Treats

I did something different today. I made treats for
the people who we were going to see tonight,
those few houses that we go to for my kids to show their
costumed selves to and have that little experience.
I made those cream cheese pumpkin muffins
and put them in little pumpkin bags
and Lovely K made to/from cards for them.
So when the people would open their doors,
my kids would say "Trick or treat!" like normal,
and then who ever's turn it was to deliver the muffin bag
would say "And here's a little treat for you."

It wasn't a big deal, but everyone seemed really
surprised by it. I guess that just doesn't happen often.
I've never had a child trick-or-treat at my door
and give me anything.
Have you?

But it's not like we go door to door in every
neighborhood in town. We go to
just a handful of houses:
my brother, two of my uncles,
Mr. & Mrs. Popsicle and my parents.
But that is plenty.
We have enough candy
to last us until next Halloween.

Jumping Jack Flash--it's a gas gas gas!

I called the dentist this morning to schedule
the little "repair" that they've been wanting to do
--they discovered it when I was pregnant with Baby J
and didn't want to do it then.
And now that he's ten months old
I finally remembered that I'm supposed to get that done.
So when I called, I had out my calendar
and my little pen and had a few dates in mind.
Nothing immediate.
I certainly wasn't calling to ask if they could do it today.
But that's what the receptionist suggested. They had a
cancellation or something... so if my dear mother could
come and watch my babes, I could have this little matter
out of the way this afternoon.
Well, my mom was able to come to my aid
(as she often is)
and I trotted off to the dentist.

I find myself thinking about
all kinds of things in the dentist chair.
Today I was thinking about my old dentist,
the one I went to most of my life. He was an old man
when I started going to him at three years of age,
but he did not retire until some time after Lloyd Dobbler
and I were married.
Here's what I was thinking about him:
why didn't he use gas?
Is it called nitrous oxide?
I actually asked myself those very questions
and do you know what answer I gave myself
---I said I didn't know and I didn't care.
Why? Because it (the gas) was being taken
into my system. That's why I didn't care.
I am telling you what, that is good stuff.
I literally almost napped while they were doing
all kinds of stuff in my mouth.
It was their pesky "Open your mouth" or "rinse" directives
to me that kept me from lulling off.
And I don't know if it has that big of an effect on
everyone else, but it does wonders for me. I have always
been told that I am a "light weight" when it comes to drugs.
I always assumed before that it was because I was so little.
Well, I'm not little anymore
and I'm still affected by the smallest doses of whatever.
That must just be the way I am, big or little.

I was also thinking...while breathing in
that magical stuff...about my dentist being older
and how I hoped he wouldn't have some big
dramatic "senior moment" while he was wielding
dangerous tools around in my mouth.
I was also thinking about
how old Barbara Walters is.
And I was thinking about
milkshakes and coffee.
And Pippi Longstockings.

I was so hungry this afternoon, after the dentist adventure.
Lloyd Dobbler was trying to tell me that I couldn't eat.
The dentist just said I couldn't eat on that side of my mouth.
But I was going to eat.
Buddy, I was hungry.
Inexplicably hungry.
We had an "easily chewed" supper anyway.
I had been cooking a pot of pinto beans all day and I fried
a bunch of potatoes to go with them and make some corn
muffins. My parents were
"out and about" in town at supper time
so they came by and ate with us. I like people coming in
like that. Seems like we used to have people doing that
all the time, but not so much any more.
I like to have people in my home.
I like them to feel comfortable and to just drop in.
In my mind I want it to be like a sitcom
where the funny supporting characters just
pop in and out throughout the program.

Tomorrow is "crazy day" at our home school co-op.
I'm thinking that, for my family, every Friday
is "crazy day." Do we really have to emphasize it?
I'm tired already just thinking about it.
Oh well. The kids will enjoy it.
Lovely K is wearing her nightgown and slippers
(don't worry, it's decent).
Big E and Sweet T are wearing something
out of the dress up clothes.
And me?
Well, I could at any point in time be mistaken
for someone who wanted to dress crazily.
So I'll just consider it "come as you are" day.

Why can't we be friends?

Do you know that song "Why Can't We Be Friends?"
One of you Dear Readers has a cousin
who was singing that one time.
This is such a random memory
and that cousin of yours is not someone I know well
though I have known him all of his life.
Anyway....whenever I think of that song,
I think of him and that moment
when we just happened to be
in the vicinity of each other and he was singing that song.

"Why can't we be friends?
Why can't we be friends?"

If you know that one line, you know most of the song.
And I'm not putting it on the juke box.
I'm enjoying Livingston Taylor too much right now.

I've really been thinking about friendship lately,
about the things that draw us together and the things
that separate us. I have had some relationships
change in recent times and that has caused me to reflect
on the nature of friendships as well. But this Bible study
group that I belong to, this group gives me so much to
think about on so many different levels.

One thing that I come away from there thinking of
is the nature of friendships among women.
I guess this would be among women in general,
but I am thinking about it in the sphere of Christian women.
What I find myself thinking is:
"Why can't we be friends?"

I think I've really had my eyes opened to how
women judge each other (myself included)
from the very first second. We make up our minds
about the other person because of what they are wearing
or their style of hair or the number of children they have
(or don't have) or any number of little indicators that
make up the criteria for the category we are going to
put that person into in our mind.
We judge people and we decide whether or not we are
even going to give that person a chance to be our friend
before the first encounter is even made.

Two of the ladies in this little group I am part of
are very different from me. Very different.
And I embrace that. I like differences.
But it's been interesting for me to hear the perspective
and opinions of someone who views things from
a completely different branch of the tree
than the one on which I find myself perched.
I guess I am used to being different than others due to
circumstances throughout my childhood. I am fine
being different. I wouldn't know how to "be like
everyone else" so I don't even try.
And I do find myself rolling my eyes at those
who seem to have it as their big priority to make
themselves and their children whatever is "cool" at the
moment. That just seems so shallow to me.
But you see---there I am showing one of the things
that I judge by. I have heard these other two women
make a comment about how they feel distanced from
women who dress very trendy and always wear make up
or women who don't try to eat a completely healthy,
natural diet. Those are things that I would never even
think of as something to make me feel distanced
from someone. But there are other things that do create
that distance for me that they would never think of.
We all have our own "standards" and "expectations."

But here is what I am thinking....
shouldn't we be moving away from that?
Shouldn't we, if we are believers, be emphasizing
the things that unite us and not highlighting our differences?
I'm not talking about matters of vital doctrine here.
Don't get me wrong.
But if you eat a strict vegan diet,
can you really not be friends
with someone who is frying up a plate of hamburgers?
If you only wear dresses, can you not entertain the thought
that a woman in a pair of jeans can be just as godly as you?
Would you, home schooling mom of 21 children all birthed
at home and speaking fluent Latin, find it difficult to
truly embrace a friendship with a working mother
of two kids who attend public school?

I think somehow it is linked to pride and self-righteousness.
Is that a strange conclusion to jump to?
That's just what I think it leads to if you follow it
all the way down to the root. We think that our
preferences are "the way it should be." We think that
if God led us to do something, then surely He wants everyone
else in the world to do it. And then we want to pat ourselves
on the back for being so wonderful to obey God
and we want to look down our noses on those
who are not doing the same thing.

I just think that God deals with us each differently.
Again, don't get me wrong.
I'm not talking about something
like "situational ethics" here.
Don't get me wrong.
Don't be eager to go down that path.

I'm just saying if you yourself used to be a certain way,
and now you aren't that way anymore,
why would you write off someone
who is now where you once were?
Maybe God hasn't directed their steps
in the way He directed yours YET.
Shouldn't we be dealing with each other
with a significant measure of GRACE?

I don't know if you understand what I am saying or not.
I'd love to hear your thoughts in response, if you have any.

It's getting late. I should probably go to bed.
My pillow is calling my name.
And I love my pillow.
We are great friends.

Get It All Ironed Out

Do Mondays ever seem
like the longest day of the week to you?
They often do to me.
Take today for example:
It's been about 47 hours so far.
I'm kind of ready for it to be over.


I climbed up Mt. Laundry. Most of it anyway.
There's a little bit left to do.
The bad thing about getting Mt. Laundry out of the way
is that it only causes Mt. Ironing to grow.
My mother always tells me I iron too many things,
that I should just fold them up out of the dryer and let it be.
I have loosened up in this area.
I used to iron everything,
but having sons will knock that out of you.
I don't iron nearly as many things as I used to,
but I still like for things to get ironed.
I don't like us to look like we just
rolled off of a wagon or something.


The good thing about Lloyd Dobbler working from home
is that he wears tee shirts and jeans all the time.
Not having to iron work clothes for him has enabled me
to avoid Mt. Ironing like never before.
I'll be in for a surprise if he goes back to a job where
he actually, you know, has to get
dressed and leave the house.
But maybe it was having to iron his clothes
all the time that helped me keep up
on the ironing better.

I also currently have a babe who is terrified of the iron.
I remember when Sweet T was afraid of my iron,
and now it is Baby J who hates it.
I have this really great iron
but it is the loudest iron you will ever encounter.
It makes this noise, like a releasing of steam.
Ever heard a steam engine blow out steam?
Like in an old movie?
It's kind of like that. And probably as loud.
So I can't iron when he's awake
without scaring the poor baby to death.
And we don't want to scare our sweet baby.

I used to have ironing movies.
I would put in the same movie over and over
and watch it (or really mainly listen to it)
while I ironed clothes.
You've Got Mail was one of those movies.
I remember Two Weeks Notice being my
ironing movie for a while. And of course there's
always the A&E version of Pride and Prejudice
---you can get a lot of ironing done during that.
(It's six hours long, in case you haven't seen it....and if you haven't, why haven't you? I am pretty sure you don't have anything better to do with your time. Get it. Watch it. You'll love it.)

I hear people say they never iron anything
and I don't understand how this can be.
How can you not iron anything?
Even single guys have to iron a few things.
Or get their girlfriends or their mothers to do it for them.
But if you never iron anything,
what are you wearing?
Sweatsuits?
Do you dress by the dryer and constantly burn yourself
putting on clothes as they come out of there?

So I have a love-hate relationship with the whole
ironing issue. I hate ironing,
but I hate looking UNironed more.
One time a nurse at my doctor's office said to me,
"You always look like you just ironed your clothes."
And I took that as a compliment.
And I remember that when I think about ironing.
I wonder what she was thinking when she said that.

What about you, Dear Reader?
Are you sitting there in a wrinkled shirt
this very minute?
Do you iron your flat bed sheets?
Do you iron your handkerchiefs?
Do you iron your jeans?

Thunderstruck

I have never in my life
heard thunder like that we heard last night.
It was so loud and just so different. You wouldn't think
thunder could have a different sound. I mean, what does
thunder sound like?
Thunder! Right?
It's thunderous. But last night it was different.
Louder. Closer.
More theatrical.
Almost musical.
Amazing.

I will confess to you, at this moment,
that I do not like darkness. Not total darkness.
Whenever my mother-in-law comes to visit, she goes
all over the house removing the nightlights we have put
in place. She's the type of person who had to find and
purchase a clock for her bedside with
this extremely dim light. I think you have to have
a flashlight to be able to read it.
And you know how disco ball BRIGHT
those alarm clocks are.
But I'm just saying that some people want
total darkness.
The bathroom light on at the neighbor's house
disturbs their sleep.
Not me.
I can sleep with the lights on.
I am a big fan of night lights.
I've never been awakened by the
annoying glare of an overly bright alarm clock.

So last night...with the storm and the unusual thunder
and all that...the power went off. There was a big crack
of lightening, a large boom somewhere in the distance,
and the power went off.
The A/C's gently whirring fan was off.
The computer was no longer humming.
The nightlights thought my mother-in-law was here.
It was dark. Very dark.
I was thankful for the lightening
because I don't like total darkness.
I wouldn't really know if my children are afraid of the dark
because I never really subject them to total darkness.
Is it a fear?
I don't think so.
I mean, I'm not afraid. I just don't like it.
Maybe it is a fear. I don't know.
I know that is one of the aspects of hell that makes me
glad I won't be there (I suppose every aspect of hell
makes me glad I'm not headed there, if you think about it).
The utter darkness forever would be enough.
Combine that with torture and torment and
separation from God and no hope.
It's just too horrible to think about.
That always makes me think of that example people give
of a bridge being out. You come upon it and just happen
to see that the bridge is out in time to stop.
But it's getting dark and people come speeding down
this road and you know they won't see in time.
You have an obligation to warn them.
You go out in the road and do
whatever you can
to make people stop so they don't have to meet
that disaster. That's the way we are to be warning people
--people who don't have the hope of salvation found in Jesus.
It seems like in this day and age, so many people don't even
want to entertain the thought that the bridge might be out.
They are having so much fun driving along,
they don't want to stop.
They don't want to be warned.
They want to drive along happy in their comfortable car
and just face whatever may come.
They are complacent and content with their blindness.
But we still have a responsibility to warn them.
To tell them that the bridge is out.

I know that's not a perfect example.
Don't shoot it full of holes.
I think you can get the point.

Well, it's Monday morning.
I am working on my mission field here
with my four little heathens.
(just kidding--kind of)
We have school underway.
Baby J was ready and begging to go down for his morning
nap already. He's had several days of running and I know
he's tired. This week should just be one of staying home
and being on our routine. I've got a literal mountain of
laundry calling my name. And I was eying the ironing
this morning. I'm going to have to have an encounter
with that too. I'm also wanting to make some
homemade bread today to go with our supper tonight.
So I'd better quit sitting here talking to you
and get busy.
You know those kids are not quite as focused
on their school work when I am up here
as when I am down there within arm's reach of them.
So let me go help them with their focus.

And you have a lovely day, Dear Reader.

Precipitation!

Today was such a beautiful day.
The leaves are all decked out in the new fall colors
and the breeze was soft and warm.
It was just absolutely lovely.
The smell of rain hung lightly in the air---and you know me.
Love the rain.
Don't make me break out the Eddie Rabbit music,
but I do so love the rain.
They say it's coming.
I'm trying to remember what it's like.
Seems like a long time since we've had even one rainy day,
never mind several strung together.
So I am ready. I am ready for
a whole week of rain.

Lovely K went to College Town with my mother
this afternoon. My mom had some shopping to do.
I gave her my little list for Publix. I wish Publix was not
so far away from me.
That store had me at hello.
I often make the trek to go there even though I probably
cancel out some of the deals I get by spending extra
gas money to go there.
But Publix and I were meant to be together.
No body understands us.
It's not a puppy love.

While they were out shopping,
I actually got to take a little nap when Baby J was napping.
I needed it. Remember that hoof to the forehead headache
I had before? It was still here.
So my sympathetic husband loaded up the two big boys
to go buy grass seed or something and I took a little snooze
while they were gone. Later I took Baby J out side
and we played a little basketball
with his brothers at Big E's new goal.
Lloyd Dobbler came out to join us and I went in
when the random shooting turned to
actual basketball lessons.
(I want to get him that old Pete Marovich movie
---does anyone remember that?
I remember my little brother watching that when he was
in love with basketball. What was the name of that movie?)
Big E will be playing Upwards Basketball this year.
This will be our first experience with that.
Ever since he got that goal and basketball for his b-day,
he's always out "shooting hoops."

My mother and Lovely K came screeching in
just in time for us to throw all the groceries in the cabinets
and dash off to church. Lloyd Dobbler did something tonight
he's never done before: he kept the nursery at our church.
It was just Baby J. But I had kept the nursery this morning
(with Lovely K to help me) and he didn't want
either of us to have to do it again.
So he stayed in there.


The house is quiet now.
All the children are in bed.
I see the light on in Lovely K's room still;
she is burning up the pages in that new book.
I am waiting for the sound of rain; it's not here yet.
I think I will get into my jammies
and go work on my Bible study.

Tomorrow begins another week.
Are we ready?
'Cause "ready or not, here it comes!"

Oh--there's the rain!
Hooray! It's here!
I'm going out on the porch to smell it!
I hope it's raining on you too, Dear Reader.

Freeze Frame

There is someone running for office in my state
who gets on my nerves so very much that I think
I will have to move if he is elected.
I just saw his scurvy face on TV and it just kind of
makes me want to hit him over the head
with his own political platform.
And if Mike Huckabee or anyone else calls again
to chat with me in a pre-recorded sort of way,
tell them I'm in the shower. Please.
I'm so ready for election day and so tired
of all these campaigns. I don't know how things are
in your corner of the world, but I don't know that
I would give two cents for anybody
who is on the ticket where I am.
We need some new faces on the political scene.
We need some new faces that come
with things like backbone
and intelligence
and integrity attached.

When I got up this morning, I had to go to the mirror
and look at myself to see if I look like I'd been
kicked between the eyes some time in the night.
It would not have surprised me to find a shoe print
or hoof mark of some kind on my face. It would have
made sense for the way I was feeling. I feel like I should
have a big bruise between my eye brows. I've had this
major headache all day long.
But no bruise.
No kick between the eyes
(unless it happened in my dream or something).
I spent the majority of the day outside.
Last soccer games in the middle of the day.
Church hayride/chili supper tonight.
It was one of those things where you feel it so clearly
that I really expected someone to say,
"Hey Bell, were you kicked between the eyes?"
'Cause that's how I felt.
And I'm going to actually take something before
I go to bed and hope I wake up
like a new person tomorrow.

It was a busy, full day today
(especially adding in the constant headache
--that always makes me feel like I'm moving in slow motion)
but it was a good day.
I have just been in the mood for a day or two
where it's just like I am in sympathy overload.
I don't know if that's it exactly.
I don't know what it is.
I am just feeling so sorry for some people
who are having tough times, wishing I could fix problems
for others, wanting to just hug people and tell them
how valuable they are. It's like I'm just feeling everything
more than usual. More sympathy. More caring.
More pride. More everything.

I put two roasts in the crock pot tonight
to get a jump start on tomorrow and the rest of this week.
I have so very much that I need to get done this week.
So much.
I'm just really looking forward to simplifying my life.
I really need wisdom in this area.
I just wish I could pause everything,
get my act together,
and then un-pause it
and let things swing back into action.
That would be so lovely if I could do that.
Do you have the remote control for life?
Could you push that "pause" button for me?

Easy like Friday night (forget Sunday morning)

(Have you noticed this?
There just aren't enough references
to old Lionel Richie songs in most blogs.)

It is a beautiful autumn afternoon
here in Middle Tennessee.
We have been so busy lately,
running here and there.
It has been a good busy, but even a good busy
can wear you down.
The house is very quiet.
Baby J is in his bed napping.
Big E is trying to keep
two Lego pieces from fighting
--at least that's what it sounds like
from across the room.
He's not having much success.
I keep hearing explosions and punches.
Lovely K is lost in a book she's been trying to
track down for weeks.
We finally found it yesterday and she
ran to it as soon as we got home this afternoon.
I love to see her excited about reading.

Sweet T is not with us.
He is spending the night
with a friend for the first time.
Funny how things change
(maybe it's me that's changing)
over time. I don't know that I would have
let Lovely K or Big E go spend the night with a buddy
when they were only four years old.
But they seemed younger at that age than Sweet T does.
Sweet T is so full of confidence and charisma.
He's ready to take on the world.
I don't worry about him when I am not with him.
I know he will stand up for himself
and speak his mind.

Part of me thinks of my children,
all four of them, as babies.
My babies.
But they really aren't.
Even Baby J, he's growing so fast.
He was ten months old yesterday--I went in to
check on him right after I laid him down in his bed
for a nap and he was just standing in the bed.
He looked so tall, not very much like a baby
but more like a little kid.
How quickly things change.
Makes me more aware that I need
to savor the moments that will never come again.
I need to embrace this time when everyone seems
so dependent on me
and demanding of me.
I have a feeling that there will be
future days where
I will wish that they needed me,
wanted me.
So tonight I have a Friday night
where my oldest son wants nothing more than to
build a Lego ship with his father and my daughter is
looking forward to spending
the evening with her grandmother.
This will not be the ideal Friday night in their mind
in a few years. I don't want us to let these
peaceful times slip through our fingers
unappreciated.
I don't ever want to miss the beauty
in these ordinary days.

The Morning After Monday

I am beginning to love Monday nights
and really look forward to them. For one thing,
it's my one little escape.
I leave the house alone.
Those of you who do this all time,
who walk around parking lots and stores
and libraries and banks without a baby on your hip
and a child on your free hand,
or a stroller and an arm full of bags,
well, you don't know what you're missing.
(or maybe you do and you miss the days
where your babes were so dependent on you--feel free to
come on over if you want to relive those glory days).
Don't get me wrong.
I love my life with my children
---I'm just looking forward to the day when
I don't have to carry/hold on to them all the time.
The oldest two are at a much easier place.
And the first year of life is always so draining
to me as the mother. That's where I am, so don't think
I'm sour grapes about motherhood.
I'm just knee deep in what is, for me,
the most difficult part right now.


When I do find myself walking alone across a parking lot
or through a store, I almost always think to myself
"I feel taller today." I feel like I even have better
posture when I am not carrying twenty pounds
of squirmy person or bending over to hear what someone
three feet tall is trying to whisper to me.
It's just nice to walk alone sometimes.
I feel like Mary Tyler Moore in the beginning of her show
where she's walking down some city street and she's so happy
that she just flings her hat into the air.
It's a good thing I don't wear hats.

So I get to go out alone on Monday nights.
Hooray for alone-ness.
I am definitely the kind of person who recharges
their battery by getting away from people and being alone.
Isn't that a characteristic of an invert?

Once I get to where I am going on these Monday nights,
it is just the most enjoyable time.
I feel like a dry old sponge that
is dropped into a bucket of warm water.
It's therapeutic.
It's so good for me.
I sit down with these other ladies who are in some ways
very similar to me and in some ways quite the opposite.
But it is Christ in us that is the common denominator
and that definitely draws us together.
We discuss what we are learning from the Scripture,
we share stuff, we talk about our experiences,
we encourage each other, we pray together.
It is just exactly what I need at this point in time.
And then last night, after we finished with our study,
we got off on this other tangent and we laughed
so hard and so much.
You know how a group of women can be.
It was just such a good time.
It's like getting my little gas tank filled.

So now I have the week ahead to pour over
the assigned Scriptures and arm myself for next week's
discussion. It's funny how it's like what we are studying
on Monday nights and what my Sunday school class
at church is studying and the book of the Bible that
I am reading through on my own right now---they are all
merging into this one thing, different pieces of the puzzle.
It's like I am looking at something
from many different perspectives.

It's just a really good thing.

Sing-a-long Sunday

Hey Dear Reader.
It's Sunday night. Are you ready for tomorrow?
Are you ready for a new week?
Believe it or not, I am.
I don't mean "I'm ready" as in
"Yeee-haw! Bring it on! I can't wait."
No, no. That's not how I am ready.
I'm ready as in "I am prepared."
It's 8:30 on Sunday night and
either I am totally delusional
(which is a very real possibility)
or I am actually prepared to start our second quarter
of school in the morning.
After a lovely two week break
that seemed much like a vapor.

We had a busy but good weekend.
Saturday night I was just thinking about how lovely
and blessed our life is when we were trying to get
the four babes run through bathtubs (and showers)
and we were also playing (and singing along with)
our favorite Pomplamoose songs--all because I got a tune
of theirs stuck in my head. They have a couple of songs
that are REALLY cute. And I just think they are just
the cutest couple. And I wonder about them,
like if they are still together, if they got married, if his
grandmother danced at their wedding, why her parents
lived in France, are they vegetarians,
...and many other things.
(Because I could so easily be a stalker.
Not a scary stalker,
but a happy, helpful, gift-bearing stalker.).
If you click on their name above, it should take you
to one of my favorite songs by them. I am singing it
in my head at this very moment. :)
But anyway, this was the soundtrack the other night
to bathing children and air guitar on the bed and
fresh-smelling babies dancing naked
...I love moments like that,
when we are just busy and all here together doing
ordinary things but having a marvelous time doing it.
I love that my kids will just join in with me an belt out
the songs that they know.
Saturday morning it was a Judy Garland CD
because I kept singing the song Chicago over and over
to Baby J so I finally had to
break out her CD and sing a duet.
(She loves for me to sing with her!)
But then my favorite time of singing together was today,
in our little pew at church, lined up in a row. Lovely K and
Big E can read and they have their own books and sing along.
Sweet T usually has his own hymnal because he is learning
to find the page numbers. And he sings too, nice and loud,
though it's not always actual words that he sings,
and sometimes he's belting it out when the rest of
the congregation pauses or stops.
But that doesn't happen very often.
How nice it will be when Baby J joins us in our little pew
with our little hymnals,
all of us in a row.

We had a guest speaker today who is
always such a blessing to me.
And I just love love love his wife.
She is someone I just want to sit down and talk to,
have her talk to me. I don't have anything she needs
to hear, but I would love to listen to her and just drink it in.
She is one of those ladies that I look at and think
"That's what I want to be like."
She is just such a tremendous example of
a godly Christian woman.
I'd like to tap into her wisdom and experience.

So it's Sunday night, like I said,
and I actually have a bit of time here that I don't
have obligated to anything. I don't have to clean up
the kitchen or dig through school stuff or anything.
The laundry can wait until tomorrow
(Scarlett O'Hara's rules for domestic bliss).
I am going to just do whatever in the world I want to do
for this last hour, because once my head hits the pillow,
that is actually the beginning of the week.
That's the much needed sleep that prepares me for tomorrow.
So before I get to that,
I'm going to get comfy and read something for pleasure
or just watch TV or look at a catalog
and maybe have a cup of tea.
It's the end of fall break as we know it.
And I feel fine.

It's Autumn

Hello Dear Reader.
Are you snugged up under a quilt
watching an old black and white movie this morning?
Or are you out in the woods
stomping around on crunchy leaves?
Or, like me, are you about to sit down
to your second quarter plans
and try to knock them out of the park?
I'm kind of guessing I'm alone in that third category.

It's a nice, quiet Saturday here.
I have already run around town this morning.
I got up before anyone else and went to my parents house
to retrieve something
(they get home late tonight---I'm cooking a big lunch tomorrow).
I went by Sonic and got a Java Chiller.
I thought my brother would be home (at my parents house)
and I was all prepared with a joke/gag when I saw him.
But he had already gone to work.
(That is so like my family---you know you are on your
way to see a person, so on the way you cook up your
one liners to lay at their feet when you greet them. I have
an uncle who will tell them to everyone else if he doesn't
see the person he prepared the humor for.
I love my family.)

I do hope you are enjoying your day. It's a beautiful autumn day. We will be headed out to the soccer fields at lunch time. We only have one team playing today so that is kind of nice. Big E can watch Sweet T's game and we can all just watch one game and not run back and forth between fields. This will be the first time there will be a chill in the air at the soccer games, but I don't think it will be that chilly by the time we play. I wouldn't even notice it much if I didn't have a baby to stroll around in the elements. Having a little one makes you much more aware of the weather--or it does me. Maybe you are always aware of the weather. Not me. I was voted most likely to not have an umbrella when one is needed.

Remember the new Bible study I am a part of?
Well, for one thing, I am really enjoying it.
I really feel like God is using that and some other things
in my life. I'm not sure where it's all headed, but I can
tell that He is turning my heart toward something.
I don't know if that makes sense to you or not.
This past year or so has just been so hard on me
and I feel like right now all the pressure
and difficulty have finally taken their toll.
I'm so tired.
I'm tired of some of the stuff we have to deal with--some of it
just consequences of our own choices,
some of it just waiting and having to deal with what is there
until the waiting is over. So I am tired of those things,
but also just simply physically tired.
So physically tired right now.
And I think it's just like a cumulative tiredness.
And then there's always stuff going on.
Why is that?
I'd like a break. A time to just rest and not have stuff going on
all about me, but there doesn't seem
any chance of that happening
any time in a near decade. Even these past two weeks
with a break from school, I thought I'd be able to get
some stuff done,
to get caught up on some things, to slow down
the pace of life. But no. Things pop up on a daily basis.
There's always something to deal with,
something taking up the time.
If it's not a diaper explosion,
it's a flooding basement or a dead battery in the van.
Maybe I'm just not being realistic in what I think I can
get done in a day's time. Maybe I always feel like
I'm behind because I'm setting unrealistic expectations
of how much can reasonably happen in a 24 hour period.
I want to get to a peaceful place in my life where we
don't have change and upheaval and
major life decisions on the horizon.
I just want normal and ordinary for a while.
Maybe there's a reason for all this upheaval in my life.
Again, I do feel like there's a purpose,
like there is a certain reason behind it all.
I don't know what God is doing in my heart and life,
but He is doing something
and I'm not even pretending to have my hands on the wheel.
He is the potter; I am the clay.
Does the clay tell the potter what to do? No.
The clay has no sense of what is ultimately good for it.
I'm a big blob of dumb clay.
I know I need to be molded.
I know I have rough spots that the potter
is trying to smooth out.
I want to be a vessel that can be used.

And you know me,
ever ready with the appropriate song,
be it silly or corny or whatever.
Want to know what song popped into my head
while typing the previous paragraph?
"I'm just an old lump of coal, Lord,
But I'm going to be a diamond someday."
(That's about all I know of that song. It snagged
on something in my mind. It's probably some old country
song from the 70's. How strange that I remember
things like that? Why didn't
information from the periodic table
snag in my mind instead of blowing away with the first
gentle breeze that blew through? Why can't I remember
useful information? Oh well. I wouldn't be the person
to engineer an escape hatch if we were stuck somewhere,
but I would be fun to be stuck with....for a while....)

Enjoy your weekend, Dear Reader.
Soak it in.
Breath deeply.
These are the good old days.

Making the Sun Shine in the Soul

from The Happy Family
by George Hodges (1906)

"What is the use of working
when one is getting nothing accomplished?
A woman must be fit
and in condition to be a good mother,
else she is but beating the wind or the children.
Nobody can be a useful mother without having
some sort of fun every day,---something to relax
the strained nerves, and to make
the sun shine in the soul.
For all the domestic discipline comes back at last
to the personality of the mother.
Most children will be good
if they have a good mother."

My oh my, slice me off a piece of your pumpkin pie.

Guess where we went today?

It kind of looks like we might have stopped by
the junk yard to visit Fred and Lamont Sanford
by the truck in the above picture
(I know you have to remember Sandford & Son--you big dummy!
Aunt Ester took this picture for us.)
But no, we didn't go to the junk yard.
(Are you enjoying that theme song?)

We went to the
pumpkin patch!


We had such a good time.

We hung out with friends.

We got to pick a pumpkin.

Even Baby J got his own little pumpkin.

There was a little train ride
that my children would have stayed on all day long.
They were content to ride all over the property
and the man driving the tractor was so nice.

We all came home dirty,
but the boys seemed to especially enjoy
the opportunity to embrace the filth.
There was a huge pile of dirt.
Personally, this holds no appeal to me,
but my children were drawn to it
like moths to a flame.

Look at these nasty boys.

We had a very lovely day.
It was so nice to come home to the crock pot
who had been slaving away all day.
I'm going to cook some carrots and broccoli
and we'll have a great dinner to bring this
great day to an end.


Just look at these babes of mine:

I am so blessed!

Good Monday to you, Dear Reader. I hope you are having a lovely day and a good start to your week. I told you we were kind of on "Fall Break Extension" this week. We have not totally cast our fate to the wind; we have read a book about Christopher Columbus. Lovely K and Big E are watching a documentary about that same fellow right now. I have been washing clothes and supervising chores and trying to sort through the aftermath of last week and this weekend. There seems to be a lot of aftermath piled around. I cut out two weeks worth of coupons. Just stuff like that. Domestic piddling.
I am looking forward to this evening---second installment of the new Bible study that I am already immensely enjoying. We've been reading a lot of Old Testament stuff for background and it's interesting that it overlaps what we are studying in my Sunday School class. I'm looking at the same time period from two different perspectives. I have always thought the Israelites acted like such babies sometimes---from the time they left Egypt until....well, I don't know when they stopped acting like that. It just amazes me how fast they can go from being totally devoted to God to worshiping idols. That seems like something that couldn't happen so fast, but it seems to happen over night with them. God would do some HUGE miracle for them and they'd be rejoicing and then the very next verse, they were marrying the heathens and worshiping their false gods. I'm glad, however, that my life is not being recorded in such a manor because I know I would seem just as fickle and silly and unfaithful as them at times.

I'll tell you what I feel like doing today:
crawling back into bed and sleeping.
Maybe it's all this mellow autumn music
that I have been sorting through,
stocking your juke box with appropriate tunes.
Something is having this sleepy affect on me.
Maybe it's just that point of the afternoon
that sometimes hits in this manner.
I just want to snuggle under a quilt and drift off.
Sweet T is up here in my room watching Veggie Tales
(he was not at all into celebrating or learning more about
Chris Columbus beyond the book....he's four, you might recall...).
Maybe I'll lay down by him and pretend to
watch Bob and Larry with him....and just
close my eyes.....
and take
a little siesta....
It would be
so easy...

Turning My Frown Upside Down

Am I a man of my word or what?
Well, no, I'm not.
I'm not a man, that is.
But the "of my word" part---yes.
I said I'd meet you back here
in a better mood/frame of mind
....and here I am.
(insert large smiley face)

It has been a busy weekend, but it has been very enjoyable. I am so exhausted right now. As soon as I get done speaking with you, I am climbing into the old hay sack. I don't know if my head will even hit the pillow before I am asleep.

Want to know a weird thing that is making me happy right now? I feel like I'm getting a cold. Now that is not what is making me happy. What is making me happy is that if I do indeed get sick, I can take drugs to feel better. It feels like I've either been growing or feeding somebody for a long time. But I'm not now. It's just me again. My body is my own. Bring on the NyQuil. Of course, now I probably won't get sick ever again. Not that I would mind that. But it makes me happy to know that if I feel like I need medicinal intervention in my life, I have that option.

Saturday evening Lloyd Dobbler and Big E (even bigger E than before---he's had a birthday, you know) wound up staying longer than they had planned at the boy scout thing--which ended up being a goat rodeo (does anyone else use that figure of speech? Is it just Lloyd Dobbler's original little phrase and if I use it now it is making you think that there were cub scouts trying to ride a broncing billy goat? He always says it's a "goat rodeo" if some situation is crazy or unorganized and out of control--like this particular boy scout weekend turned out to be.). So I loaded up the three babes that I had under my jurisdiction Saturday evening and we went to a fall festival type thing at the home of a new friend of mine. We had such a nice time. It was just a handful of families at this home out a few miles past the middle of nowhere. When John Denver sang "Country road, take me home," he was singing about the road she lives on. It was like a little adventure just getting to her house.
(Oddly enough,
out in the middle of NOWHERE in Tennessee,
there was a Buddhist temple
a few miles down the country road from her.)
Lovely K and Sweet T were completely enchanted with the very cool zip line these new friends have. And they rolled pumpkins and shot at apples and played hide and seek in the dark while Baby J and I sat by the bonfire. It was just a simple, relaxed evening. This "new friend" of mine is so relaxed and laid back and takes every thing in stride; I wish I was more like that. Her fourth child is now two and a half and she told me the other day she just now feels like she's getting back into the groove of things.
This gives me hope.

This morning at church
I got to see someone I love love love and rarely get to see (Hello, M.O.T!) and that was so cool. This girl and another girl her age have been like little "pets" of mine for several years. I used to do Bible studies and read Elisabeth Elliot books with them when they were teens at our church (that was one of my favorite things ever!). You would think that I actually had a hand in making them the wonderful Christian women that they are now by the way I feel about them, but I didn't. And yet I could not be more proud of them, though, if they were actually my daughters. It just encourages my heart to see them as young wives and new mommies doing their best to follow God. I wish I got to see them more often.

After church today, Lovely K and I jumped into a car with my good buddy and her daughter and we sped off to The Big City at top speed (stopping only to wheel through the drive thru at Steak and Shake) to see a production of Pride and Prejudice. It was a really nice time. I love plays and theater and all that goes along with that. I think that was the first play that wasn't aimed at a juvenile audience that I have taken Lovely K to see. Of course I had to explain to her that the Mr. Darcy she saw on stage today could not hold a candle to Colin Firth from A&E's production of Pride and Prejudice. And if you've never seen that, you should be ashamed of yourself. Go get it right now and watch it.
It's the greatest.
It's the Muhammad Ali of movies.
It floats like a butterfly and stings like a bee.
And that's really
what you want from a movie, isn't it?

Guess what?
Fall break has been extended.
Kind of.
We're having "halfsies" this week.
We're easing on down the road as we turn our feet
back to the educational path. I think it's going to be
beautiful weather this week and I want to take advantage
of that. We are going to the pumpkin patch one day
with a group of homeschooling friends. I am thinking
we need to go on a picnic one day too.
I just want to carpe the diem on these
beautiful, warm days of autumn.

How's that for less griping and negativity?
I hope you had a lovely weekend, Dear Reader.
See you around!

No Beggars Riding Here

1. Since it's not Friday, I'm not breaking out the bullets. So let's explore the world of numbered items. Numbered trivial items. My head is full of them.
2. Remember that LOVELY week I was determined to have? Well, I have had kind of a lovely week. I wanted it to be lovely. We had a few snags in the road, but that's life, isn't it? I have spent some of my free time (more than I should, of course!) feeling sorry for myself and wishing that I could just snap my fingers and make certain things change or go away. I could make a great long list at the moment of "I wish....."
   
3. "If wishes were horses, beggars would ride."
   
4. Wednesday morning we woke to the sound of rushing water. In our basement. A pipe down there decided to throw off the shackles that society has placed upon it. We quickly beat that rebellious pipe into submission. Spent the rest of the day going through wet stuff. Threw away a lot. Have a lot more to throw away. That was the main bubble burst-er of my week. It was like a sock in the stomach to me for some reason. So much mess created. So much time spent doing something that really didn't accomplish anything. And now the nice clean new room is piled high and the basement is in a state of chaos. And time I should have spent in the rest of the house or on mapping out our next quarter of school was spent down there. It seems to have drained the life out of me.
   
5. Ever feel like that cartoon character that has a cloud of rain about his head that follows him where ever he goes?
6. What do I have to show for my week off? Not much. Everybody was fed and dressed and bathed like normal. We attended practices and games and lessons. All the stuff that would be my life without the addition of home schooling was done. It wasn't like we had a vacation over here.
   
7. Why is your faithful Bell in such a foul mood today?
   
8. Lloyd Dobbler and Big E are at the Boy Scout camping thing. They won't be back until this evening. We have a soccer game after lunch for Sweet T. A friend invited us to her little fall festival thing in the evening and I think I may load up the three babes I have and go over there. I need to see people laughing and having fun.
9. The new Bible study began this week and it has already been a blessing to me. I think it is something that I need so much. Especially the spiritual fellowship. I need to be with others who are spiritually hungry too. I'm so tired of the status quo. I'm so tired of people who are only in it for themselves. I'm so tired of gossip and competition and shallowness. And money. I'm really tired of money. Ever get this way?
10. What a great encouragement and uplift this post has been, huh? Oh well. It's just the contents of my head at the moment. Some days are just like this, aren't' they?
11. It's a beautiful fall day. I just got an unsolicited kiss on the cheek from the cutest four year old on earth. I am going to go soak in the sunshine and get out of this house. Let's make it a good day, Dear Reader. I'll meet you back here and I promise to be in a better frame of mind.

Lost and Found

Have you listened to the song "You Cannot Lose My Love" on our juke box? It's been there a long time. It's by a contemporary Christian artist named Sara Groves. I don't really know a lot of her stuff, but I like her voice. This song in particular I love. I think any mother, any parent, would appreciate the sentiment in this song. I just thought I'd point it out to you in case you've missed it. Why don't you listen to it now while I share the lyric with you?

You Cannot Lose My Love

You will lose your baby teeth.
At times, you'll lose your faith in me.
You will lose a lot of things,
But you cannot lose my love.

You may lose your appetite,
Your guiding sense of wrong and right.
You may lose your will to fight,
But you cannot lose my love.

You will lose your confidence.

In times of trial,

your common sense.

You may lose your innocence,
But you cannot lose my love.

Many things can be mis

placed;
Your very memories be erased.
No matter what the time or space,
You cannot lose my love.
You cannot lose,
You cannot lose,
You cannot lose my love.

We'll Be Doing This Till Six In The Morning....

Big E's big day isn't quite here yet,
but we had to celebrate early this year.
Saturday night we had a pot of chili and a bond fire
and the family and some friends came over for
a preemptive strike on E's forthcoming birthday.

And I have some pictures to share.

We held the festivities out in the back yard by the barn.
It was warm enough when the sun was still shining when everyone first got there, but the temperatures began to drop as darkness set in.

The kids and a few of the adults road the four wheelers while it was still light outside. We go around the perimeter of our property and that makes for a nice little trail. I think one loop all the way around is 1/3 of a mile.

You can see I am still a warm blooded creature.
I didn't put on a jacket
until after dark. I don't know where my mother-in-law
found that hat Baby J has on,
but it kept his little bald head warm.

Big E's special friend and his family came over
to partake in the birthday revelry with us.

See my big pot of chili?
It went over well and everyone seems to have gone on
to live normal lives since eating it.

I just love Baby J's face in this picture.
You'll probably have to click on the picture
to get the full affect of his cuteness.

Our bond fire wasn't huge as you can see here.
But it got the job done.
We just roasted hot dogs and marshmallows there.
But really--who needed anything more
than Bell's Adequate Chili?

There were gifts.

We did our traditional pin the tail on the donkey game. It was dark and getting cold at this point and the game didn't get the attention and competition that is usually gets.

Below you see the yummy DQ ice cream cake that I forgot to set out ahead of time, so it was like a frozen brick at this point. We took it inside and I meant for everyone to partake of it there once it had softened up enough to cut. But it got put in the freezer again. So...um...would you care for a piece of ice cream cake?

Here are my father and my two brothers.

I am thinking of
all kinds of smart alleck comments
to make....but I'll refrain.

So my precious Big E will be eight years old soon.
It seems so strange to me that
these children keep getting older.
He has always been such a gentle, unique little guy.


Lloyd Dobbler often says Big E is
a little old man in the body of a boy.
He is such a nice guy.
I love him so much.
I hope he enjoyed his birthday bash.

Two Weeks Notice

I don't care what this week is like,
it's going to be a lovely week.

This is our week of no school
and I am so glad it's here. I met it at the door
with a hug. I keep smiling at it from across
the room. I'm going to ask it to be
my best friend.


And don't tell the kids this...because it's
not final yet...and because I know you're just so likely
to hunt down my kids and blab this...but I'm looking
at things, shuffling things around,
weighing the pros and cons....and I'm trying to
decide if we will have
one week or two weeks off for this fall break.
Yes, you heard me, Dear Reader.
Two weeks.

I know you're not anywhere near as interested
in that little tidbit of news as I am, but it kind of has
my heart beating a little faster when I think of it.
(It used to be smiles from cute boys
that made my heart beat a little faster.
Now it's the thought of a break from the daily grindstone.
How things change over time.)
That way I can leisurely enjoy some of the free time
without feeling guilty
and still have time to get things in order
for our second quarter.
I would have time to be both profitable and lazy.
I could have my cake and eat it too.
I could have the best
of both worlds---I could be Hannah Montana.


The second quarter I had plotted out for us
had a lot of padding in it.
But things have gone so well this school year so far.
We have stayed on track. We've been able to follow the
weekly plan and keep up the pace with
just a few adjustments here and there.
--am I crazy to do this?
Will I regret it?
Oh, decisions.
How I don't enjoy them.

I will pray about it
and think about it
and just see how this week begins to shape up.
But I told you,
I have already determined that it will be a lovely week.
Going into it with that determination,
how could it be anything else?

I hope you'll have
a lovely week too, Dear Reader.
I'm singing "Lovely Day"
(song #2 over there) to you right now.
And don't be mocking
my groovy 70's selections.

It's Like the David Copperfield Blog

Have you ever had somebody do something
so obnoxious that you just had to walk away?
Like you couldn't deal with them right then
or you might slap them. I had this very experience
Friday night with my computer. I did the
Friday post with the bullets.....typed it up and was down
to just pushing the button to publish the silly thing when
my obnoxious jerk of a computer decided to
be an obnoxious jerk. And I don't even know what
it did. You know me and the technology don't
get along so well together anyway.

So I don't have any idea what happened other than
it just decided to cause my post to vanish into thin air.
Stupid computer. I was so annoyed. If it had been acting up
all along, giving me hints that it might do something, that would have been okay. But to pull a surprise attack on me...that was just cold.
I mean, it was totally fine the whole time. And then
I go to hit the last key, the thing to make it happen and
lo and behold--zap. It's gone.
And there's no trail of crumbs to follow.
So I had to just walk away. I couldn't have a conversation
with the computer about how it's behavior was making me
feel because I probably would have just thrown it off
of the roof of the house.

Here's the odd part.
The post was gone. Totally gone. Thin air gone.
That was Friday night.
I get on here today....Sunday evening....and part of it is here.
Isn't that weird? I know Lloyd Dobbler will think
I did something or I'm making this up or something.
And he'd be wrong.
It wasn't there and now PART of it is back.
I couldn't have been more surprised if I had pulled
one of those never-ending rainbow handkerchiefs
from my pocket.

So without further ado....and before it can vanish
into thin air again....I present to you a portion
of the magical disappearing post from Friday....
Not that it's anything exciting...but it does appear
to be magical and capable of making itself disappear
...so...you might want to check it out...

• I hope you will play song #2 on the juke box and just ride around in your car with the windows down on a country road for a few minutes. That's the way yesterday and today have been. Stunningly beautiful days with the warm sun and the cooler temperatures and the happiness that comes with the change of the seasons. Lovely day. Bill Withers is so right.
• Isn't Bill Withers also the guy who sings "Ain't No Sunshine When She's Gone?"
  
• Multiple people asked me today if I had lost weight. I guess this new blouse I bought this week was a good choice. And now I will have to wear it every single day until I do actually lose some weight.
• I got my little book from my little friend today and now I have something to be excited about one night a week. I never did get together that book club/Bible study group I was supposed to be reviving-- so someone else did. Only we aren't meeting at my house, we are meeting at Starbucks. So I (alone) get to go (out of the house) to Starbucks once a week and talk to adults (without a child...or four). And drink coffee-type things. This is like a major joy in my little home schooling mom life. Major.
• Of course I couldn't let it go. Three bullets later I have already looked up Bill Withers and I did not realize that he sang other songs that I know. I don't think I even really knew his name before yesterday when I had to find "Lovely Day" and drop a dime in the juke box. He also sang "Lean On Me" and "Just the Two of Us." He sings happy, mellow songs. Thanks, Bill Withers.
• How would you like to have a name that is a synonym for horse's hind quarters? Isn't that what withers are? I know it's a place where the sun does shine because that's what they say in "Run For the Roses:" "...with the sun on your withers...."

There you go.
That's the portion that my silly computer
was willing to give back to me.
That's all it wanted you to read.
Stuff about the withers.
Not that the missing part was, you know,
earth-shattering news or
the revelation of my secret identity.
It was just minutia.
Just more of the fluffy cotton balls
that come tumbling across my mind.
So you really didn't miss anything.

Except the magic
and the disappearing.

But I told you about that.