Still here just inert--so no real news

So I didn't forget about the blog, I just haven't felt like posting anything lately. Like in two months. Stuff goes on...I probably could have blogged about stuff like the mascot choices for the new elementary school. AT the parent's meeting in May the principal passed out ballots with several options and mentioned that Carp was her favorite. UGH! Since the school name is Farley I don't see that working. I thought carp would become crap and the mom sitting next to me said her kids already called Farley Fartly. So when the superintendent was collecting the ballots she asked if I voted for Carps and I told her no because I was afraid we'd be the Fartly Craps pretty soon. She laughed. So has everyone else who's heard that story. The superintendent hates the carps so I doubt that will happen but I haven't heard the verdict yet.

I could also have blogged about Je's new glasses. She complained of not being able to see the smaller words on signs so we made an appointment for after school was out in May. I really didn't think she needed glasses but we were going to check it out. As we went through the exam Je was supposed to read the letters from the chart. Jo could see the letters in a mirror backwards and I had to hold my hand over her mouth to keep her from answering. She couldn't understand why her sister thought the Q was an N. It was then I realized maybe the girl needs glasses. Turns out she has an astigmatism and has always seen fuzzily. It is only now that she can read that she noticed.

Speaking of reading, I am so proud of how well she has done this year. She started the year reading at a middle of kindergarten level and now she is zoomed to a middle of second grade level. She didn't really care if she could read earlier. At her fall conference she was not as far as we wanted her to be, but the teacher wasn't concerned yet. She indicated that Je was recently showing signs of catching on. Je had told me in Oct. that she didn't have to worry about learning to read until about 5th grade. I told her that if she couldn't read at the end of first grade I wouldn't send her to second grade. She seemed to think about that and take it to heart. She began reading chapter books and really found it to be fun. I have a reader. Now she reads signs as we drive around. It's fabulous!

We've also added some daily review of math and reading to our schedule. I decided that I wanted to keep Je's math on track so we found time sheets and other resources to do at home. When I told her we were going to do it she said, "You mean I get to do home school?!" She was pretty excited about it. We aren't going to do full on homeschooling or anything and the girls don't really want to, but for the summer they are enjoying daily practice sessions. Jo had to get in on the act to get ready for Kindergarten.

VBS went well. The decorations looked amazing, thanks to some great help from a couple of big work days we scheduled to build decorations. I just spent the time getting the materials together to make decorations and organizing the plans and turned the volunteers loose this year. It worked so much better I think I'll do that every year.


So we are just keeping on and keeping busy. We keep house, go to the pool, had swimming lessons, Je played softball with Shan as an assistant coach. I even learned how to operate the scoreboard and keep the official score book. She had fun and says she wants to play next year. The girls on her team all learned a lot from the first game to the last. They even made a run in the tournament at the end of the season. Life keeps us busy and that is a good thing. I'll check in sometime hopefully it won't take 2 months next time.

Remembering

I've been reading through last January's posts because I thought I had posted about this before. Twelve years ago today, my father passed away. It still is a wrenching thing. I don't like this membership I've acquired in the dead dad's club. I remember thinking at the time that this weird nothing is right with the world feeling will never go away. And it doesn't exactly. It eases a bit, and sometimes you feel fabulous but there is a niggling feeling that something is missing all the time. When I see my fabulous girls and know how he would have been as a grandfather, or with my nephews who would have been the coolest things ever. And I kind of hate the feeling that my life is diminished some because he is gone. I can never be as cool as it was. I hate that feeling. And I don't know how to explain it.

Today, I am going to lunch with my mom to remember. Recently a causal friend of ours lost her husband after an illness. She has been spending time with my mom as she grieves. I guess the thing I want to remember most about people who are hurting like that is that even when I don't know what to do I will do something. The thought to spend some time, send a card, make a call. Even if it isn't much it will help.

Quiet

I've learned today that I need some quiet. Before you all start laughing hysterically, hear me out. I picked Jo up from school at 11:30. At 1:05 my head tried to explode. Why you ask? There hasn't been a quiet second since. I had to run an errand after picking her up and she talked about the errand, the car, the lack of Jeep, the friends we say on our way. At the store she asked about the movie playing in the bookstore, the books she saw, the coloring sheet they gave her...Now we are home and she has asked about what I will have for lunch, what time her sister will be home, is it early release day, why does she have to nap, when am I goig to eat, the microwave is beeping, five little pumpkins and finally she is talking about the Muffin Man. Wait, she discovered that Cookie Monster is teaching letters on her placemat and that is taking her off on a new tangent of made up verse. Ya'll thought I talked a lot? I am really becoming the quiet one. If she wants to know why she naps at age 5. It isn't always because she needs a rest, but Mama's ears NEED a break! Seriously!

My mother is probably muttering something about kids and payback for my own past behavior. Okay I really get that. EEKS!

Happy Birthday to My Household

Birthday extravaganza week is in full swing here. Shan's birthday is done, except his parents are coming. My birthday is here, but...when Mama's birthday is wedged in the middle it is less relevant. We are now gearing up for Je's birthday. She will be 7 on Saturday. This is a party year* so we are planning a "Red Carpet Movie Party". It was my sister's idea. We are going to get the projector and show the movie big on the wall, have popcorn etc. I haven't figured out a cake yet, but...that is the conundrum. To add to my woes in September, last week the sewer stopped draining so we had to have the plumber out to snake the drain. Not a huge deal, until, he found that there is a potential problem. So last week we were afraid we were going to have to dig up the sewer and fix it...for $3000. He came back this week and it may still have to be fixed at some point but right now it seems to be working and we can plan how to fix it rather than an emergency. So much better. I may never be a problem again so we may be okay. Then on Friday, we found that the oven doesn't work. Electricty isn't getting to the bottom element in the oven to tell it to heat. So I can't bake anything. We tried replacing the element, and it didn't fix the problem so we traced it to the computer board that runs the clock etc. We called the repairman, and it takes 5-10 days to get the part. So now cake baked in our oven this week. And the dinner I was going to fix easily for company this weekend? New plan. I will bake lasagna's at church and bring them home to serve. Fortunately, church is close. I am glad that October finally arrived. I'm hoping it will bring some relief. On the bright side, I got a beautiful new wallet from my mom for my birthday to replace the one taken when my purse was stolen. Checks, credit cards, drivers liscense, dress doll magnets, and other purse items have been secured and now I am just waiting for the purse I want to appear on ebay or buy it from the website for twice as much. The ebay seller I purchased the original from, is planning a trip to the factory this month so I will see what he finds. If he gets something close, I am in business. If not, I found it on a website that sells it for half the facotry price, but twice the ebay price. Not a bad deal, but you know I am cheap. I am feeling more optimistic all the time. Especially since I have a coffee/hot cocoa date with my BF today!

*If you care, we allow the kids to have a party every other year for their birthdays and alternate so they don't have parties the same year, since their birthdays are only 6 weeks apart.



For Ne-Ne

Is she really five?

Happy Birthday JO!

Remember this, or this? We finally got rid of them a month or so ago. It was nice to have the living room looking like a living room again. The girls didn't seem to mind having the boxes go, at first. A week or so after they were gone they started bugging us for the tents my sister gave them for Christmas a few years ago. (Thanks, Min!) I held them off through vacation and their visit to grandmas but today, they wore me down.





And in case you missed the first day of school and were interested.... Every morning Je and Jo go stand on this rock in our yard. They call it the watching rock since they use it to watch for the bus. There goes any chance I had to get it out of my yard...

So she isn't deaf

Today, being the first day of first grade for Je, I tried to entertain Jo. Mom gave me a couple coupons for Penney's, so we went to the mall to bum around. I figured it was going to be too hot to be outside much and the mall has an indoor play land. Jo wanted a pretzel and I had a buy one get one in my purse. She was specific in her pretzel demand, she wanted to get a cinnamon pretzel and eat it at the mall like she does with Nana. Okay. One time you get a pretzel to go and you never hear the end of it. We each ate about half of the pretzels and brought the rest home. Shan came into the family room this evening and seeing them on the counter asked me how long I was going to leave his pretzel there without telling him it was there. Jo heard him, and from her bed all the way upstairs said "That's MY pretzel!" Oh yeah she has no hearing problems at all. Two floors away and she is protecting her pretzel.

I Can't Decide If it is Beautiful or Ugly

The kids spent the week at my inlaws last week. It was sooooooooo quiet around here. We (mostly I) eagerly set off Friday to go out there for the weekend. I looked up near the Elsworth/Lincoln County lines. I saw this:









As we drove they seemed to multiply. I counted 22 at one point.








Then we topped a hill and as we came around the corner...There were hundreds and hundreds of them. I can't decide if it is a beautiful site or a really really ugly one. Seriously. It is awe inspiring. We both gasped when we saw them all. I don't know if they are part of the answer to the energy question or just a pipe dream designed to make us feel like we are doing better. I like the idea of using the energy that God provides, solar, wind, water...but I don't know if they can be a miracle cure to the energy problem. I have a sneaking suspicion that the answer is going to be more about conservation and using less energy than finding a new souce to replace current sources. Which means work and change for all of us. Can we do it? We'll see.

Back by Popular Demand

Okay, so only my sister noticed and requested a post but still. I probably talked to most of my audience since my last post. Only one mentioned the lack of post. I had a busy month. As school wound down and we had field trips and play days etc. VBS wound up. It was all VBS all the time for the last couple weeks. But its over now for another year. I take it as a good sign that I am thinking about next year already. I have to write the report on this year before I forget the things I want to do differently, but other than that, I can't get started until July when the companies release their themes for next year. I can't even get the material until November so I have a slight break.
Just enough time to plan for the Christmas program. Funny stuff. Our theme this year for VBS was a beach party. The church looked great decorated. We had kind of a crunch with that since I couldn't do that until Sunday afternoon. Usually, I work Saturday morning, then finish Monday morning. This year, there was a 50th anniversary party on Saturday, so we had decorating with everyone after the fellowship lunch. We ended the week with a taco dinner for all the families and a beach party complete with boardwalk games etc. We had a shooting gallery with water guns and ping pong balls on golf tees, face painting, lasso golf, ring toss, and a soak the surfer. Our answer to the dunking booth. For a special treat, we rented a snow cone machine. The kids loved it. The weather was gorgeous. Just 24 hours before we had been under all kinds of watches and warnings but it all cleared out, the wind died down and the temp fell to a beautiful summer evening. I have one year to rest up to do it all again.

Stiches

I've learned that whenever the least convenient time for an emergency room visit, that is when you will need to make one. Today, I chaperoned Je's class trip to the Outdoor Ed center. We hiked the trail, listened to birds, looked at coyote scat, saw a Canada goose. We studied creature eyes Eyes up front they like to hunt, eyes on the side, they like to hide. We studied the apple, from seed to sauce, and sampled homemade applesauce. It was a busy day. As I was leaving school to go change for tutoring, I called my mom to let her know that Je would come home on the bus. She was at the immediate care clinic with Jo who had fallen at my friend Ellen's and cut her knee open. She needed 4 stitches. I met Mom and Jo at Mom's house after they were done, so Jo could have Hippo. Y'all know how crucial Hippo is. Jo seemed fine, so I went on to tutoring. I was thanking God that I had remembered to give Ellen my mom's cell number this morning, since Mom wasn't home and I wasn't near a car. I also was thanking God for friends at the Doctor's who could vouch for Mom's relationship with my child, so Jo could get treated without a lot of fuss. Thank you Dr. B.

We're Adding On

Mom got a new water heater this week, and we got a new box to join the first in the living room.













We cut a door in the new box and Voila!















The girls moved their rooms (at least it seemed like it) into the boxes, and are planning another sleepover in their new accomodations.















Such cheap fun.

The Box

It seems we are concerned a lot about sleeping around here. it isn't that I think they are cuter when asleep but over the weekend...Daddy was out of town and it was only reflecting on moments like these that kept me from infantacide. My mom gave the girls the box from her new chair, and they decided that it would be a great place to sleep. Since Friday was a teacher work day and it was a girls only weekend, they had a sleep over. They did it both Thursday and Friday night and are planning another sleep in the box night for tonight. Since tomorrow is Kindergarten Round up, Jessa has another Friday off.

New Look

I tinkered with the colors and picture for my header. That is the girls on Easter morning before church. I rolled their hair in sponge rollers the night before (just like my mom used to do with my sisters and I) It really curled well. A few years ago, I tried to roll Je's hair, but by morning the rollers all came out. Jo had curly hair until she cut it last year. Now it is pretty straight. My sister and her family were in town for the Easter weekend and Friday the girls stayed over with their cousins at Nana's for a slumber party. Big fun! Nana rolled Jo's hair and the cousin hair. She didn't have enough rollers to do all three girls' hair, and said if she had done Je's hair, she wouldn't have had enough rollers to do anyone else's hair. I went out last Saturday and bought enough little rollers to do both my girls hair. They loved it so it will be a treat for them.

When I look at the picture above, I am struck by how classic it is of my two. They are pretty joyful little girls. Jo likes hats and fancy shoes. Je does too, a little, but her hats never stay on long. We signed Je up for softball at Ken Berry League this year. She was dead set against it until we told her she had to try it this year, and if she didn't like it she didn't have to do it again. She is anxious of new things. She has had two practices and found a little girl from her school is on her team. It is growing on her. She is trying to talk Daddy into helping coach. We will see how that goes. Jo already said she wants to play next year.

I've been a bit under the weather today. I've had a little cough and congestion for a couple days then, last night around 12:30, I got so cold I was afraid I would bite my tongue with the shivers. Shan piled four down throws on me to warm me up. By 3 am I had to kick them all off and turn on the fan. Needless to say I didn't sleep well. Hopefully tonight will be better, I am supposed to substitute in Jo's Sabbath School class tomorrow. Her regular teacher will be in Shawnee for her son's installation as a Deacon. I grew up with her son. He has been a good friend,and was an usher in our wedding. But when I think about him being grown up enough to be a deacon it shocks me. Of course, he's been married for over 10 years, has three kids and a doctorate so what's up with that.

I just heard my husband return with dinner. Saturday is pizza night at our house.

Inheritance

Do you read Antique Mommy? You should, she cracks me up, and sometimes makes me think. Like this post on inherited faith. I agree with her that I don't want my children to take on my faith and do it just because I do. It would be like the generations of Christian sermon I heard a long time ago. It isn't just that we pass our faith on to our kids, we must also pass on a desire for faith of their own. We want our kids to have a saving faith, and we want them to want that too. So we have to let God work in them rather than push them: show them and live before them, and tell them why.

The wonderful side to all of this is that Christian parents present the truth as an accepted fact. As a child, I never wondered if God existed or searched for the truth. The truth was always there, lived out before me in my parents. Yes, I had to make a decision on my own, and each day I have to seek Him on my own, but I didn't have to search for something to seek. I knew where to go to find what I needed. I pray that I am providing that for my children.

"I'm Okay"

Loud crash heard in next room.

Jo: "I'm okay"

A four year old trips over the vacuum hose:

"I'm okay"

She falls out of bed:

"I'm okay"

She runs into her mother and knocks her over:

"I'm okay, Mama"

It is real funny around her...but she is okay. At least that is what she says.

Tenderhearted

We use Keys for Kids for our family devotions. It is a bi-monthly publication that has been around for a while. My folks used to get it when we were growing up and it has updated a bit, but for*** the most part is very much the same. On Wednesday, we were reading it with the girls in shifts due to other things. I pulled up the right day and read through it as I waited for Je to get dressed after her bath. My first thoughts were that I couldn't read this with her, and can we skip it tonight...

This is a hard week in my family. Eleven years ago, Shan and I were newlyweds. I was anticipating my student teaching semester, settling into our first home, and getting ready to return to Manhattan for part of each week for three weeks for classes. Friday night, the floor furnace in our $100 a month farm house wouldn't stay lit. Early Saturday we called the landlord. He was a teacher who farmed on the side, so he was already out working. It was January and very cold so we were concerned when his wife indicated that he wouldn't want to put any money into the house and maybe we should look for a new home. We did a little looking that day but didn't really find anything we liked. We decided to go to Shannon's folks for the rest of the weekend to stay warm. My mom had called while we were out, so on our way west, we called her. A letter had come, confirming my student teaching placement, and since Dad wasn't feeling well they were being lazy, watching basketball. I thank God that I called home that day. My mom knew where to find me at 2 am when she had to tell me that my father had a heart attack and died. We'd been married three weeks, my sister had been in DC for just two weeks working for our Congressman, and my youngest sister was a senior in high school.

...I powered through and read the devotional with Je the other night. The whole time tears streamed down my face. She sat close, snuggling up with me as we read. When I finished reading, I used the discussion questions to talk with her about it. She remembers when GiGi, my grandmother died last summer, so we have talked about death before. As we talked I was crying a little, explaining that one of my biggest regrets is that she and Jo will miss knowing my dad. (Who BTW would have been over the moon for the kids. I know he would have loved the girls so much but I also can say that he would have been really nuts for my nephews, one is his namesake and looks like him) Je ran off in the middle of our talk and I wondered what she was doing. She returned quickly with my little pillow. When she is sad she wants her bear, her lovey. She thought Mama needed her lovey too.





***If you scroll down you can read today's entry or select an entry to read. The one that made me cry was January 9. You can also sign up to receive it in the mail or print out a PDF version of the whole month.

Holiday Hangover

Christmas at our house lasts weeks, it seems. And this year was even longer since my brother in law's accident delayed their visit. They finally made it up from AK on New Year's Day so Christmas for us didn't end until Saturday when they went home. I finally got the tree down Sunday, when Shan could help. After Christmas, I bought a new artificial one at Sam's so the old one went to Goodwill. I would personally rather have a real tree every year. My husband doesn't like real trees, and since Christmas falls during wrestling season, the chances of getting a real tree are slim and slimmer. A few years ago, we went to get a tree and it was a bit later than usual, but not crazy late. For some reason, the only trees left at the lots were the $50 variety. That didn't fit into the budget so we were going to just use the little one I had in college. A friend from church had a full size one she didn't use and offered it to us. She didn't want it back so we've used it for several years. Last year, I talked Shan into a real one, but it wasn't easy. This year, I knew we would be gone over break so I didn't even try to get a real tree. My mom decided this year to get a pre-lit tree rather than a real one. Not sure why. I met her at Sam's last month and helped man-handle the heavy box into our van, then out again at her house. We put it up and it was gorgeous. It has 1500 lights. FIFTEEN HUNDRED. I was a little jealous when I looked at our sad tree. It is an older style, not pre-lit and not as tall or full. My sister, Mom, and I went to Sam's after Christmas to look at their trees. They didn't have any left in the aisle. They had a few back in the clearance section, but not the one she wanted. We were on our way out the door when my mom spotted one on a cart near customer service. We looked around for someone who claimed the cart. No one. We moved the cart towards the checkout and called our husbands to see who was going to get the tree. My sister's husband didn't want to haul the tree back to Texas so I used my birthday money, saved since October, to buy a tree. It will look fabulous next year. It is put away with all the other Christmas decorations and we are making our way to normal again. Maybe I can get caught up on laundry and cleaning this week.

Praise God

We are really feeling God's hand on us this week. He has been merciful and blessed us tremendously.

1. Seth and Mindy were in an accident, but were within a mile of the best hospital for head injuries in the area. They would have life flighted Seth to this hospital if necessary.

2. DS's injury was pretty minor and he seems to be doing well.

3. No one else was hurt.

4. My sister and her husband were already on their way to Arkansas when we got word, and arrived quickly to lend support and comfort.

5. Seth was moved out of ICU yesterday and into a regular room.

6. Today they had him up and walking around and he got along okay, making two laps around the square.

7. The CAT scan this morning revealed improving conditions.

8. Their house has been on the market for several months, and they put an ad in the paper recently to rent it, and this morning got a promising call, and the people who looked at it will probably rent it.

10. Shan and I went ahead with our holiday plans to his parents and made it ahead of the snow storm that hit our area today.

God is so good. May we all feel His peace and joy at Christmas.

Merry Christmas everyone!

Pray Please

I should have blogged this last night but didn't think of it. My sister and her family were in a car accident last evening. She and the kids seem fine for the most part, my nephew DS has a mouth injury but he went home last night. My brother-in-law Seth is in intensive care with a head injury. He has swelling on the brain and some bleeding. He is conscious, aware, and we are cautiously optimistic as to his prognosis. He was driving and has skull fractures in both temporal bones and the base of his skull. So at this point we are thankful that things aren't worse. We fired up the prayer chain at church and among family. It is amazing to see God's answer even to this point. Seth isn't out of the woods, but they are hopeful that he will be soon. Please lift him up this week and my sister Mindy as she is dealing with him and three kids six and under.

My kids crack me up

Me: I said add a little bit, that is more than enough.

Jo: Mama, did you know that I'm just little and sometimes I don't know what a little bit is?


Oh my goodness. That made me laugh out loud. Isn't she funny?



Letter from Je:

Dear Mom and Dad,

I have been good this ye!

Love Je***