School Days

I've learned that sometimes my husband has a clue. Intellectually speaking, I knew May is a busy month for many people. End-of-school-year activities and all that. I vaguely remember being a little busier when I was teaching in May. Now, that I am a parent of a school kid, I am dazed. It is a lot of stuff. Really. Field trips, programs, volunteer appreciation days, teacher appreciation days, and Field Day, not to be confused with Field trips. Jo has the end of preschool picnic on the same day as Je Field Day. I was really stressed trying to figure out how to be at both activities. The picnic is for parents to come, and the Field Day needs parent volunteers to help. My husband, (not usually this logical) suggested that I go to field day a little late, after I drop Jo off at preschool, and then, sneak out a little early, to go picnic. Seriously. How simple is that. I cannot believe I was so stressed when it is an easy solution. I emailed the coordinator for Field Day and told her my plan. She said no problem, she was just glad to have the help for part of the day. Now if every scheduling conflict could be this easy. May looks hectic already.

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.

WFMW-Hair bows

One of the things I like to do is use frou frouy hair bows for my kids. Since they both have hair...I mean a lot of hair...it is a challenge to get things to stay. Most cute hair things don't stay in very well. I like Gymboree's elastic bands with the curly ribbon. Elastic bands stay the best in their hair. Especially the very thick Je's hair. I have used the barrettes over plain rubber bands, but they come out sometimes. My problem is, that Gymboree hair things are expensive. Full price is $4-5 for one set. Given the number of color options that could be some serious money. I found plain white plastic barrettes on ebay, and began sewing ribbon bows on the barrettes, but since barrettes are less durable than rubber bands, they don't hold up as well. Last week, I was at Walmart and found some cute ribbon with softballs on it. Je has started softball this year, and since she is a little reluctant, I thought new hair bows might be nice. I bought some thick elastic bands, and some ribbon in her team color, lime green. It was at the Target $1 shop for scrapbooking. The set I bought had several designs, with lime green and other colors, in stripes and polka dots. I decided to try to make bows on elastic bands.

First I took one of our favorites for a pattern. Then, I laid out 10 strips of ribbon and cut them about 8 inches long. I laid the strips on top of each other, folded them over the elastic, and stitched right above the elastic band. I sprayed the ribbon with spray starch, then used a micro (1/2 inch) curling iron to curl the ribbon. It works best after the starch has dried.

And....


Voila....












I found directions online for curling fabric ribbon permanently. Instead of pins, I used wooden springed clothes pins. I think they worked pretty well. I also melted the raw edge of the ribbons to prevent fraying. I held the grill lighter close to the ribbon, but not close enough to burn it. The down side is that you have to curl the ribbon before attaching it to the band. I didn't do that so I improvised with the curling iron. I tried the curling technique using dowel rods and the oven, and it worked very well. I made another set after this one with that ribbon. It was a little harder to get the lengths even, but the finished result was pretty good.
I only used six strips of ribbon after I curled them. I was afraid if I did more I would have trouble controlling the ribbon. Next time I will try ribbon all the same width and try more strips. I wanted to do it with what I had on hand. All in all, I am pretty happy with the results. I definitely will try this again, to match the girls outfits. I know it is anal but...I like things to match. It works for me!

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.

So she really doesn't like her bed

This is the sight that greeted me as I went upstairs at halftime. I had to step over her to get the camera. Notice the lovely 4th of July sock on her one foot. Classic really. She's been particularly hard to get to bed recently. Maybe I should have offered her the kitchen floor days ago.

I think I mentioned Mark Schultz in the post about the Extrodinary Women Conference. I brought back a CD for Shan, and he has been playing it almost non-stop since I got back. I enjoy it as well, so I've been playing it a lot too. When Jo and I got in the car to meet my mom for lunch yesterday she asked for a specific song,

"make a little noise for the Lord"

. It is a phrase from the intro to When you Give I couldn't find that song on playlist.com but I added all the Mark Schultz music I could find on there. I will leave it up for a while so if you aren't familiar with this guy you can listen. He is a Kansas native so give him a listen.

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.

Funny Kurt!

Our mechanic is a friend. His son wrestled for Shannon for four years before graduating last year, and he and his wife are wonderful people. When our previous mechanic missed a couple of repairs we switched to Kurt. Our car dealer gave us a free oil change, and then I had to have some minor warranty work done, so I haven't had the van in to our mechanic. Shan's pickup needed an oil change and a little work on the gearshift, so he took it in this morning and I picked him up before our day. We got donuts and took the girls to the zoo. We were taking advantage of the nice weather and spring break. This afternoon we went back to pick up the truck. Kurt was just closing down for the day, and was outside the shop when we got there. Shan went in and I got out to get in the driver's side of the van. He hollered a greeting over. A few minutes later I he walked over:

K: "You didn't get rid of your jeep did you?"

Me: "Yeah, it was time"

K: "Man, I still have a kid to put through school"



Very funny, Kurt. That's why we got rid of it, it was keeping mechanics in business.

Extraordinary Women

I attended this conference over the weekend and had a fabulous time. My BF Ellen and I left the kids with our husbands and took a road trip to Tulsa. It was an adventure. We were a bit late getting to the auditorium because of of typo on the ticket address, but we made it in time for the last of the praise and worship time and for all of the speaker. We took Ellen's GPS since ours had to be mailed in for service, and she had entered the address from the back of the ticket. She had pre-entered the destinations before our trip so we didn't have to worry. I had printed out maps from Yahoo, but since she had the GPS I didn't even look at them. The ticket had a misprint. Instead of 7777 South Lewis Ave. it directed us to 777 South Lewis Ave. The correct venue was the Mabee Center at Oral Roberts Univ. and we ended up at a liquor store in a very seedy neighborhood. It gave us quite a trip to turn around and get back, but we made it. It was such an invigorating conference.

The theme this year for Extraordinary Women is "Discovering God's Dream" the theme verse from Jeremiah 29:11:

For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

I have only recently become aware of this verse. I have claimed it for this year. And as is usually the case, when God wants me to learn something, He puts it in my path repeatedly.

We had such a good weekend and it was refreshing. What an experience to worship God with 3000 other women. It was reminiscent of Calvin (RP International Conference), but shorter and with only women in attendance it was a little different dynamic.

We also got to hear from some incredible musicians over the weekend. The praise and worship team was very talented and very energetic. The highlight for me was the two concerts. Friday night, Richie McDonald performed. He was the lead singer for Lonestar, a country group, until last year when he felt that God was calling him to switch gears to a solo career so he could be a more full time family man. He and his wife have three young children, and he noticed how fast his oldest son was reaching toward manhood. He wanted to be more of a day to day presence.

Saturday, we had the privilege of hearing Mark Schultz. He mentioned that he graduated from K-State and grew up in Kansas. I knew Shan would enjoy his music, so I bought him a CD. I had a chance to meet him, and Ellen asked where in Kansas he was from. Turns out, he is from Colby, and was in school at the Community College there at the same time Shan and his sister attended. His sister even sang with him in the college music group. Now I wish I had known that before I met him. Shan really likes the CD I bought for him so that is good.

My sister, a brand new blogger, chided me yesterday on the lack of postage around here. It has been either feast or famine in the material area. Either I have nothing to post, or too much to post and no time to do it. I thought I would share this little story and the lesson I learned from it.

Last week, my friend e- had a minor urgent need for childcare after Bible Study. I had plans that could easily include a couple more so I agreed to take one boy with me to pick up the other boy at home on my way to help my mom with a rental house. As we drove over, Jo asked me if the truck next to us was a chip truck. I looked and sure enough it had Doritos on the side. The three children began talking about a love of Doritos. Typical conversation for the younger set. Older boy said that he can't stop eating them until they are all gone. Which led to a discussion of how sad that is. Then he remembered that "if you are a Christian you can ask God and He will give you more Doritos" I am not making this up. He is six. He said that he is a Christian so he just asks God for Doritos. Jo said, "I am a Christian so I can do that, too" This conversation went on for a bit. (Neither Older Boy or Jo sees a need to say things once when 25 times will do) Then Youngest Boy (he's 3) chipped in, "I a Christian!" So I guess he can get Doritos too.

Now the lesson I learned here is a reminder of faith like a child. They believe that God will provide for them. They believe that all they have to do is believe and ask. Nothing more complicated than that.

Can't it be as simple as I believe: I am a Christian. For those kids it is. I doubt that any of them will remember that conversation. I will.

Odds and Ends

Well finally the end is in site. This weekend is the state wrestling tournament in Wichita. Again this year the in-laws are meeting me there so I get a nice break and a mini vacation in a hotel. The down side? It is in Wichita. They are bringing my niece and nephew with them for the weekend so even more babysitters since the kids are 12 and 9.

Je has had an ear infection this week. We went to the doctor for an ear infection in January, and thought it cleared up. Thursday morning she woke up in pain. I don't mess with ears so as soon as the doctor's office opened at 8 I called to get her in. Fortunately we could see the doctor at 11 so that wasn't so long to wait. Je was already out of school for parent teacher conferences so that was easy. The doctor gave her a stronger antibiotic and hopefully that will help.

Our first pastoral candidate came earlier this month. I thoroughly enjoyed getting better acquainted with them. We had them to lunch and their kids are about the same ages as ours so they really hit it off.

We have had more than our fair share of snow this winter. We've just gotten slammed. I love it. Snow is my friend. If I could convince my whole family, I would move to somewhere that gets snow in feet rather than inches.

I haven't been real productive lately. The winter blahs, I guess. Or it could be that wrestling season is SOOOOOOOOOO LOOOOONG! But it is almost over!


Of course, Shan is taking a class right now so he will still be very busy. And it's time to gear up for VBS!

Snow Shoveler

Shan spent almost 4 hours cleaning the driveway with a little help. She came in a couple times to warm up, have hot chocolate, eat lunch, dry off. Daddy worked steadily from 10-1:30 -1:45. The driveway looks great, and the kids helped. They enjoyed their snow day with Daddy.

It's Over!

The Streak is O!V!E!R! After 24 long years, K-State finally beat KU at home. Bramlage Collesium is no longer simply Allen Fieldhouse West, but a place where KU can lose. AND DID! This makes the sad football season last fall almost bearable. We can be happy fans now. It certainly felt like more than two years since K-State beat KU, but it's true, I looked it up. We won in Allen in 2006. But to lose at home for 24 straight games is embarassing. Reagan was president, cell phones were brand new. None of the current players were even born yet. I better stop, that isn't a good memory, it makes me feel old.

Mood Music

Did you notice the new atmosphere on the blog? I found a site that allows me to compile a playlist and then attach it to the blog. Right now I have it set on random but another blog I read, puts a theme song to go with some of her posts on top so it plays first whenever someone opens her blog. If you want to create your own playlist click the link above or the one on the player. You don't have to have a blog to post to, just open it up from any internet connected computer and background music. It doesn't have all the music I've searched for, or Mom or Shan searched for. It seems to find songs posted on websites and then play them from there. It has quite a selection so I think it works pretty well.

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.

2008

I always like a fresh start. Monday's always seem like a fresh start, a new beginning. When the new year doesn't begin on Monday, I usually wait until the next Monday to begin any new routines or plans. Any resoulutions are best kept when started at the start of a week. As I was saying in the previous post, Christmas lasts a while in my house, so I have to get it finished before starting a new year. This year I am going to meditate on two verses.

For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Jeremiah 29:11

I really like this verse. It is a great comfort to me as I impatiently want to know what that hope and future are and get frustrated not knowing and wanting the answers now, not later. I pray that I can rest in peace knowing that I may not know, I don't need to know, God knows.

May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing to you, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer. Psalm 19:14

I pray that I will live this. How many times do I say things or think things best left unsaid or un thought. How much happier would I be if I lived this?

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.

Looking Back and Forward

I keep recalling what I learned in college and finding it continues to apply to my life even now, almost 10 years after graduation. Each semester, I would go to my new classes and listen as the professor would outline the coming semester and the requirements for the course. At least one class each semester would have projects and requirements that I would think were beyond me. "No way I can do that," I would think. Of course at the time I would know that I had no choice but to try, so I would dig in and do it as best I could. At the end of the semester, I would look at the completed project and find that I actually could do whatever the professor required. About halfway through college God spoke to me about it. He made me realize that new things are intimidating but nothing I am asked to do, accademically, spiritually, practically, etc, is beyond me if He wants me to do it. It is easy to get discouraged or afraid but God gives us what we need to do what He asks us to do. The wisdom God gave me in college to handle my coursework, has served me well in the life He has given me since. Teaching, parenting, marriage, housework, church work, these are all things that provide challenges to us and sometimes seem overwhelming. It has become important to me to remember that if God has given me a task He will give me what I need to accomplish it. Praise the Lord for his wonderful provision for us.

19And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ. Jesus

Philipian 4:19