Homecoming

Can I just tell you about my morning??  Awful, awful, awful.  First, I barely slept last night.  Though I was super excited to feel the baby move for the first time, I could never find a comfortable position.  Second, two outfits I tried on this morning didn’t fit.  Then, my hair would not do anything so I had to pin it in this awful ponytail.  I also discovered I have completely lost my wedding bands.  I have no idea where they are!?!  I have looked everywhere.  This continues to be a source of worry for me because in my state of forgetfulness I could have accidentally thrown them in the trash... or worse one of my students thought they were part of the prize box... or even worse they could have been stuck in my Long John Silver’s tray and I could have ate them!

Despite my terrible, horrible, no good, rotten morning it has been such a wonderful day.  Today we had church at the Mountain Recreational State Park.  The scenery was so gorgeous, the weather was perfect Fall, the sermon was so good, and the fellowship was a lot of fun.  After we had sandwiches, we joined up with another family and took a hike through some of the trails.  With the exception of my labored breathing, we all had a good time laughing and joking.    

We only had one little problem…when Connor (who is TERRIFIED of heights) realized how high we had gotten he grabbed a hold of me (5 months pregnant here) on the slippery rocks and refused to let go.  He was screaming in my ear like a boy getting slaughtered, ‘GET ME DOWN, GET ME DOWN’!!!  I said “child we are both about to GO DOWN in a broken leg kind of way!”  Everyone was staring and he was pulling and I was holding onto the railing for dear life.  It took his dad three tries to get him off me.

On the way home we saw several bridges with patriotic signs and flags.  Darren reminded me Cpl. Josh Kerns will be returning home today.  Josh Kerns is a young marine who was ‘severely injured by an improvised explosive device in Afghanistan’.  He has undergone numerous surgeries and procedures.  As a result ‘the IED blast cost the 2008 highschool graduate the loss of both legs below the knees and his right arm below the elbow, among other severe injuries’.

 As we approached our exit we noticed no one was there except for a fire truck and rescue workers.  Darren said ‘let’s run home and get Connor's American Flag and watch them.’  I said ‘but nobody else is out here’.  Darren looked at me like ‘first when does this family ever do what other people do’ and then he said ‘it doesn’t matter this guy needs all our respect, prayers, and good wishes…if this were Lindsay Lohan there would be a million people here’.  My husband is a pretty smart fellow most days!  We ran home and got the flag and pulled into a grassy spot. I started to wave the flag like crazy.   

Connor stayed in the car because he was scared of the loud motorcycle noises 

and Darren walked over to the bridge.  The next thing we know…two more cars followed our lead…

then two more and the whole bridge was filled!

A few minutes later we got to proudly watch Josh Kerns return home, escorted by a 100  motorcycle convoy of the Patriot Guard Riders!   

It was really cool to watch everyone waving, beeping, and bringing home this special young man who served for us!   God Bless Josh, and God Bless all of our men and women who risk their lives for our freedoms.

 So you know I had a pretty awesome day…I just hope those wedding bands turn up.

Lost

Connor and I went to the mall on a hunt for discount Scooby Doo movies.  We didn’t find what we were looking for, but I picked up a few things and got in line.  Apparently Connor thought we were walking out the door because he kept walking.  I was so involved in finding my debit card and moving through the line that I didn’t notice he wasn’t beside me.  It wasn’t until I went through the line that I noticed he wasn’t with me.  I panicked and started to call out his name.  It was about that same time that I heard a little boy crying and frantically screaming Mommmm! I looked through the glass of the store and noticed him by the entrance to the mall.  Two things stood out.  First the look on his little face.  He looked completely terrified.  He was crying and looking around for me.  He also wasn’t shy about screaming to the top of his lungs…he was scared!  That look still makes me want to cry thinking about it right now.

The second thing that stood out for me was that the mall was full of onlookers who did nothing to question why a small boy would be screaming and crying.  People stared but didn’t stop or even try to get him to step away from the entrance.  Two women laughed as they passed him.  As soon I spotted him I mowed down two people to get to him, and I immediately scooped him up and held him on my lap for a full ten minutes.  I don’t know if people think the way I think, but visions of him really being carried off or getting lost for a long time went through my mind.  I was in near tears also.  Connor just grasped my shoulders like I was the best thing in the world and he cried… not saying a word.  I told him he did the right thing and if he is ever lost again to scream his head off.  He seemed embarrassed, but I told him he was brave.  We went to get a little chocolate ice cream, but he didn’t even eat much.  I think the fact he was so quiet and not eating showed how traumatized he was for that few minutes.  He later talked about it a lot… ‘Malls are scary placed to get lost, not like at your house where you know where everything is!’  True.  I’m sure the situation was so terrifying to me because I tend to be emotional, but that glance of a lost and helpless child doesn’t leave your mind easily.  I have hugged him at least a half dozen times today just thinking about the situation and how many children are abducted in this country.  I know many people don’t want to get ‘involved’, but I hope if you see a child upset or screaming (whether they are alone or not) you should watch the situation to see if you need to call for help or at least talk to the child and see if there is something wrong.  It only takes a minute and it could really be helpful.

You May be a Pregnant Person If...

You May be a Pregnant Person If…..

·         -You tried using your cell phone three times only to realize it isn’t turned on.

·         -Your 12 hour bra gives out 4 hours early (and forget about the ‘support’ hose).

·         -You are ‘barefoot and pregnant’ because they don’t make shoes in extra short and triple wide.

·         -During prayer and praise request in church, your response is, “Tyler that is so wonderful, Praise the Lord!” and Tyler’s response is, “I just requested prayer because I was stung by a bee!?!  And I’m allergic to bees!?  SO why are you praising the Lord??”  My response, ‘ummmm, because your alive! Praise the Lord! You’re alive!” [quick save, right?]

·         -You write a Facebook message that reads like this ….i will found that righting i here about… (Interpretation-I will find that writing I heard about…).  Don’t worry I deleted it as soon as I read it….. three days later.

·         -Gas pains are enough to leave you knelling on the floor.

·         -You have to add things like ‘shower’ and ‘brush teeth’ to your list of things to do.

·         -Dinner may be a creative mix of white bread, potato chips, and Lucky Charms.

·         -You actually have to weigh the pros and cons of dragging yourself off the couch to take the Lysol and matches out of your other child’s hands.

·        -Long John Silver fried crunchies taste like Fillet Mignon.

·         -You secretly want to wear a shirt that says ‘THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS WHEN I PARTY NAKED!’  (For shock value of course.)

·                                           -You would like to globally request that people please 1. Spare you the worst birth stories they have ever heard, such as, I labored for 20 hours and the docs could not give me meds so I passed out and was cut open while I still felt it!  2. Quit telling me what to eat.  3.  Don't guess the sex of the baby based on the way that I ‘carry your weight’. FYI- I have carried my weight in the same places since I was six..ALL over.

-               -Doctor’s appointments become the NEW anticipation, though worrisome, growing a human is exciting stuff!

*special blogger note:  Comments such as 'wait until the baby gets here, then life really will be hell on earth' DOES not help the one who is pregnant.  These comments are not useful, smart, or nice. thank you very much.

Happy Birthday Connor

This may be a day late, but I seem to be running about three days behind so I am doing good....

Happy Birthday to a fantastic, imaginative, unique, funny, and loving boy named CONNOR!

Connorisms:

-You say 'UP O' instead of 'Uh Oh'

-You call the wrestler Hack Saw Jim Duggan....Hot Sauce Jim Duggan

-You say 'myskerious' for 'mysterious'.

-"Mom why do you fix this?  You know Texas Walker Ranger doesn't eat green beans!"

-"I just paid one hundred and forty four dollars and forty five cents for this hair, so you can't brush it!"

-Mom:  "Why do you like snakes and not spiders?"

C:  "Spiders bite and pinch.  Snakes only bite."

-"Why does God want us to be quiet in church?"

-C: "That girl gave me the wills (willys)!  Dad: "What does the wills mean?"  C:  "Dad! it mean (sic) she make me nervous!'

-C: "I'm a lifeguard now."  Mom:  "But you can't swim."  C: "Lifeguards sit in a chair not swim."

-Mom: "Quit talking your teacher's head off!"  C: looks at the teacher.  "She still has her head."

-"You are driving my nuts!" 

(You are driving me nuts)

What a difference one word makes. :)

Goodbye Summer

I hope everyone is having a relaxing Labor Day.  Now it's time to say Good-Bye to Summer (sniff, sniff) and Hello to Fall!

Goodbye....

Summer Reading Program

Sack Race

 

Angry because you didn't win the sack race.....

Summer Rides

Free Library Shows

NY Mission Trip

Summer Baptism

Dancing and Music at the Park

Slip n' Slide on a Hot Day

Swinging All Day

Walking up Main St. to the Candy Shop

Day Trips

Reading and Lounging

Napping

World's Worst Criminal??

So as I many of my friends know....a couple of weeks back I found my VERY expensive and VERY precious camera on the deck ALL night long from a very long and hard rain.  Basically the camera does not work half the time.  Of course after interrogating my son about it he swore up and down HE never took the camera on the deck and he doesn't know anything about it.  Perhaps it was dad (way tooo tight to place an expensive camera outside), perhaps it was the dog (no way could his paws do it),  perhaps it was YOU mom (OK this could really be a possibility, I am losing my mind these days).  Imagine my surprise when I finally pulled the memory card today and there was a VERY incriminating video.  Needless to say, my son is the World's Worst Criminal.  

Exhibit A- The defendant was last seen with my camera on THE DECK.  Guilty as charged. (never underestimate a mom's investigative skills)!

O' What a Happy Day

Have you ever reconnected with someone you went to high school with... that you would never in a million years think you would?  That is my situation with JJ.  Even though she was nice and I was nice, we ran in different circles.  I was library geek who wore the same jogging pants all the time, and she was teen angst who used to hang around a lot of people that liked Kurt Cobain, so I don’t know why we weren’t BFFs because we would have made quite a pair.  We could have had lots of fun getting thrown off the breezeway and stuffed in a locker.  Luckily we reconnected this year through my FAVORITE mindless activity…Facebook.   Now that we are adults being geekish and having past teen angst is a good quality…it helps us teach better and we are creative thinkers!! (I’m going with that ok).   We have a lot in common and have been able to do a few things together this year…I just love making a new friend.

Today I joined JJ and her parents for church.  It was such a beautiful day for a service, sunny with a warm breeze.   It makes me sad that cold weather is around the corner.  Today was Rally Day at her church and JJ was dedicating herself to God and joining the church.  There were a few differences in this church and mine.  For one thing at breakfast they had little cake plates to eat off of.  The Baptist way is to have a huge Styrofoam tray so that you may pack at least 3,000 calories in gravy and biscuits on top of it.   Also, the handshaking lasted about 10 seconds versus the 10 full minutes us Baptist take to get all the details for the week from each other.  But, it was a beautiful service.  I loved the church dedication, the prayer of confession, and the music was beautiful.  Also, a gentleman received recognition for not missing one day of Sunday for 16 YEARS!!! Isn’t that amazing??  That is True Dedication to the Lord folks.  It makes me ashamed for the times I missed (for not great reasons).   I was really glad that I got to attend this service.

JJ has had a few hard years, that in my opinion, she has handled with grace.  Not only was she in a terrible car accident that left her with permanent damage to her leg, but she also endured losing her job in conditions that were very unfair.  As a result, JJ has had to endure rejection after working hard to secure job interviews, consistent unemployment, strict budget, sickness without health insurance, pain without medications, and other issues that so many in this country can currently relate.

Being the big sister type I sent her an email of encouragement, after all I see myself as the spiritually mature one after being a part of church and knowing God for over ten years.  I wrote something that read like-

I so admire you for your positive and sunny attitude.  Don’t worry God will be Faithful to you and I know everything will work out.  I plan to dedicate myself to praying for you…….

Her response read something like-

God has been faithful to me even when I was denying it. Even with everything that's going wrong, I feel like I will be okay just because I know that God will take care of everything. It's such a beautiful feeling!

Her response made me see 1.  that I wasn’t the spiritually mature one after all  2.  JJ already understood that God is not Faithful when things are going good, but God is Faithful to us all the time.  3.  It really is a great feeling!   I think if I were in her current position I would have a lot of anger and would probably just lie in my own self pity for a while, but JJ isn’t doing that.  She is opting to see the good and beauty in the world.   As the sermon reminded me today- … those who are faithful to God will see a new day when “never again will there be in it an infant who lives but few days, or an old man who does not live out his years, he who dies at a hundred will be thought a mere youth; he who fails to reach a hundred will be considered accursed.  They will build houses and dwell in them; they will plant vineyards and eat their fruit.”  -Isaiah 65:  20-21

What a happy day that will be!  And, thanks JJ for a great morning.