I'm so conflicted...

I've always been a strong advocate of public education. I know there are people who feel extremely passionate about one side or the other. I'm not wanting to really get into all of that here. I have so many great friends who are public school teachers. But, here lately, I've been convicted more than ever that it may be time to educate my children at home.

I am increasingly shocked at the stories and vocabulary that my children come home repeating. And, on top of that, I see so many of middle school and high school kids who are just making horrible choices.

And, if the influence of the other kids wasn't enough to convince me of the need to do something drastic, when I found out that one of my kid's teachers (a supposedly Christian teacher at that) had influenced my kid to do something as horrific as THIS...






















Seriously, what other choice do I have?

And, if you are wondering about the glasses...these two went with a friend to see the movie Bolt today!



Okay...I've gotta get back to packing! But, boy am I good at procrastination!

Aloha

We are spending today packing (which means we are first spending today washing undies!!) because tomorrow we leave for HAWAII!! So, I wanted to take a moment to apologize to all Hawaiians as well as other tourists that will be forced to look at my incredibly white legs! I do hope your sunglasses have some serious UV protection...the glare alone could cause retinal scarring! And, to the people who will be forced to sit in close proximity to any and all of my children on the 9 1/2 hour flight to Honolulu: I know...I feel your pain...and my excuse for that is, when you're raising 1/2 dozen children, some are bound to slip through the cracks! It's the law of averages!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone...we'll see you next weekend!

Insert Scream Here!

I'm not sure how to spell the actual sound that I would make if I could scream to the top of my lungs in frustration. But, if I knew how to spell it, I would type that sound right here...IN ALL CAPS! *sigh*

Sometimes it seems like I make my way to the surface just long enough to gasp for breath only to begin sinking to the depths of despair and frustration again.

I have been praying the words of Psalm 119:33-40 several times a day for about a week now. It begins, "Teach me, O Lord, to follow your decrees; then I will keep them to the end." I guess I didn't realize that God would do so by actually putting me into situations where I would get to practice following His decrees...against the extremely strong will of my flesh!

I am, quite frankly, one of the most stubborn people I know...and I know some seriously STUBBORN folk to be sure! I was hoping God would just change me in a *poof!* "be healed!" sort of way. But instead, I get the grind through forty different situations simultaneously sort of way.

I envy those whose faith seems to come easily. I bite, claw, fight, and wrestle my way toward truth and then usually fail the practical exam. But, I don't pray the words of that Psalm lightly. I sincerely long to delight in the things of the Lord. I desire a relationship with Him that causes the worthless things in life to actually appear worthless.

But I'm not even close. I still have much to be taught. So for now, I will sit in frustration...knowing the right thing to do...wishing I didn't have to do it. *Insert scream again here!*

Music and Vegetables

On Monday evening, we got the distinct privilege of attending JP's very first band concert (and by concert, I mean that 55 woodwind instrumentalist were squawking in some semblence of unison for what seemed like at least six weeks!). I had to hide my dread of this event because, for Jordan, it was a HUGE DEAL. We curled her hair and everything! Luckily, we didn't waste our time because she was planted exactly on the BACK ROW...couldn't even see the top of her head! But, had the audience been able to see her hair, it did indeed look fab!

In other news...
Last night, Leigh and James came over for dinner (as this is our Tuesday tradition). Wes was grilling some scrumdeliosis food while Leigh and I were visiting in the living room. Emma came into the room at some point and said, "I thought tonight was Taco Tuesday!" Then, under her breath in an extremely bummed way..."cause I totally see brocolli and carrots in there." That girl is definitely my child!

Happy Birthday, Sweet Abigail Faith...

Today, my second born turned 10! I don't know that I've ever had a kid more excited about a birthday than Abbee was about this one...the big 1-0. She has told perfect strangers and pretty much everyone she knows that she was turning 10. And today, it finally happened!

We celebrated with a small family gathering that was loads of fun. I bought her ten small gifts in honor of her big day and hid them throughout the house. Each came with a note and a clue as to what she was getting and where it was located. She had a blast running throughout the house finding her presents.




We had some special guests at the par-tay...guess who took this one!


Sarah "wrapped" Abbee's gift from her in her jacket!





In honor of Abbee's big day, here are the top ten reasons why I LOvE my Abbee-girl:
10. She broke down in tears after telling me she didn't really like chocolate skittles(that was one of her gifts tonight and she felt horrible telling me because she knew I had bought them for her and she didn't want to hurt my feelings!). The girl is super tender hearted!
9. She loves being rowdy and crazy...if you don't believe it, check out the scars on her knees sometime!
8. She actually uses her manners...ALMOST always!
7. I get at least 5 good-night kisses EVERY night. (This may very well be a procrastination technique, but I still come out the winner!)
6. She says the word drawings like "drawlings!"
5. She told me she'd wear her down for her school picture if I really wanted her to! (I didn't make her because I want evidence of the way she INSISTED on wearing her thick gorgeous hair every single day!)
4. She just said, "I can't tell you how many times I just want to say thank you for tonight. Thank you. Thanks. Really. It was the best birthday I've ever had!" She has said "thank you" countless times tonight...and she means it!
3. She can work flatulant humor into almost EVERY conversation.
2. Her smile is absolutely contagious!

And the number one reason I love my Abbee-Girl...
She is a precious gift from God who fills everyday with unfathomable joy!

Here is the note that was with her last gift:
Gift #10...the best for last...cause that's how old you are!
You've grown so much, it's kinda sad;
But, you're our shining star!
So keep on shining bright and clear,
And laugh and dance and play!
And grow in grace and love for Christ more each and every day.
He made you with a special plan...a purpose just for you.
So seek Him first in all you do,
And, HAPPY BIRTHDAY too!

So, Happy Birthday my sweet, sweet girl! I hope 10 is everything you dreamed it would be!

It's Like Rain on Your Wedding Day...and Other Such Randomness

On Monday, I came home from work and went straight to my workout...a weight training DVD that I use 2-3 times a week. About mid-way through the workout (which I was doing in my bedroom using my laptop as a DVD player), I looked at the chest of drawers where the laptop sat and noticed my drink cup from lunch...WINGSTOP! I found it slightly ironic that I was working out while sipping on the remains of my tea from WingStop...which really should be called Fry Stop because their fries are phenomenal!

Then, I'm looking at a Children's Ministry magazine and notice this headline on the cover: "Keeping Life Simple: 18 simple steps to take when life gets crazy." Seriously? Call me crazy but 18 steps seems pretty complicated to me!

And finally, my favorite kid quote this week actually comes from a guest we had in our home this evening. First, a little history. There is one piece of silverware that has caused more tension and timeouts in our home than any other. It is an apparently very special Donald Duck fork that we "take turns" using every night. It is just THAT special.

Tonight, Emma helped set the table and knowing tomorrow is a special day for Abbee, she purposely set the "fork extraordinaire" in Abbee's usual spot. However, when Abbee and Parker came to the table, Abbee scooted down one seat and allowed Parker to have her spot. Parker immediately picks up the Donald Duck fork and says (quite loundly), "Ah, COOL! A DONALD DORK F***!" (I wish I had captured this moment on video because the best part was the expression on Parker's and Abbee's faces when they realized what he had inadvertantly said!) It was fun-ny! So very funny that I spewed my tea right out of my mouth!

Thankfully, Emma and her friend TOTALLY missed the whole thing and spent the rest of dinner trying to figure out what in the world I thought was so funny! I still chuckle just thinking about it!

So, what can one learn from all this randomness? Tricep pushups will probably not remove excess baggage in the "wing" area if I continue to eat the nutrition that is WingStop. Also, if it takes 18 steps to remove chaos, it is no wonder most people's lives are so chaotic! And finally, when using ANY word that ends in "-uck" in combination with other words that end in anything, SLOW DOWN!

Powerless Politics

Yesterday, I came home with my two favorite five year olds and sat in the driveway for about 2 1/2 minutes pressing the garage door opener and watching in disbelief as nothing happened! Thinking my opener was broken and being the non-lazy person that I am, I got out of the van, unlocked the front door and then asked JW if he would run and push the garage door button from inside the garage. I climbed back in the van and waited at least another 2 1/2 minutes before finally killing the motor to go see what the heck was going on. I asked JW why he hadn't done as I asked and he informed me that he tried but it didn't work. Apparently, he saw no need to come inform me of this find as he and Luke were now on the trampoline jumping away! Because I'm also rather intelligent, it only took me another 2 1/2 minutes or so to realize that our power was OUT!

This continued to be the case well into the evening so I dug out every candle in my candle stash and lit the place "old fashioned" style! We had some serious candle-light flickering...and I've still got a slight headache from all the various aromas...total olfactory overload!

We had our traditional Tuesday night dinner plans with James and Leigh, so instead of cooking, we did a little Taco Tuesday take out! It was quite a sight...the ten of us eating by candle light! I wanted to snap a picture, but as luck would have it, my camera battery was also DEAD!

Anyway, we had a great evening of singing, dancing, and story-telling on the night that would have probably found us glued to the television watching the election results otherwise. At some point in the evening, James decided to check his iphone to see who was leading. After reporting that Obama had quite the margin on McCain, Emma (who up until this point had not seemed to be clued in to what was going on in the world) GASPED LOUDLY. She whined, "NOT OBAMA. IF HE WINS, WE WON'T HAVE ANYMORE RECESS AND HE WILL KILL ALL OF THE BABIES IN THEIR MOMA'S TUMMIES!" I said, "Who in the world told you that?" She replied (as if she were annoyed that I had asked), "People."

It's amazing how they gather bits and pieces of information from reliable second grade sources and form strong political opinions based on the only information they have! She added that "they" should have let the kids vote too because McCain won the election at her school!

All in all, going without power made for an AWESOME night with the family. We sat all aglow in the livingroom and, well, TALKED! Sometimes, losing a "necessity" can be a huge blessing in disguise!

Young Guns

Tonight, after bathing JW and drying him, I asked him to put on his jammies, brush his teeth, and take his clothes to the laundry room. I left the bathroom to clean the kitchen and pretty much forgot all about him and the instructions I had given until about 15 minutes later, when he comes waltzing through the kitchen, dirty clothes in tow, wearing only a pull-up and a smile.

Noticing how much time had passed since I had given him those three simple things to do, I asked him if he had already brushed his teeth. He shook his head no and said, "Not yet." I was slightly perturbed that he had spent so much time in the bathroom and had apparently only managed to get a pull-up on his body so I asked what any rational mom would ask in such perplexing times..."What in the world have you been doing for the last 15 minutes?"

His reply?...
"I've been looking at my muscles in the mirror!"

Now, who can punish a young man for checking out his guns? I sure couldn't! Gaging by the smile he was wearing, they must have been pretty impressive.

Perhaps next time, I can remind him to gaze at his muscles while his bath water is running so that it doesn't interfere with his bedtime!