Shattered Glass and Wonderful People

Well, let's just get right to the point, shall we? I shattered my parents' very large front window today by accident. Never mind how I managed to do that. It was just one of those weird freak accidents.

The point here is that it could have been SO much worse. Most importantly, none of the kids were hurt, and they were all standing right there. Oliver was in his car seat just inches away.(That's blessing #1) I was cut several places, but nothing that required more than tweezers and bandages. It could have taken my fingers! (#2) I seriously just stood there bleeding for a second, unable to comprehend that the window was broken. I guess that is better than having a panic attack.

The third blessing for the day comes in the form of sweet friends. To everyone out there (anyone?) I recommend Griffin Glass. Thanks, guys! I called the regular # and got no answer, so I called Suzanne at home. Apparently Saturday is a regular work day for Allen and he'd already been gone all day. I'm sure I made him very late for dinner, but he went right over to my parent's house to get the window frame and give me an estimate. SO nice!!

The fourth wonderful blessing today is my parents. Such sweet understanding people!! My folks weren't home at the time, and I just dreaded calling my dad to let him know what had happened. I shouldn't have worried so much. His first concern was that no one was hurt. Then he thanked me for taking care of the matter and calling the glass place. Thanked me! I broke the window! I love my parents. People always matter more to them than things, and this is just another example. I need to follow that example, and not get bent out of shape if the kids accidentally spill something or ruin clothes or whatever. It's just not that important. Relationships endure.

So, what could have been the last straw for the day, ultimately made me realize that I'm a very blessed person. God is watching out for me. I have precious children that were safe, precious friends who helped in a time of need, and precious parents who are extremely caring and forgiving. God lets bad things happen for a reason sometimes. I know, I know, It's just a broken window. I have never denied being a little melodramatic!

Visiting Noni and Poppy's house

Football-Fanatic Friday

Freddy Friday


My hubby is getting psyched about football starting soon. He's planning out his fantasy football, and preparing the get Becks (?) magazine thing and the football game point thing through yahoo. Soon it will be football, football, football on every day in this house. It could be worse, so I'm not complaining. At least he doesn't play golf! HA!

I've decided to shorten everyone in my family. They will now be I, E, Mr. T and baby BigO.

I'm starting to stress a little about school starting next month. AGH!!! I never have everything together in time, mainly because I don't anticipate what needs to be put together beforehand. I do have a tentative MOTH schedule in place. I just wrote out our morning routine, too, which consists of saying the pledge, singing the ABCs (for Mr.T's benefit), counting to 100, finding states on the map, naming the seven continents, and so forth. I figure if we do this every morning, it will become easy for the kids to remember everything. I'd like to start with our state and capital the first day and then add one each day.

Anyway, I do have our other curriculums opened and ready. But the thought of getting each next day's assignments and materials ready is scary. I already get behind on the house. (And I'm nursing right now, so I have that excuse to not be folding laundry!)

I'm also behind on bills. In fact, I haven't even looked at them. I told hubby that it would be his responsibilty now. He agreed to that, but he hasn't looked at them either. It's a good thing we have mostly automatic drafts, and the money in the bank to pay them!!

And painting. I'll add that to my "behind list." My bedroom walls are finally done, thanks to my Mom!! YEA! But only half of my furniture is done. It will all be white when I get done with it.

I need a better focus for today: Swimming. It's Member Appreciation Night, so we will go to that. It's going to be my light at the end of the tunnel. Lots more to say, lots of thoughts and things going on, but I'm done nursing now, so I'd better get hoppin'.

A New Tree in the Woods

Here is my Mom holding Scarlett.

Potty training woes

Wendy:Mr. T, Let's try to go potty now.

T: Okay, Mommy. (runs to the bathroom)

Wendy: Hop up on the potty and try to go.

T: Can I stick my hand in the potty?

Wendy: no, the potty is not for your hands, it's just to go pee-pee and poo-poo.

T: Can I get the pee-pee? (as he starts to reach into the potty)

Wendy: NO, Honey, just sit down and try to go pee-pee.

T: It's broken (as he points down at himself)

Wendy: No, it's not broken. When you need to go pee-pee you will be able to. Just come in here to go.

T: Can I stick my hand in the potty?

And so the conversation went...
Then he made a "whishing" sound effect and announced very excitedly that he had gone pee-pee. (He hadn't) Hmmm... this is my third time around with the potty, so you'd think I'd have this down by now. My Mom claims that she just put us in long dresses and told us not to pee on them, and that was the extent of her potty training. I believe her.

Baby Boom

In lighter and more upbeat news, my sister gave birth to a beautiful little girl today. Jules said it was an incredibly easy delivery. She was dilated to a 10 and ready to push about an hour before her doctor could make it out of surgery. So she played poker with her husband to pass the time... while she was completely dilated! Craziness! It's a good thing the doctor got there when he did because she was about to take all of Adam's chips! ;-) That's one dedicated poker player!

After just 1 1/2 pushes (YES, that's what I said!), baby S arrived. Yeah for the miracle of childbirth. It just amazes me every time, to see those precious little fingers and toes, and a beautiful red little puckered face. So sweet.

I didn't actually get to hold my new little niece. She had just been taken for a bath and foot prints, etc when I got there, and I couldn't stay long. I did get to see her in the nursery, from a distance, and I looked through all of the photos on Jules's camera. Anyway, I'm excited for them!!

frustration

I am tired, but I have so much on my mind, and I'm never alone to even hear myself think. There are always little people needing me to hold them, or break up a fight, explain a word, and so forth. I love my children dearly, but there are times when I just need to be alone. I need quiet. I need no one touching me for a while! But then I look around at my not-so-clean house and I have to make a choice. Will I spend this time cleaning up or will I relax? I want a clean house. In fact, I so badly want order to the chaos that I sometimes think it will drive me crazy.

A few minutes ago, when I was deleting old emails, I came across a personality test. I am an ENFJ (Extraverted iNtuitive Feeling Judging OR "Extraverted Feeling with Introverted Intuition".) It says, "ENFJs like for things to be well-organized, and will work hard at maintaining structure and resolving ambiguity. They have a tendency to be fussy, especially with their home environments." Ah, yes. That’s me. Fussy. I have four little children, but I want the house clean when I wake up.

A sweet friend of mine gave me an article in the local paper. "A divided heart?" It's a good one. The author says the only thing she can completely devote herself to, with no part being wasted, is Jesus Christ. She quotes Matthew 6:33, "But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you." This is worth a try! Am I focusing my energy on living to serve and glorify God? Will everything else just fall into place? Can I relinquish my control and hand it over to Someone who really does know better than me? Pray that I can.

Shepherding a Child's Heart

I love this Thursday book study and the people in it. I just come away feeling encouraged. I'm glad I'm not the only one who struggles with disciplining in a lovinga nd consistent way. I'm not the only one who gets behind on laundry and deals with CHAOS (Can't Have Anyone Over Syndrome). It's hard to juggle the kids activities, school work, church, housework, husband time, meals, and so forth. Sometimes the most important things go by the wayside. I want to do the "most important things", but I know that the dishes and laundry also have to be done. It's a blessing to my family to keep things clean and organized, but it is also a blessing to them when I don't stress so much about a little bit of clutter. Anyway, after a rough day it sure was nice to sit down and eat and visit with friends. I think the kids enjoyed the break from me, too. ;) We didn't go swimming today, and that always makes the day drag on a bit. I'd love to just stay outside all the time, even in the heat, but I can't do that with babyO.
Well, better get to bed (after I shine my sink!) so I will wake up happy, And, hopefully, Mr.T won't wake me up at 5am again!

This past GOOD week

This has been a good week.
My aunt, uncle, and cousins were in town from TN. The kids had a blast with my 17-year old cousin, Wallace. We went swimming with them twice at the aquatic center.I'm not sure who was more worn out at the end of the day, Wallace or Isabelle.

The kids also had Sports Crusader soccer camp this week. Lots of fun, and they were able to get their energy out each day. The timing was great, too, because Trevor always naps at about 1pm, so I was able to get some housecleaning in. The awards ceremony was yesterday. It wasn't very well organized, but I'm glad the kids got certificates, T-shirts with Scripture verses and NIV sports Bibles.

The biggest PRAISE of all is that my Mimi's surgery was successful. This has given her a new lease on life. She is such a tough woman, so full of life and energy. Today is her 70th birthday, but I still don't think of her as old. Her surgery yesterday lasted 4 1/2 hours, to remove 1/2 of her pancreas, her gall bladder, duodenum, and the ducts leading away from the pancreas. Her ability to prodice insulin is gone now. But her recovery already is going great. They expected her to be in ICU for at least 2 days, and she was able to move out at 9pm last night. PRAISE! She is talking and in good spirits. Thank you, Lord.




So I would call this a GOOD week!

Noni's photo shoot of Mr. T

Mr. T stayed with Noni (my mom) today while I went to the kids' soccer awards. It looks like he had lots of fun. I don't usually let him climb into a soapy sink at home, so I'm sure this was a special treat for him. I'm glad Noni got pictures. :-)
More soon on the past week. I have some good soccer camp pictures, pool photos with my cousins, and even some of me and Amy. I'll write about my week, too, if I ever get the time. Tomorrow hubby will be gone all day, and I'm not sure what I'll do with the kids. Maybe more swimming....

Poor Daddy!

Hubby decided to lift weights at his Dad's house. He hoisted up about 180 lbs on the benchpress. In comes Mr. T. Now, anyone who knows T at all doesn't have to guess what happened next. He sauntered up to his daddy, lying there on the bench, and he wound up his little arm and socked his daddy right in the groin! OW!!! It's a miracle that hubby didn't drop that weight and kill himself.
All I can say is that it's a good thing we love that little bugger so much. Here's an older picture of him. It's a memorable moment. He went and put a helmet on and climbed up on the kitchen table, prepared to launch. This was a year ago, so he was only about 18-months old!

Also note that he is standing on a glass table. Thankfully, he didn't fall through that one. He did fall through our glass living room table just a few months before that was taken, though. I think this child has extra guardian angels.

Devil's Den

I had a great time yesterday going to PFChangs and shopping with my two younger sisters. We never seem to be able to get together anymore. Amy is still in college and Jules has an almost-2-year old and a baby girl due in three weeks. We all lead busy lives. Anyway, I'd never eaten at that restuarant before and it was really, really good, especially considering that I don't usually care for Chinese. After eating, we shopped around Promenade. Jules and Amy helped me choose some cute clothes to get with my remaining birthday money. Who am I kidding? They picked out the clothes and then told me what looked good. I'm no good at fashion. ;-)

Today was a fun day, too. This morning we left the house at 8:30 to go to Devil's Den. My folks came with us, which is always a nice treat for the kids. All of the kids did really well hiking. I and Mr. T enjoyed going through the caves with Noni, Poppy, and their daddy, but E was too nervous this time. He stayed with me and Baby O, looking for snake holes and salamanders. We did find one salamander and a small red frog. He was fascinated. Then we ate a picnic lunch and waded by the waterfall. Another incredible day in the beautiful outdoors. God painted and sculpted such a gorgeous world for us!! I could stay outside all day, I think.
We got home and I nursed the baby, and then we headed out to hubby's dad's chicken farm to frog-hunt and visit. IT was a short visit this time.
Fun day, but I'm tired. Seems like I have hardly been home. I enjoy going and doing fun things, but I sure get behind on the laundry and dishes! he, he, as if I care...

4th (and 5th) of July mini-vacation in Tulsa

We had a wonderful mini-vacation in tulsa for two days. We went to the zoo on the 4th. The kids always enjoy looking at the animals.

Afterwards we went to our hotel. The pool there was great!!--the warmest pool water I've ever been in. We decided it was time to let babyO try on his swimsuit for the first time. He loves baths, so we figured he'd be happy about it. Well, he was so content and relaxed that he just fell asleep in the water! Such an incredibly happy, easy baby. The "big kids" enjoyed the water, too. I and E totally wore themselves out swimming laps. We all slept well, got up and ate breakfast and then went swimming again in the hotel pool... and then we went to Big Splash when it opened at 10am. So much fun! It was a perfectly sunny and warm day, and we didn't get one drop of rain until we were leaving, 6 hours later. This turned out to be our best mini-vacation ever! And I'm glad that my folks were able to come with us and help entertain the kids so much.

tryin' this again

I've heard that blogspot is much easier to work with (and free for extra features like posting links), so I'm going to give it a try. Especially since so many people use blogspot (thanks for your inspiration Tob, Suzanne, and Wally).