Misc.

Homegroup just dismissed from our house a few minutes ago, and I am so pleased with the dynamics of our group. We are still discussing Velvet Elvis, and I am really enjoying it, although I realize how much of a in the box thinker I am. I come into so many things with preconceived ideas and rationalities. The black moron ripped to shreds a little girls sweater. argh!

Today was Nate's golf day, and it was Luke turn to tag along with the men. Pastor Brian, Papa, and Mr. Scott (Nate's BF). He came home today with all sorts of treasure, like a bunch of golf balls he found in the woods, some unbroken golf tees and the find of the day was a perfectly good golf glove he found in the trash. He kept asking me why someone would throw away a glove like that in the trash. I have to idea, and I want to keep it that way. I made him wash his hands really good before dinner, and now all the treasures are in a ziploc ready to take to bed with him.

I must report that the time on the steps to think of a compliment after they are insulting to one another is starting to help, they will catch themselves saying something unkind and quickly back peddle or follow up with an apology. If we are at home I am pretty consistent about it.

The boys handwriting is an abomination to their mother.

A Certainty

If you ever read my very first blog you will know that I gave my blog address the name Travels to Certainty, because my life's journey is to find the things that are certain. Well I am letting you in on a certainty. A thankful heart allows you to enter into the presence and peace of God. For the past 2 weeks I have been bored and restless, just completely out of my mind with bone weariness, well Nate is incredibly busy these days and told me the other day to prepare for another month of heavy work, distractedness and stress. Needless to say I was just barely hanging on to my own sanity, and didn't want the added burden of his pressures, but I wanted to be a good wife and helper to him, so when I woke up this morning feeling like not getting out of bed, and had this terrible dread of another week of ho hum drudgery, I said out loud "oh lord, help me make it through this," and I instantly started humming this song we sing in church "a thankful heart prepares the way for you my God, don't call on us, we call on you, a thankful heart will be our rhythm." That is exactly what I started doing, I told Nate all the things I was thankful for, and the first one was how thankful I was that we didn't have to get up early on most days and could actually talk and spend some time together in the morning. (my kids are late sleepers, we hardly ever see them before 8, and since Nate is his own boss, he doesn't usually have to go in before 9.) That is a great blessing that I am truly grateful for. The list of blessings in my life and yours can go on and on, no matter how difficult your circumstances are. I have known this certainty, but have often forgotten to put it into practice. As soon as I started thinking about, and speaking all the things I was thankful for, my rotten, bored mood melted off of me so fast it was scary. I had a great day. God's word is life and truth, and I am humbled by it. Laughter, joy, and thankfulness are medicines to your soul, and speaking thankfulness over your life and family is truly a transforming power, and that is a Certainty.

Girls Just Wanna have Fun

Well after moping about for the past couple of days, I decided to go celebrate my friends birthday with her and some other friends. The b-day girl has nothing to complain about, she is married to her childhood sweetheart, is 25, and has a gazillion dogs. My other friends husband is in Iraq, and my 3rd friend is getting a divorce, so of course my sad news about Ton was nothing to complain about in that company. It is amazing what some good food (that you didn't have to cook) and some silly laughter can do to brighten your soul. We laughed and laughed at our crude stories, talked about sex, gas, and embarrassing moments, and honestly it was just what I needed, I laughed by myself driving home last night, and was in a good mood to see Nate. He had been to MD this week and my patience with the children was running on empty.

In other strange news, we were at my moms house this week, when I noticed this funny looking twig, branch thing about 6 inches long hanging on a nail in her den. It had no greenery or other decorations around it just a brown twig stuck on a nail.

Luke " grandma what is that stick doing on your wall"

mom "I put it there"

Luke "why"

mom " because I think it looks pretty"

Luke " It looks weird"

mom "Well your grandpa and I think it is a pretty decoration"

Luke " I'm going to knock it down with this cat toy"

mom "If you do the giant that guards the magic twig will find you, and get you"

Luke "there are no such things as giants"

Luke proceeds to throw the cat toy at the twig to knock it down

mom " You better not, it's magic and the giant will find you"

Luke "I want to see it (the twig) I'm going to get it"

Evan "oh good grief Luke, if you want some magic just eat some grapes like grandma did, and hang up the stem"

That's exactly what my mom had done. After eating some grapes she decided the stem was pretty and nailed it to her wall next to her Thomas Kinkade picture. lol I'm really starting to get concerned for her, if her fruit trash is starting to look like decorations I am in trouble. Maybe I am just not 'with it", I guess I don't know cool art deco when I see it.

Our Lives are RUINED

Well it is finally official. My dear brother in law is taking away my best friend, and my children's best friends, and moving them to a place called Alabama. After 16 long years of friendship to his wife, this is the thanks I get. He has no idea the millions of hours of conversation that I had saved him from having. It has been gloomy at our house today after having received the tragic news yesterday.

Austin " It is official, I have no friends now"

Luke and Evan "This is the worst day ever" (with tears in their eyes)

Nathan " How much of a raise is he getting" (so typically male)

My dear sister in law is of course looking on the bright side of things. (curse her optimism)

Tonya " It's only 4 hours away"
Tonya " We'll come visit every month" ( oh the ignorance of bliss)

Me " It won't be the same"
Me " What will I do"
Me "Who will be my kids friends"
Me " You'll get busy and so will we"

I hate Alabama, and Lowes for that matter.

I'll be nicer sometime later.

Funny Girl

My little funny face may be coming home sooner than I thought. There are eight people ahead of me that have to come out of IBESR (the haitian side of the process). That means if all goes well, we could be bringing her home in the spring instead of late summer or fall. Woohoo!!

All Tuckered Out

I have been fighting a wicked (as my friend Jen would say) sore throat for an entire week now. I haven't seemed to be really sick, I feel no other symptoms but tiredness, which could be a result of the sore throat or boredom. I must confess that throughout my course as a stay at home mom, and then homeschooling mom I at times become completely bored with it all. Boredom is not to be confused with not having anything to do, I always, along with every mom in the world has tons to do, I'm just bored with the mundane tasks of the day.

breakfast
clean up breakfast
getting the kids dressed
morning chores
school ( really boring)
afternoon chores
dinner prep
dinner clean up
bed

And then having to repeat it all over and over again. In my career life, the jobs I had where I had to do the same thing all the time were the worst jobs I ever had. I liked the jobs I had that were different all the time. Sometimes I would hate the tasks for the day or week, but I always knew they would change. I think the old saying "Variety is the spice of life" is very valid, at least for a person with my temperament. When I first moved here I got a temp job in a manufacturing plant that made thread. Every day for eight hours I would stand by these incredibly loud machines that would wind thread on giant spools. When the spools would get full, I would take off the full one and replace it with an empty spool. There were a hundred of these going simultaneously, so you were always walking up and down your row replacing spools. On the short breaks there, (2 10min and 1 30min break) I met people who had done that job for 8-13 years. Oh my goodness I wanted to kill myself after day 2. I stuck out my 2 week temp stint, because I needed the money and because I said I would do it, but I have often thanked God profusely that I never had to have a job like that. I believe if I worked there all that was good in me would die. (ok that is a little dramatic) The point is some people are geared towards repetition and others need more stimulation. Being a homeschooling mom has got to be the hardest job on the planet. Your hours are long, the pay is ( what pay?), and your employees are tyrannical mess makers that don't get it. I do know that one day I will reap my reward for a job well done (hopefully), and each day there are beautiful moments and special memories that I will treasure, but oh boy is today ever boring.

Time Flies

Time flies when you're having fun, and thats what has been happening this weekend. Friday night was movie night and girls night out at a friends house. We watched Lady in the Water. It is not a horror movie, it was suspenseful, and kinda weird but we all totally enjoyed it. There are rules to obey for this movie night, and if you want to be invited back you had better watch yourself. No laughing at inappropriate times, and no ruining the good parts with any commentary. I think I did pretty well, but only time will tell if I get the invite again.

Saturday we drove around and looked at property and houses, we came across this guy working in his yard and he just invited us in to look at his house, which is for sale. He was a really nice gentleman that in his day was a little famous. He knows Willie Nelson, and has played with the Dave Mathews band. Saturday was also a baby shower for a girl in our church, so Tonya dropped her boys off for uncle Nate to watch while she, Lyra, and I hit Belks. We found really cute stuff ridiculously cheap. I bought Dania a black velvet and purple satin dress for $6.50, it was originally $46. I also got her some cute PJ's for $4. I love it when I get a deal.

Sunday was an ordinary day, minus the fact that my nephew spent the night with Luey and got up at 5:45 this morning. I must say that Nathan and I never get up before the sun comes up, so this was a shock to our system, we dozed on and off for the next 3 hours and felt miserable all day. I should of just gotten up at 6:00, I think I would have felt better. Tonya lucked out this time, but payback is coming.

I received a small injury this weekend, and when I told Nathan about it instead of sympathy I received heartless and cruel laughter. He was laughing because he said at least I would have something interesting to blog about. So here it is in all truthfulness with no exaggeration. I was taking a plate of juicy ham bone and scraps outside late last night to throw over the fence to the neighbor dogs, and throw some out for the wild cats that wander the neighborhood. I had already given some to Jacket (our dog), when I saw a black cat peeing on Nates tire, I hurried over to try and throw some scraps to were it was and see if I could coax it to come to me. Earlier in the day Nate had cut down a tree so there was saw dust and cut branches still in the driveway that I had to maneuver around. The cat ran off before I could catch it but there was some rustling in the bushes next to me that startled me back towards the house. While I was looking over my shoulder at the bushes I tripped over the wood in the driveway and fell completely down on my left side. That hurt, but not as much as the glass plate with the ham scraps did when it smacked me in the head and jaw. I was trying to keep the plate from breaking so I held it up only to have it hit me instead of the driveway. The ham juice got in my hair and saw dust was covering my entire right side, thus invoking the laughter from Nate. I did manage to catch a glimpse of thing rustling in the bushes, it looked like a raccoon waddling away in the shadows, or else an injured cat. I am not as young and surefooted as I once was, so I have a little bruise on my hip, one on my knee and a scraped up pinky finger. I hope the neighborhood animals enjoyed their treats.

Brock Talent Night

Every once in a while the boys convince Nate to be the judge at their talent contest. He gets a pad and pen and scores all their antics. He tells them what to do and however does it the best takes the most points. Chicken dancing, original song, snake crawling, karate squirrel, rapping are just to name a few of the areas of talent they must compete in. Even the grownups will participate now and then.

Crab Man

The Littlest Chipmunk

Evan the Hungry Chipmunk

The Funky Chickens

The Funky Hen

The Funky Rooster

Kangaroo Luke

Austin the Kangaroo

Snake Boys

My Valentine

Sometimes these holidays make me sick, with their huge marketing machine making you feel pressured to do something that is forced so you don't look like a loser to your friends and co-workers. Thus said, my sweet husband has tried to always remember me on this day and over the years I've seen him put more thought into his gifts, and gone out of his way (literally since there is no mall anywhere close) to do something sweet for me. This year I received flowers (hot pink and cream roses, a necklace and some panties, I think those were for him. Anyway, as I was pondering all the valentine days we've been together, (16 of them) I have been thinking about all the ways we have expressed our love over the years. Sometimes with gimmicky gifts, other times special treats, sexy things, dates, and notes written on cards that we wished we meant but couldn't quite put the authenticity into them to make it true. This year as I read my card I realized that I believed every word he said and knew it to be true. He wrote "I know there is and never was anyone else for me. Thank you for taking the time and putting forth the effort to make me a better man." I know, standard love stuff on valentines day, only it isn't standard for him, I know he really feels that way and he is truly grateful for me. Loving each other has been a long hard road to walk, and sometimes I wondered if it was worth the effort to keep plugging away at something that left us so emotionally barren, but looking back I realize how much love we would have missed. The rewards come softly over a lifetime of being transformed by heavenly love and earthly love. Having Nate as my love has been the greatest gift, and now on this valentines day knowing he feels the same way about me, has made my life so much sweeter.

The Amazing Tonya

Well my beautiful blog is up and running, thanks to the amazing Tonya, who single handedly figured out my incredibly simple counter problem that Nate and I slaved over for at least 2 hours.

I cooked a big dinner tonight for Nate and his business partner, who is here from Colorado. I had ham, scalloped potatoes, corn, peas, and a lovely fruit salad. They of course were an hour late, so I was standing at the sink eating mine when they meandered in. It is always nice to see Tony, he always includes me in on their business discussions, but when they start talking stock prime and facet contracts I smile sweetly, say uh hum and offer up more sweet tea.

I have discovered a way to get my kids thinking kindly about each other. As you know they have been struggling with using their tongues for life not death, so each time they call one another a name or make fun of anybody they have to go sit on the steps for 5 minutes and think of 2 things they like about the offending brother. After 5 minutes I call them to me to tell me the 2 kind things, if it passes my approval we go and speak life over the brother, if however they don't come up with anything or keep using the same compliment I send them back to the steps to think until they are inspired. It's working fairly well, I am discovering some of the traits they like about each other and it actually makes me feel good to hear them say something nice even though I'm forcing them to it. Compliments towards each other don't flow to freely these days. I think I'm going to keep this one going, because the more they are forced to see the good in each other, the more they are likely to appreciate each others strengths. At least I hope it works like that.

Something Fishy

I changed over to the new blogger and made a beautiful blog, but it won't let me transfer a counter. I am so bummed, this new blog looked so nice and since I can't change my hair color every week, I thought it would be fun to change the look of my page. I will have to see if I can figure it out, right now it looks doubtful.

On a brighter note, we went to church this morning and then ate at Quincy's for lunch. The food is okay, but the boys love the dessert bar, mainly all the candy they have on it, suppossedly for your ice cream sundays. While we were eating Luke got up twice to go make small talk with some of the soliders that were in there having lunch. The first time it was to ask a guy how big of a gun did he have. He said he was only allowed to bring his pistol inside the restaurant. The next time Luke wanted to know where a solider lived. I couldn't figure out the name of the place Luke kept saying to me. In the evening we went up to Tonya's for Solomons big 4 birthday party. We gave him a batman hat and matching gloves, I think he will enjoy them since he likes to dress up.

Oh Happy Day

I had some probable good news on the adoption front today, and I was feeling so chipper I've changed my looks. (blogger looks) I won't go into all the details, but the Haitian part of the adoption that I am in right now is called IBESR, or the black hole, because that is where your paperwork can get stuck for a year. I went into this process (IBESR) on halloween and was given the #15011. They are checking out the late 13 hundreds now, so I figured I still had a long way to go even though they skip around frequently. Well today someone on the adoption board was asking what people's numbers were and when they went into IBESR so I submitted mine. Somebody emailed and said that my number was a mistake made by a new worker, and my real number is 14211. I haven't been able to confirm this, but I would say that it's probably true, since a few other people said they had the same thing happen to them, and there number was alot lower. All this means is that barring something unforseen (which could happen in a 3rd world country), I should be getting out of the black hole in a couple of months, and if I'm incredibly blessed travel a couple of months after that, which would mean Dania Naomi has a good chance of being home by the summer. YIPPEE!!!

My other news is Nate's finally home. He came home about 7, and somehow we got into a huge fight, and I kid you not it was so confusing I kept having to ask "What are we fighting about", "why are you mad." I promise you, at one point I wanted to look at him and say "Satan is that you", it was so bizarre. We were at total peace a couple of hours after the kids went to bed, oh the fight started right after they went to bed. It was a long week, and I really think I was caught off guard by the enemy of my soul. I hadn't spent any time (hardly) with the lord, and I was a bit frazzled and stressed out by the wild boys. I know what a difference the lord can make in my day if I commit it to him and bask in his presence, even while I'm busy doing things for the household, I just let it slide though and got blindsided. We ended up having a fantastic day just raking the yard and grocery shopping. I'm so glad my boyfriend is back. We moved the trampoline so grass could grow where it had been sitting, and raked up all the trash in the yard made by the moron dog. When I feel generous towards the moron I will post a picture of him so he can be properly introduced, but right now he is still in the doghouse for the incessant barking this week in the middle of the night.

The Secret

Ok I will admit it. I watched Oprah today because I got caught up in the teaser for the show, they kept talking about "The Secret". I had no idea what it was until I watched todays show. Apparently it is sweeping across the world. http://thesecret.tv/home.html
It is a humanistic worldview that Oprah and her entire studio audience bought into hook, line and sinker. I was on the edge of my seat watching, there was so much truth in what they were saying, however they were putting it in such humanistic terms. Briefly, the teachers of "the secret" are a group of people from all walks of life, philosopher, quantum physicist, theologians, financial gurus, and relational gurus just to name a few. They tell you how you need to think and live to have success in all areas of your life. For instance forgiveness, gratefulness, etc. It was definitely interesting, if you go to the website and click on teachers and go to the last one, the guy says that you are God in disguise. I don't know what he means by it, since I haven't read the book or seen the DVD, but it was enough to make the hair on the back of my neck stand up. I haven't done enough research on it yet to make an educated analysis, but I plan to. I want to order the or get a copy because I think it is critical to keep up with the spiritual pulse of the people. Oprah said it is sweeping across the world, and thanks to her millions of people who haven't ever heard of it now have. It took me 30 minutes to access the site after her show.

So much of what was said was good stuff and people can apply it to their lives and see change, but they won't give credit to the God that makes it all possible, and they ignore that so much of their wisdom is really just biblical principles that God wants us to practice daily anyway. This post is definitely just me venting, I was on edge for hours.

The boys are all healthy, just Evan had it so far and Nate will be home tomorrow so I am on the home stretch. And speaking of stretching, I've noticed that my flexibility is diminishing even more then it already was. I was never one to touch my toes, unless I had spent months stretching and working up to that, but tonight when I was reading to the boys I couldn't even put my legs out in front of me. I was sitting on the floor and it was agony to stick my legs out. What gives?

A Nice Day

Evan was better today and the weather was great, so we had a small school day then headed to my sil to spend the afternoon. She didn't mind us sickies coming for a visit since Lyra has been kinda sick also. We left her house and went for a ride to see if we could find some cats that had been abandoned a while back, since the meanie (Nate) wouldn't let us bring them home or continue to feed them. I had taken them food once, but Nate said they'd be better off surviving on their own rather than getting used to being fed. Alas they had vanished, I choose to believe someone nice has taken them home. The boys have been enjoying Hank the Cowdog books on tape so much recently that I've had to limit their time listening to them. They (I should say mostly Austin) would listen to those tapes 4 or 5 hours a day. Well I'm arguing too much with them right now as I type this, they are supposed to be getting ready for bed, so the mom must return to duty.

The Warrior

I am referring to myself as the warrior. I've had an 80's flashback today, since I have survived night one of sickness. Stampy 2 did not wake up in the middle of the night and puke, or anything else for that matter. I had a good nights sleep and Pat Benitar "The Warrior" has been running through my head and mouth for most of the day. I only remember the chorus "Shootin at the walls of heartache, bang, bang, I am the warrior, well I am the warrior, and heart to heart to win if you survive." the warrior I am the warrior, and victory is mine if you survive" I would like to say that only christian music inspires me, but that is not the reality of my life. I have gotten rid of almost all of my former tapes because the covers and so many of the lyrics are bad, and I don't want my children to hear that junk, however if a rockin song comes on the radio that is not bad, the boys are given the treat of their lives when they see the 80's dance moves that their mom can still throw down. Unfortunately I've really cut my hair too short for an 80's flashback, but back in the day I could have been an 80's music video girl just cuz of my curly long hair.

Just My Luck

My DH is away again, and as luck would have it my worst dream has just come true again. When Nate and I started having kids we made a deal. The deal was that I would take care of all poopy diapers if I was home, or coming home within the hour.lol. He on the other hand would clean up all puke. I know to some that this deal sounds like I got the short end of the stick, but I couldn't have been happier. You see I have a huge aversion to vomit, I can't stand to see it, smell it or hear it, and Nate hates poop. So things worked out great for me for several years, but about 4 years ago when Nate had to start traveling things took a turn for the worse. The first time things went sour was one evening when Nate was kissing the boys goodnight and getting ready to walk out the door for an all night road trip, little Luey then 18 months or younger walks out of his room with puke all down the front of his pj's. The next evening Austin was puking down the floor vents, on top of the closed toilet lid and in the nice thick shag trailer carpet. By the following morning I had a fever and the runs. That scenario happened a couple more times while we were still in the trailer, just mix up the people who were puking and the time of day Nathan left me alone with them. Since we moved here 2 years ago Austin and Luke have only gotten sick once, but Austin's sickness came upon him 20 minutes after Nate left on a trip. Evan has only had a stomach bug with puking one time in his life, you guessed it, until tonight. We were coming home from Nate's shop this afternoon, after saying goodbye to him, and Evan starts telling me he feels carsick. We get home and he has a fever of about 100.8, then about an hour ago he starts whining, and up comes everything, luckily I had given him a tupperware bowl so the damage was minimal. If you think all this puke talk is way too much information, don't ever let me get started on diarrhea.

Thanks for Visiting My Blog

I started this blog so that the life of my family wouldn't pass me by without memories of it, but these things seem to have a life of there own. I have enjoyed sharing my life with all you visitors, and if you want to ask me a question or chat just comment me and I will answer you in the comments section, that way I don't have to join all these different blog sites and my space pages. If you ever read my very first post you know how difficult it is for me to keep a journal. I hate the way I write and sometimes it's just embarrassing how ridiculous some of these post sound, but I promised myself I would do this no matter what, so thanks for all the encouragement.

Signed the obsessive compulsive dork

Eggs and Bacon

If we aren't going anywhere on saturday, our day usually starts with me cooking a big breakfast. Sometimes it's pancakes, rarely french toast, but today it was eggs, bacon, sausage, and cinnamon raisin toast. Nate especially loves a cooked breakfast even if it's only cream of wheat. Evan hardly ever wants to eat anything but cold cereal, oh well.

After breakfast we went and looked at some property bordering national forest, the road in wasn't cleared enough for us to drive it so we had to walk it. Nate kept telling the boys to stay out of the mud, so I was helping him keep an eye on where the boys feet were going, meanwhile unbeknownst to me I was walking in thick sticky red mud that clung to my hiking boots. I had to do a schuffle the whole way back to the truck. And in the meantime Austin and Luke had followed in my muddy steps. We were planning to head to walmart and the grocery store but since we were to dirty we decided to go split wood. It was cold and windy so Nate built me a fire, which Luey and I had to keep adding twigs to stay warm. The highlight of the day was me and the boys trying to split the logs, I would swing that axe over my head with all my might just to end up burying the ax head in the dirt. If Nate split a round one in half I was able to split it into fourths, but it was pretty pathetic, I would get laughing, and smoke was blowing in my eyes so I couldn't always see clearly where I was swinging. The guys gave me plenty of room, believe me they weren't getting anywhere close to mom heaving that thing around. Luke could hardly even pick up the thing to begin with but he gave it a good shot and managed to at least crack the wood a little. Austin and Evan didn't do any better then me, I think Austin got the ax head buried more times then I did.

We came home to nice potato soup that I made last night for dinner. It hit the spot for me, of course the boys don't love it and once is enough for them, so I made them ham sandwiches, which is against my better judgement, but Nate said they didn't have to eat it twice in a row.

Excitement in the Air

Nate came home late last night, so we were still in bed this morning at around 8:00, when the boys came running in yelling that it had snowed. This little snow is a huge deal for us in Toccoa, because for some reason we never get any. The counties all around will get snow but not us. Last year we had an ice storm one time I think, and that was the extent of our winter weather. This is actually snow and sleet mixed, it was very wet, and by the the time the kids woke up it was raining on top of the snow. That is why I was wearing my bathrobe, I wanted to get outside and take some pictures before it all melted away. The last snow that Luke saw was when he was a baby. One of my biggest regrets about living here is the lack of snow, I'm just as happy to see it as the kids, although I prefer to watch it from inside now that I'm all grown up. I have fond memories of sledding at a golf club in Va. when I was young, or even our street wasn't to bad for a good sled run.

The Biggest Snow in Years

Yes, I am wearing my trusty bathrobe.

The Finished Product

It was raining pretty good by now, hence the blurry lens. This is an alien snowman, since it may look strange to some.

Oh the amazing strength

Notice how he managed to lift the body of the snowman, and avoid the perfect throw of Evan

Daddy and the Boys

They were working in the rain to get this pathetic snowman built

One Wet Dude

Wild Boys

Austin Getting Ready to Launch

Evan Gets Nailed

Meet Stripey