Happy ....105th?

I think it's a little bit ridiculous to celebrate the 105th of something. The 100th, of course, is a big deal. It even has it's own word - centennial. But 105? Sorry, it just doesn't bring that same pitter-patter to my heart.

Our little town has been around for a very long time. Longer than our state, actually. In fact, the Christian school here has been around longer than the town. That's something to be proud of, I guess. It makes me think, though, of some anciano waving his cane and wheezing out, "I'm still here!"

In any case, we participated in the town's 105th Celebration like the good little citizens we are. Well, the kids and I did. Art put up drywall. On the ceiling. By himself. Have I mentioned that he's stubborn?



Mim and Zaya had a great time on the inflatables, and I helped my friend sell jewelry. (She makes it all herself, and it's lovely stuff, if anyone's interested.) We even did a little face painting. I drew the line at the pinatas, though, because I'm just a boring mom that way.



Yes, my son has a tractor on his face. This is western Oklahoma after all. It was also exceptionally humid today, so I'm amazed this stayed on his little cheek at all. It helped that we did the inflatables first. The picture below is Zaya telling me, "But Mommy, I'm not hot!" (I told him, "Tough. Mommy is. We're moving on.")



We followed all of this excitement up with a trip to Grandma Lilibeth's house. My children are now in the bathtub, because they smell like puppies. (Not because of Grandma's house, you understand, just because of the day in general.)

Cubbies

Both of my children are in Cubbies this year at church so last night involved a lot of paperwork and finding little vests and talking about behavior. I hope they help each other rather than being typical siblings. They have brother/sister friends who are also in Cubbies together this year, so at least ours aren't the only ones.

Mim was so excited to go to Cubbies. She couldn't stand it last year when Zaya got to go every week and she had to go play in the nursery. Now she'll be learning verses and driving people crazy just like big brother. Good times.

She had no trouble staying there, so I have hopes for Pre-K next year. I've been a little worried because she tends to be a little more clingy than Zaya was, but no worries I guess.

She looked like a little gypsy when she got ready last night, but I toned her outfit down before we got to church, so she was wearing only one necklace, as opposed to her original ensemble of five rings, six or so bracelets and one necklace. I think we may have some discussions as the teenage years approach.

ABC - 123

Zaya loves school so far. He only attends from 8:30 to 11:30, but that seems to be enough because he just acts a little more tired these days, and is a little easier to startle and upset. He's still our easy-going Zay so far, but we'll see what happens as the weeks turn to months and then years.

We've already had a few issues to deal with, actually. One day when I picked him up Zaya told me, "I got punched in the face at recess today!" He sounded proud in typical little boy fashion. My natural mother's response, of course, was, "What did you do to make him want to hit you?"

When I finally got the whole story out of him it turned out to be little more than that bare fact. One of the other kids in his class had just walked up to him and hit him in the mouth. He told me how the teacher on duty hugged him and talked to him, and I made a mental note to give his teacher a call later in the afternoon. She beat me to it, though, and called to check on Zaya and make sure he was really all right. He was just fine, and seems to have completely forgotten about it already.

I find myself being relieved, actually, rather than angry at the other little guy. I'm just so glad it wasn't my kid who was the bully in that encounter. I can comfort and help him through his hurt a lot better than I would be able to deal with him as an aggressor. I hope that he stays reasonably passive, but I realize that might be a dream.

Today he played at Recess with another little boy who we'll call Thomas. Thomas is obsessed with trains (hence his blog name) and it sounds like he and Zaya were made for each other. When I asked him he said, "I played with Thomas today. I was super-powerful Spikit!" (Spikit and Stickrit are his new entirely imaginary friends.)I asked him who Thomas was and he said, "Well, I don't remember his name, but he was a kind of steam engine." Fair enough.

He also told me the other day that he and Thomas "chased away the bad kids". I'm not sure what that all entailed, but it sounds ominous. I'm glad he's found a friend, and I'm trying not to be everyone's nightmare mommy as I worry about my little boy and his social and intellectual development.

Bark Bark

This picture has been hanging on my refrigerator for over a year I think. Mim painted it on the first water coloring adventure we ever had. Nothing like this has come from her brush since then, but I just never had the nerve to throw this one away like all the others.

Doesn't it look like a dog? Maybe a cross between a poodle and a husky? I don't know if it'll show up in the picture or not, but it really does look canine. Really. It turns out she's not a prodigy after all since the rest of her paintings have looked something like this.



I feel like one of those families who sees St. Peter in a jar of peanut butter or something. Was it a sign? Should we buy a dog? Some hideous experimental cross-breed?

Across The Jordan River

We had the funeral today for Art's Grandpa B (Papa), and it was just as hard as they always are, but a celebration at the same time. So many family members had come to say goodbye that we were able to make it an impromptu family reunion. There was a new great-grandbaby to show everyone, some grandkids who drove from Pennsylvania, a sister from California...lots of love in one big room.

My father preached the funeral, since he was Papa's pastor. I was proud of Dad like I always am when I see him becoming a channel for the grief of others straight to the throne of God. My father is the best example I think I've seen of laughing with those who laugh and mourning with those who mourn. I know I inherited this from him, but I stifle it because I'm afraid to cry in front of others. I don't know why, I just am.

Anyway I cried today right along with everyone, and felt a little silly since I was only his granddaughter-in-law. Oh well. Papa would've cried with me, I know, because he was a very tender-hearted man. I have to believe that he understood my tears.

The Stars Align

Mim has been initiated by her brother into the world of Super Mario Galaxy. One player does all of the moving and other actions, but a second player can be the "co-star" and there are a few things they can help with, like collecting "star bits" and freezing the enemies. Mim has figured out that she can play with brother this way, and he's an excellent teacher. (He frequently plays co-star for Daddy.)

It does my mommy's heart good to see them playing together. Oh, and I was able to clean the kitchen while they entertained themselves for about fifteen whole mintues. Blessed peace.

Updates

I'm going to dash off a quick post before our internet goes back down. It's been down for a few days. I'm very frustrated with our service provider. Very.

Pictures and stories will follow, but here's a little bit of what's going on in our lives right now.

Zaya started Pre-K on Thursday. He loved it, and he loves his teacher, Mrs. Wilks. His picture on the first day is above. The sun was shining and Mommy was at a bad angle, but at least I got the picture. Oh, and he's wearing the wrong shirt. They were all supposed to wear their school shirts for pictures. I just forgot. The legend continues.

Mim had her third birthday on Friday. She got lots of games and princess presents and some toy goats. She loves all of it, and was thrilled with all the love and attention. She hardly even noticed that all the adults were very distracted because...

Art's Grandpa B died on Friday. We knew he was close to the end, but we weren't any more prepared than most people when this type of thing happens. He was a godly man who had lived a long, happy and fulfilling life. We will miss him, but we rejoice in the knowledge that he will no longer feel pain and has met his Savior.

Things are a little hectic here, to say the least.

Please forgive our absence the past few days, and possibly for a few days to come.

Reunited

Our reunion was small. Very small. But we had a great time anyway. Friday night only four classmates came, and Saturday for the Zoo only three toughed it out.

There were 19 people in my graduating class, and several of them even live in the OKC area, but the timing was bad, I guess, for most of them to attend. I don't regret going, though. Friday night we ate out and then met together in a hotel conference room to look at pictures and rehash our teen experiences. It was fun to meet each others husbands, too, and get to know them a little better. Only one friend, Hattie, brought one of her kids to keep Mim and Zaya company, but they loved her. Hattie had two little boys that stayed home with the grandparents. She's also pregnant. Macy and Emma brought their men, but Emma's little baby girl stayed home with Grandpa.




The zoo was hot and humid, but the kids loved it nonetheless. If you ask Zaya what his favorite part of the zoo was, he'll say, "Playing in the misters!" Every little bit there are these large poles with spray nozzles at the top. Patrons can just push a button on the side of a very fine spray of mist. It's wonderful on those hot days. We saw lots of your typical zoo animals, but no elephants. They are on an extended two year vacation to visit their "boyfriend" in the Tulsa Zoo. Hmmm.

After the zoo we went to eat at County Line BBQ which was a wonderful place with little booths that each felt like their own country dining room. The pictures above are from that meal. Hattie is in the green shirt with her husband John behind her. She was amazing, walking for a long time through a very hot zoo and 7 1/2 months pregnant. Macy is the other lovely lady. She was the Maid of Honor at my wedding a mere eight years ago last Tuesday. (Happy belated Anniversary to me.)



We've returned home to the pre-school bustle. Zaya starts pre-kindergarten on Thursday. No, I'm still not ready; thanks for asking. We went to the store for school clothes and tennis shoes today. We also bought an extra booster seat to put in Daddy's car for the morning ride. I don't think the little guy has a clue what he's about to start. He's just looking forward to playing outside on the playground equipment. Poor little unsuspecting soul.

The Class of '98

This weekend is my class reunion. That's 10 years, people. I am not that old. I'm really not. There must be some problem with the space time continuum because I just really can't be having my ten year reunion.

We'll be going to Oklahoma City to eat, meet, talk and ...go to the zoo. Why not? Some of us were going to have kids with us, and we didn't want them to dread class reunions for the rest of their lives because they were so bored.

It turns out that very few people are actually showing up for this one, so my kids may be two of the three children present. I hate to drag a lot of couples with no kids along to the zoo so they can watch my little ones jump up and down and point to the elephants. Zaya and Mim will love it, though. In fact they're already excited and asking me when we're going to the zoo.

God has smiled on me and my children are both still sleeping. (It's 8 am) I've only got about 35 hours of work to fit into the next 12, so I should probably get off my computer chair and get going.

If I had a scanner, I'd leave you with a picture of my class, but I don't. Instead you'll have to use your imagination.

Catsup

We finally got our internet back. I have a ton of catching up to do. Oh, and the housework too. Oh well. First things first.

With the crazy hot weather we've been having, most of our activities have taken place in the air conditioning. I thank God once again that I was born in the 20th century. My children have been playing school, painting, fighting, you know, the usual. Carl (our neighbor) has been over to play every day and he helped me every evening last week with VBS also.

We were all hiding inside and painting the other day. Zaya told us, "I'm painting a good picture."
To which Carl responded with the classic, "Oh! What is it a picture of?"
Zaya said, "It's a picture of some good."
"Hmmm. What does good look like?"
"Well," said Zaya, "It looks like this." Well, now we know.
Later Zaya decided that it was a bunch of meteoroids including the massively powerful "atmosphere meteoroid" that could do anything. It even destroyed an entire galaxy. I'm afraid that battle hadn't yet been portrayed when I took the picture, so all you're looking at right there is "some good".



This morning the kids and I have already been to W'ville with some friends, eaten lunch and thrown water balloons at each other. The high today is 109 degrees, so we'll be spending the rest of the day inside.

Yummy

Moms in a Blog is giving away some ice cream to three lucky entrants, and I decided to be one of them. Well, an entrant, that is, not necessarily a winner. The ice cream will be coming from www.IceCreamSource.com.

If you won some ice cream from a place that sells only the best, what would you choose? I'm usually a chocolate girl, but I think this time it would be Lemon Sorbet and Coconut Sorbet. What better flavors for the summertime?

With temperatures soaring past 100 day after day, we could all use a break from the heat. My kids love both of these flavors, and I know they would be thrilled to have them. Will I win? Probably not, but it's worth a shot.

By the way, there's still a day left for the annual Bloggy Giveaway Carnival. Follow this link and enter to win some free stuff. It'll only cost you time.

VBS Pictures

Here are the little guys at VBS.




Carl is helping us this week too, so he took a picture of me with my children. A rare occurrence. And yes, Mim is looking like a goober on purpose. It's a family tradition.

Vacation Bible School. Again

It's Vacation Bible School at Grandma Lilibeth's church this week, so we are all tired and keyed up. How can you be both, you ask? Ahh, you have not had experience with pre-schoolers if you do not know. Mim and Zaya are in my "tribe", so they're both being able to participate without causing undue stress to Mommy. Zaya would be fine, actually, but Mim is still very much a "mommy's girl" and this is the only way it would work for her.

My mother's church has done the same style of VBS now for four years, and I've enjoyed in every year. It's the first VBS I haven't dreaded, and that's saying something. You know how it is. You want to help, and you know it's important, but it ends up being shear craziness and you're exhausted by Friday. Sometimes by Tuesday.

Not at Mom's church, though. I can't remember the company that makes these VBS packets (you can set me straight there Lilibeth), but they are all set back in Bible times. The first one was Jerusalem, and I wasn't able to help with that one for some reason. Then we went to Bethlehem and the Sea of Galilee. This year the company was going to offer the Jerusalem packet again, but our kids all still remember that very well, so my mother just created her own. We're at Philippi, and we'll meet Paul and Silas and watch them be put in chains and rescued through their praises.

It's amazing how the kids get into their roles in these sessions. Everyone is dressed in Bible costume, so that helps. And I do mean everyone; leaders, students, helpers. We all have tribes to which we belong, and we stay in these family units throughout the evening and week. Each unit consists of all ages, which works very well because the older students can help take care of their younger brothers and sisters. They explain things to them, help them with their crafts and generally make themselves useful. This also means that no person is stuck with a particularly difficult age group.

There's a marketplace that plays a key role in the evening. It has many different shops, and by the end of the week, each student will have visited each shop and made a craft there.

I could go on and on, but I'm prepared to believe that this is boring to someone who hasn't participated. Suffice it to say, we're tired and busy, but we love it. I left my camera at the church last night, so I don't have pictures yet. If no little heathen Philippian stole it, then I'll put some pictures on tomorrow morning.

It's a Scorcher

I just wanted to let all of you in the cooler climes know what our forecast looks like for the next 10 days.

106
106
103
100
100
101
102
100
100
99

And don't believe that little 99 at the end there either. They've been putting 99 and 98 at the end of the 10 day forecast for a week or so now, but it hasn't actually happened.

Needless to say, we aren't playing outside very much.

Summer Crazies

My children have moved firmly into the age of imagination. They come up with the most fantastic scenarios and the strangest ideas. Zaya, for instance, has been pretending to be all different kinds of fireworks. My personal favorites are the smoke bombs and the cracklin' balls, but he's also been a ground bloom flower, a bottle rocket, a strobe light...and the list goes on. He hops down on his haunches and yells "Light my fuse!" with his little finger stuck up in the air. It's strange and cute at the same time.



Mim, the other day, informed me that Goki helps to unclog sewers. Apparently he just dives right down the pipe and gets rid of any clogs. And no, we haven't had any plumbing problems recently. This springs entirely from conversations that the kids have had with Art about where water goes after we flush the toilet, drain the bathtub etc.

And if Goki's plumbing career falls through, Mim's got a great career as a bag lady ahead of her. I bought her a cart to use for her little kitchen, thinking she would play "shopping" or somthing similar. Instead, Mim fills her cart up with all sorts of toys and precious treasures and hauls them around the house.

There are a ton of other games and crazy ideas that are currently filling our days, but I won't bore you with the details. Suffice it to say that we're surviving the 100+ degree temperatures so far, and I hope their imaginations will at least last us through August.

We have ventured out a few times, actually, to feed the goats near Grandma Lilibeth's house, and to play in the pool with friends, but since I don't really want to know what my children look like in the middle of heat exhaustion, we haven't pushed it.

Yet Another Moment of Self-Doubt

My friend recently loaned me a book called MotherStyles. It's a book about, well, mothering styles and is based on the Meyers-Briggs personality testing. I've never actually done the Meyers-Briggs, because it costs money and you know...

Anyway, according to this book I am an ENTP. That means Extravert, Intuitive, Thinking, Perceiving. Those all sound like high-falutin' words, but really it just means that I like to be around people; I don't enjoy the normal day-to-day aspects of living; I'm not very emotional and I don't do schedules and routines very well.

Yeah, that's pretty much me.

It has a bearing on the rest of the post, really, but it'll take a bit to get there.

I'm also reading a book called If You Want to Write by Brenda Ueland. It's a very old book, actually, and very encouraging to read. She talks repeatedly, though, about spending time (a lot of time. Hours.) walking and thinking before you even sit down to write. She also says that when you do sit down at your typewriter (computer) you should be willing to again sit for hours if necessary while you let your ideas develop slowly.

Well, that's all well and good, but there are so very, very many things in my life that I think, “If I just had a little time to myself I could do that.” Unfortunately, the little bit of time that I can carve out has already been claimed. These are all the things that my conscience demands I do with my “free time”.

Scripture reading
Prayer
Bible Study
Play with my children
Provide meals, clothes, etc. for my children
Exercise
Clean the house (which we all know encompasses more than a few hours worth of effort.)
and now, write. No, walk leisurely and then stare at my computer screen for hours, and then write.

Ms. Ueland's suggestion, of course, is that I put the writing at the top of that list. Obviously I can't do that. Every single one of those things has to come first. Not to mention all the other bits of life. Church commitments, grocery shopping etc. etc. etc. etc.

Instead of getting all these admittedly worthwhile things done, and by done I mean satisfactorily, I pick at each of them and get just enough accomplished to realize how really far behind I am.

So here's my question. If I were an ISFJ, like my friend, would I have no trouble scheduling all those things in there? Is it just my personality type that is messing with my ability to accomplish anything, or is it that I'm a lazy undisciplined slob?

Dance, Baby, Dance

This is a video of my children doing their own special little choreographed number. The song is from VBS at my parent's church last summer. They loved the music, the fast and the slow songs, and still remember quite a bit of the motions. For this song, however, they've devised their own.


The lyrics are:

Love the Lord your God with all your heart
And with all your soul,
With all your strength.
These commandments that I give today,
Shall be upon your heart
Upon your heart.

Hear O, Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is One.
Hear O, Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is One

Kaboom!

I have to confess; I married a pyromaniac.

A very intelligent and responsible pyro, but a pyro nonetheless.

I'm afraid he has passed these tendencies on to his offspring. Particularly Zaya.



We've had several different fireworks sessions this year, because we went camping instead of having the usual family Independence Day bash at my in-law's house. Art loves blowing things up, and so do the other men in the family, so the 4th is always a big event.

This is strange for me, because I grew up in a family where fireworks only happened to other people. Sure, we had sparklers, and even the occasional Black Snake, but nothing that flew or went BOOM. I have to admit that it can be enjoyable to watch things explode, but I prefer watching the kids (and by this I mean those over and under 20) having so much fun. It makes me nervous, but Art is very careful with the little ones, so I don't worry nearly as much as I would otherwise.



I think it's just something to which I'll adjust. I love a man who likes to watch things blow-up. It could be worse.

Camp T

We had a great time camping with Art's family this weekend, and we came away with one major lesson learned.

Camp in May or September. Maybe even April or October.

We all survived, but it was hot; not miserably hot, just sticky hot. The kind where your hair sort of plasters onto your forehead. Actually it wasn't too bad in the shade, even in the heat of the day, but you can't do a lot of hiking, exploring and general camping activities if you're sitting in the shade.



Uncle Cody figured out how to camp, though. He moved his hammock along with the shade and had no trouble staying relaxed and at ease.



The heat didn't stop the fishermen, and the kids loved messing with the poles, throwing rocks into the lake, and generally bugging the daddies and uncles who were trying to catch something. In the following pictures, Mim discovers salmon eggs and critiques Grandpa's fishing techniques.






Uncle Chris took it all in stride and helped the little ones out with their own poles. It's wonderful to have so many easy-going relatives. The kids are at ease and the parents aren't worried.



We watched fireworks at a different park in town later that night, and the kids loved it, of course. We've decided we should go back next year to see the fireworks in the same town, but this time we're going to stay with Aunt Lizzy and Uncle Chris in the air-conditioned house.

Aunt Lizzy is the lake manager out at the lake where we had our campsite, so we were able to see her periodically, even though she was at work for part of Friday afternoon and Saturday morning. She's enjoying her job, and all sorts of crazy stories to tell us.



Zaya really loved the campfire, and spent a good bit of time on Saturday morning throwing things into it. As proof that I did go with the rest of the family, here's a picture of me helping Zaya with his pyromaniac tendencies.



Zaya, Mim and Jaida all spent the time playing with each other, getting dirty and generally being cousins. None of them were ready to leave, which means we left at just the right time. We wanted them to leave remembering that they enjoyed themselves, and I think they did.





Next time, though, the high will be in the eighties. No, really, I mean it.

What to pack....

Here is what Mim decided she needed to put in her stuff sack this morning to use at the lake.

Who am I to say those things won't just be critical to her happiness and well-being? Well, I guess I'm the Mommy. She won't be taking them, as long as I can distract her in time.

Kum-Ba-Ya

We are heading out tomorrow morning for our First Family Camping Trip. (Imagine the scary organ music in the background.)

We'll be going with Art's entire family, so there will be nine adults and four children. But still. The kids are 1, 2, 3, and 4. Not exactly easy ages to watch in July heat near a lake.

They are so, so excited, though, that I think they'll have fun regardless. The women involved (some of us anyway) are all fretting and thinking and making lists and packing...and the men are just rolling their eyes and telling us to stop worrying about things.

For instance, I stayed awake for about 30 min. the other night worrying about what I would do if the kids woke up and needed to use the bathroom in the wee hours and it was raining outside. I mentioned it to my husband when we woke up the next morning and he said, "Take a big Ziploc bag."

Oh, well, yeah I guess that would work. I should've just woken him up at 2 a.m. when I couldn't sleep and asked him then. Of course, my normally intelligent husband is really just dumb as a rock in the middle of the night, so his idea would probably have been less than brilliant. If I were to use the past to judge, for instance, it might be something like, "Pack the monkey in a big boat."

Be that as it may, we will be leaving in the morning, Ziploc baggies and about half the rest of the house in tow. It's a good thing we'll be parking the car nearby, because I think I would need a few camels to haul everything otherwise.

Replacements

The other day, Mim and and I were talking about C'aunt Sarah's wedding. Mim is going to be co-flower girl with her cousin Jaida, (Zaya will be ringbearer) and she's very excited about her beautiful dress and the wedding shower we recently gave for Sarah.

I was explaining to Mim that a wedding shower does not involve water, but is more like a big party. I told her that Sarah is going to marry a special man.

Mim said, "Yeah, cause she doesn't need her daddy anymore."

She put this forth in such a grown-up little voice, as if we were two grown ladies talking about marriage and only we understood these things.

It made me remember my own daddy at the time that I prepared for my wedding and the changes that would take place in all of our lives after that event.

My parents really liked Art, and they had no worries at all about the kind of husband he would make, but I remember many conversations with my father about the role of a husband and the role of parents.

He would tell me, "You shouldn't come running to us any time you have a little problem. You two will have to work things out yourselves because that's what it means to be married. But if he ever hurts you...you come home, and Daddy will take care of you. And him."

I've never had to run back to Dad, of course, because Art is the kindest, gentlest man God ever made, but I've always appreciated knowing that my father not only understood that I "didn't need him anymore" but also that I would always need him.

I hope and pray that Mim will understand this too, when the time comes. When you marry, you do put your life into the hands of another person, and their ideas and beliefs should take precedence to those of your parents, but....Mim too will always need her daddy.

See the World

Art has an uncle, Justin, who is not all that much older than he is. He has always seemed more like a cousin, and we enjoy talking with him and his wife Christina

Well, Justin and Christina are on a world tour. Not the ritzy, cruise-ship style of world tour, though. This is the real way to see the world. They'll be out of the country for months and months and have no more luggage with them then two backpacks each. Yes, just the thought of that fills me with fear. I would pack that much for a weekend.

They're currently in New Zealand, and they are keeping the rest of the world posted about their travels through pictures and blog posts. Follow the links to see where they've been and what they've seen.

Blog - Hobo Honeymoon

Photos - These are fantastic as Christina is an avid photographer.

If you want to know where all they'll be going this year, read the first couple posts on their blog. The posts arrive in spurts, as they don't always have internet access, but it's worth the time to go back and check periodically.

Our family is currently living out their wanderlust vicariously. Maybe someday we can go see some of these amazing places ourselves, but these photos and explanations will do for now.

Road Trip

We returned yesterday from a flying trip to visit my grandparents in West Texas. A nice time was had by all. Well, all of us anyway. I hope Grandma P and Grandpa P have recovered from our invasion. The kids had fun doing all sorts of things while the adults were busy getting ready for a big sale this weekend. More details of our trip will follow in the days to come, but right now I'm just going to be brief because, frankly, I'm tired.

Just to prove we were really there, though, here are the kids and Grandpa P having a good time.



There were also a couple of aunts and an uncle there, although I'm forbidden to show pictures of, or even mention one of those aunts on this blog. Maybe she's in witness protection and hasn't told me about it. I'm not sure. Grandma also was blog, and thus camera, shy. Uncle Tom and Aunt Hazel were busy living their lives off camera as well, but all those not appearing in photo were and are just as loved.

Details of our trip to a castle, a farm and a fishing hole will be coming to a blog near you in the future.

Probably.

Moving On

I've always thought women who said they wished their little ones could "stay babies forever" were just plain loony. The baby stage was most definitely not my favorite. Why on earth would you want to put up with diapers, bottles (or worse), and no way to communicate with your child for more than the year that we already have?

Not for me. I was thrilled when my little ones started to talk and reason. I would be a nutcase if we had to stay at the baby stage any longer than we do. Of course, I didn't have those sweet little "lie on a blanket and coo" kind of babies either. Mim was pretty content, really, for the first 6 months, but Zaya was a crazy little weasel. The colic, the total inability to be still for even two seconds, the crying unless food was in the process of entering his mouth....ugh. Not again.

I can, however, see someone wishing that their little one would stay about four years old for a while. It has been a pleasant age. Zaya is almost always in a good mood (no tantrums) and he's fun to talk to. Sure, he can be a little crazy sometimes, but it's a good crazy. (see prev. post about puffer fish) He's actually reading pretty well now, so I can tell him to read his own book if he gets too insistent, but he's still young enough that he wants to snuggle and read with me also.

I've finally reached a point where I'm not eager for him to grow up "just a little more". He starts Pre-K this next year, and I'm not ready. I've been looking forward to Pre-K since he was born, but it's become less and less appealing as the time approaches and it starts to sink in that my baby will be out of my sight and control for a large chunk of his day.

This feeling and a lot of other factors led us to enroll Zaya in Pre-K at a small Christian school in W'ville. (They have the option of 1/2 day Pre-K and Kindergarten, where the local Public school here in our town only has full day in those grades.) The school is actually based in C, another nearby town, and I attended TLCS* (The Little Christian School) myself in 4th, 5th and 6th grades. They recently opened up their W'ville campus in a local church that offered their gym for classrooms and play-time. I think I'll be the first "alumni" to have their own child enter the school. (It's only 20 yrs. old. Unlike the Jr.High/High School I talk about sometimes, which is 100+ yrs. old.)

It's been a hard decision in some ways because all Zaya's (and Mim's) little buddies from church will be attending the public school here in our own town, and I don't for a moment want their mothers to think I am judging their decisions in any way. I really hope they won't be upset because I don't want to damage our friendships. Nevertheless, the choice stands. The school here in town is perfectly fine. You would be hard pressed to find a better public school, but when we sat down and listed the pros and cons for our family, TLCS won out.

Gas money is a real drawback to our decision, because it will mean one trip to town and back everyday for me, at the best. (Because Art already goes there and back everyday for work, so he can probably take Zaya in the mornings.) It has to be, though, and now we'll just wait and see how this next year goes. Who knows what the future holds. I only know that I'm going to miss my little guy a whole lot, and I sincerely hope he doesn't lose his sweet spirit as he becomes a "schoolchild". (Although everyone tells me he will.)

*It's blog name only

Virtual Makeover

Last year I came across on offer for blogwork by a lovely lady named Revka. She was just getting started in doing blog design, and said she would give a free header (That's the picture at the top of my blog.) to the first few people who e-mailed her requesting one.

I swallowed my pride and e-mailed, for two reasons. No, three. First, I'm not a designer. I'm terrible at lay-outs and anything that involves a sense of style. Yes, this includes my home and my person. Sad, but true. The second reason would be laziness. I wanted something nice at the top of my blog, but the work involved to learn HTML was just too much. My third reason, of course, was that it was free. Yes, free is good.

However, Revka did such a great job that I would recommend actually paying for her services. I know, it's a leap, but I've really enjoyed the work she did and am still perfectly happy with my header. It makes me look like I have a sense of style. And a laptop.

If you'd like to get a little work done on your blog, and help out a fellow blogger at the same time (me), you could let RS Designs know that I referred you when you place your order. If you do that you'll get a "free surprise addition (a $10 value) to your order." Doesn't that just make you want to go out and get a snazzy little blog makeover. (I'll be getting a little bit of a discount if you do this, that's the "helping me" part. Don't let that sway you one way or the other, though.)

Coconut Cream Soup

Well, so I tried to make a coconut-cream pie using my Grandma P's recipe.

The pudding mix went well.



The crust was hideous, but tasted good. (It was too crumbly, Grandma, did it need more shortning? More water?)



The meringue even looked good.



The problem?

It was still pudding consistency inside. And I don't mean the thick stand-your-spoon-up kind of pudding. I mean the hold-up-the-bowl-and-drink kind.

It tasted fine, but I did something wrong with the filling. It was not like Grandma's pie.

Not that I expected it to turn our right, since I'm the one who made it, but still. I had these hopes.

Pumpkin, Pecan, Apple?

Mim finally woke up without a fever this morning, so I'm officially calling her "well". It's a nice feeling to know that both of my children are currently healthy. That should last until the weekend of the fourth of July. (We have a family camping trip planned.)

Today after the bookmobile story-time we went to visit Grandma Lilibeth, just for a chance to get away from the house for awhile. On the way, Mim was sitting in the backseat quietly and then she said,

"Mommy. Ms. Julie [the librarian] called me 'sweetie-pie' today."

(silent thought) "...but...I not a pie!"

How confusing terms of endearment must be to the little guys.

And So it Goes

Just an interesting sidenote. This is my 400th post. Yea.

Mim now has a fever. Of course, she comes down with it on Friday evening. I did finally get hold of our doctor and he's called in a prescription for her. She shook things up a bit by getting sick at a family event instead of before. So far it's just a fever, and I'm hoping it stays that way since she had her first dose of antibiotics within an hour of getting her fever. (Zaya had one dose left after he had completely finished his.)

We were at Grandma Lilibeth's house, celebrating her return. She's been in Arkansas for the last 2 1/2 weeks looking after my paternal Grandmother who had a wreck. Grandma can't move without her special back brace, so life alone in her apartment is currently impossible. I'm glad my mother was able to go help, and I hope Grandma is healing quickly, but I'm sure glad she's back. I don't like being the responsible one in the family. I'm just not qualified yet.

On another interesting and totally unrelated note, I asked my little niece, Jaida, if she would sing me her favorite song the other day. She sang, "F-R-E-E that spells free. Credit Report dot com Baby!" I asked her where she learned that lovely little ditty and she said, "Daddy!"

One More Time...

I don't know how they do it, but my normally healthy children get the strangest little illnesses right before special family events. How do they know? Is it just Murphy's law or is this some strange cross we have to bear?

Last Christmas Zaya came down with what turned out to be Strep throat and caused him to miss two family celebrations and the whole family to miss a trip to Texas. Then Zaya had a little two hour mystery illness the day of his cousin Jaida's birthday party. (Mim and Dad went by themselves.) Two weeks ago Mim had a little day-and-a-half fever that kept us from going to a wedding and visiting Art's youngest sister.

And then this weekend we should have known something was going to happen, because it was Addy's birthday party and another trip to visit Art's sister. Of course, Zaya came down with another weird case of Strep throat. They're so weird because he experiences no throat pain. He just had a fever, but acted otherwise normal...until this morning, when he started throwing up. =P Needless to say, we did not travel, and only Mim and I got to go to the birthday party. Poor little Zay.

Anyway, we've been to the doctor already and started the antibiotics so hopefully he's feeling better soon. He's really the sweetest little sick guy. He said, "thank you" when I held his bucket for him and said, "I'd like a drink of water please" and "That water tastes great!"

Imagination Powered

The summer reading program has released a new burst of imaginative play in our house.
We have more than 20 books checked out right now, and we're trying to get through 176 more (just Mim's, that is) so we'll have enough "Bug Bucks" to buy a cute little purse with a bug on it. (That's 50 Bug Bucks total at 4 books a Buck. She currently has 6 Bucks.)

Anyway, several of our books are about sea creatures. The titles being variously, "Rays", "Eels", "Squids", "Sponges" and the riveting "Puffer Fish". They have now been read several times to both children and apparently absorbed.

Yesterday, amid the chaos of a thunderstorm and a total lack of electricity, my children became sea creatures. A Puffer Fish and a Shark, to be more exact.
























Can you guess which was which?

The size of Mim's mouth never ceases to amaze me. Those are some nice healthy tonsils she's got there. Zaya was also heard to say, "I am biting things with my beak-shaped teeth! I eat shellfish. Daddy, you are a clam!" Daddy cowered appropriately.

Lest you think we sound too intellectual here, let me also add that they spent a large amount of time running like lunatics this morning around and around the kitchen/hall loop; one wearing a black stocking cap and the other holding a (clean) Disney princess pull-up (leftover from the potty-training days)yelling, "STEP IN! STEP IN! STEP IN!", then laughing like hyenas and reversing roles.

Ah...the peaceful days of summer.

Going Potty

My sister, Claye, has made a large number of pots this year in her art classes. I like having artists in the family because I have no skills myself and cannot afford to purchase pieces from others. This way I can own beautiful things at starving artist prices.

And yes, I pay what Claye charges, just for the record. I'm not ripping her off. Of course, if they're worth thousands some day, I can't say I'll go back and make up the difference...

I'm enjoying the appearance of being cultured, anyway, when people walk in and see the lovely hand-made pottery on my piano.

Alright, well, yes, it's true that no one but family and close friends ever visit my home. And yes, also true that one of those pots is sitting on a doily. But still... you know what I mean.

Now if I could just get my brother Joshua to record some of his songs for me, I could play them in the background while people looked at my little pottery collection.

Vicarious talent. I love it.