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.