Survivor: Indiana

I am proud to say I haven’t been voted off the island yet.  Actually, I don’t anticipate being voted off for another 10 years or so, by which time I will have more firmly entrenched myself amongst my allies (still figuring out who they may be).  Today, however, I feel as if I’ve been through boot camp.  You can always tell when a mother has been through her own, personal boot camp.  Typically, you can spy the slightly panicked gleam shining through her half-lidded eyes and the tell-tale smudges of been-there mascara under her eyes.  The crowning bit of evidence is, however, the funny shape of her hair.  Probably from tugging on it all day to keep from screaming.   I understand there are perfect mothers somewhere out there.  I discovered one day into parenting that I’m definately not one of them.   And just in case I forgot, I suppose, God reminded me again.  And again.  And again.  Thankfully, His reminders are more of His Grace than my imperfection.  Nah, I take that back.  It’s because of my imperfection that His grace is so very welcome.  I need to accept it more often and depend on Him more.

Sigh.  Boy, bed is looking great right now.  ALL three of my little ones are actually sound asleep, all at once!  Therefore, I will not prolong this missive, for I must needs retire to my chamber for a much-needed slumber.

The fourth sign of a ‘boot camp mom’?   Really silly, really-late-at-night posts on her blog. 

Big Red Sock

Well, it has happened.  Miraculously, we have made it through 7 1/2 yrs. of child-rearing with nary a doctor visit.  We do the well-baby stuff  and checkups. Once, our kiddos had a cough that made us cringe so we trooped into our pediatricians office with our then-2-year-old and 10-month-old.  That was 3 1/2 years ago.  Since then, we’ve been blessed with another little one who’s name is Barrett, but who has aquired the appropos nick-name of ‘Bear’.  Bear, to put it bluntly, is a firecracker.  Never stays still, loves taking things apart, climbs up on windowsills, and doesn’t know the meaning of the word ‘walk’.  Until now.  Only, it’s not even really ‘walk’.  It’s more like ’shuffle, scrape, shuffle, scrape’. 

So to make a short story even shorter.  Bear has a broken leg.  Poor little guy.  He was so brave through the whole thing.  He actually fell Monday evening, but it wasn’t until we had gotten through a sleepless, fussy night that we felt we needed to get an x-ray.  Pain doesn’t seem to affect him the same way it affects most other children.  He was fussy and favoring that leg, so we figured it to be a sprain.  But when he cried every time I tried touching it, it seemed that it could be something needing further attention.  At the doctor’s office he exhibited some anxiety, but muscled through it with the predictable aplomb of a toddler with a will of iron and a hefty grip on his daddy’s neck.  As the doctor was applying the cast, we could tell that pain, fear, and fascination were warring for his attention.  Eventually, not unpredictably, fascination won hands-down.  And once his leg was stabilized his pain seemed to diminish by the minute until, back at home, he began attempting to pull himself up to walk.  Walking isn’t easy right now with the angle of the over-the-knee cast, but you can be sure that won’t stop him for one second.

‘Shuffle, scrape, shuffle, scrape’    There he goes.

Extreme Make”under”-Home Edition

For all of you do-it-yourselfers out there, hear me, and hear me well. 

Ok, I add to that.  For all of you very, very cheap do-it-yourselfers out there, hear me, and, well, etc. 

 Always, always, always make sure that amidst your wonderous cheapness (some call it frugality, we cheapsters know better) you take into account all aspects of doing it the cut and slash way.  Mind you, I’m speaking from the addict’s chair.  I’m not kidding when I say I’ve had friends who have said in a pleading tone, “Heather, please just go BUY something.  Just this once.  It’s okay if you haven’t made it yourself. HONESTLY!”  And I look back at them through shaded, slightly suspicious eyes, mentally trying to gauge their loyalty. 

The past year or so I have had an inordinate fascination with a particular store in our town in which all items, and I mean ALL, are $1.  Yeah, I can hear all you purists either sighing, gasping, or groaning.  But I’m not a purist.  I would proudly consider myself to be a bit of sneak.  There is nothing I love more than buying something at the *ahem* store and having nobody come close to guessing where I got it, or whether I made it myself.  Obviously there are some things that I won’t buy there.  Namely, hair items, most kitchen utensils (they are clearly flimsy *wink*), and the gumballs in the little machines up front.  Everything else is fair game.  Well, almost anything.  I have been looking to replace my laundry-room flooring for awhile.  I don’t want to spend much money on it because I have a hard time believing it will be there for any length of time anyway.  This store was selling these self-stick linoleum tiles 3 for $1.  My little Scroogy heart melted.  I bought a few that I thought I might like, took them home, laid them out for a dress rehearsal, looked at them, and looked at them, and looked at them.  I didn’t buy a whole floor’s worth because I didn’t know if I wanted them or not.  Finally, about a month after my first encounter, I committed.  I know.  Very big step.  Anyway, I went back to the store, bought them out, came home, and started laying tile knowing I was going to be a few short.  That’s okay, I thought.  They said they would have a new shipment of those tiles coming in soon anyway. I’ll get these down, go back in a few days, get the tiles for the rest of the project.  I went back.  Nothing.  Went back again. Nothing again.  I went back a third time,  and pursued the subject with the clerk on the floor until it came out that there was no guarantee they would be getting any more of those particular tiles.  I got proactive. I got on the phone with other stores in that chain.  All the same answer.  Sorry, we’re out of those tiles.  I sat at my desk sweating, fuming, and generally feeling stupid.  Thankfully, my husband is a sweetheart.  He just looked at me.  Smiled a bit and said it was absolutely ‘ok’.  I told him it wasn’t ’ok’, but I appreciated his thought and then added with an intense whisper, “But, Tim, this means we are going to have to SPEND MONEY!  Like REAL money! Not THRIFT SHOP money! REAL MONEY!!!”   His patient smile went a long way in calming my little white-elephant heart and I sludged, if not skipped, off to Menards, the home of the Real Money Rangers to spend, spend, spend.  The new tiles I bought were 20 cents more per tile than the others I bought.  I felt like a movie star.  Wowsers.  The only thing I could think is, This is what it must feel like to own the whole world.  Breathe, Heather, just breathe.  I could get used to this.  So all of this to say is I’ve made a much-needed break with the Former Store  and am now firmly ensconced in a stable relationship with the bigger, better, movie-star store, Menards. 

Sigh.  I’m so in love. 

Thankful

Life is so busy, but I have been learning that there are times that I need to slow down and smell the daisys.  By that, I mean that we should enjoy the things in life that have blessed us.  So, I’m posting now to do so–be thankful for the special blessings in life.

Right now, I am thankful for the special blessing of my wife, Heather.  God was so good to keep her just for me, and me for her!  She is such a great woman, wife, and mother that I can’t think of any other who would fit the bill as equally as she does, much less excel at it like she does!

I’m also thankful for 3 wonderful children who are growing so fast and teaching me so much about being a father and leading a family.  Sure, we have our “moments” but they are so energetic, so imaginative, and so kind that I marvel at the little brood growing up right here under our roof.

So, there’s my blessings in life.  I’d challenge you to consider the blessings in yours!

   

Full Speed Ahead

There’s nothing quite like seeing your children growing in visible and tangible ways.  Most growth happens gradually, in subtle, unseen ways.  But other changes occur with all the subtlety of a tractor-trailer lumering through your livingroom.  Or over the lunch table in this instance.

It’s a Sunday afternoon and we’re sitting around our dinner table enjoying the semi-al fresco atmosphere of our screened porch and are being periodically entertained by the antics of our 1-yr.-old.  It’s at the very moment that the conversation feels comfortable and familiar that our children enjoy popping out of the woodwork with something new. 

We thought that something new was our 1 yr. old, Bear, sticking the end of a huge, mangled cob of corn in his mouth and cheekily posing for the camera.  It was like a one-two punch because as we were sitting there cracking up at his unexpected and surprisingly sophisticated antics, our 6 yr. old piped up with,

“Man, you guys, we need to blog this!”

All we could stutter between our efforts to suppress our giggles, “Sure, son.  We’ll do that”

So here you have it.

the meaning of “Family”

Joshua and Anna had some interesting thoughts the other day.  We recorded them, and share it with you. 

We know everything!

Last weekend, we were riding our bikes to the park with the kids.  The day was beautiful, and the kids were enjoying the time.

While at the park, I enjoy watching others, but especially how all the kids work out the relationships on the equipment.  This time, I couldn’t help overhearing one conversation that made me laugh out loud.

We had watched one girl welcome either some friends or cousins to the park.  There was great excitement all the way around – young girls and both moms were happy to see each other.  As the two mothers sat down (they looked like sisters), the younger clan ran off to play.  As they ran, the girl that had been to the park first said, “I’ve been here 10 minutes, I know everything!”  The other girls were impressed, but it made me laugh; and it made me think.

How often do we have the same attitude?  Do these statements sound familiar?  “I have 3 kids, and the oldest is 6.”  “We started our relationship with courtship.”  “I own three of those.”  And, as we heard recently at a local electronics store, “I’ve worked in TVs for 2 years.”  With each of these statements – and I admit it, I’ve made them - most often the implication is to add the phrase that the young girl used in the park…”and I know everything.”

Is that really true?  I don’t want to diminish the value of experience at all, but consider and be careful what I imply (and sometimes expressly verbalize) when making these statements.  Experience does give wisdom, but I hope to be gaining wisdom that thinks of such things before I say it!

Hooked on Phonics

Anna is learning to read.  She said today that “someday I want to be a really grand reader”.  Okay.  I’m hoping to help that happen. 

We were out today, running errands, and as we sat in front of Home Depot Anna piped up from the backseat.

“Dad, I know what ’Home’ is and I know what ‘Deep’ is.  But what is a ‘poe’?”

So much for phonics.  We try.

Reality Check

Sometimes, as adults, we take things for granted.  We understand and use idiom, cliche’ and inference and we get it.  Or, at least, we pretend like we get it.  Kids…no deal.  If they don’t get something, they’ll let you know.  But only after you have dug a nice big hole and they are innocently waiting right there to push you in.  

 Tonight, we went to the store.  We have tried to institute ’store manners’ education.  Someday soon, they’ll catch onto the fact that ’store manners’ are essentially the same as ‘restaurant manners’, ‘church manners’, ‘car manners’, and ‘going over to someone’s beautiful and expensive home manners’. 

But sometimes they forget.  Actually, often they forget.  And one of the biggest lessons they are having to learn right now is the lesson of ‘no begging’.  They honestly try not to.  I know they do.  And I love them for their earnest little efforts to do the right thing. 

However,tonight, as we were walking through that modern-day paragon of cheap-chic (Target), they were expounding on the very old subject of, “can we get this” and “can we get that?”, etc.  I’d had it.  Up to my proverbial mother’s eyeballs.  So I launched into one of my profound and esoteric (or so I seem to think) lectures on the pitfalls of greed (and such).  In conclusion, I stated, “We really need to not be always looking at what we don’t have, but what we do have.  We need to step out of this confining box of selfishness and into….blah…blah…blah”  You get the idea.   Joshua turns to me, looks around us at the air, and then asks in his trying-to-pay-close-attention-to-Mom-voice, “What box?”

‘Nuff Said

A Time for growing

Heather and I keep looking at each other asking “Is this really our child?”  It really doesn’t matter which one we are speaking of at the time, it still is amazing that they are all three growing up so fast!

We thought you might enjoy a picture of history in Joshua’s life.  Not many times in a person’s life does this happen

Speaking of such things, have you noticed how inflation is affecting all of us?  Get this – he received 1 WHOLE DOLLAR per tooth!  And you thought the price of gas was high!