It Happened

I'm sitting home by myself on a friday night...husband and son are in Arizona hiking and my daughter and many of her closest friends are experiencing their first junior high dance....Mother's day is coming and somehow, my kids have grown up! 

I don't know when it happened....I still remember how special those first few Mother's Days were to me.  Growing our family through adoption made Mother's Day really, really special and a bit bittersweet.  I was happy, I was finally a mom but I knew that each of my children's birth mothers had a hole in their hearts that day.  I have treasured each mother's day but somewhere along the way....my kids went from being babies to being young adults....

It had to happen..you know, when they are driving you crazy running in the grocery store or even worse, laying in the floor throwing that fit they somehow learned, a little older lady smiles sweetly and says, 'treasure these days, for soon, very soon, they will be over!'  Yeah right!  When you're in the thick of those wonderful (terrible) days, you just want them to end and you to get a good night's sleep!  Well, I'm there, they are almost gone!  And it hurts and I'm sad...but I'm also proud of them both.  My chest bursts with pride when someone outside the family comments on how polite they are or how hard they worked or how giving they both are!  My husband and I seem to be raising two pretty wonderful kids...I'm not sure how we got so lucky! 

It had to happen.....I'm up once again late..but this time, I'm rocking alone in my chair...waiting to be the pick-up mom....

Year of the Pie!!!

I like pie, cakes, muffins and brownies, not so much cupcakes.  Now I know some of you are gasping and hyperventilating right now because those little over-icinged delights are your favorites.  I'm not sorry, I don't like them!  To quote my daughter, 'by the time you get to the cake, you realize there is nothing there!'  Too much icing, too little cake.  Not enough substance for me. Kind of like some people I know.  By the time you get to what they are really like, you realize that there really isn't anything there but some pretty stuff on the outside. 

I also don't like the insane colors they put on cupcakes. Really? Who needs a red, blue, green mouth anyway.  You go to a party, you get handed a cupcake without a plate and then you get to struggle with the paper wrapper all the while knowing if you drop that little thing, it's going to ruin your entire wardrobe as it rolls off your lap.  Once you finally get the paper peeled off, where do you stick the paper?  It has icing all over it and crumbs all in it.  Too messy for me.  Give me a piece of square cake and a fork. 

I read last week that it has been declared the year of the pie.  Yeah pie!! I love pies, any pie really.  Except mincemeat.  That just kind of grosses me out.  Oh, and fake apple pie.  I think if you can't afford apples, just don't make pie.  I couldn't tell you my favorite pie, I pretty much love a lot of them.  They are messy so you can't eat them without a plate.  I love that.  No messy wrapper to dispose of  and if the pie is extremely good, you can just lick the plate clean.  My son does that, he learned it from my husband.  I was not pleased....

Kids learn a lot of things from their dads that don't necessarily please the mom.  Moms try to teach manners, dads teach kids to eat over the sink and drink out of the container.  Kids need both or we'd wind up with sissy boys who lifted their pinkies when they drank or sat at the table in their underwear licking their plates.  It's a good thing to have both!  Especially when mom makes pie!!!!!

Home Sweet Home

We're home now from our whirlwind trip to Missouri.  It was fun, had nice weather and got to see both family and friends.  Saw Oklahoma State cap off the football season with a record eleven wins.  I'm so glad we bought season tickets this year! 

But now, I'm glad to be home with nothing but cleaning to look forward to in the next few days.  My daughter and I took down the ornaments and lights on the tree and my husband helped me wrestle that thing into it's bag and out the door for storage in the barn.  I almost had a heart attack when something grey jumped out of the bag in the middle of the living room floor but then realized that my cat, Josie, had crawled into it while we were wrapping bungee cords around the tree.  I'm always afraid that something will move into the tree during the summer and I'll bring it into the house.  She sort of looks like a possum/lemur cross so she startled me quite a bit when she came jumping out of the bag!

Next, I'm doing the real cleaning.  Vacuuming up all the junk that has settled out of the tree over the last month.  Christmas trees, whether dead or alive are just really messy when you let them live in your house.  Although, I'll miss Christmas, I won't be missing the mess!  Now, I just have to contend with the woodstove.  It's messy but oh, so wonderful on those cold days! 

Since tonight's New Years Eve, my kids both have plans.  I'm not much of a late night person so my husband and I probably will just go to the movies and come home.  My daughter has a slumber party, my son is having a friend over for a night of video games and food.  Perfect boy stuff!  I'm making Chinese to eat.  The boys requested it. 

I haven't really given any thought to my new year's resolution yet.  I usually don't do much.  One year, I resolved to get the family to eat five fruits and veggies a day.  We usually now get that done.  One year, I resolved not to purchase anything for the house that I didn't want to dust the rest of my life.  That one still keeps me from buying cute little things.  This year, I think I need to resolve to not get all stressed out about the little things, to take ten minutes out of each day and just go outside with Kate and play.  I need to thank my family for the things they do that I generally don't notice or think they should be doing them anyway.  I need to laugh and dance more and frown less.  I need to realize that I'm no longer a parent of little kids, I'm the parent of two pretty great teenagers (one almost a teen). 

I think mostly I need to just lighten up a little more each day.  At the end of the day, I need to see more humor, love, patience and grace in my life directed to those I love the most.  I'm going to start everyday with prayer for my kids, not just on the days when I have time.  Everyday.  First thing in the morning I'm going to bath my family in prayer.....

I survived!

My husband and I in a moment of pure insanity took our two kids and two of their friends to Branson, Missouri over the weekend to go to Silver Dollar City.  If you've never been to SDC or as the locals call it, Steal Your Dollar City, you're missing out.  This is the only theme park my husband can be talked into that is within a two days drive.  He liked Disney World but who can run over there in a weekend?

Silver Dollar City is like an old town set in the 1800's.  It is clean, shady and full of people that love their jobs and love people.  It is a Christian based theme park that is not overt in it's Christianity but you know that morals and values are important to the people who own and run the park.  It has lots of rides for all ages but it also has music and variety shows and arts and crafts buildings.  My husband calls it arts and crap but that's not what they carry.  They have local artisians doing painting, metalwork, woodwork, pottery and other real crafts.  It's interesting to go and watch these artists make beautiful objects and speak directly to them. 

We took four kids and set them free in Silver Dollar City for the day.  This is the first year that they have been able to go off on their own.  Of course, all four had their cell phones with them so they could call at any minute but it still was a little unnerving to let them out of my sight!  The kids had a ball, riding rides until they were sick and buying the snacks and drinks that they wanted not what I thought they should have.  When they wandered off my husband turned to me and said, 'they really are growing up aren't they?' We hadn't been alone in Silver Dollar City since we had traveled there twenty-two years ago on our honeymoon! Sure hasn't seemed like that long ago!

The kids survived, we survived and I think we all had a good time.  We only had to stop once on the way home to break up a fist fight in the back of Suzy Q.  Our own lovely adorable children were punching away on each other so my husband had to remove them from the vehicle and have a 'little talk' to the two of them.  We were all tired from having too much fun in the sun and were a bit cranky at that time. 

But we survived! I had a friend once that would say of any experience that you'd either have a good time or a great story, I think we have both from this trip!

Growing up....

This sunday was promotion sunday at our church.  My daughter was especially excited about this because it marked her first sunday as a youth!  This had several meanings for her; she got to start going to the youth building for sunday school and she no longer was expected to sit near a parent, either us or another one during church but she was expected to sit with the youth group.  She has been planning this moment all summer!

Promotion sunday is not such a big deal in the adult departments.  We really don't move, the class just reclassifies itself as an older one and we keep going.  Occasionally, a couple will 'move' on to an older class but most of us just keep going, and going, and going to the same class.  When we first started going to this church about eleven years ago, we went to a young married class.  We were between the ages of 25-35 so we fit right in.  We are still classified as a new married class but most of us have youth and some even have college kids!  We all laugh that we are the oldest young married class in the history of Baptist churches! 

Growing up means different things to different people at different stages of life.  To my daughter, growing up means sitting apart from us at church.  To each of us though, it means more responsibilities and higher expectations.  Sitting apart from your parents means you have to take it upon yourself to not talk, pass notes and generally act like a kids.  To an adult, growing up means getting a job and making grown-up decisions about your life; where to live, who to marry, etc. 

I think back to when I was a new youth.  I was so excited to pull away from my parents and become someone different.  Now, looking back, I see that I've pretty much come full circle.  I pulled away, but like a  june bug on a string, I circled around and am now back in the same spot that I left my parents years ago.  Except this time, I am the one standing still while my own children are pulling away.  Makes me look at my own parents with new eyes.  Eyes that have new appreciation for what they have done......

Anniversary

Today, my husband and I have been married twenty-two years.  It sure doesn't seem like that much time has passed until I look in the mirror! It has been a fun, fun ride with few bumps along the way.  I'd like to think that it is because I'm such a joy to live with but I know the real truth.  He puts up with a lot from me and I do the same from him.  We have always tempered our marriage with a lot of humor and a lot of prayer.  It seems to be working!

We've got both kids going places this weekend and we're going to spend some much needed time together alone.  I have to say, I'm looking forward to it a lot.  Some of our friends are beginning to bemoan the empty nest syndrome, I'm not.  It's not that I don't love my kids with all my heart.  I just know that in order for us to be successful parents, they must move on and be on their own someday.  I look forward to that day when my kids are successful adults and I can come and visit them and hopefully, my grandchildren!  I don't want to rush it though, they are only fourteen and twelve!  We have at least eight to twelve more years of actively being parents of kids who live mostly at home.  I'm just looking ahead and seeing a time when my husband and I can have more time for just the two of us.  We like to be together!

Happy anniversary boyfriend! My kids hate it when I call my husband my boyfriend.  He can't be my boyfriend since we're married apparently.  Well, I don't care, he will always be my BF!

Birthday Boy!

My baby boy is fourteen today.  I can't believe that so many years have gone by since I first met him.  It was love at first sight.  He was honestly the most beautiful boy I'd ever laid eyes on.  I wouldn't hardly lay him down.  When I finally would lay him down, my husband would pick him up. 

Why is it that the first baby had just so many pics and videos and each child after that gets fewer and fewer.  When my daughter was born, I made a vow that I would let her get her own pictures.  I am proud to say that she does have many, many photos. 

Getting back to birthdays.  Lazer tag, that's what my son wants to do again for his birthday.  Again.  This is three times that he's done lazer tag.  I really wanted to take a float trip and take some of his friends.  He vetoed that and chose lazer tag.  Oh well, I guess I'll schedule a float trip in August sometime. 

Now, I'll just enjoy every birthday.  In two years, there will be real stress.  Car and driver license stress.  In four years, he'll be legal and also a senior in high school.  I think I'll just enjoy today, thinking back to the tiny baby he was fourteen years ago and how I slept with my hand over in the cradle so he wouldn't disappear while I grabbed that big two hours of sleep a night.  I'll probably have to wake him up this morning, I love teenagers!

Church Camp

By the time most of you read this, I'll be on my way with over fifty very high energy third through sixth graders to kids camp.  Please pray for me because being a camp counselor is not something that I think I do well.  The last time I was a counselor, my own children were not even born!  I get tired of the late nights, the never-ending activities and the early mornings.  I tend to like things a little more in my control and more orderly.  I always end up having a good time, learning new things and getting in touch with God in a more personal way though so this time, I do have a bit more positive attitude than some times before. 

The other counselors that are going are friends so I'm looking forward to spending some time with them.  I know most of the kids that are going and looking forward to getting to know them a bit more and it's my daughters last year at kid camp so I'm going to enjoy seeing her finish her last year at a child's camp and enter into the world of youth!  I am also looking forward to some quiet alone time with God.  I need to sort out what He wants me to do next year. 

As a teacher that quit mid-year last year, I'm itching to find out what's next for me.  So far, God has pretty much been silent on the subject.  I feel like He's been asking me questions about why I feel the need to find something else to do besides being a mom, a volunteer for everything under the sun, a wife who's not nearly as stressed as when she was working, a homeschool teacher for my son and the list goes on and on.  I seem to need to fill every waking minute with something and maybe He needs me to take a break and just be still.

I'm hoping that this week, I can work through some of my questions and get to some answers.  Pray for me and my little charges.    We can look forward to a fun, frantic and hopefully, soul-searching week!

Mission Trips

Pray for me today.  My baby girl is leaving the state on a mission trip.  She's only been away from me a few times and always someplace safe with people that are either family or almost family.  Never on a mission trip to a homeless shelter.  Of course, she is with caring and loving adults. 

She's only going to be gone until Sunday night.  I know that she'll do well and this will be a learning experience. It's just really hard to see them grow up and do things without me! They are still supposed to be babies that are totally dependent on mom! 

Oh, I know in my heart that she still needs me, both of my kids do.  It just seems that this is the beginning of growing up and I don't think I'm really ready for this.  I'm proud that they both are involved and willing to volunteer to help others.  My husband and I have tried hard to show our kids that giving to others is very important.  It does seem to be working....but I'm not really sure that I like them doing it by themselves!

I just need everybody today to pray for me and for her and the other kids.  Especially me!

Driving

I hate to drive.  I get really nervous when I drive because I'm worried that someone will pull out in front of me, weave into my lane, just generally, do something really stupid. I've never been in a wreck during my adult life so I'm not really sure what my reaction would be.   That said, I do a lot of driving people to here and there and back again so I have a lot of time to think while I'm driving.  I'll probably rear-end someone sometime because I'm too busy thinking and not paying attention to what I'm really supposed to be doing!

I think a lot about things.  My day, what I should have said instead of what I actually said, what I'm having for dinner, what I need to get done, those kinds of things. Especially when I'm alone.  When one of my kids is riding, we generally talk.  I talked a lot to my dad when he would drive me around.  He would give me some advice that didn't feel like advice while we were driving.  I learned to look at the telephone lines to see if someone was coming up the hill because the phone lines would reflect their headlights.  I learned what Billy Joel meant when he sang about trojans in his pocket...I didn't have any idea while I was singing it at the top of my lungs! I learned not to sing lyrics of songs that I didn't know what they meant!  Among other things.

I am learning now that being alone in a car is a good chance to casually mention things that you normally wouldn't across the dinner table.  Sitting side by side is easier than sitting eyeball to eyeball.  I've discussed drugs, sex, people from school who's parents are doing things they shouldn't, making good choices versus bad choices and how they can effect you forever and ever.  Among other things.  I hope it doesn't sound like preaching, they don't react like it is.  I remember when my dad would offer these little five minutes of wisdom.  I remember them as discussions, not as a teenager who was being told what to do. 

And most of all...I still remember them!

When I Grow Up!

“You know mom, when you grow up, you should open a sandwich shop!” This came out of my almost fourteen year old sons mouth the other day between bites of his very large hoagie I had made him for lunch. Now there are several things wrong with that sentence. Firstly, the part about ‘when I grow up’. I think I’m pretty much fully grown. All five foot three inches, one hundred fifteen pounds of me. It’s not much but I’m pretty sure the only growing I may be doing in the next few years will be out and down as I begin to morph into a perimenopausal middle-aged woman. I have already had several careers too. I have been a cashier, a secretary and a teacher to name a few. I also have completed college. I’m pretty sure I’m as grown-up as I’m going to get!

Secondly, opening a sandwich shop is not something I have ever dreamed about doing. Don’t get me wrong, I like to cook and do a darn good job of it. I could probably do a catering and party business because I am a very good party planner. But a sandwich shop? Nope. Can’t see me doing that!

After I picked myself up of my completely clean floor, I had just mopped, I had to consider the source. To a fourteen year old boy , food is pretty much the only thing he thinks about. Well, maybe food and girls. I don’t need to go into that. TMI for the mom! My son has friends that I think just come over to eat. And to those boys, I am the Sandwich Queen. I make a mean hoagie, wrap or panini. I can take orders; do you want black olives or roasted red peppers on that? What kind of cheese, cheddar, provolone, swiss or munster? Ham, turkey or beef? You see, I keep all the fixings for a great sandwich in the fridge. That’s my secret, I keep a sub shop in my fridge. Doesn’t take much to impress a fourteen year old boy......

Let's Go Fly A Kite!

'Let's go fly a kite, up to the highest height. Let's go fly a kite and keep it soaring. Up through the atmosphere, upwhere the air is clear, come let's go fly a kite!'

My favorite song in Disney's Mary Poppins is 'Let's go fly a kite'. I like all the songs actually, I know them all by heart and have since kindergarten or before. I used to get into trouble during nap time for laying on my carpet pad and singing. I wasn't tired so I didn't need a nap, especially at 10 o'clock in the MORNING! Good grief, we were only there two and a half hours, it wasn't like we ran the entire time!

Anyway, getting off topic again, back to flying a kite. In our world of giant-sized, cookie-cutter houses on postage stamp sized lots, I think our kids have lost the joy of kite flying. I remember as a kid, one of the best things about spring was getting outside in the windy days of March and flying a kite! It was pure spring!

I've always taken my kids out, let them choose a kite and watched their faces as that kite begins to lift up, up, up into the sky! The last ten years, we've been blessed to live on four acres with two acres being almost totally open prairie land. I like it and don't plan to put any trees on it. I have finally talked my husband into not mowing all of it like a golf course but instead sowing native prairie flowers on it. He likes birds, I like butterflies; I used the angle that it would bring in both. I was right, it does!

Today as I'm looking out my window toward the road and over my little piece of prairie ponderosa, I'm thinking this afternoon will be a good day to fly a kite. I've always got a few ready, I buy them when they are on sale in June! Over the years, we've moved up to bigger kites, no more are we using those flimsy plastic ones that can't stand up to the Oklahoma wind sweeping off the plains. We've got the good ones, the ones that will go as far as your string or patience will let you. The ones that will knock you for a loop if you let it get out of control and come crashing down! Know that from experience, you can not outrun a kite on a mission!

Take your kids or just yourself out to fly a kite today. Enjoy the emerging green that is happening all around us. This is the day that the Lord hath made! Rejoice and go fly a kite!