Back To School We Go!

My wish for this school year - that every morning would be as easy as the first morning was!  The kids were up and getting dressed before I even walked into their rooms!  I know we can chalk this first morning up to adrenaline, but I can wish can't I?  Before long we'll be pushing the limits on how late we can sleep, rushing around to find shoes, and running out the door short of breath. 

I return to preschool tomorrow, not to teach, just for teacher's meetings, cleaning out rooms, etc.  I can't say I'm as excited as my kids are about going back to school, but I can say I'm excited about receiving that paycheck we miss so dearly during the summer months!

Have a great day,

Amy

Disaster Averted - Miracles Do Happen

This is our dog Ellie. 

She is approximately 10 months old,  and she resides in our backyard.  The kids and I love to be outside on the backporch which doubles as Ellie's homeplace.  We eat snacks out there, we read out there, we talk on the phone out there, etc. 


In Ellie's defense, she doesn't know the difference between a chew toy we bought and left on the porch for her on purpose and the book we accidentally left out there. 

This is what Ellie can do to a book:

Gogurt bought this book with some hard-earned money and although he had read it several times, he was upset nonetheless.  Upset with Ellie, with himself, with his sister who for some reason caught the brunt of his frustration.  (It could have been her yelling out the back door, "Be quiet, I can hear you ALL THE WAY in here!) Not quite the sympathy he was looking for I guess. 

Fast forward to late last night. Sarah and I were watching Freaky Friday on ABC Family.  Gogurt didn't want to watch it with us, and he couldn't play the Wii or computer so he decided to go outside with Ellie (maybe to offer forgiveness?) 

He came in looking like he saw a ghost.  "Ellie has puppy!!!" he yelled.  I'm sure we were all imaging what Ellie had done earlier in the day to the book.  Oh, God help us-Ellie has puppy. 

This puppy:

Poptart has slept with puppy every night since she got him from Santa when she was about 18 months old.  Puppy has been a part of our family, and if something ever happened to him I think we would all cry. 

When I heard Ellie had puppy, I imagined the worst - his head ripped off, his 4 legs strewn over the 4 corners of our yard, and that tail that Poptart rubs chewed to bits. 


I got from the couch to the backyard in 0.3 seconds and thankfully was glad to see puppy all in one piece, for now.  We had to get puppy out of Ellie's grips.  And of course, Ellie thought it was all a game so she was running like lightning past Gogurt and me. 

Poptart came to the backdoor but looked like she was going to faint, so I told her to go back inside and Gogurt and I would take care of it.  Please God, let me get this stuffed dog out of this real dog's mouth.  My daughter's mental state depends on it!

It all happened so fast, but Ellie finally dropped puppy and after screaming, "Get it, get it, get it" Gogurt pounced on it like a lion hunting its prey.  I'm not embarassed to say I sat Indian-style on my backporch holding puppy to my chest rocking back and forth chanting, "Thank you, Lord." 

When I entered the house, puppy in tow, Poptart was curled up in the fetal position on the couch crying.  I can't tell you the relief I felt when I was able to hand her puppy, still all in one piece.  A little wet, but in one piece. 

She was so emotionally drained, she declared there was no way she could sleep by herself.  I laid her down beside her daddy and she went sound asleep with puppy right there beside her. 

(We are still unsure how puppy ever got out there in the first place.  Poptart is very careful about not taking puppy outside, so that part is a mystery)

After the rescue, I was still on an adrenaline rush and wasn't quite ready to lie down yet.  That's when the second miracle of the night happened. 

Gogurt and I went back outside and stayed up for the next hour talking, at first about the disaster that almost had happened right before our eyes, and then discussing everything from school to friends to girls.  We talked, laughed, and had the absolute best time together we've had in a very, very long time. 

Are these miracles equal to the water-to-wine or crossing-the-sea-on-dry-land miracles?  Nah, probably not.  But to me and my family, they sure did feel like it. 
  

Poptart Turns 6

Happy Birthday, Poptart! 

We love you!

Momma, Daddy, and Gogurt

Inventive Spelling

Poptart is finishing up her Kindergarten year, and all of a sudden she has become a writing machine.  At school, they are encouraged to write, write, and write some more. They use a method called "inventive spelling" where the child is encouraged to write a word as it sounds, not necessarily as it is actually spelled.  Then as the process continues, they begin learning how to spell the words correctly.  I didn't know I was a fan of this method, but it seems to be working with Poptart.  I don't think she would be so willing to write if she were under the pressure to spell all the words just right.  

Above is a picture of her easel.  It is a list of things her and a certain friend are going to do when that friend comes over to play. 

(No, we haven't gotten a dog, guess #2 and # 14 is just wishful thinking?)

I have to say it's cutsie to see a 5-year-old writing this way, but it irks me to see businesses with their names misspelled.  For example, somewhere like "Katy's Katfish" or "The Koffee Kup" would be hard pressed to get my business.  I get the K theme, but really, it just doesn't seem so cutsie when adults do it.  

For now, I absolutely love reading what Poptart writes.  She writes letters to her Daddy, her brother, and me, and she makes lists - she's made several lists concerning her upcoming birthday.  I would not dare point out all her spelling errors to her, and I have to threaten Gogurt about doing it.  He loves pointing out all her mistakes, but then again what are brothers for? 

Hav A Gud Day!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

The Sleepover

Gogurt's JROTC sleepover went well.  It just so happened that he knew a couple of kids there from his school.  Not his class, but the same grade at least. 

He seemed to enjoy it alot although he said he didn't go to bed until midnight.  Yikes!  And there was nobody playing a bugle at his bedside the next morning.  Oh well. 

They got their face painted camo, did some kind of exercise I cannot quite understand from his description, (something about carrying wheels or tires on some sort of stretcher?), and learned to march. 

I'm glad he had this experience! 

Blow That Bugle, Sir

Instead of a birthday party for Gogurt, we agreed to send him to a JROTC sleepover held at the local high school.  He is, and always has been into all things military.  At the age of 4, he had memorized the names of all the fighter planes pictured in the encyclopedia.  At one time he wanted to be a fighter jet pilot but that has kind of waned as of late.  We are not sure if he actually wants to be in the Army (or any branch of service) or if it's just fun to dress up in camo and play army in the yard. 

Nonetheless, he wanted to go to this sleepover and we agreed.  He had one friend that was going but at the last moment had to back out so Gogurt went all by himself.  He was slightly nervous, but not too much.  I'm proud he is willing to step out and do things no matter if he is the only one doing it. 

This reminds me of a situation in my life.  I was a Junior in high school and for some unknown reason, I was chosen to attend the Lions' Leadership Conference.  Each high school was allowed to send one person so that meant I was the only one going from my school.  However, there was another girl chosen from the city school and although I did not personally know her, I figured since she was the only one going from her school, she would not know anyone else there either and we would buddy up, at least being from the same hometown and all. 

And just like happened tonight to Gogurt, this girl for some reason had to back out at the last minute.  Now I was the only one going from our entire county, and I wasn't that excited about going anymore. 

The conference was a million miles from my house.  Well, probably not, but it might as well have been.  My mother took me, dropped me off, and I was terrified.  Only years later in a random conversation would I realize the only person more nervous than me was my mother.  Now I know how she felt. 

I remember thinking I hated it there and wanted to cry and tell them to call my momma to come get me.  But then I would remember I wasn't in 1st grade anymore (I cried for the first 6 weeks of my school-career, but that's for another post) and that I just had to suck it up and muddle through. 

I don't even remember how many nights I had to stay there, and I certainly do not remember anything we did to become "leaders."  I do remember though that by the time I left I had made some good friends, friends that I swore I would keep up with forever, and I'm sure you can guess that I never spoke to them again.  But of course if there had been internet back then, you know with e-mail and stuff, I'm sure we would all still be BFFs.  Or not. 

I survived what I thought was an intolerable situation, and looking back I see that experience as being one very good for me.  It made me reach out and make new friends, something I had never had to do before. 

Thankfully Gogurt does not seem as unnerved by being in new situations.  When I asked him (for the umpteenth time) if he was okay going by himself, he would just say in a matter-of-fact way, "Yeah, I'll just make a new friend while I'm there." 

I hope he does make a new friend, but more than that, Brad and I are hoping the colonel blows the bugle at 5 a.m. right beside his sleeping bag.  I would pay to see that!

It's Your Day!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY GOGURT!

You finally made it to double-digits...the big 10 years old!

We love you!

We'll Work 'Til Jesus Comes

Last night I was lying in bed with Poptart before she fell asleep.  For some reason, she started trying to say the grades in order, like 1st grade, 2nd grade, 3rd grade, and so on.  Here's how the rest of the conversation went. 

"12th grade.....then what, Momma?"




"College!"




"What's after college?"




"WORK."




"Until you die?????"


And I said,

Yep, pretty much. 

A Nice Post About Puppy

  After watching "Because of Winn-Dixie" Poptart wanted me to get a pen and paper and write down her 10 favorite things about Puppy.  I thought I'd share them with you....
My 10 Favorite Things About Puppy
1.  He always loves me.
2.  He doesn't like thunderstorms. 
3.  He is always my friend. 
4.  He barks when we sing. 
5.  He always sleeps with me. 
6.  He is in all my pictures with me. 
7.  He likes to hide in the bathroom. 
8.  He smells good when we wash him. 
9.  He has one brown ear, one white ear, and a brown and white body. 
10. His tail is my favorite part to rub. 

A New Member of the Family

For the past couple of years at every concert or conference I attended, I would hear the same thing.  "Compassion International.  Sponsor a child." 


I don't know about you, but I'm one of those people who tend to turn the TV during a commercial with the sad-faced kids looking at you and then an adult asking for your money. 


But the more I learned about Compassion, the more I was tempted.  Then last Sunday night, at a concert with Selah, (excellent concert by the way), there it was again.  "Compassion International.  Sponsor a child." 


I had come so close to signing up at the last E-Women conference, but of course Brad wasn't with me, so I talked myself out of it.  But he was with me at the Selah concert, and we both agreed to do it. 


If you know us well at all, you know we live on a meager salary with not much leftover at the end of each  month.  But we could swing $38 a month.  And now that we've met our first child, I'm wondering if we could swing $76.......


His name is Titus.  He is 7 years old, and he lives in Haiti. 


(If I were a little more tech savvy, I would scan his picture for you to see, but maybe I can get Brad to do that later.  He's a cutie, and all 4 of us fell in love immediately....)


I think about him during the day, and we all pray for him at night.  I'm hoping that through letters shared, my children will realize that not playing the Wii for a week is not the worst thing that could happen to them. 

But I have a sneaky suspicion the children aren't the only ones who will learn something from this experience. 

The Gift

My kids have it......









I'm sure your kids have it......









I wish I had it........









It's a gift..........









The gift of sleeping..........









No matter where you happen to be..........

Gogurt in Glasses

For those of you who haven't seen Gogurt since Saturday night, here's a picture of him in his glasses. 

Over the summer, I noticed he was having trouble seeing some things I thought he should be able to see. I was hoping it was nothing, but once school started it was obvious he needed to have his eyes checked. Two days after visiting the optometrist, he has his glasses! I may be biased, but I think he is a CUTIE. Okay, he's always been a cutie, but now he's a cutie who can SEE!

Goals

Last night around the dinner table, we were all sharing about our day. 

When it was Poptart's turn, she said they went to counseling.  My question was, "What did you talk about?"  Her answer?  "Goals." 

It was a little strange hearing that come out of a 5-year-old's mouth.  Goals?  Really?  Poptart's goals for every day are play, eat, and play some more. 

Gogurt said they had talked about goals in counseling on a previous day as well.  He had to write one goal for the school year and one goal for the future.  Of course, we were curious to hear what our 9-year-old's goals were so he told us.  His goal for the school year is to read on a higher level.  (Those of you who know Gogurt knows he loves to read)  His goal for the future?  Be in the Army.  (That probably wasn't a shocker either)

That got me thinking about goals.  I've never been a good goal-setter.  I'm a good list-maker, like, for the day (I had a list made by 7 a.m. this morning) but as far as long-term goals, I'm not so good. 

I do see how they can be helpful.  You have to have a goal to work toward, right?  In your marriage, in your career, in your family, in your church?  Goals are good things.  And I think goals come from good places, positive places.  Have you ever noticed that when you are discouraged and you are having an internal dialogue that goes something like this:  You are 35 years old.  You should have a bigger house by now.  You should have more money in the account by now.  You should have more savings by now.  You should be in a better job by now, that you are probably not willing to sit down and discuss a 5-year plan with your spouse.  It's too hard to face the fact that your 5-year plan is to be where you thought you would be 10 years ago.  Well, my question is this, who put these notions in my mind of where I should be and what I should be doing at 35 years old?  Society?  My parents?  Or just me?  And is it from God at all? 

God wants us to be single-minded in our goals.  Our goal should be to bring honor to Him every day.  All this other stuff is just fluff.  And while I know this, I certainly do not do a good job at living this. 

To be honest, I would like a bigger house.  I would like more money in our bank account.  I would like to have more savings.  And Brad would definitely like an inside job.  None of these things in and of themselves are bad.  But if we focus all our concentration on attaining our "goals" and leave God out of the picture, what have we really accomplished?

I learned a long, long time ago what it meant to live a day at a time.  We are by no means impoverished, but we are by no means rich.  God gives us what we need week to week, sometimes day to day. 

My goal is to be thankful for His provisions so far and to trust Him to continue on. 

Now, I'm going to go mark off "Post on Blog" today off my list. 

So Far, So Good

Tomorrow will end the first week of school, and so far it's been good.  Really, it's been more than good. 

Now, I'm not naive enough to think it couldn't turn bad at any moment, especially with Poptart and her turn-on-a-dime personality, but right now we're thankful for one good day at a time. 

Tonight we go for parent orientation.  You know how it goes, sit in their desks, listen to the teacher, and hear about the year ahead.  For me it's one of my favorite times.  I think because I like to teach and I love my children.  Seeing other teacher's classrooms inspires me to step mine up a notch. 

(Speaking of my classroom, I've been busy working there this week.  I think I'm all ready to meet my kiddos on Sunday afternoon.  Preschool starts next Tuesday.  I'm praying for a good bunch!)

Life has definitely been different for me this week.  I put both kids on the bus and walk back into an empty house.  An older, wiser woman I work with at the preschool said it would be kinda lonely sometimes.  Ummm, I'm not feelin' it yet.  Actually, I'm trying not to sound too excited that my kids are not underfoot all day for fear I'll come across as a not-so-loving mom.  Nothing could be farther from the truth.  I love them - I love saying good-bye to them every morning, and I love saying hello to them every afternoon even more. 

Hearing their excitement in the afternoons makes me smile.  They talk over each other (even fighting over) who gets to tell me about their day first.   Gogurt usually only wants to talk about P.E. and lunch, and Poptart tells me who she saw that day (seeing her brother is the most exciting but she likes to see other neighborhood friends as well) and if she got a smiley face on the behavior chart.  That's about all I know from her so far. 

Although she did tell me she made a chicken for me.   I can't wait to get there tonight to see what that's about.

August 9ths to Remember

August 9, 1997, Brad and I stood at an altar and said "I Do."

Thirteen years later to the day, we watched our younger child head off to Kindergarten. 

Have fun, Poptart!

And, by the way, there have been absolutely no tears shed! 

This Is It - Our Last Weekend of Freedom

Ready or not, here it comes - - school that is. 

Are we ready?  You bet your glue sticks we are!  We met the teachers last night, and Poptart loved her Kindergarten room so much that I think she would have spent the night there.  Gogurt's classrooms (he will switch between 2 classes this year) are starting to look not-so-babyish - - grown-up I guess you could say.  But he is in the 4th grade so I guess he is growing up. 

I'm not going to cry typing this post.  I will save that for Monday's post. 

For now, I will concentrate on our last free weekend before school starts.  A visit with grandparents, a trip to a local petrified forest, and of course church on Sunday.  

I plan on posting Monday morning after I put the kids on the bus.  That is, if I can see through my tears (of JOY!)

Have a great day!

I'm Liking This!

One day we'll teach Poptart how to weedeat and Brad and I will sit on the backporch sipping lemonade while our children do all the yardwork. But for now, I'm liking the fact that Gogurt is learning to drive the lawnmower.

My Little Decision Maker

Poptart must take after me.  She always wants to know the schedule, the plan, what's first, next, and last on our day's agenda. 

On the way home from church last night, Poptart was planning the rest of our night.  First we'll do this, then we'll do that, and after we finish that we'll do this, right Momma?

I answered in a somewhat tired-momma voice, "Poptart, all I know is that I'm going home, changing clothes, making dinner, and then we are all sitting down to eat.  After that, I'm not making any more decisions, k?"

After a few seconds of silence, Poptart answered in her most sincerest 5-year-old-voice, "Then just let me make all the decisions."

A Few Summer Activities

Gogurt is finishing up football camp today.  He has really enjoyed it and has learned some of the basics of playing football.  It was held at the local middle school for children 1st through 6th grades.  He told me he was one of the tallest kids there, and definitely the tallest in his age group.  It's good to be tall, but it takes a while to "grow into" your body when you are so tall at such a young age.  But fortunately the only injury he sustained at football camp was a bloody nose.  A football to the nose will do it every time....

Poptart starts gymnastics Saturday.  She will be taking four classes over the month of June.  She is so excited!  I can't wait to see how she does....

This is the first summer I've enrolled my kids in any sort of summer activity.  Usually we just hang out at home and find things to occupy ourselves.  I'm not sure what motivated me to do it differently this summer, but we'll still have plenty of days to be bored creative at home.  (How many times have my kids heard me say, "Only boring people get bored?")  (They despise that saying, by the way!)

I, for one, love summertime.  Preschool's out so I have more time to devote to typing during the day.  It makes for a much less stressful day!  I'm not saying I never get stressed out, but during the summer I only have one job to stress about, not two.  And thankfully the one job I do have during the summer is the one I can do in my pajamas!

Until next time......