Hey! I'm half way to dead...ain't nobody got time for dat

"I know you don't read my memo's, so in case you are unaware, I am now a super villian."  
       - Mosely, The Suite Life

It's funny how quickly the right things in life become the wrong things....and the wrong things become the right things depending on who you are hanging out with.

As you get older you think  that wisdom through trial and error will grant you the gift of discernment.  It doesn't though.  I believe discernment is truly a gift from God that not everyone is given.  Certainly as adults we love to have the favortism of those that are well liked, cause then we feel well liked. Who doesn't want to be loved and adored by most people? If you say it doesn't matter what people think, then I believe you are a liar...dig deeper, it's there.

It's those times when folks ask of you to turn a blind eye, wink away certain behavior, or excuse it with immaturity to stay with the well liked group and to "be like everyone else" or "get on board" that we figure out who we really are on our own.

Drama starts as children, rocks hormones to the foundation as teens, annoy's the hell out of us in our 20's and 30's......and by our 40's, heck we are half way to dead.  Do we really want to spend the next 40 years of our God given lives dancing around everyones clearly seen stupidity and bad choices?

NO! I just want to be all ...REAL TALK IN YOUR FACE... and be done. By the time I speak all the nice words that coddle your ego and make you feel all furry bunnies and rainbows....I'll dang grow a freaking beard and die.

 "Ain't nobody got time for dat"

The thing is, being a Christian now is hard work for me. It shouldn't be, but it is.

Like....feeling God's grace and knowing His presence in my everyday and all day comings and goings is as natural as breathing. I'd suffocate literally without this constant hand holding session God has with me.

Dealing with stupid people = hard work......HARD WORK, intense manual labor. It's funny because these people believe in themselves and their faith is in themselves and the popularity they surround themselves with. So they "are always right." The entourage tells them so because that is what itching ears want to hear.

This is where the gift of discernment is halted. The things you once knew were right and good and planned to never leave, knowing bad things come from making rash decisions.....have now become the wrong things, and unpopular, and hard.....so they are left as thoughts in the file cabinet of the mind.....

.....to be picked back up at a later date when humbleness has forced your hand and won.......again.   Discernment will not be gained though, for alas, it is a gift.

If or when you come to the knowledge you haven't been given this gift....surround yourself with the folks who have it. Folks who love the Lord with all their heart, their soul, their strength, and their mind, so that your pathway will be much straighter.

A lot of times people who do the right things that are deemed wrong by the world or by the popular, unknowing, useful crowd. Then they are made to stand alone until (Warning REAL TALK that won't coddle an ego) life blows up in your face and you want to talk about it....just.... a little bit...... that turns into weeks of chaos of the mind.

It's pretty sad really.

I have been thinking a lot about Mulims lately because the beginning of Ramadan was today I think. They are afforded so many rights that we as Christians are not.  They are aloud to discriminate and be racist, to celebrate holidays without ridicule and are even celebrated in the media with positivity, they disrespect the role of women in 100 ways, and on and on.....

The reason people give them the respect they command as a religion is because they stand up for their god boldly and believe in what they are doing with the purpose of serving their god to be looked upon as righteous and good, we may see them as radical or crazy.....but what they are is crazy in love with their god, seeking his approval and blessings for faithfulness.....and so many times Christians just aren't.

.....and we are losing our people.....by our own self destruction. Worshipping the world and calling it changing with the times...trying to make God more hip and appealing to younger people ...

.....when the message is already appealing by itself. If we could be as radical and as crazy in love with the ONE TRUE GOD, seeking His approval and boldly standing alone for what is right....just to have Him smile upon us if for no other reason.....because His radical love makes us radical people.

I am downhearted about what our churches are becoming. Not even that you expect to find a perfect church, cause there are none, but just that you hope to find one where integrity and character mimic that of Christ consistently from the leadership down and not vice versa.

I am beginning to think America is surely not mentioned in Revelation because we are so incredibly weak in our faith and our knowledge of what God is really capable of.

There were a lot of things I used to want in a church for my family, but now I long for all Christian churches to put off what we deem as "church" and put on straight up, pure, radical love for Christ, HIS WORD, His adoration and love for one another and our neighbor as ourselves.

..............cause what we  do is play church......My heart weighs full to capacity with confusion and sickness.

Warning! REAL TALK is fixing to not coddle your ego, look away now: I am afraid to invite people to church. Scary folks, called Christians, live there and they could hurt you.

They do it all the time, and wink it away.

Well, well, well.........well???........

Yesterday morning I awoke to CB screaming bloody murder at about 6:30 in the morning.  He still gets up at the butt crack of dawn.  He had went poops and over flowed the toilet.  So he was was in sheer panic mode standing in the bathroom naked holding his clothes in his hands.

For some reason, our toilets just don't flush well.  So I only buy the "Charmin Basic" tp.  It's soft enough, but breaks down easily.  Recently in an attempt to save a little cash and see if our toilets would flush better, I bought some seriously CHEAP tp.  Like camping tp in a double roll.  I only bought 6 rolls but the stuff has lasted like 6 months.  My people are completely frustrated with me because they're saying its like the commercial where the woman throws the roll at her husband. As the roll grazes the side of his head it mows his hair off.  They claim its mowing their skin off.  I am finally down to the last roll and it flushes no better than the "Basic" so I'll not be buying that anymore.

So at six something in the morning I am cleaning up overflowed toilet water.  While I am on my hands and knees doing this CB is continually asking for some chocolate milk.

incredulously...A-    !CB!  Give me a stinkin break ok?  I mean good Lord, you have overflowed the toilet here and I am cleaning this up out of  a dead sleep... I don't even have my glasses on and my hips are still in the "I'm getting old, locked up position."  Can you give me a dang break??? You know... one morning....JUST ONE, I would like it if you would sleep late. Would it be too much to ask you to sleep in your bed till the rest of us got up and got our wits about us before you started with your daily 10 commandments as the sun is scaring away the moon???  I mean, for real Dude, I would like, JUST ONE morning to have ONE cup of coffee before I had to start running around fulfilling all of your daily dreams....JEEEEZ!!

CB, still standing there naked holding his clothes, his tanned little body, white little fanny, messy white blond bedtime hair, and reddened face with panic tears.......
 - WELL!  How would like if your little boy was sucked down into the toilet??!!!

I start laughing cause he is serious.  Maysie, who is supposed to be sleeping in her near by bedroom, starts snickering and so does Sky...

CB get ticked cause we are all laughing and starts crying. This makes it a bit more deliriously funny.

All this to say he just woke up and it's 8:00 on the dot.  This was a gift from God to me.

We've had the discussion once at my moms about, "Why is that little boys always have to take ALLLLLL of their clothes off to go poops."  It was a lively discussion that concluded that its just something that little boys do...my brother added that he still does it.  Which led to him revealing that he was just at work the other day with all of his clothes piled in the floor taking a poops break.  He was just kidding of course but the mental images were great.

...............................................

In a nut shell I'm at 180.2 now.  I can be 179.4 on a good day but as soon as I start thinking and filling my mind with thoughts of the day I instantly weigh 180 to 182.  BUT hitting the 170's number has encouraged me to keep going.  30 pounds lost, 30 more to go...

I got a part time job as the church custodian working around 20 hours a week.  Some weeks more, like last week, because of VBS...grass galore and sloshy, spilled drinks in places people shouldn't be drinking in a church. Some weeks less because getting caught up can be awesome maintenance.  It's good pay for something I can be really good at.  Cause what mom can't clean up some crap......literally.  I feel good when the church is clean.  I mean I can stand back and see the fruit of my labor. I feel good to have done something for God's house.  To get paid for doing it is a gift.

D's question now is, "When are you going to clean our house?"  The answer from me is, "When are you gonna pay me?"  ......tis all just joking and what not but seriously, cleaning my house now doesn't seem such an impossible job.

I have the whole summer to figure out my time management.  I thought I would actually have this figured out by now, by alas I have not.  Really, I know if I just get my butt up by 5:00 and put the hours in till about 9 or 10:00 about 3 or 4 days a week & then hit an afternoon before Sunday for a final once over, it's all cake.  But I just want to sleep in....or at least till I have to start filling CB's 10 commandments.

It would be easy to say, well I will just send the kids to school.  Then I could work out and do the church job.  My working out has taken a back seat for sure.  I am still squeezing in at least once a week...I am shooting for two this week.  I count all my vacuuming and cleaning as aerobic, cause no lie some days my dang arms are sore.  I do sweat most days when I clean too.

Sending the kids to school though...would surely not be God's will.  I have not prayed about that at all.  I know God would not want me to sacrifice all we have accomplished for the sake of money and for the sake of my self satisfaction.  The job and the fitness center are surely things that please me.  While I believe God will bless both of those if done in the right spirit, I fully believe He could make those things miserable if done for my self and not to bring him glory. Neglecting the one thing I know He has called me to do would not be a good thing.

I have been out of the will of God before and it's not fun...AT ALL.  So I have to be careful when thinking and tending to my children's education.  The outside chatter filling my ears must be shut down and prayed over, not carelessly tossed about as if it were a coat I put on and take off at will.

Things to cover when CB sleeps late again:

1. How to stop thumb sucking 101...and the hairy thumb doesn't work, and some other stuff that don't work...but we're trying something knew...
2. Church stuff in general
3. Some funny stuff I have written down that hasn't made the blog
4. Maysie's sinus surgery and the book she is writing for school
5. How to make the most of 24 hours in a day effortlessly   :oP
6. Sharpie, Painting, Photography stuff
7. learning to be content 101   :o/
8. girlfriends and such...
9. wasp chasing and bruises....

...and not necessarily in this order.

....after I slept off all my evil.....

I am about to get my life put back together.  I hope.

This is an attempt to catch us all up to speed for the past month. It may take a few blogs though.

Amy- I have been doing my thing driving all over Hell and creation in auto-pilot as usual for this time of year.  Six or seven days a week we are going somewhere at some point during the day.  I just try to breathe my way through each day knowing somehow it all gets done.

I am still exercising my butt off....or should I say my butt on, cause nothing is still happening....on the scale anyway.  I have taken about 10 of the 16 Power classes that I need to take at at the gym in order to get the free t-shirt that labels me as a weight lifter...sort of, in my eyes anyway.  I am surely getting more muscles.  I can see a bulge in my arms where there has never been one before in my life.  My butt actually looks round like a butt should look, instead of just fading into my thighs.  My stomach is certainly more flat than it was and my pants are fitting much better and some are even a little big or too big.

The problem here is that my scale is sabotaging me.  So I had D hide it so that I could only weigh on Sundays.   The first Sunday I weighed 189.  D was happy for me cause I was finally in the 180's.  I wasn't, cause I knew the moment I ate a piece of ice I would gain 3 pounds.  He scolded me for not enjoying that small victory. In my mind I have been this place so many times that I truly am not in the 180's till it is a consistent number.

I was not too discouraged however.  I gave myself a year to do this right and I have been sticking to it.  I rarely cheat and I exercise 5 to 6 days a week 40 minutes or more.  So this past Sunday I was excited to weigh because I ate especially well chosen foods that week.  I knew I had pushed myself doing the exercise and I was hoping for a 187 minimum.

The scale said 190.  I became so angry inside that I thought I might grow some devil horns that would surely expel a blazing fury so hot they'd burn the roof off my house.  I controlled it though the best I could.  I left the bathroom, went to make coffee and get the kids moving.........and then the evil tidal wave of death and destruction that likes to throw stuff when I am infuriated hit me.

So I marched right back to the bathroom where D was blowing his hair dry, picked up the scale, stomped back to the front door, stepped out onto my front stoop, and I launched that scale as far as I could with my new arm muscles "that weigh more than fat."  I meant for it to bounce on the ground and bust every spring and gear inside of it.  On the first bounce as it hit the ground I felt a minuscule amount of satisfaction.  I wanted to throw it one more time but I refrained cause I knew I was going to church in a couple hours and I needed to get rid of this evil in me before I could praise the Lord properly for the good things in my life.

The kids get up.  D comes out of the bathroom to eat breakfast.

D- Where's the scale?

CB & Sky - She threw it in the front yard.

M- You threw the scale in the front yard?

CB- Yeah she did!  It went way over there see?!

D- (looking out the breakfast nook window) Nice distance.

A- I threw it into the front yard. Yes I did.  If anybody brings that scale back into this house I swear bad things will happen to you.  I don't know what they are, but don't test me.

When I left for church the idiot scale was in the front yard.  When I came home from church the idiot scale was in the front yard.  When I came home from the gym the idiot scale was not in the front yard.  I was so mentally exhausted from my emotional torture of weighing that morning, only to find all my good eating and exercise had been in vain....months and months of not eating delicious morsels of goodness, shin splints that wake me up in the middle of the night, sweating, sweating, sweating, pushing, pushing, pushing....only to still weigh 190....I took a bath and went to bed at 6:30pm and didn't get up till 7:00 am the next morning.

BUT, not BUTT, but.....BUT, during the Power class at the gym I had likened myself to this fairly big woman in the class, like we were equals in weight.  I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror at the gym and I noticed that I didn't look her size at all.  I mean I was still bigger than I need to be of course, but I wasn't as big as I perceived myself to be by the number on the scale.  The scale doesn't change the fact that I can feel and see a muscle in my arm that has never been there before.  It doesn't change the fact that some of my pants are too big now, not all of them, but some of them.  Those are my small victories, that I should thank God for.

I am going to choose to dwell on those things.  So I can be thankful in all things to God for giving me endurance and patience to persevere when my flesh wants to quit, the spirit in me is still willing to keep my temple, in which Jesus resides, clean and healthy.

I am not going to weigh anymore.  My sister in Christ, Sarah, told me I should pick out a pair of pants I want to get into and use those as a gage for my success. I think that is the better way to go for me.....for my family too.

I found this note hanging out of my drawer where I keep my exercise wear in my closet the morning after I slept off my evil. ( you can click on this pic to get a better view if need be)

My heart overflowed and spilled all over the place with love for this oldest son of mine.

I CAN DO all things through Christ who strengthens me...... Philippians 4:13


*

Somebody's duck is out of line here...but it isn't mine......

I was on this rant about how kids appear to be generally ungrateful these days …not my kids of course……..or yours……you know other people’s kids are generally ungrateful is what I was saying.

I was discussing a particular situation to a friend of mine who happens to run another Awana program in Knoxville with her husband.  This woman completely encouraged me.  She and her Awana youth group are planning to go to some Awana shindig in St. Charles, Illinois.

She was telling me that the youth literally have to do x, y, z amount of community service in the name of the Lord or work for the church in some way to go on the trip and/or obtain church funding for the trip if they do not have the funds to go.  In other words, the church does not just hand them over the cash to go, even if they can’t afford to go.  The kids who want to go actually have to show initiative and do something for it.

This year, in order for the 13 youth who want to attend this event, to go to the shindig... they participated in the “Duck-out-of-line” at the Duck, Duck Goose consignment event in Knoxville.

This event is a huge consignment sale in an old K-Mart building.  It is a 4 or 5 day event (including a private shopping day for consignors) that supposedly rocks all consignment sales to the very foundation of the earth in these parts of town. 

I am told during this conversation that the line goes all the way around the building and then some to get inside….then to pay is another line all the way around the other side of the building.

A “Duck-out-of-line” is a person who gets paid $10 to stand in line for you and hold your spot while you shop.  So that when your shopping has been completed, you can get in line where your “duck” is.  If your duck is already past the paying counter, then guess what? NO WAITING at all! You get immediate ups and no waiting in line at all!!! All of the money earned by the people who volunteer for this (churches and local charities) get 100% of the money!

The ladies that I am conversating with tell me the Duck out of line is well worth the $10, as a wait in line to pay for merchandise can be up to an hour or more.

I decided to go and check out this consignment sale for myself after our co-op classes and as sure as a dog sniffs another dogs butt – the line to get in the place was as long a line as I had ever seen.  The Ducks out of line were busy with their clip boards signing people up.  I swear if I had been determined to go into the place I would have paid someone $20 to stand in line for me. Instead I opted to go to Old Navy and by M & Z new coats. I just tried to let go of my unearth friendly guilt for not recycling....it didn't take too long.  

I am just gonna say… Maysie's unearth friendly coat.... it’s tha dang the bomb. 

So, Ms. Awana Co-Commander ….. yeah, she took her 13 Awana youth teens down there to be Ducks out of line.

On the Wednesday preview sale for the people who are consigning clothes and other special designated folks….the teens made $1300…….towards their trips to the Awana event.  That’s $100 bucks a piece minimum for each kid towards their trip for one day of service.

 

I thought that was SUPER COOL!

The following week I see Ms. Awana Co-Commander and asked her what her finally tally was for the kids towards their trips…….Did they meet their goals?

Uummm YES!  Those teens made $4000 dollars towards their trip in 3 days’ worth of work!!!!!!!  

So they stood in line for folks repeatedly at a consignment sale at $10 bucks a pop and worked off the entire cost of their trip. 

This says a minimum of 6 things to me:

**These teens are motivated to go on a Jesus trip that is important to them.

**These teens take pride in seeing their goals completed.

**These teens are being rewarded for diligence.

**These teens parents don’t have to come up with $300 randomly when the economy is not optimal….AND during the holidays

**These teens parents must be proud of their child for doing something not fun like standing in line for three days to help pay for their trips and possibly the trips of those who could not afford to pay for the trip themselves.

**This Awana Leader did something right and good here.

I am just going to say, I love it when a child is able to stand back and look at good work completed and be amazed that they were a part of something bigger than THEMSELVES.  

As an adult I enjoy this feeling myself when I accomplish a big task. 

Being a child or a teenager would only magnify this good feeling of accomplishment because the world is so big and so much has yet to still be discovered.

It is my personal opinion that enabling a child to appreciate his/her situation more by digging in deep and hard sometimes……..is good for their self-esteem, not bad.

I am over handing out stuff to kids for free because they expect it.  This is the type of adult we are breeding, a society where they believe themselves to deserve to be given stuff that isn't theirs to take.  

Sometimes it feels to me... youth, generally speaking,  know nothing about how to be humble.  

However, I am proud of at least 13 who do.

HAVE AN OUTSTANDING TRIP AWANA TEENS!

YOU’VE EARNED IT!!!!

good, cause he doesn't run over animals like Mom does........

This past weekend me and the fam went to Atlanta to visit my mom.

D hasn't been to "The A-T-L" really since my dad passed away, so it was good for him to come with us in about 100 ways.

Saturday my sister and I went to the Southeastern Homeschool Expo. I had a cool time wandering around checking out all the different options available to homeschoolers as far as curriculum goes.

I spoke with this gal who makes her own soap a pretty good bit. Actually so much that my sister made fun of me, but dang she was interesting to me. She actually shared her testimony with me and encouraged me greatly by sharing with me about "losing yourself" while homeschooling.

She has 9 CHILDREN! 6 have graduated and are what I would consider to be successful adults. Their jobs range from PA's, nurses, & teachers to helping her with her business on the side. Her remaining children are in high school and she MANAGES TO RUN A FREAKING BUSINESS still. I am amazed by what abilities God has placed in women to succeed. God gives them the drive, they taste a little bit of the power, then the women speed off into the sunset. It's beautiful and intoxicating to me.

These types of stories make me feel like the dreams I have are possible even if I do them just a little bit at a time. The persistence will prove tangible if only I choose to access the power and speed off........which, of course, we all know.....speeding is my thing, apparently.......I'm just not.........well.....that focused, I reckon.

Plus my sister and my mom were totally my heroes this weekend. Sometimes a girl just needs her mommy. I just needed mine. My mom filled a huge gaping hole that had been dug out. She shoveled heaps of love, hugs that sustain, and understanding without judgement.

My sister is an invaluable soul that God knew I would one day need to stay level headed and real. She is one of the most awesome people I know in positivity and encouragement to do the right things and most importantly...in the name of Christ. I love that she listened and didn't spout off nonsense to me that wasn't real. I love that she can see outside what I cannot when I need her to see it for me. I love that she is deeply in praise when I am and it is genuine.

I saw my mom and my sister walking down the sidewalk after church holding hands, on the way to the restaurant. In my mind they were the only ones on the street I could see. God shined on them brighter and all of the surroundings faded out. I could hear no sound except my mind spewing forth praise to the Lord for those two women.

We all went to Buckhead Church with my sister and her family. Andy Stanley wasn't there this past Sunday but this guy named Sean Seay was the guest preacher. He is the preacher at Athens Church in Athens, GA. His sermon was focused mainly on men. I am 100% convinced we were supposed to hear this man preach this particular Sunday.

The most important thing I learned was that if my husband feels like he is my "superhero," then he feels like he can conquer the world and will try to do it for Christ, for me and for his family.

This was not solely the message and I learned a few more things. This though, is the thing that stung enough to make me really squirm. The message was based on Joshua 24:11 - 14.

It's a fantastic message for men and certainly well worth the listen for women. You won't feel the time has been wasted at all, trust me.

Listen to the message here: http://www.buckheadchurch.org/messages

It's titled The Man I Want to Be

While in Atlanta this was certainly a highlight, but so was game night when the girls finally beat the boys at Catch Phrase......cause we so owed them from the last time we played.

Cole to Nana - Are you gonna let Daddy drive your car to get a paper?

Nana - No, he's taking your car, but if he wanted to take it I would let him.

Cole - Oh good, cause he doesn't run over animals like Mom does. (Nana thinks this is very funny)

........Grilled hot dogs, brownies & milk on the porch while my most humble and outstanding brother-in-law told us about his mission trip to Venezuela, bowling, and topping it off with a Mad Men episode before bed Sunday evening.....put an extraordinary weekend to an end.

I love my family.

I swear I do.

For if you are for us......than who can be against us?!! ...........

Little Larry Lies A Lot - In case you are wondering, my pants are wet because a mouse pee'd on them."

which translates to this: I've been playing in the water hose without permission, the garage is full of water, my pants are soaking wet and that is why I am now in only my Iron Man tighty whitey's.

..............................................................

We did this family event last Sunday evening called The Amazing Race. Like the TV show The Amazing Race, we competed against other families to accomplish 6 challenges. These challenges were of course, not that difficult. To be included in the event the family had to have a child between the ages birth to 5th grade.....we so had that covered.

The Race was catered by Buddy's BBQ http://www.buddysbarbq.com and finished with a Yancy Praise Party concert.

Check her out here http://yancynotnancy.com/ She's Awesome!

I thoughoughly enjoyed her. She had the kids singing and the parents singing and her wild pink crazy girl guitar was awesome. Skylar had a ball dancing around. At one point she had 2 kids get on the stage with her and play Guitar Hero guitars and pretend to be rockin out with her.

The one little boy I swear should totally be a rock star when he grows up he rocked the fake guitar 100%. It was hilarious!!

I am definitely thinking about getting a CD for Sky at some point.

On this challenge families had to get dressed in one of three groups of stuff as quickly and crazily as possible and have a fun family photo made. I got the goggles, Sky got Bulls-Eye.

Solve the puzzle, write the verse, get your next clue.......

We did the Cha Cha and a few other dances while waiting for others to finish the race.





D attempting his version of the Charlie Brown.

Our last challenge, working on our Family Banner. I love this photo. It's my people doing some real stuff together on purpose and for fun.

Dear God,

Help me to keep my family tight and on a path that blazes in a mighty way in your name. Help us to be strong, willing, and focused Lord. For if you, Lord, are for us......then who can be against us?!!

Amen

I swear, I love living in the south......

On Saturday night the kids and I took in a church service in Oak Ridge. The message and the worship was .........AWESOME.

I totally left feeling like I needed to rearrange the way I serve the Lord. So that as I stand before him with the gifts I have to offer Him in my service.... are handed to him like a precious, beautifully wrapped gifts that I could be extremely excited for Him to open and not like throwing them down at his feet and saying, "Hey Jesus, here's my stuff that I did in yer name hope you like it."....feeling ashamed of my service in His name.

I learned some stuff I didn't know, and it excited me. I was thinking, who can I witness too cause dag gone...God Is So GOOD, how can I not want people to know where my hope comes from!!!

It isn't that I haven't told others about Christ when He has prompted me. It's just my attitude has been luke warm, and that isn't my norm. I can't stand that feeling. It's almost as if I have taken my salvation for granted and my light only shines on the direct path in front of me in the complete darkness.

When I left Saturday night. My light was surely brighter and I felt I could see a greater distance on the spiritual path that I am on. So I could take my steps more firmly and with more confidence, knowing that I have a powerful one that lives in me and in a mighty way.

So glad I made the drive. It has been well worth it. For me and my children.

..........................................................

On that same note, we spent the afternoon after church Sunday with The Powers Family. We had an awesome time swimming and catching up. We spoke of good things that made us smile. We ate hot dogs with home made chili and key lime pie with big bottles of green tea and soda. We nailed each other with water footballs in the pool, choked each other by blowing water through water noodles into each others faces, tried to float "in the peace zone," and got a little too much sun before the thunderstorms rolled in.

It was an awesome way to spend a Sunday. Everybody in my family had a great time and slept well that evening.

Thanks Powers Family for the invite, it was totally fun!!

...........................................

Side note - Mrs. Great Garden called before she came over this morning!

I was able to brush my hair, put on some light lip gloss.....and I had just finished doing my dishes and beds were made.

She didn't come in, but man, we had a long conversation in my driveway with Cornelia who also came over to get some fE fI fO fUM giant veggie's. It was probably our best conversation yet. So glad I was able to do that and redeem myself.

Later that day, the air conditioner guys came over. I had 7 kids in my house. I was just fixin to kick them out cause they were loud. They were trying to tell me it was too hot to be outside, but I am hard core.

I shoved ice pops in their hands and told'em to hit the hammock and most of them did.

So as the air guys are pulling their van to a stop and park it, I am shooing peeps out the door....7 seven of them. So PJ (King David's teen grandson) is behind me......

PJ- I hate to ask you this, but I have too.....do you have your good bra on? (insert snicker, snicker, snicker, passing me on my right and out the laundry room door. Z laughs.)

I actually have a reality check moment. Do I??

Oh yep, I do.

A- Shut it PJ. (I try to kick him in his butt before he can move, but alas he's swiftly and purposefully faster than me and down the steps)

Air Guy- (First thing he says to me) How many kids do you have?

A- I only have 4 but I swear when you kick an ant hill it looks like more right? They have a few friends over. I just keep the Lemonade cold and the ice pops frozen, you know what I mean?

Air Guys smiles, "I'm hearin ya sister."

At that moment I know I live in the south and love it.

The air condition guy did understand and he called me sister.

This is the kind of conversation that only southerners get to experience.

By the end of their job they were both sweating. I brought them a freezing cold pitcher of water and glasses for the cool beverage to go in....cause all drinks taste better and colder in glass vs plastic.

Two dirty, sweaty, southern guys, chatting with me as if they new me their whole lives, drinking my refreshing glasses of water, and thanking me with sincere gratitude. They purposefully replaced my pitcher and glasses in my garage so as to show me gratitude instead of leaving it as a mess for me to clean up when they left.

I swear, I love living in the south.

It's brilliant..............

I had the most amazing Mother's Day ever this year.

The kids and I went to Atlanta, D stayed here cause he hasn't had a free weekend in weeks. He wanted to get some stuff done around the house like repaint our back screened in porch, which turned out fantastic. He wanted to chill out in peace and quiet. Although, Cornelia tried to get him to keep a few kids here for Mother's Day so I could take a few less to Atlanta.

All of the kids wanted to go this time so that wouldn't have happened anyway. We had an outstanding time.

I pulled into Atlanta late afternoon Friday so Mom decided we should go some where to eat instead of cook cause she had just gotten off work. I hadn't planned on eating out with the whole dairy free business yet. I was a tad worried about being one of those freaks at a restaurant who can't eat anything and wants the whole menu prepared special. I decided to call around a bit before we went anywhere to see if a few things had butter or could be prepared without dairy easily.

Pasta Bella - Italian - the gal was completely and blandly unhelpful on the phone.

A- My child is dairy free, I was curious does your Marinara sauce have cheese in it?

Pasta girl - Yeah, everything here has cheese in it.

A- Oh, okay, some marinara's don't so I thought I would call and ask first before making the trip over. What type of vegan plates do you offer?

Pasta Girl - ...salad??............I guess I could ask about about our marinara sauce, but I am sure it has cheese in it.

A- Don't worry about it, that's okay. (cause now, even if she did ask and it was good to go, I wouldn't go there, cause she was completely unhelpful and sort of stupid)

We ended up at Longhorns, where unfreakishly as I could, mentioned that Sky was dairy free. Could her shrimp be cooked without the tomato butter sauce? And did she know if the bread had dairy in it?

The waitress went on her personal mission to find out what could be eaten on that menu safely for Sky. She PEELED OFF THE BREAD LABEL from the box of bread that they fix and brought it to me!! So I could check it to see if Sky could eat it! It was so awesome and helpful. She was very thoughtful and careful and I really, really, appreciated it. The food was great, as were the leftovers we took home.

Saturday we had planned to go to the park in East Cobb and celebrate Mother's Day a day early with my brother and my sister's family. This was the first time we had all been together in one spot since my dad's funeral. It was an awesome day to get together, the weather was phenomenal.

We brought a picnic lunch for our people, a frisbee, woofle balls and a bat, & a soccer ball. The play was good, the conversation was fun, the sun on our skin felt healthy (at least till we got home and mom was burned), we took a small hike on their trail and took piles of pics. My dad would have had a blast Saturday. He loved being outdoors and all of us being together would have pleased him.

We spent all day at the park from about 11:00am to about 4:00pm. This will go down as my best Mother's Day ever. It was so relaxing and easy. No one fretted over what gift to give or who was fixing what for dinner, where to go for dinner, blah, blah, blah....

I loved this past weekend, the whole thing.

Sunday I got up and went to Buckhead Church/Northpoint with my sister and her family. Andy Stanley is the man, he is the coolest dude ever. The man is completely gifted in making the Bible approachable and understandable. He is clever.

He'll say he's going to read "A verse,"..... "but first let me tell you this".....then he fills in all the gaps of history, language, story telling and makes the verse come alive, then apply it to yourself.

It's brilliant.

Even my kids love him. They had the opportunity to go to the middle school worship but both M & Z wanted to go and see Andy. I didn't have to make them go to church, they were dressed, ready, and excited to go. In fact I was going to let them sleep in and they both were like, "No, I am going!" Sky went to hang out with Emma(my niece). CB, as usual, took off into his class room of kids he didn't know without looking back. He made me the sweetest butterfly with his hand prints & fuzzy balls for Mother's Day with a Proverbs Bible verse.

I loved that Buckhead Church excited all of them about God stuff and most importantly.... the Bible.

Stories I have read 100 times seem better when Andy tells them. I always want to run home and read my Bible like a book when I hear him preach. He's awesome and God has truly blessed that man with the ability to make the Bible feel relevant and important for people today who want to be constantly entertained. He's simple in jeans and a button down shirt sitting on a tall stool, with his Bible on a small table beside him...it's all about payng attention to him and the message. The message has consistantly made me feel filled with the wanting to know God better. No wonder his church has blown up like it has.

I am so glad I got to worship with my sister and Charlie, her husband, it was SWEET!!

This put icing on my delicious cake of a weekend.
















......Oh man, I am so blessed!

I can't turn my head without turning my whole body.........

I had the most awesome weekend. It was one of those weekends where everything despite a full schedule just comes together. It should be rushed, but some how time stands still and its okay that it isn't.

Friday was beautiful. We finished school early and walked the drained lake beaches combing for the usual 50 huge clams in several zip loc bags and a shoe. Kids got in the water a bit and had to walk back wet as usual, so we managed to keep that tradition well in tact. While on the beach we met a new family in our neighborhood. Well actually just the mom and her young toddling girl.

They were bundled up in sweaters, socks, and shoes, trying not to be muddy.....and here comes my brood with shorts, no shoes, and mud to the calves minimum. Hollering to me from afar how they have just found "the rare beer can" and that I should come and look.....oh and this too, "Mom!! Listen!! I can make the mud make fart sounds(insert 2 children fast farting and slow farting with the mud slop & having great jolly with it)."

I had this shirt on that was 2 whole dollars at Walmart the other day, that read, "I'm sorry, I can't hear you over the sound of how awesome I am." I bought a couple $2 shirts to mow the lawn in and so forth, cause you can't make a dang shirt for $2. I wondered what type of first impression I or we made on the new neighbors. It scared me a little , even though I felt we talked well, and of Christ too.

I invited her to sit under the tree with Sarah and I if she was out walking and ever saw us out gabbing. She seemed glad about the invite, but still.....clearly we seemed a contrast to one another as we stood there on the beach. She, hair pulled back neatly in a pony tail, & her daughter with mud on her pink ballet flats with precious little flowers, waving goodbye to us as we moved on......we.....shorts, boasting shirts & afro hair blowing everywhere, unable to be tamed by a flowered bobby pin, muddy, and loud......eeesh, I have to hope for the best.
















Saturday, a day full of awesome.

Read the paper with D a bit, and worked on my curriculum for next year, cleaned the house a bit while he sprayed weed killer outside. I worried he was going to spray to the wrong flowers to spite me. I figured oh well, if he does I will just grow some more.

Later in the day we attended a wedding for a girlfriend named Lisa R.(now Lisa B!). It was so dang fun! This is why.....cause it was the first wedding I have been to in a while that I felt like this is gonna last.

She had great music as we waited for her to enter that made me feel joy to be at her wedding. Once the deed was done the two left the sanctuary husband and wife to the song Signed, Sealed, Delivered, by Stevie Wonder. How could one not be happy and wear a smile?

Her husband is Hungarian. He is handsome. He is a Chef. D told Andras if Lisa kicked him to the curb, he would marry him. We sat with Lisa's dad at the reception where the food rocked every taste bud in my head. The dad told us without being prompted, if Lisa didn't marry him, he would take him....we all laughed, cause we understood how good the food Andras had prepared was. Music at the reception was awesome, it was beautiful outside where we ate and watched all the little girls have their own dance party.

I had told D we'd help him get some stuff at the church set up for Sunday, so we all had to leave a bit early which kinda stunk. However, since we were in separate cars, as usual....The girls and I stayed for the cake cutting, which was a blessing straight from taste bud heaven. Lisa asked me if I wanted some to take home.........um, yes.............could you just box up the whole middle layer please, thanks.

Lisa's smile of happiness made my heart overflow with love for her. I am so glad she invited our family. I would have totally missed out on something fun & special that day.

After that we worked at the church till, 7:15 or 7:20 or something. The girls and I singing karaoke Shania Twain, Amy Grant, Kingdom Heirs and whatever else he needed us to do for him to adjust some equalizer or something...then D pretended to be a typical Southern Baptist hell, fire, and brimstone preacher so I could adjust the lapel mike for Pastor Mike the next day. Which was completely hilarious...you can ask Lauren Woody.....she caught some of that.

.....and last but not least for the icing on the perfect day....NEW MOON BABY!!!!!!!!!!!! Amazon Video on Demand gave me a freebie for New Moon cause of the pre-order DVD thing.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH Jacob with short hair SCREEEEAMMMM like a teeny bopper, and break a sweat, blink my eyes uncontrollably, holy moly, the New Moon video is about 1000 times better that the first Twilight movie in every way. As soon as I get my hands on the DVD coming to my mailbox today I hope, I am going to watch it about 100 more times....I can feel it already coming. Angie B if you haven't seen New Moon girl, you cannot have mine, BUT I will swoon with you as soon as you get your own. :oD

We'll discuss it, over a brisk 3 mile walk at the track.

Sunday....I knew Monday was coming. It was cloudy, rainy, my neck was killing me, arthritis in my hips and left shoulder wreaking havoc on my posture. It was still a good day though, just someone turned the fun volume down a bit.

We went to eat Mexican food after church. Then on to Home Depot where they had put out that black colored, dog crap smelling mulch that literally made Sky gag all the way in the door. Then I had to exercise severe restraint in the plant department. D did let me get a really nice piece of pottery to put one of Poppy's plants left over from his funeral. I hate house plants, but for obvious reasons I cannot allow this one to go uncared for. It needs a bigger pot. I love the one we got. Sky got a new bigger pot for her aloe plant also, pink and green.

This was my weekend to catch up with all the Kathy's in my life. The one, Kathy L., I have known my whole life, we crammed as much conversation in about 45 minutes as we could. I felt very satisfied that we had connected, her voice brings me nostalgic peace. I love her.

Kathy V. lives down the street but gosh, we're both moms and conversation passing each other in the halls at church during pick up and drop off isn't always enough. We stayed an hour or more after church Sunday night gabbing it up... in the rain even.... about everything from testosterone, school, musical instruments, to our possibly future illiterate youngest children, cause life is so busy we just want them to go to bed at night instead of read. Great quality time with her even if it did rain on us. Though we are both sweet, we did not melt.

As I said though I knew Monday was coming still cause it just got more and more rainy. D's work people called all night long....from 1:30am on.....I can't log on, try this, try that, turn the bedroom lights on, where's my glasses? I can't see a freakin thing, turn the valve on, turn the valve off, turn the valve on, turn the valve off........I finally went to get in the bed with Sky..... cause MAYSIE won't met me sleep with her anymore.

Sky slept all over me, all night. With her sweaty, sticky, big, magic belly in my face, on my back, on my legs.....toss, turn, phone rings, Jenny wants in the bed with us, magic belly on my back again, her fingers tangled in my hair, and so on, and so on, and so on.....and guess what? It's 6:30am.....Cole's awake.

...and I have this horrible crick in my neck. I can't turn my head without turning my whole body....I have "Aunt Helen" disease(that's for mom and Terri :oD ).

Happy Monday??

I hated high school, I am glad it's over............

Attention: This is a mind rambling that needed to be written down, it is not funny or entertaining at all.

Tis that time of year again when I should order the kids curriculum for next year.

Every year at this time I say, "You're going to school next year, cause ya'll are getting on my nerves. Let someone else deal with you, cause I am done."

Then the begging begins....."No, no, no Mom, we don't want to go."

"You haven't even been praying about it, are you going against the Lords will?"

"I promise I will sit still."

"I don't want to eat school lunch."

"I guess you want me to learn how to cuss properly."

"I don't want to ride the bus."

"I don't want to be stuck in class for 8 hours of work that really only takes 4 or 5, what a waste of time."
"I don't want to go to school all day and do homework all night."

"If you send us to school and get a job I hope you are miserable."

" I promise I will get up when you tell me too."

"I don't want to be a cheerleader."

"I like being a labeled a home schooler, it makes me set apart."

"They don't teach the Bible you know...."

"Then I will have make up work every time I have a doctors/dentist appt,"

etc, etc, etc..........

Almost all of the excuses are of course...... ridiculous.

I haven't taken the time to pray about it & obviously for those of us who went to school, a decent part of the day is spent wasting time.

I wouldn't make my kids ride the bus, and quite frankly, they can learn how to cuss properly on Wednesday night at church. Lots of those kids use foul language during Awana......I hear about it almost every week. It isn't just the middle school kids either. Some of the Sparks are well aware of how to use cuss words. Some of the youth kids go to church with their families every Sunday, they know better of that I am 100% sure, and speak undesirably in my opinion.

School lunch, stupid(I can totally see myself as a lunch lady, except if I have to be the chicken scrubber, I wouldn't like that job).

Sit still, no you won't.

Me getting a job, laughable....just kiddin......well, not really, kinda.

Though in my mind, Maysie will be in high school next year, I am panic stricken. I know I can do it, cause I just know I can(cause I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me). There is too much help & info out there to access for me to discount that. I just never planned to school the kids at home this long.

Schooling them through high school....my mind wanders to, "What about the prom?" and stuff like that. I went to the prom two years and I had a pretty lame time generally. When I say that to other mothers I get the same response. Some didn't go or had a lame time. The very few that did have a good time seem to be linked to the "in crowd." But, all of the women I polled said the prom was not a defining moment in their high school years. They expressed that was a crazy reason for sending Maysie to school......most thought I better come up with a better reason than that....this is public school and home school moms.

From polling around I learned the prom is really more about buying the dress and getting dressed up than actually attending the prom......again UNLESS, this was a crushing on some one first date sort of thing.

Yeah, that is a stupid reason, I guess. When I make a list of pros vs. cons for both public school and home school, the home school list ALWAYS looks more healthy and intelligent. The public school list looks more social in general. In the home school community it is not looked upon well to put kids in public school, but I really don't care.........sort of.

In my heart, deep down, I know they should be with me here at home, cause I only have a short time with them in the whole scheme of life. The Lord has not given me peace with sending them to school. Though I have tried to force His hand and make myself have peace, He hasn't let me entertain those feelings long.

My mind dreams of the peace and quiet of a day when they are all in the care of an institution that is deemed a safe and educational.....and more or less free child care. That seems harsh I know, but that is how my gut feels.

I could spend all day with CB doing whatever he wants, like I did with Maysie when she was a baby. He could have his own mommy time, while the others were being group cared for and educated at the same time.....plus they get fed, and I wouldn't have to cook it or clean it up. I swear I think our grocery bill would go down a little.

Doesn't that sound totally lazy? I day dream about M & Z having lots of friends and hanging out and doing this and doing that. However, when I poll folks, constantly I hear, "I hated high school, I am glad its over." I feel that exact way. I know D felt that way when he was in school.

I wasn't popular in school, I didn't do all the social clubs or have gobs of friends, though they were available to me. I had a few close girlfriends. I actually stay in touch with most of those girls. The one gal, Kim K. W. and I used to be called the "share a brain twins," we did everything together. We are still close even though we don't live in the same state. I still have dinner with Michelle B. W. when I am in Atlanta, which is never these days. I actually haven't seen her in a couple years, but I know if I did it would be cool, like we never left off.

So I believe myself to be disillusioned as to how high school would be if they went.....see how my thinking is still rambling on about the social stuff and not the education. I know plenty of great teachers here and a couple of principles too that are awesome. Being truthful though, my kids wouldn't have any of those teachers.

I don't know.......maybe being a home school mom is really who I am. I hate to be defined as she home schools, and that is how people know me.

Amy, the manic girl that home schools 4 kids.....

or

Amy, the manic girl that used to home school and now her kids go to school, she's out of the will of God, but adjusting to the discipline accordingly....

ugh, Gods discipline.........

UGH!

Let me just order some curriculum now for petes sake............

................................................................

.....later this morning, this is my devotional verse.....

Psalm 23:1-3

“The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not be in want. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he restores my soul.”

See what I mean? He won't let me entertain myself long.....

God knows me, of this I am sure.

Trust me, I would hack Numa up in a hurry.........

My kids and I were discussing the book Elf on the Shelf, a book about an elf that reports back to Santa whether you have been good or bad. The thing is the book comes with an elf and you can move him around at night to different spots and the kids hunt for him or take notice the elf had moved and so forth. Some view it as a fun thing to do at Christmas, it's a fun tradition.

But my manic children and I were discussing how scary the elf looks over lunch with his eyes all glancing sideways.

We have just gotten M & Z into Alfred Hitchcock TV despite, they are in black and white they are LOVING them....scary but not too scary, just enough to get you creeped out. We had just watched the one where the little girl gets a doll, named Numa, from her uncle. The doll actually comes to life and plays with the little girl and in the end the doll takes the roll of the little girl and runs off and leaves the little girl in the form of a doll.

So Elf on the Shelf running around our house at night changing his location is creepy ;o)

M says at the lunch table- Is Elf on the Shelf real?

(uuumm, surely you are a true blonde)

A- Well, I don't know May, let's see, a stuffed skinny half cross eyed elf running around our house at night, because that makes perfect sense...

Z (spelling for Sky's sake for some reason)- P-A-R-E-N-T-S moron!

A- Let me just say this, if some stupid Numa elf was running around our house at night spying on us, I would totally hack it to pieces with a saw immediately...

They all laugh cause mind visuals of that must be funny.

....................................................

May in the other room listening to Christmas toy commercials on TV for Town House Barbie

Making up her on jingle she starts singing,

"Farty Barbie
Town House Party"

......this strikes me as snickerable cause she thinks no one hears her.

..................................................

Sky had to write some sentences about a sport she liked to play or watch on TV. She isn't an "outside girl" as she says. Sky determined she liked to wrestle with Z on the trampoline so she wants to be a wrestler when she grows up.

Z dubbed her the Skylinator

While we are dubbing names.....

My mom is super fun, and she is going crazy, aren't we all....but we have been calling her "Crazy Nana", instead of just Nana. What's so fun is this became the running theme this weekend while she was here. This past weekend marked the one year anniversary of my dad's passing.

She came and spent it with me, now determined more for me than for herself. Although it went well for both of us because we stayed busy and distracted one another pretty well.

On my side of the family when one does something just insane we say something like, "get off the crack" or mom loves the powders you pour into the water bottles that make flavored drinks, those are called "crack juice." Some one said something or did something you just can't believe "you must be smokin crack" or "OK, crack head" I have no idea how that got started but it has hung around a while. I do it, my sister throws it out sometimes, my brother and my mom do it.

So this weekend it got started that Nana was so crazy she was no longer Crazy Nana, she was Crack Nana. It sounds awful I know, but it was super funny.....at least to us.

So we had thrown that around while dancing in the car, while shopping, eating at Pei Wei, all day Saturday.

Cole goes to church Sunday and sees a little boy and goes to introduce his Nana.......All of us standing their in our minds hoping........ hoping....... hoping .........please don't say it......

"This is my Crack Nana!"

...........He didn't say it!!! Everybody exhales and continues on merrily.......

.........walking down the hall at church, on the way to Sunday school, all of us snickering cause we didn't permanently damage CB on Saturday.

We really love our Crack Nana and totally wanted her to stay just one more day, but alas she couldn't. What could have been an awful weekend for her, she made wonderful for me.......cause she is a giver, not a taker, a character quality I adore in her.


...................................................

In case you, like me, have been wondering who threw out all their trash on the side of the road and made a huge mess all in the woods.......at least that is what I thought at first....

Well, just so you know, God made the mess.

The mess is really beautiful up close. I asked May to get out and see what exactly it was, thinking it was wet TP or something.....it was layers upon layers of ice. You could peel them off like an onion. They were super amazing. I got a few images here for you to look at. But my camera just wasn't doing it for me that day. I got frustrated and just decided I would would enjoy the images in my mind.........well, except for these....... you may be able to click the image and blow it up on your screen.