Complete Exhaustion

I put out a garden today. It's huge, and it's only a 1/3 of the size of the garden that is actually there. (Chad only tilled up that much and we still have a ton....) The jury is out whether we will use the other end for pumpkins, watermelons, and cucumbers. I'm hoping we do...but I am already completely exhausted and S.O.R.E.! That's not good. I can't imagine what my back, legs, and arms are going to feel like in the morning.

Chad started tilling at 10 AM. I joined him after worship practice and a trip to K-Town to get groceries and some other gardening/outdoor supplies at Lowe's. At 9:30, we sat down to eat a quick dinner, if THAT tells you anything....The kids helped (I use the term loosely, but they did pretty good for their ages) while Gabriel watched. Of course, one trip to the dollar store landed them with new water squirt guns, so we took some time for that. How I love squirting them with the hose on full blast....Needless to say, we were all FILTHY when we came in.

Chad and Luke are now off catfishing while the others are pretty much passed out in their beds. I think it took all of 5 seconds to get them asleep tonight. Speaking of passing out...Shh....do you hear that? It's my bed calling...'night.

From my "3gifts" blog

1. Tomorrow marks my 31st birthday. I'm thankful for so many things in my life. I've been so reflective today. 30 years have been packed full of so many blessings....a great husband who makes me smile....4 beautiful, joyful, loving little boys, my mom and dad and brother, my grandparents....singing, one of the great loves of my life, and the ability to share God's Word and sing His praise with this voice....forgiveness......yes, even the mistakes, they have taught me so much....growing up on a bus --sheltered from the rest of the world in so many ways...Mrs. E. - if only I reached as many kids as she does....stories that include red koolaid, bee stings, and fire ants or the words, "Yes, Grandpa"....the rich Christian heritage that has been preserved for me throughout generations....sharing my faith with Dustin just yesterday....laying in the grass.....driving to Virginia just to eat all the apples and butter beans Aunt Gracie had....Aunt Gracie....she wouldn't pay no $400 for no dog, by the way.....trying haggis (ok, maybe it was the company I was with more than the delicacy)....hearing the boys giggle on a warm evening when they should be all tucked in bed...catering jobs with Grandma and Granddad....learning the hard way....my salvation....my friends....my hopes and dreams....I am blessed.

2. The innocence in a smile of a little boy whose mom almost died less than 10 days ago who runs to hug you and give you the ragged handful of weeds (eh, I mean flowers) he picked while playing outside.

3. I hear them even now, giggling to each other and making up silly songs. If I never had another single blessing in this life, they would be enough. Thank You, Father...

Odds and Ends

It's been a while since I posted some odds and ends, so today, I will.

1. I am completely enjoying the silence in my house right now. The only sound in fact is the clicking of the keyboard beneath my fingers. It's sooo nice. After dealing with all those 5th graders the past week, I am loving the peace.

2. I cannot believe how powerless the public school system truly is. Because a child was labeled as "EH" (emotionally handicapped), he has an I.E.P. which spells out his behavior problems and sets goals for his behavior. When he gets in trouble, he is disciplined. He gets in trouble a LOT. He gets suspended. We (the school) get sued because you can't discipline a child labeled "EH" for anything that can be connected to the I.E.P. WHAT?!?!! This kid fights and cusses and disrespects. He MUST be disciplined. How are the other kids to know it's not okay if he gets away with it? How will he learn to function? Aren't we supposed to teach them how to function past their time in the public school system? Now that we are being sued, the child knows we can't do anything to him. I was returning a class of 2nd graders to their classroom last week, and there he was...screaming at both the principal and his assistant, at the top of his lungs. Dropping F-bombs and everything else. Now every 2nd grader with me has just heard the big daddy of all cuss words repeatedly. As a parent, I'm offended and outraged. If it were my child hearing that, I would have come unglued. As a teacher, I am sickened and upset. Obviously the kid has issues, but when do we say "enough is enough? We won't subject the others to it anymore. Sue me. I won't have you tainting the innocence of the rest. Call 911. Haul him away in the hand cuffs. If I get sued, I get sued."

3. Moose tracks = heaven

4. My new favorite song: PROMISES...is it new life worship? I think so.

5. Environmentalists have really irked me this week...I realize this won't be popular but so be it. I'm not one to TRASH the EARTH. I don't think we should do things that are unnecessary or frivolous. However, ease up a little, Green Giants. We have oil in Alaska. Allow us to build a refinery without all the impossible regulations....(sure, we need regulations, but not IMPOSSIBLE ONES). If we got all the oil we needed to keep gas prices down, we couldn't refine it. The last oil refinery built in USA was in 1976...that's the year I was born!! The number of cars has probably gradrupled since then, or something like that... Of course we need more oil. There are more people and more cars. Let's build a few refineries, use some Alaskan oil, and get the prices down. Sheesh!

6. I peeked in on my kids a few minutes ago. Adorable. Simply adorable. What's better than a sleeping, peaceful child who smells like bubble bath when you open the door? You guessed it. 4 sleeping, peaceful children who smell like bubble bath when you open the door. I peeked in on Drew and Evan first. Evan sleeps in a tiny little ball. Tiny enough that some nights I have to go in and physically feel the bed to see if he's there or if his blankets are just wrinkled up. Almost every time he's there and hasn't wandered to a couch. Drew refuses to sleep under his covers because it makes the chore of making the bed more difficult. Not only does he sleep on top of the covers, which just honks Chad off, but he snores (loudly - making Pappaw Bob proud, of course) and sleeps facing the opposite direction...so his covers open up one way, but he avoids them in two ways by sleeping on top of them and by sleeping on the wrong end of the bed. Luke sleeps like me. His arms up above his head most nights. I think he finally has that wetting the bed thing under control. THANK GOODNESS. But when I peek in on Gabriel every night, no matter how much I protest or how much I instruct, he is always quietly sleeping with no covers, hugging Bear, curled up in a ball wearing his "towboy" (cowboy) jammas....wearing his "fih fohs" (flip flops). There is nothing I can do. He won't take them off. They stink horribly....He sleeps with them on at the babysitters' too.

7. I still have not finished my homework for my classes. I wanted to be done with both of them by the end of the first week in APRIL. I am no farther than I was at that time. PLEASE GOD - MOTIVATE ME.

8. For the first time in a long time, things are good...completely good. Sure, there are frustrations with my job...but as far as my life goes and life in general? I don't think I have had insecure thoughts, feelings of not being respected or appreciated, or any of those moments that plagued me for so long. It has been a LONG road, but I finally believe all may actually be well. What a relief. Those of you with a clue, thank you for praying. Don't stop, but know that your prayers and mine are being answered continually.

9. Please pray that my old "itty bitty house," as my kids call it when we drive past, will sell quickly. I'd like to have that out of my mind and out of my bank account....that would be nice.

10. It's almost 1 AM. I haven't "enjoyed the computer time" this late in quite a while....I have a big week in getting some church work done, so I better get going....

11. I know I still have pictures to post of the new house. I haven't forgotten. Have a great day!!

Quick quips

Drew was recounting his list of girlfriends last night at dinner. I asked him, since he seems to always have a girl chasing him, what it was about him that made the girls like him so much. My oldest, without blinking, said this of his 4 year old brother: "It's because he smells good." (Right, Audrey?)

oh...if it were only that simple....but HEY! It's a start.

Chocolate is a great, inexpensive, and effective therapist...and you don't have to make an appointment.

Gabriel is by far my sneakiest child. His latest trick? While eating, if his fingers get messy, he will wait until Luke is not looking and ever so gently wipe his hands on Luke's back....as the meal goes on, he gets more bold and wipes just a little harder....if Luke still doesnt' get it, I've seen him go so far as to wipe his fingers off on Luke's plate and Luke's hand. Of course, it's completely naughty, but we can't help but laugh. He's so sneaky! We're going to be in trouble.....

A computer once beat me at chess, but it was no match for me at kick boxing.

Drew can now ride his bike without training wheels...the unfortunate part is that he can't turn....so he crashes a lot.

The only reason people get lost in thought is because it's unfamiliar territory.

If at first you don't succeed, then skydiving is definitely not for you.

I was called a tramp by a fourth grader Friday morning at school. When I asked him if he knew what a tramp was, he answered, "How many kids you got?" I got down in his face, pointed at him and said, "Four. But they all have the same daddy." He got suspended that day.

Borrow money from pessimists. They don't expect it back.

All those who believe in telekinesis, raise my hand.

The early bird may get the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese.

Gabriel and the Clippers

The clippers and Gabriel had their first meeting last night. HE LOVED IT. I was afraid he would hate it buzzing on his head, so I held the wrong end to his head and pretended to buzz it off...he was upset when he felt back there and no hair was gone. After all, the other 3 had all gotten a hair cut. He kept crying and saying, "I want hair cut!!!" (which is much cuter when you hear him say it - even with a whine....)

But here's a before:



And here's an after:



He liked his hair cut so much that when I woke him up this morning, his first words were, "I want hair cut again." Try explaining the growth habits of hair to a 2 year old....He was so proud...and I was a little sad...he grows up - they ALL grow up - too quickly.

(You should see Luke. I'll try to get a picture of him up soon. He wanted HIS hair BALD!!! I gave in, a little....but I don't like it even if he is excited about it.)