My Mom

OK, so this is not going to be the post all about my mom…I'm not ready to take that trip down memory lane, along with the tears, so on and so on…but I did find this cute picture of us together.  My Dad scanned all of our old pictures from South Africa onto a disk and gave us each a copy.  For some reason my Kodak Easyshare program won't consider it a regular file so I actually had to take a picture of the picture on the computer screen, which accounts for the poor quality.  Anyone else want to share some old pics?!
BTW, isn't she beautiful?!

PS, my sweet girl has started her own blog at “Me and Miyagi”.  She loves visitors and comments!

The Wild

My children are a bunch of animals!  No, really, there have been unicorn and puppy sitings daily!
I bought a Dalmation costume for Jonah at the last consignment sale and Hannah and Ethan just had to find their old ones as well.  They were so cute and Hannah was in animal heaven!

  
 “Kids: they dance before they learn there is anything that isn't music.”  ~William Stafford 

Significance

My prayer request yesterday in Bible Study went something like this:  “  I feel like my life is just passing me by.  I wake up in the morning and do the chores and tasks in my day that I need to do, and before I know it the next day has arrived and I start all over again.  Its not that I am swamped, depressed, or even happy or joyful…I'm just living and I'm scared my life is going to pass right by and my children will be grown and D. and I will be old.”  That I will not remember special times because maybe they didn't exist or that I will not have made a difference in people's lives for the sake of Christ, especially my children.

I've been thinking about this and realize that my life is missing its significance.  In our country we are so swamped with thinking that we can make our own destinies, become our own gods, that even us Bible-believing Christians buy into it without really realizing the slow downward spiral.  Our own sinful nature doesn't help either…

So for me, right now, in my life, it comes down to the pure and simple fact that I need to spend more time with my Heavenly Father.  I see Him working in amazing ways around me, in my friends and family and my own life.  When I think about Him I am immediately aware of receiving his favor, and deeply passionate love.  He is where my signifcance lies and without Him I am nothing.  And even more than that, I want to be with Him for Him, because I miss Him.  The whole world can pass away and it can just be Him and I together.  He is what I need and long for .  My life is insignificant without Him, but beautiful, fulfilling and purposed with Him.

So, now I know what I was really needing to pray for yesterday-to spend time with Him above all else, and not because I am living under some self-imposed law but because I desperately love and need Him every day.  I cannot use the excuse of being a busy, tired stay-at-home mom anymore because I do make time for other things I like to do, so… if you don't mind, say a prayer for me because we have lives of distraction and I want to have a life of focus and vision.
                                    

Be Thou my Vision, O Lord of my heart;
Naught be all else to me, save that Thou art.
Thou my best Thought, by day or by night,
Waking or sleeping, Thy presence my light.

Be Thou my Wisdom, and Thou my true Word;
I ever with Thee and Thou with me, Lord;
Thou my great Father, I Thy true son;
Thou in me dwelling, and I with Thee one.

Be Thou my battle Shield, Sword for the fight;
Be Thou my Dignity, Thou my Delight;
Thou my soul's Shelter, Thou my high Tower:
Raise Thou me heavenward, O Power of my power.

Riches I heed not, nor man's empty praise,
Thou mine Inheritance, now and always:
Thou and Thou only, first in my heart,
High King of Heaven, my Treasure Thou art.

High King of Heaven, my victory won,
May I reach Heaven's joys, O bright Heaven's Sun!

Heart of my own heart, whatever befall,
Still be my Vision, O Ruler of all.

Word Cloud

I found this on Jonathon's site and of course couldn't resist!  Here's the link-just follow the directions and you can make your own word cloud:

From their site:

“A word cloud is a visual depiction of content (words) used in a body
of text. The word clouds we use at snapshirts.com are arranged
alphabetically and depict more frequently used words in progressively
larger fonts.

The Authors line uses classic literary and historical texts to make
word clouds. Click on Authors to see what/who we are currently
featuring.

The Custom line uses your own personal website to make word clouds.
For Custom word clouds, our software analyzes your weblog and presents
some of your most frequently used words. You can edit this list as much
or as little as you like, it's completely customizable. If you have a
weblog, click on Custom and give it a try.”

The Big Fish-tank Store

…how we refer to the Bass Pro Shop in our family.  Its amazing how a trip there feels like a mini expedition to the wild! 

Hannah spent the night with Aunty Mandy last Friday so we took the boys out to dinner and then to T.B.F.S. because its one of their favorite places to go.( maybe Daddy's too).  OK, ok…I like it too!

The expedition began at the quadrunners…

and quickly made its way to the boats ( d's favorite place).  And of course we had to end with the gigantic fish tank, which holds unbelievable thrills and excitement for 2, 4, and 32 year olds!

Team Hoyt

My Dad sent me an email telling the story of this amazing father and son.  I won't do it justice in my own words so I'll copy and paste it here.  There is also a link to a video ( can't be supported on homeschoolblogger).  Its beautiful, tragic, humbling, inspiring…

This is long , but worth it and definitely watch the video!
Speaking of Dick Hoyt:

“Eighty-five times he's pushed his disabled son, Rick, 26.2 miles in
marathons. Eight times he's not only pushed him 26.2 miles in a
wheelchair but also towed him 2.4 miles in a dinghy while swimming and
pedaled him 112 miles in a seat on the handlebars–all in the same day.

Dick's also pulled him cross-country skiing, taken him on his back
mountain climbing and once hauled him across the U.S. on a bike. Makes
taking your son bowling look a little lame, right?

And what has Rick done for his father? Not much–except save his life.

This love story began in Winchester, Mass., 43 years ago, when Rick was
strangled by the umbilical cord during birth, leaving him brain-damaged
and unable to control his limbs.

`He'll be a vegetable the rest of his life;'' Dick says doctors told
him and his wife, Judy, when Rick was nine months old. “Put him in an
institution.''

But the Hoyts weren't buying it. They noticed the way Rick's eyes
followed them around the room. When Rick was 11 they took him to the
engineering department at Tufts University and asked if there was
anything to help the boy communicate. “No way,'' Dick says he was told.
`There's nothing going on in his brain.''

“Tell him a joke,'' Dick countered. They did. Rick laughed. Turns out a
lot was going on in his brain.

Rigged up with a computer that allowed him to control the cursor by
touching a switch with the side of his head, Rick was finally able to
communicate. First words? “Go Bruins!'' And after a high school
classmate was paralyzed in an accident and the school  organized a
charity run for him, Rick pecked out, “Dad, I want to do that.''

Yeah, right. How was Dick, a self-described “porker'' who never ran
more than a mile at a time, going to push his son five miles? Still, he
tried. “Then it was me who was handicapped,'' Dick says. “I was sore
for two weeks.''

That day changed Rick's life. “Dad,'' he typed, “when we were running,
it felt like I wasn't disabled anymore!''

And that sentence changed Dick's life. He became obsessed with giving
Rick that feeling as often as he could.  

Rick was ready to try the 1979 Boston Marathon.

“No way,'' Dick was told by a race official. The Hoyts weren't quite a
single runner, and they weren't quite a wheelchair competitor. For a few
years Dick and Rick just joined the massive field and ran anyway, then
they found a way to get into the race officially:  In 1983 they ran
another marathon so fast they made the qualifying time for Boston the
following year.

Then somebody said, “Hey, Dick, why not a triathlon?''

How's a guy who never learned to swim and hadn't ridden a bike since he
was six going to haul his 110-pound kid through a triathlon? Still, Dick
tried.

Now they've done 212 triathlons, including four grueling 15-hour
Ironmans in Hawaii . It must be a buzzkill to be a 25-year-old stud
getting passed by an old guy towing a grown man in a dinghy, don't you
think?

Hey, Dick, why not see how you'd do on your own? “No way,'' he says.
Dick does it purely for “the awesome feeling'' he gets seeing Rick with
a cantaloupe smile as they run, swim and ride together.

This year, at ages 65 and 43, Dick and Rick finished their 24th Boston
Marathon, in 5,083rd place out of more than 20,000 starters. Their best
time'? Two hours, 40 minutes in 1992–only 35 minutes off the world
record, which, in case you don't keep track of  these things, happens to
be held by a guy who was not pushing another man in a wheelchair at the
time.

“No question about it,'' Rick types. “My dad is the Father of the
Century.''

And Dick got something else out of all this too. Two years ago he had a
mild heart attack during a race.  Doctors found that one of his arteries
was 95% clogged. “If you hadn't been in such great shape,'' one doctor
told him, “you probably would've died 15 years ago.''

So, in a way, Dick and Rick saved each other's life.

Rick, who has his own apartment (he gets home care) and works in Boston,
and Dick, retired from the military and living in Holland, Mass., always
find ways to be together. They give speeches around the country and
compete in some backbreaking race every weekend, including this
Father's Day.

That night, Rick will buy his dad dinner, but the thing he really wants
to give him is a gift he can never buy.

`The thing I'd most like,'' Rick types, “is that my dad sit in the
chair and I push him once.''

The Video

(not-so) Great Clips

Well, it was once again time to massacre my poor boys' hair.  I know that the style these days is relatively longer than maybe just a few years ago, but with summer heat and sweaty little bodies, the long hair has finally gotten to me. 

I usually sit them on the bathroom sink so that they can entertain themselves by, well… looking at themselves, but today I had to go and shake things up and it was pure chaos!

Ethan was up first and I thought it would be nice for him to watch TV while I cut so I sat him on the coffee table and went to work.  This change in routine did not work!  He fussed and moaned the entire time.  I don't cut hair very well as it is, so you can imagine how it looked by the time I was done.( I wasn't really done, but he was)

Jonah did pretty well but I learned from my previous mistake and put him in front of the mirror.  Worked like a charm!

So here's a pic of my sweet, smelly boys after the trauma( Ethan's still suffering a bit)!  I will learn to cut hair eventually-I keep telling myself that because of all the money we'll save!

“Even when freshly washed and relieved of all obvious confections, children tend to be sticky.”  ~Fran Lebowitz

Saturday's "fours"

Ok, so I stole this from my friend Robyn's blog, and it is supposed to be posted on a Friday, but I thought it was too cute to wait until next week!

Four jobs that I have had in my life:
*Coordinator of Part-time employment, Moody Bible Institute
*Sales associate, Hallmark
*Childcare worker, Kindercare
*Pet department employee, Wal-Mart

Four movies I watch over and over:
*Lord of the Rings, the Fellowship of the Ring
*The Sound of Music
*Girls Just Want to Have Fun ( I know, I know-early '80's!)
*My Fair Lady

Four places I have lived:
*Durban, South Africa
*Chicago, IL
*Snellville, GA
*Buford, GA

Four T.V. shows I love to watch:
*Stargate SG-1 and Atlantis
*24
*American Idol
*So You Think You Can Dance?
*Lost
*Battlestar Galactica( the new one)
                   …sorry I couldn't stick to four!

Four places I have been on vacation:
*Florida
*Illinois
*Minnesota
*Wisconsin

Four websites I visit daily:
* all of my blogging friends' blogs!
*Photobucket
*recipezaar ( maybe not daily)
*quotegarden

Four Favorite Foods:
*Chicken Fingers ( w/honey mustard or Ranch)
*Pizza
*Nachos
*chocolate

Four Places I would like to be:
*Switzerland ( at the Bibleheim)
*On a cruise
* Hawaii
*Any of these places as long as David and the kiddos are there!

Miyagi

Pig
Piggy Wig
Puggy
good boy
bad boy

…just a few names we like to call our pet Pug, Miyagi.  We adopted Miyagi from a rescue organization called SEPRA about a year ago.  I did my research for which breed would make a great family dog so I shouldn't be suprised at how well he fits into our family and how much we love him, but I am!

Here are some interesting tidbits about the Pug breed, from the American Kennel Club:

General Appearance

Symmetry and general appearance are decidedly square and cobby. A lean, leggy Pug and a dog with short legs and a long body are equally objectionable. 

Temperament

This is an even-tempered breed, exhibiting stability, playfulness, great charm, dignity, and an outgoing, loving disposition. 

Pug History

The truth of how the Pug came into existence is shrouded in mystery, but he has been true to his breed down through the ages since before 400 B.C. Authorities agree that he is of Oriental origin with some basic similarities to the Pekingese. China is the earliest known source for the breed, where he was the pet of the Buddhist monasteries in Tibet. The breed next appeared in Japan and then in Europe, where it became the favorite for various royal courts.

The Pug became the official dog of the House of Orange after one of the breed saved the life of William, Prince of Orange, by giving alarm at the approach of the Spaniards at Hermingny in 1572. Later when William II landed at Torbay to be crowned King of England, his cortege included Pugs and they became the fashionable breed for generations. 

By 1790 the Pug's popularity has spread to France where Josephine, wife of Napoleon, depended on her Pug “Fortune” to carry secret messaged under his collar to her husband while she was impresoned at Les Carmes.

Pretty neat little dog, don't ya think!?

Our Miyagi

Thinking Ahead

The summer is winding down now and I find myself longing for the cool, crips days of Fall.  It seems to have been an especially hot one this year in GA, or maybe that's because of my un-airconditioned van! 

This Fall holds some new things for us.  And even though I'm frowning at the thought of having to actually get showered and dressed before 10, I'm ready to have a more structured daily schedule.

Girl Scouts starts this week and I am helping by being a co-leader this year which will obviously add to my level of commitment.   I am also in the process of ordering the children's choir music, which will begin in Sept..  I can't decide between three musicals so I thought it would be best to order the music and take a good look at each piece.   Next month I will be waking up the nutheads earlier than usual to get Hannah ready for school and out the door by 8am.  I think this will be my biggest challenge.

All of this probably doesn't sound so busy to some of you moms out there, but I have learned from experience that I can only handle so many”extra-curricular” activities for the family before I go nutzo…oh , and completely changing topics but staying with the thought of going “nutzo”, I really need a vacation!……anyone?…..

Shower Woes

Here's an example of what happens at my house while I am in the shower:

Jonah, after sprinkling himself, the stairs and the dog with cheese-did I say sprinkling, I meant showering!

Hannah, playing her computer games:

Ethan, setting up his monster truck rally:

”
You are worried about seeing him spend his early years in doing
nothing.  What!  Is it nothing to be happy?  Nothing to skip, play, and
run around all day long?  Never in his life will he be so busy again.”
~Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Emile, 1762

Wooby

My sister Carey and I have made a tradition of meeting at the mall each week to eat lunch and let the kids visit.  Of course we visit as well and look forward to our time together since we live about an hour away and don't see each other very often. This probably doesn't sound far to some of you, but with 5 kids between us, driving anywhere for longer than 30 minutes is not pleasant!  And on top of that , my little guy is still taking a nap in the middle of the day and usually has to skip it when we are visiting.

Sidenote:  I have called Carey “Wooby” since I was a young teen because somewhere I had read or seen that a child's security blanket was called their “Wooby”.  And that's what Carey is, she's my Wooby.  So from now on, in this post or ones to come when I speak of Wooby you will know of whom I speak( my english accent just snuck back in).
So, back to the original story, Wooby asked me to meet her one last time at the Mall this past Monday.  You see Wooby is an excellent teacher who has stayed at home for the last 7 years with her kids.  Now that they are in school Wooby is able to go back to teaching, something she loves and is fantastic at.  The downside for me…I don't get to see my Wooby  every week.

Now, Wooby and I go way back you know, ever since I was born and she was about 2.  She probably rebelled against giving up the title of “baby” and I was blissfully unaware of the ramifications of having two big sisters.  Wooby and I fought so much my mom likes to tell the story of how she would bang our heads together to make us stop.  Poor Mandy would always have to sit in between us to keep the peace and she usually ended up inflicting her own torture on us in the form of painfully long fingernails digging into our flesh.

Wooby and I were made to dress alike(I do have the pictures to prove it), share a room and were each others' constant playmate.  She has always been fiercely loyal and protective of me and so often puts my needs above her own.

In the last few years I have seen Wooby experience deep pain and loss in her life and have also seen her fall in love with her Lord.  As she has fallen in love with Him, she has been a great encouragement to me of our Father's grace, mercy and faithfulness.  She is a beautiful woman of God, inside and out.  If you read my previous post about my other sister Mandy, you will be in denial, in shock, that I have two wonderfully beautiful, Godly sisters!  But believe it; I do and I am blessed by them every day of my life!
I'm going to miss you, Woob!  I love you!

“A sister is a little bit of childhood that can never be lost. ” ~Marion C. Garretty

Here's my beautiful Wooby: