Who knew?

Here's a pic of our dear little boy Noah when he was four. Isn't he cute? Isn't he sweet? Doesn't he look innocent?

Well, this week he came home from school with a poor conduct grade. As we dug deep to determine the reason, we found out "he had shown his backside to some boys in the classroom".

That's a nice way to say that the moon was shining brightly at school. At least it was only a partial moon, not a full moon.

I mean seriously these boys are causing me to question my sanity. Yes, we spoke with him about the inappropriateness of this. However, I realize this just paves the way for some other boyishness.

Thoughts from a 3 year old.

Yesterday after Bible study I picked up my three year old. I usually ask him what he learned. He usually says "Nothing". Well, let's just say he was a bit more talkative this time.

Here's the conversation on the way to the car:

Mom - "What did you learn about baby Moses today?"

Elijah - "The bad guys put the babies in the river to take a bath because they didn't have a bathroom in their house".

And then in the car driving home:

Elijah - "Mom, is darn it a bad word?"

Mom - "Yes"

Elijah - "Is jumping a bad word?"

Mom - "No. Where did you hear darn it?

Elijah - "Bible Study"

He really makes me laugh.

He can however recite the verse "Direct my footsteps according to your word" for which I'm grateful.

Smith's

Here's the latest family pic from the beach this summer.

Dream Big!!

This morning our daughter who has a hairline fracture and is not able to play soccer shared the following dream she had last night.

"Mom, I dreamed last night that I was playing in the World Cup. And, I was my age. And, my whole team was playing with me. And, I scored 15 goals. And, we beat Italy and won the World Cup".

"Oh, and I dreamed that I met the Jonas Brothers."

"Oh yeah, and I dreamed that I became a star on Disney Channel."

Poor girl!! All her energy is oozing out in her dreams. We'll find out today how her leg is healing. She's handling this like a trooper.

Delighting in the Unexpected

Yesterday was a day I had been somewhat dreading. It was going to be a day full of activity from morning until night with no breaks. A day when I needed a detailed plan to determine where to be and what to do.

My day started early!! It was planned to the minute. Then, at 6:30 a.m. the phone ring. Who in the world calls at 6:30 am? It was my neighbor asking me to do his family a favor. It was serious enough that I took 30 minutes from my day to help my neighbor. It did not stress me out at all, even though it was not in "my plan for the day".

Before I left for work I was reading from a book entitled "Keep a Quiet Heart" by Elisabeth Elliot and this excerpt just seemed to scream at me, with my to the minute plan for the day. "She delighted in seeing her plan upset by unexpected events, saying that it gave her great comfort, and that she looked on such things as an assurance that God was watching over her stewardship, was securing the accomplishment of His will and working out His own designs"

Delighting in the interruptions...what a concept.

Unfortunately the experience of the morning and the success I experienced at delighting in the unexpected early in the day flew right on out the window in the afternoon hours. I won't go into details, but it was not pretty. It involved a missing purple sock that was the part of the soccer uniform....minutes before we needed to leave to take soccer pics.

And no, the sock never was found. What I did find was intense frustration and agitation in my heart that spewed all over my daughter and everyone else in the house. I can't say I delighted in the unexpected. I can say God used the pressure of the situation to reveal what was in my heart.

Today is a fresh start. Thank God!!

I took the plunge

This weekend my husband set me up a facebook account. He recently spoke with his college roomate and I commented on how I really needed to get on facebook. So, he hooked my up. Now, I have a few friends and I'm still trying to figure it all out.

The plus side is I've become friends with people I haven't seen in years. My favorite comment was a friend from college who said I haven't changed much. Little does she know I used a college photo (just kidding, it's a recent photo). The truth is I have changed so much not only in physical appearance, but also on the inside. And, I have a mortgage, four kids, a cat, a husband, a to do list a mile long. Talk about life change!!!

The down side is.....wow how much time could facebook consume of my life. Hubby made a great suggestion to set a timer when I use facebook. Technology is great and yes I love my DVR, my computer, et al, but I have observed that it does eat up my time if I'm not careful.

So here are my questions for the day....what's so great about facebook? Does it eliminate the need for e-mail? How in the world did "my new friends" find me on facebook within hours? Isn't it all a bit frightening? I would love to hear your raves and digs about facebook. And, any pointers would be greatly appreciated by this newbie.

Two Steps Forward Three Steps Back

You know it has just been one of those days. It seems like when I make progress in one area, something else falls apart. This morning went well, I made some progress on the wreckage of my house. I went to Kroger and found some deals!!! My favorite were the bags of chocolate for .75!!!!!

My day got ahead of me and I had to rush to get to my "appointment" to meet some friends at Starbucks. Let me just say that I LOVE that time of the week. It's a regular time to just get together with a few women and talk about life and God. It's a time to relax for a bit and breathe.

I had to rush out of the meeting and pick up my kids at school (crutch girl can't ride the bus). When I got home it seemed like a tornado was brewing in my dining room. My oldest daughter and her friend were finishing their time capsule project highlighting different Native Americans. They were working hard trying to finish on time.

The ultimate moment that I truly haven't figured out how to deal with yet and I'm procrastinating by writing this blog entry is this...I went to put a load of clothes in the dryer. When I reached in, my hand felt cold, slimy, little pellets of yuk everywhere. It took me a moment to figure out what it was.

I washed a pull-up with a load of clothes. So, it's Friday evening and I have to figure out how to get pull-up guts out of my washing machine. SIGH!! However, in all things I will thank God.

I'm thankful that I have a washing machine
I'm thankful to have electricity.
I'm thankful for pull-ups
I'm thankful for a beautiful day

I'm praying for those on the coast who are waiting for the storm.

Love/Hate Relationship

I have a confession to make....I hate moon sand. Last Christmas some dear soul (either my mother or my aunt) gave my children moon sand. "Moon sand, moon sand, sand that you can mold." It was supposed to NOT be messy and more fun than play dough. Bonk, I say!!! It is the messiest and I mean messiest concoction on the planet. In the past year my children have played with it three times max and usually when I am rendered unconcious because of some illness.

Now, I have another confession to make.....I love moon sand. This past week we realized that moon sand played outside works pretty well. It's still pretty messy, but at least it is outside and not tracked all over my house. My kids played with it and many of the neighborhood kids played with it. At one point I believe there were ten children surrounding this small table playing happily with moon sand. The funny thing is we have a ginormous sand box just a few steps from our porch that was completely ignored.

What made the love relationship with moon sand more secure is that my three year old spent an hour outside on the back porch with his sister this past Monday morning. Quiet in my house, what bliss. So, I've declared "Moon Sand Mondays" for one hour each week. It's only coming out once a week people...maybe I'll bring it out as a treat on the weekends if I'm feeling generous.

The morale of this story.....what we hate might just become what we love.

Good News/Bad News

Yesterday was just one of those days.

The good news is our oldest daughter does not have any bone damage in her wrist that was stepped on during a soccer game.
The bad news is our youngest daughter has a hairline fracture above her knee and is unable to play soccer right now.

The good news is our oldest son scored his first ever soccer goal (his smile lit up the field)
The bad news is our youngest son had to be sent to the principal's office (he's only three... did I mention my hair is gray)

The good news is I got a ton of Kashi products at Target. With my gift cards I earned we were able to get a couple of things we needed for our house for virtually FREE.
the bad news is my house fell apart yesterday and I've got some serious cleaning to do. (How does that happen in one day?)

The good news is "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose"

The mind of a six year old

Last night I was making dinner and I happened to overhear this conversation between my six year old son and my husband. "Dad, when can I date?" My husband had difficulty formulating a response to this question. Finally he asked our son if he knew what a date was and his response was, "Well, yeah, me and a girl go to a restaurant and I pay."

After a bit he concluded that he should probably wait until he is sixteen. My husband agreed that was probably a good idea.

Did I mention that my hair is completely gray?

The mind of a three year old

Today Little E and I were reading the book, "Harold and the Purple Crayon". It's his new favorite book. We read it often and I mean often. This afternoon I was reading about Harold who decides to take a midnight walk with his purple crayon and draws many fun things. At the end of the book Harold draws his bed and gets into bed. At the end of the book Elijah asked "Where are his mommy and daddy and when are they going to come in, get mad at him and tell him to get in bed."

Very perceptive...not that we had ever "get mad at him" and tell him to go to bed. He never gets out of bed once we've tucked him into bed. Actually, I am concerned that Little E might decide to go for a midnight walk one night with a purple crayon, hence the twelve dead bolts we're planning to install!!

Seriously, if you have a preschooler, I highly recommend this book. It's creative and imaginative!!

Heart!!

Last night Clara's team played their first game of the official soccer season. A couple of weeks ago, Clara was selected by her team mates to be captain along with another young lady. Both of the captains were injured and unable to play last night. Plus, the captain from last year was also injured. Yes, three girls were injured and unable to play. AAHHH!!!

That left ten girls to play the entire one hour game (two subs). They were down 1-0 most of the game and came back in the final few minutes to tie the game. A moment of euphoria. Unfortunately, the other team scored with a couple of minutes to spare and they ended up losing.

It's one of those games where even though it was a loss, I believe it was a victory. EVERY SINGLE girl worked hard and poured themselves into the game. They worked together as a team. They passed the ball. They took shots at the goal. Most of the game was spent on the opponents side of the field.

We were proud of the girls and their victory in spite of the defeat!!!