Care to Join Me?

Today is not only Black Friday, it is also my hubby’s birthday.  Anyone care to join me in wishing him the best one ever?

Happy Birthday Wayland.  We love you!!!

 

Na Na Na Na Boo Boo

Okay, so my title is tacky.  I know that.  Sorry.  I really can’t help it. 

It dawned on me today that Thanksgiving is only two days away, and I haven’t given one single iota of thought to what I have to make or what I have to clean up.  My house is in shambles, and my fridge and pantry are scantily stocked at best.  Considering we are not going anywhere, and no one is coming here to visit (the first time that has happened since we’ve lived in here in the Hoosier state), I feel no pressure to clean house or turkeys.  Yeah!  Maybe I would feel differently if it felt more like a holiday.  The kids are in school until their normal dismissal time tomorrow, and I won’t feel like we’re taking a break until the notorious parade is in full swing on Thursday morning.  By that time, we’ll be heading over to join in our first “Turkey Bowl” – a game of pickup football between a great group of family friends.  Our food plans for the day???  I think we’ve decided on Cracker Barrel.  I don’t plan to do anything more than pass through my kitchen on Thursday, and I feel pretty darn excited about it to tell you the truth. 

The downside to all the free time we have on Thanksgiving this year?  Time not devoted to packing, driving half-way across the country, unpacking and then starting all over again?  Time not spent scrubbing floors and tubs, and planning out a week’s worth of meals for company?  It’s pretty clear, isn’t it?  Although the six of us will be together and enjoying each other’s company, we will dearly miss our extended family – the laughter, the craziness, the food that no one makes like Mom or Grandma.  Cracker Barrel may be inexpensive and hassle free (and perfectly perfect for this year), but you can be sure that even though we’re far away, we’ll be counting our wonderful family and friends among the things we are most thankful for this year!

Round and Foxy

The other day, my sweet little Luke looked over at me and said, “Mama, you’re round.” 

I begin to choke on the chocolate chip cookie I had in my mouth.  When I finally regained my composure, I asked him to repeat himself.  (I’m a sucker for punishment).  Sure enough, I had heard him correctly.

“Mama, you’re round. (long, long pause) Round and foxy.”

By this time my head was swimming.  “Round and foxy???”

“Yep, just like Manny says on Ice Age 3.”

Okay, we have watched that movie one time.  Once!!!  That’s the line he takes away from it???  I really wasn’t sure whether to be offended after being compared to a female wooly mammoth, or if he meant it as an enduring term of love and affection.  I’m going with the latter, even though my rational mind tells me I’m perfectly pathetic for believing that. 

That, along with a good inch and a half of dark brown and gray root growth, was enough to plunge my self-confidence to new depths.  I was in dire need of a cut/color so that’s where I headed this afternoon.  It never ceases to amaze me how much sheer joy I receive sitting in that chair for at least an hour without having any other duty.  Thanks Mom and Dad for the birthday money…now my new boots have a decent head of hair to go along with them!   And to all the rest of you wonderful friends and family…thanks so much for the sweet cards, lunch, the flowers, and the steady infusion of caffeine (aka Stbx cards!!!) you sent my way to celebrate my birthday.  I am humbled by your kindness and the gift God has given me in such faithful friends. 

In completely other unrelated news, Philip has started basketball and is in full frenzied play.  That kid has more hustle than Van McCoy and the Soul City Symphony.  (Just so you know…I had to look that up because, although I am old – I’m not quite THAT old!)  It is completely exhausting and exhilarating watching Philip play.  He has inherited some of his Granddad’s super-athletic basketball moves, all the while reminding me of his Papa dribbling down the court with his tongue peeking out of the corner of his mouth.   

Luke joined Anna this past week at her gym for a trial gymnastics class.  I wasn’t sure how he’d do, but I don’t think he was the one I should have been worried about.  He listened well and fit right in with the other 3 and 4 years old who have been in the class for several months.  Unfortunately, Anna E. couldn’t concentrate on her class with little brother within 100 yards of her.  She kept yelling his name, waving, and giving “across the room” hugs and kisses to him.  One time she even ran over and almost tackled him in her excitement.  He was waiting in line for his turn to do an obstacle course, and despite the fact he was finding it very hard to keep his balance with his sister hanging all over him, he never took his hands from behind his back.  He just looked at me with eyes that were screaming, “HELP!!!”  I had to laugh.  He is quite the rule follower and I find that very interesting.  The other night at a basketball practice, Anna kept running between the two teams from one side of the court to another.  That drives me crazy, and I kept getting on to her about making sure she didn’t get in the players’ way.  Luke eventually decided that he would like to join Anna on the other side (she was practicing dribbling in a little alcove).  I told him to follow the black line across the court so he didn’t get in the middle of the practices going on around him.  He painstakingly put one foot in front of the other and walked toe to heel on that black line…even going around the semi-circle at center court.  Another mom looked at me and said, “Wow.  He’s quite the rule follower isn’t he?”  About that time Anna E. came flying across the court; arms waving, legs flying.  I looked at the mom and said, “Yes, but his sister is quite the free spirit.”  It guess it takes all kinds.   

Of course, Luke comes by his rule following ways naturally.  His mom and oldest brother being quite the rule followers themselves.  When Anna gave him some stamps today, he asked me what he should do with them.  “I don’t know, Luke.  Put them on your face if you want…just don’t put them on any windows.”  A few minutes later he came back in the kitchen and said, “Like this, Mama?”

Yes, baby.  Just like that.

Saying Goodbye

When I wrote this over a year and a half ago, our family thought we only had days left with Great-Gran.  Those days passed.  Weeks too.  When we visited Texas a year ago at Thanksgiving, we felt we had been granted a special blessing to visit and love on her in person.  When we said goodbye, we thought it might be for the last time.

Wednesday, our precious Iris went home to be with the love of her life…her Savior, Jesus Christ.  Today, the family will be celebrating her life in a small service in East Texas.  She will be laid to rest next to her husband and remembered with all the love and fondness you can imagine.  Sadly, Wayland has been in Wisconsin on business since last Sunday.  He is scheduled to teach a class today, and is not going to be able to attend the funeral.  Please pray for him as he has been alone this week and had much time to ponder.  He flies home tonight – I know he wishes he could be with his family right now.  We all do.  Please join us in praising God for calling home one of His faithful servants, and pray for the family as they deal with the loss of a precious, precious gift.

Yes. I’m Still Here.

I feel I have neglected the poor blog long enough.  When so much time elapses, I really don’t know where to start.  Too much has happened.  I have new gray hairs and wrinkles to prove it. 

Granny left last week.  I think I laid on the couch almost all day Tuesday.  I felt like a lazy bum.  A lazy, comfy, content and warm bum.  (Typing bum that many times makes me feel a bit judgemental and politically incorrect – please don’t take it that way though).  It’s really all my mother-in-law’s fault.  If she hadn’t made all the kids “snuggies” while she was here, I wouldn’t have felt the need to play Goldilocks and try them all out.  That pretty much summed up my Tuesday.  Reading in Nate’s snuggie.  Snack break.  Reading in Philip’s snuggie.  Lunch break.  Reading in Anna’s snuggie.  Another snack break.  Using Luke’s snuggie as a blanket until he caught me and took it away.  He really doesn’t like to wear it around his neck that much, but after some coaxing, he does finally think his is “awesomer” than Anna E.’s because his has a pocket underneath for his feet.  Here are the kids modeling Granny’s latest gifts:

Nathanael wears his all the time. I mean all the time. We call him "monk boy" when he walks through the house in it with nothing on underneath except his boxers.

 Granny set up her sewing machine (it’s actually one she gave me but she still uses it more than me…even though she lives hundreds of miles away) while she was here she worked non-stop on recovering couch cushions, snuggies, a nightgown, a baby gift, Halloween costumes, and all the mending we had stockpiled for her since her last visit.  This is how the kids ended up looking on the 31st:

Anna E. as Lucy from Chronicles of Narnia

She's really getting into character here

Sir Luke from the House of Thompson

Watch out - he's deadly with that thing

Purple-icious

When the wig got "itchy" he went for the Middle Eastern look

Philip teased his Granny by sending her an email asking for a princess dress.  He didn’t think she’d take him seriously.  When she came with dress in tow, we made sure Philip followed through with it.  The worst part of the night was, despite the sun shining brightly for a while, it was pretty cold.  I told Philip before we left to go put on a pair of leggings under his dress.  Yes. Leggings.  Unfortunately, when we met up with some friends and Philip wanted to take off his dress to throw the football, he was wearing his sister’s pink lace leggings under that dress instead of basketball shorts or wind pants.  I don’t know what I was thinking…I guess I was in the “girl” mindset and doing what I would if Anna E. was wearing a dress.  Oops!  You’ll notice Nathanael is missing from the above pics.  He went all “middle-schooler” on us and opted to attend a bonfire with some friends instead of hanging out with his family.  That’s okay, I ended up getting some great one-on-one time with him later in the week.

This past Thursday, Nathanael and I went downtown to the Convention Center to attend the National Middle School Conference.  Nate’s school was chosen to represent a 21st Century Model Classroom and Nathanael was one of about thirty students chosen to demonstrate how technology can be used to make learning more efficient in the classroom.  On his permission slip there was a line for parent chaperones and after much begging and pleading, Wayland made a way to rearrange his schedule so I could attend as well.  All I can say is that what I saw was amazing and awe-inspiring.  I watched Nathanael use electronic microscopes to take pictures and record video of hair and cheek cells, download them on a laptop notebook and then proceed to explain the whole thing to teachers from Florida who were looking in on the process.  His group also linked up with NASA to use what they were learning in math to land airplanes on a flight simulator.  Nathanael was the first one to get it right.  A heart surgeon did a distance learning lab with the kids where they compared and contrasted real hearts from healthy people and those who had suffered heart attacks.  It was just like he was in the classroom.  The technology there blew me away and what’s even better was that our middle school actually received some of the equipment that was being demonstrated at the conference.  What an honor.

Nathanael and I got some more mother/son time on Saturday night participating in a living drama at Conner Prairie.  For my birthday…yes – I’m another year older, and no, Wayland didn’t do a blog card this year.  He did write me a pretty nice letter on notebook paper though…just like in the old days.  Anyway – for my birthday I asked Wayland if Nathanael and I could do this program that gives people a glimpse of what it would have been like to be part of the Underground Railroad.  I’ve wanted to do this from the first year we moved here, but participants have to be at least 12 years old.  Now I know why.  Nathanael and I, along with 13 others, were taken out into a dark wooded area of the settlement and told that we would be playing the role of slaves who would try to escape from their master and reach freedom on the infamous Underground Railroad.  I was scared and extremely emotional during a good portion of it.  Although the “slave traders” were only actors, and more than likely really nice people in real life, they did an amazing job of verbally and mentally abusing us into believing we were nothing more than animals.  When Nathanael and I were separated into a “bucks” and “breeders” line, I begin to cry.  I couldn’t lift my eyes to look for him and see if he was okay without the actors yelling and berating me.  They gave all participants strips of white fabric that they could tie around their head if the experience got too intense.  Evidently, Nathanael was fine and only worried about me – neither of us ended up using our white strips.  I wouldn’t call the experience “fun,” but I will say it was very poignant and thought-provoking.  A perfect birthday present for me. 

I know there are about forty-two more things I promised myself I would blog about, but I’ve run out juice.  Lucky you.