The terrible repercussions of a great party.

Suits and Liberty

I've recently discovered something about Ty. He loves wearing suits. I mean he really likes it. Coat, tie, dress shoes, the whole bit. He has his suit from Patrick's wedding. That's the only dressy outfit he owns. I would buy him more but the problem is.... he loathes shopping. Hates it. Will not go and if you make him go, he pouts. In other words, he acts just like a man. What is a mother to do?... Let him keep wearing jeans until he's willing to shop.

The reason I'm thinking about this is because he wore his suit all day today. His party was today and he was George Washington. Way cool. The black suit with the white, fluffy collar. The white wig with the pony tail and the knee high black riding boots. He was all into it too. He pleases me. Makes me smile.

For his party, I read portions of Patrick Henry's famous speech and then let the boys 'enlist'. The signed their names on cards that read; "I, ______, hereby enlist in the Army of the Continental Congress in order to fight for the cause of liberty. Victory or Death! Enlistment accepted by: General George Washington"

After that they received their muskets (dowel rods) and their patriot hats (dollar store pirate hats turned inside out and stapled). They set up tents made out of white plastic table cloths, sticks and twine. They built a fire ring. I told them about different battles. The battle of Dorchester Heights got a grin and a "Cool" from Griff. I am the queen of the day. They then proceeded to fight the war.

I made signs and nailed them all around the property. Bunker Hill, Dorchester Heights, Delaware River, Saratoga, Valley Forge and Yorktown. They marched from site to site using their imaginations. I cannot possibly express how much I love that. Greg asked one of the little ones what battle they were fighting, they replied the Battle of Cigarette. I think he meant Saratoga. I hope he meant Saratoga.

Their reward for defeating the British was cheesecake. And carrots, celery and grapes. That's what Ty requested and they ate every bit of it. Just goes to show that most of the time kids eat what they're offered.

Overall, it was a fun day. We had a potluck for lunch... one less thing for me to think about. Then the men stayed outside and completely ignored the kids. The women sat around the kitchen table and talked and ignored the kids. The kids were outside fighting the redcoats and ignored the adults. Three different worlds. Lovely.

I have much for which to be thankful.

Crazy

Why is it that I think, "If I don't actually sit down, I won't stay long."? I go to someone's house... I'm just gonna run in for a second. No don't sit down. "Sorry I can't stay." ..... 2 hours later, my back hurts and I'm still there. Why is that?

All the Things In My Head

I have lots swirling in my head right now. External noise, internal dialogue, the occasional echo of my mother's voice. Too much. Too much.

Maggie is writing a song. Right now. Right beside me. Hmmm. Scott is using a nail gun and air compressor... lots o' noise. Various and sundry questions. Cell phone's ringing, hang on. Bren is listening to music and playing along on the electric guitar. Gracie needs a friend. Badly. That concludes the external noise portion of my life.

Internal dialogue:

My heart is heavy for my friend Boo. Her Daddy is gone now. Her 1st baby is due in a week. Pain and joy all mixed up. I wish I could step in and make it all good but death is never okay, never the way it was supposed to be. Death is a sign of the brokenness that inhabits this Earth now. I hate it.

Another friend is in an abusive marriage. How can I help her? He doesn't beat her but I think that would be much easier in some ways if he did. My heart breaks for her. Her heart is broken.

Ty's Revolutionary War party is in 2 days. Still not many ideas. Costumes, wooden bowls, white camp tents, ... that's about it. Not nearly enough. Think, brain! Think!

Money. Hate it. Hate it. Hate it when I have it, hate it when I don't. Hate thinking about it... having to think about it. Blech!

Brody has double ear infections, sinus infection, head ache... poor child. His right tube is out, dang it!

The van broke down. Good-bye $300.

In the midst of all these things, I am learning to trust. That God is faithful. That He loves me. His love for me is a furious love. He is always for me. All things MUST work for my salvation. Salvation in the biggest sense: justification and sanctification. He is making me holy. He is showing me His great and wonderful heart. I am content once again. I only have to remember who I am and who He is. And it is enough.

I have 4 minutes to throw together a post. Laura is cringing, I can feel it.

The WIC Retreat was wonderful... it is true. Lovely time with all my favorite people. And I discovered a few new favorite people. I was fed deeply. The Lord is gracious and good.

But in case you think it was just sitting around polishing our halos, let me fill in the lesser details.

I took a nap in the yard because the ground was waayyy more comfortable than my bunkbed. And made less noise, might I add.

Shirley F. gets lost easily in the dark.

Sitting in horrible chairs for 6 hours a day does nothing for my posture.

Camp food still tastes exactly like camp food.

Okay... unfortunately my 4 minutes is up. More later!

Pictures from Ty's Birthday

Gracie and Daddy being silly.

Ty reading his card from Momma and Daddy.

The boys playing their games. Notice the intense concentration.

Lighting the candles was a bit of an adventure because we had no lighter or matches. Chris ended up using the electric stove burner to ignite a candle. Crazy.

Love this shot! It's the best candle-blowing picture I've ever seen. He blew all 10 candles out in one breath.

So sweet!!! The kids wanted to hear their favorite song and Adam was happy to oblige. Brody was lovin' it! What you can't see in the pic is him bobbing to the song. He laughs every time he hears Adam "play that trumpet in his mouth". Adam does make cool sound effects.

Fun times. BTW, if you're having a holiday party, you should book Adam... he's very entertaining.

Ty is 10!

What a perfect day. Ty's birthday was yesterday and we had a blast.

First, we went to the Anniston Museum to see Sue the T-Rex. My kids l-o-v-e museums. I mean, really. We spent a few hours walking around. Then we had a picnic lunch at the park. The kids played on the playground. Very good times.

For supper, we went to Jessica and Adam's house. We had Shrimp Fettucine Alfredo with steamed broccoli, cheese sticks and garlic bread. For his dessert, we had cheesecake. Ty got to play x-box, game cube, and ps2. All three. His dream come true. Adam and Chris played music.

It was more fun than I can express. Not just fun, but familial, encouraging, relaxing, entertaining and fulfilling. You know. Just a night of shalom... peace, when for a brief time we experience a taste of heaven. And as Jessica put it, those times make us long for heaven, when all is as it should be. We do not grow content with life here.

And to top off Ty's birthday, he got more than $50. Fun times!

Osteen Said What?

I was sickened when I watched this video. I was convicted also. I admit that I've always thought of Osteen as a joke, but he's no joke. He's an effective communicator who's leading millions astray. Watch for yourself.

Police

Have you ever filed a police report? No? Well, I have... three times now.

Once because a guy tried to run me off the road. Once when I was accused of assaulting a child at Stone Mountain - that's in an old post... "What Is This World Coming To?" from May 2006.

Most recently, yesterday to be exact, I filed one because a man stopped at our mailbox and told Maggie to get in his car. She'd never seen him before, has no idea who he was. But he stopped and told her to "Get in the car, I'm taking you home." Maggie screamed NO and ran away. He took off. Very scary. So, we called the police.

So, if creepy guy in a small green car is reading this, take notice... don't come back. I will rip it off and choke you with it.

This is a very inferior picture of a really fun time. KimHill hosted a reading of The Spider and The Fly, a semi-scary Octoberish book. We had Dirt/Worm Pudding also. Yum! Thank you Maja for that sugar boost at bedtime. ;o)