She's A Little Bit Country.............

I visited with the kids today after school while they were eating their snacks, then I came in the den to check my email while they got started on their homework. In the ten minutes that I've been in here, I've heard our youngest, Anabel, age 6, singing no less than 4 different country songs. And I do mean singing. All the words. With feeling. I've heard, "What Was I Thinking?," "She's In Love With The Boy," I Hope You Dance," and now, she's belting out a moving rendition of "Don't Think I Don't Think About It."

Should I be worried or impressed? Impressed, right?.............right?

She's a

Marriage Mantra

I'm in a Precept Bible study right now called "Marriage Without Regrets." It's a Kay Arthur inductive study where she has us constantly digging into the Hebrew and Greek to get to the root of what God was saying. I've learned a lot, been challenged a lot, been convicted a lot. I'm looking forward to all that God wants to teach me over the rest of this study

Last night, 5 of us from the class, went to see the movie, "Fireproof." What a great job they did with the topic of working through the hard times in a marriage. One of the best lines was when Kirk Cameron's father told him to "lead his heart." In this day and age of  if-it-feels-good-do-it, and follow-your-heart, if was refreshing to be reminded that as Christians, our challenge is to follow Jesus' example of loving through serving. And that does require making a conscious choice to lead my heart sometimes. Most of the time, really. 

I want to make that my daily choice as I try to be the wife that God intended me to be for Lee.

My Deepest Apologies.......

to the wonderfully sweet lady at Nouveau Day Spa who gave me such a nice manicure last Friday night. This is in no way a reflection on you! But the girls are going to be so thrilled to come home and find that their room is no longer "Big-Bird-Blew-Up" yellow but a much milder and pleasant "Celery Bunch" green. When I walk in there now, my spirit goes, "Aaahhh." (and contrary to what you might think after looking at this pic, yes, I did manage to get some paint on the walls.) Now, it's on to the beds!

Yes, We Have No Banana(Spiders)

This is our new friend on our back fence. Elijah came running in and asked me to take pictures of her because she "is SO beautiful." So, of course, being the always-obliging mom, (ha!) I did. Then I thought, "this would be a great teaching moment"....... see? already thinking like that home-schooling mom...... so I did a Google search to learn all that I could about Banana Spiders. Alas, my spidey sense must need some work, because apparently, this is not a Banana Spider, but is instead, a Black and Yellow Garden Spider. It is also called a Writing Spider....... see the zigzags in the web?

They're thought to serve as a warning to birds, so they won't fly through and destroy the web.

I'd rather think of them as the "ink" that Charlotte used to write "SOME PIG."  Except that I don't think Charlotte was a Black and Yellow Garden Spider or a Banana Spider. 

I may not be able to recognize Banana Spiders, but I do know that these are bananas:

And I also know that although they are on my next-door neighbor's tree, they are hanging on my side of the fence. I'm not sayin', I'm just sayin'.

And when the bananas outside look like these, they will be used as these are going to be........ making a big ol' batch of Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins! Yum.

Homework Hell

There is simply no other term for it. I can't remember a day in the past two weeks when at least one of my four kids did not reach the point of tears over a home-work assignment. Seriously. Something is wrong here. They're all in elementary school. I completely understand the teacher wanting to make sure that they "get" what they worked on in class, but this 1 and 1/2 - 2 hours every night is just craziness. On any given afternoon, my 4th-graders will have to 1.) read 10 pages in their Alabama history book and do a worksheet on it  2.) do a math worksheet  3.) do a language worksheet  4.) write their 20 spelling words twice (or make up sentences with half of them) and 5.) re-read a selection from their school day in their reading books and study the vocabulary that goes with that story. Oh, and don't forget the "read 20 minutes every night" and "practice math skills for 15 minutes every night." 

The love of learning is being totally driven out of my kids. It's not fun. It's work. And there is absolutely no time left over for any play.......... which should still be such an important part of the day at their ages. I'm very conflicted about how to handle it. I want to say, "this is so stupid and totally worthless, and you will NEVER use this information." I feel like I need to say, "I think this is a lot of work, but the Bible says we are supposed to submit to those in authority and do everything without arguing and complaining."

But at 5:20 today when Elijah burst into tears (after 2 hours of struggling to finish all of his assignments), and asked me to "please, please homeschool me next year," I wasn't feeling very conflicted at all. I cried right along with him and told him that if God told me to, I sure would. 

Even if that's before next year. 

The Weighting Game

No deep thoughts today. No pithy comments. No totally useless ramblings about laundry or my "to do" list. Today is all about self-indulgent celebration. As of this morning, I am 1/3 of the way to my goal of losing 30 pounds by Thanksgiving!! Whoo-hoo! And that's even after a sinfully wonderful peanut butter/chocolate milkshake at 10:00 last night........ Guess I'll have to make another one of those when I hit the 2/3 mark, huh? 

Pressing on!

Wishin' It Away........

This is gearing up to be a busy week. Staff supper Monday. Elijah's class is giving his teacher a surprise Hawaiian-themed  birthday party on Tuesday. Rehearsal Tuesday night. Bible study Wednesday night. Anabel's class is responsible for feeding the K-1 Center Staff (60 people!) on Thursday. Baseball practice Thursday night. Movie with "The Girls" on Friday night. Lee leaves for N'ville on Wednesday. Oh, and somewhere in all of that fun, I really need to get to painting the girls' room.

Here it is Sunday night, and I'm already needing a weekend.

Well, the results are in..........

We had our Mother/Daughter and Father/Son dates tonight and had "The Talk" with the older three kids. Just wanted to follow-up on my last post with their responses:

Maggie........ "Wow, that's the most amazing thing ever! God must really love us to make us like He did, huh?" (exact words)

Reese and Elijah......."That's the grossest thing I've ever heard." and  "We need to quit talking about it before I lose my appetite." (exact words)

Yeah...... let's check back with the fellas in a few years! : )

Milestone Eve

Life as we know it will change tomorrow. Lee has planned an evening with the boys and I have planned an evening with Maggie and we will be having "THE Talk" with them. (Anabel is spending the night with a friend.) The fellas are going to head to the new Bass Pro Shop, eat some supper somewhere....Lee says this occasion just screams for steak!.... and then go walk around somewhere where they can talk. Maggie and I have an appointment at a day spa for a manicure and pedicure. Then I think we're going to just pick up something to eat and head back here to the house for our conversation time. 

We've been building this up with them for several days now. Telling them we're looking forward to our time just with them. Saying things like, "I just can't believe y'all are old enough for this" and "This is going to be so cool!" Finally, tonight at supper (at our local Mexican restaurant after baseball practice) Elijah just could not stand it any longer. He got this shy grin on his little face and said, "I  think I know what's happening tomorrow night........... you're giving us all a cell phone!!" We assured him that was not the case. 

Wonder how the information Lee lays on him tomorrow night will stack up against that phone? Hope he's not disappointed. Pray for us. We want to do this right!

Water works

I'm not a crier. I've always wanted to be. I have girlfriends who are moved to tears so quickly, that I feel very "hard" when I compare myself to them. Usually, to bring tears, something has to hurt me really badly or make me really, really mad. Unless it's God. For as far back as I can remember, when He speaks to me, it always makes me cry. It's become some sort of crazy litmus test almost: no tears, not from God. I know, I know, weird.

For a few weeks now, I've had something that I've been wrestling with. A lot of prayer, a lot of sleepless nights. Just a decision that I want to be very sure about. Well, today, out of the blue, I had TWO things move me deeply....... and yes, there were definitely tears. One was an email and article I read that concerned the "issue" I've been praying about. The other, while totally unexpected, was by far the one that hit me the hardest. 

Wow. God is that really you??

Breakfast: It's What's For Dinner!

We live your typical mile-a-minute-life-with-four-kids life. Dad's busy at work. Mom's busy at home. Kids are busy with school. Church events several times a week. (Not to mention baseball, birthday parties, etc.) We don't have a lot of "down" time. So....the family dinner table is a holy ground of sorts for us. On the weeks that Lee's not in Nashville, we shoot for eating together as a family as much as possible. During the day, Lee and I catch up on "grown up" talk over lunch, which is usually a salad somewhere. And as many nights as possible, we try to have all six of us around the table. The noise level is off the charts as we share about the events of the day, laugh at funny stories (and noises...... we do have boys!), and hopefully, pass on the tradition of making family meals a priority. Thanks Sonny & Glo and Pete & Nell for all the family meals Lee and I had growing up!

Tonight we had our favorite: breakfast for supper. I fried bacon and scrambled eggs while Lee made his "world-famous" cheese grits. We've called them that since the kids were babies, so they think that's really what they're called. As that wonderful smell of bacon frying filled up the house this evening, the kids came running in, so excited. "Is Dad gonna make his World-Famous Cheese Grits when he gets home?" they all wanted to know. And he did. And they were, once again, the best ones ever. So, even though most research says that breakfast is the most important meal of the day, for us, it's usually supper-time before we get to enjoy it!

Change of Seasons

It is officially Fall to me now. The US Open (tennis) has been played. Alabama is playing. (football) And my boys had their first Fall Ball game tonight. (baseball) I LOVE the ballpark. I grew up playing softball and couldn't be happier that they enjoy baseball as much as they do. It would be fine with me if they played for many, many more years.

But we have definitely entered a new world by moving up to the Minor League. Bunting. Stealing bases. Balls and Strikes. And the biggest change: kid-pitch. Wow. BIG change.  A lot of hit batters. A lot of walks on balls. And for Lee and me this time, a lot of nervous energy as we watched Elijah try his hand at pitching for the very first time. And wow, he rocked! Reese had a great game, too, so it was a successful Opening Day for the Black Family. Here's an action shot for you........ don't you just love the determination on his little face?

Female Friday

First, I started the day working on Day#2 (of Week 2) of my "Marriage Without Regrets" Bible study. This weeks' title is "Role of Woman." Yesterday's lesson assignment was short, but sweet. Today, not so much. She (Kay Arthur) had me diving into all kinds of word studies on the verse, "Yet your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you." (Gen 3:16) Fun stuff.

Later this morning, I met with my "Moms In Touch" (MIT) group for the first time. I'd had to miss the first meeting they had, so I wasn't sure what to expect. Well, it was wonderful. Just 5 moms meeting with one purpose: to have a structured prayer time for our children. I learned so much about the other women and their families just by listening to the praise, thanksgiving, and requests. It really helped to hear that some of their prayers so closely mirrored mine. Just knowing that other moms deal with the same issues that I do, and have children with similar personalities to mine gave me energy somehow. I think we all felt it. We bonded. I'll definitely look forward to those two Fridays every month and growing those relationships.

This afternoon I had a good phone call with my mom. We talked about my grandmother and what the plans were for her care as she comes home weak and a little confused after a hospital stay. My mom is such a godly woman, and I always learn so much watching her walk through these situations. So, Mom, thank you for once again, blazing a trail for me to follow. I want to be you when I grow up. And you can come live with me when you're 93...... we'd have a blast, I'm sure. 

Tonight, I'm having a Girl's Night Out with a couple of friends from church. We're going to eat a quick supper and then see a movie. I'm looking forward to it, because usually on the weeks that Lee's gone, I'm here with the kids the whole time. A break tonight will do us all good, trust me. 

Oh, and just to put the estrogen level completely over the top, we're going to see "The Women." 

Where were you when..................?

Wikipedia says, "A flashbulb memory is a memory that was laid down in great detail during a personally significant event, often a shocking event of national or international importance. These memories are perceived to have a 'photographic' quality. The term was coined by Brown and Kulik (1977), who found highly emotional memories (e.g. hearing bad news) were often vividly recalled, even some time after the event." There is debate among researchers as to whether these memories really are more vivid than others, or whether the detail comes from the fact that they are discussed so much in the days that follow, or even if brain chemicals that are released play a roll, etc. All I know is that there are some memories in my mind that are as fresh today as they were the day they happened. I remember slamming my sister's fingers in a door when I was 

2 1/2. Mainly, I remember the spanking I got for the running in the house that led to the fingers being slammed. I remember spinning (like little girls do) outside on an incredibly windy day when I was 5 years old. (1969) My mom told me that the winds came from something called, "Hurricane Camille." To this day, on windy days, I immediately picture myself spinning. I remember calling home from a mission trip in August of 1977 and my mom telling me that Elvis Presley had died. I ran back to tell my Youth Pastor and all the other kids and no one would believe me. January 28, 1986, I walked into my clinical nursing classroom to find all the professors gathered around a tv, crying. Challenger had exploded. Halloween Day, 1996, we heard the news that we'd miscarried our first baby at 3 1/2 months. Seven years ago today, we got a call from our pastor telling us to turn on the news. As we did, a plane flew into the second of the Twin Towers, an image that is permanently seared in our brains. And right now, if I close my eyes, I can be back in a hospital room on January 26th, 2007. All the sights, sounds, smells and emotions of the day my dad died will never fade. 

So looking back over this list, the thing that immediately jumps out at me is that all of these memories are associated with negative events. Well, the spinning was a positive for me, but Camille was pretty much an all-around negative, I'd imagine. So do I only have flashbulb memories of bad things? Absolutely not. In the exact same vivid detail, I can remember my Brownie "Fly-Up" ceremony, my 6th grade party for "graduation," my Senior Prom, the first time I heard some guy named Lee Black sing, kissing Lee Black for the first time, our engagement, our wedding day (ok some of that day is a blur), and the births of each of our four children. (and yes, those go in the "good" memory list!) So why does my mind always go to the negative first? I want to to live Philippians 4:8. Thinking about the things that are "true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent and praiseworthy."  I want the flashbulb memories to be of those things first. So, enough writing for now. I'm about to make some good memories with my kids!!

Picture Perfect

Reese opened the front door this evening as we were heading out to church and I heard him gasp. Since we had just had an "Ike" outer band shower, I thought, "I bet there's a rainbow." But the view from our front door took my breath away, too. I ran back into the house to grab my camera, only to find out that my battery was dead. It would turn on, but wouldn't let me snap any pictures. I took the battery out, cleaned it off and prayed, "Please, God, just let me get one picture." Well, He did. I only wish it could show how beautiful it was in person.

Why It's Good That I'm Not God

Because the one word that keeps coming to my mind is "smite." I hate cancer. I watched my dad fight a hard fight against it. I watched him suffer through the horrible side-effects of the poisons he was given to "help" him. And I watched him take his very last breath at the way-too-early age of 67. So this story makes me more angry than I will ever be able to put into words:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HcswYwQczPc

Hand-Me-Down Friends

We had a fun night tonight eating supper with great friends from our very earliest married days in Tennessee. The Roberson Family, (Johnny, Barbara, Vaughn and Page) are down here for their annual beach vacation and we always look forward to catching up with them. I wrote about our first Young Married Sunday School Class in this post (see the second paragraph). Well, Barbara was the "inaugural Mom" in the class, paving the way for what was soon to become a VERY prolific group! When Vaughn came along, bless her heart, she was like the class baby. And we were all like a big, extended family of aunts and uncles. Well, seeing her tonight at 13!! was a big, ol' reminder that we ain't the young kids we once were. But we are the friends that we once were (and will always be.) We spent the meal laughing, remembering, and telling old stories for our kids........ who, by the way, have decided that if their parents are friends then they should be, too. It was so much fun to watch them laughing and playing together within minutes of our getting together tonight. Here's a pic of our two "youngests" sharing a shake for dessert. Good times..........

Tropical Depression

OK, I was just reading another blog and the writer was talking about the fact that her husband gets disappointed when a hurricane does NOT come his way (after it has been forecasted to do so). That made me laugh out loud, because I feel like Lee and I live that life. We do NOT want the catastrophic damage/loss of life........ don't get me wrong. But if I'm going to totally emotionally invest in these forecasts, reports, updates, projected paths, computer models, etc., then I wish there could be just a little bit more accuracy. I mean, one minute, Ike is heading straight up Mobile Bay and we're organizing for a middle-of-the-week escape. Then, the next update comes out and suddenly, we're "safe" but Texas better be prepared to evacuate. Of course, all the Powers That Be are very quick to point out that there really is no "safe." Everyone from Texas to Florida should be 'closely monitoring the situation.' In other words, they don't have any idea what Ike (or any other hurricane for that matter) is going to do. Especially this far out in time. So, we wait. (and keep checking the weather sites every 3 hours) I can see where a person could need meds for this. Or at least ice cream.

Hakuna Matata!

I've been reading in Philippians lately. As I was reading Chapter 4 this morning, I found myself humming the "no worries" song from the Lion King. I laughed out loud when I realized that Paul's words had taken me there:

6-7Don't fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God's wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It's wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life. (The Message)

I love those verses, but for me, they fall into the much-easier-said-than-done category. I just have one of those brains that doesn't turn off that easily. I KNOW not to worry, but putting that into practice is sometimes hard for me to understand. Anyway, hearing that song in my head made me wonder about Hakuna Matata, so I did some searching. "Ha" is a negative. "Kuna" means "there are." "Matata" means "tangles." ("There are no tangles.") Now tangles? Tangles I understand. I have two beautiful daughters, both with beautiful hair. Beautiful, wild, curly hair.

 

(Maggie, 1999)

                                                    

                                                                 (Anabel, 2004)

We definitely have had our share of tangles (and tears!) over the past 10 years. Why just this morning........ but I digress.

So, going back to Philippians, what a great word picture of what worry does to me. It just "tangles" me up! Causes stress "knots" in my muscles and stomach. Keeps me from focusing on what's important. Trips me as I try to run the race. 

So, I'm taking a deep breath and diving in. I'm going to pray and praise in place of worry. I am. School stress? Pray and Praise! Church stress? (did someone say "amen?") Pray and Praise! "Ike" who? Pray and Praise!

Humming to myself even now,

Mel

"It Ain't Over Til It's Over"...........

To quote our local weatherman quoting Yogi Berra. Apparently there are still quite a few "leftover" outer band weather cells that have to come through our area. We've already had several tornado warnings again this morning (with many more to follow according to the radar of what's heading out of the Gulf.) I'm just ready to be able to think, talk, blog, about something other than the weather! Hurry up, November!!

At least for tonight........

We can sleep without the weather alert radio, praise the Lord.  Today, our county alone had 32 tornado WARNINGS. (not watches!) Unbelievable. We survived the outer bands of Gustav and we have a few days before we have to worry about the paths of Hanna, Ike, and Josephine. Such is life at the beach from June to November.

Watches v. Warnings

Weather watches mean that "conditions are favorable" for that particular weather event. Warnings mean that it's actually happening. Here are the warnings we've had since yesterday: Hurricane, Tropical Storm, Thunderstorm, Flash Flood, and now Tornado. This is our NOAA Weather Alert Radio. We have it programmed for our county so it provides up-to-date, valuable weather information for our area. The makers of this radio must believe that we as users are completely deaf. The alarm tone is the loudest, most raucous noise........ especially when it wakes you from a deep sleep. Since 3:00 this morning, our radio alarm has gone off 11 times. I gave up sleeping around 4:00. The outer rain bands from Gustav are spinning through our area and there has been a new tornado warning issued about every 15 minutes. This is supposed to continue until later this afternoon. We may not be getting a direct hit from the hurricane, but we are apparently in the line of fire for the spin-off tornadoes. The kids are all waking up now (way too early) because of the heavy winds and rains. I'm thinking there should be a "Cranky Kids" Watch. Conditions are definitely favorable.