Who Knew?

We've decided to slow things down to a crawl this week with our home-schooling. My original plan had been to begin everything right after Labor Day, but I got pressured into starting early...... my kids just got too excited by all the piles of books, workbooks, etc. that had taken over my dining room table and den floor. While we had a great first week, I just never felt like I had a good plan in place...... we were just a little too loose for my type-A-control-freak liking. So for the past couple of days, we've done the bare bones: math, some grammar, Bible, and our Little House read-aloud time. For the remainder of the time, the kids could do pretty much what they wanted (within reason) as long as it didn't involve a screen (no TV, computer, or Nintendo) and as long as they didn't interrupt my working (unless someone was "bleeding from the ears") on organizing the rest of our school year. I am slowly but surely beginning to feel like I've got what I hope will be a flexible road map that we can follow. Flexible, because I love where those "detours" can take us, too. Take today, for instance........

Maggie asked if they could make Play-Doh to use while I was working this afternoon. The four of them organized all the ingredients, so all I had to do was supervise the boiling water and then mix the dough while it was still too hot for them to touch. They spread out wax paper, colored their portion of dough, and then had a blast playing for the next hour or so at the kitchen table. But because something has changed in the way my brain works now, I just HAD to do a little research to make even Play-Doh time a "teachable moment." Here's what we learned..........

The McVicker family owned a business that made soap and wallpaper cleaner. (Stick with me.... it gets better) One of the sons, Joe McVicker recognized the potential of the cleaner as a toy and removed the detergents. He and his uncle, Noah, applied for a patent in 1955 and formed their own company, Rainbow Crafts. After naming the product Play-doh, the two men tested it in select schools and began selling it. The first Play-Doh was off-white and sold in 1 1/2 pound cans, but in 1957, they introduced three more colors (yellow, red, and blue) and made smaller containers available. Unable to afford a national marketing campaign, Rainbow Crafts formed an informal deal with Bob Keeshan (Captain Kangaroo) to have Play-Doh featured on his show twice a week. In return, Bob's production company received a 2% cut of Play-Doh sales. Joe McVicker became a millionaire before his 27th birthday. Play-doh can now be found in more than 6000 retail outlets in the U.S., as well as 75 other countries and online markets. Factories in China make more than 95 million cans of Play-Doh a year!

I know first-hand that FBC, Tuscaloosa, AL, was a big consumer from 1967-1969. I know this because I was a big consumer...... literally. I ate more Play-Doh during those pre-school years than one could possibly imagine. I liked the salty taste. And I loved to wash it down with my Orange Hi-C...... but that's a story for another day. Here are a few pics of my kids enjoying their Play-Doh time today:

They're all laughing..... and had no idea I was taking a picture. Love that.

Reese DID know I was taking this one. He wanted me to document his "bowling."

"Strike!" (wonder if ate any of the pins when he was done?)

Little House in a Big Mess

I'm sitting here looking around my den and it's a big ol' wreck. A blanket where the kids ate snacks tonight is still spread out on the floor. Piles of books, notebooks, and papers are surrounding my chair. Laundry needing to be folded and put away is piled in a chair. And that's just the den. But you know what? I'm more at peace tonight than I've been in a long time and all of that "disorder" is just not bugging me at all right now.

After much prayer and many, many conversations last year, Lee and I decided to bring all four of the kids home for school this year. In too many ways to mention, God began to confirm that decision on almost a daily basis. Because of that, there has honestly not been a lot of stress around here as we moved toward the start of school. MY plan was to squeeze every last drop that we could out of summer and worry about school after Labor Day. (Hey, it worked fine for me as a child) But my kids had a different plan. The more books, notebooks, and school supplies that I bought to have ready for September, the more excited they became about diving in. They literally begged me to "please start teaching" them this past Monday morning. I mean, how do you say no to that? I wasn't anywhere near organized enough to do anything structured, so we called that first day a Teacher Work Day and after breakfast we just sat around the kitchen table and talked about the year ahead. I made lists of what the four of them wanted to do this year and we brainstormed some ways we could incorporate some of those things into the things that we HAD to cover. We planned what time we would get started every morning (and based on that, we set a reasonable bedtime). We talked about what a typical day would look like and then talked about how much we all wanted to have NON-typical days, too. The kids came up with field trips they'd like to take and service projects they'd like to do. If we get to do half of them, we're going to have a busy school year!

One thing that I really wanted to make part of our school time, was to read the Little House series together...... 9 books over the course of 9 months. I knew my girls would love the stories, but wondered what my boys would think. Well, Tuesday after we'd finished with our class work, we all sat in the den for me to read to them. First, I told them a few things about Laura Ingalls Wilder. It still amazes me that she didn't have her first LH book published until she was 65 years old! I read the first chapter and they all loved it. When I got to the part where "Pa" built a smoke-house out of a log and used hickory chips to smoke the meat he'd butchered, the boys were hooked. Fast-forward a few hours and we're all in Wal-Mart grabbing a few things for supper. As we walked past the meat/cheese section, the kids were SO excited to read "Hickory Smoked" on a package of bacon. They knew the process involved in making it that way. So, of course, we had to buy some for breakfast the next morning. Later that night, when I got home from a meeting, the boys couldn't wait to tell me that they'd been watching the TV show "How Do They Do It?" and it was on making a smoke-house. I mean, come on, what are the chances?

So, there you have it. 3 days in, home-educating our kids was definitely the right choice for us for now. Life is good, even if the house is messy. Now, I'm off to clean up the kitchen....... we made butter tonight! (Just call me "Ma"...... no...... don't.)

Of Angels and Kings........

       

Ed McMahon's death a couple of days ago surprised me only because I honestly thought I remembered his dying several years ago. I would have sworn that I'd seen his picture among the famous-ones-who-have-died-this-year shown during an Oscar show, you know? Of course, I knew who he was, but Johnny Carson's "Tonight Show" was my parents' show, and Ed seemed old to me even back then.

But losing Farrah and then Michael yesterday packed a much harder punch. They were both such larger-than-life parts of my growing up years. I, along with billions of other young girls, wanted to be Farrah Fawcett. Her hair, her voice, her laugh, her affect on all the boys my age........ she had it all........ well, all I wanted at the time. And Michael. I sang, dance and skated to SO many of his songs. I'm smiling now just remembering watching the "Thriller" video for the first time. What incredible talent he had! As I've gotten older, the one word that I would use to describe both of their lives, though, would be "empty." So much money. So much fame. So much everything. But in all of their photographs, their smiles never quite seemed to make it to their eyes, and that makes me sad. 

Yesterday, once again, brought clearly into focus the truth that in light of Eternity, we truly are "just a vapor." I read a commentary last night where someone asked, "I wonder what The King of Kings is saying to the King of Pop right now?" My prayer for Michael and for all of those who loved him is that the answer is "Welcome home" and not "I never knew you." And I hope that Farrah is in the company of angels now instead of merely playing one on TV.

I'm Dying..........

So I decided to try a new exercise DVD that I've been hearing about called "The 30-Day Shred." The instructor is Jillian Michaels, the trainer on the tv show, "The Biggest Loser." I figure, hey, if she can help them?....

Popped the DVD in yesterday for the first time. Apparently there are 3 levels and she recommends starting with Level 1. (Now I understand why she was smirking as she said that.) I made it through all of 12 minutes of the 20-minute workout before collapsing. Oh. My. Word. I've lost 30 pounds over the past 4 months. I've exercised. I've walked regularly. Long multi-mile power walks. But nothing that has even come close to comparing to those 12 minutes. Within half an hour, every part of my body was aching and I knew it was only going to get worse from there. By bedtime, I crawled into the fetal position, moaning.

This morning I had two choices: 1) suffer for a couple more days and be done with "shredding" or 2) push past the pain and try the workout again. I'm happy (I think) to report that I managed to complete the entire 20 minutes today. I'm glad no one was here to witness the ugliness...... or to hear my protests when it hurt really badly....... which was pretty much the entire 20 minutes. I am going to do this. I am going to do this every day. I am eventually going to make it to Level 3. But right this moment, I'd settle for being able to tee-tee without falling the last 4 inches to the potty seat and whimpering.

Here's what I think of Jillian today..........

We're in a new place.........

Seems like just yesterday that I could wake the kids up on April Fools' Day with a "Kids, LOOK! There's a huge, purple elephant in our front yard!" and they'd go scrambling to the window to see it. Now....... not so much. There were lots of whispered "Mom, how can we "get" the boys in the morning?" and "Don't tell the girls, but......." leading up to bedtime last night. I smiled and shook my head thinking it was all funny. That was until I found that someone had turned the volume all the way up on my clock radio alarm. Good one, Maggie Black! But be careful, my dear, payback is coming.........

Just Say No

I've heard horrible rumors about the drug problems in our public schools, but it is worse than I had imagined, apparently. This morning, when Reese was trying to decide whether to buy his lunch at school or pack one from home, he read the lunch menu out loud:

"Italian Dunkers (not exactly sure what those are), Green Peas, Fruit Cup, and Cheese Sticks with Marijuana Sauce." 

With SAT's for the next two weeks, I'm not sure who will be needing those school lunches the most!

He Can See Clearly Now......

I know that the sense of smell is supposed to be the strongest trigger for memory recall, but I also have some very strong memories associated with the sense of sight. And because Lee and I have such a poor gene pool when it comes to vision, our children are now beginning to walk the same path that we walked as far as needing some help to see.

Maggie wore glasses for several years and graduated to contacts when she turned 10. Now, it's Elijah's turn. He'd been complaining of "not being able to see the board" in class for a few weeks, so Lee took him for an eye exam a few days ago and E's been waiting not-so-patiently for his glasses to arrive. 

When we got the call that we could come get them, Elijah was bouncing off the walls. (and not because he couldn't see them) But when I saw him wearing them for the first time and then saw his jaw drop in amazement at the details that he could finally see, I immediately went back in time to that same experience for me. Details. Leaves on trees, instead of blurry green things. Reading words on signs that I'd never seen before. And the sheer joy of that...... I saw that bubbling out of Elijah in the parking lot as we left the eye doctor. He was giddy. He tried to put it into words, "Mom! I feel like I want to just laugh. Nothing's really funny, but I just want to laugh." What a great place to be........

Feeling Crafty

Today was a good day. My mom and I went to a brunch hosted by one of my dearest friends. As always, her home looked like something out of Southern Living and the food she served would have shamed Martha. It was so much fun making some new friends while enjoying a yummy meal together.

Mom and I spent the rest of our day wandering through all of the booths at the Arts and Crafts Fair. We found a few (very few) bargains, but mainly just enjoyed the gorgeous weather while we walked around. It was a good day.

Game On!

             

       

I think this pretty much says all that needs sayin'.

"You Have to Play to Win!"

One of my favorite quotes from the infamous Shirley Q. Liquor. 

Well, a good friend and I were walking this morning and she told me that I really needed to blog again. She said, "the last thing you wrote was in January and you've lost so much more weight since then. You need to post another picture at least." Guess I'm just guilty of taking advantage of the "quick fix" FaceBook updates like most everyone else. But, I agreed with her and decided to post a new blog today even though I had nothing much to say.

Well, when I got home I noticed a FedEx package on my front doorstep addressed to Lee. When I texted him asking if he were expecting anything, he said, "no, why don't you open it?" Well, that suggestion has led to a LOT of texting, emailing, and calling back and forth. Apparently, a few weeks ago, Lee entered an online contest sponsored by Wrangler to win a trip to the ACM Awards in Vegas. And apparently, contrary to popular opinion, people really do win those contests! The FedEx package contained a letter telling Lee that he was one of 5 Grand Prize winners and affidavits for him to sign confirming that he met all of the eligibility requirements. He has to return the signed and notarized forms in two days (overnight envelope was included) to claim the prize:

"3-night trip for 2 to Las Vegas. Roundtrip airfare. 2 tickets to the ACM Awards show, 2 tickets to the All-Star Jam show, 2 tickets to the Artist of the Decade show honoring George Strait, ground transportation betw. airport and hotel, 2 pairs of Justin boots, 3 pairs of Wrangler jeans, 3 Wrangler shirts, and country music CD's....."

Guess we'll be getting those forms filled out and notarized this evening, so we can find out if we have, in fact, won "a MAJOR AWARD!!"

Stay tuned........

Oh, and here's the one of the most recent pics I have after making my weight-loss goal....... which is another big "win" in itself!

Whoa-oh, We're Halfway There............

And no, this is not a tribute to Bon Jovi. (although I will say that "Livin' on a Prayer," "Wanted Dead or Alive,"  and "You Give Love a Bad Name" were some great therapy songs in the 80's.)

Since I mentioned therapy, let's go there. "The first step is admitting you have a problem." Well, I have many, but let's just focus on one for now. I AM A STRESS EATER. I have alway been. The biggest stressor I've ever experienced was my dad's illness and death two year ago and immediately afterwards, I stress-ate my way to a 40-pound weight gain! I hated being overweight, but that only led to more overeating. It was a vicious cycle. I knew December was going to be a hard month, because that's the anniversary month of Dad's going into the hospital for the last time. But I also knew that Dad would have wanted me to win this battle, because he battled his weight for as long as I can remember. (One of the many, many ways I am so like him.) So a couple of weeks before Christmas, I told Lee that I would always miss my dad terribly, but that I was determined to honor him by losing weight during the holiday season. That very day, a postcard came in the mail advertising a new weight loss program that was opening in my GYN's office. I took it as a "sign" and immediately made an appointment. Well, that was 5 weeks ago and as of this morning's weekly weigh-in, I have officially lost 20 pounds! (19.6, but I rounded up) 

I am feeling much better about myself. I am feeling much better period. I love the encouragement and compliments from Lee. I love that that he and the kids are eating healthier now, too. I love being able to fit into clothes that have been hanging in my closet for over 3 years............. with tags still on. 

So, here's to reaching the halfway point! And here are some before, during and current pics of the process thus far. (and yes, the "before" ones are hard for me to post!)

Pressing on,

Mel

12-07-08

                                                

 12-19-08                             

12-29-08

01-14-09

01-22-09

And Baby Made Three........

Eleven years ago our lives changed forever on December 29th at 7:47 in the morning. After years of monthly highs and lows, science projects, pills, frustrations and the most devastating loss we had ever experienced, God blessed Lee and me with an incredible gift: Margaret Winters Black. In a moment's time, our family grew by one and my heart felt like it could not possibly contain all the love I felt for this tiny new life. What an amazing thing a baby is! And what a huge rush of emotions such a tiny thing can cause! Love, joy, wonder, pride, optimism, exhaustion, fear, doubt, depression. But the greatest of these is love.

We did as all new parents do......... we prayed, we read books, we asked trusted friends. But ultimately, we simply did the best we could. Sometimes that worked and sometimes it didn't and when it didn't, we tried to learn from our mistakes. Despite our messes, God is gracious, and he has taken that helpless newborn baby girl and grown her into such a beautiful young lady. She loves God. She loves us and her brothers and sister. Of course, we are still very much in the process. There are still good days and bad days...... mountains we've made it over and mountains yet to climb. But I am so thankful for the blessing that we call Maggie. And I'm praying that the next 11 years don't go quite as quickly as the first ones have. 

Make New Friends, But Keep The Old (The Saga of Macaroni Man)

Once upon a time, long, long ago, my youngest sister made a Christmas ornament. A Gingerbread Man-shaped piece of cardboard decorated with glued-on macaroni. Because we were such a creative family, we named him "Macaroni Man." MM became an integral part of our Christmas decorating each year and even though he lost a little more macaroni every year, no tree was ever complete until he had been hung in his place of honor....... front and center on the tree. This tradition continued for almost 15 years until, alas, one Christmas, MM was nowhere to be found in our decorations. We seriously grieved. And every single time one of us looked at the tree, "How in the world could we have lost Macaroni Man?" was the cry. The next two Christmases had a gingerbread-shaped hole. When the third Christmas season rolled around, I was working as a nurse in our local hospital and was asked to make some kind of festive table display for our waiting room. I was busy that day at work trying to finish up some charting, so one of my co-workers offered to unpack the boxes of decorations and supplies that I'd lugged in from home. I will never forget what happened next. From the Nurses' Lounge, I heard, "WHAT IN THE #$@% IS THIS THING??" I did not even have to wonder. Every fiber of my being knew exactly what I was going to find when I ran into that room. Macaroni Man! He had come back to us. Apparently, he had gotten mixed in with some older, unused ornaments and had been in with our Christmas decorations all along. I immediately called my mom and dad and sisters and we all got together that night for a special "Hanging of MM" celebration. All was right with the world again. That year, as we took down the tree, we found an old ornament box and made it the official storage place for MM forevermore. Over 15 years have come and gone and still MM is the most-loved ornament on my mom's Christmas tree. He will be the first thing my kids look for when we have Christmas there tomorrow.

All that rambling story was to set the stage for this. I have always looked forward to our family's having a Macaroni Man of our own. With four children, we've definitely had our share of wonderful, hand-made ornaments over the years, but nothing that has screamed, "I am the one." Until yesterday, that is, when Maggie brought home the winner. About a week ago, Mags told me that she needed an empty soda can for to make an ornament at school. I gave her one and never gave it a second thought. Who would have imagined that an empty Diet-Pepsi can could be transformed into this beauty? I introduce what will forevermore be known as "Can-ta Claus."

Hark!

Those angels, that multitude of heavenly hosts, had such an timely word for us today: "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill to men......."  I think God must have looked forward in time to see what a crazy, frenzied mess we would make of such a holy time. He gave those angelic messengers the perfect phrases to remind us where our focus should be. Looking up........... giving glory to God. Looking in............ allowing God's peace to calm us. Looking out............ offering goodwill to others. I know for me, though, during this last week or so before Christmas the challenges seem to hit from all sides. At school, the final week before the holidays is filled with so many projects and parties that it can seem all-consuming. Church musicals and services intended to celebrate the true meaning of Christmas still require a great deal of time and work in the middle of an already much-too-busy time. And shopping....... well, that's definitely an outright challenge to that "goodwill," isn't it? This season, however, I am determined to show my kids that the instructions given to the shepherds still apply to us today. Merry Christmas!

7th Heaven!

It is over. After 6 very long years of Auburn's owning the state's bragging rights, the Crimson Tide in no uncertain terms has snatched them back. Tonight's 36-0 shutout over the Tigers was the perfect ending to a fairy-tale undefeated season. Who could have ever predicted at the beginning of August that we would be playing next weekend for the SEC Championship as a 12-0 team? 

May this be only the beginning and Roll Tide Roll!

Giving Thanks!

A big pet peeve of mine is how early the stores begin "setting up" for the next holiday. Valentine's Day displays go up before New Year's Day. Easter up in January. Halloween in August, etc. But what frustrates me even more is that on November 1st, the stores skip right over Thanksgiving and go straight to Christmas. It's like no one even acknowledges it as a holiday. 

I love Thanksgiving. I love that the weather has (usually) begun to get colder. I love the sounds (LOTS of family laughter) and the smells (food cooking, fall candles, spices, etc). And I love the traditions. We always spend the day with Lee's family eating WAY more than ought to be allowed and catching up on the past year with relatives we only see once a year.  Then, we head back home for my absolute favorite thing. A fire in the fireplace, hot chocolate, s'mores (no matter what the outside temperature) and Christmas music galore (love you, Ray Conniff singers!) as we drag out all the bins of Christmas decorations. In my mind, it is officially time to look forward to Christmas........ but NOT before!

What Day Is It?

That’s my answer to most of the “big” questions lately. “Are you happy?” “Are you sending your kids to school next year or homeschooling them?” “Are you serving right where God wants you to be serving?” and so on and so on. 

These are definitely some crazy, confusing times. Still there are some constants and those make all the swirling things bearable.

"In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight." (Proverbs 3:6)

Part Of His World.......

Lee and I got back this afternoon from our trip to Tennessee. He's usually there Wednesday - Saturday every other week, but since it was my birthday week, we took two extra days and we spent the whole week. He had more writing days and I had lots of "me" time........ for reading, visiting with friends, taking pictures and working on catching up my family scrapbooks. I enjoyed seeing where he writes, meeting some of the people who work at Word, and being there when he finished writing every day to hear all about his new songs first-hand. (instead of by phone or email)

We got home, loved on the kids (who were SO glad to see us...... for about 5 minutes....

then they were ready to go down the street and play with friends) and then settled in to watch the Bama-LSU game. Roll Tide.

It's been such a good week.

A Change of Seasons

It appears that change is occurring in more than just the colors of the leaves on this Election Night. Thank God, that no matter what swirls around us, we can always claim this promise:

"True, the grass withers and the wildflowers fade, but our God's Word stands firm and forever." (Isaiah 40:8)

Lost and Found

October 31st is my least favorite day of the year. But not for the reasons you think. I was raised in a Christian home and went Trick-or-Treating every year from birth to age 14. I loved dressing up, and REALLY loved all the candy. Even when I passed the age when it was "cool" to go out door-to-door, I wanted to be the one who gave out candy at our house. 

Fast-forward many years. Lee and I had tried (without success) for a long time to have our first baby. Finally, we began infertility treatments, and we were thrilled to learn after a few months that we were pregnant. I had been a Labor and Delivery nurse at this time for over 10 years, so we knew that making it to 12-weeks was an important goal. We'd be able to breathe a little easier and let our guard down some. So we decided that we would not share our good news until we reached that point in the pregnancy. We had several office appointments and on early ultrasounds we were even able to see and hear the baby's heartbeat. We hit that all-important milestone of 12 weeks and immediately began to tell our family and friends. Life was good.

A little over a week later, on Thursday, October 31st, I had a "routine" scheduled office appointment. Except it quickly became anything but routine when the nurse (who was completely decked out in a Flintstone's "Pebbles" costume) could not find the baby's heartbeat. Working at the hospital, I knew all the office nurses, so she spent extra time with the Doppler machine. Every minute that passed, I grew more anxious. Of course, she was constantly reassuring me that there was nothing wrong, but I think, looking back on it, I knew. So I'm lying there, thinking, "Oh God, I've got to call Lee and tell him," and all the while a nurse in a one-shouldered animal print dress and a large bone in her hair is spreading more and more cold ultrasound gel on my belly. It was at that point that I started hating Halloween.

We survived that loss and the next year, God blessed us with a completely "normal," healthy pregnancy. A godly woman at our church had told us after our miscarriage, "You won't understand this now, but one day when you're holding the baby that God IS going to give you, realize that you wouldn't have that baby if you had not lost this baby.

We never forgot those words and she was so right. On that Halloween Day many years ago, it was hard to see past the pain, the frustration, the "why's." Now, looking at our four children, I simply cannot imagine life without any of them.

So, the irony is not lost on me that tonight as we were out walking with the kids while they begged for candy, Lee got an email saying that he had in essence "had a miscarriage." See, his songs are his babies. And he's been working on a project for several months now and it has been a healthy, exciting pregnancy. So, tonight, on this Halloween night, once again, we have been mourning a loss. And feeling pain and frustration. And asking, "why?" But even in the disappointment, there's a part of me wondering what God is up to and looking forward to the "baby"  that Lee will get to hold because he's had to let this one go.

As I've been typing this, the date has changed. It is now a brand new day.