The past couple of months update

Because of a lovely post at The Beehive, I have been thinking that I really need to get back in to the swing of the blogging thing.

I need to dust off the parts of my brain where I store my limited vocabulary, start paying attention to blog-worthy happenings and comments, and just do it.  As I stare at a pile of bills that need to be paid, laundry that needs to be folded, and children that are working on school work at the kitchen table (well, one of them is doing schoolwork and the other is mostly just trying my patience today), I have to wonder why it's necessary to blog again.  But, there are so many wonderful people, especially grandparents, who have given me encouragement, cheered on the kids, and prayed for us because of this bloggy thing.  So, I'll get back to it.  Or, at least I will give it more of an effort than I have been the past coupla months.

So, what has the Zoo been up to lately?  Well, we made it through the craziness of the holiday season.  We've begun potty training in earnest with Tooter.  Going so-so...  he's a bit lazy about it all, to be honest.  Poodle has really found her groove with school stuff and I am discovering odd things like she can do the +9's with barely a thought, but the +2's trip her up in math.  We survived another season of Junior Miss, having a lovely representative picked for our local program from a group of equally lovely girls.  Jmk and I celebrated 7 years together, although we have put off actually going somewhere fun until after Junior Miss was over and we could enjoy a restaurant more fully.  Poodle has learned how to tie her shoes, and prefers to always have them in "double knots".  We buried a dear grandmother and have made a subsequent trip to her home to clear out some of the more sentimental "valuables" so they wouldn't be cleared out by someone who didn't belong there.  We have been gestating for about 14 weeks.  And we have been dealing with the stir crazy that comes with super cold weather.

Yeah...  that was my not-all-that-clever way of letting you know that Tooter has begun potty training.  Oh, and that we're expecting.  :-)
I realize that I'm not exactly shouting from the rooftops with glee and joy, and I hope that it doesn't come off as being ungrateful or as our being unaware of our blessings.  It's just that after 2008, which will forever be the "year of the miscarriages", it has been hard to be more joyful than apprehensive.  This is the farthest we have gotten than at any of the other times last year.  And I have been much more sick and much more tired than during any other time last year.  All the signs point towards this remaining a "successful" pregnancy.  But, we are very much aware now of how much we do NOT know what God's will is for us.  And we know that whatever we think is quite irrelevant, because it is only God's plan and His will that matters.  So, while we may think that everything is going well for now, we can't know that we're meant to have this baby on earth until we are actually holding him or her in our arms.

I will say that being pregnant has been extremely difficult this time.  Not just the normal physical frustrations of being in early pregnancy.  But the emotional toll that it has taken.  It is difficult to wake up each day and wonder what that day will hold - life or death?  It sounds terribly morbid and just typing the words makes me see just how unfocused I have been on the blessings and mercy of God.  But for the life of me, I have no idea how to quench those feelings.

However, we have made it to 14 weeks.  And while we hadn't said anything to Poodle (we didn't want to inadvertently rekindle the memories of the first miscarriage last year that was so hard on her), she actually figured it out on Tuesday.  I'm quite obviously pregnant now, and she looked at my tummy and said "I think you have a baby in your tummy".  We teased her for awhile saying things like "you think so?"  and "Hmmmm....  I don't know!....."  But we finally let her know she was right.  She is thrilled and thinks that waiting until August is just the most frustrating thing that could ever have been put upon her little 5 year old sensibilities.

We are very grateful for every single prayer that has been said on our behalf over the past year and into this one.  And we'll remain grateful for every entreaty that is made on our behalf to the Father.

So, those are the biggest highlights of the past two'ish months.  At least, those are the biggest highlights that I can actually recall at the moment.  :-)  And fingers crossed that I will get those Zoo doors open a little wider from here on out.

Perspective

If you take 787 Billion dollars, put it into a savings account for one little year with a measly 2% interest rate compounded monthly, at the end of one year, you would have $802,885,087,921.34.

In one year, you would have almost 16 BILLION dollars more if you didn't spend the $787 billion.

Just thought that was interesting.

Box Tops 4 Education

Knock knock...  anyone home?  It's been a while since I've been here, and to be honest, I'm still a little ways from coming back.  BUT, Junior Miss is *almost* over...  this coming weekend is the show.  And all kinds of weight feels lifted after the show is over and our new representative is selected.

So, maybe after that is done, I'll feel a bit more chatty.  :-)

However, I was thinking this morning about collecting Box Tops.  Do you know what I'm talking about?  General Mills products of all sorts have a little label somewhere on the packaging that says "Box Tops 4 Education" and you see a little 10 cent value on there.  Have you ever thought to yourself, "man, I wish I had someone to give these to.  It seems a waste to just throw them out".

WELL - feel free to give them to me!!!  Our homeschool group does collect these and we do redeem them. Twice a year.  That money is so valuable to us to help the kids do some various activities that they may not normally get to do.  I'd give you some "for examples", but each section does different things with that money.  Rest assured though, it goes to very good use and it is very much appreciated.

Here's a link to show you all the different products that carry the Box Tops 4 Education labels. 

Any time you can save one or two or ten of them for us, you will be very much appreciated!!!

Granny's Homegoing

I will interrupt my blogging vacation to share that my dear grandmother is finally home with the Lord as of sometime between 7:30 and 7:40pm this evening.  She would have been 101 at the end of February.

This was not unexpected, but the likelihood of it progressed rather quickly, by the mercy of God.  She had a stroke a little over a month ago that left her bedridden, unable to insert her teeth, without much use of the left side of her body, and unable to talk clearly.  For a woman who was still cutting her own grass at 90, and was still living on her own until she was around 95 (96?  Mom will have to correct me on the age), being in this situation was the worst place she could be in.  Because she had her mind until the very end.  It was her body that finally quit.

But, she said she would walk again before she was 101.  And, now, she is walking.  And laughing.  And singing praises to God as she could not do at the end of her life.  She is finally home.  And the end of an era has come.

We love you Granny.

The words are hiding

Almost no Christmas pictures, no news of the kids' activities, no interesting updates in general.  What has happened to the Zoo, you wonder?

Honestly, I'm in one of those places where my words are missing and my thoughts are jumbled.  Nothing is wrong, really.  But where I usually think about how to blog about certain things that are happening, I am instead finding myself stressed about when to find the time to sit at the computer and deal with all the pictures.  The blog, right now, is almost just "one more thing" to get accomplished instead of the fun, coffee-talk'ish sharing place that it usually is.  It's a busy time of year for us, anyway.  But, for some reason, there is just a need to simplify for the moment.

Oh, we'll be back.  There will be things to share and pictures to post and laughs to enjoy.  Heck.  We may not be gone very long a'tall.  But, for now, I'm taking a mini-blog-vacay.  This way, if I post something, it will be a nice surprise.  But, if I don't, then no one will be left wondering about what the zoo has done with all the monkeys.  :-)

From a Friend in Honor of the New Year

For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord,

...Plans to give you a future, and a hope.    - Jeremiah 29:11

It's Time to move;

Out of an old year,

into a new one.

It's time to pack --

It's time to square away our lives,

Pack up old baggage,

Move forward, or continue onward.

Time to clean the cobwebs

out of the attics & closets of our souls:

to bury the dead, the hatchet -

hate, old hurts,

old sins, dead sins,

dead works, dead self.

Time to make a bonfire for the old year --

To pile on the wood, hay, & stubble from our lives,

To relegate to the ash heap the chaff,

The broken shards,

the unworthy priorities --

the busy-ness of life that stirs us like leaves in the wind.

Time to prepare to give away our lives, our souls, our selves.

Time to pick up what's good, cherish it,

pack it carefully into memory:

Days with friends and family,

Blessings,

triumphs,

Halcyon days,

Those days when God inexplicably reached down

into our lives and souls,

New faith, tested faith, joy,

Character-changing trials,

Hope, dreams,

And Love.

Time to plan a prominent place in the New Year

For more of the same:

More time with family and friends,

More love for others,

More opportunities,

More worthy pursuits.

More Faith, more Hope, more Love.

More joy, more peace

               --  more peace in waiting.

More kindness, & rejoicing with others,

More humility, grace, & selflessness,

Patience & forgiveness,

More truth, more strength,

More sensitive hearts,

Endurance for the race.

More ways to serve,

More awareness of His Spirit.

More room for God in our relationship with Him,

More of Him in our relationship with others,

More of our dreams in our own life -

                for that too is of Him.

                Time for a New Year --

                            not filled with resolutions,

                                         but full of less -- and more --

                                                                   and Life.

J. Arrendale, Dec 31, 2006   

Christmas Joys

Oh, we have had so many over the past week and a half.  Lots of family time, lots of love, lots of wonderful gifts, lots and lots and lots of food!  There are so many pictures I want to share that I'll need to upload them to an online gallery.  And I'm trying to get a plug-in to work with iPhoto and have had zero luck.  I'm quite the bulldog here, and won't let it alone until I figure it out.  SO, in an effort to at least post SOMEthing here before the old year fades away, I'm sharing some of the family pictures that were taken at various celebrations.

The picture above was taken with Jmk's family.  (sounds weird to say that, because they are truly my family too.  But, for clarity's sake, I'll say Jmk's family).  We were at SueSue's house on Christmas Eve Eve.


And the following picture was taken on the Saturday after Christmas at MooMoo and GaGa's house when we had everyone in "my" family in town at one time!  Even though Poodle's eyes are closed, it's really the best picture of the bunch, because my big ole head was covering up Jmk's in all the other pics.  Besides, I love how Audrey is studying the leaf.  It's sweet.
Excuse the lack of cropping on this one.  It needs it, but I haven't had time to edit any of the pictures taken over the past couple of weeks.  Well, except for the one up top.  I had to edit that one.  Jmk knows why.  Stinker.  ;-)

I do hope everyone's Christmas was joyous and focused on the Greatest Gift.  And I pray that you all have a 2009 filled with many blessings.

Here Comes Santa Claus...

He was visiting at the place where we go to eat after church a couple of times a month.  And Poodle was ALL about it this year.  She wasn't interested in being any where near the jolly guy before now.  But, this year, she brought her list to him (which contained the same 3 things that she has been asking for for the past 6 months) and was ready for action.

Tooter, on the other hand, is still in that stage where he really isn't so sure why this fellow who only shows half of his face and dresses in an extraordinary amount of red wants to be all up in his kool-aid.  Notice, if you will, the death grip on GaGa's tie and the look of mass confusion and dislike.  Or is that disdain?  He had on the cutest little Santa vest that came from Eli's boys' closets.  But he was velcro'd to GaGa.  There was no convincing him to turn around for the camera.  No how.  No way.

The fun traditions of Christmas are so much more fun when little ones are involved.  We are so grateful to have these bunchkins.

But, of course, it is most important to remember that while Santa needs a list to know what we want and elves to get us what we need and magical reindeer to deliver it all...  Jesus does not.  And THAT is where I hope we truly focus this season.

Words to warm a heart

When GaGa says to us "You have some good kids".  He has no idea how that brought my heart to its knees.

SNOW DAY!!!

Oh, my goodness, oh my soul.  We got sho'nuff snow today.  Started with sleet, turned to REAL snow for a couple of hours, and then sleeted again.  But, good golly, I turned those kids into full-on popsicles for as long as I could!
I mean, really, how often does it snow around these parts?

Yep.  I *so* cancelled school today.

Here are some video links for you:
Snow Angel
Playing Around

Hope y'all enjoy those as much as we enjoyed playing in the white stuff.  Oh, and yes, we did build a little 8 inch snowman.  He was fabulous, but didn't last long enough for a picture.  He fell victim to his maker's idea to jump on top of him.  Sad for the snowman.  Barrel of laughs for the maker.

Always Learning

This past weekend, my mom, Poodle, and I took in a couple of Nutcrackers.  We have two good ballet schools in our area who put on the Nutcracker (we have 3 good schools, but the third one is a Christian school and they don't do the "real" Nutcracker).  So, I bought tickets to one, and Mom bought tickets to the other.  Both were good, and they were different from each other.  One was in a small auditorium, one was in the large performance hall in our downtown area.  One was slightly abbreviated with some sections taken out of the 1st act and Sugar Plum's dance.  One used a celtic version of the music during small parts of the party scene.  (I kid you not.  It was......  different).

Poodle with Arabian - this sweet girl (who is a beautiful, seriously talented dancer) goes to our church.

What I've finally come to peace with in my mind is that I need to quit criticizing others' take on the Nutcracker.  The staging and choreography and casting and overall vision of this ballet will be different inside of each company.  There are as many versions of this ballet as there are versions of pizza.

MooMoo and Poodle at the Sunday performance.

And, I've been in a lot of different versions myself.  I guess the ones I'm going to be most comfortable with, though, are the ones that I was in last.  The ones that Miss Jozia staged.  Very classic, very traditional.  And close to my heart AND my active memory banks.

So, from here on out, I'm going to try my best, when asked about a certain school's/company's version of the Nutcracker, to just give a generous description of it.  I don't have to like it or appreciate it.  Because for those children who are in it, it's the only Nutcracker they know.  And that is the one that is close to THEIR heart.

Although, I'm sorry, as much as I enjoy celtic music, it doesn't belong in a ballet based on a story set in Nuremburg, Germany.  I'm just saying.

Poodle takes a picture with Clara.  You'd think she had met Queen Elizabeth.  But WAY better.

Baby Blues

I'm getting pictures off of the camera(s) and saw this one from Thanksgiving night. This is SueSue.
The best Mother-in-law in the world.








Is there any doubt where Jmk and the kids get their gorgeous blue eyes?

The Centrality of the Home

Voddie Baucham, Jr.

Hat tip to Patti Monroe for this (passed on to her from her daughter Joanna).  This was a huge message that was actually delivered to an audience of Southern Baptist pastors.  I had an easy time listening to it, and that might have been because I was listening to it from a MacBook.  Patti said that she had to subscribe to iPod to download it.  Do what you have to do to listen to it.  I guess it was about 20-25 minutes in length.  I'm not sure, because I had to start and stop a bunch of times because of the kiddos.  It's worth it!!!  Go listen!!!

Here's the link to listen to the message. 

Old Pictures

I'm going thru a folder full of pictures that were recovered from the old laptop when it decided to cannibalize all of the files in the My Pictures folder.  There were lots of photos on the old laptop, including many from years back that have long since been archived to cd's.  But I had to share a few of the babies - especially Tooter when he was still our big roly-poly!  (And I'll get pics up of his healing scar - it's looking good).

I guess I'm sort of forcing you to walk down my memory lane.  :-)

Family

I'm sitting here, after having spent a lovely, quiet hour and a half at a fabric store, blogging because my sweet parents came and picked up the kids to take them to the zoo.  This is after having a lovely Thursday with two Thanksgiving celebrations for which I didn't cook at all. And having my folks come pick up the kids and take them to lunch yesterday.

Now, I say all this not to brag.  Or gloat.  Or do anything similarly obnoxious.  Truly.  I just want to say how much I appreciate my family - the ones I'm related to by blood and the ones who I was blessed with when I married Jmk.  It is a true gift to be able to be physically close to family.  It's even more of a gift to feel close to family.  Those people who love you AND yours.  And those people who love you, even though. (fill in the blank)  :-)

Thank you to my family!!!  And I love you back.

Interesting Quiz.....

.....Regarding American History and civics .  I am not happy to report that I only scored 75.76%.  Boo me.  BUT, there were three questions that I changed at the last minute.  I had the right answer at first, and then talked myself out of them.  Silly me.  Even with those three, though, my score still wouldn't have what it should have been.

I betcha Jmk knocks this one out of the park.  He's a history guy.

One I hadn't heard before

(hat tip to Jimmy Stiglets, via my mom)

A Blonde is watching the news with her husband when the newscaster says "Two Brazilian men die in a skydiving accident."   The blonde starts crying to her husband, sobbing "That's horrible!!! So many men dying that way!" Confused, he says, "Yes dear, it is sad, but they were skydiving, and there is always that risk involved." After a few minutes, the blonde, still sobbing, says, "How many is a Brazilian?"

Happy Birthday Tooter!!!

Happy Birthday to our dear, little, banged up Tooter Pooter.  Yay for being three!!!  Thank you for sharing your day with the Thanksgiving play hooplah - you'll have lots of birthday cookies tomorrow!

We love you and we cherish the days we have with you.  Happy Birthday Son!!!

Unfortunate Tradition

Three days before Christmas (when Poodle was 2), she fell on the old rocks in the backyard, cut her forehead, and got stitches.  (Those rocks are now gone and replaced with deck).

Now, in another three-days-before-an-event accident, Tooter has joined the stitches club.  Three days before his 3rd birthday.  Poor fella!  We were outside for just a few minutes, in the front of the house, and he was headed towards the front door on the front walk.  He tripped himself up, fell, and made contact with one of the front steps.
Concrete + little boys = 4 stitches.
But, as you can see, there's hardly any swelling and just about no bruising to speak of.  Not too shabby.  Kids are beautifully resilient!

The fall happened Monday night, and I took this picture this morning as I was changing the bandaid and cleaning it.  Stitches will come out next Monday!

Like Jmk says......  Chicks dig scars.

School Update

A sweet friend reminded me on the phone the other night that I haven't talked much about how homeschooling was going, and looking back, I really haven't.  SO, to fill the bowl with grandparent gravy, I'll see what I can share about Poodle's year so far.

First - she has finished the primer book in Math-U-See! This dealt with counting, shape and number recognition, place value (units, tens, hundreds), introductory addition, skip counting by 2's, 5's, 10's, addition +1's, 2+2, 3+3, 4+4, 5+5, addition of hundreds and to make 10, tally marks, telling time, and a brief introduction to subtraction.  Everything in this book was presented in an "easy" fashion, and she was able to have a lot of fun with it.  She LOVED the telling time section.  And it's nice to see her be able to read a clock now.

We have read lots of good books using the five-in-a-row system, and we've had the chance to talk about countries like Russia, China, Japan, England, France, and Italy.  And, of course, the United States of America!  Nothing is terribly in depth at this age - it's more of a spray of information in lieu of a directed stream.  But she enjoys it and is getting a good geography introduction along with some new vocabulary words.

She practices handwriting - just using the "old-fashioned" tablets and lots of patience.  A couple of letters a day, along with some copy work.  Right now, her copy work is lines from the Thanksgiving play that she is doing with our homeschool group!  Usually, though, the copy work is Bible verses that she is currently memorizing.

We use readers like the BOB Books that help her with her individual reading.  We even have some Dick and Jane books for her to use as practice.  She continues to develop her reading skills.  I'm not sure when you can say a child is officially "reading", but she is certainly on her way.

And we play.  :-)  It IS Kindergarten, you know.  With one of our books, How To Make An Apple Pie And See The World, we ended our week with actually making an apple pie.  I had pictures of it!  But, they were lost on the other cpt, and then some of them were recovered, but all of those pictures are completely unorganized now.  So, they'll be hard to get to in general.

We've had lots of field trips and parties.  And we're currently knee deep in practices for the Thanksgiving play (that I previously mentioned).  Poodle is playing a pilgrim girl named Charity.  :-)  One of the things that I'm beginning to notice about homeschooling is we're not home a whole lot!

We don't do EVERYthing every single day.  Both school and life have to be flexible in order for them both to work.  Sometimes life has to give.  Sometimes school has to give.  But whoever gives tends to get it all back eventually.  So, it's cool.  So far, I'm really enjoying what we're doing.  I'm enjoying not only spending this time with her, but also watching her develop right in front of me.  It's humbling and extraordinary all at once.  I still will never say that we will homeschool forever and ever amen, because only God knows what the future holds.  But, for now, it's working for us.  She's growing in knowledge and love for God, she's growing in her basic skills, and she's continuing to develop friendships.  It's lovely.

She's still a "very active" 5 year old  ::ahem::, but we try every day to work on self-control.  And, we may even begin ballet lessons next school year.  :-)  We'll see.

So, that's a quick run down of what we've done so far, and it's a good indication of what we'll continue to do until the end of this school year.  And, now, you know!