Why Yes, She is a Blonde!....

Today, for no apparent reason, Katy decided to ask her daddy a most profound question. "How do blind people drive?" I will spare you the smart alecky answer her father gave her, as it might be offensive to people who are sight challenged. Let's just say she has a few challenges of her own mainly being oblivious to the obvious!

In Which He Will Need an Open Account With LL Bean....

Today, as we were doing more extreme demolition in our house, six year old Josh was inspired to discuss his future career choices. He said maybe he'd like to be a fireman or an artist. I suggested a doctor or engineer. We discussed all of these options and what each occupation involved. He also thought maybe he would like to work with snakes. I reassured him that he had plenty of time to decide. He agreed but said he still likes to think about it. After some silent introspection he finally suggested that maybe he should be a hypothermia! I guess I can spend that college fund on some new shoes for me!

The Making of a Man....

When I look at my son it is sometimes very hard to define what I see. One day it might be a goofy kid wrestling with his little brother the next it could be a know-it-all teenager who thinks I just arrived on the stupid bus. Yesterday, I saw something that made my heart swell with pride and also brought a little tinge of sadness to my soul. I saw a man. Yes he is only fourteen, but sometimes age makes no difference. The first sign was when we were listening to a song on the radio that said something like she walks into the club and everybody's looking at her. I jokingly said that's how it is for me...everywhere I go people are looking at me. I thought I was being pretty funny, however he quickly and very maturely pointed out that people do look at me when we are out. It wasn't a people look at you because you are weird kind of statement, but a genuine concern coming from his heart. It made me realize that he is watching out for his mother's well being, and that is as it should be.
Later, he asked me if I had ever been deeply affected by a video game. I don't play video games so the answer would be no. I asked him what he meant, and he proceeded to tell me about a scene in one of his war type games where people are being killed and there is no way out for them. It made his heartache and brought tears to his eyes at the reality of the situation. Some might see this as a weakness, I see it as a great strength! Do we want our men to be hardened with no concern for fellow man or do we want them to have a heart for human life and the plight of others? I will definitely choose the later. It is difficult for boys these days to be sensitive. The world tells them this is uncool. I would much rather have a man that can show emotion, than one that cannot.
The final glimpse of manhood that I witnessed yesterday may seem silly to some, but it was another reminder to me of his maturity and the way he cares for everything around him. A little bird had become trapped on our porch and Tyler tried for 20 minutes to shoo it outside only to watch our stealthy cat leap with open mouth to devour the bird. He them proceeded to chase the cat across the yard to rescue the bird. Do you know how many people I know that would think the bird being eaten was funny? It is more than I can count on two hands.
I know what our society says about the making of a man. They need to be good looking, muscle bound hunks that are cool and have an attitude of indifference. That is not what I want for my sons. I want them to always look after the ones they love. I want them to have broken hearts over hurting human souls and I want them to do whatever they can to protect and appreciate God's creation. That is what makes a man in my eyes!

Ushering in the New Year....

So here we are in 2008! I'm still trying to figure out how 2007 ended so quickly. It seems that each year goes by faster than the previous one.....momma said there'd be years like this! Because Brian and I are so social and such hard party animals we spent New Year's Eve at home watching football, overdosing on cold medicine and falling asleep on the couch! Rock On 2008!! I would have liked to at least watch the ball drop, but you know once you take Tylenol, Dayquil and squirt a little Afrin up your nose there's no point in even attempting to stay awake.
Today will be our family New Year celebration. We will eat black eyed peas (this is a must if you are southern) and deep fried turkey with all of our local relatives. Then we will all sit around stuffed and satisfied and talk about all manner of important things from what movies we should watch to if it's really going to snow tomorrow and most importantly....FOOTBALL!
We are a house divided as I have mentioned before. Both of our teams will be playing in bowl games today and the lines will be drawn. I'm very glad they aren't playing each other, all though it makes for some mighty good "conversation" ahem!
I am looking forward to the new year. It is always interesting to see what life will bring. Hopefully our year will be filled with family and friends, good health and not to much trauma with all of the remodeling we need to do in our house! I hope all of you who read this blog will have a very blessed year as well!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

and GO VOLS!

Joy Joy Joy!....

As Brian and I sat on the couch on Christmas Eve, feeling rather exhausted and hyperventilating from blowing up all those balloons, only one thing kept coming to mind. "Yes Virginia, we did spend way too much money!" My attitude was that of an exhausted mother. I was tired from shopping, baking, cleaning and wrapping. I kept thinking of all the work I had done and how the next morning it would be destroyed within 30 minutes. I looked at the tree and all those gifts and realized the joy it was going to bring to my children. No, they wouldn't appreciate the hours of effort put into their Christmas bliss, but their happy, smiling faces would more than make up for it. I never appreciated the work that my parents did. It was all so magical on Christmas morning when we would emerge from our rooms to see airplanes hanging from the ceiling and balloons filling the room and that delicious aroma of fresh baked cinnamon rolls wafting from the kitchen. I appreciate it now! The gifts are wrapped, the balloons are filled and cinnamon rolls are in my oven.
Christmas is so special to me! And Christmas morning when I see these four faces it makes anything I had to go through 100% worth it....even overbidding on ebay!

Chinese Water Torture Would Be More Fun!....

I'm not sure what had gotten into me, but yesterday morning I decided to go Christmas shopping with all four kids in tow! You can probably imagine how my day went, but just in case you can't, let me give you a little glimpse.
It started off well enough. We were singing carols along with Bing and Beyonce and discussing what we thought Santa might bring us. Then it began....from the backseat...you know how it goes. He's touching me, she slapped me, somebody licked somebody! Licking I tell you....I'll give somebody a licking! I had to pull off of the interstate and make people switch seats! This was all before I had entered the crowded stores.
Our first stop should have been an easy one. I needed one item and knew exactly where it was. My plan was to use the "man strategy". You know...enter the store, hunt down the item, shoot it, and drag it home. This would have been successful had I been by myself! Instead, one child had to potty, two others would not leave the bikes alone, and the eldest decided to give me a lecture on why he thought the item I was trying to purchase was not the best choice. What should have been a five minute purchase turned into something closer to twenty minutes. Time was ticking away!!
Once we were safely back in the car and surrounded by chicken nuggets and leaky honey mustard containers, I had to make an important decision. Could I avoid the mall and still accomplish what I needed to? Normally the mall is my very best friend! (I heart it with almost as much love as I feel for shoe stores, but that's another post.)However, it's Christmas shopping season and I was accompanied by four children and a sinus headache! Anyhoo....on to the mall.
The mall was just as I expected it would be. Filled with other procrastinators, just like myself, trying to find those last minute gifts. I knew basically what I was looking for and so figured it wouldn't take too long! Ha! Apparently I had learned nothing from the last few hours! We trudged on, going from store to store hunting down the perfect gift. Only there were a few complications. More children had to potty. Of course this only happens when you are no where near the bathroom. Other children were thirsty and so was I, only the mall doesn't sell the kind of drink I was needing! No one had the one main item I was searching for and I was becoming more frustrated by the minute. Children were playing in the clothes racks. Why do they put those there? Why don't they just spread everything on the floor so I don't have to pull my monkeys from the racks of cashmere sweaters! Just a side note...if your child is in a stroller REJOICE! It may be a pain now but you'll wish you had it later!!
We managed to survive the mall and even located the unlocatable item. I still had one more stop to make and was using the "if you guys don't behave in this store you will be grounded forever and ever and probably be on Santa's naughty list!" I know I should try to be more patient, especially this time of year, but did I mention I had a headache!
We went to our last store and made our purchases. The kids weren't exactly nice, but weren't exactly naughty either. I didn't ground them forever. All in all the day was pretty normal. The kids were being kids (at christmas) and I had expectations that were a little too high. Next year I think I will go with my brother's idea. He said we should just buy everyone empty gift cards and let them fill it with the dollar amount that suits them! Brilliant!!

At Least I'm No Grinch!....

You Are a Tree

You love every part of the holidays, down to the candy canes and stockings. And you're goofy enough to put a Christmas tree ornament on your tree!

What Christmas Ornament Are You?