It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas!

We've spent the last four days putting up Christmas decorations. What's sad is it feels like we just took them down a couple of months ago. I know we've done a ton of stuff this year, but it somehow feels like a blur.

One of my favorite things about having kids is seeing things through their eyes. Everything about Christmas is exciting and new all over again. Taking Bryant to Lowe's is an experience I will forever cherish. He gets excited just pulling in the parking lot. And when we walk through the doors into that Winter Wonderland of giant blow-up Christmas paraphanalia, he just about jumps out of my arms. "Oh Wow!" he says over and over. It's enough to bring tears to my eyes each and every time.

Bradley said yesterday, "When is Christmas EVER going to get here?!" I so remember feeling that way as a kid. Somehow when we get older, Christmas rushes up on us so quickly, we rarely find the time to actually enjoy it.

So my challenge is to slow down and enjoy. Enjoy the smells, the lights, the beauty of the Christmas story. Share in the enjoyment of children over the agonizingly slow progression of days over the next month. You'll have to fake this agonizingly slow part, of course, but give it a shot.

Revisit the wonder. A Savior is born.

Raingutter Regatta

Last night was the Raingutter Regatta for Bradley's Scout troup. He and Jeff spent many hours this past weekend getting his boat ready. He did all of the artwork himself, and was so proud of his boat. It really looked cool. I loved the sea serpent he put on the sail.

In the school cafeteria, there were five tables set up with raingutters so the boys could race their boats. In the past, they've used straws to blow their boats, but apparently someone forgot them last night so they had to just blow right on the sails. Brad was all prepared for the straw technique, but he figured it out pretty well.

Bradley lost his first race, but won the next one because his opponent got disqualified for helping his boat along a little too much. It's amazing how the mother bear persona rises so quickly in me. It's a boy scout boat race, for Pete's sake, and I'm watching this, yelling (in my head, of course) "He's cheating!" Fortunately, the Boy Scout leader noticed without my pointing it out and they disqualified him. Winning by disqualification didn't bother Bradley a bit. A win is a win.

They even let Bailey give it a try.

The boy that won the overall race had designed a special aerodynamic sail. (I'm sure his dad had nothing to do with that.) Nobody even had a chance to beat him. Seemed to go a little against the spirit of the competition to me, but since the kids didn't seem to be bothered by it, I certainly wasn't going to point it out. That's what my blog is for. :) I bet there will be a whole lot of aerodynamic sails next year, though!

Trophy or not, I'm so proud of what Bradley accomplished. He worked so very hard on his boat. It looked cool. It stayed afloat. He had great sportmanship. What more could you ask for?

I'm just glad I'm not the one who had to clean up.

Two Bama boys, hoping for better luck next year.

Yesterday I took the kids to Alabama to see their grandparents and other extended family since we won't be there for Thanksgiving. We had a great day, and the kids were so happy to get to go.

Here's Bryant Gene with Grandaddy Gene "Poppa G" Swords. At one point Poppa G spit over the side of the truck into the woods. Bryant, who mimicks everything, is now periodically making a hocking sound and pretending to spit. Cool tricks.
And this is what happens when your kids find the camera and you are otherwise occupied.
Carrie Beth and Bailey, posing for Brad.

It's a shame they never have any fun.

I'm blogging today, primarily because it's been a week. I really don't have much to say. This week has been so, so busy. Don't you hate it when you just plow through a week, never feeling like you have time to sit and reflect on anything?

Today I have very much enjoyed myself. I guess I'm getting in the cooking mood for the holidays, because so far today I have made little cocktail weinies for Bradley because he tried them at Publix the other night and has been begging for them ever since. Who knew grape jelly and chili sauce could be so palatable to an 8-yr-old? I also made a pumpkin dip that I had the other night and have been craving ever since. I think I'll pause and share the recipe, because some of you may need an easy appetizer this week.

2 blocks of cream cheese
1 30-oz can of pumpkin pie mix (not plain pumpkin)
1 lb powdered sugar

Mix and serve with graham cracker strips or ginger snaps. WARNING: This makes a LOT of pumpkin dip, so you may want to try and half it.

Anyway, I also made a very hearty cheesy-beefy-noodley soup for dinner tonight with our buddies. I'm planning to make broccoli cornbread to go with it, and I'm very much looking forward to it. To top it all off, I made peppermint brownies. Not an especially healthy ensemble, but a yummy day nonetheless.

I'm itching to get my Christmas decorations down out of the attic. I wanted to do it today, but since we'll be here all next weekend, I guess it's better to just wait and get them down on Friday. But I can't wait for the house to be all aglow!

I have only bought one Christmas present. Some years I'm very motivated and have almost everything bought by the weekend after Thanksgiving. I'm not feeling like this will be the case this year. The weekdays are just so busy, and on the weekends I just want to sit here like I'm doing right now. Of course, football only has a couple of weeks left, so my Saturdays will be a little more open here shortly. (sniff, sniff)

I'm watching LSU and Ole Miss right now. So far LSU is only ahead 14-7. I imagine this will not last long. Georgia got their act together and beat Kentucky. (But did anybody see that AMAZING interception in the first half? It was the third turnover for GA, and the Kentucky guy literally came out of nowhere and just took it away from him. It was beautiful.) Jeff just told me Alabama is tied with LA-Monroe. And last I heard, Tennessee is getting beat by Vandy. I imagine it's possible for the Vols to pull it out today, but I have a feeling we'll lose to Kentucky next week. I'll be shocked if we make it to the SEC championship. In years past, when all Tennessee had to do to get to the SEC championship was beat Vandy and Kentucky, it would have been a no-brainer. But this has been one of the craziest seasons in college football I can ever remember. When has being in the top 5 ever been such a kiss of death as it has been this year?

As for politics, I have nothing to say. Well, you know that's not true, but I just don't feel like wasting the energy. It's been fun watching Hillary get beat up by the media a little the past few weeks for her flip-flopping, but they've all jumped back on the suck-up express after Thursday night's debate. Let's just face the fact that she will be the Democrat nominee. There is really no question about this. The only question is who the Republicans are going to combat her with.

Will we try to go Giuliani, because we think he has a chance in the blue states, even though that means he's not a conservative? Do we go with Romney, whose positions on issues truly change according to the listening audience? (It worked for the first President Clinton, didn't it?) Do we go with Crazy John, who prides himself on being a maverick, aka, Democrat? Or how about Fred? Could he pull it off or will he ever be able to get people to take him seriously? I just don't know. The prospects are a little dim, which is frankly why it depresses me to think about it too much, so I'm trying not to. Amazing that we'll know in less than 90 days who the nominees will be, and then the games will really begin. Last time I was psyched because I LOVED my guy and I couldn't wait to watch him go for it. This time, not so much. Feels more like the Bob Dole years, in a sad sort of way.

The one bright spot is that Congress has an approval rating of 11%. This is way lower than the President's, although his is certainly less than stellar. I heard someone say the other day that O.J. Simpson's approval rating was 16% in a 1995 poll. Congress is less popular than OJ at the height of the murder scandal. That's saying something, I think. Unfortunately, the ones truly being hurt by this political battle over the war are the troops. The Democrats are refusing to fund them w/o time limits for withdrawal. The President is refusing to give them this kind of power.

In this latest bill, Pelosi demanded a 15-day waiting period before any American unit could be moved into Iraq, which would completely hamstring those people on the ground who actually KNOW WHAT THEY ARE DOING and are fighting this war. Can we say Vietnam? The Democrats have tried to compare Iraq to Vietnam in many different ways, and in this way they are right on target. If we allow the war to be run by politicians, we will lose. There is no plainer way to state it. You'd think this would be the lesson learned 30 years ago, but apparently not by a long shot.

So, I guess that's all I have to say about that. I really don't want to get worked up. I just want to sit. And so I shall.

LSU is still only up by a touchdown. They are currently ranked No. 1. That's not been a good place to be so far this season. We shall see...

I have to share what our kids did for about four hours today. As background, Bradley is an official Cub Scout this year, and at the meeting on Tuesday night they learned how to hammer nails into wood, and all the boys made their very own tool boxes. It was really pretty cool.

So today Brad asked his daddy if he could hammer some wood, now that he has experience. Jeff said, Sure, why not?

So he and Bailey gathered up some wood and started hammering. In a little while, McKenzie and RileyGrace showed up, and soon it was a veritable wood-working frenzy in the garage. They built a little bed for one of the stuffed animals. At one point, I came out and they literally had a structure going up, with walls and a roof beam.

This structure soon ended up in my front yard, and a lemonade stand was born.

As you can see, it wasn't long before they had gotten the attention of several neighbors. Amazing how many kids show up when lemonade is available. It doesn't hurt to live in a neighborhood where kids outnumber grownups by about 30% either.

At one point I counted no less than 12 kids in my front yard. They were just hanging out, having some lemonade. It was so cute, I just about couldn't stand it.

These four have been raised together. They had no chance but to be friends, because they are thrown together so often. But the fact is that they seek each other out constantly, and I love it. They can have fun doing just about anything together.

I think we've got many years to enjoy watching them grow up together. Who knows what adventures the future holds?

Especially with these two...

No words could ever do this picture justice. But this is an accurate snapshot of my day today.

It's almost midnight, and I really don't have time to be blogging. I should go to bed, shouldn't I? I'm not one of these people who makes a habit of staying up late, so I won't be all I can be tomorrow if I don't get some sleep. Usually the Andy Griffith whistle is my Pavlov's bell. I hear it and I'm out like a light. But I had some work to finish tonight, so here I sit on my couch and all is quiet in the house. Seems like a good time to blog. However, I'll attempt to keep it short. :)

I've mentioned several times recently that my Bible study group has been doing a study on the life of Jesus. It's one I've done before, but it was six years ago, so it has been really great to do again. There are lots of things in this study that have had me thinking. One is about all the people that Jesus encountered that were possessed by demons. Why was it so common back then? Was there really this huge increase in demonic activity simply because the Christ had come to earth, Satan's territory, and he wasn't all that welcome here? Or is demon posession a more common ailment than we like to think?

What has me thinking about this tonight is the recent school shooting in Finland, of all places. This is not a country where gun violence is commonplace. The country is literally in shock over this student taking the lives of several classmates and a principal. He was apparently smiling and laughing throughout the grim ordeal. I'm thinking that in order to do something so evil, you must be possessed by demons. Violence is a hallmark of Satan, and he truly delights in the shedding of blood. Certainly we can't imagine Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris not being possessed. Or more recently, Cho Seung-Hui. Or Saddam Hussein. Or Osama bin Ladin. These are extreme, obvious cases of Satanic activity.

I live a pretty sheltered life. But I'm sure if I began to hang out in the types of places where my Jesus would be hanging out if He came today, even in my own small town, I'd probably encounter all kinds of things that would shock me, enrage me and make me extremely uncomfortable. But as He said, He came for those very ones that needed Him the most.

Speaking of my sheltered life, from time to time I reflect on how easy my life has been. It's a scary thing to write down if you carry any superstitious tendencies. But I was talking with a close friend the other day about how I've never truly experienced deep pain. I've experienced death, but not of anyone so close to me that I literally felt a part of me had died. I've experienced a shattered heel (very painful indeed, but I'm not speaking physically here.) That did force me to rely on others for help, but it isn't the kind of thing that sent me into a depression. It just happened, and I dealt with it. I've experienced rejection, but never on a level that made me want to crawl in a hole and never come out. My life has been good.

I have an amazing husband, three gorgeous kids, a church I love, friends that I would do anything for, and vice versa, a loving family, nice house, etc., etc. I have a job I love and a boss that I am deeply, spiritually connected to.

I'm not saying these things because I want something bad to happen. I absolutely don't. I know God has protected me from many horrible things. For instance, when Bailey was 2 years old, we were in a really bad car accident. As we were leaving for our destination 30 minutes prior to the wreck, I heard God tell me to look at Bailey's car seat. What I discovered was that although she was buckled into her car seat, the seat itself had not been fastened in. We had driven all the way to Georgia like that earlier in the day, and were about to drive all the way back to Tennessee. That was God, without a doubt in my mind. Had she not been buckled in when we t-boned a car going 65 miles an hour, I can't even allow myself to think about what could have happened.

Just a couple of weeks ago, the Lord protected me and the kids from a horrible, fatal car crash on I-65. How many other times have I been protected and didn't even realize it? Surely it must be thousands.

There always seem to be those people in life who can't catch a break. It seems like they are hit with one catastrophe after another, until you are crying out to God for them, "Enough is enough! How much more can a person take?" And you wonder, why is all this happening to them? Then the survivor's guilt kicks in and you wonder, when is it going to be my turn? And you start waiting for the shoe to fall.

Yes, I have failed in my attempt to keep this short. But part of what got me thinking about all of this tonight was sitting behind a sweet, precious lady at choir practice. Her name is Carol, and she has brain cancer. She was supposed to go to Thailand with us in June, but was diagnosed just a month before the trip and was obviously unable to travel with all the treatment she was going through.

Tonight we were rehearsing a song called, "Lord, I Run to You," by Tommy Walker. Some of the lyrics say, "Lord, I run to you. No one else will do. Lord, you said we'd face trouble, pain and tears. But to be of good cheer, be of good cheer. For you have overcome the world."

I sat there behind Carol, who was holding the sheet music in one hand, and had the other lifted high in praise to her God. Carol, who is walking with a cane. Carol, who is wearing a scarf over her head to hide the loss of hair. She is facing unimaginable pain and fear, and yet knows exactly where her help comes from. Thank you, Jesus.

I am not suffering from "my life's too good"-itis. I'm perfectly content to go on with no major waves of pain. I just wish I could be sure that my faith would stand firm in the face of such trials. I pray that it would. I pray that God opens my eyes to the suffering going on all around me, and makes me a willing vessel to minister to those in need. Right now my days are so consumed with the busyness of daily living, I fear that I'm missing out on opportunities that are right in front of me.

All this to say, if you are in pain, I hope you have the power of the Holy Spirit working inside you. He can help you be of good cheer, for He has overcome the world. Run to Him.

Is anyone else watching Sunday Night Football on NBC right now? I am completely dumbfounded by their apparent week-long campaign called "Green Is Universal."

In an effort to raise awareness for global warming, they have turned off all the lights in the studio and are shooting in the dark by candlelight. It is the most absurdly pathetic thing I have seen yet in this mind-blowing anti-humanity hysteria.

And aren't they being a little hypocritical? I mean, why not just play the football game in the dark? How many watts are they burning out there right now? Or should we just ban all night games altogether? Monday Night Football producers would certainly understand, I'm sure. It's all about saving the planet, right boys?

Will someone please STOP THE INSANITY!!!!!

Happy Halloween!

Bradley asked me yesterday if I celebrate Halloween. I told him I celebrate candy.

Hope you had a trick-or-treatin' good time! :)

For some reason I am still unable to upload my Halloween photos. Whenever that issue gets resolved, I'll post my little cuties. Bryant was a monkey (could there be a more appropriate costume?), Bailey was a cheerleader from High School Musical, and Bradley was Superman. They were all too, too cute.

This week I have been plagued with doubt over my decision to homeschool. As we've gotten a few weeks into it, it's hard to remember all the things that drove me to pull them out in the first place. Something about the grass always being greener on the other side.

Last night I asked one of my neighbors who I'm good friends with if I am now the neighborhood weirdo. She paused entirely too long before answering that people were just shocked. It is a calling, she said, and none of us have ever experienced anything like that.

So I spent the rest of the night fretting inside my head that everybody thinks I'm weird. I know if you are a man reading this, that's much less easy to understand than if you are a woman, but just trust me.

My mom reminded me last night that it really doesn't matter what anyone else thinks, because I didn't start this to please others. I did this because I felt really strongly that the Lord was telling me to. And if He called me to it three weeks ago, I don't think that He would suddenly just change His mind. So I decided that I needed to revisit that aspect and realized that most of what was bothering me had to do with what other people think.

I look around at people in the grocery stores who see me with these obviously school-aged kids and wonder if they are wondering about us. When I send my kids outside to release some energy and they are running around screaming like wild banshees, I wonder what my neighbors are thinking. I wonder what all the ladies at my former bus stop are thinking. In reality, I know that it's most likely none of them are thinking about me at all, at least not more than in passing. I know everyone is far too busy with their own lives to spend time thinking about mine. But it's just whispers from the Enemy, trying to get me to question and doubt. And it works.

So last night the Lord woke me up around 12:30 (using Bryant as the venue) and gave me about 30 minutes of rocking him to think. He reminded me of all the reasons why I'm homeschooling, and what has come out of it so far.

Here are a few:
1) Almost every morning I've had time to get up and actually spend some time with God before the morning rush, which is actually only rushed now on Tuesdays, when we all have to get up and get out of here by about 8:15. Every other day I can let the kids sleep as late as they want. This allows for MUCH better moods in the morning, and much more rested kids.

2) Each day, my kids are actively engaging in Scripture. In the past three weeks, they have memorized Psalm 1. Bradley reads to us out of the book of Mark each morning. And since I'm currently doing a Bible study on the life of Jesus, I'm able to comment and question him on the stories by pulling from the things I've been learning myself. We've had some really great discussions.

3) Bradley has started underlining passages of Scripture in his Bible. There isn't really any rhyme or reason to what he underlines. He's just imitating what he's seen others do. I'm totally fine with that. He's learning that you can be interactive with Scripture. I think it's great.

4) He's also doing an inductive Bible study for kids from Kay Arthur on the book of Jonah. It is so neat. It's written from the perspective of teaching him how to be an investigative reporter and write the story of Jonah. So he's doing all the who, what, where, when and whys, and learning how to apply that to the Bible. It's really fun, and it covers the writing portion of his language arts, all while teaching him the details of the story of Jonah.

5) Bailey's reading has improved dramatically. She struggles so much more than Bradley did, but we are finding things that work for her. I'm loving the time with her in my lap really working hard to sound out her stories. At times I start to get so impatient, and this patience that can only come from the Lord just washes over me. It is so sweet.

6) Bradley is reading several chapters a day of good literature. They are all stories with fascinating characters and stories that teach valuable character lessons. He never complains about his reading assignments (well - never may be strong, but it's very minimal.) At times he actually reads farther than he has to because he's so into it. This is one of my favorite things by far.

7) My kids are learning to enjoy being with each other. Yes, they still fight occasionally. But because they are together all day and serving as each other's primary playmate, they are getting along so much better than they were when they saw each other far less. It's quite a phenomenon.

8) Bradley is taking piano and has ample time to practice each day. He is hungry for it and doing incredibly well. I can't wait for the house to be filled with sounds of him playing.

9) They are both taking swimming at the rec center for p.e. I love that they are getting this training in the four basic strokes so they can be competitive swimmers if they want to be, but at the very least have a sport that they can do for the rest of their lives. My granddaddy swam until he was 90 years old. I love that they are building this foundation that we just wouldn't have had time for when they were in school.

10) NO HOMEWORK!!! :)

These are the main ones that have come to mind. But it all boils down to the fact that I'm able to teach them what I want them to learn, and at a pace that is perfectly suited to each of them. I'm learning that Bailey understands much more mathematically than I ever knew. I'm learning that it's okay to not start school until 10:00 a.m. if Bryant is needing extra attention that day. Flexibility hasn't ever been a strong suit of mine, so this is definitely stretching a new character point in me.

Bottom line: I love my kids. Right now I think this is what's best for them. None of the other stuff matters. As my good friend Kristen says, I don't think I'm going to see them to adulthood and look back thinking, I sure do wish I had spent less time with them when they were growing up.