And after all that we had pancakes...

I feel like it's been forever since I've blogged. I mean really blogged. I just haven't been struck with the desire these days like I have in the past. Until this very moment. And I really have nothing to say. Actually I feel like there's a lot I could say; I could go real deep on you, but don't even really know how to articulate some of the thoughts floating around in my head these days.
So, for now, I'll just entertain you with some total randomness:

I'm frustated. I made a big trip to the grocery with both boys in tow all to get the ingredients for Jen's pepper cheese chowder that I just have to have tonight for dinner. You know how it is when a woman gets her mind and mouth set on something. Anyway, we got home about 5:15, got boys settled watching a movie, put all the groceries away, washed hands, got out the big dutch oven (because I'm doubling the recipe so I'll have enough to freeze), put on my apron and started getting all the ingredients out only to realize that I had totally forgotten to buy the peppers! So now I'm sitting on the couch, drinking sweet tea, watching Bon Jovi videos on Apple TV and wondering if the boys and I should just go out for pizza. If David were home I'd send him out, but I'm not about to head back out the the Kroger's again with these guys.

Did you know I LOVE to blow the leaves off the driveway? That's one chore I really love to do. Seriously. It's instant satisfaction.
I'm also obsessive about my floors. I've got to have them clean. I don't care about your floors, though, so don't get all paranoid that you've got to vacuum before I come over. It's a total self absorbed thing. I think it has to do with me walking around barefoot all the time at home.

Oh lookie...Debbie Gibson's "Foolish Beat" just came on TV. Hmmm, this really takes me back to my Debbie Gibson hat wearing days. Yes, I really did.

David turns 35 tomorrow. I think older men are sexy. Does 35 count as "older?"

Debbie's got some very interesting dance things she does with her arms. You really should check it out.

I SO wish I could dance.

If I had a little girl, I think I'd like to name her Brooklyn.

Some days I want very badly to adopt another child. Other days, the desire is not there at all. Which one should win out?

I'm not even going to tell you about the video that just came on. Way too embarrassing. I'll just say it's old school Third Day and I'll leave it at that.

I'm totally obsessed with my boy's hineys. I know I've said that a million times, but I really am. I see those little things in pj's or jeans and I just have to grab a hold.

I went to a rave once in high school and kissed a total stranger on the dance floor. There were no words exchanged at all. He was wearing jeans and a red vest with no shirt underneath. I have no idea what possessed me at that moment.

I really miss my cat. He and I had a special thing between us.

I hate the phone. Sometimes I hate email too. I don't like that answering emails has now become a daily expectation. But then again, I love email! It helps me avoid the phone.

Coldplay's "The Scientist" is a pretty cool video. Wish I knew how they made it. Maybe I should google it. I google everything by the way. If there's a question I can't answer, then I run to google.

Why do so many people define success as a financial thing? If that's the case, then I'm surrounded by many "successful" people but very unhappy people at that.

I really hate competition. Is competition not, at it's core, about putting yourself above someone else? Putting someone else below you? As a Christian, aren't we supposed to put others above us? What happened to that?

I think my kids are hungry. Can I procrastinate dinner even more?

I have a love/hate relationship with technology. Sometimes I think it's all just a distraction: the TV, computers, video games. I long for a simpler time where people aren't running around all over the place, busy busy busy, always trying to get the next thing. I really want simplicity. But what would I do without google?

Alright, we're going out for pizza. The decision is unanimous. Guess I should take my apron off. Although it's pretty cute and goes great with my shirt. Ever noticed how orange and turquoise/green compliment each other?

The week ahead of me

David gets on an airplane later today to go to Brazil. He'll only be there long enough to do one concert then he'll head to South Africa for a couple of shows. Hard to believe that he'll be setting foot on two new continents in the span of a week. Sounds like a cool trip and I'm excited for him.

I'm not, however, excited for me. I've got a week ahead of getting two little boys to school (one day they go at the same time to two different places!), teaching, evening soccer practice, make up soccer games, Awana, and not to mention all the other jobs of just managing life in general (cooking, cleaning, laundry, etc.). I'm enlisting the help of the boys. They are certainly old enough to help out and I should have been giving them more jobs all along. The problem with being a perfectionist in some areas is that I take on some jobs myself wanting them to be just right instead of having the boys do them. I will say, thought, that for the past two weeks they've been taking the big trash cans out to the end of the driveway for me, and anyone who has seen my driveway knows that this is not an easy task. So I'm thinking they can make their own beds daily, bring their dishes to the sink when they're done eating, get their own water, napkins and silverware for meals, and the biggest battle to fight will be getting them to daily take all their toys that are sitting around and put them away. I'm sure I can think of some more things for them to do, but this is a start. Hmmm, I'm thinking a "chart" might be in order...something to give them incentives to work towards. I'm sure I can figure out a way to incorporate the Halloween candy.

Sometimes when David's gone for a longer stretch I actually get more done because I'm so focused. Anyway, I'll plow through and the week will be over before I know it. And we seriously have less than two months until Christmas??? How did that happen?

I'm SO not ready for that one.

Pulled teeth

There's a lot I could blog about these days: this unending rain that makes me want to read the Twilight series all over again, the busyness of this season, the growing "seeds" of possibly adopting in mine and David's hearts, the frequently opening doors of opportunity to DO something against the problem of human trafficking both here in Atlanta and worldwide (Yes, this definitely deserves it's OWN post, but I just don't even have the words at the moment except to say that we've had a lot of cool doors open) or just how much I love Fall, when it's not raining. There's just so much going on, and no real time to blog about it.

So, instead of something thought provoking, I'll just tell you a motherhood story for today. Ethan lost four teeth back in the spring, but only two grew in. He has major overcrowding so after waiting it out for six months to give some more teeth a chance to come out, we had to have two of them pulled today. Poor buddy didn't really know what he was in for. I built it up to be not a big deal. I told him all about the laughing gas he'd get and how his mouth would be numb and he wouldn't feel a thing. I even tied in a little bit of our Bible lesson with it all; taught him about courage in scary situations and how God is always with us. At our dentist's office they don't let parents come back during the procedure, so my little man went back by himself. About 25 minutes later out he came with a mouth full of gauze. I could tell he was desperately trying to hold it together, trying so hard to be brave. I paid the bill, talked to the hygienist who told me how incredibly long the roots were on the teeth they pulled and got our final instructions and we left. As soon as we walked out the front door, my little man fell apart. He did so well, being brave, but finally had to have his breakdown. As we drove home, I figured the day deserved a pumpkin spice latte, so I hit the drive thru. Just as I'm trying to pay, Ethan starts grunting, jerking around, pointing, and I realized that he needed to spit the gauze out. Thankfully, there was a ziplock bag in the car and I promptly opened it and handed it back to him. Out came a bloody, gooey mess (Sorry...TMI I know!). The whole way home I balanced keeping my latte and the bag 'o blood from somehow crossing paths. You know you're a mom when...

I was just so thankful I wasn't pregnant because I'd surely have to pull over to throw up at some point.

Praying for your children

I was recently asked to write up a little something about praying for your children in Ethan's school's newsletter. It's scheduled to go out next week, but I thought I'd post what I had come up with on here.
It's so weird to be asked to "officially" write something. Anyway, here's my thoughts:

If I’m truly honest, I haven’t always been the best at praying for my children. Sure, I pray for their protection (both physical and spiritual), for their health, for courage and strength, and for God to speak to them in a way that they can hear Him. However, at times I’ve hit a wall, wanting to avoid cookie cutter prayers for my boys and desiring to intercede deeper. It can be so hard to find the words to pray over our children, especially when our feelings for them are so deep.

I’m a big beliver in praying scripture over our lives. There’s so much power in His living and active Word. A couple of years ago, God laid it on my heart to pray the parable of the sower (Matt. 13) over my boys. It was the first time I felt inclined to really pray actual scripture over my children. My prayer has been that their hearts and souls would be “good soil” in which the Word of God will grow deep, rich roots. This simple prayer has opened up a desire for more prayers straight from Scripture for my children. He has given us the words to pray; they’re all right there!

Consider starting a prayer journal for each child. Make it a place to share your heart for your child, the prayers you pray for them and the scriptures the Lord has given you for their lives. Write about insights regarding their spiritual growth. Consider writing it "to them", with the plan to give them the journal at a special time in the future (such as graduation, wedding, or when they become a parent themselves!). Let them see that their life has been covered in prayer by you and that those prayers have been deep and straight from the Word of God. If your child found out about a specific verse or passage that was prayed over their life, imagine the depth at which they would always look at the passage for their rest of their lives.

There’s a great book called “Praying the Scriptures For your Children” by Jodie Berndt. The author has easily laid out some great scripture prayers for different aspects of our children's lives. I can tell you that I have seen firsthand the power in these prayers. Even if you don’t have a book to help you along, ask God to give you some scripture to pray over your children. He’s so faithful to give us what our children need even before we realize that need. A great place to start is Ephesians 3:16-19.

Journaling

Can't believe I haven't posted since Aug. 19th, and here it is Sept. 25th. Actually, I can believe it. I've been busy. I'm also thinking about making this blog private, so if you want to keep up with it, shoot me a message. Just an idea I'm toying around with.

Anyhoo, I've ben writing, just not so much on this blog. I've kept up more with my other blogs. I've also been writing a little in another area that I wanted to share with you. Wyatt turned 5 a few weeks ago and in the days leading up to his birthday, I was struck with the idea of starting a journal for him and one for Ethan. I already had two empty journals so I went ahead and started one for Wyatt, just journaling my thoughts for him as he turns 5. I thought it would be a good way to let him know what prayers I pray for him, what particular Bible verses I pray over his life, what he's like at this age, and even just basic things about our day, like what we did, who his friends are, etc. The idea is that I'll write in it only when I want to or feel led. It's not at all an "everyday" commitment. There's seasons where I'm praying for one child more than the other so I may be led to write more in their journal during that time. I may write several entries, put it down, and not pick it back up again for another year or so. I don't know when I'll give them their journals. Maybe when they graduate high school, get married, or even when they have their own children. There's not a lot of plans for this, just to catch thoughts from my mother's heart to theirs. I have to admit, having a sister who died leaving behind three young children has motivated me a little, just knowing how if she had done something like that those journals would be gold to her children now. I want my kids to always know the thoughts I have towards them, what I cherish about them and what I've prayed for them. I don't want them to ever doubt just how precious they are to me.

Let's see, what else have I been up to...BIrthday celebrations, Disney trip, GA Music Hall of Fame, homeschooling, lunch dates with my husband and friends, working out, soccer, cleaning up yard damage from the flood, reading, trying to decide if we want to put our house on the market next year, purging, yadda yadda yadda. I'm SO ready for fall.

Braves game

Fun times at the Braves game homeschool event.






A pre-game parade of the homeschoolers on the field. As you can see the crowd was just overflowing at this point!






Thanks to Joy for making it all happen! We had a great time! It's always fun to see your own kids playing with your childhood friend's kids.
It's even fun watching both four year olds having a post game meltdown. Good times.

I Said I'd Never Homeschool

Some of you can now breathe a sigh of relief. I'll try not to bore you with anymore homeschool rantings. Instead, I have a new place for all things homeschool:

I Said I'd Never Homeschool

Check it out...if you're into that sort of thing.