What They Were Wearing Monday Night

As is our custom, Monday night after piano lessons and a quick dinner, we spent the evening of October 31st going house to house down our street asking for candy…..dressed up in costumes.  And it would seem that the word is getting out that Kirby Woods is the place to go for the best Trick or Treating experience.  As has also become our custom, the kids went in themed costumes.  Mattie picks our theme every year (by that, I mean Mattie picks what she wants to be and I sometimes have to be very creative to come up with complimentary costumes for her brother and sister).  Every year, Reese says he wants to pick the theme, but he has yet to actually present an idea before it hits crunch time.  He did say he would like to go as a tornado and his sisters could go as a rainbow and sunshine (I thought this was being very generous of him considering neither of his sisters has ever been particularly sunny or whatever magical good fortune a rainbow represents), but he made his suggestion about a week before Halloween. I can be crafty, but I need at least 10 days to procrastinate and then a good solid three days of hard work to pull off three completely made-from-scratch Halloween costumes.  So we are tabling that idea for next year.

Can you guess their theme for this year?

Your first guess might be Egypt, and you are partly right.  They are actually going as Memphis.  Yeah, I probably lost you there.  Let me give you a little history lesson:

Memphis was the capital of Egypt during the Old Kingdom, it remained an important city throughout ancient Mediterranean history. It occupied a strategic position at the mouth of the Nile delta, and was home to feverish activity. Its principal port, Peru-nefer, harboured a high density of workshops, factories, and warehouses that distributed food and merchandise throughout the ancient kingdom. During its golden age, Memphis thrived as a regional centre for commerce, trade, and religion.

So now you know where Memphis, Tn got its name.  It too was a thriving city, home of feverish activity and known as a warehouse city do to all the commerce going up and down the Mississippi.  And it, too, is at a strategic position on the Mississippi delta.  We also have a gigantic pyramid erected on the banks of our important river (that houses the largest Bass Pro ever!). So there you go, the kids went dressed as Memphis, Egypt.  Reese was a Nile crocodile.

Lila was a mummy, though not a scary, haunting mummy.  Mattie instructed her to tell people that she was a historical portrayal of how the ancient Egyptian people buried their dead.  She usually got an extra piece of candy when she rattled that little tidbit off to people.

And Matilda, she was Cleopatra the Queen, of course.

And for the record, it would probably be easier to put eyeliner on Cybill than it was to make up Mattie’s eyes.  My word! I’ve never seen someone blink so much and I wasn’t even trying to get a nice thin line on her lids!!!! It’s nice to know that though it might match her attitude every other day, goth make-up is out of the question for now.

As they ran along in front of us, Lila fearless except for the demon house (you kind of have to see it to understand it….or maybe check back in the archives because I know I have mentioned it in Octobers of the past), Reese walking a little to comfortably in his reptile suit as though that is what he would prefer to be wearing on a more regular basis, and Mattie chatting about how they were going to split this all up and what she was going to trade for what…….I wondered how much longer we had of October 31st’s spent like this one. Not trying to get all sappy and sentimental as I so often do, but I know days our numbered.  Pretty soon, Mattie will prefer to just stay home and hand out the candy or will have something more interesting to go to by herself or just won’t want to dress up with her little brother and sister.  Reese won’t want to go without Mattie because social situations make him uncomfortable. I can see in my future just going to Target and buying him the $7.99 bag of mixed Mars miniature candy bars, which he will eat on the couch watching The World Series and wearing an Alligator costume because it just feels so right.

Lila will Trick or Treat forever, if given the opportunity, but will probably only need supervision for about another year. And Brandon and I will be those sweet married couples we see who both come to the door every time the bell rings, because I am a glutton for emotional punishment and I prefer him to be next to me when I am having a sad moment about my children growing up.

In the mean time, I will just spread out the mountain of candy that my three children procured for us (me) and stifle those sad thoughts with chocolate and sugar.  Happy Thursday everyone!

 

What We Do On the Weekends

Mattie went to a slumber party Saturday night.  As a little girl, when I used to go off on my Saturday night sleepovers usually to my friend Stephanie’s house, when my mom returned to get me the next morning I always wondered what in the world had they done without me. I guess I just assumed that they did absolutely nothing, that time just sort of stopped until morning and I needed to be picked up.  Well, Mattie girl, in case you were wondering what your family does with you away, it looked a lot like this:

These two had been inspired to do some alligator wrestling earlier in the afternoon and then were so cozy in their reptilian outfits, that they opted out of changing when I gave them the opportunity. We needed to take Mattie to her party and they decided they would just put on shoes….no need to change.  After delivering Mattie, we decided that maybe we needed donuts.  Our evening progressed from Gibson’s donuts to our couch where we spent the rest of the night switching between two games.  Reese told me they were going to go upstairs and change into the Grizzlies clothes, to be proper fans.  I guess I assumed my children would return in Memphis themed t-shirts sans the alligator suits.  I was wrong:

They wore these costumes all evening long, finally taking them off to go to bed.

***

In other news, my days have once again been busy.  Last Friday I went on a field trip with Reese’s class to the Harvest Festival at the Botanic Gardens. That was the first and only day that it has been chilly all fall and I spent the better part of my time wearing small children to keep up all warm.  The kids had a great time, despite being cold, and even though I have been to this particular Festival about 6 times – they always find a way to make it fresh and new.  I know he has been there in the past, but this year there was a grandfatherly man roaming around with his guitar playing kids songs.  Well, I assumed they were kids songs, but when lunch time came and we took our spots amongst all the other kids picnicking by the giant outdoor stage,  it surprised me a little to hear that he had just started into a very intense version of Stairway to Heaven.  Nothing says children’s Harvest Festival quite like old Led Zeppelin.  He chased that with a little “Dust in the Wind” by Kansas.  Nothing like the greatest Rock n’ Roll hits from the 70’s and 80’s to get in you the spirit.

They made bat masks….yeah, I wouldn’t have guessed that either.

Reese walked around the whole garden with his arm hooked through his buddy’s in order to keep warm.

***

After our field trip, the girls and I went on a little field trip of our own to the Holiday Market (or something festive sounding like that).  It’s one of those big shopping events where lots of local vendors and artists bring their wares and you can do some Christmas shopping or at least get ideas.  I rarely buy anything, but like to go and look just the same.  I thought the girls were old enough to enjoy it and I remember doing things like this with my mom, so I thought it would be a fun little girls date.  Turns out it’s also a very expensive mommy/daughter date.  All the booths that I usually just walk right on by, they needed to check out.  And when your girls are standing in front of you, both holding cheer leading uniforms for your favorite teams for their dolls (which for one daughter, her days of caring about her dolls you know are numbered and none of us are ready for what comes after that!)…..how do you say no to that?  That is $50 I would have never spent had they not been with me.  I think they touched one of everything, took every business card and greedily sampled every dip, muffin mix and complimentary candy that was in reach of them.  We also left with Mattie carrying a rather hefty, paper bag of those German sugar and cinnamon almonds.  Again, something I would never have purchased had it not been for her.

Posing with her doll in their matching cheer uniforms.

They are excited to go again and I am excited that we had such a pleasant time, just us girls.  Next time, however, I will make them take their own money.

***

And because there is no better way to complete your weekend when it has started off with a field trip and shopping, Saturday after church, the family loaded up and headed off to the woods for our First Annual Adventurer Camping trip.  We headed off to the woods but barely got 5 miles down the road when we had to turn around and come back for something.  This trend continued 2 or 3 more times.  Let me just take a moment to say that I have never claimed to be a good planner and I have said many times that this whole leadership role thing that I have found myself in…..it’s not really in my wheelhouse.  I feel like I have done an adequate job of warning people and I shouldn’t be blamed for my shortcomings.  I am pretty proud of myself for figuring out a grocery list for 6+ families and all of my family had appropriate clothing for our night in the woods.  I’m not saying its not important or wasn’t there in the past, but I don’t think I am the only other person who wouldn’t immediately put extension cord on the list of things to take on the camping trip.  About 45 minutes later than we intended, we finally arrived at our camping spot.  We weren’t the first ones there, but certainly weren’t the last.

Everything seemed to go fine, tents were put up without any problem, hot dogs were roasted and the kids were appropriately sticky from s’mores.  Our first half of Operation take the kids to the woods seemed to have been a success.  But then what? It was pitch black outside and felt like it must be the middle of the night.  The boys decided to wrestle and play football and the girls felt like playing games that involved a lot of screaming.  Kids in the woods are 50 times louder than kids in a normal setting and we parents tried our best to keep them quiet, constantly reminding them that we had lots of neighbors and it was very late and people might be trying to sleep.  Turns out, it was only about 7:45 and all these kids had afternoon naps before they came.  We were crazy if we thought anyone would be sleeping.

The little girls preferred to play in the dirt…..oh Lila and your jeans….

That night ended up being the longest night ever.

The Nelson Men and their tent

I think we all eventually retired to our tents at about 9:45, the kids falling asleep, but we parents spending a restless night rolling in circles trying to find a point on our bodies that wouldn’t ache or lose circulation when we laid on it.  It also seemed that when we got our kids calm and quiet, the real noise picked up from the campsites around us.  It’s a special kind of miserable, lying wide awake because your whole right side is throbbing and you are tangled in a sleeping bag, listening to your wild neighbors and regretting your choice to set your tent up so close to the road.  It was probably around midnight that I just came to grips with the fact that a car was probably going to plow into our tent but it would hit me first and I would die fast, so I should probably just go to sleep so I wouldn’t know when it was about to happen.  And then promptly at 6:30, Reese woke up and announced he had to go to the bathroom.  They were all up then, our new day starting without a drop of caffeine in sight. I wouldn’t say that I am looking forward to or am even ready to think about our next Adventurers camping trip – but overall, I would consider our camping trip a success.

***

Its been a fun October, but I am ready to move on to November.  My calendar isn’t nearly as full for the next 30 days.  I’m sure it will get that way, but for the moment, there are perfectly blank days that only have a number and the day of the week on their agenda.  Mattie just returned from Outdoor School and it seems like she has spent more days away from home than she has actually here. Have a great week ahead and make sure to pack an extension cord!

 

Do You Smell Pumpkin Spice?

It is Fall here in the Mid-South.  The calendar says it is anyway and though the weather still feels eerily similar to August and my youngest is still confused as to why we can’t go to the pool anymore because it still feels like summer – folks around town are trying their hardest to celebrate the season.  The porches in our neighborhood are looking fantastic and festive (our neighbors across the street and over a touch have this incredible, giant spider with a glowing egg sac that my kids are fascinated with because the egg sac kind of looks like it’s swarming.  I am not a fan of spiders, especially not the kind that take up a third of the front of your house, but I will definitely give this family props for their simple yet mind-blowing decor.  I found Reese in his room peeking through the window slats the other night, when he was supposed to be in bed, just staring at it.  I have a feeling one of these nights I will find him out in the street….gawking.)

Lila and I took Mumsey and Cybill to the little Pumpkin Patch down the street before she had to leave last Monday. I was pleasantly surprised at how well Cyb did this year, compared to last.  Last year, she tried to walk all over the little tiny pie pumpkins and sent an avalanche of them rolling through the parking lot.  There was also a lot of carrying them around in her mouth that I’m pretty sure isn’t encouraged.  The sweet ladies that were supervising the pumpkins never actually told us to leave, but I’m pretty sure that they were thinking it.  This year, no avalanche, just some very intent sniffing……and she dragged me all over the place because every pumpkin needed to be investigated.  We also went before they were technically open so I didn’t feel the scrutiny of the Pumpkin People.  I give it another 2 years and then Cybill will also be able to pose nicely with the pumpkins and take perfect Labrador Retriever Calendar worthy pictures.  Lila and Mumsey have it down pretty good already though:

We have also made our trip to The Big Red Barn to pick our own front porch pumpkins.  When I was a little girl, the front porch pumpkin was a lone soldier who we selected from a giant, cardboard bin at the grocery store.  In high school, I remember there being a paper pumpkin posted up on my bulletin board in the Yearbook office where I worked.  In college, I think one of those tiny little pie pumpkins lived in my dorm room through the month of October and when Brandon and I were first married, I think we just ate a pumpkin pie at Marie Callender’s and called it good.  I’m not sure where between 2002 and now, front porch pumpkins got so elaborate, but now there are like 50 different types of pumpkins available and the solitary orange gourd on the front stoop has been replaced by these huge, arrangements.  I am kind of hoping that one of my daughters will decide to get married in the fall so that we can just decorate with the pumpkins that I am already buying every year for my front porch. Pumpkin purchasing is a serious task too because if you are like us, you like to stack your pumpkins.  This involves making a lot of little pumpkin alters around the Big Red Barn to make sure that you get two towers that are somewhat symmetrical to flank the front door.  Again, this seems like it would be fairly easy, but you would be surprised.  And we aren’t even going to talk about how difficult it can be to maneuver those carts through the narrow aisles and out to your car after you finally make your pumpkin selections.  I’m pretty sure I took out $500 worth of giant mums and a cornstalk or two.  My apologies Big Red Barn! In an attempt to make up for my horrible wagon driving, I bought this probably over-priced pre-decorated and beautiful Razorback pumpkin.

I think I was also feeling a little sad because this is the last year that I will be taking Lila with me for this annual autumn geometry lesson.  *This is not an activity that would be the least bit productive should I wait to do it when I had all my children with me.  Maybe when they are over 18 and coming back from college to visit, but until then………their visits with have to be for picture-taking purposes only.

A funny little side note while we are on the subject of Fall and pumpkins, so the other day friend Steph texted me this little guy:

I’m sure she thought it would get a chuckle out of me, but I found it absolutely hilarious because this is what Lila was wearing at the exact moment that her meme came through:

 

You aren’t really celebrating until you sport themed clothing with your monogram on them!  At least that’s how we live our lives here in the south.

Happy Fall Y’all

I May Have Disappeared There For a Bit

So it’s October now – I’m pretty sure that when I left you all for my unintentional sabbatical it was just the first of September. For any of you wondering how Reese’s school pictures went, well from what I understand the photographer got my special instructions and loved them so much that they hung them up on the bulletin board at the Lifetouch headquarters here in town.  However, by the looks of the proof that came home with my boy, they didn’t actually follow my requests.  Also, I am very curious as to what exactly happened between my front door and picture taking because his hair was absolutely gigantic! I know he has been in desperate need of a haircut, but it was wet when he left and should have been curled up fairly tight. Instead, its probably bigger than I have ever seen it and even has a few right angles and corners where it seems to be reaching to go as high as possible.

It’s tempting to buy a sheet just because they look so bad.  Actually, now that I’m staring at them, he looks just like my First Grade school pictures!!!! I bet I have a copy of that here somewhere because its definitely one of my worst.  I’m going to have to hunt around……

Mattie’s picture was neither good nor bad, which for a school picture is usually considered a win. But Reese will definitely have a date for retakes.

I’ve been busy since September, and this blog isn’t the only thing that has been neglected.  Obviously, Reese’s hair hasn’t had a hair cut since sometime early this summer (I fixed that though last Tuesday and we are all feeling more comfortable these days.) and every morning when I brush my teeth and see what has become of my eyebrows, I shake my finger at myself and feel momentarily shamed. But there has just been way too much on my plate to take the time to crawl into my sink and pull tiny hairs out of my face.  One has to be in a special state of mind for such a task and I have been far too busy tackling other things as of late.

So since September, we have had company every single weekend except for that one weekend when we were the company somewhere else. We’ve had soccer on Sundays and what feels like every day in between, I’ve orchestrated the kids’ school’s annual garage sale, planned and executed a Fall Festival and even had a birthday in there.  It might not seem like a whole lot to people who have real careers, but you would be surprised at how stressful it can be trying to find a local craftsman to make you a custom corn hole game on a deadline during festival season.

I still have birthday messages on my phone that I haven’t had a chance to listen to.  I know they are there, but they came in during a super busy time and I want to be able to actually savor them.  Today just might be the day!

So here are a few pictures of our events from the last month:

Uncle Loren and Aunt Brandi came to visit us from Alabama.  They had promised Reese they would come and watch a soccer game last spring, but when last spring got turned sideways those plans didn’t really work out.  But they made it this year and as Reese stated, “I’ve gotten better this year so it was probably a more exciting game for them to watch.” I’m pretty sure they weren’t coming for athleticism, but that’s great if he feels like they got the biggest bang from their buck.

Getting tickles

Lila and I have been to Target ALOT! And the other day we had such a good time with these wolf masks that we decided they should just come home with us.  Lila sports hers as often as possible.

Lila and Layla had Parent’s Day at Dance Class….they are in the blue class now and its way more exciting than the Pink Class.

So excited to get to their class!

I had that birthday I mentioned earlier.  My favorite ladies took me to see Beauty and the Beast.  Uncle Chris and Aunt Shannie were able to make it for the weekend (per our arrangements when they decided they needed to move away, they are required by law to come back for my birthday every year) and we met their precious new baby, Hank.

He’s only 3 months old!!!!

We love the new baby, but the old man is still her favorite!

 

Turns out I had a themed birthday, Tennessee inspired string art

Reese did a Hero presentation at school and picked his Papa as his notable character.  At first, I understood the project to be someone from history or literature that they were to select.  However, the boy seemed set on his Papa and let me know that since Papa had been written about in the newspaper, that counted as literature and history.  How am I supposed to argue with that?  He decorated his poster himself – primarily because he was supposed to, but also because I was up to my eyeballs in a stress headache trying to figure out if we would have food for the Filipino booth at the festival or not.  I thought he did a pretty great job for someone who finds arts and crafts to be very complicated.  Definitely not in his wheelhouse.  He dressed as Papa – navy pants, a white polo with official Nashville Fire Department badges on the sleeves and a flashlight and radio hooked in his belt.  I’m pretty sure Papa doesn’t wear velcro Adidas sneakers, but we also had an official badge and a real turnout helmet that has scratches and dents all in it from seeing real “live-action” so no one really paid attention to the footwear.

I injured my neck in a tragic car dancing accident and have been going to physical therapy with my new Best Friend Richard over the last few weeks. *Let me take a second here to do a quick public service announcement – do not underestimate the importance of sleeping on a decent mattress on a bed designed for someone who is not 8.  Every since Cybill decided to relieve herself on our bed, Brandon and I had been sleeping all over the place in our house.  Mainly, he slept on the guest bed downstairs, but I would bounce from kid to kid and even the couch, because I can’t hear anything in the downstairs guest room.I love my children, but I have not invested in decent mattresses for them.  They each have a very healthy college fund and two of them will be requiring weddings, so I think its reasonable to scrimp here and there. Also as a side note, we have been auditioning mattresses that we’ve heard about on Facebook and NPR.  They have arrived on our front porch in either really large purple body bags or in really small boxes that in no way looked large enough for a queen size mattress.

All of our guests have also had the chance to do blind sleep tests. Its been very exciting and we are almost ready to publish our findings.  Anyway, all that just to say that I think my neck was already on the verge of disaster before I finished it off.  This was not the ideal time for a neck injury and I am probably doing all kinds of damage to my liver with the large doses of Tylenol.  But I seem to be on the mend…..as long as I keep doing my therapeutic exercises.  Lila has had to come to PT with me a few times and neither she nor Richard are comfortable with it.  On these rare occasions I have fallen to the cheap parenting method called “Bribery”.  If she could sit on her little seat, watching her movie and not come over and ask me anything or touch anything (I enjoy 20 minutes of having my neck gently shocked while wrapped in layers of heating pads) – then we would go to the pink cookie store and she could pick out anything.

She selected the football…..because we are strong believers in fall and the SEC.

We have also been to visit Papa and Nene on our annual Pumpkin Patch visit.  Every year, I wonder if this is going to be the year when the kids seem a little “over it”.  They are creatures of habit and tradition and love to look forward to things that they have enjoyed in the past, but you just wonder when that year is going to be that pig races and corn, lots and lots of corn, no longer hold their attention.  Well, it certainly wasn’t this year! Reese decided to join his sister on the rock wall and was super proud of himself.

Lila had a blast on the mini zipline and the kids loved having Uncle Chris and Aunt Shannie come and play with us, too.

 

Every year, there is some new, fantastic slide and this year’s was incredible fast!

Lila and Uncle Chris

Swinging, any kind of swinging is a must!

And they had carnival throwing games that even Nene got in on.

The petting zoo is always a favorite, my girls love them some donkeys!

And who is going to pass up a chance to ride in a barrel cow train?

She had to sit in the “Birdie” barrel!

We had a fantastic time and I love this tradition that we have created.

Mattie leaves for Florida in a few hours.  Yet another one of those things that I have been scrambling to get ready for.  She is going with her Pathfinder club to a camporee with hundreds of other clubs and her leader requested that they bring their packed suitcases to their meeting last week.  This was a bit premature for the procrastinators that are Mattie’s parents, but I can definitely see the reasoning behind it.  But that just meant that last night I didn’t have any rushing around distractions to focus on rather than the fact that my child is traveling to the edge of the country without me.  I obviously can’t go and Brandon has this whole work thing, but I am sending the largest Dad friend that we have to be her parent in our absence.  Technically, I guess he is going to parent his own child, but I feel much better knowing that “Uncle Robert” will be within arms reach of her at all times. I’m not sure when she got old enough to do things like this.  Because all I see is a girl who didn’t want to wash her face Sunday night because she wanted to look like this forever:

I hope you feel all caught up now and I’ll see ya next month.  Just kidding……Maybe…….

Today is picture day.

Thankfully, this picture was taken yesterday morning when it was Spirit Day and the kids were supposed to be dressed as animals.  One little bit of parenting advice that I will happily share, as it has served me very well.  When your kids are about 6, invest in a really good animal costume – ideally something that doesn’t have legs that they can grow out of.  It’s been about 4 years ago that I bought Reese this bear costume and its come in very handy on a surprisingly large amount of times.  Granted, my children have been known to wear costumes as regular clothing, but even aside from that this bear suit has earned it’s keep.  And that bug/fly/mosquito outfit Mattie was sporting…..best $15 I’ve ever spent at Pottery Barn Kids!

My kid might be getting her booty handed to her in 6th grade as far, as schoolwork goes (that is a story for another day, but lets just say that if 6th grade were a knife fight, Mattie came armed with a popsicle stick and I would like my money back from 5th grade.) – but boy she can shine with school spirit!

Like I was saying earlier, today is picture day.  Forms came home about a week ago for us parents to fill out, kids name, grade, teachers name and any special instructions.  I quickly filled out my form and then found myself writing away feverishly in the special instructions, thankful that they had provided me this space  because the boy, especially, would need special instructions.  This is what I wrote on the form that went back to school and will be given to the photographer who takes my child’s 2nd grade yearbook pictures:

My mother’s heart prayers are along these lines today,”Please Dear Jesus, help Mattie to not be having a Science test today because that quiz broke her spirit, and as much as I want her to learn responsibility…..Please not today! And please help the photographer to follow the instructions.  Everything will be fine if he just makes fake flatulent noises.  Picture day is stressful for all of us. Amen.”

I have done my part, said my prayers, and now I will just cross my fingers and wait.

***

Yesterday was an exciting day…..even if it hadn’t been Animal Day.  First, it was the beginning of the hot lunch program at the kids’ school.  It only comes one day a week and it isn’t anything terribly exciting, but wow what a carefree feeling when I wake up and remind myself that there aren’t any lunches to be made that day! It’s the little things, people.

Our second thrill of the day came when we went to our fancy kids clothes store, home of all things smocked, monogrammed and giant grosgrain bows – to get a birthday present.  The store itself was having a birthday party and there was a full on petting zoo in the parking lot! This store is in a fancy part of town, in a fancy shopping center and full of things that are precious, but cost more than my children probably do……and they had goats running around in a sort of corral formed by a large animal trailer and an assortment of Range Rovers, Mercedes and Lexus SUVs.  Reese, of course, was weirded out by the whole thing and chose to sit on the sidewalk away from all the little kids and animals, but enjoyed glass after glass of complimentary lemonade. Lila went right to work on a forced binge these poor animals were being subjected to.  I truly hope those goats hadn’t been fed….ever…because the amount that my child alone was dishing out could probably fill up the crater that is in my front yard.  I expected Lila to enjoy herself, but I had no idea she would take her animal husbandry skills so seriously.  When I suggested we go inside to get our gift (after 17 glasses of lemonade for Reese and what felt like an eternity watching the little one force feed livestock), she glared at me with tears in her eyes and stated that “She hadn’t tended to all the goats yet! *Tended and mended are her two new words this week and it’s really funny to hear her talk about mending things in this very disposable society that we live in now in the 21st century* I told her to finish up, each animal only got 3 strokes though – she was brushing them with a rounded brush that looked just like the one I use to clean our toilet.  Apparently, the animals at Happy Times Farm travelling petting zoo aren’t picky about how or what they are groomed with….as long as it has bristles.

And Mattie, Mattie acted a little suspicious of the whole thing and I found myself actually watching her more closely than I was watching Bird.  She lingered especially close to this one particular pony, circling it at times and there was a lot of excessive hovering.  I wasn’t sure if she was having an Animal Rights moment and was considering freeing the pony or what.  She finally came over and informed me that she would like to ride the pony and since she has taken a horsemanship class, she didn’t see why this should be much of a problem.  I told her that I really didn’t think that was the best idea and since there wasn’t a handler over by the pony offering rides, we should just assume that the pony was only for petting and maybe the occasional sitting on for a picture. Sometimes I get the giggles at inappropriate things and times.  This was one of those times, out of nowhere it just struck me that we were in a parking lot full of children dressed in heirloom-looking clothing, sweating like little pigs and petting a trailer full of goats, and my preteen daughter was having a teenage moment, setting her heals in ready to battle with me about whether or not she should be allowed to ride the bow wearing pony around the parking lot.  Why was it wearing a saddle if it wasn’t meant to be ridden? This was an exact quote, “It’s sending a mixed message, mom!”

Thankfully, there was birthday cake inside the store.  If only all confrontations, battles of the will and other uncomfortable situations could have a cake escape option.

***

And our final exciting event came right after dinner.  Reese was walking upstairs and realized that a giant box had been delivered on our front porch.  Packages are a very big deal around here because they don’t show up all that often and I guess because we just get excited VERY easily.  Even when we know it’s just new air vent filters or something, that moment of opening is just as enjoyable as if it were an anxiously awaited birthday gift. Fleeting, but for that tiny moment, just as exhilarating.

They brought the box into the kitchen and began cutting into it.  Lila stood on the table screaming because it was all so incredible.

Better than when the PlayStation was unwrapped, probably not, but still pretty high up there.  One of Brandon and I’s very first large purchases was our first house.  The next very mature and adult seeming purchase was an 8ft privacy fence.  We followed that purchase up by bringing Crosby home the next day, puppies need fences.  And about a month after Crosby settled in, we purchased our Dyson “Animal” vacuum.  It probably cost more than the dog and the fence and I remember being on a payment plan for it.  That was 14 years ago.  Our Dyson worked harder than anyone else in this family, sucking up probably 500 boxes of Cheerios, the equivalent of 50 full-grown yellow labs (in dog hair), 25 sand boxes and 12 sets of Legos. We aren’t even given to talk about the Ark that it could fill up with “Mystery Mess”. It was time to retire our old friend.  Brandon and I took turns vacuuming, one doing the work and the other standing back watching in amazement. The biggest kid actually got her feelings hurt because we used it while she was in the shower and she didn’t get to watch.

I plan to use the new vacuum as leverage for whoever gets their piano practicing done first this afternoon.  And maybe if Mattie can get ahold of those grades, she can be rewarded with getting to detail my car all by herself.  Aim high little lady!

Happy Thursday!

Potluck, Again

Today is going to be one of those potluck posts where you will get several very random little bits of things, and none of them will really go together, but it’s stuff that I want to share and want to remember.

It’s been a while now, 11 days to be exact, but back on September 1 Memphis had a big ol’ party celebrating 901 day.  September first also happens to be the area code around here and I guess it just seemed like it would make a fine day for some city pride.  There was a huge event downtown at our minor league baseball stadium, with lots of local groups,charities and organizations getting the chance to share with their community.  And there was also a local celebrity kickball game.  I think kickball is a lost sport.  My children have never played as far as I know, but back in 1986-1994 it was a constant in children’s lives just like pb&j.

My children were thoroughly entertained by the spectacle going on out on the field.  Yes, that would be Elvis out there playing (he was shortstop)….I said local celebrities, remember and you can’t get much more celebrated or local than the Kind himself.

Reese and Lila were very excited to get to meet Rocky the Redbird, giving high fives and Lila stroked his fury beak for an awkwardly long amount of time.

Mattie had no real interest in the costumed bird, but her curiosity was peaked when Lila asked to go and say hello to the Grizz Girls, our local NBA team’s cheerleaders. They happily obliged when I asked if I could take a picture of my girls with them.

It wasn’t until I was back at my seat and looking at my picture that I realized Lila had a giant lollipop stick in her mouth.  Maybe not the best photo taken of any of them, but it captures the memory nonetheless.

We had a great time and felt an extra dose of pride in this city that has welcomed us and made us its own.  I recently saw this quote about Memphis the other day and I think it sums things up perfectly.

“If you’re here long enough you get to the gold beneath the grit, and then you fall in love with the grit itself.”

***

This box arrived in the mail the other day.  It is addressed to my husband, but it is from Kate Spade and I’m pretty sure that I have a pretty good idea of what is inside of it.  I’m also pretty positive that it isn’t actually for Brandon, but is instead for his wife who has a birthday coming up here soon.  It’s been driving me crazy and he finally moved it, but now that is driving me crazy because I don’t know where it is and should there be an emergency, I won’t know how to rescue it.

***

And while we are on the subject of bags, I was at Target the other day and saw that they have the cutest paper bags there!  I have never actually received my purchases in these bags, always the white and red plastic ones, but these are just adorable to me! Okay, maybe the side with the single “Bullseye” isn’t incredible and the parts that advertise the Target Redcard distract.

But this side, I would totally reuse that as a gift bag! Don’t be surprised if come Christmas, there is a tribe of these babies under my tree tied with green ribbons.

***

Lastly, I will leave you with a sweet picture of my everyday ManCrushMonday

Happy week before my birthday Friends! Be productive and nice to each other.

It’s The End of The World

Two things I never thought would happen in my life have actually happened in the last three days.  I was awakened by an earthquake rattling the walls and the chimes in my mother’s grandfather clock banging against each other Saturday morning.  Not having any real experience with earthquakes and initially assuming that what I was experiencing MUST be a tornado because that’s what makes walls shake and rumbling sounds in Northwest Arkansas, I was completely confused when I jumped out of bed and found a perfectly lovely day.  Craziest thing ever and I was pretty sure there for a bit that this was the end of the world.

And when I thought that things couldn’t get any battier, I found myself taking a relaxing soak in my jacuzzi tub this evening.  That one might be a head scratcher to some of you readers.  Most people soaking in their own tub in their own house isn’t a crazy life experience.  It is, however, when you have had your life tied up in a plumbing stand-off between crooked plumbers, your home warranty and your extended home warranty for 7 months.  I have had a total of 8 different plumbing companies come to visit my home on multiple occasions, usually without first announcing their arrivals.  I have been promised things (lied to) and had a huge crater dug in my front yard.  We shut the door to our downstairs bathroom the second week of february and haven’t set foot in there since.  It isn’t drama free yet. I still have a few more dates with my new besties at Snyders Services, and I’m pretty sure that when I let the water out of my tub tonight, it just flowed freely out into the yard – but I’ll take what I can get.

***

On another note, I have a child who I am at a loss with.  She’s not a naughty girl, she’s not a malicious girl, but sometimes she thinks this is her world and we’re all just livin’ in it. She gets frustrated quickly and annoyed on the turn of a dime.  But our biggest issue lately has been a lack of respect.  I’m sure she isn’t the only 11 year old who has no problem using their siblings things, but refuses to share anything of hers with anyone else.  I’m probably not the only other mother out there who sometimes wonders if the child would sell their siblings for more “stuff”.  Their things would be saved from a burning house before their sister.  If you have sweet little toddlers, you will have no idea what I’ve talking about.  And if you have teenagers, you are probably laughing hysterically at me and thinking “just wait sister, this is only the beginning”.  Mattie and I actually had a conversation the other day that went a little something like this,

Mattie: (in a very sarcastic, sassy tone) “I bet Mumsey never did anything like that to you!” ( I may have just snatched her new water bottle away from her and tossed it out the window *I would also like to say for the record that I went right back and retrieved said water bottle so as not to be a litterer, but in her mind it is gone forever. I would also like to add that I had asked her repeatedly to please remove said water bottle from it’s location on my console in the car because I didn’t want it to spill.  At the time of my tossing the water bottle out the window, it had just spilled all over the console and covered my phone in a wave of gatorade.  There was absolutely no concern about my phone or the fact that it went completely blank.  The girl had just ruined my phone. After I had said very nicely, several times to move the water bottle.  But I was the monster for chucking the water bottle out the window.)

Me: “I bet I never acted like this to Mumsey!”

*What Mattie doesn’t know is that I was a very difficult toddler, famous in several states for my horrific tantrums, and I probably lost my parents several friends during those early years.  But I have never given her attitude since I have been over the age of 4. Anyway, the final straw came not this past Sunday, but the Sunday before.  I don’t even remember what it was this time, but Brandon and I had had enough and knew that we had to do something drastic to get her attention.  Before you judge me here and throw out all these ways how what I’m about to tell you really wasn’t the appropriate action, let me say that I agree with you.  I have no idea if this was a good idea or completely ridiculous, but it felt like we needed to at least do something.  We had taken away privileges, she had endured hours of my lectures, and her phone and computer have been gone now for weeks already. She’s only 11, so it’s not like she has a big social life and it didn’t seem fair for her teammates to take away soccer….plus we have already paid for that.

So we took away everything else.

Because she seems to put more value on her things, than the feelings of those around her…..the things would have to go.  I stripped her room of everything else except for the essentials.  Her cozy bedding and lovies she likes to sleep with.  Her lamp and pictures, even the artwork on her walls and especially her library.

It’s up to her when she gets it back, when we start seeing a change in her attitude towards the rest of us and a respect for the things and feelings that are important to them – she will start getting her room back.  I have no idea if this was a good idea, but it definitely got her attention.

I’m also amazed at how even though she has nothing in her room, it can still be a mess.

I also want to share this photo because it makes me smile.  This little girl, with all her thought and preteen emotions, will frequently spend her rides home from school staring out her car window trying to escape from and ignore her younger siblings.  On this particular day, she was especially annoyed at the rest of us for doing who knows what and had turned to her faithful window.  She sat there, staring out and sulking…….with a pipe cleaner horn attached to her head.  I have no idea if she was trying to channel her inner narwhal or unicorn and I didn’t dare ask.  Honestly, I’m not even sure she realized it was on her head, but it is exactly the mental picture I will carry forever of my little girl on the cusp of her teenage years. Do not mention this photo to her at all should you ever see her or we will all be in trouble.

What’s Right In Front of Me Part2

It seemed a good time to share another edition of “What’s right in front of me” , where I share a picture of what is directly in my line of vision at the moment…..or a few moments ago (days). I have said before that my children love LOVE costumes.  Over the past 4 years that this blog has been around, there have been many photos of my children doing routine, ordinary things while sporting less than ordinary clothing….like a bear suit. The costumes are getting smaller, but my children wear them just the same.  Pottery Barn Kids, why don’t you make your seasonal costume collection in middle school sizes? So without further ado, this was my view while sipping my coffee and trying to talk to my mom on the phone:

No big deal, just a giant insect casually lopping through my entryway.

Happy Thursday and Happy 901 Day! We Memphians are especially excited for today because it happens to be our area code.  I’m pretty sure that means there will be fireworks tonight.

*** As a side, the wings of that bug costume used to hit right at his wrists about 10 minutes ago…..he’s metamorphisising right in front of me!

Message Received

While we were at Family Camp, I experienced something.  I have no idea how much thought actually went in to it, how much planning – when it was imagined up, did the orchestrators have any idea what affect it might have?  As I mentioned in my previous marathon picture post about camp, there were skits every night at campfire.  These skits were silly and cheesy, but always had a point.  They built on each other and each night we learned a little bit more about the characters and their quest.  As goofy as they sometimes were, these skits had a point to them, “What we want versus what we need”.  The characters all wanted something, something that didn’t seem ridiculous or undeserved, but definitely a want rather than a need. They were following a map to this wonderful place that would have just what their heart was desiring.  It’s probably not much of a stretch for your imagination to guess that ultimately, the point of these skits was to remind us that God knows better then us what we want AND need and He is waiting to grant us all of that when we are finally with Him in heaven.

We had been having “church” on Saturday.  The kids had been off with the camp staff “rescuing” the characters from the skit (they had chosen the wrong door and been tricked by a satan-y character at campfire the night before.) and all at once they came bursting through the doors of the chapel, so excited about their mission.  Our skit characters all realized that they had made the wrong choice and had been rescued, they also realized that because of their mistakes they now knew exactly which door they should have chosen.  They each got very excited and invited all of us to come with them, come with them to “La Puerta”!  They each took a section of us the audience and even though we all knew we were probably just going to the cafeteria for lunch, you couldn’t help but get a little excited, too.

And this is where my memory starts and plays like a movie that I will treasure forever.

The characters were running, with huge smiles on their faces.  College kids dressed as a sailor, a cowgirl, an indian princess and an explorer, turning and motioning for us to come, FASTER! And my kids ran.  They ran as fast as they could toward the same cafeteria where they had been eating all week. To say they were in the moment would be an understatement.  Lila took Jessie the cowgirl’s hand and together they burst through the doors.

I knew that he was just Josiah the horse wrangler.

But for that moment, dressed in a long white robe with the crimson sash, his dark skin and big brown eyes – he truly looked the part.  He knelt down on his knees and called to her, “Lila, I’ve been waiting for you!” He scooped her up and she hugged his neck so hard.

I know it was all just part of a skit, the finale of a beautiful week, and a college boy with olive skin and kind eyes.  But for that moment, seeing this representation of my Savior swinging my baby in absolute delight, with the cafeteria decorated like a royal ballroom – It was like I had been given a tiny glimpse of what Heaven will really be like.  We can read about it and imagine it, but to actually be given a visual of it, that is a treasure I will keep forever.

***

My mom has been sick.  A kidney stone presented itself 2 Sundays ago and last Friday, she made her second visit to the emergency room in 24 hours.  After being in terrible pain off and on all week, after having the ER doctor see that there was a gigantic foreign body stuck inside of her, she was finally deemed sick enough to have some action taken.  Our dear friend Pam called me Friday morning and started our conversation with, “Your mama said you don’t need to come……” Any daughter who is worth anything knows that as soon as someone tell you your mama said you don’t need to come, you best get your bootie to wherever your mama is.

My weekend plans hadn’t included a trip to Arkansas, but that’s where I found myself Friday evening.  Spending the night in a hospital room with my mom, only this time it wasn’t me in the bed wearing the sassy backless nightie and we didn’t stay up into the wee hours admiring a precious new baby.  We did stay up into the wee hours, but that was due to other things.  We made our way back home at around 5 in the afternoon, two exhausted ladies who hadn’t showered and looked like death warmed over….nursing milkshakes and finally feeling a little better.

I stayed until Monday so I could go with her to the urologist.  Not because she wouldn’t be able to understand his instructions or his plans for what to do next, not because he was going to do anything else right away…..honestly, I wasn’t really sure why I had insisted on staying to go with her.  But sitting in the waiting room and then in the treatment room – it hit me like a ton of bricks.  This was the same office where my Poppy had been given a death sentence….twice.  We sat, waiting for the same doctor who nonchalantly told him to go home and get his affairs in order because there wasn’t anything that could be done, staring at an anatomical diagram of just what prostate cancer looks like.  For the record Dr. Kilambi, he outlived your 18 months, I would just like to point out that you were wrong on that.  Worse than all those reminders was the fact that the doctor didn’t even remember who she was.  His face, his words and even his hands, because I think that’s what she probably stared at after she heard those first few damning sentences – all of it will be tattooed in her mind forever.  But he doesn’t even remember her.

And that is why I stayed.

The thought of her going through that kidney stone by herself is what pulled me to Arkansas, but I shudder thinking about her going through that office visit alone even more.

And that is when I think about Lila running, full force into the arms of Josiah the horse wrangler at Family Camp.  That is when I pull that memory out and watch it over and over, closing my eyes and pretending not that I am back in time watching it, but instead, that I am in the future.  That we really are in Heaven and my girl is running to her Creator and Poppy is there and Matt is there and we are all perfect and nothing is ever going to break our hearts again.

“And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.” Revelation 21:4

I wish I had a picture for this.  I wish you could see what I got to see that day in July.  I’m sure that when they were having staff week and learning all the skits and taking CPR classes, there was no idea at all that they would be preparing to send a message that one mama desperately needed to receive.

 

 

What’s Right In Front Of Me

I see some strange things.  Some of them are funny, some of them are disturbing, while others just kind of catch me off guard and I really don’t know what to make of it……so I take a picture.  I’ve decided that there are enough of these opportunities that I should make it a weekly feature.  So without further ado, here is this week’s What’s Right in Front of Me (that was actually taken last week, but it was still right in front of me so I think it counts.)

I could explain why there was a small astronaut in my living room……but some things are better without an explanation.  Happy Thursday, we have dance class, followed by an hour of soccer out on the surface of the sun and then a mad dash to Open House at the kids’ school – Happy is more like Hectic Thursday.