I was to ask my 3yo daughter to settle down earlier, as I have an extremely nasty cold, including a throbbing headache. I explained to her that mommy was sick, and it hurts my head when she was noisy.
She looked at me incredulously and said, “YOU get SICK?!?”
I just looked at her and smiled, and said, “Yes, I do, but it doesn't happen very often, does it?”
“Nope.” she said matter-of-factly, and away she flitted.
I asked my newly 10yo B to write an acrostic poem for his dad for Father's Day, and was so proud of the results that I had to post it:
For always being there for me,
And loving me since before I was born,
To you my teaching was given, and you taught me well,
He who created all the fathers has biven me the best
Everyone has flaws, but you have very little,
Rolling on right to first place, in the father race!
Pretty impressive, eh?
The kids and I were sitting around last night watching the lightning storm, and N. was getting awfully nervous, hiding her face whenever she saw streaks of light. I was telling her that the Bible tells us not to worry, and that God is in control of all things. I. chimed in, “Right, just like when we play on the XBox and we control our guys, right Mom?”
Pretty good analogy for a 5yo, eh? LOL!
Sunday was my 32nd birthday. It started out with quite a bang! We arrived at the airport at 12:01am! Whee! Dh was supposed to arrive around 12:30am, but silly me forgot to bring the paper with the actual flight information on it. How hard could it be, right? Oh, if only I had known! There were five flights coming in from midnight-2am! I will never make that mistake again! To make a really long, boring story short, his flight came in about an hour late (1:15am) and to make matters worse, there was some mix-up with the luggage, so we were at the airport, with five tired children, until 2:30am! This isn't even giving the saga justice, as the whole 2.5 hours at the airport was riddled with mini-adventures, from trying to track down what flight dh was on (never did figure it out until he showed up!), to taking the wrong escalator by myself with the infant car seat with M in it and the two other youngest so-tired-they-were-falling-down children in tow trying to retrieve the van while dh and the older two ran between luggage carousels tracking down dhs luggage. I think maybe you get the gist of the early morning hours of my birthday. But, I GOT MY DH HOME!!!! I didn't have to fall asleep alone!
After church, we went out to dinner with my parents, who paid for dinner and gave me “mad-money”, and my brother bought me a beautiful bouquet of lilies, that are blooming beautifully and smelling up the house!
Monday night, my in-laws had us over to have an ice cream cake and my MIL gave me a really nice fleece jacket, and my FIL gave me a vase of cut roses.
I feel so special!
On Saturday, as we were playing around in town, I decided to take the kids south of Anchorage for a bit of a drive. I had been wanting to go down there, as it has been years since I had ventured that direction. I checked the gas, and since we had half a tank, I didn't fill up before leaving town. We meandered down the Seward highway, stopping at pull-outs to view the ocean. We didn't stop at Bird Point, as I was being thrifty, and didn't want to pay the $5 parking fee to satisfy our curiosity as to why you had to pay to park there, so on to Girdwood we went.
I drove around Girdwood for a little while, trying to find the chalet that dh and I had spent our first wedded weekend together, and not finding it, we started to leave the little village of Girdwood. Just as we were pulling out of the neighborhood where I thought the chalet had been, my gas light came on. That's strange, I thought. I didn't think I had driven the van that much! Oh, well, I guess I will put a little gas in at the turn-off.
I stopped and put just $5 of gas into the van, taking about 5 minutes to do so, and off we headed back to Anchorage. I figured we would have a couple of hours to unwind where we were staying before we needed to leave for the airport to pick up dh.
As we passed Bird Point, I noticed that there was a rescue truck there. Hmm, I thought, I am glad we didn't stop.
We got about halfway back to town, when we came to a dead standstill. Traffic was completely stopped. Just up ahead, there had been a head-on collision. One woman was dead and one man was air-lifted to the hospital. There was debris all over the road.
I fully believe that if I hadn't stopped to get gas, we would have been right in the middle of that accident. Even if that wasn't the accident that God was protecting me from, I wouldn't have had enough gas to make it back to Anchorage since we sat for over 2.5 hours, waiting for the troopers to clean up the mess.
Also, while we were sitting in traffic, several rescue vehicles, including a diver rescue team, passed us, on the way back toward Bird Point. Who knows what we might have encountered there.
Praise God for his tender mercies to my family. Praise God that we are all healthy and happy. Praise God for His Holy Spirit's promptings.
Today we were pretty laid back. It was a gorgeous sunny, summer day, and I couldn't stand to keep the kids inside. I read The Door In the Wall to the kids and asked them the discussion questions while they folded their laundry. I had to keep reminding them to fold while I read, as the story is at its climax! Then they did Spelling tests, and off we went to the library.
I love the library! It is about a 15 minute drive away (14.5 miles), so we don't go very often, but when we do go and the kids pick out books, they always spend the rest of the day reading their “new” books. I had to make them go outside and enjoy the sunshine when we got home. They played around while I mowed the lawn, slipping into the house every chance they got to read. 
How can I complain about that?
Tonight, our “science” was a nice big thunder and lightning show! I (5) is really into reading now, so we sat on the couch watching the lightning, and listening to the thunder in between him reading the sentences in his book.
It was a good school day.
Today we were pretty laid back. It was a gorgeous sunny, summer day, and I couldn't stand to keep the kids inside. We read The Door In the Wall to the kids and asked them the discussion questions while they folded their laundry. I had to keep reminding them to fold while I read, as the story is at it's climax! Then they did Spelling tests, and off we went to the library.
I love the library! It is about a 15 minute drive away (14.5 miles), so we don't go very often, but when we do go and the kids pick out books, they always spend the rest of the day reading their “new” books. I had to make them go outside and enjoy the sunshine when we got home. They played around while I mowed the lawn, slipping into the house every chance they got to read.
Tonight, our “science” was a nice big thunder and lightning show! Ivan (5) is really into reading now, so we sat on the couch watching the lightning, and listening to the thunder in between him reading the sentences in his book.
It was a good school day. |
It was about 3pm, and I was just about ready to head into town to spend the weekend playing with my kids before picking up my husband at the airport, when there was a firm knock on my front door. For those of you who don't know me well, it is actually my only door at the moment, but that is beside the point. The point is that there was a man at my door, and my first thought was, “Oh, now what has happened!” (That actually, wasn't my first thought. My first thought was, “Thank goodness I finished getting dressed out of my pj's a few minutes ago!) I obviously wasn't expecting company, and I had heard a car so I thought maybe my kids were misbehaving or some uncommon occurrence such as that.
It was my neighbor, but it wasn't the kids who were in trouble, it was the purebred Golden Retriever puppy that we just had mostly trained! She had gotten a wild hair and decided to chase his pickup, but did not come away unscathed. “I hit your dog.” the man said.
Ceva lying in the road not moving was the first thing that flashed before my eyes, but that wasn't so. She was just sitting under the house on her rump! Again, you have to know my house. Anyway, I thought, how hurt can she be? She isn't yelping, or licking, or even…hmm…she isn't moving. I tried calling her to get her to come to me to no avail. Of course, the bugs are horrendous out right now, so mosquitoes are buzzing all around us, biting at our arms, neck, face, any exposed skin, and all over Ceva's nose. She won't even try to come to me.
I instruct the boys to retrieve her treats from the house, and I know things must be pretty grim if treats won't even entice her out. I reach under the house and grab her collar and practically have to drag her out. I finally manage to drag her far enough out to scoop her up, all 80 pounds of her or so, and putting one hand under her neck, and one under her hips, I struggle to stand up. All this time, the man is squatting there next to me, telling me about how she ran out in front of him, chasing his front tire. I merely respond that it isn't his fault, that she has to learn that she will never win against a large rapidly moving piece of metal and rubber! ( I didn't really say it quite so eloquently as that, but that is what I would have said, if I could think as well as I can later write! LOL!) And I am thinking, “Why isn't he helping me carry her into the house?!?”
One of my young impressionable young men states that, “At least she won't die.”
To which my unthinking neighbor responds, “Well, I don't know. It is the back leg!”
Oh, great! I think to myself. “What does *THAT* mean?!?!”
Oh, and of course Craig is on the other side of the country!! It can't happen when he is home to deal with it!
Unbeknownst to me, after I have her in the house and the neighbor is gone, and while I am trying to ascertain what is wrong with her, one of my thoughtful children has extracted M, my 5 month old, from his secure rocker, and placed him on my armchair. I glance up and see him sitting there, with three of his siblings all crowded around him trying to make him laugh (a very common occurrence lately in this household, as M has the most adorable laugh!) and think, “Oh, he is safe, they are so crowded around him, surely he won't fall.”
A minute later, I hear a loud thump and a second after that a baby starts screaming! I look up to see the chair completely abandoned, and yes, I mean completely. Even M has left the scene. “****!!” I scream into the phone at my friend who is trying to help me diagnose my damaged canine. I run over to the chair, and find M flat on his face. I scoop him up, apologize to my very conservative Christian friend (the best kind to have, btw!) for swearing, rush into the bathroom to try to find the Arnica cream I so recently acquired, find the MelaGel first and smear it on his forehead, keep searching for the cream, finally find it hiding under a towel on the bathroom counter, smear it over the top of the MelaGel, and plunk down in my armchair to console the crying infant with his favorite comfort food (no, ladies, not chocolate): warm milk.
Well, I will have to finish this story another time (oh, yes, there is more, much more…), as my eyelids are refusing to be propped into the upright position anymore.
Oh, and the baby appears to be fine. The verdict is still out on the dog.
I wrote this late one night and thought I would post it here.
———————-
Deprived of Socialization? by Grace Mischenko
In the news recently, one of the local school districts was being sued for the *third* time.
“A third lawsuit has been filed against the Anchorage School District, claiming the district was negligent in dealing with a 6-year-old boy's assaults on a female classmate.”
Why would I want this kind of socialization for my young innocent children? Does the Bible not command me to not only bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord, but to protect them as well?
Numbers 32:17 says, “Meanwhile our women and children will live in fortified cities, for protection from the inhabitants of the land.”
They are not strong. They should be protected and they must be trained.
2 Timothy 3:15 states what is required as a parent, “And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.”
Why?
Acts 2:39 tells us, “For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the LORD our God shall call.”
In Deuteronomy 4:9 God reminds us to “only be careful, and watch yourselves closely so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen or let them slip from your heart as long as you live. Teach them to your children and to their children after them.”
Our job doesn't stop when *our* children have been trained! We must continue on with our grandchildren.
Deuteronomy 4:10 Assemble the people before me to hear my words so that they may learn to revere me as long as they live in the land and may teach them to their children.
How are we to teach them?
Deuteronomy 11:18-20 Therefore shall ye lay up these my words in your heart and in your soul, and bind them for a sign upon your hand, that they may be as frontlets between your eyes. 19And ye shall teach them your children, speaking of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. And thou shalt write them upon the door posts of thine house, and upon thy gates:
No, I will not expose my children to this kind of socialization rather I will protect them and guide them until they ARE strong in the Lord.
Proverbs 14:26 In the fear of the LORD is strong confidence: and his children shall have a place of refuge.
Deuteronomy 31:6 Be strong and of a good courage, fear not, nor be afraid of them: for the LORD thy God, he it is that doth go with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.
Joshua 10:25 And Joshua said unto them, Fear not, nor be dismayed, be strong and of good courage: for thus shall the LORD do to all your enemies against whom ye fight.
I will not send my children into battle.
1 Chronicles 22:13 Then shalt thou prosper, if thou takest heed to fulfil the statutes and judgments which the LORD charged Moses with concerning Israel: be strong, and of good courage; dread not, nor be dismayed.
And God will bless us for it.
In the news recently, one of the local school districts was being sued for the *third* time.
“A third lawsuit has been filed against the Anchorage School District, claiming the district was negligent in dealing with a 6-year-old boy's assaults on a female classmate.”
Why would I want this kind of socialization for my young innocent children? Does the Bible not command me to not only bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord, but to protect them as well?
Numbers 32:17 says, “Meanwhile our women and children will live in fortified cities, for protection from the inhabitants of the land.”
They are not strong. They should be protected and they must be trained.
2 Timothy 3:15 states what is required as a parent, “And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.”
Why?
Acts 2:39 tells us, “For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the LORD our God shall call.”
In Deuteronomy 4:9 God reminds us to “only be careful, and watch yourselves closely so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen or let them slip from your heart as long as you live. Teach them to your children and to their children after them.”
Our job doesn't stop when *our* children have been trained! We must continue on with our grandchildren.
Deuteronomy 4:10 Assemble the people before me to hear my words so that they may learn to revere me as long as they live in the land and may teach them to their children.
How are we to teach them?
Deuteronomy 11:18-20 Therefore shall ye lay up these my words in your heart and in your soul, and bind them for a sign upon your hand, that they may be as frontlets between your eyes. 19And ye shall teach them your children, speaking of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. And thou shalt write them upon the door posts of thine house, and upon thy gates:
No, I will not expose my children to this kind of socialization rather I will protect them and guide them until they ARE strong in the Lord.
Proverbs 14:26 In the fear of the LORD is strong confidence: and his children shall have a place of refuge.
Deuteronomy 31:6 Be strong and of a good courage, fear not, nor be afraid of them: for the LORD thy God, he it is that doth go with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.
Joshua 10:25 And Joshua said unto them, Fear not, nor be dismayed, be strong and of good courage: for thus shall the LORD do to all your enemies against whom ye fight.
I will not send my children into battle.
1 Chronicles 22:13 Then shalt thou prosper, if thou takest heed to fulfil the statutes and judgments which the LORD charged Moses with concerning Israel: be strong, and of good courage; dread not, nor be dismayed.
And God will bless us for it.
How can I complain about that?