Pickled Okra

Monday.

6:15 am. I push the snooze on my Iphone. 6:25 am. I'm up and head to the kitchen to start the coffee. Wake Asher up.

8:45 am. The kids are all in school. I head out for a 3-mile run. Wow. It's HOT!

9:20 am. Back home. Hit the shower. Eat my 10 o'clock banana. Start the first load of laundry. Read a few paragraphs in "The Road to Serfdom." Ponder government. Ponder the ignorant masses.

Schedule two family photo shoots. Load the dishwasher.

Make a little lunch. Read the opinion section and the editorials. Empty the dryer. Fold a load of laundry. Start another load.

Clean my closet. Start the ironing. Search Netflix. Watch a film (while ironing) about a Palestinian suicide bomber who spends a weekend with Israelis (because he has a faulty switch that doesn't detonate the bomb) and struggles with his mission. All in Arabic and Hebrew. (With English subtitles.)

Make chocolate chip cookies for the kids' after-school snack.

Greet the children. "How was your day?" Take Asher to get his haircut at Becky's. Girls get lost in the woods. (Slight panic on my part even though they were with the two brown Labradors that would lead them home...)

6:00 pm soccer meeting. Dyron volunteers to be Lilli's soccer coach in addition to Eden's coach...despite knowing very little about the game. (No one else is "stepping up.")

Get Eden's alternative "Sight Word" list from her first-grade teacher. This list includes "scientist", "language", "noun"...

Asher brings home his percussion set. He plays his new instruments for an hour. I love to hear him making music.

We eat at Razorback Pizza. The family is oblivious to the homeless woman snitching from the salad bar until I point her out. I decided to go offer her our extra pizza. Funny. She seems to prefer the pickled okra...

Raising a Gentleman

My only son is a young man. He will turn twelve in a few months. I can see his childhood cocoon starting to split as his wings of adulthood finish their growth and get ready for flight. I only hope I have given him the best nourishment of discipline, values, and love needed for strong wings to carry him safely on his journey. I pray he will continue to seek his Creator and his Savior when he needs guidance.
I know he will encounter turbulent winds. Thankfully, he will also experience soft breezes. I am forecasting plenty of adolescent storms in the next few years but hopefully with the proper preparation they can be weathered!

Asher started middle school this week. I didn't shed a tear when he started Kindergarten. (I think I was too busy with the other two babies at home!) I shed many tears last Monday. I also prayed many prayers. I love you, son.

Sweet Potatoes

The phone rang Tuesday morning. I answered the call and it was dad. He asked, "Could you bring your camera when you come out here and take some pictures of my sweet potatoes?" I replied, "Sure." Dad said, "Thanks, sis." He then hung up the phone.

My dad is, and probably always will be, a man of few words.

He also came over to my house and borrowed two of Eden's fake snakes for his apple trees. He was hoping they would keep the birds from eating his apple crop!

I felt like Eve... but the snake didn't say anything to me!

Hot Weather Hallucination

Blame it on Facebook!

I can't believe I haven't posted since June 20th. I feel so guilty. So slovenly. And, so incomplete.

I write a little bit every day. I just haven't been sharing lately. I always have such grand visions of my what my accomplishments will be and how I will share nuggets of wisdom with my audience and then I get distracted by life.

Summer is especially distracting...

Part of the distractions of late have been travel-related. I took the kids to Virginia Christadelphian Youth Camp and then to the Great Lakes Bible School in Wisconsin. That adventure took 14 days. Then, I returned home with our friend, Dwight. (When Dwight is here I get even less done because we like to philosophize while laying poolside in the sun!) The two weeks home were filled with unpacking, loads and loads of laundry, a lot of swim practice, a lot of friends, packing for a second trip, and two swim meets before heading to Grandy and Grammy's house. (Yes. Back to Virginia.)

A great time was had by all in Virginia. We played with the cousins. We ran a 5K. (The first for all three kids.) We went to the beach for a few days. We visited Jamestown. And, we got plenty of quality time with Aunt Martie, Aunt Carmen, and Aunt Shannon!

Now, being back home just means two more weeks to get ready for school. The girls and I spent the morning cleaning and organizing their room. We also started gathering school supplies and I realized how tall they've grown this summer! 

I always want to accomplish more than is possible during a day. I've finally realized how much time three children take out of my schedule. Someone is ALWAYS hungry (must be related to the growing!). Someone is always asking a question (usually about having a friend over). Someone is always needing something...

So, I blame Facebook. It's too easy to type in a quick status update. Instead, I should be taking the time to muse about motherhood in a more thoughtful way. It's therapeutic. I should know this... anything worth anything takes time. However, I will resist taking the opportunity to make an "I will blog more" promise. Because I also know that "good intentions are not enough..." I've got to get to work!

At camp you make life-long friends!

Cousins!

More cousins!

The girls and Aunt Carmen!

Asher catches a wave at Virginia Beach!

Pregnant Aunt Martie looking radiant... only eight weeks to go!

The girls imagine what it would be like to live in a Powhatan Indian house!

"Land ahoy!" Grammy shouts. (Did I mention it was 108 degrees on our visit to Jamestown?)

The kids try on the armor while touring the English fort at Jamestown.

We helped Uncle Ty and Aunt Shannon celebrate their 7th anniversary while in Richmond.

Dwight and Asher... twinkies in their matching shirts.