Knockin' my head Red... and other great colors

Last week we had our first (actually, second) Crayon experience. So for any who are under the misimpression that my life is a cup of tea, let me relate to you the unfortunate (though sovereignly foreordained) crayon fiasco.


My two year old wet the bed, so I found myself doing laundry midweek to keep the stinkiness from getting stinkier.

It was a great plan that was drastically foiled when I discovered that a pair of Isaiah's nice church pants had been housing 3 brightly colored crayons. Too bad I discovered the 3 brightly colored crayons AFTER I had run the laundry (not once, but twice) through the dryer.

Sigh.


Yes. It's true. Not only was the inside of my dryer no longer white, but in fact, the entire super sized load of laundry was now covered in different shades of those 3 brightly colored crayons. Radical Red, Electric Lime, and Black, to be more specific.

Or hereafter named "Knockin' my head, Red," "Screamin Green," and "My name is Mud Black."


Sigh.


Did I mention it was a super sized load full of little boy clothes? And, as you are well aware, it takes a lot of little boy clothes to fill up a super-sized load. I'm sure there were no less than 6 pairs of pants, 8 onesies, 5 pairs of socks, 4 pairs of underwear, jammies, shirts, sheets...and two of Nick's uniform shirts (Thank the Lord, none of his ACU's were in the wash!!)

The good news is that after a lot of elbow grease and following these directions, I was able to salvage about half of the clothes and have a mostly white dryer again.

My advice to all of you? ALWAYS CHECK THE POCKETS!!

Traditions

We had a lovely Thanksgiving. A house full of people and lots of food, laughter and fun.

Every Thanksgiving, I contemplate traditions and how to develop and create in them in our home. Being a military family, traditions seem somewhat harder to establish. We can't commit to going to grandmother's house every year. Or even Black Friday shopping with my sisters (despite how much I'd LOVE to do that). Next year, we might be living in a different state, attending a different church, and in fact, Nick might even be deployed!

So how do you make traditions when so many things change year by year? I'd love to hear your input, but this is what I (WE!!) have come up with!

• Giving thanks- every year we share our thankfulness with our friends and family. There is no criticizing or questioning, we simply share what is on our heart and express God's goodness to us. The big "thank you's" on my heart this year were my 3 little boys smiling around the table, and my husband being safe and sound at home with us, and finally some cold weather to make it seem like Thanksgiving time (57 degrees and overcast!) 

• Eating and making food- it is a day of feasting afterall!! And I always try to go all out with the food and trimmings. Regardless of whether we go somewhere for the holiday meal or host Thanksgiving dinner at our house, I always buy and cook a turkey, and cook and bake, and cook and bake some more. Favorite new side dishes this year were cornbread casserole and sweet tea. Can you tell this was our first Thanksgiving in the South?

• Doing the dishes- my husband started this one on his own: every year he does the Thanksgiving dishes. And he always surprises our guests by telling the ladies' to grab a cup of coffee and relax and then ushering the men into the kitchen, handing out dish towels, and starting an assembly line. Can I even begin to express how much I LOVE this tradition. My husband is amazing.

• Fellowshiping together- I'm not sure I can imagine a Thanksgiving day spent alone. I know that the "who" will potentially change year by year as we move, make new friendships, and occasionally visit family, but every year we've spent time talking, laughing, and enjoying a feast together with friends and love ones. This year we had friends over from church for the meal, and then later in the evening another crowd of friends joined us for dessert and games (about 30 people).

• Playing games- there is something about time off work, coupled with food and fellowship that just makes the perfect atmosphere for game playing. Favorites this year were Hill (a Canasta type card game), Catch Phrase, and Chutes and Ladders.

I do so love Thanksgiving.

And what about you? What Thanksgiving traditions do you have, and how did they come to be?

Winter weather?

You know you've adjusted to the South when 70 degree weather constitutes bundling up like this:

Yes, that's right. Today's low is 74 degreees. Better bundle up. 

Bippity-boppity

I've lost all my creative energy.

Last week, I saw huge crates full of different bolts of fabric for $5 each at our local Wal-mart and was inspired to buy a couple and make curtains, pillows, and other nice accessories for our home. For a few minutes anyway.

Then I was snapping pictures and dreaming up clever blog posts and informational tidbits to pass on to my readers... but before I could even upload pictures to my computer, I lost interest.

So, as I said, I've lost all my creative energy.

At least I feel that way. Some may still think I'm clever and ingenious. But... I'm not. At least not today, or last week, or last month? Yikes. Has it really been that long since I actually wrote a decent blog post?

If only my fairy godmother could do a little bippity-boppity-boo and I could be back on track. Wouldn't that be nice?


But truth is, I'm burnt out. My husband was gone for a full month, serving our wonderful country in faraway places, and in his absence I became toast. Burnt toast. No energy left. No creative juices lying around. No desire for anything but sitting still.

Which never happens in a busy house with 3 boys.

So here I am. Sitting still. And typing, of course. Trying to get back into a groove. Trying to find my get-up-and-go, and wishing for a little bippity-boppity magic wand trick to get be back to speed.



On a happier, less depressing, and tiring note. My husband is HOME. And from the moment he first walked through the door, a load was lifted off my shoulders. To all those who have wonderful husbands like mine, make sure to thank the Lord for them every day, even every minute. God is so good to give us soul mates and help mates all tied into one.

Bad Hair Day

While I was talking with my husband on the phone, I looked down at our youngest son, Noah, and started laughing. I couldn't help it.

I said "I think Noah is having a bad hair day"

My husband laughed, but quickly denied it. "Baby's don't have bad hair day's, Dear," he replied.

We laughed together; the thought did seem quite absurd.

But then I took another look at Noah and thought... I beg to differ.

At least a bad hair day never looked so cute.

Happy Veteran's Day

Happy Veteran's Day to my favorite Company Commander. I'm so proud of you, Dear!

Honeycomb

This evening in our family devotions we read Proverbs 16:24

"Pleasant words are as an honeycomb, sweet to the soul, and health to the bones."

I spent some time talking about what "pleasant" words were and then on to discuss honeycomb and sweetness.

Isaiah, my 4 year old, sat listening quietly.

"Mom," he interjected, "if we speak too many pleasant words, we'd get too much honeycomb. And then... if we tried to fit through a hole, we would get stuck. And we'd be stuck in that hole until we got thin again!!!"

I quickly agreed.

And then I thought, this boy knows his A. A. Milne!!

Lightning McQueen

The other day I found our 2 year old, Joshua, standing in the garage looking contemplatively at our red minivan. As though breaking out of a fascinating reverie, my son said, "Mom, our car is Lightning McQueen"

And Lightning Mcqueen has been it's name ever since.

I'm still not quite sure how he decided our lovely minivan resembled a fancy race car...

But you know... in my minds eye, I think I've always pictured our red family minivan to look like this too:

I guess that would explain the speeding tickets.

Absence makes the heart

grow fonder.

I think I told myself that precious line every day while Nick and I long-distance-dated. And then again during every deployment, training cycle, and separation we've had since we got married.

It's something I'll always hold onto and believe with all my heart. When you truly love someone...with an undying, unwavering, unconditional, Christ-like love...absence makes the heart grow fonder. Not only do you learn to treasure every moment together, because of how many you spend apart, but I think you also develop a deepened level of thankfulness, appreciation, and yearning for each other after undergoing separation.

Isn't it true that when your spouse is away, you realize how much they do and did while they were home? Things that you may ordinarily take for granted? Like filling up the gas tank, or changing a hard to reach light bulb?

And even more so, doesn't it make you realize how precious it is to snuggle up to someone as you talk about your day? Or to be able to lock eyes with one another in pride as you hear your child recite his Bible verse without prompting? Or to have the joy of cooking a gourmet meal and seeing him gobble it up without complaint? Or having someone strong and brave in a house that creaks and groans in the night? Or even just the sound of a calm and steady voice as he reads the boys a goodnight story? No one reads a bedtime book quite like my Nick.

I love him more each day.

To top it off, last week, my dear husband gave me yet another reason to grow fond of him while we are apart. And they came in pink, red, and yellow: