an everday adventure

I've had an adventurous summer - ziplines and alligators and exercise, oh my. But does any of it compare with what is the everyday life of a parent? Now THAT's an adventure. I don't think there is any ride or activity that can increase my heart rate like being a parent can.

Just the other day someone asked if the bruise on my arm was from being hit by a softball. No, it's from a one-year-old. He pinched me. I let him. He fights sleep so much during the day, and when I was trying to get him to sleep  the other day, he pinched me. He wasn't being mean - he wanted to rub my shirt sleeve while he went to sleep, but I had a tank top on. He needed to sleep. I could have moved his little fingers, but I didn't want to disturb him. A few days later, I sat by his mom as she answered someone's questions explaining that she rocks him to sleep each night. No, he isn't put to bed and let to cry. He's just a baby. Yes, there are other things that could be done, like laundry. But he won't be a baby long. And I'm so glad she realizes how precious those rocking times are. Babies grow up, but laundry never goes away.

During that same week, a friend posted something about how hard it is to sit back and watch our kids make decisions that we believe to be the wrong decisions. Boy, do I know from where she speaks! Wouldn't be great if we could just sit down and rock those grown kids every night and save them from poor choices? She and her husband have done a great job - she has great kids. It's easy for me to tell her that her kids will end up making the right choices because they have have great parents. But I know she still worries.

My boys were 4 and 6 when we got them - what I wouldn't give for a night of rocking my baby boys to sleep. Over the years, we've had many conversations about being adopted. There were many questions that I just couldn't answer. But this weekend we had the opportunity to get some answers. Baby Jus and I drove almost 1,000 miles round trip so that he could meet his biological father. Ups and downs people! It was a long drive. A stay in a hotel that wasn't quite what I would have chosen. A few hours to show a stranger what a great guy my Jus has become. And it was hot! I'm so glad that he had the chance to do this. But I worried so much about what could go wrong - what can still go wrong. Believe me, I'd let him pinch the other arm if I thought it would make things go smoothly for him.

It's so much easier to worry about what can go wrong rather than what can go right. But I'm trying to focus on the what can go right.

thirty days of thanksgiving 8

Listen, my child, to the instruction from your father, and do not forsake the teaching from your mother. For they will be like an elegant garland on your head, and like pendants around your neck.
- Proverbs 1:8-9

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not rely on your own understanding.
- Proverbs 3:5

Listen, my child, and accept my words, so that the years of your life will be many. I will guide you in the way of  wisdom and I will lead you in upright paths.
- Proverbs 4:10-11

The big boy has always been more of a daddy's boy. If his daddy cranked it, pulled it, or loaded it; he wanted to do the same. From his first summer with us, he constantly asked, "Will you teach me to cut hay?" Finally to stop the questions, his daddy told him that he could learn when he was twelve years old.

Flash forward to a late spring day six years later. He is in a rush to get home from school, and I can't figure out why. As we drive up to the house, he jumps out of the truck goes to the fence and waits. His daddy is cutting hay for the first time that season, and Big Boy remembers a promise made many years before.

Flash forward to a summer day seven years later. Relationships are difficult. Many promises have been made. Promises and hearts have been broken. He returns home after several weeks searching for something that we can't give. Conversation is not easy. Words can't seem to jump the void. An offer is spoken, "That hay looks just about ready."

And then an  acceptance, "I can start cutting in the morning."


Dear Lord, thank you for bringing this child into my life. I pray that you guide him in the way of wisdom and lead him in upright paths. Lord, fill any void in his heart with your love. I ask that you put a hedge of protection around him and keep him safe in all that he might do.

that's how he rolls

Tonight is the first home football game of the season - I'm excited. I love hometown Friday night high school football. Our school colors are black and white, and tonight the cheerleaders have planned a "black out" night - everyone wears black t-shirts to the game. So when Baby Jus came in from work, I asked him if he had his black t-shirt ready. He answered, "Yes, and I may need you to give me some cash."

After I glared at him for a few minutes, he explained that he had put gas in his truck the day before and used the last of his cash. (We don't have a bank or an ATM where we live - you have to drive to town for fancy stuff like that.) We were discussing how he should have written a check for his gas and kept his cash for the weekend. Then I asked him if he had put his most recent paycheck in the bank.

He was explaining how much he had deposited and how much he had kept, when I interrupted, "Have you called the bank about your ATM card?" (He lost his wallet a few weeks back and had to get a new card; the new one came with the wrong name)

"Yes, yes I did! I actually went in the bank to deposit my check and told the lady that she had put the wrong name on my card."

He just opened his account this summer, and I was so proud to know that he was being responsible and taking care of his own business. "Well, look at you being all grown-up and stuff!"

His answer:

"Yeah, I put on my good overalls and went in to see her. I didn't get all dressed up. I just put on my good overalls. That's how I roll."

Reasons why this cracks me up:

1.  He apparently believes that one pair of overalls is better than another - and he may be right.

2.  When he went in the bank in those good overalls, he probably didn't stick out at all. As a matter of fact, he might have had on better overalls than another customer doing his/her banking.

3. He thought about it enough to know that I would not be happy if he went in looking like a ragamuffin but assumed that overalls were classy enough to make me happy. And I guess it does - cause that's how I roll.

my friend and my cousin

If you are a parent, then you've felt it - that moment of pride. That moment when you wonder,"Where did that come from?"

I told you before; I call him Baby Jus, but he's no baby. He's almost 19 and a BIG boy. But he's my baby. And sometimes he just makes me so proud to be his momma.

He's got a cousin that idolizes him.

Eli has no idea that there is a 10 year difference in his age and Jus's .

He is always so excited to see Jus ("my friend and my cousin"), and Jus always makes time for him.

And even though it may not look like it here, he is very careful not to be too rough.

This doesn't mean he isn't a little rough.

But Eli always come back for more.

He can't get enough of his big cousin.

how i was conned out of 20 bucks

Every school day from 7:55 until 3:15, I hear a bell at least twice every 45 minute period. I actually hear a modern bell ding then an old fashioned bell bbrrrriiinnngg almost every time. I've never counted how many times in a school day I do hear that bell. But I can tell you that at times it gets very annoying. At times I completely tune it out. At times it is nails on a chalkboard screeching and giving me a headache. But Fridays at 3:15, that bell is the voice of angels singing a hallelujah chorus. Even today when it is only the first Friday of the school year.

However, today's bell was a tad bittersweet. Tomorrow the football team will host a first ever Bear Fest. And many schools in our area had home scrimmages tonight. And it is the first time in a very long time that I don't have a nephew or son playing. And I am sad. Almost lost on a Friday night.

So Lovey and I headed to Monticello to grab a bite to eat. It's mostly just us these days, even at home. We had just placed our order when my phone rang.

"So, where are y'all eating?"

"Cowboy's Express."

"Well, Bubba and I thought we would come eat with you. We thought you would like it."

I'm guessing the conversation in the truck went something like this.

"I'm getting sorta hungry."

"Me too."

"Got any money?"

"Not for you."

"Jerk. Hey, was that Momma and Daddy? I wonder where they're going."

"To eat."

*two evil smiles*

"Call 'em. See where they are going. We can go eat with them, and they'll pay."

And they were right. We did pay. And we did like it. It was no football game, but we liked it.

my vocabulary has ruined my kids careers

I have mentioned that I have a problem with insomnia. I can usually go to sleep but can't stay that way. Sometimes I wake up after only an hour or so of sleep and can't get back to sleep until almost time to get out of bed. Sometimes I spend my night bouncing back and forth asleep, awake, asleep, awake. And every now and then I can't get to sleep at all.

I have also mentioned that lately I have been trying to be more active. Because of my recent increase in activity, my right knee is giving me fits. FITS I tell you! It hurts. Some days worse than others; yesterday was a some day. When I got home from work, it was swollen and causing pain up and down my entire leg. I have been taking Ibuprofen, but last night I had to take a pain pill before I went to bed.

Yesterday, I posted about my boys catching a wild pig.  And I'm sure the trap has been reset in hopes of catching another. There is much work to be done on a farm, but somehow they always find time to chase down wild critters.

Now! To try and tie this all together.

Last night I woke up twice. And each time I was thinking about the same thing. ERUDITE.

Several years ago, I was chatting with a friend from high school. And she used the word in conversation. I've known her a long time, so I wasn't surprised by her use of the word. But I have to say it's not a word I hear thrown about in everyday conversation. As a matter of fact, I'm not sure I've ever heard it used in casual conversation. I'm no dummy, but I am a simple girl. Not simple-minded, just low maintenance, down to earth.

And last night when I woke up thinking about ERUDITE, I had an epiphany (I do use that word). She casually throws around words like erudite. And this summer her son was at a camp where he split his DNA and then made a necklace out of it. I can't even begin to imagine how that is done. By a high school kid. At summer camp. While I, of the simple vocabulary, have two boys who would have never finished high school if they didn't have to maintain a certain GPA to be eligible for football. The boys have no interest whatsoever in reading or furthering their education. I can't count how many times I've been asked, "Where is he going to school?" when standing in line at the grocery store or gas pump. And I want to return, "Do you know my boys?" They have absolutely no interest in anything that might involve homework.

So last night in my insomnia/medicated/Lord,-don't-let-'em-bring-home-a-pig-to-keep sleep, I realized something. If I had only thrown around a few words like erudite, my boys would probably be pre-med students right now. And I might have a necklace with my DNA inside.

with boys, you just never know

Growing up, my brother, sister and I had a few critters. Some that we brought home first and then asked to keep. I can remember my daddy waking us up with a baby squirrel he caught while coon hunting. Once we brought home baby rabbits that our dog discovered first. My mom had to sew a few wounds with needle and thread. And I think the dog managed to turn the cage over and get the babies a few days later. So I wasn't surprised when my boys first begged for cute little puppies.

Over the past 14 years, our house had been home to various dogs and cats, a tame rabbit, a wild rabbit, hermit crabs, some kind of rodent, a flying squirrel, a secret project involving spiders, a baby deer, orphaned calves, and a few wild hogs. When I hear the words, "Momma, come see what we caught!" I never know what to expect. Sometimes I'm scared to ask.

This afternoon, I was enjoying a peaceful house when I heard the call, "Momma, you want to come look?" I know there are puppies that I haven't seen yet, so I hoped for puppies. But no. It was a hog. Not a baby pig. A young hog. Caught this morning in a trap set in an uncle's field and wrestled out of said trap to bring home and turn loose in a former dog pen turned hog pen. Before I went to see today's catch, I was shown a stab wound to the leg. Seems Baby Jus let a knife slip while trying to cut the hog loose and stabbed Big Boy in the calf. What's a good hog story without a scar to show? Right?

The last time he brought a pig home, it had to be bottle fed. It was cute and cuddly. Well, as cuddly as a pig can be. And it grew and grew. But we all had fallen for that cute cuddly baby, and we loved that big ugly pig. Today's pig was neither cute nor cuddly. He was mean. And I was happy to hear, "Bryan's coming to get him."

And he has. I wonder if Bryan walks in the house saying, "Momma, you want to come look?"