He's here! He's here!!!

The Princesses and the Sweet Pea

Tutu's baby boy arrived this afternoon!!!! He weighed 6lb, 11 ounces. Tutu had an epidural right off the bat and never felt an unbearable contraction! Before she knew it, it was time for his appearance! Mom and baby are doing great, along with his Daddy and two big sisters.

Baby Sweet Pea

Click here to read the first part of this story.

Give Her A Little Grace

Warning: This post is for women only. Any males that brave to read this blog (WAF), stop now.




This afternoon, we were all getting ready to go to Wellspring. You will be happy to know that we were NOT in a HURRY. (See post below.) Well, there was a strange smell in the kids' bathroom....it was getting on my nerves. I never did figure out what it was but it smelled like this nasty cleaner we've used before to clean tile grout....and it smells just putrid. But nobody owned up to using grout cleaner (that's been under the sink for eleventy seven years) Anyway, FeO heard me fussing about the smell and he came in to see if he could find it. He thought it was the hairspray. I'm sorry but I've never smelled hairspray that smells like THAT. Well, RayRay decided she needed to squeeze in and put her .02 in about the odor. All the while, I'm trying to fluff my hair.


Here's a little something about me that you don't know...... I don't like to be interrupted when I'm doing hair and makeup. (Is it just me?) I use that time to think and mentally prepare for whatever it is we're headed out the door to do. (And no, in case you're wondering, I don't do hair and make up when we're staying around the house...which is almost daily.) I'm only talking about 10 minutes tops, here. Yep, 10 minutes, 12 max, to do my hair and makeup. And I like to be alone while doing it. Alone with my thoughts...which can also be translated to my prayers a lot of times.

So, FeO and Ray are crowding me up in the skinny bathroom, sniffsniffsniffing. Not only are my thoughts interrupted by the rank odor, but also by the Sniffing Brigade. So, I got a little testy and shooed them away....."Goodbye. Please leave. SHOO. " Well. I heard FeO comment to Ray in the hall, " Give her a little grace, it's THAT time of the month." What!?!! It is?????? Oh. It is. How can you tell?!!?! At least, he's finally figured it out after 16 years and didn't take my gentle shooing personal.

One thing led to another....and I now introduce to you our new family slogan for this week each month:

Give her a little grace
Give her a little space
And this home will be a happier place

I read an article recently that actually made sense. I actually do have quite a time with the nasty PMS symptoms and pre-menopausal symptoms. I won't bore you with all the details but I suffer with everything from night sweats to forgetfulness to even a day of depression now and then ( those always throw me for a loop.) The article suggested that our days of PMS are not a good time to evaluate our relationship with Father....or our spiritual temperature, so to speak. We'll get it wrong every time and will be really hard on ourselves. I don't know about you, but my emotions run the gamut during those days....I agree that the last thing I need to do on those days is evaluate spiritual growth. But, it can be a growing time. Any difficult time in our lives is a time when our faith can grow. There are a lot of jokes about PMS and pre- menopause, but it can truly be a difficult time in a woman's life, as you well know. I have some days when I have to make myself get out of bed. That is nothing to joke about. That is a difficult time....a time when my faith can grow. A time when I have to depend on Him to be strong because I am weak. A time I have to seek His face for the strength to muddle through.

Maybe I'll add a line to our new family slogan:

Give her a little grace
Give her a little space
If the mama will keep seeking His face,
this home will be a happier place.



(And take double doses of Evening Primrose Oil and eat dark chocolate Lindor truffles)


Blessings......


UPDATE: I just had to add this. If only it were that easy......I got it today in a Daily Hormone email.

"Week 4
Day 23 to the end of cycleToday's hormone-cast: Plunging estrogen may trigger a down mood by depleting your brain of feel-good serotonin. Luckily, there's an easy way to make sure every day of your premenstrual week starts off on a happy note: place a bunch of flowers in your kitchen. Harvard researchers found that when even the grumpiest volunteers saw a vase of fresh buds in their kitchen in the morning, it gave them an instant boost to their mood and energy-and these positive effects lasted all day long! "

I lost my head!

I'll let you in on a little secret about my sweet family. When I say the "h" word, they fall to pieces. I try not to say it. In spite of my best intentions and well laid plans, it still happens. Everytime we are trying to get dressed and out of the house (for a morning event, in particular), that nasty "h" word slips out. I stare blankly at the clock wondering where the last hour went...then realize we're gonna be late....and I say it. "Oh! HHHHHurry!!!!!!!!!!! Get your shoes! Don't forget your socks. Yes, Butter, you have to wear underwear. Ray, what do you mean you don't know what top to WEAR! We have to leave in TWO MINUTES, People!" Shoes, hair brushes, and Burt's Bees tubes are flying everywhere, drawers and doors are jerked open and slammed shut! You'd think I'd know by now not to wait until the last second to comb the Doodle's curly mop! Honesty, I do not know what happens. It doesn't matter what clothes I lay out or how tangle free Doodle's hair is the night before. It doesn't matter how early we get up. It doesn't matter if the mama gets dressed first or last. It always happens. We are down to the wire every single time. I say it. And then, somebody cries. They cry bc they can't find the other shoe, cry bc mama is jerking the fire out of the tangled hair, cry bc mama is rushing around the house barking orders, cry bc they can't find the shirt they were going to wear, cry bc they hear the door open and think mama's leaving them (knowing I've never left them before.) It's a wonder we ever get anywhere all in one piece. (Please assure me I'm not alone here!)

Yesterday, we had a wonderful party with the homeschool co-op for Valentine's Day. We didn't have to be there until 10:00. You are thinking that surely I didn't have to say the H-word for a 10:00 party. Sorry. I had to say it. Yes, I laid out clothes but some disappeared in the night and some got terribly wrinkled and had to be ironed! At one point, two of the three children were crying and the third was on the verge.. And I hadn't even started stomping around yet! I just merely suggested that we would be leaving in 5 minutes....and to HURRY!! Yep, the house fell to pieces. You would never know it was Happy Hearts Day!

I heard a strange crying sound, said, "WHO is THAT?"

Ray said..."Butter."

"What's wrong?" I said, as I opened his door and saw him fully dressed and ready to go with no good reason to cry.

"I lost my head," he sniffs as he holds up a headless C3PO. He gets me every time. Rushing around like wild banshees is just not worth it. "I lost my head."

Me too, sweetness. Me too.

We weren't the last ones at the party by a longshot. We had a great time with the homeschoolers, as usual. This morning, we had to be out of the house by 8:30 for Peter Pan ballet matinee. Yep, you guessed it. I said "it" again. "HURRY!" Thankfully no tears, though. (But I spent the morning with my jeans unzipped, not on purpose.)

I wish I could say with confidence that I'd never use the H-word again and disturb the peace in our home. I will say with confidence that rushing, stomping, snapping, and crying never ever helps us get out of the door quicker.

Click here for more info on the art piece in the picture. Fascinating how they made it. No hurrying there!

Columbus Museum Trip

We took a road trip to Columbus, GA to meet my brother and his homeschooling family. Here are some pics from our visit to the Columbus Museum, largest art and history museum in the state of Georgia. Naptime!!

Sisters attempting to draw their brothers....who are cousins to each other
Got it?

Two peas in a pod

The Girls dressing up to recreate the famous photo behind them...

Beth Moore has two daughters, too.....

And this response from Beth to a question on her blog resonates deeply within my heart for my own daughters. And our son, too.


The Question: If you could only give one piece of advice to your daughters, what would it be?



Beth Moore's Answer: To pray every day to love Jesus more than anything else in all the world and to deliberately practice abiding in His love for them. Hands down. No contest.

My Big Date and Peanuts

Guess what??? My precious dh asked me out on a date! Said to get a sitter...so I called Mema and Papa. They said, "Of course! Why not just let the kids SPEND THE NIGHT." WOOOOHOOOO!!!!!!!! So, Friday night, I was "just" a wife and a date. I think I was a pretty good date, too. I know the darling FeO was. We declared it our early "Valentine's" date. (The last time we tried to go out on Valentine's Day, we ended up eating at the bar at Red Lobster. No, not very romantic. But we got our food, ate and left just as others who had arrived when we did were being seated at a table.) Anyway. We ate at Logan's Roadhouse, shopped a little, and saw a movie. FeO was gracious enough to let me pick the movie. I looked at all the choices ahead of time and knew there was only one I'd really want to see. So, I made a "deal" with him. He could pick the restaurant and I'd pick the movie. He said it wasn't really a "deal" bc I ended up picking the restaurant, too. Not true! I just happened to remember Logan's as being one he hadn't mentioned. That's all!

At Logan's, everyone has a bucket of roasted peanuts, in the shell, at their table. You eat your peanuts and throw the hulls on the floor. Well, I have to admit something. I was not comfortable with that. Throwing peanut hulls on the floor goes against everything inside of me. What is one of my daily slogan's at home? "The floor is not a trashcan, people!" So, it just feels completely unnatural to go to a nice restaurant and throw peanut hulls all over the floor. I had the urge to sweep. I kept wanting to apologize to our server for the mess we made on the floor! "Can I have a broom and little dust pan, please?" The dh kept assuring me it was OK, as he continued to have a blast freely making the biggest mess he could possibly make with his peanuts.

Father took this opportunity to remind me of something. When He asks us to do something, when he puts something before us that's different, when it is something that takes us out of our comfort zone and requires a great deal of faith, it feels strange to us. We may be hesitant to take the step of faith He asks. It may even feel completely "against the grain" of what we'd normally do. A stretching. Uncomfortable. Is following Father always comfortable? Absolutely not. Rarely is it ever nice and neat and comfortable. BUT. All He asks is a willing heart, our cooperation, and we can trust Him to take care of the rest.

It's scary to think about stepping out of our comfort zone.....our routine, our schedule, our plan. Sure, we can choose to pass up the opportunity. But, what blessings would we be missing if we pass up a Divine Opportunity? Sometimes, we don't want to give Father complete control bc we're afraid of what He might ask us to do. What if it involves heat, mosquitoes, snakes and no running water? What if He asks us to move away from our friends and family? What if it makes no sense to anyone but us and we are criticized? The "what if's" alone could drive us to just say NO to Father. But, when we know that we know that we know we can trust Father's heart, even when we can't trace His hand (Newsong song), it's easier to take that step of faith. Most of what He asks us to do day by day are not the huge things our minds go to first, like selling our earthly possessions and moving to Haiti. But it's staying connected to the Vine day in and day out, watching for His hand, listening for His whisper. It could be something as simple as taking a meal (or a bar of soap in my case) to a friend having a hard week, offering to keep a young mother's kids for awhile, be a listening ear whether on the phone or in the cereal aisle of Winn Dixie, etc.

Father never promised that things would always be easy and comfortable. But He does promise that He will always be with us, will never leave us, and that we will be blessed, full of His joy and peace as we live our lives with Him and for Him.

So, throw caution to the wind! Throw peanut hulls on the floor! Abide in Him, follow Him, even when it's not comfortable. Trust Him and believe Him. Do you know what will happen? No, it won't all of a sudden become completely comfortable, but it WILL become our new normal and a most exciting adventure.

Bear Creek Educational Forest

We went on a fun field trip this week with our homeschool co-op to the Bear Creek Educational Forest near Tallahassee. The facility is only 2 years old and very nice. The trails were very neat and well-maintained. Our day was very organized. Two Foresters were our guides/teachers. The kids took a hike and id'd some trees, saw a beaver dam and trees they had "chewed", learned about the different animals that live in this forest, including the Florida Black Bear. No, we didn't see a real bear but saw a "stuffed" one that had been hit by a car. The kids learned all about being a Forester and played a game while learning to use the compass.

During the hike, the 4 yr olds became a little weary. So, a few of us plus one Forester took a short cut back to the class building. The Butter, ever my brave protector, felt the need to escort us back as well. He had one-on-one attention from Forester Karen, who showed him her forestry gadget drawer. It might as well have been a drawer full of gold and jewels to him! She had tools to measure a tree's height, tree's age, bark, circumference of the trunk, wind, temperature, etc. All he has talked about since is how he wants to be a Forester when he grows up. I think some of the other kids are interested in Forestry, as well, which made the trip even more worth it....besides the fact that our kids just love being together, no matter where we go!