Reformed Grits

Guess what?

Bee can climb out of her playpen. 

It's the sudden stop on the hardwoods that gets her. 

What was that you said??

Today was the day I had to go to visit my lovely friend Charlie.  We have a great relationship, me and Charlie.  We laugh and cut up and he makes jokes about my pelvic organs hanging out.  Yeah, he's my gynocologist.  Weird to have a gyno who goes to church with your dad.  (Insert full body quiver here.)  Ok the funny thing is, he looked at me with a really puzzled look and quizzingly said, "Well, everything is as it should be." 

"Um, that's a good thing, right?"

"Well, yes!  It's just that as many babies as you have had you'd think everything would be all falling out and... sagging!  But it's NOT!"

At this point he sounded disappointed.  (I thought about showing him my stomach standing up and he'd see some sagging and falling out!)  I think he wanted me to say I'd had some plastic surgery to tighten up my uterus or something.  Or that's the "something" we will go with for sake of modesty and the fact that this is a public blog and I'll see some of y'all at church tonight.  Sorry to disappoint. 

Then he goes in to it about my weight.

"Hm, so how do you keep your 'girlish figure?'"

"Well, Mr. Grits had high cholesterol so we had been doing the South Beach thing-- but I did really work hard at it.  Now I'm on this medicine and they tell me I may lose even MORE weight." 

"You really don't need to lose more weight.  You know, you weigh 2 1/2 pounds less than when you came in to see me in 1994 for your first child...  "

(Me grinning...)  "Yes... I know!  Ya know, you just can't be too skinny!"  (joking, sorta)

"Yep!  That's what Cher says-- You can't be too skinny, too rich-- or too far down on the table..." 

I think he added that last part for himself.      

New category

Sugie started 4K this year with our favorite preschool teacher in the world, "Mrs. Tabony."  Sug is the 3rd of our children to be privileged enough to have this gem of a teacher.   Anyone who has been blessed enough to have her teach their child knows that when a child is under the tutelage of Mrs. Tabony, "Mrs. Tabony says" becomes a very important phrase in your house.  You could convince your child to lick the toilet by telling them that Mrs.  Tabony says it's good to do so.  Not that she would ever do so.  Well, that's ridiculous.  The things that come from Mrs. Tabony's mouth only reflect goodness and charity and wisdom. 

I love Mrs. Tabony.  She is systematic.  I love that.  I love order.  It facinates me.  Probably because I have none at home.  I love that if she sees a mommy comforting a child in the hall who is crying because they don't want to go to school that day, she will march out in the hall, yank that child up by their arm and march them to the classroom while telling the sniveling mom, "He will be fine.  Have a good day."  You know, they always are.  I love that.  She just knows. 

It's like boot camp.  For 4 year olds.  Welcome to school.

Hence, my new category.  I want to collect these gems for posterity.  Some may be simple.  Some may be funny.  But there will be a lot of them. 

I love that woman, God bless her, and all those kids who she's yanked a knot in their chains love her too.  What Mrs. Tabony says, is gospel! 

"Mrs. Tabony says we have to eat our sandwich first." 

"Mrs. Tabony says we have to keep our bloomies covered.  And our tummies."

That's all I have for now, but school just started.  Oh and my dear friends who have children in her class, please leave your "Mrs. Tabony Says"'s from YOUR house in my comments! 

I'm keeping my ears peeled.  And my bloomies covered.   

Mark it well

37 years ago, a woman who was told she'd never bear children prayed for the spouse of her future child--just in case-- hoping and believing in her God for a miracle and for the future generations she prayed would rise up to serve Him bearing her husband's name, should they be so blessed. 

A year later, she continued to pray for her child's mate, as she tenderly and gratefully held a son, her miracle that she didn't know she carried for 5 months until the doctors told her she didn't have a tumor growing in her stomach, but a baby in her womb.  She prayed for her son's wife and believed again, for the future generations that would now carry her son's name. 

27 years ago, a little girl prayed for her husband.  She didn't really know what to pray for, but her Heavenly Father knew what he should be like so He honored her prayer and looked down and smiled upon the dark-haired boy sleeping by his kneeling mother. 

16 years ago today, He smiled again as He placed them heart in heart and hand in hand for their walk on this earth.  He did good.

Today's my anniversary.  I am so thankful for that miracle baby that God crafted for me. He is the absolute love of my life.  If I had had an order form to design a husband from, I would have been cheated because God gave me more than I ever knew I wanted. 

I love you, Mr. Grits!  Looking very much forward to the next 16, and the next 60! 

Just to irritate Gayle

I just read over at Gayle's how she hates to go grocery shopping with her crew.  Ok, I had to post this just for blog-fodder but I really do like to go for groceries with my kids. 

For one, I love to answer the questions in front of them.  When people say, "Wow, are they all yours?"  I say, "Yes, aren't they wonderful?"  or if they say, "Better you than me!"  I say, "I think so too!  I am so thankful for them."  I am not the best at "strokes" for my kids.  It does not come easy for me to love on them and hug on them and tell them I think they are wonderful but I do see that as an open door and I try (TRY) to walk through it. 

Another reason I like going with them to the store is that we keep moving.  I keep to my list WAAAY better when they are with me because of consistency.  "Mom can we get this?"  "No, it's not on my list!"  End of story.  If they start begging, I just tell them that we are only buying things on my list.  Strangely, it usually ends it.  Of course I do get, "Mom, are gummy bears on your list?"  Not so much. 

Another reason it moves quickly is because Jojo pushes the buggy while I walk ahead of it picking things out to put in.  No pushing the buggy, stopping to peruse the shelves, reaching and putting in the buggy.  He pushes at a slow pace while playing with the baby and I march ahead at a clip; the kids follow me while I hand them things to put in. 

Lastly the best reason of all, is that my kids not only put the groceries in the truck for me, take the cart back, and take the groceries upstairs for me, but they also put them away for me!  They actually like to do it and it's happened with very few mishaps.  I only have one child who is a hazard at the whole thing (he dropped a double pack of A1 from Sam's--oooh, that hurt, and once put a bottle of wine in the freezer where it consequently exploded!  What a mess!)  but overall they do a good job.

I always dread going back to the grocery after school starts.  It's lonely and I have to do all the work, and inevitably I spend too much money!   

My excuse is I'm taking stupid pills

I went to the neuro yesterday that my ENT referred me to for my headaches.  I was pleasantly surprised, not knowing anything about this doctor, that the door said it was a headache clinic.  Well, that is nice! 

I had a million pages of paperwork and a zillion questions about the nature of my headaches which took me forever to fill out but once I was called back I was seen right away which was nice because my granddaddy came with me to watch Bee. 

She sized up my "survey" and said that she was 100% convinced that my headaches were migraine in nature.  Long story short, she is putting me on some stuff to stop the headache cycle I've been having for, oh, a few months now, and prevent new ones.  Sounds good to me!  She was floored that I reported 20-22 headaches a month.  I had figured before I went that there were about 5 days a week I had headaches.  Funny enough, I had wondered if that was enough to warrant going to a doctor because I rated them only a 4 out of 10 pain-wise on average. 

Ok, so anyhow, I have to stop taking my beloved excedrin and excedrin pm (which is the only reason I have gotton sleep in the last, oh, 2 months) and I can't take ANY OTC meds.  Which means if, and when, I do have a headache during the treatment I have to take midrin which I don't like to take because it's scary stuff but it's supposed to help treat headaches not "hide" them.  Also, I have to take 6 days of steroids to help with the swelling my poor brain will have as I go "cold turkey" from OTC's.   Ouch!  And of course, steroids don't let you sleep either.  Great.

But the main thing she is doing is putting me on this daily stuff called topamax.  It looks great and all but when you read the user sites you get wigged out-- one person said they lost 30 IQ points on the stuff! (Not sure if they were kidding or not!)  A big side affect for the first 3 weeks (at least) is that you can't concentrate and you can't remember the names of people or things!   So if I go up to you and can't remember your name (or that you were at the pool party) then at least now I have an excuse.   They also say things taste funny (that means carbonated drinks taste nasty I've heard), you have pins and needles in your hands and feet for a while, and the "good" side effect... you lose weight!  Yay!  Because you can never be too thin, right?  Well, who cares if you are stupid, huh?      

I don't care who ya are...

it's just fun to win.   And so you could say it's been a really fun weekend, albeit very busy!

Saturday the kids had so much fun at the cub scout field day!  There were fun games and relays and they had a great time and ate lots of popsicles.  Great plan to have lots of things inside and the tent with millions of ice pops.  Thanks Caroline and Stephen!  Good job! 

From there we travelled across town for Jojo's game 2 of this weekend's tournament.  They won like 7-0.  They smoked 'em and had 'em for lunch.  Good times.  :-)

We came home to a short rest then got dressed to go to Jojo's sock hop!  We had a great time and I think all the kids did too.  Great fun and I enjoyed watching him and chatting with MY friends.  We got home late and just vegged out in front of Survivorman until we decided we really had a big day the next day and needed to go to bed. 

Today we got up and ate quickly to be out across town for yet another game at 8:45.   It was a super game and we were very well matched... but we pulled out another one when one of our guys did a corner kick which curved and sailed into the goal!  GOOOAAAALLLLL!  It was beautiful!  It was so smokin' hot there-- a field with no trees, no shade, and there were no clouds.  We are packing water bottles with ice and they melt within moments of leaving the vehicle.  It's great fun, and now we have to be back to play in the championship match at 3.  I don't know how we will do but I'm guessing it's going to be a great game!!!

And did I mention that Katie is in town for her sister in law's wedding last night and I won't even get to see her?  That stinks.  But if you had read the comments yesterday you know that... hahaha

Briefly...

The high points I can think of at 12 AM...

- The kids all are enjoying school.  Jojo has adjusted to logic school well and seems to really like the "grown-up-ness" of it all.  Every day I hear great stories from all the kids about their classes, friends, and teachers.  They are enjoying it.  Sissy has my mom as her 6th grade teacher this year!  So far she is liking it very much and thinks it's neat.  :-) 

-Work will be the death of me.  That or the panic attacks I'm having over it all.  This must change. 

-This day turned from bad to worse when I heard my friend Vickie's cancer is back.  I am NOT happy about this.  (Seriously, what sicko would be?)  My heart and prayers go out to my sweet friend and her precious family.

- Soccer is back!  The games, I mean.  Tonight began a tournament and Jojo's team won 2-0.  He was a real impact player and showed some real leadership and aggression on the field.  In fact he scored one of the goals.  Woohoo! 

- Thanks to Distybug for inviting JD over to watch High School Musical 2 tonight.  It would have been a tragedy for him to miss this as he has been talking about it for MONTHS.  In fact when he was at the family reunion this summer he won an iTunes.com gift card and as soon as it was out, he bought the soundtrack to it.  Fun stuff.

-Tomorrow morning (well, now it's "this morning") we will be enjoying the track and field day for our cub scouts!  The kids are looking forward to kicking butt and taking names.  They get the competetive gene from me. 

-Tomorow night, after Jojo's game he has his first dance.  Yes, I'm choking on the words.  Being raised in a family where dancing sent you to hell, this reformed girl is looking forward to exercising her Christian liberty on the dance floor.  Yes, I'm a chaperone and plan on doing my best to embarrass him.  It's a sock hop so we will be twisting and jitterbugging the night away.  I made him promise me a dance.

Hope your weekend is relaxing and full of fun family times!    

Blah

I started this post Monday night.  I finished it Tuesday and wondered why no one commented.  Then I realized... I saved it to draft.  After reading it, you won't really wonder why I'm not surprised...

Ok, so my kids start school tomorrow.  I will have a child in each 7th, 6th, 3rd, and 1st grades as well as 4K.  It is unfathomable to me.  The younger ones have now gone to bed with their little backpacks and at least the major parts of their uniforms by their beds (in a heap, I believe), and my older ones are in their (respective) showers getting ready for their big days too. 
Let me briefly describe how this day has looked in the past.  The night before school starts (and all through the house... hahaha, just kidding) I usually have everything spit-spot.  It's usually clean and fresh and vaccuumed, with laundry caught up, clean sheets on the bed, showers and baths for everyone in the clean bathtubs, and I usually have a homemade breakfast prepared (yes, the night before) and set on the table for when they all rise.  Their uniforms would be pressed and all parts (shoes and belt!) would be laid neatly on the foots of their beds and their backpacks would be stuffed with a healthy but yummy (homemade, probably) snack and little water bottle for their special day.  Clothes would be ready for everyone else, too, as we always take "first day" pictures.  I go to bed, on time, and sleep soundly knowing that I'm prepared and so are they.  Yes, it has been like that every year for the past 8 years... until now.

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Ok, so I wrote that last night and never finshed it and never posted it.  I suppose you get the point.  My home is chaos.  I think I feel miserable because it's totally out of control.  Don't get me wrong, I have known for a LONG time that I wasn't "in control" as I have realized for years that everything I did was by God's power and mercy but in the last few months I have realized that maybe He's just not letting me get it all done.  That for whatever reason (I know, my sanctification) He's keeping me one step behind and not able to keep up.   In many ways I feel as though I have given up, yet I continue to plod forward and have just not found the joy in doing so.  I'm not sure why but I'm pressing on. 

I used to have my "house in order."  Now I feel like I'm dogpaddling in the ocean.  Just enough to keep my head above water. 

I did get my kids breakfast though, just some scrambled eggs but they were thankful.  All were dressed in clean clothes and I was able to spray out the cowlicks on their heads.  They had a snack in their packs but had to make their own water bottles.  I did not sleep well, but had a night of "striving" in my sleep if you know what I mean.  Just stressful dreams, not restful.   I did get their pictures this morning which was good.  But walking in to my house after dropping them off at school was like a giant "sigh."  I will miss them today, but maybe I can catch up on some school work. 

Pool days

This summer we have likely spent almost as many days AT the pool as not!  It has been so much fun and a wonderful outlet for the kids.   Today was a big accomplishment for Sugie-- not ONLY did she start swimming today (which in and of itself is a big deal...) but she also jumped off the side of the pool, popped up and swam to me, and in the biggest move of the day... she jumped off the diving board (more than once!) into her proud daddy's arms!  I can't believe she is growing up!  In just a few days my "little" 9 lb 14 oz cuddle-bug will begin 4 year old kindergarten.  I'll drop her off at the front door and she'll walk to her classroom like a big girl! 

It was so cute when Sugie jumped off the board after making a couple "tries" at it... I think half the people at the pool cheered (including the lifeguard on duty!) when she went off.  I was so proud!  What a big day for my little girl!  :-)