Has It Really Been 11 Years?

Today is the day that I married my best friend 11 years ago. 11 years full of all that makes a marriage. 11 years of smiles, laughter, tears of joy & sorrow, passion, & even anger. We haven't had a perfect relationship, but we've had one with lots of love & commitment not only to one another but to our Creator. The way we met is a post in and of itself, but let's just say God's hand was in it. The awesome thing? There were things about Joe that fulfilled many things deep down in my heart that I had prayed for. Only God knew the desires of my heart, & oh how he has filled those desires. Here are the reasons that I love Joe, even when he makes me crazy (not in the sexy way, either!!).

1. I love him for his commitment & desire to serve the Lord.
2. I love him for his tender heart & love for those in need.
3. I love him for the time he was helping a mentally ill woman clean her home & I watched as he knelt on the kitchen floor armed with only bleach water & a window scraper to clean layers of animal waste & newspapers off that floor. (I cannot describe the condition of this woman's home without making some of you ill, but I will NEVER forget the humbleness of heart with which my husband served the Lord during this entire situation.)
4. I love him for standing by me through thick & thin, & when life turned our world upside down 9 years ago, he was my earthly rock and protector.
5. I love that when he's truly happy and his heart is care-free, he will sing, albeit rather loudly & off-key, the National Anthem.
6. I love him for the way he continues to love me & still gets that mischievous twinkle in his eye regardless of how I look or the pounds I may have put on.
7. I love him for having the courage & commitment to go back to school at the age of 34, while working full time, in order to not only fulfill his dreams, but his family's as well.
8. I love him for the way his heart swells & his eyes tear up whenever someone obeys the Gospel & puts on Christ through baptism.
9. I love him for the way that he knows me, sometimes better than myself.
10. I love that although he has a very tender heart, he is also the head & leader of our family.
11. I love that despite his tender heart, I can't just run over him (not physically/literally...although there have been times....;) Those of you who know me, know that I am a little strong-willed, okay stubborn. (Wonder where are children get it from?)
12. I love that ALL the kids look for "Mr. Joe" after worship to come outside for any number of games he gets together.
13. I love that he gets excited when scoring a touchdown or homerun against a bunch of 5-12 year olds...seriously!
    
14. I love that he has a soft spot for the elderly & can be seen not just helping them inside before worship, but you might often see him racing one particular man in a walker.
15. I love that he loves ALL people regardless of looks, money, status, etc.
16. I love that he's just a big kid inside.
17. I love the ways that I've watched him grow, both as a man & as a Christian.
18. I love that when I've been very sick he has done things that most would not do because I needed him.
19. I love that although he can be a "mean sleep," he is also hilarious at times when talks/sleepwalks.
20. I love him for the laughter that he brings to our home & to our children.
    

This list is certainly the abridged version of all that I love about my husband. Some were left out to keep this site family-friendly (ha,ha). I leave you with what I feel sums it up beautifully. (This was "borrowed" and the years edited.)

"Do you love me?

Do I what?
Do you love me?

For eleven years I've lived with him,
Fought him, starved with him,
Eleven years my bed is his,
If that's not love, what is?

Then do you love me?
I suppose I do.
And I suppose I love you, too.
It doesn't change a thing, but even so,
after eleven years,
it's nice to know."

Who's Line is it Anyway? & Other Ramblings

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In Micah's world, we have been on yellow twice this week. It seems that he's a bit "rowdy" to quote the teacher. When we talked with Micah about obeying his teacher & keeping up, he calmly explained that he "could catch-up...it was easy." I explained that even though he can be all over the place & still learn, as his teachers at both school & church can attest to, others may not. He looked shocked to think that he might actually be bothering someone else! What, there's other people in the world besides him?? The really sweet part is that he prays every night for God to help him stay on green the next day.

Micah is also the center of a love triangle in this week's episode of "As the Lunch Box Opens." It seems that he has a little girlfriend, but the little girl that "broke up" with him at the end of K-4 wants him back. She told her daddy that Micah just won't take her back no matter what she does. It seems the poor girl has been blatantly batting her eyelashes at my boy, or so she imitated in FRONT of her father! I think we should be worried. Her dad's a big man. Instead of eyelashes, she'd have a better chance if she brought him a pudding cup or Little Debbie at lunch. Micah shared that there's one girl he doesn't like because she's not modest. (Seriously, he said that!) Yep, she apparently shows her tummy on the playground! Now, I ask you, how many years do I have before he prefers the belly-flashing type? I am afraid, very afraid, and this is in kindergarten at a Christian school.

Last night I fixed Micah's bath & left him for a few minutes to get Rebekah to bed. As I returned to the bathroom, I find him lying stretched out on his back in the water with his eyes closed. The High School Musical cup that I use to rinse his hair? Upside down creatively covering his unmentionables...yep, gives a whole new meaning to a guy wearing a cup.

What a Week

It has been a whirlwind week. We began school last Friday, and it seems we have not stopped. I am really enjoying this school year. Instead of co-teaching with 4 different teachers, I co-teach math with the same girl for 3 periods & 1 period with the science teacher next door. We've also gone to 75 minute periods which goes by more quickly than you would think.

I am amazed at how UNORGANIZED 7th graders can be. You would laugh at my comment if you could see my house right now, but seriously I love & desire to be organized. My classroom reflects this, I just can't keep up with the 3 other bodies in my house! Back to the kids...what an eye opener to work with several in homeroom to organize their notebooks. Papers everywhere, assignments/notes ALREADY missing, no dates or titles on things...but we did it! Now if we can just keep it up. I'm also amazed at how 7th graders ALL seem to struggle with fractions. Is there something developmentally in adolescents that makes them forget something they've been working with since like 2nd or 3rd grade??? Heaven forbid they have to find a common denominator. Despite all this, I am truly loving this year. I have a few challenges, but all with great potential. It's overwhelming to think of the impact you can have on a kid's life, especially as precarious as the middle grade years. I never would have thought that I would have enjoyed middle school as much as I do. (I'm not really looking forward to my OWN kids' journey through adolescence, but maybe I'll have lots of good experiences to pull from...yeah, right!)

On the home front....

Joe has taken Rebekah out tonight for a Daddy/Daughter date. I believe they were going to go eat & maybe to the movies. Rebekah was so excited. She loves 3rd grade. I can't believe she's 8 years old. The song from Mama Mia!, "Slipping," really hit home with me.

Micah is home with me. It seems that his "card" at school had to be moved from green to yellow to blue...one turn away from red earlier this week. The crime? Standing in his chair at lunch & playing some version of Power Rangers. I believe the teacher also commented that he was "rowdy" throughout the day. The next day, we went for his 5 year check-up. It had rained all day, & the poor guy had not been able to go outside AT ALL! By the time the doc made it in to us, he was running laps around the table, climbing, etc. Needless to say, I left with paperwork for myself & his teacher to fill out regarding the ever-popular ADHD. To be fair, our doc is very conservative with meds, & she did see him at a bad time, so I tried to leave with an open mind. The truth? Micah is ALL boy, full of energy, mischief, witty/funny, and very affectionate. With that, he is hyper & bull-headed to say the least. The paradox? He does very well in school. Apparently he can multi-task, but some of the other kids can not. He will also exhaust you just from watching. Joe is totally against any meds right now, so I am trying to limit stimulants like red food dye, excess sugar, etc. You would not believe how hard it is to limit some of this stuff...labels can be shocking. Anyway, we stayed on "green" the rest of the week, & if he keeps it up all next week, he gets to go somewhere special with Joe. The teachers on my hall have been rewarding him everyday that he stays on green...he seriously can win anyone over. I hate to think of meds, too, because he is so funny and has a great personality. I don't want something to change his personality, but I also don't want his impulsiveness to cause him to get hurt. But, he is only 5...

Someday I will post more pics...

For Whom the Bell Tolls & Other Random Thoughts...

Yep, tomorrow is the day. The day that I return to work, preparing to shape (or warp), the young minds that will be taking care of us one day. Scary, no? My charges will arrive on Friday.
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Tomorrow is also Micah's 1st day of kindergarten. (We have two school systems, & their private school follows the other system's calendar.) He will be attending at the same school in which he attended preschool, but now he's in the "big" building. Funny, but it makes me kind of sad. My youngest is officially a "big" kid. Where has time gone? Of course, he still keeps me laughing & life is never dull. Take for instance tonight at church. He had these two little cheap tops (the kind you get at the arcade for about 2 tickets), & as we neared the invitation & song, he noticed that he had lost one. Not realizing that he had, at some point, placed it on my shirt, I moved to see if maybe it were under me or on the floor. That's when it went DOWN my shirt & into my bra. Talk about awkward & a little uncomfortable! I love that he makes me laugh, even if there are times I want to pull my hair out!




Rebekah is entering the 3rd grade. I love, and hate, that she is SO much like me! She is always eager to help, and LOVES being in charge of something. But, wait, aren't I in charge??? LOL See where the butting heads comes in? Seriously, she is very tenderhearted & LOVES to boogie with me. She & I have been belting out the tunes on the Mama Mia! soundtrack. (BTW...AWESOME chick flick!!) I'm debating on whether to take her or not. She would absolutely love the musical numbers, but there are a couple of parts I'm not sure I'm ready to venture into with her. For instance, I can hear her asking me, "Why doesn't she know which one is her daddy?" So far I've been able to answer any of her "birds & bees" questions with truthful, yet simple, answers. I'd kind of like to leave it that way for at least a year more. It's bad enough that Santa's days are numbered with her. The innocence and magic of childhood just doesn't last very long anymore. So, my limited interpeeps, should I take her?



In other news, I've won 2 items on eBay. I actually bought Bekah some overall shorts for $1.99!! Crazy me, I also bought this pretty silk-looking babydoll tank-style shirt from someone in Thailand. I'll have to let you know how that one goes. They were listed as a power-seller, and the majority of comments were positive. The worry? About 65 negative comments in the last 6-12 months were left, but out of thousands of transactions, they still had a 95-96% positive rating.

I really want to post a Summer Summary later this week, so stay tuned & pray that I don't get lost in the clutter! I'm in the process of MAJOR cleaning & sorting of the kids clothes & toys. If you haven't heard from me here in the next week, send a search party! LOL

Happy 4th!

What a great day it was for the family! We started by decorating foam hats & "Uncle Sam" door hangers Thursday night. Here's a look at the kids' handy work:



Of course, the decorations were not complete until we applied the ever festive tattoos:



We then loaded up & traveled about 2 hours to a state park with a neat zoo & play park. OK, this was probably not the best idea in the south, in July, in the middle of the day, but we lathered on the sunscreen and grabbed the H20. Here's Joe & the kids enjoying a break at the end of our nature walk where we saw everything from grey wolves, to bison, to lemurs...





The pic above is of the alligator habitat. Even adventurous, daring Micah, knew not to lean or climb on the railing...Thank goodness! Here are some of our prehistoric friends. I wonder what the 2nd guy has been snacking on???





Rebekah & Micah had the chance to climb into a replica of an eagle's nest as well as participate in a "long jump." The jumping area was marked off in different animals by how far they could jump. Rebekah was similar to a mouse, while Micah jumps like a flea. You know how spastic fleas can be! :)





Finally, it was time to head home for the fireworks. We stopped by Loco's for some much needed nourishment. If you haven't tried their Rooster Salad w/ the house dressing....mmmm. Here they are waiting for the fireworks to begin. We did kill some time playing Go Fish, Candy Land, & Slap Jack in the back of Joe's truck.



Here's one of my favorite poses that you can often see Micah in...with his arm around Joe's neck. Priceless.

My, Well Somebody's, Big Redneck Baby Shower

To begin with, let me just say that the family farm is a very special place for my family. My dad & his other 7 siblings were born & raised right here. We love to have lots of get-togethers & celebrations here, but this time was probably one of the most comical.


You might be having a redneck baby shower if ...

The "table" for the gifts is actually a hay trailer loaded with freshly harvested red new potatoes:


Your uncle is seen handing out "appetizers" (a.k.a. new potatoes taken from the trailer, washed in the spigot, grilled with butter & seasonings, plated on fine Chinet, & "served" directly to your mouth from the end of a pocket knife). Think I'm joking???


Need hydrating? We have the freshest, straight from the spring, water around. Shoot, you don't even need a bottle! Heck, you don't even need a cup or glass!


Hot? Flies & gnats gettin' to ya'? Why, we even have a 10hp eee-lectrical air conditioning system w/ built-in pest deterrent capabilities!


Some of your gifts actually come "wrapped" in a farmers' co-op paper bag!


Your decorations include this chair & "cleverly" hidden tool shelf...


And finally...any of your pictures feature farming equipment in the background!


Note: Do NOT reenact a portion of Diary of a Mad Black Woman in front of an audience where only ONE person has seen the movie! Let's just say that the dad-to-be was taking a little too long opening a present & as soon as I said "rip it," the drama demon possessed me. I was full-out Madea in the walk-in closet. For those of you not familiar with Madea...RENT the movies!!! I wish I had a photo of everyone's expression, except for my twisted sister, Tammy, who knew exactly what I was doing.

My Life at 36

I will be turning 36 this next week and many things have changed, some things just this past week.

1. Instead of the fading black & white sonogram pictures of my two precious children, I now have a GLOSSY color photo of my uterus with my procedure circled! An added bonus: My uterus is surrounded and insulated by fluffy mounds of fat. Anyone have the local WW's number? Get ready to see my ticker move over there. I mean, do I really need anymore motivation? That's the picture I need to post on the refrigerator, and my lunch bag, and on my bathroom mirror...you get the idea.

2. Instead of stopping by the local drugstore on a late Friday night with my husband to buy "fun" products, we stopped to buy me some Colace tonight. Please don't ask. Let's just say the painkillers from my surgery did more than we, or I, asked for!

3. Instead of having lots to type, I've forgotten what else I wanted to say.

Yep, that pretty much sums it up. Discuss.