Family, fun, and a few surprises

I hope everyone had a great Mother’s Day weekend!

I sure did! 

Friday morning, I went to Dogos’ school for Muffins with Mom.

She made a card and bookmark for me and also gave me a beautiful flower.

Oh, how I love this girl!

We enjoyed eating muffins and fresh fruit and visiting with other Moms and her classmates.

This is a sweet card that her teacher made for each Mom.

She took this photo of Dogos’ feet for the front of the card and wrote a personal note to me on the inside, thanking me for sharing my child with her.  I love the prayer on the front, too.  It states perfectly what I pray for each of my children.  Before they were even conceived or born, I have prayed for each of my children.  I have prayed that each would come to know Jesus as their personal Lord and Savior, that they would each share an intimate, personal relationship with Him, and that the “growing up” wouldn’t be too painful or difficult.

As I type this, I am reminded of my grandmother, Grammy Clinton, who kept prayer journals for years.  When she died, the many journals were given to my mother.  Years ago, I spent some time reading through some of them.  Every year on my birthday, without fail, my Grammy wrote words of prayer for me.  Of course, she prayed for each member of our family....all of my aunts, uncles, and each of her 15 grandchildren and 13 great-grandchildren (now 30 great-grandchildren and 5 great-great grands!) throughout the year, but without fail, she covered me in prayer every year on my birthday.  I never even knew it at the time.  It’s been a long time since I read through any of her journals....probably since Guitar Boy was a baby.  The next time I go back home to The Lake, I will be sure to read through some of those precious books again.  Grammy was a true prayer warrior in every sense of the word and her relationship with Jesus was the most important thing to her in the world.

After Muffins with Mom, I drove back to our tiny town, dropped Dogos off at home with The Chef, and headed back to school.

As I mentioned earlier, MCT2 testing was last week.  After testing was done each day, we had a kickball tournament each afternoon.  In the words of my principal, “We’re gonna wear their brains out in the morning, and their bodies in the afternoon.  Hopefully, then, they’ll all go home and be so exhausted they’ll get a good nights’ sleep!"

I knew we were having a kickball tournament but I was in no way prepared for how serious the students and teachers take it!  Teachers bring lawn chairs, umbrellas, sunscreen, and ice chests full of popsicles and bottled water.  My class won our first game but lost the 2nd so we didn’t get to the play-offs.  Our loss may or may not have had something to do with Grandma Sandy’s lack of kickball coaching skills, but that is a point on which I’ll choose not to dwell!

Middle Man’s class made it to the play-offs which were Friday afternoon, and his class would be playing the team that beat us.  Therefore, not only was I cheering his class on, but all of my students were, too!

Here he is in action!

I think it’s safe to say that Middle Man has found a new passion in life.

The child has lived and breathed kickball for the past week, and that’s no exaggeration.

He even had all the kids at church playing kickball on the front lawn of the church last Wednesday night in an effort to improve his own kickball skills before the play-off game.

Here is his cutie teacher, coaching their team from the sidelines.

She was a star athlete, herself, in high school.

Luckily for their class, she had stellar coaching skills, unlike Grandma Sandy!

Middle Man’s class won!!!!

This afternoon is the 4th grade championship game.

Wish us luck!  

I’ll let you know how it goes.

Saturday night we had a real treat.

The Pastor got the biggest, most beautiful strawberries so she and Peanut dipped them in chocolate and other goodies as a surprise treat.

YUM.

Strawberries weren’t the only surprise that The Pastor had for us.

Meet Smokey!
When the children and I got home from school on Thursday afternoon, The Pastor surprised us with Smokey, a six-week old kitten that she and Dogos got from the local animal shelter.
She is the sweetest thing, and beautiful, too.
In this picture she looks like she has super-huge ears and a big head but it’s only the angle of the camera.  I took a million pictures of her and she simply would not look up.  Her chin is tipped down.  Hopefully I’ll get a better picture of her soon!
The Pastor has been wanting a cat to keep mice out of her house.  
Living where we do, it’s just a fact of life, unfortunately.
Spook has failed miserably in his appointed job of keeping mice away from both houses.  Therefore, Smokey has a new home with The Pastor and we couldn’t be happier.  
Judging from the amount of purring she’s been doing, I think she’s pretty happy, too.


We ended the weekend with a wonderful meal last night of grilled red snapper and a crawfish cream sauce, with risotto, green salad, and a chocolate chess pie.  Thanks to The Chef!
The Chef and the kids gave me a beautiful Pandora bracelet and y’all....I was SO surprised.  Shocked, even!  I’ve wanted one for a long time but just never gotten one for myself.
And now?  I don’t have to!


We had such a great weekend and yesterday was such a nice day.
Most years, it seems, the kids fight and fuss more than ever on Mother’s Day and I end up thinking to myself, “One of these years I’m gonna wise up and go out of town all by myself for Mother’s Day.”
Of course I’d never really do that, but the thought HAS crossed my mind!  Being a Mom is wonderful, but it sure isn’t easy.
However, yesterday was really a treat.
The thing that made me the happiest about the whole day?  Was seeing how excited the children were.  The youngest 3 couldn’t wait to come give me a big hug as soon as they woke up.  
Feeling their arms wrapped around me and seeing their bright smiles and still sleepy eyes was humbling and left me feeling beyond blessed.


It also left me thinking of those women whose empty arms long to hold a baby of their own.
And of my friend Jennifer, a teacher at my school who lost twins at 18 week’s gestation after struggling with infertility.
And of my friend, Ruth, who lost her 30 year old son suddenly just a week or so ago.
And of whymommy’s boys who spent their first Mother’s Day without their Mommy and of her own mother who spent the day without her daughter.


I am a lucky, lucky woman.  I know that.  And because I know how blessed I am, it’s so very important to me to remember the pain that some other women have endured.  I know it doesn’t help lessen their burden, and in the grand scheme of things it may not matter at all, but I feel like in an attempt to not take my blessings for granted, if I can share someone else’s grief whether they know about it or not, then that’s what I should do.


Does that even make sense?!?
Probably not!


At any rate, we all enjoyed a weekend of family and great food.


Next up?


KICKBALL CHAMPIONSHIPS!!!

Wordless Wednesday

I thinkI learned more than I taught!

Once again, it’s the end of the school year.  Every year I find myself a little surprised that it’s already May. 

This week my students will take the MCT2 test, which is the state standardized test.  My students are well prepared and I’m confident they will do well.  

Especially since half of them are gifted and way smarter than me!  I’mnotevenkidding.

 The week of state testing is always a nerve-wracking one for both students and teachers.  The stakes are high for each student, teacher, school, and school district.  Test scores will go a long way in determining what standing the school and school district has.

I’ll be glad when this week is over!

I cannot, cannot, cannot believe that I’m finishing up a year of teaching 4th grade Language Arts and Social Studies.  I also cannot, cannot, cannot believe that I pulled it off!!  At least I think I did.

At the very least, I faked my way through pretty good!

When I first started this gig, I was petrified.  

Absolutely petrified.

Although I had 20 years teaching experience, I felt no more prepared to teach 4th grade than if I’d been asked to do brain surgery.  

Or mix concrete.

Or fix a car engine.

Or juggle.

Or pretty much anything.

Thanks to my wonderful group of fellow Language Arts teachers, our lesson study groups, and google, I had what I needed to get through the year.  Over the past few weeks, while looking through what my students and I would need to review before the testing this week, I was struck but how much I actually learned this year!  

Here is some of what I had to either learn or refresh my memory on, this year.

Text structure:  simple procedure, sequential order, cause/effect, compare/contrast, descriptive

Present perfect verb tense

Appositives

Narrative, Informative, and Persuasive writing processes

Tools of persuasion:  endorsement, name-calling, air and rebut, repetition

Figurative language

Reflexive and demonstrative pronouns

Function of a linking verb

Rules for commas and colons

Compound, complex sentences, coordinating, subordinating conjunctions

Poetry:  concrete, color, diamante, cinquain, haiku, limericks, and acrostic poems

I love my school, love the teachers, adore my principal and assistant principal, and have thoroughly enjoyed the students.

However, 4th grade curriculum is just not.  my.  thing.

I’m thankful that next year I’ll be going back to the primary school.  This time as a certified teacher with her own classroom, not as a certified teacher working as a teacher’s assistant.

I don’t know yet what grade I’ll be teaching but it’ll be either K or 1st.  Most likely 1st, I’m told.  

I’d actually love to do a K-1st loop.

We shall see!

The thing I loved most about this past year was all of the reading. 

For every fictional piece we read, we also read a non-fiction piece.  Of course, the fiction was way more fun!  We read books like Where the Red Fern Grows, Matilda, and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. 

We did a unit on slavery and read a biography on Harriet Tubman and the Underground Railroad.  We did research on famous Mississippians.  The students wrote reports and made presentations to the class.  We did a sports unit on baseball which included a biography on Jackie Robinson.  We studied Mississippi Government and took a field trip to the state capital in Jackson.  

Before MCT review, we finished a unit on poetry.  We studied different types of poems and “tore them apart” to see how figurative language was used to convey meaning and feeling.  Each student made a poetry book with different types of their own poems and the students loved, loved, loved it.  Even the boys!  I couldn’t believe it.  I have one particular low-performing student who is also a behavior problem.  Would you believe that he could not wait to find out what kind of poem we were going to work on each day?   

I have to admit that I cracked up at myself every time I said something like this to him, “If you even THINK about calling another girl in here a fat-headed troll again, you will not, WILL NOT get to write any extra poems today.  Do you understand me?!?”

One of the poems we included in our poetry books was a Color Poem.

The students chose whatever color they wanted and followed a basic pattern to write their poem.

Here are two examples.  I thought these two students did a particularly great job.

Aren’t they great?

Of course, the very best part of teaching 4th grade this year was getting to see this guy every day.....

                                 

....Middle Man, my absolute favorite 4th grader!

Seeing him at lunch, at recess, and throughout the day has made me a happy Mom.  It’s been great fun to watch him make friends and get settled in at his new school.

I’ve learned a lot this year.  I still can’t believe I taught 4th grade!  Its an experience that I never would’ve chosen but one I’m glad to have had.  And while I’ve enjoyed my time in 4th grade, I sure am looking forward to next year!

But first?

We must tackle and conquer the MCT2.

Wish us luck!!!!

  

Wordless Wednesday (almost)

Look who lost a tooth!!

Ready for summer!!

It’s hard to believe that April is gone and that summer is just around the corner!

At school this week, we’ll be reviewing for the big spring state test that we’ll take May 8-10.  There are only 16 1/2 days left in this school year.  We can’t wait for summer vacation!!!

As you can see, the chicks are growing quickly.  They are already 7 weeks old.  They love their coop and they also love to peck around outside in the grass.

Every afternoon after school, the kids and I go down to the barn to let “the girls” out of their coop to give them some yard time.  They are too young to free range or be outside unsupervised so the kids and I sit outside and watch them for a half hour or so.  

Never in my life did I think that one of my favorite things to do one day would be to sit around and watch chickens, but it’s truly one of my favorite things to do!

The Buff Orpington chicks are very sweet and gentle, which is the main reason I wanted this particular breed.  This little chick here let Guitar Boy carry her around and then sat in his lap for a while before jumping down to peck around in the dirt some more.

Speaking of birds.....

We had a Mom and Dad pair of house finches build a nest in an old cd box that had been sitting on the back porch.  The Chef hung the box up on the wall so that the nest would be safe but also so the kids could see the babies once the eggs hatched.

See the 4 little beaks?

It was fun watching Mom and Dad Finch bring them bites to eat.

The babies all grew quickly and have already left the nest.

Because we had such an early spring, we expect that the nest may be occupied again soon.

A few weekends ago we hosted a crawfish boil for the young adult Sunday school class as well as the church softball team.

Which, incidentally, were pretty much the same people!

One of my favorite things about being back in MS is the plentiful availability of crawfish!!!

Here is The Chef and our friend, Jeff preparing some of the crawfish to be put in the pot.

Jeff is from New Orleans and a true Cajun.

Jeff is also a mathematical genius.  He not only helped us figure out the chicken coop, but he and his equally brilliant wife helped Guitar Boy pass Advanced Geometry!

It’s been warm enough lately for the kids to do a little night swimming.

Here is The Boss taking her first leap!

This weekend we’ve been enjoying a visit with some friends from TN.

Ken and Marge had been in Baton Rouge at a workshop and stopped by our house to visit for a few days.

As you can see, they were traveling in their 

ah-maze-ing Winnebago.

Look how awesome this thing is!!!

They travel all over the place.  Last year they drove to Alaska and stayed for 3 months.

The Boss really liked the kitchen.

Middle Man really liked their dog, Oscar!

Last night we enjoyed a “low country boil” for supper.

Boiled shrimp, boiled crawfish, corn, potatoes, sausage, artichokes, and fresh french bread.

YUM.

Marge tried crawfish for the first time.

She said she liked the tail meat but it sure was a lot of work for such a small bite!

We assured her that all she needed was a little practice and she’d be a pro in no time.

I’m home from church this morning with Dogos.

She’s had some strange sort of a mild stomach bug the past few days.

I took this picture of her a few weeks ago and it’s one of my favorites.

I think it’s so sweet.

This afternoon I’ll be doing laundry and getting ready for the week ahead.

I hope you all have a great Sunday!

Grandma Sandy has some new friends!!

Once again, Grandma Sandy has gone and done something she either said she’d never do or certainly never thought she’d ever do.

What might that be?

I’m glad you asked, because Grandma Sandy got.......

....chickens!!!!

And we love them!!!

See?

Now why on earth would Grandma Sandy get chickens?

Well, for one, we have a three stall barn, we don’t have a horse, and we’re not going to get a horse.

which of course totally means that I’ll end up with a horse some day now that I’ve said that

I figure, why have an empty barn just sitting down there? A barn stall can easily be converted into a chicken coop so why not get some chickens? My best friend got chickens last year and she loves, loves, loves her chickens.

truth be known, my bff and I always have to do everything the same way. except she has no children so I had enough for both of us. I’m a true friend, I tell ya.

Speaking of children, how much fun would my kids have, getting to raise some chicks?

And of course, the best reason for having chickens would be.....

Fresh eggs, of course!!

I bought these farm fresh eggs from the local, family-owned, feed store here in our tiny town.

When The Pastor and I stopped by a few weeks ago, I admired the cute little chicks they already had in the store. Last year when I knew we’d be moving to south MS and living in the country, I started researching chickens, different breeds, coops, chicken care etc. I studied my hatchery catalogs and knew the exact kinds of chickens I wanted: Barred Rock, Buff Orpington, and Ameraucana.

Ameraucana lay light blue and green eggs like the ones in the pic above. How cool is that?!?

So when The Pastor and I were at the feed store, I looked over their schedule of chicks that would be arriving.

Check out March 14.

When I saw that they would have all three breeds of the very same chicks I wanted, arriving on the very same day?!?

And it was during our Spring Break?!?

Well, of course now I HAD to get chickens!!!

The kids and I got up bright and early on March 14, made a trip to the feed store and brought home 14 of these 2 day old little cuties.

We had to plan our arrival at the store around the time the chicks would arrive in the mail (from Ideal Poultry). The guy at the feed store had told me that his earlier shipment of 100 Buff Orpingtons sold out in less than a day.

When I heard that, the kids and I planned to get to the feed store and get our chicks before anyone else could snatch ‘em up.

Don’t mess with Grandma Sandy and her chicks!

We got 4 of each breed I wanted plus 2 cute little fluffy yellow ones because Peanut asked and I couldn’t resist.

I didn’t necessarily want 14 chickens but I figured a few might not make it along the way so a few extra birds wouldn’t hurt.

Plus, getting 14 chicks on the 14th just made sense, don’t you think?

I like when numbers work out like that. :)

thank heavens it was the 14th and not the 27th or something like that!

Anyway, to date, we’ve only lost 1 Buff Orpington but don’t worry. We gave her a fine funeral with flowers, notes, and even a headstone.

And while Grandma Sandy wasn’t necessarily counting on the remaining 13 chickens to reach adulthood, thereby resulting in a larger flock than I’d anticipated, I think managing a larger flock may be exponentially easier than planning many more funerals and managing the accompanying grief and mourning.

So, for the past almost 2 weeks, this renovated dog crate down in The Chef’s shop has been their home and they are just the happiest little things you’ve ever seen.

In those pictures, they are 5 days old. You can see they are already getting their feathers in. This was their first time out in the grass and even at only 5 days old, they were scratching around, eating grass, seeds, and bugs.

I have to say it’s been fascinating watching their instincts as they grow and change. God sure knew what he was doing when He created Earth and all that’s on it.

I never thought that chickens would be so much fun to watch, but the kids and I could sit there for hours!

This is a picture I took yesterday.

They are 12 days old, growing very quickly, and about to outgrow their home.

Here’s a little Barred Rock who is checking out my phone while I was taking her picture. They are very curious little creatures!

This is the barn stall that will become their new home in just a few days. A friend from church came over yesterday to help us plan the conversion from stall to coop. The Chef and I had a few ideas, but our church friend is an engineer and has a brain that thinks in a way that mine does not.

It took him about half a second to figure out exactly what we should do, and how many feet, yards, boards, braces, etc. we should need. He and The Chef made a trip to Lowe’s and worked into the evening on the coop and it’s really looking great.

In other Grandma Sandy news, Middle Man and a friend found a turtle in the barn the other afternoon.

Don’t worry. He didn’t actually kiss the turtle but for a minute there, I thought he was going to!

Yesterday, while The Chef and Engineer Friend worked on the coop, the kids swam in the hot tub.

The pool isn’t quite ready to be open for the summer, yet, but the kids were dying to swim, so I finally gave in and told them they could get in the hot tub.

I never would’ve imagined that the water would be warm enough in March but it is!

So, there you have it.

Grandma Sandy got chickens.

And we love them!!

Never in my life would I have ever imagined that one day I’d have chickens and be happy about it.

Kinda makes me wonder what could be next.

A goat?

Maybe?

We’ll see!

I AM

I came across a song today on a blog I read and it really hit home.

I started listening and before I knew it, tears were streaming down my cheeks.

The lyrics are simple and beautiful.

Words that I’ve known and prayed throughout my life.

So when the tears started flowing I was kinda surprised a little bit because I realized that the emotion behind those tears wasn’t just gratitude for who God is. It was something else, too.

This entire year for our family has been an exercise in faith.

With every step of this move we’ve had to step out in blind faith.

Where to buy a house?

What kind of living arrangements do we need to accommodate a family of 7 plus Pastor Margaret?

How do we move 2 households at the same time?

New oncologists for Pastor Margaret?

The normal yet tedious financial and legal issues that have to be dealt with after the loss of our PawPaw?

Schools for the kids?

Job for me?

The list goes on and on.

I can’t speak for anyone else in our family, but for me, the only way to approach a move such as this has been blind faith and one step at a time.

I have literally prayed my way through the majority of this year.

Well, I say I’ve prayed my way through this year and I truly have, but I also realized that I’ve kind of gone through all of these changes in a....well....kind of a robotic way. Sort of emotionless.

I tend to get overly analytical and try to figure out what God is doing and the reasoning behind this and such and so on.

AS IF I could ever figure anything out!

In an attempt to not let the stress of it all get to me I think I’ve power-prayed my way through it all, instead of letting Christ carry me through.

Does that make sense?

Probably not.

I’m still thinking this through even as I type.

But as I listened to I Am by Nichole Nordeman I was freshly reminded by the simple fact that the God who knit me together in my mother’s womb is the same God who felt my tears when I was scared to go to Sunday School as a 3 year old when my Mama had to leave me to go play the organ for worship.

He’s the same God who cheered me on when Stephanie Steckler taught me how to ride a bike without training wheels.

He’s the same God who loved me as my heart broke when I saw 3 girls outside my high school boyfriend’s bedroom window.

He’s the same God who smiled when my Daddy gave me roses for my sweet 16th birthday.

He’s the same God who saw yet forgave all the stupid butt-headed things I ever did and continue to do.

He’s the same God who blessed me with a husband and 5 precious children.

He’s the same God who loved and carried me through the pain of a miscarriage.

He’s the same God who has carried our family throughout this year and through every major life change.

And most importantly, not only is He all of that for me, but He is becoming all of that for each of my children.

At least that is my prayer.

There is nothing that escapes God’s attention.

He knows it all.

And He loves us through every second whether we acknowledge it or not.

I pray that each of my children will come to know Jesus in a very real and personal way.

Ev

So when I think of who God is to me today, I would have to say He is my Friend, Sustainer, Counselor, Protector and Shield.

Who is He to you?