Pretty Women

Unless one of the kids says something especially cute, this will be my last blog post for a few days, I promise! I know I have probably overwhelmed you all with the number of my posts over the last two days. Actually, what it is is that I have had a very long "to-do" list and every time I thought of something I wanted to blog about I jotted it down. Well, I've dedicated today to getting through that list and this is the last blog I have listed on there!

Tuesday, Ben and I were in the van, on the way home from his social skills class. Ben surprised me by saying, "You know, girls are much nicer looking than boys are." He said it in such a matter of fact way. I don't know if that was just an honest observation or evidence of beginning puberty hormonal awareness! It was interesting to me to hear him say that, as well as amusing!

Matt, the Computer Man

This is my brother, Matt (along with my wonderful nephew, Jake). Matt fixed my computer over the weekend and I promised him I would blog about him (because ringing,public endorsements from me are greatly to be desired, you know!). My computer is working SO well! He's the reason I was able to post those Faithwriter's pieces. Prior to that, I couldn't copy and paste. He found the reason (an "encryption" error - sounds very technical). He also completely cleaned up my keyboard. I had no idea it had so much crud in it. I haven't been able to use my numeral pad for months and now it works! It is a sheer pleasure to type on that thing these days. And my computer fan doesn't make any noise at all anymore.

Anyway, since Matt has a lot of time off right now (remember to pray for a job for him!) he is available to fix your computer if you live in the Des Moines/Ames area. He said that if you mention that you're a friend of mine, he'll give you a real budget price, too. Mine was a batch of pumpkin/chocolate chip cookies, but I suspect he's thinking something green from everyone else. But it would still be a good deal.

Thanks, Matt!

Shopping with the Spawn of Satan

Ok - maybe a little extreme. Or not. But I like the alliteration. And it's not too far from the truth.

Monday: my regular, bi-monthly errand-running/grocery shopping/Walmarting day. It was also Will's first day of morning football practice. So, I had to wait until afternoon to go. I picked him up from practice and he announced he had no intention of shopping with me. He intended to spend the day on the couch recovering from practice. He then mentioned that several of his teammates had vomited from all the running required in that practice. I decided not to press the issue since it did sound like it had been a brutal work-out. Why a body would voluntarily put themselves through that is beyond me! So, after lunch, I took off with the other three.

We had an appointment and then I began driving all over Des Moines. One of our first stops was Aldis. Sam decided that this was the day to declare his independence from silly rules like "We always sit down in the cart." And wouldn't you know it, I happened to get a cart that had no toddler belt - not that that latch is any match for a kid like Sam Heywood. But, I've been reading "To Train Up a Child" by the Pearls and they're really big into spanking your kids - a lot. So I decided to take my chances with any do-good child-abuse reporters that might be roaming the aisles of Aldis and I just started swatting Sam on the thigh every time he stood. Man, that kid is tough! It took a good 6 - 8 swats before he'd even sit the first time. It was continual, throughout the whole store. Stand up, swat, "sit down", swat, "sit down", swat, "sit down" - finally obedience. And then he'd do it all over again. Although, I did notice he was a little quicker to obey each time. But why did he have to pick the grocery store to engage in this battle of wills? I'm already so busy and distracted (esp. by Ben, who is in a grocery-induced euphoria whenever we shop (it's something he stims on) and I don't have time for this right now! We finally got to the check-out lane and the other two boys shot over to the sacking counter to wait and I'm attempting to unload my groceries onto the belt while a whole line of people waits behind us. So Sam picks that moment to decide to stand again! Now, I have a choice. I can ignore him, hoping he doesn't fall out on his head. That way, I won't have to worry about what the other customers are thinking about as I slap my child. And I can get my unloading done a lot faster, than if I have to continually reach over to the front of the cart and swat at Sam. But, then he might unlearn the lesson I was attempting to teach. So, it took a few swats (I'm definitely waiting to hear from CPS now!) but he finally sat, voicing his protest all the way.

We then spent quite a bit of time out at Valley West mall. Will and David needed new sandals (like those are easy to find in August!) and I had a $10 coupon I wanted to use at Penneys. This is when the Spawn emerged again. Sam does not like to be constrained. He submits to his car seat only with the promise of his blanket, a bottle (yes, I know he's almost 2 years old and thus too old for a bottle! Somehow, that's secondary, though), and possibly some gummy chews if I remember to pack them. So we got to the mall and I popped him into his stroller. Ok, "popped" is not the right word because it implies, "with ease" and there is nothing easy about getting him in his stroller. He arches, he cries, he tries to wiggle out through the strap, and he tries to unfasten the strap. Fortunately, the strap was designed so that mothers have great difficulty opening and closing it, which ensures that toddlers at least have a small amount of difficulty. When that didn't work, Sam positioned himself at the end of the stroller so that his feet dragged on top of the wheels and the stroller came precariously close to tipping over. Then, he started with the yelling. Fortunately, he's little and cute, so people seeing and hearing him holler say, "Awww!" I'm just gritting my teeth, trying to get my shopping done.

Miracle of all miracles, I did actually find shoes for both Will and David. Will was particularly pleased with his because I found Hawkeye crocs (real, honest-to-goodness crocs - not the imitations) on clearance. I got him a size 12-13, which is as big as they come. I told him to enjoy them because if his feet get any bigger - and they will - it's regular old sandals for him. Well, the actual Croc stores, like "Fit to Be Tied" might carry larger sizes, but I'm not going to pay $30 for rubber shoes.

It was getting towards supper time so I thought if I had french fries to feed Sam that would at least stop the yelling for awhile. So, I got us all fed and the fries and chicken nuggets worked for awhile with Sam. Then, it was off to Walmart.

Yes, I was shopping at 9:00 at night at Walmart with three children. That is never good. Ben insisted on getting his own cart this time. That made me nervous, because I just knew he was going to run into something or over somebody's heels (probably mine) with it. But he did really well. Whenever I took something off the shelf he snatched it out of my hand and very carefully arranged it in his cart. He didn't get that from me! I just toss things and move on to the next. Sam was his usual pleasant self. He spent a certain amount of time wailing. Then, he thought it would be fun to stick his fingers down his throat. I turned to get some cheese and when I came back to the cart, Sam said, "Wet". I looked and his shirt was covered in vomit. So was the floor. He had just eaten a package of teddy grahams, too. A couple of years ago I wrote an email to a bunch of friends entitled, "Why I Should Have Become a Nun." That essay popped into my head at that moment.

So, we finally got home. I called ahead and instructed Will and Paul to be ready and waiting so they could carry in everything. I then discovered that one of my gallons of milk had leaked half its contents into the upholstery. Three days later, the smell is absolutely nauseating. We have scrubbed, shop-vacuumed it, and baking soda-d it. Today, I'm going to douse it with vinegar. I thought it was horrible when I spilled gasoline in my van once - that was nothing compared to the smell of rotten milk!

And as for the Spawn? He had conked out on the way home. Paul carried him up to bed, vomit covered shirt and all, and laid him down. There was no way we were risking waking up that child, no matter how dirty! In the morning, he was cheerful and I bathed him and all was well again. Until the next shopping trip, that is...

David's Song

Here is the other Faithwriter's piece I did recently. The assigned topic was "spring - the season." I kind of like this one, even though there's no humor to it. But then, I guess adultery and murder aren't all that funny.


David’s Song

It was springtime, the time of year when kings traditionally took up their armies and went to war to defend their kingdoms. But, inexplicably, King David didn’t go. He sent his army, but he remained at home. And while home he committed an act that would reverberate for generations to come. He committed adultery and then to cover that sin, he committed murder. For payment of his sins God caused the baby born out of the adulterous act to die.

It’s a sad story, isn’t it? How did a man, once called a “friend of God”, fall so low? It’s the same thing we ask when we see modern-day heroes of the faith fall. How can a person be so close to God, yet fall so hard? David’s story has been studied and discussed at great length by theologians. The short answer to this question is that the king allowed his heart to become divided long before the sin occurred. When temptation arrived, it was hard to resist. He didn’t, and the rest is history. There’s a lesson for all of us to learn from David’s fall and subsequent pain.

So often when great Christians in public ministry fall, that’s the last we hear of them. Their years of service are forever marred by the sin that is made public. Sometimes when we fall, we want to think that we have fallen so far that God’s grace couldn’t possibly reach us. But that wasn’t true for King David, it isn’t true for fallen Christian leaders, and it’s certainly not true for us.

In 2 Samuel 12, the prophet Nathan confronts King David with his sin and lets him know the terrible price that God will exact to pay for his sin - the death of the son conceived in his sinful act with Bathsheba. David is brokenhearted. But out of that grief comes restoration and a new purpose for David. He pens.

Have mercy on me, O God
According to your unfailing love;
According to your great compassion,
Blot out my transgressions,
Wash away all my iniquity
And cleanse me from my sin…
Create in me a pure heart, O God,
And renew a steadfast spirit within me

(Psalm 51:1-2. 10)

David was fully restored to God and faithfully walked with Him until the day he died. What a blessing to know that we, too, can experience that forgiveness and have our own renewed fellowship with the Lord - a “springtime” in our Christian walk. How forgiving and how merciful is our great God!

Final Season

This is a piece I wrote for Faithwriters a few weeks ago. Since it didn't win (surprise, surprise!) I'm free to post it here. The topic we were assigned was "adolescence." It's ok, I guess - not my favorite writing, anyway.I did get several nice comments from other writers on the site - probably all mothers, I'm guessing! Oh, and Will isn't 15 yet, but he will be in less than 3 months. I thought saying "Fifteen" had a nice ring to it, even if he wasn't technically that old at the time of writing.

I tried to find a "mature" photograph of Will to put with this blog, but gave up. This one definitely doesn't fit the piece! He took this of Ben and himself the one day they were at camp together in June.

Fifteen years ago I gave birth to my first son. He was a big baby, as far as babies go, weighing in at a hefty 9lbs, 3oz. But his entire head still fit in the palm of my hand and his newborn clothes that I had waited for so long to dress him up in, swallowed him completely. But, like all babies do, he grew too fast and soon he was rolling and then crawling around. But at night, he’d still snuggle in my lap and he fit just perfectly in the curve of my arms. We’d rock and rock and watch the moonbeams make patterns on the wall.

And then he grew some more and soon had plenty to say to me. He’d follow his dad around, plastic tools in hand, and I felt a pang as I knew that he now he was beginning to separate from me. But he’d still let me hug him sometimes and at night he’d always want a kiss before bedtime. More often than not, he’d end up crawling into bed with me before morning arrived. We’d snuggle and I’d inhale his sweet scent, hoping I would be able to recall it later on, but knowing I never would.

I can still see him on his first day of school, with his red shirt and brand new jeans. He was so excited to go, but willingly let me kiss him good-bye and even slipped a “kiss” in his pocket for later. The next year he would only kiss me after looking around to make sure none of his friends were watching. The year after that he would consent only to a wave. My heart ached, but I knew this was the way it must go.

The years rolled into one another - birthday parties, bugs, ER trips, baseball games, vacations, pets, Christmases, school - and he grew. At times my heart wistfully remembered the sweet baby, now fully an active, tow-headed boy. But yet, each stage of life brought new enjoyment, too, and I didn’t miss my baby too much. Not usually, anyway.

But now - now it’s different. Standing in my kitchen is this man. But he’s not a man - yet. But the boy is gone. He’s suddenly taller than I am and much stronger. His face has broadened and his voice has deepened. He’s what they call an adolescent, a teenager. I suppose he is that. My food bill and the vibrations from his stereo through my kitchen ceiling can attest to that ! Very soon he will complete the growing journey and be fully a man.

This stage of life is the last one. Oh, there will be other stages as he transports through his college years into young adulthood, marriage, early fatherhood, middle-age, and then the winter of his life. But this stage, adolescence, is the last one where I get a front row seat. After this stretch, as he crosses the bridge from being a boy to becoming a man, he won’t be mine anymore. More than likely, another woman will become the center of his attention, which is as it should be. And even if that should not happen, parents tend to take their final bow as the child fully enters adulthood. Knowing this, I am savoring these sweet, lingering days of adolescence when my boy is still my boy - for just a few more seasons.

4 1/2 months ago my friend Barb died from cancer . I blogged about it in my post "When God Doesn't Seem to Make Sense." I knew she was dying and I was dry-eyed. She died and I never cried. I went to her viewing and remained dry-eyed. While I have been sad on the inside, I haven't cried once over her in the months since her death. Last Saturday I got caught up on some scrapbooking. I scrapbook chronologically and I came to last spring's pictures.. Barb's family had made up the neatest funeral program I have ever seen. It was filled with pictures of Barb's life, along with the kind of information typically found in funeral programs. So I had saved it, wanting to do something with it in my scrapbooks. As I cut apart pictures and pasted them onto my pages, I found myself finally weeping over the loss of my friend. I don't know why it took so long.

I miss you, Barb.

(That's a picture of Barb taken in Sept. '07, at her daughter's wedding)

Body-work , Bi-dahs, and Battery-eating

What a busy week I have had! I won't bore you with all the details, but suffice it to say that this is the first chance I've had to actually stay home this week. And I won't even be staying home all day today. Tonight I have a city council meeting and I have to take Will to and from football practice. Paul was growling last night when he got in the van for the first time this week and saw that the fuel gauge was almost on empty. He had just filled up Sunday. That's the way it goes. I have been living in that van all week long!



So some of that is why I have decided not to drive up to Waterloo this weekend to attend a friend's wedding. I need to slow down. And I don't want to spend the extra gas money. But it would have been nice to go. However, she's getting married in her backyard on day that is supposed to exceed the 100 degree mark on the heat index - that alone is reason enough to stay home in my nice air-conditioned house and just send a card!



We went camping last weekend in the Webster City area. It was ok. The weather was great. We didn't even need our air conditioner. Sunday it did warm up. Paul wanted to go explore some nearby waterfalls and wading pools. They were very pretty, but the rocks were very painful! The bottom of my left foot is still purple from the bruises. And Sam fell and scraped his side. So then we went over to the beach part of the lake. I was not about to get into that water, although the boys weren't so picky. So I laid down on my towel and read my book. The only thing better would have been to have been inside, in air conditioning, an ice-cold Coke in my hand, chocolate at my side, reading my book!



Sat. afternoon Will and Paul went golfing. The campsite is right next to a golf course. It was Paul's first ever time to golf, but he beat Will! Ben and David were bored silly so we ended up driving into Webster City. We found the sole movie theater in town with its lone offering - "Transformers 2." I had a few reservations about this movie, but I had recently talked to the Christian nurse where Ben gets his allergy shots and she had assured me that it was wonderful and she had taken her 6 year old to see it. The last 2/3 of the movie is fine - lots of robots, lots of action, dirt, noise, etc. But the first third ruined it. It was full of sensuality and language. I was very disappointed in it and angered at how this movie is marketed to children. Now I'm in a bit of a quandary because Will wants to see it badly and I'm even more concerned about how that first third could affect him than I am the younger boys.



On our way home we drove a little out of our way and had a nice supper in Boondocks, Iowa, at their diner. The last time I was at that restaurant was 31 years ago. I remember that we had gone to Adventureland with my parents and grandparents and we ate there, coming home. It was the same as I remembered - macrame plant hangers and all! The date Sunday was Aug. 2 and that was the 5 year anniversary of Paul's fist day in his new career as a heating/air technician and he wanted to observe it somehow.



Oh, speaking of Adventureland, we were given tickets for that this week. Normally, Loziers offers employees their choice of either Adventureland or State Fair tickets. We didn't know if that would be done this year, though, because of the economy. Loziers has held off on pay raises because of that so we kind of half-thought that the tickets might be gone, too. But they came through with them. The thing is, we have to use them Aug. 15-24th. But during those weeks Paul is first on back-up call and then on first call. That generally means extra hours. So, we hate to give up any of that by taking a day off for the park! But I think we're going to do that in two weeks on a weekday when he's just on back-up. It will be nice to have that family time. The boys are excited!



I saw a new dr. this Monday. I'm hopeful that she's going to be able to help me. She was certainly an interesting person! She had so much going on, clothing and accessory-wise, I just didn't know where to look first! She topped it all off with glossy fuchsia lipstick. I sat there the whole time, just wanting to blot her lips! I had taken the time to write out my complaints and when I did so the first thing I thought was, "This is hormonal!" and when I gave the list to the dr, the first thing she said was, "this is hormonal!" I'm starting to think that this feeling of all-over lousiness I've been experiencing has less to do with the fact that I had a stroke and more to do with having some hormonal changes going on. I am pushing 40, so I guess it's not inconceivable that my hormones and female stuff are starting to get whacky. I'm going in on the 19th for a full physical and labs. I'm also going to see their chiropractor that day.



I went to the dentist on Tues. They had some young guy instead of the old dentist that saw me last time. It makes me wonder if he's retired or if they just assign patients to whatever dr. is free. Two cavities, which is not the end of the world. But, this new dentist and his assistant are trying to talk me into having one my crowns re-done, because it has a jagged edge and food could become trapped down there. I'm not really inclined to do that until it's a problem. I just had that crown put on two years ago and it took me another year to pay for it!



Sam went in for his 21 month well-baby check up yesterday. Now I remember why I didn't do well-baby checks with Ben and David. They are a waste of time! But he's my last and it's covered by insurance, so... anyway, he has gained an inch now in the past 3 months. He's exactly 36" tall. But he only put on a half pound, weighing in at 28 1/2 lbs now. That puts him at the 98th percentile for height and the 50th for weight. The dr. said he is going to be very, very tall, probably even taller than his brothers. How can he determine that? I laughed and said well, I guessed we know if that were true in about 20 years. He said we'd know before then. He may be right. I have a feeling that Will is not going to be super tall - probably maxing out around 6', like his dad. He's getting thick and bulking out, also like Paul. Ben, of course, will always be skinny. I'm not sure about David. He's thinner than Will was at this age, but I have noticed lately, that he, too, is getting a little thicker in his arms and legs. One thing is for certain - they'll all be taller than me!



Sam has taken to calling his blanket his "bi-dah." It's kind of cute, so that's what we all call it now. Only, I have noticed within the last couple of days that he is also referring to his penis as his "bi-dah." Is it just me, or is this mildly disturbing?!



Sam has also developed a taste for AA batteries. We have tons of those things lying around here because of all the boys' electronic games and stuff. Sam likes to stuff those in his mouth, two at a time, and then come to me so I can see. He knows I get all excited and I'm sure that's why he does it. But gee whiz, what else am I going to do? I can just see one slipping down his throat and getting lodged in there! Not to mention, I'm fairly certain it's bad for the digestive system to suck on battery juices!



I'm going to be without a computer for the next few days. My brother is going to take mine and work on it. It's working fine, but there's a couple things that could work better. The main irritant is that I can't copy and paste and I sure miss that. I have some essays from FaithWriters that I would like to plug into my blog pages. So I will be going through some withdrawal pains. But the bright side is that I might actually get something done around here! When I told Will we would be without the computer, he wailed, "No-o-o! I have to harvest my wheat at 2:30 on Friday!" He's involved in some Facebook game where he has a virtual farm. Paul says he has way too much time on his hands -I don't doubt that!



So, until next week, I guess!