New Rules at My House for the Christmas Season

1. Its a known fact that Santa packs his sleigh 10 days before Christmas. Any changes made to one's wish list after that time probably won't be honored. Sorry honey, the sleigh is all packed!
(Don't bother begging Santa to repack, by the way.. he's surely wearing his earmuffs.. its the North Pole!)

2. Santa's gifts will not be wrapped in pretty striped paper like in the Polar Express movie. Why? Well because we live in the South... the humidity would ruin the paper. (That movie was obviously made in the North.)

3. During the entire month of December, if Santa sees toys scattered on the living room floor, he may not stop here, for fear of slipping!

4. If you eat too many Christmas cookies, there will be none left for Santa and his reindeer.

5. There is no T.V. watching time limit during the holidays, so long as it is a Christmas movie or some wholesome programming. Its not that Momma doesn't want you underfoot while I'm wrapping, baking, cleaning, etc.. Christmas movies help to get your heart in the spirit of Christmas, and besides this is the perfect time of year to slow down and relax. (Right?)

6. Going to bed on time, cleaning your plate at dinner and helping Mom are all great ways to stay on Santa's nice list. Complaining about any of the above is a sure way to get on the naughty list.

7. Christmas is about "getting" alright, but its not about getting presents. Its about getting your heart ready to celebrate the birth of Jesus. The more love, joy, peace, humility and gratitude in our hearts, the happier we will all be on Christmas morning, guaranteed!

From the mouths of babes.. the entertainment floweth

Seth: Daniel, would you mind moving away from the TV?
Dan: No.
Seth: You mean you don't mind?
Dan: No.
Seth: Then will you?
Dan: No.
Seth: Daniel, you're being unreasonable. You're fired!
__________

Daniel: I'm a superhero!
Mom: Really?
Daniel: Sure, of course!
Mom: Well what kind of superhero are you?
Daniel: Um.. let's see.. I think maybe RED.
Mom: No, I mean what are your superpowers? What can you do?
Daniel: I shake a booty! I good dancer!

Indeed he is.

Same Hat, Very Different Boy

People say my boys look alike. Other than possibly the smile, I disagree. Maybe its because I live with them to know how truly different they are. I do think that each one is quite handsome--okay, beautiful, in his own way.

Seth, 21 months

Daniel, 26 months

All for Jesus

When I tire of the daily grind
and struggle to go on
I lift my hands to the heavens and cry,
Its all for you, my Lord!
Then imagine it was He who supped
With these tiny crusted spoons
And wash them with my whole heart
While singing to Him a song.
I neatly fold His little clothes
And place them in His drawer
And scrub the floors of His footprints
The sticky crumbs and all
Then seeing His smile
in my children’s eyes
Hearing His joy in their shouts
I find its not that hard to do
When I remember who its truly all about.

Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might. -- Ecclesiastes 9:10
Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men. --Colossians 3:23

100 Things - Part One

I've noticed that it seems to be the trend in blogging lately to include a list of 100 or so interesting factoids about oneself. I think I've finally progressed to the point in life where I understand that life is not about me, so I've been reluctant up to now to undertake such a task. It occurs to me, however, that this might be a useful exercise in self-awareness.

I wrote a poem many years ago that began "Chicken me - I lack the spunk to be a thing." In some ways, I could write the same thing today. I think sometimes I try to blend in with the crowd so much that its not clear, even to me, just who exactly I am in my God-given uniqueness. So here I go, gathering the courage to be me. Ready or not, here I come.

1. I was born on the bayou in Thibodaux, Louisiana. For those unfamiliar, this is a beautiful, small wetland community near the edge of the continent, where people of mostly cajun French heritage enjoy life, love, food, and music more than anywhere else in the world. I no longer live there, but Thibodaux is an integral part of who I am.


2. I am a graduate of Louisiana State University. Geaux Tigers!!!


3. I attended college part time during my last year of high school. Because of this and some clep tests, I finished college early and was unleashed on the world at age 20, brainy but totally clueless.


4. I have a bachelors degree in English with a concentration in Language. (That means grammar, semantics and rhetoric.. but I usually just say I have a degree in English grammar.)


5. I have a minor in Psychology.


6. I originally majored in psychology and minored in English, but switched them before my last semester because I decided I'd rather get married and have babies than go to grad school.


7. I didn't know then that, in the time it would take me to have a baby, I could have gone to grad school twice. Ha! No regrets.


8. I have a habit of calling the people in my household silly pet names such as Boogie, Sugarlove, Honeypie, Dannybug, Sweetcheeks, Babylove, Sethiepoo, etc.


9. I tend to get stuck on one petname and overuse it. I've used "Boogie," so much so that until recently my youngest child thought this was his name. (He does like to dance more than anyone else in the household, so he earned the nickname honestly.)
   
10. I'm fascinated with dialects, particularly those of South Louisiana, and once dreamed of researching their origins, borders, etc., and creating a dialect map of the state.


11. Growing up, I had two heroes-- Helen Steiner Rice and Jane Goodall. I wanted to be one of these women when I grew up.. who know I could be both? In accordance with God's since of humor, it turns out I'm a writer in a house full of monkeys!


12. I am a CLA (Certified Legal Assistant) and a notary public.


13. I volunteer for my church, First Baptist of Bossier, the Preeclampsia Foundation and Prevent Child Abuse Louisiana.


14. I am an artist, but haven't done anything artistic in a long time.


15. Over the years, I've done charcoal portraits, pencil sketching, oil painting, watercolor painting, calligraphy, murals, woodburning, wood carving, soap carving, clay sculpture, paper sculpture, and probably other things I've forgotten.


16. I could write poetry all day long. In high school, I filled several five-subject notebooks with poetry, some of it hilarious, some nonsense, some inspirational. Most of it is now lost.


17. I traveled to Europe when I was 15, visiting Athens, Rome, Florence, Paris and London. I earned 6 hours of college credit in Art and Architecture for this trip.


18. I would love to take that trip over again, or one like it, with my husband.


19. I have been married 10 1/2 years and love my husband more with each passing year.


20. I am passionate about my children's education and character development.


21. I worked as a paralegal for nine years, then left to become a stay at home mom-- definitely the best career move ever made.


22. I strive to live so that Christianity is not just my religion, but my way of life.
23. I play the clarinet, organ and harmonica.. not necessarily well, but I can play them.
24. I used to speak fluent Spanish.


25. There have been six (6) human beings to inhabit my body, besides myself. Two are still living, the rest died in utero at various stages of development.


26. Call me crazy, but I chose to name the babies I lost, regardless of the fact that I only know the sex of one of them. I decided it was my perogative as their mother to choose a sex and name them if it helped me heal. I firmly believe that someday I will hold Maria, Gabriel, Chloe and Anthony (twins) in my arms.


27. My first child, Maria Elizabeth, was stillborn in December 1999. My one regret is not holding her longer or taking pictures of her, even if no one ever saw them but me.
28. I used to visit Maria's grave often, but now haven't been there in a few years.
29. I struggled with infertilty and miscarriage for 2 1/2 years after Maria was born. Those were what I call "the growing years" --growing hurts, but its good for you.
30. I am for all practical purposes blind in my right eye. The eye is not completely unable to see, but it's so weak that my brain has turned it off. I'm completely adapted to this and scarcely notice it.
31. My favorite color is midnight blue--not navy, but the true midnight blue in the 64 crayola box, with a just hint of green in it. This is the exact color of the water in the Adriatic and Mediterranean Seas, one reason I want to go back.
32. I have always had a fear of drowning or suffocating.
33. In spite of the above, I recently became a certified scuba diver by the sheer grace of God. I can do all things through Him who gives me strength!
34. I am terrified of flying. I fly only when I have to and then only when heavily sedated.
35. I don't do roller coasters-- not even the slow kiddie kind. I even get butterflies on the superslide. Falling just isn't a pleasurable sensation for me.
36. I have OCD, not to be confused with obsessive compulsive personality, in which a person is extremely organized, neat and in-control... I wish I were so lucky. No, instead I have the senseless, quirky, need medication to function in society kind. Hopefully my kids missed that gene.
37. I am extremely disorganized, but I'm working on it.
38. I have a bad habit of staying up until 2 A.M. or later, just enjoying the quiet time by myself.
39. I hope to take a course in underwater photography next year.
40. I love Disney World and basically live from trip to trip.
41. I'm totally hooked on Grey's Anatomy.
42. I love Joyce Meyer's show "Enjoying Everyday Life." She inspires me, uplifts me, and cracks me up.
43. I love the combination of dark chocolate and peppermint.
44. My favorite ice cream is mint chocolate chip.
45. I'm a pretty good cook.
46. I like to experiment with new recipes, improvise and sometimes make up my own.
47. I am not a baker, but my hubby is.
48. I love to sleep (just not necessarily at night). Napping is my favorite hobby.
49. I love to crochet. I also knit, but crocheting is more fun.
50. I love to sew. The best gift I ever got was the Singer sewing machine my hubby gave me for Christmas in '97, just before we were married.

Chef Seth

I let Seth prepare dinner for us last night from his Disney cook book (with help at the stove of course). He chose to make Pooh's French Toast, and it was delicious! Here is the little chef about to get started.

The Luau

Okay, today was the day I had promised Seth we would finally set up the slip-and-slide in the back yard and have a "wipeout" party. It also happened to be the day my cold turned into a nasty case of bronchitis, and after getting a shot in each hip this morning, I was just not in the mood to hurl my body at wet plastic. The consolation prize? An indoor luau, complete with costumes, hawaiian music and a few games of limbo (which I might add Daniel is quite good at.) If you ever want to do this, be sure to rent Disney's Sing-A-Long Beach Party. The hula dance to "Pearly Shells" with hand motions is sooo cute. Seth did the motions with me, but refused to wear seashells around his neck while he danced, despite the burly Hawaiian men on the screen wearing them. "I'm just not a pearly shell kind of guy" he explained. Silly me. Actually I think he only wore his costume because he got to take off his shirt, which made him feel a little like the Incredible Hulk. Enjoy!

Provision from Above

"His eye is on the sparrow, and I know he watches me." -- An old gospel hymn.

As you may know, Donald and I have decided to take a leap of faith and invest once again in his continuing education, this time for a PhD in Nursing. In many ways, as we prayed about this decision, we have felt led by God that this was the right next step for Don, and for our family, even though on the surface it seemed impractical, if not impossible. The events of the past few weeks have proved no exception.

The opportunity for Don to attend the University of Texas at Tyler, entirely online, with a local advisor, practically fell into our laps earlier this year. The problem was going to be paying for it. If you know us, you know that my going back to work is not an option. Both Don and the kids need me too much here, and those needs only stand to increase over the coming years.

On the other hand, sending Don to the hospital to work more hours was not an option either. These years with the boys are far too precious for him to miss. If anything, we need him to be able to cut back on his hours and be at home more. Loans were not a promising option, since we still have student loans to pay back, and the job on the other side of this hurdle isn't likely to be more lucritive than his current one. Logically, it was an impossibility.

Thankfully, our God does not deal in logic and delights in bringing the impossible to light! Here's what has happened in the past month, culminating in a great big happening yesterday.

1. We learned that University of Texas will make a special exception and waive out-of-state tuition since there is no program of this kind in the state of Louisiana, cutting the tuition almost in half.

2. The University of Texas awarded Don a $1,000 competitive scholarship which we did not apply for, simply on the basis of merit through his CV and application essay. (I knew that degree in English would come in handy!)

3. We learned that graduate studies are covered by a national program to pay back in full the student loans of nurses working at certain hospitals, of which LSUHSC Shreveport is one. (We applied for this program twice before, but did not have enough debt to qualify.)

4. We were offered a federal Stafford loan which would pay Don's tuition, plus enough extra allow him to work about two days less each month. (This loan would be just enough to put us over the threshold of eligibility for the federal loan repayment program!)

5. Yesterday, we learned that Don has been awarded a special $3,000 scholarship by the American Legion, renewable every year while he is in school. There are 20 of these awarded nationwide each year to nurses dedicated to working in the field of pediatric respiratory disease.

Can you say "YAY, GOD?"

On a slightly different but related topic, Don has been asked by a local opthamologist to travel to Moscow (yes, Russia) in September to teach nurses there how to prevent blindness in premature newborns through proper oxygen therapy. It's a program Don is championing here at LSU and is apparently very much needed in Russia. That is a simplified explanation of a complicated series of events, but suffice it to say we have taken another leap of faith and bought a plane ticket to Moscow! As much as Don loves to teach, loves to travel, and loves to help children, nothing could be more up his alley. The opthamologist wrote a glowing letter to LSU's administration this week encouraging them to pay for Don's trip, so we will see what happens. Whatever the outcome, I have no doubt we are in good hands.

P.S. - Seth's reaction to the news of Don's scholarship: "We won a ship? What kind of ship? Is it a big ship? How fast does it go?" Priceless.

Food Fun

Sometimes you just gotta make a mess!







Lesson for the week: life is a little messy sometimes, and that's okay!
All that matters is that you're having fun, and there are no carpeted surfaces nearby. ;-)


On another note, Seth has been asking me since Christmas to help him make a "ratattoille" (spelling?) Well we can say it, and now prepare it, sort of, so who cares if we can spell it? This is a photo of our masterpiece, which was actually quite tasty, and healthy to boot! We made a white cheese sauce with cream and mozzarella, then tinted small portions to every color of the rainbow, and finally drizzled the colored sauce over a ring of wheat crackers. The little chef was quite proud of his creation.

I Left My Heart in Key Largo

My hubby and I just returned from a much needed vacation in Key Largo, without the kids. All I can say is "Wow." We found a diver's paradise, and eachother again. It's a place that words cannot describe, so I'll let the pictures tell the story for me. Enjoy!

Reflections on Motherhood

We are the Mamas,
a schizophrenic brood,
But we don’t listen to the voices
in our heads. Not anymore.
We learned long ago
that those cannot be pleased.
Just as we sat to fingerpaint,
they reminded us of the dishes
in the sink.
And again as we occasionally
broke down and scrubbed our floors
“You know you shouldn’t use the T.V.
for a babysitter.”
No, we learned long ago
the delicate art
of showing them all the door.
Of standing tall
with an unapologetic look
that says “Shut up...
I’m surviving here.”
Eventually, for each of us, a louder,
stronger voice had to be found.
Our own brand of motherhood,
perfected on the fly.
Right or wrong,
bought with the tears of
lessons learned.
Promising nothing,
but the best that we can do,
And all our hearts
poured into this thing we call
motherhood.

The Plans I Have For You

"For I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, to give you a future and a hope -- plans to prosper you and not to harm you." --Jeremiah

My husband and I celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary last week. As part of the celebration, we opened a time capsule we had sealed 10 years earlier. Inside the capsule were newspaper clippings, product wrappers, wedding momentos, photos of our first days together, and of course lots of wonderful memories. But what I think we enjoyed the most was our "letters to the future." These were not really letters per se, but more like wish lists--what each of us dreamed for our future. I think we were both surprised to look back at how meager our wildest dreams now seemed, and how we'd not only met, but surpassed them. Or how we'd hoped for one thing, while something much different but better had come to pass. As we sat reading them, we would each remark "That's all we wanted?" or "Ha! If we'd only known what was in store!" Still on other subjects, it was more like "We wanted what? -- well, that wouldn't have been any good. Glad God didn't listen to us on that one!"

All I wanted was to be a mother of two by the time I opened the capsule. Well, of course I am now, and I suppose God could have just as easily granted that wish in the first years of our marriage, but what a journey we would have missed! My immature mind couldn't have imagined how much I'd cherish the memories made in those years when it was just us, when we prayed for a baby, but the time had not yet come. Or how we would grow through tragedy and tears, and what a gift these children would be when they finally arrived. I could go on, but suffice it to say our plans were far inferior to God's.

It all leads me to the conclusion that all we ever need pray is for God's will. We have such tunnel vision, such limited perspective of our own needs! Surely the Lord is happy to entertain our wish list, and its good for us to make our hearts desires known, but we should ultimately acknowledge and understand that only He knows what is best. Beyond that, we should always trust His heart, even when we can't trace his hand. We are his beloved children after all, and he KNOWS the plans he has for us, plans far above and beyond any we could make, plans to prosper us, and not to harm us.