From a Baby Bubble to Graduation Hustle

It was a bit of mental whiplash – I went from a delightful baby bubble full of sweet Indy snuggles to the realization that Nate’s graduation was approaching at warp speed!

I hit the ground running as soon as I got home.

Thankfully the invitations went out before Indy was born.

But I had hours of baking to do!

Nate’s favorite cookies.

Batch after batch of them.

And yeast rolls. Hundreds of yeast rolls!

Over 25 pounds of flour.

Four dozen eggs. White sugar. Brown sugar. Butter.

Sheet after sheet in the oven.

On the cooling racks. In the freezer.

What a huge job done!

This week I’m on to cleaning.

Window washing.

Flower planting.

Two of my sisters showed up yesterday as much needed reinforcements.

Now my kitchen is so clean that I’ve decide we can’t cook until after the Open House!

Just a few more days and my last born will be a graduate!

But first – I have a few floors to mop!

Don’t Blink

Something surprising happened while I busy with class the last few weeks.

Nate grew up and got a job.

I guess it’s not surprising that our kids grow up – but there are times when you are struck with how quickly it happened.

He had heard about a job possibility at a sawmill in the area, so he worked overtime to finish up his school work so he would be ready, just in case. And he did it! He finished his senior year, except for a little bit of reading and a few Latin lessons that he is doing at night.

He literally woke up on Monday morning a home school student, got a phone call at noon, and woke up Tuesday morning as a full time employee.

Up and out the door by 6:30 in the morning, with a lunch and snacks he packed himself.

And an even more shocking development – he even does his own laundry because he ran out of work clothes.

He does come home every evening starving and is quite happy to enjoy a meal that I made. So I guess he still needs me, at least for a little longer.

And just like that, after 26 years of having kids in the house, I am home alone all day.

It’s true what they say of mothering – that the days may be long, but the years are short.

They grow up overnight when you aren’t looking.

Don’t blink.

Showing My Age

I had a birthday last month, but honestly, I didn’t feel any older. At least for awhile.

Three days actually.

Then on Sunday I as was working with the youth group at church, one gal noticed the old-school rotary telephone still hanging on the wall in the kitchen.

She got really excited.

“Is that a real phone?! How cool! Can I call someone on it? How do I dial?”

She proceeded to pick up the receiver and move the finger wheel all the way around to the finger stop, laughing at the sound it made.

“Oh my goodness! This is so cool! Do I have to go all the way around for every number?”

“Yes! All the way to the finger stop for each number!” I replied.

She continued dialing her home phone number while asking if would actually work.

I tried not to laugh as I replied, “Do you hear a dial tone?”

“Dial tone? What’s a dial tone?”

She looked confused until one of the other kids pointed out that it wasn’t plugged in.

“Oh! It isn’t charged!”

Now I feel old.

From The Archives: October 21, 2011

I seriously laughed out loud as I reread this one! Thanks Peter!

Packing and the Teenage Male

I spent a goodly part of one week helping Peter pack for his 10 day trip to Teen Pact Venture in Tennessee.

With 5 days on the road there and back and another 5 days at camp – it seemed to me that he needed a little guidance.

I helped him find more jeans, a suit coat, dress slacks, a outfit for golf and raided his dad’s t-shirts to make sure he had enough.

I carefully counted and folded and made nice piles for him.

I even bought him new underwear.

All the while there was this annoying little thought that kept coming back – “Why am I doing this? Peter is a teenage boy who has been known to wear the same clothes for days at time…”

But the mother in me couldn’t let it go.

I was even kinda proud as he drove off on his adventure because I knew that he was prepared.

It didn’t last long.

I was brought back to reality within minutes of picking him up after his return trip.

He looked good and was sharing story after story of his time away – laughing and joking with his siblings.

Finally the mother in me just couldn’t wait any longer – so I asked him, “How did your clothes work out? Did you have enough of everything?”

“Well”, he responded, “I basically wore these jeans pretty much all week.”

(His sisters slide further away from him on the van seat.)

“What!” (I’m remembering all those trips up and down the attic stairs digging through his winter clothes to find enough jeans) “How about t-shirts? Did you have enough t-shirts?”

“I had way too many – I really only needed a couple.”

“A couple!” (You were gone 10 days! What about my neat little piles of carefully folded and counted shirts?!)

“Oh dear. What about your underwear? Did you have enough… No! Stop! Don’t answer that. I really don’t want to know.”

Sometimes ignorance is bliss.

Next time I’ll let him pack himself. 🙂

Epic Entertainment and Servant Hearts

The last few weeks have been crazy busy. Crazy – but oh so fun!

Once again Jan and I worked with the Youth Group to put on a Valentine banquet for the church. We planned and prepared a meal and then provided some after dinner entertainment.

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And boy did we entertain them!

It was epic!

16807381_1478265358853072_8916612015314010498_n People are still talking about the hilarious skits that left the audience rolling with laughter.

A synchronized swimming team with zebra bath caps from the dollar store that brought down the house. A cowboy ballerina in hat and boots – participating in a homespun talent show.

Judged by a panel of “local” celebrities.

And won by a wig wearing pastor-impersonator.

While people may still chuckle about our finale – a parody of the 70’s hit – Staying Alive that we called Staying Awake……the memories that make my heart happy and still bring tears to my eyes are the behind the scene moments that nobody else saw.

The youth group kids that quietly cleaned up the massive mess in the kitchen after we made Oreo cookie and strawberry ice cream desserts.

The servant hearts that washed dishes, vacuumed floors, organized props, cleaned up costumes, set up mikes, found music, moved chairs and hauled tables.

The tender hearts who prayed before practices and really loved each other.

These kids.

That is what I will remember.

Home Hair Cuts

I am a big proponent of home hair cuts. We’ve done them for years.

They save money and time and generally turn out great – especially when it’s Grandpa giving our young sons military style hair cuts in the shop.

Things get trickier when those little boys become teenagers. They don’t want a hair cut any more – they want a hair style. And Grandpa is smart enough to not touch it.

Me – not so much.

It sounds easy when they say, “Hey mom – could you just take a little off the sides? ”

How hard can it be?

HA.

There’s undercuts and side burns and ears to trim around.

All with an electric trimmer.

They expect me to cut their hair holding a piece of vibrating metal with moving blades on the ends?! While wearing bi-focals?!

Really?!

Do they realize that the difference between perfection and a gaping bald spot is approximately 2.1637 seconds?

Not that I know this from personal experience or that any of my sons have ever, or are even now walking around with gaping bald spots…just hypothetically speaking of course.

A-hem.

Grandpa always tells them the difference between a good haircut and a bad haircut is about a week. l think it’s longer for bald spots.

I have only drawn blood on one occasion but nothing that required emergency medical attention. He didn’t really need that ear tip anyway.

You would think that after a few bad cuts they would stop asking, but I guess I raised some really frugal kids.

I do make them promise that they will love me no matter what it looks like when I’m done.

Which is good, because quite honestly, you get what you pay for!

VBS Week

It was VBS week this week.

Many of you are nodding right now. You know exactly what VBS week means.

Busy days, late nights and exhaustion!

But also fun, laughter and blessings.

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I worked with an incredible group of kids!

A crazy bunch of teens who served with their whole hearts and kept me laughing!

13686678_1271086162904327_3183896377120225765_n They memorized, rehearsed, and brought the characters of the nightly skit to life.

Teaching truth, sharing the gospel, and loving on the kids.

13668948_1270739699605640_8980708736091413003_n Games.

Crafts.

Bible lessons.

Snack time.

I sat back each night and watching God work in and through these servants.

And I was blessed.

These Girls

We had another epic shopping adventure last week.

It was Martha and I and our girls.

Just like always.

Hitting all our favorite thrift stores in St. Joe.

It’s a tradition now.

Started several years ago on our first extreme thrifting adventure. (Look how young they are!)

It’s been modified to just one city and always includes a trip to Hobby Lobby, lunch at Chick-fil-a and snacks at Big Lots.

Almost every stop has a memory.

“Isn’t this the store that you lost us in and we finally found you sitting on lawn chairs two stores down?”

And every trip has something new to explore.

This trip including one new thrift store and a natural grocery store that both of our girls were excited about.

Yes – a natural grocery store where they bought health food for themselves.

Yes – these girls!

The same girls who used to eat twizzlers and peanut butter in the backseat all the way home.

Which only shows again how quickly they are growing up and changing.

And how thankful we are for every moment together and every memory made.

May the tradition continue!

Hashtag Birthday

Birthday’s are made for surprises.

And Angel Girl is the hardest to surprise!

But this year – Pedro pulled it off!

#birthdaysurprise

It was the Thursday night before her birthday – and she suspecting nothing.

Pedro gathered up four cousins and they drove the two hours to our house stuffed in Pedro’s car.

#roadtrip

They hid the car and planned the epic surprise.

Angel Girl got home from work, wondered why dad was grilling so many hamburgers, put down her water bottle in the kitchen, rounded the corner to the dining room and jumped out of her skin at the sight of Pedro and the cousins waiting for her!

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#nailedit

They had a hilarious supper, followed by crazy dance moves in the driveway and a wild adventure to the abandoned house and low water crossing.

Poison ivy, bug bites, photo shoots, and much laughter.

#perfect.

They spent the night eating popcorn and rice krispie bars while watching old VHS movies that were favorites years ago.

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And were up at first light to be on the road to make it back to the city to work.

A short night and a long drive.

But they had almost fourteen hours of jam-packed, fun-filled wonderfulness.

#worthit

Happy 18th birthday Angel Girl!

Graduation Day

It’s over.

We did it!

We got Angel Girl graduated!

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And honored.

And celebrated.

And photographed.

13226666_1230099237003020_9014204081859394922_n There was plenty of punch and rice krispsie treats.

And cousins.

And friends.

And there was Matt.

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Who flew in from Colorado just for his little sister’s graduation party.

He surprised her.

She cried.

It was a perfect moment in a wonderful weekend full of beautiful moments.

Moments that this Mama is tucking away like treasures.

These years are going so fast!