What I want to be when I grow up!

We are reading "The Trumpet of the Swan by E.B. White and Sam, 11 year old boy in the story often ends his day by journaling and asking himself a question to answer while he tries to go to sleep. Today as we read Sam asked himself what he wanted to be when he grew up.

So my kids answered too.
Lady answered - A farmer, a cook and an artist. We decided she and her husband could live on a farm, she could be a great cook for her family and paint beautiful pictures of her life. (and she doesn't even read Ann Voscamp's blog...only Ann takes pictures instead of paints them- hee,hee!) I would be so excited for her to lead this life one day!

Dynamo said he wanted to be a player of all sports. A dream come true for his Daddy I'm sure. It would be exciting to see a Tim Tebow-like quality in our son. A homeschooled Strong Believer sharing his faith through his God-given physical abilities. I will pray this prayer for my son.

Spunky wants to be a princess, a friendly dragon and a candy shopper. She said that she wants to sell candy in her shop. I can see Spunky dressed in a princess outfit standing behind a candy counter one day. Not sure where the idea for a dragon came from. Which is totally funny because I read a whole chapter silently to myself last night in one of the books from the Chronicles of Narnia about a boy turning into a dragon.

Hubbie's dreams of what he wants to be are coming to fruition. Once upon a time before he knew the Lord and felt the call on his life he wanted his name to be up in lights...a famous actor. Now he travels and speaks God's truth into the lives of students and young people. God has recently given him the vision to do it on a larger scale. To be a part of something like the WinterJam tours...to create and speak at the event. It will be exciting to see how God develops this dream.

So what did I want to be? I don't remember having a specific job picked out as a kid. I know in college when I was taking elementary eduation classes I told all my professors I wasn't going to be a teacher but I was going to be a Children's director at a church. For some reason I thought I would have to go to seminary to find my husband and marry a minister. Too funny! I ended up not going to seminary, teaching 2nd grade and then computer and helping train teachers how to use technology in their teaching at a Christian elementary school. Then I said I wanted to be the next Deni Corbett. She was my boss and an amazing dreamer of new things. She sees the best in people and finds creative ways to make cool things happen. Pretty much I am married to one of those people. We probably don't need two in our family. I had written in my prayer journal that I wantd to walk alongside a man in ministry one day. I met John when he was a valet at a golf course with aspirations of becoming an actor. John didn't seem to fit that bill but I somehow knew he was the one for me. After I got my master's degree I got to be an adjunct professor for a while teaching a basic computer class with my alma mater, Palm Beach Atlantic University(Orlando site).
Now I am a wife to a youth evangelist, a homeschooling mom of 4 kids and a homemaker. So is this what I want to be...well, YES. But really it is not about what I am doing anymore. It is more about how I am doing it. As GOD's child...Am I doing it how I would like to be...not exactly. My goal now is to do it in such a way that my kids see the Victory that only God can give. To create a relationship with my husband that teenagers look at and say...I want to wait until God brings that special one along and give my self to him or her unselfishly.

Feeling better already!

Yippee!! We actually ended the day with ice cream. Our tummy woes seemed to have been short lived. And it motivated me to deep clean the floors and Lysol just about everything that doesn't move. If I was asked to donate blood right now, there would probably be a percentage of Lysol in it. Ha, ha! And who comes up with the names for those scents. My house definitely doesn't smell like a "Spring Waterfall!" But at least 99.9% of the germs should be dead!!!

BRATS

No not my kids...but Bananas, Rice, Applesauce and Toast. Well at our house, it's bagels, applesauce. bananas and saltines. We did venture out to chicken noodle soup.

Well, if your a mom, you know we must be having tummy troubles. Yes, I am spraying, wiping, soaking, or mopping everything in Lysol or Bleach today. My kids are fussing about the food. They can't stand these limitations. I even had to coach Daddy on what he might try to eat at his lunch meeting today. If he wanted to risk it. Poor guy had to speak at a chapel service today. PRAISE God for fast healing for him!!

OK...we have gone back to concentrating on handwashing...and instigated a new regime. The normal Wash with soap while singing Happy Birthday twice, has been joined by drying with a paper towel, and then squirting hands with hand sanitizer afterwards. Yes, I know we might be creating SUPER "bugs" but I just need to feel like I am doing something to help get rid of this stuff.

We have had the sniffles off and on for weeks now. Keep blaming it on the weather...we are allergic people...grasses, trees, cats. So we stay on Claritin alot and even the baby had to start Zyrtec. His sinus drainage had gone into some kind of infection twice in his little lifetime. He's 10 1/2 months old. The Zyrtec does seem to help. But maybe it is more than that. 3 out of 6 of us have been on antibiotics because of the infections caused by it and then I think I am going to end up needing another round.

I guess after I get the cleaning done in the rest of the house I have to figure out what to do with the school room. I suppose I could Clorox wipe all the crayons, pencils, markers, glue sticks, scissors....UGH!!!

I even have the windows open to help bring in the fresh air and get any sickly air out. I guess I better make sure I give everyone Claritin. It's a catch 22 the whole fresh air thing...with allergies.

So today, I am killing trees...using lots of paper towels, toilet paper, and tissues. I am going to try to wash everyone's bedding. So busy day ahead. Lot's of TV watching for the kids. Oh...well!!!

I am Ingrid

These things are kind of funny...you answer two questions and then they tell you "WHO" you are. It is accurate in a lot of the things it says though...not sure about the warm part but I am in one of the those dark moods right now. And I don't ever think I have much "vision" because I am married to one of the most visionary people alive. Here's the results from this quiz.

Your result for Are You a Jackie or a Marilyn? Or Someone Else? Mad Men-era Female Icon Quiz...

You Are an Ingrid!

You are an Ingrid -- "I am unique"

Ingrids have sensitive feelings and are warm and perceptive.

How to Get Along with Me

• * Give me plenty of compliments. They mean a lot to me.
• * Be a supportive friend or partner. Help me to learn to love and value myself.
• * Respect me for my special gifts of intuition and vision.
• * Though I don't always want to be cheered up when I'm feeling melancholy, I sometimes like to have someone lighten me up a little.
• * Don't tell me I'm too sensitive or that I'm overreacting!

What I Like About Being an Ingrid

• * my ability to find meaning in life and to experience feeling at a deep level
• * my ability to establish warm connections with people
• * admiring what is noble, truthful, and beautiful in life
• * my creativity, intuition, and sense of humor
• * being unique and being seen as unique by others
• * having aesthetic sensibilities
• * being able to easily pick up the feelings of people around me

What's Hard About Being an Ingrid

• * experiencing dark moods of emptiness and despair
• * feelings of self-hatred and shame; believing I don't deserve to be loved
• * feeling guilty when I disappoint people
• * feeling hurt or attacked when someone misundertands me
• * expecting too much from myself and life
• * fearing being abandoned
• * obsessing over resentments
• * longing for what I don't have

Ingrids as Children Often

• * have active imaginations: play creatively alone or organize playmates in original games
• * are very sensitive
• * feel that they don't fit in
• * believe they are missing something that other people have
• * attach themselves to idealized teachers, heroes, artists, etc.
• * become antiauthoritarian or rebellious when criticized or not understood
• * feel lonely or abandoned (perhaps as a result of a death or their parents' divorce)

Ingrids as Parents

• * help their children become who they really are
• * support their children's creativity and originality
• * are good at helping their children get in touch with their feelings
• * are sometimes overly critical or overly protective
• * are usually very good with children if not too self-absorbed

Take Are You a Jackie or a Marilyn? Or Someone Else? Mad Men-era Female Icon Quiz at

Books, Books, Books

I read The Shack a few weeks ago and I am working through the Chronicles of Narnia. I loved reading before kids and have really enjoyed getting back into some fiction. I suppose I needed a break from the self-help, how to raise your children books. I do need to read Love and Respect soon though. John is reading that now.
Lady's reading has improved so much and I think I can venture to say that she would admit that she likes it,too. She did write "I (heart) school" on a paper this week! Woohoo!


I guess you could say that lately we're devouring books...

...one way or another. Dimples has chosen another.

My Dad's family has a get together around my Papa's birthday each year. We got to go to the Morris family reunion this past weekend in Pensacola. A few years back my mom added to the fun by beginning what is now an annual tradition as well, Pumpkin carving! Last year, my immediate family didn't get to go because I had been told I would probably be on bed rest for the last few months of my pregnancy so we didn't risk the trip. My kids and I really miss this time when we can't go because it is usually the only time we get to see my Papa, Aunts and Uncles and Cousins each year. Needless to say we really enjoyed the time this year.

I only took a few pictures at my family reunion this past weekend. Then the kids got a hold of the camera. TOO FUNNY!

My brother and his dear sweet wife and all four of our kids.

Spunky-sized pumpkin!

Daddy helping care her pumpkin.
Spunky said her pumpkin was a princess.
She decorated it with markers. Lady carved a pumpkin ALL by herself!!! I am serious...scraped out the guts and used those cute little orange pumpkin carving tools!!! She was so proud and so was I!
Side one of Lady's- skinny mouth Second Side of Lady's - Boo mouthAunt Meredith comes from a family of serious pumpkin carvers. They cut out the bottom rather than the top. Uncle Matt and Aunt Meredith make a great team. Aunt Meredith and Uncle Matt's pumpkin is winking...
we nicknamed it Sarah Pumpkin in honor of Palin. Grandma helped Dynamo with his. Dynamo's pumpkin is the goblin on the left.

All the activity wore Dimples out before we even got back to the hotel. Grandma didn't mind.

Our kids...3 to a hotel bed - sideways.

OK...the kids took the rest of these pictures.
I like how this pic of MeMaw's goldfish turned out.
See the ripples in the water? Spunky is posing for the camera. Do you see modeling in her future?
However, today she told me she wants to be a Mommy who buys candy and is a doctor.
Lady loves posing too.
Papa Mack (my grandad) is 82 this week!
MeMaw (papa's wife) got surprised by the kids taking a picture, I think.
My Uncle...people really seem to cheese it up when the kids are behind the camera.My Aunts and someone's behind....the kids need some work on the composition of a photo. Hee,hee!

Pumpkins in twilight. Lady took this of the other kids and their pumpkins. Can I just say that uploading pictures on Facebook is soooo much easier than on Blogger...UGH! Hope someone looks at them!

Will I be HIS masterpiece?

If you will read Ann Voscamp's blog, Draw God , you will understand my ponderings today.



I hear my children from another room...bickering...arguing...impatient with one another. I know part of this is simply because they are children...sons of Adam...in flesh and selfishness born of that first choice made by Adam and Eve to disobey. But I also know that it is partly because of my impatience with them that they are impatient with one another. My example breeds more of the same.



I pray that despite my inadequecies my children will surpasss me. Surpass me in their walks of faith. That somehow despite my faults they will express the fruits of the Spirit ealier and deeper than I have or perhaps ever will.



This means I will have to surrender more and more today. That I will have to commit to allowing God to change me. I struggle with this. For you see in so many areas of life I had been competent. Often leaving God out of it. I could do it on my own without having to disrupt the authorities in my life... parents, boss, teacher or even God. Weren't their others who needed their attention more than I? But here in my home...in my role as mother and wife...I can do nothing on my own. I am utterly incompetent in so many ways.



There is no longer room for the excuses I have given..."That is just my personality or temperment." "I don't have the resources. (space, fincances, time) " "It's just the way I have always been." "Don't I have any rights?"



No longer can I cling to these. I must lay ALL down. I must cling to HIM!!!



I feel in this moment EVERYTHING about me must change. But really it should be "LORD CHANGE ME in the way YOU see fit. The way I think, act, even LOVE, transform them all. "



For in this place that I am...I don't even see myself honestly... I don't know myself as HE does. He for some reason has allowed me to become who I am now today...and HE alone can recieve the Glory for who I shall become from this moment on.



Romans 12:2

Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.



“I desire to do your will, O my God; your law is within my heart.”- Psalm 40:8

a moment of thanksgiving

these should be numbered but I just need to be thankful and maybe I'll come back and number these again sometime...

Thankful for a husband who loves me...who loved me earlier in our dating relationship than I loved him and he still loves me. It is not always an easy task to love me.

Thankful for dimples in cheeks and chins of little faces filled with smiles.

Thankful for music...it moves me...it is a language that speaks to my spirit. Thanks God for the ears to hear it and being so creative and allowing humans in on that creativity in so many ways.

Thankful for pockets of sun surrounded by dark clouds...it was so amazing today at the beach how the clouds surrounded us but the sun remained over us for a few hours.

Thankful for how vast the ocean is at I look at it from the sand...it is small compared to God...HOW AMAZING!

Thankful for how Little Lady noticed that the beach can be different everyday...the shape of the sand had changed today from yesterday. yet those big rocks were still there. You are our ROCK, LORD!!! Thank you for being our foundation and NEVER CHANGING!

Thankful for the wind...it cleanses my spirit. Blow, LORD, over me...through me...I want to soar freely on the wind like the birds did today at the coast...free from my selfish desires. Resting in YOU...relating to YOU...trusting YOU and not my own desires or motives or senses.

The Lake House!

This past week, Hubby had Wednesday and Sunday at the church where he is interim youth pastor. (He does 3 Wednesdays and one Sunday a month basically.) So rather than driving there and back both days, a family offered for us to stay in their lake house.

It was such a huge, amazing blessing.

We were there less than 2 hours when Spunky said, "I want to stay here forever!!!" and we hadn't even gone outside yet. I have to say fun was had by all!!!

Dimples had his first introduction to grass. He seemed to like it.

Spunky chillin' on the dock while the others jetski.

Daddy skiing!
Kids chillin'!
Our girls and our host's youngest daughter chatting.

Dimples likes the boat ride!!! The kids starting to tube...before it flipped...don't ask.

Watching the kids getting ready to tube. Daddy and Dynamo and Lady on the tube!
Dimples has almost had enough.

I think Spunky is completely done, wouldn't you say?
I have to say that coming back to our house was bitter sweet. You know how it is...you love home because it's home. But all the room, the outdoors, jetski's and boat rides. Hmmm, ya' miss those. I have to say my body is very sore today from the 60 mph jetski trip I took across the choppy lake. But man it was fun. What a way to get out any frustrations. Hubby played tennis and golf and went to the UCF game with some guys. The kids and I hung out at the lake house with some friends and just relaxed. I got treated to a night out at one of those paint-your-own- pottery places and free babysitting from some some really great teen girls.
It was a great "stay-cation." We didn't even have to leave our own state. There was no rain and it felt like fall...you know in the low 80's. Great for lake activities. Not hot and definitely not cold. I am so thankful for how this family blessed us this past week.
When we got home Sunday night, Spunky said..."But Mom, I said I wanted to stay there forever!!!" I think she meant it.

Her First Date!

Yes...she is only seven but we decided she was old enough for her first date. Well, that is her first Daddy-Daughter date. It was planned about 2 weeks ago and took place last Tuesday evening. She counted the days...she planned her outfit. She was soooo excited. She even told Daddy that he could wear his "wedding suit" (the tux he wears when he officiates weddings). He said that we were trying to set high standards with this date but he opted for some slacks and a golf shirt.
Daddy took her to Outback where she ordered a kid's sirloin and baked potato. Then they went to the mall. Dinner and Shopping...what more could a girl want? (Hint, hint, Honey!) She got a new purse and a cute little t-shirt. John sent a text to me during the evening that said "this is the coolest thing I have ever done!"
We are currently planning Dynamo's first Mother-Son date. He thinks we should go to Burger King but I am hoping I can coax him into Chili's. Spunky wants to know when her date is going to be. We have apparently started something here.

Two sweets!

Aaaww!

Right back at you!

A pretty pose

The Dynamo hugging big Sisi good bye.

Spunky didn't want to be left out of the action, either.

So excited!!!

Nine Months of Dimples

We went for Dimple's 9 month well check last week. (he will be 10 months on Oct. 13th). He is in the 97 % for height and weight. He was 21 lbs 14 ounces. He is a big boy full of joy and laughter. Everywhere we go, people marvel at how good he is. He loves people and has yet to meet a stranger. This week in Ocala he has been passed around to so many people and smiled at them all. Here he is standing at the front door of the lake house where we have the amazing privelege of staying. Dimples had his first Cheez-it this week. After every bite he had this reaction...
or this reaction. And he kept wanting more. It was so cute!! I think his tastebuds were having a party!!!Because he was sooo big the doctor said we should encourage him to drink water with his meals and cut down on the formula. He was totally into his cup.

And here is my lil' pumpkin with his biggest Sisi.