Sidetracked Contentment

I am very blessed to actually have a separate room for all of our school stuff.  We have a split level home with a second living area on the bottom level.  This is our schoolroom.

 

My favorite kind of day is when it's chilly outside and we can have a nice, roaring fire in the fireplace.  Okay, you can now quit imagining The Great Smoky Mountain Fire of 2005 or even the Gena-type fire.  I know you are!  Back to my schoolroom...  The kids and I think it is a greatly fabuloso day when we can take a couple of breaks and roast marshmellows!  Yuppers, I let the kiddos consume these monstrous puffs of pure sugar in the morning and then expect them to sit quietly and do their work.  What is more fun than stabbing some fwuffie puffs and cooking them to a black, carcinogen-laden crisp over an open fire?  Yummmmmy!

 

These types of days are absolutely perfect!  What is not to love about roasting marshmellows during school?!  I would dare say that I am one content woman.  Now it's not CONtent woman, but conTENT woman...

 

Well, I thought I was content until I started a new read last night-- Calm My Anxious Heart: A Woman's Guide to Finding Contentment by Linda Dillow.  It got me thinking about how I am a relatively happy person, but I do complain sometimes both out loud and in my heart.  I'll start thinking about things that are not to my liking-- like the laundry (again!), the people zooming down our street at all hours, how I wish we didn't have stairs, how I wish my husband would eat a vegetable...any vegetable.  Sure these are just little things, but a lot of little things can add up to a sour countenance and an ungrateful heart-- and I don't want either!

 

In this great book, Ms. Dillow tells about her friend Ella in the first chapter.  Ella was a missionary in Africa for 52 years.  She not only endured, but found contentment and joy in this foreign land with no electricity and 120 degree heat! 

 

Here is Ella's prescription for contentment:

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  Never allow yourself to complain about anything-- not even the weather.
  
  
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  Never picture yourself in any other circumstances or someplace else.
  
  
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  Never compare your lot with another's.
  
  
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  Never allow yourself to wish this or that had been otherwise.
  
  
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  Never dwell on tomorrow-- remember that tomorrow is God's, not ours.

She is SOOO right!  And if I were truly content with all of God's gifts and blessings to me, I would NOT be doing any of the above!  Yes, I am a happy woman and I do feel very blessed...but I should strive to be truly content...completely appreciative in my circumstances, in God's place for me right now.  I plan, I worry, I do this, I do that...completely forgetting that GOD loves me and promises to take care of me.  He certainly doesn't need my help or guidance to do that!  The apostle Paul is a great example for us to follow.

 

Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.

 

I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need.

 

I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.

 

~Philippians 4:11-13

 

I can't wait to start reading more of Calm My Anxious Heart-- it is such a great book so far.  And instead of thinking about all the things that bug me this week, I will meditate on:

 

Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.

 

~Philippians 4:8

 

 

Little Voices of Praise

At church this morning, I decided to actually listen to some advice that I read from Parenting in the Pew by Robbie Castleberry.  As our songleader told us to take out our hymn books and turn to page 20, I whispered to my 6yo that I would teach him how to read from the hymnal.   I was very excited when he was actually receptive to my instructions (quite the opposite of just a few months ago!).  I explained to him how the verses run across each line and how we repeat the chorus each time.

 

I can't even begin to describe the joy in my heart to hear his sweet voice singing "Saved!  Saved!  My sins are all pardoned my guilt is all gone!...Saved by the blood of the cru-ci-fied one!"  And I was also impressed when my smart little man started singing the alto/tenor part of "Glory I'm Saved!" the second time through the chorus...all on his own!

 

He's come a very long way from the dark night a few years ago when he proclaimed to me, "Mommy, I hate God."  I had no idea why my sweet, loving little boy would suddenly say that!  I'm sure he didn't really know what he was saying back then...especially since he was normally so full of love for Jesus and all of God's creation.  But it DID get my attention!  It was then that it really hit me that my son would soon be of the age of accountability...and that he would have to make his choice whether or not he would accept Jesus Christ or follow the world and Satan.  What a responsibility to prepare the ground and plant the seeds!  

 

I can tell you that I was one praying momma after that!!!  After all, little children see God through their parents!  So if they don't see the love and grace of God, then we as parents aren't doing a very good job of letting the love of Christ shine through us and to our children.

 

Anyhoo, I can't wait to hear his sweet voice again tonight!    He hasn't asked Jesus into his heart yet but singing praises to God is definitely a good way to water the seeds!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

My hope is for you each of you, my dear friends, to have a joyous Thanksgiving with your families.  May your day be filled with fun, laughter, lots of food and a good afternoon nap!

 

I've got the truck packed up and ready to go-- just have to wait for dh to get off of work at 10:15pm.  So we'll be heading off to his folks' house in Newton, which is a very short 2 hour drive (Praise the Lord!).  We've already forewarned grandma and grandpa to take a nap today since the kids will most likely be revving to go by the time we show up on their doorstep at half past midnight!

 

We're especially excited about this trip because dh NEVER gets Thanksgiving off of work!  As in n-e-v-e-r ever!  We usually end up celebrating Thanksgiving and Christmas early since dh is not senior enough to get the coveted holidays off.  This is definitely a very pleasant surprise.

 

Oh, if you haven't noticed, please check out my cool flickr badge on the sidebar.  You'll get to see the pics from our vacation to Tennessee a few weeks ago.  It was absolutely beautiful over there-- I couldn't have imagined more vibrant colors on the trees!  Too bad I didn't get a pic of Gena...maybe next time.  And there are a couple of pics from my littlest man's first birthday as well.

 

And thank you Beth for the suggestion of putting my b&w pic on the sidebar...I don't know why I didn't think of that.  You are one smart cookie!

 

God bless y'all!

Marsha

 

By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name.

~Hebrews 13:15

 

Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised in the city of our God, in the mountain of his holiness.

~Psalm 48:1

 

It is a good thing to give thanks unto the Lord, and to sing praises unto thy name, O most High: 

~Psalm 92:1

 

O give thanks unto the Lord, for he is good; for his mercy endureth forever.

~Psalm 107:1

Twins

Sorry to disappoint y'all but I am NOT prego!  (Don't even think about calling mom, Coco!)  However, my two older boys have been cutting out leaves from construction paper this morning.  We're going to do something with them, just don't know what yet.  Anyhoo!  This is the conversation that I overheard this morning.

 

4yo: Hey, we're both cutting out our second leaves at the same time!

 

6yo (with a big grin on his face):  We're twins!!!

 

4yo:  Yup, we do everything together.

 

I am sooo thankful for moments like this!  There was a time when they couldn't even be in the same room together...they would always fight and scream at each other.  I prayed for them...a lot...

 

I honestly thought that they didn't love each other and I was a horrible mother.  Because mothers are supposed to control these things, right?  Then one day another kid hit my younger son (2yo at the time).  My then 4yo yelled at the other kid to go away and then attended to his younger brother.  *LIGHTBULB*  Ohhhhh...They can hit and beat up each other, but no one else can...They DO love each other!!!

 

Eventually, they started playing together more and actually sought out each other's company...without fighting too much.   They have come such a long way to THIS MOMENT OF TWINDOM!  What a blessing!  They still fight sometimes and aggravate each other, but most of the time they play merrily together and have lots of adventures and say weird, funny things that I can post about here.

 

Thank you, dear God for your love and blessings upon my family!  And thank you for a family that loves to spend and is able to spend both quantity and quality time together.

 

PS Check out this new contest and nominate your fav friends here at HSB!

 

My Thinking Thoughts

I think my boys watch too much Thomas the Tank Engine

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  My 4yo said tonight: Well bust my boilers!  I can't believe there's a hole in my sock!

I think my husband is trying to tell me something

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  We recently purchased a set of golf clubs for yours truly.  I've decided to learn how to play golf so I can "tie those strings" with my boys and spend some extra time with hubby.  He is waaaaay excited!  Let's see, I got my clubs Friday night and since then he has purchased over 1,000 used golf balls from eBay!  I think he has some preconceived notions about my golfing skills...or the lack thereof.

I think I'm getting old

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  I'm a bit saddened to see the current crop of fashions out there.  I cannot believe some of the '80s things that are out right now...and I really cannot believe that I'm starting to sound just like my parents did back in the day... I would never pay that kind of money for jeans that already have holes in them!  If I'm getting only half a pair of jeans, I should only have to pay half price!

I think that we should take after Amy Beth's town

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  I can't believe it's almost time to put up the Christmas decorations!  In Pigeon Forge, TN they have a Winterfest every year where they have the whole town lit up and decorated for Christmas...they do this at the beginning of November!  A little weird but it does make sense...if you have the decorations up for 2 months instead of just one, then it's worth the hassle!

I think I'm losing my crafty-edge

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  Normally I have absolutely no problems coming up with a fun craft for my kiddos.  My current quandry is the search for a nice Thanksgiving table centerpiece that my kids can make as a gift for my mother-in-law (where we'll be spending this Thanksgiving).  Any suggestions?  And I've already looked at the stuff from Enchanted Learning but wanted some other ideas please.

I think I need to go to bed now.  My head hurts from too much thinking.

The unthinkable...I'm writing about homeschooling!

Contrary to popular belief, we do homeschool in this house!  I know y'all must think that my days are only filled with strangely funny little sayings and antics from my kids, but I do learns 'em a little bit around here!

 

We just finished the absolutely best read-aloud EVER-- even better than The Boxcar Children (which my boys thoroughly enjoyed).  Anyhoo, this cleverly enchanting book is My Father's Dragon by Ruth Stiles Gannett (you can click on the link to it on my sidebar).

 

Each chapter of this book ends with a cliffhanger (or as much of a cliffhanger as a children's book can have).  The best part is that it left the kids begging for me to keep reading!  It actually took us 2 nights to finish it since my voice just was not up to reading more.  My 6yo and 4yo both loved the story, characters, pictures and map...and I did too!  They are usually so restless if I read more than one chapter of a book at a time, but this time they were just excited about each chapter and wondered what in the world would happen next.  I've never seen them get so wrapped up in a story before.

 

So if you've never read this book to your kids, especially if you have little boys, I highly recommend it! 

 

And since I'm in a recommending kinda mood, I've really been impressed with our current devotional/Bible time book we're reading through: Leading Little Ones to God.  It is muy bueno and very captivating for the kiddos.  They already know many of the "traditional" Bible stories from Sunday School and church, but this book teaches them how and why it is important to KNOW God and it does it in a friendly, interesting, and kid-friendly manner.  It gives you a story to read, the Bible passage, an appropriate song to sing, and a prayer at the end.  I LOVE IT-- but we've just started it so I can't vouch for the last half of the book...yet...

 

Okay, that's enough schooling for one day.

My kids are doomed

They are doomed to be goofy for the rest of their lives...from both sides of the family...they just can't escape it.

 

What I overheard my 6yo say to my 4yo at the table today:

 

6yo (reading the writing on a pair of scissors):  Oh no!!!  "Stainless Steel China"... Someone stole these from China!

 

4yo:  Oh...that's VERY bad!

 

6yo:  I can't believe someone stole these!

 

4yo:  Yeah, that was very naughty!

 

 

I'm not a single mom anymore!

Dh has been complaining about the fact that my avatar does not include him.  I guess he thinks I'm trying to make everyone think that I'm a single mom or something.  So, to appease the king of this castle, here's a pic of hubby and me taken last year.

 

This new pic is in honor of you, baby!  Hope you like it.  I'm going to miss the regal pose of me and my little men.  The black and white was quite flattering, wasn't it?  Oh well.

 

Now people are going to wonder if we have any kids or not...

If this were true, I'd be stealing my kids' piggy banks

What my 4yo told me yesterday:

 

Guess what mommy?  Daddy gave me all of the stuff from his pockets yesterday.  Ummmm...quaaarters, pennnnnies, diamonds, nickels...  And I put it all in my piggy bank!

 

Kids are great, aren't they?  Even for their entertainment purposes alone. 

Toddlers and the forbidden fountain-- blech! :-p

What is it with the fascination of the forbidden, especially for toddlers? 

 

Well, my littlest man had his first birthday this past Saturday...   ...so I guess that means he's a toddler now instead of a baby--even if he doesn't quite walk yet (although he's taken a couple of steps recently).  Anyway!!!  It began this morning.  I was walking to the kitchen when I heard the merry sounds of splashing water. 

 

Hmmmmm??? I shouldn't be hearing water splashing.  No one is taking a bath right now...and the big boys are in the living room...

 

I see that the bathroom door is open and my littlest man is up to his ELBOWS in toilet water!!!  YUCKY-PUCKY-GROSS toilet water!!!  He'd thrown the toilet bowl brush onto the other side of the bathroom and then proceeded to dunk the toilet brush holder in and out of the toilet!  Ewwww...wet almost-a-baby covered in toilet water...  I cannot begin to describe how gross that is...and I pray that he only threw the toilet brush and did nothing else with it or to it...

 

So I scooped him up and anti-bacterial soaped him.

 

Then a couple of hours later he was once again playing in the forbidden fountain.  *sigh*  That boy will never learn...and the bigger boys keep forgetting to keep the door shut.

 

Ewwww....you know, make that double-ewwwww...and DON'T tell my mom because she would totally freak out!

Amy Beth's Cornbread Trick and what REALLY caused the fire!

While visiting dear Amy Beth in beautiful and not-as-hot-as-TX-Tennesseeeeee, she showed me a cool trick to baking cornbread.  You put the pans in the oven to heat and add shortening.  Let the shortening melt and get very hot in the pan and then add the batter.

 

It makes for a deliciously toasty bottom to your cornbread...plus it keeps the pieces from crumbling after you cut it.

 

So thank you Amy for sharing your tricks of the trade since cornbread is definitely not my forte!!!  You're a genius! 

 

THIS JUST IN!

 

I was told that our cabin fire began with a cigarette that fell between the boards by the person who stayed on Sunday night.  Can you believe that?!  This cigarette smoldered all day and then really got things burning very late Monday night (close to midnight!). 

 

I brings me close to tears just thinking about what could have been.  I can't thank God enough for looking after us and allowing us to get out quickly and safely.  Plus, He allowed us to catch the fire early which spared us not only additional danger, but it could've caused some long-lasting fears in our boys.  GOD IS SOOO GOOD!

My big sister is cuckoo, I tell ya... :-p

I am sooo excited that my big sister CoCo (and I mean big b/c she's prego) is in town with her dh and my dear nephew Benjamin!

 

Buuuuut, it doesn't take long for her to bring up stories from when we were little...boo-hoooooo stories....Waaahhhh!!!  "Remember when we were little and you gave me these scars?  You were sooo mean to me."  I'm shedding a tear here, CoCo!!!  I can't believe you just can't let go of the fact that I can STILL whoop up on you! :-)

 

And to top it all off, dh and everyone else is actually l-i-s-t-e-n-i-n-g to her nonsense.  Well, people here will listen to ME...so take that CoCo!  All those years where you flaunted the fact that you are older than me...doesn't seem so cool now to be OLDER does it??? 

 

And to properly reply you'll have to open up your own blog...hehehe...

We put the smoke in the Smoky Mountains!!!

We are now back in good ole Tejas and I am trying to catch up on the loads of smokey smelling laundry, as well as finish up my work for the week.  I believe there has been a hint of our adventures already posted so I shall fill in the blanks.

 

Let's start at the very be-ginning, a very good place to staaaart, when you read you begin with A-B-C, when you sing you begin with Do-Re-Mi (Do-Re-Mi), the very first thing just happens to be-- Do-Re-Mi (Do-Re-Mi)...

 

We arrived in beautiful Tennessee on Sunday and spent a fabuloso time at Dollywood (hehehe...can't help but snicker at the name).  We returned to our cozy cabin in the woods to find the ceiling crawling with (gasp!)..........ladybugs.......yup, they look innocent enough but see the creepy picture towards the middle of the page where they are in a swarm?  THAT was what parts of our cabin looked like.  Now before you call me a sissy city slicker, let me tell you that I would've been just fine had they congregated on the living room ceiling.  But I just have to draw the line when I'm lying in bed and watching the ceiling move...they were also covering the lamp and crawling into my luggage.  That is so very total-double-yucky-gross!  So we vacuumed what we could, went to sleep as best we could, and they were so very kind to move us to a different cabin the next day.

 

We spent the next day driving through Cades Cove and then met up at dear, sweet, kind, and very hospitable Amy Beth's house.  She made some killer chicken and dumplings and showed me her secret to perfectly delicious cornbread.  I was very excited to finally meet JenIG, Gena, AnneMarie and their very fun clans!  Jen was quite the southern lady to have a very nice gift for our hostess and for myself (once she mapquested her way over)-- we were all impressed!  Oh and AnneMarie, you may be the youngest but you better remember to have some respect for your elders!  LOL  And we almost got a real picture of Gena but since I/we enjoy living to see another day, Amy put the camera away.  Maybe her kids would be brave enough though...

 

After a great evening of eating, talking and laughing we forced ourselves to leave.  We went to Cabin 2 and settled in for a late night.   I hunkered down in the bedroom to watch a movie, my little men went upstairs to play, and dh watched the game in the living room. 

 

Next thing I know, dh is hollerin' (since that's what it's called in TN) for me to come out of my room.  I walk out to see the entire living room and loft filled with smoke!!!  I yelled at the boys to get outside while I called the Fire Department.  We ran back inside to open windows, shut doors, get our luggage (yes, you read that correctly), and try to figure out where the smoke was coming from...we saw it pouring out from inside the walls behind the refrigerator.

 

The Police were the first to show, followed very quickly by the Fire Department.  The boys were tucked safely in the back of the car and thought the emergency lights on the vehicles were really cool.  Long story short, they put out the fire that seemed to be coming from the walls and under the floor.  The boys didn't seem too traumatized although my 6yo did cry just a little...and my crazy 4yo was just a little, excited chatterbox and is still talking about the smoke and fire.

 

PRAISE THE LORD that he allowed us to stay up late after a very long day!  The smoke detectors didn't work and I can only imagine what the outcome could've been...very scary indeed... There were several things that the Lord allowed:

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  staying up late when we should've been tired (it was around 11:30pm or so),
  
  
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  dh was in the living room adjacent to the kitchen (instead of with me in the other room and with the door shut)
  
  
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  and the phone number to the Fire Dept and our cabin address was posted clearly on the fridge.

We certainly don't deserve His mercy and grace but we sure are grateful for it!!!

 

Once things settled down, we were able to move, once again, to another cabin for our last night in TN.  With the harrowing events of the evening, we decided to cut our trip short by a day and head home.  It kind of turns your stomach a little bit when you think about what could've been. 

 

We finished up our last day in TN with a gorgeous hike to Laurel Falls and a quick trip back to Dollywood to visit the rides one last time...where I was blessed to meet two very fun HSBloggers (sorry T, but I couldn't remember your bloggername!).  How random is that?!  She tells a great story about noticing my bald boys and making me feel like a total celebrity... Now that is a friend! :-)  Actually I was a bit jealous that she had her dear hs'ing friend T to go to the park with...it would be nice to have one of y'all near me...Anyone, anyone???

 

It's late, I'm getting sick and I've still got that laundry to sort...thanks for reading this very long blog about my vacation...I'll try to get a few pics up next week...G'night Y'all!  And G'night my dear TN friends...I miss y'all already!

 

~Marshie

 

PS TN is a wonderful place to visit and the people there are super friendly!  Definitely a thumbs-up vaca in my book, smoke and all!

I walk into my bathroom tonight to find...

...my 6yo sitting on a stool with the clippers and giving himself a haircut.  WITH NO GUARD ON IT!!!  Of course he didn't start towards the bottom of his head but very close to the very top...  I couldn't help but laugh.  And then I tried to fix it but couldn't so I ended up shaving his entire head with no guard on at all but he's happy because he looks just like his daddy and now he will have to go on our vacation to the mountains of Tennessee with a cold noggin.  The end.

And I thought spelling was for smart people...

Olny srmat poelpe can.

   I cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg. The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid, aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoatnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit a porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Amzanig huh? yaeh and I awlyas tghuhot slpeling was ipmorantt!

STRETCHING YOUR FAITH

Here is a wonderful devotional by Nancy Campbell from Above Rubies.  You can subscribe to her encouraging e-mail's by following the instructions at the end.  I always seem to get these in my in-box just when I need them the most!

 

Love,

Marsha

 

John 6:5-6, "Jesus said to Philip, 'Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?' He asked this only to test him, for he already had in mind what he was going to do."

 

The crowds gathered to Jesus to hear His words of life and to be healed of their sicknesses. Soon there were thousands -- five thousand men besides women and children. Jesus was filled with compassion towards these people. He not only wanted to feed their souls, but feed their bodies. And so He turned to Philip to ask him where they could buy food for all these people.

 

Philip was nearly dumbfounded! "It would take a small fortune!" He spluttered in unbelief. Actually, different translations give different amounts. The NIV says that "eight months' wages would not buy enough bread." The CEV says that "it would take almost a year's wages." The situation looked impossible to Philip. He couldn't see past the thousands of people and the impossibility of feeding them all. His faith could not go beyond his sight.

 

But Jesus had asked him this question only to test and stretch his faith. Jesus knew all along what he would do. And we now know the outcome of the story and how Jesus fed this huge crowd from five small barley loaves and two small fish!

 

But let's put ourselves in Philip's place. What would you have answered? I'm sure my response would have been the same as Philip's! But I pray that my faith will be stretched. I want to see beyond the looming difficulties in front of me. I want to see beyond the impossible situations. I want to look to God to whom nothing is impossible.

 

God wants us to believe Him. He wants us to trust Him in His mighty right arm. He wants to lift us up from our earthly sighted view to see Him. Our God is not a man. We must not bring him down to our level and to what we see. We must come up to where He is and see things as He sees them. He sees far beyond the circumstances that we see. He knows how He will deliver us. He knows the final outcome. All we have to do is trust.

 

Next time you face an impossible situation; do you think you could change your response? Instead of confessing it is impossible, confess your trust in God. "Lord, I know that you are bigger than this situation. I can't see a way out, but I know that you know the way out. I trust you to lead me. I trust in you to do what is impossible."

 

There are times when God will put you in situations, just as He did Philip, inn order for your faith to stretch and grow. Don't waste these situations.

 

Remember, that all along God knows what He will do. He has the answer. He has everything in control. Absolutely nothing is impossible to Him.

 

Love from NANCY CAMPBELL

 

Affirmation:

Nothing is too difficult for God.

 

Prayer:

"Oh God, I thank you that nothing is I impossible to you. Help me to increase my faith. Help me to get into the habit of always looking to you, instead of the problems I face around me. Amen."

 

If you know others who would be blessed by these devotions, you are welcome to forward them or let them know they can subscribe by sending a blank email to subscribers-on@aboverubies.org

My day at the ER and the rest of my not-so-good week

Okay, so all of my vaca posts have been a bit deceptive.  It has been one rough week!

 

It started with a fender bender in the pouring rain on Monday night.  Fortunately, the kids and I are just fine.  The car is not too bad but not exactly fine either...but that's a story for another day!

 

Today began with "Mommmmmmy!  Come here!!!!  Hurry!"   My 4yo somehow catapaulted himself off the couch and hit his head on a chair...crying to me with blood running all down his face. 

 

So I called some friends to take care of the other kids and headed to the Children's Hospital 45 minutes away with a hysterical and hyperventilating little boy.  Just the thought of going to the doctor was making him crazy!  I guess he was a bit more traumatized from his vaccinations a few months ago than I thought.  So we clocked in at the ER at 12:15pm...5 very long and boring and tiring hours later they saw him.  Praise the Lord that they were able to glue his laceration instead of having to use stitches!  A whopping 5 MINUTES later we were out the door!  All that waiting and it only took 5 minutes of the doctor's time...but 5 minutes is better than 30 minutes or an hour.

 

I am truly thankful that it was a simple cut on his head and not meningitis, a broken arm, or appendicitis (like the other kids in the ER).  And he did think it was quite fun to watch all the cartoons that I don't allow in my house... But it sure was exhausting for me and just crazy overall.  I don't know why these things happen when dh is on a trip...the last two times this same kid had stitches on his head, I was the one who had to go through the ordeal with him.  I know it's also been hard on dh feeling so helpless and guilty that he's not been there.  So I don't give him a hard time about it.

 

Hey, but guess what???  I'm going on vacation!!!  Trust me, that thought went through my head many times today!

 

Oh and tomorrow morning, my sweet little green snotty nosed baby has a doctor's appointment since he's been that way plus a slight fever since Saturday.  So much for school this week!  Or next week because then I'll be on vacation!!!

 

Thanks for letting me vent...G'night y'all!

 

Love,

Marsha

I'm going on vacation! Woohoooooo!!!

Okay, so it's not tomorrow but the thought of spending quality and quantity time with my kiddos and darling husband makes me sooo happy! 

 

Now we are planning to fly into Knoxville on Sunday and leave very early Thursday morning.  Amy Beth has been so helpful with advice on what to do and where to stay.  Check out the cool cabin we'll be staying at next week!  Talk about a luxury splurge for us cheapskates!  And my boys will be in hog heaven with the air hockey table and the "hot pools."

 

We will be visiting (and the name still kills me) Dollywood on either Sunday afternoon or Wednesday.  There's this rundown and just plain scary travelling carnival that sets up at a grocery store parking lot a mile or two down the road from us.  It's at a major intersection so we pass by it often when they're in town.  Every single time my boys beg to go to the carnival and ask why we don't go there-- and we all answer together "Because it's not safe."  I've told them that there are amusement parks that are safe and those travelling ones are NOT one of them!  They will be so very excited about going to a big, safe and Christmas-y decorated one!!!

 

And I am very very excited to finally meet the crazy TOS clan!  I think that my goofy family might actually feel normal amongst them-- hooray! 

 

Okay, gotta go to bed now.

G'night y'all!

Marsha