Kids' quotes

When you run out of topics to blog about to keep your readers (stalkers) happy, you can always turn to your kids for fun ideas. Last night Summer was trying to avoid being bored on the way to Mimi's house. She said she was just sitting in the seat trying to make her legs fall asleep. ? Weird.

Then, this morning on the way to the karate show in Wylie, we passed by an airsoft and paintball store. Andrew wanted to go in really badly, but I said, "Let's not and say we did." He came back with, "Let's do and say we didn't." Now I think he gets that from his mom. "No, Steve, I haven't been to Starbucks all week." Anyway, it was pretty funny.

"In your face"

Tonight I gave "Donny Doo" a million dollar bill. He ran to show his mom and said, "In your face. I got a million bucks!" Later when we were picking up the kids from karate, he said he wanted to buy "Season of the year" and that he finally had enough money. I told him she wasn't for sale. At any price. He was a little disappointed.



Ok. Here's the schoolroom. I think it's about finished. I'm really happy with it. I guess this Ikea table and chairs is my new coffee table. It works really well to pull up to the couch (where I sit) to help the littles do their school. I couldn't fit all the toys in the closet under the stairs, so I just left them there. I can't wait till my friend with a gift and ministry of interior design comes over next week to help me decorate the living room. (Not really decorate, just help me decide what stays and what goes and where what stays goes. Get it?) Sheldon painted the canvases over the tv. Way cheaper than pre-made artwork. And we like it.

Sheldon's blog and my darling angel

Alex drew an A, then asked me how to make a B. I gave him an alphabet chart, and he proceeded to fill the whole page with the letters. Then he got a new sheet of paper and continued with the numbers and lowercase letters. I was so proud of him. I guess he's ready to start school too.

You absolutely must read Sheldon's blog today. I was in tears laughing so hard.

Coven Dragonlair -- this is a long, scary one

Well, I was informed that last Saturday night was our date night, but I don't think so. Last Saturday we went to Coven Dragonlair for a wiccan open circle ritual celebrating the autumn equinox. This would not have been a voluntary choice for date night in any circumstance; however, there are certain sacrifices that we must make if we are married and love our husband. First of all, he was going. They need the gospel, and he has a bold faith that the wiccan leaders can repent and trust Christ. While that may be true, I was afraid for him to go alone, (everyone at church had something suddenly come up) so once I found out Aaron and Sydni were going with him, I decided to go too. I needed to be there to "protect" them with my prayers.

Before it began, we met the "leader", whose name was Dragon Slaymaker. He explained a lot of the beliefs and reasons for the different things we would be seeing.

Once they started the ritual (with doors locked to keep anyone from going in or out), the high priestess walked around the circle of people with a large scary dagger held over everyone's heads and started telling the spirits of negativity to leave. I just knew she'd be stopping by me to plunge that thing into my heart. Somehow she didn't pick up my negativity towards what she was doing, and she got back to the table at the beginning of the circle and started carving a star (pentagram) out of the air over the candle-lit table.

I think next came the "wine blessing" where they "blessed" the "wine" and passed it around in a chalice for everyone to drink from. The high priest got down on his knees in front of the high priestess with the chalice in his hands. The high priestess then plunged the dagger into the chalice to symbolize the union of god and goddess. The high priestess drank the wine, passionately kissed the high priest, Hawk, then passed him the wine. {During the kiss, we were all starting to panic that there would be some inappropriate acts right on the floor in the middle of the circle. (We knew we were locked in.) The thought also did cross my mind that I needed to have a plan in case we witnessed a murder/sacrifice soon. The knife really scared me.} He drank it, went over to the next woman standing in the middle of the circle, kissed her on the mouth, and passed her the chalice. This went on for all of the 5 or 6 people standing in the middle of the circle before they went to the first person sitting in the giant circle. I know Aaron said he was thinking I am not kissing anyone! and luckily, the kissing stopped at that point. We let the chalice pass right on by us. No way were we swallowing that stuff. What if it was blood?

Anyway, next came the grapes. These were also "blessed", and the whole wine/grape thing was like their communion to celebrate the union of the god and goddess. He explained that the only difference in our religions was that we leave out the goddess. That their god and our heavenly father are the same--that all gods of all religions are the same god--but we just all call him by the different names we know him by. It was sad to me that they really believed this. Or they were trying to convince themselves just as much as they were trying to convince us. We skipped the grapes too.

They went around the circle sprinkling "holy water" on everyone, which we hoped didn't get on us, and fanning incense smoke at us. These represented the union of elements water/earth (saltwater) and air/fire (incense). Then they put "holy water" and incense smoke on some wheat and passed it around to everyone. We were supposed to focus on a short-term goal and stare at the wheat while they hypnotized us with their crazy-talk. Then they declared the wheat a magic talisman that when we looked at it, it would help us achieve our short-term goal by November 1.

Next came the Coven Dragonlair Witch's Hymnal that they passed out. They jokingly said you could call it a "her'mnal if you wanted (since they also worship a goddess). As Sydni and I were looking at the words in this book, we were so saddened by these people and also completely creeped out. They changed the words to several Christian Christmas carols, too. "Silent night, solstice night", "gods rest ye merry pagan folk", Joy to the World, Santa Claus is coming to town, and others. They started chanting their little witch tunes, and you'll be happy to know we didn't sing along or even mouth the words. I told Sydni that I could guarantee they wouldn't let us leave with the songbooks. I was so right!

During this time, we discovered that everything that lives (that we eat) sacrifices itself for us that we might live. For example, when you pluck a carrot up out of the ground, it dies so we can eat it and live.

They also kept mentioning their annual campout coming soon, called Witchstock. They had the artwork for the t-shirts for this event that the artist donated to them. It had a picture of a woman with flowing long hair covering herself. I have since found out that at this family-friendly event, clothing is optional. Nice.

We all came away desiring more of God. We had a deeper appreciation for the worship music at our church which has truth in the lyrics. I think we all sang with a little more feeling at church the next morning. But we have also come away with a deep sadness for what they are too far gone into their sins to know. They don't know Jesus. Sure, they know the Jesus that they think was a great Rabbi. But they don't understand their sin and their need for a saviour. They choose not to believe in Hell, so they don't fear it. I can't shake the sadness for them.

Now that I have gone to this with Sheldon, I figure he owes me big time.

Life is good when friends start new blogs

Thanks, Crazy Cricket, for adding to the fun with your fun-ness. Let's hope Carey joins us soon.

My family had a great time at Angie's party last night. We really, really enjoy those friendships (among the people there), and love reconnecting at parties like that.

After the party, (and once again, we were one of the last to leave--a pattern with us), we went to another friend's house to watch the Cowboys. It was fun because I didn't have to watch the game. (My friend) and I watched Ice Princess and talked. Then we went in the kitchen so we could continue visiting while she put away the food and dishes. Next thing I knew, she finished off the Coke straight from the bottle so she could throw it away. Sad thing is, it didn't strike me as odd or out of the ordinary at all until I caught the look she gave me. Then it was hilarious. (I would have done the same thing, but not in front of anyone. That's what made it so funny.)

When some of the kids were leaving, she asked if their mom was coming in or if she was out in the car. They said she was out in the car because she was in her pajamas. So, (friend) grabbed my arm and said, "Come on, I'll introduce you." She really made me laugh, and it felt good.

I have to close this now because this isn't the blog I intended to type today. I'll attempt to start over with a new one.

Snakes & snails & puppy dog tails & little GIRLS

Well, Donovan has completely ruined my little girl. Savanna is now obsessed with frogs and lizards. She can hardly wait until the sun goes down so she can go outside to look for the frogs and lizards. She knows all the places where the lizards hide in the back yard during the day too because Aaron showed her. Great! At least she washes her hands often.

Let's hope she doesn't pick up this from Donovan: Wednesday when they were here, he said, "Aunt April, can I play game cube? or else I'll kick your butt." I don't know what you're teaching him, Jill, but we don't talk like that in this house.

Bobbi has been taking Aaron for drives this week for about 15 minutes at a time. It's good because I didn't know when I'd get the chance, and he's building up practice.

Aaron started to ask me a question about biology today. It started like this: "Mom, you've pretty much lived your life out, right . . .?" I said, "Um, NO! What is that supposed to mean?" He was just wondering if in any of my life experiences I ever had the need to know what phylum germs are in? I told him to quit it. He's just making excuses now, but he blew it with the wording of the question.

I've realized something today. You know how we're all kind of this fake person with some of our friends? Like maybe we clean really well before they come over or pretend like we have it all together instead of sharing our junk? It's kind of like kids in daycare. The daycare kids are really good and pretty much well-behaved all day. Then when their parents pick them up, they melt down and act normal (sometimes rebellious and bratty) because they're comfortable with their parents. It's a burden and stressful for them to be putting on this act all day. This is like those of us who aren't sure of their abilities to entertain people. When people are over it's fun, but we're not quite sure if they are comfortable being at our house. So when they leave, maybe we're relieved "the act" is over. I don't want to be this way. I've gotten a lot better with it, so this doesn't apply to me at all, I'm sure. It's just an observation I've realized must fit other people (based on how I used to be). I'm sure you understand.

I'm a little sad because I feel rejected and deserted today. Sometimes I blame all the kids for that, and that's just not fair to them. (Like if I didn't have so many, maybe I wouldn't be a burden to other people.) I don't even know that I am a burden; I'm just putting that on other people because of low self-esteem and those negative voices in my head that Angie talked about.

Interior Design Ministry

I thought of a way a person could use their talent and love for interior design as a ministry. It may just so happen that this person could have a good friend who is design-challenged and could use advice decorating when they're not sure what looks good.

We have recently finished painting the living room and school room a beautiful gallery taupe color. Previously, the schoolroom was unpainted, and the living room was dark burgundy. (Click to see the old rooms.)

Now, we are sort of starting over, as cheaply as possible. The schoolroom is almost done, so I'll post pics when we're finished, and we're happy with it. The living room is very bare because I'm not sure what to do. Help is needed.

Almost all of the things on the mantle are going to have to be moved because I think they're too dark. That's about all I know except that none of the things that were hung on the wall before are going to be used again.

(Ignore the cardboard box on the fireplace. It has books in it from the bookshelves that are now temporarily in the hall.) I don't have to take interior design classes to know that box has to go!

The Shopping Game

Jill cracks me up! So there's a shopping game? (See her reply to my post of yesterday.) Sheldon and I went shopping on Monday and had about $75 worth of stuff in our hands. We decided what we really wanted and started walking to the checkout. As we were walking, he said, "We put stuff back!" We were so excited we were saving money by shopping like Jill. We ended up spending less than $20. It felt good.

I wonder if Jill just sits around and thinks of funny things to say. I think it must come naturally. She's just always funny. Maybe that's why people can't stand it when they can't get ahold of her by phone. Or maybe that's just me. She must have to screen her calls from the great numbers of people trying to get the chance to talk to her. Seriously, you could have flatter abs by laughing just hanging out with her.

I do not have a thing for Kirk. I love Sheldon. I don't know what she's talking about.

Date night

Monday nights for the past several weeks have been "date night". We decided if we did not dedicate a night each week to spend together, then it wouldn't happen because we are way too busy.

It took me a few weeks to figure something out. The first couple of date nights we ended up going grocery shopping because I hadn't had a chance to get it done over the weekend. Well, after the second date night wasted grocery shopping--which I hate--I became more disciplined in getting it done over the weekend so we could go to more fun places on date night. Like Home Depot. And Half-Price Books. And Starbucks. And Michaels. Really, wherever we want (as long as they are still open). This has been so much fun, and I find myself really looking forward to Mondays.

It's too bad that something I must do a lot of (like grocery shopping) is something I don't enjoy. Lucky for me, I really enjoy doing laundry (where there is a lot of) and even dishes, although Aaron and Sydni mostly do that unless they're not home, and I can't stand it anymore.

It doesn't matter if every other room is cluttered and messy, if the kitchen is clean, I "feel" like the whole house is clean. Sydni mentioned that I have this in common with someone else, and I suspect many women feel this way. I can pick up a pile of papers and take it from the kitchen island to the desk in the office, and I'm fine with that. I just can't stand it being in the kitchen. I don't even enjoy cooking very much (which I also have to do a lot of). How could someone possibly cook breakfast every morning when there are such wonderful things like cereal and frozen waffles and breakfast bars, unless they serve easy dinners like sandwiches? (Hey Sheldon, I think that might be a good idea.)

Well, I'm off to answer my email from Kirk Cameron. (Just kidding: it's a survey about the Transformed conference.) Next year I know just where to sit to get to meet him.

Let's see if I can't say something every day

Well, I had this whole long blog typed up, but I decided it was opening myself up too much to inspection by everyone, and I deleted it. I might get to that point eventually, but I'm going to have to grow more before it happens. I would like to blog everyday, but it's hard. I don't think my life is that interesting. At least not enough for other people to want to read it. I need to write about the Transformed conference. Maybe after I listen to Hell's Best Kept Secret, I'll have the motivation to blog about it.

Part 2, Austin playing with weeds

I forgot to blog more about Austin playing with the long weeds in the back yard. I looked outside later, and he had taken this long fistful of weeds and formed them into a pretend gun. Nice.

Transformed!

Today we took 8 teenagers and Austin to The Way of the Master Transformed conference with Ray Comfort, Kirk Cameron, and Todd Friel from the tv and radio shows. It was so incredible. I wish everyone from our church could have gone to this event. Unfortunately, I didn't realize before going to it how important I would think it to be. (Does that make sense?) I think people do not put enough importance on their eternal salvation. It really makes you sad when you realize it. It makes me want to go out witnessing with Sheldon and the kids. That would be way out of my comfort zone, but I don't think God wants us to always be comfortable. I may have to go with them.

The kids are still here, swing dancing. Someone just rang the doorbell. It was Madeline's mom, so I went to meet her. I liked her instantly. She said I looked like one of the teenagers. (The lights by the front door were kind of low.)

Too bad my pictures of Kirk aren't on here. Maybe I'll look later to see if you can see anything from the great distance in the upper 3rd floor balcony of Prestonwood Baptist Church.

I've been giving certain people a hard time for not blogging enough, and it's still true, but I must try to blog often myself or I'm no better than a hypocrite, right?

Today's ramblings since I can't reach Jill by phone . . .

I wonder what it's like in a normal homeschooling house. It's been so long since I've experienced that. Maybe this is some sort of normal with so many little kids running around distracting the older kids and making HUGE messes of toys. After all, some people have 9 kids of their own. The 3 littlest don't go home at the end of the day. I just spied Austin through the kitchen window. He's out in the backyard playing with weeds. Yes, playing with weeds. They're really long, and he must have pulled them from under the slide or something. He's tying them around the steps to the playfort. That's nature study/science, isn't it? Summer is playing with the babies and making them laugh. That's a good education since she wants to be a stay-at-home mom and have a lot of kids when she grows up.

I've been hearing a lot of complaints the last 3 days from Aaron and Sydni, who both agree that Heart of Darkness is way too hard, boring, and impossible to understand. On this, their third and final day to read it, Sydni casually mentioned that Ashley's mom let her read about it on sparknotes. Well, it would have been nice to have had this information (permission) 3 days ago. So, that's what we did, and they're not writing about it. (Thanks, Connie, for giving me permission to let some things go without even knowing you were affecting our home atmosphere!)

Here's a note to some of the people that read my blog, and you know who you are:
August 14 and August 22 is almost a month ago. Surely something interesting has happened since then that you could blog about. We won't even talk about July 28!

Kids in charge

Kids should not be in charge of their own education. It's frustrating when they decide on their own that their school lesson is dumb, so they change it without asking and do something different instead. Don't they understand that it's twice the work when Mom finds out?

Sheldon was right

Jill, I'm sorry about this post, but I've been burying my head in the sand about this for too long, and I know you don't want to know.

Starbucks, unfortunately, is no good. I was so much better off not knowing how many calories my regular drink contained. It's way too close to the number in the cinammon rolls (from the last post). Does that mean I'm not going to drink it anymore? Well, no. But, I'm definitely going to feel more guilt when I do drink it. And, I'm probably going to think twice about having more than one a week (or two).

Just going up from a tall to a grande adds 140 calories. Wow, for only 30 cents more! Who knew it really did cost way more?

Teen Aggravation

Why did Sydni have to tell me that the cinnamon rolls we bought at Ikea have 400 calories each? Now I can't eat one at all. It's so sad because I would have had one before I had known, and I intended to have one, but never really got around to eating one before I put them in the freezer. Now I won't be able to eat one at all. That's a LOT of calories for something that's not even on the food pyramid chart!

Thanks a lot, Sydni!

OCD

After the third child, aren't you supposed to cave in a little at all the obsessive tendencies to overprotect them? Like germs on the shopping cart? Isn't the third child the one where you pick up the pacifier and just stick it back in the baby's mouth? Aren't they supposed to wear all the hand-me-down clothes and make do with leftover toys and equipment?

Isn't it the first child for whom you would buy two sets of Pottery Barn Kids comforter sets in case they pee on one?

W.W.S.D.?

We went to the Norwoods' house last night for a Labor Day party. It was fun--most of the kids swam, and we grilled and ate. When Sheldon and I were sitting outside eating, I started to feel a very light sprinkling of raindrops. I said, "Oh man, I think I'm going to have to duck and cover. It's sprinkling."

Then Sheldon said the words that every woman dreads to hear. He said, "Just stay here. What would Stacey do?" ARRRGGH! I hate it when he makes me think what she would do. Because I know he's right. She would sit right there and keep enjoying herself. If she got wet, she would just laugh it off. I think the world might be a little better place if everyone just asked themselves this simple question. "W.W.S.D.?"

I don't want to go up to strangers and talk to them. (What would Stacey do?)

I'm the new person in the crowd. I can't invite everyone to my house. (What would Stacey do?)

There's not a bible study group at my church, and no one else will start one. (What would Stacey do?)

I'm telling you, it really makes you reach out of your comfort zone sometimes.

Overheard at the atheist "church" . . .

Sheldon went to the atheist church on Sunday to interview people and discover what they believe so that he could hopefully share the gospel with them. He heard this conversation.

1st Sweet Little Old Lady at the coffee machine: "Ah-choo!"

2nd Sweet Little Old Lady at the coffee machine: "Can I say 'Bless you' without saying 'God bless you'?"

Hilarious.

Ikea-land

We went to Ikea yesterday for the first time. It was like Disneyland! Very fun. We shopped for 7 hours.

I figured it out, and Jill only spent about 26% of the amount we spent. This is a regular pattern with her at any store, despite the fact that sometimes her entire basket is full. Miraculously and mysteriously, by the time we get to the checkout, she only has 2 things. This even happens with groceries, although not as often. I wish I had the ability to put things back sometimes. Actually, 26% seems kind of a high percentage to me, as it is usually like $5 when mine is $75 or way more. Maybe she should do my Christmas shopping for me, and I'll just go along for the ride--and the Starbucks.