A lot of not much.

Well, my children are safely home from Romania, we made it through a very busy weekend, and I am not working this week. So what will I do with myself?

I will cough. And cough some more.

Working in the pre-school has its disadvantages, the main one being that children of that age don't understand that while sharing is a good thing, sharing their germs is NOT. And share they did. One went home with pneumonia, another with bronchitis. I washed my hands like a maniacal obsessive-compulsive germophobe, but I still got something. So I'll cough.

I have a list of things to get done this week, but being sick puts a bit of a crimp in my plans. I'll do what I can and learn not to sweat the rest - I learned that from my sister-in-law, who is the master of keeping-it-positive-even-when-the-dog-hair-tumbleweeds-are-taking-over-the-house.

So far today I've emptied both the kids' suitcases and put most of the stuff away, made the bed, taken care of the neighbor's dog, read a few blogs (we must have priorities, you know), done a few loads of laundry, and emptied the dishwasher and cleaned up the kitchen.

In a little while I'm going to get a hair trim, have my lousy computer diagnosed again, and get Ben a new ATM card. By then I'll need a nap, I'm sure.

Be thankful ~

Karen

Just one more. I really double-promise this time.

Just in case you ever decide to send your children to daycare, here is a handy list of suggestions your child's teacher would like to share with you.

1. Do not under any circumstances send a drink that contains red food dye. Even if your child isn't allergic to it, it will make him hyper and his teacher will despise you at naptime.

2. Chocolate pudding is NOT a wise addition to the lunchbox. That caffeine thing. Again, the teacher will despise you.

3. ONE blankie, please. The child will be sleeping (as long as you follow rules 1 and 2) and won't know the other nine blankies, pillows, and stuffed animals aren't there.

4. If you must send a stuffed animal, please be sure it is the silent type. The ones that talk and sing are cursed at naptime.

Are you beginning to see that the entire day revolves around naptime?

5. Lunchables can be your friend, but not the pizza ones. Your child's teacher does not have time to make three pizzas per child. And the cheese gets all over the floor and gets ground into the carpet. And the sauce packets explode if you don't open them just right. And all the other children watch the pizza-eating child so intently that they don't eat their own lunches. And that makes us late for naptime.

6. Please, please, PLEASE buy simple bathing suits. One piece. Two straps. It's enough already.

7. And spray-on sunscreen would make the teacher's life so very much easier.

8. And for the love of Pete, could you please get velcro shoes? These children are two and three years old. They're much too young for laces. Tying and untying the double knots in 26 little tennis shoes takes up valuable time that could be spent keeping the Houdini with Down's Syndrome from running into the highway.

Really.

And now you get a week free of tales from the pre-school. But only one week.

On the 7th of July I take over Leah's class of 4-7 year olds.

May God have mercy.

Be thankful ~

Karen

OK, I lied. One more.

If you had been a fly on the wall in my pre-school room yesterday at naptime, this is what you would have heard:

I need to go potty. Yeah, except that you just went 25 seconds ago.

I'm thirsty. No drinks.

I have an itchy. ???

Can I have a band-aid? No.

I can't find my lulu. (That's an old cloth diaper which is held near the face and rubbed on the cheek during naptime.) He can't find it because it's tangled in with the thirteen pillows and blankets his mommy so wisely sends each day for me to fold up and cram in his backpack after naptime while getting everyone to potty and get a drink and get ready for early dismissal in the gym.

T. won't stop looking at me. Close your eyes and you won't see him.

B's snoring. He always does. He's perpetually congested, bless his heart. We've used an entire box of tissues this week and the sore under his nose won't heal.

I want my mommy.

Me too.

Be thankful ~

Karen

The pre-school. Maybe we need milkbones.

One more observation from the pre-school, then I promise I'll shut up about it.

Yesterday I realized my dog is better trained than my two- and three-year-olds. How sad is that? Sad for the kids since it's not their fault, and sadder still that the parents aren't willing to put any effort into making their kids behave decently.

So if you send your kids to pre-school, keep in mind that the teacher may have a completely average dog with whom she will inevitably compare your children, and try to love your kids enough to at least teach them sit and stay.

Abbie and Elijah have been in Romania with our teen group for the last week and a half. They worked with our missionary there last week, and this week they are at Camp Joy - a summer camp for kids and teens. Big fun.

So far their living quarters have been infested with fleas so they're all covered in bites, Abbie got hives from the bug spray, Rachel had a bad reaction to the anti-itch medicine, and Russell broke his finger badly enough to require surgery.

I'm thinking somebody needs to start playing the glad game (Hey, that's another movie I loved - The Parent Trap - but I prefer the new one).

edited: OK, so it's not the Parent Trap - it's Pollyanna. I'm abysmal with movies.

Abbie says she looks like she has the plague. I think it's good for them to serve under adverse conditions. You know, the old character thing and all. They used to hate when I said that, but now that they're older they know it's true.

So if you think of them this week, would you pray for them. They could use it.

Be thankful ~

Karen

Another meme. Can you believe it??

Lisa at Put it on the List tagged me for this meme. I'm not sure I can abide by all four rules because I'm not much of a movie watcher. Seriously, I don't know if I've watched ten movies since I got married. But I'll try.

The rules of the “game” are simple:
1. list your top ten favorite films (in no particular order).
2. if you’re tagged, you’ve got to post and tag 3-5 other people.
3. give a tag back (some link love) to the one who tagged you in your post
4. give a hat tip (HT) to Dan

And like Lisa, I have no clue who Dan is, but I'm doing my best to follow the rules. Like I tell my two- and three-year-olds, "Obedience guarantees your survival in daycamp." Not that this is daycamp, but the idea applies to all of life.

And besides, I don't want to sit in the time-out chair.

So here are my favorite ten movies:

1. While You Were Sleeping - I love Sandra Bullock, and this is her best.

2. Two Weeks' Notice - Again, Sandra Bullock, a close-runner-up.

3. You've Got Mail - are you seeing a pattern here? I do like me some rom-com.

4. Air Force One - now aren't you surprised? I love Harrison Ford in this movie, though I've never watched a single one of the Indiana Jones movies. Call me weird.

5. ET - yes, I'm old enough to have seen it in the theater when it first came out.

6. Enchanted (edited - it's actually Ever After. Leah corrected me this morning) - is this the one with Drew Barrymore? My kids made me watch this and I did enjoy it.

7. The Bourne movies - can I lump them all in one? I'm not much for violence, and I quite often don't "get" things, but my family helps me out. So I liked these.

8. Ocean's Twelve - I liked it better the second time, after I "got" all the little things.

9. Finding Nemo - Love Dory - I can totally relate.

10. Anne of Green Gables - the marathon. My kids and I used to take a whole day off from school about once a year and watch the whole story, six movies, back-to-back. We still quote her.

I'd love to hear from Caaaaaarie!, Jeana, and Melissa. Let me know if you play!

Be thankful !

Karen

Stuff you can't live without knowing.

Ben has informed me he hates the days when I don't blog.

So.

Since my brain has turned to mush in the mere three days since I started working at the pre-school and I can't think beyond two-and three-year-olds, I share a few observations:

No amount of nagging or reminding or repeating yourself has as much impact as a good biff on the hand (I had permission from the mother).

Drama queens start young. As in three.

There is always a playground bully. Sometimes it's a girl.

Every group has a mother. And a peacemaker. And a snob.

The outside door alarms are loud enough to scare the bejeebers out of the five-year-old Houdini with Downs Syndrome. He really did wet his pants. But he didn't go out the door again.

Mother-guilt is alive and well at the pre-school door. And the kids use it to their advantage.

Little boys will do anything if you tell them they're strong.

Tomorrow I'll share the story of my visit to the bank after my second day on the job.

Be thankful ~

Karen

Tales from the Pre-school. In a new, handy list format.

1. Tyler lovth me. I know this because he tells me several times a day. And he thankth me for being hith new teacher.

2. Red food dye is from the devil.

3. When a child says, "I have to go potty," do it NOW.

4. Play-doh transcends language barriers - Russian kids love it, too.

5. Shaving cream is the best pool toy.

6. Naptime is from God.

I'll write more if I survive the next week and a half.

Be thankful ~

Karen

From manure to THIS.

Remember when I told you I had lovely, brown manure in my garden? Well look what it did! Those are tomatoes in the left hand bed, and squash, zucchini, beans and peppers in the right. With a wayward bale of straw.


I think it will be safe to eat these in a few weeks:
And squash. Mmmmmm, I can't wait!
If you live nearby, I'll share!

Be thankful ~

Karen

C ya

Today we are leaving to go see our friends Tom and Karen in Asheville. Their son Josh is getting married on Saturday and we're really excited about that. This morning Ben walked out the door singing that old James Taylor song, "In my mind I'm goin' to Carolina. . ." Remember that one? Anyway, we're leaving after everyone gets home from work today, so I'm spending my day doing laundry, ironing, packing, cleaning the car, and feeling sorry for Elijah, who is SOOOO bored. I offered to let him vacuum and sweep the house, but he's not quite THAT bored. It's all relative.

So I'll see you when I get back. 'K?

Be thankful ~

Karen

The wheels on the bus don't always go round and round.

Last Friday we took our youth group to the last BYF (Baptist Youth Fellowship) of the year. We were headed to a church about 30 minutes away in the little bus when it suddenly lost power. No brakes, no AC, no engine. Watson (the youth pastor) pulled into a church parking lot that happened to be right there and we all got out to stare dumbly at the motor. It didn't help.


Here are some of the teens being entertaining while the adults were eyeballing the bus.


Here we are getting on the rescue bus that came to get us. We left the broken one in the parking lot with a note on it. There's a sign in the driveway of this church saying that trucks, buses, and other heavy vehicles are prohibited. Oops.


And since we couldn't get to the BYF, we went back to our church and played basketball and volleyball and ate pizza. Ben says it was the best one he's ever been to.


And as if that weren't enough exciting news for one day, here's a picture of a little guy I found on the back of the house the other day. This luna moth is as big as my hand.




Be thankful ~

Karen

The reading room.

I just finished reading Kelly Corrigan's "the middle place." While I don't appreciate the language, it really was an incredible book and I couldn't put it down. I am in the middle place now - that place where you are at once a mother of children, and a child of someone. It's not something I'd ever thought about before, and this was quite a thought-provoking look at that place, among other things.

For the most part I cannot relate to Kelly's story. She has breast cancer and a large part of the book is dedicated to her thoughts and feelings as she goes through treatment. And Kelly has no faith. She doesn't believe God can have any effect on her disease. In one place she claims, "You can't pray your way out of cancer. . . Faith doesn't go to the cellular level." (p204-205)

That is just too sad. I cannot imagine having cancer WITHOUT the Lord. And despite what she thinks, faith most certainly does go to the cellular level. How could it not when God himself is the CREATOR of the cellular level?

Now I've started "Same Kind of Different as Me" and I'm already enjoying it. I'll give a full review when I've finished it.

Tomorrow includes pre-school training, the bank, luggage, packing, more list-making, and the library. All in 100 degree heat.

By the way, today is my and Ben's 24th anniversary. 24 years ago today we were married in a lovely ceremony in Spring Lake Heights, NJ in an old Methodist church building, with an outdoor reception in a beautiful, park-like setting.

It was 105 degrees. And that is no exaggeration. Ask anyone who was there. When people remember my wedding, they without fail comment about the heat. Maybe for our 25th anniversary we'll honeymoon in Alaska.

Be thankful ~

Karen

A pie for Daddy, a job for me, and a good dose of mercy.

Well, you just never know what a day will bring.

Thursday afternoon I drove to my daddy's house to take him his Father's Day pie. He's a big fan of apple pie with a real rolled crust, but my mother won't make him one because of all the saturated fat. So I did and he was thrilled.

Mom was out shopping when I got there, so Daddy and I sat and talked a while. Then Mom showed up and we all sat and talked. Then my brother Jim dropped in and my mother jumped up, ran to the kitchen, and HID THE PIE. I'm not kidding. And she wouldn't let me tell him I had brought one. She was saving it all for Daddy.

So the next morning, Daddy called to tell me how great the pie was, and told me he was going to save a piece for Jim. I have a wacky family. But I wouldn't trade them for anything.

On a completely different note, Friday I sat down to pay bills and got a little flustered about how tight the budget is these days. Gas and groceries are killing us. So in short order I made up my mind to go put in an application at Target for a summer job. The decision was made - don't try to change my mind.

Then God showed up.

Leah called from the daycare to tell me her boss wanted to know if I would fill in for Abbie during the two weeks she is in Romania. AND I'll fill in for Leah during her music camp in July. AND my neighbor wants me to keep her two boys twice a week for the summer. So things will work out nicely, thanks to the Lord's awesome foresight. Good job, God.

THEN Saturday morning my married daughter, Deb, called. She sounded just a little down, so I said, "You sound kind of iffy this morning."

She assured me, "I am completely fine."

Which was a giant red flag that I totally missed.

Her next statement took my breath away, "I totaled my car yesterday."

I had to suppress the urge to ask, panic-stricken, "Are you OK????"

Two other times our kids have had accidents and the first thing they always say is, "I am perfectly fine." I'll be on the lookout for that phrase from now on.

Anyway, she was coming down a hill and around a curve, going slowly according to her, when the sun peeked through the trees and blinded her. She put her foot on the brake and the car slid on loose gravel on the road. She wound up in the ditch. Facing the wrong direction. On the roof. As quickly as you read the last three statements, she could have been dead but for a really good seatbelt and the grace and mercy of God.

She climbed out and walked away. Yes people, God is good. He has your back. And your front and everything else. We cannot leave the house in the morning without God's watch care over us. Do you ask for it every day? Do you thank Him for it at night?

I remember when my kids were little and we would all pile in the van to go somewhere. As we were buckling seatbelts and I was putting the van in gear I would say, "Lord Jesus, keep us safe." Sometimes I said it loudly, sometimes it was only muttered, but it was always on my heart. So when did I stop saying that? I can't remember, I just know I don't say it anymore.

That will change today. I cannot make it through a day without the Lord watching over me, over everything I do, every word I say, every thought I think. God, forgive me for taking your care for granted.

Be thankful ~

Karen

Another meme. To cancel out the last one.

I don't like that word. Cancel. Do you know there is no such mathematical operation as "cancel?" What you're really doing is dividing out, or dividing the numerator and denominator of a fraction by the same thing, which is totally cool, mathematically. Just don't cancel.

Anyway, since I did the meme about twenty things I would never do, I've been thinking about things I will always do, and while I don't really feel like coming up with twenty, I'll give ten a shot. So here they are in living color, ten things I will always do:

1. Wipe counters. And wipe them again. I am a compulsive counter-wiper. No matter who cleans up my kitchen I feel the need to go check the counters, because even one crumb will send my anxiety level soaring. The only one who doesn't need checking up on is my mother, but that's where I got my counter-wiping gene, so it only stands to reason that she would be just as bad as I am. She is.

2. Love to bake. I also got my sweet tooth from my mother.

3. Enjoy staying up late to read in a quiet house.

4. Algebra for fun. I know. Weird.

5. Love being a wife and mom above anything else. No career choice could ever compare.

6. Make my bed at some point every day. It may take most of the day to get this done, but I cannot get into an unmade bed at night. Not a chance.

7. Fear snakes. Even the non-poisonous ones. They just wig me out.

8. Love Baskin-Robbins' chocolate chip ice cream. Tiny bits of bittersweet chocolate - it's the best.

9. Love music. All kinds. Hymns, classical, CCM, jazz, and Josh Groban has an incredible voice, even if he's not a Christian.

10. Love dogs, or at least most of them. I was so mad when Ben brought Pete home. Didn't want him. Couldn't stand him. Now he's just a big baby (Pete, not Ben) who I try to claim as my own, even though he's really Elijah's dog. I just can't resist a dog. My addendum to this one is that I will always dislike cats. Ick.

So there you have it, for what it's worth. Now I'm off to bake my daddy an apple pie.

Be thankful ~

Karen

Dang zappers.

We came home Sunday night from church to find that our computer had been attacked by the random zapper. Amazing what a little rain can do, but there you have it. The computer works fine, but won't connect to the internet. We have been troubleshooting since then and have replaced the modem, the ethernet cable, and are stuck at the ethernet card. Some geek decided it would be a really good idea to make an integrated ethernet card. Doesn't that sound like a grand idea?

It's stupid.

Because now I can't just take the old one out and slap a new one in (sound familiar, honey?). It's actually part of the motherboard.

Can you hear the lady on the Guinness commercial saying Brilliant? *sigh*

But I have an ace up my sleeve. It's called MIKE. Last night my truly brilliant son suggested putting his computer here and seeing if it would connect, which it obviously does because here I am and all. Why I didn't think of that myself is beyond me, except that I am clearly not brilliant like Mike. All that money paid for tuition was SO worth it. So here we are using Mike's computer, and running back and forth to the Geek Squad for help with mine.

Today I'm going to try sticking a card in there and see if it will automatically bypass the integrated one. It probably won't and I'll have to learn HTML and write six miles of code to tell my computer not to pay attention to that nasty little toasted thing in the corner. But I'll get Mike in there and things will be happy again.

In the meantime, here's what's happening:

Monday Elijah and I went shopping for a few things he needs for his missions trip to Romania next week. We went in Penney's and picked out two pairs of shorts, two dress shirts and a polo and, while he was trying them on, he said, "I hope this stuff all fits because I'm EXHAUSTED!"

A shopper, he is not.

Tuesday was Abbie's turn. She is a much better shopper, and got a bathing suit and two cute tops, and wasn't even remotely tired yet. She wanted to go to the shoe store. I love that girl. Then we drove down to Richmond to see the oral surgeon who took her wisdom teeth out last week. She is still numb from her lower lip to her chin on the right side in the front. He says it's fairly common, because that main nerve gets bruised during surgery and just takes forever to heal. That was not a comforting diagnosis for Ab, because she is going to Romania next week and still talks funny because of the numbness. But it's good for the rest of us because it provides comic relief. Then last night Abbie's friend Noelle arrived from Texas. She's driving home from college (Texas Christian Univ.) to New Jersey where she lives.

And that brings us to today. We're going to cook for the teens tonight, get some groceries, pay some bills, catch up on reading a few blogs, and fight over the computer. We all need a cyber-fix.

Be thankful ~

Karen