Here is our pretty driveway this morning. It was just a little snow, but the powdery sparkly kind. It's just enough to be pretty, but it won't keep us from doing anything. Sadly it wasn't enough to keep the guys from going on their annual pheasant hunting trip. As if I haven't had to struggle with missing the love of my life every year during this time, now they have stripped me of my youngest child, too. This marks the first time Alex will go with them on their hunt. I know I should be excited, but I will miss them terribly!

Here are the guys preparing for the great white hunt. Alex has been looking forward to this for a long time. I know his Dad and PaPa are happy about it, too.

Even though these two have done nothing but fight and argue for the past week, I got the satisfaction of knowing they actually love each other when Rachel hugged Alex goodbye.

This was, of course, after they had a snowball fight just to annoy the other.

However, this may actually be a more accurate depiction of what was really going on. It is possible that quiet, sweet Rachel was just hugging him to get on his nerves one last time before her little brother left.

These are some pictures of our big Nerts game with the Ewing family a few nights ago. Rachel and Jeff were partners. I like this picture of them--so cute!

Of course, these two just had to be partners. They are always good for entertainment value. Kind of scary, but they had fun. We had to keep an eye on them or they would move the table so far that Nathan and Steve were pinned up against the fridge!

Hannah and I were partners and winners! I'm looking pretty tired by this point in the evening. If you have never played Nerts you don't know how physically demanding a card game can be. I actually thought I had popped a few stitches leaning across the length of the table to make a play! I definitely had to rest the next day to recuperate.

Here are all of us playing a super fun game called Nerts. You can't tell from this picture, but it is fast paced and can sometimes be a little dangerous!

Our family Christmas picture this year tries to capture the spirit of our family life this season. I don't know if it was because we've all been together so much because of my inability to go places or what, but these two have been at each other since school dismissed. Even one of Alex's closest friends (remember he is male and twelve, which means he notices nothing) mentioned that he had never seen them fight like this before. I know they love each other and maybe things will be better after the hunting trip and school starts next week. I can only hope:)

The Aftermath

Small flakes are swirling around outside this morning. It's difficult to say whether this is new snow or just the wind blowing around yesterday's batch. No matter, it is still pretty from my viewpoint, which is from inside. We are still experiencing the 50mph wind gusts and low temps. I am so thankful we don't have to go anywhere! Instead I will stay in my cozy little abode tucked in the woods and enjoy the snow from my chair.
Jeff and Alex are still sleeping. This concerns me a bit, not because it is 10:30am (they like to sleep in), but because I suspect they may be coming down with a stomach bug that Rachel and I have already experienced. I am hoping they are only paying the price for their Dr. Pepper debauchery, sweet tooth spree, and video game vice. Meanwhile, Rachel is in the shower and I am mindlessly staring at my house.
It is suffering from what appears to be a post-holiday hangover. Kay did a lot of work yesterday since I had apparently overdone things for two days and my swelly belly has reappeared. Somehow, we still have items strewn everywhere and not the normal ones like Alex's socks, Jeff's coats and Rachel's bags.
There are bits of paper, instructions to new electronic items, warranties, and cords. There is still a pitching machine which Rachel compares to a Mars Landrover towering in the sunroom. (Which incidentally will have to be completely dismantled to move it to the basement. Poor Santa. All that work in the wee hours of Christmas for nothing! I guess that's not true. He was able to enjoy the excitement of a 12 year old boy!)
In the kitchen there are a few dirty dishes, but it is mostly landscaped with a dozen bags of homemade holiday delectables from friends with only one or two remaining bits because nobody wants to take the last one.
The dining room table is littered with Dr. Pepper cans, candy-stripped stockings, empty glasses, playing cards and the Life game set up and ready to be played today.
Well, Rachel has just descended and is shamelessly eating the last piece of fudge for her breakfast along with the last few peanut butter kiss cookies! I also think I can hear the master of the house stirring. If I were a good wife I would go greet him with a kiss and make him a hearty breakfast using the delicious salty ham leftover from Christmas dinner. However, I think I'll bid you adieu so that I can beat him to the last two slices of toffee caramel apple and the final peanut cluster!
Have a great day and for heaven's sake stay warm!

Christmas Fun

We hope that you have all enjoyed your Christmas day. At our house Pa has settled in for a long winter's nap and no one is stirring except Ma with her mouse. There is a clatter outside, but it is the wind which is still blowing furiously in the bitter cold. (And when I say cold, I mean 16 with a windchill of -2. Not 50 like you Texans and Alabamans call cold!)

Our family has had a great day so far and I believe a game of cards has been scheduled for later tonight. The kids really enjoyed their gifts. This Christmas has been different in many ways, but they have really enjoyed it. I wasn't sure they were even really into the whole thing, but I have come to realize that, sadly, they are just growing up and they are just excited in a whole new way. They weren't bouncing off the walls like in years past, but they have learned to appreciate and give thanks for what they experience. They really are learning that this whole season is about more than just exchanging gifts. As parents we know that is an answered prayer, because we have tried to teach them this for many years. Yet, there is something so fun about watching small children excited about the possibilities awaiting them under the tree on Christmas morning. Even though they have outgrown Santa, they were still excited. It has taken on a whole new look, though. They used to be giddy and write letters and lists and check the radar for where Santa was. Now they want to keep and share secrets and argue about the secrets (hence the Peace on Earth picture). They even wanted to make sure they got to spend time (not just money) with their loved ones. I think this year is the first year they have been more excited about what they were giving than getting. Maybe what surprised me and gave me the most joy was listening to them talk about how much they enjoyed our Christmas Eve service. It was a little different than usual, but they seemed to truly enjoy and understand its meaning. Communion as a family was very special and a monologue given from Mary's viewpoint was very meaningful. I hope that whatever your celebration was, you found God's peace and joy!

Merry Christmas To One and All!

Merry Christmas !
Rachel and Alex are anxiously awaiting the arrival of their grandparents. (Alex decided they needed an audience since Grandma Charlie was in sunny Alabama and he set the time for 9:00--without consulting Rachel!) Therefore, we are waiting to open gifts while Jeff is catching some extra zzzzs. We do have a White Christmas! And the weather outside really is frightful! The wind has been howling since last night, but the ice has turned to snow. Soon the house will be warm with the smells of a baking ham (9 out of 10 people prefer it to turkey, you know!), rolls and green bean casserole. I am so thankful we can just cozy up all day and enjoy each other.
Which reminds me, I need to put the ham in! Will post some pictures later.

May each of you have a glorious day remembering what our AWESOME SAVIOR has done for us on the day we celebrate HIS birth!

Progress and Parting Ways

Finally. Yesterday marked the third week since my surgery and I think I might being seeing some progress! Now note that the progress I am about to describe may not sound like much to you, but I was so giddy when my husband came home from lunch today that he was actually laughing at me.

Before surgery women kept telling me not to put it off, how much better I would feel and it would be the best thing I could do. I can't exactly say I have come to that place, yet, but I am sure that I will. Recovery is a slow process I heard. For a person who is basically a very healthy person, never had surgery or a c-section, slow has an entirely new meaning. I am not used to all of this sleeping, aching, weird dreams, medication and soreness. The first week I could barely move, but was heavily medicated. Week two, very tired and very sore. Week three, bordering depressed because I was wondering when I would ever feel better. To top it off, I had some sort of stomach virus over the weekend. Monday, though, I felt good and probably over did, because yesterday I didn't do too much. The plus side is that I haven't had any pain medicine since Sunday night! I don't want to talk badly about all the pills I've been taking, though. While some of them gave me some of the weirdest dreams I have ever had, some have come to be my friends. Good old Mo (Trin) has become my friend in the past few years, but I have been introduced to her bigger, stronger sister and I really like the family. Another first time acquaintance is Corre (C. Tol). She has been a real lifesaver. Now that Mo's sister is gone, though, I don't think I'll be seeing Corre as much either.

Which brings us to today. Glorious today. Now remember, I haven't been doing too much before 10:30 or 11:00 am for three weeks now so today really shows progress. Before noon I had already accomplished the following:

• Packing lunches and sending everyone off to school and work.


• Folding a load of laundry.


• Tidying the house. (Main floor only!)


• Having a quiet time with the Lord.


• Taking a nap.


• Taking a shower.


• Eating lunch.

Shortly thereafter, Jeff came home for lunch and it is only 1:30pm and I am now blogging and I'm just so excited because I have accomplished something and I don't feel like I am living in a fog! If it wouldn't hurt so badly I would do a happy dance, but I'll save it for later :) It's just so nice to finally feel like myself again I can hardly stand it. I am actually starting to get excited about Christmas so I am hoping that sometime this weekend I will be posting a new family picture and background. Plus, the new Christmas tree I ordered should be here by then and I have presents to wrap and I'm thinking about those yummy little peanut butter balls! Well, I suppose I should be careful. If you don't see anything new by Monday, you'll know I went a little overboard and have taken up my napping and visits with Corre and Mo again.

Have a blessed day, everyone!

Yes, I am alive and yes I'm doing well. Greetings from Missouri! I realize it has been quite some time since I last blogged. As you can tell, it has been busy enough that even Rachel hasn't blogged for a while. After a very short hiatus from fall sports, basketball practice is in full swing, second quarter is drawing to a close at school and until Thanksgiving even Jeff has been busy at the store. Also during this time I have been busy preparing for the holidays and a substitute for the next three weeks. You all know that I have recently had a surgery and am at home recovering. After a week I am becoming a bit restless about this whole rest and recovery thing. I can tell each day is better, but I am ready to be going full speed ahead. These days, full speed ahead means taking a shower and finishing season four of Lost. Those milestones are crammed in between my three to four naps per day. I know I shouldn't complain. If I were leading my normal life, I would love a day of doing nothing but lying around in my pjs, watching movies and sleeping. In fact, there are many things to be thankful for in this situation. Here's the short list:

1. Jeff. He has had to deal with the whole surgery, driving back and forth, taking care of me and the kids on top of working and his own regular stresses.
2. Mom. She let us invade her house for three days and is now taking off work for a week to help us at home.
3. Rachel and Alex. They have done everything I have asked without blinking an eye. How long do you suppose I can pull the surgery card?
4. Kay and Stephanie. They have fixed meals and taken care of my family.
5. Larry and David. They have run taxi service.
6. I have a job with insurance.
7. I have a job with paid sick days.
8. I have had no set backs in my recovery.
9. I got to come home a day early on Thanksgiving Day and be with my family.
10. In a few months, I believe I will feel much better than I have in a long time.

When I begin to count my blessings I realize how petty my complaint about resting is. God is so good and has provided for us in ways that are totally undeserved as well as exciting. So I will go back to resting and be happy about it! After I take a shower maybe I'll watch White Christmas and listen to Bing sing about his blessings as a reminder of all of mine. By then I'll be ready for another nap!

Goodbye, Summer

I have been very reluctant to accept fall this year, even though it may actually be my favorite season. I'm not sure why. Maybe it is the near perfect weather we have had lately. Maybe it is because I taught summer school this year and it seemed like summer was so short. Or maybe it is just because October is already here and life just seems to go so fast. It might even be because I haven't slown down enough to realize it is fall.
Rachel has almost made it through her first high school sports season and is looking forward to her first Homecoming experience. Alex is enjoying his first year of football immensely and will be turning twelve in nine days.
Maybe that doesn't seem strange to anyone else, but I have one year and then both will be teenagers. No "little" kids for me. Not that he's a little kid, but I still cling to the fact that he still goes to RAs and not Youth at church. He is in Mighty Mite Football, 12 and under baseball and the little hand picked basketball team he has played on since kindergarten. Soon he will be doing all the big kid stuff such as Youth and school sports. While I was shopping for his birthday, yesterday, even the gifts and parties are different. In many ways I am very cool with all of that, but when I look at old pictures of birthday parties it just seems like yesterday we were buying dinosaurs and GI Joes. And even though we told the kids no big birthday parties anymore, I can't say no to friends coming over for a sleepover. Yes, the parties are different then when they were seven, but I am still clinging to them for as long as possible.
Speaking of yesterday, my nephew, Sam turned twelve yesterday. By the way Sam, HAPPY BIRTHDAY! ( Last night when we were on the way to the football game we were discussing how your birthday was going to be Sunday- thinking that was the third. Didn't realize until you were talking to Grandma Charlie that yesterday was the third. Hope you had a fun party!)
Drew will be turning eight soon and Sydney will be seven and it's just amazing how time flies. It is hard to accept they are all getting so grown up. I am determined to enjoy whatever stage all the kids are in. Just a word of advice to Sarah and Stephanie-- enjoy your "little" ones (even though they aren't really little). I know you both will because you love your children as much as I love mine and you realize that they truly are a gift from God.

As previously discussed on this very blog, I am a procrastinator. Having said that, I knew when I made my "To Do" list for this weekend that there were some things that should have been written on a "I Should Do" list because I am not sure I ever really intended to do them. I wanted those items to be done. I knew they needed to be done. Some of those have been on a mental to do list for up to three months. With Friday out of school for the festival, there was my opportunity to cross items off the list. I started the list Monday and added throughout the week.
1. Mow.
2. Replace and repair van tires.
3. Go to the bank to sign onto an account.
4. Buy Alex some jeans.
5. Decorate for fall.
6. Buy groceries.
7. Clean out the refrigerator.
It didn't seem like an insurmountable list. Especially for a three day weekend. Although it didn't actually include housecleaning, laundry or the big festival. Alex, Jeff and I actually took care of the mowing Wednesday since there were no activities and it was nice out. There was something off the list before the weekend. But by Thursday evening (after being at the festival for four hours), I had already decided I was not going to do some items on the list and I was perfectly okay with this decision.
Then came the next morning. I did sleep in a little, but Rachel had practice so I knew I could still accomplish something on the list. I would shop mid-day and be home quickly to get some house work started since I was abandoning most of my list. I dropped her off and then went to the bank to sign some papers I had put off for about six weeks. I had one more thing off the list and suddenly I didn't feel so bad if nothing else was accomplished. Especially since I should probably have made an appointment for my van, I could definitely scratch getting the tires. I could still do the rest of the list easily and only be putting off one item!
This whole procrastinating thing was really working for me. Until I went to pick Rachel up from practice and the tire that was in need of repair was low. I could have just aired it up again, but Larry said he'd follow me to the tire shop. What could I do? There was no way to get out of acting on my list because of course I couldn't have them repair one without going ahead and replacing the other one. Thirty minutes later I had three things marked off my list. After a quick trip to Bolivar I had Alex's jeans and another check on the list. For two more days it looked like I was at a stand still. My mom came to the festival with us Friday night and stayed for the parade on Saturday. My house was still messy, but sadly I was okay with the decision not to clean it.
Now it is Sunday. Rachel and I selected some pumpkins and mums to add to the mums Pauletta sent me for my birthday. We are slowly decorating and marking another item off the list, leaving only two items. I will be able to grocery shop later leaving only one item on the list. Even though I easily could be finishing off my list, I have decided to skip cleaning the fridge. Instead, I am watching a movie with Rachel and Jeff called The List. I don't know about you, but I think this is pretty hilarious. My weekend is going to begin and end with a list. One that is finished and one that is not!

QUICK UPDATE: Just wanted to let you know that I wound up with two finished lists tonight. When I returned from the grocery store, I had to clean out my refrigerator in order to put all of the food away. So much for procrastination! At least my house is still pretty messy!

Catching Our Breath

The past two months have been exactly why this blog has its name - The Race is On. And what a race it has been since our vacation down south. It is hard to believe that the last time I blogged we had just celebrated Sweet Marie's 100th July birthday party and were on a sunny beach in Destin. In what seems like just a few days later, it is a cool day with leaves turning for autumn. A lot can happen in two months.
Just a few days after I blogged from Destin, our family went to visit my sister, Sarah, in Alabama. While we were there we went to a Braves game, shopped, and went to the emergency room. Isn't that how everyone spends their vacation? Fortunately, we weren't there long and it did not interrupt our regularly scheduled program. I went in took my shot, passed my kidney stone the next morning and we were off again! Thankfully I didn't have to miss the ball game and felt like shopping, too!
When we came home I had one short week to recover from vacation and prepare for school. At the end of our first week of school we suffered the loss of Jeff's 100 year old grandmother. Marie was dearly loved and it is impossible to feel badly for her in any way. She had a great, productive life and did not have to suffer. I truly believe she was ready to be done here and spend eternity with her Creator. My pain is in the selfishness I feel because I won't get to see her for a while.
Since then, we have had dozens and dozens of football practices and softball practices and games. It has been fun to watch Rachel play high school ball and Alex play football. These are both new experiences for us so it has been interesting as well as busy.
On top of all this I turned forty something a week ago and Jeff bought me a new camera for my birthday. Let's just say that I have had a week in which there were a lot of things to take pictures of and I have taken advantage of it. The new digital has some fun features and I have spent the past week trying to figure out all of the buttons. For the future, this means more pictures and less text! You are all sighing in relief right now I'm sure!
Because of the craziness of our race, I actually started this blog Sunday afternoon, but I couldn't finish it until today (Monday). Alex had a couple of just for fun baseball games in Stockton (scheduled for Springfield, but rained too much!) Sunday afternoon. Now I can't describe how exciting this was for the families of these boys because they have not played baseball in their hometown for three years. We were thrilled when the "city boys" wanted to come up here to play. It was so fun and of course I had another chance to play with my new toy!
Quite possibly the most exciting part of our race in recent weeks is taking place tonight. Rachel's team is scheduled to play and Alex has football practice. I got up early this morning to make chili for the concession stand and we had everyone packed up and ready to go. It was beautiful and sunny outside, just like every day has been for the fall sports, which has made them all the more enjoyable. About 2:00 this afternoon it turned black, the wind picked up and a deluge of rain (which hasn't yet stopped) came. I called the high school secretary to have her tell Rachel where her equipment would be for practice since it looked like we couldn't have the game. She could see Rachel from her desk at that moment when her coach was telling the team that not only was the game cancelled, but so was practice. Rachel must have taken the news well, because Christy said she was jumping up and down. Just a few minutes ago Jeff called to say Alex's practice was also cancelled. You should have heard the cheers. Alex wasn't the only one excited. I was thrilled because I also have the chili I made for tonight. Not only will we be home together, we already have dinner made. Right now my house is quiet except for the rumble of thunder outside, the gutters gushing and the pattering of rain on the windows. We have candles flickering everywhere and the kids are relaxing in their rooms. As much as runners love a good race, even the best have to stop and catch their breath every once in a while. That is what we are going to do tonight. Thank you Lord for the race, but thanks for letting us catch our breath , too!

Greetings From Sunny Florida

Normally I wouldn't be blogging until after I had returned from vacation, but I'll make an exception tonight. It's raining right now in Destin, Florida so we ordered pizza and will delay mini-golf until tomorrow. Since I'm in, I thought I would blog. Besides, I have to keep up with Rachel you know. (As if that's possible.)

We actually arrived close to 5:00, checked in and the kids got almost two hours in at the beach before it began to rain. Alex's arm had to be twisted because he thought he'd rather watch tv than go to the beach. He even tried to tell us that he wouldn't be tempted to get into the water. Well, he was right--for about ten seconds. Jeff and I really enjoyed watching the kids play. Because of the storm rolling in, there were some pretty good waves. We have already had a great time. It would be hard not to with the beautiful water, soft, white sand and my awesome family.

Speaking of family, we had a wonderful time over the weekend for Sweet Marie's 100th birthday. We enjoyed seeing Jeff's extended family and were blessed for an extra day with the Gables family. Call me tacky, but I even invited our family to caravan with them to Birmingham and to stay overnight at Kenny and Jennie's house. K.C. was great entertainment for the evening and this morning he and Jennie took us shopping. Rachel and I had a great time hunting for bargains and hated to say goodbye. A special thank you goes out to their sweet family for being so kind.

The next family to fall victim to my tackiness will be the Zumbiel's. While I am totally going to enjoy the beach, I am also looking forward to seeing my sister and her family. Again, I have invited my family to stay overnight with someone else, but I don't think they'll mind. Rachel and Alex are looking forward to seeing their cousins and seeing some new things. We'll see what they have in store for us sometime Thursday.

Well, I am getting a little tired so I will be wrapping this up. No promises will be made about whether I will post again while on vacation, but I can promise you this--we will definitely be having fun!

Unofficial Minutes

We ate. We laughed. We cried. Then we passed around the Caladryl.


These are the unofficial minutes of the Heagerty Family Reunion submitted by the unofficial secretary, Michelle Wheeler, daughter of Charlotte Wright Meeks, daughter of Pauline Heagerty Wright, daughter of Clarence Heagerty.


We did manage to squeeze in a few other activities during this past weekend as my mother, her cousins and their families gathered for a reunion loaded with genealogical fact hunting and sorting, family lore, childhood memories with a few shaky details and I'm pretty sure just some out and out lies. My mother's mother is a Heagerty and over the weekend my mother, her brothers and their cousins through the Heagerty line met to reunite.

You know how the words "family reunion" can send fear into the hearts of people. Well, I will admit that my family was a bit nervous when I told them of the plans. They knew they were not acquainted with most of the family members to be present and I don't really think it helped when we warned them there may not be anyone their ages there and that these people had really loud, booming voices. I had butterflies of my own. What would we talk about? What would we do? The invitation didn't list very many activities so how would the time be filled with these strangers? Even from my own memory everyone seemed older than me. What could I possibly have in common with them? Apparently, it only took having some Heagerty blood in us to thoroughly enjoy ourselves with these people who we call family. Any real doubts we had about whether we would have fun or not were shed quickly on Friday afternoon.

For me, it was clear that this weekend would be special as we were trying to leave Friday. I had a book that Uncle Howard had loaned me and I wanted to give Debbie. When I went to retrieve it from the basement, I found a file folder marked Heagerty family. I grabbed it because the invitation said to bring old photos and such to share. That is, sadly, all the thought I had put into my "sharing", but I honestly didn't think I had anything important to add. That is, until I began looking through the folder on our way to Mt. Vernon. I pulled out the pictures and tried to give my family a quick family tree. There were a few other little items--neat stuff, but not spectacular. But then, there was what appeared to be a handwritten letter. I opened it up and there was a letter from my great grandfather to my great grandmother before they were married. Now realize, I did not even know that this was in my possession. Even though this was in a folder that I clearly marked and filled, I don't think I have ever read it. I was truly amazed and excited as I read the lines he had penned while he was in Europe during World War I, telling about what he was doing and seeing and how he cared about her. I felt like God himself had tucked that letter into my file folder. When I finished it I looked back at the top and the letter was dated July 4, 1918. Then I was pretty sure God must have tucked it in there. What a special gift to read this as we were celebrating the Heagerty family and Independence Day all on the same weekend.

When we arrived at Mom's, Debbie already had her laptop and scanner buzzing and there was a load of pictures already there. After everyone else arrived, there was a mountain of pictures, letters that dated from 1865, newspaper clippings and even the hat and gas mask of Grandpa Heagerty's from WWI. Everyone just seemed to dive right into the pile and the chatter. Jeff brought my mom the letter her grandpa had written and the tears began. The tears came off and on during the weekend. Tears of laughter from old home movies. Tears of pride and joy from letters, newspapers, pictures and memories. Tears for the parents the cousins have lost.

After the memorabilia session we all packed up and headed for the Heagerty farm. Throughout the afternoon we took some detours into family cemeteries, fought off killer chiggers and looked for childhood homes. Each of these activities have tales of their own that this unofficial secretary does not have the space to document. These will have to be relayed orally through the generations. This should not be a problem for the Heagertys.

As mentioned before, there was plenty of food. After an evening meal at the Red Barn in Mt. Vernon, the family was once again seen frequenting a cemetery and fighting off insects. This time, however, we were there to enjoy the fireworks which Rick thanked the city for providing for the Heagerty reunion.

Into the wee hours of the morning the female cousins watched family movies and laughed and cried. We watched Brandon learn to ride his bicycle and listened to Debbie as she reported which relatives and friends and pets have gone on to glory. This unofficial secretary will also go on record as officially saying that she will not wear short shorts or bend over in the presence of a working video camera at Heagerty get-togethers.

Charlie, Sam, Rachel and Alex slept in the backyard fort overnight. It must have been too late a night for everyone because the scheduled noon barbecue took place at about 3:00pm Saturday. After sharing a family prayer to thank the Lord for Christian grandparents, family and America, we broke bread together. There was some good food and laughter.
The women folk were entertained by Sydney Zumbiel and her "pet" dog. She also explained to Sonya where roosters come from and later collected DNA from a tree. Jeff and Alex talked baseball with Rick, Dave, Scott and Sam. We know how the Heagerty men have always loved baseball so there were plenty of Mickey Owens stories. Even Alex has his own connection with the Heagertys as he has a love for the game and played there for the past several years and even attended camp. Rachel had her camera and was a busy girl between snapping pictures, slapping mosquitoes and slathering Caladryl. Shyly she made friends with Sonya who seems to have one of the quieter voices and all the possible remedies for itching bug bites. Again, under the shade trees of Mom's backyard we ate, laughed and I cried as I read a story Mom had written after Uncle Hollis passed away. And again, we passed the Caladryl around the circle under the shade. Eventually, people began to drift back to their abodes and Mom's family plus Debbie were all that were left. Debbie took a break from scanning to eat and watch the kids' (actually Scott's) fireworks show.
Later Debbie, Mom, Rachel and I walked through the streets of Mt. Vernon watching the most beautiful fireworks display I've ever seen. It was beautiful in its simplicity. It wasn't a magnificent, choreographed masterpiece. It was spontaneous and random. I loved that they completely surrounded us in every direction. Sometimes we'd see the whole display of color and sometimes just a glimpse of the glittery fallout tailing through the trees. I loved the sound of the firecrackers and the kids shouting and laughing with their families all over town. I loved that I was with my family in a quiet conversation in the middle of booms and cracks and thunders. Literal thunders, too. Intermittent, was a lightning show and thunder ,which reminded us that God has the best fireworks show ever. We made it home before the rain to load up and say goodbyes. It was midnight and Alex and Sam were chatting up a storm, Sydney was sleeping peacefully and Rachel was helping Charlie pack up leftovers in the kitchen. Sarah and I got to say goodbye very differently this time. I said, " We'll see you in couple of weeks." Alex picked up on it right away. "That's not what you usually get to say," he interjected.
It's true. We usually part ways knowing it will be a year or so before we see each other again. In a few weeks, though, we will get to spend some time at their house. I am looking forward to it even more now than I already was. I am excited that our children are building memories together during the summers with us and their grandmother and other cousins just like Mom, Rick, Dave, Sheila, Dale, Sonya, Debbie, Ronnie, Donnie, and Bill did when they were our children's ages.
I guess I really do need to be careful about what I wear in all video camera footage because someday when these kids decide to have a family reunion, Sydney may be saying my outfit isn't a good look for me. I hope and pray our kids will stay close like the Heagertys so they can sit around late one night and laugh at our hairstyles, wedding dresses and point out all the people who are already dead. Maybe they will even eat and laugh and cry. If they do, we'll know the Lord has answered our prayers like He did for Grandpa and Grandma Heagerty. I truly believe they prayed for their children and grandchildren and great grandchildren to know the love of God , family and their country.

A New Inspiration?

Inspiration finally came this evening to blog. It was about seven this evening. There was a nice, cool breeze without the sticky feeling we had earlier today. The frogs and bugs and owls and birds were singing together as a choir that I have enjoyed immensely the last several nights as I sit on the deck. Jeff was carefully planting the last of the bushes and plants he had selected for our landscaping that he has been looking forward to doing. The kids were playing and I had just begun my first blog in over a week.
It was going to be very sentimental and nostalgic as I have been slapped in the face during the past two weeks. Obviously, we all know that Rachel will be a freshman in high school this fall and it's no secret that this fact is very disturbing to me and I have tried in every way possible to avoid facing the reality of it. What wasn't obvious to me when school ended was that Rachel is actually beginning high school right now. You can't even imagine the adjustment that I went through last week and I finally had to just accept it. I knew things would be more hectic in high school-- just didn't know it began one week after eighth grade was over. I was going to reminisce about her childhood and her friendships and our family and how blessed we are.
Just as I had typed my first sentence, Jeff came to me at the computer with this whitish looking object covered in dirt. At first glance, I pulled away,asking what it was, fearing it was something that had once been alive or even worse--still was. To his great pleasure, it was a rock that had been carefully chipped, carved and used by someone as some sort of tool. I immediately looked more carefully and cleaned it for closer examination. Maybe nobody else would be excited like we were, but it began a conversation that lasted with our family most of the evening and turned out to interrupt my original blogging inspiration.
Jeff had dug up the tool while he was planting something near a tree in our yard. For those of you who have been on our property, you know that our deck has a view of a bottom and on the other side of our fence line is a creek which eventually feeds into Sac River. Last fall we had beautiful, black dirt hauled from the bottom, near the creek, to use as topsoil for our yard. We don't know if the tool was brought from down there or if someone from long ago left it exactly where Jeff found it, but I do know how awesome it is to think about a family or families living on our place anywhere from decades to hundreds to maybe even thousands of years ago. All evening my thoughts drifted to the person who crafted and used the tool. What did they use it for? When did they make it? Who made it? Was it a Native American? Was there a whole group of people? Did they actually live here for a time? The questions were endless, especially knowing that not far from here is a site that was excavated on the river by actual archaeologists and featured in National Geographic once. It is so exciting to think of children laughing and playing in the bottom and creek like Rachel and Alex do with their cousins, Jacob, Drew, and Tate and friends, Jake and Josie. Did their mothers enjoy the stars and the chirping frogs and bugs like Stephanie, Christy and I do? Did their fathers work hard like Jeff and David and Chad do? Did they scout the turkey and deer like these men do? Did those families enjoy each other's company like our families do? Did they choose this sight for the same reasons we all did-- because it is beautiful and quiet and peaceful?
As my new inspiration came over me to blog, I realized that at the heart of my new inspiration is the same one for almost all of my blogs--my husband, my children, my dear family and friends. Even with a three inch artifact carved out of a piece of rock I can still get nostalgic and reminisce about those I love the most. It's just that this time I also get to dream about the possibilities of a people and lifestyle from the past. I don't know anything 100% for certain about who made or used this tool, but I'm 99.9% sure they didn't have to worry about their daughter starting high school.

TGIF (Thank Goodness It's Finished-- school, of course)

It's is Tuesday. I have looked forward to this day for a long time. Not because there is anything special about this day, but precisely because there is not. At 9:57 am my children are still in bed and we don't have to go anywhere. My house is mostly clean, we have enough food in the house for several days and I get to go to a ball game tonight that I can just sit back and enjoy. Life is good. It's called summer vacation! Maybe for everyone else it began Friday or maybe even yesterday, but for me it is really today that I get to begin relaxing.
As Rachel and Stephanie have already stated, the past month has been really hectic. Each day I thought would get better, but somebody always wanted a slice of my time (and my checkbook).
Don't get me wrong, we have really enjoyed the end of school activities and I like my job and the kids I work with, but everybody needed a break. That is why I am enjoying this morning so much. I am not going to "plan" anything (other than going to the high school boys game tonight- but that's different you know!) for today. I am hoping to enjoy many more days like this one and many of the days filled with plans as well.

An Ordinary, Great Day!

Sometimes we are blessed with times that aren't anything special, but a blessing all the same. Tonight is one of those nights. Because of the rain, there are no track meets, baseball games, or practices. We ordered pizza and we are just sitting around watching one of our favorite movies. Nothing special. Nothing exciting. Nothing memorable. But it is great all the same. I am not even thinking about what I should be doing with this extra night at home. I am sitting around doing absolutely nothing and loving it.
Unfortunately, Jeff is having to work tonight. Rachel has done her blogging for the day and is actually taking on one of her parents' tendencies and putting off her homework. Alex is doing quite well since his little incident Saturday night. He is drinking lots of water and eating plenty. He looks and feels good. He is actually bugging us to play a game of Uno, which I think I'll go do because the ordinary, everyday things are what make life great.
Have a great evening everyone!

Having Fun Being Sick

I know that from the title it may seem that I am either playing hookie or a little warped. Really, though, I am only trying to follow Alex's suggestion. Monday, I predicted to Alex we would have leaves on the trees by the end of the week. With the bursting buds and the warm temperatures forecast for the week, I immediately began to feel like my allergy medicine wasn't really keeping up with all of the pollen. I felt fine Tuesday night at the baseball games, but when I woke up the next morning I had a terrible sore throat and a fever. I toughed it out for school all day yesterday so that I wouldn't feel guilty about going to Rachel's track meet that night. As long as I kept pain relievers in me, I felt fine. I had myself convinced I might not actually be sick. But, even before I went to bed last night I decided to stay home from school today just to rest and recuperate. When I told Rachel, she cheerfully commented, "Oh! So you are going to just stay home and do laundry and stuff." She acted as if I wanted to stay home and do laundry just for the fun of it.
As I was sitting in my pj's at 7:30 am this morning (we have to leave at 7:40), Alex says, "Are you going to work?" He's a real observant fellow. I told him I wasn't feeling well so I was staying home. "What are you going to do?" he asked.
"Sleep," I answered.
"Aren't you going to do anything fun, like watch movies or play something?" (I'm assuming he meant video games.)
"I don't feel like doing anything fun." What is it with my kids? Do they enjoy being sick? Or have they figured out that being sick is a complete waste of time so if they stay home from school they might as well enjoy it? I don't know the answer to those questions but I tried to follow their advice. After sleeping until almost noon, I woke feeling like I should have gone to school. Then I stood up. It was then, that I realized I was definitely sick.
In spite of the fever,aches, weak legs, and sore throat (which is actually much better), I did do one load of laundry, baked some cookies for the kids for an after school snack and watched some CSI-- nothing too strenuous. I picked them up from school and took Alex to practice and then I slept for two more hours. Having all that fun really wore me out.
I guess I'll wait until tomorrow to decide if I should work or stay home and have fun. I'm just hoping tomorrow's fun is a lot more fun.

Pioneer Woman Reject, Part II

Well, surprisingly enough, we are at home for the evening. I guess the below freezing wind chills and snow flurries were enough even for our head track coach. He decided to move the meet to Wednesday which is calling for a 68 degree high. I don't really know if the weather or the NCAA Championship game was his motive, but either way I like his thinking. Because of this wonderful gift from Coach Carney, we are enjoying the evening in the warm, comfortable home of my in-laws watching North Carolina. Alex has become a big Tarheels fan in the past several years because of Tyler Hansbrough, the Missouri Boy. I have always enjoyed North Carolina and Duke, but Alex is not a Duke fan at all. I keep telling him that it is possible that the Cameron Crazies are named that because a distant relative was an important person in that area, but it doesn't sway his thinking.

In the late 1700's I had a 7x great-grandfather, John Heagerty, who left Ireland and settled in North Carolina. As far as we know he left every family member he had. We do not know his reason for leaving, but he married a Mary Cameron with Scottish roots. Later the Heagertys moved to Lawrence County, Missouri. When I read about our family's history (or any history for that matter) I often wonder how I would have survived, which brings me back to the blog that I promised. I know the Heagertys (and all pioneer families) were made of something I don't think I have. As discussed in my last blog, I know they had perseverance, determination and grit. When I think about what these people endured and how hard they worked, I am just not sure how I would have measured up. It's not that I am completely stupid or lazy, but I know that I am not the risk taker that would have been required to leave my comfortable home and most likely my entire family.

Leaving the comforts of my home would have been the biggest factor in me being a pioneer reject. While I am definitely not a risk taker and wind would have driven me slowly insane, I am really spoiled. (I prefer to think of it as blessed.) I really enjoy and appreciate my modern home. I also love being close to family. With this being said their are "things" besides the perseverance, determination and grit that I would not have had back in the days of pioneer women. These "things" have been part of the conversations I have had with different women in the past week about what we wouldn't want to be without. They aren't necessarily character traits, but we don't want to be without them all the same.
#1 Running water. I am the first to admit that I would not want to have to trek to the creek for the water needed to wash, clean, bathe and launder . I would certainly not want to go on the cold days when you had to break the ice and then haul it up to the house. Can you imagine not being able to take a relaxing hot bath just for the luxury of it? And let's not go there on being able to flush. (Especially for those of us who are up in the middle of the night!)
#2 Appliances. Now, we tended to lump the appliances all into one category, but if I could only have one, I think I would choose the washing machine. I realize that we would have less clothing back then, but let's think about this. You have to either haul water or scrub and wring at the creek. Either way, how clean do they really get? This seems like a lot of work to get semi-clean clothes. The chore of laundry with appliances is so dreaded anyway (because we know that it is never truly "caught up") I can't imagine making it even more work than it already is.
#3 Heat. I know that people had heat, but maybe I should be more specific. Heat that is evenly distributed throughout the house.
#4 Electricity. This is lower on the list than you might think, but I do think I could survive this one, except for the fact that my washing machine would need it to operate!
#5 Ibuprofen. I am not one for taking medicine of any type unless I absolutely have to. The older I get, though, the more appreciation I have for this little friend. It is amazing what those two little pills can do for you. There are just days when nothing has helped my tired, aching body more than ibuprofen. After a hard day's work, don't you know the pioneer women would have loved it, too?
#6 Epidurals. I don't know nothin' 'bout birthin' no babies the natural way and I would like to keep it that way. Even under the best of circumstances, on the first go around, Jeff would have passed out and unless we had a neighbor there I probably would have had to cut the cord myself. (He gets a little woozy around that kind of stuff.)

There are many other modern conveniences that I am quite attached to, but these items top the list. It remains difficult for me to believe that I would have survived quite so well. I have to thank the Lord all of the time for my husband. Even with all of the conveniences of modern life, I have been extremely whiny during the past couple of weeks. If we had lived back then, he may have left me behind to explore, seek fortune or fight in a war. That could take me down another whole road of things I don't think I would have survived very well, but I think you get the picture.
Suffice it to say, I am ready for warm weather to stay. Even though they are not crucial to my family's survival, baseball games, softball games and track meets are just so much more fun when you can sit back, relax and enjoy. Surely the pioneer women would agree.

Here are a couple of videos--kind of long--sorry about that! The first is of a nice hit Rachel had and the second is of our pioneer men hunting turkey in our yard.

Pioneer Woman Reject, Part I

I have always said that I would never have made a good pioneer woman. There are many reasons for this. While I feel like I am a fairly independent and self-sufficient woman, there are "things" I depend upon for surviving my simple lifestyle. However, those things may not actually be perseverance, determination, and good old fashioned grit.
Instead of "perseverance", it may be more of what I call duty. We have made commitments which we will honor. Those commitments in turn bring a schedule, which brings activity. It isn't so much that I am resolved or "determined" to complete everything on our calendar because these activities will be of historical consequence. We just do them, because we said we would. These activities will not advance our great country in any manner such as preserving a people or rights or liberty. They are not even crucial to our family's survival--they are simply just for fun.
In fact, in the past week I would have personally cancelled every activity that was on our calendar if possible. If you live in Missouri you know that the weather in the past few weeks has been fluctuating between sunny and 70's and snowy or rainy, windy, and low 30's almost on a daily basis. Now realize that the activities on our family's calendar are held outdoors. I suppose you can guess which days were the snowy, windy and /or freezing days. Absolutely correct. . . the days we were scheduled for some type of outdoor activity. Of the four days of baseball and three nights of track meets, I will say that two days of baseball were cancelled for the snow and two nights of track meets were postponed due to low temps and rain. Although it was not technically the 32 degrees kind of freezing, I hardly had the "grit" to tolerate the nights that activities were still held.
The only "grit" I had was at Rachel's softball games yesterday that covered me from head to toe, including my teeth. Yesterday had looked like the most promising day to have some fun outside because the weather called for upper sixties. I didn't recall the part of the forecast that called for
gusty winds and that the sixties would be later in the day. When we arrived at the ball field early Saturday morning we found it located in a plains area with no trees, buildings or any type of windbreak for that matter. It was quite chilly and very windy. Our girls had the dugout in which they and their fans were facing into the wind. It wasn't long before there was a layer of silt in the bottom of my glass of water and Rachel's nacho cheese looked as if it had been peppered.
It was there that I had the conversation with my mother about how I wouldn't have made a good pioneer woman. I had the same conversation with my mother-in-law at a baseball game Tuesday. I also had the conversation with some of my friends at a track meet on Monday. In each of the conversations the topic of the wind was broached. We all agreed that the continual wind would driven each of us crazy.
Besides the wind driving me crazy and the lack of perseverance, determination and grit, there are other several other factors which would have kept me from being a successful pioneer woman. (By successful I mean staying alive or the ability to keep a husband.) Those items discussed with my family and friends will appear in another blog. Don't expect to read that in the next day or so because we are scheduled for outdoor activities for the next two nights and the weather is supposed to be nasty. Obviously, that means we'll be busy!

The Wheeler Version of March Madness

To many people March Madness only refers to a basketball tournament that comes along once a year and those who never watch a college game all year will fill out a bracket and even wager a small amount of money at the office. At the Wheeler home, March Madness is way of life that we experience every year at this time which includes, but is not limited to the popular NCAA Basketball Tournament.
We love to watch the college boys and fill out our brackets just like everyone else. Jeff has even devised a complex point system to determine the final winner in our home, who will receive their favorite candy bar and soda as a prize. However, this is only a small part of what March Madness means to us. March seems to be the month that both of our children have activities that overlap. Basketball is winding down while baseball, softball and track are gearing up.
Last Thursday began a string of eleven games that Alex played in seven days. He played in two basketball tournaments and had two nights of double header baseball games. On top of that Rachel had track practice every night and a school field trip. I know that sounds extreme. We are not the type of parents that push our kids--the scheduling just happened to work out that way for some reason. Believe me, we were dragging by Friday and I was looking to being at home so badly that was all I could think about.
It is now Saturday and I have yet to really be home. Kay is probably beginning to think we have moved back in! Since we do not have television reception, cable or dish, we decided to watch the tournament at Larry and Kay's Friday night and we haven't left yet. Not true, we did go home and sleep! That was until I had to get up and get Rachel ready for a softball practice and track practice.
I don't know how Alex could possibly be moving, but he has been shooting hoops between the games in which he is most interested. I don't know how he has the energy. Rachel even took a nap and last night I had to lie on the couch for three hours just to rest up enough to make my two mile drive home! Today is easier on my body, but I haven't stayed at home. We're back to watch more of the tournament and since I'm not at my house to be reminded of what all needs to be done, I've had time to relax all day and blog this evening. The kids have been able to enjoy their grandparents and they are sneaking off to other televisions occasionally to watch some other shows they don't have the opportunity to see.
I think my body is recuperating and next week is looking pretty good. Since everything just happened to fall last week, this coming week's schedule has really cleared out. Only 1-2 practices every night and two track meets--not too bad. Jeff and I think it sounds great especially when we realized that last year in the middle of all of this activity we were building a house, putting in hardwood floors until wee hours of the morning, and moving besides working all day! Whew! It's good thing the Madness is only for one month.

Non-Accomplishments

I don't really have anything to blog about in particular, but I haven't accomplished a thing all day--so why start now? Alex has been kind of puny lately and his baseball games last night in the arctic winds finished him off so I used a sick day to stay home and take him to the doctor. He's had a cough for almost two weeks and not rested well, but the last time I tried to let him "get over it" he wound up with pneumonia. That was the year I received the Mother of the Year award. I honestly didn't want to tell the doctor I had let him play two games last night in subfreezing wind chills until 9:30pm. (I couldn't take a chance on winning the Mother of the Year twice in a lifetime-- it would make the other moms of the world feel like underachievers.) In spite of all this, I took him to the doctor and, thankfully, he checked out fine. He's taking some allergy medicine to dry him up and hopefully rid him of the cough and me of the guilt. By the way, they won one and lost one last night and I am so sore from shivering I can barely move. I stuck it out both games since I knew he was sick and freezing. I could never have lived with that guilt.
Rachel is gone on her eighth grade field trip and won't be back until later this evening. I have a fairly clean house and only a little laundry. I even just recently finished my Jane Austen book by ignoring my whole family for two nights so I didn't even have that to tempt me away from getting a head start on all of the projects I have planned for the upcoming four day weekend.
With all this "free" time at home today I have accomplished precious little. One reason Alex was so cold last night was that he didn't have the new jacket we bought for just such evenings. It was no where to be found and only worn three or four times. I hate that frantic "looking for something that wasn't cheap and I'd better find it" feeling. After the doctor visit, when I did find the jacket, (in his classroom at school) I didn't know whether or not I should be happy I found the expensive item or furious because he still probably didn't learn much of a lesson from all of this.
After all the time I spent at the doctor and jacket hunting, I stopped by the school just to pick up Alex's homework and wound up working for three hours. In my spare time, I have also texted Rachel several times today. Now you have to realize that I am the world's worst texter, but she thinks it is cool so I was trying to oblige. I truly dislike texting. I would much rather spend 1.5 minutes dialing her up and talking than spending 20 minutes trying to text. (That's not an exaggeration about the first attempt.) Besides that-- I can't stand the lack of spelling and punctuation.
Needless to say, I have not been at home much today and now I am blogging at 5:30 pm without a clue what to fix for dinner.
Sorry for the interruption, Rachel just texted-- there went another twenty minutes.
Sorry . . . Jeff just called. He reminded me of the fundraiser dinner the children' s choir is having at church. I may just have to go get some dinner to go. Now that would solve my dinner problem, preserve my clean kitchen and keep my "non-accomplishment" day in tact. Maybe things aren't so bad after all!
Have a great evening!

Excuses, Esther, Education

There are dozens of reasons I could give you for not blogging in the past month. I will not attempt to relay all of them to you because you know what people say about excuses. Anyway, probably the biggest reason I haven't blogged is the lack of inspiration. I am not my daughter. I : 1) do not have time to blog every day. 2) am not the type to write a diary of my life. 3) do not need to write a diary of my life because my daughter tells everyone everything about what is going on with our family. 4) have a tendency to overanalyze my writing and it sucks all of the fun out of it. 5) like to do to many other things better.

Enough about my excuses--let's move on to the real inspiration behind this blog. This morning in our church service the drama team (made up of middle and high school students) led our worship service. I was blessed beyond measure. These were all students who went on the Colorado trip that Jeff and I were able to make during Christmas. While listening, it reminded me of many of the memories that were created on our trip and how hard I laughed. As I sat there with tears streaming during one of the songs I was so proud and grateful and broken for these kids. I am proud to know them because they are wonderful people who love the Lord and are set apart in our school. I am grateful for the high schoolers who have pledged to look after my girl and her friends when they move to the new campus next year. I am grateful to God for their witness, commitment and their friendship. And I am broken for what they have to face each and every day. One of the byproducts of our trip to Colorado is a Bible study in Esther with the 7th-12th grade girls in our church. Those of us women who went on the trip are helping our Youth Pastor's wife and we are totally enjoying the spiritual growth for ourselves as well as leading some amazing young women in a special time of discipleship. Yet, I can see how out of touch I have become with the older kids because I am still living in the middle school world. It is not like I am totally out of touch--I work in a public school. I have been removed just enough from our own high school that the names didn't always have faces and they weren't living in my children's worlds. That is beginning to change.
Jeff and I have had a rude awakening in the past seven months as we have come to grips with the fact that our children are no longer little. There have been many teary moments for me since I went to a wedding in September where the bride was one of the girls I last coached when she was Rachel's age. This slap in the face has brought to the dinner table many conversations I don't really want to have, but I am slowly adjusting. Where I have really failed to adjust (until this morning) is devoting more prayer to our high school students. I am excited and nervous about my children growing up in this world, but I know that the Lord is in control of their lives and I want to pray for His will not mine. This morning's service gave me a hope that there are other kids out there who want to serve God and will share Him with others. One of the boys shared the scripture from II Corinthians 4:7. He spoke of how God uses our weaknesses when we witness so that we can take no glory. He then made the comparison of us to when you cover a light with a flawless jar, you can see no light. If you place a cracked jar over the light, you can see the light through the cracks. It was a great picture of how God can use us even though we are not perfect, but He is! Even though I have not been praying for our high school as I should, I know that God has now placed us in the lives of high schoolers again and He will use us anyway. For this we are excited and grateful.

On a side note: If you read Rachel's blog, she made mention of showing her crack in public and it might have left you wondering. Strange as it may sound it was a comment that the boy speaking made today when he was discussing the text above. He is one of the most hilarious kids I think I have ever met. He was in our van one day on the Colorado trip and Jeff and Alex and I were sore in the stomach from laughing so hard. This morning he just mentioned that he wanted to make sure his crack showed everyday-- in public--and he encouraged us to do the same. Needless to say tears were streaming down my face at this point as well.



God bless you all and remember to pray for high school students everywhere. There is a battle going on for them.

True Confessions of a Total Loser, Slacker

I know. It's been over two weeks. If you think that is the only thing that I haven't done in the past two weeks, you are sadly mistaken. The truth be told, it has been way longer than two weeks since I have done things that were probably much more important than blogging. Plans were big for the long MLK weekend. I had big plans to clean house, do laundry, clean out the refrigerator, complete a couple of DYI decorating projects, read, and in between--squeeze in Alex's basketball tournament.

My downhill slide actually began when we returned from Colorado. I really never recovered before school started January 5. I somehow stayed awake (I do mean that literally) for the first week back to school (and remember with snow days and holidays it was the first five day week in almost a month!), but nothing really was accomplished on the home front at nights and then I had to take Rachel shopping on that Saturday, and we had Jeff's party Sunday and then it was quickly back to school again. (Believe me, that two days seemed to go at lightening speed compared the last break of three weeks we'd had.) Between trying to work five days in a row for a second consecutive week and going to high school games and hauling my two children to practices for four different sports- my immune system was surely weakening. Last Friday night Rachel had a birthday party to attend and Alex had a couple of boys over for the night. I made them homemade pizza and we took them to the high school boys game and stayed up, later than we should have, just talking with them. I mean, how many nights will our middle school son and his friends want to just hang out with Jeff and me and tell all? I got up the next morning, made the boys a good breakfast since they were playing ball all day, and decided to leave all of the dirty dishes because I would be home early to accomplish all of the big plans.

Then it hit. The sneezing had come the day before, but I thought it was just allergies. Then there was the runny nose and before I knew it the throat was a little scratchy. By the time we were home Saturday afternoon the fever and achy twins were here and I was done. And so were all of the big plans. Basically I spent the rest of the weekend whining about what a loser I was and how I wasn't getting anything done and how if I could just get some sleep it would be fine. It's never fun when you are busy and can't keep up with household duties, but it's even worse when you're sick and can't do anything but lay around and stare at the mess. Tuesday came and I went back to work feeling better and when I came home I cleaned all of those dirty dishes that had piled up over the weekend. That night the kids went with Jeff to a high school game and I was so tired I was sure I'd sleep while they were gone and it was quiet.

Then it hit. My big energy spurt. I cleaned house, cleaned out the refrigerator, did laundry, mopped floors and made a grocery list. I had finally accomplished something! I finally felt better about myself as a wife, a mother and a person again!

Except I had forgotten that our new Bible study with the girls at church was starting the next evening and I had not read Esther, read the Bible study book or done any of the study guide. I knew I had to spend the next afternoon grocery shopping and picking up the kids so there was no time to prepare and soon I was at Bible study telling everyone what a total loser, slacker I was because I was unprepared. Now that I think about it, I wonder if Esther ever felt like a total loser, slacker. I kind of hope so. Because if she did, there just might be hope for me. After all, God had big plans to use Esther in a mighty way and if He had plans for her, I know He has plans for me too. He says so in Jeremiah 29:11 and I'm really glad He is not a total loser, slacker when it comes to His big plans!

Birthdays

Birthdays. When you are a kid you can't wait for them. There are even birthdays which bring certain rights and privileges that are highly anticipated. Some birthdays are so big that we have large parties and even request no gifts. But, what about the birthdays in between? Why is it that we look forward to these annual celebrations for a while and then seem to dread them? What is it that changes so we begin to make a big deal out of them again?


A little over a year ago, I turned forty. I will admit there were (and are) days that bothered me, but it shouldn't. I hope it doesn't bother Jeff. Tomorrow is his fortieth birthday. We met as kids in our Youth group at church, but we didn't really get to know each other and begin dating until he was sixteen. I think he is as handsome as when he was sixteen. I think he is smarter and wiser than when he was sixteen (because you know that I was really paying attention to his brains back then!). I think his sense of humor is even wittier than when he was sixteen (although it may be a bit more sarcastic). Obviously he has matured and changed for the better in many ways over the years, but what has improved the most is my appreciation for him. He doesn't just love, take care of, and pray for me, but also our children, his grandmothers, parents , and mother-in-law. He is always concerned for his brother, nephews and niece, sisters and brother in-law and other various family members. He is devoted to his friends and church family, worries about his employees and genuinely cares about the lives of his customers. He doesn't think he is kind or compassionate, but he doesn't see what I see. I see that the Lord has placed in him a love for people that only He can give. No, Jeff, on his own isn't really all that compassionate or patient with people, but because he allows the Lord to work in his life, he can be those things. Maybe that's what I appreciate about Jeff the most. He is just Jeff, a man who knows that without God he can do nothing. He is humble and I can appreciate that every day of my life with him.

Happy birthday, Jeff! I hope that we get to celebrate many of the in-between birthdays together as well as the big ones!

Dreaming of Spring

Imagine . . . a warm, sunny, spring day. I mean so warm that you can feel the heat on your skin. You can even feel a little bit of humidity when you breathe in. Wearing jeans and short sleeves even with the wind blowing a bit like it usually does at the beginning of spring. No need for a jacket. The kids wearing shorts and flip-flops. The kids in and out all day playing outside and then coming in a bit muddy. The sound of four-wheelers up and down the driveway. The pink skin on their faces after being in the bright sun just for one day. Turning off the heat, throwing those windows open and filling your house with fresh air. Spring cleaning and organizing. The hum of the washer and the smell of fabric softener when you are close to the outside dryer vent while you are working around the yard. The tired feeling you have at the end of the day when winter is finally over and you can get out and work your body's muscles instead of being cooped up inside. The smell of smoke in your hair and clothes when you get to roast hot dogs on an open fire. Looking at the stars and enjoying the perfectly warm evening before the summer bugs come out. Sounds great, doesn't it? Well, it was. Today was pretty much what I described, except that it is January 3!

Today is one of the reasons I feel blessed to live in Southwest Missouri. We usually get to enjoy a few unusually warm days in the winter. Those days are like when you find a five or ten dollar bill in a pair of pants you haven't worn since the last time they were in season! You knew you had the money at one time, but you had simply forgotten about it. These days are quite similar. You know we've had them, but you don't really expect to see them- they just happen one day. You have to enjoy them fully, which we did. My version of the spring day was a bit different, because my "spring" cleaning was actually taking down all of the Christmas decorations and replacing them with the snowmen that I will finish off winter with. (A bit odd for such a warm day, but hey, it won't last long.) And I didn't really work all that hard around the yard. I was actually getting some wood for the fire pit to roast our hot dogs. Plus, that load of laundry in the dryer I was writing about is wrinkling in the same spot, four hours later, but oh well. Otherwise, everything else is pretty accurate. I hope that you all enjoyed your Saturday as much as we did. Remember- don't take a warm day for granted, because if you live in Missouri you know it could drop thirty degrees overnight.

If you listen carefully (and turn up the volume) you can hear the real coyotes in the background which my children stirred up before I was able to get the camera going.