Summer Inspiration

Well summer is in full swing in Kerbyville. You would think that I would have a million blog post done along with my long to do list. Yep, I got nothing. At this point I'm not really sure what I have done with my summer vacation but it is quickly coming to an end....blah! We've been doing the usual, swimming, boating(both kids are skiing), gardening(it's sad this year), crafting(one duct tape dress complete), and running to a million doctor appointments(the mister, gigi, and the rabbit). 4h is in full swing and I am in voluteer mom mode. For some reason I offered my photoshop skills to make posters for each kids cage/pen at fair. Yep that's only about 40+ posters. I'm also taking on decorations for the livestock barn. Woo hoo. We have a pig that's to fat and a pig that's to skinny so that requires this whole weird daily feeding thing. We have a rabbit with syphilis (yes you read that right) that's a whole breeding story gone bad. The bunny is getting better, nothing a good ol' shot of penicillin won't cure (another good blog post about crazy vets). His hair is growing back so we are thinking he will actually make it to fair. Our other bunny knocked his front teeth out (yes they grow back) and he looks funny. Needless to say I am feeling a bit like a city girl gone country and I am wondering how I got here. I have learned more about animals and thier issues than I ever wanted to know. I'm thinking one of these days soon will be a mom day. Hmmm, a day at the spa.....I'll just have to apologize to the nail tech when she is digging pig manure out from under my toes!

Surrender

Ever have those moments when God just whispers in your ear? That tiny quite thought that makes you stop right in your tracks? It's amazing and surreal all at the same time. We often keep those moments to ourselves. I mean if you go walking around telling everyone God spoke to you, you might be crazy right? Well, sometimes I think those moments should be shared. I had a moment like that today. I was sitting at the bus stop with my little man this morning. It was a typical morning when I noticed he had a pocket New Testament with him. I asked him what he was doing with it and he said he was taking it to school. "I can do that right mom". I said of course you can. Students have the right to take a Bible if they want to. he slipped it into the side pocket of his cargo shorts and gave his leg a pat. I thought, how nice it was and felt as if it would protect him. That's when it happen. A tiny voice that said, "What if I call him"? My heart stopped. I know there are some that might see this as a privilege or honor and I am going to be honest that was not my first thought. It was Lord, really? Why him? but God he is mine. God answered right back with no, he is Mine. I knew He was right but it still made my heart ache a little and all for selfish reasons. When he was a baby I prayed God would have him, protect him, use him but he was so tiny and it seemed a million years away before that would ever happen. In the blink of an eye hear we are 12 years later and my years left with him are becoming shorter. I thought of Hannah taking Samuel to the temple and giving him to God. I will be honest I am thankful I was not asked to do that. I thought of the sacrifice made and the sacrifices to be made. Do I think that God is going to call my son? I have no idea but that little question sure made me see that he is not mine. God has a plan for his life that is out of my control. I can guide him, teach him, pray for him, love him, and enjoy every minute of him but in the end he belongs to God. So today I had to make a quite surrender. I had to give him to God.

I made it through the rain

Do you remember that song? It was really Corny but the kind of tune that got stuck in your head. Well, if you read my previous post it makes total sense. Seems the last time I sat down to get the noise in my head down on paper (or virtual paper) there was a storm brewing in kerbyville. I think that might have been one of the most stressful days I have ever experienced. It started out normal and by the end of the day I realized I have control over absolutely nothing. It was an ordinary Tuesday, I took the morning off to take my girl to the doctor. Nothing major just a little wart removal (yuck). We had some extra time so we stopped for lunch before heading off to school. I walked into school and all you know what had broke loose. My principal was out of town so guess who was in charge, yep me. Fun. Well it might have been if I didn't have two little darlings staring at me. One had hit two teacher aides and the other had brought a toy gun to school. So I did what any good administrator would do, I suspended them. Okay might seem a little harsh but you had to have the whole story, it involved some lying and spitefulness. Any hoo, I was supposed to be at a meeting where I was presenting to the entire group of elementary counselors and I had to call and cancel. Then I had two groups to facilitate. I finished one group and noticed that my husband had called me 5 times. He never does that so I thought I better call back. I had a group of girls standing at my door and I told them I had to call him really quick. He answers and I notice a tone in his voice. I told him I just had a minute and he said he would just call me later, I knew something was wrong and I said did you get fired? He says yea, and I will call you later. My mind started spinning out of control. What just happened? I had no idea what to do so I just sucked it up and did my group. Later when I got home I called him to discuss details. He wasn't technically fired, he was laid off. That's the nice way that companies put it when they have no reason to let you go. So, there we were right in the middle of a storm. Now if you know me at all then you know that I might just be a little bit of a control freak and I do not like the unknown. The one thing that this whole experience has taught me is that we really have no control over anything and that you can survive on a lot less than you thought. So where are we now? Well, we are on the other side of the storm and I have learned once again that God is faithful to us. The mister started his new job today, the exact date that we received his last severance check. As a family we have learned to appreciate the little things, to spend less, to pull together in tough times, and to be very thankful for what we have. We joked about being in a budget crisis (although it was not a joke) and figured out ways to save. We also learned that although we felt "broke" we were incredible blessed. At the time if seemed like the worst possible thing that could happen to us, now I see the whole experience as a blessing. It was humbling and it forced us to slow down and look at what truly mattered. The storm has passed in kerbyville for now and we made it through the rain.

Today we got out first little taste of spring in Kerbyville. A late afternoon shower rolled in. You know the kind of shower that only spring can bring. Pouring rain followed by sunshine and then more rain. The kind of rain that reminds you that spring is on it's way, just hold on a little longer. Growing up I loved rain storms. I grew up in the southeast where rain showers would roll in at the drop of a hat. Not just showers, real storms. The ones were the thunder is so loud it rattles your windows and the lightening flashes so bright it lights up the night sky. And the rain, it doesn't just rain it pours down so hard and fast that it seems a sheet of water is falling from the sky. As a little girl I remember laying in my bed at night and listening to storms. They were so loud and fierce it seemed that everything around you would come crashing down and just when you thought you couldn't take any more it would quiet and soon that pouring rain became a slow pitter patter that lulled you back to sleep. Life is that way some times. Storms come. We begin to question why me. In those moments I am reminded of the words from a song...I will praise You in this storm I will lift my hands because You are who You are no matter where I am, and every tear I cry You hold in Your hands, and though my heart is torn, I will praise You in this storm. You know, God never promised we wouldn't have storms in life. He never said there wouldn't be moments, words spoken that seem to change everything. He just promised that He would be with us in those moments. When the storm comes and the thunder crashes and you think you will crumble beneath the weight of your burden. Just when you think you can't take any more it quiets, the rain turns to a soft pitter patter and soon you have peace in your heart. There is a storm brewing in kerbyville. I can hear the thunder in the distance and my heart feels fearful. I am trying to praise Him in this storm. I know that soon it will pass and I will have a quiet peace in my heart.

My life in overhaul

Oooo, this little blog needs a major overhaul but so does my entire life at this point! I swear I have a million little thoughts and some really good posts floating around in this space between my ears, I just don't have one free minute to jot them down. My house is still a mess, there are walls that still need painting, cleaning, laundry, school projects, lessons, organizing, etc etc. I swear I need an assistant. My housekeeper can't come because my house is in shambles so that means it's me. The mister has been traveling a lot and has been picking up some extra shifts at the hospital on the weekends. I am beginning to wonder what he looks like. So life in kerbyville has been well just a teensy bit hectic! I keep telling myself this weekend it will be done, nope I have accepted that my house will probably be like this for at least 3 more weeks, ahhhhh! My OCD has kicked into overdrive. Don't even get me started on my trip to Hobby Lobby and a stroll down the scrap booking aisle. When you are 4 years behind can you still count yourself as a scrapbooker? Summer where are you!?

Longing for days of leisure
~Scarlett

Chaos

That about describes things here in kerbyville. Chaos! and it has been making me just a little crazy. I don't really know if I mentioned the fact that everything and I mean just about everything in our house went kaput last year. It started with putting in underground sprinklers. You see apparently our pump was to small and about dead. No big deal right. Right, except for the fact that right after that our lawn tractor died, then the pool pump, the pond pump (I'm beginning to see a theme with pumps), the video camera, the tires on our SUV, and the boat engine. Then one day in June we woke up to water pouring out of our ceiling downstairs. A pipe had broken in the room that we had just remodeled. Not the ugly bathroom with the 1970's laminate and mustard tub, nope the room with new granite and laminate flooring. So what did we do well rip out the wall only to have a plumber tell us that basically our whole house needed to be re plumbed. Wonderful! So I lived for 6 months with a hole in my wall and ceiling. My husband decided that January would be an awesome time to re plumb the house. Not the summer when I am off but smack in the middle of the school year. So we have been tearing out walls and pipe. Fun, fun. My house has been cover in sheet rock dust and rusty water stains for weeks now. Finally this past weekend we got most of it back together. I painted 3 bathrooms, my laundry room, mud room, bedroom wall, and part of the hallway. I have managed to tame most of the sheet rock dust and have finally gotten all the grime off the floors. It is nice not to have to wear shoes just so you don't feel all the grit on the floor. The bright side? We have lots of water pressure and you don't freeze if you are in the shower and someone turns on a faucet. Two people can actually shower in two different bathrooms....amazing! So I have been very, very busy with this house. Tonight is the first night that I have been able to just chill in weeks. Ahhh I am loving it. I am praying that this year is not as eventful but if you read my previous post about the cat well, not looking hopeful. BTW, the kitty is doing well and stays very close to home these days. I think he really would just spend his entire day sitting on my lap if I let him. So here is to 2011 being a better year. I think it will be considering 10 minutes ago my backspace key would not work and now it is working fine. See things are looking up!

~Scarlett

The cat came back

Have you ever heard the song, "the cat came back"? It's an awful tune that gets stuck in my head occasionally and drives me to the brink of insanity. For whatever reason my son's first grade music teacher had them sing it in a program. So for the last 6 years it has been haunting me. This post is not really about that song, it is about our cat though. This week has been an interesting one in kerbyville. We were supposed to kick Murphy out of our house this year so things would quit breaking (you know, Murphy's Law). So the first two days of 2011 were awesome. Day 3, not so much. Not only was it back to school/reality day, it was also the day my gigi was scheduled to get 2 teeth pulled. All that went without a hitch and we made it home by 5:00 so I could start dinner. As I was cooking dinner, managing homework, sending the mister off to class, and playing nursemaid to my crying girl I decided to feed the small zoo that lives at our house. I headed out on the deck to feed the dog and 2 cats. Our male kitty Simba was being especially lovey so I pick him up. He started freaking out so I flipped him around feet out so he wouldn't scratch me. I looked down and figured out very quickly why. He had basically skinned his entire back leg. I mean muscle was showing. I don't do so well with that kinda stuff but I was the only responsible adult at home so I had to suck it up. The mister was gone so I gave gigi some Tylenol and put my little man in charge of cooking dinner. Simba and I headed to the vet. Now if you know the mister then you know that he is a farm boy. If you don't know what that means or you are a member of PETA you might want to quit reading this. On a farm cats are good for one thing, killing pesky critters. Well that is what our cats are for as well. That and to sit on my lap on early summer mornings and purr. Any hoo, spending any amount of money to save a cat is not really in the mister's budget but off to the vet we went anyway. We go in and wait for the estimate. I am texting the mister to see what he thinks. Final verdict? $350.00. Yowza! I text the mister, no response, I wait, no response, the vet assistant comes in and wants my decision, no response. So, I say okay, leave the cat there and head home. Once I am home I am flooded with text from the mister and remember that remark about saving cats not being in the budget? Yeah. Let's just say he was not to happy. The next morning I get up and head to the vet at 7:00am to pick up Simba. I bring him home all shaved and stitched with his little cone on his head. He has to have meds twice a day and live in our mud room for the next 2 weeks. The mister is looking at me like I have lost my mind. Let's just say we had to have a little mediation to work out our differences of opinion on the cat. It was said and done so we had to move on. My job as cat nurse had begun. A couple of days later the mister says to me, did you hear anything last night? Nope not really, did the cat meow all night? Nope, I heard a noise and thought there was someone outside. Went to investigate to find that the cat had escaped his kennel and was bumping into things with his cone head. So I put him away. I knew then that all would be well in kerbyville. The mister had accepted the cat mishap and moved on. The new joke in our house? Hmm, we could go out for dinner but we had to fix the cat, do you know how many ski passes you can buy for $350?, haha! I know that sounds like a lot to spend on a cat. I know people out there that would spend more to save their pet. I also know that he has taught us a lesson. Sometimes things that make no sense are the right thing to do. Would I do it again? yes. Once the mister saw how upset I was over the whole thing he sucked it up, bit his tongue and let me nurse that kitty back to health. He hasn't even complained about the fact that it is living in our mud room for 2 weeks. At night when I go down and put Simba in his kennel, I hear him purr loudly and he looks up at me I know I sound crazy but I swear that little kitty is saying thank you.

Mother of the Year

So my girl had to have 2 teeth pulled today. Poor thing. It took her forever to get teeth and now it is taking forever to lose them. She didn't even lose her front teeth until she was in second grade and even then it took her brother accidentally headbutting her and her dad popping them out since they were hanging by a thread. Now she is well on her way to providing our dentist and orthodontist some really nice vacations. She was a trooper though. She sat right in that chair and took the laughing gas like a pro. The best part is it really does make her laugh. She giggles uncontrollably while her teeth are being pulled out with pliers. I know there is probably some technical term that makes it sound way better but that is what they look like. As she lay there laughing and holding on to her piggy pillow pet for dear life she looked right at the dentist and said that doesn't look like a very friendly tool. I tell you, I love that girl. She is a hoot. So tonight as I tucked her into bed she looks up and says in a very slurpy voice, "Mama, are you the tooth fairy?" Hmmm, how do I answer this one? "Well, what makes you think that?" "Do you remember that time that the tooth fairy forgot to come and you were really tired, and then the next night you were tired and the tooth fairy forgot to come again?" " Um, yes." "Well, that makes me think you are the tooth fairy" "Well, hun you have to believe for the tooth fairy to come." "Okay, mom but can you give me two bucks. I should at least get a dollar a tooth since I had to have them pulled" I just smiled and said goodnight. I am pretty sure that has earned me the mother of the year award. So tonight I will not forget, I will not forget, I will not forget!

2010 at OneTrueMedia.com

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Our Year in Review

2010 came to a close so quickly that I have hardly had time to reflect on all that means. I didn't even realize we were ending a decade until yesterday. Didn't we just end a decade? How does tome move so quickly? So as a take a moment to stop and reflect on our year I am grateful. I never would have dreamed that our family would be so full of life. 10 years ago I was pregnant with gigi and my little man was about to turn 2. Soon we would be knee high in diapers and sleepless nights. I thought it would be forever before we would taste a little bit of parental freedom. Now here we are 10 years later. My little man is well not so little. Tonight he informed me that I needed to change his blog name. He's thinking about what it should be. He will turn 12 in 3 weeks and next year at this time I will be facing having a teenager in the house. My gigi, well she will hit the double digits this year and that takes my breath away just thinking about it. 10. So where did the last 10 years go? Well, we were busy living. Living in the moment and enjoying every minute of it. I have known since the day my kids were born that we were one day closer to them leaving and I have tried to breathe in every moment they are with me. I am not going to pretend that I haven't had those mom moments of what am I doing and wouldn't life be easier if....I would be lying if I said every moment of motherhood was glorious. My kids have made me a better person and they have made us into a family. So I am not even going to think about where we will be in another 10 years. That's just a little to much to think about right now. I am gonna keep on living in the moment and enjoying every minute of it. Here are a few of our 2010 moments for you to share.