Small town girl

I'm not sure about my results on this quiz, but I thought John would appreciate the character from HIS favorite Christmas movie!
Unfortunately, we won't make it to Michigan this year after Christmas. I'm bummed about that - we'll miss seeing John's family , and it's the only time we see snow. We were looking forward to tubing at Timber Ridge. At least Santa won't have to come early this year, like he did last year. Mom and Katie will be here, too, and I'm really looking forward to that. Ethan's preschool program is Thursday night. Maybe he'll actually sing and participate this year. Last year he walked back and forth across the stage and climbed on the speakers!
Because of our upcoming move, Christmas is being done on a smaller scale for us. I'll admit that's rather nice, although I really wanted to put the lights up on the house outside. I've settled for candle lights in the windows, a 3 ft. tree that the kids decorated, our stockings hanging from the mantle, and a wreath hanging above the mantle. We're even cutting back on presents for the kids. I think they'll really enjoy what they get, though. Most of it is stuff they asked for.
I'm looking forward to getting moved. But I feel sad, too. I have enjoyed our time here in Fordyce. I'll miss our friends, our little church family, and our house, too. I'm trying to enjoy the time we have left, and am trying to pack without thinking too much about leaving.

John informed the board Monday that he has accepted a job in Pocahontas, AR and will be starting work up there the first part of January. That's good news and bad news. It's good news because he'll be working with a bigger hospital, it'll be a bigger town, and we'll have a bigger church family. It's bad news because of all the people we're going to miss when we move. We've only lived here 16 months, but it has really become home to me. I really do hate to leave. I figure many of my friends reading this who live elsewhere think I'm crazy for saying that, but it's true. No place is perfect, and this place has its disadvantages, sure. There are so many small towns that are so closed to anyone moving there. Oh, they'll be nice to you, but you'll always be considered an outsider, even if you live there for many years. This place has never felt that way to me. We've made some good friends. I especially hate to leave our little church. It is so small, and we feel very needed here. It'll be nice to have more kids around for Bible class and more people our age to be friends with when we move, but our congregation here has been a big blessing to us. I will miss them all. I think I feel so at home because it's so similar to where I grew up.
We left Thursday afternoon and went to Searcy so John could teach his class. We spent two nights with Katie. Friday, we left Ethan with my sweet friend, Staci, and drove up to Pocahontas to look at some houses. Debbie had 5 or 6. We ended up making an offer on one. We'll see how the negotiations go. They've countered already. I'm more worried about our house selling here, though. The market is always slow here! More updates later. I'm tired and ready to go to bed!

Sometimes I go blog-wandering, following links in friends' blogs, just to see where I'll end up. Tonight I found an awesome post on this blog (http://www.missionarymominmexico.blogspot.com/). Thanks for the link, Felicia! I don't know where she got it or if she wrote it, but I thought you all might enjoy it. I don't always feel invisible, but I know that my kids take for granted all the things I do for them, just like I took my mom for granted. I'm only now fully appreciating her! This was an uplifting post, though. I apologize as she did for the weird spacing and capital letters in odd places. I did a cut and paste, and it's too late to be fixing stuff like that.


I'm invisible.

It all began to make sense, the blank stares, the lack of response, the way
One of the kids will walk into the room while I'm on the phone and ask to be
Taken to the store. Inside I'm thinking, "Can't you see I'm on the phone?"
Obviously not. No one can see if I'm on the phone, or cooking, or sweeping
The floor, or even standing on my head in the corner, because no one can see
Me at all. I'm invisible.

Some days I am only a pair of hands, nothing more: Can you fix this? Can you
Tie this? Can you open this? Some days I'm not a pair of hands; I'm not
Even a human being. I'm a clock to ask, "What time is it?" I'm a satellite
Guide to answer, "What number is the Disney Channel?" I'm a car to order,
"Right around 5:30 , please."

I was certain that these were the hands that once held books and the eyes
That studied history and the mind that graduated summa cum laude - but now
They had disappeared into the peanut butter, never to be seen again. She's
Going...she's going...she's gone!

One night, a group of us were having dinner, celebrating the return of a
Friend from England. Janice had just gotten back from a fabulous trip, and
She was going on and on about the hotel she stayed in. I was sitting there,
Looking around at the others all put together so well. It was hard not to
Compare and feel sorry for myself as I looked down at my out-of-style dress;
It was the only thing I could find that was clean. My unwashed hair was
Pulled up in a banana clip and I was afraid I could actually smell peanut
Butter in it.

I was feeling pretty pathetic, when Janice turned to me with a beautifully
Wrapped package, and said, "I brought you this." It was a book on the great
Cathedrals of Europe . I wasn't exactly sure why she'd given it to me until
I read her inscription: "To Charlotte , with admiration for the greatness of
What you are building when no one sees."

In the days ahead I would read - no, devour - the book. And I would discover
What would become for me, four life-changing truths, after which I could
Pattern my work:

1. No one can say who built the great cathedrals - we have no record of
their names.

2. These builders gave their whole lives for a work they would never see
finished.

3. They made great sacrifices and expected no credit.

4. The passion of their building was fueled by their faith that the eyes of
God saw everything.

A legendary story in the book told of a rich man who came to visit the
Cathedral while it was being built, and he saw a workman carving a tiny
Bird on the inside of a beam. He was puzzled and asked the man, "Why are you
Spending so much time carving that bird into a beam that will be covered by
The roof? No one will ever see it."
And the workman replied, "Because God sees."

I closed the book, feeling the missing piece fall into place. It was almost
As if I heard God whispering to me, "I see you, Charlotte. I see the
Sacrifices you make every day, even when no one around you does. No act of
Kindness you've done, no sequin you've sewn on, no cupcake you've baked, is
Too small for me to notice and smile over. You are building a great
Cathedral, but you can't see right now what it will become."

At times, my invisibility feels like an affliction. But it is not a disease
That is erasing my life. It is the cure for the disease of my own
Self-centeredness.. It is the antidote to my strong, stubborn pride. I keep
The right perspective when I see myself as a great builder. As one of the
People who show up at a job that they will never see finished, to work on
Something that their name will never be on.

The writer of the book went so far as to say that no cathedrals could ever
Be built in our lifetime because there are so few people willing to
Sacrifice to that degree.

When I really think about it, I don't want my son to tell the friend he's
Bringing home from college for Thanksgiving, "My mom gets up at 4 in the
morning and bakes homemade pies, and then she hand bastes a turkey for three
hours and presses all the linens for the table." That would mean I'd built a
shrine or a monument to myself. I just want him to want to come home. And
then, if there is anything more to say to his friend, to add, "You're gonna
love it there."

As mothers, we are building great cathedrals. We cannot be seen if we're
doing it right. And one day, it is very possible that the world will marvel,
not only at what we have built, but at the beauty that has been added to
the world by the sacrifices of invisible women.

Live Simply.
Love Generously.
Care Deeply.
Speak Kindly.
Leave the rest to God

I think it's time to post some new pictures. The Friday before last was the preschool's trip to the pumpkin patch at Grady. It's a pretty large operation. There were several other groups there when we were. All the kids wore the same t-shirts. Every group did that, and it does make them easier to spot.
Here's Ethan and me on the hay wagon.



Here's Ethan with his pumpkin and then later playing on the hay pile.







Here we are at Halloween. Emily did the cutting on the top pumpkin (I helped with the outline and showed her how to cut). Ethan and I did the one on the bottom. Emily lost one of her top teeth at school that day. She wanted to wear the dinosaur costume again (for the third year!), but it was TOO small. Ethan wore it, and we made Emily a cat, due to lack of preparation. She didn't seem to mind and wants to be that again next year. I just now realized that she didn't have a tail. If anyone noticed, they didn't mention it to me!

Okay, this one from Amy B. is just to list 8 random facts about myself. At least, I assume the Laura she said was me.
Katie, I'm tagging you with this one - also Donna, Desiree, and Amy S. I know that's not eight people. So sue me.

Here are the rules. 1)Each player starts with eight random facts/habits about themselves. (2) People who are tagged need to write a post on their own blog (about their eight things) and post these rules. (3) At the end of your blog, you need to choose eight people to get tagged and list their names. (4) Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them they’re tagged, and to read your blog.

1. Jane Eyre is my favorite (fiction) book. The one I'm reading now (A Tree Grows in Brooklyn) is really good, though.

2. I was born in Tennessee. Nah nah nah nah nah to native Texans (I spent my growing up years 16 miles away from Texas). Don't get me wrong, I do like Texas - just not that "I'mbetterthanyou'causeI'mfromTexas" attitude.

3. I am not one of those born organized people, but I have come a L-O-N-G way since I was a teenager. Just ask Mom! I recently discovered flylady.net, and that's been such a big help!

4. I am left-handed (eating and writing), but do a lot of things right-handed (using scissors and sports things like throwing a ball). To my disappointment, I'm not a synesthete. See Patrick Mead's blog to the right.

5. When I was young, up until college or so, I could bend my first finger all the way back and touch the back of my hand. That used to gross John out! :-)

6. I really like history. I love going to museums and reading about all the artifacts. I love visiting places with histories, like Rome, battlefields, monuments, homes, etc. I even like historical fiction, mostly about early European history. I can't wait to see the new Elizabeth movie, even though I've read it's not as good as the first one (with Cate Blanchett). I have that one right now from Netflix. My dream trip would be to go to the Bible Lands with someone like Neal Pryor as a tour guide or else spend about a month in the Vatican Museum.

7. My dream is to someday own an RV and take my kids lots of places, preferably places with great views and museums.

8. Most people think of these really neat and different things about themselves, but I am just drawing a blank for this one, not that any of the rest of them are neat and/or interesting. Maybe it's because it's so late. Here's something not very interesting: I am one of those people who do really well when I work on one thing at a time. I don't multi-task easily. That's why I enjoyed my programming job. I could sit and focus on that one thing, but take a break if I needed it. I also work better if I have a list. I NEVER go shopping without a list. I don't see how people can just go to the store and just buy stuff here and there!

8B. After reading another person's 8 random facts, I decided to add a bonus fact about me: I will admit that when walking or riding a bike past cows, I will either say hi to them or wave. It just seems like the thing to do!

Thanks, Lara. I hope I'm doing this correctly. I guess I'll tag someone else, but it's too late right now to think of who.

1. Who is your man? John Tucker

2. How long have you been together? 14 years (married)

3. How long dated? 2.5 years, including 1 year engagement

4. How old is your man? 35

5. Who eats more? A lady never tells, but I probably do.

6. Who said "I love you" first? John did.

7. Who is taller? John

8. Who sings better? John does, but I enjoy it more.

9. Who is smarter? It's a toss-up, but I got a better score on my ACT. He's quicker at mental math, even though that was my major.

10. Whose temper is worse? I don't know - we don't "blow our fuses" very often.

11. Who does the laundry? I do, but John does iron his shirts most of the time and will put on a load if he needs to.

12. Who takes out the garbage? I gather and put it out in the garage, John takes it out to the street (though I've been doing that more lately).

13. Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? Both of us. (Think about it. It’s a puzzle.) If you're standing at the foot of the bed looking at it, I'm on the right, and John's on the left. We've switched a few times, though.

14. Who pays the bills? John

15. Who is better with the computer? That depends. John's your man for Excel or Power Point. I can program mainframes and surf the net better.

16. Who mows the lawn? John does that, weedeating, and operates the blower. I do the flowers and garden.

17. Who cooks dinner? I do, unless we go out. There aren't many places to eat here, though, so I don't have as many "helpers" as Lara does. :-)

18. Who drives when you are together? John most of the time, but over the years, I drive more and more each time we go to Michigan (we take turns).

19. Who pays when you go out? John

20. Who is most stubborn? Probably me!

21. Who is the first to admit when they are wrong? Him (I'm never wrong!) ;-) ha ha ha

22. Whose parents do you see the most? My mom. His parents live in Michigan, and Mom only lives 2 hours away.

23. Who kissed who first? I think it was a mutual thing - in front of Cathcart dorm. I was walking on air all the way back to my room.

24. Who asked who out? John asked me out. We went to see Edward Scissorhands at Searcy Cinema on $1 night (Feb. 5, 1991). We were freshmen at Harding.

25. Who proposed? John - at Spring Lake Park in Texarkana.

26. Who is more sensitive? It depends. We're pretty close on that one, and it depends on the situation.

27. Who has more friends? I do - at least I have more "social events" like Bunco and book club. I only have 31 friends on Facebook, but John's not even on here!

28. Who has more siblings? We're tied - we both have one sister.

29. Who wears the pants in the family? He does, but I don't hesitate to state my opinion.

30. What do you love most about your husband? He's so laid back and sweet and puts up with a lot from me - he's also a great dad. I love how we know what the other person is thinking most of the time. I love how he plays air guitar when he's thinking of a song. I love how he makes our kids laugh.

I have a really nice husband. He's always asking me (on Friday night): what do you want to do this weekend? I usually just say I don't know - I'm not that picky. I know we'll probably end up going somewhere to eat supper - Bear City Diner in Bearden if we don't want to go too far, El Palacio in Warren for Mexican, or sometimes to Little Rock to go to Sam's and/or the mall. This past Friday, I got the same question, and I told him that what I want to do and what I'll actually do are probably different things. He asked me, "Well, what do you really want to do?" I told him I'd really like to go to Little Rock BY MYSELF (well, my sister would be allowed to join me) and shop for some clothes. I have recently cleaned out my closet, with the help of MissusSmartyPants, and even though I have some clothes left, there are some big gaps. I'm also not much of a shopper (I hate all the trying on, etc.), but am now armed with a list of basic items I can mix and match, the knowledge of what colors look better on me, and have an idea of what kind of clothes look right for my body type.
I was very surprised when John offered to take the kids to the movie or something so I could go! My sister unfortunately couldn't join me, but I went anyway. I could've waited a week, but didn't want to lose this opportunity (or give John time to change his mind!). :-)
I got to the first mall Saturday at 4:20, and left the last mall around 8:35. I got some things at J. C. Penney, ate at Pei Wei (my new favorite restaurant), and shopped at a store called J. Jill. Those sales ladies in there must work on commission - they were so helpful! But, I was buying basics that I plan to wear for a long time, and only bought a few things that I really liked (like that great microsuede washable skirt!). Then I went to the other mall and got a necklace and earrings at Claire's to match a couple of things I had bought earlier.
It was so nice to get out and do that. I love my kids, but I can't shop for myself when they're with me, which is most of the time. Thanks, John, for that little trip! Thanks, MSP, for the great clothes tips! Shopping is much more fun when you know what to look for.
I hope this post doesn't come across as me sounding selfish. I was going to have a garage sale, but decided to just give away all those clothes after reading some blogs from Patrick Mead and Keith Brenton. Their blogs are good, deep reading, unlike mine!
Now if Ethan would just remember to go to the potty . . .

It is my very great pleasure to announce that Ethan has finally pooped in the potty. This is a "Hallelujah Chorus" day. He's been wearing real underwear for a while and keeping them dry pretty well, except for when it comes to #2. I think he was nervous about doing it for some reason. So today when I noticed him walking around holding his behind, I suggested he go potty. He told me, of course, that "I don't need to!" He thought he went in his pants, but didn't. I went with him to the bathroom, where he sat for a while, got up, sat down, and got up again. Around that time John and Emily came in from golfing, so I had John bring him a cup of juice to help things along. That did the trick! Afterwards I took him to Wal-mart, as I had said I would, and got him a big balloon and some candy. We also called all the grandparents so he could tell them. For those of you who don't have kids, this may seem silly and not such a big deal. But let me assure you, it is! I've been cleaning up poop for 6 years, and I can finally "see the light at the end of the tunnel." I'm sure we'll have more accidents, but this is a major breakthrough, and I'm happy, happy, happy! He actually wore the same underwear all day today, and that has never happened before.
By the way, John tells me Emily sunk a 15-foot putt for him this afternoon.

I'm so glad we sit at the back in our church building. Sunday night we were singing the invitation song at the end, and Ethan was standing on the pew between John and me. All of a sudden I saw him fall back and down. Luckily he had caught himself with his hands, so he didn't hit the floor head-first. We pulled him up and fussed a little, then turned away so he wouldn't see us trying not to giggle. I glanced up to the front, and our preacher was smiling. Later he told us he saw Ethan going down, and then all he saw of Ethan were his little hands holding the back of the pew and his feet sticking up in the air.
Update: I copied this picture to my desktop and uploaded it from there, and it worked! I have an iMac and use iPhoto, so I don't use Windows anything. Thanks, though, Bob!

Another blog in less than a month - aren't you impressed? I just read Keith Brenton's new post (Worship or Entertainment), and think he asked some good questions. Plus, I enjoyed that video again - I saw it last week on Lara's blog. Is it okay to enjoy our worship? I would hope so. There are some people, mainly the ones I go to church with, that I wouldn't send this link to, though. I have heard from the pulpit (not just here) about the "dangers of being entertained" and how that just can't be true worship. But I also think that what may be meaningful to you, might not be so to me. I remember Bruce McLarty speaking on the singing part of our worship at College church (new songs, old songs, different styles of songs, etc.) and how different songs may help different people in their worship. I'll admit, some of the newer "camp/college" style songs aren't my favorites, especially the ones that don't have music with them. I don't dislike ALL of those songs, but not all of them mean as much to me as some of the older ones do. But, I still sing them as well as I can, because I know that to other people, those songs help them to worship more than "How Great Thou Art" does (one of my favorites). Some of the people I wouldn't send this to wouldn't even get past the fact that it's an instrumental song. I will respect their right to have a different opinion about that, and that doesn't make them better or worse Christians than I am.
On to another topic:
About where I live and my previous post about things you will or won't find here: I wrote that in fun, but I hope my fondness for this place has come through. Yes, it's in southern Arkansas and it's not a rich and educated area, but I have felt so at home here. It's not perfect (where IS the perfect place?), but I can truly say that I'm content. I think part of the reason I feel so at home is that it's so similar to Ashdown, where I grew up. There are lots of older people, especially at church, and I've been around and loved older people my whole life. I'm not saying I wouldn't be happy anywhere else, though. I've always been able to find something good about wherever we are. I'm so blessed that I really shouldn't complain about anything - I have a wonderful husband and two healthy kids, he has a job where I can choose to stay home, I am close to my mom and sister and also my in-laws, I live in America where I am free to post this blog and do pretty much anything else I want to, I am healthy and have full use of my eyes, arms, legs, and brain, I have plenty to eat, a roof over my head, a nice car to drive, plenty left over to help others, and a God who loves me and has saved me. What more could I possibly want?
Well, it's time to quit rambling and put Ethan down for a nap. Also, if you know how to put a link in a blog, would you please comment and tell me how to do it? Thank you!
Update: Note that I actually added a link at the top up there. Thanks for the help, Bob!

I know, I know, I'm actually writing a post - the first one in a long time. So much has happened that I have many topics I could write about - going to the Rison Singing, Emily in school, Ethan's getting so big, etc. But today I'll write on the topic that has affected me the most in the past month.
In one sense there are two kinds of people in this world: the born organized and the rest of us. The born organized are somehow always on time, their rooms never get messy, their stuff is always put away, and their kitchen counters are always cleaned off. This has never been me. Warning: If you are a BO person, the rest of this post will seem silly to you. My room growing up was usually messy. I had piles of stuff everywhere - but I knew where everything was, of course. On the rare occasions that I cleaned it, I really cleaned and straightened and did a good job, but it never stayed that way for long. When I got married, I really tried to keep a clean house. At first we were students, and John worked on Friday nights. That's the time I spent cleaning - it took 2 hours to clean that little one bedroom apartment, including mopping and dusting - no big deal, right? Then we moved to Little Rock and both got jobs, and that's when it all fell apart. It seems the only time I could keep it together was when our parents would visit.
I consider myself a reasonably intelligent person - I majored in math, for goodness sake - and I did learn a few things through the years. I bought and read several organizing books, and observed my mother-in-law and sister-in-law, who are both born organized. The books that were most useful to me were Survival For Busy Women by Emilie Barnes (thanks, Mom!) and Confessions of an Organized Homemaker by Denise Schofield. My attitude was, if you're going to clean it, clean it right. I didn't realize it was better to do a little than nothing at all. You would think that a stay-at-home Mom could keep it together, but it's always been a struggle for me . . . until about three weeks ago.
I don't remember how I got to this website, but I was playing around on the computer when I came across www.flylady.net. Little did I know how much that would change my life! It starts at the top by asking, "Is your home in CHAOS (Can't Have Anyone Over Syndrome)?" Boy, did that sound familiar. She promised to help me overcome all the clutter and keep my home clean and neat - for FREE - by sending me emails and reminders daily of steps to take to work on the house. I thought, what have I got to lose? I started with the 31 "babysteps", where each step is a day. The first day my assignment was to clean and shine my kitchen sink. I thought I could do that, so I did, at 9:30 at night, and signed up for the emails.
Her thing is getting you to establish good habits, little by little, over time, and use a timer. Set it for 15 minutes, work like mad, and then quit when the timer goes off. Right now, I'm on day 21, I think. I have a morning routine, an evening routine, and do the weekday "assignment" they send me. I was already doing some things right, like keeping a calendar, making my bed daily, running the dishwasher every night, etc. But this has helped me understand why born organized people are the way they are - they have these good habits, but don't even think about them that way. One day last week I realized that if anyone dropped by and asked to use my bathroom, I wouldn't have to lead the way, picking up clothes as I went. It was company ready!
Here's a funny example to illustrate: At home I keep a little spoon rest by my coffeemaker, because I stir in creamer and want a place for my spoon so it won't get the counter dirty (don't ask how many years I didn't have one, but did have a dirty counter). I also drink several cups a day and don't want to mess up all those spoons just drinking coffee. When I'm at the in-laws' house, my MIL doesn't keep a spoon rest there, so I put my spoon close to the sink. Well, the last time I was there, I got my cup of coffee, left the spoon, and come back for another cup - but the spoon wasn't there. I thought maybe she didn't want the spoon messing up the counter, so this time I left the spoon resting by the sink, with the spoon part hanging over the sink. Next time, no spoon. It was getting fun at that point, trying to figure out how I could leave the spoon where she wouldn't put it in the dishwasher. It didn't happen! Now, she probably didn't even think about putting that spoon in the dishwasher every time, bring the BO person she is, but I could see why her counters stay so clean. Well, she probably wished her DIL would please put the spoon away instead of leaving it out. ;-)
So if you're like me and not BO, you ought to take a look at www.flylady.net. She's a little over-the-top at times (hug yourself, etc.), but she has some great ideas and is a lot of help. I would make that a link, but can't figure it out. Just copy-and-paste.

Inspired by those bloggers who can actually write, here is my feeble attempt at a more creative or at least (hopefully) entertaining post. For those of you who don't know me, my family and I moved last year from Searcy to Fordyce, a small town in southern Arkansas. At the time, I did NOT want to move, but I am now glad we did. It has been good for us.

10 Things You Can't Find in Fordyce

1. Target. Oh the agony!
2. Home Depot or Lowes. But we do have a great little hardware store - Holt Builders Supply.
3. Stores that are open late. Well, except for the liquor stores. "It's 9 p.m. Do we have milk for breakfast tomorrow?!? aauuugghh"
4. Wal-Mart Supercenter (even though I hate shopping there). Rumor has it we're getting one in the next year or two. The convenience store-sized WM we do have closes at 9 p.m.
5. Good activities for teenagers. They congregate in the Super Foods parking lot.
6. Starbucks. But surprisingly enough, I can actually get their coffee at our grocery store (ground, not whole bean).
7. $1 million dollar houses. There are a few in the $300,000-$500,000 range, though. We don't live in one of those!
8. A large church of Christ (or any with attendance over 35). There are actually 3, which I think is sad. One of them is anti. Can't we just all get along?
9. Garbanzo or cannellini beans. But they have plenty of pork and beans.
10. Asiago cheese, or any cheese besides cheddar, mozzarella, and parmesan. The grocery store couldn't even order it for me - I asked!


10 Things You Can Find in Fordyce

1. The birthplace of Paul "Bear" Bryant. It's a few miles east on Highway 8.
2. A great bakery. www.klappenbachbakery.com Their chocolate pie can only be described as "heavenly."
3. Any part of a pig you want to eat. Or not. That includes ham, bacon, hocks, chitlins (chitterlings), ears, feet, brain, jowls, tail. No, I'm not kidding!
4. Chicken feet on a foam tray, at the grocery store. I wish I was kidding.
5. Deer. Lots of deer. Our county is second in Arkansas in number of deer killed each year (that's the number checked in, anyway). Hunting is big down here.
6. Pine trees. The largest employer here is Georgia-Pacific, with a plywood plant and an OSB plant. Log trucks are everywhere.
7. A country club. It ain't Chenal Valley, but they have 9 holes and a pool. It's the home of the Pine Belt Four Ball.
8. The Dallas County Museum which has, among other things, a stuffed albino squirrel. It was shot in the 1950s by a local 12-year-old resident.
9. Roaches and fire ants. Spiders used to really freak me out, but roaches have moved to the top of my hate list. I don't bother the spiders outside much. I keep hoping they'll make a dent in the mosquito population. Also, people here tell us that, no matter what the labels say, fire ants don't die. They just move. About two feet from their mound you treated last week.
10. A civic center with a weight room, pool, driving range, and walking trail. I use the trail almost every day. I'll be really sad when they cut down all the trees next door to build that supercenter.

Update: John says I should add hog balls to #3 right above. That's how they're labeled at the store!

We went to Missouri to visit John's grandparents last weekend. My mother-in-law, Brenda, had been staying there the week before. We left at 5:10 am Friday - which is WAY too early to be putting in contacts! I wanted to stop at that furniture store in Clinton, but they weren't open when we passed it at 7:30. Bummer. We did stop at Branson to do a little shopping before eating lunch and continuing on to the farm. John's grandparents live in a small town in central Missouri on a farm that's been in the family for over 125 years. His grandpa has been retired for a while, of course, but still gardens. He would do more, but he has macular degeneration and can't see very well. His grandma had a stroke a few years ago, but is doing okay. She knows who I am, but calls me Nancy a lot (John's aunt). John took the kids and Grandpa fishing Friday evening. I got up early Saturday morning (with help from Ethan) and went walking down the dirt road in front of their house. There were lots of pretty wildflowers, and it was really quiet.

We took the kids over to John's Aunt Cindy's, and they got to ride their cousin Rachel's horse, Frosty. Frosty was Rachel's barrel-riding horse, and is now 17 years old and pregnant with a colt due next spring. Rachel's older brother, Seth, was working on his tractor for the tractor pull he was participating in later Saturday.


That's John's Uncle Lyndon by the tractor. Seth is under it.
We got to eat fish from the lake for lunch with sweet corn and fried potatoes - yum! You know, country life is different and much slower-paced, but I could get used to it if I got to eat fresh farm food all the time. I ate 3 ears of that corn.






John and I took Emily fishing again while Ethan was napping. The picture is taken from the boat looking toward the boat house.
I caught one little perch, and John and Emily caught 5 or 6 fish.





Saturday night we had a little birthday party for Cindy and Grandma. Emily enjoyed playing with her cousin Heather, Cindy's youngest.
We went to church with Brenda and the grandparents Sunday morning after packing up the car. I won't be mentioning to anyone in my congregation here that we attended the Christian church! We ate lunch in Waynesville before coming back home through Branson again.

We stopped at a little kiddie park and let the kids ride rides and play mini-golf. They had fun, but it was hot! This teacup ride had a wheel they could spin in the middle. The ride started, and Emily started spinning the wheel. They weren't really spinning very fast around, but Ethan's face kept looking worse and worse. Finally John was able to reach out and stop the spinning when they came around again. Ethan looked like he was about to throw up (but he didn't).
It was good to get home Sunday night. I like traveling, but it's always good to get back to my own bed.
On the way to Missouri, Emily was complaining about her little brother, as usual, and she asked, "Mommy, can you think of anything more annoying than Ethan?" I replied, "You and Ethan together?" John thought that was pretty funny.

So much for keeping this blog updated often! I actually went to Facebook and registered the other day. I just looked at the Harding lists and tried to find people I knew. I haven't figured out everything about it yet, so those of you who are Facebook-savvy, feel free to give me some help. I don't have a good picture of me yet, but will add one sometime.
The summer seems to be passing quickly for me. I met Mom and her friend Patti in Hope last Friday to drop off the kids on my way to Hot Springs. I had a wonderful weekend with my mommy-friends from Searcy. It was very relaxing, but I'm SO not a night person. Staying up until 3 both nights was a hard thing to do. There were 16 of us who stayed in 2 condos, and I got to sleep in the living room on a cot. I guess it was my turn, though - I slept in a bed the last two years. I left Sunday afternoon and met Mom at church in Ashdown. I slept with Ethan (3-year-old son) Sunday night. Needless to say, I was ready to get back in my own bed Monday night!! I did NOT get up to walk Tuesday morning, either. Christal had called and said she wasn't going, luckily. I feel more back on track today. We walked this morning, and I finally feel recovered.
Ethan is wearing big-boy underpants as of yesterday, though he still wears pull-ups for sleeping and going out (to church, store, etc.). He's done pretty well, but hasn't done number 2 in the potty yet. I hope that comes soon. My friend, Staci, has a son just a little older than Ethan, and I asked her about Kyle's training. She said she just took a few days and worked with no pull-ups - just real undies - and said it went more quickly that way. I knew I would have to do that, but just didn't want to! It has been nice to take the changing pad off the dryer and use it (the dryer) for folding clothes again.
John had the weekend to himself. He wanted to go to Little Rock and ride the Wye Mountain loop, but couldn't find anyone to do it with him. He hung out in Little Rock and went to a movie.


July 4th was fun. John had tickets for the Travelers game, so we went to that and stayed for the fireworks show after.
We're going to Missouri this weekend to see John's grandparents. My mother-in-law is staying with them this week. The only bad thing about that is we'll miss seeing my father-in-law and Bonthu in Searcy. They are doing a presentation on the work in India at College Church on Sunday. I hate to miss seeing Bonthu. I first met him in Michigan when John and I were engaged. Those of you who live in Searcy should try to see them. That's a work that's close to our hearts, and those of my in-laws.



Speaking of in-laws, I'm blessed with some that are wonderful. They are different than my parents, of course, but I quickly grew to appreciate and love them when we married, especially hearing some stories about other in-laws from friends. I really couldn't ask for better - besides being family, they are also friends. I call my mother-in-law almost as much as I call my mom. I even have a great sister-in-law. We love being with her and her family. I wish we didn't live so far apart. That's the only negative.
Here's a picture of John with Emily (he's very proud of that sweatshirt, by the way) and Brenda with Emily "painting" Christmas cookies.
On a final note, John wants me to play in a couples scramble with him in a couple of weeks at the Fordyce Country Club. It's not quite on the same level as Chenal in Little Rock. ha ha I haven't even picked up a golf club in at least seven years (when I was pregnant with Emily). Even then, I wasn't any good. I hope I have time to go out and hit some balls before, not that it will make any difference!

This will be a short post, but my goal is to update at least once a week, so here goes.
We met Mom and Katie at Petit Jean last weekend. All the cabins at the park and Tanyard Springs were full, so we stayed in a little house out at the Rockefeller Institute. It was not new, but clean and nice, especially for the price. It had 3 bedrooms and 2 baths, with a kitchen, living/dining area, and even a laundry room. We ate supper at the lodge Friday night. Saturday Mom, Ethan, and I walked the Cedar Creek trail, and John and Emily did the Cedar Falls trail. Mom didn't think she was quite up to doing that one. I still ended up carrying Ethan part of the way, but it was fun. Katie stayed behind in bed because she wasn't feeling well. Luckily she felt better that afternoon and went to the pool with us. The pool is huge, but looked smaller than I remember it being when I was a kid. And they had taken out the high diving board. We were getting ready to leave when the lifeguards made everyone get out of the pool because of lightning. We drove to Morrilton to eat supper, then came back, put the kids to bed, and watched most of the movie Hitch on TV.
We went to church up on the mountain Sunday morning. It was even smaller than ours at home - 15 or 16 people were there. Emily went home with Mom, and we drove to Little Rock to eat lunch. It was a quiet week without Emily at home. I missed her, but not the fighting she and Ethan usually engage in frequently! Since she was gone, it seemed a good time to work on Ethan's potty training. I decided not to get stressed out about it. He's in pull-ups and doing pretty well with number 1. We talked to Emily every day, but Mom called Tuesday night and said she was missing her mommy and daddy. I drove to Mom's Wednesday, and we had lunch together (yummy!) before the kids and I came home.
My garden's doing well. I have cucumbers coming along and some squash (finally!). There are about 5 or more little cantaloupes growing. I stopped at the Old Columbus Herb Farm (oldcolumbus.com) to buy some mint. It's a neat little place. They also have homemade soap, but the supply is low right now. He gave me 2 bars as samples (free!). He did tell me that mint is invasive, so I'll put it in pots instead of my garden.
I hate to write and run, but I have a lot to do today.
One question: how do you get a 3-year-old boy to look at the CAMERA?!?
Those green things are cantaloupe!

We spent last week with my in-laws in Michigan. The weather was great, except for rain on a day or two. One day the high was 65! Most of the time it was beautifully sunny and mildly warm. Here is a picture of Emily on the carousel at the mall. My mother-in-law keeps our frequent riders card for us. They added a second story since we were there at Christmas.
John and I actually got out a couple of times on our own, which was nice. We went out to eat Monday night with some friends from church and got a tour of the hospital, which was beautiful (yes, the hospital!). It had a garden inside it, and didn't smell like a hospital at all. They have a prestigious award prominently displayed, but I didn't get a picture of it.


Here is a picture of Emily with her cousin, Lee, at a friend's pool. The water temp was 60, so there wasn't a whole lot of swimming going on! They all had chill bumps and chattering teeth.






On Thursday we went to Lake Michigan and visited some friends staying in a cabin close by. It would've been the perfect day for it, except for the gale force winds. We sat close down by the water to try and avoid the sand stinging our legs. Ethan spent two minutes walking along the water, and spent the rest of the time huddled in a towel. Emily said the lake was warmer than the pool was!


Here is a picture of Kathy holding Ethan. Notice how the wind is blowing his hair! Kathy brought a small cooler with some drinks and fresh cherries in it. There aren't many things better than a fresh sweet cherry. I wonder if I can find any good ones around here. John didn't pack Ethan's swim trunks, so he just wore his "Ariel" swim diaper. I needn't have worried, though. We were the ONLY ones there (see below)!



Here are some other random things we got to do while there: go out for ice cream riding in an RV (Thanks David and Marci - I'm trying to convert John into a camper), see the 3rd 3-hour Pirates of the Caribbean movie (My advice: wait until it comes out on video if you want to see it at all), walk on the Kal-Haven trail, play Monopoly (I won!!!) and cards (I won 1 game), worship with the Plainwell church, and eat my mother-in-law's Spanish rice and other yummy cooking. We spent Friday night in Fort Wayne with my sister-in-law before driving home Saturday. We went out for our last Mexican food fix with them and got to see their new church building (still being built). They have been meeting in a school building.

I enjoyed the Pirates movie, but there were several spots where it seemed to be ending, but didn't. And then when it did finally end, they implied yet another sequel. Please don't. Neither one of the last two was as good as the first one.

Lara, I have read chapter two of the Keener book, but need to look over it again before commenting. I think I'm about halfway through chapter three.

I just found out that there is a limit on how many pictures you can put in one post. :-( I'll do my garden update later. It grew a lot while we were gone! I picked green beans Sunday morning, and we ate them for lunch. YUM

I thought I'd include some pictures of my garden that I took this morning. It's really coming along. We ate up the 2 squares of mesclun and the square of radishes. I decided that the spinach wasn't doing that well, and I didn't want to wait for the swiss chard anymore, so I pulled those 4 squares up and replanted all the empty squares. Ethan planted beans in 4 squares, Emily planted carrots in one square, and I planted basil and lavender in the other 2 squares. Emily is playing Vanna for me with her new glowstick (Thanks Kim and Willie!).


This is box #1. There are herbs on the front row, lavender, lettuce, and beans (just planted) on the 2nd row, carrots (just planted), lettuce, and beans on the 3rd row, and tomatoes and cantaloupe on the 4th row.













Here is box #2. It has 1 little viola plus mostly squash on the first row, beans on the 2nd row, pepper, tomato, and basil (just planted) on the 3rd row, and cucumber and watermelon on the 4th row. Yes, I know the "don't plant cucumbers next to melons" rule, but I ran out of room. I also know you can't see as much in this one because of the beans. I picked a few yesterday, but not enough to cook! I planted the watermelon mostly to test the frame. I'm curious to see if it holds or not.















Here is another view of box #2, of the back row. I'm sorry it's sideways - I don't know how to turn it. It's right side up in iPhoto, but when I put it in here or paste in an email, it's sideways again. Please email me if you know how to fix this. I would appreciate your help! I'm a little worried that the watermelon might take over. I might have to trim it back at some point. It's growing very quickly. I guess I can just let it go over the fence if I have to.



I know there's not much of any substance in this post, but I really like my little garden. Everything has at least a bloom, if not actual produce yet. Since I put it together, the maintenance has been really easy. I just go out and check it most days and spend a couple of minutes pulling weeds - there usually aren't many. If it needs water, I use a 2 gallon watering can (the water spout is very close). I'm not including a picture, but I also have a pumpkin plant in one of the flower beds, with a trellis for it, too.

I finished chapter 2 of the Bible study book a few days ago. Whew! It takes me a while to read because I actually have to think about it. I'm not used to that!
;-)

As a teacher I always enjoyed having summers off, but as a parent, I'm not so sure. I enjoy having Emily home, but she and Ethan are constantly at each other's throats. Well, that's not exactly true. They were pretty good between breakfast and lunch today. We'll have to work on that, I guess.
Willie, Kim, and Jake came to see us last weekend. I must have been using their camera when taking pictures, because I don't have any good ones of Jake! They came Friday night, and we grilled chicken for supper. Saturday morning, John and Willie went for a bike ride, and we played with kids and got showers. We all ate lunch at the bakery - yum. I even got pie for dessert. At least Willie and Kim shared theirs. Nobody else would help with mine (coconut). By the way, Jake is the most happy and easy-going baby I've seen, including my own children (who were great)! He hardly ever fussed. He's also chunky for 4 1/2 months, so Kim has some great biceps from holding him. Very sweet! It wasn't enough to make me want to get pregnant again, though. Two is enough for us. :-)



Speaking of dessert, my weight has gone up 3 pounds or so. I have started walking every weekday with a friend at the civic center, so I'm hoping to trend back down in the next couple of weeks! We meet at 6, so I've been trying to get in bed earlier. She can't go tomorrow, but I will. I've been starting to do some slow jogging, too. I used to really like running, and am looking forward to doing that again. I haven't had any trouble with my knees so far. I think losing that 15 pounds helped with that, plus walking so much before starting to jog.
Well, I'm starting to ramble, and I just got a new book at book club tonight that I want to start before falling asleep. The last one was sad, but good (Snow Flower and the Secret Fan). Good night, all!

I wanted to tell you what we did for Mother's Day (the actual day). We went to early service so that the kids could go to children's worship (Ethan's finally old enough!!!!). After church Katie fixed an excellent brunch - thanks, Katie! Ethan took his nap, and some of the rest of us did, too! We started back home around 3, I think. We stopped at the mall in Little Rock for John to pick up his pants, but we didn't stay. I didn't want to waste such a pretty day inside. We ate an early supper at IHOP. I picked that because I like it and thought it would be a good choice for the kids. After that we went out to Pinnacle Mountain. The kids played on the playground for a while, and then John suggested we do the climb. Neither one of us had planned on going all the way to the top, but that's what we did. We didn't help Emily at all, but we dragged Ethan up and carried him about half the way down, taking turns. Here is a picture of me with the kids at the top.

It was a little warm, so that's why we have such glowing complexions. :-) I like this picture of John and Ethan. I took it when they were starting down.

I consider myself in decent shape, but my legs are not used to all that climbing! They were shaking like Jell-o by the time we got back down. We all got Powerades from the vending machine. John and I sat down for a while on the nearest bench. The kids went back to the playground to play. Here is a picture of the family right before we got in the car to go home. I think we look very tired, but we are much tireder than we look!

The kids were sound asleep before we got out of Little Rock! I liked the way we spent this day. I really enjoyed it.
Emily's kindergarten "graduation" was last night. They were all so cute and just looked like babies to me. Here is a picture of her with her teacher, Mrs. Teresa. I can't believe Emily's 6 already. She is such a joy (except when arguing with her brother) and so funny. I never know what she's going to say, and she says a lot, usually loudly. Right now she's really into counting money and collecting bugs. Also, she and her dad keep trying to catch this lizard that lives somewhere in our flower beds. She likes to paint pictures, either on the easel or on the computer. Everyone keeps saying she looks so much like me, but I think she looks more like John the older she gets. I'm proud of her!

Note: I couldn't get the preview to work, so I hope the pictures are in the right order and look okay!

Our family had a good weekend. We went to Searcy Friday night to spend the weekend with Katie. She and Mom went to hear theh Arkansas Symphony Orchestra Friday night, so we had Willie, Kim, and little Jake over to visit for a while. Saturday, John got up and went riding with Willie, got cleaned up, and went to Waffle House to eat while we girls all got ready. We took Emily to play with her friend Melissa, and then Mom, Katie, and I went out for lunch and then did some shopping. It was fun just hanging out with the girls! We all met at Los Montano for supper and got to finally meet Scott. He's really nice and funny. Our kids liked him a lot. He seemed to like playing with them, though I'm sure they tried his patience a few times. We went to College church Sunday morning, and it was good to see old friends again. All their kids were bigger, of course, like ours. Katie made us a delicious brunch, and Scott came over to eat with us. We didn't get to go out on his boat this time, but that would be fun this summer.
Here I want to share some memories I have of my mom when I was growing up. Back when I was around 3 years old, I remember sitting in my neighbor's living room watching TV and hearing her concerned voice asking for me. I had been napping with her and woke up early, and decided to go over to my friend's house to watch "Land of the Lost." I'm sure I got a good spanking for that one. I remember her making us oatmeal for breakfast when I was in elementary school. While it was cooking on the stove, she would set out our bowls and put a pat of butter in each one. You'd be surprised at how much better oatmeal is with a little butter in it! Sometimes she would come get me during school so I could eat lunch at home (we lived right across the street). When I was in first grade, there was a tornado warning, and we all had to scrunch down in the hallway at school. I remember crying because I was scared, and then feeling very relieved when she came to get me. I remember crying when she spanked me (when I was old enough to remember it), not because it actually hurt, but because I didn't like to get a spanking. ;-) That smile's for you, Mom. There are so many things I remember, but most of the memories I have are of her taking care of other people and setting such a good example for my sister and me. No matter where we lived, she was always taking care of our neighbors, usually older people. She always spent time visiting with them, taking them food, etc. She also took us to the nursing home a lot to visit people there. My dad's parents lived in the same town, so she helped take care of them, too, plus her parents, who lived an hour away. She also helped my dad do Bible Hour on Sunday nights for years. She took great care of my dad when he got sick and stayed right by his side through all the chemo and radiation. He had tumors on his skin that she cleaned and bandaged several times a day. She is so strong that she seems to be like a rock, but I know that it's not all her - her strength comes from her Father. She is an inspiration to all those around her, and her faith shines through in all that she does. She's not perfect, of course, but she has been and is a wonderful mother, and I love her. Happy Mother's Day, Mom. This post is for you.
I'm including a picture of Mom with Ethan taken earlier this month.

I tried to post several days ago - I just didn't get to finish it and decided not to save it. T-ball started this week, and it's been hectic. Emily has her THIRD game tonight for the week. Luckily most weeks she just has two.
I just took some pictures of my garden. It's doing well, but stuff seems to grow so slowly! I'm ready to eat some cucumbers and salad. We planted some flowers on the front row (in the second picture), but they are so slow, I may replant 3 of those squares with something else. Note to self: violas are pretty, but slow growers - buy transplants next time! I also fertilized with Miracle-Gro today. I think my compost wasn't nutritious and varied enough.
Mom was here for a couple of days last week. It was great having her here. Emily was sick Thursday and Friday with a UTI. Luckily I was able to get her in to see a doctor Thursday morning and get her on antibiotics. Her fever was high for a couple of days.




Here is a picture of Emily's first hit in her first t-ball game Monday. Yippee! She likes the batting and running part, but thinks the outfield is really boring. She scored 2 runs in Tuesday's game. I wish she had inherited more of her grandparents' athletic ability than her parents. John and I weren't and aren't exactly athletically inclined, at least at team sports.

I'm looking forward to our online Bible study on the topic of women and their roles in life and church. If you want more info and might want to join us, click on Lara's link over there to the right. The book we're using, Paul, Women, and Wives is NOT an easy read. It's one of those you have to read slowly and think about rather than just skimming through.
Speaking of Bible study, on a different topic, I picked up a copy of "The Spiritual Sword" at church last night. It's title is "Wolves in Sheep's Clothing", and it discusses a capella versus instrumental worship in church. It's primary target is the Richland Hills church and minister Rick Atchley. I had already listened to Rick Atchley's 3 lessons on this a few weeks ago, when I heard Richland Hills was adding a Saturday instrumental service. I can see why we traditionally haven't had instruments, and I actually prefer a capella, but don't the "instrumental people" sing, too? I mean, if we are singing and worshipping from our hearts, does it really matter if there are instruments present or not? When we visit John's grandparents, we worship with them at a Christian church. A man in our congregation here has said before that he would never consider visiting at a Christian church or any other on a Sunday, since their worship is not acceptable to God. I thought that was a little harsh. I think both sides have good points and will have to study more on my own. But it won't be until later, after the Paul, Women, and Wives study.
Some of the more "traditional church of Christ" people say they want to restore New Testament church and structure everything like the NT church did, but we really don't. It seems to me that we do several things differently than they did, like the Lord's Supper (shared meal/crackers and juice) and singing (congregational and/or solos, groups?), for example. As far as everyday life, didn't at least one of the churches mentioned sell all their possessions and share as anyone had need? I've never heard of any modern church doing anything close to that. Okay, I'm in over my head right now. I better quit! I will say I think God left enough room for different cultures and times to have their own style and still be acceptable to him.

On a different topic, I've been subjecting my family to "chipotle peppers in adobo sauce"-themed meals this week. You only use 1 or 2 peppers per recipe, and you have a whole can to use!! I just love the smoky flavor those impart to whatever you put them in. However, they do put out a slow but fiery heat that's hard for little kids and John to tolerate for very long. I'm giving them a break tonight and just making hamburgers. I also get to work in the concession stand at the ball park tonight from 7:30-9:30.

One week ago today my grandmother died. Katie called me with the news after Mom called her around lunch. She had not been doing well for a few weeks, but we didn't suspect this so soon. I'll miss her - she was my last grandparent. She is the little girl on the very left. Thanks for the picture, Katie. Starting with her and going clockwise, they are Mozelle Cannon Brown, Dorothy Cannon (?), Carroll Cannon, Ida Mae Cannon Porterfield, and John Cannon.
Grandmother was born in 1919 at Saratoga, Arkansas. When this picture was made, I'm guessing she was around 5 or 6 years old. She was a tall thin girl who loved to play basketball when she was a teenager. She was young during the depression, and like many of her contemporaries, learned to not waste anything or throw anything away that could possibly be used again. She picked cotton with her mother and older brother for extra money, and paid for her class ring that way. She married my Pa-Paw after graduating from high school, and he was almost 10 years older. She lost her first baby when she was 7 months pregnant, but then had my uncle and my mother later. Pa-Paw worked for the railroad and was gone during the week, but would come home on the weekends. Besides keeping house and caring for my mom and uncle, she also took care of their cows and did part time work as a store clerk and mail carrier. She volunteered for the school, as many of those mothers did, and was a camp counselor at times (one of the first at Wyldewood). Mom told me she helped all the widows in the community - taking them to the doctor, caring for them when they were sick, etc. Now, my grandmother had a type A personality. She also had her quirks like anyone else, but as a person and mother, I admire her greatly. She was always a Christian and a lady. She was a hard worker all her life. It's a good thing I didn't know her when she was younger - I probably could NOT have kept up with her! Another thing - when she sold her house and moved to the retirement center a few years ago, she unloaded all her saved up toilet paper, paper towels, and Kleenex on us. We didn't have to buy any of that for a l-o-n-g time. She also had the biggest ever collection of bags - paper AND plastic. Not only store bags, but washed Ziplocs.
Of all her siblings, she was the last to go. It was sad at the funeral to say goodbye not only to her, but to that generation of the family. Well, that's not entirely true. Luckily we still have a couple of great-aunts, widows of her brothers.
My favorite memories of her are spending a week or two with them during the summer when we were kids, her taking us swimming at my uncle's, her yummy milkshakes made with DQ ice cream, her wonderful cooking, and all of her cooking advice to me. She hadn't done this in years when she died, but when we would visit and call out to her from across the room or across the house, she would answer with "Yooo-hooooo." That always cracked me up, but that's how I plan to find her when we get to heaven. ;-)

Have I mentioned that one thing we do have here is a wonderful bakery? It's really too wonderful. Every time I go there (at least once a week), this sign taped to the register shouts out at me, "Biscuit with sausage gravy $1.50." I finally broke down this morning - after my 4 mile walk, I might add. It was heavenly. I haven't even gone over my calorie quota TOO much.
Last fall I put one of the kids' pumpkins from the pumpkin patch in my flower pot on the driveway (probably to just get it out of the way, but I don't remember). It rotted, of course. I noticed yesterday that I now have pumpkin plants coming up among the flowers, so I'm going to transplant them to the back yard and build a little trellis for them. I also found a nest in one of my bushes that has 4 eggs in it, blue with brown speckles. I've seen the birds, but don't know what they are yet.
We didn't have church last night. Too many people were either sick or out of town. John went to Little Rock for an all day meeting yesterday. He went to Sam's to look for his Nesquik. They have changed the formula to have less sugar, and of course, "it's just not the same!" So if you know of where there's a stash of the regular stuff, please let me know. John would be grateful. :-)

Three years ago tonight I was starting to feel "crampy." I was 35 weeks pregnant with a little boy, who was born about three hours later, to my surprise. He was 3 lbs. 12 oz. and 18 inches long. See my previous post about April 9, 1998, which my sister pointed out was almost 9 years ago, not eight as I said. Yes, I did actually major in math. I don't know how to turn that picture the right way, though.
Ethan Matthew is so named because we liked the name Ethan, and his sister gave him Matthew. Flash back to when I was still pregnant. Emily was 2, about to become 3, and kept referring to my growing belly as "Matthew." We were eating lunch at Popeye's after church one day when I decided to ask her why, and she gave me this look like, "Well, duh, Mom." She said, and I quote, "Matthew 5:44, love your enemies." We are still laughing about that one.
Ethan is such a joy, even though I end up wanting to wring his neck at some point most days. He is so sweet and funny. When he laughs, it's from the belly, like he means it. I told my mom recently that he is so stubborn and just can't give up when he wants something he can't have. She just laughed and told me that I'm paying for my raising. Now why would she say that? :-) heh heh
He still can't pronounce Ss or blends, like ch or sh. It would've bothered me if Emily had had that trouble. With him I think it's cute and figure he'll get it eventually. I'm his mother, and I still can't understand everything he says. His favorite things to do are watch "Car" (no Ss, remember?), play outtide, pway (play) in "Emiwee" room, and most of all, open and "cwo" the "gawa" (garage) door.
He had fun at his party. We had my mom, her friend, and our preacher's family over to celebrate Saturday. I just didn't think it necessary to have a bunch of kids over. I will take cupcakes to his preschool, though! Here are some pictures. Isn't he beautiful? God has blessed me with two beautiful, healthy children. I take them for granted sometimes, but I am so thankful for them!


Note: After two years of refusing to eat his birthday cake, he finally ate it! Well, at least he ate the frosting. I also never listen to the Beatles, but that song somehow popped into my head. Or is that somebody else?
Update: I ended up buying cookies at the bakery for his preschool class. Is that bad? ;-) All they do with cupcakes is eat the frosting off anyway.

Wow. Sometimes I just sit down here at the computer and go through reading other people's blogs. Thanks, Lara, for all those links. I like to just keep clicking on links and go from blog to blog reading what other people say. Lately I've been reading blogs by Patrick Mead (actually two of his), Mike Cope, Keith Brenton, Dee Andrews, That Girl, and several others. They ALL make my little blog seem pretty mundane. Many of them not only tell what's going on in their lives, but include some pretty deep questions. I could do that too, I guess, if I took the time.
My dad was a deep thinker and also a people watcher. He made some remarkably accurate observations about people from time to time. I know it's dangerous to make assumptions about what people are thinking or what their motives are, but I can't remember anything he said that was meant to be taken in a mean way at all. I still miss him very much. He died from cancer 8 years ago Monday. That is also Ethan's birthday. He was born 5 weeks early 3 years ago, and my personal opinion is that God sent him on that particular day so we (especially my Mom) would have something to cheer us, something to celebrate (beside the fact that we will see Dad someday in a much better place). He would have been so crazy about his grandkids. I wish he could've been around for them. He wasn't perfect, but he was such a Godly man and respectable and honest. The thing I miss most is just talking to him. He was always asking us to "just talk to me", and always took the time to listen. He must've been uncomfortable at times on several subjects we discussed, but he never seemed that way. He was the kind of person who would say what needed to be said when no one else had the courage to say it, even when he knew he would not be voted Mr. Popular. I can only hope that when I die, my children will have that kind of respect and appreciation for me. I'm thankful that he was with us as long as he was.
Whew! That was draining. I haven't talked about Dad much here lately, and I wish I could express in words what he meant to me. It's just impossible. Wow. I really got off on a tangent, didn't I? I'm thankful for the grandparents my kids DO have around.
Ethan will have a "Lightning McQueen" party tomorrow. I have the frosting out to soften (I made it Wednesday and put it in the frig), and the cake is made. We're not having a little kids party - just a "grown-ups who love you" party. I am taking cupcakes to his preschool Tuesday, though.
I will have to cover my little plants and sprouts tonight. It's supposed to be 30 degrees! My beans are starting to come up. Here is a picture I took at the zoo last week. I thought it was pretty good (look at those azaleas!!!!), even though Ethan wouldn't look at the camera.

I just realized I used the word "Wow" twice. Oh well. Keep up the good work, most excellent bloggers, even though none of you read mine, I'm sure. Thanks for inspiring us wanna-bes. :-)

The kids and I planted some more in our garden today. We went to Wal-Mart and got some tomato plants. Emily got a cherry tomato, Ethan got one called Better Boy, and I got a Roma. We planted those and then planted beans, cucumbers, and some basil. It's actually a little early to plant those (according to the average last frost date), but I figured if they could live in the WM parking lot, they'd do okay in my garden! I can cover them if it's going to get too cold, I guess. I also got one of my trellises up. I just hope that squirrel (or whatever) quits digging around.
Since we aren't going anywhere for spring break this week, we decided to take the kids to the zoo in Little Rock. We did that and then did just a little shopping, ate supper, ate ice cream, and then went to see one of our church members who's in the hospital.
John commented to me while we were eating that he doesn't mind living here as much as he thought he would. I admitted I liked it, too. This is a small town with many disadvantages (so-so schools, way too many fire ants, different culture, not as close to LR as I'd like, lack of shopping, etc.), but there are so many good people here. Everyone has been so good to us, especially at church. I can't believe we've already been here 8 months! There are a few advantages to a small town, too, especially when your husband is the new admin. at the hospital. Everyone has at least heard of you, and giving directions is easy - just tell them who used to live there! Maybe I should re-read that email I sent out a while back about 10 good things about moving here. Or was that a blog? I can't remember. I think it was an email.
I haven't been able to get back to the instrumental issue lately. I really need to catch up with my Bible reading! I'm SO behind, I'm not going to tell you how far. Also, it's so late, I don't have the brain power to get deep tonight. I will say reading all your blogs is so encouraging to me. I enjoy so much keeping up with what's going on up there in Searcy. I miss ALL of you! When school's out, maybe some of you could bring your kids down for a play day and we could visit the bakery. Lara, I'm on a plateau right now. I have only walked 2 miles this week, and have splurged too much - Bunco Tuesday night and ice cream tonight! Desiree, I admire your candor. I wish I had gotten to know you better before we left, and I wish our Emilys could have been in Kindergarten together. :-( Donna, I miss you just being you. Rachel, you are a mom I look up to a lot! I wish I had your patience. My list is too long to go on - I read many others, too. Please don't get offended if I didn't mention you by name (Katie - I talk to you alot). It helps to know that others struggle with the same issues you do. I would write more, but I HAVE to go to bed!

I have some sprouts! The first picture is spinach, and the other one is lettuce. The kids' flowers aren't up yet, but they probably will be soon. It's a slow process, but it's fun to watch all that come up.
John left Sunday for New Orleans, and got home last night. I was dreading it a little, just having the kids to myself for that long, but I really didn't mind so much. We had fun. I was disappointed not to get my walk in Tuesday, though. Ethan woke up with pink eye, so I had to keep him home from preschool AND hold him down to put drops in his eyes, no small feat. Here's a tip for those of you who might have to do that at some point: wrapping the child in a towel makes it a little easier. At least it kept his arms and hands out of the way. His antibiotic for the ear infection ran out early, and I think he'll need some more. His nose is starting to crust up again. At least Emily's well right now!
I found in my online reading of different blogs a link to Richland Hills church of Christ's website, where you can download lessons. I actually ended up getting it through iTunes, but I got the 3 lessons Rick Atchley did on the "Both And church." For those of you who may not be aware, this church is starting a Saturday night service that offers instrumental music. I'm not sure if they have started it or not, but it's supposed to start sometime this spring. Anyway, I was curious about how they decided this would be acceptable worship, and thought I should listen to what they had to say before I made any judgement. My thought when I first heard about it was, "How in the world can they have a service on Saturday night?" I had an issue with that more than the instrumental part. I have listened to all the lessons once, and am working on going through them again, this time without cleaning as I'm listening and with a Bible open in front of me. I've listened to the first one again so far. I'll have to say, he made some valid points. I personally prefer acapella music myself, but I've always wondered about the argument we make for that only and thought it was weak. We have gone to a Christian church, where John's grandparents are members, and it was weird singing with a piano, but I didn't feel like it had anything to do with how I was worshipping in my heart. Only time will tell how this plays out among the rest of the church. I just hope that people can be Christian about it, discuss it in love, and if they need to, agree to disagree without being bitter. Any thoughts from you? Let me know. I'm still digesting this in my head, so if you have already done so, I'd be interested.