A Year in the Life

Allison, Lauren, Will D. & Hop waiting to pick out a locker Today started the school registration process for the fam.  Today is high school, tomorrow middle school & Thursday will be 4th grade registration.  Lots of paperwork, lots of fees, but all for a great education.  What will their schedules be; which teachers will they have; will there be anyone they know in their classes?  For any school age child, these are huge questions.  Who wants to be in a class with no friends?  I remember those classes.  Even if you have a great teacher, having no friends makes for a long year.  We've had a few years like this.  So far, so good. Decisions, Decisions The good thing about high school is that you know what classes you are going to have, especially if your a senior.  The only thing that is up in the air is the teachers.  Hop has great teachers this year.  He has my pre-cal teacher for AP Cal, and ...

I'm doing a double posting today.  I want to remember my friend Debbi.  Do you remember your very first friend from school?  I do, I remember meeting her like it was yesterday.  We were as opposite as the day is long, and growing up I loved her dearly. It was the first day of first grade.  We had just moved to Dunwoody, Georgia.  I knew no one.  I saw her in the room.  She was tall, blond, and had the cutest little pigtails.  I was short, dark headed, and had long hair.  She was sweet, I was loud.  She made me laugh, and I loved my very first best friend. We had a lot in common.  We both swam, danced, and would spend hours listening to records.  Every time I hear Double Dutch Bus and The Boy From New York City I think of Debbi.  I'm shocked her sister Dana didn't steal the records and shatter them.  I loved spending the night at Debbi's house.  Her mom would make us chocolate chip p...

I'm surfing the net while I wait for the clothes in the washing machine to be done so I can start the next load.  I'm scrolling on a page and Elle magazine has some pictures with the tagline:  'Denim gets a Daring New Makeover'.  Well, well.  I think I want to see this.  I may be 40, but I haven't totally fallen off the fashion wagon yet.  I'm looking and scrolling, and I have to say their 2012 denim guide has me wanting to cry.  Guess what's back?  The 80's.  Oh my, the 80's. Do you remember the 80's?  I do, I am a child of the 80's.  Big hair , Very big hair, maxi skirts, pencil skirts, ruffles, pencil leg pants and jeans, rompers.  So far, everything in the 2012 denim guide is a flashback to the 80's.  The only thing I didn't see was the big hair.  I'm afraid, very afraid.  You know what's going to be next....shoulder pads.  Remember those?  We all looked like lineb...

So, the fam and I have Olympic fever.  As you know, if the US was playing tiddlywinks, we'd watch it & cheer for the red, white, and blue.  There were some things that happened this weekend that made me raise my eyebrows or wrinkle them up.  Here they are: Story #1: US women's soccer Abby Wambauch getting sucker punched in the eye by Columbia's Lady Andrade.  What?!  Apparently FIFA is looking into the incident; we'll see what happens....   Ms. Andrade says it was an accident.  Um, well, on the video , it didn't look like an accident.  Abby was no where near the ball & Lady comes streaking up & just clocks her.  That's sportsmanship for you. Story #2: Jordyn Wieber . 17 years old.  USA gymnast.  And before the games started, Jordyn was favored  to help carry the team to gold, and to earn one for herself in the all-around.  She is now the face of the agony of defeat....

I'm not going to do a typical good read for today's posting.  There is the ultimate good read that I haven't posted about.  It's one that has saved my life not just here on earth, but for eternity.  It's a love letter.  It's been misquoted and misused, and improperly used to hurt millions, but if you know the truth that's found within, it will set you free.  It's a book that I want my children to know and love. Right now though, I'm sitting here alone, missing my peeps.  The older three are at Motion :  our church's student conference.  The cool thing is, I can worship from home & watch the messages they are seeing.  I love the internet & live streaming!  It has been a great conference so far, and the speakers that are here have been speaking biblical truths to all the kids.  I have been so blessed to be able to talk to the children about what they heard & what their thoughts are.  I really wanted to ...

...so we don't repeat it anytime in the future.  Today is day five in my 'good reads' journey.  You know, not all good reads are happy.  A lot of times they are hard hitting, thought provoking, and something that will rip your heart out.  It makes you ask why.  Why do we allow some things to perpetuate?  Why do we follow in silence?  Why is it hard to do or say the right thing when you have the opportunity to either make something right or at least better? I read  this article written by Guri Weinburg about the 1972 massacre of 11 Israeli Olympic athletes by the PLO 'Black September' group.  It is a gut wrenching piece about his father who was the first of the Israelis murdered.  It made me think, and it made me sad.  I was 9 months old when these killings happened, so obviously I don't remember it first hand.  Guri was only a month old.  He never really knew his father, only other's memori...

Look it up for yourself.... This was a common phrase in my home growing up.  My mom & dad would almost NEVER answer a question for us.  They would tell us to look it up for ourselves, or if it was a math problem, we had to try to solve it first by ourselves.  When I was young, I hated this phrase more than anything.  Come on mom, just tell me the answer!  But you know what, she was right not to tell it to me, because she knew I would remember it better if I had to take the time to find it.  Remember young people, these were the days before computers.  I mean, we had to use the card catalog to find books in the library.  It took time to find answers I was looking for, it wasn't googled and then over 1 million options pop up.  You prayed you could find at least one. It's funny how we will take something on the Internet, news or any media source and assume it's true.  WRONG!  H...

Day three in sharing thought provoking stories.  I'm really liking this.  I feel like a critic, but in a good way.  Too much negative...need more positive!  I read this article  tonight and I thought of my sorority sister Andi.  Andi is a blogger...no scratch that, she is an incredible freelance writer. (she may disagree, but read for yourself & decide.  I think she's pretty darn good.)  Andi is a lion of a mother.  She is inspiring and she shares her heart. Today a precious 10 month old was named as a swimsuit model for DCKids.  (I think they're based in Spain???)  Ok, that's no big deal.  Children are named as models all the time right?  Well yes, but this precious one has Down Syndrome.  I understand all the hoopla, but then again I don't.  Yes, she has Down's, but that's not what I noticed first.  I noticed a beautiful reflection of The Maker.  She is precious....

I think, because I posted 4 articles I considered great reads yesterday, I'm going to do the same thing this entire week.  It may not be four articles, but ones that I think warrent reading.  Here is the Tuesday installment for great reads. This article  is article number two.  It's written by a very kind, very smart lady; Rachel is her name.  She has written about six different kinds of numbers that don't tell the whole story about someone.  You know what?  I like this article...I like it a lot.  I like it because the points she talks about are very valid and often overlooked.  (I'm not going to tell you what she writes about, just read the article!) Thanks Rachel for a great thought provoking read! Celebrating Life! ~ashley

I read quite a few things today.  All of the were much more thought provoking than anything I would write.  I wanted to share them with you.  There are four articles I want you to read.  Try not to cry with some of them, because if you can, you're a stronger person than I am. Story 1: A beautiful CaringBridge  posting by Bill Black, father to three beautiful children and husband to Laura, who passed away one month ago today.  The posting are his thoughts about his wife and his life since she passed away.  Beautifully written and moving.  Stories 2 and 3: Miracles happen everyday in every circumstance, even when someone has given into evil.  Everyone has heard about the shooting in Aurora by now, but what you may not have heard are some of the miracles that have happened because of it.  The first story is about a woman who was shot four times:  three times in the arm and once in the head....

Dear Parents, if you have a child that is a diva, or doesn't deal well with the word 'no', this posting is for you.  I'm sorry if it offends, well not really, because I'm doing you and everyone who has to be around your child a favor.  Let me start off by saying that Elizabeth and I are not divas.  We are well read, intelligent, and can attain things by clearly communicating what we would like.  We don't pout, pitch fits, or scream.  As a matter of fact, none of my children have ever done anything like this, well, ever.  I had dealings with a diva today, and I can tell you that is was one of the most unpleasant happenings of my month.  If pretty is as pretty does, then this child is horribly ugly.  Here's what happened: I was sitting with another child who just needed a little extra love today.  It happens, and it is my pleasure to help a child feel secure at church.  (sometimes big crowds can be a little too much for ...

this is not my leg, you can't see my toes sticking out. :) As  you know, I'm a bad patient.  I do not like wearing my boot.  It's big, cumbersome, and slows me down to a snail's pace, so while I'm at home I don't wear it. Today I went to WalMart, and yes, I was wearing my boot.  I decided to use the trip like a workout even though I couldn't do speed grocery.  (a version of speed golf taken from the movie HouseGuest with Sinbad & Phil Hartman.  Very funny!)  So many people wanted to know if I wanted one of those little scooters.  That is a resounding no.  I was going to hobble around the store, leaning  heavily on the cart, and get my shopping done. I only had a handful of things to get, but they were scattered all over the store.  About halfway into the journey I really wanted a scooter.  This is partially because I was looking at this precious little boy who was trying to ...

I've been doing A LOT of paperwork today.  I feel like I've been working hard, but then I feel like I'm hardly working.  Round and round in circles:  read, print, email, file; read, print, email, file.  Wash, rinse, repeat.  Oui, you could get dizzy.  I complain, but I love it.  I love the details & thinking about what can be.  That's what in my paperwork, the can be.  Love it! Well, I have some more read, print, email & file before I go out to dinner with a group from church.  It's going to be fun.  Y'all have a great night! Celebrating Life! ~ashley

You know how you have friends who have random talents, totally obscure, and totally useless talents.  Well, I have a few.  I know you're totally shocked.  One I learned in high school as a freshman & the other I learned in college as a sophomore.  I'm sure I have others but these are the most prominent.  You know when you eat something sour and little drops of spit will fly out of your mouth?  I've heard it called snake spitting, yanging, or gleeking.  No matter what you call it, I can do it at random.  I know, it's gross.  What can I say?  I had a lot of guy friends in high school and they taught me how.  I'll eat something sour and can spit 10-12 times in a row without stopping.  When the kiddos were young they thought it was hilarious, and would ask me to do it a ton of times in a row.  Now they'll just shake their heads because they don't have this wonderful random talent.  I'm glad my momma...

We went to see the movie Brave today.  It was stormy, yucky, cabin fever was setting in, and the younger two and I wanted to see it, so away we went. I like Disney movies.  They always have a good theme.  The endings are happy and there is humor throughout the entire movie.  I love the talking points you have with children after the movie is over.  Yes, I'm one of those parents who looks for teaching opportunities in almost everything.  If I don't have to think hard about something or learn something new each day, then I didn't stretch myself at all.  (some days are better than others.) One thing we have tried to teach our children is to take personal responsibility for your actions, both the good and the bad.  If you do something great:  own it and thank God for the sense He gave you.  If you make a mistake: own it; truly, from your heart, ask for forgiveness; forgive yourself; fix what you can; thank Jesus f...

I'm a bad patient.  I admit it, I hate being hurt or sick.  There's too much to do and not enough time to get it done in, and now it takes me twice as long to do anything.  I'm horrible about wearing my boot at home.  I just hobble around...carefully...and take care of what I need to do.  If my leg starts to hurt, I might put the boot on or just prop my leg up for a bit, but usually, I'll just suffer through it. This is not always the best thing.  :/  I'll be moving right along taking care of mommy things or doing what ever work I need to when my calf will have an execrating pain slice through it.  It normally happens when I'm walking and start to lose my balance.  I will feel the muscle tense up and it's all downhill from there, until the muscle relaxes again.  I know the muscle tensing is not random, I know it does it because I'll probably fall if it doesn't.  It reminds me of when you w...

Let me start off my saying that is there is some random way I can hurt myself, I'm pretty sure I'll do it.  I'm such a dork.  I mean, I know, from my children, that I'm a goober, so that's not earth shattering news, but now I have the boot to prove it.  In March I had hoped that my hurting knees from snow skiing would be the worst thing to happen to me this year.  That is a no go. So, it's 8 am.  We're at the pool because Elizabeth & Henry have swim practice & I'm going to do Zumba, because it rocks.  I completely forgot that Zumba didn't start until 10:30 today.  Bleh, oh well, I guess I'm coming back to workout at 10:30.  I drive the peeps home, run by the bank, and then get back in time for the class to start.  I LOVE IT.  I love my instructor.  She is a great teacher.  The choreography of her routines make sense; they aren't too hard, but you can make them harder if you want to.  We've done the w...

Wow, I feel like I need a nap.  I have been cooking dinners this afternoon for the next few nights.  CraZy.  I grouse, but you know I love it.  Especially since I'm cooking some of the things the fam has been asking me to cook for at least the last month.  :)  I hope it is like a happy little surprise.  Hopson will get his chicken meatballs, Harry his Friday special, and they all like the hamburger pie.  Wins all around, and a mom who will be at peace because no throwing something together last minute.  :) Yea!!!  I think I may have to start doing this more often, especially once school starts.  It's kind of a pain while you're cooking, but now that I'm done I feel such a sense of accomplishment.  It's not that what I was cooking was difficult; it just takes time to get all the ingredients together and cook each thing.  I used three different kinds of meat for the meals this week, but normal...

The tag on the cookies. I dont' know why it won't turn the right way.  :/ Today was my church's annual Serve Day.  It is a chance for the church family to go into our city and show the love of Jesus in a tangible way.  The sky is the limit.  If you can do it to show someone some love, or help someone that needs to be helped...go for it.  The video team put together a video recap of some things that went on today. Josh, Henry & Elizabeth We had a cool experience as we said a little thank you to the firemen & police in our city.  As Elizabeth, Henry & Henry's friend, Josh, delivered the cookies to one of the local fire stations, one of the men on duty asked them if this was how they were serving today. They said yes, and he said that since he was on duty he wasn't going to get to participate in Serve Day.  It was cool to know that we were able to serve a member of the church who serves and puts his ...

Henry & me outside the theater. I had a date today.  No, not with Hopson; wish, but no.  I had a date with my favorite 10 year old, Henry. Our orthodontist and friend, Dr. Jeff, rents out a movie theater once a summer and gives his patients plus one friend, free passes to see a movie!  The other children already had plans, so Hen & I went.  It was nice because it's never just the two of us.  Today we saw Ice Age 4.  Very funny & very cute, and it actually has some good themes in it.  I love it when they combine funny & helpful life lessons into children's movies.  Hopefully all the little people, and bigger little people who see it will pick-up on those themes:  being a true friend; being yourself; making the right decision; saying you're sorry when you make a mistake; forgiveness; loving family members you might see as a little weird; the importance of family; parents having troubl...

Weird.  I hope you weren't hoping I would say pregnant, because that's just mean.  To paraphrase Bill Cosby:  "I have four children, and the reason I have four children is because I do not want five."  I love my kids, I think they're awesome, but I don't know if I could take being pregnant again.  Nine months of throwing up is not my idea of a fabulous garden party.  Anyway, back to the weirdness.  I love funny signs.  :) I think this is something we've always known, but I'm afraid it's getting worse the older I get.  How much longer until the fam says:  'well, we tried to reign her in and make her act right, but she's just too far gone.  Now go with the nice man in the white coat momma.'.  I have a feeling that I'm passing it on to my children.  They will say and do stuff that is just crazy.  With a lot of it, I'll try not to laugh, but just can't help it.  The rest of the fam...

Also known as Summer Blast...Day Three.  Everyone take a big deep breath, give a little phew, and you know you'll flash a huge smile.  Seeing children experience the risen savior will do that to you!  Today was the end of a great kid's conference.  The SideKicks Mr. Nathan & I work with didn't want it to end & they already can't wait until next year.   (I talked to a lot of kids who didn't want it to end either.  What a great problem to have!) Today was the last day for summer blast.  It's one of those bittersweet times.  Anyone who works a VBS will tell you it's hard work, but so amazing.  It's amazing to be able to serve with adults and teenagers who love to show Jesus and pour life into the children of our city.   Everything about it was fun; worship, games, cinema, snack, and the imagination station.  The game today was the bomb.  All kids li...

So yesterday I mentioned that worship is one of my favorite parts of Summer Blast.  I have to say it still is.  Today I wanted to listen to the theme song for VBS, so I did what my children would do & looked it up on youtube.  I had a hard time finding it.  When I looked up the the name of the curriculum, and clicked on the music I noticed rather quickly that their theme song and ours was not the same.  Hum...I'm not surprised by it, but for real, I need to find it!  Oh great, that means they changed the music, and I have no idea who wrote the rockin' song we're using that I can't get out of my head. I'm serious.  It's playing a continuous loop in my noggin.  I...just...need...to...hear...the...song...and...dance!  I emailed Anna, who works in our children's ministry department, to find out who sings the song.  I knew she would get back to me asap; thank goodness!  A few minutes later I received my answer....

Worship; Day One; Summer Blast 2012 Today began Summer Blast 2012 at my church.  (VBS for those of us over the age of 10.)  We had, we think, at least 2000 children.  Yes, that is 2000.  It was awesome & incredibly insane.  I've seen more than that many teenagers worshipping together before, but to have that many children is indescribable.  I have to say I think, of the entire day, worship was my favorite.  Our church's worship team played, and it just took it to a whole different level.  It's the difference between listening to a song on your ipod and going to the live concert.  The two are incomparable.  The live version is so much better. We have the most amazing children's pastor & leaders in our church.  (Love you Mrs. Beth & Ms. Natalie!)  The planning for something of this magnitude did not just happen willy nilly.  It's months of working logistics, order...

Why doesn't my cleaning bucket look this cute? Oh yeah, because I actually use it.  :) You know, most of the time, moms and dads clean differently.  I am the kind of person who likes things scrubbed clean and put in their places.  I want whatever I'm cleaning to be shiny and smell wonderfully clean when I'm done.  I don't like to do the bare minimum, and I really don't like a dirty cluttered house. Hopson, on the other hand, is not to terribly concerned with cleanliness.  He will throw his stuff around & let it land where it may.  :/  This is very frustrating and drives me to distraction.  The children have adopted this mantra in life.  (Hence, Not Me has taken up residence.) At the lake this weekend, I stayed behind with the children to get the house cleaned and put back into order.  On the way home I found out an interesting fact:  Hopson only makes the beds and vacuums when he is left to complete the clea...

 The entrance to Santuck flea market. It is so big it's on both sides of the road! The flea market in Santuck is just fun.  And it's HUGE.  It is run by the people of the Santuck community. It has to take at least 100 volunteers to pull this thing off.  I should have taken some pictures of the cars lining the road.  For a little town that doesn't even have a stop light, it's rather impressive.  Hundreds of people show up to walk around, look at the different booths, and hope to get a good deal.  The flea market opens at daybreak and closes at 2pm.  When I say it opens at daybreak, I mean daybreak.  The sun will be barely peaking over the horizon, and there will be a pretty big crowd there.  We arrived at 6:15am, and there were already cars lining the road, and we had to park at the far end of one of the lots.  Oh the agony, I had to actually walk.  Just kidding, it wasn't that bad...

Nothing special today.  I've been on the road since 5:15 am and am somewhat road weary.  I will hopefully have a great posting tomorrow because my sister & I are going to the SanTuck Flee Market!!!  Oh, so much fun to be had.  :)  Celebrating Life! ~ashley

Well, the pretty pretty princess has developed a bad case of swimmer's ear.  I really didn't want to go to the doctor's office today.  I really didn't want to go to the doctor's office today.  I really didn't want to go to the doctor's office today.  Did I mention...well, you get the idea. I decided to try some homeopathic remedies to see if I could get them to dry the water in her ear, and possibly clear any infection..  First I made some homemade Swimmer's Ear.  Equal parts white distilled vinegar, rubbing alcohol, and a little water.  Just in case you don't know:  the vinegar kills any bacteria because of the acidity, and the alcohol helps the water in the middle ear evaporate.  I filled a dropper with the concoction, and then proceeded to burn her ear.  Yep, I did.  She immediately told me it was burning her ear.  You know what that means?  She as an infection.  The alcohol was irritating the inflammation....

Happy 4th of July!!! I've been reading the Declaration of Independence, Constitution, and Bill of Rights a lot lately.   The documents are beautifully written.  If you've never read them as an adult, I highly recommend it.  There are phrases in the there that just hit you in the heart.  They give you a hint as why the founding fathers wanted something not only different, but something better. Something better.  Something free.  Something that put it's people before anything else because it's the people that make this country great.  I love it that our country wants to invest in people.  It makes us special and unique.  One of the things that I read in the Declaration of Independence says:  "But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to pro...