Half Raised

My oldest child is nine today. Nine. That means he's half raised.

Good night moon! Where, oh, where has my little boy gone?

Double his age from right this very minute, and he's gone, off to college somewhere in this great, big world. Wow, that'll wake ya up!

Seriously, I got all teary one day last week when this incredible thought hit me like a ton of Arizona desert rock!

I have been a SAHM every minute of his life, and it feels like I haven't had enough time with this little guy. It goes way too fast. Life truly is but a vapor, and this truth becomes so real when you have been given the amazing gift of a child.

As difficult as it is, I don't regret being a SAHM. Really, I've only got 9 years left to raise this son of mine, and then he will be considered an adult, on his own. I am sitting here thinking, surely this can't be right! Only 9 years left. Crazy, it is.


I could choose to dwell on all the things I think I should have done differently, but I won't. Today I will celebrate my oldest whom I struggled to bring in to this world almost to the point of death. Thank you, God, for letting me stay to raise my son.

Happy birthday, Mullin. I love you with all my heart. ---Mom

In Full Swing

Baseball season is upon us once again!

For just 3 short months our schedule is jam packed with practices and games for our 2 growing boys. This means lots more laundry and picnic dinners!! Night games are very pleasant, weatherly speaking, but it is already pretty toasty during the middle of the day here. We need to buy one of those gigantic umbrellas to shade us from the scorching summer sun!

Shiloh becomes bored easily and doesn't understand why we can't stay at the playground the entire time. Ugh. I want to try and watch as much of their games as possible!!

And here is our star Sidewinder all geared up for some baseball battle!! This is Mullin's first year in kid-pitch league.

Next up is our T-ball playin' Muckdog! He is just a few paces away from scoring a run!!

My Very First Real Coconut

My boys and I thought it would be a fun experience to buy a "real"coconut. I did a little research yesterday on how in the world to cut one. I hope my efforts pay off...
It felt wierd using a screwdriver on a piece of fruit, but it proved to work quite well in poking its "eyes" out.
Mullin is draining the coconut milk into a bowl. Not sure what we are going to use it for. Guess I need to research that now.
Sorry Lincoln, but Mama is going to be the one to hit the coconut and hopefully split it!

I hope this works, and I really hope no one is passing by my garage right now. I am sure I will look very silly!
What do you know-- 2 hits and whammo! I know I am wierd, but I felt so elated after this experience. Trying new things is fun, and since I have no desire to do something really fascinating like, deep sea diving or wrestling alligators, cutting open a coconut was adventurous enough for me.
The meat inside was so smooth and pretty. I wish my teeth were this white!

After all that work I ate a healthy snack of banana, coconut, raw almonds, and local honey. Yum.
My boys weren't so impressed with the taste, but they had a fun time with it.



I must add that I never thought anything could be more difficult and time consuming than cutting open a pomegranate! Acorn squash can be a bit tricky, too, but nothing compares to the coconut! As I was trying my darndest to cut and scrape away at the pearly white meat, I had a lot of time to just think.

As I was scraping away, I thought about how easy it was to get to the milk. Getting to the "meat" on the other hand was taking time, dedication, hard work, and patience. Then, in the quietness of my mind, the Holy Spirit began drawing a mental picture for me, relating the milk and meat of the coconut to the milk and meat of God's holy Word.

As baby Christians, drinking the milk of the Word that is so easily accessible is vital, but we were never meant to be sustained on milk alone. It is just as important to move on to the meat of the Word growing up in the wisdom and knowledge of God and becoming cross bearing servants in His Body, the Church. So many are content to just sit back and sip on milk without ever moving on to the meat. It requires time, dedication, hard work, and patience. It requires sacrificing one's own desires, and that never seems fun at the time.

I am glad I bought a coconut today! Blessings to you and yours--it is time for me to wake my sleeping beauty.

**I know with this many words and my spell check not working, there are bound to be some misspelled words, but I just don't have enough time to proofread. Gotta wake my girl or she won't want to go to bed tonight!

Flexible Friday: Painting Footballs

We work really hard Mon.-Thurs. on our home school lessons here at Rivendell Academy, so that we can be more flexible with our time on Friday, doing other things besides keeping our noses stuffed in books.

So after a few tests, a trip to the store, lunch and rest time, the boys pumped up their footballs that they got for Christmas and started painting away.

Oh no, I don't think my spell check has been working the past few posts. I really hate to reveal my knack for making a mess of the English language. Please be kind and overlook. I've even pulled out the dictionary a couple of times!

Holiday Cheer Photo Contest

Write From Karen is hosting a Holiday Cheer photo contest! Stop by her blog between 5pm central time on Dec. 14-8pm central time on Dec. 17 to vote for me!!!!

Choosing from the gazillions of Christmas photos we have was tough, but I finally settled on this one of my 2 precious boys taken back in 2005. I had several really cute ones picked out, especially one of my sweet, little girl, but this one just felt right for the moment.

Now, not then, it makes me laugh every time I look at it. Stockings are hung by the fire, Christmas tree is all aglow, gifts galore are piled beneath the tree--it truly is beginning to look a lot like Christmas, and this is the best they can give me. It is what I call one of those "Mom moments". All because I made them put on their Christmasy looking sweaters and pose together for the camera. By the looks of it, you would have thought the Grinch had paid us a visit! Yes, Mama was gettin' frustrated!

In a matter of moments it went from Holiday Cheer to Scrooge is Here. Again, I look at this picture, and a huge smile spreads across my face. It's one of those moments that I will never forget as long as I am here to celebrate Christmas!

I love you boys!

Christmas Past

Christmas 2003--First Christmas to have a digital camera. Look at how tiny our Memory tree is!! Now our Memory tree is bursting full at 7 and 1/2 ft. Have I mentioned how much we adore ornaments?? I love gazing at the tree and soaking up all of the memories!

To Be Smart, Or Not To Be Smart

Mullin doesn't particularly like dictionaries. He knows how to use one, but just doesn't like to use it.
Well in English class for the past couple of days we have been studying how to use a dictionary on a deeper level, and of course Mullin is rolling his eyes throughout the lesson and slumping his shoulders a bit to show his displeasure.
So I say, "Using a dictionary can help you to be really smart."
Mullin replies, "I don't want to be really smart."
With a confused yet concerned look I say, "What, Why not?"
Mullin answers, "I want to know how to put my pants on."
Okay, now my brow is really furrowed, my eyes are all squinty, and my nose is wrinkled up. "Huh" is about all I can manage to get out.
After a brief pause, it hit me. Einstein.
"Are you referring to the story I told you about Albert Einstein?" I asked. (This was not a recent story, either.)
"Yeah," Mullin simply stated.

I am not sure what the moral of this story is. Maybe it is: When you are telling your kids about Einstein, leave out the part about him having no common sense.

Booger Bandits

We did another "Disgusting Science" project today.

Boogers are great as long as they don't end up on the wall! The boys learned that we need mucus to keep dust and other junk from clogging up our lungs. Hopefully they will still understand the importance of cleaning out their noses before going out in public!!!

Mullin did not want to pose with a "booger", so Lincoln gladly took the opportunity!

Trick-or-Treat!

As part of a home school lesson this year I decided to do a study on the origins of Halloween. As a Christian parent, I want to instill in my children a desire to seek TRUTH on all matters and to test all things in light of Scripture.

Personally, I have never felt that is was blatantly wrong to dress up, carve pumpkins, and go door to door to receive candy. In fact, I really like that last part. Dressing up is so much fun, and if I had the extra $, I would even want to participate. I have always wanted to pretend to be Arwen, the Elven Princess! And pumpkins, well, I just think they are so beautiful! The carving part is a lot of work, but seeing the result with the candle glowing inside is fun. The pumpkin squeezed in between my boys was carved in honor of my love of M&Ms!

In all of my research on Halloween, I found out some very interesting things. Trick-or-treating for example, is an American activity that originated around the 1930's. It was created by local city clubs, such as the Boy Scouts, in an effort to control and displace mischievous pranks. Well, to me it is a good thing to provide alternative to bad things. So my views on this activity remain the same.

I did find out that the celebration of Halloween can be traced all the way back to the ancient Celtic Fire Festival, Samhain. Since November 1 was the beginning of their New Year, October 31st was to them as December 31st is to us. And yes, they did make animal sacrifices and crop sacrifices to their god/gods on this night. God knows my heart. When we dress up, trick-or-treat, and carve pumpkins, I am in no way honoring anyone but God alone. I am personally not going to get caught up in the "origin" thing, b/c then I wouldn't be able to celebrate Christmas or watch the Olympics, etc, etc...

Many things that have been practiced on Halloween have been nothing but pure evil, so don't get me wrong, I am not trying to promote this holiday as some holy event. I just think it is great, though, when Christians go to the trouble to provide wholesome alternatives to worldly activities!

For anyone interested in further research, I found a few interesting sites on the subject.

http://www.new-life.net/halowen1.htm

http://www.new-life.net/halowen2.htm

http://www.thercg.org/articles/totuh.html


I am sure there are plenty of other wonderful sites, but I just didn't have the time or energy to go any further!! Let me know what you think.

Halloween Flashbacks

2003--my two cute, little puppies

2004--a very disgruntled conductor, and a brave soldier

2005--Mullin battles the evil wizards
2005--Lincoln kicks some shell!

2006--Finally a sweet little, cuddly Care Bear enters the picture.

Crazy Sock Night

Our kids have joined the Calvary Kids Club at our church, and this past Wednesday they had to wear crazy socks! Aren't they just a hoot!!

A Very Harry Birthday

Happy 8th Birthday Mullin!

Mullin's birthday menu: Cauldron cake and chocolate ice cream to eat, and Butter Beer and Pumpkin Juice to drink. The kids also made their very own edible pretzel wands.

The boys liked pulling out the juicy worms from the bubbly green potion, and gobbling them up.

Games: Guess the Potion, Guess the Bertie Botts Bean, and Harry Potter Scene It.

Watching their faces while eating the Bertie Botts Beans was so funny!!! Mullin won that game!


Mullin and the boys had a great time, and now it is time for Mommy and Daddy to rest!

Lugnuts Party

Here is my first attempt at making fondant--not too bad.
It is a headache to make, though! Oh, the things we parents put ourselves through for our kids.















The kids can't wait to eat it!















The Lugnuts had their party at Pizza Hut today.















Mullin and Coach Carlino. He really was a great coach, and we are hoping Mullin will be on his team again next year.

Trap Jaw

Before
















After



Mullin has braces!! They're just on the bottom for now. He isn't that thrilled about having them, but when I was his age I had to have 7 teeth, with the roots fully intact, pulled. Having braces will just gently move some teeth out of the way so his permanents can come in. No chewing gum for a whole year!!!

Mullin's First Hunt

Grandpa D. took Mullin dove hunting this week. Of course Mullin wasn't able to shoot, but he had a blast retrieving the birds and picking up shells.

Looking at the dead birds in the front yard was pretty gross. I don't think I could be a hunter myself, but I sure have enjoyed eating Darrell's Elk meat that is stocked in the freezer. I love to cook it--there is hardly any fat, no hormones or antibiotics, and it just tastes so good! When we move out, I guess it will be back to good ole' ground beef. :(

The Perfect 7

I can't believe that 7 years ago I birthed my oldest son!!! Seems like ages ago that I labored for 12 long, painful hours to bring forth our firstborn son. It was worth it, though! And here he is celebrating his 7th birthday with a few friends and lots of baseball stuff!




On his birthday night he got to go to a RedBirds game complete with fireworks! He got to stay up until midnight, and for him that was a huge deal!!!

Thweet!

Wow, he has lost another tooth! His speech is temporarily impaired.

The World's Youngest Blogger!

I can't believe my little boy, miniragamuffinwriter has his own blog! He is so proud of his very first post.