Finding Balm in Gilead

Today

Today the kids are at school and Ms.Luann's respectively, and I am alone to work on taxes, make lists, clean house, and write. The taxes thing is a big huge looming cloud over my head since I have no natural comprehension in this matter. The lists are made, but rarely ever are they completely crossed off. The toilets are in need of a good wipe down/scrub, and last night I discovered a hoard - a HOARD, I tell you - of ants milling about under the chip basket on the kitchen counter.

I drew a chalk line early this morning, because somewhere I heard that ants don't like to cross chalk lines.

But from further inspection several hours later, they seem to like to go around it.

Finally, the writing is what I want to do. I have come to this blog many times in the last two months since my last post - January 11th - but couldn't get the words down. I've been so deep in Dalhart history that the time I do have - which is arguably not much - I spend on working on those articles for the paper. I've whined about this before- no use going into it again - but it seems once one is out of the practice of blogging, it is hard to get back to it.

But it isn't for the lack of material. Material for the blog abounds in this house.

Today, though, I am contemplative. New seasons have begun in our home, not the least of which is this season of my children's growth from toddlerhood to full-blown school-age childhood. This season is going all too fast, and I find myself today taking stock of all that we...I....have been involved in lately, and I feel like some cuts need to be made.

Furthermore, two posts on the Lots of Scotts blog really have me thinking today too, particularly the post about Pits - and how we get into them. I am quietly wondering about some pits in my own life that may not look like pits right now, but very well could be quicksand in the near future if I don't put the brakes on the circumstances leading me in this direction.

The Purposeful vs. Perfect Parenting post has me thinking too - really it's all hitting me between the eyes today. If there are any readers left on this ole' blog, head over to Lots of Scotts and check out her posts:

www.lotsofscotts.blogspot.com

You are going to have to scroll down some to get to these two posts. Not far though.

Have a good day! I'm off to make sense of tax.

 

Thoughts Galore

So now that I've vented my concerns over Angry Birds, I want to express my desire and hopes for an I-PAD in the near future.

So that we can play Angry Birds on a big screen.

Anyway, I am sitting here with the little boy watching The Adventures of Chuck and Friends while I try to overcome my writer's block concerning an article for the newspaper this week. My research and timeline for interviews has not panned out this week, and frankly, I'm at a loss as to where to begin in this new year.

Not that there isn't plenty of history here in 'ole Dalhart to write about.....it's just that I seem to have a mental block as to where to begin my research. I'm finding it hard to get back in the groove after more than a month off from the newspaper writing.

In other news, I had grand plans to go to the gym early this morn, but I forgot to set my alarm. I'm obviously extremely dedicated to exercise.

Jason hired our kids to pick up nails, screws, and other paraphrenalia from around his new seed barn that is just now finally completed, and so yesterday afternoon, we trekked around the perimeter of the place with our grocery sacks looking for all sorts of "treasure", if you will. J told the kids he'd pay them a quarter per nail or screw, but I didn't think that he bargained for their extreme diligence and perseverance in this task as they both gathered quite a few nails that will add up to a nice little payday. As Gracie said when we got back into the car, "Mom - this was a good thing for us!"

I treated them to a lemonade at Sonic, but apparently all their scavenger hunting left them ravenous, so we ordered a grilled cheese too. They scarfed it down while discussing their plans for all the money they were going to make from this project. Plans that involve a trip to Toys R Us.

I think I'd like to be in on this little project - there are several things I've had my eye on at say, oh I don't know, Pottery Barn? Restoration Hardware? Texas Furniture?

But I want a dollar per nail.

 

 

Happy New Year 2012

Though I haven't posted in a while, I am still here...and planning to do better in 2012. I miss writing here, though I love researching and interviewing people in our little town for the newspaper.

There's much to write about here on the 'ole blog, though, and I'd like to say that I promise to give an account of the last few months....but who am I kidding - THAT MAY NOT HAPPEN, people.

Life is passing by quickly, y'all, and these kiddos are growing up minute by minute.....and I am filled with joy. Just in the last month we went from school programs....(pardon the atrocity of my photography skills)

to a little bit of snow....

to getting ready for Christmas....

to cruising the western Caribbean....

and back to a major blizzard at home in Dalhart just before Christmas....

Whew - I haven't even arrived at the Christmas pics yet.

More pictures to come....and more memories to make.

2012 will be even better. Happy New Year!

And November is Over....

Good grief - the time has flown. The end of October throughout November has been a whirlwind of activity, not the least of which being Cash's birthday, an open house for J's business, and Thanksgiving no less.

I will not talk about the stomach bug I contracted on Thanksgiving Day.

Anyway, here it is December 7th, and I haven't posted in two months, though there are so many things that have been on my heart and mind. But this is what is most on my mind.....

They "camped" in Gracie's room one night recently.

This is such a fun age.

Good Times here at the Balm in Gilead house.

More to come later......

Incidentals

Yesterday, the kids were in rare form.....it was a rainy day - praise the Lord - and we stayed inside virtually all day. At 6, I had a quick interview for an article and took the kids with me. They behaved beautifully. Afterwards, we had to run into the store for some toppings for our tortilla soup that was back on the stove at home.

And this is where the pent-up energy broke loose.

Cash brought his pretend police cb radio that goes with a dress-up costume - I told him he could bring it in ONLY if he turned the grating, horribly loud siren off....lest we scare some grocery patrons. He agreed, but what ensued was a full out secret agent game that both he and Gracie played while I navigated the aisles with them following in their stealthy style. Cash talked into his radio, Gracie talked into her bracelet slash secret spy phone, and both kids hopped on ONLY the blue squares in the floor. I only had four ingredients to get - jack cheese, cilantro, pecans(for the pear crisp in the oven-yum), and tape - which was a request from Gracie who is currently into making casts and slings for all her barbies and dolls who seem to have a propensity for accidents lately.

I went in needing to get four things.....I came out with twenty things,and no pecans.

Meanwhile, the whole grocery store was aware that two 007 agents were slinking behind the displays and jumping out in front of shopping carts and grabbing food items for their missions and I thought I would never get out of there .....my well-behaved kids just moments before had turned into ROGUE agents.....and it was chaos. Here's a sample of some of the conversation:

Me: "Ok - almost done...we just need to get our yogurt and we're outta here."

Cash: "I'LLLLLL GET IT!!! Gwacie - we have to gwet the dwanimals...hwurry! "

Gracie:(talking into her bracelet) " We're on it Cash. Quick grab 'em - DON'T FORGET TO STEP ONLY ON THE BLUE!!!"

Cash: (in a guttural boyish growl): "AH HA!!!! I'VE GOT IT GWACIE!! LET"S GO!!!"

I can't remember what was said after that since I was trying to guide them quickly to the checkout and out the door, and looking back on this conversation, it seems anti-climactic now, but LET ME JUST SAY THAT WE COULDN'T GET OUT OF THERE FAST ENOUGH.

I didn't even let the sacker take our groceries out - I slung 'em on both wrists( the bags, not the kids), had my little CIA prospects grab my pinkies as they plotted their next mission, and out the door into the fog we went.

I won't even tell you about bedtime a few hours later....it wasn't pretty.

And I'll admit, it wasn't one of my best parenting moments either.

The Curb

To follow up on my post from yesterday and show that I am indeed trying to turn over a new leaf in the promptness department, Gracie turned to me this morning and bemoaned the fact that she wants to sit on the curb today.

"What do you mean, the curb?" I said.

"Mom, I just don't EVER get to sit on the curbbbbb!!!" she said dramatically.

And then I realized what she meant. In my efforts to be prompt and be in the running for mother of the year, I am arriving ten minutes early to pick her up from school, and Cash and I go so far as to walk up to the door and wait for her class to come out at noon.

Problem is, those children whose mothers have not yet arrived GET to sit on the curb of the sidewalk together and visit and wait.

Clearly, Gracie feels she is missing out on something huge.

And in my determination to redeem my past punctuality issues and not be THAT MOM who makes her children wait and wonder if she forgot about them, I have actually been doing my daughter a disservice by not allowing her the pleasure of sitting with her friends on the curb.

Oh how I love the ironies of life.

We will be late today.....for the good of the team.

Day Two

Brace yourself - I'm posting for the 2nd time in 48 hours.

So today was a kick in the pants, so to speak, because adrenalin and excitement of yesterday had left the building today. Both kids were up during the night, but strangely NOT due to the loud cracks of thunder that kept me up during the night.

Anyway, this morning was a rude awakening. Gone are the days of laying around in our pj's until ten or eleven. (Of course Cash can still do this, and has already asserted his staunch position in this area). I woke Gracie to hear this statement: "Mom - I just need one more minute. ONE more." So I went and got my clothes on and got her vitamins out and oatmeal ready and came back to her still laying there...but then she suddenly rolled over and said: "Now I'm ready for school!" After debating whether to wear our khaki skirt with the red shirt or the khaki shorts with the red shirt, we went with the shorts today.

Critical issues, people.

Cash heard the commotion and got up ready to accompany us yet again in his pajamas, but this time he did elect to put on shoes. He also decided to bring a couple of saltine crackers with him to take the edge off while we drove the two minutes to school.

 

It is important to note that it is imperative that we leave earlier than my personality is accustomed to because of THE GREAT BOTTLENECK RACE OF PARENTS dropping their children off at any of the FOUR schools located on the same connecting through street in our little town. For me, extreme earliness is just not comprehended, and yet - AND YET - if we don't leave by 7:40 for the two minute drive, we'll get caught in the bottleneck of craziness, and thus be late.

Furthermore, at our school if one is late more than three times, ONE GETS CHARGED $15. After hearing this piece of news at orientation, my husband elbowed me in such a way that I'm sure everyone in the audience noticed. Then, as we drove home that night, he made it clear that in no uncertain terms would he be paying $15 a pop in late arrival fees, and any charges of this kind would promptly and swiftly be taken out of my humble newspaper reporter paycheck.

Serious times in the Balm in Gilead house folks.

My former teacher colleagues would probably laugh hysterically at these present conditions of mine since I used to drive in from the farm to the high school in Dumas and careen into my parking spot on two wheels at about 7:59 a.m. each day. My favorite pal Mr. Lackey would sometimes stand out there by my space with his watch and yell words of doom encouragement as I ran for the door, coffee mug sloshing in my hand and book bag slung over my arm.

Where is Lackey now when I need him?

So. Today we arrived with ten minutes to spare. TEN MINUTES. Cash and I walked Gracie in again to the chapel room where everyone gathers before heading down to their school rooms after the bell at eight. Gracie ran on in and sat down by her friends while I chatted with one of the teachers. Then, about thirty seconds later, she comes back barreling into me with a look of horror and says, " Mom - I forgot my book!"

Book? She never mentioned needing a book.

To which the teacher whom I was visiting with replied, "We ask the kids to bring a book with them to read in the chapel each morning while we're waiting to start - it gives them something to do."

"Oh!" I said, and then turning to Gracie, "Well, we'll bring one tomorrow - I'm think you'll be all right today."

Disappointed, but ok with my answer, she ran back into the chapel. I turned to leave, glad that we survived what I'm sure will not be the only thing we forget this year.

But had we arrived at 7:59.....this wouldn't have even been an issue.

Here We Go.....

I sent my baby girl off to her first day of kindergarten today.

 
It was early for us.

I'll pick her up at noon, so it won't be too much of a stretch.

 

However, I am struck by the passage of time, and how - as another phase of life is beginning - there is a sense of finality and permanence in leaving the old one.

 

The end. Finito. There's no going back. Gracie is officially a young school girl, never to be a toddler/preschooler again.

I realize that I am just a tad sentimental.

 

I thought I was fine until we approached the chapel where all the kids were converging on the first day at her little school. Then Gracie started to slow down, and at one point, she stopped as the reality of this whole thing called school hit her.

And then the reality hit me. Tears started welling up in my eyes as I guided her to the chapel door, Cash on one hip and still wearing in his Spiderman pajamas and no shoes. But Gracie met a few of her friends at the door, and went down the aisle to the front where the kindergarteners sit......and left me standing in the back trying hard not to lose it.

And so it begins - life governed by the school calendar.

We miss her.

But I don't think she's going to miss us much.

 

The Birthday Girl

We celebrated my first born child's 5th birthday last week, and I'll tell you what - I remember people telling me when she was born to savor every minute because the next thing you know, she'll be in school and then grown up and gone....but in the fog of newborn-ness and toddler-ness ....I didn't really pay much serious attention to those words.

Until now.

 

And suddenly, I am overwhelmed that those first five years went way too fast, and it's only going to go faster once we start school in a few weeks, and oh dear, how do I slow this growing-up down?

Yet, as my wise mama said, this is what I want - this growing up - because it signals that she is stepping into the natural progression and course of the life God has laid out for her.

I, being the UBER-sentimental person of the family, have for the last few days replayed a sort of flashback video in my head of her life from birth to now - and people, this video in my memory is already set to music.....She already seems more mature... more insightful...just in this instance of turning five, and if my husband looks over in bed and reads this, he is going to barf with all the sentimentality going on here.

This time with my kids is my favorite phase so far - we are out of the fog and into the full-blown exploration of life to the fullest....I am continually wowed by their observances and their little-people humor.

Just tonight, we went on a bike ride NOT to the nursing home with it's smooth sidewalks and relatively easy corners. Nope, we went through the neighborhood on the sketchy and random-gapped sidewalks, and the newly tarred and graveled streets. We've done this before, but this time Gracie was riding her brand-new bike complete with a miniature plasticky bicycle for her Barbie doll clamped on the handlebar.

Good grief.

(By the way, this new bike is what I would call a Pepto Bismol conglomeration of pink, and even Pepto is more understated than this Barbie marketing triumph.)

So anyway, this bike ride was a marathon of stops and starts. There was no smooth sailing round and round the nursing home. Furthermore, Gracie hasn't quite mastered the new height of this bike, and her daddy adjusted the training wheels a bit lopsided in hopes of teaching her to balance the bike - and not rely on the training wheels. It's not working just yet.

She looks something like the Leaning Tower of Pisa - except on wheels.

We cruised down the streets because the sidewalks in our neighborhood are broken up by trees and age, me jogging along beside them and YELLING at them to watch for cars and to slow down at each street intersection. Cash wore one of his daddy's Pioneer hats that came down low over his eyes, and furthermore, he couldn't hear me yelling at him for all the racket his training wheels made on the new gravel, and we were, in a word, A SIGHT.

We stopped to check out some rocks, and then we stopped to walk on a brick wall bordering a yard, and then we had a mini-lesson on what to do when a car is coming toward you. This was hilarious because the kids came up with no less than five more additional scenarios to act out if, indeed, a car was coming toward them. Since Cash is still a bit iffy on distinguishing left from right, he had different ideas on how to handle an oncoming car - none of which were optimal.

They probably should wear their helmets when we go through the unpredictable neighborhood like that - I too should probably wear a helmet just for good measure - but it's above one hundred degrees here in the shade, and frankly - how could they possibly hear my screaming warnings of cars with a big, bulky helmet on their heads?

 Anyway, this is a muddled jumble of thoughts ....but I am just in constant awe of these children and who they are becoming before my very eyes.

My heart beats with love and thankfulness.

 

 

 

 

Cherry Pickin' and Other News

Well hello.

We had our annual cherry picking day last weekend, and while we were all a little on the puny side, that didn't keep us from gathering LOADS of cherries.

 
 

 

I've made four cherry cobblers so far.

The first two were gobbled up on Saturday evening as we had guests for dinner.

The third was nearly gobbled by my husband, who was saddened to learn that the cobbler in the oven was bubbling for our neighbor, who is the owner of the cherry tree.

So I felt sorry for my husband and baked him one too. And then I ate half of it.

In other news, I ran across this story the other day and saved it to the blog. I'm not sure if the link still works, but I thought it was an interesting thought - one worth considering - on the reason for all the disasters here lately. Plus, I was glad to learn a little something about Israel's prime minister, since I really avoid watching the news altogether these days.

Real leader of free world? Can you say 'Bibi'? #OneNewsNow.

What do you think?

Finally, I am so excited about our Father's Day cards this year. I made them on Tiny Prints after seeing a tip about them on www.themcclenahans.blogspot.com, and so I investigated. The results are fun and I had a great time rediscovering some old pictures stored on my computer. Which brings me to this statement....

Remember to back up your pictures. That's what I will be doing this weekend.

Happy Father's Day!