Spine Update & Mother / Kiddo Fitness Challenge

It's been 26 months since a running injury combined with years of damage to my spine caused me to retire my running shoes.  After dozens of trips to three different physical therapists, at least 200 trips to the chiropractor's office (up to 4 times each week commuting 30 minutes each way), investing in at least six different sets of orthotics, a posture pump, an ultrasound machine, incline table, cases of kinesiotape, cases of all natural supplements, pricey icy wraps, cho-pak bands, ankle braces, 3 different foam rollers, several balance balls, multiple fitness programs, and who knows what else, my neck and back are finally improving.  Here are my before & after X-rays taken in May to prove it.

In the left photo, my neck had lost it's natural curve, and the discs are compressed.  The red dotted line and blue lines should overlap. In the right photo, taken 4 months later, the curve is returning, and the discs are no longer compressed. 

When I first went to see this DC at the end of January, my neck was at a stage 2.5.  At stage 3, a patient in in full-blown arthritis, so I was almost to that point of no return.  I had a bone spur, which he can't correct, and my discs were compressed and degenerating.  By May, I was already regaining the natural curvature.  In January, I will review before/after X-rays for my lumbar spine, so I am eager to see any improvement has taken place there.  I am hopeful since my overall pain episodes have diminished considerably.
 
I have been faithful in abstaining completely from running since I began treatment with this chiropractor in February, except for the one mile start and finish in the Memorial Day Murph, though it has been brutal emotionally.  During the 20 years or so that I ran semi-competitively, most of my running buddies were at least 10-20 years older than me.  Running wasn't a passion I could share with my closest friends, although I did enjoy my running team very much and learned much from their life experiences.  Now it seems everyone my age is running...except me.

Yet, I think I have finally reached a point where I can say that I am truly grateful to have running taken away from me because it has forced me to train the rest of my body. I never dreamed I could do a 100 military style push-ups in a row, 30 plyometric push-ups, or dozens of one-arm push-ups in a single set.  I am still surprised that I can do 30-40 pull-ups when I could barely do one just three years ago.  Handstand push-ups, gymnastics strength work, and difficult yoga moves which were never possible before are very doable now.  I dropped out of gymnastics in first grade because I simply could not do moves at age 6 that I can now do at almost 40 years of age.  So, while I can't run, there are other fitness goals that I can pursue.

Whenever a friend runs another race or celebrates a new personal record, instead of feeling envious, I try to rejoice with them, remembering all too well the feeling I had when I ran my first sub 6 minute mile or when I ran my first 5K in 19 minutes. Even at age 37, I set a 1/2 marathon pace record at 7:24 minutes per mile.  I've had my time as a runner.  That time may have ended, but that does not have to mean that I am defeated. I'm merely moving on to something else...possibly something even better.

Cross training has done wonders for my health.  I may not be able to run, but my blood work is about as good as it's ever been, and I have more strength and power and the most ripped physique of my entire life.  I may not be where I would like to be yet, but I choose to celebrate any improvements God gives me, and He has been so faithful!  Yet, my sinful tendency is to whine and lament over what I can't do instead of celebrating what I can do.  I want to run the Tough Mudder so badly I can hardly stand it.  Yet, I must respect my body's limits.  A train steaming ahead at full speed is a beautiful site to behold as long as the train remains on it's track, but it becomes a total mess if the train leaves the track and attempts to zip across a plowed field.  Similarly, I must remain on the tracks my body can handle instead of going outside my current boundaries.

I pushed my body past it's boundaries while developing new skills at the CrossFit box.  Mastering the double-under in low profile shoes did a double whammy to my feet, so now I am battling plantar fasciitis and achilles tendonitis.

Practicing double unders

I wear a classy boot at night and KT tape on my feet, calves, ankles, and knees.  I have also had to eliminate plyometric training and many leg exercises.  Urgh!   When the pain subsides, I am all too eager to train hard again, forgetting that healing takes months after the acute pain stops.  So, the yo-yo healing process continues and running is still off limits for me.

Feeling a bit of despair as I faced yet another new physical injury, this time in my feet, my precious daughter challenged me to a little fitness competition in events within my body's boundaries.  I may not get to enjoy the thrill of a running races or competing in CrossFit events, but I can enjoy competing with my little girl.  I thought I would need to hold back a little so as not to embarrass her too badly, but instead, she humbled me, especially with the yoga moves.  She makes the yoga and gymnastics work look so easy!  We had so much fun together that my more laid back son eventually joined in as well.  Here are some fun photos from our recent mommy/kiddo fitness challenge.  The kids took all these pictures while we "competed" in our attic / make-shift home-gym.

Handstand push-ups in her kitty pjs & my kitty cat socks

Lolasana (very difficult yoga move for me that is super easy for her)

Preacher curls

Boy joins in on the fun

He has great form!

4 direction shoulder fly on the balance ball

Arnold press on the balance ball

See my girl curl!

Amusing the kids with my Olivia Newton John headband

Balance Y fly with my silly boy

Balance T fly with my focused girl

Working out with kids brings out my goofy side.

Boy begs for mercy. :)

December 2012: Epic list of funny & faith filled snippets from our daily lives

December has been super busy as always, but life around here continues to be filled with fun and laughter thanks to our silly kids who say the zaniest things.  Sometimes they are goofy, and sometimes they are profound.  This post will serve as a recap to help me remember some of those simple yet sacred moments with the kids.  I will also try to include a few quotes or Biblical reflections that impacted me this past month.

Kids' Cute and/or Clever Quotes and Amusing Actions

While flipping through the World Vision catalog, the kids and I tried to select a few farm animals to buy for needy families. I suggested a pair of chickens for eggs or goats for milk and cheese. The 6-year-old insisted that we buy cows, "so they can have milk and more importantly, steak!"

*Okay so I realize steak comes from beef cattle and not milk cows, but I think at age 6, he was doing well to know that steak does not come from some animal called "steak".

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Our 6-year-old is sounding more and more like he could be left-brained like his mama.   Lately, he seems to really enjoy trying to persuade me with logical arguments.  For example,  one evening while hugging him, I noticed that I could feel all of his ribs and thought maybe I should try to help him gain a little extra weight.  So I asked him when he ever felt hungry enough to possibly eat an extra meal.

He replied, "Early in the morning before breakfast.  I know you say plain cereal is better for me than Honey Nut Cheerios, but plain Cheerios only have 100 calories per serving while Honey Nut Cheerios have 120 calories, so please set out some Honey Nut Cheerios?"

I guess he reads cereal boxes during breakfast like I did as a child.


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Two days later, the kids and I were shopping at Dick's Sporting Goods for shoes for my orthopedic challenged feet. My son asked me for some new shoes. I answered, "You already have shoes, and those are too expensive."

He answered, "These are only $45, but the shoes you are buying are over $100. How are mine too expensive?"
  
I could have explained that his feet will outgrow those shoes soon while mine will not.  Or I could have explained that my feet no longer function properly because that's what happens when you run competitively for over 20 years with a crooked spine and have tons of scar tissue from difficult child births causing misalignment of the hips and knees which affects one's gait.  And that's also what happens when your 40th birthday is staring you in the face.  

I could have also added, as my engineering friend put it, "I am the mommy, and you are lower on the family food chain, much much lower (welcome to your first lesson in corporate life)." I could have told him that the only way he could get those shoes would be to become a more valuable contributor to the corporate team by becoming an income producer. 

There is much I could have said in response, but I was too overjoyed by the revelation that I have a kid who tends to think more analytically like I do to say much all.  In all honesty, I would not trade the imagination, spunk, drama, vision, or excitement our right-brained daughter adds to our family for anything in the world, but I do believe that it will be easier (as I get older, "easier" is becoming a necessity) to parent a child who thinks along the same wavelength as I do.

I did remind my boy that I was using the money I got in my Christmas stocking to buy these shoes and that he could use the money he got in his stocking to buy the shoes he wanted.  He decided to save that money for the $400 Lego kit he wants and quickly forgot about those shoes.
 
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Our left-brained child also seems like he may grow up to have an aptitude for economics.  While grocery shopping with me this week, I enjoyed listening to him, out of the blue, explain that "It's impossible to get a free lunch because someone always has to pay for it." 

Kids are sponges, so I guess he remembered that concept from the book Penny Candy, which he read with his dad last spring.   

Ever since I  studied the theories of classical education during my years as a homeschooling mom, I have been fascinated by the way the young mind absorbs, classifies, and processes information.  In these early grammar years, kids pick up so much new information which they will spew out again some day when their minds make connections with that previously stored information.  For example, our son recently read a poem by Marian Douglas.  When he saw the author's name, he cried, "Douglas!  That's the same last name as Gabby Douglas, the gymnast!"  The name "Douglas" was the connector to pull out information he had stored in his mind this past summer.  

Our daughter recently did something similar.  She heard a Christmas song on the radio that sounded a lot like the music an illusionist used during his performance at an Upward Awards ceremony last February.  That song on the radio reminded her of both the illusion itself and the spiritual lesson the illusionist was trying to convey with his visual.
 
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Before school started this year, our boy (who just turned 6) was determined to remain a non-runner. Now, he can outrun all the 8-year-olds at his school. We wondered what could have motivated him to start running and to run so quickly, especially since my own passion for running wasn't enough to encourage him.  After we did some further probing last night, our boy mentioned that eight girls (ages 6 through 8) chase him every day during recess. I think we have found our answer!  Run, baby boy, run!

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Here's a recent conversation I had with the kids in the car that illustrates a typical day with these two characters:

6-year-old: Mom, I'm sad for a friend who hasn't been allowed to go to the prize box because of his behavior. How can I help him behave better?

Me: You can model good behavior and keep showing him God's love, but you can't change his behavior. That's his choice, but hopefully that consequence will motivate him in the right direction.

Sassy 8-year-old: That's right. You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink!

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I love our kids' unique school. I really do.  I wish other schools would follow their model so that more kids could enjoy school and grow in their love for learning like the kids do at this school .  If I were to issue a complaint, however, it would be that the lower grammar kids are given entirely too much candy.  I've done too much research on the negative impacts of sugar on health, social behavior, and brain development to not find myself annoyed by the amount of candy handed out to the little ones.  So, I found it to be quite ironic when my son brought home these candy teeth from the prize box at school.  It looks like the teeth are already forming a cavity, too.

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In art class one day, the kids made edible, sugary snowmen.  Then they got to eat them.  Our daughter said to her teacher, "Look Mrs. Traci! I'm eating hyper!"

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Speaking of school, the kids learned about the three R's of environmental concerns at school.  The kids were given recyclable materials to renew, reuse, or recycle.  What do you get when you give our right brained child a full recycling bin?

My guess was "a green" monster, but she says she was trying to build the statue of liberty.

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Tuesday was our kids' last day of school until after New Years. As soon as they got into the car to come home that afternoon, they started crying and saying, "How much longer do I have to wait until I can go back to school? I really wish you could take us tomorrow!" 

Who in their right mind enjoys school that much?

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Sometimes our kids can be extraordinarily sweet and cuddly.  I was reminded this past week that our pet name for our son when he was younger was "Cuddles", which forms a nice alliteration when used with our last name.

When I went into my son's room to tuck him one night this week, he decided to tuck me in instead. He surrounded me with stuffed animals and pulled lots of blankets over me. Next he pulled out his star planetarium and set it up for me because he knows I love to look at the stars. Then he announced, "There, now you look all snuggly." Just as I was about to fall asleep, he snuggled up beside me. Thank you, Lord, for my cuddle bug.

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The kids have been singing a very bizarre song this month.  The chorus goes like this:

"Forty-two pounds of edible fungus
Growing on the forest road
Saved the settlers from starvation.
That's how our city growed."

The song comes from a book I checked out from the "1000 good classical books" list.  If that's considered good literature, I shudder to consider what must be bad.

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I'm thankful for my daughter who reminds me that God has it all under control when I tuck her in at night. She likes for me to lie there with her looking into the sky as we imagine our big God holding the world in the palm of His hands, yet we also see Him human-sized with his arms open wide ready to receive us as His beloved children. Sometimes she makes me forget that I'm supposed to be the parent.

Her school's administrator wrote me a little note telling me how our daughter comforts the other students.  One day a boy received an injury requiring a trip to the emergency room. While the teachers tried to comfort him, our little girl wrote out a Bible verse, Philippians 4:13, to encourage him to be strong and to rest in God's presence with him.  The administrator said that peace filled the room when my daughter handed the boy the verse and that it brought her to tears.  

When I slow down from this rat-race world, I'm amazed at how God reveals Himself through little children.  I've really been trying to be more intentional about stopping to really look and listen to my children.  To reach their precious, pliable little hearts, I must slow down and simply BE in the moment with them, treasuring the sacred in the ordinary.  Lord, please help me always remember that we are called human BEINGs not human DOINGs.  May I treasure every moment with them instead of being ruled by my to-do lists.

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I'm also thankful for my son who asks me questions that make me think. In the same hour, he asked me to explain the intricate mechanical and electrical details under our car hood and behind the dash, and then asked me, "Is there anything God can't do?" When I told him that by definition, God cannot lie, he asked, "How do we define God anyway?" He knows God is love, holiness, grace, truth, and so many other attributes, but he wanted to know how to fully define God. I love those spiritual discussions best.

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I am in the taxi-cab season of parenting.  I feel like we live in the car as I shuttle kids between activities.  Since we live almost thirty minutes from the city center, our cab rides are extra long.  One day this month when I parked our vehicle at the kids' piano teacher's house, my son handed me this fake million dollar bill as my cab fare.

 He's either a very big tipper, or he's anticipating the effects of the federal government's quantitative easing strategies.

Thoughts from Friends

My husband loves singing in our church's praise team and choir.  Every year, our church's music ministry team writes, prepares, and presents a powerful, evangelical musical performance in December.  These performances take place three days in a row and require months of preparation.  Since the rehearsals are so time consuming, my husband has not participated since our son was born.

This year, however, when he had five different employees out at various times for medical reasons and when he had more church and outside commitments than ever before, he decided to sing in the Christmas show.  He was faithful to attend every practice, and the show was fantastic.

We laughed about the required dress code for the performances.  He had to to wear all black, so he sported black socks, black shoes, black pants, black T-shirt, and a new black dress shirt.  One of his winter uniforms in the navy was all black, so this dress made him remember those dark and dreary days at the Naval Academy.  When others saw his "costume", however, they insisted that he looked just like Johnny Cash.

When the kids and I attended the performance, we sat beside a new church visitor.  The kids began talking about their daddy, so she asked how to recognize him.  I told her to look for the one who favors Johnny Cash.  Even though all the choir members were also wearing black, she spotted him instantly.

Johnny Cash & Son

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We're still trying to get our son to stop playing with his food.  He likes to name each segment of an orange after a family member or friend before eating it.  Sometimes, he just wears the orange on his thumb.

 

I posted this photo of our son on Facebook with the orange on his thumb and asked for captions.

Some of my favorite captions included:

• His orange lost its a-peel.
• Annoying orange has nothing on this boy!
• When life gives you oranges...stick them on your thumb. 

He says he was trying to look like his thumb was really swollen. 

Spiritual Reflections

I love the way Joni Eareckson Tada likens the nearness of Heaven to an unborn infant's expectant entrance into the world. 

"Dear baby! There he is, safe in his little world, ignorant of the fact that a more glorious world is enclosing and encasing his. A world for which he is being fashioned, Only when he is birthed into it will he comprehend that all along his warm, dark world was within it. This other place of wonderful beauty was present all the time. Only inches away..." (Joni Eareckson Tada)

 It's awesome to think of God carrying us, nourishing us, protecting us, and feeding us just as a mother cares for her little one.  This unborn child experiences the benefits and knows his mother's voice but does not see her or fully comprehend all that she is or how great her love is for him. That love and protection multiplied by infinity is a hint of God's love for us.

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I saw this cartoon on Facebook.  Boastful bumper stickers are a pet peeve of mine.  Strangers don't really want to know if your child is an honor student or if you ran 13.1 or 26.2 miles. While it's good to let our kids know how proud we are of them, I guess these stickers bother me because I struggled all through my growing up years to personally realize that my worth is in no way impacted by my performance.  My worth is completely found in Christ alone and the price HE paid for me.  He paid that great price for you, too!  Pride is the root of all evil, so while I want my kids to know I love them and am pleased with their accomplishments, may they never become prideful or think my love is in any way conditional.  If we must boast, let's boast in the LORD!

2 Corinthians 10:17
But, “Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord.”

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While I enjoy reading funny quotes from the kids in the past, sometimes I find comfort in rereading words I've written long ago. I recently pulled out what I thought was a clean journal to continue my entries. In so doing, I came across some entries from 1997. What a huge blessing to look back 15+ years ago to see what God was teaching me then and how He had intervened in my life. The teachings I received at Bible study and church, counsel from Christian friends, and a chance visit from a friend from college in the middle of an intense struggle were all perfectly ordained by God to bring deliverance and protection. 

When we are in the midst of crazy circumstances we can't understand it.  But looking back (through a journal, perhaps), we can see God's hand all over it!  Addison Leitch said, "You can't unscrew the Inscrutable!" Instead we must simply trust Him. When the angel told Mary she would conceive a child, she asked a practical, natural question, "How can this be since I have been with no man?" The angel gave her a spiritual answer which she could not understand but accepted in faith. As we walk into a new year filled with so much uncertainty and can't understand what God is doing, we must not fear. Remember God's faithfulness in the past and trust the One who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his good and perfect will. (Ephesians 1:11)

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Prayer has been a stronger focus during my quiet times this month, especially as the needs around me seem so overwhelming. The tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary School broke my heart, even more so since we are experiencing the joy, wonder, and awesomeness of having a six-year-old in the house right now.  I just cannot imagine having him taken so violently and suddenly from our lives.  The responses to this tragedy have been very diverse, but I was most deeply touched by the Christian love and forgiveness offered by the father of one of the victims.

I have prayed this prayer by Max Lucado numerous times this past month.

Dear Jesus,

It’s a good thing you were born at night. This world sure seems dark. I have a good eye for silver linings. But they seem dimmer lately. These killings, Lord. These children, Lord. Innocence violated. Raw evil demonstrated. The whole world seems on edge. Trigger-happy. Ticked off. We hear threats of chemical weapons and nuclear bombs. Are we one button-push away from annihilation?

Your world seems a bit darker this Christmas. But you were born in the dark, right? You came at night. The shepherds were night shift workers. The Wise Men followed a star. Your first cries were heard in the shadows. To see your face, Mary and Joseph needed a candle flame. It was dark. Dark with Herod’s jealousy. Dark with Roman oppression. Dark with poverty. Dark with violence. Herod went on a rampage, killing babies. Joseph took you and your mom into Egypt. You were an immigrant before you were a Nazarene.

Oh, Lord Jesus, you entered the dark world of your day. Won’t you enter ours? We are weary of bloodshed. We, like the wise men, are looking for a star. We, like the shepherds, are kneeling at a manger. This Christmas, we ask you, heal us, help us, be born anew in us.

Hopefully,
Your Children
by Max Lucado

I was so busy with Christmas preparations the day of the shooting because our family celebrated Christmas the following morning as a nuclear family and the following afternoon with my side of the family.  Yet, instead of busying myself with preparations, I did something slightly crafty.  I loathe crafts, but I needed something to encourage my spirit and to remind me of God's faithfulness.

Meanwhile, my husband formulated some comfort food in the kitchen. He mixed together almost the same ingredients they use at his work to make biopharmaceuticals with the hope that his culture would grow into cinnamon rolls. At times, I heard him whispering to his concoction, "Now rise, my pretty!"

Our daughter expressed her support by connecting with other kids around the globe through her Animal Jam educational game to pray together for the families of the victims.  She also changed the colors of her avatar to green and white, the Sandy Fork Elementary School colors. 

In addition to praying for the victims' families, we have also been praying for lots of loved ones facing illness.  Some friends, friends of friends, or friends' family members are fighting for their very lives.

The Lotz family has impacted our community in countless ways for eternity.  Danny and Anne Lotz helped start BSF in our capital city.  Together with the Knott family, they mentored numerous people including the couple who has had the most significant impact on my spiritual life in a way that catapulted me into a much closer, more vibrant walk with Jesus.  I cannot imagine my life without their influence.  For many years, the Lotz's were members of our church where I got to sit under their teaching, transfixed by their messages.  I still remember the look on Anne's face when she would talk about her childhood as Billy Graham's daughter.

One of my close friends since college works as the IT manager for AnGeL ministries and a deacon in our deacon/deacon wives small group is the director for the ministry, so we still get to hear about all the exciting things God is doing through this awesome family.

The least we can do for them and the greatest thing we can do for them is to offer prayer support.  Anne Lotz shared these words regarding prayer needs for her husband.

We’re in the fight of our lives.

Dan has a MRSA staph--the very worst and most contagious kind. They just did an ultrasound of his arm, and his stent is leaking. They will have to repeat the surgery they did last Thursday. None of this is good. And our entire family--especially me--is now at risk. The steroids I'm on make me more at risk. So we sure need prayer. He is on isolation, so no visitors to perk him up. The head of nutrition for the hospital just came in, put on her gown and gloves, then held his hand and prayed a very powerful prayer for his healing! The little nursing assistant who bathed him and pricked his finger for his blood sugar came in, put on her gown and gloves, then held his hand while I read this morning’s Daily Light--which, as usual, is exactly God's Word to us. So God is here. But we need urgent prayer.

Please pray:

• that he can overcome the infection. And if not, that God will take him quickly and painlessly.
• that God will comfort his heart and give him peace. He is afraid.
• that God's presence will fill this room for all who enter.
• that no one, including me, will get this infection.

This poem was one Mother wrote in the flyleaf of my Bible when I was a girl. Amazing how the words have come back to my mind.
Trusting Him when dark doubts assail us
Trusting Him when our strength is small
Trusting Him when to simply trust Him
is the hardest thing of all.

Trust Him then through tears or sunshine
All our cares upon Him cast.
Till the storms of life are over
And the trusting days are past.

Anne

One friend's father is battling serious stage 4 brain cancer.  Another friend's mother is in critical condition with kidney failure, various infections, and heart issues.  Another friend's brother is in failing health and is concerned that he may die before Christmas.  How do we pray for friends facing such illnesses?  Thankfully, the spirit intercedes for us when we cannot find the words.  A friend recently shared this prayer for the sick as an example of how to pray for the sick.

 Dear Lord,

You know my friend so much better than I do. You know her sickness and the burden she carries. You also know her heart. Lord, I ask you to be with my friend, now, as you work in her life. Lord, let Your will be done in my friends life.

Lord, I pray for my friend, just as your Word tells me to pray, for healing. I believe you hear this earnest prayer from my heart, and that it is powerful because of Your promise. I have faith in You, Lord, to heal my friend, but I also trust in the plan you have for her life.

Lord, I don't always understand Your ways. I don't know why my friend has to suffer, but I trust You. I ask that You look with mercy and grace toward my friend. Nourish her spirit and soul in this time of suffering, and comfort her with Your presence.

Let my friend know You are there with her through this difficulty. Give her strength, and may You, through this difficulty, be glorified in her life and also mine.

Amen.

Christmas Party

Since my husband was singing in the Christmas musical production at church on the night of our life class Christmas party, I had to hire a sitter and go by myself.   It was full of great fellowship, delicious desserts, Christmas caroling around the piano, fire pit and plenty of hilarity.   My husband arrived later, so he was there to enjoy much of the fun.
 

At every life class Christmas party we have attended since we were engaged, there has been a white elephant gift exchange.  When it was my turn to pick a gift, I was leaning toward taking the gift certificate to a nice restaurant, but my husband wanted to see what was inside the Winnie-the-Pooh bag.  When I placed my hand inside and felt the fabric, I knew I better let him open it to avoid embarrassing myself.  He pulled out a very large purple and black bra.  We both turned bright red.


 It was a size 54G....not quite my size!!!


Lots of fun suggestions were offered as to various uses for it.  Since there are several couples in our group who have twins, I think the best suggestion was that it be used as a Snuggli for twins.  Some suggested that I use the fabric to make a swim suit for myself, but I never got to take it home.  One of our friends asked to swap for it before we ever left the party.

When we returned home that evening, we found our kids sleeping peacefully under their favorite blankets and surrounded by their beloved stuffed animals.

Our friend and "sitter" that evening, who has an art degree and works as a preschool teacher, brought some art supplies with her so the kids could make winter crafts.  She knows my fear of all things crafty, so she's so good about making up for my lack of crafting with the kids when she watches our kids for us.  She made a cute snow scene as an example for them.


Our daughter painted a snowflake.
 
Our son painted a blizzard.

She also shared these cute pics of the kids which she took while we were at the party.  She's the best "sitter" ever!

A date at the animal shelter

In an attempt to speak my daughter's favorite love language (which happens to be one of my least favorite) I have tried to be intentional in spending more quality time with her.  I'm trying to carve out more time for Mommy / Daughter dates a few times each month.  One of our recent "dates" began at the county animal shelter 

To motivate her students to practice more often, our kids' piano teacher offered to donate one nickel for each time a recital piece was practiced by each student to the Count Animal Care, Control, and Adoption Center.  This incentive inspired her students to practice much more than usual.  When the animal shelter learned about the idea, they asked a few students to come for the presentation of the check.  Our animal loving girl insisted that we go, not for the photo op, but for the chance to see the animals. 

Presentation of check

The public relations director gave the students an in depth tour of the facility and even took them into private areas for faculty only.  This center takes in all animals from common pets to reptiles, spiders, peacocks, horses and cows. They take in over 16,000 animals each year, and over half of those are adopted.  The center is strongly dependent up on its over 500 volunteers, animal rescue team, and foster families.  Our daughter enjoyed telling the director about her grandmother's wildlife rescue efforts and how our daughter has helped her Grandma rehab and/or release raccoons, squirrels, owls, possums, and a hawk.

The center's vet performs approximately 8000 surgeries each year.  These pics were posted by the operating room.  My girl was quick to identify the animal at the lower left because she helped Grandma rescue a baby this size this past summer.

Post op animals and a baby squirrel

Here are  few of our daughter's favorite animals in the center awaiting adoption.

After our tour, we went out to eat and then did some shopping together to top off her love tank.

Our Beloved Mailman

I've always felt a unique bond with our mailman who also just happened to serve as our back-up mailman when we lived in a different county over 6 years ago. He loves to leave surprise gifts in the mailbox for our kids on most holidays and wears a fun Santa cap during the Christmas season. This year he has a brand new Santa suit and has been hoping to surprise our kids while wearing it on Christmas Eve.  Once when my children were younger, they saw him in his Santa cap leaving packages on the front porch and ran upstairs shouting "Santa came early, and since we don't have a chimney, he left the gifts on the porch!"  I think they were joking, but I'm not sure how clear their understanding of Santa Claus was at that time. 

Aside
We don't make much mention of Santa Claus at our house because we want Christ to be the focus (The joy He brings trumps any excitement Santa can bring, amen?) and because we want our kids to always trust us to tell them the truth.  I remember feeling hurt and ashamed when I learned the truth about Santa Claus.  I loved the gifts but did not like feeling like my parents and my prankster brother had pulled a fast one on me.  I also want to avoid any confusion over fantasy vs. reality, especially with regard to teaching them that the stories in the Bible are absolutely true, historical fact, not fiction.  So, we leave the children gifts on Christmas morning and fill their stockings, but we worship Christ, the greatest gift, instead of thanking Santa Claus.  We have told them the true story of St. Nicholas and explain that Santa is a personification of that Christmas spirit and a fun game to play at Christmastime.  We never made it out to be a secret that they would be itching to tell, and as far as we know, they have not spoiled the Santa game for any other families.  We have, however, missed out on getting to eat cookies and milk on Christmas Eve while reading some sweet note the kids might have left for Santa.

Like my husband, our postman is a navy veteran, but unlike my husband, he walks with a limp due to permanent disability gained during his years of service. I sensed, however, that we had another connection with our mailman.

He came to our door on the day before Thanksgiving hoping to show off his musical dancing turkey hat to the kids.

 

While I could order stamps on-line for an extra shipping and handling fee, he sells me stamps without any additional fees.  While showing me all the new Christmas stamps this year (while donning the turkey hat), he asked me if I had been to B-Town (my hometown) lately. Postal workers know as much about us as our hairdressers!  Then I learned that he had grown up in the same town, and we both had occasional cravings for the same hometown restaurants.  His craving grew so strong that past week that he had made a special trip to our hometown to patronize those establishments.  So that connection I felt with our mailman all these years was a hometown connection and I made sure to bring him back a souvenir from his favorite greasy spoon while home for Thanksgiving.

When he suggested that my kids might like the Santa & reindeer stamps best, I said, "No, not my kids. They'll prefer the ones of Mary & Joseph with the sunset in the background." Then my eavesdropping 6-year-old replied, "Swing set? Oh yes, we want the one with Mary, Joseph, and the swing set."

Our mailman returned the day after Thanksgiving wearing two different turkey hats.  He came early and had a super busy day before him that would likely not conclude until well after dark.  Yet, he paused long enough to take photos with my children and to show off his newest turkey hat.  John Marcus, you are such a blessing to us! 

Mailman Marcus, 2 kids, and 2 turkey hats

Kids laughing at his dancing turkey hat

Disordered details, cute quips, and other November nonsense

This month has been a whirlwind.  I feel like my mind, emotions, and concerns have been all over the place, so this recap of miscellaneous happenings in November may be as scattered as my mental state is right now.  Yet, these catch-all posts tend to be some of my favorite because they are such a real reflection of the day-to-day chaos of our lives that could possibly be sacred moments in which God in imprinting His grace and truth into our lives. With that intro, let the ping-pong post commence.

Bucking Bronco and Frolicking Foal have now entered their third and final year of Y-Princesses (sniff, sniff).  At the fall outing, they made survival bracelets for each other.  They wore them all weekend, and I wonder how many parents noticed the pink cord bracelet around my husband's wrist during our son's birthday party that weekend.  I love that he is manly enough to love and honor our daughter..even if it means donning his least favorite color, pink.

Please note the silver Acura pictured in the top left corner of the photo above.  That car has been a money pit from day one, but my husband has kept it because he says it's fun to drive because it has a manual transmission, fun features, and a high performance engine.  In his mind, "high-performance" means "speed and acceleration",  but in my mind, in only means premium only gasoline. After a crazy ordeal with each of us driving all over multiple counties trying to meet up with one another, my husband finally got my girl in his car and drove her to the Y-Princess camp area.  However, once he parked it, he never drove it again.  The car would not start when they were ready to leave, which was especially alarming since they both needed to get home in time for our son's birthday party scheduled to begin two hours later.  So, he called a tow truck, and I picked them up at the auto-repair shop.  We ended up paying hundreds of dollars for minor repairs and another chunk of change for a rental car* only to find out that the car also needed a new timing chain which we had already replaced at least once not long ago.  So we ended up junking the Acura and buying him a new Hyundai Genesis.

*Note: When AAA car car centers say they will complete the diagnostic check in 30 minutes, that really means they will not even look at your car for another three days, so go ahead and get a rental.

 

He likes his new car.  It practically drives itself with more automated features and buttons than some spaceships....or so it seems.  The two thick manuals that came with it are overwhelming to read, so we've been learning what it can do via trial and error. As long as it gets me from point A to point B, I'm happy, but I am concerned about the ridiculous number of modes of failure with everything so automated. The car has helped my husband's mood during an exceptionally stressful and hectic period of life, so anything that makes life easier right now is a worthwhile expense.

When my parents drove up for our son's birthday party, they brought some old photographs.  I immediately noted the similarities between my daughter and me when I was closer to her age.  Check out this comparison of me on my 6th birthday and my daughter at age 8.

So, I wonder if, when she's a teenager, she'll look in the mirror and see this image:

My Senior Prom

To find out what I truly hope she sees in the mirror, read "Parenting Your Mini-Me".

My daughter continues to speak my #1 love language by leaving me thoughtful notes.  One evening this past week, I attended one of the best LAMBS socials ever. I remember commenting after the social that I would rather sit around discussing God's word with like-minded women and lifting each other up in prayer than attend the most elaborate gala. 

Proverbs 27:17
As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another.

As I was driving home, I was thinking how much I needed that social and didn't think the evening could get any better until I saw this note from my daughter lying on my bed.

 

My daughter isn't the only one who has encouraged me with written words this past month. On one especially difficult day, I arrived at my PE class to immediately be showered me with gifts and words of encouragement from my students.  I always rejoice to see God answer prayers, but when He does so through the words of a precious child, it is ever sweeter.  One student went the extra mile by making me a Christmas card that honored Christ while encouraging me.  While her words may sound like vain flattery, they come from the heart of a child, and knowing this girl as I do, I know her heart was sincere and filled with love as she wrote it. This card is definitely a keeper!  Here's a photo of the inside for my blog book which now serves as my personal keepsake journal.

My son speaks love to me with his words as well.  One evening while I was tucking him into bed, he started talking about his plans for the future and asked when he would be old enough to do those things.  To answer his "when?" question, I said that he probably would not be living here anymore when that took place. He lamented, "But I don't ever want to leave you, Mommy. I want to stay here forever, ...(he pauses as he is thinking)...but does that mean I can't have children if I stay here because I want to be a daddy some day yet still live here."  I'm glad he likes living here, and I'm glad he wants to become a father some day.  Let's just pray that he isn't still living here when he becomes a father.

My knee, neck, and back pains flared up in a big way this month, most likely as a result of increased stressors,  just when I thought I was finally beginning to see some lasting improvement.   It's discouraging to have spent so much money and time driving 30 minutes each way up to four times a week for chiropractic care for years only to see the pains return, but more days than not, my back and neck are still much improved.  Now I mainly just need to get my knee to cooperate and my plantar fasciitis and achilles tendonitis to fully heal.  I am thankful to now own an ultrasound machine and to have a live-in ultrasound technician to assist with the application of gel and sound waves.

 

In all the craziness that November brought this year, I totally forgot to do our annual Thanksgiving tree tradition.  Thankfully, the kids' teachers made sure the kids completed lots of Thanksgiving crafts to document what they were most thankful for this year.

Our daughter is thankful for:

• Jesus
• parents
• food
• clothes
• her bed
• teachers
• school (she wrote her school name at least 3 times)
• cousins
• friends
• pets (especially horses)
• grandparents

Our son said he was most thankful for:

• God
• Mom & Dad
• family
• food
• friends
• Ms. Angie (his teacher)
• his school
• his house
• pumpkins
• the world

After celebrating Thanksgiving with my family we slept in on Black Friday.  This cleverly captioned photo sums up my thoughts about Black Friday, but I will admit to doing quite a bit of shopping online that day.

Thanks to a generous Sunday School teacher who let our daughter borrow her felt Bible story flannel boards and felt set, I have discovered a great way to keep the kids entertained.  They will sit quietly for hours assembling various Bible stories with those felts.  Perhaps I should get them some for Christmas or sign the kids up to help in children's ministry.

 

 

Our 8-year-old is a deep thinker.  Here are a few of her recent thoughts on various topics:

Motherhood

 "They say moms have eyes in the back of their heads. So Mom, will you teach me how that works so I can use those eyes when I am a mother?"

Economics
One evening our 6-year-old was reading off the dates on all his one dollar bills. I noted that he better hold onto the one with the oldest date because the fed is printing so much money that bills with older dates will seem rare. The 8-year-old, having recently read Whatever Happened to Penny Candy, said, "Well if they are printing lots of money, then that is going to cause both a recession and inflation." 

While I realize that federal manipulation of interest rates and inflation is far more complex than that book or any of the texts I read for my economics minor in college could explain, my first thought after she made that comment was that maybe we should send that book to Bernanke in case he didn't learn that at Harvard.

Politics
My 8-year-old scribbled out this poem one evening when she wanted her parents to stop discussing current events and begin playing games with her.  Her poem is entitled, "Politics".

Laws, people, government
Add up to one thing
Politics - some think are so important
But make others' ears ring.

Politicians thing they are so great
But that's just not the thing
People get, for no reason, ticked

All because of politics 

...(other verses which I have omitted for the sake of brevity)...

That's my opinion.

You probably don't have the same.

But I don't know what you know

About boring politics.

 
Our 6-year-old doesn't think quite as deeply yet, but his thoughts sure do amuse me.  One morning, I splurged a little by serving him a processed, sugary cereal.  When he saw the cereal box, he asked, "Does it have honey or pollen in it?"  

He does like to think deeply about mathematics, though.  He recently asked me if anyone has ever counted to a googolplex. If not, then he wanted to be the first. I warned him that he would be busy counting for a really long time.  He kept at it until his daddy shot him with a Nerf gun signaling an invitation to battle.   He may enjoy counting, but Nerf gun wars are prioritized much higher in his mind.

While he likes mathematics, he does not enjoy the study of finance. Recently, he kept listing all the things he wanted us to get him for Christmas until I explained to him that there just wasn't enough money in our Christmas budget to buy him all those things. So he replied, "Let's DESTROY the word 'budget'!"

And that, my friends, is precisely what is wrong with America today. 

Our son also often thinks about music.  He recently asked me if I knew the song, "Everybody Dance Now". So, I turned my mouth into a beat box, busted a move, and delivered my best impersonation of C&C Music Factory singing that song. I was hoping to impress my little boy, but he simply replied, "I don't like that song."

Our son is learning the art of selective hearing. When listening, he sometimes seems to hear whatever he would really like to hear.  After attending a super crowded gun show in our area one afternoon, my husband said to me, "I saw the perfect pistol for you at the gun show." And our eavesdropping little boy replied: "Did you say missile? Did you buy a missile, Daddy?"

My husband sent me this photo while at the gun show asking me which one he should buy.  I told him to buy ALL of them!  While made in jest, that comment is so unlike me but perhaps a good indication of how topsy turvy the world seems to be right now.

Yet another clue that this month has been unsual for us is that I made some drastic changes to my hair.  After the hair appointment, I went to get my kids at school.  When I walked up to the school to greet my children, and they totally did not recognize me.  All I did was take the color back to my natural color, which has turned considerably darker after my pregnancies, so that I would no longer feel enslaved to my dark roots.

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