Drama Camp

Our daughter enjoyed another great drama camp last week.  This year's camp was more about learning new skills and having fun than about putting on a full scale production, but the students did perform a few skits for parents on the last day demonstrating what they had learned.  It was so funny I cried all my make-up off my face. The primary skills honed this week were story telling, improv, and staged sword fights. Our daughter had a very lengthy speaking part in her role as the master in the rock sword firecracker skit.  Her Tae-Kwon-Do uniform came in handy for that one. 

Her zany sense of humor gave the improv section a cute twist and had us all laughing hysterically.  She wrote and choreographed a fight scene that was too funny to take seriously.  She duel was over a pair of high heel shoes and Bojangles Biscuits.  Such a silly girl she is and absolutely made for the stage.

I'm thankful for this opportunity for our daughter to get to know the new drama director and hope she will have plenty more opportunities to perform on stage next year.  She is taking drama as one of her electives next fall.

Nana and Pops drove up to watch her perform, filling in for her dad who was traveling for work again all week. They even treated us all to Chick-fil-A after the show!

Basketball Camp

After attending a lot of men's varsity basketball games last year to watch my students play and after getting to know the head coach's family (they are one of the most amazing family ever), I could not wait for my son to participate in the school's basketball camp for 3rd through 5th graders this summer.  The coach's son, Jason, whom I wrote about extensively on my graduation post especially with regard to his valedictorian speech volunteered his time this week to help with camp whenever he did not have a conflict with his work.  It was great to see him again and have my son learn from him and his dad.  Some of the older kids at the camp were great role models and fabulous basketball players, and a few other former varsity basketball players dropped in as well to mentor and coach the boys.  I love the way our school fosters relationships across ages for mentoring and a family atmosphere.

Basketball Camp 2015:  Our boy is on front row far right in bright green socks.  Jason and his dad are on the back row right.

I wish my husband could have been there for the scrimmage on the last day so he could see how our son progressed from being gentle, passive, and kind ("here you go, friend, you can have the ball") on the court to being more aggressive and intense.  He worked hard all week.

Rebound and turn it around

Layup

A super special treat for the boys was getting to watch two of the school's recent graduates perform a dunking demonstration.   My boy was all about it! 

 Caleb is a state slam dunk champion, and Jason is a phenomenal 3-pointer and free throw shooter. My prayer for my boy all year has been that he will grow up to be just like these guys, not just on the basketball court but mostly in the heart.

 
This dunk, which had Caleb flying right over a camper's head, was one of my favorites.

 

His sister "cheered" from the sidelines just as you might expect a rising middle schooler to do...chatting with her head turned most of the time.  She is our social butterfly.

Muffin's First Vet Visit

When we first adopted Orwell, the shelter told us he would only need two vet visits to complete his vaccinations.  During his first vet visit, the vet told me he had two more visits left after that one (wait, that makes three).   Then at the second visit which was over twice as expensive as the first, the vet said he had two more visits after THAT one (that makes four).  That vet also said we needed to switch him to a wet food diet.  That vet also treated him for ear mites as a preventative measure since mites are so common in animal rescue centers.  So Orwell has become one expensive critter, and that doesn't count the four costly floor rugs he has shredded or the leather sofa he distressed for us when he made it his scratching post.  Ugh.

Then, we began to wonder if Orwell gave Muffin ear mites, which are transferable between the species.  The back half of each of Muffin's ears began to turn dark gray while the front remained light tan or cream.  I thought nothing of it at first since sable point lops are always changing colors.  But then we realized she was losing a lot of fur, not just changing color, and saw where fur loss was a sign of ear mites, so we took her to the most expensive and only vet that treats rabbits nearby in a neighboring city.

Sorry, Muffin, but as I learned at a very early age, having a brother automatically means you will often find yourself in the headlock. The secret to getting out of this position is to tickle your brother's feet. It worked every time for me.

I also shared with my vet my concerns over Muffin's change in temperament and frequent spraying and litter training issues making her way more trouble than I could stand.  She thought Muffin was remarkably calm during the visit, and Muffin certainly did enjoy all the rubbing and attention.  Friends with bunnies as pets tell me Muffin doesn't even belong in the rabbit species, for she is more like a dog in the way she sits in our lap, licks our face, and just enjoys being cuddled.

Muffin made my boy and me laugh with her ears out like airplane wings while in the bunny burrito wrap for the examination.  The vet said her ears look great and that since the shedding is symmetrical, she's probably just going through a molting period.  She had not seen anything quite like it, though.  Then today, I came across this picture of Muffin's maternal grandfather, Mr. Honey. In this pic, his ears look the exact same way, so apparently this ear thing is genetic, but I hope it looks normal again soon as it is worrisome to watch.

Mr. Honey, Muffin's grandfather

The vet suspects that Muffin's behavior is a combination of wanting more attention now that Orwell is in the family and being in heat.  She probably smells some leftover pheromones from our previous male bunny, Cody.  So I cleaned the furniture with enzymatic cleaner to rid it of any remaining scents.  She has still had a few accidents, so worst case is she has a UTI causing her to pee more, but her mood seems to be more normal now, especially if I give her one-on-one attention each day.

First Flight "Unattended" to Cousin Camp

We sometimes feel like the black sheep on both sides of our family since all my family lives in the same town, and all my husband's family lives in the same general area while we live in a different city.  I'm only an hour from my family, but we're 1000 miles from my husband's family.  We try to fly out there twice a year, but to keep relationships close, the kids need extended quality time with their cousins and grandparents without their parents in the way.  So, it has become a tradition to get all the cousins together each year.  Last year, they all drove out here.  This year, we let our kids fly "unattended" out there.   During check-in, a pair of grandparents stood beside us to get their passes to go fetch their grandchildren, ages 6 and 10, who had been flying unattended for years.  Seeing how well that had worked out for younger children than our own settled my anxious heart and was a gift from God as we sent them off without us.

Daddy checks their bags.

Since they are under age 12, children flying unattended is only allowed for direct flights, so the closest we could get them to Oklahoma was St. Louis, Missouri.

Ready to fly

While we waited for their delayed plane to arrive, my girl and I went shopping for matching t-shirts while the guys went shopping for matching tacos. :-)  It was my way of sending a piece of home with her to Oklahoma.  Everyone was surprised by my impulsive overpriced purchases, especially considering how much I do not enjoy shopping. This mama's heart was feeling especially tender at that moment.

 When it was finally time to depart, I gave them goodbye hugs while a stranger leaned over to photobomb our picture.  Too funny!

As this point, we did not not know whether to cry or jump up and down with joy shouting, "Free at last!  Thank God we're free at last!" :-)   Sometimes an adult just needs to be free of responsibility for a little while.

My husband's devoted parents drove to Missouri to get them.  Their flight delay turned out to be a blessing when their grandparents got stuck in rush hour traffic on their way to the airport.  They were there in time to receive them and all was well with the world when we received this picture over text.

They spent the night just outside St. Louis and drove to Oklahoma the next day.

Some of their favorite memories from cousin camp (which included twin 2nd cousins from Texas) included:

Drive-in movies at the Admiral Twin

 Chocolate Gravy and Butter Waffles

 (our daughter gained five pounds!)

Catching crawdads in the creek for the raccoons

Swimming and skipping rocks with Grandpa at the creek

Family Jam sessions at Mark and Lori's house

Scrabble with Grandpa

Spa days with Kate

Lots of swimming with cousins

We drove out to get them the past Saturday.  Their grandparents drove them to the Nashville area so we did not have to drive all the way to Oklahoma to get them.  What a gift!

 After lots of hugs, we all went out to eat together followed by swimming in the hotel's indoor/outdoor poo.  The kids thought the missing "l" on the sign was hilarious!

We departed the next morning, stopping off in the mountains for a few hours to eat lunch and visit with the Leigh family.  We enjoy that family so very much.

My husband spent much of the day on the phone with work where another major crisis was occurring, and as soon as we got home, he booked another flight to Colorado at 6am the next morning.  His reunion with the kids was short and sweet, and we were very sad to see him have to go again.

When Daddy and/or the Kids Were Away...

While Dad Was Away

After being away from their dad during our trip to Bald Head Island while he worked, and then after having him gone until late Saturday evening on a business trip, the kids flew out on Monday for almost two weeks with their grandparents.  We drove to Nashville this past Saturday and met up with them late Saturday and then drove all the way back on Sunday.  My husband was on the phone most of the day with work.  Then he was gone again by 4:30am on Monday morning.  By the time he returns, the kids will have been away from him for 25 out of the last 28 days.  It's taking a toll, for every child needs quality and quantity time with both his/her mother and father.

Unexpected and urgent business trips make them sad.
Such is life when the industry's hero is your dad.

Out of 28 consecutive days,
Twenty-five without Dad is quite the malaise.

 

While the Kids Were Away
The house was quiet and lonely with the kids gone and my husband at work most of the time.  I had hoped to get lots of projects done around the house, but his shoulder and bicep were still out of commission, so all the work fell on me.  I did at least purge my office, the mudroom, the pantry, the play room, five closets, and the kids' rooms.  I should have taken before/after pics, but I feared a before pic of the kids' rooms could get us in trouble with HAZMAT for our daughter is a going through a hoarder phase I hope she will soon outgrow.  

Desk makeover for our girl

We had my old desk from when I was a little girl refinished and replaced all the hardware on all the pieces we had already refinished previously.  I'm still waiting on my husband to drill holes in the desk for one more handle replacement, and then it will be done.  I stayed up past 3 am several nights reorganizing her room and still did not get it all done.  She was not happy with me when she got home, but my son thanked me profusely for making his room so much neater and more organized.  Those two are so completely different.

Look what I found together while purging the kids' rooms. At least now I will be prepared for their April Fools pranks, and I am glad they want to make a positive difference in the world when they are not pranking their parents.

Orwell kept me company during all these cleaning sprees. Here he is enjoying one of my bins.  Note how the markings on his back look like an elephant.  When we first got him, he sat such that the markings formed a heart as if to say, "Please let me into your heart."  This time, I think he's expressing his preference for small government and conservative Republican ideals.

I barely noticed him sleeping on the chair one day with all our daughter's stuffed animals all around him.

The school room was one of his favorite purging spots.

In addition to keeping me company, Orwell did a lot of growing while the kids were gone.  He's over three pounds now (vs. one pound when we got him a month ago), and he is now approximately the same size of Muffin.

I also gave the house a deep cleaning while the kiddos were gone and updated some of the decor.  My son noticed and thanked me for making the house look so nice (I'm sure his allergies thank me too), but my daughter complained saying she physically needs clutter around her to function properly.

I took the old rocking chair my mom rocked my brother and me in to my refinishing pro for an update during their absence.  I kept this chair in the nursery for rocking my babes.  It was outdated then too, but the colors blended.  Now we have the rocking chair in the guest room where the new furniture is dark walnut with expresso accents.  So, our refinishing pro updated the chair to black with dark walnut distressing for an inverse match. I now love the chair I once loathed!

I wasted a lot of time simply observing Orwell while the kids were gone. As a new cat owner, I am fascinated by everything that cat does and especially enjoy watching him play (except when he's tearing up my flower arrangements, scratching my furniture, or shredding my expensive area rugs).  Ugh!  I watched him sleep in a wide variety of odd sleeping positions.

I gazed amused as he would play furiously, run wildly, poke or hop over Muffin to get her to play with him.  Once he seemed to mope about as if missing the kids.

 

Sometimes I merely watched him sit while wondering what color his eyes will be when is fully grown.

I had a hard time finding him when he slept hidden among my giveaway piles.  I made lots of trips to Goodwill and the garbage can while those kids were gone.

One simple to-do item on my list was to get the side view mirror on our van replaced. It seemed such a simple task, but when the dealership quoted me well over $600 to do the job, we searched for a better price.  We got a slightly lower quote at a large collision center closer to our house, but they could not see us for another four weeks.  It's dangerous to drive without a side view mirror, but I kept rubber necking to see and tried to be careful during that time. We figured they must be really good to be so busy. 

We took it the same morning our kids flew to St. Louis, but they had not ordered the part during those 4 weeks of waiting and told us to call mid-week to check on the progress. After looking at the shock on our faces, the guy said, "Bring it back tomorrow at 10am. I'll order the part express right now." So, I brought it back the next day at 11:30 to be safe. Still no part. I told him to call me when they are ready for me next time. On FRIDAY they claimed they were finally ready so I brought it in and RAN HOME crossing very busy streets because they had no shuttle and then having to shower and launder my clothes because I was dripping wet from the run in the hot & humid weather.  

I got it that afternoon and paid the money they quoted us initially. While driving home, I noticed that the camera on it wasn't working, so I took it back again on Monday.On Tuesday,  they called and said they can't fix it, and have to take it to Honda to fix it, and I would have to pay the extra $122 they charge to fix it for approximately 10 minutes of labor . They took it to Honda and then brought it back to the shop with no gas. But guess what? Honda took the money but didn't fix it either. It still doesn't work. 

But since it was completely out of gas and the voice mail from our customer rep suggested that he wanted us to come put gas in it so he could take it back to Honda the next day, my husband drove over there at 10pm that night to take it for a fill up. But then he discovered that NO gas stations were open after within the few miles left before it ran out of gas.  So my hubby rolled it into our driveway thinking we at least have some gas in the mower can. It had been on 0 mile range for the past mile and a half. It is a miracle he made it home. But our gas can was empty too. So, then my guy who is still recovering from shoulder surgery jogged back to the repair shop to get his car, drove back home to get the gas can and then drove further out to finally find a gas station that was still open.  He poured it back into the van that still isn't fixed.

So the saga continued until I called the collision center manager who finally agreed to cover the Honda dealership fees.  By the end of week two, we finally got the van back.  Had the kids been here, they would have missed several hundred dollars worth of weekly activities since I had such limited van access during that time.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Another goal for our time without the kids was to go on dates.  Out of 11 evenings without them, we only found time to go out three times, but that's two times more than we normally go out together over a period of six months. We used gift cards to treat ourselves to fancy dinners.  I dusted off some of my favorite cocktail dresses and enjoyed the peace, quiet, and professionally prepared gourmet meals which reminded us of our honeymoon dinners and special anniversary trips.  We treated friends one evening for a double date, which is something we should do more often.

We also got to catch up with friends we haven't seen in almost 10 years since they moved to Florida.  Most of the families we were so close to back then have left our church or moved, so it was a sweet reunion indeed, and we all got to meet lots of new kids who had been added to these families which mostly consist of at least three children.  My husband had to use his zoom lens to capture us all, and he still missed a passel of kids in the back right corner.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Unfortunately, while the kids were gone, our POTUS, who has worked tirelessly over the past 6.5 years to tear apart our country according to his global citizen mindset, made the worst deal ever with Iran.  I'm still in complete disbelief that we could let something that idiotic happen. This deal bans U.S. inspectors from Iran nuclear facilities.  It lifts economic sanctions that could boost Iran's economy with $150 billion in revenue which will most likely be used to arm terrorists and build their nuclear arms program.  It also allows Russia and China to sell arms to Iran, and considering China's economic woes, they should be glad for the new revenue stream.  This treaty slaps Israel upside the head with the worst stench of betrayal.  Anyone who has read Biblical prophecy pities the fool who rejects Israel. So this deal has basically set the course for WW3 which prophecy describes as a nuclear war.  Iran's hatred extends beyond Israel, for iranians have repeatedly attacked Americans and regularly chant, "Death to America!"  "Get right with Jesus, people!" is all I can say for our days are numbered.

It's ironic to watch America repeating so many mistakes of the past and trying to emulate failing nations.  I seriously thought that the reason we study history is to learn from past mistakes and to form a broader, richer, wiser understanding of the nature of humanity and of the world. How silly of me, for "progress" apparently means rewriting, denying, or hiding history and repeating the same mistakes from the past but in a more epic disaster kind of way.  Our leaders won't even let themselves remember Clinton's treaty with North Korea only 21 years ago.  I don't think our POTUS is dumb enough to trust the world's nastiest enemy.  Surely his goal all along was to weaken America because he sees the U.S. as a great evil.  Bush made some serious mistakes, but at least he loved America with great zeal and honored the office of President.  Now it is politically correct to hate both God and America, apparently, as evidenced by the lewd parades in which near naked activists wipe their rear ends with the U.S. flag and the pages of Scripture.  So just as I told a friend with a completely opposite worldview from mine a week after the SCOTUS ruling, calamity will keep coming in every aspect of life at a quicker pace and at a greater intensity than ever before as God sends more harbingers of the judgment to come so that more people will come to their knees in repentance and receive His gift of salvation.

Here are just a few that come to mind since I issued that warning to her:
 

Technology Attack all on the Same Day

• NYSE closed
• Wall Street Journal webpage died
• United Airlines had to ground flights

Internation/Domestic Relations 

• Iran Nuclear Arms Deal that essentially allows them to set up a nuclear arms system which they will use on Israel first and then us & betrays our great ally
•  Four marines and one sailor were killed when a domestic terrorist went on planned shooting spree at a recruitment center where they were sitting ducks without arms.  (FYI:  "Gun Free Zone" = "Welcome mass shooters")  Yet, instead of allowing our armed forces to bear arms, the POTUS has advised they close the blinds and stop wearing uniforms. Give me a break!
• Several black veterans have been killed by Black Panthers for standing up those in the south who are being persecuted by the north

Financial

• Greece financial collapse – buy out with Europe
• Chinese stock market dropped 30% (trillions in value)

Natural Disasters

• Top scientists warning of a pending earthquake in Seattle area that could destroy the city and kill at least 30,000

Christian Persecution

• Bakery owners fined for not baking cake for a gay wedding followed by multiple threats on their lives
• Christian hostages in Iran not even brought up during negotiations which was the one time we could have seriously gotten them out of there
•  Bible publishers are being sued by radical groups because they think the Bible (God's love letter to mankind) is filled with "hate speech.
• Hate groups have been parading in streets on an social media as they wipe their butts with the American flag and with pages of Scripture as a way of offending and blaspheming God and liberty loving patriots 
• Threats to take away churches’ non profit tax status are intensifying.

Even though the Bible warned of such calamities and we know it will only get worse until Jesus comes again, it's still so hard not to get angry over the state of the word and particularly over the moral depravity in America. Even G.K. Chesterson predicted these types of events almost a century ago when he said the following:

“For under the smooth legal surface of our society there are already moving very lawless things. We are always near the breaking-point when we care only for what is legal and nothing for what is lawful. Unless we have a moral principle about such delicate matters as marriage and murder, the whole world will become a welter of exceptions with no rules. There will be so many hard cases that everything will go soft.” - G.K. Chesterson (1874 – 1936)

But as I keep learning the hard way, we can't win people for the kingdom of God or rescue them from the drowning floods of postmodernism with mere rhetoric and especially not with angry rhetoric. So I turned to Scriptures and wrote the following in my journal.
Our country is surely more divided than it has been in my lifetime. We are all so angry and rightfully so. The media is so biased no one knows what to believe anymore, but whatever is published seeks to inspire anger, hatred, bitterness, and division.

Government accountability is missing and the system of checks and balances is defunct. Sanctuary cities and all branches of power seem to be picking and choosing which laws they will and will not obey which begets widespread lawlessness.

Unarmed military personnel have been slaughtered by domestic terrorists as predicted by authorities, so now armed citizens are giving their time to stand guard over unarmed "armed forces" who were employed to protect citizens in the first place!

Women and children are still trafficked like slaves and at an increasing rate as the pornography industry continues to trespass into hearts and homes taking captive unsuspecting and vulnerable internet users with the result of wrecking families while increasing the lust for more perverse and more frequent abuses of women and minors.

Babies are butchered and then sold in parts on the black market by an organization established by a racist eugenicist and funded by taxpayer dollars against the wishes of the majority of taxpayers.

Some extreme groups are parading virtually naked in public while wiping their rear ends with the American flag or with the pages of Scripture, for it is now politically correct in America to hate both God and America.

The dignity of human life is disregarded as postmodernism & moral relativism have become pervasive. So unstable, hurting, young people feel justified in shooting praying saints in church or innocent children in gun free schools.

America has abandoned her allies and shacked up with the world's worst enemies and put the entire world at greater risk of nuclear war.

The story of my life right now

Many of us want to cry from the mountaintops, "STOP IT!" But if all we do is cast insults at one another out of our own personal hurts or speak the truth with stinging words, forgetting there is a soul behind that electronic screen, then we only make the situation worse. We cry ourselves to sleep over the oppressive evil all over the world and want so much to make a difference, but words are silenced and positive actions don't seem to get far in a broken democratic republic. So where do we turn? How do we stand upright in a world that has turned upside down?

King David turned to God, pouring out his heart with shocking honesty. He did not mince his words, either. He begged for God's judgment to fall on his enemies, for he was desperate, weary, surrounded and outnumbered, despairing and afraid. These emotional rants are recorded in the psalms, but they almost always end with praise because prayer leads us to acknowledge God for who He is. Prayer helps us see His power, goodness and love. It reminds us that He is still sovereign over all these things. So instead of slaying one another with our words (speaking to myself here), let us cry out to God, look to Him, confess, intercede, and worship.

4 "For you are not a God who delights in wickedness;
evil may not dwell with you.
5 The boastful shall not stand before your eyes;
you hate all evildoers.
6 You destroy those who speak lies;
the Lord abhors the bloodthirsty and deceitful man.
7 But I, through the abundance of your steadfast love,will enter your house.
I will bow down toward your holy temple in the fear of you.
8 Lead me, O Lord, in your righteousness because of my enemies;
make your way straight before me.
11But let all who take refuge in you rejoice;
let them ever sing for joy,
and spread your protection over them,
that those who love your name may exult in you.
12 For you bless the righteous, O Lord;
you cover him with favor as with a shield." (Psalm 5)

*Note: This psalm was written before Christ's righteousness was imputed on those who believe & trust through HIS work (not ours) on the cross.

I'll close with some quotes and links that have been most helpful for me during this cultural slide off the moral precipice:

From my all time favorite teacher and apologeticist:

 "The Church must not be a fortress guarded by a constabulary but a home where the Father ever awaits the return of each of us who is in the far country." Ravi Zacharias

How Wide the Divide: Sexuality at the Forefront, Culture at the Crossroads

Liberals and conservatives both cite ignorance of levitical law as evidence that the other side is biblically illiterate. They are both right. - By Tim Keller

Preaching the truth boldly:   Will the Real Christian Pastors Please Stand Up?

Wise and wonderful people have come out of Oklahoma, y'all, including my husband.  Must see video below:

Powerful floor speech from Senator James Lankford on the horrifying practices of the abortion industry. This is a must-watch!
Posted by National Right to Life on Saturday, July 18, 2015