Redneck Rescue Ranger

Give him some duct tape and a coat hanger and he can fix anything.

He never passes up anyone in distress.

A heart so big, I wonder how it fits inside his chest.

A loving father and devoted husband.

My rock and my safe place to fall all rolled into one.

Happy Birthday to my very own Redneck Rescue Ranger.

I love you My Joseph.

Man At The Window

Tonight I put the boys to bed a little later than usual since they had all taken late naps.  Jonah and Micah had been in bed for about 30 minutes and Noah was still up enjoying some Lego time without little ones crawling all over him.  Joe and I were watching the History channel, and I could hear the younger boys still playing quietly in their beds and had already gone in twice to tell them to go on to sleep.  It was a little after 9:00 when Jonah came out of their bedroom saying that there was a man knocking on his window.  I told him that I was sure there was not and that he needed to go on back to bed and go to sleep.  As I was convincing him to go back to bed, Micah came out of their bedroom saying, man-knock-my-window.  I scolded Jonah for putting ideas into his younger brother's head, took them each by the arm and lead them back to their bedroom.

As I entered the bedroom I heard a noise at the window. I turned to look and there at the window was a light skinned black man with a beard and ball cap, staring back at me.  I let out a scream that I did not even know I had in me and Joe came running.  I'm not sure what I even told him but he went outside to see what was going on.

Turns out it was a man who was looking for Joe to do some hauling for him.  He said he had knocked on the door and no one came, so he went to a window that had some light shining in it to try and get someone.  Are you kidding me?  What person in their right mind goes to a business owner's home, on a holiday, after nine at night, and knocks on their windows, in order to ask them a question about their business?  Our phone numbers are listed everywhere...why not just pick up the phone and call?  If I have anything to say about it (and I am pretty sure I will) we will not be doing any hauling for this man at any time.

After I had recovered from my own near heart attack, I then had to have a heart to heart with my children about safety without scaring them senseless.  They now know that they did the exact right thing by coming to me and that Mommy will definitely listen from this point forward.  They went right to sleep after I had prayed with them, but I have a feeling I will be up for quite a while longer.

Melissa, if you are reading this, I now understand why you do not sleep with your windows open.  I honestly had never even given it any thought.  We live in the country, away from all of the city crazies and crime.  I don't even have a key to the lock on my door and we have always slept with our windows open every time the weather would allow.  After tonight's episode, I am rethinking my stance on that very issue!

Exhaustion

I have never in my life been as tired as I am these days.  Not even when I had mono last summer did I feel like this.  Yesterday I managed to get up, get a shower, and get clothes on but by lunch time I was wiped out.  My wonderful husband told me to go take a nap...I slept for nearly six hours.  He woke me up so that we could go to a graduation party.  After two hours at the party I was so tired that I felt like weeping.  We came home and I went straight to bed.  Joe decided that we were skipping church this morning so that I could get extra rest while he was at home to watch the boys.  I am typing this from my bed this morning.
I am tired of sleeping, but still don't feel rested.  I really don't think this is normal.  I am past the first trimester of this pregnancy, so I don't think this is pregnancy related.  I see my OBGYN on Tuesday, so maybe he will be able to provide some insight.  Anyone else ever experienced this?

Mission Accomplished

Noah and I went to DC the first part of last week.  It was a very quick trip and we packed in as much as possible.  It was a great time for both of us and gave us some much needed one on one time with each other.  We learned new things, saw new sights, and made lots of memories....but those were not the reasons we took this trip.

The world that my children live in is really small.  I'm not sure if it is because we are a homeschooling family, a small business owning family, a living in the woods family, or a combination of all three.  Part of that is by design.  I want to protect them from all of the bad in the world and allow them to be innocent children for as long as possible.  On the other hand, I do not want them to believe that their lives have to always revolve around back-woods living and trucking.  I want them to know that there is a whole 'nother world out there just waiting for them to explore when they are properly equipped to deal with it.  There are wonderful parts to this wicked world that we live in and it is okay to dream about experiencing them.

Don't get me wrong.  I'm not saying that I want them to dream of "more".  Personally I do not think there is anything "more" that I could add to the life that we have chosen to make me any happier.  I just want them to know that it is okay to desire "different". 

While we were in DC Noah saw many things that amazed him.  At one point he turned to me and asked if we could live there.  I explained to him that no, we could not live there because my home was with his Daddy back in SC.  He thought about that for a while and then said, well do you think that maybe when I grow up someday I could live here?


Mission Accomplished.

Mirror Image

There are some things as a Mother that I find myself saying that I never would have imagined coming out of my mouth before having children.  There are also some things that come out of my children's mouths that I never expected to hear as well.  Take tonight for instance.  We all went out to eat as a family.  As we were sitting around the table waiting on our meals, Jonah looks at Joe and out of nowhere says, "Are you really my Daddy?"
I was sitting there with my mouth hanging open, trying to come up with a response when Joe just as quickly responds, "Well son, that is what your Mom tells me."  Sometimes Joe's sense of humor makes me want to kick him, but that is not the point here.
As I was trying to figure out where the question had come from, I realized that we were sitting directly across from a large mirror.  From where Jonah was sitting he had a direct view of Joe's reflection.  He was trying to figure out if his Daddy was the man sitting beside him or the reflection he saw in front of him.
It gave us a good laugh, but also made me very thankful for the choices that Joe and I have made in our lives.  It sure makes the answer for the "who is my Daddy" question a whole lot simpler than the answer that some mothers have to come up with.

Seriously?

Saturday I was helping to host a baby shower from three to five and then as a family we were supposed to attend a fundraising dinner at my Mom's church.  I left Jonah and Noah with Joe at the shop while Micah and I went to the baby shower.  The plan was for Micah and I to go straight from the baby shower to the fundraising dinner and have Joe, Jonah, and Noah meet us there.
I called Joe when I left the shower just to make sure everything was still on track.  He told me that he was still working and needed me to come pick up the boys, just to bring him back a plate of food.  I said that was fine, just to have the boys ready to go when I got there since I would be running late.  Then the conversation went something like this...

Joe:  Do the kids need to be dressed up for this?
Me:  No, shorts and tee-shirts are fine.
Joe:  So they can go like they are?
Me:  Yeah, what they had on earlier is fine.
Joe:  Ummm, if you say so.

Now Joe has never been one to care about appearances so I should have been clued in to what I was about to witness, but I was in such a hurry that it went right over my head.  This is what greeted me when I arrived at the shop.

 SERIOUSLY????  Let me point out to you that they were NOT covered in dirt or mud.  Nope, it was axle grease!  Ugh, the joys of having boys...Joe included.

Coastal Boy

Noah: Mom don't you wish we could spend every day at the beach?

Me:  That would be nice.  I am thankful that we get to come to the beach as often as we do.  Do you realize that there are some people who go their entire lives without seeing the beauty of the ocean?

Noah:  Man that would be horrible to never get to play in marsh mud!

I Should Pay More Attention

Jonah:  Mom can I go outside and brush Dixie's hair?

Me: Go ahead, but don't go out the gate.

Jonah: Okay, I won't.


.....later.....


Jonah:  I remembered to put your hairbrush back, are you proud of me?

Thank You

Those two words do not even seem adequate for the support that we as a family have received over the past week.  The amount of phone calls, e-mails, cards, visits, food, and flowers were overwhelming.

Just take a look at all of those flowers!  And that does not even count all of the many house plants that were received.  Granny Faye was truly loved by all that knew her, and she loved each of you in return.

The most important thing that our family has received this past week have been your prayers.  I can only speak for myself, but I know that I would have never made it through some of those tough moments had it not been for the prayers of loving Christians.  Thank you so much from the bottom of my heart!

Osama Bin Laden

“I’ve never wished a man dead. But, I have read some obituaries with great pleasure.” – Mark Twain

I'm still not really sure how I feel about the death of Bin Laden.  I for sure do not feel like taking to the streets in celebration. Watching Americans celebrate and cheer last night after the news was announced made me sick to my stomach.  I think that just coming from the recent loss of my Grandmother, I am looking at this from a different perspective than most.

Bin Laden was a horrible, wicked, evil man who for sure deserved death for the crimes that he committed.  However, to rejoice in any death gives me pause.  I am sure that he was loved by someone, somewhere, and for me to gloat and cheer in the face of that tragedy just does not seem even human.

I am a firm believer that sin is sin no matter what kind it is.  God views each transgression against him the same.  Bin Laden's life was riddled with sins against God.  Because of that I feel confident that he went straight from that palace directly into the pits of Hell.  I think that it is important to remember though that but for the grace of God, when I die I would be headed there as well.

How can I rejoice in his suffering when I know that I myself deserve the same punishment that he is receiving? Christ died for Bin Laden's sins just as much as he died for mine.  The difference is that I chose to receive the gift.  That is where I find the only rejoicing in this situation.

By the way, feel free to disagree with me.  I am not an expert on anything...it is just my opinion!

Feel The Love

Jonah: Daddy, I have something to tell you.
Joe: Go ahead Jonah.
Jonah: It is really important.
Joe:  Well go ahead, I am listening.
Jonah:  I love you.
Joe:  I love you too.


...long pause...

Me: Jonah do you have something to tell me?
Jonah:  Ummmm....no.