Embracing Us

Today was a wonderful day.  We had plans to go to Edisto and watch baby turtles come out of their nest and make their way to the ocean and then meet up with a step brother that I had not seen in about 15 years.  Once again, I say that it was a wonderful day, but I just felt a little off all day and couldn't put my finger on it.  It could have been that I was functioning on about two and a half hours of sleep (still am by the way) but upon further examination, I think it is something different.

Remember that I had not had any contact with this step brother in 15 years.  The last time I saw him I was an 18 year old kid just finishing my freshman year of college.  Now after all these years we finally meet up again and introduce our families to each other.  He and his wife have a lovely twelve year old daughter and it was very nice to hear how they have been doing.

Then it came my turn to introduce my family and fill in the last fifteen years.  I have never claimed that my little family is normal, but I have never considered us to be weird either...until today.  It wasn't anything anyone said or did, as everyone could not have been nicer, it was just the thoughts that were running through my head as I was trying to explain my family.

First I had to explain why my husband was not with us.  See, I am married to a truck driver who owns his own small business and raises honey bees on the side.  He left for work at 2:00 this morning.  (So far not too normal...but not too weird, right?)  I did finish college, with an accounting degree but I have decided to stay home with my children rather than work outside of the home with my degree.  I also attended technical college after getting my Bachelors and trained in massage therapy.  I don't exactly get paid for that either, but I do pull out my massage table and chair every now and then for friends and family. (So now I realize that I am sounding a little bit strange.)  Joe and I have four children, all boys.  (This is where it starts to sound a bit weird, even to my ears.)  Their names are Noah, Jonah, Micah, and Ezrah.  Not only have we decided that I will stay home, we also educate our children at home.  Monday was Noah's first day of third grade at home, Jonah is in K4, and Micah is doing preschool work.  (At this point I want to reassure people that we do not belong to any sort of religious cult.)  Add to all of this that Noah's new hobby is knitting, Jonah will not leave home without wearing orange, long pants, and a hoodie, Micah is either tickling strangers or hiding from them, and Ezrah is always attached to me because I can't put him down without Micah loving on him a little too much.  Then you have the nearly forty assorted chickens and turkeys in the backyard, the rabbit, the dog, and the newly acquired cats.  Yep, I think we have reached weird.

The thing is though that this weird is our normal.  I honestly would not change anything (well maybe the chickens) about our life.  This is who we are and as much as it seems random, we live this way on purpose.  The world is full of normal...I think from now on I am just going to embrace the weirdness, because that is who we truly are.  And I will not even console myself by saying that it could be weirder, because I am sure if it can then we will eventually be there!

Southern Boy

I found individual bags of Planters salted peanuts on an amazing sale this week at Walmart.  Of course you know I had to buy an entire case of them.  I was thinking that they would be great quick snacks for the boys and that Joe would be able to take them in his lunch. Jonah pulled out a pack of them this morning and wanted to know if he could have some of those "pecans" in that pack.  I opened the pack and told him he could have them but that they were not pecans, they were peanuts.  He tasted a few and then we proceeded to have this argument discussion:

"Momma you are wrong, those are pecans"

"No they aren't, they are peanuts."

"Just taste one Momma and you will see."

"Jonah, I have tasted them and I know that they are peanuts!"

"Nope.  Peanuts are supposed to be soft, and these are crunchy!"

"Jonah, these are not boiled peanuts, they are roasted.  They are supposed to be crunchy."

"Well why would anybody want that when they could have them boiled?"

Yes, I am raising a full fledged southern boy! 

Hair

This post is a little different.  It is not about the funny things the boys do, or about my husband, or about Little Joe's Trucking.  It is all about me...and my hair...or lack thereof.

A couple months ago my hair started falling out.  At first I thought it was just the normal thinning that usually happens after I give birth.  I soon realized that there was nothing "normal" about this amount of hair loss.  I was loosing handfuls at a time.  Thinking that this was some type of hormone imbalance I went to see my OBGYN.  She checked me and said that she suspected a thyroid disorder and sent me to my family doctor.  My family doctor did blood tests to check for thyroid disease, lupus, and something else that I can't remember.  He was sure to tell me that these were just tests to rule out those things because he was pretty sure that I "just" had alopecia.  The next week he confirmed that all of my blood work came back normal (Thank God) and that he did indeed believe that I was dealing with alopecia totalis.


Basically what this means is that I am a perfectly healthy soon to be bald woman.  The bald doesn't bother me nearly as much when I put it in that context!  Over the past few weeks we have tried cutting my hair several times to reduce the appearance of the balding, but since my hair has never been really thick to begin with, the baldness is happening very quickly.


I still have a good bit of hair around the edges of the sides and at the nape of my neck.  The front and top is pretty much gone. Yesterday I finally got what hair I have left cut really really really really short.  I have never been that vain about my hair and I did not think it would bother me to be without it but I am coming to realize that the saying "It is only hair" is much easier to say when you have plenty of it.  I started crying when I was in the beautician's chair yesterday...over hair!!  How silly is that? 

Joe went with me to get my hair cut and has been such a good husband through all of this.  He saw how upset I was and asked me what I wanted to do.  The first thing that came to mind was to buy a wig, so that is what he took me to do.  I never thought that would be the route I would take, but I tried it yesterday.  I have to say that the "wig people" were incredibly kind and made the process actually fun.  Joe even hung in there the whole time!  I picked a wig as close to what my hair used to look like as possible, but my next one may be much different.  There are so many great options!

However with all of that said, I am getting more and more comfortable with the no hair version of myself and I may decide to not wear the wig at all, or maybe I will just wear my bandanna, or my hat, or maybe my hair will start to grow back (they did say that was a possibility).  The truth is I don't know what will happen as I get used to this new look so don't be surprised if you see me sporting long red spiral curls...it is still me under there!

Bad Blogger

I have not done well with my blog lately, especially since I hosted my first give away and never announced a winner, or got the prize to the winner.  There is a reason behind that.  I posted that to enter the giveaway, you needed to comment on my post...but I had comments disabled for that post!  Ooops, I guess my first giveaway was a bust. :-(

Because of my error and delay in announcing the winners, I have decided to award the prize to each person who commented on my facebook post that day as well as those who told me they tried to comment on my blog and could not.  You each should be receiving a copy of the book  Warrior Prayers: Praying the Word for Boys in the Areas They Need it Most in your inbox sometime tonight.

I know it is pushing the time constraints a little since the 21 day prayer challenge starts tomorrow, but hey I am doing the best I can!  I could promise to do better, but I probably will not be successful at that either, and I do not want to add "promise breaker" to my list of things I need to work on!

Anyway, if I have missed anyone who needs a copy of the book, please let me know and I will get one to you soon.  Join me the next three weeks praying for our boys.  I truly believe that we can change the world through our prayers for our sons.  If you want to know more about this challenge, you can find it here;  http://www.themobsociety.com/2012/03/change-the-world-pray-for-your-sons/. 

Noah

My first baby is growing up into such a big boy!  It really hit home a couple weeks ago on Easter.  The night before Easter I was up late trying to get the Easter Bunny goodies placed in baskets in each of the boy's rooms.  I could not for the life of me find the candy that I had bought earlier to go into the baskets.  I finally decided about midnight to forgo the candy and just make do with the other things I had.  As I was getting ready for bed, I noticed a plastic bag behind the couch in my bedroom.  I investigated and discovered that it was the candy that I had purchased to put in the Easter baskets.  I did not remember hiding it there, but then again I don't remember half of the things that I do, so I just grabbed it up and stuck it in each of the baskets that I had already packed.  The next day after Easter services, when the boys had a chance to investigate their baskets, I noticed that Noah was unusually quiet.  Then we had this conversation...

Noah:  Mom, did the Easter Bunny come see me?
Me: Well did you get goodies in your basket?
Noah: Yes 'Mam.
Me:  Then why are you asking me?
Noah: You know how I like to watch Scooby Doo?  Well on Scooby Doo they have a crew that solves mysteries.  I don't have a whole crew with me but I can solve mysteries too.  I found some candy in your room last week.  I thought maybe it was from the Easter Bunny, so I hid it behind your couch to try and trap him.  I just went and checked in your room and that candy is gone!  But you know what is even more of a mystery?  That same candy is what is in my Easter basket!
Me: Hmmm, what do you think that means?
Noah:  Well either you have to buy the candy for the Easter Bunny to put in my basket, or YOU are the Easter Bunny.

I tried to gently inform him that yes, Mommy and Daddy were the Easter Bunny for this house and that we did special things for them at Easter under the disguise of the Easter Bunny because we wanted them to experience the excitement and anticipation and because it was fun for us to watch them enjoy it.  I also warned him that he was not to tell any of this to his brothers because they deserved a few more years of excitement before they found out on their own.  I told him that if they asked he was to say that he did still believe in the Easter Bunny, because when one stops believing they then stop receiving.  After my detailed explanation, I asked him how he felt about all of this.  He responded with, "Well, I still have some questions about Santa, but I think I will keep those to myself!"
I tell you, this kid is too smart for me.  I knew that I was in trouble when he was in Kindergarten and I was drilling him on sounds.  I asked him which of the four did not belong, Peaches, Peanuts, Potatoes, or Carrots.  He responded with peaches because they grow on a tree and everything else grows under the ground.  Now in second grade I wonder how long I will be able to home school him since he is coming up with questions everyday that take me half of the night to find answers for.  I have to say "I don't know" entirely too many times during the day.  I'm hoping since I have wasted time tonight recording my thoughts, one of you will be able to help me out with today's questions.

1. When you are riding down the road there are yellow reflectors dividing the two lanes.  What are the sporadic blue reflectors that are in the middle of the lane for?

2. If there was a tornado, would you be safer in a plane above the tornado or on the ground under the tornado?

3. Since it seems that Jonah may not be allergic to as many foods now, where did the allergies go?

4.  If hot air rises, then why is it colder on a mountain top than on the ground?

If anyone could help me out with this I would greatly appreciate it!

Steps To Tears

Step #1...

...pick sweet peas out of the garden.

Step #2... 

...shell said sweet peas. 

Step #3...

...cook sweet peas until tender.

Step #4...

...puree peas, strain to remove skins, and mix with expressed milk.

Step #5...

...cry because you don't know where the time went.



How can it seem like just yesterday that we were bringing home a newborn and now I am preparing baby food for him?  For the past week, Ezrah has been grabbing at our food and smacking his little lips while we are eating in front of him.  Going by his cues, he is ready for something other than milk.  So I will spend my time making baby food and preparing for his next milestone... but that doesn't mean that I will not shed a few tears because it is all happening too quickly for me.

April Fool's Day

I had so much fun with April Fool's day this evening.  Nope, I did not announce that I was pregnant.  I made cupcakes for dinner.

Aren't they beautiful!

 Jonah was so excited to see that we were having cupcakes for dinner!  Noah on the other hand was a little worried...
Noah:  Is that all we are having?
Me:  Yes, that is what I made.
Noah:  But sometimes cupcakes hurt my tummy, and I don't think that many of them are good for us.
Me:  Well that is what we have.  I really hope it doesn't hurt your tummy.
Jonah:  They aren't gonna hurt MY tummy!  Yippeeeee!!!

Upon Micah's first taste he realized something just wasn't quite right.

Poor Jonah was not happy to learn that the cupcake he was so excited about was really just a tiny venison meatloaf and all of that yummy icing was actually mashed potatoes and food coloring!

  After getting over the initial shock and getting past the idea of eating fluorescent potatoes, the boys decided that dinner was good after all.

And since my crew were such good sports about it all, I decided to give them real cupcakes for dessert!

Happy April Fool's Day, hope you had as much fun as me!