Guess What I woke up to?

Oh, never mind, just quit guessin' cause you're never gonna get it. I kept the windows up last night because it was so cool. Cool air and a down comforter...now there's some good sleepin', KWIM? Anyway, this morning, bright and early BEFORE my alarm went off I was jolted from a deep slumber by the gut wrenching, overwhelming stench of .....a skunk! A pole cat! Welllll Good Mornin' to me! Thankfully, he was just passing by in the woods and hadn't actually sprayed anything in our vicinity. But the nice cool breeze blew his aroma straight into my bedroom which faces the back of the house.

We had a good day today. We knocked out all of our lessons by 2, and then we met Thom at the health food store in town to stock up on vitamins and other goodies. Then the kids and I went to Barnes and Noble, got coffee and drinks and perused all of the cool Narnia stuff thats out right now.

Savannah had her modern class tonight, so I took a few books to keep me busy while she danced. I have just started "Atlas Shrugged",by Ayn Rand, but I'm not far enough along to have any opinion of it yet. I AM hooked, though. And at night we are reading King Arthur aloud. I have a study guide for the book, that I got from Veritas Press, which I am keeping one eye on. But honestly, sometimes there is nothing like a study guide to ruin an otherwise enjoyable book! And we ALL love King Arthur.

Austin's birthday is on Halloween. He surprised me this year by wanting to go to an old cabin up in the mountains that we went to years ago with him. We were fortunate enough to secure a night up there at this time of the year. It is a beautiful, and rare two story cabin, that is completely secluded(no phone, no tv). I will post the link when I get the chance. We are really looking forward to it, although it will be strange sleeping in that quiet log cabin, with only wood stove heat, without Race.

So, have y'all gotten your carving pumpkins yet?

G'night?
Melissa

It has been rainy and overcast for the last several days. I think that I had forgotten what rainy days were like! It has been unseasonably warm as well, but today the high was only 65. Feels a bit more like fall today, and that was nice!

Yesterday we each had chores to do. There was baseball to watch. And the legos stayed out all day until bed time. We made some homemade chewy buttered pretzels, and we ate spaghetti. I accomplished quite a bit yesterday, although I never really got up to full steam.

We made it to Sunday school this morning, and found all the kids' classes. They had such a wonderful time, and everyone made new friends today. I have to say that it was so refreshing to see a Sunday School program that was about LEARNING. (No teams, no races,no candy prizes, no bands...etc.) You remember..... discipleship. Learning to be a better servant of God, learning more about the character of God and God's word. And each of the kids classes were led by such caring and kind people, it was just great. It also helped that the kids all knew at least one person in each of their small classes. They can't wait to go back. Oh, and BTW, I really loved the new members class as well. Although, as always, I am completely intimidated to have to go by myself, when everyone else is a "couple". Ugh. But I went. And I was totally blessed. The pastor must have known that I was coming today, because his sermon, I am sure, was given especially for me. ;-) And though I went in this morning, feeling a little beaten and battered, I came out knowing that I had been blessed, and that God is with me and with joy in my heart. (You know, I typed that last phrase several times looking for different words, but "joy" is the right word.) After church I had a wonderful lunch out with my kids.They were bubbling over with stories from their classes. It was fun to sit and listen, and hear their opinions. And just hang out with them without any "reason".

So, for the rest of the day I have some work to finish up on, but thankfully, I got most of it done yesterday.;-) So, nothing too daunting. I plan to spend some time outside on my porch this evening, soaking in the smell of fall, and just being thankful.

Have a wonderful Sunday,
Melissa

HAPPY BIRTHDAY AUNT BELLE!!!!!!!!

Hope that you had a wonderful day!

What a day! We are all exhausted. As I look around me and survey the day, I am not even sure why. We did have a lot of errands to do today. We got them all done in the pouring down rain, (which we are very thankful for). The boys had Martial Art graduation tonight, and each of them got their new belt level. I must say that I am extremely impressed with the amazing skill levels that they have been able to achieve. They received a lot of compliments tonight. Next week they will be doing a Kick-a-thon for charity, and they are really looking forward to that. Savannah is really enjoying ballet and Modern classes this year, and her skills have improved by leaps and bounds, as well her self esteem. Her talent for art, I simply cannot put into words. She seems to cover new ground each week. It is an amazing evolution to see her pictures of just a year ago, and compare them with her artwork today.

The boys had to clean AND vacuum their room. In doing so, Jacks Shell Supply Store had to be disassembled. SO this evening, he manufactured and packaged a nice hand soap that he has been peddling around to each family member. (sigh) He has quite a sales pitch.

He is also really missing Race, and last night he broke down about it. Absolutely heart wrenching. We prayed and talked about everything, and he fell asleep pretty soundly (in our bed). Tough though.

I have to get all my ducks back in a row this weekend, so that I don't just slide off into "survival mode", which is no good for anyone. Gotta take a few deep breaths and get back at it.

Planning on starting the New Members class this Sunday at church, and I am really looking forward to it.

Have a wonderful weekend,
Melissa

Do you REALIZE what life will be like in my house if the Yankees and Red Sox go to the World Series again? Come on Angels! Go White Sox!!

scattered morning thoughts..

Today will be a busy one, and it looks like the rain that is falling outside is going to settle in and stay for awhile. (One can only hope, as the ground is so dry here, that I do believe that I hear a sucking noise as it soaks in the rain).

Took a long walk with Jack yesterday. We wnt down to the creek, and walked all around the property. He LOVES this. He talked happily, and CONSTANTLY the whole time.

We have martial arts classes and ballet class today, and I will have a ton of errands to complete, while going back and forth.

Talked to Race this morning. We sure are missing him!

Have an awesome day!
Melissa

I fixed the kinks in the links below. Be sure to check em' out. You won't be sorry! Be back later!

You don't want to miss these!

I am just too tired to blog.

We had the greatest dinner over at Thomasina's house tonight. She fixed an amazing roasted dove and quail, with an apple relish, scalloped potatoes,fried green tomatoes w/ gravy, and french rolls. Not only was it delicious, but it was all presented so beautifuly. The kids and I had a wonderful time.

I am exhausted. Way too tired to try to put together anything the slightest bit coherent.It has been a Looooong day. Add to this the fact that I got 2 emails from Race tonight, both of which were about $$$$ stuff, and the fact that my youngest decided to playfully headbutt me in the face while I was tucking him in tonight.

Luckily other people in blog world have much more intelligent, and funny things for you to read than I could ever produce, even on my best day. So, First you MUST go and read Dy's Blog because, well, she has just, like, laid out the key to all happiness....so that's worth a look, right? Then, head over to The Crib Chick's Place because she has given some EXCELLENT parenting advice that parents actually never hear anymore. So, you don't want to miss that, right? Then, prepare yourself, because THIS is so funny that you could actually harm yourself. Seriously, it's that funny.

I am off to bed. And Dy and Jill, I think that reading your blogs this morning are the only things that got me through the day without "blowing it". Thanks

G'night all
Melissa

On my blog, I have often lamented the creep-o men that I run into on occassion. Tonight I would like to give a big shout out to the knights in armor. I would like to send waves of gratitude to the man who helped me out today.I had made it through Lowes, gotten what I needed, apologized to the perturbed cashier for knocking down a few of the buckets of spackling on my way out, and made it to my car. I was struggling mightily to put numerous sheets of 12 ft vinyl lattice into my suburban,along with a 6 x 12 piece of treated lumber(found out my suburban will only haul a 10 footer with the back window CLOSED).That vinyl lattice is SO hard to work with! The sheets are HUGE, and it is sooo flexible, that you don't know which way it's going! Anyway, this guy, without even laughing, came over and asked if I needed help. THANK-YOU ,THANK YOU Mr. Nice Guy! No creepiness,nothing awkward, just helped me out, and I was on my way. I am grateful! ( BTW, someone is coming to fix our porch tomorrow, so that's the deal with the lattice.)

I would also like to thank the "oil changer guys" who were totally polite, got the job done in record time, and didn't creep me out one bit. Thanks, y'all.

Today had it's ups and downs, but all in all turned out really well.

Hey, when was the last time that you did a cartwheel? Turns out, that Savannah needed me to do a LOT of them this morning in our front yard. (I can hear your hysterical laughter...don't think I can't hear that!) She asked.....so I figured that I'd give it a go. Oh yeah, I still got it. (We'll see if I still "have it" in the morning). She has been working on cartwheels, and by-golly, by the end of the day, she HAD IT! Too funny.

I think that my running MIGHT be starting to pay off. I THINK that I am noticing a TINY bit of improvement...(excited squeal). I'm up to almost 2 miles now, so I'm making progress.

ANyhoo, that's about it for the happenings around here. We are looking forward to eating over at Thomasina's tomorrow night. She invited us to eat with her after Savannah's art class, so we are really looking forward to it.

Here's hoping for a good nights sleep, I'm kinda lacking in that area right now..

G'night!
Melissa

I got to have the nicest chat with Dy on Saturday. I always keep her on the phone until her phone dies. But I just always love catching up with her and her family.

Jack and I went out Saturday morning, and got some things to decorate outside a bit for fall. We bought some cheap pumpkins, indian corn, and of course, loads of huge mums. I pulled up the dried corn stalks from the garden, and decorated down by the mail box, as well as the front porch. I like the way it turned out.

I've been concerned about Race a lot lately. You know, I really have NO IDEA what his day is like at all, and when I talk to him, he sounds so exhausted, but never at ease. He says that all is going really well, but you know, as a wife....you're always reading between the lines. Of course it doesn't help at all that everything that we say is "coded". I am aware of the "type" of work that he does, and any idiot can look at the training that goes on and make some sort of conclusion. Anyway, worry and fear have been trying to creep up in me. In my devotional, I was met with this prayer, "Teach me to treat all that comes to me with peace of soul and with firm conviction that YOUR will governs all." His will GOVERNS all. In a wrong filled world we suffer and cause many a wrong. God is there to heal, and comfort and forgive. Love looks to God for his grace and help.

So this week I will cling to Psalm 119:32 (NEB) "I will run the course set out in thy commandments,/ for they gladden my heart." It isn't my job to worry, it's my job to run the course. And I strive to make it continually my delight.

Church yesterday was such a blessing. The kids and I grabbed a bite of lunch afterwards, and then went to the mall to get the boys haircut. When we came home, we made a pumpkin pie, and just sort of lounged around the rest of the day outside, enjoying the weather. I got to catch up with my mom and my sisters on the phone in the afternoon, which is always nice. Poor W. has chicken pox, so we will be thinking of him today.

We have another full week ahead of us, and I am a bit behind this morning, so I'd better shove off.

Cheers!
Melissa

What we're eatin' and the slow, slow death of Old Woody

Well, this is nice. My connection speed is the same as always, but everything is loading Sooooooooo much slower than normal. (I've got dial-up. It's always slow, but this is ridiculous!) There has been some sort of strange connection problem, ever since geographically-challenged-cable-guy was here. Ugh.

So, what did y'all have for supper last night? Like I mentioned below, I have started using Saving Dinner.com again. We had parmesan chicken, (which, I discovered is different than chicken parmesan..) mashed potatoes, steamed kale,(yes, they eat that) and whole wheat rolls. I actually got everything ready and in the oven, then went for my run, (Which Race has informed me is too short to get what I am wanting out of it...grrrrr...He torments me from the other side of the earth!), when I got back, chicken was almost done, potatoes were ready for mashin', and the kale was ready to steam! Worked out well, and there were lots of cleaned plates...so- so far so good.

We also filled the cookie jar with oatmeal-raisin cookies from the recipe that we LOVE that we got from Em. It uses whole wheat flour, and I sneak in a bit of wheat germ, so I really don't cringe when the kids scarf em' down. It's been awhile since we made cookies........I had to FIND the cookie jar. ;-)

Oh, Thom, where you thinking that Old Woody was GONE? Oh no, he's not gone. Nor, was he ever in danger of falling apart....EVER. The man who built Old Woody, really knew what he was doing. Considering that we bought Old Woody second hand, and he had already seen other children through their "climbing years", and that he has been with us for about...8 or 9 years, this thing was built tighter than a bomb shelter. Old Woody lays on his side in my back yard (tearing up here...*sniff*). All of the bolts have now been removed, thanks to, Jack, the WD-40 king.(There were about 30 5" bolts). As an aside, here is a parenting tip for you: Kids driving ya crazy? Give em' a can of WD-40. I tell you that everything within a 1 mile radius of our home, that could EVER cause the slightest bit of friction, has been well oiled. They even cleaned out the tracks of our sliding glass door in the basement, and (of course) wd-40'd it. When I opened it, I just about sent it crashing through the wall!
Anyway, back to Old Woody. All that is holding him together now, is nails......lots of nails. At this point, I am considering gasoline and a match.

Have a great weekend!
Melissa
P.S. I could actually see my breath last night, it was so cool outside!

Wal Mart

O.K., Dy, you are a genius! A bumper buddy is just what I need!

Waving wildly to Karen. SO good to hear from you. You've got mail.

Dy and Lynette, thanks for the nice comments. I envisioned well meaning ladies everywhere reading about our backyard adventures, and gasping, while uttering a barely audible "Good God", right before clicking quickly to another blog.

In further efforts to get things under control a bit here at home, I have started using Saving Dinner This is the only thing that I have been able to successfully use to keep us eating fairly healthy, and AT HOME. With all of the running around that we do in the late afternoons, it is just too easy to stop and grab something.
So, with my list in hand, I headed to Wal-Mart. I used to shop at Wal- Mart all the time. I HAD to shop at Wal-Mart all the time. Saving $$$ was like breathing. Since then, convenience has taken the place of saving $$$, so I haven’t been to the old Wal-Mart in awhile. I went today. Things have changed. All of the employees that I interacted with today (while they were speeding away from me in their “May I help you?” vests) were all but comatose. Well, except for the nasty, disgusting, freezer-putter-awayer-guy, who STILL remembers me from when we used to come in, and is still in luuuuuuuvvv. Sick. This guy totally creeps me out. And as KathyJo says over at Barefoot Meandering this guy better never approach me on the “dark side” of my suburban in the parking lot, or he is getting a hard kick to the crotch.
Oh, and also, the bitter woman whom I was fortunate enough to have as my cashier. I don’t know if y’all know this or not, but they “don’t have enough room to stand” behind there, and sometimes,(use your gravest victim voice here) “people come through here, not payin’one bit of attention to what they’re doin” and they just spin the cart, and it catches me right HERE….happens every day” (O.K., I admit, I had to stifle a little laugh here). While scanning my boys’ baseball cards, she informs me that she would LOVE to have “them horse cards” but apparently Jerry Falwell has crushed THAT dream for her. (???!!!) This had something to do with off track horse betting, but I really couldn’t follow. Why, oh WHY didn’t I use the self check-out?

Hey, and how about that guy out by the garden center door. Man. I’d like to have his job. He sits in a chair holding a yellow marker. When you go through, with your arms full of mums……..he …….MARKS it. He also remarked that the sound of my shoes (I wore flip-flops) woke him up. But, hey, he never dropped that marker! No sirreee, he never dropped that marker.

So, anyway, I ain’t goin’ back. Not because I’m on that whole “Boycott Wal-Mart” bandwagon,(sometimes I get claustrophobic on those wagons) but because I don’t like it. I don’t like it one bit. The old Food Dog ( meaning Food Lion, but the picture on the sign actually looks like a dog, so that’s what WE call it), will have to be good enough for me. Sure wish we would get a Ukrops! Man, they still take your groceries to your car!

Over heard today:
Jack (Loudly,from the backseat of the car): "Oh, MAN!!! THAT WAS SOooo SCARY!!! There was this HUuuuuge guy, with no shirt, and he was allll smoooothe, and he was on his mower! Oh, sick! Did y'all see that?"

(sigh)Where DO they get it from?? (*blink*blink*)

Cheers!
Melissa

Yesterday was busy, but good. We did not have any outside classes or lessons, so that means that we had the whole day at our disposal, to schedule (or not) as we pleased. We hit all the basics of our school lessons-(indeed, the world will not come crashing down if you miss a day of grammar.) We got some outside yard work done, and Jack helped me put my flowers in the ground.

When your husband is home so rarely, and you have NO PICK-UP TRUCK,( And I suppose that last point is really the big one) you use imaginative ways to haul off your junk. In trying to reclaim our backyard, we pulled down "Old Woody". This is what my kids have affectionately named the monstous, (old) jungle gym in our back yard. It had come time (No, it was past time) for "Old Woody" to go, to make way for new plans. Now, this is not your run o' the mill jungle gym from Lowes. This sucker is HUGE. I have pictures of the kids camping out in it! Anyway, all that was remaining was the tall, tower-like part. The boys engineered the ropes in such a way that it required very little effort on my part, (O.K. Mom...PUSH!) they pulled with all their might on the ropes....and down it came! There was a hush. And then, like wild chimps, they descended upon the felled jungle gym with hammers and began wildly hammering and tugging, and kicking. Throwing boards off to the side as they went. I was really pleased with all of this effort, because "Old Woody" has been in my sights for awhile now. But, alas, they soon tired. The sound of hammering became more sporadic, and then ceased all together. So, now there is a mutilated jungle gym laying in the backyard. The work shall continue. But I am guessing, with less enthusiasm than I witnessed yesterday. But soon it will be in pieces that we can actually haul AWAY.(shrug) I am guessing that not everyone does it this way....

Savannah and I made brownies yesterday, and then Jack and I went for a walk down to the creek. He was in true Jeff Corwin mode. In the space of less than 45 min. (W/staff in hand, and faithful dog, "Scout" by his side) he found crawdads, salamanders, minnows and turkey feathers. We saw lots of turkey and deer sign. It was a good walk. When you live in the mountains, everything is either, "Just at the bottom of that steep hill", or "Right up at the top of that steep hill".

To Race:
I am still trying to run each day. I am only running a mile, so it's really not that much.( Here's where you cheerily say,"No, hon, that's great, keep up the good work!") But, I AM getting it done each day so far. I have actually begun to look forward to it....kinda.

So, anyway, it was a good day. I finished "Jane Eyre" again last night....I LOVE that book! And I worked on my Spanish lessons (kids are way ahead of me on this. Don't know HOW that happened!).

HAve a great day!
Melissa

Thanks for the prayers, everyone. They are so appreciated.

Well, of course, I COULDN'T write any more last night. Because LAST night was an important one. But you already knew that, right? LAST night was the first episode of the Amazing Race. (Not a show about my husband...But I did think about that..) We had to watch it last night, because I hadn't learned how to get along with my new friend, TIVO yet. But, WOW. TIVO is the stuff! TIVO,TIVO,TIVO!! I am now, comfortably in the drivers seat of what comes outta that box! I LOVE it! (BTW, Amazing race did not disappoint either..) Please remember that this gushing comes from a family who lived WITHOUT ANY TV for about 4-5 years, and could quite happily to return to that state. Take control: GET TIVO.

I *think* that fall is here. No, seriously. I like to go out on the front porch in the mornings before anyone else is up, and read my Bible and drink my coffee. This morning, I promptly came BACK inside, and grabbed a sweatshirt! Oh, the thrill!! (I was also quickly reminded that I need to go and buy socks....For everyone.) This morning was especially nice, because as I stepped back inside, Race called, so I got to have coffee with Race this morning, while sitting on the porch and enjoying the beautiful weather.

We had a lot of running to do yesterday, and so far we have crossed off Modern dance, Martial Arts, Jiu Jitsu, and Art. The rest of our errand running for this week has been lightened considerably, because the boys Martial Arts classes for the rest of the week have been cancelled. So that only leaves Ballet to go! I am hoping to be able to catch up on a lot of outside stuff, and put these young energetic beings to work a bit.

We are missing Race, like crazy. Jack wants me to help him make a "chain of days", so that he can tell when dad is going to be home. SO, I guess that we will do that today. It's just a paper chain that has the exact amount of days till dad gets back. Each night, Jack tears off one link of the chain before he goes to bed. It helps him to visibly see the time getting shorter till dad will be back with us.

Our school lessons have been going well, and everyone has really been putting forth a genuine effort. Oh, doesn't that make the teaching SOooo much more rewarding!

O.K.- before I go- a little reminder as to why I take great pains in my child's education....And WHY they are not in our local public school. Yesterday, a young 20 something guy comes to install TIVO, and fix some wiring that was bad. Nice guy. Really chatty. In his conversation, he had revealed to me that he was "local" and had graduated from the local highschool. (Not sure why he kept up this conversation, but he seemed to be intrigued about the whole home schooling thing that was going on around him as he worked.) Anyway, when he was all finished, he needed to use the phone, so he came into our kitchen, where we have a large world map on the wall. He is chit chatting w/ me and staring at the map, while holding the phone to his ear and waiting for someone to answer. All of a sudden he breaks away in mid sentence and says," WOAH!, I had no idea that Asia was-like- so much bigger than everything else!"

Now THAT, my friends is a teaching example for your wide-eyed children. THAT will make a connection in their wee minds...

Cheers!
Melissa

Too sad..

We got some sad news, from a member of our family last night. It's one of those things where you feel so helpless. I would ask anyone who would, please pray for this person, who is so special to us, that God would be his comforter in his time of grief.
I will write more tonight. I am thinking that Popeye probably doesn't fit well into the frame of Classical education...
Melissa

WE MISS YOU RACE!!!!!!!!!! WE LOVE YOU!! (Is it just me.....or do we all look like we are in the nude?....E.I is a family beach...I swear it!)

HERE"S US!! (Though our tans aren't showing, here.)

Jack has set up another store in his room. This one sells all manner of seashore items and is called "Jackson's Shell Supply Store". I bought myself a beautiful shell there this afternoon for a mere .50 cents. I was informed by the store owner that the same shell will cost you a buck down at Emerald Isle. Can't pass up a bargain.

While watching some mind numbing tv tonight, we were unsuspecting victims of a commercial announcing the new 'Barbie Pegasus" movie. All three kids were equally mortified by this display. "Why do they keep MAKING those?!" they said. Austin pipes in with scorn and says, "That's not even Pegasus! Pegasus is WHITE...not PINK!" So, trying to even the boy-girl balance which is frequently tilted to the boy side in our home, I replied, "Well, maybe Barbie has a pink one.....You don't know....I mean Barbie has everything." Jack sits up and quickly retorts, "Barbie doesn't have a SHOTGUN!" " Touche'! But if she did, it would be pink!" So, how about that for an idea: NRA Barbie! You KNOW it would sell! Heck, Dy would buy about 1000 NRA Barbies just to pas out on her own! (BTW, Austin went on to explain, with some noted shame, that there was only ONE Pegasus in Greek myths.....that's WHY he was Pegasus....."Oh".)

Savannah spent part of the day putting finishing touches on the book cover that she has created on the computer, for the story that she has been writing. It is REALLY good! The back cover was done with the picture in the background, and then a synopsis of the book typed in over it in the foreground. Quite impressive!

I met Thomasina this morning at our little local nursery, called The Patch. We both got some new flowers, and then we cleaned out all of the marked down perennials at Lowes. Planting, planting, planting!

I am reading Jane Eyre (again) By Charlotte Bronte, and Middlemarch( again), by George Eliot. I LOVE both of these books, but this time through, I am noting so much more humor in Middlemarch that I didn't catch the first time through. I thoroughly enjoy both books!

" Sane people did what their neighbors did, so that if any lunatics were at large, one might know, and avoid them."
From "Middlemarch"

Goodnight!
Melissa

And now, dear readers the moment has come. This is a sad time for me, but it must be said. Due to Race being away, and only able to communicate through internet, I regret to inform you of the following:
For the next few months, this blog will be a chronicle of our hum-drum, every day, boring lives. Shocking. I know. Those of you who depend upon my daily insights for the sharpening of your intellectual faculties........well.......I'm deeply sorry.

(O.K. *snort*, I am so full of crap....... no real change, other than Race will actually be READING this once in awhile! Oh- and if there were anything ever written on this blog that was even slightly intellectual, I can assure you that it was purely by accident.)

But before I tell you about my boring day of cleaning, let me share some of my best memories from the beach!
First of all....the critters that the kids CAUGHT, but RELEASED before we left for home included: sand crabs, 2 kittens, several anoles, a possum, clams, and a little green tree frog. Glad to say that NONE of these came home with us.
Some of the meals that the fam prepared for us (you knew that this was coming): Prime Rib, steamed shrimp, seafood bisque(I would like to request now, my fathers seafood bisque upon my death bed), seafood bouillabaisse, and Thom's memorable mexican seafood meal that was made utopia by her own outta this world marguerita's!
The kids all had such a GREAT time on the beach. And when they weren't in the sand, they were in the pool, or the hot tub! Our beach vacation is never complete with out one of Thom's now famous treasure hunts. She makes messages and maps and leads the kids all over on a (sorta) scary hunt for the "treasure" which is always a big Pile O' Candy. She dresses up and goes to great lengths to "scare" the kids, and they LOVE it!!!!!!!!! One of her most common costumes is that of an old sea hag, whom they have to go down to the beach at night and talk to for thier next clue. It is a riot, and the kids look forward to it every year. Em's boys will be coming along soon, for a diluted version!
There were a ton of beautiful shells found (thanks to the hurricane), and over all 9 sharks teeth were found this year! Fun stuff.

We are still not unpacked completely, but the kitchen and the dining room are spotless now, so that helps. And the house has lost that funny smell it gets when all the windows and doors have been closed for awhile, and it smells clean again. Austin got the yard mowed today, and Jack and Savannah did the jobs that they were assigned as well. I plan to stick close to home the rest of the weekend, to catch up on the rest, so that Monday will find us back to "normal".

I have SO much blog reading to catch up on! Thanks for the comments below, I appreciate them very much. The one thing that's gonna be lacking around here for the next few months will be adult conversation. (I would like to talk to Austin, but after a few minutes, he begins to speak over my head, so that's no good.)

Have a good night!
Melissa
(Who is returning to her natural, fish-belly white skin tone very rapidly.)

Just got home!

Just got home. From the beach. Computer fixed. Bestdogsitterintheworld did NOT scrub my house clean.(She did,however, take EXCELLENT care of the pets!) Suburban filled with backpacks, snack trash, shells, pillows, sharks teeth, sand, and various other treasures. Can't-see-over-the-pile-of-mail. Race is gone. Very little phone contact possible. Heart rate is definitely UP. Will write more calmly later. But..........I'm BACK!.........and I'm TAN!!!!!!!!

Where AM I???*blink* blink*

We have been on the road so much, that I don't know if I am coming or going! A small recap:

We were evacuated from E.I,on Tues. due to hurricane Ophelia. While the rest of the fam, headed for hotels off the island...(which is a hilarious story the telling of which I shall leave to it's participants...but it involves a motel called The Buccaneer *snicker*), Race, the kids and I had to head for home. We did not leave E.I. until around 5 pm, so we headed to Raleigh, and grabbed a couple of rooms at the Hampton.

We arrived at home the next day. Race and I had a TON to do, and a VERY short time to get it all done. I'll spare you all the boring details, but a new computer was purchased, old computer taken to be repaired, unpacked, then RE packed, etc, etc,. Thursday was more of the same, along with the kids lessons, and errands, making for a long day.

This morning at 5 am, we were back on the road heading north. Race dropped us off and is wrapping up some things at his office before he takes off tomorrow. The kids and I are here at Mom and Dads (they are still at the beach, remember?)

Tomorrow, we take Race to the airport, and then the kids and I are heading BACK DOWN to E.I for a few days, to see if maybe we can actually catch a few rays of sunshine after all. It turns out that the beach house that we rented faired well, and only had some minor damage. The pool and hot tub are filled with debris, and the fence surrounding the pool collapsed. Other than that, it's fine. Austin was particularly worried about that game room on the bottom floor being flooded!

Much to the kids disapointment, I was able to grab some school books while we were at home!

We have spent a LOT of time in the car. Mid-trip, Race turned around and asked Jack what he was doing:
J: "Just counting all my scars."
R: "Oh?"
J: "Yeah. I am circling them with a pen, and then I'm going to count them.Hang on...I'm almost done."(counting silently)
J: (proudly) I have 43!
R: (turning to me), "Got any wet wipes? We we're gonna be stopping for lunch in a minute."
Me: "Uhh...no."
So, we took ouk our small boy into 5 Guys with 43 circles drawn in pen all over his body. The burgers were good.

We pray for God's protection for Race, on what will be a very dangerous trip. We miss him already.
Melissa

Watching Ophelia at the Beach!

Hey, y'all! We are having a wonderful time at the beach in spite of Ophelia threatening to give us a good drenching. We have an absolutely gorgeous house this year! BIL was kind enough to let me use his lap top, as ours was wounded just before we left. May have a new computer purchase in the near future.
We are enjoying the family time even more, because we found out on Sat. that Race will have to leave Saturday for the M.E. for the next several months.
Anyway, just checking in really quick!

He cooks!

He mows!

He Mighty Samurai....

He is SAMURAI JACK!

Learning to say "No kidding" in Korean, is something that I feel that I should DEFINITLY know. Thanks Cribchick! And after hearing Gem's story......well, I believe the price of a pedicure for me, just went up! I'm guesin' it's pricier salon ped.'s from here on out.

Yesterday, we were taking down our pool, (yes, we have one of THOSE...don't laugh, we like it), and we were about to pull up the ground cloth that looks as if it has been fused to the earth beneath it. Jack comes over excitedly and says, "Oooohhhh, who knows what manner of mother natures adventures waits for us under there?" *bink blink* Where did this child come from? Later in the day, I was in the bathroom drying my hair, when I see this same little boy streaming down the (significant) hill by the window, perched cartoon-like, inside a wheelbarrow. I drop the hair dryer and rush to the window. Just before it crashes, he bails out, never hits the ground.....and then crouches down looking for bugs. His death-defying feats will surely make me age waaayyy before my time.

Today is packed full with lessons, martial arts, jiu jitsu, and ballet.I've gotta get going!

Have a great day!!!!!!
Melissa

Hey thanks for all the comments about Savannah’s art work. I may take Whiterabbit’s (I feel funny callin’ her that), advice and begin putting together a portfolio. And yes, Dy, all of the captions were hers. (so THIS is love……) Too cute!

We made it through lessons without much fanfare or fuss (meaning, it was good). After we took the boys to martial arts , Savannah and I met
Thom for a manicure/ pedicure. I simply cannot wait for her blog entry about this. Do y’all remember that episode of Seinfeld, where Elaine thinks that the Korean gals doing her manicure are talking badly about her (in Korean)? My sister has a knack for this sort of thing. Savannah and I were really having a fun time, and were really pleased with our manicure/pedicures. Thom however (who has had Waaaaayy more of these done than I ever have), found herself becoming increasingly irritated at the little Korean chic doing her nails. I’ll leave the details to her, but it WAS funny! Anyway, it was a fun time, and I don’t want Savannah to be a stranger to such things, ya know? (But I WILL add that there was LOTS of talent for my up and coming tv show, “Dumbass” at the nail salon (S. is not a stranger to THAT sort of thing either, she get’s it)). Funny stuff. Oh- and after the nails, we went and got coffee at B&N. Always good.


In the world of home school, I would like to assure all of you who believe that I am inflicting some sort of torture upon my 13 y.o. son, by making him read Eusebius, that this is simply not the case. After descending the stairs, from his hour of reading, he said in a truly deep and appreciating voice, “Man, this book is pretty cool.” (Ho! Ho! What’s this? What do my ears hear???) Trying to sound normal and avoiding eye contact I say, “Oh?…. Really?” Austin says, “Yeah, all that stuff about Herod getting eaten by worms…..that’s pretty……I mean……woah.” So there you have it my friends. Need I say more? In the eyes of a 13 yo boy, the grotesqueness associated with the early medieval times is totally worth wading through the heavier and more difficult text.

The gov.’t has decided to let Race have SOME of his vacation. I will be sending the kids down to the beach with Thom (thank-you), on the day that we were SUPPOSED to go, and I will wait and accompany Race down later. When he told me today, on the phone, I had to resist the urge to fall in the floor and kick and scream. Selfish, I know. But it seems as if we are fighting a pack of wild, hungry hyenas, just to have a day or two together . They’ve surrounded us. I am just trying to get in one good kick to the head, so that we can make a run for it. I suppose the bright side is that he will be trapped in the car with me for about 6 hours, forced to listen to all the crap that I’ll ramble on about on the way down. Well, there ya go...there IS a bright side! On that happy note, I’ll go and drag myself down to the basement for my workout.

Have a great night!
Melissa

Pictures n' stuff

The kids and I are plugging along this week, looking forward to our time at the beach.
Austin is currently reading Eusebius A Church History, for school. Lot’s of food for thought here, as this is the first written record that we have from the early church since Luke wrote the book of Acts. It is amazing to read the account of a man who had lived during the time of Roman persecutions. The questions from Omnibus are very thought provoking, and we have had some good discussions. Now. If I can just get the boy to read a little FASTER. We have taken some time away from Latin for a bit, while we try to get comfortable with Omnibus, which covers Medieval history, theology, and literature.

Jackson is doing really well in his lessons, even if the attention span is still like a flash of lightening: Blink……and you’ll miss it. Although he still hates to WRITE, he has turned out to be quite the little math whiz.

Savannah is my “perfect student” these days. She takes pride in her work and is quite the overachiever. Anything less than 100%, and she is holding back the tears. (Don’t know where she has gotten this from, because we have never really been big on keeping grades at all in our home school world…..if you didn’t get it, you just kept trying). She is our artist. She uses reams and reams of paper. We put a computer in her room this year, and she very quickly learned to use the paint program. For the first day or two she would just draw basic things, but after about three days, she was using that simple paint program to produce pictures like these. What do you think? These come straight from her imagination, and are not copied from anything. Anyone have any ideas about computer graphics?

Mean cat

Diggin'

Cheeeeeese......

.

So, THIS is love......

After school, everyone had some extra chores to do as we prepare to get ready to leave the house for a week. We are putting the garden “to bed” for the winter, draining/cleaning the pool, taking care of the yard, and just some general cleaning inside that needs to be done.
Jack spent the rest of the day burying “treasure” and making maps. He also traversed all over the property with a metal detector. Stuff like that can keep boys busy for hours!
Yesterday evening, Race and I went out to shoot for a while. He has improved my shooting SOOooo much. It is incredible the difference that proper stance and grip make in your accuracy! We went through about 10 magazines with his Sig. I really do like shooting, and it is really great fun to try and improve each time.

Race's shots are all nicely grouped together...mine are the ..."other" ones.

Mighty fine shootin'.

So, what’s up with y’all?
Oh, and a “Way to Go!” (high fives) to The Dude over at Me and the GuysFor an awesome run at the Rock n’Roll marathon over the weekend!

G’night everyone!
Melissa

One more thing......

Go and check out AnnieSue's blog to see a couple of little girls who are trying to make a difference in the Katrina disaster. One is Annie Sues daughter M.K, and the other is her cousin A. A is from New Orleans, and while her family has been able to ascertain that their home is still standing......well, that's about it. A. also had to leave her pet cat behind. The story and pictures will warm your heart. Go check it out at Anniesue.

Running.........

Well, thanks for all the birthday wishes! And how about that comment from Brandon (my cousin who is around Jack's age)? My NEW, FAVORITE cousin. LOL, Thanks Brandon!

At least I can say that I am in better shape at 36, than I was at 35, right?

Well, Race got to come home after working 24 hrs straight. So he slept a good part of the day. He has to go back up tomorrow, and we are just praying that we will still get to go to the beach together next week. This new work is related to the disaster, so things are a little shaky. Hope that it doesn't sound selfish, but we really need the family time. This afternoon, he wanted me to go for a run with him. I went. Like a lamb led to the slaughter. This was my first run since the spring (and I am NO runner), but I figured that with all the working out that I've been doing, it wouldn't be too bad, ya know. We live out in the sticks, and all of our roads are dirt/gravel, so you rarely ever see a car.But it was hot. Race put me on the run 5 min., walk 5 min, 5 times. Sounds easy, but it totally kicked my butt! It was around 3 miles, and we are in the mountains, so there are always hills! And what is it about a husband who is in tip-top shape, saying " Come on! Right here. You can do it! Push it hard! Just 30 seconds- c'mon Push it, you're doin great!" that makes you want to use your last drop of waning energy to leap upon his back and begin tearing at his hair? I didn't do that........couldn't. But the deep, low primate-like growl that ensued from my lips pretty much said what I was feeling. So anyway, here it is an hour or more later, and I am STILL red faced! Whew!

And, what? NO ONE has a comment about the swim suits, below? Um...y'all are scaring me. Have I gone terribly awry here? Will I be embarrassing myself and not be aware of it? Oh, man. I really hate that. Do you think that they are old lady-ish? Too teeny-bopper-ish? I had to order them online, because , of course , if you wait till Sept. to GET a swim suit in VA, you CAN'T. Well, let's just hope they hold up the top and suck in the middle...I'll be happy.

Well, I gotta get off of here. My posts are so boring, as of late. Sorry. This week is going to be so busy, and I have to plan out school lessons and errands and do SOMETHING about all that laundry. (How can we wear THAT many clothes????)

Have a great Sunday!
Melissa

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Today is my birthday. I turn 36 (shudder). SOooooo..what do I have to look forward to? Menopause? breaking a hip? Race was supposed to have a long weekend, and we were SO looking forward to it. But work called yesterday, and he had to leave today. So, all plans are off. We were so bummed yesterday, when he got the call. Then we were running the kids all over with their friends for different activities. So, when we got home it was 9 p.m. I still needed to do my PM workout, so I went to the basement for that, and he played/ talked with the kids. Soon after, everyone was in bed, and race and I were finishing up things that we each needed to do, tying up loose ends for the day. A little later, we end up in the kitchen, digging through the fridge. We ended up eating. Race pulled out a few pieces of hunks of gourmet cheese that I had left over, some good olives, crackers, and a bottle of champagne that had been in our fridge for about a year. *A gift from an Italian flight attendant on the way back from Rome. SHe had given us 2 bottles. We tried one, but didn't really care for it, but THIS one was incredible! * SO we sat and ate and talked......till it was my birthday. And you know it just helps me so much to talk (duh).

So I felt better, and today was O.K. after all. The kids made me the sweetest cards, and I got some birthday phone calls from friends and family, and of course my blog birthday wishers. Thanks! I ended up heading into our little small town, to the nursery that I love and picking up a few new perrennials. I got lambs ear, more summer phlox, and a pretty pink chrysanthimum. I am trying hard to create an english garden look around our little cape cod house. I LOVE to work outside, it is so relaxing to me. Oh- I also ordered my swimsuits for the beach Which you can see HERE
and HERE


I got periwinkle blue, and pink. I've still got the blonde thing going on, so I am hoping that these colors are good. Comments please. (Would you be caught dead in these?) And you know, of course, that now that you have seen these swim suits on the V.S. gals, you must NEVER actually see waht they look like on me...you know that, right?

I got the most encouraging email from Lynette this week. It was so great to touch base with them again. And, I got an email from Annette about how her inlaws are fairing after the hurricane. The kids (mostly Savannah) have put together a box for her niece that we will be getting out on Monday. Nothing special, but we hope that it brings a smile.

I'm still doing the 2 workouts a day, and it is cool enough to start running, but I just can't bring myself to run without Race here.

So, that's it. WHat's going on with y'all? I'm going to go check around the blog world a bit before I hit the old Fanny Lifter. And ladies.....take my advice. DO NOT let your fanny droop too far before doing something about it. This is the most excruciating thing to correct! And for as much pain as I have experienced in that area from these excercises....IT. SHOULD. BE. LIFTED by now! But alas, a backward glance in the mirror reveals to me that if it had been ignored much longer, my butt would have been hitting the back of my knees when I walked. So, once again, I shall climb the Fanny Lifter.....over, and over, and over. With clenched fist raised to the blackened sky, I shout, "As God as my witness, I SHALL lift my fanny!"

36.
ugh.

Thank-you, thank-you Laney, for getting what I meant about the "work sheet scholars". That's one of the things that I love about classical home schooling. No work sheets, no fill-in-the blanks, no multiple choice, no matching. Ya gotta write it out......... not copy it...write it out. Ya gotta discuss it. When you can write about it and discuss it.....it's YOURS. You learn to THINK. It is my opinion that the currently accepted U.S. educational method of fill the bucket, spit it back for the test, then forget it forever, is one of the greatest disservices that we push on students today. (Now, don't go emailing me, the kids HAVE done multiple choice before..)

Race had a Very Important Interview today. This something that we have been praying about for some time. It went very well. No idea what this will mean for us in the future, but it all looks positive.

We are looking forward to the weekend. Race got some time off! I'm not sure what we will do, if anything, but it will be great to be together for a bit. We were talking about camping, so maybe that will materialize. I MUST get some pictures!

That's it for me tonight. I'm beat.
Y'aal have a good weekend!
Melissa

So this is why you get married.

Sometimes I lose track of the big picture. We had a particularly stressful day, lesssons dragging along, oldest child remembers NOTHING of the the last 8 years of education, youngest child is sick in the bed ,and middle child........well... thank heaven for the middle child. A day when everytime that you walk into the room, that laundry pile has gotten BIGGER, and those floors STILL haven't been cleaned. So. It was that kind of day. The kind of day that Satan uses to pull the rug from beneath my feet. To cause me to focus on MY abilities (or lack thereof). The kind of day that makes you want to pull the covers back over your head. I am ashamed to see how easily that I am discouraged.

But that's why I have been given a partner in this adventure. This is when Race steps in and reminds me why we chose this route. He reminds me of the big picture. How when we started down this road it wasn't to produce -fill-in-the-worksheet scholars. We were aiming for the "whole child". To train their hearts as well as their minds. To teach them to THINK on their own. To prepare them to be used by God in whatever way that he sees fit. Because that is our responsibility. And ours alone. And THAT is a big job. And it is one that I am not able to do..... on my own. It is only through God's wonderful grace, and that alone, that success or fulfillment will come.

And Race reminds me that a 13 yr old squirming over theology.....isn't such a bad thing. That a boy who would rather play baseball than do algebra should bring a sigh of relief. And he reminds me that we have great kids. That as PEOPLE they are truly great. They LIKE to learn new things, they are funny and compassionate. They meet new challenges head on. They are well rounded. And they love the Lord.

So. Thank-you Race. Once again you have brought the perspective that helps keep this ship sailing. Thanks for reminding me that this is a marathon and not a sprint.

Savannah and I met Thom yesterday after I got my hair cut, (good cut, I'm happy). We got coffee and chatted for a bit. She is looking quite spiffy with her new found weight loss. Go Girl! We are at the 9 day count down till the beach. I am still doing my work outs. I realized last night that I have been working out close to 2 hrs each day! Abs in the morning, and then switching around at night with different tapes. That is TOTALLY a record for me. But I will be glad when it cools off a bit and I can start running. Sometimes it just seems so much easier to just throw your shoes on and get out the door, kwim? Now....if I can just keep at it, and not sputter out in a few weeks!

Have a great day!
While you're kissin on those babies, don't forget to kiss your spouse too!
Melissa

Allow me to make a few introductions of some of my frequent commenters. Anniesue is one of my college room mates. This poor gal had to put up with me for my entire freshman year of college. Poor, poor girl. (But we did have fun.) She is sweet and good natured, and has a lovely family.

Bridget is a friend from my private, ultra-oppressive ,independent Baptist high school. She escaped before I did, but she helped get me through the early years. We haven't been in touch much till now, but she seems like she is really making it all work with her husband and family. It's great to hear from her.

Lynnette, (waving here) is the wife of one of Race's college room mates. I have only met her once in person. But she is a hardworking gal who is full of personality (and who should be blogging nudge, nudge). She and her husband Greg have a beautiful family.

I have the funniest story to share as sort of a blast from the past. Race's roommate Greg and I dated very briefly. On Easter he had gotten me some roses and a chocolate bunny. Now. The funny thing was that I never knew anything about the chocolate bunny until after Race and I were married. You see, Greg had placed the bunny in the fridge in their dorm room; Race comes in, sees the bunny, and promptly bites off the head and places it back in the fridge. So.....I got the roses and was thrilled! But here's the kicker dear friends and readers........I married the guy that ate the head!!!!!! What does this say about me????? (Feel free to correct me on this story Lynette and Greg). And having lived with Race with for the last 15 years (o.k., at least PART of the last 15 years), I KNOW Greg must have been a saint!!!!!!

Nerf guns have once again invaded our home. We have nerf guns of every shape and size, including the behemoth, bazooka style one. I don't even notice anymore, when I walk throught the house with the laundry and accidently walk into the cross fire. Race gave the little one a few points on room entry, and he is nearly invincible. Last night as I was tucking everyone in, I heard myself say, "Put the guns DOWN, and get under your covers." It was then that I realized that I had fallen for the oldest trick in the book. I walked right into an ambush. Both boys pull out Nerf guns from under their beds. I sailed outta that room with about 30 darts nailing me all over. They ARE amazingly accurate. Not to worry though, eventually they will lose all the ammo. Savannah has learned to horde ammo in her room. The boys are then at her mercy as they try to outdo one another to be awarded the extra foam darts. Smart girl.

Well, I'd better get going today. I am painfully aware of almost every muscle in my body right now. OUCH! My body is rebelling against sculpting!

Have a great day!

What she said:

Check out what Dy is saying over at Classic Adventures. She has articulated so well my own very scattered thoughts and murmmerings on most short term "missions". I would add that this flows over into a world view that is desperately lacking in many of our churches and missions groups today. Check it out!

Race left for the big city at o' dark thirty, and I am off and running this Monday morning....(or, trying to be).
Our Sunday was wonderful. Race really liked the church, (yay!), we ate a nice leisurely lunch out, and then later that evening, we all went to a baseball game. We had a blast. Nothing like a good game on a Sunday. I realized what an unusual (freakish) family we must be to onlookers. Let me explain: We really loathe most current country music. REALLY. And please note the word "current". I grew up on Waylon and Willy and my dad still likes to play Hank Sr. loudly at home. So, don't go emailin' me, I LOVE country.....but I HATE NEW COUNTRY. Anyway, at the baseball game they started playing the song "What I like about Sunday" by Latest Guy To Wear Cowboy Hat. This is just TOO much for my family. We try to ignore it at first, but it's just too much. Race starts making the new lyrics, the kids join in, and we were just howling in no time. Right there, in the front row on the first base line. I don't remember the finished product, but I am sure Jack will be singing it today, as it contained the words "cuttin'cheese" (thank-you, Race). On that same note, have you seen that new Fruit o' the Loom commercial that pokes fun at country music? Now THAT's funny!! So, I use that to comfort myself because there must be others out there who share our somewhat unique (yes, unique, that's it) sense of humor. Right?
The next two weeks are going to be quite busy. School lessons have kicked into high gear, and I am requiring much more out of the kids. I think (no, I know) that I had been guilty of letting them slide a bit without realizing it. I had lessened my demands out of sympathy for them because their dad had been gone so much (as it is a well known fact that I am NOT the fun parent). So, without realizing it, I was letting them slack................ and not doing them any favors. So we have raised the standards back to their appropriate place, and guess what? They work hard to achieve their new goals, and in return feel so good about their accomplishments. I learned a BIG lesson here.
In other news we only have 2 weeks till we converge on Emerald Isle, N.C. for a week of R &R on the beach with my family. I am currently trying to kill myself with The Firm work out tapes. Have y'all ever done these? These are so hard. I am doing an Abs tape each morning and then alternating the upper body, lower body and cardio each evening. I haven't been able to move in a natural manner for about 3 days. I don't need to lose pounds, I need to tone. We'll see how my desperate attempt to not-look-disgusting on the beach, goes.
I was lamenting my approaching birthday to Race last night, while he was busy getting all of his gear packed up (meaning, he was BUSY, he wasn't really wanting to listen to this) and the end of the conversation went like tins:

Me: Man, honey, I just feel SO OLD (whine).....
Race: (In rapid machine gun like manner, while moving about the room packing and making no eye contact) "O.K. , Hon- you're not old. You're hot. When we're old, you'll still be hot. Then we'll be hot together."(leaves the room with packed bag).

Hey- that's all I need (shrug). It's good to have him home *smile*.

Y'all have a great day!
Melissa

Yikes, that was fast!

WOW! Is it Friday already? Race got home, (turns out he got "Top Johnny Bad Ass"*gush*) and although the original plan was that he would have to go in for debriefing for the rest of the week, he ended up getting some extra time off. So, we have all been busy, busy.....just being a family. It has been a great week. Not one exciting thing has happened, and that's been just great!
Race and the kids are in the other room watching Savannah's favorite movie, "The Phantom of the Opera". And don't let him fool you, Race is a huge sucker for a good love story. I remember the first time that I had him watch the BBC version of Pride & Prejudice with me. At the end, I said, "Oh, (sigh) I want to marry Mr. Darcy", and he said, "What are you talkin' about? *I* want to marry Mr. Darcy!"
I have been bent over my big kitchen calendar trying to plot out all of the activities for the fall. Savannah is taking ballet and modern dance as well as a theatre class. Jack is taking martial arts and playing fall baseball. Austin is doing martial arts, jiu jitsu, and of course fall ball. It seems like a lot, but I don't feel like any of the kids are over committed. Jack is doing a bit more than I would prefer at 8, but he really seems to thrive on the activity. The other two just seem to have hit an age where trying out new skills and talents is what they are driven to do. I am thankful that we have the means to support it right now.
In other news in our home, Austin now has the book "Eldest" in his possession, and is reading feverishly. Savannah finished the latest book in the "warriors" series, and now must wait until 2006 for the next one. She is busying herself with good 'ole Nancy Drew for now. Good beach books.
Well, you can mark this phrase among the list of things that I never thought I'd hear myself say: "Hey...now.., wait-no. wait. No more snakes at the breakfast table." To which Jack replied, "But Mommmmm...he's Famileeeeee!" (sigh)
I will try to post a bit more, but I've gotta fight for the computer now that Race is home! Y'all have a great weekend!
Melissa

What a great weekend!

Because Mom and Dad’s house is filled to capacity with other family members, the kids, Thom, and I have been staying at the beach house, (they really had to twist our arms). Last night, Q came back with us to spend the night. This was his first big sleepover with his cousins. He was such a little trooper, and hung right in there with the big kids. There was screaming, and laughing, and running, and hiding. Then…(insert scary music here)…..it was bedtime. That’s when it got hard. When I went to bed at 11:30, Aunt Thomasina was on one end of the sofa reading, and little Q was snuggled under the covers on the other end, drawing pictures. He finally went out around 12:00. Not bad for your first time away!

Today, Mom, Dad, Uncle Roy, Em, and the boys all joined us at the beach house. They brought steamed crabs with them. We had such a nice day at the water. Jackson caught a jellyfish, which he is keeping until nightfall to see if it glows…(yeah, everyone has told him it’s not the glowing kind, but….what do we know?)My friend Janelle and her two girls came out and played as well. We had gorgeous weather, and the kids saw a bald eagle fly over, got to watch the osprey dive for fish, and in the middle of the day, 2 swans with half-grown signets came swimming right up to the beach and the kids got to feed them..(I for one, was SURE that Thom was going to be attacked by the gander when the bread ran out, and found that thought quite amusing, but alas, he decided not to take her on).

Tomorrow, we see RACE!!! His evaluation went incredibly well, and it seems that we have some new prospects on the horizon. We will visit with my family for a few hours, before heading back to our house to regroup, catch up, and…… I don’t know…. I guess just look at each other. We haven’t done that in awhile! We have a lot to discuss, and many decisions to make in a short period of time. We are all thrilled about him coming home for a bit (though we don’t know for how long). We pray for wisdom and guidance, and of course, safety.

Talk to you soon,
Melissa

Fish Fry

On Sunday, Uncle Roy and Uncle Donald were up at 4:00 am, and out the door , headed to the pond fishing. They caught a HUGE “mess of fish”, as we say in the south (which ended up to be about 40). They cleaned all the fish, and then Dad tried out his new, huge, heavy duty, mega, fish fryer. In no time at all 15 family members sat down to fried fish, cheese grits and coleslaw. My family KNOWS how to do a fish fry!

Happy Birthday Walker!

We got to W.’s birthday bash, and all I can say is the Big W. sure knows how to throw a party! The big pool was filled with kids big and small, and the kiddie pool was filled with babies and tots, and lots of adults were milling around eating and talking. W. thoroughly enjoyed himself, as did everyone else.

Happy Birthday W!

Some Pictures From The Road

pit stop.

Goofin' Off!

Stopping en route (literally) to take in the scenery. This was seconds before I realized the sound that I was hearing was the huge 18 wheeler that I had passed miles back, lumbering it's way up the road. Just after the picture was taken, I yelled, "Quick! It's the truck! Load up!"

The scenery

A heads up

I have been getting a ton of unwanted spam in my comments section lately, so rather than not accept annon. comments, (Mom, Aunt D.), I am trying the word verification thing. So, please just type in the the little word that it asks for, and *hopefully* this will put an end to my commenting woes! So, please, keep commenting!!

Those blasted cookies!

O.K., panic averted. I could not log in for 24 hrs, because *somehow* my computer settings had been changed, (Read: Kids had lap top in their hotel room for 2 days).


Hey! We’re back! But not for long……we’re not even unpacking the suburban! One load of wash, and all clothes go back into their respective backpacks by this evening. Gotta hit the road again in the morning, for the big birthday soirée’ for W.

I go away for 2 days, and Dy and Zorak just up and buy a house! Sheesh! Lol! Congratulations guys!!!

Anyway, about our trip. It was Sooooo worth it! The kids did lessons for their first half of the trip, but put away the books after lunch. We were in awe of the breathtaking scenery, and that more than made up for the extra hour of driving. When we arrived, the meaning of “small town” took on a whole new meaning. And I LIVE in a town with one stop light! We got settled into our adjoining rooms in the Middle of Nowhere Hotel (which was surprisingly nice, but had no internet access), and then headed out to the pool. About 1 hour later, a caravan of dusty, rental minivans (one curiously shot all to heck with simunitions paint!) came screeching into the parking lot. We watched as the doors flew open on each one and out piled what at first glance, looked like an army of Race’s.(And they were all looking at US, so we kept thinking we were seeing him!) Apparently Johnny Bad Ass School has it’s own unspoken uniform. The last van flew in and it was Race! We were all so excited to see him again! Race and the kids swam, then A. got out his glove and Race’s catchers mitt, and they threw the ball awhile. At dinner time, we went to eat at the, again, surprisingly upscale restaurant in the hotel. The other guys from J.B.A. school were all in the lounge. Race introduced me and we laughed and chit-chatted very briefly…and.. THAT. WAS. IT. Race spent the rest of the time making sure no one from J.B.A. school saw us for the rest of the visit. *Let me explain* You see all through the Military , the police stuff, the countless TEAMS over the years, Race has always lived by the familiar old adage, “You can trust em’ with your life, but ya can’t trust em’ with your wife!” (snort) He has always kept us sequestered away from these guys. Other military guys would ask him, “Hey, don’t you have a wife?” and he would answer, “Yeah, but YOU’LL never see her.” (And so it is among the males in the animal kingdom.) LoL! So, true to form, we spent all of the rest of our time with Race and Race alone, which was exactly the way that we wanted it. He is doing great, and he kept telling the kids how proud that he is of them. They got a chance to fill him in on the latest happenings in their lives. He was truly grateful that we had come, and it feels good knowing that we really are making this all work. I am very, very thankful.

We should be picking up Race next week some time, and what will happen from there is anybody’s guess. So we will all await the next chapter. We are looking forward to seeing the family this weekend. Uncle Roy is at Mom and Dad’s with his loud little dog. They got in from Louisiana last week, and we can’t wait to visit with them. Thanks so much for all of the well wishes and prayers.
And a HUGE “thanks” to Thom for offering to pick up pizza (for us, not her, she’s dieting) on her way out to our house this evening. Thank-you! Thank-you! from one tired sistah!

Melissa

What a busy day!

Well, we had a day! The day started off with errand type phone calls and lessons for the kids. (My two bright spots this morning were catching up with Dy and Andree'(Races' Mom)). Then we were off to have some fun. We rounded up Thom, and the kids friends and that equals one full suburban! We headed to Putt-Putt golf & games. They did it all: Golf, batting cages, go-karts, and of course GAMES!!! The poor gal working behind the counter had pity on me, and after we had spent XX$$ on tokens, I went to pay for their golf rounds, and she just waved us on, and said, "Wow. Just go play." We had a great day, and I don't think that I have ever been around a better group of kids. They were so fun. Everyone had a great time, and I only had to reprimand Thom once..."Let someone ELSE have a turn at Dance Dance Revolution. O.K.?" (snort, just kidding) I am so thankful that my kids have made such good friends.
The rest of the day was filled with Martial Arts, Jiu Jitsu, and then Applebees for dinner. We finally got home at about 7:30 or 8:00, and saw that our AC man had come by, and left the bill on the table, and closed my upstairs windows so that they weren't rained in( He is so nice). Awesome..........except.....well, it's still not working correctly. Oh, I really don't want to have to call him again....
So, tomorrow we are off to visit Race. Can't wait! We are so excited. And guess what? The nice lady at the front desk of the hotel is giving us the same rate that Race's school is paying, so that's 2 rooms for 2 nights $200. That saved us about $100!! She's not supposed to do that, but we are Soooo glad that she did!
I am taking the lap top with us, because the kids do their Spanish on it, so maybe I will post from our location. Race will still be working during the day, so the kids and I will work on lessons throughout the morning. I am not sure what the afternoons will hold.
Oh, and before I forget, y'all have to go and read my OTHER sister Em's funny, funny post at

Me and The Guys

She cracks me up!

Have a great day!
Melissa
P.S. The kids have decided that Aunt Thom's indian name will be Laughing Snail. (if you know her, this is a perfect fit!)

Well, it turns out that the AC upstairs actually is broken. It worked for a few days, and last night, it just quit cooling. This is our upstairs unit, where the kids bedrooms and bath are. So, I meekly called the AC repairman AGAIN, and he will be out this evening, or in the morning. Seeing as it is after dinner now, I don't hold out much hope for this evening. So, the kids will be camping out down here on our main level AGAIN. The repairman, is one that we have used for about 14 years, and he is getting up in years, and recently lost his wife very unexpectedly. So, we'll wait.
Our school lessons went beautifully today. Everyone's attitude was great, and I crossed out everything on my lesson plan. And it wasn't even too overbearing, because each of the kids took short breaks throughout the day to swim, or jump on the trampoline, whatever. We will see how it goes this week as we take this show on the road. I just made a list of the books, workbooks, CD's, DVD's that we'll take with us(I believe that I shall use the basket method). I will throw in my handy dandy lesson planner, and we just might do this. We have taken school on the road many times before, but as the kids get older, it gets harder, because of the amount of stuff that you have to take. I would love to be one of those flexible mom's who can get it all done just sort of flying along looking at the big picture, but alas, that entire philosophy escapes me. It's beautiful in action, but I am not one that has ever been able to pull it off.
So, unless there is an unforeseen kink, we will leave on Wednesday and travel to meet Race. He will still be in training during the day, but hey, we'll have the evenings. We will come home on Friday in time for the boys to go to Martial Arts, and then we will leave again on Saturday morning to get to W's birthday party. I can't believe that my littlest nephew is turning 2! We will also get to see from family from LA. While we are there, which is always a treat. I am not sure when we will return, as we are hoping that Races training will be ending, and MAYBE he can ride home with us that week!
Well, hey, tomorrow should be fun! After abbreviated lessons, I am piling my 3 kids + 1 friend each, into the suburban for a day at Putt-Putt and the batting cages before Martial Arts. (We were supposed to do this last week, but it worked out better for everyone to put it off till today). Anyway, the kids are really looking forward to it, and me? Well, I am desperately trying to talk Thom into going with me!
So, all is well here. Not exciting, but well. And that's just fine with me.

Good night y'all,
Melissa

Church was great today. I am wondering how Race will like this church. The kids LOVE it. Everyone was so super nice and friendly after the service, and I already knew several of the members. The boys were whisked off immediately and Thom, Savannah and I found them in the gym with the other boys playing soccer. We let them play for a bit, while we got to visit with some of the ladies. After church, we hit Starbucks. The kids all got a treat, and Thom and I got drinks (that iced caramel machiatto really hit the spot). Then we headed over to the quaint little small town hardware store to look at the flowers for sale. I can't pass up a nursery these days! I didn't see any flowers that I needed, but I picked up a bag of Rose tone for which my roses will surely thank me.

The rest of the day has been pretty relaxing. I have done all of my lesson plans for the week, and have everything pulled together. I am waiting to talk to Race, so we can see about coming to meet him. It would be about a 4+hr drive, and the kids would take their lessons with them. We would probably stay 2 nights(2 rooms). Ugh. It adds up quick. But we will probably go anyway.

I am still really sore, and would actually rather run this evening than do that workout again. But it is SOOooo hot. I know, I know, people run in weather like this, but I think that I would surely die. But I'll get some sort of workout in tonight.

We are going to have a busy week this week. But I have found that we all function better when we are on task. So, in my thirst for balance, I have begun making lists again. I am good at following lists. It's the only way that I seem to accomplish the things that need to get done. If it isn't staring up at me from a piece of paper, begging to be checked off, well then, it's all too easy for me to let it slide. Some of the first things to go on any given day would be my Bible reading, my workout, the kids Spanish lesson, etc, etc. You get the picture. I am a calmer Mom when I can just "do the next thing". It brings a bit of perspective. So, we shall see how it goes this week.

I've got to go and run off some math work sheets, and dread my work -out for a little while!
Have a good night,
Melissa

Today was a good day. It was so hot out, that we just had to work outside in small spurts, but the front yard looks great, and the flower bed is weeded out. Other than the work that the kids had to help with, it was a Lego- athon at our home today. The Legos came out at about 9 am, and were in use until 9pm. We had to do a little shopping late this afternoon to get Jack some new church shoes. After that we decided to eat at the new 5 Guys that just opened up in town. Great burgers and fries! (Sorry Thom)

We read from "Adam and His Kin" again tonight. Am I being too much of a purist about this book? Why does it irk me a bit with some of the liberties that she takes in the story? Sometimes it just seems a little strained, or something. I don't know, but the kids like it. Jackson interrupts my reading often, with a little hand raised by his face. I stop and ask what he would like. He usually has some off the wall question. Tonight he asked, "Mom, who was the first person that God created that learned to swim?" Now, the older two get quite a kick out of my apparent facial expressions to such questions, and I always see them snickering to themselves. Tonight, Austin chimed in pretty quickly that it was "probably Adam". So, we continued on with the story.

After clean up, and the story, everyone got off to bed.
I am supposed to be accountable to my sister Thom about working out. I really need to work out. I have zero muscle and tone, and I am hanging on to those few pounds that used to effortlessly melt away. SO. I need to work out, cuz you KNOW I'm not gonna stop eating! So anyway, I did the FIRM workout tonight. 45 minutes of excruciating total body work-out. Proving to myself once again how completely out of shape I am. This should make for an interesting experience at church tomorrow, seeing as how I almost fell (seriously) down my steps tonight after the work out. How can muscle hurt THAT bad! Let's hope there aren't a lot of hymns tomorrow....all that up and down...YIKES!
Austin is still awake upstairs reading a Beckett baseball magazine, and looking at his card collection (last count over 6,000). Savannah is awake reading. Jack is going down fast. All in all it was a good day. I talked to Race tonight, and we might get to go and meet him again. Have to weigh out the $$$ though, so we'll see. Tomorrow, we meet Thom at church, and then I will spend the better part of the day relaxing with the kids and doing my lesson plans for the week. Have a wonderful Sunday,
Melissa

P.S. Thanks for the prayers Anniesue. They are so appreciated. I really am feeling better today.

What is your Indian name?

Tonight I am feeling unbelievably sorry for myself. We really miss Race.

I fixed round steaks with mashed potatoes, broccoli, and biscuits for dinner. After we did our "high-low", Someone started talking about Indians. Somehow, this led me to ask, "So, if you had an Indian name, what would it be?". I was dubbed "Yelling Owl" or "Voice That Carries", Austin was "Running Hare", and Savannah was "Silver Stream" or "Moon Flower", while little "Falling Poop" shall remain nameless. This of course reminds me of "Dy of the Many Chins", which totally cracks me up. Then I thought of the story of a gal that Janelle and Thom and I saw one night. She was appropriately dubbed "Long in the Ti**y". Now, don't go emailing me, we weren't just being mean, she deserved this title, and it's a long, long story, but man this still makes me fall out of my chair laughing. I swear, I can't even type it without laughing!

I have been reading the book "Adam and His Kin", by Ruth Beechick, aloud to the kids at night. They really like it so far. I will let you know what I think when we are done. Have y'all read this book? What do you think?
Oh- hey, guess what? I am almost finished with Don Quixote! Can you believe it? WHy was this book so difficult to get through? I actually found the story quite amusing. Sancho Panza has my kind of sense of humor! But still, I got bogged down. Anyway, I should be finished before the end of the week. Yay me!

Gotta go read!
Melissa

"Please Be Seated, Melissa. You have not spelled the word correctly."

Guffaw!! Hey, way to embarrass oneself on the World Wide Web! So, apparently, ALSO in The World of Melissa, one should NOT post (or spell) after 12 a.m. (see post below).

I thought about trying to redeem myself with lies of a misprint in my dictionary, or my growing brain tumor, but I figured that I will undoubtedly humiliate myself way-more than this soon, so I'd better just save those.

And, oh yeah, did you see below that Cribchick asked me to email her??? Now, assuming that she wasn't emailing to say something like, "Use a dictionary, for pete's sake!", well, then I am just really excited to get to know her. She's got mail!

Bye!
Melissa

O.K., well, it seems that in the World of Melissa, if you don't know how to spell a word, (let's say, the word 'Vacuume" you just keep trying different spellings, without ever going back to correct yourself. Good grief, what am I?- The blog for "This-is-why-parents-can't- educate-their-children"?

I swear I used to be able to spell. What happened? Maybe it's the wine..........yes, that's it. It's the wine...
Oh, well, if I can't spell, I can at least look things up in the dictionary (clearing of throat):
V A C U U M E. "vacuume"

WE MISS RACE SO MUCH!!!!!!!

I got a new vaccume cleaner the other day. Now, I am not one to go and spend a lot of money on a vaccuume, and I didn't. It's a Hoover. It's on the mid to low price end. I've been using it the past 2 days. I will try to remain calm as I tell you that it is a wonder that the authorities have not come and taken these children away, due to the absolute filth that we have apparently been living in. I mean, what was the use of the other vaccuume???? What was that about? Excercise? Why even SELL something like that, if it was leaving all the dirt on the floor???? I would try to vaccuume , and then empty the dust cup quickly before the older children could see. I would avoid eye contact, so as not to see the surprised look on their faces as they glanced at the dirt, and then at me........ But, hey....the floors are clean now.....aren't they? Right? Makes one wonder what the high-end price vaccuumes can do. Anyone care to comment?

In other riveting, house keeping news, our a.c. unit for the upstairs had gone out yesterday. It was running, but not cooling. So, I called our repairman. He would be out the next day. This unit only heats/cools the upstairs of our cape cod home, so last night the kids slept downstairs, as it was just too hot. This morning, in preparing for the repairman to come, I checked the filter. Hey, that looks really dirty! I changed the filter. Air works!
Yeah. O.K., apparently, you're supposed to change those things once in awhile. (slapping forehead!)

School was so-so today. No major light bulb moments. It could've gone better, but we all managed.
I am planning on using the Omnibus II OMNIBUS
with Austin this year. I wanted to go ahead and get him started on reading Eusebius; The History of the Church , so I picked up the Dover addition at B&N. I kept looking at that book thinking, "There is NO WAY! Definitely not 100 pages a week!!" AHHhhhhhhhh!!!!! I cannot tell you how relieved that I was to realize that there is another translation of this book that Veritas uses!!! Whew! So, I have the other translation on order. Major panic induced meltdown averted. We will see how the next one looks.

Oh. before I forget. If you haven't checked out my sister's blog, to see the pic's that she just posted, please do. You see, her current model just happens to be my daughter! Check it out, they are really cool looking. Thom's blog

Have a great night,
Melissa
P.S. We miss Race, Oh-have I already mentioned that?

Boring......but good

We had a good day today! Wednesday is our day to stay at home. I got some house cleaning done first, while the kids all played outside and then on to lessons. Everyone was great, although that youngest one still has an attention span that is simply non-existent, and apparently....a bladder the size of a pea (LOTS of bathroom breaks today, at the most inoportune times!) The older two were nowhere NEAR as fidgety as he is at this age. Savannah is going to be using the writing program called "Writing Strands" this year. She is an excellent writer, and this curriculum seems to be a perfect fit for just giving the basics without messing with the writers style. She likes it. Woo-Hoo!!! We ended lessons with a very cool experiment on Density in Nature. A. thought that it was interesting that the ancient Greek scientists used experiments like these to explain the existence of things like atoms and density. Things that could not be seen, and yet they knew that they were there. Cool! A. is working hard on learning proper lab techniques, and keeping a proper lab notebook-(The "not-so-fun" part of science!).

We are trying to stay busy these days. We are really missing Race, and he is really missing us. And you know, it just gets plain lonely!

We are planning to take my crew + 1 friend each out to Putt-Putt tomorrow afternoon for awhile before martial arts. The kids should all have a great time. The boys are best friends with 2 brothers of the same age (very convenient) that go to a classical school in our area, and Savannah is friends with a little girl from her dance class who goes to another private school in our town. They are all good kids, from good families and they all have a good time together. It will be a long day though!
Bye,
Melissa

Well, just stop right here. Go and readA Day In The Life. (oooo.. look at me..posting a link!) My goodness that sister of mine is funny! Actually, they are both funny. A sense of humor was required in our house growing up, as it is in my own. It tends to make one not quite so thin-skinned ;-). Anyway, her post made me laugh out loud, and I had already heard the story once before.
I just read my comments about the hair stuff. First of all, Dy is SOOooo lying about her hair. It's gorgeous. (And, Dy, if you take a pair of scissors to that hair yourself, and it doesn't turn out good.....well....just don't you call me....you listen to Zorak...you listen to him.) Thom's hair always looks awesome. (I would like to think that I share some small bit of responsibility for introducing her to Big Hair, back in the 80"s. She didn't appreciate it then....oh no...but, well, you just look at her now(sniff, sniff)). And Cribchick, I shall expect a follow-up blog on your stylist adventures. Godspeed my friend.
Today was a killer. Do you people realize that I am home schooling 3 children!!!!!! Oh my gosh! How did this happen!!! My oldest son is 13!!!!! AHHHhhhhh! (O.K., I feel slightly better, but that's the sort of panic that I experience at least once a week.) But you know what? We got it done. We got it ALL done. From Bible to Grammar to Science to Logic to Spanish to History, and everything in between. The productive day of lessons would explain why my house is a disaster. But it feels pretty good, and I am thinking that maybe, just maybe, we aren't gonna screw em' up after all. That they actually seem like they are doing really well. So far, so good (high-fives).
I talked to Race last night. He was sore from fighting all day with his classmates in Johnny Bad Ass School. (snort)
Well, that's about it for me, I have school stuff to do, and a mountain of laundry to conquer. But I shall read a few blogs before I do, of course.
G'night,
Melissa

I talked to Dy last night on the phone. I love that Gal. I do. Dy is a good, good friend. Which, by the way, would you please raise your hand, if you have NOT met, or talked to Dy on the phone yet? O.K., you with your hands raised? You are simply not trying AT ALL. These are some of the friendliest folks that I have ever met......and THAT's saying something to those of you who know my parents! (My sisters and I STILL have old boyfriends that come by the house to see Mom and Dad!) Dy and Charles..er..Zorak are great people who have a truly delightful family. They're the kind of people that just make you gush with happiness to know that they are given to procreation and child rearing ;-). It does give one hope....
On cribchicks blog, she laments her latest attempt to get the hairstyle that she has asked for at the stylist. She got a lot of comments (mine included, ahem, with step-by-step helpful instructions). But what really surprised me is that some ladies cut their own hair!! WHAT!!!!!?? This totally sent my mind to spinning, because I could NEVER do it. My best friend Janelle (who incidentally has a beautiful mane of hair) always told me that it was an act of utter desperation for a girl to take a pair of scissors to he own hair. I have lived by these words....so imagine my shock! But now that I think about it, I think that some of these women are those drop-dead-gorgeous- no-matter-what-I-do girls.(I will not hate them, I will not hate them). My sister Emily is like that. Her worst haircut EVER, she still pulls it off, makes it look good, without even trying. I am not one of those girls.......I'M TRYING. I've ALWAYS been trying....hard. I went to L.U. for crying out loud!
But, you know, I will say that ones stage of life also comes into play here. When my kids were little there just wasn't much time (or $$) for primping in front of the mirror or shopping.....as a matter of fact, I remember when showering was a bonus! I mean, lets face it, you were lucky to get out of the house without spit-up somewhere on your clothing. Actually, I was lucky to get out of the house at all! So. I guess it all works out in the end. To all of you mothers of young children, I offer this encouragement:"Perk Up! You SHALL be able to use the bathroom all by yourself with the door closed, AND fix your hair.... soon!"
But.....STILL, I would NEVER take a pair of scissors to my own head! (shudder). Don't DO that.
Do y'all DO that? Am I the weird one here? Am I?

Oh, hey. By the way, school lessons went pretty well today. I will have to bore you all sometime soon about what we are doing in school for this year.

Before I go, you MUST go and read my sister Thomasina's latest post. Unbelievable! On the sidebar it's "A Day in the Life", (it's so embarrassing that I lack the ability to post a link correctly, I swear I feel like a primate sometimes).

O.k., I'm off to learn of links and things and get our things ready for lessons tomorrow.

BONUS RACE!

When I got home today, I had a message from Dy on my phone, wondering where in the world we had gotten off to so early on a Saturday morning. Well, as it turns out Race had an extra day! It wasn't enough to come all the way home, so he grabbed a couple of hotel rooms, and the kids and I met him half-way. Nothing big, just hangin' out together for a little while longer. A little swimming in the pool, and then going out to eat ALL TOGETHER, and then just spending the evening talking. Well, actually most of us were talking. Jackson was busy wearing out his hotel key-card going in and out of his room (oooooo...the excitement: an electronic KEY CARD). We were so thankful to have the opportunity to spend just a little more time with one another. Totally worth it.
It's back to the old grind here. We are gearing up for school lessons tomorrow, back in full force, (that would be the groans of the children that you are hearing in the background). The things that I see in my immediate future are the dump, the lawn mower, school lessons, composting what's left in the garden.....I could go on, but out of sympathy for you, the reader, I won't.
Whatever sliver of creativity or interest that I am, at random moments, able to call upon when I write, has vanished completely for now. So, I'll catch y'all later!
Melissa

737 Comin' outta the sky........

This song always reminds me of Races' life and travels for some reason. He tends to use just about every mode of transportation known to man in any given month. (HELLO??? AMAZING RACE!! We would totally win that thing!) But, I digress...

Thanks for all of the prayers and well-wishes. We did enjoy our time together. Race got in around 2:00 a.m on Wed. The kids all stayed up to welcome him home. On Thursday, we got to see all of the cool goodies that he brought back for us from other parts of the world. we dressed up, told stories, took pictures, looked at pictures, played baseball, swam, and jumped on the trampoline. We had pizza for lunch, and then fixed bourbon pecan chicken for dinner. It was awesome to sit around the table all together. Since the kids were very little, we do what we call "high-low" at dinner. Everyone has to take a turn saying thier "high" for the day, and thier "low" for the day. Of course everyones high was the same: having dad at home. (And I didn't even HAVE a "low" that day!)

Race had to leave at 3:30 pm on Thursday. A special thanks to Thomasina to filling in for me here at home while I took Race to point X for his next assignment. We didn't realize until Thurs. how badly Race had been banged up this last trip. He knew that he would have to pass a P.T. test first thing Fri. morning, so it was really touch and go for awhile there, with his injury. But he did it, and everything will continue as planned (I just LOVE typing that phrase).

Race said good-bye to the kids, and we hit the road. It was SOOOoooo hard for him to leave. I think that he would have given anything to stay home. He was so down. He kept saying how proud he was of his family, and what troopers we all were. It was hard, but the kids took it so bravely. I think that it was immensly helpful to them to see Dad, and know that everything is O.K., and that we are pressing on, all doing our jobs. I think that they were very comforted by seeing that Mom and Dad are handling it, Mom and Dad are trusting God, and everything is fine.

When Race is down, that's when I kick into high gear, motivational speaker-mode. We spent the drive reminding ourselves of the path that we are on, how we got here, and why we are doing it. By the time we reached our destination, all was well, and Race was ready to tackle evil doers again.

A while back, Cribchick asked what movie characters resemble the relationship that you have with your spouse. When I asked Race about this, he first said "Mr. and Mrs. Smith". Funny man . We later suggested that our relationship most resembled Han Solo and Princess Lea. I was quite satisfied with the comparison, but then later, he said, "Hey, hon, I don't think that you are serious enough to be Lea, I think our relationship is most like Han Solo and Chewbaca." I guess that would explain the whole language barrier thing we've got going sometimes.....(wry grin).

May the force be with you,
Chewy

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