Answered Prayer for Mommy!

I had an amazing day yesterday! I had the opportunity to sub for my teacher who was going out of town. It was an important day because we had an accreditation crew there touring our school. Ms. Griffin let everyone know to avoid our classroom since I would be subbing and she would not be there. I was a little nervous. I absolutely love working in my class, but this was only the second time I had subbed and took on full responsibility for the class. And then to have the added pressure of the committee being there and possibly coming in to observe me was somewhat daunting. Thankfully, Ms. Griffin gave me everything I needed and I felt really prepared.

I began my day praying for a great day and to not be worried about "the visitors". I was having a really good day, things were going smoothly and quickly. Friday's are always a very fast-paced day! I was finishing up my phonics lesson so my kids could head off to P.E when a lady walked in to my classroom and headed to the back. I did my best to just ignore that she was there and continue on. I mean we only had about 10 minutes before we lined up, I could handle that! I completed the lesson and lined the kids up for P.E. and as the last child walked out, I greeted the lady in my room. She was so sweet! I made sure she realized that I was not the teacher in this room and was subbing for the day! She asked me if I had a degree, which caught me off guard. I thought it was a pretty personal question at first and then I worried, since I do not have a degree and told her such, that this was somehow going to reflect poorly on our school. I talked to her a while longer and she shared her story of how her husband pushed her to finish her education because he wanted to make sure that, in the event he passed on before her, that she would be able to support herself. She fulfilled his wishes and when her husband did pass away she was comfortably in a successful teaching career which she retired from with good benefits.

I was really encouraged by her words. Having a degree and finishing a program is something that has always nagged at me. The problem is I just could not dedicate myself to any program because I did not know what I wanted to be. Or more importantly, where God wanted me to be. But beyond feeling her encouragement, I was still worried I had said something that made the school look bad. I talked to another TA who gave me some good advice. She said to talk to Mr. Lester, our Elementary Principal, and just let him know what happened. When I did this, he said that it was no big deal and thanked me because it would allow them to bring up their hiring process in the last meeting they had with "the visitors". I felt better!

At the end of the day, I am getting my kids into the hall for carpool and I see Mr. Lester coming straight for me with this big smile on his face. He gives me a quick hug and says he has to talk to me. This beautiful lady who had visited my class had gone directly to Mr. Lester and told him that I needed to be teaching. That I was professional and great in the classroom and had an obvious knack for teaching! What I had interpreted on her face as disapproving when I told her I did not have a degree, was in fact shock because she assumed I did and was a certified teacher. Wow! I was in shock! I am excited!! As I listened to the other teachers at the end of the day talking about their shock that this group of people did not even come into their classrooms. It struck me. What made this woman come into my room? It was so random. It was so God!

I have prayed and prayed for an open door and I will continue to pray for the strength to go through that door!

What was equally powerful to me was my husband's expression when I told him what had happened. He was so proud.....of me!!! He was moved by my experience! This has been a powerful day! Now, I have no idea what to do next???

Happy Birthday Maryn!

http://madlyformaryn.blogspot.com/2009/04/april-7-2009.html

I Saw God!

The other day we went to the movies for Dylan's birthday. When we were walking up to purchase our tickets there was a man out front with two boys that were goofing around with each other. The man turned to them and screamed at one of the boys, saying "if you don't stop swinging around that jacket I am going to bust you up!" To me this was an extreme and ugly display. As an adult, I did not want to make eye contact with this man. I know I have bad days where I look less angelic than I want to and I try to chalk up public displays like this one as such. I mean really, who acts like this in public on purpose?! The last thing you want, at least the last thing I would want, is to be stared down like a glaring spotlight of your imperfection.

I looked down at Dylan who had made eye contact with this man and I watched my little boy raise a hand to say hi and give him a little smile. I looked over at the man just as he looked away. When I looked back to Dylan I saw that he was really watching this man. It was not that kind of look that you teach your children is an invasion of privacy, not even a curious look. It is hard to explain, but it was almost as if in his mind he was hugging that man. What a blessing!

Happy Birthday Dylan!!!

http://madlyfordylan.blogspot.com/2009/03/march-28-2009.html

Maryn Is In On The Secret!

For the first time we have allowed Maryn to go shopping with us for Dylan's birthday present. It has yet to be decided if this was a wise decision or not. She understands that this is supposed to be a secret and I believe she is capable of keeping the secret itself. What concerns me is that we have gift-wrapped with a big pretty bow on top and handed to her the ability to hold said secret over her brother's head! Oooooo....she is gonna love this! We told her that if she were allowed to go with us she could not even let on that she knew what he was getting. Is this too much pressure for an almost 6-year-old. I guess I will soon find out!

She was totally cracking me up at Wal-Mart! I have such a pet peeve for bathrooms without courtesy music. I mean, I really don't want to hear what everyone in there is doing. It is the most uncomfortable silence I can think of. We didn't have to worry about that today, because anyone in ear shot of Maryn in the bathroom was treated to a rather loud version of "Love Story"! Better than hearing people pee is all I have to say!

When we were finished making our rounds we went to pick Dylan up from school. As soon as he gets in the car, I look in the backseat to see Maryn holding her breath and eyes as big as the moon! She is in big trouble if she thinks she can hold her breath until Saturday. I know from experience that her mouth never stops moving for more than maybe a milisecond!

We get home and Maryn rushes to the front door to wait for Dylan, she has this goofy look on her face that Dylan clearly did not understand. He asked me, "what's wrong with her?" This will be interesting. She summoned me to a private meeting in the bathroom and tell me how hard she is trying to not say anything. I told her to lay off the goofy looks and she just laughed and said, "this is gonna be preeeeeety hard!"

Maryn's First Basketball Practice

I have always been really excited for my kids to start sports and be a part of that. It is so exciting for me! I love every second of it! Maryn has moved past a stage in her life where she wants to run from things that seem hard. She was so excited about basketball and when she hit the floor with her team, her excitement never faltered. She listened to her coach and made adjustments that were recommended of her. I was very proud. I get to be team mom for her team and two others, so I am so involved and get to watch her every second and keep my mouth shut....for the most part!!! I was very happy that she received her uniform at the end of her first practice because it was clear she was more excited about that at the end of the day! How could she not be....look how cute she is!!!

None of her shots even came close to making the net.....but look at that form!!!

A little bit of passing practice.

Today I Am So Proud!

It was such a beautiful day today, I decided to take the kids to the park near Dylans's pre-K after I picked him up. I love situations like this because you get the chance to watch your children interact with others and also to see how other demon children act!!! I am just kidding....a little!

Maryn was climbing on the train and 2 boys came over to her area. They began with the basics of finding out how old they all were. Twice, Maryn asked kids, "How many are you?" She got the same response both times ("you mean how OLD"), this really did not phase her. Turns out these particular boys happened to be 6. At the realization that Maryn was merely 5, one of the boys turned to her and told her that they do not talk to 5 year olds. Only 6 and up, he claimed. Maryn turned to look at me over her shoulder and just shrugged. Undaunted by the statement, she turned to the one that was clearly a little on the kinder side and began to talk about a Spongebob moment that she thought was funny! The boy started to laugh and they began playing together. The demon boy, not willing to give in to his commitment stood there silently. I loved this! I was so proud of her.

Later she heard a bunch of bigger kids who had come into her play area saying words like stupid, and calling other kids dirty diaper pants. She looked at me, shrugged again and said: "God will take care of them, I'm just not going to worry about it!"

I was on a mommy high on the way home! I ran through Chick-fil-A to get them an ice cream because I am cool like that!!! We see a woman in a wheel chair making her way down the sidewalk. I watch Dylan in the mirror watching her. She was using her feet to move her forward and was not making very good time. Dylan is watching her every move. I am waiting to see what he will say: "mom, look at that crazy lady", "mom, she is weird", "mom, what is wrong with that weirdo". He opens his mouth and I am ready to pounce with something from my moral lesson arsenal and what he says stops my heart. He looks at me and says, "Mom, you need to stop right now so I can help that lady" and I realized that the look in his eyes that I was reading as disgust or at the very least basic child curiosity, was in fact concern.

What a blessing my kids are to me and the world!!! God has wonderful things in store for these two!

The Circus was Awesome!!!!

So I have not been to the circus in ages! This was the first time with my kids and I was so excited and anxious to see all the magic through their little eyes! I was curious about what would entertain them the most. It seems some people either love or hate clowns. I don't really have an opinion either way. I can take them or leave them. Neither of my children have a loathing for clowns, but Dylan is clearly a slapstick kid and got the most enjoyment out of their antics. Maryn was enamored by the acts and the swirling girls and the men that were "wearing lady clothes" on the trapeze extravaganza!

It fascinated me to see what got their attention. In one particular moment, a fairly limber lady has her leg wrapped around her neck 4 times and is licking her elbow (a bit of an exaggeration...but whatever!!), I look at Maryn and her eyes are wide and mouth slightly opened and I hear her say: "Mom, look at her shadow on the floor!!!" I am like....shadow....what....check out the lady!!!

Dylan felt like the highlight of our experience at the circus would be the lions. He waited with anticipation for them to come trying to fight off boredom of the less spectacular events. When they finally arrived on stage he watched in awe for about 30 seconds and leaned back in his seat and claimed his need to go home. I said: "Dylan, are you watching...how cool is this??!!" He looked up long enough to see the lions all standing on their hind legs. He leaned back and let out this slow exasperated breath of boredom. He was like, "Big whoop, they can stand"!

There was one thing throughout the circus that I could not, even though I tried and tried, stop thinking about. Through the slew of animals paraded on stage, not one of them pooped. I am wondering how this is even possible. I am talking dogs, goats, horses, lions, and elephants! I am starting to get worried and begin to think I may not even want to know how they accomplish this. I wonder if I should search PETA and then think better of it. I wonder if they are somehow plugged up to spare the viewing audience the horror and stench of various animal terds! I am telling my brain just to focus. Focus on the beauty of what is before you, but the nagging in my brain keeps making me think of the calamity of a plugged elephant and about 3o gallons of rotten peanuts....I mean we are having a peanut thing here in Georgia after all. The lions come out and I have still seen no poop! I really am not obsessed. I watch the lion trainer and now on top of my nagging need for poop, I begin to wonder if I will have to be the witness of the unfortunate decapitation of said lion trainer. It is hard to watch.

Finally the elephants come out to sum up the circus for us. They do several nice maneuvers and stand to bow. They begin to exit, while tiny elephant does a very cute little skip that I could not take my eyes off of. When I finally do, I take in the scene of the empty stage and guess what I see.........POOP!!! Big, putrid mounds of elephant poop! I actually felt much better and could make my way home with an eased mind and thoroughly enjoy singing along with my little ones to Kidz Bop 15!

My loser status was confirmed today!!

This morning I have been called out! It started when we woke up. Maryn really wanted to make daddy breakfast in bed this weekend. This is normally a birthday tradition. Each person in the house gets the breakfast of their choosing in bed on their birthday. Well at least we do this for the kids. Last year the kids and I got up and made pancakes in Rex's favorite color, and red milk! It didn't actually make it to his bed, but we had fun nonetheless. Maryn really wanted to do this again and I told her maybe we would this weekend. Now, let me preface by saying I am NOT and early riser on the weekends!!!

Maryn came to the side of our bed around 9:30. Rex and I were already awake and just hanging out, loving not having to jump out of bed to go anywhere. Maryn whispered in my ear about breakfast in bed for daddy and I told her it was too late and we would TRY to do it the next day. Rex by now is making feel like a total loser....but only because he wanted to stay in bed!!! :) Maryn got really upset and started to whine and cry...so I told her to go to her room....but only because I wanted to stay in bed!!!! While Maryn was in bed, she got out her etch-a-sketch and drew a picture of mommy in bed being mad at her. Rex proceeded to make me feel like a big loser. I got up and made breakfast!!!

The morning continued with Maryn coming downstairs and finding her baby book and continuing to point out to Dylan that she just didn't see his. Now, don't get me wrong, he does HAVE a baby book I just never made it past the first couple pages and it has very few pictures. He kept watching Maryn look through her picture book with this look of second-born neglect that I am sure will follow him through the years. We have plenty of pictures of Dylan, they have just never made it into a book. Rex and I vowed to go through our CD's and make a book just for him! Will this ease the wounds of neglect? I can only hope!

Hiatus....

Since our return from the Christmas holiday, my computer has been kaput. Thankfully, I can now use my computer, but am still missing the old hard drive and a lot of information which has left us in the hands of those who claim to possess the secrets needed to bring it all back. I can only sit idle and hope so.

I have just now been able to upload pics from Christmas. We had a wonderful holiday! It is kind of interesting looking at pics so long after the fact. Generally, when it comes to Christmas photos you look at them and all their glowing happiness. The excitement of it all is still there. Now when I look at them I, of course, get the happiness and the glowy warm feelings. But while I am looking at the smiling faces of my children so excited about the gifts they have received, I have the present knowledge that most of it has already (at the end of January) lost its dazzle. The things that have made a permanent place in our lives are the Leapsters and Legos. The things long forgotten are the Pixos and Bendaroos a certain little girl thought she could not live without; the remote control vehicles we thought Dylan would just love. I could keep going I assure you, but instead I will share some of the glowing memories of our Christmas holiday and some of Dylan's Holiday show with his classmates.

Dylan was so happy and excited to be on stage this year!

Granny says: "Stop licking the spoon!"

Santa Claus did not go hungry!

These were a big hit.....literally!

The hanger came in a close second!

A Poem About Boogers by Mom

Boogers

Boogers, Boogers everywhere,
probably some in my hair.
Oh, how I love to flick it,
that's why I always pick it.

If one falls while I run down the hall,
I just smear it on the wall!

Tucked in bed, tissues above my head,
but their so hard to reach,
so I'll sneak them in my sheets!

Happy Fall Y'all!!!

Aurora and Batman say Happy Halloween!!!

Halloween started out with a shin-dig at Dylan's school.

Maryn wanted nothing to do with.

Dylan wishes he could be batman everyday!

Here she is in the one and only time you will see her in full costume!

We made our annual trip to Papa's house to show off costumes and get enough candy to eliminate the need for trick or treating altogether....but you know how that goes.

Cutie Batman!

Batman has nothing on these abs!!!

Come on, Aurora....go to sleep...I will wake you with my magic kiss!

Some pre-treating lego time.

We are so ready!!!

So this was the first year Dylan went trick or treating. Last year, he was too scared and spent most of the night on the sofa diving under a blanket every time the door bell rang. This year, he was ready. The kids took turns ringing door bells and Dylan's first turn at the bell met him with this scary looking guy! He cowared and cried, but did not get so scared that he forgot to hold out his bucket. Poor little thing!

Thankfully, this did not ruin Dylan's Halloween experience. But, he did spend the rest of the night sending his sister and friend ahead to make sure the coast was clear.

Maryn has not only lost her wig (too itchy), but has now given up on the shoes!

Halloween Rocks!!!!