THE LUCKYS (NOT SO MUCH)

I know MC 2 gets a lot of face time. Today it is MC 1's turn. A few weeks ago MC 1 declared that he was no longer eating beef. Chicken, deer, fish all fine, but no more beef. The problem is his grandparents raise cattle. HH is a huge beef fan. We are all fans of the beef. His reasoning was he did not like the thought of the cows dying. It lasted about 2 days but it did give us a peek into his sensitive heart.

We have catalpa trees all over our yard. If you are a fisherman in the South you know the worms that develop on these trees make great bait. HH decided last week to do a collection. Now, and this will be more than you need to know but important for the story, to preserve said worms, you must blanch them and freeze them. Translation (for those of you like me who were clueless)...you must dump them in almost boiling water and stick 'em in the cooler. As HH prepared for the process he asked MC 1 to help him. It went smoothly until HH started putting the worms into the water.

MC 1 freaked.

Tears.

Yelling.

He attempted to cover the bucket so HH could get no more.

He cried for an hour that night.

Locked himself in the bathroom.

Drama at its highest.

In the end he saved 4.

He named them Lucky, Lucky, Lucky and Lucky (the Luckys for short).

HH fixed up a mason jar for him.

They went outside and collected leaves.

Everyday MC 1 has switched out the old leaves for new ones and tended to the Luckys the best he can.

Sadly, we are now down to Lucky and his other brother Lucky.

(Actually, I think we are down to just Lucky but MC 1 did not want to believe me).

So while I have a no-fear, no holes barred MC 2, I also have a highly emotional, extremely sensitive MC 1.

Just think, we have not even come close to throwing hormones into the mix;)

REASON # 4,567,893 WHY....

before I tell you, remember this?

Okay....

reason # 4,567,893 why

MC 2 can not be left unattended...

I am cleaning off the soap

trying to hide the evidence

Bless his heart he did try to clean up.

Yes I had the paint lid hammered shut.

I thought he was outside.

HH had no clue where he was.

HH: You better pray he comes to know Jesus because if he doesn't it is going to be bad.

We covet your prayers:)

I CONCUR....

with Rampage Jackson's wife

on NOT letting him name

their one and only daughter

RAMPAGE'A.

You are welcome.

SILENCE WITHOUT THE LAMBS

The men children departed from us this past Sunday. MC 1 went to spend the week with JG and go to vacation bible school. MC 2 went to Laudie's and Grandpa's. Sunday night HH kept walking around saying,

Just think, this will be what it is like when we retire.

Yes dear (sob sob) it will.

HH loves his boys but he is looking forward to it being just he and I again. Can anyone else relate? I am thinking,

10 years...they will be gone in 10 years...

It seems too soon.
Monday HH kept calling to see what "it" was like. "It" being the silence of no kids. I have to say it was nice. Weird at first. Honestly I was a little nervous about it. I was afraid with no men children to distract this brain of mine it would run back into anxiety- ville and do some laps around worry town. By the grace of God it did not. Monday I mowed the yard and prepared PW's jalapeno/bacon thingys. Tuesday was really quiet. I spent the day inside, a tad bit unmotivated. By Wednesday I had gotten the hang of being productive. Of course then I had to get MC 2 at lunch, so it was a short lived victory.
Our plans for nice quiet evenings together never came to fruition, so HH and I will just have to relish in the uninterrupted sleep we got.
It is now but a fond memory now that MC 2 has returned.
He did return bearing gifts though.
A waffle "cooker".
Seems child has been deprived of waffles for way too long.
Of course they will pale in comparison to Audie's (aka Laudie).
Much like my pancakes, eggs, gravy.....
That is what happens when you let your firstborn major in Ag in high school instead of Home Ec. But honey I can drive a tractor and haul hay with the best of them:)
Have a great day!
Ya'll come back now ya' here!
Love
Ellie Mae

...AND WE ARE UP TO SATURDAY

Have you recovered from Friday yet?
Me neither:)
Saturday morning found me busting my tail to get things made to go celebrate my mom's 60th birthday.
HH and the men children went to the local barber shop to get cleaned up.
Can I tell you how much I love that?
Not just because they are out of the house, although that is a plus some days.
I love that my boys have a dad, their dad, who wants to and is able to do stuff like that with them. He is there to train them in the ways of menfolk and I am every so grateful.
I was responsible for potato salad and a cake for Saturday.
Being the PW inspired woman that I am, I opted for a FROM SCRATCH red velvet cake.
I know - right?
Well, it all got made and we made it to mom's. Yes - LATE.
But I decided is was subconscious self-sacrifice on my part so the sisters would feel good that they beat me there. Besides they had it all under control. Seems their party planner (ahem* ahem) delegated very well. I would say she used her administrative gifting but as we discovered, she is really just bossy. She does boss well though.
Zip it sisters!
Party was great. HH took each of the boys fishing for some one-on-one time.
Of course he waited until we were in the car to tell me about MC 2. HH is smart like that if nothing else. Seems MC 2 kicked off his flip flops and went sludging around in the pond, water up to his knees. He also picked up a pet- a bass. MC 2 was supposed to throw it back but seems he decided to pack it around for about 15 minutes, giving it water when it started to go lifeless. It was cruel bass Mr. Bass and I am sorry. Some ways of the menfolk I just can't explain.
Someone out there with boys tell you can relate.
Please... I need the encouragement.
When does school start again?
Kidding...I am just kidding;)

UHMMM...YEAH

You would not have wanted to read it. Pretty much anything I would have written last week would have just depressed you. Probably caused you to doubt my salvation. It has been a struggle between the inner spirit man and the flesh man trapped inside this body. If that totally just freaked you out, then it was like this....my facts and faith were colliding head on and my attitude and outlook were collateral damage. Still healing from the wounds.
So we will skip to the Friday review. It was a day that just did not go as planned. It ended up with me at Wal-Mart at 3pm trying to buy groceries. In tow I had two boys who were not content to just push their respective buggy. Oh NO. We wanted to pin brother between the buggies. We wanted to race the buggies. We pretty much wanted to do ANYTHING and EVERYTHING mommy did not want us to do. So at 3:30 we promptly left the store. Unfortunately the cupboards were bare, requiring MC 1 and I to return to said Wal-Mart at 8:30 that night. I NEVER, I mean N-E-V-E-R do I go to the store that late. Especially not with a man child. I had many ads and coupons (yes I am that girl), so I knew it was going to take a while. He was a big help until about 10:00. Then he went into overdrive and our bread caught the brunt of it. Seems he did not hear me yell after him, DO NOT PUT THE MILK ON THE BREAD!, as he raced from the produce section all the way to the back to the dairy section. I would show you a picture but it is no longer 3 dimensional, and no set of high fluten glasses will fix that.
Finally, we checked out and headed back to the truck. Sweet relief right?
No. Someone had decided to write foul words on the truck nice and BIG. Fortunately MC 1 still has problems with his vowel sounds so he could not sound out the word. I spent the drive home avoiding the what was that word question and instructing how we don't write on others cars.
Exhausted just from reading it?
But this is a new week and a new day.
In all this, one fact remains....
I still get to choose.
Choose Jesus.

OPEN LETTER TO MY SPIRIT (AND MAYBE YOURS)

Okay, so things are not like you thought they would be. Life not quite like you had hoped it would turn out. You really did not see yourself here, now. What started out as a difficult situation seems to have turned into a difficult season, which at times colors your vision to believe you have a difficult life. Not true sweet one, not true at all. First, remember who you belong to. You have given yourself to Christ Jesus and you are His. The end. Knowing that, you must know that everything that has come your way has gone through His hands and the hands of our Father. Although you feel things are out of control, they are completely in His control. Cling to that.

You have a choice to make today, this very moment. What are you going to do while you are here? The best choice...the wise choice...is to serve, honor, and seek Him in the midst of all this. Sow some seed to be harvested. Do some damage to prince of this earth. Break loose some chains of bondage. Don't give the enemy on foot of ground in this place. Remember what your Lord has promised you. Remember that He is good, He has a plan, He has never left you for one minute. Remember He is making you more like Himself each and every step of the way. Hold fast to the promises of His word to you.

Now get up and dust yourself off. Wash your face, wipe your tears, fix your countenance. Go out there and do something for Jesus. Big or small, doesn't really matter. Do something. Keep your eyes open for what He has for you today. Walk with expectation that this seemingly time of trials can be, will be if you let it, a great time of victory.

You choose.

Don't forget that.

You choose.