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Big Bang

April 18, 2011 by Kelli

“Hey Mom,” he said as we walked along a path enjoying a beautiful spring day. “Did you know that the moon was created when a big meteor slammed into the Earth and bounced off of it?”

I snorted and gaped at my boy-man, sure I must have heard him wrong. “What?!”

“Yeah. The whole world was created that way. Giant meteors slamming together. BOOM!” He clapped his hands together and made the bomb sound that only a little boy can make. While he reenacted the world forming out of meteor’s slamming together, I gathered my thoughts. The absurdity of that theory is not lost on me, but to his seven year old mind it’s a really cool image so I gave him a minute to envision it.

“That’s really interesting, buddy,” I said, after a moment. “Where did you learn that?”

“Oh, I saw a video at school.”

“Huh. Well, do you really believe that’s how the world and the moon were created?”

“I don’t know,” he shrugged.

“Do you remember learning about God creating the world, forming the sky and the land and the water and all the animals out of nothing?”

“Yeah, I guess,” he said, picking up a rock and tossing it into a nearby stream.

“Look at the trees,” I said and we stopped. “Look at how each one is a little bit different. Now look at the clovers in the grass.” He and I knelt down next to a patch of clovers and I ran my hand over it. “See how they have three leaves on them? But if you look long and hard enough, you might find a clover with four leaves.”

I stood him up and pointed at the moon that was already faintly showing as the evening began to fade to night. “Look at the moon. Look at the details in the moon. And look at your own hand, at the lines and the marks that are unique and can only be found on your hand. It seems kind of strange that all of these amazing details could have happened by accident, do you think? It seems to me that there had to have been a Creator to place all the finer details together.”

“Well, yeah,” he said. “But the video at school said that’s what happened!”

“Yes, I know and I’m so glad to know that you’re paying so close attention in school. I also want you to know that you don’t have to believe everything you learn.”

“But I’m supposed to trust my teachers,” he protested.

“No,” I responded. “You’re supposed to respect your teachers. You can respect them and you can respect the different ideas they are teaching you. I will tell you where Mommy and Daddy place our trust and that’s in God and in His Word. We trust that it’s true and when Genesis tells us that God created the heavens and the earth, the sun and the moon and all the creatures upon the earth, we trust that to be Truth.”

We walked in silence for a moment as he thought.

“Do I have to believe what you’re telling me?” he asked.

“No,” I replied. “You have to decide on your own what you believe to be true. I can’t tell you what to believe – I can only tell you what I believe and I believe God’s Word to be True.”

“Well how do I know what to believe?”

“Prayer. And knowing what the Bible says about Science. God is the creator of Science and there is a lot we can learn from His Creation. But it’s always important to weigh what you learn about Science against God’s Word.”

He sighed and kicked a rock with his toe. “Okay,” he mumbled, clearly feeling conflicted until…

“Wow! Look at this awesome rock!” He picked up a shiny rock and held it in his hands like a treasure. He looked at me and grinned, the evening sun dancing across his smattering of freckles. And just like that, he was a kid again.

This was a conversation I had with Sloan last week. It’s not meant to start a bashing session against the public school and OMG what are they teaching our kids?! Admittedly I was a little upset when I first heard what he learned, but after thinking about it I realized I shouldn’t be surprised. I knew they wouldn’t be teaching my child Creationism. That’s my job. And I’m glad that, at a young age, he has been exposed to the idea that there are different schools of thought on how the Earth was created.

Vigilance is key when raising kids, whether they go to public school, private school or you teach them in your living room. We must vigilantly teach our children how to weigh academia against Truth. While it wouldn’t have been my first choice for him to learn a modified version of the Big Bang Theory at such a young age, I am glad that we had the conversation that we had. (Seriously, a meteor bounced off the Earth and that’s how the moon was formed? I’ve never even heard of that before! 🙂 )

How are you teaching your children to defend Truth in a world that is fighting against it?

Filed Under: faith, Kids, School, Sloan Tagged With: Big Bang Theory, faith, Faith vs. Science, Kids

Magic Monkey on the Wall

April 8, 2011 by Kelli

We have a naughty little Monkey in our midst. He’s mischevious and sneaky and you never really know where you’ll find him. See for yourself:

Sometimes this mischevious little monkey convinces the stuffed bear to join in on the antics and we find them together on the shelf.

Thus far, however, he hasn’t been able to convince Old Monkey (aka, Steve) to climb with him. Steve just doesn’t have it in him anymore. He’s a little over three years old. In Sock Monkey years that’s 104. He also has a bum arm and leg…

There are squeals of delight multiple times a day as we discover where New Monkey has settled himself. “I fink he must be awive!” they cry.

We’ve tried to catch Monkey in the act of swinging and climbing, but he’s just too clever. As you can see from some of the pictures above, we’ve almost caught him. We’ve seen him mid-swing more than once, but he always manages to freeze before we can get to him.

Yesterday they were determined to keep Monkey in their sights all day in the hopes that they would see him move. But wouldn’t you know, when they turned their backs for one second he managed to scamper up on top of the fridge!

Silly Monkey.

Filed Under: Family, funny stuff that happens, Kids, Random Tagged With: fun, Kids, Sock Monkey, Toys coming alive

Because they’re funny, that’s why

April 4, 2011 by Kelli

I heard a comment recently from someone who claimed to love reading “Mommy blogs” but hated when bloggers went on and on about their kids.

Um…I don’t think you like reading “Mommy Blogs” then. (Not a fan of the “Mommy Blog” term…couldja tell?) That’s like me saying I like fish but don’t like when it tastes fishy. Riiight. Let’s just call a spade a spade. I don’t like fish. Unless it’s thickly breaded and double dipped in a vat of oil then served with a side of ketchup.

That’s my kind of fish.

When I first heard this statement I found myself a little self conscious. I mean, I talk about my kids all the blasted time here. What if I’m boring people? Because let’s face it, I can say that I’m only blogging to keep a record of the cute and funny things they do until I’m blue in the face, but we all know I want you to like me.

And I want to remember the cute and funny things they do so I can look back ten years later and smile…and humiliate them. It’s a scrapbook that yields sweet revenge.

I’m only half way kidding.

So here it is: I am a blogger who happens to be a mom. Write what you know, correct? Well right now, I know Mom-ing. (I could have written I know Motherhood but turning “Mom” into a verb sounded like more fun.) So I’m going to write about Mom-ing, and all the other stuff that interests me that doesn’t involve my kids. Which isn’t a lot because I’m kind of in the trenches of this Mom thing.

So today I’m writing about my kids, because dang it my kids are funny. Maybe they’re only funny to me and their grandparents, but I don’t care. This post might seem a little fishy, but I’ll try and deep fry something for you another day, okay? Just indulge me, if you could be so kind. Tomorrow I’ll write about something more riveting…like my house. You’re on the edge of your seat – I just know it!

Lee left yesterday for a two week training in New Jersey. Before the kids and I headed off to church, he buckled everyone in and doled out last minutes hugs and kisses. He and Sloan managed to squeeze in an early round of basketball before we left. I’m sure the neighbors were thrilled.

As Lee leaned in to kiss Sloan, my tender hearted man-child teared up a bit. Lee smiled and touseled his hair and Sloan grinned, shaking his head.

“I’m not crying,” he said, all macho-like. “My eyes are just sweating.”

My eyes are sweating a bit as I type this. Happens to the best of us…

Sloan continued. “Hey Dad, will you get us a present when you go to New York?”

“Sure,” Lee said. I think his eyes were a little sweaty too. “What do you want me to get you?”

“A girlfriend,” Sloan replied without missing a beat. Aaaaand it comes back around. I guess he thought he’d see if his dad would indulge his apparent need for a girlfriend since I told him a couple of weeks ago that No, I would not get him a girlfriend for his eighth birthday. After sharing this I launched into a very sweet, deep and meaningful conversation with him about how God has already picked out and planned a wife for him someday and he doesn’t need to worry about dating right now.

Clearly my words had an impact.

Not to be outdone, Tia piped up from the backseat as we headed down the road to church. “Hey Mom? How old do I have to be to get mawwied?”

“Old enough to be able to say your ‘R’s,” I replied…

No, I didn’t. I actually told her it would be a long time and she didn’t need to start thinking about that now.

“Well, I fink I should be 29 when I get mawwied. Will I be a mom before I get mawwied?”

“Nope,” I said. “You gotta get married first to be a mom.” Yes, I know that’s not necessarily true, but she’s five and we’re keeping it simple. She doesn’t need an explanation on when and how one can or should become a mom.

Tia has actually popped out a couple of funny one-liner’s lately. I forgot how funny five year old’s can be. When we ate lunch one day in Florida, I handed Sloan a ham sandwich.

“Does that have Man Eyes on it?” Tia asked. She meant Mayonaise. And just like that, our family now has a new catch word. We will forever call Mayonaise “Man Eyes.”

And then there’s Landon – the family clown, the kid who’s always good for a laugh, the boy with expressive eyes and a personality that far outweighs his tiny little bird frame. He walks through the house daily singing the songs from High School Musical 3. He sings them completely wrong, but that’s what makes it so fun. My favorite goes like this:

I don’t know where to go, Whatsa right fing. I want my oh dwee so Battleforce Strange.

If you know what song I’m talking about, you know why that’s cute and funny. It also means that you, like me, know way too much about High School Musical 3.

It’s those little conversations that make me laugh out loud that give me reason to blog about my kids. Well, that and the humiliation thing.

I’m kidding…sort of.

Filed Under: Blogging, Family, funny stuff that happens, Kids, Kids do the darndest things, Landon, Motherhood, Sloan, Tia Tagged With: Blogging, HSM3, Kids, kids say the darndest things, Motherhood

Emphasis on Spring

March 21, 2011 by Kelli

Perfect weather is a beautiful thing…

And this last photo just to make you laugh out loud. I freaking love this kid…

Tomorrow? The Beach!

Filed Under: Family, funny stuff that happens, Kids, Kids do the darndest things Tagged With: I love spring, Kids, Outside, Photos, Spring Break

A few of my favorite things

March 10, 2011 by Kelli

As I begin seriously working on my novel again, I’ve spent some time reading through the books that bring me the most inspiration. Books that move my heart, make me laugh, make me cry and make me think that I could maybe, possibly write prose so poetic you feel as if you’re standing in the middle of the action. Here are a few of the books that move me:

The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver: I read this book in college and remember being stunned at the magic that sprang forth from each page. This book is a tragedy from start to finish, but it’s also poetry in motion. It’s so beautifully written that you don’t notice the heartache until it’s right on top of you.

The Girl with the Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier: I love this book. It is also tragic, but in a less blatant form. It’s a historical novel, which is my favorite kind of book and the imagery is so vivid that you feel like you’re a part of the Vermeer painting yourself.

Anna Karenina by Lev Tolstoy: I love this novel. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. This book makes me happy. And sad. But mostly happy.

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte: Another beautiful tale of love and tragedy. After reading this book I often find myself writing Thee and Thou as if it’s natural, every day language…

Aside from books, here are a few more of my favorite things.

Coffeemate Peppermint Mocha Creamer: I was positive that this was only a holiday flavoring offered for Christmas so every time I go to the store I buy more of this in the fear that they’re going to yank it off the shelves. So far they haven’t, but I’m not taking any chances. I’ve got seven bottles of it in my fridge.

You know that moment when you walk into your kids’ rooms after lights out and they’re sound asleep, their mouths open and their faces peaceful? You lean down and smell their hair and breathe in the scents of lavendar and lotion, then you gently kiss their soft, squishy cheeks.

That is so my favorite thing.

My seven year old says the funniest things. My favorite from just this morning was when I pulled out the nail clippers to tackle the claws he likes to call toes.

“No! Don’t clip my toenails!” he cried. “Why?” I asked. “Because they’re my weapons,” came the reply. “I need them in case Tia and Landon start attacking me.”

Listening to his reasoning is definately one of my favorite things.

Sleeping. Last night I slept eight and a half hours uninterrupted. I’m fairly certain I didn’t move the entire night. And that is one of my favorite things.

What are a few of your favorite things?

Filed Under: Random Tagged With: anna karenina, books, favorite things, jane eyre, Kids, the girl with the pearl earring, the poisonwood bible

Because everyone deserves to be a Pink Princess

February 7, 2011 by Kelli

Superbowl? What Superbowl? We had a party this weekend! It was girly and squealy and happy and silly.

How was your weekend?

Filed Under: Kids, Life, Tia Tagged With: Kids, princess birthday party

Don’t get me wrong…

February 3, 2011 by Kelli

I love my kids. I love to be with them and I love to laugh with them and play with them and spend time with them.

But…

These flippin’ snow days are MAKING ME BATTY.

*deep breath*

I think the children are going to start eating one another.

Sloan cleaned this morning. He vacuumed and dusted, pulling dressers out and cleaning the floors behind him. This is awesome, obviously, but it’s also evidence of the fact that we’re all going a little crazy. A seven year old voluntarily scrubbing his room? Not normal!

Did you know that the average four year old asks 437 questions a day? So if I have a chatty three year old, stubborn five year old and headstrong seven year old all trapped under the same roof, using a model of mathematics called estimation, I can safely assume that I’m being asked 1,500 questions/day. I’m also being told roughly 523 times that he/she kicked me, pushed me, hit me, licked me, bit me, touched me, breathed on me. I’m being asked 47 times a day for a snack or a drink (they still expect to be fed!) and every ten minutes I’m asked if we can watch a movie, play Wii or play computer games.

It’s tempting not to say yes and let them do that all day long. But alas, I’ve found that when my children sit in front of the TV all day they turn into jittery, weepy zombies without the will to reason.

On the other hand…my kids are pretty dang funny and, despite being trapped, we have had some fun this week. It’s not that I haven’t enjoyed it – it’s just that every day I enjoy it a little less. And so do they.

A few pictures of the happier times for your viewing enjoyment.

We’re not really sure who had a better birthday yesterday – Tia or Kit.

Seriously. Where did this kid come from? He’s yet to find a camera he didn’t love…

Filed Under: Family, funny stuff that happens, Kids, Kids do the darndest things, Landon, Sloan, Tia Tagged With: birthdays, Kids, mama's going crazy, Midwest blizzard, snow days, snowed in

Stones of Remembrance

January 17, 2011 by Kelli

Intentional

This is a word that is following me around quite a bit lately. I hear it, read it, think it and sleep it. Intentional. What does it mean to be intentional?

I went to Webster’s Dictionary to look for a clear defination of intentional. Here’s what I learned: Webster’s Dictionary isn’t a lot of help. Intentional is defined as “done by intention or design.” Great. Awesome. Way to help.

So I looked up the word intend.

“To direct the mind to.”

Much better. This definition actually gave me something to think about. Because to be intentional really does require thought. It means I must direct my mind toward an action. It requires work and planning and it’s hard…

To live and live well, one must be intentional. I forget that a lot. Actually, it feels like I forget that every single day. How often do I go to bed and run through the day and realize I went through the motions? How often do I reflect on the day and see that I merely survived?

This is not intention.

Lee and I are blessed to have wonderful leaders and friends and supporters around us who are constantly encouraging us to be better. Yesterday we spoke at length with many of these people about placing Stones of Remembrance out for our kids.

Orchestrating moments in the kids lives that they can look back at and point to as a time when God was there.

A time they remember.

A time they felt loved.

A time when they discovered who they were created to be.

Intentional

When the Isrealites crossed the Jordan River into the promised land, Joshua commanded the twelve men whom he had appointed from the sons of Isreal and said to them, “Cross again to the ark of the Lord your God into the middle of the Jordan, and each of you take up a stone on his shoulder…Let this be a sign among you, so that when your children ask later, saying, ‘What do these stones mean to you?’ then you sall say to them, ‘Because the waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord; when it crossed the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off.’ So these stones shall become a memorial to the sons of Isreal forever.”

Intentional

I have to be intentional with my children. I have to set out stones of remembrance for them. Sometimes these things are easy – they naturally flow from the every day moments of life – as long as I’m paying attention, of course. Like the day the tornado didn’t come through. We were intentional in pointing Sloan to God’s answer that day.

But if I’m not planning ahead – if I’m not intentionally seeking ways to set up stones of remembrance – I will miss opportunities.

The same goes in every area of our lives. Lee and I are being challenged in many different ways to be intentional in our giving. We must intentionally stretch ourselves to give more. We must be intentional in budgeting so that it is easier to make giving a priority.

We have to be intentional in our marriage. We must be intentional in our careers, intentional in the way we spend our time, our moments.

Intentional

Setting up stones of remembrance – this is my heart as a mother, as a wife, as a daughter and sister. As a child of the Lord Most High. Because someday I will look back and point my children and, hopefully, grandchildren to those stones…those moments. And I will be able to tell them, “Look. Look what the Lord Most High did for you.”

Intentional

Filed Under: Family, Kids, Life, Marriage, Ministry, Motherhood Tagged With: Kids, Life, Living life intentionally, Motherhood, parenting, setting stones of remembrance

Deep thoughts…

January 13, 2011 by Kelli

*random pictures will be interspersed throughout this most random of posts. Consider yourselves forewarned…

When I was a kid, I thought for sure the term “Jay Walker” meant someone who walked across the street naked. I think that stream of thought stemmed from the phrase “Nekkid as a Jay Bird,” which, being from a good southern family, I heard frequently. But I remember vividly being told once that I was jay walking and getting quite upset because I was fully dressed.

Sadly, I think I was 11 or 12 before I learned what jay walking really meant.

As we walked into church last night, Sloan walked outside the pedestrian walkway. “Hey everybody – look at me!” he called. “I’m a Jay Walker!”

I blushed. Because for some reason when I hear that term I can’t get the image of a defiant streaker crossing the street out of my head.

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Sadly, I am already over the great winter of 2011. Highs of 20 with wind chills in the single digits? Over it. Snow and ice? Over it. Frostbite after walking from my car to the back door? Over it.

Lee told me yesterday that he was convicted about his attitude toward winter. Well that makes one of us. I suppose I should try to have a better attitude about these frigid months. I mean, it’s not like I can do anything about it. It is what it is and I might as well find the silver lining so here it is:

The Clementines are amazing right now. They are fresh and sweet and…

Ah, forget it. Sorry, but I can’t find a single redeeming quality to winter. Bah Humbug.

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Today I will go to a music practice to prepare for an upcoming event that I’m singing at and I’m more than a little bit excited about it. Every year our church puts on a Girl’s Formal for the senior high girls. They provide beautiful dresses for the girls and have people come in to do their hair and make up. After everyone is sufficiently pampered and Princess-ified, the senior high boys escort the girls into the activity center where they are served a meal by candlelight. For the evening the girls are treated like royalty and are reminded that they are special and beautiful and cherished and loved. It’s such a sweet event and its something I wish I could have attended back when I was an angsty teenager…

This year’s dinner theme is set in World War II so they asked for a live band to play some of the classic standards from greats like Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday, Frank Sinatra and so on…We will be singing songs like Ain’t Misbehaivin’, Blue Skies, Paper Moon and the ever amazing Georgia on my Mind.

Now I can’t skat like Queen Ella – I don’t even think I’ll try so as not to embarrass myself. I’m supposed to be background music, not the elephant in the room. But other than that, putting these songs together has been a dream come true and the fact that I get to sing them at such a unique event is even more fun.

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I need a tan. I need the sun to kiss my cheeks and mask the bags under my eyes.

That is all.

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We’re about a quarter of the way through our massive jar of heaven Nutella. We are finding many wonderful uses for Nutella, but none of them compete with the classic snack: Nutella on plain, white bread. I ate a slice at 10:00 last night. I can’t say I feel great about that decision but whatever…I took up running, again, so it’s all good.

Right?

Okay, there’s really no justification for eating a chocolate covered piece of bread right before bed.

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I’m off to face another frigid day. I believe the high is supposed to be 24 today, which is better than yesterday’s high of 19. See? Look at me being all positive and finding the silver lining.

So much for global warming, eh?

Filed Under: Family, funny stuff that happens, Kids, Life, Motherhood, Random Tagged With: cold winter, giant jar of Nutella, Jay Walking, Kids, random blog post

The Star, A Book and A Monkey…not necessarily in that order

December 21, 2010 by Kelli

Monkey has been a part of our family for two years now. He was adopted on Landon’s first brithday and it was love at first sight…or bite – whatever.

Since that time, Monkey (sometimes referred to as Steve) has been a mere extension of Landon’s skinny little arm. Two peas in a pod, they are. Napping together, playing together, living together. Yes. They are the best of friends. Bosom buddies!

Recently, Monkey (Steve) had a bit of a medical crisis. His leg began separating itself from his body. It was touch and go there for awhile. We didn’t know if he would make it. The unfortunate snag stretched from mid-knee to the under arm. We prayed, we said our goodbyes, we prepared Landon for the worst. But he refused to give up hope. He believed in Monkey and so the rest of us did as well.

But just to be safe, we adopted a knew Monkey. Larry. Just kidding. The new Monkey doesn’t have a name. The new Monkey looks exactly the same. Except, of course, for the fact that he doesn’t smell like spit and pee. And his leg is fully attached. And his color is even throughout.

Landon took one look and with utter disdain tossed new Monkey aside. Like a red headed step child. Unwanted, unloved, unreturnable because I lost the receipt…

We decided to give Monkey (Steve) one last chance at life. Thanks to the skillful hands of his surgeon (Grandma Bebe) Monkey pulled through. In fact, he’s as good as new. You know, besides the fact that he smells like spit and pee, his leg fluff is distorted and thin and his coloring is extremely faded. It doesn’t matter to Landon, though. He loves Monkey (Steve) unconditionally.

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Switching gears – abruptly.

Sloan is in public school. This is not a decision we took lightly and we spent a lot of time discussing this choice. And we are, for the most part, very happy with the choice we made. It’s right for our family right now.

However…

It does require quite a bit of vigilance. I knew this going in so I try not to let myself get overly exasperated when I feel…well, exasperated with the public school. Since Sloan began reading, and reading quite well, I’ve found myself more and more annoyed at the books he brings home from the library. In fact, I can’t think of a single one I’ve been happy with in several months.

It started with the book about Werewolves he checked out around Halloween. Nice.

Let’s begin by discussing The Diary of a Wimpy Kid. I get it, these books are popular and in general, I don’t think they’re bad. BUT. My kid is seven. Does he really need to be reading about the nuances of middle school? And the material in and of itself is just so silly and trivial. Why are we dumbing down books for our youngest readers? I don’t get it. What happened to writing books that were filled with adventure and imagination instead of potty words and stick figures?

Lee and I did read through the Wimpy Kid books and ultimately decided Sloan could check them out, but we are talking through them with him, discussing issues such as the boys trying to hide things from their parents and how that’s not something that we agree with. It’s lead to teachable moments, but I still find it annoying to have to deal with such nonsense.

THEN *deep breaths* he brought home this gem. A book he will promptly be returning to the library with firm instructions not to ever bring home again. We made it clear that he wasn’t in trouble and that it wasn’t his fault, but that some books just aren’t worth the time. And a book about a giant piece of p00p that punches people?! Definately not worth the time.

There’s no easy way to put this: THIS BOOK IS STUPID. It’s stupid and I don’t even understand why a school library would stock it on their shelves. Most of the words aren’t even spelled right (Laffs for Laughs, Akshuns for Actions). Seriously?! Am I the only person who finds this somewhat appalling that an early reader would be allowed to take home such nonsense?

Then there’s the small little “subliminal message” they hid on Page 76: “Think for yourself. Question Authority. Read banned books! Kids have the same constitutional rights as grown-ups!!!”

Oh sure it’s all tongue in cheek, but here’s the thing…IT’S NOT FUNNY NOR IS IT CUTE.

Let’s just say I’m talking myself off a cliff right now.

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Switching gears – let’s get happy again.

I had two separate conversations last week that brought a smile to my face and laughter to my heart. The first went like this:

“I need to reschedule our meeting for tomorrow. My daughter’s preschool is doing a live Nativity play and she is the star.”

“Oh really? Your daughter is going to be baby Jesus?”

The second conversation went like this:

“Tia was the Star in her Nativity play last week.”

“Oh really? Tia was Mary?”

Nope.

She was The Star. Literally.