The best home remedy...

For the past 2weeks, maybe even 3, my family and I have been trying to regain control over being immersed in the sickness that has somehow taken over as the norm. in our house. My kids each got strep throat and then I went to the E.R. to find out that I had bronchitis and Pneumonia at the same time. We have had to rely on extended family members and friends to help get us through this rough patch. It was not easy.

We have all had our antibiotics and I was even given an inhaler "just in case" I had trouble breathing. We needed a remedy that would not be temporary and would have us back to ourselves as a family again. My dad has been telling us all about the remedies that have helped him in his own blog about his battle with Cancer.

Well I figured out what the Best Home Remedy has been for us. It is so simple and so well known but always forgotten. It is such a cliche' yet at the same time such truth. What is the best medicine known to man? Laughter.

My daughter and even my boys love to find ways to make us laugh. Just tonight my daughter was asking me "Mommy, why do we have ears? Why do we have Mouthes? Why do we have heads? Why do we have hair?" But the one that made me laugh was when she asked... "Mommy, why do we have noses?" I answered her by telling her it is so that we can smell. To which she promptly answered "And so that we can snore, too." Yes dear it is very important to be able to snore.
Josiah makes us laugh in a very different way. His humor is dry and witty. He says very random things that make you shake your head and ask "WHAT?" while not being able to hold in the laughter at the same time. One day while riding in the car with his siblings and dad he shouts out... "I'm cold! I just peed, I'm warm now!" He of course had not peed, but knew that saying it would get a laugh and could not help himself.
Karston my oldest is starting to get to the age when he must show more maturity than the others so his humor is somewhat rare and different. Just today he was sitting by his dad on the couch, reading the paper. He nonchalantly said "Dad, my teacher yelled at me for something I did not do, you know what it was?" Of course dad says "No, what?" He answered, "My homework." And then as if he had just been really sneaky about being funny, he started to snicker under his breath and that turned into a giggle. Hearing him laugh at his own joke is what of course makes Heath and I laugh in return.
Heath and I also find ways to laugh together. For example we watched a movie tonight that I can not recommend and probably will not watch again, but I loved it for how ridiculously funny and absurd it all was. Each new character made this movie even more lovable while the plot itself was at it's best questionable. When the movie was over we went to bed grinning and stayed up sharing intimate laughter together.

My sense of humor and what I find funny, may not be the same as most people, but when a person can laugh it makes all the difference in any situation. I have learned over the years to shrug off all preconceived notions of what may or may not seem "right" in the eyes of others, but to find the freedom in the laughter all around us.

When my daughter asked me this week "Did Jesus have gas?" I posed the question for all of facebook to weigh in on. Most people said that he did because of his humanity and the fact that we are made in HIS image, so if we have gas, he has gas. In the same way, I believe Jesus has a great sense of humor. He loves laughter and allows us to indulge in it everyday.

So in the words of the Laughing Cow Cheese: "Have you laughed today?"

Do you want to ride the alligator?

When children are learning to talk they tend to use the wrong words at times and the rest of us laugh and think they are just so cute. When my oldest was little, he was no exception to this rule. He said the cutest things, but Heath and I were always very quick to respond with the correct word so that he would learn how to talk properly and therefore have a very smart child. Our next child was very quiet and really did not use his words until he was almost three years old. Both of the boys caught up very quickly with the rest of society and were soon correcting us anytime our Alabama accents made a word sound just a little off.

My third child, my daughter, is now three years old and often substitutes her own ways of saying words. We have not stuck to my guns on this one. No... this time we have had more of an attitude of "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em." Yes, I have adopted my daughters own way of talking...

Alligator for Elevator

Binger for Adventure

Under for Thunder

Were's for Yours

Wee for Slide

So, Yes I do now call all of these things by her word for it. Even tonight my sister was reading her a "Franklin" story and calling it "Flakin'." Or when my sister said that she had to go and do her Laundry, Alyssa informed us all that she also has to do "Launchly." I'm willing to bet that us adults will be using those words again in the near future.

So does this mean that my daughter won't be as smart as my boys were? Nope it just means that Mom and Dad and even Aunt Angie may not always be understood.

Thirty Four

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY MOST WONDERFUL HUSBAND!

I am So in Love with this man!

A new take on a Proverb

"Think
about the women you meet at church. They're trying to live up to some model of
femininity. What do they "teach" you about being a woman? What are they saying
to us through their lives? [They are sweet, they are helpful, their hair is
coifed, they are busy, they are disciplined, they are composed... and they are
tired.] And guilty. We're all living in the shadow of that infamous
icon, The Proverbs 31 Woman, whose life was so busy I wonder, when does
she have time for friendships, for taking walks, or reading good
books? Her light never goes out at night? When does she have sex? Somehow
she has sancitfied the shame most women live under, biblical proof that yet
again we don't measure up. Is that supposed to be godly -- that sense that
you are a failure as a woman." -- Captivating by John and Stasi Eldredge

So I have been reading this really
great book mentioned
above. This book is not necessarily about the Proverbs
31 Woman, but more about how Women have been created in God's image. I
have only read the first couple of chapters,but I have already learned so
much.

Now if you are like me, you read this and think 'I can surley relate to the pressure and guilt that these verses have placed upon many women,' but at the same time I think 'the bible is not wrong and was not written for the purpose of making us feel shame over not being able to measure up.' So then what is it that we are meant to glean from 21 verses that describe "The Wife of Noble Character?"

In speaking with my husband's mom this past weekend, she shared with me her thoughts on the Proverb. Her idea is that the verses tell us about ALL women, not just one woman. That makes sense to me and it takes alot of the pressure off of me.

Then I went back and re-read the passages in question. I saw something there I had not noticed before...

"Her husband has full confidence in her and lacks nothing of value. She brings him good, not harm, all the days of her life." Prov. 31:11-12NIV

"Her husband is respected at the city gate, where he takes his seat among the elders of the land." Prov. 31: 23NIV

"Her children arise and call her blessed; her husband also and he praises her." Prov. 31:28 NIV.

I noticed that there is just as
much importance on "The noble wife's" husband as there is on the wife herself.
This brought to mind another portion of the book...

"Now- can you see how the desires of a man's heart and the desires of a woman's heart were at least meant to fit beautifully together? A woman in the presence of a good man, a real man, loves being a woman. His strength allows her feminine heart to flourish. His pursuit draws out her beauty. And a man in the presence of a real woman loves being a man." -Captivating by John and Stasi Eldredge.

So now read the Proverb again with all of this in mind. I come to the conclusion that the passage can be meant to show us the relationship
between God and the church. The way that both are meant to "beautifully fit
together." So this Proverb gives us an example of the Bride of Christ
as she was created to be, rather than an impossible model of what
every woman should be for her family.

This is just
my opinion and a few ideas I have gathered in my thought process. What
is your take of the Proverb's Wife of Noble Character?

First day of 2nd and 4th grades.

Today was the first day of school for my boys.

I was surprised at how easy it was to wake up this morning after sleeping late all summer. Ok so I didn't roll out of bed with a smile on my face and a song on my lips when the alarm went off, like my dear husband did, but I did feel rested.

The morning routine went very smoothly despite the pouring rain outside. The only hitch being that Alyssa cried because she didn't have new school clothes like the boys did. We got past that and she got to wear her favorite horsie shirt for the first time since last Spring. We ran to the car, loaded up and rushed
off to school.

First we dropped Josiah off at Second grade. We already know his teacher because she lives down the street from us and my boys play with her son and daughter a lot of times. Usually this would be when my heart would swell and I would uncontrollably start to cry over leaving my little boy in his big boy class. This year Josiah walked in, hugged his teacher, found his locker and then joined his friends on the rug. Easy Peasy.

Then we moved on to Fourth grade. As we walked down the hall looking for his classroom, I started to feel the lump in my throat and the tears rising to the surface. I swallowed hard fighting the urge to grab my first born and squeeze him tightly. We met his teacher and talked with her about some of Karston's needs (see Chameleon of Special Needs,) all the while letting Karston find his desk and join his classmates. As I spoke to his teacher, my voice was cracking and I thought it was incredibly obvious that I was about to loose it at any moment. I did get through the brief conversation and out of the room without embarrassing myself or my son.

One deep breath and the morning was behind me. When the boys got home from school, I sat down and talked with Karston about how hard it was for me to hold back. He asked me why I would have cried and I told him, "I think it's because my little boy is now one of the oldest kids in his school." Then my son gave me a crooked smile and put his arm around my neck and hugged me tightly.

All in all, I call the first day of school a success.