Counting Cookies

Welcome back!  We had a stellar weekend, and I trust that the rest of you did the same.  A special 'yippee-ki-yay' to BrAshley for their exciting news of another little Crow on the way.  Good times ahead for them.

Brandon and Sarah are back to occupying the basement after a weekend of camping in Pensacola.  They came back with sunburns and bugbites, so I think they're happy to be indoors for a while.  We missed them while they were gone. Craig had just gotten used to playing video games again with somebody who really understands them.  I mean, he was great about playing with the kiddos, but there's only so much 'Sonic the Hedgehog' a grown man can take, right?  He and Brandon usually have a few games a week that they battle out with.

 Oh, to think of if (yes, if. . .they're looking for jobs here.  Keep your fingers crossed) and when they have to leave. . .I don't like it.  I really feel like they're part of us now.  We went out with the boys for a little while tonight while they worked on their bike ramps.  Poor kids, bike ramps to them mean finding the biggest piece of log you can and mounding dirt up all around it.  Here's some pics of Brandon trying his best to understand and help Ryan try to make this idea work:

Notice Ryan scratching his head as if even he's not sure what in the world he's trying to do.  The idea really didn't work.  I mean, he never even tried it, so the plan was scratched.  He was either gonna lose his bike tire or his head, and I don't think he really wanted to be without either.  Maybe we'll try plywood next time.

I took this pic of Gavin and I just think its cute.  No story or anything behind it, just a classic 'Gavin' face:

You may not think this is a monumental, blog-worthy event but to me this was just super-exciting.  I had just gotten through cleaning up from lunch, when, HARK!  There's a Bambi in the backyard (or maybe Bambi's mom?).  I've been waiting since we moved here to catch a deer back there, and today he must've noticed our corn gettin' all tall.  I sure hope it comes back.  Isn't there something just all peaceful about seeing a deer grazing through where you live?  I realize you have to look closely to see the deer in the picture below, but just look for the ears. 

Today's Daisee moment. . .Well, back up a little.  Daisee doesn't care just a whole lot about toys.  However, the kid LOVES a book.  We read all sorts of books.  One of her favorites is a book written by Eric Carle.  It's a counting book, and she pulls it out during every little sit-down session we have.  You know how sometimes you tell your kids (or your husbands) something over and over again and you think they never hear you?  Well, undoubtedly they do.  We rarely finish an entire page of a book before she's wanting to flip it to the next one, so I always assume she's just doing the in-one-ear-out-the-other thing.  Nope.  Check this out:



My girl is countin' down some oreos.  She started this yesterday with a stack of styrofoam cups.  I wanted to catch her doing it, but she got bored with the cups once she spotted the oreo package.  My mama bribery instincts kicked in, so I went with it.  Next week we'll see how she does with the x + y thing.  I mean, if we can supposedly teach our newborns how to read with a bunch of flashcards, then surely my almost-two-year old can figure out simple algebra, right?

So, that's it for day number 178 in the year 2011.  A whole day is gone.  Have you done with it what you wanted?  I think I have.  We played, did some math,  had a meal together, played some more, and gave hugs and kisses before bedtime.  Can't get much grander than that.

Love,

Blog Changes

Well, check me out.  I've gotten creative and I took some time out and got all fancy with the blog.  I know sometimes all the 'clutter' can get confusing, so if you don't like it let me know!  Chances are, though, I'm gonna get all into this and keep adding, taking away, and moving around.  I hope it works for you!

Have a fantabulous day!

Love,

Here's The Story...

I have to give a shout out to my friend, Brenda Henson.  I've teased her lots of times about the way she keeps up with the timeline with her and her sweet hubby, Stan.  I think she has it down to the seconds as to when their little love adventure started.  So, thanks to you for the inspiration for today's blog.

Not too long ago, five years ago TODAY to be exact, and in a land called Northport Baptist Church, a spark began to turn into a raging fire.  Ok, well...I love drama.  That raging fire was actually a weak little flame that was nervously lit by two people who were sort of acquainted with one another.  Craig and Paige went on a 'not really a date' date.

The story goes like this:  Our Sunday School class was going to see a production of 'Hello, Dolly' at Shelton State.  One of our class members was in the cast, and it seemed like a good idea for all of us to go and support her and check out the show.  Craig approached me after choir practice one Wednesday night and made the suggestion that we all should go, but he wondered which would be the best night.  I told him that the following night, which would be Thursday, would be the only night I could make it.  So, Thursday it was.  We were all going to meet at McAllister's for dinner, and then make our way down the highway for the 7:00 performance.  I left work on time and went home to change.  I knew I was running late, and I desperately needed to stop for gas, but I didn't have time.  I wheeled into McAllister's on fumes, and I just figured I would ride with somebody else to the show.  I can't remember who arrived first, but after waiting for a few minutes, their were only three of us that showed up.  Keena Calloway, me, and Craig.  Keena was going to eat dinner with us, but she wasn't going to the show because she already had tickets for another night.  Well, do the math and you'll see that it was just me and Craig once dinner was over. Remember that I came into the parking lot with no gas?  Yeah, you see where this is going.  I told him that I was gonna have to ride with him because of my low tank, and he happily obliged.  I knew that Craig was a little on the quiet side, but not me.  I'm a real people person, so the possibility of riding with a mute didn't bother me at all, because there are no awkward moments with Paige.  I can talk the paint off a wall, so you're either gonna participate with me or run like heck when you get the chance.  Surprisingly, we ended up having a good round of conversation, and I think the main topic was storms and the fact that we both enjoyed a good thunderstorm. 

We pulled into the lot, parked the car, and walked inside.  It kinda felt like a date, although it wasn't a date.  IT WAS NOT A DATE.  Craig later told me that he felt nervous about not knowing whether or not he should pay for my ticket.  Why would he pay for my ticket?  IT WAS NOT A DATE.  We made our way to our seats, and the lights went down.   When the lights dimmed, the men in tights came on stage.  I said earlier that there are no awkward moments with Paige, but looking at all these guys dancing around in panyhose was awkward.  We laughed about the men in tights, and when we left, we talked and laughed a lot about the men in tights.

He took me back to McAllister's so I could get in my car and go home.  He asked if I wanted him to follow me just in case I ran out of gas, but I knew I could make it a mile or two down the road to a station.  We said 'goodbye' and left.  On the way home, I thought about the night, and decided that I had a good time with Craig watching 'Hello, Dolly'.  Emalyn Hinton was right.  We might would be a good fit together.  I called him just as I was about to turn into my neighborhood and asked him if he'd like to come over the next night to play cards.  He said yes, so it . . .still was not a date.  We were friends, and we were going to play cards

He showed up around 8, because I intended for Ryan and Gavin to be asleep.  I didn't like the idea of them being introduced to a man that I would date unless it was the real deal.  However, Ryan was still bright-eyed and bushy-tailed.  He was nowhere near going to bed, but I let it go because Craig wasn't really a stranger to him.  For all he knew the piano player at church was just coming to hang out, and he wanted to be included.  Ryan ended up playing cards, too, and it turned out to be lots of fun.  Craig was good to include him and teach him some of the card games that I had no clue about.

Ryan eventually went to sleep, and my evening with Craig ended up around 11:30.  He went home, and we both thought about the non-date we had just had.  We talked, we laughed, and we ate ice cream with a hard-chocolate shell, and we had fun . . .so much fun that we had a real date on July 1, 2006.  There's lots of good stories with that night, too, but I'll save that for another writing.  Just make sure to remind me to tell you about the grown woman that wanted two adult movie tickets, but for kids' prices.

On June 22, 2006 the door to my heart was opened by a man like no other.  He stepped inside, and he's never left.  Not for a second, nor will he ever.  PAIGE in real life is also PAIGE in real love, and I have a wonderful life with someone that I will belong to now and always.

So, Brenda, I hope I've made you proud.  I may not have the seconds down just yet, but you find me a ticker, and I'll give you a run for your money!

Love to all,

Cheese Fries And Heart Attacks

Yesterday was the beginning of a quiet week for us.  Pretty much the first quiet, ordinary week of the summer.  Craig and I went to Kentucky for a couple of days two weeks ago, and last week was VBS.  While both of those events were lots of fun, I'm thankful for yesterday, especially, as I was able to clean my house.  We talked about contentment in Sunday School this past week, and my definition of contentment is having a clean house.  The day when the laundry is done, floors are clean, toilets don't smell like those of a truck stop, and furniture is no longer mounded with last week's snack remnants.  Its a good day.  Kind of like a national holiday in my book.  It normally happens about every two weeks here, but in my perfect world, I'd love for it to happen once a week.  Yeah, mmmhmmm...

I've been keeping my buddy, Riley, for the last couple of weeks.  Three days a week, his mom brings him here to hang with us during the day.  For those of you that I went to school with, you should know who his dad is just by looking at this picture:

Yep, its Dan Leavell's boy.  Isn't he a cutie?  Looks just like his daddy.  He and Gavin are big buds, and all is well when Gavin is here to play with him.  However, Gavin isn't with us this week and Riley isn't very happy about it.  We manage to find some things to do, but he's looking forward to next week when his buddy is back. 

Tonight Craig and I will go to Outback Steakhouse for his Father's Day gift.  I love Craig.  He's such a good man, and an even better husband and dad.  I love him so much, that I gave him a certificate for cheese fries from Outback.  I don't like cheese fries from Outback.  No, I mean I LIKE them, but I don't like what they do to your arteries.  Did you know that those things are on a top ten list of the WORST foods for you?  Really...they are.  But, oh my...they're so good.  Before Craig and I were together, he got cheese fries quite often. I decided that I liked him a whole lot, so I encouraged him to give up cheese fries and cokes because I wanted him around for a while.   I'm not a complete health nut, but I do try and be conscious of what and how much of what I eat.  I knew those things were on 'the list' so I encouraged him to cut those things out.  No more cokes, and no more super-truckloads of grease at a time.  We may die from the effects from aspartame, but it wouldn't be because our bodies couldn't handle the sugar intake or the grease buildup.  Pick which one kills you, right?  Anyway, a once-a-year indulgence won't keel you over, I hope.  All I can say is that this is real love. Definitely ask me about this tomorrow, as I feel my arteries sluggishly trying to push the nasties on through.  Ugh.  (But I'll enjoy it...TODAY only.  No more for a year.)

Alright, short blog, but that's it.  Uneventful stuff, but I love some down-time.  Watch the skies today and you might catch some rain.  Its coming. 

The Results Are In

When we began homeschooling at the beginning of this school year, I knew that the SAT test for Ryan would be a big deal.  I guess those tests are always a big deal, but this year, they were a REALLY big deal.  This year, I took the whole testing process personally.  If Ryan bombed the test, I couldn't blame anybody but myself.  Yes, Ryan was responsible for taking the test, but whatever knowledge he had gained to be able to actually sit down and take it was on my shoulders.  If things turned out badly, I couldn't fuss about his teacher.  I wouldn't have a principal to call (not that I ever did that, anyway, but...), and I wouldn't have been able to 'forget about this year and work toward the next' quite as easily.  This time, it was make or break.  If the test showed that Ryan's progress had slowed or stopped, would I still be able to justify the advantages of homeschool?  Did the one-on-one instruction fail us?  Please don't get me wrong, here.  I think there are MANY advantages to homeschool, and they don't all have to do with academics.

 I believe that academics are extremely important, especially for boys.  These 'boys' will grow up to be men...fathers, husbands, and providers.  Our 'boys' can't provide for the families we hope they'll grow up to have without a proper education and skill training, so, yes, academics are absolutely neccessary.  However, another huge advantage is that we get to continue the moral foundation that we build with our kids and integrate that into their academics.  We can teach them how to be gentlemen, how to love the Lord, and how to love their families.  We can teach them how to treat a lady that will all-too-soon become a wife, and we can show them, by example, what satisfactions that determination and hard work will bring. 

So, now that I've gotten my little homeschool plug in, back to SATs.  When I got the results last night, Greg and his wife, Julie, were with me (Craig was home with the kiddos).  I felt like grabbing onto Julie's hand as I opened the envelope, but I thought that might scare her and make her want to run away from me, so I refrained.  I really had no idea what to expect.  I wanted to throw up, actually.  But, me and Julie like each other, so I held back (you're welcome). When I opened it, I wanted to shout a big ol' 'PRAISE THE LORD'.  Out of the 16 areas he was tested in, 9 of them scored at a PHS (post-high school level).  Two of them were at a 10th grade level, two at an 8th grade level, and three at a 7th grade level. To give a reference, Ryan just completed the 6th grade.   His lowest scores came in his language skills, and I fully expected that.  WE.  DO. NOT. LIKE. ENGLISH.  I would repeat it, but its a lot of typing just to reiterate. 

Ryan has never paid much attention to these scores, but when he saw me pretty much hoopin' and hollerin' over this piece of paper, he got a little interested.  I explained everything to him, and he was, quite literally, giddy.  I honestly think he surprised himself.  The point I tried to make was that all of our hard work, our fights, and those hours of solitude pouring over his english book had paid off.  He had made a huge accomplishment, and he was pleased with the work he had done.

I don't say this about him in a boastful manner.  Ryan really doesn't have a big head.  In fact, he wanted to know how awesome I thought it would be if he had gotten EVERYTHING right.  My response to him was even if that had happened, I still wouldn't have been more proud of him than I was at that moment.  He had worked hard, and there was no way I was going to let a 'what if' dampen his little moment. 

We haven't done everything exactly right, and we've gotten tired on way more than one occasion.  I've had to shove Daisee's socks in my mouth to keep from screaming, and he's had to take deep breaths for the same reason, but we're homeschoolers.  At the end of the day, we love being together and we love being a family...all of us.   I'm thrilled to death that we've made it through our first year, and that it was an official success.  I love the kids with all my heart, and I desire to provide them with everything they need to become responsible, honorable, God-loving young men...along with a little lady. 

Thank you for celebrating with us.  I must go now and get started on my lesson plans for next year.  Not really, but I know when I go to sleep tonight, instead of counting sheep, I'll be counting down the days until we begin another school year together.

Love,

Paige

Do Cracker Barrel Biscuits Really Make You Want To Slap Yo' Mama?

The weekend is over, and another Monday begins.  Here's the recap:

Big news:  We've had to buy a dehumidifier for the upstairs part of our house.  We're dumping out 15 gallons of water A DAY that's floating around up there.  Yeah...big news.  How gross is that?

We traveled to Montgomery yesterday with some of Ryan's church buddies and parents.  We went to see Tim Hawkins perform at Frazer United Methodist Church.  It you've never heard of  Tim Hawkins, or you've never seen any of his comedy, PLEASE watch this video:

Ok, now see what you missed?  This man is a nut.  He has no sense to him at all, and the concert was perfectly fitting for a bunch of 5th and 6th graders.  I have to say, though, that I was entertained by Jim Barger (Emma's dad) just as much as I was by Tim.  He was doubled-over throughout the show, and I think somebody may have seen the need to give him a hit of oxygen a time or two.  I love to be with people during their first Tim Hawkins experience.  It gives me a double-dose of laughter, and who couldn't use that?  Anyway, we had a great time, and we can't wait for the next show.

Did I mention that we're dumping out 15 gallons of water a day from the upstairs part of our house?

Obviously, the boys are back from their first week at their dad's for the summer.  They had a great time with his family, and their pace won't slow down at all for this week at home.  We started VBS today, and its quite the show this year.  Kenyon and Andrea have done an AWESOME job with this year's theme, and it was all loud and rowdy, just as it should be.  All of the kids were hot and tired when they got home, JUST AS IT SHOULD BE.  Makes for a lovely afternoon for mama.  

Our guests from Colorado, Brandon and Sara, arrived last night, and they're a spectacular couple.  We didn't get in from Montgomery until after 11, and they were still up waiting on us.  Craig and I sat down with them for a few minutes and got the introductions over with, so now we can just all be friends.  I'm just super-excited that they're here, and they're eager to get started with their roles in helping so many of our storm victims to recover.  I'll post more pics and stories about them in future writings, I'm sure.

I hope you all have a stupendous day (you'd better check my spelling on that, Laurie) and crank the air-conditioning up.  Its hot, its sticky (did I mention that we're dumping...oh, I did) and I'm ready for October.  Until then and after, love those around you.  The best time you'll spend all day is the time you spend giving out hugs.

Love,

The Garden Is Growing!

Thanks to the guidance of Papa Tim, our garden has exploded!  We've already pulled up and cooked our new potatoes, and soon the squash will be ready. 

I can't believe how quickly the process goes.  It seems like just a couple of weeks ago everything was put in the ground, and now check out that corn.  I'm gonna feel like Helen Hunt and Bill Paxton did when they were running through that corn field in the F5 final scene of Twister.  Ok, maybe that's a little bit of an exaggeration, but you get the point.

I don't know how much money that we'll have actually saved, seeing as how we've spent a fortune, it seems, just on keeping it watered.  Saving money wasn't really the purpose, though.  It was mainly to give all of us the experience and satisfaction of knowing that we all played a part in something, and seeing it through.  The boys got a thrill out of pulling up the potatoes.  I got a thrill out of watching them do something that I remember doing a time or two at my grandmother's house, so its all been very much worth the effort.

So, the next time you see me, look for the dirt under my fingernails.  That means we've either been pulling up food, or I dug around in the dirt to make you think so.

Have a lovely weekend...

The Out-Of-Towners

The Stewarts are making room.  We have guests arriving from Colorado Sunday afternoon, and they'll be with us for at least five weeks. 

This young, married couple works with the Youth For Christ organization.  They were horrified by the images they saw on TV of 'the storm' (as we all call it now) and they desperately wanted to help.  I have yet to find out their names, but they have both recently graduated from college, so they'll be doing sort of an internship with YFC while they're here.  Their jobs will consist of various duties, from helping out at TES, to attending meetings and coordinating efforts with different volunteer groups. 

When we bought our house last May, we knew that there was tons of space here that we could use at some point to minister to someone.  On the night of the 27th, Craig and I both felt that SOMEBODY would need a place to stay.  Whether it was a family displaced by the storm, or, as with situation that we're in now, people coming in to help, we knew it could be used.  There were several possibilities that came and went, but nothing ever really panned out.  Craig is on the email list for YFC, and when the email was sent out needing people to offer housing, I called Mike Green (he's the YFC director) and told him what we had to offer.  For those of you that don't know, our basement is finished and fully-furnished.  We have a kitchen, bathroom, living room, TV...everything (see the pictures...side note: the bed will be made when they arrive).

 We even have some old furniture of my parents' down there that they weren't using now, so its a perfect setup.  He and his wife came over the day after I spoke with him just to check out the facilities, and to make sure the little man we keep locked up in the 'dungeon' part didn't come out.  Well, there's really no little man, but its fun to talk about him to my nieces and nephews.  It helps to keep them out of the places they shouldn't be in.  After the once-over, Mike really thought the situation was exactly what they were looking for, so, skip a couple of weeks, and here we are. 

We've got some people from our church that are helping out with snacks and food (thank you all, again), and Boots and Chuck gave us a chest of drawers for them to use. So, our little temporary home is complete!  We're really excited to meet with them, and I'm excited just to have other adults here popping in and out during the day.  I'm sure the worst part of this whole thing will be when they leave.  I HATE it when you meet somebody, become friends, and then somebody has to leave.  Its such a heartbreaking feeling.  Thanks to modern technology, though, keeping in touch shouldn't be a problem.  Well, unless they decide that I talk too much or my kids are too active on the hardwood floor directly above them.  If their email addresses suddenly disappear, I may be able to take the hint. 

Todd and Aimee are gonna hang out here Sunday afternoon and let them in.  We're gonna be at a Tim Hawkins concert in Montgomery with Ryan's Rt. 56 group from church.  Hopefully they'll still be awake when we get back so we can finally meet. 

So, pray for us.  Pray for them.  They're the ones that have the really hard work to do.  I'm sure they're gonna be tired, physically and emotionally, from what they experience.  We just want to make it a little easier on them. 

Have fun during the weekend, and wear some sunscreen.

Love,

Welcome To The Dream World

Well, its not really a 'dream world', but my sisters sometimes call my world a dream world.  That's ok.  Quite frankly, I believe that my version of the world is much better than most people's so we'll go with that.  My mind houses pictures of roller-coasters, jet planes, perfectly tied hairbows and nerf darts that are properly put away where they belong.  Not rainbows and visions of vacations to some old ruins (or coliseums, as some would say), but real-life stuff that we just. plain. like.  Yes, I LOVE a clean house, but it doesn't always happen.  When it does, I feel a great sense of accomplishment at looking at the rows of nerf darts in their shoeboxes WITH lids.  I also feel a great sense of pride when one of the kids recites their bible verse that they were supposed to memorize.  But, that doesn't always happen either.  Sometimes one of them will open up the Holy Bible, flip to the book of Mark, and read with great confidence that God told Jesus, "My son, you are not a dork."  That's real.  That's what this blog is about.  REAL life in a REAL family and all of the LOVE that goes with it.

I've given in to the pressure.  I've created a blog.  I THINK that many will find it interesting, but if this thing doesn't fly, I'll take it down.  I'm not one to leave something sitting out there forever for no good reason, although some may find that my MySpace profile is still floating out there, but only because I haven't printed off my blogs from when I was pregnant with the twins.  Rest assured, though, once those things are successfully printed, it'll be gone into a technological no-man's land.  If you want to follow, feel free.  If not, don't.  I think that family members that live out-of-town might get the biggest benefit from this endeavor, but anybody who wants a quick insight into what a little bit of family chaos is like would possibly enjoy the posts and pics.

A lot of this will deal with homeschooling, seeing as how much of our lives consists of this routine.  Routine?  Well, sort of.  We started out with a pretty rigid routine, but as we got more comfortable with what in the world we were doing, we relaxed a little.  So, once our school year starts back, watch for posts written by Mrs. Nelson...you know, Mrs. Nelson Is Missing?  Hopefully all posts won't be authored by 'Mrs. Nelson'.  Maybe some will actually be written by me...just depends on the day and how much english/grammar Ryan has had to try and comprehend. 

Some posts will be about normal, every day operations, and a few will consist of vacations and trip details and pics.  I won't bother writing about mine and Craig's recent trip to Kentucky.  Most of that was covered with Facebook.  The family will be going to Michigan in July to attend a Life Action Family Camp.  I have absolutely no doubts that there will be P-L-E-N-T-Y to blog about upon our return home.  If nothing else, tune in just to see what Daisee's 15-hour, strapped-in-a-torture-chamber road trip was like...for her and for us.  LOTS of Dora videos going along for the in-house DVD player.

So, starting tomorrow I'm gonna try to find something about us that would amuse you.  We'll start with a good mental picture of the Stewart household.  Probably won't be anything super dramatic, but you never know. 

With all that being said, sit back, relax a little, and do some reading.  You might actually be able to breathe a little easier when you're done.


Love,