Beyond Bringing Up Boys

Things are more than a little crazy around here today. Actually it began last night when Seth broke his foot (in at least 2 places). Then I forgot to give the dog away before the roofing company came this morning. Boomboomboom. Woofwoofwoofwoof. Boomboomboomwoof woof woof. “Mommy! Please carry me!” Boomboom. Arfarf. “Mommy! Help!” Yeah, you got the idea. “Girl, you gotta get outta there for awhile,” my friend said when she called this morning. I’m laughing, I really am. The normal sounds of a house of boys will sound like peace and quiet after this! Another cry for help...Gotta run.

If you have been reading my blog over this last year and have followed some of my links, they may have lead you to families who are in the midst of severe trial and suffering. At Ashley's Story you can read about a little girl who had a multi-organ transplant and then got cancer from the anti-suppressant therapy. Baby Noah , who has a terminal mitocondrial disease or Heather, a young mom, who has a brain tumor. Nate, who chronicles the days of his wife, Trisha, who has Cystic Fybrosis. Just as Trisha was being processed for a double lung transplant, they discovered the bittersweet news of her pregnancy. They chose to continue the pregnancy, knowing that the survival of both mommy and baby was 50%. These are just a few. Many of the lives behind the blogs that I followed have found ultimate healing . And I have sat behind my computer screen and cried. Often I’ve been asked if I knew the people behind those links. "No," I’d reply. Then “Why do you read them? They are so ...

I don’t have a GPS system on my vehicle—I do have Samuel, thankfully, who was blessed with an excellent sense of direction—but when he is not with me, I get lost. Often. And in search of a familiar landmark, I’ve wished many times to have something to point me in the right direction. It was cold Christmas Eve morning when I awoke and headed up to the “attic.” I planned on grabbing a box and heading back to the warmth of the wood burner to wrap a gift. I picked one that looked to be the perfect size but when I pulled it out, it felt heavier than I expected. I opened it to discover some letters that I had received over the course of a year...20 years ago. I love letters and rarely throw them out…they bring back memories that would otherwise be long forgotten. But I was surprised that these letters had lasted so long. I knew that several of them were painful and those months had long been replaced by almost two decades of delightful memories. I opened the box and sat Indian-style on the...

Okay, I’ll admit that unless you are grandma of one of these boys, you'll be yawning or worse. But since their grandmas do read these too, this is for them. However, you're welcome to join the brag fest if you'd like. Today is the 100th day of school. Samuel is beautifully decked out in a flag shirt with 100 star stickers, put on by his daddy! You will see that Samuel finally has a new grin. His teacher finally pulled out that snaggly tooth last week. I did NOT have the stomach for it but and his daddy tried unsuccessfully. But the para-pro in his class has 2 boys and must be an expert. She extracted it and bagged it up for the “tooth fairy!” Last week was awards chapel at school. Both boys received awards for running 10 miles and reaching that goal sometime in the first semester of school and they only get to run one morning a month. These awards are cumulative so Samuel could easily make into the 50-mile club. It is unlikely for Zach because this particular award en...

First of all, the “snow” event was a “no” event. A whole lot of hype for nothin.’ (that’s for my father-in-law who recently blatantly accused me of speakin’ like a southerner which, of course, I am not). He is going deaf. We got a skiff of snow but since the temperatures were so low, there was a lot of concern about black ice. It was a great excuse to make chili and play games. We had a lot of fun until things got a little wild. Anybody with boys know what I am talking about? Church services were cancelled on Sunday and so David and listened to 5 services from our “home” church in Kentucky and our favorite pastor, Dr. Robert Whitaker. We were inspired and challenged to keep the faith! We also spent the weekend transforming our kitchen cabinets and we are about 90% finished. Tomorrow the guys will return to school. Seth will wander around most of the morning seeking for them and missing them like crazy. I considered going to MOPS tomorrow but I am involved in another Bible Study ...

What exactly is a snow event in Georgia? Listen to this my northern friends. Just an inch or two! However, the biggest concern will be when temperatures drop, because the DOT has salt that will only work in temperatures above 25 degrees. It is looking beautiful outside right now. Just a small accumulation on the ground here in Henry county at this point. David has the misfortune of being at Wal-Mart right now...he just called and said the TV station is there and the store...packed out, of course! Keep tuned! :-)

When the boys came home from school on Wednesday, they were bustling with excitement—certain that the next day would be a “snow day”—even the teachers were excited. Some of David’s students haven’t seen snow in 5 years. But alas, when I woke up and looked outside on Thursday morning at 2 AM, I saw that the small accumulation that had come, had melted and rain had taken it’s place. Today will be different, they say, especially here south of the city, where we live. Several inches beginning soon. It’s rainy outside now, with a big sloppy snowflake now and then… In Kentucky, people went crazy when snow was expected. A live news report from every corner. I’m wondering how it will be here, where even less snow is seen. I’m frantically looking for gloves so the boys (and me!) can play outside IF it comes this time.