More on how to be a good mommy

I've been thinking about Popcorn's examples of how she will be a good mommy. It reminded me of other instances where she shared what she would do as a mommy. You know I just had to share!

When we lived in La Vernia, TX Popcorn had to go to daycare 2 days a week while I worked. She would get mad at me because I would not allow her to wear flip flops to "school." She would stomp off to her room to get her shoes, yelling over her shoulder, "When I'm a mommy I will never let my children wear flip flops! I will throw their flip flops away!"

I would make her stand in the corner for her time out. She would always say, "When I'm a mommy, I will make my kids go to time out every day!" I think she felt that she had no power as the youngest in the family, and the only people she could perceive control over were her future kids. I think. Heck, who knows how this kid's brain works?

Now, she is telling me how she will do things differently than me. Times are a-changin'. I'm sure I'm really in for it with this one...

I'm sure it's important!

Yesterday morning I overslept. As a result I was scrambling to get things done before I had to leave for work. The girls have to get up at 6:15 on the days I work to catch the bus. Tuesdays are hectic from sunup to sundown, but you've heard me whine about that enough.

Today I'm whining about something completely different! Isn't that refreshing?

So, I was eating breakfast, loading the dishwasher with someone's (who is also an adult, but shall remain nameless,) snack dishes from the night before, moving the clothes from the washer to the dryer and starting another load.....I had already fixed Popcorn a bowl of hot Grapenuts, and Bookworm her standard: toast with pb and honey. As you saw a few days ago, I had harvested a huge mess of mesclun, and I had started to put it into individual bags to share with my coworkers.

Studmuffin strolled in, made himself a bowl of oatmeal, and sat down at the table to eat. The girls were sitting at the bar.

Popcorn, always the one to confront the elephant in the room said, "Why don't we sit together at breakfast? We always eat at the bar, and Daddy sits at the table alone, and Mommy is always walking around."

Okay, a little buzz of self-satisfaction shot through me. My endless hours of labor are noted!!!!! Mental jig of happiness commences. "Well, you see, I have too much to get done in the morning before I leave to sit down and eat, but you girls can certainly move over next to Daddy." Dear Reader, I was conveniently ignoring the fact that I'd overslept, so I did not get my stuff done before I was waking up the girls...

Bookworm added her own insight. "Yep. Mommy has lots of important stuff to do." (at this point I'm just about to bust with pride) "Right now, she's sorting salad. I have no idea why, but if she's doing it, it must be reeeeeally important." And then she burst out laughing, and practically fell off of her stool she was so pleased with her little self.

Pop! Balloon of pride deflated. Thank you, children for keeping my pride in check.

Proverbs 16:18
Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall.

How to be a good Mommy

Popcorn and I were in the car by ourselves this evening. We drove by this beautiful house that makes me covet, covet, covet every time I drive by it. It's a 2 story white house with black shutters and a wrap around porch. It's beautiful. Popcorn agrees. She always says she wishes we could live there.

"Maybe you could live in a house like that when you grow up," I said.

"Yep. I'm going to live in a big house like that and I'm going to home school my kids" she announced.

"That's great!" Aarf. I thought we were through with this topic....

"I will be a wonderful mommy. Whatever my kids like the most, I will buy them for their birthday. And at Christmas I will get them more than 2 toys. I will buy them toys all of the time."

Okay. That felt a little personal. I always buy them what they want for birthdays. But, I will admit they only get 1 toy from us and one from Santa. Of course, they get each other toys, and toys from everyone else, so they are by no means neglected. Still, my feelings were pricked. My honor as a mommy was on the line, people, and I was not about to let these little digs go unanswered! I fired right back at the little toot:

"You know, the most important thing you can do as a mommy is raise your children to love God." THERE! I told her! More toys. Homeschooling. Who does she think she is? 7 year old little punk...

"I'm going to read scripture to them in the morning, and in the afternoon, and at night. My kids will hear lots of Bible stories and know lots of scripture!"

Okay. I conceded defeat. If she accomplishes all of this she will be a better mommy than me. But I still think she has too many toys. So there.

Popcorn's reasons for homeschooling

1. You are not allowed to whistle in class. In fact, the only place you are allowed to whistle at school is on the playground, and there you can talk and yell with your friends, so why whistle?
2. You are not allowed to run in the hall. She is just too hyper to walk around all of the time. Seriously. She told me that very excuse.

Business in the front, party in the back

I was on my way to get the girls at school today, when I saw a sight to see. I was behind a pickup with an extended cab. I saw a baby seat in the back, and I could see the arm from the passenger seat stretched behind, probably holding a paci in place. It gave me a sweet time of reminiscing. And a moment of gratitude that I wasn't the one contorting to keep that plug in.



At first, I thought it was a woman with frizzy permed blond hair that had, unfortunately, decidedly to pick out her curls. Then, I realized this was a man. A man with a mullet. Nothing quite says "redneck" like a mullet. Remember Billy Ray Cyrus' mullet? He clung to it until his daughter hit the big time with a show on Disney. His hair is only slightly less ridiculous now. Just my opinion, but of course this is my blog, so I get to spew my opinions all over the place. I love spewing opinions...




You've gotta love the mullet. I think the mullet possibly stamps your personality almost as much as a mohawk. Neither style could ever be considered "stylish" at this point. But neither hairstyle seems to die. They just keep showing up. I've been surprised by the number of rednecks sporting mohawks in my little town. Yes, rednecks. They have placed their own stamp on the mohawk, with the sides slightly longer, and the top not sticking completely straight up. But it's still undeniably a mohawk.



Now, the versatility of the mullet has more appeal for me. Business in the front, party in the back. It shows both your business and rebel side with one simple cut. What's not to love about that? Of course, the only way to improve your mullet is to make sure you have a nice perm in the back. I guess the perm allows you to show your softer side. So maybe it's business in the front, party loving poet in the back.

Ummm, no, the post had nothing to do with the photos. But, I harvested some mesclun today, and it was so pretty, I wanted to share it with you. It's hard to believe the lettuce you buy in the store is ever as truly dirty as mine starts out...

Wind Advisory

I'm sure everyone knows about wind advisories. Lesser known advisories are the smart to be heeded skirt advisory and shirt advisory. Both of these advisories are closely linked to the better known wind advisories. For example, if you are in Oklahoma, and the wind is at a steady 20mph with gusts up to 35 mph, it may not be wise to wear a dress to church.

I stepped out of Studmuffin's truck at Mazzio's today and my sandal fell off. It began to blow across the parking lot. Bookworm made a quick grab for it and held it up for me triumphantly. Her dress blew up above her head simultaneously. We both laughed so hard, we could hardly maintain the appropriate lean to reach the safety of indoors and an all you can eat lunch buffet.

This afternoon we decided it was a great day to get yard work done. Okay, so it wasn't a "great" day. But I've given up on waiting for the wind to die down. Studmuffin was tearing out more of the massive amounts of electric wire the previous owners had placed to keep their dogs in. I was pulling weeds in the front flower bed. I was bent over, thinking "man, that wind is getting cold." No sooner had I completed that thought than I realized that the wind wasn't colder, my skin was more exposed. I was weeding in a t-shirt. The wind had caught my shirt and it was all blown up under my armpits, but it was so windy I didn't immediately notice. There I was, weeding my flower beds with my stupid shirt wadded up under my armpits. Did I mention my neighbor was mowing his lawn? I'm sorry Guy. I know that nobody wants to see that quantity of albino white flesh. Try to clear your memory of the visual. Okay? Thank you.

So again, two warnings that should be carefully considered in the advent of a wind advisory. Be prepared for skirt advisories and t-shirt advisories also. I recommend pants and shirts tucked in to prevent unexpected exposure. For any of you Okies reading this, I recommend you heed both warnings the next 14 days. We're supposed to have the perfect conditions for severe storms and tornadoes. Lovely. Keep your eye on the skies and your hands on your skirts and have a great day!

Little known uses for your Brittany

Remember Studmuffin's puppy, Holly? Well, having a Brittany has definitely been an eye-opener for me. She is such a useful little thing.

For example, did you know that you can really develop your shoulder and upper back muscles walking your husband's Brittany? I eagerly put her choke collar on her, grabbed Kelsey's leash, and headed out to meet a friend for a walk. Fortunately my friend offered to walk Kelsey, so I was able to devote 2 hands to holding on for dear life to Holly. We walked for 2 hours, and she never stopped pulling at me and gasping for air. I had walked her about 4 times before I finally realized why my neck and shoulders have been hurting. Duh...

But, developing your upper back muscles aren't the only little known uses. They're really great at moving mulch. Say, you for some unknown reason you decide you no longer want mulch in your flower beds.....

Your Brittany puppy will prove to be quite effective at carrying it all over the yard. But, hey, it makes my zinnias coming up from last year's seed easier to spot!

Yes. This is the yard. Not next to the flower bed. The middle of the yard. The place that Holly obviously feels all mulch should be placed. Again. No mulch in the flower beds. Mulch in the yard.....

Moving on.

Let's say that your town had a town wide garage sale where you found a yard swing for $5. The only thing wrong with the swing is it needs to have the cushions replaced. Perhaps you are a person who is in the middle of multiple home improvement projects...You may decide to wait a month or two to replace your cushions. Maybe you plan to cover it with an old blanket in the meantime....

Never fear! Simply leave your newly purchased used yard swing in the yard with your Brittany puppy and she will quickly make the decision for you....


Don't let her calm demeanor here fool you. She was responsible for shredding the cushions and spreading the stuffing all over the yard. How sweet. Well, now I definitely have to do something. I'm thinking no cushions. Maybe just some wooden slats screwed on to eliminate the need for cushions (The metal frame isn't too comfy to sit on alone.)

So, there you have it 4 little known uses for a Brittany puppy

1. Double your workout by working your legs and upper body on walks!
2. Moving mulch. Hey, maybe your grass needs to be more insulated so it consumes less water!
3. Decision making with your exterior decor: Is it puppy proof? No? Don't even think about using it...
4. Demolition. Enough said.

Now, for a little known use for your friendly American Dingo.

Yes.

That's what I said.

American.

Dingo.

I heard your gasps of shock. Just click here to learn more, and you'll understand why I love my Carolina dog, AKA American dingo. I got Kelsey from a shelter in San Antonio. They referred to her as a Carolina dog, which I'd never heard of. They were very vague with details, but we spent about an hour with her and decided to take her home. When I went home and googled her and learned she was also known as a dingo I was disturbed. I wanted to return her, but I'm so glad I didn't.

Quick side note: I'm not sure Kelsey is an American Dingo. She could very well be a Mexican Dingo that swam the river. We went to Chichen Itza, and there were wild dogs that looked exactly like her running all over the place. Studmuffin teased me relentlessly about my "illegal alien" dog.

Kelsey is the most patient dog I've ever known. She will let our kids do anything to her. She will let toddlers climb all over her. Once I convince her that kittens are not for eating, she adopts them as her own and will smother them with love. If they attempt to leave the porch, she grabs them by the scruff of the neck and throws them back on. Until they are old enough to get sneaky and wait until she's not paying attention. We actually had a cat that used to "nurse" the fold where her neck met her collar. She never stopped it. And Kelsey never made her.

Now her patience is being displayed with Holly. I'm actually thinking Holly may end up being dominant even though she will be a smaller dog. I don't know if she is just showing tolerance for a puppy, or if she is just really that laid back. She lets Holly do anything to her. She even lets her eat out of her bowl. The only thing she will not share is a rawhide.

Kelsey is also an amazing hunter. She can catch any bird that she sets her mind to. She used to catch mocking birds almost daily in Texas. She would sit under a tree where they had a nest, wait for a bird to dive bomb her and she would leap up and catch it. She loved mocking birds. She also kept all of the cliff swallows off of our porch. However, she did not love the taste of these birds, so I was constantly hauling off decomposing swallows. Yuck. I cringe when I remember the giant craters she dug in our yard in Texas in her quest for gofers. She got rid of all our gofers, but I'm not sure 3 foot long holes that were 2 feet deep were preferable to gofer mounds... Last summer the farmer behind us plowed up his pasture and planted wheat. The result was that many of the field mice that lived in the grass tried to relocate to our house. Thankfully Kelsey kept their numbers down.

Speaking of rodents.....

Something is living under the dog house that's built under the deck. I don't know what it is. I've never seen it. I've only seen Kelsey laying in waiting for about 3 days now. I've also seen where she's considered tunneling under to get it. Today when Holly was being rambunctious, Kelsey sat patiently waiting.


And waiting. She would move from outside to underneath the deck. Where she would wait some more. I'm not sure what's under there. I would like to pretend it's a burrowing owl. I doubt I'm so lucky. I'm trying not to remember the rats that lived under our deck after the creek flooded behind our house in Arlington. I'd rather not go there...

One thing I do know: Whatever it is, Kelsey's determined it has to come out sometime. And when it does, she'll get it.

And it will be dead.

And I will be glad.

Although I will be glad even if she doesn't leave it at the back door. *sigh* But, then, I guess I can't have it all!

The fruit of the Spirit is love...

My girls really impressed me this weekend. Woops, maybe I better start with a warning: Major bragging about to commence.

I mentioned that the girls' school celebrated the Land Run this week. It was a great day of fun, although it was pretty darn hot. There were candy stands and snow cones and soft drinks for the kids to purchase. There were covered wagons and settlers, and of course wild Indians running all over the place. Did I mention it was 98 degrees outside? Can I tell you it felt WONDERFUL?! Yes, I was sticky and sweaty and I smelled like sunscreen, but I gotta tell you the heat felt great. But all of this fun was not the best part of the day. I learned something about my kids. Something so great, it makes me tear up to think about it.

I sat with Bookworm and her friends first. There were 4 other girls besides Bookworm and myself. I was really impressed by how polite they all were, and how they were all being very kind to each other. Then, I went over and sat with Popcorn and her friends. I was equally impressed with her friends.

Popcorn has a little friend who is Mexican (Popcorn's word for her, and also her little friends word for herself. No, it's not politically correct, but they don't care about that) Her parents do not speak English. Actually, Popcorn isn't sure her friend, B, actually has a daddy. As soon as they were through eating, Popcorn's other friend, J, offered to take B with her to buy a snow cone. She had $2, and so she was wanting to buy B a snow cone. B seemed embarrassed that she was offering to buy one for her in front of me, and tried to ignore her. J was persistent, and finally B just took one of the dollars, and stashed it under her leg so maybe I wouldn't notice.

I was really touched by this display. Popcorn has shared her money with B many times. You have to understand that anytime there is a chance to spend money at school, Popcorn raids her piggy bank and takes cash to school. She sometimes tells me, and sometimes she just goes and buys stuff. I usually find out when she comes home with books, candy, toys, whatever they had to sell. She shared money with B for the Santa shop, the book fair and for basically everything they have.

Okay, I'm ashamed to say this now, but I have been slightly annoyed by this practice. I haven't' said anything to her, but I have to admit that I feel like she's blowing all of her money on her friends. However, after seeing Popcorn and her friend, J, in action, I was so touched. Here are two little girls willing to help a friend. They never wait for her to ask, they just jump in, willing to give what they have to her. I praised Popcorn for her and J's giving spirit today. I told her that she is showing Jesus to other people when she shares so eagerly. She seemed surprised by this. It never occurred to her to not share what she had with her friend. She said sometimes J doesn't' have money, so she shares with her, or if Popcorn forgets to bring money, J shares with her too. Isn't that beautiful? Here are 3 little girls, in first grade, who love their friends.

When Popcorn and her friends headed to the snow cone line, I headed back over to Bookworm's group. The line for the snow cones was crazy long, and there was no way I wanted to stand for that long. Actually, Popcorn and her buddies ditched the snow cone idea and went to the candy stand that only had a fraction of the kids in it.

So, I went back to Bookworm's group. There were only 3 girls left on her blanket, counting Bookworm. They sat and chatted, and one of her friends told me about coming to the states from Mexico. Her dad got his papers first, and he came without them for awhile. Then her mom, her brother, and her papers came through, but her sister, who was in pre-k, didn't have her papers yet, so they had to come over without her. Her mom was able after a few months to go back for her sister, and then they were all together again. Can you imagine? According to Grace's friend, when your papers are ready, you have to go. You can't wait until every one's papers are ready, or you may not get to come at all. Can you imagine deciding to leave one child because you were afraid your other 2 would miss their chance?

Pretty soon, one of Bookworm's friends returned, and she had another little girl following her that I'd never seen before. She never really made eye contact with any of the girls, but the girl from Mexico offered her a piece of candy, and the new girl split the piece of candy in half and handed it to the friend who brought her over. Each of the girls was very friendly towards her, but I noticed she never responded verbally to her. Eventually, one little girl asked her to go play, and she got up and left. After they left, the girls told me she doesn't speak English. She's brand new, does not speak English, is not in their class, and these 5 little girls made an effort to make her feel welcome, and one actually sought her out and brought her over to their group.

I praised Bookworm today also. I told her I was so proud of the decisions she made when she was choosing friends. She chose a group of girls that are willing to be silly, laugh together, build each other up, and show responsibility. They have a club called "Kids Who Care." They pick up litter on the playground and basically look around for anyone who needs help, whether it's a kid, teacher or whatever. They made posters and everything. It's pretty amazing.

I guess one of the reasons I was so struck by their generosity is that I sometimes fret over all of the things they have. I worry that they will take it for granted and not really appreciate that there are so many kids who don't have all of the great things they have. I frequently silently lecture myself that I don't take them to soup kitchens, or something so they can put a face to the stories I tell them about kids who have less than them. We adopt families at Christmas, but that is always anonymous, so they never really see them. Then, in an environment where I least expected it, they showed God's love to others. They didn't need me to tell them to show kindness to others. They didn't need to be told to share with their friends. They just saw a need in others, and they tried to help. They allowed God's Spirit to work through them. Wow.

It really made me think of the love that God has for us. It made me happy that they were allowing themselves to be God's hands and feet. I pray they will always be tender to the needs of others and eagerly serve those needs.

John 13:34-35
A new command I give you: Love on another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples if you love one another.