Late Night Musings

So it's 11:54 p.m. I slurped down not one, but two 16-ounce cups of tea at Chik-fil-A tonight, and now my eyelids are spring-loaded. After receiving several gentle nudgings from my friends to get back to blogging, here I sit. The house is pitch black except for the lights on the washing machine and this computer screen.

I'm not sure what to write about tonight. So many thoughts have been bouncing around my head lately, and I'm having a hard time choosing one. Here are the front runners:

• How my theology affects my political views
• Asperger's Syndrome--the up-side
• My must-have list of cosmetics and personal products
• People in their 20's call me "ma'am" now. How I'm dealing with it
• The pros and cons of homeschooling
• The pros and cons of public schooling
• Why the word "sin" is so misunderstood in modern American culture
• Kid management--what's working, what's not
• Housekeeping tips. I've been doing this homemaking thing for a while. I've got some tips.
• Anti-intellectualism in American Christianity--what's up with that?
• Books I've read in 2012 and which ones I'd recommend
• What makes a good friend
• What makes a good marriage
• My standby in-a-hurry-meals
• Latest favorite books for kids
• Smart phones. Are they making us dumber?

Those are some of my ideas. Suggestions? Preferences? Votes? I'm going to try this sleeping thing again. Goodnight dear readers. Goodnight.

Hey Homeschool Girl

More of these here.

A Book for GiGi and the Kid

You can get this book here. 

You can find out what in the heck I'm talking about here.

A Bedtime Conversation

"Jacob, I read something this morning that was really helpful to me. Want to hear it?"
"Sure."
"James 1:19 says, 'Be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to anger.' What do you think about that?"
 "IIIIIIIIII'mmmmmmm soooooooooo aaaaaaaannnnnnnngggggggggrrrrrrryyyyyyyy."

That kid cracks me up.

By George I Think She's Got It

This is all I need to make things run smoothly over here:

Is that so much to ask?

(I LOVE this show. I love it so much I want to marry it.)

Our ER Adventures

When your baby needs surgery in the middle of the night, some things come into clear focus while others just blur right into background color.

On Wednesday afternoon, our youngest son broke an arm for the third time in his short life. Our other two boys have worn nary a cast, a fact of which I keep reminding myself as thoughts of a DCS investigation sporadically crawl across my mental ticker tape.

I saw it happen. After the last break on a neighbor's trampoline, our family had adopted a no-jumping-on-the-trampoline-without-an-adult policy. That's why when I went out onto the back deck to call the boys in for homework and dinner, I was surprised to see Chicken Little walking along the edge of the neighbor's trampoline. He's a literal thinker, that one, and he truly didn't realize he was breaking family law by doing this. When he heard me call, he flipped horizontally off the side of the plastic covered rail. For that one moment when he was suspended in air, he looked like a chicken on a spit--only there was no spit. Just air. And earth.

I knew it as soon as I saw the fall. I knew something would've broken. His scream confirmed it. I went tearing out the front door muttering under my breath, "No, no, no, no, no. O dear God, no, no." But as you now know, "Yes, yes, yes, yes" was more like it. So I called our in-house counsel to break the news. He cancelled his plans for the night and headed straight home. I scooped up the tiny wild man and headed to the local hospital. After four hours there, we headed to the less-local hospital--a first-rate children's hospital where we would patiently, very, very patiently wait for a surgeon to put pins in our baby's elbow and save those nerves running through the joint.

That surgery finally happened at 1:00 Thursday afternoon. We were home by 6:30 that night. What a twenty-four hours we'd had.

Never one to miss the opportunity to pontificate, I couldn't help noticing some things as the hour-hand made its way twice around the clock face.

First, our friends and family are of the five-star variety.

Second, prayers make a difference. When your child is in pain and danger and you have first-hand experience with a prayer-answering God, the first thing you do when you have a moment to do it is set the prayers in motion. E-mails, texts, and calls went out. Our family members. Our pastor and his wife. Our community groups. Our care group. The calls went out and the prayers went up.

Though the wait was long, and by long I mean LOOOOOOOOOONNNNNNGGGGGGG, every person who cared for us was top-notch. Every single nurse (I think I counted nine) was attentive, careful, and kind. The doctors were skilled and attentive, too. Coincidence? Think what you want, but I think not.

My neighbor Marcy came to spend the night with the older two and see them off that morning. My other neighbor, Julie, took Joshua to school, picked him up, and kept him until we got home last night. All through the day we were getting texts and calls. Dinners were lined up. My dear friend (and our pastor's wife) texted me at 8:30 a.m. to say she was on her way to the hospital because she didn't want me to be alone.  Out of her bag came an abundance of tricks--stuffed animals, balloons, books. She stayed with us all day. Even when Daniel arrived with Sam, she stayed with Sam while Daniel and I went back with Jacob in the 14-and-up zone. I had no idea how much I needed someone there, but there she was.

A few hours later, our friend Barbara and our care group had dinners for the next five days lined up.

Meanwhile, nurses made over Jacob, and we all found comic relief in his comments. It turns out he's a little one-armed charmer.

When I finally got to my e-mail, I read messages from the Writing Mamas wishing us well and offering to help. GiGi already told me to shut it when I said I didn't need anything. See? That's the stuff that comes into focus when everything else goes blurry. All of the love in your life that waits patiently for the need to arise snaps to attention when you need it; it all comes rushing at you like white blood cells at work.

I look back at how smoothly everything went--all things considered. I look at how every need was met. Every prayer was answered. And you know the name of our surgeon? Dr. Lovejoy. I looked up at the ceiling and nodded. "I got the message," I said. "I hear you."

And now, I cannot tell you how glad I am to be home.

2011 the Highlights in Pictures

Jacob turned 5. He looks underwhelmed by it all.

Sam and Joshua played basketball.

We celebrated Valentine's Day.

Space laundry came to our house.

We made the whole house a Star Wars set.

We took a Saturday field trip with favorite friends.

L to R: GiGi, Maggie, Brigid, Jen, Nick, Sam

We spent Spring Break with Granddaddy and Grandmama.

We played checkers at the Marbles Kids Museum in Raleigh.

We decorated a garden bed.

We recycled!

Joshua and I went on a date to the symphony and heard classical guitarists from Barcelona!

We saw Rio, and Jacob pretended to be Blu for weeks on end.

Abuelito gave Jacob a percussion lesson.

Abuelita helped the boys decorate eggs.

We whacked a pinata--the perfect activity for a family of boys!

We ate raspas (Mexican snowcones) in Brownsville.

Here is Jacob enoying a raspa with his beautiful tia.

I launched a new blog! It was a very, tiny launch.

Jacob graduated from preschool.

I got a new camera for Mother's Day. I dream of learning to use it.

We planted a garden, which would be in focus if I knew how to use my camera.

We went to Chattanooga and visited the aquarium.

How gorgeous are these men of mine? Somebody fan me.

We celebrated Daniel's birthday with a surprise weekend visit from friends. We went swimming, grilled out, heard live music at Centennial Park, and ate at a Brazilian steak house, yet we have only this photo of the boys playing with Legos. 

We had Anne Ortlund in our home when she visited our discipleship group one week.What a privilege! I took a picture.

We played laser tag.

Sam turned 11 and celebrated with his friends.

I enjoyed a luxurious girls' night at the Opryland Hotel as we celebrated my BFF Stephanie's birthday! 

Jessica, Stephanie, Jen

Joshua turned 9!

There was swimming to be done.

And candles to be blown. And birthday hats to be worn.

We went to the beach.

We took a picture with an ice cream cone. Because why wouldn't you? It's a huge ice cream cone. 

 We took a beach family photo. (My mom is cute.)

We had all of our wood floors redone, and then nine days later the water line to our refrigerator exploded. It was awesome.

Jacob started kindergarten, and Joshua returned to our local school 

as a fourth grader after two years of homeschooling.

Sam started his third year of homeschooling. I can't believe he's in fifth grade.

We took a field trip to Safe Haven Family Shelter.

We watched tadpoles become teeny, tiny little frogs. 

(Thank you Jessica and GiGi!)

We attended an award ceremony when Jacob and Joshua were both selected from their class to receive a character award for exemplifying "Respect." We are so proud of them! 

I spoke at our women's retreat and was refreshed by the time away and the fabulous women of Immanuel Church.

Joshua performed "Ghost of John" at his Halloween play-in.

We lived at the Residence Inn for a week while our floors were refinished. Again.

We celebrated Halloween with friends.

L to R: Joshua, Mathilde, Andy, Jacob, Ethan, Sam, Nick

I hiked for the homeless with Cora, Brigid, Liz, and Barbara!

We celebrated Mom's birthday in N.C. with my brother Scott and my niece Heather.

(Hi Skip! Hi Heather!)

We gave thanks for this turkey at Mom's. It was gooooooooood.

We also gave thanks for family.

Mom, Terri (my sister), Scott

Dad got a Macbook Pro and e-mailed his first digital photo. 

This is my dad (L) and my Uncle Charlie, who still skydives and base jumps. For real.

We welcomed another Christmas season and decorated another tree.

We spiced up our Mexican nativity sets with Lego figures.

Joshua read and twisted his hair while the rest of us decorated the tree.

I didn't mind.

SMOOCH! SMOOCH! SMOOCH!

The Cortezes arrived from Texas with suitcases full of food.

I took photos so you could see for yourself.

Tio Milo helped the boys build model airplanes. Joshua tried a new hairdo.

Santa came!

He brought books, as always.

Okay, okay. He also brought video games.

Jacob showed off his yoga poses for Tia Claudia.

Our Christmas Amaryllis bloomed. And it's a new year.

Happy New Year!