Things I Will Laugh About One Day

So it's 7:30 p.m. on a Sunday night and I have actually found time to sit at the computer...

I am feeling inspired to write a blog. Don't know what about. Don't know where to start. I think I will just start to write about all of the wonderful experiences I have had recently and try to laugh about them, if I am at that point...


First of all, many people have asked, "What happened to Clay and why is he in a body cast?" Before I start, here's a picture:

















He looks WAY too happy for a 2 year-old in a body cast. But that's my son. He can put on that cheesy smile in the worst of circumstances. We should all learn from him.



So it happened in October. It started out like any other day, except that Anna stayed home from school. She and I were supposed to take a trip out of town that afternoon and she had been having seizures the day before, so I kept her home. As usual , Clay rushed through breakfast and darted for the back door. I wasn't finished feeding Anna, yet, so I let him go out by himself and watched him through the window.

BIG No-No! According to the nurse at the hospital who obviously does NOT have multiple children, you are NEVER supposed to let your children out of your sight. So forget peeing in private, Mommas! And if you have 5 kids, I hope you have a BIG bathroom!

Shortly after he went outside, I popped my head out the door just to make sure he was still playing on the ground. We have a large wooden playscape in the backyard and my son is quite the daredevil, so I really try to keep a close eye on him. He was fine. Back to feeding Anna.

I finished feeding Anna and took her to the living room. When I returned to the backyard, I found Clay lying flat on his back under the playscape. And Boy Wonder was not moving! I did what any mother would do- I freaked!

I called 911 because I had no idea what was broken. The boy who doesn't have a still bone in his body would not move an inch. We took a ride in the ambulance to the Children's Hospital and began the tedious process of elimination to find out what was wrong. And since my son is 2 and has no desire to talk in words, he couldn't tell them what hurt. He DID manage to say, "Ow, ow, ow!" to everything they touched, so it was safe to say he was hurt somewhere. Okay, I'm laughing now!

After MRI's, x-rays, and CAT scans, he had a dislocated shoulder and broken rib (apparently caught the swing on the way down from the monkey bars) and a spiral fracture to the right femur (big bone in the thigh). Praise God his neck and spine were fine!!

Later that evening, he was put under anesthesia to cast the leg and further examine the shoulder and rib. When the doctor came out, he had a puzzled look on his face as he told us that the shoulder was fine and he couldn't see a break in the rib any longer. See, God still ceases to amaze the medical profession!

Clay spent the night in the hospital and came home the next day. The cast is huge, I mean HUGE!! It must weigh 10 lbs. alone. I'm trying to look at the positive and focus on how buff my biceps are getting by lifting him in it every day.


(I would put a picture of my buff arms here if I had one)


Anyways, 1 1/2 weeks later was Halloween. What to do with a boy in a blue body cast? Hmm...




It's Superman Clay!!!

So, looking back and laughing about this, I'm wondering what this experience has taught me...

He's still in the body cast, but we have had many opportunities to laugh. As I am writing this, I can hear Clay in the other room, crying because he hit his head on something. Chances are he was being a daredevil again. Currently, he has figured out how to walk in the cast. He also belly crawls on the concrete to the extent of tearing holes in every one of his shirts. Last weekend, our friends from out of town got to witness my son climbing the very playscape that he fell from. And don't think for a minute that it has slowed him down a bit. The boy is clever!

So what I have learned is that, like my son Clay, we each choose how we will handle the difficulties that come our way. Despite his huge cast and broken bone, he has chosen to keep on going. He didn't let it slow him down. He just improvised how he would keep moving. We ALL get broken and bruised. Our casts may not be physically apparent, but we ALL wear them. How we will deal with them is up to us. We can just lie down and give up or we can get up and improvise.

God called every one of us to be warriors. He doesn't MAKE us get up and fight. That will always be our choice. But if we choose to fight, we have Him inside to help us keep going.

Peace Be With You

I woke up this morning like many Americans- anxious to know who was elected our next President. Regardless of who we may have voted for, we were all wondering what the fate of our nation would be.

I voted early, so I didn't have to stand in a long line to vote on Election Day. In fact, I got to wait at the Honda dealership for my van to be fixed. The story behind that is a whole other blog topic...

As the day went by, I found myself getting anxious and worried about this historical election. Everyone knew how monumental this one would be. Some people voted for the first time in their lives. We all voted with different issues of importance. Some are concerned about the economy. Some are concerned about energy. Some are concerned about pro-life vs. pro-choice and the sanctity of marriage. And the list goes on... Some people believe this is the "end times." Needless to say, there was a lot to think about.

As a Christian, I find that even though I know God is always in charge, I still can manage to get myself worked up about the problems around me, especially BIG stuff. However, yesterday, I experienced an amazing transformation in my thinking. It came from such a small, somewhat insignificant thing. Looking back at it, I just love God even more for the way He can reach me right where I am and touch my heart so deeply and personally. He has a way of knowing the perfect way to speak to us so we will have no question about it that it is Him.

It was right in the middle of my day. Clay had just woke up from his nap. He has been waking up very fussy due to the body cast (another future blog topic). As I soothed him and made him comfortable, the bus arrived with Anna and Sarah. I brought them inside and began unloading their backpacks like I do every day. Then, I noticed it. Something small and blue in the bottom of Anna's backpack. I didn't remember seeing it there that morning when I loaded her backpack, but there it was now. I pulled it out and just smiled.

Thank you, God! I needed that!

So you are wondering, what was it? Interestingly, it was a small blue frisbee that the girls had won in church a few Sundays ago. On the top, it was painted like the Earth. And written across the bottom were the words: "He's got the whole world in His hands."

I don't know how that frisbee got in that backpack. I think God, Himself, orchestrated the whole event to remind me of one of the very first lessons we learn in Sunday school as a child. It is even a song. He's got the whole world in His hands. Not just the United States in His hands. Not just the Holy Land in His hands. Not just one certain race of people or another in His hands. The WHOLE world! ALL people. ALL of the time. He's got the WHOLE world in His hands!!!!

So, today, whether you are celebrating or saddened by the results of this election. Peace be with you! It does not matter who is in the White House. It has never mattered! What matters is Who is seated on the throne. Our Heavenly Father will ALWAYS be in charge. Nothing happens that He didn't allow. And, He loves every single one of us the same. We are ALL his children. Some of us may not know Him, yet, but He still puts us where we are when we are there.

Jesus said, "Peace I leave with you; My peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid." John 14:27 NIV.

Friends, peace be with you! God loves you and He is ALWAYS good! He's got the Whole World in His Hands.

The Leaky Swim Diaper

I haven't written in quite a while. In fact, its been 2 months! In that time, I have been doing all the fun summer things that moms and kids like to do- and coming up with some great blog ideas in the process. So today, I dedicate another blog to my dear friend Carolyn. This is a story that HAS to be told:

If you are a mom of a child who is not yet potty-trained, then you are well aware of the importance of the swim diaper. These great little diapers are required at all public and community pools. Now whether they really hold everything inside of them is still the question. I can tell you from experience that they DO NOT hold in pee-pee, so don't allow your child to wear one in their carseat on the way to the pool. If Junior goes potty, you will get to go through the hassle of taking the cover off of the carseat to wash it (or just letting it dry out, which I don't recommend if your car will be subject to the Texas heat. One word- STINKY!). So the basic reason for the use of swim diapers is really just to keep the worse of two yucks, poo-poo, inside the diaper and out of the pool. Or, so we think.

Last week, a few friends and I decided to take the kids to the pool. Carolyn realized, after we got there, that she didn't have a swim diaper for her daughter so she borrowed one. You would think that everything went fine since all of the kids were wearing their swim diapers. Unfortunately for Carolyn, this was NOT the case.

Shortly after getting to the pool, the friend who lived in the neighborhood had to leave because her son wouldn't use the potty at the pool's restroom. He was having a constipation problem (and that's a WHOLE other story), and couldn't relax enough to go poo-poo because the restroom was so stinky. She told us we were welcome to stay even though she had to leave, so we stayed to swim.

A while later, my son decided he was done swimming and wanted to play in a puddle of stagnant water by the outdoor showers. After carrying him away from the puddle a dozen times, I decided that it was time for us to go. Besides that, the heat was unbearable. Texas has had record highs this summer and may go on record for the hottest summer ever. Even playing in the pool is too hot!

Well, Carolyn had planned to stay a little while longer. She didn't expect to leave so soon, but the swim diaper had other plans...

Her daughter had been playing beside the pool, but wasn't actually in the water. Carolyn suddenly noticed something disgusting leaking out the sides of the swim diaper. She brought her daughter over to the lounge chair to change the diaper, and lo and behold, opened up the yuckiest poo-poo ever! It went everywhere- the towel, the ground, and all over her daughter's legs. It was so bad that she gave up with the baby wipes and opted to stick her under the shower. After cleaning up the mess, she noticed something on the concrete near the pool. When she went to investigate, she found that the diaper had failed at the very thing it was designed to do: keep the poop INSIDE the diaper. There was not only poop on the concrete, but a small portion had fallen into the water!

She attempted to scoop it out of the water, but it quickly sank to the bottom of the pool. What now?

Being an honest Christian woman, Carolyn did the right thing and waited for the security guard of the pool to return to his seat so she could let him know about the poop in the water. Well, what should have been an easily-handled issue turned into a whole other fiasco.

The security guard informed us that Carolyn would have to pay for the pool to be cleaned- HOA policy. I was floored! No way! Not only does my friend who lives in the neighborhood pay a monthly HOA fee to cover pool maintenance, but approximately 1,000 other people pay a fee, too. Now I could understand making a parent pay for pool clean-up if they failed to put a swim diaper on their child, but this was not the case. What to do?

Well, phone calls were made to the HOA. Complaints regarding this policy have been noted. And now we wait. As for Carolyn, it was not the way she had planned for her day to go. But then again, isn't that the way things are sometimes? We plan for a certain outcome only to be surprised by a completely different result.

What did I learn from this? I learned that honesty is still the best policy. Carolyn and I could have easily left the pool without telling the security guard about the poop. We certainly wouldn't be dealing with the HOA policy problem, right now . But at the end of the day, would either of us be able to rest peacefully knowing that we had failed to report the problem? Also, we would have had to live with the guilt in knowing that other people were swimming in a poop-infested pool.

Yes, it seems that her honesty wasn't appreciated as it should have been. It would have been nice to get a response from the HOA that went something like this: "Thanks for letting us know. Thanks again for remembering to use a swim diaper. There was no way you could have known that it would leak, so don't worry about it. We will handle it." That wasn't the way it went, but the important thing is that she handled it honestly. For that, God will honor her. In the end, whether she ends up paying a fee or not, she can rest in peace knowing that she did the right thing. God is smiling because she did.

Summer Is Here!!

Hello blogger friends!!

Life can be so busy, sometimes. Actually, life is busy ALL of the time, it just gets overwhelming SOME of the time. May was a crazy month. The end of the school year seems to be the most hectic time for me. There are just so many end-of-the-year meetings, parties, etc. to attend that before I know it, a whole month has passed by and I'm sitting down to catch my breath, realizing that I haven't had a single moment of rest.

I take a deep breath, relax, and say, "Thank God for summer break!!"

I always make plans to do lots of fun activities with the kids over summer break. Plus, there are tons of summer camps that they want to attend. It can easily turn into another hectic season if I'm not careful.

I just got home from driving Sarah, my 5 year-old, to gymnastics camp. Clay went down for a nap and I found a window of opportunity to blog for the first time in over a month. Wow, time flies!

As I sit here trying to think of what to write about, I realize that the message I plan to share with you is a message for myself, too: a reminder to SLOW DOWN and enjoy the "small stuff" in life. It is so easy to get so wrapped up in the details of planning activities, attending events and being preoccupied with all that needs to be done that life seems to speed by until we stop one day and say, "What happened? Where did all of that time go?"

Just the other day, I was talking with a friend about how much I wanted to get a job this Fall. I have been a stay-at-home mom for 7 years. I guess I could call what I have the "7-year itch." My oldest child will be 14 in September and my youngest will turn 2 in September. I look at Morgan, my 13 year-old and can't believe she's almost grown. Then, I look at Clay, the baby, and realize how quickly he will grow up. My friend's oldest son just graduated high school. Her other son will graduate in a few years and her youngest child is the same age as Morgan. As we talked about how quickly the season of motherhood has gone by for her, she reminded me to cherish every moment of it because it will be gone so fast. It sounds so cliche', but there is more truth to it than we know.

If you are like me, still raising toddlers, you can relate to how it feels like the days are just a big blur of exhaustion, cleaning up after little ones and never getting a moment to yourself. In those moments, it can be challenging to "cherish" anything. I even find myself wishing that the time would go by faster. I get to the point of near-insanity, sometimes, because I just want to take a shower by myself! A friend of mine told a story, one time, about how she had to go to the restroom in the dark just to hide from her son so she could go potty alone. How do we cherish that?

A group of my friends went out to celebrate my friend Stephanie's 30th birthday, this week. After we sat down to eat, I realized that we kept talking about our kids. I made a rule that we couldn't talk about our kids for the rest of the night. Then, we took turns going around the table, talking about ourselves and asking each other questions. Within minutes, EVERY one of us had talked about our kids, again, at least once! We thought, "Where did our identities go? What did we talk about BEFORE having kids?"

Being a mommy becomes so much a part of who we are that we can't even separate ourselves from it. Those little babies come into our lives and impress upon our hearts in a way that no other person has ever been able to do. Then, when life is so crazy with making all kinds of plans, it's hard to stop and be thankful for how wonderful motherhood really is. But when I talk to the moms who just had a child graduate or just said "goodbye" to the baby of the family, it makes me more aware of how thankful I really am for every one of my 4 children. I enjoy making plans for them. I enjoy all of their little personalities and how different they are from one another. I enjoy cuddling with my son in the morning while I drink my coffee and we watch "Sesame Street." What I realize is that I am cherishing the small stuff!

Before we know it, we will be the seasoned moms who are telling the young moms to cherish every moment because it goes by so quickly. We don't always realize it in the moment, but our children have changed us for the better. Because of their presence in our lives, we have learned to put someone else's needs above our own. We have allowed someone else to take up a very special space in our hearts. Most importantly, we will never go back to who we once were because who we are now is better than we ever would have been without them.

Cherish every moment. Life really does go by fast! One day, you will miss this hectic season. It will only be a precious memory.

The Definition of "Friend"

Hi bloggers! Wow, I can't believe it's been 11 days since my last entry! Sometimes life can be soooo busy. But I'm back, ready to make you laugh today.

Today's blog is dedicated to my very good friend, Carolyn. We have shared so many hilarious experiences that I decided to tell you why she is such a good friend to me. To me, Carolyn is the person who defines what a true friend should be. She is the kind of person you always cherish and never forget. Here's a few reasons why:

1) The Night at Hooters (yes, that restaurant that everyone goes to "for the hot wings")

Carolyn and I went to a women's event at church. Even more hilarious is the fact that we were coming from church when we ended up at Hooters. After a fun evening at church, neither one of us were ready to go home, yet. If you stay at home with your kids all day, you can totally relate to that. Time away from home sometimes feels like escaping prison. Don't get me wrong, I feel very fortunate to be able to stay home with my kids. It's just that sometimes I get cabin fever. We all need a break every now and then.

So, as we were walking out to our cars after church, Carolyn turned me and said, "I don't want to go home yet. Let's go somewhere. Anywhere." I suggested Starbucks.

We pulled up to Starbucks just as they were closing. We stood there, staring in the window with sad little faces, almost begging the poor fellow at Starbucks to just let us in anyways. We probably looked like we were desperate for a cup a coffee when the truth was we were desperate for ANYTHING not involving Happy Meals, Chuck-E-Cheese or playscapes. However, the guy inside did not feel our pain.

"Sorry, but we're closed"

The next best thing was right next door. Open until at least midnight. Still serving hot food. Full of people having a great time. Inviting us to come over. There it was- Hooters.

We didn't even hesitate for a second. As we walked in, we were greeted by a lovely waitress in shorts that resembled underwear and a tight tank top with that famous logo right across the middle. There we were, two ladies from a church function, worn out from a day of child-rearing, not looking as fabulous as our waitress, but desperate to have an evening of fun with a friend, no matter where we had to go. We sat there at Hooters, eating fried pickles and drinking cokes until midnight. We talked and had a great time. Despite where we were, we were just two friends getting away for a little sanity. It was evening we will never forget. A good friend is there at all times.


2) The Junior High Dance

My oldest daughter, Morgan, was at her school dance on a Friday night. Carolyn and I had decided to hang out. Even though we didn't have any plans, we decided we would just play it by ear. When she arrived, it was getting close to time to pick Morgan up from her dance. We decided to go early and see how a junior high dance today compared to our adolescent days of girls standing on one side of the room and boys standing on the other, too nervous to dare ask someone of the opposite sex to dance. We were going to simply investigate, even though Morgan will tell you we came to spy on her.

Well, times have definitely changed! There was no one standing by a wall anywhere. In fact, this dance resembled my college days when we would spend a night out going from club to club on 6th Street in downtown Austin. These kids could dance! Not only that, but they had moves that would make a Baptist preacher damn them all to H-E-double hockey sticks in a heartbeat! We stood there, feeling old as dirt. I don't think we realized it, until that moment, but it had been longer than either one of us wanted to admit since we were that age. The one good thing that we both realized that night is that we weren't alone in this thing called aging. A good friend is someone you can grow old with.


3) Shaving My Sick, Hairy Cat

I saved this story for last because I think it represents true friendship more than anything. It was one of those things you do for someone and then halfway through doing it, you realize, "Why in the world am I doing this?" Here it goes:

My cat, Prissy, is a long-haired white cat who just turned 8 years old. When I got her as a kitten, I had no idea that she would be so hairy. In fact, she was from a pregnant stray that my aunt rescued from an alley near her job. When the kittens came, she let Morgan pick one to take home. Morgan picked Prissy, the cute little fuzzy female from the litter. She didn't look like she was from any special breed, such as Himalayan or Persian. Obviously, the daddy cat was from some line of cat royalty because Prissy grew up to be a beautiful long-haired diva cat with a name that fit her personality to a T.

As she's gotten older, her grooming habits have gone downhill a bit. In the Spring, she sheds so much that her fur gets matted up in knots and she coughs up hairballs constantly. Without being too gross, I will simply say that this year has been her worst. The mess has been worse than ever before. To relieve her pain, I have started shaving her each Spring.

Until this year, I have always shaved her myself. Because she hates the sound of the clippers, she freaks out and scratches me every time I attempt to remove the pounds of fur that has knotted up all over her body. I consider this task a form of self-torture, but it has to be done. After all, I love my cat.

About two weeks ago, Carolyn came over for a visit. I told her all about Prissy, the hairballs, the matted fur and how I had to shave her. I told her how much I disliked having to shave my cat because of the pain I have to go through while doing it. Carolyn, being the friend that she is, volunteered to help me. She asked for a pair of kitchen gloves and a sweatshirt to protect her hands and arms. After we got everything set up on the back porch, we began.

At first, Carolyn held Prissy down while I attempted to use the clippers to break through the 2-inch knots on her back. When it didn't work, Carolyn suggested switching positions, with me holding Prissy down and her using the scissors to cut off the big pieces first. There we sat, me holding my cat's head between my legs and her legs with my hands and Carolyn working the scissors through Prissy's hair like she was Edward Scissorhands. All the while, Prissy kept jerking her body and clawing at us with her back paws, desperately trying to free herself.

At one point, Carolyn was holding up Prissy's tail while she cut out chunks of dried poo-poo from the fur around her behind. Yes, I said poo-poo. If just hearing about it grosses you out, imagine my dear friend being the one doing it. Just then, we paused, realizing just how disgusting this was!

I said to Carolyn, "You're a true friend to be doing this. You know that?"

"You're right. I am," is all she said. And we continued grooming my cat until she was completely knot-free. That is true friendship!

So to Carolyn, I say thank you! Thank you for being the friend who shares the fun times. Thank you for being the friend whom memories are made with. And most importantly, thank you for being the friend through all of the poo-poo moments of life. A friend like you is one in a million!

Be a Warrior!!

Don't you hate it when you want to do something but can't find the time to do it? It happens to me all of the time. For instance, I haven't found time to type a blog everyday like I wanted. Either a child starts demanding my attention or I have a to-do list that's miles long. Frustrating!

I have so many things I want to write about and not nearly the amount of time I need to complete them. So, I'm left with a few moments each day to share something small with you, in hopes that you will be encouraged, inspired or just touched by the simple message.

Today, I have to write ANOTHER letter to our auto maintenance warranty company. They denied us AGAIN! (See "Contracts... Agh!" for the story about that). It is such a travesty that we must fight to get our own money back, money that is rightfully our's. But that's how it goes with a lot of things: fighting for something that already belongs to us.

I guess if I had to figure out something to learn from this whole experience and other experiences like it, it would be something like this: The things we have to fight for are usually more appreciated in the end. It's true. Things easily won are things easily taken for granted.

In our marriages, we fight to work through the challenges that all married couples face. With our children, we fight to go against what the world says is right and do what we know is right in our hearts. Sometimes with my teenager Morgan, I fight myself just to keep from locking her up in her room for the next 5 years. Life is full of battles to win or lose. I think the important thing is that it is better to fight and lose than to never fight at all. And the victories are oh so sweet!

I'm going to write another letter, now. Those warranty people need to get ready. This warrior chick is not giving up. I'll fight until I win and get my money back. Then, I'll go to Starbucks and the mall to celebrate.

Be a warrior! Never give up!

Spring Cleaning: Part 2

So many of you wanted to know how the garage sale went, so I wanted to give you an update.

I managed to go through every room of the house and clear out at least one box of things. I even cleared out my monster linen closet. It was, literally, one of those closets where things jump out at you. I could hear it growl at me every time I passed it. Scary!

I was up until almost midnight putting price tags on everything. Then, I had to get up at 6 a.m. to set up for the sale. No sleep-late Saturday for me!

It was worth it. I made $175 and my house is clean. Well, actually, my house is NEVER "clean." I should say that it is "cleaned out." Until the toys disappear, "clean" will not be possible. But I feel better. Just knowing that there is less clutter makes me feel more organized.

The next step is to do some spiritual "de-cluttering." I think I will approach it just I like I did with the house- one room at a time. We all need to take at look at ourselves from time to time and see if we need to "clean out" anything. Our hearts are like a house. We store up so much and then we realize that we are out of space. With a house, we can keep piling it in and just get cluttered. With our hearts, we can become cluttered and have no room left for the good things. The last thing I want is to have a heart full of yucky feeling and no room for the good. And it is funny how we will hold on to the yucky stuff first.

For example, I experienced an offense at church on Sunday. It happened after service while I was walking around talking to everyone. I am a social bug who loves to talk to everyone I know. It was something so small that someone said, but I let it get to me for the rest of the day. Yesterday, it was still bothering me when I woke up. I couldn't seem to let it go. Then, I realized that the person who offended me was probably not even thinking about it at all. In fact, they probably didn't even think about how much it would offend me when they said it in the first place. So, who was suffering from it? Not them! It was I who was letting it take up so much of the space in my heart. Clutter! Yucky clutter!

I really had to work at it to let it go. But by getting rid of that unnecessary clutter, I opened up space in my heart for something better, something positive. It was only hurting me to hold onto it. After I let it go, I had a wonderful day spending time with a good friend and filling my heart with good memories, along with a really funny story that will soon be a blog entry. Just wait, you will laugh your head off...

De-clutter your heart and fill it with good stuff. After all, even our hearts need a spring cleaning!