The Forgotten Frenulum

Do any of us ever give a thought to the frenulum? Why would we...for the most part it does what it supposed to do, unless you're my son. The frenulum is the skinny flap of skin that keeps your tongue anchored to the floor of your mouth, my son's has been attached at the very tip of his tongue since birth.
The docs keep assuring us that it would stretch out over time and not be so tight, but it never has. So, at four, he finally had it clipped.
Because of his age we got to trek down to the Children's Hospital here in Denver and have him put asleep for 10 minutes. Silly docs thought a 4 four old might not hold still for this, Psh! The whole thing went more smoothly than I could've thought. My son is shocked that he can actually stick his tongue past his teeth now...I can already tell a difference in the pronounciation of his "L's".
That's absorbed my weekend on top of us all developing our first "back to school" cold.

On a completely different note, the wolf spiders in our house are out of control this year. They're not quite the size of small dogs, but they're certainly shooting for it. Last night, as I was in the cusp of sleep I felt something skitter across my leg. Like lightening I brushed it off, pinned it under my other leg, flipped on the light and grabbed a tissue. I lifted up my leg and there was an injured wolf spider with the body (not including legs) of a half dollar! In my bed! This is the final straw, I HAVE to find some way of killing these buggers.

Though, I think I'll feel better about our spiders after I go down to Nicaragua in a week. Our friends have already seen a tarantula around their house.

The Things That Get Me

My 4 yr old son started his 3 afternoon/wk preschool program yesterday. It made me catch my breath a little when I watched him walk slowly into his classroom. (BTW, he loved it and couldn't stop raving about it)

I picked up my 6 yr old yesterday and as we walked to the car a boy who looked to be a year old said, "See ya Ruthie" and she coolly waved. She's so comfortable at that school and it makes me a little teary.

We watched "Rescue Dawn" last night, a Vietnam POW movie with Christian Bale. I couldn't stop thinking, "If someone could spend 5 years in conditions like that and come out sensible, then I know he can run a country."

Contest of the Day

DK Mommy (www.dkmommyspot.com) hosts many giveaways on a regular basis. She's holding a special round of giveaways this week that are all natural beauty products! Check out the info at this post: http://dkmommyspot.com/natural-beauty-week-is-coming/

Ineffectually Egged

If you're going to go to the trouble to TP and egg a house, the least you can do is do it well! I woke up to find 2 rolls of TP, one stick of margarine and 1 egg (1 egg?!) had been tossed into the tree and at the living room window. It's almost as if they lost the oomph for it. Makes me feel a little cheated too. If I have to clean it up, make it a BIG mess. Also, hello, no teenagers in this house...so, who did it?

I've been feeling a little fuzzy around the edges the last couple of days. You know, that phase where food seems like a waste of time cause it's so boring and all the things in your day blur together and seem boring too. Yeah, I've figured out that it seems to be part of my hormone cycle...pretty sucky part really. Even my cooking gets boring.

Sidenote: Dried egg smells like fish after it's been washed off the window.

Nature's Out To Get Me

Or, at least get my veggies!

I don't have a very big garden at all...most of them are in planters because I don't have the ground space. So, you'd think the pesky varmints would leave it alone. No such luck.

I went outside to pick lettuce yesterday (after 3 days of glorious rain) to find the tops eaten off ALL my tomato plants, a lettuce plant and my watermelon plants. Argh!
Then, just to taunt me, the deer left their tracks, their scat and the skunk sat outside our house last night.

Is this pay back for hunting season?

Leukemia

My hubby's little brother was diagnosed with leukemia 6 years ago, when he was 10. It was a very stressful time for my in-laws, but it got them motivated to get involved and find the best way to help him. They held a couple of bone marrow drives that yielded no matches. On the plus side, some other kids were helped by those that got on the registry. Finally they put him on an experimental drug called Glevic (sp?) and he has had no symptoms and a good blood count for the last 4 years. We thank God after every good test result. Kevin (my bro-in-law) has gotten used to taking his pill every day, not fully comprehending how close he is to possible upset.

The Friends of Heroes blog and Goodies for Mom (see the link on this post ) are teaming up to raise awareness for the Leukemia and Lymphoma society. Check out their site if you'd like to learn more about the organization and the contest (I'd love to win one of the gift cards!) in conjunction with it.

Flowing Through My Fingers

Ruth is loving first grade so far. They started Tuesday and she's come home so happy. The only downside is the emotionalability of there being a new order to her life. She's lashed out a couple of times and burst into tears over nothing this week.

I wonder if my son is going to react the same way when he starts in 2 weeks. I'm enjoying the time I've had with my son "mano-a-momo" this week. He's done a beautiful job of playing by himself happily. I think he's enjoying the conflictlessness that comes with playing by himself.

I'm tasting the freedom of getting things done with less people to take care of. Crevices of my house that haven't seen clean in months are getting a hefty dose of it now. We've had a friend of ours (the aformentioned Turk) living with us since mid-June. I've been okay with it, but the size of my house and extra body are finally getting to me. I love the guy like a brother, but I'm counting down the weeks until he heads back to Turkey (probably in mid-Sept).

It's nice to be standing on the lip of having both of my kids in school all day. It's hard to know that my kids will have so many different influences on them that I will never know about. BUT, I look forward to all of the prayer and (hopefully) good conversations we'll have as a result of our slowly changing relationship. God is their guide and it becomes more and more obvious that I have my place, but I can't control all of them...and shouldn't!

Thoughts?

Punchline: And They All Lost Sleep, Ha!

The plumber finally made it to our house at 10pm where he proceeded to snake the pipes for 2 1/2 hours.

Our dear, lazy rental agency hasn't snaked the pipes in awhile. The plumber said it was the most roots he's seen in a very...long...time. We would've fallen asleep, but the pipes were too close to us and the ringing kept us awake (see how small our place is).

All's well, that shower's well!

Where's the Punchline?

Okay, there's a family of four, a grandpa and a Turk living in an 800 sq. ft. house with one bathroom....and the pipes back up into the toilet and tub...and I wish this was a joke.

Nope, that's the status of my household today. The plumber is currently 2-5 hours from being available. And, yes, we're all crossing our legs in anticipation of his arrival.

Let The Countdown Begin!

My sweet girl is starting 1st grade on Tuesday and I couldn't be happier. Seems like too much free, unscheduled time brings out the whiny's in my kiddos. They were fine up until 2 weeks ago...then my house became the most boring place on the planet for them. It was a hard week anyway since their friends across the street were on vacation.

To top it off, my horrormones were off the charts last week, my hubby was out of town AND I had to go buy school supplies. I HATE BUYING SUPPLIES...I was going to buy the pre-packaged set from the store, but they were all out. So, now I'm trying to decipher the descriptions of various writing implements and notebooks they have to have on Tuesday.
My son starts pre-K in 2 weeks and I have a feeling it will be hard on him to be the only kid in the house. He's going to be badgering me to allow him to play 3 hours of James Bond and Sonic a day I'm sure.

How are you and your munckins handling the run up to school?

Vote for Me!

Hey guys over on Mental Magma (www.mentalmagma.com) I'm a finalist in a contest...please go vote for my cheesy answer! Here's the link: http://www.mentalmagma.com/archives/293
Polls close on Sunday!!

Holding My Breath

God gave us a wonderful break from the monthly stress of wondering where rent will come from. I haven't had it cross my mind at all since February (thank God for tax credits). So, today is the first time in many months when I've dropped off the rent check trusting that the funds will be there by the time they cash it.

The hubby and I have had a lot of conversations lately about what God asks of His people in the area of money and stuff. I really think we (as Americans) have bought into the lie that God wants us to live comfortably.
Everything that I read in Scripture says that He'll provide for our "needs". What is a need people?! In a book called "The Heavenly Man" (a true story)there are many days when the man doesn't need to eat...at all! Apparently eating wasn't what he needed on those days.
To put that in perspective for us here...do we "need" to eat out or buy another pair of shoes for our kids. I think He gives us abundance so we can spread it around and make good use of it for His goals.
My English teacher in high school used to often say, "Use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without!"

Thoughts?

Contest of the Day

Mommies United is holding a Back to School contest for some awesome prizes.
Check it out here: http://www.themommiesunited.com/2008/08/join-us.html

I Stepped Onto the Water...

...And Looked Away!
Why is that the Being and Word that matter most in our eternity gets the least attention?
If my relationship with Him gets 10% of my week right now, that's a good week...dude, that's messed up!
I know what you're going to say, "But you have Him on your mind and He's more involved than that."
I gotta admit, I don't right now...I've disconnected in a serious way most of the time.
I'm not looking for your pity or encouragement, I'm just trying to share the shock of this event with you.
Why do we do this to ourselves, our spouse, our kids?
How selfish of us to interact with them without having Him right there! How callous of me to listen to my friends' lives without asking Him to speak through me.