Sad

My sweetheart is very discouraged right now. His job has 2 more days, then we are sunk. Please pray.

Will post soon.

Summer's Last Hurrah / Job Update

We don't receive invitations to a lot of places, dinners, parties, cookouts, etc. We used to, but that was three children ago. So basically either having multiples scares people off because they are overwhelmed with the idea, or else people just don't like us, or maybe a combination of the two. Heck, I can see why we are "no fun". We don't drink, don't smoke, don't party, and up until the past year or so, we are usually distracted with keeping a close eye in three different directions - makes for difficult conversation sometimes.

But in recent years, as the children have gotten older, we have found it is so much easier and really fun to go somewhere, if we do happen to receive an invite. The kids keep one another entertained and keep a lookout for one another (aka tattling or in cahoots, take your pick).

All that aside, we were invited to a friend's house for a cook out on Labor Day. It was a laid back quiet affair. We had a nice time - the photos tell all - the highlight - smore's.

He watched a bit before he made his own attempt.

uhhh - yuck to the burnt part.
unbelievably, Dad liked the burnt part..........




Some people tolerate the marshmallows in order to get the chocolate.

Another last hurrah to the summer, our tiny little last minute attempt at gardening. It is a good thing we don't have to depend on our skills for our food source. We would starve.

We had/have a TON of cherry tomatoes. We have carefully staked up our plants. We have dutifully watered our plants. We have pinched off the extra growth in order that more nutrients go to the fruit. We fertilized our plants. We have a TON of cherry tomatoes........

Unfortunately, NONE of them have turned red.

But we do have ONE green bell pepper :)

So while our plants have not flourished this summer, our children have. They have grown by leaps and bounds. They had a fabulous time at the summer camp week. They participated in two Vacation Bible Schools. They are adapting well to public school despite our reservations.

And Lucy, the birthday puppy, has grown and wrapped us all around her little paw.

So on the job front. The countdown to September 30 is still upon us. Smooth has interviewed Nashville ( hiring is on hold), interviewed Las Vegas (strange interview, no real feel for yay/nay), interviewed Texas (didn't get it), and is applying Seattle next week. His EEO complaint is still "in process" and could be for quite some time to come. He has applied for numerous positions within our region, outside of the VA hospital system, nothing, nada, no nibbles.

I do a lot of blog reading and sometimes a lot of just general Internet reading. Like skimming the headlines. And I read comments. So from what I read, it seems many folks are anti religion. Especially Christianity. When someone espouses a Scripture related viewpoint, they are mocked, made fun of, laughed at. Not always, but often. And in many blogs, when an individual scoffs, mocks, etc, the bandwagon is quickly loaded with "yes men". Things like that make me sad. The boat is being missed. Religion instead of relationship becomes topic. And unfortunately we are our own worst enemy. Way too many prayer chains are thinly veiled gossip chains. Way too many Christians do not practice what they preach. Way too many preachers do not practice what they preach. Way too many Christians are selfish and unkind, and even immoral. Or is it way too many Christians are letting their humanity show?

But you know what? I am not responsible for what THEY do. I am responsible for what I do.

Christianity is all about relationship, not religion. Those of you who are believers know exactly what I am talking about. Today would have been my dear father's 83rd birthday. I have written about him before. He was my biggest supporter and next to my husband, my best friend. He was a man who lived his life honestly, responsibly, respectably and with much gratitude for the gifts and blessings in his life. He became a Christian late in life, in his 60's. Funny thing was, there was not much difference between his life before and after. He was that type of decent, hard working, moral, down to earth, believe in your fellow man, look for the silver lining type of person. What you saw was what you got. I am ao proud to be his daughter. We had a wonderful relationship. I know that I know that I know - that he adored me, my brother, and my mom - and later his grandchildren. His love for us was unconditional. He would have done absolutely anything within his power to take care of us, provide for us, and love us.

I trusted him because of that relationship. I respected him. I listened to him. If my earthly father can love me that much, think how my heavenly father loves me - and provides for me. It is my relationship with God, through Jesus, that gives me assurance.

Am I scared about the uncertainty in our lives? Yes, my humanity is. Am I stressed, and worried, and bothered and frustrated and even angry? Is it unfair? Yes, yes, yes. But I keep hearing "trust me". And I want to trust and I do trust, then I take it back and worry some more. Those of you inclined, pray for my trust to be strong and sure. I don't want to waiver but I do. But if I could have trusted my earthly father with anything, certainly I can trust God, the provider of everything.

Thanks for reading - and for praying - have a wonderful evening all.

Enrich YOUR Vocab

Smooth and I love to watch old movies. I mean ooooold movies, specifically a lot of old westerns. I think some of this "love" is due to the fact we have an old tv in our bedroom that has a dvd/vcr built in, but the dvd part is broken and for some reason the cable decided a few months ago to not work - and so we are limited to whatever vcr tapes we pick up at yard sales. I suppose I should call the cable company to check it out since we did find out it was NOT the tv, it is the cable connection - but who has time to wait around for the cable company to show up?

We both have a love of nostalgia. When I was a little girl, most kids woke up early on Saturday mornings so we could watch the cartoons. Remember Saturday morning cartoons anyone? Back when cartoons were not on 24/7 and it was a huge treat? My kiddos grew up watching Playhouse Disney and Nick Jr - and PBS of course. But when they started Kindergarten, we cut the cable expense. It was getting ridiculously out of hand cost wise, and I found I had two teens who were watching WAY too much tv that I felt was inappropriate. So we have only had basic cable for the past six years. Smooth initially went through withdrawals with the sports he loved, but he has survived. The kids initially griped and moaned and complained, but it has turned out to be a huge treat to go to a friends house who has Cartoon Network. Even at 11, they come home from school and still watch things like Word Girl and Electric Company and whatever else PBS has on late afternoons. (shhhh - don't tell - might not be too cool).

And now that I really think about it, I see a definite positive here. My three younger ones, unlike my two older ones (who had cable during those years) - LOVE to play outside and love to read - more specifically my girl on the reading part. The boys are always outside shooting baskets, playing catch, throwing the football, riding their bikes, etc. They go for walks around the neighborhood - only in groups, never alone - nervous mama. The KNOW how to play outside and they know how to entertain themselves. Their computer time is limited strictly to 30 minutes a day and during the school year, wii (which is broken right now anyway) can only be played on weekends and Gameboy is somewhat limited too. My older boys never knew how to play. They always (and still do) wanted to be entertained. They were always bored. I think we really did them a disservice by all the constant cable choices. Not intentionally of course, but in hindsight, yes.

I am not anti tv, even though I am not a huge tv fan. I grew up on tv. I can sing the theme to the Brady Bunch and Gilligan's Island. I can name all the kids from Eight is Enough. I remember the Partridge Family and Bewitched and heck, I even remember Laugh In and The Love Boat and Fantasy Island. I loved Get Smart and Little House on the Prairie and the Waltons and even Bonanza. It is just so much of tv is (is/was - have we not made a lot of strides in the stupid area - lol) plain stupid. And in today's' society, even tv, is often inappropriate for family viewing.

Love Boat was really quite risque back them - as was Love American Style. Anyone besides me recall that one???

And tv is a huge time waster. I think that is my biggest issue with tv - for me. I have so many other things to do that I seldom sit down to watch anything because I feel a bit guilty. But I will watch a few shows while doing something else and so that seems to satisfy my multi tasking mom instincts.

Back to my original thought which is probably totally irrelevant now. Smooth and I watch old westerns. I used to watch these with my dad and that is nostalgic for me. Smooth just enjoys them. We watch Roy and Gene and Tex Ritter and Tom Mix and the Lone Ranger. Lately we have been watching a few old John Wayne westerns. Like Republic Studios old. And the things they say are just plain funny to the kids who love to watch them with us. Like "Joe - check out that cave over YONDER". Yonder - who says yonder anymore? The three were just rolling on the ground with laughter at the word "yonder". Now growing up in Texas, I don't see the humor in the word "yonder". But then I don't have a problem with "ya"ll" either. Silly Yankee children.

Another word from a recent movie - "shindig". As in "Joe - this is a swell shindig." I told J to go to school and tell his friends "howdy" and that they were invited to a shindig. First of all, he said he didn't know what a shindig was, and second if he said that, he would be the biggest nerd in the school. One of the "wranglers" at the "shindig" commented he was so hungry, his stomach thought his throat was closed for repairs. Insert HUGE howls of laughter from my trio. They are also learning words like "posse" and "cowpoke". So we have decided tv can be an enriching experience to expand your vocabulary.

Take that Word Girl.

Just a few thoughts.

Junior High VS Middle School

Like a gazillion other parents, we happily sent our sweet offspring off for their first day of of the new school year last week.

My children were happy, excited, anxious, and a little leery of what was to come. They have been, for most of their educational career, either in a small and cozy private Christian school, or home schooled. But as I stated previously, our situation has changed and is in a serious crisis mode, so their previous Christian school, which WE loved, which THEY loved, where their friends were, and where we all felt comfortable and happy, is just not in the cards. Unless we want to live in our van when Smooth no longer has a job at the end of the month and we have to choose whether we pay school tuition or our mortgage (which may be a stretch, but we'll cross that bridge later).
Anyway, we have had to seriously tighten our financial belts in anticipation of what could possibly come to pass in just three short weeks.

So the week before school started, I marched my trio off to the local public Middle School, and promptly enrolled them in the 6th grade there. They could not accommodate my wish for them to all be together because of class sizes, and I didn't push the issue because at this point in their lives it is more for my convenience than for their benefit. Grade 6 is divided in 6 teams A B C D E F - which pairs 2 teachers together, A & B, C & D, E & F - they teach the same students, flip flopping classes. So my two boys are on C & D - they have the same teachers, but not at the same times. Each teacher has a homeroom of about 30 students and that class stays together all day and moves as a group to the different classes. (am I making sense?). My girl is in E group so she doesn't have the same teachers.

Despite my reservations, my children are all quite resilient. The only complaint I have heard from all three is they are studying a lot of the things, math and so forth, that they already did last year. I was afraid of that - but I did let them know that there is no excuse to not make excellent grades since this is an encore performance, right? All three are really good students so I am not worried about them academically.


Socially is another story. I have one boy who really strives to be popular. In fact, he had an 8th grade girl recently tell him he was "hot". What???? I promptly let him know he was way too young to be hot and therefore he could only be "warm". I have preached and preached and preached about "character", and manners, and priorities, and what is really important, and being a good witness and an example, and so on, most likely ad nausea. I have stressed this is an opportunity to show everyone what they are truly made of. I have stressed looking out for one another (they do sit together at lunch I have found out) and they also know I have spies in the school - LOL!

Matt shared with them that I ALWAYS knew what was going on somehow. When he was in middle school there I worked for the school district and I really did have some spies, but since I haven't worked there in years, my resources have dried up. Not that I plan to make them privy to that information.

Now you have to understand we had so many problems with Matt when he was there, that when I walked in the office everyone, the principal, assistant principal, and the 2 office ladies, all knew me - on a first name basis. After all, we had several hundred conferences and phone calls, and meetings - from hurling apples across the lunch room, to fights, to blatant disrespect, to skipping class, to failing grades, to name calling, to swearing, to email threats (Matt actually sent an email to the assistant principal, pretending to be me, telling him I was suing the school, along with some other choice threats, if he didn't back off - the slang writing was a dead giveaway as I was promptly called and read "my letter" which was so far fetched it was almost funny).
Quite honestly, when he graduated 8th grade, I think the assistant principal was so happy and relieved he was almost crying.

My children are trying to stay incognito and not let the teachers know they are related to Matt so they won't be assumed guilty by association. But one of the teachers found out, and told J "you know, there were times Matt made me want to jump out the window.... with it closed." It was not a nice thing to say, but I know how she felt because Matt has tried my patience MANY times too. However now that he is older and has matured a bit, and is out of school and working (thank you Lord), he has settled down. But Lord, those middle school years were tough!
J had a great sense of humor. He replied... "think how I feel, I live with him! - LOL" And they laughed together and I think it will be ok. The funny thing is, Matt, when hearing this story, said she was one of his favorite teachers. He liked her. Sheesh - think how the teachers he DIDN'T like must have felt.

So the first day of school brought the obligatory picture on the front steps... along with pictures at the bus stop (another new thing - riding the bus). So bear with me as I share my grown up middle school-ers! ...........

Look at J's fancy footwear. these shoes are/were actually Matt's, but he gave them to J since he didn't wear them much and J LOVED them. They are too big, but that was immaterial to him. Matt is the Imelda Marcus of teen shoes and has quite an assortment. Thankfully none of the others has that same love of footwear, and thankfully Matt is working so he can buy his own.

Baby girl decided on a more girly look for her first day - but I think sneakers have been the shoe of the day every single day since.

LOVE the pink painted toenails!

Love the cheesy grin... "how's this mom?"

Yes - this is the boy who wants to be Mr Cool - and follow in his father's Smooth footsteps I guess.

My sweet girl looking way too grown up these days.


On the subject of Middle School - just when did we abandon Junior High and become Middle School. When I was that age, back in the covered wagon days in the wild west, 6th grade was still elementary school. I truly think it should still be too.

The 7th and 8th grades were Junior High. Some school districts included 9th grade in Junior High too - and THEN you had High School. Who had ever heard of Middle School back then???? Is there ANYWHERE in the country that still has Junior High? Is Junior High not politically correct anymore? Someone clue me in on when, why, and how this change took place. There has to be a reason.

I feel like Kevin in the Wonder Years talking about Junior High. Of course I attended Junior High in the seventies so I guess I could have been on the Wonder Years.

So back to the subject at hand - we have a little of a week and a half under our belts and so far school is working out fine, thank you very much. Once again, it is Mom who stresses and worries and analyzes and frets - and the kids are OK. I just pray it continues to be OK and it will be a good experience for them.

NOW on the JOB front. Smooth still does not have any clear cut decisions. He interviewed for the position in Nashville (hasn't heard yet), and is still involved in his EEO filing with his current job situation. Texas did not work out, but that just brings us one step closer to where God wants us to be. Keep praying.

He did come home yesterday and tell me had a call about a job wanting to know if he was interested in interviewing.......... in LAS VEGAS. His exact words to me were... "what do you think of Las Vegas?". I have never been to Vegas so all I know is what any other tourist thinks of... casinos and hotels and the desert ... but I am sure it is like any other city and has it's good and bad points. I do know it would be nice to not have to shovel snow, although it will be 114 degrees at Christmas - LOL.

Basically I know nothing about Vegas, but we shall see what happens. I do think they have a good multiples club there.

Keep praying and stay tuned - who knows what path we'll be taking.

Have a good evening all.

Parents Can't Go

Sorry for the hiatus - more things going on that I am sure you care to know.

I have several things to share, including the 1st day of MIDDLE SCHOOL - which was today, but first, a few pics from camp.

During August, the hottest month around here, my kiddos had the opportunity to go to camp for a whole week, sans parents. To say they loved it would be an understatement. They had a fabulous time and they deserved it. With my working, it hasn't been much of a summer for them. We didn't even make it to the beach once.

So imagine my surprise when I opened up the photo section for the camp website where they post pictures so you can glimpse into their activities - and I saw this!

Yes, on the right is my 4 lb 3 oz, 7 week early preemie baby boy - tubing. I almost had a coronary!

And this is why they DON'T allow parents at camp. I would never in a million years let him do this because I would be afraid he would drown, or get hurt, or get too sunburned, or waterlogged, or something - LOL. Look at the smile on that face. He was having a blast. And look at those guns. My guy has got some serious muscles in those arms.

I later found out all three loved tubing, and thankfully all three easily passed the swim test.

And my baby girl took on her Pocahontas persona - we teased her that she looked as if she was scouting out Cocoum ..... "just around the river bend...."

Just like in the stroller, she is at her post in the front. LOL

And she made friends and laughed and stayed up late and they had pajama fashion shows and ate tons of chocolate.

I didn't get a pic of my eldest of the b/b/g mix, but he was much too busy playing basketball.

We were so so fortunate they got scholarships because we could never afford to send three children to camp for a week. Just not in the budget. Now even more so than before.

But now everyone is home. And I am glad. I missed them so.

On the home front, we are in a crisis situation. Smooth is losing his job as of September 30th. Like so many families, we survive week to week and have no savings. Any savings we have had has been dissolved by recent car repairs. (and now my brakes are squealing on my van - great).

We had hoped he would get full time. But it did not work out. He has worked contract for the past 8 years, as a hospital chaplain at a Veterans Hospital - and his contract is not being renewed due to a Catholic priest who has decided they do not need a Protestant chaplain. Smooth has filed an EEO complaint and they went to mediation, but the lead priest walked out and refuses to budge. It could take a year or 2 or 3 to resolve any type of settlement. Meanwhile....

So there we are. He has applied a million other places, but nothing has worked out (yet). He was 2nd for a position in Texas we were really really hoping would come through, but we found out yesterday he did not get the job. He has another interview Thursday, but found out today the other candidate is someone who is already on staff there, so that is not encouraging.

Please pray for us. My salary cannot support us, and we could easily lose our house. And because he is a contract employee, there is no severance, no "package", no unemployment benefits. Just like there has been no health benefits, no vacation, no sick days, no comp time, no retirement - for 8 years - all along being PROMISED he would be full time "very soon". He loves his job and he loves working with our Veterans and so that is why he has stuck it out - with the promise it would soon be full time.

We are already in debt and in very serious danger of having our electricity turned off. And that is with BOTH paychecks trying to support a large family. It's a scary place to be, but I am trusting God to meet our needs.