Family

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Dear Mama,

September 1, 2010 in Family, Food by Sara | 6 comments

I owe you an apology.

I had no idea how hard you worked when we were kids. I have had two weeks straight where I have struggled to get any kind of food in front of my children at night. And while I have not resorted to feeding my kids from a concession stand, it’s probably only because I didn’t think of it. More often than not, I’ve fallen to the siren call of take out or a bowl of cereal.

It’s fortified with 10 vitamins and minerals, right?

I don’t know how you did it. You worked all day, came home and had dinner on the table by 5 or 5:30 EVERY night. And while I do remember a few nights of hamburger helper, most of the time you managed to put a real meal on the table. Meat. Two vegetables. Bread. Really sweet iced tea. The works.

Oh, I was not grateful enough. I should have bowed down and kissed your feet with every plate of spaghetti or slab of meatloaf or…….dare I say…….even the marathon of stuffed green peppers we endured one fall and winter. What I wouldn’t give to be able to grab a few of those out of a big black garbage bag, pour some Ragu over the top and pop those babies in the oven. Instead of mocking them, I should have been astounded by your ability to have a meat, a veggie, and a starch (there was rice in the stuffing) all in one neat little package.

Like most things you did, I’ve had to grow up and have my own kids to really appreciate them.

So I beg your forgiveness.

Think you could whip up some stuffed peppers on your next visit?

Love,

Your grateful (better late than never) daughter.

Man in the Mirror

August 30, 2010 in Family, Good Ole Days by Sara | 3 comments

After reading my account of almost being bitten by the snake that really wasn’t, my brother reminded me of a funny story from our childhood.

Mike has always had a bit of insomnia. Many nights he would wake up and not be able to fall back asleep and so he would sometimes get out of bed and walk over to his window and spend some time looking out at our front yard. Since we lived in a very small rural town, I don’t know exactly what he was looking at. Perhaps he saw our dog Roger’s return from another night of romancing the girl dogs in town, or maybe he was seeing if he could catch whoever would occasionally shoot the street light out at the edge of the yard.

One day when he was a teenager, he got into his head that he would move the furniture in his bedroom around. Now, I think this was astounding because my brother in not exactly fond of change. When he was very young, my mom wallpapered his room with paper depicting Christopher Columbus and the Nina, Pinta, and Santa Maria. Twenty years later, long after he had flown the nest and my mom decided to redecorate his room with something a wee bit less nautical, he was incredulous and objected strenuously.

However, something possessed him to make some changes in the furniture layout of the room and so he did. He then went off to sleep that night. After a couple of hours and long after the rest of us were off in dreamland, he woke up, tossed and turned for a few minutes, then decided to see what was going on outside. He stood up, walked over to the window……….

and THERE WAS A MAN STARING BACK AT HIM!!!! Right outside his window! A strange man! With eyes that pierced right into the heart of my brother!

Mike turned from the window, jumped back into his sweet trundle bed and yelled, “THERE’S A MAN LOOKING IN MY WINDOW!! THERE’S A MAN LOOKING IN MY WINDOW!!”

Now our town was known for a lot of things, but not peeping toms. So this was a very disturbing thing and brought the rest of us running.

There was a man in the window alright. Except that it wasn’t a window, it was the mirror on the dresser my brother had moved around earlier and the man staring back at him was his own reflection.

Don’t think we don’t tell that story almost every chance we get.

**This is my memory of this incident. Actual events may differ if my brother tells the story and I will stand corrected. But only if his version is just as amusing……..

First Day of School 2010

August 25, 2010 in Family, Kids, Time Goes By by Sara | 2 comments

Another year begins. Am I the only one who thinks that time is galloping by at an alarming rate? How is it that we have been here a year. That the girls are starting their second school year here in Dayton. That they are no longer the new kids on the block or in the classroom.

The start of school brings a lot of excitement to our household. The girls could hardly sleep the night before and woke up like a shot with the alarm. Before I had myself half way awake they were dressed and downstairs eating breakfast.

Oh the joy of children that can make their own food.

There have been a few changes over the summer. My oldest, who I have spent the last 11 years begging to brush her hair at least once a day and to please at least wear something that comes to close to matching, has been transformed. That third grader that started the school year out in a shirt with a hole in it, has disappeared. In her place there is now a girl who spent a considerable amount of time picking out the right outfit for the first day, complete with accessories. The other night she actually asked me to blow dry her hair.

I think there might have even bit a bit of lip gloss worn.

I’ve been warned that the girl drama would probably start up this year and seems like that is also coming true. There is already a little break in a relationship that is causing a bit of angst. Mostly on my part. It’s hard not to want to jump in and fix everything. But these are valuable lessons they need to learn on their own. Opportunities to both extend and accept grace abound even at this age.

It’s going to be another great year. In all kinds of ways I can’t even imagine.

Am I wrong to hope that they’ll still be holding hands like this when they walk into high school?

Forward or Back? Up or Down?

August 24, 2010 in Family, Marriage by Sara | 8 comments

I am coming to you, my friends to settle what has been a long running argument in our house. For years, if I wanted the A/C to blow colder, I would say to JD, “Let’s turn the air up.” He would walk over to the thermostat and promptly turn it the wrong way. He insists that if you want it colder, you turn the air down, not up.

These are the things we argue over. Pathetic, I know.

Today, we were talking about a scheduling conflict that has come up for Saturday. We needed to be somewhere on Saturday at 11:00 and Elena’s soccer practice was now ending at 11:00 and so we needed to change the time of the meeting to 12:00.

I’m kind of boring myself. Sorry.

Anyway, I said, “Can we move the meeting forward to noon?”

He replies, “You mean move it back to noon?”

At which point I realized we were in another Up/Down argument and I just turned around and walked off, laughing to myself.

He was hot on my trail and kept telling me that I just DIDN’T THINK CORRECTLY!! and to prove it he asked the girls,

“If you were going somewhere at 11 o’clock and someone asked if you could move the meeting forward one hour, what time would you be meeting?”

To which Katie, without missing a beat, said, “12 o’clock.”

I wish you could have been here. JD proclaimed that not only did I think INCORRECTLY, but I had passed on that gene to both of them! And he kind of hopped around a little waving his arms above his head.

I had myself a much needed laugh.

So, dear reader, it’s up to you to settle this. Who is right? Do you turn the air up or down to make it colder in your house? And if you needed to move a meeting forward would you meet earlier or later than originally planned?

If you side with me, JD will admit he is wrong.

If you side with him?

I’ll probably just ignore you.

End of Summer 2010

August 20, 2010 in Family, Kids by Sara | No comments

We are coming to the close of summer here in Ohio. You’d never know it by the temps around here lately, but fall is just around the corner and the girls start school next Tuesday. Hooray!

Poor dears. I guess you really can get tired of sleeping til ten and watching iCarly all day.

We went to school to meet the teachers last night. I shook my head at all the parents lugging tote bags full of school supplies up the hill to school. Did they miss the part where you write a check to the PTO and your school supplies appear neatly packaged and complete on back to school night?

One parent said, “Oh but my kids think they can get cooler stuff if we go get it ourselves.”

Cooler stuff vs My Sanity.

No contest.

That’s why they make magic markers and stickers.

PS: Happy Birthday, Little Brother. That sweet 6lb gift you got a few weeks ago must make this one of the best birthdays ever, huh? XOXOXO

Famous

August 17, 2010 in Faith, Family by Sara | 1 comment

You’ll see that I use that term very loosely.

One of the neat things that the Beth Moore Ministry team does is a video/slide show of each event she does. Watching the one from Lexington brought back every emotion I felt while sitting through it.

AND.

If you look very closely at the third slide after it starts, up in the right hand corner, you’ll see my Aunt Earlene, my cousin Lara, and her daughter, Brianna. My mom, my sister and I are sitting a little further upstream and pretty much all you can see of us is our pant leg. Of course, this will only be exciting to you if you know what my aunt looks like………

Oh well.

I feel famous by association.

Weekend with the Girls

August 16, 2010 in Faith, Family by Sara | 3 comments

When we first started talking about attending the Beth Moore event in Lexington, KY waaaaaaay back in January, it seemed like August was forever away. But Mrs. Moore is a popular gal and you have to plan a long way out if you don’t want to be sleeping on a bench at the bus station. So tickets were bought and hotel reservations made.

Then life just kept on going and things kept happening and I don’t mind telling you that in the last month my life has taken some turns that have just flat out exhausted me in more ways than I could count. I felt like the only thing I wanted to do was to crawl into bed and pull the covers up over my head.

But a chance to spend time with my sister, mom, aunt, cousin and her daughter (that makes her my second cousin, right?) had been something I had been looking forward to for eight months, so on Friday I packed my bags and took off to Kentucky.

I returned today and while I am certainly not rested (that’s what happens when you stay up way too late talking), my spirit certainly feels both refreshed and challenged. Here are just a couple of points that Beth made this weekend that have me thinking pretty hard about some things that I’ve had going on in my life and in my heart.

1. We are not meant to detach ourselves from our ministry. This sounds very simple, but it spoke so deeply to me as we have run into some very trying circumstances in a ministry that our family is involved in. It would be easy to just keep doing what we are doing but in essence detach ourselves emotionally from it. Faking it, if you will. And let me tell you that I have been so tempted to do just that. It appears that Someone wants me to give this a little more thought.

2. Opening your heart and choosing to love is sometimes the only way to heal it from a hurt. Oh but it is so much more fun for me to nurse my hurt feelings and real or imagined slights. I can sulk with the best of them. It feels good to imagine ourselves the victim for a while. Turns out this is not such a good idea.

Honestly, I don’t know how this is all going to play out in my life. There is so much to turn over and process from our lessons this weekend. But I am thankful that long before I had any idea I’d need to hear any of it, God already knew.

I’m thankful.

Finding Her Courage

August 6, 2010 in Family, Kids by Sara | 3 comments

Last week on a day that it was over 95 degrees outside….

Oh wait. That would have been EVERY day……

we took the kids to the swimming hole at Fall Creek Falls.

All the cousins decided to scale the rock wall and jump into the water below. One by one they got in line, screwed up their courage, jumped (scaring their mamas and aunts to death) and were just pleased as punch with themselves.

One of them needed just a little encouragement.

Elena getting into position

Then changing her mind

Getting encouragement from Allie

Maybe this time........

Maybe if Mama is down below......

There she goes!!!

Hitting the water.

Happy Girl.

Sometimes when you are jumping into the unknown, you just need to know someone is there to catch you.

Things That Keep Me Up At Night

August 4, 2010 in Family by Sara | 3 comments

1. Putting my children on a plane by themselves to fly away to Minnesota. It just seems wrong to send them hurtling through space without me. Plus JD took them to the airport because I was at work. He said they never looked back. Independent girls, they are.

2. Lucy deciding at 5am that there is something that needs a good barking at out in our backyard. It was either a burglar or a rabbit. Either would evoke the same frantic response from our vicious guard dog.

3. After finding ourselves awake at 4am, JD tells me a crazy dream he had about our friend Sally. I promptly fall back asleep and have my own wild dream about her. My seems hazy now, but involved a farm house, a tornado and a machine hurling giant clear water balloons at the house.

4. Walking by the girls bed and realizing they aren’t there. I do like having my chicks around me when darkness falls……..

Ready For Winter

August 2, 2010 in Family, Food, My People by Sara | 2 comments

One of the best things we did while visiting my family in Tennessee was to can green beans for the upcoming winter. Last year we did the same thing and it just about killed my mom and me. I was kind of dreading it, to tell the truth, because what I remembered from last year was spending hours and hours stringing and breaking beans while my mom labored over the hot stove and two pressure cookers and the house was a thousand degrees and felt like a sauna by the time we were done.

But there is nothing like green beans from the garden in the dead of winter when there is snow on the ground and summer feels a million days away. So we decided to do it all again.

This year was completely different. My mom and I kept looking at each other saying, “Why is this so much easier this year?”

One things was that we had a lot of hands helping with the work this year.

Three generations of bean breakers

We plowed through those two bushels of beans in not time flat. Now I know why farming families in the olden days had so many children. More hands = more work done quickly.

It still took most of the day to get them all processed. I guess the only way to speed that part up would be to have an industrial size kitchen with 10 pressure cookers going all at the same time. But it will be so worth it.

Thanks, Mom. Maybe next year you’ll even let me run one of the pressure cookers, huh?

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