Bad parenting and naked horses

Here's a dose of funnies for ya

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Just a typical morning (when Will is not home, that is). Jenny wakes me up, and our routine is TV and chill time. I was gonna try to make up for lost sleep by factoring in some "couch parenting". That is only possible if Troy is still asleep/in his crib.
I say it that way b/c if he is content to stay in crib and jabber to himself then so be it. When he starts to holler at us then we go get him and the real party begins.
So, I was snoozing in between Jenny coming and telling me all about her show, telling me she went to potty, asking for drink, for food, asking every question ever thought of.

One time when she came to me she had a giant sugar cookie with sprinkles.
She said, all casual between bites,

"I got a cookie".

I assumed that Will (who was hunting) had gotten into cookies and left the tupperware open. She is not in habit of opening containers of food.
I said "ok" to the cookie b/c i think that dentures are cool.

so then Troy started stirring. Then he hollered.
If i had to guess what he wanted to say it would be:

"hey women! i hear you! get me out of here and make me some breakfast! oh yeah, and i pooped myself!"

partially asleep i summoned my daughter to please go talk to her brother. that involves jenny just sitting in his bedroom chair and they cackle at each other. it will usually buy me about 3 minutes. b/c she ends up leaving his room and that makes him mad.

well, that's nice. it lasted much longer this time.

ok. he's mad. ok, finally i must get up and start this party. ok here i go on the count of 3. i'm really going to. ok i'm up.

Getting boy out of crib i notice he has crumbs on his butt. my sleepy brain doesn't think its odd at first b/c i am used to major crumb butt in the highchair.
but then i get confused. ??? wait a minute. oh i see.

"Jenny did you share your cookie with Troy?"

there were cookie crumbs in every nook of his body and every nook of his bed.
i brushed them all into the floor and vacuumed 3 times and then had to change crib sheet (and boy).

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bedtime around here is not quite all puff clouds and rainbows. Jenny has a habit of dragging it on and on, pulling wild tricks and carrying on. Its never a feel good moment when its been over 1 hr of all that jazz, you haven't heard a peep in 5 minutes, so you get a glimmer of hope........... only to suddenly hear Jenny say:

"momma can i wake up?"

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Jenny is all about giving her brother and Daddy a hug and kiss. they aren't allowed to go to bed without this special treatment. also Daddy can't leave house for work, hunting, jiu jitsu etc. without his proper goodbye.
there have been several times that later on she will realize she didn't get hug and kiss, and --oh have mercy-- now Daddy is gone or in his bed asleep. there is major breakdown to follow.
also she likes to walk Will to his bed like she is tucking him in.
one time when he didn't get tucked in, then there was the drama breakdown and she said:

"i didn't get to hug and kiss my daddy, and put him in bed! he's not allowed to do that anymore".

also one morning he was up in the kitchen before hunting. it was about 5am. she stirred and so he went and covered her up. then i heard him opening garage and leaving.
enter Jenny into the den with bucket of tears:

jenny--"my daddy is gone! my daddy is gone!"
me-----"he is only going hunting!"
jenny--"i didn't get to give him hug and kiss!!!!"

girl got back into bed and back to sleep, but she was torn up b/c she didn't know that he was leaving the house.

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Last night the kids were in the car watching "horse movie" as we call it---proper name "Spirit".
boy you just never do know what they are gonna say, do ya?

"Mommy why are horses naked all the time?"

Thanksgivings in Arkansas

I was thinking that I'd like to start a little stash of posts called Childhood Memories.

You know, its bad enough that people are all the time telling me to remember every morsel of these magical years with my children. telling me that i will forget so much if i don't write it down.

not to mention my OWN childhood----got to make some records of those memories also.

so in that spirit, i bring forth the first post of childhood memories devoted to Thanksgivings past.

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in my younger years, we traditionally would spend our thanksgivings in Fordyce, Arkansas. This is where my dad's parents lived. It was all i ever knew for them, and so thinking about them living somewhere else before that farm was very odd. We did go to see them at other occasions besides Thanksgiving, but whenever i think about their farm, i imagine it chilly outside with a crunchy ground and the smell of firewood.

whenever we would visit Fordyce, it would take eons to get there. many of our trips were from Jacksonville, AL to Fordyce. it took about 11 hrs.
i remember a few times (think 1985) that we would load up our wood panel station wagon at night, making a huge pallet in the back for us 3 kids to sleep on for the duration. then we typically would attempt to leave the house at like 4am. why would we do 4am? i have no idea, but that was our travel routine.
other times i remember using pillows to make a sleeping area in backseat of car (including someone sleeping in floorboard) (that would be me, the runt, in the floor board). we finally started to get too big for that plan, and also then my brothers started to swap driving with my parents at the appropriate age. so then there was alot of seat swapping, but little sis (me) continued to get the free pass to sleep the entire way. today my brother and husband will still pick at me b/c nothing can put me to sleep faster than a road trip to Ark.
anyway, lots of long hrs in the car and as you remember there were no DVD players. it was the golden age of the walkman, however. of course we only had one or two and we would share. of course i don't remember having any of my own tapes, just listening to my brothers' music. it was alot of Huey Lewis and the News, Whitesnake, and Chicago.
other activities were reading books--- perhaps in the dark, and finding new comfortable ways to sleep in the backseat, much like a pile of puppies.
i don't remember alot of restaurant meals but what i do remember, and what was the ultimate roadtrip treat, was the pit stop at the gas station. oh, no matter what backseat coma we were in, we'd bust out of that car for a good stretch and eagerly head inside to find what deliciousness was available for noshing. one of my brothers would always come back with a giant pickle in a bag of pickle juice.

it is at this time that i want to hail my parents for giving us "food freedom" for the bulk of our childhood. we were cautioned not to ruin our appetite on many an occasion, but overall we could eat whatever, whenever. it sounds so ....bad. but i always felt that it was completely normal. i was puzzled by other families with eating "rules".
so at these pit stops we would find 1 or 2 goodies, as usual whatever we wanted to eat from the selection, and a coke (in a glass bottle, with styrofoam label to peel off, mind you).

so we would head to Ark. in this manner. there wasn't much on the way, but i do know that whenever we drove over the Mississippi River bridge, into Ark, it was a time for everyone to wake up, stop all car activities and acknowledge:

"here we are driving over the Miss. river".

it was a moment i tell you. as a child i thought that the bridge was fascinating.

bridge over the Mississippi River in Greenville, MS

so then the next thrill would be getting into Fordyce and almost to my grandparents farm (in rural Ramsey). making a turn at a little country church and then heading past the deer camp, past my great grandparents home.
then the sound.
the sound that declared to all in the car that we had arrived. arrived at grandma and papaw's.
the sound of the car driving over the cattle gap.
it was this noise that often woke me and indicated our trip was over.

looking up i would see their home, certainly with smoke coming from the chimney and cars galore in the yard.

the next thing to be noted was their carport. highlights included greetings from farm dogs (maybe Fritz or Hobo), Papaw's collection of work boots next to the steps and his chair, the firewood boxes on either side of the chimney, and their red door. but more notably the screen door which had a distinct sound and would slam loudly if care not taken.

inside was lite paneling on walls and dark 70's carpet with a few burnt spots from fire sparks, just where they had been the last time i visited. the rock fireplace with sunburst set into the stone and wood burning stove was a focal point. on either side of fireplace was the wood boxes (opening to outside) with cushion bench covers, where i would peek out the window looking for family to drive up the gravel road, deer to slip across the field or snow to fall.

to my left was Grandma's kitchen and more than likely Grandma. she had to have spent 15 hrs a day in that kitchen. she forever was cooking. things to remember in her kitchen include a vintage yellow fridge with lift out handle, rotary phone where any and all calls were made (no cells) and brown pottery style dishes serving up fried deer meat, fried taters, corn, sweet tater biscuits and an assortment of jams. when i think about her greeting us, i think about her hands being wet but warm from dishwater.

to my right was Papaw in his den. He would read his Bible or watch football in his black leather chair, or play solitaire with a real deck of cards---imagine that---at the coffee table. and when i think about him getting up to greet us, i think of a toothpick in his mouth.

creaking down the hall ---there was no way to do it quietly--- you would find 4 bedrooms and 2 baths. Memories of that area of the home include Grandma and Papaw's insanely deep feather bed, their tub with the special rubber ducky, big stash of wrigley's chewing gum in Papaw's sock drawer, a giant wall of photo frames all down the hallway, and Rhonda's bedroom closet filled with treasured toys from the 70's, all for us to play with.

there was no telling where you were gonna sleep when you all got there. because all the Williams were coming to town. back then there was gonna be 12 of us, and in later yrs there could have been 18 there at one time.

time would be passed with cooking or cleaning up meal mess for the women, hunting or football on TV for the men, and any variety of board games played at the dining room table by whomever felt the urge. Also some years we enjoyed a ladies shopping trip on Black Friday involving a road trip to Pine Bluff's mall.

but there is one thing that i enjoyed the most. the very most. even more than my Grandma's food. it was a special, special time of tradition during each visit where we would pull out a dozen song books, brought from one church building or the other, and we would have ourselves a regular gospel singing right there in the den.

i can't really explain, but that seemed to be a common ground for everyone in the room. all of us different ages, coming from different towns or states and rarely seeing one another, but during that singing was felt a union. even now when i sing gospel songs with other people, even the same songs--- no other time is it a feeling like when i was singing with my father's family.

pitch pipe, if you are unfamiliar

so after deer were skinned, songs sang, leftovers rummaged, board game pieces recovered, then we'd head back to our corners of the world. not likely to all be together again for another year.

it is these times, that cannot be revisited for many reasons, that i want to remember.

p.s. i was made very aware of how NOT organized my pictures are when i set about looking for some old Thanksgiving photos. i know they are here in my house. if i find them i'll get them on here.

Tired Men and Miraculous Birth

just a couple of laughs today:

these both happened at bedtime when we were reading stories on Jenny's bed (Troy already asleep in his crib).
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last night Jenny was asking all sorts of questions about Santa while we were reading "the night before Christmas". (it was kind of mandatory that we read a Santa book, having just been in his lap that evening.) i explained about Santa having to supervise elves all year making all the toys for all the kids in the world. and then he would have to ride all night making all those toy deliveries on Christmas Eve.
Jenny-----"what is he gonna do after he is done?"
Me------- "well he's gonna be pretty tired. he will have worked very hard all night. he's probably gonna go home and go right to sleep. kind of like your daddy working at the railroad all night long and then crawling in his bed to sleep all day, right?"
Jenny ----"those are some tired men!"




then tonight we read about baby Jesus. just a classic golden book with the bible story in it. She is forever talking or asking questions while i read. got to stop and answer a question for every page.
Jenny---"i want to be an angel"
Me------"well when you get to heaven you can ask if you can be one. it doesn't hurt to ask"
Jenny---"well, i want to have a baby in my tummy. i want to be Mary"
Me------"well.........you can't be like Mary. because God put the baby in Mary's belly"

wait a minute. thinking.....thinking......... must find a way to correct this without going into detail about Mary's ......purity.

Me------"well, God put babies in my tummy too, but Mary was extra special. some day hopefully you can be like me and have babies in your belly. after you meet Prince Charming and get married you can have babies together."
Jenny---"well........who is my Prince Charming?"

oh we are back to that again. always with the wondering, who could he be??
oh well. whew. subject changed. crisis averted.

First Santa Sighting 2010

Tonight we enjoyed some early Christmas festivities.
here are some background details---

When our congregation moved to new location, they were asked (i think by Chamber of Commerce) if they would host the community Christmas tree in our church's front "yard".
Having an annual tree lighting event has proved a fantastic way to meet more people in our community.

It is similar to an open house. (huh, that reminds me that reminiscing open house is a whole "nother" post i want to do later.)

anyway, for the tree lighting, there is Xmas music, hot beverages and one bajillion cookies (provided by church members) to be enjoyed inside the building and a long trail of paper sack luminaries leading to our tree. after the music, we all walk out to the tree and Santa rides up on a vintage firetruck covered in Xmas lights. it is a sight to behold. it makes me want to cry, its so magical, and i am 31 yrs old. Santa lights our tree up and then he is swarmed by children.

So anyway tonight, i arrived late for the music, which is for the best b/c when you are going solo with 2 tots you can't sit still and listen to anything. let me re phrase. you can't sit still, ever.
but also i arrived late b/c i was seeing the husband off to work. he only had about 30 minutes to spend with us, so that is how it went down.
when we arrived, we headed for the cafe--- Troy cruisin in his 2007 Graco. this is an "overflow" room with extra seating and a big screen displaying the music from the auditorium. also a room where people with small kids gather b/c of the previously mentioned issue-- "can't sit still"-- AND don't forget, the gigantic stash of cookies is in the cafe.
so we 3 loaded up on cookies and coffee, prepped 2 sippie cups with hot cocoa. chatted with friends and eventually made our trek to the outdoor tree.
as a mom of tots, there is a certain amount of time that i spend everyday calculating the most miniscule, routine tasks. these are actions that alot of other people perform without even noticing or knowing that it could ever be a complicated fiasco. i will think about a problematic issue and have to create a solution.
of course a critical mom skill is creatively solving surprise problems the instant that they are presented.
But i am talking about realizing that in a couple of days or even weeks there is gonna be an issue, and spending time solving that problem in the back of my mind.
one example of this being--- me tonight with Troy in his stroller and Jenny on foot. headed to the crowd at the tree right next to road (busy hixson pike). knowing from experience that the stroller did not agree to going off road onto the grassy lot where the tree was.
so days ago i knew my solution was to unfortunately abandon stroller at that point and carry Troy with me to tree. small potatoes for some people, but my boy is a BIG UN. and there's no husband with me, with big arm muscles to pawn big boy off on. also remember that i must keep close tabs on Jenny. also she can't see much b/c she is short. Can't really have her on my shoulders like Will did last yr since i am holding big boy in arms.
Enter a super sister who grabbed my girl and got her front and center to Santa and the tree also.

This is the way God intended for us to behave.
Seeing another person's need and taking care of it on the spot.
just one more thing to love about God's plan.

When the tree lit up both of my kids had stars in their eyes. Troy is speechless every day, but he was extra speechless. HA. he kept pointing to the tree.
This was the first time for Jenny to visit with that Santa. She has only been to our mall Santa until now. She stood in the swarm with me and Troy and waited her turn. it was major attack on St. Nick, so i told her to pick one thing to tell Santa that she wanted. All this time she is quiet as a mouse. when it was her turn, she reached out and wanted him to pick her up into his lap. of course this is the moment where i strain to hear, like all parents around me, what my child tells Santa. no success. Santa didn't reveal either, i suspect he could not understand her.

as we walked away i knew why he did not understand b/c when i asked what did she tell him, she said she asked him for "princess roll the dough". its the disney princess magic rise oven. so now i know what she wants the most. she informed me that she made that rational decision over the "baby kitchen" she has also been obsessing over b/c i keep telling her Santa probably doesn't bring baby toys to big girls. she wanted to make sure she told him something valid. also she rationalized that princess roll the dough is a big girl oven, and ovens are part of a kitchen.

Princess roll the dough, in the oven ready to go

Jenny talked non stop about Santa after that. Walking back to car, driving home, winding down at the house before bed.
Here are some of the statements that she made related to Mr. Claus:

• "Momma, I told you Santa was gonna come tonight, didn't I?!"

• "my wish is gonna come true!"

• "Momma, i loved seeing Santa. he is my most favorite guy" (oh boy. Daddy will love that)

• "I'm gonna be a good girl for my naps so i'm not on naughty list"

However this did not deter her from coming home and scribbling green marker all over top of her princess table (not a big deal b/c it wipes off, but it was a no no and she has never done it). after committing crime she quietly ran to her room and shut the door, and that is when i knew something was up.
and also, after lights out, tonight's shenanigans included slurping water from her nightstand sippie and spitting it all over her sheets and down onto carpet. a standard tactic for her. then proclaiming to me that her "bed is ruined!" and expecting me to change her bedding.

i guess tomorrow i'll go look for some lumps of coal.........heh heh

p.s. i was unable to take pictures tonight, but maybe i will try to bum some pics of the event off of FB friends later

Back to the Blog

Greetings from the hole that i crawled into. what a super long blog funk that was! you know you get a writers block, and then you just get out of the habit. my apologies, mostly to myself!

so i'm gonna have to make a change and start recording my best writings here once more. i see this is the easiest option for actually getting this good stuff made into a real scrapbook. besides that, i just desire to write much much more than simple brief facebook posts.

Its been a wild and utterly tiresome year, but equally a golden year-- completely maxed out on super-cute cheek-pinching joy. Children make it easy to combine the 2 complete opposite descriptions.

For my short revival post i will leave you with recent pictures of our mun chi chis playing on a fall day:

Red mini monster Troy


Little Lady Lovely Locks Jenny