About 3 months after Owen lost his job last July, he went to Wal-Mart one day to "stock up" on food so that we would have something to eat after we ran out of money. My first mistake was to let him go to Wal-Mart alone to shop for groceries. The second one was not giving him a list.
He came home with 5 rolls, 5 lbs each, of ground chuck....(the kind that I don't buy b/c I'm not sure what's in it); 9 lbs of frozen whiting fillets; 2 lbs of frozen tilapia fillets; 5 packages of tortillas (don't ask, I don't know why); 5 lbs of packaged lunch meat; some chicken breast fillets; a 20 lb bag of rice; and 5 lbs of beans. The list probably goes on, but I can't remember the rest. (For those of you who don't know him, Owen is an extreme person, so this really didn't shock me too much. ) His plan was to keep it in the deep freezer and pantry until we needed it.
We haven't used most of that food, so even though he still doesn't have a full-time job, it's there, stocked up in case we need it.
Last night at church, one of our members who has a mission ministry in Haiti spoke about an orphanage there. He showed pictures of them eating beans and rice and passing out beans and rice to the people in the nearby villages. He also told a story of a little girl playing with mud and making mud pies. She mixed it with cooking oil and then "baked" her mud pies in the hot Haitian sun. When it was time for dinner, her mother sadly told the little girl that she had nothing to feed her and they would have to eat the mud pies. The missionary told us that this is common in Haiti.
Today I decided to cook beans and rice for dinner because we like them and not because that's all we have. We are blessed far beyond comprehension.
Monday, March 31, 2008
Thursday, March 27, 2008
This morning started out great! I got up before everyone else and read my Bible. Later, the boys woke up and Little O did his quiet time and we had a nice breakfast. I couldn't think of a nicer way to begin our day.
We took too long eating, so at 8:30 when it was time to start school, Tyson wasn't done and I hadn't had my shower. I go nuts when things aren't on schedule, and we have a busy afternoon, so I decided to do our pledges and Bible after Owen's arithmetic test. That's when it all fell apart. Owen kept sitting there forgetting what 5+6 is. Big O decided that right then he needed me to help him find all the numbers that he lost when his cell phone died. Tyson felt the need to sing at the top of his lungs while sitting on the pot. Then Owen decided he was still hungry so he needed a second breakfast......this is what I get for skipping Bible. It's now 9:30 and instead of having finished Bible and the test and a few other things that normally we would have accomplished, I'm still waiting for Owen to eat his second breakfast and Tyson just dripped something nasty all over me and the phone is ringing off the hook!
We took too long eating, so at 8:30 when it was time to start school, Tyson wasn't done and I hadn't had my shower. I go nuts when things aren't on schedule, and we have a busy afternoon, so I decided to do our pledges and Bible after Owen's arithmetic test. That's when it all fell apart. Owen kept sitting there forgetting what 5+6 is. Big O decided that right then he needed me to help him find all the numbers that he lost when his cell phone died. Tyson felt the need to sing at the top of his lungs while sitting on the pot. Then Owen decided he was still hungry so he needed a second breakfast......this is what I get for skipping Bible. It's now 9:30 and instead of having finished Bible and the test and a few other things that normally we would have accomplished, I'm still waiting for Owen to eat his second breakfast and Tyson just dripped something nasty all over me and the phone is ringing off the hook!
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Newfound Friend
Patsy and I have only known each other for about 2 months, but I feel as if we've been friends all our lives. The first time we spent time together was because a mutual friend "set us up". We were both informed that we needed to be friends with each other. It thought Tammy, (the setter upper) was crazy telling me who to be friends with, but boy was she right!
In the short time I've known her, we two have become kindred spirits. Not too many people would I allow to see my laundry room at it's worst! We've done everything together from grocery shopping to cleaning up frog doo off of the screened-in porch for Owen's birthday party. We had a girls night out for dessert at the Melting pot on a whim this past Monday. Last week we went shopping for her post baby wardrobe....but instead I ended up getting an Easter dress. Every day we get together for something or another saying it's because our homeschooled boys need socialization, but more and more I'm realizing that I need her friendship as much as Owen needs Brenden's.
In the short time I've known her, we two have become kindred spirits. Not too many people would I allow to see my laundry room at it's worst! We've done everything together from grocery shopping to cleaning up frog doo off of the screened-in porch for Owen's birthday party. We had a girls night out for dessert at the Melting pot on a whim this past Monday. Last week we went shopping for her post baby wardrobe....but instead I ended up getting an Easter dress. Every day we get together for something or another saying it's because our homeschooled boys need socialization, but more and more I'm realizing that I need her friendship as much as Owen needs Brenden's.
Thursday, March 20, 2008
Tomorrow is Good Friday, the day that my Lord gave up His life for my sin.
He was pierced because of our transgressions,
crushed because of our iniquities;
punishment for our peace was on Him,
and we are healed by His wounds.
He was pierced because of our transgressions,
crushed because of our iniquities;
punishment for our peace was on Him,
and we are healed by His wounds.
We all went astray like sheep;
we all have turned to our own way;
and the LORD has punished Him
for the iniquity of us all.
Is. 64 : 5-6 HCSB
Lord of glory reigning in His majesty,
Ruling long before the worlds were formed.
Yet when darkness claimed His own,
He stepped from Heaven's throne
To bear a cross and wear a crown of thorns.
Son of God, so willingly He took my place,
Clothed in robes of frail humanity.
Fragile flesh and blood, priceless crimson flood
Offered up for sin at Calvary.
So high the price He paid,
The nails, the cross the grave.
Such pardon He bestowed.
Such grace He showed.
No greater sacrifice, He gave His very life!
So deep the love, so high the price!
Buried like a begger in a borrowed tomb,
Everything for nothing, so it seemed;
But death could never stand against the nail scarred hand,
The power of Heaven's resurrected King!
So deep the love, so high the price!
-Deborah Cruise Bailey
Monday, March 17, 2008
Rabbity Rabbit
When Tyson was 4 months old, his great-grandmother, Mimi, gave him a blue bunny rabbit. It was soft, cuddly and cute with a little pink nose and a white ribbon around it's neck. I put the rabbit in Tyson's crib and handed him to Tyson every once in a while to play with. Little did I know the long history the two of them would have together.
When Tyson was 2, he lost the bunny in a store. We lived in a rural town about 50 miles away from civilization, so our trips to the mall and such were few and far between. We were shopping one day in town and as we were leaving Tyson asked, "Where's bunny?" We retraced our day back to Burke's Outlet where we last saw the bunny, drove all over the parking lot and walked all around the store looking for something blue on the floor or ground. We didn't find him and Tyson was very sad. During this time, my husband was on a mission trip for 2 weeks, so not only did Tyson lose his most precious possession, he couldn't find his Daddy, either (2-year-olds don't understand where Sri Lanka is).
A week later, we had to make a trip back to town, so I took my good friend Michelle. Before we went home, we decided to go one last time and ask if anyone had turned in the bunny to lost and found. On the way there, Michelle prayed out loud for us, "Dear Father in the name of JESUS, we pray that bunny will be FOUND!"
When we got into the store, the only employee we could find didn't know anything about any lost and found. She half-heartedly looked under her register and motioned for us to take a look for ourselves under the other registers, then went back to her paying customers. I was about to leave when Michelle spotted something blue underneath a pile of newspapers. It was the bunny!!! Tyson didn't let that thing out of his sight for a week!
Tyson is now 4 years old, and Rabbity Rabbit (as he was just named about a month ago) is still a very important part of our family. Tyson now talks to Rabbity and pretends the bunny is talking back. Today when he was about to take a nap, Tyson ran and got the bunny off of the couch and told him, "It's okay, precious. I'm here now," and kissed the bunny's head.
When Tyson was 2, he lost the bunny in a store. We lived in a rural town about 50 miles away from civilization, so our trips to the mall and such were few and far between. We were shopping one day in town and as we were leaving Tyson asked, "Where's bunny?" We retraced our day back to Burke's Outlet where we last saw the bunny, drove all over the parking lot and walked all around the store looking for something blue on the floor or ground. We didn't find him and Tyson was very sad. During this time, my husband was on a mission trip for 2 weeks, so not only did Tyson lose his most precious possession, he couldn't find his Daddy, either (2-year-olds don't understand where Sri Lanka is).
A week later, we had to make a trip back to town, so I took my good friend Michelle. Before we went home, we decided to go one last time and ask if anyone had turned in the bunny to lost and found. On the way there, Michelle prayed out loud for us, "Dear Father in the name of JESUS, we pray that bunny will be FOUND!"
When we got into the store, the only employee we could find didn't know anything about any lost and found. She half-heartedly looked under her register and motioned for us to take a look for ourselves under the other registers, then went back to her paying customers. I was about to leave when Michelle spotted something blue underneath a pile of newspapers. It was the bunny!!! Tyson didn't let that thing out of his sight for a week!
Tyson is now 4 years old, and Rabbity Rabbit (as he was just named about a month ago) is still a very important part of our family. Tyson now talks to Rabbity and pretends the bunny is talking back. Today when he was about to take a nap, Tyson ran and got the bunny off of the couch and told him, "It's okay, precious. I'm here now," and kissed the bunny's head.
My amazing 6-year-old.
Little Owen just turned 6 a week ago. Owen is one of the most intelligent children I've ever known. He knew the alphabet and could count past 10 before he was 2. He knew all the sounds the letters made before he was 3. He learned to read when he was 4 and now reads on a 3rd or 4th grade level. He loves playing the piano and shooting hoops on the basketball goal he got for his birthday. We are alike in our personalities and get along very well together because we understand one another. I'm homeschooling him now....he's doing 1st grade work this year, making A's in everything...mostly perfect scores in arithmetic. Owen loves learning like I do, but he has also inherited my love of the great indoors. ;o) I have to force him to play outside because he'd much rather sit in the house and turn pasty white like I always am.
We invited all of Owen's friends to his 6th birthday party. (This was a first for us because family parties are well attended...usually 20 people or so.) He had a costume party and went as Spiderman. His best buddy came as Venom. We had a meteor shower hit our yard that morning, and the kids helped clean up the mess. They were rewarded with the treats inside the meteors...candy and toys. Owen's birthday cake was fudge marble with coconut pecan icing. We had a few other games planned, but the kids had a good time just playing freeze tag and hanging out in the yard together.
Maybe next time I'll write about Tyson.
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