~Wednesday Review~

My knees hurt.

I'm tired and feel a little defeated.

Sometimes teaching school makes me feel less than intelligent.

Is it just me, or is it DIFFICULT to teach a 4th grader that there are 60 ten-thousands in 600,000?!

Tough concept.

I got irritated and frustrated today more than I would like to admit. 

I have a million thoughts running around my head which wears me out. 

Pretty sure God is the only being that could stand to listen to it all. 

Wish I could sit at my dining room table across from Him, open my head and heart, pour it all out, and have Him bring clarity and perfection to the cluttered mess. 

Truths that I am thankful for today:

"My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong." 2 Cor. 12 9-10

~Even though left to myself, I am a complete mess, grace will cover me. 

I have been properly equipped to accomplish the purposes God has for me.~

"A family is a place where principles are hammered and honed on the anvil of everyday living."

~stacey

~Strange But True~

1. Old dogs really can learn new tricks.

Exhibit A:
for THREE WEEKENDS IN A ROW, I have bought the following week's groceries and had bonafide dinners ready at supper time pretty much every night. Don't know if anyone but me has noticed but I feel a lot less spastic, much more satisfied with my job as wife/mother, and the conversations at the table are, as usual, priceless.

Exhibit B:
My newly formed habit that I'm in love with:

They are $1 each, they hold SO much, are easier to get out of my car into the house, and I feel so resourceful. I just about smile every time I grab my bags off the hook in the mud room and head to the store. A tree hugger I am not, but small changes make a difference. which leads me to my next thing....

Exhibit 3:

Recycling DRASTICALLY reduces the amount of waste leaving this household.
For real.
We were a twoHUGEbulgingtrashcans per week people until I realized that the city will happily give you two handy dandy recycling cans to be picked up twice a month.
We are now barelyoneandahalffulltrashcanswithtwonearlyfullrecyclingcans people.
Again. Not a tree hugger but I can't lie! I do like waste reduction.

2. That Touch of Mink, starring Doris Day and Carey Grant, just may be the best movie ever made.
You really should watch it. You and Your Honey.  Put your kids in the bed and get cozy.
(see it FREE if you do a one week trial of amazon prime.....you can watch a million movies. free. forget netflix! ;-) )
I absolutely. love. this. movie.

3.  You really can live in a house six+ months without buying a bit of furniture for it. There's a lot to be said for learning a little about delayed gratification.

4. We survived our first week of school. I think we may actually make it the whole year.
Does anyone remember prime factorization?
.....'Cuz I could teach a class on it. .....I've never in my adult life needed this skill but apparently, it is "fundamental for algebra and ALL math" so I had to learn it. 'cuz I had to teach it. ......so yeah. call me if you need a refresher course.

Brad just asked me to come outside and talk to him while he cleans out his truck. Since we are having fake fall weather, AND he's been at the hospital a fair amount this weekend, I think I will.
Hope your Sunday evening is wonderful and that your week is productive, semi-peacful, full of minimal tears, lots of smiles, and memories made with your family.
~every day is a gift.

~stacey

~Darcy, Knightly, Edward, and Brad~(again)

This is an oldie.....but I just felt like it needed to be re-posted.

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

~Darcy, Knightly, Edward, and Brad~ I admit that I am the world's biggest sucker for a great romance. I swoon. (that word is way past it's prime but I can't resist typing it) Any way you slice it, I'm GOING to be a fan. Darcy, cravat and all....... Mr. Knightly. Completely devoted to Emma.........*sigh* Edward absolutely cannot function without knowing Bella is safe. He exists for no other reason than to love her...... The list is long and the stories are oddly similar. He wants her. Needs her, even. The wanting part is better than the needing  because there's nothing you have to do to be wanted except to breathe. Those movies leave you firmly believing that several years and children later, a few pounds heavier, and after every detail of who she is is no longer a  mystery, the man will still want his girl. Really want her. If I ask Brad Wall to live up to the ridiculousness of a vampire madly in love with his soul mate or werewolves imprinting , bless his heart. I mean, c'mon, man. Seriously. If I expect to only ever get an, "As you wish" response from this man I married, I am in deep trouble. Those movies conveniently omit financial stress, selfishness, sleepless nights, a messy house, extreme exhaustion, a broken ice maker, kids with rotten attitudes, long days at the office, and a myriad of other realities. WHO would pay to see that movie?! Quite a while ago, I came to my firm belief that the single most attractive trait in a man is none other than the quality of commitment. Maybe it was when, before Brad was leaving for six months, went out in our backyard at midnight to chop down a tree stump that I was worried about the kids falling over. (In nothing more than his shorts and hiking boots.) I hung out the window, loudly whispering to him, "Stop that! You don't have to chop down that tree right now! It'll be fine!" My heart was screaming, he loves me and cares about these senseless details.  I almost swooned. -sorry. there's that word again. More recently, after having the luxury of spending a week in the woods, hunting deer with one of his best friends, he came home rested. Renewed. As only a guy would know, he told me how God had spoken to him on the deer stand. Weird. I know. It has to be a guy thing. There's no other explanation. (The only thing I would hear on a deer stand would be my teeth chattering or a warm bed calling my name. ) Anyway, in our kitchen, after being home a day or so, he hugged me and very simply said, "Honey, I want you to know I've prayed all these years that God would give me eyes only for you and He's done that.  I'm so thankful for you." he then proceeded to tell me how cute he thinks I am....... TMI. anyway.... It is a moment I will never forget and one almost to intimate to share but I find myself compelled to. And I think this is the reason: I want to challenge you to honor those qualities in your husband that matter. Faithful is something a man can be.  A vampire or mythical millionaire in a top hat? He's not going to measure up. If you are married to a man who is committed to you, give him a big hug tonight. Whether he pumps your gas, bathes your kids, drives them to school, says he's sorry, cleans a bathroom, takes you to dinner, tells you you're cute, or goes to work every day, tell him thanks.   ~stacey

~Dear Mama Friends~

Dear Mama Friends,

I'm writing this farewell letter to all my sweet Mama Friends whose kids are getting back to it tomorrow or whenever. It pains me to say it but it's already that time again. It's like we are all about to be swallowed up and I miss you already.

School is starting. And if that were it, JUST school, there would be no need for this note. BUT.
We all know that's not it. Couldn't be that simple.

There's school, homework, parties, fundraisers, fall festivals, work, football, soccer, cheer leading, ballet, gymnastics, tennis, coaching, teaching, piano, guitar, violin, traveling, holidays, supper, board meetings, early risings, exercising, husbands, packing lunches, signing forms, folders, binders, laundry, and sleeping.

All that. ALL THAT is the reason I feel the need to say this:

I love you. I love that we are all in this together. Please forgive me when I forget to call you back or worse still, don't even hear the phone ring because I'm on it, emailing a poor, unsuspecting teacher that my child or I may be doomed to failure and that all I'm asking is that she not kick us out. 

If you pass me in the car, as I speed out of the neighborhood on two wheels, you wave, and I don't wave back, it's not on purpose. Don't call the police. I'm not texting. I'm most likely looking for a good place to turn around to go back and get the lunch box somebody forgot. 

If I call you crying, or ranting, please humor me and listen. I'm sorry ahead of time. I'm prone to a weak moment every now and again and try as I might to limit my verbal vomit to Brad, my mom, or sister, there is the rare occurrence that they are all unavailable. In that instance, you girls are up. So be ready. Remind me that it's going to be okay. And with the curveballs life is sure to throw me, you'll still love me. If my sweet kids go loco, you'll still love me. I promise to still love you. My Steele Magnolias.

So, as we pass each other  at 7:30 a.m. in our kid heavy SUV's, make-upless,  baseball caps pulled down low, smile and say a prayer. 

"Lord, bless my crazy friend. She is as busy as I am and we all need a little extra mercy from You. Help us to find peace in the busy and give us the wisdom to know when to stop what. Help us not loose sight of our purpose and calling. Show us how to train these precious kids you've loaned us. They are 100% our primary job right now and we want to do it right.
Amen." 

~stacey