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Monday in Mississippi

Wake up sleepy from staying up too late reading (Same Kind of Different as Me)...coffee...Wyatt makes oatmeal for the kids because he's AWESOME...tell the kids not to let the dog out because it's trash day...wonder where the cat is...shower...remind kids not to let the dog out....dress....get kids dressed...late rising kids get up and complain that all the oatmeal is gone...notice the dog is out by the trash bags....call dog and remind kids AGAIN not to let the dog out until the trash has been collected...check email...Wyatt goes to work...delegate laundry jobs...delegate morning chores...eat breakfast while fending off Abby who says in my ear, "A bite, a bite, a bite A BIIIITE!!"...reading for school...do dishes...more school, science now...plant seeds for herb garden...over react when seeds get spilled after they've been plated in pots...apologize...over react when kids are WAY to loud...apologize again...send out a search and rescue for the cat...no luck...snack time...plan dinner...a little math for Wyatt Henry...change poopy diaper...over react when I see Lizzie's room...apologize AGAIN..notice a pattern here and make some coffee.. lunch time...wonder why the heck everyone is so dang LOUD today...notice that I still haven't seen the cat...facebook briefly....check email...more laundry...lay abby down for nap...outside chores...swat bugs, decline bug spray offer from my son ...more science...swat bugs,decline bug spray offer from my again....call dog from cow pasture...find out whose turn it is to wash the dog...more yardwork...swat bugs, explain that the bugs are around my face and that I don't want to spray my face with OFF... assure Ben he isn't about to die from picking up branches...no it's not so hot that he will burn up...more yardwork......wonder when we moved to a swamp and spray everyone with bug spray, including my face and hair...wheel barrow with branches, weeds and fish guts (??!!??) spills over...assign Wyatt and Lizze to clean it up...Where is the dadgum cat??...break up fight between Lizzie and Wyatt over fish guts...call Ben back outside...dog rolls in previously mentioned fish guts... finish yardwork...tell kids they can turn on the hose...dog chases a jeep...dog catches a jeep...dog rolls to the side of the road with dislocated elbow (although my money was on a broken leg)...kids freak out...jeep driver freaks out...jeep driver picks up smelly wounded dog and carries her to middle of the yard..kids continue freaking out...assure Jeep driver it's not her fault the idiot dog chased her jeep...jeep driver leaves, still a little freaked out...call Wyatt...try to wash a little of the nastiness off the dog...Wyatt and Liz take dog to vet...tell the boys they can play in the hose...shower...start dinner...Abby wakes from marathon nap...take several calls about the dog...rock Abby...more cooking...tell boys to turn off the hose...ground Ben from water play for a week for pitching a fit...change Abby...tell Sam to pull his pants up...more dinner....tell Sam to pull up his pants...get Sam a belt...get kids out of back of Russell's truck...more dinner...wait for Wyatt and Liz..get kids out of Russell's truck...finish dinner...Send Wyatt Henry for yet another cat search and rescue...still nothing...Wyatt, Liz and Russell back..get kids OUT of Russell's TRUCK!...Ham, sweet potatoes and green beans for dinner...happy and amazed everyone eats!...send kids out to play...clean kitchen...check email...facebook briefly..change poopy diaper...decide a bath is really the route necessary...throw in Sam while I'm at it...pjs and all the little ones to bed...coffee and facebook for far too long.....hope the cat is back tomorrow...remember I told Lizzie I'd fix her blog...try to fix her blog...go to bed and wonder why i had coffee at 8:30...

An Easter Carol

Tomb, thou shalt not hold Him longer;
Death is strong, but Life is stronger;
Stronger than the dark, the light;
Stronger than the wrong, the right.
Faith and Hope triumphant say,
Christ will rise on Easter-Day.

While the patient earth lies waking,
Till the morning shall be breaking,
Shuddering 'neath the burden dread
Of her Master, cold and dead,
Hark! she hears the angels say,
Christ will rise on Easter-Day.

And when sunrise smites the mountains,
Pouring light from heavenly fountains,
Then the earth blooms out to greet
Once again the blessed feet;
And her countless voices say,
Christ has risen on Easter-Day.

Up and down our lives obedient
Walk, dear Christ, with footsteps radiant,
Till those garden lives shall be
Fair with duties done for Thee;
And our thankful spirits say,
Christ arose on Easter-Day.

~ Bishop Phillips Brooks (1835-1893)

It's Friday...but Sunday is coming!

On Easter

In the sidebar of my blog is a little column called "Say it Again." There I usually post a quote relevant to the season. Today, when I searched for quotes regarding Easter, I found so many I loved, I could not limit myself to one. So, here they are. Enjoy, and have a truly, truly blessed Easter.

"The joyful news that He is risen does not change the contemporary world. Still before us lie work, discipline, sacrifice. But the fact of Easter gives us the spiritual power to do the work, accept the discipline, and make the sacrifice."
~Henry Knox Sherrill

"Could life so end, half told; its school so fail?
Soul, soul, there is a sequel to thy tale!"
~Robert Mowry Bell


"Easter is the demonstration of God that life is essentially spiritual and timeless." ~Charles M. Crowe

"The resurrection gives my life meaning and direction and the opportunity to start over no matter what my circumstances." ~Robert Flatt


"Easter says you can put truth in a grave, but it won't stay there." ~Clarence W. Hall


"It is the hour to rend thy chains,
The blossom time of souls." ~Katherine Lee Bates

"Let every man and woman count himself immortal. Let him catch the revelation of Jesus in his resurrection. Let him say not merely, "Christ is risen," but "I shall rise." ~Phillips Brooks


"On Easter Day the veil between time and eternity thins to gossamer." ~Douglas Horton

"Once more to new creation Awake,
and death gainsay,
For death is swallowed up of life,
And Christ is risen today! " ~George Newell Lovejoy

"There is not room for Death,
Nor atom that his might could render void:
Thou - Thou art Being and Breath,
And what Thou art may never be destroyed." ~Emily Bronte


"And he departed from our sight that we might return to our heart, and there find Him. For He departed, and behold,...He is here." ~St Augustine

Science Fair

Our homeschool group had a science fair a few weeks back. Wyatt made a worm bed for his science project. This was inspired by his Mammaw who had wanted to start a worm bed for some time. With her generous provisions of a cooler, the worms, the worm food and the peat moss, (which means she bought everything!)Wyatt put together a very cool worm bed. Very handy for the little fisherman. We did not bring the worm bed to the science fair. We didn't want muddy water leaking onto the carpet. But he did have step by step instructions with pictures on his display board. He was mighty proud of himself, as you can plainly see!

Lizzie did her project on horses. Her generous donation...a 12" plastic horse, came from her babysitter, Anna. (Actually, the horse was gift long before the science fair.)Anyway, Lizzie labeled all, or at least alot, of the parts of a horse. She had interesting facts about horses posted on her diaply board. For example, did you know that the first horseshoe was believed to be invented by the Romans and was called a hipposandal? Lizzie also including pictures showing the differences between a western sadle and an english saddle and picture of her favorite type of horse, a Welsh Pony.

This was Ben's first year to enter the science fair. He did his on the life cycle of a frog. We got him a mail-order tadpole and he fed it and watched in transform into a froglet and then a frog. He print out pictures of the different stages and colored them himself. He did some of the labeling as well. Right aftt he was finished, he took the lid off the frog's container to feed him, and don't you know that frog was floating on the top of the water! The DAY BEFORE the science fair, it dies. Well, he was pretty upset, but he pulled himself together and after I convinced him that he didn't need a LIVE model for his display, he proudly stood by his pictures and rubber frogs!

Well, not to be left out of the fun, Sammy also had a science project. He saw Lizzie labeling her horse, grabbed a toy dinosaur and made his own labels. Or label. His display consisted of a demonstration of how dinosaurs ROAR! GREAT WORK GUYS!!!!

NEWSFLASH!

OOOOOOOOHHHHH!!!!! I'm so excited! My very groovy and talented friend Claudia Mair Burney has agreed to an interview here at Just a Thought! YAY! We'll be chatting about her latest novel, "Deadly Charm", (the 3rd book in the Amanda Bell Brown series)and LOTS more! Now, if you're not familiar with Ms. Burney's books, you are obviously new here. I've been flapping my lips about them for quite some time. But in any case, here's a list.



My first read by Mair...sigh! My supplier and bff, Elysa hooked me up.


I won this one at Ms. Burney's blog. Talented and generous!


Just finished this one last week. I LOVE this series! I wonder if there will be more? Hmmmmmm.....




WHEW!!! This one is HOT!

uh....ahem, I haven't read this one yet. YET!!!


This one REALLY spoke to me. Read it.


Now, get thee to thy nearest Barnes and Noble and get familiar. You won't be disappointed.

Conversation with Sickling

My 5 year old son Ben was sick as a dog last night. Here are some words we shared while I sat with him in bed. Ben was sick to his stomach..I was wiping his face with a cool cloth.

Ben: "Mommy...was I yelling bleeding murder?"
Me: "It's 'bloody murder'..screaming bloody murder. And no, you weren't, although you were pretty loud."

(silence)

Ben: "um...mommy, there's something I think I need to do."
Me: "What do you need to do?"
Ben: "Throw up!"

(This wasn't exactly a newsflash...the child had been vomitting all evening and it was now after midnight.)

Ben: "This time I'm going to scream bloody murder."
Me: "That's not a very good plan. Everyone else is alseep."
Ben: "Well, I'm gonna do it If I have to."

Ben: Mommy, what color do you think it's gonna be next time?
Me: "?"
Ben: "Last time it was red, the time before that it was orange, and the time before that it was green...what color do you think it's gonna be next?
Me: "Hmmm...maybe purple?"
Ben: "Wait, why was it all those colors?"
Me: "Well, the Kool-Aid was red, the jello was orange, and the nasty, (and apparently ineffective) medicine was green." (past-date phenergan...totally useless)
Ben: "OH! But why would it be purple next? I didn't drink anything purple."
Me: "I don't know, i was just playing around."

Ben goes on the describe the color and content of his spewing earlier this evening, despit my pleas to "not talk about it anymore." I'll spare you the details.
He's much better today, by the way.

Next!

Sam is now finished. It's Ben's turn. :-(

...

...Still puking......