K4 and Beyond

Yesterday was the boys' last day of K4. It was also their last day at First Presbyterian Preschool here in Greenville.

We had a great year thanks to their teacher Ms Cyndi and the other staff, Ms Caroleen, Ms Ashley, and Ms Brittney.

I especially appreciate Ms Cyndi for the care she gave to my boys during their first school year as new students to FPP and Greenville. As a mother, you want to be comfortable with who you leave your children with. Ms Cyndi provided that comfort for me from the first day I dropped them off at an unfamiliar school. She assured me that they were in good hands and proved it for the rest of the year. My boys made great friends as well as improving their learning skills.

One of the advantages of moving to G'ville is that JB only has a 5 t0 10 minute commute to work. And his work hours compliment school hours. I would get up; get the boys ready for school and JB would take them and I picked them up at 11:30.

Their "End of the Year" program was a few weeks ago. Part of their program included each of the 4 year old students telling what they wanted to be when they grow up. They each had a few lines to learn about the profession and had to dress the part.

CB chose to be a baseball player; imagine that. He stood in front of the sanctuary dressed as baseball player in his T-Ball uniform. "Someday I'll be a baseball player, now just you wait and see. I'll swing my bat and catch the ball. You can watch me on TV."

BB chose to be a policeman. He, too, stood in front of the sanctuary dressed as a policeman in a uniform he got for Christmas. "A policeman is what I'll be. So don't be surprised one day. When I give you a ticket and you have to pay."

My mom and dad were able to come for the program and they brought fish to fry! So after the program we all headed back to the house for a fish fry! It was delish.

So next year they will begin K5. Until then...I'm gonna enjoy this summer with them and the blessing it will bring.

How To Provoke Your Child into Anger

How can you provoke your child into anger (Eph. 6:24)? …Here are some easy steps:

1. Spoil him.

2. Give him everything he wants, even more than you can afford. Just charge it so you can get him off your back.

3. When he does wrong, nag him a little but don’t spank him.

4. Foster his dependence on you. Don’t teach him to be independently responsible. Maintain his dependence on you so later drugs and alcohol can replace you when he’s older.

5. Protect him from all those mean teachers who want to discipline him from time to time. And threaten to sue them if they don’t let him alone.

6. Make all of his decisions for him because he might make mistakes and learn from them if you don’t.

7. Criticize his father to him, or his mother, so your son or daughter will lose respect for his parents.

8. Whenever he gets into trouble, bail him out. Besides if he faces any real consequence, it might hurt your reputation.

9. Never let him suffer the consequences of his behavior. Always step in and solve his problems for him so he will depend on you and run to you when the going gets tough and never learn how to solve his problems.

10. If you want to turn your child into a delinquent, let him express himself anyway he feels like it.

11.Don't run his life, let him run yours.

12. Don't bother him with chores. Do everything for him then he can be irresponsible all his life and blame others when things don’t get done right.

13. Be sure to give in when he throws a temper tantrum.

14. Believe his lies because it’s too much hassle to try to sort through to get the truth.

15. Criticize others openly; criticize others routinely so that he will continue to realize that he is better than everybody else.

16. Give him a big allowance and don’t make him do anything for it.

17. Praise him for his good looks, never for character.

Credit where it's due: I got this from a customer's blog...

John MacArthur
God’s Pattern for Parents – Part 2, The article originally appeared (www.gty.org/Resources/Sermons/1950B) at www.gty.org. © 1969-2008. Grace to You.

T-Ball and Tempers

This year is our first year to play any kind of sport. It starts with T-Ball. So with this being our first year to play a sport...it's been my first time to be a "sport mom".

First, let me start off by saying that JB and I are so proud of our boys. Both CB and BB have enjoyed playing and are doing really well. Of course...BB is not quite as passionate as CB but still tries his best. If he continues to show his anxiety like he does...he is definitely my child. We have met some really great people through their team and I have been so pleased with the parental support the team has at each game; the bleachers are full.

JB is an assistant coach and I, along with a few other moms, have had to step in and help. We helping moms are in the "dugout" such as it is...taking care of the batting line up...keeping their equipment ready to go...and crowd control for those waiting to bat. It's been interesting to say the least considering I have never played any type of T-Ball or softball. I am having to learn the rules game by game.

While I am glad to be an involved mom on the team...it's a 2 edged sword. I can't take a lot of pictures and I can't just relax to watch the game. Instead, I tend to get too involved and thus finding myself having to hold my "temper" back. Let me clarify...I don't get upset with our players..they are doing so well and it is really cute to see them play. However...it's been the opposing team coaches and umpires that I seem to loose it with. (Disclosure: For those that know me best and know how I can "loose it"...I haven't done anything extreme.)

When it comes to rules...I am true believer in following them and I further expect others to obey them with integrity. There have been a few coaches that can make this game too competitive thus loosing some of the fun for the parents and kids. With that competitiveness they tend to loose integrity. And that is when my temper flares. So not to go into further detail... I am trying to remind myself before each game...Who I represent on and off the field; that is Christ and my family.

The boys play a total of 10 games with 3 games a week. There is supposed to be a tournament at some point but we haven't been told when that will be.

The boys have been hitting well with BB hitting a winning hit. He was the last batter for one of the games...his hit brought in 2 players that won the game. CB has also been hitting well. Now for outfield...the story is a little different. Those of you with young ones know what I mean...their attention span seems to leave as soon as they hit the field. But over all...the whole team is doing well. We've lost a few and we've won a few. I just try to keep it all in perspective and make it fun for the kids.

Bitter Sweet...

I was in the 6th grade. It was in a cafeteria at a local school. There were hardly any children or youth. There wasn't even a full time pastor or music minister. But what they did have was a vision, a mission, and a love for people that enveloped all those who visited and joined including my family.

It was Ridgecrest Baptist Church, my church family and home for the next 21 years. It was where I made and have kept my best friends, where I rededicated my life to Christ, where I spent my "youth" years, where I graduated high school and later on college, where I was married, where I dedicated my babies, where my children spent their preschool years, where JB and I served along side some of our dearest friends for the 9 years we have been married, where I became apart of a family that will be for eternity. I saw Ridgecrest go from worshipping in a school cafeteria to the sanctuary it uses now and all that came in between.

Today, I had a bittersweet moment, we became the newest members of FBC Greenville.

Bitter because a huge part of me wanted to leave my membership at Ridgecrest. You see, leaving somewhere you have been apart of for over 20 years is hard; leaving somewhere that has had such an impact on your life spiritually, emotionally, and relationally. Leaving a place where those pivotal and milestone moments that I listed above happened. I didn't want to leave behind the life I had there. And somehow holding on to that membership kept apart of my life back home and kept me apart of that life. I didn't want to face another final and official goodbye as I have had so many this past year. Bitter because for me, saying goodbye is harder than saying "hello". I can control and handle the "hello's" a little easier than I can the goodbyes. Bitter most of all because it's the beginning of an end. A time to let go when you don't want to let go but knowing it's the right thing to do.

But there is the Sweet. Sweet from becoming new family members. Sweet because of the blessings God has in store for us. Sweet because of the new friends we have made. And excited about the new ones to come. Sweet because of the service God has for us through FBC.

While we miss our dear family and friends back home...I have a feeling and my prayer is that maybe just maybe...one day I'll be able to post about having the best of both worlds....2 families in 2 different places that I can call home.

Snow Petals

Several weeks ago, this tree outside the window in my sewing room was in full bloom. (I think it's a Japanese Magnolia, but not for certain.)

Not sure why, but all its petals fell to the ground over 1 weekend. The boys and I went home for a couple of days and came back to G'ville to find most of the petals had fallen to the ground. They boys thought it was snow. "Why's that pink snow on our ground, Mamma?"

It was actually really pretty. I thought these petals would have been great to use in a wedding or wedding reception.

Recent Pictures

Looking through my blog the other day, I realized that I haven't posted any recent pictures of the boys.

 

I don't pay to have their pictures taken professionally. I have several friends that are talented photographers...so nothing against them. It's just that my boys do not cooperate very well when it comes to taking pictures. Even worse when it's with someone they aren't familiar with.

So I invested in a new camera this past fall and have been trying to teach myself a little bit about digital photography. Not only am I not a great teacher to others...but I'm not that great to myself either. Learning Photoshop and photography terminology is proving to be way over my simple minded brain. It takes more time and patience than I care to give so after about 30 minutes of dealing with it...I have to put it away for awhile. I do feel a little better about myself when a photographer friend of mine confirmed that Photoshop is very hard to learn.

I get excited when I get 10-20 good ones out of about 100 shots compared to the 5-10 I usually get. But still some photo attempts have proven to be just that...mere attempts. The boys hate having their pictures taken. I know this is probably typical of most boys..but I think mine have to hate it exceptionally more. I have to bribe and even at that...we all 3 usually end the session in tears. Session meaning the few attempts of on location photo shoots in an attempt to get decent pictures that are worth framing. Because, again..I can't afford professional photos when the boys do nothing but hide their faces behind their hands.

 

The pics above are just a few I've recently taken. They aren't necessarily the ones I will be framing but wanted to post a few for the family and friends who keep up with us through this blog.

If you are friends of mine of Facebook, then you've probably seen these. And since this blog feeds into my Facebook notes...you will see them there also.

 

Hope you enjoy looking at these more than my boys enjoyed taking them!

Another Delta Experience

Last night while JB and I were watching Idol, the electricity flickered and then went out for about 15 minutes. It came back on for several minutes and then flickered off again. We took this as a sign to go on to bed as it was late.

JB got to work this morning only to find that half his branch had electricity while the other half didn't. Yes, really...only part of the building had electricity. The power outage at his branch this morning was related to the power outage we had at our home last night.

Several miles south of G'ville, a farmer got his tractor tangled up in some live electrical wires. So Entergy had to "black out" the electricity in order to get his tractor untangled. How our street in the city was effected by this incident several miles south in a field, I just don't get. Anyway....

First, let me acknowledge that the farmer is ok. So glad of that. Above my inconvenience of no electricity, I'm more glad that the farmer was not harmed.

However, I've never experienced a power outage for this reason. Just another affirmation that I'm a city mouse still trying to learn my way of being a field mouse.