Protecting the Girls

I thought this was a cute an interesting quote that happened this morning from my little guy.  He and Cara were quietly coloring when I came out, so I decided to grab a quick bath before the action started.  I told them where I'd be and Scott said,

"Don't worry, Mom.  I'll watch out the window and if any bad guys come, I'll lock up the door and won't let them in to get you."


Interesting.  To be honest, I was a little taken aback by this one.  We don't talk much about bad guys or watch anything with bad guys in it.  For him to be thinking that way first thing in the morning was a little shocking to my delicate morning sensibilities, but then children often do shock me in the morning.  It did delight me, however, that he wants to use his toughness in a good way.  It's making me wonder if he thinks every time Daddy leaves to go to work, he has to protect those three helpless girls.  It's a lot of responsibility for a four-year -old!

Word of the Week

Okay, I have to disclose where I got this word of the week.  You girls will think it's lovely, you boys will probably roll your eyes and stop reading this post immediately.  I heard this word first while watching Wives and Daughters.


<<sigh>>


(insert girlie oohs and aahs here).


Yes, I heard this first when the new Mrs. Gibson yells at Cynthia that she has gotten them all involved in an imbroglio, and "now I am being blamed for your misconduct!!!!"


Naturally Mrs. Gibson wouldn't think of causing an imbroglio with any of her actions.  


That was sarcastic.  If you didn't know that, you need to see the miniseries and read the book...they're fantastic.  Here's a spoiler for you...the nice girl wins!


So anyway...back to academic pursuits...




imbroglio: [im-brohl-yoh]  n. an intricate and perplexing state of affairs; a complicated or difficult situation; a confused heap.


Boy, the day I find a vocabulary word that doesn't  have confusion in the definition somewhere is the day I give up chocolate.  (Not really, just being dramatic.)


Here are my sentences:


Arthur quickly typed the address to Crazy Creative Magazine into his search engine, then waited nervously while it loaded; he needed to read the Editor's latest chocolate post before his Mom caught him in what would be a very unmanly type of imbroglio.


Editor's Note:  Little did Arthur know that his Mom would have respected him even more for his incredibly intelligent choice of reading material.  The magazine holds no gender bias...even if you are a zarf.




A sudden imbroglio occurred when the children busted into the living room during naptime and spotted their Mom, not cleaning, but eating bon-bons and watching BBC movies!  (Horrors!)


It was Monday morning, and the acute mother mentally braced herself for the wild imbroglio that awaited her in every room of the house.  It took nerves of steel to emerge from the warm cocoon that was her bed. (And again...personal experience is my inspiration.)
  
Add your sentence in!

A Review of Praying Proverbs 31...and a giveaway...really...

I've just finished reading my first e-book...yes, I'm that far behind the times.  If I had to wait until almost 2012 to finally read an e-book, I began with a bang.  The book I read was written by my friend Tracy, my former bridesmaid, college chum/coworker extraordinaire, and author of one of my favorite thoughtful blogs, Homekeepers.  (I wish I could have crammed one more thought into that sentence...)

So without further ado, here's what I thought of Tracy's book...

The premise of the book is how to pray for and instill Biblical virtue in our daughters.  Although this book is specifically written as prayers for daughters, it was not a hard leap toward praying for the character of my son as well.  In fact, it's the type of book that causes you to really stop and think about your spiritual goals for your children.  So, if any of you are thinking this book wouldn't apply because your children are grown or you have no children or you only have boys, you couldn't be more wrong.  It's a great read for anyone who cares about the spiritual purity of another.

The introduction features a quick look into what exactly Biblical purity is and why we as Christians should desire it for our daughters.  I love that Tracy focused more on the heart attitude than the outward conformity.  Who doesn't know someone who did everything right and seemed like a perfect little Christian through the teen years, then promptly dropped all hint of faith once they left home?  I do, and I have to say that my children having an actions-only type of faith is one of my biggest fears.  The real reason for all the study and praying is to ask God's help in instilling a real love of the Lord in our children...teaching them to fear God rather than man.  I have to say the content of the book has been absolutely spot on for me as I think through what my children need to stay close to God.   It's been very timely for me especially as my children are all young right now.  It made me analyze my own motives and attitudes for what I do every day, and caused me to begin praying not only for my daughters, but for my own purity.

One of the things that surprised me about this book was the format.  I'm not sure why I didn't expect it to be in more of a devotional format, but for some reason I didn't.  For those of us who have small children everywhere especially, it was so helpful that Tracy divided the prayers and verses up into a month's worth of study.  Every week she highlights portion of Proverbs 31.  On a daily basis, she wrote a thoughtful prayer that relates to the weekly passage/concept, along with some prompts to get you thinking.  The questions were ultra-helpful in making the prayer seem relevant to my daughters, rather than just reading the thoughts of someone else.  It has been a built-in devotional for my month of reading...and it's not so much reading that you feel like you can't get it done in a day.  It's a brief, daily point with which I could relate.  It's just the type of devotional that is really practical and sustainable for a busy Mom.

It's a great book and you should try it.  You can order a Kindle edition for less than $5 off Amazon via the link in my side bar...this edition is also readable on your computer.

And now, the moment you've all been waiting for...the giveaway.  I will randomly select (or have one of my kids randomly select) a winner out of a hat, box, or other name-concealing receptacle to be announced one week from today.  What are your spiritual goals for your son or daughter?  Leave a comment on this post to enter to win your free copy of Praying Proverbs 31:  Prayers for a Daughter's Virtue!

PS--no matter how many times you comment, I'll only put your name in once (that means you, Christine!).  That'll make it fair for all you who won't be back to my blog every day this week...not that I'm discouraging that!

After the holidays...

The family has gone,
now naps are required.
I ought to get cleaning,
but we're ALL rather tired.

The candy was mounded
in piles for consuming.
I stayed in my pajamas
with only minimal grooming.

With love and affection
my family is blessed.
We live in a house
very merrily messed.

Linked with Friday Favorite Things!

What I Did For Vacation...

There are times when the Christmas season doesn't quite feel like vacation, like when you look at your calendar and there is something written on every day of December...<<sigh>>.  I still haven't gotten over the enormous burst of activity, as you can tell.  Vacation does bring some relief, though...ie schoollessness.  Here's what I did just for the fun of it for vacation...

1. I read and finished book five in the Anne of Green Gables series.  I loved it...so far in my reread, it's my favorite.  Before, book numbers two and three were my favorites.  I wonder if it's because that was where I was in my life...the teen years.  Maybe I am growing up with Anne Shirley as my companion through maturity.  Hmmm...that's a rather pathetic thought.  For those of you who haven't ventured past book one, cozy up and read the series through.  It's a lovely, relaxing read, and you'll appreciate the changes in Anne's life because you'll totally relate.

2. I consumed an ungodly amount of peanut butter balls.  And I didn't exercise at all.  Well, if you don't count December activities as exercise enough.  Come to think of it, I didn't gain any weight at all.  Maybe the busyness has its perks after all!

3.  I went out with my hubby and babies.  My hubby was able after all to get a Saturday off work...hallelujah!  We went to the mall, even though we rarely buy anything there and wandered around and had fun together.  Then we came home and put the kids in bed for nap time and sacked out on the couch to watch a movie.  Doesn't get better than that.

4.  I sloughed off my mantle of responsibility and let my house get pretty messy.  Well, I never did that enough to become irrepairable, but I was consciously lazy many many many times...and now for the consequences...

5. I practiced piano.  I know that sounds like a dull holiday activity, but I've really had a hard time getting piano practice in with school sucking up a few hours a day.  I practiced Christmas carols a little, choir music a lot, and played through a holiday piano book just for the fun of it.  (Church members rejoiced!)

An Almost Fond Farewell...

I ought to have streamers in my house today.  I have officially survived another season of college football.  Although watching football is not my natural bent, I have a certain fondness for some things about it...especially celebrating after beating Ohio State...Hooray!

Farewell to cheesy Cheez-its commercials that make me giggle.

Farewell to watching my kids chuckle over Lee Corso's headgear pick.

Farewell to Kirk Herbstreit, for whom I have a grudging semi-respect. (You're almost always logical and fair, DESPITE being a former Buckeye.)

Farewell to that other guy who interviews the interesting guys on game day.

Farewell to the Heisman-winning, smiley, nice-guy, snazzy dressing, Wolverine legend Desmond Howard and his thought-provoking reasoning.

Farewell to lousy commentators, of whom I can tease and mock the rest of the day.

Farewell to unlimited blogging time every Saturday night.

Until Next Year!

Phew...

Okay, we made it through the holiday rush!  Even though the Christmas season is merry and lovely, we're very ready to settle into the cold winter doldrums.  Even the weather participated by giving us our first snow...of course, that was rather not lovely for our poor relatives trying to get home on the sheets of ice they call roads in Tennessee and Kentucky, but here it's only rather pretty.

I was planning on starting school again today...really I was.  However...I have learned something during my first few months of schooling.  Once school starts, I can kiss any big jobs goodbye for awhile.  So, I consider it very important to tackle the piles of rubble all over the house and actually clean out the kitchen and bathroom really well.  Once school starts, it'll be just keeping my head above water housework-wise anyway.

Of course, the children began to weep softly when I told them.  They begged, "Mom, we were really counting on being able to put the new toys away and get back to learning something each day!".

Not really.

In fact, it sounded like the ball just dropped when I told them.  Jumping, screaming...if they'd had confetti, it would have been flying, too.  They don't know yet that they have to clean their room today...even under the beds!  (Cue devious music).

The break has been lovely, but getting things back to normal is also lovely!  I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and holiday break.  Now let's raise our glass to the return of the routine...really, I still have some sparkling grape juice to use up.  C'mon kids!  Special juice for breakfast!