How we are helping...

You can help, too!  Check out this site from our church:

Turning Point Ministry

Check out these sites, too:

Samaritan's Purse

Josh Willingham Foundation

Red Cross

Here is what we've been busy with this week.

First, we took items to our church--that was Thursday, immediately after the tornadoes. Here is Luci with Rhett (Josh and Ginger Willingham's oldest--no relation to us, but we'd be happy to claim them).

Bryan went to Tuscaloosa with a group from our church.  This was yesterday, Monday.  Here are some shots he took with his cell phone.   Here is some furniture the guys brought down.

 Do you remember seeing the Tide--Loads of Hope commercials about Hurricane Katrina?  Bryan was happy to see Tide set up here, too.

Getting items ready for give-away.

Bryan's group had to come home the "long way."  Normally it is a two-and-a-half hour trip down to Tuscaloosa from our town.  Straight down, through some of the worst-hit areas.  Since there is a curfew on many of the roads between here and Tuscaloosa, they had to come home the "long way"--it took an extra hour.  Bryan got home after 9 pm.  Thank you, Randall, for dropping Bryan off on your way home instead of taking him all the way into town to church.  That saved us a 50-minute round trip to town to pick him up.

~~~~~~~~~~

Today we went to the Friendship Center at our church to help sort and put away things.  Lots of things that people are donating are just useless to folks out in the field--come on, people, why on earth are you bringing WINTER clothing?  Summer is almost here, and this is HOT and HUMID Alabama.  THINK, People!  Also, don't bring worn-out things, or dirty items!  Please THINK.

So, we put away winter clothing and hung up other items.  Luci worked harder than she ever has, and did a very good job. JT helped her some, when she would let him (where does she get this stubborn streak?).  (these were taken with my cell phone)

 Mrs. Diane (in the background) got the men to build some hanging racks to fit in this new trailer (bought by these men!  WOW) and Mrs. Diane set up a "store."  Tomorrow morning, she and several others are heading out to Hatton Community to give out children's clothing.  Later they will go back with clothing for adults. 

 Some of the men who worked on the shelves.  They are taking it easy now, but they really worked hard, and did a fantastic job.  John (on the right) supervised--he is having surgery on his shoulder tomorrow and can't do much right now.

 Of course, Sonny had to get silly.  Here he is right before he sneaked up on the others. 

Today has been hard on Luci.  It has been raining all morning.  Pouring at times--we got over an inch of rain today (totaling more than 8.40 inches since last Monday!).  Today John was going to meet us at the church building and take Luci with him to go shopping (Mother's Day is coming!).  Luci would not leave my side.  She cried, and cried, and cried.  She was worried that something bad would happen to me, or to her, while we were apart.  The weather was scary to her.  We reassured her that it was only rain, that the weathermen (all of them!) said NO TORNADOES today.  Prayed with her.  Nothing helped.   So she stayed with me and worked with me while John had to wait until I was done--he waited over two hours as I hung up clothes.  (I think he enjoyed the male companionship in the other part of the Center, though.)  By the time we left the Center, it was just sprinkling hard and she willingly got into John's truck.  I got to go home by myself.

So much going on.

My thoughts are all over the place. 

Certainly with the survivors all over the South.  We've donated to our church's relief efforts, and will continue to do what we can.

Trying to not dwell on the bad stuff too much, for fear of Luci's over-analyzing things to death, and for keeping me out of a depressive state.

So, when Luci is around, we have watched some of THE wedding videos, kept the TV off of the news as much as possible, and generally tried to lighten the mood around here. 

Not to the point of hilarity, that just seems wrong.  But lightening it, certainly.

As evidence of my mixed up thoughts: At this moment I have open in my tabs here on the computer a story about the Royals:  What did the lip-readers pick up on the conversations during the big day?, and a video of Hackleburg, one of the hardest hit areas in Alabama.  The town was closed off, even to help, until late yesterday.

THE Wedding

Luci and I did not get up early today to watch THE wedding of William and Kate.  But...we have seen videos on the internet already, and looked at many photos of the happy couple.  This is one of our favorite compilations of photographs.

The big question from Luci: Will my big teeth come in before I get married? I do not want to get married with these holes in my smile!

Luci thinks this is the blooper reel from this morning:

Biblical Proportions

Yesterday, April 27, 2011, will go down in the history books as the worst tornado outbreak in forty years.

At one point, I was close to tears as we hid in our basement safe room.  John thought I was fine; I told him I was just acting fine for Luci's sake.  It was terrifying, knowing what had already hit elsewhere and then was heading our way.  

It is just devastating, seeing the news.  Overwhelming.

I don't know why our county was spared, but I am thankful.

We are helping as we can, giving supplies that those in the communities hit hardest are asking for.  Today Luci, JT and I got some things and delivered them to our church...as part of the outreach ministries.  It was wonderful to see so many people bringing things.  As we pulled in, we saw many cars also pulling into the church's parking lot.   They planned to take a big van and a delivery truck; both were filled when we got there and there was much still to load.


Please pray for the survivors.

Today

Jeremiah 10:12-13 (New International Version, ©2011)

 ¹² But God made the earth by his power;
   he founded the world by his wisdom
   and stretched out the heavens by his understanding.
¹³ When he thunders, the waters in the heavens roar;
   he makes clouds rise from the ends of the earth.
He sends lightning with the rain
   and brings out the wind from his storehouses.


Isn't that a cool Bible passage?

Today at 10 a.m. the sky was so dark that our security light turned on:

Seen this afternoon:

the remains of Luci's chocolate Easter squirrel  beaver  bunny.  We're not entirely sure what it was when it started out on Sunday morning.

We have about 4 more hours of stormy weather to go through.  Thankful, thankful for the electricity!

Where were you...

at 4:05 a.m. this morning?

We were in our tornado shelter, our safe room in the basement.

Today we have a big system moving through, and I am scared stiff.  Trying to hide the nervousness from Luci, who has recently been diagnosed as "O.C.D., hyper-vigilant, and high-anxiety."  Like i need her to be more nervous than she already is!  She's like a long-tailed cat in a room full of rockers on normal days.  Add tornadic weather, and, well, it's not fun around here.

Except for right now--JT is keeping Luci calm by wrassling with her in the master bedroom (I was going to say, "on my bed," but since I still sleep with Luci in the living room....).  They are watching the Disney channel's Junior programming...how calm is that? 

Very early this morning, as I woke from the NOAA weather radio siren, I noticed something.  I am the only person in our house who can hear the blasted thing!  It is loud, and annoying, and my mommy-brain can not block that out.  Maybe because it sounds a lot like children whining about their siblings.  "M-o-o-o-o-o-o-m!  Come NOW!" 

So I herded the family to our safe room, and watched Luci entertain us for the duration of the warning (45 minutes worth).  One child, who shall remain nameless but has red hair and the initials J.T., was such a grumpy-Gus (no offense intended to any of you named "Gus.").   Bryan told him, "You are the last person on Earth I'd want to share an apocalyptic event with!"

Keep us and all of us in the South in your prayers today.  It looks like it could be a very bad day.

I did it!

Successfully made my first meringue on top of a Key Lime Pie.

Right about now, my Dad is calling it "Cow Slobber."

Ready for the Beach!

I found Luci wandering around the house this morning, wearing this ensemble.

I am so excited!

This might not mean much to you, but it was an exciting discovery for me. Many people who adopt from China get to see the "finding place" of their child, and some get to meet the foster parents, if the child was in foster care.

Luci was not in foster care, so we didn't get to meet those who took care of her.  Ayis ("aunties," the orphanage workers), did not come with her to our meeting, either.  As far as we can understand from watching the video of that day, the orphanage directors were there.  (Lest you think I am a total fool for not knowing exactly, that was a hugely emotional day and details sometimes get lost on days like that.  Even on video.)

Well, on Luci's paperwork, it is translated as saying, "Saji Town" as the town where she was found.  The orphanage director said that it was too far from the orphanage to go to (about 3 hours further), so he could take the other two families to their spots, but not ours.  He also insisted that Luci is from the Bouyei minority.  I have always thought Luci is from the Miao Minority--she looks so Miao that others have commented on that, too.

Tonight I was just clicking on different links I had in my favorites list and this popped up:

I had never seen that listing before, with the Minorities listed on the map.  Zip, Pop, Pow! I was wide awake after seeing this! The place in the near middle of the photos is called, "Luzhi Tequ," which is the area of Liuzhi, the town where Luci's orphanage is.

Down near the bottom-middle of the photo is "Sazhi Yizu Bouyei Ethnic Minority."  I think that is Saji Town!  The differences in spelling?  Why, you try translating Chinese characters into English.  Since we have never known where, this is a very big find. 

I can't wait to show Luci tomorrow.

Apologies for the poor photograph.  I cannot figure out how to capture the screen and then open the Paint program to paste it and save it.  My computer-whiz is in the basement, busy in the Man Cave.  So you have a photograph.  :)  I wanted to document it because next time I click on the link, it is sure to be something else that pops up.

Terrain (double click to see the image bigger):

Fishing!

Luci has begged and begged to go fishing.  So this morning, after I got back from our Fun-Razor, John headed out with all three children to a friend's pond.

I figure Luci will love it until

1. she has to go potty; or
2. she sees a real fish on the line.

Then I'll get a phone call to come pick her up.

JT wanted to know, "How long is this going to last?"  because JT and Bryan do not think fishing is fun anymore.    I told him, "Until you boys get along."

I figure they will be home sometime late.

 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Now, about that Fun-Razor.  

Since I was not able to sell the 5 tickets Luci brought home, I own five discounts.  So, I made five purchases and got some polo shirts for the boys for only $5.85 each after the sale and discount was taken into account, and two cute little dresses for Luci.  (One was only $2.83! Can't beat that with a stick.)

Classic Luci-ism

Our church is having a big mission trip this summer.  One of the fund-raisers is with the Charity Sale at Belk's Department Store.  They sent the kids home from Sunday school with several tickets to sell.

Luci kept asking, "Why do I need a Fun Razor?"

"I already have one!"

Then, before worship started, a video of the church folks in Antigua (where the mission trip will be) was shown.


Luci's next question (you know it already, don't you?):  "Are we sending them razors?  Why?  They don't have hair on their faces!"

Demonstrating proper use of a Fun Razor:

Rainy Day

The yard has gotten so GREEN over the last week.  Yesterday, with all the sun, there were not as many leaves.  Today, with two and a half inches of rain (and it's still coming down!) everything has exploded. 

It's that time of year...

The Pool is Open!

This Week

John planted our garden this week.  Luci helped.  Luci is a real outdoorsy girl.  Good thing she has a daddy who loves being outside a lot!  Luci had him going down to the creek, out to the treehouse, driving to Lowe's to get plants (she picked a geranium for herself), and all things muddy.  She had a blast.  John did, too.

At supper, after they planted the garden, I asked Luci, "What did you and Daddy plant today?"

Redishes.

They put these little stakes in the ground, noting where each vegetable is located.  Isn't that cute?  I think the neighbor's dogs will love having those little chew toys.

Today

I have really enjoyed today. 

Thursdays are our day to go help at our Friendship Center at church.  John had a job out of town and left before we did.  (He called an hour ago and said they just got done and would be heading home--two and a half hours from here, so he'll be home around Luci's bedtime.)

The boys got up without arguing with me, or each other.  That made it a great day from the start.  There was more than usual work to do at the Center, so we worked for nearly three hours solid.  Usually we are ready to leave after two hours. That good work felt good. 

Then, the trip home with peace in the van.

Cleaned out the van, with the boys' help (again, peace).  Luci and I washed the van--she learned how to scrub the floor mats and did a great job!  Luci had a lot of fun, and so did I.  And we didn't get too wet, either.

Bryan even mowed the front yard when I asked, without any griping.

At supper (John was not home yet), the boys sat next to each other (gasp! dare we try it?) and more peace.  I was thankful and mentioned that in our blessing for the meal.

It was so nice to hear the conversation (the tone of it, not the topic; they talked about video games!) because they were so nice to each other. 

JT even offered to play outside with Luci (she's been begging ever since the van was finished) and they are out there playing Army (Luci's choice, can you believe it?).

I could get used to this.

Hard Worker

John spent today working in the backyard, making a concrete pad under my Harding Swing.  Luci went out to "help" and got much dirtier than John ever thought of getting.  Not sure why, maybe it's because she is closer to the ground and therefore attracts dirt more easily.

Can't take her picture without the cheesy grin.

This one was my favorite--shadowed, and all the grit on her face shows up well.

John's driving Luci around the backyard, down by the creek, on the tractor.  What a lucky little girl.

Luci's Orphanage

I found this article about Luci's orphanage--the LiuZhi Social Welfare Institute.  I thought some of you might like seeing a bit about it.

I am so happy that Love Without Boundaries is moving into Guizhou.  I hope that someday we can sponsor a child from Luci's province.

Although our blog header says Luci is our "Bouyei-Baby," I think she is really of Miao heritage.  I may have to change that header soon.  The more I find out about her area, the more I think I am right about the Miao distinction.

Love Without Boundaries blog post on LiuZhi SWI

Our Jokes Today

Luci woke up Bryan and told him it was snowing! In Alabama?  No way!

She told JT that his underwear was on backwards.  After a quick check, he said it wasn't.

I told Bryan that I ran into his BMW as I backed out of the garage...he was glad it wasn't true but he was not glad that I woke him up.

I told JT that his Math average for the year was only 63.....

And the finale for today:

Would you like ice cream with your "pizza?"

Luci and I made this with a vanilla cake, some vanilla icing and strawberry preserves spread on top, grated white chocolate bar and some "pepperoni" cut out of fruit roll-ups.

The Joke's on Me

About 36 years ago,my Mom wagged her finger at me, and said,

"One of these days, you're going to have one just like YOU!"

And I did.

That's him with his little sister.  He's now fourteen years old, giving me fits.  He's a joy, but wow, can he tie me in knots.

Thanks, Mom!  You got me!

Library Fun

Last night our library had Family Fun Night.  The kids were to dress as a character in a book. 

Luci was Lilo, from Lilo and Stitch (she tells me there's a book about Lilo, not just the movie).  Here she is with Mrs. Helen, who is dressed as Viola Swamp from Miss Nelson is Missing.  (Dad, do you remember that book?  You sent it to me when I began teaching.)

Jack--the cutest little boy there!

Luci with Kalyn, who is dressed as Mr. Brown, from Mr. Brown Can Moo.  Can You?

Mrs. Jessica made the mistake of made the kids happy by handing out noisemakers for the parade.

Off to have a parade!

They went around the building!

If you look hard, you can see Luci in her grass skirt, and Kalyn in front of her.

Luci, Kalyn and Jack were in the very front for story time.

Mrs. Jessica was dressed as the Alphabet Tree in Chicka Chicka Boom Boom.

Luci-Speak

complimanicated -- complicated.  As in, This picture is complimanicated!

Text Me, Baby!

John and I have cell phones now...we have a family plan, even the boys can text us.  But we have our own language.....

 

ATD...At The Doctors. 

BFF...Best Friend Fell. 

BTW...Bring the Wheelchair. 

BYOT...Bring Your Own Teeth. 

FWIW...Forgot Where I Was. 

GGPBL...Gotta Go Pacemaker Battery Low. 

IMHO...Is My Hearing-Aid On. 

LMDO...Laughing My Dentures Out. 

OMMR...On My Massage Recliner. 

OMSG...Oh My! Sorry, Gas. 

ROFLACGU...Rolling On Floor Laughing And Can't Get Up. 

TTYL...Talk To You Louder.

Two Biggies Today!

Luci went to her first Tang-Soo-Do class (Korean karate) with JT.  No telling if she'll ever go to a second class, but I hope she continues.

Luci wiggled out her tooth today!

Mom! Come watch me!

That's what I heard this evening while I was folding laundry.  Since I am always eager to stop housework, I ran outside to see what Luci was doing.

She and John were in the front yard.

"Mommy!  I am talented!  Watch me!"  Here is the result:

I love my homeschool covering.

(definition:  Homeschool Covering is the group to which I report our schooling.  They have the contact with our local authorities; the covering keeps us legal.  In Alabama, the covering is designated as a church school.  You can view all 50 States' laws here:  Homeschool Legal Defense)

Our covering is very hands-off.  We are left to do what we should and get to make all our own decisions for educating our kids.  When we first began this adventure, we had a covering that wanted to know lots of things.  When that cover school closed its doors, we moved to another covering that eventually became more burdensome.  They required things beyond what state law requires (which is legal but a nuisance sometimes).  That approach works well for new homeschoolers who need a little hand-holding. 

Since we'd been at it for a long time, I felt comfortable moving to DaySpring Academy.  

We're not total recluses (when are we ever home??).  We do meet with homeschoolers in the area (who belong to different coverings)  for field trips and social events, and sometimes for special classes. 

One thing I love about DaySpring is the sense of humor Donna, the administrator, has.  Here is the attendance report form, or ARF.  Donna has also dubbed this the "The Terrible, Horrible, Awful, No Good,Very Bad Attendance Report."

 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As the ( __ ) parent    ( __ ) guardian   ( __ ) person having control and charge of the above-named child decided that the absence listed on the above-named date was an absence that required explanation and submission for formal approval.

This decision was based on (check  all that apply):

• I have limited my definition of "education" to that commonly perpetuated by educationalists, i.e., to include only overt, measurable, academic activities.
• My school schedule of academic activities is "official" and written in my plan book in ink and not subject to change.
• I believe the commonly-accepted premise that parents are not capable and can not be expected to, or trusted to, be responsible for making the educational decisions for their children without monitoring from an outside source.
•  There has to be a catch to this DaySpring "parents are responsible" thing somewhere and this looks like a good place for it.
• This form was blank and I needed to fill it in.

By signing this form, I am certifying that I understand that the DaySpring school year is 365 days and one form is required for each absence of a half-day or more during the school year.

 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Alabama state laws on attendance are attached at the bottom of the ARF.   Makes it all respectable, you know.

Arf! Arf!

Heard Today:

M-o-o-o-o-o-o-ommmmy, I want to go outside again!  Take me outside!!!

(Now, before you think, "Why doesn't she just let the girl play in the back yard?" I need to tell you that we don't have a fenced-in yard...it is open field, with acres to wander through, and a creek and a pond, and the neighbors' dogs roam freely out here.  And there's someone up on the hill, shooting every once in a while.  What's up with that?)

For the umpteenth time, I said, "No.  It's nearly bathtime and we spent a lot of time outdoors today."

Mom, you know what starts with N?  IN-noying!  That's YOU!

Irish for a Day

Heard Today

Luci's prayer during our devotional time tonight:

Dear God,

Please keep all the people safe from tornadoes that might be coming near them.

(the weather was clear here!)

Please be with all the sick people.

You are so cool and awesome!

In Jesus' Name,

Amen

Soccer, Luci-Style.

Yesterday Luci had me running outside with her.  She wanted to play soccer, and came up with a new version.  If you are six years old, you might understand the game.  It's played just like soccer, but old ladies (that would be me) aren't allowed to kick the ball.


To play, you need:

• The Ring of Light
• The Shovel of Strength
• The Ball of Returnity

Homeschool Rules!

The view from the deck...the red maple is doing its thing.  Spring is starting here!

I could not resist this t-shirt at the Homeschool Convention last weekend....

PS: Yes, I know Luci's eyes are crossed. LOL!

How does he do it?

John's in the basement, working on his office.  (We are finishing off the basement, a room at a time.  The boys' Man Cave was first.)  JT and Luci are playing down there, running and yelling as kids do.

LOUDLY. 

John just keeps on putting mud on the sheet rock.

How does he stay so calm?

Yes, there is a keyboard and a drum set in John's office.  When the painting starts, the instruments move out (and, presumably, the kids will move, too).

Look who's keeping me company today...

It started off innocently enough...

Luci and I left for the MidSouth Homeschool Convention early Thursday morning.  It's about a four-hour drive to Memphis from our house, and we planned to visit the Memphis Zoo before going to the "fancy hotel" (Luci's words).

When we were about three hours from home, Bryan called me.  The boys had gone to church to work in the Friendship Center's food pantry, and were on their way home.  Except they couldn't get home.  Seems they ran over an animal, and now the car was kaput.  Bryan said it was a goat, laying in the road.  On a country road, far from any kind of place to pull over, and the car is not working.  A goat?  Yes, a goat.  Or maybe it was a deer.  (It was a deer.)

Bryan and JT got a ride home with a Florence Utilities worker, who had also lent them his phone. (Why did we buy you a phone and get this ridiculously expensive family plan if you're not going to take it with you?!  At least that lesson was learned, and both promised to not ever leave home without their phones again.)  They were followed by the AAA tow truck. (At least Bryan remembered that he had a AAA membership!  Which paid for itself Thursday.)

Where was John when all that went on?  He had a job on the eastern side of the state, and did not get home until nearly 6 p.m.  He got a good look at the car the next morning and it was fixed lickety-split, and cheaply, too.  So that ended well.

After the first of the not-so-frantic calls (Bryan does stay calm in a crisis), we made it to the zoo.  Luci and I saw marvelous things.

Ginormous hippos.

A bit of China

More China...

A bird who decided to nest in China

We saw Buddha...but I could not get Luci to rub its belly for good luck.  This is the closest I could get her to it...and she does not look too thrilled! (Fake smile alert!)

The reason we needed to go to the Memphis Zoo...Pandas!  

We are such country bumpkins...thrilled and scared at the same time at being in the flight path for Memphis' airport.  We were buzzed by quite a few Federal Express planes.  That plane (in the middle of the photo) was lots closer than it looks.  I promise you, I could tell the pilot needed a shave.

We saw a three-legged elephant (not really, but this photo sure looks like she only had three legs!)

And this mighty polar bear who swam around and around and seemed to pick out Luci for a snack (she's in the middle of these children).

At the end of our time there, we went back to see the pandas...and found them napping on baked potatoes...no, wait...that's poop! This one is sleeping on his own poop. Yuck.

After the zoo, we made it to the fancy hotel, which had many floors, two glass elevators, and escalators!  What joy for a six-year old who lives in a town devoid of escalators and glass elevators.  We explored and found our room, found the short cut to getting to the convention, and found there was a trolley that went right past the hotel.

I brought my Sunday-church-keep-the-kid-occupied bag to let Luci dig in while we went to lectures.  I got to go to a total of four, count 'em four lectures.  Out of probably 200 total classes to choose from.  Sigh.  But the ones we did go to were good ones.

The first was on children with learning disabilities.  John and I are wondering about Luci...some days she seems to know her stuff, some days she doesn't.  It is really baffling!  The very first lecture I chose, by two reading specialists, was exactly what I needed to hear as we figure out what Luci needs.  We have an appointment with the International Adoption Clinic at the end of the month to help us unravel the puzzle that is Luci.  The lecture I heard by the Eckenwilers (The Struggling Reader) was so helpful.  We also went to a math lecture, one on field trips, and one on worldview by John Stonetreet (Summit Ministries) that was wonderful.  I would love to get his materials to use with the kids, but they are pricey (even with the discount that was available at the convention).

The only drawback to John Stonestreet's lecture was that it was in a huge room, built of concrete blocks.  The echoing was horrible!  Terrible acoustics. I wanted to get all of his lectures on CD but if they all sounded like that, well, no thank you.  I found out that the concert with Tim Hawkins was to be in that same hall...Luci just about went nuts in there with all the echoes, so I sold our tickets.  I felt like a drug dealer, holding out my tickets on escalators, in hallways and in elevators, trying to sell them.  But sell them I did!  This link will take you to youtube, where you can hear Tim's song, "Things you don't say to your wife."  Trust me, it's worth the click.

Luci's favorite parts of the trip were SHOPPING!  EXPLORING!  SWIMMING! (which "We didn't do since Mommy forgot the suits and I'm not letting her swim in her panties, ooh, icky!" said Luci) and THE TROLLEY!

The Trolley was cheap, just a dollar for me and free for Luci.  We rode the Loop, which went in a loop (duh!) and brought us back to the hotel in a nice 40 minute ride.  We saw the Pyramid Arena, which tickled Luci to no end ("Egypt in Tennessee! Do you think Moses is in there?"), homes along the waterfront of the Mississippi River that sell for at least $1.3 million (the cheap ones go for that!), and a big surprise to me--the Lorraine Motel, where Dr. Martin Luther King was shot.  It is now a part of The Civil Rights Museum in Memphis.  It really was a shock to see it...I recognized it from all the times I've seen it on the news and had no idea it was so close to where we were spending the night (yes, I'm old enough to remember when that actually happened).

Unfortunately we did not get to see Graceland...I had thought of posing Luci in front of the gates with a little sign that said, "Eat your heart out, Uncle Marty!" but it was just too far in bad traffic.  Another time.

Luci had a before-bed ritual each night we were there...jumping up and down on the Tempur-Pedic bed "to get it all fluffy for us."  So glad she did that.  Because I really did not like that mattress!  I sleep lots better on a regular mattress.

You see snobs, even among homeschoolers.  Mostly they are not clothes snobs (some of the mommas look "crunchy," wearing their babies in slings and eating homemade granola bars, sandwiches on homemade bread brought in their little ice chests) but "education snobs."  Do you know what I mean?  The kind of moms who tell you all about their little four-year-old Shakespeare-reading darlings.  That type of snobbery.  Well, with our "Average Family" I have learned to ignore lots of that, but it does get tiring.  By Friday afternoon I was ready to scream!

Especially with our little Princess, who seems brighter than our home-grown kids, having some difficulties...well, you just can't blame me for getting peeved when one vendor asked Luci how old she was.  "Six."  Oh, I have a six year old, too!  He's over there playing chess.  Just lovely. Smile and move on, Susan.

Then there was a "learn Spanish" booth.  Perfectly nice ladies, wanting Luci to color ("This is VERDE, darling,") and asking me if she was learning Spanish (with the implication that I should be doing that, or else I'm doing her irreparable harm).  I had had enough.  I pulled the language card on her!  I said, "We're working on Mandarin." (How exotic is that?)

Which we sorta are.  We do watch Ni Hao Kai Lan every chance we get, and I do have Rosetta Stone's Mandarin installed on my computer for later on.  (insert evil laugh here)

Enough excitement!  Time to go home...so we wait on Saturday for the tornado watch to pass (what's a road trip without a tornado watch or two?) and start on our way...after arguing (nicely, and with a smile) with the front desk lady that my breakfast (that super-expensive buffet) was supposed to be free, so why is it on my bill twice??  Once the bill was taken care of, we headed out of town and saw a car on fire, fully engulfed in flames along the freeway.  Never have seen one on fire before.  Score another one for big-city thrills.

Then...the phone call about the fridge at home...where is the warranty, Susan, the thing quit working and the repairman says it's the compressor?    Warranty was found, and we are still waiting on the compressor, on Monday night, while eating out of two ice chests in the kitchen.  Sigh.  I am hoping we end up getting a new refrigerator out of this.

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Tuesday Morning Update:  Just heard from the appliance store...the compressor should be in this afternoon or tomorrow morning and they are going to fix it.  No new fridge for me this time.

Homeschool Convention, Here We Come!

I am getting almost giddy about this weekend...

a trip to Memphis for a huge homeschool convention! The Midsouth Homeschool Convention, to be exact (button on the right).

Can you say BOOK SALE??

WOW.

John probably is hoping I'll leave the credit card at home. (He's allowed to hope!)

Luci and I will be making it a girls' weekend.  John's staying home with the boys, keeping them on task with schoolwork. 

Thursday we are going to the Memphis Zoo--a first visit for both Luci and myself.  She's all excited to see the Panda exhibit.  "But Mommy, we have to walk right past the alligators, they are scary!"  So that's what we'll do.

After the Zoo, we head to the "fancy hotel" and play Eloise and Nanny.   One of my favorite quotes from the Eloise movies is, "Nanny says, 'Life experience is the best education there is!'"

Friday night we have tickets to see Tim Hawkins.  He is hilarious!  Here's a video of his that's one of my favorites.  I think it's been on this blog before, but it's been so long I'm putting it up again.

Wednesday Evening

I have a bunch of Luci-isms to tell you about, but I have no time right now.  Also, several posts are swirling through my mind, but again, little time to devote to "puttering around on the computer."

But here's one Luci-ism from Wednesday night:

Luci called the boys to our Commotion-al.   Turned out her wording was spot-on.

commotional: when two or more Willingham kids are gathered in one place for worship.  You might know it as a "devotional."  As in, Wednesday night we had a commotional in which John read from the Bible and the children began a wrestling match.