Roaches in the freezer...the school year begins

Even as young as third grade, kids have first day jitters, wanting everything to be just right on the first day of school.

We use hairspray about twice a year. We call this boing-boing spray.

I have roaches in the freezer. They didn't get there on their own. School is back in session, and the wacky science teacher has assigned an insect collection first thing. The collection will stay in a plastic yogurt container until sent off to class at a later date. It has begun. I have tried to pray not to let stress levels escalate. A girlfriend from the "boo-hoo yahoo" sent this link and we all laughed. I have been to both Target and Starbucks in these first few moments of the new schedule. See if you can relate.

 

http://www.scarymommy.com/back-school-video

 

The other moments have been a whirlwind of crack-of-dawn carpools, meet-the-teacher nights, filling out forms, searching for violin books, youth group, replacing glasses ruined by spray-on sunscreen (beware!), and planning for this year's Singing Christmas Tree (yes, in August!). Two days in and I'm exhausted. Not to mention that my man was away on business and baseball practice begins this Saturday. Can't think about that quite yet.

Our back-to-school tradition is decorating a chocolate chip cookie with the number of the grade they are entering. We did a big cookie to start with, but over time have reduced the portion size to splitting a package of break and bakes by seven to make it more reasonable. Then we had a Just Dance party on the wii. Nothing like shaking your booty with five kids who are jacked up on cookies!

When we are not eating chocolate chip cookies, we are experimenting with green smoothies, and eating miniscule amounts of kale and spinach along with our fruit and yogurt standards. It's a small step, but I'm excited to be taking small steps in a healthy direction.

We call this recipe for 2 "The Aunt Christina" because we learned it from her. We make a blenderfull and split it amongst us for snack in the afternoon, or share it with someone for breakfast.

Handful of kale

Handful of spinach

Half an avocado

Tall glass of crushed ice

Cup of vanilla yogurt or coconut water (guess which one we picked?)

Tsp. honey

Cup of blueberries

Green apple

Banana

Very fruity, and surprisingly very yummy. My kids even asked if I would make them green smoothies for breakfast! Astonishing.

Our artsy moment was to redeem a Groupon at Redbird pottery studio. The kids really enjoyed squishing the clay and attempting to craft a cereal bowl on the wheel. Many thanks to Bree for her patience and repeated instruction.

Being creative like the Creator

Can't help but think of the scriptures that remind me that He is the potter, and I am the clay. He is shaping me as best seems fit to Him for the purposes He desires. Pressure from within, held and guided from without, and a vessel takes shape.

Isaiah 64:8, Jeremiah 18:4

 

Family Adventure

Today we drove to Rock Hill for the Canaan Ziplining Adventure. This was our last hurrah before all the kids are back in school and we are in full swing with homework and traveling in circles around Columbia.

 

Pilates en l'air

This is the "Fred Flintstone" technique where you pedal with your legs before coming in for a landing.

We had a great outdoorsy time. The kids still fought over where to sit on the drive home, but some good memories were made, and I hope that they will continue to adventure when they are grown-ups.

 

Painful Dinner Conversations

 

Last night we watched the news together as a family. We saw a brief heart-breaking glimpse of a man being crucified, of bodies strewn around, and people reportedly buried alive. We heard traumatic reports of heads being severed and attached to poles and cars. We watched as men were miserably roped together and forced to hunch over into submission as they were carried away to execution. We heard of children who had fled terror and were dying of starvation and dehydration in the wilderness...of grave crimes against women and children. We heard discussions of Robin Williams' suicide and the darkness of depression.

My beautiful eight year old daughter tenderly said, "Mom, why are they doing that?" and we talked about evil and suicide and suicide-attempts close to us (four that we know of in our family), and why we are so thankful to have our hope in Christ. We talked about death, and depression, and evil around the dinner table, as natural as breathing. My daughters responded in deep compassion, my son in righteous anger. I saw little glimpses of their developing characters as empathizers and warriors. It was a bit surreal, and not what I had planned when I woke up this morning, but am I glad that we can talk to our kids and pray that they will choose to talk to us when they need to.

I recognize that it is easier to stay in suburban mom-world than to face and discuss the harsh realities that many face every day. It is easier to pretend that conquered peoples were only treated so heinously in times gone by, in other parts of the world. It is easier to stay busy in carpooling kids' activities and fussing over what to make for dinner and our own well-being, than to engage in brokenness and gut-wrenching conversations about other's pain and suffering.

Although I grieve in prayer over world events, and it is painful to have to my innocent ones begin to be aware of the deep level of sin in the world, I am thankful that we can talk, and pray, and even act, like my friend Brenda who returns to Syrian refugee camps in September. I am thankful for conversations about pain, and pray that my babies will be well-prepared to face the ugly parts of living in a fallen world with hope and conviction. I recognize that it is now time to begin praying as a family for peace in our broken world. I pray that God will use our family to somehow shed his light in the dark places around us, and around the world, and that we will continue to trust him for things we can't understand.

The Cousins

One of the things I love most about the beach is the opportunity to reconnect with family.

"Yoo-hoo! Family!" Sending love from the sauna cracked us up after viewing Frozen

Mystery photo bomber...couldn't be someone related to us, could it?

Out to eat at our favorite restaurant where all the servers are addressed as "cousins"

My wishes for family harmony granted...especially around the table with Mimi's cookin'

Eating in

Poolside picnic

Don't let this sourpuss face fool you. Aunt Debbie has a heart of gold and the kids are always delighted to receive the treasures she brings.

Who doesn't love a little sparkle?

This year we enjoyed glitter 'tattoos'

Many thanks to the last batch of cousins who left us their rain-check waterpark tickets

Glad to see this guy smiling after a week of earaches

Brennan learned some new moves at a wake boarding clinic, despite an earache, sunburn, and being the youngest kid and only American

Getting road-trip snugly on

Slurping up the last few days of summer at a pit stop

 

Vacation Vows

On the day before the last day of vacation, I start to amass mental notes...promises of a "I'll behave better when we're back on routine" thoughts. I make these thoughts as I fix myself an iced coffee in the blender. "Next week," I think, "I'll be blending a green smoothie. Next week, I'll cook something instead of slapping together some sandwiches to munch on by the pool. Next week, I'll get back to the gym, instead of floating in the tide pools all morning." We'll see how far these intentions carry me.

Whereas we fall off the healthy eating wagon, and chase down the ice cream trucks on vacation, there are other areas where we excel. When away from our normal routine, I delight in being able to see the sun rise over the ocean and spend extended time with God over coffee. We don't have to exchange words. Just being together quietly is enough. My spirit soars in silence and solitude before my blessings arise and ask for breakfast. I stand gloriously transfixed on the balcony, along with a few other early risers dotting the beach. We are literally still lost in contemplation, waiting for that moment when the sun basks us in radiance. We gaze at Jupiter and wait for the sun to appear over the horizon. The sun rises every day without my pausing to notice it. But when we have extra time for quiet, and wake up naturally instead of blared out of an exhausted stupor, I believe the Holy Spirit quickens my mind and heart to receive beauty. I don't want to miss it. I am more aware of God's presence in creation. He brings "a jolt of Recognition" (Dorothy Sayers) and helps me perceive His nearness. Watching a dolphin cavort in and out of a band of sunlight becomes an ecstatic experience. Seeing lightning strike reminds me of God's power and booms of thunder make me jump involuntarily. Watching a flock of gulls sail by lifts my spirits. Mystery and Sovereignty.

 

My mom, who has accompanied us this vacation, offered to give us a date night one evening, away from resonsibility and trips to doctor's care. We elected to go for breakfast one morning on the pier instead. It wasn't a $400 candlelit something whipped up by Chef so-and-so under a beach-front cabana, but it was also delightful to watch the pelicans soar and dive bomb their breakfasts while we ate ours. I would love a moonlit stroll on the beach and dancing under the stars, but A's plantar fascitis would not. Breakfast is enough. Perhaps we'll dance again another day.

The menu on this pier shack says "If you are lucky enough to be at the beach, then you are lucky enough"

I adore simplicity. I love seeing my kids dig in the sand happily side by side instead of quibbling over who gets the first shower or the front seat of the car. Those simple happy moments are sacred to me. We go for a night walk on the beach and search for ghost crabs. We blind them with our flashlights so that we can observe them up close, claws spread wide like ninja warriors practicing tai chi. I think about the yoga on the beach I am not doing, preferring my yoga pants and chocolate croissants by the air conditioned ocean view to the sand and humidity outdoors. (Nothing like sand falling onto your face from an inverted yoga pose to kill the magic.) The balcony railing becomes a makeshift barre studio instead.

I intended to do lots of pinned workouts, but always forget that the wi-fi here is not strong. Instead, I leaf through my binder of Athleta models and fitness routines for inspiration and practice my skills in front of mirrored closet doors instead of a fitness studio. I observe that I am growing some middle age bulges on this vacation and suck in. I scribble a few notes, and teach my kids a few poses and stretches, and feel ok about it. They are good to indulge me. They tease that I will be the most flexible granny on the beach when I am ninety. Then they go back to viewing their canned laughter children's programming on the couch, and I crawl back into my covers for more reading and study, or flop back down into the powder soft sand.

For all the reflection that I do, I prefer a good page-turner to a book that makes me think. However, I am trying to add more brain-stretching material into my reading diet. This week, I have chewed upon Philip Yancey's Reaching for the Invisible God. I made a list of historical thinkers that I would like to know more about. So far, I have:

 

Perhaps when we return, I'll start reading the next challenge to my comfort-loving mind, and hold off on making any more oatmeal scotchies until my middle regains some dignity. Perhaps I'll listen with alertness and watch to see signs of God's presence in the noisy world of back-to-school carpool and cooking dinner that begins Monday. These last days of summer have been a blessing.