Halloween

Halloween is very strange here. Where I grew up, Halloween was on Halloween. Here it is on the night announced as Halloween. Last night, Oct. 30, was our officially sanctioned trick-or-treat.

We left early to get to Grandma Wandas' for our yearly popcorn balls. She made 80 of them this year. Next, we went to the fire station for a goody bag, and a photo op with Billie Jo. We headed for We-town, and went to the fall festival at New Life Church. The children take music lessons there, and have a lot of friends in the community.

They played lots of games, won oodles and gobs of candy, had their hair spray painted, their pictures taken, raced tri-cycles, and bounced on the jumbo bounce. After an hour and a half , this chick had, had it, and I began the monumental task of rounding up the troops.

Some 20 minutes later, with 7 children in tow, I made my way to the van, and collapsed in my seat, only one more stop. We went by Bobbie Sue's to see Kyli in her costume, and get more of the dreaded candy.

Today, the real Halloween was much calmer. Daddy brought home chinese food, I made alien/ghost cookies, and choc. covered pretzels. The children carved a pumpkin, and we roasted pumpkin seeds. Later everyone, and I mean everyone, dog-piled on my bed to watch my favorite Halloween movie, Young Frankenstein.

This year the gang dressed up as Nicole-Daisy Duke, Connor-baseball player zombie, Jonathan-zombie victim, Sean Patrick-spiderman, Christian-batman, Alexandra-tinker-bell. All the costumes were either home-made, or recyled. The tinker-bell costume, I purchased 16 years ago for Ashley.

game over

Connor played his last football game of the season Sat. night. Fortunately, it was in a neighboring town, so our drive time was only 25 minutes. It was a beautiful night for football, and the boys played a great game.

We-town beat Holdenville, 24-6. Connor made a couple of great tackles, and the announcer said great job by #32, and he turned around and flashed a 3, and the announcer said make that a great job by #33 Connor Tucker. He was so proud.

Connor had a large cheering section again, he was very proud Kyle & Timmi made his game. As much as I love football, I am not sorry for the season to be over. Practice 3 nights a week, and a game every Saturday is very time consuming. I would cheer about all our free time now, but basketball season started last week, and will last until Feb.

I have 3 children on 3 seperate basketball teams. Jonathan plays on the 3-4th team, Connor plays on the 5-6th team, and Nicole plays for jr. high. I think it's going to be a busy winter.

life

I have given a lot of thought and prayer to the upcoming presidential election, and I have decided to support the McCain/Palin ticket. I am not a political person, but I do follow politics,and believe every citizen has an obligation to vote.

There are several issues, that weigh upon my mind. The economy, national security issues, the iraq war, gas prices, to name but a few things. In the end, it all comes down to one thing,life.

Choose life, the bible tells us, whatsoever, you do to the least of my people, so you do unto me. As the mother of 9 living children, and with 3 little lost ones waiting for me in heaven, life is so precious to me. I think every life has value and meaning.

Who are we to determine who will live or die, and whose life has meaning. Does anyone other than God have the right or ability to make a judgement on life. Does your life have value? Does mine? As I sit here in the middle of the night typing with one hand, and nursing my 10 month old daughter, I am struck once again with the wonder and beauty of her fragile life.

She is completely dependent on me, and the choices Imake for her care. Who decides her value and worth, the world , ajudge?

As for me, Ican only say she is priceless.

fall break

Whoever said fall break was a break. A break from what exactly? The little boys have been wild,crazy, no insane, from all the excitement of fall break. I have even entertained the idea of tying them all to the tree, but I couldn't think of a good reason to do it.

It has been a hectic break. Nicole was gone to leadership conference from wed. to fri. I gave my talk at 4-H wed. afternoon. Ashley babysat on fri. night, and sat. morning Connor,and Jonathan had to be at the school early to decorate their float for Heritage day and ride in the parade.

That same morning Kyle took my car to work, and left me stranded. I had to make arrangements for other people to pick up the boys, I missed seeing their float and watching the parade. I was quite annoyed.

Sat. night Kyle came in from work with a temp of 101. I missed Connors' football game because someone had my car, and he came home with a headache, and fell asleep in his football uniform.

Sun. morning, I got up for church. Kyle had a temp. of 101, Connor was still sick and slept until 1:00p.m., Ashley was sick, Christian was sick, and I am flat tired.

We ended up in the emergency room with Kyle when his temp. spiked over 103.4 He couldn't stand or walk with-out help, and he just held his head and moaned. He has the flu, and 2 ear infections, he was also dehydrated.

Connor has come downstairs crying with his head twice. This looks like the beginning of a very long week. On a happy note it is only 2:00a.m. , Chrissy darlin' who napped 4 hours today, has finally given up and gone to sleep. I think i'll turn off pillow talk, and join him in the land of winkin' blinkin' and nod.

clutter

I have come up with a semi sort of plan to make up for my insane behaviour at the yard sale. As I have emptied the boxes, and put items away. I began hunting for unloved, or unwanted items to refill the boxes, and take them straight to the van, out of temptations way.

The whole box of jars she made me buy in order to get the glass baby bottles and blue Atlas jar, I am sending to the Jesus House as soon as I can finish filling the box. The 5 old painted dishes I bought for .50cents, well I think I can live without 1 or 2 of them , so they are going in the box too. I don't have to keep all the extra things, what a relief.

My box of baby dolls , need to be cleaned up. Some are pretty dirty. One little girl is called a dimples doll from 1968. I think I have found her original clothes. They need to be washed and ironed(groan),but I am putting her in Alexandras' room.

I am still trying to find the right spot to display my cookie jars/crocks. The colors don't look quite right when next to my apple red walls. I think the buffet in the dining area may work better. The earth tones should be happier next to the oak of the buffet. I can put my ivory ironstone soup tureens away for awhile.

I bought a beautiful frosted vase with gold trim and an ivory bedspread for Nicoles room and paid a total of .75 cents for the 2 items. She wants a french country look , and I am painting my iron bed black , and highlighting the floral details with a gold leafing pen. I think it will be really beautiful when finished.

Perhaps if I cleaned 90% of the stuff out of Nicoles' room, that would even out all the stuff I brought home.

open mouth, insert foot

A few weeks ago, I called Miss Sandy, the boys 4-H leader to see if she had found a veteran to come speak to the children regarding service and citizenship. She had found no suckers, oops volunteers. I mentioned I had a few items I could bring to share with the children, and before you could say jimminy cricket, I was the guest speaker.

I took a variety of items to the meeting, and set up my display on a red tablecloth. I had my Dads' purple heart, and a photo of him in Korea. Bens' Dads photo album from the pacific theater, patches from his uniform, a picture of him right out of basic training, a photo of his unit, and the flag from his coffin. I took several Uncle Sam hats, and a collection of miniature flags. I also made a poster listing the U.S. war casualties for every war since the Civil War to date.

I shared some of their war experiences,and some of their life experiences too. They were really affected by my Papas' story. He was born here in our small town, and was a sophomore in high school the day Pearl Harbor was bombed. He enlisted the next day in the navy. I asked how many knew a 10th grader , or a 17 year old boy? They all raised their hands. I read them the interview I conducted with Papaw when I was in high school. They all laughed, and some even cried, it was a really special time.

I told them what my Daddy told me, the day he gave me his purple heart. He said do you know why I received this medal? I answered, yes Daddy, you got shot. He said thats true, but I paid for something that day. I asked what he meant, and he said, I paid for your freedom with my blood, don't you ever forget that. Someone in uniform paid for our freedom, with their blood.

I have never forgotten it Daddy, and I never will. I love you.

oops

For the past several months, I have been cleaning out drawers,closets, cupboards trying to remove the clutter from our lives. I have a long way to go, but I keep telling myself is it important? Does it bring you joy? Do you really Use/wear it? I have spent months trying to convince Nicole she does not need 500shirts, when she only wears 100 of them.

My good intentions have all gone to hell in a handbasket (it was such a cute basket though). If I bought new outfits , or items for the home , I donated my extras to the Jesus House. Now what am I going to do. I have completely lost my mind.

My dear neighbor Rosemary is having her yearly yard sale with Quitta, now, I know this doesn't sound like a crisis , but it is. Rosemary finds, rescues, reclaims, the best junk beautiful things ever, and she knows my weaknesses.

In 2 days we have spent 114.00$ all my mad money, and I brought home 2 van loads of stuff. I bought an antique baking cabinet for$5.00, be still my heart. I did buy a few christmas gifts, but most items were for our home. I bought a new bedspread for Ashley for $2.50, I bought 5 cookiejars(I know, but I only spent $15.00) I bought halloween decorations, an entire box of really cute things for $1.00. The most expensive items were $5.00, so you can imagine how much we brought home. I have had so much fun playing with these items, rearranging displays, I got the biggest kick out of a teapot I only paid $1.00 for it has 2 little girls on an ironstone type pot.

My dear friend wouldn't let me buy 2 old sad dollies, no I had to buy the entire box for the whopping price of $2.00. Then she wouldn't let me buy just the 2 dresses I wanted , but made me take the box, for the exorbitant price of $1.00. That's right, I spent all that money , just a few dollars at a time , no big ticket items.

Now I have to really step up my declutter work, and find oh about 100 items, and give them away. I wonder if I have to give away item per item , or say item per price. I got 5 hats for a quarter, so do I have to give away 5 items or 1 for the sale?

I truly love the antique doll carriage, I am putting it on Alexandras' dresser with rescued baby dolls in it, when she is a little older , I am going to put up the pink ironing board with iron. It will look so cute in her room. The carriage and stroller are too fragile for playing, but they will look great on display.

Rosemary called, she is taking more items down to the sale in the morning, and wanted to know if I wanted to see them first. Drat that Rosie , she knows me too well. I am a sucker for old jars, quilts, worn junk, gently loved things from the past, and old baby dolls that need a good home.

alexandra

My little Rosie flower is 10 months old. This year is flying by, she is in such a hurry to do everything. She seems to be picking up new words so quickly, my favorite is Mama. She reaches for whoever takes her fancy, and yells quite loud if they do not take her quick enough.

She is taking her first tentative steps. She will cruise the furniture, or hold a hand and walk around. She has even taken 1or 2 steps , before she remembers she is walking, and sits down to crawl.

She has grown so much, from that tiny bundle placed in my arms last December. She is 22lbs, and tall too. She has her 2 bottom teeth, and more on the way. Her hair is thick and dark,like my Mothers' and her eyes are dark brown. I think she is beautiful.

I love how soft her skin is, how sweet she smells, how she holds my hand as she nurses. I love when she reaches for me(even at 3:00a.m.) She is a joy and a blessing. I want to enjoy every moment with her.

I know from experience babies grow up so fast, and in the blink of an eye my baby won't be a baby any longer.

parent-teacher conferences

Oh , how I hate parent-teacher conferences. This year, I have 5 students enrolled in school. Thank the good lord I don't have to go to conferences for the 2 in college. I spent an hour and a half talking to multiple teachers, regarding my many students.

Sean Patrick is doing really well in kindergarten, he is so smart . He just needs to work on those fine motor skills and wiggling!!!!!! say it ain't so.....

Jonathan has amazing grades, he is very polite and well behaved. He has beautiful penmanship. Will someone please tell me who I live with? I think his twin lives with me. On the other hand, if he is only perfect half the time , I guess it's best he is perfect in public.

Connor had good grades, but needs some tutoring in math. He is having trouble with some of the new math concepts. It is so funny, he has the same teacher in 6th grade that he had in pre-k. She said he is as sweet as ever, but now he gets so much attention from the girls, he thinks he is a really cool football player, and all the girls love him.

Nicole is excelling in everything , because Nicole excels at everything. She is so type a . She wants to do everything she does perfectly. She has talent and drive. She is my 4th child, and she wants to outdo everyone ahead of her.

I met with several of Ashleys' teachers, but there is still no viable plan in the works. She had all A's when she was reinjured, now she has lots of 0's on the books, and no one knows what to do to help the situation. The school has been unable to find a tutor to come to the house to help her every week, the teachers have sent some work. It is a big mess.

I had planned to get ahold of the one person who has not been very helpful in this stressful situation, but she was in a meeting when I got to her office. Ashley was relieved. I had my mombat boots on, and I was in the mood to kick some butts, and take some names. It was a bit anit-climatic, it never hurts to put the fear of God into the school officials, and I am just the MOM to do it.

go Sak-town

We have had so much excitement in our little podunk town. Our girls fastpitch soft-ball team has been undefeated. They won the district tournament, then last week, our little school hosted the regional tournament. They won that too!!!Just awesome!!!!

We did not have school on Thurs. as our girls began playing in the state tournament. The girls rode up in a Hummer Limo with the majority of the town following. They won game 1 5-1, they won game 2 , 10-0, and Saturday night, at the Soft ball hall of fame in OKC , for the first time ever they beat the defending champs 2-0.

It was so exciting, and emotional for the hometown folks. Instead of the screaming and cheering that followed the first two wins, the Sak-town fans wept tears of joy.

What made it so special to me, was the fact that many of the fans had in their youth donned the Sak-town uniform , to play the game, life always comes full circle.

Jonny blue eyes

My 9 year old son Jonathan is a chronic pain in the butt, I mean sweet, obedient child. He has a crazy temper, and takes himself very seriously. Whatever you do, do not laugh at this child.

I have such a crazy sense of humor, and he is so intense!!!!!! He has no sense of humor. Like the time we were at the Dr.s office, and he had to have a shot. He started howling at the top of his lungs. This was before the nurse was in the room. The louder he howled the harder I laughed, it was terrible.

He spent the night at his friends last night, and was trying every trick in the book to stay again, but there is school tomorrow, and I wasn't buying his 25 reasons not to come home.

Here are my 25 reasons to come home listed in order

1.Because I said so. Any other questions.

To really mess up his night, I reminded him the trash does not take out itself, and was waiting for him to get over himself. Could his night get any worse? You bet, the awful dreaded bath time. Jonathan believes water is for playing in or marching in and out of . He does not believe in soap or shampo. I was tired and did not give him the usual bath time litany. It goes like this. Take off your clothes, put them down the laundry chute, Turn on the water, get in the bath . Use soap and wash your body, rinse your body, wash your hair with shampoo, rinse your hair . Get out of the bath , dry off(very important step) put your pajamas on.

He came downstairs with dry hair, pajamas stuck to his body,and when I called him over to see if he smelled clean he turned around and ran upstairs crying to take another bath.

I guess he wasn't going to pass the sniff test.

hearts

It is quite an adjustment having adult children. They just don't buy, because I said so anymore. Kyle turned 18 in March, and we have clashed ever since. Do your chores, be on time, curfew is still enforced. It just seems to go on and on.

We had words regarding curfew, homework, chores, etc. He left for work angry and upset. I stayed home angry and upset. He came home from work, and said, Mom I brought you a present . As the savvy mother of 9, my first response was it's not alive is it. I don't want any presents that are alive (Kyle is always rescuing things). Hold out your hands Mom , he said.

I put out my hands, and he placed a small black box in it. Inside was a small gold heart, inside it said Mom. Kyle said I'm sorry we haven't been getting along lately. I don't mean to fight with you. I heart you Mom, and I love you.

I think we're going to be just fine, and I heart you right back Kyle.

home game

Tonight was our last home game of the season . The high school stadium at We-town was packed for our boys. Connors' cheering section was out in force again . He had 15 supporters cheering for him. He made some good plays, all the boys did, but the other team was better tonight and won 16-8.

One of the Moms' had on a t-shirt that said We-town, theres no little in this league. I thought it was pretty funny. They played "Back in Black " as the team ran out tonight. Out here football is very serious.

Connors' next game is about 60 miles away. I am not looking forward to the next 4 games away. At the final buzzer, all the fans stood up and cheered for the boys. It was a great small town memory.

The wonderful crisp fall air, the smell of hot dogs and chili and of course little league football, what a great way to spend a Saturday evening with your family.

I wonder if they have football moms for Palin t-shirts?

Benjamin

I looked at my husband yesterday, and saw something that surprised me. I am so used to seeing him, I look at him everyday. This time he looked, just like the day before. An attractive man, more gray in his hair now,than a year ago. Not as thin as he used to be, well trimmed goatee. Then, I saw something more, I saw someone looking back at me, someone I hadn't noticed in awhile. The boy I fell in love with 28 years ago. The same eyes, the same mischievous smile, the same devil-may-care attitude.

I felt my heart soften. Why don't I see him more often? I have laughed, loved, and fought with this man all of my adult life. I need to remember to see him. Really see him. The man who adores me, thinks I am still sexy and beautiful even when I don't. Swears he likes curves on a woman, which is a very smart thing to say to a very sassy wife, that has been pregnant 11 times, and is still carrying 15lbs of babyfat from the birth of Miss Alexandra.

I fell in love with you when I was 14. I have never loved anyone but you, and I never will. I am proud to be your wife, and the mother of all these crazy I mean sweet children. I will try to be the sweet June Cleaver kind of wife once in a while, instead of the sassy brat .

Remember that sappy song from the 80's "Glory of Love" you owe me dinner,and a dance. I owe you an apology as usual.