I Shall Be Random, Vol. 13

I sat down at the computer tonight, intending to do a blog post with a little bit of this and a little bit of that in it.  When I looked up "I Shall Be Random" to see what volume number I was ready for, I discovered this long-abandoned volume 13 post lurking in my drafts folder, begun way back in February of this year.  I had jotted down a few thoughts in the first four points.  Let's see if I can go back in time mentally and finish out these bits and pieces from eight months ago before I dive into the new ones...

~ 1 ~

One of my all-time favorite things to do with my children is read to them.  Whether it's the Bible, a history book, poetry, a work of fiction, science, or whatever else, there is something special that happens when we share the wonder of the written word--the way the same 26 letters, rearranged, express so vividly the entire range of human experience. I never get tired of it.

Recently, here are two bits of writing that we particularly enjoyed.  (There are so many more, but I can't quote them all!)

From a silly poem by Mary Mapes Dodge, "The Mayor of Scuttleton"...
"He loaded a shovel and tried to shoot,
And killed the calf in the leg of his boot."

From Anne of Avonlea, in the chapter "Marilla Adopts Twins"...
"You're never safe from being surprised till you're dead." - Mrs. Rachel Lynde (Oh, good old Mrs. Lynde, you fountain of wisdom, you!)

~ 2 ~

Every so often, I announce a special giving project that I would like to do with the kids: giving money to Heifer International, for example, or pooling our money to help support a friend who spent the summer serving as a missionary in an Arab country.  At the beginning of this year, one of the rewarding projects we did was buying food for the food pantry, and the kids chipped in generously with their own money.  It was sweet indeed to have them each raid their personal banks and decide how much they wanted to give, and then take the list of needed food to the store and let them help to choose the food items we would purchase for the food pantry.  Every time I bring up an opportunity like this, I am blown away by how eager they are to help and how freely they give from their own money.  They inspire me!

~ 3 ~

Josiah had a very active tournament season last year with NCFCA, and I was proud of him over and over as he developed his communication skills.  But one of the unseen acts he did that made me just as proud of him as anything public he did was helping David and Tobin with their interps (a kind of dramatic speech) that they each did at one of the tournaments we went to (this particular tournament had a level of competition for the younger kids--not something that all the tournaments do).  What a joy to sit back and watch him coach his younger brothers -- not only because he saved me a lot of work! ;-) -- but because it demonstrated his servant's heart.

~ 4 ~

One night at the supper table, Moriah made us all laugh uproariously when she asked, "Dad, do I have nipples?"  :)   She meant dimples, and probably wasn't sure why we all burst out in laughter.  :)  Nipples...dimples...it's easy to see how a young child could get those two similar words confused!  :)


And now, on to the new snippets from much more recently than February!  :)

~ 5 ~

Sometimes when I see Shav playing, I'm reminded so much of how Josiah played in his younger years.  They both had/have such focus, such ability to concentrate, such delight in using various objects to stand for soldiers and armies and other entities, such complicated battle plans devised in their creative minds, such strategy!

~ 6 ~

When I was pregnant with Tobin, I was vacuuming one day and, as I crouched slightly, something caught in my knee, and then such intense pain seized me that I could hardly bear it.  That's been about a decade ago, and I still remember it with a grimace.

The same kind of thing happened to me again a few nights ago, only this time I wasn't vacuuming but was instead in the top of a bunk bed, changing Moriah's sheets.  At all times, changing the sheets of a bunk bed is WAY down on my list of Fun Activities to Do; but I've never had such a painful time of it before!  But for whatever reason, the position I was in led my knee to clench up and then "tear," shooting daggers all through me.  It was miserable.

The thing that makes me laugh about it now was that I was really in an absurd position.  Stuck on my hands and knees on the top of the bed, I was afraid to move for fear of that terrible pain shooting through me again; and so I stayed there a while, trying desperately to figure out whether I should shift my weight to the right or the left so I could roll over (neither option seemed likely to give me much relief, so it was the lesser of two evils), and then trying to decide the best plan for getting down from the bunk bed.  Tobin, Shav, and Moriah were my audience; and as they watched, Tobin asked, "Is there anything I can do for you, Mom?", and Shav wondered, "Are you crying from pain or from laughter?" (it was both--although my kids are well accustomed to seeing me cry from emotion, whether happy or sad, they have not often seen me cry from physical pain, so it caught them off guard), and Moriah declared, "I'm going to pray for you!" which she did immediately, out loud.

Meanwhile, I still remained on the top bunk, feeling completely stuck and absolutely ridiculous.  When I muttered something about the stupid situation I was in, Shav was quick to remind me that we shouldn't say "stupid."  I'm so glad I have children to remind me of lofty moral principles when I'm suffering!!  ;-)

Eventually, I was able to change my position and inch my way to the ladder, then oh-so-carefully lower myself to the ground where I could give goodnight hugs and then hobble to the couch after putting on a knee brace left over from my high school days when I played basketball!  I didn't get anything else on my to-do list done that night, that's for sure!

Thankfully, except for a little residual pain the next day which reminded me to be cautious with that knee, I haven't had any lingering effects.

I'm not eager to crawl up on that bunk bed again though!  ;-)

~ 7 ~

One of our local colleges, Bridgewater College (my parents' alma mater), had the privilege of hosting Mark Kelly who gave a talk that was open to the public a few nights ago.  Jeff took Josiah, Tobin, and Shav to it, while I took David to his gymnastics class (and Moriah and Benjamin tagged along with me).  I was pretty much in awe of the fact that we had such a famous person appearing in our town, and I was completely thrilled for Shav who had been inspired by something we had done recently in our homeschool and had watched quite a few YouTube videos about astronauts and the International Space Station, etc., before declaring that he, too, wants to be an astronaut when he grows up.  And then, just a few nights later, he got to hear Mark Kelly speak.  Perfect timing!

At the end of Kelly's speech, there was an open mic time for questions from the audience; and Shav boldly got up in front of all those people to ask him a question!  Shav's query: "Was the International Space Station fun?"  And Mark Kelly responded that it was indeed fun to be at the ISS, then went on to tell a story about some of the fun things they had done there.

I know Jeff, Josiah, and Tobin all enjoyed the evening very much; but I'm especially happy for Shav that he got to hear a real live hero speak...and then direct a question to him personally!  :)

~ 8 ~

One of our local treasures is a discount grocery store called Sharp Shopper; and last Friday, when I had a few minutes free before picking up Josiah and David from their Spanish class, I slipped in to see what kind of bargains I could find.  Here's what I discovered...  :)

 I was excited to find the coffee yogurt (my absolute favorite) because the store where I normally get it has not been carrying it recently, so when I saw it--and then noticed that it was 4 for $1--I quickly decided to stock up.  But then, I noticed that there were other kids of yogurt that were also 4 for $1, so I got the fruit kinds that are on the right in the picture.  But then!

The yogurt in the center of the picture comes in a 4-pack, and the original price of those 4-packs was 6 for $1.  That is, 24 yogurt cups for one dollar.  But then!!  The price was reduced, and it was now 10 of the 4-packs for $1.  Yes, 40 yogurt cups for 100 pennies.  Fantastic!!

All my kids love yogurt, and it's so convenient to have some on hand for snacks and quick meals.  My only problem was fitting them all in the refrigerator when I got home!  :)

~ 9 ~

Music is a huge part of my life, and on a normal day at home, not too much time goes by without me turning on one of my Pandora channels or one of my YouTube playlists--although these days, when I do that, it's not uncommon for one of my kids to pipe up and ask if we can listen to his or her playlist instead!  ;-)

As I listen to Pandora, a lot of the songs that come on are familiar to me; but sometimes (and fairly often recently), new ones pop up.  In that way, I've discovered some new favorites in the past week or so; and quite a few of them, I've realized, have come from the groups Rend Collective and I Am They.

Here's a sample from I Am They...



...and one from Rend Collective.


I love how music acts as a powerful weapon in the spiritual battles of daily life!

~ 10 ~

Something historic happened this week: Josiah, who had long delayed getting a Facebook account FINALLY decided to get one.  Even his grandpa got one before he did!!  ;-) 

I think Josiah has really enjoyed having this avenue for connecting with friends, old and new.  David has already announced that the day he turns 13, he's going to get Facebook!  :)

~ 11 ~

And speaking of Facebook, here is a snippet that I posted there earlier today but want to include here, for memory's sake.  :)

Real-life conversation in my kitchen this morning...

Tobin, age 9: "Why do you guys like to stay in your pajamas, like, half the day?"

David, age 12: "Hypocrite."
and Me, age 41, simultaneously: "You're in your pajamas!"

Tobin, looking down at his legs and seeing them covered in pajamas pants, then beginning to grin sheepishly: "Oh."

* laughter erupting from all of us *

It was 11:07 a.m.  Does that count as "half the day"?  :)

I will add that, of all the people in the kitchen at that moment, I was the only one who wasn't wearing pajamas.  ;-)