Beach Fun

This is a picture of all of the kids that were at the beach with us (at the airport where their parents flew out of)My pregnant belly reading at the beach on Sunday. Chuck led us in worship Sunday morning before our beach trip. We are so glad that Rusty and Chuck were able to come for Friday through Tuesday. They were an enormous help!
We have been to the pool or beach every day except yesterday (it rained and we were lazy). Today David jumped into some little girls arms and said, "Hey!" This picture is of him with his new friends whose names we don't know.

Apparantly every boy needs a pair of "goddles" to see underwater with. We will definately have to invest in a pair for next summer.

It is our last night here at the beach and we have really had a good time. The oldest of the 8 kids that are here is 12 and she has been a huge help with no complaining and such a willing spirit. It has made a huge difference. We are tired but have enjoyed ourselves.

The family whose house we are staying at are in China for 2 weeks to bring home their new little girl that they have adopted. Check out their blog here. We have enjoyed their four kids here at home and will look forward to seeing the rest of them when they get back in the US.

David has really done well and is looking forward to 3k next week. Lots of excitement with that! Rae has been with Mama since last Thursday and they are now at Hannah's. Check out her blog. Maybe she will have some pics!

Post again soon.

Whirlwind

I have been in such a whirlwind this past week and probably for the week to come. It's fun stuff but it's busy.

Last Saturday I went to east GA for a wedding of an old college friend. Scott and Ann's wedding was really so sweet and I'm glad I went. I got to see friends from Athens and from Blakely so that was really fun.

The next day I went the The Fox Theatre and saw The Color Purple with a friend. Really fun! At first I was thinking, "This story is so depressing. I'm going to leave at intermission" but eventually some redemption came through and it was fun. The singing and dancing was phenomenal and I really enjoyed that part of it.

Having the weekend "off" was great but I really paid for all that driving with my back. I sat on a heating pad all day on Monday!

Tomorrow I leave with Jeannie and we are going to the beach with 8 children! I think it will be fun but I'm a little nervous. Thankfully the husbands will be there for 4 of the 8 nights so that will really help a ton.

Sooo, you won't hear from me most likely for a week or so. (or however long it takes to recuperate after the trip!) Have a great week!

Farmers at the Pharmacy

So David and I had an interesting conversation this morning. They are tearing down a few houses in town to make room for a pharmacy and I was trying to explain this to David. It went something like this.

Look David! They are tearing those houses down! Look at the big equipment.

Mama, where are those people that live there? They will be so sad that their houses are gone.

No, baby. People don't live there anymore and they got paid money to let their houses be torn down.

But they loved those houses. (of course he has never met anyone who has lived in one of those houses)

No darling, it's okay. They got paid money so they can build a pharmacy there.

Mama, no! I don't want farmers to live there. They live in dirt not in houses. (Not sure where he thinks his daddy and grandaddy live.)

No David. A pharmacy is where we get medicine. That's different than farmers.

Oh. Well, I didn't want them to tear those houses down...... Can we go swimming today?

Preparation

I have been preparing for Micah's arrival today. This is the earliest that I have ever done this kind of thing but it's because I'm getting smarter! In a few months I'll be bigger, more tired, and will feel overwhelmed so this is a great time, in my opinion, for me to do all of this. We are transitioning Rae into sharing a room with her brother and she is thrilled about it! They love talking to each other and keeping one another awake.


David and I were talking about how Micah is in my stomach swimming around. David wanted to know if Micah was wearing swimmies. Too cute. He's moving a lot and it's exciting to feel him and know that he is there.


Here are two cute pics of the kids doing their summertime thing. They both love the water and David doesn't mind being hot nearly as much as Rae does! We have to keep her shaded.

Insecure Parents

I have a thought/theory that has been rolling around in my head for a while now. Insecure parents make insecure kids. Now I know that there are some insecure parents with confident and secure kids and vice versa but I have some strong memories that make me believe in my theory. And the reason that I am thinking about this is because David is now at the stage where he is playing and interacting with other kids who are old enough to reject him and truthfully that fact makes my stomach turn. Let me explain.

We all want our children to be loved, popular, and perfect. (or something like that) I would be thrilled if David is student body pres. one day or has more friends than you can shake a stick at but when I see other kids ocassionally laugh at him or pick at him (because they are kids and we have to teach them better) or adults become sharp with him when he misbehaves then I want to rip their eyes out! Yikes! And it makes me afraid..... I don't want him to hurt. Skinning a knee is much more preferable than a broken heart, which he will eventually have one day I'm sure. It's life.

Now to the memories. There was a girl in my class at school (yes, I know I was homeschooled but when you live in Camilla everyone your same age was "in my class") whose mama was really serious about her fitting in and not being excluded. Her mama would talk to the school principle and try to have him make the other kids be nice to her. It's been 20 years and I can still remember how it embarassed this girl, made her more of an outcast, and how hurt she and her mother both were by it all. What if her mama had been secure in who she and her daughter both were? What if she had taught her that it's good to have one or two good friends? After all, one steady friend is worth a pile of acquaintances.

I'm just thinking that if I wrap up my own insecurities and fears about acceptance and rejection into my children then they actually suffer for it and then not only are they rejected by peers (which is gonna happen at least a little bit) then they also feel rejected by me because they haven't achieved or done enough.

That's the kind of stuff that carries on with people and continues to make their lives hurt.

I'm not sure if I said it all how I've been thinking about it. I may need to post another time later to get it out right!

If somebody has a better way to say this then let me know.