I am my Fathers' daughter. . .

My dad has always been an early riser.  I guess he threw that on me too or it might be the kids.  Ever since I had my kids I cannot sleep very long.  At first I thought it was because I was worrying about stuff and then I thought it was because I had too much caffeine to drink too close to bedtime.  I figured it out this morning at 5 am, I am my fathers' daughter.
My dad, for as long as I can remember, has always gotten up early and either gone to the gym or gone for a run on the street.  Before there were gyms on every corner my dad would jog out our street for at least a couple of miles.  Now he goes to the gym and walks on the treadmill and lifts weights.  I always thought he got up early because he wanted to do his run and then he had to go to the barn and feed the horses and then come home to take me to school.  I think he gets up early because he can't sleep any longer than what he does.  I admire my dad because he does do all these things in the morning before he goes to work.  Now he is at home and in his easy chair by 9 ish and usually asleep.  I do give him a break on that one because he starts his day at 4 in the morning that and he is 83.  As I said he has been doing this since I can remember.
I cannot sleep past 6 and I am lucky if I sleep past 5 these days.  I decided today, when I woke up at 5, that I would do what dad did.  I went for a brisk walk.  I usually walk my sweet B after I take Sprat to school but this walk was just for me.  It was still dark, nice, and quiet.  I prayed and I took in the fresh morning air and enjoyed my walk this morning.  This walk was just for me, I think I may try it tomorrow too.          Thank you dad.

Today. . .

I had to go for my annual mammogram today, and I encourage all ladies to have those done as soon as you turn 40 or earlier if you insurance will pay for it.  Early detection is the key to saving your life.  I have a history of breast cancer in our family so I do mine just like I have my physicals every year.  I hate having them done but I know it could save my life.  It went pretty quick today, of course you have to wait a week to get your results.
On my way to the grocery store after the mashing of the boobs, the best song came on the radio.  I must apologize to all of those that were around me.  I was jamming to Markie Mark and the Funky Bunch with Good Vibrations.  There is nothing like a good song from the 80's to turn up loud and sing and dance along with  it.  That is a great song!!

A little frustrated today. . .

School seems to be going ok.  Big T has a substitute, his teacher is still employed by another county so she cannot come to her position here until that is filled.  I think that is a load of garbage.  Let them get the sub till they find a teacher.  We have had to deal with long term subs before and he does not do well with them.  He is a little boy that needs routine, when he does not get that routine he does not do well.  I am very concerned since this is his 5th grade year and this is a very important year for him.  He will go to middle school next year.  We have been assured that his teacher will be in place no later than a few weeks.  Well, that is a nice vague  answer.  I am working with him at home with his multiplication tables because I know those are going to be a big deal this year.  Please keep us in your prayers as we battle this change and lack of consideration from our school system.

We survived the first day. . .

We each survived the first day of school, now it's all down hill from here.  Big T came home happy and said he may need to brush up on his multiplication tables.  He did his reading and then we worked on math.  Went to pick Sprat up at football tryouts, he did make the Middle School team.  Yipeeeee!!!!!  He was a little nervous and I was a lot nervous for him.  He and two of his best buds made it also.   I am looking forward to football season, both my guys playing and dear hubby coaching.
Dear hubby and I went out this morning for our traditional back to school date.  He takes the first day of school off every year and we spend the day to together.  We don't do anything fancy just spend the day together.  We usually go somewhere for breakfast and go do some shopping.    We had to do it today because he had his boss working with him yesterday.    It is nice just to spend the day without the kids constantly interrupting with some complaint of the other not doing something or do something too long.  Ahhhh!!  the sound of silence. . . .   But, I cannot wait to hear about the kids day at school and football practice.

Family. . . .Kids growing up. . . .

So my nieces are now both in college, one in graduate school and one in undergrad.  I am very proud of them both, I know they are going to do great things.  My sister is now an empty nester.  I know the girls will come home some on the weekends, holidays, and maybe summer, but for the most part they have flown the coop.   I tell you all of this to unload my fears of my children leaving the nest.  I know I complain and poke fun about not getting any privacy or time to myself but, the truth is I love being a mom and I love having my kids around.  They do drive me nuts on most days but I wouldn't want it any other way.   I guess I am afraid of when they will no longer need me.  What then?   I am sure this is what all mothers go through, I may be going through it a little early since my kiddos are still in middle school.   I am never late to worry over things.  Dear hubby and I started our family later than most these days.  We were married six years before we had our first little one and we were not young when we married.   Some days I worry if we will have anything in common once our kids have flown the coop.  We do almost everything together right now with the kids and we both like sports.  I could be just worrying over nothing.  Maybe I am worrying about not knowing what to do with myself when my kids don't need me anymore.  I am so proud of them both though, they are strong boys and I think they are growing in their relationship with Christ.  We talk about that a lot so I hope it is becoming more a part of them.  Today was their first day of school and they both asked me to pray with them before they left, and that made me very happy.   I have spent these moments of quiet at home praying for all of those going back to school, young and old. Here is my picture they let me take grudgingly so.

What makes a man, a Father? ? ? ?

I don't usually write gushy stuff about my husband but, sometimes he just brings that out in me.  The other night I was trying to get the kids up for devotions and Bible reading and that is a HUGE task.  Some nights they just don't want to go to bed, go figure, they're boys.  I had a pretty tiresome day and was sitting on the couch and dear hubby had his Ipad out and I asked him to pull up Keys for Kids.  That is the online site we get our devotions from.  I was feeling too lazy to get up and get the hamster running in my computer and pull it up.  I have told you about my husband praying over our garden in other posts.  You know he is a spiritual man.  I expected him to pull up the site and hand me the ipad to read it for the kids.  Instead, he read the devotion that night.  I was a little shocked, since he normally lets me do all the reading unless I have a sore throat or something.  I was so excited, some days I feel like what I do does not matter and then he does something like this and it makes me realize he does appreciate what I am trying to do and it does matter.  When both Mom and Dad work together to build that spiritual bond in their relationship it bleeds over into the family relationship too.   I feel so blessed.   It is a real man and Father that will read devotions and the Bible to his kids.  I know that God is working in our lives and I am so thankful for all of his blessings.

New Bible Study. . . .

I have joined a new Bible study based on a book, "What Happens When Women Say Yes to God."  We read and do work in the book and post online our thoughts and such.  As you know we do nightly devotions as a family.  We read a devotion "Keys for Kids" it is an online site that does great devotions for kids and we read the Bible.  We have read all of Proverbs and are almost through with Psalms.  I was not in a good mood last night and feeling kinda blah and I was only going to read out of the Bible and not do the online devotion.  Big T came up first and sat beside me on the couch and while we were waiting for hubby and Sprat, Big T said can we please do the online devotion.  I reluctantly agreed, I was just really tired.  I pulled my computer out, got my hamsters running and finally got to the website.  The devotion was about how Satan can goad you into doing things that go against God's commandments.  The little boy was getting bullied on the bus from school.  His mom told him he needed to try and find a way to deal with his frustration with this bully without fighting.  The next day he came home and was very happy.  He had sat at the front of the bus and avoided the bully all together.  His mom got to thinking about how her son had changed his circumstances and avoided the bully by moving closer to someone in authority.  His mom said maybe she should move closer to Jesus and try to have a closer relationship with him to keep Satan away from her.
I felt like this mom in the devotion.  Big T made me read this devotion and it just reinforces my need to be in my new Bible study.  I always laugh when God just comes right out and says this is where you are supposed to be.  Last night I thanked my sweet Big T for getting me to read the devotion, it was Gods' plan all along.  I said yes, and got  a lesson for myself.   So thankful!!!!!

Cloud gazing. . . .

I have become more aware of the clouds in the last several months.  I am always looking at them and finding they look like different things.  Today as Big T and I were out running around I happened to look up and thought this particular group of clouds looked like either sharks or dolphins frolicking in the ocean.  I pointed this out to Big T and he saw some interesting things too.  He saw a humming bird and he saw the dolphin and shark too.  We had a wonderful morning doing errands and looking at the clouds.  He is growing up so fast and I know it won't be long and he will not want to have anything to do with me.  I treasure these little bits of time I get with him and am so thankful to the good Lord for sharing his beautiful cloud creations.  I guess I have become a little obsessed with the clouds, I have taken some pictures of some that I thought were neat.

Mom concerns. . . .

I have posted lots of different things on my blog.  I post mommy things, general aggravations, stuff that frustrates me, things I have picked up in my classes and sharing my family fun.  I hope that people reading are enjoying what they read and getting something out of it.   Today I am going to share a concern I have for my youngest, Big T.  He has been obsessed about having water.  He always carries a bottle with him everywhere we go.  He has been having, what I call panic attacks, whenever we go somewhere different or unfamiliar.   He had three episodes while we were at the beach.  They come on kinda quick and are centered around a stomach ache, feeling of something in his throat, and not being able to swallow.    If I could get him distracted he would be fine and would not mention any of the discomforts again.  That is why I think they are panic attacks.  He has not really had one since we came home from the beach.  The water thing is still hanging around though.  He has to have a bottle of water with him every where we go.  So far there has not been a problem but, I don't know how school is going to go with all of this.   I am thankful he is not changing schools this year.
We have been to the doctor for the stomach pain and it is so erratic that I just think it is his nerves and nothing else.  I was worried about the water thing because that is a sign of diabetes, we do have a family history there.  They checked all of that and he is not diabetic and for that I am thankful too.  I truly believe it is his nerves.  He has trouble going to sleep sometimes and we have been praying about that.  He told me last night as we were finishing up our devotions that our prayers for his sleep were helping.  He has memorized a verse to give him comfort and help him fall asleep.  I am so thankful he prays and has comfort from his prayers.  I hope we can find a prayer to help him deal with his panic.  He does not know they are panic attacks and I guess I don't know for sure but that is what it sounds like.  I don't call them panic attacks in front of him either.   I just try to get his focus on something else to distract him.  

Praying Parent. . .

I have read and re-read The Power of a Praying Parent, by Stormie OMartin, as a parent it is our job to pray for our kids.  We must pray for them and teach them to pray, it is important for them to know that adults need someone to lean on too.  If we teach them to lean on God at an early age imagine what they will be like as adults.  Imagine what our world could be like if more people would lean on God instead of damning him.  My dear hubby's niece recently had a baby, she is a beautiful baby girl.  I gave her this book, it is never too early to pray for your children and their well being.   Stormie gives you specific prayers to pray for certain things and I am so thankful for that.  Sometimes it is hard to find the right words to pray for your kids.  One night I was praying and my husband came upstairs, when I was through he came into the room and asked me who I was talking too.  I told him, God, he said oh and went back downstairs.  It is so funny, because he knows I pray but he did not realize I prayed out loud.  I also have a book by Stormie called, The Power of a Praying Wife, I use it also and I have seen some interesting things in my husband and it has opened doors for us to talk.  I did not realize just how spiritual my husband was until one day we were talking about our garden.  I was asking him about the things he planted and he was telling me that after he had planted our potatoes that he prayed over our garden.  How many men do you know pray openly and pray over their garden?  That intrigued me and I later found out that he prayed as he worked in our garden.  That explains a lot.  It explains the huge harvests we have had of zucchini, potatoes, cucumbers, lettuce and tomatoes.   It makes me smile every time I think of him praying over our little garden.
We celebrated our twenty year wedding anniversary this year and I love him more and more each day.  

It's Monday. . .

It is Monday and my kids are driving me nuts!!!  It's Monday!!!!!!  I am in count down mode for school to start, although, I am a little apprehensive this year.  This is going to be a pivotal year for both of my boys, this is Sprats' last year of middle school and Big Ts' last year of elementary school.  I hope and pray they both have a good year and that they get teachers that will be a good fit for each of them.  I am sure I will be on my knees during most of this year in prayer for my boys and their teachers.  I worry a lot about this "core curriculum" stuff.  The state does not know all they need to know about this and yet they are quick like a bunny to institute it.  I think a little more research should have been done before they dove head first into the shallow end of the pool.  Sprat took the social studies test last year and the whole test was on government and finance, they only spent a max of three days on this in school.  Now, my question is, how can you test a kids knowledge on the subject of social studies on only three days of work?  Our school systems have gone completely away from teaching our kids to using our kids as means to judge the teachers.  Our teachers are so concerned with how the kids are going to test they have forgotten about teaching for the sake of education.   Big T learned more last year about North Carolina history from his teaching assistant during her time with the kids.  I am amazed every day with the information he has retained about North Carolina history and our North Carolina lighthouses.  He was never tested on this information.
I will be praying for all of the kids this year, and their teachers.  At some point, I hope before it is too late, people will realize that it is the teachers and the teacher assistants that we need.   We do not need more suits and do nothing executives cutting the budgets of our school systems.

Book Club this weekend. . .

I am hosting book club this weekend.  I have been cleaning all week to get my house half way presentable for my lovely book club ladies.  I can now see my floor in the living room.  Why can I not keep my house clean once it is clean?  I know there are people out there that keep their houses clean and do so on a regular basis.  My excuse has always been my kids but, let's be honest, it's me too.  It is just so frustrating to clean and then have your kids or husband come behind you and leave things laying around.   I have enough laundry that I could wash every day and still not get caught up.  My dishes are the same, with everyone eating at home during the summer my sink can pile up in an afternoon.  It is amazing how big my living room is when it is not covered in shoes, book bags, sweatshirts, books, dog toys, and anything else that doesn't seem to have a home.
I have read some books and seem some things on social networking boards about organization and cleaning. I have tried to use those tips but I always get behind and end up trying to do a months worth of cleaning in a day or two.  I am beginning to think there is no hope for me and organization.  
I have a couple things left to do tomorrow and I should be ready for my book club party.  I may have to have the family over since my house is already clean.  I give it a week and it will be cluttered with new stuff, especially since we are getting geared up for school.

Update on Shark Week. . . .

So I posted about how much our family loved Shark Week, hosted by Discovery Channel.  We always tune in to learn more about sharks and to see all the video footage they have.  They always show such beautiful video.  I told you about how disappointed I was in Tuesday nights episode and how it was just not good.   Hubby and I have still been talking about the Megalodon episode.  He has been listening to the different radio talk shows hashing it out.  Hubby looked up the oceanographer that was the lead person on this hunt and he could not be found on google except associated to this episode.  I told him to look it up on Snopes, so he pulled it up and snopes is calling it a farce.  www.snopes.com  check it out for yourself.
I am a little disappointed in Discovery Channel ethics.  Some channels you depend on to be honest and report the truth, this just goes to show you, you cannot believe everything you see or hear on TV.   They should really know better in this day and age of google.  According to Snopes several people have asked about this and have looked it up.  One thing Snopes pointed out was that the South African press did not report the boat being capsized and the three people dead.  That does raise a few questions.
Shame on Discovery Channel for stooping to such a level of deception.

Shark Week. . . .

We all love shark week on the Discovery channel.  Dear Hubby and I watched the first episode and it was about the once thought extinct Megalodon.  Hubby and I both have degrees in biology so we are always intrigued by animals that show up after everyone has thought they were extinct.  We always are geared toward the biological significance. We stayed up and watched the two hour episode and I must say they have some pretty good evidence and new evidence that the Megalodon still exists.  The one diver still thinks it is just a big great white but, I don't know.  They talked about government cameras they have under water at different places that you can access online.  One showed a large shadow and a kid just happened to be watching it when the shadow appeared.   They looked at the shadow and it was a really big shadow.  It is amazing what they can glean from a shadow.  I tried to watch last nights episode but I could not.  It was a little ridiculous.  I will try to watch tonight's episode and I hope it will be more grounded.   I am not too keen on the little talk show that comes on after the main show.  They are a little to campy for me.  I guess I am getting old.
One of my aquarium pictures to the right is of a small Megalodon mouth open, my boys and my hubby are standing behind it.  I think this was considered a baby Megalodon.
These are some pictures I took at the aquarium of the shark tank.  I do love to watch them, they are fascinating animals.

Football season is about to begin. . . . .

Football season begins and I become a football widow or, more to the point a single parent trying to keep two kids and husband fed, in clean clothes, and at practice and games on time.  I love watching my boys play but it is hard to keep up with everything during this time.  Oh, and let's not forget school work too, mine and theirs.   I guess that is the nature of being a mom, taxi driver, coach, cheerleader, chef, student, teacher, wife and maid.
Dear hubby is going to help coach on Big T's team again this year.  He only has two more years to coach him so he is going to take full advantage of it.  Hubby loves the game and loves coaching.  He worked in a lab third shift and was an assistant coach at a local High School when we met.  We actually took a kid on a recruiting trip because his parents both worked on Saturdays and could not take him themselves.  That is how dedicated to coaching and helping kids my dear hubby is.   He does not want to coach anything else but, he has helped coach basketball in the past.
I like football, not professional really, but college and high school.  We usually go to the games on Friday nights and we do go to some college games.  Hubby and Sprat both like Miami and Sprat hopes to attend the U of M after graduation.

Fort Macon. . .

We were so busy between going to Cape Lookout and the Ghost tour we did not get to go to the Maritime museum or Fort Macon.  We did do a quick trip to Fort Macon on our way home.  We did not get to go in the museum but we did go around the Fort and Big T took some fabulous pictures.  He has really gotten good at snapping shots with his camera.  He let me use it during the Pirate tour and on the beach but he took all the pictures at the Fort except those of him.  I snapped those.  We had been to Fort Fisher before when the boys were much younger but this Fort was very impressive.  I was amazed at the cannon placement all around the top portion of the Fort.  They had the cannons fixed so that they could easily rotate them almost 180 degrees.  They only had a couple out there for you to see but you could see where all the others had been.  The ones they had left were facing out to the harbor.  We walked all around the top of the Fort and then went down on the inside portion.  We saw their kitchen area and storage area they had samples of china pieces that they had found laying around the Fort.

My dear hubby is a history buff and especially war history.  I am glad too, I don't think they teach a lot of that in school anymore.  My kids will have to learn their history from their dad.  Hubby went into teaching mode while we were out there  spouting off all the things he knew about the Fort and the part it played in the war.  Here is a brief synopsis.

The Union forces actually built the Fort, the Confederates came and over took it at the start of  the war.  The Fort was later attacked and over taken by the Union in 1862.  402 North Carolina Confederates refused to surrender even though they were surrounded.  April 25, 1862 Union forces began a heavy siege for 11 hours.   It was a federal prison from 1867-1876 during the Spanish-American War.  On May 1, 1936 Fort Macon opened as North Carolinas' first functioning state park.

Ferry ride to Cape Lookout. . .

Dear hubby and I decided we would make this vacation fun and educational.   We planned a trip to Cape Lookout.  We drove out to Harkers Island and caught the Calico Jack ferry.  They took us by Shackleford Island, where the wild horses live.  We got a little glimpse of them, our guide said they had done DNA studies on these horses and they are not related to any horse in North America.  It is believed that they were on some of the ships from Spain that Black Beard sank.  The ships sank and the horses swam ashore.  They do send the vet out to check on them and make sure they are healthy, they don't get much more human contact.
They docked at Cape Lookout and let us out, we stayed for about two hours, we packed water and lunch for a picnic on the beach.  We looked for shells and sharks teeth, dear hubby found many sharks teeth but only one conch.  The weather was great, it was a little overcast with a good breeze.   The ocean side of the Island was quite rough, we did not get out more than ankle deep.  The inlet side was much more calm we could walk out forever with the water only coming up to our waist and only a ripple in the water.