Manic Monday

I'm not complaining. Really, I'm not. Mama said there'd be days like this. There'd be days where it seems like everything goes wrong. Like:

• an early morning wake~up by the dog who just had to go outside. Right. Now.
• a second early morning wake~up by a child with wet jammies and wet sheets.
• a very unrestful rest of the nite morning because I chose to share my bed with said bedwetter (in addition to the dog that claimed his spot right where my legs should have gone) instead of dealing with wet sheets in the dark.
• a too-cold house this morning because we didn't check the programmable thermostat when we turned on the furnace for the first time last nite.
• a completely dead van battery discovered 15 minutes before the start of school.
• a backed up kitchen drain (I guess the garbage disposal couldn't handle the fridge cleanout).
• an MIA library book that is due today. Paging Captain Underpants, where aaaarrrreeee you?
• kids stuck after school because said battery is still dead and husband is working 2 hours away today.

So, now instead of fetching my kids from school, I'm baking cupcakes, making a mega grocery list, gearing up for my Beth Moore study tonite, and opening the windows. A pumpkin spice candle is burning and the sun is shining in. Monday, you sure are giving me a run for my money today. But I've had a whole pot of coffee, so you better watch out!. You won't win that easily;)

It's A Southern Thing, Honey

Well, we're riding a learning curve of new southern traditions, experiences, and just the every day little things of Louisiana life. We knew this was to be expected but sometimes the differences between living "up North" in Michigan and "down south" in Louisiana crack me up. 

For instance, most people we talk to about Michigan know where Detroit is and that's their overall assumption of the whole state. Our neighbors know about "Michigan" from watching Hard Core Pawn. They totally had us pegged as gangstas from Michigan;) We assured them all of Michigan is not like the one TV show. (Although when I first heard about Louisiana I couldn't help bring to mind Billy the Exterminator or Duck Dynasty.) Funny how media can have so much control over your perception... Other observations:

• We've learned football is big down here. And I think BIG might be an understatement. Um, go LSU!
• Southerners love Sonic and God. There is a Sonic and a church on every corner. Or so it seems...
• Gumbo, po'boys, bbq, alligator meat.... I love to eat, but I like things mild and not~so~adventurous.
• It's hot down here! We're enjoying our 4th day of mild weather (mild= temps below the 80*'s). And I'm not complaining, either. I never did have a serious love affair with snow. Although a warm, balmy Christmas may not quite be the same.
• Milk is expensive ($3.99/gal.) but gas is cheap ($3.48/gal for my fill up yesterday). I'll take the cheap gas and just make my kids drink more water;)
• There are tiny green lizards everywhere. One was stuck in the mail box the other day, it's little head poking out. I now flinch every time I go get the mail. There's also lots of ants (they bite!), ginormous spiders, and lots of bugs in general. 
• The kids' school is full of unmarried Southern belles. Or so I thought (because the headmaster, yes, headmaster {whatever happened to principal!?!?!} was introducing all of the teachers at the parent orientation as Ms. So&So). It took me awhile to catch on. I was seriously thinking, "they're all not married!!! Even the "old" ones;) And then I realized... it's a southern thing. All the ladies are Miz... Ha Ha! If there was ever a "duh" moment...
• And the big bow thing, crack me up! I was wondering the other day if the size of the bow is in direct proportion to the size of the little girl's head. I have seen some seriously BIG bows. I met a new friend and when she found out I had not 1, but 2 girls, she remarked, "you must have alot of bows!" And then I burst her bubble and said, "Nope, we're from Michigan, we've only been in Louisiana for a month". Crack me up! My girls are now acclimating nicely thanks to my MIL's generosity. I took her to The Bow Shop and she purchased fall/Halloween bows and ones to match the girls' school uniforms. Audrey has to go bow~less tomorrow as she is going on a field trip to Safety Town and the permission slip specifically asked for the girls to not wear bows because they'll be wearing safety helmets:)

Welcome to the South, Hosmer family!!!:)

Storm's A Comin'

Well, hello there, Issac. Not even a month into our new adventure and we're hunkered down waiting out this storm called Issac. Hunkered down because we have lots of new movies and books from the library down the road; and well, no one else is out so maybe they know something about hurricanes tropical storms that I, as a newbie, don't. If there's 2 things I've learned it's that hurricanes are somewhat unpredictable (making the weather forecast often changing) and that Louisiana~ins take no chances. So here we are starting our 5 day weekend on a dreary day~ lots of wind with a constant, light rain. A 5 day weekend because school was called off in light of the approaching storm for the next 2 days and then we have Labor Day to cap off our extended break. Oh, one more thing I've learned is the definition of "squalls". Yes, I had to google it after it appeared in yesterday's forecast of today's weather. Of course today's weather forecast for today includes nothing exciting like squalls just some wind and rain. Which is exactly what it's doing. For now.

Birthday Girl

How can it be that my baby is ALREADY turning 6? In the crazy chaos of the move, I was afraid this milestone would be undercelebrated and not quite so special. With Tom in Dallas for the week, there's a whole other twist to Lexi's day. But we're making the best of it. Her birthday decoration is hanging from the breakfast nook chandelier; the kids had donut holes with funky birthday candles this morning; there are cupcakes cooling for her afternoon birthday treat at school; and there's some as~of~yet unplanned fun for this evening.

        (Austin's view of my belly, 2006)

On top of the 6 year celebration, our family is also rejoicing in Lexi's decision to ask Jesus into her heart. Two nights ago after family devotions she prayed this simple prayer all on her own~ "dear Jesus, please come into my heart and change my heart from black into white because I love you and I believe in you~ Amen". So simple. So sincere. So very, very precious. Mommy and Daddy's prayer for you, Lexi, as you are becoming a sweet, sensitive, silly 6 year old is to always remember how much you are loved. We love you more! God loves you most! You are so special to us, Miss J. Sparkle today and every day!

Busy

Remember that summer bucket list post I did a few weeks back? God was definitely having a chuckle over my ambitious plans because less than a day after writing it, it became clearly obvious to me that there probably wouldn't be a whole lot achieved from that list this summer. Because I've been busy. The call~in~the~plumber~call~in~the~electrician~call~in~the~carpet~cleaners~get~the~house~cleaned~up~ call~in~the~Realtor~start~packing~start~researching~Shreveport~because~Tom~accepted~a~position~ with~Chrysler~and~we're~moving~to~Louisiana kind of busy.

Dear Grandpa,

One year ago today we were eating yummy leftovers from Micah and Lindsey's rehearsal dinner party. We were looking through all of the pictures from the gorgeous wedding the nite before. One year ago today, I was sincerely thanking God that you had been in attendance with Grandma and was able to share in Micah and Lindsey's special day. Thanking God that we were able to have family pictures taken with the bride and groom and everyone else in their wedding finery. The pictures from the nite before were the last we'd ever take together. 

One year ago today, I stood in your kitchen and you told me you were ready to go to your heavenly home. I tried to laugh it off and told you that we weren't done having you make pancakes for us yet. But you weren't joking. You were tired and in pain and the reality of your sickness scared me. One year ago today was the last time my kids saw you on this side of glory. I'm sure they didn't even really say goodbye because no one knew how quickly you were going to leave us. 

If I could go back one year ago today, I wouldn't change much of anything. Just that my kids would have said a proper goodbye with a great big hug. Maybe you could have mustered enough strength to play a round of "chase with Papa". And maybe another picture or two.

Love, Maria 

Bits & Pieces

One of my facebook friends quoted a few verses from Psalm 37 today. {There are several in this passage that I love!} So I decided I'd revisit the psalmist's words tonite. I had several lines already underlined with my notes penned into the margins. It's funny how the same passage of Scripture can mean different things during different seasons of life. These words stood out to me and seemed so very relevant to some things God's bringing us through right now:

           Trust in the LORD and do good.

                Then you will live safely in the land and prosper. {vs. 3}      

           Take delight in the LORD,

                and he will give you your heart's desires. {vs. 4}

           Commit everything you do to the LORD.

                Trust him, and he will help you. {vs. 5}

           Be still in the presence of the LORD,

                and wait patiently for him to act. {vs. 7}

               (not one of my strong points;)

           .... but the LORD takes care of the godly. {vs. 17}

           .... He delights in every detail of their lives. {vs. 23}

           .... for the LORD holds them by the hand. {vs. 24}

Promises to claim!!!

Great {Summer} Expectations

Summer is in full swing here in Hosmerville. Two weeks in and counting. And I am determined that we Hosmers are gonna live it up this summer!:) Last year was pretty much "The Summer That Wasn't" and I definitely do NOT want a repeat.

First there was my brother's wedding. (Ok, maybe I do want a repeat of that;) For the first month of the kids' summer their vacation revolved around mommy's preoccupation and busyness with all of the wedding preparations. They'd ask to do something fun and my standard reply was, "we've gotta do such~and~such (for the wedding). Just wait till after the wedding and we'll do it." On top of the whole fam being in the wedding party, I helped plan, prepare, and serve a rehearsal dinner for 30+ family and friends. But it was all good. I woke up the day after the wedding and thought, "now that was fun! Let's do it again next weekend":)

Except the next weekend my grandpa died. (More on this later. It's still hard for me to even think about it, so we'll see if I can get some words down eventually.) After his death I spent the rest of the summer trying to help my kids cope with their grief of losing their papa and being available to help and support my grandma, from settling her into her new retirement community to doing an estate sale for her, all while functioning through a fog of the deepest, rawest emotions I have ever experienced.

So yeah, this summer HAS to be different! We've settled into a laid back routine of sorts already. Most mornings, the kids head to grandma's while I clean. I'm usually there by lunch time to pick them up so we have the afternoons with each other. Here's our summer bucket list:

1. sign kids up for the summer reading program through the library
2. send kids to basketball camp at Columbia Central (Yes, although basketball is Austin's "thing" I wanted the girls to get in on some ball action, too. This is what the kids are doing this week and so far they are all having a ball:)
3. send Austin to basketball camp at SAU. This camp is an all~day camp for 4 days with a more structured and focused program. He goes every year and loves it! 
4. send Austin to camp. 5 nites away. First time ever. 
5. send the kids to VBS thru our church. This year vacation Bible school runs Sunday nite thru Thursday nite. The staff always does a super job and Tom and I get 5 date nites in a row!
6. this Friday the local pools open for the summer. The kids can't wait to swim! Austin is ready to take the swim test and conquer the "big kid" slide that goes super fast and dumps you out into 9 feet of water. I would love to go at least once a week. We'll see how the weather cooperates.
7. I'm really hoping we get lots of invites to beach it up with my girlfriends and their kids {*hint, hint*}. We did this several times last summer and it felt like my only escape from reality. Looking forward to soaking up the sun with my bestest girlies.
8. take the kids to Lake Michigan. We usually do an end~of~summer mini vacay and take the kids to Grand Haven for a couple of days. We spend the entire time on the beach and in the pool. We will probably have to condense it down to a day trip this year because of our busy August calendar (see #'s 9 & 10). But some way, some how we'll go to Grand or South Haven.
9. Thomas Family Reunion. Tom's mom's dad's family. Got that?;) First weekend in August, somewhere in Southern Illinois.
10. Hosmer/Stafford wedding. Tom's middle brother and his fiance:) Second weekend in August, somewhere in the gardens of Southern Herb Farm.
11. if we can sneak in a trip to the zoo, I would love to take the kids to GR and visit John Ball. Their penguin exhibit is my absolute favorite!
12. finish the kids' school workbooks. Last year the kids brought home their unused pages from their spelling, math, Bible, and handwriting workbooks. I had high ambitions of having them work through the rest of their work throughout the summer.. We didn't pull the books out once. This year, same thing: spelling, math, Bible, and handwriting. So far, we've done 2 pages. There may be hope. (On a side note, I am not doing this because we are overachievers here in Hosmerville. I just explained to the kids that this is a way to keep their brains working and it keeps them occupied while I'm making lunch:)
13. plus there's a WHOLE bunch of ideas I pinned on pinterest. If we have time and materials and money we'll do these fun little projects, too. (If you follow me on pinterest you can find most of these ideas on my "with the kiddos" board.

Here's to summer!

Strawberry Sweetness

My grandma and I took the kids strawberry picking on Monday. To say we were successful in the berry patch may be a bit of an understatement. Over~ zealous is a bit more like it. We picked 30 lbs. in about 45 minutes; and I have been cleaning and prepping berries ever since. I am typing with berry stained hands, but our freezer is chock full of strawberry goodness!

• the kids inhaled enough fresh berries to turn their skin pink;)
• 20 half pints of freezer jam
• 2 nites of strawberry shortcake for dessert
• several pounds of plain frozen berries (can't wait to use these for smoothies!)
• and, 2 huge containers of frozen vanilla greek yogurt~dipped berries

Old Soul

Oh, Austin! Bless your black~sock~wearing~with~shorts little heart. Topped off with a navy blue shirt and different blue hued shorts. Today was one of those mornings. Clean laundry was low, desperation was high and I was feeling slightly apathetic about my kids' wardrobe choices. Until drop~off when I noticed Austin sporting the little old man look.