Crumbs from a full plate...

Inspiration

We spent several days camping last week. I am not particularly outdoorsy, but I enjoy camping with the family. There is an element of playing house that really appeals to me. One of the most fun things is figuring out how to cook great meals over a fire.

After one of these breakfasts - bacon, eggs, pancakes - Sam was watching me clean up.

Sam, "Do you enjoy cooking for us?"

ME, "Yeah, I do."

Sam, "Well, that's the kind of wife I'm gonna have - one who likes to cook and is good at it like you are."

Me, "that's great. I hope you find someone like that."

Sam, "Well, I have to, cause I'm just gonna be a lardo and sit around and she'll need to cook and stuff to make it all work right." (said while puffing his belly as big as he can and stroking it.)

Isn't it the role of the mother to inspire her children to greatness?

I got a really cute email today...

Hi Shelley,

I used an online dictionary today to look something up, thought I would share what I learned:
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blog      (blŏg)  Pronunciation Key 
n.   A weblog.
intr.v.   blogged, blog·ging, blogs
To write entries in, add material to, or maintain a weblog.

Obviously she thinks I should write in my blog more. And that makes me happy to know that people are reading what I write. So, once again for the 100th time I will try to do better.

Of course, comments would probably motivate me...

My little project

So, I am writing a bible study and it is all consuming at the moment. In the past, I have associated preparing messages and speaking with having babies - great idea and then you have to do it.

Writing is way harder...cause I can't rely upon my great BS skills to make it happen. People actually have to read it, which means I actually have to write it before they can read it. See how that works...very different from a verbal message. In that case, I produce at the same time someone else receives.I remember Bonnie Branson my high school English / Journalism / yearbook teacher saying that I might be a good writer someday if I would just focus and do the work. Well, Bonnie...I have focused. But, I needed a break for a few minutes.

One of the greatest current gifts of my life is Linda Lemke...God is so gracious, cause one day last summer she - having no idea what level of flake I am - agreed to write this with me. And we have ambled along since October and she is still with me even though we now have joined hands and are running headlong toward February 13th. Man...this is fun, but it is soooo hard!

Changing Categories

Learning to drive was a pretty fun experience, and I am sure that at some point one of my parents patiently showed me exactly what to do. I do remember pulling my uncle Eddie's car back and forth in an empty parking lot one year when I was probably only 14. My mom at that time drove a stick shift, so some family gathering was my opportunity for an easier lesson. Drivers Ed didn't exist in my small town, and most of the farm kids drove really early.

Once I began to actually drive around town, Daddy was always pretty willing to ride with me. He would sit all knees in the passenger seat and chat. If something didn't suit him, he would suddenly grab the dash and shout "blessed Jesus, we come to you now..." and it was totally up to the driver to figure out what she had done wrong. Sometimes, the prayer would continue "we're filled with fear and trembling for the lack of stop at the sign". Helpful, huh.

But, the best advice I got from him came after I had been driving a little while. I don't remember the occasion, but it has been said many times since as most motto's are...

"Baby, life is full of two kinds of people. Those who have had an accident and those who are fixin too...don't be too upset when you change categories!"

Well, I changed categories on Wednesday. Part of me wishes my Daddy had been praying some over the top prayer beside me as a warning before I pulled out at that intersection. But, mostly I know not to get too upset, these things happen.

Sometimes you gotta play your card and run!

It is a real problem when people start blogs and then fail to post. They get folks all excited, eager to read about what they are thinkin and doin and then nothing. I have been guilty of this much of my blogging career and am totally in envy of those who manage to post daily by 9am.

Over at the Blacksheep blog my buddy Steve is having some problems with his partner...she really isn't pulling her weight in the posting department. Of course, we could talk about all the slack she picks up otherwise...hummm, or not. I talked with Joe about the problems Steve is having and he suggested the following...take a deep breath Steve, slap that submit card down and RUN!

Seriously, let us know if it helps and maybe I can use it to get some laundry done around here.

Fourth

 

I was asked by Debbie to post the fourth picture in my fourth folder on my computer. Here it is, circa 2008 Ladies' Retreat. This shot is pretty blurry, but still offers a look at the worship team on Friday night. It's pretty timely that I found this photo in particular as things are gearing up for this  years retreat.  Tina, Becky, and Jessica and Eric;  I wanna see your fourth picture from the fourth file.

A note about today's kids

Yesterday the school went ahead and did the little classroom gift exchange in anticipation of a snow day. Megan was given a Rubik Cube. When she got home, she handed it to Abby and said "I've been trying to work this - can you?"

Abby twisted it a few times and walked straight to the computer where she googled "How to work a Rubik Cube?"

And the winner is...

Marie is the winner of Rest-in-Him Chamomile and Pomegranate Prosperity tea from Christiani-tea. Marie, comment with your contact info and I'll send your prize right away.

Yeah! Hope you enjoy.

Funny thing...I asked my husband (an engineer and lover of all things numerical) for a random number between 1 and 21 in order to choose the winner. He answered loud and clear - 14.7!

Ummm, honey, I don't think that's random.

Welcome to the biggest time suck of your life

Facebook as described by my eloquent sis-in-law.

And she is probably right. But, I did it anyway. I've had lots of pressure  encouragement from Amy and Gina to join them on facebook. After hearing about it again this weekend, I started to think maybe I was the only person not connected...

I don't do alone well. So, here I am. Maybe the family doesn't need to eat or wear clothes this week.

I found a solution to alone

Meet my friend Alayna...

Growing Up

School started back in WI today.

This weekend we got all sort of little projects done around the house including cleaning the kids bedrooms really good. Of course, it isn't a  truly clean room in the Gallamore home without rearranging the furniture and even trading bunk beds. The kids were all organized and set and the rest of the house was reasonably clean - making me a "good mom".

Of course, I know that isn't really true...but we all feel it when things click just right.

There were no tears this year. Everyone was totally happy to see their friends again, jump into the routine and be busy. We hadn't talked about lunch really, so I got up and packed lunches for everyone and even remembered to include notes. When I handed Sam his lunch box, he said, "oh, I don't need this - I'm eating hot lunch. I checked my balance at open house and I have $5 left from last year." Before I had time to react, Guy walked by and said, "I'll take his lunch" and proceeded to empty the contents into his lunch box and force the zipper closed. They are totally growing up, but I guess that is the plan.

Encouragement From My Man

"Oooooh, girl, it's a good thing I like my women pretty instead of domesticated", says Joe as he tries to find a clean pair of shorts to put on after work.

Note: As he is reading over my shoulder while I post, he wants to know if I consider this a good thing, or just something I gotta live with. The answer is YES! I do love that man!

Come home soon Brenda

Joe is doing you're work!

And doing a fine job, but he much prefers to rescue me in macho man ways like killing spiders or investigating noises at night. But, tonight I needed help creating the registration form for the upcoming year of women's bible study, so my sweet man sat down and created it. The lines have never been straighter or the words more exact.

I thanked him with a weight watchers 1 point latte bar...he isn't really feeling the love.

Overheard coming out of church

Sam, "Momma, you are old fashioned!"

Me, "Really, why do you say that?"

Sam, "Well...you are old and you have no fashion = old fashioned!"

Me, "Thanks son, thanks a lot."

Friends

My son is friends with the son of the outgoing PTA president at Randall, so when we met today to pass over some paperwork a playdate was formed.

But, it was a crazy day! Although I had washed multiple loads of laundry and covered the dining room table with clothes to be put away and cleaned the bathroom the house was still quite messy. And I was distracted trying to work on a summer schedule for bible study, respond to emails for teacher appreciation week and quickly cook supper. So, when Andrea arrived to pick up Ryan I let her into the chaos.

After we walked through to get the boys, she sighed and said, "I am so glad someone else lives like I live."

We had stopped right in front of the kitchen table where 2 of the kids had emptied their back packs that morning of papers which were still strewn out only to be joined by the remnants of 5 kids eating snack before heading out. I gestured to the table and said "you know, I am not really a good housekeeper".

Her response, "me either!" 

I was tempted to offer to show her my bathroom - except with so many people in the house, I wasn't certain it was still clean.  Then Andrea said, "I just can't wait to get home and get out of these clothes".

"You look nice", I said.  She explained how it was the only pair of pants left clean at her house.

"I have to grab a shower" I explained. "I put this on quick this morning and then the day got away from me."

And with a smile my friend raised up the leg of her nice trousers to show me that she hadn't shaved her legs in days.

Now see, that's why we're friends!

  "Therefore encourage  one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing."               1 Thessalonians 5:11

Tampons and little boys

Last night the babysitter asked if I had any tampons. I went upstairs and got two from the hiding place I keep them so my boys will never stumble across them and placed two on the bathroom counter. I was thinking one for now and one for later. She left one on the counter...

This morning when I knocked on the bathroom door to ask Guy what was taking so long after his shower, he said "momma, I have a question!"  Next thing I knew he opened the door quick and stuck an unwrapped tampon in my face and said "WHAT is this!!!"  My first reaction was equally fierce..."IT IS NOTHING...GIVE IT TO ME!" But, then on the way to the trash can I remembered my desire to have kids who talk to me, that he had already had at least 2 talks with his daddy, and that I was a little foolish for acting so shocked. All that and the fact that my future daughter-in-law needs to be able to send him to the store for "personal products" all went through my mind.

I turned back and very calmly said "it is a tampon, ladies use them while on their period. Do you have any questions about that?" "No," he said. "I just wondered." 

Whew...glad that's over!

This might be TMI

I am wearing an undershirt today. For those of you who are wondering the significance of that, the last time this occurred my mommy was picking out my clothes. I grew up in AR and never really learned that layering thing. In fact, I would go so far  as to say I have resisted the layering thing for almost 7 years...but today after what feels like 6 months of being cold I found myself thinking "that shirt is going to be too thin". Just goes to show that people can change...

I might be weird

Tomorrow the kids go back to school and things get back to normal and I can't wait! With all the extra weekend days and the holiday days - it has been a really long break. A very nice break with a little family and a lot of friends...but, I am ready for normal to return. In fact, I realized today when I heard the 50th person say sadly "tomorrow we have to go back to work" that in fact - I love my work! I love my normal routine. I love being busy and having purpose and things to do each day. And while I love my family and friends and all the hanging out and eating together we have done - I wanna go back to work! What do you think, am I weird?

A Funny Santa story

Several years ago when Megan was 3 or 4 years old we were driving somewhere - me, her and the friend that lives next door. Without all the big kids in the car to talk, the two little girls begin to discuss Santa and whether or not he is real. Jessica was absolutely certain that he was real and Megan was certain that he wasn't. As you remember from a previous post, we hadn't really spelled out either for Megan and I was listening intently to her defense of him not existing. After a few minutes, Jessica threw down her trump card - "well, if he isn't real then how do I get presents? I get them cause he comes to my house!" With barely a pause Megan replied, "well, he might be real when he brings presents to you - but he died before he got to my house!"

That settled it fine in both their minds and they moved on to other things...

Everything Doesn't have to be a big deal!

   

Lazy Days of Summer

It's 9:04am here and 3 out of the 4 kids are still sleeping. We've had a long week with a lot of fun places to go and things to do...I'm glad they are getting some extra rest. I think the best part of summer as a grown up is the change in our schedule that allows for us to spend time on the fun things. I enjoy letting my kids spend time playing with their friends and hanging out doing whatever occurs at the moment. Fun things we've done this week...

• Walked the dogs to the school playground and spent time there playing
• Attended Summer Spectacular at FRCC...they loved Game Day Central
• Swam at the YMCA
• Raced through the paper route with Megan and Abby helping to see how quick we could do it
• Made homemade orange sherbet ice cream...yum!
• Covered the front retaining wall and driveway with ramps and worked on tricks with the bikes

Personally, I can't believe that we are almost through July...School will be back in session before we know it.

Hello again

Hello blog world...I'm back! This has been a great week of catching up on my thinking...does that make sense? I find that I am an extreme relational person, but sometimes I get overloaded and just can't put anything out. So, I hibernate from the only things I can hibernate from - usually my email, voice mail and now my blog. :)

This past weekend I got the privilege of being an imperfect mother during the mother's day service at FRCC along with two other great, but equally imperfect ladies. You can listen to the message here. Preparing for that was an intense effort and I think that is what finally put me over my quota. Plus, my oldest child is turning 12 next week - wow, that has started some huge thoughts in my head.

So, stay tuned! I intend to finish my mother's day post about my mom and post it today. Plus, who knows what else might happen!!!

Busy Week

Life had gotten much busier at the Gallamore house this week. We are hosting the Blair kids while Josh and Lora are at a conference...for those of you who don't know them that is 3 kids under Kindergarten! The cool part is that they are the right ages to continue the line Joe and I started with our own family, so this provides me a little taste of what it would have been like if we had kept the family growing.

Actually, it hasn't been bad.  They are very sweet kids and very verbal! Having 7 kids is pretty cool - you just have to focus on them! I am constantly reminded that I have sorta lost my "mommy focus" skills and people need to be lifted off the trampoline and taken to the potty. I think by Wednesday night when they go home, I'll totally have my groove back!

I have decided to try to keep a theme going all this week starting with tomorrow's post and running through the weekend...check back tomorrow for the start of Tribute Week! 

Comments Anyone?

I have been really excited today to see the comments start to appear!  I challenged and blatantly bribed my Wednesday friends, but everyone who reads this blog is invited to join the conversation. I, like most people, really thrive with a little positive reinforcement...so the writing should pick up as well. J

Today became an "at home" day when Meg woke up not 100% and I have thoroughly enjoyed it, especially the wearing comfy clothes all day part.  I have spent quite a bit of time writing in dates on my calendar for the rest of the year in a continual quest to know where I am supposed to be and when.  It is my hope to be organized at least once in a while.

Things are starting to wind down in the school year and we are planning end of the year celebrations in Mom Time and Women’s Bible Study…where has the year gone?  For me June is the beginning of a great season…one much more focused on my home and family. One of the blessings of my job is that I can spend more time at home with my family during the summer, and do a lot of the planning and preparing for the school year while my kids play. It is also a great time to rest and renew myself. I can hardly wait!

Cookie Exchange

The Mom Time Cookie Exchange last night was really fun! I was a little skeptical about my ability to make decent cookies - but, as Abby said "wow mom, you didn't burn them!" And then the best part was getting to take our tasty, but plain cookies and exchange them for all kinds of cool looking cookies made by really creative bakers.

The other cool part of the process was getting a copy of the cookie exchange cookbook...all recipes submitted by Mom Time ladies. For those of you who would like to have a copy and weren't there, or if you would like to give someone else a copy you can Download mom_time_cookie_exchange_2006.pdf .  I have also added an new album of pictures from last night as well.

A Truly Old Man

One of my good friends...Dan Hubert...turned 40 today. The sad thing is that he and his family moved to St. Paul this fall to attend Bethal Seminary, so he isn't around for us to harass in person. That really spoils the fun! So, happy birthday Dan. We miss   all of ya'll! 

Full Disclosure

This is my laundry room tonight...after I have washed, folded and put away 4 loads already. I had been doing really good since school started, but sometime recently I slipped and...well, the picture tells the story!

Now, that's personal. A woman's laundry room is sacred territory...and for sure a sign of how good she is at accomplishing things, right? Some of you are saying...I knew she wasn't superwoman! Or Supermom!  Of course, most of you are saying...I never thought she was even close! :)

Anyway...that's full disclosure of me...how about you? If you are reading this blog take a moment and leave me a comment...maybe you could guess how many more loads I have to go. Anything to know that I am not alone in blog world!