Living not striving…

Haig had his surgery today.  He and I went to Carolinas Hospital at 6:15am and we left at 1:15pm.  The staff was great and Haig was so super brave.  I am so proud of him!!!  He enjoyed riding in the red wagon and didn’t complain one time.  He was so sweet.  I am a little freaked out about this recovery period.  I already called the nurses this afternoon.   Mark is trying to keep me calm:)  Hard job…. I just don’t like blood and such.  Also Haig is not supposed to swim until after his follow-up appt on JULY 14th!!!!!!!!  What exactly am I going to do for the next 2 plus weeks if I can’t take the boys swimming?  Ughhh!!! Don’t get me wrong I am so thankful that so far so good and we made it through the surgery.  Now just please pray this weekend goes well and I am patient and creative:)  Thanks for the prayers!!! 

What exactly happened here between when I laid him down and 2 hours later went upstairs to check on him?  He opened his eyes and looked at the camera and then went back to sleep.  He is such a lovely mess:)Check out that impish grin!What is he so excited about eating?  Check out how satisfied he appears as he licks the spoon. Butter.  Yes, I turned around to discover he had eaten a whole spoonful of butter:)  

Sunday we had a fun and busy day.  We visited a Seacoast Church satellite campus in Manning with some other Florence friends.  Neat people, great service.  The kids loved it.  Mark helped get the boys ready.  So when I went to jump in the car this is the “too cool for school” crowd that was waiting for me:)  Are they not hilarious?  So, so cute!!!  Since when do they care about their hair.  These days they do, and very much:)  Notice Eli’s mohawk and Haig’s “pikey” hair.  McCall wanted his hair to look “very wet.” Our weekend routine for the past couple of months is that Mark spends the nights on the weekends caring for his dad and then sleeping during the day, so the boys and I seek out adventure (and try to stay out of the house as much as possible) so Mark can get rest.  So after church in Manning we figured we were already almost halfway to Charleston so we just continued on down to Hanahan to see the Pereas (my older sister Kelly and her precious family).   We haven’t seen them in way too long, so the boys were so, so excited.  My sister’s two youngest children, Gracie and Jesse are 7 and 5 years old and the boys adore them. Aren’t they beautiful?  We celebrated a couple of the cousin’s bdays and my sister’s birthday on Sunday.  I do love visiting with them.  My sister’s older kids help entertain my kiddos so selflessly so most of the time Kelly and I can at least chat.We left Charleston around 5pm and made it back to Florence for a little time with Grandpa Chapman and then off to bed! 

I woke up this morning craving the beach.  I was grumpy and it takes a lot of work to get there but I just had to go.  There is no excuse that we live this close to the beach and I have only been once this summer.  That is despicable!  So we packed up and were on the beach by 12:30pm.  We packed a lunch and went to Surfside so we could have bathroom facilities:)  The weather was absolutely gorgeous and the water was warm, the boys did super!  We had a blast.  We lasted a little over three hours.  We could have gone longer.  The boys had made friends.  Actually McCall made friends with some college gals and was making an elaborate sandcastle, an older couple was enjoying watching Haig play with his cars and superheroes in a waterhole and Eli adopted a new “grandma” and they were trying to catch babyfish.  But I felt like we had had enough sunshine for one day and I wanted to avoid traffic and meltdowns so we called it a day.The ride home was quiet. Eli and Haig slept and McCall and I enjoyed a new “Adventures in Odyssey” cd.  So good if you haven’t heard of them.  Check out Focus on the Family.  When we got home Mark had a bath running and dinner ready.  What a great, great husband:)But wow, we had one meltdown after another.  Like major hysterics meltdowns not the minor kind.  So we quickly did bath, dinner, one book and bed.  I am beat!!!!  I love the feeling of sand in my hair, sun on my skin and the smell of the salty sea!  So thankful for beach days!  My only regret is how stinking much gas costs to get there:) 

Please go to www.vanebrown.wordpress.com  and check out the coolest idea I have heard of all year.  I am going to the dry cleaners and setting a date.  How fun is that?  If you are interested comment and we will work on it.  Makes me giggle and get all fluttery in the tummy to think of putting on my fairy dress again

Found a nugget in Proverbs 10:11…“The mouth of the righteous is a fountain of life,”I so want my words to bring about life.  So often that is not what happens.  I am considering getting a tattoo of “fountain of life” put on my hand.  Not really but I did write it on my hand and wrist after reading this verse.  So if you see me with that on my hand you can rest assured I am working hard on “speaking life” that day.  My kids get the brunt unfortunately of the days when I struggle with this.  Anybody relate?

No I am not frustrated with my kids or my husband.  I use freeblogit obviously.  I am having the hardest time getting my layouts to save.  I have a couple of different drafts typed but every time I establish spacing, colored type, pictures and then press save…. everything changes, runs together…AAAAGGGGHH!  Someone please respond and tell me what I am doing wrong.  I like blogging b/c it is easy and fun.  Once it becomes a frustration and something I can’t figure out.  Then it isn’t fun anymore:(  Anyone?  Help! 

I told Mark yesterday that my day consists of the boys pummeling each other and one or more of the boys having a crying fit.  We alternate between these two experiences constantly throughout the day.  They love to beat the crap out of each other and then cry hysterically.  Or the opposite happens and one of them melts down for some unknown reason and then one of the other boys will make fun or just decide to begin pummeling his brother.It is literally craziness and driving me crazy.  To avoid time at home alone with all of this pent up testosterone we literally spent from 9:30-2pm at the YMCA (exercise for mom and then pool time) then I drove around while Eli slept until we picked up McCall from Inventor’s camp at 3:30pm and then went back to the pool until a thunder storm ruined the fun.  You would think by our 5pm return home they would be starting to wear down, but no.  Mark came home and wrestled with them for half an hour.  I have to figure out how to put the video on here b/c it is hilarious.  Eli has no fear and bodyslams anyone and anything, over and over.Yes McCall is going to Inventor’s camp this week.  He loves it.  I am not exactly sure what one does at this camp but he says he is inventing a robotic arm to make his life easier so it can make his bed every morning.  I asked if I could borrow it for other household tasks.  A little laundry, a little cleaning, a little cooking:)I would love to be excited about taking my boys to free movies, library time, etc.  But I am realizing that unless a large portion of their time is incredibly active…. we are back to them pummeling each other and crying jags. We have been to the pool tons and will continue to do so but I think we are going to have to do a beach trip soon and invest in some FunDayGo time. We have done the splash pad but Eli is not really very keen on it.  We have a kiddie pool at home that they enjoy, but does anybody have any other suggestions? Don’t get me wrong, I am loving summer but also realizing that my summer crafts, story times and quiet afternoons may not be totally realistic with three little boys.    I wouldn’t trade it for the world though!!! 

Great Father’s Day.  Slept in a touch and then whisked the boys (as quietly as possible) out of the house to leave Mark to sleep as late as possible.  He hasn’t been feeling well and running on fumes so he needed some rest and recuperation:)

We went and visited The River Church in Camden.  Such a neat, welcoming fellowship.  Jay Hardwick was guest preacher today and it was a great service.  Loved the music, young band but so, so good.  I would love to hear their regular preacher sometime, Brian Plyler I believe.  A big thank you to sweet Jennifer that made us feel so welcome and was so kind to my kiddos.  It says a lot that the boys asked when we could go back.

Picked up Outback on the way back into town for lunch at home and then naptime.  Spent some time this evening with Pat and Tom.  The boys fished with Mark.  Mark made homemade banana ice cream as requested by his dad.  Then we finished the day at Ebeneezer Park and a phone call with my dad. The weather could not have been prettier. 

Now off to bed.  So thankful for the godly men in my life.  Great great dads!

I follow a blog by Carlos Whittaker.  He is a minister at Buckhead Church in Atlanta.  Fascinating fellow in many strange ways, but I have now become addicted to his charming wife’s blog, www.whittakerwoman.typepad.com .

She has an entry today about authenticity and transparency.  It is really hard living life out loud, for real, and being authentic.  Showing my foibles, flaws, problems, dirt…. and not really apologizing for being human.  But I so want to be that kind of person.  I am not perfect.  Most days I am some form of a mess. 

For instance Mark wagered that I would have at least 6 major, crying melt downs this summer.  I will probably have more but you better bet I am going to call one of you before I call him, b/c I don’t want him to know if I melt down.  Why?  Because sometimes it is even hard to let my husband know what a mess I can be. (And yes, he regretted making the comment as soon as it came out of his mouth.  He said it b/c Eli told him I cried that day and locked myself in the office while I was just trying to exercise for 20 minutes and they would not leave me alone!!!)

So I am trying to be “real.”  And if I seem like more of a mess than usual it is b/c this is truly how I have been the whole time:)  Surprise!  Check out whittaker woman, she has a lot of neat stuff to share.