Memorial Day Weekend

A chip off the old _ _ _ _ _.

T-O-O-T-H.

Front tooth.  Permanent Front tooth. Oh the joys of raising boys.

So here's a time line of the event with photographic evidence.

1:30 p.m. (receive incoming call from high school)

Me: Hello?

Elder Son:  Um, hey, mom, you need to come check me out.

Me: Why? Is something wrong? Are you sick? Did you get in trouble?

Elder Son: I broke my tooth.  My front tooth. And you need to come check me out.

Me:  What do you mean you broke your tooth? How in the world did you break your tooth? Does it hurt?

Elder Son:  (lets out a deep breath) Can you just come check me out, they said you need to come check me out.

Me:  Sure I can come check you out.  Were you playing basketball at PE or something and that's how it broke?

Elder Son:  I chipped it in English Class.

Me:  In English Class?  What in the world were you doing in English class that might chip a tooth?

Elder Son: we were playing this game called "pitch" and I sit up front and anyway I hit it on my desk. And when it hit the desk, it hit the slanted angle side and I felt it bend and then I saw two white chips of my tooth laying there.

Me: Oh my, you were horseplaying right? What do we do in English class? Do we horseplay in any classroom?  Oh my, Elder Son, that's a permanent tooth, your FRONT tooth.  I'll be there in a few minutes.

Click.  Thinking to myself....(how strange...chipping your front tooth in English Class...the very same classroom I sat in for English back in the day, except you can rest assured I did not horseplay in Mrs. Renfroe's room...ever.)

2:00 p.m. -- I arrive at school to find Elder Son waiting in the chairs at the front office. With a chipped, front, permanent tooth.  And some chapped lips that seemed to be screaming for carmex. :)

2:30 p.m. -- We call our dentist, Dr. L. He says come on down and we'll see how much money he can make off of us to help pay for a new boat damage is done. 

4:00 p.m. -- Dr. L suggests we just do a filling type fix for now, as Elder Son's maxillary bone (like all his other bones) is still growing.  If we were to do a more expensive extensive, permanent procedure (root canal with crown) it would just have to be repeated 3 or 4 more times before he turns 18 years old.  Hello Bank Loan.

After checking the x-rays, he says it looks as though the nerve is okay and proceeds to go forth with plan A....a less expensive, but "this is my firstborn, he can't have a chipped up smile" mother approved treatment by filling in the tooth in question.

And it took all of 18 minutes.....voila'.....restored tooth, pretty smile, happy mama.  (sorry for the blurry photo it was taken with my phone).

Dr. L reminded Elder Son on SEVERAL occassions during the course of treatment that this filling is not a permanent fix.  In fact, it is rather delicate and he must be careful with it.  No eating hard candy with his front teeth, as a peppermint would break it if he bit into it. No using his teeth to tear open a potato chip bag, no cutting fishing line with his teeth, etc.etc.etc.

And after each mini-lecture, he would stop working and turn to me and say, "but mom, if it does happen, don't fuss at him because this is really easy to break, and it's no big deal, just bring him back down here and we'll paint it back on again."

In my mind, I'm thinking....don't fuss at him. Don't fuss at him.  Now, I'm getting parenting sessions thrown in for free with the dental work. Nice.

4:30 p.m. -- Dr. L also mentioned that the big thing to worry about now is just to wait and see if the tooth turns black and is dead, or if Elder Son begins to have any pain with it, as either of these would be reason for us to come back down immediately to let him be seen by an endodontist for further work. Endodontist is just a fancy name for someone who wants you to pay for their beach condo.

Bedtime thru 7:30 a.m. following morning -- So we wait.  We make it through the night fine.  Elder Son wakes up the next morning, still no pain. He goes about his day at school.

3:00 p.m. -- I pick him up as usual at the end of the school day. 

(Can I just stop right here and remind the reader that it has been less than 24 hours since he had his tooth fixed)

He hops in the passenger side and smiles at me.  I smile back. He says "it's really hard to remember not to do stuff because that tooth is so easy to break".....I say "yea, I guess it will take some getting used to....awwwww, Elder Son....you broke it today didn't you?"  I immediately notice his tooth is no longer all nice and fixed like Dr. L managed to make it the previous afternoon. 

He then proceeds to tell me that he was playing basketball and a friend, who is a girl, accidentally hit him in the mouth when going for the ball.  It chipped a little corner off the filling.

Nothing like the big chunk he knocked off during the reading of Hamlet, but still. Seriousy, I know y'all probably can't even see it from the photo, but I promise it's chipped again.

And guess what?  It's going to stay that way.  At least for a while. Oh, I didn't fuss.  I may have told him he'd have to save his lawn mowing money this summer to pay for a new tooth to start 9th grade with in August, but I didn't fuss.

And if it breaks off even worse, maybe I'll just forego the dental visits all together and instead get him a hat that says "Git-R-Done"..... 

Awards day & dart throwing--who knew they were related?

And so, we've almost arrived at the end of another school year and it's time for me to document the children's achievements as awarded by the school. 

You know, it's a post to look back on in a few years and remind myself how cute, responsible and smart they each were.....before they go off to college and try harder to shoot a good game of darts at The Strutting Duck on Thursday night instead of studying for a physics test.  Not that I know ANYTHING about that sort of lifestyle.  But I hear it happens.

Elder Son:

  A-B Honor Roll

Science Assessment

ARMT (Alabama Reading and Math)

Good Citizenship

Middle Child:

A-B Honor Roll

Presidential Academic Excellence

Baby Girl:

All A Honor Roll

Highest Academic Average - Language

Highest Academic Average - Reading

Highest Academic Average - Social Studies

Highest Academic Average - Math

Presidential Fitness Award (only girl to receive it this year)

Most Outstanding Student

I'm going to go out on a limb and say someone in the family may be a bit of an over achiever and some others may not apply themselves quite as much as they could.  

 Which may lead me to beleive that one day they will have a dart board in their apartment on campus to practice up for Thursday nights. 

***Daddy and I are very proud of all 3 of you!!! And just to make him feel good, we'll use our clever imaginations and act as though you get your academic excellence from his half of the DNA.  :)

"Cake Boss" came for Easter.

Yes, I realize, once again, that I am late posting. There are so many posts clogging up the backdate on this blog it's pitiful.  But maybe, one day, it will all arrive on the blog, not necessarily in the proper time line, but still they shall be documented on House of Bowling!

So, back at Easter, my crafty sister came in with a sweet weekend project for all the cousins.  Making Fondant Cakes. 

Of course, there was a small competition because in our family you can't boil an egg without claiming a winner.  The two youngest cousins, Baby Girl included, decorated the following cake, which had yellow cake inside of it with a YUMMY butterfinger filling.

And then, two of the middle aged cousins, The Middle Child included, decorated this strawberry cake with fresh picked strawberries and cool whip filling.

The Middle Child showed his inner pastry skills by molding this incredible rose.

Pretty good, eh? Especially for his first time.

I know, I know. Can you believe it? They did a fantastic job. Apparently t.v. isn't all bad, it seems that watching Food Network is like osmosis. Who knew?

Great job Cousins! You ROCK and so did your cakes!!!!

Presidential Wit--Good Ol' Ronnie

Ronald Reagan:

While introducing Bob Hope at a banquet... "He loves to entertain the troops and he loves golf.  Just the other day he asked me, 'What's your handicap?' and I said, 'Congress.'"



Good Ol' Ronnie....now HE was a President.

Who knows where this achievement in life will take them? great places, I'm sure.

Yep, the dynamic duo of Middle Boy and his friend Big E, won the piggyback race again this year during their field day competitions. 

As I mentioned their grand acheivement to a fellow friend and teacher at their school, wise in her years, as she was congratulating them she said, "well, look at them, I don't think it was really that hard for those two"....and who am I to say differently, my child just holds on as tight as he can for the 8 second ride of his life.  But Big E stepped right in and said, "yes mam, but that was a total of 300 lbs. I just brought across the finish line."

Middle Boy is kind of heavy.  

Complete Dominance from Kindergarten through 6th grade. 

Undefeated.

Big E said he thinks we should get them shirts to honor the occasion. Maybe he's right. It's not every day someone makes history. :)

Yes, yes, I realize I forgot to post the H3 verse....

 it's been a crazy few days, but here it is now.

And to be honest, I'm going to make it short and sweet for this month's introduction to the verse.  

On Wednesday, April 27, 2011, my home state of Alabama experienced catastrophic destruction from a mass of storms that produced multiple, gravely large tornados.  Tornados that brought numerous death, hundreds and hundreds of lives were lost across the southeast, and also destroyed complete towns, communities, sections of cities.   I'm sure no matter where you live you probably at least saw some national coverage of the damage.

It's much worse in person. I've never seen anything like it in my lifetime. I've never experienced anything like it in my lifetime. And I must say, the outpouting of love from the body of Christ in the aftermath.....well, I've never experienced that either.  And when I say the aftermath, I mean mere minutes after the tornados hit and even now, almost two weeks later. 

To see pure and absolute devastation is heartwrenching, and it does seem eerily similiar to 9-11 and days afterward, sure, the somberness is hanging, looming overhead......but to see rising from the rubble the awe inspiring care being sought out from fellow Americans to their neighbors in need brings just pure and absolute pride and amazement.

"For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us." 

 ~Romans 8:18

Folks are suffering in this present day, it's true. Not just from the ravages caused by the tornado. But in the after shock as well.

Folks are suffering in this present day, it's true. And the fact is simple, it may not have been caused by a tornado of any magnitude. At least not the variety that can be picked up on radar by their local meteorologist. 

I'm going to leave you with some thoughts I recently read in a devotion written by Luci Swindoll:

"But all the difficulties that invade our peace are woven together by the loving hand of God to be fashioned into something good. Every detail is important to our Father. He knows our condition, our framework, and our areas of vulnerability and will never ask of us more than we can bear. Therefore we can be sure that, as His purpose unfolds hour by hour in our lives, He won't make a mistake."

My thoughts and prayers go out to all of those people who have lost loved ones , lost their homes, their businesses, their towns that were completely wiped out....

Presidential Wit

 Over Calvin Coolidge's mantel in his home was the following saying:

A wise old owl sat on an oak,
The more he saw, the less he spoke;
The less he spoke, the more he heard,
Why can't we be more like that old bird?

**This quote reminds me of my Daddy so much. He doesn't say a lot but his wisdom and often his silence, speaks loud and clear.

More fun with the new lens....baby cheeks are so cute!

Our nephew is adorable. Seriously, what's not to love about that face?

How does your garden grow?

So, here's the deal.  I grew up with a garden in my backyard.  My grandmother always had a garden....black eyed peas were always a favorite for picking.  And then of course my PawPaw (my favorite guy ever) had a big garden and always let me help "thump" the watermelons....(as if I knew what I was listening for when the sound arrived).

Gardening is a lost art if you ask me. 

Anyway, I decided this year I wanted to try my hand at growing my very own garden (something about getting close to 40 that makes you think long and hard about life).  I had dropped several hints about it for weeks.  Kept insisting that if gas prices was going to continue to rise and the economy was going to continue to fall....well, might as well grow us some food to feed my kids. 

Sure, everyone giggled and made snarky comments about this big idea. And just when I thought my words had fallen on deaf ears, that no one had been paying any attention to me and my plans.....I heard the familiar rumblings of a tractor outside.

My Daddy had been listening.  

So, he came and "broke" up the ground for my garden.  Then my sweet husband took me to buy seed packets and plants.  Now, I only have 6 rows in my garden but I was so excited when I made it to that seed display it was all I could do not to buy one of every packet imaginable! 

We all came home and planted my entire garden in a day. All the kids and their cousins were helping, Dad helped, T-5 helped.....it was fun. Sure it was work, but it was fun work. Good ol' get your hands dirty, sweat a little, feel like you might make a difference kind of fun work.

Again, I was so excited.  I actually had a garden.  I actually put seed in the ground (following my Daddy's careful instructions) and was hopeful it would show signs of life soon.  

And as usual, the skeptics gave their smirky smiles every time we talk about it. And the negative comments like....your garden is in a rocky patch of soil....you needed to cut those trees down, they're gonna give too much shade....you're on the one of the highest points in the county, sure your ground is gonna dry up faster.....they'll never survive, the deer will eat them....they'll never survive, the crow will eat it....they'll never survive, looks like rabbits will get them.....etc.etc.etc.  

But the jokes on them. Just look and see. 


I have zucchini.

I have butternut squash.

I have carrots.

And as my father pointed out today, I have cracks.  What?  Cracks?  That's right, I have cracks which are a sign that something else, like my okra or eggplant is about to burst through the ground any day now!!

And I have jumped for joy and already emailed several folks just this morning bragging about my rising stars from the garden.....corn and tomatoes.....there's no denying it.....I have a garden.

Now we just need to all come together and pray it survives.  You know from the heat and shade and dry rocky ground and forest critters and most importantly due to the ineptness of it's farmer. 

Because I need my garden to grow.

So I can laugh in the face of my nay-sayers when I offer them a basket of veggies from my freshly picked crop. :)

Presidential Wit

Harry Truman:

According to his stories, as a boy he couldn't play baseball because he had poor vision.  So he said, "Since I couldn't see the ball, they gave me a special job."

"What was that, Mr. President?', someone asked, "Cheerleader?"

"No," said Truman, "Umpire!"


**Believe me, I've seen a few blind umpires in my days....or at least they seemed to be blind.  :)

itty bitty teeny weeny.....

What? Are you kidding? You thought you'd find me in a pic of a yellow polka dot bikini?  Never. Ever.

But I did get a new itty bitty baby lens for my camera.  T-5 surprised me with it last week (thanks to a friend's advice) and I immediatelyhad to try it out....on whatever was available at the time.  So enjoy, a photo of my vacuum and Sadie girl's eyeball.  

That last one makes me kinda sad....seeing all the darker hairs on Sadie's snout and eye area bring the realization that she's not a spring chicken anymore.

Neither am I. Remind me not to take a picture of my eyeball.

Celebration.

Recently, Nana had a birthday, that means it's time to celebrate.  What's more fun than having all  5 of your grandkids surrounding you on your birthday?....Except, EEK.....would you look at that, your firstborn grand is now TALLER than you.  Oh, my, how time does fly.

AK is enamored with all of her cousins....but I think she has a little crush on Elder Son...she loves to give him kisses. And he loves that she reaches for him to hold her. :)

And what about the latest addition....that sweet little newcomer....the cutest baby boy with his plump cheeks and amazing disposition.  He never fusses. Stick around these other kids and he'll grow out of it, I'm sure! :)

Donuts with Dad....a springtime school tradition.

We had a little problem this year....Dad was out of town.

Never fear, PawPaw filled in for him.  He likes coffee and donuts and just like Baby Girl's Dad, he doesn't mind catering to her every whim.  Because we wouldn't want to upset Baby Girl's apple cart, now would we.

This one is what I like to call an "oldie but a goodie"....

Because with those kind, the oldies but goodies, well, you can never go wrong.  You know you have your favorite pair of shoes or sweater, your time honored recipe for chicken casserole, your go to movie or book selection that may be a couple of decades (or more) behind the times, the "works for every occasion" little black dress, and let us not forget the music of our era...I think they refer to it as a classic nowadays...etc. etc..... you know the reliable pieces of our life.

Well that's what this month's H3 verse is.....an oldie but a goodie.  And one I had thought I might never use because I figured everyone already knew it by heart, already had it memorized and sealed upon their foreheads. 

It was fear really.  Fear that you would be bored when you read the selected verse.  Fear you would think I wasn't trying hard to find a scripture with a good meaty, heart wrenching, or uplifting or life changing revelation type moment involved.  

I figured you would read this months verse and think, "really, that's all she could come up with from ALL the verses in the bible, all those out there that we need to really be sinking our teeth into, and she gives us this?  I know this. I've known this since I was a kid. Why in the world would I need to write this on a 3 x 5 index card and paste it to my bathroom mirror this month as a reminder? I know this. I can say it in my sleep. " 

Basically, just add this to all my other insecurities in life, I was scared I would disappoint you.  And so for months I have left it out of the H3 possibilities. But no more.

"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have everlasting life. "

~John 3:16

Yes. I know. I know. You already know it. You've known it since you were a kid. You can say it in your sleep.

But so what. You don't think it's worth celebrating every day you wake up and the Lord has given you the gift of life. Oh, I do.  Maybe you have children who don't know this verse yet. Teach it to them. My eyes were opened to how easy this verse is for us, for everyone, during a recent Sunday service.  In his sermon, the pastor walked near my kids (Elder Son sitting on the 2nd pew, Baby Girl and Middle Child one row behind him) and said -- "John 3:16"  then looked at them saying "you all know it"....and proceeded to listen, as in unison, my 3 blessings from the Lord recited it back to him. 

I don't recall sitting down and teaching it to them, I just know they've heard many people (Sunday school teachers, pastors, VBS workers, missionaries, family members, etc) refer to it hundreds of times over the span of their short lives. They know it because it is "an oldie but a goodie". 

It's Easter month. We'll all be hunting eggs and eating chocolate bunnies soon. We'll eat ham and deviled eggs, and maybe a pineapple casserole. At church we'll spend some time focusing on the death of Jesus & his crucifixion, as well as celebrate His rising on the third day. But do we really stop and think about what happened, what really happened for us. For me. For you. For our children. For our children's children.

God gave up his son.  I can't do that. It would be physically, emotionally and mentally impossible for me to allow that same fate to fall on one of my kiddos. As hard as these teen years are forecasted to be, and the mood swings that already arise at times, I could never watch people beat or spit on Elder Son.  I would never allow Middle Child to hang on a cross by nails while others stood by laughing and mocking. And assuming I had the power, you can rest assured Baby Girl would never breathe her last breath....not on my time. And I certainly wouldn't do it for all the vile people of the world, or even just for you. I'm sorry, but I'm just being real.

But God allowed that all and more to happen to his child.  And for us. A bunch of filthy sinners. The vile people we hate. Me. You.

He gave up his Son. He gave us Jesus. He gave us life. He gave us life in Him.

Go back up to the first paragraph of this post....see those words/phrases I highlighted?  They stand out for a reason.  Because every single one of them describes this verse and it's meaning for us.

God gave us Jesus.  An oldie but a goodie.

• He is a favorite.  (I'd pick him in any horse race, to win out in my bracket, to knock out the competition in the first round, to be the hands down....favorite.  Anyone would be dumb to not choose Him.)
• He is time honored. (remember that little thing about Him being the Alpha and the Omega?  yep, that clinches the epitome of time honored.)
• He is the go to. (period. need advice? ask Him. )
• He works for every occassion. (love, mercy, grace, the good times, the bad times, the depression, the deaths, the nasty, ugly moments where he brings about peace and comfort, somehow.)
• He is a classic. (like a good Hemmingway or Dickens novel, oh, you'll read about Him for years to come. Sure, his "claim to fame" happened over 2000 years ago, but He's still got it after all this time.)
• He is reliable. (when all others fail us, He's still right there.In a section all His own. By far, whether we want to hang our hat on worldly "things" or not, in the end, HE is THE MOST RELIABLE PIECE of our life.)

I know. You already know it. You can say it in your sleep.

Now live it.

Presidential Wit

I love reading. I love going to the library and just scouring over all sorts of books. I also love quotes. Weird, humorous, interesting or thought provoking...I love them all. On a recent trip to the library, I found a book entitled Presidential Wit --a collection of quotes from our Presidents.  And of course there were many I had to jot down in my journals to keep. So, I thought I'd share a favorite every now and then in hopes you enjoy them as I do.

Abraham Lincoln:

A Springfield neighbor looked out the window one day and saw Lincoln carrying his two sons, Willie and Tad.  The boys were shouting at each other and punching the air.

"What's wrong?" said Lincoln's neighbor.

"Just what's the matter with the whole world," replied Lincoln. "I've got three walnuts and each wants two."


**I dare say if ol' Abe was still around today, over a hundred years later, he wouldn't think much has changed in this area.

Spring Break Road Trip (kind of, but not really) 2011.

 So, a few years ago we started a family tradition (or maybe it's more of a lofty goal) of taking road trips every year during Spring Break in hopes of getting the kids to see every (continental) state.  So far, we've covered over half....maybe 26 or so.  Which is great, but we've just about exhausted all states in the center portion of the USA....which means road trips for us may now have to include some air flight in order to be feasible during our time constraint.   

Basically what I'm saying is there's not enough medication in the world for me to travel say, from Alabama to Oregon, on a road trip with my husband who thinks he has to drive the whole leg in one stint.  Just to see if he can. And to annoy me in the process. Because he gets a kick out of it.  :)    

All this to say that this year, due to rising gas prices and a lack of funds for 5 airfares, we did a different kind of road trip here at House of Bowling.  We actually went to a state we've all been to before, but a place we had not.  A place where dreams really do come true.  A place where magical moments occur all day, every day.  A place where memories are made, laughter is deep, and family fun abounds around every corner. 

We saw her castle.

And toured the neighborhood as well as the gorgeous gardens.

(Look, I'll just be honest, my boys are not interested in stopping to get photos taken

 when, clearly there are better things to do....so Baby Girl stands alone.)

We rode rides.

(lots and lots of rides, over and over.)

Might I say, riding them during the day is fun....but riding them at midnight is AWESOME!

We saw lots of characters.

(but didn't want to stand in line to get our pic made with them.

Again, my kids saw bigger and better opportunities on the horizon.

So, we have several pics of random people) Hey, it's just how we roll. :)

Oh, how I love Woody and the whole Toy Story clan!

We stopped dead in our tracks to watch the parades.

And of course, life would not be complete withour seeing the main man himself....MICKEY!!

He's great, but Minnie was really showing her backside.  Women. Hmph. I dont' know, maybe she's mad because he gets to ride at the tippy top every. single. time. I'd get a little miffed too. 

I mean when two are joined together, they become one, right? 

So share the limelight a little, dude.

Of course if you yell loud enough, Minnie will turn around and become all embarassed by her unbecoming actions....and Mickey, like any man, will pretend that he was getting ready to give her a swift kick in the....well, you know, aren't these parades just a bundle of fun for the kiddos?    

And the night parade....well it's amazing.

While I know part of the reason was due to extreme exhaustion and they were just happy

to take a break from ALL THE WALKING,  but I do believe my Baby Girl and Middle Child

would have sat on the front lines watching the Electrical Parade for hours.

Before the stroke of midnight we even went inside the castle too. 

 Please excuse our grunge look.  We were pooped.

Some of us were so pooped, they had to be carried out of the park.  And there were others

who were just that pooped as well, but unfortunately, we may be too big for anyone to carry.

(I'm gonna feed Elder Son as much as I can and put him on a

strict workout regimen to remedy this problem before next time.) :)

Oh it was a grand time.  I mean a real dandy of a trip. And a family memory to cherish for a lifetime. Watching tinkerbell in the light up parade, meeting so many interesting folks in the lines, riding Space Mtn. with celebrities, the castle digital photo show from pics taken during that day at Disney, and the fireworks, and tinkerbell flying out right before our very eyes, riding thunder mountain deep into the night, pineapple aloha float treats, giggling every hour.....priceless.