Intermission Break!

This blog will return in August!

Happy Trails, Pilgrim!

Road Trip Survival Guide by Clark Griswold

Just kidding, but if he DID give me tips, I'm sure he'd say, 

"Why not try one of those new 'stay-cations' everyone keeps talking about?!"

Poor Clark had some rough trips.  Hopefully, we will not repeat his mistakes.  

Before I start with number one, I must encourage you to pray about your trip.  Ask God for clear wisdom about when to leave, where to go, and the activities you engage in.  Pray for safety, patience, and a cool head when things don't go your way.  I believe He will truly answer these prayers and guide your trip.  And encourage your kids to do the same.  Start each day that you are away with prayer as a family.

Don't leave Him out.

And now, five tips for trips!

1.  Set the Bar Low.

I know this sounds really pessimistic, but I'm just tryin' to keep it real.  Kids have a way of taking your best plans and making them impossible or really miserable sometimes.  When we had two little boys, ages 4 and 2 (many moons ago) we went to an indoor water park/hotel in the Wisconsin Dells, thinking they would just have a blast.  Turns out, the 4-year old boy was deathly afraid of the big bucket in the park that dumped water every few minutes or so.  We still had a good time, but it didn't happen the way we expected.  

Make plans, keep it real, and set the bar low.  Which leads to #2...

2.  Recognize your Children's Limits...and your own!

I will never again travel anywhere without a few bags of snacks and water bottles.  I've learned the hard way that NO ONE has fun when they are hungry, thirsty, or haven't had a decent night's rest. And it never hurts to stop when you're ahead, rather than literally dragging your kids out of a children's museum.  Not that I would know anything about that...

3.  Controlling the Electronic Beasts

Do I love our in-car DVD player?  Yes, yes I do.  It has saved many a moment of insanity for this mama.  But on long road trips, it can become like the soundtrack to our travels, which bothers me.  I usually go with one movie and then a break for another hour where they can rummage through their backpacks which are packed with books, activities, and any other knick knack that will keep them busy.  

Also give Adventures in Odyssey CDs a chance, along with any other books on CD you might have.  The Chronicles of Narnia by Focus on the Family is worth every penny!  That being said, leave some time for SILENCE.  There are many times we simply invoke a "no talking" rule in the vehicle.  Children (and parents!!) need quiet.  They need silence.  It's healthy for their little brains.  It might help to also say, "If we can have silence for 30 minutes, then we'll each have a piece of candy."  Bribery, people.  Try it sometime.

4.  Give Mama a Break! (and Daddy, too!)

Being in the same room/car with your kids for hours and hours on "vacation" can make anyone kooky.  If at all possible, give each other a break.  Let Daddy go have a morning run all by himself.  Tell your husband you are going to browse through that cute gift shop for just a half-hour.  That time can do wonders for your mental state. 

5.  Document the Excursion

I've read that one of the best ways to make ourselves happy in the present is to recall the happy times from the past, so make the effort to print out those pictures, gather (meaningful!) souvenirs, or take videos that can really boost your happiness later.  It's true, isn't it?  One of my favorite things to do is look at the small scrapbooks I've made of past trips we've taken together.  It reminds me that although road trips and family vacations can have beastly moments, they are some of our most treasured memories later on.

Sunday Funnies

I'm kinda slow, so it took awhile for me to get this.

I've been getting ready for a road trip, so a travel-themed Sunday Funny seemed appropriate.

Any last tips for traveling with 4 kids across state lines?  I've been doing it for years now, but I'm always looking for fresh ideas!

Poetry Thursday

A few days ago, a little boy was born to some great family friends of ours.  He had multiple heart issues which required immediate surgery.  He is recuperating now and doing quite well, but we know that prayer and support are still needed in huge quantities.  I am posting a poem today that reminds us that dark places do not have to be lonely places.  "God does not leave us comfortless..."
Please pray for Lucas.

Let Evening Come 
by Jane Kenyon

Let the light of late afternoon
shine through chinks in the barn, moving
up the bales as the sun moves down.

Let the crickets take up chafing
as a woman takes up her needles
and her yarn.  Let evening come.

Let dew collect on the hoe abandoned
in the long grass.  Let the stars appear
and the moon disclose her silver horn.

Let the fox go back to its sandy den.
Let the wind die down.  Let the shed
go black inside.  Let evening come.

To the bottle in the ditch, to the scoop
in the oats, to air in the lung
let evening come.

Let it come, as it will, and don't
be afraid.  God does not leave us
comfortless, so let evening come.

What Do You Think?

When I entered the classroom as a teacher for the first time, I was amazed at the overwhelming desire to be liked.  I tried to suppress it -- being liked was not my goal as a teacher.  But I was young.  Sometimes I felt  like I was still surrounded by peers, not students.

Now I am older than my students by DECADES and I really thought those feelings would be gone.  But they stubbornly linger.  I've come to see that being liked is just a universal desire, whether you are a teacher, a mom, a doctor, or a politician.  The danger is allowing the desire to be liked to change and alter who you are and how you evaluate yourself.  

I recently had a conversation with someone who was weighed down by the expectations and opinions of others.  We debated and analyzed these various opinions until finally I almost shouted, "Oh, who CARES what anyone thinks?!?"  It was so freeing to remember that the only opinion that truly matters is God's. 

 What's that quote that always makes me nervous?  "Love God, and do as you please."   If we truly love Him, we can do as we please because our "doing" is in line with His love.

To be nobody-but-yourself in a world which is doing its best,

night and day,

to make you everybody else ---

means to fight the hardest battle

which any human being can fight;

and never stop fighting.

- e.e. cummings

A Peek at our Summer (so far)

 We've been absolutely in love with the weather lately.  After a rainy June, we are soaking up the REAL summer weather of July.  

 And I have been soaking up books as fast as possible.  Here's an actual un-retouched photo of my nightstand.  Only for you, folks.  That blurry one almost to the top is John Steinbeck's Travels with Charley.  I figure I'll save it for a big road trip coming up since it's about his travels across this great land.  

I'm also reading Room right now, about a boy who is raised in an 11x11 room with his mother, told from his perspective.  It's a little spooky, but actually pretty sweet.  More on that later.

 On Jonny's birthday a few days ago, I actually Set. My. Alarm to bring him breakfast in bed. 

 (Sometimes I shock myself.)

He's an early riser and I just knew he'd beat me to it if I didn't.  It wasn't fancy, just Cheerios and strawberries, but I knew he'd love it.  He'd asked for it before and I told him to wait until his big day.  

 As I sat next to him in his bed, he turned to me with a milky mouth and said, "I feel like a king!!"  

 I hope this is blog-appropriate:  I love these ruffley buns.  How cute is she??

 She had to have a bright pink ball.  That's my girl.  

A few of her favorite things:

After making someone laugh she'll say, "What'd I do??" (So she can do it again :)

She'll grab your face with her hands and say, "You looookin' gooooood!!"

Skirts.  Dresses.  Absolutely nothing else.

Getting her toenails painted.

Being with her brothers at all times.  If they aren't around she'll ask, "Where my boys go?"

On the Fourth of July, you could find us right here in the heart of America, man.  Watching a parade, sweating, waving at people we knew, and just plain loving the day.  We ended it with a firework show just a few blocks away from here, swatting mosquitoes the entire time.  But the show was worth it!

Summer hasn't been all parades and ice cream.  We've had our share of sibling rivalry, disobedience, and just plain frustration.  I think the kids really re-learn how to live together in the summer.  During the school year, it's easy to ignore their siblings and go their own way.  

But this has been good. 

 They needed this. 

 I've always prayed my kids would somehow become friends when they grew to adulthood.  And maybe part of that journey is half-killing each other during their childhood.

Poetry Thursday

We've had a happy little canary tap-tap-tapping on our living room windows for several days now.  I don't know why he thinks he belongs in our house.  The annoyance reminded me of the following poem that always makes me smile.  I read it to my students every year and they always get a kick out of it.

Another Reason Why I Don't Keep a Gun in the House
by Billy Collins

The neighbors' dog will not stop barking.
He is barking the same high, rhythmic bark
that he barks every time they leave the house.
They must switch him on their way out.

The neighbors' dog will not stop barking.
I close all the windows in the house
and put on a Beethoven symphony full blast
but I can still hear him muffled under the music,
barking, barking, barking,

and now I can see him sitting in the orchestra,
his head raised confidently as if Beethoven
had included a part for barking dog.

When the record finally ends he is still barking,
sitting there in the oboe section barking,
his eyes fixed on the conductor who is
entreating him with his baton

while the other musicians listen in respectful
silence to the famous barking dog solo,
that endless coda that first established
Beethoven as an innovative genius.

God Bless the USA...sort of...