New Leaves

There are leaves everywhere these days. Of course, there are piles in the yard and blown up on the porches. Thanks to Little Brother, there are also leaves and leaf dust tracked throughout the house. I can't seem to win the battle against the leaves!

He tracks leaves all through the house,
but he's so doggone cute!

There are other leaves turning over this fall. We're preparing for Princess Pea Pod to start school outside the home after Christmas. We've enjoyed our homeschooling journey; I would do it again in a heartbeat. However, the local schools are pretty fantastic and she is ready to give it a go. We have done our moving and our settling, and we seem to have made significant progress against her sleep issues. We have prayed, discussed, discerned and found peace in the decision.

This means that, as of January 8, I will take off my "homeschool mom" hat. I thought that might trigger a bit of an identity crisis. Instead, I am turning over my own new leaves. My manuscript will be pulled off the shelf and I'll resume work on it. The book review blogger dream will be dusted off, as well. And, because my family has all the scarves, hats, arm warmers, leg warmers and totes they can stand, I have launched a new shop. Crafted by the Grace of God is finding its legs over on Facebook. Y'all get to support my handicraft habit by ordering custom handmade items, and my family will thank you! It is still in development, but you can check the page out here: https://www.facebook.com/CraftedbytheGraceofGod/ or go to Facebook and search @CraftedbytheGraceofGod. (Not so)Sadly, I don't have pictures of the vinyl work I have done. That means I have to create more decals so I can take pictures for the shop! Those will be added ASAP!

So, y'all, hold on to your hats and don't blow away with the leaves! Let's just watch and see what's under these as I turn them over... and maybe make pretty crayon rubbings... or Mod Podge some on a Mason jar...

That Kind of Stuff Only Happens on TV

Sometimes I get confused. Penny, my beautiful disc bound Happy Planner, manages to keep me in line most of the time. But sometimes I do get confused.

Penny (Me & My Big Ideas Happy Planner)

Such was the case a couple weeks ago. My dear friend's mother had recently passed away. I have known this family since I was in 7th grade and it was a shock that, after winning the battle against cancer, Susie passed away. There wasn't a doubt in my mind that I was going to her funeral, and I would be there early to do whatever I could through this stressful event. But Princess Pea Pod had two friends spend the night and both sets of parents had to come before I could leave. I dashed out the door and was quickly brought to a standstill in traffic due to an accident. As it happened, I was running hopelessly late. My anxiety was through the roof as I dashed in (in the most ladylike manner) and signed the guest book, then ducked into the restroom to calm myself.

I walked into the chapel and everyone was already seated. It was silent. And I didn't recognize a soul. Now, we've been friends for a very long time and I know this family. I didn't see any of them. Not one familiar face. Then I looked at the casket and though, "Hmm... I thought she was going to be cremated."

Hello, anxiety. Back again so soon?

There was a lovely portrait next to the casket. It was a portrait of a lady who certainly was not Susie.

No joke, y'all. I went to the wrong funeral. The wrong ding-dang funeral!

I thought maybe I had gone into the wrong chapel, and that I would be late. The fact of the matter is that I was a week EARLY! I called my friend. "You're not going to believe this. I went to the wrong funeral." Let me tell y'all, her laughter made it all worth it. And Susie? Yeah, she would have totally laughed. Totally.

Now, if I can't laugh at my mistakes, then they own me. And I'm not going to be owned by regret or shame. So I laughed with them. I laughed with my friend and her family. I laughed with Hot Daddy and Princess Pea Pod, with my family and my friends. Because, as this friend said when I told her my tale, that kind of stuff only happens on tv... or to me!

Nudges. Or Big, Flashing Neon Signs.

Y'all, I think the Good Lord is trying to get my attention. If there's anything I have learned in all my years, it is that when He's talking I need to get over myself and listen. So, here I am.

Lately I've been told several times that I should be writing.

"Oh my gosh, girl! You're a hoot! You should write a blog!"

"You know, this might be a good time in your life to start writing again."

Do you know why God uses repetition when He's trying to tell me something? It's because I'm too gosh darn dense to just get the message.

"For real?!? I can't even keep my family in clean socks! I don't have it in me to take on something else."

But here I am. Because the Lord is in this and that's the kind of bandwagon I can ride. Because I've felt anxious for days, but just composing this post has brought me some measure of peace. And because clean socks are overrated. Right?

I Fought the Ants and the Ants LOST

Last night our apartment was full. It was a cool spring night with a pretty fantastic wind. I was psyched to turn off the air conditioning and open all the windows. Aunt S was staying in Princess Pea Pod's room, so we turned on the fan and opened the window. And ants went EVERYWHERE! It was ant chaos! I was disgusted. And I had the heebie jeebies!

Essential oils to the rescue! I grabbed my ant spray bottle (peppermint and water with a pinch of salt) and went to war. I sprayed the window sill. I sprayed the walls where they were scattering. Ants were dropping left and right, but there were SO many! I finally got the bottle of peppermint oil and dropped some on a tissue, then ran the tissue over the window frame and the wall around the window. In just a few minutes there were no ants left. Hallelujah!

I have been spraying the door and window frames in the living area for several weeks, but now I know to get all the entry points! Today's lesson: ants don't dig peppermint!

She Is

She was small and delicate, soft and easy.
Then she started talking. Then she started walking.
She started forming her own opinions and voicing them.
She had always been absorbing information, processing the world around her.
Now she shares that information. Sometimes at inopportune moments; almost always catching me off guard. I forget or I don't realize how much she catches, how much she understands.
And then she wakes as her ninth birthday dawns - one groggy and slightly sluggish, the other bright and sunny.
She put on a lovely spring frock and shiny big girl dress shoes.
And then she does this:

And this:

What a girl! Happy 9th birthday, principessa!

Thanks for making life so fun!

Oh Boy... The Window Was Open!

I have said many (many) things as a parent I would like to believe I would not have otherwise said. I keep thinking I should write those things down somewhere so Princess Pea Pod and I can share a lark over it someday, but I don't think I'd ever accomplish anything if I stopped every time I had an "I never thought I'd say THAT" moment. I suspect you know exactly what I mean. And, of course, random passers-by have been privy to some pretty interesting conversations. How many times have I seen a stranger chuckle over a tidbit of conversation with our principessa? (Hint: The answer is similar to the answer one gets when asking Mr. Owl how many licks it takes to get to the Tootsie Roll center of a Tootsie Pop.)

So. The window. Hot Daddy was pretty sure the neighbors were going to be calling the nice young men in the clean white coats to come and take me away tonight. Princess Pea Pod is not a fan of the flavor of her immune booster. However, the combination of chiropractic care, essential oils and the immune booster has helped her allergies greatly. We did a year of allergy shots and don't relish the idea of going through that again. Therefore, it's immune booster or bust! I have been known to silly it up to get her to relax and chew them up quickly. Tonight's cast was a lively pair of faux Brits, 'Ippo and Elly. (Yes. Hippo and elephant.) They were spurred into action by Hot Daddy's reminder that a medicine refused orally must sometimes be delivered via suppository. I did not realize Hot Daddy had opened the window shortly after he made that comment and walked away, so the neighbors got to hear the following conversation quite loudly. In a terrible British accent.

'Ippo: I say, old pal, I do 'ope she chooses to chew us up!

Elly: I'd much rather go in the right way.

'Ippo: Is true! I'd much rather go in 'er mouth than in 'er nose.

Elly: And I'd rather go in 'er ear than in 'er rear!

(Princess Pea Pod is just about rolling by now. There may have been a rather unladylike snort from stage left.)

Elly: And I'd rather go in 'er mouth than in 'er backsies!

Hot Daddy: I hope the neighbors can't hear this through the window. They'll be calling the mental institution on you.

(I completely missed the implication that the window was standing open.)

'Ippo: Oh please! I'd rather 'ave 'er chew me up than have to go up the backsies!

(Insert guffaws and snorts. Hot Daddy says something else about the neighbors hearing. I still don't get it.)

Several minutes later, Princess Pea Pod has laughed herself silly and finally chewed her immune booster. I have streaks of makeup down my face. We're finally breathing normally again and then I realize... the window was open the entire time.

If the nice young men in the clean white coats come to take me away, I suppose I'll probably just thank them for offering a bit of peace and quiet!

Seriously. Why Plan?

Hello, my name is E and I like to plan.

I have been known to stay in bed, plotting my options and determining the perfect order for attacking my day, not actually getting up to face the day until I am sure I have found the most efficient and pleasant method for facing the day. Every day. Because brushing my teeth and washing my face are not always most practical in the same order when you consider the room temperature, how many family members are awake, and which obstacles stand between me, my coffee and my morning paper. Things change and I change with them. Just let me have my plan, my coffee and my paper and nobody should get hurt. (Hey, no promises. I only have a plan and two contingency plans. I don't know that you won't get hurt if you refuse to stick to at least one of the programs.)

So, Granna asked for a spring break with Princess Pea Pod and then my friend A invited me to fly out to visit for a few days. Cool! Except that, long story short (don't you dare laugh at the irony of me making anything short. Or laugh. I might have.) My plans went KABLOOEY! My friend R and her kids were going to be in Woo-Pig-ville when Princess Pea Pod was going to be where they live. My plan to get principessa and her sidekick L together were nullified. My flight didn't pan out. I was bummed to miss time with A, but thankful to have time with R. However, my date night with Hot Daddy kept getting bumped to "tomorrow" until the day my brother called and said, "Your child is crying. You need to call her right now."

Homesick. Our principessa was so very homesick that she didn't want to wait long enough for Granna to bring her home. It was supper time with R and her family, but we never had figured out what to cook, so the plan wasn't really derailed anyway. Not that it mattered. We were out the door pronto-tonto to meet Granna halfway. It was not really all that long before she was in my arms. And here's the deal... I know by now that God's plan is better than mine. So I was bummed when I didn't get to go see A, but I knew there was a reason. I was a bit anxious when I didn't have a supper plan, but there was a reason. God knew what we were going to need and set His plan into motion before it made sense to me.

I am probably not going to change much, but there has been a change to my plan lately and I hope to keep it. My first plan is to remember to go with His plan, because it is always better than mine. That's why He is God and I am just a woman living day to day by His grace.

P.S. I hope to get that date this weekend. It hasn't become a plan yet, though.