A chilly day off for the children

The cold of the day reminds me of the NY state of mind. Unfortunately, my children didn't accomplish much in the way of trudging through some of the chores I thought that they would. No, everyone had an excuse. A likely story... Why? I was...not willing to do it,Mom. Oh, well, I will be picking up the pieces for the rest of the week from this siesta that they took. Discipline means everybody lending a hand.
I will be thinking of an appropriate consequence for them to feel the effects of this day upon me. :(

Grandma Ruth's gifts keep on giving!

What a beauty and sweetpea! Amina at 2

We survived the first coldsnap of the year.

Ginger and Snap and the peach tree are still standing after the first season chill. They are hardier than I gave them credit. Ginger looked like she was going to lose half her leaves for a while there. Snap loves being in the front of the house as a show off but he seems to miss Ginger being in view, it seems.
I am still looking for my partridge here. 2 pear trees are beautiful and a great anticipation of things to come. A partridge would make it Christmas.
At work it is so beautiful to enjoy the birds around the building, minding their own business. I just can't think of a more precious thing to do than enjoy the interaction of the busy birds and bees around the building. That is a gift.

Fathers and Mothers do not provoke

your children, lest they become discouraged. Its my turn to live this out. Its my turn, not to discourage you guys. Christian children love to use that scripture to batter their parents. I want to challenge the thinking and the disciplinary habits of my children and still allow them to have hope.
Hope is not that we will live in sinless perfection, but that as we stumble through with our foibles and inconsistencies; try as we might to overcome them, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ, THE RIGHTEOUS! He is the only one righteous and he stands at the Father's right hand continually making intersession for me to the Father. I can go on with that and pray that the discouragement doesn't crush me under its load.

This Morning, Papa pretended the moonwalk with the boys.

What a wake up routine! He always outdoes me with the children. I don't mind. They woke and grabbed leg to leg and pretended zero gravity while rolling around on the floor. Life on the moon with "Poppy" would be amazing! Don't you think, boys?

This morning, we elected representatives

to the 8th grade and 4th grade and kindergarten.





Our conversation in the wake up call included a discussion of representation. District 2 in the Walker household learned about representation before school. I am still not sure it got through to the kindergarten mind of my Ezra. I try to motivate them to wake up with something other than breakfast. Some days it is a good book, some days it is a loving kiss. This time it was representing me in the classroom. I voted, unanimously for them and they felt confident that it was true that I was voting for them in confidence.

Ezra left for school thinking that getting dressed was representing and perhaps it is. Our sockless selves and the fact that there is some little sock gremlin that steals the socks out of our house is represented in every grade of our house. The labor that will maintain the socks in this family will take some extra effort.
I guess he is right getting dressed is representing Mommy.

What to do about my tiny trees with winter coming?

Woe is me, I missed the opportunity to entertain the children for the fall festival again. I have all of these shows in my mind for the little ones to enjoy and I can't seem to get a single one of them on paper with a plan of how to execute it. Children need live experiences with knowledge today and it is our turn to do this in the schools and in the market places. Just like Snap and Ginger acclamating to my job, they are acclamating to their surroundings and we want them to catch a hold of the vision of life and love and pass it on. How to do that without dropping the ball?

THIRTEEN!

To my Evvy, I declare
I am so Happy that you're here
That you came to make a home with us!
To my Evvy, I'm so pleased,
I can give you such a squeeze,
And you don't mind being teased,
Here with us!
Happy, Happy, Happy, Happy, Happy, Happy 13th

Ladybug is growing up. We can't call her "Thing TWO" anymore!
She is not a shadow of anybody, but her own woman and her own self.
Funny as a whip and quick to give a quip, we could not run the ship,
without her!
Thank you God!

Well done is better than well said?

We are awaiting the day when our God will say well done, good and faithful servant, enter into the joy of your Lord!
Until that day we cannot judge our own activities by our own measurements and deem them good, unless God has done so.
We must consider our speech as important in our activities. Have we accurately expressed what our intentions are? As a culture we have gotten away from inspecting our hearts through our words.
Looking at my own culture, it seems that African-Americans have used the fact that we were brought from numerous countries in Africa as an excuse to speak and develop our own language. I, myself, am not opposed to Ebonics, in their place. I understand that in the culture of the oppressed there is a need to reserve a secret place of communication where the earthly master cannot enter. I am tremendously impressed when I observe the wisdom of the people that were seen as just slaves.
Still there was accountability in speech in their Ebonics and we must maintain that. "My bad!" "I lied!" Do these terms of speech accurately express our meaning or are they deceptions that the enemy of our souls have injected into our Ebonic language to deceive our souls that we have truly repented when we have not!
Some people seem to say that so much, as though they expect to go to heaven and show God the list of times they confessed out loud, before men and God that they lied and that He will let them into heaven because of their many confessions.
Is that so?
Let us beware that our Heavenly Master represents one of our comerades. That our speech doesn't exclude the Master of our souls from entering into our conversation.
In that case I think "Well said, might be better than Well done?" God's going to say Jesus is the only way in!
God's servants cannot be part of the deceived who need no repentance.

The Rainy gray days are forboding sometimes,

But the meditations of these days often prove more profitable than the sunny days. Sunny days are far more prevalent here in NC than rainy days. The darkness and the rain make a person forget that there is a sky that is blue and beautiful above those clouds; unless one is a pilot and can fly above the clouds for solace.
My sky is gray and overcase and my heart is recalling that I have "far to go before I sleep". "Go, Labor on, Spend and be spent", a hymn for the Motherhood! Your body and your soul traveling in sundry directions with each child. Your emotions on an ever wandering rollercoaster of expectations of your children's ideas and inspirations. Can I act like a mommy today? Yep.
God's grace and God's strength is unlimited, mine is not. With patience spent to a frazzle and it is too early to be spent already. God comes and helps everyday with the labor. No body tells you that the labor of delivery is just the beginning of birthing of the mother who you will become. You travail to see yourself stop being so selfish, every day. Do I want to give of myself today? Do I want to share myself with these people today?
God knows and God shares Himself consistently and graciously everyday! Just look at the sky, gray or blue.

Whose Birthday II

It isn't quite as funny the second time to see the post. I laugh that we need a reminder that my little ladybug is going to be 13 on Saturday.
A. Barney
B. Uncle Elijah...NO it is EVELYN's Birthday and we will see how we can celebrate the teen year with "pizzazz".
She is hilarious with her interjections of wit amidst the chaotic conversational style of the large family.
Celebrate, we will, Lord willing!

Autumn is a time for reaping?

Seeds sown and tender shoots nurtured, those were the days of the summer heat. Burdens born in the heat of the day have come to full bloom and now are bearing fruit. No more babies are in our home. All of the children are growing and contributing and now I have some time to look outside of the house. I am blessed with a precious husband and decent job, delightful children, many hopes and dreams for their successes.
Wait on the Lord, be of good courage, and He will strengthen your heart. 404 months of marriage and 6 living children, I am truly blessed!

Now, We were late!

What is the new motivation? After the SAT's are a memory, she will take them again. But now she knows why I was griping about them. "Mommy, you never told me that they were important and hard." I did so!
I am used to being blamed for not striving hard enough with them. I have to get hot and bothered.
Today we were almost all late, because, I can't get psyched up to do what I have to do.
Wake up! Smell the coffee and clean up and get to work! Everybody made it to school, but just by the skin of our teeth.

Daddy loves Emily!

Today we took Emily to the SAT's. A day that I have dreamed about since she was born. Somehow it has lost its significance over the years. As giftedness proved in other areas predominantly, I have lessened my insistence that my children would strive to a perfect score on the SAT's. Not part of their plans, for sure. It seemed that I was kicking against the pricks on that goal. I am glad to have woken up to get her to the SAT's.
Ben was her compatriot on this day. I was there but not with bells on. We are part of the "regular joe" group. Not kicking any "buts" in the academic dept. Thats okay and we are still striving. God made my children with artistic talents and I can accept that now. I will continue to fight with the sinews of mental ability that they do have, but I am not going to kill myself drilling and drumming against their and their father's will. I would've dropped her off and sulked at my ineptitude in parenting not to have redeemed the time better. Not my husband, he is proud to be the father of a beautiful and loving family. This is so much better of a perspective. He walked her in there and represented, just like with Elyse.
I am the father of this beautiful and capable young woman. That is why they are so confident. They are accepted, with or without a perfect score on the SAT's. Beyond my imagination of love.
The only love that I can visualize is a love that disdains ineptitude. Striving is far more accomplishing and accomplished when acceptance is understood!
Halleluia, what a Savior.

Tonight is the debate!

The Vice Presidential debate is more intriguing, this year, than the Presidential. Here we have a real and rank "New"bean entering the national scene. This is always exciting. New blood and new ideas is a curiosity.
How will she handle the pressure? How will she speak about the things that she has no idea of? Will she crumble under the pressure of being asked to debate with an obviously far more qualified candidate? She looks pretty doing so. She is a little over confident in her abilities, as most youngsters are.
We will see tonight, God willing, will there still be respect for her tomorrow?