When I was in Elementary school my best friend in the whole world was signing up for piano lessons. Quite naturally I wanted to too, so I did.

We started our first lesson by standing in a row and one by one located middle C with our index finger and on it went all the way to G. I remember thinking that learning piano was going to be a piece of cake. I was dreaming of composing my own master pieces and playing in front of hundreds of adoring fans. A few lessons later however, we were only learning scales and to my horror and extreme disappointment my best friend in the whole world left me for an advanced group. I was left alone with a bunch of babies playing boring old scales. Piano lessons had lost it's appeal.

My mom played the piano a little and always wished she had lessons so when I asked to play she was all for it, so no I couldn't quit. BUMMER
I stuck with it through all the scales and in my second year played that Yankee Doodle song in my first ever recital. I was very proud and excited until some little kid played something by that Mozart guy and then my confidence fell like a rocket out of space. I wanted to be playing his piece not my level 2 piece!!

That night I threw in the towel or at least as much of it as a 3rd grader could. I walked a bit slower to lessons each week, my little fingers lost what little pep they had when tapping the keys and I didn't practice like I should have.

One day I decided I was going to "forget" about lessons. When the bell rang for the end of the day, instead of going to piano lessons I went to the playground where I hoped Mrs. Heater my piano teacher would forget too. As I was swinging by myself I saw Mrs. Heater not walking but rather marching over to me. It was a rather long march from the school building to the swings which gave me plenty of time to work up my nerve as best I could. BOY she did NOT look happy at all. With a big frown and lots of irritation she asked why I wasn't at lessons.
"Oh! was that today? I forgot!" I totally lied. She told me we would pick up our missing lesson next week and gave me a piercing look before turning and marching back in.

A lot of wishful thinking happens as kids. Like the whole hiding behind polls and thinking that no one can see when in fact the only part they can't see of you is your eye balls. Same thing with this lie I told Mrs. Heater. I lied to her to get away with the naughty thing I did but all along she saw my lie and knew exactly what was going on.

I didn't skip any more lessons but it wasn't too long after that, I stopped taking lessons and instead I rocked on the piano at home to my own tunes.

How He Loves

How He Loves

Thank you God for teaching me how to love. Never before, have I felt such a love for others as I have now.

Over the past couple years God has been showing me how to love. To love deeply, to love all, to love at all times, to love you.

First I had to learn how to except God’s love for me. He loves me beyond all reason and that is how I am to love.

Chris Abshire had God’s love, Rosie Woodring had God’s love, Kathy Cousins had God’s love, Herb Reisig Sr. had God’s love. All four of these beautiful people let God in and let Him love them. All four of these people have died and gone to be with God.

On Thanksgiving day as we drove to Allentown Nate and I listened to, How He Loves by JohnMark McMillan. I first thought of Chris. A talented young man who praised God, it seemed with every breath. He sang this song and that’s how I first heard it. There is no other like Chris. Then I thought of my mom Rosie. She understood God, She was sweet and funny, a woman that believed and trusted God no matter what. There is no other like my mom Rosie. Kathy Cousins loved people every day, she even had a list on how to love and lived her life by it. She trusted God. There is no other like Kathy. Herb Sr. spent his whole life running away from God’s love but eventually got weary of running so he stopped and when he turned around, met Jesus. He spent the rest of his days loving God and his family. There is no other like Herb Sr.

My point is that God loves us each past overflowing. He loves us like no other because we are each so unique. It's like the love that I have for my own children. I love them with the same extordinary strength but each of our relationships are just as different as each of their personalities.

All four of these wonderful people died from Cancer between May of ’98 and Nov. 2008. Each one became sweeter still in their final days. I believe God picked them at their ripest. God talks about pruning in the Bible and I’ve always thought of it strictly as pruning the dead branches so the rest of the vine doesn’t die, however with fruit one has to pick the ripe fruit so that more fruit can grow. So many people’s lives were touched by the pruning of these four lives. As loved ones who will never see them again this can be hard to deal with, but with understanding we can. Their suffering was not God’s plan but rather just a part of this world we live in. We can not escape sin or the consequences of it. Our bodies are flawed because we live in a world that is flawed because of our sin.
God is the healer of our souls and if it is His will, our bodies as well but if we truly love Him we will bend to His will and trust Him even if that means pruning.

I feel as though I’m growing again so I’m enjoying this fresh wind that is blowing over me. Loving others the way that I should is so refreshing and is opening my eyes to a more powerful Worship. I encourage anyone who has been feeling a lack of worship to first, make sure you really are letting God love you and then, evaluate how deeply you love others. I didn’t realize how much God loved me until I started taking pictures of nature and more and more of my children. I saw how God made these clouds for me to enjoy, the fields for me to look at and trees to make me wonder, the sun to cheer me and the rain to slow me down and my children to enjoy it all. I love teaching them about all of God’s creations.
These were the thoughts going around in my head this Thanksgiving season. I’ll pray that God gives you understanding as I feel I didn’t write very coherently due to the newness of it all and my tiredness.

An Apology

Dear Mr. Washer,

How do I begin? I guess with, I'm Sooooooooo sorry! I don't know what happened exactly. This isn't like the other times, I promise.
I truly didn't remember that I had washed a load of towels. It was only by chance that I looked in on you and saw the lid down. I knew right away that I had done it again. I hope you can forgive me. I put in extra detergent and a healthy dose of bleach.
You and the towels should be smelling better in just about 30 minutes.

Thank you again Mr. Washer for your dependable rinse and spin cycles. Without you I would be plunging underwear into rivers and beating them over rocks.

Your dependant owner,
Swoozy

p.s. I'm also sorry if I may have thrown in an extra towel or two...or three.

You might not believe this...

but try.

(If you haven't read my blog before this one then do so now as this one relates to it.)

I was just thinking that maybe our family logo should be, "Just Happens" sorta like the Nike slogan, "Just do it". Things in our house "just happens" all the time.

I had JUST written that blog last night about our past and present pets and was quite happy and sure about the welfare of our non alive friends when what should HAPPEN??

This morning after taking the older boys to school and clearing the breakfast dishes, I sat down in my favorite chair with a steaming hot cup of coffee. I was checking my e-mail when I noticed Gabe wasn't in the room. I called his name and heard his voice coming from the upstairs.

"Oh, please tell me he's not in the bathroom" I pleaded to no one. I set down my cup of coffee and ran up the stairs. My fear was recognised as I first saw the bathroom door open, then no Gabe standing on the stool by the sink, but rather standing in front of the open toilet bowl with Hammy in Hand.

Hammy was drenched and so was the hand that held Hammy. "You have GOT to be kidding me?" I said out loud. This was crazy. I had just finished writing about Hammy and I honestly thought Hammy would be safe from harm but alas I was wrong. Gabe killed Hammy the only way you could kill a fake pet. By submerging it in water, destroying the batteries and all the inner electrical workings.

Maybe I'm not so much shocked that this happened but rather shocked by the timing.
I haven't told Uriah yet about Hammy. I'm wondering if I should go to Five Below and find a replacement first. I hope that when Uriah does find out that Hammy bit the porcelain toilet bowl, he'll see the humor in it.

***For those of you wondering, yes there was pee in the toilet bowl.***

The Start of a Day

5:45am. Ty wakes up with a coughing fit. Baby wakes up crying from all the coughing. Mom wakes up from the baby crying. Josh wakes up when Mom notices he's peed the bed. Ry wakes up when lights are turned on. Ty who started this chain goes on sleeping.

7:30am. Baby ate banana, a bite of left over pizza (he didn't like it), a cinnamon roll and watches cartoons. Mom is working on third cup of coffee after snoozing on the couch failed. Josh ate one banana and wasted another, browsed magazine for Christmas gifts and picked on baby. Ry ate breakfast and played DS. Ty wakes up. Ty looks rested. Baby, Mom, Josh and Ry do not.

**Now where did I put that stinkin' cup of coffee??**