A Surprise of Epic Veggie Tale Porportions

My son is five years old.  Enough said right?  He’s five and all boy.  That’s wonderful.  Really it is.  HOWEVER, when the teacher sends notes home about how he did this or that, all that wonderful “he’s just being a boy, he’s only five, he’s so cute” stuff doesn’t cut it! My  pride and joy son, has a bit of a problem at school sometimes.  He has classroom rules that he breaks. Often. He’s a work in progress.  Pray for him.  Anyways, last week my darling son out did himself.  He did not get in trouble ONE day that week at school! He followed directions and was helpful to his teacher and friends. I was so proud.  So for his reward for behaving wonderfully, I took him to play at Chuck-E-Cheese.  He had so much fun.  This week I was looking for the same type of behavior.  We now knew this was achievable! So his week started out great! So proud.  Then I heard on the radio (K-LOVE) that Veggie Tales Live show would be here in Cordova and I knew that my little guy would LOVE to see Veggie Tales!  We are avid Bob and Larry watchers over here.  So I pumped Landon’s head with all great “you will get a surprise Thursday evening if you behave yourself at school” messages. And he was doing it.  Behaving himself at school. So proud.  And finally tonight, we delivered on that promise and we saw Bob the Tomato and Larry  the Cucumber on stage singing and dancing.  Kids had a great time.  Layla even enjoyed herself. It’s always a joy when you can enjoy watching your children experience something that is a rare treat.  I’m thankful we were able to take him on this fun and rare outing.  It was worth it even if I was told that it wasn’t that great of a surprise because it wasn’t Chuck-E-Cheese. **Blank stare** Yep! You are welcome, Landon, You are welcome!

Larry, Junior and Bob on stage

Landon enjoying the show

Layla watching her big brother act silly dancing to the songs

Proud Momma

I used to frequent Wal-Mart quite regularly.  Recently I’ve found myself not making the dreaded trip there as much. This suits me just fine, I’m just setting up the back story a bit! On this rare weekday, I couldn’t find the particular rice that I love to prepare at our local Kroger store so I needed to purchase it from Wal-Mart. Another  rare occasion since my girl has entered this world is that it was just my boy and me doing some shoppin’ that day! We don’t get much mommy-son alone time so it was good bonding time.
‘Dini had asked to ride in the shopping cart and I agreed – this just allows me to get through the store much more quickly. We were up and down the aisles, looking for items we couldn’t retrieve elsewhere and trying to find my parboiled rice. I love parboiled rice. There’s just something about it. Not sure of the whole parboiling process. But the rice apparently gets partially boiled and then dried all the while remaining in the husk. That’s about all I can tell ya. Anywho, we were heading down the aisle so we could make our turn onto the rice aisle when Landon saw a handicapped man in a motorized shopping cart.  The poor elderly man had very limited use of his hands and couldn’t walk. He was in a very crouched position. It was sad. Landon was just about to fix his mouth to say “Mommy look at that man” when I quickly interrupted him and asked him to be quiet. If you have children, you know what my fear was! Little people can sure say WHATEVER comes to their little minds. I was afraid he might say something insensitive loudly so I was wanting him to be quiet. He persisted and finally said, “Can I help him Mommy?” Landon had seen the man drop a box of snacks he was reaching for on he floor and wanted to help him pick it up! I asked him if he thought he could climb out of the cart and he said yes. He claimed out of the basket, walked over to the man, and just quietly started to hand the man his box. It turns out that man didn’t actually need that particular box but had accidentally knocked it off trying to get something else.  So Landon placed it back in the shelf.  The man just stared at Landon and he said that he was a nice boy!  I told Landon to stay and find out what the man was trying to get. When he motioned what it was, he put the requested item in the basket. Then he climbed up back into my cart .  The man drove right up to us and told me that my son was sooo nice and I was too and then use thanked us again. He looked almost dumbfounded that my little guy had gone out-of-the-way to help him. He again told me what a sweet young man I had and thanked us profusely.  Landon felt so proud o himself. And I was moved to tears! My boy had seen a need and completely went out of his way to help someone.  He’s done so much in his short little life that I’m thankful for and proud of, but that single moment, on this rare occasion, I don’t think I’ve been more proud of my little man. He’s growing up and he may turn out alright after all!

Thank you WordPress Hierarchy/ Rant

For some reason I have not been able to post photos with pending blogs. Granted I don’t post every day, or even every few days for that matter.  That’s neither here nor there. Don’t judge me. Anyways, it’s almost never the occasion that I don’t have a photo to publish with a post.  I think that makes the subject more interesting. Gives the post some girth. Well for the past few weeks, when I’ve attempted to post about my Granny, I’ve been unable to post photos with it.  And today, today of all days, it has allowed me to post the photos with my blog.  Thank you.  To Whom It May Concern, thank you. I refused to post anything about my Granny’s 90th birthday without her beautiful photograph.  I am, after-all, her favorite grandchild! (Yes all my cousins! I said it! You read it! Deal with it!  Favorite Grandchild = ME!)

I am amazed that today would be the day that posting a photo would be successful.  I have had one of those days.  You know one of those days that you wished you belonged in that commercial and the results actually occurred.  The commercial where nothing is going the way the lead actress or actor wants it to go and all of the sudden, they see it. The bright red plastic circle with the inscription “EASY” on it.  They push the big button and all is right in the world.  I needed that button today.  Today is Thursday and it felt like the worst Monday you could have.  It felt like how Friday the 13th is feared.  It was RIDICULOUS.  On top of all the shenanigans that occurred, MY character, practice, and professionalism was questioned by someone who falsely identifies them self  by a professional nickname!  The nerve of some people.  I truly pride myself in what I do and genuinely caring for my family, friends, and my patients.  For this person to question my motives and my professionalism really hurt me.  After the crazy insane day I was having it was like this person just twisted the dagger that was already stabbing me.  And then my lovely mother reminded me that “.. we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world.. Eph. 6:12″.  And that’s all I have to say about that. Thanks Mommy.

90 and still counting

Towards the end of August my family, immediate and extended paternal side, celebrated my grandmother’s 90th birthday!  90 years is amazing!  She is as sweet, funny, and crazy as ever so I know and pray that she has several more birthdays in front of her.  We had three, count them, three fun-filled days to celebrate Granny’s birthday! Isn’t three days of festivities a bit much for a 90-year-old woman you might ask.  Absolutely not! Apparently her nine children, my father included, thought it would be just fine to wear my poor Granny out for her birthday. But she took it all in stride.  We really did have a great time.  All of my dad’s siblings were there and my countless cousins.  It was a blast.  My favorite part of the weekend was how my lovely grandmother just smiled hard every day of the celebration.

I already knew that Granny was a remarkable woman.  However I was reminded of some of her accomplishments that helped mold her into the wonderful woman she still is.  Granny taught in the school system-grade school, junior and senior high school for 45 years. That’s incredible.  She was a teacher in times of segregation and integration.  Times where she had to earn respect from her students just because of who she was and over came those challenges.  She was a wife, married for over 60 years, and a mother of nine, yes NINE children, twenty-three grandchildren, and twenty-four and still counting great-grandchildren!  The impact she’s had on so many young people’s lives is more than any words on any page or blog can hold. I’m just blessed to be able to say she’s my phenomenal Granny.

The goings on

Apparently the lord’s of WordPress are making it very hard for me to post pictures with my posts and I’ve spent the better part of two days (well, the free time that I do have to sit infront of the computer to blog) trying to attach pictures to a post on my Grandmother. I REFUSE to post it without her beautiful picture on here so you all must wait until I get whatever “issues” worked out.  I’m not sure of the problem. Nothing occurs when I click the button to insert a photo. Hopefully the link will behave soon and allow me to attach photographs and you all can be happy! Sorry for the inconvenience!

In other news, I am preparing to go on a mission trip! YAAAY!! I must say that I am both very excited and very reserved at the same time.  I do love mission work. It is the SOLE reason why I decided to go into the field of dentistry.  Throughout my ever-growing desire to do mission work, I have constantly tried to go on various mission trips to Haiti.  Without fail, something always happens to the trips I plan to be apart of in regards to Haiti.  Sometimes dates for the trip weren’t working out, cholera breakouts, too many volunteers and I didn’t make the cut, the list goes on and on.  This opportunity recently presented itself and I was almost left out of this trip as well.  So I am soliciting prayers as I get ready to serve in Haiti. I’ve been thrown a couple of curve balls already.  There were initially two dentists going on this trip and apparently now there may only be me! So lots of planning ahead in just a few weeks.  I leave on Oct. 6th and with two little ones to care for I’ve got a lot to do and little time to do it. 

Chow for now! Hopefully my next posts will include pics!