Monthly Archives: June 2006

Inspired by his brother’s deal regarding reading books for movies, the Gremlin struck up a deal of his own. (He had just spent 3 weeks reading through “The Adventures of Robin Hood”.) Hubby conceded and let him watch the movie Monday night.

Today during our playdate, our guest was swept away into a blended world of Middle Earth and Sherwood Forest. The Orcs and Goblins were chasing the fair Maid Marion who shrieked in terror while Robin Hood swept in with sword drawn to battle impossible odds. The shield maiden of Rohan then had to ride down the evil Guy of Gisborn to get her family heirloom ring back. Her efforts were for naught, when the evil Gollum snatched the ring and locked himself in the bathroom with a hideous cackle. We quieted the troop with some “archery practice” at our glass french doors using a random assortment of Nerf weapons. AAAhhh, the creativity!

Many of the churches that we have researched in our hunt for a home church are touting the “Purpose Driven Church/Life” methods by Rick Warren. We have found this in all three states that we’ve been in so far. I have family members that have voraciously read all of his books and even made a point to schedule a lay over in his town to hear him preach while they were on vacation. Other family members left a church that was implementing the “Purpose Driven” methods, but then ended up at a new church that was doing the same thing but with a different feel. I have looked over many of the daily devotionals by him and have never really cared for them. He seems like a great speaker and very motivational, but there is something subtle that I can’t place my finger on. My heart is troubled when I read his stuff. When family members send me articles, I am unable to put in words why, but I sense red flags in his camp. I am picking up the Purpose driven Life from the library this weekend and have found a couple other books opposing it, and as always, I will have my Bible and concordance handy.

2 Timothy 2:15 Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

We expect much from our children. They are good kids and they work hard. The Sarge has been wanting to see the Lord of the Rings movies for quite some time now. Hubby made him a deal that if he read the “Hobbit” book, we’d let him watch one of the movies. Needless to say, my son had his nose in a book for the rest of the week. We began the movies this weekend…….so far, no nightmares! LOL.

But all of their play has taken on a Middle Earth tone. The two little ones are hanging on every word as the Sarge describes each scene as they act it out. (They were not permitted to watch the movies.) The Imp has become a shield maiden of Rohan wearing her fairy dress, a tiara, and a pirate sword. The Gremlin goes between Gollum and Strider donning a black ninja costume with a toy shield and wooden sword. “I fear that something foul is afoot!”

Our land lord has beautiful palm trees in our yard 6 big ones, and a baby one. He let us know that we needed to have them trimmed before the hurricane season kicked up in full. (Who knew you had to trim them! We assumed they were like evergreens up north!) Anyhow, my darling hubby bought a ladder, donned his gloves and long sleeves in 90 degree heat, and learned how to trim a palm tree. Well, it had gone to seed, which apparently attracts bees. Hubby is very allergic to bee stings. We also found out that palm trees have these little spiky things like thorns. They are also a lot bigger than they look. Our garbage man wasn’t real thrilled even though we cut them all down to fit in cans. One tree took 3-4 cans to dispose of and almost an entire afternoon for only one tree! This was not going to work, so we called the tree people for estimates. Out of 8 companies, only 3 were still in service and of the 3, only 1 bothered to call back with an estimate. $300 to trim and haul them! He said he doesn’t normally do Palm Trees. (What!? The add in the phone book said Tree Services and Trimming was listed!) He gave Hubby a number of a guy that “might” do it for less. We weren’t sure what the going rate for palm tree trimming should be since we are northerners, but we figured we may be “being had” since we still have Michigan plates and are clueless about palm trees. I said a quick prayer that God would give us wisdom and that some of the other tree guys would call so we could at least compare prices. Within 15 minutes, a kid knocked on the door. His dad owns a tree trimming service and they will be cutting the trees in the subdivision common areas next week. He was going around to see if anyone else needed services while they were here, and yes, they haul. (All this for $90.) God is good!

The Imp is always full of questions. The kind that are probably best left till she is a bit older, so we give her a more general answer and fill in more details as she matures. Right now she is obsessed with babies. She wants a real baby and has been praying for a sister. Our friend had a baby, and this started a flood of questions about feeding, how they got in the tummy, and how old does she have to be to get married and have her own baby sister. (!? What can I say, she’s 5.) In a moment of insanity, I told her that God gave her eggs in her body. They are tucked away in a secret place and God will release them when He is ready. Not every egg will be a baby, but when God releases them, that is what makes our bodies begin to change from little girl to having big girl parts.

Fast forward to yesterday. The boys are wrestling with each other and she comes in and tries to mother them and break it up. They include her in the foray and the squealing and tickling begins. She had had enough so I hear the following conversation.
Imp: Stop, your going to break me!
Gremlin: Break you? We’re just wrestling!
Imp: Yes, but I have a secret and your going to break them and then I won’t be able to have babies
Sarge: Eeeew, it’s girl-part stuff, have her go talk to mom to see if she broke something.
Gremlin: Are you bleeding? No! You’re just faking, what is your secret?!
Imp: I have EGGS in me, but God isn’t ready for me to use them yet, so they are a secret. YOU almost broke them ALL when you tickled me!
Gremlin: Do you think she really has eggs?
Sarge: I don’t know, probably, but they can’t be that breakable.
Gremlin: Then I have eggs too. Don’t mess with me either!
Sarge: You’re a BOY! Boys don’t have eggs, that would be a girl-part.
Gremlin: So what do we have?
Sarge: Duh! Boy-parts!

Then the conversation and activities shifted and all was well in castle Gidcumb. I asked the Imp about the conversation today and explained to her that her eggs were so small they would fit on a head of a pin and she didn’t need to worry about breaking them. She grinned at me and said, “I KNOW mom, I just needed a way to get the boys to stop bugging me!” I should have seen that one coming!
This was submitted to Kids Carnival of Comedy

Today I:
-Was up before Hubby to get his coffee ready and empty the clean dishes in the dishwasher
-Went in and rubbed on his back till he woke up
-Had my Bible quiet time when he hit the showers
-Cuddled the Imp since she woke up early
-Packed Hubby’s lunch and saw him off to work
-Made a batch of brownies with the Imp for our afternoon play date
-Made homemade biscuits with sausage gravy for the kids’ breakfasts (Hubby doesn’t do breakfast except on weekends)
-Administered the Gremlin’s Spelling Pretest
-Sat down with the Sarge to explain his math to him
-Cleaned up breakfast dishes while they were occupied
-Reminded the Imp to straighten her room (again)
-Administered Sarge’s Spelling Pretest
-Did devotions with the Imp and listened to her Reading chapter
-Listened to the Gremlin read his devotions and answered questions
-Verified that the Sarge had made time for his devotions
-Took a quick shower while boys worked on Math and Reading
-Corrected Math, Spelling, and listened to Reading summaries
-Threw in a load of laundry and folded another
-Reviewed and jotted down highlights of Science Lab to cover on our play date
-Made lunch and cleaned up while the oldest vacuumed carpet, middle wiped down the bathroom counter, and youngest vacuumed tile
-Set up volcano kit for our science play date (located ingredients to make it “erupt”)
-Greeted our guests
-Gave a brief Science lesson on volcanoes
-Encouraged Art skills as we made our own volcano
-Hosed everyone off and had swim time
-Helped the children set off volcano (and found other ways to make baking soda and vinegar explode and fizz)
-Served our brownies and cleaned up the pool area
-Disposed of our volcano
-Saw our guests off and started dinner
-Greeted Hubby with dinner ready and the house clean and straightened and our evening cleared to do whatever he felt like

I have to give recognition to a young blogger today. She blows me away with her maturity and wisdom. I have been reading her site for a while now, and am very impressed with her Biblical insights and knowledge on such a VAST bank of other subjects. You may not agree with everything on her site, but she definitely has something for everyone there. (Stretching your dollar, Cleaner recipies, Gardening, Home remedies, and Biblical insights.) She is not afraid to step on toes and makes no apology for her faith. She challenges and teaches many of us to become better wives and stewards of our homes. Take a peek at Stephanie’s site