Happy New Year!!!

Happy New Year EVERYBODY!!!!

Moriah and I are the only 2 in this house that stayed up to see the New Year come in! Hope you had a wonderful 2006 and hope that you all have a wonderful 2007.

Love you all!

Moriah and Tamara

Scared Straight--Ghetto Style!

John decided to go hunting early one morning and took a half day off. I told him he was killing me but did he listen? Of course, not!!!

Moriah is a creature of habit. We must adhere to a strict schedule and not deviate from said schedule. The Morning Ritual at our house includes Daddy. When Daddy is not here, the schedule goes a wry.

Moriah, Luke, and I were getting dressed and ready for work and school. We try to let Luke sleep as long as we can but "as long as we can" was not long enough on this morning. Why? Because Daddy wasn't here and the schedule had been deviated from. I was running amuck (this is the only part of the schedule that remained constant). I realized suddenly that we had 5 minutes before we had to leave.

I said, "Moriah, we have to leave in 5 minutes and you haven't put your shoe and socks on or brushed your teeth or hair!" In her new found juvenile delinquency she retorts, "I don't care!" As you can imagine, this went over well.

We made it up to 6 weeks of being grounded before we managed to shut the overdrive down on her mouth. Luke was crying because he must be held every waking moment. Major Problem, we now have 1 minute and counting before we are out the door and the hair and teeth are still not brushed and the shoes and socks are not being worn. So, I said, "Moriah! Go brush your teeth, grab a hairbrush, your shoes, and socks and let's go!"

Moriah begins to cry, "I don't want to be grounded Momma!" She has been grounded (which pretty much means she loses her TV privileges) so much lately for various offenses that if she were a house she would have the strongest foundation in the neighborhood. My reply to her cry was, "I don't want a little girl who backtalks and is disrespectful. How can we both get what we want Moriah?" Hmmmmmm! Novel concept. "I don't know," she replies. I told her to think about it and we would talk more when we got to school.

I explained to her that because of our delay that I had to take her to work with me because I had already been late once and as a result the babysitter's husband was late for work (that is a story that is much like where Cain's wife came from....you don't really need to know to grasp the concept of the story.). One important thing you do need to know is that Moriah and I had previously discussed where I work and why some kids come to this place. So, she already knew that where Mom works is not a pleasant place.

We drive through Mineral Springs and slap dab in front of me at the intersection is the clock at the bank which reads, "7:45 *flash* 19" YOU CANNOT BE SERIOUS!!! I did not just 6 minutes prior to this time make my child run outside into 19 degree weather with no shoes and socks on. Looks like that Mother of the Year plaque will have to wait another year!!!! We arrive in Tollette at the ILC and the babysitter isn't there yet and neither are the kids. This is good! Maybe I can get Moriah straightened out and put her on the shuttle bus to go to Mineral Springs.

Mrs. Sherri arrives and picks up Luke. One down, one to go. Uh-oh! Here comes the bus of lovelies that I have to spend the day. I called the elementary school to let them know that I had Moriah and she would be at school as soon as we straightened out a little incident that happened this morning. I got the hairbrush and began to brush Moriah's hair. She told me once again, "I don't want to be grounded." And again, "I don't want a little girl who backtalks and is disrespectful. How can we both get what we want?" And, AGAIN, "I don't know." We went through this cycle several times before the answer became.. "We could both get what we want by me not backtalking and being disrespectful." Ohmigosh! Ding*Ding*Ding*Ding! We have a winner!

I gave her a hug and said "Ok! You are still grounded for the weekend which is 2 days and that's better than 6 weeks right!" We both agreed on that. I explained that I was glad that she understood what she had done but the 2 days was because she had actually done something that needed correcting. I felt so good!!!! Another tragedy had been averted. I went to tell Mr. Lampkins that I was going to run her to school really quickly and would be right back.

As I was walking to the front of the room, a "situation" occurred with one of the kids. Moriah turned and faced the wall and began to cry. The kid that was misbehaving asked if that was my daughter and I answered that it was. He said, "Why is she crying?" I said, "She's scared too death!" He wondered why she was scared and why she was there. I explained, "She is here because she was disrespectful to me this morning much like you are doing right now to Mr. Lampkins with the exception of she isn't use to kids acting like you are!"

Bless her heart! She cried all the way back to school. It's just a 5 mile trip but it seemed like longer today. We got to school. I told Moriah that I was going to go in and "sign you in." I wiped her face off and sent her to class. Her class is right across the hallway from the office. I noticed that she came out of the class and went to the restroom. It wasn't until later that I fully understood why she needed to go wash her face again.

Apparently, when I used the phrase "sign you in" it was misinterpreted. Moriah went back to class and explained that to the substitute teacher for the day that "As we speak, my mom is in the office signing me into ILC because I was disrespectful and talked back to her this morning and that place is horrible!"

What's so Freaking Funny?

Have you ever had one of those times that was so funny and then again not really?

Moriah got a 10/10 on her reading tests. This is a big deal for us. So, treats were deserved. Moriah decided the proper thing was McDonald's. We loaded up and went to Mickey D's.

Moriah asked me something. I responded. Then, John responded to what I said. We both started laughing. I hadn't finished eating so I had to cover my mouth to keep cheese and meat byproducts from flying all over the place. Then, everything from that moment on, regardless of how ridiculous or unfunny, was hilarious. We couldn't stop laughing. I'm sure it was annoying to everyone in the place. I know it was for Moriah. Don't you just love the thought of embarrassing your kids in public!!!!! Well, except Luke of course, he was laughing right along with us as if to say "Momma, Daddy funny!" I told John, "we are the reason that restaurants panic when a school bus pulls up out front!"

WE mananged to get control of ourselves before Depends became necessary. After we got home, everything was calm until John said something that set me off. It started again!! Moriah just sighed and said, "I'm going to bed!"

Long Time no See!

It's been a while since I've reported any stories. Not that there has been a lack of excitement at our house because there is never a dull moment. We've been really busy!!! There's football season, sick Moms and Dads, kids running here and there, I started to work. It's just never ending! Hopefully, things will level off and I can get back to reporting the cuteness that is our children!!!

The Little Black Box!

Most of my blog entries are stories about the kids--things they have done or said that are funny or entertaining. This one is none of that.
The other day I was driving home from Waldron with the kids in the back seat. Moriah was watching a movie (probably Narnia); Luke was asleep or basking in the cuteness that is he. I was in the front (which is good since I was driving). Everything was just beautiful. The grass was green, the trees as well, the sky was blue, and I'm sure the birds were singing. A deer trotted across the road in front of me (in case you didn't know we live in Deer Central; it isn't uncommon to see 20 or more deer from where we turn off at Wickes on 71 to Nashville).
It is so common in fact that I try not to look for them anymore. I figure that if one runs out in front of me and I don't see it; then, I won't swerve. If I swerve, I might miss it but flip the car. This one particular deer, while it posed no danger to us, got me to thinking about something.
What if our vehicles were equipped with the Little Black Boxes that are in airplanes. Then, if an animal ran out in front of us and caused us to wreck, we would have an audio account of what was going on in the car at the time of the accident. Or, what if our heads were equipped with just such a box? What were our thoughts right at the very moment the accident happened? Would we be having pleasant thoughts? WOuld we be focused on Godly things or worldly things? This is more of a "Rambling of a Wandering Mind" episode than anything!! Besides, newer vehicles are already equipped with such a device...........it's called ONSTAR!!!

The Sacrificial Pig

Ever had one of those days that seemed like a dream. Not a nightmare but not necessarily a good dream; kinda like you are watching what is going on. Then, when you least expect it, God sends something your way, even if just for a moment, to shock or awe you; or just make you laugh.
One day last week, I was having just such a day. I won't get into the details; most of you already know; prayer brought me through it. I was on my way to Fort Smith with Dad talking to John on the phone telling him what was going. When lo and behold, on the side of the road lay roadkill. Aw yes! Roadkill. It comes in many forms in Arkansas...skunks, snakes, dogs, cats, deer, opossums, birds, and my personal favorite is the belly up armadillo with the strategically placed beverage bottles laying around it. Roadkill in it's self is not anything that would normally cause me a second thought. This particular roadkill, however, was a PIG!!!!!!! Yes, just a lil' ol' Miss Piggy pig laying silently on the side of the road! It made me laugh. Is that demented? A pig gave his/her life to brighten my day?!?!?!?! Thanks! I needed that!

Cinderluke

Look what we caught Luke doing!



Luke's Chores on Vimeo

I Aged 10 Years Today!

Well, it happened today. I knew that it would but you never really are prepared for such a travesty. Luke and I went to WalMart today. It was a beautiful day, slightly overcast, nice breeze, and the smell of rain a'coming.

We had a really enjoyable time. Double clicking on each other. Luke has been playing with a computer mouse. He and I have started "double-clicking" each other; because, what do you do when you want to choose something on the computer.

We came outside and there were two nice ladies picking at Luke. One of them asked me that question that I knew would eventually pass my ears. "Are you his grandmother?"

The very Nerve of Some People

Friday night, we went to Norphlet. It is between Camden and El Dorado. The nicest people that I met all night was the EMTs (See previous statement regarding stories). When I was paying for Moriah's ticket into the game, I stood Luke on the ground in front of me. I handed the lady my money and Moriah screamed "Mom! Luke's in the road!" I thought that it was a little dirt walk way. It was INSIDE the stadium!!!! Out of the corner of my eye I see a car barreling down the path (granted, the young lady driving was not breaking the speed of sound but was too fast for Friday night INSIDE a football stadium). I dropped everything and ran and grabbed Luke. When I got back to the "money box" lady, the little idget told me that she had already given me my change. She argued with me that she had. I said, "No ma'am you didn't! You may have given it to someone else but not to me." She said, "Are you sure?" I said, "Yes I am. It played out like this. You made me pay for my daughter! I handed you a $10. The baby wandered out into the road. My daughter screamed 'Luke's in the road!' Car came, dropped my stuff, ran to get the baby, came back for my change." She said, "Yeah! You're right!" THEN, she handed me the $6 that she was holding in her hand the ENTIRE time!!!!
At halftime, I went to watch the band. We stood bold and proud in our green and gold. We ignored the way they nonchalantly talked about how bad they thought they were going to beat us and couldn't believe they were only up 3 points. When the band was coming onto the field, I went to sit down while I was hold Luke. I totally missed the seat and fell. Luke began to scream. I didn't know if he was hurt or scared. I was unsure if he had bumped his head on the metal bleachers or if I had fallen on one of his limbs. I sat there on the ground with people actually stepping over me. People were sitting in the bleachers right behind where I fell. NO ONE asked me if I was okay, if Luke was okay, or even questioned that there was a middle aged woman sitting on the ground with a screaming baby. I sat there for what seemed like an eternity but was probably only like 2 minutes. I checked Luke's arms and legs for protruding bones or torn flesh. I checked his head for contusions and/or lacerations. He seemed fine but he was still screaming. I asked Moriah if she would take Luke. Then, I managed to get myself up off the ground and I took Luke back. Still, no sign of concern from the Norphlet people, they just watched in amazement. By the time that I got back to the visitor side, my back was tightening up. Our supt. wife made me go talk to the EMTs to make a report in case I had actually hurt something; there was a report. When we were walking back to the stands, John walks up with the Norphlet band director. So, following proper etiquette and protocol, John introduces me to the young man by slapping me on the back and saying "This is my wife!" If ever I would hit John, this would have been it. But, my back hurt too bad! I guess that is payback for the torture that I put him through when he fell out of the tree and broke his back.
OH by the way, we won the game by 30 points. Who dat talkin' bout beatin' da Hornets?

Satan is a TeleMarketer!

Didn't we really all already know this?
I have just started a new Beth Moore Bible study. This is the first study that I have been hyped about before I actually started it. Wednesday afternoon, I finally got Luke down for a nap that could potentially give me enough time to get through one day of the study.
During my prayer, I asked the Lord to let Luke rest long enough for me to get through this day of my study. I know we are to pray specifically but I forgot to mention something very important. As I was drawing near the end of my study for the day (about 10 minutes left). The phone rings. I jumped and ran to the phone just to try to get to it before Luke awakened. Of course, to no avail!!!!!!!!!
I answered. There was no one there. You know that means they will call again because I have just provided them with a time of day that someone will be home. I was aggravated because I just needed 10 minutes!!!!!!!! Is that too much to ask? I looked down at Luke who was now looking up at me with both precious little hands on my leg and those little tired eyes, smile on his face. I said, "Baby Doll, Momma needs just a few more minutes and I will hold you for the rest of the day."
I had the remote control sitting beside me. And, there is always at least one Baby Einstein ready to go. I chose Baby Mozart because there are no words to the music (so I won't be distracted from my reading) and Luke loves them all. He sat his preciousness at my feet almost as if he understood what I meant. He watched his video and I finished my Bible study with the soothing sounds of Mozart in the back ground.
When I was finished, Luke crawled up in my lap and stayed there for the rest of the afternoon (which wasn't really that long). I praise the Lord for this precious moment!

Can you see me now?

Here are pix of our little man.

Can you hear me now?

John is constantly nagging at me for not carrying my cell phone. I don't keep it charged. Well, excuse me (first of all) for not being at the beckon call of the world. No one ever calls me unless of course it is John. That could be because I never carry the phone.
It turns out that Luke is a real mover and shaker. The particular "moved and shaken" item of the week is my rarely used cell phone. Normally, this would not be a problem. He looks kinda cute walking around the house with a cell phone attached to his ear saying "'lo!" But as afore mentioned, I hardly ever charge my phone!" Somewhere in this house is a nearly new telecommunicator with a dead battery. So, it's not like I can call on the house phone and follow the ring around until I find the phone (yes, this is a practice that we use often at our house!).
Luke knows where it is. I know that he does. This morning as I was playing Crouching Tiger Hidden Cell Phone Luke was following me around the house laughing. I have crawled through the entire house and no cell phone anywhere.
When I do finally locate my phone, there is a treat waiting for me! I have left myself several messages while trying to find it. I will feel important if only for a moment a to my very self.

The Good Ol' Days

Recently, I was communicating via email with a friend from high school. She was talking about when we were in grade school and used to have disco dance-offs. Even though I have forgotten that particular recess activity, how fun!!!!

I do, however, remember other things. I remember playing kickball. I remember being naive. I remember teachers being concerned because the kids (boyand girl couples)were holding hands on the playground. I remember the pain of telling my mother "I am too old to wear ruffles and lace now Mom." I remember being obnoxious to substiute teachers (something I have paid dearly for in recent years). I remember selling fundraiser stuff and thinking that I was the greatest salesperson in the world. I remember the hurt of not making pee wee cheerleader.

Now, we had our fair share of hardships. I remember one boy getting caught with illegal drugs in 4th grade (he got it from his parents stash). But, overall, we can look back and say we were pretty sheltered in our younger days (or at least most of us).

Having said all of that......Almighty God please be with our children! Times have changed. Not all is bad. I like to sit and watch my daughter play on the playground with her little friends. It all seems so innocent much like we were. But, the things that parents (most of them our age and younger) allow their precious young ones to be exposed. Kids have more access to information through the media than we did.

I don't think I want to know exactly what my child knows. We were watching TV together the other day and they were reviewing a book that had the word "Sex" in the title. It was on the evening news so I know it wasn't porn or anything. Moriah says "Gross! Did you hear that word he said?" The news guy repeated the title. "That is so disgusting!" she retorted. I wanted so bad to ask but my heart just ached and what the actual answer would be. I am not sticking my head in the sand. I have asked this question on a different too-young-to-know phrase that came up before and I literally felt my body melt and ooze out of the chair in which I was sitting when I got the answer.

So, I guess all things considered, it is still safe to say, "Oh! To be young again!" But, oh to be young again in the 1970s (to steal a quote from my 9 year old). I wouldn't want to be growing up in today's world and dealing with what my daughter does.

Things I've Learned in the Past Year!

*Always place the clean diaper over the cleaned target area before reaching for the ointment.

*You are what you eat explains why little boys are made of snips, snails, and puppy dog tails.

*A Playskool ball fits perfectly in the speaker of a subwoofer.

*Always leave the toilet lid down and the bathroom door shut.

*Nap time doesn't end until you are seated in your nice hot relaxing bath.

*Baby Einstein cures what ails you.

*A crashed computer is not always an indication of a virus.

*A Personal Floatation Device, regardless of what government agency approved it, will not float the way you need it to if your child was born to snorkel.

*Chocolate may be harmful to dogs but is apparently quite tasty to a little boy.

*First steps are used as manipulation and control.

*There is no such thing as a child safety lock.

*The pains of child birth are nothing compared to the lacerations caused by pearlly white little pirahnna teeth.

*Toddlers are little terrorists.

*I have at least 1 and maybe 2 weapons of mass destruction living in my house.

*I have been richly blessed more than I could have ever imagined!!

Hey Baby, You got style!

We were in Waldron driving down West 2nd Street headed to Wal-Mart. There was a middle aged man riding down the side of the street on a bicycle. He was peddling away doing his thing. I said, "That is so uncool!"
Moriah asked what I was talking about. I pointed out to her that the man had on shorts with teenies and black socks. Moriah said, "Ew! That is not stylish!"
I said, "It just isn't right is it?"
She said, "No, it's not. I know this because I have a good Fashion Sense!"
Where does she come up with this stuff?

Grosser than Gross!!!!

Last week we were at the Arkansas Bandmasters Association convention. It is always lots of fun. We have some good friends that we always hang out with at the convention. They have 2 little girls, ages 7 and 2 1/2. Moriah and the 7 year old get along really well.
I'm sure that the baby and Luke will get along well when Luke is a little older. They have some of the same bad habits. For instance, they both put everything they come in contact with in their mouths.
Anna Claire is a beautiful little girl. She looks just like a little doll. Over a period of 3 days these are a few things that she put in her mouth: a cheeto she found under the bed in our room (that belonged to neither family), water from the pool, and beads. Her parents had told us that she likes to chew on baby wipes and they had caught her with as many as 5 totally in her mouth.
On Thursday evening, we went to dinner at Olive Garden. That was a different experience but the grossest thing happened when we got back to the hotel. John was changing Luke's diaper and it required several wipes. Of course, it was chaotic with the 2 other girls running around the room playing. Not to mention, Luke flopping around like a fish out of water and screaming because he can't be still while you are changing him. AnnaClaire reached over and grabbed a wipe from the soiled diaper and stuck it in her mouth. John said in the midst of the madness, "Uh! Anna Claire has a dirty wipe in her mouth!" Her mother began to struggle to get it out. When the mom got it away from the child, Anna Claire stood there with her little blond pigtails, a big ol' grin on her face, and a brown substance in the corner of her mouth. John started whining, "I think she ate a turd!"
I was on the bed laughing so hard I almost wet myself. In fact, I may have just a little. When we were leaving Olive Garden, the waitress gave us some chocolate mints. As Anna Claire was walking into our hotel room I noticed that she had chocolate on her mouth. Apparently, John did not!

Long time no see!

Wow! It's been a long time since I posted. We have been SO busy. Mostly with band director stuff. John had band camp 9-14 and ABA (Arkansas Bandmasters Association).
Moriah has a dark tan. She spends a lot of time in the water and sun. She is ready for school. By that I mean, she has all of her supplies and clothes. Otherwise, probably would rather it stay summer forever.
Luke is walking now. But, he still prefers to crawl, probably because he is really good at it! He gets a little turbo action thing going when he crawls. We just found out that he is going to wear glasses at least for a while. This should be interesting.
John is gearing up for band. Their show this year is 70s Disco. It should be pretty cheesy which usually goes over well. They are playing Disco Inferno, Night Fever, and Play that Funky Music. Tune in later to hear about how it works out.
With me, it is just the same old same old. Fighting off allergens, a messy house, and the teeth of Piranha Baby.

Boyz R So Mean!

We have been watching videos of Moriah when she was a little. She was such a Sweetie! With her Christmas and Birthday "I wonder what it is!" with every present she opened. Her Pebbles Poof hairdo on top of her head was just too cute!

Now there is Luke. In the immortal words of Pooh, "Oh Bother!" He looks just like Moriah (in the face anyway) when she was that age. He is sweet in his own litte ways. The way he laughs when we are laughing; the way he makes his "S" sound; and the way he smiles and bounces on my lap when I sing "To God Be the Glory" to him...especially on the verse about him (don't look in your hymnal, he and I wrote it one morning when he was having trouble going to sleep); it all makes me realize how richly blessed we are with 2 beautiful healthy lovable children.

When Moriah was about Luke's age, she bit me one day. This was a shock! All of the Child Development hoopla that had been drilled into my head during college went right out the window. I spatted her on the leg (not hard; don't feel like you need to call the child abuse hotline on me for something that the statute of limitations has more than likely expired on) and said "No!" She cried for a little bit but not long. A few days later, same story different parent, she bit John. Same result, he spatted her and said "no!" and she cried a bit. It worked. She never bit us or anyone else again. Man, we are such good parents!! We mastered the "biting child" problem..........yeah, uh, WHATEVER!

Then came Luke! Luke bites. Luke bites hard. He has never even tried to bite anyone except family. I tried to tell myself and others that he was trying to kiss. I don't know though. He really seems to enjoy the pain it inflicts on us. We have tried everything short of running from him (Well, actually, Moriah has done that too!). His favorite now is coming up to you, biting you, looking up, smiling, SPATTING HIMSELF, and laughing because you are in deep pain! I want to hurt him just so he will know exactly how bad it hurts! But, just at that very moment, I have an out of body experience (like I'm watching the whole thing on TV) and it is pretty funny! I can't laugh though! Not because of the inappropriateness of it all, but because there is blood dripping down my face where those sharp little razor blades have penetrated my skin and I'm gritting my teeth to keep from screaming out in agony.

I'm sure that John and I did something in our childhood that caused our parents severe pain and this is our punishment!!!!!!

Happy 4th of July!

Happy 4th of July everyone! It hard to believe our country is 230 years old. I remember when it was merely 200. We had a pretty good day. We took Luke to his fireworks display. He loved it! He didn't get upset until the "lights" stopped.

WE sure missed Moriah! I think Luke is missing her too. She is at her Nanna and Papa's for the past few weeks. Mom takes her swimming at the pool and she loves that. I can't wait to see her. We are going up Saturday on our way to band camp. It has become tradition to spend the week with Aunt Laura during band camp.

We have talked to Moriah about everyday. She doesn't seem to be homesick. She is playing outside a lot (this is good). Mom and Dad only have one dog. He is old and is skiddish around everybody but them. Here at home, Moriah doesn't like Chloe jumping on her.

July 1--What a Special Day!!

Eleven years ago today, John and I got married. One year later, at the top of the Eiffel Tower, I told John that I thought I might be pregnant. Seven months later Moriah was born. In 2005, Luke was due on July 1st. He came on June 17th by scheduled c-section. But, today, July 1st 2006, one year and 2 weeks after he was born.......Luke took his first steps. He walked a few and sat down. I ran and got the camcorder, recorded 4 steps and he was done. Good night Sweet Luke! You've had a good day!

WORD!

"Word!"
Word is a common expression that John uses since we have been here in Southwest Arkansas. He started using it because the kids did. The kids don't use it anymore because John over-used the 'word.' I think next he will start wearing saggy britches so they can see how silly that is.
The other day we were in Mena and suddenly I realized we were not in a land of ethnic diversity. We were walking through Wal-Mart and this little boy was walking by us. John held his fist up (palm outward; he wasn't trying to hit anybody) and said to the child, "Word!"
John walked on probably not thinking anymore about it. To him, it was like saying 'hello' to the boy. I noticed out of the corner of my eye that the child stopped and was looking in our direction with bewilderment on his face.
Then, I hear "Wurd to yor own self!" I turned only to see a little blond streak disappearing into the store. John never even noticed, well, until I explained my laughter.

Move Over Milk, Farting Does a Body Good

When we were coming home from our trek through Northwest Arkansas, we stopped at Sutherland's Home Center in Ft. Smith. Luke got a sand and water table for his birthday and we found no play sand in Nashville, AR. We knew that we wouldn't need it until we came home and we didn't want to take the chance of Waldron or Mena Wal-Mart not having it (Ft. Smith Wal-Mart didn't have any either). Luke was asleep and we gave Moriah the option of going in the store or we would wait while John went in and checked for sand. She opted to stay in the car.
Half the fun of having a baby in the family is being able to blame the origin of the foul odors that arise. We have tried to instill this in Moriah but she just hasn't gotten the hang of it yet.
We were sitting there in the parking lot and I began to smell something mal-odorous (that is a FultzN'It originale word). I was pretty sure the origin of the scent was from somewhere other than the inside of our vehicle (maybe not though).
"What is that smell? Did you do that?" I said to Moriah. The proper and expected response was 'No it wasn't me! It was Luke!' But instead.............
"Actually, Nickelodeon says that a healthy body does that." Moriah proudly proclaimed.
It took a moment for this to soak in to my thickness. Then, it hit me. "Does what? Fart?"
I questioned.
"Yes!" She said laughing.
John got in (with sand I might add). I was telling him the story. He turned and looked at Mo and asked her, "Moriah, are you healthy?"
"Yes! (Teeheehee)" She answered.
We may not have many amenities here on earth; but, at least we have our health!

The One That Got Away..oh, wait...I guess not!

Yesterday, we were awakened at 7:30am by the sound of a LOUD boom only to discover that there was no electricity. John's mom called Carroll Electric. Of course, it was automated and she got the recording stating that they had received several calls regarding this matter. For those of you who know nothing about living in the country, when the electric goes it isn't just a time without lights. The well pump is electric so no showers or toilets flushing. The gas stove has an electric pilot light so no breakfast. John's mother called several times because the natives were getting restless not to mention smelly. Finally, she called the sheriff's department to see if a wreck or something had knocked the power out. The sheriff's department said that pretty much the entire area was out of electricity and they had no idea why.
John and his mom were out on the porch and saw a squirrel sitting in a tree eating something bright red. John was looking for the camera and he told his dad. His dad told him to get the gun because the squirrels had been in his garden eating his tomatoes. After all, there was no electricity, we WERE in the country.............hey! I know! Let's shoot something!!!!
Needless to say, John and his dad both grabbed a gun (John with a rifle and his dad with a pistol) and went out in front of the house and commenced firing. I think they each fired about 4 times. The first shot fired the squirrel ran a little further up the tree; but, he dropped his luscious appetizer. The 2nd shot, missed again, and a little further up the tree. It reminded me of watching an episode of Walker, Texas Ranger. John and his dad being the bad guys firing at Walker (the squirrel). You know, those guys can never hit Walker. But, shoot away they did. Bang! Bang! Bang!
After the last shot, a minute or so past. Lo and behold, down came the squirrel. Dead weight from the top of the tree all the way to the ground. Bless his heart! He had a heart attack and died. Isn't that a mess? Wouldn't you hate wasting all of that energy dodging bullets only to have a heart attack and plunge to the ground?
The great white hunters went to retrieve the animal and found the munchie that it was enjoying. It was a peach. They also found another dead squirrel that was laying directly under the transformer. It had entrance and exit wounds. It had been electrocuted.
A while later the Carroll Electric truck pulled up. The men went to converse with them. They said that everyone's electric was back on except for ours and they had no idea what had caused the black-out. The men showed them the fried squirrel. Wouldn't you know? Apparently, this little rodent had blown out the power for the whole countryside. This could have all been avoided if John and his dad had been out shooting pesky squirrels at 7:30 in the morning. They probably wouldn't have shot the squirrel but it would have more than likely had a heart attack before it caused the whole mountain to go dark!

Sabatical

We are in NW Ark this week. We spent a few days with my parents. We had a wonderful visit with my brother Marty and his little one, Marleigh. Luke got a new wagon for his birthday and Marleigh and Moriah really enjoyed it. Moriah pulled Marleigh down a little embankment and was kind enough to let go of the handle as Marleigh barreled uncontrollably into the fence. Gee thanks Mo! Sorry we didn't get to see you Theresa maybe when we come back through.

Luke had a check up today. 30" and 23 lb. 2 oz. He has an eye appt. on 7-31. He is a little cross eyed sometimes so we are going to get it checked out. I'm sure it is just a product of his environment. We are all a little cock-eyed at our house sometimes. Moriah opted to leave the room when Luke got his 12 month shots. She doesn't like to see "flawless skin" get "messed with."

We are visiting with John's parents right now. It's been a good afternoon. John and his dad went shooting. We could hear them and Moriah wondered "what in the world are they doing?" Luke is enjoying exploring new territory. If anybody wants to see us, feel free to come by here. We will be here all weekend!

I don't have any "kid" stories today. I have a John story but I must edit it in my head before I blog it.

Happy Father's Day

If anybody calls you "Dad," I hope you had a blessed day. Our church didn't have evening services tonight so that we could spend time with our dads. John and I didn't get to see our dads today but we did call them. We will see them this next week. Moriah and Luke are so lucky that they spent the whole day with their dad. John got some hunting boots and the lunch of his choice (which turned out to be all you can eat crab legs at the china buffet). I also added some more pix to his ever growing Father's Day card (I gave him a card 2 years ago of all of the good pix of he and Moriah, this year I added some more of he and Mo, he and Luke, and he and both!
If you are still lucky enough to have your dad, call him and tell him hello and Happy Father's Day. If you don't read this until later, call him and tell him you love him and wish him a belated happy father's day. God bless 'em aren't we glad we have them!!

Happy Birthday, Luke!!!!

It's hard to believe that it has been 1 year. Our little man! I got to say for the first time "1 year ago today at this very time (12:53pm), you came into our lives." We had a really good day. We went to CiCi's and ate pizza and then went to the Best Western in Atlanta to spend the night. We ate cake and opened presents and fun was had by all. Luke dove into the cake and wiped the chocolate icing all over him. It was great! John told Moriah to hold Luke so he wouldn't crawl off of the table. Moriah started gagging like 'Ol' Faithful' was about to erupt and saying that it looked like poop. I had to eat some of the icing that was on Luke's leg to show her there was nothing to barf about. I must admit that it was a bit hard to choke it down since she was gagging over it!
When we left the hotel, John told them there was a towel in the room that was soiled. He said, "I wanted you to know that it is just chocolate!" Some man was checking into the hotel and he said, "I don't know! He (Luke) looks like he just did something on'ry!"
Which reminds me, we got him a t-shirt for his birthday that says "I'm definitely up to something!"

What is a Scontion?

The Mineral Springs fight song is On Wisconsin! Not so much a fight song; but, it's what the band plays when the Hornets score. John always sings, "On Wisconsin, on Wisconsin, on Wisconsin, On!," over and over and over all the way through the song. Of course, you live with insanity and it starts to rub off. I sing it. I thought Moriah did too! (Sad little sidenote: Some of the band kids thought that those were the actual words....so sheltered and naive; yet, so worldly!)
Last night, Moriah was doing some of her "cheerleading kicks." She said, "I need to practice dancing. What is that song that the band plays that always makes the cheerleaders start doing their dance?"
"I don't know." I answered.
She said, "Yeah you do. You know, On Your Scontion."

Indian?????

After we got to Mom and Dad's house from Precious Moments, we spent a few days with them. I had talked with my sister-in-law, Theresa, before we went to Missouri and we had made plans to go to the Alma water park with the kids. My niece, Marleigh, rode to the park with Moriah, Luke, and me. We had a blast! We cranked the tunes (Chicken Little Soundtrack) and rocked all the way there.
Before we arrived at the AquaPark, Moriah started putting on her sunscreen. She always puts sunscreen on when she goes swimming. Although this is a good habit to get into at a young age, it is unnecessary during those times that the pool is INDOORS!!!! On this particular day, however, sunscreen was very necessary for the pigment-impaired.
She offered her cousin Marleigh some of her sunscreen. Marleigh told Moriah that she didn't need sunscreen because she didn't burn. Moriah, of course, asked, "How come?"
Marleigh replied, "Because I'm Indian."
Moriah stated, "Uh-uh! You ain't from no India!"
I explained to Moriah that Marleigh is an Indian but not from India; she is a Native American Indian. Marleigh began her own explanation. "Yes." she said, "It is on the Glasgow side. Not all Indians are dark-skinned, some are light like me and have blue eyes."
Moriah was amazed at this new revelation. "Really?"
Marleigh said, "Really! That's what they call me. A blond, blue-eyed white Indian girl!"

Precious Moments

Recently, Mom, Moriah, Luke, and I went to Carthage, Missouri to visit the Precious Moments chapel. We spent the night at the Best Western Precious Moments Hotel. It was the color of this font. Moriah loved it!!! She jumped out of the car and pulled her pink shirt out and said, "Mom, LOOK! What do I match?" (Because everything has to be in the form of a question). She was so excited and kept saying "Look! The whole place is PINK!" I didn't think we would ever get checked in because much like Fatal Attraction, she will not be ignored.
The highlight of the evening was the indoor pool. It was wonderful because it rained all night. The pool was open until midnight but by the Grace of God she wore down before then. Mom was in the room and wasn't feeling well. Luke was getting a little waterlogged. And, there were like 12 kids in the pool area. I find myself with what seems to be less and less toleration of other people's. Even though they weren't really that bad, the third time I got walloped up the side of the head with one of those neoprene sponge balls, I was done. I had managed to talk Moriah in to going to bed, yea!
As we were leaving the pool area, the Pizza Hut delivery guy walked in with about 4 pizzas and handed to one of the ladies that was in there with the mob. Moriah trotted over to me and exclaimed "Momma! That guy just walked in here and gave them PIZZA!!!!" Oh please, let me be the only one that heard that! My cry-out was to no avail. The lady carrying the pizza over to the table grinned at me. I told her "You know, we do get out a little more than that." She asked "Would it be okay if she has a piece of pizza with the kids?" I graciously declined stating that we had just eaten before we came to the pool. It was actually about an hour before but it was around 10:30 at that moment, much too late for anyone to be eating. I thanked her for asking. It geniunely was kind and I did appreciate that.
But. you know, the more I think about it, I don't ever remember us having pizza delivered anywhere. We have always either picked it up or eaten it there. It had never occurred to me that a man walking in and handing someone a pizza would be foreign to her.

Scuba MoLuke

We FINALLY put Moriah's pool up. She has one of the little 12 X 3 feet pools that you get at Wal-Mart. You know how it goes. We bought it last year and a few weeks after we got it...we could have gotten the 18' for the same price. But, that is just my luck and I shouldn't dwell on that. We put it in our driveway which is the most level place we could find. We tried the backyard and it ended up being more like 2 feet deep.
ANYHOW!!!!!!!!!! (I ramble a lot)
Moriah took swim lessons last year in Waldron. She really enjoyed it and learned quite a bit but we still haven't mastered jumping in from the side. Can't jump in from the side of this pool so that isn't really a problem. However, John has managed to prove his abilities by running to dive into the pool.
We kept noticing the sheer joy that Luke was getting when Moriah would go under to get her diving rings. We thought that he just thought it was funny, like peek-a-boo. Apparently though, he thought it looked fun.
I had him in his baby boat and he leaned over and put his face in the water. It was about time for his afternoon nap so I thought he was just tired so I took him out of the pool. John took him back in the pool later that afternoon. John just held him. He literally jumped from his daddy's arms trying to get under the water.
I guess we will have to be very careful with this one. We already knew that though.

Badonkadonk Boy!!!!!!!!!

He's not even 1 and he is already acting like a man! We were watching Trace Adkins sing "Honky Tonk Badonkadonk." Luke was sitting in the middle of our family room floor, bottle hanging out of his mouth, and dancing. When I asked John if he was watching his son, Luke turned to look at me. He had a big smile on his face, dropped the bottle, and milk ran all down his face and shirt. He just started screaming and laughing. Oh my! Where is the camcorder when you need it?

Here's a Proud Moment for Ya!

Recently, we went with John's band to Wild River Country in LR. This was Luke's first trip to a water park. He seemed to really enjoy the Lazy River. Which, coincidentally, was the only thing I could do on last year's trip to WRC. He has a little boat that he sits in and swats at the water. It's really cute to watch.
Luke has recently put himself on a schedule. I guess it's a good thing one of us is organized. He wakes up between 7 and 7:30; takes a nap at 10; and takes another nap around 2. One of these naps will be about 20 minutes and the other is usually 2 hours (this is not important to this story just an FYI). Both of these naps fell during the time period we were at the park.
The afternoon nap, I laid down on a chaise lounge chair and sat Luke on top of me. He was laying on my tummy so peacefully and cute. He sat up rather suddenly and looked at me (seemed to be a little scared). Then, I felt a warm feeling come over me. Ah Luke, that was just wrong. Those Lil Swimmers DO NOT absorb liquids very well.
John came and took his shift. He had the honor of changing Luke. He was a little muddy; if you get my drift. He said, famous last words, "I'm just going to take him in the shower and wash him off."
John takes Luke in the men's showers. He is gone and gone and gone.....and gone for what seemed like forever. He returns and I asked what had taken him so long. "Well," he said, "there was no warm water and when I held Luke's bare butt to the the cold water it put him in some sort of shock and he pooped all over the shower! It just started shootin' out of him!"
Ewwwwwww!!!!!!! That is so gross!!!!

Not the Outdoorsy Kind of Guy

This weekend we decided to go camping (in our back yard). Last year (or year before), we bought a tent on clearance at Wally World. It was a 3 room tent that was marked down to practically nothing. Which just so happens that is all we have.
The kids and I are going to Missouri with my mother this next week so it really didn't make sense to take 2 trips so close together. So, we decided on the back yard camping adventure.
Luke loved the tent. He crawled from one room to the other, laughing, and having a great time. We roasted marshmallows and hot dogs. Lots of fun.
All was well and good until bedtime. All of a sudden the fun was over. He cried and fussed incessantly. This went on for what seemed like hours! Finally, John folded and took him in the house. He leaped out of John's arms and into his bed, rolled over, and went to sleep.
John says he slept all night. I, however, would not know because I was outside in the tent with Moriah, "Queen of the Back Yard Camping."
On a brighter note, maybe he won't complain anymore about sleeping in his bed!

Writer's Block

Wow! It's been over a month since I blogged. We've been busy winding school down and nothing has really happened that is worthy of a blog.
Luke is still biting. He has two more teeth so it hurts even more. He hit the back of Moriah's computer and broke it. We may have lost most of our digitial pix. Luke has discovered the joys of splashing in the toilet. I will blog pix of that later.
Moriah is ready for school to be out. Luke pesters the poop out of her. She is still camping out in the living room. She will not go back to her room. I think she has pediatric post traumatic stress disorder.
Laura and Karen came and visited last weekend. We had a good visit. We all walked (except for Luke, he strolled) to the park and went to a SONICFLOOD concert. THat was fun! Especially because it was free.
Moriah, Luke, and I will go next week to Carthage, MO with Nanna to the Precious Moments Chapel.

Spaghetti Arms

Year before last, John and I purchased a "Slam Dunk" basketball game at Wal-Mart. It had regularly been around 80 bucks. We paid $15 for it during an after Christmas clearance sale. Our original intention was to put it on eBay and sell it for $80 bucks or so. We got it home and Moriah wanted to keep it. Time passed and it was still in the box and every once in a while Moriah would say, "Will you put my basketball game together?" We never did. Then, came Luke and it just kept getting pushed to the side. Not literally of course because it was kind of heavy.

On Moriah's 9th birthday she had a sleepover and I started putting it together. I thought it would be fun for the girls to play while they were here. Although it wasn't complicated to assemble, it started taking up too much time because much like everything else, I had procrastinated to the last minute. So, again, it got pushed to the side. This time literally.

We had originally planned to put it in our family room which is a fairly large room. But, with the recent influx of small, medium, AND large baby toys, we thought our screened in back porch would be a better choice. That is, after all, Moriah's playroom....And will be Luke's as soon as he figures out how to open the door by himself.

John finished the assembly process last night. And, if you don't know exactly what it is I'm talking about. It is like an arcade basketball game similar to the ones you see at Chuck E. Cheese. John and Moriah played it for a bit. I went and played for a while. John played a 1 minute game and scored 50 points. Not to be outdone (so I thought), I tried to beat his score. I got 48. I played again, 49 points. John comes back out to play. We start playing against each other. He won; then, I won one. So, we had to because of the laws of marriage had to play best 2 out of 3. But, this was not just throwing basketballs at a goal this was cut throat Bill Lambehr elbowing, pulling of hair, gnashing of teeth action. I won the 3rd game fair and square, well, except for the hair pulling and elbowing. John calls for 3 out of 5. No can do.

We stopped playing for maybe an hour. I went back out to the porch after Moriah went to bed at 9:30. She heard the action and got up. She and I played a few games. It was fun. Then, she decided to call it a night....Again! I kept playing because I still hadn't beat that 50 points in 1 minute score. John came and stood right behind me because he knows that it gets on my nerves for someone to stand over my shoulder like that. And, if he didn't know that, he will after he reads this. We started playing again. We played a few games of 2 minutes or so. Then, Mr. Smartypants thinks it a good idea to set the time at 4 minutes. Ohmigosh! Everything was okay for the first 2 minutes. Then, the fatigue started setting in. We already had the elbows, hair, and teeth thing going but we both started getting spaghetti arms. If you have ever seen someone whose legs are cramped up try to go ahead and finish that marathon, this is kinda what our arms looked and felt like. We were laughing at each other; crying from the pain and agony!
Moriah again gets out of bed and comes out to the porch. She screamed at us, "ENOUGH BASKETBALL! We ALL need to go to bed! Stop that game!" But, we couldn't!!!!!!!!!!!! There was one minute left. She was sighing with disbelief, I mean really, it was her toy!

When the buzzer rang, and time was no more. We walked back in the house and fell on the couch. Our arms dragging the floor. It would have been impossible to try to pick anything up. It was lots of fun and I can't believe we went to that extreme. I woke up this morning with my arms still sore and couldn't remember what I had done. Then, I saw it on the porch. Sitting there staring at me as if to say..."You never got that 50 points, Loser!" I have not caved to it's calling. I don't even remember what the score was last night. But, if I lost, I'm sure John can fill you in on that later!!!!

Love Bites!!!!

Luke has been biting everyone. He bites us, he bites the ladies that babysit while I sub. Gnaw, Gnaw, Gnaw!!!!

I think part of it is because his teeth bother him. However, there are a few other theories that are becoming more and more believable.

For instance, he has this little grin that he does. He puts his bottom teeth on his top lip like he has an underbite. It looks a little impish; but, really really cute. The other day I was emailing LeaEtta (my Sunday School teacher) and Luke looks up at me grinning like this, puts both hands on my arm, and chomps down! Grinning and laughing.

The most popular bite...........this one hurts the worst....the LOVE bite! He will be sitting in your lap playing and put his hands on your face and lay into you. He did it on the hand of one of his babysitters. She said, "He probably thought my hand was a chicken bone." I thought that was cute. Today, he bit the other babysitter, the first lady's daughter. She said that it didn't hurt and he was loving on her when he did it. As far as I know, he has only broken skin once. He latched onto one of my eyes one Sunday afternoon. It hurt!!!! I had visions of pictures I saw when I worked at DHS of things that people had done to babies. I now assume that this the reason that someone could find it reasonable to throw a baby against the wall.
He also bit Moriah today. You can imagine the response. She started saying, "Not my skin, not my skin!" Oh but yes, her skin! He dug the little razorblades in and she screamed, "You have damaged my beautiful flawless skin, Luke! Why did you damage my flawless skin?"
Flawless skin? Yeah right! But anyway! She was severely irritated.

Moriah was never a biter. Well, pretty much never. She bit me once and I administered her first of many politically incorrect form of child discipline. She bit John once and with the same result. Except big bad Dad cried just a little that he had to do this to his baby girl! But, we never had another bite mark on us. Well, until now!!!!

A Walk Home from the Park

While we were at the park, we saw the Mineral Springs School resource officer and his family. So, John and he had to talk shop for a while. It started thundering and lightning. We started our trek back to the house.

Before we even got out of the park, there was a big flash of lightning. It seemed like it was just right there. It couldn't have been more than a few miles away. Now, I can't say that I wasn't a bit concerned. But, Moriah panics in storms (she isn't scared of anything except big brown bugs, burning light switches, and storms).

I grabbed her by the hand and started walking faster. She was starting to get the 'I'm going to cry' respirations. I said, "There is nothing to be scared of Moriah, the lightning is just God's way of telling us that we need to go home." Then, CRASH BOOM RUMBLE!!!!! She looked at me with fear in her eyes. I said, "Ok, that's His way of sayint 'RIGHT NOW!'"

We hurried home. We didn't even stop to play with Winter (Winter is a big dog that lives in our path to the park that we called White Dog for a year and a half before we found out her name; anyway, Winter is a whole 'nother blog all by herself; maybe I'll get to that later). Moriah explained to Winter as we hurried by that we had to get home and didn't have time to play. I'm sure she understood. Lightning and thunder were right on our heels. I had my teeth gritted. So, did Luke, all 6 of them.

We made it safely home. We were all glad to be home. All of us were hot and sweaty.......except for Luke and he didn't have to put out much energy. We came in the house and sat down. John was holding Luke, he was kissing (more like licking) his daddy's neck, when he said, "Ewwwwwwwwwww!" Was this a coincidence? I think not!!!!

I better go for now. Luke has started his daily trek to the other end of the house. I would hate to lose him..........................AGAIN!

Can you say that?

I may have already told you this but in case I haven't....we live about 2 blocks (if Nashville even has blocks) from Nashville's City Park. It is a pleasant place. There are 2 walking tracks; one is 1 mile and the other is just pretty with trees and flowers and such. There is also a playground and every evening there are plenty of children there to play with. We walk because, well, we all need the exercise and his only 2 blocks for Heaven's sake. Except for Luke, he rides in his Lukemobile.

Last evening we walked over there. John and Luke walked around the track twice and Moriah and I went to the playground. There weren't very many kids there when we arrived but they started coming in right at dusk. There was a little Hispanic girl that came over and started playing with Moriah. There were the basic introductions and hellos.

Moriah asked the little girl, "Where do you live?" The little girl stammered a little saying, "I live, I live, I live...." Moriah said, "Do you live in Nashville?" The little girl said, "I live in a trailer." Moriah said, "You mean, a mobile home." The little girl said proudly, "Yes! I live in a noble home."

I just sat there thinking 'how sweet!' followed by thoughts of 'do I live in a noble home?' How many of us can say that our home is noble?

Happy Easter!

I hope you all had a Happy Easter! We had the tradtional Fultz Family Easter. We drug ourselves out of bed for the early service at church and when John was through playing his trumpet in the 10:50 service we went outside and made Easter pictures. It is always so peaceful. I guess because most everyone in the whole country is in church on Easter morning. This year was particularly interesting. When we started doing this, Moriah was old enough not to eat the flowers and the dirt. Not to mention, she would not have done that anyway. She never was really bad about putting things in her mouth as an infant. Luke, on the other hand, it matters not the size, texture, taste...........IT WILL BE IN THE MOUTH!!!!! I really didn't know what to expect but he did really well. Of course, I can't get either one of them to pose like I want them; usually the facial expressions says it all anyway.

Spring Break

We had a nice Spring Break considering there were no beaches involved. We spent most of the week with John's family. It was fun.
We went to Atlanta (TX) for church on 04-09. Moriah's choir sang. As always, she sang beautifully. It's amazing how well she does when she doesn't realize you can hear her. Sunday evening after choir, we drove to Waldron and spent the night with my parents.
Then, Monday we went to the big ol' city of Kingston, AR and spent most of the week. For you who aren't family, John's parents live up on top of the mountain. It is beautiful. I enjoyed just sitting out on the front porch looking out at the hills and watching the monarch butterflies fluttering by.
Wednesday, we went to Springfield, MO and met our new great niece, Delsa Dawn. She was 6 days old on that day. You do the math. I'm not fully functional at this time in the morning. She is a beautiful little girl just like her momma. And, if you know John, it was a must to go by Bass Pro Shop. It was okay though. Moriah and I played like we were at an amusement park. We rode the elevator (A LOT!). We found John talking shop with some guy at the gun counter. We snuck up, walked off with the cart (that had my purse and the camera in it), and hid around the corner and watched him panic just a bit. Good times! We came back through Harrison and ate dinner with John's brother, David, and his family. John's parents also met us there. I got sick after we got home. I made the comment that I hadn't thrown up that much since I was pregnant with Luke. I think my mother-in-law was in a panic for a moment.
Thursday, we went to Harrison again. We ate dinner with John's brother and family again. Karl came over (John's sister, Karen's oldest). He had never seen Luke (in person). Moriah didn't go with us. I think she wanted some Memaw and Pa time without Luke and us. And, from what I understand, it was a great time of partying and jumping on the bed. When we left Harrison, we drove through Ponca (?). I think that is where the elk are. We always go and watch the elk. They don't come out until around dusk so I've yet to get any good pictures. We saw about 17 this time.
Friday, we went to Springdale and visited with John's best friend, Jonny Hammond. It was good to see them. I hadn't seen them in about 4 years. They have a 3 1/2 year old boy. I am so bad. It was good to see them. The girls have sure grown a lot in those 4 years. Cassie still had baby fat the last time I saw her and now Jack is calling her wanting his beanstalk back. We took Moriah to the Jones Center to swim Friday afternoon. In case you don't know what that is, the Jones Center is a community center in Springdale that is free. If you have ever heard of Jones Truck Lines, this is the family. Their foundation has provided so much for the NWA community and the whole state of Arkansas. They have an indoor leisure pool and lap pool; ice skating rink; and various other activities. You have to call and get tickets but if you are ever in NWA; it is a good thing. Did I mention that it was free?
We ate dinner with Laura (John's oldest sister) and her son Keith. We always have a blast with Aunt Laura. Also, Keith had never seen Luke. Keith lives in Smyrna, TN which is right outside of Nashville. This is strange, we live in Nashville (AR) and we moved here from Smyrna (a community outside of Atlanta, TX). Hmmmmm! Then, we spent Friday night with them.
Saturday, I felt like we were on World Tour. We ate lunch in Bentonville; then, went back to Springdale and visited with the Hammonds again (we got to see Heidi this time; I just love her!). We left there and drove to Waldron visited with my parents for about and hour; drove to Nashville (unloaded and got the Easter clothes); and headed back to Texas.

Smarter Every Day!

Well, Luke is getting much better with his electronic skills. He managed last week to turn the TV on with the remote and then crawl over and turn the DVD player on so he could watch his Baby Einstein. John walked in and turned the TV and DVD off. Luke went through the process again and smiled at John.

We are on Spring Break right now. I will blog about that next week after I recover. Happy Easter everyone!!!!

Turn that Trash OFF!!!!!

Before Luke was born, John and I went to Toys R Us and spent $8 on a piece of plexiglass that fits over the TV buttons. We knew from previous experience that once he started crawling this would be a vital piece of furniture in our home.

Now that he is pulling up, we have learned just how convenient that little piece of plexiglass is. It is annoying to Moriah; she can't turn the TV off without the remote control now. But, I think she is beginning to realize, too, how important it is. One thing we didn't take into account was you cannot put a piece of plexiglass over a DVD player. So, after figuring out that the front of the TV was smooth and nothing happens when you bang on it......................naturally, we must push buttons on the DVD player.

Actually, this wasn't a problem until this past week. Luke loves his Baby Einstein videos. His favorite is Baby Beethoven; he falls into a comatose state when this is on. He likes Baby Mozart but not to the extent of the Beethoven. We purchased Language Nursery over the weekend. I think we may have wasted $15. He has shown no interest in this video. To be honest, neither have I. I, like Luke, also enjoyed the other two. But, this one has failed to capture my attention. I know that it is much like the other two except it is more language than music. And, not just English, it is also Spanish and French and maybe something else. I mean how would I know. The only other languages I speak besides English are Redneck and some Ebonics. I wondered, "What are they telling my baby to do?"

I began to think that maybe the timing was off of the watching. So, I put it in again. Luke crawls over to the TV, pulls up, and puts his little chubby fingers on the power button and turns the video off. He just crawls away. I thought it was a mistake. I turned it back on with the same result. He turned it off and crawls away. I thought this was a little funny. I looked at him and said, "Do you not like this show?" He looked at me, grinned, shook his head side to side (merely coincidental.....I think?!), and said "Da-da;" which means "NO!" So, I stopped trying.

A day or so later, we were watching Baby Beethoven. Luke crawled over to the TV, pulls up, turns the DVD player off, and begins to cry. I turned it back on for him and he giggled, showed me his muscles, and said, "Da-da;" which means "Thank you!"

Now, we have developed a new skill in higher level thinking. This morning, he was watching his daily dose of Baby Beethoven. He goes to the DVD player and turned it off. He begins to cry. I have the remote. So, I just push a few buttons and turn it back on. It comes back on; Luke looks at it; but, this time, he continues to cry. He turns it off again; then, crawls over to me (still crying). Instead of turning it back on immediately, I picked him up. He stopped crying. But, he starts looking around at the TV and starts to fuss. Apparently now, we must be held while watching our shows.

And, we finally made it through Language Nursery. I have narrowed the message they are trying to send Luke with this video. It is one of two things. It is either the Operation Manual for the DVD player or 'Quick! Take control of the house before the Girl gets home from school!"

Just this.........

This is not mine. I received it in an email.

Just for this morning, I am going to smile when I see your face and laugh when I feel like crying.
Just for this morning, I will let you choose what you want to wear, and smile and say how perfect it is.
Just for this morning, I am going to step over the laundry, and pick you up and take you to the park to play.
Just for this morning, I will leave the dishes in the sink, and let you teach me how to put that puzzle of yours together.
Just for this afternoon, I will unplug the telephone and keep the computer off, and sit with you in the backyard and blow bubbles..
Just for this afternoon, I will not yell once, not even a tiny grumble when you scream and whine for the ice cream truck, and I will buy you one if he comes by.
Just for this afternoon, I won't worr

y about what you are going to be when you grow up, or second guess every decision I have made where you are concerned.

Just for this afternoon, I will let you help me bake cookies, and I won't stand over you trying to fix them.
Just for this afternoon, I will take us to McDonald's and buy us both a Happy Meal so you can have both toys.. !
Just for this evening, I will hold you in my arms and tell you a story about how you were born and how much I love you.
Just for this evening, I will let you splash in the tub and not get angry.Just for this evening, I will let you stay up late while we sit on the porch and count all all the stars.

Just for this evening, I will snuggle beside you for hours, and miss my favorite TV shows.

Just for this evening when I run my finger through your hair as you pray, I will simply be grateful that God has given me the greatest gift ever given.I will think about the mothers and fathers who are searching for their missing children, the mothers and fathers who are visiting their children's graves instead of their bedrooms, and mothers and fathers who are in hospital room s watching their children suffer senselessly, and screaming inside that they can't handle it anymore.

And when I kiss you good night I will hold you a little tighter, a little longer. It is then, that I will thank God for you, and ask him for nothing, except one more day..............

She's only 9; yet we are already getting DUMB!

This weekend John, Moriah, and I went with two of his band students to the Arkansas All-Star clinic in Atkins. Moriah will readily take care of her little brother when she is asked to but "her needs" are always first priority. I can see that! She was IT for over 8 years!

Saturday morning, she was on the bed watching TV. John and I were getting things ready to go home. John asked Moriah to watch Luke and not to let him fall off the bed (AGAIN!). Moriah put her hand on Luke and went on watching her "shows." I was taking the luggage cart out in the hallway to get it out of the way. I heard John say "Moriah! You were supposed to be watching him!" I paused for a moment waiting to hear a "THUD!" If you have never heard a baby fall off of a bed it is a very distinctive sound followed by the screams of what must be a thousand babies. No thud! Everything must be OK! John had seen Luke going for the edge and managed to get there before the "thud!"

Every time something like this happens. Moriah, being very sensitive, starts to cry. I went back in the room and of course, the tears they were a flowin'. I told her to come help me load the car up so we could leave. She gladly came to avoid further scourging. We were talking as we were loading up the car. It is always good in this type situation to actually avoid conversation about the actual happenings of the preceding event. Moriah asked, "Momma, why did Dad hit me?"
I inquired, "Dad hit you?"
"Yes," she said, "when I wasn't watching Luke very well."
"How did he hit you?"
"Like this." forming her hand like she was going to "thump" someone.
I told her that isn't really hitting. I tried to explain to her how important it is that Luke not continually fall on his head that eventually it's going to hurt....................really bad. She said, "I know but sometimes Dad has..........................................."
"Issues?" I asked.
"Well, I think he isn't very smart." she said. I looked at her and she was serious!
I laughed. Then, I said, "Moriah, that isn't nice. Don't say things like that about your daddy. Besides, if he heard you say that don't you think you would get in trouble." She giggled.

Every time I would think about it, I would start laughing on the inside and a smile would break. Then, when he finally asked. I told him I would tell him later, maybe years later. But, I kept it for as long as I could. I had to share it! I told him not to be mad at her she has to vent sometimes. I'd rather she share her true thoughts (not that John being "not smart" is a true thought) than to bottle them up and explode when she is a teenager and unload the whole truck of what bad parents we are all at once. Even though, I know realistically this is going to happen anyway. John's only comment upon this new thorn in his ego, "It's started already! She's 9 and we are already getting dumber!"

Saturday night in the hotel in Atlanta, we were playing on the bed and Moriah was being her usually jolly self. She said something along the lines that she was smart like me (which is SO NOT true, I can only dream about having the creativity that she does.). John said, "I'm smart!"
She said, "No, no, no! You are UNsmart! You have a tiny brain." I'm pretty sure that I lost consciousness for a moment. The next thing I remember is this statement from her: "I heard somewhere that babies have little brains. So Luke isn't very smart either."
"Like who?" I asked. "Like Dad!" she said giggling.

After laughing for a while, I think I told her again that wasn't nice to say about her daddy and brother. I think I did. I may not have. Oh well, I thought it my massively BIG ol' GIRL brain!!!!!

Psycho Baby

I haven't written many stories about Luke. He is fine and doing super well. It's just that he seems to bring out the best (and worst) in Moriah and that makes for more interesting stories than endless stories about how he crawls everywhere (I've lost him in the house twice...he was under the kitchen table both times), pulls hair just so he can chew on it, and thinks he is a computer genius and he can do anything just by sitting on the keyboard. Luke is a happy child. His life has pretty much consisted of eating, sleeping, and smiling. But, for the past few weeks he has had some problems that has made him very irritable (at least now he fits in with the rest of us).

A couple of months ago Luke had 2 teeth on the bottom make their grand appearance. This seemed to cause him little pain...........us on the other hand, it hurts considerably when he gnaws on our faces. Those two little pearls were so cute in his mouth! But............................................ this past week he started waking up in the middle of the night, screaming in agony, and nothing seemed to help. We knew that he was teething but we didn't know the severity of it until this weekend. He gnaws and chews on everything from his own thumb to my face. Not to mention, the soles of his shoes, stuffed animals, teething toys, or (the one that irritates John the most) my Victoria's Secret underwear are favorites. Pretty much anything that he can get his mouth on has been used as a "chew" toy. He could not be consoled at times....no holding, no sitting, no standing, no playing.......just jump up and down, flailing about, and screaming as if to say "It's my party and I'll cry if I want to!"

Yesterday, "EUREKA!" He seemed to be in a good mood. Luke threw his head back and grinned really big and lo and behold.........the TEETH! He has 4 that erupted in a 24 hour period. Bless his heart. A few molars and he will be gnawing on T-bones.

Fultz'N It

In case anyone is wondering what Fultz'N It! means, there is a story. Isn't there always a story? When John was teaching in Waldron and a kid's horn would break, John would do a temporary fix on it using JBWeld. The guy that worked on and repaired most of the band instruments in that area started calling any repair with JBWeld "Fultz'N it." So, it was said, so it shall be done.

Snap, Crackle, Pop...........NOT Rice Krispies!!!!!!!!

The insanity reality show that is our lives has just finished another episode. It is about 2AM CST and I am in the popason chair in our family room (den). John, Moriah, and Luke are asleep on the sleeper sofa. We put Luke in his bed around 10pm. He was long since asleep. Moriah was asleep on the couch and I told John to wake her up when he came to bed. Remember! We still don't have heat!

I was in bed trying to get comfortable. I hear the jingle of the butterfly bead curtains on Moriah's bedroom door as she goes to her room. John comes to get in bed.

We had just settled down when Moriah walks in our bedroom. I said to her, "Hey Baby! What's wrong?" Before this finished coming out of my mouth John says, "I smell something burning!" Moriah replies with a bit of fear in her voice, "It's my light switch!" (Which coincidentally is next to the furnace!!)

John and I both jump out of bed. Moriah starts to panic. I asked her what the light switch was doing. She told me that it was cracking and popping. John told me to grab Luke out of his bed. I was prepared to run for the door. Moriah, Luke, and I were standing in the hallway waiting for the word to go.

John was in Moriah's room. He says, "Tamara, put Luke down on our bed and Moriah, you stay with Luke." He told me to come in Moriah's room. The wall around Moriah's light switch was hot. The switch would not move up or down. There was a touch of black on the side. John takes the light switch cover off and the whole inside of the switch was burned. It had been on fire. We were trying to figure out what to do when the light in the room started flickering. It hadn't been on.

Okay, I'm panicking now! John has me go out to the breaker box to turn off the breaker for Moriah's room. I go out and start flipping switches. John yells to tell me that I had flipped the breaker. I go back in the house; had just started to calm a bit; the light starts to flicker AGAIN!!!!! Now, this is a bit unsettling.

So, we figure out that was not the breaker for her room (geniuses, eh?). So, John being the intelligent man that he is (I'm not kidding about that), gives me the cell phone, he gets the home phone, calls the cell phone and now we can communicate so I will know exactly which breaker is the right one. Everything is hunky dorry now, right? I'm going down that breaker box flipping switches like a mad woman. "No, No, No, that's not it, not that one...." The phone goes dead. I'm thinking was it the cell phone or the house phone. It was the house phone! I had flipped the breaker for the house phone. I turned it back on and tried to call John back. Our house phone is plugged in an outlet in the kitchen; Moriah's room is on the other end of the house. John comes to the laundry room door (where the breaker box is) and tells me "You're not going to believe this but the switch in her room and the phone are on the same breaker." At this point, I'm irrational but I have now reached John on the house phone. Actually, I think maybe he called me back. However, I do know that we are standing about 12 inches apart talking to each other on the phone and it was not at all humorous at the time. So, I flipped the breaker to the phone/light switch on the other end of the hallway.

Okay, so no doubt, Moriah will not re-enter her room..........probably EVER!!!!!!!!! I am now agreeing with her that we need to move back to Atlanta. She's saying "I never liked this house anyway!" Luke is smiling (as always, oh to be a baby again!). We start to prepare for our little "camping" adventure in the den. I packed a suitcase with a change of clothes for each of us and plenty of clean undies and placed it by the door along with the kids' Easter clothes, the car keys, my wallet, the camera, and this computer (well, when I get through with this). I figure if I'm going to be left with only the clothes on my back...............I don't want to only wear sweats. We now have an escape plan (just in case).

John says "Will you fix Luke a bottle?" I go to the refrigerator, open the door, and the light isn't on. I close the door, push the water dispenser button on the freezer door, and nothing happens. I walk back into the family room, look at John, and say "Guess what! The refrigerator is on the same breaker with the phone and Moriah's room." OH PUH-LEEEEEEEEEEEEZZZZZ!!!!! Will this ever stop? I doubt that our neighbor's have any electricity because I just bet their house is on the same breaker with Moriah's room.........and the phone!!!!!

Anyway, please pray for our safety. Moriah is a little scared to even go in her room. I'm a little scared to go to sleep. John (Mr. PANIC USA) is relatively calm; asleep; and snoring right now which is scary in itself. Luke is just being Luke which is probably the only normalcy that is keeping us from cracking!!! I guess we will be spending some quality time with our landlord tomorrow, or today................when daylight comes! Day-O! Day-O! Daylight comes and me want go home!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Flame Thrower

Well, well, well! Here we are in the early stages of Spring. Flowers are blooming, trees are budding, and it's freakin' cold outside. But, aren't we lucky? It isn't just cold outside but it is cold inside as well.

A few weeks ago when we had the "Tornado Drill," our electricity went off. When the power came back on, our central heat/air was making a strange noise so I turned it off. Luke and I were in the hallway and I wasn't really excited about dealing with the belching furnace and dodging funnel clouds all at the same time.

This was fine for a few days until the global cooling took effect and we enter the "near" ice age. John went to turn the heat on and it never came on. We noticed that it hadn't come on but we are relatively slow at times (not to mention that I sit next to a space heater a lot of the time anyway) and didn't really become concerned until it went from cold to freakin' cold.

John wanted to call our landlord but I insisted that the house be in a somewhat clean state before we called anyone to come to our house. So, today our landlord sent a heating and air guy from Dierks to see what the problem was with the unit.

It turns out that the unit had been struck by lightning during "the drill." He got that fixed and turned the heat on and John started taking down the curtains and blankets that we had put up to block off the rooms that we didn't need heat. John says the guy tells him to wait a minute. Apparently, when the heat kicked on a 6 inch flame shot out of the furnace and there were actual burn marks on the wall inside where the unit was sitting where this had happened before. He told John it was amazing that the house had not burned to the ground before now. Thank God it got struck by lightning.

There are a few problems we are now facing. #1-It is still freakin' cold outside. It is so close to warm weather that our landlord will more than likely not want to replace the furnace right now (which I can't say that I would blame him). We DO have the one space heater. We went to WalMart to get another one; but they are a small store and only received one shipment of heaters and they are long gone.
#2-The nice heating and air guy tells John all of this with Moriah present. Now, Moriah is a little reluctant to go to bed because she thinks that the house is going to catch on fire. She wants to know if all furnaces have fire in them. But, my favorite is the statement she made this evening........."I don't like the furance in this house. We need to move back to Atlanta, Texas!" As if a furnace in Atlanta would not catch on fire. Oh well, the last part is still a good idea!!!!

So, I am sitting here in the family room, everyone else is gone to bed, and my nose is frozen because the one heater is in the hallway outside our bedrooms. BUT, how thankful I am for that ONE HEATER and how thankful I am that lightning struck our house. I know that sounds very strange but if it hadn't we could be without a home tonight. Or, to look at it from a different angle, the furnace sits right in the hallway next to all 3 of our bedrooms. Thank you God for your hedge of protection!

A Fultz Family Doctor Visit.

Yesterday, Moriah, Luke, and I made the pilgrimage to Dr. Cheshier in Ft. Smith. It was Moriah's check up for 9 years and Luke's for 9 months. It was, of course, eventful.

Luke was first. I got him undressed to be weighed. This is always exciting...to see how long he is and how much weight he has gained. I carried him to the scale, put him on the pad, and he proceeded to "pee-pee".................all over the place! He sat there and grinned up at us as he soaked everything around him. He was 21 lbs by the way. I guess that includes a quart of peepee.

Dr. Cheshier came in. Moriah was first. He didn't say much except, of course, about her weight. Which was not as bad as what I thought. He said she was 20 lbs. over weight. He tickled her and talked to her about school and all of the Moriah stuff. Then, he started to examine Luke. I asked him if it would be okay if Moriah went out and sat with her Nanna while he was examining Luke. I was wanting to talk to him about Moriah. He said they were going to do some lab work on Moriah so he needed her to stay.

Moriah thought it would be fun to watch as Luke was poked and prodded on. Luke didn't have any immunizations at 9 months so I figured this was going to be Easy Street. Moriah did really well and enjoyed Luke's portion of the visit until it came time for Dr. Cheshier to examine Luke's little boy parts. When that diaper came off, Moriah screamed and ran to the corner and buried her face. Dr. Cheshier rolled his eyes back in his head. And, much to my amazement and relief, Luke didn't laugh during the examination. Luke enjoys having his diaper changed and laughs the "Beavis and Butthead" laugh when you touch him in his "special" place.

Then, the nurses came in to do the lab work on Moriah. I don't know what I was expecting for lab work on a 9 year old, but I am certain it was not as traumatic as it turned out to be. I took Luke out to my mother in the waiting room. It was my job to hold Moriah's hand while they tortured her. She looked up at me and said, "Why are you letting them hurt me?" One nurse was taking the blood sample, one was hold her arm, and I was holding her hand and rubbing her face as her legs were flailing about. She screamed and cried and begged them to stop. Don't you know....just my luck...they didn't get a vein the first time. We had to take a break and try again. They tried again, this time it was successful (????? Define successful??????) She cried, screamed, gnashed teeth. All the time looking at me and asking why I was letting them do this to her. I tried to reassure her by telling her it would be okay and it was almost over and they were almost finished. In the meantime, she was screaming "IT IS NOT OKAY, IT IS NOT ALMOST OVER, IT IS OVER NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! THIS IS IT, IT IS FINISHED, THIS IS THE END!!!!!!!!!!" Yes, I am a bad mother. I had to look away because I thought that statement was funny. Then, the nurse drew the last drop of blood that she needed. Moriah took a deep breath, sighed, and said, "WELL, That was exciting!" One of the nurses said, "You know, I don't think I've ever heard it expressed quite that way."

Then, we left the doctor's office and went to eat pizza. All is well in the Fultz house once again!


btw, the blood work was to test for thyroid disease.

I see green people?

Friday evening, Moriah handed me an invitation to a birthday party for one of her classmates and another child. She asked if she could go to the party. I told her that she could go but we -would have to go to Wal-Mart and get Tajuana a present. I didn't know the other child that was on the invitation. I asked Moriah, "Who is Devant'a? Is this a boy or girl? Do we need to get them a present too?" She told me that she didn't know Devant'a but it was a boy and she thought he was Tajuana's cousin.
John knows a few more of the elementary kids. He asked Moriah, "Is this Devant'a Green?" Moriah answered, (**Now pay close attention**) "No, he is black like Tajuana."

Fire Ants

I just received an email from a friend of mine in Waldron (AR) regarding how to treat your yard for fire ants. This got me to thinking. I never remember seeing fire ants in Waldron the whole time I lived there. I only recall hearing about these creatures invading my hometown after John, Moriah, and I moved to Atlanta, TX.

Which makes me wonder..............did we, on one of our weekend visits, transport these little, nasty, more painful than smashing your toe in a car door creatures? I don't even remember seeing the pesticides that will take care of them in Waldron. I guess fire ants are gradually moving North. Maybe they will all go to Michigan and freeze to death.

When we lived in Texas, they were horrible in our yards. We treated our yards on a weekly basis. We could not even let Moriah out in the yard to play unless we were out there with her to make sure they had built no mounds around where she was playing.

I remember one time when the fire ants built a mound under our doghouse. They invaded Chloe's house and decided to move in. Chloe did not care for this. It was a few weeks later that we noticed she was not sleeping in her house. We didn't really think a whole lot about it (she is a strange dog, anyway) until one night when it came a gully-washer. Chloe did not get under the overhang of the house, or under a tree, or even scratch on the back door. She simply sat out in the rain (in front of her doghouse) and cried (BAHHHHWOOOOOOO! BAHHHHHWOOOOO!). If you know anything about Basset Hounds, you know exactly how that sounds. We finally got the house treated and took care of her pest problem. She still has trouble sleeping in that house even though it know sits on a brick patio with virtually no chance of infestation (except what was on her to begin with).

Tornado Drill

Yesterday was a pretty hairy day as far as weather. There was a tornado spotted about 15 minutes from the school. Luke and I were at home in the hallway and John and Moriah were at school. The school postponed the benchmark until today because the kids spent the better part of the morning in the hallway with their little heads tucked between their knees.

Moriah was telling me this morning while she was getting ready for school about the experience. She told me about her daddy coming and rubbing her on the back of the head because he thought she was asleep. She told me about one of her friends that was crying. I asked why the little girl had cried. Moriah said, "b ecause their was a tornado in Lockesburg and she was afraid that it was coming to our school."

I asked her, "Were you scared, Moriah?"
She said, "Nah."
I said, "Really? How come?"
Moriah said, "It was just a tornado drill."
I asked, "Are you sure it was just a drill?"
She said (as if to say 'duh, Mom!'), "Yeah. No tornado came to our school, did it?"

A Penny Saved.....

Luke is learning to crawl and his big sister is keeping a watchful eye on him. I think not so much to take care of him as to make sure that he doesn't touch her stuff! He has begun to time himself on how long it takes to get from our family room to the kitchen. He is getting pretty fast.

Moriah screamed, "PENNY!" John and I both come running. Moriah is prying a penny out of Luke's hand which had been in his mouth. Luke begins to cry because he hates for anybody to take anything from him.

John picks up Luke and says, "Moriah, you did a good thing!" She said, "Yeah! I saved the penny!" Her daddy said, "You may have saved your little brother from choking." She replied, "Yeah, and....I have a penny now. How lucky am I?" I told her "you are very lucky and Luke is very lucky to have you for a big sister!"

She still thinks the good thing she did was saving the penny.