Word of the Day

Literally, Meriam and Webster posts a word of the day and will send you an e-mail if you subscribe at this address. I've been recieving it for sometime. I may be reminded of a word, or learn the meaning of one that I've heard. Or better still learn a new one altogether. MW provides an example, and the explanation or origin of the word. It's really fascinating.
It has helped me exercise my brain in the face of 5 year old vocabulary. Exercising your brain is just like exercising your body. People who do crosswords have got it going on. Before you flick on the 'boob tube' next time, consider a book or a crossword puzzle. But definitely subscribe to word of the day.

Have a good one!

Imagery of the Psalmist

Elaine Bateman covers the thoughts for the morning. A beautiful list of images upon which we can reflect about our God and our Savior. May your day be blessed by skipping on over to her site.

Sunday in the Park

This weekend, we attended Sunday in the Park, located in LaFayette Park. The band playing was the Pine Leaf Boy's, a local cajun band, from LaFayette, across the river. Its really something to behold, the dancers all moving to such a unique rhythm. You can't help but enjoy the music, even if the lyrics are all in French! We had jambolaya, and greek wraps(?) from Arzi's, a locally delicious fast-food style restaurant-- although not fast-food quality. The jambolaya was from Opie's! So yummy! My kids eat it up! LaFayette Park is located just in front of the Shaw Center which houses a coffee house, Tsunami's roof-top restaurant, Capitol City Grille, the Theatre, & the LSU Museum of Art. While I enjoyed some music, Eric walked the boy's over to the Old Capitol which is a beautiful building. It was mighty hot and it was a nice break for them to take a walk. The band was great & if your headed to Disney World this week, you'll see them there. They will be performing through Saturday. Almost made me want to pack it up and go! Living in southern Louisiana has had it's effects on me.... and on Henry.

I've attatched another video besides the outdoor cajun music/dancing from Sunday. We often go to Boutin's restaurant for a little local music. It's kid/family friendly, and is always entertaining. The couple in the video, which I hope is not too dark, told me that they'd been going there every Saturday night for about 25 years. They are not young... in their 70's to be more specific. They could dance the socks off all the young one's there. They were skilled and classy. Really something to see. The older ladies always dress up. Always in a skirt that flows with the music, or heels that put them ready to dance. There are some fine men there, some of which we have met at the CFMA, The Cajun French Music Association. It is an organization with a mission to preserve that which is cajun. They offer *free* cajun dance lessons once a month at a regular location in Baton Rouge. They can often be seen in the community in other capacities offering exhibitions or information regarding that which makes this culture so unique, and makes people feel transported when they cross the state line. Did you know the state welcome sign reads in 2 languages-- "Bien Venue en Louisianne" Come on down... My dad is sure he will visit us at some point and find ERic in the front yard with a pot of crawfish over an open fire. I'm not sure he's far off base. .. forgive the poor video quality.

Soccer, lunch, naps, thoughts

Blogging I'm sure comes in waves. The composition on the way to soccer this morning, is tucked away on a clipboard in backup memory, while this current detail surfaced. I started notifying people that they are on my favorites list, and ran across a beautiful, personalized "ICor. 13".
I don't think that was her intention. (I have to put a label on everything) But it's beautiful. This mom-blogger is a beautiful writer, and she captured my oh-so-often-thought-about words. The poem that follows is beautiful, it reminds me of kind friends who listen to the chatter that flows so freely from my mouth. Mrs. K said it all. How beautiful.

Joy, Autumn & Prioritizing

Ok, our fall fest was last night, & I must say... we had a ball. How fun to see little kids dressed in 'merry-not scary' costumes. Eric always says... I 'don't like Halloween'... & I'm not crazy about the gross ghoulish aspects. I like the friendly pumpkins and could easily be completely steered away from all aspects of the H part of it into a Autumn Celebration. So there. Anyway, we dressed up, as did our children. Brenda G made a costume for Jack and it was precious. Anthony brought home patches, the real ones, and she knew just what to do to make it look so real! How precious, she's always sharing & thinking of others. Henry was Charlie Brown, and Mom & Dad... well, we were Dorothy & Superman. My sparkle shoes were too small so I went with red crocs & Eric, well, he looks just like him don't cha think! Jack didn't understand what a phone booth was,, and in the walmart looking for the S-t-shirt for Eric, he kept saying 'mom, your getting side-tracked again, ... what is a phone boof?" th's are f's at this point in his pronunciation. Ha! He didnt' know what a phone booth was, and he hasn't seen a land line in a long time.

Yes, we actually went to Walmart in costume. It was a hoot! We picked up our subs and headed that a way. It was a ball. Katie & Danny really outdid themselves in the planning. Fantastic! so many people helped out! What fun!

There's a hum about organizing going around... just read Roan's blog on Joyful Always about parenting, and Joanna Heim's on The Simple Wife about organizing & scheduling. Both godly women and worth a read. I noticed Roan's because of the title of her blog. Our lesson this week from Beth Moore's study book, Living Beyond Ourselves, A Study of the Fruit of the Spirit, was on Joy. Oh how amazing is the work God has done for us. What a wonderful encouragement to think about and consider the bedrock of joy, the gift of Jesus for us, and the hope of reconciliation through Him. I highly recommend her book for a leading into daily study! I've got to get busy on the next chapter, Peace. Check it out.

Got to run! The big H is up and bringing down the house! 'Juice Mom!' 'Juice Mom!' He's wearing my vera bradley headband... it's pink.

Temper tantrums and bad behavior in public

http://femina.reformedblogs.com/2008/09/22/screamers/

Check this blog out.... talk about timely... We left Barnes and Noble today because of a double duty meltdown. One actually had the other in a headlock, then a punch came, and then H hurled a train past a 'nana' type person just missing her sweet grand-daughter. Ok, all the reading has paid off. I 'lowered the boom' per Rosemond's several books. I set my stack of carefully selected books down, apologized to 'nana' and left with 2 sad boys. I explained we don't behave that way in public and we'd have to go. When we got home 1 hour in room followed. Nap came about for H, but repentance came from both, especially J.
It feels good when it works.

I also attended my neighbor, friend's ladies' Bible class at her church. They are studying Beth Moore's study book on the Fruit's of the spirit from Galatians. "Living Beyond Yourself: Exploring the Fruit of the Spirit." We watched the video, which was outstanding, and then had a disucssion group, followed by prayer. It was GREAT!

Gotta run, DH wants to use my computer(note it is 'my' computer) Ha.

Manners of the Heart.org

Well, I'm up and going, we've had breakfast, but I'm going to have to corral the boys soon and head off to the grocery.... But, before I do, I wanted to post a link to a couple of websites and Youtube videos. In the sidebar of my blog, I have a feed to Youtube for Jill Rigby, founder of Manners of the Heart and author of book of same name. She has also published 2 other books that are excellent resources on parenting in our current family climate. She is a parent of the Self-Esteem movement, and works dilligently sharing an effective anecdote to the woes it caused. I was priviledged to hear her speak at a recent parenting conference locally in Baton Rouge, where she and John Rosemond guided parents to some clarity for this generation. Their teachings are Biblically based and straight forward. Incidentally, she became a single parent, and has been a working parent for many years.
Please look into the websites for further information about how you can help your community, on a volunteer basis to share manners of the heart with school age children.
http://www.mannersoftheheart.org/

Note regarding You Tube. If you have never used YouTube, it is a tool for effectively sharing all kinds of information. Please carefully click on icons, as you may inadvertently view selections which you may not wish to view. Be careful using when children are around. Items of Shock value and inappropriate material might accidentally be viewed if you are not certain which video has been selected.
I highly recommend Jill's videos- she is a voice in a wilderness of parenting confusion.

Valentine's idea for showing family Love

Our kiddos are so sweet, but oh how hard it is to get a really good posed picture. Eric says it doesn't matter, but once in a while it would be nice. I'm pushed to the brink sometimes, but then I have to think about 'what really matters'.

I found this wonderful passage in a search for a good parenting -paraphrase

of I Corinthians 13.

Love never gives up.


Love cares more for others than for self.


Love doesn't want what it doesn't have.


Love doesn't strut,


Doesn't have a swelled head,


Doesn't force itself on others,


Isn't always “me first,”


Doesn't fly off the handle,


Doesn't keep score of the sins of others,


Doesn't revel when others grovel,


Takes pleasure in the flowering of truth,


Puts up with anything,


Trusts God always,


Always looks for the best,


Never looks back,


But keeps going to the end.

Please see the following link for all the ideas regarding the month of February & Valentines ideas. Great stuff, can't wait to search the site!

http://www.familylife.com/site/apps/nlnet/content3.aspx?c=dnJHKLNnFoG&b=3856169&ct=4984317

I'm still looking for one with specifics regarding parents, a paraphrase of I Cor. 13, so send me links or your own ideas for even a verse of this wonderful chapter.

The first paragraph below is another paraphrase I found (see link for source).

Love is slow to lose patience,
it looks for a way to be constructive,
it is not possessive,
it is not anxious to impress,
nor does it pursue selfish advantage.
It is not touchy,
it does not keep record of wrongs,
or gloat over the faults of others,
on the contrary,
it is glad when truth prevails.
Love knows no limits to its endurance,
no end to its trust, no fading of its hope.
It can outlast anything.
It is, in fact, the only thing that still stands when all else has fallen.”

Please click on link to see origin of these beautiful selected verses & paraphrase of
I Corinthians 13

I have used this to attempt to create my own parenting paraphrase of this powerful chapter.

Though I have produced all documentation & reference to validate my right to legally parent a child,
And though I could scrapbook & create the most noteworthy announcement of the birth of our child,
And dress them in the most flattering clothing for their genetic coloring,
But haven’t considered what God wants me to provide for my children, I am hopeless.

And though I have read every book on parenting, and deciphered & determined what will help me implement God’s plans,

And have written a brilliant mission statement for our family, saved to our computer,

And have confidence that I can will this plan to work with or without my husband’s assistance,

But do not demonstrate my commitment through day to day loving effort (even with all of my gifts and talents)

I am hopeless & and leading our family into a wilderness with no hope of return.

Love doesn’t expect children to understand the mission statement
It demonstrates & guides through simple daily activities to established Godly values in their hearts

Love doesn’t envy other parents whose children are cooperating in the grocery store
Or the family with the new play system in their yard.

Love does not boast claiming a child’s accomplishment as my own.

Love shares its confidence in our Creator & the origin of all love

Love offers a heritage built on God’s principles and values
And who we are in Christ

It teaches the first shall be last, by not favoring the squeaky wheel(even though it would shut them up), the biggest, oldest, loudest, quickest.

Love does not exaggerate by using words like ‘always’.
Love remembers to acknowledge accomplishment.

Love does not delight in evil or embrace justification or excuses. “boy’s will be boy’s”

Love doesn’t buy new tennis shoes and ignore the (tedious ) lesson in shoe-tying.

A loving parent isn’t a child’s best friend, but shows what a friend is.

Love will read ‘Brown Bear’ 1 million times.

Love will stick to bedtime rituals and be there for songs & prayers.

Love practices tough love when it would be easier to ‘let it go.’

Love proactively creates a plan an patiently waits as family gets on board instead of keeping a tally of how many times spouse messes up plan.

Love keeps no record of wrong, but helps child own mistakes training them to be responsible.

Love confidently looks into the future, even though it may not live to see their children’s greatest accomplishments- the fruits of their labor as a parent.

Love does not complain, (no matter how much responsibility is generated by parenthood), but seeks the opportunity to serve mankind by training children who will seek to be good citizens.

Love has reasonable expectations that are attainable.

Love is able to say ‘no’.

Though we cannot see how we will pay every bill, or how we will explain our sick day to our boss, or how we can explain divorce or untimely death, Love will overcome because it comes from the source of all light and leads to the source of endless Love.

This is a work in progress.. with lots of gramatical & order errors... but its a jumping off point.

I have tried to be as respectful of scripture as I can. Its such a wonderful passage as it is, but this personalized it a little more for me.

See what you can come up with- leave your comments & additional thoughts.

Some of the debris

It was amazing the number of trees in Baton Rouge that fell due to winds.
4 large trees fell in our yard alone, our street was blocked completely, and power was down for 10 days.

Just catching up-- post hurricane

Only so much time, but we're slowly getting back into our routines.
Cant' believe October is already here! Even in a seasonless Louisiana, it's beautiful-
Thank you, Lord.
Just working on my format, it's so neat, I'll add the link when my computer allows me.
When I close an internet window it closes all, so I'll have to do that later, and pray I can add this!
Best to all readers and more later, with some video of storm damage here.