Operation Christmas Child

It's that time of year again, time to start filling shoe boxes to send overseas to needy children.  You maybe thinking, "Ms. T, there are still several days til Christmas.  Why do we need to start now?"  Because, my friends, the teams need time to organize the boxes, count them, put them in bigger boxes and then ship them.  

We do this every year, and this year I am excited because Firecracker is old enough to participate.  He will help me pick things out, fill the boxes and we'll talk about how we are being Jesus to some one we've never met.  I'm psyched.  He doesn't know it yet, but he'll love it too.

This is one of the highlights of our year.  The Hubs and I love to be a blessing to a little one that might not get a Christmas otherwise.  True, it's not like they get a huge Christmas present, but they get something.  And from the videos I've seen they are as excited as they could possibly be.

Here is a video to show what I mean:

Heart breaking isn't it?  It makes me want to bring all these children into my home and show them love.  Since I can't do that I fill as many shoe boxes as possible.  

Hope you all have a great day!
Ms. T   


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Dying From Embarrassment. . . Or Laughter

My friend, Ms. L, has a humorous story for us about her son, The Boy.  I just love this family!!!  Take it away, Ms. L!

So, if there is one thing you must know about me as a momma, it is that I strive to have well behaved kids.  We work on manners, politeness, obedience, emotion/anger control, etc. on a regular basis.  My children think that the "S" word is the word stupid.  The "F" word is the word fat.  We do not talk about certain things in public.  There are some things we don't even talk about in the privacy of our own home, unless our kids are asking a sincere question about them. 

After 7 years of working to ensure that my children don't embarrass me, I almost fell out of my chair when The Boy came home from school on Monday. 

As usual, I look through The Boy's bookbag as soon as we get home from school.  I check our agenda, his teacher's comments on his behavior, our homework list, and any returned papers from school.  I love looking at my son's work.  Sometimes he just amazes me with the thought processes and creativity he puts into his school work. 

He is known as the funny kid in class, a title that we are very proud of.  However, this time, I am certain he wasn't trying to be funny.  He doesn't even know what these words mean, but somehow they ended up on the paper.  The assignment was to write sentences using words the teacher gave them.  She gave five words, and three of them were Today, Nut, and Black. 

Here are The Boy's sentences:

1) Today is Mrs. Oates' Bra Day. 
Translated to read "Today is Mrs. Oates' Birthday."
I mean, if my translation is wrong, I am glad that it was her Bra Day and not her Non-Bra Day. 

2) The nuts is blue.
Why, oh why, son, must you have made the nuts blue?  Couldn't they have been any other color?  We don't even refer to body parts using slang terms in our house, so I know that he is thinking of literal nuts, but why?  Why  must they be blue?

3) This color is piss black.
Translated by Mrs. Oates to read "This color is pitch black."
Oh my goodness?  We don't even use this word.  He doesn't even know that this word exists, much less what it means.  Oi-vey! 

So, three of our five sentences were sentences that made my face flush with embarrassment.  I now have to try to redeem my parenting qualities to our teacher.   I can't even imagine how she managed to read those sentences without falling out in the floor.  I think it's incredibly funny, but only because I know how innocent it is.  She may be of a different opinion. 

This is one paper that will be saved to torment him with when he is much much older and can understand the humor.

Have a great day!

Ms. L





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Heat Wave

 I have "heat waves" (AKA hot flashes).  Especially at night.  In order for me to get any sleep I have 2 large stand fans and the over head fan all on high every night.  And I still can't have the covers on.  In contrast, the poor Hubs sleeps under an electric blanket and a quilt in order to stay warm enough for him to sleep.  

I hope this mess gets better soon.  The poor Hubs nearly freezes to death once he gets out from under the covers.  Good grief!


Have a great day!
Ms. T


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Crust On The Side, Please

Firecracker is like many children.  When I make him a peanut butter sandwich he asks me to cut the crust off.  Whatever, that's fine with me.  However, I always put the crust on the side of the plate.  And guess what?  90% of the time Firecracker will eat those too..... He's a nut!  He doesn't want the crust on the bread, but he'll eat it if it's on the side.  Whatever, he's growing, and healthy and that's all this Mama is gonna ask for.

Have a great day!
Ms. T  



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Who Can You Trust?

Lately, there have been several occurrences in people's lives that we know that have the Hubs and I constantly asking, "who can we trust?"  We consider our children to be our special gifts from God and we want to protect them from everything harmful.  

Honestly, I knew this world was a screwed up place, but nothing has truly made me frightened of this as much as parenting has.  In the last 2 months or so, the Hubs and I have had 2 different people tell us about sexual abuse that happened to them as a child.  These were repeated offenses where the adult involved was considered a trusted figure.  

When I hear something like that my mind goes through multiple questions: 
How?!  How can an adult look at a little child and do something like that?! 
Why?! 
Those questions are important, but then these, more pertinent questions come to mind:
How do I know who I can trust my babies with?
How can I keep this kind of thing from happening to my child?

The Hubs and I talk to Firecracker CONSTANTLY about inappropriate touching from others and where it is or is not ok to touch people or be touched.  We also explain that if ANYONE touches him he needs to tell us right away.  We also tell Firecracker that if he tells us he will not ever get in trouble.  Only the person that was naughty will get in trouble.

Despite these talks I still feel that my children are so susceptible.  I pray over them daily that God will protect them.  However, I hear things like these from people I KNOW and I want to shut myself, the Hubs and my kids up in the house and lock all the doors and never let anyone else near them. 

Sorry to get all serious on you today, this was on my mind and you guys are such great listeners ;).

Have a great day!
Ms. T 




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Politician Slapper

Last night, my father, Papa, mentioned that because all politicians are such filthy liars there should be an elected position entitled, "politician slapper".  The person elected into this position would be responsible for slapping the fool out of lying politicians.

Personally I think this is a great idea!  And I'm writing my Daddy on the ballot for this position in the next election! =)

Have a great day!
Ms. T 




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Minivan Mama

Once upon a time, B.K. (before kids), I swore I would never drive a minivan.  It was too cliche and they were too ugly blah, blah, blah.

You wanna guess what I drive now?  Yep, a minivan!  And you know what?  I love it.  Today, I'm driving the Hub's car, because the van is in the shop (a few little repairs).  I miss my van!  The Hub's car is nice, but it doesn't have doors that open at the touch of a button.  It doesn't sit up tall so I don't have to bend way down to buckle Sweet pea into her car seat.  Etc.  At this point I think I'm spoiled with my van ;).

Just one more way my opinions have changed since I've had kids of my own.

Have a great day!
Ms. T 




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