The Indiana Update

CALL ME GRANDMA JUNE!

2010-02-10T17:57:00.007-06:00

This post has been rattling around in my head for awhile now. I actually waited longer than I had intended and thus was not able to announce our news quite the way I would have chosen. Never underestimate the power of facebook when it comes to spreading information.

So, what is this aforementioned news you ask? I am going to be a grandma. Yes, you heard me correctly...I am going to be a grandma. As Jeff and I have shared this news with family and dear friends, we have received a number of different reactions and understandably so. It is not an easy thing to find out that your daughter (or granddaughter, niece, cousin, etc.) is pregnant before she is married. One runs the gamut of emotions...surprise, fear, disappointment, concern. I have observed others as they have dealt with similar situations, but I now know firsthand. I have had almost 8 weeks to digest the news, and my thoughts and emotions have evolved along the way....and here are a few of my thoughts.

I am pretty excited to meet this little one. Babies are a blessing! I look at the ultrasound picture of this precious life and am amazed. I don't believe God makes mistakes. We do, all of us, make mistakes on a daily basis. We make choices that we regret, wish for opportunities to do things differently, hurt people both accidentally and purposefully, are careless with our words, and thoughtless with our actions. But God doesn't make mistakes...ever! This little one is being knit together even as I write these words. Yes, I am definitely excited to meet my first grandchild and hold this little miracle in my arms.

I am proud of my daughter. This has been a big surprise for her, not quite what she had planned. She is 20 years old, three semesters from graduating from college and yes, not married. She made choices that I wish she hadn't made. That being said, she has handled herself remarkably since. I am proud of her boyfriend Heath. He has taken what could be a very scary situation, one that many a young man before him has tucked tail and run from, and has been as responsible and supportive as we could possibly hope for.

I am thankful for family and dear friends who love and support us no matter what. They faithfully encourage us and pray for us. There is no doubt in my mind that this baby will be incredibly loved and cherished.

MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM THE GRAVES!

2009-12-23T21:17:00.005-06:00

I recently read a facebook update on my cousin Nancy's profile. She did not send Christmas cards this year and was requesting not to be deleted from other's lists. It got me to thinking...this could be a possible explanation for the rather small amount we received this year (to the four of you who have not crossed us off yet, thank you!) This got me to thinking a bit more that I could post a Christmas Letter blog and perhaps a few people might add us back to their list...so read and enjoy the fascinating news of the Graves family in 2009!

Yes, the year passed right quickly, seems they are flying by now that we have entered our middle-ages! I feel like a quick blink and Christmas 2010 will be here. Jeff is still working at Western & Southern Financial. He was promoted to Sales Manager in March. I would love to tell you that he enjoys his job but alas, he does not. He finds managing adults who don't always know how to act like adults very taxing at times. Some of the seedier sides of the insurance industry also bother him a bit. Nonetheless, he works hard, complains minimally, and is almost always in a good mood. He is as handsome as ever and has a lovely head full of salt & peppery hair these days.

I continue to work for the county prosecutor solving crime...well, actually not, but I help with all the administrative work that is necessary to prosecute the criminals. I am thankful to have a job in this economy, and that's pretty much all I'm gonna say. Beyond work, I pretty much pour myself into my family, often more than my children would prefer, and faithfully keep up on my facebook and reality TV time.

Brittany is a sophomore at the University of Southern Indiana. She is in her third year and could be a junior, but changing majors twice takes its toll. She is now majoring in graphic design and loves it.. She has a terrific boyfriend, Heath, who we like very much. He has a carmally beard, a horse named Trigger and a big green tractor...all of which is perfect for our little country girl! We miss having her at home and look forward to her visits and all the liveliness and fun chaos she brings with her.

David is a senior this year and will be graduating in May. He is excited to shake the dust of Indiana off his boots, yet seems to be applying to an awful lot of state colleges...hmmmmmm. He did very well on his SAT's and the acceptance letters are pouring in. He wants to major in film and has been the director of various video projects he and his friends have done for school. He's currently sporting some really cool "Buddy Holly" glasses and continues to enjoy being selectively quirky.

Christian is in the 7th grade now. He is currently 5'10" and seems to grow another inch every week. He played football this year and loved it, which has motivated him to work out quite a bit. I recently caught him admiring himself, and upon teasing him about it was promptly informed that he looks like a god (informed by him of course!) Life with Christian is never, ever boring and he continues to provide us with daily laughs, tears of joy and fear, and lots of moments of sheer bewilderment!

Well, that's a quick update on each of us. We are all greatly looking forward to Christmas together and wish each of you a wonderful day as well. Now go add me back to your Christmas card list! ( :

A FACEBOOK MOM

2008-08-28T10:52:00.008-05:00

I thought I'd better fire off a new post lest you think I've fallen off the blogging wagon again. I've actually had a few brewing around in my head but between the demands of my ever growing laundry pile, back to school mayhem and trying to watch every Olympic event, I have yet to put pen to paper, so to speak...

Despite my busy life, and foot long to-do list, I have squeezed some time into my schedule to become a Facebook mom. I resisted for quite some time, thinking it inappropriate for someone my age (this of course was fueled by my daughter's insistence that it was not an activity for elderly people--like me!) She was wrong! I have found gobs of friends and family members on there, many of whom are older than me. It is really quite enjoyable, and I've reconnected with a lot of people I had lost touch with. Both my teenage children have agreed to be Facebook friends with me as well, so I guess they must not be too embarrassed!

I have two favorite Facebook applications... I love flair! For those of

you who are not Facebook savvy, these are little buttons with funny
sayings that you can send to people. These are two of my personal favorites.

My other favorite...this instant messaging thing. Apparently people have been doing this for a number of years, but it's new to me and I LOVE IT! It's way better than texting because I can type way faster than I can text. Of course, the person you want to chat with must be on Facebook as well, and that's hit or miss, but I have had some lovely chats with old friends. My one fear is that I will become "that person." You know, that person who when everyone else sees they're online, they quickly dash away before they can be cornered. We've all met them, but nobody wants to be them!

Moral of the story: If you don't have a Facebook page, go get yourself one, and remember to request me as your friend. I promise not to stalk you!

GAINFULLY EMPLOYED!

2008-06-19T20:10:00.005-05:00

This past year I entered the job force again. I will admit it was a humbling experience applying for jobs and realizing I might have to take something I felt completely overqualified and way too smart for. I don’t think I’m really a first impression kind of gal. I think you need to get to know me to love me. It might be the way my voice changes into a 4-year-old's voice the minute I walk into a job interview, or possibly the fact that I begin shrugging my shoulders uncontrollably with each sentence I utter. Then again, it just might be the annoying laugh that bubbles forth at everything the interviewer says. I don’t normally suffer from these undesirable ticks in my everyday life, just when I’m trying hard to make a good first impression. Brittany says it's my Walmart wardrobe, but I disagree. I feel certain that just shouts 'thrifty and resourceful!

Despite the trauma of my job search, I was eventually able to land a good job, with good benefits, which I quite enjoy to boot. I work for the county Prosecutor’s office in the child support division. Basically, I spend my days attempting to squeeze money out of dead-beat parents in a variety of ways. I could make it sound more glamorous if I tried, but it's not, nevertheless, it’s more than moderately satisfying. In our quest to better serve the needy children of Warrick County, our office recently attended the Indiana Child Support Conference. I learned many things, one of which is that, as a whole, child support workers are a rather dowdy and somewhat cranky group. This of course does not include the festive foursome who partook a bit too freely at the open bar and ran up and down the lobby halls laughing and screaming until security escorted them back to their rooms. Fortunately it was only about 9:30pm, so it didn’t wake me up, it just disturbed my pre-bedtime nap a little bit. They ran us at a pretty grueling pace… seminars starting at 9:15am running straight through to 3:30pm, with only a 2-1/2 hour break to dash out for lunch. Whew! I was exhausted let me tell you. The highlight of the conference was discovering there was a Trader Joe's pretty close to the hotel, which enabled me to spend the gift card I had been carrying in my wallet for the past year.

All in all, I am quite satisfied with my job. Unlike my short stint in the mail room of a large corporate office, which made me want to stab myself in the temple with a fork, I like what I'm doing, genuinely enjoy the people I work with, and feel pleasantly valued and appreciated. I don't believe you can ask for too much more than that in a job.

2008-05-23T16:56:00.004-05:00

A funny thing happened to Jeff a few weeks ago...

Due to budget constraints, we celebrated our 20th anniversary very economically. We spent the day at Barnes & Noble, reading and drinking Starbuck's goodness! It was thoroughly delightful, and there was nary a child to complain about how boring bookstores are. The only blight on the day was the loss of Jeff's cell phone. We searched high and low, even asking several patrons if we could dig through the chairs they were sitting in, but alas, the errant phone was never found. Fortunately David's best friend, Joseph Lin kindly provided Jeff with a phone he was no longer using. It would be impossible to describe the unique friendship that David and Joseph share, but let's just say that they share a mutual love and fascination for flatulence. Oddly enough, they get a kick out of their cell phone rings for each other that replicate the noises one might make...okay I'm having a very difficult time talking around this, their cell phone rings for each other are a series of loud, obnoxious farting noises.

So... shortly after Jeff started using Joseph's phone (and before he had changed any of Joseph's old settings) he made a trip to our bank. He was at the teller window, innocently making a deposit when David called for a ride home, causing the cell phone in Jeff's front pants pocket to begin loudly "ringing." The teller discretely pretended she didn't notice while Jeff frantically fumbled around trying to turn it off, but I'm betting that she had something to say about it after he left.

Jeff changed the settings on his phone later that day, and has been avoiding the bank for awhile.

A BIRTHDAY BROUHAHA!

2008-05-14T17:13:00.010-05:00

I had another opportunity this past weekend to really cherish one of the family pets... It was on Mother's Day no less, just an extra special little gift for me. The culprit was Calli, normally our least troublesome beast. Mother's Day also happened to be someone's birthday this year, so I was busy frosting cupcakes, which I had for some unfathomable reason decided to decorate in the image of the birthday boy. Traditionally I use colored coconut for the hair, but due to a coconut aversion I painstakingly shaved Hershey bars with a vegetable peeler to produce a nice mound of brunette locks. About 2 hours into the project I finally began the decorating process. I was sitting at the kitchen table and had a cookie sheet full of cupcakes on the kitchen chair next to me, which seemed logical and handy as well. Just as I was picking up steam and the M&M's and chocolate were flying, I heard David sternly reprimanding Calli for stealing a cupcake. How she did this without anyone noticing, I do not know, but unbeknownst to us, she's a fairly stealth creature. I quickly picked up the tray to get it out of harm's way only to notice that not just one cupcake had gone missing, but 11. Furthermore, their was evidence in the form of 10 partially chewed up cupcake wrappers behind the recliner in the family room. Yes, this was accomplished in a matter of probably less than 10 minutes. I was incredulous and appalled at the incredibly piggish behavior of a beloved member of my family, a creature I lovingly feed and care for (okay, not really, I pretty much leave that to others, but I do buy the dog food and remind people to brush and feed her!)

Suffice it to say, the offender was banned to the out of doors for the next 48 hours, perchance the red velvet cake were to make an appearance in an altered form! I'm pleased to tell you that in the end everything came out okay (no pun intended) and both beast and birthday boy survived!

AFTER A BRIEF HIATUS...

2008-05-10T20:08:00.008-05:00

I was reading Andy’s blog yesterday and the Indiana Update link caught my eye. On a whim I hopped over there and started reading through some of my old musings. I had already forgotten a lot of the things I’d blogged about and it inspired me to get my rusty brain and fingers going again. With a memory like mine, it might just be the only way I’ll remember my life!

The past 9 months or so have been difficult times for our family. There have been some big changes. Jeff has changed careers, I have joined the work force again, Brittany left for college (I use the word ‘left’ loosely, since she’s home every weekend, nonetheless I miss her a great deal Monday morning thru Friday evening!) David started driving, and we discovered that Christian will need enough dental work to put the orthodontist's children through college, just to name a few. It has been an emotional roller coaster for all of us, but I must say, I have discovered I am a much more resilient person than I believed myself to be.

Being that I’ve been on the shelf for awhile I thought I’d ease back into this with a few updates on previous posts...

Date: March 16, 2006 - "My Husband Turned 40..."

I believe I referred to Jeff as old in that blog. I will turn 40 in just a few months, and have changed my opinion. It's not really old at all. I must confess however that David made a comment recently about Jeff and me being middle-aged, and the real bummer was that he wasn't being purposely insulting, he really thinks we are!

Date: September 14, 2006 - "My 4th Grade Casanova!"

To date, Christian is still single, and is still easily nauseated by thoughts of romance. He is obsessed with the WWE. He currently aspires to be a professional wrestler and is busy honing a few moves. Several stuffed animals have suffered life-ending injuries at his hands.

Date: October 16, 2006 - "Our Pets!"

We have added to our menagerie. Calli and Lucy have been joined by Indy and Peyton. While they technically belong to Brittany, they are not allowed in the dorm and thus reside in our home. I am no more of an animal lover now than I was then, I'm just too tired to care! And they do have their cute moments.

Date: November 26, 2006 - "Leadfoot Gets Busted!"

Brittany (aka “Leadfoot”) never did make it into that speeding ticket deferral program. Her first offense was followed three weeks later by a second speeding offense, which was then followed by a third offense 10 months later. She has officially received the most print in the Spencer County Herald. David is now driving, and while he has remained on the good side of the law, he did sideswipe a Trans-Am, removing a stripe of paint off both cars.

Well, I am off to clean my carpets. Three dogs and a cat take their toll, and my mother-in-law arrives this coming week. To add to the pressure, Jeff's brother John and his wife Kim are visiting as well, for the first time. Kim's daughter once commented to her, "Why can't you just be like Aunt Jody and not care how the house looks!" I am still attempting to discredit her...

NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTIONS!

2007-01-03T08:13:00.000-06:00

I realize it is already January 3, so I'm just a couple of days late for my fresh start, but better late than never...

For 2007 I resolve to:

1) Spend more time in God's Word. I have struggled with this lately and seem to find so many other things that need my attention. I will begin teaching the high school girl's in Sunday school next week and am grateful for the accountability this requires of me to really be in the Word every day.

2) Lose weight of course! This is a tradition for me going on about 32 years now! I'm pretty sure I didn't realize I was overweight until I was 5 or 6! I'm not sure what I'd do if I ever actually lost weight and didn't need to resolve to do so anymore!

3) Blog more! I got off to a rather good beginning I believe, but have fallen off the pace. I of course am a champion compared to my husband, but that's not saying much.

4) Have at least one family dinner a week. I saw a commercial on TV just yesterday that offered the sentiment "Memories are made at the family table!" While I believe this can be quite true, I thought it a rather ironic place to hear it. With two high schoolers now and Jeff's schedule, it seems we are not all home at the same time very often.

5) Keep the socks in my home organized! I believe laundry is the bane of my life, socks in particular. A few years ago I instituted the "sock rules" in our home. It was a rather complicated list of about 10 instructions for wear and care of the family socks. They, of course, lasted about a week before everyone was back to their sloppy sock usage ways. I have kept to two of the rules, first and most importantly, mom will not (and I repeat, will not!) stick her hand in any dirty sock to turn it right-side out, this is the sole responsibility of the wearer. Secondly, tattered socks go immediately in the garbage, lone socks go immediately in the garbage! They are given a short grace period to find their match, but I show little mercy on this! I find socks everywhere, and it drives me insane! Does anyone else have this problem?

I'm sure I might be forgetting some very important things that I should be pledging to make right, but for now, this list should keep me busy! Hopefully at this time next year I will present to you a godlier, thinner, more frequent blogger with her socks in order and dinner on the table!

LEADFOOT GETS BUSTED!

2006-11-27T19:38:00.000-06:00

I have been telling my daughter repeatedly that her leadfoot is going to get her in trouble. Specifically it has now reaped her a nice $150 bill from the spencer county treasurer. I operated a motor vehicle for 19 years before I received my first and only speeding ticket. It took Brittany 15 months to achieve the same. Being her first offense, she will be able to have the ticket deferred, which means that should she manage to go lightly on the gas pedal for the next six months, there will be no record of this little event.

The incident took place on the interstate about 10 miles from home as Brittany and her boyfriend Stanley were heading home from Wendy's. You know we live in a pretty small place when the police officer greeted her at the window with a, "You're going a little fast there Brittany!" Frankly, I am a little surprised that she wasn't able to escape with a warning, being a cute, blue-eyed blonde, able to produce tears on demand, but apparently she was off her game just a bit. I must say that Stanley enjoyed it a good deal, seeing the girl he erroneously perceives as a 'perfect angel' getting her chops busted a bit. He came in the house waving the ticket with a pretty cheeky smile, while she sheepishly hid behind him. We are anxiously awaiting her write-up in the Spencer County Leader, where of course all law offender's receive due note of their deeds! We will make sure to save a copy for those who would like one.

I must apologize for my recent blogging hiatus. I think I've had writer's block or something. I mean, my life seems interesting enough to me, certainly never dull, but somehow I just haven't been able to capture it in words. Truth be told, I was kind of waiting until I could get an 18 on the internet putt, putt game so I could crow a bit and issue forth a challenge, all the while knowing that no one could ever beat me. But alas, my brother-in-law trumped me and robbed the fuel from my fire! Thank goodness one of my children has once again inspired me...

OUR PETS!

2006-10-16T11:15:00.000-05:00

With the family pet taking over the blog world here lately, I thought maybe I'd chime in on the subject. I am not an animal lover. I love the zoo. I love to look at photos of other's pets. I am as moved as the next person by the sight of a cute puppy, but I am not keen on the whole idea of animals living in my home! Thus said, we have had a multitude of animals pass through our home, some stayed for long periods of time, others did not. We do not have a history of choosing very appropriate pets. For instance Rocky, the puppy Jeff brought home from the grocery store that had paws the size of basketballs. Did I mention we had two children and were living in a 600 sq. ft. condo at the time. I believe now, it perhaps was some sort of Rotweiller mix. Definitely not the best choice for a family with limited space and limited dog-food funds!

We have a history of owning neurotic pets as well. There is some debate as to whether we just have the uncanny ability to pick pets with congenital neuroses, or whether we drive them to it. Either way, it makes life more interesting than I care to have it. There was our first pet... an adorable (or so we thought!)kitten named Clo. She would squirm under the doors, pounce on us in our sleep, and not in a kind way! She once clawed her way out of the house through a screen door, and she pooped in my plants! There was the older, calmer Cocker-Spaniel, Blondie, who daily burrowed under our neighbors home, barking and in time sending her cats to the psychiatrist! The golden retriever, Molly, who simply showed up one day. She could scale our six-foot fence in one neat leap, liked to pilfer through the neighborhood garbage cans and was constantly bringing back beer cans which she distributed about our front yard. She also tormented the maillady to the extent that we were contacted three times by the post office. There was the hamster, Casey, who could have escaped from Alcatraz! He showed up anywhere, anytime, and resembled a rat just a bit too much for my taste. There was the goldfish, Goldie (original huh?) who would not die, despite my wishes and prayers. The kid's decided after about two days that a fish was really not a very fun pet, which suited me fine since I know they are precarious creatures and can turn up at the top of the fishbowl in the wink of an eye. Better not to get too attached! Wrong, this fish thrived, living just to dirty his fishbowl for over a year! These are just a few examples!

I do have one lingering pet regret! We had a cat... Tomite Thomas Jefferson Graves (named by his formal owner, Christian of course!) I do believe Tomite had more neuroses than any of the other pets. He would nip at your heel if you were even a minute late with his chow! He once pooped in the toilet. I kid you not! One time I had about 15 ladies from church over for a fellowship. The evening was progressing nicely when I heard a gasp from the kitchen. Tomite was on the stove with his head in a pot of chowder! He moved from California to Indiana, traveling over 2,000 miles in the car with us, and was suprisingly well-behaved actually. I loved to complain about him, but deep down, I really did love him. During a summer Bible study in our home, I would try to send him home with our guests each week. One week, much to my suprise, one lady took me up on my offer, and before I knew it she was the new owner of our cat. I didn't really want to give him away, and looking back I should have told her right out that I had just been kidding. After he was gone, I sat on the couch and cried. I think I was more attached than I admitted!

We now own two pets. We have an indoor cat, Lucy. She occasionally wakes Christian up by wetting on him, leaves me disgusting coughed-up hairballs on my kitchen floor, poops next to the litterbox, rather than in it, and grooms herself loud enough to be heard across the house! Then there is our dog, Calli. She is adorable and really quite obedient. However, her breath could be used to create weapons of mass destruction, she regularly hones her toenails to razor-sharpness, she barks at every leaf that blows by, she'd rather dismantle her doghouse and sit in the overturned roof than inside the house, and she digs holes large enough to disappear into.

What's not to love about pets?

TWO EXTREME HOME MAKEOVERS!

2006-10-03T12:59:00.000-05:00

Well, Brittany got her brush with fame! Apparently she was close enough to Ty Pennington to 'smell his sweat!" While this didn't sound at all appealing to me, she assured me this was a good thing. She did come home a little more educated on the editing shenanigans they pull on us. You know that scene near the end of the show where the designers all come running out of the house... well, that was filmed several days before the reveal! The crowed had to practice the line "Move that Bus!" repeatedly, and the limo circled time after time after time! Now it could be these extra steps were only necessary for the southern Indiana crowd, but suffice it to say, things are not accomplished in the neat package we see on TV. I, for one, am shocked that Hollywood would deceive us! (There needs to be a way to convey sarcasm in written form!)

While all this played out, we had our own little home makeover going on here! You see, my parents are arriving today for a 10 day visit! My mother and I have this little ruse going on... the one where I pretend I'm a good housekeeper and she pretends that she believes it. We both really know the truth, but this little game works for us. We both win really, she is spared the shame of acknowledging that she raised a slob, and I get a clean house twice a year! No fear of my bedroom door falling off the hinges this week! Win-Win I tell ya!

Here are just a few of the things I have accomplished this week:

• I have reached the bottom of every hamper in my home! This is practically unprecedented. I must not rest on my laurels however, laundry is an unrelenting monster!

• Everybody has clean sheets, at the SAME time!

• I reorganized all my kitchen drawers and cabinets. They have taken a serious, serious hit since Christian started unloading the dishwasher!

• Jeff has made sure all 7 of his tools are neatly organized in the toolbox just in the event my dad is feeling handy!

• The top of my refrigerator is clean. I find myself often forgetting the things that no one is tall enough to see! The fact that I bothered with this chore for my miniscule parents just shows what a roll I was on!

The list goes on and on, but you will have to come visit me to see the miraculous makeover that has taken place! I believe I have truly lived up to my moniker this week!

A BIT OF EXCITEMENT IN OUR SMALL BLIP!

2006-10-02T08:23:00.000-05:00

We'll we've had a bit of excitement in our small blip on the map! Extreme Home Makeover has been filming an episode about 10 miles from our house in the tiny town of St. Meinrad. There have been Ty spottings galore, although come to find out, he isn't really even there for most of the event, basically just the beginning and the end! Makes one wonder how he gets that special, secret room done! Could it be we are being snookered by a reality TV show? Surely not!

Brittany and her friends are playing hookie from school today and hanging out at the EHM site (which leads into the real purpose of my blog.) They plan to be there to participate in the "Move that Bus!" ceremony. Rumor has it that Rascal Flatts will be there as well, so between the bus, Ty and Rascal Flatts, that's a pretty big draw in a town where someone fainting in the post office brings out every law enforcement officer (employed and volunteer!) in a 30 mile radius!

The girls plan to be out at the site by 11:00am, in plenty of time for the 2:00pm reveal. They are all congregating at our house this morning and going out for breakfast before the big event. Brittany's best friend Kelsie had shown up a little earlier than the rest while Jeff was taking the boys to school, but I had assumed he knew she was here by her bright yellow truck parked in front of our house! Apparently he is not very observant in the morning, because not 5 minutes after arriving back home, he came out to the living room to hunt for a pair of jeans in the laundry piles I had sorted on the sofa! Problem: he was only wearing his boxers! In hindsight, I should have just whispered to him, but Brittany and I both kind of panicked and shrieked, "Jeff, Kelsie is here!" I wish I could accurately describe the look on his face as he hot-footed it back into the bedroom. I looked up to see the equally horrified look on Kelsie's face. The girl's and I immediately burst out laughing, but Jeff didn't recover quite as well. I found him back in bed with the covers pulled to his neck! I don't believe he plans to leave the confines of the bed again until the girls are all safely out of the house!

I am always glad when someone besides myself provides the entertainment! I hope one day not to have the highest 'embarrassing moment' tally!

ENOUGH QUIRKINESS TO GO AROUND!

2006-09-16T13:12:00.000-05:00

I do believe my children are just quirky enough to provide me with substantial blog material for the rest of my life, or at the very least while I have enough of my wits about me to compose a lucid paragraph. It is David's turn on the chopping blog this time. He is probably my least frequent target, mainly due to the fact that he enjoys being embarrassed even less than his siblings. Christian is the least self-conscious person I've ever known, actually it is near impossible to embarrass him, and Brittany of course is vain enough to enjoy seeing her name in print regardless of the content! David is strung just a bit tighter! Contrary to the opinion of one family member (you now who you are!) who feels that my children being the constant fodder for my ramblings is perhaps a painful thing, I do not print anything that I have not had preapproved by the target of my musings! The one exception to this was the year I reported in my annual Christmas letter that David was finally bathing voluntarily! And yes, he was a bit mortified and therefore I have attempted to make it up to him by keeping him out of the limelight. His time of respite is over. I do believe he just might be my quirkiest child yet! Now he doesn't hold a candle to Christian when it comes to spontaneous bursts of surprising behavior, but rather his is a planned and very deliberate quirkiness!

He recently discovered an old pair of his Grandpa Graves glasses in the glove compartment of his car. Not only are they bifocals, but they are very large, thick-rimmed spectacles. David wore them to school. I know this because his sister told me. Apparently she fielded questions throughout the day such as "What is wrong with your brother?" While his fellow freshman nerds found it hilarious, Brittany's response to the numerous queries... "He's a dork!" I'm pretty sure that had already been firmly established after David and his friends played "Chuck, Chuck, Norris" (their version of "Duck, Duck, Goose") in the middle of the school cafeteria.

To understand David, you must take a glimpse into what he loves. If one were to check out his myspace page you would glean a bit of insight into his world. His heroes: Chuck Norris and Monty Python. His biggest fear: Chuck Norris' bad side. His goal for this year: to bring tube socks back into style... of course once achieved, he would no longer wear them! He likes to be different, but it is a carefully orchestrated difference. An "I'm a nerd, but I know I'm a nerd and therefore I'm cool" kind of thing. As his mother, on one hand I find his quest to be unique very endearing, on the other hand, occasionally embarrassing. To be sure, these children of mine keep life interesting. I never know what the next day might bring, which is okay by me, predictability is overrated anyhow!

MY 4th GRADE CASANOVA!

2006-09-14T08:04:00.000-05:00

I had a funny thing happen at church last night... I work in our "Just for Kid's program" (basically a generic version of Awana) with the 3rd and 4th graders. I enjoy this age quite a bit, they are funny and precocious and just shy of that impending hormonal stage. An extra perk is getting to work with my own child and having an opportunity to observe his interaction with his peers. Usually my keen observation is rewarded with a few good armpit burps and a chicken dance or two. Last night however, I was able to watch with amusement as two older women (5th graders) tried in vain to catch the eye of my completely clueless son. At the end of the evening they sidled up to me and asked, "Are you Christian's mom?" I confirmed I was indeed! They went on to inform me that, "Everyone at school really loves Christian!" I expressed my pleasure and added that I too love him of course. This is where it got good... they elaborated "they don't just love him, they (you really need a visual here, but she then made kissie noises and fanned her face with her lips puckered) Luuuuuuuuuhhhvvvve him!" At this point I was just glad one of those spontaneous snort-laughs didn't burst out of me as a million quirky things about Christian passed through my mind (oh say, having to tell him not to lick people on the bus, the pleasure he derives from Captain Underpants books, the fact that he doesn't think being threatened with the possibility of moving into Calli's doghouse with her much of a threat at all, the fact that by the time I push him into the shower each night he actually smells like he has been living in Calli's doghouse with her, need I go on?) Now, while I think Christian is absolutely adorable, and his enthusiastic approach to life while being exhausting at times, is really very endearing, it amused me to no end to contemplate Christian being viewed as an object of romantic notions! Perhaps it's the "new boy" syndrome, or maybe the unmistakable allure of the formerly homeschooled, or I suppose it could be his new green and red sneakers that he loves dearly. I really don't remember what I looked for in a fellow in the 4th grade, but I am pretty sure it is not his suave, debonair way with the ladies.

Jeff and I are still not too sure we are even ready for Brittany to be dating, and David is just now starting to talk to girls, so needless to say, I am eager for Christian to remain a little boy for as long as possible. My fears were sufficiently relieved by his response to the whole matter... he wanted to know who said these offensive things so he could flatten them. Ahhhh, life is never dull with my 4th grade Casanova!

GRASS-STAINS!

2006-09-09T09:09:00.000-05:00

Grass-stains... they are my current nemesis! I sheepishly will admit to you that I completely lost it over grass stains this week. I've been having an ongoing brouhaha with the youngest of my brood over the gross amount of clothing that he has ruined with his carefree attitude toward grass. The pile of church/school clothing is shrinking at an alarming rate as the play clothes pile grows before my eyes! Now before I detail my meltdown for you, I must inform you that it came on the heels of a particularly destructive week. The offending boy had already come home sporting a permanent ink-stain on the belly of one brand-spankin' new t-shirt, a large rip in the belly of another new shirt (the belly does seem to be a problem area!) and a plethora of grease-stains (presumably from the oh-so-tasty cafeteria salisbury steak) again all over the belly of a new shirt.
I am devoted to "Shout" and apply it liberally to my laundry (I buy in bulk!) but suffice it to say, my stain-removing friend didn't touch these... even with my last line of defense, an old toothbrush and a great deal of elbow grease! So bear in mind that these offenses were fresh on my mind as I prepared to iron Christian's new jeans (previously worn once!) and soon discovered a monstrous grass-stain covering the whole left knee and a good deal of the right as well. I had somehow missed them during the laundering process, but my wealth of experience told me that it wouldn't have mattered, that nothing short of a sandblaster would have removed stains of this magnitude. This is when my lecture began... you might wonder what one could say about responsible grass behavior for 20 minutes, but I picked up steam midway through when I noticed the grass-stain/ink-stain combination on his undershirt. Short of football practice, I'm not sure I know how one gets a grass-stain on the shoulder of their undershirt, but as I live and breathe, there it was! So on my lecture rolled... you know the whole 'clothes don't grow on trees' and 'doesn't it bother you to look homeless?' spiel (by the way... it doesn't!) You know it's probably time to reign yourself in when your husband and two teenagers are trying not to laugh at your rant, but by golly, I had things that needed to be said. In reality, I planned to keep up with it until the guilty party acknowledged the error of his way and pledged to act more appropriately in grassy, inky and food laden areas, but alas, the bus came and with it the end of my informative and life-changing speech. Jeff later informed me that he too was the perpetrator of many a grass-stain as a callow youth so I fear I'm probably fighting a losing battle with genetics here!

I'm happy to report that Friday passed with nary a stain--grass, ink, or food! Who says a well-delivered diatribe never bears results!

MY FUNNY LITTLE MOTHER!

2006-09-01T07:32:00.000-05:00

Today's post is a tribute to my funny little mother. I feel completely justified in poking a bit of fun at her being that she found great delight in my sister's post about me!

My mother is such a funny little thing (and at 4'11", this is not just a term of endearment!) I was recently attempting to walk her through the steps (over the phone mind you!) to view Brittany's proofs online. It seemed a fairly easy process to me, but after spending at least 3-4 minutes trying to direct her to the web address bar, I realized I might be tackling a tricky project. Alas, she finally figured out where the evasive bar was located and I directed her to type in the website address of the photography studio. After spelling the name for her, I of course told her to press enter. As her finger hovered over the enter key she warily told me, "This better not bring up any pornography on my computer!" I found this hilariously amusing.

I find the internet to be vastly full of resources to make my life easier. I pay bills online, shop online, find recipes online, order pictures online, etc. etc. etc! My parents are both extremely intelligent people, both very talented and well-rounded in their knowledge. I go to them for advice and counseling so often, and the older I get the more I realize how very wise they are. Thus said, I am amazed at the things they need explained when it comes to the Worldwide Web! I have walked them through the process of ordering things on Amazon.com and ebay, have tracked purchased items for them, contacted the vendor of an errant copy of Pure Luck for them, and explained what BTW, LOL, TTYL and various other terms mean. I am constantly amused at having to actually say things like "Okay now, that box at the bottom of the screen that says 'Continue', yeah the big one there at the bottom, yes the square one there that's highlighted and blinking, yeah, click there!"

I guess it's my one chance to feel smarter than my parents. I'm pretty sure my dad could get through the process on his own, he's probably just double-checking the procedures to reassure my mom. To my mother, the whole thing seems like a confusing and complicated foreign language, with the additional danger of pornography, predators and identity theft at every click of the mouse. You know though, it's pretty nice to have my mother need me, and it provides a constant source of amusement for me as well. Hey, it even provided me with some blogging material to boot!

SENIOR PICTURES!

2006-08-28T14:20:00.000-05:00

I am officially old enough to be sorting through senior picture proofs with a child I gave birth to. Wherever did the time go? Are our children catching up with us, or am I actually 17 years older than I was the day I lay in that hospital bed feeling as if I was birthing a Volkswagen? Alas, I believe it is the latter, and I am fast approaching the big 4-0! (Well in reality I am fast approaching the big 3-8, but the other will be here in a wink)

Back to those senior pictures. An interesting experience, one I enjoyed thoroughly. I have found it interesting however to discuss the process with the other mothers at church. On one hand my dear Brittany found the whole thing exhilarating and would have continued posing indefinitely had the photographer wished her to. We debated for weeks over which outfits would look the best and painstakingly narrowed it down to eight! We spent many, many hours shopping for and coordinating the perfect jewelry, accessories and make-up, and of course the manicure and pedicure. We agonized over just the perfect hairstyle for each ensemble, and truth-be-told, we both loved every minute of it. The 6 hours spent posing were a hoot, and gobs of fun! On the other hand, the young men at church took a completely different approach. They grudgingly spent a few minutes picking two shirts that would match their jeans well enough, and were adamant that they be in and out in an hour. The whole of which they found rather tedious. And we wonder why men find us women so hard to figure out!

I will get my turn at experiencing the other end of things. David greatly dislikes posing for pictures and I am usually able at best to capture an awkward and pained expression on his face. I have learned to try to catch him unawares and have found the results much better. Christian is a bit less camera-shy, and while he doesn't always give me a nice, sweet pose, he certainly likes to jump into as many candid shots as he can. As a result, I have dozens of pictures with his goofy little face peeking into the corner. I guess it's not necessarily just a gender thing!

Perchance you are completely eager to view Brittany's proofs... you can do so at victoryphotography.biz (password: brittany)

GOTTA KEEP UP!

2006-08-24T07:21:00.000-05:00

Okay, I must admit I have been motivated to blog this morning by my sister, who is presently cranking out a new post each day! Have any of you ever had a sibling who could do anything you could do, only better? That's my sister! The thing is, she is so nice and likeable and willing to laugh at herself that it's tough to resent her for it (AND she'll always be older than me, which is a big plus now that I'm pushing 40!) Therefore, I have happily resigned myself to being the lesser Clark sister (rather ironic if one stops to consider...well, let's just not go there!) Lesser in accomplishment that is! One might be tempted to read some underlying bitterness into my words; however one would be wrong... I love her dearly, admire and respect her, often hold her up as my role model, and only very rarely take delight in HER embarrassing moments! Well, that's not completely true, we've both always been prone to enjoy the other's faux-pas (I don't know how to make that plural!) it's just that she has a much better memory than I do despite her short-term memory claim. I remember the rough details of an event, and often have to rely on my creativity to fill it out.

You all might be expecting this next paragraph to be an anecdote about my sister, given the lead in, but alas, it's not. Just a little update on midwest living... We are nearing the end of our second week back in school and have almost adjusted to being back on a scheduled routine. We were in a bit of a rush this morning as Brittany's alarm didn't wake her up. She is the one who gets the ball rolling at 5:30am. I am next to arise at 6:30am, at which time Brittany has usually just finished the "wash hair--blow dry hair--straighten hair--curl hair" routine that she goes through each and every morning. I roust the boy's out of bed (not as easy as it sounds mind you!) point David in the direction of the shower, feed and dress a semi-comatose Christian and scoot him out the door in time to catch the bus at 7:05am. We try to have lunches made, clothes laid out and backpacks packed the night before, which certainly helps the morning run more smoothly. We are usually quite good about keeping up with this through, oh say, mid September! I pledge to last at least until October this year!

I happily report that the humidity seems to be easing up just a bit, which is quite nice since the air conditioning in the car went out two weeks ago. I have had to adjust to the bird's nest hair look that I seem to sport after driving with the windows down. As I've admitted before, I am a firm believer in climate-controlled living and this fresh air blowing through my hair thing just doesn't work for me. Seems every time we turn around lately, one of the cars needs work. I must say however, I was quite impressed when our mechanic (whom we are getting to know quite well!) made a house call the other day. Our car would not start despite our best efforts, and we feared we might need to have it towed the 20+ miles to the mechanic's shop. Not so... he just came over and fixed it right in our driveway. Now granted, it wasn't a complicated repair, but nonetheless, I think that's just gotta be a perk of small-town living!

And that's the news from Dale, where all the women are organized, the pastor's good-looking and his children are above-average! (I kind of stole that line...)

NEW BLOG ON THE BLOCK!

2006-08-16T11:15:00.000-05:00

I know Peter Brown has been disheartened by the plethara of blog shut-downs, so I'm here to give a plug for a new one, my sister's, and she's still in that honeymoon phase where you blog everyday (you know, the one that Jeff never went through!) We all remember starting our blogs and feeling like we have achieved literary genius and realize there is one person actually reading it, two if we count the spouse we've pretty much cornered and made read it. I can look back and laugh about it now that I have gathered my great following of oh, probably about 10 readers! But I am not so puffed up as to forget my humble beginnings. So in your daily blog perusing, stop over at www.unmerited-favor.blogspot.com/ and of course, leave a comment for her. Just don't be so wowwed by her wit that you forget to come visit me as well!

SELF-PORTRAITS!

2006-08-13T21:08:00.000-05:00

Brittany returned home from her trip to California late last night! We picked her up in Indianapolis (a mere 3 hours from our small blip on the map!)at 10:05pm. We finally arrived home somewhere around 1:00am at which time Jeff and the boys went right to bed. I, being the wonderful and attentive mother that I am (you don't call me June for nothin'!) stayed up with my rather wound up daughter, eager to see all the goodies she had accumulated in her two weeks away from home, and also to see the pictures from her trip. After patiently waiting for her 200+ pictures to upload onto the computer, we set up a slide show, anxious to relive her trip. I have included some of my personal favorites above... just a small sampling of the 29 self-portraits she had taken while riding in the car with her cousin.

She had a wonderful trip, plans to return at Christmas, and is now sure the Lord is calling her to California for college. Thank you to each of you who took such good care of her and made her trip so very special!

The kid's headed back to school this morning. I caught Christian stuffing a few Hot Wheels into his pocket in the event of indoor recess. I looked out the window at the bright, sunny weather and laughed as I confiscated the vehicles. It is now mid-morning and we are enjoying a rather heavy downpour and I'm pretty sure I am hearing thunder in the distance! I hope Brittany's car windows are rolled up...

I AM ALL ALONE!

2006-08-02T23:54:00.000-05:00

I am never alone! Sometimes my children even follow me into the bathroom, and yet here I find myself home alone for four days! Brittany is in California for a visit while Jeff and the boys are at camp. I was originally planning to spend the week at camp but felt the Lord leading me in a different direction when I discovered the heat index would be in the 110-115 range! That insane heat makes me cranky, and camp is not the place for a hot, cranky, sleep-deprived woman who hates being sweaty! Did you know that your eyelids sweat! I didn't know that previous to living here, but I do now! I must say, I feel called to a climate-controlled environment!

Last week we enjoyed a lovely visit from Don and Ralphine Totemeier! They are presently biking across the country. They started in Southern Cal sometime in May and plan to end up at the Statue of Liberty pert near September I believe! I must admit that the thought of riding my bicycle 1/5 of a mile to the grocery store has never crossed my mind until now! And even now, although it has crossed my mind, I have no intention of actually doing it. Moving on... we had such a nice visit with the Totes. They helped us with a few projects around the house too! Those of you who have visited my home and observed how keenly I guard my bedroom door, lest someone actually open it and see where I clean my house into, will get a kick out of the freak incident that occurred during the visit. Upon opening my room the smallest amount possible to wedge myself through, lo and behold if that darned door didn't just fall off the hinges! Well, Don kindly fixed it for me while graciously pretending he didn't notice it's ransacked appearance! While he fixed the door, I replaced the air-condition filter, and while unwrappping the new filter, let go of the plastic wrap it came in, which was then promptly sucked right up the vent! Don moved from the door to the utility closet to attempt to recover the errant plastic wrap! In so doing, he of course had to open the closet door, revealing another one of my emergency stash-the-mess zones! The phone rang just then, and by the time I got finished with the call, Ralphine was in the thick of things cleaning my closet! The best part however was when she thanked me for allowing her to do it! I promptly invited them to stay another month! (-: No, just kidding, well actually not!

They were able to stay until Sunday and attend church with us before cycling off into the moist blue yonder! They were a great encouragement to us and we thoroughly enjoyed every moment of their visit. I have a couple more closets that need cleaning if any of you would like to plan a trip!

Well, summer progresses and in just 12 short days, school will start! Once there is a bit of routine back in my life, I am sure I will be better about posting regularly! Besides, Christian riding the school bus has always provided a lot of fodder for my Indiana updates! I am hoping I don't have to remind him not to lick people on the bus this year...

SUMMER

2006-06-27T12:11:00.000-05:00

Hello all...

Summer is here in full humid swing! I have had to add coolant to the car twice, my neck got so hot I cut my hair 3" shorter, and the A/C is running pretty much 24/7! I am however, learning to barbecue. Jeff has been gone quite a bit this past month or two, and I decided that it was time I was able to grill meat myself. I started small with some sausages (precooked meat that only gets better as it burns!) and I must say, they turned out quite well. My first attempt at chicken was a bit less successful and I have realized that I am not especially fond of sticking my hand into burning flames. Nevertheless, I persist in my quest to provide delicious charbroiled meals for my loved ones!

Summer has been a bit quiet so far. Brittany and David are both working so much and Christian spends much of his day off on adventures with neighborhood friends, so I am finding myself alone quite a bit. I'm not enjoying it like I thought I might! I find the house too quiet and rather lonely. Perhaps I am fonder of the chaos than I realized. We did have a nice visit from Grandma, and are preparing for a whole slew of relatives this next week. We have all sorts of fun things planned and eagerly anticipate their arrival!

Brittany turned 17 yesterday. I can't believe she is growing up so quickly. About this time next year we will probably be busy getting her all prepared to leave for college. She has had a difficult week. She and her boyfriend of 1-1/2 years broke up and she is feeling pretty brokenhearted. I, in turn, have found it hard to watch her hurting, but have been so thankful to see her turn to the Lord with her sadness. She is growing up to be a godly young lady and although I find myself just wanting time to slow down a bit, I know the Lord is going to do great things with her life.

Not quite my usual lighthearted fare, but sometimes life doesn't always feel so lighthearted. It's been a difficult week, but also a reminder that God is so good, so faithful and his love is unfailing!

Call Me June... (this is for you Sarah!)

2006-06-07T23:41:00.000-05:00

Well, I've changed my blog user name... After switching computers and losing her bookmarks, my sister was searching for the Indiana Update and attempted to find it by browsing "Amazon Temptress" only to be given several unsavory options. We certainly cannot have that! Therefore I have attempted to choose a more wholesome name, and since I am often compared to June Cleaver, I thought this appropriate. We are thinking of changing Christian's name to Beaver as well.

"The Amazon Temptress" hails back to a birthday greeting that Jeff and I gave my sister years ago with a funny cartoon which said "Happy Birthday from the Jungle Stud and his Amazon Temptress." It garnered many laughs and we have referred to it often in the ensuing years. However, I am now officially retiring it in the name of good taste and from this moment forward, just call me June...

2006-06-03T12:50:00.000-05:00

Well, I'm feeling rather ashamed of myself and my blatant comment seeking. Thank you to those of you who took mercy on me in my mire of insecurity! (A special thanks to my new best friend Peter, who started the comment ball rolling!) I had to deliver a lecture to one of my offspring this morning on the danger of indulging ourselves in self-pity, and I think some of it sunk in, for me at least! I shall endeavor to continue my blogging simply for the sheer joy it brings me, and the opportunity it provides to keep my typing skills finely honed!

Brittany is in a bit of a spat with her boyfriend this evening. This is not a completely uncommon occurrence. 17-year-old boys (I had originally inserted a reference to his home school years, but Jeff told me I should delete it!) are not the most sensitive souls, not especially gifted at reading the varying emotions of 16-year-old girls. I love Christian romance novels, and will gladly stay up until 3:00am reading a good one, but let me just say, not too many men-folk of my acquaintance can interpret a woman's thoughts simply by the observing a slight downward turn of her chin. I've sent David in to do the periodic eavesdropping, and I drop in with the occasional reminder to behave in a way that would be pleasing to the Lord. Jeff and I are not real believers in the "children need their privacy" theory (although I'd like to add a disclaimer that I do not publish anything about my family on this blog without asking their permission!) We subscribe more to the "your business is our business" school of thought!

Jeff and I are contemplating the purchase of a power washer. I have decided this is a household chore that I enjoy a great deal. There is something so satisfying about blasting cobwebs, bird droppings and bugs off the side of the house with an incredibly powerful water wand. It is much more satisfying than oh say, spending hours lovingly washing, folding and putting away a child's laundry only to find it in the hamper hours later, sometimes still folded, occasionally even still on a hangar!

2006-06-02T09:58:00.000-05:00

Well, we're almost through with our first week of summer vacation... Brittany has spent one night at home, we've had three baseball games and a golf match postponed due to rain, our car battery died in the parking lot of holiday world while picking David up from work, Brittany hates her job because someone left dirty boxers and fake poo in one of the campers she cleans, Christian is banned from TV, computer games, PS2 and just about everything good in his life for the next 2 weeks, Jeff's "Honey-do" list is not getting much smaller due to the insane amount of rain we've had, and I tripped and fell on the stairs at church and have a bruised-up leg, although the only thing really hurt was my pride! We have however, rather loosely kept to "the schedule" so all in all, I'm pretty happy with the week.

I have been discouraged with this blogging thing lately. I did not have a single comment on my last blog, however my husband received 7 or 8 comments for NOT blogging! This doesn't seem quite fair in my book. I was actually rather pleased with my previous blog, thinking it was rather entertaining, although my husband said it was a smidge self-deprecating, but nary a comment did I receive. I suppose this shouldn't be that important to me, I should write solely for the love of it, for the sheer joy I receive in capturing the trivia of my life on paper. But alas, I am a hopeless praise-monger, and I like to feel like you are all on the edge of your seat, chomping at the bit to keep up on the goings on of the Indiana Graves! Surely life just isn't complete without it!

On a good note, Christian and I are done with our Father's Day shopping. 2-1/2 weeks early to boot! I can't tell you what we bought, since my husband occasionally reads my blog, because of course, I ask him to! Suffice it to say, I think we've been rather creative this year and found some goodies he will not be expecting but will enjoy! Jeff is so clever at figuring out his gifts and it frustrates me to no end. For Christmas I knew he would be expecting some of the items, as they were right off his list (figuratively, he doesn't actually make a list!) but I thought I had come up with two pretty good ones, a subscription to Netflix and "A Mighty Wind" DVD. He hadn't mentioned them, we hadn't discussed them, there was no possible reason why he should have been even thinking about them, but lo and behold about a week before Christmas he just guessed them right out of the blue. I think I picked up one of the boxes and smacked him over the head with it. Anyways, I think I have a chance at suprising him this time. I will say no more, lest I give him a hint!

The laundry is calling my name, must go!

2006-05-27T08:53:00.000-05:00

SCHOOL IS OUT! Yeah! I think I get as excited about it as my children do. (Christian has six more school days, but for all intents and purposes... SCHOOL IS OUT!) I look so forward to 10 weeks of sheer unscheduled chaos. Not that this is so drastically different from our normal operational mode, but we definitely step up the chaos a notch or two. Of course, after 10 weeks of this, I will be longing for my "routine" (it's all relative) again!

I have attempted to come up with a summer schedule for the family. You see, on paper, I am an organizational wonder. If one could look at my graphically pleasing lists and schedules, they'd be so impressed. My kid's have some of the best looking chore charts I've ever seen. If I could remember to print them out and post them, we'd really have something! I've come up with a list that I think is reasonable and workable, delegating a host of chores to each child. I've allowed for a modest amount of flexibility and negotiation, added a reward/bribery feature, and all in all, I'd say we're good to go! I've put the printing and posting of the schedule on my "to do" list, which I will get to as soon as I print that out! Again, the well-oiled machine I call home...

2006-05-26T10:59:00.000-05:00

Well, for those who have never actually seen "golf-ball sized hail"--feast your eyes on this... We had a doozey of a storm yesterday! Christian and I were home alone when the worst hit. I immediately sent him into my walk-in closet while I made some quick calls to Jeff and David (ironically enough, on their way to David's baseball game) and Brittany who was with friends. Just mere minutes later I realized Christian was NOT in the closet as I had supposed, and rather was running around in the front yard trying to collect a bowl of hail! I sure hope the neighbors were able to witness this bit of stellar parenting. Probably not, I'm sure they had all heeded the warning of the tornado sirens screaming through town and had the sense to hole up in a windowless room. We just like to maintain our "crazy Californian's" image. Christian is always coming up with clever ways to do that.

Aside from some damage to my geraniums and marigolds, which really just hastened their death before I could kill them myself, we came through the storm unscathed. Today the sun is out, there is a nice gentle breeze and just a hint of the blistering humidity that is to come! Ahhh, midwest living, predictably unpredictable!

2006-05-14T15:42:00.000-05:00

Well I hope you all had a delightful Mother's Day! Mine was quite nice. Jeff and Brittany prepared a tasty lunch (bbq steak, corn, asparagus, mashed potatoes and perhaps the most delicious bread ever!) and even better, the whole gang cleaned up the kitchen while I sat comfortably in the recliner, perusing through a host of television shows. I believe I'd like to celebrate Mother's Day more often.

Brittany is turning into a pretty good cook. We've come up with a good working arrangement several nights a week where she cooks, I clean up! This is agreeable to all involved since she HATES doing dishes which I don't mind much at all, while I am not a big fan of cooking and she enjoys it a great deal. I am happy that she will go into adulthood better equipped to feed her family than I was (although, evidence would show that we've done alright!) I remember my mother as a pretty good cook (with exception to her stroganoff and the spam and pineapple number!) but she didn't pass these skills on much. I have a distinct memory of calling her about a month after I got married to find out how to hard boil eggs. There was a salmon casserole incident early on that Jeff still likes to bring up and I have not fried chicken since I was 19 due to some lasting emotional scarring I received from the experience. It took nearly five years before my in-laws asked me to contribute anything more than a relish tray and soda pop for holiday gatherings.

We have been in the process of painting Brittany's room a lovely, sunny yellow. Home improvement projects are always a bit of an adventure around our home. I am a terrible perfectionist, without the skills to accomplish what I desire. Jeff is neither a perfectionist nor a skilled carpenter, but he has a willing heart! We ran into a bit of a snag with the taping. Brittany's room has high ceilings, and Jeff was the only one who could get high enough on the ladder to reach them. I think I am pretty lucky I didn't get paint poured on my head as I stood below him critiquing his tape alignment. We haven't removed the tape as of yet, but I am determined to hold my tongue should the paint line be less than perfect.

If we stay on track from here on out, I believe Christian will complete the 4th grade on June 6, a mere 6 days behind schedule. I have been having a rough homeschooling month, however I've been assured by homeschool veterans, that the last month of the school year is notoriously challenging. I seem to be spending a good deal of my time getting after the boy, and often fear that his memories of his mother will forever be accompanied by the sound of a cracking whip! Or perhaps worse, a hissing cat!

Well, were off to another baseball game tonight. Between baseball, golf, tennis, both David and Brittany working, and orthodontist appointments, it seems I'm wearing my chauffer hat a lot lately. I've stocked the car with a selection of scrapbooking magazines to amuse myself with between pick-ups! Now if I could just figure out a way to set up a work station in there too, I could really be productive! I believe there might be some potential profit in this idea. For the dedicated gal in last month's issue who spends 6-7 hours a day scrapbooking, this might enable her to really commit herself to the craft!

I'm off for now. I am going to attempt to get a load of laundry actually folded and put away! I am setting high goals for myself these days!

2006-05-09T14:23:00.000-05:00

Hello All...

I am sure I have probably lost my readership after this unexcusable absence. I have been busy, yes, I know, a terribly overused excuse, but true nontheless. I have not been feeling particularly witty either. I'm dieting, and I suppose this drains a bit of my jolliness right out of me!

I now sport a really cool hairdo though! I lost patience with my bangs and in a rash moment, I hacked off an inch or so with Christian's school scissors. I instantly regretted it, but alas, it was a bit too late! Now, as my mother-in-law can attest, I am usually quite adept with the hair/scissor combo, but I must have had an off day. Okay, this is not quite the truth. The only time I have ever heard my mother-in-law be mean was when commenting on my hairdressing skills, something about Jeff looking like he'd escaped from an institution... but this was bad even for me! I am now doing that 80's satelite dish thing with my bangs, you know, the big curl and pouf thing, in an attempt to camoflauge the damage. Now would be a good time for me to scrapbook about my inner beauty!

We are nearing the end of the school year, and we're getting antsy for summer to arrive. The kid's have all but checked out already. We are getting lax about adhering to bedtimes, and often find ourselves remembering to shuffle the kids off to bed when we ourselves realize we're tired. We are also smack-dab in the middle of baseball season, when I once again find myself barely able to keep up with the demand for clean uniforms. David is also playing on the golf team as well, which adds to the chaos. I think Christian had popcorn and gatorade for dinner last night, but I can't even definitely confirm that!

We are planting our garden tonight. We're trying to beat a thunderstorm moving in. We hope to have a bounty of tomatoes, cucumbers, jalapenos, zucchini and banana peppers. I had to laugh when we went to buy our triple-12 fertilizer and were asked if the one bag which covers 1100 sq. feet of garden would be enough. I felt momentarily ashamed of our little 5' x 8' plot. Perhaps next year I'll bring a ziplock baggie with me and just ask for a scoop! They take their gardening seriously here. Several times I've been asked how many jars I plan to put back. I don't know what this means, but am going to venture that perhaps they assume I'll be canning! What gardening means to me is... a chance to use all the cute little gardening decorations on a scrapbook page. Oh, I do enjoy the vegetation as well, but that's really just a bonus!

Well, I've got to run. The mail just arrived and around here that has become a bit of a challenge. Our 2-year-old neighbor, Oscar, has beaten us to the punch a couple of times, and he enjoys transferring our mail to his own mailbox. Now I'm happy to pass off any bills, but in the event that I've won a big sweepstakes or such, I'd like first stab at it!

PROM NIGHT!

2006-04-07T20:03:00.000-05:00

I wanted to get a few of these pictures posted quickly for those of you who have been so eagerly anticipating this event. Doesn't she look absolutely beautiful? I will give you all the details in my next post. Jeff and I are off soon to help with the after-prom party from 11:30pm to 3:30am. Haven't stayed up that late for awhile. Hope these old bones can make it. More later...

2006-04-06T00:42:00.000-05:00

We're back from vacation! Oh, the tales I have to tell... We had such a delightful time with my folks and our friends, the Barnett's. My first, and oh-so-very-exciting news (drum roll please!) I fulfilled my life-long wax museum dream. Jeff and I went on an anniversary date one evening to Olive Garden and the Hollywood Wax Museum. I now realize that I have wasted much time longing to do something which actually proved quite boring. All the wax celebrities were in little roped off areas, only to be viewed from afar. I wanted to get up-close and personal. I did scale the ropes into the Forest Gump display so Jeff could take my picture sitting on the bench with Tom (yes, we're on a first name basis now!) Jeff was a very good sport and posed for all the goofy pictures I wanted. Did you know that wax figures kind of look like dead people? Well, either that or those weird little apple doll people that crafty folks used to make in the 70's. All in all, a bit of a disappointment, but the company was the best!

We also discovered that the "$3.99 Breakfast Buffet" is not all it's cracked up to be. We naively believed it would be a tasty, yet pleasantly affordable option for a family of five, however it was really quite bad. We decided it was worth splurging on IHOP! Our most memorable meal was at Lambert's Cafe, home of the roll-throwing waiters. Home also to perhaps the tastiest fried potatoes ever!

We also spent several hours at the Bass Pro Shop in Springfield. While this might not sound like an interesting event to all us un-outdoorsy types, it actually was quite interesting, and definitely a bevy of scrapbook moments. Jeff and I were talked into buying air-soft pistols for both boys (definitely not by Grandma, who was the lone voice of reason!) thinking it would be a bonding kind of thing for them. We of course set down some ground rules (the mandatory wearing of the goggles, no shooting at close range, etc., you get the gist) The next morning as David was happily (blissfully unaware, mind you!) shooting at some targets in the woods, Christian approached from behind, called his name and shot him in the belly from about 3 feet away! This ended the bonding experience!

We also spent an afternoon at the Ripley's Believe it or Not Museum. This was of course, for Christian, our connoisseur of odd, creepy trivia. Here we met with such wonders as the Unicorn Man, Laurel and Hardy painted on a lone pumpkin seed, an 8-ton ball of string, and yes, I speak the truth, a raw-mutton-holding man who sat inside an oven until the mutton was done!

Some other highlights were shopping at the outlet malls (you will get some differing opinions in our home on whether this was a highlight or not!) seeing Ice Age 2 on Imax, many trips to Starbucks, playing tennis, golf, the hot tub, lots of games, and lots and lots of family time!

Well, this concludes the chronicles of Graves family vacation! TTFN!

2006-03-18T23:43:00.000-06:00

My husband turned 40! How did we get this old, this quickly? It has bothered him more than I thought it would. He would have been quite content to let it pass with little fanfare, however I have endeavored to make it as eventful as possible considering we are so far away from the friends and family that could truly make a birthday roast memorable. Our four years in Indiana just haven't provided enough fodder. No one has set his shoes on fire, he hasn't gotten his foot stuck in any stadium seats and he hasn't spilt beverages on his family. He has run out of gas twice, and his shirt tail was untucked during our Christmas service, but those alone are not really enough for a good roast. Besides, people only say nice things about their pastor, everyone knows that!

We did try to add to the festivities with some exciting birthday gifts. I suprised him with "The Magic Bullet", a wonderful little blender thingey that he saw on an infomercial on TV and liked enough to wake me from a nap to see. There will be many smoothies and much salsa in our future. Personally I am all for anything that entices someone else to cook! I attempted to make a delicious birthday meal for him, but alas, things didn't go quite as planned. My meatloaf,oddly enough, was not completely cooked when we sliced into it, so I had to put it back in the oven and ended up serving it at the end of the meal when no one was really hungry anymore. It kind of fell apart too, so it looked more like some sort of goulash or something, but it tasted okay. I tried to get a little fancy with a new recipe, but I should know by now to stick to the old, but acceptably tasty recipe.

Tomorrow we are off to Missouri for a week. My folks are flying into St. Louis and we are meeting up in Branson. With Brittany off to college before long, we are relishing our family time. I'm looking forward to much relaxation. There is an outlet mall there, so I think I'll refresh with a bit of retail therapy. Jeff will be packing up the car tonight, half the trunk for Brittany's luggage and the other half for everything else. Fortunately, we discovered we will have laundry facilities, so she pared down a bit. The boy's very carefully and meticulously packed the PS2, so that was a big help to me. I have become the luggage-pile nazi. No one dares remove anything from my ready-to-go pile. There is nothing worse than checking an item off your list, only to find it's been tampered with. Okay, I suppose there are many things worse than this, but as far as packing goes, this is pretty high up there. Between the tennis rackets, golf clubs, scrapbooking gear, and of course, Brittany's luggage, one might think we were traveling for at least a month or two.

Christian and I are off to the Pine-Wood Derby this morning. Jeff had a regional meeting to attend, so I am temping in the pit-crew in his absence. We hope the "Silver Monkey" will turn in a respectable performance. (An update: We were not very speedy, but we looked good!)

I will endeavor to return from vacation with many interesting things to tell you all. TTFN!

2006-03-09T20:12:00.000-06:00

We are back from Nashville, relaxed, rejuvenated and ready to be parents again. I must say, I started missing the kids on day 2 and was quite happy to see them again. Hopefully my renewed feelings of goodwill and benevolence will last us through the rest of the school year.

Jeff and I had a really nice time although I didn't fulfill my wax museum dream. It was $10 per person and I just couldn't bring myself to pay that for a rinky-dink bit of entertainment. Jeff promised me that should we ever get to New York or London, he will take me to Madame Tossaud's. We did spend time in the Barnes and Noble sipping our Starbucks. Not something we do a lot of with the kids. We also walked around the Opryland Hotel a bit. We tried to take a picture of ourselves by this lovely fountain, but it turned out quite hideous. I am going to see if I can airbrush some of our chins out in photoshop!

David has had an exciting week... upon our arrival home he announced that he is running for Freshman president for the 2006-2007 school year. He is promising that along with kleenex in every classroom, a box of Q-tips shall be provided as well. Apparently it's a clean-ear platform! I don't think he expects to win, but I am pretty proud of him that he's getting a bit out of his comfort zone and doing something rather adventurous. He also got a summer job at Holiday World (the local amusement park!) this week. He went in for an interview a couple of weeks ago, and received a letter in today's mail offering him a position at Goblin Burger's. He already has plans to start saving for college as well as beginning his 'car fund!' I think the idea is that he won't be driving a mini-van when he turns 16! The best part as far as I'm concerned is the mandatory hair-cut code. Nothing over the ears or touching the shirt collar. Yeah! He currently sports about 10lbs. of very moppy hair. I despise it, but have opted not to make an issue of it either.

Christian has changed his career goals once again. Apparently the secret agent/radio station manager positions he had earlier set his sights on, are now out! He is at present in a quandry over the pursuit of pastoral ministry vs. enlisting in the Army. I suggested that perhaps being a chaplain in the Army could be the answer to his dilemna, but apparently should he choose the military route, he definitely wants to shoot people. Should this concern us?

I'm off to bed... a plethara of dirty laundry awaits me bright and early in the morn!

2006-03-01T23:07:00.000-06:00

I think the Graves might finally be healthy! A second wave of the stomach flu passed through our little clan (no pun intended!) bringing with it the end of my compassion toward the sick and ailing in my home. I am tired of sick people! A weak moment found me seriously considering punishing Christian when he complained of a sore throat yesterday. Ahhh, a truly proud parenting moment....

We recently decided to try to transition our outdoor dog into an indoor/outdoor dog. Saturday was our first attempt at bringing her in. Jeff got her freshly bathed and we moved all breakables up high. She did quite well, a little excitable, but all in all she was suprisingly well-behaved. I kid you not though, her breath could have knocked a skunk off it's feet. Are you supposed to brush your dog's teeth? Perhaps some canine binoca would help! Regardless, we are going to have to remedy this pungent problem. Our next step is to introduce the dog to the cat. They observed each other through the glass panes of the french doors, and neither seemed too traumatized by it. Our cat is pretty neurotic. Come to think of it, most of our pets have been a trifle odd! Hmmmm....

It was 75 degrees here today! A welcome relief from the winter cold! I am hoping it means spring is on its way... you know me, can't wait to get my hands in that soil and get my garden going! Well, that should have provided you a good chuckle. My thumbs seems to be just as brown in Indiana. I did try my hand at a small tomato crop in a whiskey barrel on my porch. It was a pitiful sight. Jeff has taken over the family garden. We are still waiting for his cantelope plant from last spring to bloom, but his banana peppers and tomatoes did respectably!

Jeff and I are heading to Nashville for three days next week. Just the two of us! I am so looking forward to it. I have almost talked him into going to the wax museum with me (the fulfilment of a lifelong dream of mine! I dream big huh?) so hopefully I'll have some wonderful things to report on next time!

TTFN!

2006-02-24T14:00:00.000-06:00

Well, here it is... the much-hyped prom dress! And as you can see, one happy 16-year-old as well. After much fruitless searching, I broke down yesterday and ordered a new camera cable from Kodak, the arrival of which I am expecting on Monday. Christian came out this morning carrying a suspiciously familiar cord which he had apparently found in his toybox. Ahhhh, the well-oiled machine I call home.

It is my week for doctor's appointments... I took Brittany to the dermatologist. In walks a doctor with a big mole on the end of his nose. Now, as a many-moled person myself, I am not typically one to poke fun at another's pigmentation problems, however if I were a medical professional with the power to make these little matters disappear, you can bet the house that they'd be gone. It so reminded me of that scene in "Uncle Buck" where John Candy visits his niece's principal and seeing a huge mole on her face mistakenly introduces himself as "Buck Melanoma!"

Yesterday I took David to the orthodontist. He got his braces off! The whole office staff clapped and cheered for him and gave him balloons and a bag of candy, specifically all the things he was not supposed to eat the past two years! I thought it was kind of neat and of course made him pose for a couple of pictures. As I was driving home however, I got to thinking about the $4000 I have paid them over the previous 24 months, and wasn't quite as impressed with their generosity. Oh well, the teeth look great, and I think the neon green glow-in-the-dark retainer will be a nice change of pace for him. I made the receptionist go over the cost of replacement retainers with him, just so he'd know how much he will have to save if he loses these costly bits of plastic!

I am happy to report that I have been eating healthy all morning! Much to my delight, I found a doctor's endorsement on the back of the Baked Lay's bag, with the recommendation to 'indulge sensibly!', so I have been a good patient and obeyed doctor's orders. I feel healthier already!

TTFN!

2006-02-11T08:44:00.000-06:00

We have a prom dress. Alas, I was not victorious in "Operation: Ebay" however I was correct in my hunch that a dress (and not one on the clearance rack) would call to her. It was the fourth dress she tried on and nothing else would do after that. It didn't prevent our browsing through four more stores and the trying on of countless dresses, none of which could hold a candle to "it." I have a lovely picture of it, however I've misplaced the cord to transfer my photos from the camera to the computer, so you will just have to form a mental image. We had much debate between us as to the color of the dress... Brittany was insisting on lemony-lime, while I felt it was more of a mucous color (I was still pulling for the ebay dress at this point mind you!) The fella at David's Bridal clarified things for us... apparently the term for its hue is "kiwi!" It is fluffy and fouffy and shiney and just everything that a 16-year-old girl could ask for. She loves it, she loves us for letting her get it, and she's even been calling us mommy and daddy since. Jeff came home from work a couple days after the purchase to find Brittany sitting in the recliner watching TV... in 'the dress.' Suffice it to say, she likes it a great deal!

We went to a Jeremy Camp concert tonight. It was very good and I enjoyed it immensely, however it made me feel old because my favorite songs were definitely the ones he did without the drums and electric guitars. This was mainly because I couldn't hear the words on the loud ones. I remember my mother complaining about that, and thinking it was because she was old. Of course, best as I can recollect, she was probably about my age or thereabouts! (I regretfully admit as well, that more and more I find myself going into the teeney-bopper stores with Brittany, and finding that 'loud rock music' gives me a headache--another flashback from my youth!) It was definitely interesting to compare Brittany's impressions of the concert with my own. The kids stood in line after the concert to get his autograph on their t-shirts. I of course stood with my camera waiting to capture a memory. I thought... "now there is a nice young man, he looks like a kind young fella. He could use a haircut" while Brittany thought... "he's hot! I am not washing this hand he shook ever again." The hot thought didn't come close to passing through my mind, although I did admire his earring! Seriously, I did enjoy him a lot. I had started listening to his music right around the time that Jeff's dad got sick, and there is one song of his in particular that I really associate with the comfort that the Lord gave to me at that time.

It is insanely cold here this weekend. We bought some groceries before the concert, and upon our return to the car, our milk was frozen! I am planning on dreaming of the tropics tonight! Maybe a nice sunny beach, warm sand, me with a lovely fruity drink in my hand. And of course, I'll be skinny!

TTFN!

2006-02-07T13:14:00.000-06:00

We have some new rules in our home. Jeff decided he was tired of all the teasing and bickering going on and was going to put an end to it once and for all. He is giving each family member (yes, I ashamedly admit that we have included ourselves in this endeavor!) $5 worth of quarters to start the week. Each time someone is caught in anything smacking of a tease they must fork over a quarter into the shoebox. At the end of each week the person with the most remaining quarters wins the shoebox booty! We decided to duct tape the box closed to prevent a loss of quarters. We started a "Cruise Fund" with our quarters about a year ago, but sadly enough we all raided it so often that when David counted our haul a month or so ago, we had about $2 in pennies left! I am thoroughly enjoying the whole thing. Usually it is I who come up with these disciplinary gimmicks. Alas, I am also the one who gets mocked without mercy when they fail. Just ask my kids about the "Sock Rules" sometime....

Well... guess who was down to $4.25 about 3 hours into day 1. Yes.... me! I am quite ashamed of myself. I have fallen into an unacceptable habit of sarcasm it seems. Yes, it's true, as hard as it is to believe. I think however, I might benefit from some clarification between teasing and simple parental observations. For example, should a mere observation that my daughter has a blemish on her face that closely resembles a hindu bindi cost me a quarter? I am considering just throwing my quarters into the shoebox and hoping Jeff wins, since what's his is mine...

Today is the much-hyped prom dress trip. I am sure upon our return, I will have much to tell. I may well have made some progress on my ebay campaign.

TTFN!

2006-02-05T08:08:00.000-06:00

The stomach flu has blown through the Graves family, leaving only Brittany unscathed. Oh, how I hate the stomach flu. It is perhaps my most dreaded common ailment. Forget the perhaps, it definitely is. Infact, I am getting nauseous just thinking about it...

We used our down time wisely, viewing the first 8 epidoses of 24--Season 1, and Batman Begins thrown in for Christian. I must admit, I am now hooked and do not think I could possibly watch this series one week at a time. We now have to wait for Netflix to deliver the next episodes and I'm suprisingly and pathetically anxious for them to arrive. This whole Netflix thing was a Christmas present for Jeff. If truth be told (and it must) I had alterior motives, thinking if he had an endless supply of movies to watch, it would certainly give me a few more scrapbooking hours. I was thoughtful in my duplicity however, also gifting him with a DVD player for the bedroom (where coincidence would have it, my scrapbooking desk is located) so we could be in the same room, each enjoying our own hobby, yet still free to interact and gaze adoringly at each other occasionally. I am finding however, that I am becoming a movie junkie. I am also discovering that Jeff has been right all these years when he's insisted he has much better taste in picking movies. He let me sneak one of my choices into the queue. It was horrifically dumb, while his choices have all been quite good.

The prom dress saga continues with a rescheduled trip on Tuesday. I resourcefully located a handful of very lovely, yet affordable dresses on ebay (new with tags, mind you!) however, this was not well received by the child. It is not so much that she minds the idea herself, granted the dress has not previously been worn by a stranger, it is simply that when asked "Where did you get your dress?" she cannot bear the thought of answering "Ebay!" Somehow buying her prom dress on ebay doesn't fit into her whole idea of what the prom experience should be. I am hoping our little excursion will fulfill the need for "an experience!"

I am hoping that our little bout with the flu will ironically prove to inspire us back onto our diets. Hopefully the next time I post, I will happily report that we're going gangbusters and those unsightly pounds will be melting like buttah!

TTFN!

2006-01-30T08:18:00.000-06:00

Well it's Monday and time to get back to work. After being sick all last week, it seems I have an abundance of housework to do, need to get caught up on my Bible study, definitely should pay some bills and do some grocery shopping. Something in the refrigerator has a less than pleasant aroma, so I should probably tackle that pretty quickly as well. Jeff was great last week, but I had to give my two teenagers a pep talk (they'd probably call it a lecture!) about how they ought to have picked up some of the slack.

I had to cancel the prom-dress trip today. The consequence of some teenage attitude problems in our home this weekend. She was waiting for my final verdict this morning, after which I had to endure her sad sniffles all morning. It amazes me how loud her quiet weeping can be. Like a wounded little puppy with really big sad eyes. Really played on that prohibitive conscience of mine, but I held firm. I venture to speculate, that had I held firm earlier on, we might have avoided some of our present struggle. This parenting thing is hard sometimes. I make decisions that I am pretty sure are good ones, but I just keep second guessing myself. I guess in view of eternity, a delayed shopping trip is pretty small.

I am starting a Bible study tonight that I'm pretty excited about. We are going through "Jesus, the One and Only" by Beth Moore. We have about 12-13 ladies and I think it's going to be a really neat time. I am unsure of the spiritual condition of a couple of them and I am looking forward to seeing what God will do in their hearts. I am trying to be more consistant in my prayer life, one of my New Year's resolutions. I am so easily distracted when I pray. I can just be going gangbusters, really pouring my heart out to God, and the next thing I know I'm planning what I'm going to eat for lunch or determining how badly I need a haircut or something. By the time I realize I've lost my focus, I can't even remember what I was praying about. And I wonder that my 10-year-old is off task so often! I think it's genetic.

Well, I need to get off the computer and let Christian start school. I had him two days ahead of schedule at the beginning of last week. He is now three days behind. He doesn't focus well without me standing over him cracking the whip! He's chatty this morning. He's pretty much kept up a non-stop dialogue (well, make that monologue, I haven't been listening very well--just added a timely grunt or two) the whole time I've been writing. This doesn't always bode well for our looming school day. It's usually days like this that I find him out playing with the dog in the middle of a lesson...

TTFN!

2006-01-28T12:35:00.000-06:00

Look how industrious I am, three posts in less than two weeks. I'm on a roll now folks! I am feeling so much better and seem to have energy to spare. Some might say I'd be better off using it to tackle the floor-to-ceiling laundry pile before me, but I think in the long run, this will bring much more satisfaction. Those clothes will be dirty again next week, but ahhhhh, the memories I will have captured via the written word.

Jeff is off on his second meeting of the day... the first was a breakfast meeting, the second a lunch meeting. I want meetings! Brittany got inspired to make breakfast for the four of us here at home and set off to the grocery for ingredients. She came home with $16 worth of makings only to realize she bought sausage and hashbrowns that were not microwaveable. She was less than pleased to realize she would have to use skillets and the stove. The end result was just fine though and we all layed on the couch afterwards complaining about our full bellies. I commented at the table that I thought she had prepared a bit too much food, to which David happily responded, "You forget mom, we're the Graves!" I believe that is comment enough!

Brittany and I are headed out for the long-awaited prom dress hunt on Monday. I must confess, I am not looking forward to it. I'm anticipating that we will have a different approach to the whole process. I will immediately head to any rack with a clearance sign on it, whereas Brittany will be gazing around waiting to hear one call to her. I know this is 'a rite of passage' or some such thing as that, and being that she is my only daughter, I should be reveling in this bonding experience. I think I'll take my camera and make a scrapbook moment out of it. I'm sure there were some ideas about that in my magazines...

I must go get Christian dressed. I do not understand that boy's aversion to clothing. I have told him and told him that 50 degrees is not tank top weather, but it is not processing. All three children are involved in a wrestling match on the sofa as we speak. It is all fun and games now, but how long will that last? I shall keep time...

Well, I really should go make some sort of attempt at housework. I should at least make sure everyone's got clean undies for church tomorrow. (About 3-1/2 minutes--it's now all out war!) TTFN...

2006-01-26T14:38:00.000-06:00

I'm back...

Well, I proudly showed my husband my very first blog entry, only to receive a lukewarm review from him, however he felt guilty for not lavishing praise on me and I got a pretty good back rub out of it. All in all, a success!

I have been sick since Saturday. I look a mess, sound worse and am basically completely repulsive. Fortunately, I feel too sick to care! Jeff keeps complaining about finding my kleenex all over the house, however I have stashed it everywhere in the event of an unexpected sneeze! I have managed to thumb through all my back issues of Creating Keepsakes this week, so when I do feel better, and rid my home of the 'a tornado just blew through' look, I am chalk-full of new scrapbooking ideas! One article I really found helpful was encouraging me to do a scrapbook page about what a sexy woman I am... celebrate me! Maybe I could use a nice phlegm colored background to really capture the current me!

Brittany is quite anxious for me to mend so I can take her prom dress shopping. A first for both of us. I offered to go in halves with her, generously committing to $25. Did you know that it's hard to come by a prom dress for $50. Apparently they don't sell them at Target or Walmart. She did a little online browsing and swooned over a little $238 number. Something about it 'calling her name!' We will definitely need to come to a compromise between my trash bag with arm holes ideas, and her cinderella dream. She's also trying to pressure Jeff into letting her go tanning. So far he's holding firm. We are trying to teach her to value her skim-milky complexion! It's just not natural to be tan in Indiana in April. By April we haven't seen the sun in months...

Gotta run, all this has exhausted me. Must resume my position on the couch under my warm electric blanket...

2006-01-20T14:06:00.000-06:00

Hello all -

With the encouragement of my husband and nephew, I am going to give bloggin' a try... I have pledged many times over the past year or so to write more, maybe even keep a daily journal, but alas--my disorginization has gotten the best of me, and I have failed. Maybe this will help inspire me to greater and greater writing feats! And of course, you all know how much I LOVE praise, so heap it on me!

It is a typical bleak Indiana winter day, although I can't complain about the 50+ degree weather. I just miss the leaves and green things! Christian is endeavoring to inspire me in song, kind of his version of what a nun might sound like. He is full of chatter today about his life's ambitions. He still dreams of being a professional baseball player, however as he matures and reality sets in, he is coming to accept that perhaps this isn't in the works! He is now trying to decide between being a secret agent or a real estate agent! Should the agent thing not come to fruition, he thinks he might like to manage a radio station. The random variety of his goals amuses me. I have assured him that due to his present effort in school, I believe a job at the Circle S convenience store might be looking good.

It is David's birthday today! 14 years old. You should see his mop of hair right now. He looks like a mushroom--a disturbing trend I've noticed among his peers. We are currently in negotiations over it. I am busy (at least until I got distracted doing this) getting his presents wrapped and his birthday dinner made. Brittany invited Gumdrop (the boyfriend!) over as well, but I'm waiting to see if he's coming or not before I decide how clean the house needs to be. David is trying to learn to play the drums. Praise the Lord, he practices at church! Time will tell whether he's inherited the Graves talent for music, or the Clark's complete lack of it.

Oh dear, I just looked out the window only to notice Christian playing with the dog, wearing only David's P.E. shorts and some water shoes. I could swear he had more clothes on than that just a few moments ago. Perhaps it's time for me to wrap this up for now...