Saturday, September 24, 2011

I thought she had a black rope in her mouth...

As we rushed around grabbing a piece of pizza, changing clothes and getting ready to head out the door for opening night of Logan's play, Aristocats, Clay started screaming that there was a snake in the house.  This comment meant nothing to me...in one ear and out the other...never gave it a second thought.  I cannot count how many times he has said that or how many fake, rubber, and very life like snakes he has.   Meme, Logan and I were about to head out the door.  I did not have time for this.  I went to kiss him goodbye and saw him on his knees in the den under the table.   REALLY....YEP....there it was...a 3 foot long, skinny, black snake coiled up under the table.

My favorite line of the day came next when my dad calmly said, "I thought I saw the kitty with a black rope in her mouth."  Nope, not a rope, a snake.  Dang cat!!!  The kids went nuts!  Everyone was screaming, standing on top of the furniture.  Brantlee tried to get it with the broom and dust pan but it streched itself out, slivered off the dust pan and under the book shelf.   WE GOTTA GO!!!  Logan has to be at LCHS at 6:00.  Clay was going nuts, the girls were standing on top of the furniture screaming and my mom and dad just stood back in shock.  Yep, this is the way we roll at the Lawrence house.  Never a dull moment! 

I knew Clay was going to knock himself out, he was so fired up and excited.  The snake was not cooperating with Brantlee so he took a step back and said, "we'll just get it when we get home."  For a second, much to their disbelief, I think my parents believed him.   I found an old curtain rod with a hook on the end and Brantlee was able to hook him around it and tossed him out the door.  Clay, Lawson and the cat followed closely behind to stalk the snake down again.  Meme, Logan and I headed out the door.

The play was awesome!  I was so impressed with Logan and how relaxed and at ease she was on stage.  I thought my heart would burst right out of my chest with pride.  At the end of the play, I cried!  Where did that come from??  She had told us that in the final song of the play she (and other alley cats) would jump off the stage and dance right in front of the audience.  Evelyn sat awe struck when Logan danced right in front of her with the lights low, music loud and the whole crowd singing.  It was an awesome performance and yes I am biased.  This was Logan's first stage performance but I know now that it will not be her last. 

We came home and had a belated birthday party for my mom.  With the children all jacked up on chocolate cake and soda, the adults headed to bed :-)  As I climbed into my bed... pushing my feet down under the covers...what gets caught between my toes...but one of Clay's cold plastic snakes.  

I smile knowing that my old Clay is back!  He is out of the drug induced fog he has lived in the past week and he is going to be okay!

Wednesday, September 21, 2011

Worth Celebrating...

Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds~James 1:2

When my feet hit the ground this morning I prayed for a good day and believed that I would have one.  Clay slept through the night...which meant so did I...I made pancakes AND French toast...whatever they wanted...just call me a short order cook...music was going...kids were happy...Brantlee is flying home tonight...yep...it is going to be a good day! 

Clay and I head out the door to take Evelyn to school and my car sounded horrible...hummm...headed back home and it sounded even worse...hummm...I have car pool tonight...okay, no problem I will head to Geryic's.  As they check out my car Clay is rolling around on the bench in the waiting room, not loving life.  I call Laura...she picks us up and takes us home.  Geryic's will call when they have an answer.

No problem, we are not going anywhere anyway. It is what it is!

Clay gets all comfy on the sofa and the phone rings, it is Lawson...sick at school...REALLY!  I have no car, no way to get her.  So, I pick up the phone and call Laura (again)...get Clay back up and have Laura drive us out to the airport to get Brantlee's truck....head to Merry Acres...pick up Lawson...come home...phone rings...it's Geryic's...need all new brakes...$800.00...yippee! How did it all go so wrong so fast...I have not even finished my coffee and I have had a car break down, another sick kid and have spent $800.00.  Not the day I was planning on!

I get Clay and Lawson situated, heat up my cold coffee and check my computer.  Mom had sent me an email about reading June 4-11 in the book Jesus Calling.  She did not know how far south my day had already gone.  It read...

"The best way to get through a difficult day is to hold My hand and talk to Me.  Ask Me to guide you through your problems and show you the blessings hidden in them."

Today is going to be a good day.  I am going to see the blessings hidden within.  I don't ever want to sound like I am complaining.  I find so much of my life purely comical and down right hysterical at times.  I think LLCE might get a kick out of reading this one day.  I can usually laugh off one thing being out of whack at a time...and even roll with 2...it is when I get 3,4,5,6 things falling apart around me then throw Brantlee being out of town on top of it...things can get a little hairy. 

I know I am blessed beyond measure and my problems are so small in the scheme of things.
But today I am considering problems pure joy and knowing that with Him by my side they can become worth celebrating.

Monday, September 19, 2011

Now what...

Well, today is a typical Sunday.  Rush around trying not to "loose our religion" getting to church, make it to church, have a seat and be BLESSED by the music and sermon.  I love our church.  It sustains me. 

My options for today are endless.  I can get started on the MOUND of dirty, crusty dishes in the sink from last night.  Those poor dishes did not get done due to way too much football to watch.  I try not to go to bed with dirty dishes in the sink, but last night was an exception to that rule.  My other option for today is start folding the 5 baskets of clean laundry in my room that get more and more wrinkled by the minute...not to mention the 3 loads that are patiently waiting on the laundry room floor.  I could also go through my refrigerator, plan our menu for the week, check my calendar for what is coming up....Instead I find myself still sitting in the den by Clay...doing nothing...just hanging out with him like I have done since Thursday night. 

This poor child is bored out of his mind...rolling around on the sofa, tired of his DS, Ipod and television.  He can entertain himself for hours in the woods and in his tree house.   He would pick the outdoors over any type of technology any day.    More than anything, I just want him to feel better.   I know concussions are extremely common and a complete recovery is coming our way....so why I am not wanting him to go to school, or leave my side?  I even hesitated leaving him in Sunday school this morning.   I have never been one to act on my over-protective-mom-neurosis...but today I am struggling.

I am usually sure when he is on a field trip that his bus will get in an accident, but I send him!
I am usually sure that when he is spending the night off that the house will burn down, but I send him!
Every morning that he leaves our driveway on his bike, headed to school, I think he is going get hit by a car.  But I let him get on his bike and go.

Some of my mom friends say they feel the same exact way, others say I need medication.  

With all these situations and my crazy over protective mind games, I pray...I pray all the time, little prayers, big prayers.  Not just for my children but for myself and my over abundance of fear.   I pray for balance.  Not long ago our pastor said something that I have not forgotten.  She said that fear can be a lack of faith.  I believe that whole heartedly

Clay is a very accident prone kid. We have had many visits to the orthopedist as well as the ER.  This last visit to the ER was the second trip to Palmyra that I truly feared the outcome.  To see him confused and in such pain was about too much.  Oh, I know there are people out there with much bigger health problems than ours and what we are going through is nothing compared to the mountains others have to climb.  But this is my blog...my thoughts.

But folks, it just does something to you when you see your child in a serious health crisis.  It shakes me to the core.  It makes me irrational and crazy.  Lawson came close to being hit by a car when she was 3 years old and it took me FOREVER to feel normal again.  

So between my irrational thoughts and my accident prone children...times like these are hard. 

Friday, September 16, 2011

Oh boy...Clay does it again

Yesterday I was thinking about my blog...and now that I started one...what next...what do I write about...well, here is another entry into the Lawrence children's virtual baby book.


Yesterday was the first football game of the season.  Logan had play practice from 6-8, Lawson had soccer practice from 5:30-6:30 and Clay had a game from 6-7.  I hated the idea of missing his game but Brantlee and I decided to divide and concur.  I was excited when Brantlee text me at soccer practice to let me know that Clay's game started 30 minutes late.  GREAT!  We will make the second half. 


I found Brantlee tailgating with the Plowden's.   We all hung out on the outside of the fence and watched the game.  I decided to move so I could see better...when I looked up, there was a player down...after half a minute I looked at Brantlee and asked if it was Clay. I knew the answer by the look on his face.  I have learned to hold back the urge to act like a hysterical mom and run on the field.  Instead I try to hold back, let the coaches do their jobs ....so I waited....and waited...I saw the coaches make the teams take a knee....then make the players remove their helmets...that was it...I ran around half the field to get to the gate.  Somehow when I got there, Brantlee was already by Clay.  How did he beat me to Clay?   The adults on the field kept telling me, he can move everything, he never lost consciousness. Okay...I know that is all good but....he was bawling, his head was killing him.  When he came off the field Brantlee and I sat with him for the last few minutes of the game.   That's when Brantlee told me he jumped the (7 foot) fence when he heard someone mention calling an ambulance. 


On the way home Clay got very upset saying his head was killing him, he was dizzy, he thought he was going to throw up, his legs were tingling.....I just prayed, "Oh Lord, let him be okay!"  Brantlee and I pulled over on the side of the road and I put Lawson and Evelyn in his truck.  We headed to the ER.


The doctor was not "happy" with the quick neuro test (squeeze my hands, stand up, put your hands out...close your eyes....)  and ordered a CT.   Four hours later we were sent home with a diagnosis of a concussion, to be woken up every 2 hours and to see our pediatrician first thing in the morning for a follow up neuro test. 


We did all that.  He is going to be okay, just dazed, confuse, very sleepy and a little slow.  He should be notably better by Monday or to come back to see the doctor.  Now for the challange...do nothing...NOTHING...for 2 weeks.  Do you know Clay?  Have you ever seen him sit still for very long?  He could give himself a concussion watching GATOR football.  No riding his bike to school, no getting in his tree house, no swinging, no scooter, no skateboard (Dah!) no basketball,no back yard soccer, no running...nothing...nothing. 


I now know what my mother-in-law means when she said, "they (children) will keep you on your knees!"

Wednesday, September 14, 2011

I write too much on facebook...but I have a lot to say!

I love reading friends blogs but never thought about starting one for myself...I think it will be like the baby book that my children will never have.  Of course, the first child (children) have one that goes all the way until the day Clay was born.  He also has one with three whole pages of the pictures from the day he was born.  I tried scrapbooking but was not very successful at that.  If you know me at all...you know I love to start a project...but completing it has always been a problem. 

My husband, Brantlee, and my four children are my life.  The children do and say so many crazy, amazing, ridiculous things that I want to document and remember...I think that is the reason I got on FB to begin with.  But the stories I have to tell want fit in the  FB status bar. I love to look back and see what we were doing in the past.  I looked into a way to print out my FB but could not figure that out.  So, here I am on Blogger! 

I have been married to my college sweetheart for 15 year.  We had twin daughters, Lawson and Logan July 1, 2000.  Clay came along VERY soon after.  He was born April 26, 2002.  We knew we wanted a large family (even though our families did not believe us.) But, we waited 4 years to have Evelyn.  She was born November 28, 2006. 

I taught Special Education for 5 years, until I got pregnant with the girl.  I am now a stay at home mom.  Brantlee is an agricultural chemical sales representative for MANA Inc.  He covers several states and travels all the time.   The traveling life is all we have ever really known.  When we were first married, he was home a week, gone a week.  It works for us!  You know the old saying, "absence makes the heart grow fonder!"  Well, it is TRUE!

So, that is me!  I am living my dream.  All I ever wanted to do was be a stay at home mom, just like mine! I do, however, spend a lot of time in "mommy timeouts" and I am usually convinced that I am screwing my kids up but I am doing the best I can.  I'm doing the best I can was my second choice for my blog.   I think blogging will be a fun thing for me to do when Brantlee is out of town and it will give my children a good laugh one day!   So here it goes...