let your heart be light

have yourself a merry little christmas.
love,
jodi, leo, kate, and ian

heaven might smell this good

125 pans of cinnamon rolls baked today. made from scratch. yum.

christmas cookies - 2009 edition

"a day without laughter is a day wasted." - charlie chaplin

my two lovely sisters.  completely rotten, they are.  while i...yes, i...the middle child, am a completely innocent and perfectly behaved little girl. 

those are JILL'S own handprints on her chest.  (lest you think that jim was helping us bake cookies today and became very frisky seeing jill in that auburn t-shirt and simply had to lay rightful claim to the ta-ta's that are already his.)

and this picture.  oh my gosh.  the quality of it is extraordinarily poor because i was absolutely laughing so hard i couldn't breathe.  it still makes me snort out loud.

kate's profession

i've already got it figured out...kate could be a writer (she LOVES to write!), a teacher (she's very philoprogenitive ~ do you know what that means?), or a photographer. she's got a great eye with the camera. no kidding. below is a picture she took today (at petland) of a turtle. i think it's terrific! (perhaps she taking after our wonderfully sweet neighbor erica!)

From gray's blog entry

snakes and snails and puppy dog tails . . .

that's what grayson is made of. 

grayson is my adopted nephew and adorably ornery son of my beautiful friend peggy.  today, the kids and i went to grayson's birthday party at petland.  hilarity ensued.  and yes, kate and ian left wanting a puppy...a $1500 yorkie, to be exact.  (uh, that ain't happenin'.)

oh, and i want to officially wish peg good luck in getting that green icing off grayson's face.  (some icing fell on the floor at petland and actually left a stain!)

now taking requests

i've had a couple of people tell me that they're enjoying my christmas music playlist, but that i need to add more songs.  so, okay.  you request it.  i'll see if i can find it.

(*please note, i REFUSE to add "grandma got run over by a reindeer" to the playlist.  and yes, it's been requested to me at work.  i simply can't desecrate the holiday with it!)

one of the coolest things ever

my compassionate and loving co-worker, danielle, sent me the link to this website.  how can you NOT do this?  go there.  now. 

(click on the orange arrows at the bottom to scroll through messages, photos, and links.)

santa baby

me on the left, juj on the right.  at my school's fundraiser this evening.  (our santa totally rocked!)

uh . . . this has me worried

one of my children. . .

 ...helping my child.  a thing of beauty.

"mental health problems do not affect three or four out of every five persons, but one out of one.” - dr. william menninger

two weeks ago i had my three-month tune-up. you know...meds checked, confirmation that i'm not talking to pink elephants, that i'm actually sleeping, etc.  the regular stuff.  my check-ups are a breeze when i'm feeling okay.  and i was lucky to be feeling okay that day.  in fact, my doc actually said, and i quote, "you have a lightness about you," meaning that i was not bogged down in the mire...as is typical for november.  i explained that i had recently made the decision to cut very toxic individuals and situations from my life, and that could explain my "lightness". 

he told me it was about time.

okay, so, i've had some shaky moments since my check-up.  headaches.  really weird appetite ~ borderline nausea that turns into ravenous hunger.  inability to focus. racing thoughts.  typical symptoms.  but they seem to be coming and going...as opposed to just coming and staying.  and for that, i am grateful.  yes, this thanksgiving, i am grateful that as of yet, the black dog is not on my heels.  he's poked his head around the corner a couple of times, just to remind me that he hasn't disappeared, and that's okay.  he just needs to keep himself at a reasonable distance.

so, anyways, i love the quote by dr. menninger above.  it's true, whether you choose to believe it or not. 

a few weeks ago, a young man in our community attempted suicide.  i know of him, but don't know him personally.  still, when i found out what happened, i wanted desperately to help.  his pain is real.  his need for help is legitimate.  i'm sure his family feels helpless.  i hope they are not also feeling shame.

a very close friend in my life (who desires anonymity) is trying desperately to get mental health treatment, but keeps being put off by every counseling office that she calls; either they can't see her for another 6 weeks, or worse yet, one office said that if she were on a medical card, they could see her right away.  but because she is a professional, with insurance, she'll just have to wait.  her comment to me, "jodi, i'm literally begging for help, and i can't get it."

of course, the desire for anonymity (those of us with a mental illness usually desire it) is caused by stigma.  stigma kills.  if you haven't read the article about the death of robert enke, a european soccer player who chose to kill himself rather than disclose his clinical depression, then please click here.  his story is devastatingly familiar.

finally, if you haven't had a chance to check out two of my absolute favorite websites, please go to Bring Change 2 Mind and No Kidding, Me Too.  joe pantoliano has been on my hero's list for a long time; now i'm gonna have to add glenn close as well. 

by the way, if you head over to Bring Change 2 Mind, they have these really cool t-shirts, with a diagnosis on some, and then "sister", or "mother, or "combat partner", etc. on the other one.  i'd like to order one that says "depression" when the website opens their shop. 

in reality, shouldn't we all be buying a shirt?  either we have an illness, or we love someone who does. 

perhaps that's the point.

weekend thank-yous

to jenn and eli, dan and laura, fern, and mario. i never take kindness for granted.

Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle. ~Plato

you go, glenn

here's some info from glenn close's new advocacy group, BringChange2Mind.  pretty cool stuff.  make sure you check it out.  in addition to his public service announcement, ron howard shot several other videos worth watching here.  i've included a behind-the-scenes clip of the PSA below.

BringChange2Mind.org is a not-for-profit organization created by Glenn Close, the Child and Adolescent Bipolar Foundation (CABF), Fountain House, and Garen and Shari Staglin of IMHRO (International Mental Health Research Organization).  The idea of a national anti-stigma campaign was born of a partnership between Glenn Close and Fountain House, where Glenn volunteered in order to learn about mental illness, which both her sister and nephew suffer from.

BringChange2Mind's mission is two-fold:

1. Provide people with misconceptions about mental illness quick and easy access to information that combats stigma.
2. Provide people with mental illness, and those who know them, quick and easy access to information about support.

Ron Howard generously donated his time in directing our first PSA that features Glenn Close and her sister, Jessie Close. John Mayer generously donated his song, Say, which serves as an anthem for this movement.

Our campaign has the support of major mental health organizations, including Active Minds, the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP), International Mental Health Research Organization (IMHRO), the Jed Foundation, Mental Health America (MHA), National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), NARSAD, National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).

judging and condeming others: by father john dietzen

read this article by fr. dietzen today in the catholic times:

Q:  Shortly after the funeral of Sen. Ted Kennedy, I was stunned to hear a talk-show person commenting, "Who is going to tell the children that Sen. Kennedy is not going to heaven."  Being raised Catholic, I was taught that even a last-minute act of contrition or plea to God would assure us of a place in heaven.  Could you clarify what he said?

A:  I don't know this individual's religious beliefs, of course, but from the viewpoint of Catholic teaching and that of most other mainline Christian traditions, the statement was shamefully uninformed and shallow.

Even some Catholics seem equally unaware of (or maybe they just don't accept) Catholic and common Christian belief, which pretty much parallels what you said.  God's grace is always at work in each of us as long as we live.

Sadly, some people have just enough faith to believe in a God who judges us, but not enough faith to believe in a God who loves us.  So they believe their surest way of pleasing God is to judge others as well.

We all need forgiveness.  As one spiritual writer put it, we are all beggars at the door of God's mercy.  We have a hard enough time trying to discern the secret movements of God's grace in our own hearts without pretending to know the inner secrets of someone else.

It is the grossest kind of spiritual pride, not to say foolishness, to imagine we have inside knowledge of God's relationship with any other human being, or that we know which people He should condemn or not. 

There is also the fact that we have a direct and serious command of our Lord not to judge one another. To claim or act as if we can judge another person's state of soul, that we have knowledge of that person's most intimate relationship with God, even what God's eternal plan is for that person, is or should be among other things just silly for anyone who professes to believe in the God of Christians. 

Unfortunately, there are too many who, letting their emotions and prejudices get the better of them, recklessly are willing to do just that.

So,  your instincts are spiritually healthy.  Self-righteous contempt and ridicule of those we disagree with sometimes appear politically useful and even make one feel self-satisfied, but not only is such a strategy seriously wrong, it never advances the cause of good.

St. Thomas Aquinas, along with countless other Catholic theologians, reminds us that God has ways of reaching people with His love and grace about which we know nothing.  That is our faith. 

This may sound trite, but it is nonetheless valid:  We must hate the sin, but love the sinner.  That's what Jesus always did, and that's what he requires us to do.

maybe i'm just feeling hormonal

a friend of mine frequently quotes the bumper-sticker slogan "mean people suck." i don't know that i've ever heard of a statement that so crudely, succinctly, and yet so accurately defines a subgroup of humanity. she's right.  mean people do, in fact, suck.

i was putting up my outside christmas lights today (seeing as how it was over 70 degrees and this must be indian summer and who knows, we could have snow on the ground tomorrow) and reflecting on the past year...and boy what a year it has been...and wow, have i had the misfortune of being around some really mean people.  egads.  i was speaking with a pastor from another church this evening about my disillusionment with folks in general, and asking him what the deal was.  i mean, really.  what's the deal? 

i've heard psychologists and counselors and tv personalities like dr. phil say that there is always a "pay-off" for behavior.  and so i'm asking...what's the pay-off?  hey, you mean folks out there...what are you getting out of it?  seriously.  which fruit of the spirit are you cultivating...love (agape), joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, or self-control???  pick one, and explain please...

cause i'm curious about the pay-off.

his mother's son

after bringing home a disappointing science grade yesterday, ian looked at me, tears streaming down his face, and lamented with a panicked cry:

"what if i'm STUPID and there's NOTHING we can do about it?"

it bears repeating

that crazy mike yaconelli...what was he thinking, talking about God this way?  (sarcasm intended)

"the grace of God is dangerous. it's lavish, excessive, outrageous, and scandalous. God's grace is ridiculously inclusive. apparently God doesn't care who He loves. He is not very careful about the people He calls His friends or the people He calls His church."

columbus day: the 2009 version

last year on columbus day, juj and i took the kids to scioto trails.  this year, i took kate, ian, ben, chloe, and taylor there by myself.  the trees are about a week or so away from turning, but some have already changed colors. what a brisk and beautiful day, spent with five little goofballs...

just take the stinkin' picture

...says ben. and so i did with shaking hands from giggling so much.  (thus the blurry photo, but you can still sense ben's impatience.)

no swimming

taylor, kate, and i had a good laugh at this sign today, which was posted on a trail at scioto trails.

homecoming 2009

my beautiful niece taylor, and her equally adorable date eric.  they're crazy about each other...as friends.  (personally, i think they should rethink that "just friends" thing.)

oh, and the phrase "like mother, like daughter" definitely applies here...

(click here for more pictures.)

amen

“Then the King will say to those on His right,
‘Come, you who are blessed of My Father,
Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.
‘For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat;
I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink;
I was a stranger, and you invited Me in;
naked, and you clothed Me;
I was sick, and you visited Me;
I was in prison, and you came to Me.’
“Then the righteous will answer Him, ‘
Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You,
or thirsty, and give You something to drink?
‘And when did we see You a stranger, and invite You in,
or naked, and clothe You?
‘When did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’
“The King will answer and say to them,
‘Truly I say to you,
to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine,
even the least of them,
you did it to Me.’

~matthew 25:34-40

you can't judge a corn hole team by its name

earlier today, juj and i played in a corn hole tournament at the beaver oktoberfest.  we participate in this strictly for fun and out of a tremendous sense of nostalgia. anyone who knows us realizes how much we adored our childhood sundays in beaver. 

before our grandmother's death in 1975, mom and dad would drive us in the station wagon (every sunday) to beaver for a wonderful home-cooked meal at my grandparents' house.  we would eat around noon, then spend the afternoon playing outside...my grandfather listening to his beloved reds on the radio while drinking hudepohl or pabst blue ribbon beer.  life was simple.  and good.  and filled with love.  the love came from our grandmother.

grandma's name was vonberta.  yes, that's an unusual name.  the first of eleven children, she was tall (this is where juj and i get our height), olive-skinned, and probably the most authentically loving, generous, and compassionate soul that ever lived.  interestingly, i researched the origin of grandma's name several years ago and discovered it derives from the german "vonbertha".  "vonbertha" was a character in german folklore who would enter the nurseries of crying children in the middle of the night and rock them back to sleep.  my grandmother was aptly named.

so, back to oktoberfest.

today, juj and i wore our corn hole t-shirts (yes, corn hole t-shirts) to the tournament.  my shirt has an image of a corn cob on the left side of my chest with the word "CORN" under it.  juj's shirt is identical, but hers says "HOLE".  (hee, hee.  no kidding.)  okay, so we don't play to win.  we're not great at corn hole, but we're also not too shabby.  we honestly play to have a great time; and we always do.

when registering for the tournament this morning, we had to provide a team name; we chose "VONBERTA'S GIRLS".  our first match was against two guys whose team name was "PANTIES OFF".  yes.  "panties off". 

turns out, the guys from "panties off", probably in their mid to late twenties, were two of the nicest fellas you'd ever want to meet.  they were terrific at corn hole and beat us easily.  but they were so darn nice, we instantly became their biggest fans as they advanced in the tournament.  (juj and i jokingly said that our team name should've been "panties on").  we went on to play another team (we didn't ask for or know their nickname..."panties off" would've been hard to beat), but they, too, were incredibly nice...and we all laughed and joked and shook hands when the match was over like we were old friends.

juj and i didn't throw very well today.  truth be told, all of the men there were pretty hard core when it came to corn hole.  but that's okay.  we held our own.  more importantly, i like to think, we were a little like our team namesake when it came to being kind to those around us this morning. 

grandma would've been proud.

a wrinkle in time

look at the obvious crease in the photo below..."a wrinkle in time".  get it?  (ha, ha, snort!)

okay, so the joke on the title was bad.  at any rate, i just found this incredibly aged photo in a drawer.  and the funny thing was, i instantly recognized julie.  i've seen juj's face more in my lifetime than i have my own. can you tell which one is her?  (she hasn't changed one bit!)

"one great use of words is to hide our thoughts." - voltaire

it seems that over the course of the past two weeks (since julie's messages about the power of words), i have been abnormally subjected to some really bad ones!  while trying in earnest to watch my own tongue, and often doing a pretty lousy job of it, i have, at the same time, become increasingly aware of the truth behind the following:

"great talker, great liar."  ~ french proverb

i was told once that liars never stop talking.  a gentleman i know who used to work in law enforcement stated that the "guilty ones" always refused to shut up.  perhaps while trying to convince the authorities of their innocence they were trying to convince themselves as well.  i've seen this alot lately.  my students are bad about it, of course, and so are my own kids.  yes, i do it too.  we all lie.  but i've experienced this recently with someone who's a real pro. and he/she (i won't say which) scares the bejeebers out of me! 

"flattery is all right so long as you don't inhale.” ~ adlai stevenson

my mother told me once when i was in college to "beware the flatterer".  well, amen, mother.  i get it.  i totally get it.  words definitely have the power to inspire confidence and esteem; i love to compliment others (perhaps because i like to be complimented myself), but there is certainly a fine line between building someone up and being a complete phony.  honestly, don't we all realize when someone is insincere?  sometimes, don't we just want to say..."thanks, but i'm not inhaling this time". 

"it's not what you say.  it's how you say it."

ouch.  this one hurts me the most.  hey, i'm not innocent of committing this crime.  i'm probably at my worst with my own kids.  but man.  i don't take a disrespectful tone with my peers because they are...well...my peers.

so perhaps the childhood adage of:

if you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all, is still the best way to go.

 i'm still working on that one, too.

amazingly coincidental

read this earlier today on one of my co-worker's 'quote of the day' desk calendars:

Arrogance is a mixture of impertinence, indiscipline, rudeness, harshness, and a self-assertive nature.   ~ swami sivananda

bathroom etiquette for the football player

i'm not sure which is funnier ~ the fact that he took his helmet off in the bathroom to pee, or how he could've possibly forgotten it on the floor when he turned to leave. surely he wasn't straddling that thing the whole time...

"today, you have 100 percent of your life left.” - tom landry

typical brayden and ian. a little waverly tiger and notre dame figting irishman, beating the snot out of each other on a football saturday. for them, life doesn't get any better than this...

questions #2 and #3

why did waverly fans leave the jackson game last night after the ironmen scored their last touchdown? (those of us who stayed almost saw the tigers come back and win!) i was incredibly proud of how our boys hung in there. and to quote the young man sitting behind me ~ the passionate tiger fan with the multiple piercings and tats ~ that onside kick was "one sexy call"!

my next question is rather critical, but i'm feeling a little reckless and bold this evening, so what the heck...

since when did so many of our waverly fans decide it's not cool to cheer on their team? seriously, folks. lighten up. stand up. put your hands together and get behind these kids.

geesh.

question #1

do people seriously believe this is intended to be "brainwashing"?

you. have. got. to. be. kidding. me.

to quote knute rockne: "Most men, when they think they are thinking, are merely rearranging their prejudices."

saturday in september

a young fighting irish player giving advice to an osu buckeye on how to beat navy:

probably a boring post for you but i couldn't be happier!

just when i was getting ready to pull up the pumpkin plants that seemed to be dying, i found these three gorgeous little fellas! hooray!

*sigh*

birthday boys

(above: wyatt, landon, and ian)

tracey lamerson graciously allowed me to combine ian's birthday celebration with wyatt's last night ~ resulting in nine boys playing, fighting, wrestling, hitting, roasting hotdogs & marshmallows, telling ghost stories, watching movies, and finally sleeping (around 3:00 a.m.). aunt juj and taylor even crashed the party (aunt juj had both ted and tracey as students in high school!). the kids had a blast, and ted and tracey were so incredibly hospitable. we really love them alot.

baby #1

hooray! we're finally expecting! (no, not a real baby...a baby gourd. you know, from the volunteer in the post below...)

isn't she cute and fuzzy? she measures approximately 3/4".

growth

this unexpected, little volunteer...

has become this:

now, if we can just get some fruit on that vine.

why we're jets fans

our cousin, eric smith, plays for the new york jets. last year he started at safety (many of you will remember the vicious collision between he and anquan boldin). there was a massive debate about the helmet-to-helmet contact between eric and boldin, but i honestly believe that kerry rhodes' involvement in the play didn't help matters, and eric found himself in an incredibly dangerous situation. (eric was knocked unconscious as well.)

at any rate, we got to hang out with eric at our family reunion a few weeks ago. he is delightful in person. quiet and reserved. great with the kids. kate and ian were on cloud nine the entire afternoon. (my grandfather and eric's grandfather are brothers, and for those of you who don't know, yes, my maiden name is smith).

at one point in the afternoon, many of the relatives were talking about what fantastic athletes the smiths have produced...and it's true. my grandfather was recruited by the st. louis cardinals prior to WWII. my cousin rob was a tremendous basketball player and now coaches at urbana university. eric's sister stacy is being recruited out of groveport to play college volleyball. all of the other cousins have shown an enormous propensity toward athleticism. it's pretty cool.

so anyways, here are my kids with one of their heroes. they have many, but i'm pretty sure eric ranks right up there at the top.

random thoughts on a sunday evening

• what is the filmy residue that builds up on the inside of the front windshield of my car? does anyone else have this?



• i heard the song "rock of ages" by def leppard a little while ago on xm radio. it reminds me of you, d.j. owens.



• i would like to create a web site just for people who can't sleep in the middle of the night. that way, insomniacs (or people who are just plain full of anxiety) can log on, chat, and know they're not alone.



• ian has started referring to his genitals as his "willy wonkas". i have no idea where that came from. he usually just refers to them as his "boys".



• have any of you seen the "coming home" series on ESPN that's hosted by rick reilly? excellent show. i've seen it twice, and both times, rick has featured christians: kurt warner and josh hamilton. leo wants me to email rick and see if he'll do a special on chuck ealey.



• my kids are currently dancing/jumping up and down on my bed while watching zac efron sing "lady's choice" from the movie hairspray. zac is awfully cute, if i do say so myself.



• philip burguieres is one of my heroes.



• when my sisters and i were little, our father would make us be quiet during the opening themes of tv shows so he could tape them on his tape recorder. i can still remember him shushing us and holding the white, rectangular microphone up to the television. (he only did this during the 1970s.) my personal favorites are here, here, here, and here. in the 1980s, i fell in love with this, this, and the best tv opening of all time: this.
  


• have you ever had a paranormal/ghostly experience? i have smelled my grandmother's cigarette smoke a few times since she died in 1991.
  


• true or false: "you can't control how you feel."
  


• what song do you have stuck in your head, right now?
  


• i love comments. leave some comments. nice comments.

jill's zinnias

playing around with picasa and wishing i could do these zinnias justice...they are simply gorgeous. flowers make me truly happy.

From Collages

the boys of summer

oh my gosh...what a BLAST! ian was in heaven being on the all-star team! he alternated between playing shortstop and pitcher. (he is seen in most of the video wearing a heart-guard, a requirement for boys playing pitcher.) ian was the lead-off batter and had a pretty good on-base percentage. his fielding was awesome, too.

all in all, we couldn't have asked for a more wonderful tournament season. the boys were absolutely terrific (and adorable) and really pulled together as a team.

and as for our coaches...hey, we love you matt snodgrass, jeff davis, rick swain, and kent shanks! you guys rock!

p.s. to see erica snodgrass' fantastic tournament pictures, click here and here!

"Boys are beyond the range of anybody's sure understanding, at least when they are between the ages of 18 months and 90 years." -James Thurber

"i've always depended on the kindness of strangers." - tennessee williams

i just got off the phone with tony stover. tony lives in sevierville, tennesse. tony is a pretty cool guy. he proves that most people are, despite their shortcomings, essentially good.

a few weeks ago while on vacation, i fell off a boulder. yeah, a boulder. i landed several feet below on another boulder, located in the river that rushed through the chimneys (an area in the smokey mountains). to give you a visual, here is julie navigating around one of the rocks:

the mountains had experienced severe downpours for the previous twenty-four hours, so the water was moving extraordinarily fast, as you can see from the video below (excuse the fuzziness of the picture).

the boulders were also very slippery. i saw a rock that i wanted to get to, and told myself wisely not to jump to it. instead, i thought, i will take the safe way around...one step later found me five feet down, wedged between two boulders. my camera, which was strapped to my wrist, flew into the water as my hand bounced off the rock's surface. a knot instantly came up on my wrist, and the ribs on my upper left side were hurting terribly.

i was stunned at first, not realizing what happened. then, i frantically began looking for the camera, which julie saw fly into the river. (as most of you know, cameras and i just don't get along. i am ALWAYS dropping them!) i reached my arms down into the rushing water to no avail. i was panicked. i was in pain, and my camera was gone. gone. oh man. what a loser i was.

julie was calming and reassuring. i was lucky that i wasn't seriously hurt (as in, my head did not bounce off the boulder). we climbed up out of the river, dried ourselves off, and headed back to the motel.

fast-forward two days...

tony stover has taken his nieces and nephews hiking in the chimneys. about 200 yards downstream from where i had been, his nephew finds a camera wedged beneath a rock. tony told me on the phone, "i felt like God put the camera in my hands so i could return it to the owner. there were memories in that camera that you deserved to have back."

tony took my little cannon power-shot home, removed the memory card, which miraculously was still intact even though the camera was toast, and viewed the pictures on his computer. he noticed a red-headed girl with "waverly volleyball" written on a t-shirt. he saw another picture of a man (from our family reunion, which had occurred the day before we left on vacation) with a name tag on. he started researching the man's name and "waverly" and decided to call waverly high school in ohio.

tony was put in touch with our head volleyball coach, to whom he explained his story. the coach then called my niece, taylor, who was on vacation with us, and relayed this amazing tale...how a gentleman found my camera and actually wanted to return it. he even wanted to pay the postage without reimbursement.

true to his word, my broken camera and good memory card arrived in the mail about a week later. tony had paid $4.75 for shipping.

cut to today...

i spoke with tony for about 15 minutes this afternoon. super, super, super-nice guy. i told him my part of the story, then he explained his role. we talked about family (his father recently passed, and he is helping take care of his mother), and vacations, and strange coincidences. tony even invited me to his lutheran church; if i'm ever back in tennesse on a sunday morning or wednesday night, i am welcome to come in and make myself at home there.

i told tony our church believes that small things done with great love change the world.

he agreed whole-heartedly.

but i think i already knew that about him.

(p.s. both the picture and video in this post came from the broken camera that tony returned.)

the last vacation slideshow...i promise

ian needs to follow this advice in the middle of the night

on the back of a stall door in tennesse:

chimneys slideshow

featuring taylor and her daredevil mother, with a pretty little red head thrown in here and there.

mountain water

photo from the chimneys in tennessee. this water is a little over two feet deep. crystal clear, and extremely cold.

monday morning exchange with ian

ian loves bacon. turkey bacon, that is. i don't have to ask him what he wants for breakfast every morning because every morning is the same.

at any rate, as i'm fixing my coffee this morning, ian walks into the kitchen and asks if we can go to the movies today. "well," i explain, "the movies are pretty expensive. maybe we can go tomorrow when the theater has discount tuesdays."

quickly trying to change the topic, i ask, "so, what do you want for breakfast buddy?" (even though i already know the answer.)

"water," my poor little boy replies glumly.

"water???"

"yes." as if this is somehow going to increase my sympathy for this little fella who's stuck with a cheap and unfeeling mother.

"no problem, buddy. you want ice with that?"

ian offers a stunned and pained look.

fast-forward a half hour...

"mom, can i vaccuum?"

"sure!"

(a few minutes later after vaccuuming one room.)

"now can i have $5?"

"no."

ian sighs.

fast-forward a few more minutes...

"MOM!!! come here!!!"

ian, in his effort to clean and earn cash (which he erroneously still thinks he's gonna get), has now vaccuumed up a wii cord. if i can't get this ridiculous sweeper taken apart and that wii wire untangled, i'm screwed.

a new wii will cost more than the movie tickets, gosh darn it.

maybe, i should've said "yes" right from the beginning.

positively absurd

my sister, jill, told me about this clip. words fail me. enjoy.

b e n

my nephew, looking surprisingly innocent this evening.

bird poop and renegades

much to the chagrin of their momma and poppa, i climbed a chair and snapped these updated photos of our baby barn swallows. look how they've grown! i definitely count five heads, but i'm wondering if perhaps one more is packed in there among its brothers and sisters somewhere.

and, as you can see below, they're pooping up a storm. :(

also, i discovered this year's versions of "renegade" produce this afternoon. for the past two summers, we've had pumpkins and gourds sprout unexpectedly in our side yard. i'm almost positive these three little fellas are gourds. we'll just have to wait and see. even though we've (intentionally) planted pumpkins this year, it's always exciting when the unexpected occurs!

newfound gap

here is the first of several posts to come about the spur-of-the-moment, let's-get-out-of-dodge, girls-only vacation that julie and i threw together with kate and taylor. i've got a whopper of a story to share with you later, but for now, you'll have to deal with the obligatory pics of scenic stuff.

so here you go. this is a brief slideshow of our drive to newfound gap in the smokies, with stops along the way to view the chimneys.

at last

today felt like the first actual day of summer vacation. i think, for the most part, due to the combination of smells (i cut grass this morning), sleeping in, and heat. oh, and the flowers. things are actually growing around here.

this red verbena is an annual. the violet verbena is perennial. both are gorgeous.

i bordered my round flower bed with red salvia this year in honor of my grandmother. leo said he digs it.

and sprouting here are pumpkin seeds. last year's pumpkins fell prey to the horrific summer drought. i'm hoping these babies make it.

10th generation barn swallows

for at least the past ten years, barn swallows have made a nest above the light on our back deck. every year, after the babies fly away, and the nest is deserted, i power wash it down and clean the poopish what-not off my siding and deck. and every year, the swallows come back.


the only way i know these are barn swallows is because julie told us they were. (she's an ornithologist extraordinaire.) juj also explained the cloacal kiss to me this spring ~ i was always curious as to how birds actually had sex (uh, that sounded a little strange). at any rate, here are the little by-products.


last year, one of the babies had not mastered the art of flying, and died about two feet from the nest on our deck. i'm curious to see how long before all of our babies fly away this year. kate and ian are always a little sad to see them go.

"teaching is the greatest act of optimism." - colleen wilcox

i just received ohio achievement test scores for my kids today. (not kate and ian. i'm referring to the 15 LD and CD sweeties on my case load for the past year.)

wow. and i mean, wow. i am so proud of them.

math scores are incredibly important to our district and districts all over ohio. in the waverly city school district, students with disabilities are referred to as a subgroup, and our district's rating by the state is determined in part by how well this particular subgroup performs on the OAT.

long story short...13 of my 15 students passed the 8th grade math OAT. that's an 87%passage rate for my kids with disabilities.

oh yeah, baby!

after testing, i told anyone who would listen how hard my kids worked on the OAT. they are granted extended time -up to 6 hours- to complete a test that the rest of the students take in 2 and a half hours.) on the first two days of testing, my beautiful children worked from 8:30 in the morning until almost 2:00. we took breaks. we ate snacks. we walked and stretched and then refocused. i gave them pep talks and hugs and constant praise. they could have given up. they could have said they were just too tired and thrown any old answer down. but they didn't.

on that last day of testing, i loved them for what they had done. they had persevered.

and while some of our other test scores may not show it, their math scores offer tangible proof to what i already knew:

given the opportunity and the encouragement to be confident, these children can and do succeed. do they need a little nudge? sure. do they get grumpy and exasperated? absolutely. does their teacher get grumpy and exasperated? oh my...yes.

bottom line, i love those darn kids. and i love my job.

thanks God.

“Do not waste yourself in rejection; do not bark against the bad, but chant the beauty of the good.”

~Ralph Waldo Emerson

macro

i'm an incredibly inept photographer. point and click. that's me. and i usually point and click with shaky hands. for years, leo has tried to help me with the basics of taking a "good" picture, and i'll be danged if i just don't have the knack. it's become our own little joke...and after 17 years of marriage, if i take a "good" picture, leo sweetly patronizes me by saying, "you're getting better".

we own a little cannon powershot. nothing fancy, but it is an upgrade from our previous camera that was held together by masking tape after i dropped it the first time, and then died altogether on christmas eve when i dropped it for the last time. i now understand why that little wrist strap is there, although i still fail to use it.

so anyways, i was playing with the macro on my cannon last night, which is a pretty big deal for me, and these are what i came up with.

this poor bleeding heart. she's the last one to bloom, and the only one left to photograph. her color has faded, and she's starting to wilt. (can anyone identify?)

fishing with the lamersons

ted sweetly invited us to their family pond last night for an evening of fishing. we brought aunt jujy along too, since she is an expert fisherman! what a beautiful evening, and the kids had a blast!

an unfortunate truth

admonishment

What you don't see with your eyes, don't witness with your mouth.
~Jewish Proverb

better than christmas

today is "national doughnut day". (seriously ~ click here if you don't believe me!) i love, love, love doughnuts. and then, i love them some more. i'm certain that the world's most perfect food can be found at crispie creme doughnuts in chillicothe ~ round chocolate doughnuts with chocolate icing and creme in the middle. oh my.

god was having a good day when he invented the doughnut. fried food that's also sweet. i mean, come on, what could be better? i envision crispie creme's chocolate doughnuts hanging from trees when i get to heaven - zero calories, zero fat - just waiting to be plucked and eaten.

so, happy doughnut day, y'all. and if you're in chillicothe, eat one for me.

quotes from the counter-culture

well, from jim morrison, specifically.

oddly enough, i agree with jim on a few things...

*People are afraid of themselves, of their own reality; their feelings most of all. People talk about how great love is, but that’s bullshit. Love hurts. Feelings are disturbing. People are taught that pain is evil and dangerous. How can they deal with love if they’re afraid to feel? Pain is meant to wake us up. People try to hide their pain. But they’re wrong. Pain is something to carry. You feel your strength in the experience of pain. It’s all in how you carry it. That’s what matters. Pain is a feeling. Your feelings are a part of you. Your own reality. If you feel ashamed of them, and hide them, you’re letting society destroy your reality. You should stand up for your right to feel your pain.

*The most important kind of freedom is to be what you really are. You trade in your reality for a role. You trade in your sense for an act. You give up your ability to feel, and in exchange, put on a mask. There can't be any large-scale revolution until there's a personal revolution, on and individual level. It's got to happen inside first. You can take away a man's political freedom and you won't hurt him- unless you take away his freedom to feel. That can destroy him. That kind of freedom can't be granted. Nobody can win it for you.

*I think of myself as an intelligent, sensitive human being with the soul of a clown which always forces me to blow it at the most important moments.

i've been singing this song all day

another saturday night

okay, some cows drifted into our neighborhood yesterday. well, maybe they didn't drift. they were actually seen sauntering up route 220. we don't know where they came from.

someone called the sheriff.

then someone called gary boggs...the pied piper of cows. he led them safely to his farm property behind our subdivision.

the cows had spent the majority of the afternoon in our neighbor kathryn's yard. she's excited about drying out all the cow patties and using them as fertilizer for her flowers and garden. :) really, she is.


jeff and shellie, on the other hand, have some holes to fill.