No knives... No BB's...

My boys are "All Boy" despite the fact that this Momma fears for their safety!

(The boys have all been trained on Pocket Knife use. They have also been trained on proper usage of Airsoft Guns!)

A few months back the boys had a friend over! They all went upstairs and about 15 minutes later a troop of mini military men filed down the steps ready for war! They were all dressed in camo and they were ready to have the time of their lives! I ALMOST asked them if they had weapons but I figured they knew better then to have pocket knives out at night!

A little while later the friend came running home and told me Gage had stabbed himself! After a quick look we knew we needed stitches! I threw Gage in the car and left Hayden and Levi at home to see our friends out the door!

Well, the other night the same friend came over and the kids all came marching down the steps in camo ready for war! This time they were all carrying Airsoft Guns! I told they that they could not have ANY WEAPONS or BB'S! They assured me they were weaponless and their guns were empty! (I wasn't in the mood for an ER trip.)

After I finished cleaning up the kitchen I went outside to see what they were doing! They had built a FIRE!! They assured me that they had just finished a refresher Fire Safety Class and they were fine! They had dug a pit and put rocks around the edges of the pit. They had a shovel ready to throw dirt, if need be. They also had a 5 gallon bucket of water! They were safe and saw no reason for me to be so upset! After all they did follow all the safety rules!

I did make them put the fire out!

Then I told them... NO WEAPONS, NO BB's and NO FIRE!! I can't wait to see what they come up with next time!

12 Years of Hiding

12 years ago I was in an accident and had a 7 inch laceration on my head. The DR's wanted to stitch it back together by my precious friend Karla begged the DR's not to shave my head! At the time I could have cared less. The DR's agreed to put staples in my head, only having to shave 1/2 an inch around the wound. If I would have gotten stitches it would have been 2+ inches around the wound. I then sported a tiara of 27 staples for a couple weeks! It took forever for that hair to grow back around my scar but the actual scar is still hairless.
(Thank you Karla for protecting me and speaking up for me when I was in no condition to speak for myself!)
After recovering, I had to relearn how to do my hair. It was painfully obvious that I had to switch my part or I would expose the majority of my scar for all to see! I can also only have a small sliver of bangs due to the fact that the cut is within an inch of my hairline.
I have spent the last 12 years hiding that nasty scar, not because I am embarrassed but rather to avoid the stares and questions. Hiding the scar certainly has gotten easier as the years go by!
I obviously lost all feeling on my hard as the nerves were severed. In the last couple years I have slowly regained a little feeling. For example, I finally felt heat when I was blow drying my hair one day, it was shocking to say the least!
This morning I was sitting in a chair and Gage walked up to me and gave me a hug. Standing over me, he then noticed a white hair. As he was pushing my hair around so he could pluck the white hair out, he noticed my scar. Of course he just found a tiny portion but he called the other boys to see it. I sat for the next 10 minutes as they pulled my hair apart so they could see the entirety of the scar. They were all shocked at the size. They all knew about it but apparently it is larger then they imagined. They told me how cool it was and asked if they could show their friends... um.... NO!
Apparently I have been hiding my scar well, as my own kids have never even seen it!
Lord, thank you for sparing my life and what could have been!

Complete

I have been a horrible blogger lately! (hate that)

Since our last blog entry, we have more big news for our family! Brian has been aggressively pursuing his bachelors degree for about three years now. He has been taking the quick classes and our schedule has been that he takes a class that lasts 5 weeks and then he has the next 5 weeks off! During his breaks, he would order his books for the new class so he could get a head start on the reading!

Brian has done great but he feels like he is sacrificing our family during the 5 week classes. He also has felt like he is neglecting some projects around the house. Both I know are great burdens for him to carry!

In February, Brian only had 6 credits of humanities remaining. His university said they would accept the CLEP tests in place of actually having to take the classes. He decided to try to CLEP them before signing up for the classes. He studied and watched videos for a couple weeks before the test. The spectrum of the humanities CLEP was overwhelming to say the least! They suggest reading 50 classic books!

Change of subject, but stay with me... In church and our bible study group, we have been talking about prayer. We are God's children and I believe he wants to hear from us about every detail of our lives! The night before the CLEP, we were at bible study group. Kevin said that he tells his girls that it is OK to pray before a test at school. He joked that when he was in school his prayers often were "Lord, help me remember the things I have learned AND help me remember the things I have not learned". We all got a giggle out of it and then moved on.

The next morning Brian was started to panic about the test. At one point he even said he was just going to sign up for the classes and order books. I told him that he needed to at least try by taking the CLEP. After all, we don't have to pay for it so he needed to try. Before Brian left we all prayed for him and we prayed, "Lord, help Brian to remember the things he has studied AND help him remember the things that he has not studies".

A couple hours later I got a call from my ECSTATIC husband! Not only did he pass but he scored a B+!! That was after guessing on half the questions!! Now some would call it coincidence or just good luck! But not me, I know God had his hand over Brian during that test!!

I thank God that Brian passed the test but the relief comes from knowing that Brian doesn't have to take any more classes!! He is now free to spend his down time with his family and conquering projects! (no more classes for now, but knowing Brian, someday he will again be a college student)

In the last week I have noticed a great change in Brian's demeanor! He is relaxed and easy going! It is like the weight of the world has been lifted from his shoulders! He was able to change out bad bearings in the back tires of his car, change the oil in both vehicle and build the workbench he has been dreaming about! He completed those projects with the help of his three little men who are always willing to lend a hand!

Over the last couple weeks as we have enjoyed the freedom, but we have both had concerns about if the university would actually accept the CLEPS. Well, yesterday Brian pulled up his student profile and the word "COMPLETE" was written in bold on the top of the page!! So, it is official! My husband is a college graduate!