9-11-01

I originally posted this last year, September 11, 2011, on the ten year anniversary. I read back through it and cried. Even now eleven years later it still has an impact on us all.

When you marry someone in the military it doesn't matter if they are active duty, guard or reserves, their job is your life. As the wife of a full-time Air National Guardsman, I never imagined that something that happened in New York City, Washington, DC, and Pennsylvania one day would change my life for years to come.

I had just celebrated my 25th birthday and was eight weeks pregnant with our oldest child. Mikie and I were helping keep the children of a friend who was on a prayer walking trip in Africa with other ladies from our church. That week Amy stayed with us, she was in high school then.

Mikie went to work at 4:30 that morning and I had dropped off Amy and went to school. After my fifth graders left my class, another teacher came to my room and told me, "A plane has crashed into the twin towers in New York. Don't say anything to the kids, no one knows what's going on." By the time I could turn the tv on it was lunch. I was in shock. I tried to call Mikie and no one answered. Sometime before school was out he left a message in the school office that he didn't know when he would be home.

Honestly, the next week was a blur. Amy was so scared, her Mom was in Africa with no way home, Mikie wasn't home and we didn't have any idea what might happen next. That night she crawled in bed with me and we prayed. She wanted to watch the news reports. We watched for a few minutes and cut it off.

Mikie called late that night. I don't think he was supposed to call. He suddenly had went from being an aircraft mechanic with the Air National Guard to sitting on a fence with a machine gun. He came by school the next afternoon for a minute. He was home long enough to shower, change uniforms and pack a bag to go back to the air base. I don't remember how long he was gone before he got to come home again.

Amy's Mom was gone an extra long time, I don't remember how long, 7-10 days I think. Cody called sometime that week and wanted to come stay with us so he could be with his sister instead of with a friend. Church was packed both morning services, just like every other church in America that following Sunday.  Life would never be the same.

As I began writing this we were watching the documentary about 9/11. Our kids were asking questions, Mikie and I are experiencing some of the same feelings we did that day. This morning in church, Pastor Bob asked all those who are in law enforcement, fire department, first responders and others in those service jobs to stand. I looked behind me to see our friends Clark and Teresa standing in uniform, their seven year old grandson's face buried in Papaw's leg. Ty, like my kids, doesn't understand. The girls kept asking me why I was crying. Now they know. Michael, whose six, told us, "I wish Adam and Eve hadn't ate from the tree of good and evil cause then there wouldn't be no bad guys."

The past 10 years have been full of deployments, children added to our family, new jobs on base and those typical life changing experiences. I pray my children never face a day like that one. My day wasn't as memorable as others but it has still impacted who I am today.

Caring for the Children--Help Compassion

This month over at Compassion there is opportunity for you to open your heart and sponsor a child. As Compassion Bloggers we are working toward sponsorships and prayers for 3,108 children during the month of September.

Rosemary shares my birthday!

I know that you can sponsor anytime throughout the year, but this month is special. One because it's my birthday month and two because this is Blog Month at Compassion.

By sponsoring a child through Compassion you are providing food, clean water, medical care, schooling, life-skills training, but most importantly you provide an opportunity for that child to hear about Jesus Christ and develop a lifelong relationship with Him.

Your monthly sponsorship connects you with your child through photos, letters and their personal story. Your family can write letters and send pictures to your sponsoring child and don't forget about birthdays and Christmas.

Head on over to the Compassion page and search for a child for your family to sponsor. There are several ways to search for the perfect child for your family, by gender, by age, by birthday.

If you don't feel that you can sponsor a child right now, please pray. Go on over to the Compassion page and search for a child. You can click through and learn more about that child and then pray for them. Pray for sponsorship, for them to come to know Jesus Christ, and for protection.

Show your children and talk about how so many children all over the world don't have the luxuries that we have here in the United States. Help them to pray for a child with the same birthday as them.

Can you spare some time to care and pray for a child that you may never meet? You can make a difference in their lives.

After going to Compassion come back over here and comment below and let me know about the child you have decided to sponsor or pray for. I don't have to know which you are doing. Just let me know you visited the Compassion page.

Now for a little begging. I am a Compassion Blogger and since this is Blog Month there are some great prizes, from books, to money, to my favorite an all expense paid trip with Compassion. Please use one of the highlighted links in this post to visit the Compassion page and help me to earn entries.

But most importantly help Compassion help God's children!

Giveaway, Tommy Nelson Kids Books

As October rolls to an end, we all know what is just around the corner, Christmas! Books make great Christmas presents. Tommy Nelson Kids has two new books now available. Our family has been reading these all month for our nightly book time and they love them.

The first Smack-Dab in the Middle of God's Love is Brennan Manning's very first children's book. Not familiar with Mr. Manning, he is the author of The Ragamuffin Gospel. This book tells children of God's endless love and showcases children from several ethnic backgrounds. Children often don't understand how God can love everyone, but we are always in the middle of God's love. This book is written for children ages 4-8.

Sheila Walsh author of the God's Little Princess Series,  has a new series coming out titled Gabby God's Little Angel. Gabby is geared for girls ages 3-7 and teaches how God uses His angels to care for us. Girls can even color Gabby's adventures with these coloring sheets.

Both of these books have a great message for children and beautiful illustrations. If you aren't familiar with Tommy Nelson Kids these books are a great way to get started.

Want to win  one of these books from Tommy Nelson Kids? You can earn a chance to win by commenting on the questions below, liking me on facebook and following me on twitter. That's 4 chances to win!! Come back and comment that you follow me on facebook and twitter.

Good Luck!!

 Ways to enter review:
1. Post a comment below to this question to win Gabby, God's Little Angel"
"When you're not with your kids how do you communicate that God and His angels are watching over them?"


2. Post a comment below to the following question to win Smack-Dab in the Middle of God's Love
"How do you teach your children to show God's love to the world?"


3. Like mommyto4mjs on facebook

4. Follow mommyto4mjs on twitter

Don't forget to comment below that you follow me on facebook and twitter. Remember your comments must be on this post!!


Contest ends Monday, October 31st at midnight!!!

Disclaimer: Tommy Nelson Kids has supplied me with the books for this review. This review is my opinion and I was not paid.

Titanic comes to life

On June 11th our family had the privilege of visiting the Titanic Museum in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee as part of the Mommy Bloggers group. Never having been to the Titanic the kids were more than a little excited about our trip. Although I had to repeatedly tell Michael, who is six,  we weren't sailing anywhere and we didn't need water for our trip, he still wasn't convinced. Our tour began with the 9:00 AM boarding. We were each given a boarding pass of a passenger that was on the actual Titanic. The boarding pass gave the passengers name, their class status, age and city of residence. Also on the boarding pass is a short story of the person it represents, telling who they were and why they were on the Titanic. The pass also includes a question, such as "Would there be a lifeboat for me?"

After receiving our boarding pass another member of the crew gave us each a listening device that we would use for the new audio tour. Our group was then ushered into the front room where we found out how our listening devices worked. The kids were so excited when we started through the museum. There are two different audio tours you can listen to. There is one for adults and one for children. On the wall there are plaques with numbers on them, blue for adults and red for children. You type in the number and press play. All four of our children loved being able to listen as they wanted to their own "story." Mollie, who is four, let me know real quick she knew what she was doing and needed NO help in punching in her numbers. As you listen to the adult tour you hear the voices of actual survivors of the Titanic as well as First Class Maid Jaynee. I listened to both tours in some areas and only to the kids in others. The biggest reason being that I wanted to be able to talk to the kids about what they were hearing.

As we moved from the first room into the second, there is a large map on the wall. The map showed the route the Titanic took. As we stepped up to the interactive panel in front of the map, Mary Kellogg, who along with her husband John Joslyn, (who led the 1986 expedition to the real Titanic), told how the Titanic left port and its future demise. She shared with our family her husband's desire to never let the Titanic, her passengers and their stories disappear. Her passion for this attraction was very evident in her telling of the Titanic. Personally it was my favorite part of the tour, to hear her passion and know that she is part of this important documentary of history.

We moved throughout the Titanic first seeing how Third Class passengers lived on the boat, visiting the dog kennel, shoveling coal into the furnace and ultimately standing at the bottom of the Grand Staircase.
We ascended the Grand Staircase after a visit with a crew member who told us about the materials used in building the staircase. On the next level we got to see the difference in Third Class living and First Class as we visited and learned of the wealthier passengers on the trip. We learned about three more of the passengers on our boarding passes.

A First Class Maid led Michael to a display to see the grossest thing on the ship. I locket of hair and beard. I can't remember the passengers name but he had cut it and mailed it to his wife. Michael thought it odd, but was more impressed with the maid's British accent, trying to decide if she really talked like that even when she wasn't on the Titanic.

Continuing on we steered the Titanic, touched an iceberg, felt the 28 degree water just like the passengers did that fateful night, sent SOS messages, climbed the deck at differing degrees of sinking and sat in a life size lifeboat. The kids played in the children's area and then we had our pictures made together.

We began to make our way to the end of our tour as we found the names on our boarding passes. Each of our passengers had survived the sinking. We saw pictures that were truly amazing and unbelievable. A room dedicated to the expedition to the Titanic tells of Mr. Joslyn's journey to the Titanic at the bottom of the ocean.

We turned in our audio tour devices and descended the Grand Staircase to make a visit to the gift shop. We purchased a thimble to remember our trip. Our nine year old, Mattie has talked about visiting the Titanic since it was being built. She was very pleased with her "awesome" tour and wanted to go back through. Maggie, our seven year old loved the dog kennel and trying to find Mademoiselle Frou Frou.
Michael was impressed that we had docked in the same exact spot the ship was in outside when we entered. Mollie liked the TotTitanic the best. Mike and I were very impressed with such detail and passion that has went into this museum. We are very thankful to have been able to be a part of this tour and see first hand what the Titanic was all about.

Someone asked me at church what I really thought of the Titanic. It is awesome, everyone should try to visit it at least once. Would I recommend it for small children under four, it depends. Mollie will be five next month and two hours was a little long for her, although the Tot-Titanic couldn't have come at a better point in the tour. If your child is four or younger it would depend on their attention span, but I would probably wait until they were a little older. I wish that I had remembered to print the scavenger hunt from the website before we went, mine would have loved to work on that. The website also has educational things on it and I should have done a little "teaching" before we went. It would have helped with all their questions, but we were able to talk and research more when we returned home. Mike who is a history buff researched about the sister ships of the Titanic and Mattie enjoyed sharing in another bit of history with her Daddy.

With that being said, go visit the Titanic, check out Titanic Museum online, friend them on Facebook at Titanic Museum Pigeon Forge, TN and follow them on Twitter at Titanic USA.

Disclaimer: Opinions in this blog are entirely mine. We received free admission to the Titanic as part of the mommy bloggers invite. Pictures found in this blog are from the Titanic Museum website as pictures are prohibited inside the museum.

Who Inspires You?

We all have those people, besides our parents, in our lives who have really helped us become who we are. When I was in high school my piano teacher encouraged me to teach piano to younger children in my home. I did and loved it! From that experience I knew I wanted to be a music teacher. Because of the love and support of Ms. Omega I majored in Music Education in college and taught public school music for seven years before becoming a stay at home mom. I continue to teach piano to several students and enjoy hearing and seeing their excitement as they succeed one song after another.

As my youngest looks forward to starting kindergarten in the fall, I see another chapter of my life opening up, thanks to my children's kindergarten teachers.  My oldest two girls had the same kindergarten teacher, Mrs. McAvoy and my son has had her teaching buddy, Mrs. Duckett this year.

Over the three years that we have been in kindergarten I've come to realize that I will eat my words. I remember my very first day of teaching music. I had three kindergarten classes back to back and I told myself there is NO way I will ever teach kindergarten. Fast forward thirteen years, I'm chewing on those words right now. After teaching kindergarten through eighth grade music, staying home with my children and volunteering in the classrooms of those beloved kindergarten teachers mentioned above, I am proud to announce that I will be adding my K-6 elementary education endorsement starting this summer and praying for a kindergarten position. Although I know it won't be at the same school with these ladies cause that means one of them would have to quit.

I can honestly say both of these ladies have greatly influenced the last four years of my life. Watching as they involve themselves in the lives of each child in their classroom, working with parents, teaching the basics of kindergarten as well as life skills, these ladies can do it all. They have allowed me to step into their lives and considered me a friend, we've shared laughter and tears. We've comforted each other in time of pain and sorrow. We've chopped apples, dressed like pilgrims, dyed Easter eggs, panicked over emergency phone calls from parents, sang silly songs and they've taught me to bite my lip.

As summer break approaches I will miss my Wednesday fun of working in Mrs. Duckett's class with her and her extra special children and spending time with Mrs. McAvoy and her class when they team up for activities. As much as I don't want my youngest to start kindergarten in the fall, I also can't wait to get back into those kindergarten classrooms to learn more from those amazing teachers. I know that all of the kindergarten teachers at our school are as amazing as these two ladies it's just that I've spent more time with these, so please don't think any different.

So as I start the next journey in my life's book, I am thankful for teachers who not only take my children under their wings but also me. Who are willing to be "real" and themselves in the classroom just like they are in their own homes. Who inspire, encourage and believe in all from the youngest to the oldest (me) students in their classes. Thanks ladies for changing the lives of not only the students that you teach but this mother also. As the book by Robert Fulghum says All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten.




Has someone inspired you to make a life change? Leave me a comment below and you will be entered to win a copy of the book All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten

Contest ends Friday, May 27, 2011.

Disclaimer:
I have not been paid for citing this book. The book being given away was purchased with my own money.

I have barely touched the ways these ladies have inspired me, writing it all down could be a book.

My girls have had wonderful teachers every year, I've just spent more time in the classroom with these.

One lucky winner will be drawn. Good luck!!!

Advent 2010

Two years ago when my children were 2, 3, 5 and 6 years old, their Dad was deployed through Christmas,  I purchased an Advent wreath. It was made of different sized boxes. I stuffed each box with a goody or a note for a goody. You can use this same concept with anything that you have 25 of at home, like paper cone trees on the table, 25 mismatched socks, or 25 brown paper bags. Below you will find my gift list for this year’s 25 days of Christmas. Each of the gifts is typically limited to $1.00 per child, since there are four, including the outfits they will receive on Day 1 and Day 12. I purchased those at Belk in February for 98 cents as I have the last couple of years. I budget and buy all year for Christmas so I am able to find really neat gifts for $1.00 or less. 

1: Check the foot of Mom and Dad’s bed. (a new Christmas outfit or shirt for each) (put note in calendar)

2: Afterschool trip to Sonic for a half price slush (place 4 $1.00 bills with note in calender)

3: Cadoozles pencils. They're mechanical and have cool colors and decorations. Look for them at office max. The kids got 2 each.

4:  Note for Movie Night @ home with popcorn and Pepsi (soft drinks are treats @ our house)

5: Trip to the Air Base and watch Daddy’s plane take off (note)

6: New Board game (I’ll have to check my stash) (note, game on table)

7: Choose gifts to purchase for Samaritan’s Purse (money budgeted in Christmas gift budget)

8: Note of encouragement for youngest 3, eat lunch with Mattie @ school

9: Super Glow Wands, sword, stars. Dollar Tree after Halloween

10: ICEE from Weigels
11: Cookie baking with friends to take to Nursing Home

12: New Sunday dresses and suit (for church Christmas program) 

13: Lunch with Maggie, notes of encouragement for other 3

14: Drop, Ring and Run gifts @ Neighbors (dollar tree hand towel, pot holder, etc)

15: Lunch with Mattie  and note of encouragement for other 3

16: New Pj’s for Pj day at school (bought @ consignment)

17: Trip To Air Base to pick Daddy up. 

18: Veggie Tale’s movie (free with Pre-buy of Sweet Pea Beauty)
19: Coloring Book/Word Search Book

20: Christmas shopping with Daddy for Mommy (yes more than $4 but time with Daddy is priceless)

21: Grammy's 3 day Christmas Adventure with the cousins

 22: No gift today, still at Grammy's

23: Ride and look at Christmas Lights

24: New Christmas book 

25: Baby Jesus is here and placed in the Nativity set and Daddy reads the Christmas Story

Think about your children and let your ideals come from them and their interest. 

We also use a book with a devotion for each day of Advent. Some families read a little bit of the Christmas story each day until Jesus arrives.

Merry Christmas,

Michelle 

PS. Since I'm late on publishing I will tell you school was out today, the 8th. So I couldn't eat lunch with Mattie. Instead each child spent 15 minutes with me alone doing what that wanted to do with no interruptions from anyone else. Of course they loved it and Mommy did too. Michael doesn't have a special lunch day because I worked in his room the 2 days before Thanksgiving and ate lunch with him both days.

For more ideals check out my post from last year about the 25 days of Christmas.

Maggie's Bull Frog

During Vacation Bible School I taught the 2 year old class. I always have a kiddie pool full of sand outside the fellowship hall for the kids to play in. This year was no different. I covered it with cardboard each afternoon. That particular week in June found us under tornado watches and warnings three afternoons. By Wednesday the pool was full of water on top of the sand and the kids couldn't play in it. Friday afternoon during clean up it was still full and I couldn't lift it to empty it. This past week, 6 weeks after VBS, Mikie and our family friend Mark, went to empty the pool. When Mark tipped it to pour this weeks worth of rain out something jumped out at him. I wasn't there but would have loved to have seen Mikie and Mark's faces. What jumped out was a large bullfrog and a smaller one.

Mikie hollered for Maggie to come see what they had found. He picked up the larger frog, the little one hopped away, and handed it to Maggie. She carried it through the parking lot to the pavillion before she headed to the playground to show off her frog. The kids on the playground were terrified of the frog. They were running around and screaming, trying to get away from her. She pretended to kiss it. She was so close that if it had moved she would have kissed it.

Maggie got in the car, Slimy the frog in hand, and we rode home. I told her, "If you let that frog go we won't make it home." I just knew she would let go, Slimy would jump across the seats onto my shoulder or lap, I would panic and we would wreck. Well, fifteen minutes later we unloaded at the house, Slimy still in hand. Everyone of our kids held it. Mattie pretended to kiss it too.
Maggie carried Slimy around to the patio and placed in the plastic pool. It had just a little water and lots of bugs. Frog paradise? So we thought.

The next morning before we went to register Mattie for second grade we went to check on Slimy. Maggie couldn't find him. One side of the pool had fallen over, she lifted it. "Slimy shrunk," she yelled. Out hopped a smaller, bumpy frog. Definetly not Slimy. The look on her face was priceless. She really believed that he had shrunk during the night. She couldn't catch him. So while my eggs burned on the stove I chased Sparkles around the patio. Finally she was back in the pool. We fixed the pool in hopes that Sparkles would not escape. Off to registration to meet Mattie and Maggie's teachers.

When we returned home Sparkles had jumped over the side of the pool and was gone also. Maggie was sad and looked all over the yard for Slimy and Sparkles but neither could be found. An exciting evening and morning, a new pet gone. A little girls heartbroken but ready for another adventure.

Maggie will catch something else one of these days. She's afraid of nothing. For the time being we will keep Green Eyes the cat, and an aquarium of fish and snails. But come Knoxville Fair time we hope to bring home a huge bunny. And to answer Uncle Buddy's repeating question, "Why can't you get those kids a normal pet, like a dog?" Dogs are fun but catching your pets is more fun. I figure I'm going to be catching that bunny a lot in the next few weeks.