Month: March 2019

She Flew!

March 30, 2019

She Flew!

I’m just coming in from work.  Thea’s diaper bag and my purse is on my left shoulder, Thea in her carseat is in my hands, and my shoes and phone on top of her blanket.

I maneuver through the gate as Jillian opens it and tell the dogs to back up.  They go about their normal business of sniffing everywhere on Thea’s blanket and clothes where my office dogs left a trace of an odor while I try to shoo them away and Thea giggles.

Lucas and Jaquline start telling me excitedly about their day – it seems Lucas wrote ones and twos today with Daddy.  Jaquline fixed her bicycle by herself.  Jillian rushes the dirty diapers to the laundry.  I ask about Becky; she’s “hiding” in the playroom making doll movies.  Kimberly is bouncing around like she borrowed Tigger’s bottoms.

The sweet chaos of returning home is silenced by Louis’ one sentence from the kitchen.  I smell yumminess.

“She’s in the air now.”

“What?” Time stopped.  The air didn’t smell like anything.  Silence as I puzzled out that meaning.  Louis is grinning.  Fresh rolls get pulled out of the oven – or was it one long French loaf?  I can’t recall.

“Who’s in the air?” I ask.

“Well,” Louis smiles, “Christina’s major called and they went up today.”

Oh. My. Goodness.  Great gravy train and gollywompers!  My 15 year old is in a Cessna!

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This tiny thing. Seriously. (Yes, I always wanted to fly one too!)

Actually, there were two cadets who went flying.  They went from Saint Augustine to Jacksonville and back.  It was just an O-flight, and they each only got to fly for a few minutes, but still… she’s dreamed of this for years!

Christina came home so re-energized to dive into physics, more math, and an enthusiasm to continue toward her goal of pilot because, “I never wanted to come down!  That thrill was so amazing!”

I haven’t even been in a plane yet ~ likely, Christina will be my pilot the first time!

Thanks for reading!

Type at you next time…

~Nancy Tart

Movie Thoughts: Knowing

March 28, 2019

Movie Thoughts: Knowing

The other night we had a movie night.  This had to be something mostly family friendly because everyone was awake.  Yes, even Thea was awake, but I’m sure she wasn’t paying attention to the movie just yet.

See, maybe because I’m old, or a morning person, or was exhausted from the work week, or… I’ll figure out an excuse later… short of it is, I go to sleep early.  Okay, earlier than my teens… okay, even earlier than my almost-teen.  My husband works late.  He is a night-owl.  So they usually watch anything that has too much blood, bad words, or unsafe-for-little-people-stuff after I’m asleep.

SO… queue the air-popped popcorn with yummy butter and salt, some fresh-cut potato French Fries and Sweet Potato Fries, and lemonade… the movie was on.

We watched Nicholas Cage in “Knowing.”

Louis said it was a horror film.  (I asked if he had lost his marbles… I wanted the little ones to sleep in their beds!)   Honestly, I think this designation was to entice the teens to watch it with us.

Oh my goodness.  What a strange, twisting, amazing movie.

**SPOILER ALERT**

If you want to watch the movie without knowing all the twists, stop reading now and go borrow it from the library.  Seriously, this is worth the watch.  We will likely watch it again.

The story acts like a psychological thriller.  Strange dark-cloaked “apparitions” aka “ghosts” aka “spirits” appear and disappear through the 50 years of time reflected in the film.  “Whispers,” as the affected children call the voices in their heads, keep relaying numerical information and give visions to the children after the dark-cloaked strangers give them an otherworldly rock.

Dad (Nicholas Cage) is a grieving widower astrophysicist pastor’s son who has turned his on faith and believes, as he tells his students, that the universe is a collection of haphazard mistakes and there is nothing but chaos.  He drowns his hopeless unbelief in a variety of alcoholic beverages to self-medicate his depression.

The son is hard of hearing (wears a hearing aid) and deeply misses his mother and the happiness that lived in his home before her death.  He happens to be given a message from the first child (written 50 years ago and locked in a time capsule at her/his school) that is a sheet of apparently random numbers.

But the numbers aren’t random.  They are the date (in short form) of a catastrophe and the number of people who died from it… and the “unknown” digits following (which if you have been listening to a Civil Air Patrol Chief talking about orienteering and navigation by GPS, you see that these same length “unknown” numbers are latitude and longitude).

What clenches it for Dad is when he finds the date of his wife’s death (a fire that claimed many) as one of the catastrophes in this list.  He realizes this message is personally meant for his family.  Now he launches into investigation to find out who wrote the message, where she is, why she wrote it, and to find the connection to his family.

Symbolism begins to appear here as the audience starts figuring out the story.  The first hint for me was the fire vision with the animals fleeing but nowhere to go.  (Destroy the Earth by fire.)  The dark-cloaked strangers have shielded eyes but bright faces.  (How would you hide glory unless shielded by darkness yet there’s still light in their faces?)  This is revealed at the very end with the darkness falling away and now they are bright, amazing beings.  (And the viewer whispers, “every time a person sees an angel, they have to say “fear not,” no wonder!”)

When “EE” is revealed to be “Everyone Else” the title is explained.  Now, they know.

At the end sequence, notice the “Pearly Gates,” “streets of gold,” “white linen garments,” and other symbolism played out – how they make it come to life is pure amazement.  Everything is explained in such a unique way.

This movie is rated PG (likely for the alcohol and “disturbing images”).  It’s actually very well put together.  The storyline seems fractured but falls into place and you wonder how you missed it.

Thanks for reading!

Type at you next time…

~Nancy Tart

Spring Blessings

March 24, 2019

Spring Blessings

March 20th was the official first day of spring.

I live in Florida, so “Spring” as we see it means beach weather – at least for those of us who don’t consider 70 degrees too cold for sand, surf, and sun.

The flower bulbs are coming back.  The songbirds are singing and making nests.  The woodpeckers in the Maple tree are arguing about who gets the best insect hole.  My baby Thea is a month old (on the first day of spring & two of her aunts’ birthdays).  I’m shifting from part time to full time at my office job.

This job is a God-sent blessing anyway (read that story here); increase of hours = increase of income and that is super sweet!

Anyone seen White Christmas?  Bing Crosby sings “Counting My Blessings” and that became a theme song in my head.  Songs will pop into my head when I think certain things… I’m just musically wired… auto-correct tried to put in “weird;” maybe weird is the right word!

So, I’m “counting my blessings” this spring:

Job with a growing company where I get to take my Baby Thea to work with me! (Thank you, Jesus!)

Dream job where I get to teach and encourage young athletes while working out and having fun.  (Thank you, Jesus!)

Health, (finally!) as I’ve found a technique that works to keep my black mold allergy from turning to throat-constricting asthma. (I can keep it at just a post-nasal drip, which is irritating, but not debilitating.)

Family.  I live for family.  (Why I haven’t been writing for a bit… busy with jobs, helping sisters, and spending time investing in family.)

Finding a church we hope to be able to call “home” as our church closed.  (Louis’ cousin and several friends attend there.)  We’ve been three times and most of the kids like it so far.

Spiritual growth in my girls.  Watching that bloom is the best!

Provision.  We have a house to rent, food to eat, and gas to get us to and from work.  Paying back debt and then shifting focus to our long-term goal of saving for our own house.

Thank you, Jesus, for the blessings in my life!  Thank you for healing, love, family, and life!

I’m enjoying a jolt of energy from counting my blessings, what about you?

Thanks for reading!

Type at you next time…

~Nancy Tart

Upcoming Fun Day!

Mark Your Calendars! Saturday, April 27, 2019 is Family Fun Fest!

March 14, 2019

Upcoming Fun Day

Mark your calendars!  (If you are near Saint Augustine, Florida.)

Saturday, April 27, 2019

This is the day of the Family Fun Fest at Francis Field in downtown Saint Augustine!

This family friendly event (with lots of fun activities for all ages) with include obstacle courses (registration is required ahead of time for that!), blow-up activities, and lots of games, food, and a show filled with local talent.  All of this is to benefit a great local charity; Alpha-Omega Outreach!

This will be our third year participating as a vendor.  Three of my teens/preteens will be volunteering (meaning I likely won’t see them all day).  The younger ones (and whichever of the cousins joins us) will be enjoying the activities with an Aunt or Grandma in rotation (and coming back to “base” for snacks and water!).  Meanwhile, I will be presenting my books and the girls’ various craft items will be decorating the table (and hopefully we sell a lot of these things so we can donate more money back).

These are photos from last year, but we had a blast.  We expect to have a wonderful time this year as well and would love for you to join us in our family fun annual tradition!

(My children make plans to be at the next Family Fun Fest as we drive away from the current one! – my niece has been asking me since the week after 2018 Family Fun Fest, “when can we go back to Family Fun Fest?”)

Thanks for reading!

Type at you later…

~Nancy Tart

Happiness Is…

When you close your eyes and see happiness, what do you see?

March 12, 2019

Happiness Is…

Each of us has a different view of happiness.  This is because we are all unique individuals with varying dreams, passions, interests, and desires!  Try this exercise:

Close your eyes.  Take a deep breath.  Think of the word, “happiness.”  What do you see?

For me, happiness is:

…Lucas racing his bike around the yard (he LOVES that bicycle)

…a clear bright blue Florida sky (hopefully with ocean sounds in my ears!)

…playing chef or chef’s assistant in the kitchen with family or friends with happy music playing (I LOVE the community feeling when there are two or more of us cooking together.)

…the sound of the waves, the feel of squishy sand, the salty sea smell (for perfection, add a surfboard.)

…the smell of sweet hay, the sound of farm animals, the sight of abundant fruit on trees and in a garden

…a bright, open, cheery home with a sanctuary for visiting relatives (Grandma suite, anyone?)

…every time I picture this perfection in my mind, I see my family.  Family, friends, community; living life together.  This is what I picture as happiness.

I often imagine heaven as a huge garden, overflowing with life, where all of us spend quality time with each other tending the animals and plants as we were designed to do (okay, I know that’s simple and I’m ignoring the obvious awesomeness of actually seeing Jesus in glory, but you know, I can dream.)  Happiness for me is being with my family.

A wise man said, “be sure if you join yourself to someone, they see happiness the same way you do.”

Another, “you can’t change someone, they are the only one who can choose to change themselves.”

Remember that you cannot be happy trying to force someone else into a mold you see.  Enjoy them as they are.  (We all have flaws, no one is perfect, and everyone is uniquely different!)  Don’t try to change others, just allow them to be who they are.  (A friend pointed out to me once that no one in the “Pooh-Bear” books “unfriend” Eeyore because he’s gloomy; they accept him as he is.)

When you close your eyes and see happiness, whom do you see with you?  Those are the ones you love.  That is what you treasure.  Cherish time with those who make you happy.

Thanks for reading!

Type at you later…

~Nancy Tart

Toys Versus Kitchen Tools

Have you ever wondered if your kid was the only one who chose kitchen tools over toys?

March 4, 2019

Toys Versus Kitchen Tools

Have you ever thought it was just your kid?

…You know, when you have hundreds of dollars worth of toys for them to play with yet they would rather grab every plastic container, metal pot, and baking tin and beat it like a drum set with two plastic implements of some kind.  (Spatula and cake server anyone?)

Nope.

It’s not just your kid.

Seriously, I promise.  I’ve actually studied it.

In my very scientific study, conducted over almost two full decades, with dozens of children unknowingly participating, I have come to the conclusion that a mismatched set of plasticware, baking tins, and cooking pots serves as a more desirable toy than the newest Duplo set – to everyone under the age of five… maybe take that limit up to eight or nine if they are entertaining a younger cousin, sibling, or playmate.

Ready for some proof happening as I type?

…here is the playroom.

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…and here is the front room (my kitchen and front room are divided by the couch Becky is sitting on – my photographer didn’t get the kitchen scene).

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Do you see the children?

Just where are the children?  Certainly NOT in the playroom with the actual toys.

So Becky is watching her algebra lecture videos while keeping an eye on Thea (in the bassinet), and Jillian, Mandy, Isaac, and JJ are bringing her “food” they “cooked” in the various kitchen tools.  (The “food” is actually represented by alphabet refrigerator magnets – notice in the plastic containers.) Lucas, the other toddler in the house, is still “cooking” magnets in a cupcake tin just behind the bassinet.

In this one, my photographer thought he was going to play in the playroom, but no; JJ is taking three “hot wheels” back to the kitchen… he then served them to Becky while Mandy explained that they were “chicken nuggets.”

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So, just to satisfy your curiosity: no, your kid isn’t the only one to spend hours playing with kitchen tools instead of his or her toys.  Your kid is just being normal.

Thanks for reading!

Type at you later…

~Nancy Tart

Goofy Meme

A meme shared by their uncle provides for a funny, entertaining morning!

March 2, 2019

Goofy Meme

One thing Christina and Becky like to do is look through my FaceBook feed.

Hilarious laughter exploded one morning as I showed them a meme one of my brothers shared:

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Becky adds:  “Me: Uncle Buddy, Uncle ChaCha, how did you get in my birth room?”

Kimberly, Jaquline, and Christina went into laughing debate over which of their uncles would fit which roles.

Christina and Becky decided this would be the most awesome thing to do after their first baby’s birth.  Becky started talking about how it would be her and her husband mimicking this exchange.

I told them to do a ToyActs video play with it.  (Don’t know if they will.)

This did turn the entire breakfast table and schoolroom into a discussion that led into movie/book differences, how nerdy our family is, a few recitations from the movie, and one of the girls looking at Thea and saying, “You’ll understand this soon enough.”

Their interactions certainly kept an amused smile (and a few chuckles) on mom’s face.

Thanks for reading!

Type at you next time…

~Nancy Tart

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