I’ve always been a watcher. I watch the world around me and (most of the time) analyze it. I look at a beautiful blue sky and my mind says “wow, how pretty,” and quickly follows with “it won’t rain for the next few hours.” (Yes, hours, we live in Florida – if you walk outside and don’t like the weather, go brush your teeth and check again.)
Honestly, I analyze too much.
I shouldn’t catch a glimpse of something and try to analyze it.
In relationships, that is nosy. See someone and instantly turn on your inner Sherlock Holmes… (Four different cat hairs on her skirt, four cats – her house must be smelly… unless she uses that whatever-name-it-is-I-saw-on-tv multi-cat litter. Is her purr-fume laced with tuna?)
That just isn’t nice.
In normal life, it can suck out the joy.
I catch this glance of my angel sleeping. Instant thought: “My Mom will love this.” Second thought: “She was two months old on Easter Sunday.” Third thought as I’m sending my mom the picture: “Daddy never saw her.” Followed quickly by a flood: Daddy didn’t get to hear about Christina flying, Lucas will not remember his Grandfather, they won’t get to learn how amazing Daddy’s brain was – like talking to an educated encyclopedia with an open mind. He was always listening, always talking, always making connections where we couldn’t see them; always the analyst.
Within two minutes (from the time I took the picture until Mom texted back), my mind had sent my mood from joyful to sorrowful. From excited about young life to regretting the passing of my Daddy. I had just rode an emotional roller coaster at work and nothing had changed on my face.
I forced myself to refocus.
Daddy always expected Christina to achieve her dreams – he once told me to “look out, she has your determination and a friendlier world; just you watch what she does!”
Lucas loves watching family videos and listening to stories of his “Santa Boompa” told by his big sisters.
I inherited Daddy’s knack for soaking up knowledge (probably why I can make myself learn any new job rather quickly) and if you want to start me talking… (yes, the girls call it lecturing) enter at your own risk because I’ll make strange connections, see beyond what is easily seen, and read into situations for what “could be.”
I remind myself that we can always shift our focus to the positive, and that’s what Daddy would have wanted. He didn’t want anyone sad when he left us. He always wanted the joy, smiles, and laughter that he tried to cultivate. So, now I’m back to joyful.
Then music runs through my head: “I Choose Joy!” (For King & Country – I love that song!)
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?”)
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.
Behind the Picture: Thea and the Apple – Becky and her photography & funny snippets.
February 25, 2019
Behind the Picture! Thea and the Apple
Becky likes photography.
Becky has an interesting sense of humor. When she takes pictures on the play phone and sends it to me, I get this: (Thea is about an hour old)
Kimberly and Christina changed Thea, bundled her up, and as Kimberly is bringing her to me, I hear a singing voice: “We’re taking the baby to Isengard!” (I have no clue how I have the honor of being “Isengard,” but this was the look I got: )
In the first picture, Becky was trying to get good pictures of newborn Thea. Becky was making faces to get her attention, Lucas ran up with an apple in hand to “help,” and Becky ended up with a picture that had just the “wrong” angle – but it made a funny meme picture.
The girls are totally enjoying having a new baby sister – and Lucas loves being her “protector.” He told Louis he was “protecting Baby Thea from dog kisses, bad dinosaurs, and big sisters when they don’t listen.” (The last was likely because Jillian kept touching Thea’s head when we said not to touch her soft spot.)
I’m so blessed by their joy and love towards their new sister! Christina, who was worried about being “too much older” than the baby, can’t get enough time holding her! I am twelve years and eleven months older than my baby sister (she was also my parents’ seventh) – so I told Christina and Becky they both were older “big sisters” than I was. (15 yrs 4 mos & 13 yrs 4 mos, respectively) At this, Becky sends me a “wow” emoji though we are sitting at the same table! (She was supposed to be using the phone as a calculator.)
A birth story of our little angel (and a slideshow of proud siblings & family!)
February 22, 2019
The Story of Baby Thea
If you’ve been following my blog, you know I was growing my seventh little angel.
Today, I get to write the story of her arrival!
On February 19th, a beautiful Tuesday morning, my day started normally. During my 32 minute drive to work, the Baby started thinking there was not enough room and my body did the stretching contractions (Braxton-Hicks) that is very normal for me in the last month or two before birth. I didn’t think much of it, really. After my boss left for appointments, one of my office companions, Lily, a beautiful brown and white pittie belonging to my boss, started laying at my feet and wouldn’t let me go anywhere without her! This was a bit of a warning to me because Sheba (my Aussie mix) always does this to me when I’m in active labor. I left at one (normal time) to get to Christina and then my midwife appointment.
Christina had been babysitting, finished some errands at the college so she would be ready for the summer semester, caught the bus to 207 (the road I take into town), and was waiting for me. Along the way, my midwife texted to reschedule the appointment to Thursday and I laughed during my voice-text because I was very tired and that worked great for me. I added, “or when Baby is ready,” as a joke because my babies have all come on or after the due date. Everyone had been rooting for a February birth since the official “due date” was February 24th, and except for Lucas, my wee ones were between 9 and 13 days “overdue” so I usually ignored the due date and just gave a general month (in this case, I’d been saying March).
I got Christina, teased her about driving (she’s recently received her learner’s permit), and we headed home. Sheba was acting odd, I was starving; Louis had made lasagna Monday so I ate a huge plate and took a short nap.
When I got to gym with Becky (her class is on Tuesday, the others are all Wednesday), the contractions were still there, but, like I said, that is normal for me. It had been happening off and on already for about a week and a half, so I just went about work because they were easy to ignore. Some friends and I chatted about babies as I was leaving, and someone said, “you know about your body by now, right?” I laughed, “each is different, but I’m still thinking March.”
Wow, was I wrong.
As Becky texted Christina and Louis to tell them we were off & headed to pick up Christina at CAP, Becky said, “Mom, I can’t drive us home, but if the baby keeps contracting like that, maybe Christina can.”
We laughed. Part of the driving restrictions on a learner’s permit forbid night driving for the first few months; but we always teased Christina that she’d have to drive home in the dark if I was in labor.
Home, I was starved, but my belly felt full after four strawberries. I took a shower and crashed. I kept waking up every couple hours, but I’m a light sleeper so that’s also normal. Each time, though, I noticed contractions. I’d check my phone just to see what time it was. Midnight. 1:40. 2:30. 3:50. At almost 4, I realized I was sweating and I decided to wait for fifteen minutes (so the water softener cycle was finished) and take a shower. The next glance at my watch showed 4:19. I took a shower and the first contraction after the water hit was very strong. I felt movement inside me. “Wow, you sure you’re ready?” I asked. I was sure that was just a fluke and usually the warm water calms contractions down. When the next two made my legs feel like jelly, I got out of the shower and crawled back into bed. The phone said 4:35. I wasn’t about to wake anyone or call Misti for three oddly strong contractions.
I tried to sleep. I had about two hours before I had to get ready for work.
At somewhere before 6am, I tried getting ready for work. I had to stop and breathe through contractions that were easy to time and I felt the baby moving slowly down inside of me. I was about to wake Louis but ended up stretching through a contraction. We have a mind link, I think. Louis woke up as I was stretching. He goes into mega cleaning and question mode. This is his serious mode. He has been through it enough to know we were going to have a baby this morning – or at least today. He told me to call Misti, he woke the kids up to help clean (normally, we clean before bed, but they had been in a non-cleaning mood the previous night), and directed the house with efficiency. I was restless, so kept walking around in between. Christina and Becky didn’t want to get out of bed. I went into the barracks to find out why not.
“Mom! You can’t have the baby in here!” Christina shrieked, covering her head.
“So, get up please and help Daddy with cleaning. Y’all should have done that last night. Once you finish, you can go back to bed, but he’s really stressing about the house and people coming so please help.”
No answer. I could feel another contraction creeping up. “Okay, you have about 20 seconds before I get another contraction and…”
Christina bolted, “MOM! I’m up! I’ll help Dad! GET CONTRACTIONS OUT OF MY ROOM!”
Becky was up too. Kimberly was definitely awake. Mission accomplished. I went back to the kitchen table. My “leave” alarm reminded me to text or call my boss. 6am though, I figured I should just text – plus I didn’t want to talk to anyone at the moment.
Misti showed up (can’t remember if the house was clean, but based on the voices and giggling and a movie being on, I’d guess it was straightened). Mom was on the way, she told us she had to be at one of my brother’s promotions at 8am. The girls had turned on “The Two Towers” and as Louis walked by during the Uruk-hai production scene and he ordered, “Turn that off, you can see a real birth soon enough.” I can’t remember if the result was “Wild Kratts” or “Dumbo” but there was something far less messy on the tv a minute later. (I did hear one of the teenagers or preteens quip, “Mom will sound like an orc.” Louis and I laughed. We’re nerds.)
By 8:30, I was immune to the world. I heard Misti’s voice, smelled Louis (I was leaning on him), and faintly heard background voices. I was focused on this job.
8:42am and our little one came into the world, veiled. Misti took the bag off and the Baby screamed to test the limit of her lungs! (We didn’t know Baby was a “she” just yet!) Baby opened her eyes fully and stared up at me. Then she screamed to rattle the roof again. The dogs were barking. We discovered our Baby was Thea!
Welcome to our crazy world, Theadora Taliesyn Tart. You are loved and cherished!
Theadora (after her great-grandfather Melvin Theodore Pearson) means “gifted by God” and Taliesyn (feminine form of your grandfather’s favorite character from a Celtic legend) means, “one with the shining brow, one who sings wisdom.” And Daddy chose the nickname “Thea” because he likes it. (Your uncle texted that he’d call you “3T” – yes, Daddy searched for two “T” names we both liked!) I kept both names the same length, since that’s what we’ve done – all of the children’s names have the same number of letters in the first name and middle name. Theadora 8 letters, Taliesyn 8 letters – told you we are nerds.
Mom (Grandma Joanne in the pictures) came back with a shower of baby girl goodies! (And, yes, this is why she’s in such cute clothes once we managed to get them on her!)
Theadora, I pray you always feel the love of your family as you wiggle your way up to adulthood. I pray you feel the warmth and see the light of God’s love reflected in the faces of your sisters and brother, mother and father, aunts and uncles, grandparents and cousins. We have accepted the honor of being your guides to lead you to Jesus, to raise you in love, and to give you room to find, develop, and follow the passion of life God has rooted within you. You are a daughter of God, a precious gift to us, and chosen to bring light through your smile.
Becky said I can’t post a baby story without her pictures! So here is a little slideshow:
Lucas kept trying to “pet” and “kiss” Baby TheaChristina & Thea (oldest & youngest)Lucas said “you are my love, Baby Thea!”Grandma Joanne & TheaChristina and Becky are already vying for who gets the babyKimberly and TheaJillian and TheaTheadora Taliesyn TartThis is Christina’s favorite from Thea’s birthdayJaquline and TheaBecky and TheaDaddy and TheaAunt Becca and TheaThea and Mommy
“Mom, Lucas got my phone!” and took selfies all over it… just like they used to do to mine!
January 26, 2019
Mom, Lucas Got My Phone!
“Mom!” Becky cracks up laughing and flashes the “girls’ phone” screen in my direction from half a room away. “Lucas got my phone!”
I gave her a puzzled look because my tiny peek of the screen instantly was interpreted by my brain as a chess board.
“Selfies, mom, he took tons of selfies on our work phone.” (Since the girls started babysitting and most homes don’t have a land line anymore, we have a “family work phone” that whomever is out working gets to take with them.) Becky laughed again and sends a screenshot of her gallery to me. Now I’m laughing because instead of taking four or five steps, she’s texting me from across a room! (Love technology, because now I have something to put on the blog!)
I also think about how the girls were always putting selfies on my phone… until I started blogging and they’d be like, “Mom! Not that picture!” (My reply was always, “it’s on my phone, fair game!”)
As I’m saving Becky’s screenshots to my phone, Lucas wanders over and notices the computer open on my template page and pictures on my phone. “Mom, are you writing a blog?”
(How does my 3-year-old know what blog is?) “Yes.”
“Am I in it?” Lucas snuggles on my lap.
“Yes, you will be.”
“Can I type your blog?”
“No, you may not type it, but you may watch,” I smile.
Lucas holds my belly in between his hands and says, “I love you, Baby, Mommy writes about us. You need to come out and read when you are bigger.” (Lucas thinks he can read, he recites some stuff.) Lucas sighs, the Baby kicks or punches (Baby reacts to Lucas the most). “But then I can’t wrestle you when you come out. I love you, Baby!”
Sweetness. Pure Love. Yes, Lucas is right when he calls this baby “my Baby!”
Here are Becky and Christina’s newest triplets – Swan, Tiger, and Grizzly! Cuddly balls of fur and cuteness!
January 24, 2019
Meet Swan, Tiger, and Grizzly!
Becky and Christina’s guinea pigs had three little piglets! (Taylor, mom, is Christina’s whom we adopted, and Becky’s TobyMac was purchased with the store employee promising he was really a she… read here for that story!)
So about every six months or so, our little piggies pop out a couple of new piglets. First was our Sweet Potato, who went to a lovely home near ours. The last was another trio. The girls take finding a home for their sweet babies a big responsibility!
Becky finds a “theme” for their names. The first one was vegetable, the second one was desserts, and this one is animals.
This is Swan.
Tiger (so named for the white stripe)
And Grizzly (coloring played a role in this one’s name)
We don’t know the sex of these little piglets just yet because Becky thinks they are “too comfy” snuggling with Mommy and Daddy to “invade” and examine them. Toby is such a devoted Daddy to the piglets. He will even make a growling fussy noise if one of the girls opens the nursery roof when he’s bringing grass up to Taylor while she’s nursing the piglets. (They like fresh Spanish Needles better than even Timothy Hay!)
But when the adults come down to take a baby break, the girls get to peek at the babies! When it is cool, as it has been lately, we don’t take them out of their protection until they are better able to regulate their body temperature. Baby Guinea Pigs are born fully furry, eyes open, scampering about, and almost independent. (They will nurse from mom for 3 to 6 weeks, but start eating fresh grass brought up by Daddy almost immediately!)
In the cycle of our little farm the younglings get to see birth, life, and death as it plays out in seasons on a smaller scale than in our own lives. We are honored to see births and become responsible for the small life gifted to us (yes, even the frog egg cluster they saved from the drying pool and hatched them to “save them” from drying up). We will keep one or two of these little angels as they become permanent members of our little tribe. I love how tenderly the girls take care of their animal responsibilities – Lucas calls them “my animal friends.”
“Parents Night Out” aka Gymnastics Party no child wanted to go home from!
January 22, 2019
Gymnastics Party!
My gym hosts a charity event once a month they call “Parent’s Night Out” – the kids participating call it “Gymnastics Party.”
Every third Saturday, or 4 or 5 hours, depending on the month (February and December are 5 hours), parents can drop their child(ren) off at WGV Gymnastics so they can enjoy a supervised gym party while the parents enjoy some alone time. Each event has a different theme: from Luau Night (September 21, 2019) to Superhero Night (July 20, 2019), Pirate and Princess Night (April 20, 2019) to Glow Mania (March 16, 2019) each event is sure to entertain!
The proceeds benefit the WGV Athletics Booster Club (a non-profit group whose primary purpose is to provide financial support for WGV gymnasts during their competitions).
The partiers loved the gym, fun games (“Night at the Museum,” “Alligator,” and “Freeze Dance” were the favorites!), a dance party, pizza, and encouraging camaraderie!
As our time came to a close, partiers tried various methods to pretend they didn’t have to go home – one of my nieces was stiffly sitting in her line after noticing mom. I whispered, “your mom is here,” and her reply was made without moving her mouth, “I know, I just wanted to pretend I didn’t see her yet.”
My teenager who wasn’t participating this time (she’d been babysitting for a family friend from about 6:30am & it was about 6pm when she arrived with Grandma) took a few pictures and videos of the cousins at the event:
JJ hung out with Grandma watching the older kids play.
Anastasia was very excited!
She got to jump on Tumble Track!
Isaac almost didn’t come out of the foam pit!
He spied Becky’s candy-striped leggings!
Sweet T standing in line – we found her most at the Tumble Track!
And a tiny video of Tory on Tumble Track doing her “twirls” – so cute!
My girls have decided to “come to work” with me every Parent’s Night Out since they had so much fun!
Cousin visits to our “mini-farm” aka place to get messy, play with animals, discover eggs hidden outside, and enjoy togetherness!
January 18, 2019
Cousin Visits!
My sister, brother, and their three little ones (Sister-Cousin and Brother-Cousins!) have moved back from Kansas!
They came out to our mini-farm (muddy spot with a pond, outside tank with tadpoles, indoor goldfish, foraging chickens, playful Guinea Pigs, cute fluffy bunny, and jumpy adult dogs who think they are 4 months old) over the weekend and the kids were totally excited!
This time, we had very few photographers snapping pictures because they were too busy playing with their cousins!
Lucas was so excited to share his green car (motorized car his Grandma Joanne bought him for his 2nd birthday) but the battery ran out too quickly – so he shared his Christmas bicycle and his train tracks. For him, those items are his dearest things in the world; train tracks, cars, his bicycle, and his green car.
“Baby JJ” – who isn’t a baby anymore! – and Lucas played train tracks for a bit. JJ liked the bicycle too. Outside JJ and Mandy wanted to see all the fluffy animals.
Anastasia helped show off Minuit, Kimberly’s little black Dwarf Holland Lop Bunny.
Little Minuit loves to eat carrot bits!
Mandy found Jaquline’s “hidden spot” in her bunkbed! (With big paper on the “wall.”)
Taylor and TobyMac did their popcorn jumps after the girls loaded them with Spanish Needles greens (chickens, bunnies, and Guinea Pigs love them before they turn to seed aka the needle part).
Above is the wildflower called Spanish Needle, a favorite food of many small animals.
Jillian showed off her Uncle Buddy knowledge by telling them that people can eat the wildflowers and leaves too. (Yes, but they are bitter unless cooked, and I hoped her younger cousins were distracted by the cuteness of the piggies and missed the “you can eat this weed” tidbit.)
We love cousin visits! It is always fun with family shares their time with each other.
This story of Minuit, the Dwarf Holland Lop bunny who became Kimberly’s best gift ever, and how Kimberly fell in love with her “snuggle bunny” gifted by her big sisters!
January 2, 2019
Minuit’s Story
There was a girl, Kimberly, who fell in love in 2013 when she was 6 and a black and white “retired stud rabbit” she called “Mister Walter Rabbit” was left on her family’s back porch.
Mom found out Mr. Walter Rabbit was over 12! (Rabbits average 10 years.) That didn’t matter to Kimberly. She slid down the kiddie slide with him, she put him on his blanket in the baby buggy and dragged it around like a rickshaw, she slept with him, she loved him more than any animal ever before, and with a little help from her oldest sister, took care of him “all by myself!”
Kimberly and Mr. Walter Rabbit were inseparable for over two years!
Fast forward to 2018 and Kimberly helped build a Guinea Pig cage for the big girls’ three new “girl Guinea Pigs” – but Becky’s angel was actually TobyMac (read more here). Kimberly’s little Avery love was far older than the lady let us know, and Kimberly only was able to love on Avery for almost a year.
Kimberly’s loss of her “baby” Guinea Pig came only two days after her Grandfather passed away. Kimberly cried that this would be her saddest Christmas ever.
It wasn’t a great financial year for her parents, so they were very busy with trying to pick up odd jobs and stay working so they could pay bills on time. Kimberly’s mom listened and tried to console her, but she knew Kimberly would have to heal herself because words don’t fill wounded hearts. Kimberly’s mom’s Daddy was Kimberly’s Grandfather.
Kimberly’s mom had only been home for a couple hours after a temp job that morning when Becky and Christina, Kimberly’s two older sisters who had been working babysitting and odd jobs too, came excitedly up to Mom. The younglings were asleep (except the baby brother), and Becky gave Mom $50 and said, “we found this bunny for Kimberly and it’s just perfect and the lady just texted us… they are back from candlelight service and we need you to drive over and pick it up with us.”
Mom was flabbergasted. The teenagers had researched, found a local bunny breeder with the specific kind of bunnies Kimberly had wanted (Dwarf Holland Lops) and she was holding a black female (the EXACT color and sex Kimberly said she was going to buy “once I save enough”) for them.
IT WAS CHRISTMAS EVE!
Christina babysat, Becky kept Mom awake, baby brother fell asleep in the van, and Mom taxied the proud big sister out to pick up “the perfect gift” and ferry it home.
The big sisters had planned ahead with feed, a very nice cage (a pair of Guinea Pigs came in it, but it was not used now as they had the big run), the bedding, and even a waterer and feeder. They prepped the bunny cage, set it under the Christmas tree (it was nearly 11pm now!), and tossed a thin sheet over it. Both were so giddy they could barely sleep! Because of her black fur, black eyes, and sweetness, this perfect bunny was called “Minuit,” which is French for “Midnight.”
On Christmas morning, the kids gathered around to open presents and the suspense was just too much for Dad, because Kimberly hadn’t even seemed to notice the animal cage covered in sheet! Dad said, “Kimberly, that sheet is in the way, please fold it up.”
Kimberly grabbed the sheet and almost screamed! (Poor Minuit!) Kimberly was so happy she was in tears! As Christina and Becky reassured her the 9 week old bunny was hers, she scooped her out of the cage and snuggled her on the couch. Nothing else mattered at that moment. Kimberly cried and after everyone had finished adoring the new bunny, she gasped, “Mom, I thought this would be the saddest Christmas, but this is my best Christmas gift ever!”
Leave it to amazing, thoughtful, caring big sisters to research something you really desire, manage a way to get it for you, and give you the best Christmas surprise you’ve ever had!
I hope you enjoyed this story of Minuit, the Dwarf Holland Lop bunny who became Kimberly’s best gift ever, and how Kimberly fell in love with her “snuggle bunny!”
