Grandpa Lynn's Airplane

Grandpa Lynn's Plane. Chad's grandpa loved to fly. One of the first times I met him, I was taken for a flight in his little plane. We drove out to the airport in his truck and hopped in the little four seater and took off into the wild blue yonder.
I had never been in such a small plane, and the noise was so loud we had to wear headphones so we could chat.
Grandpa smiled a lot as he showed us around town and that surrounding community of Illinois from the air. He talked about how much he loved "flying the heavens" and how being up in the air gave him the perspective he needed to remember once we were back on the ground. Grandpa shared that he had many conversations with God while he was up there.
Our visits with Grandpa and Grandma Lynn were always fun, especially when we could get them talking about the "old days". The days of no indoor plumbing, electricity,ect. A smile would stretch across their faces and then a light of memory would flicker in their minds eye and the story would flow. Even when participating in light house work, or yard duties, there was always laughter somewhere in that home. Love in action was exhibited each time someone walked through the door be it a family member or a neighbor down the road.
Grandma and Grandpa lived in a little farmhouse that at one time was home to their six children. It was neat to hear the "remember when" stories that Sweeties aunts and uncles would share about their time in the house.
In Grandma and Grandpa's room above their bed were 18 model airplanes suspended in mid air. Each of the grandchildren loved to go in there and gaze up at the airplanes. If you were lucky Grandpa would follow you in and give ya some of the history of each airplane. Uncle Leroy built most of the models and gave them to his dad as gifts. However, there were a few that Grandpa built too.
Now that Grandma and Grandpa have left us to join their heavenly father, the family has begun the process of cleaning things out and passing along family treasures.
This Christmas I was thrilled to watch Sweetie and his sister each receive one of Grandpa's airplanes. Tears of joy and memories by the handful raced through their minds, as tears trickled their way down the cheeks of Grandpa's true gems, his grandchildren. It was truly an emotional moment of bittersweet joy. I am quite sure if Grandpa could have wittnessed this, his tender eyes would have welled up with tears of pride and happiness knowing his treasures would be loved by future generations.
Sweetie got Grandpa's Piper J-3 Cub. Grandpa's first airplane he owned for 11 years was very much like this one.
Today I hung that airplane up in a corner of our bedroom, so that whenever we look at it we can reflect and remember Grandpa. Grandpa wasn't just a pilot, he was a husband, a father, a Christian. He read his Bible daily, was an upstanding member of the community, he cared for and loved his fellow church members by serving for many years. To his family his legacy will continue, as we were all so blessed to have him in our lives.

I leave you with this thought. We all have special people in our lives, some come and go while other relationships last for years and years. What will the people that you know, and the friends and family that you love remember about you?

Getting my Rockucation on..Bring it!

While we have had Guitar Hero in our home for a couple of years now, I am just starting to get my feet wet. I enjoy watching Sweetie and the boys play. I have been able to blow it off until recently.
Our middleschooler asked me to play with him on Guitar Hero this week. To say that panic gripped me would be an understatement. I wasn't into much other than pinball as a kid, so now the idea of keeping up with those different colored dots as they race toward me is a stressful task at best.
I started my rockucation through the tutorial just last weekend. At various times throughout the week I have taken the time to finish and graduate from the famed rock school of Guitar Hero. I must say that I am by no means ready to Guitar battle.
Today I accomplished the YOU ROCK status on the songs, Rock You like a Hurricane, Slow Ride, Hit me with your best shot,and Rock and Roll all Night. This status means that I actually hit enough notes to be able to put my name in one of four slots on the main page. My rocker character; a gal with purple pigtails and a purple and pink outfit has actually made a little rock money. ha!
While I haven't advanced past the easy stage, Cory did sneak in a battle with me. He took me through an extrememly long, did I mention LONG song called Through the Fire and Flames. Apparently when you are in a battle neither of you can fail out. At the end of such a battle there is a percentage shown and he or she who has the highest score wins. I didn't. I did survive though, mostly by just hitting whatever color flew at me..I was actually proud of the 48% and 19 note streak I got on that one. That is an extremely complicated song.
Well, I must go as the extreme exhaustion of my fingers on my left hand are shaking from excessive use! Peace out!

God gave us 2 ears and 1 mouth

My grandmother used to say that all the time. She thought and said that I was a continual bubbling brook. All someone had to do was show an interest in something I was doing and BOOM!
I wasn't always like that. When I think back to school days, I didn't say much. I was however not without communication. I recall getting in trouble in the fourth grade for passing notes in class. When the note regarding my behavior went home, I knew I was going to be in trouble. I wasn't! I remember my mother laughing and telling me that she was glad I had friends and try to talk to them outside the classroom so I wouldnt get another note home. She then shared with me how she didn't have many friends and she was glad I had made a few. I thought maybe I was in a time warp or something. But no, she simply signed the note and gave it to me to take back to school the next day. Now that I'm the parent, I also try to remember to exhibit grace and let some things slide.
I found myself using the same comment that Grandma used on the boys as of late. I want them to learn that we need to listen twice as much as we talk. Sometimes people just want someone to listen to them, not talk their ear off. We must learn to be still so that we can hear God's voice too.
People that don't speak out often are the ones that many will stop what they are doing just to hear what this quiet person has to say.
We are working on listening more than talking these next few weeks. It will be fun to see how the boys put this attribute into action.
That is all for now. More to come later.

Love One Another

The boys only went to school two days last week. Tuesday and Wednesday. Whew! That is a lot of time at home after being out of school for 2 1/2 weeks for Christmas break.
Well, boredom set in. They have now learned that if I hear fighting and/or being ugly to one another in the other room, I will find something for them to do. Something not pleasant. Something where they would rather get along than do a chore or worse yet a chore together. Hmmm.
Their bedrooms were re-organized and de-cluttered before New Years. Then there was another general cleaning of their rooms post New Years. Get the drift?
Yesterday, after listening to a rather long disagreement between the two, I could hear it escalating into physical action being taken by both parties. (Himself was studying for a test with headphones on so he didn't hear.)
I have one of those fake trees in our dining room. There are a lot of leaves on that little tree. (insert evil grin) Guess who cleaned the dust of each and every leaf? Yep! Better yet? They did it together.
They both agree that if they are going to fight or be ugly with one another they had better at least get out of my line of vision or earshot.
We talked about healthy communication,but I felt that was lost in translation as B looks at C and said, " He understood what I meant". To top it off C agreed with him.
I think that there was a lesson learned by me also, and that being boys settle things differently than girls do.

Accord verses Dodge Ram

Yesterday afternoon I got that sinking feeling one gets when all of the sudden your world stops. The phone call saying a loved one has been in an accident, please come.
Sweetie and his 2001 Honda Accord were involved in a head on collision with a Dodge Ram truck yesterday late afternoon on his way home from work. Ice was everywhere and the two vehicles tried to avoid one another on a side road, but couldn't. The truck actually ran up on Sweeties hood.
Sweetie is extrememly achy today, but so thankful. The other driver? He had a slight warp to his bumper, and Praise GOD, he is doing just fine too. Things could have been so much worse.
As we begin the details side to this accident, I am once again reminded how short life is, how quickly things can change.

Love note in the Snow

Today we got some snow, I doubt more than an inch. But it has been a fun snow. The boys went and played with some friends down the street. They came back inside for lunch with rosey cheeks and snow covered mittens and boots! Both were clamoring for me to listen to their favorite "story" of what they had done so far.
Cory went first. He told me about snowball fights and how the kids were carrying snow from wherever they could find it to try and make a small snow wall to duck behind when the snow balls started flying again.
Brian, well, he told me of getting to experience a sled. How the first time he got on he rode face first, (yep, just like his dad!)and then he stood up and tried to surf the snow. He then added details to back up the rest of the snowball fight story his brother told. Good stuff!
With Chick fil A nuggets and hot cocoa in their tummies they headed back out into the snow. When Cory came in to warm up he asked me to come upstairs he had something to show me that I could see in his room.
I had laundry to take up anyway, so up I went. He brought me over to his window and pointed for me to look out. There was Brian smiling proudly! He scratched out a really big " I LOVE YOU MOM! " the length of the driveway. Awwww. Little man knows how to make me smile!

Snow day?

SNOW DAY! No sweeter words can fall upon the ears of school children in TN. So when rumor of 2 or more inches hits, a panic of sorts starts.
Yesterday on a normal run into Walmart for sugar, I noticed several people in lines with the staples, bread, milk and soup. Hmmm. I guess I'm missing something. We have milk and some soup and bread too, so we would be fine if we were here through the weekend.
Here in Clarksville we generally don't get much snow. We are due a good one. Several years ago we were plagued with ice storms. Kentucky got the brunt of that last year. Forcasters are predicting and inch or two. Earlier this week it was 2-4. What Clarksville needs is a good 5-8 inches.
Now don't take me wrong, I don't want wrecks and people hurt or frozen in their homes. Just a good dose of snow so that folks can get a real taste of it. So that it is around long enough for the kids to play in, so they can go back to school with snow on the ground. I was sad to hear though, that they will not let the kids go play in snow when they are at school. WOW! How sad!

Oops!

Yesterday started with a not so good event. It was the last day of Christmas break and the kids needed to get things in order for the next day. Part of that was cleaning up their treasures from Christmas and putting their rooms in order. One of those chores was cleaning out their betta fish.
The middle schooler spent the best part of the day cleaning up his room. The youngest? Well, he wanted to move his furniture around. He wanted a new look for his room for the new year. SIGH!
We shifted things around some, which created an even bigger mess. Although once completed was better than before, and allowed us to purge some toys and broken things! This child likes to keep things even if they are broken, maybe we can fix them, or maybe I can find a part to replace a missing part.. and so goes the clutter. Together we went through these things and parted with most! Whoo hoo!
Now to the ooops! It was time to clean out his fish. Albert Einstein he called him, pretty blue and black with a tinge of red on the outer edge of his fins. This fish has been around since early October as a reward for good grades. Poor little thing, his water had gotten murky over the holidays as there was no time to clean him out.
He asked for help, so as we poured the fish into another holding container that little booger jumped when he was supposed to slip into said container, and straight down the hole, down the drain. We both looked at each other. Then came the silence. "Mom, where is he?" We are both looking at the sink,like maybe he will reappear, we looked back in the original bowl, looked at the running water. SIGH!
"Um, he um, he went down the drain." It was hard for me to say it out loud.
Little man, just as soon as the words fell out of my mouth, it became reality and the tears started rolling down his cheeks. Sitting the holding container down, he bolted for his room, throwing himself onto his bed sobbing.
Oh! The twisting of the heart. The middleschooler now hearing this starts to do all he can think of to help. He starts pulling out change, until he has $4.00. He wants to buy his brother a new fish. (on days when I wonder if they love each other I will pull from this memory)
Needless to say, we got another fish. We all put a little money toward a new one. That way everyone could enjoy watching our little man smile again. The new Albert Einstein Jr. is a different shade of blue, more of an aqua. With the promise of not cleaning a fish out around an open drain (the one in the boys bathroom you have to hold up, it won't hold on its own, we found out too late)the boys were able to sleep soundly.
With the first oops of the new year behind us, we hope the rest of the inevidable oops's are as "easy" to fix.

He knows what we need

Prayer over whether to lead another small group Bible study was choppy, at least on my part. Choppy meaning I prayed about it, I just didn't allow God's answer. I could hear Him. I filled in the silence with all the excuses as to why we couldn't add yet another social event to our weekly calendar. God was persistant and He knew I knew what needed to be done. Feeling very inadequate Sweetie and I began our singles group. We have a truly dedicated group of 20 somethings, some 30's,and a couple 40ishers.
Our first few meetings we had two. The Lord kept pushing. We grew, now we have a dedicated 8. There are 4-5 more that are on our list, that pop in as their schedules allow.
We wondered what this diverse group would want. This group is focused! These guys want meat! They want to dig into the word and grow. They are aware of the pains of growing and are willing to go the distance. They are already sharing goals and asking to be held accountable. The prayer and passion of these folks is truly amazing.
One of my goals this year is to spend more time listening. Listening to God and growing my prayer life. I have a prayer life, I just feel that it needs to be more. If I want a closer walk, I have to invest more time in that relationship.
God told us that this was needed, and that we would all grow from it. We weren't sure if the time was right. We listened, and are getting rewarded everytime we get or send a text message, read an email, or get a phone call from one of our precious singles. All these relationships would have been missed opportunities, real value missed in our lives. We now have more folks to connect with weekly, sometimes daily. God is so awesome! He knows what we need!

Welcome 2010!

Well, I will always remember what I was doing when we rang in 2010. See, my Sweetie isn't home much on holidays, so when he is, we try to do something to etch it out in our memory.
This year on Dec. 31st we decided to go experience a New Year party. Now, what kind of party can you go to with two children? We braved the biggest one in Nashville! We went to watch the guitar drop in downtown Nashville, TN at the Hard Rock Cafe. We got there around 930 p.m. We parked several blocks away so when the drop was over, we could go. We had no desire to hang around for the drinking party part.
Last year a club in Nashville had a guitar drop, and it was so popular they decided to get with the city planners and make it a bigger event. (or so I was told by one of the supposed committee members last night. We wanted to be able to say we were part of the first guitar drop in downtown Nashville.
There were folks everywhere! There were bands that got up and played everything from jazz to rock n roll. There were New Year hats that lit up, were poofy with feathers, and some that were just big. Horns were blowing and confetti littered the streets well before the famous countdown. Needless to say there were a few partiers that had already reached their limit of alcohol. The police officers waded through the crowd to keep tabs on the rowdie ones and to remove those that were ruining it for the rest of us. We were able to observe more folks that were just there to be there, than were drinking. That was pretty cool. THe family behind us and over to the left was in from Oklahoma, and they had friends from Arkansas that had come in just for this event. There was a couple in front of us that were in from Washington and were driving home after this, so they wouldn't be drinking. Lots of kids were around so the boys had plenty to do and see.
I think had Sweetie and I been on our own, we wouldn't have paid as much attention as we did having the boys with us. For instance, there was a guy that kept waving his whiskey bottle around and screaming. Go figure he would be close to us. We, and the other parents around gathered our children in close and kept this "gentleman" at bay. Folks were pushing and shoving. We were able to get out of that as the crowds closed in. We heard from a news crew that crowds reached all the way back up to the Sommet Center! WOW!
The boys learned some valuable lessons watching several of the partiers last night. Neat thing is, we didn't have to point them out. While they enjoyed being part of the big countdown, they both, in their own way, now know why we don't party like these others. Our middleschooler nailed it when he said, " at least I will remember in the morning what I said and did." No truer words have been spoken!
There were some college boys that embarrassed themselves and folks around them. Sad thing is most of them will not remember. Hopefully these folks all had designated drivers.
The slow at times wade back through the crowds was a task! But we laughed our way through it. Laughter is something that just happens (in spite of ourselves) when you people watch. And we had lots of opportunities for that last night! Wow. Seriously, it was chilly last night. We were standing there in our layers, toasty warm, while others (like the gal in a too short skirt and sleeveless top, the shirtless college boys, or the country boys in their overalls and tshirts).
IT was an experience we may never do again. However, the lessons learned and the time together was truly priceless! Happy New Year!