it's peanut butter honey time.

peanut butter honey time.



peanut butter honey time.



where you at? where you at?





peanut butter honey with a baseball bat. (shameful reference to family guy. but, whatever.)

i'm a toys 'r' us kid

"i don't wanna grow up! don't wanna grow up! i wanna be a toys 'r' us kid!" remember that commercial? oh, of course you do. i bet you were even singin' it as you read the words. and now it'll be stuck in your head for days upon days. that, and an image of little children bein' chased on a hill by a rather large giraffe named geoffrey. you're welcome.

each of my children have made this comment to me over the past few weeks. or a form of it. but they didn't actually say the toys 'r' us part. it was really just a variation of that catchy jingle. anyway, tonight it was wes. we were talking 'bout his birthday party, and what a big boy he is. and then, he turned his enormous brown eyes my way, and muttered these words, "i don't wanna get big!"

now words like that are strong, i think. they say a lot. those words make me so happy, and yet, a bit sad. sad because i don't want them to grow up either. i mean i do. but i don't. you know? i don't want to walk in their bedrooms some day, and have no one to wake with my "good mornin'" serenade. i don't want those annoyin' little fingerprints to disappear from my storm door. i don't want the toothpaste to be permanently removed from their bathroom mirrors. i mean, i do. but i don't. yeah, it's don't. i'm pretty sure. don't. yes, it's don't.

but, the happy part, for me, is that they don't want to grow up. while i am far from bein' the world's perfect parent, words like that are such affirmation. affirmation that they are enjoyin' their childhood. that they love their life, their family and their home. how cool is that? i think that's pretty stinkin' awesome.

F.M.I. (for maddie's information):
i snapped these pics so that one day, when you guys are older, you can look at 'em and remember exactly what it felt like to wake each mornin'. now, try as i might, i could not bring myself to walk in your room with my camera. i didn't want to take a chance on another storm coming while i was in there. as you know, the forecast for your room is always cloudy with a chance of jeans and underwear. i only purchased nikon's 1-year warranty. and that was fourteen months ago. love you.

"uhhhhh. huh?"

i'm no genius. well, it's never been proven i was or i wasn't. however, i'm gonna go the humble route and say, "i'm no genius."

but there are times when something just hits you, and all you can say is, "uhhhhh. huh?" like when i received this letter in the mail from a periodical that shall remain anonymous. (sports illustrated) it was a final notice for an account in our name that had a $55 balance. so, since it was a final notice, and they were gonna send it to a collection agency if i failed to comply, i picked up the phone and gave ol' aiswarya a call. (forgive me if that sounded sarcastic. i meant for it to sound funny and sarcastic.) come to find out, when you purchase a subscription as a gift, this company automatically renews the gift after the first subscription has expired. then they bill you for it. to which i replied, "uhhh. huh?"

so, aiswarya, by that rational, i purchased scottie a pair of shoes on tuesday from finish line. should i expect for finish line to automatically mail him another pair this time next year and charge me for 'em?

"well, mrs. comer, we assumed that you obviously like this scott person, and it has been a year since you purchased the shoes for him. we assumed you would probably like to buy him a new pair. i mean you don't want him to wear that same pair this year do you? was that a wrong assumption? "


next, we have a sign that caught my attention drivin' down the road last week. now, i'm no al gore. (this has been proven.) And i could definitely use a little coachin' in the whole green movement. but i can't figure out how on God's green earth you could make dying... greener.

"yes, mrs. comer, i realize that when you die you will no longer be consuming the earth's resources. yes, and i also realize that when you die you are planning on taking your carbon footprint with you. however, do you expect the rest of the world to make up for your lack of carbon dioxide production? oh, i see, and you're not planning on taking ANY oxygen with you when you go? likely story."

uhhh. huh?


and last, but not least, wes mess.

wes: mommy, i wanna be borned again.
me: ahh, wes mess. mommy is definitely prayin' for that day when you'll be 'borned' again.
wes: but, i am NOT gettin' back in yo' belly. yucky! my teacher said you only have to do that one time.
me: uhhh. huh?

when i get where i'm goin'

i exchanged my half-sheet of paper with the boy to the left of me, grabbed my grading pen and settled into my metal framed chair. do you remember the pen i'm talking about? it was silver and one end wrote with blue ink, the other red. i flipped mine to red. and then commenced to gradin'. sittin' next to raymond* did have one perk, he was a notoriously horrible speller. score. 'cause who really wants to grade "sally super speller"'s paper?

we finished gradin' the test. i wrote the number wrong, copied the corresponding percentage from the board, and circled it nice and big at the top of the page. then i handed the paper back to ol' raymond, and issued a half-hearted, "sorry." yeah, sorry raymond*. but don't be goin' and studying your spelling list. at least not until you no longer sit to my left.

i glanced at the clock mounted above the pencil sharpener on the ivory-painted, cinder block wall. 1:34? could that be right? that's not right. katie* was right. mrs. crowder* sets the clock back when we're not lookin'! the truth is out. now, how do i catch her in the act?

when i was 10, i literally thought that there were moments that time stopped. it seemed like the afternoons were the worst. i guess because your belly was full and all you really wanted to do was go home and take a nap. instead you found yourself grading spelling tests, dustin' erasers, wipin' down the lunch tables and reading your science book. come to think of it. did i work at robards elementary school? well, those teachers were pretty darn tricky. 'cause i remember cat fights over who was gonna take the erasers outside and bang 'em on the sidewalk.

anywho. i do have a point. and, my point, ladies and gentlemen, is that time, most definitely, does not stand still.

at the age of 32, there are nights when i crawl in bed, and all i can recall of the day are bits and pieces. my days feel more like moments flashin' in front of my face. monday mornings give way to wednesday nights, and then we're muttering, "thank God it's friday!" the weeks turn to months and months to seasons that are gone as quickly as they came. try as i might, there is nothin' i can do to slow things down. and before we know it, we'll be gone.

lately, it has been hard for me to think of anything other than time. the time we spend on earth. the time that has passed. the time when my babies were babies. when scottie had hair. when mine stayed dark brown all on it's own. when the kids were all in bed by 7:30.

but, if i'm bein' honest, it's really the time that has yet to pass that has me thinkin'. and more about what i will fail to do in this time that has yet to be. or, really, just one thing. i want to ask you where you're going.

why is that such a daunting task? i honestly don't have a clue. i suppose i'm worried 'bout what you'll think. or what you'll say. or what you won't say. but that's a bunch of crap. what kind of sense does that make? it doesn't. it's the devil. plain and simple. he's got me believin' that there will always be a next time. next time i see you, i'll ask you point blank. i will. i have to. it's too important.

and, then i don't.

why? i'm not tryin' to sell you a box of cookies or a subscription to a magazine you'll never read. i'm not sellin' vinyl windows or a set of encyclopedias. and i don't get a badge or a commission if you accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior.

i have nothin' but love for you. i just want to know that when this portion of time i call life has run it's course, we'll see each other again. and, i want you to know the peace that you can have. the peace that no matter what comes your way, you don't have to go it alone.

so, where you goin'? do you know that there's nothin' you can do to earn yourself a ticket there? and once you're goin'. you're goin'! which is great, with the economy the way it is these days. ;) do you know that the only way is through a personal relationship with Jesus Christ?

the Bible says, if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. for it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved." romans 10:9-10

so, here it goes. if you want to know for sure where you're goin', i wrote this prayer. all you have to do is pray it. and, it is the absolute cry of my heart that you will. because i love you. i really, really do. and, nobody can get mad at you for that, can they?

Jesus,
i admit that i am a sinner, in need of a savior. i repent of this sin and turn from it. i believe, in my heart, that You are the son of God, and that you died on the cross and rose again, so that i might have everlasting life with You. Jesus, come into my life, take control of my life, forgive my sins and save me. please. ;) i put my trust in you alone for my salvation. and i accept your gift of eternal life.
amen.

if you wanna talk 'bout anything or if you have any questions. i'm here.



*no names have been changed to protect the innocent. 'cause i like keepin' it real. ;)

oh no she di'int

friday night was supposed to be a girls night out. it ended up being a girls night in. i felt horrible cancelin' on my friends. but, when your nearly 11 year-old daughter asks you to stay home and do each others make-up, whatcha gonna do?

however, i hope she doesn't think this means she has gone through some sorta, "right of passage." 'cause your ghetto- booty ain't leavin' this house with a stitch of make-up on it. and, to be honest, i'm still contemplatin' lettin' it leave the house period.

oh no she di'int. oh yes, i did. and you're just gonna have to deal with it, ma-ddie!

toofwess

maddie has pulled every one of her baby teeth on her own.

will lets me sit on top of him and twist those suckers 'til they fall out beggin' for mercy.

it makes scottie cringe.

good thing they got bourland blood in 'em. hard core. that's what we are. hard core rednecks.

and...i'm okay with that.