Ten on Tuesday (Tybee time remember?)

(Betsy just proofread and I misspelled Tuesday.  Not a good sign.  My brain is on vacation.)

1.  So we have made it half way.  Two weeks down, two to go.  So far, so good.  We have become a  little village.  It reminds me of olden times when generations lived together.  The lines blur from family to family.  If someone needs a diaper change, nose wipe, sunscreen or bug spray applied, book read to them, a boo boo that needs kissing, a bike ride around the block during the "witching hour" before supper, then the closest "mama" can help.  Of course sometimes only your real mama will do. 
2.  One of the best parts about being at the beach for a month is being with Betsy for a month.  I laugh so hard when I am with her.  Pee in my pants kind of laughing.  If I told you what we were laughing at you would say "Huh?".  It's totally the you had to be there, inside joke, kind of laughing. 
 3.  The first couple of trips to the beach include packing every sand toy, wave riding device, umbrella, tent, towel, and on and on.  Now we ride bikes with bathing suits on, no cover ups, no towels, one chair for the adult going, and maybe a bucket or boogie board if your lucky.  And you know what?  The end result is the same.  If the kids don't have a shovel they discover they have hands that dig.  My favorite part is watching the kids run the expanse of the beach and scream as loud as they can.  Sometimes I like to join in.  Not really the screaming part because that might cause alarm but the running part for sure.

4. Monday was one of those days.  It was a planning the menu for the week and going to the grocery store (15 minutes away) kind of day.  All of the kids played in the yard and it was really cute to watch them make "houses" with beach chairs and towels.  We didn't go to the beach or have any big energy spending events so when the witching hour hit, it hit hard.  People were all up on my nerves.  They were all on each other's nerves. I hadn't exercised in a couple of days (OK, more like 5 days) and I had lots of pent up energy too.  One hour of extreme frustration had Betsy and me questioning the entire day.  What could we have done better? Why didn't we plan more activities?  We should have....  The reality was that it was a good day except for an hour.  Satan really tries to use that hour to whisper as much self doubt as he can in to our ears.  It's nice to have another mom parenting along side you so you can put things in perspective.  They don't need us to schedule every hour of every day and they used their imaginations, which I love.  The next day we did get moving.  I exercised and we got them to the beach to run. 

5.  I overheard Packy telling Jason, "The music is playing in the kitchen.  Somebody is about to start cooking."  Dancing and cooking in the kitchen is another great part about Tybee.  I love that Packy already knows that music in the kitchen means food is coming.

6.  Let your gentleness be evident to all. Philippians 4:5

Lord, help me with this one.  My gentleness is lacking.  At the exact same time I typed that verse, I told one of my children to get away from me.  Is that gentle? Nope.  I would venture to say I am not known for my gentleness.  I sometimes struggle with showing affection to my big kids.  I have to think about it.  Put your hands on them and let them know they are loved. Try to do things they want to do. Be affectionate. 

7.  If you don't know the joy of taking an outside shower at night I hope you can find a place to make that happen.  There is just something about looking at the stars while you shower.  Reminds me of Eve in the garden before the whole apple eating, sin entering the world, naked and ashamed thing happened.  If there is a distant lighting storm, it is even more awesome.  Or awesomer, as my kids would say.

8.  Betsy and I are considering learning the choreography to the National Dance Day routine.  We would, of course, learn the advanced routine since Betsy is a trained dancer.  I will be sure to update you on our progress. 

9.  Are you still checking the God Centered Mom blog?  Good stuff.  Contentment: the alternative to comparison is amazing.  I think we, as women, are constantly comparing others outsides to our insides.  

I am trying to rejoice in the Lord, always, as Paul tells me. My inner attitude does not have to reflect my outer circumstances. 

10.   American Flag Churchwell is still alive but I can not tell you how many minutes of my life I have spent looking for him.  Packy doesn't want him to share a cage with the girls' hermit crabs so he puts his in a box.  American Flag can crawl out of his box.  Then he hides.  Last night at 11pm I was on my hands and knees praying that American Flag would reveal himself.  God delivered. 
11.  Even though we are a "village" I will still Mama Bear up on someone.  If my kids are blamed and I saw firsthand that it wasn't their fault or if someone is expecting too much from someone, I will defend my cubs.  I can fully accept everyone helping guide the children to be more Christ-like but there are times when I just instinctively protect my people.  They might think I'm crazy at times, but they know I've got their backs.