Croppin' Date

Good Thursday morning!

The Gallery Pics are from Roxie's Band Competition yesterday. The Advanced Band received all 1s (Superior)... and then we were able to go to the mall for an hour for lunch and to wander a little. (Much better than going to school and taking final exams!)

RANDOMNESS #1 - As all Alabamians know, yesterday was as nasty and wet and yuck as it could possibly be. After leaving the buses as they pulled away from The Galleria (after the Band Competition), I made a little detour and found myself on the same road as Yogurt Mountain. (GASP!) I stopped and created a little sugar-free concoction... well, almost sugar-free. There was the Marshmallow Creme at the end of the counter that called out my name! So in all the nasty and wet and yuck, I sat in the Big Gold Van and watched life fly by for a few minutes before picking Roxie up at school. It was lovely. It was one of those little moments that made my day.

RANDOMNESS #2 - Another little moment that made my day "brighter," happened at church last night. I have two words for you... Louie Giglio. I want to talk a little about "perspective" tomorrow, so I won't tell you too much. However, since Easter is early this year (first Sunday in April), a Louie Giglio DVD would make an excellent Easter Basket gift for your teenager. Did I say EXCELLENT? I'll have a little more on Mr. Giglio tomorrow.

Camping Story #2 - The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia (a/k/a The Night Mom Tried to Pass Out in Georgia... BUT COULDN'T)

We had been to Stone Mountain many times, but never on a camping trip. We planned a trip with two other families and headed for the park which is only two and half hours away. When we arrived, we were very pleased with what we saw. Beautiful campsites, places for the kids to ride their bikes, the lake within viewing and walking distance... and a brand new bathhouse. We pitched our tent as close as possible to the brand new bathhouse.

Everything was going well. The kids were playing great. We had a good dinner. We sat around the fire and told stories and ate s'mores. Josh, age five, ate too many s'mores... way too many s'mores.

It was time for bed, so we brushed our teeth and climbed into our nice, warm sleeping bags on our nice, soft air mattresses smelling of campfire smoke and other outdoorsy smells. Everyone dozed off.

We were awakened by the unmistakable sound of a child being sick in the middle of the night. It's probably mean to say, but when you're in a tent, you can hear everyone and everything within ten campsites of your own tent... so in your heart of hearts you're kind of hoping it's a kid in a different tent. No such luck! "Which one is it? Which one is it?" Mike and I were already climbing out of sleeping bags to assess the damage... and damage there was.

It was Josh. "Please tell me he didn't get sick in our shoes?" I asked Mike feebly since he was already up and trying to find the lanterns.

"Nope. Just him, his sleeping bag and one coat." Minimal damage in camping terms.

Mike stripped Josh down, tossed him over to me for a change of PJs and illness assessment, and headed out the door with the bag, coat and Josh's clothes. (We decided to toss the PJs.) Mike spent an hour in the new bathhouse cleaning the nylon sleeping bag and the coat, and came back for the verdict.

"No fever. No stomachache. My professional opinion is too many s'mores."

"How many did he have?" Mike asked.

"I would have to say from the damage report... more than two." And then we slept. The next morning, Josh woke up happy and well, and we decided to count our blessings we did not have a stomach bug. (Not to mention, we gave him a s'more limit he was to abide by for the rest of his life... one or two per sitting. NO MORE!)

We spent the day hiking, exploring and playing with the other families. It was a good day. We were grilling hot dogs and hamburgers for our dinner, and I was setting the picnic table when I looked over at three year-old Grant. His flushed cheeks and droopy eyes could have been the result of playing hard all day, but there was something else... something I had seen before. "Grant, are you feeling... ," I started to ask... but never got to finish. Grant got sick all over the picnic table. I knew for a fact no s'mores had been eaten yet, so I feared this might be something more serious.

His mom came over to check him out and in our professional opinions, Grant had a stomach bug. As the dads cleaned the table, discussions were held as to what we should do. Grant's family decided to pack up and head to Alabama as quickly as possible so they could be home in the event other family members came down with the illness, also. One problem. It is not a five minute job to take down a tent and pack everything up, so it was decided Mike, Grant's mom and dad and all the boys available would help pack up... and I would hold and comfort sick little Grant.

I sat in a chair away from the commotion and held the feverish little boy for a little over an hour knowing the possibility of my catching his illness was going to be huge. (To this day, I can't hold a sick little boy and not kiss the top of his head, rub his back and whisper in his ear that everything is going to be okay.) So in my mind, I knew in just a few hours I, too, would be in the brand new bathhouse at Stone Mountain, Georgia throwing up. I just decided to "go with it."

We said good-bye to Grant and our friends about 10:30 that night, and once again headed to bed. No s'mores had been eaten. Everyone seemed to be feeling okay. I was feeling okay. Maybe, just maybe, we had dodged a bullet. We all dozed off.

We were awakened by the unmistakable sound of a child being sick in the middle of the night. I'm sorry to say, I again hoped it was some other kid in some other tent down the way. But unfortunately it was not. "Which one is it? Which one is it?" Mike and I were climbing out of our sleeping bags trying to assess damage. This time it was Austin. "Please tell me he didn't get sick in our shoes?" I asked.

"Nope. Sleeping bag, two coats and PJs." Mike was already gathering everything to head to the bathhouse (Mike is a GREAT dad and husband), and I held a shaking, feverish little boy in my arms. This wasn't a case of too many s'mores. This was the dreaded stomach bug.

Mike and I decided to nickname our tent the "Death Tent," because... well, to be honest, it had lost that woodsy smell two nights earlier and things were not getting any better. We stayed up with Austin most of the night, and the next day he and I stayed in the brand new bathhouse while Josh and Mikie took our campsite down.

There really isn't a moral to this story. It was a weekend of just trying to survive... trying to have a good time in a really bad situation... being a family looking for the blessings in a series of very unfortunate events, and living to tell the tale.

If it had been our first camping experience, it would have been our last. But we had several great camping trips under our belt, and we considered this one a little bump in road. I guess if we sat down and tried to think of the good things that weekend we could come up with one or two.

Good Thing #1 - No one ever got sick in our shoes. That was a biggie for me.

Good Thing #2 - No one else in our family got the stomach bug, which was pretty much a miracle considering our close quarters.

Good Thing #3 - We discovered at an early age that Josh can't hold his s'mores (and this fact has helped during other camping trips).

Good Thing #4 - I'm sorry. I think I'm going to have to stop at #3. I can't seem to think of Good Thing #4. (It's taken me ten years to think of Good Things #1 through #3.)

If you're wondering about the title of this story (The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia), we found Georgia to be an incredibly dark place in the middle of the night in a campground when you're wandering around trying to clean sleeping bags and such. And part two of the title (The Night Mom Tried to Black Out in Georgia... BUT COULDN'T) refers to my inability to pass out until all the bad stuff stops happening. I'm just one of those people who is going to be painfully aware (and fully awake) of any situation I'm in... good or bad. Not a very good trait as far as I'm concerned.

I have one more camping story tomorrow, and then the Faulkner Five will be off creating new stories to share. I hope they'll be pleasant!

Blog Linkage - I have a new one for you today. This mom is raising her young family in Manhattan (which would have been a huge adventure for this Southern mom back in the day). But I love her attitude. I love her balance. I love the way she describes her "job."

1. Go to www.manhattanmom.blogspot.com and scroll to the March 7 post entitled "You Will Not Dishonor God by Serving Best Those You are Called to Most -- Why I Serve My Family." Excellent, excellent post!

2. Once again, go to Confessions of a Pioneer Woman. Look under My Blog List on the sidebar. Ree talks about her brother, Mike, who is a very, very "special" brother. It is a great story of a great man who has a great supportive family. I love the way she talks about her brother, Mike. (There will be three stories posted throughout the day today. Scroll down and START with the first one. There is a picture of Ree and her brother, Mike, kissing as babies. You can't miss it!)

Croppin' Date

If you are a scrapbooker and you have a daughter who loves to scrapbook with Mom... make it an official date by attending a local crop together. In our area, Jennifer White is our Creative Memories Consultant, and she has several crops scheduled in the next few weeks.

The next three dates are Friday, March 26; Friday, April 23; and Friday, May 14. The cost is only $6 each and includes drinks and snacks. The crops last from 6:00 p.m. until 11:00 p.m.

You will need to RSVP to make sure there is enough table space for everyone. Your daughter will always be welcome as long as she is cropping. This is VERY IMPORTANT!

Jennifer also offers help with digital scrapbooking at the crops. You would need to bring your laptop with pictures already loaded.

If you are interested, leave a comment in the Comment Section, and I'll give you the contact information for Jennifer.

Have a fun Thursday. Spring Break is only one day away for some of us... and the Faulkner Five are SO looking forward to the time off. Yes, there is a camping trip looming (which I hope will produce new memories, 1,000 pictures and stories to share). Details of the upcoming weekend will be mentioned tomorrow, as well as one last OLD camping story. Plan on visiting A Simple Life one more time this week before you run off to make memories of your own.

Take care, and I'll talk to you tomorrow.

Sincerely,

The Enchanting Belinda