The Sky is Blue

I have been hearing God speak to me in stereo lately. I borrow that phrase from a friend, because it fits my situation perfectly. Now before you start worrying that I am losing my cookies, let me explain. I had a week this summer where I was feeling good, energetic, taking on the world. I was excited to be teaching crafts in Vacation Bible school, I was excited at some things going really well in my life, and I was singing God's praises at the top of my lungs. Within that week, I got a severe burn, like six inches long on my upper arm, (I didn't go to the Dr. of course, because it didn't really hurt, ha ha, like that is a good thing, lesson learned), I then almost landed myself in the hospital with an infection from said burn, and then....I got bit (really hard) by a nasty little pooch at a jewelry show I was doing. The dog bite turned me black, blue, purple, & green about the size of a toddler size basketball. Nasty stuff. These events made me feel like someone...

I am having a deja vu moment. I just met with my son's kindergarten teacher to begin planning for the class Halloween party. It feels strange. It has been a while since I had a Kindergartner . Planning extra simple crafts, and healthy snacks. Gone are the days of cupcakes and sacks of candy. Thankfully Nick's teacher is very easy going, and really wants it to be fun. He also goes to a school that hasn't outlawed dressing up & marching around school in a Halloween parade. Yeahh ! I am so thankful I get to do that with him. My older sons school has abolished all that good old fashioned fun. Ba hum bug. -- doesn't really apply to Halloween, but you get my meaning. So while I am planning for High School Homecoming events and drivers permits with my big guys, I am planning for spider crafts, and pin the nose on the pumpkin with the little ones. The Rhodes life is pretty cool. I am right where I am meant to be.

I never cease to be amazed at the work God still has to do in me. He is teaching me some cool things right now. I am finding that the gifts he has given me, gifts of confidence, gifts of communication, gifts of empathy, he wants me to be using them in full-- in some parts of my life. In other parts of my life, he is forcing me into situations where I must exercise my weaker muscles, like patience, silence, and humility. If you know me, you know that silence is not one of my natural abilities..... my optimism, and articulation of ideas, often runs ahead of thinking things through in detail, analyzing pro's & cons, etc... I am a woman who has leaned heavily on my keen intuition for 44 years. While I still trust my gut, I am learning that I need to temper it with prayer, patience, and council. This weekend I went away on a Women's Retreat with my church. I have never been to one. I have always been to busy, or too broke, to make it work. This year I decided to make t...

I am experiencing a whole array of new experiences lately. First, the four schools business, I don't want to beat this dead horse, but seriously it is something interesting. For the first time in my life as a parent, I have become highly aware of fairness. I never thought fairness was something worth losing sleep over. I mean, life isn't fair, right? When you have four children and limited resources, fairness is pie in the sky. Someone is always going to be ahead of the others, the key is to make sure it isn't the same kid every time. With the disparity in school environments, I find myself worrying myself sick about my eldest. He is smart, but lazy, athletically gifted, but no fire in his belly. He is at a huge public high school, and I am worried. I am also concerned about my 11 year old, the reasons, the same, with the exception of the school environment. He is in a pretty good school environment, but again, no fire in his belly, and he has to be forced to do...

I haven't written about Nick's first day of Kindergarten yet. I was expecting the worst, after all we have a bad track record. William, then Jack, then Michael, all had super rough starts. Nick doesn't like to be separated from me period, so I thought we'd have a full on melt down happening on day one at least. Well, Nick is not the predictable sort. He did get a little nervous. His teacher let the parents hang around a little longer than I would have liked. It was just at the point that some of the kids were starting to get panicky that she dismissed us. Two minutes later, and Nick would have lost it I think. He is doing great. It is a long day, 8-2:23. He is having fun, making friends, learning how to play nicely with others. He can already write his name, and hold his pencil perfectly (better than William does, at age 15). He is a sponge. I am delighted at his progress, and soooo proud of him. He is our last baby angel to leave the safety of Mom & Dad...

It has been quite some time since I have taken the time to update this blog. Life has swirled into a heightened sense of fullness. Everyone is finally back in school. We had a staggered , and slow start, four kids, four schools. I believe our family is like some weird educational experiment. We have one in a charter school, one in a private school, one in the LVUSD school district, and one in the LAUSD school district. The differences are glaring. Some good, some bad, some just different. It is a challenge keeping all of the balls in the air with this set up. I reminisce back to the one year when I had three kids all in the same school..... those were the days. Life is good. I am consulting part-time, I'd love to be a little busier, but it is good for now. I have done nothing creative for months. No scrapbooking , no jewelry making, no nothing. I am trying to stay involved at each school. I am hopeful that once I get in a good groove, I can catch up on my scrapbook alb...

What a beautiful day. Gorgeous weather. Today our church held a beach baptism in Malibu. What a great way to get baptised. We had a nice size group of people there. We heard testimony, we prayed, and then we dunked in the cold... cold.... pacific ocean. I have yet to be baptised as an adult. I feel the call, I know I need to walk forward in obedience, but..... I am waiting for ABF to schedule a Hot Tub baptism. I am happy to host. It is just soooo cold in the ocean, even in August. It was a really nice day though. I came home and was completely toast. I slept for 2 hours. My incredible husband made dinner, baked brownies for his father / son bowling league, then he and Michael went off to kick butt at AMF . Now I am doing a little work in preparation for the week. I am trying to figure out my new laptop. It is a PC, and I haven't used anything but MAC for 10 years so I am a little rusty. It is so funny when a 10 year old has to explain why my window went all won...