Home Again

It only took us two extra hours (equalling total of 12 hours) to reach our home.  It only took us thirty minutes to get everyone into bed.  It only took my Man one and one half hours upon waking this morning to clean up the resulting fallout from the inside of the van.  What a supreme mess!

We had already taken four arm loads from this space!

Here's another angle.

They may look like little innocent crumbs to you, but to my Man they were merely the tip of the iceberg.

Fear not, we are (who am I kidding?) he is armed with the tools to handle this scary situation.

Look out remains of raspberry slushy and fruit-punch-to-go, your moments in this van are numbered!

Pop-tart crumbs, french fries, and nugget pieces beware!!  He's called in the big guns - you don't even stand a chance!

Small animals and children don't stand a chance against this Shop Vac!

Speaking of small children...Kate went out to "help" her dad a while ago...where is she?

Oh, over there...

...trimming the Japanese Maple with the garden shears.

"Um...honey..."

Better the tree than her hair, right? 

Though it might take the tree longer to grow back...

Oh Kate!

After the small tree trimming break, my Man finished working his vehicular magic. . .

Ahhhh...

Look!  It's the former capital of Crumbville.

I have learned, though later in marriage than sooner, to appreciate a spic and span van!

But I've always appreciated the guy who sits in this seat.

Did I mention that he treated us to donuts this morning, before he cleaned out the van?  That small act of kindness earned BIG points with the ten-and-under crowd!

A Little Bit Smarter Now

We are in North Carolina because my Man is preaching for Antioch Baptist Church's revival services this week.  Antioch is the church where we served fresh out of seminary.  We learned so much while serving there for almost six years.  Now, back for a working visit, we continue to learn.

Here's what we know now that we didn't know last week. . .

1.  Our children are nuts about staying in hotel rooms. 

2.  On that topic, it takes two rooms to contain this gang for any length of time beyond one night.

Room #2

3.  Good, authentic Mexican food is to be appreciated.  We enjoyed lunch at our very favorite San Jose early in the week.  Nachos Grande add the Guacamole!

4. That "make new friends but keep the old" saying...there's really something to that.  Our kids just seemed to pick right up where they'd left off with their old friends.  My Man and I more than enjoyed our time spent with "old" friends too!

Sorry about the fuzzy, I think they were organizing a football game or something.  Not much holding still to be found.

5.  You can "do school" in a hotel room with four children if and only if the baby is asleep (and therefore not playing with the air conditioner/heater setting it to 80 degrees, unbeknownst to anyone) AND there is nothing outside the window which may distract the students. . .

6.  Here's the biggie. . .Kate has never been in the sanctuary during the preaching of a sermon.  After this realization set in I realized that she is always dismissed to children's church every Sunday just before the sermon.  I know this because I make sure that the pastor realizes how very important the "dismissal of the children to Children's Church" is to the success or failure of the sermon! (It's important to fully communicate with your pastor.)

Well now, there is no children's church during revival services--I knew that--somewhere in the deep recesses of my mind--I knew it.  I didn't realize that I knew it until the Sunday night service when I arrived at the pew terribly unprepared to deal with a "newbie". 

Happily, the music was superb with a number of instruments and a big sound that kept Kate's attention.  When her father began his "scerman" she quickly, mercifully. . .

. . . lost interest.

We are a night or two more into the series of sermons now and no more sleeping has occurred.  Lots of parenting in the pew, but no sleeping. . .which leads me to the next thing I've learned. . .

7.  I owe much of my sanity to children's church workers.  I do not say "thank you" nearly enough to our children's church workers.  If I had the wealth of Oprah, I'd buy all children's church workers brand new minivans.  Children's Church workers ROCK!!!

8. Kate must be watched closely around musicians.  On night number two of the revival services, I said to my middle daughter, "Kate, you're going to have to stay in the service again tonight.  Can you handle that?"

"It's alright Mom, I like the drummer." (From the praise band the previous evening, a child himself when we left NC.)

9. All evidence points to the possibility that preaching seven times in four days may be a wee bit taxing on the preacher!

 

Scenes from the Road

On the road again!  This weekend we found ourselves headed south, back to our old stompin' grounds.  Early Saturday morning we piled into the family van, made a quick stop at Starbucks, and began what was to be a beautiful fall journey back to the "church that raised us" (in the ministry, that is). 

I thought maybe you might like to join me.  Frankly, I envy you this trip because you will be able to see and not hear it.  If you need background tunes, cue the circus music from a few episodes ago . 

The rain was misting on and off, soooo if a picture or two is blurry, let's "blame it on the rain"!  The fall foliage was breath taking.  I failed to read even a paragraph because I didn't want to look away from it all.

Great temptation met us early in the day.  It just so happened that we were passing through the city that is home to our team at the very moment of the big kick off. 

The Wright gang, being fully aware of the trip that lay ahead, fought temptation, tuned the radio to the big game, and put the pedal to the metal.

A bit further south, we passed by the scene of the great "Blue Jeans Incident" of the 1980s, the mall in my hometown. 

We were able to listen to the football game for most of our trip through West Virginia.  Our team was victorious both on the score board, and in their delicate handling of an emotional opponent.

It is Mountaineer tradition to place one's hands over one's head when the team gets a first down.  One should hold one's hands over one's head until the gentleman on the loudspeaker announces "first down!" Then one should drop one's hands down, clap and point with one hand in the direction of the first down.  All the while counting "1-2-3 First down!".  

I think you have to be there to appreciate it in all its import. . .

Anyway, here's what it looks like when you teach your 1 year old to do the first down "thingy" while strapped into a car seat for waaaaaayyy too many hours.

We chose to take the route which would include the crossing of the New River Gorge Bridge.

Virginia was simply stunning. . .

Finally, we reached the state where two of our four children were born, where my Man and I began our married life, where we lived for almost 10 years before returning to the state of our birth six years ago.

If you happen to miss the "official" Welcome to North Carolina sign, here's the sure way to know you've arrived in the Tar Heel State...

Pilot Mountain, known to fans of the Andy Griffith Show as Mount Pilot.  We've been driving by it for years.  Hello old friend.

We ventured on into the state ...

...and rewarded our weary travelers with some road food.

And would you believe that there was football-shaped French toast on the menu? 

So, here we are.  Safe and sound.  Journey completed.  Until we return home in a few days at which point, you can read this post again--backwards!

Thinkin' about Husker Du. . .

I am still smarting over my latest Husker Du losses, the most recent of which happened this very morning, by the way.  I keep on trying, I keep on losing.  Just for fun, I looked to see if this crazy game is available for purchase in 2009. 

 Look what I found. . .

Oh please, please  look at the phrase printed below Husker Du.  It says, "Where the Child May Outwit the Adult."  May outwit?  Where is that warning printed on my Husker Du box-I'd like to know! 

Lemme check my box...

Nope, nothing about the child outwitting the adult here.  However, look in the lower left corner...my box does have a special feature...

Whoo hooo!  A chance to go to Denmark!  Haven't you always wanted to visit Denmark?  It says, "details on back". . .

Turning the box over I see. . .

The Grand Prize is indeed a big trip to Denmark.  If you win 1st prize, you get a six piece place setting of china.  Not too shabby.  Hope they pack things well in Denmark.  What a mess that would be to open, lots of broken china and all.  Second prize...a set of cookware . . .hmmmm wonder what all of these food related items have to do with Husker Du?

Check out third prize . . .

That does it!  Where do we sign up?  When is the drawing?

Seems it's been a bit longer than I thought since I was a little girl playing this game with my sisters. 

 Do you think if the game company knew that every one of those red plastic game pieces is still accounted for and that, with the aid of two or three rolls of masking tape, the game box is still intact, they'd be glad to send us a ham or two?  Do I want a ham that was offered for a prize from Denmark twenty-seven years ago?

No, I Husker-Don't!

A Blast from the Past

Ever play Husker Du?  My sisters and I used to play this game often.  I remember that my middle sister was the victor most of the time.  I do not remember how this odd game came to live at our house-- yet here it is.

Husker Du means "Do You Remember" in Danish.  (Toss that into your next conversation, folks will be impressed.)  It's a simple match game in which two players take turns picking up two game pieces attempting to disclose two pictures underneath that match. 

In Husker Du, the general layout is circular as are the red plastic game pieces.  After each game is played, the red pieces are replaced and a dial is turned which changes the picture positions on the game board thus insuring a different game every time.

My children discovered this bit of Danish (the country, not the pastry) fun on our game shelf and have given it much play this month.  As it happened, we discovered that one of the kids is an especially skilled Husker Du player.

This kid.

 

The glee with which she wins is just fun.  She is so happy when the momentum swings in her direction that she giggles out loud as she clears match after match leaving you to just sit there in amazement. 

I wish the camera could have captured the flick of her wrist as she removed game piece after game piece and the flourish with which she placed those game pieces into the trough on her side of the board.

I have never been good at this game, but I'd like to think when matching wits at anything with a four year old that I'm able to hold my own.  No so with Husker Du.

 

For most of the game, I felt much like the child in the picture above.  It became necessary to teach Kate about the phrase "you cleaned my clock" because that's all I could think to tell her every time she beat me...badly.

Know this, as you look at the result of the game, I DID NOT let her win.  It would've been a kind thing to do, I realize, but it was obviously not necessary!

Eventually, she tired of my lame efforts and took on a new victim opponent later in the evening.

She would later be heard saying, "Ha HA! I cleaned I your clock Daddy!"

Nothing Good Can Come From This. . .

As you may know, we're all about education and learning here at the Wright Place.  Most of the time.  There exists every now and then a situation where advancing one's self through learning is just not a good thing. Not a good thing at all.  

Meg and I came across just such a situation last week as we both watched Molly pass by us on her way into the living room carrying a three legged stool.

Carrying a three legged stool!? 

This should have given us pause.  Unfortunately, it did not.  Life in our cozy home is every bit as crazy as you might imagine.  Megan often catches my eye over the fray and says with a grin, "Can you hear the circus music Mom?"  

As circus music hummed softly in the background, it finally occurred to me to ask Meg to follow Molly and see where she was headed with the stool.  "Come quick!" yelled Meg.  Stopping only to grab the camera, I high-tailed it into the living room where I saw learning in action.

Dah da duddy ya da duh da da da. . .

(This was the only way I could write out the music that you should be hearing in your head right now.)

Can you hear the music?

What balance!

Drum roll please!

Sweet success.

Personally, I think she should focus her efforts on growing some hair.