We went to see Where the Wild Things Are this morning as a family. I wasn’t sure what to expect. All I can say is that our family awaited this movies’ release with baited breath. From the first time we saw the first trailer, we were sold. From the sound track, to the brilliance and creativity of the trailer alone, we could not wait to see this movie.
Max is a boy in his tween years, stuck somewhere between kid and teenager, confused about his emotions, and sad that no one in his world shares his fun sense of adventure. He is crushed at the slightest disappointment, yet vividly aware of life and adventure. I saw my Whitney in him over and over again.
Max is so angry with his Mom one night that he runs from her into the woods, finds a ship by a river and sails to another world. In this new world he meets monsters who are selfish and angry just like him, but also loving and kind just like him. He tries to create a world with them that is perfect and just how he wants it. Max even convinces the Wild Things that he is a king with magic powers. Things slowly started to crumble around him, and they figure out that he is not who he says he is. Even though Max had lots of fun with the Wild Things, he decides it’s time to go home.
Whitney was sad because everyone didn’t have the chance to make up before the movie ended. Carol and Max had a fight, and Max had to leave the Wild Things and go back home to his Mom. There is a feeling of longing at the end, but I thought this was very healthy. It was a very un-American movie, in that everyone wasn’t happy in the end. I heard about a study once that said the #1 thing American parents wanted for their kids was to be happy.
I am under the belief and opinion that happiness is a wonderful by-product of right living, but happiness is not always a guarantee. In real life there is suffering and sadness. In real life, friends don’t always make up. In real life, we don’t always get to do things the way we want them to, have the homes we want, the families we want, or the circumstances we want.
Real life is living through disappointment together. Real life is navigating uncharted waters with your family, riding it out together, while sometimes it seems the whole world around you wants you to fail and fall apart.
Max goes home in the end to his Mom who truly loves him. In my opinion, the movie is about finding happiness in your circumstances, not because of them. I loved this movie.
Rob had an interesting take on the movie. Here’s his few words about it:
I thought it was brilliant. One of my all time favorite kid movies. I thought the screenwriters brought a depth to the characters that was surprising for a short children's story. The cinematography was breathtaking at points. The soundtrack was so fresh and carried the spirit of wildness that is the heart of the movie. The kid who played Max WAS ... Max. It never felt like he was acting...amazing. Each of the monsters represent a different part of Max’s personalities/emotions or his older sister. I think one was his missing Father. His interactions with them took me back to those years where childhood was ending and adult hood beginning. As a parent of Tweens, I could see my girls on screen too. I thought the movie was profound. We chatted with another family who saw it at the same time as us...they hated it. The movie is bittersweet because it's about the end of childhood and the challenge of losing your innocence through loss/pain. I think they were expecting a fun kids movie with goofy monsters. Our youngest Belle, who is five, got lost half way through, but there was enough happening visually to pull her back in. The older girls really enjoyed it. We had a great talk afterwards about what each monster represented. I could see Maddie, my 11yr old, wheels turning. She loves to write and dug the symbolism. I think she related to the emotional journey Max was on. Freud would have loved this movie. LOL
Can you tell Maddie had an amazing party? Her friends are great. They have lots of energy, but they really are great kids. Maddie wanted a fashion party, so who else could we call to help other than Kathy Friend? She is a fashion/wardrobe consultant, and my girls idolize her (in a good way) for her expertise in fashion, but most of all because of her kindness to them.
Kathy talked to the girls about the importance of looking and smelling nice. She talked about the fact that whether you like it or not, people will treat you differently based on the way you look or don't look. She challenged them to think about fashion in a way that is modest, yet snappy. She had the girls go through piles of fashion magazines and cut out pictures that captured true beauty. They cut out pictures that showed friendship, happiness, work ethics, and lots of other good stuff.
The party was a huge success. I am not sure who will do Belle's parties for her when she is 11, because by the end of the party Rob and I were completely wiped out.
This was really one of the most fun parties we have ever done for the girls. Everyone felt included, learned something, and had lots of fun.
What's the best party you've ever had or given for someone?
11 years ago today our Madeline Dawn was born. I'll never forget when they handed her to me, all scrubbed up and polished, a head of dark hair with a pink ribbon in it. She was all wrapped up like a present from God to me, bow and all. From that second on, I was struck with her beauty, as were every person that laid eyes on her sweet little chubby face. Almost daily I would be taking Maddie for a walk, or in a grocery store when complete strangers would stop me just to get a look at her beautiful face.
I love these photos our friend Brittani took of Maddie this spring. She captured Maddie's spirit so well. She is energetic and kind. She's compassionate and dignified. I like to refer to Maddie as an "old soul". She is wise beyond her years, comprehending truth that most adults will never understand. While being wise, she has a very silly sense of humor. She keeps us on her toes with her funny insights and jokes.
Maddie has a beautiful spirit, and is such a joy to have around. I thank God every day for letting me be her Mamma. Happy Birthday Maddie. I am so proud of you, and I love you!
Maddie fractured three growth plates in her toes yesterday in P.E. Points for you if you guess the broken ones!
We visited Kalavai while we were in India this June. Kalavai is a small village of the Untouchable caste in India. This visit marked us as a family in ways we will never forget. Playing with the kids in this village was a highlight for our girls. I have treasured this photo of Maddie with girls from Kalavai. It has been my screen saver for several weeks.
We had a GCC team go back to Kalavai a few weeks ago, and they brought back very sad news about Monjue, the stunningly beautiful girl in the green and pink sari. Dan Blacketor wrote a note about her on his Facebook page:
Monjue is a young bright 15-year old girl who lost hope for a better future.
Monjue lives in the small Irala colony located just outside of Kalavai, India. I'm beginning to better understand that my agenda is many times not God's primary purpose. You see, I had the chance to lead a team from Granger Community Church to help build a community center, hold conversational English classes and start a micro business in this village. To ensure everything was in place for the team I arrived a few days early to meet with our Indian ground team on Thursday, July 30th. Our plan was to organize the job site so the team would have a great experience. Because Raj (our Indian director) was having neck problems he decided to go directly to Kalavai instead of making the 6 hour trip to meet me at Bangalore airport.
If Monjue was born in the United States she would probably be strongly considering submitting college applications to places like Notre Dame, Stanford or Columbia University. But on this Thursday morning, Monjue picked some poisonous berries and went back to her family's hut and ate them and waited to die. Her best friend found Monjue and ran to the construction site to see if anyone could help save Monjue's life. Raj was there because he had a stiff neck, was preparing for my early arrival and because of these series of events helped save Monjue's life.
You see, Monjue had given up at the age of 15. Her father had left the family six months prior. Her mother had to sell their family's small goat herd to buy food. Her mom was then "contracted" to watch someone else's herd with compensation coming in the form of a baby goat - but only when it was a twin birth. Monjue left school to watch the goats so her mother could look for day labor (and at best earns 80 cents per day if hired) to buy enough food to feed the family. Goat only gives a single birth, Monjue's mom is frustrated, believes Monjue should have taken the goats to "greener pastures" and takes it out on Monjue by beating her. Monjue gives up and tries to kill herself.
A week to the day that Monjue tried to end her life we were visiting her as she watched over the herd. It was over 100 degrees and only 10:30 in the morning. No shade anywhere and because of the lack of rain it was very dry and not a lot of grass to be found. We ask Monjue what she thinks about on these long hot days while watching over someone else's herd. Monjue sits down and begins to quietly cry. She shares that she thinks about going to school and learning so that she might have a better life but realizes this is not a reality in her world. She must watch the goats so her mom can go to town each day in the hope of making less than a dollar for a day's work.
I’m not sure how to help Monjue from here. Part of me was so sad to tell this news to Maddie and Whitney, but I am glad I did. It brought reality back home to all of us again. We will pray for Monjue, and are so thankful that GCC has chosen Kalavai as a laser target to bring God’s hope and light.
It's the first day of school for my two big girls. This is the first year that they have had their back to school outfits planned for over a week, including hairstyle, matching shoes and nail polish.
With the new focus on fashion, I have a whole new set of things to worry about. Shopping with the girls used to be me picking out matching Granimals sweatshirts and stretcy pants with giraffe prints. Those days are long gone. No more Granimals at my house.
I admit that it is sort of fun to see the girls develop their own sense of fashion, it's a good thing, because I pretty much have none.
Both of my big girls are exactly the same height and weight and in the same grade. Are they twins? Nope. They are 18 months apart. Maddie is in high ability 5th grade, and Whitney is in high ability 4th grade. Their school only goes up to 5th grade, so they lump the high ability 4th grade kids w/the 5th. Thankfully, Maddie and Whit won't be in any classes together, but I am so worried about Whitney being with Maddie's friends who think she's pesty. I will be biting my nails all day long waiting to see if it's a happy or sad face that comes off the bus today.
Maddie is glowing, floating actually, because she got her favorite teacher from last year as her main teacher this year. I am thanking God about that about every other minute.
I'm worried about my kids getting older. With each year they begin school, I lose a little more control of them. I know it's for their best, and I know I'm not supposed to worry, because God has them in the palm of His hand, but I still sit here biting my nails and pining away the hours until they get home.
Say a prayer for me and my girls if you think about it today!
There are days that are filled with laughter, and wonder that captures each smile.
There are days that are golden, laced with joy and squeals of delight.
There are days when we are all in syncopation, our hearts beating as one,
ready to take on anything together.
And then there are days like today.
Where anger captures our thoughts.
Where our smiles are ground down
by teeth chomping away at each other with selfish arguments.
Where clouds hang low and lightning strikes with rage.
These are not my favorite days.
But, I still love you.
You are still the golden sunshine that laces my day.
You are always the happy thought that makes me fly.
You are the seasoning in my life.
You give me strength to do things I never thought I could or would.
I’m glad I’m your Mommy.
Even today.
The girls were slightly out of sorts today. I blame it on long summer days, too many sleep-overs, and not enough sleep. After a few rough exchanges, I decided to write this letter to one of my girls to reassure her of my love for her. I encourage you to do the same for your kids…even if they are all grown up.
Maddie, our 10 year old, has quite an eye for photography. Let her know which pic is your favorite!
We have been long anticipating the day when our whole family could visit with Sangeetha and her family. We have been sponsoring her since s
he was about 8 years old, and she is now 12. Maddie, Rob and I had the opportunity to visit her back in 2006. The visit with her family was one that marked me forever. The photo on the right is of Sangeetha’s mom and baby brother from our first visit.
I don’t even know where to begin telling the story of this day. There are so many emotions mixed up in my head, I think it will be a long while before I get it all sorted out.
We started our visit to Sangeetha’s school where she attends the Compassion project. She has grown about a foot since we last saw her, and I noticed she has also grown in confidence. She wasn’t sure whether to hug us or shake our hands, but there was joy in the room, that’s for sure.
Sangeetha went to get her little sister Chandra from the government school across the street while we waited for her. The girls were so happy to meet them both. We pray for Sangeetha and her family as well as the rest of our friends in India almost every night when we are tucking the girls into bed. Meeting her for the first time for Whitney was a very special occasion. For Maddie and Sangeetha it was a meeting of old friends.
Sangeetha wanted to take us on a tour around her school, and we were quickly mobbed by her friends, about 100 of them crowded around the girls. It was almost scary because a lot of the younger children were being squished, pushed, and knocked over. They giggled and laughed and practiced all their English sentences they have been working on at school. Truly beautiful children.
After we spoke with the administrator for awhile, we loaded up in our van and headed to Sangeetha’s house. We had gifts for her, her Mom, sister, and little brother. I was looking for the little brother and didn’t see him, so I asked where he was. Her Mom pulled a photo of him off the shelf and said that he died exactly one year ago yesterday. I was so deeply heartbroken. I was completely unprepared for the shock of that news. We write letters back and forth to Sangeetha but she did not tell us of this news. I am still reeling from the shock. When we visited last, we noticed how sick Sangeetha’s brother was. Her sister Chandra was very sick too, but has recovered well.
Gene Ort decided on the spot to sponsor Chandra, since she does not yet have a sponsor. There are 18 more children on the waiting list at this particular school. There are 8,000 children in Tamil Nadu that are living in poverty that could die of curable diseases like Sangeetha’s baby brother if they are not sponsored.
Sangeetha’s mother had a sadness in her eyes when she spoke of her son that spoke the language we both knew called Motherhood. I said to her “Your boy is with Jesus now.” and she replied with deep understanding, “Yes, he is now God’s child.”
Have you done anything to help the poor and the needy lately? Your small sacrifices will make an enormous impact in lives such as these.
My girls have a cell phone. They are 10 and 9. Are we crazy parents? I’ll let you decide.
First of all, I shouldn’t say that THEY have a cell phone, it’s really OUR cell phone that we let them use. The girls have been begging for one for months, and No, we didn’t give in to their begging, it was a family decision.
Rob' got me an iPhone for Valentines Day when my old Blackjack died. Fortunately for us, the Blackjack was within a few weeks of it’s warranty, so we were able to get a brand new one free. It all worked out, so we decided to keep a third line for the girls.
Why?
Let me tell you:
Not because I don’t trust my kids, but because I don’t trust my kids’ friends’ parents. Most of them are awesome, and I would trust them with anything. BUT, there have been a few times when the girls have been with a friend, and then went off radar for 4 hours or more at a time. When I was growing up, this was no big deal. We would be gone from sun up to sun down, and as long as my parents had a general sense of where we were, it was all good.
Last summer there were two incidents in particular that freaked me and Rob out. I had no way of contacting my girls, and they had no way of contacting me. I had no idea where they were.
That’s not going to happen again.
In light of the horrific stories on the news of terrible and tragic things happening to little kids, my girls will never be off my radar again. I don't’ care if other parents think my girls are snobby (I’ve gotten a phone call from an angry mom calling my girls snobby, really.) They are going to carry a cell phone that has unlimited texting and calls. Are they allowed to text their friends? Only if I’m right there with them. Can they talk to their friends on the cell phone? Only if they ask, just like our regular phone.
Letting my kids take a cell phone on a bike ride gives me peace of mind.
Am I crazy? Over-protective? Would you let your 9 year old have a cell phone? Let me know what you think!
By about 9 hours of being glued to one another in the back seat of the car yesterday, the girls resistance toward one another had melted away. They were all cuddly and mushy and taking care of each other nicely. Whitney even said to me, “Mom, why is it that when we go away on vacation we always get along better?”
Exactly my point.
Exactly why we choose to “vacate.”
We unplug, unwind, and enjoy each other. Really! It can happen, and it does. Look at these beautiful faces.
Here is a quiz I found on Facebook. The idea is to ask your child each question and write down the first thing they say-no cheating.
I interviewed each girl and recorded their individual responses. Try it with your kids! You might be amazed at what they think of you.
1. What is something mom always says to you?
Belle: yes
Whitney :Do your work
Maddie:Hop in to Bed
2. What makes mom happy?
B:when I don’t spill
W:tanning, relaxing
M: Breakfast in Bed
3. What makes mom sad?
B:When I say that she’s the worst Mommy ever
W: When we get mad at her
M: When her children don’t obey
4. How does your mom make you laugh?
B:nothing
W:that’s a brain teaser
M: When she does somehting really funny
5. What was your mom like as a child?
B:she was a nice kid
W: she had really blonde hair
M:Like Me
6. How old is your mom?
B: 18
W:35
M:35
7. How tall is your mom?
B:this many
W:5ft.8
M: 5ft.10
(for real I'm 5ft.4)
8. What is her favorite thing to do?
B:email
W: tan
M:Scrapbook, write
9. What does your mom do when you're not around
B:email
W:writes on her blog or reads
M:bills
10. If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for?
B:that you are loving
W: writing
M:Writing
11. What is your mom really good at?
B:loving
W: calming people down
M:Writing
12. What is your mom not very good at?
B:yelling
W:making us laugh
M:Push ups
13. What does your mom do for her job?
B:typing
W:writes
M:stay at home mom
14. What is your mom's favorite food?
B:coffee
W: coffee
M:Hashbrowns
15. What makes you proud of your mom?
B:she’s loving
W: that she is an author
M: She is awesome
16. If your mom were a cartoon character, who would she be?
B: Polly Purebred from Underdog
W: Truffles in Chowder
M: Minne Mouse
17. What do you and your mom do together?
B:Everything
W: Watch TV
M:Scrapbook
18. How are you and your mom the same
B: We love eachother
W:We both like to have quiet time
M:We look alike, we have similar likes and dislikes sometimes
19. How are you and your mom different?
B:I’m small, she’s big. We have different bodies.
W: When I grow up I want to be a dancer. I have strawberry blonde hair, she has blonde
M:I don’t like broccoli
20. How do you know your mom loves you?
B: God made her love me
W: Whenever I’m sad, she always comforts me and she is really kind
M: She says I love you
21. Where is your mom's favorite place to go?
I:Shoe Place
W: Tanning
M:Panera
I spent the greater part of Thursday with Maddie at the E.R. She pulled a muscle in her neck and she's in a lot of pain. Pray for my baby if you think of it. Thanks!
Maddie is getting baptized tomorrow. She sent me this email this morning.
Why I Want to Get Baptized
I want to get baptized because I believe it’s my year to tell the whole world that I’m a Christian and I’m proud of it. Jesus means everything to me. It means that I will be faithful and follow Jesus with all my heart and as hard as I can.
I’m so glad dad will be baptizing me and D.C. 
Madeline is one month away from being 10. I am so proud of her.
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