Sisterly LOVE!

We were all tired when we woke up Saturday. There was just too much going on Friday afternoon with getting Tom, Chelcie, and Drew off to Nicaragua and our quick jaunt up to Dollywood. We were worn out, so we all slept in until about 8:00 Saturday morning. I even took a nap on the couch! Saturday afternoon, we went to see Kung Fu Panda. Olivia Houston came over to join us, and Ed brought his Oliva over, so she could join us. I had a jam-packed back seat! Shhh! Don't tell the police, but Olivia Houston and Addie double-buckled!

The big surprise of the day came when we were going in to the movie. I heard someone behind me say, "Is that YOU, Mrs. Crawford?" The young man behind the concessions stand looked vaguely familiar to me, and going through the memory files takes a little longer than it used to, but I was able to pull the name out of my "file." Christopher Knee recognized me after...let's see... something close to 12 years! I had Chris in the third grade. He sent me a message of Facebook later that night. Here's what he said that made my day!

Hey it was good to see you too. You really do look exactly the same, and I promise that is not something I would just say. And I think my .05 second reaction time to recognizing you will contest to my honesty. Next time you come to the theater, bring your own cups and bags and I will give you free popcorn and drinks for you and your friends/family so you can saved some $$$. I'm glad to hear you are still teaching...you were always and have always been my favorite teacher out of every teacher I have ever had. I loveddddd third grade. I actually want to be a teacher now too, although I want to teach college. I'm going to try (emphasis on try) to get a PhD in philosophy/world religion so I can teach graduate level school, even though I'm at a music school for my undergraduate degree. I really want teaching to be my retirement job I guess. Anyways, have a great summer and maybe I will pass you again in the theater sometime!

See? Teaching has rewards that are out of this world! I LOVE my job! And I LOVE the little reminders God gives me to stay the course.

Anyway, the movie was cute and actually had a bit of a moral lesson. Respect for authority and the pursuit of wisdom was emphasized, but it seems the only thing Sam took away from the movie was a really painful KICK and karate chop to whomever is in his line of vision! Wouldn't you know?

After the movie, we took Olivia Houston back home and met Ed at Chick-fil-a so he could pick up Olivia. Lori called during the movie to see if Natalie could hang out with us instead of going to Charlie's basketball game. Of course, Addie was PUMPED about seeing Natalie, but Olivia was highly disappointed as she had asked Addie to spend the night with her. We managed to get it all worked out with as few tears as possible. We met Chuck and Lori back at the house and Olivia went home with her dad for a while. Addie, Natalie and Sam had fun playing with the WebCam on my computer and distorting their pictures. I've never heard so much laughing! Ed walked Olivia over so that she could spend the night with us and we invited Natalie too. Lori stopped by after the game with Natalie's clothes, toothbrush, etc. so all was well...Well, except for my challenge of how to get three giggling girls and one crazy Kung Fu-obsessed boy to calm down and get to sleep! Miracles DO happen and with only two threats of bodily harm and grounding for LIFE, the girls drifted to dreamland in Sam's bed, while Sam practiced his Kung Fu moves in his sleep back in my room with me.

Sam and I woke up before the girls and prepared some gigantic cinnamon rolls for breakfast. They sure did make the house smell good! Note to self: I gotta cook more! Then we dropped off the girls in Ed's yard as my car couldn't carry all of them to church. Sam and I enjoyed some good Mommy and me time in the car on the way to church. I tried to call my mom and dad to see if the girls could ride to church with them, and to wish my dad a happy Father's Day, of course, but I could not reach them. The nerve of them...leaving the house without telling me where they were going! Anderson called to say she needed a ride to church so Dane could use her car to go to WestLake and Deron was preparing for a Father's Day brunch at Seasons, so Sam and I ran by her house to pick her up.

Church was awesome even though Scott was not there. Anderson and I sat with Lidelle and Andrew Bowling and Chris Ellis. Lucas, the new youth pastor spoke and did a phenomenal job! I was very impressed with his ability to connect with the audience and endear himself to us. I liked him a lot! After church we took Anderson home to clean her house and met Chris, Lidelle, Andrew, and Ed at Moe's. Courtney came by Moe's to pick up Natalie for a day at the lake and then we headed home for a little down time before heading to Lori's for a Father's Day dinner. Before we went to Lori's, we walked next door to meet our new neighbors. Randy was the only one home, so we gave him a loaf of Amish Friendship Bread and a belated "Welcome to the neighborhood!"

Yesterday was the day Sam was supposed to have his stitches out, so Ed graciously called his dad to see if he would be willing to do the honors. He was playing golf, so he said he would do it when he got home. Lucky for Sam, when I took him to the good doctor's house, Dr. Knowling suggested he swim for a while to loosen the scab that had formed around his stitches. Even though the hospital had told us he was not to swim with stitches, Sam made a beeline for the pool! Addie, of course, joined him. I basically sweated by behind off watching them splash and laugh in the water while we waited for the softening of the scab. Sounds nasty, I know. Before I completely melted, Dr. Knowling, assisted by Jamie, performed an uneventful stitch-ectomy on my baby boy and we were discharged from Knowling General Hospital.

We raced home to prepare our 36 ears of corn to take to Lori's for the festivities. The barbecue was delicious, the company was loud, but the porch was a sanctuary for me and I found my favorite rocking chair and a current People magazine and rocked to my heart's content. I did a little soul-searching before Lori and Katie joined me for some laughs. It did my heart good to spend some time with my family. Andrew was out of town, so Chuck and Dad were the only fathers there. Will and Darryl were there too. It was a great night. I loved being with my people.

Monday morning found us at Dr. Henson's office for Sam's check-up. Looks like he's his father's son and is highly susceptible to cavities. He had several. Too much sugar! After a stern warning to cut out the sweet tea and candy, we made our two follow up appointments for fillings and were on our way. Poor Sam! He SO loves his candy. I will make an effort to provide his favorite fruit as alternatives to the sticky stuff. He did great in the chair though and earned a couple of prizes, a new toothbrush and some yummy bubble gum toothpaste! Oh yeah, as we were leaving for our 9:00 dental appointment, we "caught" Randy mowing our yard! There are good people in the world!

Rick Kuhlman called to ask if I would mentor a girl who just graduated from Furman and is working with KARM. It would require a ten month commitment of meeting with her 3-4 times a month. I'd really like to do it, but honestly, I'd like to commit to meeting with Chelcie instead. I wonder if Chelcie would be interested in a scheduled meeting with Mom. I have a lot to talk over with the family when they return. Praying for their safety and that their efforts will be multiplied many times. I've had Drew on my heart especially. God, please do a work in him. I love that boy!

Addie and Sam worked on Welcome Home signs for Daddy, Chelcie, and Drew.

Today is a beautiful day. Highs in the 80s, sunny with low humidity. I called Katie to see if she'd like to meet us at Ft. Sanders for a swim, but she was already at Camp Baine. I got the invite to join my two little sisters and we made a day of it! We played tennis and the kids swam and played on the playground. If we'd tried to plan any of it, it never would have worked, but God was smiling today and we had a rare, unhurried time to bond as sisters and as friends.

Back at home, I kicked into work mode and made arrangements with Jesse to pick up our website dvd so that Ed's "people" can start working on making the updates. Addie has made plans to spend the night with Taylor, so it might just be me and my man! Looks like it might be a Waffle House night at this point. More later...