While I was Sleeping

While I was "sleeping" during the days after I had Jack, John was preparing a video of what I had missed. He showed me and my parents the day I was discharged from the hospital. You can imagine the tears that this produced. He then added pictures of the first time I saw Jack and the first time holding him. We came across this tonight while looking at some pictures and we thought we would share. John reminded me that Jack's palm was the size of his thumbnail. Amazing...

Who would have thought

Picture of the Week!!!!

Happy Halloween!!!!

Thank you Gram for making Lucy and Mady Kate's costumes for them. You did a great job and the girls were very pleased with them.

Who Would Have Thought

As many of you faithful readers know, I am a little different. And, I'm okay with that. I have gone through 29 years, 10months and 26 days of marching to the beat of my own drum. My drum has usually consisted of bells and whistles, bright colors, polka dots and streamers and at times plain brown or blue. I like to be different. When everyone wore their hair long and straight, I wore mine short. When everyone decorated their homes in earth tones, I didn't. It's not because I didn't like these other things. I just like to be different.

When John and I got married 9 years ago, I had a vision of how my life would be. I knew that I wanted to be a mom and John knew he wanted to be a dad. I saw our house in my head and we were surrounded by color. As the years have gone by, I think John has come to realize that it's probably not going to change that much. I love my "early attic" furniture and my polka dot drapes. They make me happy when I look at them. I want my guests to be comfortable and enjoy something a little different. Polka dots are just plain attractive to me. I'm drawn to them like a thirsty man is drawn to water . My family questioned me when I chose black and white polka dot fabric for the drapes in my living room. I told them that I could not have it any other way because I knew that one day, people other than me would get as much pleasure from them as I. Plus, I considered them to be my neutral in the room. Did I mention that I like to be different? Well, guess what. I figured out who loves my black and white polka dot drapes as much as I. Our sweet son. Bless his heart, he can stare at those drapes and pillows forever. I know that little babies get smarter when exposed to black and white patterns, but this is hilarious. When I chose that fabric a couple of years ago, we were not planning on having anymore children. Maybe without realizing I chose that fabric for our precious miracle, Jack. So he could have something that he enjoyed looking at so much. Did I mention that I like to be different?

Now

I have a challenge for you.

This Christmas, John and I have decided that we are going to "adopt" a child for Christmas. This means that we will buy less for us so that another child can have a Merry Christmas. We want the girls to participate in this fully because we want them to feel the joy of giving. We have not found our child yet but I'm working on it . You can ask at schools, hospitals, churches and so many more places for a name that is in need. I am more excited about this than any other thing when I think about Christmas this year. Please join us and find someone near you that needs your family's love this Christmas. I would love to hear from the ones who would like to do this also.

Make this special.

Etiquette and child rearing

I know that this is going to sound funny, but I love to read etiquette books. I'm certainly not saying that I always use the most perfect etiquette. I simply find them interesting and sometimes amusing. The "proper"way of doing things is just not always "available". Okay,I try to be polite, mind my manners and write thank-you notes. But some of this gets to be ridiculous and hilarious. I have been thinking about this lately because of the kids I guess. I want them to be nice to people. We want them to make eye contact with the person they are talking to, speak when spoken to, and never hide behind us to avoid the situation. Our children get in trouble for not being "nice". I want people to like to see my children coming. Acting like "little toots"( to quote my mother) is simply not tolerated. I know that to many people in this world I would be considered a strict parent. Great. Let me tell you, this past week I have been reading for the second time, Dare to Discipline by James Dobson. He really knows what he is talking about. With every page I hear my mother speaking. ( It was her book and handed it down when I had Lucy). She must have memorized it word for word. Or she gave Mr. Dobson the material to write ;) . He tells when to spank, how to spank and why to spank. Then he tells how to explain this to your child. I'm looking at this paperback book, yellowed with years and I see moma, hear moma and since most of my childhood memories are linked with smell, I smell moma. (merle norman cream if you were wondering) It's 1984, sitting on the end of my bed sobbing after receiving the "beating" of my life(I thought) and in walks Pam. "Julie, do you understand why I spanked you?" "no ma'am, "I spanked you because I love you and I want you to obey. I love you too much to let you behave like that. I spank you to help you to remember to never act like that again". Fast forward, 2007. On any day, at any time you will probably be hearing the same things coming out of my mouth to my kids. What I thought was soooo dumb and wrong back then, I now realize was right and not dumb at all. I just hope that my kids realize that when they get older. I just have about 3 more years to be smart. I figure after that I won't be smart for about 15 years. I got off the etiquette thing and these 2 subjects might not seem like they go together but they do. We are our children's life teachers. Lord, please help me on my lesson plans. Deuteronomy 6:7. Thanks mom for being a great teacher.

Okay back to the etiquette. I think that it is so funny when people see a new baby they automatically say," He looks just like his mother or she is the spitting image of her daddy". If you know both parents it is easy to see the child in both of them, but if you know only one, say the mother, they look just like her. Have you ever thought about that. "Cute" babies are precious and "ugly" babies are sweet. Right? That' s so bad. Since I had Jack my memory has not been the best. It's rather embarrassing. I'm sorry if I have said this before. John lets me know frequently that I am telling things over and over again. Because I do not remember saying these things, I deny it. Tonight, while thumbing through my "E" book I came across a section called Repeating Stories Again. Because I am told that I do this I decided that I would read on. The question was " Is there any method one can use to tell a friend that she has told a story previously and ask her to desist?" I'm not going to type out Miss Manners response. I thought to myself- I have become material for this book. Oh no. I have had this particular book for many years and I thought of a few new problems in our world. Can anyone say soapbox? Cell phones. I have one, love it, use it every day. My problem is the phones that people wear on their ears. I think it is perfectly fine to "wear" these things on your ear if you are driving down the highway and you need to be "hands free" but walking around in stores, entering bathrooms -not good. I guess people think they cannot have one moment without their phone connected to theirs bodies. They are so lazy that they can't reach into their purse or pocket and grab their phone when it rings. Or maybe they are so important that they have to have it there to talk to at the blink of an eye. Not sure. You don't know how many times I have walked into a restroom stall and hear from another stall, "Hey", Not knowing if they are needing something like paper or something I say , "hey". From the next stall, "what are you doing?" me, "aw, just going to the bathroom" next stall, "Can I call you back, the crazy next door is answering my questions" Oops. I think to myself, is anything private? Not when you have one of those phones. You could go anywhere you wanted with a phone connected to your ear, even to the Hancock Fabrics restroom. John is upset with me. It's late. I'll send some pics out tomorrow. to take a quote from Paul Harvey, Now you know the rest of the story. Good day.

Friday afternoon we headed to Oxford for the Ole Miss/ LA Tech football game. John had been in Knoxville all week so he met us at Matt's house. I wish you could have heard my girlies when John pulled up. Later that night our McCartney family from Ruston came to join us for the weekend. We had people staying all over Oxford. Gram and Pappy, Nana and Uncle Larry and Aunt Jeanie stayed at Matt's, We stayed at the Flynts house and Matt and Christi, Karey and Clay and Kristen and Jeremy stayed at Brian and Laura Carr's house. What wonderful people those Flynts and Carrs to "keep" us. Thank you!!!!

Saturday morning John and I got up and at em at 5:30am. We arrived at Matt's at 7:15. We were greeted at the door by my Dad with his mouth opened down to his knees in shock because we had gotton there so early with everyone bathed and dressed. Within the next hour everyone (the fam) started pouring in.

9am- departure from Matt's

9:30am- arrival @ the GROVE

We really had a great time with our family and friends. I have never seen my kids look so dirty and so cute at the same time. Lucy and Mady Kate played football with Tyler Smith and Bailey Simpson. Their feet were black with dirt. Jack enjoyed lounging in his stroller under the tent in the warm air.

One of Matt's friends came by the tent and offered to take our family picture. How nice. We really enjoyed being with all of them.

Saturday night we ate dinner at Matt's. Brian and Laura, Mrs. Cheryl, Jenny and Ann Alise came by also.Gram and Pappy, Christi and the Tatums spent the night at Matt's. The next morning we got up to go to FBC Oxford. My parents left to go home then. They stopped in Memphis to see Bro. Tom and Mrs. Donna at Baptist Hospital. After lunch, Christi and I took the kids to the Episcopal church to the pumpkin patch and took some pictures. We didn't get many because my batteries went dead-the story of my life.

Pictures of the Week

Christi and Matt in the GROVE


All of the ladies in the fam.




Matt's friend probably took a better picture, but here it is.









Trivia


I need to know the name of something. Christi and I can't remember what these things are called. I will describe it to you below. Please e-mail your answer to me at julietatum@comcast.net.

It's a piece of cardbord backing with a bald mans face on the front. The whole thing is covered with plastic and had metal shavings collected at the bottom. Using a little red pen you can gather the shavings and make hair and/or a beard for the man. You can buy them at places like the Cracker Barrel.

Friday is John's birthday so....

Happy Birthday John!!!!!!

WE LOVE YOU!!!!!!!

Mady Kate had picture day at her preschool today. (Little Pam)

I know, I know she is dressed for a warm summer July day. All of the hand-me-down fall clothes are in the attic. The reason I did not get them down is because I am weak and can't open the attic door by myself. Which leads me to tell you that John is out of town.....

John has been in Knoxville this week and he's usually the attic man. Let me tell you, I have a whole new respect for a single mother of 3. It has been non-stop mommy for 4 days now. I rely on John so much and he is so helpful with the kiddos. I told my friend Christin today that I would just like to go to the bathroom by myself for once. You don't realize how "special" that is until you have a 4yr.old asking 500 questions and a hungry baby attached at all times. I really miss John and I'm really ready for him to come home. The reason I am able to do this right now is because Jack is asleep, Mady Kate is "cleaning" her room and Lucy is "organizing her life". the first thing I want John to do when he gets home is to get the clothes down from the attic. I pray that there are several things that will fit Mady Kate. Speaking of clothes... Lucy's second grade class is learning about the different seasons. Her teacher told them yesterday that people wear different types of clothes for different seasons. Then she gets everyone to pick a piece of paper out of a hat. Each piece had a different season listed. Then she tells them that Friday they will have a "FASHION SHOW". You will dress for the season that you chose. Well, what do you think Lucy chose? Winter. Guess where the winter clothes are. The attic and still at the stores.
I'm not sure how I feel about a second grade fashion show. I think they could have "discovered the seasons" in another way. Lucy is all about it though. I'll post pics later. We are all going to be in Oxford this weekend for the football game. Gram, Pappy, Nana, uncle, Christi, John, Julie, Lucy, Mady Kate, Jack, Uncle Larry, Aunt Jeanie, Kristen, Jeremy, Karey and Clay. That's just our crew. Groving will be fun with all of the McCartney fam. Again, I will say. I love my husband and he is soooo missed.

A quick story. Monday, we got in the van headed to Wal-Mart. On our way we got caught by the train. Not only was the train in the way but it was stalled there. We sat there for 30 minutes. It wasn't as bad as you would think. The wind was blowing so I opened the sunroof and the windows and listened to KLOVE. Then we started hearing sirens. An ambulance in fact. I said to the girls, " Oh no, an ambulance is needing to come this way and can't get by". Mady Kate replies, "Mommy, we need to pray". I thought to myself, I am so happy for Mady Kate to think about the poor people that need that ambulance. She prays, " Dear Lord, would you move that train so we can get to Wal-Mart and Lord, I'm ready for my Daddy to come home because I miss him, and Lord, free the Jena six. Amen. Not sure what we are going to do with her.

Happy Birthday Christin!!!

Picture of the week

I found this in one of Lucy's notebooks here at home.

The title of it is "Accepting Christ".

Use your imagination with her spelling.

Sunday

We had Parent-Child Dedication at church on Sunday and Jack was dedicated. Five families stood in front of our church and promised to make our home a Christian home and promised to be faithful to God, to prayer and His word and to the church. We also promised that we would lead Jack to a loving relationship with Jesus Christ. That was so special to us.

I remember on a daily basis about what Jack and I went through in July and how I was so down and sad about not having Jack home with us and me feeling physically and emotionally awful. I could have not put one foot in front of the other without our amazing Father. He is our ever-present help.

I love you, O Lord, my strength, The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge. He is my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. I call to the Lord, who is worthy of praise and I am saved from my enemies. Psalm 18:1-3

I am reminded every day of the song by Kathy Troccoli, "My Life is in Your Hands". I wish that I were blessed with the gift of song so I could sing this to all of you. Instead, I will write out the lyrics.

Life can be so good, life can be so hard

Never knowing what each day will bring to where you are

Sometimes I forget, sometimes I can't see

That whatever comes my way you'll be with me

My life is in your hands, my heart is in your keeping

I'm never without hope, not when my future is with you

My life is in your hands and though I may not see clearly

I will lift my voice and sing 'cause Your love does amazing things

Lord, I know my life is your hands

Nothing is for sure, nothing is for keeps

All I know is that your love will live eternally

So I will find my rest and I will find my peace

Knowing that you'll meet my every need

When I'm at my weakest oh, You carry me

Then I become my strongest, Lord in your hands

I have always heard that we are God's hands and feet here on earth doing his work. This concept was shown to us over and over in the ministry of our friends and family. There was the blood drive at Trinity Baptist in Southaven, all the meals brought to us by our church, phone calls from so many places offering support and most of all the prayers of so many in so many different places asking for healing and comfort.

Jack weighed 2 lbs. 13 oz. when he was born. Last Friday, September 21st., his actual due date he weighed 6 lbs. and 14oz.

We feel so blessed to have Jack here and healthy. God has been overwhelmingly present and faithful.

Lucy learns how to do house work

This past week I have been teaching Lucy how to do basic chores around the house. I had no idea that she would catch on and love it so much. As soon as she gets in from school she wants to know what she can do to help me. While I know most of you are saying, "that must be nice" know that I am not counting on it lasting very long. I'm sure the newness will wear off soon. First I taught her how to clean out the dishwasher. Then she wanted to load it. She really does a great job. Now there were drops of water all over the floor, but I didn't say a word. Next I taught her to fold clothes. She's not real sure about what goes with what so she had many different piles, again, it's okay, I'm not complaining. You should have seen her folding towels, she stood up and used her whole body, too cute. Last, sweeping the kitchen. She pretended that she was the host of a TV show about house cleaning and talked the whole time to the "camera". I asked Mady Kate if she wanted to learn how to do house work and she said, "no thanks"!!!

Now for the "Jena Six"

Most of you know that I am from Jena, LA. I know that most of you have been seeing the news lately about the "Jena Six". It is very unfortunate that all of that has happened and I will not get into my thoughts on that. However, I would like to tell you that what you are seeing about the town of Jena is not really how it is. It's funny to me when they are showing pictures of the town they are picking and choosing establishments that does not necessarily represent Jena correctly. The background music that you hear is banjo picking that sounds like something from Deliverance. Jena is a nice, cute little southern town with many friendly, God-fearing people, black and white. Below, I posted a picture of Louisiana with LaSalle parish highlighted. Please remember the people who live there and are living through this media frenzy. Please remember to pray for the families that are involved on both sides of this issue.

Have a great week.