New Developments

We've been extra busy around here, I wish I could write more, but I have a bunch of laundry to fold before school starts this morning. Here are some pics I've been wanting to post. They're all out of order, but you get the point:

Young Warriors Christian Academy

The boys are starting at a new school next week; the previous one wasn't working out. They will now be attending Young Warriors Christian Academy. There's only one teacher at the school and she loves the children as if they were her own...because they are. I am so glad all my babies will be home with me full time again. I'm already loving the lesson planning and brainstorming I've been able to do; what an honor to teach my babies! The boys have already been learning pledges at their current school, and we are taking this opportunity to add one more to the list.

"I pledge allegiance to the Christian Flag, and to the Savior for whose Kingdom it stands: One Savior, crucified, risen, and coming again with life and liberty to all who believe."

"I pledge allegiance to the Bible, God's Holy Word. I will make it a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path, and will hide its words in my heart that I might not sin against God."

"I pledge allegiance to the Ripley Family, and to the Lord above. Where Mom & Dad direct me, I will follow and obey. I promise to honor God and Family, for the Lord ordained it this way."

"I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."

I will post pictures once our classroom is put together...my goal is to have it finished before Thanksgiving, so I can put up the Christmas decorations around our school stuff.

Back & Forth

Mommy dilemma: so I'm back to teaching a two year old about sticking with his choices. Vince and I were making a PB&J sandwich and I asked Anthony if he wanted one. He said, "No." I said, "are you SURE you don't want a PB&J sandwich?" So he finished his crackers, saw Vince eating his sandwich, and decided he wanted one. The tough guy in me says "NO" but the mushy mommy in me wants to give him one. I think I'll just make him wait a while and give him another chance to have a sandwich later. I welcome suggestions from moms & dads who have been there!

A Tribute to "It's Debby with a Y, Dammit!"

This was the title of a college paper my mom wrote about her long time best friend. I was a tween (back in the nineteen hundreds we called it "preteen") when mom went back to school, so I made it my business to insert myself in her school work. I remember the paper better than any novel or story I've read. By the time Mom wrote it, we had been living in Illinois for five or six years and it had been that long since we had seen Aunt Debby. They met when we all lived in San Diego; she and her kids, Shanna and David, became our family out there. Even after all this time, Shanna and I were just talking on the phone and marveling at how we all still consider each other family.

In the paper, Mom eloquently told of how she and Aunt Debby met at the bank of mailboxes at our apartment complex. She described the outspoken, decidedly candid woman she met there that day: the woman whose confidence and frankness came to influence my mom's once quiet and reserved disposition. Debby unabashedly corrected people who dared misspell her name, with a boisterous, "It's Debby with a Y, dammit!"

Mom has always said that Debby never knew a stranger; this was one thing they either had in common from the start, or Debby rubbed off on Mom in a significant way, because it's a long-standing family joke that Mom makes friends wherever she goes, even when she's supposed to be doing something else. Just last month Mom helped me travel to Georgia from Illinois with all three of the boys. We stopped for gas and found we had a serious snafu with the canvas luggage bag on the roof. Before I even finished assessing the situation, mom had recruited a seasoned trucker to secure the package for us and save a bunch of money in the process.

For the past month or so, Debby has been bed-ridden, plagued with a fatal brain tumor. She finally let go last week, just after her birthday. Her kids were at her side, she was surrounded with love, and she peacefully breathed her last as her family sent her into the arms of God. My heart aches for Shanna, David, their beautiful families, Debby's mom and sisters, and my own mommy, whose life-long friend left far too soon for our comfort. But I trust that not even a flower withers before God's timing, so I know that He who knitted her together in her mother's womb on His timing and in His will, also drew her into His arms on His own timing and in His own will. Of course this doesn't help us not miss her, or help us not want to hug her, or not wish she was still here to warm us with her incredible laugh (oh, how she could laugh! She had the most beautifully uninhibited laugh I think I've ever heard).

So, today, as her family and friends celebrate her life, I celebrate with them. And I am grateful for the boldness, the outspokenness, the unwillingness she had to simply keep her mouth shut when she saw an injustice of some sort, or when she knew you were about to make a mistake. She didn't hold back. She didn't just sit and "tisk" and watch you do the wrong thing. She was true to herself, and she was true to her family. She was a mentor to my mom, to me, and to countless others, and I will forever be thankful to God for my Aunt Debby.

Chocolate/Front Lean and Rest

Some of you may have noticed that from the time Vincent started talking, I have been training the boys to say "Yes, Ma'am" "No, Ma'am" "Yes, Sir" "No, Sir." They know to say it if I correct them, but usually they forget to do it the first time. So....I came up with a little "game" for Vince. I told him about it as if it were a new game, all excited and happy. So here's how the game works:
If Vincent says "Yes, Ma'am" or "No Ma'am" on the first response, he gets a piece of chocolate (one M&M or a little square from a Hershey bar...something like that). If he says, "Yeah" or "sure" or "no" or "NO!!!!" he has to do a Front Lean & Rest, which is the push up position. For several years I've been looking forward to the age when I can use Physical Fitness as a motivator, and it has arrived for Vince! I'm starting him out slow: he doesn't have to do the push up, but he has to get into position for 5 seconds. The only problem is, he enjoys doing that just as much as he enjoys the chocolate!!! He thinks it's fun! What a nut. He often catches it before I do, and jumps down into the Front Lean & Rest, and says, "Count, Mommy!" Then he gets back up and gives the answer the right way.
Now that we're in the South, everyone says "Yes, Ma'am" so I'm hoping it will catch on quickly. I told him the game counts even when we're talking to other people. Soon I will extend it to include being polite and not shying away from people when they talk to him. I find it rude for him to ignore adults when they're taking an interest in him, trying to engage him in conversation, and he chooses to "hide behind my skirt." It's one thing for a two year old, but Vince is past the age of this behavior being acceptable.
Anthony is not interested in the "game" at all. Well, I take that back: he wants the chocolate every time Vince earns one, but he refuses the Front Lean & Rest, so he doesn't get to participate.
Silas is still too cute for physical labor. :)