And A Child Shall Lead Them

One of my favorite things in the world is seeing what kids do with the world, from their limited base of knowledge and experience.

For this reason, I try very hard to allow my kids to come to conclusions about certain things on their own. It's incredibly interesting to me, to see their instinctive reactions when they haven't been given someone else's point of view.

An example of this is skin color. Eric and I have never talked about skin color in any capacity in front of the kids. We never really talked about NOT talking about it, it just ended up that way. So we've always been curious when the kids would notice that on their own, and how they would express it.

The other day, Ava was sitting at the kitchen table coloring. She had drawn a picture of 2 girls holding hands.

Me: "What are you drawing?"

Ava: "It's two girls, one has white skin, and one has brown skin.....but they can still be friends!"

(I wondered at this point if she was saying something she had heard on TV, or if it was her own conclusion)

Me: "Where did you hear about brown skinned people?"

Ava: "When I was at Luke's birthday party, at McDonald's, I saw a girl who had brown skin, and we played together and were friends anyway!"



Quite different from Cole's first observation of racial difference....when he was 3, he saw a black man walk past with a really full afro. Cole says "Mom, that man looks like he's from the jungle!"


I wonder what Zachary's first comment on racial differences will be........I can't wait, it's sure to be a doozy!




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Explore The Book, 1st and 2nd Samuel

I will be posting video of Bob Lewis's "Explore The Book" class, which he holds at Christ's Church of the Valley every Thursday night at 7. I encourage everyone to come out to this class. You will be amazed by what you learn.

For more Bob, go to http://www.navcadinfo.blogspot.com/


I apologize for this clip, which is only the first 40 minutes or so of last week's class. I neglected to change the resolution of the video before I started filming, so the memory card couldn't hold the full hour. Next week I will post the session in it's entirety.

Part 1


Part 2


Part 3


Part 4

Who Wears The Pants?

I spent the day in NYC yesterday judging a same-sex ballroom/latin/country dance competition.


I must say I prefer when both partners wear the same type of outfit, either both in dresses, or both in tuxes. In same-sex dancing, during the course of one dance, the leader becomes the follower and the follower the leader. I personally don't like the appearance of the dress leading the tux. When the costumes are the same style, the change in lead doesn't jolt my senses for some reason.


There were some amazing women's Standard couples. One of the female Standard ladies in Group A wore these fantastic feather caps, like bathing caps that Esther Williams wore. The feathers would match her dress, electric blue, fushia, etc. She was European and older, and carried those feather wigs off as if she was the Queen. I loved it. Talked to her later, found out she lost all of her hair 10 years ago, and decided to make interesting wigs and hats her "thing". Love that...


Why do I support same-sex dancing? I've been same sex dancing since I first learned to dance, back in the K.P. Corral days. There were never enough guys to go around, so I always ended up being the "guy". I'm 5'11", so it only made sense.


I believe I am the dancer and coach I am today in part because I was always "being the guy". I know what I want to feel as a follower, and because I have learned to lead, I know how to explain to a leader what to do to give that feeling to the follower.


I enjoy leading, because it puts me back in control for a moment. Choreography is my strong point, and I can put that to use in an immediate form when I'm leading.


For me, it has nothing to do with sexual preference or relationships. It's about expanding your knowledge base. It's about stretching yourself. It's about trying to see things from the other person's point of view. It not only makes you a better dancer, but can make you a better dance partner, and a better person.


And sometimes, it's just nice to be the boss.........




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Pass Interference, Mein Fuhrer

A conversation between EMo and I last night, watching the Eagles game. There was a referee who's pants were really wide at the hip/upper thigh area, and then tucked into his socks below the knee.

Me: "Whoa, his pants look like riding pants.....what are those called again?"

Eric: "I have no idea"

Me: "It's on the tip of my tongue....Jodhpurs, that's it!"

Eric: "I've never heard that word"

Me: "Really??!??! I can hardly believe that. You've never seen it written? It's spelled j-o-d-h- p-u-r-s"

Eric: "Yeah, didn't know that word."

Me: "You know what I'm talking about, right? The pants that horseback riders wear?"

Eric: "Hello, I've SEEN them, I just didn't know that they had a name"

Eric: ".....Hey, you know who wore jodhpurs...The Nazis!! So you know jodhpurs must have been trendy, cause the Nazis were on the cutting edge, with all their advanced scientific research....you know that's what the Cold War was all about, whether our Germans were smarter than their Germans. You know all the ex-Nazi scientists came over here after World War II was over, and worked for us, and helped us build nuclear weapons."

Me: ".....oh yeah??? Well I know what jodhpurs are......."



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Those Nanny-cams Really Work....

I had the strangest dream last night....

I was a nanny, and the couple I worked for was EMo (my husband, as opposed to ELew, my brother) and his wife (not me).

The husband (EMo) and I were having an affair... At one point, the wife caught us. She and Eric were having it out, and I decided to pack my things and go. Eric saw me leaving, and tried to get me to stay, but I said "You need some time to figure things out, I'm going to leave for awhile".

So I literally ran away and tried to stay hidden from everyone. To hide, I stayed at drug rehabilitation centers, figuring no one would look for me there. I would help out the druggie kids while I was at each one...

Strange.......



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My Heroes, Part 1

I've been waiting a few days to write this post, in the hopes that I wouldn't bawl all over my laptop keys in the process.

I have very few heroes in this life, as you may well imagine. But there are a few, and I will start with the most recent addition to my list.

My 4th oldest niece, Brooke Suzanne (totally coincidental, or maybe providential??), has joined my short list.

A couple of years ago, Brooke came to me to finally share a story of something awful that happened to her as a young girl. She came to me, knowing that something similar had happened to me. When she told me, many years had passed since that time. She had been working through it with the help of her boyfriend, and Life Counseling.

She was then able to do what I wasn't; she figured out what she wanted to do about the situation, what would bring about the most healing for her. And then she did it. Her choice involved her having to do something that had to be the scariest, and most painful thing I've ever heard of, but she did it with the strongest of resolve.

She is the toughest cookie you'd ever want to meet, and yet through her horrifying experience, she never lost her love for God, or her heart for people.

She has recently gotten engaged, and I couldn't be any happier. After what she's been through, marriage and child-raising should be a breeze for her!

If you ever get a chance to meet her, listen closely and take notes. She is a wonderful example of how to handle tragedy and break through to the other side without letting it ruin you.

And if you want a REAL role model for your daughters (Hannah Montana has NOTHING on her), introduce them to Brooke Lewis.




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p.s., does this post count as a wedding present??!?!?? ;o)

I Need A Sponsor...

I have discovered that I am addicted to food.

And I don't mean I'm addicted like "Oh my gosh, I just looooove chocolate!!"

I mean addicted like "I need a sugar fix so badly right now that I just might stab you in the thigh to get at those cookies".

Having a week full of extreme tension, while I was dieting, pointed this out to me. Driving home from the ER at 11:30 on Thursday night, all I could think of was a PBJ with Fritos and a box of chocolate chip cookies...that is all I wanted. I was almost twitching. It took every ounce of willpower that I had to not eat those things when I got home. I felt like a recovering alcoholic.

Carbs and sugar comfort me. They soothe my nerves. Nothing else does for me what they do.

They are like heroin to me. My track marks aren't on my arms, they're on my inner thighs and lower abs...

I need a 12 step program.


Or maybe I just need to try heroin to take my mind off of cookies....



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