When are people gonna get it?

I just read this story on the net. Basically, it says that children who were exposed to second hand smoke in childhood are more likely to miscarry their own children.

Here is my question: How many studies will it take for people to realize that smoking is just all around bad for them?

We have a son who has mild asthma. It is not as bad as it could be and thankfully, it manifests only during illness or the spring. But, when he is around smokers, I have noticed that he starts to breathe laboriously. It makes me mad that my 9-year old child has to suffer because of someone's bad choice.

Read the story for yourself here!

Take Jacob's Quiz

Jacob went to take my quiz this morning (see previous post) and decided that he would like for you to take one about him. Try it.
http://www.quizyourfriends.com/quizpage.php?quizname=070828173220-663691&

Take This Quiz

I admit it. I took this idea from a few other bloggers.

http://www.quizyourfriends.com/quizpage.php?quizname=070828020522-465362&

Another Day in the Life of the Gisberts

Just some random, idiodic things that happened around here. Let me start with yesterday.

The kids and I went to the doughnut shop before church yesterday morning. I get out of the van and notice that neither Jacob nor Sarah have removed themselves yet. I push the door button on my key fob to get it open and reprimand them for taking so long. The door won't slide open. And Jacob is looking at me kind of quizzically with his hands up in the air. I try to open it manually. Won't open. Man, what is happening now? I wonder.

We get the doughnuts and then go back outside to try to clear it up. I am pressing buttons, unlocking this, opening that, all to no avail. BUT, while I am doing this, the loud car horn honking signaling sound keeps sounds each and every time I try the lock or the door. The cute little family in the doughnut shop with the newborn twins are patient with me but increasingly annoyed.

Fine. I say. We will fix it later. Let's get to church.

Now mind you, both kids had to crawl through the hatch to get to their seats. And at church, they had to crawl through there to get out. Sarah pops her head out of the back of van and screams out to the church secretary "our doors are broken and we can't get out. That's why we are crawling through here."

I ask a good friend of ours who happens to own a Volvo shop (in fact he is a Dr. of Volvos) what to do. He tells me to manually lock, then manually unlock the car. Then start the engine, the turn it off, then manually lock, blah blah blah abbababaldfashdfkljasdllflflflflfl blahhhhhhhhhhh. My head is spinning.

I go out after church to try it. Guess what happens? The alarm goes off in the parking lot and it takes a minute or so to get it to quiet down. Aarrrrgghhh. Still no reconcilation between the dysfunctional door and my patience.

Why did we get a car with so many bells and whistles (literally)?


We spent the day yesterday doing lots of errands, and lots of crawling in and out of the hatch.

Fast forward to this morning. We go grocery shopping and then to Sam's Club. The kids crawl all over the groceries from the store and then the Sam's Club goodies. I notice another Honda Odyssey in the parking lot and the owner right there. I ask the man if he has even had problems with the door. No, he tells me. I told him what what happening and here is what he says to me.... don't laugh at me please.....


"YOU HAVE THE CHILD LOCK ON."

Whaaaattttt? I don't have a child lock on the doors. I try to convince him.

Then my son, my precious son, says to me right in front of the guy. .. "Oh, yeah you do. It is right next to the steering wheel." Now please remember that for the past 24 hours, he and his sister have been climbing through the back. He has had to traverse the bread, the eggs, the 5 12-packs of Diet Coke and the Sam's Club salmon and deli chicken. Why didn't you tell me this before? I demand

"Because we liked climbing through the back."

There you have it. Kids do the darndest things.


Then for dinner, I served the rotisserie chicken that I bought earlier. Both kids are eager to have it. They tell me, "Mom, you are the best cook ever. You should be a chef (that's my dream, by the way). We pretty much like everything you cook. Well, everything EXCEPT FOR THE THINGS WE DON'T LIKE. You make the best macaroni and cheese from a box. But not the real stuff. That's not good."

Was that a compliment or not. I can not tell.

Here is my girl telling me that all is well with her dinner.
Ok, one more thing. Our dog, Captain Jack Sparrow just barely escaped getting the tar beat out of him tonight. Look at what he did.
He chewed up Sarah's bible. Her first big girl bible. A bible that she loves and takes everywhere with her.


She was sooooo mad at him. She was about to strangle him. She took him and put him in his crate and told him that he could not come out until he could behave like a normal dog.




I guess you're gonna live in there, Jack.

We are leaving tomorrow for camping for a week. And we are taking this mutt. We might just loosen his collar on one of our walks. I hope he doesn't run into a bear! (Calm down all of you PETA people. I am just kidding).

Getting Ready for School

In an effort to be ready for school to start, the kids and I went to Staples to take advantage of the chair sale going on. Well, actually, I didn't realize that there was a sale, we just happened to be there at the right time.

We were looking for just a simple student desk chair on wheels. Nothing big, nothing fancy. Just something comfortable. We found one for $60 and it was the simplest. Oh well, ok. As we were walking to the front of the store, we saw these. The kids went berzerk! A pink chair and a blue chair! And, then I went berzerk. The were on sale for $24. Yee haw. We scooped them up and jammed home.

They are soooooo excited about school now. I can not believe how something so simple (a chair) and, albeit boring, can add so much dazzle to the humdrum. WAIT a minute. I get it!! I guess this is their version of how I would react to new kitchen towels. It makes sense now.

Only 21 more days of leisure time and sleeping in.

And our Jacob. He is so like Lenny that is scares me. He has that same adventurous, unafraid, almost conquering spirit that gave his grandma many gray hairs so long ago. He called Lenny at work this afternoon and asked him where the rope was. What?

What does he need rope for? I wondered.

I went out to get something out of the van and this is what I saw.

This is Jacob trying to pull himself up the tree. Notice where the rope is going? Through the belt loops on the shorts. I think two things: 1) torn belt loops and, 2) MAJOR wedgie! He doesn't care. He is gonna try it.

There he goes. He actually got a bit higher on the tree but I didn't get the picture. And, he refused to wear shoes or gloves. So his feet and hands gave out before his heart and spirit. What I saw this afternoon made me thank God for the gift of leisure time. I am thankful that we have committed to not over extending our schedules. Otherwise, times like this would be rare or impossible. Our kids have the luxury of using their imaginations and running wild with them.

I realize that there is a time for everything. In fact, it is biblical. Check it out.

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8
A Time for Everything

There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven:
a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot,
a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build,
a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance,
a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain,
a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away,
a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak,
a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace.

Playtime is not for a lifetime. It is for a season. This season has just but 3 weeks left of it. Then work time comes for them. But while we have this season, while we are in it, we are going to take hold of it and fully enjoy it. And, when school starts, we will take hold of that too and put our hearts into it.

Enjoy what is left of summer. Go to the beach, go on a picnic, get a tan, go camping. Do something while the days are long and the weather is agreeable. And take lots of pictures while you are at it.

I look out the back window and here is what I saw. My kids and their dad shootin' it up in the yard. Seriously, all we need is a confederate flag and the stereotype will be complete.

At least they weren't shooting beer cans. People please, I do have my standards.

Just to be clear..... these are BB guns.

Name Us!

It is that time of the year again. Soccer season is upon us. We had our first meeting tonight to get to know each other, practice times and fitting for the uniforms.

This is Sarah's first year playing soccer. And, believe me, when I signed her up, I was hoping and praying that her uniform would be pink. I wanted it pink because, well, I LOVE PINK. I imagined a cutsie little team of girls bopping up and down the field in pink ribbons and socks, running around trying to kick the ball. Oh I am so excited about this.

So we were told to come up with some names for the team and the girls would vote on their favorites. After the meeting we took our kids to Dairy Queen. We pondered over Blizzards all of the possible names for a team of pink girls.

Here is our list. We would love it if you would also give us some ideas.

• PINK STINKERS. I love love love this name. Jacob originally said PINK STINGERS but I misunderstood and heard only what I wanted to hear.
• THINK PINK
• PINK BOMBS
• PINK LIGHTENING
• PINK FLAMINGOS
• PINK THUNDER
• PINK DIAMONDS
• PINK PRINCESSES

So what do you think??? Give us some help here!

EDIT:::: I am asking for names from YOU!! I just listed ours as ideas but we want to expand this list!

Faithfulness

I often struggle with my place in life. I sometimes ask the why questions such as Why did you put me HERE? or Why am I what/who I am? And my most pressing question: Why do you want me here?

This morning I was thumbing through a book that I gave my mother many years ago. It is God's Treasure of Virtues. (Yes, I know that the title should be underlined...blogger does not underline.) I read this little poem in the Faithfulness section of the book.

Mind Your Place

Is your place a small place?
Tend it with care!- He set you there.
Is your place a large place?
Guard it with care!- He set you there.
Whate'er your place, it is
Not yours alone, but His
Who set you there.

-John Oxenham (1861-1941)

Chik and Crocs

Our kids. They are soooo fun. All day long, I was dragging them all over tarnation trying to get things done. Never once did they complain or gripe. They were surprisingly fun and quite pleasurable to spend the day with.

Now I don't mean to say that I don't enjoy them, it is just that when you spend the day following after your mother in Sam's Club, the grocery store, AAA, and then to 7-11, just to come home and be told to clean your room, well that can make for some grumpy kids.


I happened, quite by accident, to do many things for them today that apparently made them think that I was the bomb. First of all, we went through to Chik Fil A for lunch. They were screaming thanks in the car because they were getting the "Eat More Chicken" place for lunch.


We get home and they happily and eagerly helped me unload the Sam's loot into the house. We enjoyed our lunch and off they went to clean their rooms. What is happening in this house???


Then I put hot curlers in Sarah's hair. She thanked me profusely and said twice "I pretty much have the best mom in the whole world." Ask me Sarah, for anything in the world and it is yours.


I let Jacob play gamecube for 1 1/2 hours today. Unheard of in this house. That is way tooooo long. He said he would stop because he didn't want to go dumb. All on his own. No telling him to turn it off. Man, am I in the right house?


Then we made sock puppets. I have a hot glue gun and all the works for any craft. They know it and so do all of the neighborhood kids. "Your mom has everything, Jacob." the neighbor boy says. "I know. It's cool." was his reply. Seriously, am I in heaven?


Then we go to Ralph's. We pass by this clearance bin of croc shoes. Sarah sees her size and then Jacob sees his. They were marked down to $4. They both get a pair. We get home and they tell me that I always buy them nice things and they are so lucky. Ok, it's getting a bit freaky around here. Where is the hidden camera?"


Then my favorite response today. When I bought the Chik Fil A today, it was way more food than I thought it would be. So we halved it. They ate half and lunch and then I saved the other half for them for dinner. When I heated it up and told them to come to the table, Jacob asks what we are having. I tell him the story and here is his reaction.
"Yes, yes, oh thank you Lord for this great food. God you are sooo good for letting us have Chik Fil A again. Two times in one day is more than I can ask for." He says.


Then Sarah puts the icing on this huge gooey cake that is today..... she says to me,

These shoes soooooo makes up for not letting me talk at church."


God sooooooooo has a sense of humor. I am living proof of that.

I Feel Horrible

I have no pictures to go along with this post. And even if I had one that would be appropriate, I think it would be so sad to look at.

I don't know about most moms, but I do know that I make many many mistakes. Sometimes they are forgetful mistakes such as "I forgot to get the special cereal from the store." Sometimes, they are unintentional mistakes as when I blame one child for something the other one did because I didn't get the whole story. Or maybe the mistakes are because of carelessness or lack of consideration. You know the times when your kid has to miss out on something fun because you didn't plan well.

Well tonight I made a major blooper. I hurt and embarrassed my Sarah deeply tonight and I am absolutely sick over it.

Tonight, in our evening church service, I brought all the kids that went to Kids Camp up on the platform and we did a little presentation of our week at camp. There was a cool slideshow, we sang a song we learned and even told of some things that meant something to us from camp.

Before service began, I rehearsed with all of the kids. A few of them told me that they had something special that they wanted to share with the church about camp. The rule was that they could not stand there, stare out and just utter "uuuhhh". If they did that, I would move on to the next camper. There were 4 kids that had something specific and clear that they would say. One of those kids was Sarah.

She wanted to tell what she learned about the 10 bridesmaids waiting for the bridegroom from Matthew 25. She learned from Robin (camp speaker) that because 5 of those girls were not prepared to meet the bridegroom, they were left behind. They missed the wedding and were not allowed into the celebration. Sarah understood that the story was about us being ready for Jesus' return. How we should not be off in our own little world, not ready for him. We do not know the hour or day and we must be ready in an instant to meet him.

She was concise and spoke with clarity...in our practice. When it was her turn on the platform, in front of the entire congregation, she froze. I went to hand her the mike and she laughingly refused it. Several people laughed, she thinks it is a joke and laughs more. Ok, I'll go on to someone else. I came back to her and it was the same story. I went to her for a third time and she finally took the mike. She hesistates and she utters..."uh, I really liked horseback r id ing. " No you are not seeing typos. I am trying to type out hesitations. She didn't say anything after that so I took back the mike.

We wrapped it up and left the platform. When we got back to our seats, she was hysterical and crying. Now she was quietly crying but she was a mess. She was hurt and embarrassed, she was pressured and she was put on the spot. I felt horrible for making her feel that way. I felt like a loser parent for embarrassing her, and I realized JUST HOW IMPATIENT AND RUDE I came off to everyone watching me interact with my daughter. She later told me that when she saw all of the people it made her nervous.

What I saw was a clock ticking away the limited time we had before Pastor came. I saw a kid who I thought wasn't being serious so I moved on. And, I know how grueling it can be to listen to anyone say "uhhh".

Then after service, one of the college girls tells me that it was clear from Sarah's face that she was upset. The whole church saw it. "Thanks" I tell her.

I think I will go home and crawl in a hole.

Is This Dog Abuse???

Sarah has found a new thing. She has taken to carrying Jack around with her everywhere she goes. The problem is in how she carries him.

Would this be considered dog abuse? She walks up and down the street with him right behind her. He never whimpers or tries to escape. He just goes along. He probably is too freaked out to do anything about it.

Man Trip

So my two men went on a Man Weekend together. Well, technically it wasn't over a WEEKEND, but let's just call it that. Lenny took Jacob on a father/son/tent-camping/fishing/boat-rental-on-the-lake/get dirty/sleep-on-the-ground trip. So this being their adventure and me being nowhere near the action, I can not do it justice by using my own words to tell about. You will have to ask them about it. '

I will, however, be more than happy to share some cute pictures. Wait, can "cute" be used to describe a man trip?

On the morning that they left, Lenny admitted to me that he did not want to sleep in a tent. I rejoiced at hearing that. For many years, he has been chiding me saying that "taking a trailer camping is not really camping." I would always say that we should call it something else then. When he said that, I said "you have come to my side." It quite the victory for me, mind you.

Jacob was so excited to tell me that he got to drive the boat. I told him that he was lucky he didn't get a ticket for driving without a license.