In light of my HICK post, I thought I should take this test.
It gauges how you say things, and tells you what areas of the country
that pronunciation is common to. It was pretty fun. Now, I know you're
all anxiously awaiting the results.....
"87% Dixie. Do you still use Confederate money?"
A
great shock, I know. Several of my answers said, "common to the
southeast". Only two said really deep south! Just for the record, for
my family, Dixie, the confederacy, or being a "rebel" does not mean
being supportive of slavery. The name of the test really has nothing to
do with the test and should be changed.
After my recent post about being a
hick--and this really cracked me up-- "anonymous" advised me that I
should "embrace my hickness". Hmmm... what do you all think? I for
one, think I can be a real Southern Belle
without being a hick/redneck as "anon" suggested would make me happier.
(HA! As I proofread this, I
noticed in that last paragraph, I used the words "you all" instead of
"y'all". Maybe all of my northern blogger friends are converting me!!
Actually, I tend to talk much more southern than I write. And, yes, I
proofread my posts. I told you I was a language freak.)
Okay, while we are on the subject--the word Y'ALL. Everyone spells it ya'll,
and I used to, too. But, correct me if I'm wrong, if y'all is short
for you all, then wouldn't the apostrophe go between the 'y' and the
'a'? Really, this is important to the southern grammar. 
I feel it my duty to take it upon myself to teach my southern friends the proper use.
I got a new avatar yesterday.
I've got to update my info, too. On June 29th, we celebrated our 22nd
anniversary. We were out of town, so it passed without getting due
mention here. Be sure and read the post just before this one to meet
some really neat bloggers.
Letitia
James and Ashley had a great trip to Guatemala. The little girls, Briana,
and I had a nice time while they were away, too. We went swimming a
couple of times, went on a picnic and hike one day, went to some yard
sales, had a campfire one night, and went out on the lake a couple of
times. Briana is still at my parents' house at musical
theatre/acting/dance camp--a 2 week long, all day camp at their local
playhouse. We will go see her performances on Friday.
Even though I didn't get to go to Guatemala personally, I live it through my husband and daughter,
and in my heart. So I wanted to share a few pictures with you. It was
so hard to choose. If I thought I wouldn't bore you death, I would
have posted tons more, especially of all the sweet little children's
faces.
Ashley wrote a great report on the trip. Go HERE to read it. If you're short on time, the mission part of the trip starts on Saturday.
The first 4 pictures are in Antigua. The others are in villages about 4 hours north of Guatemala City.
Volcano seen from Antigua
Yes, that is a SMOKING volcano.
Woman in Antigua using a traditional backstrap loom.
The cottages James and some others stayed in.
Ashley with some of the children.
VBS
Line for the dental clinic
New church that James and the other men were finishing
Binoculars made in VBS
Banana tree
Ashley with the area missionary. He took all the ladies for a spin.
A Guatemalan cemetery
Look at all of the houses on the side of that hill. They are very poor houses--dirt floors, tin or thatched roofs...
They had been to the market in Antigua and
one in a village called Tactic. They told them they were going to go
to a market in nearby Coban. This is where they ended up. Some market,
huh? Guatemala is one of the ultimate pictures of extremes. This is
only about 40 min. from where they were working.
They took a hike to a waterfall.
Blowing bubbles
This is my husband's hand. He was
surrounded by children during the services. One little girl sat in his
lap during one entire church service. Ashley speaks enough Spanish to
communicate decently with the children, and 2 or 3 others on the trip
speak Spanish, and they had translators, but you find out very quickly
that love and friendship can be communicated in many ways--playing ball,
blowing bubbles, hugs, tickles, smiles, and holding hands. Ashley
talks more about this, especially related to the church on her blog.
Stop by for a couple of minutes and read about the trip.
My friend, Heidi, blessed me with the Blogger Reflection Award. My first award! Thanks Heidi!!
You can click on the icon to see how the award started and what it means.
The same week my friend, Denise, gave me the Rockin' Girl Blogger Award.
Much more than putting an icon on my
sidebar could ever mean, were the words that these ladies blessed me
with in giving these awards. I was very humbled, and yet, their words
gave me a lift and a smile, and heart's blessing. Both of these ladies
are ones that I would LOVE to meet in person one day, and somehow feel
like maybe that will happen--especially as much as my family likes to
travel. Both ladies are fellow adoptive moms.
Heidi has
a fun blog with lots of cool reviews and snapshots of her sweet little
ones. Her oldest daughter is growing up before my eyes. She is a
beautiful, sweet girl. I know this because she is a friend of my older
girls, and they both tell me how sweet she is. Heidi is a sweet friend,
great mom, and someone I know I can relate to.
Denise is
a mom with her hands full !! She is a huge example of sacrifice and
love. She has 3 precious little ones, and her blog is full of their
antics and challenges. Her kids have some of the best quotes ever! I
am always blessed when I read her blog.
I am suppose to pass this award on to
others. The funny thing is that they are 2 of the ones I would have
picked. So, even though I am mentioning others here, both of you ladies
consider yourselves receipients of the award once again. Also, before I
name anyone, remember I have 2 awards to pass on, so don't analyze why I
mentioned you for one instead of the other.
I would like to give the Blogger Reflection Award to:
Maria--Not
sure if Maria does awards!, but I give this one to her because of her
so apparent love for the Lord and her family. Everything Maria blogs
about reflects the goodness in things and people. If your children are
ever frustrating you or life is frustrating you, visit Maria, and she
will remind you of the preciousness in those things. You'll want to hug
your family after you've signed off.
Juliet-
I don't know Juliet quite as well, but I have the same sense when I
visit her blog. She loves the Lord, her husband, and children. She and
her husband lead a marriage group in their home, and you can just tell
how much she loves him, and how she wants to pass on the gift of a Godly
marriage to other couples. She has 3 princesses (with beautiful
names), and a prince on the way. I am so excited for her.
Ashley-
She's already received this award, and she is my daughter, but I have
to mention her. Her blog is also an encouragement to me, and reflects
the love she has for the Lord. Her desire is to be used by Him in
whatever situation, but He seems to have especially blessed her in
mentoring younger girls, whether through being a counselor, in missions,
her blog, wherever He puts her.
Briana-also
my daughter. Briana's blog is an account of the (many) things going on
in her life. If you look closely, though, you will see a young lady
who is a blessing, sweet spirit, and is enjoying to the fullest the life
God has blessed her with. As she participates in recitals, camps,
musicals, etc., she is a young lady who is known to be set apart. She
knows the God given boundaries in her life, and she will not cross
them. She is not tempted (at least rarely) by being a part of the crowd
or by making sure she's not left out of something. She knows who she
is (a daughter of the King), and knows what she wants, and is not afraid
to do the things that requires.
OKAY-now on to the Rockin' Girl Blogger Award:
Nancy-
I just love to visit her blog. She's fun, she shares neato things,
funny things, and I always love to read about her chickens! (As a
chicken mama wannabe, here.) She also blesses me in my inbox weekly
through the homeschool minute. I enjoy gleaning tidbits from her
homeschooling. I wish she'd just go ahead and write me a book about her
daily life!
Betsy-
is a sweet friend, whom I've had the pleasure of meeting. She even
cat-sat for me. I don't hear from her too much these days (hint), but I
always enjoy her company, even online. She also puts a ton of work
into our Tennessee Homeschool Nations blog. You can also ask her about all of her cool science experiments!! She's a great mom!
June-Another
great friend that I was able to meet in person this past Feb. as we
traveled through her state. She has a houseful of sweet girls. She was
one of my very first blogger friends, and I enjoy her blog, reading
about her family adventures, and trying not to envy her for living in
Florida!
Nancy-different
Nancy. This one is a great encouragement to me in our relaxed style of
homeschooling. She has such talented children, too. Their family
lives life on purpose, makes the most of learning and opportunities, and
doesn't give in to the pressures of learning in a box.
There are others I would add to this list,
but time is prohibitive. I have some great friends here, and those
that I haven't mentioned and visit regularly are just as important in
other ways. Thank you all for being blessings in my life.
If you don't know any of these ladies, stop by and be blessed!
Letitia
Marissa and Daniella got haircuts--major haircuts.
This is before.
This is after.
A HUGE change. They both got
about 12" cut. Marissa has been letting hers grow out for about a year
for Locks of Love. She would get rather impatient with it being so
long, but was stuck to her goal. I'm really proud of her. Daniella has
been wanting her hair cut for a long time, and I've just been putting
her off, but when it got to be time, hers was long enough for Locks of
Love, too.
For any who may have heard the
rumor I did that they sell a lot of the hair instead of using it--they
sell certain colors, such as gray.
Well, I'm off to get ready for a
dr. appt. Ugh!!! I've been taking blood pressure meds for about 15
years, and it's time for a refill. This doctor (I deleted the adjective
"dumb" that I had typed!) I use will only give me 6 months at a time. I
don't like anything about this office. I recently found the name of a
new place that a couple of different people I know use, but didn't have
time to get in there as a new patient. I hope to switch this time.
I'll close with a passage I have been studying. I feel like there is something here the Lord wants to show me.
"Is this not the fast which I
choose, to loosen the bonds of wickedness, to undo the bands of the
yoke, and to let the oppressed go free and break every yoke? Is it not
to divide your bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into
the house; when you see the naked, to cover him; and not to hide
yourself from your own flesh? Then your light will break out like the
dawn, and your recovery will speedily spring forth; and your
righteousness will go before you; the glory of the Lord will be your
rear guard. Then you will call, and the Lord will answer; You will cry,
and He will say, 'Here I am.' If you remove the yoke from your midst,
the pointing of the finger and speaking wickedness, and if you give
yourself to the hungry and satisfy the desire of the afflicted, then
your light will rise in darkness and your gloom will become like
midday. And the Lord wil continually guide you, and satisfy your desire
in scorched places, and give strength to your bones; and you will be
like a watered garden, and like a spring of water whose waters do not
fail. Those from among you will rebuild the ancient ruins; you will
raise up the age-old foundations; and you will be called the repairer of
the breach, the restorer of the streets in which to dwell. "
Isaiah 58: 6-11
Letitia
I had another entry started about some
blog awards, and I will finish it soon, but I felt like I wanted to
catch up on our life around here, since it has been so long since I
posted. However, as I sit here, I really can't remember past the last 2
days! Kind of scary.
Marissa and Daniella had a friend over
last Friday. She's a sweet, quiet little girl. They both enjoy playing
with her---she's half way between their ages. For a short while, they
got in the girls' new pool, but it wasn't as hot of a day, so the water
was pretty chilly. By the way, I didn't tell you all that I am now "the
best mom in the world" for getting them this pool! : )
Over the weekend, I did some dejunking.
Last week, I had cleaned out our "school room" (Briana is the only one
who studies there, but it holds all of our books and supplies.) It had
become a dumping ground. I also rearranged some shelves and got some
needed space for some things. Saturday, I tackled toys. A few I snuck
out (!) and some they willingly let me pack up. I was so proud of
Marissa, too. She LOVES stuffed animals. But, she picked out a huge
box full to pack up in the attic. She's not quite ready to say get rid
of most of them, so I'm giving her some breathing room and letting her
store them.
Monday my parents, sister, and 2 neices
came to spend 2 nights. My sister and neices live about 7-8 hours from
here. They wanted to go to Dollywood, and they have a "Come after 3:00,
get in the next day free". Our family and my parents have seasons
passes. We all spent 4:00-8:00 on Monday, and 10:00-8:00 Tuesday
(actually I didn't go until noon, but the rest went at 10). My neices
are close in age to my little girls. Marissa (mine) is 10, Alexa
(neice) is 9, Daniella ( mine) is 6, and Julianna (neice) is 5. They've
had a great time spending a few days together. Dollywood was SO HOT.
The lines weren't as long as I expected, though. My sister and I got
wiped out on the Slidewinder. I got a huge wave directly in the face,
that then went over my head (and around my face) into my sister's lap.
At least we were cooler then! This is the slidewinder, but this is not
us. It is so fun. It flies down the side of a mountain. The Dizzy
Disk is another of our favorites.
We're going to the Scrapbook Superstore in
a little while before they leave. James is going to stay a little
longer for lunch, and he and my dad are going to watch all the kiddos
while my sister, mom, and I go to the store.
My big girls are gone this week. They are
both camp counselors at a Baptist youth camp this week. More than
likely they have 10-12 year olds. They each are in charge of 6 campers
for the week, and each co-teach 2 classes each day. They give a morning
devotional for their girls 3 days. It's a 6:45 am-11:30 pm day for
four days. On Friday, the campers leave at noon, and they'll come home
shortly after. They will be wiped out!! : ) The is the first year
Briana has ever been, but it's Ashley's 3rd. Even though she's always
so tired, she always feels blessed. She has been able to spend some
good quality time with some of the girls, talking about their
relationship with the Lord. I pray this year is going well for them
both and that they are making an impact. I'll be so happy to see them
Friday.
Oh, me! These 4 little girls have become
delirious, I do believe. The giggles have taken over, and they are
silly, silly, silly.
Update: We spent about 3 hours at the
scrapbook store. I was like a zombie the 2nd half. I got some cute
stuff though. Now if I could only make time to scrapbook. If you've
never been in one of these Superstores, you've never been scrapbook
shopping. Everytime I'm in there I hear people walk in the door, and
say, "Oh my word!" This place is HUGE!
Everyone is gone now, and Marissa and
Daniella are in bed. Tomorrow will be a quiet day--resting, doing some
clean up from the last couple of days, and spending some good down-time
with my little girls. This is one of those days that I feel
overwhelmed with thankfulness for my little family, for the conviction
from God to keep my children at home with me where children belong, for a
quiet and simple life, for my husband and his provision and dedication
to this family and time he gives us, for all of my girls and their sweet
spirits (most days!), and for the friendship we all have with each
other. Thank you, Lord for these blessings and many others.
Letitia
I grew up in East Central Mississippi in a
town of about 40,000. We considered ourselves "city people". : ) I
can still remember well, the phrase used every Saturday...."Country done
come to town." That meant all the people from the surrounding
counties---very small towns and "country folk"---had come into town to
shop. Well, dignified city dweller that I was (smirk), and having had
such a grand education in the public school system, I was quite
particular about grammar as a child and teen. I would even correct my
parents grammar (I'm sure they LOVED that!)
Imagine my utter horror last week, when I
heard myself say, "Were you walking around by......y'allsselves.
Y'allsselves?????? Okay. Just to clarify, if you live in the south
the word "y'all" IS proper grammar.....but y'allsselves?????
We've lived in Tennessee now for 17 1/2
years, and "mountain locals" have a vanacular all their own. (Except I
don't think I've ever heard any of them say y'allsselves!) They don't
even say "y'all". They say "you'en" or "yewns". The last 10 years or
so, my husband has been a contractor, and....well, let's just say that
his subs don't treasure grammar the way I do. So, some of that tends to
seep into our language over time. It has really become my pet peeve.
In other words, it's driving me crazy. Here are a couple of the things I
hear coming out of some of the mouths around here---and yes, sometimes
mine.
Fer- "We went fer a look."
wudja- "Wudja do that fer?"
dudn't- "That dudn't look right."
whatn't- "That whatn't right."
Those are a few that immediately come to mind, although there are more.
Okay, while we're on the subject, I have a
question. How on earth do you live in the south and teach phonics??? I
mean the word is "dawg", not "dog". And, any true southerner knows you
say "git" , not "get". Do any of you know how stupid we sound to
ourselves and to our children when we try to pronounce some of these
words phonetically?
I've come to one very important
conclusion. Whoever came up with phonics did not live in the south. In
the meantime, this weekend, git your children out to play with their
dawgs, and hope you moms git some time to y'allsselves!
Letitia
