Halloween

We are still alive... just buried under the piles of laundry and mess that have invaded with full force this fall as we juggled Zane's referee schedule, full time jobs, and Graham's increased activity schedule. If I am still awake 10 minutes after the kids have gone to bed, I'm thinking it has been a pretty ok day!!

Lots has happened in the past month or so- here is a quick summary:

1. Zane injured his achilles tendon while reffing a game and was in a walking boot for a month. During that month, he was going to physical therapy two or three times a week in addition to all of his games. He couldn't work the field, but he sure is a pro at manning the clock!! We were glad that he was able to keep working some games so that we can pay cash for Christmas!
2. Karis was bitten by our neighbor's dog a few weeks ago and it has been a pretty bad experience for her. She has never liked dogs, but now she is TERRIFIED of anything that has 4 legs and fur. We were extremely blessed that our neighbors were so easy to work with and had good records on their dog. Tracy could produce the formal receipt and paperwork for the last rabies shot so that we had no doubt about Karis' health. They even called the police themselves to report the incident so that there would be the proper record on file and we think that they got rid of the dog. It was a bad scene, but it could have been sooooooo much worse. We are so thankful that Karis was not hurt any worse than she was!

I'm sure other crazy things have happened... like Karis asking me in the car Sunday if she had a penis and if I'd ever seen one, but I'd never stop typing if I documented all the hilarious stuff that happened around here. : )

The title drew you in to see our Trick-or-Treaters... so without further ado..... here they are!

This year it was Zane's turn to accompany the kids around the block and I stayed home to hand out the candy. When did kids forget that you are supposed to say "Trick or Treat" when you open the door? I think I had three kids all night who actually said "Thank you" to me... it made me sad to think that our culture doesn't value manners the way I was raised to value them.

Once the kids returned home, we threw our suitcase in the van, and took the costumes on the road! Our first stop was at Aunt Susan and Uncle Terry's house. We didn't stay long, but long enough to see the cool planet that were shining brightly in the clear sky. Awesome site!!

Our next stop was at Trish's house. For all 7 Halloween's that Graham has been alive, we have gone to Trish's to wish her a Happy Birthday and to have pumpkin pie. We though that this year would be the one to break the tradition as they had planned to go out of town for the weekend. Much to our surpise and definitely to our delight, those plans changed during the week, so we headed over to see Trish and Bean. Part of the tradition is to take a photo of the kids on the loveseat in their living room. In the first photo, there are four Nolan children with baby Graham... now there is only one Nolan with my two. Next year, the couch will be empty as Bean heads off to college. Here are some photos from that wonderful visit... and glimpse of what Karis was like at about 9:15 after 3 pieces of Halloween candy!!!

After we wrangled Karis into her PJs and doped Graham up on the Benedryl, we pulled off to grab a quick bite to eat at the local Wendy's. Never expected a huge line at the Wendy's in Walkertown at 9:35 at night, but you have to expect the unexpected in life. It was 10:00 before we headed off into the night to travel up to Nana's Mountain. We pulled into the driveway in Jefferson at about 11:30 with two sleeping munchkins who were pooped out! What a night!

We had a great weekend in the mountains... too short, but good just the same! Mom and I collected leaves for a craft project that we worked on, and Zane and I built a toilet bucket for my friend Dave's surprise birthday party on Sunday. More pictures and details to come on that adventure... photos are on Mom's camera and I need to show the final product rather than explain!

Fall Break is over in 15 minutes. I have students coming in for class tomorrow, so I must bring this update to an end. Hope all is well with you and that I can post more frequently now that football season is over!!!

A Glimpse of the Man within

These past few days I have had the opportunity to realize that there is a man inside my little boy. One day, he is going to be a full-sized hairy man. (Based on genetics... sorry Graham!) I have always known that one day he would hopefully become a husband and a father, but God really has opened my eyes in the past few days to the fact that I am shaping what type of man he will be in the future. It is up to Zane and I to make sure he knows how to be a man of God with integrity, self-control, kindness and forgiveness in his heart. Wow... I'm feeling the pressure.

Through several events this past weekend, we have had to teach some hard lessons. Ones like some of us had to learn the hard way... like when I took something from a store and rather than just punish me, my parents took me back to the store and made me go and explain to the manager what I had done. Graham didn't steal anything, but he did have some hard lessons to learn this week and it has been hard as a parent to know I am teaching them the right way.

Graham had to make a couple of hard phone calls to make apologies this week and as I stood by listening, I teared up to see my boy who months ago would have been meekly mumbling an "I'm sorry" stand there and boldly apologize and accept responsibility for what he had done wrong. I had a quick glimpse of that man within.

We have been blessed with a close group of friends in life. Several of these friends have been strong examples for Graham these past few days as they showed him forgiveness and support as he worked to right his wrongs. He has seen and experienced grace ... what a blessing for us as parents to have others in our lives who can help us raise our son to be the man we want him to be.

It is a hard realization for me to know that my innocent little boy is already taking steps toward becoming a man. It is even more scary for me to think about what a huge role I play each day in shaping who that man will be. My grandchildren and daughter-in-law depend on me to make God-centered decisions that will shape Graham into the man of God they will need in their lives years from now.

Thank the Lord for wonderful friends, fabulous church families and excellent grandmothers to help in the process! Keep us in your prayers as we continue to work each day on this project!

Girl Time

Karis and I took a break from consignment sale hanging and tagging two weeks ago and went to have some girl time. Zane and Graham dropped us off at the nail salon and then went next door to Game Stop to look for cheap used games. Karis was a true princess as she sat in the pedichair and was perfectly still while the girl painted her toes. She even sat still to wait for them to dry! I know some may worry that I am teaching her to be pampered and spoiled, but I want her to know that it is ok to do something nice for yourself every once in a blue moon. While she was getting the flowers painted on her toes, I was having a summer's worth of bare-foot-gunk scrubbed off my feet and a relaxing foot massage to boot. If you haven't taken 20 minutes for yourself lately... do it! It doesn't have to require money- just take time away from life's expectations and obligations to breathe and do something nice for yourself. If you are refreshed, it will make you much better equipped to serve others and return to your responsibilities.

Here's a peek at the princess' toes... boy, was she proud!!!

Matt, Matt, Be-Ja-Hat...

This is just one of the great magic spells that my boy spouted out last weekend as he entertained us with a magic show. He was trying to come up with things to do during the rain without turning on the tv. He had lost privileges for the afternoon, and was going crazy stuck inside with no electronic access. SO WERE WE!!!

Zane and I were in the midst of consignment sale HELL as we hauled out all the winter clothing our children had ever owned and most of the "baby toys" that we had in the house. We were hanging up clothes and tagging them in order to start the circuit in town of all the pre-school consignment sales. You'll notice in the background that there are piles of clothes EVERYWHERE... and that is after we picked up a bit. We have taken things to two sales now and have made a significant dent in our closet clutter.... but we made a huge mess in order to get to this point. We have hung and tagged an additional 150 pieces to take to the next sales on the circuit. I will be happy if I never see another safety pin and I really feel like Mommy Dearest with the "NO WIRE HANGERS!!!" mantra that is playing in my head. I'll let you know how we do when the checks start rolling in... hopefully it will be worth the time and energy we spent to get things ready to go!

Enjoy the magic show. Graham is available for your next birthday party, corporate event, or family gathering if you need a magician. Please contact his agent, Karis Tuck, for booking information.

Catch Up Time...

Ok, I took a 3 hour nap today and so I am able to stay up a little later to catch up on some computer time. I haven't updated my BLOG in forever, so there will be a few posts tonight. For all of you readers out there, forgive my lapse. As Brian Thomas said, "you've been workin too hard if you don't have time to blog!" Thanks for reminding me to slow down!!!

Hope all are well and that you enjoy the catch-up posts.

And the Race is on...

Ok, so it is obvious that the first real week back to school kicked my behind... big time! I knew that it was going to be very different from the calm, relaxed schedule we have had this summer, but I had conveniently forgotten what a toll the days at school take on me mentally and physically. I was hurtin to stay awake longer than the kids all week this past week and I think I could have taken a nap every day if they would have let me.

Graham's first week in 1st grade went very well. He had "Green" days all week, which for those of you who aren't well versed in elementary behavior management means that his behavior was good. We were thrilled for that... especially when we discovered that he knew all but one of the other people sitting at his table! Wonder where he got that love of talking to other people from??? No Mom, you don't need to pull out the old report cards... we all know he comes by it honestly! He starts his 2nd grade reading class tomorrow, so we will see how this week goes. It works out very well that the two grade levels have matching schedules for reading group time. Graham will be with several girls who were in his 1st grade reading group last year which will hopefully provide him with some familiarity as he enters a new class tomorrow.

Karis' week was wonderful. She has made herself right at home back at "Nana" Suzanne's house and many days, she has to be forced to come home with me! That does my heart good to know that she is so happy there and so well loved and taken care of. We have been sooooo blessed with wonderful women (aka angels!) who have loved our babies in their first years. Trish was wonderful for Graham and Suzanne is a blessing to Karis. We thank God for his blessing that we haven't had to put either of them in daycare in their early years.

Zane had a JV and a Varsity football game this past week, so the end of the week was busy. He didn't make it home Friday night until close to 11 and as he climbed into bed, I asked if he had taken his state exam for football.... the testing window closed at midnight Friday. After he yelled "Yikes!" and jumped out of bed, he took the test in under 40 minutes and scored his highest score yet... a 94. Nothing like performing under pressure!

We traveled to VA to see Zane's family on Saturday morning for a quick 2 day trip. It was nice to spend some time with Grammy and the kids had a great time seeing cousin Nathan. I got up from napping with Karis Saturday afternoon to find Graham and Nathan in the back yard running in the sprinkler in their undies... won't be long before they are too old for that. They had a great time playing in the water and launching their gliders- until 2 of them got stuck on top of Grammy's camper. That was the sign that it was time to go to dinner. It was later than normal dinner rush, so our party of 8 was able to get seated right away- a true gift from God. Sunday was wonderful as we traveled to Bedford to the Wal-Mart there. This Wal-Mart is the Virginia Tech mecca and Zane was in heaven looking at all the things he wanted for Christmas- they had a 10x10 pop-up VT tent and tons of other cool stuff. We played outside and then finally packed up the family truckster to head home at about 5:30 or so.

Today was laundry day. While Zane separated clothes, I started hanging up the clothes that we are sending to the consignment sales this fall. I got close to 75 pieces ready, and I haven't even made much of dent in the piles yet! We got a call from Bryce and Ingrid Hoover, friends of ours who live in Charlotte now, and they were in town. We met them for a hot dog at Bill and Leah's and spent the afternoon catching up with them. After a short nap, we headed to mom's house for a family cook-out with Meredith, Micah and the girls. Since our trip to the beach this summer together, the kids are much more comfortable with the "uncles" who often aren't around when we do other activities together. It has been neat to see Karis kid around with Micah and Zane give Jordan a hard time about being his "girlfriend". I wish all of our family could be as close in location so that the family bonds were much stronger.

We missed church yesterday while we were out of town, and I can definitely feel the missing piece to my puzzle of life. Karis and I sang some praise songs while on the porch, but it wasn't quite the same. I am looking forward to getting back into the Word this week and getting to church on Sunday.

Looking at the week ahead, we have lots of things on the schedule already. As my title says, the race is on. I haven't done such a great job of staying on top of my game these past two weeks and I am hopefull that we will be able to control the pace a little better in the weeks to come. It is hard to say No to things that you really want to do and participate in, but at the same time, when is enough enough? I especially need some time with week to be still and know that God is God. Hope I can successfully make that time.

We are holding our breath awaiting the new arrivial of our friend's Jayne and Jason's first child. Hopefully we will have good news to report SOON!!!

Hope all of you out there in cyber land are doing well and that if you stop by the page, you'll leave us a note to let us know how you are. Take care and have a great week!!

"Back to Life... Back to Reality..."

Seems like those lyrics were in my head all day today as I did return to the working world and try to begin my school year. Things were off to a rocky start as I spent 5 minutes last night working on getting the alarm set to just the right time, BUT obviously forgot to flip the switch into the ON position!! I am blessed with a God that loves me, because I rolled over and woke up with enough time to get ready and still be on time. The first day back is usually filled with lots of meetings... and today was no different. We spent the entire morning listening to presentations and it was a struggle to stay focused. They say that the average person has an attention span equal to the number of years old they are. I'd say I hung in there with the 60-70 year old crowd, but after that, I was hurtin to pay attention!!

The kids spent some time back in a more normal routine and I think that it was good for both of them. I did get lots of hugs and love today which shows me that they noticed I wasn't around as much as normal. That made my heart feel good. Karis had a real treat today on her first day back with Suzanne. She got to ride with John and Suzanne as they delivered their latest foster baby to meet his "Forever Family". Suzanne said that Karis told the nurses at the Children's Home that she was going to get a new Mommy and Daddy tomorrow. When they asked how she was going to do that, she simply told them that Suzanne would take her to meet them. Guess I better step it up a bit or I might lose my job as Mommy!!!! :)

We have scheduled a meeting to talk about Graham's school year coming up and we are praying that things will be put in place to help him have a wonderful year. We want him to be able to hit the ground running rather than dragging feet like we did this past year waiting on things to happen. His teacher is a wonderful girl that I went to high school with. She is a quiet, calm, sweet girl. I think that will be a gift for Graham to have her... let's just hope she feels that way about him as the year goes on!!

Well, as reality has set in, the Tucks prepare to hold on for the ride. Don't blink ya'll, it's about to get interesting!!!

Life this Week

We have been BUSY! As summer comes to a close, we are trying to stuff lots of summer activity and fun into the days we have left. Here's a little of what we have been up to ...



* Zane is in the final weeks of his yearly training to start the football season. To ref, he has to attend class one night a week all through the summer. The exam is coming up and he is studying hard. This year will be a year of adding on-field experience for JV games and probably doing some sideline/clock work at Varsity games. While football season means I am a single mom a lot, it also fullfills something in Zane that is very valuable. His love for the sport and for what he is doing is a big source of happiness for him. It is well worth the extra responsibility on my part in order for him to connect with other guys who love the sport as much as he does. He has found a new friend in the process and believe it or not, I think that the football field will be a great mission field for him to live his faith out as he works with the players and other officials. This week holds three events for Zane in his football life, so our evenings have been a bit crazy. Who knows- one day you may see him on the field doing college ball! That would be a dream come true for him!!!



* The kids and I have been trying to catch summer and hold on to it! We spent a day at my sister's pool with the cousins and became raisins in the sun. Graham can finally touch the bottom of the pool and was a whole new swimmer. He was turning flips under water and swimming like a fish. That has been a cool thing to watch. Karis became less like a leach and was venturing out enough to have about 12 inches between her body and mine. Being born in January was a huge detriment to her love of the water. Graham started swimming at Trish's house when he was 8 weeks old. Karis was much older and never developed the same love for the water. Bath time has even become quite a struggle as we face the meltdown when it comes to washing her hair. Perhaps I should cut it shorter, but I can't do that just yet.

* School is around the corner. I spent two days at Mom's house in the mountains with two of my team members to get a up-start on the school year this past week. It was wonderful to spend time with them and toss around ideas and plans for the year, but it really brought in the reality of the fact that life is about to take some drastic changes for our family. It has been a challenge for me this summer to be home with the kids all day, every day. But at the same time, we have bonded and had some incredible fun together. In some ways, I am hungry to go back and return to what I feel called to do- teach. In others, I know that I will miss the care-free days of the summer that we have enjoyed. My stress level has been drastically different this summer. Looking forward, I know that there is going to be an extreme need for me to PRIORITIZE things in my life. My obligations are about to triple in about a week, and I don't want to lose hold of what is important. It makes me crazy when we are away from home 4 nights a week and the list of things to do never gets any shorter. Where do I draw the lines and say "No more?" As I have thought about these things, here is a short list of some things I plan to "put in place" once school is back in session.

1. I must work hard to accomplish as much as possible at school to minimize how much work I bring home. It is not unusual for me to have between 2 and 4 hours of work to do at night. That usually translates into time spent after the kids are in bed. My goal is to reduce this amount of time as much as possible so that I have time and energy left to spend with Zane.
2. I want to meal plan and prep on the weekends so that dinners can be as quick as possible while still being healthy. One of the shows I saw a few times this summer while folding laundry, was a lady on the Food Network who prepped for her meals and put all components in ziplocks on the weekend. Each meal was ready to eat within 20 minutes or so.
3. Zane and I have to establish a "Date Night". With him gone so often doing football, our "us" time becomes non-existant. When he is home, I want the kids to spend time with him and what happens is that there isn't any time left for us. Ideally, I'd love for this to be once every two weeks, but I'd be ok if it was at least once a month that we had a sitter and went somewhere by ourselves.
4. I have to make time for me. Since Karis came along and our routine changed to include an infant, time for myself ceased to exist. I became last on the list. As she is older and more independent, it is time for that to change. On a small scale, I would like to earn the right to go to the bathroom alone. On a larger scale, I'd like to take time to do some of the things I need to/want to do for myself.

The list of things that needs to happen before school starts is long... but I will start the endless journey with one step. If I can accomplish these things, then others can be tackled at a later date.

* Finally, as an end to this rambling post, I will share with you a little about the series that we are currently involved in at The River. It is called "OverFlow" and it is about how we are called to allow Christ to flow from us into the world we live in. Last week we focused on abiding in Christ so that we might be full of life as he promises. This week, Joey asked us to focus on sharing the love of Christ in our Jerusalem- our close circle of family, friends and co-workers. We were challenged to select someone within that group that we were going to FLOW onto. We are then to pray for them, listen to them (develop a deeper relationship with them), love them (in a way that isn't obvious or ostentatious) and then to share with them. The first three are going to be very easy for me... the last one will be the challenge. I'll keep you posted on how things go!

We have a busy week ahead. Monday is the week of BULK ITEM PICK UP in our zone. This means that we need to really spend some time tonight in our garage and purge the big junk that needs to take a hike. If you are in the market for some junk, come ride through our neighborhood... looks like there is a bunch out there! Tuesday is a workshop for me at school and I planned to "open" my classroom. I'll work a full day while my dear, dear mother has my kids. Zane has a scrimmage game on Tuesday night, so he'll be gone all evening. Wednesday and Thursday will be mad cleaning days as we work to evict the dust bunnies who have declared squatter's rights in our house in preparation for our Life Group to come to our house while Smitty and Meredith move. (Those of you in Life Group, we are thrilled to have you... we just don't want to scare any of you away with our clutter!) Friday, Zane has another football game and then we are into the LAST weekend of the summer before school starts! In between all of that, I hope that we can go swimming at least one more day and that we can inhale the sweet smell of summer before the rat race begins!!