"An excellent wife, who can find? She is far more precious than jewels." Proverbs 31:10
I count myself blessed among women. I love my husband. He is FANTASTIC, to say the least. He is loving, kind, thoughtful, helpful and strong....what's not to love? I would be lost without him.
I have rarely struggled with submitting to him, his wisdom and his WAY better judgment. A friend once told me that only women with good husbands are usually able to say this with conviction. I definitely feel that God has blessed our marriage. I love being married to my husband.
And so, I strive to be a good wife to my husband. Anyone who has ever done a "wifehood" Bible Study with me knows that to be a good wife to my husband, you need to provide love, food and clean underwear. All of which I am happy to keep up with for him. I am not perfect, but I am convicted.
So, when my husband said to me, SIX days before our son's birthday, "I think we should throw a birthday party for Gecko.", I, of course, said, "ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND? I cannot throw a party in six days!" Because I love my husband and read him like a book, I was able to discern that "we" throwing him a party meant that I would be throwing the party for a bunch of 5 year olds and he would watch. Never mind that we (read, I) would also be hosting Thanksgiving for FIVE families six days after said desired party!!
Now, perhaps many excellent wives would have taken joy in the fact that their husbands have such faith in their ability to perform such an astronomical task in such a minuscule amount of time! But, I suppose those women are just mediocre party throwers. Me? Not so much. I am the woman who made a volcano out of my HOT TUB for my seven year old daughter's birthday, decorated each room in her house for different Steven Spielberg movies for an Academy Awards Party, re-created the Emerald City outside her house for her six year old daughter's birthday, invited eight couples on a "cruise" on the Titanic, built a ballroom and had an "enchanted" mystery dinner for her teen daughters' birthdays and hosted a dol (Korean first birthday party) for FORTY people!! When I reminded my husband that these things don't happen overnight, but with much blood, sweat, tears and planning, do you know what he said to me? "Don't make it a big deal." WHAT? HELLO! This is ME he was talking to!! I don't do small. I don't even know HOW to do small! I AM the Big Show! How do I NOT make a big deal?!
Clearly, tears and fits of rage were not going to sway my husband. Believe me, I tried. He stood in the face of my mental breakdown and continued to urge me on to throw this party....and then left town for Salt Lake City. Wimp.
I must admit now, that part of my frustration was not just based on the fact that I had to throw a "normal", "small" party, but that the reason I had to do this was because my son was so excited because he was invited to his best friend's birthday. The first birthday party he had ever been invited to. He was so excited to attend Luke's birthday, that he asked every day if it was Luke's birthday. It is still not Luke's birthday. Know why? Because Luke's mommy got over a MONTH to plan his bash! Plain and simple....my husband was trying to keep up with the Joneses...or in this case, the Adcoxes! He saw how ecstatic Gecko was to be attending a party, and somehow thought that wasn't enough. If Emily could do it....so could I. (Never mind that Emily had OVER a month to plan Luke's party). Did I mention that Emily had over a MONTH to plan Luke's birthday shindig? She did.
So, I tried to ground myself in Proverbs 31 and be an excellent wife to my husband. How did this party suddenly become about my marriage?? I put my best foot forward and asked Gecko what kind of theme he wanted. I strongly, STRONGLY suggested we do a wild west, cowboy party, to which Gecko said, "I want a knight party." As it turns out, my son had quite a bit of his own ideas for this party. A castle, dragon, mote, swords, shields, grails etc! Definitely, my son takes after his mother in the party throwing department. So, we set out to the party and hobby stores to find everything for our Medieval birthday party. Know what we found? NOTHING! And when I say nothing, I mean, NOTHING!!!!! We returned from running all over Colorado with a crying Gecko and a very frustrated mommy (and a daddy who was wisely in Salt Lake City).
Can I just say....if you are planning a little boy's birthday party, make sure you do pirates or cowboys! You will have an abundance of party supplies and no sweat pulling off a birthday....even in six days. But for me....I paid through the nose for shipping, which greatly diminished my buying power. I was not able to buy all the supplies I wanted to make a truly regal party. I began to do what all good wives do when met with difficulty, I had a freak out session with my husband and children (fortunately, for my husband, he only had to be subject to it over the phone....and there was a strange bout of static that ended the conversation quickly....think Pee Wee Herman on the phone with Dotty..."WHAT? ccckkkkk....WHAT? cccckkkkkk....I CAN'T HEAR YOU!") Hmmmmmm......
My husband did make it home in plenty of time to suffer through my, 'WE HAVE NO LARGE APPLIANCE BOXES TO MAKE A CASTLE!!' tirade. At this point, I think even HE was beginning to think it wasn't worth it to ask me to pull off this birthday bash in six days! So, after dealing with my lack of large pieces of cardboard, I moved on to butcher paper. You remember butcher paper, don't you? It is that LARGE roll of paper that butchers used to wrap meat in before styrofoam and shrink wrap were readily available. After the new materials were used, butcher paper was widely popular in the class room. Apparently, butcher paper was one of the first things to go in educational budget cuts, because it is nearly IMPOSSIBLE to find it ANYWHERE!!! Oh, Hobby Lobby and Michael's sell craft paper, which they try to tell you is the same thing. Uh...NOT! They are 1/50th the size of butcher paper and you would go BROKE trying to create a craft with it, let alone a castle! As a last resort, I went to School Crossing (my favorite store!). And do you know what I found? CORRUGATED CASTLE BRICK WALL PAPER!!!! ON SALE!!!!!! I bought every roll I could, came home and let my girls (you are truly blessed if you have older daughters!) make a castle in the kitchen nook! Now we were getting somewhere. I thought of as many games as possible, planned the party, leaving ample time for sword fighting and dragon (pinata) slaying.
In the end....the party went off without a hitch. Gecko had a good time. My husband lived. And I learned I really CAN pull off a party (albeit a "small" and "normal" one) in six days.....
It is good to be the Queen.
Let me introduce you to my alter ego...Swami Mommy.
Swami Mommy was someone I made up in my fourth year of homeschooling because...well...because...hmmmm...because I just can't teach like a normal teacher!
The first unit Swami Mommy taught was an illusion/deception unit. She wore her hair in a royal purple turby twist, with a fake, pearl clip-on earring fastened to the front. From there, she progressed into something more garish with every unit she appeared in! She eventually wore crazy clothes and every piece of jewelry I own! She had a deep and mysterious voice and was slightly reminiscent of Gloria Swanson.
I know she sounds scary...but the kids LOVED her!! She has taught lessons on everything from science to table manners (again...STILL sorry for that broken glass, Kim!). As a matter of fact, when I visited California in the summer of '08, one sweet girl, who was also a former student of mine, kept saying, "Mrs. Yuen, remember when Swami Mommy taught us?", "Mrs. Yuen, remember Swami Mommy? I loved her!", "Mrs. Yuen, I wish Swami Mommy was here!" I think Sweet Miranda was actually disappointed that I was there instead. What's a Swami to do?
Now that I am in Colorado, a lot of my new friends do not know this side of me! I am a sort of Titus 2 Woman in my new co-op. That is not as regal as it sounds. What it really means is I am older than they are! With age comes....misunderstanding. My co-op thinks I am mature and at the very least, normal. I just couldn't let them labor under such false pretenses any longer.
It was time to show them what I was REALLY made of. But, this time I wasn't going to hide behind any turban! I had had enough of Swami Mommy getting all the "glory". I wanted my new group of friends to see the master genius behind the turban! I wasn't going to have anymore sweet children wishing SHE was here in MY place! It was time for Swami Mommy to evolve. Though, I am not sure that my first performance constitutes evolution....is it possible to devolve??
I was tapped to teach table manners in our Joy and Cheerfulness Unit. My friend, Gretchen had sick kiddies at home, so I stepped up to teach.
After rolling out of bed, I put on Cy's fishing jeans and ripped muscle shirt because I didn't remember that I had anything important to do that day. Keeping my composure, I carefully, politely sat down to show how to set a proper table and treat others with all the consideration of Jesus.
Kind of.......
"Tiki-Tiki-Tembo-No-Sa-Rembo-Chari-Bari-Ruchi-PIP-Peri-Pembo!" Tiki Tiki Tembo: Retold by Arlene Mosel (and Carli and Moriah)
A bandit has sneaked into our house this year. I have guarded against this robber for many, many years. But, he is sly. He found a way to infiltrate our household, and now he has turned it upside down!
The culprit is the community speaking program that our girls joined last year. Institute for Cultural Communicators teaches people from age 5 through 19 how to communicate effectively in their community. Their ultimate goal is to equip all people to be able to comfortably share their most important message....the Gospel. This is done a number of ways.
Our chapter attends platforms like, the library, preschools, senior living communities, community events, veterans' events, etc. and give speeches and interpretations. They are not always Christian in nature, but are for everyone's enjoyment and enrichment. In short...we are busy, busy, busy attending meetings and platforms!
The thought of spending more time out of the house, and having to watch the boys AND keep them quiet during the twice monthly meetings was not a pleasant one. But, when I saw my 10 year old go door to door witnessing because of the speaking confidence she had gained through the program, or watched my 15 year old actually TEACH at a conference, or watched my shy and quiet 13 year old come out of her shell in deliberately hilarious fashion to reach folks...well, it is just hard to argue with that! ICC is truly the high point of our school year!
This weekend, another speech organization held a junior speech tournament. This contest was for kids under the age of 12. You would not BELIEVE how amazing these young folks were! Because of the fun Carli has at ICC, she decided to enter.
Carli entered with a humorous interpretation of Shel Silverstein's "The Crocodile's Toothache" and also a duo interpretation with her friend, Moriah, of Arlene Mosel's retelling of Tiki Tiki Tembo. Carli did a great job on her HI and she and Moriah shined in Tiki Tiki!
Eventually, Carli and Moriah broke to finals with their version of the Chinese tale about the boy who almost drowned because of his "great, long name". In the end, they took third place!!! We are so proud of them both!!
Carli, as you can see, is the bit more, uhhhh, ummm, ahhh......dramatic one. Those of you who know her, know that she gets this from her dad.
WHAT? What are you laughing at?
Anyway....for your viewing enjoyment.........Tiki Tiki Tembo. Retold by, Carli and Moriah. And also, Carli's own Crocodile's Toothache (originally by, Shel Silverstein).
"Study to show thyself approved unto God a workman that needeth not be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth." 2 Timothy 2:15
