I hate the word bored.  Boredom, to me, means that you do not have the resources inside of your head to occupy your thoughts when there are no outside forces acting to entertain you.  The world has a habit of needing to go go go go go all the time.  In this fast-food world of reality TV, McDonalds, and self-checkout lines, sometimes we forget to stop and admire the mundane daily aspects of life that make up our existence.

I thought about all this as I was sitting here tonight, in my nice comfy brown leather recliner, listening to the pleasant sounds of my husband snoring on the couch and the creak-creak-click-creak of the Winnie the Pooh swing that holds my sleeping infant.  All around me I saw reminders, left-over crumbs of life that we dropped as we made our way through the day. 

One day, none of these minute things will remain in our memories.  They’re just not things we think to record as we hurry along life’s trail.  Why don’t we record them?  Laura Ingalls Wilder recorded them, and today, the “mundane things” of her version of modern world existance is read all over the world at bedtime by countless children and adults.  Things that occured every day, such as Pa playing his fiddle, or Ma baking bread, doesn’t seem that special when happening in the present, but couple those routines with the passing of a full century, and they now seem special. 

How will the people 100…200…10,000 years from now remember us?  Will they look at a TV and wonder what that strange looking box is for?  Will they discover a monopoly board, and puzzle over what the rules might have once been for this strange children’s game?  Will women of tomorrow long for today’s routines of life as us traditionalists currently long for the “days of yesteryear” when women were feminine, and men were heros? 

Who knows.  Maybe they will, maybe they won’t.  But one thing is for sure - if we don’t record our existance in some viable form - whether it be through scrapbooking, writing blogs, oral traditions, journaling, video taping, or even birthing children - all will be forgotten in less than a century’s time span, and our life will have been nothing more than a puff of wind, vaporized and gone, never to be remembered.

Here are some “crumbs” dropped by my own family this afternoon.  Very mundane, very routine, but they say loudly who we are.

After touring through my photos, why not capture some crumbs of your own?  Then come back here and leave me a comment with a link to your own post.  I’d love to see them!

Here is the book I’m currently reading - Traditions of American Education.  I like to balance my studies of homeschooling with studies on the history of American public education from a more positive light.  The journal sitting on top is a nice leather one my mom gave me for my 2nd anniversary 2 weeks ago - I just wrote an entry a few hours ago and laid it on the recliner edge.  The paper beside it is our car tax bill.  It was due today, and when I clicked “send” to pay it online with the debit card, I got one of those danged error pages, so I through the paper down in frustration knowing I’d now have to wait a day or so to see if the debit really went through or not!  ….Over near our coffee table, you see Jack-Evan’s block set.  He’s not old enough to play with them yet, but his preschool age cousins Jacob & Julia were down from NY this weekend and they played with them.  They were scattered all over, and everyone had a great time!   The baby bag is just plopped in the space where we plopped it last night.  I did search through it a little while ago to retrieve Jack’s nose squeegie bulb.

Here is my library card (well, one of them!), haphazardly tossed on our cherry filing cabinet.  It had been on the floor when my mom was over earlier and she picked it up for me.  The little push ball puzzle you see behind it was set out just this weekend in an “obvious” place so my neice or nephew would find it and play! (They did!).

Tonight we had a dinner of “summer” vegetable soup (meaning, loads of squash), and cheesy bean burritos.  We would have had chicken and dumplings but I promptly burnt them to smitherines 10 minutes after turning the burner on.  We always set our hot plates in the middle of the table during dinner on this pampered chef pizza stone my mom gave me.  After dinner tonight, I forgot to put my centerpiece back. :)  The small teeny tiny poloroid shot you see there near the bottom left was taken after my jujitsu class when I was in high school.  Kevin had handed it to me during dinner to see if Jack would try to grasp it.  Jack liked the photo, but didn’t care to hold it.  He did care to blow bubbles on it though….

Mentioning Jack, during dinner we always have him sit with us as a family, even though he’s only 8 weeks old!  Sometimes I hold him in my lap.  Tonight we sat him in this little bouncy seat, and had the seat on the table, positioned so he could see us.  After dinner, I stored the seat back on this blanket horse behind my recliner.

Ooops!  I forgot to put our burrito shells up!  We keep them in the fridge.

Jack’s toys…they were played with by his cousins this weekend, and I just tossed them on the counter around 4:30 pm today.

As I was snapping photos, I realized I hadn’t put the soup in the fridge yet.  So, out came the gallon freezer bag, and in went the soup.  It was delicious, so it’s great that I had some to save!

Our day’s dishes, awaiting their final resting place after tonight’s job well done.

Jack’s letters!  He can’t read yet (we’ll give him a few more weeks), so I guess it doesn’t matter that as of this past weekend, they are no longer neatly arranged in alphabetical order.

These dolls were in storage until Friday afternoon when I brought them out to show our Aunt Bev who was here from New York.  I made these dolls “from scratch” using thread, yarn, and socks!  They’re the “Lisa and Kevin” dolls, made to represent me and my husband.   Truly, they look like us, right down to the guy’s little argyle sweater and hat just like Kevin wears to my long typically multicolored hair!  I sat them there after showing them to Aunt Bev, and that’s where they are tonight.

…today’s dishrag, tossed lazily beside the stove where it wiped up it’s last spill of the day….

The dog food canister that Kevin left on our washer after feeding the dogs!

Napoleon(a), the boy-turned-girl ferret, peeping at me whilst I was taking pictures.  We recently moved him her from the guest bedroom to our utility room so we could have a lot more interaction!

Jack’s medicine (prevacid) that he has to take twice a day for reflux, and his nose squeegie bulb.  We had to squeegie his nose for boogies a few hours ago (not to gross you out or anything….)

The bag were the “Lisa and Kevin” dolls were stored.  It had been laying on the kitchen table until this afternoon, when I hung it here in an attempt to clean up before Kevin arrived home.

Kevin’s wordsearch book he’s currently working on.  He loves these things! 

…and last but not least, here’s Kevin.  After a lazy evening of dinner, a shower, and wordsearch, he crashed here with some snacks to watch Nashville Star with me (and after that he promptly fell asleep)!  My coffee table is quite cluttered now, despite the fact that it looked clean earlier today.  It’s nice to have a comfortable “lived in” home! :)   The pepsi cup has water in it (we drink water a whole lot), the soup cup..well, I’m not sure what Kevin had in there..perhaps more soup from tonight’s dinner?…and then the bag leaning against it is pizzaria combo pretzles!  The tupperware container in front held (notice the past tense)  held homemade cookies from Aunt Bev from New York.  The science book you see there is an Usborne First Nature Collection Science book.  (I LOVE Usborne Books!). 

That was a few hours ago, and he’s just now got up to head to bed.  His snoring on the couch is what prompted me thinking about this post in the first place. 

So that’s that.  The usual, the mundane, the routine daily crumbs of our meager existance.

And I love every bit of it!

Whew!  The past few days have been so BUSY!  Jack-Evan turned 8 weeks old today, and also celebrated his dedication to the Lord at our church.

In honor of his dedication, Kevin’s family from New York came all the way here to South Carolina for visit.  It’s 11:40 pm, Sunday night, and I’m a bit pooped right now, but this week I’ll be writing about Jack’s weekend of “firsts”, such as

• Meeting many new, wonderful family members - Nana (Kevin’s Mom), “Aunt” Bev, Uncle Jason (Kevin’s brother), Aunt Michelle (Jason’s wife), and cousins Jacob & Julia for the first time ever!
• His first glimpse inside of a hotel
• Going swimming for the first time
• Seeing his first 4th of July celebration service at church
• His dedication service

What a great weekend this has been!  But seriously…I’m exhausted.  You all have a good night! 

Tonight’s Menu at Our House:
Cheesy Manwich Potatoes
Italian Cucumbers
Broccoli Soup
Chicken & Dumplings (courtesy of my mom!)
Banana Split Milkshake
Tea to Drink

CHEESY MANWICH POTATOES

Wash some irish potatoes (regular white), and put in a pot, whole, to boil for an hour or two.  Don’t worry about peeling them. :)  You can also “bake” them in the oven like a regular baked potato if you’d like.

Brown some ground beef.  I always brown mine immediately after buying and then store in the freezer in a ziplock baggy.  When I’m ready to use it, I take out a portioned off bag and dump in the pot to reheat.

When beef is done, pour in a can of Manwich sloppy joe sauce; let simmer.

To Serve: cut potatoes in half longways, smother with butter, manwich mix, and sprinkle with shredded cheese. 
   

 
BANANA SPLIT MILKSHAKE

Place 2-3 bananas in blender (I use frozen), a full cup of dry milk (don’t add water), 2 cups water, a few squirts of honey, a spoon of whip cream, and fill the rest of the blender with ice.  Blend to make a smoothie.  Pour in cute cups, drop on a dollop of whip cream, and sqeeze syrup flavor of choice on top (chocolate, strawberry, caramel). 

Jack-Evan, sitting with us at dinner!

Tonight’s Menu at Our House:

Homemade Chicken Nuggets
Little Green Peas
Mashed Potatoes and Gravy
Ketchup / Mustard for Dipping
Water to Drink

HOMEMADE CHICKEN NUGGETS

Cut chicken breasts into nugget size portions.  In a bowl, break 1-2 eggs and stir to break up the yolk.  If you are out of eggs, oil can also be used.

Using a gallon sized plastic bag, pour in 2-3 cups of bread crumbs of choice.  You can also use cracker crumbs or even crushed nut crumbs.  Season crumbs with seasons of choice (we like italian, salt and lots of pepper.

Place cut up chicken nuggets, a few portions at a time, in the egg and cover well.  Then place the egg covered chicken pieces into the gallon bag with the bread crumbs and shake for a few seconds.  Remove nuggets one at a time from the bag, ensuring they are coated with crumbs and place on a tin foil lined (for easy clean up) or greased cookie sheet.  Pieces can be packed close together, but should not be over lapping each other and not layered on top of each other.

For a final yummy addition, sprinkle on your choice of flavored toppings such as onion powder, garlic powder, lemon pepper, salt, parmesean cheese…or whatever you like!   I like to shake a different flavor over each section of the pan so we can have a variety.

Cook nuggets at 400 F for about 30-45 minutes, until browned.  Keep an eye on them so they don’t burn! (The timer is my best friend because I always forget when I’m cooking!). 

Enjoy fresh out of the oven, or put in a freezer bag for storage.  After they’re froze, just remove a few from the baggie, pop in a toaster oven (but not the microwave! they’ll turn rubbery) for about 20 minutes.

    

I am quite the old fashioned spirit stuck in a modern day body.  Feminism doesn’t appeal to me one bit.  It tried to capture me, and at times it still reaches it’s claws out, but I just lift my eye brow.

Growing up I was indoctrinated into the American feminist ideal that one should “go to school, go to college, get a career, make money”.   Having been born in the 1980’s, after the women-go-to-work movement had firmly taken hold, I can honestly say that my generation of women seems to have missed out on the fact that opening career fields in the job market for women was done under the guise of “having a choice”.  What choices were there supposed to be?  The choice to either stay home OR get a job.

But I tell you, there is absolutely no “choice” left in it in mainstream American culture today.  Girls are told from early on that they must go to school…go to college…and get a career.  House-keeping, motherhood, and wifery are a “second thought” if anything.  Skills needed to run and maintain a well-functioning family home are rarely taught, because most girls (those under 30) nowadays were the latchkey kids of the ’80s and ’90s and come from moms who never practiced it themselves.

If a woman nowadays chooses willfully to “stay home” they are considered lazy, unproductive, boring, abnormal, unintelligent, and moochers.  She is no longer considered to be “contributing” to her family, and thus little value is placed on her work.  If she is educated she is even told it’s a waste of intellect to “do nothing”.  Debt, rising gas / food prices, housing costs, and the increasing consumerism of our society…even the opinions of young husbands who were trained in the socialistic mindset that women now must work…also hinder today’s young woman from being free to make the “choice” to stay at home if she wants to. 

Again, where is the “choice” that we were supposed to have when the job market was opened to us in the 1960s and ’70s?  In just 30 years time, we have completely flipped the coin.  Instead of not having a choice in obtaining a career, we now no longer have a choice, socially, to stay home and protect the inner lives of our family.  There is a stigma attatched to those who “stay home”.  Oh yes, there are those that do it and break away from “mainstream” America, but the majority of people expect a woman to be out working - even while pregnant (and then expected to return 6 weeks after birth!).

Taking the woman out of the home…or rather, removing her choice to freely stay home…is one of the greatest downfalls of our modern era.  Is it no surprise that divorces are rampant, depression is common place, children are killing each other, neighborhoods are no longer “neighborly”, close friendships are hard to maintain, and most modern tract homes are now nothing more than glorified apartments with no character, family feeling, or beauty attatched?   Our society no longer has an army of focused, full-time care takers.  Women use to be home looking after the health and - mental, emotional and social - welfare of their families.  Now that women feel they have no choice but to work, their absence from the home is cruely missed.

Note the sharp rise in daycares, early mandantory school ages, societal disorders, and fast food chains.  What once was the woman’s role in society (loving full-time caretaker of private home and private family needs) has been passed along to the private or governmental sector, forcing the public to provide for the needs of our citizens instead.  How in the world has American women allowed the private lives and needs of our family become the public concern of the government?  Once the government steps in, they then have a future foothold to decrease personal rights in the quest for the “good of all”.  For example, California homeschooling parents are currently battling the court system over whether homeschoolers should be forced to be certified.  They are considered “unqualified” to teach their own child.  Depending on the court’s decision, parents all over the country may just lose their rights to teach and train their own children…. and be forced to hand over their charges to the government instead.   Again, what has happened to “choice”?

It does my heart good to see the growing segment of “stay at home” blogs and websites devoted to the Biblical ideals of the woman as a full-time hardy caretaker of her man, her children, and her home.  Recognition of the skills needed to effectively and efficiently run a home and raise a family is noted in these blogs too.  One of my favorites is Home Living.  One post, in discussiong about how atmposhere and housing architecture emotionally affects families, really hit home in describing how I feel about modern subdivisions and the lonely daytime emptiness in so-called neighborhoods.   I, for one, am sick and tired of fast food, cookie cutter too-expensive homes that people only sleep in, and rushing rushing rushing that is so prevelent in our society. 

I was blessed to have a stay at home mom my entire life.  During the 1980s, before telecommuting was popular, she sometimes worked “lowly” jobs from home (such as telephone jobs calling for donations) but she was always there with me.   It wasn’t until I reached 13 years old or so before I realized that many girls didn’t have a mother at home!   I am also very blessed to now be a stay-at-home mom to my new son after working 4 years at a professional staff level in the telecommunications industry.  The business world is not a place I’d like to call “home” for the rest of my 9-5 days!  Give me full time interaction with MY furniture, MY home, MY son, MY husband, MY yard, MY pets, and MY own personally scheduled calendar - over the sheep-to-slaughter business world any day.

Since marriage, I’ve also been surprised at how much skill and “learning” is needed to maintain a home.  Chew on this…. One must go to college for years in order to “learn” how to manage a hotel.  A hotel must have cleanliness, fresh bedding, healthy food, a pleasant environment, a friendly staff, and a supurb money management system.  Is a home that much different??  Our homes too must have all of these amenities, and more….and it must have them smothered in love.  Now notice, none of these “amenities” I mentioned for the hotel has anything to do with material goods, but it has to do with states of living.  All of the new gadgets, modern appliances, and 3000 sq. ft. spacious homes out there will do a family of 4 no good if there is no “hotel manager” watching over and maintaining the property!   If we were to walk into an unkempt, dirty (in looks and smells) hotel, void of clean linens and basic necessities, with used dishes piled everywhere, and an empty dining room, we would immediately leave and complain to Dateline NBC who would go undercover to expose the terrible atrocity.  Yet many of us walk into homes such as this each and every night. 

So ladies.  Have you considered the effects an outside job might be having on your family?  (If not, then this post is really not for you.)  If you have though, and if you have given thought to what it would be like to brave life against the current, I’d like to say that it is definately possible.  Don’t let other’s opinions of what you “should” be doing take ahold of your life.  You only have one life - and you only have a few years in the span of eternity to build those wonderful feelings of hearth and home beneath your family’s feet. 

It’s very enjoyable.  I am college educated, maintained a 4.0 my entire “school career”, entered the workforce at age 14, worked at a supervisory level in the business world for many years, and enjoyed my time being productive in society as a single woman.  Yet, I can honestly say that, as a stay-at-home mom, my life has never been as contented, happy, or peaceful as it is right now.  Since leaving the official workforce, stress has almost dissappeared from my life, my marriage (and romantic life) has blossomed (which resulted in our first son!), my entire home stays clean for the first time ever, I am free to enjoy relationships with others during daily hours, I am able to assist my father and mother when they need an errand, I can grocery shop without stress, appointments can be made without having to mentally calculate how much vacation time i have (or if my boss will let me off), we spend far far far less many than we ever have before, our debt has been reduced faster on one income than it was with two incomes (strange, yes!), and my husband comes home each day to a happy wife and a home cooked meal (and for those of you who know Kevin, you know that his heart definately resides in his tummy!).   And I might add, there is absolutely nothing more awesome than being able to spend each day with my new born son and watch him grow right before my eyes.

The emotional and mental benefits alone definately make a stay-at-home lifestyle worth pursuing. 

So anyway, this post has become quite long.  It’s good that I can type uber fast. :)   For any woman out there who has considered this “alternative” lifestyle in today’s culture, I encourage you to follow your heart and don’t listen to the naysayers.  You are the only one living in your particular position and it’s your family…not theirs. 

With that, I leave you with this beautiful poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow…

Stay, stay at home, my heart, and rest;
Home-keeping hearts are happiest,
For those that wander they know not where
Are full of trouble and full of care;
To stay at home is best.

Weary and homesick and distressed,
They wander east, they wander west,
And are baffled and beaten and blown about
By the winds of the wilderness of doubt;
To stay at home is best.

Then stay at home, my heart, and rest;
The bird is safest in its nest;
O’er all that flutter their wings and fly
A hawk is hovering in the sky;
To stay at home is best.

Welcome to this week’s Works for Me Wednesday tip at Little Jack’s Corner! 

I grew up with small closets… you know, the kind that is about 6 feet wide, 2 feet deep, with one lonely bar hanging about 3/4ths of the way up?

I hated them then, and I still hate them now.  Once upon a time, I declared that when I “got my own place” my closets would be the huge walk in type.

That was before marriage, interest rates, and money management kicked in.

Now I not only have “my own place”, but I have 3 nice smalllll closets to go with it.  So what did I do?  I set about figuring how to maximize my space.  Not only have I effectively organized the (small) closet my husband and I share (and we have a tushy load of clothes), but I have also organized my baby’s closet.  The way I maximize my space allows me not to have to “change out” clothes seasonally - there’s plenty of room to store all of our clothes.

How I Did It

Now, for anyone who has ever had one of these small, wide closets, you should realize that clothes hanging side to side, in the normal fashion, is not the best use of space.  Furthermore, using only one bar when much of our clothing on hang down a few feet is wasting even more space.

The Solution?

Instead of running the long generic bar from one side to the other, install a short bar and run it from front to back.  For most small closets you can do this 4 times.  Two bars will be placed on the right - the first one just below the generic long bar (enough to give hangers clearance) and then another about halfway down.  Then repeat on the left side.

This effectively quadruples the available space for hanging shirts!  Plus you then still have the middle section to hang long dresses on the generic side to side bar.  And since you will now be viewing your shirts from the front (instead of the shoulder edge), you can hang them closer together and just “thumb” through them when you need one.  Needless to say, hanging clothes closer together gives you more room as well.

Bonus - if you don’t need the top shelves of your closet and would rather have hanging space, remove the shelves, install one more long generic side to side bar near the top of the closet and add two more front-to-back bars on each side.  That’s how we have our master closet.

Doing it Cheaply and Prettily

I am a firm believer that organization doesn’t have to cost much if you are able to think outside the box.  I also believe though that in order to keep up the habits of good organization, your storage and closets need to be aesthetically pleasing.

Formerly, I would have my dad, a contract fence installer, install one of his left over fence poles (cut down to size) in the closets for me.  And bam…free storage made easy. 

But it was ugly!  And every time I would peek in my closet, the look of the thick pole would annoy me.  Even painting it didn’t help in my eyes.

I needed a better, more aesthetically way to do it myself - from easy sizing to easy installation.  Finally I discovered the solution!

Shower rods.

Yep.  Shower rods.   And I don’t mean the long rods-that-go-over-the-tub-shower-combo.  At Walmart (and I’m sure at many other places too) you can find short little 20-46 inch expandable / retractable shower tension mounted rods designed to hang curtains over actual shower stalls.  The ones I found come in cream or bright white.  And they only cost $4.96 each.

Perfect!  

I now have 5 shower-turned-closet rods in different areas of my home.  They worked wonders for my son’s closet, especially with all of his cute baby clothes that needed storage.  Plus, when he gets older he’ll be able to reach the lower rods easily!

And if you’re wondering if they can really hold weight, I have one rod in my uber organized front living room closet with all of our heavy winter coats hanging on it.  Just be sure the tension mount is tight enough (it’s just a simple twist and lock type of mechanism).

So there you have it… cheap, easy, and aesthetically pleasing closet organization for kids rooms, parents rooms or any room in the house!

For more great Works for Me Wednesday tips from the blogosphere, head over to Rocks in My Dryer.

I like cooking.  Especially good ol’ downhome southern cookin’.  No out of the way 100-ingredient cuisines for me.  Just good ol’ cookin….the easier, the better.  I rarely follow recipes when I’m cooking a meal, just adding this or that in ways that seem right.

Tonight’s menu included:

Chicken & Rice Casserole
Shredded Cheese
Ritz Crackers
Italian Cucumbers (Sliced)
Frozen Grapes
Fruit Yogurt
Water to drink

Easy Chicken & Rice Casserole Recipe

Cook a cup or two of rice in the normal way you usually cook rice.  While the rice is cooking, take strips of chicken breasts and lay them in the bottom of a casserole dish (spray with non-stick spray or spread on some melted butter first).  Combine one can of cream of mushroom soup, one can of cream of chicken, and one and a half cans of water in a pitcher or small bowl and stir.  When rice is done, alternatively layer the rice and cream soup mixture on top of the chicken until the dish is full.  Sprinkle salt & pepper to taste, and a little bit of shredded cheese if desired (not much though since cheese burns fast.

You can also top it with whatever you like.  I used some celery stalks cut into 3 inch pieces along with a small can of mushrooms (drained). 

Cook at 425 F for about an hour.  Check it every now and then to ensure it’s not burning, stirring the mixture a bit.  Just before removing from oven, sprinkle more cheese on top (we like a lot), turn off the heat, close the door, and let the cheese melt for about 10 minutes.

Have shredded cheese on the table to sprinkle on top of servings or to eat as a side snack.  You can also crumble the ritz crackers on top or just eat the cracker as a side.

Italian Cucumbers

Right now cucumbers are 4 for $1.00 at our farmer’s market.  And you can find some HUGE ones too! 

Take your cucumber, wash, and then slice into rounds, a little less than half an inch thick.  Place in a large serving bowl, smother with italian dressing (or vinegar and oil), sprinkle on salt and pepper to taste, and add a little of Ms. Dash’s Garlic & Herb spice if you are so inclined. 

Pass bowl around the table so everyone can get their own italian cucumber slices!

Frozen Grapes

I read about these in someone’s Works for Me Wednesday tip a few weeks ago.  Who would have thought you could freeze grapes??? Not I.   The last 20 or so grapes from a bunch would always go bad before I’d “remember” to eat them from the fridge.  Not any more! 

Now when I buy grapes, I immediately take the stems off, drop the whole bunch in a gallon ziplock freezer bag, and plop them n the freezer! 

They’re a very, very yummy treat in these hot summer days. :)   Just open the freezer, reach in the bag, grab a handful…and enjoy.  Ahhhhhh…

Being the proud mother that I am, I love my son’s name.  I mean, really LOVE his name.  I consider it quite a shame that people only get called by their first name because I wouldn’t mind which name my son got called by. 

Jack.  Little Jack.   Jack-Evan.  Jack E.  Elijah.  Eli.  

Around our family, he gets called quite a lot by a variety of his “names”. 

Every time someone asks me “What’s his name?”, as all people do when they see a newborn, I reply “Jack-Evan Elijah”.  It seems so boring just to call him Jack.  You should see how quickly people pause to think that one over.  Usually they reply about how long it is.  I just grin and say yeh, it’s a mouthful, but I love it!

So as you can tell, I’m very proud of his name.

Why?  I’ll tell you.

(I’m sure you expected me to)

Well, it all started back when my husband and I first got engaged.  One day we were discussing children and what we would like to name them.  I like short little names.  My name is short.  Kevin’s name is short.  Our last name is even very short.  This is a big change for me because I grew up with a LONG last name that no one ever knew how to pronounce or spell.  So yes, short names are great. 

I’ve always known I wanted to name one of my sons after my father, “Jack”, although in my teen years I wanted Jack Oliver.  Kevin didn’t like Oliver though so that was scratched out.   How about Kevin Junior?  I asked.  No way.  He didn’t want to name his son Kevin.  But what he did want was a name that sounded like Kevin….so “poof”…the name Evan was born in our minds for his middle name.  

That settled it.  Our first son would be “Jack Evan (Last Name Here)”.  Short and sweet and to the point…named long before he was ever thought of.

On November 1, 2007, when we learned by ultrasound that our first baby was a boy, we immediately began calling him “Jack” (Little Jack…as not to be confused with my father, Big Jack).  Everyone was told of his name immediately as well.  Cards, well wishes, baby showers, all reflected the name Jack Evan.

We had no intention nor inclination that we would soon be adding a new addition to his name!

Round about my 7th month of pregnancy, I began to notice that every time this song, “Days of Elijah” would play at church, the wonderful baby I was carrying would began to dance.

And dance…

…and dance.

It was the only song he ever responded to in my stomach.   At first, I was skeptical, thinking it was a coincidence.  But after feeling him doing it faithfully for 3 weeks, I hesitantly told my husband, scared that the dancing would now stop since someone else knew.  But it didn’t.  Kevin was able to actually feel the “dancing” with his hand laid across my expanded belly. 

Then we told my parents….and my Aunt Mae, mom’s sister.  They all witnessed it too, as Jack Evan continued to faithfully “dance” to that song - and ONLY that song - each and every Sunday morning during my last trimester.

On April 26, the day of my last baby shower, which was held at our church, we “tested” him once more to see if he’d do it outside of the excitement of a church service.  My father, who is the sound man for our church, put on “Days of Elijah” and I sat in the sanctuary with my mother, Kevin, and Aunt Mae, awaiting to see what would happen.

He danced.  And my mother and her sister cried.

Why?  What makes this special is that my mother’s father’s middle name was named Elijah.  He was a strong man of God, a pentecostal pastor, that passed away in 1973.  Two of my mother’s brothers followed in his footsteps and became pastors as well.  The church we attend is pastored by one of those brothers.  What’s even more special is that the man who was preaching revival the night Kevin and I met at church (in 2005) was my mom’s other brother - and his middle name is Elijah.

Now I don’t know about you, but I firmly believe in Heaven, God, life after death, the spiritual realm, and mysteries that go far and beyond what our mortal minds are capable of comprehending.  I believe there are forces at work that we will always be incapable of understanding on this side of eternity.  And I believe that much more than “coincidence” was going on each time my child danced in my womb.  We all felt God had his hand on this baby, and there was a strong spiritual connection between the song “Days of Elijah”, and the two strong men of God in our family, both of whom bore the name Elijah.

So on April 26, we made the final decision that “Elijah” would now be this baby’s new middle name, and Jack-Evan would become a hyphenated first name.  The feeling to name him that was so strong amongst all of us that we weren’t able to deny it.  To not name him Elijah seemed, somehow, wrong.

Jack-Evan Elijah was born on May 4, 2008, exactly one week later.

To this day, Little Jack still responds positively to this song - the only song he seems to “know”.  It soothes him, calms him, and will stop him from crying.  In fact, I am playing it right now.  Jack was a bit fussy and as soon as I put this song on, he quieted down and stopped crying immediately.

We will be passing this tale along to Jack when he is capable of understanding,
so that he’ll know how special his name is, and how he “named himself”.

1. Life goes on
2. Changes in life happen very quickly
3. Slow down and admire the world
4. Green trees are amazing
5. Fun can be found in turning a lamp on and off
6. If you’re not hungry, not wet, and not sleepy then life=contentment
7. Eat with gusto, but stop when you’re full
8. Greet each morning with a huge smile
9. Who cares what clothes you wear?
10. It’s alright to cry (it might make you feel better)
11. Each day is full of new adventures
12. Never lose your zest for discovery and learning
13. Give trust only where it is due
14. Once trust is earned, give trust with your whole heart
15. Immortality is found in your offspring
16. Never be ashamed of natural body functions
17. New toys, clothes or furniture are not needed for happiness
18. The love for your child really is different than love for anyone else
19. “Laahn” is a great name for food
20. Enjoy playing, enjoy laughter, and enjoy each other