Bless His Heart

Have you ever heard someone say ‘Bless your heart?’ I hear it all the time and even find myself saying it, too. I’d like to preface this post with this little tidbit. I recently listened to a podcast from Craig Groeschel {have you heard of him? He is pretty fantastic!} and he equated the saying of, ‘Bless your heart’ to, ‘You’re a ding-dong.’ Actually, I think he used ‘idiot’ but I’ll go with ‘ding-dong’ since I’m working really hard to live out Ephesians 4:29 in my daily life and ding-dong doesn't sound nearly as ugly. Anyway, keep that in mind.


For those that don't know, Dallas grew up in the country on five acres of land. And then when we moved to South Carolina, our first house that we bought came with nearly a full acre. However, in this new pad, our outdoor space is limited. We basically traded our lot for convenience. I, for one, think it was a great swap and I know Dallas does, too, but our backyard really is ridiculously small and, paired with a ginormous deck {which holds a hot tub that we do not even use}, it doesn’t leave much room for the boys to run around.

Do you think that holds Dallas and his posse back? Let me help you here. The answer is no.

About a month ago, I peeked out in to the garage and found Dallas digging through his mess of tools. He looked a lot like a little boy who was gathering supplies for his secret hide-out. Bless his heart. When I asked what he was doing, he told me he was building a field goal post for the back yard.

I’m sorry. Come again? Because, for a minute, I thought you said something about a field goal post in our back yard. But then he followed with, ‘Don’t worry, I’ll take it down every night.’ Oh, well then, that makes me feel so much better.

Bless his heart.

A few minutes later, I look out into our pint-sized back yard and see that MacGuyver Dallas has managed to turn two shelving brackets and a bungee cord into a contraption with which my boys kick a football through. Nice, BigD. Real classy. Although I will give him an A for the ingenuity, I was still not sold. The good news is that he did not try to replicate one he saw in BiLo that was constructed from PVC pipes and spray-painted a nice shade of neon yellow. You know, if I’m going to look at the bright side….

And, as it is with everything else, the boys have moved on from being professional field goal kickers and the bungee shelves have not made an appearance in a good while. Thank goodness. Oh but not because they chose to spend some time working on Legos or playing a nice, quiet game of Scrabble Junior. They’re still outside in that itty bitty back yard but now they’ve become spectators to Dallas’ latest project – a tree house. Honestly, this man that I married cannot be still for five minutes. He has to be doing something all the time. Bless his heart. I sure do love that man but are we not busy enough?

I’m really not even sure how the idea of a tree house came about. My guess is that Dallas muttered something about a tree house, Dagen overheard him {because he has developed this knack for hanging on to every word out of our mouths – selectively, of course} and rallied the troops around the concept. The next thing I know, Dallas is talking with our neighbor across the street who happens to possess some serious wood-working skills and, 24 hours later, we had a detailed floor plan drawn out on notebook paper. This is no ordinary tree house, mind you. In fact, there’s not even a tree involved so I guess it’s more of a fort but with all the bells and whistles. It will be like the Biltmore Estate of forts.

All I know is that after this is done, they had better spend some quality time in it. In case you didn’t know, wood and hardware is NOT cheap. And, although I try not to dwell on the past, we did buy a very nice swing set just before Dayne was born {which may or may not have been a bribe to the older boys in exchange for their word that they would not use him as a human bowling ball until he was old enough to decide for himself} and they were over it in just a few days. Seriously, it took Dallas longer to assemble that swing set BY HIMSELF {remember, I was pregnant and when I’m with child, I am useless}. I just hope this keeps their attention a bit longer. I'm keeping my expectations low in an effort to be plesantly surprised.

Stay tuned.

Goodbye HRA, Hello Payment Plan

Have you ever been sitting in the doctor’s office and felt like you could hear the sound of money running out of your checking account? I felt that way this morning. And, for once, it wasn’t in our pediatrician’s office. This was actually a visit for Mommy…..with a cardiologist…..that included a ‘to-go’ monitor. Now are you hearing those cha-chings?

You see, a few months ago I started having some weird symptoms but since I tend to second guess myself {and like to see just how high I can bank my HRA}, I blew them off until it got to be too much. When you’re driving down the interstate and start to feel like you might black out, it’s probably time to get checked. Or so says my husband.

So, a couple of days before Christmas, I went in and saw a family practice physician. We ran through my symptoms – heart palpitations, lightheadedness, difficulty breathing. We talked through some of it because I had convinced myself that it was anxiety {and am still wondering if I’m right – in which case I might ask for a refund and enroll in medical school}. Anyway, he wanted to be safe and hooked me up to the EKG machine. The results showed some arrhythmia which I’m told would explain some of my symptoms. The next step was to get a referral to a cardiologist. {insert dark music}

A week later I met with a cardio guy {with the first name of Yogi – how I made it through without asking where Boo-Boo was remains a mystery}. We went through the same set of questions only he wanted to know more. I thought I’d log this conversation because it was comical to me. Granted, this may have been a ‘you had to have been there’ moment but whatever. It’s my blog and I’ll laugh alone if I wanna.

Dr. H: Hello Mrs. Darnell. I’m Yogi ________.
Me: {ahem} Nice to meet you.
Dr. H: Tell me what’s been going on.
Me: {Read above – not him, YOU}
Dr. H: And how long has this been going on?
Me: {Also above if you’re paying attention}
Dr. H: Let’s talk about your everyday. Do you smoke?
Me: Nope.
Dr. H: Drink?
Me: Would that help?
Dr. H : Do you have children?
Me: Yes.
Dr. H: How many?
Me: Three boys.
Dr. H: Well, we can stop right there. That can explain anyone’s problems away. Now let’s move on to family history. Any heart problems for Mom?
Me: I don’t know. We don’t talk much.
Dr. H: Dad?
Me: I don’t know. We’ve never talked.
Dr. H: Grandparents?
Me: Dead
Dr. H: Alright then. This conversation is going well.

I’ll give it to the guy. Ole’ Yogi has a sense of humor which I don’t see all that often in this profession. He did a little examination but it doesn’t help much when these palpitations that seem to trigger the other symptoms are not an everyday occurrence. Because of that, he sent me home with a 48-hour Holter monitor that I could not take off. Not even to shower which was just gross. However, they did tell me that I could ‘sponge bath.’ Right. And how exactly does one do that and actually feel clean?

Oh and the best part about my little electronic friend? He came in a….wait for it…..FANNY PACK. I wore a flippin’ fanny pack for 2 days {working days, I might add}. Um, hello? The last time I wore a fanny pack was in the 4th grade, it was pink and Joey McIntyre’s face was on the front of it. This, my friends, was not that cool….and I’m not nine years old. On the other hand, I knew that if I didn’t wear it, I would have ultimately owned it from dropping it in the toilet. Conformity at its best.

Fast forward three weeks. After I wore that dumb monitor, all along trying to hide the ridiculousness of its carrying case, wouldn’t you know, I didn’t experience one ‘episode.’ Naturally. So I went back in this morning for the results to which I was not surprised at all. They saw a few skipped beats but nothing to be concerned over. I told him that the episodes are so random and I can’t correlate it with anything but to say that they just come and go. I actually expected him to tell me that I was cuckoo and that I just need to simplify my life and relax. For the record, that feedback wouldn’t have gone over well as my million-dollar-diagnosis because how exactly does one just wake up and choose that path?

Instead, he informed me that we had to keep digging for the answer and that would require – you guessed it – another monitor. Only this one stays on for a month. And, according to the technician that suited me up, it transmits directly to the company who then will call me if they receive a ‘bad’ signal at which time they’ll tell me to go to the ER or call my doctor. As much as I want to get to the bottom of this issue, I’m not looking for one of those phone calls. I mean, who wants to hear, ‘Hello, Mrs. Darnell? This is ABC Heart Monitor Company. You’re about to have a heart attack/stroke/aneurysm. Please proceed to the nearest hospital.’ Just sayin.’ Send me an email, Toots.

Now, before you start thinking of how nasty my pits will smell from the 30-day timeframe, I will have you know that I can remove this contraption for a quick shower. That was definitely a deal breaker. And, although this monitor isn’t strapped to a string around my waist, it is riding in a holster-type carrier that makes me feel like I should be able to draw it out like a gun and taze someone. Seriously, in this day and age, can they design a monitor that is not as big as a 1998 cell phone strapped to my belt loop? I’ll add that to my comments and suggestions when I ship this bad boy back.

Don’t get me wrong – I know it could be worse. We’re not talking hospital bills, just physician and diagnostic charges, but those alone are probably going to run the same as a year’s worth of car payments….except I don’t get a new car, just a monthly invoice with Yogi’s name on it.

And since I’m turning my glass over, I’m going to reflect on the fact that we have not graced the doors of the pediatrician since May {with the exception of a round of flu shots}. So far, our little people have managed to avoid the typical stomach bug and strep throat mess. In my opinion, we’ve had our fair share for the last seven straight years. We were due a break.

So, all in all, I can’t complain….except I just did about 72 times, huh? It’s not me, it’s Manny the Monitor.

Justifying My Guilt

NOTE: Roll your cursor over to the right hand side, scroll down a hair and pause the music so that you can hear the videos.

Captions really aren’t necessary for these videos. It’s just Dayne being super cute. I choose to remember these moments over the ones where he is pitching his two-year-old tantrums in an effort to show me who’s boss {and some days I actually wonder that myself}.

And, no, we aren’t always in the car…..it’s just when he’s at his peak of CUTE. That, and when he’s nestled, all snug in his bed….those are extra sweet moments. And he's only cute in the car when books aren't flying at my head. Just to clarify because that is NOT cute.








Alright. Let’s go ahead and address the elephant in this cyber room. Yes, it is true. I post a lot of videos of Dayne. Maybe you’re wondering if I’m still the mom of three. I will assure you that I am but, before you start judging me, let’s get something straight. When Dagen was born, I had LOADS of time {even though I didn’t even realize it}. PSA for one-child parents – if you plan to have more, this IS your free time. Enjoy it. It only vanishes from here.

Ahem, so, because of all that ‘free time,’ Dagen has three elaborate scrapbooks that one day he will appreciate.

When Big Dave came along, the schedules got busier and middle son only has two scrapbooks {but more like pictures on paper} to someday cherish. Are you seeing a theme here?

When sweet little Dayne made a surprise entrance almost three years ago, I was dealing with one boy starting school, one boy mastering the art of potty training and one husband who returned to the basketball court as Coach. There was ZERO time to pull out my stickers, glue dots and stamps and record his first two years. Wait, I take that back. He has two pages – his birth and his first bath. Because that first bath is really a monumental step in his walk of life?!?

Anyway, my point is that this blog is his scrapbook and, at this point in our lives, he’s lucky to have that. I rarely find time to blog anymore, even with my new schedule, but try to jot down a few things, snap a few pictures and tape some footage of his third-child-awesomeness. That, my friends, is why he makes the blog a little more than the others. I may not have all of his statistics or when he first walked and talked but I'd like to think he'd prefer to hear his precious singing over that other 'stuff' anyway. Uh huh, I'm justifying my slack. And it's actually helping the guilt.

Besides, if I posted everyday videos of Dagen and Davis, you would be appalled at how many times they pass gas from one end or the other in a 30-second-interval. If you think I'm kidding, come spend an hour with me. I dare you. And if they're not having fun with flatulence, they're 'stealing' Dayne's buttcrack, throwing it on the front porch and laughing while they watch their baby brother search for it. Where did they come from?!?

That's all for tonight, friends. I hear Dayne screaming from a closet and lots of snickers from the peanut gallery. I'm off to do a search and rescue. Just one more on the long list of Mommy duties.

Paul To My Rescue

It’s been such a busy month that I almost forgot to update you on our excitement. NO, I am not pregnant. Good golly, wouldn’t that be something? I think my poor husband might turn completely gray overnight instead of one hair at a time. And FTR, I think the gray sprinkled into his dark blonde hair is H-O-T!

Remember when I told you last month how, because of sweet Davis’ video, we had been invited to the HisRadio Holiday Gala? Well, we went in early December and it was so neat!

Now, let me tell you that we weren't invited to just be at the dinner. When they asked us to attend, they had also asked if I would be willing to film a short video telling a little bit about that day that we made the video and how I felt watching my little guy praise Jesus. Of course I said yes – how hard could that be?

They made it super convenient for me – they actually came and filmed over lunch one day so I didn’t even have to miss any work. It went really fast, they seemed to think it would all look great and that someone would be in touch to let us know when and where to be for dinner. Whew. The hard part is over. Or so I thought.

About a week before, they called to let us know that we could invite up to ten people to share this night with us. Well, that was a no-brainer. We invited Davis’ K-3 and K-4 teachers {who we LOVE!} as well as Grandpa, Uncle Terry, Aunt Donna, Austin and then, of course, me, Dallas, Dagen and Davis. What a fun group! Where was the youngest of the Darnell boys? **Read to the end to find out.....

On this phone call, they also asked that Davis and I come the night before to be a part of the rehearsal. I thought it was a little strange that we would need to be there for that considering the fact that our video{s} was already shot but we went anyway. When we got there, they ushered us back behind the stage where they were doing test runs of the videos and speakers. The stage manager started to ‘mic us up so then I was really confused. I asked why we needed the microphones and she said, ‘Oh, didn’t they tell you? We’re going to play your video and then you’ll have two minutes to talk about……’ At this point, I didn’t hear anything else out of her mouth.

Um, I'm sorry. For a minute I thought you told me I was going to speak. I mean, we're honored and all but you want me to talk in front of….1,2,3....how many chairs are out here exactly? Oh, 700? Is that all? Pardon me while I go hurl.

So what was I supposed to say? ‘No thanks, I’m good. Someone else can take my place.’ Probably not. I just reminded myself that I was a big girl and I could do this, even if it petrified me. I've never been totally terrified of public speaking BUT I've never done it in front of 700, either.

What else could I do? I didn't want it to look lame that everyone else spoke after their videos and we were in the back hiding out like a bunch of chickens. And obviously I knew Davis wasn’t going to say anything. Seriously, now. Of all three of my boys, I was headed to the stage with the shyest of them all. Now, give me Dagen in front of a crowd and you can count on some entertainment – he can shake that thang or give you some hard core up-downs {complete with the grunts and groans}. But Davis isn’t going to even look at a crowd that size, let alone mutter a single syllable. So I just said okay and convinced myself that surely I could come up with something that sounded halfway educated.

That night, I decided not to stress about it {which is HUGE for me}. I truly believed that the Holy Spirit would intervene....and He did. It was certainly nothing deep and profound but it served the purpose.

Now, that’s not to say that I didn’t prepare. I got up early that next morning, opened my Bible and went to Philippians. You can’t go wrong there and it was crazy how I seemed to gravitate to some verses that totally related to our video on how Christian radio plays a part in our family. In Philippians 4:8, when Paul is telling the church at Philippi to fill themselves with 'whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable,' it occurred to me that this applies here, too. Here is what I shared in my one-minute snippet.

Hi, my name is Dawn Darnell and this is my son, Davis. We’re so thankful to HisRadio for allowing our family to be a part of this awesome night.

As I mentioned in the video, HisRadio does play a big part in our family as we apply censorship to what our boys hear but, as I was reading this morning in Philippians, I was reminded that we as adults are no different. The Bible tells us to fill ourselves with that which is true and lovely and pure. As a follower of Jesus, I physically feel the Holy Spirit in me but, let me tell you, the minutes and hours after listening to a little Chris Tomlin or Third Day, I am on fire for the Lord.

As a mother of three young boys, when I’m in the car, the music has a sort of calming effect and sustains me on those often times loud commutes. I am no longer thinking about the driver who cut me off on the interstate – instead, I’m wondering if that same driver knows the Lord. It’s not only the music but also the positive encouragement heard on HisRadio that resonates with me throughout my day. When my ears have been filled with what my heart knows to be true, I am a much stronger witness to those around me. What if, through me, Jesus can touch another’s life? I don’t ever want to miss that.

Thank you, HisRadio, for helping me to be a better daughter and disciple for the Kingdom.

All in all, it went great. I didn’t throw up on anyone, Davis didn’t cry {although I was holding his lanky, kindergarten self in my arms while speaking at the podium} and no one boo’d us off stage. I call that a success! I did ask him if he had anything he wanted to say {because, at his request, he had planned to say ‘I LOVE JESUS’} but all he could do was giggle. I even tried to bribe him with candy in front of all those people and he just chuckled. Better than some alternatives, I suppose.

Here’s the link if you’d like to watch the video they filmed and shared at this dinner which includes clips of Davis’ original. I hope to have a copy of that actual night's event for the rest of our family and friends to see and for Dave to one day watch but, for now, this will do.

Toodles….


P.S. We met THE Rob Dempsey backstage, talked with him a few minutes and even had a picture taken with him but it came out awful. Naturally.


**So where was little man? C'mon now. No one in their right mind would even attempt that sort of event with Dayne the Pain. Thanks to some sweet friends in our 'hood, Dayne had a playdate with their children while we enjoyed a semi-peaceful meal. Why semi? Why not total peace? Well, because first Dagen asked if the salad, already placed on our tables, was 'IT' in terms of dinner and when we told him it wasn't, he said, rather loudly, 'Oh good! I hate this kind of salad. Where's the cheese and eggs anyway?' Once they did bring out the main course, he asked everyone if they knew what asparagus will do to your urine? Where exactly can I send him to learn discretion? He then proceeded to round the table with 'Are you going to eat your dessert? Because if you're not, I will.' Ah, yes. Just another typical meal with our family.....

HoHoHo

Yes, another classy card. It’s what we do.

Last year we decided that, going forward, we will be home {in our home} for Christmas and I’m so thankful for that right now. We want to establish traditions with the boys and continue them each year. I know I’m looking forward to a nice Christmas Eve dinner, baking cookies for ‘Santa,’ waking early to see what ‘Santa’ brought, and eating a scrumptious Christmas morning breakfast. {Are you seeing a theme here?!? I love eating. Shocking, I know.} I love traveling back west to see friends and family but it’s no easy feat considering the crowd I roll with.

Anyway, I know I personally thrive on stability and continuity that come with traditions – doesn’t everyone? Maybe that’s the Type-A, OCD part of me rearing its ugly self but it’s not so bad. My poor boys have to encounter it every day and they seem to be developing normally just fine. Besides, they have a good balance between me and their complete and total opposite, ‘fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants’ father.

Yes, folks, the stories are all true. Who on earth would want to pretend this sort of stuff happens? I honestly don’t have enough ink in my Pilot G-2 to make notes as I go through my everyday life to blog it. Sometimes I save it in mental memory {why, I don’t yet know} and other times I make a point to find one of those lasers that can erase certain moments that I don’t care to remember. You know, like when he walks around all of Greenville with a hole in the hiney of his jeans but with not a care in the world. He claims he didn’t realize it was there – I beg to differ. I pointed that hole out a week before – his response was, ‘Oh, they’re just fine to wear around the house.’ Um, yes Muffin, but you weren’t just ‘around the house,’ you were OUT.IN.PUBLIC.

There are worse things, right? I mean, at least his pants didn’t fall to his feet for all the world to see his Buzz Lightyear undies like they did with Davis last night in Bi-Lo. Do you think Davis was embarrassed? Nope. He just giggled. That kid is not only the spitting image of his daddy but has the exact same personality. Dallas doesn’t think so, probably because Davis does a good bit of crying when he doesn’t get his way. I’m not sure that doesn’t convince me even more that they are identical…just sayin'.

His rebuttal to that would probably be how I threw a fit when he moved Inflatable St. Nick to my front porch and he would be right. I did throw a two-year-old tantrum but it was well warranted. And guess where the fat man is right now? Here's a hint - NOT the front porch.

See, we've got all sorts of crazy in this family. Just like naughty is the new nice, neurotic is the new normal.

From our cuckoo house to yours - Merry Christmas, y’all!

Now This Is The Life

By 3:30 this afternoon, I was home with all three boys, snack was over, homework was done, a load of laundry was spinning and I was fully immersed in a cut-throat game of Uno with Davis.

It.Was.Awesome.

For now {and hopefully the foreseeable future}, this is my new schedule. It will allow me to pick up my boys from school every day, help them with their homework, tidy up my house a bit, prepare dinner and just balance out my life a little better. Thank you LORD! This is a dream come true – to maintain my career all while caring for my family. I could not be more excited and feel more blessed than I do right now. Yes, I love my job but I love my family way more.

Excuse me while I go hang with my little men and watch ‘Remember the Titans’ for the ten-thousandth time and that is NO exaggeration – I have some serious football lovin’ boys in this house. It’s a shame that I can’t get over that nightmare of a helmet crash that keeps me from agreeing to let them play any organized football. A backyard game with their father will have to be enough for now.

Will You Help?

Break my heart from what breaks yours
Everything I am for your kingdoms cause

If you keep up with my blog, you probably recognize the beginning of this post. I started one exactly like it back in June but as I was cooking dinner tonight with Davis, this song {Hosanna} was playing on my Pandora station and it was so fitting for this post.

As I mentioned about a month ago, I volunteer at Pendleton Place Children’s Shelter with my girls. Although I can’t go nearly as much as I would like, I think about those kids all the time. And, given the fact that I have small children, I obviously have love for the little ones but there’s a special place in my heart for the teen girls. As the Christmas season is upon us, I’m asking for your help.

You see, these girls that are placed in PP will spend Christmas with the volunteers - instead of their mom, dad or grandma. I am not trying to discount those volunteers because they are awesome and will be sacrificing their holiday to be with these children but it’s still sad, no matter how you look at it. My family has been so very blessed. My children will wake up on Christmas morning and be overcome with joy by all the many gifts they receive. However, unless donations roll in, these teen girls will wake up to a pair of socks and some pencils. Okay, maybe that’s a little extreme. But it will likely be one filled with lots of tears, sadness and heart ache. What I do know is that it won’t be like our Christmas - yours or mine.

But what if it could be like ours? What if we sacrificed just a fraction of our luxuries and donated to make Christmas happen for these girls? So maybe we don’t have Starbucks one day a week for the month of December? Or how about forgoing that weekly house cleaning just once? That could buy a flat iron or a super cute pair of rain boots for that freshman girl just trying to fit in at school during this rough time in her life. Even a $5 or $10 gift card to Wal-Mart or Target can go towards the purchase of a young girl's ‘wish.’

Listen, I know that money is tight and that ‘extras’ may be a thing of the past. Our family is feeling the crunch, too. We can’t afford to give a lot but these girls are already doing without where their families are concerned. Clearly we can’t do anything to help those situations but we can help to make their Christmas at Pendleton Place a little more enjoyable.

To find out more about making Christmas special for a teenage girl, go here and click on ‘Holiday Help Information.’

If you are interested in making a donation, please contact Leslie Whiteside at 864-467-3650 or email her at lwhiteside@pendletonplace.org. I’m also planning a trip to PP on 12/19 so I’d be happy to deliver any of your gifts on that visit.

Break my heart for what breaks yours. This speaks to the deepest part of my heart. I pray every day that Jesus will let me see the things of this world that grieve him. Is it because I like to feel sad? No. Of course not. It’s because when my heart breaks, I don’t forget. And when I don’t forget, I am moved to action. If that’s what it takes, then break on…..