Category Archives: Parenting

Haven Caylor-Brown's avatar

Babies and the Couch

. Family, Parenting, Parenting Strategies on the Go . , , ,

 

Carter and Ammon haven’t been sleeping too well these past few nights. Carter woke up during the early morning hours at approximately 4:00 (I think…my eyes couldn’t focus on the clock…LOL) I rubbed his back, and, eventually, he went back to sleep; however, he was mumbling a bit. Because I didn’t want to keep getting in and out of bed, I gathered up my gear to sleep on the couch that is in the living room right outside Carter and Ammon’s room in case Carter or Ammon cried again. Oh, it brought back some memories….

When Ammon and Carter were newborns, we all three slept in the living room. They would be fed at 10:00 at night, and I would put them down to sleep in their bassinets. I then would plant myself on the couch anticipating a few hours of coveted sleep. About 2:00 AM one of the two would make a peep, I would dash off the couch, grab whoever it was, change it, feed it (with me being half asleep of course), get it back in the bassinet, grab the other one (awake or asleep), change it, feed it, and return it to its bassinet as well, and all was done! Right before they started sleeping through the night, I had the process down to right at an hour. Routine, routine, routine. I miss my newborns, but I am so thankful that the OVERWHELMING majority of the time, I get a complete night’s sleep, and I get to play and communicate with my toddlers. Time moves on.

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Cute “Good byes!”

. Family, Parenting . , , , ,

I know you all get to hear cute things from your children, grandchildren, nieces, and nephews, but I have wanted to write this one for months now. We have a set of 7 cypress trees, and Ammon and Carter started calling them “Christmas trees” last December.
During that Christmas season if we left our driveway to where we had full-view
of the “Christmas trees”, Ammon especially would wave out the car window, and
she would say “Bye Christmas trees!” She still does that every once in a while;
however, on our way to church yesterday morning, and as Carter and Ammon made
their way out our kitchen door, down the step into the garage, and headed to
the car, they both said, “Bye house!” I loved it, and it made me smile and
laugh.

How many of us do the same in our minds as we leave our
homes, our places of work, our schools, or our places of worship. Ammon and
Carter even said, “Bye church!” as we left worship on Sunday morning. Well, you
may have completely given up what we may think of as “childish” acts, but,
seriously, in the recesses of your mind, do you ever do something like say, “Good
bye, house” in your mind as you pull out of your driveway? As I’ve gotten older
and developed my relationship with God, I always add a prayer to my “Good bye
house” (which I have done often as an adult even before Ammon and Carter) with
a “Thank you for a blessed home. Please keep me protected until I return to it,
and please bless it until I get back to it.” I’m still a child: A child of God.

Have a wonderful Monday everyone.

Haven Caylor-Brown's avatar

Summer’s Corn on the Cob

. Family, Learning, Parenting . , , ,
Ahh, the Memories of Corn!

Ahh, the Memories of Corn!

I love fresh corn on the cob especially Silver Queen (oh,
man I’m salivating just thinking of the ears of lightly-salted corn dripping
with melted butter/margarine). I could eat it for every meal for who knows how
many days in a row. On our way home from town Wednesday, Carter, Ammon, and I
stopped and bought some just-picked Silver Queen corn. The smell and later the
process of shucking it, brought back a plethora of memories of me and fresh
corn.

Shucked corn July 13, 2011

It was May 8, 1982, and it was also the day after my 16th
birthday. My father, my mother, and I had planted a good-sized garden, and we
had approximately 6 rows of corn that were each about 40 feet long. The corn
stalks were young and about ankle high. My father and I decided to give my
mother the day off as an early Mother’s Day gift, so he and I, alone, worked in
the garden. As I hoed the corn, we talked about Copper and Chief, the
coonhounds were we raising, but I also spent hours listening to the tales of
Daddy and the hound dogs (King, Queen & Bolivar) he grew up with.
Surprisingly, the warm, May morning flew by. Three weeks later, my father was
no longer with us. He died with an aneurism on his main aorta of the heart on
May 28.

In the middle of July, my mother and I harvested and shucked
the corn that my father had planted and taken care of. At different points
during the process, I cried and cried as I remembered my father. This week on
Wednesday, I shucked the corn and thought of my father and what a wonderful man
he was. I hope Carter and Ammon will make and nurture such memories of me even
if they are of corn on the cob.

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Dublin, Ireland

. European Destinations, Family, Family Travel, Parenting . , , , ,

“The only thing to see in Dublin is the Guinness Brewing Factory” was the reply we got from a fellow traveler with whom we shared a touring train in Monte Carlo, Monaco last October.  The question to this family from Northern Ireland had been, “What do you recommend seeing in Dublin?”  The truth of the matter was that we were not anticipating much out of Dublin, but, oh, my goodness! It was such a nice surprise.

Carter, Haven, Ammon (enjoying the vaulted ceiling) & Nana:St. Patrick’s

We had a short excursion that morning, but we had a great afternoon of shopping. We’re looking forward to wearing our Ireland-made sweaters we bought this coming winter. ;o)

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Gordon Temple & Suzanne Burch

. Christmas, Church, Jesus Christ Follower, Parenting . , , , , ,

The congregation of St. Martin of Tours Episcopal Church is gaining a full-time rector in June. We are losing our Interim Rector, Gordon Temple, and our deacon, Suzanne Burch. Please follow along and celebrate these precious human beings with me.

What do you all like in sermon from a preacher, rector, or priest? Do you want a sermon on philosophies on religion, or do you want to know how to live a religious filled life? St. Augustine a Christian from the 4th century believed reason to be a uniquely human cognitive capacity that comprehends deductive truths and logical necessity, and I have heard sermons associated to his infusion of Christian doctrine with Neoplatonism (most of us are like..’What the heck, and how can I apply that to my daily life?’) I have also seen and heard sermons from preachers/rectors who use works of Thomas Aquinas and his Summa Theologica (God’s thinking and willing, Aristotelian Ethics, and Jesus protects all in both Heaven and earth) and drone on and on for an hour about such. Folks, I don’t need religious philosophy to live by, I need every day acts that represent how we should serve God and our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. For approximately a year, God saw fit that the congregation of St. Martin of Tours in East Brainerd, Tennessee and I had our hearts and minds filled with these types of sermons from Father Gordon Temple.

When Jesus was here on earth, he taught with simple parables (everyday life situations that have heavenly meanings), and that is what I need and appreciate in a sermon. Those are the kinds of sermons Gordon Temple preaches.  I love Gordon’s sense of humor, his smile, his genuine concern for everyone around him, his love of family, and his love of children. The joy this man has in the tone of his voice and the sparkle he has in his eyes as he talks about his wife, his children, and his grandchildren are priceless. He simply loves children. On Father Gordon’s last Eucharist on Sunday, I was holding Carter when he handed me the communion bread. When Father Gordon blessed Carter and touched him on his forehead, Gordon had such a twinkle in his eye, and he tapped Carter on his nose. Carter’s face lit up with a grin. Gordon doesn’t think he is a good teacher in the classroom, but he is great. I don’t know how many times we went past the “hour allotted” in our Sunday school class because we had asked questions and we were intently discussing and enjoying his answers. I also love the fact that he was raised in Chattanooga. He is living history for all of us living in this city. Father Gordon, we love you, and you are an inspiration to all you come in contact with. Thank you for being a reflection of Jesus Christ and for being such a great preacher and shepherd for St. Martin’s.

Gordon Temple: May 15, 2011

We only saw Suzanne act as a deacon for a year, but we saw her love and enthusiasm for taking care of the physical needs of the St. Martin congregation and the community during the 2010 Christmas season. She was glowing during the whole month as we gathered and gave in the name of Jesus Christ in honor of his birthday. She like Gordon uses such finesse in weaving everyday thoughts and feelings into sermons from the Bible especially in the life of Jesus and how we should live like him. Wherever she goes, the congregation will be so lucky to have her. Suzanne, we love you and God bless you.

Suzanne Burch and Gordon Temple: May 15, 2011

A special thanks to our church buddy, Jerry Thurston, for taking these pictures on Sunday and sharing them with me so I can share them with you all.

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Eeny, Meeny….educational tip day

. Learning, Parenting . , , , , , , ,

I did this assignment with beginning ESL students who on the average were probably 15 years old, and, of course, they were in high school. We used a Big Book called Eeny, Meeny, Miney, Mouse, and the first objective was what I mentioned last week: For every student to read the book. A second task was for the students to create their own book while combining the rhyming of “Eeny, Meeny” with the classroom vocabulary words (as well as the verbs that went with them) we were studying too. The books were very Dr. Suess-type books, and the students really seemed to enjoy making them. Let me give you an excerpt from one of the books I saved. Remember, the real vocabulary words were for “items in the classroom”.

 “Eeny, meeny, miney, mesk, who is sitting in the desk?

Eeny, meeny, miney, mencil, who is sharpening the pencil?”

Have a great Monday, and a great week!