A Fountain of Knowledge

We've been taking Macy to various events at the Oklahoma City Philharmonic since

she was in Kindergarten, she's now in 3rd grade. We started out attending the Discovery Series in hopes she would gain an appreciation for fine arts. The Discovery Series is really geared toward young children, provides educational moments, and is generally a shorter program than any regular show but we eventually added in some POPS Series shows too.

She can read the program and keeps track of which song we're on but never really asks too many questions. Well, you know except for "Can we order some hot chocolate so it will be ready at intermission?" We oblige and go about our spectator experience. This time however, Macy Walker spewed orchestral knowledge I never knew she held in that brain of hers! Here are some of the phrases we heard during the show:

"See that? See when they pluck the strings? That's called pizzicato."

"Do you hear that drum? That's a timpani."

"That person playing the violin right now, that's the concert master."

"That over there is a harp. Did you know harps have 47 strings?"

"See that stick he's using? He's the conductor & that's a baton. It's made from wood."

Keep in mind folks, neither Casey nor myself are musically gifted. None, zero, zippo, not one single iota of musical talent. We may not be able to PLAY an instrument but we certainly love hearing them and truly find it magnificent when they're all playing so beautifully together that's why we attend Philharmonic events. Well, that and someone in our house likes to dress up ;)

Stunned at the knowledge my kiddo seemed to have stored in her head, I wanted to know more! I didn't learn all that stuff until I was in college & took Music Appreciation courses as electives. How in the dickens did she know this in THIRD GRADE?!? Yeah, we take her to these events but I suspect all this info came from a great music teacher because we sure did not teach this stuff!

It's tradition for us to make a pit stop at The Cheesecake Factory for dessert after any show we attend at the Civic Center so following suit we did the same. This time though, I questioned our kiddo on the way just to see what else she knew. The child talked for TWENTY minutes straight about music/orchestras/instruments/the history of instruments & their families, etc. She told me if you're good at math (which she is) then you'll be good at playing music and

"Have you ever just felt with all your heart you could do something? Like that no one will teach you but you can just pick up something and do it? Well, I feel like that about instruments. I feel like I can do anyyyyything. I feel like I could just pick one of them up and play it!"

So I wondered, what instrument WOULD she want to play? Her answer: The piccolo.

The Principle of JOY

One of the things we focus on in our home is service. What does that mean?

It means we forget about the selfish nature we as humans naturally adopt. We put others’ above ourselves and seek to find ways to serve them. Does that mean we constantly roll over & get taken for a fool? No. Does that mean we don’t have a backbone and are weak? No. Does it mean you never have a say in things that happen in your life? No. What it means is you’re treating other people the way you would want to be treated and while not everyone may reciprocate, they will remember how you treated them. They will know how much you care and will listen to you when you have something to say. They will value your input and they will value you.

So what is this principle of joy I speak about? It’s putting the reasons you do things in life in this order:

Jesus first

Others second

You third

Today, Macy Walker was recognized as Student of the Month for the character trait of Citizenship. Citizenship was defined by her school as helping to make her country a better place to live & looking for opportunities to serve others. They may call it Citizenship but as for the Walkers, we call it JOY!

Have You Been There?

There’s a great retro-chic new lil’ dining place in OKC that serves a

delicious variety of hot dogs, called Mutt’s. Mutt’s Amazing Hot Dogs to be exact. A couple of my friends swear by the Kung Fuey but as for me, I stick with the Best in Show & make my own.

A few weeks ago we took Macy to Mutt’s to enjoy the atmosphere and to dine at a new joint. Yeah, there was only one slight problem I forgot to tell my family about. Mutt’s? …. Er… Um … well, it makes you sort of have to go to the bathroom. No worries, I planned it so we would go straight home. We no longer set foot in our home when each of us darted to an open bathroom. Thank GOD there are enough toilets in our home to cover each hiney.

Excuse the fowlness but hey, it fits the story, okay? After, we joked about our next adventure in dining at “Butt’s”. Shortly after, Macy’s teacher was either talking about her dog whom she referred to as a mutt or talking about her weekend and dining at Mutt’s ... Which of those, I’m not really too sure. What I AM sure about is my daughter’s tackiness! Take a read, you’ll understand:

Macy: “Oooo, Mrs. Myers! Have you ever eaten at Mutt’s?”

Mrs. Myers: “As a matter of fact, my husband and I went there last weekend.”

Macy (laughing): “Yeah, well. We call it Butt’s cause it makes you have to go to the bathroom!”

Wow! Really? Did she REALLY just tell that to her teacher. In class? To her teacher?!? Parent-Teacher conferences are this week. I want to know if this conversation took place as Macy described above but I’m afraid to ask. Maybe I should just buy Mrs. Myers a Mutt’s Amazing Hot Dogs gift certificate & see if she laughs?

A Penny for Your Thoughts

In our home, we believe in being fiscally responsible. Apparently, so does Macy Walker. Early in the week Macy bargained with Casey to earn $10 bucks. They negotiated an agreement on how she could earn the ten extra dollars with the stipulations the task would be completed every day without an adult reminder and that if even one day was missed the $10 would not be earned. Macy completed her end of the bargain & earned a crisp $10 bill on Friday. She also received a card from her Great-Nana with $10 in it. She now had a total of $20 bucks burning a hole in her pocket.

We taught her long ago the importance of tithing but try not to remind her about it when she gets money because it’s her responsibility. She watches us tithe, she watches us budget, she watches us save & invest. We’ve given her the knowledge to do the same, it’s up to her to apply that information.

I was out of town on Thursday & Friday, not arriving back in OKC until Macy was already retired for the night on Friday. Saturday morning the first thing she did was bring to me $18 dollars, saying “Mom, look! I have $18.” I knew about the arrangement she made with Casey to earn extra money but I wasn’t aware she infact received the card from my Nana so I was confused as to why she would have an odd sum of money. Why wasn’t it $10, $15 or $20? Why $18? Before I could ask her why, she pulled another $2 bucks from a separate pocket.

Macy, holding $18 in one hand and $2 in another I heard, “I have $18 and I’m gonna give this (holding up the $2) back to God.” Immediately it dawned on me she must’ve had $20 instead of $10. I asked her about the total sum when she admitted she received Great-Nana’s card.

We went to church, Macy returned God’s portion to the storehouse and we carted ourselves to Barnes & Noble afterwards. We spent a good 2 hours reading books for free (don’t judge us!) but she wanted to make a purchase. We looked and looked and looked and looked some more for just the right book but nothing caught her eye. We ventured back to the CDs area when I suggested the Selena Gomez CD.

Macy asked, “How much is it?” as she flipped it over for the price. “Nah, it’s $15 dollars. I was hoping for something a little more affordable. I’ll only have about $2 left if I buy that.” More affordable? I thought. She’s 8! Since when does SHE care about affordability?!? I shrugged & said oh, okay then I guess we can keep looking. “What else do they have here? Besides all these CDs & books? These are too much money.” In my mind, I’m kind of giggling. It was funny for me to hear her replay all the things I think about when I shop and I’m a little bit impressed she’s trying to calculate the most wise decision.

At this point, I suggested she just save the $18 and go about her business. She didn’t want to do that saying “I already have $200 something in the bank. I asked to make this money so I could buy something.” Wellokaythen. So we kept looking. FINALLY, she found a set of 4 miniature puzzles that was $9.95 plus 50% off. “Mom, how much is 50%?” I told her she’d have about seven bucks or so left and she was okay with that.

The moral of this story is be very careful of your financial habits. Just like your language, your behaviors & your attitudes, your children will emulate those spending habits too! I am far better at 31 years old than I was at even 20 and I DO model all the things I’ve mentioned here but I am so blessed and so grateful our sweet eight year old daughter has apparently learned now to think about her pennies!

These Are a Few of My Favorite Things

So, what was Macy Walker's most memorable activity this summer? Wanna' guess?

Swimming with Beluga Whales.

All You NEED in Life

One of Macy's assignments this week was to write a poem about herself. I'm pretty sure this gal has the needs vs. wants thing mastered.

Like My Mother Does

During the Summer, Macy goes to daycamp. She loves it, particularly because they swim nearly everyday. Today was no different, I picked her up at the pool but this time I chose to stay for a while so she could swim longer. I got her a snack & she ventured over to a nice loungechair where a friend soon joined. They talked about various stuff in the day while I people watched with my eyes & listened to them converse with my ears. Periodically I asked them questions & acknowledged their conversation. Soon, as another friend passed I heard sweet Macy say "Look at Jack's hair. It's crazy!", followed by much laughter among the two girls. It was quickly met by Macy's friend with "Oh! Mrs. Walkerrrrr, Macy has a crush on Ja-aaack!" I kind of grinned without hesitation or distress and said, "She sure does, doesn't she."

Macy looked at her friend and said "Trinity, you don't have to try to embarass me. I tell my Mom everything!" I think Trinity was surprised because she said "Oh? You do?" Mace replied "Yeah, I tell her everything about me. I love her. She's like my best friend but she's not my friend, she's my Mom."

Let's just hope it stays that way!

If I Should Have a Daughter

Ladies & gentlemen these things, the things in the opening lines are what I teach my daughter. What will you teach yours?



I don't write poetry perse but the words I choose to explain things to my daughter really become spoken poetry in a sense to educate, entertain & inspire.

Trainer for Hire

You never know what kind of conversation you’re gonna get out of Macy. Sometimes she’s very serious, sometimes she’s quiet (that’s when I know her wheels are really turning), often she’s singing but most of the time she’s just downright funny. Purposefully? I don’t know but either way it’s note worthy of course to ME, anyway.

Apparently our habits of health & fitness have transferred to the child. Good? Maybe. I don’t know. I hope? Anyway, she & I were discussing the importance of stellar achievement with school. I explained her grades are soley her responsibility, it’s her job so-to-speak. We talked about how if you only set yourself up to achieve B’s then you’re selling yourself short of the crème of the crop and our family doesn’t stand for setting the bar low. I guess she’d heard enough of the grade “discussion” because she piped up with …

“Paige, she needs to step it up on her weight.”

First I was taken aback by the term "step it up" but whatever, moving on I thought Huh? Her weight? What? We were talking about grades! How did that cross-apply? So I asked, “Wha? What are you talkin’ about?”

“Her weight. She needs to take better care of herself and keep her body healthy. She has a big belly and that’s not healthy. When she gets older she’s going to have heart problems and knee problems and her body is gonna break down and she just brings juuuuuuNK in her lunch and when we’re outside, she just walks around. She doesn’t climb or run or ANYYYYthing. That’s lazy.”

OUCH! Easy there Jillian Michaels …er, um … I mean, Macy Walker.

You know part of me wanted to say take it easy but guys the kid is RIGHT! It’s our responsibility to take care of our bodies. Genetics do play a role in naturally unhealthy aspects for some folks but there are ways to prevent & control the bad hand you were truly dealt. A box of Twinkies isn’t what you’re dealt, it’s what you chose. Be mindful.

Livin' On A Prayer

Livin’ on a Prayer, you ask? Yeah. Cause when Macy Walker’s your child, you pray that the next thing out of her mouth is appropriate! Afterall, Casey & I are her parents and uh, well where else would she learn to say some of the stuff she does?!? But also we pray the example we try to set sinks in. I think we’re on track ;)

One good thing I can tell you is Macy lives on a prayer too except she prays for other people on her own and understands the need for her future spouse to love Jesus. How do we know? Keep reading.

This picture you see here was an assignment at school that says

"If I had 100 dollars I would..."

"I would go on a lemo ride with Justin Biber and we would have a good time with each other and have dinner some where downtown. I would do it becuase he is cute and he is wonderful my dad allways says they haft to love Jesus and I said yes they haft to.”

I don’t know about all this Justin Bieber business but hey, first things first---love the Lord with all your heart, mind, soul & strength, amen!

Also, tonight outta’ nowhere Macy said she was worried about Alex (someone in her class). “Alex said he doesn’t believe in God or Jesus.” I asked her how she knew that. She said “because he said that when I was talking about God.” I didn’t ask her what she was saying about God and I didn’t ask her any further what Alex said. What I did do though is begin to think about what I was supposed to say to her. Wasn’t I supposed to tell her how to be a witness to him? Wasn’t I supposed to say we should pray for him? I don’t know? I mean I DO know but I think I was just caught off guard by it? Nonetheless, I said nothing. I continued about my business cutting up veggies and doing what I was doing. She continued talking but had changed the subject to something else and I continued to listen. The whole part about Alex knowing Jesus was a fleeting thought at that moment, so I thought.

When bedtime rolled around, this was her prayer. Some of this is standard stuff she says (the parts at the beginning) every night like a dang book but she’ll usually add some other really specific stuff about whatever she feels necessary.

"Dear God, please let us get a good night’s sleep. Please watch over my family, friends and protect us, God. Jesus, forgive of us of our sins-the things we’ve done bad today. Help us to do better tomorrow. Help me to do good in school on the things I missed today and let me be obedient to you. Jesus, I don’t know why Alex doesn’t believe in you but I do. I believe in You. Tomorrow, help me show Alex how to believe in You with how I behave. Let me be kind, let me courteous and let me do things so he can know You. Aaaaa-men."

All I have to say is "woahhhhh, we're halfway there ..." ;)

Ready, Set, Grow!

WARNING: Explicit material.

Okay, first let me clarify and say that this material really isn't that explicit. The pictures included within this text are normal body parts and the conversation is normal as well. There is however, potential for things to be taken out of context or for people to be offended thus the warning.

Please understand what I explain is our family's position and I respectfully ask you not to judge us for our choices nor would we judge you. Thank you, enjoy :)

A few months ago, Macy mentioned the word puberty. She used it totally out of context so we had a chuckle about it then & I very briefly explained what puberty meant. You can view the previous post here. For some reason, I've been pressed to share some things with her. I don't know why, but I kept having a reoccuring feeling that I should share the REAL facts with her. I don't think she needs to know all about sex, that's too mature for her, but I do think she needs to know about her own body & what will happen in the next few years. Fact: Puberty begins between the age of 8 1/2 and 11 +/-. Macy is almost 8. Lots of girls in her grade are already 8 & have been for some time, she is young for her grade. I also happen to know that Macy hangs with a couple sweet little 5th grade girls in her after school program. Anyone know how old a 5th grader is? Yeah, they're 11. Besides all those things, there are some things a mom just knows. I didn't want to miss an opportunity & I wanted to make sure she heard legit information, delivered in a developmentally appropriate way.

So, we got the book you see here. I read the book first to make sure it was developmentally appropriate. Turns out, it is developmentally appropriate and explains stuff well. After reading the book by myself, I reminded Macy of the time she talked about puberty . She recalled that conversation & got a good laugh about it again. I then explained that probably some of her friends were going through puberty. She concurred, telling me "Yeah A__ has her period and so does A____." I asked her if she knew what a period was & how it happened, she said "No, just that you have blood from down there." I agreed & told her we'd read this book about puberty (and showed her the book) so she could learn about it if she would like. She agreed & asked me if we could do it before she went to bed that night.

The book has about 10 chapters. I read them aloud to her a few nights in a row. We stopped whenever she had questions, talked about it, she'd share a story if she had one & then we'd move along. We also talked about the necessity for privacy & what was appropriate to share or not share in public or with other people outside her home. She understood all those things.

Have I told you before our family is pretty humorous? Well, there was one page in particular, p. 73 to be exact, where it showed a picture of the vulva. It used the term "lips" to describe the labia. The point of the whole blog is this hilarious statement that caused the two girls in our home to fall out of the bed laughing so hard ...

"Well, yeah-uh, you can see why it's called lips! Look at it, if you turn it this way (turns book on its side) it looks like lips." ---Macy

Then followed with ...

"Mom. Can you make sure whenever I have my period that you don't make a big deal about it? That you're not all (said in very high pitched, happy like Minnie Mouse voice) ooohhh yeaaahhh, I'm so happy!", followed by her demonstrating very rapid hand claps.

Me: "Sure. I can do that. So you want it all business, right?"

Macy: "Yes. All business."

Me: "Got it."

And all I could hear in my head was this: