On the rare occasion that I actually blog on a Friday, I usually like to post something for my “Flashback Friday” feature where I delve into my legwarmered, teal eyeshadowed, BonJovied past and write about something ridiculously old-school.  I have something I could post about today that is extremely timely and interesting and bittersweet that would definitely count as a flashback, but I can’t post about it.  And I can’t tell you why.  I probably won’t be able to post about it for at least five years.  Don’t ask…I can’t tell.  Yet.

Soooooooooooooo…I’m going to post a little vignette about my three children eating breakfast.  Yes, eating.  Yes, breakfast.  Because these are the photos that inspired me today as I browse Big D’s site.

Big D took this series of photos in February when we were visiting his parents.  I don’t know why he took them, but I’m glad he did.  Big D and I have very different photo-taking approaches.  Usually, I use my point-and-shoot to try to record bits of our history.  I take pictures during holidays.  I take pictures at events.  I take pictures so that we will remember.

Big D takes pictures of emotions.  He captures feelings.  He records personality.  It is art.  I love that we have both kinds of pictures of our family.  Someday my kids can look back and remember what we did and where we went and what they achieved.  But they’ll also be able to look at these photos and know who they were.

They are just eating cereal, for crying out loud.  But one can look at these photos and know something about each of them.  We don’t just know that we went to Ma and Pa’s house and ate their cereal.  We know a little bit about them.  We see a little of their souls.  Some how, some way Big D clicked and captured a moment and captured their characters at the same time.

I love photography.

I love my kids.

I love my husband.

Happy Friday to you all…

First of all, it means (and I’ve covered this one before) red dirt and grass stains on white pants because guess what a baseball diamond consists of?  Red dirt and grass.  And guess where your son (or daughter) will be most of the time?  Yes, in the dirt and grass.

It means that Big D is the assistant coach this year.  It means that you will see him less and less, that he will hibernate on baseball coaching sites, and that packages from UPS will be delivered almost daily to your doorstep containing practice tees and other coaching paraphernalia.  It means that you can’t call his cell phone while he’s at a practice because he won’t answer you, of if he does, he will have no idea what you’re saying to him.  It means that Dirty Harry is thrilled to have his dad as a coach.  It means that I’m extremely proud of him for sacrificing his time and energy to fill the gap…but that I still wish he’d pick up that darn phone!

It will mean that your teenage daughter just got a lot more bored.  She will need endless change and dollar bills for infinite trips to the concession stand.  She will need to have her cell phone charged so she can make lots of phone calls to her friends.  She will ask you about ten times in an hour and half if the game is almost over.  She will be flirted with by her brother’s teammates and friends, which will make you sick to your stomach and willing to comply with her requests to stay home.

It means that your child might pitch.  And subsequently that will mean that I, as a nervous wreck, will bite off all my nails (and I don’t bite my nails).  It means that I will drink a shot of whiskey (and I don’t drink whiskey).  It means that I will go to the parking lot to smoke a cigarette (and I don’t smoke).  It means that I will retreat to my van and eat a whole box of Little Debbie Swiss Cake Rolls (okay…I’ve been known to eat a few of those).

It means that I have to carry a twenty pound sack of taters on my back.  It means that he will cry and fuss a lot.  It means he will appeal to total strangers in the stands to free him.  It means that he will want ice water and Cheerios on demand.  It means he can’t have it because I’m not made of rubber, and I can’t reach him.  It means he’ll throw a tantrum, banging his head against my back.  It means I take him out of the carrier and hand him over to the bored teenager, killing two birds with one stone.

And speaking of birds, I never would have guessed that baseball would mean that we would have dirty birds.  But it does.  Because Big D and Dirty Harry…those stinkers!…broke my birdbath while playing catch in the backyard.  Dirty Harry threw the ball.  Big D missed it.  And my birdbath, which used to belong to my grandmother, was smashed in the process.

I’m proud of him and his strong arm, but that is ridiculous.

Don’t you just love baseball season?  I do.  I really do.

Once, a long time ago, Big D saved his older sister’s life.  I have heard this story many times over the years, but just recently came across a fun visual to go along with the story.

My sister and Indiana Mimi were on the phone, and for fun, were googling all of our names to see what came up.  Well, when they googled Big D’s name, they found this…

What you’re looking at is page 41 of Boy’s Life Magazine (a publication of the Boy Scouts of America), the February 1980 edition.  Big D vaguely remembered that this was printed but did not have a copy.  Big D’s mom is a little unsure if they ever had a copy of it since they were being transferred from overseas back to the States near the time of the publication.  So everyone had a lot of fun looking this over and remembering that eventful day.

I was unsuccessful at being able to copy the pictures, even though the page provides you with a copyable URL and an embed code, so being the technological wizard that I am, I simply photographed my computer screen.  The quality is probably a little off, but I think you get the general idea of what happened….

First, Amy’s (who is looking an awfully lot like Bonny Annie with short hair instead of her usual long, brown, straight self) poncho caught fire, which is strongly emphasized by the publication.

Then, Damon, using his Boy Scout instincts, went to help.

He successfully put out the fire by rolling her on the ground and beating the tar out of her…something every eight year-old boy dreams of being able to do to his older sister.

In the end, that cute kid was awarded the Medal of Merit.

Every time this story ever comes up, though, Amy always maintains that Big D kept thumping her long after the flames died away.  She always says it with a chuckle since, after all, she is still alive and not charred like a crisp piece of bacon.

Good job, Little Damon….er…I mean Big D!

However, here at The Pirate Mom Dot Com, I want you to know that I *HEART* Vikings!

Big ones…

Little ones…

And even the goofy ones…

It’s just what I do.

Here are a few shots from the mayhem that ensued….

Big D and Chuck E…

Just arrived…

With some of the crowd…

With Cap’n Jack Henry, who is really, really close to being a birthday boy himself….

With some of his co-workers…

Friends…

Whew!  It makes me tired again just looking at all of that F-U-N!

Now, I won’t have to pull anything like this off for the next ten years, right?  RIGHT?!

And speaking of surprises, wouldn’t it be surprising if I came from behind….waaaaaay behind…and won the Funniest Home School Blog contest?!?  Click here to vote…

I am posting this much, much later than I intended because today has been cuh-razy!  But I couldn’t let this day pass without wishing, Big D, my partner in crime life, a very happy birthday!  How blessed I am to be married to him!  He is forty years old today, and he has no desire to buy a cherry red Mustang or quit his job to walk barefoot on a beach collecting seashells.  There’s no indication that he’s ready to trade me in for a newer model, and he doesn’t golf, hunt, fish or gamble.  The only semi-radical thing he’s mentioned lately is the possibility of a new tattoo.  He’s a keeper!  Even when he dresses like this….

Happy birthday, Big D!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

PS-Do you know what Big D would like MOST for his birthday?  He’d like for you to vote for me for Funniest Homeschool Blog, of course.  He really does….he told me….sorta….through telepathy…or something like that.  Just click the icon below and give Big D his birthday wish.  He’ll be sooooo happy.

It was a lot of fun going through the stash because most of the items he chose had a story attached, and it was interesting to hear about the culture of Mongolia as told by its wares.

For one, it is hard to get good coffee in Mongolia.  Just ask Bernie, who is trying to run a good, quality coffee shop in its capital city.  They do have, however, MacCoffee, which is single cup of coffee (cream and sugar included) in a little packet.  All you do is add hot water.  It is pretty good.  Dirty Harry drinks them with extra cream, if that tells you anything.  MacHotChocolate and MacGreenTea is also available.  The kids love the chocolate, but the green tea strangely tastes a little like soap.

He also brought back authentic, non-soapy-tasting  green tea, cute little mugs, and a press/brewing thingy…

The thing is I’m not a huge fan of green tea.  Except for, I’ve now discovered, in this form…

Green tea Kit-Kats.  Bliss.  Once you get past the fact that your candy bar is neon green, it is bliss.  Pure bliss.  And sadly we haven’t discovered a way yet to get them here in the states.  So if any of you are traveling to Asia in the near future I will pay handsomely for a case of these babies.

Wool items are big in Mongolia.  Because, for one, they have a lot of sheep, and two, it’s cold most of the time.  Both of the kids got hats, which I forgot photograph, and I got a really cool shawl thingy (which was actually made from camel fur).  Big D got all the partners at his office traditional Mongolian hats.  There is one female partner, and she got this….

I’m sure she’s wearing it all over Nashville.

Above is a wool perpetual calendar.  The little gehr (Mongolian tent)  slides along to display today’s date.  And at the bottom it is adorned with pieces of sheep bones.  Monoglians do not waste, so when they have some spare bones, they hang them on their calendars.  Clara, by the way, is very plagued by those bones.  About every other day I catch her licking them.

A little wooden doll.  We also have a wrestler and a little clown-like person.  The above one is now in Indiana Mimi’s dining room.

Paper art is also very popular.

The above is an elaborate form of origami.  The figures are based on a popular Mongolian folk tale where the animals all want some kind of food at the top of this tree, so together they make a ladder to reach and share it.  Big D wanted it for his office as a reminder of team work and comraderie.  Well, somewhere on the trip back home, the rabbit decided he had had enough of team work and hopped down.  Big D thinks he can be glued back, but the little quartet is currently sitting on my mantle like that, which means they will probably be there, unglued, until 2013.  Because that’s how we roll.

This ornament was made from discarded beer bottles (thanks, Renee!!)…

It serves as a good reminder to pray for Mongolia because alcoholism is major problem in that country.

I saved the best for last….

A goat leg whip.  And I thought Clara was bothered by the bones.  This thing still has the fur!  It may very well be the solution to our house-training woes… (I jest.  Do NOT call PETA.)  Hey….Arby, maybe you could smuggle one of these into Wrigley Field some time…?

I’ll have more on Mongolia soon hopefully.  Between jet-lag and having to be back at work, Big D has been hard-pressed to get all of his photos in order.  I’m sure you’re just dying to know what he did with all those lights.  In the meantime, he has a good sampling of photos posted here for your perusal.

I brought my laptop because I was intending to blog while I was here, but I’ve been having problems figuring out how to post pictures to my blog without Photoshop (which I didn’t realize until I got here wasn’t loaded onto this computer).

So, I thought I’d jump on here briefly and share some of the photos that Big D has been posting from Mongolia.  He’s, from all appearances , having a great time (despite a brief bout with some kind of 24 hour flu bug).

That’s Big D and his new friend Munkh.  I think Munkh must have served as a guide of sorts to Big D on a little tour of the area.  And just so you know, my information is coming from very brief e-mails and the captions that he’s posted with his pictures.  It’s like a confusing, frustrating puzzle….but a little bit fun….trying to figure out where he is and what he’s doing.

Above is some huge monument that was built for the 800th anniversary of Genghis Khan’s rule.  The cars pictured give you some perspective of its size.  Big D and others went to see Transformers there apparently. He says they entered somewhere near the tail, which I found extremely funny, but I’m kinda sophmoric in my humor.

Here’s a view from his head…

Big D says he was surprised at the beauty of Mongolia.  I wonder if I’m going to have to move there.  I wonder if the Lord knows that I would have a hard time living somewhere that doesn’t have chocolate chips at the ready.  He probably does….

They have cars and some roads, but they deal with a different kind of traffic…

But a lot of the roads are of the dirt variety…. (That’s Josh of Watermelon Ministry, whom Big D went over with)…

This is one of my favorite pictures.  It’s the top of a Buddhist temple and the prayer flags.

I just love the color.

I have a hard time looking at these next few pictures…

I told Big D just to forget the souvenirs and bring those little boys home, so that I could love them, and bathe them, and read to them, and sign them up for baseball.  But I’m not sure how he’d get them past customs….

 Want to see more?  He has tons more posted at his website.  Click here.

The year was 1991, and yes, our hair was very big.

Yesterday Big D had to travel for work.  I took care of kids, straightened the house, took Dirty Harry to baseball practice and ate at Burger King for dinner.  Even though we knew this was coming and had already celebrated a week ago, it still made me feel a little down.  Until this arrived….

That, my friends, is a three and a half foot high flower arrangement.  Yeah.

Later, when I was talking to Big D by phone, he explained that he asked the florist to include eighteen different types of flowers to the arrangement.  That is sooooo Big D.  Why send a dozen and half red roses when you can be creative, elaborate, and crazy?

Eighteen different flowers, eh?  Let’s see….  Count with me!

We’ll start with the obvious.  One, two, three (sunflower, spongy yellow thing and little pink bloom)…

Four…

Five, six…

Seven…

Eight, nine (yellow button flower thingies and light pink rose in background)…

Ten, eleven…

Twelve, thriteen, fourteen (there are two different kinds of white blossoms)…

Fifteen…

Sixteen, seventeen (see those greenish things towards the bottom?  Well, I’m counting those!)…

And then eighteen…

Eighteen?  Eighteen?!  Where are you?!

Oh….I guess the florist counted the cattail…

There.  Eighteen.

Eighteen beautiful flowers.

Eighteen beautiful years.

I love Big D!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (That’s eighteen exclamation marks.)

A little later this summer Big D is going to Mongolia.

Mongolia.  Until just a few years ago, I had given very little thought to the country of Mongolia.  It ranked right up there with the likes of Timbuktu, Djibouti, and Belize as far as geography was concerned.  I knew it was the country of Genghis Khan….and that was about it.

Then in 2006, my pastor and his family just up and became missionaries to Mongolia, and what do you know?….Mongolia became a place we heard about quite a bit and talked about over dinner and coffee.  (Obviously there’s a little….or a lot….more to the Andersons’ story which you can read about and follow at www.remembermongolia.org .)

Big D was invited on a missions trip to Mongolia with Watermelon Ministry to help with some photography projects.  It was a no-brainer for us really.  As soon as Big D told me he had been invited, I knew it was the right thing for him to do.  I say that nonchalantly, but that in itself is a major God-thing, as sometimes I’m not sure I want Big D to go to Kroger without me.  Sending him half-way around the world is a big step of faith for me…and him…and all of us.

Since that time just a couple of months ago so many things have fallen into place that it’s just crazy to think about.  I would not have been more in awe if I had woken up one morning to a neon sign flashing “Go to Mongolia!” in our front yard.

Spiritually, Mongolia is a dark country.  One thing Big D wanted to do was have a little something to give to locals as he took their pictures.   He thought of flashlights, and on a whim, he contacted www.coastportland.com to see if there was any way they would like to assist is bringing light, literally and figuratively, to Mongolia.  They said “yes”!

Yesterday Big D got a big box from Coast, and I’ve never seen him more excited.

Light.  Lots and lots of light….batteries included!

Big D  is a big fan of LED lights (so is Dirty Harry and his bird chest), so it was like Christmas opening the box because Coast included more than the 100 little lights.  They sent the two lights Big D is opening above.  They sent the lantern you see here…

And they sent this…

The X21.  Now I don’t know a ton about LED lights, but apparently this is the brightest one there is.  It is the Big Daddy of LEDs.

If the X21 had been on when I took this picture, I would be blind now…or dead.  Maybe.

We don’t even know exactly what Big D is going to be doing with these hundreds of dollars worth of lights yet, but God most definitely has a plan, and I’m getting so excited to see what that is.  Stay tuned as I’ll be following the saga here on my blog every step of the way!

In the meantime, let your light shine, people!