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Camellias & Copper

A Southern Girl's Blog About Life

Hijacked – It’s Been a While

by Filed Under: Being a Mom Leave a Comment

There were several directions I could have gone with this post. I even thought about prefacing with a warning to read with your perkiest voice because I didn’t want it to sound whiney, like when my current three-year-old asks for something to eat because he’s starving….

But then I decided to completely switch directions. It’s been a while since I wrote about being hijacked by one of our kids 😉 It used to happen quite often, when they were little and got sent home for all the things…

Well, Reynolds got sent home yesterday because he was coughing in class. It was a classic hijacking by one of the Lucas kids!
We are following all the school’s requirements at this point and waiting for a test result to come back before he goes back to school, hopefully and Lord-willing, tomorrow.

In the meantime, we are enjoying our cough-free home time together today.

This morning he had completed all his school work by the time I got home from Pilates at 9am. NINE am. He asked, “Momma, can we go on a walk?” Why of course! That’s what was next on my to-do list. 🙂
He rode his bike, we took Bleu and enjoyed the cool weather together. It was a shorter walk than normal, when we made our way back into the front yard. I asked if he wanted to keep going or be back home and he said he wanted to put up his bike and go back out, walking with me this time.

He even held my hand…

Andrew and I could be super annoyed that he’s hijacked our plans and having to be home when he seems perfectly healthy. And honestly, if I was still working full time at my previous job, I would be completely stressed out with this twist in the schedule/plan for the week. But today, I’ve decided to embrace the fact that he’s home, he’s well {still waiting on a test result to prove that} and we are enjoying being with him. We have even watched Home Alone and Home Alone 2…because, why not?

Until next time, and hopefully sooner…

A Tale of Emory + His Big Sister

by Filed Under: Being a Mom Leave a Comment

If you’ve met my youngest child, Emory, who is everything boy, this story will not surprise you. I often post things like this about him on Facebook and Instagram because to be honest, he’s crazy. Manic at times. And Eliza Jane is typical middle child go-with-the-flow, I’ll do whatever anyone tells me to, which is not a good combo when Emory is ‘in charge’.

Here we go: yesterday school was over for the two big kids so I told everyone to shut off their Chromebooks because Lord knows 7.5 hours on technology will fry one’s brain cells. Remember that commercial in the 80’s or 90’s with the egg in the frying pan – the ‘this is your brain on drugs’ commercial? Well, I feel like that’s how we’re all going to feel in about 40 years, from being on these dang computers all.day.long.
I digress.

I told the kids to shut off their Chromebooks and go outside to play. Emory promptly burst into tears, picked his up and started to walk outside WITH it in his clammy little hands!

“No sir.” I said, sternly. More tears.
I took the Chromebook back inside and sat it on the dining room table where he and Eliza Jane had been doing their school work.
Now, side note, Emory is technically not in school, but when brother and sister are constantly on their devices he feels left out so I let him do “school work” aka PBS Kids for the last 30 min of the school day. #winning

Okay, so we were all outside playing, having a jolly good time when Reynolds made Eliza Jane mad/sad/emotional, so she had a meltdown and asked to go see the neighbor. Sure. Whatever. Stop crying.

Some short time later, I walked into the house through the front door and lo and behold Eliza Jane AND Emory are sitting at his Chromebook watching a show. I was like, “WHATAREYOUDOING!?”
“Get OUTSIDE!!”

Back out they went. Not long after that, as I stood in the kitchen chopping garlic for our supper…. I looked out the window and realized I didn’t see any of my three children.
I walked to the back deck and yelled for them.
Nothing.
I yelled louder.
Still Nothing.
Not trying to sound completely hysterical, I yelled one last time.
“M’am!?” Came Reynolds’ voice from the garage. We talked; He obviously couldn’t hear me screaming. And he had no clue where his brother or sister were.

I walked back inside the house and through the front windows, noticed them sitting on the bench on the front porch.
I walked to the front door, opened the door and proceeded to ask what they were doing and I get this mischievous look from Emory, who AT THE SAME TIME IS CLOSING/CLUTCHING his Chromebook and for the second time in less than 15 minutes I was stunned!
This literally cannot be happening. I’m banging my head on a brick wall. NO.One. is listening/obeying.

I grabbed the Chromebook and sent both kids to their rooms for deliberately disobeying me.

the dynamic duo

Y’all won’t believe this.

Less than five minutes passed and I heard them upstairs chatting it up like they’re at the ice cream shop! I walked up the stairs, and Emory is UNDER THE BED talking and presumably hiding with Eliza Jane.

“GET.OUT.” I said. And without a peep, he got up and went back to his room, where again, he burst into tears.

I may have thrown my hands up in the air. Blown away. Y’all. This kid is the reason I dye my hair. God knows I love him to bits, but Lord help me I am silver-headed.

In the midst of his final melt-down, somehow he gave up and passed out.
#Iwon.

Until next time…

Grateful & Good Things

by Filed Under: Being a Mom, Friendship, Life Leave a Comment

Can I first admit to you that I never dreamed the traction Monday’s post about Hair Dye, Botox and Lip Filler would generate?! You ladies are enthusiastic about staving off the wrinkles, gray hair and deflated lips. haha
But seriously, it was fun to read all the comments posted on FaceBook about who does what, etc. I’m not quite brave enough to do anything besides coloring my hair but you bet I’ll share here when I do!

So, today is Wednesday and while I don’t have really anything earth-shattering to share, I did want to encourage you to think on something or someone for which you are grateful today. Andrew and I have tried {sometimes we forget} to ask our kids at the dinner table each night to tell us either something that they’re grateful for or something good that happened to them, that day.

Kids are funny. Sometimes they squinch their noses and “uhhhhhh” for about an eternity, but finally they’ll give up an answer. And that answer usually sparks some sort of good/funny/interesting conversation at the table. It’s also something besides that blah question, “How was school today?”

I invite you to use this tonight, wherever you are and even if you don’t have anyone to say it out-loud to – I’m happy to listen! – acknowledge something you’re thankful for, or something good that happened to you today.

I’ll start by saying I’m thankful for my friend Sheri AND the good thing is that I got to see her for the first time today since February! We met for a walk this afternoon and got to start our catch-up conversation. She noted that we’re only about 1/3 of the way through our catch-up when we got back to our cars….there’s so much to talk about! Hopefully we won’t have to wait so long to have the rest of our catch-up conversation 🙂

Enjoy sharing your grateful and good thing moments tonight!

Until next time…

Mom’s Tray

by Filed Under: Being a Mom, Decorating/Remodeling, Life 2 Comments

I am not going to make this a sappy post. I told my best friend, Ann earlier today that I wouldn’t so I will keep my word on that.

Tomorrow, October 3rd, is the four year anniversary of my Mother’s death. As I was thinking about this earlier in the week I first sort of relived her last weeks on this earth, and more specifically, her last two days.

I told you I wasn’t going to make this sappy, so I’m not going to share all the rememberings with you. Instead, I’ll share with you that as I spent some time reflecting, I walked around my house and looked at some of the things that were either once hers or had been given to me by her.

One item in particular that I stopped and beheld was this wooden tray.


My mother loved to cross-stitch when I was younger. I’ve shared with y’all before the Christmas ornaments she made for my cousins, brother and me when we were all little. Her thing was cross-stitching. She even took the time to teach me as a little girl, and I found joy in it just as she did.

I have to say that I don’t really remember anything about this tray. When she stitched it, or where it would have ‘lived’ in our house growing up, or even how I came to acquire it – other than I must have asked for it after she passed.

The tray sat for a while on the bookshelves in our den, not really in a place where it was seen, or where you could admire her handiwork…the details of the fruits. Some might would say that it’s dated or ‘old’ looking…but not me. It holds too much meaning to me now. I always loved how she signed her initials on the pieces she stitched.

The tray got put in a closet sometime last year when I was rearranging the decor on the bookshelves, maybe at Christmas, and sadly it never got put back out. Just a few weeks ago I got tired of all the clutter that somehow amasses on my kitchen counter {anyone else?} and was looking for something to corral the necessary items. After I had tried a few other trays that just didn’t seem to work how I wanted them to, I remembered this special tray that was just waiting in the upstairs closet.

I don’t pride myself on being a decorator…and my style is sometimes yet to be determined, but I like a mix of old and new, classic and whimsy. I added the few things that I wanted to be on the counter {not the papers, receipts or magazines!} to the tray and arranged them in a way that you could see most of the cross-stitch design. Every morning as I go to turn on that little candlestick lamp {which burned me just now by-the-way}, I take a glimpse of that design and smile. I have to ponder of her, as she sat and stitched that pattern so many years ago, did she ever wonder where her little tray would end up. Whose counter it would sit on and the trinkets it would contain…even a photo of her youngest grandson, whom she was never able to hold…

Thanks for the tray, Mom…it sure is special, just as you were.

One of the last photos I ever took of her. July 2016, Amelia Island FL.

“You are the finest, loveliest, tenderest, and most beautiful person I have ever known—and even that is an understatement.” F. Scott Fitzgerald

September Rewind

by Filed Under: Being a Mom, Faith, Life, Travel Leave a Comment

This has always been one of my favorite posts to write because it gives me the opportunity to go back and see all the things we have done in just a month! I often find myself thinking, “WOW! That seems like so long ago, and yet, it was just…two weeks ago.” ha.

Okay so here goes…

We started the month off with a fun weekend trip up to Saluda/Hendersonville, NC.
If you’ve never seen Pearson’s Falls…you must. It’s so majestic and peaceful, and in the middle of the woods. The last time I had been there was in 2006, when I was going through a very difficult time in my life. A dear friend sent me to Saluda for the weekend and told me just to spend some time with the Lord and I did. I remembered sitting at the base of the falls that weekend for hours just thinking about all the things going on in my life then. This time, the trip was a little shorter, but seeing the falls and allowing the splendor of it all to wash over me was rich.

Along with our weekend trip to the mountains of NC was of course, apple picking! We went to Justus Orchard, at the recommendation of a friend who also has small children that need to be entertained. 🙂 It was so perfect for our family. We arrived early Saturday morning, beating some of the crowd {and yes, it got crowded}. We picked apples, fed farm animals, shot apples at Big Foot through an apple launcher – who knew!? – jumped on the biggest air pillow jumpy thing that I’ve ever seen in my LIFE! We drank apple cider slushies, ate apple doughnuts and fritters…it was all of my Fall dreams come true in one beautiful day.

Back at home and certainly with the Fall ‘itch’, Eliza Jane and I went to Wal-Mart and Kirkland’s to grab a few things to decorate the house for Fall. The front porch turned out cute, with our little scarecrows. Do you see the kids there? Eliza Jane has a flower for a head, Emory is the orange one because he has orange hair and Reynolds is the cute one with a vest! ->that was all Eliza Jane’s idea!

September was also a great month for weather in Columbia. A few mornings and afternoons were spent working outside. I finished putting together my Cultivate What Matters Powersheets for the month – talk about an accomplishment! Read more on that here.
I also started a new Bible study by Staci Eldredge, ‘Becoming Myself’, that has been a different sort of study for me, but incredible nonetheless.

After a few weeks of our church having to close it’s doors due to COVID, we were finally able to go back again and the kiddos all decided to wear stripes on our first Sunday back <3 Aren’t they adorable?

Like many families, soccer has started back for us this Fall. Can I say that I am SO thankful that my kids have organized sporting to do? I am. This pandemic has been so hard on everyone, I realize that, but especially on kids. There’s so much that they can’t understand/comprehend so to be able to allow them to run around and play with other kids has been a tremendous blessing on our lives.
Last Saturday they all had games at the same time {two are on one team, one is on a different team} so Andrew, my dad, his parents and some friends, rotated from one end of the field to the other so we could see all the kids play. I took this photo of the three of them after their games…looking like a posse ready to take over the playground.

I AM A HOPE*WRITER!!!! There, I said it out loud.
For several years now I have written blog posts as my creative outlet. I have felt like writing is a gift the Lord has given me and I want to use it to bring joy, hope, love and laughter to those who read it. I joined the Hope*Writers community this month to learn more about this art form and to establish a better writing rhythm so that I can share my gift more faithfully with you, my readers.

Ah…probably the best thing that happened this month. Reynolds was baptized. Bless his heart, he walked the aisle so many months ago and consistently asked when he could get baptized. When COVID shut everything down, all we could tell him was “when church opens back up.” Well then church opened back up, but baptisms weren’t part of the agenda and then church shut back down. We were not disheartened. We kept telling Reynolds that he would be baptized when the time was right. We also kept reaffirming that he understood what it meant to be baptized, and true to his smart, seven-year-old-self, he did.
Last Sunday, when we finally got to go back again after the second shut down, he wrote on his paper that he turned in to our Children’s Minister that he wanted to be baptized. Pastopher, as we all call him, knew this was a desire on Reynolds’ heart so he texted me the following Monday and said that they were starting to schedule baptisms, when did we want to plan for it. I replied, “Is this Sunday too soon? My dad will be here for his birthday and that would be perfect timing for us.” Done.
I love this photo on so many levels…I also love that little boy and am so thankful for those who have told him about and shown him the love of Jesus so that his heart could be captured for the Kingdom.

Photo Cred: April @ First Baptist Church Columbia

Last but certainly not least…PopPop with his grand kids. My dad was here for his birthday so we celebrated with a small group of friends by grilling out and watching football on the back deck. For dessert he had a carrot cake and Petit-Fours from Tiffany’s bakery and per the kids’ request, I made a Grammy cake…it was the perfect trio.

Ah…my heart is so full after reliving these precious moments. I was listening to a podcast earlier this morning talking about making time for reflection. I don’t do that very often, do you?
I think the one time I may do it well, is when I write this type of post. Looking back over a month always has me thankful in so many ways and maybe that’s the point of reflection and rewinding…seeing where we’ve been so we can make plans to move forward.

Until next time dear friend…

Current Goals :: September Edition

by Filed Under: Being a Mom, Life 3 Comments

Y’all. Do you ever get overwhelmed with all.the.things. on your plate? Yes. Right? If you’re anything like me, the response is more like, “ALL.THE.TIME.”

I attended IF:Lead 2020 earlier in August, and the ticket I purchased included a box of fabulous goodies, because if there’s an option to get a fun box of amazing things, you go all in, right? Yes.

So I went all in and got the box of goodies with my ticket and when I got to open my box, among many amazing things was a Goal Planner from Cultivate What Matters. First of all, if you’re already doing power sheets, you’re ahead of the game. If you’ve NEVER heard of these – like me before IF:Lead – you NEED to know about this planner. It’s incredible.

I was able to write down all the things that are taking up my time {hello, laundry!}, and then figure out the things I WANT to be doing with my waking hours. I mean, who actually WANTS to scroll social media platforms for an hour a day? No one over the age of 30. So why are we? hmmm. We need goals and things to DO, to keep our minds and our hands busy. But not just busy work, things that matter and bring joy to your life.

From start to finish, it took me just a little over a month to complete – mainly because I was not consistent in working through my planner {too much going on}. All that to say, I’ve got one week left to finish the goals I have for September.

Mind you, my goals are most likely VERY different from yours. Especially if you are a man. And especially if your day doesn’t look like mine 🙂 And most likely your life isn’t the same as mine. So…allow me grace. And allow yourself grace.

My current goals, to finish September, from big-picture-month-view are:
1. Have coffee/date time with two friends {because I have a great desire to nurture the friendships in my life, and this is a great way to do that}
2. Cannot purchase clothing or home items {because I went WAY overboard earlier in the month and well, we need to get back on track, ha}
3. Look at our next family vacation and take a step in planning – book hotel, purchase needed tickets, etc.
4. Look at next weekend getaway for Andrew & me and take a step in planning
5. Walk every day

These monthly goals are actually broken down by week and then day on my ‘Tending List’ – which is part of the planner and it sits on my desk so that I see it every day and can remind myself of the things I am supposed to be doing vs not doing.

I’m curious about what you have on your goal list currently…if it’s just a goal to finish the week, the month or even the year, please share!

Ps…want some encouragement on being a friend? Be Known Podcast has a great new episode <3

Until next time…

More Than Just a Bathroom Remodel

by Filed Under: Being a Mom, Faith 2 Comments

Today is Friday. Already a busy morning: the dog is at the groomers, the kids are at Little Gym, I’ve walked, showered and gone to check on a master bathroom remodel we are doing.

There were times at the beginning of the quarantine where I was bored to tears. Unable to do anything, go anywhere, see anyone, etc. And all I could do was hang out with the kids all day. Now, we are somewhat back to normal with routines, and camps and projects and plans. A few days I find myself wishing for just a little bit of the quarantine life with all its boredom.

On the other hand, in the wonderfulness of the Lord and how He is orchestrating all the things, I have had the opportunity to talk with the lady of the house where we are doing the remodel. A lady I was familiar with as we go to the same church and I’ve had some interactions with her. But now, on a much closer level – I get to talk to her just about every single day.

(Maybe she won’t see this post…)

Some of my favorite days are when I go over to check on the project and then I end up sitting at her kitchen table with her, just talking. She tells me stories of when her kids were little and asks me about our kids. When I tell her about the things that drive me crazy or where I’m struggling as a mom, she offers shrewd advice and prayers. And I know she prays for me. Most days her Bible is still open on the table, papers strewn around it – all her notes of things and people she prays for…

She’s not that much older than me, but her kids are grown and moved away. And she has some of the sweetest things to say, and she pours into me, whether she realizes it or not. Though I’m sure on some level, she does know what she’s doing.

I cherish it.

My mother isn’t around for me to sit at a kitchen table with her. To talk about all the things of motherhood. And yet this woman, who doesn’t have a daughter or daughter-in-law, has acted in so many ways as a mother to me.

And here I was thinking I was just going to be helping her with a master bathroom remodel.

Yes, the Lord is sovereign and yes he is good. And he brings people into our lives right at the most opportune time. Who has he put in your life today? How will you be a blessing to him or to her? Will you allow the Lord to use you in such a way that they may go home and think about what a blessing you are to them?

Lord, may I be as much or more of a blessing to someone today as this woman is to me.

Have a great weekend y’all…until next time,

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