Saturday, November 30, 2013

Paintball

We just had the annual Galloway Paintball fight.  We have been playing since Eric and I were in college.  We started with a few trees and pump guns.  NOW Mr Gary has a 4 acre field that includes a speed ball course in the middle and two main forts, one with a crows nest.  The ages and guns vary but let me warn you that age does come before beauty when they are carrying a fully automatic gun.

This year the grand kids have become very excited about playing.  It was a great day filled with plenty of paint and lots of Stories.  It is fun to watch the personalities of the kids come out.  Sawyer shot everything even if nothing was there.  Evie was new to game but was up for anything.  Gage is a glory days type of player, most of his stories get better as he tells them.  The highlight story came from the game where all the kids decided to cover the fort by staying in the crows nest.  Of course the parents got caught up in the actions and left the kids behind to "guard" the fort by them selves.  All of a sudden you hear across the entire field Hutch screaming at the top of his lungs over and over again.   When we asked that kids what happened Evie said, "I told him they would stop shooting him if he got out of the door way".  It seems that when heavy fire came on the crows nest Hutch was taking cover  in the entry way.  When we asked him why he wouldn't get down he responded "I was out and they wouldn't let me climb down."


#City Girl lesson
I have heard all types of debates about gun safety.  I used to be indifferent to the discuss.  But in the last couple of years being surrounded by guns, we had to train our children about guns.  This way they have learned at a young age an healthy respect for the danger that Guns can cause.  It required effort on our parts to train and teach.  We as a nation are getting confused by dealing with the consequence of not training kids properly and handling a problem before it presents itself.  Listen I am still new to this so if you want to get into a discussion about Gun Control my husband would love to battle it out with you.  But I will say, Train your child how to handle themselves before they are faced with situations.   An important part of parenting is to prepare your children for life and don't shield them from it.

Train up a child in the way he should go, And when he is old he will not depart from it. Proverbs 22:6

Saturday, November 23, 2013

Spending "Quality Time" at the Dove field

My husband and sons were invited to a dove shoot, which normally means a quiet afternoon of anything I want to do.  This particular trip my husband put in for me to go with him.  I agreed and we all got dressed in our Camouflage.  When we arrive the boys find the local trampoline and proceed to fight with each other like all good brothers do.  When the call came to hit the fields.  I look at Curt who is covered in dirt from the Trampoline and say "You are sure dirty."  He responded with "Mom getting dirty is what Dove hunting is all about."


 After Finding the perfect shooting spot (the shade tree)  my Husband Sets up.  Mr Don, our preacher begins to build him a Blind out of the dead peanut plants lying around.  And then it is time for the boys to "scout out" the area.  Shoot anything that moves with a BB gun and play in the tall grass.  Hunting is serious business ;)



Thankfully the owner of the place is willing to let me use their restroom so that makes my day much better :).  When I return I find that all three of the boys are making blinds.  While Hutch and Gage made their own.  Curt just sat behind Mr Don's and talked his ear off.  Not a single bird and the boys are having a blast preparing for the birds to come.  Finally when Eric and I start talking about leaving the birds start flying.  I will admit the adrenaline that comes with a bird hunting is a lot of fun.  One bird would fly in and the whole field would become a war zone.  Sadly we went home with nothing to show for our hunt, but the men nor the boys don't seem to mind.  They made cool Blinds, shot stuff and got Dirty.  And if we remember our conversation with Curtis that is what Dove hunting is all about.



Wife Lesson:
Anyone who has relationships with other people need to read about Love Languages.  It gives you and deeper understanding how how to communicate with each other and why you respond to certain things the way you do.  My Husband's Love Language is Quality time; which means he wants me to be "with" him.  When I ask him what is his favorite thing about our marriage, the answer is us sitting around having Coffee together in the mornings.  I can tell him how awesome he is (because Words of affirmation is my language) and that doesn't mean very much if I am not willing to be with him when he ask.  SO the idea of Dove hunting may not have been top of my priority list but realizing my Husband's need for me to show him love by sitting "with" him in a field will go a long way at making our relationship better.  It is easy to focus on our needs and our language, but the truth behind any good relationship is putting someone else needs above your own.  God will bless that type of behavior and the more unselfish your behavior is the more Glory to God you show your spouse.