Thursday, February 10, 2011
Monday, November 1, 2010
Monday, July 19, 2010
Books and Rodeos
Scott was busy renewing his concealed carrier permit on Friday and Saturday, so the kids and I roughed it alone. Saturday we had a birthday party for some sweet friends and then hit the rodeo.
Going to the rodeo is just about the best thing in the world to a 3 year old boy. Sam loved it!!! He got all dressed up in his little wrangers, sparkly belt, boots. He was wide eyed the entire time, which was pretty amazing considering the rodeo started at 8 and he had been up all day.
The highlight of the show was the calf scramble. About halfway through the rodeo the announcer called all the kids 12 and under to the arena floor. Scott and I looked at each other and quickly decided that Sam was too little. However, when it registered with Sam that all the other kids were going...he declared that he was big enough. So, away Scott and Sam went.
Sam ran out to the middle of the arena with the other kids and they let two calves loose. The objective was to rip off the ribbon tied around the calves necks. Sam didn't get close enough to grab any ribbons, but he also didn't get trampled by a calf or another kid. I quickly declared him the cutest little cowboy in the group and thanked God that he wasn't hurt!
We spent Sunday at Huntsville State Park with Nana and Pops. They are camping there right now, so we went over for the day to play. We fished and hiked and ate food cooked over a campfire. Every one was exhausted last night and woke up this morning with hangovers from all the fun!
We've also been reading a lot lately and stumbled on some great books from our church library. They are part of a series called Building Christian Character. We are working to build foundations of theology with Sam, but sometimes things go awry.
For example....
Sam: "Mom, I have a tummy bug today."
Me: "Oh Sam, I'm sorry that your tummy is hurting."
Sam: "Mom, I think my tummy bug may eat Jesus up in my heart."
Sam: "Dad, did you know that God killed Jesus?"
Scott: long pause
Sam: "Yep, he killed him . Isn't that great?"
Sam: "Mom, Jesus lives in my heart."
Me: long pause
Sam: "Now he can't live in your heart anymore"
You can see our stellar parent skills on display in these moments!
Thursday, July 15, 2010
Updates
It's July 15th, 2010. Summer if flying by too quickly.
Lots of thoughts today.
Too many to write.
Instead, a kid update.
Reagan is rocking along. She loves to play with Sam and is expressing herself more and more. Her verbal skills are improving, but she understand much more than she can say so we've been seeing the "terrible 2's" tantrums start. I'm wiser this time around and much more patient than I was with Sam. She is maybe the cutest thing I've ever seen. She still has Shirley Temple ringlets and random people seem insistent on touching her curls. I've perfected my "get your hands off my baby or I'm going to punch you in the face" look.
Reagan loves Scott. Both kids will yell "DAADDDDYYYY" as soon as they hear the garage door go up at night and they run to him. Reagan also loves to read. Gosse and Gerti is our current favorite.
Sam is our little cowboy. He has a new behavior chart and is working hard to earn his magnets each day. He is a smart little cookie and constantly amazes us with the things he picks up. This week he was playing and all of the sudden he broke out into tears. When asked what was wrong he said "I don't have a cow to rope and that makes me sad." Poor little guy, but hooray for emotional development. :)
Sam's favorite thing to do is work with daddy or pretend to shoot birds in the backyard. He might be a lawyer with all of the negotiating skills he's learning. An example...
Me: "Sam, it's time to go to bed."
Sam: "But, Mom. This is the choice. I stay up and watch a cartoon or I stay up and watch a cartoon. ok, ok, OK?"
And stay up he would...Sam is a night owl. Reagan goes to bed at 8 or she falls asleep wherever she is at 9. Sam would stay up until midnight if we let him. And truthfully, sometimes I do. Some of my favorite memories with him this summer include staying up late watching a movie together after Dad and Sister have gone to bed. Good, times.
It's hot in Texas right now. Blistering hot. We are surviving, but I'm already dreaming of fall.
I hope it's not fall when I do my next post!
Lots of thoughts today.
Too many to write.
Instead, a kid update.
Reagan is rocking along. She loves to play with Sam and is expressing herself more and more. Her verbal skills are improving, but she understand much more than she can say so we've been seeing the "terrible 2's" tantrums start. I'm wiser this time around and much more patient than I was with Sam. She is maybe the cutest thing I've ever seen. She still has Shirley Temple ringlets and random people seem insistent on touching her curls. I've perfected my "get your hands off my baby or I'm going to punch you in the face" look.
Reagan loves Scott. Both kids will yell "DAADDDDYYYY" as soon as they hear the garage door go up at night and they run to him. Reagan also loves to read. Gosse and Gerti is our current favorite.
Sam is our little cowboy. He has a new behavior chart and is working hard to earn his magnets each day. He is a smart little cookie and constantly amazes us with the things he picks up. This week he was playing and all of the sudden he broke out into tears. When asked what was wrong he said "I don't have a cow to rope and that makes me sad." Poor little guy, but hooray for emotional development. :)
Sam's favorite thing to do is work with daddy or pretend to shoot birds in the backyard. He might be a lawyer with all of the negotiating skills he's learning. An example...
Me: "Sam, it's time to go to bed."
Sam: "But, Mom. This is the choice. I stay up and watch a cartoon or I stay up and watch a cartoon. ok, ok, OK?"
And stay up he would...Sam is a night owl. Reagan goes to bed at 8 or she falls asleep wherever she is at 9. Sam would stay up until midnight if we let him. And truthfully, sometimes I do. Some of my favorite memories with him this summer include staying up late watching a movie together after Dad and Sister have gone to bed. Good, times.
It's hot in Texas right now. Blistering hot. We are surviving, but I'm already dreaming of fall.
I hope it's not fall when I do my next post!
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
Sunday, June 13, 2010
Caged
This morning my pastor encouraged us to pick up a copy of Mark Batterson’s book “Wild Goose Chase” and return in the evening for the beginning of a study on the Holy Spirit and so I bought the book and took it home to read.
Scott and I spent the better part of an hour reading the book. I felt the Spirit move in my heart as I was challenged to think outside the cage of church. I felt challenged. I couldn’t wait for the study to begin.
We arrived and quickly discovered that we were outnumbered. We were outnumbered by old people. It was Sunday evening at 5:30 and these faithful followers of Christ were reporting for duty. We saw one other couple in the crowd that perhaps was under 40. Undeterred, I got my book and journal out. The Spirit was going to move. I was sure of it.
But then something tragic happened.
The doors were shut. The cage closed.
The service started.
The music minister did what he was supposed to do. He led us in 3 songs and told two bad jokes. He encouraged us once to think about God as we sang and then prepared the crowd that at our next meeting we would be learning a new song. Change can be hard, I guess.
Then the minister in charge of teaching for the night got up.
I’m not sure he got the right book. He talked about time management skills and making priorities for things in life that are important. He talked about schedules and how to budget our time. He provided 4 copies of some self help book on controlling urgency in our lives.
My husband yawned.
That afternoon when we were reading we couldn’t stop. We talked about scripture. We prayed.
As I realized that the minister was nearing the end of his time, I felt sad. We missed it. Again, we missed it. I wanted to scream out that time management is the very antithesis of the Holy Spirit. I wanted to demand to know when we would stop setting for milk and cry out for the meat of scripture.
I realized that in many ways Batterson has it right.
Church can cage in Christians in the same ways that guilt, fear, failure, responsibility, and assumptions can.
I want out of the cage.
Scott and I spent the better part of an hour reading the book. I felt the Spirit move in my heart as I was challenged to think outside the cage of church. I felt challenged. I couldn’t wait for the study to begin.
We arrived and quickly discovered that we were outnumbered. We were outnumbered by old people. It was Sunday evening at 5:30 and these faithful followers of Christ were reporting for duty. We saw one other couple in the crowd that perhaps was under 40. Undeterred, I got my book and journal out. The Spirit was going to move. I was sure of it.
But then something tragic happened.
The doors were shut. The cage closed.
The service started.
The music minister did what he was supposed to do. He led us in 3 songs and told two bad jokes. He encouraged us once to think about God as we sang and then prepared the crowd that at our next meeting we would be learning a new song. Change can be hard, I guess.
Then the minister in charge of teaching for the night got up.
I’m not sure he got the right book. He talked about time management skills and making priorities for things in life that are important. He talked about schedules and how to budget our time. He provided 4 copies of some self help book on controlling urgency in our lives.
My husband yawned.
That afternoon when we were reading we couldn’t stop. We talked about scripture. We prayed.
As I realized that the minister was nearing the end of his time, I felt sad. We missed it. Again, we missed it. I wanted to scream out that time management is the very antithesis of the Holy Spirit. I wanted to demand to know when we would stop setting for milk and cry out for the meat of scripture.
I realized that in many ways Batterson has it right.
Church can cage in Christians in the same ways that guilt, fear, failure, responsibility, and assumptions can.
I want out of the cage.
Friday, May 7, 2010
Bathing in the Backyard
Oh, how I wish I had stopped to snap some photos last night. But when you are running around the backyard with your 3 year old it's tough to remember things like that!
Last night Scott was able to come home from work early. We had dinner and then spent some time working in the garden. We trimmed our tomato plant, which is MASSIVE and watered newly planted squash and eggplant. Then we decided for a walk around the neighborhood.
Sam loves to ride his John Deer tractor, so he took the lead as our official "line leader." Being the line leader means that you get to be super bossy with the rest of the family making sure no one tries any funny business....like cutting. It's serious work.
We made it home which is a miracle in and of itself. Reagan usually becomes bored with riding at the halfway point and chooses to walk by herself. When you are 1 year old everything is big and exciting. Every rock. Every dirt pile. Every neighbor. You get the idea.
When we got home it was still warm outside and I was thinking about baths. So, despite protests from my husband, I stripped the kids and got out the water hose in the backyard. They ran around the yard and I hit them with the water, soaped them up, and rinsed. Reagan has too much Scott in her and decided this was no fun at all. So, she and Scott snuggled while Sam and I played. Sam has a little of his momma running through his veins. He loved the silliness. He ran around for almost 45 minutes. Part of that time he took the hose and in the end we both ended up soaked from head to toe.
I wish all that running meant that he fell right asleep, but no one was that lucky. I wasn't in the mood to fight bedtime so I opted for a camp out instead. We used the kitchen chairs to build our tent and then slept underneath it together. Of couse we didn't have to worry about bugs or wild animals...Sam had his trusted lantern on ALL NIGHT to keep them at bay!
What a great start to Mother's Day weekend!
Last night Scott was able to come home from work early. We had dinner and then spent some time working in the garden. We trimmed our tomato plant, which is MASSIVE and watered newly planted squash and eggplant. Then we decided for a walk around the neighborhood.
Sam loves to ride his John Deer tractor, so he took the lead as our official "line leader." Being the line leader means that you get to be super bossy with the rest of the family making sure no one tries any funny business....like cutting. It's serious work.
We made it home which is a miracle in and of itself. Reagan usually becomes bored with riding at the halfway point and chooses to walk by herself. When you are 1 year old everything is big and exciting. Every rock. Every dirt pile. Every neighbor. You get the idea.
When we got home it was still warm outside and I was thinking about baths. So, despite protests from my husband, I stripped the kids and got out the water hose in the backyard. They ran around the yard and I hit them with the water, soaped them up, and rinsed. Reagan has too much Scott in her and decided this was no fun at all. So, she and Scott snuggled while Sam and I played. Sam has a little of his momma running through his veins. He loved the silliness. He ran around for almost 45 minutes. Part of that time he took the hose and in the end we both ended up soaked from head to toe.
I wish all that running meant that he fell right asleep, but no one was that lucky. I wasn't in the mood to fight bedtime so I opted for a camp out instead. We used the kitchen chairs to build our tent and then slept underneath it together. Of couse we didn't have to worry about bugs or wild animals...Sam had his trusted lantern on ALL NIGHT to keep them at bay!
What a great start to Mother's Day weekend!
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