Bringing Up Boys

The Giving Discussion

2011-01-09T22:26:00.003-06:00

Some very good friends of ours gave our boys a $100 bill today and told them that they wanted the boys to pick where they would like to donate it. So tonight when the boys were going to bed, we had the following discussion:

Me: So guys, who do you think you will give the money that Mrs. Deb and Mr. Pat gave to you?

David: To the orphans

Me: Do you want to give it to the Children's home here or some other program that helps orphans?

David: We could give it here or we could also give it to our church.

Me: Nathan, what do you think?

Nathan: I think we should use it to buy us some orphans.

Me: Nathan, you don't buy orphans. They are people, and you don't buy people. Deciding to adopt a child is an important decision and it takes a lot of thought and a lot of work.

Nathan: Well, I think we should get us some orphans even if we don't have to buy them.

David: Yeah, we should adopt another kid, but can you make sure he is younger than me because I like being the oldest.

Nathan: I think we need to get a girl because we only have one girl in our family.

Me: Guys, adoption is a very serious process that takes a lot of time.

David: Yeah, and when you adopt a child, you don't look at what is on the outside; you look at what's on the inside. Well....you can't really do that because...

Nathan: (interrupting David) You can do an x-ray of her to see her insides.

David: I meant that you don't really get to know someone before you adopt them Nathan.

Nathan: Ohhhhhhhhhh...

I think they still have some thinking to do, but I love their hearts. We had a long talk about adoption and the reasons why children go live in a children's home. We have had family members and good friends who have struggled and hurt through the process of adoption, as well as those that we love who have been fulfilled with the process when they were finally able to get their son or daughter in their arms, and we want them to understand that process, although they are still immature boys that don't completely understand where babies even come from. (THAT story is one of my next posts! haha!)

I will let you know what they decide to do with the money.

2011 - A time for new beginnings...

2011-01-01T10:36:00.002-06:00

and blog posts!!! I cannot believe that I missed the entire year of 2010 on this blog. I won't lie. It was kind of a tough year at our house. A lot of changes happened. A lot of struggles and worries occurred. However, we are blessed that our children have been healthy and are growing up on us. They are good boys...each with their own struggles, just like their mom and dad.

We are excited about 2011. We are excited about the things to come and pray for a more peaceful year. One of my resolutions is to start writing on the blog again because I love doing it and want a way to remember all these fun stories about the boys. Don't expect posts every day because I am not THAT good, but you might want to check in every once in awhile to see what we have been up to lately.

Blessings to each of you in 2011!

Back to School!

2009-08-13T19:30:00.006-05:00

School started back on Monday. I am not so sure that the boys were ready to give up their summertime freedom of playing all day, but tonight, I overheard Nathan say, "I sure wish school was open every day of the week! I guess that getting back to school is not such a bad thing!

David is in Second Grade, and his teacher is Mrs. Adams, who goes to church with us. We are all very excited about it. She is a great teacher and a good friend, and I am excited for all the things David will learn from her. It is only the first week of school and already we have learned that he wll have to work on is his talking! That has become a hot topic at our house because we have also been reminded this week that Nathan also needs to work on talking during class! Where did these kids come from?!? :)

At the end of last year, we decided that it would be good for Nathan to stay in Kindergarten another year just to give him a little more time to mature, and I am very glad that we did. Nathan has a great teacher, Mrs. Barden, and since he wants to go to school every day of the week, he apparently thinks that she is pretty great!

On a funny note, before school started on Monday, Brian asked Nathan if he was excited about his first day of school. Nathan responded, "Dad, it is not my first day of school! I have been to school before! This is the first day of the new season." He then walked out of the room and came and found me to say, "I used to think that Dad was smart, but now I know better!" Such a silly boy!

Here are a few pictures from the first day of school.

I am not so sure that David is into the whole hugging thing anymore! :)

The boys being silly.

Nathan at his desk

David at his desk

It's Time to Dust Off the Ol' Blog

2009-08-03T21:20:00.003-05:00

Hey everyone! It has been awhile since I've been on here, but I think it is time to start this blog back up. Schools about to start, so what better way to kick off some new posts. Check back in a day or two for some funny stories about the boys. For right now, I need to do a little more work on the new look of the blog.

Happy Birthday Nathan!

2008-12-23T21:46:00.004-06:00

Today we celebrated Nathan's 6th birthday. He got to celebrate the big day at Grandma Sandy's house with his cousins, which made the day pretty special. When he woke up this morning, Grandma Sandy made Nathan snowmen pancakes. He had asked for a snowman cake, so we also made that today. Tonight, Uncle Steve, Aunt Rachel and all the cousins came over for supper, cake and ice cream, and to watch Nathan open his presents.

The whole day would have gone off without a hitch, except Nathan happened to fall headfirst down the stairs that go to the basement. He ended up with a bump on his forehead, a rug burn above his upper lip, a bloody lip and what will probably be a black eye in the next few days. That put a small damper on the day, but he recovered quickly and the birthday ended well.

Here are some pictures from his big day:

A snowman pancake to start the day off

Getting ready to open his first present of the day

Nathan with his cake. He was not excited about getting
his picture taken because of his injuries.

This picture really doesn't show his injuries very well. They are much more

pitiful to see in person, but you can get the gist of the swollen lip,

the rug burn and a little bit of the swelling under his eye.

2008-12-11T15:38:00.002-06:00

Dear Brian,

Nine years ago today, we shared a pretty big day together. We stood up before a group of people and made some promises to each other, exchanged rings, and shared an awkward and very long moment at the unity candle wondering why we picked such a long song. You sang to me as I walked down the aisle towards you, and you still won't let me forget that I didn't cry a single tear during that whole ceremony. We gave each other our hearts, and you gave me your name. What a day!

Well, here we are nine years later. Some days it seems like that day just happened, and other days it seems like we have been together forever. We have grown up and grown together these past nine years, haven't we? We have handled some tough experiences and experienced some great times together.

There are so many reasons for why I am so thankful for you, but since we have been married for nine years, I will share nine reasons why I am thankful for you and why I love you.

I love to talk to you. I am so thankful that I can tell you anything. I am thankful for the insight that you have on situations and how you are able to make me see things from a different perspective. You listen to my thoughts, ideas, problems, concerns and dreams, and you never dismiss them as silly, dumb, or something you don't have time for, even if you don't agree with them or if they are crazy.
I love how you make me laugh. You have that sarcastic sense of humor, and you know exactly when to use it. I can be boiling mad, and you always know what to say to bring a smile to my face and a chuckle from my heart.
I love to watch you be a dad. You are a great dad. I love that you have taught our kids to place God first in their lives. I am so thankful that you are involved in our boys' lives and there is nothing better than watching you with them.
I am thankful that you help with the dishes and the laundry. You help me out so much, and I really appreciate it.
I love it when you stop by my office to bring me a cup of coffee. Nothing makes me feel better than knowing that you want to go out of your way to see me.
I am thankful that you let me work on cars with you. We haven't worked on a car together in awhile, but don't think that I have forgotten or will ever forget our first date! :)
I am so very thankful that you get rid of any mice caught in the mousetraps in our house and that you will kill the spiders in the boys' bathroom without me having to ask.
I am thankful for your God-centered heart, and your knowledge of the Bible.
Last but not least, I am thankful that you chose me. You could have picked any other girl, but you picked me and have completely given me your heart. I could not ask for anything more.

Brian, you are my best friend, and if you asked me to do it all over again, I would gladly marry you again in a heartbeat. Thanks for choosing me and for all that you do to make this family a great one.

I love you and I will never forget...

Stacey

Elvis

2008-11-11T11:41:00.002-06:00

The other night the boys and I were eating dinner, and Elvis came up in our discussion. (Don't ask...I cannot remember how.) As soon as his name was said, Nathan said, "I saw him in a concert, and Brock was there too." Here is the rest of our conversation.

I kind of chuckled and said, "I don't think so Nathan. Elvis is dead."

Nathan: "UH-UH!! ELVIS IS NOT DEAD!!! I SAW HIM!"

Me: "Seriously Nathan, he really died. People dress up like him sometimes, but Elvis really is dead."

Nathan: "NO! ELVIS IS NOT DEAD! I saw him and Brock was there too."

David: "He saw him at the Redbirds game Mom. Remember the guy who dressed up like him and was singing his songs. Brock was at that game too. Nathan, Elvis really is dead. He started Rock-N-Roll and then took too much medicine and died."

(At this point, I am sort of staring in shock at David.)

Nathan: "Ohhhhhhh. I guess he didn't have God in his heart, did he?"

Me: "Ummmm...he definitely made some bad choices in his life."

David: "Like what? What other bad choices did he make."

(Nothing like being put on the spot by your 7 year old.)

Me: "Well, he drank a lot of alcohol and got drunk, and God tells us in the Bible not to get drunk."

Nathan: "SOMEBODY DRANK ELVIS?????!!!!!"

Me: "Noooooo! He would drink stuff called alcohol and that can make you act crazy and it is called being drunk."

Nathan: "Ohhhhhh"

David: "So what is alcohol?"

(At this point, I was thinking, "Why isn't your dad here for supper tonight?!?!")

Me: "Alcohol is something that is in certain kinds of drinks. Beer has alcohol in it."

David: "ROOT BEER? I have had root beer before. Why did you let me drink something that would make me drunk?"

Me: "Root beer doesn't have alcohol in it...just plain ol' beer. Look, Elvis made some bad choices, and God wants us to make good choices instead. Now finish your supper up so that you have some time to play before bed."

That ended our Elvis conversation. I am going to bet that Nathan went to school and told somebody that Elvis is dead because someone drank him and that David probably will check the ingredients on the root beer next time we offer him a drink. Oh my!

I've Been Tagged!

2008-10-31T16:13:00.003-05:00

Trisha tagged me several days ago, and here is my attempt at getting caught up! I have to answer the following questions with one word answers and nominate 10 other blogs for the "I heart your blog" award. Here goes...

1. Where is your cell phone? One word???? How do you say "I left it on my desk at work" in one word???? Okay here goes.....Work.
2. Where is your significant other? Work
3. Your hair color? Brown
4. Your mother? Amazing
5. Your father? Gone
6. Your favorite thing? Home
7. Your dream last night? Frightening
8. Your dream/goal? Self-growth
9. The room you're in? Living
10. Your hobby? Kids
11. Your fear? Failure
12. Where do you want to be in 6 years? Happy
13. Where were you last night? Driving
14. What you're not? Super-model
15. One of your wish-list items? shoes
16. Where you grew up? Everywhere
17. The last thing you did? Email
18. What are you wearing? Clothes
19. Your TV? Off
20. Your pet? None
21. Your computer? Frustrating
22. Your mood? Intense
23. Missing someone? Grandpa
24. Your car? Dirty
25. Something you're not wearing? Shoes
26. Favorite store? Target
27. Your summer? Hot
28. Love someone? Brian
29. Your favorite color? Red
30. When is the last time you laughed? Today
31. Last time you cried? Yesterday

For the record, this was kind of hard. I kept wanting to explain why I answered things a certain way. Sometimes, I had more than one answer for the question, and I wanted to put both down.

Okay....I am not going to tag anyone. If you want to do it, then you consider yourself tagged by me.

Getting Caught Up

2008-10-28T18:59:00.002-05:00

I know. I know. I always say that I am going to stay up to date, and then I continue to post nothing for a month. I have had so many stories tucked away that I want to share, but I just haven't logged on to do it. I haven't even spent much time reading blogs lately either. I am not going to make any promises for future posts this time, but I will try to share the funny and cute stories a little more often. After you read this post, you can get caught up with some new pictures from Grandparents' Day, soccer, and the zoo.

I do have to share a funny prayer story with you. The boys were saying prayers a couple of night ago before bed, and in his prayer, David said, "God it will be so great to see You on Your throne by the River of Life." When it was Nathan's turn to pray, he didn't want to be left out and said, "God, we will see You at the Nile River." Then the next night, Nathan got the name of the river right, but he said, "When we get to Heaven, we will go swimming in the River of Life and I hope there is not a waterfall."

Grandparents' Day!

2008-10-28T17:59:00.003-05:00

October 17th was Grandparents' Day at the boys' school. My mom has never been able to come visit during the school year because she was teaching; however, she retired this past May and got to spend the week with us. She got to watch the boys perform in a program and then got to go to their classrooms. Here are some pictures of the boys during Grandparents' Day.

David with the Wildcat

Nathan and his friend Sienna going into their classroom

Even though it was a super busy week, it was a lot of fun having my mom here. She and I got to spend a day in Little Rock Christmas shopping and also had some time to sit down and talk in person. My mom and I are close, and I always cherish the time I get to spend with her.

Grandparents' Day ended with another special surprise. My best friend and college roommate came to town for a few hours, so we got to spend some time catching up. I love seeing Cindy, and even though she only lives a couple of hours away, we just don't see each other as often as we should. So, that was a great way to end the night.

What Do You Want to Be When You Grow Up?

2008-10-28T17:48:00.002-05:00

Nathan's class was discussing what they wanted to be when they grow up, and they got to go to school dressed as a person in that profession the day before Grandparent's Day. Mrs. Wells asked us to direct our kids towards real professions rather than superheroes. After finding out that he could not be Batman or a Jedi, Nathan decided that he wanted to be an eye doctor. I know a lot of eye doctors wear dress clothes with a white lab coat, but I thought it would be a whole lot easier to make scrubs. Thankfully, Grandma Sandy was here to actually make the scrubs for us because they look so much better than what they would have looked like if I had sewn them. He also took an eye chart and an eye cover thing-a-ma-bob as props.

He was quite proud of his costume and seemed to have a lot of fun on career day! Thanks Grandma Sandy!!

More Soccer Pictures

2008-10-28T17:14:00.003-05:00

Soccer is officially over. David had another great game two Saturdays ago. He scored 5 goals (although he claims it was 6 goals). I have a few videos that I will try to edit and post them online so you can watch the boy in action. He is fast and has great control of the ball. It is amazing how much he has improved since the beginning of the season.

Nathan has also improved since the first game. He almost scored in the past two games, which is a pretty big deal for him. I can't say that Nathan is a natural at soccer, but he is a scrappy player and has no fear of getting in the middle of the pack to kick the ball.

Both boys had good coaches and we are thankful that they will get to have the same coaches in the spring.

The boys together after their games

David headed down the field

David about to score a goal

Nathan, Jaxson & Canon doing a belly buster after Jaxson scored a goal

Nathan throwing in the ball

Getting ready for a kick-off

Zoo Pictures

2008-10-28T16:20:00.004-05:00

Nathan's class had a field trip to the zoo, and since it was on a day I was teaching, Brian got to go with him. I missed getting to be a part of the field trip, but I loved how excited Nathan was about getting to experience it with his daddy. I think his daddy kind of enjoyed the time too. Here are some "classic" Nathan pictures from the trip.

The Number 5

2008-09-22T22:51:00.002-05:00

The number 5 infiltrated every aspect of our weekend. First and foremost, David scored 5 goals in his soccer game on Saturday! I think we were all in a bit of shock. He went from being a bit timid to this aggressive little player this weekend. After the game, he told me that the first and third goal kind of made him a little nervous, but the rest were pretty fun.

His teammate Tyler, who just happens to be the only girl on either team, scored 7 goals. I think having a girl on is team has been good for him because he tends to be a bit chauvinistic at times; however, he has quickly gained a good measure of respect for Tyler. :)

Now back to my other 5's. My boys are all happy to say that Alabama beat Arkansas by 5 touchdowns. During half-time of the game, David put on an Alabama uniform and Nathan put on an Arkansas uniform, and we had our very own Alabama vs. Arkansas game in the backyard. According to David, Alabama won that game too.

Now for my final 5 story. In our children's church, the kids have been going through the 5 steps of salvation this month. The leader asks different kids to say each step, and one by one, they list out the steps Hear, Believe, Repent, Confess and Be Baptized. Then they always add on a final one that is Live Faithfully. He had already asked other kids the five steps, and then he asked David what else we need to do. Instead of live faithfully, David responded, "Live safely."

If you know David at all, then you completely understand the irony and why I laughed so hard. :) I can honestly say that I hope that we all live faithfully and safely this week!

Hurricane Ike Damage

2008-09-14T22:19:00.003-05:00

I guess to be accurate I should title this post Tropical Storm Ike damage, but I just wanted to share what good ol' Ike did to our tree.

These pictures don't show our car, which was parked right in front of where the limb fell. We think that our car was probably grazed by the limbs because there are a few scratches and a little dent on the trunk possibly caused by it. However, we were very fortunate that it didn't fall a foot the other direction.

We also lost a few shingles, but our greatest loss (besides the time Sunday afternoon to chop down our tree) is our air conditioner. We don't know if a power surge zapped it or exactly what happened to it, but it does not work in the least little bit right now.

In spite of everything, it was an unusually fun day cutting down the tree. Brian got the manly job of running the chainsaw, and the boys and I hauled the limbs to the curb. I will try to post pictures tomorrow of our huge pile of limbs and wood, as well as our cute little tree stump that will soon be history thanks to the stump grinder people. Our neighbor and his son helped us out too, which was also very, very cool.

Have You Been Wondering What We Are Up To?

2008-09-14T21:38:00.002-05:00

Nathan was superstar last week. As you will see in the pictures, he dressed up as Darth Vader, which is very appropriate for the week that they are learning about the letter D. The superstar kid makes a star sharing 5 things about himself on each point. Nathan's star was not easy. When I asked Nathan what he wanted to share, he really didn't have any ideas. So I told him that the note said that he could put his favorite things on it (i.e. color, candy, restaurant, vacation spot, etc.) Nathan told me he wanted to put a picture of his favorite door. I asked him where his favorite door was, and he replied, "The door to my room." I told him that was not exactly what we were supposed to be doing, and so he asked if he could put a picture of his favorite room. (Yep, you guessed it...his bedroom.) Needless to say, the task of making the star took a long time, but we ended up with Handy Manny tools, Lego Star Wars game pictures, a picture of Nathan on a fast ride from an amusement park, a picture of Nathan with Mickey Mouse, and a blue crayon for his favorite color.

Here are some pictures from his special day:

David and all the other first graders are Kingdom Kids this year, and they had a concert one day a couple of weeks ago. Unfortunately, my new teaching schedule has made me miss some of the boys' stuff at school; however, Brian got to go see David sing and took pictures for me.

And now on to what has kept us hopping the most lately: Soccer. Both boys are playing soccer and are having a great time. David didn't know anyone on his team but has made some new friends. There is a girl on his team that is by far the best player on the team, but David is doing pretty good considering he hasn't played since he was 4 years old (and even then he never wanted to get on the field to play). He is great on defense and is just incredibly fast.

Nathan, on the other hand, is just Nathan. He seems to be having fun, but spends a lot of time acting silly. At his last game, I overheard his coach telling him that there is no hugging in soccer. Yeah....that about sums it up.

David has practices on Thursday and Friday, and Nathan has practice on Thursday. Both the boys play games on Saturday. There is an option for a Monday night training session; however, we decided three days were enough for the boys at this age, especially with homework and life in general.

Here are some pictures of the boys from their first games:

Besides all of these things, Brian started a masters program, and I am now teaching 4 classes and studying for the CPA exam. Life is hectic, but also very nice right now. I am thankful for my sweet boys who keep me laughing, and my sweet husband who randomly brings me flowers for no reason at all. I hope life is going just as well for all of you!

So, how is school going?

2008-08-14T10:41:00.003-05:00

I have gotten this question a bunch of times in the past few days, and my answer is that it is going pretty well. The boys have only had a few "mishaps", and we consider that a good thing.

Tuesday was an eventful day. David got his card moved once for talking, which is just a warning. However, yesterday he was able to keep it in the right place all day long.

Nathan....oh my! It was raining here Tuesday, so recess was in the gym. Apparently, Nathan needed to go to the bathroom, but didn't tell anyone he was leaving the gym to go to the restroom. The teachers blew the whistle to tell the kids to line up, and Nathan was nowhere to be found. David said teachers started getting really scared and going around all over the gym yelling his name. I guess one of them eventually checked the bathrooms and found him.

Nathan was pretty nonchalant about the whole thing and didn't seem to get what the big deal was all about. I am thankful he wasn't doing anything naughty or dangerous, but we did have a long talk about never leaving the place where you are supposed to be without getting permission first. I have a feeling this just might be an interesting year!

On a different note, I will end by sharing part of Nathan's prayer last night.

...Thank You for letting us have a good day tomorrow. Thank You that Daddy has a fun job. I want to have a job like that when I grow up.

That last part made his Daddy smile pretty big! :)

First Day of School

2008-08-12T18:22:00.003-05:00

Yesterday, the boys started school. It seems so early, but I will say that I think they were both ready. David has Mrs. Mote for first grade and is very excited about that. From what I understand, First grade can get pretty tough and there will be a lot of homework, but David is a smart boy and loves school. His biggest challenge will be that he loves to talk too much. We worked on his self-control last year, and this year will be more work for him; however, I know he can do it if he just puts his mind to it.

Nathan started Kindergarten yesterday. Several people have asked me if I cried, and I could honestly answer that I didn't. It was a little tough because he just seems so young sometimes and we always have to worry about what that kid is up to. I am afraid of getting the call that he is on top of the roof or something like that; however, I also know that as a parent, the goal is to let them be independent and to not hover and stifle their growth (something that I have not always been good at). So, I am entrusting this little guy to Mrs. Wells and am just going to do a lot of praying! :)

Here are a couple of pictures before school yesterday:

Look how different the boys look from their first day of school picture last year:

Back to School Trip to Memphis

2008-08-12T17:12:00.004-05:00

Every year we take the teens to Memphis for a Back to School trip. We start out the day at Putt-Putt, which obviously has miniature golf courses, but it also has an arcade, lazer tag, go-karts, bumper boats, batting cages, and rides for little kids. The boys love going along, and this year David was finally old enough to play lazer tag with the big kids. (Just for the record, lazer tag is the highlight of his little world, so that was a very cool thing for him.)

After spending several hours at Putt-Putt, we headed to a mall for some shopping. Then we headed to a Memphis Redbirds game (during Elvis week...woohoo!). We didn't have as many teens able to go this year as usual, but we still had a really fun time. Here are some pictures of the boys enjoying the day.

Nathan on the dinosaur ride

David driving the mini go-karts

Another picture of David driving the mini go-kart

Nathan in the big go-karts waiting to go

David waiting to ride the big (noisy) go-karts

Pics from Michigan Trip

2008-08-12T16:21:00.004-05:00

Here are a few pictures of the teens and the boys from our Michigan VBS trip.

Where or Where Has Our Summer Gone?

2008-07-31T15:38:00.004-05:00

Wow! The month of July has flown by so fast. We've been on a mission trip to Michigan with our teens. Most of my family came to visit, and we finally got to hold my sweet little nephew, Trevyn. We have been school supply shopping. We've been swimming. We made a quick trip to Edmond, Oklahoma to visit friends and family. It honestly seems like we have spent more time away from home than at home this month. It has been a very fun month though, and we will spend the next week and a half recuperating and getting ready for the boys to start school on August 11th.

Tomorrow I will try to get some pictures uploaded from our summer, but here are some classic quotes from Nathan that I will share with you for today:

Big brothers are so much better than little brothers.

Mom, I think we should use snot as sunscreen.

Yep...so sweet at moments and not so sweet at others.

Some Deep Thinking

2008-07-09T21:34:00.003-05:00

Yesterday, Nathan's Sunday school teacher called to talk to me. When I first got the call, all I could think was "Oh no! What did he do now?!" However, this was a pretty neat call. Apparently on Sunday, she made the comment that God made everything, so Nathan asked her if God made the devil. She told him yes, to which he asked how God could make something evil when he has nothing to do with anything evil.

Wow! Not to shabby reasoning for a five year old, huh?

Then, last night the boys and I were saying prayers (Dad was at movie night with the teens), and we were praying for some people who have cancer. After we were done praying, David asked, "Why do we pray for people to be healed? If they die, they get to go to heaven, and heaven is where we all want to be. So wouldn't it be better if we just let them go there?"

Man! Tough questions from the boys these days. We spent a little while talking about heaven and talking about the human desire to be with the people we love, and how hard it is to balance the two.

I love it when my boys ask questions like this because I am able to see how some of the things they are learning from us, in Bible class, in worship, in chapel and at Bible time at school are sinking into their ever-growing brains. I love that they are already trying to flesh through some difficult questions. I am scared to death of what they will ask next and pray everyday that God fills me with the answers to guide them to those answers. I also pray that there will never come a day that they don't ask questions or quit seeking the truth to those questions.

Some days I wonder if I am effective as a parent. There are those days where they spend the whole day fighting with each other, arguing with me, or just being plain ol' naughty. However, these moments where they share the most insightful thoughts about our God or ask a question that lets me know they are working on building a foundation for their spiritual growth help me to realize that we are making a little headway in the greatest responsibility that we have as parents. It also makes more sense about why Nathan has been praying for me so much lately!

Favorite Things About Family

2008-07-08T20:33:00.003-05:00

I was thinking about family today, so I decided to ask my boys what some of their favorite things are about family members. Here are their answers:

David's Favorite Things about Family Members

Daddy

1. We go on trips together.
2. Our hair looks the same.
3. We both like Indiana Jones and Star Wars

Nathan

1. We play Star Wars Lego game together
2. We pretend to "toot" together.
3. We snuggle together.

Grandma Sandy

1. I like the look of her house.
2. I like to hug and kiss her a lot.
3. She rubs my back.

Grandma Barbara

1. Sometimes at Christmas she is with us.
2. She lets me sit on her lap.
3. She brings us a lot of presents

Uncle Steve

1. He is funny.
2. He is a farmer.
3. He likes to wrestle with me.

Aunt Rachel

1. She is pretty.
2. She bought me light up Mickey Mouse ears at Disney World.
3. She is nice to me.

Michael (cousin)

1. He likes Legos.
2. He has seen “The Last Crusade”.
3. He likes to dig for diamonds with me.

Tyler (another cousin)

1. We are both funny.
2. We both played T-Ball.
3. He likes trains.

Kylie (yet another cousin)

1. She is cute.
2. She likes playing with the play kitchen.
3. She’s my only girl cousin.

Trevyn (the youngest cousin of all)

1. He is cute.
2. I like him.
3. He is my baby cousin.

Nathan's Favorite Things about Family Members

Daddy

1. That he goes to work.
2. He types on his computer.
3. He plays the Star Wars Lego game with me.

David

1. He plays with me.
2. He gives me piggy back rides.
3. He holds me.

Grandma Sandy

1. She plays with me.
2. We do stuff with each other.
3. She swims or anything and I like her.

Grandma Barbara

1. She helps me get up.
2. I like her.
3. She does stuff for me

Uncle Steve

1. He is my uncle.
2. He does stuff for Kylie.
3. I am his nephew.

Aunt Rachel

1. I love her.
2. She is pretty.
3. She presses buttons for me.

Michael (cousin)

1. He likes me.
2. He does stuff for me.
3. He plays checkers with me.

Tyler (another cousin)

1. He eats with me.
2. We have fun with each other.
3. He puts my shoes on for me.

Kylie (yet another cousin)

1. I like to kiss her.
2. I love her.
3. She likes me.

Trevyn (the youngest cousin of all)

1. I like him a lot.
2. He is a baby.
3. I want to hold him.

There are some big trends here, which I am sure you have already noticed. It matters a lot to David if you like Star Wars and Indiana Jones. It matters a lot to Nathan if you do stuff for him, which is funny because he has always been the "I will do it myself" kid. Brian, I am not sure exactly what it means that Nathan's favorite thing about you is that you go to work. I will let you interpret that one on your own. :)

Nathan's prayer

2008-07-08T15:16:00.003-05:00

Every night we say prayers as a family, and each person says their own prayer. David's prayers are always pretty long because he prays for a lot of sick people and for families that have lost a loved one. It is always sweet to hear how thoughtful his prayers are and how he thinks of others.

Nathan's prayers tend to be a bit shorter and more to the point. He always thanks God for each of us by name and then generally will pray that tomorrow is a good day. Every once in awhile he will throw something else into his prayer. Two nights ago, he finished his prayer with "and help mom to behave tomorrow. In Jesus name...amen." Help Mom to behave? I glanced over at Brian and he was shaking because he was trying so hard not to laugh out loud.

Last night, Nathan took it up a notch and prayed for both mom and dad to have help behaving. Guess we need as much help as we can get!

Happy Fourth of July....late, of course! :)

2008-07-08T14:50:00.003-05:00

I know! I know! I know! I am supposed to be catching up on lots of blog posts, but as usual, I just seem to remain behind. So here is the quick version of what is up in our lives.

Fourth of July weekend was a blast. Brian has off Thursdays, and he helped me get ready to have Buncos at our house Thursday night. (What a sweet husband!) He whisked the boys off to go watch a movie in the youth room at church while all of us women ate supper and played the game. I really do enjoy having people over, but usually the people coming over are in their teens. So, I was a little nervous about my house looking nice and being well decorated. A friend of mine who is a genius decorator came over on Wednesday and helped hang pictures and rearrange some stuff, and I must say that it is amazing what a person with talent can do with a bunch of old stuff! :)

The other part that was a little nerve racking was cooking supper for 11 women who are all really good cooks. This is when I wish I was our friend Erin Cox, who is able to whip up these incredible meals. Since it was so close to the fourth of July, I made brisket, a potato casserole, and a baby spinach salad with strawberries and almonds topped with a homemade honey vinaigrette. On each table, I put some fresh fruit with a fruit dip (in my new $1 star bowls). I finished up the meal with a "flag" dessert. It had a sugar cookie crust, and then was topped with a cream cheese/powdered sugar mixture with strawberries and blueberries placed to look like a flag. While it wasn't quite an "Erin Cox" meal, it did taste pretty good.

On Friday, we were lazy and spent the day playing the Lego Indiana Jones playstation game and just hanging out with each other. We had thought about going to see Wall-e but were so glad that we didn't because some friends of Brian's from Alabama called and were in town bringing their son to Honors Symposium. Brian met up with them at a coffee shop and got to visit for a little bit. When he came home, he was telling me how surprised he was to see that their youngest son was already three. He also said he felt bad for them because he hadn't gotten much of a nap and they were having to take him to a dinner. So, we came up with the plan for Seth to come over so they could enjoy the dinner. It ended up that their twin boys (going into 7th grade) came with him since he didn't know us, and we all had a good time. David loved getting to play with Seth and Nathan attached himself to one of the older boys when he agreed to play the Lego Star Wars game with him. We took them back to their parents about 7:30 and then took the boys to get Frosty's. We finished up the evening by watching fireworks from a parking lot.

This is almost embarrassing to admit, but Saturday, we spent the whole day in our pajamas being lazy. We played games and just had a fun day. Little did we know that it was giving us strength for Sunday.

Sunday was busy! Both Brian and I taught Bible class. There was a potluck that a friend and I were in charge of after morning services. We had a work time for our Michigan mission trip as well as an information meeting. I ended up teaching a class at the last minute for our Sunday night kid's church. Needless to say, it was one of those days where we didn't stop all day. After a really lazy weekend, it was kind of nice.

So, that was our weekend. I hope that everyone had a wonderful fourth of July!

The Sleep Overs

2008-06-30T08:53:00.004-05:00

I promised a post about the sleep-overs, so here it is. When Brian was gone to Colorado on Wilderness Trek, one of David's friend's (Luke) invited him to come spend the night. I teach the three year olds on Sunday morning with Luke's mom, Tish, so she knows David pretty well and was prepared in advance for some of his little quirks.

I dropped David off at Luke's sister's softball game, and Nathan about had a cow when David drove off in another car. He was quite perplexed that anyone else would take his big brother away, but that didn't last too long. Pretty soon he was asking if David could stay with Luke for a week!

David was really nervous about his first sleep-over at someone else's house. We have had some friends stay at our house before, but I think he was kind of scared about the unknown; however, Luke lives out in the country, and David was thoroughly excited to see what country life is like. He was not disappointed. Here is a list of all the things he did (directly from David):

1. He got to watch Luke feed the chickens.
2. Their dog had puppies, so he watched Luke's big brother retrieve them from under the porch. Four of the puppies had died, so they all went to the creek to toss them in so the birds wouldn't eat them.
3. He played air hockey.
4. They had an underwear fight. (Don't ask! I have no idea.)
5. They had a nerf gun fight.
6. They had millions of wasps in their house and one landed on his back and went down his leg, but Luke's brother shot it off with a nerf gun.
7. They played with Legos.
8. They slept.
9. They went to a carnival to kick off the area wide Vacation Bible School. (David told me he only got lost once!)

They ended up the sleep-over by going to the birthday party of twins from their class at school, and I picked him up there.

The funny thing is that I got David's version, but then I also got Tish's version of the night too. David has this habit of asking A LOT of questions when he is nervous, and this night was no exception. All I can say is POOR TISH! She assures me that he was fine, but he peppered her with questions the whole time. He also was quite a little back seat driver for her. In spite of being nervous of the unknown, he had a blast.

David and Luke at the end of school, Kindergarten reception

This past Thursday, I got a phone call from the mom of another boy from David's class (Jalen). She said both of her boys were having a few boys over to spend the night and wondered if David could come. David was excited to get spend the night again at someone's house, so he joined in on the crew. When he got home, he said that they watched four movies and that he learned a new trick. He put his hands to his mouth and made what he calls a "tooting noise". Now I know what happens when you get 6 boys together for a night of fun! :)

They also played outside and had a gunfight. They played Nintendo. They rode bikes and scooters. And then spent a lot more time making tooting noises!

David had fun at both sleep-overs, and I am guessing that this year will be full of requests to have friends spend the night at our house.

Happy Birthday Steve!

2008-06-29T20:54:00.003-05:00

Today is my big brother's birthday. I had hoped to get this post on here earlier today, but Sunday is always a busy day at our house. So even though his birthday is almost over, I wanted to send him some good wishes.

Steve is a dad to four kids, a husband, a farmer and most of all a dreamer. He constantly has a new idea about how something can be improved, which I think is a really neat trait. He would probably hate for this to make public, but he is a very generous guy...the kind that gives without weighing out the cost. This is a very small example of this, but I remember one time being with him in Denver. It was late, and we were tired and hungry. We had just gotten a pizza at Pizza Hut and were headed back to the hotel to eat. As we pulled up to a stoplight, we saw a man in a wheelchair sitting by the side of the road with a sign that said he was hungry. Steve rolled down his window, grabbed the pizza and handed it to the man. He then reached in his pocket, pulled out his wallet and gave him all of his cash. Now, many would question what the man would do with the money or why he was asking for handouts, but Steve left all of that up to God and gave him what the man asked for. That is just the kind of guy that Steve is.

Steve was also the one I chose to walk me down the aisle at my wedding. My dad hasn't always been present in my life, and for that very important day, I wanted my big brother, who had always been there through the thick and thin of life, to walk with me and hand me over to the guy that would be my husband and new family (and to make sure I didn't trip and fall). To him it might have not been too big of a deal, but is sure did mean a lot to me.

I spent most of my childhood trying to prove myself to my brother (and probably a good part of my adult life trying to do it too!) We are like night and day; I don't think siblings could get much different. But I love him immensely and hopes he has the best day and best year yet!

Since he begged me to show him some love and link to his blog, you can read more from him here. And just for the record Steve, I was going to write this post before your last comment (although I am still hurt you don't like the new look of my blog!) :)

Have a very happy birthday Steve!

A New Look

2008-06-28T10:30:00.003-05:00

Every so often, I have to have change in my life. It doesn't have to be anything drastic, but I like to experience new things. I attribute this strange need to moving so often as a child, and honestly, a psychologist would probably have a field day psycho-analyzing me about it. However, that will never happen because I kind of like the fact that I like change. I love experiencing new things and the excitement that comes with it.

My husband, on the other hand, is not much for change. He likes things to pretty much be the same. After looking at my new blog, he said that he liked the old version better. He also was not very excited that I decided to switch around the content of almost all the drawers in the kitchen. I would love to rearrange the furniture, but I think Brian might not be handle it. :) Thankfully, he tolerates my need to change things up a bit with good humor and simply shakes his head when he opens the wrong drawer. He is a good man to put up with me!

Other than rearranging the kitchen drawers, we have been busy with fun things. David had another sleepover (and I know I still owe the grandmas a post about the first sleepover...maybe tomorrow), we went swimming at a friend's house, and we have also had fun days hanging out at home playing the Lego Indiana Jones game, putting together legos, and other fun stuff. David also had basketball camp in there somewhere, and we had the area wide VBS. We are getting ready for a mission trip to Michigan where we will do a VBS for a small church in St. Joseph. Many days have been spent painting, cutting out, copying and getting lessons together for that. Throw Father's day and my birthday, along with me studying for the CPA exam, into the mix, and it means I haven't been the best blogger. I keep thinking life will slow down sometime, but I don't think it ever will. However, that is okay. I have enjoyed watching the boys have fun this summer, and there will eventually be time for me to blog about all the things I want to share with you.

So bear with me and keep reading. I may inundate you with too many posts in the next few days, but it won't last for long and I will fall back into my habit of not posting. :)

Nathan's Logic

2008-06-21T15:17:00.001-05:00

I shared some David-isms the other day, so now I need to share something about Nathan. Nathan has an uncanny ability to make a point in the most unique way. For example, the other day, David was in our bathroom getting ready for basketball camp and Nathan was wandering through the house yelling his name and looking for him. He asked me if I knew where David was and I said jokingly, "Maybe aliens took him away." He thought for a second and responded with "How am I supposed to be a little brother if I don't have a big brother?"

Here is another one. Out of the blue yesterday, Nathan said, "Only humans drive SUV's. We are human. Why don't we drive an SUV?"

That kid is just funny. He comes up with the craziest things to say and sometimes he just nearly brings us to tears because we are laughing so hard. The problem is that he also uses this same logic to be sneaky when he is in trouble or trying to get his way. Life is never dull with him around!

I've Been Tagged -- TWICE

2008-06-20T12:54:00.005-05:00

Hooray! I am finally back in the world of internet usage! Brian left town to take a group of our teens to Wilderness Trek in Colorado and our internet went down. The internet provider told me it was a problem on my end, and my dear sweet computer expert was over 1000 miles away. I fiddled with it, but to no avail, I couldn't get it to work.

Well, Brian came back, switched out cords and did all sorts of other stuff, but he couldn't get it to work either. Then all the sudden it worked again. I am so not thinking it was on my end. Needless to say, I really missed having the internet and getting to check my email, facebook and all the blogs I read. However, in other ways, it was really nice to take a break from spending entirely too much time on the computer and realize that I can live without it.

During my forced break from the internet though, I was tagged by Trisha and Amy, so FINALLY, here it goes:

What were you doing 5 years ago?

1. I was 5 days away from turning yet another year older.
2. I was mom to a sweet 2 year old and a sweet 6 month old (and probably very tired).
3. I was getting ready for VBS mission trips to Iowa and Nebraska (and probably cutting out lots of stuff and painting!).
4. I was about to see my nephew Tyler for the first time.
5. I was watching A LOT of Blue's Clues and Toy Story.

What are 5 things on your To-Do list for tomorrow?
1. Clean my bathroom
2. Clean the boys' bathroom
3. Practice site words with Nathan
4. Mulch the flower beds in the backyard
5. Study for the CPA exam

What are 5 snacks you enjoy?
1. Goldfish crackers
2. Flip side pretzel cracker with cheddar cheese
3. Grapes
4. Sunflower seeds
5. anything chocolate

What are 5 things you'd do if you were a Billionaire?
1. Start a foundation to provide funds for therapy for special needs kids who fall through the cracks of "the system"
2. Support missionaries throughout the world
3. Give to programs (like the Academy of Leadership and Liberty) that teach individuals how to be leaders and/or better themselves
4. Pay off student loans, house, etc. for us as well as my mom, Brian's mom, my brother and his wife, aunt and uncle and my cousins.
5. Buy my husband a silver 1970 Corvette.

What are 5 of your bad habits?
1. Procrastination
2. Leaving my dresser drawers open just enough to frustrate my husband
3. Spending too much time on the computer
4. Worrying too much about what other people think
5. Putting off studying for the CPA exam

What are 5 jobs that you've had?
1. Farm hand/cook/do whatever they tell me to
2. Grader for professor
3. Intramurals worker
4. Staff Accountant
5. Adjunct Professor

Name 5 places where you have lived.

Man, where I haven't I lived...
1. Searcy, Arkansas
2. Nashville, Tennessee
3. Lubbock, Texas
4. Eugene, Oregon
5. Venango, Nebraska

Who are 5 people you want to tag?

Anybody who is up for the challenge and hasn't done it already!

David-isms

2008-06-12T15:45:00.002-05:00

The other day, David asked a question and started it the way every conversation should be started with me:

Mom, since you know everything in the world...

He is going to spend his first night with his friend, Luke, on Friday. I am not sure how he will do because sleeping through the night is not his best talent, but I am praying for a great night for him. Luke lives out in the country, and David is really excited to see Luke's cow, chickens and horse. For some reason we were talking about milking cows the other day, and he said maybe he would get to milk Luke's cow. I teased him that maybe he would get to drink some of the milk trying to get a reaction out of him because he is not a huge milk fan. He responded with

Ewwwww! Drink milk from a cow's gutter?!!! I would never do that!

Our Summer So Far

2008-05-25T19:15:00.003-05:00

Summer is supposed to be relaxing, but so far ours has been kind of busy. Last weekend, we headed to Fort Worth to go to Brian's cousin, Megan's graduation. We had to make a quick trip, but we had so much fun as a family. Both David and Nathan did incredible during the graduation and were rewarded with time hanging out in the freezing cold hotel pool. We also went to the cemetery where Brian's aunt was buried and the boys left flowers on her grave. Then we headed out to the National Cemetery where Brian's uncle is buried and Brian and David put flowers on his grave. Nathan was asleep and my motto is to never ever wake up Nathan unless we absolutely have to.

I will admit that sitting in the van watching Brian and David at Chuck's grave was very touching. Brian bent down and was telling David things, and I could just tell they were having a pretty earnest conversation. It was one of those moments that I was beyond thankful for the daddy that my boys have.

The rest of our summer vacation has been filled with playing outside, cleaning out the boys' rooms and closets, and dealing with a mysterious, itchy and contagious rash! David and Brian have both had some crazy itchy rash that has nearly put us all in a mental hospital. Can I just say that David is definitely not the best patient in the world? (And that is truly an understatement!)

Nathan, on the other hand, has just been busy being Nathan. One day he was in the backyard playing. I glanced around the yard trying to find him and couldn't see him anywhere. I looked up in the tree house, and he wasn't there. I was starting to worry when I looked up and saw him sitting on the roof of the tree house wearing a football helmet. I was a little worried that if I yelled at him to get down, he might fall and take a 12 to 13 foot tumble to the ground, so I calmly told him to sit tight and I climbed into the tree house. When I got to him, I grabbed on to his leg and we had the following conversation:

Me: Nathan, what are you doing up here?

Nathan: Hanging out.

Me: Nathan, this is very dangerous.

Nathan: No, it isn't. It is safe. I am wearing a helmet.

Me: Well, it is against the rules.

Nathan: Whose rule is that?

Me: Dad's.

Nathan: (sighing) Okay, I will get down.

All I can say is "Oh my!"

What You Do on a Date

2008-05-09T16:41:00.002-05:00

One night at supper while Brian's mom was at our house, David told Brian and me that we should go on a date. I asked David and Nathan what we were supposed to do on a date and here is what we were told:

1. Go to the hardware store and look at tools.

2. The boy is supposed to get the girl presents like a skirt that says I love you.

3. Kiss.

4. Drive around for a long time.

5. Kiss some more.

Well, Brian's mom was sweet enough to watch the boys so we could go on a date, but we didn't make it to the hardware store. Brian brought me flowers, but I did not get a skirt with I love you on it. He took me out to eat, and then we went to see The Bucket List at the cheap theater in town. We wrapped up the night with a cup of coffee at one of the local coffee shops and a good discussion about what would be on our own bucket lists. Let's just say that after we compared lists I was reminded how much opposites attract. :)

Surviving April

2008-05-01T08:50:00.002-05:00

That title sounds kind of desperate, doesn't it? April has been a bit of a tough month. We have watched and cried while people we care about have hurt this month. We said goodbye to a wonderful aunt, who died in an accident at the age of 49. It just hasn't been one of those months you look back on and think "This is the best month of my life!"

However, it has also been a very blessed month. I think that all four of us have grown so much this month. We have been stretched. We have been pulled. We have been tested in so many different ways, and through it all, our great God has walked with us. He has walked in front of us guiding us. He has walked next to us holding our hands. He has even picked us up and carried us. He has opened our eyes a little wider this month. He has opened our hearts a lot wider. He has showered the great blessing of perseverance and you can't persevere without gaining some new character traits.

In spite of the times where we have cried, we have also laughed and laughed and laughed. I thank God every day for the sweet boys He has given to us. They make us shake our heads at times, but they also teach us so much about life, about love, and about God.

I usually use this blog to share funny stories and to share a glimpse into our crazy world. However, it has just been hard to share the funny stuff because I have not wanted to trivialize what has been going on in my heart. I wish I could share all the details of everything we have seen this month and all I have learned, but I just can't. However, I can share that I love our youth group kids as if they were our own. I hurt when the families I love hurt. I have grieved over the loss of a wonderful sister in Christ from church and two special aunts...one who was so tragically taken from this life much too early and one who peacefully left to meet God after a long life. Most of all, God has shown Himself to me daily in so many different ways, and I could not ask for any more than that.

I pray for God's blessings over all of you today on this beautiful day of a brand new month!

Happy Birthday David

2008-03-28T20:48:00.002-05:00

Seven years ago today, I was staring into the face of a beautiful little boy for the first time. It was probably pretty close to the exact time that I am typing out this post. This morning after the birthday boy had been served breakfast in bed and was getting ready for school, Brian turned to look at me and said, "I can't believe it has been seven years!" The funny thing is that I was thinking the exact same thing.

David is a sweet boy. He cares about people's feelings and is a bit of a people pleaser. Now, I will admit that this does not keep him from talking excessively during school or telling people that they are wrong, but he genuinely does care about other people. For example, I was taking cupcakes to school today for his class, and he asked if I could get both chocolate and vanilla cupcakes because there were several in the class that don't like to eat chocolate. He also wanted to make sure that the girls got something different than the boys because they might not like boy decorated cupcakes. So, he can be pretty sweet sometimes.

Today we had a family birthday celebration time, and on Tuesday of next week, he will have a party with his friends. He wanted an Indiana Jones party, so we are going on a search for a lost treasure, and there is going to be a big boulder in some form or fashion because everyone knows that you can't have an Indiana Jones adventure without a boulder...or so I have been told.

It has been a fun day for David, and Brian and I have enjoyed getting to spend the day talking about all the little things we remember about the day he was born and each of the days we have been blessed to have with this special boy.

David's BIG Day

2008-03-17T10:25:00.002-05:00

No, it was not his birthday. He is eagerly awaiting THAT day which is only a week away. However, this past Friday probably ranks up there of top days of his life in his sweet little heart and mind.

On Friday, David received Wildcat Mail Call in chapel. Every Friday, the teachers will write notes to the students who have shown Christ and they are given the notes in chapel. Just so you understand, these notes are not handed out in a quiet fashion. They count out how many notes there are by slamming them down on the podium and all the kids scream out the number.

ONE --- TWO --- THREE --- FOUR --- FIVE ---
SIX --- SEVEN --- EIGHT --- NINE --- TEN --- ELEVEN.

Then, the principal steps up to the podium, and in a voice befitting a basketball game announcer, begins to call out the kids' names. "From our Kindergarten classes, let's here it foooor....." and then he gives the name of the kid. Then the rest of the kids go crazy. Everyone starts jumping up and down screaming for this kid. It is the most incredible thing to watch. You have all these kids that are truly excited that someone else has gotten a wildcat mail call card.

I don't think I will ever forget the look on David's face when his name was called. He heard his name and then jumped up and ran to the front. He was so excited. He then stood there and was ever so serious about reading what his teacher had written.

To top the whole experience off, David's big buddy, Greyson, did the devotional that morning in chapel and talked about how God blesses us and is so powerful. He then shared how God had blessed him with a great little buddy and talked about David's impact on him. All I can say is that I truly love Greyson and the impact he has had on my son. He has been a great example and a great friend to David. I am so impressed with this sixth grader who has an incredible heart for God. I am thankful that he is David's big buddy and mentor.

Friday was a very special day at our house. Brian and I were reminded and once again in awe of the depth of feelings you can experience when you watch your child experience something truly phenomenal in his life. It is moments like these that I hope to carry with me forever.

Asking Questions in Heaven

2008-03-13T18:07:00.002-05:00

Yesterday, David said, "I sure hope I see George Washington in heaven because I have some questions to ask him." I asked him who else he would like to see in heaven, and he said, "Abraham Lincoln, George W. Bush and whoever the next president will be."

Today, after I asked him to repeat his list to his dad, I asked him what he wanted to ask them. He responded with, "I want to ask them how old they lived to be and how their life went."

This started a conversation about presidents, and now Brian is teaching David the names of each of the presidents. I think David and his dad are pretty excited about this little project. I have a feeling that we have a little guy at our house that will dream of being president someday! :)

We are still here...

2008-03-11T21:15:00.002-05:00

It has been awhile since I have posted. The boys and I were on Spring Break last week, and we were busy cleaning out closets and making lots and lots of messes! We also spent the week in awe at the change in the weather. We went from beautiful weather in the upper 70's to thunderstorms and rain to snow. It snowed twice during spring break, and the boys had a blast playing in it. Now we are back to beautiful weather and are hoping it stays this way for awhile.

I would love to use this post to tell you some great, funny stories, but I honestly have nothing for you. We have had some fun moments since I last posted and have laughed a lot. However, my brain has been busy with other things, and I have forgotten all those cute things the kids have done and said in the past week.

One thing I do think is kind of funny and would like to share has nothing to do with the boys. I have a site meter on this blog that tells me how many people look at the blog each day, where these people are located, and even tells me how they got to my blog. Many of those hits come from google searches, and I have found that a large number of people are ending up here because of the following searches:

1. Humpty dumpty costumes;
2. Bathroom stories; and
3. Diaper stories.

Now I will admit that I did a search about Humpty Dumpty costumes when I was trying to figure out how to make Nathan's costume, but I am a little curious as to why people are searching for bathroom stories and diaper stories. :)

I hope each of you have a great week! I am sorry that there is not much to this post, but I did want you to know that we are still alive and kicking. I promise the next post will be a lot more fun!

David's Prayer and the Yellow Card

2008-02-28T19:43:00.004-06:00

Here is a part of David's prayer tonight:

Thank You for the Bible and that every story in the Bible is true and that it is Holy. Help me to obey the Bible every day of my life....and probably every month too.

I love listening to the boys pray and talk about the Bible stories that they have learned in school and in Bible class. Sometimes I have to laugh at some of the assumptions that they make though. Tonight, Nathan told me they were learning about Paul and he asked if I knew that his name used to be Saul....King Saul! It took a little bit of explaining to get that cleared up.

Besides learning about Paul today, Nathan had a bit of an exciting day. He received a yellow card, which is a warning that he was not obeying the rules. He was issued this yellow card because he was climbing a tree on the playground. To add insult to injury, not only did he climb the tree but he got stuck in the tree and had to get some help to get down. When I asked him why he did it, he told me that he was climbing the tree in order to get on the roof of the barn (a shed that looks like a barn). When Brian and I told him that it was dangerous, he said, "No it is not. A squirrel was on top of the barn and he was safe."

All I can do is shake my head!

Questions for God

2008-02-19T14:07:00.002-06:00

The other day, David said that he hoped he could ride a roller coaster in Heaven. He said he also hoped there was a Disney World in Heaven because he would like to go in the huge golf ball that was closed when we went to Epcot. I told David he reminded me of his daddy because Brian always says that he hopes there is a movie room in Heaven with videos of all the amazing things like the red sea parting and the miracles of Jesus.

David thought for a minute and then said, "When I go to Heaven, I want to ask God if he and Jesus play Twister." Without missing a beat, Nathan said, "I bet God wins that game."

Humpty Dumpty

2008-02-15T09:50:00.009-06:00

Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall.

Humpty Dumpty had a great fall.

All the king's horses and all the king's men

Couldn't put Humpty together again.

WAIT! That's not how the story goes!

Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall.

Humpty Dumpty had a great fall.

Humpty Dumpty jumped up and shouted "AMEN!

God can put me together again."

Today, the pre-k classes performed in chapel for the elementary, junior high and high school kids. As you can see from the picture, Nathan was Humpty Dumpty, and he did great. He did everything he was supposed to do and even hammed it up a little for the crowd. I am trying my best to get the video uploaded in a format that I can post on here, so hopefully, you can see it for yourself soon.

Once again I found myself making a costume during a crazy week. As homeroom mom, I was responsible for planning Nathan's class party for Valentine's day. I made phone calls, picked up pizza, put together goody bags, made sugar cookies and all the stuff that has to be done for a party for 23 four and five year olds. I also had to make chocolate covered strawberries for David's class party. We had a service night in place of home Bible study, and I made a bunch of cookies for that too. Add in work and some family time, and it was already a pretty busy week.

To top it all off, I am not much of a seamstress, and I was scared to death of what Humpty Dumpty was going to look like. I sort of worked out a pattern on newspaper using a shirt and a pair of pants and then started cutting out Humpty. I can't sew real straight, and Humpty is not the most symmetrical egg. If you look too close, you will see MANY mistakes, but it worked and made Nathan happy.

Even though I am not the best at sewing, I will admit that I have really enjoyed being able to make the Humpty Dumpty costume for Nathan and the indian costume for David. The costumes had a lot of flaws, but both boys have been so grateful that I took the time to make something for them. They proudly wore their costumes and told everyone that their mom made it for them. I am realistic enough to know that they won't always want me involved in everything in their lives and that at some point, they will be embarassed by their mom's "sewing" skills. So, for now, I will cherish every moment where I can see that excitement and pride in their lives.

Box Car Derby

2008-02-06T09:26:00.000-06:00

I am really late with this post, but I am desperately trying to get caught up on my to-do list this week. A couple of weeks ago, the Kindergarten classes at David's school had a box car derby. I had never been to a box car derby, so I only had David's word on what was an "acceptable" car. We did get a note from school that suggested the cars be small in size because the kids had to run four laps wearing the box.

In the time leading up to the derby, I had a hard time getting David to decide what kind of car he wanted. I was thinking a simple car decorated like a race car or something like that. I imagined Brian, David, and I working together to make a fun little car. Welllllllll......enter Dad into the picture. I am not sure what it is about Dads, but they tend to have grander ideas when it involves a car in any form or fashion. He started throwing out suggestions for different types of cars (like a corvette), but his very last idea sparked an interest in this naive little kindergartener. My dear, dear husband suggested that David have a Star Wars landspeeder. From that point on, my idea of simple flew out the window.

To make matters worse, because of a very crazy schedule, we were unable to begin the landspeeder until the afternoon before the box car derby. We went into the garage in search of a good box to use and Brian pointed out one that he thought would work. I mentioned that it might be too big and he said, "No, that will work great." So, we emptied out the box and got to work. We cut. We molded. We painted....well, I spray painted it outside in the FREEZING cold. We duct taped. We created a masterpiece....a HUGE masterpiece.

I must say that I protested the landspeeder the whole time we were making it. I am just a simple girl, and I didn't see the whole fascination. By the time it was done, Brian admitted that it was large, and I think he was also a little concerned that it might be too heavy. I made Brian walk in with David, so that he could tell the teacher that it was not my idea and I participated in making it under protest.

While I thought it might be a bit overboard, I was pleased that David was so proud of it. As he and Brian walked down the hall with it, other kids were talking about how cool it was. David's teacher thought it was pretty neat too. The funniest thing was that several dads came up to David after the derby was over to tell him how neat his landspeeder was. (I think they wished their wives had not talked them out of their idea for a great vehicle for the derby.) One guy even offered to buy it, but David told him no.

The car derby was pretty neat. They had a parade of cars where all the kids walked around the track single file and showed off their cars. David's smile was great during that part. Then they put them in groups of three to actually race. They would run a lap around the "track" and then stop to get their windshield washed. (Some six grade girls sprayed water on their face and wiped it off.) They ran another lap and then walked through tire inner tubes. They ran another lap and then stopped for a pit stop (glass of water), and then ran one more lap to finish the race.

David started out strong, but tragedy struck as he rounded the first curve. He was busy smiling at the crowd cheering for him and he lost control of his landspeeder. The landspeeder was a bit front heavy, and he fell and flipped over just like you would see on a cartoon. It was tragic and extremely funny all at once. The crowd gasped. I looked at Brian and I could tell that we were both thinking the same thing. David's sweet little heart tends to get embarrassed very easily, and we were both afraid that he wouldn't want to finish the race. However, that determined little boy got right back up and kept running as hard as he could. He made up some serious ground, but one more fall on the back side of the track and a heavy box slowing him down keeping him from regaining first place.

After it was all over, I told David how proud of him that I was. I told him that it is hard to keep going when we fall down but that he did the right thing by getting back up and continuing the race. I told him how doing that was the mark of a true man. Nathan came up to David a little later and asked him if he won the race. David said, "I came in second, but I fell down and got back up and kept racing. That is all that matters."

You know, people can tell me all they want about how it is better to have a small car so the kid has a better shot at winning. Honestly, I agree with them. I was the one who was totally against the landspeeder. However, I would not trade the lesson David learned for anything in the world. As he gets older, life is sometimes going to be a little "heavy". He might take his eyes off of what he is supposed to be doing and looking around at the crowd. He is going to fall down. When he does, I hope he remembers a day in January of 2008 when he fell down in front of a lot of people and then got back off and ran the race of his life.

Here are some pics of the big event:

A very proud boy sporting his landspeeder.

And they are off!

A determined (but a little weary) David coming out of one of the pit stops.

David booking it around the track.

David with Mrs. Kiihnl at the pit stop.

David coming through the finish line.

David's Proverbs & Nathan's too!

2008-01-22T16:08:00.000-06:00

My friend Cindy forwarded me an email listing out the beginning of well known proverbs that were completed by first graders. For example, it said, "It's always darkest before" and the first grader filled in "before daylight savings time." It was pretty funny so I decided to have David complete the list too. Here are his proverbs. A few don't make much sense, but some of the others are pretty good.

Strike while the……clock ????

It’s always darkest….at night time

Never underestimate the power of……the devil

You can lead a horse to water but……not lead it to badness

Don’t bite the hand that…..is God’s

No news is……..newer than God

A miss is as good as a ……………. Bad catch

You can’t teach an old dog new ……things

If you lie down with dogs, you’ll…… be warm

Love all, trust…….in the Lord

The pen is mightier than the……devil

An idle mind is …….. lazy

Where there is smoke there’s …….a fire alarm

Happy the bride who……is with their husband

A penny saved is ……..one cent

Two is company, but three is…….not

Don’t put off until tomorrow what…….you need

Laugh and the whole world laughs with you, cry and…….you are pouting

There are none so blind as ………the devil

Children should be seen and not…….be mean

If at first you don’t succeed……..read

You get out of something what you……can get stuck in it

when the blind lead the blind…..that means sin

A bird in the hand is ……. Food

Better late than …..night

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I added Nathan's proverbs too. All I can say is "Oh my!" He needed some help understanding what I was asking so my explanations may have confused him on some.

Strike while the…… force is with you

It’s always darkest….when the lights are turned off

Never underestimate the power of……the force

You can lead a horse to water but……you can’t feed him to much

Don’t bite the hand that…..hurts

No news is……..not exciting

A miss is as good as a ……………. ball

You can’t teach an old dog new ……tricks

If you lie down with dogs, you’ll…… be eight

Love all, trust…….me

The pen is mightier than the……pencil

An idle mind is …….. nothing

Where there is smoke there’s …….fire

Happy the bride who……gets married

A penny saved is …….. for the Senior girls to go to Africa (his class is collecting coins to help the senior girls go on a mission trip.)

Two is company, but three is…….nothing

Don’t put off until tomorrow what…….clothes you need

Laugh and the whole world laughs with you, cry and…….you get a shot

There are none so blind as ………us

Children should be seen and not…….get a lot of toys out

If at first you don’t succeed……..you should burp

You get out of something what you……put in the sack

when the blind lead the blind…..that is not staying home

A bird in the hand is ……. A robin

Better late than …..staying out

T Week

2008-01-22T08:26:00.000-06:00

This week is T week in David's class, and it seems very fitting to talk about the things I am thankful for during T week. So here are some of the things that I am extremely thankful for today.

I am thankful for my new nephew, Trevyn Zane. I still haven't seen a picture, but I have heard that he is a cutie and a sweet little guy. I am thankful that he is doing well and that my sister-in-law sounded phenomenal on the phone yesterday, even with sleep deprivation and being the mom of 4 sweet kiddos.
I am thankful that Brian is home from a leadership conference with some of the teens in the youth group. I love my husband immensely and miss him a lot when he is gone. We have a joke that every time Brian leaves, things fall apart. I would love to say that we made it this weekend without a hitch, but I will have to say that we ALMOST made it without a hitch. Sunday afternoon the boys were playing and Nathan fell and hit his head on the corner of his bed. So now, between his eyebrows he has a little bump (much smaller than on Sunday) and a nasty scrape.
I am thankful for good friends with medical experience who don't judge you when you call and ask exactly what type of head wound warrants a trip to the ER.
I am thankful for a very sweet David. David has his moments where he can be a bit.....ummmm, shall we say, stubborn and argumentative, but there are so many more times where he is such a deep thinker and loving. On Saturday night, David asked that if either Brian or I were to die if the one that was living would remarry. I was caught off guard because it was out of the blue. So, we talked a little about how sad something like that would makes us and more. I tried to find out why he was asking the question, but never really got a clear answer on that. At the end of our conversation, he said, "Well, if somebody has to die first, I hope it is dad because I want you to live forever." Gee, thanks....I think.
I am thankful for a very sweet little Nathan. I don't know how a child can get into so much stuff but still keep you laughing. His new request is that we call him Mr. Nathan. He said he was baby Nathan when he was a baby. Then he became Nathan Andrew when he was 3 and 4. Now that he is 5, he is Mr. Nathan.
I am of course very thankful for good friends and all of my family. Words cannot even begin to express how much all of my family and friends impact my life on a daily basis, so I won't even try. :)
Most of all, I am thankful to my great God for blessing my life and for sending His precious son to die for my sins.

There are so many more things that I am thankful for, but those are the highlights. I hope you have a very thankful T week too!

It's a Boy!

2008-01-19T11:39:00.000-06:00

Noooo...I am not pregnant! :)

I got the call this morning that I have another sweet little nephew! I wish I could make a quick trip to Nebraska to see him, but unfortunately, it is a little too far away. So for now, I am waiting for pictures!

My brother told me that our new little guy weighs 8 pounds, and we are not sure how long because they had not measured him yet. When I asked him what his name is, my brother told me to call back tomorrow because they were still in negotiations about that. (My nephew, Tyler, thinks his name should either be Mack or DJ from the Cars movie!) I talked to my mom after she took my two nephews and niece up to meet their baby brother. She said he has a ton of red hair just like Tyler and looks a lot like Tyler. Maybe he should get to name him then! :)

For right now, it sounds like everyone is doing well....tired, but well. I will post a picture as soon as I get one if it is okay with my brother and sister-in-law.

Building Birdhouses

2008-01-03T19:14:00.000-06:00

The boys started back to school today, and I must admit that a quiet house was kind of nice...for awhile. However, I sort of started missing them and the noise they create in our house.

I knew they would be kind of tired when they got home after a long school day, but I wanted the whole family to spend some time together since it was Brian's day off. After we picked the boys up from school and made a quick trip to Wal-Mart, Brian and I sat down with the boys to put together some birdhouse kits that the boys got for Christmas from Grandma Barbara.

Our family project began with the boys trying to tear open the boxes while I tried to convince them that we needed to do it carefully so that the pieces would not break or get lost. Let's just say that we met somewhere in the middle. Once the boxes were open, we started looking at and following the directions. It took Brian and me about 2 minutes to determine the instructions were worthless, and we branched out on our own.

We glued. We nailed. I was helping Nathan, and at one point in the building phase, he said, "This is man's work!" Unfortunately, when you see the picture, you might agree.

It was all going great until it came time to put the roof on the birdhouse. Somehow, the sides of Nathan's birdhouse were a little too high for the roof to lay flat. (Hmmmm...I wonder how that happened?) Needless to say, Nathan and I had to use a seriously huge amount of glue to get the roof on his birdhouse.

Now, I try to be a cool "boy" mom by doing "boy things" with them, but this event did not do much to build my credibility. In addition to Nathan's "man work" comment, David kept telling me that I was not real good at hammering or building. My sweet husband did stand up for me though by saying, "She might not be a builder but she does know how to fix a car."

I guess from now on we will skip the family building projects and will spend our family time giving the car a tune-up.
____________________

I will have to add the pictures later. The camera battery is dead, and I can't take a picture. Once it is recharged, I will add a picture of the architecturally challenged birdhouse.

Happy New Year!

2008-01-01T09:06:00.000-06:00

Why is it that we always have to start the new year out so tired? I desperately wanted to go to bed about 9:00pm last night; however, an unnamed father told his six year old son about the ball dropping and the six year old decided that he REALLY wanted to see this happen. Since the unnamed daddy was at a lock-in with the youth group, this tired old mom forgot about being tired and watch movies with her two little boys!

Nathan, unfortunately, conked out at about 9:15 pm. So, I carried him to bed. David made it until about 10:40. I turned the TV to an east coast station and woke him up right before 11:00 so he could see the ball drop. He watched it and immediately fell back asleep, so I carried him to bed. This morning he woke me up early and asked why I didn't wake him up so that he could see the ball drop. So, if anyone taped the ball dropping, we could use a copy of it here at our house!

You may be wondering when that unnamed daddy told that six year old about the ball dropping, right? (Okay, probably not, but I was trying to transition into a discussion about their trip to the Independence Bowl!) Brian and David got home yesterday afternoon after cheering Alabama on to victory over Colorado. This was not only David's first Bowl game, but it was also his first Alabama game.

If you have read this blog for very long, you will remember that David got sick and was not able to go to Alabama's game versus Arkansas a year ago. He became pretty bitter about the fact that he didn't get to go to the game and decided he liked Arkansas more than Alabama which broke Brian's heart. However, when boys at school started saying that Alabama was a bad team, our competitive little guy realized that crimson runs through his blood and now he is a die-hard Bama fan.

When Brian asked for tickets to the Bowl game for Christmas, I asked him if it would be okay if he just took David and left Nathan and me home to spend time hanging out with each other. Nathan and I both like football, but Nathan's attention span would have gotten us through the first quarter (maybe) and then I would have been wrestling with him the rest of the game. So Sunday, David and Brian set off on their dream of a life-time, and from the reports they have given, they had a really good time.

I asked David what his favorite thing about the game was and he told me two things:

Alabama won.
Colorado's buffalo running on to the field.

He then told me, "Daddy said I was never supposed to say this, but there was a crazy man saying really bad stuff that God doesn't want us to say. And the bathroom was just filthy! It had words written on the bathroom walls and dad said that you don't read in the bathroom. Don't say anything about it because I am never supposed to talk about this stuff with anyone and I cannot repeat a word of it!"

Oh my!

Wrapping up 2007

2007-12-31T08:40:00.000-06:00

It is the last day of 2007, and I am doing what I do best: catching up! I must say that this year has been a growing year for our family. Some pretty big things happened in our family during 2007:

David's first day of Kindergarten

Nathan's first day of Pre-K

David lost his first tooth

I drank my first cup of coffee ever (and liked it!)

I graduated with my MBA in December

A fun trip to Disney World

We bought a used Ford Taurus (something we thought we would NEVER do, but now we fight over who gets to drive it)

Brian and David went to their first Bowl game together to root on Alabama to a win over Colorado

We have experienced a whole lot more than that, but those are a few of the fun things we experienced. I am now finishing up 2007 by getting organized and getting rid of a lot of stuff we really don't need. I must say that it feels really good to pass on old toys and "stuff" to others who will hopefully get more use out of it.

I am excited about the new things that 2008 will bring. I am sure there will be many firsts and big events, but I am even more excited about the little things that make life with my two boys so much fun. I am not the hugest fan of New Year's resolutions because mine usually only last until mid-February, but I am setting some goals for 2008. I won't bore you with all of them, but I will share one. I plan to be a whole lot better about blogging during this year. We will just have to see how that goes! :)

I wish all of you the best in the new year. May God shower blessings over each of you and may He provide wonderful opportunities in your lives in 2008!

Our Christmas Adventures

2007-12-31T08:38:00.002-06:00

I must say that our boys are at such a fun age when we celebrate holidays, and Christmas was no exception to that. It was so fun to see their eyes light up when they open presents and how excited they were to give presents to others.

Christmas Eve was a laid back day at our house. Brian had to work so that a minister could be at the office, so I spent some of the day baking and getting stuff ready for our Christmas lunch. The boys helped decorate some reindeer cookies for Santa and played with all of Nathan’s birthday toys. I also ran a few last minute errands without the boys since Brian’s mom was there to watch them for me.

David decorating cookies in his pajamas.

(Yes, we were THAT lazy on Christmas Eve!)

Nathan showing that he used a lot of brawn to decorate his cookies.

One of the finished products.

Another finished product.

The night before Christmas the boys watched some Christmas shows in their pajamas after supper. Then we had some special carolers come by the house and sing for us. The Adams family came and sang for us, and Savannah and Lauren sang a special song for the boys. It was wonderful and made our Christmas Eve complete!

After the Adams left, the boys sprinkled their reindeer food on the front yard and then headed to bed. At one point, Brian dropped his keys on the floor and both boys exclaimed, “Santa is here! Santa is here!”

Christmas finally arrived (at 5:15 in the morning!). Presents were opened, and the playing began. Well, the art of removing toys from packages began. [A note to all of you toy packagers out there….It should not take me an hour to remove the toy from the package. If you have any mercy at all, please do not put so many twist ties in the packages!] Once the packages were opened, boys started playing and I started cooking. The rest of the day was spent being lazy and enjoying each other.

I hope all of you had a Merry Christmas and enjoyed time with family!

Nathan Turns FIVE!

2007-12-31T08:38:00.001-06:00

Wow! My baby is now 5 years old. It is amazing how fast time flies. It seems like yesterday that we were bringing him home from the hospital for the first time. He was such a little guy and made such a dramatic entrance. Since then he has been a little ball of fire always on the go. He keeps us laughing without even trying and never ceases to amaze us with his ability to destroy things or cause close to a natural disaster.

Since his birthday was on Sunday the 23rd, our original plan was to let him have one present before church and then open the rest after lunch with cake. However, Nathan's dear sweet brother woke him up before 6:00am to tell Nathan that he was 5. So, plans changed and he opened his presents before church.

At church, Nathan walked around telling everyone it was his birthday. He received a lot of birthday wishes and even had some pretty girls sing for him! :) He said he wanted to eat lunch at Chili's, so his wish was our command. After lunch, we came home for a piece of Darth Vader cake and ice cream. Then he and David played with his new toys all afternoon.

After church Sunday night, we went to the park and rode in a carriage with Santa. I am not a big fan of malls, and Christmas time magnifies that dislike. So, for the past three years, we have gone to one of our local parks where Santa gives carriage rides. It does cost to ride, but the boys love it and get Santa's undivided attention during the ride, and Brian and I get to enjoy watching them and hearing all that they have to say to Santa.

So, Nathan's birthday was a good one. People always feel bad for him because his birthday is so close to Christmas, but right now he doesn't really mind. At some point, we may start celebrating a half birthday in June to let him have a little more attention on him. For this year, it was perfect just as it was though.

Nathan with his new workbench

David and Nathan with the Darth Vader cake.

Nathan blowing out five candles.

My Sweet Husband

2007-12-11T20:11:00.001-06:00

On Tuesday, my husband walked in the door with 2 dozen roses for me. Before we got married, he used to send me flowers every month (if not more). I loved it, but I always felt kind of guilty that he spent his hard earned money on something that would die and was kind of frivolous. Although I am a pretty practical person, I must admit that I still love it every time he walks in the door carrying flowers for me.

I will be honest with you though. As great as the roses are, he gave me an even better gift eight years ago. On December 11, 1999, he gave me his name and made me a promise that he would hang out with me forever. The journey has been kind of crazy at times. We have had some ups and we have had some downs. However, we have done it all together, and that has made the road of life a whole lot easier to travel.

Brian is my best friend, and the one that makes me laugh in spite of whatever is going on around us. I love to watch him read to our boys, defend himself during a light saber attack from two little Jedi's in training, joke around with the teens, and just be a great dad, youth minister and husband. I couldn't ask for better and would say yes all over again if he asked.

Pictures from Disney World

2007-12-11T20:10:00.000-06:00

Nathan was chosen to drive a boat during one of the rides.

He took the task very seriously! :)

Michael, Tyler and Kylie listening to David read a Bible story.

Such a tired little boy and such a sweet big brother!

Almost all of the Tucker family! (Steve, Rachel, Michael and Tyler)

Grandma Sandy with Nathan and David

Grandma Sandy with Nathan, Kylie, Tyler and David as we rode

the ferry on our first day at Disney World.

The four youngest grandkid on the first day at Magic Kingdom

Nathan and David with Mickey Mouse

Thanksgiving Wishes

2007-12-11T20:09:00.000-06:00

I am slow posting this because I have been trying to add pictures, but blogger has not been cooperative. I am going to go ahead and post it and try to add pictures later.

For Thanksgiving, we were blessed to get to go to Disney World! My mom had promised my oldest nephew that she would take all the grandkids to Disney World when he turned 12. Well, he is only 11, but my sister in law is expecting a baby and thought it would be much easier to go to Disney World pregnant rather than with a baby. So, we got a wonderful early Christmas present.

Out of the group, Brian was the only one who had ever been to Disney World before. My mom had been to Disneyland, but it is quite a bit different. The trip was fun and very tiring! The best part was just getting to see family and watch the kids enjoy the different parts of the parks. I must confess that we traumatized all of the younger ones by taking them to a frightening Bug's Life 3-D movie and a few other "dark" rides (and I am not talking about lighting), but there was a lot of stuff they enjoyed too.

As soon as I can, I will add some pictures of some pretty cute kids!

Not a Princess!

2007-11-09T10:32:00.000-06:00

This past week, the boys have been extremely tired and seem to whine at the least little thing. Since I teach on Thursday nights, I knew that yesterday evening was going to be a bit trying for Brian, especially since it was the end of the school week. So, on the way home from school, the boys and I stopped and rented a couple of movies for the afternoon and evening in hopes that everyone would kick back and relax a little bit.

On the way home, David asked me what my favorite movie is. I pondered for a little bit and said I liked Beauty and the Beast and Cinderella. Then the favorite one hit me: Anastasia! David did not know about Anastasia, so I started to fill him in about Russia and my love for that country after my trip there. I also tried to explain how the name Stacey comes from Anastasia. Well, he didn't really get that. So, I said, "David, it is about a girl that doesn't know she is a princess, but she really is. Just think, maybe I am really a princess and just don't know it. Wouldn't that be great?! Do you think I could really be a princess?"

I looked at him in the rear-view mirror, and he had a very serious expression on his face. He started shaking his head and said, "Mom, you are definitely NOT a real princess!"

Gee thanks son! :)

I also told you I would fill you in on the fruit tray story. The day that Brian left for the conference, he called and told me that he forgot to pass on a message that someone had called about the shower. So, I called the person organizing the shower and explained that I could still bring something but that Nathan was sick and Brian was out of town which would keep my from being able to actually be at the shower. She said that was fine and asked me to bring a fruit tray with apples and kiwi. We usually have apples, because Nathan really likes them, but I generally do not have kiwi in my fridge. (Okay, I pretty much NEVER have kiwi at my house.) Ironically though, this time I actually had kiwi in my fridge, which definitely was going to make my life much easier.

Unfortunately, I soon realized that I only had 3 kiwi, so I knew I would have to get more. As the weekend progressed, Nathan started acting like he was feeling much better and quit running a fever. On Sunday, I actually thought we would be able to go to church....until he threw up that is. This left me trying to figure out exactly how I was going to make this fruit tray because I did not want to take a chance of him throwing up in multiple aisles of the grocery store but I knew I really needed more kiwi. So, I decided to improvise.

At this point in the story, my husband is just shaking his head because I have a tendency to improvise in the kitchen on a pretty regular basis. Sometimes it turns out great, and other times it turns out...well, we just won't go there.

So, I cut up my apples into slices, soaked them in lemon juice so they would not turn brown, and then put them on my tray. Then I cut up my three, little kiwi, and they just looked kind of sad on the tray. I still had a huge gap that I needed to fill. So, I found a jar of cut pineapple in my fridge, and added that to the tray. My fruit tray still looked kind of sad, so I decided that I needed to make a fruit dip. The only problem is that I didn't have all the ingredients for any of the recipes I could find online.

That only left me with one choice; I had to make up my own recipe. So I got out some cream cheese, added some powdered sugar, a tiny bit of brown sugar, some real butter, a tad of vanilla and a couple big globs of cool-whip. I didn't measure a single ingredient. It might sound a bit scary, but it was pretty good. I will admit that it was a take-off of a Chocolate Chip Cheesecake ball recipe that I have and really like, but I did add to it and take away from it (partly because I was stuck only using the ingredients I had on hand and partly because I needed it to be a bit different consistency for the fruit).

I know that it would have been much easier to just go to the store and take the chance that Nathan would not throw up. However, it is in those moments of improvising that I have come up with some of our favorite recipes. Granted, I can't always make them the same because I don't measure stuff like I should, but the concept of a great recipe is there.

Raising Leaders

2007-11-06T20:26:00.000-06:00

So this past weekend, Brian was out of town at a Youth Minister's conference. We have a little joke that every time Brian leaves town, things fall apart at our house. In the past, I have had extremely sick kids, arms out of socket (David's...not mine), the washing machine has overflowed and flooded my kitchen, lizards, mice and other varmints have invaded the house, etc. You name it, and it has probably either happened or come close to it. So, when Nathan got sick the day before Brian left, I was thinking, "Oh great! Here we go again!"

Thankfully Nathan was not extremely sick, but he was sick enough to stay home from school on Friday and cause us to stay home from church on Sunday. I was supposed to be helping with a baby shower on Sunday, so I did have to load the boys up in the van and head to the church building to drop off my fruit tray (which is another funny story that I will save for tomorrow).

When we got to the building, I had someone watch the kids in the car and ran my fruit tray in real quick, and then we headed home. (And yes, for the worriers, I did not leave the keys in the car even with Nathan feeling bad. I did not want to tempt him even in his sickened state!)

On the way home, we were talking about how sad we all were that we didn't get to go to church and how much we missed being able to worship and go to Bible class. David then said, "You know, I heard that some people go to Home Church." I started to tell him that some people did do that, but he interrupted and said, "Wait, I am wrong. I think they may go to a Home School." I kind of chuckled to myself and then said, "David, we can have church at home since we missed it. That is a great idea."

So we got home, and the boys began setting things up for church. I overheard David tell Nathan, "Now Nathan, we are boys so that means we must be leaders during church." And let me tell you, they did a great job.

Our church service started out with Nathan leading a few songs. David failed to mention to sing church songs, so he started off singing the cowboy song from his grandparent's day program, but we convinced him to sing some more appropriate songs for our church service. So, here was our "Order of Worship".

Song - Jesus loves me without the me's led by Nathan. (This is a big thing here and I can't figure out what the deal is with it)

Song - Jesus loves me with the me's led by Nathan.

Song - Blue skies and rainbows led by Nathan.

Prayer - by Nathan (but preceded by the Read your Bible and Pray everyday song that Nathan must sing to start EVERY prayer)

Song - Jesus loves the little children by David

Song - Deep down in my heart by David

Prayer - by David

Passing of the collection plate. I was given a play $100,000 bill and asked to place it in Nathan's yellow construction hat. Then it was taken out and I was asked to do it all over again about 4 or 5 more times.

Song - March in the Infantry song led by Nathan

Prayer - by Nathan (once again preceded by the Read Your Bible and Pray Everyday song)

Sermon - Daniel and the Lion's den by David

Communion - led by both David and Nathan

Communion was by far one of the best moments I have ever had. David prayed for the bread and thanked God for it and that it stood for Jesus' body, that his body had been beaten and hurt by the people and that He did that for all of us. Nathan prayed for the grape juice and said, "Thank you that Jesus didn't really die for good God." I was absolutely moved beyond what I can even describe in words and so touched by the precious hearts of my 6 and 4 year old sons.

Then church was over. At one point, David did say that we needed two songs and a prayer to end church, but after communion, they were ready to be done.

I will be honest with you. There are days that I shake my head and wonder if I have totally messed up as a parent. However, on Sunday, I caught a glimpse into these two little boys that made me think that Brian and I haven't totally messed them up and that there is still hope for them to turn out pretty decent!

2007-11-05T09:38:00.000-06:00

Superstar David

David was the superstar in his kindergarten class for F week. All week the attention was on him, which if you know David very well, you will know that he LOVED it! On Tuesday, our whole family got to be in his class while he shared his F circle that had all sorts of pictures and things that start with the letter F on it. (I have a video that I will try to add later.) He dressed up as his Favorite Football player, Luke Tribble. On his circle above their picture together he wrote Favorite Friends. (Luke Tribble, you are an awesome hero to our little guy!)

David got to introduce his family, and then I read his favorite book Chicka, Chicka, Boom Boom. The boys and I have a special way that we read this, so we got to share that with the class and it was pretty neat.

All in all, David had a great week and was a very super superstar!

2007-11-05T09:22:00.000-06:00

Happy Halloween from our Star Wars Guys!

For some reason Nathan felt the need to raise up his arm in almost every picture.

David thought up this pose and I think it is my very favorite!

Can you tell he loves being Darth Vader?

And we can't forget Jenga Fett!

It's Been a Long Time

2007-11-04T18:14:00.000-06:00

Wow, I knew it had been awhile since I had blogged, but I didn't realize exactly how long it was since the last post. Honestly, during the whole time, things would happen and I would think to myself that I needed to blog about it, but I think I was suffering from blog burnout...or maybe I just needed a break. I think that sometimes I think this blog is supposed to be about funny little stories and entertaining the friends and family, and while I have enjoyed a lot of sweet things the boys have done, there are a lot of things running so much deeper in my heart right now. For some reason, I haven't felt like I can write what is deep in my heart. After all, most people who read this are wanting to hear stories about the boys, right?

Well, I do want to share the neat things that the boys are up to and how much they are learning about life, but I also want to share my journey too....my journey of becoming a better mom, wife, person and most of all, a better Christian. So, here goes....

Lately, life has been a mixture of really good things and some trials that have really made me grow a lot. I have had many realizations about myself, and I must admit, not all of them have been good ones. I have realized that few people truly know me, and that I tend to not let people get to see the real me. Instead, I show them what I think they need to see, and my husband's profession probably doesn't help with that. Don't get me wrong; I love that Brian is a Youth Minister, but that makes me want to be a good Youth Minister's wife who is everything to everyone. In the past six years, I have learned that is impossible, but for some crazy reason, I keep trying, and that can make life very stressful at times.

I have also realized that I do not have a real big circle of friends. Well, I do have "friends", but I don't have a lot of FRIENDS. Does that make sense? You know, those kind of people who you can totally be yourself with and who won't make fun of you when you are gone or tell someone else that they think you have lost your mind. For the good friends that I do have, I am so thankful because they have liked me in spite of myself. For the others that have tried, I am really sorry to have missed out because I was either so caught up in other things in my life or I was trying once again to be all things to all people that I never just showed them me.

However, what grieves me the most is that in an effort to be what I thought others wanted me to be and to be involved and (if I am honest to myself) way over-committed to "stuff", I sort of lost my way and became very little for God. Now please understand that through that, I truly loved God and wanted to be so much for Him, but I just couldn't seem to see how I was supposed to do that.

What is neat though is that in the past few months, I have started to really SEE God. I have seen Him work through prayer. I have seen Him work through others, and I have even seen Him work through me. And you know what, I love it! I love spending time in prayer with Him. I will admit that I was not always the best at praying in the past, but now, I have found it to be such a refuge for my worries and the things that burden my hearts. It makes me sad for what I missed out on before, but I am so thankful for the gift He gave us through prayer. It has helped me deal with some yucky health issues I have been having. It has helped me not stress so much as a mom. It has drawn me closer to the God that I really do adore, but most of all, it has sort of brought me back to life in a sense.

There have been so many things that I have been doing half-way for awhile now, and while it takes time to correct those, I have started the process of being anything and everything for God. I wish I could snap my fingers and make it all happen now, but it takes time. So, I am patiently (well...okay...not so patiently) plugging along and praying that I correctly prioritize the things and areas I need to improve.

So, that is what lies deep in my heart right now, but two special little boys and a very special man are not too far behind. So, let me share some neat things about them too and get you all caught up on us!

The month of August in Review

2007-09-03T11:35:00.001-05:00

All I can say is that I am very behind....AGAIN! This seems to be a perpetual state of being for me. I know I promised a video, but I had some technical difficulties with it. Since I can't get that working, I will share pictures of the boys' first days of school.

David started Kindergarten on August 10th. He was quite worried he would not know how to do all of the homework, but so far he is doing really well. As you may remember, we had a really hard time deciding whether or not to wait a year on kindergarten last year, but we are so thankful that we did. He has so much more confidence and is just not so timid as he used to be. Socially, he has matured so much, and we are very thankful with that decision now.

David on his first day of school.

David and Nathan together on David's first day of Kindergarten

Nathan did not start school until August 13th. This is his first year of Pre-K. He went to Carpenter's Kids last year, which would be similar to a Mother's day out program. However, now he goes every day, and he has done so well. Many of you know that we were told that Nathan may have Asperger's Syndrome. Our big thing is that we don't want to label Nathan and fit him into this mold of how he should act or behave because of a diagnosis. We have spent a lot of time researching and talking to people who can give us information, and we have been praying for help. It has made all the difference in the world!

Nathan's teachers have been great with him. They are very proactive in dealing with his sensory needs. When he loses focus, they take him outside to run. At recess, they have him run before he comes back in and it helps him to focus so much. I am so thankful for them and for how he is doing. He did leave class one day and showed up in the office of another person one day. That is pretty typical of this escape artist! We are very pleased with how he is doing and know that during this year, he will make great strides and improve any many areas. Here are pictures of his first day.

Nathan on his first day of Pre-K

"You do know that I am going to cause trouble today, don't you?"

Best Buddies....most of the time!

We are so excited about all that the boys will experience and how much they will grow this year. I know there are a lot of people who get sad when their kiddos grow up, but I must say that I love the watching them learn new things and achieving so much. These two boys are such blessings, and God is so good for sharing them with Brian and me.

We have had a lot of other things going on too. In the next few days, I will pass all that on too. If I can ever get the video fixed, then I will try to add that at some point.

Taking Care of Daddy

2007-08-02T11:46:00.000-05:00

The other day, Brian woke up sick. Having Brian home when he normally would be at work kind of throws our day into a loop. The boys were very concerned about why their daddy was home and what they needed to do to take care of him. At one point, I heard them in our bedroom, and I heard Brian asking them to leave him alone. So I went to the door and told them to come with me and to leave poor ol' dad alone.

A little bit later I went into our room to put something away. Brian was sleeping and he had a teddy bear in the crook of one arm and Nathan's alarm clock by his head. I wish I would have thought to take a picture of him. I guess the boys fixed him up pretty well.

On another note, school is about to begin, and David is eagerly anticipating finding out who is teacher is. We will be able to find out Friday at 4:00pm. Until then it is top secret. We have gotten all of his school supplies though. For the record, it is not cheap to buy school supplies!

Tomorrow, I will have a fun little movie clip of David to post, so keep watching for it!

More Pictures from our Trip

2007-07-26T09:07:00.001-05:00

Here are some pictures from our trip.

Nathan wrapped up in the waterfall from his classroom.

David with a kool-aid mustache. I think he had one everyday.

David by the St. Joseph lighthouse.

St. Joseph lighthouse at sunset.

Guitar Hero

2007-07-26T08:40:00.000-05:00

One of the things that our youth group kids learned to love on this mission trip is the Playstation game Guitar Hero. The house where the boys were staying had 5 boys, and they had the best set up with a swimming pool, fooseball table, pool table, 6o" TV and Guitar Hero. Two people would play at a time and everyone else would sit there and watch. It was hilarious.

Well, on the trip home, a bunch of the kids kept telling Brian we needed to get it so the youth group could play it. On Monday, Brian broke down and got it to have at our house for game nights. Well....I thought that was the reason. Monday night, Brian and I stayed up late competing against each other. That game is soooooo addictive. The funny thing is that I am not a video game kind of person. I am horrible at stuff like this, but it really is kind of fun.

Yesterday, David and Nathan kept begging me to play. So, I set it up and they started playing. They were horrible. I tried to teach them but it is not a game geared for little guys with little hands. I played it a little and they watched. Then we shut it off and I thought that would be the end of the fascination with it for them.

After church last night, David was showing us his stuff from Bible class. He had made a scroll that said, "I am thankful for the Bible." Normally on something like this, he would draw a cross or something like that. However, last night, he had written guitar hero and drawn pictures of an 80's band member holding a guitar. OH MY!

Then while Nathan was praying before bed last night, he said, "Thank you for guitar hero. ROCK-N-ROLL!"

The Good Samaritan

2007-07-24T09:23:00.000-05:00

We are back from our mission trip to Michigan. Can I just say that our teens are the best?!! I know there are a lot of people who question whether teen mission trips are really worthwhile. If any of these people would have been on this trip with us, they would never ask that question again. Our kids made a big impact on the church in St. Joseph. The church is in the process of looking for a minister and dealing with all the struggles that come with that process. Our teens encouraged, uplifted and built up this little church, and they did a great job with the Vacation Bible School.

Our trip to Michigan was quite eventful too. One thing I learned on the trip is that when the person driving says, "Oh no! We just lost all our power," it is NOT a good thing. Our serpentine belt (which controls EVERYTHING) broke, and we were stuck in the middle of nowhere. A man happened to stop by and checked to see if everything was okay. He thought he might have a belt that would work, so he left and then brought back a belt. It was too short, but he started the search to find us one. Another man stopped by to help too. Unfortunately, we soon realized that there were no belts anywhere in the near vicinity and that best case scenario was three or four days to get one. So, the first man that stopped called his preacher and they opened up the Christian church to us. The main problem was getting us there. So a few people came in cars; the First Methodist church brought their van; and a Sheriff's deputy threw the book at some of our kids and hauled them away in his police car.

These people were amazing. Not only did they house us, but they fed us supper and breakfast (and by breakfast, I mean homemade pancakes, eggs, bacon, toast, etc.). The church members opened their houses up to us so that we could take showers the next morning. They provided snacks, a TV to watch movies and continued to help us find the belt for our bus. We were able to wait there until James Anderson, Pat Bashaw and Brandon and Rachel Grady brought us some church vans so we could continue on to Michigan. If they would not have helped us, we would have been stuck on the side of the road in a very hot bus for a very long time. Instead, we got to enjoy meeting some very kind people and have a really good time in the process.

The real ironic part of the whole situation is that on the Wednesday before we left, Nathan Mellor spoke to the teen class about the parable of the good Samaritan. Many people approach the parable from the standpoint of the people who did or didn't do something to help the man by the side of the road, but Nathan talked about being the person on the side of the road who needs the help of others.

I don't know about you, but sometimes (okay...most of the time) I have a really hard time asking for help or letting people help me. I think being in the position where you are totally dependent on others is a good thing. I know I left with a new perspective of who I want to be. I want to be known as someone who serves, fully and completely. I want to be the kind of person who will drop everything and care for someone else....even if they don't have the same name on their church building as I do or look the same as me.

Breakfast David Style

2007-07-12T16:12:00.000-05:00

For the past three mornings, David has been making me breakfast. The first morning I was served Triscuit crackers and a glass of water. He had Nathan climb up to get the dishes out of the cabinet for him...what else are little brothers for?

The second day, we moved up to a bowl of Cheerios with little pieces of Triscuits in it. Let me tell you....yummmm. He also stepped up the type of glass he used. He pulled out one of the glasses that Brian and I used at our wedding reception. I am not exactly sure how they got it out of the cabinet because I think it came from the cabinet above the refrigerator, but honestly, I am not so sure that I want to know either.

After I was done with the glass, I put it right by the backsplash of the counter top so that it would not get knocked off and broken. Then I headed upstairs to do some work. All the sudden I heard a loud crash. Guess what broke? Yep...my glass. David was trying to get it to put more water in it to give to me while I worked and had accidentally dropped it. It was one of those moments that you just have to bite your tongue and not say those parental things that you are thinking. You know...things like "Why do you think I put it where it could not get broken?" and "You are too young to be messing with stuff like that!" I reminded myself that stuff doesn't make the memory, so I told him thank you for being thoughtful and that we all make mistakes. I would love to say that I had good thoughts after that and didn't mind cleaning up the mess, but it was so hard to get up all the little slivers glass and that was a bit frustrating!

Today for breakfast, David branched out a little bit. He served me barbecue potato chips with a glass (kind of) of water. Today, David found a little bowl that goes with my trifle bowl and that was my drinking glass. I guess he just wants me to feel fancy! As for the barbecue chips, let me just say that I am not a huge barbecue fan, and to eat them for breakfast was quite a task for me. BUT...I was a good mom and ate them. I was then offered Cheerios for dessert, but took a pass on those.

I appreciate that he is taking the initiative to make breakfast for me, but a good friend suggested that I might want to buy him his own set a dishes so that he will leave my breakable stuff alone. She also suggested that I need to stock my pantry with some better things for breakfast. I think that is pretty good advice that I am going to put to use....QUICKLY!

Happy Birthday to Me!

2007-06-25T10:18:00.000-05:00

For the past few years, my birthday hasn't been all that exciting. We have been on mission trips and other youth events for some of them, but even more than that, it isn't really fun to get old. I love how my kids get excited about getting older, but I just can't seem to do that any more.

However, this birthday has already been fun and it isn't even 10:30. My dear, sweet husband let me sleep in and then brought me breakfast in bed. He was going to make it, but the milk had gone bad. (We don't have any milk drinkers in our family, so that happens a lot!) So, he went to Bobby's to get me breakfast! You gotta love some Bobby's!

Then David gave me a present. It was wrapped in plain piece of paper. When I opened it, it was a football card of John Elway. (You gotta love John Elway!) He said, "I found that...upstairs." I didn't have the heart to tell him that it was already my football card. (And yes, I am a cool mom because in the olden days, I used to collect football cards. I have a bunch and my boys are quite impressed!)

Nathan also gave me a present wrapped up in a plain piece of paper. This package held a yo-yo, which was soon taken back by Nathan. I think he decided that I had it long enough and he needed it back. He then replaced it with a handful of pretend fish food. We don't have a fish, so I don't know exactly what to do with the pile of pretend fish food. However, if I "move" it, he will know and yell at me. (Yeah....welcome to my crazy world!)

I've already gotten a phone call from the sweetest nephews and niece in the world...and my brother and sister-in-law too! My mom called this morning too. I also got a call from about an extended warranty...but they didn't wish me a happy birthday.

So, I may just embrace getting old today along with all the pampering that goes with it. My boys take good care of me and make me feel like a princess more often than not...but today, they have promoted me to queen status. Not bad for an old lady, huh?

I know...I know...Long time no see

2007-06-23T18:43:00.000-05:00

Wow! It has been almost two months since my last post. You know it has been awhile when you start getting emails and phone calls asking what the deal is!

We have just been plugging along. The end of school was a whirlwind with class parties for the boys and lots of grading and studying for me. Since school has been out, we have had VBS and David went to a basketball camp. We took a quick, impromptu trip to Oklahoma City to see friends and family. Grandma Barbara and Grandma Sandy have both been here to visit. The list can go on and on, but most of all, we have been hanging out and enjoying spending time with each other.

I have lots to share, but I will save that for another day. For now, I will just share some pictures to show how much the boys have grown during this past year.

This picture is from our church Hayride last October.

This picture was taken a few weeks ago. Haven't they grown?

There will be more tomorrow.

By the way, David helped pick out the new blog background. He thought this one looked like Alabama colors, which in his words made it "Awesome".

BIG Dreams

2007-04-25T08:58:00.000-05:00

The boys were watching a movie about Moses yesterday and when it got to the part where Moses parted the Red Sea, both the boys were in awe. David looked at me and asked, "How did he do that?" I told him that God was with with him and gave him the power to do it so he could save the Israelites.

David then said, "God is so cool. I wish I could be God. I think I will be God for Halloween next year."

It's been a long time...

2007-04-20T11:45:00.000-05:00

Wow...I had not realized how long it has been since I last posted. So much has happened since that post...David celebrated his sixth birthday, Brian made another trip to the gulf coast to help out with clean-up, my business plan competition is over, and just everyday life. It is funny how all of those things are just so big at the time and consume so much energy, and yet, in light of everything that has happened at Virginia Tech and other things going on in people's lives, they are really very small.

I really will write more about my family later, but right now, my heart is touched by so many things going on in the lives of those around us. Brian showed me a video the other night and shared how it touched him and made him very thankful for all the blessing in his life. Once I saw it, I understood exactly what he meant.

Some days, little things seem so hard. Some days, you take so much for granted. Some days, you struggle to have faith that God is in control even when you aren't. And then, the life of a little boy reminds you of God's perspective of your purpose in life. The little boy reminds you what truly matters. The little boy reminds you that God is here...in every way...even when you don't always understand.

If you want to be touched deeply today, you can see the video here.

The Lizard, The Frog and The Mole

2007-03-27T16:11:00.000-05:00

It sounds like a storybook, doesn't it? Trust me...this is no storybook.

I don't like reptiles. I mean...I REALLY DON'T LIKE REPTILES! So you can imagine the fun in our house when Nathan yells "Mommy, there is a lizard in the bathroom." I thought he was exaggerating but decided that I just might need to check. Low and behold, there was a scampering little lizard that set my heart a quivering and made me want to scream like the girl I am.

Unfortunately, my dear husband wasn't home and my boys weren't offering to dispose of the lizard. Sooooo, I got my handy dandy dust pan and attempted to scoop up the little guy. It didn't exactly work as planned. Needless to say, this lizard and I danced around the bathroom until I finally got him on the dust pan. I knew I could never make it to the front or back door with him, and I didn't want to take the chance of setting him free in my living room. So I did the unthinkable. I flushed him down the toilet...and then flushed about 10 more times to make sure that he wouldn't reappear.

I don't know where the lizard came from, but Brian did see a frog the other day. I hope our new flowerbeds and mulch aren't going to invite unwanted reptiles into our yard or house! After all, we already have moles in our front and back yard. We have nice little tunnels all through the yard. I would love to say "At least we haven't seen any yet..." but we no longer think that is the case. The other day Nathan came running inside to tell me that he had seen a mole. He said it was black with a face like his and it came out of hole. I am not so sure about the face thing, but I have a sneaking suspicion that Nathan probably saw one of our moles. While the mole encounter didn't phase Nathan, the thought of coming face to face with a mole causes me great trepidation.

David is helping me out though. After the lizard episode, he prayed that I would not be afraid of a little thing like a lizard that wouldn't hurt me. Since he feels that way, David is going to be in charge of lizard removal next time!

The Life of a Youth Minister's Family

2007-03-17T22:27:00.000-05:00

Brian took the week off since it is also my Spring Break, and we have spent the past week breaking our backs, knees and muscles we didn't even know existed relandscaping our flower beds in the front yard. (And yes, we were trying to fix the bushes I killed last fall!) In spite of the hard work, it was worth all the effort because they look much, much better. It was a very productive week...with one exception.

Last night we woke up hearing noises outside of our house and found this:

Ahhhhh yes....the life of a youth minister at its best! :-)

The boy next door was mortified that someone would do this to our house after we had spent so much time digging up shrubs and getting the beds ready to plant stuff. While he and his sister helped us clean up, we had to explain that they do this in fun and didn't do it to be mean (we think).

The funny thing is that these teens think they got us. Little do they know that revenge is such a sweet, sweet thing!

Soccer Time

2007-03-13T18:12:00.000-05:00

Before I talk soccer, I was clicking on the link to the video in the last post and apparently the video was gone from the link I used. I have updated it with a new link, so if you clinked on that link and only saw some ads for some pretty risque links, I am so SORRY! I turned red when I saw them! Now you can go back and look at the other video and hopefully it won't go away!

Now...on to soccer. Nathan has started playing soccer (or something like that) and his team is hilarious. We have Nathan. I thought Nathan would be in the middle of things playing his heart out. Wrong! Nathan is the kid that likes to lay down on the field. I don't know if he is meditating, playing dead or trying to stop the other team from scoring, but in all honesty, he doesn't accomplish any of the above.

Next comes Canton. Canton is the boy that comes running onto the field and jumps in front of the coach and starts doing the growling-muscle showing move. Unfortunately, a couple of minutes later, he will run off the field in search of his mom and cannot be coaxed back onto the field.

Then there is Kelby. Kelby just keeps on running. He stays on the field and plays hard. He doesn't have the same natural ability as some of the others when it comes to soccer, but he definitely gets the 110% award, and I predict he will do well in sports.

Ben is the only boy that has scored. He is really good but isn't sure about getting on the field. The coach has to coax him on the field and keep him interested in the game.

Caleb is the most cuddly little four year old you have ever seen. He still has that baby look to him, and as long as you hold his hand, he will do anything you ask.

Rounding up our 6 man team is Trevor. Trevor is probably the best athlete of all of them. Unfortunately, he has yet to make it on the field. He is pretty shy and has showed no interest in playing. He reminds me of David when David played soccer.

And of course, I cannot forget the coach. Oh My! The coach is an out of shape, middle age woman who knows NOTHING about soccer. Oh wait....I AM THE COACH! And yes...all of that is true. The coaches we played last week were talking about corner kicks and were line Nazis. I am out there shouting hurray when our kids kick the ball in the wrong goal. I did tell them that it was the wrong goal, but they were so excited. I gave them high fives and told them they were great!

I have enlisted the help of Savannah, who was one of our youth group kids and played soccer in high school. She is great and helps with some of that soccer lingo. Together we do okay, but we have a big problem with keeping kids on the field. We have yet to score as much as the other teams. We don't keep score, but David does. (After the first game, he decided that girl coaches were no good because we were the losers!)

I think we have five more games, which may be all I can handle. Nathan thinks its great and enjoys getting dressed up to play and always seems well rested after the game.

CAN

2007-03-10T00:19:00.000-06:00

Have you ever had a time in your life where you just seemed to be touched by the small things in life? Or have you had those days where you are truly inspired by the actions of others? I have really been feeling this a lot lately. We have had a lot of stuff going on, but in the midst of it, I have found great inspiration in simple acts (and not so simple acts) of true sacrafice.

I came across a video online today about a father and son. I had heard their story before and Brian had told me about the video, but I had never gotten to see the actual video. The father and son are named Dick and Rick Hoyt and here is an excerpt from their website:

Dick and Rick Hoyt are a father-and-son team from Massachusetts who
together compete just about continuously in marathon races. And if they’re not
in a marathon they are in a triathlon — that daunting, almost superhuman,
combination of 26.2 miles of running, 112 miles of bicycling, and 2.4 miles of
swimming. Together they have climbed mountains, and once trekked 3,735 miles
across America.

It’s a remarkable record of exertion — all the more so when you
consider that Rick can't walk or talk.

For the past twenty five years or more Dick, who is 65, has
pushed and pulled his son across the country and over hundreds of finish lines.
When Dick runs, Rick is in a wheelchair that Dick is pushing. When Dick cycles,
Rick is in the seat-pod from his wheelchair, attached to the front of the bike.
When Dick swims, Rick is in a small but heavy, firmly stabilized boat being
pulled by Dick.

Their website goes on to tell a remarkable story of a young man whose father wanted him to be able to do more than just imagine. He wanted him to feel like a winner and went to great lengths to provide that opportunity to his son. Their website shares a touching story, but seeing it on this video is absolutely inspiring and just reaches to the very core of you.

It makes me want to be more to and for my kids. It reminds me to sacrifice so that they can be all that they can be. While I may not have to carry them physically, there may be times they need me to "carry" them emotionally or spiritually just like my father in Heaven does for me. They may need me to travel with them as they forge new roads or cheer them on as they take off on their own. They will need me to hang on to them and they will need me to let go of them. All these take sacrifice, commitment and most of all, they take a love like no other love. They take the love that Dick Hoyt has for his son. They take the love I have for my sons.

David and Nathan...you have my word...for as long as I live and am able, I will be with you, beside you, behind you...wherever you need me to be...so that you can.

Another Change

2007-02-21T19:03:00.000-06:00

I think that I am going through a mid-life crisis or something. I have the need for change, and the easiest thing to change is my blog template. The last one didn't feel right, so I am going to try this one. And yes...I know that I need to get out of the house more if I am concerned about how my blog feels! (As a side note, I was right about Brian's reaction to my first change. The first thing that he said about my last change was that he liked my old template!)

In other news, both boys are sick. They have that sinus junk going around and seem to feel pretty miserable, especially Nathan. So, we had pajama day at our house, which was kind of nice...almost like a relaxing vacation, except that I had to work on stuff all day!

The other night we were at our church's version of children's church and the kids were naming the fruits of the spirit. Every time they would name one, Nathan would say, "Oh No! They already said patience!" of "Oh No! They already said self-control." My favorite, though, was when he exclaimed "Oh No! They already said Faithful Mess!"

The sad thing is that, some days, faithful mess describes me better than faithfulness. I admit it; I am a mess these days. I am disorganized and am burning the candles at both ends of the wick and in the middle of the wick. However, I had an experience in the past few days that made me rethink a lot of things, and I am committing myself to clean up my faithful mess. I will try to get organized too, but honestly, that isn't as important as making sure my priorities are what they need to be and that God is always at the center of everything.

I love it when my kids make me laugh, but even more, I love it when they pass on a little gem that makes me think. I am thankful for my kids; they are truly blessings...even when (you can fill in the blank if you have read my blog before)!

So, if you want to join me in a clean sweep of your faithful mess, let me know. We can all encourage each other!

It's a Bad Toe Day

2007-02-13T10:43:00.000-06:00

A lot of my stories have been about David lately, so I decided that I needed to share a few about Nathan.

Nathan had a rough night Sunday night. He had a splinter in his foot right by his big toe, and I made the unfortunate decision to remove it. You would have thought that I cut his big toe off. He wailed...and screamed...and cried for at least an hour. He told David he was having a bad toe day. He told me that the splinter would be stuck to my fingernail forever. When I told him that it wasn't stuck to my fingernail, he became even more upset.

So, I did what every good parent would do. I hugged him and put him to bed. Monday morning I asked him how his toe felt, and he said it was great now. Such drama from such a small boy!

Last Thursday, the 4 and 5 year olds from his school went to a pizza restaurant to make pizzas for "P" week. Imagine about 40 to 50 preschool kids taking a tour of a pizza joint and putting toppings on their own individual pizzas. I cannot even begin to tell you how many kids would put a topping on their pizza, lick their hands and then put their fingers back into the toppings. All I can say is thank goodness for really hot, germ-killing ovens!

The teachers have worked out this field trip down to a perfect science. They split up the kids into three groups and had art class, music class and the pizza making part. Brian and I got to see how Nathan interacted with the other kids, and basically we realized that Nathan kind of does his own thing. He stayed at the back of the pack and was busy looking at everything going on around him, which is pretty typical for him.

This week is Q week at his school, and on Tuesdays, they always take something that starts with that week’s letter for show and tell. Well, I forgot to send a Q thing with him this morning. I was taking David to school, so I called Brian and told him to tell Nathan that he could be Quiet for show and tell today. I told him he might have to practice it with him on the way to school.

Brian called me after he had dropped Nathan off at school and he was laughing. Apparently, when the teachers greeted him, Nathan whispered, “Shhhhhh! Quiet starts with a Q!”

Time for a Change

2007-02-07T12:12:00.000-06:00

Soooo....do you notice something different? I needed to change the look of my blog. It was time for something new. I love change, but I have found that living with three boys who don't like change so much has stifled me a bit. So, rather than rebelling against them and rearranging all the furniture in the house, I just changed the look on my blog.

In other news, the boys have been really funny lately. We were at a restaurant a few days ago, and there was music playing in the background. Nathan started swaying back and forth. I asked him if he was dancing, and he nodded. David said, "It looks like he is dancing the Mumba." I thought he must be talking about the mambo, so I asked him where he learned about that dance. He replied, "Oh we did it at school." This surprised me and I couldn't imagine preschool teachers wanting to teach ballroom dancing to a bunch of 4 and 5 year old kids. So, I asked him when they learned it. He said, "You were there. It was at that big party in the gym." I couldn't remember what he was talking about, so he said, "You know...with the music and the stick." Ah yes...the Limbo...just a slight difference from the Mambo.

Then we have yesterday. David had not obeyed very well at school, so I decided that we needed to sit down and really talk about it. After we talked about what he did and how he was going to act differently, he said, "Yeah, I guess God forgot to come into my heart and it made me make some really bad choices. Why did he do that?" It's pretty bad when they start blaming God, isn't it? Oh my!

What Exactly Is a Surgery?

2007-01-29T15:47:00.000-06:00

David spends most of his days asking questions. Yesterday, David and I somehow got into a conversation about surgeries. (I think it started when I told him not to run with his toothbrush in his mouth.) Needless to say, he wanted to know all about the point of a surgery. When I told him there were lots of different kinds of surgeries, his eyes lit up, and I knew that I had just opened the door for a discussion about all the different kinds of surgeries.

After a few explanations about several "tame" surgeries, he asked if I had ever had any surgeries. I replied that I had my appendix removed. He wanted to know what the appendix does and why it had to be removed. (What exactly does an appendix do?) He asked if that was the only surgery I had. I said no and we moved on to the gallbladder...and then the right knee...and then the left knee. I was hoping we could stop there, but I couldn't lie to him when he asked again.

So, I told him I had a c-section. He asked what that was all about, and I told him that the c-section was done by the doctor so he could be born. I am sure that EVERY little boy would love the thought of having to be cut out of his mom's stomach, but I must admit that the conversation was kind of creepy for me.

However, I must say that it lost some of its creepiness when David said, "So the doctor cut you open and I popped out. What color shirt was I wearing?" At that point, I just started laughing so hard that I cried.

I Am Thinking of a Number...

2007-01-23T14:23:00.000-06:00

We were on the way home from church on Sunday night after going out to supper with a good friend, and the boys were beginning to get a little "loud" in the backseat. In the past this has really frustrated me, but I have been trying a new approach that has seemed to be working pretty well. I will play a game like "I spy" or make up a silly song to get their minds off the fact that they really want to pester each other. It just makes the ride in the car or the wait in the line at the store go a little more bearable.

On Sunday night, I decided that they need to be distracted and I thought I would try something a little different. I said, "I am thinking of a number between 1 and 10. Can you guess what it is?" This is how the rest of the "game" went.

David shouted out, "43!"

To which I responded, "That isn't between 1 and 10."

Nathan then responded, "A...B....C"

Me: "Nathan, those are letters. You need to pick a number."

David: "27"

Me: "David, a number BETWEEN 1 and 10"

David: "16?"

Me: "No! Between 1 and 10. What numbers come between 1 and 10?"

David: "I don't know."

Me: "David, why don't you count from 1 to 10?"

After much prodding and many hints, David eventually guessed the number. So then it was his turn. He said, "I am thinking of a number between 23 and 2."

Me: "What?

Nathan: "1"

Me: "That is backwards David, but that is okay. How about 16?"

David: "No"

Nathan: "2...3...4...5...6...7...8...9...10"

Me: "20?"

David: "No, it is 24."

Me: "THAT is NOT between 2 and 23."

David: "I didn't say 2 and 23. I said 23 and 2."

Nathan: "It's my turn. It's my turn. I am thinking of a number between 2 and 3."

David: "Is it 100?"

Nathan: "Yes David! You got it!"

Soooo...math may not be our strong suit just yet. If this is any indicator, it may not ever be our strong suit!

So, Why Did You Choose Us Mom?

2007-01-15T16:30:00.000-06:00

On the way home from church last night, David asked, "So, why did you choose us Mom?" I was a little confused, so I asked him what he meant. He said, "You know. Why did you choose us to be your babies?"

I grinned to myself and told him that God had given both of them to me as a special gift and that they were chosen by God to be in our family. I also said how blessed that we were that God gave them to us.

I thought that might end the discussion, but it didn't. He then asked, "Well, how did God get us to you?" Ummm...just a little bit harder of a question to explain. I couldn't just say that he left them on the doorstep because he has seen pregnant women. So, I said, "God let you guys grow in my tummy." He then asked, "How did he get us in your tummy?"

Now, you have to understand that Nathan is crying because he had to turn in his nametag at church before we left. I was trying to get home because we had kids from the youth group coming to our house, so I said, "You know what David. It is really hard to talk about this because Nathan is upset, and we might need a little more time. Can we talk about this later?" (What I was really asking was "If I put off this discussion for a little while will you forget about it and then ask your dad when you are a lot older?)

David sat there for a second and then said, "Is it a secret? Does God come to your house at night and climb into your tummy and put a baby in your tummy? Should we not talk about it because it is a secret and Jesus doesn't want us to know how it works?" (I would have loved to see my face at this point in the conversation.)

I replied, "Ummmm...noooo...that's not really it." David said, "Oh okay. Who is your favorite football team?"

All I can say is thank goodness for questions about football!

David's Week

2007-01-12T14:29:00.000-06:00

This week has been a tough week for David. Getting back in the routine of school is never easy, but he has had some added events that have just made it a little rough.

Either Monday or Tuesday, Brian brought David home from school and said, "Something traumatic happened at school today." I looked at David, and he burst into tears and those tears soon became heart-wrenching sobs. I was rather bewildered and looked to Brian for an explanation. He told me that a boy had accidentally thrown David's football on the roof of the school. One of the teachers assured David that there was a man with a big ladder that would come get it down off the roof in a day or two, but that did nothing to appease his pain. Every mention of the football caused another onslaught of tears...to the point of being ridiculous. Later in the evening, I discovered that it was really Nathan's ball that was on the roof, and David was worried about telling him. He told Nathan all about it, and Nathan just said, "Oh well." That night, David prayed for the man who would get the ball down off the roof. We still don't have the ball back, but thankfully, he doesn't cry at every mention of it now.

On Wednesday, David came in the door showing me his hand. He had scraped it, and so I gave him the proper sympathy. Then I saw his face. My sweet little boy took a face dive on the cement and had a knot above his eye and some marks on his cheek. I gave him a big hug and asked him if he cried. He said yes, and my heart broke. I hate being away from my kids and not being there to comfort them when they are hurt. He was tough and said it was all okay.

It is Friday, and he is fine. Now he is just bugging me about why rest time isn't over and how long and unfair rest time is!

Finally...Back to Blog World

2007-01-11T12:39:00.000-06:00

It has been awhile. I could give you many excuses. I had a cast on my arm. We were traveling. On and on they could go. The truth is that I took a break on writing about my family and just enjoyed spending some time with them.

Christmas was fun. We spent it with my family in Nebraska and the boys were able to have a white Christmas. It was fun...and cold! David and I went sledding with my nephew Michael on Christmas day. We went down a hill that I now refer to as the hill of death. The slope was pretty steep, and David was not real excited about going down it alone. So, being the great and fun mom that I am, I went with him. (Can you say BIG MISTAKE?!) We hit an embankment and our sled flipped. David went flying off and in the process of trying to keep me or the sled from landing on top of him, I injured my right arm. I went to the doctor the next day and ended up with a cast on my right wrist and thumb. That part wasn't fun, but I did get out of doing dishes!

Nathan caught a stomach virus the day after Christmas. I've decided that it is not easy taking care of a kid who is throwing up when you have a cast on your arm. Luckily, Dad pitched in a little and Grandma pitched in a lot to help me out. He recovered, and everyone had a really good time.

We ended up leaving Nebraska a day early because of the threat of more storms, and we had the longest trip home EVER. Our boys are really good travelers, but I don't think I have ever stopped so many times in my whole life. Needless to say, we were all glad to be home!

We rolled in New Year's with a group of kids from the youth group. We had an impromptu New Year's eve bash and it was a lot of fun. I learned how to play Risk and in my second game, stomped all the boys! Little do they know that I learned all my strategic moves from being a mom to two busy little boys. The highlight of the evening was David spilling Sprite down my cast to roll in the new year.

Thankfully, my wrist is not broken and the sticky cast is now gone. I have been working hard to get organized once and for all, and it seems to be working a little bit. Maybe by the end of February, I will be on top of everything!

Hope you all had a great holiday and 2007 is treating you well. May God bless you all through this new year!

Happy Holidays

2006-12-21T07:52:00.000-06:00

Christmas is quickly approaching and I wanted to share our best wishes to all of you for a very merry Christmas and an extraordinary holiday season. David drew these pictures of Santa and Rudolph, and I thought they were very fitting to serve as our "online" holiday card. He asked us to set up a table to display them under the Christmas tree so Santa and Rudolph would be sure to see them. We convinced him that it would be safer to put them out Christmas Eve with the cookies for Santa (otherwise his brother might decide to draw on them or eat them...you never know with that kid!)

We have already started our Christmas extravaganza. At Thanksgiving, we celebrated Christmas with Brian's mom in Mobile. Nathan had asked for a drill for Christmas, and he got one from Grandma Barbara. It was great when he opened it because he was so excited. Once we got it out of the box, he kept saying, "Now we have to break something so we can fix it!"

He played with it for awhile at her house and kept looking for the holes that it was supposedly drilling. On the way home, I asked him what he would want for his birthday and/or Christmas now that he had the drill. He said, "That drill is pretend. I want a REAL drill." Yeah...I bet you do Nathan. That is not happening for another 20 years (or at least until you move out.) I don't want everything broken just so you have something to fix.

We let the boys open a few presents from us yesterday. With Nathan's birthday on December 23rd, this time can be an overload of presents from family. This year we decided that we would spread it over a few days and give them a chance to enjoy playing with what they get a little more.

We hope you all have a great holiday season. May God bless your family richly as 2006 ends and 2007 begins.

Saying Goodbye to a Friend

2006-12-16T10:38:00.000-06:00

Last night I received an email that Rhonda Frazier, a good friend of mine, had passed away from Alzheimer's disease. She was 34 years old and a single parent of a little boy named Clay. I ask all of you to please remember Clay, Rhonda's parents, sister and brother, and the rest of her friends and family in your prayers.

I met Rhonda at church when I was 7 years old. My family had just moved to Eugene, Oregon, and Rhonda became a very good friend. There were four of us girls that became pretty tight friends and we did a lot together during those 3 years my family lived in Oregon. Those were good times!

When my family moved to Texas, Rhonda and I kept in touch through letters and a very, very occasional telephone call. (And yes, if you know me, you know that Rhonda probably wrote more letters to me than I did to her!) When I was at Harding, Rhonda came and spent almost a week with me. She decided to transfer to Harding the following year, and would you believe that housing assigned us as suitemates even though neither one of us knew anything about it? I still remember Rhonda the look on her face when we found out that we would be suitemates.

Rhonda was an extremely talented person. She lived life fully and completely. She involved herself in everything and was so good at all that she did. Whenever I would think of Rhonda after we moved from Oregon, I would always think of the saying (or Brownie Song) or whatever it is:

Make new friends but keep the old
One is silver and the other gold.

I don't know if my mom used to remind me of this after we moved to make me feel better, or what? All I know, is that Rhonda was pure gold.

From This Day Forward

2006-12-11T16:07:00.000-06:00

It has been a long time since I have posted. Life has been very busy. The family has been sick, and it seems like we are constantly running in one direction or another. I knew I had to make time to post today though.

Seven years ago today, a very special man took on a very hard job. That job was being married to me! Today is our wedding anniversary, and if he asked me to do it all over again today, I would do it in a heartbeat.

For better or for worse...We've had a lot of "better" and even in 7 short years of marriage, we have had some "worse". That first year of marriage brought many difficult times that were faith building and bonded us for life. We have laughed together and sometimes even cried together through the years. There are probably some things that we wish we could go back and change...but all those times brought us to today.

For richer and for poorer...We have been poor. We have wondered how things would get paid, but God always provided. He provided through generous people. He provided through some creative answers. He provided by helping us learn to become a little more content and understand that even when we felt poor we were really very rich. Even now, God has also blessed us with wonderful jobs and a dream house. More important than those things is the love that fills that house and the joy we get from the people we work with every day.

In sickness and in health...This one has been a tough one for us. God never promised perfect bodies and the struggles that have come in the health area haven't always been easy, but we can laugh and love...what else matters?

To love and to cherish...I used to laugh when "old" people would say that those warm and fuzzy feelings go away and there has to be something more to keep a marriage strong. Now, I know that it is true...sometimes. I still have the warm and fuzzy feelings for Brian, but they come more now as I watch him be a good daddy to my boys. It comes when I see him touch the life of a teen or someone else. And, it still comes when he is sweet to me like he was today when he sent me 7 roses and told me that he has enjoyed the last 7 years and looks forward to the next 70. Those moments are pretty special! While I am not always one of those sappy girls, I hope he knows how much I cherish and love him...even when I am giving him a hard time!

From this day forward 'til death do us part...I don't always tell him and I am sure that I don't always show it, but just so that it is clear...I am blessed for having married Brian. God gave me a gem of a husband, and I wouldn't trade him for the world. He is my best friend, my confidant, and my number one supporter. He even does laundry! I couldn't ask for more.

So Brian, thanks for asking me to be your wife and then going through with it! I will never forget...

Raising Boys

2006-11-16T13:05:00.000-06:00

This post is dedicated to Ashley, a friend who is expecting a baby boy just any day now. I have had several friends recently who have either had or adopted baby girls, and I honestly don't have a lot of advice about how to raise girls, other than to love them to pieces. Boys though...I can give all sorts of advice about raising boys. So Ashley, here is what you need to know about raising a boy:

1. Boys can be really gross. They have a huge fascination for burping...especially in public. While embarrassing to admit, I found a way to stop it though. I had a burping contest with my boys, and I won. The fascination is gone, and I am cool. So remember, you can gain respect with the small things and sometimes it pays to join in on the "fun".

2. Don't ever turn your back. Boys have this sense built into them that lets them know the minute you turn your back. When you do turn around, they will hit their siblings, run away, break a lamp, hide your car keys and do much, much worse things than these. The funny thing is that when you turn back around, they act like nothing has happened (unless they ran away...then you just can't find them).

3. You will never be fast enough. Little boys are quick, and they are squirmy. If they know that they are about to get in trouble, they will squirm out of your grasp, make a break for it and then run around as you chase them through the house, the backyard, the church building or McDonald's. They know that if they can just get you tired enough, you won't have any strength left to discipline them. I guess that makes them pretty smart too.

4. Boys hate the color pink...at least that is what my boys tell me. They try hard to be macho and tough guys, but they will scream like a girl when they see a bug on the bathroom floor. (Then they will proceed to smash it to smithereens with your favorite pair of shoes.)

5. Boys are truly gifts from God. I know...ALL children are gifts from God. Daughters are just as much a gift from God as sons are, but since this is about raising boys, I will focus on that for now. Ashley, when you look into the eyes of your baby boy for the first time, know that you are looking into the true and perfect image of God. From that point on, God is entrusting you to raise this tiny little boy to be a servant for Him. Your son will be the spiritual leader of His home and a servant leader for His Kingdom. Embrace and encourage his talents, correct his faults, and commit him wholly and totally to the Father. It is a huge responsibility, but it has many rewards. May God bless you guys as you raise this boy.

Oh...I almost forgot. Always have a cloth of some kind handy when you are changing his diaper. If you don't, you will be "christened" every time! From experience, their aim is pretty good and distance is amazing...just ask the lady coming out of the stall at Home Depot back in June of 2001.

Our Family Portrait

2006-11-07T17:19:00.000-06:00

We now have a new family portrait by our favorite artist. What do you think?

As you have probably already guessed, David is our wonderful and favorite artist. Just to make sure you understand his art, I will provide a few explanations.

David is on the far left sporting his favorite #6 Wildcats football jersey (and for some reason is bald...maybe he was anticipating his haircut today). Then you have me wearing a blue Broncos football jersey with the number 7. Nathan (who looks somewhat like a caterpillar in the beginning stages of building a cocoon) is wearing his red shirt with black and yellow stripes and is also quite bald. Finally, we have Brian on the right. Brian is also wearing a Broncos football jersey and has very large and very yellow ears.

Yep...it is a perfect rendering of our family!

Halloween Recap

2006-11-06T10:22:00.000-06:00

It's been a long time since I have posted, so I have a lot to cover! First of all, we survived Halloween. David was his favorite high school football player, Luke Tribble, and Nathan was a pumpkin WITH A STEM. (Big emphasis on the with a stem part!) The boys enjoyed trick-or-treating around the neighborhood, and we also went to the houses of some good friends and most importantly, Luke Tribble.

The boys had asked me what I was going to be for Halloween, and I told them I was going to dress up as a mommy. David said, "You can't do that! You should be a princess." I asked Nathan what he thought I should be and he said, "A toaster." I am not quite sure how to take that.

This was the year that I really tried to work on Halloween etiquette with the boys, and that wasn't easy for two boys who say it like it is. At one house, the boys got candy and a pencil. As we were walking away, David asks loud enough for the lady who gave it to him to hear, "WHY did they give us a pencil?!" I tried to recover the situation by smiling big and saying, "What a great thing to get at Halloween! It is a special treat and you LOVE to draw! I wish I had a pencil like that!" As soon as the door closed, I hissed, "THAT was NOT nice. I don't care what they put in your bag. You smile. You say thank you, and unless you have something good to say, you keep your mouth shut!" (Don't you remember speeches like that when you were a kid? I am not exactly sure just when I became my mom, but her little speeches just flow out of me in situations like that!)

Just across the street from that house, Nathan thought the lady gave him a package of soap for some reason and launched into a "soap and water can make you very clean" lecture. This time, I just smiled and said thanks and quickly rushed him away from the house. Additionally, any time anybody commented on Nathan being a pumpkin, he would have to correct them and say in an exasperated voice, "I am a pumpkin WITH A STEM!" The very hardest part about trick-or-treating with Nathan was that he wanted to go inside everyone's house when they opened the door. So, we would have to quickly grab him before he made a mad dash to get inside.

By the end of trick-or-treating, the boys did get the hang of saying thank you at each house without being prompted, and Nathan even decided to step his thank you a notch and started telling everyone gracias after they gave him candy. They had a great time and Nathan fell asleep on David's shoulderpad on our way home. All in all, it was a great night!

Halloween Candy

2006-10-27T15:45:00.000-05:00

The Halloween candy began its inflow into our house today. David had a fall party at school today and brought home two big baggies full of all sorts of treats. As I went to empty the candy into our candy bowl (that I keep hidden away from little fingers until it is time for a treat), I realized that we still have candy in the bowl from LAST Halloween and Valentine's day.

Without even thinking, I mentioned to David that it might be time to dump the bowl and start over with this years candy. He got a horrified look on his face and asked me, "Does God like it when we throw away candy?"

"David Goes to School"

2006-10-25T08:24:00.000-05:00

David has a new favorite book called David Goes to School by David Shannon. This author has written several "David" books about what he heard from adults when he was a child. I think many of them are very fitting for our David too:

"Pay attention David"

"Shhhhhhhh!"

No David!"

All the "David" books are pretty cute and they do end on a positive note so that no child will be harmed with negative thoughts for life! In addition to this series, we also love David Shannon's The Bad Case of the Stripes.

Since the book is new, we have only read through it twice at home. Yesterday, David took his new favorite book to school to show his teacher. Apparently, she read it to the class, and David was quite proud about that. When he got home, he told me that he wanted to read the book to me. Seeing that David hasn't quite learned how to read a book yet, I thought this would be pretty good. He started out on the first page (that had lots of words) and he said, "I never start reading on this page." He then turned to the second page and began reading the whole book to me. It is funny that it is much easier to read a book when you look at the pictures rather than words!

He "read" us the book twice and then Nathan asked to look at the book. Nathan flipped through the book once and then he decided he was going to read the book to me too. He told me that he didn't ever read the first page and then proceeded to read me the book exactly as David did. David was pretty proud that he taught Nathan how to read in less than an hour.

What can I say...my kids are great memorizers! This is a good thing because they will be able to help me remember where I parked the car when we go to Wal-Mart or that one thing I needed to buy at the store but forgot to write down. On the flip side, they also remember every last thing I say, such as "Maybe we can go to McDonald's next Tuesday" or "We'll talk about buying that for you when it gets a little closer to your birthday." I guess the key is teaching them to use it for good to help me rather than for the evil side of using it against me!

Sticky Kisses

2006-10-22T07:08:00.000-05:00

Before Brian or I leave the house, the boys always make sure that they have given us a hug and a kiss. Now, as a realist, I understand that this will not last forever. I don't think there are too many teenage boys who will kiss mom before she leaves for the grocery store or kiss dad before he leaves for work. I wouldn't mind it, but I am not holding my breath. So, I enjoy all the hugs and kisses I can get from these little guys right now....well, usually I really enjoy all the kisses.

When I was leaving to teach class on Thursday, David and Nathan came running to me to offer these precious hugs and kisses. The only problem is that they had been sitting at the table licking on suckers and I knew that their mouths would be all sticky. Nathan gave me a big hug and then kissed me on the cheek. Unfortunately, all the stickiness ended up on my cheek.

So, I got smart with David. I felt the outside of his mouth before he gave me a kiss and realized it was really sticky too. So I washed his mouth off with a wet paper towel. After patting it dry with a dry napkin, he gave me a kiss. I started to turn to leave, and he yelled, "Wait Mommy! That kiss wasn't slobbery enough. I have to do it again." I let him give me another kiss and it was definitely slobbery enough. Wiping my cheek as I walked out of the door, I wondered where that had come from.

Later that night, I was putting the boys to bed. David and Nathan always give each other hugs and kisses before bed (something else I don't expect to last forever). Nathan gave David a kiss, and David said, "Nathan, you have to do it again. That one wasn't slobbery enough." When I asked him why they had to be slobbery, he started laughing really hard and then said, "That makes them more fun to wipe off."

Such a silly kid!

Things I have learned in the past week or so...

2006-10-16T09:21:00.000-05:00

I have learned a great many things in the past week. None of them should be new revelations, but for some reason they have been. I will share them with you.

1. Three year olds don't like the process of getting splinters out of their hands.

Nathan got a really big splinter stuck in his hand, and it took us about 30 minutes to get it out. Although I would classify Nathan as a tough kid, he does not take kindly to the use of tweezers or a needle to remove splinters. By the time all was said and done and the splinter was removed, Nathan was no longer friends with Brian or me for a good hour or so. I can't say as I blame him for not liking us, but as a parent, it still makes you sad.

2. If a five year old sees his brother go through the ordeal of getting a splinter removed, he will hide the fact that he also has a splinter.

Can you believe it? Two splinters in one week. After watching his little brother suffer at the hands of his dear parents, David thought the wise thing to do would be to NOT tell us that he got a splinter. At one point, he asked me what would happen if someone got a splinter, to which I replied that the kid's mommy would need to look at it and see what needed to be done to get the splinter out so that the kid's hand would be well. The whole time this conversation was taking place, David had his hand inside of his sleeve. (As if mom wasn't bright enough to figure that one out!) David's splinter came out much easier than Nathan's and everyone was still friends when it was all over.

3. Kidney stones REALLY hurt.

Sounds obvious, huh? I experienced this first hand last week, and NEVER want to experience it again! Thankfully, the stone is gone and I think I am back to normal. Honestly, I am not sure which was worse...the kidney stone or the fact that the pain medication and phenergan administered through my IV lasted for about 3 days. I know that I am sensitive to medicines, but I never realized exactly how something like that would effect me. On our way home from the hospital, Brian stopped at Sonic to get me a sprite (with good ice) to settle my stomach, and two girls from our youth group were there with a bunch of their friends. You can picture how embarrassing that was for Brian as I kept nodding off in the car because of the medicine. I can just imagine the girls saying, "Yeah, there is my youth minister and his wife...wait...ummm...no, I don't know that guy with the woman who is drooling!"

4. Clorox Bleach spray will ruin your paint.

I know...this should be an obvious thing for most people; however, I was just trying to clean up a very nasty mess made by Nathan during naptime and really didn't think it through. Unfortunately, Nathan thought it would be a good idea (or something) to poop in his pull-up during naptime and then spread it around his room. I don't know why he did this, but it was absolutely gross. When he came out of his room when naptime was over, he said, "Mommy, I have a small problem." I didn't realize that this meant I was going to have a big problem. I cleaned up the kid, and then I cleaned up the room ruining the walls in the process. I guess it is a good thing that I've been wanting an excuse to paint Nathan's room. I sure have one now!

5. Life is busy...but it's all good.

Last week was a crazy week. It was tiring, overwhelming and even a bit painful. However, I am thankful for good friends and a great family. Sometimes it takes those bad weeks to remind you of how good life is at other times. I spent a lot of last week shaking my head and thinking "What in the world!" but I also spent time praying...sometimes for peace, sometimes for contentment, sometimes for perseverance, sometimes for patience, a lot of times for no more pain...you get the picture. It was a week of perspective, and that is quite often a very good thing!

Handy Manny

2006-10-06T09:00:00.000-05:00

Disney has launched another TV show called Handy Manny and the boys really like to watch it. The show sort of has a "Bob the Builder meets Dora the Explorer" story line. It is about a Spanish speaking handyman and his talking tools who work as a team to help everybody fix their broken stuff.

So far, the boys have learned some new Spanish words including the Spanish word for work and washing machine and have been working on incorporating those into their daily vocabulary. Both boys will act out the show with their play tools, but Nathan has even taken it to a greater extreme. He has started trying to fix everything in the house...regardless of it is really broken or not. He calls his tools by name (the names of the tools on the show, of course) and wanders around the house hammering this and sawing that.

When we first started watching the show, he would go around and say, "OH NO! The chair is broken. Who are we going to call? I know who to call...Handy Manny!" One day we were in the bathroom at Target and there was toilet paper on the floor. Nathan started in with his "OH NO! There is toilet paper on the floor. Who are we going to call?" To which I interjected, "I know who to call...Handy Manny!" Nathan just glared at me and said,"NO...NO....NO! YOU don't say that!" And then he said, "OH NO! There is toilet paper on the floor. Who are we going to call? (looks at me and glares and then says) I know who to call...Handy Manny!"

Yesterday, I realized that his fascination with Handy Manny reached a whole new level. On his way home from Carpenter's Kids, he told us that he had to get home so that he could break the TV. I asked him why in the world he would want to break the TV. He responded, "I will break open the TV so that I can get inside and talk to Handy Manny!" The frightening thing is that I would not put this past Nathan. He is now under 24/7 surveillance and is not allowed alone in the living room, especially when Handy Manny is on TV.

A Blast from the Past

2006-09-30T18:17:00.000-05:00

My youth minister from high school is in town, and I have gotten the chance to spend some time reminiscing about old friends and good times. Danny and his wife, Amy, were very influential to me in my teen years and they have remained very good friends throughout the years. They are the type of friend that you just pick up where you left off with them no matter how long it has been since you have seen them or talked to them.

Whenever I think of my old youth minister, one story ALWAYS comes to my mind. I have debated putting this on here, but it is a great story.

While on a high school retreat, my youth minister and I decided to play a game of chicken. In our version of chicken, you stand opposite of your opponent with your feet spread apart. You then take a pocket knife,throw it and try to make the point of the knife stick in the ground. If you get it to stick in the ground, then you get to tell the person which foot he/she has to move. The goal is to get the person to move his/her feet closer and closer together until the person says chicken and you win. This is not your typical youth group retreat game, but everyone seemed to be getting a pretty big kick out of watching us do this so we thought it was fun.

We hit a point in the game where my feet were only about 6 or 7 inches apart. At this point, any reasonable person would have said chicken. The key to that statement was a REASONABLE person. At that time in my life, I was very competitive and wasn't going to give in and lose without a fight. So, I told him to throw the knife. My wise youth minister told me that I really needed to say Chicken, but I wouldn't and didn't listen and told him to throw the knife. My guess is that I really thought he wouldn't do it and that he would probably quit the game leaving me the winner; however, I am not positive I even thought that. All I knew was that I was going to win.

Well, the youth minister threw the knife, and unfortunately, instead of sticking in the ground, it stuck in my foot. I can still see the look of horror on my youth minister's face. Right there, he saw his judgment and job go down the tubes. The preacher's son had a horrified look on his face too; however, it wasn't for the same reason. He yelled out, "Don't tell my dad about this. I wasn't supposed to bring his pocket knife and I am going to be in so much trouble."

I just quietly sat down and pulled the knife out of my shoe (and foot). It didn't do much damage, and we got it cleaned up and put a bandage on it and I was good as new.

In all honesty, here is the best part of the story though. My youth minister felt horrible and dreaded seeing my mom. Obviously, most parents are going to have a cow if you stab their child, especially when you are a youth minister. So, he had reason to be afraid.

I told my mom about it and do you know what she said? This is not an exact quote, but here is the gist of it. "Stacey, what were you thinking? You have got to learn that you cannot let your competitiveness and pride override good judgment. The simple fact that you would not back down is evidence enough that you deserved to get a knife stuck in your foot."

Wow, what a lesson I learned that day! She made a big point that I could not blame anyone but myself, even if someone else showed poor judgment too. I can't say that I have always practiced this learning. I definitely have to work on my pride and competitiveness on a daily basis, and I would much rather blame someone else...who wouldn't? However, I still see the look on her face and the words (basically) that she said to me. I hear them after I act prideful. I hear them after I blame someone else for something. Now, I just need to work on doing something about that!

My youth minister still cringes about and takes full responsibility for this incident. Thankfully, I did not have a mother who was prone to overreacting and try to get him fired because he has gone on to do many great things at several churches. He has served as a minister and an elder and an advocate for serving God with all of your being. I respect him and his family a great deal. I think my mom talked to him, but I don't have any clue what was said. While I think it is a very bad idea to stab members of your youth group and do not advocate stabbings of any kind, being stabbed by my youth minister played a big role in growing me as a person and a Christian. (And thankfully, there probably aren't a lot of people who can say that!)

Insult to Injury

2006-09-28T15:16:00.000-05:00

Brian is still sad from Alabama's loss to the Arkansas Razorbacks (or pigs, as David calls them.) He came home from the game upset, depressed and in shock. Little did he know that life would get even worse for him.

You see, David was supposed to go to the game with him. However, we were having some pretty nasty storms and they were predicting a 60% chance of rain during the game in Fayetteville. Since David had just gotten over strep throat, mean ol' mom had to put her foot down and say no to the football game. Brian wasn't happy about it because he wanted to take his son that loves Alabama to his first Alabama football game, but he agreed it was best for David. David, on the other hand, was not happy about it at all. I promised him we could watch it on TV and that seemed to appease him...or so I thought.

Somewhere during the Arkansas v. Alabama game, David switched his allegiance to Arkansas. I tried to talk him out of it. I assured him that people in this family only liked Nebraska or Alabama, but it just didn't work. He said that Arkansas was his most favorite and bestest team. And ever since Saturday, he has been rubbing that in Brian's face.

Brian is heartbroken. He thought this would be something special that he would share with David. I told him to let it go for now and hopefully he would outgrow it. If not, at least there is still hope with Nathan. The problem with that is that leaves me without a Nebraska fan. Sometimes life can be so cruel!

Nick words?

2006-09-27T10:26:00.000-05:00

I love to call my kids by all sorts of crazy names. I do it to make them laugh and to have a lot of fun with them. I have been known to call them "Guacamole", "Little Mister", "French fries" and on an on. (Yes, I KNOW it is weird!)

Last night, it was time for bed, so I said to David, "Come with me, my chick-a-dee." After I said it, I thought that chick-a-dee my sound a little girlie for my boy, so I then said, "Come on little chick-a-roo. It is bed time for you." (Not only do I come up with fun names, but I can also make them rhyme with stuff!)

David looked at me and said, "Is that one of those nick words?"

I responded with a "What???!!!" To which he replied, "You know...a nick word." I thought he might be talking about a word that our good friend Nic might use, so I asked him about that. He responded, "NOOOO! You know...the words that people use to call you by instead of using your name."

Then it hit me...nickname. I explained that it sort of was, but that nicknames ususally last longer than the names that I come up with and use only once or twice. I then asked him what he would like his nickname to be and he replied, "I think it needs to be Luke!"

Funny kid!

So Pitiful...but Oh So Sweet

2006-09-21T09:23:00.000-05:00

David is sick. He has strep throat and is enjoying a life of pampering right now.

When David gets sick, he always runs extremely high fevers. A 103 or 104 degree fever is nothing for this kid. So, when he came into the living room Tuesday night burning up and complaining about a sore throat, I knew that it was going to be a long couple of days.

On Tuesday night, he asked me to rub his back to help him get back to sleep. Although he REALLY wanted me to rub his back, at one point, he told me that I probably needed to stop. When I asked why, he said, "I don't want you to get sick too." I told him that I had taken care of him many times when he was sick and I was pretty sure I wouldn't get sick. He then proceeded to compliment me on my back rubbing skills telling me that I was doing a great job.

Yesterday, he continued his sweetness. At one point, he asked for a drink. When I gave it to him, he said, "Thank you for taking such good care of me mom." This was the same child, who, earlier in the week, would demand "Get me a drink now Mom!"

I think he is well on the way to his normal self today though. He has already had some pretty good scuffles with Nathan and is walking around the house with toy tools stuck all the way around the waistband of his shorts. I am going to assume that this is a sign that he is well and pretending to be a carpenter. Otherwise, his medicine he is taking is way to strong!

A day in the life...

2006-09-13T16:17:00.000-05:00

I was sitting in the living room working on some homework, and I hear Nathan say, "Oh NO!" This never is a good thing, so I ask, "Nathan, what's wrong?" He replied, "I'm stuck."

Now, this generally means that he has wedged his body between two very large stationary objects and he can't seem to wiggle out. That was not the case today. He walked into the living room and had one of those little potty training toilet seats around his neck. He had found it under the sink in his bathroom, and had decided it might be kind of fun to try on. Now, he was desperately trying to get it back over his head to get it off, but it just wasn't working. I finally worked it off of his head and strongly advised him NOT to put things on over his head except for shirts and pajama tops. I am sure that advisory will last all of 30 minutes...or at least until his ears quit hurting and fall back into place.

In the middle of all this, David walked up to me and handed me a piece of paper. On this paper he had written "AWiLVLEFBS". As I am reading it, he asked, "What does it say?" So, I read off the letters to him and tried to hand it back. He then says, "No mom. What word does it say?" I looked at it again and tried to make out some kind of word that he would know. I was guessing that he had tried to write a word he had seen and didn't want to spoil the fun. Finally, I gave up and said, "Why don't you tell me what it says?" He looked at me like I am nuts and said, "Mom! How am I supposed to know what word it is? I can't read!"

The Program

2006-09-12T22:49:00.000-05:00

David's class has had a ribbon-cutting ceremony and program at school the past two days. They have been doing a construction unit where they have done a blueprint of themselves. Mrs. Tammy has turned each of these precious pages into a great keepsake book. In it, the kids have drawn pictures of themselves, made pages with handprints and footprints, and even drawn a portrait of God. David's portrait of God showed Jesus dying on the cross. The kids each got to take the book to his or her parent, cut the ribbon around the book and then show everything in the book. It was a pretty special moment and I just think that we will keep that book forever.

At the program, the kids recited some of their memory verses, sang some songs and did some chants about the months and the Fall season. It all ended with a slide show.

In the past, David has been very timid at school programs. He, as a general rule, does not participate and pretty much stands there with a deer-in-the headlight look. Well...NOT ANYMORE. David is now the life of the program. You know those kids that are loud, talk too much and sing really, really loud? That is our new David.

Since they were doing this program for two days, Brian went yesterday and I went today. Apparently yesterday, David was even a little more outgoing than he was today. At one point, when everyone was supposed to be singing Jesus Loves the Little Children but they were all singing Jesus Loves Me, David stopped them and said, "That isn't the right song!" in the most "teacherly" voice possible. I guess he then got them on the right song. When they were done, he said, "Okay, now let's sing Jesus loves me." (So much for letting the teacher be in charge!)

Today, he only made a few comments and only corrected the teacher once. Oh my!

David's Hero

2006-09-09T18:19:00.000-05:00

David has a new hero. It's not Superman. It's not Spiderman. Nope...this superhero is much better. David's new superhero is... (drumroll please)

Luke Tribble!

Okay, so now some of you are asking who Luke is. Luke is the quarterback of the Wildcats and one of the big kids in our youth group. In David's newfound love for football, he has taken to idolizing Luke.

Last night, we went to a Wildcat football game. On our way to pick up Brian for the game, David asked me if I knew who is favorite player was. I responded that I didn't know and asked him to tell me. He responded, "Luke, the big kid, is." Little did I know what having a favorite player meant to David; however, everyone sitting in the stands by us soon found out. David spent the whole time telling us what Luke was doing in true commentator fashion.

"Look, Luke has the ball."
"Luke kicked the ball."
"Luke took his helmet off."
"Luke is tying his shoe."

This went on the whole game...and I do mean the WHOLE game. I was thankful that Luke's grandma, aunt and uncle were sitting in front of us because anyone else may have tried to duct tape his mouth shut.

After the game, Brian took David onto the field, and he got to talk to Luke and get his picture taken with him. Luke knelt down by David and talked with him. It was a pretty special moment for our little guy.

On the way home, David talked all about Luke and asked all sorts of questions about him. At one point, he asked me what kind of car Luke drove. When I told him I didn't know, David thought it would be a good idea to go to his house and ask him. (Kind of scary, huh?)

I couldn't be happier with David's choice in a hero. Luke is a great kid. After all, how many seniors in high school would kneel down on the ground to talk to a 5 year old after shutting out another team? My guess is not many. For that and many other reasons, I am thankful that Luke is David's new favorite football player.

What was once lost....

2006-09-06T12:27:00.000-05:00

Has been found! I was not supposed to blog about this at the request of my husband, but since I talked nice about him last time...well...it's fair.

Awhile ago, my dear husband misplaced his ring. I was pretty sure that he had lost the ring either in his office or at home. I could vividly picture him placing his ring on the counter and having the help of a little guy named Nathan to aid in the losing process.

On the way home from Nic and Mandy's wedding, he commented on losing his ring and wanting to replace it. He made the comment that it was better that he had lost his ring than if I had lost my ring. (Guys, that's not a smart thing to say to your wife (especially after she has been to a wedding and is feeling kind of sappy!) I was a little put out by his comment and reminded him of the whole "This is a symbol of our everlasting, never-ending love" line in the wedding ceremony. However, I conceded that it would cost a lot less to replace his ring.

Before our wedding, I had the jeweler inscribe the words "I will never forget". It was a special phrase that simply began because of the fact that I am quirky. Before we married, I would always start my stories with the phrase "I will never forget when..." and then proceed to tell the story. I don't know if I still do it or not, but it became one of those silly, special phrases for us. I thought it would be very fitting to engrave it on the inside of his ring and remind him that I would never forget why we got married.

In the process of talking about getting him a new ring, we talked about whether or not anything should be engraved in it. I finally told him that I had decided on the perfect thing to engrave. The first ring said, "I will never forget" and the replacement should very fittingly say, "But I guess you did!"

Lucky for him, I found the ring though. He had apparently put it on top of the armoire and it had been pushed out of view by the very short people that live in this house. I found it while I was dusting the top of the armoire today and have yet to decide if I will give it to him before or after he reads this blog!

A Great Day

2006-09-01T10:42:00.000-05:00

Yesterday was a GREAT day. We started the day with Brian, Nathan and I dropping
David off at school and then heading to the open house for Nathan's "school". While parents wrestled two, three and four year olds during the general meeting part of the open house, we all half listened to the rules and were introduced to the teachers. Nathan was quite emphatic that he was still going to Miss Pace and Miss Jessie's class until he realized that his classroom had a horse he could ride on. He quickly forgot about Miss Pace and Miss Jessie and was ready to move on to one of the three year old classes!

After open house, Brian, Nathan and I went to the golf course. I thought this would be an easy thing because I knew Nathan would love riding in a golf cart and that would be a really neat treat for him. Well...it would have been great except he quickly figured out how to unlock the parking break and we couldn't leave him alone in the cart. We debated about playing and I was trying to convince Brian to play and we could just ride along with him, but Brian felt bad about doing that. So, we took turns playing the holes, and I FINALLY got to try out my new golf clubs that Brian got me for my birthday. I had so much fun and have definitely found a new hobby.

After golfing, we ate lunch, ran a few errands and then went and picked up David from school. We had planned on going to a football game of some of the kids in the youth group, but Nathan fell asleep on the way home. So, instead of all 4 of us going, David and Brian went to the game and had some father-son bonding time. They left the game to come get me and Nathan, and then the boys all dropped me off to teach my Thursday night class. They then went and had some guy time together, including a stop at the infamous Frozen D's for ice cream.

The boys went to sleep happy and pleased to have spent so much time with their Daddy. They love being with him and he loves being with them. I am thankful that the boys have such a good daddy and I am married to such a good friend. We all enjoyed being together and spending the day as a family. I hope that lasts forever!