Wild Man's Artistic Side

Tonight we had some friends over for dinner. We had a wonderful time. They have a little boy close to Wild Man's age, so they had a good time playing. Almost the whole time they were here, Wild Man sat at the table drawing very intently. Because we were chatting, we did not notice what he was drawing until later tonight. As I was going through all of his masterpieces, I found this one....

Wow! How did he know how to do this? He has never done this before! He actually drew a person! As you can I am very impressed with my little Wild Man's ability to draw so well at such a young age!

Being Content...Why Is It So Hard?

"... and be content with what you have, because God has said, "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you." Hebrews 13:5

There are many things in life that God has protected me from, because of being saved at a young age and growing up in a family that taught me how to follow Christ and what He has for my life. There are many decisions that young people make that I never had the desire to make, such as drinking alcohol or doing drugs. I thank God everyday for taking those desires away from me. I thank Him everyday for allowing me to live in a family where His Word was taught. I can honestly say He has never left me or forsaken me! So why then, is it hard for me to be content with my life?

When I read this verse it says to me, "You have God on your side. He will never leave you. He will never forsake you. He is all you need. If you have Him, then everything else is just icing on the cake...be content with what He has given you." It seems so easy! I have Him in my life! He is there for me no matter what! He loves me despite of who I am! He has provided for every one of my needs! So why then, is it hard for me to be content with my life?

I believe that being content is one of the biggest struggles I have had my whole life. There has never been a time where I did not want something more. Everytime God blesses me with more, it seems harder to not want more. Why is that? Why is that I have such a wonderful family and a gorgeous apartment, but I still want more? I still want a dog, a new car, a house, a boat, unlimited tanning sessions, the ability to get my nails done anytime I want, a new body, cute clothes, and the list goes on. Why can I not look at what I do have and just be content? Why is it so hard?

I wish I had all the answers. All I know is that God is really dealing with me on this issue of being content. I pray that I will see the day when I can look at what He has given me and truly say, "There is nothing more I want. I am content."

Time Is Not My Friend

Tonight I was watching TV with the Prof and I saw a comercial that sums up my last two weeks. The comerical starts out with a women taking a shower (all you see is the back of her head - nothing horrible). You then start to see her grandfather clock begin to make its way to the bathroom. Then, the unthinkable happens. The grandfather clock flushes the toliet and the lady screams. The narrator than says, "Time is NOT your friend." To be honest I am not sure what the comercial is for, but it made sense to me.

The past two weeks have a whirwind of activity and emotion here at the Skinkle house. We have had so much going on. I have found myself at the end of each day with so many things to share on the blog, but so little energy to even sit here and make it happen.

So here is a snap shot of the last two weeks....

Sunday 6th - We had our first apartment event. We had an ice cream sundae bar. We had about 20 people come. It was a lot of fun!

Friday 11th - The Prof and I celebrated 5 years together. He surprised me by lining up a babysitter and letting me pick what we did for the night. We ate at Olive Garden and then walked around Grapevine Mills mall, where we each found new a shirt! We came home and put the kids to bed. Then we ate ice cream while watching 24!

Saturday 12th - We had our 2nd apartment event. We served a pancake breakfast at the clubhouse. We had about 13 people show up for that. We had a great time and really enjoyed getting to meet new people.

Sunday 13th - Mother's Day! I had a wonderful Mother's Day. The Prof made sure that Wild Man and Little One both had cards to give me. He helped both of them decorate and write in the cards. He also gave me a card with the movie "That Thing You Do." (We threw out our copy not too long ago - so this was a replacement). He also let me buy this beautiful wall clock for over the mantel. I did not have to cook all day and I just enjoyed being my kids and wonderful husband!

Monday 14th - B and D came to our new place. They are the first to officially sit on our new furniture. I am sure there will be a blog about it. We had dinner together and just enjoyed being able to spend time together. After our time with them, we headed off to an Apartment Life meeting.

Yesterday and today I have been battling a sinus infection, which is not fun!

Somewhere in all this I found time to plan the events, shop for the events, work out, eat lunch with our mentor couple (well the wife anyway) and keep the kids on their daily schedule. We have also had a lot of Welcome Visits to do. These visits are to people who had just moved in. We have enjoyed meeting these new people and are continuing to pray that God will show us what we need to do to meet the needs of those around us.

New Furniture

As you know, before we moved, we were in the process of looking for a new chair for our living room. The looking was put on hold while everything was up in the air with Apartment Life. However, as soon as we knew were moving the looking began again. Only this time, we decided to just get all new living room furniture. Lee and I have never bought really nice furniture for our living room, so this became a lot of fun! We looked for about 3 days and then made our decision. We went into the furniture store and told the guy we had been working with, "This is the one we want." He said "Okay, let me go check on when we can deliver it and I will be right back". When he came back he proceeded to tell us that the one we wanted was out of stock and they could not sell us the floor model. So, we were back to square one. We liked the guy who was helping us, so we decided to find something else in that store. He told us about one, that some how we had missed in the 2 days we lived there. How could we have missed it? I don't know! We saw it and fell in love! We knew right away it was the one for us! On Thursday of this week we received our new additions to the house and absolutely love them!!! I have to tell you that I feel like a big girl now. I have painted walls (I have always had only white walls, now I have Khaki walls), real carpet (the seminary used the industrial carpet, so it wasn't real), and new living room furniture!

The Loveseat

The Couch

Tagged

Okay, so Kearsmom tagged me the other day. So, here I go. I started blogging last June (June 06) so that I had a way to journal and share fun things about our family with those who do not live near us. I did very good and then life happened. Well, working full time with 2 kids happened and something had to go...so there went the blog. I started blogging again, once I became a stay at home mom. My intentions were to keep it about the family, and for the most part it has been that. However, I have now added a personal element, so those of you who read can learn more about me, and what makes me tick.

Blogging for me is therapy. I can not explain it, but there is something stress relieving about putting my thoughts into words. It gives me a place where I can be me and say what I think without people thinking badly of me. It also gives me a place where I can brag about my kids, or share funny stories. I guess it's my "happy place".

I really also like reading every ones comments and all the conversations that begin because of things I write. It is a lot of fun...and very addicting!

Anyway, that is why I blog. I tag BB! Why do you blog, BB?

The Storm

Tonight, the Prof and I packed the kids up and headed to church, like we do most Wednesday nights. When we left the apartment it was sprinkling a little bit, but we thought the worst had past, so we kept going. However, as soon as we got onto I-20 it started raining and then before we knew it we were in the kind of rain you do not want to be in. The kind where you have to strain to see in front of you. I kept asking the The Prof if we needed to turn around and go back home, but he assured me we were okay, so we kept going. The closer we got to the church the stronger the rain got.

None of us had supper yet, so we decided to drive thru Wendys. By the time we got to Wendy's it was raining so hard we could not hear the speaker. So, we drove up to the window, crack our car window enough so she could hear us and we could hear her and proceeded to order. The Prof was completely soaked by the time we got our food, but we got it, so that is all that counts.

We drove off and headed to church. When we got there, we decided to sit in the parking lot and eat. This way, we didn't have to drag everything in the building while it was pouring rain. We parked in the back of the lot and began to eat. As we sat there it began to rain harder. The next thing I saw was the light post in front of us begin to sway back and forth and then our car begin to shake back and forth, as rain is just pouring down around us to the point where we can not see a thing. Now, I am not dumb...I know at this point we are not just in the middle of rain. I have been, and still am terrified of extremely bad weather. So, I begin to freak out. I immediately grab onto Prof's arm and say, "I am so scared! This is not good!"

At this point Wild Man speaks up and changes the whole mood. He says, "Momma, you don't have to be scared. All you have to do is pray to God and he will make you not scared." He proceeds to bow his head and pray, "Dear God please help mommy not be scared." Wow! You know I have been working with him on being scared of sleeping in his room at night by himself. I think it is the neatest thing that he was able to remind me of something I had been trying to teach him. Wow! How amazing! God is good!

We did make it inside. We were soaked, but safe! As we headed home we saw lots of damage. There was not a tornado, but straight line winds that got up to 75 mph. This is one storm I will not forget!

Bulletin Boards

One thing I have never liked are bulletin boards. I do not mind looking at them, if they have been designed well, but I really dislike making them! This is something I do not get from my mom. She is an awesome bulletin board maker and she enjoys it! I personally do like being the one responsible for designing something that people are going to walk by and look at all the time. It is very nerve racking and that is why I dislike it so much!

This is the funny part, since I can remember I have always had a job where I was responsible for updating the bulletin board(s). Is God trying to tell me something? Or, punish me?

Anyway, as a CARES Team, we are responsible for the bulletin board in the Clubhouse. Yes, the bulletin board will not only be seen by every resident, but it will also be seen my anyone who decides they want information about Highland Park. PRESSURE!!! So, even though I very much dislike making bulletin boards, I found enough creativity to design this one......