Man of Many Talents

If you know the Professor, then you know that he is super smart. I mean he is beyond smart. I can not even begin to describe how smart he is. He is not just book smart. He can do just about anything he puts his mind to doing. When we first moved to seminary and were too poor for me to get my haircut, he looked online and learned how to cut hair. He did great job too! However, I did start going to get my haircut once we could afford it. Anyway, he just has this way of knowing how to do things.

A few months ago, we bought some material to recover our kitchen table chairs. I finally decided I wanted to recover them last night. I knew that I would need some help, so when the Professor got home from class we sat down to work on it. What happened next amazed me. The Professor just took over and did it all! How blessed am I??!! I am married to a man who knows how to recover chairs too! Wow! He did a great job. Take a look......

Rain Rain Go Away

If you watch or keep up with the news at all, then you know that we have been getting our fair share of rain, plus some, here in North Texas. We have not had one day where it did not rain in the last 2-3 weeks. Honestly, I am ready for it to change. I do not mind rain every once in a while, because I know that we need it. However, considering we have already well beyond our yearly average of rain, and it is only July 2, I think it is fair for me to say that I am ready for it to not rain for a while, and I have a feeling I am not the only one. We have not been affected by the flooding, but it is all over the news. People all around us are be affected by the amounts of rain we have been receiving. Last week alone, 6 children died, due to fast flowing water. There are people begin evacuated from their homes on a daily basis (not so much this week - but a lot last week). I do realize that there are bigger and more important issues in the world, but right now I would just like for the rain to go away. I would like to be able to go outside and have sunshine all day long! The kids are also due for some good swim time. Rain is in the forecast for the rest of the week here, but maybe next week it will go away....or maybe not.

What A Deal!!!!

Have you ever wanted to create your own bag? Well, now you can, thanks to Initials Inc. In fact, during the month of July you can do it for $30. Just ask me how!

To view the other products Initials Inc has to offer go to www.initials-inc.com. To order from Initials Inc contact me at askinkle@aol.com.

Old Friends

I do not know why some things in life amaze me as much as they do. I know that I serve a powerful God and that anything is possible with Him, but I am still in awe of how He works in my life and the lives of others in my life.

Last night I ate supper with some dear friends of mine. Katie, Maggie and I we little girls together. We played house and sleeped over at each other's houses all the time (well exepect for scaredy cat me who couldn't finish a night until I was way old - hahaha). Our moms were friends and our dads were friends. Our brothers and sisters were also friends. Those days were wonderful days in our life.

Then as most people say...Life happened. We grew up. All went our own ways. Each one of us is totally different from the other. We all of our own way of doing things and living life.

What totally amazes me about this, is that last night we got together for the first time in a very long time. I have not seen Katie in 5 years and I have not seen Maggie in probably 10 years. And, we have not all been together in about 15 years. But, when we got together is was like old times. We had the best time catching up and talking about life and about all God has taught us, now that we are old.

I am in awe how God has protected our friendship through all these years. I am looking forward to many more years of hanging out with my old friends!

My Space

I did something tonight that I thought I would never do. I joined the My Space world. I am not real sure what I am doing, but I have had fun playing with it. So, go check it out...

www.myspace.com/askinkle

Where is Manders?

This is the question most of you have been asking lately. Manders has not blogged at all in weeks and she is not commented on blogs like she used to.

I am here to tell you that I am still alive. The past few weeks have been super crazy at the Skinkle home. We have also, on top of all our normal activities, been spending tons of quality time, since the Prof has been out of school.

Since I have been gone a while, I thought you might like a little update...

The Prof has had a much needed break from school. He began classes again this past Monday. He will Monday and Wednesday for 5 weeks. After this, he will have a few more weeks of break and then the Fall semester will begin, which I don't even want to think about right now.

The Wild Man is becoming Wilder than ever. He is enjoying our, almost daily, visits to the pool. He was not so sure of the water the first time we went, but now when we go we can get him out. He has learned how to write a few letters and a couple of numbers. He actually enjoys sitting at the table and working in his workbooks.

The Little One now has 5 1/2 teeth. She is beginning to talk some. She can say, "Hey Daddy" "Night Night" and "Bye Bye". She mostly says, "Daddy". She is definitely a Daddy's girl. She wakes up from nap time looking at the front door saying, "Daddy Daddy Daddy". She has also enjoyed our pool trips. She loves lounging in her floaty. However, after about 20 minutes, she would prefer we just hold her. She is learning to color right now. She thinks she is so big holding the crayon and banging it on the paper.

I, Manders, am staying busier than I have been in a while. It seems like I never stop these days. In fact, today is the first day in a while that I have not had anything planned. It has been nice to just chill at the house. Next week I am doing something for the first time. I am driving both kids, by myself, to Mississippi for the week. I am not sure yet how I feel about this decision. You can ask me on Tuesday after I arrive in MS. Maybe the trip will inspire a blog post. I am also enjoying our trips to the pool. We have been going with another girl at the complex and her little boy. It gives me some adult time and sun at the same time.

Well, that is it for tonight. Maybe I can get my act together and beginning blogging more consistently.

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......

The Cat

Unlike the Seminary our new place does allow animals. In fact someone living near us has a cat. The cat is a friendly cat and has decided a few times to make itself at home in our new place. The cat looks a lot like a cat I had in highschool, so it doesn't bother me too much. However, Wild Man can not take it. The cat really bothers Wild Man. He just does not like the cat getting near us or anything that belongs to us. He has made it his mission to make sure that cat stays away from us.

The funny part is that now all we hear about is that cat and what Wild Man is going to do to that cat if he sees it and what the cat is going to do back. He has come up with some funny situations. Tonight Wild Man told Prof that the cat had been throwing rocks at him. I am laughing out loud right now just thinking about it. I mean the picture of a cat picking up rocks and throwing them just makes me laugh! Oh, I love Wild Man to pieces! He definitely makes my world a happier place, most of the time.

The Move

You would think that because I have moved so much, that I would have this moving thing down. You would think that I had figured out how to do it in the best possible manner. However, it is quite the opposite.

I was not at all warned, at all by anyone, that moving with a 3 year old boy would be impossible! Wild Man thinks that every stack of stuff (and yes it probably really is just "stuff") is there for him to play with and spread out all over the place. In fact right now, as I type this, Wild Man is playing with the rope The Prof left out. Wild Man has decided that everything in the kitchen should be tied together and so that is what he is in the process of doing. The door, fridge, table, and chairs are all tied together. The funny part is Little One is right in the middle! So, like I said, Wild Man thinks everything is his to do with what he wants to.

Also, because we are moving so close, we have been taking things in shifts. So, we have some stuff there and some stuff here. It is quite confusing for some one who is as organized and scheduled as I am.

I am telling you this, to tell you that life is CRAZY right now in the Skinkle home. Nothing is where it belongs and there is not a schedule of any sorts right now. So, this will be the last post for a while. I promise as soon as things calm down I will post pics of the new place up. Of course I must take them first! :-)

Rubbermaid Storage Tubs

I am sure everyone, some where in their house or office, has at least one Rubbermaid Storage tub. Rubbermaid invented a wonderful thing when they thought up the Storage Tub! You can buy them in all different colors, shapes, and sizes. Some of them come with cute little snap on lids, while others come with just regular lids. They can be used for many different things, but mainly they used for storage. That is how they get their name "Storage Tub".

The Prof and I are organizers, so we love storage tubs. We love them because they are easy to stack and store things. If they get dirty, no worries! You can just wipe them down with a wet cloth. They very durable and are easy move, since they have the handles. We also love them because we can buy different colors. For example, all of our Christmas stuff in red tubs. This helps us know exactly which tubs to pull out at Christmas. I know we are crazy - but it works great!

We love storage tubs so much that on our 3rd move we decided to invest in some big storage tubs to move in. This would replace the boxes and we could reuse them everytime we move. We went to walmart and bought almost all of their tubs. We bought tall and short ones. Each were used for different purposes. We loved moving in the tubs, because they stacked up so easliy in the moving truck. However, I will be honest and tell you that I was not planning on having to use them this much already. They have moved with us 3 times now. And, now they are moving us one more time.

I have to be honest and tell you that I am not loving them so much right now. I sit here and look at them stacked up in my kitchen and think about everything I have to put in them. WOW! Well, my work awaits me! If I do not blog for a while, you can blame the Rubbermaid Storage Tubs!

Just a few of them!

The Easy Bake Oven

The Prof and I have lived in 3 different apartments on the Seminary campus. All of them were different in many ways. They all had different carpet, tile, cabinets, and some even were painted a different color on the outside. However, there is one thing that was the same in all three. The Easy Bake Oven. Yes, I called it an Easy Bake Oven. To be honest, I have never in life seen an oven so small, before living in seminary housing. The Easy Bake is a lot of fun sometimes, like when it is time to clean. It is also very smart. It just decides on it's own what tempurature it should be and how fast it should cook. It keeps us on our toes that's for sure! We have learned a few things about the Easy Bake. One thing is that the eyes on the top will lay down perfectly. So, we quit trying and just let them do their own thing now. The other thing we learned is that the Easy Bake likes cooking faster than she is supposed to. So, now we have to subtract 5 minutes from whatever the instructions say and then just watch it until it is done. This makes cooking just loads of fun. The last thing we have learned is that big pizzas will not fit in the Easy Bake and neither will large cookie sheets (no matter how hard we try).

As much as I have learned to appreciate my Easy Bake, I will not miss her at all when we move!

The House

A few years ago, when driving to Jackson, TN to see the Prof's sister graduate from college, Prof and I saw this house on the side of the interstate. We absolutely fell in love with it! However, we did not think fast enough to take a picture.

A few weekends ago we were back on the same road headed to Memphis and saw the house! We decided to take pictures of it this time. So, on the way home, we pulled over and took some pictures. Check out this house...

Several things came to my mind when I saw it for the first time. In fact Prof and I had very lengthy conversations after every time we saw it. We asked questions like...I wonder who lives there? How many people do they have to take care of that house? How people live in the house? And, why in the world do you build a house like that on the side of the interstate? Just curious.

What do you think?

Easter Skinkle Style

As always, my intentions were much better than I was. My plan was blog about Easter at the Skinkle house, yesterday. However, here I am at the end of today doing just that. Blogging about Easter at the Skinkle house.

I was very excited about Easter this year, because Wild Man is begining to learn about Holidays. This would be his first Easter that he might understand a little bit of what was going on. And, if he didn't, he would atleast have fun dying eggs and eating candy! Anyway, I had everything all planned out. We would dye eggs Saturday night. On Sunday we would get up and Wild Man would run downstairs to see what the Easter Bunny brought him. We would all get dressed up in our Easter attire and go to church. After church we enjoy some family time and let Wild Man hunt for the eggs he died the night before.

Yes, you guessed it! Our Easter weekend was not like that at all. it all started Saturday when we woke up to snow outside. None of it stuck, but it snowed all day Saturday. So, there went the cute Easter outfits. Then Saturday night Wild Man started running a very high fever. we managed to dye some eggs, but not a lot. On Sunday, Wild Man and Little One both woke up with fever. We did convince Wild Man to go down stairs and see what the Easter Bunny brought him. He really enjoyed that, but ended up going back to bed. The Prof stayed home with the kids, while I went to church (one of us had to go since we teach 4th grade Sunday School). When I came home from church, we watched movies and just did nothing all afternoon. Not at all what I had planned.

So, that was Easter Skinkle Style this year. I am very glad that the real meaning of Easter is not about dressing up and dying eggs. I pray that I never take forgranted what Easter is all about. He Is Risen!

Photo Shoot

Picture day at the Skinkle House is always stressful. For some reason I always plan pictures on days that are not good. For example, these are our Spring pictures/ Little One's 1 year pictures. However, we had to dress in winter clothes with jackets to get to the portrait studio, because it has been snowing today. Once there we had to all change clothes. It was loads of fun, let me tell you! They took about 95 pictures and then the most stressful part came. We had to pick out the ones we wanted to buy. We got this neat little CD with our pictures. I was thinking that it would just be of the ones we bought, but when we got home, I realized it had all 95 pictures. WOW! Anyway, I saved you some trouble, by weeding out some. However, I think there are still about 60. So, take a few minutes and enjoy!

The Party!

Tonight was the Party for Little One. We had a great time! We are so blessed to have wonderful friends who would give up their Friday night to celebrate with us. Here are some pictures. Enjoy!

What??!!

There are some things in life that I have just decided will never make sense. One of those things is Texas weather. We have lived here for 4 years now and every year it is the same thing. No seasons! Just Summer, with a few cold days. Oh, and when it is cold, it is cold. Now, the thing that I will never understand is how it can be 80 one day, snowing the next, and then right back up to 80 the next day. Okay, maybe it is not that drastic, but it close!

For example, check this out. Earlier this week it got close to 80. Today was not so bad, it was only 70. Tomorrow the high, according to Weather.com, is going to be 56. Now this is where it gets crazy. Saturday's forcast, for Fort Worth, is high 37 Rain/Snow. Yes! I said Snow! What??!! Does that make sense? Oh, and by next Saturday it will be right back at 80. Makes absolutely no sense!

Happy Birthday Little One!

Today was Little One's first birthday! Very Hard for me to believe that a year has gone by since she was born! We did not do anything special. Wild Man and I were planning to bake her a cake after we grilled hamburgers and cooked french fries for supper. However, the Prof suggested we out to eat, so there was no argument from me. :-) However, after dinner and running a few errands, there was no time for cake baking. She will have to wait until her party on Friday! The cake will be better than anyway. :-) We did have a few minutes to open some presents and here are some pictures. Enjoy!

History

Have you ever seen the "This Day In History" flip calendars? For everyday there is something significant that happened in history that day. If I were a huge history buff I might buy that calendar. I am sure there a history teachers all over the world that have one those calendars. However, I personally have no desire to own one, at least not right now.

I do think it would be fun to make a family one. You know for everyday of the year have something significant about your family history. I have been thinking and I believe that if we all set down and really thought about, we could come up with something for everyday. I even think that if we thought hard enough, we could each have our own flip calendars, with things that personally happened to us. Some days would have fun memories and some would be not so fun. Some would be times in our life that we laughed and some would times we cried. Some would be about births and some about deaths. These are all things that make us who we are.

Take a few minutes and think about today. April 3rd. I am sure if you think hard enough you will think of something that happened on or around April 3rd sometime in your life. Please feel free to share.

I will go first. To be honest my April 3rd was just last year. April 3, 2006. On this day last year, 4 weeks away from my due date with Little One, I ended up in the hospital waiting for Little One to make her appearance.

Reality

This weekend the Prof and I had some good friends commit to loving each for the rest of their lives. Weddings are always a special time, but for me seeing a wedding where I know the two exchanging vows have put God first and are serious about the decision is even more special. As I set next to the Prof and watched the wedding, all I could think about was the day the Prof and I exchanged our vows. That day was truly one of the best days in my life. I remember that day, like it were yesterday. Hard to believe it will be 5 years this May.

We did not particularly want to take Wild Man and Little One to the wedding, since there was 7 hour drive there and back involved and so a friend kept them here in Fort Worth. I can not begin to tell you how peaceful the drive was. Just me and the Prof in the car with no screaming kids. WOW! It is not everyday we get to do that. No only were we able to enjoy a quiet car, but we were also able to stay at a very nice hotel and enjoy uninterrupted sleep for a long time. We both sleep in pretty late and took our time getting ready to head back. It was nice!

We got home about the time the kids were going to bed, so last night we got more together time watching 24. The weekend was wonderful!

However, this morning it hit both of us like a freight train! The alarm went off for Prof to go to work and Wild Man got in bed with me. Soon after that Little One was awake and I do not need to say any more. I am back in reality! My nice quiet weekend is over! We have a busy week ahead of us with birthday plans, doctor appointments, pictures, and all that goes with Little One having her first birthday! With that said, I am going to workout now!

Have a wonderful Monday!

Who is in control?

The Professor and I plan everything. We are both planners and like to know how things are going to turn out. We already have the next few years planned out. The Prof finishes seminars in May 2008. We have decided if we begin applying in December of 2007, then surely by August of 2008 we will have a decent job. At that point we will move into a house and few months later add a minivan and dog to the family. Then, one year later The Prof will graduate! See, we have it all figured out.

While I was in Jackson a few weeks ago I had a friend call me and tell me about an awesome ministry opportunity. I loved the organization (I had heard of it before) and I really could see the Prof and I love being a part of this ministry. However, it would require a move. We would not have to move far. But, it is still a move. I immediately, without thinking or praying about it, said, "No! I do not want to move again until we move into our house!" See moving right now, even if it is a close move would mess up our plan. Plus the ministry requires an 18 mo commitment which really would mess up the whole job search thing. If we ended up doing this, then Lee would have to start writing his dissertation here, instead of the new office he wanted to have in our house. How could God want us to do this...it is against anything we have planned.

Wow! I have been here before. I have said no so many times. The same thing always happens. God always, at some point, says, "Who is in control? You or Me?" Then I reply with "Well you are, God. I mean I have commited to live for you 100% and well..." and it hits me! Have you ever had one of those times? Where God just totally calls you out! He allows you to have many sleepless nights, or makes you think about things over and over until that conversation happens? Well it happened to me last night (Monday night). After days of struggling with it, I gave in. I am putting God back in control.

As for the ministry, we shall see what happens. This may have been God's way of getting my attention and showing me that I had once again tried to take over. However, this may be God directing us to join this ministry team. At this point He is the only one who knows.

In his heart a man plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps. Proverbs 16:9

The Farm Days - The One Where The Professor Broke Up 2 Fights and Got Hit With a Coat Hanger

The Professor and I worked at The Farm (Happy Hill Farm and Academy Home) from April 2004 - May 2005. We were house parents to 8 kids who had a variety of issues. We even had the Dr. Phil boy for a few days (that is our claim to fame - hahaha). We lived in a 2 bedroom apartment at the end of a house. The house had a formal living room, informal living room, huge kitchen, 4 bedrooms (with 2 beds in each room), and 2 bathrooms. In our apartment we had a monitor that allowed us to hear everything going on in the house. The only time we got to turn the monitor off was when we were off (which wasn't enough!). The Prof and I are very glad that God allowed us to move on, but we both look back on those days and would not change them for anything. We learned so much and have so many fun memories, as well as ones that were not fun at the time, but are nice to look back at now and laugh.

Our first shift had to have been the best memory of them all. It was the evening of day 4 of our first shift alone. The shift had gone pretty good. We had the usually problems though...boys getting up after lights out and getting into trouble. We had been trying to whole shift to figure out which boys were involved in the light night adventures, so we had a plan in action for that night (i will come back to this later in the story). After supper that night, since things were going well, I took Johnathan (who was about 8 months at this time) back to our apartment to give him a bath. Almost as soon as I got him in the bath tub, I heard one of our guys come inside and tell all the other guys, "Man, you gotta come out here! There is a fight!" I jumped up and ran to see what was going on. About that time the fight was over and The Prof was the hero that broke it up. Just as I turned to go back to the bathroom (where Johnathan, 8 months old was still in the tub) a fight broke out right in front of me...The Prof ran inside and broke it up. Yes, 2 fights in one night...he was my hero! :-) Anyways, by this time I remember where Johnathan was and ran back to the bathroom, finished bathing him and put him to bed. I knew this was going to be a long night. The boys settled down pretty quick and soon it was time for lights out. It was time for the plan to come into action. We waited for all the boys to get in bed, turn the lights off and then we pretended to go to bed. What the boys did not know was that The Prof was not in the apartment with me. He sneaked into the hallway without them knowing, so that as soon as he heard something he could catch them. I went back to room to listen on the monitor and see what would happen. About 20 minutes went by and then I heard them begin to move around. The next thing I heard will make me laugh forever. I heard someone throw something, heard the light come on, and then heard, "oh ----!" I knew they had been caught. What I later found out was that at night they had been playing tag, or something like that, with their coat hangers. The boy throwing the coat hanger that night saw a shadow and thought it was another boy and so threw it. However, it was the Professor. As soon as he was hit with the coat hanger, he turned the light on. The boy was caught and he knew it...so he said some bad words and jumped back into bed.

We will always remember our first shift as "The one where The Professor broke up two fights and got hit with a coat hanger" and we will always laugh about it.

Record Setting

In the almost 5 years The Professor and I have been married, we have been able to do many things together and accomplish many goals and dreams together. However, until this week, there is one thing we had never done. Until this week, we had never lived anywhere for a year. The longest we have ever lived somewhere was 9 months. We have now set a record, that for a while I thought would never be set. We have lived in one place for a year! Yes, that is right! The Professor and I have managed to figure out how to stay in one place for a lengthy period of time, well lengthy for us that is.

We moved into our lovely little (and trust me it is little) town home this week last year. We decided to move this week, because it would give us about 7 weeks to get settled before The Little One arrived (I was due May 3). As most of you know, however, we did not get that 7 weeks. The Little One only gave us 2 weeks. Oh well, we made it anyway.

Happy Anniversary to my little town home! We made it a year! Hopefully only one more year to go!

Little Red Wagon

Yesterday the weather was awesome here in Fort Worth, so The Professor and I decided to take The Little One and Wild Man on a ride in the Red Wagon. We had the best time. However, it really bothered Wild Man that The Little One kept trying to take his bottles of water. So, he rode the whole time with one hand on each bottle of water, like this...

I do not know what he thought she was going to do with the water, since she is not able to open it yet, but the water was protected anyway.

The Little One began pointing at things as we were riding. It was fun to see her point and hear her babble, knowing that she was trying to show us something. As you can tell in the picture Wild Man was too busy guarding the water to look at whatever she was pointing at. I really think maybe he thought that was all the water we had. Bless his heart!

We had a wonderful time and look forward to many more rides this Spring! Of course, next time maybe Wild Man will relax enough to enjoy it as well! :-)

The $25.86 Recliner

In June of 2005, The Professor and I moved back to Fort Worth to begin the PhD program. The apartment we moved to had a huge living room. Our wonderul futon was just eaten up by all the floor space. After much thought The Professor and I decided we needed a recliner. However, there was no money in the budget for a nice new recliner at the time, so we decided to try to find a nice used one. Our thought was we just needed to find one that could make it until we could afford a new one. So, the search began. After about 2 weeks of searching we found it! There was a Seminary student who had decided there was not enough room in their apartment for their recliner (imagine that - Seminary housing too small - hahaha). The recliner was in great condition and the price was perfect - $25. So, the recliner came to live with us.

The first night we had it The Professor decided to put it to work. So, he sat down and pulled the lever to lean it back. As he did that he also leaned on the back some, to help move it. However, the back of the recliner never stopped. In fact, the back fell off and The Professor fell out of the recliner backwards. I laughed so hard! Almost as hard as I am laughing right now as I type. (That moment will always be a fun memory for us) Anyway, he got up and looked at the chair only to realize that there was a screw missing. He figured out what screw he needed and headed off to Walmart. He found the screw for 86 cents and fixed the recliner.

The $25.86 recliner has been good to us for almost 2 years. However, he is tired now and ready to be replaced. I do not even sit in him anymore, because I do not want to be the one sitting in him when he completely dies, if you know what I mean.

Needless to say we are now officially recliner/nice chair shopping. Our prayer is to find one before the $25.86 recliner dies. However, The Professor is a thinker, looker, and low cost buyer when it comes to shopping, so we have many more recliners to view and sit in before the decision is made. Who knows how this will end? Will we be able to replace the $25.86 recliner before he dies? I will let you know!

Just for Laughs!

The Little One has decided she is tired of Wild Man getting all the attention just because he can talk. The past few days she has begun trying to make as much noise as possible do get as many people looking and laughing at her as possible. She is already as cute as can be be, but when she gets in this mode all you can do it laugh. When you laugh, she just has reason to do it more. She tucks her chin down into her chest and just goes at it, making the best motor noises I have heard, even better than Wild Man. I wish I could describe it better for you, but I think the picture of her face when she does it is worth much more. Just for laughs!

These pictures will definitely be saved for her future boyfriends, if The Professor allows her to date. :-)

Don't Give Up

I consider myself I pretty tolerant person. There are very few things other people do that I let affect me. To some extent that may be a weakness, but other times I am very thankful that I am that way. However, there are some things that I am not very tolerant of at all. We will not get into my list today, but I am going to share one thing that I do not have much tolerance for. The issue came up at lunch today and so it got me thinking about it again.

I have a very low tolerance for people who commit to serving the Lord 100% and then quit when things get hard or when something happens that they do not like. For some reason, there is a mind set in ministry that says, " I have committed to God and so He will not let me go through anything that will hurt me or that is hard for me." THAT IS SO WRONG!! In fact, I firmly believe that when we commit to live our lives for Christ, we commit to having trials. We commit to things not being easy. We commit to having things in our lives that sometimes hurts. The reason being that when we commit to live the life God wants us to live, we immediately get put on Satan's hit list. I mean think about it. Why would Satan want to worry about people he already has under his control? Wouldn't it make more sense to focus on those who are doing things he does not want them to do? Makes sense to me.

I do believe that God blesses those in His will and I believe that He clearly promises to be there for us and give us the strength we need. He has been all of this to me at so many points in my life. He has given me exactly what I need when I need it, even if my opinion I do not think I need it or I thought I needed it at a different time. God is good.

So, if you are a follower of Christ and things seem impossible, DON'T GIVE UP! Know that God loves you and He is your strength. Let Him be that for you. Let Him control everything and understand that as a follower of Christ you are promised trials, but you are also promised so much more. DON'T GIVE UP when it gets hard.

A Little Bit of Nothing

I found myself at the post office today mailing a package to one of my friends. While I was in line waiting for my turn, the little old lady behind me started talking to me. She started by asking me what I was mailing (a little nosey don't you think??). We continued talking some and I told her I was here in town visiting my parents. Then she said something that made me think. She said, " Well welcome to sin city". She must not get out much? I mean I know there is good bit of crime, but compared to other cities, I am not sure we can call it sin city yet. I listened to a few more stories from her, finished my business, and left. After I got in the car, the first thing I thought was, "Don't we all live in sin city?" I mean I would love to know the place where there is no sin. I would be the first to move in!

I had lunch with KV today. We had a great time, as always. We even ate somewhere other than McAlister's or Beagle Bagel. We talked about our families, and pretty much life in general. We even talked about some personal things in our lives that neither of us has told the other before. It amazes me to no end that we have been able to stay friends as long as we have. I mean we know just about everything about each other and yet we still love each other. In fourth grade we made a pact that if we were still friends when we got married we would be each other's Maid of Honor. She was my Maid of Honor when I was married and in August of this year I will be her Matron of Honor. Hard to believe. God has truly blessed our friendship.

The Professor is ready for Little One, Wild Man, and I to get home. I think mainly because he is getting tired of eating Spagetti O's, but I think he may also miss us some. He has enjoyed his freedom to venture to Half Price Books as often as he wants, and read without any interuptions. Read up Professor, we will be home before you know it! Enjoy the quiet while you can!

All in all I am enjoying my time in Jackson, as always!

Change

I have an addiction, that I believe is not normal. I am pretty sure than I am addicted to change. I am not addicted to the change I have no control over. I am addicted to the change that I have 100% control over. I love being the one to make the changes. I color my hair and change my hairstyle often because of this addiction. I also move furniture a lot. However, the things I like to change the most are things that can not be changed right now, and I am having the urge to change something.

So, I have decided to displace this need for change onto my blog. I have changed the template enough and have found one I like, so that will not change. However, as I think of things you will see some changes. The first change you will see is that I have decided the people in my blogs need to have nicknames. So, beginning on my next blog there will be nicknames. I will reveal them as I go and leave you to guess. Most of them will be obvious, if you know me well.

Change is good!

long time no blog

okay, so i know that i have not blogged in forever. the truth is over the past few days i have attempted blogging several times, but as soon as i know what i want to say, it leaves me or i decide i am not ready to blog about it. so, i end up just giving up and saying, "oh, i will blog tomorrow." it is not that i do not have a lot to talk about. in fact since i have been in jackson tons has happened that want nothing more than to talk about. i am just trying to decide what is okay for the blog and what is not. it may take me a while to figure it out. i am still alive and i am in no way giving up on blogging, just a little break while i sort my thoughts out.

random questions you can answer for me...
1. do you think i should create nicknames for the people in my blogs?
2. if you could read me write about one topic what would it be?

Like Father...Like Son!

Over Christmas break I saw a picture of Lee in his parent's bedroom that made look twice. The picture was of Lee when he was about 5-6 years old. It looked like Johnathan with more hair. I knew that Johnathan looked like Lee, but I did not realize how much until I saw that picture. I asked his mom if she would scan it for me and she did. Today, for fun, I decided to crop a picture of Johnathan and the picture of Lee, put them side by side and compare. This is what I got...

Crazy!!! Johnathan will never be able to deny that Lee is his dad. While Johnathan does have some of my features (the chin and the eyes), he is Lee made over!

The Sword

Last night Johnathan was sick. So, at 11 pm I found myself at Walgreens trying to find medicine for him. While I was there I decided to walk down the toy isle and see if there was anything cheap I could buy for him to cheer him up (because you know he needs more toys - hahaha!). I walked down the toy isle and found NOTHING! It was cheap, that is for sure! I started to leave when I saw something out of the corner of my eye... a foam pirate's sword! Now, that's what I'm talking about! I mean what 3 year boy would not want a foam sword? So, I decided he needed one. I pulled one out of the display box only to find that it was broken on the end. So, I put it back and pulled another one out. The second one was also defective. So, the search began. I was determined Johnathan needed one of the swords and I was going to find one that was not defective. Finally, I found one that was decent. The only thing wrong with it was that it had one little nick right above the handle. I decided to get it, because it was the best one on the box and I was sure Johnathan would not even notice it!

He did not get to see the sword last night, because when I came home he was asleep, but when he saw it this morning his face lit up and he said, " Who is this sword?" (meaning - whose sword is this?) So, I told him that it was his. I told him that last night I bought it for him because he was sick and I wanted to give him something to make him happy. He was so excited and immediately began playing with it. Then, he stopped and looked at it, then looked at me and said, "Ugh! Look at this! It is broken!" and pointed right to the little nick at the top of the handle! I mean come on! Why does my 3 year old boy have to be one to notice stuff like that??!! I just told him it was supposed to look like that and he was fine, but man my bubble sure did pop! So much for the hero sword buying mom I thought I was.

BTW - He loves the sword anyway, nicks and all!

It is over!

My stressful night has ended well. I am not going to need therapy. I did cry alot, but I am glad all is well. It will be fun to see what new ideas ABC has for the show. I have read a lot of rumors, but who knows.

Today

Tori woke up this morning with fever. I do not think she is sick, but she is teething. In fact she has 2 teeth coming in on the top. I would feel crummy too. The good thing is she has not been too fussy. She has slept a lot though.

It has been a beautiful day here and so Johnathan has lived outside today. I love days like today. He is able to get his energy out and I am able to attempt to get some things done. He colored a person on the sidewalk with chalk and chased a few giants away with some sticks he has found and claimed as his own. He also has enjoyed be able to ride his bike and scooter whenever he wanted to today. I love days like today!

I spent a good portion of my day looking for a picture I never found, that I am almost positive now, never existed. Anyway, going through the pictures was fun. Most of them were of Johnathan as a baby. He looked at a lot of them with me. We had fun. He asked who the baby was in every picture. Everytime I said, "That is you, Johnathan." He kept asking though. I guess he thought we didn't have that many pictures of him. The cutest was how excited he got once I told him the baby was him. One time he said, "Oh that is so sweet mommy."

I was somewhat productive today. I caught up on some emails, picked up around the house, worked on some things for my party on Saturday and cleaned the kitchen. I think I am even going to cook super tonight. However, I also think I have made myself be productive out of sheer desire to try to not think about tonight. Yes, tonight is a big night for me. I have become very addicted to Grey's Anantomy and Meredith is now like family to me, well they all are. If I think about the fact she may be dead I get sad. That is sad, isn't it? Don't tell me. Just let me think I am normal. However, Junebug has assured me that she has forbid Mereddith to die, so I think I may be okay. Just know that if she dies, I will most definitely be crying and I may need some therapy. I will let you know how I am after the show.

That is my day!

The Chat Box

The chat box is Out of Order at the moment. My new computer, as advanced as it is, will not let me chat. :-( Everytime I try to chat this security thing comes up. I can not figure out how to cut it off. Anyway, if anyone has any suggestions I am up for that. Otherwise, even though I have an extremely new computer, which I love, I will not be able to chat.

Now, Junebug, I have lots to say about Rob Lowe and Sally Fields. In fact, I posted it on the side column on Sunday and it stayed there until today. I guess you missed it. Oh well. I do think Sally Fields is a wonderful crier. I love watching anything she is in. I also love watching Rob Lowe, but not necessarily because he is a great actor, he just really hot! And, yes I can still say that even though I am very happily married. I did however miss Sunday night's episode, because the person I am so happily married too had a HUGE paper due and I got sucked into helping. Such is life as an eternal student's wife. No telling what he is going to have me doing when he teaching too.

Anyway, thats the low down on the chat box. I will notify everyone when it is back up again. Goodnight!

Imagination Land

Okay, so I have heard that if a child has a wonderful imagination that means they are going to be really smart. Well, I think we might have a genius on our hands. Johnathan lives in Imagination Land. Very rarely does he exist in our world. As a result we must live in this world occasionally, and I have to be honest sometimes it scares me. Most of the time though it just makes me laugh. The funniest thing to me though are the conversations that Johnathan can have with us while in his little land. The conversation I am going to share with you was one we had in the car on the way to the gym this morning. It started off great (in reality) and then, well...read it for yourself. You will see what I am talking about.

Johnathan: Is Christmas coming?
Me: Well, no, christmas will not be here for a while. But, Tori's birthday is coming in April.
Johnathan: Oh. And then it is my birthday?
Me: Yes, your birthday will come in August, after sister's birthday.
Johnathan: Oh, then I will be the baby?
Me: No, Johnathan sister will always be the baby. She will always be younger than you and you will always be older than her.
Johnathan (after a little thought): Oh, and then one day I will be older than you?
Me (thinking, "wow, we are having a wonderful conversation): Well, no Johnathan. See, I will always be older than you and you will always be older then sister and daddy will always be older than me. But, one day you can be my age, I will just be older too.
Johnathan: Oh, and then you will be a tree?
Me: What? Did you just say I am going to be a tree?
Johnathan: Yes! You will be the monkey in the tree.
Me: Oh! Wow. So I get to be the monkey in the tree?
Johnathan: Yes. And, you will will eat bananas.
Me (giving up on the whole thing): Oh ok.

He went on to tell me that he was going to be a girl when he was older (we are still working on the fact that he can never be a girl) and that our house was ugly because we have a cow living in it.

As much as I want him to get to the point where we can have "normal" conversations, I am loving the conversations we have right now, even if they are extremely off the wall. Johnathan brings one of the biggests blessings to our home...laughter!

beautiful nail

i love having my nails done. it is very realxing for me. my friend amanda knows this about me, so when she saw this video, she immediately thought of me and forwarded it. i am so glad she did. it made me laugh so hard i was crying. anyway, i thought maybe i should share the fun with you today. enjoy!

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=8126430922330991484&q=genre:comedy&pr=goog-sl&hl=en

"Hey, how about let's take a picture of ... "

This morning when I realized Tori was pulling up on Johnathan's train table I hurried to find a camera. The closest one I could find was the one on my cell. So, I grabbed and took some pictures of her standing up at the traintable. Once Johnathan realized what I was doing he started saying, " Hey, let's take a picture of ___". So I would take a picture of it and then I would have to show him. He would then immediately think of something else we needed a picture of. The pictures got pretty goofy. Here are my favorites (and please remember i was being forced to take this pictures).

This was Johnathan's 1st pose for the camera - he is so goofy!

Next, we had to have the picture of the wonderful airplane Johnathan built out of legos. Well he told me it was an airplane, I don't know though. It looks more like a , well I don't know what it looks like. Oh well! He was proud of it anyway.

Here is another goofy face by Johnathan. Not sure what he is thinking. But if you ask me, Tori looks very confused. I think she is wondering how she ended up being the little sister of this wild boy.

Okay, so this one makes me laugh really hard. See this one was planned out. What you can not see, or atleast you can not see it well, is that there is a money flashlight and a dog flashlight sitting next to Johnathan on the sleeping bag. Johnathan really wanted to document his play date with the flashlights. He said, "Hey, how about we take a picture of me and the dog and the monkey together on the blanket." So, we did.

The other thing that makes me laugh is the fact that it looks like Tori is trying to run away. Don't worry if I were Tori I would have tried to run too!

This was the last one Johnathan posed for. He said (word for word), "Mommy, how about let's take a picture of me in the basket with this book." So we did. HAHAHA. He makes me laugh so much.

My life would be so boring without Johnathan!

brownie dog

for those of you who do not know, johnathan has an imaginary dog named brownie dog. johnathan has had brownie dog for a few months now and we have adopted brownie dog into our family. we can not go anywhere without him and if we do johnathan makes sure we know that brownie dog is not with us. last week the kids and i were outside compusa, in the car, waiting for lee to finish returning our computer (another story for another day) when all of a sudden johnathan started freaking out. i could not figure it out and then i realized it. i should have figured it out. somehow brownie dog got out of the car and johnathan would not calm down until brownie dog was back in the car. so, i rolled down the window and brownie dog crawled in and all was well. well this week brownie dog has begun biting johnathan. i am sure brownie dog is not to fault in this. however, we have to deal with it on a regular basis now. johnathan makes sure we know every time brownie dog bites him, even if we are at a friend's house (yes, that happened). after he tells us, then we tell him to tell brownie dog not to bite him again. this is followed by johnathan going in the other room and in a loud vioce saying "do never bite me dog!" to brownie dog. wow, how much fun is johnathan?! he makes me laugh all the time!

my heart day

okay, so today is heart day 2007 and i wish i could tell you that i had a very unique day. but, actually it was not much different than any other day, other than i got a very nice card from my husband and the promise of a wonderful date night friday night (with no kids, yay!!). i started out my day get the kids ready to go to the gym with me (i had an appointment with my personal trainer). i got them all dressed and opened to door to find out that it was not just cold outside - it was the kind of cold that takes your breath away. well, i loaded the kids up, got them all settled in the car, got myself all settled in the car (you know put music on, warmed it up, etc) and we headed off to gym. i got the front row spot this morning, which was awesome! i unloaded the kids and checked them into the nursery. then i was off to work out. well, i walked in to find out that the personal trainer assigned to me was not there, due to snow (not sure where she lived - it wasn't fort worth). that was cool i would just do my own thing. so, i decided to hop on the elliptical for an hour and call it a day. well, the elliptical must not have liked me to much, because as soon as i began to get on, one of the pedals popped back and hit me right in the shin. no, i did not say any bad words, but i wanted to. it hurt! i did not let it get me down though. i had an awesome hour on that thing and then went and rescued the kids. i had lunch with a friend. while at lunch with my friend it snowed. however, it was the horrible kind of snow that is so pretty but won't stay around. it is only good if it sticks around long enough to play in it. oh well at least we had some snow! then, i played on my computer, while the kids napped. once the kids woke up and supper time rolled around lee and i decided that cici's would be an awesome place for heart day supper (this is what happens when you have kids, for those of you who do not have kids yet - something to look forward to. hahahaha). we figured that being the cold wednesday it was (and being heart day and all) that cici's would be empty. we were wrong! it was packed and very loud! we had some good pizza though! we got back into the car only for both kids to start crying. lee and i just looked at each other, smiled and said, "happy heart day". life with kids changes everything. well, both kids are in bed my heart day is coming to an end. i hope everyone had a wonderful heart day and i hope there are no boyfriends or husbands in trouble. i will let you know on friday if mine is or not. :-)

things i have learned

being a mom is one the most challenging, yet most rewarding thing i have ever done. i love being a mom (most days) and on a good day take my job very seriously. i have a wonderful mom to learn from and for the most part being mom was a natural thing for me. i mean i have always wanted kids (even if they came sooner than i had planned) and i have always pictured my life being like this. but, there are some things that i have learned since i have become a mom that no one can teach you. well, they can try, but you can not really learn them until you are a mom. so, here are some things i have learned, in no particular order.

• i have learned how to carry about 10 bags, 3 cups, my purse, and baby all in one trip
• i have learned where everything is in walmart to insure that i do not have to stay there long when there with both kids
• i have learned how to have a conversation with someone on the phone while both kids are crying
• i have learned how to take a 5 minute shower when i do not have time and how to take an hour shower when i need some alone time
• i have learned how to truly enjoy the a quiet house
• i have learned how to be a apart of johnathan's pretend world, even when i don't want to be.
• i have learned that babysitters are the best thing in the whole world
• i have learned that kids are the most wonderful blessing i could ever have
• i have learned that time goes by way to fast
• i have learned how to say, "it seems like yesterday..." like a real grown up
• i have learned things that used to take me 10 minutes to do now take an hour
• i have learned why my mom made do chores when i was little - and btw i still hate it!
• i have learned that peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for lunch everyday really is a good thing
• i have learned that if the weather is not good for outside playtime, it is going to be a bad day
• i have learned that time with my husband, without kids, is priceless
• i have learned how to take my time shopping when i am by myself and how to speed shop when i have the kids
• i have learned how to do just about everything with only one hand

i think the one thing i have learned the most though, or i should say grasped the most, since i have had kids, is how loved i really am by God. He allowed His son to be tortured for me. wow! i love a lot of people, but i can not say that i love anyone enough to let my little babies go through that for them. something to think about it.

things i miss

i had a hard time thinking about what to blog about today. but then i thought about something that i am really missing today, and one thing lead to another until i came up with a whole list of things i miss. here they are (in no particular order)...

• mcalister's deli (all though there are rumors we are getting one about 15 min away)
• night out with the love of my life that do not have to be planned a week or two in advance so you can have a babysitter
• being able to eat whatever i want, whenever i want, and not gain a pound (oh, wait, did i ever have that? hahaha ok, maybe when i was 5)
• drinking diet coke all the time (i am a water only chick now - well, ok i drink 1 diet coke a day - but those that know me, know that is big deal)
• lunch dates with kirsten v at beagle bagel or mcalister's deli
• beagle bagel
• my brain (johnathan took half and then tori took the other half)
• my blonde hair (yes, it is light brown now - thanks to revlon)
• my clothes i wore before johnathan (i want those back before the year is over - and i will get them!)
• my freshman and sophomore year of college (those were some fun times!)
• being able to watch whatever i want on tv whenever i want - johnathan has control of the tv now (except for thursday nights from 8-9)
• the days when i did not have so much responsibility - being grown up is not as fun as i thought it was when i was 10
• being able to sleep late every saturday (i do get to some, when lee loses the coin toss the night before)
• chbc - don't get me wrong i love the church i go to now, chbc will always hold a special place in my life - i grew up there
• being caught up on laundry (i don't think i will ever get that one back)
• friends that i have not seen in forever because i live so far away from everyone
• zaxby's
• kyoto's fried rice and pink sauce
• being able to shop in peace (this is not possible with 2 kids - unless a babysitter is in the mix somehow)

i think the thing i miss the most today is the relationship i used to have with my sister. today is her 27th birthday and i can not tell her happy birthday. i love her more than she will ever know and i can't tell her. i still pray for the day that she will wake up and realize she needs Christ and that her children need a mom. i love you, crystal and happy birthday!

life

have you ever seen the movie "the incredibles"? well, in the movie there is a scene where the mom calls the dad at work, while she bathing the baby (great multitasker, like most moms), to tell him that is official. they are finally moved in. the dad then makes a remark about how they have already lived there for a while and the mom clarifies that it is official because they have unpacked the last box. well, it is official. we are now completely moved into our town home. yes, after almost a year, lee and i have finally gotten things completely organized and where we want it. you see normally by the time we figure out things are not working in the apartment we are in, we move. but, since we are not moving again for long time, we have decided to completely settle. empty the last box in other words.

lee and i also had a first for our relationship yesterday. when lee and i met we both each had a huge cd collection. he had his cds and i had mine. well, after almost 5 years of marriage, we decided it was time to combine the two collections and just have one collection. we had so many duplicates it was not funny. so, we are officially a one cd collection family now.

do you know how you do things out of habit and have no clue why? well, see today is sunday and out of habit i always take nap on sunday. not really because i am tired, but because that is what you do on sunday afternoon, or at least that is what my mom and dad always told me. thanks mom and dad! i am truly thankful that i had parents that believed in sunday afternoon naps, they are better than naps any other day of week!

my favorite 3 year old

johnathan is 3 now and despite his moodiness at times, he is my favorite 3 year old. he is always coming up with creative things to do and say. he is 300% boy and too much like his daddy. if something can break, he will figure out how to break it. when he was 1 someone gave us some flash cards from baby einstein that were supposed to be indestructible. well within 2 weeks our little johnathan had figured out how to destroy them. that is johnathan. johnathan is also always nice about everything he does, even if it is disobeying. johnathan does not throw himself on the floor and pitch a fit when we ask him to do something, he just doesn't do it. he does not talk back or say no, he just pretends we never said anything. johnathan also loves to repeat anything anyone is saying, whether or not he is using it right in his sentences. some of my favorite phrases from johnathan are, "i can't want to do that" (for "i don't want to do that") and "it is too easy" (for "it is too hard"). johnathan always has us on our feet trying to figure out who he is at the moment. some days it is one person the whole day, where there are other days it changes by the minute. my favorite was when he told me the other day that he was "lightening mcqueen buzz lightyear horse". i guess he couldn't decide which to be so he picked all three. johnathan also loves to talk on the phone. the other day he had me call like 3 or 4 different people, so he could talk to them. one of the phone calls was to mom and she asked him if he had pooped in the potty (this is big deal at our house right now). he was honest and said, "no, my daddy pooped in the potty." you never know what is going to come out of his mouth. johnathan also has a dog. his dog is named brownie dog and he has to go everywhere with us. the only thing is johnathan is the only one who can see brownie dog, so we never know when we leave him places. the other day in the car he started freaking out about something. once i calmed him down i realized that we had left brownie dog outside the car, so i had to roll the window so brownie dog could get back in the car. johnathan loves his little sister more than i can begin to tell you here. he takes such good care of her and makes sure that she stays out of trouble. he is also very quick to tell me when she does something wrong. yesterday, johnathan made sure i knew that his sister had knocked my vase of flowers off the table onto the floor from 3 feet away. i was amazed! but, then he confessed that really he did it. i love watching johnathan learn and love watching him just be him. i can not believe my little johnathan is growing up so fast. so for now, i am just going to enjoy my favorite 3 year old, even if i think he is from another planet sometimes.

Sick Day

Ok, so why is it that when the mom is sick life goes on? I mean seriously, if the husband is sick he gets to stay in bed. All he has to do is call his boss and say, "I am sick today and so I will not be coming into work", and then he has the wife to get him what he needs so that all he has to do is sleep all day. If the kids are sick, they also are treated special. They get food they normally wouldn't get (unless it's a stomach sick and then they get nothing) and they get to stay in bed and sleep or watch movies all day. However, if the mom is sick life goes on. I mean seriously there is no one to call and say, " I am sick and I will not be able to work today." And even if there were someone, there were no sick days alotted to us when we signed up for the job. Oh no! That would be too easy. The mom has to still get up and do everything she normally does. The only time this rule does not apply is if the mom is about to die or in the hospital. Where is the fairness in that? It makes the mom want to be the kid again so that her mom can take care of her. Even if her mom is sick too. :-) So, if you have been a mom or are a mom right now, please explain this mystery to me. Well, this sick mom is going on with life.

I'm Back!

Ok, so as always, I started something and then put it on hold until I had time to focus on it. However, I am figuring out that you can make time to do anything you want to. So, I as of today, Wednesday, February 7th, I am going to make time atleast once a week to blog, if not more. I would love to become a daily blogger. I just don't think I am ready for that commitment yet. Maybe one day.

Well, since my last blog tons has happened in our family. Here it is in 4 sentences. I am a stay at home mom now and enjoying my job as a Creative Partner for Initials Inc. Lee is STILL in school, working full time, and scheduled to teach 2 classes at the seminary next Fall. Tori is 10 months old, has two teeth and the ability to move around the house as she pleases. Johnathan is still 3 (hahaha), full of energy, and so much fun to watch as he is learning things and words everyday.

Ok, well that is it for today. We shall see if I can keep this up or not.