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