Feed the ducks!

This morning Luke and I met up with our friends Shae and Dakota to walk from their house down to a pond to feed the ducks, then to the playground to play. Did you catch that? I took Luke out on a walk! Shocking, I know. I felt guilty that I've spent the last few days hard core crafting (I'll post pictures in the next couple of days), and not spending the time with Baby that I probably should. So out we went! And not only did I take the camera, I actually used it! Since this was our first foray into duck feeding, Luke wasn't to sure of himself. In fact, when I set him down he planted his feet and wouldn't walk anywhere.

So mostly I fed the ducks and Luke watched. Dakota had a great time though!

When we got to the park Luke LOVED the swings. He laughed and giggled the whole time.

Then Shae and I tried to get the boys in a photo together, but Dakota just wouldn't have it. Look at how pitiful he is!

Also tonight I tried spaghetti again, only this time I used spiral noodles instead of spaghetti noodles. Success! He actually ate something for dinner, as opposed to last night, when he only ate half a banana. Kids.

It's the little things

This morning after breakfast Luke and I hit the town to run out to Babies R Us and JoAnn's Fabric. I was just rounding the corner, on my way up to the cash register, when I saw it. I saw IT. Remember my over flowing love for this fabric? That I delicately turned into this? Well, look what I found today:

I just stopped dead in my tracks. My fabric. MY FABRIC!! On a sewing basket, something I desperately needed. I felt like shouting for joy. I let my son do that. He was talking to the people on the other side of the store (I was so embarrassed. I don't think I can take him out in public anymore). Then I saw the clincher. 30% off. Holy moly I couldn't get that thing in my basket fast enough. It truly is the little things that make you happy. Well, besides love and Jesus.

On our way home I was tempted to stop and just pick myself up something for lunch, but I decided to be a good girl and eat the brand new deli meat I have in the fridge. So I get home, feed Sir Screams A Lot, get him changed and down for a nap, and it was finally my turn to eat. Except the bread had mold on it. *sigh* I guess not everything can be perfect. It wouldn't have been the worst thing in the world, but.....we had nothing else to eat. Nothing. Only cereal. So I got creative and had little hor'dourves for lunch- cottage cheese and brown sugar ham piled on Ritz crackers. Not too shabby! Plus some grapes to really round things out. And we were all out of coke, so I was forced to brew some tea to go with it. I guess a grocery store run is in order for the morning. Wasn't I just there?

Get ready to laugh

Okay. So I have Mom's camera, and I downloaded pictures from Kendra's wedding and from today. APPARENTLY my little family cannot, I repeat- cannot-take a good picture. Let me show you what I mean.

This is the first one. Luke says "Lemme outta here! Lemme out of here! My head's gonna pop off!"

Then we get Luke saying "I'm free! I'm free!":

And finally there's "Hey baby, check out my high water's and white socks" while Momma apparently sees something more interesting in the distance:

That's it. That's all the family shots we got. We were all dressed up and there is not one frame-able picture in the bunch. And sorry I didn't pause to fix the red eyes. I think the devil look is quite appropriate for how dismal they turned out to be. But, have no fear. There were some really cute ones of me and Luke that I will save for a rainy day when I've gone into a picture-taking famine.

Now on to today. Today was Western Day in Old Town Lewisville! Mom and I took Luke, and we had a great time. Except that the temperature climbed to 95 before we called it quits and headed home. Mom was such a good Nana and sacrificed pictures of her and Luke together to be our photographer for the day. Here are some gems that she captured.

Who doesn't want their head in a wooden cut out?

And for a mere $3 we got to partake in Luke's very first petting zoo! There were goats, calves, pigs, a lama, and some rather, um, *frisky* rabbits. We just turned our backs to give them some privacy.

"You mean I get to touch this thing? Do I have to?"

"Hey, where did everyone go? I'm not Noah, people!"

mmmmmmm.....nothing like chewing on the fingers that I just used to pet farm animals.

Look at all the long horns!

So all in all, it was a good day. I finished out the night by making a bag for one of the baby shower's I'm going to in the up coming weeks, but more about that tomorrow.

Donut Day

So this morning was a major mile stone for us. I am usually very picky about what goes into my son's mouth, but I was out of pancake batter for breakfast, and I didn't want cereal again. I wanted donuts. I had to have donuts. So, I found the only cold weather top that he has (mental note- buy child some warmer clothes soon) which was a size 24 months sweatshirt and bundled him up for the crisp 65 degree weather outside. It was cold! But not so cold that I couldn't wear flip flops with my XL sweatshirt from college. Lucky you there's no picture proof of how RAGGED I looked as I pulled out of the driveway. Momma didn't put on any make up at all, and I think Luke was a little confused as to who was behind the wheel. Just kidding. I introduced myself.

I think Luke rather enjoyed his first venture into fried sugary goodness. He ate 5 holes like this:

He liked them so much he talked to them:

Who do you call on a donut phone? Not sure. I am not quite as fluent in babble as I would like to be. What did momma enjoy? Only a chocolate covered donut stuffed with chocolate butter cream. It was a.m.a.z.i.n.g. It will take mucho will power not to swing by and get one daily, since this place is about 45 seconds from my house. Good thing this is next door:

Not kidding. I took this picture from the turn lane right before I pulled into the parking lot just in case you didn't believe me. And then when we got home there is a good chance Luke was all hopped up on sugar because I looked over and he was doing this:

Tomorrow if I have time I will compile the video that goes along with that photo of him SHOUTING at the man mowing the lawn down the street. Yes, the window are still open.

That lady

Today I was that lady. I was that lady in Target who let her child snack on cheerios. I was that lady whom you could tell where she had been due to the trail of cheerios behind her. Luke has these snack cups:


They are supposed to keep spilling to a minimum, and when used correctly are fabulous. Except Luke doesn't use them correctly. He sticks his little hand in there and grabs AS MANY as that chubby fist can accommodate. Which means a million come flying out as he yanks his hand back out. Oiy. There were cheerios everywhere. Everywhere. I felt like Hansel and Gretel, lots in a Target. So yes fellow shoppers, the crunch under your feet is my desperate attempt to keep a scream from reaching your ears.

That said, I am pretty impressed with all that I got done today. I went to Babies R Us, DSW, Half Price Books, Target, and Hobby Lobby. Did you notice the last one? Yes, Hobby Lobby. Be on the lookout for my latest towels/bags/whatever coming soon!

Also, here is a peek a Kendra's bridal shots. I can't wait to see the wedding ones!

First day of fall

Today is officially fall, and I can't BELIEVE that it actually felt like it today! I mean, I had the windows allllll day and the air conditioner didn't even come on once. And it was set to a cool 78. Ya'll, this never happens in Texas. Never. So what did I do with this fresh and cool day? Cleaned my house. I actually cleaned the bathrooms, swept, mopped, dusted, vacuumed and did some laundry. I know, amazing right? I don't think I've mentioned lately how grateful I am to be a stay at home mom, I love every second of it and feel completely blessed that I am able to do so. The thing is though, it can be deceiving. What I mean is, I have basically nothing but time, so it's hard to get motivated to do things. Because there is literally always tomorrow. Does the carpet need to be vacuumed? Yes but, eh, I'll just do it tomorrow. Well my friends, tomorrow finally came. And I got it all done. In fact, I'm tempted to swiffer the floors one more time, just to make sure that the "clean" feeling lasts. Cause lets be honest here. Who knows when tomorrow will come again.

And isn't it amazing how much more centered you feel when the house is cleaned? I feel like my whole insides are calmer. I feel like I think better. I feel like I can take on more challenges, simply because there is no spit on my bathroom mirrors and nothing sticks to my feet when I walk around barefoot. So watch out world. Who knows what I will accomplish tomorrow now that my TV has been wiped down.

And this is just because I love him.

Dinner- a slight flop

I don't have too much to report from the last couple of days. Last night I actually watched the Cowboys game. I couldn't believe that we lost! But the Giants sneaked in that last kick and just squeaked by. We are absolutely not a sports family. When we have managed to show up at Super Bowl parties in the past, it's been more for the social aspect, not so much for the game going on.

Tonight I cooked dinner! With a recipe! And it turned out decent! I made these salmon burgers I saw in Good Housekeeping this month. It was Candance Bergon's personal recipe. Through no fault of my good friend Ms. Bergon (she did share how to make these burgers with just me and the other 2 million people who read GH), I made a couple of boo boos. I didn't want to make 4 burgers for 2 people, so I bought only 1/2 the needed salmon to make a more appropriate amount of food. Except I forgot that I did that by the time I started on the chopping and stirring part and I added the whole amount of everything else. Oops. I also doubled the amount of yogurt for the dressing that went on top of the salmon, but I forgot to double the rest of the ingredients at first. But that was a little easier to fix- I did go back and add more stuff to it. I doubled it cause I thought it would be good on a ham sandwich tomorrow, but now that I've tasted it, I'm thinking not so much. Oh well. I don't know what else I would do with plain yogurt (the main ingredient), except for making smoothies. Hey! Maybe I'll make smoothies tomorrow.

Home

Due to such a late night (Luke didn't go to sleep until almost 11) we were all able to sleep in until 9. Sooooooo nice. We had to be out of the room by 11, so I didn't get to take my time getting ready. It was go go go! But we got all pack and checked out on time. Whilst I waited for Cody to put ice in the ice chest for our perishables, I let Luke 'drive' the truck.

He got the biggest kick out of it. Then we went to Cracker Barrel for breakfast/lunch before hitting the road and they took fooooorrrreeeevvveer. We were there for 1 1/2 hours! Geez louise. When we finally got on the highway it was 12:30, and for some reason the drive seemed extra long. My little bum was begging for relief by the time I pulled up in the drive way. And then there was the dreaded task of unpacking. I've said before how much I HATE this task, right? Well, in case you forgot, I hate it. HATE it. Like, sometimes I turn down trips just so I won't have to unpack at some point. Not to mention coming home to a house that didn't look the same as I left it. Cody was only home alone for a day until he followed us out to Abilene, but some how he managed to dirty it all up. Boo! I got mostly unpacked before the DVR full of missed shows proved to be too tempting and I had to start in on the list. Tomorrow's another day, right?

Tonight we had a party at a couple's house from church. In honor of "Talk Like A Pirate Day" today, they had a pirate party, complete with props. I drug my tired behind over there (they just live a couple of streets over) and had a pleasant time. Luke wasn't too sure about the props though.

Wedding Day

Not mine- Kendra's of course. Luke woke up this morning at 8:00. Eek! So I got up, showered and threw on some clothes, gave him a breathing treatment, and we hit up Starbucks for breakfast. I really wanted to be out of the room for a little while so the maids would have a chance to empty our trash in peace. Nothing more awkward than sitting there while someone else tidies up for you. See, we got up just in time for Handy Manny:

When we stepped outside it was STILL raining. Not only did that really peeve me due to the fact that I am BEYOND sick of the rain, but it worried me because we were supposed to take all of our wedding party pictures outside. But then again, this is Texas, so just because it's rained for over a week straight doesn't mean it will still be raining in four hours. Luke did really well at the bucks for breakfast- I packed him some yogurt, strawberries, and graham crackers and he stood in a chair to eat while I sipped my coffee. He also chit chatted with the man at the next table. I'm sure he appreciated that, considering he had a lap top and was obviously trying to get work done. Once I wrapped up breakfast, a fun 45 minutes later, we headed back to the room to hang out and wait for Mom and Dad to get there so I could doing wedding stuff childless.

I met up with the other girls at 11:30 and we got ready for pictures, which were at 1:30. I can't wait for Erin (the photographer) to post some of them on her blog. They are going to be AMAZING! It stopped raining and was the perfect temp. outside. Couldn't have asked for more perfect weather. We took some at a train station, some in a parking garage, and one on a neighborhood street. Intrigued? You should be. We finished up by 3, so we had a couple of hours to hang out and relax. What a great way to spend a wedding day! No crazy time crunches, just an easy day ending with a great party!

The actual wedding was beautiful. We had our fair share of hiccups (like the stage catching on fire), but everyone was so calm about them that it didn't seem like a big deal. And what's most important? Nick and Kendra got married! Here is me and my friend:


And here is the cutest guest in the whole church!


I had a hard time getting a whole length picture of him, every time his feet hit the ground he was off. I couldn't get him to be still for the life of me. Here's what he looked like when I tried to get him still:

Hopefully Mom got some better shots on her camera.

Hectic Day

So today everyone decided today was the day to book Ms. Lindsey. Let me start by saying I was so stressed last night that I only got 45 minutes of sleep. 5:15-6:00, when my alarm went off. Lovely. I needed to get up so early because I needed to have us completely packed and ready to go to Abilene before any of our appointments. Needless to say, I realized at about 4:45 this morning there was a good chance I would fall asleep at the wheel on our way out of town. But don't worry. As you can see we are safe, not currently walking with the Lord. Apparently there is still some kingdom work I have to do.

This morning I had an 8:00 appointment follow up for my surgery. Except when I get there the nurse tells me the dr. is out sick. Seriously? I woke up at 6 for this! So she took some x-rays and rescheduled me for Monday. I took Luke to IHOP for breakfast, which was fun as always. He got impatient waiting for breakfast, so I offered him a cracker. First he offered it to God:

Then he licked the salt off:

Next we had a follow up pediatrician appointment at 10:30 that I was able to move to 9:45. Although he still sounds terrible to the naked ear, she said that his lungs sounded much better than they did before. Whew! Monday we can start weaning the breathing treatments down from 4 a day to eventually none. We hit the road as soon as we left the office, about 10:30. We got all the way to Eastland before stopping for lunch. Where did we stop? None other than Dairy Queen! How can you travel to West Texas and not stop at such a staple? Luke had his first DQ chicken finger meal:

And he thoroughly fit in with the locals in his boots and snap shirt:

Afterwards he let me share his ice cream cone with him. Wasn't that so nice? ;)

Once we finally made it to Abilene and got checked in I realized that something in his diaper bag smelled awful. I mean AWFUL. I was so embarrassed that I made us late to the rehearsal just so I could swing by WalMart to pick up some Fabreeze. Cause what kid doesn't want a special edition cranberry scented diaper bag? The rehearsal was a rehearsal, I'm confident they will say I Do tomorrow. Then we went to a really nice dinner at one of the fancier restaurants in town. Guess who's kid was delirious with exhaustion and kept airing his feelings at the top of his lungs. That's right. My kid. It's not so much that he was fussy or crying. He was just loud. I mean LOUD. Everything from "I would like another cracker" to "Watch me bang this spoon" was said at near jet engine decibels. So I excused us early from dinner, came back, and am now trying to ignore the pair of eyes peering at me from over the edge of the pack-n-play.

Evesdropping emergency

This morning Luke woke up wheezing really bad again, so I called and made him a doctor's appointment. They could see him at 12:15, so I got dressed so we could go to the grocery store and WalMart before hand. While we were checking out at the grocery store there were some firemen in line behind me (and yes ladies, one of them was CA-UTE! I was good though). I was almost done paying when I heard their walkie talkie dispatch lady say "There is a 911 emergency at ****** (address); child is not breathing, I repeat, child is not breathing." My heart just stopped and I turned to look at them. For some it hit me really hard. All I could picture was some mother, holding her child and hysterically crying into a phone at some stranger to hurry and help her sweet baby. Oooh, I just wanted to cry. All I could do was say a little prayer right then and there.

So we ran our groceries home and hit up WalMart. The main reason I needed to go there was to replace the humidifier Luke broke yesterday. It didn't occur to me that now since he is bigger his arms reach farther. I walked in from his nap and he had managed to knock it over and completely crack the tank in half. Water was everywhere. AWESOME! But it was time for a new one anyway. That one was from my sister's childhood I believe. She's 22.

Then we went to the pediatrician. Luke was only breathing at a 95% oxygen saturation, which is not good at all. Even after a breathing treatment he was only breathing at 97%. So now we have to do breathing treatments 4 times a day, along with his daily inhalers. Which leads to 4 times a day of this.


But a couple of minutes into the treatment he calms down due to some momma cuddles and Handy Manny. We have recently discovered Handy Manny, and Luke actually watches it! Just so you don't think the day was a whole bust, here is my sweet little man in his cowboy boots while we were out and about today. They don't stay on as well as I thought they would, but they are so darn cute I don't even care.

Frustrated

Okay. So I have sat here for an hour trying to figure out how to make a song play when you pull up my blog. All I can get it to do is play a 30 second snippet of the song, which is not the desired effect. I really wanted to have Revelation Song playing, because I wanted to talk about how much I have really enjoyed it lately. For some reason it's one of those songs I can listen to over and over and just feel so elated with God. Totally loving it right now, maybe one day I'll be able to share it with you. BAH! I get so frustrated when I can't figure things out! I like to think of my self as semi-technologically savvy, but right now it's *ppsshhh* right over my head.

And just in case you are wondering, my surgery went well yesterday. I fought the anesthesia (it was my first time be put under, okay?! and at one point I did crack a joke about how I have trouble relaxing and my husband would agree with that. Are you supposed to crack jokes half doped up?) and after they moved the needle down farther on my arm it did the trick. I remember trying to think of different relaxing things, like picturing myself being at home with Luke, and then they told me it was time to get up. I tried to tell them I wasn't asleep yet and that I was getting more relaxed, but then the nurse gently informed me it was over. Hmm. She must have been telling the truth because now I have a hole in my mouth with a silver peg sticking out. But don't worry, you can barely see it when I smile. And luckily I have an awesome family that helped me all day. My dear little grandmother drove me to and from the dr, as well as hung out at the house all day. Dad came over and stayed with Luke from 7:30 in the morning until 9 last night, only leaving briefly to go pick us up some dinner, and Mom came over as soon as school was out and left with Dad at 9. By 4 or so I was feeling much better, but she actually fussed at me for trying to help out around in the kitchen! I am so thankful to have such a supportive family.

And I'm still frustrated about the song. It's rained all day today, so I think I better go lay down and listen to it....think relaxing thoughts.....

*EDIT* I've messed with it for another hour and now all I can get it to do is have that little box in the top left column. If you click on the play arrow next to each song you can listen to the whole thing. I am also loving Mighty to Save! *sigh* okay, really going to listen to the rain now.

Cleaning like there is no tomorrow

Today I got so much accomplished! Luke and I had breakfast with a sweet friend, went to the pet store (where Luke tried to "love" on the puppies and kitties through the glass. It was too sweet!), went to Wal Mart, and then came home to lunch and nap time. Once I put him down I picked up the house, finished laundry, and cleaned the floors. Why did I need to get so much done? Because tomorrow I'm having surgery. :( I have a baby tooth that is getting pulled and a rod implanted in the hole so that in a few months I can have a crown screwed into that hole. Awesome huh? Since I've never been fully put under, and I don't know how long it will be before I feel up to doing housework I thought I better get some of it done today. Also the thought crossed my mind that if for some reason, something happened to me while I was under, at least the house would look clean when people stopped by to give their condolences to Cody and Luke. Isn't that awful? It's also one of the reasons why I clean before I go on vacation. Mostly I just like coming home to a clean house.

Last year this horrible lady on my team told me about an aunt of hers that died in a car wreck and when everyone went over to the house later it was a disaster and the family talked about it for years. Isn't' that TERRIBLE!!!! I am so glad I'm not in that family. But it still crosses my mind at least once when I leave the house.

Anyway, I'm not worried that something will happen tomorrow. I have full confidence I will return tomorrow night with a post that just says "ow". But even if something were to happen, bring it on Lord! How amazing would it be that I wouldn't have to deal with the troubles of this world and could be walking with the Lord in heaven?! Please don't take that the wrong way- I am in no way suicidal. I just long, no, ache for the day when I can see my Savior and be done with the the pain of this fallen world. Plus then I could ask my questions. You know, like, what was really the deal with dinosaurs. And who shot Kennedy. Oh, and probably why the bible isn't in chronological order.

Cutie and Laps

First things first, I've changed up my personal routine again. Having my quiet time from 3-4 wasn't working out quite like I thought it would, so I bit the bullet this morning and got up at 7 to do it before Luke woke up. And you know what? It was fantastic. Studied from 7-8 (okay, okay, more like 7:15 to 8 by the time I got my coffee made) and then I still had 45 minutes to piddle around on the computer before Sir Sleeps A Lot woke up. What a great way to start the day!

Once SSAL did get up, I tried on the little outfit I bought for him to wear to a wedding next week. I knew it would at least need to be hemmed so I wanted to check out how it was fitting. Just in case I don't get any pictures of him during the wedding:


Holy moly, this has got to be one of my very favorite things I have ever put on him. Probably right after this:

That was his Easter outfit.

Then later this morning I actually took Luke on a walk. It's been at least 4 months since I have put on tennis shoes, if not longer. I am slightly allergic to excises. It has this unwanted side effect of making me sweaty and out of breath, and when I get sweaty I have to shower, and when I shower I have to redo my hair, so when possible I abstain. But....We had fun! It took about 30 minutes (20 minutes longer than I meant to go), and half way through I felt sorry for Daisy Dog and let her ride in the bottom basket of the stroller. Good thing there wasn't anyone in the park walking, or we might have gotten some funny looks.

Finally when we got home, Luke started to do his own laps. He has this thing where he goes around the couch, coffee table, and rocking chair, pushing his red car. I mean, he will do 7-8 laps at a time. I finally got a video of him doing it today, by the time I got my camera he had already done 4 laps.

Edit: video will be in separate posts. Too tired to figure out how to put it here.

New things

The last couple of days have been filled with several "firsts" for Luke and I. Here is a run down:

-mowed the lawn today (I am so glad that I have been able to duck that responsibility for the last 26 years. Some places took every pound of body weight I had, and that still wasn't enough.)

-fed Luke bratwurst (I made chili dogs tonight for supper and I decided to get off my high horse about feeding him hot dog type foods. Of course he loves it and didn't eat any of his green beans.)

-went to Natalie's swim party (okay, okay, it wasn't the first time that we went to their house, and it wasn't the fist time we went swimming there, and it wasn't our first swim party, but it was Natalie's first birthday, so that counts right?)

-Luke has figured out burping is funny. So now it goes like this: eat eat eat eat *burp!* giggle giggle giggle

-Got Luke fitted for shoes at Stride Rite. Mom says that when I was little she just HAD to get me my shoes there, thinking that if they ever had another little girl she could wear them too. Low and behold, then there was Ashley. Except her foot was so fat that she couldn't fit into anything. Baaahahahahaha. She was a fat baby.

-I watched 4 hours of super morbidly obese people yesterday. TLC had this marathon of documentaries on people who weigh over 800 lbs. I watched it while I was laying on the couch eating powdered donuts. And then I moved the bed while I snacked on cookies. Maybe I'll be the next star of the show.

-His cup and/or snack can "ride" on the seat of his car as he pushes it around, so then all he has to do is bend over and drink. Now that's problem solving.

I didn't have any pictures of these "firsts" (while I did have my camera at the party, it didn't make it out of my bag. Big surprise there. But a friend did snap a couple of pictures of us, so in my typical fashion, the pictures will come a wee bit late.) so I've included some pictures of Luke's first bath.

Before

(poor kid doesn't know what's about to hit him)

During

(this woman is trying to drowned me! Someone help a boy out!)

After

(holy moly, I survived. It wasn't so bad.)

Almost a week later...

It's almost a week after Luke's haircut and I am JUST NOW posting a picture. I didn't even take the picture. Monday night when Cody and I went to a friend's house for dinner, Mom and Dad watched him and took a whole bunch of pictures.

Mom let him play with her glasses and *gasp* the remote. I asked her if he watched her while he played with it, and she said yes, that he would hit the buttons and then look at her. I told her he wasn't allowed to play with it at home (our remotes are identical), so he was seeing if he was getting away with it. Sneaky sneaky boy.

While I was pulling pictures off Mom's camera, I came across this one from the middle of the summer.

It's blurry because he was having a rip-roaring good time with a balloon. I thought I might need some documented proof that my child will not be completely deprived in the balloon area. For those of you who don't know me personally, I have an irrationally yet overwhelming fear of balloons. The videos that go along with this picture makes my palms start sweating. You know the movie You've Got Mail? That is one of our very favorite movies. In one part of it, Tom Hanks is leaving the bookstore with a whole bunch of his niece and nephew's belongings, including a balloon on a string. As he shuts the bookstore door the balloon gets caught in it. I have seen that movie over 100 times and my heart STILL beats fast at that part, like maybe, just maybe, this time it will pop. I know. It's just another little quirk that I've let slip out and be known.

Clear maps

Today ECI came out again. I was really pleased with how it went! I was go glad I was able to report some of Luke's progress that he has shown over the last 4 weeks, and we have new homework so hopefully in 4 weeks I'll have even more to tell them! God has truly been faithful in continuing to work in Luke's development. What a relief.

On Tuesday (the 1st) I started a reading chart that will take me through the bible in a year. It's something Big Mama said she was doing/starting, and it got me thinking that I hadn't read through the bible in awhile so I figured I could "read" along with her. Only this time I'm not reading straight through, it's in chronological order. I have always wondered what the true time line of the bible was! It started in Genesis (duh.) but after chapter 11 I was directed to jump to Job. This is now the third time in 2 weeks that I have read Job. Do you think God is telling me something about trials that I can over come? Hellooooooo! How very fitting that my world has seemed to crash down around me in the last few months and here I am reading a story about a man who had EVERYTHING stripped, yet God was still in control and he made it out the other side better than imagine. How comforting.

Also, once I finished that and my personal study that I'm working through on baptism, I got to looking at the maps in the back of my bible. Did it not occur to anyone else that the physical location of most things in the bible happen in the same place, the names just changed over time? No? Just me? I spent about 25 minutes just flipping back and forth trying to match up the lands with all the various names. I need all of the borders/cities/countries/whatever from each time period on a clear page so that I can layer them on top of a topography of the land. Then I could really tell what was the same thing, just with a different name. Does that make sense? Kind of like the science books that have the skeleton on the page, but then each bodily system is on a clear page so you can layer them until you have a whole body. I also think my inability to visualize this all comes down to my horrid spatial capacity, which I describe in more detail here. Oh, and when I get to heaven, I will absolutely ask God why He didn't put the bible in chronological order in the first place. It drives me NUTS when things are in order. How does He stand it?

Now I remember

Today I remembered one of the reasons why I will miss teaching. I watched 6 teacher's kids while their mother's had their "meet the teacher" day for the new school year at our church's preschool. One little girl who will be in the kindergarten class was coloring a picture. First she colored the daddy with brown hair, because her daddy had brown hair. Then she looked at me and said, "I want to be the only one in the picture with blonde hair, because I am the only one who has real blonde hair. My mom has pretend blonde hair that she gets out of a box. I'm not sure what to color to make her hair." I had to really hold it in to not laugh in her face. Ahhhhhhhhh, I sure do miss the innocent yet hysterical things they say.

As a follow up from the question/statement I posed yesterday, I got in bed about 30 minutes after posting and a response just formed in my head:

"Safety is not the absence of danger, it is the presence of Jesus…

When I first read this statement, I'm not going to lie, it made my brain a little fuzzy and I thought "Oi. Too deep." But the more I soaked in it, the more I realized it was true. Absolutely true. It doesn't need the dot-dot-dot at the end, as if trailing off into the great unknown of profound yet vague statements, but it needs a period. End of sentence. Because there is no greater safety in this world (or any other) than to be in the presence of Jesus. Now that doesn't mean to imply physical safety, if Jesus himself was not immune to pain why should we be any different, but in the presences of my great Father nothing can harm me. My life is safe for here and ever more in the hands of my Creator. So bring on the thieves in the night- my Daddy can totally beat up your daddy."

So any GRCC peeps out there, you just got a sneak peek of what will be in the update on Sunday. God might have wanted it phrased a little more eloquently, there is a good chance I took some creative liberty. Oh, and does this count as my first published article?

Since I am a terrible mother and still have not gotten a photo of Luke's fresh haircut from Monday, I will leave you with one from a couple of weeks ago. We had a play date at our friend's house and this is what he did the entire time we were there.


It does give you a pretty good "before" of his haircut, since I didn't get one of those either. Poor kid had hair in his eyes and sitting on the top of his collar like the beginnings of a mullet.

Busy Days!

Like I keep saying, life as a stay-at-home-mom is more busy than I ever thought! Yesterday morning I went and got to visit with my girlfriend from high school. She had a baby last week and, get this, she almost had that sweet baby girl in the car! I almost died when I heard the story....she literally went into labor and had a baby within an hour! Ey ya yi.

After my fun visit I took Luke to get his second hair cut. The guy who cut his hair was either nervous or going through withdrawals. His hands were so shaky! I prefer to think that he was nervous, due to the super cute mom with the adorable little boy. baaaahahahahaha! Just kidding.

Then last night I had Mom come and get Luke after school so that Cody and I could go have dinner at a friend's house. It was fun, but we stayed out waaaaay later than I thought we would. At least today we didn't have anywhere to be! This in turn gave me plenty of time to get 6 loads of laundry done. I think it's the first time I've gotten that much laundry done in one day.

While most of this was fluff, and not too many people will find interesting (except for my mother and sister- I KNOW you two are lurking out there), I do have an interesting question to pose. The secretary at church emailed a few people today posing a statement that she would like to post our response to in the update on Sunday. I'm not sure how to answer! The statement is: Safety is not the absence of danger, it is the presence of Jesus… I'm not sure how to answer! What do you think?