Bored????????

This article on boredom is quite sad. What is up here?

I am amazed at this woman's attitude and gall and can't possibly see how life with little ones is boring unless YOU (the mom) allow it to be so. What is wrong with society that everything must revolve around "ME"??? Am I the perfect example of selflessness? No, no, not at all. In fact, I must insist that most of my daily struggles in my mothering career are a direct result of MY selfish tendencies. But do I allow these tendencies full reign? Certainly not. Each day I try to overcome my selfishness and pride and then the next day, I get up and work at it again. I don't think I can claim to love every waking moment, but I love the great majority of everyday. The smiles and blessings and love and fabulous opportunities to raise these little people to know Christ and serve him thrills me. This article makes me want to work harder at loving it all despite my feelings.

I added a comment to this article. I don't know if it's been added to the list of comments or not. It said they might edit the comments. And, of course, I used some really foul language in my comment like "God" and "self-sacrifice." I was a bit fired up.



My oh, SO, boring children!!! :)))))

On the flip side

There are benefits to the fact that today Jacob put his shirt on backwards and never remembered to turn it around. Now the stains that have made their way to the back of the shirt won't be on the front the next time he wears it. Life is full of little surprises.

I Could Walk 500 Miles

Congratulations Little Andrew! It is so much fun to see you go!

Anniversary Celebration Numero Dos!

Saturday night Brian and I were able to go out to Perry's Italian Kitchen for a lovely, elegant dinner. My parents came to stay and we left after we got Andrew down to ned at 8:30ish. We were starving ny then and we sure ate like we hadn't eaten in months. But we so rarely eat that way. Appetizer, salad/soup, pasta entree, dessert and then coffee at Starbuck's. The crazy thing is I was still hungry for breakfast the next morning. Go figure!

The heat is stifling!

At the moment I am typing this entry in a slowly cooling off home! For the second time in one week, our A/C went kaplooey! We noticed last Tuesday night when we got home from Kemah that the house was a bit "warmish." We slept the night in a "warmish" house and then happily spent the next day with my mom at her nice cool house. The guy came and fixed it around 4pm that day. Yeah!

Well, about 3am this morning, after waking up for what seemed the 100th time with some silly dream about ants on the sheets (the battle with my kitchen ants MUST be taking its toll), I decided to tap Brian on the shoulder and poll him as to his temperature comfort level. My cold natured husband was also on the warm side. Once again the A/C had decided to stop. Yippee. Yes, it is 15 years old and we are continually blessed to keep dodging the "replace the entire unit" bullet. So I can't complain too much. But it is Monday and we did have a long weekend and I really was not wanting to be anywhere but in my own cool home today. Luckily, Mr. Fix-it made it out by 9am and replaced some other necessary doodad. Now we can relax, stay home (until swim lessons) and wait 5 more days for it to break again! :)

The man wrote on our first receipt: "Note: this unit is 15 years old and could go out at any time." Thank you.

Too cute!

Danielle Bean had this post on her website the other day. It made me laugh and want to post our own similar statement from our 3 year old little girl.

A week or two ago after her prayers, Nicole told me, "Mommy, when we are all done with Andrew, I want a baby sister."

So what do we do with Andrew when we're "all done" with him???? :)

Pointillism

Today we read one of our favorite books, Katie's Sunday Afternoon by James Mayhew. This is an adorable series of books about a little girl, Katie, who goes to the gallery and hops in and out of famous paintings and gets into all kinds of mischief. They are so much fun and so cleverly manage to introduce young children to fine art and artists. Today we read the information at the end of the book discussing the type of art exemplified in the book, Pointillism. I had an idea and the kids went for it - they love art projects of any kind! I drew simple outlines of something they chose and then we used marker (not paints, like the original Pointillists) to fill in our pictures with little dots. It was lots of fun and I think they turned out well.

Our Anniversary Celebration

Last year on our anniversary, we had a tiny little one month old, so we decided that instead of our typical anniversary evening out alone, we would celebrate with the kids. We enjoyed it so much last year that we decided to do it again this year. So, after swim lessons this afternoon, the five of us headed out to one of our favorite spots, the Kemah Boardwalk, for an afternoon/evening of anniversary fun!



We ate outside by the water at our usual spot, Landry's Seafood. Shrimp all around. There were boats and lots of pelicans and seagulls to watch. And an occasional fish hopping out of the water.

Then we went to ride several of our favorite pricey, but fun Kemah Boardwalk rides. Nicole chose the carousel and Jacob chose the submarine.




Then we walked the boardwalk, looked at fish, fed some ducks, played on the playset (the kids), watched a juggler with fire, went to look at the aquariums in the Aquarium Restaurant (no second dinner) and then got large snow cones to finish off the evening.

We really enjoyed our time as a family. Not that Brian and I don't enjoy nights out alone, but in a way it seems that a celebration of the birthday of our family, should in some way be celebrated as a family. They are our treasures and the products of our love for one another. This year we will also have a night out for ourselves, but we couldn't keep it all to ourselves. :)

Happy Anniversary to My Brian!

I can't believe it has been 8 years already! So much has changed and we have so many sweet memories!

I couldn't fathom, at the time, that God would send you into my life, much less that we would marry. When I stopped looking, he fulfilled my heart's desire for a husband! He couldn't have created someone more perfect for me.

Thank you for loving me the way you do! I love this life with you!

May God bless our marriage well into our old age!
I love you.

Yummmmmmm!

REALLY easy + REALLY cold and refreshing = yummy summer dessert!

I made this pie the other night and we sampled it for dessert tonight after dinner. It was a hit!

The deceiver is still in the business of deceiving

Just recently I learned of a nifty little website where you could "innocently" enjoy a sampling of all our favorite 80s music. Well, we have all been deceived once again. At some point I even thought to myself, "Gee, all this cool 80s music for free - no strings attached." I really had the feeling for a moment of "this is too good to be true." And it was FREE, in the sense that it didn't cost me money, but in truth it was not free and there were plenty of strings attached. Unbeknownst to us, and probably many other 80s music groupies, there was a link embedded in the site that served as a portal to a sinful lifestyle of which I want NO part of. Why couldn't this seemingly innocent fun be just that - innocent fun????

It angers me that I have been deceived into supporting something sinful, even if just for a short time, when I would not have chosen to do so otherwise. I don't like that! Why must so many things have a hidden agenda these days? Why can't I just enjoy some free 80s music on the internet without being lured? I just don't like it!

I guess the lesson learned, like I didn't already know this, is that you can't trust just anyhting on the internet. I am reminded that God gave us the knowledge and intelligence to create technology and use it. But like anything, we have the power to use it for good or evil. I plan to use it for good and I hope this blog is a little ray of light in cyberspace - a little light pointing to Jesus.

The view from my kitchen window

Yes, everything is coming up roses! We have had so much rain lately and everything is SOGGY! But apparently the roses are loving it. I know they are probably too tall and need some pruning, but they are just too gorgeous to even get close to them with a pair of shears. I will enjoy now. Prune later. Oh, the wonder of God and His magnificent creation!

Hmmmmmm.......

Now where did I put that pretzel????



(No, we did not set this up for the photo and, no, he really couldn't figure out where it went.)

ASL

OK, it really is a neat idea and the kids and I both loved it. I think we spoke in sign language all evening after watching the DVD. Give "Signing Time" a try with your little ones. I got me a copy at the local library. Have fun learning!

THE Vacation Photos

Well, a week after getting home I am finally posting some of our 200+ photos on my blog. What an accomplishment! Yahoo! The next opportunity I have, I will post some of my witty comments and discussion of our trip. I am sure you can't wait!

Our first vacation photo as we cross the state line at Texarkana 

We made it! 

The kids' first view of the lake when we arrived 

Jacob and Nicole with the Arkansas River behind them while we visit Little Rock 

The group standing near a hot spring 

What a little trooper out on the motorboat! 

Fisherman extraordinaire 

Jacob and Nicole 

A view from the lake of the lodge where we stayed 

Getting on our horses 

Jacob riding Cloud on the trails all by himself! 

Mommy and Nicole riding Bob at DeGray Lake 

Mommy and Andrew 

At sunset in the Mountain Tower on top of Hot Springs Mountain - how beautiful! 

Watching the juggler 

Jacob climbing the rock wall at the picnic 

Having fun in the moonwalk 

Their new friend from the conference, Noah