LSD...and no, NOT the drug

Long, slow distance...

Ok...so my training is going just AWFUL, and I haven't been consistent (it's difficult with Matt's schedule to hit the pavement since I can only run when he's home to watch the kids)...but...Maw Maw and Paw Paw are here to celebrate new years and watched the kids while I went for a run...

Wait for it....




6 miles
1 hr, 13 min, 49 seconds.

YAY!!!

This is the longest I have E-V-E-R run...and I ran it continuously, stopping only at red lights, to tie my shoes, and to take off my long sleeve shirt when I got hot.

I just HAD to share my news!! (Yes, I know I'm behind in blog-world and will post on the Christmas activities soon...bear with me...for the moment, just celebrate with me, ok?)

This gives me hope that I'll at least be able to finish the half in 3 weeks (YIKES!!!)

Things to work on:
1. Lip balm for my lips
2. Something for my hands because my knuckles got chapped by the weather/wind
3. A quicker method for taking off my long sleeve shirt and attaching it to me while I'm running
4. A methods for assuring my shoes don't come untied

Any suggestions on the above (or things I'm not thinking of) from the more experienced runners?

Night in Bethlehem

Last night we took the kids to A Night in Bethlehem, an event that the preschool ministry of our church put on for the kiddos. There were TONS of crafts and activities for the kids, a few animals outside for petting, and the inside of the church was transformed into Bethlehem. There were various booths with activities that corresponded (loosely) to some of the activities that might have taken place in the olden days...kneading dough, pottery, etc. Then some of the crafts were just for fun...painting nativity scene ornaments and stickery nativity scenes.

Both the kids really got into it...we let Tatum do all of the activities that she wanted except for painting the clay pot...we figured that might be a bit much...They BOTH thoroughly enjoyed themselves, and Matt and I actually ran into quite a few folks we hadn't seen in ages!

One of Kellen's comments that really cracked me up took place shortly after this picture was taken. He understood the concept of Mary and Joseph and waiting on Baby Jesus to be born in the stables...So a little while later, after he finished one of his craft projects, he asked if we could go back and see Mary and Joseph and check to see if Baby Jesus had been born yet.

We walked back to the manger area, he looked in and observed the empty manger, and simply stated, 'Nope, not yet. I guess it still isn't Christmas.'

He thoroughly cracks me up...and I have NO idea where he gets this stuff from (w-e-l-l...I guess that's not entirely true...I have a slight idea of where he gets it from...)

I guess I should have gotten some pictures of the many people dressed in the garb of the time...they did a wonderful job! Kellen was working the well pretty hard here. He had a great time with this, and they guys tricked him into thinking that he was fishing...so he kept putting the bucket back down and rolling it back up, telling me that he was trying to get some fish.

Silly boy.

I finally had to tell him that they were teasing him and that there weren't any fish in the well...Then I think the guys felt bad that he took them so seriously!

I'm so glad that the church put this on, and I really think they had a GREAT turnout. I don't know how many they were expecting, but it was packed the entire time that we were there...and considering that it ran from 6-8 and we were there from about 6:30 - 7:30, I would call that a success!

I'm so thankful that we go to a church that puts on events such as these for the kids! I'm really working this Christmas on instilling the true meaning of Christmas to Kellen, and these types of events and programs help tremendously in doing just that...

Finished product

Well, imagine my amazement when I realized that I DID actually stay up last night to finish the painting of the darker color clothespins. It's great how you get better with something the further along you get into a project. LOL I found a method for painting the clothespins that worked really well, in my opinion, that took much less time than how I had done the light green ones. So, I did actually finish all of the painting last night, despite my reservations about accomplishing that particular task.

After naps, Kellen and I strung the clothespins and beads together to create the final product. Here it is without the bow.

And here it is with the bow, hanging up. It actually looks better with a few Christmas cards on it, but I wanted to take a picture of the finished product all by itself, just because.

We then rushed out of the house (we all had nice naps at the house this afternoon...what a blessing!) and headed to the church. My Sunday school class went caroling to the individuals within the church that are shut-in while Awana's was taking place.

Let me just say, my family went caroling to the elderly families in our church growing up, and I have very fond memories of those times. We would sing songs, then sometimes go inside and visit for a while and spend time with them. We may not have enjoyed it then, but I do cherish those memories now (see Mom and Dad, it really DID stick!).

At any rate, the looks on those ladies faces were priceless...you would have thought we were the Publishers Clearinghouse coming to tell them they had won some money with how excited they were. One stop had cookies and pumpkin bread of some kind waiting for us, another had some other friends there to share in the moment, and the last was probably the best one of all. Despite the efforts of the group organizer, she didn't know we were coming, so when we arrived, she was as thrilled as could be. I think she actually cried during some of the songs and then shared how much she had been through this past year.

I'm so glad that we were able to bring some joy to these ladies during this time! I think next year if we do this again, I might pull the kids, at least Kellen, and have him come with me to begin experiencing that.

Full, fun day

I actually made it back out for a run this morning...it was a horrible run by my standards, but a run none the less. It's been a w-h-i-l-e since my last run, so taking that and my sore foot into consideration, I shouldn't be too hard on myself. I just have to start getting out there a LOT more. Mid-January is going to be here before I know it and is going to kick me in the tail.


Less than positive run or not, it felt REALLY good afterwards (I mean, not immediately afterwards), but a little while later.


Then Kellen had his belt test today for Taekwondo. (Which we found out about on Wednesday, but I'll leave that alone).


I wasn't sure what all he was actually getting tested on, but considering everything they were having the white belts do, I was concerned about him actually earning his orange belt.


They ran them all through the routines (I'm sure there is a different word for that...), and then had them do the board break. The students were lined up in height order, so Kellen was the last one to go. There were actually several in front of him that had to hit the board a few times to get it to break, but I'll let you take a look at the video to see how well Kellen did.






I think the other observers were concerned about him because he was the smallest, but he sure showed them! He did so great!

Like I mentioned, they ran them through a variety of things, but it was mentioned that not everyone was actually getting tested on everything they were doing, so I just wasn't sure...But he did it!

He got his orange belt! We're so proud of him and he's just thrilled!




I made a run to Hobby Lobby for the supplies for a craft project that I've worked on off and on all day. In case you're wondering, it takes a L-O-N-G time to paint clothespins. 48 clothespins, to be exact. I do have a better system now, though, so it's going quicker, thank goodness! I'm painting half each two different shades of green to make a wreath suitable for holding Christmas cards, and I'm hopeful that I'll at least finish the painting portion of that project today. I'm about 3/4 of the way done, so we'll see. But it's 10:30, so it doesn't look promising.



I also have another wreath that I'm wanting to make from the cut portions of our Christmas tree. I fear if I don't finish with that project before Matt gets back from his next shift, that those cut portions will end up in the trash. *grin*



Then tonight we did some other decorating and finally got the rest of the Christmas tree decorated. We've done this in stages this year because of Matt's schedule and Tatum's bedtime...I really wanted us all to enjoy the decoration aspect.

So last Friday night we got the tree, earlier in the week we put the lights on it, then tonight we finished with the ornaments and the angel topper. Tatum understood the concept somewhat...she enjoyed trying to put the ornaments on the tree, she just also thoroughly enjoyed taking them OFF of the tree as well. Repeatedly.




And of course, we watched How the Grinch Stole Christmas while we were decorating...I'm so glad that Kellen loves that one just as much as I do! It makes it much easier to justify watching it while we're getting in the holiday spirit!



And here is our finished product. Matt and I realized that we could have easily gone another two feet with the height of our tree this year, but oh well. We all like it, and for this year, it suits us just fine!

Snow!

Well, it snowed yesterday here. Yup. You read that correctly. It snowed. And not just the little flurries that make you "think" snow...SNOW.

Snow that stuck.

Snow that meant after 2 hours, I had to use my windshield wipers to be able to see out of my windows.

Snow that allowed us to make snowballs.

Snow that was deep enough for snow angels.

Snow that stuck enough to make a snowman.

Snow.

Really.

In Texas....and since my kids will probably be able to count the number of times on one hand that this happens in their life, I allowed them to P-L-A-Y in it after we got home. At least as much as they wanted.

Can you tell from the pictures who wanted to play and who didn't?

First we'll start out with some general, untouched, snow pictures...this is what we found when we opened the back door yesterday after work.


And like I said, it was deep enough for a snow angel, even right there on the deck. And how is it that someone...a little someone who has never really experienced snow can automatically know how to make a snow angel?

Interesting.

And Tatum....w--e--l--l, she didn't really know what to make of all of this. She walked around with an odd look on her face, then when the snowflakes hit her face and eyes, she was NOT liking life. I just couldn't get her into playing with it, even to have the snowflakes land on her hands. I had a pretty funny video of her asking to go back inside.

Kellen, on the other hand, immediately got into making snowballs. And then proceeded to throw them at me. How fun! He didn't throw any at Tatum, if you're wondering, so that wasn't a reason for her displeasure with the adventure.


And then I just had to get a random shot of part of the back yard and all of the snow. Amazing! Look at the snowflakes in the picture...it was so beautiful (and I'm not even a good photographer!)

And then try as I might, I couldn't get a "good" shot of the two kids next to a snow covered something. Let me once again reiterate how DONE Tatum was with the snow and being outside in the snow. Of all of the ones that I took, this is probably the best, so don't be surprised if this ends up on a Christmas card or some other photo-related gift. *grin*

So then Kellen was not-so-patient while I put Tatum to bed, and then he and I went back outside to finish playing in the snow. He started out by helping with the snowman, but ended up tricking me by making more snowballs to throw at me.

Mischevious stinker.

I wonder where he gets that from?

Then we went to work on the snowman. It had been AGES since I had made one, and I had forgotten how long it took for the initial "ball" to stick and form. After I got that started, it snowballed from there (sorry...I just couldn't help it).

It wasn't quite as big as I thought we would end up with, but my fingers got too frozen to continue trying to make one any larger than this. If you're wondering what he's made of, his eyes and "buttons" are raisins, and Kellen found wonderful sticks for his arms and nose. We didn't have a carrot one in the house.

And then Kellen took great pleasure in knocking the snow off of the branches of the various bushes in our yard. He loved seeing the snow fall off of the branches and had quite a bit of fun with this...

All in all, the second time around I think we played outside for about 45 minutes. My hands could feel it, too...I think my gloves ended up frozen since I did the lions share of the snowman, but Kellen never uttered a word of complaint.

It was a wonderful night, and I truly hope that they remember this! Days like this don't come often in Texas!

Phone call....and other milestones

Normally phone calls from daycare in the middle of the day to me at work are a bad thing.

However, I received one today on my cell while I was in a meeting and had a message waiting for me when I got finished...Tatum was fine, they were calling to tell me that as of then (between 2:45 - 3 PM), she was DRY and had gone on the potty probably at least 4 times. Really!

I was then told that her cheeks and mouth area were red, but we've already pretty much figured out that's from her intense sucking on her pacifier. *sigh*

I got to daycare to pick her up after work, was about to walk out of the classroom, and she tells me that she has to go potty. I listened. And she did.

Fast forward to home...before bathtime, she tells me again. Success. After bath before getting ready for bed. Success again.

I guess I really should pull out the existing cloth training pants we might have and get to shopping for some new ones for her, huh? 'Cause we're talking about success on both numbers here, if you get my drift.

I'm not really ready for all of these milestones....(Although I love each and every one of them.)

'Cause did I mention that Kellen is now 39.4 pounds, according to MawMaw and PawPaw's scale, anyway? That may not mean anything to anyone, so let me explain the relevance of that statement. Our carseat is only good as a forward facing, 5-pt harness carseat up to 40 pounds. Once they hit the 40 pound mark, it's supposed to be converted into a booster. I have barely a half a pound left before that oh-so-huge milestone.

Goodbye

My Pap passed away on Friday, after suffering a lengthy illness. My parents called me at 3 PM Friday afternoon, I returned their phone call an hour later (not realizing that they had called - I was awaiting this phone call, and thought I was checking my phone more frequently than that for this particular call...). They made flight arrangements and left early Saturday morning, and the family viewing and calling hours were held yesterday, and the funeral is today.

I'm glad that he's no longer in pain, but wish so desperately that his final hours, even his final years, could have been like he wanted. He NEVER wanted to live his life like he did in these last few years...in and out of the hospital, repeatedly cut on (he had both legs amputated in different places), reduced to a portion of what, and who, he once was. But that's what happened. He didn't even get to die pain-free...his last hours were misery and suffering.

I don't understand that.

I don't understand why he couldn't have had a heart attack while out fishing and died in his boat, doing one of the things that brought him so much joy. Or even in his workshop with his tools. Why? Why wasn't that the end chosen for him? Why was he allowed to go through so much pain?
I just don't understand. And probably never will, until one day when it won't matter anymore.

Please pray for our family, as this situation is oh-so-much-more complicated than just my grandfather passing away. They are going to have to make some very important decisions in the next few days. Pray for the Lord's guidance and peace as they discuss and decide.

I'll post some other time about all of the things that I've inherited, learned and have come to appreciate from my Pap...

Weekend Fun

It was another great weekend in our household, but it was an eventful one...a REALLY eventful one.

On Saturday we had Turkey Fest, a potluck Thanksgiving party with our Sunday School class...picture over 100 total people invading one blessed family's house...farm, really, and you can begin to imagine Turkey Fest. It was WONDERFUL! Here are some pics...

Sunday morning I decided to try to dress up my princess for church, and got her really dolled up...Take a look for yourself...Isn't she just precious? She actually WANTED to take pictures for me! And look at the many moods of my Tatum-princess....And just in case you're wondering, the bows came out before we got in the car, went back in when we got to church and actually lasted through Sunday School, but not all the way home :)

Then on the Sunday afternoon...Matt was working on a project outside, slightly before naptime, when he hollered for me to bring him some paper towels. I did, then noticed him hunkered down holding his finger. His bleeding finger. Oozing, bloody, bleeding-all-over-the-back-deck finger. Apparently as he was working on changing the light fixture (switching from the lantern-style to a two light floodlight), the saw he was using slipped, cut through his glove and into his finger. He bandaged it up, FINISHED THE PROJECT, ate a bowl of left-over spaghetti, looked at the finger closely again to see if the pressure had stopped the bleeding and to see if it needed stitches, then decided that it did. So off to the ER he went, about 2 1/2 hours AFTER the initial incident.

Yup. That's my hubby. Is it a man thing to want to finish a project you're in the middle of AFTER you get injured? Or is that just my man? Bless him, though...that light is FABULOUS...and does a wonderful job of lighting up the backyard!

WARNING!! Picture of the finger with stitches below...

Randomness...

1. We went to the Math and Science "Game" night last night at Kellen's school. When we walked in, a girl ran up to him saying, 'Hi!' When she walked away, he told me that she had tried to kiss him on the playground. So today at dinner, I mentioned that little factoid to Daddy-o, and then asked Kellen where she had kissed him.

His answer?

"On the playground..."

There was more to the answer...a very detailed description of WHERE on the playground, exactly, but I was trying to stifle my laughter that I lost the rest of it....

Such innocence! Such BLESSED innocence!

2. Two weekends ago, we scalped and then planted grass in the backyard. By 'we', of course, I really mean Matt. Kellen; however, helped. Take a look.

He was VERY proud of himself. And even prouder now that we have GREEN grass in the backyard. Let me reiterate that. With emphasis on the correct part. Green GRASS in the backyard. YAY...BIG YAY!!

And here are some more pictures of him being a "farmer" - his words...He really enjoyed his time working with Daddy outside!

3. And isn't this just the cutest fall picture? The look on Kellen's face really captures his personality...I Love this "fall" picture! (And am trying to make myself feel better since we didn't actually make it to a pumpkin patch with BOTH of the kids this year for the regular fall pictures...)

4. Last but certainly not least...our first fire in our house.

Isn't it wonderful? Daddy and Kellen surprised Tatum and I by sending us to my room and then setting this up for us, then bringing us into the living room to show us our surprise. LOVELY! I just LOVE fires and LOVE this surprise!!

Choosing a Simpler Life

Hmmm....What does it say that many of the things speaking to me are about paring down, slowing down, looking closely at the things on my "man-made" to-do list versus what God wants me to have on my "His will" to-do list? Anyone?

Here's yet another great email that I received covering this topic...Am I the only one that needs to hear...er...read this?

Choosing a Simpler Life
by Rick Warren

. . . a time to embrace and a time to refrain. Ecclesiastes 3:5 (NIV)
*** *** *** ***
You’d think that living in Southern California means I’m surrounded by people who live a laid-back lifestyle. The truth is just the opposite: Most of the people I know are trying to cram more and more into each day.

For instance, a couple of years ago, I was with a group of friends driving down the interstate. At one point, I looked around and realized most of us were engaged in some activity other than talking to each other. Two people were on their cell phones; another was working on his BlackBerry; and a fourth was focused on his laptop computer.

As a joke, I declared I felt left out. I called the driver, who was sitting right next to me, and we chatted together on our cell phones for a few minutes! The point of our traveling together in the van was so we could grab time to talk face-to-face! Yet we felt pressed to get it all done.

That’s when I realized the truth – we couldn’t get it all done, and God never intended for us to make completing a to-do list the purpose of our lives.

The fact is, there are many things we think we must do that really are not worth doing. My point is this: You won’t simplify your life by getting an electronic organizer. You won’t even find it by convincing your neighbor, who makes Martha Stewart look like a sloth, to give you tips about coordinating your activities while still wearing a perfect dress and pearls like Beaver Cleaver’s mom.

Simplifying is really about choices – prioritizing what is important – and then sticking to those choices no matter how tempting it is to add more to your to-do list. In fact, take those tempting activities and put them on a list of things not to do.

You are the only one who can assume responsibility for your time and clarify what’s really important to you.

Now maybe you’re thinking, “But I have to take care of the kids,” or “I have to get this report done by Friday.” I’m not naïve about the pressures many people feel today, but it may be that those things – your children, your work – are the priorities you keep on your to-do list, and you move other things to the not-to-do list.

Is your hut on fire?

More good stuff I got in an email a few days ago...It makes you think about striving to look at your current difficult circumstances through "eternal" eyes...Which is, I'll readily admit, very difficult to do. However, just remember...

Romans 8:28 - And we know that all things work together for good for those that love God and are called according to His purpose.

**********************

When your hut's on fire

The only survivor of a shipwreck was washed up on a small, uninhabited island. He prayed feverishly for God to rescue him. Every day he scanned the horizon for help, but none seemed forthcoming. Exhausted, he eventually managed to build a little hut out of driftwood to protect him from the elements, and to store his few possessions. One day, after scavenging for food, he arrived home to find his little hut in flames, with smokerolling up to the sky. He felt the worst had happened, and everything was lost. He was stunned with disbelief, grief, and anger. He cried out, 'God! How could you do this to me?' Early the next day, he was awakened by the sound of a ship approaching the island! It had come to rescue him! 'How did you know I was here?' asked the weary man of his rescuers. 'We saw your smoke signal,' they replied.

The Moral of This Story:
It's easy to get discouraged when things are going bad, but we shouldn't lose heart, because God is at work in our lives, even in the midst of our pain and suffering. Remember that the next time your little hut seems to be burning to the ground. It just may be a smoke signal that summons the Grace of God.

Good stuff...

I received this in an email today, and thought it was so good I had to post...for everyone to read and for me to have to reference in the future...Enjoy!

Choices Control Your Calendar
by Rick Warren

We are each responsible for our own conduct. Galatians 6:5 (NLT)
*** *** *** ***
Your choices control your calendar and, as a result, your lifestyle. Your choices are far more powerful than your circumstances. You may not like how complicated your life has become yet, with very few exceptions, no one is forcing you to keep your life complicated.

You have the power to simplify your life.

The Bible teaches, “We are each responsible for our own conduct” (Galatians 6:5 NLT). To me, that means God expects us to assume responsibility for our lives and to carefully choose how we spend our time.

That’s why I’ve spent years teaching people to discover why God placed them on this planet: What is your purpose for being here?

Ultimately, it will be the donation of your life that will count far more than the duration.

In other words, it’s not how long you live – or even how much you cram into how long you live – it’s really about how you live.

Here are three essential steps to simplify your life:
· First, figure out your purpose, and then let your purpose guide the goals of your life.
· Second, organize your activities based upon your purpose.
· Finally, harmonize your schedule with your purpose; that is, bring your activities into agreement with your goals.

You have just enough time to do God's will while you’re here on earth. You’ve been given just enough time to fulfill your purpose. When you try to do more than God planned for you, it’s only natural that you’ll find yourself constantly out of time or stressed over your schedule.

If it doesn’t fit the purpose of your life, God doesn’t want you doing it. In fact, he may be overjoyed that you finally got the message and stopped doing meaningless activities. He may even want you to add “rest” or “have fun” to your to-do list.

My prayer for you is that you will find relief from stress and a new sense of satisfaction as you do only the things God created you to do.

Remembering the fallen

Today is the anniversary of the fall of Bonfire. I can hardly believe that it's been 9 years since that horrific day.

For those of you that knew Aggieland when Bonfire was around, take a moment to think back on those times...for those of you that didn't, I'm sorry. I feel like Aggieland is missing a little piece of itself now that Bonfire is gone...and it goes deeper than just Bonfire itself. The campus now truly isn't the same, and I don't think I'm feeling that just because I'm "staff" or because I'm "old ag" - I really just think it's different. There's a shared bonding that's missing, a..."something"...that I just can't quite put my finger on...

But anyway...

Take a few moments and say a prayer for the families of the 12 individuals that gave their lives on this day nine years ago, while they were participating in an activity that they were passionate about. Granted, these 12, nor any of those injured probably EVER thought that this would happen - goodness, did anyone? But it did, and their families have now had to live without them for all these years. Pray for their peace, their comfort...pray that the Lord allows them to feel His peace and to truly heal from this horrific incident.

Miranda Adams
Christopher Breen
Michael Ebanks
Jeremy Frampton
Jamie Hand
Christopher Heard
Timothy Kerlee
Lucas Kimmel
Bryan McClain
Chad Powell
Jerry Self
Nathan West

Aggieland truly hasn't been the same since that day...

Oh, deer...

No, I didn't spell it incorrectly. I almost hit a deer on a beautiful back stretch of highway coming home from church last night and apparently Matt wasn't so lucky tonight. He left after cooking the kids and I supper to run some errands, and I just talked with him - he hit a deer on that same stretch of road. It shattered one of his headlights and banged up the front of his Tahoe pretty badly, but he's fine (the deer; however, is not). He has a grill guard on his Tahoe, but is frustrated that it doesn't seem like its done much good to protect the vehicle in skirmishes. When he takes it in to get it fixed he's going to ask if it would have been worse without it...

I'm just thankful that he's ok! (And I wish he would have got the deer in a more traditional way! If it was the one that had suicidal tendencies yesterday, it was a BEAUTIFUL rack and, by the looks of it, would have filled our freezer!!)

Family Fun Day

Saturday was just that...Family Fun Day. Matt mentioned to me how odd it seemed that it was just "us" at the house. We weren't expecting company. People weren't coming over in preparation for the game. We weren't going to the game. Nothing. It was just us.

And boy, was it NICE!

We started the day lounging in bed. Well, that's not quite true. MY day started with a Tater-tot to the head, courtesy of my dear, sweet husband, but since he had already changed her poopy diaper, I didn't mind all that much. *grin* Then we lounged in bed for a while, until we could no longer stave off the "eat" signs and sounds from our ever-hungry Tatum. It was on to breakfast for us and some additional lounging.

Then we decided to head to the movies to see Madagascar II: Escape to Africa. Note to self: when asking the ticket person how many people are in the movie theatre, get a more specific answer than, "It's not too full." We ended up sitting on the second row. Boy, that screen is REALLY large from that close! It was quite the milestone...Tatum's first ever movie that she actually could try to watch (not the first one she's been to, as I took her to quite a few while I was on maternity leave, but I don't really count those toward her "movie attendance"). She did...umm....ok. I watched quite a bit of the movie from the entrance aisle. But, in her defense, it was an 11:20 AM showing (can we say close to nap??) and she was tired. And after about 15 minutes or so of me holding her and watching, er...pacing, in the aisle, she was SOUND asleep, and we went back in and finished the movie. Kellen, on the other hand, thoroughly enjoyed the movie, and didn't stop eating the HUGE bag of popcorn that his Daddy bought him the entire time. I'm not sure how he didn't make it through that whole bag, OR how he didn't have a tummy ache, OR how he was actually STILL HUNGRY for lunch when we got out of the movie. Seriously?!?

In case you're wondering, we liked the movie, but think the first one is better.

Back to the house we went, got the kids down for naps, then Matt went to run some errands. I tried to take a nap, but Tatum decided that her short-lived movie nap was enough for her. Fun stuff. So instead of listening to her whail, I decided to go in her room to rock her. MISTAKE. The sight of me set off her lungs, I didn't know that they had another level....wow. Try as I might, a "second" nap, continuation of her movie-nap, whatever, just wasn't happening, so we just snuggled and "rested" while Kellen was napping.

When Kellen woke up, we decided to take a walk to the park to see the ducks. (I'm telling you, we had an AWESOME Family Fun day!!!) So we bundled up, you know, it had gotten a little chilly and windy, and off we went to the park. Kellen and Tatum fed the ducks, and Kellen searched for a while for Meaniac, his favorite duck there (which, I think is odd, since this is the one that bit him this summer, but hey...), and Kellen and Daddy took periodic jaunts into the woods on their "adventures" while on our way back to the playground. We all played for a while on the playground, and then headed back home for dinner.

Daddy and I had already decided to have an inside picnic, and apparently great minds think alike, because as we got home, Kellen came up with the idea as well. So we had our picnic blanket spread in the living room and had our dinner picnic while watching Kung Fu Panda, a recent addition to our movie collection.

Shortly after the movie started, the effects of Tatum's short-lived nap were apparent, and she made her desires for night-night evident to all. After she went to bed, we all gathered to watch the movie and finish dinner, and enjoyed a nice, warm batch of chocolate chip cookies that I decided to throw in the oven to bake (it's GREAT to have cookie dough on hand - YAY!).

All-in-all, it was a glorious day! I told Matt after Kellen went to bed that THIS is the life that I want to lead with our family. And then I thought more about it...Is THIS what it's like to rest...truly rest and relax? Our Bible study had this verse as one of the verses during our daily lesson this past week:

Exodus 34:21: Six days you shall labor, but on the seventh day you shall rest; even during the plowing season and harvest you must rest.

And what really spoke to me in this verse was the importance of actually RESTING, regardless of the overwhelming "to-do" lists that always seem to be there, waiting on me. So I'm working on it...And Saturday was just so wonderful that it confirmed how much I need that rest period in my week.

So bring on the Family Fun Days!!

Love and Logic

Anyone have any comments on this parenting philosophy? Have you read the book and care to share your thoughts? This was being discussed on one of my moms boards and it sounds pretty good to me...just wanted to get some other opinions...feel free to share!

It does go bad...

Stink...I thought I had read somewhere that chocolate stayed good for a year, so when I realized that we still had an Easter bunny in the pantry (yes, an Easter bunny...don't ASK me how it managed to survive that long in THIS house with ME, but hey...) I thought I would be able to have a nice chocolate snack tonight.

Nope.

If chocolate DOES stay good for that long, then this was old bunny when I bought it.

Stink.

I'm totally craving chocolate today and have already finished off the Oreos my sweetie bought me a few days ago (and no, I wasn't the only one eating them, either).

Guess I really need to hit the road. Literally. And get back on my half marathon training if I'm going to continue to have these kind of cravings!

I help you, Mommy

We're now entering the world of Tatum's verbal explosion, (and several other "worlds" including sassiness, stubborness and tantrums, but lets focus on the fun one today, shall we?) and this is one of her first full sentences. I think her ACTUAL first full sentence was, "Paw Paw sit DOWN!" which was accompanied by her pointing in an incredibly animated fashion to the appropriate chair for her dearly beloved paw paw.

At any rate, I was working on getting her diaper bag ready yesterday morning, and she walked over to me and said, "I help you, Mommy," and proceeded to try and actually help me stuff inserts into her diapers. It was endearing and quite hilarious to watch, actually.

Teeth, teeth and MORE teeth!

Three in all, to be exact! That's how many teeth Tatum's gotten in within the past week...all incisors, too...both on the top and the bottom right one popped through yesterday. Which helps to explain her increased demand for her paci, and her recent ability to suck so hard on that thing that she sucked sores on her mouth around the edge of the paci.

I'll leave that one for you to close your eyes and imagine...paci around the mouth...imagine the top area of the paci, with sucking sores underneath the right and left "corners" - so to speak - and smaller sore areas on the top of her lip area.

I had been wondering why she had gotten those sores, and how. Then the new teeth popped through and everything just kinda' fell into place on that one.

Poor girl!

As for an update on Kellen, he's doing MUCH better in school and in Kids Klub behavior-wise. So much so, in fact, that he was able to get a toy out of the "treasure chest" on Monday in school. And apparently only kids who are well behaved are chosen to get a toy out of the treasure chest, and it's not an 'every day when they are well-behaved' occurance, so way to go Kellen! He promptly got the toy taken away from him when his Daddy caught him sneaking it into bed with him (since we don't sleep with toys here in this house), but perhaps he'll be able to get it back tomorrow - it was only taken away for a day.

He's been cracking me up lately with some of his comments, but unfortunately, I can't remember them verbatim, and I don't want to ruin them by trying to paraphrase...I'll try to jot some of them down in the midst of holding my stomach the next time he has me laughing hysterically so that you can share in the laughter via a post...

Admitting defeat??

Considering the football game I'm watching, I guess this is an appropriate title...(darn those Aggies this season...but I'll get there in a second...)

1. I haven't wanted to post since the announcement of the election results, simply because I am having a hard time believe that America, en masse, voted so overwhelmingly for Obama. In an effort to voice my displeasure, I dressed Tatum on Wednesday in the following outfit...


Do you think I made my point clear? And doesn't she look adorable?


Seriously though, I PRAY that it isn't as bad as I envision, but a co-worker of mine went in a local gun store to pick up a gun he had purchased, and he remarked to me that the store was busier than he had ever seen it...that there were probably 50 people in there. And this was on Wednesday. What does that tell you? Purely coincidence, or were these people trying to get guns while they still felt like they could? 'Cause Obama's made his stance on guns pretty clear as well, now hasn't he?


2. Back to my darling Aggies. *sigh* We're getting SPANKED by OU. And I really mean spanked. We're in the 4th quarter, and the score right now is 66 to 28. Yes, that's the score. It wasn't a typo. OUCH!

Ready

Aren't you?

Just ready to know who our next President is - once and for all?

I'm watching the news...seeing the states flashing in their different colors, with some of them "too close to call" and am really just ready for the decision.

Lord, please help this country, regardless of the outcome of this election.

Romans 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good for those who love God and are called together according to His purpose.

Which means that I have to trust that God can, and will, work and bring good out of the this election, even if the guy I didn't vote for and do not want elected is elected.

Unbelievable

When Matt got the phone call last night, then told me that Jill Jarvis - well, Attebery now, had passed away, my reaction was just that...disbelief.

She was too young, they had just had a baby, poor Scott. And poor Scott and Bryce is pretty much were I've stayed. I asked Matt this morning if he thought it was possible to be sad in heaven...As a mother, I was and am mourning the loss of Jill being able raise her son. But I just don't think it works like that.

Another former ABS'er had this link on her website, so I'll share it for those of you who knew Jill. Take some time and read it from beginning to end, and cry, as I did, for what Scott and those around him went and will continue to go through. And pray for him as he raises Bryce without her.

Football Farewell & Fall Festival, part duex

Well, last night was the Steeler's last football game. I think, overall, that Kellen enjoyed his first adventure in the world of flag football. Generally speaking, he runs the correct way on the field, and he REALLY likes to be center and to block. Ultimately though, I think his favorite thing was the "fans" making a hand-tunnel for all of them to run through after each of the games. :)

We'll have a pizza party next Monday night to commemorate the end-of-the-season and will hand out the trophies then.

After his game last night, we did a quick-change for both kids, with this assistance of MawMaw and PawPaw, and headed over to the MSC for the Fall Festival there. We had mid-season costume adjustments for a couple of reasons. 1. MawMaw and PawPaw bought Kellen an Aggie football outfit (and wow, did we have a crisis when the shoulder pads ripped on that after trying it on maybe 3 times...wanna' guess the likelihood of finding another one in his size in this town...or in Conroe?...you guessed it. NOT! Luckily the Spring Academy had one and MawMaw and PawPaw picked it up and brought it over...WHEW!); 2. Tatum's little body had a reaction to her super-cute Cinderella costume (contact dermititis to the tulle, I guess...but I didn't know until I took the outfit off of her...it cleared up really quickly, but why do that to her again?). So...while I was wracking my brain for another costume for Tatum, along came the football outfit for Kellen and, viola' - a theme was born.

You guessed it...and no surprise coming from our family, right? Matt and I even had on our jerseys to go as "fans" and complete the theme.

The first picture shows Tatum happy, because, well, she's eating a cookie. :) The next few pictures aren't quite as great because I was actually trying to get a "cute" picture, so the cookie got taken away. What WAS I thinking, anyway? For the third picture, she got the cookie back, but wouldn't sit still and pose, so we finally just gave up. They did enter and win 2nd place in the Costume Contest...but I think they were cuter than the Little Red Riding Hood girl...but hey, perhaps I'm a little biased? Nah...just look at 'em! They're adorable!

Where is my sweet Kellen?

I will preface the next few remarks by saying that I SO FREQUENTLY get comments about how sweet, funny, and well-mannered Kellen is and can be. However, he's really starting to give us behavior problems both at school and at his Kids Klub. As is REALLY. Emails from the teacher and "marks" on an almost daily basis from Kids Klub.

It's nothing "major" but when put together on a daily basis, it's starting to add up to a problem and slippery slope that we simply don't want to go down. Things such as: not listening or following directions the first (or second, or...) time, keeping his hands to himself, climbing the concrete wall and jumping off (Kids Klub), talking when he isn't supposed to, running away from the lunch lady (today's school offense), etc.

He even PAINTED THE BATHROOM WALL TODAY during Kids Klub! They were painting shirts and he had paint on his hands, went into the bathroom, and despite being told not to, "decorated" the bathroom wall at school (hand print on the wall - he cleaned it up and had to assist with clean up of the overall paint area and was cleaning when I arrived to pick him up).

My dear sweet husband and I have been talking about this and both felt like perhaps we were being too strict at home, and that maybe Kellen felt like he ALWAYS had to be "perfect" and that there wasn't any time that he could misbehave - even a little - so we have eased up at the house on some stuff. We talk about consequences, choices, Kellen KNOWS what making these kinds of choices will lead to...talks with us about those consequences, etc. He tells us that he always feels like he's in trouble (hence us lightening up at home, 'cause that just breaks my heart to hear him say that!).

After we get home and he's had a bad day, I'll sit and talk with him about specifically what happened during each incident, asking him "why" he made those choices. I try to be sure and point out feelings associated with the consequences of those choices and confirm with him whether or not he feels that way. Ex: Are you sad that you'll have to sit out during Kids Klub tomorrow while the rest of your friends are playing the games during fall festival? [Confirm his feelings] I'm so sad that you made so many bad choices that the consequence is sitting out and watching your friends have fun. I bet that is just going to stink tomorrow!

But really, we (well, I'll just speak for myself), I'm at my wits end. Please pray for guidance and wisdom as we work through this with him.

Some suggestions that I've gotten so far (and by all means, please feel free to post words of wisdom for me/us!) are:

• Give him more responsibility
• Get his bedtime back on track (I've been lax about this and he's been going to bed between 8:30-8:45ish when his bedtime is really 8 PM; Kellen actually came up with this one...Today I asked him to think about WHY he was making these choices and told him I wasn't going to accept "I don't know" as an answer. He finally told me that he was getting up to go potty at night and that meant he wasn't sleeping as much. That led to me telling him that he was right, and that I had also been letting him stay up, too...so that a solution was that he was going to start going to bed at his REAL bedtime.)
• Letting him have his own way (when it really doesn't matter...)
• Lightening up on things (again, when it really doesn't matter - no wiggle room on safety issues)
• More quality time (One-on-one and perhaps on weekends? - I feel like I give him quality time after Tatum goes to bed each night, but maybe that's my perception and not his and/or maybe it's not enough?

He was SO sweet tonight after we talked about things! I put Tatum to bed and we read a story, then watched a few YouTube videos (sing-along Disney songs) and sang together (ok, so I sang to him - whatever) and he just asked me to hold him. He got ready for bed without any fuss or grumbling (which is not new, he usually does that) and he was in bed and tucked in a few minutes before 8 PM. I'm really hopeful that a combination of the above suggestions (plus whatever new ones you guys can offer) and his continued awareness of his control over his choices will get us through this patch. That and lots of prayer.

Proverbs 29: 17 Discipline your children, and they will give you peace of mind and will make your heart glad.

I very much like this thought...

I had already been thinking about ways to incorporate more homemade presents into our Christmas giving this year...And I saw this on another blog and really like the thought behind it.

Take a look.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eVqqj1v-ZBU

(And I am apparently not technologically savy enough to figure out how to actually post a YouTube video directly onto my blog...technical assistance welcome in the comments section *grin*)

Fall Fest

Well, we haven't taken them to any of the pumpkin patches, but I've made it to a Fall Festival with them!

(sung to the tune of Old McDonald)

Central Baptist had a Fest

e-i-e-i-o

And at that Fest they had some games

e-i-e-i-o

Some games that Kellen & Tatum played

e-i-e-i-o

And at that Fest they had a zoo!

e-i-e-i-o

A petting zoo with lots to do

e-i-e-i-o

And at that Fest zoo they had a goat

e-i-e-i-o

And at that Fest zoo they had a pig

e-i-e-i-o

And at that Fest zoo they had a guinea pig

e-i-e-i-o

And at that Fest zoo they had a rabbit

e-i-e-i-o

And at that Fest zoo they had a kitten

e-i-e-i-o

And at that Fest they had a horse

e-i-e-i-o

Well, all-in-all, the kids had fun.

Kellen fell in love with his first kitten, and was immensely upset with me because I wouldn't let him bring the black and white kitten in the above video home with him. They were giving the kittens away with parental approval, which I withheld. Mean ole' Mommy! To rub salt in THAT wound, he didn't get to do everything he wanted to (darn it, we just ran out of time!), so he was upset about that, so unfortunately, he left the Fall Fest a little unhappy. Oh well, things happen....We talked about it on the way home, and I let him know that it was OK for him to be upset, and it was even OK for him to be upset towards Mommy because I didn't let him have the kitten. (Hey, I knew he was feeling that way, why not go ahead and validate those feelings, right?)

At any rate, he was doing MUCH better by the time we got home and went to bed in a better mood. He DID thoroughly enjoy himself...he was just enjoying himself SO MUCH that he didn't want the festival to end...And everyone has experience with those types of things, right?

As for Tatum, she did wonderfully! She was enjoying herself so much that it was challenging to keep her close to me. *grin* She tried her hand at a few games, and then warmed up rather nicely to the animals at the petting zoo. She didn't want anything to do with the goats (despite what the pictures may show or lead you to believe), but adored the pigs, guinea pigs and rabbits. She didn't even mind the kitten! And then, amazement of all amazements...we walked out of the petting zoo and there was a HUGE dog laying down...Kellen walked over to him and petted him and then so did Tatum! It was more of a smack on the back than a pet, but she did it twice! I was FLOORED, to say the least. Maybe seeing all of the animals is starting to work? I'm hopeful, but certainly don't think that today solved all of her puppy issues by any means. We'll just keep with our exposure to her comfort level and see what happens!

We then went and got in line to ride the horses, and this would be Tatum's first horse ride (that I'm aware of, at least). I was nervous as to whether or not she would actually get on the horse, but considering that she wanted to climb the corral to get TO the horse each time it came by, I considered that a good sign. See the video above for the majority of her first ride. She doesn't look excited, but the did enjoy it! (I know, I asked her later and she answered, 'Uh, huh!')

We have a few fall/halloween-type events this week, so I'll try to be diligent and post pictures as the events occur. (Notice that I did say "try", right?)