King's X

If you have known Paul and I for more than two minutes you know that we are King's X fans! We had a great night seeing them last night in Nashville at the Mercy Lounge. It was a great show! Every show we have been to has been amazing. The first time we saw them live was almost 18 years ago. The highlight of that show was being able to sit on the stage during the show that ended up an acoustic set.
The first time we saw them in Nashville was 13 years ago when Galactic Cowboys opened for them. I will never forget that evening...we stayed and waited outside for them to leave. I laugh at myself now when I think of this...but I told Doug that his face and smile lit up the stage and that I saw Jesus in his face. He didn't quite know what to do with that besides say "thanks."
Last night I saw something a little different. I see someone who is hurting and wants so hard to believe but something is keeping him stuck from experiencing the Freedom that he sings about. He sings with passion such deeply spiritual driven songs.
Paul and I both were amazed how he could sing them when he has openly talked about his agnostic views on God. He still lights up the stage and gives a great performance. The highlight for me was being able to get my picture with Doug. I wish I would not have been so 'star struck' and said something more to him. I have a heart for him and will pray for him that he will find the hope and freedom again that he sings about.

Christmas is in the air...

Harrison had his Christmas program today at school. Thought I would share his picture with Santa and one with the real Santa!
After 14 years we have a new Christmas tree - thanks mom! She even helped me put it up! Hope you are enjoying the Christmas season.

Trouble starts with "H"

Trouble starts with "H" and ends in "arrison!"
He has been quite the challenge the last few weeks. I think he is bored and needs some major exercise. I would like to think that would wear him out, but nothing seems to slow him down.
He tends to make a huge mess all over the floor at every meal.
I decided I was tired of cleaning it up, so he can learn to do it himself!
He is into playing rough. He will tackle anything that moves.
(Including a girl at the Y which ended up going to the doctor with a split head.)
Oh my!
I have a feeling we are just starting all the trouble this boy is going to get into. The only thing that saves him is that he is cute and lovey.

My Snowy Birthday

Our first snow of the year landed on my birthday. It started snowing Thursday night. At dinner we tried to explain to Julia that she may not have school the next day. She was not thrilled about this idea. In fact, she made us pray during the blessing that school would not be closed. She informed us that she would "panic" if she couldn't go to school.
Harrison immediately started singing "You better watch out, you better not pout, you better not panic!"
He never ceases to surprise us with what comes out of his mouth.
School was cancelled and she didn't panic. They had a great time playing in the snow, then drinking hot chocolate to defrost.
It was good to have everyone home for the day.
My birthday treat was to get to go out to lunch with Michelle (thanks Chelle).
I am feeling a bit old this year. Not sure why. I guess my body aching and the wrinkles starting to appear have something to do with it.
As always I posted my birthday photo. I know it is silly, but I like to look back and see how I am aging!

Gratitude

I have so much to be thankful for this year.
God has blessed our family over and over despite what we deserve.
This is our gratitude tree that we made on Thanksgiving (my mother's idea!).
We all wrote on leaves things that we were grateful for.
It is amazing how much we focus on the bad things that are happening in our life and not on all the good that God is doing. I have really been trying the last couple of days to really think about all the good in the world and in my life.
I am so blessed. Not with material things, but blessed with the knowledge that God loves me and desires me. He runs to us with arms open wide even when we have turned our backs on him.
"Not only does He watch expectantly, God runs to us. He sees the repentant heart and the empty hands. He sees His child full of shame over lost riches and stupid choices. He sees the scars of our consequences. And He runs anyway. He covers the distance between us with His own strength.
....Strong arms underneath us....He takes our face in His hands. He calms our cries and speaks gentle words over us:
Forgiven.
Redeemed.
Accepted.
Loved.
Beautiful."
(Do you think I am beautiful, the question every woman asks - by Angela Thomas)

This is what I am most grateful for this year!

The new look!

Julia can officially see now! She got glasses last week...she really looks cute.
She is now in public school and loving it.
I am so proud of her. She has done so well adjusting to going to school.
She is also causing quite a stir at school.
She is engaging the kids in her class in a debate over Santa Claus.
She apparently informed them that Santa was not real and the true meaning of Christmas was Jesus' birthday.
She proceeded to prove her point by taking her bible to school and had the teacher read the story of the birth of Christ. I was impressed that the teacher read it.
She has already informed me that she will begin working on the Easter Bunny!

The Empty Silo

One of my favorite things about our house is the fact that we have this Silo at the entrance of our street. I can see if from our front yard.
It is neat to me that Spring Hill has kept most of these silos up around town. I think they add a unique charm to the area.
I have been thinking a lot about the Silo after walking down there and looking in. It is massive and empty. You can peek your head in at the bottom and see all the way to the top. Not a trace of grain or corn left in the bottom. Just bird droppings and feathers.
I am not really good at writing and making analogies...but here it goes. Just what I have been wrestling with the last week or so.
I feel a lot like that empty silo. In regards to my spiritual life that is.
I have the structure, I go to church, I have the knowledge, I used to be full of life and overflowing with God's presence, but I have allowed myself to empty. I have allowed all of the "grain" to pour out and part of me feels that there is nothing left but bird droppings.
However, unlike the silo that will not be useful again except to stand there and look interesting...I have a choice. I can choose to allow God to fill myself again.
It will take a lot of gardening, pruning, and watering to grow the grain to place in the silo. I am not real excited about the process. When we allow God to grow us it is often very painful and hard to accept.
I feel like I have taken the first step in allowing God to regrow me.
It has been painful, but I am starting to see a few seeds sprouting.
I am learning how to be still before God and trying to listen.
I need to be patient. I tend to expect God to fix me right now.
I know that corn/wheat takes time. It is a process. I am in process.

Lots of new stuff - no time to blog

It has been almost a month since my last post. There is so much to tell and so little time to do it. I have also become addicted to Facebook, so most of my computer time is going there!
Julia and Harrison both love their schools and are doing great. (my last post was school starting)
However, they only have a couple more weeks of school because we are moving!
It has been a whirlwind of a few weeks. We managed to find a house and buy it the same day. We put our current house on the market and I have been packing, painting, cleaning, garage saleing, etc. for the last two weeks.
I have finally hit a wall of tired!
I can't believe all that I have accomplished. That is a good feeling, but I am POOPED!
I hope someone appreciates all my hard work and wants to buy my house that is really looking good at the moment.
As far as moving....
I have a number of emotions at this point. I am excited about the new start for our family. We have been in a rut for a long time and I have been praying for change.
Well, I am about to get it!
I am excited, but scared all at the same time. I am getting lots of changes all at one time...
New house, new city, new church, new support system, new job, new schools, new stores, new workout place, new everything...except my family!
I know home is where my family is, but I think it will be a huge adjustment for all of us.
We have lived in our current home for 12 years and there are so many memories here.
This was our first home and my kids were born in this house. It is a bitter-sweet thing to think about leaving here.
The kids are excited about getting their own rooms, but are also not wanting to leave this house - this is all they know.
They want to paint the new house blue, for they have to live in a blue house!
It is funny the things that are important to them.
I guess we all have our little things - like I am going to miss the colors in my house. I spent so much time painting each room here and I am attached to the colors. Silly, I know!
Please keep us in your prayers over the next few weeks. Pray that we will sell our house quickly. Paul starts his new job soon. We have to decide what to do about school for the kids. Lots of other decisions that need to be made. Pray that I regain some energy to finish packing and painting the new house, and moving!

Harrison First Day of School

Harrison is off to school! Yippy!
He started PDO this week. He will be going 3 days a week 9:30 -3:00
This gives Julia and I some time to work on school at home.
He loved going to his new school. The first day when I picked him up the teacher said "boy is he talkative!" Yes I know!!!

First day of First Grade

Today Julia started First Grade. Yes, we are homeschooling again.
I was excited to find a private school a few miles from home that has a home school tutorial program one day a week. She goes for a few hours on Tuesday for PE, Science and Book Club. She was so excited. She had to get new shoes and supplies for her back pack and insisted on being prepared for school for a few days. I think she would have slept with both had I let her.
I hope she gets as excited about doing school at home!
We are also getting her into Girl Scouts. I found a troop that is mostly home schooled girls. I think this will be a great for her to be with other home schooled children. I am hoping it will motivate us both.

Cousins

 
 
 
Julia and Harrison visited with their cousin Peter for a week at Grandma's house.
They had a great time getting to play together and go to Bible school.
They all got fireman hats at our visit to the Cobb County Fire Dept. They had fun climbing in the fire engine and seeing where the fireman slept and most importantly...where they watched T.V.
Of course I had no camera on me at the time. I did however get to sit in the drivers side of the fire engine myself...great fun! I had a bit of a laugh as we were leaving and the firefighters stated the kids could come back anytime because they were so well behaved!

What to do with your old calendar

Julia could not quite understand why we could not use her 2007 Princess calendar again this year. After not doing a very good job explaining the concept of years (I don't know if being her teacher is a smart idea!) I decided to come up with some way for her to use it. We bought poster board and cut out all the pictures and made a collage. I said "we" but I guess I should correct that statement and say "I" made it. Not that she didn't want to help. She did. It was my controlling, perfectionist attitude that decided that I didn't want help! After all, it would have been to hard for her - right!
Man, do I have problems. I realize that. I would have never been a good art teacher. I am not sure I am a good teacher period because I struggle with the need to control and have things done perfectly the first time.
This was just a stupid poster to go in her room and I wanted it to be a materpiece!
I did give in and let her glue a few things at the end - under careful direction of course!!!
Please pray for us this year with first grade - We both will need it.

Friends

In the past few weeks I have been able to reconnect with some friends that I haven't seen in a long time.
I had a great visit with my friend Shari who moved to California.
The other is Ginger who was Paul's best friend's mother (growing up) and also our history teacher in high school.
It was fun to catch up with both of them! Thanks for visiting!!

NO MORE DIAPERS!!!

We just received a $30 a month raise at our house...
No more diapers or pull-ups!
Harrison after only a year and a half of trying is finally potty trained.
I was starting to think he would be entering college with a pull-up on.
I take the raise part back, we now probably spend more in toilet paper and plumber bills!

A little change in my life

 
  

It was one of those days when you wake up and need some change in you life....so what else do you do besides cut your hair!

Sad Death

I know most of you will find this stupid to be upset about, but to me it is a big deal....
One pot of my tomatoes died this week. It was tragic. I had about 10 tomatoes on the two plants and both of them went belly up.
I discovered this whole gardening thing was not as easy as I thought.
I had 4 problems that I could figure out...
Poor drainage
Over watering
Bugs/fungus
Not enough sun light
So, I am trying my best to fix the problems for the other two plants. Hopefully, I can keep them alive long enough to at least eat one of the tomatoes.
If not, I expect all of you who have success with the gardening thing to share yours...I can provide basil in exchange!

My cuties

 
 
Those are some good looking kids....
Don't you love Julia's nose ring!

My city garden

 
 
 
 

So here is my first attempt at gardening. I am proud of the fact I have actually grown something! I should have plenty of tomatoes and basil to get me through the summer.

Happy Father's Day

Happy Father's Day to all the dads out there. It is a special day to honor the men in our kid's lives. They are so vital to our families.
I was blessed to have the greatest father! He has always poured love into my life and continues to do so. I love to spend time with my father. Growing up we would take long "drives" to go look at his projects. This was a special time with him. Even though he was working, it made me feel special to get to have alone time with him. He would teach me about grading and easements and silt fences....lots of useful information for me now!!!
Now that I am older I enjoy our time when we go walking together. It is fun to connect and share about life. I think we challenge each other to think about life and God in new ways. I love you dad and am so thankful for your role in my life!

My kids are also blessed to have a great father. I am thankful that Paul shares in my beliefs of wanting to be the ones to raise our children and teach them values. I think of what an incredible job he did when he was home with the kids when I went back to work. The first day leaving Julia with him when she was 4 months old. He wanted me to write out a basic schedule, but nothing more. He said "mom's are not born knowing what to do...I can figure this out." And he did. He did a great job and then had two at home by himself. He many times did a better job then I did. I was always so impressed how he could take a 2 year old and an infant out of the house. I couldn't even manage that!

Lastly, the most special father's day gift of all....Happy Father's Day to Scott Dideon who traveled to China this week and got to meet his son Winston at the orphanage today. You have to read this amazing story from the Dideons.

My beautiful Girl

 
Just wanted you to see how beautiful my girl is getting.
I love those big brown eyes!
Besides her physical beauty, she is developing a very gentle and kind heart.