29 June 2009

Momma, hellll me... PWEESE!

So, I have to know.... Do any of you have this little Rotten Ronnie's Happy Meal toy? (Thanks Kami....thanks to you that is what David and I have been calling McD's for a while now!)


I know, I really have all but banned fast food, but last week my kids had happy meals, not once but twice! Agh, it adds to my ongoing case of Mommy guilt. Anyway, it was a hard week with VBS in the mornings and David's dad having what was supposed to be day surgery on Thursday but turned out to be much more extensive than planned. He actually got out of the hospital today but your continued prayer is appreciated.


Anyway, thanks to one of those happy meals, this little guy joined our family. He is one of my favorite characters from Ice Age and James just loves him. I am, however, not as in love with the little guy.


These pictures are not the best because I was too lazy to get my real camera took them with my iPhone. But can't you just see the love that James has for him in this first picture?

Oh and in the second picture can you see the drool running down James' chin? That is because he is making a noise that sounds like "shhhhh shhhhh shhhhhhhhkkkkk" right before he fires the acorn at me! You see, he has a tiny button on his butt that makes him shoot his acorn across the room! James is grinning at the thought of inflicting pain on me! Good thing it doesn't actually hurt because James has gotten very good at shooting it across the room with precision!



What I love about the toy is the endless amounts of laughter that James has enjoyed because of this little squirrel and his "nut nut".

What I loath about this little toy are the 546 times yesterday afternoon that I heard "Momma, helllllllll me." Because they made this little guy very difficult to reload. James is getting better at it, but still today ALL DAY I have been hearing, "Sissy, hel pweese", "nut nut, oh nooooo, nut nut", and "Momma, helllllll me".

I wouldn't trade the deep belly laughs coming from my kids for ANYTHING right now, no matter how poorly designed the toy is!

So, what toy is in your house that your kiddo loves so much that you can't bring yourself to get rid of it but don't feel too bad about hiding it on occasion either?!?!?!?

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26 June 2009

Roots



You know, the last few weeks there has been much going on in our little part of the world. We have had a friend diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, a friend several friends dealing with crumbling marriages, a friend preparing to move to another state, a friend working toward reconciling friendships after 10 years, a friend opening his own business and yet another friend getting married. Oh and David's dad had another heart surgery! Quite frankly I am thankful to be participating in a ladies Bible Study called "The Frazzled Female, Finding Peace in the Midst of Daily Life"!


If you are wondering about my weight loss, there is nothing new to report.... and with all that is going on, I have to say that I am VERY proud of that! I may not be dropping weight but I am still working out and I am not gaining weight!





Well, as you can imagine, on the list of all that is going on right now, the most fun was the wedding that I mentioned. Last Saturday David and I got to get all dressed up to go to Jonathan's wedding! We were so excited to be seeing lots of our college friends all in one place. I was reminded of how special all of these people are to me!





See, when I moved from a tiny town in Arkansas to the DFW Metroplex in Texas to go to college, I never imagined that I would find a HOME and a family away from home. These college friends became my family. They taught me what it meant to be a brother and sister in Christ. They loved me and encouraged me and helped me learn about myself.








I met all of these guys plus several more at LABC when I joined the college department. They welcomed me with open arms and made me a part of their family! I discovered this church and this family because Jonathan (the groom!) was being obedient to the calling that Christ had put on his life to be set apart on his college campus.




See, Jonathan had spent a year praying for a Christian friend for his college campus that would help him grow the Baptist Student Ministries on campus. God chose me. He prepared me. He provided scholarships and then the much needed courage for me to move away from everything familiar. I was also praying for Christian friends and was seeking a closer relationship with my Jesus. I had to choose to be obedient. Then, another year later my friend Carey (pictured above holding the baby) was obedient in one of her college classes and invited a couple of guys to come visit our college group Bible Study. One of those guys was MY David.





One of the things I will forever be grateful to Jonathan and his family for is how they taught me about prayer and its POWER! (In the picture is me between Jonathan's sisters...Deborah and Liz). His mom Candy is what I would call a prayer warrior. I admire her dedication to other people's prayer requests. I also admire her ability to have a conversation with our Savior about all the little details of her day. She understands and practices the scripture 1 Thessalonians 5:17 where we are told to "pray continuously." Even at the wedding she was praying for her granddaughter to continue behaving nicely even though she had missed her nap. (Something I probably would have been worrying about rather than praying about. Convicted? Yes.... Lesson learned? I hope so!)




I think it is pretty fabulous how everything always comes together. This week in our Bible Study we were told to make our "to-do" list for the day and then take a moment and pray over each and every item on the list. Yes, even the laundry (This brings a smile to my face because I think of Candy, Jonathan's mom, praying aloud for focus and direction as she searches through a pile of mail for a specific piece of paper... I remember how at first her doing that made me uncomfortable and then how I learned that God really does care about my 'little' things). It has been a great way to remember that I should be thankful for clothes to wash and a washing machine to do the washing rather than being annoyed that my family can't seem to find the dirty clothes hamper! It has helped my attitude and has helped me keep my eyes focused on Jesus rather than my circumstances.




All of that to say, that I am thankful to have been reminded that this is home and I am where I am supposed to be. And well, I have been at our church for more than 10 years, I met my husband there and I am especially thankful that as I am growing as a Christian that I have ROOTS!




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04 June 2009

Focused

Focused.... on everything else.


I have to say that I have been missing all of my friends here in blog land! I haven't posted in a while and even worse, I am something like 575 posts behind in my google reader!


Last week was pretty crazy as we wrapped up Kirstyn's final days in Pre-K. I can't believe I am going to be a Kindergarten momma... how did that happen so fast?!?!?


Here is a picture of her dressed up for their Letter Parade. Kirstyn was thrilled to be going to school dressed as Quilla the Queen. We borrowed her skirt from my grandmother and found the cute crown at a local costume shop.

Other friends were Daisy the Doll and Zippy the Zebra...a very cute and a clever tradition from her preschool. James will be enrolled there in the fall so we will still be doing lots of fun things like this as long as the little mister will play along!

This week Kirstyn is in Arkansas taking swimming lessons and spending some quality time on the farm with my mom and dad. While she is there I have been enjoying lots of one on one time with James.


We had friends over the other night that have a little boy just a few months older than James and it was so much fun to see him experience a play date with HIS friend without his usual big sister supervision. It was too cute to see them running around and giggling non-stop. They were so busy they could barely stop long enough to shove a bite of food in their m
ouths and take off running and playing again. Finally they both sat down and ate a few bites because we taunted them with the promise of some yummy black bean brownies!

David and I have been watching 24. We have a tradition of recording the entire season and then watching it all together all at once. The very first season we watched one hour at a time with everyone else but we think it is much more exciting to watch it together as fast as possible. I can't wait to finish it so that I can get some more sleep! That is my main reason for being away from the computer. He isn't working upstairs in his office so I am not booting my laptop. We have enjoyed the time together curled up watching Jack Bower try to save the world!


Keep checking in on me. I am still working out and eating very clean. Inches are coming off but the pounds haven't changed in the last couple of weeks. I have several posts on clean eating and exercise that are swimming around in my head. I hope to catch them and get them out on the blog in the very near future.... but until then it's 'Bauer Time'!


What have you been doing the last few weeks? What would I be missing if I give up on playing catch up and just mark all as read in my reader?


Are you a huge fan of Jack Bauer and 24 like me?

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