Year-In-Review

I can hardly believe that another year has past. Today is the LAST day of 2007 - wow!

I went back and looked at my New Year's Resolutions for 2007 and well, I'm a bit irritated with myself. I kept only ONE of those resolutions!!!!!!!! I guess that's pretty typical but I'm not happy with myself over it. I hope to do better this coming year.

It's interesting to look back over the past year. This is the first full year that I've had a blog so it's nice to be able to go back and read through what went on this year. We did a lot! Between the local stuff like the bounce place, YMCA, swimming, Discovery Center, Christ Church, etc. and then to trips like going to Oklahoma, Missouri, and Pennsylvania. Morgan turned 6 and started Kindergarten, losing 2 teeth along the way. Drew turned 4 and started preschool, he also got potty trained (well, mostly -we're still missing the overnights). Owen turned 2 and has started talking a lot more and is now sleeping in a big boy bed in a room with his brother. Eric ended the year by starting a new position at work. And, me, well, I was along for the ride!

Here's to another GREAT year!

That's a relief!

Every once in a while I have a dream that seems so real that when I wake up it takes me a minute to realize it was a dream. Ever have that?

Well, last night I had a crazy dream that I invited a bunch of people I knew (not all friends, just random people I knew) to a weekend away and that I picked up the tab. I remember sitting there, getting the bill, and about hyperventilating as it was rather large. In my dream I remember thinking, "Man, Eric is going to kill me for this one." It seemed so real.

Then I woke up.

Ahhh - sweet relief!!!

A bit of randomness for your Sunday afternoon reading. :)

The Grinch

We had a GREAT time tonight! My parents are visiting us for Christmas and we were fortunate enough to get free tickets to the Grinch ICE! Show at the Opryland Hotel (a BIG thank-you to my father-in-law for scoring us those tickets!!).

None of us had ever been to an ice show so we really didn't know what to expect. It was amazing. Everything in the place was made of solid ice. It was also FREEZING in there - 8-10 degrees I think. They handed out parkas when you went in and I wish I had brought gloves and hats for everyone too.

The kids were as amazed by things as we were. There is a slide-show below with some pictures.

I'm so thankful we were able to go. Thanks again Ralph!!!

The magic of Christmas morning

"Santa" just got done setting up the gifts for Christmas morning. As I was done, I stepped back and was flooded with memories of all the Christmas mornings that I experienced as a child. There was a magic in it - walking down the stairs and into the room and seeing the gifts laid out around the tree - WOW! It was so exciting. My parents didn't put any of the gifts out until after we went to bed on Christmas Eve so it was a huge thing to see so many presents around the tree.

I am excited for my kids to experience the same "magic".

The real "magic" of Christmas didn't happen in a comfy little house under a pretty tree - it happened in a manger all those years ago - our Savior, grace in a manger, Jesus - was born. The world would never be the same, I would never be the same.

The best gift that we are getting for Christmas is one that is free and available to EVERYONE no matter where you are at in life. The best gift that we are getting for Christmas makes it possible for us to remain separated no longer from the God that created us. The best gift that we are getting for Christmas is our Savior, Jesus.

Have you opened your present yet? Don't let it sit under the tree - open it.

Open your heart to Jesus.

Wishing you & yours a very Merry CHRISTmas!

April Fool's Day

Why April Fool's Day?

Well, Drew is my little AFD joke. You see, Morgan was born in October and the last quarter of the year is typically the busiest at my old job. It wasn't good that I was gone during that time and they always joked with me that I couldn't have any kids during that quarter, they were going to write it in my contract (how funny that all three of my kids were born during the last quarter).

So, April Fool's Day comes around and I told my two bosses that I was pregnant and due around the same time that Morgan was born. I think I even joked around with Eric. I had a lot of fun with this joke.

Two weeks later I was telling then that I really was pregnant! Oops!

Drew was due on Dec. 30th but was really wanting him to come before Christmas. There was supposed to be 16 people at my house on Christmas day and I had visions of going into labor with all of them there so, on Dec. 19th I took the dreaded Castor Oil (yes, I took this with ALL three of my kiddos and it worked all three times).

By mid-evening I wasn't feeling too good but didn't have what I would call contractions. I called the hospital because I hadn't felt Drew move in a while and I was concerned. The nurse said to lay on my left side, turn off the lights & TV and just relax. Within minutes of doing that the contractions started. Morgan was asleep (26 months old) when we started calling the people who were supposed to watch Morgan for us. BOTH were out of town that weekend!!!! Thankfully my friends Dina & Ryan were available and they came over. I do remember that it took them 30 minutes to get there and that was a LONG 30 minutes! :)

We got to the hospital and had to go through the ER because the main doors were closed. I had Eric drop me off so he could go park the car and get the bags. It was kind of comical because I had a really bad contraction in the ER and had to lean against the wall. I turned and there was a group of teenagers in the ER waiting room just looking at me. I guess they'd never seen anyone in labor before. :)

Got to L&D and was 4 cm dilated. I wanted the epidural right away but they had to get a bag of fluid into me first. Darn IV wouldn't go in right. A roll of tape later and a nurse holding my arm and the other one squeezing the bag, I was ready for my epidural! God bless the epidural man! :)

Around 3:30 am I started pushing and at 3:52 am Drew was born. 8 lbs 9 oz! He was and still is such a cutie!

Here's some pics.

Me, in labor, and ready to head to the hospital.

Drew just minutes after he was born.

Drew at 4!(well, almost, this was taken a couple of weeks ago).

Where to?

Do you ever get to a place where you just don't know where to go from there? In life, relationships, etc?

I'm in that place with a very important relationship in my life.

Just don't know where to go from here.

Perhaps you can be praying for me, I'd appreciate it.

The High Calling of Motherhood

I started reading the book "'Don't Make Me Count to Three!'" by Ginger Plowman. I've read "Shepherding Your Child's Heart" and loved it and this book was recommended to be read alongside that book. I've only just started reading it but there were a couple of paragraphs that jumped off the page at me today that I wanted to share with you.

"God does have an important job for me, and it does require much skill. It is my calling, my priority, my struggle, and my goal. I will rise to the occasion and accept the task at hand. I will love, nurture, and train my children the way that God has called me to do.

Moms, we need to be reminded of the awesome responsibility that God has given us. When we respond to the high calling of motherhood with passion, the rewards are far greater than any we could ever gain outside of that calling. The joys of motherhood are rare and beautiful treasure that can be easily missed if we don't seize the opportunity to grab them.

Being a mom is more than being cook, chauffeur, maid, counselor, doctor, referee, disciplinarian, etc. (just to name a few). It's about molding character, building confidence, nurturing, training and guiding. There is nothing like the influence that a mother has on her child. A mother's influence has enormous potential to shape the person a child becomes, for good or ill."

Sometimes the responsibility of motherhood seems over-whelming and impossible but I am always reminded of how God will not ask us to do something and then NOT equip us to do the job.

Opry Mills Shoppers - my apologies

I knew things had been going to good. After some struggles with Drew, my strong-willed but tender-hearted middle child, I felt like things were going good with us. Drew enjoys pushing my buttons and doing things wrong deliberately to see how far he can push me. We've really been trying to "tighten the screws" on him to encourage him to obey. Things have been going SO WELL - until today.

Eric's father was in town today on a tour and had a few hours free that we could spend with him. We had to go to Opry Mills as that was close to where he needed to be when the tour resumed. We decided on Chili's for lunch and then had planned to walk around the mall for a little bit. Each of the kids had gotten some money for Christmas and they wanted to go to the Disney store to pick out something. I told them during lunch that they had to be good and obey all through lunch to get to go to the store. Well, Drew really struggled and ended up losing his toy.

That didn't go over too well and he started to throw a temper tantrum. I should have just cut it off right then and left (like I had warned I would) but I didn't. I felt bad leaving Ralph early and Morgan was upset at the thought of not getting to spend time with Grandpa. So, against my better judgement, we started walking through the food court. We didn't make it far when I had to take Drew to the bathroom for a little chat. Again I reiterated that he wasn't getting a toy and why and then we left the bathroom. We got a little farther into the mall when he throws another fit. I was at the counter at Radio Shack returning something and he comes up begging for a toy. When I once again told him "no", he proceeded to throw a big fit. This time I did tell him we were leaving and then it all broke loose.

Here's a mental picture for you. I had to pick him up while he was kicking, screaming, punching, biting, grabbing, etc. at me the entire walk out -it wasn't a short walk either - right through the heart of the food court during lunch. He's a big kid and my back has been hurting so it was killing me to have to carry him so far. OH MY GOODNESS. What the heck???? (Ashley, Becca & Tammy - this was 10x's worse than the fit he through at Christ Church).

We get to the car and it was a huge struggle to get him buckled. Once I did, Morgan went on the bus with Grandpa and I closed the doors to the van and just stood outside, smiling at strangers who were giving me the pity look because they could hear him screaming from outside the van.

As mad as I was, and I was LIVID, I did wait until we got home and we'd both calmed down before talking to him and giving him a spanking. That's something because honestly, I wanted to beat that child in the middle of his temper tantrum.

The moral of the story - never let your guard down, even if you think that they've "got it", they are always testing you and FOLLOW THROUGH the first time you warn with something.

Missing people

One thing I am horrible at is keeping up with people who I don't see all the time. Call it a product of my youth as a military brat, moving around every 3-4 years, but I just struggle with calling people, writing, and just keeping up on their lives. When we moved around as a youth, I just made new friends and didn't really keep in touch with the old ones. It's just the way it was.

So, now, I have moved to TN (over a year ago - wow), and while I've done better than normal, I still struggle to keep in touch with all that I want to. You know how it is, you get busy with your day-to-day life and just don't call or write. That doesn't make it okay, it's just reality.

There are so many people I miss but I'm thinking of one very special friend today. Miss. Myrtle! Me & Myrtle worked together at The Voice of the Martyrs for about 7 years. She was the Administrative Assistant for our dept. and one of the dearest friends I had. I remember countless times sitting in her office or mine just talking about life. She was a surrogate mom for me many times and a good friend all the time. I was encouraged daily by her faith in God and her commitment to her family. Her daughter-in-law, Robin, is the one that watched my children while I worked and she was such a blessing as well. We would go out to lunch a lot and just talk about life. I miss that. I miss my friend.

She moved to a new state about the same time that we moved to TN and really haven't been able to connect since then. It makes me sad.

So, Myrtle, if you read this, EMAIL ME and give me your new contact information. I miss you my friend and I want to hear all about your life in TX!

Still not found.

So the Christmas gifts that I posted about awhile back that I bought early but have misplaced STILL haven't been found. I ended up going today and buying new gifts. Two of the gifts were for my nieces in MO and I'm going to be giving my father-in-law those gifts when we see him this week. You know what that means don't you?

I'll find the gifts I lost next week, after the new gifts have been delivered!

Drew's 4th birthday party

We celebrated Drew's 4th birthday this past weekend. His actual birthday is right before Christmas but we've always wanted to make sure he didn't get lost in the Christmas shuffle, so we celebrate at the beginning of the month.

We rented a bounce place for a couple of hours and let the kids run wild. Imagine 20 kids and 5 big blow-up things - wow - it was crazy.

Thank you to the friends & family that came and made our little man feel special!

Here are the pictures - enjoy!

Note to self - the Christmas gift version

When buying Christmas gifts more than 2 months in advance, find a "safe" place that isn't so safe that you never find said gifts again!

Searching my house for 3 gifts that I bought this summer!!!!

Mentor anyone?

Mentor - a wise & trusted counselor, teacher.

I think it has become very rare these days for anyone to actually have a mentoring relationship with someone else, especially in the church (at least the churches that I've been to).

I find myself thinking about this a lot lately, wishing for a person like this in my life.

I've had it in the past. When I went to college I was a new Christian (1 year old), and had never really been discipled. I got together with another girl in a similar situation and our Resident Assistant became our mentor - wise & trusted counselor, teacher. I remember that year vividly. I loved that small group of girls and I hated it at the same time. I loved it because I was learning so much about Jesus and about who He made me to be, it was exciting. I often hated it though because I also knew it was a place where I couldn't hide what was really going on inside. If I had sin issue I was struggling with, if I wasn't spending quiet time with the Lord, etc., I knew that I would not be able to leave that place without talking about it and praying about it. If you're anything like me then you know that the first instinct when you are struggling is not to stop and talk about it and certainly not to pray about it - you want to run from it, ignore it, hide it, etc. I couldn't do that with this group and I loved that.

I've missed that ever since.

I do have one friend who has been an informal mentor to me over the years but we no longer live near each other. We still play a huge role in each other's lives and I love that.

What I really want now is to find someone, more seasoned in their faith, that can me my wise & trusted counselor, teacher. I find myself needing the accountability and the wisdom that I could get in that kind of relationship.

Definitely an item for prayer.

So - what about you? Do you have a mentoring relationship with someone now? Have you been a mentor before? Have you been mentored before? Tell me about this. What role, if any, has mentorship played in your Christian walk?

Thanksgiving 2007

I am FINALLY getting this together and on the blog.

We had a GREAT time over Thanksgiving with my cousin, Brad, and his family and our good friend, Shea and her son, Dillon.

Brad, Kristen and their boys Caden & Owen recently moved a short drive from our home and we were SO excited that they agreed to come on out and visit with us for Thanksgiving. Their son, Caden, and our son, Drew, are only weeks apart in age. They also have a son, Owen, that is 1 year younger than our Owen. It got a little confusing with 2 kids with the same name but we figured it out. Drew & Caden were a riot together - wow.

Turkey day was fun. Poor Morgan was outnumbered as it was Shea's son, Dillon, Drew, big Owen, little Owen and Caden. :)

Thanksgiving night the boys went out and picked up a program that both me & Kristen wanted at a store for an amazing price. Kristin and I also got out on Black Friday and tried to find some good deals before heading to Toot's & The Discovery Center.

We had such a good time with everyone! Thanks for making this a special holiday!