I saw this top ten list in the back of June's Parenting magazine and thought it was worthy of sharing...
Top Ten Things That are OK not to Share with your Kids:
1. Your Cheesecake (or substitute any dessert, in my opinion)
2. Your private potty time
3. Your rationale for deciding who gets to sit by the window
4. Your wild, semi-legal pastimes during your teen years- and during that weekend they stayed at Grandma's
5. That, believe it or not, you want to yell WAY more than you do
6. That Elmo is just a woolly puppet with a 48 year old's hand up his butt
7. That, come Monday, You're often incredibly psyched to go to work
8. That you sometimes go for weeks without eating vegetables
9.That, No, you really don't want to hear her sing the Barney song again, right this very second.
10. But that she should go ahead because you'll be so sad when she's too old and cool to offer!
Not ALL applicable or true for everyone of us, but funny just the same! Happy Memorial Day!
Sunday, May 24, 2009
Thursday, May 21, 2009
Growing up!
Tonight I had one of those "My baby's growing up moments"! Mary Kate finished her first year of cubbies and had her award ceremony tonight! She was so precious. This year she finished her book. She memorized 26 bible verses joyfully! She also had perfect attendance! Her leaders at cubbies were amazing...they really made this a great experience for the kids. I am so proud of her! She is definitely looking forward to starting up again next year! She doesn't quite understand why she has to take the summer off, but I am sure that will come.
Brianna has also jumped into the world of solid food. After spending several weeks playing around with food and acting indifferent, she finally realized that she could eat solid food and be full. She is actually starting to enjoy it and eat more than two bites.
Brianna has also jumped into the world of solid food. After spending several weeks playing around with food and acting indifferent, she finally realized that she could eat solid food and be full. She is actually starting to enjoy it and eat more than two bites.
Thursday, May 7, 2009
I think it may actually happen!
So a little update on summer classes and financial stuff for school in the fall:
It wasn't looking like we were going to be able to get all of the application stuff in for Mike to take classes at SMU, however, God in his wonderful glory somehow made the impossible possible. I talked to the theology school admissions person last thursday and she said that they would be flexible with us and that as long as most of the application was in then we had a little leeway on the deadline. So as of today, May 7th, his entire application is in and we are waiting to hear from the school as to whether or not he is "accepted" in order to take Greek. This is a huge answer to prayer in that we will not have to pay for his class this summer, but it will keep him on track to graduation. Also, where we would like to avoid taking out a loan for classes, we found out that we have someone to cosign for us in order to get us a better interest rate and such. It is nice to know that we have that option if we need it. We are still praying that God will provide another alternative, but are not ruling this out as a God provided alternative. Thanks for all the prayers and please continue to pray for us and the stress that taking summer classes AND working 40 hours a week will put on our family. Mike will be driving to Dallas at 7:20 every morning and will be in class every day from 830-1230 and then will go straight over to work and will work until 7 or 8 probably. He won't be getting home until late each night. I am nervous how Mary Kate will respond to this as she is a daddy's girl, however, we will have him all to ourselves ALL weekend so that will be a nice change from the school year. Also, please pray for me as I try to figure out a way to make a little extra money. There was a possibility for a promotion at church, however there are some things that have come up with that and it is now looking less likely. I COULD still end up with the job, but it is going to be a much longer hiring process as they have decided not to promote from within, but to open up the position for other applications. Also, I have been told they are changing the position as well, although I do not yet know what that will entail. Regardless, since the semester is over and I am not watching the little boy that I was watching anymore, we need to figure out a way to replace that income and it will probably need to be sooner than they are going to be hiring. Pray for me to receive guidance from the Lord as to how to proceed.
In other news, the kids are doing well. We are still trying to get Brianna to eat some solid foods. She is very particular and I am convinced that she doesn't want to do anything but nurse for the next ...oh..18 years or so..lol! We have discovered that she really likes yogurt, so i can mix stuff into yogurt and she will eat some solid food. Mary Kate is doing great and is about to finish up her first year of cubbies! She just finished her last bible verse last night and has now finished her first book! For those of you not familiar, that means she has memorized 24 verses! I am continually impressed by her brilliance!! Will post pictures later!
It wasn't looking like we were going to be able to get all of the application stuff in for Mike to take classes at SMU, however, God in his wonderful glory somehow made the impossible possible. I talked to the theology school admissions person last thursday and she said that they would be flexible with us and that as long as most of the application was in then we had a little leeway on the deadline. So as of today, May 7th, his entire application is in and we are waiting to hear from the school as to whether or not he is "accepted" in order to take Greek. This is a huge answer to prayer in that we will not have to pay for his class this summer, but it will keep him on track to graduation. Also, where we would like to avoid taking out a loan for classes, we found out that we have someone to cosign for us in order to get us a better interest rate and such. It is nice to know that we have that option if we need it. We are still praying that God will provide another alternative, but are not ruling this out as a God provided alternative. Thanks for all the prayers and please continue to pray for us and the stress that taking summer classes AND working 40 hours a week will put on our family. Mike will be driving to Dallas at 7:20 every morning and will be in class every day from 830-1230 and then will go straight over to work and will work until 7 or 8 probably. He won't be getting home until late each night. I am nervous how Mary Kate will respond to this as she is a daddy's girl, however, we will have him all to ourselves ALL weekend so that will be a nice change from the school year. Also, please pray for me as I try to figure out a way to make a little extra money. There was a possibility for a promotion at church, however there are some things that have come up with that and it is now looking less likely. I COULD still end up with the job, but it is going to be a much longer hiring process as they have decided not to promote from within, but to open up the position for other applications. Also, I have been told they are changing the position as well, although I do not yet know what that will entail. Regardless, since the semester is over and I am not watching the little boy that I was watching anymore, we need to figure out a way to replace that income and it will probably need to be sooner than they are going to be hiring. Pray for me to receive guidance from the Lord as to how to proceed.
In other news, the kids are doing well. We are still trying to get Brianna to eat some solid foods. She is very particular and I am convinced that she doesn't want to do anything but nurse for the next ...oh..18 years or so..lol! We have discovered that she really likes yogurt, so i can mix stuff into yogurt and she will eat some solid food. Mary Kate is doing great and is about to finish up her first year of cubbies! She just finished her last bible verse last night and has now finished her first book! For those of you not familiar, that means she has memorized 24 verses! I am continually impressed by her brilliance!! Will post pictures later!
Friday, April 24, 2009
Scary Faith...
Faith is scary. That's it. Point Blank. Maybe not so much for everyone, but for the compulsive, controlling, uber-plan-everything psycho that I am, it is scary. I don't know why it scares me so much. God has proven his faithfulness more times than he should have. He has gone above and beyond every need. I have nothing to be dissatisfied about. However, as we sit here contemplating classes over the summer and next fall and really for the foreseeable future I am getting worked up. I can feel that familiar ball of stress forming in the pit of my stomach. How are we going to pay for classes? We thought he was going to get to take his summer classes free and transfer in the credit, but it turns out that it is not quite that simple. Southern Methodist University (where he works and can take some classes for free) is making him jump through hoops to take classes through the theology department. He has to submit an application with several essays, several letters of reccomendation, a $50 fee, and official transcripts from BOTH his current graduate program and his undergraduate program (in Massachusetts). All of this can be done, but wait, lets throw another wrench into the mix, it all has to be done by one week from today! Ahhh...I have to keep reminding myself that none of this is a problem for God and that he is able overcome infinitely more than we can ever comprehend. But it is hard. My mind keeps wandering: If he can't take classes at SMU, can he take them at SWBTS? Will the classes still be open for enrollment? How will we afford an extra $1000 to pay for tuition plus extra for books and such? And along those lines, how will we afford classes in the fall? Will we be able to pay for them monthly? If we can't will he have to take fewer classes? Then how long will it take to graduate? I could go on and on and on and on..... The fact of the matter is: Last Spring, Mike was unemployed for about two and a half months. We (somehow) survived on little more than $1000 a month. It barely covered rent and our car payment. We were faithful through all of that in God's call on our lives to have Mike continue his degree program. He finished the semester and was offered a job the very next day. He is currently at that job now. I have to believe that if we continue to be faithful to Him and concentrate on His call on our lives that he is able to provide for us in ways we are unable to envision right now. Please pray for us as we try to submit to His authority in our lives and focus on completing Mike's schooling. Pray that we will have Faith in Him and the Peace that follows as we hand our burdens over to the Lord. Pray that God will provide a way for us to afford his tuition and fees and books. I know that his is able.
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Saturday, April 18, 2009
Hair
I have been doing a lot of hair lately which has been really exciting for me! I almost always forget to take before and after pictures (much to the chagrin of my husband), mostly because I just get caught up in the moment doing what I love. However, I recently got to color a friend's hair and cut it and I wanted to share the before and after. I think it turned out great and it is a really dramatic change! Enjoy!
After
Before
After
Friday, April 17, 2009
Passover Picnic in the Park!
In an effort to slow down and get back to the reason for Easter-the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ-my sister Shonda and her husband and son came up last Saturday for a "passover picnic in the park". They were planning on coming up anyways, and at the last minute we decided it would be a fun idea to do the picnic and coordinate some of it with themes from passover and traditional passover meals. It was last minute (Friday night/saturday morning) and so we didn't have time to prepare as much as we could have, but we were creative (can you be creative with passover?). I had a bunch of meat in the freezer, but no lamb, so we decided on roast chicken (didn't think roast pork would be appropriate somehow). We had carrots and instead of the apple/cinnamon mixture, we put the cinnamon in the carrots. We made garlic mashed potatoes (not traditional at all, but super yummy). We also brought grape juice, pita bread (which, interestingly enough, actually has yeast in it) and bitter herbs in oil. So we could do parts of the passover/last supper meal. We packed it all up and broke out the picnic backpack set that Mike and I have used like twice in 5 years of marriage (it was actually a really cool wedding present, we just never think to use it) and we headed off down to the Fort Worth Botanic Garden. It was so fun! We ate our chicken, potatoes, and carrots. Then we read about the last supper. We talked to Mary Kate about the Isrealites and why the bread was unleavened (even though ours wasn't-hey, it was still flat). I don't think she completely understood, but I think she understood enough. Then we tasted the bread dipped in the bitter herb oil (she did not like that part-but it got the point across). Then we broke the bread and passed the grape juice and explained that Jesus did that with his disciples. It was really fun! IT was a beautiful day and so nice! I think next year we will try to do a more traditional passover meal, I don't know if we will make it a picnic or not. I guess we have a long time to think about it. It will be a nice tradition to really help us focus on the only reason for Easter. To focus on our Faith and our Savior. Anyways, afterwards we walked around the Botanic Gardens and had fun taking pictures of our families! It is really nice to live so close to my sister! Here are some pictures:
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