Pics of the Week

I totally stole this idea from "my fellow blogger/friend whom I've met a few times but really don't know all that well, we're connected in a way through business but I feel like I've known her forever already," Denyse. Of course she had to one up me already because she put up a picture from a mission trip...but here's mine...not quite as spiritual. Thanks for the bright idea Denyse! (You should totally check out her Etsy store too...she's quite talented! http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=63959)

These pictures are from January of 2004 when Caleb played a lion in the Early Childhood Program's Circus.

Look at those eyes...couldn't you just eat him up???

Finally Home

Grab a kleenex and check out the new Mercy Me video...



Awesome!

www.mercyme.org/blog/

Quotes of the Week

Well I've got three nuggets...all from Cody this week. Funny...it always seems like it's Cody saying most of the quotes...don't really know what that means for his future, but....

This morning he was discussing how he was going to pick which college he was going to by putting every school over $20,000 in a hat and drawing a name out. I then asked him, "well how are you going to pay for college?" He then said, "with my smartitudes."

Then tonight after Upwards basketball practice, he told me he was able to say his memory verse for this week by looking at it and memorizing it real fast. I asked him to say it to me and he rattled off some 'version' of the verse and then said, "that's interpreted into Cody language."

On Sunday nights, Cody attends Cross Trainers, a Bible study for 5th and 6th graders that also teaches them a different part of service in ministry. We asked him what he learned last night and he said they studied "how you are defined." I'm pretty sure that he was supposed to learn that he is defined by how much he allows Christ to be a part of his life, but when we asked him, "how are you defined?"...he said, "a boy who is totally on the up side of the awesome scale." I think they teach humility too. He was absent that week.

Nashville

Well I made it to Nashville today with little trouble. I did set off the metal detector at the airport...and got pulled to the side and put inside the space age looking clear tube that shoots puffs of air at you...was so appreciative of the new hairstyle. Then I got wanded and frisked...but there was no extra charge for that so it was okay.:) Evidently jewelry and underwire bras will set those things off...who knew? Traveling with one of my bosses seemed to take my mind off of the constant gnawing of fear in my stomach...and being upgraded to First Class didn't hurt. Did you know in first class you don't even have to ask for blankets?...they're just there waiting for you...oh, and the snack was better than coach, but of course I didn't take one because I seriously could not manage to put one thing on my already shaky stomach. I was trying to "Notify my Attitude' as my mom told me to do about flying, but....

If you prayed for me today, thank you.

We had a great day of meetings and having lunch at J. Alexander's with a guy that is about to be hired as Simpleville's Creative Director. I really love the vibe of Nashville, and the guys that work at Simpleville are great. Total visionaries and salt of the earth types. I'm really thankful I get to work with these guys. Also, the office was full of writers today...Addison Road and others writing new songs and we would hear them trying them out through the office. Love the creativity happening right there.

I am now sitting in my hotel room in my pj's (shout out Kristy!), watching TV, and missing my boys...all three of them.

Tomorrow morning, I'm working on one of my wishes for this year. And then, I'm back on my return flight...but I'm not thinking about that right now. I'm off to sweet dreams...where there are no airplanes...just cruise ships.

Flying High

This week I will do the thing that scares me probably more than anything in life...flying. I know most of you do not share this fear because even while I am laughing and trying to make jokes on the outside that I'm scared (and the worst stomach ache ever on the inside), I hear a plethora of responses..."you'll be fine," "it's such a short flight," "nothing bad's gonna happen,", and perhaps the best from my brother-in-law, "suck it up." Okay, I KNOW ALL OF THIS. But isn't that the way it is with most fears? Generally they are unfounded and silly, but that doesn't help...because I'm enclosed in a metal tube thousands of miles in the air with no option to get out when I want. And I know I'm supposed to have faith and depend on God to calm me...and I really try. But for the most part, I would really just like to take an enormous amount of drugs and be incoherent for the ride. Somehow I don't think my boss or co-workers would appreciate that side of me in our meetings.

About 15 years ago, I was on a Southwest Airlines flight headed for Houston to visit my parents. This was a surprise visit...the ticket had been purchased by a friend of mine and sent to me so I could surprise them for a special service they were having at their church. We were about 25 minutes into the 50 minute flight, and there was a loud "boom." That is not a sound that is supposed to happen when you are thousands of miles up in the air. I wasn't sure to panic until I saw the flight attendants start going up and down the aisle very quickly...back and forth to the cockpit...collecting drinks and trash along the way. They weren't being all perky and cute anymore...so I KNOW something is wrong. Within minutes, the pilot had turned the plane around and we were heading back to Dallas. The pilot came on and said that one of the engines had blown out. I'm not a mechanic, but I'm pretty sure that airplanes only have 2 engines, and if one of them blew, what would prevent the other from doing so, especially with so much pressure being put on it for having to perform for two? And I'm not an engineer, but without engines, I don't think those airplanes glide very well.

About 10 minutes before we were to land, we were told to put our heads between our knees and brace ourselves. There were many firetrucks and ambulances waiting on the runway for us when we made it to the ground...thankfully, safely. All I could think of was that my parents didn't even know I was on the plane...I hadn't prepared to die that day...they would probably be mad at my friend for buying me the ticket...heck, I'm mad at my friend for buying me the ticket...I left my apartment a mess...I'm glad I have on clean underwear, and yeah...I really don't want to die this way. I had to immediately get on another flight to make it in time for the service, and then fly home later that night...which I did while quietly sobbing the entire flight.

I told myself I would not let my fear get the best of me, and I've flown several times since then but it is certainly not my favorite mode of transportation. I have been known to grab perfect strangers on either side of me when the plane takes a sudden drop or hits an air pocket. Yeah, that's not good.

Not only have I had my most frightening experience on a plane, but I've also had my most embarrassing moment on a plane. When I went away to college in Missouri, my roommate's dad died unexpectedly about our second or third week there. She and I flew home within hours of finding out, and we had a stop somewhere between Missouri and Austin, TX. We were not supposed to get off the plane, and so I made a quick trip to the restroom while we were stopped. Evidently I was unsure how to properly lock the restroom door because while I was sitting there...you know...the door opens and I am face to face with the pilot. Nice.

I know planes are safer than automobiles...and if planes could fly about 100 feet off the ground, that would be so much better. It doesn't help that there was a plane crash just last week, and I cannot get away from the news stories! I know that most people LOVE to fly, but I'd honestly rather have a root canal. So would you please offer up a little prayer for me this week if you think about it? And if I don't make it, would you please put "I Told You So" on my tombstone?

Cody Needs to Study Harder

This was a conversation in our house this week:

Cody: Isn't Obama our first Indian-American president?

Steve: No, African-American.

Cody: Whatever.

I don't think he'll be asked to give any speeches on MLK day.

I Already Know How to Pray, Right?

Last night at the end of choir practice, our worship leader introduced a man to us who is at the very least a "prayer guru." After listening to him list the many people, organizations,...countries he has taught how to pray more effectively, I wanted to hear more. He has been mentoring some of our church staff in that area for some time now. Sadly, I don't remember his name, so I'll just have to refer to him as Mr. Prayer Guru.

I've always thought of myself as a good pray-er. I mean, I do it...which is half the battle. But honestly, alot of the time it feels like I do it by rote...not really expecting God to move in any 'miraculous' way because of little ol' me's prayer. Sometimes it feels obligatory...praying for the safety of all my family, our provision...blah, blah, blah. How sad is that? That prayer has become so stale...so ritualistic...so same song, second verse? I've had conversations with my boys about not saying the same thing in every prayer...yet I find myself doing the same thing. To invoke the powers, I have to say my special chant...much like the "Oh zephyr winds which blow on high, lift me now, so I can fly" chant from Mighty Isis days...afraid if I leave the request for safety out, they might not be kept safe.

Then Mr. Prayer Guru had us do something I hadn't done in a long time. We were to go with 1 or 2 other people into the sanctuary and pray...by letting the Holy Spirit tell us what to pray. You see prayer has become one of those things that gets cut short by my "to do" list. I only have limited time during the day, so I must budget it accordingly. It hurts to admit that...to say it out loud. But it's true.

A couple of other girls and I sat down in the sanctuary where our youth normally sit. Almost immediately, God began putting things on my heart to pray for our youth...the ordinary, yes, but out of the ordinary too. I can't tell you when I have specifically prayed for the youth of our church, but they weren't prayers for safety or provision. They were prayers for deliverance, and strength to stand against Satan's attacks. They were prayers that they would become leaders who would stand up against sin...and that they wouldn't bicker among themselves. They were prayers for purity and conviction.

That exercise helped me see...I've been in my prayer box for too long...limited to the four walls of my every day, run of the mill, requests. No more. I can no longer be limited to pray what is only listed in numerical order in my prayer journal. I will approach the Savior with the extravagant prayers...the unfathomable dreams and visions. I will pray believing...for miracles and change.

I'm praying for something big this year. What are you praying for?

I Think I Could Squeeze In One More Thing Today

Today was a jam packed day. It started VERY weird, and sad...but ended happy.

This morning I let Abby out to use the bathroom before taking the boys to school. I let her out in the front yard because she's much more likely to get to her business fast when she's there vs. roaming the 4 acres behind our house. She heads to the far edge of the lawn (near the street) and starts to poop, and I watch because she seems like she's in some distress, if you know what I mean. Turns out she was paying the penalty for eating the 2 tampons she ate earlier in the week (sorry guys...I know that is NOT what you expected to read here...but hey, be thankful there are no pictures accompanying this post).

While this is going on, there are several cars passing by because it's evidently rush hour on our street and I guess these drivers are so intrigued by watching my dog poop, one of them does not see the precious little kitty crossing the street and runs over it. Well it begins to flop all over the street (I'M TRYING TO LIVE!..private joke) and I'm like frozen in time watching this. Abby sees the kitty flopping around and is now not only trying to finish pooping out tampons, but wants to go chase the kitty that is flopping around the street. She starts walking toward the street still hunched over in the poop position. I look around for the hidden camera...and finally snap out of it and get Abby's attention to go inside. I close the door silently praying that someone will call the cat catcher to come pick that dead kitty from out in front of my house. All this before 8 a.m.

Then I went and had a little Photoshop lesson taught by my new best friend, Andrea...which I thought I could conquer in probably an hour. Okay, three hours later...I still do not have a clue what I'm doing in Photoshop. But maybe my head was still in the fog of what happened this morning and I just couldn't focus enough.

I got home, and Steve took me on a surprise lunch date. He had packed a picnic lunch in the back of our SUV and he took me to the lake and we sat in the back and ate lunch with a view of the lake and the ducks. It was so sweet and romantic. But he's like that...always doing romantic things like that. He's always leaving me little notes, and gifts...and has taken me on several romantic dates. I remember for our first anniversary (many years ago), we were exchanging gifts. He had written a poem for me and had it printed and custom fitted into a mat that fit into this little cottage frame he had found that looked like something I would love...and I did. I can't explain it very well...but let's just say you could tell it took a lot of time and effort to do this very personal and well thought out gift. I gave him a... dumbbell. I. am. not. kidding. He had asked for one a while back so he could exercise at home, and I was just trying to get him something he asked for. I seriously felt so bad. So I guess you could say he is the romantic one in our family.

*Note: He does have one or two flaws. He forgot plates so we had to improvise.
*Note: He also left the radio on too long and the car battery went dead...we had to get a jump to get back home.

*Note: It was in the 70's today with a cool breeze.
*Note: This was so peaceful and relaxing.
*Note: Steve is wearing clothes...they're just shorts.
*Note: Please do not leave me comments about my desperate need of a pedicure. I know this and it is on my to do list.

Note: I love you Mr. Romance.

After we got a jump and made it home, he unpacked the car of our picnic stuff, and repacked the car with his and the boys' bikes. When the boys got home from school, I worked, and Steve took the boys and one of their friends mountain biking...their most recent hobby which they all love. These are some pictures from last Saturday when they went biking at the same place.

*Note: This frightens me.

*Note: As does this.

*Note: This is sweet and one of my favorite pictures so far this year.

When the boys got home and cleaned up, we decided to take them to our new Dave & Busters. They've been wanting to go...and since we hadn't done anything else all day, we decided it would be fun. They LOVED it.

*Note: Cody had a lucky streak tonight.

Do you know what they bought with all their tickets they won playing games?

This...complete with 6 'different' farts.

I believe I'll be getting an extra crown in Heaven for being the mother of boys...and Abby.

A Fallen Officer

Rest in peace Officer Smith.

And Such As...

I have been asked to participate in an interview at church this Sunday about Beach Club, and I'm pretty sure it's going to turn out something like this...minus the sash and diamonds.




No autographs please.

One Step Forward, One Step Back

*Update: Evidently I posted the bird picture below without words... although I had posted words...they evidently disappeared. I was saying how I am also obsessed with birds right now. I'm stamping them on scrapbook pages...I bought a beautiful larger than life bird to hang on my office wall (as soon as my hubby gets to that on his ever-growing 'to do' list, I will post a picture), and I found this little cutey at Target. I left the matching nest there, but am pretty sure that will get taken care of later this week. Maybe it should be one step forward, TWO steps back.

In an effort to hold myself accountable for my 2009 Wishes, I am succeeding in one...making every day special. I've decided we're going to use the new Christmas dishes all year long this year...because I love them, and because they make me happy. I don't think the boys care as long as they're loaded with food.

That being said...in full disclosure, I bought the dishes at, um...Target. Yes, I am still obsessed with that dang store.

Dog for Rent

Seeing Marley and Me this past weekend made me think alot about our own lab. *Note to self: Never trust anyone else, especially people who are not parents yet, on whether a movie is suitable for my children. What has the world come to when you take your children to a dog movie at Christmas and want to crawl under the seats at times for the inappropriate scenes? And really, are Christmas movies really supposed to have dogs dying in them? But I digress...

Our Abby is a very good dog...except for the occasional thunderstorm during which she will jump in the kitchen sink (and more than once breaking dishes), or on top of the stove (once turning on the burners), or on top of the washing machine (more than once knocking off the box of detergent on the floor). Sweet, sweet dog. Um, yeah.

I never knew where the term "my dog ate my homework" came from, but evidently they owned Abby in her previous life.


This dog loves to eat paper. Maybe she's missing fiber in her diet, but if you drop a piece of paper on the floor, she gets it and takes it away to eat it.

At least she has good taste.

Now I think her actions would improve if I could just get her to eat the Bible...

Wishes for 2009

I love New Year’s resolutions…not because I ever stick to them, but because it’s like a list…and I love lists. I love putting things on lists that I’ve already done just so I can check them off. But this year I have decided to do a list of New Year’s Wishes. We’ll see if I have any more success with those.

*I’m going to go ahead with the most common recurring resolution. Actually it’s been in my list of resolutions for as long as I’ve been alive I believe, but I will put it in the form of a wish and say I wish I was a size much, much smaller…and I wish I didn’t have to exercise to get there. Okay, now that’s out of the way.

*I wish I could keep up with my filing this year. This will not happen…because it never does.

*I wish Starbucks delivered, and Diet Coke was available by faucet.

*I wish I could get paid for watching reality TV.

*I wish I wasn’t obsessed with Target.

*I wish I had even one scrapbook finished.

*I wish I could see close with my contacts on, and far with my contacts off.

*I wish there was a magic cleaning fairy who would dance along behind every member of my family and return things to their rightful spot.

*I wish I could say “I’m caught up.”

*I wish that I led a more creative, artsy life, and that ‘that dream’ I have would come true.

*I wish I wouldn’t save the good candles for a special occasion.

*I wish I saw every day as a special occasion.

*I wish I could turn back time and record every minute of my boys on video.

*I wish I wouldn’t hurt the ones I love the most.

*I wish I didn’t judge others.

*I wish I knew what God was trying to tell us about Honduras.

*I wish I would learn to live one day at a time…and not worry about the future.

*I wish I would give more, and ask for less.

*I wish time didn’t fly.

*I wish I loved God enough to start and end every day with Him. I wish I loved Him enough to lay down my pride and let Him take control of my life…freely, completely, and unconditionally. I wish I loved Him enough to sacrifice my wants and desires in order to understand His perfect will for my life.

*I’m thankful God gives me a new day every day…a new chance to start and end every day with Him. He loves me enough to nudge and correct me so that I’ll let Him have complete control of my life. He loves me enough to work out His perfect will in my life in spite of me.

I hope you get the things you wish for in 2009.

Homemade Christmas

This last Christmas (2008), I recommended that we make homemade gifts for each other. Please shoot me if I ever recommend that again, but I did enjoy making some gifts for family members. I couldn't post pictures earlier, because we had our last Christmas gift exchange just yesterday and I couldn't risk those being seen beforehand.

I (and I use that term very loosely because my good friend Kristy really did all the work on this...but I picked out all the fabric!) made a rag quilt for my mom.

Then I made some rag scarfs for my twin nieces...

I also made some canvases for different family members:

*The words on this one say "Embrace the Journey."

*There is a phrase at the top of this that says "Walk with me and be my friend forever."

*The words on this one are History, Journey and Love.

*This one says "Remember."

The pictures aren't great, but I really enjoyed the creative process on these.

Bad Boyz, Bad Boyz

Steve had to work New Year's Eve this year and that always leads to some interesting stories. PUT DOWN THE BEER PEOPLE!

There was the girl who was trying to break down the door of a house because she thought it was her house...in another city. She had already peed and pooped her pants while trying to get in. Nice.

Then there was the teenage couple he caught in the park in the back seat of a car...who were just finishing getting dressed. The girl had on the t-shirt with a guitar pick on it that says "Pick Jesus." Indeed.