This year we tried a combined birthday party for Colby and Kennedy. Since their birthdays are only a month apart on the calendar, we figured it would be easier (and less traveling for those involved) to just have the parties at the same time. Kevin put these pictures up a little while ago, but I have been trying in vain to add captions. So, use your imagination to see what kind of party we had and if the kids had fun or not. And be sure to add the comments.
Anybody else like the Discovery Channel? Alicia told me about this commercial and she got a long version from her podcast subscription. However, I haven’t been able to get this song out of my head since I saw it on Kevin’s iPhone.
Last night was the final night of children’s choir for the year. I have really had a great year with some awesome co-teachers and a great group of compassionate kiddos. I would post pictures except I forgot my camera in the diaper bag. Hopefully I’ll be receiving some from the parents of these sweet children, and I’ll post them then.
When we finished singing, one of the moms handed me something as I walked up the church aisle. I finally got to look at it, and it was a gift card to Starbucks! There was a sweet note attached with the child’s handwriting - I love you, Mis Jenna. Love, me.
I walked into the choir room last night and found a sweet story written by another child. (They write things to me and make me pictures all the time, but I really liked this one because it was so very elaborate.)
I’m keeping the spellings the same; the translation is at the bottom.
a log log log tim ugo ter livd a wish a vere men men wish. Then She strtit to seing a sog. (Insert written music notes here. Very well-written.) and trd tees into dust. then the bravis sooprhiros kam to saf the day ten evereten kam bake to norml THE END.
Which is, of course: A long, long time ago, there lived a witch, a very mean mean witch. Then she started singing a song (music notes) And turned trees into dust. Then the bravest superheroes came to save the day. Then everything came back to normal. The End.
I love it! A perfect blend of plot, character development, conflict, and resolution. Oh, and I forgot that this was written for “Mis Genu”. Hooked on Phonics!
Oh ladies, I am so excited to review this book for you for several reasons.One, it is hot off the press!It just hit stores earlier this year, and we are privileged to give away one copy to a lucky MOPS Mom today.Two, I read Generation NeXt Parenting and reviewed it for last year’s newsletter, and I knew what author Tricia Goyer was capable of writing.
Sure enough, Goyer did not disappoint me.The book is such an easy read because of the format and the way she breaks up all the “heavy” material with stories from Moms just like us.Isn’t that what we all need; something to refresh our minds but not burden our schedule?We’ve talked about using Love Languages in marriage this year, and I think this book is a great companion to learning how to speak your spouse’s language, even though Goyer uses different terms.
Some of you ladies might not be labeled as “Generation Xers”, or those born between 1960 and 1981.Whether your birth date falls in this gap or not, this book is for you.You just might not remember all the song lyrics she uses as chapter and theme titles! (or, you might…)Whether you’ve been married for a year or for 20 years, whether this is your first marriage or your third, this book is for you.
You will love her life story – it is so unconventional.Her life work is even more dramatic.But most of all, you will love this book.Now, I think I’ll pick up some of Goyer’s fiction work…
Back to my reviewing stand. I’ve saved the best 2 reviews for last…
Who’s Mary?And why do I want to be like her?Allow me to tell you a part of their lives, the part of which Joanna Weaver pens her book:
As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!” “Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.” – Luke 10:38-42
(I can picture Jesus saying “Martha, Martha” in Jan’s Brady Bunch tone – like, “Marcia, Marcia, Marcia!”Everything had to be about her work, in her mind.)This concept sounds so simple, right? We should stop and listen to what the Lord has to say, instead of worrying about how clean our kitchens are or what wonderful dish we should prepare for dinner.Easy as shepherd’s pie?Not so much, for me at least.
I love Weaver’s subtitle for the book:“Finding Intimacy with God in the Busyness of Life”.We all know that life is busy.As a Mother of preschooler(s), you KNOW life is busy.But that shouldn’t be our excuse for sitting with our Savior and drinking in every word he speaks to our lives.The dishes and laundry can wait. The Lord cannot!
One of my favorite chapters in this book is when Weaver illustrates her life as being on a teeter-totter, going up and down and back up and down again.Many of you have heard this joke:
“To be is to do.” – Socrates
“To do is to be.” – Aristotle
“Doo be doo be doo.” – Frank Sinatra
I really think Old Frank had some truth to tell, whether he realized it or not.And Weaver reinforces this by saying we must find the balance point in our lives between “doing” and “being”.I hope you’ll pick up her book and find out exactly what she’s talking about.
This book really touched my heart and I hope it will touch yours.
One of our dear mentoring couples from our church has a son who has recently been diagnosed with cancer. The son is married with 3 young children. He lives very far away, in another state, and traveling to see him is very hard. Finding out about the cancer diagnosis has just about eaten my lunch, because the son’s mom and I have been praying very fervently for some other people in our church with very major problems. So when this hit, I just couldn’t believe God would let this sort of thing happen to them.
The son had an 80% chance of surviving the cancer and would undergo 7 weeks of chemo treatments. This has been very hard on their family but their church family has been fabulous; I’ve been reading about them on the son’s personal blog. The church family has prayed for him around the clock, they have driven many many miles to pray with them, and they have brought them meals to help with this stressful time.
Today I found out that at the son’s last doctor’s appointment, the cancer was completely gone.
Gone.
Why am I surprised by this? When I prayed for him, I believed that God would take his cancer away, but now that it has actually happened, I’m shocked. I know that the prayers of righteous men and women avail many… I believe that God raised Jesus from the dead and that He has the power of healing anyone. There were so so many people praying for this precious family. When the mom and I talked earlier today, she told me she slept all through the night last night for the first time since the original diagnosis. I’m sure a huge weight was lifted off their shoulders.
The son is still going to go through chemo, to make sure nothing pops up. But please don’t tell me that God doesn’t work miracles in our present-day life. I know He does. I’ve experienced them more times than I can count. And one of these days, I’ll be able to thank Him in person for showing Himself to me in this way. Until then, I’ll just do my own personal best to praise Him.
I added links - Our Life Now and Colby and Kennedy’s birth stories. They are under the row of buttons beginning with Home; you have to mouse over them to see them. Enjoy!
So I was watching CBN tonight. Not something I usually watch, but I caught the beginning of it and they mentioned a new documentary that came out today. It’s called Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed and Ben Stein is the main character. The premise seems to be centered around the scientific community’s obsession with being anti-Intelligent Design. I am pretty sure it is not pro-Christian. Keep in mind that intelligent design doesn’t mean Christianity, it means that we originated by a higher power (which of course happens to be what Christians believe). Stein interviews several scientists that have questioned that we really originated by some fluke event, like lightning striking a patch of mud. I checked to see if it was at our local theaters, and it is- so I think we will go see it.
After a little digging, I found an expanded trailer on YouTube. Have a look for yourself.
Of course after we go see it, I’ll write some sort of review.
I am so glad I got to see this film with my friend Rachel, who has a fabulous post about it on her blog. Her review is so right on and exactly what I would have said. The film is on Netflix… anyone get Netflix? I want Kevin to see this too.
In addition, I will say that from personal experience, I wish I had seen this film before I had Colby. I think many in our generation are under the impression now to not trust doctors and their judgments. While I want you to form your own opinions, I also know that everyone’s body and birth experience is different. I’d recommend this film to anyone, especially first-time mothers, but also to those who think about delivering without pain meds (whether your first birth experience was bad or not!).
….was my answer when my friend Shala asked me “What are y’all up to?”. Kevin made sure to clarify that it’s Kennedy we’re weaning and Colby we’re potty training. Ha. ha.
Weaning: As soon as Kennedy turned 1, I breathed a huge sigh of relief that I had made it to the “magical year mark”, and I think my body stopped producing as much. We’re slowly cutting down on the number of feedings she has, but she still wants to nurse, so I let her. (I think we’re at 2 per day now.) She won’t take a bottle and also doesn’t want to drink whole milk, so we mix it with some Yo Baby Yogurt in a straw cup. That yogurt is yummy.
Potty Training: I recently read the book Potty Training for Dummies to help me with this task. And basically, the book says to let the kid wait til he’s ready. Apparently Thursday was the day. He woke up from his nap with a completely dry diaper (first time ever, I think), so I told him to sit on his potty, and he went! First time he’s done that for me, so we made a big big deal of it and called his daddy on the phone and then told him he could start wearing big boy underwear. He chose his Lightning McQueen underwear and has been doing great ever since! (I won’t say he hasn’t had accidents, but Rome wasn’t built in a day! He’s doing great.)
We bought Colby a Baby Bjorn potty. Best invention ever. Colby got to pick out the color himself (red) and he’s totally comfortable sitting on it and reading some of his books while he… goes. He also wears a pull-up or a diaper at night. We’ve been reading the book My Big Boy Potty by Joanna Cole for awhile now (we checked it out at the library a couple of times). In that book, Michael still wears a diaper at night, until he learns to stay dry at night. Colby has memorized this book, so we make sure to quote lines from it so he can be “just like Michael”. Of course, all of this means we have to stay close to the potty and/or take it with us everywhere we go, which means we haven’t been on time for anything since Thursday. It’ll get better.
***Update: Now Colby is not wearing a diaper at night; he wants to wear his Lightening pull-ups and won’t wear diapers anymore. He’s averaging about 2-3 pull-ups per day. I’ll keep you posted.
Kevin and I have great kids. Thanks for reading this far on 2 yucky subjects.
(No, this post is not late. For some reason it got lost in cyber-space and I just now realized it was never published.)
Dear Kennedy,
I cannot believe you are ONE year old today. At this time last year, I held you and held you in my arms. I was so glad you had decided to get here! I kept telling your daddy you knew what you were doing - your April 5th due date just wasn’t going to hold up, but you had to be an April baby so your birthstone would be a diamond. That, and you wouldn’t have to share your month with anyone else in our family’s March-full birthday month!
Your big brother loves you so much. He takes such good care of you and is so protective of you. You love him back, too, and want to play with all of his toys. It’s okay because I never played with dolls much growing up. Who knows what you’ll do, though, when you figure it all out?
Your favorite things to play with are your stuffed bunny, your stuffed pink bear, and your Elmo book. You love “EL- BOW!”, as you call him, and you look so intently at the tv when Sesame Street comes on.
Your other favorite toy isn’t a toy but an issue of “Bark” magazine we found one day at Half Price Books. You saw it and started making kissing noises at the cover. We ended up buying the magazine because you drooled all over it, but it’s been the best $1 investment of a toy! You love to look through the pictures of dogs and say “Pup-py!” You love your puppy Cooper too. Anytime we say his name, you look down to see him, and you like to try and pet Cooper whenever he’ll give you the chance.
Recently you’ve liked to say “Ay-MEN!” at the table. You’ve always held our hands when it was prayer time, but lately you’ve taken to be more vocal. You are a great eater and will eat any vegetable or fruit that comes your way.
I love you, Baby Girl, and I’m so proud of all that you have done this year. You are such a beautiful blessing in our lives and I look forward to many more birthdays to come.
We went to Old Baylor this year to take the annual pictures in the bluebonnets. (very close to the Antique Rose Emporium in Independence, TX) I highly recommend this spot; it was wonderfully colorful!
I wish I knew how to make this easier… Pictures are in our gallery - click on Photos at the top OR Our Photo Gallery at the right, then click Combined Pictures of Our Kids, then 2008, then March. Enjoy!
I’m just waiting for the hits… if you Google the title (minus the subtitle listed below), you might land on a book which has a little different meaning… nothing to worry about here.
What Women Want:The Life You Crave and How God Satisfies written by Lisa T. Bergren & Rebecca Price
Have you been to the self-help section of your favorite bookstore?You’ll notice that there are literally hundreds of ways, methods, and techniques you can use to “feel better about yourself” or “get rid of those negative attitudes in one day” or my favorite, “wish your way to a better you”.
This book is so much more than a self-help book.It is a Bible study designed by women, for women.I am constantly amazed at how God works in my life, especially through the books I read.These authors could never have known what areas of my life I would be struggling with at the exact moment I’d read their book.And yet, it seems as if I could read this book over and over (and work through the accompanying workbook pages) and still come away refreshed and renewed.
Many times I will read a book and think, “My husband would really like this chapter.” Or, “I’ll have to let my husband read this book; he’d like it.”This is not such a book.“What Women Want”, the movie with Mel Gibson, is probably what you think of when you read the title.However, you will love to recommend this book to any woman of any age, circumstance, or background.Each woman who reads this book will know they are a PCOG, a Phenomenal Creature Of God.And that’s exactly what we are.
I was contacted by the authors and/or their publicists to read and review 4 books for my MOPS newsletter. (Then, after the review was published, we were free to give the books away as door prizes to 4 lucky MOPS moms.) I recently gained permission to post these reviews on my blog. The books are listed in the order I read them, not in any ranking order. Enjoy!
The Busy Mom’s Devotional written by Lisa T. Bergren
Each year for Christmas I receive a devotional book as a present.I’ve seen all kinds.. The ones with Scriptures to read each day.The ones with short inspirational thoughts to start your day.The ones that make you journal to your heart’s content.Can you guess my success rate with these day-to-day, minute by minute devotional books?Yep, most of them are sitting on my bookshelf, half-read or even unread.
This book is different.I’m serious.The subtitle of the book is 10 Minutes a Week to a Life of Devotion.Only 52 stories packed inside this book, and she includes spaces for you to jot down your thoughts and prayers or even your shopping list, because of course, Moms have so many things running through our minds when we should be praying!Perfect for a type A person like me.(If you’re not type A, keep reading.)Bergren takes a beautiful passage of Scripture from The Message Bible (paraphrase) and adds a short story about her life to illustrate it.Although we Texas girls can’t identify with her stories of the Montana lakes or the cold winter’s temperatures, you will nod your head in agreement with her adventures in parenting.To say “I’ve been there” is a bit trite, but true.I wanted to include one of her stories in this review, but I honestly couldn’t choose just one.
The phrase “Busy Mom” is an oxymoron.If you’re a Mom, of one or especially more children, you will be busy.This book is a great way to steal away some time to focus on your Heavenly Father.After all, if we’re not focusing on Him, then the focus on other things will be blurry.I highly recommend this book for reading.
Did you ever have role models? There are wonderful women in our church that I have looked up to for years now. I have watched them raise their families, teach Sunday School, and hold various positions of notoriety in our town. I still think they “hung the moon”. But I think I held some unrealistic expectations of them. After all, they are human and they are capable of every emotion, good and bad. I just never saw their bad side.
Don’t think that something has happened to one of these women to make me change my mind about them. I am just realizing now that it’s time for me to stop aspiring to be one of them and to follow my own life’s plan. I can’t be them; I’m not them! It’s hard for me to think that maybe somewhere other little girls might be looking up to me, wanting to be like me. (And I don’t say this to be proud, I say it because I have a daughter that will hopefully want to be at least a little bit like me.)
So how do I be “all that I can be” without joining the army? How is it possible for me to aspire to be perfect, when I fall so laughably short? I keep running across these verses -
“…the older women [should] be reverent in the way they live, not to be slanderers or addicted to much wine, but to teach what is good. Then they can train the younger women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled and pure, to be busy at home, to be kind, and to be subject to their husbands, so that no one will malign the word of God.” - Titus 2:3-5 (NIV)
The New Living Translation says if the older women do these things, “then they will not bring shame on the word of God”. Wow. What a responsibility. I don’t claim to be old, but I know I’m older than most of the people I am around, and I know my life choices make me “older” than most. (being married, having kids, etc.)
So, I don’t want to be a role model. I want to be a Titus Woman. Next week I’ll pick out my costume. Hopefully it will have a cape.
