Thanksgiving

We went to my Uncle Doug and Aunt Laurie's new house for Thanksgiving. For most, Thanksgiving is about giving thanks for the blessings in their live's. But for Izabell, it's about eating, drinking and making new friends. My aunt and uncle have three boys. We usually only see them on holidays, so Izabell has not had the chance to get to know them. Well, she got to know them Thursday. I love watching her play. In the first picture she is wrestling on the bed with my cousin Tyler. He is the youngest of the three and he is so sweet. The second picture is of Izabell and Glen (uncle doug's friend's kid) "riding" four-wheelers. The last picture is of her new best friend, Chris. He is the oldest of the three and Izabell loved him. He left to go get his girlfriend and Izabell spent that time looking for him and calling everyone else "Chris".

So, that is what I am thankful for. Izabell. I have so many blessings in my life, but none compare to the joy of having a daughter.

Simplicity

I've been thinking about simplicity. Isn't it strange how, in our modern world with all of this technology that was designed to make things easier, things just keep getting more complicated?

Great Day

Today was so beautiful. I love fall. The air is crisp and clean. The sun is bright, and all of the colors and smells are blissful. Today we carved a pumpkin. This was Izabell's first experience with pumpkin carving, and she was a little reluctant at first to get her hands icky. But she decided to try it and we had fun. I love the smell of a fresh cut pumpkin. You know what else I love? Roasted marshmallows. I went to Dad's and spent some quality time with the camp fire. If you've never experienced this, you must. Anyway, we had a great day and now I am pooped. It's a good thing we get an extra hour of sleep tonight, because Izabell and I both are going to need it.

Happy Birthday

Happy Birthday to Izabell and Elizabeth. Izabell was 3 on Oct. 16 and Elizabeth will be 7 on Oct. 26. Elizabeth is my beautiful, smart, and very sweet niece. We dont get the kids all together at once very often, so we combined their birthdays and had one big party. I went to the frurniture store and filled my husbands van with as many boxes as I could fit in there, took them home and dumped them in the yard. You would be surprised how much fun kids can have with boxes. ( isnt that all they ever really want to play with anyway?) So we played with boxes, played on the swings, opened presents, and ate cake. What a day.

Not much else to say. Just some cute pictures to show you.

Sick and Tired

In case anyone has wondered why I have been MIA for so long, I had enough of being sick and decided to get some rest. Then about the time I thought I was starting to feel better, Izabell got sick. She has had a fever since Monday. We finally went to the doctor Wednesday and he ran a strep culture. Good news, it's not strep. Bad news, it is a viral infection that has put us out of school and work all week. Good news, I got to spend some quality time with Izabell. Bad news, I am really behind at work. Oh well, I guess you never really get caught up anyway. I plan to spend tomorrow tending to Izabell, and enjoying our time together. Hopefully, she will be well by Sunday because I dont want to miss Darrell Bridges.

The love of a Parent

Today's sermon was about prayer. I'm sure you've all heard many sermons about prayer before. So have I. But this one touched me in a personal way. Kevin told a story about a man on an airplane showing pictures of his kid and talking about how wonderful his kid is, as though he were the first person on earth to ever experience having a child. I can totally identify with that story. When Izabell was born, I honestly felt that she was the first miracle to ever happen. She will turn 3 next month and I am still in awe of every new thing she does, as though she were the only child to ever learn to swing or sing a song, or use a CD player. It NEVER gets old. Kevin used that story to explain that God feels that way about us, and prayer is our way of going to Him. Don't we want our kids to call on us for love, support, attention? God wants that from us, too. How dare we keep that from Him. Prayer is so simple, yet we so often don't get it. Sometimes, we don't have to pray words. God knows what we want. The song "God of Wonders" has a line in it that I pray when there are no words, but I want to feel close to God. "Father hold me, hold me." Simple isn't it? That's all He wants. Kevin, thanks for putting it in simple terms that I can identify with.

Mercy and Forgiveness

This is actually a comment to Mark's last post. I couldn't get it to take my comment. However, it really got me to thinking about God's mercy and forgiveness. There is a line in the song "Majesty" that I love. "Forgiven so that I can forgive". Everytime I sing that line, I smile. Not only have I been forgiven much, but learning to forgive has set me free. Free from anger and pain that I was inflicting on myself. I am overwhelmed when I think about the mercy that God has shown me.
If you are reading this and you haven't experienced God's mercy and forgiveness, I highly recommend it. You won't be sorry.

Tea Time

I am sitting here having tea (as hot as I can stand it) because I cannot sleep due to coughing. This has been going on for almost a week now. But tea always makes me feel better.
Izabell loves to have tea parties. The funny thing is, we never actually have tea at our tea parties. As you can see in this picture, water works a lot better. Sometimes juice or iced tea or soda. Mostly, we have tea parties to practice manners, fine motor skills, and, well, just spend time together. But on the day that this picture was taken, she was having tea alone, confined to her chair, so that I could get supper done. Isn't that pitiful? Just like so many of us do, we get so busy that we cut out the important stuff. I am writing this post to remind myself and all of my friends to be careful. Lord, please help us to remember what is really important and prioritize appropriately.

By, the way, check out the shoes. That's the Murray coming out in her.

Stretching

I know a little stretching is good for us, but at some point you will eventually break. I almost reached that point yesterday. I was at church at 7:15 to sing in all three services. I am not griping about that. I love doing it, and I would get up and be there at 5:30 if that is what I was called to do. But yesterday, I was also scheduled to work in the nursery. I didn't think that it would be that big of a deal to get someone to work for me, since we have hundreds of servants in our church. Or do we?
I am slowly beginning to realize that it is the same dedicated people who work themselves ragged to get everything done. Dont get me wrong, I love my church. I really, really love my church. But yesterday was very discouraging for me. Do I draw the line and say, "No, more"? Or do I keep doing it because they need me? I realize that I don't need to be doing something that causes me to have hard feelings, (this was pointed out to me by a very wise friend), but when it comes to kids, I have never been able to say no. And if I do quit, that just means more work for the other dedicated workers who are just trying to help out.
I am asking my friends to please give any advise that may be helpful, because this is keeping me from sleeping. Also, please pray that God puts in my heart what He wants me to do, not what I want to do.

My Child

Should I be worried that my child likes to take the heads off of her dolls?
She's been doing this for a while, but this was the funniest because she actually gave it a different body by sticking it on a bottle. She brought it too me and said, "Now she has a bathing suit". It's all about swimming in this house. She can make a bathing suit out of anything.
I am starting to freak out because she was moved up to a different class at her school. Now she rotates in centers all day. For those who are not in the child care profession, this means that she spends about 10 minutes in one center and then they move her and her group to another center. The centers are writing, library, music, art, etc. I guess it's official. She's growing up regardless of what I want..
Anyway, I am ready for Monday. All of my students are enrolled, the room is ready, and we have lots of toys!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I cant wait!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm Back

I just completed my first week back to work. I was frustrated to learn that all of the work I did before I left for the summer has to be re-done. I was told that I had to take everything out of my room because they were coming to strip and wax all of the floors in the building. Well, that's what I get for trying to be prepared. So, here we go again. While trying to do enrollment conferences, I also had to try to get everything outside or up off of the floor. My newly organized closets are now cram packed with as much stuff as we could possible get in there. But, on the sunny side, my floors will look really good!

Anyway, I did get to meet some of my new children. Some are already giving me hugs! I am so excited to get to know them. We are going to have the best year. When I returned to my class Monday, we had 4 huge boxes of new materials for the classroom. (The word materials in this case is translated into the word TOYS!!!!!) Also, a huge box of new children's books!

So, one more week of moving furniture and doing conferences, and then the fun begins!

Back to School

Tomorrow I go back to work after seven weeks off. You know how after a holiday weekend it is hard to get back into the groove? Well, I am hoping that I wake up a little more motivated tomorrow.
Mostly, I worry about Izabell's teachers. She has also been off for seven weeks. As a teacher, I know how children can act when they get out of their routine. She has had too much "Mommy time". In other words, she's spoiled rotten. So, you might want to pray for Ms. Jan and Ms. Cheryl because they are going to have their hands full for a week or so until they get Izabell "whipped back into shape".

Anyway, if you don't hear from me for a few days, don't worry. I may have a hard time keeping up after I get back to work. I don't usually have time for much of anything after coming home from work, trying to catch up on house work, and getting everybody fed and ready for bed. I am not griping, I'm just letting you know that this will no longer be a priority. But I will try to keep up as best as I can.

Too Much Fun

Is there a limit on how much fun you should have in one day? And at what point is it considered child abuse? I mean, if they are begging for a nap, have you gone a little too far?

Yesterday, my mom took the girls and me to Siloam Springs to visit her cousin, Katie. We started out the day by driving to Alma, shopping and then continuing the trip to Siloam. This means that the girls were worn out before we got there. Then, we spent several hours in the pool. I was beginning to think it was way past time for the girls to take a nap, when Katie loaded us up in the car and said we were going somewhere for a surprise. We ended up at the drive-through Safari at Gentry. This was great. We played with a baby tiger, a lemur, a snake, and many other animals. And, oh my gosh, was it hot! Well, we made our way around the place petting goats and feeding prairie dogs. I should have probably given in and asked to take the girls home when Izabell started staggering around as though she were drunk. However, I didn't give in until she laid down and tried to take a nap with a kangaroo. I am telling you, this girl is a hoot. She treats these animals as though they are just any other play mate.
So, we finally loaded up, went to Sonic and got slushes, and then headed home. Nap time? Not quite. Did I mention that it was hot? Well, when we got back to the house, the electricity was out. So, back to the pool we went.
As much fun as we had, the best part of the whole experience was this morning. Izabell slept in till 9:30!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
We might try that again soon.

By the way, in case you wondered, the picture has nothing to do with my post. I just thought it was too cute not to share.

I am beginning to panic. I go back to work Monday. I thought I just got out for the summer a few days ago. Yet, I have not done anything that I wanted to do, except spend time with Izabell. My secret goal was to have her potty trained before she went back to school. She's close, but not quite there. Not close enough to send her to school in panties. And anyone who's been through this knows that putting her back in pull ups is not going to help her progress at all. Okay, I know this sounds trivial to the rest of you, but this is my first child and I don't have much figured out yet. It's funny how having a Bachelors Degree in Early Childhood Education and taking dozens of classes on child development does not help in the least when it comes to my own child.
One thing that I did get to do yesterday was visit with a friend of mine. He is a 76 year old man who has been there for me during the hard times. He helped me during college by bringing me a care package of food each week along with a $20 bill. He is one of the most giving and caring people that I have ever met. I am blessed to have him in my life. It's funny how God places these people in your life. I am talking about the people who love you even though you don't necessarily deserve it. People who give without expecting to receive.
So if you have one of those people in your life and you don't always take the time to appreciate them, please do. Make time to thank them. Usually all they really want from you is your time.

This one's for Kathy

I have been really busy for a few days and didn't make time to post an entry. Also, I got a little discouraged when I tried to put a clip on my page and couldn't figure out how. It was the sweetest clip. It was of Izabell in the bathtub (no private parts showing of course) singing "I have a friend who loves me" at the top of her lungs. For those who do not know that song, it came from VBS and it is so cute. Especially the Spanish lyrics that never are the same when sung by a two year old.
But something did happen to me yesterday that gave me something to write about. On the way back home from an amazing service at church, I ran a 4-way stop sign. Not because I wasn't paying attention, but because the brakes in my husband's van decided not to work. He told me when I left that the brakes would not work if I didn't prepare to stop long ahead of time. The brakes are worn out and the van is loaded with band equipment, so it is pulling quite a bit of weight that needs extra effort to stop. So, as I put on the brakes, ( a little ahead of time) the van continues to go through the 4-way. The car that had the right-of-way was honking and making some not so happy faces at me. But it wasn't exactly what you would consider a close call. They were far enough away that they didn't even have to slow down much.
I learned two things from this incident. First, you don't need to get mad at someone when you don't have all of the facts. Sure it looked as though I was being inconsiderate and dangerous, but in reality, I was scared to death because I had lost control. Second, I was reminded how much I do not like losing control of a situation. I haven't had that feeling in a long time. While I do realize that God is, in fact, always in control, I still have control issues. I am sure that a lot of us do. Don't try to deny it. We may all have different varieties and severities of this disease, but we all have it. I will say though, that as my relationship with the Lord grows, my control issues dwindle little by little. I am sure that they will not totally vanish anytime soon, but I have time to work on it. Maybe. As I was reminded in church yesterday, any second could be my last. But that's okay, because I am ready.

Had a bad day again.

There was a song that I used to listen to all of the time before I became a christian and started to listen to more positive music. It seemed to always fit my mood and describe my day. "Spilled her coffee, broke a shoe lace, smeared the lipstick on her face, slammed the door and said I'm sorry. Had a bad day again." These are some of the lyrics from the song as best as I can remember them.

Cool thing is, I had a bad day again. I was grouchy, had a headache, and my daughter decided that, even though she has been doing so good at potty training, she would pee on every surface in my house. Not one time, did she go in the potty today. I know she does it out of mischief because that's the only explanation I can come up with that makes any sense. So then I feel bad for being such a grouch, and I am not only grouchy with a headache, but now I feel guilty.

But guess what! I went to bed a little while ago and couldn't sleep because I got so busy thanking God for all of the blessings in my life that I actually got in a good mood. Can you believe that? Nothing special happened. Nothing miraculously went right. I just started being thankful and my attitude changed and now I'm the happiest girl in the whole USA. Okay, now I know I'm in a good mood because that is the second song title that I have quoted in one journal entry.

So, I guess I'm trying to say that if your day is sucking, just change your attitude. God will help you.

Green Eggs and Ham

Yesterday a friend of mine road her mower to my house and helped me mow my lawn. She knew that ours was out of order, and that my husband had been too busy lately to fix it. She also knew how much it stresses him out that the lawn was grown up. So she risked looking like a fool and drove it through town to my house with the gas can riding with her. (of course, in Scranton, it wasn't that out of the ordinary) She also gave up sitting inside in the air conditioning doing things that she wanted to do. She also had to go through the trouble of getting the elderly lady that she takes care of up and down my steps so that she could stay in my house while we did the yard.
Now that's service. I love having friends that will do that, not for me, but for my husband.
In the end we had a mowed yard, we were hot and tired, and I was dehydrated. That's all I can figure because I have been sick, sick, sick every since I came inside yesterday.
Oh, and I forgot, we started out the day by eating green eggs and ham that this same friend brought us. The egg shells were a sort of green tint, and my girls were disappointed to see that the insides were the same as any other egg, so I put in a drop of food color and we really did have green eggs.

The point of all of this is to let everyone know that I am blessed. I have so much that I never dreamed I would have, and on top of it all, I have a friend that really knows how to be a friend.

Ezekiel 33:9 If you warn the wicked to turn from his sin, and he does not turn from his sin, he shall die in his iniquity; but you have delivered your soul.

This was the memory verse for the lesson that we taught in our LCBS class last week. We talked about our awesome responsibility to warn others of the consequence of dying without knowing Jesus. I challenged my students to think about a time when they were faced with the opportunity to do this. Did they rise up to the challenge, or were they frightened into retreat? I can tell you that, most of the time, I am frightened.

Well, God has used this lesson to convict me to share the bad news with someone who is very, very important to me. For the sake of privacy, I will not share with you who this person is. Just know that I literally would not be alive if it were not for this person. Now, should I keep quiet? I have shown this person the great things that God has done in my life since I chose to turn my life over to Him. I have lived by example in hopes to make this person want what I have. All that I have failed to do is to be blunt and tell him what his future holds if he does not make the decision to do as I have done and surrender.

But how? It could jeopardize my relationship with him. And believe me, I do not want to do that because it took us many, many years to build the relationship- one that should have come naturally. But my relationship with him on earth means nothing if we are separated for eternity.

There is a song by Casting Crowns called "Here I Go Again."
Father, hear my prayer
I need the perfect words
Words that he will hear
And know they're straight from You....
'Cause here I go again
Talkin' 'bout the rain
And mulling over things that wont live past today
And as I dance around the truth
Time is not his friend
This might be my last chance to tell him that You love him
But here I go again

I sing this song in my car often. And now I sing it as my prayer to God that He will give me the words to say and the boldness to say them.
Wish me luck.

oh, jealousy

Jealousy is an evil, sneaky thing. I have dealt with it all of my life and thought that I was past it. I guess I never will be totally past it. But I keep trying.
I am so happy for all of my friends who attended IWI, but I have had to remind myself continuously over the few days that they were gone that I was were I needed to be- with my family. Still, I couldn't help wanting to be there. I checked Mark's blog several times a day, craving to be a part of what was going on. I love to praise the Lord through music.
That's another area of jealousy. I want to sing better, play an instrument, write music. I want to express my love and thankfulness to God through music, but I am limited on what I can do. I have to remind myself that I have the talents and gifts that God gave me, and He knew what He was doing when He gave them to me. Thank You, God.
So, I think I'm over it now that my friends are home. But I can't wait for them to share what they have experienced and learned.
To everyone who went to IWI, please share with me. I will be waiting to soak it all in.
Love you all.

Okay, Julie, here it is. Is this the sweet little angel that you fell in love with? It looks like she's praying in this picture. Actually, she is. She's praying that I don't beat her for playing in the water fountain. We had major fights over that water fountain each and every day of VBS.
Seriously, VBS was great and I thank you for loving on her. I know that she is a handful, but I am more than blessed to have her. She was made just for me. Before she came along, I didn't know if I could ever love anyone the way I loved my sister. I helped raise her and I always had more of a motherly love for her than a sisterly love. But God gave me a little girl that is the spittin image of her Aunt Chelsea. She is beautiful, funny, loud, loving, and defiant. Just like Aunt Chelsea.
I watch her sing and dance to the VBS songs and I pray that she will choose to follow Jesus as she grows. When you ask her "Who loves you?", she always answers, "JESUS". I hope that she never forgets that.

Cook-off

Gas or Charcoal? Chicken Challenge. I am pretty sure my husband watches too much Iron Chef.
Anyway, I had to go for gas this time. Only because my favorite pieces were cooked on the gas grill. But if we were cooking hamburgers or hot dogs, it would have definately been a victory for the charcoal.
And in case you're wondering, my husband is the one dressed like Farmer Brown.

Time

I woke up this morning and wondered why my husband was not at work. Then I remembered it was Saturday. I have had very little concept of time since I have been off of work. And guess what, I am loving it. I imagine that in Heaven it will be the same. There are so many pressures in life that come from deadlines. I must be at work by 8:00, have the kids on the playground by 10:00, have my classroom cleaned and all of my plans for the next day by 4:00, pick up my child at daycare by 4:30, have supper done by 6:00. These are only a few of the many deadlines in my normal daily life, and everyone has their own. But think about life with no time. Would it be less stressful? Would we ever get anything done? I don't know but I am enjoying it for the short time that I get to experience it.

God is Great

I went back to my childhood today. The one before my parents divorced and we moved out of "paradise". My mother has been staying with us and we made plans this morning to take the kids to the creek. I have been under a lot of stress lately and decided that today was for me, so this seemed like a great plan. I never expected what I got. To fill you in a little bit, I grew up in Midway, Arkansas down a dirt road called Sorghum Hollow. Can you get any more country? I am thirty and have been to many beautiful places, but nothing compares to the beauty of Half Bushel, the creek where I spent most of my childhood summers. Part of the reason it is so beautiful to me is because of the clear, undisturbed, mirror-like water early in the morning before anyone has been there. Or the indescribably peaceful trees that tower over the bluffs. Or the open blue sky scattered with cotton ball clouds. But mostly, because it takes me back to the time in my life when all was right in the world. I didn't know anything about worldly issues. I mean, come on, we lived down in the "hollor" and all of my neighbors were my Aunts, Uncles, Cousins, and Grandparents. There was not much to experience except for the peaceful ways of the country and the love of my family. Wow!
So like I said, I went back this morning. There was no one there. Until my sister and her daughter showed up. And shortly after, came my dad. So there I am, enjoying my daughter in this beautiful setting when my whole family showed up(except for my brother). My mom and dad are getting along, my sister is being a normal person(as best she knows how) and I am in the most beautiful place God has created that I know of. I got the best therapy today-family and simple nature.
God is Great.

I have no idea what I am doing. I don't know a lot about technology. However, I am always trying to learn more. This is my first summer off since I graduated college. I am so excited to get to spend time with my daughter, and I had planned on keeping a journal of our time together. So, how did I get here? I don't know, but my husband will be thrilled to learn that I have taken up something else that I won't have time to do.