Our Little "Independent"

As we were passing under George Bush Tollway the other day Benjamin made sure that everyone in the car knew that the street we just went under was George Bush. I was surprised that he knew it. So "George Bush" sparked a conversation between Benjamin and me about Presidents, Republicans, and Democrats. At one point I asked Benjamin, so do you think you'll be a Republican or Democrat when you grow up? His answer was "I just want to be Benjamin". Good answer kid.

Gingerbread House

This is the gingerbread house Benjamin and I did during Savannah's nap the other day.....













This is the gingerbread house 15 minutes after we finished it. The silly roof won't stay on!

The Way Kids Think.....

Me:
"Benjamin, I'm so glad you don't wear diapers anymore".

Benjamin:
"Momma, I'm so glad you don't wear diapers anymore too".

Thanks for the visual son.




Me:
"Benjamin, what do you want to get Jesus for his birthday this year?"

Benjamin:
"A T-Rex dinosaur!"

Me:
"Why do you think he'll like that?"

Benjamin:
"Because I gave it to him....oh and he'll make it invisible!"

Makes perfect sense kid.




Savannah:
"Momma, Momma, Momma, Momma, Momma, Momma, Momma, Momma...."

Me:
"YES, SAVANNAH?!?!?!"

Savannah:
"Ho, Ho, Ho!"

As much as the constant "Momma" annoyed me on this one, her response made me laugh out loud.

Vegas

I took a trip to Vegas with my friend Natalie a couple of weeks ago. We had an absolute blast but I tell ya, being the low-key person that I am, Vegas is a city I can only do once about every 5 years. It's non-stop in that city!

Of course our first meal there (breakfast) had to include mimosas!

















This is Natalie getting her shirt for signing up for the 1/2 marathon. Since she hurt her hip and was on crutches the entire trip, she obviously had to opt out of the run that she had signed up for months before hand. Poor thing! She was a trooper though.

















Mike and Natalie. Mike ran the entire 26.2 mile marathon the next day!













Natalie and me before hitting "old" Vegas.













Our rings we purchased to commemorate the trip.














Liza and Natalie in front of our hotel, the Luxor.

Debbie Downer

I'm so glad today is almost over. You see, my day started at 2AM. I woke up with a sore throat and couldn't go back to sleep. Then, after I dropped the kids off at school my car dies on a busy street and I have to wait for David to arrive to save me. Come to find out, the guys who changed my oil last time didn't put something back right (this is WAY over my head but whatever it was it was easily fixed by David). Then shortly after that I end up at the doctor's office getting tested for strep throat. Later that afternoon I let Benjamin eat a cookie with nuts (I forgot to check if it had nuts) and he had an allergic reaction while walking out to our car from school. I've only got a few more hours until bed and I'm ready to put this day behind me. Hold on, I'm in the middle of cooking dinner, something's bound to go wrong with it, right? The day still isn't over yet! I'm still smiling though...things could always be worse!

Life is Good....

Does it get any more peaceful than this? Frederick sleeping by the fire all curled up in his bed, all lights out except the Christmas tree, and a sweet little boy also by the fire, passed out with a light snore. Ahhhh, life IS good!

Thanksgiving 2010

Guess I should have posted this too with the post below! Duh! We spent Thanksgiving this year in Waco with David's family. Had a great time. We all seemed to be fighting colds but that certainly didn't seem to slow many people down.

David, Kelly, Benjamin, and Savannah












Cousin Abby and Benjamin at Homestead Heritage showing the candles the two of them made.

















Check out the static in his hair! This was from jumping in the grandparent's bounce house.












Savannah too!













McKinney family picture. Loving the look Savannah is giving me!

Thanksgiving Dress Up

This is WAY past due but I came across it recently and want to post it! The kids had a Thanksgiving feast a couple of weeks ago at their school. I thought it was a great opportunity to dress them up in the Thanksgiving spirit. Mom and I found the cutest little turkey dress for Savannah and a matching bow. We decided to dress Benjamin up in matching colors. However, he turned out looking more like a UT fan....ugh, at least Baylor rocked their world when we played them! Anyway, here's a picture below. They look absolutely thrilled to be matching don't they?

Fear...but thanks to this blog I've talked to myself out of it....

I'm fearful. Fearful of one big thing lately. Death. I fear dying and leaving my kids without their mother. Fear of my kids dying and leaving a whole in my heart that I feel could never heal. Fear of my husband dying and my kids not growing up to know him. Fear of my parents and other close relatives dying. I seem to obsess about it a lot lately. It even cripples me from going about life sometimes. I fear meeting up with a friend for dinner might end up in a car crash and me dying. So if the plans happened to get canceled because of one reason or another, I'm okay with it. I fear taking trips with my husband for fear of the two of us dying. I fear my kids riding in the car with other people because I feel I'm the only perfect driver on the road (big-headed, I know).

I'm getting older. If my life doesn't get cut short, then one day I will die of old age. That old age just seems to be coming faster and faster. I'm not ready to leave. I want to see my kids grow up, I want to experience the joy of being a grandparent, I want to see how much more my relationship with David will continue to strengthen and grow. I want so desperately to grow old with him. Time just won't slow down.

So how is it, with me being a Christian, that I have this irrational fear of death? We are to have no fear in death. I mean, we're going to be with our Lord and Saviour, why isn't that all I need to comfort me and put my fears to rest?

This isn't "my" life. My life belongs to my Heavenly Father. So I'm being selfish and I'm looking at it all wrong. Give as much as I can to others. Make their lives easier. Make memories with the ones I love, now. Enjoy every moment that I have with all these precious people. Bad moods, impatience, grudges....let it go. Life is too short. God has given me this time now and I will not take it for granted anymore. I will squeeze all the fun and love out of this life that I can and look forward to one day laying my tired head at my precious Saviour's feet, and eventually all those I love will be there too. Now that's some comfort!

Set Apart

My brother-in-law teaches an adult Sunday school class at our church. I attended it this morning. Today's subject was Joshua 23. First, koodos to Abraham, you did a wonderful job. You're wisdom and knowledge is so admirable. You also kept my attention the whole time! Which for someone who's as A.D.D. as I am, that's huge! Very interesting class. The class really got me thinking. Two things really stood out to me and humbly reminded me.

First of all, if you love God, you will obey him. I love God but do I obey him? Yes, and sometimes no. I am not obedient at times, too often in fact. I let things of this world lead me to wrong choices. I sometimes do lose focus on what matters. We're not here for things, we're not here for ourselves. We're here to glorify God and to spread his word. We're here to love. Here's a very simple example, do I really need to go buy ANOTHER Christmas decoration to set out in our living room? No. Could someone else be helped with the money I would spend on that frivilous item? Of course. So, Abraham, today you curbed me from going out and buying another "thing" that's definitely not needed. I know this is way off from the subject of the class, but one thought leads to another, and so on and so on, therefore, this is where my thinking is right now.

Secondly, why did God give us his commandments? Lots of reasons, but most of all, to set us apart. Do others view me as set apart? I think some do. After talking with David today he said, "well, definitely the people who know you well". True. But how can I be viewed as set apart even to those who don't know me well? I pray for God's spirit and light to shine from my heart and in how I live my life. I keep saying "God". Lately, I've changed how I pray. He's my Father. There I went off on a tangent, back to the subject. Point is, I'm stepping back and taking another look at my life (as I do frequently) and it's time to make some changes and adjustments....again.

1st Homework Assignment

I forgot to post a picture of Benjamin's very first homework assignment. Back in October the teacher sent us home with a cardboard letter "B". His assignment was to stick as many things as he could find on the letter "B" that started with "B". How appropriate that his name starts with the letter "B", so we just had to stick a picture of him on it. Here is his finished assignment. Good job son!

Washing Baby and Clothes at the Same Time!

I called out to Savannah that her bath was ready and to please come get in. I went looking for her and couldn't find her. As I came back in the bathroom this is what I saw. I guess she thought her clothes needed a bath too!

Pardon the messy face...she just finished dinner.












Of course, Benjamin had to join in when he saw how funny we thought it was.

Gainesville Zoo

My mom and I took the kids plus Benjamin's girlfriend Riley to the Gainesville zoo a couple of weeks ago. The kids had a blast. They even got to feed the giraffes and goats. We basically had the zoo to ourselves which made it even more nice!

Riley and Benjamin



































Feeding the giraffe.












Savannah absolutely loved the giraffe!












Grandmother and Benjamin.












Having fun with the goats...until one bit her!
























Time out for hugs!












Here they are standing in front of the bear cage. We couldn't pass up an opportunity to do a "Sic 'em Bears"! (Riley's daddy went to Baylor too!)

Halloween 2010

Wow, I forgot to post pictures of Halloween! Here they are...a little late. We went over to Ben's favorite buddy Luke's house for a cookout then went trick-or-treating in his neighborhood. The kids had a blast. Savannah was confused at how it worked at first. For the first 2 or 3 houses every time someone would drop candy in her bucket she would try to dig it out and start eating it. She would throw a fit that she couldn't eat it RIGHT THEN! She finally caught on though.

Savannah went as a ladybug.

















Benjamin went as a pirate. Well, for those of you who know of Veggie Tales, he was a "Pirate that doesn't do anything!"

















Cute cute cute!












I was my normal Ladybug. I was so excited to find a matching costume for Savannah. Okay, I know, cheesy.












Most of the group.












Happy to finally start digging in to his candy!

First Dentist Appointment

Benjamin had his first dental check-up and cleaning a couple of weeks ago. I'm really proud of the little guy. He actually let the dentist clean his teeth! It was a slow process but he got it done. Now when it came to X-rays, that's a different story. Hmmmm, well, we decided to wait until next year on that one. Oh, and NO cavaties!

I "heart" Baylor....Sic 'em Bears

My favorite (and only) mother-in-law has this in her home. I love it. Had to post it, especially for all of my Baylor peeps! Can't believe I just said "peeps". That word annoys me to no end.....

GONNA BE A BEAR
In this life I’m a woman. In my next life, I’d
like to come back as a bear. When you’re a
bear, you get to hibernate. You do nothing
but sleep for six months. I could deal with that.
Before you hibernate, you’re supposed to eat
yourself stupid. I could deal with that too.

When you’re a girl bear, you birth your
children (who are the size of walnuts) while
you’re sleeping and wake to partially grown,
cute, cuddly cubs. I could definitely deal with
that.

If you’re mama bear, everyone knows you
mean business. You swat anyone who
bothers your cubs. If your cubs get out of
line, you swat them too. I could deal with that.

If you’re a bear, your mate EXPECTS you to
wake up growling. He EXPECTS that you
will have hairy legs and excess body fat.
Yup, gonna be a bear!

Indigo Girls Part 5 and the Baylor Bears

Last week I joined David on a business trip to Pennsylvania. Why? Well it just so happened that the Indigo Girls were playing close to where his meeting was. This is the 5th time I've seen them in about 6 months. Okay, yes...I guess I'm a groupie? It was the best venue I've ever seen them in. We thought we got really bad seats by looking at the seating chart but when we got there, much to our surprise, we were actually on the stage! They played at the Penn State-York Performing Arts Theater. It was amazing. Truly amazing.

On an even brighter note, the Baylor Bears won their game this weekend at Homecoming. I must say it will be a game I will remember for the rest of my life? Why? Because after just 2 minutes of the game starting, they delayed it due to inclement weather, told everyone to leave the stands, and 2 hours later the game started again. We got soaked from the rain (thankfully I smuggled an umbrella in so it helped some). Then it turned cold....cold + wet = MISERABLE! But it was totally worth it. Sic 'em Bears!

My Girls...













On our way to the Baylor parade.

Who Fixes You?

The other day Benjamin was going through my make-up box. He was asking what every thing was one by one. Finally, I just tried to summarize it for him and said "all this stuff fixes me". He corrected me and said "No momma, God fixes you". Sounds like this kids knows more than me!

Some Comfort for my Confusion

Thanks to my sister-in-law, Laura, who's wisdom is astounding, I have some verses to go to for answers to my questions from my previous post about my feelings on Christianity. (Wow, was that a run-on sentence, ok, sorry, I digress). I want to share them. It has given me some peace. First, the one that has stuck out the most is Proverbs 25:2 "It is the glory of God to conceal a matter; to search out a matter is the glory of kings". As she states "He does hide His truths to be discovered, and somehow that is part of His glory. He doesn't just lay it out there for everyone to see and know easily. The answers may not come right away, but they will come if you ask. The key is knowing the Bible! It is through the Bible primarily that God talks and explains things. Please don't just decide that it's too difficult to know or just can't be known, and give up. It's not just a research project, either. You can study the Bible all day long and still not "get it" unless God shows it to you. His Spirit has to guide your thinking, so ask Him!" Beautifully said my sista!

Hebrews 11:6 says, "And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him." It is comforting to know that faith is what pleases him because faith is what I got! Yet, I still feel like doing good and loving others pleases him just as much, but really I guess it doesn't, it definitely pleases him but faith is the most important to him. It's not about works, but I feel if you sincerely have faith you'll do the "works" because you WANT to do all the other good stuff to honor HIS HOLY NAME! Right?

I could talk about this stuff all day. If I'm amongst a group of people and one person brings up anything to do with Christianity and their faith, I'm completely drawn to that person. I can't get enough. All day I tell you...ALL DAY I could talk about it! I find it fascinating and contrary to my previous post, it is comforting.

P.S. I "heart" Jesus!

School Pics

Benjamin

















Savannah

The Heard Museum

Last week my mom and I took the kids to the Heard Museum in McKinney so Benjamin could see some life-size dinosaurs. He was super excited until one actually roared at him and moved! The look on his face below is priceless. The excitement quickly turned to fear. He eventually got over it though and is still talking about his trip to see the dinosaurs!

Here's the look on his face when he approached the first "live" dinosaur. He didn't move a muscle for the longest time and he kept that same look on his face. Poor guy.

















Mom with one of the dinosaurs. Benjamin wouldn't even get close.












You guys gonna catch up?

















Still scared.












I just love this picture of her. Had to post it.

Frustration and A LOT of Confusion

Christianity. How does it make me feel? Honestly, sometimes frustrated and confused.

First let me start off with a couple of things that I'm grateful about. First, my mother. Because of her, she planted that seed of Christ in my heart when I was a small child. Because of her faithfulness to Christ, her constant volunteering at our church, and her dedication to making sure I knew that God loves me no matter what, that little seed she planted has grown into something much bigger. She's taught me love. But she also taught me love along with boundaries. I can sometimes be an enabler to others because I feel saying no doesn't display love. But my mother has shown and taught me that love doesn't always mean saying "yes". Sometimes saying "no" is the loving to do. Long story on that one that I won't go into.

Secondly, I have the best in-laws a person could ask for. Joe, Nancy, Abraham, and Laura, their faith and love for Christ is addicting and inspiring. Unconditional love, patience, wisdom, the list goes on and on. I've learned so much from them and am looking forward to learning so much more. Because of them, that seed my mom planted has really grown - BIG TIME!

Now on to my "frustration" point. Some people say they are Christians. Yet, you see them being greedy, vain, selfish, rude, jealous, judgemental, and even truly unhappy. I see so many Christians taking the Lord's name in vain, I see their greed of wanting more and more, I hear them gossip, I hear them laugh at someone who's not like them, they're unkind to others. I find it frustrating. I was recently trying to witness to someone who doesn't believe in God. He would just roll his eyes. No wonder. So many Christians are the exact opposite of what the Bible calls us to be. We're hypocrites. Plain and simple. Or is it something else...

We're sinners. All of us. Not a single one of us is perfect. We're all going to do, say, think something that is sinful. But when someone accepts Jesus into his heart, his life will definitely change. God opens his eyes to his sin so he can repent. So you see these people honestly trying to change...sometimes it's one step forward and two steps back but the dedication and sincerity is there. It's obvious that the Holy Spirit is living in him, changing him.

So is there such a thing as "casual" Christians? Are those the ones I see who claim to be Christians but live a life totally opposite of what the Bible says? Hmm. What's God's thoughts on "casual" Christians? Or is there even such a thing...casual Christian? You're either a Christian or you're not? Right? So why is there such a difference between strong Christians and casual Christians? Are the two considered the same in God's eyes? Did I just negate my previous paragraph? Ugh. Confused.

Speaking of confused, now on to my "confused" part. First Corinthians 5:11 reads "But now I am writing to you that you must not associate with anyone who calls himself a brother but is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or a slanderer, a drunkard or a swindler. With such a man do not even eat". How can that be? Too not eat with someone who is greedy? Really? I know greed is bad, but to not associate with these people? Is that displaying love?

I'm starting to confuse myself again. I think in circles, I negate myself, at one point I think I have it figured out and then realize everything I'm saying and thinking just doesn't make sense. I just want God to be proud of me. I just want to be a good person. I want to not judge, I want to be selfless, I want to honestly, sincerely, and deeply love others. I want people to seek Jesus, allow him in their hearts. I want them to feel their eyes swell with tears of joy when singing Amazing Grace or Silent Night. His love is great. The word "love", just typing the word made me smile and gave me warm fuzzies. I think I drank my iced coffee too fast. My mind is racing and it hurts my head to try to figure this out. So, off I go to mop the kitchen floor.

Date with Abby

Yesterday I had a date with my niece Abby. Our first stop was manicures! Second stop, shopping at Michael's (she's a crafty girl and that's her favorite store). We had such a good time. She's probably the most polite little girl you'll ever meet. Pretty too. :)

So Benjamin is having a hard time deciding what he wants to be for Halloween. Surprisingly, some days he wants to be a Blue Man from the Blue Man group (ok, how messy would that be? ugh!) and other days it's a dinosaur (which I keep trying to talk him out of because that's what he was last year), and other days it's a skeleton. Decisions, decisions.....

Andrew and Abby

Date with Andrew

Today I picked up my 6 year old nephew, Andrew, from school to have a "date" with him. We've never had any time alone and this really give me a chance to get to know him better. I must say, he's probably the most brilliant little boy I've met (minus Benjamin....). I found out he loves spinach, carrots, and he tried a cherry limeade for the first time today and really liked it! It was truly an amazing afternoon and I'm having a hard time not talking about it! I can't wait to do it again soon....as long as Aunt Laura approves!

Also, my friend Natalie and I started a "What I'm Thankful for List". Every day we write down 5 things we're thankful for. Now, it can't be the normal things...but things that stood out and were special for that day. Today my list was: Nice weather, Andrew, coffee, my 6:30am Beth Moore Bible study.....early, early....big yawn, but totally love her, and last but not least, Natalie. I asked Benjamin what he's thankful for and of course his reply was his favorite friend "Luke".