Who's Child is This?

I'm not a girly girl by any stretch of the imagination. So who's child is this?


Claire is decked out in princess dress up stuff, a fantastic present from Scott's parents, GG and Granddad. Not too many days go by when Claire isn't in her high heels, putting her "lipstick" on, or asking for help with some jewelry. And man. Can this girl get around in heels! She can jump and run in them!

She is woman. Here her whine!

Dentist Brouhaha

For some unknown crazy reason, I booked all three kids appointments at the dentist. At the same time. What in the world was I thinking?

A little background: Cade has seen the pediatric dentist 4 times now. And he has never allowed them to clean his teeth. Cade has never let them touch him. Just a basic visual inspection of his teeth is all Cade has allowed.

Jack has been only once before. And like Cade, will only let them peer into his mouth.

So what a huge surprise this morning when the hygienist comes out to tell me that neither of the boys are letting them into their mouths. Cade was at least communicating with words with them. Jack had resorted to tight lips and a hand firmly clasped over his mouth.

I debated the use of nitrous on the boys with the hygienist. We finally decided to wait on that and use it as a bargaining chip for the next dentist trip. Because, yeah. We have to do this again. And again and again. When I talked with the dentist, she informed me that Cade had announced that God knew that he was nervous and that God would not want him to go through with the cleaning since he was nervous. Okaaaaay.

As they were finishing up with the boys, Claire decides to, ahem, drop a load. And of course I didn't bring any diapers with us. She doesn't normally go in the morning! Thankfully my mom was with me and was able to run home and get some diapers. Meanwhile, I was liberally spraying Febreeze around the lobby, profusely apologizing to anyone still conscious despite the fumes.

The boys were basically done by the time I got Claire changed since there wasn't much the dental team could actually do with them. So it was Claire Bear's turn. They announced her name in the lobby and she bounded to the back, hardly containing herself. She couldn't wait to go! She did a great job of letting them look in her mouth (the hygienist didn't try and clean her teeth this time since it was Claire's first visit). But I'm guessing that Claire would have been fine with it anyway.

A little more drama from Cade and we were out the door. And it will only be six more months until we do this again.

Sad Jack

Cade is staying over at a friend's house tonight. And Jack had a very difficult time going to sleep without his big brother. Made me realize how much Jack loves Cade. Cade is his best friend.

And I am so thankful.


-- Posted from my iPhone -- ain't technology grand?

The Amazing Collection

For the past four years, I have been in a Bible study called The Amazing Collection. It''s a three-year video/workbook series that goes through the Bible sequentially, book by book. I can't adequately tell you what a difference it has made to me. I was fairly Bible illiterate before I started the study. But thanks to Big Dream Ministries, I know the themes, main characters, and main lessons of each book. I understand the historical side of the Old Testament now. I even enjoy reading the minor prophets!!!

A couple of notes:

1. the Bible study is geared toward women (all 4 teachers on the video lessons are women). Aside from the personal testimonies included in each lesson, there's no reason why men would not benefit from this study!
2. there is a difference between knowing the Bible and knowing God. One can learn a great deal about the Bible and about God, but that doesn't necessarily mean that they've grown in their knowledge of and relationship with God.
3. if you're church is looking for a fantastic women's Bible study program to go through, please consider The Amazing Collection.
   

A couple of you may have noticed that I said that I've been in this study for four years. And that it's only a three-year study. How is that possible? I'm studying the first year for the 3rd time. Yes, apparently I need remedial Old Testament. That and they needed some more leaders to facilitate year one groups. But I'm pretty sure it's because I need to go through it 3 times to really learn it.

Jack & Claire -- Buddies

Since Cade's at school all day, Jack and Claire have had to learn to play together. While they can fight like cats and dogs, they play pretty well together. For about 4 minutes. And then it all breaks loose.

Here are two nice moments... the eye in the middle of the storm, if you will.

At Chick-Fil-A...


And yes, Claire is wearing a tutu. Few days go by without Claire wearing her tutu. She wears it everywhere.

And at Toys R Us riding in a pimped out Escalade.



This Escalade has nicer features than either my or Scott's cars. As soon as this picture was taken, Claire started throwing a fit because Jack was touching something on the truck something in front of her. *sigh*

Helping Haiti

Need to know how you can help the earthquake survivors in Haiti? Here are a few legit organizations that are sending aid to and even have people on the ground in Haiti in the name of Christ:

World Vision

Mercy Ships

World Relief

Some scripture tweeted by Rick Warren earlier today got me off my lazy bum and put my faith into action:

If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth. 1 John 3:17-18

Touche.

Uh Oh

I knew there were some things wrong. I knew that the sounds I heard meant some trouble. The stains left behind couldn't mean good things. I had no idea...

We put the van in the shop yesterday (Christian Brother's Automotive; we love them!) to address several concerns. The prognosis: grim. The van needs about $3000 worth of work to keep it running in tip top cruising shape. Three thousand dollars. *choke* And apparently, some of the older Odysseys have had transmission trouble... those troubles could or could not be on the horizon for our van.

So now we're faced with the looming decision: should we sink some or all of that $3k into the 10-year old van and keep her running for who knows how long? Or do we bite the bullet and buy another used car? It seems logical to say, "NO! Don't pour money into an old car!" But we also are firm on not having a car payment. And that's a big chunk of change/cash to spend.

Where is that winning lottery ticket when you need it?

Honey, Pack Your Bags!

As most of you dear readers know, my Daddy passed away unexpectedly in May of 2008. This left my mom on 24 acres of land by herself. Not exactly the scenario you want for your 65 year old Mom. Not only was the property too much work, it was lonely. Plus it took at least 40 minutes to get anywhere, including a decent grocery store.

Since I'm an only child, it just made sense for Mom to move up here where we live. Even though Mom had lived in the Houston area for nearly 45 years, she was willing to leave and come up here to by near me, her favorite son-in-law, and her 3 grandkids. Besides, she hardly saw her friends who lived in town because she was so far out in the country; instead she talked to them on the phone. And since we have a phone and phone service, she could continue to talk to her friends as if she still lived near them!

So Mom moved in with us at the end of August this year. She sold her property (a neighbor bought it; they didn't even use an agent in the transaction -- so orchestrated by God!) and was no longer a Houstonian.

The idea was for her to find a small house on our street (or within a couple of streets) so we'd be close and could easily come over to help with the little things (opening jars, for instance). But the more I thought about it, I wondered if we really wanted to stay in the town we're in. If Mom is going to be buying a house in our town, are we sure we want to stay here? We love our town, but I don't want to get the idea to move in 3 years if Mom's going to make the investment of purchasing a house. Hence a whirlwind of discussion commenced: should we stay? should we move closer to the church that we're already very involved in? do we want our kids to go to school with the kids they go to church with? would it be wiser to stay where we are?

Bottom line: we wanted to be closer to church. Currently it's a 20+ minute drive each way to church. If we only went there once a week, it wouldn't be that bad. But we find ourselves going up there several times a week; on Wednesday mornings, I have to leave 45 minutes early to get to church on time because of work traffic! Plus, if we moved closer, our kids would be going to school with kids they go to church with. And we really like that idea (especially as they grow closer to getting into youth group in junior high).

The next big question: did Mom want to live with us permanently or did she still want to get her own house? To my surprise, she likes living with us. I can't imagine what led her to that conclusion, but she likes it.

The search was then on for a big house that we could all comfortably live in. It wasn't too long after we decided to live together that we found a house. The house. The house we'll now call home.

There are so many reasons why this is a great house. It's big enough. Mom has her own "wing" with her bedroom and her own bathroom. It's on a cul-de-sac. There is a big backyard. The house faces south with hardly any windows on the west side of the house. There's an upstairs living area for the kids. There's a double oven in the kitchen. There's room for the grand piano. There's some good closet storage. There's some amazing moulding in the house. There's hardwood floors. There's a 3 car garage. I could go on and on about why we're crazy about this house!

We close on the house soon but will wait two months or so to move in so that Cade can finish the year at his current school. Honey, pack your bags!

He Finally Comes Clean

So Mark McGwire finally admitted it. He finally came clean about not being clean.

No way!!! Really??? You've got to be kidding me!!

I don't think anyone is surprised.

OK. I'm off the soapbox. More family and random life updates heading your way courtesy of Frantlings Productions.

The Loss

So Texas played last night for the championship. Unfortunately our star quarterback got knocked out of the game on the second series. Had Colt McCoy stayed in, who knows how the game would have turned out. Instead, a true freshman had to grow up pretty darn fast in front of a national audience. Things looked much more promising in the second half. Alas, Alabama was the better team. And geez can they run.

In honor of our beloved Horns, our entire family was decked out in our burnt orange finest.

iPhone Love

With the new Google based Nexus One coming out soon, I thought I'd give a shout out to my dearly beloved Apple iPhone. I have had my iPhone for 2 years now. And I have realized that there are many things I would give up before I gave up my iPhone and its internet access.

With nearly 115,ooo applications (familiarly called "apps") available for download, there are tons of uses for your iPhone beyond it's simple functionality of a phone. I personally use my phone for my calendar, my address book, email on the go (all three of those are standard apps on the iPhone), checking sports scores (Sportacular), checking the weather (The Weather Channel), making lists (Evernote), following RSS feeds(DaisyFeed), following tweets Tweetie 2), updating Facebook (Facebook), listening to music, a calculator (the last 2 are also standard iPhone apps), keeping track of my gas mileage efficiency (Gas Cubby), looking at Bible passages (Logos), checking on my fantasy football team (Yahoo Fantasy 09), checking Craigslist (Craigsphone), looking up phone numbers (YPmobe), recording voice memos (standard iPhone app), reading the news (Dallas News, USA Today), looking for jobs (iJobs and Career Builder), taking pictures (proCamera), and playing the occassional (OK. Fine. The frequent...) game (Bejeweled 2).

And there are so many other uses out there that I haven't downloaded. Yet.

And besides. You've gotta admit. Apple makes the coolest products. And they have the best support. In general, I'm not rich enough or cool enough to own most Apple products. Fortunately, I do own the iPhone.

Texas Texas YeeHaw!

Thursday night, our beloved Longhorns play for the nation title in Pasadena, CA. Scott & I will nervously be glued to the TV with friends, watching Colt McCoy and the high octane passing offense battle Mark Ingram and the Tide.


Hook 'em horns!

DVR -- Gotta Have It

DVR. Digital Video Recorder. A fancy shmancy name for it is TiVo. Whatever you call it, it's a must have. Especially if you have kids.

If you've got kids and a few shows, especially prime time shows, that you like to watch, chances are that you're busy cooking, cleaning, bathing kids, getting kids into bed, etc while your shows are on. Wouldn't it be nice to watch your shows at your convenience? Whenever you wanted? And oh wait. That darn phone is ringing and it's Aunt Sally so you have to answer it or she'll start bad-mouthing you to Mom. No sweat. Just pause your show (or live TV for that matter), pacify Aunt Sally, then resume your show without missing a single second. Don't want to miss a single episode of the Go Diego Go because you're that kind of guy? Just set up a "season pass" to your favorite show and the DVR will record every episode for you.

I'm probably preaching to the choir. But there are still quite a few people lurking out there that have never had a DVR service. And they truly don't know what they are missing!

House of Hope

I know. I know. Two posts in a week? I'm livin' on the edge.

A couple of months ago, I was approached about an opportunity that seems light years away from my life here in cushy Suburban America. And it is. House of Hope is a ministry in Managua, Nicaragua, that ministers to prostitutes and former prostitutes. The average age of a prostitute on the streets of Managua is 14. 14 years old! Can you imagine that? Doesn't that just blow your mind?

A brave woman named April started this ministry 8 or 9 years ago. She works to reach these women with the Good News of Christ. She also seeks to teach these women vocational skills that will allow them to leave their current line of work and make a new living for their families.

So where do I come in? I'm still not exactly sure.

But at the end of March, I will be headed to Managua with two other ladies to find out how the women of our church can serve April, the ladies living at the House of Hope, and the ladies April ministers to on the streets. I still can't quite imagine why God would have me go; but none-the-less. He has made a way for me to go, and go I will.

Under a Rock

Hi y'all!

We've evidently been hiding under a rock for the last almost two months. Or at least it's been that long since I've posted anything. So sorry, my friends. Time just has a way of getting away from me.

No major changes around our house... Thanksgiving was nice and uneventful. Christmas was great and lively. The New Year was welcomed with a few friends. The Longhorns won out the season, won the Big 12 championship and are now headed to the national championship this Thursday. Jack has restarted occupational therapy and at some point will restart physical therapy as well. Claire still throws fits. Cade is still addicted to Star Wars Wii.

I did finish that cute little jumper dress I was making for Claire. It's still a little big for her, but it is awfully cute if I can say so myself:

(it's magenta courdery with a black/prink flannel)

One can tell that the TV has been on a lot lately. Cade can take one look at a commercial and name the company. He even knows their slogans. He's a marketer's dream. He even worked a slogan into a conversation the other night.

We were headed to a friend's house and Cade wanted to know if we were late. We said no. He asked if we were going to be early. We said no. He said, "So we'll be just right?" We said yes. He said after a small pause, "I guess it's drivability." Thank you Miller Light.

Soon football season will be over and the TV will be put back into hibernation. And as much as I'll miss football, it will be nice to not have the TV on as much. Maybe we'll actually go outside. I could be asking for too much...