Post-election musings

So the election is finally over--votes tallied, races won and lost, and history has occurred. Although the person I voted for did not come away the "winner", I truly believe that everything will be ok. God is in control--and He alone knows what will happen. I also know, thanks to a certain sweet lady from my meeting this morning, that we are called to pray for our leader, no matter who they are. So I need to search my own heart and admit that while I am not thrilled right now with the way the race turned out, it does not mean that I can turn my head or my heart away from our president-elect. He needs and deserves my prayers and support. So I guess this post is just to remind me I need to "put on my big girl panties" and be the adult and Christian God has called me to be--even if I don't feel like it.

I am gratified that we still have people in our country who believe in the sanctity of marriage and believe in what is best for the children of today. I praise God that in California marriage is now on their state constitution as being between one man and one woman only. I praise Him that in Arkansas you must be a non-cohabiting adult, either married or single, to foster and/or adopt a child. I know there were many opponents to both of these amendments who will say many things against those who voted their conscience, but God also knew the outcome to these votes, and for that I say amen!

Caleb's class had a mock election yesterday, as did Emma's. He voted for John McCain, and when I asked Emma who she voted for, she said, "Mark Obamba". I told her his correct name, and then asked why she chose him over McCain. She looked at me and said, "I can't read, so I just picked the wrong one." Thankfully they are still too young to really understand all that has been going on, but I will make a point today to talk to them about how significant this election really has been.

Sorry for the rambling--just wanted to get some of my thoughts out while I have a few minutes of quiet in the house.

Catching up

Well, once again I have fallen behind in blogging--it never fails. We have had a busy October--finishing soccer for Caleb, a trip to Silver Dollar City with mom, Razorback football with dad and of course Halloween. I will admit, usually I am much better about planning the kids costumes, but this year I decided that they could use what they already had. Emma received a Sleeping Beauty dress for her birthday this year, so she wore that--we already had the matching shoes, so I just bought her a new princess wand. Caleb wore the same costume he had last year ( I know, bad mom), but it fit him better this year. I bought him a new light saber. My sweet friend Jennifer loaned us 2 Toy Story costumes for Jake--he wore the Woody outfit on Monday to Kids Day Out, and Buzz for Thursday and Halloween. He looked really cute (they all did), and was thrilled to wear his favorite characters from one of his favorite movies.

The kids and I trekked to Branson with mom a few Saturdays ago--I don't think I have ever seen SDC that crowded--you could barely walk. The kids had a great time riding rides--Jake especially loved it--he laughed through most of the rides--that sweet little boy belly laugh:-) We ended the day by splitting a funnel cake--the perfect end to the day!

Caleb had his last soccer game yesterday--his team did great! They won 6 to 2. Caleb really hustled and had 2 assists--he was so proud. His team received their trophies, which Jake somehow has already manged to break:-( I am hopeful that we can glue it back together.

Emma is continuing with ballet--she lost 1 of her shoes a few weeks ago, so last week I broke down and asked for another pair. Of course, we found her other shoe right after her class--it never fails!

Jake is doing really well with potty training (hope I am not jinxing it). He has not had an accident in a couple of weeks (as far as #1 goes). He enjoys wearing big boy underwear, for the most part.

We are gearing up to start Upward Basketball with Caleb in a few weeks. I am hoping he will do well in it and enjoy learning to play.

Hope everyone is doing well, and I will try to do better with updating! I am just proud of myself for understanding how to change my background without help from Shon!

A few funnies to remember

So I wanted to write down a few funnies from my kids before they leave my brain forever:-) Last night we were sitting down to a later than normal supper (breakfast for supper--yummy!), and I said the quick and easy, "God is great, God is good, let us thank Him for our food, Amen". Emma turns to me and I hear her say, "How do we know that God is great?" Thinking this is a great time for a "Bible lesson" I tell her that it says in the Bible that God is great and that we can look it up after supper. Then she asks me, " How do we know He isn't peach?" I sat for a few minutes and then had to leave the table so she wouldn't see me laughing. I figured out she had asked me how we know that God is GREY, not great. After recovering, I went in and told her the correct prayer. It's pretty sad that she has been saying it for years at church and Kids Day Out and never knowing what she truly was saying:-) This also occurred with her saying the Pledge of Allegiance. It is the United Stakes of America, and one nation, under God, invisible, with liberty and justice for all:-)

Jake has his own unique way of pronouncing words that is really cute. Some of my favorites are as follows:

His supper prayer: Deah Goh, Deah Goh, Ame ( no "n" on the amen)
His sister Emma: Gray ( he calls her Grace instead of Emma--her middle name is Grace)
Talking on the phone: Hewo dere
Needing something to drink: My dink peese
Wanting to be tickled: kickle me
Pick me up: Pick up me
His brother Caleb: bubba
My sister Christy and her husband Josh: Crick kee and Jwah
Calling my dad a goober (thanks for that word, dad:-): Papa, you a googer!
Needing a band aid: Need a dan dane
Saying yes ma'am: bed pan

I'm sure I will think of more, but I wanted to get them down while a could. We are busy into the swing of school and work and everything that goes along with it. I joined the choir a few weeks ago and Emma and Caleb are both in the kids choir. Caleb is almost finished with soccer, but Upward Basketball will start in November. Emma is in ballet 1 day a week, which is more than enough:-) Jake just comes along for the ride, but is really enjoying his Kids Day Out class. I am enjoying my class, although it has taken some getting used to, going from 4 1/2 year olds to 2's turning 3. Thankfully I only work 1 day, and get a day with no kids on Thursdays:-) Hope everyone is well, and I will write again soon!

Remembering

I wasn't sure if I wanted to post today, but feel I should write down my memories of 9/11 so that I will have them. I remember it being a normal work day for me--Caleb was only 4 months old, so I had not been back to work very long. Dr. Whitaker had his office tv on, and was watching it while waiting for patients to be checked in. I wasn't usually over at that part of the clinic, but I don't remember Casey (Dr. Stewart) working that day, so that's probably why I was over there. As soon as the news came on and we saw what had happened, I remember thinking how awful it was that the airplane had crashed into the tower--still thinking it is an accident and that something bad had possibly happened to the pilot. When the second plane hit, I knew then that it was no accident. My first thought was to get to Caleb. I remember it so clearly in my mind. I just wanted to hold my baby and make sure he was fine, although I knew he was. We kept the tv on the rest of the work day, and I remember leaving at lunch and going over to Caleb's daycare ( it was on-site) and just holding him close.

I remember how Peter Jennings became teary while reporting on the towers collapsing. I remember how he told every viewer to hug their children and family members. I remember Mayor Rudy Guiliani, and how in control he seemed. I remember being so thankful that President Bush had won the election. I also remember wondering where God was in the midst of the horrible act. Then the stories started to come out--stories of courage and honor. I can remember the woman whose husband died on Flight 93-I can still see her pregnant form standing up in her black dress at one of the many special reports that were still on days and weeks later. I remember being so proud to be an American and so unified with the rest of the country. I can remember reading about all the different stories in People and Newsweek. I saved the magazines and newspapers in the days after the attacks.

And now it is seven years later. My baby is in 2nd grade, and the country is no longer united. I think about the different people whose lives were irrevocably changed by 9/11--those who lost loved ones, and my heart still goes out to them. Today was a normal day for our family--school, work, laundry, etc, but I wanted to remember and reflect on the significance of today while it was on my mind.

Survivor--Mommy Edition

Well, we survived the first week of school! Emma had a pretty good week--her teacher gives the kids a play dollar for everday that they don't get in trouble. At the end of the week, if they have at least 5, they can get something out of the treasure box. If they want to save their "money", they can get a better prize. Emma of course spent hers as soon as she earned them--no saving up for something better:-) She picked out a penguin (looked like a McDonald's toy), and she also was able to take home the Play Do she has been using all week. Caleb had a good week as well--he made a 100 on his spelling test, and he was able to pick something out of the treasure box on the first day. He did have to miss 5 minutes of recess a few times this week--one was for tooting in class ( he will kill me for that later in life). He told me he just couldn't hold it in:-) I bought each of the kids a toy to celebrate surviving the first week--Caleb received 2 small ($4) Lego sets, Emma received an small Ariel doll with outfits and small shoes and such, and Jake got 2 new "Cars" cars. They were so excited and appreciated--I was told over and over that I am the best mom ever:-)

Jake did well without Emma here--he has asked everyday where she is, and once I answer that she is at school, he is fine. He has become very sufficient at playing by himself, which suprised me--he has been watching the movie "Cars", and has been playing that a lot.

Caleb had soccer practice Thursday night, and they received their uniforms--I hate to say it, but they really aren't that cute. They are black, grey, and white. I guess I don't like them because there is no color--last years had red, white and blue. His first game is tomorrow, and it is in the middle of naptime, so Shon will unfortunately have to take him alone--I know Jake will sleep, and I am betting Emma will be exhausted as well. Emma starts ballet Monday, and hopefully her things will be in, as her outfit from last year is not fitting to well--she has grown taller. (For those that don't know, our church has a dance program called Circle of Praise--the girls dance to praise music and the instructors teach that dance is a way of praising God). She is really not that excited, because after watching the Olympics she has decided she would rather take gymnatics. I told her since we had already paid for dance we would do that this year, but maybe she could take gymnastics in the summer.

I am going to try to finish up all of my outstanding embroidery projects this weekend so that I can use some of the new fabric I bought to attempt to make Emma some new dresses. I bought a few new patterns at www.youcanmakethis.com, and am anxious to try them.

We missed promotion Sunday last weekend, so the kids will all go to new Sunday School classes this weekend. I am praying that Jake will react well--he is at a really difficult stage right now with going into new situations. At my Kids Day Out meeting last week, he sat by the door and cried for the first 45 minutes, and then he fell asleep by the door. He got better as the week went on, but I felt so bad, both for him and for his teachers. I do know, though, as mom says, this too shall pass.

Well, gotta get to bed--I am sure my kids will be up early tomorrow even thought it is Saturday!

First Day of School!

That line always makes me think of "Finding Nemo". You can definately tell I have children in the house! Today was Emma's first day of kindergarten--I can't believe my baby girl is in school! I did great getting her there and into her classroom--and that is when my eyes started to tear up. I tried really hard not to let her see me, though. I had dropped Caleb off in his second grade hallway (apparently it is "not cool" to give your mom a hug when you are in second grade), and Jake and I took Emma in. She found her desk right away and hung her backpack on the back of her chair, put her napmat in her cubby, and was ready to go. Jake went over and hugged and kissed her, which started me going teary, and then I had to hug her and leave her there--she looked so little to me at that moment! Her teacher, Mrs.Petrie, was wonderful and gave me an encouraging pat on the back, and out the door we went. Once in the parking lot we made our way to the van and as Jake was getting into his car seat, he said," Where's Gray?" (for some reason he calls Emma by her middle name, Grace). I said she is at school. I immediately tried to call mom once I was on the road in the car, but she didn't answer. I called Shon and started truly crying, and I could tell he was uncomfortable on the phone as he asked if I had talked to mom yet:-) I did eventually make it home and talked with mom. Thankfully I had a Kids Day Out workday today, so my mind was elsewhere most of the day.

At pickup time, Emma was all smiles about her day, as was Caleb. However, by the time we had snacks and were relaxing a little bit on the couch, she began to tell me she didn't want to go back and she wanted to stay home with me. When I told her it was the law that she had to go to school, she told me to change the law:-) She cried a few tears, and then went upstairs to play. At supper she told me she had a good day, she was just upset earlier because she couldn't be a but rider.

Caleb won the distinction of being the first patient for the school nurse for the year 2008-2009! All of this over a bloody nose. Ms. Tracy is so sweet to him, though--not that he is in her office a lot, but on the last day of school I had to pick him up early for--a bloody nose! Nice that we are bookending the years like this. He enjoyed his day and his teacher, Mrs. Davis.

Jake was a little lost at home without Emma, but we quickly left to go up to church and work. We didn't leave there until 2, and then it was on to pick up the older kids.

Tonight at bedtime Emma was telling me the story of Sleeping Beauty--in her version Aurora "picked" her hand on a "steering wheel" and was friends with the "tooth fairies". Life is never dull with her!

Before I forget, Jake learned a new word tonight (thanks Papa!): googer, which means goober:-) He also learn b-ikle --bicycle, and ikle--motorcycle.

PS I was going to post of BTS pics with this, but I can't find the cable to plug into the computer and camera--so I will post them when I find it:-)

Bits and Pieces

So we have been trying to get ready for school, and 1 of the things we had to do was take Emma to her Kindergarten testing. So we went to the school and she went right in and one of the teachers took her back. When she was done, the teacher came out and said that she was very smart. I asked if she talked a lot, and the teacher (who was also named Emma) said, oh yes:-) Hopefully we won't have a problem when school starts. After we did testing, we went to Wal Mart so Caleb could pick up his school supplies. Emma did not need any, as we pay for all of the at her school. The kids had a good time looking at everything, but the Wal Mart I went to did not have a very big section. So on Friday I had to go back. Thankfully Shon was home and I was able to go to Wal Mart, Sam's and the mall sans kids. However, that meant I had to go in the heat of the day, where it was almost too hot to breathe:-)

Saturday mom and dad came here so they would be here for Caleb's baptism. They arrived around 12:30, and we just bummed around the house. I tried a new chicken recipe which thankfully tasted really good. (I am always nervous about trying new recipes, especially when it is not just Shon and the kids, but it turned out great). We also had squash casserole and salad, and pound cake with strawberries and fresh whipped cream. It was nice to cook for my parents, since I don't really have a chance to do that very often.

Today was Caleb's baptism. We had to be at the church at 8:30, which meant leaving the house at 8:15 at the latest. Thankfully we made it there with time to spare. Shon took Caleb to get changed, and I took Emma and Jake to their classes. Caleb did great! He was nervous, but Mr. Greg (kid's pastor) was really good with him. It was over by 9:10, and we enjoyed the rest of the service and sunday school. Then we went to eat at Las Palmas (yummy) and came home to pack up Emma and Caleb. Jake seemed disappointed that he couldn't go, but he has had a good time playing with daddy and getting into brother and sister's rooms:-) He brought something of Emma's downstairs, and I took it away from him. He forgot about it for a little while, and then tried to get it again. I told him no, and he crossed his arms and said, "oh man!" Thank you, Dora! Well, tomorrow is the dentist for Jake (Caleb and Emma had their appts. last week, and did great). I have a feeling that tomorrow will not be as smooth. That is the only thing we have to do before the older 2 come home, so I am looking forward to trying to get some embroidery and sewing done.