The First Day Of School

Curious George started kindergarten Monday and was inspired to write this song. He had a great day which must have really sparked his creative juices.

(Sung to… lala la laaaaa)

It was the first day of school
When the bus came here
I was going to go to school
Until the bus broke down on me
And then the bus started going
But they didn’t fix it
and the driver was still in
and they saw a face
and a body in the air
And it was stealing the bus
And then the teacher said
EVERYONE!

GET OUT OF THE BUSS
A GHOST IS INSIDE !
And then this is happened
We were driving to school
And then the bus broke down again
And the ghost flew out
And they started to build the buss
And they were building the buss
For days....
And the days went by slow
And then the months went
It went summer, fall , winter
And then monsters existed
And monsters can break the doors
So I ran back to my house
And drived my car back to school
And the teacher was with me by my side
And I was old enough to drive a car
I drove it to school
And we found all these ghostest
At school and the ghostest were nice
But no one was at school everyone
Was gone including my teacher
My teacher drove away
And I wasn’t in the car
And then the ghostest flew out
And chased the teacher to her house
And the teacher ran and ran and ran
And ran to her house
Her house was across the world
So she ran so far
She bought a car
That didn’t’ have any gas
So she pushed it to a gas station
And pumped up some gas
And went to her house
And the ghost chased her back to school
And the car broke down
And then tow trucks didn’t exist
So she ran to school
She ran so far
She bought two cars
And left one at home
But she shouldn’t have done that
The ghost was chasing her
In a race car
And she was driving
She drove so far
She bought another car
And left it there
And more ghostest went
And that was a race car
And then she drove and her
Car blew up
But before... she ran out
(sing the last line very slowly)
And all the students were on the buss
The end

Living In Christ

Living In Christ
Let every part of your life--your person, your style, your direction, your flavor—be in Him. When you’re in Him, then you’re based on truth. You’ll be honest and genuine through and through; you’ll be coordinated, all of a piece; you’ll be in harmony with yourself. And then you can grow within yourself to unlimited dimensions—and all because you’re in God.

Faddish lives age quickly. They’re not based on God, who is greater than all culture and all generations, so twenty years from now they’ll seem faded and “out of it.” Anchor yourself to the great “I AM”, and you will develop more and more into a woman who is ageless, whole, true, and at rest.—ANNE ORTLUND Disciplines of the Heart

For in Him dwells all the fullness of the godhead bodily; and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power. Colossians 2:9-10

Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God. 1 Corinthians 3:4-5

For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. Who is he who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God? 1 John 5:4-5

Lord, You know my desire is to follow You. Help me to stay the course and keep my eyes focused on You no matter what goes on around me. Give me strength not only when I am weak but always. You’re strength is what I want to rely on not my own. Open my eyes so that I may see how you are at work around me and through me. Help me to be faithful in seeking You. I thank You for Your sacrificial love. And I thank You for Your patience with me. Mold me and make me according to Your will.

I hate footprints

My conversation with Lover Boy started when he was talking to himself as he painted a picture. He kept saying over and over to himself “Me hate footprints”. I decided to talk with him about it.
ME: What are you saying?
LB: Mommy, me hate footprints
ME: you what?
LB: Me HATE footprints
ME: I hate footprints
LB: you hate footprints too?
ME: no silly, say I hate footprints instead of me hate footprints. Umm why do you hate footprints?
LB: I hate footprints
ME: I know but why?
LB: ‘cause I hate footprints, I hate mommy footprints, dada footprints, brother footprints and sister footprints. I hate all those (he doesn’t have a sister)
ME: Is there a reason you hate them
LB: yeah
ME: why?
LB: ’cause... I hate footprints
ME: what do you hate about footprints?
LB: What I hate about footprints is I hate moner footprints
ME: did you say monster footprints ?
LB: yeah, not people,.. actually I do
ME: What does hate mean
LB: hate means bad, me tell my teacher , teacher, does hate mean bad and she say (different voice) yeah hate means bad. See, hate mean bad.
ME: What is a footprint?
LB: footprint is... is... see these (points to feet) um... um.... no tell you yet follow me (walks outside) mama help me find mud
ME: what? Why mud
LB: I need mud to put my feet to make footprint
ME: does water work?
LB : no must be mud
ME: let’s just try water
LB: (steps in pool) see, no make footprint
ME: step on side walk right after you get your foot wet
LB: oh yeah, but not good because disappears
I never did find out why he hates footprints, but it was a precious conversation with my three year old.

Soggy Mac 'n Cheese

Little Professor decided that he would make himself some Mac 'n Cheese for lunch. I've been trying to slowly teach him how to cook, so I let him do it all. I kept telling him he needed to check and recheck the instructions.

Little Professor new best and skipped the "drain the pasta" part. He added the fake powder cheese and butter to the swimming elbow macaroni. I didn't know what he had done until he asked when it would get thick.

No worries, I scooped up the excess water and he thought it was the best ever because he had made it himself. It was just a little soggy that's all.

They Sure Do Love Their Daddy

My boys sure love their daddy
I’m glad they do too
sometimes it is a little comical
sometimes I have to really focus out
instead of in.

I know they love their mommy too,
Not always as obvious,
especially day in and out
spending all day together
sometimes it’s hard
not to be selfish
I see their little excited eyes light up
Daddy walks in the door after work
Those mornings, trying to comfort them
Missed out on his goodbye hug
Time alone with Daddy
Mommy comes home to tears.
tears that mark the end of “boy’s night”
not because I was missed
My boys sure do love their daddy

This is a conversation that happened on our way to church Sunday morning.

Curious George: Daddy, these samwiches are yummy!
Little Professor: Yup, you are really a good chef
Curious George: Maybe you can teach Mommy to make these.
Little Professor: Yah Mommy, you should really learn to cook from Daddy, he’s the best.

Kirk and I exchange glances,
he knows as well as I
I have made those same egg sandwiches before
I am the better cook
Well… I do cook most of the meals
But, everything Daddy makes tastes so much better
I smile now
sometimes I do feel a jab in my pride
but at the end of the day
It does bless my heart to know
My boys sure love their daddy

I sure love their daddy too!

Sometimes I Make Myself Sad

Now is one of those moments that I’m not real proud of. It is 9:00AM and my kids are all in their beds with the lights out, not because they are still sleeping, but on time out. It’s cold and rainy outside, it feels dreary because of the fog and my attitude doesn’t help either.

I love starting new Bible studies. I woke up early this morning ready to dive in and get filled spiritually and hear from God. Well, so did Little Professor very excited about a new collection he started, “baseball cards”. There is so much he wanted to share with me, but I calmly reminded him that “right now” is mommy’s only time to spend time with Jesus. I decided to let him play on the computer while I started.

A moment later Curious George woke up and needed to talk as well. I told him the same thing I told Little Professor. He wanted desperately to “do beads”. The only problem is yesterday when he was working on it he accidentally spilled them and didn’t want to clean up, so they (the beads) are on time out for today. I calmly (still calm) explained the situation to him. He then kept begging (hands in prayer position on his knees and everything) and whining. I sent him to his room because he wouldn’t stop and I wasn’t going to lose my temper, but that turned out to be a big mistake.

Lover Boy was still asleep in the same room that I sent Curious George to. So that didn’t last long especially when Curious George was yelling at the top of his lungs “can I come out now?”. Three kids awake, still on page one of my Bible study and the coffee is overflowing the pot in the kitchen. I’m still okay though a little rattled, but okay. It isn’t 7 yet so there is still time.

Hubby wakes up, gets coffee and starts to read his Bible. There is peace, and I finish reading the first three pages (dedication, foreword, and introduction), I’m about to start the actual Bible part and that is as far as I got. Now I am a little flustered, because breakfast needs to be made, kids need to be dressed and at some point I need to dress too.

Hubby leaves for work, kids are fed, I’m still not dressed. I decide to read from a devotional book “Joy for the Journey”. I was convicted because while the kids were eating and complaining about what I made for breakfast, I was snapping at them so much it just became my normal tone. The verse that stood out to me was Col 3:12, “As the elect of God,… put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering.” I sure wasn’t being tender or kind. Another verse, 1 Cor. 10:31 “Whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” It’s no fun feeling like a failure as a loving mom before 8:00 AM.

I decided to share the verse with others so I got online. For some reason it makes me feel more accountable, and sometimes people write back very encouraging notes. It only took me five minutes, but then I lost it again. I heard screaming, crying, and laughing coming from my three boys in the other room. The youngest was crying saying “ouchy” while chasing the other two swinging a bat in one hand and a light saber in the other. This is why they were all on time out, but they are all playing nicely now.

Dear Lord, please help me today to honor You in all that I do and say. Help me to show my children the same kind of tenderness, mercy, and kindness You show me. It is only 9:30 in the morning and I know I’m really going to need Your help if I’m going to make it for the next 11 hours. Help me to encourage others, lead me and guide me in what Your will is today.

Saying goodbye to my 30's

Even though my 3rd decade was my absolute best ...

I still haven’t learned:
How to conquer laziness
How to plant a garden
How to die to self
Work now and play later
How to keep a plant alive
How to take care of myself
To hate or even dislike fast food
Consistency
How to control my anger
To have an organized and well kept house
Diligence
Eating candy doesn’t make me motivated or happy
How to “just do it”
How to sew
How to bake bread

How to play the guitar

To control my weight

But what I have learned, I hope to pass on to others and grow stronger still

I have learned:
God still speaks
When I am weak He is strong
When I think I stand then I am more susceptible to fall
Knowing my neighbors is a beautiful thing
God is completely sovereign and I can’t ruin His plan.
I have no idea what is going on in someone else’s life so I cannot judge them.
There is a difference between chocolate and “good” chocolate
When I obey God, wonderful things happen
My mom is an amazing person
Kids are a lot of work, but I wouldn’t trade mine for anything
Growth is doing something out of my comfort zone
Women’s Bible Study is powerful
Reading is fun
God is bigger than anything I can mess up
God’s way is so much better than my way could ever possibly be
Praying God’s will is different than praying for God to bless my will
Women are fun to be around and encouraging
God will put me where He wants me I just need to be available
Even when I think things can’t be better God surprises me
When I think I can’t go on, God sustains me
Even when I’m not, God remains faithful
I am only in control of my own spiritual life
I am not the Holy Spirit in other people’s lives
There is nothing I can do to earn God’s love or make Him love me more
I am still under construction
My Maker is in the business of making masterpieces

So, I welcome my new chapter in life. I say goodbye 30's and hello 40's. This next chapter is going to be even better than my last. It will bring adventure and growth in areas I didn't dream possible. My God is on the throne and He knows what He is doing! I am ready to take on the world!

But for now... I need to wash "loverboy's" muddy feet and clean up his footprints from the carpet.