Look Away...Dixie Land

Happy New Year

2012-01-02T18:03:00.000-08:00

Loved ones 2011

Well, Christmas is over and I’m just now writing so this is now the New Year Livingston update! I hope everybody had a wonderful time of relaxation, ate lots of junk food, and enjoyed sweet time with family and friends. We have enjoyed ourselves as much as possible with several mostly sick family members and a veritable monsoon that has settled over Mississippi for the past 3 days. I’m ready for sunny skies!

I will attempt to recap our 2011 in a reasonable amount of time. If you know me at all, though, you’ll know I have the gift of gab and that sometimes translates to print. Sorry ‘bout that!

You may recall from last year’s letter that Isaac has been involved in Speed Stacking after being introduced to the sport (yes, it is a sport!) by his PE coach at school. Well, the World Speed Stacking Championship was held in Dallas in April so we decided to take Isaac and let him compete in the open competition that was being held at the same time. It was lots of fun. He did really well for someone who had only been stacking for a couple of months. He came back with a zeal for starting a speed stacking team so with a little help from Eric, Isaac created a Power Point presentation. He pitched the idea to his principal and PE coach at the end of the school year. There are now 2 speed stack clubs at his elementary school: one for 4^th graders and one for 5^th graders. It’s the highlight of his week. We’ll be having a tournament in Feb. If you’re in the neighborhood, come see! It’s lots of fun to watch. Isaac loves school, has a good group of friends, and is actually looking forward to middle school next year. (I am not, by the way, but I try to maintain a happy face whenever the subject comes up) Isaac has officially attained the height of 5’3”. This is significant because it’s how tall I am. I’m sure he’ll pass me by Spring Break. Sniff, sniff…

Ethan loves life and making folks smile with his dazzling dimples. He is now in 2^nd grade and has a wonderful teacher who is absolutely perfect for him. He is playing UPWARD basketball again for the 2^nd year in a row and has lots of fun with that. He has been sick for the past 6 weeks or so. Mostly he seems to stay congested in his sinuses but then that causes ear infections which cause him to be miserable. Ethan was on antibiotics for 5 weeks (3 different ones) and while the infection cleared up, the fluid in his ears never went away. This has greatly affected his hearing. According to a hearing test done last week, he has moderate hearing loss in his right ear (typical of one with fluid in there) but severe hearing loss in his left (more than what they expect to see with just fluid). We are so thankful that a sweet friend in our small group from church is also an ENT. She is going to be removing his tonsils and adenoids as well as draining his ears and putting in tubes on January 3^rd. Prayers are definitely coveted here. Isaac’s tonsils and adenoids were taken out when he was just a little guy, almost 3. Watching him come out of the anesthesia was not fun. I am hoping that Ethan does beautifully and recovers quickly. Mostly, we want him to stay healthy and be able to hear normally.

Jaylie brought about the biggest milestone for our family in 2011 by starting kindergarten. She was so excited; so ready. I’ll never forget that morning of the first day of school. I was up, fixing breakfast. I heard her door open and her little feet pounding, running across the living room floor. She burst into the kitchen, threw her arms around my legs and said, “Eeeeeeeee!” It was hard to be sad when she was so happy. Her teacher is named Ms. Beasley, which is funny. She is a wonderful first teacher for Jaylie to have and I’m so thankful for her. Jaylie is reading and writing well, which is so awesome. It is so different hearing about a school day from a little girl’s perspective, as opposed to a little boy’s perspective. After 2 years of ballet classes, Jaylie decided to try out gymnastics. We started that in late August. Let’s just say, it didn’t take. She’ll be back in ballet after the new year! I am pleased about this. I was surprised that she didn’t dance at home while she was in gymnastics. It made me a little sad but I never said anything to her. After she said she wasn’t liking gymnastics and we got the ballet stuff worked back out, she dances all the time. There’s just nothing like watching her spontaneously dance because the mood strikes her. It makes my heart happy. Another major thing here lately for her is that she’s stopped sucking her thumb. For someone who has been sucking the same thumb everyday since BEFORE she was born, this was no small feat. The most recent big girl thing she did: pierced ears! She got them pierced just a few days ago. Her hair is now perpetually pulled back into a pony, the better to show off her ears. My little girl…not so little anymore.

Eric is everywhere at Meadowbrook. God continues to expand Eric’s giftedness and show him new ways to use those gifts for the body at Meadowbrook. March 1^st marks his 6^th anniversary at here which, incidentally, is the same amount of time that he was in the Air Force. It’s so weird to think of it that way. Our family continues to thrive, which is what every parent wants, so we are thankful. Eric is coaching both boys basketball teams this year, which will be fun and crazy. He participated with Isaac at the World Speed Stacking Championship. They entered the Parent/Child doubles event which consisted of Isaac using his left hand and Eric using his right hand as they went through the cycle. It was lots of fun to watch.

I am adjusting to life at home without children to dictate my schedule. It is quite different. For 11 years, while I had a loose schedule, it was more or less dictated by the kids needs (play with me, feed me, make me sleep, help me, hold me, be in the same room with me…) you know how it goes. I truly treasure all of those things and have always been completely and utterly fulfilled having my kids at home. These first few months with Jaylie in school have been quite a change. First of all, I’ve got some commitments that fill my time. I am one of the PTO presidents at Ethan and Jaylie’s school so that right there occupies a great deal of time and energy. I love that though. I love that I can go to their school and see them at work while I am up there contributing my time to help their school experience be the best it can possibly be. I also try to be at Isaac’s school when I can. Next year, I’ll have 3 kids at 3 schools…that makes my head hurt. The other thing is that some of you may not know that I took a part time job at the exact same time that school started. It’s a long story but basically, God is funny and He gives exactly what is needed at the exact right time. I work from home about 8-10 hours a week. I am the Relationship Manager for an online ministry called CrossLink International. www.crosslink.org I do several things but one of the biggest projects I work on is a massive directory of Restoration Movement churches. (So, if you go to a Church of Christ, and Independent Christian Church, or a Disciples of Christ congregation, you can help me out by checking to see if your church’s information is listed in our directory. If it isn’t, you can add it. If it’s out of date, you can update it. Or, you can let me know and I’ll fix it. Thanks!) Anyway, when you combine a couple of hours of work a day with being at school for events and shopping for groceries, doing laundry, running and keeping the house clean…well, let’s just say I’m not sitting at home twiddling my thumbs. Oh yeah, I have become a runner! I ran my first 5K last April which was a major milestone for me. I’ll run another in Feb. I actually like it this time, which hasn’t been the case in the past. I’m hoping to some day have a runner’s body, but right now, I’m just still in awe that I can run for 30 minutes without having a heart attack or something!

We are happily anticipating 2012 because we are headed to Disney World on February 5! This will be the first time our kids have ever been and we are excited! Next year’s Christmas (or New Year’s) letter will no doubt be filled with excerpts from our experience there.

I hope that you enjoyed 2011 and look forward to 2012 with hope and joy. Truly every day is a gift, a miracle in and of itself. Sometimes I struggle to see the miraculous amidst the common drudgery that I allow my life to become. As a new year begins, I feel myself resolving to be intentional about seeking out these daily miracles. I pray that my heart is always open to seeing them. I know that the LORD is always at work. Praise God for that!

With Love

Eric, Dixie, Isaac, Ethan and Jaylie Livingston

Autumn

2011-10-12T05:56:00.000-07:00

I remember back in 2006 when we were experiencing our first Mississippi summer, I asked a friend, "When does it cool down around here?" She said, "Well, in September it usually starts getting back down into the 60s at night. It'll still be warm during the day, but at night it is cooler." She was right. And her prophesy has proved accurate each and every year since. This year, thanks to Tropical Storm Lee which came in during the 1st week in September, it cooled off and has stayed that way:) You know, cooling off means 60s at night and mid (sometimes upper) 80s during the day but it is far superior to upper 70s during the night and upper 90s during the day with 80% humidity. I enjoy Autumn.

The cooler temps in the morning also mean I'm running again. I totally wimped out during the summer. I am just not made of tough enough stuff to get out there in the heat and mug to plod myself around for miles. Nope. Part of why I actually enjoyed running this time (as opposed to other times I've tried---and failed---to become a runner) was being outside. That was completely taken away from about midMay til early Sept. Now it's back, and I'm out.

School is going well for everyone. Jaylie is loving kindergarten. It completely wipes her out but she is having fun and making friends. She's happy to read now (before she hadn't liked to read out loud for me...I think she is very aware of how well her brothers read and didn't want to make mistakes) she's counting by 2's and 5's and 10's. She's pretty proud of herself:)

Ethan is loving 2nd grade. His teacher is such a blessing. She is kind and sweet and gentle. Ethan has great friends in his class; some that he's had for a few years now, which is pretty lucky. He continues to be a great reader and speller. He dislikes memorizing math facts but does well regardless.

Isaac continues to enjoy school. He is already looking forward to middle school next year. I, on the other hand, have dreaded middles school since he started kinder. But the school he'll be going to has a lot of things to offer a kid like him (primarily a radio and technology club) that he's excited about. He and Ethan are going to be playing UPWARD basketball again this fall.

I have recently been collecting data from moms who've had kids at school for longer than me to see how they manage their day! I am finding that I am trying to do bits of everything everyday and therefor not making any progress on anything! So, I'm in the process of formulating a schedule for myself so that I can spend my time more efficiently. Work in progress!

I hope you are all enjoying a change of seasons. I am really looking forward to Halloween and Thanksgiving and Christmas. I just love this time of year.

Blessings
D

Turning the Page

2011-08-11T06:09:00.001-07:00

So apparently, I decided not to blog all summer. I found myself being a little surprised by that BUT, it's mostly because it takes me quite a bit of time/thought/energy to blog. With my 3 kids home all summer, I found it difficult to prioritize that much uninterrupted computer time. (That's a nice way of saying that my kids interrupt me quite frequently)

Our summer was great. We got to see Brad and Dawn and their girls each month, which is unprecedented, but made the kids really happy. We made a trip to Nashville over the 4th and to the beach last week. Eric and Isaac went to camp. We made regular trips to the library to keep the kids reading. Each kid got to stay the night with my parents once a week all summer; they enjoyed the one-on-one time with them. All in all, it was a very relaxing summer. Not too harried. Extremely hot but you know, we live in the South...

Now school has started. Tuesday, Aug. 9 was everyone's first day. Jaylie has been super excited about kindergarten ever since she got her shots behind her back in May. Ethan has been ready for school for quite some time and even Isaac was ready to go back several weeks ago. He said he wasn't missing the work, but he was missing his friends.

The big question I've had is,"How are you doing with Jaylie at school now?" followed quickly by,"What are you going to do all day?" Indeed, that was sorta what Ethan asked me Monday night as I was saying good night to him. "Mom, you'll be all alone here. What are you going to do?" Bless him. I told him that I'd be at school a lot (I'm a PTO president now, after all) and I would still have my house work to do (laundry, grocery shopping, cleaning the house, etc) and that I hoped to have all that done before they came home from school so that when the get home, all I have to 'do' is fix supper. Ethan kinda lit up after that when he realized that I'd be free to play games and stuff. I always like to play with them, but up til now, it has meant that I don't do something that I feel like needs to be done, because I want to be available to the kids. Which leads me to the thrust of this post...

Tuesday marked the end of an era for me. For 11 years, I have stayed home, bound by nap times and meal times, tethered by my kids' needs which are usually (as in always) more urgent than mine. Now, I set out to discover who I am without those bonds. 'Bonds' sounds so negative. 'Constraints' isn't the right word either. It is accurate, but not at all negative. I have been absolutely, totally and utterly fulfilled staying home with my kids. It's one of those things that has gone according to plan, praise the Lord. Eric and I knew we wanted me to stay home. We were blessed that Isaac arrived when he did to allow that. We have been blessed for these 11 years to have a salary for Eric that didn't necessitate my working at all (as in, getting paid) to make our ends meet. We put a very high priority on living with one income because we valued my staying home. I am so glad that Eric has always valued what I do.

I told a sweet friend yesterday that I feel like I've done a good job. That's not meant to sound like a boast. I don't have regrets about how I've spent my time with my kids. I feel like I have done a good job preparing them for school. I think that's evidenced in their excitement for starting back. There have been some choked back tears for me. As I told Jaylie goodnight on Monday, I had to try not to boo-hoo at her. There's an element of disbelief that she can possibly be 'school-aged'. Time flies.

But it is hard to be sad in the face of such joy and excitement. Our little school where Jaylie is is such a sweet place. I know all the teachers and staff there. I can be there as often as I like. It is populated with lots of folks I go to church with, that Jaylie and Ethan have known for most of their lives. It is a good place.

So far, this sounds so final. As if I'm done with the raising of my kids! Yikes, I would be sad about that! I guess I am just recognizing that I am moving into a new phase. When I was pregnant with Jaylie, I knew--absolutely--that she would be my last baby. After all, with the very rare exception (think, Duggar family with 19 kids) there is a finite number of kids a woman can have. With women who have c-sections (like me) there's a limited number of times you can be cut open. Knowing she was my last made it not so hard when lots of my friends were having subsequent babies. Accepting the end of my 'child-bearing' years made me embrace 'child-rearing' years. Alot of prayer goes into these phase-shifts for me. I appreciate the way God works in preparing my heart for the new adventures that await me in the new phase.

I titled this post, Turning the Page. I feel very much like that. I am moving into a different part of my story. This part isn't as familiar. It's going to take some getting used to. But lucky for me, I like to re-read my favorite books a lot. (seriously, I read them a LOT) So armed with my giant logs of not-so-wonderfully-taken photos, I will be able to look back again and again rejoicing in my story this far. Praising the Author for the beauty of it. And anticipating what awaits in the new chapter. It will be good.

Our May=Ready for Summer

2011-05-23T07:02:00.000-07:00

Well, since it's been a whole month since my last post, I guess it's ok for me to be making a new one. I don't want to overwhelm y'all with too many, you know.

This is the last week of school and I am so ready to delete the 6am alarm on my phone. I thought I'd recap our May and it might give you an idea as to why I am so excited about summer!

After Easter weekend Eric left for a conference in Atlanta and I got sick. (It's always nice to get sick the day your husband leaves town. My kids watched a bunch of TV that week.) This was the 2nd Atlanta conference in a month for Eric, but the 4th weekend in a row away when you count our speedstack trip to Dallas and his spontaneous trip to Memphis to see a Spurs playoff game. The following week was teacher appreciation week at school, which included sending happies with both boys for their teachers and eating lunch at school with Ethan. Field Day rounded out that week, which was lots of fun. We also got a new roof that week; we're still finding nails around our house! Then came our neighborhood garage sale and small group, Mother's Day, Ethan's actual Birthday on Monday, state testing for Isaac Tuesday-Thursday, Ethan's birthday party/movie trip for him and some friends and the arrival of Eric's parents that Friday. Jaylie's ballet recital was Saturday and then Small Group was here at our house that night. Eric's parents left last Sunday afternoon and we are so happy they can make quick trips for big celebrations like birthdays and recitals. The kids love having them participate in their milestones. Last week was much more laid back with just Ethan's 7 year old check up and Jaylie's kindergarten shots... bless her. One more thing of note last week was that Isaac prepared a powerpoint presentation for his principal and PE coach. Eric went with him as he pitched the idea for a cup-stacking club at his school for next year. I'll keep you posted as that develops :)

Now, finally, the school year is almost over. The last week of school is always such a crazy time. Sort of like finding an excuse to send them when you know they aren't doing too much. But I remember as a kid loving the last week. Cleaning out desks and playing games and watching movies...kinda like a long playdate before not seeing your friends for a long while. Eric's sister and her family are coming on Friday for a long visit. It will be nice to have them and the girls here. My kids love their cousins. This weekend is Memorial day so we have a cookout with our small group and a wedding and....

Enjoy your summer. There are some things I'm mulling that I'll most likely post about soon.

Here's a couple of pics from the past couple of weeks.

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that my parents got a new puppy 2 weeks ago. His name is Bevo and the kids adore having a puppy to play with. Here is Ethan watching the world go by with Bevo one day after school.

Hurry Up Sunday

2011-04-22T11:43:00.000-07:00

Today is Good Friday. I am so glad to be free from school schedules today. It's nice that our kids are out for Good Friday and not some secular-coated spring holiday. Around here, it's Good Friday. Everyone knows it's a holy day...or it's supposed to be.

I am feeling weighed down by the Act; by what I believe happened today all those many years ago. Last year was the first time I ever gave up something for Lent. It was coffee. Not super self-sacrificing or anything. But I do enjoy my coffee and it did mean something to me to give it up; to focus on what Christ gave up...for me. This year, I didn't give up something. It seemed somehow flat to do the same thing again. I thought of not eating sugar or desserts or meat or something like that but I know secretly I would hope to be losing weight as a result of abstaining from that stuff for 40 days. It seems wrong to me to use Lent to lose weight.

I am not a reflective person by nature. It takes effort for me to actually look 'into' what something is or means or seems instead of just going with my initial reaction. I realize I need to work on this but am coming to the realization that I lack the tools to do that.

I am reading a little book by Lauren Winner called The Mudhouse Sabbath. I am just about to be finished with it. I read her book Girl Meets God a few years ago when she was the keynote speaker at the ZOE conference. I appreciate her writing and her thoughts. I appreciate that she's my age and thus not so far removed from the the experiences I've had. She grew up Jewish and then converted to Christianity in her 20s I think. She attends an Episcopalian church in Charlotte, NC. She is a reflective person. She ponders and studies and researches and writes. I am grateful for people like her who provide tools for people like me. I think I may get myself a prayer book.

I keep thinking about Jesus' friends on today. He was gone; taken. I can't imagine the not knowing. I can't imagine knowing that he most likely wasn't coming back to them and feeling like, "Now what?" They don't know about Sunday and what will happen. He's just gone; out of their reach.

But I do know about Sunday and I can't wait for it's arrival. Last year, I woke up with this thought, "He's risen! He's alive!" I had set my coffee maker the night before and I got up to the smell of a fresh pot. I fixed myself a cup, got my bible and went and sat on the patio at the table and read all 4 Gospel accounts of the crucifixion and Resurrection. I love John's. I love when it tells of the women going to the tomb and Mary is crying and Jesus comes to her and asks her why. I picture her as looking at the ground, trying to hide her tears from who she thinks is a stranger. And Jesus says, "Mary." Just her name. I imagine him saying it with emotion, like, "Mary...look at me." But he doesn't even get that far. When he says her name, she knows. He's alive! He's risen! He's here. Mary hurries back to tell the others. Can you imagine being one of only a couple of people who knew that this had happened? It might be like knowing you had picked the winning numbers for the lottery and as soon as you confirmed you're the winner, it'd be all over the news. But for now, the knowledge is your own.

I'm not an expert so I don't know how many Christians are in the world and how many non-Christians know, in an academic way, that this guy named Jesus supposedly rose from the dead on Easter. But my guess is, there's a lot of folks that know this. Or at least know about it. I can't imagine when that wasn't the case, when it was just Mary and her friends, until they told and Jesus showed up all over the place to lots of people.

So now it's been thousands of years. I've been alive 35 of them, and I'm still learning how to reflect on Easter. It does take effort. But He says my name. "Dixie..look at me." And I know he is here. He always will be.

Hurry up Sunday.

this is my garden and all the daisies that make me happy

Bodies

2011-03-30T08:18:00.000-07:00

In April of 2003, my youngest niece, Carmen, was born. We lived in Augusta, GA and they (Eric's sister, Dawn, her husband, Brad and my oldest niece, Audra) lived in Florence, AL. We visited often while we lived there but when I got the call from Brad that Dawn had gone into labor, I took Isaac (who was about 15 months old) and set out by myself for their house. The plan was that I would stay at their house and take care of Audra while they were in the hospital and then help for a day or 2 after they came home. I think that my mother-in-law was sick at the time and couldn't be around a newborn. That's why I got to go:) Anyway, that whole experience was wonderful. We arrived at the hospital just a few hours after Carmen had been born. It was so neat to see Audra (almost 3) and Isaac love on the tiny baby. One of the most wonderful things I remember was fixing Audra's hair in braids and pony tails; things I hadn't gotten to do as a mother yet. Anyway, fast forward 5 weeks and we were back at home. I got a call in the very early hours of the morning from Dawn. With a teary voice she said,"I have a very sick baby." Carmen had somehow contracted meningitis. I don't remember all the details but I remember her telling me that her white blood count was really high. My comment was how amazing, that this little tiny body is doing exactly what it's supposed to---what a grown up body does---in the face of infection. Carmen came through and recovered and has been a joy to watch grow and mature. She'll be 8 in a couple of weeks!

Here's Carmen and Audra then

Here's Jaylie and Carmen this past Thanksgiving

You may be wondering how this post, so far, can have much to do with bodies, which is what this post is titled. Well, I'm getting there. Or at least, I'm trying to.

I have had brief stints with exercise in my childbearing life. You see, it may surprise you to know that I didn't always look like a mother of 3, but used to have a more petite figure! I never really had to exercise. But then, as with most people I know, you get married, have kids (gaining and losing a ton of weight in the process) and then YIKES! before you know it, you're in your mid-30s and you sorta don't really look like you used to and losing weight is not easy. I don't know about you, sweet reader, but I go through phases of being fine with how I look and then really being sick to death of how I look. I don't really expect to ever look like I did (or even weigh what I did) before I was a mother of 3. After all, I was 24 when I had Isaac and let's face it, having kids changes so much about you, not just what your body looks like. So, yeah, although I would really like to someday have a slightly smaller jean size and also a smaller number on the scale, I'm not after reclaiming my high school size 4 prom dress. Those days are gone forever...and I'm fine with that...really...

Lots of you know that I have started running this year. I've started to run in the past but never for this long, with this much success and with this good of an attitude. I ran 3.26 miles on Monday this week. That's the farthest I've ever run. As in ever. It took me a solid 40 minutes which is pretty darn slow if you ask me but you know what they say about slow and steady winning the race. I'm running a 5K at Isaac's school in 2 weeks. I'm not expecting to win it (especially when I know people can walk about as fast as I run!) but this will be a major milestone, both mentally and physically.

Back to the bodies thing though. I have been amazed at my body. (How many times have you said that about your body?) What amazes me is that what I used to not be able to do (run a mile without stopping, run for 10 minutes without stopping, run for 20, 30 minutes, 2,3, miles) I can now do. Conditioning, or training is what you call it, I guess. (You can tell I'm not an athlete) I used to not do something, and now I can. That's amazing to me. Now, it hasn't made all that much difference on the scales, yet...I think I'm only off about 8 pounds since I started in January. But I know I'm doing what I should be, and I'll keep doing it and trust that at some point, my metabolism will kick in and help out a bit!

God has made our bodies perfectly and amazingly. From Carmen's white blood cells to my super-soft mother-of-3- tummy---perfect and amazing. Capable of doing things we wouldn't think we could do. I'm fully aware that David said it much better than me in Psalm 139:

For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.
My frame was not hidden from you
when I was made in the secret place,
when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.
Your eyes saw my unformed body;
all the days ordained for me were written in your book
before one of them came to be.
How precious to me are your thoughts, God!
How vast is the sum of them!
Were I to count them,
they would outnumber the grains of sand—
when I awake, I am still with you.

But then again, I doubt David ever had squishy abs.

Enjoy the rest of the week!

D

Half a Decade

2011-03-03T19:07:00.000-08:00

This past weekend was rather momentous for the Livingston family. (Mostly for me because I'm the one who keeps track of things like this) It was the 5 year anniversary of our arrival in MS, this house, Meadowbrook and full time ministry. As many--or most of you--probably know, I moved around all the time as a kid and even the first 10 years of our marriage was pretty transient. This address is by far the longest one I have ever had...EVER in my life (and I'm getting pretty old) Jaylie just turned 5 and a half, Ethan will be 7 in May and Isaac turned 10 in December. Subtract 5 from their ages and you'll see that this house is pretty much the only one my littlest ones know of. This house was Isaac's 5th one when we moved here; he was 5 then. Meadowbrook is the only church they have really known. Jaylie learned how to walk in this living room. Isaac learned how to tie his shoes in this kitchen. Ethan learned how to play Mario Kart in this house. I've become a runner in this neighborhood. Eric has become a vessel used by God to serve others in this community...

Thank you so much to those of you who have loved us and our kids so much. Thank you for allowing us to be here to serve with you. We couldn't ask for more.

And Mom and Dad, your own 5 year anniversary is coming up in May. Thank you for coming with us, for loving us more than TX. Isaac and Ethan and Jaylie have no idea what life is like without you. That is a gift that is immeasurable. And thanks is really not enough. I do love you so much.

So this is what roots feel like :)

Blessings to you

D

Rest

2011-01-22T14:49:00.000-08:00

You know how, before you have kids, you glean a lot of info from your friends that do have kids? Well, one of the things that really stuck came from my first friend who I knew before they had kids, knew all through her pregnancy, and then got to hold their baby in those first few months of early parenting. This was all back before the Air Force when Eric and I were very young and rather newly married. We were blessed with a core group of other young married friends at church; most of them weren't quite as young as we were.

Anyway, after these friends had moved away and we were in the Air Force and living in GA and Isaac was tiny, I remember talking to my good friend. (Her name's Joanna, btw) By this time, they had added twins to their family. In our phone conversation, she was talking about Rest Time at their house. I remember her saying,"As long as their are children in my house, there will be Rest Time." or something like that. I really took this to heart. At the time I had only one child, and he did NOT like to sleep (still doesn't). He was never a good napper and maybe that's why I grabbed onto the idea of a Rest Time. I also recalled my Grandmother telling me, when I was very young staying with her, "You don't have to sleep. Just lay there and rest." Joanna's rule in her house seemed to have some good footing, in my opinion.

As if my Grandmother wasn't enough, I learned at a ZOE conference a few years ago more about Sabbath than I had known before. I'm not just talking about the resting on the 7th day that the LORD commanded in the bible. Having a day for rest and worship is so important, He commanded His people observe it. Because our family values that, we try to limit our extra activities on Sunday. Beyond worship and sometimes a meal with friends, our family tries to mostly stay at home -- resting, playing games, being outside. What Rest Time is at our house is a daily Sabbath.

Back to one of Joanna's comments, "It's important for my kids to be able to be alone and to be quiet for a while." Being alone was so important, she made her twin boys have rest time in different rooms. I used to hate being alone. I am a pretty extroverted person and enjoy people and the energy that conversation and company gives me. But through our Rest Times, I have learned to treasure the quiet solitary moments I have. Rest Time lasts for about an hour at our house. When Eric is at work and the boys are at school, I still make Jaylie go rest in her room for a bit. A lot of times, she will go to sleep. Other days she just reads or plays with small toys on her bed. I use my hour to read (sometimes for fun, sometimes the Bible), to write in my prayer journal, to catch up on small things I am behind on (this isn't very restful, but makes for a smoother evening). Most days I do actually lay down on my bed. I have a pretty good view of our backyard and I like to watch the birds and squirrels and the trees in the wind (when we have some) I have also been known to have a little nap (luxury of luxuries!)

I have held to a daily schedule that includes REST for far longer than most of my friends. Perhaps it is because I have come to need it so much. I do notice a difference in my patience level when I have not stopped and slowed down for a little bit. I'm sure Eric and the kids notice too. I like to think of Rest Time as a little Sabbath; a daily Sabbath. It's a little time to stop and rest knowing the the LORD is taking care of whatever it is I'm NOT doing at the time. It's an acknowledgment of my place in His plan. He's got this. I can rest for a bit. And I find myself renewed and ready for the remainder of the day.

I really hope that my kids will leave our home rested, not rushed or hurried. I hope that they will take time to rest as they enter adulthood and not cram every minute full of activity and noise. God's voice is small and hushed sometimes. I hope that they can lean on Rest Time and learn to hear the voice of their Maker once their lives are busy and full of adult things. This is one habit I hope they will take with them.

Poetry II

2011-01-14T07:20:00.000-08:00

The first one was kind of long. Here's a shorter one. Who doesn't love Shakespeare?

From Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice, 1596.

The quality of mercy is not strain'd,
It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven
Upon the place beneath: it is twice blest;
It blesseth him that gives and him that takes:
'Tis mightiest in the mightiest: it becomes
The throned monarch better than his crown;
His sceptre shows the force of temporal power,
The attribute to awe and majesty,
Wherein doth sit the dread and fear of kings;
But mercy is above this sceptred sway;
It is enthroned in the hearts of kings,
It is an attribute to God himself;
And earthly power doth then show likest God's
When mercy seasons justice.

Open Houses at Ann Smith Elementary

2011-01-11T07:06:00.001-08:00

Poetry

2011-01-07T19:46:00.000-08:00

I am not a poet but I do appreciate poetry. I tend to like poetry that rhymes and has a good meter. I thought I'd post a few of my favorites over the next few days. Tell me what you think.

The Eternal Goodness by John Greenleaf Whittier

O Friends! with whom my feet have trod
The quiet aisles of prayer,
Glad witness to your zeal for God
And love of man I bear.

I trace your lines of argument;
Your logic linked and strong
I weigh as one who dreads dissent,
And fears a doubt as wrong.

But still my human hands are weak
To hold your iron creeds:
Against the words ye bid me speak
My heart within me pleads.

Who fathoms the Eternal Thought?
Who talks of scheme and plan?
The Lord is God! He needeth not
The poor device of man.

I walk with bare, hushed feet the ground
Ye tread with boldness shod;
I dare not fix with mete and bound
The love and power of God.

Ye praise His justice; even such
His pitying love I deem:
Ye seek a king; I fain would touch
The robe that hath no seam.

Ye see the curse which overbroods
A world of pain and loss;
I hear our Lord`s beatitudes
And prayer upon the cross.

More than your schoolmen teach, within
Myself, alas! I know:
Too dark ye cannot paint the sin,
Too small the merit show.

I bow my forehead to the dust,
I veil mine eyes for shame,
And urge, in trembling self-distrust,
A prayer without a claim.

I see the wrong that round me lies,
I feel the guilt within;
I hear, with groan and travail-cries,
The world confess its sin.

Yet, in the maddening maze of things,
And tossed by storm and flood,
To one fixed trust my spirit clings;
I know that God is good!

Not mine to look where cherubim
And seraphs may not see,
But nothing can be good in Him
Which evil is in me.

The wrong that pains my soul below
I dare not throne above,
I know not of His hate, - I know
His goodness and His love.

I dimly guess from blessings known
Of greater out of sight,
And, with the chastened Psalmist, own
His judgments too are right.

I long for household voices gone.
For vanished smiles I long,
But God hath led my dear ones on,
And He can do no wrong.

I know not what the future hath
Of marvel or surprise,
Assured alone that life and death
His mercy underlies.

And if my heart and flesh are weak
To bear an untried pain,
The bruised reed He will not break,
But strengthen and sustain.

No offering of my own I have,
Nor works my faith to prove;
I can but give the gifts He gave,
And plead His love for love.

And so beside the Silent Sea
I wait the muffled oar;
No harm from Him can come to me
On ocean or on shore.

I know not where His islands lift
Their fronded palms in air;
I only know I cannot drift
Beyond His love and care.

O brothers! if my faith is vain,
If hopes like these betray,
Pray for me that my feet may gain
The sure and safer way.

And Thou, O Lord! by whom are seen
Thy creatures as they be,
Forgive me if too close I lean
My human heart on Thee!

Merry Christmas

2010-12-26T21:20:00.001-08:00

Here is our Christmas letter and year-end slide show (scroll down; it's at the end of the letter) for your enjoyment. I hope you each had a wonderful Christmas yesterday and are looking forward to the New Year.

Merry Christmas Everybody!

2010 is almost over! It really did blow by. I was trying to explain to Isaac the other night why time seems to pass more quickly for adults than for children. It really is true. It seems like ever since he entered kindergarten, time has sped up. Nevertheless, we are enjoying our life that is going by so quickly. We try to take advantage of each moment---take a picture so we don’t forget---try to freeze time for just a bit. That’s what Christmas letters are for, to try to share some of those joys of the year that’s gone. Here we go!

Jaylie is 5. I can hardly believe she is. She is a fun little girl with lots to say. She is busy all the time. She loves to be outside as much as possible. Jaylie is taking ballet again this year and is gearing up for The Christmas Dream. Although we have never seen it, it is supposed to be a really Big Deal. It is the ballet studio’s take on the Nutcracker. I’ll post pictures on facebook. Last March she danced at our Talent Show at church while Eric and I sang. Then she danced in her first recital in May. She really likes to be on a stage. Jaylie will start Kindergarten in the fall. I’ll let you know how I handle that next year!

Ethan is 6 ½ and in the 1st grade. He loves school! His teacher is so perfect for him. Ethan continues to love reading. I am so proud of how well he reads. We gave him a big kid Bible for his half birthday last month and he has been doing the readings for our Advent devotionals. It is such a joy to hear a young voice read God’s words. Ethan had a speaking and a singing part in the Thanksgiving play at school. It seems we have another child who likes the stage! Ethan has just started his first ever stint in organized sports. He’s playing UPWARD basketball. Eric is coaching his team. We’re looking forward to a fun season. Ethan is a sweet little soul and a treasure to be around. His dimples are quite potent!

Isaac has just turned 10 years old! He’s in the 4th grade and enjoys school immensely. This year, he has done two notable things in school so far. 1: After a unit on the brain, his PATHWAYS class dissected a sheep’s brain. While I think it sounds pretty gross (I always managed to have a sympathetic lab partner who did all the dissecting in biology) I think it’s cool that he got to do it. 2: Thanks to his PE coach, he has discovered Speed Stacking. If you don’t know what this is, look it up on youtube and prepare to be amazed. On the last day of school before Christmas break, there was a tournament. Isaac won 2 1st place trophies for both of the 4th grade events. He went on to compete against the 1st place winner of the 5th grade and won there too! So he was the school champion of Speed Stacking at his school! Pretty good for his ego, let me tell ya. His UPWARD season has just started as well and he loves basketball. He’s just over 5 feet tall (inching up on me every day) so we’re looking forward to all the rebounds he’ll be pulling down.

Eric continues his ministry at Meadowbrook. We are just about to celebrate 5 years here! He graduated from Lipscomb in May (for which we are exceedingly thankful) with his Masters in Theology. With school out of the way for the next 15-20 years (I hope!) he has tons of free time! I’m kidding. He’s always busy with…well, with lots of stuff. Too much to write down. He serves Meadowbrook well with his time and talent. He and Isaac have started learning how to play guitar this year. It is really neat to hear them improve.

I haven’t added anything noteworthy to my daily routine. Jaylie and I hang out and stay busy during the day. I am treasuring our last year at home together. I got a bicycle last year for Christmas so when the weather is nice, we would go for a ride around the neighborhood. Me on my bike, she on her pink and purple Big Wheel. I think we probably looked pretty cute! I have been teaching the 6th grade class at church and enjoy them so much. I’ve had that group since they were in 2nd grade. It is such a joy to see how they have grown and changed.

In May, we all (my parents included) went to Nashville to celebrate Eric’s graduation, Ethan and Audra’s (our niece) Birthdays, and Mother’s Day. It was such a great weekend of celebration. The next weekend, Eric’s folks came down for Ethan’s birthday party and Jaylie’s recital.

A few weeks later we made our annual trek to Galveston Island for a week of fun on the beach. The week didn’t start out that fun though. Mom and Dad had taken the kids to Galveston a few days ahead of us. They slept at my Pawpaw’s house on the way and wouldn’t you know it, Ethan’s head and the corner of Pawpaw’s dresser met with a crash. 2 stitches later, he was ready for the beach. The worst part of the whole thing (for me) was that I wasn’t there with him at the doctor’s office. But this particular doctor is beloved by (and takes care of) my whole family in Jasper, TX so I knew he was in good hands. The rest of our trip was fun, but blessedly uneventful.

A few weeks after that Eric and I took Ethan on his completion-of-kindergarten trip. This is a little tradition we started with Isaac (we took him camping). This time, the 3 of us road the Amtrak train down to New Orleans. The train ride was a fun experience. It is definitely easier than driving. It took about the same amount of time. We walked the whole time in NOLA, which is definitely doable if you stay in close proximity to the French Quarter. This was our first trip to NOLA and we really had a great time. We went to the IMAX and to the Children’s Museum. Whenever Ethan would get tired of walking, we’d duck into a candy shop or toy store. We hope to go back as a family sometime soon. Ethan had a great time and still talks about it.

In July, Brad, Dawn and the girls came for a few days. Audra and Carmen are our kids’ only cousins and so we try to get them together as often as is possible. We love how they love each other so much.

In August Eric and I celebrated 15 years of marriage. In celebration we went to New York City in September. We went on a Monday and came back on a Friday. We had such a great time. We saw 2 shows on Broadway, went to the MET, road the subway, saw the Statue of Liberty, toured several cathedrals…it was really a wonderful time. Thanks to Mother and Daddy for keeping our kids. We know we couldn’t have done it without them.

Eric’s parents visited us in September for Jaylie’s Birthday. We are so grateful for them being willing to come visit as often as they do. Grandpa took the kids fishing and they are still talking about that!

Thanksgiving saw us back in Nashville! Eric grandparents and aunt and uncle from MO drove out. It was so fun being around extended family and remember we have so much to be thankful for.

Eric’s parents are hoping to come visit during the Christmas break. Eric’s dad has just had a partial knee replacement so when he gets a bit more comfortable, they’ll be coming. My Pawpaw got here on Isaac’s birthday and will be here for a couple of weeks. My brother, Jason, drove in to town last night to stay for a few days. He is actually en route to Lubbock, TX, where he’s starting a PhD program at TX Tech. It is going to be a family filled Christmas---the best kind.

Our 2009 ended on a sad note and it continued into the beginning of the year. Both of our Grandmothers passed away within a couple of weeks of each other. My Grandmother died pretty much on my birthday last year. We had just arrived at Eric’s grandparent’s house (500 miles from MS) and got the news. We traveled another 700 miles to south TX for her funeral and then another 650 miles back home. It was a lot of driving. Right after the first of the year, Eric’s Grandma passed away. Eric and I drove out to MO to be with his family. As we anticipate the joy of this season, I am acutely aware of both of our mothers and how the absence of their own mothers is a constant ache. Praise God that He came and will come again. We long for that day of reunion.

Enjoy this Christmas and the people around you. We have all been given so much. How great is the love the Father has lavished on us…

Merry Christmas

Eric, Dixie, Isaac, Ethan and Jaylie

Eric’s blog: www.ericnlivingston.com
Dixie’s blog: www.lookaway-dixieland.blogspot.com
Email: ericdixie@yahoo.com
And you can find us on facebook too!

Livingston 2010 from Eric Livingston on Vimeo.

Christmas is Pretty

2010-12-10T13:54:00.001-08:00

I have been struggling with what to post lately. This isn't an entirely new thing, but usually it's because I haven't made time to do it. Lately, it's been that I just don't know what I should say. What? Me? Speechless? Well, apparently. I even noticed that my facebook page has no status next to my name. I don't think that's happened before. So, why am I status-less? Who knows. I have lots going on; lots to think about, I've just been second-guessing what to say, or how to say it...sheesh.

Here's a fun thing you might want to know. Isaac has been speed stacking in PE for the past couple of months. If you don't know what speed stacking watch this:

Anyway, he has been getting better and better and faster and faster. This week, his PE coach has been timing them to qualify for the school tournament next week. Isaac's class goes to PE on Monday and Friday. His time was the fastest in his class on Monday. The top 2 fastest from each class go to the tourney. Today he beat both of his times from Monday and his coach said he's the fastest in his grade and maybe the whole school. He's excited for next week. I think we'll get to go watch the tournament.

I have gotten our Christmas letter written and the pictures picked out for our annual slideshow. It is always such a blessing to go through the year's events and relive these memories. Look for that on facebook and via email real soon.

Isaac's birthday is right around the corner. Then Christmas. Then my birthday. It's the best time of year and I love everything about it. Our tree is pretty, the house is pretty, the street is pretty...Christmas is just pretty!

Enjoy the weekend

Merry Christmas

D

Tagged

2010-11-10T19:48:00.001-08:00

A sweet Facebook friend (whom I have never actually met but wish with all my heart I will someday!) tagged me in her last blog entry. I'll do my best to answer these 8 questions and then figure out if I need to tag some other folks or not.

In case you ever wondered...

1: What is your favorite scripture or inspiration quote?
I have 2 favorites scriptures:

1: The second half of Matthew 28:10 when Jesus tells us "And surely I am with you always, even until the very end of the age." This meant a lot to me as a kid, moving around so much. I knew I was never alone, no matter how many friends I had left behind.

2: 1 Peter 1:3-12 but especially verses 6 and 7. Here Peter says "In all this (this being the things discussed in v. 3-6, namely the salvation we are receiving) you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed."
This passage came to me when we were in the midst of losing a pregnancy (after Isaac before Ethan) and it has come to represent to me the answer to the question: Why does God allow bad things happen to good people? So that our faith will be proved genuine...and that's worth more than gold. I always had assumed my faith was genuine, but I never knew until it was tested in that trial.

2: What was the last book you read? Would you recommend it?
Well, let's see. I'm always in the process of reading at least one Diana Gabaldon book (which I've read numerous times and which I don't recommend to everyone) and something else. Oh, I know. I picked up Max Lucado's An Angel's Story at Lifeway last week and I read that. I would totally recommend it. I had read it years ago but didn't own it. I've looked for it over the years and came across it at Lifeway (it was on the bargain bookshelf but it was NOT a bargain---but totally worth it) Yes, read it. Especially as Christmas approaches!

3: What is your favorite comfort food meal to cook?
Easy. Chicken and Wild Rice. This was my favorite thing that my mother made when I was a kid. When we got married, Mother printed off some of my favorite recipes of hers and gave them to me. We had it Monday. Delicious!

4: If you had an afternoon with absolutely nothing that you absolutely had to do, what would you do with the time?
Just an afternoon?! I'd probably read, outside on the patio if the weather was nice. I really like to read, and I really enjoy the peace of my backyard.

5: Tea? Coffee? Diet Coke?
Super sweet tea (a la McAllisters) I also enjoy coffee. I like my coffee hot in the morning but enjoy iced coffee at any other time of day.

6: What's your favorite candy?
Plain m&ms. No contest.

7: What weird talent (or talents) do you have?
I don't know that it's a talent but I am double jointed in both of my index fingers. Oh, and I can write backwards with both hands (not at the same time). And I am also rather direct, which isn't really a talent either but it does sometimes make me seem weird.

8: How many hours do you spend on the computer on an average day?
As if I sit around keep track! No, I think the answer to this question shames me...I have no idea how many hours I spend on this darn thing. I do know that it is probably too many. I communicate on the computer; I bank online; I get all my news online; I do a good bit of shopping online...it all adds up.

And now you know...

Enjoy the rest of the week.

D

November

2010-11-02T06:50:00.000-07:00

I thought that I might just start titling my posts with the name of the month, since I may well become a once a month poster! Oh well, it's better than nothing, right?

It has been a month since my final NYC post. Funny how time flies. Our wonderful trip seems like it was so long ago already! When the kids are noisy and grumpy, and we're rushing around, I'll look at Eric and say, "Remember when we were walking around NYC by ourselves doing whatever we wanted?" And he'll say, "Yeah, that was nice." :)

Let's see. We went to the fair earlier this month. We hadn't been in 3 years and the kids were really wanting to go. We had a good time, spent too much money and Eric says we'll enjoy it again in 4 years. Kinda like the Olympics, every 4 years is enough for him.

We've all had a bout with a cold over the past month. It has sorta come and gone and come and gone. Isaac is finishing up his second round with it. Ugh. Ready for everyone to be at 100% again.

Halloween was this past weekend and we had a really good time. Isaac was Harry Potter

Yes, his hair is painted black!

Ethan was Woody (with Green Crocs)

And Jaylie was a rainbow ballerina for the trunk or treat at church

And a medieval princess for trick or treating on Saturday night because we had a pretty significant temperature change from Wed. to Sat. (note Woody's socks with his Crocs--you know, so his feet wouldn't get cold)

Jaylie is mad at me in this picture because I wouldn't let her take her baby Cinderella trick or treating (I didn't want to carry her). I'm mean like that. Isaac opted to stay at home and hand out candy with Eric instead of trick or treat this year. I was surprised, but happy for him to be doing something new. The littles and I were out for about an hour and a half and had a great time. Ethan would update me on what candy he received after every house, "They game me some Reeses Mom." "Oooh! I got some Nerds Mom!" He did kindly hand over the plain m&ms since he knows that's my fave. Not many of those this year :(

So we're pretty much caught up. Today is voting day and I am not going. I know that makes me a bad American, or unAmerican or whatever but I promise not to complain about the government for at least 2 years! Actually, I don't really complain about what goes on in DC anyway. I do think most people who want to serve in public office are good and honest people. But I think those same people wind up having to compromise too much that they are unable to do what they set out to do when they first ran. Call me disillusioned. I'll jump back in in 2 years.

Today is wet and rainy. Be careful out there if you're on the road. Come on Fall! We're ready:)

Blessings
D

Coming Home

2010-10-02T08:25:00.000-07:00

I think I've put off this post because it is about the return to real life. Don't get me wrong, I love our real life and I missed the kids, but our trip was so great. It was nice to just be me and Eric for several days.

On Friday morning, we woke up kinda late and packed up. Eric had found a bakery place that was close by so that's where we headed for breakfast. It was delicious! I wished we had found it early in our visit instead of at the end. We each had a bacon and egg sandwich (which were so big we could have shared one) on a home made roll. I think they were $2.75 each. Which brings me to say that things weren't quite as expensive in NY as we had thought they would be. We had thought taxis would be outrageous but paid $35 for the airport ride. A subway ride is $2.25. Dinner everywhere we ate was reasonable. Now, I know that there are LOTS of places that are super expensive, but it was nice to know that we didn't have to scrounge to eat well.

We strolled back to the hotel. Finished packing and went downstairs to get a cab. The ride was the same except that this guy had trouble staying in his own lane. He also hardly said a word the whole time.

We made it to the airport plenty early to get through security and to the gate. Which brings me to say something about security. It really struck me this time how much headache (I mean, beyond the actual destruction--which is incalculable) a handful of terrorists have caused. Not just at the airport, where security makes sense but has also been taken to ridiculous extremes (we had to get rid of brand new deodorant and shave cream because they were too big, and my bottle of perfume because the container was too big. I said,"If I pour most of it out, can I take it on?" The lady said no because only 3.75 oz or smaller was allowed. This makes no sense to me, if you know and 8oz container only has a couple of ounces on it, what's the big deal? We did have the option of checking our carry-on bag, which would have cost $35 but we're not idiots so we didn't pay $35 for something that costs less that $10 to replace. It was just irritating) but also at the statue of liberty, where security is just as strict as at the airport, and the cathedrals (they have people stationed near the entrance to look in bags) and even the NY Public Library. It just seems a shame to need to distrust everyone because a few bad people did what they did. There's no other way, of course. It just seems like a lack of basic trust is another casualty of 9/11.

Our flights home were uneventful and we arrived on time in Jackson to 3 happy kids excited to see us. We are so grateful to my parents for keeping them and letting us have this time away. I encourage you to find the time to spend with just your spouse. It is so great to remember that we are a unit apart from our kids. We love and treasure our 3 kids, but the 2 of us were happy before the kids and we need to be able to be happy without them, since they won't be here forever. I'm not trying to rush they're exit at all but it is good to know that, in many years when our house isn't full of children and their needs, it will still be full of love.

Thursday: Legos, St. Patrick's, St. Bart's, the Waldorf, Library, Stardust, WICKED!

2010-09-26T15:04:00.000-07:00

Thursday we had an open morning so we decided to do some souvenir shopping. We went back up through Times Square to Rockefeller Center. Our destination was the Lego store which we had seen our first night there but it was closed. This would have been the highlight of the trip if Isaac had been with us. He is a Lego fanatic. We spent a good bit of time in here and bought him a Lego Empire State Building (which took him about 10 minutes to put together when we got home but which he has since converted into a larger scale model using a bunch of his other Legos) The Lego store is right across the ice rink from 30 Rock.

30 Rock
Lego store
We bought a few things at another gift shop and then headed to St. Patrick's for the 12:00 mass. St. Patrick's is the only Catholic cathedral that we saw. The rest were all Episcopalian. I was really surprised that there was a difference. As ornate as the ones we had seen were, St. Patrick's was even more so. It was also the best lit. It was also the only one we saw actually being used (except for the prayers for peace and reconciliation at St. Paul's) and I think that made a difference. It was a beautiful place and an interesting service, especially for a non-Catholic. We got to hear the organ, which was huge and awesome. The lady who led the singing part of the service had a beautiful voice which echoed in the huge space. Here's some pics:

Next on our agenda was to go see St. Bart's. We saw SALT (with Angelina Jolie) when it came out in the theater and part of it was filmed at St. Bart's. That is what gave me the idea to see as many historical cathedrals as we could. There just aren't all that many in the US (compared with Europe) and it's not like anyone is building churches like this anymore. They really are a sight to see. That said, I was a tad disappointed in St. Bart's. It was fairly gloomy in there.

I will say this about cathedrals. They offer quite a respite from the noise and crush of people on the street. It can be super loud with horns and sirens and jack hammers outside but when you step into the cathedral, it is hushed and peaceful. There were people praying in almost every church we looked at; if not in the main sanctuary than in the small chapels that surround the nave. I was impressed at people who would come and pray in the middle of their busy day and I wondered about what had led to that habit. And I envied that I don't have that sort of discipline.

Since St. Bart's is on Park Avenue, we decided to stroll down the street a ways to see what we could see. Well, lo and behold, we came to the Waldorf Astoria! Now, when I was researching hotels to stay in I did actually look at the Waldorf's site, you know, just to see. It's pretty much waaaay out of our price range. Anyway, we stepped in, saw a sign about a dress code for men (coat and collared shirt) decided to just walk through the lobby and snap a few pics (they didn't turn out very well) and then step back out, just to say we've been to the Waldorf.

We got some chicken over rice at a corner vendor and then headed to the New York Public Library and sat on the steps outside to eat. The Library was pretty impressive because of it's size and age. I've never been in a library that looked like this. There is a copy of the Gutenberg Bible there that we wanted to see and that was pretty neat. The art and architecture was really amazing.

After the library, we headed back to the hotel to change for supper and the theatre. We had had Ellen's Stardust Diner recommended to us and were looking forward to that. Since we had eaten a late lunch we weren't all that hungry so we ordered nachos to eat. The thing about Ellen's Stardust Diner is that all of the wait-staff are aspiring Broadway actors so they sing the whole time. They are really good and it makes for a really fun dining experience. Here's some pics.

We shared a strawberry soda for dessert (I don't know what is wrong with my face in this picture!)
And a black and white cookie. ("Look to the cookie!")

After dinner we walked the couple of blocks to the Gershwin theatre where we were to see Wicked. This theatre is way bigger and a lot nicer than the one where we saw the Addams family.

Wicked was awesome. It was the absolute quintessential Broadway magical fairytale show. The set was awesome, the costumes were awesome, the cast was awesome...it was just great. We thoroughly enjoyed it. That said, I did enjoy myself more at Addams Family. It was just more fun, to me. If Wicked ever comes to your town on tour, or if you're ever in NYC, you gotta see it.

Wicked was over at around 10:45 and we headed back to the subway to ride back to the hotel. I was pretty worn out after this night. It had been a great day.

Wednesday: the MET, Central Park, St John's, Tom's Diner

2010-09-23T14:15:00.000-07:00

Wednesday we slept til about 8:30 and didn't get out of the hotel til about 9:45 putting us a shocking hour behind schedule right off the bat. But we didn't have any 'set in stone' things Wednesday; meaning, we hadn't already paid money to be at a certain place at a certain time, so we were fine with it. We road the subway uptown to central park and then walked through it to the MET. I immediately felt more comfortable in the Park and uptown. The Park is beautiful and green and full of mom's with strollers and small kids: my kind of people! We had seen very few children up until this day and, I kinda really like kids and had missed them. So we strolled through the Park to 5th Avenue which is where the MET is located. It was very different uptown then midtown and downtown. The sidewalks were wider, people moved at a slower pace, there were still lots of tall buildings but they seemed to be more residential, and there were lots of folks with kids. Here's what I mean:

Down town:

Uptown:

Now I don't know if this is the case everywhere but these were differences I noticed.

The MET (Metropolitan Museum of Art) was very impressive. We had heard that you could spend all day in there and I suppose that's true, if you really like museums. They had a really neat Ancient Egypt exhibit with artifacts (and pieces of pyramids) that are thousands of years old. I really enjoyed the art from the Renaissance period and their exhibit of musical instruments, and the religious art exhibit. I get all that stuff. I have really no appreciation for modern art, unfortunately. I don't understand how a large canvas that's painted brown (and only brown) constitutes something that is MET-worthy. We ate lunch on the roof of the MET amidst a giant bamboo structure that is also art somehow.

The view was great from up there.

We spent about 3 hours looking at everything and then decided to be finished. We headed back to the park. We wanted to see the fountain that Giselle dances around in Enchanted which happens to be called the Bethesda Fountain. We found it without much trouble. Since there were lots of folks there, I decided not to reenact that part of the movie!

It was a really beautiful place. Incidentally, when we were done in the park and making our way to the subway, we were back on schedule, just in case you were wondering!

We were headed further uptown to St. John the Divine's cathedral. We wanted to go here because it is the biggest Anglican cathedral in the whole world and the 4th largest church in the world. The place is massive. No pictures we took could capture the gigantic scope of this place. Here's some of our attempts:

the high alter
the above picture is taken from the steps up to the high alter facing back to the front door. It's a long way. Surrounding the back of the high alter are several small chapels that are dedicated to this or that saint. They were pretty to look at too. Eric was interested in this plaque:

there were a few more plaques having the Morton or Livingston name on it, this is near the organ the others were near the choir stalls. Funny that these Livingstons were musical as well!

After looking around St. John's we headed over and up a couple of blocks to Tom's Diner. This is the diner that Seinfeld's hang out on the show was based on. Look familiar?

I ordered a salad, but not a Big Salad, because I wasn't all that hungry :)

After supper we navigated 2 subways to get to Grand Central Station. That place was BUSY. It was like an ant hill that had been stepped on. Everyone was going a different direction really fast. We made our way into the middle and snapped a few pictures.

We saw what we wanted and then headed back to the subway to go to the hotel. It wasn't all the late but we were ready to be in. It was a great day and with a relaxed schedule, but we still got a lot done.

Next time, I'll tell you about our last full day in NYC. It went too fast!

Blessings to you
D

Tuesday Afternoon and Evening: WTC, Trinity, City Hall, Addams Family

2010-09-21T10:31:00.000-07:00

After eating lunch (chicken in a pita bought from a vendor) in a park near the St. Paul's we walked down to the WTC site. It was not what I had expected. I thought (for some reason) that we would be able to walk down into Ground Zero, kinda like how they have had the memorial service on the anniversary. But really, the entire site is blocked off and there is heavy construction equipment crawling all over it. We could peak through the fencing and get a glimpse of the massive size of the hole they're working in, but it wasn't what I thought it would be. I was struck, yes, by the scope of the site but because it looks pretty much like any other large construction site, it wasn't super heart-wrenching. Life has certainly carried on. People hustle right by here constantly without a second look. Now, about 1/2 block up from the actual site is what looks like a store that is the WTC preview memorial site. This place is moving. It has timelines and photos and video testimonies and all that sort of thing. There is also a model of what the memorial will look like. For some reason, we didn't get a picture of it but it looks like it will be 2 reflecting pools that are the shape of the twin towers (so 2 huge square reflecting pools) surrounded by tons of oak trees. That's what all the cranes and things are doing over at the actual site. Personally, I'm glad that it is going to be a place where folks can come and see and remember. I'm also glad that it will be a green space that is there and not some other building that would somehow try to replace the giant hole left in the NYC skyline.

This is the fence of St. Paul's churchyard and you can see the orange cranes of the WTC site.

This is Battery Park now. You may remember all the people holding signs/pictures of loved ones on the news every night immediately following the attacks. That was here in Battery Park.

After the WTC site, we walked a few more blocks to Wall Street to Trinity Cathedral. It is another Colonial Era church that would hold the distinction of being the oldest building in Manhattan (which is now St. Paul's) except for a fire that burnt most of the city in 1776.

It was rebuilt and rededicated and is really beautiful. Besides trying to see as many cathedrals as possible while we were in NYC, we really wanted to see Trinity because Alexander Hamilton is buried in this churchyard. He is Eric's 6 times great-grandfather. So, you know, that's kinda cool. We were hoping to get a free tour here but that wound up not happening so we showed ourselves around.

See the family resemblance?

As we walked back towards the subway, we stopped at City Hall. You can't get very close to it; it has gates with guards and things. But there is a very pretty little park in front of it.

We had had sort of a late lunch and had planned to go back to the hotel to change for the show (we saw Addams Family that night) and then head to John's Pizza for supper. But we couldn't think of stuffing pizza in before the show. We wanted to be at the theater at 6:30 so that meant we'd have to eat at around 5 to allow for walking and waiting and things like that. We opted wait til after the show to eat. (Although, I thought I'd be too tired to eat after it got out at 9:30 or so) So we easily found our way back to the subway station, got on the right train, and made it back to the hotel in time for me to have a little rest (y'all know I like to nap, right?) before time to get ready.

Seeing a Broadway show is something I've always wanted to do as well. I have a very good friend who is in LA doing TV and movie things right now. I have always regretted that I wasn't able to come to NYC when she was on Broadway. I would have loved that. As we found our seats in the Lunt-Fontanne theater (next to last row in the mezzanine!) I thought about how lucky I am to get to see this. The Addams Family is a new musical and it is HILARIOUS! It also has Nathan Lane as Gomez and Bebe Neuwirth (I finally spelled her name right!) as Morticia. Seeing them was a huge thrill. They are each kind of legends of the theater and I was so SO impressed with their performances. I just kept thinking,"I can't believe I'm seeing them!" The show has a lot of interaction with the audience, which was fun too. Here's a few pics of the theater and the stage.

Even though this was a comedy, this song choked me up. Father/daughter stuff always makes me happy and sad. Love you Dad!

We came out of the theater at close to 10:00 and I wasn't tired a bit! I was so excited from the show and also hungry so we decided to go eat some pizza after all.

John's Pizza was just a couple of blocks from the theater and had been recommended by everyone. It is in this really cool building that used to be a church so the interior doesn't look anything like a regular pizza place. Really, you should go if you're ever in NYC. The pizza is super good. I do have some pictures of the interior but blogger doesn't want me to post them right now so you'll have to do without. After pizza, we went to Juniors for some NY cheesecake. Eric got cheesecake with cherries on top, which is what I kind of wanted but decided to try to chocolate mousse cheesecake. Well, lets just say it was too big for me to eat. It had more mousse than cheesecake. After the waiter brought be a box I said, jokingly,"That was just too big for me to eat." And he said,"Yeah. It's definitely too much for one person!" Woulda been nice if he had told me that BEFORE he brought it to me. Oh well, that's what room refrigerators are for!

Tomorrow I'll tell you about Central Park and the MET.

Have a good one!

Tuesday Morning: Subway, Liberty, Ellis, St. Paul

2010-09-20T19:45:00.000-07:00

Tuesday we were up and ready to conquer the subway at around 8. We had purchased tickets for a cruise to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island online and the ferry was leaving from Battery Park at 10. The website recommended being there 45 minutes early to get through security and all that. We arrived right at 9:15 and proceeded through airport style security before boarding the ferry (it made us think of the Booze Cruise episode on the Office---except that there was no dance floor). The weather was absolutely gorgeous! This was going to be the warmest day (high of 76 or something like that) so I had on short sleeves. With the little breeze on the water and the bright sun, I was very happy! Seeing the Statue of Liberty has always been a life long dream of mine. I think this is why Tuesday was my favorite day; it began and ended with something I've always wanted to do. Very fulfilling! I looked at Eric as we were on the boat and told him that this was a dream of mine. He has always been a dream come true to me, why shouldn't he be the reason one of my 'Bucket List' items get checked off? Of course, I've never actually made a list but have a rather LONG mental one in my mind: Pyramids of Egypt, watching the space shuttle take off, Venice, Rome...anyway, we'll see how long we live! I'm off topic!

Seeing Lady Liberty up close is really cool. Knowing that millions of immigrants sailed right by her in search of a new life is very sobering. What liberties I take for granted! I've already forgotten how much we paid for those tickets. The folks who came crammed in boats spent all they had to catch a glimpse of her and know that there was hope in this country. Here she is

Dream fulfilled:

about this picture: yes, my hair is turning white in places. Already. At 34 :(

We decided to skip traipsing around Liberty Island. We kinda thought seeing her from a small distance would be better than looking up at her from ground level. So we stayed aboard the ferry and got to hear a tour guide telling his group some neat tidbits of Statue of Liberty facts. That guy had actually been up in the torch back in the 70s because he knew the man in charge of changing the light bulbs in there. Very neat.

An audio tour of the Immigration Museum on Ellis Island was included with our tickets. I'm really glad we did that. I'm sure we could have made it through faster but listening to the history of a place like that is well worth the time. I hadn't known that so many folks came through here in such a short amount of time. In just over 3 decades, 22 million people came to the US through this entrance point. They got off the boats with all of their worldly possessions, didn't speak English, had no money in their pockets...crazy! Real quick I'll pass on what the procedure was like. As soon as they made it into the Registration Bldg. they were told (by men in uniform who evoked fear in them because they weren't used to trusting men in uniform) to leave all their stuff in the baggage room and head up the stairs. As they climbed the stairs, doctors were watching them to try to start picking out the ones who seemed infirmed in any way. If, at any time during their process, a person appeared to be less than fit, they were marked with a piece of chalk on their back and pulled out of line to continue a more in depth medical exam. Imagine! Having your child, or your elderly mother pulled away and taken some place else after surviving a long journey this far! It was nice to hear that only 2% of those who came through Ellis Island during the peak immigration time were deported back to their home country. If you passed the medical exams and the interviews with the investigators (where are you going, how much money do you have, what are your skills, do you have family here) you were allowed to continue on your journey. If you couldn't pass those things and the investigators thought you would be a drain on society or if they thought you had some disease, you were sent back. Wow. Here's some pictures of the place.

The first paragraph of the above picture is one of the greatest things about America, to me. It's what makes our country very unique.

Next on our agenda, after landing at Battery Park, was to find St. Paul's. St Paul's is a small Episcopal cathedral that is the oldest continually used building in Manhattan. George Washington worshiped here!

see the covered porch he and Martha have just stepped off of?

how cool is that?

It is also famous for it's proximity to the Twin Towers. It's churchyard is literally right across the street from the World Trade Center.

(the orange metal stuff you see through the trees are cranes working on the site)

This church is called the 'little church that stood' because when the towers fell and debris went everywhere, this little church stood firm. It was covered with ash but it had no real structural damage. Rescue workers and firemen used the church's sanctuary as a home base where things were managed, where workers rested on the pews, where comfort was given. Daily, at 12:30, they have a short prayer service for peace and reconciliation that we wanted to participate in. It was peaceful. The inside of the church, while beautiful, has become kind of a shrine to the 9/11 event. It is full of things that you don't find in other cathedrals.

This brings us about to lunch on Tuesday! Sheesh. I'm going to stop here and make the rest of the day a totally different post. I don't have near as many pictures (I don't think) so hopefully it'll be a tad shorter. Thanks for hanging in there with me! I am enjoying reliving the week.

New York City Baby!

2010-09-20T06:00:00.000-07:00

Hellllloooo! I am going to attempt to share about our recent trip to NYC over the course of this week. My very sweet friend (who is a waaay better writer than I am (maybe that has something to do with English degrees)) has traveled a lot with her family over the past few years and I really like how she updates her blog about trips: one day at a time. So, I am going to attempt to copy Heatharlyne's idea so that I can share the bulk of the trip without bogging you down with a week long post or shorten it to something that is unsatisfying. So, here goes!

The travel from Jackson to DFW to NYC was pretty much uneventful, which is pretty much what you're going for these days in terms of air travel I think. I will say, though, that flying with American is not NEARLY as much fun as flying with Southwest. They're all together much more uptight and that sucks what little fun there is in flying anymore right out of the whole experience. One flight attendant even told all of us that we couldn't put our water bottles or--get this--any 'non-American Airlines literature' in the pockets of the seats! What the what?! Anyway, we arrived on time, got our suitcase and caught a yellow taxi all without trouble.

I should note here that my sweet husband and I had spent quite a bit of time on our itinerary. By that I mean, I made note of what I wanted to see and do, Eric researched it, located it on a map, plotted all the things on a map, then grouped these things into days of the week that we would see them, and then color-coded the little markers on our google map (that he customized for our trip) so we could see what we were doing on which day just by looking at the map. So when we got to the airport at 3:30, we knew we had about 2.5 hours to get to our hotel in Manhattan and then to walk to 44th street to make our dinner reservation @ 6:00 at Carmines. It all went perfectly.

The taxi ride was about what I expected. The driver dodged in and out of traffic, honking and calling people names with a thick middle eastern accent. But he got us there safely and the ride wasn't as long (or as expensive) as we thought it would be. What I realized as soon as we were in Manhattan was that it seemed like the vehicles were totally driving on a pedestrian thoroughfare instead of the other way around. There were people everywhere! And people on bikes and scooters didn't feel the need to obey traffic laws (like stopping at red lights, or staying in their lanes) It seems like there'd be fatal car accidents all the time. I would hate to drive any kind of vehicle in that city.

We stayed at the Windham a few blocks south of Times Square. We got checked in and unpacked with a good bit of time to go exploring before supper. Here's what our view from the room looked like.

Not sure what all these buildings were (except the New Yorker, of course!) but I was glad not to be looking at a brick wall from an adjacent building. The room was small but very neat and clean and exactly what we needed.

We took off with our map and headed for Times Square. On the walk I realized that: 1)there are all together too many people in too small a space 2) all these people walk really fast. Where are they going that they have to walk at such a fast pace (with head down and ear buds in)? 3) this many people (and cars and trucks and hot dog stands) in this small a space smell really bad. The combination of exhaust and cigarette smoke and food stands and B.O and trash was very shocking initially. It's sad that I got used to it in such a short time. I doubt the folks that live there even know what real fresh air smells like.

With our trustee map, we made it easily to Times Square and took these pictures (these are just some, I won't stick all of them in).

So I have to say that New York City in general, and Times Square in particular, is so very iconic. As international as this city is (and it is; we heard tons of different languages being spoken all the time) it couldn't be more 'American'. From the Statue of Liberty to Park Avenue to Wall Street to the giant Coke screen in Times Square, these are the things that the rest of the world knows because of America. Kinda cool. Another thing that was really cool about Times Square: even at 11:00 at night, it is as bright as day because of all those lights. It was unreal!

We made it to Carmine's a few minutes early! They went ahead and sat us and we enjoyed a great meal of cheese ravioli and yummy bread. Then we ordered tiramisu. Carmine's is a place that serves 'family style' sized portions and each dish is meant to feed about 4 people. That includes desserts. So here's what our dessert looked like:

And no, we didn't eat all of it. Barely half but it was yuuuuummmmmyyyy!

We had purchased tickets to Top of the Rock online so we headed over to Rockefeller Center next. Top of the Rock is what we did instead of going to the Empire State Building. Eric had read nothing but unpleasant reviews about the Empire State Building (things like, huge crowds and long lines) and since 30 Rock is only a few floors shorter than the Empire State Building, we thought we'd do that. It was great. We arrived early and got right into the elevator that zipped us up really fast and we had as much time as we wanted on the 3 levels of observation decks. Here's some of those pics.

We headed back down to the bottom of 30 Rock and found that there's a mall or something underneath it with all sorts of shops. It was after 9:30 or so by that time so lots of those things were closed but we looked around a while. There were still men in suits hustling by on their phones. I'm like, "I would hate to still be in a suit at 9:30!" And where are they going at this hour that they have to run while texting? What can you be late for, business-wise, at this hour? Clearly, I have no idea about what it takes to make corporate America run!

We meandered back through Rockefeller Plaza and Times Square and got safely back to the hotel without getting lost which was nice. Tomorrow, I'll tell you about Tuesday, which I think was my favorite day. Hope you enjoy all the pictures.

D

The Birthday

2010-09-07T18:40:00.000-07:00

Jaylie turned 5 last Thursday. She was so excited. She came running out of her room at 6:15 yelling,"It's my birthday! It's my birthday!" She came into the dining room and saw her new bike. Here's her reaction:

While Jaylie slept, my mom and I put up new curtains in her room and put a new comforter on her bed. This is something I wanted to do because I have a memory of waking up one morning when I was about her age to discover new bedspreads and drapes in my room. Mom had changed it all out while I slept! I thought it'd be neat to do that to Jay. Here's her new stuff:

On her birthday she got to go to Chuck-E-Cheese's with my mom and dad. They have made a tradition out of taking the birthday kid out to GattiTown and so for Jaylie, they tried out Chuck-E-Cheese's. It's kinda better for littler kids and she had a blast. She also got to spend a fun day at Nana's playing then she got to go to the pool that afternoon. She pretty much had a great day and went to sleep really happy.

Eric's parents drove down from Nashville to be here for her first ever birthday party. It was so great they could come. Jaylie had a few little friends over. First, they dressed up in some of Jaylie's dress-up clothes:

Then they made some pretty jewelry:

Then we ate pizza and puffy Cheetos and grapes and had the cake:

She opened gifts and played for a bit before it was time to say goodbye to her friends. She had a really good time.

I was amazed at how much quieter a party for girls is than a party for boys. They just played in her room or focused on the other things they were doing as a group pretty much. There was no running around yelling and shooting people with Nerf guns. It was very interesting!

Now my baby is 5. She is the most independent of all our kids. She has an adventurous spirit that is unafraid of most things. She seems to have a really healthy self esteem. She is thoughtful and generous. All of these traits make me smile and make me fairly peaceful about her future; she has a lot going for her. But, there is a small part of me that knows the baby days are long gone and I wish she just wouldn't grow up anymore. This is enough. Unfortunately, kids can't help but grow. She is a treasure and a blessing.

Past Time

2010-08-31T05:37:00.000-07:00

Hello Everybody (or all 2 of you who check my blog from time to time!)

It is well past time for an update! It has definitely been frenzied around here since we started back to school and while there technically has been time for me to update my blog, for some reason I haven't. I've come to see that sometimes I feel like I NEED to post and other times I don't, hence the long gaps. So today, the thoughts of ,"I should blog about that." have piled up and so I need to let y'all know what's new.

The most significant thing, obviously, is that we have started back to school. This has been a relatively smooth transition this year. The biggest negative is that it took Ethan a couple of weeks to adjust to not having rest time in 1st grade like he did in Kinder! Bless him. He really enjoys a nap from time to time and we do have regular Quiet Time at our house on the weekends (and all summer) so he is just used to a break I guess. He has gotten over his grumpies after school, for which we are all thankful. He also had to adjust to homework 3 nights a week which consists of much more writing than he had last year. He is now taking his homework to do by himself in his room at his desk, so that's an improvement too. Ethan has a great (and I mean GREAT) teacher this year. Her name is Mrs. Jacobs and I've known her for a few years now. She is also a member at our church which is so cool. She's really sweet and very tender to our kids. Ethan and his best friend from kindergarten are sitting right next to each other so, ya know, it just doesn't get much better than that! I am on the PTO board at Ethan's school (again) and so I'm up there all the time and see him frequently. It's all good!

Isaac also is sitting next to his very best friend, Sam, in his 4th grade class! These boys were in 2nd grade together and were across the hall from each other last year. Sam's mom and I are glad they're back together, although we both know it's only a matter of time til they're separated! Isaac's teacher, Mrs. Hart is brand new, both to our school and to teaching. She graduated from A&M recently (a fact that Eric teases her about) and they have just (as in they're closing on they're house tomorrow) relocated here. Mrs. Hart and her husband were at Meadowbrook on this past Sunday! She grew up in the churches of Christ and had asked me for directions at the meet the teacher night before school started. It was neat to see them and Isaac was very surprised! It is going to be really neat if both my boys have teachers who go to church with us! So great.

Jaylie and I are at home together for the last year. We're doing fun girl things like play with the dollhouse and color a lot. I opted to not send her to preschool this year and so we do 'school' at home a few days a week. She is so ready for kindergarten it isn't even funny. Her birthday is Thursday and she'll be 5! Because she's up at school with me so much, she's going to be a very experienced kindergartener. The teachers all know who she is. Mrs. Rigsby (the principal) loves on her whenever she gets the chance. She's going to have a blast next year. But for this year, we're enjoying our time together.

Eric and I head to NYC in 2 weeks for our big trip! We are celebrating his graduation from grad school and our 15th anniversary (which happened Aug. 5 and I forgot to blog about!) I'm pretty sure I'll feel the need to post about Jaylie's 1st birthday party and our trip so I shouldn't be away too long. I hope everyone has had a great start back to the school year. Many blessings on the adventures your kids (and you) will have!

D

God Speaks To Me Through Isaac

2010-07-22T07:28:00.000-07:00

I've been a mother now for a little over 9.5 years. I have been a stay at home mom since Isaac was born; well before that actually. We moved to Georgia when I was just barely pregnant (as if there is such a thing) and I have been home ever since. I began thinking rather deep thoughts during pregnancy. The first one I remember having was:
"I bet the reason God allows us to bear children is to see how proud He is of His creation." I mean, here was this one, tiny person being created within me---made of Eric and I but totally different and unique---and I was (am) just as proud as I could be. How much more proud is our Father who has made EVERYTHING? He gives me a tiny glimpse of this feeling through the making of our children.

I remember patting Isaac in his crib as he went to sleep. He had hold of my hand with his left hand. And I got all choked up thinking about the wedding band that would one day be on that finger. I just loved him so much, how could ever I let him go? Then this thought came:
"I love him so much, but God loves him that much more." Right after that God said," And I love you that much more too." Sometimes I think of how much God loves others and forget how much He loves me. I am more precious to Him than my kids are to me. How amazing is that?

When Isaac was 3 or so I remember he was pestering me about getting him something and telling me over and over what he wanted and I said to him:
"I know what you need, Son. Let me get it for you." I stopped right there and thought about how many times has God wanted me to hear this. He knows what I need. He has promised to make sure I have it. Why don't I rest in His provision?

When Isaac was little I took great comfort in his perfect innocence. I felt like if something were to happen to him, he would go straight back to the Father's arms and I would follow later on. Then the thought came:
"How will I cope when I know he has sin in his life but hasn't made a commitment to follow Christ?" This time, the answer came from my sister in law. "Remember that God made this baby and that he is His first and He loves Isaac more than you do. He will enable you to teach him and give you strength to cover him in prayer as he makes that decision."

Isaac has always tended to be a fearful, worrying personality. This has become a definite challenge as he has gotten older. I see it as a lack of trust in me and Eric (which may or may not be accurate). I mean, how could he think we would let anything bad happen to him (like drowning in the pool when he wouldn't let go of his floats, or burn down in the house after he'd had a fire safety unit at school)? I have wondered if his fears are a lesson to me as well. I feel like I am generally a very trustful person. Most of my hurts have come from trusting that other people will be nice and loving and honest and then have that thrown in my face when it turns out that some people just aren't like that. And while Isaac has been God's mouth piece to me lots of times, maybe this is one way I can speak on God's behalf to him. I think that I tend to not be fearful is because I believe with everything I am that God is going to do what He has said. And so in light of the very worst thing I can imagine, I still know that I will live in heaven because I have claimed Jesus as my Savior. Isaac is coming to this place in his development. And I hear my sister in laws voice again, "He loves Isaac more than you do. He will enable you..."

NOLA

2010-07-06T12:50:00.000-07:00

We started a fun little tradition with Isaac in the form of a Kindergarten celebration trip. The summer after he finished kindergarten, Eric and I took him (just him, Ethan and Jaylie stayed with my parents) camping. We went to a state park here in MS and stayed in a cabin and fished and played poker and monopoly and all that stuff for 2 days. We thought this was a good way to celebrate Isaac's completion of his first year in school. So a few weeks ago, we carried on the tradition with Ethan.

Now that we've been here for a while, I kinda know about a lot more things to do than when we were planning this trip for Isaac. Ethan is not as content to play poker or monopoly or fish so I thought we should go for a different sort of trip. We settled on an Amtrak ride down to New Orleans and back. I booked our hotel on hotels.com and got a fabulous rate for our 2 nights there. We stayed at the Ambassador hotel and this is what our room looked like:

The hotel was actually a coffee warehouse during the Civil War (or the 'War of Northern Aggression' if you're from around here!) It was converted into this cool hotel and you can see that the original brick walls and some exposed beams are visible. It's definitely not like a chain hotel, although I doubt there's a right angle in the place. It was fun.

The train ride was quite an experience as well. I traveled on trains a lot when I was little and we lived in Europe but haven't been on one since then. Eric had never been on one and neither had Ethan. It was fun. There is lots more leg room than on an airplane. There is a dining car that you can walk to and have a sit down meal at which was fun. My favorite place on the train was the lounge car which was full of windows so you could see the landscape rush by.

There were, of course, frequent blowings of the train whistle, and several stops between here and NOLA but all in all, it was a relaxed way to travel and it cost about the same as what we would have spent in gasoline.

Traveling to a place by train, however, means you don't have a car when you get there. So we walked...a lot. It was all good though. We had a map and Eric's phone for GPS purposes and I really don't think we walked more than a mile in any one spell. Ethan wasn't a fan of the walking. Once we were into the French Quarter, though, this wasn't really a problem because whenever he began whining too much, we'd stop and have an icee or duck into a fudge shop. Problem solved :)

We got there Monday evening, got checked in and settled. Then we headed out to look for supper. We wound up walking a lot and then settling on a super good restaurant called Gordon Biersch Brewery. Very nice, very yummy, very expensive. On Tuesday the plan was to walk over to the Audubon park where the Aquarium is located and see an IMAX movie about dinosaurs. This was OK. Not great. We had brought our umbrella which was fortunate because after the movie was over, it was raining, only a little. We wanted to walk over to St. Louis Cathedral and take a look at that. As we walked, the rain got stronger and stronger. We sheltered in a gazebo on the Riverwalk with some friendly homeless people. When it let up a bit, we ran a little way further to a big pavilion where folks were boarding a steamboat cruise. WE were there about 30 minutes. Here's what that was like:

notice the icee

We braved the rain again to head to a mall just to get out of the weather and maybe get a snack or something. We wound up browsing a bit and having some fries while the storm made it's way through. We came out of the mall and could see the cathedral.

Our actual destination was the Louisiana Children's Museum and this was probably our longest hike. But the rain had cooled things off and there was a small breeze. Walking through the French Quarter is really interesting. The architecture is so different than anything around here.

After a stop at a candy shop to get a chocolate alligator (of all things) we completed our hike to the museum. This was the highlight for Ethan. He had a ball.

Here he is raising himself on a pulley And making a giant bubble
And seeing through a bug's eyes
We had supper after the museum and headed back to the hotel to relax. It was a full day. The next morning we had breakfast in the hotel and then relaxed and watched soccer until it was time to go to the train station. We walked there. Had lunch then Eric and Ethan played in the station (it's nice to have a bouncy ball from time to time. You never know when you'll need one.)

We arrived home, met Mom, Dad and the kids at the Jackson Station. We went to church then home to BED! Who knows where we'll take Jaylie. Isaac is already asking if he'll get a 4th grade trip next year...I said maybe a 'finishing Middle School trip'!

Hope everyone is having a good summer!

July 1 2004

2010-07-01T11:37:00.001-07:00

We had, at long last, come home to TX after 6 years of enlistment in the Air Force. Ethan was born May 9th and we headed back to San Antonio about 6 weeks later, at the end of June. The plan was to move in with Mom and Dad until Eric found a job in the private sector. Eric's parents lived in Missouri at the time and wanted us to come to a 4th of July family get together. We hadn't yet committed because we had just driven from GA to TX and Ethan cried the whole way. (I'm not really exaggerating about that either) Anyway, we decided not to go and told the family up there. They totally understood. But after a day or two, we changed our minds and decided to surprise everyone instead.

So, on July 1st Daddy and Eric began loading our van to head to Missouri. As they headed up the steps in the garage, Dad suddenly lost his balance and had to hang on to the wall to keep from falling. Eric helped him to the couch in the living room and Daddy shut his eyes. He kept them closed for the next 24 hours or so. He said the room was spinning. His head hurt terribly. Mom got him a bucket in case he was sick and just kept trying to talk to him and get him to give her some more information. All he said, mostly, was that the room was spinning and he felt sick and his head hurt. I told Eric, after 30 minutes of this or so, that I didn't think we should leave right then. "If mom needs to take him to the hospital, she can't get him to the car by herself.", I said. Eric said,"If he can't help us, the 3 of us couldn't get him to the car." Dad is a big man and his balance was so far gone that he couldn't help support his weight and move at the same time. So a little while later, Mom and Eric tried to get him up and to the car. He made it about 10 feet before getting sick. We laid him on the floor and Mother told me to call 911.

The EMT guys got there really quickly. They hooked him up to oxygen and a heart monitor. His heart was doing something crazy. Daddy was never unconscious and could answer questions but he wouldn't open his eyes. They took him to the hospital and there he stayed for about 3 weeks. It was determined through testing that he had suffered a stroke right in the back of his head, where balance lives, apparently. He had no memory loss, no gross motor skill loss, really. He was just terribly dizzy. Once the blood flow to his head was normalized, the headache went away. He had to do therapy to get his sense of balance back. After he was home, he would get dizzy if he was at church and lots of people were moving past him. He would kinda lean against a wall to keep steady.

Now, most people here don't even know he's had a stroke. Mother still doesn't want him up on ladders or on the roof, which makes it nice that we live close and Eric can do that stuff, but for the most part, he is absolutely fine. It could have been another story entirely and we are so, so glad that he recovered so well. Obviously, we didn't go to Missouri for the 4th of July picnic, we waited til much later to go. It was such a provision of God that we were there. If the stroke had struck just an hour or 2 later, Mother would have been on her own to get him to the hospital. If we had been far away, Eric wouldn't have been there to take care of the house while Daddy was in the hospital.

God does know what He is doing...all the time. And He is good...all the time.

The Duck Song(s)

2010-06-30T07:20:00.000-07:00

These 3 videos are my kids' latest youtube obsession

Not sure why it's so addictive but they think it is hilarious and the tune is kinda catchy...

have fun

Pictures would be nice

2010-06-25T19:05:00.000-07:00

Thought I'd start adding some pictures. If you have read my previous 2 posts, you'll know what you're looking at. See what I mean about context? (the first picture of the rainbow is just for fun...it was so neat)

Enjoy

May

2010-06-25T08:32:00.001-07:00

Well my last post told about Lent and Easter which I think brought us to the first weekend in April. The rest of April was pretty routine. Routine as in busy with school and church and Eric frantically trying to complete research papers and reading assignments; you know, that kind of routine. Well May was a complete blur...particularly the first 2 weeks of May. Let me sum up:

* At long last, Eric graduated with his Masters of Arts degree in Theology on May 8. We all (the 5 of us and my parents) went to Nashville to watch him walk. Mom and Dad stayed with Eric's folks and we stayed at Dawn and Brad's so the kids could play. My oldest niece, Audra, had just had her 10th birthday the day before we got there and Ethan's 6th birthday was on Sunday the 9th AND Mother's Day was also that Sunday. It was quite the weekend of celebrations. We got to leave all 5 kids with a babysitter that Sat. of graduation to have a wonderful meal at a nice restaurant and some sweet friends from here (who now live in the Nashville area) were able to join us. I left that weekend feeling very blessed and thankful.

* The very next weekend was Ethan's birthday party here at our house and also Jaylie's first ever ballet recital. Jerry and Joyce came down here for that weekend of more celebrations. We had a lot of fun. Ethan enjoyed his friends and his party. Jaylie's recital was beautiful. It was just another wonderful weekend.

* The rest of the month consisted of state testing at Isaac's school, end of the year Fun Days, Field Days and parties. The day school let out, my parents took the kids on to Galveston. We followed them on Sunday after church. So Eric and I had a couple of days of eating out and seeing a movie and just doing whatever we wanted, which is always nice. Unfortunately, mom and dad wound up having to handle the first-ever Livingston kid stitches. Ethan busted his head on my Pawpaw's dresser and gashed it open. 3 stitches, some tears and a couple of hours later, they finished their trip and got to Galveston with no more incidents.

So look, we're up to June! Now I'm just a couple of weeks off. I do have more to say than just a rehashing of our daily activities. I do think deep thoughts, but thought that I needed to get this thing up to speed, for context purposes.

Hope everyone is well and happy and managing to stay cool. Currently I'm sweating; I hate sweating. Off to the pool!

Much love
D

Been a while

2010-06-18T14:51:00.000-07:00

So I guess I should quit feeling bad about my bogging irregularity and just accept that I may only blog once a quarter. Lots has happened since my last post, of course, and I think that it would take waaaay too long to do a thorough update so, here's my plan: I'm just going to take the next few posts to try to hit the highest points.

This year, I participated in Lent for the first time ever. I have never observed Lent, ever. I decided that I would give up coffee. Now, this may be small potatoes to some people but coffee (and flavored creamer) are a special treat to me; a special daily indulgence. I don't HAVE to have it, as in I don't have to have my daily dose of caffeine, but I really enjoy having coffee. As I was thinking about doing this, I didn't really think I'd have the nerve, so I didn't tell anyone. But I got up on Ash Wednesday and didn't make any coffee. Same thing on Thursday. Anyway, it went on and I got a bit more comfortable with the idea that I was giving it up. I felt really good about it because I don't think I've ever given anything up ever. That seems pretty selfish even just to write. Basically, what this says about me is that I do what I want all the time because I want to. How narcissistic is that? Every time I really wanted to have some coffee, I just thought about what Jesus gave up in the desert while being tempted; what he gave up in the day to day walk on this planet compared with the glories of heaven; what he endured during his trial and crucifixion...coffee seemed kinda trite.

Anyway, for 40 days, despite some stressful definite coffee drinking moments, I didn't have a sip. All this thinking about Jesus and his sacrifice all the time really got me into the most excited mood for Easter that I have ever had. I really think this is the point of Lent, after all. But the night before Easter I set my coffee maker to start at 6 the next morning. I woke up Easter Sunday with this thought,"The tomb is empty. He has risen!" I thought about that while I showered. After I was done, I wrapped up my hair, put on my robe and went to make sure Eric was awake. "He is risen!" I said to him. "He has risen indeed.", Eric said back. I was so excited. I told him,"Wouldn't it be incredible if we were the only people on Earth who knew that? Like the ladies at the tomb that morning?" I was just giddy. I went out and made my first cup of coffee, I grabbed my bible, and went to enjoy my first cup in 40 days while I read all of the Empty Tomb accounts in each gospel. Worship was wonderful that morning. The rest of the day was restful and peaceful...it was the best Easter I've ever had.

That's pretty much all I have to say about that but what I've been processing since then is, "Why could I give up some very special thing to me for 40 days for Lent, but not give up other things in my life." These things would be: Eating things that aren't good for me, choosing to not exercise, choosing to not spend regular time in prayer and scripture reading...you know the drill. Having never been successful giving things up makes me wonder why I was this time. Then I think,"Because it was for Him. And those other things are just for me." Well, maybe they are and maybe they're not. I'm still processing...yes, I know I'm slow.

Hope all is well for each of you. Enjoy summer

D

I might as well

2010-03-15T11:33:00.000-07:00

I have a bit of time (shocker!) and so I might as well update my silly excuse for a blog. I have had so many things that I ought to write about, but I just haven't. Not sure quite why but nevertheless, the cyber-masses (all 3 of you who read my blog) will just have to do without knowing some of the minutia of my life.

So this is what's up: Spring Break is here! It really is. The Bradford Pear trees are in full bloom and look like fluffy clouds have been caught on them. They are really pretty. Things are starting to poke up in my garden; the rose bushes all have new leaves. In short, the earth is waking up around here and I am thrilled to see it. Of course, the yellow pollen is starting to shake loose and I'm not all that thrilled about that but after the winter we've had, I'll take Spring anyday, yellow dust and all!

The kids and I are headed to Nashville tomorrow to hang out with Dawn and the girls while Brad is writing. My nieces are the only cousins my kids have and so when they get to missing each other pretty fiercely, we try to get them together.

Just about all my friends are taking their kids and going somewhere. I've decided that Spring Break is the time when moms and kids go off on a little trip while the dads stay here and work. It doesn't sound all that great for the dads EXCEPT that they'll have peace and quiet here in which to enjoy lots and lots of basketball. Not a bad deal for them.

We have had some home improvement projects going on. A couple of weeks ago Eric and my Dad tore out our old kitchen countertops to make ready for our new granite ones. They are soooo pretty and cleaning these smooth counters is so sooo soooo much easier than my ceramic tile ones with grout grooves and all that. As with most home improvement projects, once you start updating one thing, lots of other things begin to appear dated. So, with the new counters we 'had' to replace the sink (after all, who wants an old white ceramic sink when you could have a new stainless undermount one?) which meant we had to also get a new faucet for the sink. Then, all of the brass and white ceramic door/drawer handles suddenly didn't match so those had to be replaced with new stainless ones, and then the light fixture (which is also brass and ceramic) seems to stick out so we bought a new one of those to match all the stainless touches. It's not installed yet but it will be at some point when Eric has time. We also replaced our old dishwasher, because it didn't work anymore, not because it didn't match anything. It was a legitimate replacement.

In addition to all of that, Eric has been building us a new--custom--shower for our master bathroom. Why a builder goes to all the trouble and expense to build a beautiful master bathroom complete with a huge jacuzzi tub and then puts a tiny 2.5 by 3 foot stand up shower stall in there is just beyond me. Of course, when you're only 5'3" you don't really notice things like how short the whole thing is or that you can look out over the shower door but that was the case for Eric. So, a while ago, he and Dad tore out the fiberglass shower and gutted the space down to the studs. Eric has done the rest pretty much on his own. There is a LOT of prep that has to be done in ensuring that the space will be waterproof and all that before any tile could be laid. I have been able to help some with the tiling but since it is still a relatively small space, it's not like we can both be in there spreading thinset and laying tile. I'm mostly the assistant. But he's given us a LOT more space. The tile goes up 9 feet so we won't have to worry about the water pinging off of his head and damaging the drywall. He's built me a little ledge to put my foot on whilst shaving my legs and also built 2 cubbies into the wall for shampoo and things like that. All that's left now is to grout, seal the grout, install the faucet and install the door. Then there'll be some touch up painting and things like that bus as soon as that door is on, it'll be fully functional!

Eric graduates in May and it couldn't come soon enough. He's been super stressed with all these house things in addition to midterm tests and research paper writing and sermon planning (he preached last week) and planning the talent show at church and Easter is coming up...It will be a happy, happy day when he is done with school. We're just hanging on til then.

The kids are all healthy as of 1:54 on Monday. Jaylie and Ethan were both sick last week. We've broken the nebulizer out for Ethan and will keep him on his preventative treatments through pollen season at least. Poor little fella. Isaac had a great time in basketball again this season and has improved quite a bit since last year. Jaylie continues to love ballet. Her first recital is in May. She may dance at the Meadowbrook talent show. Last night at our fellowship supper, Lan (a sweet 15 year old who is super talented) performed a song and so Jaylie decided to accompany him with her interpretive dance. Of course, it was sweet and he was gracious about it. She just loves to dance.

I think that just about catches you up to now. I will try (without promising) to blog again before too long. Hope you all enjoy spring in all its glory. Whatever allergy meds you have to be on to get out there and play---take them! It's worth it.

Much love
D

New Year, New Start

2010-01-08T20:25:00.001-08:00

Happy 2010 everyone. Hope you ushered in the New Year with happy hearts.

The break was a whirlwind for our family. My mother left to be with my Grandmother as she began hospice 2 weeks before Christmas all the festivities were different with her absence. Eric had the bright idea to set his laptop webcam up in the living room so that we could let her see the kids open gifts. I had my phone on speaker so we could all hear and talk. She felt a bit more connected that way.

We had planned to leave for Missouri on the 27th (my bday) to visit Eric's grandparents and uncles and aunts. I selfishly hoped that Grandmother wouldn't die on my birthday. I didn't want anything about the day of my birth to be sad to my mother (or to me, for that matter). We left our house at around 2pm and started our trip meter on the car. We got to Eric's grandparents' house at about 11:30. Mother called at 7:30 the next morning to tell me that Grandmother had died in her sleep the night before. Daddy had gotten to San Antonio that day (Sunday) as well to be with Mom. He couldn't settle that night and kept going into Grandmother's room to check on her. At midnight he could hear her breathing, at 1am he couldn't so he woke mother and they checked her more thoroughly and she was gone. One hour after my birthday. We'll see what sadness there is when it rolls around next year. Right now I just feel overwhelming gratitude. I'll talk about that more later. As it was Monday and we had had a short night and arrangements weren't made yet, we took it easy at Granny and Grandpap's house. There was snow on the ground so Eric and the kids played quite a while in it. I had told Mother that we'd like to NOT get back in the car on Tuesday but we'd do whatever we had to to make it to TX for the funeral. In the end, we had Tuesday to visit Eric's other grandmother, Grammy Berry, and also to have dinner with the family.

We left Wed. morning for TX at around 9. Got to friends' house (who were putting up all 5 of us and my folks and my brother who flew in) at about 11pm. Exhausted. The family that had been available had made the trek down to the Valley (Rio Grande Valley, that is) that day for her burial. Grandmother's memorial was to be held Thursday at 11am. It was a beautiful service. I have 8 other cousins who are mostly all married and so 6 of us cousins (or spouses of cousins) led the service. My Uncle and Aunt sang. It was just sweet and full. Friends from our old church in SA came to lend support to Mother. It was just good.

Afterwards, we headed back to Grandmother's house to try to go though and sort everything. This is not an easy thing to do. But here's where the gratitude comes in. Now, I am surrounded by LOTS of her things. I know things aren't important but they become precious because it allows me to talk about her, to handle the things she loved, to remind my kids that,"These are the little cups Grandmother's daddy gave her. Aren't they cute?" Or,"look at these pretty earrings that Grandmother had. Grandaddy gave these to her." These things are a way to keep her, to hold her near, even though she seems very far. I'll talk more about that later too, I'm still on gratitude.

At her service, I was real weepy, of course, but not just with grief. When it was my turn to speak, I told the group that I was having a hard time naming my tears. I thought that I'd be just as teary if Grandmother was sitting with us. But I was (am) so grateful to be part of my family. So proud of the woman she was, of who she inspires us to be. When people gather to acknowledge a job well done, a legacy of good things, it's hard to not be overcome---for me anyway. I'm so grateful for the manner of her death. She realized she was not going to get well. She chose to cease treatment; to endure a short time without it knowing what was coming to her was so great. She kept all her mental capabilities. She was so weak but she was still sharp. She had things well prepared to pass to children and grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Everything was taken care of. Then she simply went to sleep and woke up in glory.

We decided to stay in San Antonio Friday and help at the house and drive by our old house and eat at a favorite restaurant. We left Sat morning at around 9am. We got home at about 8:15. The trip meter said 2100 miles and 35 hours in the car. That's a lot of driving. The kids did really well...more gratitude there.

Mom and Dad came home this past Monday with a U-Haul full of more things from Grandmother's house. Lots of this was stuff I had picked out as special to me or that I could use. I have a handkerchief that she was given as a graduation gift...I'm thinking Jaylie could have it as the 'something old' when she marries...it's good to have a hanky with your bouquet in case you get overwhelmed...as I did. I have 2 sets of sheets...her sheets were always so soft. I have several afghans, which were actually made by my great grandmothers. I have lots of things from her kitchen that I will use frequently. All of these things remind me of her. And this leads me to the Lord's Supper we take on Sundays at our church. As I share Grandmother's things with my kids and try to pass on how and why they are important to me, I hear Jesus saying,"This is my body. This is my blood..." He didn't have stuff to leave. I can't scramble eggs in Jesus' skillet like I can my grandmother's. But when I sit in church and focus on the Supper, I can hear him say, "These are my things...remember me. Tell your kids why this is special." And now I'm back to gratitude again.

Thanks for reading this long post. Many blessings to you in 2010.

D

Merry Christmas 2009

2009-12-24T07:41:00.000-08:00

Hello Loved Ones,

Hooray! I am getting my letter written BEFORE Christmas this year! Last year I felt like quite the slacker having to post it after Christmas. I've been a little more on the ball this season, it looks like. Wonders will never cease, it looks like.

Our 2009 has been full, as I imagine yours has been as well. I'll try to sum up quickly so that you can hurry up and get to the slide show, since that's all anyone really is interested in, right? Here's that link in case you don't want to read the whole letter--but you'll need to imagine my disappointed face if you do go straight there:)

Isaac is now in 3rd grade and has just turned 9! He has moved to the upper elementary school (Highland Elementary) and will be there for 3rd-5th grade. This school is not in our neighborhood so I no longer get to walk him to and from school. He's happy to be with the big kids though, and is excelling in school. He has a great teacher for whom we are very thankful. Isaac's basketball season has just started with practices. He is so excited about playing in UPWARD again. He's decided that he will probably be an NBA player...if only such things were attainable by sheer desire. It's good to have a goal though, and he practices in the driveway whenever it isn't raining. Isaac is a pretty avid reader and I'm happy that he’s content to read lots of things.

Ethan is 5 ½ and has had a big milestone this year. He is now in kindergarten! His first day was exciting and not accompanied by the same tears (by me!) as was Isaac’s. I am so familiar with his school and all the teachers and the principal, I just had no doubt that he was going to have a blast. And he has. He really loves school and he loves his friends. His teachers are wonderful and one of them goes to church with us. She was his 2 year old bible class teacher and her grandkids are friends with all my children. The icing on the cake though, is that his best friend from church, Bella Rose (our Youth Minister’s daughter) is also in the same class. So he was well set up for a smooth transition into school. Ethan also has become a great reader. He was reading some before starting kinder but has just really blossomed as a reader. In fact, he has recently started reading silently, which I think is really neat.

This leaves Jaylie (who is now 4) and I home alone together. It is quite different having just one child at home during the day after all these years of having several. She plays so much differently than the boys do. I am thankful for our neighbors across the street who have a little girl just Jaylie’s age. Jaylie and Greta play together quite a bit. Jaylie started ballet this fall. It is just about the cutest thing I have ever seen. She LOVES ballet. Of course, I think she’s a natural at it. Since she’ll have one more whole year at home before she starts kinder, I think ballet is a good outlet for her. Jaylie’s hair continues to be super curly, and it is getting longer (much longer) and thicker and altogether quite difficult to comb out. She’s real patient though, which is nice. Jaylie is also the most gregarious of our kids. She seems pretty confident to talk to just about anyone. She recently performed a solo at our children’s Christmas talent show at church! She sang Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town and threw in some sass with it! It was cute.

Eric is currently between semesters. It is so nice when he doesn’t have school on his mind constantly. This semester he had 4 trips to make to Nashville! Crazy, but it’s over. He has enrolled for his final semester this spring and we are all looking forward to his graduation from Lipscomb in May. He’ll receive his Master of Arts in Theology! I’ve teased him about being a theologian after he graduates. I know I’ll not be winning any biblical arguments, that’s for sure (as if I have in the past!). Eric is also perpetually busy with things at Meadowbrook. In March we will celebrate 4 years of ministry with the church here. We are grateful for this body of believers who are striving to be the hands and feet of Jesus.

I am keeping up with the kids and house and Eric as best I can. Since Jaylie’s ballet class is on Tuesday mornings, I am not attending Ladies’ Bible class like I have in the past. I miss the fellowship with those ladies but have met some real neat moms at ballet. It’s nice to have my circle getting bigger, sometimes I feel like the only people I know are those I go to church with! I am still on the PTO board at Ethan’s school and really enjoy that. It’s fun being ‘in the know’ on so much of what goes on. It also helps me with that circle I was talking about. Some of you know that I have struggled with a low B12 problem for a few years. Well this continues to be a problem for me; a thorn in my side--literally since I have to give myself weekly shots to help compensate! I wish my levels would stabilize and I’d not have to do these injections but that keeps not happening. I think I’ll be 80 and still jabbing myself with a needle every week! In the grand scheme of things, it’s a rather small problem to have, I suppose.

Right after school was out at the end of May, we went with my parents to Galveston for a week. It is nice that we get out of school before Memorial Day because the beach was deserted. We had a great time. At the end of that week, Mother and I went to San Antonio to help my Grandmother move into her new place there. In July, Eric had a summer class that was a whole week so we went to Nashville and had fun with Dawn and Brad and the girls, as well as Grandma and Grandpa. In September, the Nashville family came to visit us for a few days, which is also always fun. We are planning to leave on my birthday (2 days after Christmas, for those of you who don’t know!) to head to Missouri to visit Eric’s grandparents and aunts and uncles. We’ve not been there for a while and we’re looking forward to catching up with them.

Most of you will remember that my Granddaddy passed away last Thanksgiving. Well my Grandmother entered into hospice care last week. Ever since we moved her to San Antonio, she has had severe health issues, all surrounding her bone marrow. It has quit making platelets and white blood cells. After numerous treatments and regular transfusions, she has decided to cease treatment and go be reunited with Granddaddy in the presence of the Lord. Mother has gone to be with her. Your prayers will be appreciated as our family faces another major holiday with the pall of loss hanging over it. We are joyful for the prize she is gaining, just sad that we will miss her so.

In all things we give thanks to God for the love he has showered on us. It is our prayer for you that you will feel the nearness of Christ always, but especially during this season of Hope, and Peace, and Joy and Love. The season of Christ’s first coming. May He come again quickly!

With our love,
Eric, Dixie, Isaac, Ethan and Jaylie

Eric’s blog: www.ericnlivingston.com
Dixie’s blog: www.lookaway-dixieland.blogspot.com
Email: ericdixie@yahoo.com
And you can find us on facebook too!

Kindergarten Feast

2009-11-20T11:01:00.000-08:00

One of the greatest events at Ann Smith Elementary School is the Thanksgiving Feast for the kindergarteners. Our first experience with it was when Isaac was in kinder 3 years ago and we were so excited by what we saw. First of all, it might be helpful to describe our school to you. One of the best things about it is that it is in our neighborhood (or right on the edge of it) so we walk there. The property boarders where our neighborhood pool house is so we just walk through the gate and into the back of a giant yard, I guess, that has tons of huge pine trees (very shady) and then the 3 playgrounds are scattered around it. This is the back of the school. So on Feast Day, all of the events are outside. There are 9 centers that the kids go through every 10 or so minutes. There is a lady dressed in pioneer clothes with a fire going and a big black pot of Stone Soup. While the kids eat the soup, she tells them the story. Then they go and learn and Indian dance and play some Tom Toms. After that we went to another station and heard Mrs. Fonville (Ethan's teacher) read a story about Wampum bags before the kids were able to decorate their own. At the next station, the librarian passed out popcorn and coolaid for the kids to have while listening to another story. Then we went to take class pictures by a BIG Tee pee and then they sang us songs (Indian and Thanksgiving songs) that they had learned in class. The next station was where they made necklaces out of pretty macaroni noodles (classic) and then played a while on the playground. Then we did a pumpkin relay race, learned about the kinds of animals there are in MS, and the finally we went and did a Bear Hunt and one more relay race! All this takes about 2 hours. At the end of these festivities we all eat on blankets. The kindergarten Room Moms arrange to have parents bring enough food for their class and so we had turkey and dressing and all the trimmings, picnic style.

So that's the big picture, here's some small things that I like about this event:

1: LOTS of parents and grandparents come, and younger siblings too. This is one time where parents are really encouraged to participate. Lots of times, space is an issue and therefor it is difficult to have everyone show up. Not so for the Feast.

2: Mrs. Rigsby is available. Mrs. Rigsby is our principal and I think she is just the BEST! Every week, on at least one day, she is outside greeting kids as they get out of the car. She hugs on them and knows their names. Our school is just for K-2grade so our kids are really young and need LOTS of loving. Mrs. Rigsby and her teachers love our kids really well. For the feast, she's outside (in her heels) visiting, hugging, laughing with parents and children. She makes us feel welcome.

3. Our school is full of very different kids. As you can see from the pictures, we have a very diverse group of little people who laugh and play and love each other. I love this. It reminds me of when I was in elementary schools on military bases. I just love melting pots.

4: Being in the Bible belt, mentioning God never raises any eyebrows. I remember when Isaac was in kinder, a man from the Parks and Recreation Dept. was talking to the kids about natural resources. As he explained what natural resources were, he said, "If God made it, it's a natural resource." Today, in the book the librarian read, it mentioned thanking God at Thanksgiving time. I know that MS schools get a bad rap about lots of things, and there is room for improvement of course, but I am glad that most---if not all---of the teachers my children encounter share a love of the Lord that is like mine.

I'll wrap it up and share my pictures now. Just a note though. Jaylie SO wants to be in school. She loves going to Ethan's school and most of the teachers know her by name and think she's adorable (obviously) She still has 2 more years though. But when it's her turn, watch out! Oh, and Ethan's Indian name is Brave Bear Hunter:)

untitled

2009-11-10T19:58:00.000-08:00

Sometimes, I don't post just because I can't think of what to title the darn thing. Hence the unimaginative title today.

Hope everyone is easing into November nicely. You do realize that Christmas is around the corner and that you should have at least started thinking about gift lists and all that, right? This year, we are getting a rather expensive (for us) thing for the family (I guess there's really no danger of saying what it is, since none of my kids read my blog...but still, just in case) and then one thing for each kid. I've already gotten their one thing and have to order the Big Thing. All in all, I'm feeling pretty good about the gift list at this point. I have good ideas about everyone else, hoping for new floors or new countertops for me :)

For Thanksgiving this year, our church is hosting the men who live at the Billy Brumfield house in the family center at church. This is a shelter for homeless men and several men at our church have faithfully developed relationships with them over the years. Anyway, instead of giving money to send a lunch down there, we're having them come to our building and we've been invited to eat with them there. So, I'm helping cook a few potato casseroles and will help serve but other than that, the Thanksgiving plan is taken care of. I'm real excited for it this year. I think it will be a great way to share...I am thankful that I can share.

Isaac will be starting UPWARD basketball practices at the end of the month. He is outside every evening practicing his shot. Hopefully it will pay off and he'll have a rewarding season. We all really enjoyed the UPWARD program last year. It's the best possible way, in my opinion, for kids to ease into competitive sports.

Ethan has had a milestone. He has begun to read silently. He was sounding things out before school started this summer, but has just developed a love of reading so quickly. The other evening, I noticed him reading silently and then Isaac walked by him and did a double-take. Then he looked at me and said,"Ethan's reading in his head!" Pretty cool.

Jaylie is also starting to sound things out so I have no doubt she'll be an early reader. It's fun when they start realizing that there are words all around them. She loves ballet still and has a blast dancing everywhere we are.

I hope everyone has a great week and is enjoying the season of Thankfulness and eagerly anticipating the celebration of the coming Lord. I love this time of year!

Much love
D

Halloween

2009-11-03T19:05:00.000-08:00

Well I said I'd post pictures and so I decided I'd better get after it. I'll just post a couple. The kids had a great time and we have too much candy, just like everyone else in the country. We'll see how long it lasts. I'm about to throw out all the stuff no one will eat (almond joy, payday, etc) and see what's left. Isaac has a check up at the dentist on Thursday...not such great timing. Anyway, enjoy and let me hear from you!

Have a wonderful rest of the week. I know I will...there's no rain forecast until next Monday! Hooray for sun and low humidity!!!

Blessings
D

One Week

2009-10-30T10:16:00.000-07:00

Well I am impressed on what a difference a week can make. I want to say thanks to those of you who emailed me or talked to me expressing that you were praying for me. I know that has helped me. I also think I have realized a few things about myself in the past few weeks that has helped me have a bit of clarity concerning why I feel certain things and why I react in certain ways. It's always nice to have a bit of introspection to see who it is I really am. I don't know if I can say I am 100% out of the desert I alluded to last week, but God has been gracious enough to show me some 'new things' he is working on. I can see possible reasons for things that I had been clueless about earlier. So, in short, I am breathing easier and feeling quite a bit more like myself. I think one thing that has helped the most is that I've made a ridiculous 'master schedule' for me and the kids. It is loosely followed but I did set aside a reasonable time for prayer and bible study. I have no 'plan' about what I'm studying, yet, but I am spending time on my knees, literally, and then reading. He always speaks, especially when I'm ready to listen.

Moving on: Tomorrow is Halloween. We are going to trick-or-treat in our neighborhood. We had a blast at the Trunk-or-treat at church on Wednesday and took several pictures. I think I'll wait til after tomorrow to post them so we can have all the costume pics at once.

Eric is headed back to Nashville for his 4th and final trip this semester next Friday. This has been the craziest semester because of all of these trips. We're looking at 2 more classes and then done. That will be a relief.

I'm off for now. Just wanted to give a quick update. Check back soon for pictures of my sweet ones.

Grace to you
D

Desert

2009-10-23T14:25:00.000-07:00

I don't know if it is the weather, I suspect it is, but I have been downright GLOOMY. We had several days of dreary weather. I mean, today is the 23rd of October and according to weather.com, we've had only 5 days of sunshine so far this month and we've had close to 8 inches of rain. I am feeling like all I want to do is lay around and read and ignore my responsibilities. Do you get like that during bad weather? There's no way I could make it in the Seattle area; although, according to weather.com, they've had a day or 2 more of sun and only half the rain this month.

So, is this going to be a post about the weather?? I sure hope not. But I think this grayness in the sky has sort of taken up residence in my mind/heart. I have not been the best I should be lately. Just lazy, I think. Apathetic maybe. I really want to BE better. Looking for motivation. Occasionally I have gotten like this in the past when a change is taking place, like when the baby stuff was being gotten rid of, or other semi-momentous things were coming to an end and new things beginning. But I sense none of that right now. Just the gloom. I see no new thing on the horizon. I see no corner that is being turned. Just the rut I seem to be stuck in.

Isaiah 43:19 says: See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland.

While the desert is looking a little appealing to me right now, just because it is usually sunny there, I get the metaphor. I really want to be able to perceive the new thing. I believe that God is working, always working. I wonder how difficult it is for him to work with desert dwelling people, because I do think I am in a spiritual one right now. I think I have maybe been here a while, wondering around. Maybe it is a good thing that I have now realized it. Maybe now I will start learning whatever it is He has been trying to teach me. I think part of the lesson is letting go of things that I have no control over. My energy is so wasted trying to understand things that aren't clear.

So, how depressing is this post? I am not trying to depress you, but I thought I'd post an honest post so that people know I am not perpetually happy and on top of it...in case anyone had had that impression:) I'd appreciate prayers. I don't expect this to last long. Please God, don't let this last long. I'll take the springs that come with renewal. That is what I desperately need...refreshment.

God bless
D

Fall is here

2009-10-17T12:03:00.000-07:00

What?!!? 2 posts in the same week? Well, I am trying to do better about noticing things that I can write about. Today happened to be one of those days.

Eric got home from his week in Nashville late last night. The kids woke up this morning all excited to see him. They are so glad to have him home. They've been asking to get pumpkins for quite sometime and I keep saying, "You'll have to wait til Dad can take you." Getting pumpkins and Christmas trees falls under 'Dad-directed' activities, in my mind. So, we went and let them pick out a couple of little ones (we'll probably paint them) at the Ag museum this morning and he is going to take them tomorrow to get a big one to carve. Enjoy the following pictures.

After looking at these pictures on the computer, I kept noticing a smudge in about the same place. Sure enough, there was a big fingerprint on the lens. That's what I get for letting the Little Ones use the camera. Oh, well. the next ones will hopefully be better.

Have a wonderful weekend

D

Delinquency

2009-10-12T13:51:00.000-07:00

Can you believe that I have been so bad about blogging? It is so unlike me!!! :) Yes, sarcasm.
But really, I think I may have gone longer without a post than I previously ever had. For those of you (all one or two of you) who still read my blog, I'm sorry about that.

Let's see. Since Jaylie's birthday she has started ballet. It is quite possibly the cutest thing I have ever seen. I, of course, think she's terribly graceful and really talented. I'm just glad she's having a good time and looks forward to it every week. Here she is when she was the princess a couple of weeks ago.
Ethan is trucking a long in kindergarten. I'm happy to report that he is doing much better in the afternoons. He used to be such a grump when he came home from the lack of nap. But he seems to be more able to cope without it. But on the weekends, I make him nap to catch up. I've never seen a kid more in need of sleep.

Isaac is doing great in school too. He says he hasn't learned anything yet so we'll have to see about that. He looks forward to going and has friends that he likes so we're happy. He has started practicing for basketball season which will be starting up in a month or so. He would now like to be an NBA player. Hmmmm

Eric's semester this fall includes 4 trips to Nashville. He's currently gone for the week in his 3rd trip. We are so spoiled that he doesn't have to travel very often, like lots of daddys do, but we miss him a lot when he's gone. He graduates in May. We can't wait!

I am busy with all this. I wish I could say that I have really interesting hobbies and spend my time doing all sorts of important things, but it is just not the case. I know my kids are the important thing I'm doing. And I've read a few books in the last several weeks...that counts as a hobby right?

Eric and I got to go on a trip to DC in Sept. We had a great time out there and enjoyed the sites we got to see. It was nice to have a lot of uninterrupted conversation, which doesn't happen much at home. That was our 2nd trip we've taken since Isaac was born. It's nice to get away. So glad my parents are willing and able to care for the kids and allow us to do things like that. The national mall at night is impressive.

I hope you all have a great week and I'll try to be better about posting regularly. That's always supposing I have something to post about:)

Blessings to you
D

4

2009-09-02T11:41:00.001-07:00

At about this time, 4 years ago, this is what Jaylie looked like.

And this is what the boys looked like:

Here they are recently:

Thank you God for the children you have given me. Help me always know that they were yours first and are loved by you more than I can ever hope to imagine. Help me always remember that you love ME that much as well. Give me strength and endurance to raise them to always be yours. Help me be an example to them. Bless them always with love and happiness and an abiding sense of your presence. Let them know that they were made for your glory and for your purposes, and show them early in life what those purposes are.
Thank you for these gifts. Thank you for Jesus and what his name means to me. Amen

Happy Birthday Jaylie.

Back At It

2009-08-13T10:40:00.000-07:00

Here is the obligatory 1st day of school picture of Isaac.

Ethan was in no mood to be photographed before school started, so I'll take one tomorrow. I do, however, have some pictures of him, happy, at lunchtime, and all 3 of them, still happy, at Sno Biz, where we went to celebrate the end of the first day.

It was such a great day. Eric took Isaac to school, since he now attends an upper elementary school that is further away from our house. I'll miss getting to walk with him, but it will be nice Dad-time for him and Eric to share the ride over there. He was pretty excited about school. We met his teacher the night before and couldn't be more pleased. She seems exactly what he needs. We're looking forward to a great 3rd grade year.

Ethan's day didn't start out all that great. He was very upset to be going yesterday morning and I was worried that we'd have a big scene when we got to school. But he did GREAT! He is in the best possible situation a kids can have in kindergarten. 1st of all, his very best gal pal, Bella Rose, is in his class. She is the daughter of our youth minister at church and they are great friends. They've been friends since we got here and he was 18 months old or so. 2nd, the assistant in his class is also a sweet lady from church. She is the 2year old sunday school teacher who both Ethan and Bella had. Ethan knows her well. 3rd, his teacher is wonderful. Having been up at school a lot over the past few years, I was confident that he would do fine in any classroom, but I am so happy he has Mrs. Fonville. She's going to be great for him. So he was fine when Jaylie and I left him. Then we went back at lunchtime to help all the kindergarteners with lunch procedures. Many of them haven't ever opened a milk carton or carried their lunch tray, so we get parents to come help during the 1st week of school. Ethan was happy to see us (Eric and my mom also came up) and Jaylie was excited to get to sit with him at his table. After school, he was so excited to see us again, but probably more excited to see Gretchen on her leash. He thought it was pretty neat to be picked up with Gretchen in tow.

All in all, it was a great day. It was long, that's for sure, especially with church last night. But they did great. The kindergarteners are divided up by alphabet the first 2 days so he is off today. Tomorrow he'll go again with his whole class. He said earlier, "Mom, I can't wait for tomorrow. I really like school!" Music to my ears...

In case you're wondering what Jaylie and I are doing without boys in the house, here ya go:

She starts ballet classes Sept 8 and can talk of little else. I think she's going to be great...

Enjoy the weekend

Much Love
D

14 Years

2009-08-05T07:36:00.001-07:00

Well, it's been a long time of no posting, huh! So sorry. I have no excuses, really. I just haven't done it. There's a lot of stuff I haven't done this summer...man---I have a problem with following through, apparently.

There's one thing I don't have trouble remaining committed to and that is my marriage. Today, Eric and I celebrate our 14th wedding anniversary! Being married to Eric is as natural as breathing to me. He is such a blessing to me. He's my best friend and is such a great Daddy to our children. Eric is an example to so many people who don't know him nearly as well as I do...but he's also an example to me.

One thing I have accomplished this summer is moving Isaac upstairs into his own room. This has resulted in me having to find new homes for LOTS of other things that had been up there. In this process, I uncovered our wedding book. It is neat to go back and look through all those memories. I saved a hand full of congratulations cards and one of them said, "Let me be the first to wish you happy 50th anniversary. I know you'll make it." I remember thinking, then, that 50 years is a REALLY long time. We're not even half-way there yet, but these 14 years have flown by. They've been full of moves and babies and new experiences and friends and family...and just so full of love. We are blessed in one another.

At our 50th anniversary, we'll only be 68 and 69...maybe we'll squeeze 15 more anniversaries out of this life. And then on toward eternity with each other. I have been struck recently with the scripture that we all know: "Therefore what God has joined, let man not separate." I have been comforted that my life on earth is but a breath, and when God joins, He probably doesn't do it temporarily. So I'm happy to be joined with Eric while we are here...happier still to be joined with him forever.

Blessings
D

Playing Catch Up

2009-06-09T11:38:00.001-07:00

I have realized that I needed to update my blog for quite sometime now. I was looking at the previous post thinking that too much had happened and I just simply write a post that would fill everyone in on what's been going on in the month (almost) since then. I'll try to hit the high points.

* On May 22, my parents took off with the kids to Galveston. Eric and I joined them on the 24th so we had a mini-staycation and a peaceful 9 hour drive to TX. Our week at the beach was marvelous. The weather was great. The beach was so uncrowded as to almost be deserted, and Schlitterbahn was fabulous. Everyone had a great time.

* On May 29, Eric and my dad drove the kids home and mother and I went to Beeville to be there for the movers. My Grandmother's house sold and she had decided to move to a retirement community in San Antonio. It has all worked out really well. After the movers were done we went on to San Antonio and helped with the move in. I flew home on June 1. Gotta love Southwest Airlines.

* This past week found me just trying to keep my head above water, it seemed. Eric had done a magnificent job of keeping the laundry done the pantry stocked and the house clean. (He had the unpleasant task of doing all the post vacation laundry and all the grocery buying since we'd been gone for a week and the cupboards were empty. The house was very neat when I got home...He's so great) I managed to go until Friday before hitting Walmart...that's saying quite a bit.

* Then this past weekend Eric and I sang in the wedding of a sweet couple at church. We wish Craig and Cindy a wonderful happy life together.

* And NOW, we're in the midst of VBS week. I'll be glad when it's over only because then it seems like my days won't be as planned. The kids are having a great time, and I am too. I'm ready for a little less structure to my days:)

Things we're looking forward to:

~My sister-in-law, Dawn, and her family will be coming to visit in a couple of weeks.
~The first week in July we'll be in Nashville hanging out with family while Eric is in class at Lipscomb.
~The second week in July, Eric and Isaac will be at church camp. We'll make a few trips up there to see them but my days will be different, that's for sure.

After church camp, it'll be about 3 weeks left of summer. We start on Aug. 12 this year. Isaac is real excited about 3rd grade, which is a plus. Ethan is moderately excited (but very unsure) about kindergarten. Jaylie's not going to know what hit her when these boys are out of the house. She gets to take ballet starting in Sept. and I know she's going to love that.

OK..
Consider yourself updated. I'll do better in the future. As soon as I download pictures, I'll post 'em.

Blessings
D

Oh yeah, I'm back on facebook at least through out the summer. I figured I could manage my time with it a bit better. We'll see how it goes after school's back in. So feel free to visit me over there too.

Conversations with Isaac

2009-05-12T13:32:00.000-07:00

On our way home from school today, this is how the conversation went with Isaac.

Isaac: I wonder what color Gretchen sees us in; black or white.
Me: I think she sees us in both. Like if we're wearing yellow, she'd see white and if you have on blue jeans, those would look black. I think she sees everything in shades of black and white, not one or the other.
Isaac: I think that whoever put color into movies should do that to dogs' eyes.
Me: Well, a dog sees like that because that's the way God made them to see.
Isaac: Yes, but someone could still fix it so they could see color.
Me: Are you suggesting that something God has made is not perfect in and of itself?
Isaac: Well, a newborn baby can't do anything and doesn't know anything.
Me: Yes, but they are made to grow and learn. That is the way God designed it.
Isaac: But who teaches them?
Me: Parents, this is also the way God planned it to be.
Isaac: Hmmm....Did you know Jews don't believe in Jesus?
Me: Well, some of them do. Most of them don't believe he is the Savior. How do you know that though?
Isaac: My friend in Pathways who is Jewish told me.
Me: I didn't know you had any Jewish friends

Then he told me how they were bidding on a book in their auction today (they bid with points accrued throughout the year) and this book was about prayers and this boy asked if there was anything about Jesus in it. There isn't so he bid on it but apparently Isaac out-bid him because he brought it home)

Me: Did you know he was Jewish before today?
Isaac: Yes, because he had Hannukah at Christmas time.

Then we got home and he was busy talking to Nana.

Anyway, I thought I'd share this with you. I think it is the first 'debate' (about the perfection of God's creation) we've had and I thought it was interesting to hear him follow an argument to it's conclusion. I also thought it was neat to hear how that led to his conversation with his friend who is Jewish. I love that he knows kids who are different than he is and that he is able to share who he is with them. He is a thinker so I expect to hear more about this over the next few days.

I hope everyone's week is going smoothly. We have field day on Friday and I've been organizing the volunteers for that. It should be a fun day if the weather will cooperate. We just have 5 1/2 days left! Woo hoo!

Blessings
D

Happy Birthday Ethan

2009-05-09T22:17:00.000-07:00

Today was Ethan's 5th Birthday. The 5th Birthday is a big deal to me because that is school-age. He'll be starting Kindergarten this fall and that just hardly seems possible. I'm so proud of my little guy. He's such a tender heart and is very considerate for one so young. Ethan is just a joy to be around.

We had a great time at his party. In addition to the had red (for Mario) and green (for Luigi) hats I had gotten for Ethan's guests to wear, I also had made mustaches for them. They were all cute with them on and we managed to get a picture before they decided to take them off.

After that they went out to hunt Yoshi eggs that were filled with gold coins (the chocolate kind) Here's some of the loot.

After that the kids went and played while the pizza cooked in the oven. When it was ready, they ate outside on the patio.

After pizza it was finally time to cut that Mario cake. It was good and the Birthday boy was very pleased.

And then it was present time.

We have a sweet 5 year old and he had a great time today. I feel so blessed to be Ethan's mommy. I pray that he will always feel the hand of God on him, guiding him in His way.

What an angel.

Real Fast

2009-05-07T15:49:00.001-07:00

I have completed Ethan's birthday cake with the wonderful help of my good friend Liz. Since I am pretty proud of our work, I thought I'd post these pictures real quick. The party is Saturday so I'll put more pictures up after that.

End of the Year

2009-05-05T07:43:00.001-07:00

Sorry I've been absent for a while. I'm not sure how many folks actually READ my blog, but all 3 or 4 of you may be wondering where I've been. Well the answer is, I've been here, up to my eyeballs in things that need doing. I've been marginally successful in actually doing them so that translates into feeling constantly behind. Have you ever felt like that?

Last Saturday was our annual neighborhood garage sale which we participated in. We didn't have all that much to sell but a couple of other families wanted to use our garage and so we had a little garage sale party. The good news about that is that we have a small basket of things that didn't sell, which is pretty good. Getting ready for any garage sale is hectic, but this year it meant rearranging furniture because I am hoping to move Isaac upstairs at some point before next year's garage sale. Right now our bonus room is our computer room/play room/game cube room. But if his bed and stuff is going to fit, we had to move/get rid of lots of that stuff. Normally this wouldn't be all that big a deal except that Eric is in the throes of finals and term papers so I hated to ask him for help. That's where Liz comes in. God love her super-organized mind...and her willingness to move mattresses and other furniture with me! Thanks Liz.

This Saturday, Ethan turns 5 and so we'll be having several other 4 and 5 year old kids over that day. I'm in the process of attempting the most complicated birthday cake in all my years as mom. I'm a pretty uncomplicated person who doesn't do well with lots of details so...we'll see how that goes. Thankfully my sister-in-law, Dawn, has taken lots of Wilton cake decorating classes and assures me that I can do it. And a good friend of mine, also named Daun, used to work in a bakery and has decorated countless amazing cakes and she said she'd help me if I needed it. I'll post pictures of the finished product.

This week at school is Teacher Appreciation Week so I've got sweet surprises scheduled all week for Isaac's teacher, Mrs. Pierce. She's such a wonderful teacher for him. We couldn't have asked for better.

Ethan is now finished with preschool and so I've got both little ones home all the time. It is good. They play very well together and giggle a lot...when they're not bothering one another. I'm needing a day without kids to work on my house...which has all fallen by the wayside in the midst of all the other things I've been up to. At least I've managed to keep up with the laundry.

OK, so now I'm off to start the day, now that it's 10:00! It has been nice to not have to rush off someplace right after getting Isaac to school. I've been needing some leisurely mornings. We watched Enchanted this morning, which I love. After I saw that last year, I went out and bought several sundresses (because Giselle wears dresses constantly in the movie). I've already added to my collection this spring. I feel so much better in a sundress than in shorts. How many of you would rather shop for dresses than shorts?

Enjoy the day
D

Ethan's a Player

2009-04-20T10:44:00.000-07:00

Of our 3 kids, Ethan is by far the best independent player. He pretends and plays so well by himself. He is about to outgrow his nap so he has started to have rest time or quiet time in his room. He doesn't resent this at all. Ethan has a bunch of dinosaurs and zoo animals and jungle animals of all different sizes. He can play with them for over an hour without making a peep to me. So, yesterday he came in from outside and said he wanted to play in the house. The TV time was over (they're watching less and less now that the weather is better and better) so I suggested that he bring his dinosaurs into the kitchen to play while I prepared supper. I decided to take a few pictures and one little video. You may not think it is as sweet as I do, but I love his little way of playing.

Notice the way he's got everyone lined up. He does this every time.

He's such a cutie!
Have a great week everyone

D

Easter 2009

2009-04-13T12:50:00.000-07:00

We had a wonderful Easter this past weekend. Eric's parents came down on Friday afternoon. the weather was really nice Friday and Saturday and so we spent most of it outside.

The kids played in the backyard while Eric cooked burgers and we ate on the patio Friday night.

Saturday we played. Eric, Isaac and Grandpa played catch in the backyard for a while then we all went to a nearby park. This park is real neat because it is right on the reservoir. Even though there isn't much wind in Jackson, usually, there is almost always a breeze there coming off the water. The kids ran and played in all the open space and we ate KFC.

The weather was going to be turning bad on Easter Sunday so we did the egg hunt in the backyard after nap time on Sat. They had lots of fun and found all 74 eggs that had been hidden. Sunday I woke with such a feeling of excitement and expectation. I can only attribute this to Christ's resurrection because this is certainly NOT my usual frame of mind first thing in the morning. But I was really excited to be going to celebrate His rising with our church family. The kids opened their Easter presents and had on their pretty clothes. Worship was wonderful. Eric and Jerry had put together a great service and I was really uplifted. I know, in our tribe (the church of Christ) we have shied away from celebrating Easter with all our Christian brothers and sisters in other tribes. The reasoning (growing up) had always been,"We celebrate Easter every Sunday." As an adult, I now think that is really silly. It is wonderful to celebrate every Sunday in the form of the Lord's Supper, (and truly, every church celebrates every week, even if the Lord's supper isn't observed. Afterall, why would anyone be in a Christian church if Christ had not indeed, risen from the dead) but knowing that is is the day that Jesus' disciples found the tomb empty is really exciting to me.

After we got home we had pictures in the backyard followed by a super yummy lunch. No ham this year. Eric and I planned the menu and have decided that this will become our traditional Easter lunch. Here's what we had: Fresh fruit salsa with cinnamon tortilla chips, yogurt and berry parfaits (thanks Liz), breakfast tacos, and monkey bread.
Naptime was right after lunch and then the storms started. We got quite a bit of rain. It was refreshing. Eric's parents headed home this morning. It was a wonderful weekend. I hope you and your family had a memorable time celebrating the redeeming love of our great God.

Blessings
DDon't mind me. Just look at the rest of my lovely family. I don't know why I'm squinting so bad in this picture!

Things I'm Ready For

2009-04-07T11:59:00.000-07:00

1: All my kids to be completely independent in the bathroom
2: No one to need their food cut up at meal time
3: All my kids to be able to buckle their own seatbelt
4: No more pullups
5: Easy bed time routines (no crying, begging, fit throwing, etc)

I do realize that getting these things means that my kids are growing up. The question is, I guess, am I so ready to have them independent in the above mentioned things that I'm ready to have them independent in other things? Things like: not asking me to play games, watch them on their bikes, take walks...you know all the stuff they beg me to do all the time. I guess it boils down to this: am I ready for them to not want me to be their best friend? The answer is no. So I'll keep cutting up food and tying laces and buckling seatbelts and soothing at bedtime...and I'll try to keep a smile on my face. I know this time of life will be over too soon.

Grace to you
D

Pictures are worth more than words

2009-04-05T18:31:00.000-07:00

So these pictures might not be worth 1000 words, but I thought I'd give you something to look at instead of read. You will probably recognize most of these pictures from the descriptions from earlier posts. I didn't blog about all of them. Some are just for your visual enjoyment. I think my kids are beautiful. Enjoy the week
D

The Hits (literally) Just Keep On Coming

2009-03-31T12:31:00.000-07:00

I've got a new ride now. A 2004 Nissan Quest. Eric flew to Orlando and drove it home last Friday. It was a grueling day for him but he got home in the wee hours of Sat. morning. I really like the new van. The kids REALLY like it; it has a DVD player. Everyone is happy.

Eric is also selling his car and so it is on Craig's list and he's had a few bites already. But (and here' s where the 'hits' part of the title comes in) this morning, I was taking Isaac to school and--somehow--swerved too close to the curb and took out a neighbor's mailbox and busted the windshield. This is my first ever 'accident'. Eric says this is the kind to have, one not involving any people, and involving his old car and not the one we've only had for a few days. But still, I feel terrible about it. A new windshield will be put in tomorrow and he will re-install the folk's mailbox sometime this week (it appears largely undamaged, it just needs to be set back in with concrete). So anyway, this has not been a good day for me because of all that.

Yesterday Ethan caught his first frog. He held it in his hand for the longest time. I guess the frog was too scared to try to get away because he just sat there. Ethan was very pleased with himself. I'll add pictures later.

Isaac got to participate in a chess tournament last week and had a lot of fun. He won some matches and he some but he got out of school for this so it was a great day for him.

I thought I'd share this. At our church, when they pass the juice during the Communion, you take the cup and then return it to a little spot on the pew, you don't put it back in the tray. Anyway, Jaylie always takes my little cup after I've put it away and licks every drop out. I know she doesn't have any deep meaning associated with this but I just had the thought of her getting every drop of Communion with the Lord. I wish I was always like that and not preoccupied with other demands on my time. Why am I always in a hurry?

I hope the week is great for each of you. I am so glad March is going away and that April is right here. We've had about 9 1/2 inches of rain this month. I'm pretty tired of it. My flowers are going to be beautiful. I'll take pictures and post them next time.

Adios
Dixie

Quick Update

2009-03-24T11:35:00.000-07:00

Lots going on right now but thought I'd stop in to let everyone in on it.

1: We are thanking God for Ethan's clean bill of health. Well, mostly clean. His ears are completely healed. His cough is almost completely gone and his dr. said that he doesn't want to diagnose him with asthma just yet. Right now he's calling it Reactive Airway Disease which create asthmatic symptoms but they are triggered my something (yellow dust, perhaps?) instead of being constantly present like normal asthma. So he's on his nebulizer medicine 2 times a day until the summer when the pollen count goes down and then he'll probably have to go back on in the fall when more allergens re-emerge. Still, no fever or infections, no up-coming trips to the ENT, so we are grateful.

2: On Saturday night, our van died. This is our 1998 Toyota Sienna that we bought in 2004 off ebay. We thought we had a few more years in it but, alas, the engine is fried. We are not going to replace an engine on a car this old and so will be getting rid of it and getting something else. We've already got our eye on another ebay car so Eric may be making a trip to Florida to pick it up this weekend. We'll see.

3: My Grandmother is selling her house in Beeville. It went on the market today, She has decided to purchase a little house in a retirement community in San Antonio. This will be about 5 minutes from my uncle and right in the medical center area which is real convenient. Also easier to fly into San Antonio than Corpus and diving to Beeville. We are real excited for her.

4: My Pawpaw, (Daddy's Dad) is in the hospital in Beaumont. He is facing surgery to remove his gallbladder which is causing him all sorts of trouble. Please pray for his recovery. He'll be 80 this year.

That's all folks. Hope your week is going well.

D

Camping trip take 2

2009-03-20T10:55:00.000-07:00

We woke up Monday morning to a steady mist (despite being promised by the weather people that it would be clear...grr) and took our time getting ready. Jaylie actually didn't get up til 9 or after. We made it back to the campsite around noon and were just hoping that our things were still in the tent and not horribly soaked. The mist had stopped and we were pleased to find that everything was there; the tent was still standing. It was clear as we went in, though, that had we stayed the night, we'd have been very wet. So, we took the top sheets and blankets off the beds and went to the bath house to put them in the dryer. Of course lots of other people had things to dry also so we didn't wind up getting all our stuff dry til around supper time. We took care of getting things rearranged and then had a sandwich lunch and settled down to rest; it was about 2:30 or so. After about an hour of virtual silence, we got up and played for a bit. Since Eric had brought dry firewood getting a fire started wasn't that hard. We decided to have our s'mores first; I think we had earned it. Eric got a good fire going for the burgers and we had a pretty good supper that night. All our bedding was dry, our tummies were full and we settled down to a fairly good night's sleep. The kids all did good. I felt like I heard dogs barking (there were surprisingly a lot of folks who bring their dogs camping) and geese honking all night. (Do geese not sleep?) Morning broke cold and foggy...disappointing me yet again. Even more disappointing was that Ethan woke up with a fever and a barky cough. Right then, over breakfast, we decided we would not spend another night (we had reserved the campsite an extra night so that the kids wouldn't feel cheated...) but would spend the day out there and then head home. We got ready and went fishing at the lake...to no success. However, the sun decided to come out towards the end of that event. Finally, blue sky was everywhere and our spirits began to lift...at least mine did. So we went down to the lodge place where you sign in and everything and played a few games in the gameroom, then we asked about the tower we had seen and the lady at the desk said,"Sure, go on down and climb it." We got to the foot of the tower (which is like a lookout tower. Not quite as tall as the one that they watch for forest fires in but it still was tall and situated on a bluff that would allow for a great panoramic view) to discover that the gate was locked and we couldn't get to the steps. So we drove back down the hill to ask what is up. The lady radios a man and asks him to meet us up there to unlock the steps. He does this rather quickly, and apologetically "I just forgot to unlock it, sorry about that. Watch out for the wasps." As we head up the steps, we noticed more and more of the wasps and by the time we reach the top were telling the kids,"OK here's the top, look at all the trees, lets go!" We hurried back down and went back to camp for lunch. As we were walking back to the tent, Eric remarked,"Now it's not foggy but still hazy from the pollen." As if on cue, my eyes started itching. The fog had lifted and it took about an hour and a half or so to dry the trees out sufficiently to allow the pollen to blow. We took a walk to a slide and swing set, with me tearing up and itching furiously, then back to camp for lunch and rest. We were trying to decide if we would stay and play and eat supper before going home or if we would pack up and leave and eat supper at home. After an hour of rest with me rubbing my eyes to the point that one seemed dangerously red and puffy and gunky, we decided to pack up and go. We were glad we did with how long it took to pack up. We got home around 6. We ate McDonald's, showered and went to bed.
What I gathered is that I really need running water and a sink. I really don't mind camping in cabins, or even popups or RVs but I think tent camping is just not for me. People who do it, and enjoy it, are made of much stronger stuff than I am. The kids say they had a good time, which, I guess, is all that matters. I'm glad I tried it, but don't really want to do it again. Eric says he thinks that the conditions have to be exactly perfect for it to be enjoyable. It just seems like a whole lot of work for very little payoff...especially with rain and fever and pollen.

An update on Ethan, I had him to the dr. yesterday where he was diagnosed with croup and reflux. He is now on steroids for the croup, since he has breathing difficulties anyway, and previcid for the reflux. We'll see how he is in a few days. He seems pretty sick still.

So now you know how our Great Family Camp Out went. I'm still trying to decide how to sum it up...memorable, that's for sure.

D

Maybe Poker Just Ain't Your Game

2009-03-18T11:20:00.000-07:00

The movie Tombstone is one of my favorites. A little odd, now, I guess, but when it came out I LOVED that movie. Eric and I have watched it countless times. It is violent and has its share of bad language (although not as bad as more recent movies) but it is an old west movies, and apparently, that's how old west folks talked. At least that's what Hollywood thinks. It also has tons of great one-liners, which brings me to the title of my post. There's a scene when Doc Holliday is playing poker with Ike somebody, who's not all that smart, and Doc keeps winning and Ike keeps getting more and more upset. Then Doc says, "Why Ike, maybe poker just ain't your game. I know, let's have a spelling contest!"

This quote came to mind as I was pondering what I would write about our weekend camping trip. It became clear to me that camping, in a tent, is NOT for me. To explain everything in one post would take way too much time so I'll break it up for you into camping trip #1 and camping trip #2 because we did try, twice, to have a good time.

Camping trip#1:

We left after nap time on Sunday and headed for Roosevelt State park which is just 45 minutes away (this became the saving grace of the whole experience). Let me back up a tiny bit by saying it had been raining for about 3 days prior and the forecast kept saying it would clear up Sunday and be pretty for our trip, which was to end on Tuesday afternoon. We had the reservation and the stuff and felt like things may be wet and drippy, but the kids were excited and we would press on. Jaylie began running fever Saturday night, but was good to go on Sunday. We got there and got the tent set up with no incidents. We were feeling pretty confident. Eric and Isaac began to make a fire to fix burgers on while I prepared the bedding and everything like that. As soon as he put the burgers on, it started to rain, just a little, and then harder and harder. We begin quickly getting the rest of the stuff in so it wouldn't get soaked. Eric determined to fix the supper in the rain, which wound up not working. The kids and I huddled in the tent, listening to the downpour and they were hungry. It was about 7:45 and it had been raining almost an hour. I decided to just make sandwiches and then discovered that I hadn't put the lunch meat in! Well, we had peanut butter, but I forgot the jelly! Eric tramped around outside getting things settled and then came in, soaked to the bone, toweled off and changed into dry clothes. Then we sat down to a meal of chips, Cheetos, crackers and cheese, carrots, apples and chocolate chip cookies. I took Jaylie and Ethan to the potty (luckily we were right by the bath house and I had an umbrella) and on the way back, my chest began to tighten up. I have never had an asthma attack before, since I don't have asthma, but I began to have a real hard time breathing. So we got everyone changed and in the bed and then discovered that there were raindrops coming in in several places. After some readjustments of the beds we settle in. The boys dropped right off, wet places not withstanding, Jaylie got in bed with us since her bed had too many wet places and we tried with all our might to rest. But I continued to cough and wheeze. Finally after trying, and failing to get it under control, Eric decided that we would go home, hauled the kids to the car (still pouring down rain, mind you) and home we went, trusting all our things to God that they would not be ruined in the morning. It was about 10:00
I called my mom on the way home because she had been using our nebulizer (she has bad asthma and the yellow dust {see previous post} hasn't been doing her any favors) as I thought I'd need it. We swung by their house and picked it up, ran the kids to bed and I settled down with my first ever breathing treatment. We got a dry night's sleep and woke up Monday, ready to re-evaluate. I'll pick up there tomorrow. After reading this much, it probably sounds like a National Lampoon's vacation or something. That first attempt was crazy.

I hope your weekend was much better than this:)
D

Yellow Dust and Air Conditioning

2009-03-11T06:36:00.000-07:00

Those of you in South Texas or other real dry areas might not understand this post but if you've ever lived in the Southeast, you know about the horrors of pine tree pollen. Every spring, pine trees put out this yellow pollen. You can see the clusters gathering on the ends of all the branches, and then, it lets go and covers EVERYTHING in yellow powder. The only relief is found in rain that comes. The first 2 springs we were here I was unaffected. Last spring, it got me pretty bad with sneezing fits and watery eyes. Well, the pollen started blowing last Sunday afternoon. I had one Zyrtec and took it right away. The temps have been so mild that I've had the windows as much as possible. Monday, Eric was off and was playing in the back yard with the kids. I went to the store for more Zyrtec and went outside to join them. Eric asked,"Is something on fire?" while looking over the fence. No, it was the clouds of yellow stuff. He said,"you may want to close all the windows..." Sure enough, the window sills, table, counters in the kitchen...every horizontal surface were covered with a fine layer of the stuff. So, now we're shut up tight with the A/C running in March (we've had highs in the 80s this week) but no pollen in the house...at least none I can see, I'm sure it's coming in somehow. I am on Zyrtec and Flonase and the sneezing has subsided, but my eyes itch like crazy. Hopefully the rain that's predicted will take care of a lot of the problem, otherwise it will be a few weeks of this. YUK

On the up side, Spring around here is beautiful. My irises and hyacinths are blooming. The pear trees all have new leaves and white blossoms on them. My rose bushes are getting ready to bud...

Adios Facebook

2009-03-06T18:41:00.000-08:00

I know, 2 posts in 2 days!!!
I just thought I'd declare my independence to the world: I have deactivated my facebook account. Look out. I'll be accomplishing a lot now...I just know it...either that or I'll be reading more blogs or browsing Eric's page. I'll let you know how it goes.

D

Wedding dress

2009-03-05T20:15:00.000-08:00

It is nice to know that even though my kids aren't infants anymore and changing everyday, they still do new things. In the past month or so Jaylie has become a panties-wearing girl instead of a pull-up wearing one, Isaac actually pulled a top tooth by himself instead of having to go to the dentist, and just today, Ethan learned how to swing by himself, he was very proud.

Jaylie was helping me put away the dishes out of the dishwasher this evening and noticed, in the knife slot, the pearly handled ones that we used to cut our wedding cake. She of course thought they were pretty and wanted to get them out to play with. I told her,'No, they're sharp. Those are the knives we used to cut our wedding cake.' I had shown her a picture of it just the other day. She asked me if I wore a pretty white dress at my wedding and I said yes and offered to get it out to show her. I realized this week that she's never looked at our wedding album. It is, after all, an actual album that you have to get out instead of click through on the computer like 95% of the other pictures she's ever seen. So she, of course, wanted to see it. Eric was walking in the house from work right about the time I was pulling it out of the closet. I don't know when the last time I saw it was but it is so beautiful. Jaylie was in a daze over it. To her, it must seem like the ultimate dress-up dress. I can't imagine that she'd ever want to wear it, I know it's already out of style (even though I don't know why---it's so pretty!) but it was neat to see her take in the whole thing. She wanted me to put it on...and I did, even though I knew it wouldn't zip in the back, but I felt pretty nonetheless. Which leads me to my question: Who out there can still fit into their wedding dress? And if you can, I want to know how long you've been married and how many kids you've had!

Blessings
D

Coming around again

2009-03-03T09:35:00.000-08:00

About the pictures: The top one was the other day when Jaylie and Ethan went to mom and dad's for the morning. At lunch time, I'm told, Jaylie complained of being cold and so Daddy covered her up with his shirt and unbuttoned a place so she could continue to eat! You can tell they practice tough love over there, huh.
The next picture is of Ethan and Gretchen sharing the beanbag. I just thought it was cute.
The last one is of Isaac at his first basketball game. Yes, he really is that much taller than all the other kids.

In other news, I feel like I am coming around again. I have had some significant pain in one of the places where I used to have a wisdom tooth. Don't know if it is the dreaded 'Dry Socket' as I wasn't prostrated by the pain but it was uncomfortable. I went back to see Steve (friend at church who is also the oral surgeon who did the extraction last week) and he said they were healing nicely but did put some goop in the painful place. Now, he jokingly (I think) called it chewing tobacco, and that is what it looks like, but it has oil of clove in it. So now I have a foul clove-y taste in my mouth, but no pain. I'd say that is a huge improvement.

Eric got me a 'read the bible in a year' kind of bible at the New Year. It is chronological so that also helps. I'd like to be able to say that I have been reading it every day but I do stay caught up by reading 2 or 3 days at a time if need be. I've even read ahead a time or two. Right now I am in Numbers. UGH! is all I can say. I haven't read Leviticus and Numbers in quite some time and now am left very dumbfounded by what I've read. It seems just a little shy of ridiculous, if that's not too strong a term. All of the rules and regulations about various--seemingly trivial--sorts of things. When left feeling this way about scripture I rely on a few things to keep me centered. 1: Look for the over-arching theme. In this case, God, for the first time is coming to live AMONG his people and so therefore they must be holy, and doing all of these things was to help them be holy. He says several times that He makes them holy and they must be set apart. I really can accept that. He is holy, I must try to be. But now His Spirit lives IN me, not just among, and He does continue to make my holy by the grace of Jesus' blood. 2: Try to apply it to my life practically. I see all these laws and regulations and ceremonies as so terribly tedious. But I am a mom and have small children. The parallel I see is that these children of Israel were young children and as any parent of young children can tell you, parenting them is tedious. It involves the dictation of every small task so that, eventually, hopefully, these tasks become habit...this is called maturity. God is the ultimate parent and he definitely had his work cut out for him (as if our generation would have been so much more obedient) They stayed there at the mountain of Sinai for about a year, receiving these words from the Lord and then putting them into practice. Finally, He decided they were ready to go and be among outsiders and attempt to take the promised land. However, at the very first test, they fail miserably to have faith in the Almighty and believe that he can deliver the residents of the land into their hands. Punishment? 40 more years of wandering. Wow. 3: Always, reading the old testament leaves me so grateful for the new. So grateful that I know God this side of the cross. Job wished for an advocate, for someone to go between him and the Lord, and I have that in Jesus. I know that He is the same as he was then and will be forever, but Jesus softens Him for me, somehow. I know why, because in Jesus, God became human and I understand humanness. It's the divine I can't grasp.

Enough preaching. I will say, however, that because I am reading the bible much more regularly, I will most likely be posting scriptures that move me or interesting tidbits of info. Please comment on those. I'd love to hear what you think.

Have a great week.

D

It's about time

2009-02-27T22:07:00.000-08:00

February has been a doozy of a month for us. In January Eric had 2 colds, I think. On Jan. 31 Ethan had a terrible earache which prompted a Sat. visit to our Dr. I am so glad they are open on Sat. We left there with the first shot in the hiney that our kids have had...poor little guy, and then we were off to the store to have his prescriptions filled. I started coughing that Friday and on Tuesday I had lost a bunch of sleep from the coughing and was running fever so Eric called and got me in that day. I left there with my first ever hiney shot, a diagnosis of walking pneumonia, paid the bill (which guess what, I had a balance so it was way more than usual) and was off to have my prescriptions filled. BIG $$$ there. By this time we have spent 3 times our budgeted amount for random sicknesses. I finished up my 10-day round of antibiotics about 3 days before my wisdom teeth were removed this past Monday. I was in the bed til Wed. and just today consider myself to be pretty much pain free...as long as I'm taking motrin. I don't like the feeling of having these holes in my mouth and am neurotic about food getting stuck in there---gross. And so of course yesterday Isaac had fever and so he stayed home from school and was off to the Dr where he has a touch of my pneumonia (he didn't get to sleep tonight till almost 11 due to the cough). Luckily he didn't have to get a hiney shot but is on antibiotics More $$$, we're over our med budget 4 times now. Whew! No one is allowed to get sick next month, we do need dentist appts though. Alas, it never ends. So woe is me!!! Kidding, I'm not trying to dwell on all that, I have just noticed the toll it is taking though. I'm ready for health.

Isaac's last b-ball game was tonight and he did great. I'd say on the whole, his team wasn't terribly aggressive but they were very dedicated. Isaac really came into his own learning to rebound. He and one other boy on his team were about the same size and they stood head and shoulders above just about every other kid on the court. It was great to watch him be successful in Upward. It has been a great experience. We're on to baseball that starts in mid-march which he loved last year.

Some of you on facebook know that I put a status update out there a couple of weeks ago that I would be deactivating my page at the end of the month. I still plan to do that, it just may not get done tomorrow because there's a lot planned for the day. I still feel pretty committed to doing it. I am planning on emailing all those fb friends referring them here and giving them my regular email address. I'm real good at email and find that it doesn't take my time like fb has.
I plan on posting some recent pictures in the upcoming week. I'm sure those of you who have checked my blog in the past 3 weeks have wondered where I've been and you may have forgotten what my kids look like. Well, we can't have that so I'll post pictures soon.
Have a wonderful weekend, Everyone.
God Bless
D

Gifts

2009-02-07T18:50:00.001-08:00

Sometimes I see my children as extensions of myself. That can be very gratifying and also very frustrating. When they do something good or say a kind word (with actions and words I have taught them) I swell with pride and feel like they have passed my love and kindness on to another. When they do something mean or rude (with actions and words they have probably heard from me) I cringe inside, feeling as if I have been the one to lash out.

But then there are times when they do something so independent of me; they act or speak in a way that is their own, in a way that I wouldn't have done, and it it makes me marvel at the real person they are. They ARE. Separate from me but forever a part of me. It makes me stand in awe of their Creator, knowing that He is my own. It makes me wonder what He knows about my children, that I can never know. It makes me feel, just a tiny glimpse, of what He feels when His children pass on His love. I wonder if we ever surprise Him by doing something so independent or unexpected that He sits back and marvels at us all over again.

I remember when Isaac was a baby, a tiny baby, holding his tiny hand while he slept in his crib. I remember thinking that I love him SO much. Then the thought came that God loves him SO MUCH MORE than I do. Right on the heels of that Deep Thought came this one: He loves ME more that I love Isaac. That one sorta surprised me. I am terribly thankful that I have known that I am loved, every single day of my life. It is my desire to pass that gift, at least, on to my 3.

Time to Vent: Rants and Pet Peeves

2009-02-04T10:56:00.000-08:00

I've had this blog in mind for a while so I decided that today is the day I'll post it.
I'm going to tell a couple of my pet peeves and then you can leave a comment agreeing with those (or agreeing with a previous commenter) or you can list a couple of the things that irritate you the most. One rule: please don't use the word 'hate' I don't want it to become a hate-filled post but rather a post that lets us air our grievances to whomever might read.

Most of mine have to do with driving:
1: I don't like it when people drive under the speed limit. If it's 45, let's drive 45...at least
2: When I see the light turn green up ahead of me, it irritates me when I still have to stop at the light because the car that was first in line wasn't paying attention.
3: At walmart, it bothers me when the person in from of me carries out their entire transaction on the left side of the cash register instead of going on down to the card scanner thingy where there is a little shelf for wallets, etc. If they would move down I could get my stuff unloaded faster!!!

We'll see what other things 'stick in our craw' . I'll keep this post up for a few days and then post a new one so that we (I) aren't tempted to dwell on these small aggravations but I thought venting them wouldn't hurt.

Take care and have a great week

D

We all need saving

2009-01-28T11:18:00.000-08:00

My sweet brother, Jason, has sent me a bunch of CDs in the mail recently. He figured that I may be forced to listen to Veggie Tales and other kids music for most of my time and might just appreciate hearing some grown up music. One of the CDs he sent is by Jon McLaughlin and has this great song on it called We All Need Saving. I listed to the whole CD when I got it but then didn't get to listen to it much after tha. But I got a little iPod shuffle right after Christmas (thanks Dad) and so I downloaded a bunch of stuff from our iTunes librbary onto it. Now this is my favorite song right now. It has great lyrics. I found it on youtube so I can post it for your listening pleasure. There isn't a video, it's just a picture of Jon McLaughlin.

~~~~~~~
In other news, we are really enjoying Isaac's basketball games on Friday nights. He has had 3 and has improved so much already. He's the tallest one on his team and Eric has been working with him on his rebounding. Last Friday he probably got 8-9 rebounds and even scored 6 points! It's all very exciting.

We are finally back into our work/school groove. It's about time, now that January is about over! It feels good.

Ethan is in the process of giving up his nap. He never complained about laying down in the afternoon and would take a good 2 hour nap on most days. But he started not going to sleep at night until after he had been in his bed for 45 minutes or so which is not good. So we're in that adjustment period when he starts acting crabby because he hasn't slept but it's not quite time for bed yet...hopefully it will be over soon:) He will still have a quiet time in his room for at least an hour while Jaylie sleeps because I need that for my sanity!

I think I'll post one more thing for those of you not on facebook. I was tagged and had to fill out a 25 random facts about me thing. Here it is, in case you wanted to know:)

1. I've never had braces and still have my wisdom teeth but they'll be coming out soon
2. Eric and I were high school sweethearts and married right after he graduated high school in 95 at the ages of 19 (me) and 18(him). 14 years this August!
3. My parents moved from TX to MS to be near us and the kids and live in our neighborhood and I LOVE that.
4. I hate touching raw meat.
5. I dislike running. I think I plod like a Clydesdale.
6. My bellybutton is off-center...will a tummy tuck fix that?
7. I lived in Germany for 3 years as a kid and traveled all over Europe.
8. I have a picture of me standing at the Berlin Wall. apparently I'm THAT old already.
9. I went to 3 elementary schools, 2 middle schools, and 2 high schools due to Air Force moving.
10. As a married couple, Eric and I have had 13 addresses. We have had this one in MS the longest; it will be 3 years next month!
11. I have 3 children each with different hair colors/textures. Isaac has thick red hair. Ethan has super straight, fine brown hair. And Jaylie has real curly blonde hair.
12. I get cold when it's about 72 degrees.
13. I live in MS and can't stand grits.
14. I have lived a lot of my life in TX and can't stand guacamole.
15. My older brother lives in south Florida on the beach and works for the opera. He's my supplier of fantastic music.
16. Even though I got a little iPod shuffle for a New Year's present (thanks Dad) I can't listen to it for more than a few minutes at a time due to the interruptions from children and such.
17. There are 4 computers in our house.
18. My mother and I have the same middle name.
19. My oldest friend and I have been friends since we were 11. She moved across the street from me right before 6th grade and we've been close ever since, despite the Air Force. Love you Shanda!
20. One of my good friends is a very successful Broadway star. You go Merle
21. I failed my drivers' test the first time I took it but have never had a wreck or a ticket to this day:)
22. I love being a stay at home mom and hope Eric never insists on me earning a real paycheck.
23. I am hooked on recycling. I rinse off our paper plates to put in the bin.
24. I want to be an early riser, but can't seem to actually rise early.
25. I've had 3 C-sections...seriously, can a tummy tuck fix that?

I hope everyone has a great week.

Blessings
D

Swearing off Facebook...at least for a little while

2009-01-13T18:38:00.000-08:00

Update: I am spending much too much time on facebook so for a while, I'm not going to be lurking around over there. I have posted my blog address over there so I suppose if anyone is really wondering what's going on, they can check my blog. I don't know if anyone else suffers from too much fb but it can be a time sucker.

Thankfully the rain has quit but the cold has definitely come in. I'm fine with it. As long as it isn't raining, I'm good.

2 of my 3 kids are sick with colds which is not fun at all. Especially since Eric's in Nashville. Luckily, they haven't run fever yet so they just cough and sneeze and talk funny but still have enough energy to play and cause mischief.

My Grandmother left last Friday and is taking a very scenic route home to Beeville, TX. From here she went to Quana, TX which is almost to OK. She was visiting some adopted family there. From Quana she was going to Amarillo to see my cousin, Chandra. From there it was Lubbock to see my cousin Brad and his new wife Taryn. Then to Abiline to see my cousin Dan and his fiance' Krista. Then to Georgetown to see my cousin Melanie and her hubby and sweet sons. Then on to Austin to see my uncle and aunt. Then to San Antonio to see my other uncle and aunt and finally to Beeville! She is one independent lady and I am so grateful for that! She should be home sometime before next Christmas, hopefully.

I hope everyone is enjoying the return of American Idol. I don't watch it so I wouldn't know. Just about everyone I do know is pretty excited about it though. I'm just waiting for a new Office episode.

As you can tell, I'm pretty much rambling. Sorry about that. I hope you each have a great week. I'll be more interesting later.

D

Happy 2009

2009-01-10T13:24:00.000-08:00

So I didn't make it up to the computer yesterday with enough time to post; sorry about that. Yesterday was actually a fun-filled (if busy) day for me. 2 sweet friends of mine took me (and Jaylie) out for brunch in the morning. It was so nice. Jaylie loves to do things with 'Ladies'. She definitely notices when there are no boys around. After that we went to the church building to set up my table for tomorrow's ministry fair. We grabbed Ethan after school was out for him and then headed home for a late lunch and nap. I went to get Ike at 2 and then we had a relatively calm afternoon. We were gearing up for the main event...Isaac's first basketball game!! It was at 7:45, which is late around here, but we had a great time cheering him on. This is his first ever basketball game and it moves a lot faster than baseball. It is kind of confusing the first time but I thought he definitely held his own out there. They don't keep score at this age, which is a good thing. But we had a great time and laughed a lot. By the time it was over and we were home, it was pushing 9:30. He showered and fell immediately to sleep. I think it's going to be a great season.

Backing up a bit, this past Monday, my Grandmother, Mother, Jaylie and I went to Natchez. Natchez is a neat place to go, as we discovered, and it is just about 2 hours from here, right on the Mississippi river. We got there around 10 and bought tickets to tour 3 antebellum houses. It was really neat. I just can not imagine living in a house that had a hallway 72 feet long and 23 feet wide! I mean seriously! The only damper on the day was the weather. It rained a lot of the time which means that it was difficult to explore some of the outbuildings on the properties. I do intend to go back again, hopefully on a sunny day.

Speaking of weather. It has rained entirely too much for my taste around here. In December, we had about 9 inches of rain. So far this month I think we're about to 5 already. We have a great back yard but it does have a low spot in it. I have no idea how long it will take to dry out completely. A long while, that's for sure. We had 3 days of sun this week during which I shooed the kids out to play. The mud didn't bother me too much, I was just glad they were out from the allure of screens! I am looking forward to Spring, though. With this much rain, I bet it will be beautiful!

One more quick anecdote. The other day Jaylie woke up from her nap and decided to cuddle on the couch with me. It was on one of the sunny days so we were just lying there looking out the window at the rays coming in. Most of you know that when it is sunny and rays are coming in, the sunlight illuminates the gazillions of dust particles that are floating about. I can remember watching these float when I was little. Anyway, the other thing that is illuminated when sun streams in through windows, is smears and fingerprints. While I was mentally noting that I needed to clean off the panes in the back door--just one more thing on an endless list of housekeeping things that always need doing--Jaylie says,"Look at the sparkles. Aren't they so, so pretty?" To which I replied,"Yes, Darlin'. They really are." It made me think that I wish I could only see dust as sparkly. That I only appreciated the sun for the beauty it brings, instead of overlooking that beauty to see one more chore that will need to be done--by me. I wish that I could see the sparkles instead of the smears. No wonder Jesus loved to use children as examples of how we need to be to be used in His Kingdom.

Here's to a sparkly New Year.

Blessings
D

Stay Tuned

2009-01-08T07:28:00.000-08:00

I have been trying all week to get a new post up. I will later today or for sure by tomorrow. Don't take my link off your bookmarks yet!!! I guess I've been busy catching up with my life or something...I'll get back to you in a bit. Have a super Thursday everyone.

D

Year End Update

2008-12-30T21:24:00.000-08:00

At long last, Eric and I have completed the year in review movie and letter. Also, be sure to check out this link to see our 2008 Year In Review Family Video. I hope you each had a wonderful Christmas and are looking forward to a year full of blessing and promise.

Dear Loved Ones,

I know, I know. I’m late. This is the first year EVER that I have failed to get the update letter completed by Christmas. I’m sure your holiday seemed hollow and empty without it:) I suppose I should call this a New Year’s update instead.

As you can imagine, it’s been a busy year. I’ll try to fill you in on all our goings-on as best I can.

Probably the most significant thing that has added a new dimension of busyness to our lives is that Eric has gone back to school. He is working on his masters degree in Theology at Lipscomb University in Nashville. This requires him to study and write a lot and also to make trips to Nashville for the classes. (This is either 1-3 weekends a semester or 1 full week a semester, depending on the class.) Since he already works a lot at church, this is an added load. So far, so good. I’m very proud of his A’s and if he would tolerate gold stars, I’d stick them on his papers:) Besides school, Eric continues to love his job of service at our church. We are honored to be blessed with such a loving church family to serve.

Isaac is now in 2nd grade and turned 8 last week. He had his first ever spend-the-night party. He invited 3 friends and we took them bowling. We all had a great time. I was glad he had so much fun, but wow – those boys were noisy! Isaac has had many firsts this year. He played his first season of baseball this spring and loved it. He did great. Isaac lost his first tooth in March. (this was followed by 2 more in the same week—very exciting) He learned how to mow the grass, much to my delight! Isaac has also started his first season in basketball this fall. He thrives at school and really enjoys his PATHWAYS class the most. He hates to miss those days. He now knows about 35 or so Greek roots that he has started using in regular sentences. It’s a little unnerving that he will be smarter than I am in a very short time. He is already almost as tall as I am. He passed my shoulders earlier this year.

Ethan is 4½ and started preschool this fall. He goes 3 days a week with Eric to our church’s preschool. It is just in the mornings for about 3 hours and he has a blast. He has never been a bit sad or unsure about going to school like Isaac sometimes was. Ethan loves his teacher and his friends. He is very matter-of-fact about the things he’s doing in his class. He gets all serious when he talks about the activities he has done. Ethan is such a fun little boy to be around. He is almost always happy and if he isn’t it’s usually because he’s ‘worn out’, which is what he says all the time. He continues to bother Jaylie on a regular basis but a lot of times, it’s just payback for something she has done earlier. Ethan loves to spend time with my folks and it is great to have them so near. Ethan learned to swim without floats this year. It is so fun to watch him in the water.

Jaylie is now a 3 year old. That’s right! There are no longer any 2 year olds living here!!!!! This is quite a happy thing for me, however, Jaylie seems to be a rather sassy 3 year old:) She is terribly sweet and really cute. Her hair is still wildly curly. As a matter of fact, she got 3 Shirley Temple movies for Christmas! Whenever she sees other people with curls she says, ”Look, he/she has curlies like me!”. Jaylie is very clever and swipes things very frequently. Not to be mischievous, but just because she sees a little something that interests her and she pockets it. This is sort of cute until it is car keys or shoes or the top to a brand new lipstick…you get the idea. Jaylie learned how to swim without floats as well this summer and now swims like a fish. She loves the pool. Jaylie still enjoys dressing up in her princess clothes. Her favorite color is pink or purple. She loves babies. She also loves to shop…go figure:)

I have had my hands full as usual. I am now on the PTO board at school which takes up a bit more time and requires me to deal with several more people, but I enjoy it. I am also helping with the Hospital House ministry at Meadowbrook. Every year since we have been here, I, and another friend of mine, have taught the same group of kids in Sunday school. We just keep moving up with them. This year they are in 4th grade and it is so exciting to see them grow and mature in their faith in God. They are a wonderful blessing to me.

This past March, my mother and I took the kids to TX for the week of Spring Break. We spent 2 nights with my Pawpaw and then 5 days with my grandparents in Beeville. Many of you know that my Granddaddy past away the day before Thanksgiving so that week we spent with them is really a precious memory to me. There are some pictures in the slide show that are at their place in Beeville. I love that place. I miss him a lot. My Grandmother is here in MS right now, staying with my mom and dad for a few weeks. It is good to get to see her all the time. She is doing well but still needs prayer cover.

We went to Gulf Shores to the beach for a week in July with Eric’s sister and her family. We had a great time playing in the water and sand there.

Eric and I had a STAYCATION this past September when my parents took the kids to Galveston for a week. They had to come home a day early because of hurricane Ike (a name Isaac did not appreciate) but they had a blast.

In September we rescued a Bassett Hound from the Humane Society. Her name is Gretchen and we (that means me and the kids---Eric is tolerant) love her. She’s about a year old and very good natured. She’s small for a basset, which is good. The kids have a lot of fun with her.

In October we went to Nashville for a week, tagging along with Eric since he had school. We hung out at Dawn’s house and enjoyed a relaxing time…poor Eric was busy the whole time. We had a great time trick-or-treating with cousins.

This Christmas has been very special as Eric’s parents came to be with us for several days. So we had them over here and my Grandmother at my parents’ house along with my brother, Jason, who was here for a week from Florida. It has been a rich time of blessing being with so many of my wonderful family.

I think this is pretty much the gist of our 2008. I hope it has been a year of peace and blessing to you. I am looking forward to the upcoming year and praying that the world settles down a bit. If you’re like me, you may have felt an uneasiness with the global economy falling apart and all. I hope that as the calendar turns, things even out. But if 2009 is a year of turmoil, my prayer is that God’s people handle themselves well. I hope that you allow yourself to be attentive to the voice of the One who made you. You are precious to Him and a gift to me.

Much love to you all
Eric, Dixie, Isaac, Ethan and Jaylie

Eric’s blog: www.ericnlivingston.com
Dixie’s blog: www.lookaway-dixieland.blogspot.com
Email: ericdixie@yahoo.com

Happy Birthday, Isaac

2008-12-20T21:41:00.001-08:00

Isaac turned 8 today. It is so hard to believe that I am the mother of an 8 year old.
When Isaac was a toddler, I remember looking at him and, every once in a while, I thought I could see a glimpse of what he would look like as a grown man. But I never saw glimpses of the school-age time. I couldn't imagine what it would be like keeping up with homework and science projects and helping him navigate his ever-widening world of relationships. Now, here we are, right in the thick of it.

To celebrate his birthday, Isaac invited 3 friends over to spend the night (our first sleep over party). So he and I picked everyone up by 4 and headed to the bowling alley where my folks were waiting with Jaylie and Ethan. Eric got off early and met us there. We had a blast. Isaac had the high score with a whopping 102 and I lost. My score was pretty bad. I got a lot of gutter balls. None of the kids made gutters, however, because they put the gutter guard things up when kids under 12 have their turn. I guess they figure adults ought to be able to keep in between the gutters more often than not...they figured wrong in my case.

After the bowling we headed back to the house to grill burgers while the kids played. Everything was moving along real well until I went into the dining room and saw Gretchen (you know, the dog that I wanted for a long time and pleaded for and have tried to be so good with...that dog) sitting in a chair with her paws on the table, eating Isaac's birthday cake. It was half gone. Her belly was gigantic. I tossed (literally) her outside and threw the rest away then hustled off to the store to see what I could do. Well, it was 6:28 and the bakery counter had closed at 6 so I had no choice but to get one of the ready made things. I wound up purchasing a cookie cake (which Isaac loves) but it was decorated with red and green icing and said, "Merry Christmas" on it. I also bought another cake mix and frosting to redo his birthday cake that I had made. I got home and told him what happened. Isaac handled it fine, after all, what he mostly cares about is that he gets to blow out candles and eat something sweet. Eric smeared the red Merry Christmas words around to make a red background and then I wrote Happy Birthday with green icing on it. All was not lost. Gretchen laid around the rest of the night looking miserable. Serves her right, if you ask me.

The boys were all asleep by midnight and were up by 6:30 or so. Isaac had a great time and I think all of his friends did too. He has been blessed to have so many boys to be friends with and it is one of things I am really grateful for as well.

Eric and I couldn't be more proud of Isaac. We are thankful that God chose us to be his parents. We know the Lord has great plans for him.

Happy Birthday, Son.

God bless us, everyone

2008-12-18T06:28:00.001-08:00

Children's Christmas programs are almost as classic as the quote in my title. Ethan's preschool at our church had their program on Monday. It's a small group, but they sure had a lot of volume.

You may hear me laughing. In my defense, I was really unprepared for how funny it was. The song I'm posting (Frosty the snowman) was the first number they did and the kids were excited. It seemed like they were all singing different lyrics until the last word in each phrase. Anyway, it was hilarious and I was glad he enjoyed himself.

Here's Ethan's contribution to the Christmas spirit.

Merry Christmas everyone. Enjoy the last week!

D

Beeville

2008-12-09T20:36:00.000-08:00

There are always flowers to pick in the spring

One of the hibiscus plants Granddaddy and I planted
Bluebonnet in their yard (This is TX's state flower for those of you who don't know)
Ethan in the front drive
The kids helping Granddaddy fill in some holes
More helping
Isaac playing in the wonderful Live Oak trees
All of the above pictures are from our week in Beeville this past March.

I mentioned last week that I wasn't sure I would post about my trip to Beeville for my Granddaddy's funeral. Well, I'm going to take a stab at it. This isn't so much about the funeral as it is the place where they live. Beeville is nothing to get excited about--really. It is a small, rather rural community that is about an hour west of Corpus Christi.

Last year my mom passed me the movie 'The Lake House' they had from Netflix. I watched it not really thinking I'd like it. Well, I watched it the next day too. Then I sent it back and that night, in the pouring rain, I drove to Best Buy and bought my own copy. I think that what I love about that movie (and what I love about my favorite series of books {ask me about those some other time}) is that it is a story of love that is not bound by time. I also don't mind that Keanu Reeves is in it:) Anyway, there's a part when the boss of Sandra Bullock's character tells her to get away from the hospital (she's a new doctor) on her day off and go to the place where she feel the most like herself. For some reason, I think Beeville is that place for me.

I mentioned early on in my blogging career that depending on my mood, my response to the question,"So, where are you from?" is either "Everywhere" or "Nowhere". Because my dad was in the military I moved every 3 (or so) years of my life. Continuing on into married life, this address here in Mississippi is the one we have had the longest. We'll have been here 3 years at the end of Feb. But throughout all of my moves, one place has remained the same: my grandparents house in Beeville. Down to the smell, it is the same. It is the place that when I have gone back to visit, things are in the same places. I know where the silverware is without having to look through lots of drawers. The toys that are in the closet out in the 'big room' today are the ones that belonged to my Uncle Miller and that I played with when I was little. It was very surreal when I took my 3 kids to Grandmother and Granddaddy's house before we moved here. It was my first time there as a mother. To have my children playing and discovering the same things that had had meaning to me at their age was just downright bazaar to me.

Before my dad got stationed in Germany (I was 6) we would each get to spend a week at Grandmother's house in the summer. After we got back to the states (when I was 9 and Jason was 11) we would still make the trek from North Dakota and then from Nebraska down to South TX to visit family. Grandmother's house remained unchanged. When I got into middle school, and old enough to fly alone, we got our week alone back. This is when I started going to Camp Bandina with the youth group from Grandmother and Granddaddy's church. I counted the days until it was time to go. I loved and treasured that time.

So I come back to that line from the Lake House. I think that Beeville as a whole and Grandmother's house in particular is so important to me because it is the one place that I can go to that connects my past to my present. When I was there at Thanksgiving, the feelings that washed over me were so immense. I was in the house that was (literally) full of people that I loved. Granddaddy's absence wasn't so tangible to me in the crowd as it was outside in the yard. He loved to be outside, puttering in the carport with all his stuff. He loved to be taking care of the yard and making things grow. I saw the 2 hibiscus plants that he and I planted during this past spring and I was just so sad because...because my Grandmother will move pretty soon to be closer to family and then my one place that has remained the same will be gone. Is that terribly selfish? She needs to be near to Mother or one of my Uncles and she needs to be closer to good medical facilities. I am anxious for her to get this new start. I can't imagine what it will mean to her to leave a place she has lived for 35 years. I know what it will mean to me though.

For some of you, you have deep roots. There are roots that are grounded in people; family and such. I am so blessed to have those kinds of roots. I have a wonderful family that I am grounded in. But some of you also have deep roots that are grounded to a place. I kind of feel like I have one of those, and it's in Beeville, and it will soon be dug up.

So, I hope this hasn't been too depressing to all of you. It is cathartic to be able to write my thoughts down and if you have a word or 2 of wisdom or encouragement, I'd be happy to hear them.

Thanks everyone.
God bless.
D

More funnies

2008-12-04T19:59:00.000-08:00

I realize that you're probably wondering why I'm so chatty all of a sudden. I have no idea but there keep being things I think are cute or funny that I want to remember so I figure I'll record them here. These may be random, sorry about that.

Isaac had his first basketball practice tonight. He's the tallest on his team. He is playing in UPWARD so he was so excited to come home and tell me that he got to talk about Jesus tonight at basketball.

I overheard him telling a friend that it is bad to write 'X-mas' because it takes 'Christ' out of Christmas. I asked him if his teacher told him that and he said yes. I love that a pastor's wife is my son's teacher at school and I love that it is ok for kids to talk about Jesus in school here (public school no less) Last year, they regularly prayed before their snack. It was all student led and initiated, but she did participate and love that.

When Jaylie wants to take a nap in just her undies she says she wants to 'sleep in her tummy'.
She also calls our dog Gretchen, Skretchen, for some reason.

I love that Ethan enjoys school so much and would like to go everyday but is consistently 'worn out' when he comes home. He always is grumpy and says "I'm just worn out. I need to go to bed."

I also love that Ethan has started to say, "You're pulling my leg!"

I love that Advent has begun and that my kids know what that means. They look forward to the lighting of the candles and the special time together. When we got the nativity set out today, Jaylie carried around baby Jesus and said sweet things to him in her high little voice. She thinks Mary is pretty.

I may have more tomorrow and I may not. Everyone have a wonderful weekend.
D

Funny Things

2008-12-04T11:51:00.000-08:00

This was the conversation Isaac and I had on the way to school this morning:

I: Let's play 'Are you Smarter than a 2nd grader' How many degrees does the earth spin in one hour?
M: I don't know.
I: 15. You lose.
M: I didn't know that. I know how many days it takes for the Earth to go around the sun.
I: That's easy. 365
M: I know how many hours it takes for the Earth to spin on its axis one time
I: 24
M: Wow. I've already learned something today. Good job

I told Eric about this when I got home. He said you just divide 360 by 24. (Like, DUH why didn't you just do that?!?!?) Like I would have thought of it. I keep wondering when Isaac will realize he's smarter than I am. That age keeps getting smaller and smaller. I just hope I am able to teach him about humility before it actually happens...that and honoring your parents:)

I'm off to pick him up from school. Thank you God for my sweet son!
D

Being Thankful

2008-12-02T11:37:00.000-08:00

For those of you that don't know, my Granddaddy passed away this past Wednesday morning, the day before Thanksgiving. We left Thursday morning to make the long trek to South Texas for the funeral that was on Friday. Thank you so much to those of you who were vigilant in prayer on behalf of my family. He is going to be sorely missed but we also know that he is perfect and whole now in the presence of God. I wish I could see with different eyes to know how it is for him now.

I'd sort of like to tell you all about our trip and I may later on. Each time I've tried to finish this post, I just get bogged down in the details of everything and the emotions that were wrapped up in everything we did. Since I'm a talker, I will (and have been) talking to some of you about it but I may not spill it all out on this blog simply because I have no way of organizing my thoughts right now. Please just know that I am so very thankful for the family I have, both immediate and extended. It was such a blessings to be with my cousins and their families and my Aunt and Uncle and my sweet special Grandmother. God has put me in the center of so much love and I am so SO humbled by that.

Christmas is just right around the corner and I'm feeling the rush come on. As soon as our tree is up, I'll feel more ready for it I think:) Hopefully this weekend.

Much love to you all.
Have a blessed day
D

Prayers please

2008-11-24T20:09:00.000-08:00

I'd just like to send a mass request for prayer out there. My Granddaddy is doing very poorly. Please remember the Morrow families in your prayers over these next few weeks. These things are always much harder around the holiday season. It's hard to get real excited about some things when you have a sadness hanging over you.

Thanks for listening.
D

Finally

2008-11-20T10:53:00.000-08:00

I can see that it is definitely time for an updated post. Sorry about the long absence. I'm sure the dozens of readers I have have been disappointed all this time seeing the same old post up there.

The truth is, I have had little to inform you of. I am beginning to feel that drowning feeling one starts to notice when the calendar gets fuller and fuller and you realize there are more and more gifts to get and the Christmas fund is getting smaller and smaller...On the other hand, I did fill up the van for $28 today. $1.66/gal!!! How 'bout that?

Next week the boys are out of school all week for Thanksgiving and I am so ready for that. I'm not a mom who gets a little tired of having kids home during holidays, mainly because Isaac almost never complains of being bored. Because he's kind of a home body anyway, being in doing game-y sorts of things doesn't get old. And they (all 3 of them) have gotten pretty good about getting up and doing their own thing and letting me sleep in the morning. Of course, this will be the first time we've had Gretchen during one of these holidays and she, unfortunately, seems to be a morning dog. We'll see how we fare. For those of you who have wondered, Eric is tolerating Gretchen very gracefully, and for that I am thankful. She has sort of broken out of her super-calm shell that she had when she first came home with us and that has taken us by surprise. She is very playful and uses her bark more often than we would like. She still does not bark at Eric when he comes home which is wonderful. She is trainable and we are working on things like jumping and stuff like that. I know that having a nice-mannered dog is essential so I am being persistent in the training. The kids enjoy her a lot and she is learning how to play with them in an acceptable manner.

I think that I'll stop now. I know this wasn't terribly informative, but I felt the need to touch base here. I hope you are all well.

Enjoy the season
D

Up to speed

2008-11-03T21:08:00.001-08:00

Hello everybody!
I am back from our wonderful trip to Nashville. It is so beautiful up there in the fall. As I was loading pictures a minute ago, I was wondering why on earth I didn't take pictures of the trees and hills and things like that. The answer is because I never think of such things as they happen. I always am wishing I had, though.
This is really meant to be a short, picture-filled post since I haven't posted any in a good long while.
Eric had a long, I mean really LONG, week of school. While he was hard at work in the classroom, me and the kids hung out with my sister-in-law, her hubby Brad (when he was around and not writing with soon-to-be famous artists), my nieces: Audra and Carmen, and my in-laws. We had a great time. When we left here, Ethan was getting over a cold that Jaylie caught and got over while we were there and then Isaac caught a couple of days before we came home. He had a 103 fever when we got here last night. Needless to say, he's missing MORE school.
We had a great time trick-or-treating with everyone (except Eric, he was in class til 9:30 that night) The kids got lots of candy and the weather was great. One of the houses we stopped at had a snake lady (as in, she had a live snake on her head for the kids to pet. She had to hurry up and get back inside because one of her other snakes had apparently gotten loose!) Another house had 2 rather large (and very friendly) dogs answer with their owners. They were in costume. The giant Samoyed was the Big Bad Wolf, complete with top hat. We were followed for the first half of the hike by a friendly cat named Peter. It was quite the animal kingdom out there in Brentwood. What a WILD place!

Princess Jaylie

Ninja Ike

Spiderman Ethan

I hope everyone had a great halloween. I also hope everyone goes out to vote tomorrow. I'll write more soon.

Blessings
D

PS: These pictures just crack me up. I find the outfit and the yellow dump truck a funny combination. I think you may have to click on them to get the full effect.

This and That (and stuff like that)

2008-10-21T19:56:00.000-07:00

I was just going to call this post "This and That" as a way of updating you but then when I was typing it, I was reminded of Tina Fey's interview on the Letterman show last week and it cracked me up to hear her say,"This and that and stuff like that."

So there you have it, the reason behind the title.

So I have been busy these past few days. Surprised? I sort of am. I was so hoping to not be busy so often. If I haven't returned any of your phone calls lately, it's not because I'm mad or sick or terribly scatterbrained, it's just because I can hardly fit in a decent phone conversation! AGH! I know my Dad never thought the day would come when I would be too busy to chat on the phone. Alas, it is here. Or at least it was, hopefully it is gone.

So, you may be wondering what I've been so busy doing. I am too. A lot of it is stuff at Isaac's school. I have been hard at work trying to get caught up on stuff PTO-wise. I think I'm about there. I also have had snack to make for Ethan's class and yesterday there were cupcakes to make and send to a fundraiser for his preschool. I don't think I left the kitchen until 1pm yesterday. I got there at 7:30 made breakfasts for everyone, cleaned up and started dishes and laundry, made cupcakes, made lunches, cleaned up, switched out laundry, iced cupcakes, laid kids down (including Isaac who was home yesterday on account of having to have 2 molars pulled...he was doped up on pain meds and didn't complain about the nap) and finally ate breakfast at about 1pm! CRAZY.

I also have been helping some sweet friends from my small group with a little redecorating at a house that our church owns and operates as a free place to stay for folks who are in town with a loved on in the hospital. That's taken quite a bit of organization...and shopping. I've decided I don't really like shopping! I really like knowing what I need, going in and getting it and going home. Scouring all over for better prices is great, but it wears me out.

Some of you may think that this doesn't sound all that out of the ordinary. I think what it is that drains me is all of the organization that has gone into several of these things. I am not a details person, consequently that means I'm not the most organized person in the world. (My mother, on the other hand, is the most organized person in the world...GO MOM) So when I find myself in situations that require me to plan and organize, it zaps all of my energy because my mind doesn't quit thinking about what I may be forgetting!

Anyway, we are all healthy (well that's not true I suppose. Ethan has a fever and a cough. Poor little guy.) The rest of us are healthy. We are headed to Nashville on Sunday for a week. Eric has a class that is M-F so we are tagging along to visit family. I am looking forward to getting away. It seems to have been awhile. Gretchen is settling in to our family. The kids seem to be better and better about playing with her. It takes them awhile (the little ones anyway) to learn how to best play with her. I will post pictures soon, I know I have been bad about that lately.

As the election gets closer and closer, people seem to be prone to freaking out. Let's try to remember that our security ought to lie in the loving Father who created us and not the guy in the White House. I know it's an important decision and all, but it is not going to be the end of the world either way. And if it was, well, that would be OK too, wouldn't it? Heaven is always a better alternative than living; even living in the USA.

Blessings to you.
D

Madame Vice President...kind of

2008-10-08T13:38:00.000-07:00

I am not talking about Sarah Palin. I'm talking about me! I have been real active at Isaac's school. When he was in kinder I was up there a lot in an unofficial capacity, helping in his classroom and in the cafeteria. Last year I was his room mom and the room mom coordinator of the whole 1st grade. This year, I was just asked to be room mom, which was fine with me; I was ready to let someone else coordinate. A lot of the PTO board members are friends of mine and wanted me to be on the board at the end of the year last year. I told them no since I still have 2 kids at home. I was hoping to put it off til Ethan is in kinder. BUT, my friend who was serving as the VP of Parental Relations had to step out of it because of having a lot of unexpected things happen in her life. So, I was asked to step in and, after checking with Eric and my mom (since she may be needed to keep children), I said yes. So now, instead of being just a room mom, or the coordinator for one grade level, I'm coordinating all the room moms in the whole school! I have been getting caught up with getting info packets to those moms and as of about 9:30 this morning, I thought I was caught up. But about 20 minutes ago I received a call from one of our 2nd grade teachers that her room mom has moved. Nice. Back to work I guess:) Next stop...the White House! This is how Sarah Palin got started, right? Since I will have kids at this school for so long (Jaylie will be done at Ann Smith in 2014) I may very well have a stint as PTO pres. before then end of that time frame...how 'bout that!

Also,

Some of you know that my grandad is fading quickly. Back in mid-June he had another stroke (his first was July 2007) or seizure that resulted in a fairly significant bleed in his brain. He spent 3 weeks in the hospital and was then (and is now) moved into a nursing home. My parents spent about 5 weeks down there (they live in Beeville TX, about an hour from Corpus) to help my grandmother. Mother is going back on the 18th for 2 weeks. Grandaddy is no longer able to do any therapy. His mind isn't in the here and now; he talks a lot about the past. All this is very hard to take anyway but Grandmother is having some health problems as well making it even more difficult for her to handle. I would like to ask that you remember them in your prayers. Their names are Gordon and Wanda Morrow. We just would like them to feel peace and comfort; for my grandmother to feel renewed strength as she cares for Grandaddy; for loose ends to be able to be easily--and quickly--tied up so Grandmother can move them to a location that is closer to family so she can have much needed help. Thanks.

Fall is on it's way to really being here. I am seeing leaves fall and it is definitely cooler. I LOVE IT. This also means I need to get on the ball about Christmas shopping! Very exciting.

I hope all of you have a great rest of the week. Treasure your relationships. Guard them well

D

You're gonna miss this

2008-10-02T10:45:00.000-07:00

I usually listen to KLOVE on the radio, when I'm not listening to Veggie Tales or other kid things. But last night I caught the last verse or two of this song. It choked me up. I watched the video on youtube so that I could see/hear the whole thing. It is so like me; looking forward to this or that stage in life and forgetting that where I am right now is precious and that I really will miss it. Those of you who regularly listen to country music probably have heard this already. But I thought I'd post it anyway.
Hope you are all having a great week. I'll write more soon.
D