Sister Time...and babies too!

I forgot I had this sitting in the "Draft" folder. I'm glad I found it!

Back in April (yup, April!), I went down to New Orleans for a Sister Weekend. Kelly was coming in from Georgia and I hadn't seen her in almost 3 years!! So, we all decided to meet up and just have some sister time. Later in the weekend, Jenny's babies joined us. It was a very special time!

Kelly and Jenny

Me and Jenny in front of St. Louis Cathedral

Me and Jenny

Me and Jenny....again!

Jenny kissing the voodoo dude.

Kelly and Brandyn playing a Contact Guitar Hero. Notice Brandyn about to strike! Oh, and I'm totally digging Kelly's glasses!

The June Bug!

Sweet June.

That boy loves his Momma!

And, as you can tell, she's pretty smitten too!

Happy June.

Kelly, Jenny, Allie (in Kelly's lap), and Kaylie.

Brotherly love.

Allie loving on the babydoll.

Allie loving on the real baby! She is fiercly protective of June Bug. It is adorable! Well, except when she tries to correct Jenny for correcting June. ha!

Carseats, Cuddles, and Cutlery

Olivia is now riding in her "big girl carseat." On Thursday, I washed all of the padding. It hasn't been used for about 2 years now, so it really needed it. Then Kevin put the seat back together. We put Olivia in it and decided to go for a practice run.

Benjamin thought that having her sitting like him was great!!


Olivia, on the other hand, was not really digging it.


She eventually came around.

She really liked being able to see the cars going by. She told several of the cars "bye bye." It was cute.


She really liked it when Daddy finally took her out of the seat!
And Benjamin wanted his picture to be taken in the car too! Equality, you see!

Olivia was very cute this morning. She is not used to seeing Kevin in bed because he is already up and leaving for work when she wakes up in the morning. So, this morning I brought her in our room and put her on the bed. She played around for a minute or so and then she heard Kevin snore. She was very excited.

She crawled up there by his head and sat as close as she could to him.


Then, she "loved on Daddy."



And when he responded to her cuddle she was so excited that she could hardly stand it!! Daddy almost lost a nose in the deal! LoL!


This little girl ADORES her Daddy! From the time he gets home from work until the time she goes to bed, she is right at his heels...or, as anyone here can tell you, on his shoulders. She just squeals when she sees him get home from work, and sobs terribly when he leaves. It's so nice to see how much they love each other. That's how it should be with Dads and daughters, right?

*sigh*
:-)

And what post would be complete without a picture of a boy and a sword!?!
Goodnight!!

Benjamin, Tests, and Prayers

Today was part 1 of the big Hudson PEP test. We haven't really made a big deal out of it with Benjamin. We just told him that he is going to go to Hudson PEP and do some worksheets there just like he does in class.

So, "for fun," a friend and I gave our kids a practice test yesterday. Benjamin got very upset during a couple parts of the test because he wasn't sure of the answers. This reaction disturbed me. Today his teacher assured me that he does not do that in class. I think that he reacted that way because he is used to me sitting at the table and telling him which answers are wrong. During the practice test I wouldn't help him because I wanted to see what he could do on his own. He did well.

As I was driving him to school this morning I was telling him that if he gets sad or frustrated that he just needed to take a breath, pray, and ask Jesus to help him be calm. He sort of mumbled, "Okay."

This afternoon when I picked him up, we were walking out of the school and he said, "Mommy, today I prayed to God and asked him to please help me." I asked Benjamin if he had gotten worried and he said, "No! I just asked God to help me get all of the right answers and He did! I think I got them all right!" :-)

It was a very touching to me. I often forget to go to God FIRST when things are getting to me. And here is my little guy catching on to the idea right away. I was proud of him and happy for him.

Two Mowers are Better Than One!

I really enjoyed myself today...even though I was doing something that is most certainly not enjoyable for me.

We have really been slacking on our yardwork (cough4monthscough). So, today Kevin was going to tackle it alone even though the idea of it was overwhelming. I told him that I hated that feeling and offered to help him. He said that I didn't have to do that (he knows I loathe yard work), but I know that sometimes a big job is easier to do if you have someone else there. Kevin agreed and suggested that I run the mower while he goes along behind me with the leaf vacuum. It still took us almost 3 hours, but it looks much better today. We still have to run the weed eater/edger thing against the wall, but it's almost there.

There was just something nice about being able to be a help to Kevin. He often seems like he can do everything by himself. He later said that there is no way he could have finished it today without me. That made my heart happy. I guess I can be a helpmate even in the yard. xo Kevin!

In the end it was all worth it. Now the yard looks like this:

Oh, the rain!!!!

Benjamin and I had talked about having a rain play day this week. We did this at the end of the summer last year and had a blast. A few weeks ago when it was raining, Benjamin remembered. The problem was that it was 40 degrees outside (that is downright arctic in Texas!). Today when it started raining I knew what we would do!

So, after Olivia went down for her nap, I walked over to Stephanie's...in the rain! *gasp!* I rang her doorbell and she came to the door all groggy. I woke her up from her nap. Uh oh. I simply asked her to come and play in the puddles with me. Now, if you know Stephanie, you know that this is a perfectly normal sort of request. If you don't, well, you are missing out! She went back inside to do something, leaving me to doubt this idea for a nanosecond. Then she came right back out and rolled up her jeans and we were off!!

Sure, it was weird for the first 30 seconds. We kicked water on each other and the children looked at us kind of strange, but, I guess, they quickly decided that we were SOOO cool! Then it was an all out water battle. We had water guns, buckets, pails, cups, tea pitchers, water bottles, and bubble containers. Stephanie was the first to lug out the 5 gallon bucket...which she promptly threw right on me. It was hilarious!!

We went over to get Laura. I didn't know if she would join in or pack her family back up and move as quick as possible. She was cooking dinner, being responsible, didn't play in water, blah blah blah. Guess who was out there with us in no time?!? Yup! Laura! Her son even ran around in a long rain slicker and goggles. Again, hilarious. Bless her heart, she's stuck with us now. That is as proper an initiation as any, I'd say!

Before we knew it Sherene, Eliana, and William were out with us too. William was in his little fireman rain slicker an was spraying us with a dinosaur water gun. Sherene wasn't going to participate either, but we enticed her with the 5 gallon bucket. That was the cream of the crop vessel today! Pretty soon, she was wet too!!

I think both Stephanie and I had wondered what the neighbors would think, and I think we were both pleased to see that they thought it was such a great idea that they had to join in too!

We had a blast! It is probably one of the best days that I can remember in this neighborhood. When everyone went home, my heart was so full it could have burst!!! If any of you are reading this, thank you!! Thank you for being willing to be different even if it seems like the weird thing to do. You brought such a joy into my life today. Stephanie, your prayer was answered again. You were "stupid for Jesus" and you blessed me beyond belief!! Laura, I'm so glad you're here! Sherene, be careful, we may come for you more often. 8-)

I would be remiss if I did not say that I did see this as another outpouring of love from the Father. I noticed as we were playing that the pollen was floating on top of all of the puddles. Tonight I thought about how the pollen is so very troublesome for some of us. It brings discomfort or even serious pain. But, it is a necessary part of spring...of bringing about new life and beauty. Yet, at the right time, the rain comes and washes it away. So, perhaps that is cheeseball, but it works for me. I am so thankful for the simple, albeit cheeseball, lessons that I am learning lately.

I'm thankful for the love that God is pouring all over me lately. I feel like I've been struggling and struggling and now He is flooding me with love!! And that is how I felt with this rain today. I keep thinking of this song by Michael W. Smith that says:

And only You, the Son of man
Can take a leper and let him stand
So lift your hands, they can be held
By someone greater, the great I Am

Healing rain, it comes with fire
So let it fall and take us higher
Healing rain, I'm not afraid
To be washed in Heaven's rain

Oh, the joy!! Oh, the rain!!!

I cannot even think of what to title this post. We saw this video at church yesterday and I just sobbed. It is almost exactly my life before I came to God. It is hard to watch, but it is SOOO worth it! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cyheJ480LYA I especially love the part at the end when Jesus dusts her off and then goes on dancing with her again. **sobbing again!** I have watched it a few more times since and have found something else that is very touching. If you'll notice, at the end, Jesus is pulling her to Himself..like with a rope. When it becomes clear that she cannot get past these bad things by herself, He throws down that rope and just rushes right in to save her! WOOOO!!

Benjamin and property tax woes

Today the children and I are riding in the car to go visit Kevin for lunch. In front of us is one of those "Wide Load" signs on a large truck. On the truck is, in my opinion, something that looks like the bottom half of a barn. You know, like if you have a muffin and you pull off the top and all you have left is the "muffin butt?" It was like that. It was old and rotting.

Benjamin says, "I'm glad that isn't our house."

"Me too," I respond.

After a few minutes of contemplation, Benjamin declares, "Well, that's what happens if you don't pay your taxes. I guess they didn't pay their taxes."

LOL!!! I love that kid!