Which way to sisterhood...

So today we went to Huntsville (me, the kids and "Aunt" Shana) to visit Hillary- (my college friend who always comments on my posts!). We had the BEST time and laughed so much- we were all Alpha Gams in college and lived in the same house. Our kids got along great and Marky cried for Owen on the way home (apparently Owen cried for Marky too). I don't have a camera right now, because Marc left our's in Ohio weeks ago (hence no pictures on posts). Hopefully it will come in the mail soon. For more pics and details on our day in the rocket city- see Hillary's blog! Thanks Hill!

The Lord is our Shepherd

Last night in my evening prayers I read this poem that touched me. This past weekend I completed my 90 hours of training to be a catechist for catechesis of the good shepherd, and this truth, that Christ is my faithful Shepherd, is more precious to me now than ever.

Where briars grow, unwary sheep,
Befogged by hungry need,
Entangled fleece in thicketswhere
We only thought to feed.
The Shepherd comes to set us free
From snares of piercing thorn.
Released, we are made whole, but look--
The Shepherd's hands are torn.

On every bare and rocky height,
The sheep in safety graze.
God shelters us from wind and rain
And from the sun's bright blaze.
The Shepherd pastures us in peace,
To living waters leads.
All hurts now healed, we are at rest--
But see! The Shepherd bleeds.

For he has other sheep than these,
Who have not heard his voice,
But when the last are gathered in
The heavens will rejoice:
The saints who crowd the gates of God
Stand waiting to extol
The last sheep found, for then, ah! look--
The Shepherd is made whole!

"The lost I will seek out, the strayed I will bring back, the injured I will bind up, the sick I will heal, shepherding them rightly." Ez. 34:16

Quote to Ponder

I'm reading "Mothers of the Saints" for my bookclub and this month's mother was Susanna Wesley. She had a large family that she homeschooled, but her life was filled with tragedy and trouble. Nevertheless she kept her home life as consistent as possible and kept clear standards of behavior for her children to follow. She said,

"To inform the understanding is work of time, and must with children proceed by slow degrees, as they are able done at once, and the sooner the better; for by neglecting timely correction, they will contact a stubbornness and obstinacy which are hardly ever after conquered, and never without using such severity as would be as painful to me as to the child. In the esteem of the world they pass for kind and indulgent, whom I call cruel parents; who permit their children to get habits which they know must be afterward broken."

Also, her famous son John (the founder of the United Methodist church) was so amazed at her highly organized system of child rearing in their home that he asked her to put it in writing. She replied,

"It cannot, I think, be service to anyone to know how I ... used to employ my time and care in bringing up my children. No one can, without renouncing the world in the most literal sense, observe my method; and there are few, if any, that would entirely devote about twenty years of the prime of their life in hopes to save the souls of their children, which they think may be saved without so much ado; for that was my principal intention, however unskillfully and unsuccessfully managed."

Her primary goal in parenting was getting her children to heaven. We talk about this all the time in our home, and we pray that we can teach our children to submit to us, so that they will willingly submit to God and trust Him.

My favorite sitcom mom passes on...

Sophia is gone! It is a well-known fact that I have adored the golden girls all my life. It started when I stayed with my grandparents in the summer and my grandmother LOVED the show. Then I watched the lifetime reruns all through college and law school. Marc says I can quote every episode ever made- and it might be true. I quoted one episode on our first date. (I knew how to impress). Hillary D. told us in college that Sophia was actually the YOUNGEST actress on the show and almost didn't get the part b/c she looked too young. And...she was not Italian- she was Jewish. She was hilarious. I loved her zingers and I wish they had shows like Golden Girls again. Rest in peace Estelle. "Hey, Sicilians can always recognize two things - when someone is telling the truth, and when they've had their fingerprints changed."

Another Busy Day

Next time I want to sell a house- remind me not to do it in the summer during a pregnancy. All this "killing time by getting out of the house after working so hard to get it clean" stuff is getting to me! Today we had an open house from 2-4 so we went to the zoo to do the fountains. Julia played in them by hopping- she hops all the time.
Magic City residents- have you been to the zoo since they added "Foam Zone"? It is AWESOME! Marky played in it for like an hour! It's just tons and tons of bubbles!
You do have to pay a token to get in and once you get out you have to have another token to get back in (just a tip I learned the hard way!).
After soaking in fountains and foams we got drinks and cooled off on the train. Thanks BB for being here for me! Oh and no good news from the open house- only one couple came and they don't even have their house on the market yet. Oh well- when it's supposed to work out it will work out- and that might not be now. I trust God completely in this matter!

Passing the Time....

Why is Julia so happy? Wouldn't you like to dance a jig on a giant piano?

Today has been a weird day. Marc is out of town for several nights on a trip with his Dad. My mom came in town to help me entertain the crew. This morning we took the kids to drop-n-go at the Y for an hour so we could run to an antique store (Sissy and antique store= no bueno). There I got a flat tire and walked to a tire store to get them to fix it. Then my realtor called and said people wanted to see the house b/w 2:30-4:00 so I had to run get the kids, run home and mop, dust, vacuum- then throw my dog in a neighbor's house and mom and I took the kids to the McWane Center to pass the time. They had a ball- even if we were skipping naps (I paid for that later).
Marky on a excavator bicycle thingy.
BB and Sissy working on the crane and pulleys.
Marky "changing the oil" in a play car.
Baby girl playing with tinker toys. How about that name on her dress? I got that linen dress for $6 at a second-hand store- add a $10 monogram and now it's one of my favorite dresses on her.

Less is More

While we've been having all these open houses and people coming through the house, I've had to put a ton of stuff in the garage to make the rooms look nicer. Mostly I've cleared out "big toys" like Marky's workbench, his Brio car, Julia's dinosaur ball thing, her fisher price block toy- basically their "favorite" toys. And do you know- we don't miss them. We've still got a house full of toys- and the kids have not asked where the other toys were once. I've thought about giving these toys away before, but wouldn't because they were "too nice" to just give away- and the kids did like them when they got around to play with them- and I thought they would miss them so much. They don't. And I love the clear spaces on the floor as I pass by. I love the uncluttered look of the basement now. I think these might be going out with our yard sale when we move and my kids will be fine. Why do we cling to stuff like we do? I think it's harder for me to give the stuff away than the kids. Especially when I'm pregnant and know another baby is coming that will like these things. But do kids need a million toys? Does our house need to be completely overrun with these things? Or would a little breathing room help us more- and open up more opportunities for creativity. I think we are going to choose the latter.

Quote of the Day

Marky: "Mommy, why did Jesus have to die on the cross?"
Mommy: "He died, but came back stronger and conquering the dark to share his light with us and now we can be with Him and share His light with others"
Marky: "Yes, but really He spilled his blood so He could wash all of our bad sins away."
Mommy: silence. "yes, that too."

Vacation all I ever wanted....

Well we are back and I must say we had a great time! This is the 7th time we've gone to the Alabama State Bar convention and this year was my favorite. It was so nice to have time with just Marky. Usually when we swim Julia latches onto Daddy like a koala bear and he can't really play with our big boy. This trip was all about Marky- we threw him back and forth in the pool, let him skip naps and stay up late to watch fireworks, let him drink sprite two times (a REAL treat), and just get some one-on-0ne time where he didn't have to "wait for the baby". I LOVE that picture above where he is adoring his daddy.
Here we are at family fun night on the beach. He had a sword painted on his face if you are wondering.
He got to climb the rock wall (with daddy cheering him on). He also did a bunch of carnival games. They had a mullet toss for the whole group and I told big Marc to get in and win the thing- and he did! We won a crystal vase- he beat over 70 people.
A big highlight of the trip was Shelley coming over for the day with her babies. Here is Ella, Streed, Marky and on the towel baby Nathan (who was an angel and slept on that towel while we played in the pool). They were having icecream and Streed and Marky had made airplanes.
Here's the crew at the beach. Marky and Streed hadn't seen each other in over a year or so and they picked up right where they left off- they get along really well! Meanwhile back at BB's.......

Julia was having the time of her life- this was her first time to be kept by herself at BB and Poppy's. She found herself a nice reading nook.
And she got to swim everyday with BB- and I'm sure she played with whatever she wanted and ate whatever she wanted.
When we swung through Mobile we had a little birthday party for BB. Happy Birthday BB we love you!!!!

Moms Night Out

Tonight we had a little moms-night-out for the girls that live in my "neighborhood". They actually live two streets over- they all live on the same street in walking distance of each other- but they let me tag along. It was Julie, Leslie and Kelly's birthdays (the ones in the middle).

Anyway, I will be heading to SanDestin in the morning for a few nights. It's the state bar convention so its actually "work" related- but Marky and I will be at the pool while Daddy has meetings. We are dropping little bit off with my parents in Mobile. Keeping Sissy is basically my mom's birthday present. Have a great weekend!

Random Thoughts as I end the day

1. The Noggin show "Yo Gabba Gabba" is RIDICULOUS! I call it "Yo crappa crappa".
2. On John and Kate plus 8 tonight I thought she overdid it with not letting her kids enjoy their cupcakes at the cupcake decorating place they went. If she didn't want them to get their church clothes dirty- why did she take them to a cake decorating party in church clothes?

3. You know you are pregnant when offered a chocolate pop tart or chocolate ice cream- you say "yuck- I really just want some chicken noodle soup." (Yes, that happened at 9:00 tonight)

4. The open houses have gone okay- we thought we had some hits on the first one, but they didn't follow through. Four families came yesterday, but I haven't heard anything else. I really hope the right folks come by SOON!

Lazy Sunday

Sunday we had our second open house in a row- so we had to be out of the house. Our friends Jeff and Catherine invited us to come to the lake and spend the day. Here they are with their baby girl:

We swam and had the best time- here is John Paul, Marky and Julia with watermelon!
And here is the rest of the crew- little Joseph with water wings and baby Ann Marie.
Eagle-eye Marc (the big one) saw this black widow spider under the diving board. Scary! Don't worry he and Jeff killed it with masterful kung fu skills. Thanks Catherine and Jeff- we had a blast- and now you've made it to the blog!

Quote of the Day:

By Father Mueller at mass this morning: "God did not ask you to 'take up your pillow and follow Me.....He said take up your cross."

Happy Independence Day

Well we have had such a fun fourth of July. Our church had a carnival and we went and had BBQ, cupcakes, and ice cream and played on the jump castles and all the carnival games. Marky won a kazoo, ring, pinwheel and tattoo of a peace sign. They also had a trash and treasure sale and we were able to get four movies and three books for $7. Not bad! My camera batteries died so I didn't get any pics until we got home. How wonderful to live in a country where we have the freedom to celebrate liberty! Thank you armed services for making the American dream possible!

"And how stands the city on this winter night? More prosperous, more secure, and happier than it was 8 years ago. But more than that: After 200 years, two centuries, she still stands strong and true on the granite ridge, and her glow has held steady no matter what storm. And she's still a beacon, still a magnet for all who must have freedom, for all the pilgrims from all the lost places who are hurtling through the darkness, toward home." -- Ronald Reagan

Happy Birthday Christy

Tonight I went to a surprise party for one of my closest friends, Christy. It has been so much fun for all my age friends to turn 30 with surprises. We had BBQ from Christy's dad- a caterer, and cake and champagne (no chapagne for me). Anyway- they had a slide show and we were supposed to send in pics of us with her. This one made me laugh. It's from a 1996 ski trip to Ski Rio and that's us with our two "chaperones" i.e. two random guys from our church that agreed to take the youth group- we never saw them again. How come my ski boots are ugly white and they all have cool black ones. I mean, did they bring theirs? I look like I rented mine from Sunshine Skating rink.
Here's a Disney choir trip in 1995- good times, girl, good times.

Please Pray

This precious family, The Atchisons, lost their four-year-old baby girl last night when she passed completely unexpectedly in her sleep. I cannot imagine what they are going through. Billy, the dad, was on staff with Campus Outreach when I was in college and Hope was a friend. Sweet Alaiana has gone to be with He who made her, loves her, and keeps her.

I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills: from whence cometh my help. My help
cometh even from the Lord: who hath made heaven and earth. He will not suffer
thy foot to be moved: and he that keepeth thee will not sleep. Behold, he that
keepeth Israel: shall neither slumber nor sleep. The Lord himself is thy keeper:
the Lord is thy defence upon thy right hand; So that the sun shall not burn thee
by day: neither the moon by night. The Lord shall preserve thee from all evil:
yea, it is even he that shall keep thy soul. The Lord shall preserve thy going
out, and thy coming in: from this time forth, for evermore. Glory be to the
Father, and to the Son: and to the Holy Ghost; As it was in the beginning, is
now, and ever shall be: world without end. Amen Psalm 121

Turning 30

Well, today was my actual birthday- around 5:00 p.m. tonight I crossed over into my 30s. The day was so plain and ordinary- Julia for some reason woke up at 4:45 this morning -flopped around in our bed 'til about 6:00 and then we were up and going. We had to be out of the house so someone could show it by 9:30- so I went to the dog boarder, the gym, the dry cleaners, the bank, chick-fil-a for a playdate and then brought the kids home, put them down for naps, waited for the babysitter and went to my OB appointment where I heard the most beautiful little heartbeat, and then ran to the grocery store. I then came home and cooked supper, played in the yard, did dishes, bathed some wriggly kids and put them to bed. Some people would think that was an awful way to spend your birthday- where was my "me" time?- but to me today was a wonderful day- it was a day in my life- a life I love- with children and a husband I love and serving them is my privilege. I'm so grateful to be exactly where I want to be at 30. Praise be to God- the giver of all good gifts!