Merry Christmas From Our House To Yours!

My Sentiments Exactly!

The song you are about to listen to is from a Las Vegas Diamond Rio concert. They received an immediate resounding standing ovation, and continue to do so every time they perform it. Although Diamond Rio has never before done a statement song, they felt compelled to record "In God We Still Trust." Sadly major radio stations wouldn't play it because it was considered 'politically incorrect'. Consequently, the song was never released to the public . . .

Let It Be

The other day, while running errands in the mall, I was just getting ready to leave when I noticed off to my left a haircutting shop with a $12 sign outside. Spontaneously, I thought, “The time has come.” Just as I was getting ready to maneuver Nicholas’ stroller in the right direction, a middle-aged man was walking by going the other direction. Suddenly he stopped, walked back a few steps and said to me, “Oh, that hair is too much! He has perfect hair!”

I promise you, I DON’T MAKE THESE THINGS UP!! What’s up with that?! Here I was on the verge of giving in to the pressure (not sure whether it’s imagined or real) to get my young son’s hair cut . . . and here before me was someone validating my deep down desire to just let it be. I LOVE Nicki’s red, moppy, fly in the wind curls.

So whether the man was human or an angel unaware, Nicki still has his curls . . . and I’m clinging to the 80’s for as long as I can.

Who Are You Voting For In '08?

He gets my vote!

School Has Begun!

Monday began our first week of school!

After all the stress of our previous school having to close, last spring we began the hunt for a new Christian school. After many interviews with different schools, lots of testing (9 hours worth) we are thankful to be enrolled and active at our new school: Christian Heritage.

As I sat in one of the little desks in Jonathan’s fourth grade classroom on parent’s night, I thought back to my own fourth grade year. It was one of my favorites. Mrs. Traub read aloud to us The Bears of Blue River and Charlotte’s Web. I learned multiplication, made a large cardboard cutout of the state of Indiana decorated with corn, and was first introduced to the Little House books, which I subsequently devoured. When the entire class colored pictures of "Casper the Friendly Ghost" to hang above the chalk board, mine stood out starkly from the rest in a multi-colored bikini—I guess that was the 60's child coming out in me. Our student teacher did comment on my creativity.

That was 35 years ago and I still vividly remember my classmates, the smell of the coat closet, the gentle, loving sound of Mrs. Traub’s voice and the joy of getting lost in a good book. On April 3rd of that year a tornado completely leveled our high school. We then went half days for the rest of the school year as we had to share our school building with other students who no longer had a building of their own. I wrote little notes to the girl who shared my desk in the afternoon. Though we never met personally, we wrote back and forth for the remainder of the year. I hope Jonathan will someday look back on his fourth grade year and remember it as fondly as I remember mine.

Ashley is now a seventh grader and Cole is in Kindergarten (although our school actually calls it “Reading Class” as reading is it’s primary focus). Because our new school doesn’t do uniforms, I spent two entire days, with four kids in tow, shopping for school clothes. I really hated having to say goodbye to uniforms (they make life so much easier), but the kids are very glad to be able to add their own personality to the way they dress.

Nicholas is quite sad when I drop the kids off each morning. He is learning how to play by himself and I’m loving the one on one time with him. He is pure joy!

Happy Birthday Ashley!

Today Ashley is thirteen—a teenager! Where has the time gone? It seems like just yesterday she was a little squirt in pigtails.

We have some fun things planned for this evening, but because her best friend, Megan, is on vacation in San Antonio . . . we’ll do a belated birthday bash sleepover when she gets home.

Please indulge me as I travel down memory lane. This is a little pictorial of the thirteen years. We love you, Ashley! May your thirteenth year be filled with much joy.

Talent In The Making?

Occassionally I plug in my camera to upload pictures and find surprises . . . such is the life of a mom with a nine year old photographer wannabe.

I think they're pretty good. Any true photographers want to weigh in?

Talent or no talent, he definitely lacks fear of being stung!

Updates Now Available

For those who would like to follow my journey as I battle cancer, I've started a new blog to give updates and share the many things I'm learning. You can access it at Dancing with the Daffodils. Thank you all for your outpouring of love, support and prayers.

I'll continue to "Mommy blog" here and share the cancer info there.

What Is Summer Without Lemonade?

To fully understand the significance, one must first realize we live in the absolute middle of no where. Secondly, there isn’t much traffic. Furthermore, if someone does happen to drive by, they are more likely to notice the horses across the street than my young son attempting to sell lemonade . . . but sell lemonade he did. While holding this little sign and doing a Texas jig, I guess our huge metropolis of traffic couldn’t help but stop and quench their thirst.

First a huge rig truck stopped by. After that it was a police officer. Before my young son’s first attempt at entrepreneurship ended he had made six customers and $2.25 . . . not bad seeing how he was only charging 10¢ a cup!

Barney Is So Not Vogue

Cole (age 5) has been working on his reading skills and I decided to purchase a dvd to help his progress along. Hoping to save on online postage, I searched high and low at our local Walmart for one that might be beneficial. Though they had lots of dvds, most of them didn’t seem very educational.

I finally did find a Barney one I thought would help him out. When David tried to encourage its viewing in our household later in the day, this is how it went:

David: Hey guys, here’s a really great dvd for you to watch.

Ashley: No way! I’m not watching Barney!

Jonathan: Dad, you KNOW Barney is for babies.

David: (With a silent “help me out here” look toward his older, less than helpful, offspring) Well, if you must know, Mom really bought this for Cole. I just thought you ALL could watch it together.

Jonathan: (Finally getting the nudge) That’s so cool, Dad. Come on Cole—let’s go watch it.

Cole: Try Nicholas, Dad! I’m not into big, fat purple dinosaurs.

Oh well. I tried. I guess I’ll have to find something online for the “more mature” pre-kindergartner.

Maybe I’m Ungrateful

Recently the athletics department at our small school held their annual raffle to raise money for our sports program. In the past we have been more than dutiful, buying up boatloads of these tickets . . . and last year I even won a few taper candles. Whoo hoo!

This year we decided not to participate since Ashley didn’t play basketball and because we couldn’t actually attend the event. But because my daughter can be OBSTINATELY PERSISTENT, David finally gave in on the final day of sales and purchased one, lone $3 raffle ticket.

Wow did our phone ring off the hook that evening! To my most arduous chagrin, David WON the grand prize!

What’s the chances? I vowed to never let my kids (or husband) ride one of these. Can someone please explain this to me?! Did the planets line up? Should we be playing lotto (even though we don't believe in gambling), are we just lucky unlucky? (Oh yeah, we don't believe in luck either).

We do believe in blessings—and receive them daily . . . I'm just personally not convinced this is a blessing. (Unless, of course, my husband would let me sell it . . . )

Any takers?

Oh The Things A Mom Will Do

I have found in life there are many things that are simply not fair. Personally I have an absolute abhorrence for frogs. One might then deduce I simply don’t allow frogs to be part of my life . . . that would be an inaccurate premise with faulty deductive reasoning. (Logic 201, 1983).

After carefully budgeting the amount of money we were going to spend on Christmas presents last December . . . I (not we) purchased all of the kids’ gifts, wrapped them, put them under the tree to await the anticipation of Christmas morning. It was at this juncture David decided the Christmas shopping wasn’t quite finished. (Even though the budget was). He was quite sure his kids absolutely NEEDED a Tadpole Habitat where his dear children could at their leisure raise frogs. Did you get that?! RAISE FROGS!! (These are the kinds of things we inadvertently forgot to discuss in the dating phase.)

Without my blessing he, of course, was rewarded by all three of our older kids being in agreement that this was not only the best gift of Christmas 2007, but the best gift they have ever received! Whatever.

So now, while my children are at school, our kind mailman brings right to my door little packages with warnings about live creatures inside . . . blah, blah, blah. To add to my angst, one corner of my daughter’s bedroom has now been draped with a blanket and a warning for me to not come near. Whatever happened to a parent’s ability to say, “Not under my roof . . .”?

So I guess I am now resigned to the small fact my house is a breeding ground for the creatures I hate most on this planet. Do you think one day my kids will look back on their growing up years and recognize the personal sacrifice their frog-hating mother engaged in for them? I’m preserving it here on the internet so that one day maybe they’ll understand.

In the words of Charlie Brown, “Aaaarrrrggghhhh!”

God Answers!

A big thank you to everyone who has been joining me in prayer in their laundry rooms. In case you haven’t heard (I hadn’t until my good friend J-Lynn informed me) Pastor Balaev (highlighted in my last post) was released from prison on March 19, 2008! You can read more about his story here.

Wow! How incredible is that?! I know God hears and answers when we call. How faithful He is!

“The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and wonderful results.” James 5: 16 (NLT)

Won't You Join Me?

Lately I’ve been hanging out on websites that make me sad—the persecuted church around the world is overwhelmingly large; the children of the world so needy, abused, exploited and alone.

Possibly the saddest picture floating in my head this week is this one. Oh what I wouldn't give to be her mom and treat her like the princess she was born to be. Today as I sorted mounds of laundry I prayed for her. Though I’ve never met her personally and don’t even know her name, I just can’t forget those sad little eyes trapped in a prison she only knows as her life.

I also prayed for the pastor I read about earlier this morning. As I jumped from one site to another following an email I had received, I couldn’t help the tears that flowed for these fellow believers in the hands of tyranny. In-between applying Spray and Wash and loading darks, God gave me an idea. I’ve decided to dedicate my “laundry time” to lifting up children in need and those suffering around the world for the sake of Christ.

Inside these walls of my more than comfortable home, God has inspired me with a way to touch the lives of children who are orphaned, abused or exploited and Christians suffering in horrendous prison cells enduring hunger, torture, and separation from loved ones. With a mounted bulletin board just in front of my washing machine, I’ve placed pictures and articles of people I want to be praying for. Knowing most of my readers are moms like me, doing loads of laundry every week, I wonder if you might like to join me in your own laundry rooms. Somehow it’s like redeeming the time for a cause far bigger than making sure our kids have clean clothes to wear.

Here are some links to help us get started:
Orphans First
Open Doors
Compass Direct News

Please leave a comment if you’re joining—I’d like to add tiny profile pictures of you along the top border of my bulletin board reminding me I’m not alone in this small endeavor.

Though most of us can’t physically do anything to help these ones in need, we can lift them up to the One who can.

While Riding In The Van . . .

Cole: Mom, Jonathan used the “N” word!

Knowing Jonathan would never use the “N” word I asked,

“Cole, what’s the “N” word?

Cole: Stupid!

Hmmmm, how much am I paying in tuition again?

What Could Be More Fun Than Turning 5?!

Even though it has a bent toward getting lost in the mix, Cole had a delightful birthday—took chocolate sprinkled cupcakes for his class, had a pizza party with his cousins and was given the gift he as been asking for ALL YEAR: Buzz Lightyear (Thank you Amazon!) He also ended up with a Buzz Lightyear remote control car (so cool) and an amazing remote control car with lots of power, zip and turn-on-a-dime steering.

It’s so hard for me to believe this little guy is 5! He came into the world so peacefully, was an amazingly easy baby, and has been the absolute joy of everyone in our family ever since.

Born for the stage, Cole immediately turns into performance mode if the spotlight is on. He can ham it up with a huge grin and amazingly send a room full of people into hysterics with very little effort. Tenderhearted, kind and full of spunk, Cole loves anything involving action . . . and yet enjoys curling up with a good book—especially if his big brother, Jonathan, will read it to him.

Happy 5 Years, Cole! We are so thankful we get to be your parents!

Merry Christmas!

I know what you're thinking . . . sheeeish, couldn't she find one with Cole's eyes open?!

Uh, the answer would be, "Noooo." I guess Cole just discovered a new way of posing for pictures—ALL of them!

Merry Christmas!

The Holidays Are Here

Ah, it’s that time of year. It is exactly one week until Christmas Eve . . . meaning today is our anniversary and Cole’s birthday! The holidays—all jumbled together.

Since we will be having a birthday party for Cole tonight, our anniversary celebration will be moved to a more conducive date. Personally, I'm hoping for a visit to Mr. Simmon's house—a minister who restores old and rare clocks in his garage. Since we've been in the market for a Cuckoo Clock for quite some time, David's parents recommended we give him a call. They discovered him when they needed some repair work done on their own Cuckoo Clock—a Hasz family antique brought over many years back from Germany.

David did give Mr. Simmons a call the other day; it went something like this:

David: Hello Mr. Simmons, we were wondering if you have any Cuckoo Clocks.

Mr. Simmons: I surely do. I've got an eight day Cuckoo Clock . . . and then I've got a DANDY! (Think thick Texas draw).

His DANDY has me intrigued. Since he is only about an hour away, I'm lobbying (via my blog) that a visit to Mr. Simmon's is how we celebrate . . . of course, with dinner at a great restaurant somewhere on the way.

Happy Anniversary Babe! Fourteen years of wedded bliss.

From Our House To Yours

Ah, the deadline draws nigh . . . thus I must post my Christmas tour for Heidi Jo’s Holiday Home Tour Extravaganza. Welcome to the sights and sounds of our Christmas decor. This is our entryway with our little lighted snowman.














Next is our Christmas tree. The gigantic gift in the back is for ME from David. Hmmmm, wonder what it could be?


















This is our stairway decorated exclusively by Ashley, who was way to cool to actually pose for the camera.


















These are the Christmas Carolers who stopped by Sunday night—wow, could they ever sing! Beautiful!














And lastly, is our fireplace mantle with four stockings hanging dutifully limp in anticipation of being stuffed to the brim on Christmas morn.


















You might notice the ears on the third one sticking out quite excessively. This is because if you squeeze one, this is what you get:



The rule at our house is his ear can be squeezed only once a day! Merry Christmas from our house to yours.

The Evening That Almost Wasn't

Though I can’t remember ever having the conversation, my husband was quite insistent that I had agreed to go to a Michael W. Smith concert in Dallas a couple of nights ago. Not only was it pricey, on a school night, and a lengthy drive, I really hadn’t been to a Christian Concert since about 1983 and wasn’t even a little bit enthusiastic about it . . . so much so that we almost gave our tickets away at the last minute to anyone who would take them. When it came right down to it though, we finally decided to ditch our kids (we had to hire 3 different babysitters to make it work and hire another girl to take Ashley to her dance lessons) and go with our good friends Heath and Alisa to the concert.

Wow! Was I in for a surprise. I LOVED this concert! It was set in the Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center which was decorated incredibly beautiful for Christmas. Our seats were right above the stage where we had a bird’s eye view of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra—whose magnificent sounds could possibly compete with the ensembles of heaven. Getting to hear The Katinas and Melinda Doolittle (American Idol finalist) was an added bonus. The atmosphere and music were simple majestic. Such a nice way to celebrate the Christmas season. My only regret is that I didn’t take my two older kids—I think it would have been great inspiration for their own musical pursuits.

We topped off the evening by eating at The Cheesecake Factory and I even got a chance to run into my favorite store next door: The Container Store. What a great night! What a great husband to be so thoughtful! Honestly, I would have paid double for such a wonderful evening.

Santa's Helper

Okay, Ladies. It’s that time of year again . . . time to buy that perfect gift for yourself from your husband.

What? That takes the fun out of it? Where is the surprise element?

Ladies, don’t kid yourself. Have you ever truly liked the gift he picked out for you? Or better yet, the one his personal assistant picked up? (After he told her what to buy, of course). Has he ever been able to actually remember any of the little hints you gave him from Thanksgiving Day all the way up to Christmas Eve?

After fourteen Christmas’ with my husband, I finally decided the best way to get what I really want, really like, with the price tag being just right, I decided to buy it myself. My husband’s response:

“You are the woman! You are the most amazing wife in the entire world! You don’t even understand how great this is!”

So ladies. Release him from the burden. Make your Christmas merry. GO BUY YOUR CHRISTMAS PRESENT!

Oh, and if you happen to ask him afterwards if he’d like you to wrap it as well . . . it's probably safe to assume his response will be similar to the one I got from mine, “That would be awesome!”

Forgetting Not His Benefits

Thanksgiving was wonderful. We drove to Amy’s (David’s sister) house north of Dallas where we had the most wonderful Thanksgiving meal. David’s parents joined us as well as Sam’s (David’s brother) family. It was absolutely perfect!

We spent a bit of time reflecting on what we are thankful for. I am thankful for so much.

I am thankful for Jesus and His consuming presence in our lives, the wonderful guy I’m married to, our extended families, good health, the abundant blessings of the Lord . . .



and

these

four

little

darlings.

The Rip-Off

When you walk into your living room and notice your camera is sitting on the coffee table, you smile because you realize your daughter forgot to put it back in your purse this morning. When you mentally try and recall how much actual cash you saw in your billfold yesterday, you again can’t help but grin remembering that you gave every last bit down to your last dime to your kids for the missionary offering. When you walk in your office and see your daytimer sitting open on your desk, you chuckle in disbelief because you actually meant to stick it in your handbag before leaving.

So, I guess the guy who attempted to rob me blind at the pharmacy today got away with a credit card that I canceled before he was ever able to make an attempt at using, a debit card with the same results, a few checks that if he tries to use will be returned stamped “Stop Payment.”

Since the police report has been filed and the surveillance camera got a full and clear shot of him . . . I’m thinking he might regret his decision to swipe what didn’t belong to him . . . unless of course, he just really enjoys reading through the journal of sermon notes he finds among his rather scanty bounty.

Though it did cost me a bit of inconvenience, I’d have to say it was a much more costly mistake for him. Oh, and the child who forgot to put my camera back . . . she got thanked immensely for being disobedient, irresponsible and forgetful. : ) She also got a big hug and lunch out with mom.

Do You Have A Need For Sparkle and Bling?

Marilyn Monroe once sang that diamonds are a girl’s best friend. I’d have to say I disagree.

Though I didn’t ask for them, and though I’ve never been a diamond-wearing kind of girl, David bought me diamond earrings last December for our 13th wedding anniversary. Though I wear them, some days I hugely regret that such a thoughtful gift ever crossed my dear husband’s mind . . . like the day I dropped one on my bathroom floor. I couldn’t find it. After crawling all over the floor and underneath the vanity, I noticed a very small, hairline crevice between the vanity and the ceramic tile. After I removed six ceramic tiles, I found my little diamond earring. That was about 8 months ago . . . and those tiles have yet to be replaced.

And then there was yesterday. I dropped one in my bathroom sink. After falling down the drain I mentally debated as to weather I should remove the trap under my sink and retrieve it . . . or just let it go. I actually gave it a shot, but the pipes were too tight for me to turn. I didn’t use that sink the rest of the day and then David recovered my small diamond earring when he got home from work.

Or how about when you can’t find your diamond earrings. After a thorough search you find them in the trunk of your young son’s play car. Nice!

I guess I don’t get it. I’m totally fine with $20 earrings—just nice enough to not make my ears sore. Then, when something unfortunate happens, it’s not a big deal. I can handle losing $20 bucks. Am I alone here? I have a feeling I am.

There They Go

Our volleyball team placed third at the district finals.

Way to go, girls!

You are awesome!