Sunday, March 28, 2010

March

We have had a busy and fun March. Here are a few of the highlights. Copper Lakes is one of our favorite family outing destinations. We go there alot on weekends. This time Brian thought Tatum was ready to try fishing, so Avery used her big girl pink & black checkered rod, and Tatum got to use the Dora rod. Laney & I played on the playground while they fished. When we walked over to check on them, I found out the main reason they love fishing so much. The worms. Avery especially, loves worms. They just play with the worms while their rods are sitting on the grass. So here she is holding a handful of her squirmy friends:

Laney wants to be on her own two feet all the time now. And that is okay with me because that girls is getting pretty heavy! She out-eats her older sisters at most of our meals.
Tatum was a good little student for Brian while he helped her fish, but she always likes an excuse to run off with sissy. These two are best buddies.

The blue bucket on the ground is where the girls collect worms and dirt. That bucket sits outside our garage and the girls add to it whenever they find a worm outside. At least it's not in our fridge. I had a talk with Brian about that a while back.

Tatum's first time to fish with Daddy & Avery

We went to the rodeo one day during spring break. We made two mistakes that we don't intend to duplicate. First, we went on a weekend. It was way too crowded for it to be really fun. Second, we didn't shop around for dinner, we just stopped at the first little shack we came to when we got hungry. As we carried our food over to some close-by tables, we looked up and what do you know? Pappasito's was a few feet away. We both almost cussed, but we didn't. So, next year, we will go on a weekday and we will get Pappasito's for dinner. Here's our little cowgirl and her pink horse on a stick.


We also made it out for opening day at Zube park last week. We got to go twice because there was no line when we got done with our first ride. Right at the end of our second ride, it started to sprinkle, and right after we got in our car and headed back up 290, the clouds opened up and it poured the rest of the day. We were so thankful for our early morning train rides!


Guess who threw out the first pitch at the Cy-Falls baseball game on Friday night? My little hurlers, Avery & Tatum. I worked with the girls all afternoon on how to step & throw. And I must say they did really well. The Dugout Diamonds cheered for them and they loved the attention. They waved to the crowd and smiled. All five of us walked out to the middle of the field and two of Brian's boys set up to catch. Then they autographed the balls for the girls after they threw. Brian was one proud daddy.

Daddy's little pitchers before the national anthem.



Tatum got her first haircut yesterday. And not a day too soon. It's been really straggly for awhile, and i've gone back & forth about trying to grow it out or cutting it off. I'm so glad we went with a short cut. Here's her mane before the cut.


She got to sit in a firetruck seat and watch Thomas the Train. Although she really didn't watch the movie because she was looking at herself in the mirror the whole time. She did so good. I told the lady this was her first haircut, so could she save me a little bit of the hair. She gave me almost every hair she cut off Tatum's head. I had a little baggie full of it. I appreciate her kindness.


Ta-da! She loves herself with her little bob. It really does suit her.

And they all got suckers because they did so good in the haircut shop.

Tate, you are my sunshine!
We also started going to another church recently. It was a tough decision, but we felt the Lord showing us it was time to move out of our comfort zone in this area. We loved First and all the wonderful friends we've made there over the past 6 years. Our SS class has loved us and encouraged us through all our babies and all the growing we've done in our marriage. I miss them so much since we haven't seen them in a couple months, but we feel like we've obeyed the Lord and He has been faithful to us.
The problem was it took us 30 minutes to get to First on a Sunday and close to an hour if we tried to go on Wednesday night. We've struggled with this for a while, but now that our girls are old enough to be involved in church activities (not just nursery), we decided we needed to find a church closer to home so we could all be more involved. We want to be those kind of people that are there every time the church doors are open.
So we've found a church that is 4 minutes from our house. We blink and we're there. The Bible teaching is amazing. They place a major emphasis on the kids' Bible classes. I love that they give out a Weekly Challenge for the kids each week to work on at home, and all the kids are learning the same Bible story, just in a different way depending on their age. God also answered one of my specific prayers in our Sunday school class...Brian has met several guys in the class who are in education. I had prayed he would. And they just started a Wednesday night program. Avery gets to do Awana, Tatum & Laney are in the nursery and Brian & I are doing a MasterLife Bible study. I'm so happy to have that mid-week time to be at church and be refreshed.
I feel like another benefit to our new church is the ability to invite my co-workers to church now that it is so close and easy for them to get to. Before I was always hesitant because I was sure they would not want to drive 30 minutes on a Sunday morning to go to church. So today I felt God laying it on my heart to invite 10 people at my school to our Easter service next week. Y'all hold me accountable because I'm already nervous about it. I hope I do it. If I can just have the courage to invite them, I know God will work in their hearts and bring the ones He has called. I'm excited to see what He will do.
Two months left until summer - Yipeeeee!!!

Friday, March 12, 2010

The Better Way

This was my grandpa PaPa's favorite poem. Found it on a scrap of paper recently, that I had probably written after he died back in 1996. I love those discoveries. On a side note - then I'll get back to the poem - a couple years ago, my mom brought me a box of my old middle school/high school stuff that she was ready to not have at her house anymore. So I was looking through my old children's Bible I used back in probably 5th grade, which had every verse either underlined or highlighted or both, even Leviticus, just because I was cool like that.
Anyway, I found a cash envelope between some of the pages, like the kind my PaPa always gave us at Christmas. I opened it up and sure enough, still inside was the $100 bill he had given me for Christmas that year, which had probably been back in middle school. I don't know why I had hidden it in my Bible all those years. But I'm so glad I did. It was like getting a little gift from him more than 10 years after he died. I'm not a super theologian, so I don't know if he can see me from Heaven, but if so, I can picture him smiling his big huge grin and his blue eyes lighting up (I have his eyes by the way, and I'm so proud of that) and saying "I love you still, Tiger." Okay I'm balling right now, so I need a minute.

Okay, so here's his favorite poem.

The Better Way

I'd rather see a sermon than to hear one any day
I'd rather one walk with me than merely point the way

The eye is a better pupil and more willing than the ear
Fine counsel is confusing, but an example is always clear

And the test of all the Christians and the ones that live their creed
For to see the good in action is what everyone needs

I might misunderstand you and the fine advice you give
But there is no misunderstanding how you act and how you live


Amen! ... and happy spring break everyone!!!

Tuesday, March 9, 2010

need some advice

I finally had the pictures of the girls framed that my sis-in-law dominique took over Christmas. I want to add more to the displays eventually, but i am very happy with how they brighten up our entryway and mantel.



this is the entry hallway

here's the mantel


here's our girls with their sweet friends, brea & brooke, who are going to be our neighbors soon!! we are so excited and thankful the Lord provided them an awesome house just around the corner from us!! we definitely look forward to lots of fun girl bonding with them!! avery & brea are a few months apart, and brooke & tatum are a few months apart.
and i'm pretty sure one set of sisters is a tad more photogenic than the other set.


we're having avery issues. she is one of the sweetest, happiest, most helpful, creative "mama's girls" in the world. but lately some not-so-nice attitudes have been bringing us to the breaking point. the main problem is that she thinks she is the mom or grandma in our family, just like myself or gigi (brian's mom). she gets offended when i remind her she is not in charge and her sisters do not have to obey her. she also has a hard time transitioning from "playtime" where she is the mama to "real life" where she is the child and must obey the mama (or grandma). needless to say, there have been some power struggles in our house lately, and i'm not sure how to discipline her in this area.
we are also dealing with very SLOW obedience from her. to the point that i have to pray out-loud over myself that i will not burst a blood vessel while i am waiting for her to complete the task at hand. avery looked up at me the other day and asked "mama, what are you asking for Jesus' help for?" dear, oblivious child. i know part of it is her God-given personality... she is a careful, meticulous, thinker who didn't crack a smile until she was almost one year old b/c she was so deep in thought. God made her that way, and i'm pretty He did it partly just to sharpen me. But there are wonderful things about her personality too - she enjoys organizing things thoroughly, she is a very quick learner, she is sensitive to others' feelings, she makes up stories and games in her amazingly creative brain, she "gets" humor and jokes, she has an amazing memory when it comes to music and the words to songs, she has big dreams - and i wouldn't trade those things for anything!
but ... if anyone has a child like avery and has found some great strategy to help them focus on quick obedience and transitions from playtime to normal life, please share the love!!!

Thursday, March 4, 2010

"you black"

As in,

"Mrs. K, you black too."

That's the compliment I received from one of my students today. They did their Civil Rights presentations today and as one student was explaining Malcolm X and Black Power, there was an outbreak of Black Power salutes in the class. I was the only white person in the classroom. They could have left me out, but they didn't. They included me in the celebration by saying, "Mrs. K, you black too." To which I responded with two bangs on my chest and a Black Power fist in the air.

I got another compliment last week too, that meant alot to me. We were discussing discrimination and stereotypes, which is always fun. For example, "All Asians are smart. All Hispanics play soccer. All blacks are great athletes. Women are bad drivers." Those are the G-rated ones. Then someone added "All blondes are dumb." One of my special ed students, who does not understand sarcasm or kissing up, said "Well, Mrs. K, you proved that one wrong."

I gave him some extra credit.

Wednesday, March 3, 2010

Large and In Charge

There's a new toddler in town...
She looks alot like her big sis Avery...
She acts alot like her bis sis Tatum...

Belle tolerates her...

She's ten days shy of 14 months old...



We call her Laney-Lou...

Or sometimes just "the boss"

She pretty much owns all four of us.

Here's our cowgirl all dressed up for Western Day at school today...


Thanks to the neighborhood Spanish-speaking Western store.

And here is the Drama Queen herself...

Off to make some chicken enchilada casserole for supper. Here's a verse I just added to our bulletin board that my dear friend Jen sent me:
"He tends his flock like a shepherd: He gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart; he gently leads those that have young." Isa. 40:11
I love the picture in my head of Jesus leading those of us with young children... what a gentle, patient, loving, and GOOD SHEPHERD we have!