Impact 2009

Ah, Impact.  I absolutely love Impact, and have since the first time I went, which was as a counselor in the summer of 2000.  Greg has had a much longer history with the camp:  he was baptized there in 1993, and has hardly missed a year since.  Greg still has a pretty traditional Impact experience, albeit as a youth minister and not a camper or counselor, but my experience has totally changed now that I have kids.  This year, I hardly went to any of "Impact," but I loved being on Lipscomb's campus and seeing so many of our old friends (and family!).  I especially loved just being around so many youth ministry families.  Many of them are old college friends, but we share a strong bond even with the ones we don't know very well.  We all have that common lifestyle of trying to balance ministry with family, while caring passionately about both.  It was so encouraging to me to be around so many families who were in our same situation.

Our guys, trying to be cool:).

Our (amazing) intern with our girls, trying not so much to be cool!

Luke, helping Jack open his birthday present.  (Yes, Jack's birthday present from us.  Do NOT ask when his birthday was!)

Luke and Jack immediately reconnected by pretending to be a train, using the hula hoop.  They ran around laughing, with Jack providing the "chugga chugga's."  Something tells me this is going to become a beautiful friendship!

Like I said, we had a great time at Impact, but after being gone for two weeks (at my parents and in Nashville), I am definitely glad to be home, sweet home!

Rote Memorization

My son is so much like my husband in so many ways.  But one thing he got from me is his penchant for rote memorization.

There are so many practical skills that I lack.  But I can memorize stuff like crazy!  Furthermore, lots of stuff sticks in my head that I couldn't get out if I wanted to.  If you walked up to me tomorrow and asked me, I could quote the excerpts of Patrick Henry's "Give me liberty, or give me death" speech that I had to memorize in 8th grade.  Or the story of the Fox and the Crow, in French, that I had to memorize as a Senior.  The General Prologue to Chaucer's Canterbury Tales.  1 Corinthians 13, and several others.  Songs in German, French, Latin, and Hebrew that I had to learn along the way. 

Is this a particularly helpful skill?  Not so much.  It is great for memorizing Scripture, but honestly, the things that stick in my head best are not usually the things of my choosing.  And shockingly, in my day-to-day life, there is not much call to launch into Rudyard Kipling's "If," or rattle off a French dialogue about bicycles.  Seriously. 

Whatever the merits of this quirky skill, Luke has it.  We have read The Little Engine that Could a zillion times, and I'm always impressed at how well Luke "reads" it to me with the book.  But one day, especially, I realized he had the gene.  He didn't have the book in his hands, but he started reciting The Little Engine that Could to Anna.  I was folding laundry and not paying too close attention, until I realized that he was on page 8 or 9...and not missing a word.  I just stopped and listened.  What got me was that there were parts that I hadn't memorized, times when I didn't know what was next...and he would say them without skipping a beat.  Only when he said them did I remember.  And I knew they were right.  He didn't start stumbling until over half way through.  It was amazing.  Seriously, I had tears in my eyes:).

On the way home from Nashville yesterday, Luke started reading The Crack in the Track, a Thomas book, to Daddy.  It is a simpler book, though we haven't read it nearly as much.  And while his retelling isn't perfect, most of it is ver batim.  Midway through, I used the video function of my camera to start recording.  Greg added subtitles b/c it is hard to understand some of what he is saying.  My favorite part is the dramatic voices he uses:

Needless to say, this kid cracks us up on a regular basis.

Luke's 3rd Birthday Extravaganza

On Saturday morning, we had Luke's 3rd birthday party at my parents' house.  Even though I had heard from people all week expressing regrets that they couldn't make it, we had over 60 revelers come out to share Luke's big day!  Luke loved the excitement, the food, the cake and ice cream, the presents, the swimming, the Thomas pinata, and the boat ride.  He also loved not having to take a nap!  The party was supposed to be from 11:30 to 3:00, but people were here all day long.  It was also wonderful that my mom's sister, Linda, her daughters, Lori and Lyndi, and Lori's son, Austin, and Lyndi's daughter KatieBelle, came in town from Kentucky to help celebrate and spend a few days with us. 

One interesting thing about gatherings in Macon is to see all the different people who have been a part of our life and how they have changed and grown.  It's especially weird to see how many roads lead back to Mike.  Our good friends, the Noe's, were there.  We met the Noe's because Mike dated their daughter, Amanda, in high school.  Our families became good friends, despite the fact that the relationship didn't last.  In fact, my mom threw Amanda a bridal shower, when she was engaged to her husband, Stephen (whom we all also love--along with his extended family!), and they now have a son, little Stevie, who is about Anna's age.  They were all in attendance.  Also here were Eric Quay and his new wife, Darlene.  Eric was Mike's landscaping friend from UGA.  They bonded, and, long story short, Eric is now in the landscaping business with my dad, and he and his wife live in the trailer at the church property where we used to live.  It was great to finally meet Darlene and to get to talk with them for awhile.  Another person who came to celebrate was Kate, who lived in the other half of Mike's duplex.  She answered my mom's ad in the paper, and became good friends with Mike and his roommate, Tim.  I first met her at Mike's funeral.  It was so neat to see her in the pool pulling around the children of my fellow youth groupers growing up.  And to see my own kids playing with children like Nyna Grace, the daughter of my preacher's son, Zack, who is about my age. 

Mr. Cake Face!

Time to open presents!

Erik Spell, Kate, and her mom, Peggy.  We also had a cookie cake for Kate, since she recently celebrated a birthday, as well.

Amanda's husband, Stephen, and baby Stevie. 

 

Catie, the adorable daughter of another girl I grew up with, Mary Judd Saltz.  I was so glad they could come.

As you can probably tell, we ended up having a great time. 

Fun in the Sun

We have been at Gaga and Granddaddy's all week, and that means spending a-lot of time in the pool.  Anna has proven herself to be a little fish!  She jumps in off the side and off the steps, loves going under, and loves to bob around happily in water wings.  She must have jumped to me from the steps, swam to me, turned around, and swam back to the steps at least fifty times today.  And when you ask her if she wants to go under and start counting to three, she will give her signature face-splitting grin, scrunch her eyes close, and tip her head towards the water in anticipation of being dunked!

Luke is the more cautious of the two, but he has made some great strides.  He has realized that he can tip toe across the bottom of the shallow end, so he loves to do that.  He will jump to us and even jumped off the diving board once, but he does not like to go under.  But today, Anna's swimming prowess convinced him to give water wings a try, and he was soon swimming all the way to the deep end stairs and back and even to the diving board and back.  We were so impressed, and he was so proud--not to mention grateful for a device that keeps him from going under!

Last, but not least, here is Anna helping us fill up the baby pool:

Ladies' Man

I'm glad that Luke has a good example in his father of how to treat a woman:).  He (Luke) will occasionally tell me, "You look pretty today." He'll tell Sissy that she is "so bootiful," or "the most bootiful girl in the whoooole world."  And while Luke never criticizes what I wear, he will offer his approval.  The other day, he watched in silence as I pulled my hair into a ponytail and then put one of those headband things in it.  After I was done, he declared decisively, "I like you like that."  Why, thank you, son.  I'm glad you approve:).

Also, at dinner time, he will serve up some high accolades if he enjoys the meal:  "MMMM!  This sure is some gooood dinner you made, Mama!"  Of course, if it is not up to par, he pronounces that it is, "Yuck!  Shoo-shoo!  P.U!"  Hmm, we are still working on that one:).  But I do appreciate the kind words when they are offered.  They remind me that he often hears his daddy thanking me for the meal.

Lastly, he has been very adamant lately that we "don't worry" (or as he says it, "don't wuh-wee").  "Don't wuh-wee, Mama, I can get my own water!"  I guess he doesn't realize that it is actually less worrisome for me to get him some water, but I still think his independence is sweet.  I took a picture a couple of days ago of him telling Anna not to worry:

They were looking out the window for their friends, Tyler and Canon.  Anna was very excited and bouncing up and down, and Luke apparently interpreted her excitement as anxiety.  He stroked her hair and said, "Don't wuh-wee, Sissy, they'll be here soon!"  So cute. 

Oh, and before I go, here are so pictures I took tonight of Luke and Anna being silly trying to put stickers on each other.  I love their brother-sister interaction:

Beach Trip Comparison

So...this is what we took to the beach while on vacation, sans kids:

And this is what we took to the beach at home, with kids:

BUT, even though it is not nearly as much trouble, when you don't have kids with you, you don't get this:

Wow! I can't believe I did this!

Here’s how today went:

Luke wakes me up at 4:00 am.

Put him back into bed. Go check on him a few minutes later.

Can’t go back to sleep.

Can’t go back to sleep.

Get up and eat a bowl of cereal.

Finally go back to sleep around 5:40.

Anna wakes up screaming at 6:00.

Greg gets her back to sleep. Thank goodness.

Alarm goes off at 7:00. Hit snooze three times.

Wake up, take shower, get dressed. Hear Anna crying.

Get Anna. Go down the hall where Luke is getting out of bed.

Luke: “I poo-poo’ed.” Man! He hasn’t done that in over a week!

Change Luke’s pull-up. Get bag to put it in.

Come back to see that Luke has thrown poopie pull-up on floor.

Fuss at him. Pick up poo-poo from floor. Clean carpet.

Take kids downstairs and fix breakfast.

While getting Luke out of seat, tray falls. Oatmeal and yogurt go everywhere. Oatmeal bowl breaks. Luke cries.

Plop kids in front of tv. Clean up mess. Realize that my dress shirt now has oatmeal and yogurt on it.

Change clothes. Finally get out the door to church.

Stop by CVS on way for diapers.

Great sermon at church.

Come home for leftovers. Anna is asleep when we get home.

Want to take nap. Have a cup of coffee and clean instead.

Luke goes down for “quiet time.” No time for full nap.

Anna wakes up grumpy. Feed her lunch.
Greg leaves for graduations. Luke gets up.

Get kids dressed and sunscreened up for outdoor water party.

Pack bag with towels, change of clothes, bug spray, etc. Get presents.

Head out to party. Watch kids like a hawk around water. Anna still fussy, but warms up to it.

Melissa asks me about my parents. Start talking with her about Mike.

Burst into tears. Pull it together fairly quickly. “No, no, I’m fine. Really. I’m so sorry. I don’t usually do this.”

Only start crying one more time.

“No, seriously, I’m fine. Seriously, I talk about him all the time. This really doesn’t happen very often. No, it’s not your fault. I don’t know what’s wrong with me.”

We end up laughing.  It's all good.

Leave early because I have to teach class tonight.

Buy my kids Burger King kids meal for first time on way.

While unloading kids at church, drop Luke’s milk. It explodes on parking lot. Luke starts crying. Calms down when we see there is some left, and I assure him that I will give him some of Anna’s.

Head into annex (i.e. our “old house”). Kids pick at dinner. Anna eats in my lap.

Kids are filthy so I give them a quick bath in their old tub using the soap in there and a shampoo sample from the other bathroom.

Get Anna out. She fusses while I get her dressed.

Wash Luke. He starts screaming from water and/or soap in eyes.

Anna is climbing on me in an attempt to get back into the tub.

Finally get Luke’s hair rinsed and pull him out.

Get him dressed and let him play with trains while I do Anna’s hair.

Herd them over to church just in time for class.

Seven kids tonight. Birth of Jesus. Class goes really well.

Lesson lasted 45 minutes. Made paper-bag donkeys. Kids loved it.

Parents take awhile to get kids. Have to run and get Anna from nursery.

Load them up and go home.

Quick yogurt snacks. Brush Anna’s teeth and get her ready for bed.

Read to her and rock her. Try to put her down without a paci.

Brush Luke’s teeth, get him ready. Go down for cup of water and Sunday school handout.

Anna is crying when I come back up. Give her a few minutes.

Read to Luke and say prayer. Tell him I need to go rock Sissy for a few more minutes, but I’ll come check on him.

Go rock Sissy. She calms right down. Almost goes to sleep.

Hear Luke crying. Am afraid he will come down the hall and rouse Sissy.

Put Anna down and tend to Luke. Anna starts screaming again.

Luke wants his stuffed puppy. Run downstairs to get it.

Sit with him for two seconds. He is out.

Go and rock Anna. She falls sound asleep without paci. Lay her down. She wakes up screaming.

Give her paci. She’s out like a light.

Ignore my messy downstairs. Get ready for bed.

Greg comes home. Comes upstairs and gives me a kiss.

Gives me flowers.

And says,

“Happy anniversary.”

Are you kidding me???? I forgot my own anniversary!!! How is that possible?

I mean, I know we celebrated with our mini-vacation earlier this week. But still. I feel only moderately better that Greg forgot, too, until about halfway through one of the graduation ceremonies. But that is still just insane to me!

I had to get that out. I am so tired, but now in retrospect, I am so amused by my whole day.  I had to share.  And now, I am going to bed.

Can't wait for tomorrow:  Six years, and one day, baby!:)

You See Who Does All the Work Around Here...

Today was an all-day fundraiser at the church building for our upcoming Nicaragua mission trip.  There was a big yard sale in the Family Life Center, and the teens had a car wash.  Then tonight, there will be a spaghetti dinner and a silent auction.

We had a good turn-out of teens, but you know...by the third or fourth hour, they all had to eat lunch...and take a break...and slowly wander off:).  But don't worry.  There were some very willing volunteers to take their place!

A Fun Day

Yesterday was such a fun day.  First, we went to Family Story Time at our local library.

The kids enjoyed listening to the stories and singing silly songs.  I wish you could see better, but they are both wearing the pirate shirts they got from Greg's and my recent mini-vacation to Hilton Head.

We had a delicious dinner of Beef Lombardi, green beans, and garlic bread, and then had some fun being silly.

Then, on a whim, we decided to have our first ever Family Movie Night, something that I have been looking very forward to since having kids.

We blew up a couple of inflatable mattresses, covered them with quilts and pillows, got ready for bed, and then watched Finding Nemo.  Shockingly, even Anna laid down for a good bit of it.  Then she spent some time giving kisses and being silly before Greg put her to bed in her crib.  The rest of us finished the movie and fell asleep downstairs.  It was so much fun.  Then, this morning, we slept in until 8:00 (!) and all had a big pancake breakfast.

Kids are so fun!

I'm also excited because Luke has taken a nap without a pull-up three days in a row and stayed dry.  And Anna has gone to sleep the last two times without a paci.  We haven't been actively trying to get her off her paci yet, but we are taking this as a sign that maybe it's time!  Life without pacifiers and pull-ups would be a lot more convenient!

Notes from the Beach

Right now, Greg and I are in Hilton Head for a couple of days to celebrate our sixth anniversary (early, since it falls on Graduation Sunday this year).  It has been so wonderful and relaxing so far, and I have made several observations that I'm sure you are dying for me to share with you:

1.  Marriage rocks.  This is my conclusion after my long, illustrious six years of it (and for those who are saying, "Just wait," I don't want to hear it:).  I've heard that since year one, and I've long since stopped waiting).  I think liking your husband helps a lot. 

2a.  I miss my kids.  Seeing all these kiddos out here playing with their parents makes me excited for the many beach trips our family will have.  They are not at the ideal age right now, though it is still pretty fun.  But in the future...oh, it'll be so great.

2b.  Though I miss my kids, it sure is easier to relax when they aren't around:).  I took a picture for my Project 365 of what we took with us to the beach.  On day 1, it was a towel, some sunscreen, and the Federalist Papers.  That's it.  On day 2, it was a towel and an Us Weekly magazine.  (Who was I kidding?  I can't read the Federalist Papers with my brain turned on and a cup of coffee.  How am I supposed to read it with my brain turned off at the beach???)

3.  I love being in the ocean.  It's like being in God.  It's this huge, powerful, dangerous thing that is also breathtaking, amazing, and calming.  It soothes my soul.

4.  Star Trek  rocks.  And this is from someone who has never,ever seen one previous episode or movie.  After watching it, my Sparrow/Pogue addictive personality kicked in, and I immediately wanted to see it 10 more times.  (Once, when we were on vacation in Panama City, me, my brother, and our friends Jaime and Joe Marshall gleefully watched Tombstone every single night for a week.)  Greg does not share this element of my personality at all.  He was like, "I am not paying $17 for you to see Star Trek again."  Um, good point.  So Night at the Smithsonian it is!

5.  I love the metaphor of the pendulum swing to explain the "progression" of philosophical ideas in culture.  And I think we are on a pendulum swing right now.  Among younger Christians (i.e. the future of the church), I believe that the pendulum is swinging away from the idea of the last 30 years that we should use the establishment to further the aims of the Kingdom and towards a more "radical" hippie-like Christianity (yes, we've been here before).  Major younger, evangelical figures like Shane Claiborne, Brian McLaren, Rob Bell, and the guy who wrote Crazy Love are all on this bandwagon.  I'm interested in how far and long the pendulum will swing, as well as where the middle is.  I will say that I don't think I'm in the middle.  But I'll also say that I don't think James Dobson is, either.

6.  I think that the people who came up with Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull got the idea from looking at jellyfish.

7.  When you take a long walk on the beach, don't get so engrossed in talking that you forget to turn around.  Failure to do so eventually will make your walk extremely long. 

8.  My husband has the music knowledge of a 40 year old man.  We were laying by the pool listening to this live musician play with no lyrics.  He was playing a song I totally didn't recognize, and Greg was like, "What is this song?"  He paused and said, "I think it's the Beatles."  He paused again and then said, "Oh, I know. It's "Eleanor Rigby."  What???  I'm obviously not very knowledgeable about the Beatles, but it's not like he sits around listening to them, either.  He then gave me a run down of the evolution of the Beatles music.  I ask again, How does he even know this?  And it's not just the Beatles.  He is like a music expert.  I, on the other hand, am stupid when it comes to music, even though I'm usually really good at remembering random, often meaningless facts. 

9.  I'm full of observations.  I could go on all day:).  To spare you, though, I'll wrap this up.  I'm not promising there won't be a part 2, but I think you've had enough for now!