TOMBOY/PRINCESS

My daughter is such bundle of SPUNK!!! I love love love her!!! On Saturday, my dishwasher quit. This dishwasher is over 20 years old, and I knew I was lucky that it had lasted this long. Dan has done wonderful, resurrecting it time and time again. This time though, seems to be the end! Now I am not going to go into how it will add to the work load to wash the dishes by hand, that is how life goes. I want to share about my GIRL coming into the kitchen after her bath and helping Dad try and fix the dishwasher. I came in to see her using a wrench. I looked at Dan and he said she seemed to know what to do on her own. He did not show her anything, she put the nut on the screw, got the wrench and started to tighten it!!!!!!!!! Yeah, she has talent!!! A tool GENIUS! LOL!!!!! She was so proud and so was her daddy!!!! Where was his strapping son? On the couch watching TV . HAHAHA. So mom got the camera, that seems to be on it's last leg too :( and got some shots.

The great part is that the very next morning she was in "Princess" mode. Loving getting all dressed up for church and getting her hair done!!! I LOVE THIS. She seems to be the PERFECT combination! She can for sure get dirty and rough and tumble, able to take care of herself, but still loves the frills and girly things!!! I was proud of her hairdo this morning. It took a little time, but it came out pretty! (I am a tad bit biased)

Thought I would throw in a pic of the kids in Sunday School! There is my BOY with his big smile. And my pretty girl in her PINK!

Getting "showed up" by my husband

I am not a cook. Well okay, I am not a great cook. I can cook your run of the mill dishes. I can keep my family fed, and do it in a way that they enjoy, but I am NOT a good cook. It takes me two- three tries to get a dish right and even then, I some how manage to burn it or drop it before it can reach the table. So I stick to what I know most of the time. Knowing that we do not have the money for me to "try" new things!

We have pot luck at our church every Sunday. Yes you heard it right, EVERY Sunday. Talk about a little added stress to someone who can't cook that well. It is a good schedule for our church, and it works. But to add to it, the church is full of ladies who CAN cook, and VERY well. And no matter how much I know that I can't cook, I find myself "wanting" to keep up with these wonderful dishes that pour in every Sunday.

Last night I worked hard and made dinner. I had bought chicken, some for us and some to make for Sunday potluck. I made, BBQ chicken, steamed Red potatoes, tossed green salad, and some peas (the kids LOVE peas). I thought it was pretty good. Hannah ate TWO chicken legs all on her own.

So today while I was folding and putting away laundry, my husband came in and asked what he could do to help. (yeah, he's cool that way). I said that I needed to come up with a good way to cook the chicken . He said "you are not gonna do the BBQ?" and I answered "that is kinda boring" (in my mind I finished the thought with "up against the first class cooks at church", but he was not privy to that little add on.)

I am a woman, and must say that I was setting my husband up. Yup, I was setting it up for him to say "honey, your BBQ chicken was awesome last night! You should make it like that, I know I would like it!" Okay ladies....is that too much to ask for????????????? I really did try hard last night to cook the chicken so it tasted really good. I can't blame him, don't want him to fib or anything, but it would have been nice, a little pick me up.

So I continued to fold the clothes and he went into the kitchen. Not 5 min later he comes back into the laundry room and says, "I found a recipe for some sweet and sour chicken that looks good and we have all the stuff for it" !!!!!!! I can't complain. I DID tell him that it would help if he found a good way to cook the chicken! I told him that I would mess it up if I did the recipe, to which he said "no you wouldn't" ....(with a pause ;) He so knows me!

So now I am sitting here, with this scrumptious smell coming from the oven! The chicken is laying in a bed of garlic, pineapple, red onion and the most delicious looking sauce in the WORLD!!!

(Little side note... he just came in the kitchen and found the meat thermometer I "accidentally" melted last night. *sigh*)

So, it DOES help to have the chicken done. BUT tomorrow when all those first class cooks look at it, they will say things like "wow did you make that?" (they know me too ;) and I will have to say, like SOOOOOO many times before "no Dan did!"

I sure love that guy, but does he HAVE to be SOOOOO good ALLLLLLLLLL the time? (lol)

"Lashes, Come Forth!"

My children humble me. I have taught Sunday School for years. Taught mid week

classes for pre-teens, and always tried to do my best to make the lessons fun and

to get the Word of God into the kids minds and hearts. I have always LOVED teaching. But now that I have my own children in my Sunday school class, I have been humbled into what a responsibility teaching really is. They may only be 3 and 2 1/2 (can't believe my little baby girl will be 3 in 4 short months!!!!!) but they soak up the lesson

s like little sponges. So teaching the right stuff, in the best way I can, has become more important to me. I know that my children have taught me something I will carry into all the classes I teach from here on out. To do my best and to strive to do better. So when I am cutting out 52 "bees" for the "Be-Attitudes" lessons,

(I still have a lot of cutting to do!)

or making 6

giant flowers for the walls in the classroom,

or free handing cars that are driving along the "pathway to goodness" (no picture, sorry)...it is a good work to do, because these little precious minds are worth all the work. What a privilege it is to teach about our Lord and Savior. Especially to children, helping them to grow up in this world with HOPE!

A few weeks ago, our Sunday School lesson was about how Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead. I told my mom I would be doing a blog with pics and she has been waiting to see...so here you go mom!! The story pictures showed how Lazarus looked with burial clothes on, so I thought that a good way to help them learn the story would be to act it out!!! I brought my camera!!!

Here is my girl! Ben was not sure about the TP!

So he told sissy to go first so he could watch her do it!!!!

Ben had a hard time saying "Lazarus", but he did his best. He said "LASHES, COME FORTH!"

Then it was Ben's turn. Hannah did not say a word. She pointed, but did not say anything!!!

She did help her brother out of the TP!

Showing some love....and going potty!

At this point in my life, some days it feels like I spend half the day in the bathroom with the kids. Always aware of how much they have been drinking and how long since their last potty break! That is just the stage we are in right now. And with two of them, I am in that bathroom A LOT!!!

It is not always a glamorous job, but must be done and I am just fine with that. This morning though, the kids did something that blessed my heart...in the bathroom :)

I called out "potty time" and they both came running. Hannah was the first, so I was helping her, Ben was patiently waiting, and here is what was said.

Ben- "MOM I Wub you too!!!"

MOM- "awww thank you!, I love you too Bubba"

Hannah- "I Yub you too mom"

Mom- "Awww thank you Hannah, I love you too"

(remember we are using the potty all through this)

When Hannah was done she started to leave the bathroom, when she stopped and swirled around facing Ben.

Hannah- "I Yub you too bubba"

Ben- "I Wub you too little one" (Dan calls Hannah his "little one")

And then to top it all off...they gave each other a HUGE HUG!!!!

Yeah, that was pretty cool. Who knew taking the kids to the potty could be so awesome!!

Potty Training Memories!

I was going through some pics doing a project and found this one!!!!! I laughed out loud! Now that the kids are potty trained, it brings back memories of when we first started! Here they are, chilling and reading! HAHAHAHA!!! Hannah was right there with her brother, almost training BEFORE he did!!! Crazy..and cute and great. I have a blast everyday being their mama!

I wish I was HUGE!!!!

I wish I was huge.(well okay, huge-er than I am right now)  I wish I was having to pee all the time. I wish I had heartburn like crazy, and I wish I could not sleep, or find a comfortable position. I wish my ribs were sore. I wish I was nervous and worried, and excited. I wish Dan was a nervous wreck and I wish he was calling every hour to check on me.  I wish our bedroom had a bassinet set up with little blankies and diapers. I wish I could be telling my little boy and little girl that their brother or sister was gonna come real soon!  I wish it was my turn. 

But all my wishing, does not change reality. This Friday was to be my due date for our little sprout. I am so grateful for the peace and grace the Lord has given me to handle losing the baby. It is only through HIM! My life is wonderful. I have a great husband, and two beautiful children and I Love My Life!!! But that does not mean there is not sadness or hurt. And this week, it is hurting more than normal. The moment the doctor told me "your due date is Aug. 7th so start planning" I did exactly that. This is not how I planned spending Aug 7th, but things in this world seldom go as we planned. I was so blessed to be able to carry my baby for 8 1/2 weeks, and I am so happy that my baby is in the presence of the Lord. I am just wishing that I was getting ready to give birth, instead of "getting through the day". 

Remembering our little sprout, and looking forward to meeting him/her some sweet day! 

"WOCKETS" and "TRAINS"!!!!

This weekend was great!!! I just have to share!!!  Friday evening I was able to visit with an friend and it was wonderful to catch up and enjoy! 

Saturday, we took the kids to the Library, where Ben got two books about "WOCKETS" and Hannah got a book about monkey's!!!!! (she can sure relate to them!!LOL) Mom and dad each got a book and it was a good family field trip!! Then after lunch and nap we packed up the kids, headed to the high school football field and launched Ben's water rocket he got for Ben day. The kids had a WONDERFUL time and we had a blast watching them!

At one point the sprinklers came on...and then they got really wet!!!! 

Sunday, we went to church and it was great. Two great messages, good food, great kids singing. The Lord blessed our services today! After church was done, we loaded up our tired kids and headed for Orland! Where they have train rides!!! Yes Ben was so excited!!! They have this miniature train there and on the first Sunday of the month they have rides. Kids 2 and under are free and everyone else is only $1!!!! So that fit the budget!!! And with Ben being so in love with trains, we went! It was perfect. Grandma and Grandpa came along too!!! 

ALL ABOARD!!! The kids were sooo excited and had a BLAST!!! They even have a tunnel it goes through!

They let the kids get up in the REAL engine and ring the bell!! For our second ride, the kids chose the cattle car to ride in. 

I think it is safe to say, our boy had a GREAT TIME!!!

Here is a short video of going through the TUNNEL!

What a blessing this weekend was. Dan and I spending time with the kids. As a family! I am so blessed and thankful for time I have with my family! LOVE IT!