Horrible news

My heart is so heavy as I write this. I was just informed that a friend of mine's husband, Kyle Lake, was electrocuted and died while performing a baptism University Baptist church in Waco this morning. Here is the Drudge Report article on it. The church was packed with people who were there for Baylor homecoming. He reached for a microphone and something went horribly wrong. My friend was there to watch her husband die.

My friend, Jen, went to undergrad and graduate school with me. She took over my job when Matthew was born. As soon as she took it over, she became pregnant. We both joked that something was wrong with the seat at our desk. She had her beautiful daughter 5 years ago and twin boys who are 3. Matthew and Avery, their daughter, became friends at Mother's Day Out this summer because they both wore glasses.

I remember sitting with her the week after she got engaged. She told us all the sweet things Kyle had done to propose. I remember her calling me the day she found out that she was having twins. "Twins! Kyle and I thought we would have 2...maybe 3...I guess we are done!"

I am so angry about it. Why did this have to happen to a vibrant young preacher? Why did it happen when he was baptizing someone? Why did Jen have to witness it? Why is Jen a widow at 30? Why do her children have to live without their Daddy?

I am so angry and sad. Please keep Jen and her precious children in your prayers.

Happy Friday!

Another week bites the dust. I am ready for this weekend!

Bryon had to work a lot this week. He was out of the office most of last week and then came back and immediately was in trial all of this week. He has been putting in a lot of extra hours to make up for being out for almost two weeks!

The end of my P.T.A. campaign is today! We have been able to add over 100 books to our school library with this program. Last night, was open house at school and I wanted parents to see their children (and nonparticipating parents to feel guilty !;) so I hurriedly put up over 80 matted pictures of the participating children in a library display yesterday! What a task!

Open house was a lot of fun last night. It was great taking a peak into Matthew's new world. He showed us all the work he had done in his class as well as Music, P.E., computer, and Art. His P.E. teacher laughed with us about Matthew's booming voice. We don't call him the Voice of Moses for nothing! He was so funny walking down the halls like he owned the place, waving at all of his newfound friends.

In other news:
Little ME has made us laugh so often lately. She is developing quite a fun personality. Her Mother's Day Out teachers say she is very easy but definitely has her opinions! She has a very expressive face. When she is unhappy or looking at a person that doesn't agree with her, she has a huge scowl on her face. I will say, "Now, Mary Elizabeth! Put a smile on your face!" She INSTANTLY puts on the cheesiest, nose-scrunching, smile you have ever seen! She is quite the ham!

She is also saying more words. She says cookie, coke, baby, mama, dada, bear, moo! (for cow) nana, and deedah.

Just finished another Trunk or Treat!

Every Wednesday night before Halloween, we have Trunk or Treat at church. We eat dinner together and let the kids go car to car in search of goodies. The kids enjoy seeing their friends and the older members of the congregation get a chance to see all the children as well.

Every year, we try to get a picture of all the kids. This year proved to be the hardest!


We had a few "almosts" so I guess that is going to have to do this year!

Halloweens of the past

Tonight is Trunk or Treat at church. I will have many more pictures to add tonight!

Book news

I don't have a whole lot to report right now. I will tell you that I read And The Shofar Blew this weekend and I thought it was great. Francine Rivers is an incredible Christian fiction author. The book was about a young pastor and his wife. The pastor begins becoming more concerned with pleasing his flock than pleasing God. It was very interesting. I needed a good book after the last fiasco!

I made it!

Huge sigh of relief! Bryon has been gone since Wednesday at a conference in Arizona and is now home. Since Wednesday, we have had two soccer games, Fall Festival at Matthew's school, and Walk for Juvenile Diabetes this morning! I wish the powers that be would have consulted me before scheduling their conference at such a busy time!

Most of the past few days has gone well. Today has been a little hard since we had to be at the Walk early and then go straight to a soccer game. I think the kids are worn out and ready to see their Daddy. My mother, who is normally a tremendous help to me when Bryon is away, has been in Seattle the whole time Bryon was gone. My sister and Dad have stepped in to help.

This morning was the annual Walk for Juvenile Diabetes. SG and I are good friends with someone whose daughter was diagnosed at 11 months with the horrible disease. Our friend started the Walk 5 years ago and we love going. I spent quite a while answering Matthew's questions about diabetes while Thomas listened. I explained that the walk was a way to raise money so doctors can find a way to kill the disease so A.K. wouldn't have to get shots every day.

After the Walk this morning, Thomas asked me if we "got" the disease. He was thinking that we were walking to find diabetes! After we walked he started jumping up and down squealing, "We got diabetes! Now A.K. doesn't have to have shots everyday!" It was such a sweet, innocent statement from a child who has never had to suffer before. It brought tears to my eyes seeing him so excited that we had helped our friend. If only it was that simple.

We watched the Alabama game as a family today and enjoyed (or suffered through?) a nail biter! Bryon just took the kids out to get a toy and to eat dinner so I could have a little peace. God bless him!

In book news:

I absolutely love to read. It ranks right there with scrapbooking and cooking as my favorite pastime. I finally joined a book club that one of my good friends is a part of last month. Our first book was The Kite Runner. I can say that I appreciated it more than I loved it. It was an easy read and it really opened my eyes to the plight of those living in the Middle East. It made me think that people living there were suffering human beings and not all American-hating terrorists. I would recommend it if you are in the mood for something deeper than Mary Higgins Clark but not as difficult as Faulkner.

As you can see from the right hand margin, I am currently reading Julie and Julia. I hate it. I am about 1/4 of the way through and am thinking of abandoning it. What I had read about it was that it was based on a blogger who went through the entire Mastering the Art of French Cooking by Julia Child. Sounds interesting to a reader who love to cook, right?

Actually, the author loves to use the "s" and "f" words constantly and compares many of the cooking methods to what I consider inappropriate subjects. I keep skimming through trying to find chapters where she actually talks about cooking. Still having trouble with that one! The author was on the Martha show this week and it was very obvious that Martha didn't like her. She never laughed at her jokes and hardly looked at her. I DEFINITELY DON'T RECOMMEND IT!

Now, I am going to either finish the last few stories in the Chronicles of Narnia, read my next Rebus book, by Ian Rankin, read Suzanne's Diary for Nicholas (given to me by a friend) or Gilead, my next book for book club. I will keep you posted!

Question: Does anyone have a book that they highly recommend? One that they couldn't put down? It doesn't have to be something you recently read. If I had to choose my favorite books that I have read in the past 10 years, I would say Redeeming Love and The Mark of the Lion series by Francine Rivers. I couldn't recommend them more highly!

My son, Matthewouaeilsuoooupqai

I have just been made aware a way in which I have failed Matthew. I went up to his school to read to his class and Mrs. B pulled me aside and showed me several of Matthew's recent papers. Apparently, Matthew isn't happy that his name only has two vowels in it. "Mary Elizabeth has 6 vowels in her name, I only have 2!" Oh, the injustice!

He is now signing his name like such:

Matthewllaeiyellowuaaiiiopsyy
or
Matthewooooptsuulsaeiou
or
any other combination of letters that makes him have way more vowels in his name than the other kids!

Perhaps I should have looked up names with the most vowels when we were naming him? I can see it now:

Catagories for Baby Naming
Most popular
Fitting in and Standing Out
Biblical Names
Most Vowels

Mrs. B had a great laugh over this one! She said, never fear, she always know which paper is his!

Poor Matthew!

The next two weeks are going to be extremely busy with PTA stuff. I was planning on doing a lot of running around today in preparation for the next few weeks. That all came to a screeching halt this morning when Matthew woke up unable to put any pressure on his left leg.

I knew that no trauma had occurred since I was with him last night but I also knew that he wasn't faking it so I called the dr. They were able to fit him in if I could leave my house in 20 minutes. The kids and I weren't dressed yet and the younger two's bags weren't packed for MDO. Miraculously, we made it in time.

After a visit and x-rays (which in total took almost 3 hours) it was determined that more than likely, Matthew had had a virus recently and it attacked the bursa behind Matthew's knee cap. One of my good friend's husband read the x-ray and took us back to show Matthew his leg. He was fascinated! So, my plans came to a screeching halt and I spent the rest of the day babying Matthew!

I was able to do quite a bit of work at the house and having just Matthew home was a fun reminder of how it used to be!

A bit of Thomas's toddlerhood comes to a close

Last week, I took Thomas to the dentist. He has been a thumbsucker his entire life and has the teeth to prove it! I asked the dentist when he should stop sucking his thumb. He told me if he stopped now, there would probably be no permanent damage to his jaw.

Thomas and I have been discussing the fact that when he turned four, it was time to stop sucking his thumb. He seemed OK with that. However, when we were leaving the office, Thomas said, "I won't suck my thumb anymore." I asked him if he really wanted to stop now or wait until he was 4. He was adamant that this was the day to stop! He hasn't put his thumb in his mouth since last Wednesday! Not even at night!

"Deedah says thumbsucking is for babies and I am not a baby!" I asked him what he wanted his prize to be if he stopped sucking his thumb. He wanted my Dad to take him to get a coloring book. I think we can accomodate!

I am happy that this little habit is ending, but it also makes me sad. Thomas is getting so tall and is losing the baby look. This is just one more step toward growing up!

Catching up

Thank you, thank you to all who responded to my last post. I completely enjoyed reading all of your comments, especially those who commented for the first time.

And now to catch up on the last few days:
Wednesday, I finally decided to attend a continuing education course in Dallas. My future sister-in-law was going to be there and I thought it would be a great opportunity to get to know her better while earning continuing ed. hours. I usually wait until the last minute to do it so it was nice to get most of it out of the way. Bryon was able to take of for the afternoon so I spent much of the day arranging childcare in the morning for the younger two.

Thursday-Matthew had a soccer game. I am so proud of his budding athletic abilities! He scored the 4 and only points for his team during the game! Everytime he scored, he would scan the crowd looking for me and give me a big thumbs up. What a great feeling!

Matthew's soccer league this year is sponsored by the small suburb we live in and it is very non-competetive. Phrases like, "Everyone's a winner!" "No need to keep score!" "The point is having fun!" are heard throughout the park. This is all fine a well, except if you are as competitive as Matthew! He keeps a running score in his head and can still tell you how many points he scored last year.

Another neat thing about the league is they always pray before each game. Everyone gathers at midfield and kneels down. Matthew always begs to be the "prayer." During the first game, he prayed that the other team wouldn't be too upset when his team beat them badly! I am proud of his competetive spirit, but we are trying to tone it down a bit!

After the game, I quickly drove home to exchange cars and head to Dallas. I never leave the kids but for a few hours so they were fairly traumatized. Thomas came up to me with huge tears hanging over the edge of his lower lids. He said, very articulately, "You can't leave me, Mommy, because I will miss you so much!" Talk about ripping my heart out!

I drove to Dallas completely enjoying myself. No screaming in the back. Listening to my own music. Stopping if I chose to. I drove straight to Michael's soccer game. Michael, my brother, plays in an indoor soccer league. After watching Matthew's games for so long, I wasn't used to the face-paced, intense game I was watching. I had fun chatting with Jilinda and meeting a blog friend, Tiffany!

Today, Jilinda and I attended the continuing ed. course which was about cochlear implants and auditory-verbal therapy. Since most of my experience was with the elderly stroke population, I enjoyed learning about a brand new topic. I also enjoyed sneaking in some shopping during breaks!

Tonight, we ate at a fabulous hole in the wall restaurant in downtown Dallas. I always enjoy a great meal, and I was very excited that is was time to go home. I made it back home in record time and was able to put the kids to bed. They were completely worn out by Bryon's schedule. He took all three kids to the movie and ran lots of errands. I would NEVER take all three kids to the movies! He is definitely the fun parent around here! One funny story he told me was that he took them all to Starbucks and bought the boys apple juice. Matthew took one sip and asked if he had a Java Chip Frappuccino or a Tazo Chai Tea. Bryon asked me just how often I go to Starbucks!

Who are you and why are you here?

Oh, I am totally blog-lifting from SG and DJG. I am also curious at who visits my site. How did you stumble upon it? Why do you keep coming back? I would love to know!

Redneck Prom Queen and King

Here we are as Redneck Prom Queen and King 2 1/2 weeks before Matthew was born! 

Firsts and Lasts

I was tagged by MDM. Here it goes!

First Memory:
Getting a black eye when I ran into a friend of mine after my brother was born.

First Kiss:
Clay Johnson. I was 15 he was 16

First Concert:
Milli Vanilli (Yeah baby!) on my 15th b-day. Young MC and Seduction opened for them.

First Love:
Mike-my boyfriend from Senior year of high school to sophomore year of college.

First lust: Chris Redmond, freshman year of high school

First thing you think in the morning:
Is it Saturday yet?

First book you remember loving:
Tales of the Fourth Grade Nothing

First pet: Smokey the cat.

First question you'll ask in Heaven:
Where's my mansion?

First thing you think of when you hear the word vacation:
Cape Cod. Spending time with Bryon. Relaxing!

First best friend:
Andrea Brewster

Last time you dressed up:
church this Sunday

Last thing you ate:
Life Cereal

Last CD you bought:
Music Machine (for the kids)
Coldplay

Last time you cried:
Watching ME's first year picture slideshow

Last time you told someone you loved them:
This morning when Bryon and Matthew went to work/school

Last really fun thing you did:
Took the boys bowling on Sunday night

Last thing you watched on TV:
The Barefoot Contessa/The Office/CSI:Miami. I was catching up on TiVo last night!

Last Halloween costume:
Last year, Bryon and I dressed up like tourists. The time before that, I was 8 months pregnant with Matthew and Bryon and I dressed like white trash prom dates! (I was pregnant, get it?) I dressed in a body hugging dress and Bryon wore a cowboy hat and painted his teeth yellow!

Last Concert attended:
Amy Grant/Vince Gill in January

Now for the fun part...I tag the following
Jenni
SG
DJG
TL
Lauren
Meredith

A day at the farm followed by a night of insomnia

CHECK OUT OUR PICTURES FROM THE WEEKEND UNDER "PICTURES" IN THE RIGHT COLUMN!
Bryon had business in Conroe today, so we decided to make a family trip out of it. Yesterday after church, we hopped in our truck and drove to Bryon's Aunt Bernie's farm for her birthday party. Aunt Bernie was more like a grandmother to Bryon than a great aunt. She is quite a character! She is 84 years old. Still runs her 40 plus acre farm. Still feeds/breeds cattle, takes care of her house and her sister who lives next door. Her face shows every bit of her 84 years of outdoor work, but she has the body of someone 20 years younger. I told her how impressed I was at how she kept everything running. "Use it or lose it!" she said very energetically. I think we could all learn a thing or two from Aunt Bernie!

We spent most of the day at her farm eating bbq and cake, feeding the cows, going down to the tank to watch the frogs jumping around, and picking and eating pecans. A boys paradise!

Then we headed for Conroe. We ate at a neat pizza/game place. They have a kids bowling area and Thomas just loves to bowl! Everytime we go, he wants to bowl. He winds up, watches the ball slowly lumber down the alley and when a pin or two falls down, he screams at the top of his lungs, "Yes! Yes!" Definitely worth every penny to see that!

We ended up getting back to Bryon's parent's house pretty late. The boys went right to bed, but ME kept crying. She hates to sleep anywhere other than her crib. This could be why I haven't spent a night away from her in her 14 month life! Anyway, we get her out of the crib but don't get her down until after 11 p.m! I am very strict about bed time so this had me a little stressed out! Well, she wakes up screaming bloody murder at 3:30 in the morning and NEVER WENT BACK TO SLEEP! She didn't even take a nap today until 11 in the morning. Bryon and I were walking zombies today.

Bryon's depositions were supposed to go until 1:30 this afternoon but ended going most of the day. We didn't get back home until after 8. Better to unpack and get ready for our short week!

Friday

Well, I believe this is the longest I have gone without posting since I began in January! The reason for this is that the middle and end of the week played out much like the first part of the week. If it wasn't P.T.A. stuff, ME waking up several times a night just wanting to be held and not taking no for an answer, making food for people, dr.'s, dentists, visiting dear friend in hospital after her baby was born, grocery store runs, and trying to be just plain Mom throughout it all.

I feel very weary and overcommitted. Bryon is very busy at work as well, so we feel like we are running on empty. I made a promise to Bryon that next week, all activities would be greatly pared down. The only "hat" I want to wear next week is "Mom" and "Wife". Those two jobs take up so much space already without all the other stuff in the mix.

Bryon and I are sitting down tonight to decide where we will take our romantic weekend next month. It seems like every November we try to get away for awhile. Scheduling that between soccer games and all the rest of the Fall activites always proves to be a challenge, but it is my favorite month and I want to spend a little of it alone with Bryon!

We usually go to our favorite bed and breakfast down in Gruene. I love this place so much and hate to go somewhere else, but it might be nice to branch out a little. Who knows?

As I write, I am looking out at an overcast, windy morning. Leaves have started falling off our trees and I broke out the sweatshirt this morning. While running my errands this morning, I noticed pumpkins on porches and it made me smile. My soul feels at home in the Fall and I am trying to drink it all in while it lasts instead of letting it fall through my fingers while on the way to my next errand.

Have a great weekend!

A little relief

I am sitting here on Tuesday night very relieved that yesterday and today are over. The middle of Monday straight through to Tuesday night is the busiest time of the week and I am usually exhausted by the time it is over! Just a sampling:

Yesterday
2:30- Run by the scrapbook store to get a few needed items
3:00-3:10-Race over to school to pick up carpool
3:10-3:30-Drop off carpool friend and run by house to get a snack for Matthew
3:30-4:00-Run over to Baylor to drop Matthew at music
4:00-5:00-Cook dinner
5:00-6:00-Shove food in kids faces, get them ready for game, get Matthew soccer gear ready.
6:00-7:30-Soccer game!
7:30-8:00-Run home with Bryon in separate cars, drop off B's car, take kids to get ice cream b/c Matthew played his heart out, drive over to church to pick up my car which was left there on Sunday, drive home in separate cars.
8:00-8:30-Get ready for bed.
8:30-Kids are in bed. Time to get lunches and bags packed for MDO in the morning. Maid is coming in the morning. Clean house for maid.
10:00-In bed!

Today
5:45-Get up, take shower, get ready. Continue cleaning for maid.
7:00-Wake up kids. Get Matthew ready for school
7:40-Out the door dropping off Matthew
8:00-Home again. Get other two ready for MDO. Finish bags.
9:15-Maid is here, drop off kids at MDO.
9:30-Go to hospital to visit my grandmother who just had surgery
10:15-Go to Target to buy Thomas's friend a gift.
10:45-Run to Birthday party store looking for ideas on the boys' upcoming party
11:00-Dentist (Long overdue)
12:00-Grab quick bite to eat.
12:15-Home to get a few things done before picking up kids.
1:00-Up to Matthew's school working on P.T.A. fundraiser and chat with Matthew's teacher.
1:30-Back at scrapbook store to get a few things to work on tonight.
2:30-Pick up Thomas and ME.
3:10-Pick up carpool
3:30-Drop off carpool and grab quick snack for Matthew
3:45-Doctor visit for Matthew (allergies)
5:00-Home getting dinner ready
7:00-Getting kids ready for bed.
7:30-In Bed!
7:30- Finally a chance to breathe and watch a few shows on TV while scrapbooking!

I hate so much busyness. Somehow, the brunt of it falls in this 24 hours! Thankfully, Matthew's soccer games will mostly be on other days of the week. Looking forward to a very boring morning tomorrow!

Matthew's New Camera Face

How many perfectly good pictures will be ruined before he is over this stage?

Weekend at a glance

My date with roomie
Bryon's date with the kids
Catching up on TiVo'ed shows
Scrapbooking
Blueberry waffles
Soccer practice
Cleaning house
Baylor vs. Aggies
Bama vs. Florida
Bryon and Matthew's movie date
Thomas and my trip to a ranch for
friend's B'day party
Bryon/ME/Matthew date to Panera while
Thomas and I were "partying".
Church
Long nap!!

Dinner with friends

Sunday drive
Gearing up for P.T.A. fundraiser

A busy but fun weekend!

Tale of Two Nights on the City

Last night was an unusual Friday night. Generally, we go out with my whole family to a family friendly restaurant and then to Barnes and Noble. Last night, I went out with my college roommate and Bryon took the kids on a date.

Earlier this week, I called my roommate out of the blue. She and I live in the same town and were always great about getting together until she added her second child and I added my third. We hadn't seen much of each other this year and we decided that we should do it soon.

Here was the progression of our talk:

"Let's get together with the kids."
"Actually, let's get together without the kids while they are in MDO."
"Actually, why don't we go out on the weekend so we can go to dinner and a movie!"

I don't have to tell you which one we voted for! Since it had been so long since we got together, we opted for Friday night.

Bryon was happy with this. He loves spending time with the 5 of us, but I think he secretely loves having alone time with the kids. He had been planning their date for days!

Lisa and I went to out to dinner and we caught up quickly with what the other one was doing. Her oldest is a girl who is Thomas's age and her youngest is a boy who is ME's age. We had good laughs about what I should expect from a little girl (Supposedly I need to brace for whines and drama). And what she should expect from a little boy. (Batten down the hatches!)

In the meantime, Bryon took the kids to Chuck E. Cheese's. They ate pizza and played games. Apparently ME enjoyed herself and Bryon took pictures of her with her arm over the seat driving with Thomas.

Lisa and I then went to Barnes and Noble to partake in "Happiness in a Cup". This is the moniker my friends and I have given to our beloved Chai Latte. When we were driving to B&N, I asked Lisa what she liked to drink. She said, "Well, there is this incredible drink that I love from there. It's called Chai...." "Happiness in a Cup!" I said! No wonder were such good friends! We laughed so hard at the store that I am sure we disturbed a few people around us. We also saw a mutual friend of ours who was spending time with her old college roommate. L and I decided we needed to do this much more often!

Then Bryon took the kids to Toys R Us to pick out one toy each. ME got a new cell phone and the boys have matching Darth Vader costumes. Bryon said they went down the doll aisle and ME kept pointing and saying, "Doh! Doh!"

Finally, Lisa and I went to the movies to watch the Reese Witherspoon movie that I can't remember the name of at the moment. Heaven something. A cute ultralight chick flick.

Bryon and the boys rounded out their evening by going to Putt Putt. Bryon held ME while the boys "played" golf.

Matthew asked Bryon if they could have more boys dates as long as ME came along. I asked Bryon if I could have more girlfriend dates! Maybe we can accomplish both!