Walky Baby

I know I said that Chunk would be walking by Thanksgiving, but he's a little ahead of schedule. He still "drops into 4 wheel drive" as Jmk says, when he needs to get somewhere quickly, but he'll pull up and walk first before trying to crawl now. And this morning, he walked from the living room back to our bathroom while looking for me. So, we'll call him upright and mobile.

Although, it IS the incredibly cute sort of non-bended knee bouncy baby walk that precedes the more sure footed locomotion. So, he's not completely uncatchable. I love seeing his progression, but I can see the little baby slipping away!

In other news, John Kerry is a complete and utter twit. I'd like to cordially invite him to come down South, and say the same thing in between the 1st and 2nd quarters of the MSU/Alabama game. The subsequent reaction THERE ought to cause a re-engangement of his obviously defective brain to mouth filter.
There isn't enough education in the world to take the contemptible out of some people.

Feh.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY AMY!!!

Or, should I say Happy BOOOthday?!?

lol...... I know. Don't give up my day job.

You are an absolute gem and truly one of THE sweetest people that I know. What a blessing to have you as a sister! We love you honey - have a wonderful birthday today!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ROBERT!!!

To a most wonderful brother AND friend. (And diving buddy!) And to a most excellent Uncle.

And to the fabulous to-be-father of my future niece or nephew!

We love you so much - have a GREAT day, despite the Monday'ness of it all!!!

Ammendment #1

Well - I just talked to my mom. I don't want to misrepresent anything, so I feel like I ought to add an ammendment to my last post! We don't go to evening services right now because the kids have such an early bedtime, and they aren't good about sleeping in church, so an evening church service tends to make them extremely unruly the next day. We'll be able to enjoy evening services before too much longer!

However, because we weren't there, we missed the actual very last service in the old church building last night. And, from what I just heard, it WAS very emotional and sentimental. And probably very, very beautiful and memorable. I most certainly don't want to make light of any aches in anyone's heart!

I just know that as long as the body is together, then joy and fellowship will be together always. And, truly, that's what will give the new places that same old comfortable and reliable feeling.

And the Holy Spirit will give us the same all-encompassing joy in worship in the new places. We could meet in a pup tent, and the Spirit would fill us with joy. The comfort level, of course, would probably be seriously lacking. ::ahem::

I just wish I could hug everyone who had tears in their eyes last night!!!

***For all of those who don't know, we have a small, close-knit, PB church, and we do everything together. Worship, teaching, singing - everything. We even have "family pews" - no church daycare even. So, a move like this is a bit like moving a regular family.***

But, y'all, it's going to be wonderful! And we'll all still be together!!!

Time Change Church Change

I never really cared that much about the time change before kids.... now? - don't get me started on the subject! Why in the world do we fool with changing the time nowadays??? It serves no purpose and it messes up the kids' schedules SO badly.
(And I don't appreciate having kids stirring at 5:45 in the morning because their little bodies think it's 6:45).

We had our last meeting at our old church building yesterday!!! It was sort of sentimental (I was baptised and married in that building), but I think most folks are just so glad to not have to drive that far to go to church, that I don't think I really saw any tears. I know I was more excited than sentimental. It was a strange combo of feelings.
We'll be renting for a few months while our new building gets finished, and we are going to have some nice temporary digs!
The cool thing for me - for the first time in my life, getting to church will take 15 minutes or less.
We explained things to Poodle, and I think she mostly gets it. But I know that when she gets into the "borrowed" building and then again into the new building and sees all the people that she recognizes, then she'll know that she's at her church.

And isn't that what the Church is anyway? The people? ::smile::

Who Doesn't?

Seriously, who doesn't like Chicken Noodle Soup? I mean, it's not my favorite thing to come out of a can, but, still - when I'm sickly, it has a comfort factor to it that is nice. Especially when it is served with lots of "oh, poor baby" and "here, this will make you feel better".

Both kids are under the weather...... Chunk is full on sick, with a decent cold, and Poodle is starting to get a runny nose now. (Although, if you ask her, she feels "goot").

So, I figure - give her some chicken noodle soup for lunch. Preventative medicine, or whatever. (I know it doesn't actually work that way, but I did anyway).

Y'all - she does NOT like CNS. I tried! And, I'll try again. But this girl does NOT like it. Weird, huh?

When Coats Don't Vote

In this election season, I thought it would be fitting (get it - post about coats?) ::cough:: to show what happens when coats just laze about in a coat closet off of the kitchen. When they think that it is not necessary to cast their vote about what they want to have happen in their own closet.

These coats seem blissfully unaware of the impending changes ahead, don't they?

Yep. Don't vote, and your closet will get turned into a pantry. And it will happen in a single day, too.

Btw, honey, I LOVE the pantry. Thank you so much for doing that for us. And, yes, we probably should have done this when you first mentioned it waaaaay back when we moved in. I'm not saying that you were right and I was wrong, though. ::clearing throat::

heeeheee!

But I love you!

Or something like that

Have you ever made up words to a song, just because you felt like it? Or, maybe, you couldn't remember the exact words, so you just sort of filled in with whatever came to mind first?

Poodle most certainly decided to do just this very thing the other day. Jmk had just gotten home from work, and we were sitting on the floor playing with both the kids. Poodle breaks out in song, with an Etta James'esque delivery, and gives us this new (and not exactly improved!) version of Jesus Loves Me.

Sing with us everyone! (and please, for the full experience, sing really loudly)

JESUS LOVES ME
HIM'S TELL ME WHAT TO DO
WE'RE GONNA BE HAPPPY
HE TELLS ME SO.........

Thank you, thank you ladies and gentlemen, thank you. She'll be here all week. Try the veal! Goodnight everybody!

Website Update

The Website has been updated with the latest picture link! For September. If my calculations are correct, then you'll probably be getting October's pictures sometime around mid December. ::ahem::
The address is the and our last name with an "s" dot com.

Thanks for visiting!

Um, yep, that about covers it.

We have this book of Bible stories that Poodle love love loved when she was little. It isn't really geared towards little children, because there aren't a lot of pictures, and no color on the pages. But, what she liked was for us to read to her as she was being rocked to sleep. Gosh, she was probably somewhere between 2 and 2 1/2 before this book wasn't a necessity at night.

So, anyway, I've started reading the stories at night to Tooter when I'm putting him down. And even though she hasn't asked for her "stories" in awhile, Poodle saw the book in Toot's room and asked about it. I told her that I was reading the stories to him at night, and he was so glad that she was sharing her book with him.

She thought about that for a bit, and then she opened the book and said "I'm going to read the stories to him. Sit there Tooter."
"Okay. God loves you. And you need to be nice to people. Okay. That's all".

:-)
Yes, my darling girl, that's a good summary.

Potty Talk

Poodle was remarkably unconcerned with the potty when she was little. Don't get me wrong - I rarely went to the ladies' room unaccompanied. But the results of said action weren't interesting to her. We never had to childproof any toilets, and never worried about things being flushed into oblivion.

Well.......
lol........

Not so with Tooter. I discovered yesterday how very much interested he IS going to be. He didn't manage to get a hold of anything, thank goodness. But we're gonna have to keep an eye on this one!

What A Friend

Friends. Blessings from God, and important to our hearts. Friends are like the contents of a library. Better to have a few really good books, then shelves full of nonsense and tripe. At some point, we all may have picked up an acquaintence who would be prone to sending a drive-by email on some random Monday, meant to kick you in the shins. (yikes!)
However for any of the above one might acquire during his or her life, I hope you all have twice the number of the type of friend who did this Good Thing for me a couple of days ago.

I was having a Day. One of Those Days. You KNOW what I mean, yes? I sent a quick vent-my-frustration note to Patty who is a seasoned veteran in the SAHM Army, and who is brilliantly sympathetic. That late afternoon, as I was carting my toddler and baby off to KayRoger for some can't-wait items, she calls me on my cell phone. Why? Just so I could hear HER littlest one crying, complaining, and fussing loudly in the background. Can you think of a better way to tell someone "I understand your frustration, and I'm walking the walk with you!" ?

Thank you for that Patty - you couldn't have "said" it better!!!

Plumber Bill

Yay!!! At least that wasn't too bad. Just under $115. It was the connection of the copper piping out of the house to the PVC piping that goes to the meter. Whew. The only part of the yard that will have to be fixed is the bed right next to the house. Beauty!

Although they did recommend that we move the Japenese Magnolia that is planted right on top of the water and sewer lines in the front yard. Especially now while it is still small. I'll have to see what Jmk says about that. We didn't plant it, so we don't have a huge attachment to its current location.

Anyway, praise the Lord that the plumber's bill wasn't any worse!!! They were in and out of here in an hour. I won't know about the water bill for another month, since that gets billed in arrears. ::gulp::

Oh horrors.

We have a leak somewhere between the water meter and our house. More on that later.

As an unrelated aside, Poodle had her first bad dream last night. Well, not her first one. I know she's had some before. But this was her first one that she was able to explain to us. You know what made her wake up crying? She dreamed that Custard had run away. Awwwwww!!!!

Okay, back to the oh, horrors. There is some leak somewhere between the meter and the house. Thus, it's "our problem" as the water department was SO kind to explain. (I wanted to snip back that I realized that and that wasn't the reason I was calling, but I didn't. I stayed calm). It probably leaked for at least 2 days before it was caught. UGH.

At this point, we have NO idea how it happened. Don't even know where the actual leak is. Honestly, I don't know that we'll ever know what happened. Maybe the plumber guys will be able to make some reasonable guesses. Who knows.

I don't want to even think about the water bill we're going to have, much less the repair bill. Jmk called Kevin, and he'll be sending some of his crew out today.... they should actually be here sometime this morning. So, it's nice that we had someone to call first thing on a Monday morning. But they're definitely not going to be coming out here for free.

sigh.......

Good grief. We'll most likely have to add the cost of repairing the yard to the water bill and the repair bill. Depending on where the leak is.

Don't want to think about what all this is going to cost, but it's ALL I can think about right now! Yeesh!

It Is Finished. What a beautiful sound.

We're Finished!!!

Jmk and I have finally completed reading the Bible from cover to cover. For the first time ever.

I know this may take some by surprise. A lot of y'all know our parents and our upbringing, and it would follow that we would have already read the Scriptures by now. And, we have certainly read them. Just not every word. And, it is something that we were neither proud of nor easily admitted. Despite having diligent parents, preachers, and teachers, we just had never done what we needed to do.

But, after starting a “Read the Bible in a Year” schedule, we are grateful to be able to say that we have read God’s Word, every word of it. It’s a cause for celebration!!!

We started this schedule around the 1^st of September last year. (wait for it……. There it is.) Despite our best intentions and efforts, it still took us a bit over a year. Katrina clean up contributed somewhat, but mostly, having a baby 2 ½ months after starting led to most of the delays. Like Jmk had to remind me many times, we weren’t in a race. We were just trying to finish.

And, OH, what a blessing it has been to complete this task!!!

Reading in this manner has a drawback in that in order to accomplish the day’s reading, one can’t always dwell on certain chapters or even verses that desire further meditation. However, being forced to push on through gets the words read.

And, the benefits have been so wonderful!

From my perspective (and maybe Jmk will post his thoughts later), I am acutely aware, more than ever, of how much I do NOT know about the Bible. Of how important true study of the Word is.

I’m so much more aware of how great of a sinner I am. Salvation by Grace is the sweetest sound to such a sinner as I.

The Old Testament isn’t actually full of “begats”. And learning to read the language in the KJV isn’t impossible. It just takes some familiarity.

Most importantly, I think Jmk and I both now have a springboard to go back and start true study of the Scriptures. For me, starting with the Pauline writings, I had to plum give up on reading the notes in order to get finished. (There were notes on just about every verse!) So, I think he and I both are going to enjoy being able to go back and read slowly and methodically. Reading the notes. Reading the cross-references. Contemplating what we have read. Talking about what we’ve read. Without a schedule nagging us to hurry up. With prayer that the Lord will bless our efforts.

We both feel that by doing what we were supposed to do anyway, we have been brought closer to the One who asked this of us.

If any of this sounds like bragging, then please forgive me. That is the farthest thing from what I intend. My only reason for posting this is to encourage anyone who might be rowing the same boat we were in to try doing what we did. Hopefully, you’ve all read from Genesis to Revelation. But, in case you haven’t, believe me when I say that the effort you put forth will be so very blessed. And you will be thoroughly happy that you have done this good thing.

Here is a good link to help you get started:

BibleGateway's Bible In a Year

It’s not actually the one we used, but I think I like this one better anyway.

God’s Word is so full of the encouragement and guidance and admonition and comfort that we need on a daily basis. You will be so very glad you read it all.

Praise HIM! Who was, is, and forever more shall be!

Time Marches On

6:30 yesterday morning.
6:00 this morning.

Wow.

First, let me explain that Jmk and I unknowingly started practicing "attachment parenting" when Poodle was a baby. It's not something we set out to do. It's something that we fell into by way of trying to survive a "high needs" baby as first time parents. It worked for us - that's all that matters. So, having Poodle sleep with us at night became normal, and didn't bother us. She'd start out the night in her crib, and when she needed to be with us, we'd bring her in our room. Later, when she was sleeping in a big girl bed, she was able to bring herself in our room whenever she wanted. (And, we found that she wasn't as in a hurry to do that, since she could do it whenever she wanted. Shocker).

These past couple of weeks, we've noticed hearing the pitter patter of little feet later and later at night/early morning. Then, yesterday, she didn't show up until 6:30am. And this morning, she didn't show up until 6:00am. And she wasn't coming in our room to go back to sleep. She came in because she was UP for the day, (the kids rarely ever sleep past 7am), and wanted to come in for our morning snuggle session. (Jmk leaves early in the morning, usually, and the kids and I stay in bed for 20-30 minutes and just snuggle after everyone wakes up. It's nice. I take full advantage of my opportunity to be a snuggle hog).
Anyway, there you have it. We fussed over her for sleeping all night long in her own bed, and she was so proud of herself. And we're so proud of her!

And you know what else?

I miss her!

I do. I miss her. I miss her smell at night, and I miss having everyone within arms reach during the night. Isn't that crazy? I should be jumping up and down for joy that we are finally on the actual path to one of the kids being able to sleep on their own, for real. But, mostly, I miss her.

I suppose it's because I know that every milestone such as this takes babyhood farther away. That wonderful time where Mommy's kisses can heal booboo's and the world is still an innocent place. She's 3. This is normal.... kids are more biologically ready to be alone all night and are more interested in trying to be in their own bed all night.

But that doesn't mean that I can't get a little verklempt when I think about it.
::smile::

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DADDY!!!

Happy Birthday to my darling Jmk!!!

You are such a devoted husband and a beloved father. You are the smile on our faces at the end of the day. We are so blessed to have you as the head of our home and the strength of our hearts.

Thank you for being so giving and loving and for being the epitome of dependability. Thank you for for being YOU!

Your day can’t possibly be as wonderful as you are, but I hope it’s at least close. We love you so much, and would be lost without you. You’re the best Scooper Daddy in the world!!!

Wiggly Wiggly

What's wigglier than a 10 week old yellow lab puppy? A 10 month old baby boy getting his nose wiped. Wow - Tooter does NOT care for the nose wiping. I'm sure Poodle didn't love it either, but I don't remember her being SO opposed to the idea. Praise the Lord, neither one of them has to go thru it very often.

We're all doing better - Poodle is even going to go to church today. MooMoo and GaGa are going to come pick her up, so I'm glad that she is feeling up for that. Of course, she IS a little energizer bunny, even when she is on the well side of a cold.

Blugh. I always feel so bad when I can't get to church. I know it's the best thing for both Tooter and for Jmk and myself, but still. I guess we've got to get completely over this junk before we get exposed to any new junk. Most especially Tooter. He needs to get this first cold thru and out of his system completely. Poor thing. Watching him figure out how to eat, drink, and nurse while breathing out of his mouth and not his nose is sort of pitiful. It will be funny when I know he's feeling much better.

Anyway, here's hoping that this takes care of our needing to have a winter cold. Blugh again.

Beware All Ye Who Enter Here

Break out the wooden placard, and post the Quarantined sign. Drape the windows with sheets to warn all who might come near. The Zoo home has been infected!

Okay, so it's not THAT bad.

But both kids are sick, and now Jmk and I are both starting to feel a little blech.

It's not a big deal. Just one of those dumb cold viruses, exacerbated by allergies, that isn't a major deal but will still make one feel like junk. I think Poodle probably picked it up from a munchkin she was playing with at Chick-fil-A on Friday. And, of course, it goes from her to Tooter, and on to us. Although, we're hoping to be able to fight most of it off. Tooter has it the worst. This is his first major cold to fight, so he's all a mess.
Poodle pretty much finished almost 2 liters of o.j. by herself over a two day period, so she is overflowing with good vitamin c and is doing fairly well. But she's pretty grumpy. (Translation: testing every boundary she has).

I, however, am beat. (b-o-o-h-o-o). Tooter "hasn't slept well" the past two nights. (Translation: he woke up every 30 minutes night before last crying because he felt bad and couldn't breathe thru his nose. Last night, it was still every 30 minutes, but at least he wasn't crying every time). And, of course, he isn't napping well at all. And isn't too thrilled with the idea of my setting him down. And, since I can't do much while trying to balance a squirmy 23 lb fussmonster, the household affairs have just about come to a standstill.

Again, b-o-o-h-o-o. Believe me, I know that we could have problems that are SO much worse.

But the grumpy house makes for a pooped mommy.

This really isn't a big news post. I just wanted to vent a bit. My sick ones are calling again. Loudly.
*smile*

The Party and The Princess

Everything was just wonderful for Poodle's 3rd Birthday!

First, she spent most of her actual birthday as a princess......

SueSue and PopPop and the puppies called her first to wish her happy birthday. And about 30 minutes later, Aunt Amy called! Then, later, we went to Chick-fil-A for lunch and played with MooMoo and GaGa. Daddy came home early from work so that she could get......

.......her big birthday present!

Yep, she's a bike rider now! We skipped the whole tricycle thing, since these cute little bikes with training wheels are available. She's doing great on it! Still trying to get the hang of how pedals work, but she just about has it down. Steering will come next, I'm sure. *grin*




And then the day after her real birthday, we had her party!

Tons of family were there, and everyone was SO good to her. Quite frankly, she was overwhelmed. After everyone left, she took my hand and led me into the living room. She looked at all the wonderful gifts and started to show me some of the things she received. I think that's when it finally started to hit home that these things were actually hers. Thank you so much to everyone for coming and helping her have so much fun. And thank you for taking the time to give the little princess such wonderful gifts!!!


Chunk, however, is having other thoughts........ "Hmmmm", thinks Chunk. "If she has a bike now, that must mean......"

"Yes!!! I get the car!"

We love you all so much for loving our children and being such a big part of their lives. Thank you for giving of yourselves and your time and your gifts. Jmk and I are so grateful to be blessed with the best family (and friends!) in the world!!!!