Happy Anniversary!

Twelve years ago at this time, I think I was preparing to meet the man of my dreams in the sanctuary of the church. We decided to see each other for the first time in an empty church sanctuary, just the two of us. I remember walking down the aisle toward him, teary eyed. We were able to talk, cry a little, pray, and have just a few moments alone in the middle of a very, very busy day. I treasure that memory (with so many of that day).

This week one of my students in my notorious 3rd period class (notorious because it's taken me until December to get full control and build any sort of relationship with them - very challenging) told me that she would be at church Sunday and "expected" to see me. I explained that I wouldn't be there since I would be celebrating my 12th anniversary with my dear husband. "Why on Earth would you want to be married to anyone for 12 years?!" "Marriage sucks." "Twelve years with ONE person - come on, Miss, that's boring!" These were all comments from the class.

I'm not often at a loss for words. I usually have a clever quip for a comeback or some insightful wisdom to impart. But I was totally.dumb.founded. Silent. At a loss for words.

How can these students have such a horrible view of marriage? How can they NOT want to find the love of their life to make a lifetime commitment? Why is it not appealing?

I guess I've thought about their question since they posed it, "Why would you want to be married for 12 years?" Why, indeed.

From the time I can remember, I prayed for a husband who would be a Christian. I prayed for a husband that would love our children. I prayed for a husband that would love me. I prayed for a husband that would view marriage as it is portrayed in the Bible.

I married a man who loves God above all. A man who loves, cherishes, and protects me. A man who adores, plays, and teaches our children. We are a team. We laugh, cry, fight, and pray together. We enjoy our time together, and we enjoy our time apart. We don't feel as if we "owe" each other anything, but we want to give to each other unconditionally. We find ourselves selfish at times, but we know, from Scripture, that it's not right, and we seek forgiveness and reconciliation. We have security, contentedness, and comfort in our marriage vows. Together we are whole - one.

I can't imagine my life without my beloved. Thank you, dear God, for the gift of my spouse and all that you have blessed us with in the 12 years we have been married.

Thanksgiving

"Bar light, bar bright, first bar that I see tonight, I wish I may, I wish I might, find someone to hold me tight..." blares from the stereo. Worse than that is the fact that Jenna and Hudson are singing, at the top of their lungs, and know every word.

I find myself in a position that is surreal - we're in the pick up for a 4 hour trip to West Texas (which means no on board DVD player to entertain the kids for some of the 4 hours) to deer hunt (not my favorite), the truck is completely packed with food, ice chests, bedding, clothing, and guns. My son is wearing his boots, and my husband is wearing a camo hunting shirt and his hunting/preaching shoes (his hiking style boots). We're heading to the middle of nowhere to a cabin that does have a potty, shower, and functional kitchen - but, gasp, no heater other than a couple of space heaters in conditions that are supposed to be in the 20s overnight.

While I try to recover from the shock of my kids singing this song, they break into "Tight Fittin' Jeans" and then "Redneck Girl." If you know me well, you know that "old" country really grates on my nerves like fingers on a chalkboard, but worse.

The redeeming attributes of this trip - the Gordon family. Each of them. I can feel my blood pressure lower and feel myself mellow out when I'm in the presence of Leah. So, despite the cacophony (check that out, it's a vocabulary word) of music, the trip was amazing! We had great times around fires (grill and in fireplace), a delightful steak dinner for Thanksgiving, and meaningful times all in between.

Here are details from the evening "family" deer hunt. Jer and H got up both mornings and were in the stand while it was still dark while Jen and I slept "in" until 8:00, but Thursday evening, we all sat in the stand together. By the way, I did take this level with the horizon, but the stand leans a little. The whole time Jenna kept saying how she felt like she going to fall forward!


Now, with this picture, I want you to picture a doe and feeder about 50 yards in front of the stand and Jenna declaring, "I have to go to the bathroom." So, as quietly as possible, Jenna went from the top of those stairs - I'll let you figure out how she and I maneuvered that one. The best news, the deer was still eating when we returned inside and sat down!

Thanksgiving morning, the kids and Jer went with Jeff to go find a deer that had been poached and cut the horns off. Jenna, who had just helped gut a deer the week before, touched the deer and then her eyes. Jeremy came back, visibly panicked, and said, "Where's the Benedryl? Jenna's having a reaction." This is a picture a few hours later after some Benedryl had kicked in (she was very sensitive at first, so there was no initial picture). Imagine the left eye completely swollen closed, the right one swollen like the left one is, and hives all over her face. Breathing was never compromised, though!

There was lots of fire building. Brenham the Boy Scout taught them well!

The big kill...

You'd have thought Hudson killed it himself.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Mechanically Inclined, Part II

Even as I typed part 1, my faucet looked like this...

It's been leaking around the part where you lift the lever to make the water come on for a few months. I kept a towel behind it (as you can see in the picture), and, well, I was just tired of it. So, while I was at Lowe's for the disposer/disposal, I thought I'd get a faucet, too. Seems there are several varieties of faucets for various sinks - 1 hole, 3 hole, and 4 hole. Some faucets fit 1 and 3 hole sinks, some 1 and 4 hole, and a variety of other combinations. Who knew? [Mom, this was before your email.]

I chose the disposal, and I came home and checked out how many holes my sink had = 4.

So, on my next trip to Lowe's (for the plug for the disposal), I checked out faucets again. I wanted cheap and simple. Chose one and came home. My logic on the faucet was that my sprayer worked fine, so I got one without the sprayer (that's important later).

The disposal was finished Tuesday night, and I had the faucet, but I was just too tired to carry on at 11:00 pm when I get up at 5:00 am. When I got home Wednesday, I began the destruction of the faucet. This was quite fun as the Peerless faucet instructions included "unstallation" instructions such as: (paraphrased) turn off the water..."try running some water in the sink. Did any water come out? No? Good. It wasn't supposed to." And, following step 1E which is about unscrewing the mounting nut that's holding the flange (that dreaded flange again), is step 1F "Grab your basin wrench and remove the supply-tube coupling nuts. Watch out for falling rust. That stuff is no fun to get in your eyes, and even less fun to get in your mouth." Followed by step 1G "Spit and drink a pop. See? We told you it was no fun to get that stuff in your mouth." HA! Okay, you may not have thought it was funny, but if you're looking at the picture at the top of the post, wanting to run water, and you can't, and you've pulled and pried on the faucet with all your might, you appreciate illustrations with captions like "righty-tighty, lefty-loosey" and any other humor you can find.

So, I begin to loosen the nut that is holding the whole faucet on. It won't budge. It's attached to the flange, by the way, the BIG problem from the disposal. (picture, nemesis = flange #2 with nut circled)

Well, the Peerless instructions said in step 1B to douse the nut with penetrating oil with a can that looks like WD40 in the picture, so I doused. While it was "soaking" (or whatever it does), I studied the installation. Hole 2 would hold the faucet on, holes 1 & 3 would be for cold and hot water supply, hole 4 the sprayer. I looked to see where my old sprayer would connect to my new faucet. Humph. Should have purchased the 4 hold model with a new sprayer (even though I didn't need a new sprayer).

On the way to a meeting (where I needed to pick up Hudson from the church office and take him and Jenna to Jumping Party and then return to church office for said meeting), Jen and I dropped by Lowe's to return faucet #1 and purchase 4 hole faucet model. While there, I decided to grab a hose to connect faucet to water supply. Using my mechanical brains to study under sink and then apply what I saw on the aisle, I chose one. Sat through meeting (somewhat anxiously, I mean, I have a new faucet & big plans when I get home!).

Home, begin to try to unscrew nut. Not budging. Wait for Jeremy with the muscles. He grabs the rug (gasp, internal shriek, it's my new rug I've been visiting Wal-Mart for once a week for 4 weeks waiting for it to be in stock; but fought the urge to wig-out over it).

Not budging for him, either. So, we go to bed at 11:oopm, again (we're not late night people). The next day my sole request is for Jeremy to get the nut loose, but leave it for me to complete. Yes, I guess I'm just insane. Upon arriving home, he had loosened the nut, and left all the appropriate tools out for me. So I crawled under the sink (on the said rug) and unscrewed the nut. I only dropped the wrench in my face once ('cause I'm a quick learner after something that hurts that bad happens), and was happy to remove the faucet. I think I heard angelic noises again, but I'm not sure.

From there it was really pretty easy. I just followed installation instructions and it all popped in quite nicely.
That is, untiiiiiil, I went to reconnect the hoses. At first I had the right hose, but it was too short. So, I returned that hose and grabbed another one. I didn't look at what I grabbed, and both ends were 1/2. I needed one end to be 3/8 (which I had before), but didn't PAY ATTENTION. I left to do some senior pictures with one request of Jer - please get the correct hose.

Upon returning home, I had the correct hose, it was connected, and I was able to clean that nasty grease you see in the picture above out of the sink! Operation kitchen repair complete! Woo hooo!

Then, I went to unload the dish washer, and the dish washer I gave 6 months to a year in the last post produced unclean dishes after two full cycles of washing...grrrrr....

Mechanically Inclined

Maybe "mechanically" isn't the right term here, but I DO thank my father for the mechanically minded brain cells that he passed on to me. I tend to face broken items with a "I can figure this out" attitude. I don't recall a repairman visiting our house at all as I was growing up because if it broken, Dad fixed it. This continued throughout my early adult life at college when the car would break, and Dad would come down to fix. Then, early marriage, Jer and I would look at it, attempt, and call Dad. This continued to the point where one day something broke and either H or Jen said, "better call Pawpaw, because he's a fixer." Now I brag that, "Mommy is a fixer, too."

Jeremy is quite mechanically inclined himself. But, right now he is busy with meetings 3 nights a week, so I want our time together in the evenings to be fun and stress free. So, when the disposer in the sink went out Sunday morning, I knew I had a job to do. Surprisingly, I made it until Tuesday before I set out on the new disposer trek. In Lowe's, I studied the various options, ranging from $79 to over $200. I decided I don't really need multiple stages of grinding, and after 4 years of a disposer that sounds like a 747 taking off, "silent" wasn't a feature I needed. After all, no matter what, it's going to sound silent in comparison. Add to that the squeaks and grinding noises the dish washer is making, and silent is pretty overrated. Plus, now that extra cash can be saved for 1. the faucet on the sink that is leaking 2. the replacement dishwasher when this one goes (I give it 6 months to a year). I chose the $99 option, 5 year warranty. There is a dizzying array of various accessories for your disposer which include options for installation. Not really knowing what I needed, I looked to the box which read, "Odds are your old disposer has a Quick Lock sink mount. This makes replacement as simple as removing the old disposer with a twist and installing the new one." The logical, rational side of my brain said, "Yeah, right," but the optimistic, floofy side of my brain said, "Right on!" I went with the floofy side and arrived home with a new disposer.

Step 1: remove old disposer. Really? Ya think? No directions included (unlike the Peerless faucet box which has a VERY clever un-installation manual that even has humor - I'll share that later). So, here is where my invaluable mechanical brain cells come in (thanks, again, Dad). I study the plumbing situation. Upon careful study, I can tell that 3 locations must be disconnected = check. Step 2, disposer must come off of sink. Study (thank you Dad, again), remove = check. Study old sink flange (look it up) so that, as the box said, I can "twist on the new one." Mouth of new disposer is smaller than sink flange - translation, "Odds weren't." Sink flange must be removed.

Final step, remove sink flange = STOP SIGN. Not budging. Well, while stopped, I study the situation and discover that my new disposer needs a plug added; old plug will not come off of old disposer; add to Lowe's list. Head to Lowe's, get plug, wire plug onto disposer (without directions, thankyouverymuch). Wait for Jer to come home to remove flange.

Jer cannot remove flange. Enter Jer with saw (electric, type unknown to me). My hero saws off the flange.

Install new disposer (note: would not let husband help, must complete task on own). Apply plumber's putty (on Lowe's list with plug), install new sink flange (clear instructions, thank you Badger), connect disposer to sing flange (husband did have to lift while I aligned and twisted connector). Reconnect plumbing = STOP SIGN, but we shoved and twisted and made it work. Flip switch on disposer = nothing. Humph. Examine my wiring job (with directions this time), change wires. Flip switch = sound of angels, okay, a lightly whirring disposer. Go to bed at 11:00 pm.

Morning = breakfast, rush rush, put food down disposer for first time. Brush teeth, return to kitchen sink for something to feel the sensation of wetness on my toes. Humph. Yep, leak. New Lowe's list = plastic PVC thingy to connect disposer disposal tube to outflowing plumbing. Take off "thingy" to take with me to Lowe's to avoid having to describe "thingy" to knowledgeable person. Successful trip, return home. Reconnect, twist, water on...SCORE!

I love my new disposer. Of course, right now I can't use it because I started replacing the faucet, but the old faucet won't come off, so we're without a kitchen sink currently...stay tuned for the next installment of Mechanically Inclined...

Happenings

The beginning of the school year is always rough, so I'm a little behind (there's always an excuse, right?!)...

Can I admit I'm a little embarassed about this first day of school picture? We got all the way to Jen's school (a whole 3 blocks away), and I realized I never took first day of school pictures! So, we came back home, and I, very unphotographer-like, plopped them in the front yard with the sun shining INTO their faces, and took a picture. Ah, it's the memory that counts, right?!


Another new "thing" of mine is the green smoothie...it's a health thing, and I really like it. It really has lessened my desire for sweets.
These are the kids singing before church on Sunday. It was a God song they had made up.

Birthday party pinata. Those holders never hold right, so then the cat got hung. I find it quite funny. Hudson had a bone pinata (for dogs) but it's not as funny hanging after it's holder broke.

The cakes. Yes, I took it simple and those are candles for the primary decorations.

Jenna wanted a video camera for her birthday. I found one that is perfect for her after much searching! Hudson wanted a new bike, and he got a really cool one!

Living Room Facelift - Complete

Finally, I present the updated living room! I cannot tell you how much more relaxing it is in there. I don't know if it is truly the warmer colors (after all everything used to be a light cream color) or if it's just knowing the work that went into it and having it all back together. Of course, every single detail has been taken out and cleaned extensively, so I think that helps, too!

Facelift

This year StoneWater had it's first vacation bible school. We had to do it StoneWater style since we don't have a building. Translation, groups formed in neighborhoods and were hosted in homes. When Jeremy pitched the idea to me, he knew he had to have a plan. I'm not a small kids type of person. That's not to say I don't like them and enjoy my time with them - I do. I LOVE and adore my own two. I can host a play date for a day or a sleepover. I don't do large groups of them well. I get all anxious thinking and preparing, and it wears.me.out. So, when Jeremy pitched the idea, here was his opening line, "I want you to listen and let me finish."

"I think we should have Backyard Bible Camp for Misty Meadows here at our house." (my eyes got big) "We should move out all the furniture and take off all the decorations from the walls."

"Well, that would keep me from stressing about things getting broken. But, there is some stuff I am not taking off the walls. Like that (big window hung on wall) and that (other window) and those (decorations in top insets)."

"Would you let me finish? Then you can paint the walls like you've wanted."

BINGO in my head. But, ug, the moving, the craziness! I let it settle and then formulated a new, improved plan..."can we do wood (laminate) floors?"

After a little looking, gentle persuading, I got the deal! So, a week ago we emptied the living & dining room (except for the TV & computer). One week later - this is what we have:

We purchased the samples we were considering and let the kids go to town. I mean, the carpet's not staying, so why not! We decided on neither green. I dislike the "brown" that is a yellow brown. Today we went and got a deep, dark red for the fire place wall (instead of green) and I LIKE. But, Jer picked out the SAME EXACT yellow-brown as before. He likes, I hate. We'll see where that saga leads...

Receptionist Hudson

Hudson spent some time at the office with Jeremy today (the story why will come later). This is an email Jer got this afternoon:

I called the church office this afternoon and this is a brief outline of the conversation:
Ring, ring.
"Hellloooo?" (Hudson)
"Um, is this StoneWater?"
"no, this is Hudson."
"Oh. Well, Hudson, is your dad there?"
"No, he's in a meeting."
"Ok, is there another pastor there?"
"No, but Chris is here" (Chris IS another pastor!)
"Ok, great! May I please speak with him?"
"He's in a meeting, too."
"Oh, ok. Do you know when the meeting will be over?"
"no."
"Ok, well thanks for the information. Bye."
"Bye."

Fortunately, she found this very humorous and took the time to email Jeremy.

We needed a good laugh after the day we had. More on that later.

Vacation

The Whites have been on official vacation for six days. On Thursday we loaded up Jer's dad's Hummer (H3) with the Sprayberry's jet ski in tow. Piled in the back were two suitcases and two duffel bags of "gear" which, not surprisingly, included a host of "outfits" for Jenna and every swimsuit owned by each person in the family. We have had SO much fun, and we still have two days! Here's the run down:

• arrived at The Island on Lake Travis - pretty much deserted which means we have the 3 pools pretty much to ourselves
• we've spent countless hours in the pool - really, I tried to count and gave up
• I am amazed at how often Hudson says, "I'm hungry" and the amount of food he puts away. I'm beginning to think I'll be needing to return to work full time about the time he hits junior high so that we can afford to keep him :)
• allowed Hudson to control the gas on the jet ski as we cruised - this was HUGE for me as I like a cruising speed of about 35 on it, and he prefers about 50
• cuddled with Jenna for a nap
• heard Hudson ask, TWICE, "Can I take a nap?" S-M-I-L-E
• found Jenna, TWICE, asleep after proclaiming, "first graders don't need naps"
• worked out in the work out facility - today is the first day I'm not sore...about to head down for a quick work out now
• had a great time visiting with the Barrett family
• swam, swam, swam - the kids actually asked to come back to the room today after just an hour at the pool!

This has been great. Jer even held off on getting internet access until today, and I survived. Actually, I really liked it. I kinda like falling off the face of the earth when it involves all of this!

Sorry it's pictureless - I haven't taken the camera out of the bag...but I will!

'hawk

We had a great Memorial Day weekend. I have to admit, since my brother went into the Army and served in Iraq, I have a new appreciation for such holidays. In some ways, it's made for a more somber holiday because I feel a little guilty having time off for the sacrifice others have made - I mean, I didn't do diddly.

But one thing we did accomplish was a hair cut for Hudson. I wish I had taken a before picture, because he was about the most ratty and shaggy he's ever gotten. I was in the shower when they started this (daddy always cuts H's hair). As I had just rinsed my hair out, I had a little visitor pop in the door of the bathroom, and the conversation went like this...

"Hey, Mommy."
"Hey, Hudson. I thought Daddy was cutting your hair? Are you finished?"
"Yep, I have a 'hawk."
(Insert mom's brain whirring...hawk, hawk... what the heck is he say - insert light bulb flash, deep breath, and bulging eyes - he DOES NOT have a mohawk! I'll kill 'em both...mom opening door and seeing child with mohawk cut into his hair). I closed the door, "Hudson, Daddy's going to cut that off, right?"
"I think I like it. It's cool."
"Tell daddy that was funny, and he can finish now."

Well, at this moment I cut my shower short to go and get a picture before this was gone. So, excuse the bad lighting - it was a point and shoot type of moment, and the camera was on full manual.

Spring Break

Okay, so we're a week after spring break. I've learned to procrastinate! Yea!

We had quite a full spring break. We went ice skating and camping. Here are some pictures of our ice skating trip. They are not masterpieces because I was more concerned with staying on my skates than operating the camera. I've dealt with it, memories are memories, no matter how fuzzy!

The kids about killed us as they learned. Really, they were relying on us to balance them, so after some very tired thighs and back, I told Jenna she was going to have to stay up by herself. She caught on really quickly after that. I don't know many years it's been since I had skated, seems likes I might have gone in early college back in '94 or '95. I prefer not to count how many years that's been because '94 or '95 sounds more recent in my mind than a number of years! I'm as good as I always was, which isn't saying much. I only fell the time Jenna fell and stuck her skates under me...sweet girl, at least I didn't fall on her!

After lunch we let the kids all take a ride on the carousel. You can tell that Makaul and Jenna were really showing out. And, from looking at Brent and Hudson, you can tell that they didn't just sit and ride - the sampled a few different locations on the carousel!

No camping pictures. I just didn't want to keep up with the camera. It was fun. For the first time in 3 camp outs, Hudson did not make me wet in the middle of the night! We DID get cold - very cold. It was the most fun we've had camping with the kids, so I think we might do it again this spring.

Can we have a re-do on spring break? I'd like another week, please!

Excuses, Excuses

I promise I'm going to get some information here soon...so far for spring break we've gone ice skating and camping. I've shot 2 maternity, 1 newborn, and 1 engagement. I have 1 bridal tomorrow. We had our hot water heater fritz on us...when we needed showers from camping. I've done lots of laundry, and we've had MORE FUN being together than I can tell you!

Stay tuned for pictures of our adventures.

Hudson - soccer man update

Although Jeremy and I missed it, Hudson's first soccer game was a success. He scored 13 of the 16 goals for his team to the 5 of the other team. Remember, we don't keep score in U6. While Melba was giving us the update on 3 she said, "Oh, wait, make it 4." Then just minutes later, "Okay, now it's 5." We're going to work on assists.

Hudson - Soccer Man

Hudson has been ready to play soccer since Jenna did, and that was 2 years ago. This year is finally THE YEAR. So, we got him signed up, and in the process we signed up Dad to coach. Our team is the Sharp Shooters, and we have 3 boys and 3 girls. The first practice was one week ago, and we had two players show up to practice!

Like any good coach, Coach Dad started with stretching...





And, just as stretching was finished, Hudson said, "I need to go and potty." Jeffrey agreed, "Me too!" And, they were off...

Here's the little soccer star in action:

And, today, if I hear, "Is it time to go, yet?" one more time...well, I'll smile and be happy that's he's so excited.

Clarification

On the CD player - in the Protege and truck, you just put the CD in. I tried that in this car, and it wouldn't go in. I'm into manuals, so I took to reading. You have to push the DISC button, then it will open its mouth wide!

Just couldn't have you thinking I was that confused.

Ava

I've named the car Ava.

Let me give you some background of cats I've named. In my life have been Tom, Christy, Dinky, Grey, Kali, Tahoe, and Maggie. Tom was a tom cat. Christy was originally snowball (she was white). Dinky was a runt of a kitten whom we found before she was weened. Grey was, well, grey. Kali is a calico. I met and married Jeremy. He looked at my track record and ended my naming of animals. Tahoe and Maggie were named by Jeremy. I haven't told him I named the Avalon "Ava." I can imagine the smirk I'm going to get, but he'll be supportive! Ha!

As Ava and I have gotten to know each other, these are the number of times each incident has happened:

• I tried to open the door to the wrong car: 3 (luckily they've all been locked and no alarms have gone off)
• I have almost backed into someone because I get reverse and drive confused: too many to count, but today was the closest I've come (remember, I drove a standard for years and now on the console gear shift R is where 1st gear used to be and D is where reverse used to be)
• I have almost driven through the garage and into my closet: 5 (see above)
• I looked like a dufus trying to figure out where to put the key to open the trunk: 1 (there is not a keyhole, by the way, but I looked for several minutes, trying to move the license plate, tail light, etc.)
• I have forgotten that I started the car & "started" a running car: 2 (I wonder if the Protege still screeches? A student in my class that lives across the street asked me if I like my new car that was actually quiet. He then proceeded to explain to the rest of the class how my car would "scream" until you couldn't see it anymore. I love humility.)
• I have sat in glorious wonder that when you get in the car after dark and close the door, the interior light stays on and there is even a little glow around the ignition so you can put the key in: 2
• I have had to see how loud I could turn up the stereo and hear all the speakers work: 1 (it hurt my ears, but I got it to 45, and it could have gone louder)
• I've thanked God for the ability for the kids to watch a DVD with earphones on: 4 (every time they've used it)
• I had to get the manual out to get the CD in the stereo: 1

Today was my favorite "first." I have a moonroof. I try to use it whenever possible. Today is gorgeous, so I opened it up. After a quick trip into the post office, I hopped in the car. As I started the car, one of my favorite songs was on the radio. (some of you see where this is going - just laugh) I started belting out a new favorite tune ("You're hot then you're cold...") and when I looked up from carefully putting the car in gear (see above) while ROCKIN' out, I saw a woman smiling at me, laughing. I thought to myself, "I think she's laughing at me." I try to stop those types of egocentric thoughts when it hit me, "She IS! Your roof is open and you're singing W-A-Y louder than the music because you thought you were in the privacy of your own car." I gave a sheepish wave & she waved back and yelled, "I like that song, too!" Lesson - keep the radio turned up really loud to avoid awkward moments like that :)

Hmpf...

Let me set the stage:
Monday night both kids were running fever. Literally, every hour and a half to two hours one of them was in our room to tell us "I don't feel good." Each time, we escorted them to bed, got water, sometimes meds, and patted & loved back to sleep. That started at 10:00pm and lasted until 4:30 am (I get up at 5:00 am). When my alarm went off, Jer said, "That was the WORST night EVER." (Clearly, it has been many years since we've had newborns or kids who don't sleep. We're blessed with good sleepers.)

Last night (Tuesday):
I went to bed at 9:15. I like sleep. I need sleep. LOTS of sleep. Really, we've established I'm just a 8-9 hours per night type of girl. I heard Howdy start barking his "I really mean it" bark. As I was getting out of bed, Jeremy did. "Good, he's got it under control." I was about to drift off when Howdy started another spasm of barking. When Jer didn't stop it, I got out of bed. "Are you going to do something about that?" I said in not-my-nicest voice. "Shhh. There's something out there," says my husband, peeking through the back blinds, blind as a bat. He gets my glasses (long story, but he doesn't have any right now). We have solar screens, so you still can't see out of them at night. Howdy spasms his barks again. I had it - I was going out, "It is 11:45. I just want to sleep the whole night." He stopped and lead the way. We followed Howdy's determined gaze...and there was a opossum on our shed.

It was "playing opossum," standing up. Jeremy went to get the BB gun while I kept the flashlight on it (I'm currently blind because Jeremy has my glasses, remember). Every now and then I can make out that it's looking at me from the reflection of what I assume are eyes. Jeremy comes back, aims, fires. You can hear the BB hit something in the yard next door (reminding me, I need to ask Teresa if her windows are okay). Fire again; (me) "did you get it?" (Jer)"I don't know, it didn't move." Fire again, (me)"That definitely hit it" (Jer)"How do you know, you can't see?" (me) "It just sounded like it." (Jer)"It's not moving." (me)"It is a opossum." I think I got one of those, "you did not just make a dumb joke" looks, but I couldn't see :) He hit it at least three times.

(me) "Go knock it off." (Jer) "With what? I need a shovel." (me)"Don't we have one in the shed." (Jer)"Rats in the shed." (me)"Oh, yeah. Use the gun." Jer walks over, hits it with the gun, I hear scraping, see a fuzzy white thing again. (Jer) "Huh." (me)"Hit it again." After three or four whacks with the gun (PETA is going to have a field day with this, but it wasn't hard enough to hurt it, just trying to get it to move along off our shed so our dog would stop barking so I could SLEEP!), it starts walking across the top of the fence line. Howdy is jumping, trying to get it. Maggie, who is in my arms, has seen it and now decides she's going after it. Since it's larger than she it (I think, at least the blob seemed to be, my glasses were on Jeremy, remember), I hold Maggie. It totters on, in the flashlight beam, to the neighbors fence. Now their dogs start barking.

We turn to go into the house. Turn knob, it's locked. (Jer)"Hmpf." (me)"It's not locked, is it?" (Jer)"Appears so." (me)"How did that happen?" (Jer)"I locked the knob before I knew what was out there." (me)"Isn't that what the top bolt is for?" (Jer)giving me a "not now" look - I think. (me)"You know you're my hero, right? You saved me from the barking dog. I can sleep on the trampoline." [The kids are inside, sick, asleep, and would FREAK out if we banged on the door for them to let us in. Nighmares for YEARS, so that's not an option.] (Jer)"Do we have a key hidden anywhere?" (me)"Do we have a key to the back door?" (Jer)"To the front door?" (me)"No, I put it on my key ring this morning." (Jer)"And I locked my truck or we could get the garage door opener." (whirring brains of Jeremy and Misti. Both in our night clothes, standing under our porch light with a BB gun and a flashlightat midnight - classic. Neighbor's porch light comes on.) (me)"Is the bathroom window unlocked?" Jeremy disappears around the side of the house. After I stand there trying to force open the back door (like, maybe this, time it will magically open), picturing myself kicking it in (like I could even do that), and trying to figure out how to pick the lock with a tree branch (too many movies), I think that he might appreciate a flashlight and walk around the side of the house. No Jeremy. So, I proceed to go back to the back door, which he has opened for meand is waiting to escort me in.

We laughed, and then we went to sleep.

The End.

New & Old

Oh, and I took this last weekend. We walked out of the hotel the next morning to see the Avalon and Protege parked side by side. I HAD to take a picture, and laughed about what conversation the two had during the night...Do you notice they were quick to take off the A&M sticker from the Protege?

Horseshoe Bay

I've been trying to figure out how to blog this since Thursday night. You see, I do not want this to sound arrogant, I don't want to get in to name-dropping, and I don't want to misrepresent something.

Basically, Jeremy was asked to come and share about StoneWater and what God has done. So, we were treated to a night at Horseshoe Bay Resort where Jer spoke at a banquet Thursday night. We arrived at the resort, and already we felt like little kids. We reported to the banquet, and the man in charge welcomed Jeremy by name, before Jeremy had his name tag on! We were seated, which ended up being at the head table. The man in charge and his wife sat beside us, I sat beside her, and she was very gracious and endearing. She kept calling me "sweetie" and even commented, "I know you're young, but do you have children, yet?" I LOVE when people think I'm that young. Jeremy got to meet Ed Stetzer (a church planting guru that he's got man love for). After the banquet, many people came to encourage and inquire.

For me, it was also one of those times to reflect. You know, I've always heard that God uses every experience you have to prepare you for the life plans He has for you. Can I admit that there are some life experiences that I've been trying to place for a while? Namely, the twirling and pageant training. Well, Thursday night it all came into focus. See, I had enough formal training in proper etiquette to use all the proper utensils for the proper course, to formally indicate I was finished, and to maintain conversation in what was for me, the most stressful of situations. HA! Really, on the inside I was still thinking, "oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh." "It's outside in...right?" "Ooo, the fork at the top...hmmm...I think..." We left and as soon as we were inside the car, out of ear shot, we both started giggling like little kids. Then, we shunned our "elegance" of the evening and went to see a movie! But, God really does use everything to prepare...and I'll be more careful what I try to figure out next, not all of my lessons may be that fun!

And, when we returned from our movie, this gift basket was in the room...