Thursday, January 31, 2008

Baby Got Book (OFFICIAL)

This will put a smile on your face.

Tuesday, January 29, 2008

more crying

This is a totally different reason for tears. I just can't help myself. Ray and I found this site a couple years ago. It must be the sick "preacher's kid" humor in me ~ but I cry from laughing EVERY time I read it. The actual signs are kinda funny. But, it's the sarcastic comments about them that really crack me up. Check out Crummy Church Signs

tears



This video surprised me. They played it at my Dad's church recently Heartland Christian Church. My mom said that it made everyone cry. To be honest, at first I thought, "This is it?" Well... let me tell you... got me too! Let me know if it gets you.

Sunday, January 20, 2008

Hot Off the Press

I am a mother-in-law.
Just another addition to the list of words that define me. And I happily accept this description. I love my beautiful daughter-in-law. I have no doubt that this is a marriage blessed by God. The ceremony was simply beautiful ~ mostly because Brad and Hilary are such a beautiful couple and their love evident in every aspect of the evening.


I am a mother of the prettiest flower girl in the world! And the little guy is pretty darling too!
When Brad was a little ring bearer in my brother's wedding quite a few years ago, I never dreamed that he would have a little sister as a flower girl in his own wedding. God has truly blessed me with a wonderful family.

Friday, January 18, 2008

Kisses

This is a big weekend for our family. Brad and Hilary are getting married tomorrow. Hope is a flower girl. It's very funny to view a wedding rehearsal from a six year olds perspective. My dad is officiating the ceremony, so as usual he makes a little joke about saving the kiss for the real thing - they don't need to practice.

So... on the way home tonight Hope tells us that she thought it was funny that Brad and Hilary did not need to practice their kiss tonight and are saving their kiss for the wedding. She said that she didn't think Hilary needed to practice. Hilary kissed her dad and she did just fine. She's not sure about Brad - he may need some practice. She did not see him kiss anybody tonight.

Monday, January 14, 2008

Van Gogh?

Micah and I got a little creative today.
I painted the stripes and he created the grass with a fork.
Really fun! Can't wait to do a set with Hope!

Saturday, January 12, 2008

Toothless


The Tooth Fairy has made a lot of trips to our house this week! Three!!
One of Hope's top teeth has been out for a while and she had a wiggly bottom tooth over the holidays. But, the wiggly one was not part first of the trio to go. She had something in her mouth and Micah gave it a tug! The opposite tooth was VERY wiggly. So I gave it a gentle pull and out it came. A couple of days later the other one came out. She had a little hillbilly action goin'. I was hoping that the wiggly top tooth would come out before Brad and Hilary's wedding. Success! The last of the week's trio easily slipped out last night! You have to admit, it's an perfectly adorable (balanced) grin. I love it when thing even out :)

However, Hope is still wondering why her friend sometimes gets five dollar bills from the Tooth Fairy, when the going rate is one dollar per tooth. Don't you hate it when you just don't have change? I'm sure the Tooth Fairy suffers the same way. Hope takes no comfort in the fact that when Ray and I were kids, the going rate for teeth was a quarter per tooth.

I do recall when Brad was little, the Tooth Fairy forgot about him. Can you imagine?! She slipped a fiver under the front door with an apology note suggesting that he give the tooth to his mom. Even the Tooth Fairy makes mistakes... and apparently suffer guilt too!

Sunday, January 6, 2008

More Museum Pictures









Hands On Museum

As I have mentioned previously, we visited a very cool hand's on museum in Hendersonville, NC.
http://handsonwnc.org/
I think what was special for me was the fact that it was created by the community, for the community. It seems like quite a grassroots project! Donations were taken from the community and learning centers were sponsored by local business. The favorite area was sponsored by McDonald's. Did you know that McDonald's in the largest consumer of apples? So... they sponsored the from seed to apple pie activity. Ray's favorite activity was the bubble machine. Check out the pictures!
They had a music center, painting and play dough area, a Lego car building table with a great ramp to test the cars on, a stage, a Log cabin, grocery store with a real cash register and conveyor belt. Doctor's office, climbing trees... sooo much stuff!

It was wonderful ~ but not perfect... which made it even more wonderful because it made me think, "Well we could do that!"
All the activities were created by regular (although very creative) people - not commercially designed or built pieces. Well, except for the slide and water feature all built into "stone" very much like the slide and waterfall at River Hills.

When I came home I researched community children's museums. Turns out there are hundreds of these type of non-profit businesses throughout the country. Everything from the most modest to professionally designed and built. What they have in common was this idea - by the community, for the community. There seems to be a formula to getting these things started

I'm just thinking...
Wouldn't a children's museum be the perfect addition to downtown Loveland?








Saturday, January 5, 2008

Painfully Average

I have to make a confession.
I have been seeing commercial after commercial about the the new show "How to Look Good Naked." Yes, the title makes you feel a bit naughty to even think about watching it - I suppose that is the intent. And really - doesn't everybody want to look good naked? Even Adam and Eve had issues with that.

So... yesterday they had a segment on "Good Morning America" about this new show. Once again I heard that the average woman is a size 14/16. Seriously. I look in the mirror once again. "This is average?" Of course the average woman loathes her body - exactly why this new show is set to be a hit even if it's for a short while. I got sucked into the promotion and set my Tivo to record the first episode.

I watched it. It was very sweet watching the young lady go from crying in the mirror to rejoicing at her new found self-esteem. I am really not convinced that when she watched herself with a roomful of friends last night and saw herself being twirled around in the air in her underwear by the host that she retained that joy... Seems like she would be thinking, "Oh my gosh! What was I thinking!! I did that in my underwear! On national TV!!! I must have been desperate!" I'm still not convinced that a day at the spa a new wardrobe, make-up and a new hairdo can fix a lifetime of self-loathing. Oh - in the end a nude photo shoot... yeah - that'll help.

I guess we are all a little desperate in one way or the other. Why can't we see ourselves as God sees us? Last week our lesson in Jr Worship was about starting the new year viewing ourselves as God sees us. We watched a video ~ A Snoodle's Tale. In the story, the little Snoodle listens to everyone else's idea of who he is and what he should do, resulting in a lot of frustration. Eventually he finds himself in the home of his creator who tells him that he should seek his identity from the one who created him. He made him special. So... we worked with the kids to help them think about what made them special, to practice trying to see themselves as God sees them.

I have come full circle this week. I am painfully average. Which is pretty great. But also I REALLY need to work on seeing myself as God sees me. I am wonderfully special. Which is pretty great. I am "fearfully and wonderfully made." Try not to focus on the "fearfully" part. haha
Psalms 139:14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful, I know that full well.

Need to work on that "know that full well" thing too.

I'm still thinking...
that a day at the spa, a new wardrobe, make-up and a new hairdo is something I would not mind trying!
I would certainly skip the nude photo shoot. Yikes!

Wednesday, January 2, 2008

Kids Singing

One of my very favorite things to do is sing with kids. I love teaching kids new songs and love the honesty in what they enjoy. So I have to admit, one of the perks of my job is singing with kids every week. The trick is finding songs that click for them... the kind of songs that they hum while riding in the car or playing in their room. We were blessed to find two such songs for Christmas. My favorite part was seeing how quickly they learned the sign language to "Emmanuel." The sign for "Emmanuel" is the same as "God with us." It was fun to actually see physically that they mean the same thing. Here are a couple of photos from when we shared these songs with our church family at River Hills.

You should note how silly I look in the first photo...
I was trying to make them smile and loosen up before we began our first song.
I was so proud of all the kids!