Daughters

Some days having a daughter just takes my breath away. Today is one of those days. We went to a birthday party at a spa for girls. Ann Bennett had her hair done and a mini mani and mini pedi. I'm sure there could be lots of commentary on spa services for young girls, but I'll leave that for others. For us, it is fun. She is such a girly girl and always has been. I've had the nature/nurture argument many times! But, boy is this girl a GIRL, and I love her to pieces - pop star hair, princess necklace, hearts on her fingers and toes, animal lover and all!

This is actually the second time we've been to a place similar to this, and I am always amazed with what they can do to hair! And, AB has that baby fine hair!

This picture is from the last time we went to a place like this. That's her friend Courtney, another younger sister from Bryant's travel baseball team.

This is officially Bryant's cat, Sammy. She was named after Sammy Sosa - a Cubs player whose questionable use of drugs was not known at the time!

Sammy has a love/hate relationship with AB. She knows AB is most likely to do this to her.

But at the end of the day, Sammy loves AB as much as AB loves her -- I think.

Theology Questions of the Week

Here are a couple of the questions I have been asked by my 10 and 7 year olds in the past week.

1. Why did Jesus descend into hell? (As in the Apostles' Creed) I think the question was really if Jesus, who was perfect, went to hell, what chance do I have to escape the same fate. I explained that Jesus was not sent to an eternal hell and conquered Satan even in death, but it got me thinking about the theology of this statement.

2. I don't get how God said "Let there be light," and there just was light. I don't get that. I explained that no one understands the science of this, and this is where faith comes in. I explained that some people who don't believe God created the world think that it all happend in some kind of big bang. We talked about how this didn't make a lot of sense either. Faith is believing even when things aren't easily understood.

3. Ann Bennett is really working on controlling her thoughts. She has been struggling with passing judgements about people she sees at school -- so and so is fat, he's not very smart, her hair is ugly, etc. We have talked about how Jesus asks us to take our thoughts captive and work on thinking about people as He sees them. Every day she gets in the car and says she is still working on it. One day in the past 2 weeks, she was so excited because she had a "good" day - meaning she didn't have any of these thoughts. I've explained it takes a lot of practice and prayer to do this, but I've had a hard time actually telling her this is probably something she'll be working on her whole life! That might not be very motivating.

So, those are a few of the theological conversations we've been having recently in our house. Who knew I needed to have my theology straight for conversations with my elementary school aged children! It's amazing how much we learn from our kids.

Working Out

Carey and I met at a gym. He worked there (and worked out there), and I worked out for a couple hours a day at the time. I didn't know anybody in town except for the people I worked with, and they all had families. Anyway, about a lifetime ago, I worked out a lot - WE worked out a lot. Then, most of my friends at the gym moved or had children. Carey quit working at the gym and started appraising, and we had children. Our time in the gym essentially dwindled down to none. For the past 2 years, our membership has even been frozen.

But, then I found out about this contest where 6 people were going to win 8 weeks of personal training 4-5 times a week. I applied, but I was not selected. But, they gave everyone who applied a temporary membership to the gym, a class just for those of us not chosen on Saturday mornings and a special rate for personal training. So, I'm at least working out for now.

I've been to the Saturday classes the past 2 weeks, and they are really good. But, you can recover in a week! I was kind of thinking, I could do the Biggest Loser (except for the weighing in wearing a bra and bike shorts!). I've done everything she asked. Yes, it hurts, but I've done it. This week personal training started. We went Tuesday and did part of a spin class, followed by a a bazillion plié squats, then ran up and down the 4 sets of steps throughout the gym. Let me just say I could barely walk yesterday. Then, I went back today, and she made me run (to be fair, it was only a couple of short intervals, but still), squat some more, and do those dadgum stairs -- among other things! I'm developing a better understanding for the people on the Biggest Loser. When Jillian is yelling at them to run and let go, I've always thought I'd never be able to do it. Now, I know I'd fall off -- never mind throwing up! At least my trainer is more reasonable than that. I guess I kind of deserve this after taking such bad care of my body for so many years! Baby steps. Baby steps!

Battle of the Books

Last fall I MADE Bryant sign up to participate in the battle of the books. For those of you unfamiliar with this program, students read a list of books. Then they "battle" each other by answering questions such as "In what book did the main character visit a lady named Miss Caroline?" The students have to answer the question and give the author's name. Each school selects a team to represent them at the county level, and the team works together. A student is asked a question, he consults the team, then gives his answer. If right, they are awarded points for the title and author. If wrong, the other team has a chance to answer the question and get their points. You can see this link for more info, including the list of 30 books or so. http://www.battleofthebooks.org/4-62009.html

Anyway, Bryant was selected to represent his school. I think they based this on how many books he read and how he did on the test. Today was the battle, and his team came in 3rd in the county! The team they lost to won the entire competition, so he felt really good about how they did. I'm very proud of him. He did NOT want to do this at the beginning, but once he got started, he really enjoyed some books he never would have read. Some of them were more geared toward girls, but he survived. I even found a few books I'll make sure Ann Bennett reads later on as well. (The list changes annually.) I am very proud of him for sticking with this and doing well in the battle. Way to go B!

Happy Easter!

I hope you had a great Easter. We were so happy to have Sandy, Jeff, Carson and Macie with us this year. They have never been here for Easter, so it was a special treat. In fact, they had been here all week. My camera is not working very well, so I don't have many pictures. But this one was Sunday morning heading to church. All 8 of us got up, looked at Easter baskets, hunted for eggs, showered, got dressed and made it to church by 9:25. I thought that was very impressive!

My beautiful sister and children. Neither one of us have pictures of our entire family. I guess the guys were the last ones to be able to get dressed, so they were a minute or two behind us. Plus, neither Jeff nor Carey like posing for these pictures!

All 4 of the kids - Carson (5), Bryant (10), Ann Bennett (7), Macie (2). Aren't the azaleas beautiful? I'm in the process of chopping them down right now. They have gotten very "leggy" and overgrown. I'm hoping I don't kill them! They look beautiful for the couple of weeks they are blooming, but after that they just look overgrown!

Dying eggs. Everyone enjoyed it, but Ann Bennett and Jeff earn the most into it awards! This is one of those times my camera did not cooperate, but trust me, Jeff's brown egg - which eventually was dyed blue - was a sight to behold!

Looking for eggs. We went to an egg hunt and picnic at our friends' house, but we missed the egg hunt. Our kids handled it VERY well considering. I have no pics, but they did get to play with real rabbits. This hunt was in our back yard.

I'm loving this shirt on Bryant. SueSue got it for B for Easter, and it looks really good on him. Too bad he isn't showing us his teeth since this is pre-broken tooth!

If ever there was a little girl who would have loved having a sister, it is Ann Bennett - especially if her mother would have been one who dressed the girls alike! AB LOVES to be a twin with Macie. It's not the best picture, but SueSue got the girls these dresses, and fortunately it warmed up enough that they could wear them together.

We hope you had a fabulous Easter celebrating Jesus' resurrection! Last year, we were in Georgia and Mom was still in the hospital. My dear friend Katrina came and led a celebration in singing hymns. We visited with Mom in the hospital, but it was hard to balance our time between the kids and the hospital. Sandy and I struggled with what to cook. We were not used to being the planners of holiday meals. We did better this year, but it was kind of strange not to be with Mom. She and Randy were in GA, and we were in NC. I'm so thankful we were all healthy and away from hospitals!

It's funny how this whole year has seemed like a year of firsts. Mom's first birthday, first Christmas, Easter, etc., since the accident. It is one of those defining moments in my memory. I'm thankful that our family is not defined BY that moment. Easter especially reminds me of how much God loves each of us and desires to be in relationship with us. I think back a year ago and remember just how much pain we were in at the time, but I also see how so many of you prayed for us, walked with us, loved us and showed us God's love. I remember that pain but with the pain, I also remember just how much I felt God's arms around us. I pray that each of you feels surrounded by God's loving arms! Happy Easter all year long!

Doctors, Dentists and Drama

What a crazy week we have had in our house! Monday morning I quit working around the house and went to take a shower and get ready for my an appointment with the eye doctor. I have been wearing my monthly disposable contacts for about 3 months now, so it if very over due! I get in the car to go to the doctor and notice I have a message on the phone. I check it and find out that AB's teacher had called saying she has had her head down most of the morning complaining of a headache. I call Carey and ask him to go check on her and take her some motrin. While I am on the phone with him, her teacher calls back to say she's thrown up. Remember, I'm in the car on the way to MY appointment. Carey had an appraisal scheduled, so I had to go get her and miss my appointment. She spent the rest of the day at home just fine. She even played in the sprinkler that afternoon with B and our neighbor.

Tuesday afternoon, I take the kids to go buy B's new bat at a local batting cage. It was packed, and we knew some of the kids there. B was sitting on the ground watching a kid he knows hit the ball. AB was talking to his sister and I was chatting with the mom. Tanner, the neighbor who was with us, was hitting in the cage next to us. We were 1/2 a second away from leaving when the boy opened the gate to the cage and knocked Bryant in the mouth. I did not see it and didn't even realize he was hurt at first. Somehow, we realize he's upset -- I think the guy who owns the place noticed it first, and he says he chipped his tooth. He is folded up, in tears with his head down. My first thought was no big deal, a little chip. Well, it was a BIG chip, and I even recovered a baby tooth size piece of chip in front of him. This was 20 minutes before he was supposed to be at the ball park for his game that night. We left as quickly as we could. Bryant was TRAUMATIZED and mad as "H, E, double hockey sticks" to quote B. He says the boy saw him, told him to move and pushed the gate open hard when he didn't move quickly enough. The boy says he didn't see B. The truth is not such a big deal to me, but B's anger is a very real issue for me. Anyway, I convince Carey to wait on him at home, get him home, crying all the way. Our neighbor was trying very hard to help him -- it's OK, you don't look like a "retard" (so very inappropriate, but an 11 year old's comforting words), "dude, you shouldn't be embarrassed, he should be," "I chipped my tooth," etc. Bryant was having none of it. All he could think about was everyone seeing him looking ridiculous. I think the best thing that happened is that he had a game that night. He didn't play GREAT that night, but he was OK and the team won. So, it was a good distraction. The boy who bumped him is a child we know from the park, and Bryant was in no way discreet about what happened. He was ticked off and let everyone know it. Fortunately that child did not have a game the same night, and we probably won't see him for a while. I'm hoping B calms down by the time he sees him.

So, Wednesday Bryant did not go to school, and we spent 2 hours in the dentist's office. (OH, thanks to Dr. Browning, our friend who is an orthodontist for letting B stop by after the game to hear from an official doctor that he was going to make it! He really needed it.) They put a resin or plastic crown on the tooth, and it looks really good. Dr. Skip didn't get it quite as long as the other tooth, so he'll probably end up having a little more work on it, but overall it looks great. He felt much better and went back to school. He has to be careful of his teeth now. He can't really use that tooth to bite into things because it will come off if not careful. In fact, we've been told it will come off at some point, and we will get to know the dentist quite well in our visits to repair the tooth. After braces and all his perm. teeth are in, there will be another more permanent fix. I was so thankful that we had the funds to fix this. We don't have dental insurance, and it made me so appreciative that we were able to still do this for Bryant. It would have really messed him up if we had not been able to fix it.

When we left the dentist's office I said to B that I didn't even have a picture of the break! If the thing falls off, it will not look quite the same as it did that day because they had to file down the tooth to get the stuff to stick. (Without pain mx, I might add!) I didn't want to push it because he was so upset, but I asked out of curiosity if he would have let me. At first he said no, but then he said yes. I should have posted it here with a note that said who did this to him and how horrible he is. But, alas, I have no photo. Just a memory.

Then, Thursday afternoon Bryant had a previously scheduled allergist appointment. He had new testing done, and his allergies have changed some. I don't understand that at ALL. But, they are still in the same classes of allergies. He is going to start shots in 2 weeks -- his choice. But, that was another hour and 45 minutes.

And, on top of this, I have a doctor's appointment this afternoon (a reschedule from weeks ago when the doctor had to cancel) and my eye appointment was rescheduled for Monday. Hopefully that is the end of the doctor's offices for a while! We've had enough! And, if you're still reading, I'm amazed. It was about as exhausting to type as it was to live. Happy Friday!

Tagged

OK, I was not really tagged, but I was reading Kristie at Not Quite What I Had Planned, and she was tagged. She was told to post the 6th picture in the 6th folder of her pictures. It made me go take a look. This is what I found.

This is Bryant and his good friend Brad. They've been in school together since they started the toddler progam in the fall of 2000. This picture was in February 2007 at their school -- before uniforms were required. They look so young. They were in 2nd grade and look so much younger! As his mom, this was not my favorite year, but if you ask Bryant, this was the best year ever because it was the only year in elementary school that he and Brad were in the same class. In fact, that year his class had a lot of his friends in it. I really hope they get to be in 5th grade together. It might have been hard for B to behave with his buddy in the class earlier, but now, it would absolutely make the end of his elementary school experience fabulous.

So, what's the 6th picture in your 6th folder?