Conversations

Allie and I had a girls' weekend while the boys were away camping.  It was such a fun time to spend just the two of us.  I wanted to share one of the highlights of the weekend, mostly so I will remember it!  Every so often I go back and read posts and remember things our family did or games we played or what life was like when the kids were babies.  It brings such a smile to my face, as I'm sure this will when I read over it again years down the road.

We were out shopping yesterday (see, I told you it was a fun girls' weekend!) and in the car the song We Believe by the Newsboys came on.  This is one of my favorite songs at the moment, and I was singing along.  Here are the lyrics to the chorus:

We believe in God the Father

We believe in Jesus Christ

We believe in the Holy Spirit

And He's given us new life

We believe in the crucifixion

We believe that He conquered death

We believe in the resurrection

And He's comin' back again, we believe

And here's our sweet conversation:
Allie:  Do we believe that?
Me:  Yes!  Well, I do.  Do you?
Allie:  Yes!

I did a little talking about God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit and how Jesus is coming back for all of us who love Him. 

Allie:  I love Jesus!  And you do.  And Daddy does.  And Coleman and Spence.  And Maestro!  Maestro will lick Him!

We believe in God the Father
We believe in Jesus Christ
We believe in the Holy Spirit
And He's given us new life
We believe in the crucifixion
We believe that He conquered death
We believe in the resurrection
And He's comin' back again, we believe
Read more at http://www.songlyrics.com/newsboys/we-believe-lyrics/#tMXsxSevwTW2lHRy.99

Oh my.  This just grabbed my heart and made it so happy!  Although I'm not convinced of Maestro's affections for Jesus.  But Allie's?  And Coleman's and Spence's?  It's my deepest prayer every single day.  As a matter of fact, a verse was referenced in today's sermon that made me stop and realize what a huge responsibility praying for them is.  Lamentations 2:19 says

Arise, cry out in the night,
    as the watches of the night begin;
pour out your heart like water
    in the presence of the Lord.
Lift up your hands to him
    for the lives of your children,
who faint from hunger
    at every street corner. 

Not every moment of our girls' weekend was shopping and smiles.  I admit there were a few moments where I wanted to send Allie to her room and have a girl weekend, as in just one girl - me!  She's doing this thing now where she must thing it's adorable for her to talk like a baby.  Believe me, she's the only one that thinks that.  And then there's the other thing where she rigs every game or activity so she can be deemed the winner.  We're probably going to have to deal with this before school starts.  I won't even talk about the fighting between her and Spence.  But I'm guessing if every moment was sweet conversations in the car or eating at her favorite restaurant I wouldn't appreciate them as much.  And I may not realize how much I need to be crying out to the Lord for her and her brothers' lives.

Well, that's all of my deep thoughts for tonight.  I'll share some pictures from our girls' weekend and the boys' camping trip in the next few days!

Easter

Believe it or not, it has taken me a long time to write this post about Easter.  I don't want to sound like a grumpalumpagus (sounds just like it's spelled) or have anyone think I disapprove of  the way they choose to celebrate Easter.  So here goes:  I don't like the Easter bunny.  There... I said it!  I think it's because he seems to take the place of Jesus as the meaning of Easter for so many people.  I really like coloring eggs, stuffing candy in plastic eggs and letting the kids hunt for them, and dressing up pretty on Easter Sunday.  But for some reason I just can't get behind the rabbit.  Thankfully my kids don't seem to care about him either.  I don't have a problem with other people including the Easter bunny in their celebration of Easter, as long as he isn't the main focus.

As for Easter, what a meaningful day to think about how truly amazing God's gift of salvation is, and what He did to pay for our sins.  Not only did Jesus physically suffer on the cross, but He who knew no sin became sin for us (2 Cor. 5:21).  He suffered separation from God for a time so He could take on our sins.  Thankfully we can praise Him for that every day, but Easter is a time where we focus our hearts on that truth and worship and thank Him for that ultimate sacrifice. 

We had a very relaxing Easter weekend!  The boys had Good Friday off from school so we got to hang out Friday, then go to birthday parties on Saturday and hunt for eggs with friends, celebrate the true meaning of Easter on Sunday and then just take it easy!
 
We took the camera to church so someone could get a picture of our family on Easter, but we forgot!  Here are a few pictures from the weekend though.


Spence and Allie had fun coloring eggs!  OK, I had fun coloring eggs also.  And had to keep reminding myself it was alright when they would drip and mix the colors. 

The kids and our neighbors had an Easter egg hunt on Saturday.  I got a kick out of the boys' "baskets."  Coleman dumped some toys out of a plastic container and Spence grabbed a box that his newest toy came in.  Meanwhile the girls have pretty buckets and baskets!

I think confetti eggs are my favorite!  We all were covered in confetti.  Even Maestro!

Football and Flowers

I have to laugh when I think back to my Jr. High cheerleading days.  We had to be taught some of the basic rules of football, but I think our sponsor was happy if we could tell if our team was on offense or defense!  We had a cheer about "1st and 10" and I had no clue what that meant!

These days you'll find me cheering on the sidelines for my two favorite players and their coach.  And I love it! I haven't even minded that the last two weeks have been somewhat rainy.  Allie scored her first touchdown last week (I might have already written about that, but I can't remember.) and she had a great run this week.  She stopped short of making a touchdown, so we're not sure if she thought she crossed into the end zone or if she got tired.  Coleman scored two touchdowns this past Sunday, and helped his team win!  They must have an awesome coach...

I made it back in town just in time to see Allie play on Sunday.  I went to a ladies' retreat with some girls from my church.  It was such a relaxing, renewing time.  Just a great time to get away, dig into God's Word, and enjoy a little break from cooking, cleaning, driving a carpool, laundry, and the other 10 thousand things we do every day!  The camp is in Washington, TX, which is just outside of Brenham (where Blue Bell ice cream is made!!!).  The blue bonnets and other wild flowers were spectacular!  Since we didn't have our kids with us to photograph (that's a Texas thing - finding blue bonnets and taking your kids' picture sitting in them) we plopped ourselves down and took our own pictures!  There was even a Blue Bonnet Festival going on.  

Allie loves playing football, but she's not much of a spectator.  I tried to tell them that their brother had scored a touchdown and they should come cheer for him, but I guess this tree was calling their names!
It's so funny how at home we think we "need" all these different toys, video games,  and TV.  When all it takes to make kids happy is a tree.

Fieldtripathon

Last week both Spence and Allie went on field trips, and I tagged along!  The first graders went to Hermann Park and the Houston Children's Museum.  As a former teacher I remember how field trips test your ability to count.  As in you are constantly counting to make sure you haven't lost anyone!  Quit moving so I don't count you twice!  I only got 19.  Who's missing?  But this field trip was very organized and went quite smoothly.  At the park the parents and teachers made a barricade around the playground so no one escaped!  Then at the museum every class had its own guide to lead them around.  Then with the teacher and 5 or 6 parents it was easy to keep up with everyone. 

Waterworks

Spence and his buddies

In the invention room, Spence neglected all the other cool stations to build a Lego car.  Oh well, he knows what he likes!

Racing his Lego car

Rock wall

What a fun day with a bunch of 1st graders!

Allie's field trip was to Bayou Wildlife Park in Alvin.  We've been to several field trips there, but I don't think she was old enough the last time we were there to remember it.  She and her friends had so much fun!  First off was a pony ride.  Well, first off was standing in line for longer than most 4 year olds can handle to wait for a pony ride.  But I'm guessing they thought it was worth it!

The goats just wanted to eat the girls' clothes!

Ready for the tram ride to feed all the animals!

My FAVE!!!

This guy, Goliath, is pretty cool too.  He's not full grown, but when he is each horn will weigh about 65 lbs.  There was a full grown one that couldn't even hold his head up.  I felt sorry for him!

I think I love coming here so much because, really, where else can you go around here to look a camel in the eyes?

And here it is, the last picture of a preschool field trip.  I can hardly believe it!

What's the Most Terrifying Vegetable?

Every so often I decide that I can't take the kids' eating habits any longer and I'm going to try to get them to eat more of a variety. I know, it's my own fault that I didn't start this earlier. Shame on me. Back to the story. Sunday after the football games, Spence and Allie accompanied me to the grocery store where they each picked out several fruits for the week (easy peasy... they love fruit) and then I asked them to pick out a vegetable they would like to try. Spence asked if lettuce was a vegetable and agreed to try that. Allie found a bag of carrots and practically begged me to buy them. Sunday afternoon the grocery store is a happenin' place, and there were several sample stations set up. At one, a guy was cooking some skinless sausage. I know it sounds strange, but Spence, who practically lives on Rice Krispies and fruit, loves sausage. Won't eat a piece of grilled chicken. Screams if macaroni and cheese is in the same zip code. But loves sausage. It's exhausting to try and figure him out! So I bought the sausage and cooked it for dinner last night. I also put a piece of lettuce and a dab of salad dressing and 1/2 a baby carrot on every kid's plate. At first they were laughing and making jokes about the carrots, but eventually the laughs turned to wails and rolling tears. It all culminated with Spence literally putting the carrot in his mouth and pouring orange juice over his face to try and wash it down. Then Coleman came running in the kitchen to see what all the comotion was and slid in the carrot chunks and orange juice puddle, hurting his arm and leg. I'm not sure who was crying louder, and even how many kids were crying. I lost count somewhere. I'm pretty sure everyone got at least one bite of a carrot down. So far, the carrot is the most terrifying vegetable around here, surpassing corn and the Big Burp incident of '07.  Tonight I forced soft tacos on them.  I know, I should be locked up!  Allie actually likes tacos, and ended up eating 2 after throwing a fit for no good reason, and the boys tried them.  Well, Coleman at least licked it.  Spence maybe even thought it was good, just a little.  Baby steps.