Sams=BIG

So, maybe I am a little too excited about the new Sams that just opened. What can I say? There's something about buying 4 bottles of Clorox wipes and 60 Eggo waffles that just thrills me. Yesterday, after I got the kids from school, I told them that we needed to run by Sams. I told L (who is addicted to Eggo waffles) that they have a box of 60 waffles there. Her reply (in her most excited voice) - "Momma, CAN WE GET IT?" She's a girl after my own heart. Then, on the way there, she saw an airplane that apparently had just taken off. She said, "Wow, look at that airplane. That's the biggest airplane I've ever seen! I bet they got it at SAMS!!!!"
The look on her face when we got to Sams was pretty much the same as mine - pure joy. Laundry detergent in 110-load size, 55 packets of oatmeal, 48 Nutri Grain bars, 16 bars of Lever soap, 36 frozen Pillsbury biscuits, and 3 lbs of Cheez It crackers. When we get moved into our new house, that pantry won't know what hit it. This Sams Club membership is going to be so much fun (and so expensive! :)

Eating Toothpaste?

K has become quite obsessed lately with brushing his teeth. He has decided that he can do it all by himself (don't worry, I still help him some) and loves toothbrushes and toothpaste. Gran bought him a Tigger spinbrush this week, and now if I can't find little man, I can walk by the bathroom and hear his little spinbrush and know exactly where he is. Today, he came out of the bathroom with toothpaste all over his face. I said, "what's on your face?" and he told me that he had been eating toothpaste. I said, "No! Don't eat toothpaste!", to which he replied, "Momma, don't come in the bathroom while I'm eating toothpaste." I guess that is his way of saying "What you don't know won't hurt you." Sneaky little thing. Then he told me that he "wasn't finished eating toothpaste yet." I guess I can just put my dinner plans on hold - I'm sure his belly is full of flouride, and surely, Aquafresh for Kids has plenty of vitamins in it, right?

Chatterbox

K has become quite the little chatterbox and even realizes now when he is saying something funny. I can remember about 18 months ago when I was seriously concerned about his speech. All his peers seemed way ahead of him in their speech, especially stringing words together to make sentences. Well, I should have known that my little man just wasn't going to do it until he could do it right. He talks ALL the time now - yesterday, he was sick (poor thing) - L and I went to church and then went to see a movie (the day-before-school-starts fun treat). Hubby stayed home with K all day - when I got home, he said, "You're going to have to talk to him for a little while. I've been talking to him all day!" Yes, he is a little chatterbox. Last weekend, we left for the beach for a few days. The night before we left, I was tucking the kids in - it was like tucking in two little sticks of dynamite. We were singing "Jesus Loves Me" and K was singing with a crazy voice. L said "K, sing it right!" He thought for a minute (which is what makes it really funny) and then said, "No, I want to sing it left." He knows exactly what to say now to aggravate his sister (and us). He will ask a question, we'll answer, and then he will ask it again and again - while he is laughing hysterically. What a boy.

1st Grade!

I cannot believe I have a first grader now. We went to her school Friday to meet her teacher. She reminds me a lot of L's Kindergarten teacher - young, fun, and energetic. This morning, L was in our room at 5:20 ready to get dressed for school! I hope this enthusiasm continues. :) By 6:15 we were both dressed, fed, and ready to go. I took a few pictures, drove her to school, and walked her into her classroom. She was smiling when I left - she was so excited that she has her very own desk this year (all the desks are pulled together to make small tables in the classroom, but it is a desk nonetheless). She told me on the way to school that she was a little nervous because she doesn't know anyone yet, but that she was also very excited. I think she is going to have a great year!

Where Did the Summer Go?

I don't know why the date and time stamp aren't right. This is Tuesday, July 21.

I registered L for school yesterday and can't believe the summer is almost over! Three words to describe our summer would be: busy, busy, busy. We sold our house in May and moved in with my mother-in-law while we are building a house. The kids have absolutely loved being in the country, and I must say that I have become quite a country girl at heart too. I have learned the meaning of "going to town", and my children use this phrase quite frequently too. I also can't believe I haven't blogged in three months. I had such great intentions when I started this blog. For the last several weeks, every time I've thought about blogging, something else has quickly moved in to take the place of the time I would spend doing this. Oh well, that's life, and I am so thankful for the little cries of "Mommy, mommy!" that take up my time.

Forgive the randomness of this post - it will be an attempt at summing up our summer. First, our house - it should be ready in 8 or 9 weeks now! It is fully sheetrocked and about half bricked. It is really coming along nicely, and building has not been the headache that we were afraid it would be. It's actually been fun.

We've discovered the local library here, and L has spent almost all her time this summer reading. If she's not reading, she's asking me to get on the computer so we can request more books at the library (this online request thing is the best invention ever, by the way). She has read all the Junie B. books and most of the Magic Tree House books this summer. That girl LOVES to read!

K has spent most of his time here in the country playing with the dogs and just being a little boy. Right before we moved out here, Gran got a Golden Retriever puppy (68 pounds, but a puppy nonetheless). She also already had one of our Springer Spaniels that came to live out here about five years ago. K and the dogs love each other. He goes outside and yells, "Bridgett! Maggie!" and they come running. Gran says that every boy needs a dog, and every dog needs a boy. I agree. K has also become quite fearless in the water this summer. We have made a few trips to the pool, but the kids also love to swim in the pond here with Gran. I must say, the idea completely grossed me out at first and I still bathe (more like sanitize) them as soon as they come in from the pond, but seeing the joy on their faces is worth it. And, I even jumped in once this summer. Anything for my children. It wasn't too bad, except that when I jumped off the dock, my feet touched the bottom of the pond. Ever felt the bottom of a pond? Try not to. K will jump off the dock now with his floaties on and "swim" to Gran. L is swimming like a fish and has even learned how to dive off the dock this summer.

We made a trip to the beach with my mom, my sister, and her two boys at the beginning of the summer. A great time was had by all. The children always have so much fun playing together, and though L is the only girl, she can get in there and roughhouse just as well as the boys can. It was great to see them all enjoy each other so much. We went to Geyser Falls, and K is still talking about the waterfalls. That boy can pick out a waterfall from a mile away. We went to Dallas recently and visited the zoo, a waterpark, and the aquarium. We saw a ton of great things, but guess what K remembers most? You got it - the waterfalls. If there is one other thing in the world he likes as much as waterfalls, I guess it would be Home Depot (he's just a man in a little body). Every store we go in now, whether it's Hobby Lobby, Bed Bath and Beyond, or just about anywhere else, he says, "Momma, this is kinda like Home Depot."

All in all, we've had a good summer. But moving is hard. We know that this is where God led us, and we are excited about being closer to family but it has still been difficult. I have always been a "city girl", and learning to consolidate errands "to town" has not come easily. I'll probably get it figured out just about the time our house is built and we move back into town. The most difficult part of moving has been the realization that our lives are changing. We have an amazing group of friends in Clinton and an even more amazing church home. Neither can be replaced in our hearts, and though we know that God will provide friends and a church home here, the process is still not an easy one.

Let me leave you with a funny story before I sign out. I would promise to post pictures later, but let's be honest - I blog once every three months now, so pictures probably won't happen. :) The other night L got in trouble for arguing with us. We sent her to her room, where she proceeded to pitch an all-out fit, the likes of which we haven't seen from her in about three years. It warranted a spanking from Hubby. After he spanked her, he asked her if she knew why she had been punished. She replied that she had argued and then threw a fit and that's why she got punished. He then asked her why she had done this and she replied, "I don't know. But I do know one thing...the Bible says God is slow to anger and slow to punish, and y'all should be more like Jesus!" My hubby, always quick to respond, said "Yes sweetie you are right, but the Bible also says, 'Fathers, discipline your children. Children, OBEY your parents.'" We do sometimes try to use Scripture to discipline her (guide her, I should say), but I must say this was the first time she used Scripture to try to discipline us!

One more...we ate lunch at Cracker Barrel the other day. We ordered chicken tenders and mac-n-cheese for K. When his lunch came, he didn't really want to eat. I ate a small bite of his mac-n-cheese to show him how good it was. This was a mistake. He said (rather loudly), "NO MOMMY, DON'T EAT MY MAC-N-CHEESE!!!" He then spent the rest of lunch eating (a little) with his left hand and holding his right hand up to stop me if I tried to get any more of his lunch. What a boy.

Hope everyone has had a good summer and is ready for school. L says she is ready for 1st grade, but K thinks he is not going to school this year - what a surprise he's going to get the day after Labor Day...

Random Ramblings

I have been terrible at keeping up with this blog thing over the last few weeks. Things have been pretty busy as of late. We sold our house, which we didn't think would happen in six weeks, and we are awaiting God's direction for our next step. School is almost out, which is very hard to believe. I am having a hard time with the fact that L is finishing Kindergarten and K will start Preschool next year. Where has the time gone?

I wanted to share a few funny stories before I leave blogger world (probably for several weeks again!) Last week, I was tucking L in and I heard K saying something from his room. My husband went in to check on him, and K was saying (loudly, but as calm as could be) "I'm scared. I'm scared." My husband asked what was wrong, and again K said (calm as ever) "I'm scared." I guess he hasn't learned yet that if he is going to fake it, he needs to put some emotion into it. :)

I went to L's school several weeks ago to help with her class Easter party. Her teacher told me that L is very good at raising her hand when she needs something, but if they don't get to her right away, she starts trying to get their attention by clearing her throat and fake coughing. I guess I won't have to ever worry about her getting overlooked by not speaking up.

K calls the lawnmower the "wawnmower" (he can't pronounce his L's) and he loves to sit on it and pretend he is driving. We went to WalMart the other day and now for some reason he calls the lawnmower the "walmart".

L's new love language with Hubby is hitting him. Anytime he says something funny, she stops whatever she is doing, goes over to him, and hits him. That's our sweet little girl.

I guess that's it for now. I'll return to blogger world in a few weeks.

Good Friday

Today is Good Friday. When I was little, I often wondered why we called it "Good" Friday - I mean it is the day that Jesus died, after all. But as I got older it became clear to me - it was "Good" Friday because by His death and, more importantly, His resurrection, He brought salvation! We were doomed to an eternity apart from God because of our sins. But, praise God, He made a way for us! The Bible tells us that "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." (Romans 3:23) That "falling short of the glory of God" is what dooms us to an eternity without Him. But, that's not the end of the story - Romans 5:8 tells us, "But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." "While we were still sinners" - can you imagine dying for someone so unlovely as us? That's exactly what Jesus did - the Son of God, perfect in every way, CHOSE to die for us...so that we could spend eternity with God. We also learn in Romans "that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved" (Romans 10:9). "Saved" - what a beautiful word - saved from an eternity separated from the love of God. I praise God that at the age of 12, He called my name and I asked Him to be my Savior. All we must do is confess with our mouth and BELIEVE in our hearts, and He will save us. I thank God that He has made a way! Do you know Him?