Ladybugs & Stinkbugs

This post has a double purpose.

#1 - To show off my sweet babies sleeping. Annie & Drew are SUCH good friends.

#2 - An excuse to play with Photoshop!



I'm not great at it yet, but it's a lot of fun playing around and seeing what can be done.

I thought this was an interesting way of seeing the "good" in something that society might consider a "disorder" or disease:

I often joke that kids with ADHD would make great politicians or lawyers, because they never give up a fight! Trying to cope with a child who argues at the drop of a hat can test the patience of any sane person. Not surprisingly, over the years many parents have asked me what they can do to make the arguing stop. What you can do is help your children turn their ability to argue into a positive trait rather than a negative one.

Here’s a way to understand what’s happening in your ADHD child’s brain: Many experiences of kids with ADHD are amplified or more intense than those of average kids. So when the word “No” is heard by a child with ADHD, it registers a “10” on their emotional scale while it probably would be a “5” or less for the average kid. Quite a few of them also have a lower-than-average tolerance for any departure from what they consider to be fair, whether it’s rules for a game or requests for doing something around the house.

Most of Americans now think it’s improper to spank children. The other day I was speaking to one of my younger buddies about methods used to discipline children.


We talked about 'time outs', grounding, holding back 'rewards' until the child displayed desired behavior etc. One of the things we discussed was the act of spanking and my friend explained that no, he does not spank any of his children.


He explained that what he does is to take the misbehaving child out for a ride in the car and talk. He said that usually this works and that the child calms down fairly quickly and it really doesn't take too much time.


By removing the child, in this case his son, from the immediate situation and providing a change of scenery, the child is allowed to focus on something different. Once the child has the opportunity to change perspective, things get better quickly and the child has better understanding of his place within the family and begins to understand the family's concept of acceptable behavior.


He kindly shared a picture of the process which I share with you now.

I have absolutely no artistic ability whatsoever. All of my "fine arts" skills went into music, and I guess there weren't enough left over to draw a straight line - with a ruler!

That's why I'm so impressed at Annie's creativity and skill when she colors, draws, or paints. She LOVES doing creative things like this, and is always finding fun things to do. She got a balloon at HEB today, and tied onto it was a little plastic bear (you know, to keep the balloon from flying away and sparking Major Meltdown). So she glues little pieces of paper on the bear for eyes, mouth, decoration, and spends 20 minutes getting it "just right". The other day, she had a brown paper bag, and a box of elbow macaroni. Before I even knew what she was doing, she had a puppet - it was adorable!

I love watching her take random things around the house and have so much fun with them! We received some books via UPS, and in the package was an extra piece of cardboard. Annie took the cardboard, decorated it, punched holes in either side, and tied string onto both sides. Ta da!! A shield to make any brave warrior proud! Of course, the boys were VERY jealous, so we had to hunt down MORE cardboard, MORE string, and Annie had to show them how to do it.

I'm thinking...why did I just spend $200 on a Wii??? I could have bought $200 worth of cardboard! lol

Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures of the cardboard shields; I do have a picture of a scene she created on her mini-dry-erase board that she uses for school practice. Since this one won't last forever, I took a picture!

It's my favorite baby time! =)

Be sure and cancel your credit cards before you die.

This is so priceless, and so, so easy to see happening,
customer service being what it is today.

A lady died this past January, and Citibank billed her for February and March for their annual service charges on her credit card, and added late fees and interest on the monthly charge. The balance had been $0.00 when she died, but now somewhere around $60.00. A family member placed a call to Citibank.

Here is the exchange :

Family Member: 'I am calling to tell you she died back in January.'

Citibank : 'The account was never closed and the late fees and charges still apply.'

Family Member : 'Maybe, you should turn it over to collections.'

Citi bank : 'Since it is two months past due, it already has been.'

Family Member : So, what will they do when they find out she is dead?'

Citibank : 'Either report her account to frauds division or report her to the credit bureau, maybe both!'

Family Member : 'Do you think God will be mad at her?'

Citibank: 'Excuse me?'

Family Member : 'Did you just get what I was telling you -

the part about her being dead?'

Citibank : 'Sir, you'll have to speak to my supervisor.'


Supervisor gets on the phone:

Family Member : 'I'm calling to tell you, she died back in January with a $0 balance.'

Citibank : 'The account was never closed and late fees and charges still apply..'

Family Member : 'You mean you want to collect from her estate?'

Citibank : (Stammer) 'Are you her lawyer?'

Family Member : 'No, I'm her great nephew.' (Lawyer info was given)

Citibank: 'Could you fax us a certificate of death?'

Family Member : 'Sure.' (Fax number was given )


After they get the fax :

Citibank : 'Our system just isn't setup for death.
I don't know what more I can do to help.'

Family Member : 'Well, if you figure it out, great!
If not, you could just keep billing her. She won't care.'

Citibank: 'Well, the late fees and charges do still apply.'
(What is wrong with these people?!?)

Family Member : 'Would you like her new billing address?'

Citibank : 'That might help...'

Family Member : ' Odessa Memorial Cemetery , Highway 129, Plot Number 69.'

Citibank : 'Sir, that's a cemetery !'

Family Member : 'And what do you do with dead people on your planet???

I've often worried about Matthew & Andrew - because of their age difference (4 years), I have never been sure how well they would get along as they got older. It is a lot harder for Matthew to play and cooperate with Andrew than it is for him to get along with Annie, I'm sure because he and Annie are so close.

Still, the older Andrew gets, the better they get along. I'm really hoping and praying that they become good friends. When I went into their room and saw this, it really gave me hope that might come true:

Dennis Swanberg is hilarious!

Enjoy this video:



And by the way, here is the Barney Fife clip that he referenced (and he is dead on):

Tell me this ain't cute!

We got a new van!!! It's a 2006 Honda Odyssey (or as Andrew would say, "Onda Hodyssey"). It's not a "top of the line" model, but it's very nice, and exactly what we needed. We just got tired of fixing the A/C on our old van!!!

Here are some pics (just a few - you don't need to see every square inch, right?).

Annie is one of those sweet babies who doesn't get upset no matter WHERE she is. This is her at the doctor:



She's sick, doesn't feel good, and missed a sleepover that night because of fever, and she's still just as happy and fun to be around as can be. We love our sweet Annie girl!

Jacob is learning how to play! Isn't this pitiful?



Before you feel too sorry for him, let me tell you - he was totally playing us! Jeremy would holler at him, and he would whimper and put his hand up to his eyes, but then, when he would look up at us, he would grin!

He's also learning how to play peekaboo - he put his hands over his eyes until I say "where is Jacob?" It is so much fun watching him learn and grow!



When he falls asleep, he really falls asleep!

Don’t Respond to Backtalk: You’ve already set the limit
Why do parents react to backtalk after they’ve already won the argument? I think parents often see it as their job to respond to their children: to teach, train and set limits on them. And backtalk is an invitation to do just that. Just as the child re-explains things to the parent if they’re told “no,” the parent “talks back” and re-explains things to their child. So the parent’s mindset seems to be, “If you really understood what I was saying, you wouldn’t talk back to me—you’d accept my answer.” Let me be clear here: That’s not a rational mindset. It leads parents into attending and prolonging arguments in which they don’t need to engage. Parents sometimes see backtalk as a challenge to their authority, but as long as you accomplish your objective, the fact is that your authority is fully intact.

Here’s an example:

Your child: “Can I stay out until 10 tonight?”
You: “No, because you have to get up early tomorrow for soccer practice.”
Your child: “Who cares? I don’t need that much sleep.”

You should stop right there. Any conversation you engage in after that is meant to convince your child that you have sound judgment. Know this: that’s the wrong objective because it addresses a completely different issue—whether or not you made a good decision. So once you give a reasonable explanation for the rule you’ve stated, your job is done. You can repeat it again if need be. You’ve already won the fight. But when you try to convince your child that you’re right and they continue to challenge you through backtalk, you’re just going to get more frustrated. Your job as a parent is not to get your child to accept the reasonableness and rationality of your decisions. You just need them to follow the rules. Look at it this way: when a cop stops you for speeding, he doesn’t care if you think that 35 miles an hour is too slow. He just tells you what the law is. If you argue with him, he repeats what the law is. If you don’t accept it, he hands you your ticket and walks away. If you become verbally abusive, he arrests you. Try to think of yourself as the cop here—you’re the parent making the rules, and your child needs to accept them or pay the consequences.

Empowering Parents

I am a WIMP when it comes to pulling teeth! This poor boy had to do the whole thing on his own since Daddy wasn't here!!! He was so brave and strong; I was very proud. The Tooth Fairy didn't come because he put the tooth under his pillow after 11pm, and everyone knows that the tooth fairy doesn't come after 11! (lol)

Here's our big boy:

I've written about his favorite song before. Here is a clip of him singing it during church. Just know that before I got the camera out (and after), he was really going after it! He got a little shy when I got the camera out.

This is crazy!

I'm actually afraid he will be walking in the next month -- and the crawling is bad enough!



What I am going to do when I have to chase (literally) FOUR BABIES around this house? No wonder I'm tired!

Jacob's having a rough time right now, though. He's got all these new abilities, and when he has to do something he doesn't want to (say, go to sleep!), he isn't very happy about that. He also is learning to remember things from one event to the next...like when you walk down the hallway. What comes next? The bed. We don't like that. =)

I'll be glad when this phase is over!

Never Alone

I waited for you today
But you didn't show
No no no
I needed You today
So where did You go?
You told me to call
Said You'd be there
And though I haven't seen You
Are You still there?

[Chorus:]
I cried out with no reply
And I can't feel You by my side
So I'll hold tight to what I know
You're here and I"m never alone

And though I cannot see You
And I can't explain why
Such a deep, deep reassurance
You've placed in my life

We cannot separate
'Cause You're part of me
And though You're invisible
I'll trust the unseen

[Chorus]

We cannot separate
You're part of me
And though You're invisible
I'll trust the unseen

[Chorus]

Have you seen this movie? Here's a quick synopsis:

Nicole Kidman is Grace, an emphatically religious woman, devoted to her two creepy children, who appear to be afflicted with a severe sensitivity to light, so much so that they can not handle anything more than candlelight. They live in a huge, cavernous Victorian mansion off the coast of England, and every door must be closed and locked before the next can be opened, in order to prevent any light from leaking into a room where her children may be. Grace's husband is off fighting the war (WWII). Out of nowhere enter three domestic servants, apparently arriving to replace the previous three domestic servants who have abruptly and mysteriously disappeared one week earlier. Grace and her kids (mostly the daughter) start hearing weird noises that seem to indicate the presence of others in the house.
[from http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0230600/]

You get the idea. As this movie goes on, there is a very clear distinction between Grace and her family and "the others" that are intruding on their home. ***Spoiler warning*** if you haven't seen the movie, and want to be surprised, PLEASE don't read the rest***















Seriously - you won't hurt my feelings...















You sure? Okay, but don't say I didn't warn you...















As the movie goes on, it becomes clear to Grace and all of her family that they are seeing are ghosts. (Scary, creepy, you know the kind.) However, you eventually find out that the "ghosts" they are seeing are the "real" people - Grace and her family have, in fact died, and THEY are ghosts.

I'm writing about this today because I heard a devotion recently that made me think of this movie. Rob Bell (Mars Hill) is going through the book of Philippians, and I am listening to it on my iPod. He is in chapter 2, and said they intend to finish sometime right after the Winter Olympics. :)

Anyway, in chapter two, Paul tells the church:

Philippians 2:3-4 (King James Version)
3Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than themselves.
4Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others

As Rob was defining the word "others", he explained that it literally meant "the others" (shocking, eh?). What caught me, and what he was emphasizing, is that Paul was exhorting the Philippians to minister to the "them", not the "us" in the "us and them". He says it much better than I, but often when I think of "esteeming others better than myself", I think of that in terms of the church, and the people that I enjoy being around, have common interests with, and who I naturally would gravitate towards. Paul seems to be saying just the opposite. Rob says it this way:

"...The strange, the different, the unintelligible...do any of you know somebody who fits that first category? Strange? Do you have somebody who, when you hear 'the strange', you think: They have a name. The Different: Yup. Three cubicles down, look up different in the dictionary, there they are. The unintelligible: Man, there is this person in my life - I don't understand why they do what they do - they drive me barking mad...'

...'The subject aspect of my neighbor...' Do you know what 'subject aspect' is? My world is objective. We're all terribly objective, aren't we? We know how the world is supposed to work. You do A, then you do B, then you don't do D, you do C - it's very clear, I've laid it out ahead of time, see page three of my book! That's how we operate, correct? We know how the world is supposed to work. But THIS person - this person in cubicle 9 - this person - the parent of THAT kid - they don't know how I've set things up to operate. They don't function objectively the way the universe is supposed to go. They keep messing up my world. It's driving me insane. That is the 'subjective aspect of my neighbor' - anybody know what I'm talking about? They don't fit into how the world is supposed to work...

...The strange, the unintelligible, the different, the subjective aspect of my neighbor is the garment in which the 'one thing' meets me. The 'one thing' he is referring to is God's grace. Here's what he says: You want to understand God's love? Do you want to understand God's grace? Do you want to understand - truly understand - what it means for God to have enveloped you in God's grace, peace, forgiveness, hope & light? Orient yourself around the strange, the different, the unintelligible, the co-worker, the embarrassing relative, the person who absolutely sends you out of your gourd - circle around them, and in your frustration of pain of trying to serve and love them well, you will be face to face with what it means for God to have embraced and loved you in all of your strangeness, difference, and unintelligibility. Are you with me...


That person who MOST gets under your skin, they may in fact be the garment of God's grace that is coming to you to bring you more fully into the love of God. If I could actually learn to even take one step to circle the interests of that person, it would be a step into understanding more fully what it means for God to love and accept me. If I could learn to NOT hold THEIR PAST against them, maybe in not always holding them accountable for their past, maybe I would come to understand what it means for God to not hold my past against me. Maybe, if I could take one lap around them with all of their flaws, I would better understand the God who embraces and loves me in spite of all of my flaws.

The Other" - the one in your midst who most rubs you the wrong way, The Strange, The Different, The Unintelligible, the Subjective One who doesn't fit into how you think the world should operate - may in fact be the grace of God coming to you, saying, "I drive you nuts! and I am an invitation for you to understand the trinitarian nature of the universe all the more fully, my friend."

We discover respect for each other, not on this ground or that...Paul is not saying, "Respect somebody because of how good they are"..."find your peers"...not on this ground or that, but perhaps without ANY grounds, counter to every ground, there is no reason for me to actually go out of the way to love this person. COUNTER to every ground, simply because we are bidden when looking at our neighbor to think of the ONE THING - of grace.

It is the most frustrating, maddening dimension of this person that is God's invitation to enter more fully into the grace and peace that God has extended to me...

The claim my neighbor makes on me - on my patience [is he preaching yet?], on my attention [OH, not again!], on my consideration ["I would prefer to ignore this"], on my love - is the claim of the ONE THING. The degree to which this person draws out of me and demands things of me that absolutely infuriate me, may in fact be the claim of the "one thing", it may be God's grace."

I had to listen to this entire thing twice to even begin to grasp the significance of what he is saying here. We are not the "us" - in fact, to God, we are The Other. He extended His grace to us even when we were completely unaware, intentionally ignorant, and frighteningly antagonistic towards Him and His love. He entered our lives instead, in spite of, because of, all of our sin, in order to draw us close to Him.

So when I point a finger at "them", I SHOULD be reminded of myself. When, I choose to follow Him, and love those who irritate the crap out of me, I am seeing God Himself at work, and understanding more fully His love for me, as well as His love for "the world".

So, I'm not living with all these "dead people" intruding into my life - messing up my world. In reality, I am the ghost that is messing up other people's lives - most of all Jesus Christ's.

That's humbling.

Sorry for the long post. I don't know if I have explained the concept very well, and I'm sure I can't articulate the impact that this has made on me. But I hope it will give you something to think about, and if you want to hear Rob's whole message, you can download it here. It is the teaching called "Others."

Jeremy spent the last week in Boston. He had an excellent, very effective mission trip and we were proud of him...but we were SO glad when he got home! We met him at Crazy Jose's, and had dinner, then came home and enjoyed a relaxing night...playing the Wii!

We spent the day at Ma's and Pa's, grilled (hamburgers and hotdogs), and then went to the park for a neighborhood picnic and fireworks. Actually, I didn't stay for the fireworks...Jake & I left, and I got to spend an ENTIRE evening being QUIET and doing NOTHING - the kids stayed at Ma's. =)

We missed Jeremy, but otherwise it was a perfect 4th.

Are there certain things that can't be joked about, if anything?
Timing is everything...and remember your audience. Follow those rules, and you can joke about anything!


Would you rather be a taxi driver, a doctor, or an accountant?
Taxi driver would have the most variety


Have you ever hung upside down from the side of your bed till you felt sick?
Um...no?


Do you think everyone is a little crazy?
Yes, except for me. I'm normal.


Do you have a best friend to lean on?
My husband.


Doesn't a minute seem much longer when you're waiting and watching time?
Of course. "A watched pot never boils."


Who do you not get along with?
The guy in front of me on the road who can't drive and talk on his cell at the same time.


Did you ever lose a best friend?
Yes.


Would you date someone 20 years older than you?
Heck no.


How much older than you is the first person on your top?
I don't remember who's my top friend...how bad is that?


What's your worst habit?
Sleeping too much.


Do you find it easier to forgive or forget?
Forgive. Forgetting is MUCH harder.


Have you ever talked to someone when they were high?
Yes, but I didn't know it at the time.


Do you like white boards or chalk boards?
White boards are awesome..


Do you think you're a bad influence?
No..


What color(s) is/are dominant in your closet?
Black?


How old is the first person on your top?
um....?


What woke you up this morning?
Baby crying


What color shirt are you wearing?
Purple that says "Westgate"


What are you listening to?
Baby crying. (Seeing a pattern?)


How long is your hair?
4-5 inches past my shoulders.


Are you wearing make-up?
No way


What were you doing at 11:30 last night?
Watching Hitch


Do you smile often?
Yes - at my babies


How tall are you?
5'4ish


Do you ever keep arguing even when you know you’re wrong?
Uh. yeah.


Who was the last person who texted you?
Vonage (voicemail)


Can you play guitar hero?
Of course! I rock!


What do you currently smell like?
??? No clue.


Last thing you bought?
groceries


When was the last time you really laughed?
Last night while watching Kevin James do "the q-tip" on Hitch - hilarious!!!


Do you twirl or scoop your spaghetti?
Cut it up tiny.


Do you like anyone now?
Oh yeah!


When was the last time you sang out loud?
Last night while I was working and listening to music. (According to Jeremy, I was singing a lot louder than I thought I was!)


Have the cops ever come to your house?
Yes - when our phone would randomly dial 911.


Do you dye your hair?
Sometimes - highlights mostly.


Can you say the alphabet backwards?
Yes! I can sing it, too!


Favorite pair of shoes you wear all the time?
skechers


Do you use the word 'hello' daily?
Yup

3 of 3!

The reception!

2 of 3!

The Ceremony:

*****Mobile Blog*****
Jeremys coming home tomorrow! We are VERY excited. We are proud of him but glad this week is over!

This is the 1st of 3 posts about Landra's wedding.

The rehearsal & rehearsal dinner:

I've always wanted curly hair...this is the closest I've been able to get:

This lighthouse is so pretty it doesn't even look real, but I promise it is because I was there!!

Jake my other sound man!

This is video of the Atlantic Ocean in MAINE!! I can't believe in the space of a year to be on both coasts of the USA. This is a clip of our WMBC kids being kids!

Annie Loves this song. I remember her singing this at WMBC VBS!

My three kids are having trouble right now not teasing people when it's obvious that it is hurting people's feelings. You know what it's like: a little teasing starts out as fun, but when the teas-er keeps going and going, the teas-ee soon gets upset. The rule at our house is, "If it's not fun for everyone, it's not fun!"

So, to practice that, AJ came up with a game. We all had to go around the table and say something nice about each other. Andrew said he loved Jacob. When asked what he loves, he said, "Kissing!" There were a few sweet moments, as there always are when my sweet babies have a chance to say what's on their minds!.

Then, we decided to make a video of the nice things we wanted to say about Jeremy. I want to share that with all of y'all, especially Jeremy.

Babe, we're thinking of you and praying for you and missing you like crazy! Here's proof: