Christmas Picture Fun

One of the things that I wanted to do while my younger sister was in town was take our Christmas picture. We haven't mailed out Christmas cards in a couple of years, so now was a good time to reverse that trend. So one evening with A armed with our camera and D and I trying to look our best, she snapped some pictures. Here are some that came from that evening...

Our first Christmas...

... in our new home! I have been so excited about doing our house up for Christmas. Choosing a fresh tree, putting lights up outside, hanging stockings over a fireplace, and garland. How can one forget the plastic greenery that gives a home the Christmas feel?

We bought our tree from a farm down the road- you might know it as Lowe's- and loaded it into D's truck to bring home. It was quite a sight to see us lugging this 8' tree into our home, spreading needles everywhere. After cutting the netting, placing the tree stand in just the right spot, and heaving the tree into place, we were ready to start decorating. The picture above is of me doing the dirty work while D snaps pictures.


And this is the finished product. Merry Christmas!

Accident Prone

So apparently my kindergarten class is prone to accidents- in the first 3 weeks of school, we have had a nose bleed, a broken arm, sprained ankle, and today two boys ran into each other and my student went home with a goose egg above his eye! It was not a pretty sight to look at... actually, none of them have been particularly appealing. On the bright side, my kids are so sweet and have such great hearts. I am so excited to be working with them this year.

I am also glad that I still get to see my old class on a regular basis. I've always heard that a teacher's first class will always have a special place in their heart, but now I know it to be true. My first class was a challenging class, but they will always be special to me and loved by me. I can't wait to see how much they grow and change over this next year in 1st grade.

Today was Elegant Day where we celebrate learning the short 'e' sound, learning rules of etiquette, and trying (most for the first time) green eggs and ham. Teachers and students alike dress in their most elegant attire for the occasion. We eat on tables decorated with table cloths, fresh flowers, and candles. The boys pull the chairs out for the girls, the students sit with napkins in their laps, and fun is had by all. And as soon as it's all over, the fancy clothes come off and kindergarten-friendly dress come on... teachers, too!

Kids say the darnedest...

Today in one of the kindergarten classes, the teacher was talking about the seasons of the year. After one student named the four seasons, one of the other students raised their hand and said, "No, you forgot one. There are five seasons." The teacher was really curious and asked the student to name the other season. The student answered, "Dove season. My dad and I went dove hunting last weekend." Reason #113 to teach kindergarten: You never know what they're going to tell you.

Third Day on Jay Leno

So as some of you know, Third Day is my all-time favorite band. I love their music, their lyrics, and the fact that Mac Powell's voice is so unique. When I heard this weekend that they would be performing on Jay Leno, I was pretty excited- not just about hearing my favorite band, but that a Christian band was playing to a pretty secular crowd.
Since I usually don't watch Leno (I'm more of a Letterman girl) I had to remind myself to change the channel after the 10 o'clock news (I'm more of a CBS girl than NBC). Jay Leno is just starting, so I grab a blanket and settle in to watch his show. Wow. Was I in for a shock! Leno's opening jokes were actually ok, and he did a Jay Walking segment where he knocked on people's doors and threw a stay-cation for them. That was pretty funny. Then came the guests.
First of all, I didn't know either of the guests (but I usually don't stay caught up in knowing the latest Hollywood stars). The first guest had just played a part in a movie about weed. Yes, that's right. Before talking about this, he talked about a one hour comic routine he had written about doing something I will not even write on here. And his parents were in the audience. Great. I can only imagine what the band is thinking backstage.
Then comes this girl who plays a role in a movie called "Death Race" (I think). They're talking about how this role is not a normal role for her (blah, blah, blah) and then Leno asks what the hardest part was about playing that role. She tell him that there were several lines that she was supposed to say that were filled with cursing and vulgar language and that it was really hard to get through those. I'm thinking, wow, that's kind of cool that she had a problem with that. What would have been cooler is if she had taken a stand about it. What does Leno do? He wants her to say one of the lines on air. The entire line was bleeped- that's how many curse words there were. However, it of course was not bleeped for the live audience where I have to believe there were some Third Day fans who had come just to listen to the band.
By this time, there's only about 5 minutes left so Third Day just performs and they don't talk to the band or anything. That's pretty common, but after all the trash in the show, I really wanted Mac Powell to stand up and say something.
Point of this post: Way cool to see Third Day perform. Totally disappointed by the filth that is the Jay Leno show.

City Roots

So D and I tried out something new last night. There's this organization called Above Grounds that arranges different venues around our city for local Christian artists to play at one night a month. Last night, it was at a cafe in the same area as our church and we had nothing else to do so we thought we'd try it out. Three bands played (but we got there late so only heard two of them). The first one was Progeny... they were really good. You should check them out. The group is made up of a husband and wife that are around our age and they did a really good job of connecting with the audience. I really enjoyed listening to them. I bought their cd. The last artist was a girl who was probably around our age. She played the guitar and had a huge voice. She was very talented, but just not my style of music. The whole event was really just a neat experience- that Christians who enjoy music get to hang together and listen to great local artists perform without worrying about offensive lyrics. Anyway, City Roots is something we're going to put on our calendar to check out each month. And it's free!

You can check out their website: www.abovegroundsaustin.com
Progeny: www.progenyband.com

Alexander Lane

My older sister gave birth to a healthy baby boy at 2:30am today. He weighed 8lbs 60z and measured 20 3/4 inches long. Both baby and mom are doing fine. I'm going to see them tomorrow.

Independence Day

Our day started off with a pretty lazy morning, but picked up in the afternoon. We met up with some friends and played volleyball (where the girls dominated the guys) and then went swimming. Our friends' little girl was so excited to go swimming and we all had a lot of fun playing with her in the pool. Pizza was the food of choice for dinner- not very patriotic, but it was quick and we were hungry. Then the decision was made to try to catch a fireworks show... so we made our way to the suburb of our city and caught a pretty neat patriotic display in the sky. Our little friend, I'll call her K, had never seen fireworks before, so this was pretty exciting to her. For the first time, I realized the unwritten rules of firework watching... have you ever realized how quiet everyone gets when the show starts? It's like we're watching a performance and staying quiet is showing our respect to the celestial actors and actresses. However, a three year old does not understand these rules and each display would result in a cheer, or George of the Jungle-type yell. She quickly became bored of the entire event and began to play/pull our hair. Even the fantastic ending didn't hold her attention and when it was all over, her first question was, "Can I finish watching Snow White?" Maybe next year...

Untitled

On My Own
BarlowGirl

...cause i promised myself i wouldn't fall
but here i've fallen
i guess i'm not as strong as i thought
all i can do ... is cry to You

God, you have to save me
you're my last and only hope
all my right answers fail me
i can't seem to make it on my own

i always thought that i would be strong enough
what made all of them fall
couldn't take me down
yeah, did i think that i was above it all?
i have learned that pride comes before the fall

i can't promise myself that i wont fall
cause here i've fallen
i know i'm not as strong as i thought
all i can do ... is cry to You

When our answers, actions, very best intentions come up short, I find comfort that I have a Father to cry to- the creator of Heaven and Earth, who is sovereign over all His creation, who knows the exact number of hairs on my head, who knows the number of steps in my life. Nothing I can do can ever be good enough to earn His love, yet He loves me and takes care of me anyway. In the good times and bad, we are to praise and worship our God. In the midnight hour, when no one else is there... it's just me and God and I'm faced with the deepest sorrow I have ever felt, turn the soundtrack on and and realize that I'm in a bigger story that is all about God. I praise Him because I can play a small part in that story. I love to cry out the line in this song that says, "God you have to save me. You're my last and only hope. All my right answers fail me. I can't seem to make it on my own."

Many are the plans of a human heart, but it is the Lord's purpose that prevails. Proverbs 19:21

Everything is changing...

D and I finally bought a house... the most perfect house! God just opened the door and we knew it was the one. After a long month of waiting on inspections and appraisals, we closed on it at the end of March. This past weekend we made our move into a new city, new neighborhood, and the beginning of new experiences: opening the garage door from the car, having a garage!, appliances that spin your clothes so fast-you can't even see them, neighbors!, and convenience. There are many others, but you get the point. We had a lot of great friends help with the move which made it go so smoothly!
On a down note, we found out that our very best friends will be moving to be near his family while his dad battles pancreatic cancer. While we completely understand the need to be closer during this hard time, we will miss them so much. It's so hard to believe that in only two years of knowing them, our friendship could become this strong. With them moving to one side of the country, our other great friends who also happen to be related to us may possibly be taking a job on yet the other side of the country. It's a great opportunity for them, but that doesn't mean that it will be easy for us to say good-bye. I know that we will still see them for the major holidays, but I can't help but think about how everything has changed so much over the past two months. It reminds me of the last season of FRIENDS, where Chandler and Monica buy a home in the suburb. Then Rachel gets a job in Paris and Phoebe and Mike are married. I feel like Joey, who tries to resist change, but ends up having to accept it. I don't want things to change- I liked them the way they were. Yet all around me, people's lives are changing. Even ours has changed with us buying a home. I know that God will be here with us through it all. I'm just praying for the ability to accept this as part of His plan for all of our lives.

Disappointment and new friendships

i found out about something today that left me feeling down. sometimes it seems like no matter what lengths i go to, for some it will never be enough. while i know in my heart that i'm not on this earth for me, but as part of a bigger story, i'm still human. and humans have a tendency to let other humans down. i should know this by now. but knowing this in my head and having it in my heart are two different things. i know in my head that in comparison to eternity, this is a speck of dust. but in my heart, i feel that i'm always an advocate for everyone else, but when i need that, no one's there.

on a more positive note, my church's ladies ministry group heart2heart met tonight to play bunco. i enjoyed spending time with women of all ages and all walks of life. we had so much fun and i was able to make many new friends. the excitement that some of the women got when they rolled a bunco was so contagious. however, i seemed to have caught the losing bug. it was fun all the same. i'm so glad that this group has started and that we have such a great interest in getting to know each other and bonding together. i feel like there is so much i can learn from these Godly women.

To-Do lists

Have you ever noticed the difference in women's to-do lists and men's list of things to be accomplished? D was complaining to me about the amount of things that he has to get done and how it seems that he can't keep up with the list. When I asked him to tell me his list, this is what was on it:
Car Appointment at Dealership
Pick up mower from Sears
Meet Nate on Saturday to talk about lawn business
Call GTFCU about car payments
Get contacts
Write down ideas for Young Couples Ministry
Decide whether or not to play Fantasy Baseball
Get free CD from Rosetta Stone
Decide on which sports to play with church league

I was particularly amused at the all-important decisions to be made about Fantasy baseball and acquiring a free CD from Rosetta Stone. While all of these things are of importance to him, few of them would ever make it on my To-Do list. More often than not, they would be on my Honey-Do list...

House Hunting

so we have continued our house hunting and it has been a roller coaster, to say the least. from excitement, to nervousness, questioning yourself, and then disappointment, it's enough to make me want to live in a cardboard box! as a friend says, at least then you know you won't be in a bidding war over the box. i never thought that this process would be this hard. we've been excited about doing this for so long, and now i just want it to all be over with! patience is definitely a virtue that i could use right now. a little sunshine would also be nice.

searching

so d and i have looked at a couple of houses, and after researching information on loans and down payments, decided if we saved for a few more months, we would be better off. of course, after we say this, we find the house of our dreams. okay, maybe not "our", but mine, at least. we've looked at it twice, and while d seems to have come around on some of the features that he didn't care for, it's still so scary. we just really don't know where to go from here. before we even started looking, we just bathed this whole process in prayer. it's something we have looked forward to for so long and now i just want a clear answer. it feels like i'm in the same place that i was this past summer when i was looking for a job and i know that God blessed me with more than i could have ever imagined. i just need to have that same faith and trust in Him that i did such a short time ago. how quickly i forget the power and sovereignty of our God!