A good word

This morning at MOPS we had a guest speaker who shared something that kind of turned on a light bulb in my mind. The Lord has kind of been whispering it to me lately, but today He used the speaker to let me know loud and clear.

I'm still kind of meditating on it and thinking it through (read: haven't had a quiet moment since MOPS to continue my thought process on it!), but the phrase she said was,

"Though it's important to read books, learn techniques, and try to perfect the art of being a good mother, what your kids will really *learn* from is who you are as a person."

She shared how it's important to be growing as a child of God, becoming the woman and daughter God wants you to be. All the techniques for getting the kids to sleep through the night or eat their peas or whatever are ok, but who we really are when the milk gets spilled or when the baby won't sleep or just in our everyday life... that's what our kids are actually learning from.

I'm big on techniques. I have a technique and a plan of attack for everything. What I'm sorely lacking is priority for my time with the Lord and my own spiritual growth. This shows itself when my "techniques" break down and I get hopeless and frustrated.

Last week I was flipping through the radio stations in the car, looking for talk radio. I have no idea why, because I *never* listen to talk radio. But the first station that came in was a guy preaching. He said, "The only thing keeping God from working in our lives is me, myself, and I." I continued my search about 3 or 4 stations later only to hear a completely different preacher say, "God wants to be at work in our lives. The only thing stopping that is us."

You know how in the Bible when God wants to get a point across, it's repeated several times in a row? Well, I'm not claiming biblical revelation here, but it made me take notice. Two completely different preachers within a space of about 5 minutes on two completely different stations, preaching the same thing to a girl who faithfully sticks to her presets. Hmmm..

I think I have some work to do.

My new favorite blog

If you're a mom, I guarantee you'll love Dyann's blog, "Stuff". I stumbled upon it randomly and got hooked immediately. I just love her writing style, and her subject matter... well, it's quite entertaining to say the least. Brian even gets a chuckle out of the entries I show him.

This (<---click) was a recent favorite post.

Keep up the great work, Dyann!

Bubble Gum + Not Flossing = Bad News

One of my weight loss strategies includes "snacking" on gum. It has very few calories, and you don't actually eat it anyway. My repertoire includes all different kinds of gum, but I especially like different flavors of bubble gum. Well, this particular approach has backfired on me.

I saw the dentist today.

The tooth that is hurting (or giving me "discomfort" as the nurse so underwhelmingly put it) needs a root canal, which I will hopefully be getting this afternoon. Despite having had maybe 3 real cavities my whole life, I now have 5-6 cavities that need attention, in addition to another possible root canal . The cavities all start in between my teeth, instead of on the bottom. Apparently this comes from not flossing all that bubble-gum-sugar away. Who knew?

So now it looks like I have to give up my beloved bubble gum. It just goes to show you that everything in life requires moderation.

Until I acquire that skill, though, it's sugarless for me.

Are you feeling sleepy?

Did you know that when it's windy outside, the lovely California poppy will curl up it's petals as if to brace itself from the elements? You would if you lived in our neck of the woods. We live about 7 miles from the Antelope Valley Poppy Reserve, which ironically enough, usually doesn't have as many poppies as the surrounding open fields. Taking a little jaunt out to one of these fields was our adventure for the afternoon.

Unfortunately, but not unexpectedly, it was incredibly windy this afternoon. You'll see in the pictures what I was talking about when I said the poppies curl up. It doesn't make for the best photographs, but the boys had fun running (and falling) through the fields of flowers.

I need to have a word with that Wicked Witch, though. The boys are as wired as ever.

OUCH

My tooth hurts. A lot. Home remedies found on the internet are strange at best. Listerine is working to numb the pain for a little while. Going to the dentist on Tuesday. PRAY they can fix it that day!!! I'm in pain here, people!

The aging process

A friend in Colby's class turned six today. "He didn't look like was six," Colby observed. "He looked the same as he did yesterday."

Watch out, baseball world!

Modelling his spiffy uniform

Warming up

Playing close attention to the batter (not)

Got a hit!

On his way to first base (thanks to his coach reminding him where to run!)

This is his poker face; practicing for manly sports photos of the future

Just watchin'

The kids are a real blast to watch. One little boy needed his shoe tied, so he ran right off the field in the middle of the game to find his mom. Colby had a shining moment when, as he and his teammate were busy playing swords with their mitts, the ball came and whacked him in the chest. We were hoping maybe it would teach him to keep his eye on the ball, but I'm not counting on it.

Here's a snippet of a typical play in the t-ball world...

Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing - Photo Books

"Don't Blink" (Kenny Chesney)

Not a huge Kenny Chesney fan, but this song has really been speaking to me lately. I love the images in the video; some of them really hit me right there. I realized recently that my life has just been flying by since I've had kids. I'm older, they're growing up so much... it's all just too fast.

Which begs the question, why do I spend so much time on this dang computer?!??!

Off to read stories with my "baby"...

Just got to wondering...

This has come up a couple times recently, and it's got me wondering. We've all been taught, "it's not nice to point." My question is, why? What's inherently rude about pointing? Is this an American culture thing, or is it universal? Pointing and *laughing*, yes I can see that as rude. But why just pointing in itself?

LIFE as a Mom

Colby and I broke out The Game of Life this evening. He's never played it the real way, according to the rules. Usually he just drives around all the paths and spins the wheel a few time just for good measure, so tonight we had a Life date and played full force.

I got a kick out of him when he "got married." At first he was going to his let little blue man be the driver of the car. That only lasted for a moment, though. He quickly decided, "To make my wife feel special, I'm gonna let her drive."

Awww, how sweet! I made sure to praise him for his thoughtfulness, and I hope he continues throughout his life to have a soft heart towards the woman God has in mind for him.

I also have to give Brian some props for being a great example to our boys of how to treat the woman you love. Little does Colby know, however, that the reason I usually drive isn't because Brian wants me to feel special, but because I'm a complete control freak when it comes to driving in the car! We'll keep that between you and me for now.