Scripture judges us and our agendas

Here is the most recent Clergy Corner, enjoy.

http://www.bighorncountynews.com/clergy.html

An effort in futility

These are my son's legos. He loves his legos. We pick up his lego's about 1,758,432 times a day. He dumps his legos on the floor, laughs and walks away. We pick up the legos. He comes back and dumps them on the floor. Looks at them with pride, and walks away. We pick up the legos. AND, the wheels on the bus go round and round ...

Climber in Action

My little Climber

Instinctual my 2 children have demonstrated inherent differences which most parents who have both boys and girls, will readily agree with. While Taylor has a daddy who is all boy (yes, I'm just a large man-child when it really comes down to it) she much more takes after her mom (thank you Intelligent Designer of the universe) who has found a way to perfectly blend a healthy dose of tom-boy with a very elegant and classy feminine side. Taylor loves to get dirty and play soccer with the best of the boys, but she is pretty in Pink and twirls a dress with the best of them.

TJ on the other hand has expressed interest in hitting people or things with pretty much anything he can get his hands on (I've take a remote control to the face on more than one occasion), a huge reluctance to leave the doggie poo in the back yard alone and a preoccupation with being naked which of course gives him unfettered access to his nibbly jiblets. And climb. If TJ can climb it he'll climb it.

At 16 months old he's climbed:

1. Up onto the coffee table
2. Up onto the kitchen table
3. The slide at the park
4. The refrigerator (to reach the yogurt)
5. The stairs at Nanny and Pepere's house
6. The TV cabinet
7. Out of his high chair (after getting himself out of being strapped in)
8. The bar stools in the kitchen
9. Up onto his changing table
10. The 6 foot ladder

It is amazing to watch TJ tackle obsticles around him without ANY fear what-so-ever. However it is also a little frightning because a healthy dose of reality helps us make some good decisions.

Oh. he also loves to climb the baby gate. That very thing we purchased to protect him from being places he's not supposed to go. A baby gate with decorative holes for a little girl, perfect. A baby gate with hand and foot holds for a little boy to climb ... Not so much.

Hallelu-yer

As I walked into Costco last night I saw an event that can only be described as a joyous and momentous occasion which welled within me all manner of excitement. This feeling of elation was immediately followed by profound wonderment and brooding anger that I am happy and excited to be paying $3.99 for 1 gallon of gas.

Something HAS to be wrong with that. Though I can't remember the last time I paid less than $4 for a gallon of gas it's easy to understand how we've been conditioned to believe that anything under $4 for a gallon of gas is cheap.

Ok, I'm done lamenting.

101st Post and Stuff

Well my blogging pep's...I have been a bit busy and I have not blogged much. That and I wanted to do something fun since we hit our 10oth post but Aaron beat me to it with the last post about John Cusak. So I decided to do a fun 101st post so here it goes...101 things about me, us, Aaron, the kids, and the two pets...

1. This is the last week of summer vacation for Taylor. This is bittersweet for us all. Bitter because we will miss her. Sweet because she loves school and is looking forward to seeing all her friends.

2. That being said I am looking forward to having my gym time each day once she is in school. I REALLY miss it. I think I will set a goal for myself to do a 5K or 10K in the near future.

3. Aaron's parents were here for just over a week and we had a great time with them. Aaron had the week off from work too. So nice.

4. Work for me is going good. I have learned a lot and have so much more to learn. This past week I sat people down and did consultations for the first time since working at the Benefit counter. This is what I love about the job.

5. I won a contest at work. Two actually. One contest I won got me a bag full of fun product. The other contest I got a Pizza Solo gift card. Yeah!

6. We were SO close to moving into a new house. Then at the last minute the owner changed her mind, over voicemail and never returned my phone call. Weird. Was super hard. I had my heart set on this house and am still a little bummed. I am trusting God to know the best for us and that He is in control.

7. I just read a great book. It was funny and refreshing. A Christian fiction but not sappy, good sarcastic humor. Book was called "The Whitney Chronicles" by Judy Baer.

8. Taylor saved her money and bought an Easy Bake Oven. So proud of her for saving her money to get what she really wanted. We baked sugar cookies by light bulb tonight in the Easy Bake. Umm, not so tasty...but so precious that she made them.

9. She will be starting her third season of soccer soon. I am hoping her two friends get on her team. Also, that I can take her to practices and games...will be a challenge with my work schedule.

10. Thursday we will see what teacher she will have. I am hoping her two girlfriends are in the same class.

11. She is done with swim, however she is ready to move on to Stroke School. Stroke School is a year round swim club the pool has for kids who are at a certain level of swim. She has been out of swim for a week and is really missing it.

12. Tommy is getting about 4 teeth right now. Poor little man, Orajel really helps.

13.He is still not talking other than just a few words. However, he communicates and listens great. I think his words will come with time.

14. I have started weening him from nursing. Pray for us both, it is hard but I feel it is time. I don't want to stop cold turkey. One because I might explode and I want to be gentle with his schedule as well.

15. Aaron is great. Back to work today with like 200 e-mails or something crazy like that.

16. He is super excited that football season has begun. I think he is in about 5 fantasy leagues.

17. As a family we love football season, I am hoping that like with soccer, work doesn't get to in the way of things we love as a family.

***A friend of mine tagged me in this ABC survey so here goes 27 of the 101 things:***

18.A. Attached or single? Attached.
19.B. Best friend? My hubbie, parents, and kids. Gina, friends since third grade, all we have been through has bonded us. I have a load of amazing friends that are near and dear to me.
20.C. Cake or Pie? Fresh warm apple pie, my aunt makes the best. Or Funfetti cake. Or anything with chocolate.
21.D. Day of choice? Friday nights when work for Aaron and school for Tay is done for the weekend.
22.E. Essential items? Mascara, lip gloss, and ice water...dark chocolate, I'm kinda an addict.
23.F. Favorite color(s)? For what? My house, earth tones. For me to wear blacks and browns with hints of colors.
24.G. Gummy bears or worms? Gummy bears in frozen yogurt, one of my favorites.
25.H. Hometown? Bakersfield, CA.
26.I. Favorite indulgence? Dark Chocolate covered pretzels with Trader Joes coffee ice cream.
27.J. January or July? January, I love the winter months. Fireplaces, vanilla burning, and baked cookies. A good movie, a blanket and a hubbie or kid to cuddle with:)
28.K. Kids? Two beautiful little ones.
29.L. Life isn't complete without? My Jesus.
30.M. Marriage date? July 24, 1999. I was 12.
31.N. Number of brothers and sisters? One younger brother. Who is over 6 feet tall and thin. He got the supermodel gene and I got the short and squatty gene.
32.O. Oranges or apples? When it comes to actual fruit Apples. When it comes to juice Orange.
33.P. Phobias? Something bad happening to one of my little ones or Aaron. I have a huge fear of loosing my loved ones. God has done amazing things in this area of my life.
34.Q. Quotes- "How would you like it if I put my hands in my cup?" and "What's the matter? Did someone sprinkle Drama Queen in your cereal this morning?"
35.R. Reasons to smile? My family. A clean house. Laundry done. All the beds made. Dinner made and cleaned up before 7 at night.
36.S. Season of choice? Fall, I love the colors, Halloween, the smells of pumpkin, spice, and vanilla. The anticipation of Christmas, winter weather and the trees changing colors. Pumpkin Pie.
37.T. Tag 5 people: Any 5 of you that will do this!!! Come on don't spoil the fun!!!
38.U. Unknown fact about me? Umm, I'm pretty much an open book. I love reality TV, even the silly MTV ones like The Hills and Making the Band. Did you know that?
39.V. Vacation of choice?I live in my favorite vacation spot. My parents live in my other. One day I would love to go to New York in the winter and see the Christmas trees and stand out in the freezing cold weather and hold up signs at the Today show.
40.W. Worst habit? I have become a Night Owl. Working late doesn't help. Then I am so tired to wake at 6 with my son.
41.X. X-ray or ultrasound? Ultrasound, right? X-ray usually happens because you broke something. Ultrasound because there is a Baby. Although with my miscarriages...ultrasounds gave me huge anxiety.
42.Y. Your favorite food? Mexican. Dark Chocolate.
43.Z. Zodiac sign? Virgo. Not sure what that means though, I don't read much into all that.

44. We love watching the Olympics. Why do they all have to wear Spandex though?

45. The Women Weight Lifters were freaking amazing. Reminded me of my days of throwing shot put and discuss in high school. Only time I ever felt petite in my life was next to those girls.

46. BTW I was really bad at throwing both, I just wanted to run with the runners to keep in shape between soccer in school ending and club ball starting. That and my best friend was a superstar hurdler.

47. I cleaned house today, I love having laundry done, floors mopped and things dusted. I love the smell of cleaners. So nice.

48. I still have to clean tomorrow a little, like vacuum all the floors. This is okay though, with two kids needing me it is hard to get everything done in one day.

49. I love being needed by my kids.

50. I love even more being needed by my husband.

51. I feel accomplished when I take care of a need, even as simple as cooking dinner.

52. My wonderful mom-in-law made us a yummy lasagna to cook at a later date, since this is my favorite thing she makes. I cooked it today and my mostly cleaned house smelled wonderful.

53. Speaking of smelling something wonderful, I am burning a Vanilla-Coconut Oil and I love it. A summer twist on the vanilla smell I love.

54. I feel anxious to move to a newer house. Renting sucks sometimes. But it especially sucks to be renting a house that is nothing more than a cash cow to someone. We would like to be in a house that is well maintained.

55. I feel at home where we currently live but it is old and things need to be done and they won't get done. Sometimes that can get to me.

56. I need to remember that we rent because without us both working full time there is no way to afford a mortgage.

57. I am thankful to God for providing the roof over our head...we have done things to make it cute and it is our home.

58. My Mom and I are taking Taylor on a girls day of school shopping on Saturday. I am looking forward to it.

59. Taylor's favorite food is noodles with cheese.

60. Tommy's favorite food is corn on the cob.

61. Both kids love starches and sweets like Aaron and I. It takes effort to get veggies in Tay but Tommy eats pretty much anything.

62. Maggie is a great doggie. It feels like we have had her forever.

63. Tiger is a great kitty. We have had him forever.

64. The two of them tolerate each other and more importantly the little hands that poke and pull at them.

65. I need to find a lipstick for work. I thought I found one until Aaron thought it was a joke.

66. I met a couple at church that are going to China to be missionaries. This amazes me. I love that I had a summer to live and work in an orphanage in Hong Kong.

67. I still have such a heart for women, especially new Mom's. Young Mom's. I wonder where God will use this.

68. I am thankful that I get to work with women at work. Mothers, Daughters, Grandmas, etc. Just women, this is rewarding to me.

69. The hardest part about working is missing my kids. Sundays are the worst. Hopefully I will work little to no hours on Sundays.

70. I am watching Shear Genius, I am not sure I would let any of them near my hair. I am pretty picky but I wonder if I just sat in front of a stylist what they would say.

71. I wonder the same thing about how I dress. What would Stacey and Clinton (What Not to Wear) say?

72. I work next to a Peete's Coffee so have tried them a few times. Not sure I like it compared to Starbucks or even Higher Groundz. It seems real strong or something. Thoughts?

73. We have about 30 whole sand dollars we've found by combing the beach in the early morning.

74. We've been to the drive in more in the last year than in 9 years of living in Sacramento and we love it.

75. Aaron hit 3 home runs in Softball this season.

76. Only 1/4 of us have been to Disneyland

77. It takes me two days to clean the house. Thank God it is now done. Laundry and all.

78. Thank God it is done because I work the next three nights. Then I have off four days to enjoy some time with my girl before school starts.

79. 79, the age of my beautiful Nana. A strong and amazing woman.

80. This Friday is the much anticipated (at least in this house) premier of The Cheetah Girls 3 movie. Taylor and I will pull the futon mattress out to the living room and have a slumber party.

81. Having slumber party's with Taylor is one of my favorite things to do because Taylor loves doing this, she squealed only like little girls do when they are super excited when I asked her if she wanted to have one Friday to watch it.

82. This morning she informed me that she is going to where her leopard pajamas to our Cheetah Girl 3 Slumber Party...no boys allowed!

83. Aaron has started setting up and running sound at Church.

84. Aaron is getting a new boss at work since his left last month.

85. Taylor and I sleep exactly alike, according to Aaron.

86. We enjoy walking the mile loop around our neighborhood after dinner.

87. Skinny Cows are a great after dinner snack. Especially topped with peanut butter and dripping with chocolate sauce. Not so skinny after all that though.

88. A friend of Aaron's just got hired at his work. Go Patrick!

89. Taylor loves musicals, her favorites are The Sound of Music and Singing in the Rain.

90. Taylor is very competitive and loves to beat her daddy at anything she can.

91. Our favorite comedian is Frank Caliendo and he's going to be in town in September and we'd LOVE to go see him again (we saw him in Sacramento a few years ago).

92. Tommy is infatuated with belly buttons. His and yours.

93. Since our dog has no tail she shakes her entire hind quarters.

94. Aaron's guilty pleasure is Tori and Dean (but he'd never admit it).

95. Currently 2 adults, 2 kids, 1 dog and 1 cat are not too much for a California King size bed.

96. Aaron says we are not doing this every time we come to a new 100 posts (really who wants to read 700 things about us).

97. Tommy gives the most precious kisses and hugs. And lately he says come here, of course with his hands not words and when he is super excited he wants a high five. What a precious little boy.

98. I think if we are going to stay in this house another year, I would like to paint the walls different colors. I am thankful we don't have the classic white rental walls but I still would like to paint. We'll see.

99. I am looking forward to the gym again. And maybe even some lunch time work outs with Aaron. When I can kick his butt in racket ball. He is too short to hit the ball. I of course am better because I am of course taller than he is.

100. God is good. He is the reason for all that we have. When we submit to Him and seek Him our world is right. Life is not easy. It is challenging but with our God life is manageable and joyful. I am blessed that my sins are forgiven. And that He saw fit to give us this family and each other is a beautiful thing. Simply beautiful.

101. WOW this was a lot to undertake. If you made it all the way through. Thanks for reading. Learn anything new about us?

Until next time...

Here I raise my Ebenezer

(any idea how hard it is to find a picture of an Ebenezer?)


When worshiping in song, I've always thought it's important to physically engage in whatever it is I'm singing (if the song says I raise my hands I raise my hands. If the song says I fall to my knees I fall to my knees, etc)

Sunday during worship we sang one of my favorite hymns "Come Thou Fount". I'm singing along when we come to the second verse and it says, "Here I raise my Ebenezer ..." and I have to give pause because, well, I don't think I have an Ebenezer. And if I do I'm not sure who give it to me or where I put it. And most importantly, should I see a specialist about it. Naturally, I had to figure out what an Ebenezer is and having done so I thought I'd share it with you all:

(I guess it takes a Scotsman)
Ebenezer is the name of a stone raised by Samuel to commemorate a victory over the Philistines at Mizpeh (I Sam.7.12), from Heb. ebhen ezar "stone of help,"