Cousins

Silly cousins...

Isn't my niece, Talyn, gorgeous?  She's beautiful inside and out!  Love that girl!

Wonder Years: In the Country

Lived here from the time I was in 3rd grade until I graduated from HS.  This was out in the country with plenty of space to roam.  Also lived across the street from best friends Courtney and Jaime.  We had so much fun!

Mom had this sign on the front porch when we lived there.  Guess what?  When I visited recently (new owners were kind enough to show me around) it was STILL there!  How funny.

 There used to be a playhouse behind the mailboxes where we'd wait for the school buses in the morning.  There is a story behind that PVC pipe newspaper holder.  The newspaper boy used to fly down our gravel road (only three families lived down it) every day.  Well, he ran over my dog one day.  One of our neighbors and dear friends, Jerry, forbid the paper boy to ever come down that gravel road again.  When they got tired of not getting the paper, I think he built that receptacle for it.  :)

 Handprint from the front porch.  :)

MC is off to Work

Mary Claire heard she was going to work with Mimi for a while today so she got all dressed up (Christmas socks and all). She also has her new "laptop" Pops and Mimi got her for Christmas. She knows how to work it doesn't she?

Three Secrets To Good Mornings

I am blessed to have late sleepers in my house – at least blessed for the sake of sleeping late on Saturdays.  I too am not a morning person.  But in light of school starting, I’m dedicating this post to how I get my kids to wake up in a good mood when they have to wake up before they’re really ready.

1) All Day Nap Day – This is so funny. Mary Claire still takes naps every day, but she’d never admit that she really needs one… ever. And, she is such a rebel so reverse psychology works really well on her right now. So, I sometimes go into her room in the morning and say “Mary Claire, stay in your bed because today we’re having ‘all day nap day!’” That sounds like a horrible, terrible, no good, very bad idea to her, so her little rebellious nature causes her to jump right out of bed in protest – laughing at my ridiculous idea. Score. Ben is totally in favor of ‘all day nap day’ so that one doesn’t work with him.

2) Attack of Izzy – This one’s easy. I just send our half shih tzu/half chiuaua dog into each of the kid’s rooms to attack. She jumps up on their beds and licks them until they have to get up just to get her to stop. She’s crazy about the kids.

3) Music – This one is my favorite because it helps me get awake and happy too. I just crank up my iPod player so you can hear it everywhere in the house and turn on some good music and everybody can’t help but dance. So much fun! Here’s my latest download that we’ve been dancing to – I love this song!

Mary Claire's First Haircut

Mary Claire has been asking for so long to get her haircut, so on her fourth birthday she got one. 

Thanks Mrs. Jan!

Enjoying her birthday moment...

Three Things I'm Happy About

1) Today is Mary Claire's 4th Birthday - Happy Birthday My Sweet Girl!

2) In honor of the occasion, she is getting her FIRST haircut today!  She's been asking for one since she turned three, so I'm finally giving in.  Stay tuned for pics.

3) I'm SO looking forward to the end of this week when I get to be with some of my best girlfriends from my childhood.  My friend Susy is visiting from New York (where she's living out all our dreams) and we're going to have SO MUCH FUN!

A New Life

“A baby will make love stronger, days shorter, nights longer, bankroll smaller, home happier, clothes shabbier, the past forgotten, and the future worth living for."

My cousin Kim and her husband Ron were blessed with their second child, Cameron, born on June 7.  Their firstborn, Caleb just finished Kindergarten and is so very proud of his little brother. 

I'm learning that life presents many obstacles and hardships, and it was difficult to watch my sweet cousin and her family try to have children for so long.  Their patience, faith, and hope were an encouragement to me.  God has richly rewarded them and our joy is so much greater knowing the trials they had to face to get to where they are today.  Two healthy, happy, handsome boys are the answer to many prayers and the recipients of more love than they can imagine. 

Welcome to the world, Cameron!

Everything I Ever Needed to Know, I Learned at Camp Kurios

One of my very fondest childhood memories was of the time spent at Camp Kurios every summer.  Camp Kurios (Kurios means Lord in Greek) is a mission of the churches of Christ in south Arkansas and has been in operation since 1987.  This was the place where I sought refuge from the "world" every summer and enjoyed many spiritual mountaintops.

I made friends at camp that I didn't even realize would be some of my very best friends today.  The kids I met at camp have a special place in my heart.  Though they're now adults with responsibilities, and parents, and husbands, and wives; to me, they'll always be my "camp friends."  And when a handful of us happen to be in the same place, it's a camp reunion. 

At camp, I witnessed loving examples of caring Christian adults.  How wonderful it was to be surrounded by a small world of people striving to learn God's will for their lives.  I came to understand that we are all unworthy sinners saved by the grace of God.  I learned how to truly worship God through the sweet sounds of young Christians singing praises to Him together.  I got a sweet repreive from life's everyday distractions and temptations, and just enjoyed raw goodness of people seeking Jesus.  I love camp!

After graduating from high school, I went on to serve as counselor and stay involved in camp as much as I could. Now that I have a "real job" and precious little vacation time, I have not been able to commit a full week to serve at camp in a few years, but have continued to serve at Kid's Camp (which is the mini weekend camp for kids who've finished 1st - 3rd grade) and am honored to serve on the Board of Directors of the organization.

So anyway, this was Ben's 3rd year at Kid's Camp, and he'll be moving on to Junior Week at Kurios next summer.  It was just yesterday I was bringing BABY Ben out to camp to visit, and now he's a camper.  I look forward to all the wonderful things he will experience as he grows up at Camp Kurios.  Before you know it, he'll be leading rowdy campfire.  For now, he told me that his favorite thing about camp is the pillow fights in the cabins.  His pillow did come back quite misshapen.  :)  I'm glad he loves camp too. 

This year, he invited a good friend of his, Daniel.  Here are a couple photos of Ben and Daniel at camp this year.

At their cabin across the ravine.  This is a newly built cabin - super nice!

Good ole Camp sign...

Waiting in line for the giant slip 'n' slide...

awesome!

Mani's and Pedi's at the Lake (er... the mall near the lake)

All the girls went to the mall while we were at Lake DeGray and got manicures and pedicures.

It was Mary Claire's first! 

She wanted bright green nails.  I got the french manicure.

Talyn looks like she's done this before...

She learns from the best!  :)  Mom was here too, but somehow escaped the camera lense.

Showing off our pedi's on the beach. 

"The great gift of family life is to be intimately acquainted with people you might never even introduce yourself to, had life not done it for you."

Memorial Day at Lake DeGray

Dad and Mom rented a cabin at Lake DeGray and we had a good time with mom and dad and the Tatom crew. 

There was a lot of swimming going on.

Ben in the hot tub on the back porch that overlooked the lake...

Everybody in...

Dad and Mom dutifully watching after the grandkids and granddog.  Mom getting a little crocheting in.  I think that's Mary Claire's baby blanket.  ha.

My Little Cup of Tea

"There are few hours in life more agreeable than the hour dedicated to the ceremony known as afternoon tea."

- Henry James

Mary Claire recently attended the birthday parties of two of her freinds, Caroline and Mary Kate.  It was the lovliest tea party a little girl could imagine!  Held on the lawn of the John Newton house...

They painted teapots and decorated hats...

Enjoyed "tea," petifores, little sandwiches, and fruit... all using real china!

Got to take a tour in the historic John Newton house...

Mary Claire made sure the babies were safely tucked in their crib before she left...

One of Childhood's Sweetest Treats

Ah the joy of honeysuckles. Ben is introducing Mary Claire to them.

Fun While It Lasted

Ben and the Terrible, Horrible, Very Bad Day

One of Ben's teachers, Mrs. Dison sent me one of Ben's papers that he wrote as a part of their Alexander unit. She said he did an excellent job. Check it out - click the paper to see larger image. Poor guy - it's mostly non-fiction (except of course for the making an "F" part!).

Written and illustrated by Ben Parker :)

Southern Cookin'

Thanks to my good friend/neighbor/sorority sister/confidante/forwarder-of-emails Amy, I have been turned on the the southern cooking delights of Christy at SouthernPlate.com. It feels like Christy's my friend already and I don't even know her! I made some super easy bbq sandwiches this weekend from a recipe I found on her site.

1 boneless beef roast
1 bottle of your favorite BBQ sauce
hamburger buns
Put the roast in the crock pot, season with garlic, salt and pepper. Cook on low for 8 hours (time may vary depending on your crock pot - mine cooks faster).
Shred beef and add bbq sauce. Mix and cook 20 minutes more.
Serve on hamburger buns.

Ben Goes to 3rd Grade

Well, Ben wasn't quite as excited about starting 3rd grade as Mary Claire was about starting preschool (can you blame him? no triangle rice krispie treats in 3rd grade). He's at a new school this year, so it was a little scary.

The adjustment has been a difficult one for him since he's trying to find his place with a group of kids that have been together since kindergarten and he's the newcomer, but he's doing good. He's a super-sharp kid and academics have come easy to him so far - I'm thinking 3rd grade may pose more of a challenge, which will be good!

Each year at the beginning of school, Ben has a little adjustment period where he's learning how far he can go and still stay on "blue" (the color discipline system). I told him the first week that he stayed on blue all week (blue is the best, then green, then yellow, then red - worst) that we would reward him. So that was last week and we went on a family bowling outing this weekend. :)

Jason got the best score, but he did make an "A" in bowling in college (yuh huh, there is a college course in bowling - crazy, I know - crazier till that he took it!), so he did have the advantage on the rest of us. :)

And, some good old fashioned Labor day fun...

Mary Claire Goes to School

Mary Claire started preschool (3K) on August 19. She was SOOO excited to go and had so much fun the first day. When she got home that night and we said she got to go back again the next day, she said she did not want to go back because she had already been to school. She said she was going back to Wanda's. It's been a major adjustment not seeing her Wandi and Larry every single day! Well, after a couple weeks of crying each morning, she is now happy to go to school each day.

She's been singing the cutest songs. From what I can gather, she's learned the following so far:
Genesis 1:1; Pledge of Allegiance; My Country Tis of Thee; Miss Molly Had a Dolly; God Made Me (from my head down to my toes); some song about a squirrel with a bushy bushy tail; lots of other random songs that I hear glimpses of; and the Bubbling song (so cute!):

"It's bubbling, It's bubbling,It's bubbling in my soul.There's singing, and laughing,Since Jesus mad me whole.Folks don't understand it, Nor can I keep it quietIt's bubbling, bubbling, bubbling, bubbling,Bubbling, day and night."

Each week they're learning about a different shape and color. This week she's learning about the color yellow and the triangle. So, it's also our turn to bring snacks this week, and we made yellow rice krispie treats in the shape of triangles (with sprinkles for good measure). How much fun!

Stay tuned for how Ben's experience with 3rd grade is going tomorrow...

Bookworm

Mary Claire has recently started licking her finger before she turns a page. They pick up on EVERYTHING!

What were you doing on this day in 2006?

I was getting an epidural. :) Mary Claire is 3 years old as of Monday (7/13). Had a little celebration for her this weekend. Nice to pause for a moment and reflect on how much fun we're having.