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Friday, May 16, 2008
This morning I have...
cleaned up lavendar-scented baby lotion from all over the living room. Yep, someone got curious. At least the living room, along with my precious son, smells really good now!
Thursday, May 15, 2008
New for me
Tonight I did something I've never, ever done before. I burned a baked potato. On the inside. I have no idea how, especially since the other one came out perfect. The only thing I can figure out is that I tried to make them with the salt on the skins. That was my first attempt at that. I coated them with olive oil and then sprinkled kosher salt on them. But somehow one came out burned. Oh well. Sorry dear!
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Idol Dreams
Let me preface this post by saying that the Martin household LOVES American Idol. Even Cayson. I guess that's what happens when musicians marry each other. And our favorite for this season is David Cook. And we don't like David Archuleta.
Last night I had a dream. I dreamed that Shaun and I went to the pet store and bought a fish. I can't remember what kind it was, but I remember it was a blue one. (Hey, I do dream in color!) When we went to pay for it, our cashier was David Archuleta. The funny thing is, there was no mention of American Idol whatsoever. We then left to go visit Shaun's brother in the hospital. I have no idea why he was in the hospital. He's not in the hospital in real life. Anyway, that's not the important part of the dream.
When I woke up this morning I said to Shaun, "I had the strangest dream. I dreamed that we bought a blue fish at a pet store and David Archuleta was our cashier." To which he replied, "That's interesting. I dreamed that I went to Radio Shack and David Cook was working there." I thought a second and then said, "Hey, your dream was cooler than mine!"
Last night I had a dream. I dreamed that Shaun and I went to the pet store and bought a fish. I can't remember what kind it was, but I remember it was a blue one. (Hey, I do dream in color!) When we went to pay for it, our cashier was David Archuleta. The funny thing is, there was no mention of American Idol whatsoever. We then left to go visit Shaun's brother in the hospital. I have no idea why he was in the hospital. He's not in the hospital in real life. Anyway, that's not the important part of the dream.
When I woke up this morning I said to Shaun, "I had the strangest dream. I dreamed that we bought a blue fish at a pet store and David Archuleta was our cashier." To which he replied, "That's interesting. I dreamed that I went to Radio Shack and David Cook was working there." I thought a second and then said, "Hey, your dream was cooler than mine!"
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
My Hair
If my hair has become my son's "security blanket", I probably shouldn't get it cut 2 months before the baby comes, right?
Life in the Martin Household for the Past Week
Whew! It's been a busy week! Last Tuesday my parents came to town! They were on vacation and spent the rest of the week with us! Every day was packed with things to do. the first thing on the agenda was to get them to help us move Cayson's room to the bigger spare bedroom. Boy, was that a job! It took 2 days to finish, but we got it done! We still need to put the finishing touches, like hanging pictures, but I'm saving that for when we paint.
Thursday was Shaun's birthday. I had planned to write a post all about him, but it didn't work out that way. For his birthday, he wanted to go to the David Phelps concert at a church in Fort Smith. So we had ordered tickets about a week before. Here's the fun part: we didn't tell my parents about it. My mom is a HUGE fan of David Phelps. We thought it would be fun to surprise them. So we waited until Thursday at lunch to tell them about it. Boy, was she surprised! The concert was awesome, by the way.
Friday, we relaxed a little bit and went out to eat that night.
Saturday, we went to Fayetteville to the Red and White game. The day's activities started at noon with the game at 6. We got there around 2. It was pretty fun. It would have been more fun if Cayson was old enough to participate in everything. See, they had all kinds of jump arounds and games and stuff for kids. And it was all free! If you have kids, you should really bring them next year. Plus, there's lots of freebies. Several former Razorbacks were there to sign autographs and some even played in a 7 on 7 flag football tournament. And Hog Heaven, the souvenir shop, had everything in the store half off! My parents bought Cayson a jersey for $12.50. Even the game was free. We actually got to sit on the 50 yard line, about 8 rows back! It was a lot of fun, but I really don't know how I was thinking I was going to be able to handle all that, being pregnant and all! We walked around so much! And those bleachers were not very comfy!
Sunday, we all went to church. We had such an awesome worship time. It was one of those days where everything just clicked. And one of my Sunday school kids got baptized!
All in all, it was a very good week!
Thursday was Shaun's birthday. I had planned to write a post all about him, but it didn't work out that way. For his birthday, he wanted to go to the David Phelps concert at a church in Fort Smith. So we had ordered tickets about a week before. Here's the fun part: we didn't tell my parents about it. My mom is a HUGE fan of David Phelps. We thought it would be fun to surprise them. So we waited until Thursday at lunch to tell them about it. Boy, was she surprised! The concert was awesome, by the way.
Friday, we relaxed a little bit and went out to eat that night.
Saturday, we went to Fayetteville to the Red and White game. The day's activities started at noon with the game at 6. We got there around 2. It was pretty fun. It would have been more fun if Cayson was old enough to participate in everything. See, they had all kinds of jump arounds and games and stuff for kids. And it was all free! If you have kids, you should really bring them next year. Plus, there's lots of freebies. Several former Razorbacks were there to sign autographs and some even played in a 7 on 7 flag football tournament. And Hog Heaven, the souvenir shop, had everything in the store half off! My parents bought Cayson a jersey for $12.50. Even the game was free. We actually got to sit on the 50 yard line, about 8 rows back! It was a lot of fun, but I really don't know how I was thinking I was going to be able to handle all that, being pregnant and all! We walked around so much! And those bleachers were not very comfy!
Sunday, we all went to church. We had such an awesome worship time. It was one of those days where everything just clicked. And one of my Sunday school kids got baptized!
All in all, it was a very good week!
Sunday, April 20, 2008
Holiness
Sunday nights at our church aren't "typical". (Although, in this day in time what used to be "typical" may not be anymore!) Anyway, we are in a spring semester of Disciple University. This is where several classes are offered on Sunday nights and everyone chooses one to attend. Shaun has been teaching one on parenting teenagers. I am taking a class on discipleship called "The Next Step". It was actually written by our teacher. This week's lesson was on Holiness. Man, it was awesome. The illustration that David, our teacher used was so simple, and, yet, I'd never thought of it that way.
He had a wedding dress displayed. This was a wedding dress belonging to our church pianist. Her husband is in our class. He started out talking about what makes a wedding dress special. Some of the answers were: it's white, only worn once, symbolizes purity, etc. Also there is a ton of fabric that goes into making a wedding dress. It's not a dress we would wear on a normal Sunday morning!
So then, David proceeded to pour about 2 ounces of grape juice into a cup. He said he hadn't gotten permission, but since there was so much fabric he was going to pour a little bit of grape juice on it. Whoa! The women in our class immediately started objecting, even though we figured he wasn't really going to do it. He said that it would only make a stain about 2 inches. What's 2 inches going to matter? You probably wouldn't even see it! But we women know that even a 2 inch stain on a wedding dress would ruin the whole thing. That would be all anyone would look at! (He didn't pour the juice on the dress, by the way.)
About halfway through this demonstration I was hit with what he was getting at. It gave me "God bumps". The lesson is that we are supposed to be holy...pure and white and unblemished. Kinda like a wedding dress. But when we sin, even just a little "2 inch" sin, we are no longer pure. I am so thankful for Grace, because without it I would be covered with stains. But because of Grace, do I get a free pass to sin all I want, as long as I ask for forgiveness? No. God still wants me to strive to become more and more like Him. That means that when I sin, I have to repent and not do it anymore! But boy, is that easier said than done! Especially with those things that seem to constantly be a struggle. And with the "little" sins that I sometimes shrug off. It's so easy to think that because I don't kill anybody, or steal, or cheat, or even tell big humongous lies, I'm doing ok. However, a sin is a sin in God's eyes.
I know I have a lot to work on. How's your wedding dress?
He had a wedding dress displayed. This was a wedding dress belonging to our church pianist. Her husband is in our class. He started out talking about what makes a wedding dress special. Some of the answers were: it's white, only worn once, symbolizes purity, etc. Also there is a ton of fabric that goes into making a wedding dress. It's not a dress we would wear on a normal Sunday morning!
So then, David proceeded to pour about 2 ounces of grape juice into a cup. He said he hadn't gotten permission, but since there was so much fabric he was going to pour a little bit of grape juice on it. Whoa! The women in our class immediately started objecting, even though we figured he wasn't really going to do it. He said that it would only make a stain about 2 inches. What's 2 inches going to matter? You probably wouldn't even see it! But we women know that even a 2 inch stain on a wedding dress would ruin the whole thing. That would be all anyone would look at! (He didn't pour the juice on the dress, by the way.)
About halfway through this demonstration I was hit with what he was getting at. It gave me "God bumps". The lesson is that we are supposed to be holy...pure and white and unblemished. Kinda like a wedding dress. But when we sin, even just a little "2 inch" sin, we are no longer pure. I am so thankful for Grace, because without it I would be covered with stains. But because of Grace, do I get a free pass to sin all I want, as long as I ask for forgiveness? No. God still wants me to strive to become more and more like Him. That means that when I sin, I have to repent and not do it anymore! But boy, is that easier said than done! Especially with those things that seem to constantly be a struggle. And with the "little" sins that I sometimes shrug off. It's so easy to think that because I don't kill anybody, or steal, or cheat, or even tell big humongous lies, I'm doing ok. However, a sin is a sin in God's eyes.
I know I have a lot to work on. How's your wedding dress?
Thursday, April 17, 2008
So I was Tagged
Jennifer over at Raise Mine Ebenezer tagged me for this.
The Rules:
1. Link your tagger and list these rules on your blog.
2. Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird.
3. Tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs.
4. Let them know they are tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.
1. I have had 2 surgeries in my life. One was my c-section when I had my first son. The other was when I was a junior in high school. I had torn my ACL while snow skiing spring break. Fortunately, cheerleading tryouts were the week before my accident! But, I was supposed to be an archbearer for graduation and I had to miss that.
2. I have a bachelor's degree in music, with an emphasis on flute. I almost had enough hours to have an emphasis in vocal music, as well, but I didn't want to have 2 senior recitals. And they wouldn't let me combine both recitals.
3. I used to get terrible warts. It all started when I was in 2nd grade-right after I had meningitis. I only had one at first, and we had it removed. Then it came back. So we had it removed again. And it came back. Then it started bringing friends. They were all on my left elbow for a while. We'd remove them and they'd come back with a vengeance. Then they started showing up on my hands and legs. Last summer, my mother-in-law told me she had read that taping garlic to the wart for 24 hours would make it go away. It was supposed to blister and then fall off within two weeks. Well, it did blister, but it stayed. However over the next 6 months, I noticed that the wart I tried it on was shrinking. It eventually faded to nothing. As well as ALL my other warts! I wonder if I had a garlic deficiency or something. Who knows. I'm just grateful they're gone! It was kinda neat being able to say Shaun married me, warts and all. LOL.
4. I teach 1st and 2nd graders in Sunday school. So far this year, I've had 4 kids from my class accept Christ! I didn't have a part in actually leading any of them to Christ, but I can say that I helped to plant the seeds.
5. I played fastpitch softball in high school--and I was pretty good at it. I started my sophomore year, but then I had to quit my junior year because of my knee.
6. I performed in several operas and musicals in college.
7. My husband is about to turn 30! And I have about a month or so left before I'm 25.
Ok, so I'm tagging:
1. Suzanne over at The Joyful Chaos
2. Mandy at Peace and Craziness
3. Lee Ann at Sunny Side Up
4. Lou at It's My Wonderful Life
5. Rob at My Little Corner of the World
6. Sean (not my hubby) at Sean Mills H2O
7. Jeff at Notes from the Trail
The Rules:
1. Link your tagger and list these rules on your blog.
2. Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird.
3. Tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs.
4. Let them know they are tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.
1. I have had 2 surgeries in my life. One was my c-section when I had my first son. The other was when I was a junior in high school. I had torn my ACL while snow skiing spring break. Fortunately, cheerleading tryouts were the week before my accident! But, I was supposed to be an archbearer for graduation and I had to miss that.
2. I have a bachelor's degree in music, with an emphasis on flute. I almost had enough hours to have an emphasis in vocal music, as well, but I didn't want to have 2 senior recitals. And they wouldn't let me combine both recitals.
3. I used to get terrible warts. It all started when I was in 2nd grade-right after I had meningitis. I only had one at first, and we had it removed. Then it came back. So we had it removed again. And it came back. Then it started bringing friends. They were all on my left elbow for a while. We'd remove them and they'd come back with a vengeance. Then they started showing up on my hands and legs. Last summer, my mother-in-law told me she had read that taping garlic to the wart for 24 hours would make it go away. It was supposed to blister and then fall off within two weeks. Well, it did blister, but it stayed. However over the next 6 months, I noticed that the wart I tried it on was shrinking. It eventually faded to nothing. As well as ALL my other warts! I wonder if I had a garlic deficiency or something. Who knows. I'm just grateful they're gone! It was kinda neat being able to say Shaun married me, warts and all. LOL.
4. I teach 1st and 2nd graders in Sunday school. So far this year, I've had 4 kids from my class accept Christ! I didn't have a part in actually leading any of them to Christ, but I can say that I helped to plant the seeds.
5. I played fastpitch softball in high school--and I was pretty good at it. I started my sophomore year, but then I had to quit my junior year because of my knee.
6. I performed in several operas and musicals in college.
7. My husband is about to turn 30! And I have about a month or so left before I'm 25.
Ok, so I'm tagging:
1. Suzanne over at The Joyful Chaos
2. Mandy at Peace and Craziness
3. Lee Ann at Sunny Side Up
4. Lou at It's My Wonderful Life
5. Rob at My Little Corner of the World
6. Sean (not my hubby) at Sean Mills H2O
7. Jeff at Notes from the Trail
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
Ok, It's Gettin' Serious
Who wants a FREE puppy???
I still have 3 to give away. Plus, I'm holding one for a friend and we're keeping one. So that's FIVE puppies and their mother that we are supporting right now! Come on people, I have a baby comin'! They are as cute as they can be! All the ones that I have left to give away are girls and they are black, like the one in the first picture. They are now about 10 weeks old. Their mother is a half sheltie, quarter lab, quarter golden retriever. We're not sure about the dad, but their mom has been an awesome dog!
If you want one, please let me know! Also, please keep us on your mind. If someone you know is looking for a puppy, tell them about us please! Even if you live in South Arkansas, as many of my readers do, I can arrange to deliver it! We'll be heading that way a lot in the next few months!
Thursday, April 10, 2008
Rough Night
We had a bad night last night. I knew it was going to be pretty bad, but I didn't expect so much. We got home from church like normal and I fixed some sloppy joes and french fries. I was ready to watch Idol Gives Back and relax. Instead, we were under a tornado warning. We got things ready to go in the bathroom and finally Cayson and I did. Shaun watched the weather. I was pretty scared, especially because Shaun's never actually made me go in the bathroom before. It's never been bad enough since we've been married. I called my parents as a distraction and Cayson played basketball with his tub basketball and goal. At one point, it began to hail. It was so loud! I don't think I've ever been in such a bad hailstorm! Finally, Shaun let us out and I thought we were in the clear. Well, It wasn't too long after that, that we were under another tornado warning. By this time Cayson had fallen asleep in my arms so Shaun moved the rocker into the hallway. This one wasn't quite as bad. Then we got the all clear. Then a little later, we were told by the weather people that there was a lot of rotation in Greenwood. So there was another tornado warning. This one wasn't in our path, though, so we stayed in the living room. I'm just glad we don't live in Lavaca anymore. Our place in Lavaca was right next to the tornado sirens! It was soooooo loud!
Anyway, we're all safe, just a little bit tired. Thankfully, Cayson slept 'til 9 this morning.
By the way, speaking of Idol Gives Back, did anybody get to watch the end? I didn't last night because of the radar, but I heard about it this morning and caught it on youtube. The top 8 sang Shout to the Lord! It was so awesome!
Anyway, we're all safe, just a little bit tired. Thankfully, Cayson slept 'til 9 this morning.
By the way, speaking of Idol Gives Back, did anybody get to watch the end? I didn't last night because of the radar, but I heard about it this morning and caught it on youtube. The top 8 sang Shout to the Lord! It was so awesome!
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
Baby Update
I know I haven't written too much about the baby this time around. It's so different when it's the 2nd pregnancy, especially when you have a busy toddler running around. The first trimester went by so fast that sometimes I forgot I was pregnant! Then the baby started kicking. I felt it earlier this time. I guess because I knew what it felt like. And now, we've finally been able to find out the sex of this baby I'm carrying. It finally feels real now. We are having another boy! Bryce David Martin is going to be his name...unless we change our mind between now and then. I've really kicked things into gear now. Shaun has been given a list a mile long of things to do before he gets here! The boys are going to have to share a room, for now anyway. The baby will be in our room for a while, anyway. We're giving them the larger spare bedroom and Cayson's room will become the spare bedroom. I'm a little worried about sleep schedules, but I guess we'll work it out. I think it's neat that they will be so close in age; I hope they'll be really close. Our church is going to be overrun with boys! Just like when I was pregnant with Cayson, there are several pregnant women around here. And so far, they are all boys, except for one! So within the past 2 years there have been 6 baby boys born with 3 more on the way. My friend Megan is going to find out in a couple weeks. She has a son that's just a couple months younger than Cayson so it's neat that our kids are all going to be the same ages.
Now for a Cayson update. He is talking so much! He will attempt to say just about anything. He's just so sweet, too. Sunday night, after our slime time event, we were all so tired and hungry that when it was time to pray for our meal, we didn't hold hands and gather around his high chair like we normally do. Shaun just sped through it. Well, Cayson started crying and saying, "Pray, Pray, Pray!" What a lesson we learned from a 19 month old! We promptly got up and held hands and Shaun really took his time and prayed, instead of just going through the motions. I love that we're raising a son that wants to pray! He also loves going to church...probably because that's his second home!
I've also figured out that he does have a "security blanket", so to speak. It's his sippy cup and my hair. Yep, you heard me correctly. He loves to crawl in my lap, drink his drink, and play with my hair! On the way to Warren last weekend, he wouldn't be happy unless I laid my seat back and he could touch my hair.
Well, I guess that's it for now. I'll try to get the ultrasound pictures scanned and uploaded soon!
Now for a Cayson update. He is talking so much! He will attempt to say just about anything. He's just so sweet, too. Sunday night, after our slime time event, we were all so tired and hungry that when it was time to pray for our meal, we didn't hold hands and gather around his high chair like we normally do. Shaun just sped through it. Well, Cayson started crying and saying, "Pray, Pray, Pray!" What a lesson we learned from a 19 month old! We promptly got up and held hands and Shaun really took his time and prayed, instead of just going through the motions. I love that we're raising a son that wants to pray! He also loves going to church...probably because that's his second home!
I've also figured out that he does have a "security blanket", so to speak. It's his sippy cup and my hair. Yep, you heard me correctly. He loves to crawl in my lap, drink his drink, and play with my hair! On the way to Warren last weekend, he wouldn't be happy unless I laid my seat back and he could touch my hair.
Well, I guess that's it for now. I'll try to get the ultrasound pictures scanned and uploaded soon!
Super Slime Sunday 2008
Sunday night our children's ministry hosted an event called Super Slime Sunday. It was a fun event, also meant to be evangelical. We had over 100 kids in attendance, with at least 4 making salvation decisions. The kids played games, sang songs, and got SLIMED! The more friends they brought, the more chances they had to get slimed. The game I liked the most was one that Russ Hill, the speaker, used to demonstrate our need to be saved. We had a red team and a blue team, and from each team there were 3 kids who were rescuers. They each had a rope. The rest of the kids had to sit and close their eyes and raise their hand if they wanted to be rescued. The rescuers had to go over to them and help someone grab onto a rope and lead them to safety. The team that rescued all their teammates first won. Russ told the kids that sin is like being covered with yucky, sticky slime. And heaven is so beautiful and perfect that sin can't be there. So we have to get rid of that slime. And the only way to do that is through Jesus.
This was a very successful event that I hope we do again next year!
Monday, March 24, 2008
Our only family pic from Easter
Thanks to our pastor's wife, we ended up with a family picture from Easter. It was taken during our churchwide brunch, between the two morning services. Thanks Cheryl!
Little Man
Here are a few pictures from our Easter! Cayson wasn't too keen on taking pictures, he just wanted to play with his ball!
Saturday, March 22, 2008
Thursday, March 20, 2008
The Borrowed Tomb
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On Sunday, March 16, 2008, our Worship Choir and drama team presented "The Borrowed Tomb". It was a very powerful, moving presentation of the last days of the life of Jesus. It was taken from the perspective of Nicodemus and Joseph of Aramethea, whose tomb was "borrowed" for Jesus. I played Mary Magdalene. We inserted the Lord's Supper into it, first having Jesus and His disciples pantomime the last supper and then our pastor came forward and we all participated. It was so powerful.
Since I was in it, and my husband directed it, we don't have anymore pictures yet, but several church members took some so hopefully I'll have more to share soon!
Sunday, March 16, 2008
Playing
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Monday, March 10, 2008
Pics from the Razorback game!
Playing the guitar with Daddy before we left for the game!
Me and Cayson at the game
Cheering for those Razorbacks!
Calling those Hogs!
Patrick Beverley dunking the ball!There you go! We had such a good time! Cayson was so much more excited about this game, mainly because it wasn't during his naptime like the last one was! Shaun's parents were supposed to go with us, but they both got sick and couldn't make it. So we invited our Sound Techie from church and his wife to go with us. We ate at Famous Dave's BBQ and shopped at Target! Much fun, since we don't have a Target here in Fort Smith. (However, they are building one that is supposed to open this summer sometime!!!)
All in all, it was a great day of fun and fellowship! And the Hogs won!!!
All in all, it was a great day of fun and fellowship! And the Hogs won!!!
Saturday, March 8, 2008
My Day Ahead
As I'm typing this, it is 9:11 AM and we are watching Little Einsteins on the Disney Channel. Cayson is sitting on the couch with me, drinking his milk and playing with my hair. (That's what he does when he drinks something, especially when he's sleepy.) But this morning bliss is not to last for too much longer. Because after lunch, we're heading to Fayetteville. We're gonna do some shopping and go see the Hogs play Auburn tonight! I am so excited! I love going to the basketball games because they're cheaper and we take Cayson with us (because it's cheaper!). Also they are a little shorter than football games, too.
On the way to the game...they're already pooped! (That's my dad and Cayson, by the way!)
Cayson didn't like the mascots very much! Hopefully this time he won't cry when he sees them!
Look at that baby bump!
We recently took my family to the Arkansas-Florida game. That's what we gave them for Christmas. We had such a good time then that I know we'll have a good time today! Here's some pics from that game:
Before we left for the game!
Before we left for the game!
On the way to the game...they're already pooped! (That's my dad and Cayson, by the way!)
Cayson didn't like the mascots very much! Hopefully this time he won't cry when he sees them!
(left to right) My mom (or Mimi as Cayson calls her), the mascot (I can't remember her name), my grandma, and me!
Look at that baby bump!Friday, March 7, 2008
The Things He's Learned
Cayson has learned so much recently! Here are just a few things:
How to pray
Shaun and I have always held hands while praying with each other, especially at mealtime. We started this with Cayson a little while back and now when we say, "Let's pray", he gives us his hands. He hasn't quite learned to close his eyes or bow his head yet, but he definitely is recognizing that we pray and he is learning what to do. Oh, another thing Shaun and I have always done is we give each other a kiss and Cayson does that too!
How to wash his hands
Cayson can just barely see above the bathroom counter now. And when he steps on his stool, he can reach the water, so I'm teaching him how to wash his hands. He gets the biggest kick out of it!
How to climb into his highchair
He just tried this one day and was able to. I always make sure I'm right there, though.
How to play the Wii
Yes, he has his own Mii and he plays tennis all by himself on the Wii. He can actually hit the ball pretty well.
How to throw things in the trash
He learned this a while back, but my blogging has been so sporadic I wasn't sure if I'd posted it or not. After he finishes with a snack that has a wrapper, he likes to go throw it in the trash!
How to blow his nose
Again, he learned how to do this over Christmas, but I couldn't remember if I'd posted it. We weren't really trying to teach him this one, he just copied me! He really hated the bulb thing, too, so it's a good thing he can blow his nose now!
There's so many more things that I know I'm missing, but you get the idea. I love watching him learn new things; it's so fulfilling!
How to pray
Shaun and I have always held hands while praying with each other, especially at mealtime. We started this with Cayson a little while back and now when we say, "Let's pray", he gives us his hands. He hasn't quite learned to close his eyes or bow his head yet, but he definitely is recognizing that we pray and he is learning what to do. Oh, another thing Shaun and I have always done is we give each other a kiss and Cayson does that too!
How to wash his hands
Cayson can just barely see above the bathroom counter now. And when he steps on his stool, he can reach the water, so I'm teaching him how to wash his hands. He gets the biggest kick out of it!
How to climb into his highchair
He just tried this one day and was able to. I always make sure I'm right there, though.
How to play the Wii
Yes, he has his own Mii and he plays tennis all by himself on the Wii. He can actually hit the ball pretty well.
How to throw things in the trash
He learned this a while back, but my blogging has been so sporadic I wasn't sure if I'd posted it or not. After he finishes with a snack that has a wrapper, he likes to go throw it in the trash!
How to blow his nose
Again, he learned how to do this over Christmas, but I couldn't remember if I'd posted it. We weren't really trying to teach him this one, he just copied me! He really hated the bulb thing, too, so it's a good thing he can blow his nose now!
There's so many more things that I know I'm missing, but you get the idea. I love watching him learn new things; it's so fulfilling!
Snow!!!
It snowed at our house for the second time in one week...in March! How crazy is that???!! Earlier this week, the snow was all at night and by mid-morning, it was gone. But this time it started after lunch and didn't quit until well into the night.
I got to bundle Cayson up and take him out to play! Then when Shaun got home from work, they built a snowman, Cayson's first!
Friday, February 22, 2008
My Week in Review
Well it's the weekend again. Here are some updates on life in the Martin household:
Still no laptop. However, my hubby surprised me on valentine's day with an incredible gift: an itouch. We can't get an iphone because we're on Alltel (I know, I know, it just makes the most sense for us...all of our family is on Alltel and with the my circle plan we hardly ever use any minutes. I just wish they had rollover!). So he knew how much I wanted an ipod to listen to music, etc while cleaning, walking (eventually, when it gets warmer), etc. And since the computer debacle I hadn't been able to get on the internet during the week, unless I used my cell phone, he got me the itouch. I gotta tell ya...I have enjoyed it immensely. I had never tapped into podcasts before and I now have subscribed to a few. I can't wait until my favorite shows start coming back so I can download a few of them! If anybody has a suggestion of an incredible-you-can't-miss-out-on-this type podcast, let me know!
Lights are now installed at the church. Theatrical-type lighting. Shaun's not quite finished, a couple of the dimmer packs were broken so he had to send them back, but they are all installed and the finish work is done on 2 sections. We are actually going to get to use half of them on Sunday. The choir's gonna have a fit...lol. But it looks so much better. Before, the regular lights cast so many shadows that it just looked bad. And they will be a huge benefit come Easter and Christmas for our musicals.
We bought a potty chair. Just to get him used to it. Every night before he takes his bath we let him sit on it. I don't think he understands yet what it's for, but he sure does like it! I guess I'm just going to take my time with it and see what happens. I don't want to push him before he's ready, even though he has shown several signs of being ready.
His vocabulary has grown so much! He's just growing up so fast; he turns 18 months next week.
Our church is growing. We had 2 more couples join this Sunday. I think there have been maybe one or two Sundays this year that someone hasn't joined. And I know of at least one more couple who will be joining soon. It's incredible what God is doing in our midst! Our discipleship university classes are going so well, too. I know mine is just awesome.
The puppies are growing, too. They are getting so big! I still have 3 available, by the way. They'll be ready around Easter.
I guess that's it for now. Maybe this weekend I'll get a chance to blog more and have some interesting posts. No promises though! Now I'm off to go take a long bath and pamper myself, since hubby and son are still asleep!
Still no laptop. However, my hubby surprised me on valentine's day with an incredible gift: an itouch. We can't get an iphone because we're on Alltel (I know, I know, it just makes the most sense for us...all of our family is on Alltel and with the my circle plan we hardly ever use any minutes. I just wish they had rollover!). So he knew how much I wanted an ipod to listen to music, etc while cleaning, walking (eventually, when it gets warmer), etc. And since the computer debacle I hadn't been able to get on the internet during the week, unless I used my cell phone, he got me the itouch. I gotta tell ya...I have enjoyed it immensely. I had never tapped into podcasts before and I now have subscribed to a few. I can't wait until my favorite shows start coming back so I can download a few of them! If anybody has a suggestion of an incredible-you-can't-miss-out-on-this type podcast, let me know!
Lights are now installed at the church. Theatrical-type lighting. Shaun's not quite finished, a couple of the dimmer packs were broken so he had to send them back, but they are all installed and the finish work is done on 2 sections. We are actually going to get to use half of them on Sunday. The choir's gonna have a fit...lol. But it looks so much better. Before, the regular lights cast so many shadows that it just looked bad. And they will be a huge benefit come Easter and Christmas for our musicals.
We bought a potty chair. Just to get him used to it. Every night before he takes his bath we let him sit on it. I don't think he understands yet what it's for, but he sure does like it! I guess I'm just going to take my time with it and see what happens. I don't want to push him before he's ready, even though he has shown several signs of being ready.
His vocabulary has grown so much! He's just growing up so fast; he turns 18 months next week.
Our church is growing. We had 2 more couples join this Sunday. I think there have been maybe one or two Sundays this year that someone hasn't joined. And I know of at least one more couple who will be joining soon. It's incredible what God is doing in our midst! Our discipleship university classes are going so well, too. I know mine is just awesome.
The puppies are growing, too. They are getting so big! I still have 3 available, by the way. They'll be ready around Easter.
I guess that's it for now. Maybe this weekend I'll get a chance to blog more and have some interesting posts. No promises though! Now I'm off to go take a long bath and pamper myself, since hubby and son are still asleep!
Sunday, February 10, 2008
Last post for a few days
Before I forget, here's a group pic of my new "babies". And that's my maternity clothes they are sleeping on! Batgirl opened the box herself and nested in there.
The weekend is almost over and that means the 'puter is goin' back to the church. And unless Shaun brings it home during the week, I probably won't get to blog again until the weekend. I'll be so glad when his laptop either gets fixed or he gets a new one.
So, here's the summary of my weekend:
Friday night I got to go shopping! I bought a couple new maternity dresses and some clothes for Cayson.
Saturday night we had our Valentine's Banquet at the church. It was so much fun. We had a skit with a parody of a dating game like love connection. The "contestants" were characters like "Whitney Fears", "Zsa Zsa Galore", "G Diddy", "Nerkul", a parody of the superstar girl from SNL, and a parody of Larry the Cable guy. The lucky bachelor and bachelorette looking for love were normal and they ended up running off together at the end. It was so funny!
Today we had an awesome worship service, with 3 people joining the church. Tonight we started our Discipleship University. I'm taking a class called "The Next Step". It was written by a guy in our church who is also teaching it. It's good stuff, I tell you. Tonight's lesson was all about getting out of your comfort zone and giving God your absolute best. The Scripture was from 1 Kings 18, the story about Elijah challenging the followers of Baal to have Baal send fire down to light the altar. When it didn't, Elijah wet the altar with a ton of water and God not only sent down fire, but burned it all up and the flames licked up the water too! That's the incredibly short version, but it's an awesome story about the faith of Elijah and the awesomeness of the God I serve. At the end, David, our teacher, challenged us to do something to get out of our comfort zones this week. Something that the only way we won't make a fool of ourselves is if God does it. And then to help someone else to do the same thing. There are 24 people in our class. Can you imagine if every person in our class did that? That's a possible 48 instances of God-sized happenings! In one week! I'm very excited about this...and at the same time, terrified! But I guess that's where God likes us to be because then He can use us. I have no idea what I'm going to do yet, I still need to pray about it. Hopefully I'll have something amazing to post next week!
Thursday, February 7, 2008
A few changes
I realized that a lot of my links were old, so I updated and added a few. Also, while I was playing I noticed that there's a new poll option. So I created a poll. For what? What else...baby names. We have our girl name and our boy first name. We just need a middle name. We've only come up with 2 that we like so far, but if you come up with another one, just comment.
Bath time
Tonight's bath time brought back memories of an earlier time with Cayson. Back when you had to be quick changing his diaper or you might get a shower! After I undressed him for his bath, I suddenly had to go to the bathroom (pg bladder LoL). He was standing by the bathtub and I let him start putting his toys in. He picked up his fish...that squirts water...and suddenly I see a stream of liquid shooting onto the floor. In that first split second I thought it was the fish. But no, it was worse. It was Cayson! All over the floor! We got a good laugh, cleaned up, and he got his bath. Parenting is never dull!!!
FSBC Website
Our church is finally joining the 21st century. We now have a website. Well, actually we just have the name and a temporary page. But soon we will have a bona fide website. It's www.firstsbc.com. I'm really surprised we don't already have one, considering a major part of our communication is email. But it truly was God's perfect timing, the way all the details worked out. I'll let everyone know when it officially launches.
Sunday, February 3, 2008
Whew...what a week!
This week has been crazy! Here's the rundown:
Tuesday there was a massive fire in the Barling/Central City area. Shaun called me about noon that day to say that he was stuck at the church, they weren't letting anyone on hwy 22 (runs into Ft. Smith). The church is right on the highway. He knew it was some sort of fire, but didn't know where. I turned on the news and found out it was Ft. Chaffee. I could see the smoke from my house. It was incredibly bad. Shaun was stuck at the church for about 3 hours because the fire had jumped across the highway. Our pastor was one of the last ones they let through and he said the fire was practically at his truck. The visibility was about 10 feet. It ended up burning up almost 200 barracks. It's so sad to see the place now, with all the history behind it. We also had record winds on Tuesday, which didn't help with the fire any. We have to get a new roof on the church now.
Thursday it snowed!!! It didn't stay long, but it was so pretty! Cayson didn't know what to think. We had just enough to cover our yard.
Friday the snow was gone, the temperature in the 50s, I think. We were supposed to take the youth to Little Rock to Winter Jam that night. It's a concert with several Christian artists and only costs $10 at the door. Well, by the time we got there, they wouldn't let us in...they were at capacity. We were very disappointed, to say the least. We missed out on Barlow Girl, MercyMe, Skillet, Mandisa, and some others. However, we took the kids to the mall and they were fairly pacified. My parents and my grandma also came up to our house Friday night. They beat us there! We didn't get home until 1 am.
Saturday we all woke up and had breakfast. We were welcomed with a surprise. We noticed that Batgirl wasn't as fat as she was. And she looked like she'd been nursing. So we walked out to the shed and, sure enough, there were SEVEN little puppies!!! 5 black ones and 2 grayish ones. They are so cute!
After that excitement, we got ready and headed to Fayetteville to Bud Walton Arena to watch the Hogs beat Florida. It was so awesome! We decked Cayson out in a Razorback track suit. He was so cute. Maybe I can get some pics on here soon. After the game we ate at Famous Dave's BBQ and shopped at the Promenade in Rogers. I found some incredible deals for Cayson! Pants for $3.99!
Today we went to church and one of my 1st grade girls accepted Christ this morning! It was incredible! We also had a baptism. I think we've baptized someone just about every Sunday this year so far. It was a fantastic day of worship and praise! Tonight we were going to have a church-wide super bowl party, but something happened with the satellite so anyone who had Dish network or used an antennae couldn't get the game. So we moved it to a church member's house. We ended up just going home because Shaun's brother and sister-in-law stopped by on their way back to OK City. He just got home from Iraq a week or two ago.
Well, that's my crazy week. Our puter is still messed up, so I might be a weekend blogger for a while. So until next weekend, or whenever, have fun and be blessed!
Friday the snow was
Tuesday there was a massive fire in the Barling/Central City area. Shaun called me about noon that day to say that he was stuck at the church, they weren't letting anyone on hwy 22 (runs into Ft. Smith). The church is right on the highway. He knew it was some sort of fire, but didn't know where. I turned on the news and found out it was Ft. Chaffee. I could see the smoke from my house. It was incredibly bad. Shaun was stuck at the church for about 3 hours because the fire had jumped across the highway. Our pastor was one of the last ones they let through and he said the fire was practically at his truck. The visibility was about 10 feet. It ended up burning up almost 200 barracks. It's so sad to see the place now, with all the history behind it. We also had record winds on Tuesday, which didn't help with the fire any. We have to get a new roof on the church now.
Thursday it snowed!!! It didn't stay long, but it was so pretty! Cayson didn't know what to think. We had just enough to cover our yard.
Friday the snow was gone, the temperature in the 50s, I think. We were supposed to take the youth to Little Rock to Winter Jam that night. It's a concert with several Christian artists and only costs $10 at the door. Well, by the time we got there, they wouldn't let us in...they were at capacity. We were very disappointed, to say the least. We missed out on Barlow Girl, MercyMe, Skillet, Mandisa, and some others. However, we took the kids to the mall and they were fairly pacified. My parents and my grandma also came up to our house Friday night. They beat us there! We didn't get home until 1 am.
Saturday we all woke up and had breakfast. We were welcomed with a surprise. We noticed that Batgirl wasn't as fat as she was. And she looked like she'd been nursing. So we walked out to the shed and, sure enough, there were SEVEN little puppies!!! 5 black ones and 2 grayish ones. They are so cute!
After that excitement, we got ready and headed to Fayetteville to Bud Walton Arena to watch the Hogs beat Florida. It was so awesome! We decked Cayson out in a Razorback track suit. He was so cute. Maybe I can get some pics on here soon. After the game we ate at Famous Dave's BBQ and shopped at the Promenade in Rogers. I found some incredible deals for Cayson! Pants for $3.99!
Today we went to church and one of my 1st grade girls accepted Christ this morning! It was incredible! We also had a baptism. I think we've baptized someone just about every Sunday this year so far. It was a fantastic day of worship and praise! Tonight we were going to have a church-wide super bowl party, but something happened with the satellite so anyone who had Dish network or used an antennae couldn't get the game. So we moved it to a church member's house. We ended up just going home because Shaun's brother and sister-in-law stopped by on their way back to OK City. He just got home from Iraq a week or two ago.
Well, that's my crazy week. Our puter is still messed up, so I might be a weekend blogger for a while. So until next weekend, or whenever, have fun and be blessed!
Friday the snow was
Saturday, January 26, 2008
Sickness this week
I know I promised more posts, but like my blog friends here and here, we've been sick this week. We as in Cayson. It started Tuesday night when he didn't want to go to sleep. He just screamed and screamed. Finally, we decided to just let him sleep with us. He seemed ok with that (of course) until about 1:30 in the morning. He woke us up by throwing up on us. We changed the sheets and cleaned him up and got settled back in. About 10 minutes later, he threw up again on Shaun. Shaun went and showered and I changed the sheets and cleaned Cayson up again. We decided that it would be best if Shaun sleep with Cayson on the couch. So we all 3 piled on the couch and tried to sleep. He only threw up once more, but it was such a long night.
The next day, was a typical getting over the stomach bug day. We skipped church so as not to contaminate anyone else. Wednesday night, he did better, but still wanted to sleep with us.
Thursday he seemed much better. However, he threw up again a couple times that night. Then last night he was having trouble having a bowel movement. Finally today he really seems a lot better. He had his bm this morning and everything. We'll see how tonight goes, though. It's always worse at night.
I hope everyone else stays healthy!
The next day, was a typical getting over the stomach bug day. We skipped church so as not to contaminate anyone else. Wednesday night, he did better, but still wanted to sleep with us.
Thursday he seemed much better. However, he threw up again a couple times that night. Then last night he was having trouble having a bowel movement. Finally today he really seems a lot better. He had his bm this morning and everything. We'll see how tonight goes, though. It's always worse at night.
I hope everyone else stays healthy!
Saturday, January 19, 2008
Questions
Just when I think I've got this parenting thing down, things change! So I've got some questions for you seasoned moms. I've been blogging these in my head all week, but as I'm typing I can only remember 2. Maybe they will come back to me as I go!
1. My son (16 months) has woken up in the middle of the night every night this week, ending up in our bed. He is getting over a nasty cold, so we've been pretty lenient. Are we doing the right thing? Or have we created a bad habit?
2. When did you let your kids start sleeping in a toddler bed? With the new baby coming in July, we are going to have to get Cayson a bed soon...well not too soon. The baby will sleep in our room for a while. We had thought about getting him bunk beds and let him sleep on the bottom. That way when family visits someone could sleep on the top. Or would it be better to just get a small toddler bed first?
3. Cayson is starting to show a few signs of toilet training readiness. He gets a diaper out of his bag and brings it to us if he needs changed. He also can say "tee tee" and "stinky", just not at the appropriate times yet. My question is: should I begin the process of toilet training any time soon...or should I wait a while after the baby is born? It would be great if he was out of diapers by then, but I don't want him to regress after the baby gets here. He will be 23 months when the baby comes.
Well, that's all I can think of. Here are a few updates:
Cayson is talking up a storm! He has a vocabulary of about 25 to 30 words. He started at Christmas and hasn't stopped since! My favorites are "stinky", "trash", "please" (sounds like pease), "sweet tea", and "love you". I'm not sure how he learned trash...I guess just from observing us. He was eating a package of fruit gummies and when the bag was empty I said "All gone, trash." He then takes the bag and runs off to his room. Then a moment later he came bag empty handed. He looked like he wanted me to come to his room and I was curious as to where the bag ended up. Once in his room, he points to the trash and says "trash" and the bag is in there! I was a very proud mama!
As for me, I haven't been feeling well at all for about a week now. I thought that I was getting out of the morning sickness phase; I hadn't felt bad since before Christmas. But I have had some upset stomach problems this week. Plus, I haven't gotten a good night's sleep yet this week. With Cayson ending up in our bed, he kicks and flips and flops and makes my stomach queasier. And 1 night he woke up at 1:30 ready to get up. We couldn't get him back to sleep until 5. I broke down Thursday morning and cried because Cayson wouldn't eat his banana, which is his favorite food and had asked for it. I'm starting to feel a little better, though. This is my last week in the first trimester so hopefully the sickness ends soon.
Shaun is doing well, putting up with me and Cayson. He's had a rough week between the 2 of us! Plus, we're getting ready to start Discipleship University at our church and he has to design all of the graphics and stuff for that. With his computer messed up. It all has to be done by Sunday, because everyone is signing up then. He's done a terrific job, though!
Well I guess that's it. I'll be looking forward to some answers to my questions, moms!
1. My son (16 months) has woken up in the middle of the night every night this week, ending up in our bed. He is getting over a nasty cold, so we've been pretty lenient. Are we doing the right thing? Or have we created a bad habit?
2. When did you let your kids start sleeping in a toddler bed? With the new baby coming in July, we are going to have to get Cayson a bed soon...well not too soon. The baby will sleep in our room for a while. We had thought about getting him bunk beds and let him sleep on the bottom. That way when family visits someone could sleep on the top. Or would it be better to just get a small toddler bed first?
3. Cayson is starting to show a few signs of toilet training readiness. He gets a diaper out of his bag and brings it to us if he needs changed. He also can say "tee tee" and "stinky", just not at the appropriate times yet. My question is: should I begin the process of toilet training any time soon...or should I wait a while after the baby is born? It would be great if he was out of diapers by then, but I don't want him to regress after the baby gets here. He will be 23 months when the baby comes.
Well, that's all I can think of. Here are a few updates:
Cayson is talking up a storm! He has a vocabulary of about 25 to 30 words. He started at Christmas and hasn't stopped since! My favorites are "stinky", "trash", "please" (sounds like pease), "sweet tea", and "love you". I'm not sure how he learned trash...I guess just from observing us. He was eating a package of fruit gummies and when the bag was empty I said "All gone, trash." He then takes the bag and runs off to his room. Then a moment later he came bag empty handed. He looked like he wanted me to come to his room and I was curious as to where the bag ended up. Once in his room, he points to the trash and says "trash" and the bag is in there! I was a very proud mama!
As for me, I haven't been feeling well at all for about a week now. I thought that I was getting out of the morning sickness phase; I hadn't felt bad since before Christmas. But I have had some upset stomach problems this week. Plus, I haven't gotten a good night's sleep yet this week. With Cayson ending up in our bed, he kicks and flips and flops and makes my stomach queasier. And 1 night he woke up at 1:30 ready to get up. We couldn't get him back to sleep until 5. I broke down Thursday morning and cried because Cayson wouldn't eat his banana, which is his favorite food and had asked for it. I'm starting to feel a little better, though. This is my last week in the first trimester so hopefully the sickness ends soon.
Shaun is doing well, putting up with me and Cayson. He's had a rough week between the 2 of us! Plus, we're getting ready to start Discipleship University at our church and he has to design all of the graphics and stuff for that. With his computer messed up. It all has to be done by Sunday, because everyone is signing up then. He's done a terrific job, though!
Well I guess that's it. I'll be looking forward to some answers to my questions, moms!
Thursday, January 17, 2008
I'm still here
I just wanted to let everyone know that I am still here. Shaun's laptop that he uses for church work is the one that I use to get on the internet at home. Unfortunately, the screen went out over the holidays and then it wouldn't charge...again. We just had that repaired 3 months ago. It's the church's laptop and we can't get it fixed right now, so he brought our (old) desktop to the church to use. It's basically the one I bought my freshman year of college...in 2001. It has a newer case and a new hard drive and I'm not sure what else, but it doesn't have much RAM. Which makes it very slow. Plus, it's a desktop so it's not that portable. He is being a dear and bringing it home on the weekends so that I can get on the internet. I do have internet on my phone so I'm able to check my email and read my favorite blogs...thank you Bloglines...but it's kinda hard to post on my own blog. So I wanted to let everyone know I am here, I'm still readin', and I've got some posts a comin'. Just not tonight. I'm pooped.
Saturday, December 22, 2007
2007 Year in Review
Fellow bloggers, I'm leaving for South Arkansas in 1 day, so this will more than likely be my last post for a couple of weeks. A week, at least. We are coming home on January 2. So, I thought I'd post a review of this year's happenings with my family and our church work.
Cayson
Boy, what a year this has been! Cayson will turn 16 months in just a few days. He's had so many milestones this past year! It was around this time last year that he first started eating a little rice cereal and now he's eating everything we do. Well, almost anything. Just not most veggies! Especially if they're green! He's got his daddy in him there! Also, he's learned to crawl, pull up, cruise, and walk. He has 8 teeth, with 1 breaking through now. He's had 2 haircuts, the first one on his birthday and the 2nd one just on Wednesday. He's growing out of a size 4 shoe and in between 12 and 18 months size clothes. He weighs about 23 pounds. This year he's been on several trips with us: to Minneapolis to the Mall of America, to Fort Worth for a youth ministry conference, and to Stuart, OK for youth camp at Camp WOW. He's got several people in our church wrapped around his little finger! If he decides he doesn't want to be in the nursery and starts crying, usually someone will come and get him out and walk around with him! We never have to want for babysitters, either! He has been such a good baby and toddler. He hasn't been very sick at all, with the exception of a couple of viruses. He's a joy to be around and I'm very thankful that God gave him to us!
Shaun
This past year Shaun has had a few milestones, himself. He turned 29 in April and celebrated his first Father's Day in June. He will celebrate his 2 year anniversary at First Southern in just a couple months. Also, this was the year of weddings for him. He sang at 3 weddings, served as best man for his brother's, and actually got to marry his first and second couple this year. I'm so proud of him and his willingness to be used by God!
Me
Well, I turned 24 in June, which means I've been out of high school for 6 years and out of college for 3. Crazy how time flies! I've experienced another move, just to a different house this time. I took on teaching the 1st and 2nd grade Sunday school class in June and I love it! Also, I taught a junior high girls Bible study this summer. I played Mary Magdalene in our Easter cantata and Lisa/Elizabeth in our Christmas musical. I found out in November, just before Thanksgiving that we're going to have another baby! Also, Shaun and I celebrated our 4th wedding anniversary this month and 6 years together in all in October.
First Southern
This has been an amazing year at First Southern. Our theme for this year was "Go". In the student ministry, we've grown a little bit, even seeing 3 of our kids come to know Christ as their personal Lord and Savior. We took the students to Minneapolis for spring break and Camp WOW for summer camp. We finished up our student worship area early this year and it looks awesome. We saw 2 of our students graduate from high school in May.
In the worship ministry area, we have grown so much! We presented "The Borrowed Tomb" on Palm Sunday. It was a huge success. We began preparing a worship cantata, "God for Us", soon after Easter. We presented it in August. It was such an awesome time of worship and reflection on what God has done for us. We had Christmas in August to reveal to the choir what musical we would be doing for Christmas. We had so much fun with that! We added several members to the choir, including a couple of teenage girls. Also, we saw one of our longtime accompanists "retire" from playing so she could sing in the choir and be free to travel. It's taking 3 ladies, including me, to fill her shoes! And we could never completely do that! She's a tiny woman, but those are some big shoes to fill, so to speak. But Shaun put us on a rotation basis so we could all still sing in the choir, too. We also add a guitarist to our worship time, which brings our instruments to piano, keyboard, and guitar. We are adding congas tomorrow!!!! We just presented our Christmas musical, "Be Not Afraid", this past Sunday and Wednesday night. This was the first time we attempted to present a musical twice and it was a success. We had over 100 people there on Wednesday night and almost half of those were guests! Tomorrow, we are having a "Homecoming Christmas". We are using 2 guitars, congas, and a praise team to lead in worship. We are also taking the Lord's Supper and singing by candlelight. I'm very excited.
We added a women's ministry this year. Our Women's Ministry Coordinator is doing a fantastic job. Last February she organized a Beth Moore simulcast conference for all the women in the River Valley. It was a huge success with many decisions made. We had a women's Bible study this fall with over 30 women taking part.
We've had 11 additions this year, some by baptism, some by letter. In our GROW ministry, we seen at least 2 salvations. For Thanksgiving, we provided Blessing Baskets for people who needed food for Thanksgiving. There was at least one salvation as a result.
Our church really stepped it up ministry-wise this year. I am so excited to see what God is going to do in 2008!
Well, that was pretty long. I think this was just as much, if not more for me as it was for you. It is so good for me to go back and remember what God has done in the life of our family and church. God is so good! I pray that everyone has a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
Cayson
Boy, what a year this has been! Cayson will turn 16 months in just a few days. He's had so many milestones this past year! It was around this time last year that he first started eating a little rice cereal and now he's eating everything we do. Well, almost anything. Just not most veggies! Especially if they're green! He's got his daddy in him there! Also, he's learned to crawl, pull up, cruise, and walk. He has 8 teeth, with 1 breaking through now. He's had 2 haircuts, the first one on his birthday and the 2nd one just on Wednesday. He's growing out of a size 4 shoe and in between 12 and 18 months size clothes. He weighs about 23 pounds. This year he's been on several trips with us: to Minneapolis to the Mall of America, to Fort Worth for a youth ministry conference, and to Stuart, OK for youth camp at Camp WOW. He's got several people in our church wrapped around his little finger! If he decides he doesn't want to be in the nursery and starts crying, usually someone will come and get him out and walk around with him! We never have to want for babysitters, either! He has been such a good baby and toddler. He hasn't been very sick at all, with the exception of a couple of viruses. He's a joy to be around and I'm very thankful that God gave him to us!
Shaun
This past year Shaun has had a few milestones, himself. He turned 29 in April and celebrated his first Father's Day in June. He will celebrate his 2 year anniversary at First Southern in just a couple months. Also, this was the year of weddings for him. He sang at 3 weddings, served as best man for his brother's, and actually got to marry his first and second couple this year. I'm so proud of him and his willingness to be used by God!
Me
Well, I turned 24 in June, which means I've been out of high school for 6 years and out of college for 3. Crazy how time flies! I've experienced another move, just to a different house this time. I took on teaching the 1st and 2nd grade Sunday school class in June and I love it! Also, I taught a junior high girls Bible study this summer. I played Mary Magdalene in our Easter cantata and Lisa/Elizabeth in our Christmas musical. I found out in November, just before Thanksgiving that we're going to have another baby! Also, Shaun and I celebrated our 4th wedding anniversary this month and 6 years together in all in October.
First Southern
This has been an amazing year at First Southern. Our theme for this year was "Go". In the student ministry, we've grown a little bit, even seeing 3 of our kids come to know Christ as their personal Lord and Savior. We took the students to Minneapolis for spring break and Camp WOW for summer camp. We finished up our student worship area early this year and it looks awesome. We saw 2 of our students graduate from high school in May.
In the worship ministry area, we have grown so much! We presented "The Borrowed Tomb" on Palm Sunday. It was a huge success. We began preparing a worship cantata, "God for Us", soon after Easter. We presented it in August. It was such an awesome time of worship and reflection on what God has done for us. We had Christmas in August to reveal to the choir what musical we would be doing for Christmas. We had so much fun with that! We added several members to the choir, including a couple of teenage girls. Also, we saw one of our longtime accompanists "retire" from playing so she could sing in the choir and be free to travel. It's taking 3 ladies, including me, to fill her shoes! And we could never completely do that! She's a tiny woman, but those are some big shoes to fill, so to speak. But Shaun put us on a rotation basis so we could all still sing in the choir, too. We also add a guitarist to our worship time, which brings our instruments to piano, keyboard, and guitar. We are adding congas tomorrow!!!! We just presented our Christmas musical, "Be Not Afraid", this past Sunday and Wednesday night. This was the first time we attempted to present a musical twice and it was a success. We had over 100 people there on Wednesday night and almost half of those were guests! Tomorrow, we are having a "Homecoming Christmas". We are using 2 guitars, congas, and a praise team to lead in worship. We are also taking the Lord's Supper and singing by candlelight. I'm very excited.
We added a women's ministry this year. Our Women's Ministry Coordinator is doing a fantastic job. Last February she organized a Beth Moore simulcast conference for all the women in the River Valley. It was a huge success with many decisions made. We had a women's Bible study this fall with over 30 women taking part.
We've had 11 additions this year, some by baptism, some by letter. In our GROW ministry, we seen at least 2 salvations. For Thanksgiving, we provided Blessing Baskets for people who needed food for Thanksgiving. There was at least one salvation as a result.
Our church really stepped it up ministry-wise this year. I am so excited to see what God is going to do in 2008!
Well, that was pretty long. I think this was just as much, if not more for me as it was for you. It is so good for me to go back and remember what God has done in the life of our family and church. God is so good! I pray that everyone has a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
Tuesday, December 18, 2007
Our Christmas Present is on its Way!
Yeah I know what I'm getting for Christmas. And I'm super excited! Shaun and I decided to buy something together this year because it's so hard for us to shop by ourselves and actually surprise each other. Especially for me. He sees exactly what is spent and where it is spent. Anyway, we had purchased a Kodak EasyShare camara about a year and a half ago. Well, it broke right before Christmas last year. And we've been depending on our camara phones and family members' camaras for pictures ever since. Well, we found an awesome deal on a Fuji camara the other day. It's a 10 megapixel, 10x optical zoom, and it's got lots of other nifty features. It will be here Wednesday!!! So get ready for lots and lots of pics!
Saturday, December 15, 2007
Ugh
As I alluded to in my last post, I have been very sick this week. And not from being pregnant, either. I caught the stomach bug that's been going around. I was up all night Tuesday night throwing up. Wednesday morning Shaun actually took Cayson to work with him so I could get some sleep. I am so thankful that his job is flexible like that. I slept all morning and woke up at lunch to find him cooking me chicken noodle soup! I couldn't eat much; in fact, I only drank the broth from it. Shaun left Cayson with me that afternoon because he needed his nap. Bless his heart, he slept for 2 and a half hours! So I got to sleep some more. I didn't go to church Wednesday night, either.
Thursday I woke up feeling much better, just extremely weak and sore. And this was our anniversary. I wanted to get out of the house, but my appetite wasn't completely back. So we went to Panera Bread so I could get some soup. Then we went Christmas shopping. This was so hard at first, but the more we walked around, the more my strength started coming back.
Friday I woke up feeling much, much better. I had more strength, but I was still sore. We had our dress rehearsal for our Christmas musical last night. It was kind of rough for me, standing up there for so long. But we had a pretty good rehearsal. Not perfect, though. So pray for us on Sunday morning!
I'm typing this post at 4:30 am Saturday morning. I woke up at 4 feeling queasy. I'm guessing this is just plain ole morning sickness. Plus, somehow my son ended up in bed with us. He's grown quite a bit, so that doesn't leave much room. So I came in the living room to blog and clear my head and hopefully get some more sleep on the couch.
If I get to actually plan the next pregnancy (yes, I want 3) I'm going to try and not be pregnant at Christmas! Or at least, not be in the first trimester at Christmas. It has been so hard to even want to do the things I usually love to do at Christmastime...like decorate my tree. Which still isn't done yet. It's up, the lights are on, the ornaments are in a box beside the tree, I just haven't had the time or the energy to do it. We're leaving for my parents' house in a week, anyway, to spend the week of Christmas and New Year's with them. So, it probably won't get done.
So, moms, has it been your experience that when you were pregnant with your daughter(s) (if you have one) you were sicker with her than with your son(s)? I've been told this by several women at church. If it's true, then this must be a girl! lol. Oh well, I guess I'll find out soon enough. Thanks for listening to my queasy ramblings. Have a great day and weekend!
Thursday I woke up feeling much better, just extremely weak and sore. And this was our anniversary. I wanted to get out of the house, but my appetite wasn't completely back. So we went to Panera Bread so I could get some soup. Then we went Christmas shopping. This was so hard at first, but the more we walked around, the more my strength started coming back.
Friday I woke up feeling much, much better. I had more strength, but I was still sore. We had our dress rehearsal for our Christmas musical last night. It was kind of rough for me, standing up there for so long. But we had a pretty good rehearsal. Not perfect, though. So pray for us on Sunday morning!
I'm typing this post at 4:30 am Saturday morning. I woke up at 4 feeling queasy. I'm guessing this is just plain ole morning sickness. Plus, somehow my son ended up in bed with us. He's grown quite a bit, so that doesn't leave much room. So I came in the living room to blog and clear my head and hopefully get some more sleep on the couch.
If I get to actually plan the next pregnancy (yes, I want 3) I'm going to try and not be pregnant at Christmas! Or at least, not be in the first trimester at Christmas. It has been so hard to even want to do the things I usually love to do at Christmastime...like decorate my tree. Which still isn't done yet. It's up, the lights are on, the ornaments are in a box beside the tree, I just haven't had the time or the energy to do it. We're leaving for my parents' house in a week, anyway, to spend the week of Christmas and New Year's with them. So, it probably won't get done.
So, moms, has it been your experience that when you were pregnant with your daughter(s) (if you have one) you were sicker with her than with your son(s)? I've been told this by several women at church. If it's true, then this must be a girl! lol. Oh well, I guess I'll find out soon enough. Thanks for listening to my queasy ramblings. Have a great day and weekend!
Thursday, December 13, 2007
Happy Anniversary, O Husband of Mine!
Shaun and I, while we were dating, about 2002
Razorback game this year
This was a show that we were in together at UAM.
Shaun and I got married four years ago today, after being engaged for six months, and dating for a year and a half before that. So, we've been together 6 years in all! It's so hard to believe! We've been through so much together already. We've served in 3 churches, moved 5 times, had one child, and one is on the way! One day, when I feel like writing down the whole story, I'll tell you how we met, got engaged, etc. It's a great one, the love story I always wanted.
Shaun, thank you so much for being such a great husband. I'm not exaggerating when I say that when God gave you to me, he fulfilled everything on my list. And I had a pretty good list! Thank you for putting up with me these last few weeks, especially when I was so sick. You never complained, you just did what needed to be done. I love you so much.
Monday, December 10, 2007
One Down, One to Go!
Our children presented their Christmas musical "It All Happened in the Country" last night. It was so good! Now, we just have the adult Christmas musical left. It's next Sunday morning. We're having a full run-through Wednesday night and a dress rehearsal Friday night. I'm a little nervous about it.
I also have a MOPS (mothers of preschoolers) Christmas party in the morning at 9:30 and our 20s/30s Bible study hour Christmas party is Saturday night. Then we should be through with the parties. (I think.) If I can make it through this week, I think I'm gonna be ok!
I also have a MOPS (mothers of preschoolers) Christmas party in the morning at 9:30 and our 20s/30s Bible study hour Christmas party is Saturday night. Then we should be through with the parties. (I think.) If I can make it through this week, I think I'm gonna be ok!
Saturday, December 8, 2007
I'm so tired!
Ugh. I'm so sleepy. This has been such a long week. It's my least favorite week of the year. It's the week when we have to build the set for our Christmas musical. Last year, we were up until 3 in the morning one night working on it. Fortunately, the children's musical is first this year, so we've had more help. And we're able to use the same set for the adult musical. But it's still been 9 pm every night when Shaun gets home. And Wednesday night I stayed with him to help. Last night, we had our staff Christmas party so it was late getting home. And today, the children had rehearsal all day, so we were up there finishing up the last touches on the set and Shaun was helping to do the sound. Cayson finally fell asleep at the church at about 3 and he slept all the way home, but he woke up after we got home. Grrrr. I was hoping to catch a few zzzz's myself. And Shaun is pastoring a wedding tonight. I guess I'll sleep well tonight.
Sunday, December 2, 2007
Just plain ole updates
I wanted to write tonight, but I couldn't think of anything in particular, so this is just a random update kind of post.
Cayson is over the sign language setback. I'm not even sure if I blogged about it, but a couple weeks ago or so, he just didn't want to do any of his signs, except for drink. But now he's doing them again and he's gotten pretty proficient at "hungry" just today. It's so exciting to be able to communicate with him. Plus, he's saying, or at least repeating, lots of words. Also, he's mastering the spoon!
We had a long day at church. Starting things off, our pastor is on vacation so we had a guest speaker. Shaun had to redo the bulletins because his printer messed up. I had a lot to prepare for my Sunday school lesson (I teach 1st and 2nd grade) and one of my kids came about 20 minutes early! Which means I pretty much have to stay in the room. Fortunately, my lesson book has a section for kids that come early, so I had an activity for him to do. Our accompanist had to be at work at 12 noon today, so she had to leave immediately after the singing portion of our worship time was over. She wanted me to play the invitation and the offertory, but I just didn't have time to practice so Shaun played his sax during the offering and one of our very talented guys did the invitation. We had to be back at the church by 2:30ish so Shaun could prepare for drama practice at 3:00. I'm in the drama so I have to be there too, and wrestle with my kid at the same time! (Incidentally, I'm playing Lisa who plays Elizabeth, mother of John. One of my lines is "Oh, I'm not pregnant, they just dressed me up like this for the play!" And later I say "I'm sorry to interrupt things, but I just got some great news on my voicemail...we're expecting!!!" Talk about life imitating art!) After drama, we had choir at 4 and then small groups at 5ish. We have the youth and officially ours doesn't start until 6, but since some of the girls are in choir and we finished choir at 5....they just stay and hang out until time. Finally, we got home at about 8:30 or so. Whew! I love it, but it sure gets tiring sometimes!
I forgot to mention this a while back. I posted Labor day weekend how Shaun was putting a new floor in our kitchen and we encountered problems and it took longer than expected. I realized that I never posted that it was finished. He finished it in the middle of October. It looks so good! Now if I can just get rid of the pesky wallpaper...
Speaking of our Christmas cantata...we are presenting it on Sunday morning, December 16 and Wednesday evening, December 19. If you are in the Fort Smith area, we'd love to have you! It's called "Be Not Afraid". It's a musical within a musical. I'll save the synopsis for another post. Our children's choir is presenting "It All Happened in the Country" next Sunday night at 6. I'm not sure what it's about, but it's bound to be cute!
I was in a parade yesterday. The Lavaca Christmas parade. Our church entered a float. Our theme was "There Sno' Man Like Jesus" and we had a nativity scene and snowmen all around. The kids were all the characters. It wasn't bad for our first float. I rode in the back of the truck with Shaun and the sound system. I was really impressed with Lavaca's parade, being such a small town. We were number 31 and there were several floats behind us, too. And there were plenty of people watching, too.
My mother-in-law bought me some preggie drops. They are pieces of candy that promise to help with morning sickness. And they actually do help a little. I'm not sure if it's like taking a sugar pill, or what, but it works. And they're pretty good.
I'm so ready to be in maternity clothes! I really don't like this stage where you feel like you're gaining weight, but you just look fat instead of pregnant. At least most of my pregnancy will be in spring and summer so I shouldn't have to buy too many new clothes.
I guess that's it. I hope everyone has a great week this week! Merry Christmas!
Cayson is over the sign language setback. I'm not even sure if I blogged about it, but a couple weeks ago or so, he just didn't want to do any of his signs, except for drink. But now he's doing them again and he's gotten pretty proficient at "hungry" just today. It's so exciting to be able to communicate with him. Plus, he's saying, or at least repeating, lots of words. Also, he's mastering the spoon!
We had a long day at church. Starting things off, our pastor is on vacation so we had a guest speaker. Shaun had to redo the bulletins because his printer messed up. I had a lot to prepare for my Sunday school lesson (I teach 1st and 2nd grade) and one of my kids came about 20 minutes early! Which means I pretty much have to stay in the room. Fortunately, my lesson book has a section for kids that come early, so I had an activity for him to do. Our accompanist had to be at work at 12 noon today, so she had to leave immediately after the singing portion of our worship time was over. She wanted me to play the invitation and the offertory, but I just didn't have time to practice so Shaun played his sax during the offering and one of our very talented guys did the invitation. We had to be back at the church by 2:30ish so Shaun could prepare for drama practice at 3:00. I'm in the drama so I have to be there too, and wrestle with my kid at the same time! (Incidentally, I'm playing Lisa who plays Elizabeth, mother of John. One of my lines is "Oh, I'm not pregnant, they just dressed me up like this for the play!" And later I say "I'm sorry to interrupt things, but I just got some great news on my voicemail...we're expecting!!!" Talk about life imitating art!) After drama, we had choir at 4 and then small groups at 5ish. We have the youth and officially ours doesn't start until 6, but since some of the girls are in choir and we finished choir at 5....they just stay and hang out until time. Finally, we got home at about 8:30 or so. Whew! I love it, but it sure gets tiring sometimes!
I forgot to mention this a while back. I posted Labor day weekend how Shaun was putting a new floor in our kitchen and we encountered problems and it took longer than expected. I realized that I never posted that it was finished. He finished it in the middle of October. It looks so good! Now if I can just get rid of the pesky wallpaper...
Speaking of our Christmas cantata...we are presenting it on Sunday morning, December 16 and Wednesday evening, December 19. If you are in the Fort Smith area, we'd love to have you! It's called "Be Not Afraid". It's a musical within a musical. I'll save the synopsis for another post. Our children's choir is presenting "It All Happened in the Country" next Sunday night at 6. I'm not sure what it's about, but it's bound to be cute!
I was in a parade yesterday. The Lavaca Christmas parade. Our church entered a float. Our theme was "There Sno' Man Like Jesus" and we had a nativity scene and snowmen all around. The kids were all the characters. It wasn't bad for our first float. I rode in the back of the truck with Shaun and the sound system. I was really impressed with Lavaca's parade, being such a small town. We were number 31 and there were several floats behind us, too. And there were plenty of people watching, too.
My mother-in-law bought me some preggie drops. They are pieces of candy that promise to help with morning sickness. And they actually do help a little. I'm not sure if it's like taking a sugar pill, or what, but it works. And they're pretty good.
I'm so ready to be in maternity clothes! I really don't like this stage where you feel like you're gaining weight, but you just look fat instead of pregnant. At least most of my pregnancy will be in spring and summer so I shouldn't have to buy too many new clothes.
I guess that's it. I hope everyone has a great week this week! Merry Christmas!
Saturday, December 1, 2007
Please visit...
...my hubby's blog. It's been kinda lonely over there at Steps in a Journey, mostly because he doesn't blog much...or at all! However, he got pretty frustrated over something the other day and he decided to use his blog to rant, I mean draw attention to it. So mosey on over to Steps in a Journey, leave a comment, and encourage him to continue blogging! Thanks!
Friday, November 30, 2007
Lost
Update: She came back! We think one of the construction guys put her back in our yard. Please pray she doesn't get out again!
Our family dog, Batgirl is lost! The city of Barling is doing some construction behind our house and they had to remove the back part of our fence. They replaced it with some chain length fence, but Batgirl still managed to get out. The construction guys said they'd seen her all morning, but Shaun just went looking for her and he didn't see her. And they are all scared of her. Not that she'd hurt them...I don't think, anyway. She would if they posed a threat to one of us. I'm so upset. She's been with us ever since she was born...and she was conceived on our honeymoon! Trust me when I say she's one of the family. Please pray that we find her!
Our family dog, Batgirl is lost! The city of Barling is doing some construction behind our house and they had to remove the back part of our fence. They replaced it with some chain length fence, but Batgirl still managed to get out. The construction guys said they'd seen her all morning, but Shaun just went looking for her and he didn't see her. And they are all scared of her. Not that she'd hurt them...I don't think, anyway. She would if they posed a threat to one of us. I'm so upset. She's been with us ever since she was born...and she was conceived on our honeymoon! Trust me when I say she's one of the family. Please pray that we find her!
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