Friday, July 30, 2010

Children+Cell Phones=Mirror


I had taken the kids into Wal-Mart the other day and while checking out, my kids noticed the play cell phones. Immediately they were smitten. I was not.

I told them they could use their money the next time we came in to buy the phones if they really REALLY wanted them.

They scrounged up some money that their grandparents gave them yesterday and we HAD to make a return trip.

As we were walking through the store, they busted the phones out and were chatting with their "high school friends." I tried telling them to watch out for the other patrons of the store and Lucy looked up at me and with her single pointer finger raised at me-said, "Mommy, you can't talk to me when I'm on the phone. Don't you know that?"

Sigh.
I guess I deserve that.

And my cell phone is now in time out.

Monday, July 26, 2010

Benjamin Franklin Johnson

Three years and two months ago, Ben Johnson moved in with us.
Lucy was 6 months old. Asher was almost two.

Ben lived in a bed just outside Asher's room, then in bunkbeds IN Asher's room, then twin beds in Asher's room. The poor man never had his own room. And I think he and Asher liked it that way.

Last summer, Ben left to go sail to Spain for the summer. When he got back, he walked in our front door and Asher leapt down 6 stairs into Ben's arms.
It was like his big brother had come home.
He moved back in with us for another six months and then moved out for good in January.

But today, Ben is leaving to go on a journey that is taking him into the Air Force this upcoming January and we are going to miss him like crazy. But it is so exciting to see your friend, someone you dearly love go and do something that they are really excited about and seems like it is custom fit for them. We can't wait to see what happens.

But in the meantime, we are going to have a big hole in our lives while he is gone.




"A man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother."
Proverbs 18:24

Ben has been an amazing friend to Matt, me and our kids. Closer than a brother. We will miss him more than he knows.
Traveling mercies Ben!


Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Eff-Eye-Vee-Eeee

Believe it or not, we have a five year old on our hands.

Since Asher turned five, he had a very definite idea about what he wanted to do for his birthday for the first time in his life-BOWLING! And according to AMF Lanes, it always means FUN!
See how much fun these colors communicate?
Asher decided he had to have a Shrek cake. Had to.
Best of luck finding that one.

Look at how big and five he looks?


Nothing like a boy contemplating his cake. Mmhmm.
Us with our big boy.
Yes, I would like a Happy Meal with apple juice, cheeseburger and a good toy?
She pressed the buttons at least 5,678 times. Sorry AMF workers!
Here are some action shots:
The birthday boy.
The socialite.
The amazingly fit and awesome bowling mom. Check out those calves.
Awww.
AMF You can leave a DM for me on Twitter for my contact info to use this image in your next ad campaign.
This image is one of the reasons why every person should want to go bowling with our family.
We all cheered like she just won the tour.

This is the birthday boy in big time action. Check him out.
Waiting for the ball with his hat turned around backwards: ala "Over the Top"
Giant wind up with the 5 pound ball.
Straight into the bumpers like we taught him to do.
Wait for it. Wait for it. Seriously. Wait for it. It takes FOREVER.

Yes! I nailed it! That one pin.
I'm totally awesome.
And five.
Beast mode.

We had so much fun and were so loud, literally cheering each and every time anyone threw their ball down the lane that when we finished; AMF staff met us at the door as we left and handed us stacks of coupons to return. It was hilarious!

*also, if you go to kidsbowlfree.com you can register and your kids can bowl free!
We also went to www.amf.com and you can find all kinds of deals. It was a great, hilarious and fun birthday party for my boy!

Thursday, July 15, 2010

Oil Spillage

Hey let's all hope today's capping of the well is P-E-R-M-A-N-A-N-T!
But not to beat a dead horse, prior to the well capping; all the news about the oil spill has seemed to be bad news followed by more bad news and no one knows why, I thought it would be a good idea to share with you this video that has gone seriously viral. And it's hilarious. Somehow.

If you have already seen it, my apologies for being late to bus stop.
If you haven't seen it, BEWARE. They use the F-word at the end.

Wednesday, July 14, 2010

VBS


A few weeks ago, I enrolled my kids in Vacation Bible School at a church that Matt and I have visited a few times and we really like but we haven't made up our minds about.
They had a VBS program centered around the Veggie Tales and it was running from 6-8:30 every night this week. What can be bad about that?
Enter my newly five-year old son.
(I will write about his amazing birthday tour later)
But he is not the best about transitions or "new" things. I know that might come as a shock to many of you because he is so social. But any time I drop him off ANYWHERE, he acts as though I am the worst mom in the world and as though this is his idea of social tortue. I have no idea why he does this or how to make this better.
But I have tried everything I know how to do.
So the night before, I tried to give him lots of warning that we were going to VBS and it was going to be fun and instead he cried the whole day prior.
At the time when I had to leave; he bawled like most 18-month old toddlers.
Of course when I picked them up, he asked if they could come back the next day.

Last night, I decided there would be little to no talk of VBS just dropping them off as quick as a wink. Not a lot of hugging or build up just to see what the reaction would be. He still welled up, but moved on. His teacher told me that he stuck close to her the whole night and did everything but had a hard time warming up. She even used the phrase "unique" to describe him. As in:
"He sure is a 'unique' child."

Note to all people doing anything with children everywhere:
Do not use this phrase with mothers.
I was awake from 3-5:30 this morning obsessively worrying about how kindergarten was going to go based on these two little Vacation Bible School days. I worried over riding the school bus, the cafeteria, etc. I was reading websites, what books we should be reading, etc. I became a nut job.
Thanks to my "unique child."

And he is unique. He is just a slow starter. Now that he is warming up, I am sure he is going to own VBS and they are going to wish for him to be shy again.

But besides that, VBS is the greatest gift known to man. Matt and I dropped the kids off and went for run, ate dinner together at home and then went to Lowes. Is this what life is like with kids when you live with family in town? It was so lovely and quiet. We thoroughly enjoyed the "normalness" of something so simple. It is so rare that I can hardly believe it.
I can't wait to drop my kids off again tonight.
Also, they are singing the memory verse all day long:
"I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength." So so sweet.

Monday, July 5, 2010

Emerald Coast

This time last week, we were spending a lovely several days with my parents, sister and her two kids. We had a BLAST. The beach was amazing (thanks to the Westerly winds of Hurricane Alex) and there were no signs of oil or any reason to stay away from the water. But as you can tell from the pictures, lots of others tourists stayed away. It was like our own private beach!

The water was beautiful and it made me so sad to think that the oil was just 50 miles away.
How many years will it be before we can enjoy this spot again?
ADORABLE.
Classic hide behind your kid pose perfected by my sister.
The Lamb ladies were representing in PCB. Woohoo!
Hats all around!
My aunt Mary and cousin Edward came down for a couple of nights and played with us too.
It was so fun to see them!
Awww RiRi.


We had a great weekend together (even if it required a 10 hour drive by myself with the kids to get down there) and there is nothing that brings this oil spill crisis into focus more than seeing someplace you love getting ruined. Just this morning, two tennis ball sized tar balls washed up on the beach in PCB. I am so glad we got to enjoy it before we lost this family treasure to BP's oil spill.

Sunday, July 4, 2010

Raising Small Children and Throwing Soft Cheeses

The 2010 Tour de France has begun.

On Saturday morning, for the Prologue I had a little meat and cheese, nutella brunch at my house and watched two hours of men riding on bikes one minute apart.

Yes, I did. And somehow I convinced my children that this was the most important thing that Mommy could be doing today.

And I did it again today. But success today was measure by Asher saying "Mayo June" (yes, that's how he said it-not how it is spelled. I know that) and Lucy declaring that she would indeed be "King of the Mountains"

My work here is nearly done.
20 more days and my children will be fully indoctrinated and will be able to say Fabian Cancellara and know many many things about him.

In case you have missed the joy of this tour, go ahead and watch this little commercial from Radio Shack (I know) and enjoy the hilarity of the fact that I took four years of French and know next to none outside of this sport.



Saturday, July 3, 2010

No Shortage

There is no shortage of these "Literal Version" videos on YouTube.
I believe I have shared with you, Take On Me by A-Ha.

But seriously, Total Eclipse of the Heart by Bonnie Tyler? Wow. Oh wow. What was this video all about anyway?

Watch, enjoy and laugh like I did!


Many thanks Betsy Charlene for reminding me about this video...

Friday, July 2, 2010

Final Frontier Ranch pictures

Yes, I am finally catching up. I am going to try and not bore you... but these pictures were all too fun to not put up on here.
Does it really ever get old to see your husband dance with complete joy?
I think not.
I also think it brings other people joy to see pictures of him (versus video) because pictures DON'T tell the whole story.
They leave the room to allow pictures to be even more funny than they really ought to be. Perhaps.



Nothing like seeing your man "pop and lock it"


I can't tell you how much my kids miss being surrounded by their "camp buddies" and well, so do I.
Coming home is bittersweet.
We love home and our town.

But, there is a really deep drop-off when you unpack, eat a meal and look around realizing that it's 10pm and no one is bringing you a sundae and doing "Mule Train" for you. Or that there is not a group of 20 people to laugh with each and every night.
Community is so wonderful and it hurts to lose it every summer when we come home.
Even though we have a great one here.
Something really special is built on a Young Life assigned team and we are so grateful to have been on another one this past summer.

Come Ye Sinner

I will rise and go to Jesus.
He will embrace me in his arms.
In the arms of my dear Saviour, Oh there are ten thousand charms!
Come ye sinner, poor and needy.
Weak and wounded, sick and sore.
Jesus ready, stands to save you.
Full of pity, love and power.
I will rise and go to Jesus.
He will embrace me in his arms.
In the arms of my dear Saviour, Oh there are ten thousand charms!
Come ye weary, heavy laden,
Lost and ruined by the fall,
If you tarry till your better,
you will never come at all.

I will rise and go to Jesus.
He will embrace me in his arms.
In the arms of my dear Saviour, Oh there are ten thousand charms!

*a fantastic version of this song is performed by Ryan Long.
Trust me. It's on iTunes.
It will fill your soul.