More!

Just today we noticed that Molly started bowing her head when we pray together. At breakfast, I said a short two or three sentence prayer while Molly sat in her high chair alongside Ryan and me. When I said, "Amen!" I looked over at her. She raised her bowed head, brought the fingers of both hands together (sign language for "more") and said, "More!" I smiled, and then said another short prayer, again ending with an Amen. She repeated her request for more prayer. Ryan and I giggled because it was so cute that she wanted me to pray longer. Finally, my last few inquiries to God satisfied her, and she was ready to eat!

Stock Show

My parents took Molly and me to the stock show that they have here. It is basically a rodeo and fair devoted to western things. Poor Ryan misses out on the fun things we do while he's working! Molly enjoyed the petting zoo. The goats were coming up to her and nudging at her hands because lots of kids were feeding them, and they were looking for more food. I talked mom into posing for this picture with me. The background has lots of cowboys on it, and we thought we'd get a good picture with the cowboys, but only one showed up in the picture.

What Would I Ask For?

In the book of Matthew, the mother of two of Jesus' disciples dared to approach Jesus with a request. She kneeled down and asked a favor. Usually when people approached Jesus regarding their kids, they were asking for physical healing. However, her request was that they would be sit at Jesus' left and right hands in the Kingdom of God. In essence, she was asking that they would be #2 and #3 in the Kingdom after Jesus. It sounds like an arrogant request, but I'm reminded that sometimes I want Molly to be the best- the most polite, the cutest, the brightest.

Later in the passage, Jesus instructs the two brothers, "Whoever wants to become great among you must your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave- just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many." What God really wants for Molly is that she would love and serve others. So, my request of Jesus should be that Molly serve others and be humble in heart.

Do they not know anything about how budgets work?

When making a budget, it becomes a bit problem when the money going out is greater than the money coming in. Because our politicians do not understand this, the size of our national debt is inconcievable. This morning, I read a small blub in our newspaper about a bill proposed by a legislator in Texas:

from the Star-Telegram Sunday, January 18, 2009, p 5B (by Maria Recio, Anna M. Tinsley, Dave Montgomery, Aman Batheja)
Rep. Kay Granger says she wants to help people out during these tough economic times.

Granger, R-Fort Worth, signed on to a bill by Rep. Louis Gohmert, R-Tyler, to give taxpayers a two-month reprieve from paying federal taxes.

"I think this is a practical solution," Granger said. "Not every option has to include spending billions of dollars. I think most Americans would be surprised at the amount they could save if they didn't have to pay federal taxes for two months."

So, if the revenue from income taxes goes down by one-sixth, the government's spending should decrease by a proportional amount. Has anyone heard of the federal government cutting spending? I've only heard about bailouts for the financial and automotive industries as well as a hefty economic stimulus plan in the works. Am I mistaken, or does this plan make no sense? I don't see much difference in spending extra money and spending the same while earning less. It seems like the end result will be the same- more debt. What do these legislators gain from this bill? Approval from voters? Maybe we should all agree to pay more taxes to reduce the national debt with a strong limit placed on government spending. It seems practical to me, but unlikely to ever happen.

Praying today for Joshua

Could you pray for baby Joshua? Our friends' little boy (10 months old), is having a major surgery on his skull today. They have had this scheduled since last April, and are praying for no blood transfusion to be necessary and minimal pain. His eyes will probably be swollen shut for a few days, and he will be frustrated at not being able to see. I'm praying that they won't even be swollen at all. If you pray for them, then call 517.794.4169, then enter 3355# or your phone number, a pager will buzz to let them know someone prayed for them.

Thanks!

Cowtown

When my mom was out of town, we went with my dad to the Stockyards. Twice a day they have a cattle drive down the street. This was the first time Molly and I saw it. Beforehand, cowboys come out onto the street to let children and foreign tourists pet their horses. Then, the cows walk down just a few feet away from where the onlookers are standing. Their longhorns are quite impressive. Molly was amused by the cows and pointed. She also likes to visit papa's cows when we are at my parents' house.

I let Molly drink from a "big girl cup" while in her high chair. She is very good, except she occasionally will put a piece of food in the cup. She perfected her skill while in the bathtub. This picture was taken on a warm day when I made Molly some banana milk (banana, milk, and ice cubes blended together- it is somewhat bland, but she likes it!).

Sharing daddy's ice cream!

Christmas in MI

We had a relaxing Christmas in MI. We spent a few nights with Ryan's mom and stepdad and a couple with my aunt and uncle. Instead of driving around trying to see a lot of people, we convinced a bunch of our friends to come to a sports bar. It made it a lot easier on us! (I'm posting the pictures with friends on facebook.) We had a few family gatherings. Molly really became a pro at opening gifts. She got a lot of books and toys. There was a lot of snow when we arrived, but a couple days after Christmas, the temperature hit 60 degrees. It felt like Texas!

Child Dedication

We had Molly dedicated at our church on Dec. 14. We hope that she'll be baptized when she is older and makes her own decision to follow Christ. The purpose of the dedication is to publicly show that we wish to raise Molly according to God's word. One verse that is important to us is Proverbs 22:6 Train a child in the way she should go and when she is old she will not turn from it. Two church staff members prayed for us and Molly while the band played "What Child is This". It was pretty cool!

Apartment Life

Last night we extended our lease by another six months. Ryan just isn't sure that his current job is one that he wants to stay with long-term. So, we'll wait until this summer to see if something else comes up. It is very hard for me to be patient especially with low home prices and interest rates as well as a down payment waiting in the bank! So, I've decided to come up with a top ten list of reasons that apartment living is good.

10. Very little liability in terms of costly repairs to a home- If the littlest thing goes wrong in the apartment like a slow drain or even if I just want new drip trays for the stove, I just call maintenance, and they come right over.
9. We get to experience just how much my parents love us by letting them store a whole lot of our stuff for another half of a year.
8. Very low utility bills- our portion of the trash just increased to $4.25!
7. We get to say that we are debt free!
6. Our apartment is right by several square miles of upscale neighborhoods. We enjoy walking and running in this area.
5. Very convenient location for shopping, restaurants, our church, etc.
4. Two of my close friends (and their offspring, Molly's friends) live right here within a 90 second walk! It makes for convenient babysitting swaps.
3. Free use of workout equipment in the fitness center.
2. Good possibility of convincing my husband that I need a new bistro set to put outside our door to help me endure the next six months here.
1. Much smaller area to clean!

December

I almost saw this today! Story at the bottom of this post.

We are enjoying a sunny day with temperatures in the 60s. It's funny how accustomed to the warm weather we have become. We think it is a very cold when the temps dip into the 30s.

Molly has been busy learning new words. It is amazing how overnight her vocabulary grew. The following are words that she tries to say or says successfully:

mama dada duck walk milk hot papa nana no ball baby cheese shoes book

I'm learning that 15 month olds are so funny. I was letting Molly sit on my lap in the front seat of the car and snack on some animal crackers in the mall parking lot. For some reason, she started to say, "Hot!" (This is her favorite word by the way. She often uses it correctly, like when I'm holding a cup of coffee or pull something out of the microwave. However, sometimes she just says it randomly.) Midword, she let out a burp. I started laughing, and she started laughing and let out a longer burp. That made us both laugh harder. It is so fun to have a shared giggle.

We have a baby gate up near the entrance to our kitchen. Molly plays near the gate while I cook or load the dishwasher. Today, I knew she was standing there just a few feet from me doing something but I wasn't paying close attention. When I looked at her I noticed that she had taken her pants off! I'm hoping this doesn't become common or involve the removal of her diaper!

The big news around Fort Worth is the landing here of the space shuttle as it is being transported from California back to Florida. Because of weather conditions in Florida, it had to make a pit stop here. I was heading out to meet a friend this morning. As I drove near the Air Force base where the shuttle spent the night, I saw at least a hundred cars pulled over on the freeway and service drive. I concluded that the shuttle was going to be taking off soon. I had to meet my friend and couldn't stop. I think I missed seeing the shuttle atop a 747 by just a few minutes. By the way, the trip back to FL costs two million dollars.

Carolina Pines

We had fun visiting Ryan's dad and stepmom last weekend. Molly loved running around their house and playing with KK and May May. Grandpa KK especially delighted in Molly's eating. She shares his taste in food. Eating out at an Italian restaurant, we ordered a Caprese Salad (fresh mozzarella, tomato and basil) for Molly. This is also one of her grandpa's favorites. She also enjoyed eating his eggplant parmasean.


The community where my inlaws live is beautiful. Part of it is built on a mountain and other parts of it are by lakes. There is a golf course throughout. When Molly was napping, I would make myself a cup of tea and sit in their backyard. They have tall Carolina pines right behind their house. One evening it was completely still. For several minutes I heard no sounds. There was not even one leaf or pine needle stirring. I just sat in silence and praised God for the beauty around me.

Autumn

We are going to NC tomorrow to see Ryan's dad for a long weekend. Ryan gets next week off for Thanksgiving. We'll have a lot of time to spend together as a family. I'm going to be working a little bit at the GAP again for the holidays. Cross Country ended a couple weeks ago. Ryan was busy getting ready for his banquet last Monday. Then he and I came down with the stomach flu and didn't get to enjoy the banquet. We just stopped in so he could give out awards. It was at a Mexican restaurant that we hadn't tried yet. Thankfully Molly hasn't been sick.

As you can see by the pictures, some days it is sweater and hoodie weather, and other times it's warm enough for just a dress. My dad made Molly this awesome pebble box. She loves it!

We got some awesome garage sale deals. This slide was $5, and the basketball hoop was 50 cents! I love it!

Out and About

I took Molly to a play area at a mall. It was so nice because there were only a few other kids and a couple of them were babies close to Molly's age. She had a great time. She was RUNNING around and shrieking. Consequently, I was trotting around after her. She was busy trying to climb all over the play structures. She hasn't tried much to climb on furniture, but she likes to lift a leg up and over the side of the bathtub when she's getting in and out. When I get her out of her crib, she lifts up her leg to try to get over it. There's no way she can, though, because the crib rail is right at her chin.

We then stopped to see my grandma at a nursing care center. It is very difficult, because the floor isn't appropriate for her to sit on or play on. So I have to either carry her or try to keep her from sitting down or touching the floor. She is impatient in her stroller, so that doesn't work for very long either. She also won't just sit on my lap or my grandma's. My grandma did enjoy giving her a sweet hug and kiss when we ended our brief visit.

Election Day

Voting here in TX was somewhat smooth. There were no lines at the polls at 7 am when Ryan was there or at 1:30 pm when Molly and I were there. We had no option but to vote with pen and paper ballots. After they were complete, we were to take them over to a scanning machine that takes the ballot, reads it and displays a flag graphic if it worked correctly. Apparently when Ryan voted this morning, it wasn't working. So, the voters had to leave their ballots on a pile on a chair and trust that the election officials got the machine fixed and scanned their ballots. Not the best system... This afternoon it was working, but only on the second try. So, a poll worker was right next to me, and he politely instructed me to enter it into the machine again. He demonstrated the angle at which I was to hold the ballot. It was very easy to see who I voted for because I colored in a dark rectangle next to each. Again, not the best system. He remained standing by the machine and helped the next voter with the same problem.

This was Molly's third time to the polls; she accompanied us to a school board election and the primary in the spring.
These are my freebies that I got for voting. Conveniently Krispy Kreme and Starbucks are directly adjacent to each other.

The fall colors in Texas are much more muted than those in the midwest. We don't have the vivid red, orange, and yellow leaves and bright green grass that paint the landscape in Michigan.

Strawberries

Recently I read an article in Compassion International's recent magazine about the global food crisis. (You can go to their website to learn more by clicking HERE. By the way, compare the estimated cost of solving this food crisis shown on the website with the cost of our government's STUPID bailout.) Especially as a mom, I'm saddened deeply by the stories of children going without food. Even children who are sponsored through their program are receiving less assistance this year because the cost of food has risen. Quite often I feel helpless, but I need to feel empowered and pray and give more. We are abundantly rich and have tremendous ability to impact the hurting in this world.

This week, I had planned to do my grocery shopping at Albertsons. I noticed an ad in the paper for two pounds of strawberries for $2.99 at Kroger. I decided to make a quick trip there before finishing my shopping back at Albertsons. How blessed am I, not only to have a car, but to have many options for purchasing affordable, fresh, abundant food.

This morning I fed Molly a breakfast of strawberries and oatmeal. She is a voracious eater and will often show me the sign for "More" when her tray is empty. Twice I had to wash more strawberries and bring them to her. At one point, I bit into a strawberry and was delighted by its sweetness. "What a treat," I thought. My mind went to the hungry in Ethiopia. This strawberry, which cost me a few cents, would be ecstasy to a famished child. Let me often thank God for our innumerable blessings and do my part to diminish suffering around the world. Grateful, I gave my baby girl more berries, and thanked God that I always have plenty to give her when she asks for "More".