Heaven and Hell

Mallory: Mom, is Hell is where all the fire is?

Me(trying to conceal my shock from the out of nowhere question): Mmmhmm


Mallory:Is that where the Devil is?


Me(suddenly realizing how little I actually know about the place myself): Yes


Mallory: Then why doesn't he just burn up? Like the wood in our fireplace?


Me (I don't remember exactly what I said because I was trying really hard not to scare the poor girl to death. Something to the effect of how someone there would go on burning forever and probably wishes they would burn up into ashes, but they can't, so it's like a fire that never ever ends)


Mallory(dead serious and with as much sweetness as is humanly possible): Wow. Well, I'm glad we're going to Heaven because it's like a playdate that never ends!

Not Me! Monday

Welcome to Not Me! Monday, where we can be brutally honest with each other, and live to tell about it, while we shroud the severity of our statements by pretending we so did not really do them.
This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.

I did not let Mallory stay up until 10:00pm on a school night again, and I definitely did not hear her say, "Mom, can I go to bed earlier tomorrow night?" Nope, not me.

I did not allow Will to wear the same cheetos/oatmeal/slobber stained, faded Lightning McQueen shirt for 72 hours straight (a new record!) just to avoid a major meltdown. Nope, not me. What kind of mom dresses their kid in one-size-too-small, non-organic, straight from Walmart clothes? Not me.

This couldn't possibly be another picture of Will wearing said shirt while playing with someone elses baby toy. I know that's not what I'm seeing. Because I definitely gave that toy back to its rightful owner immediately after it was found at our house. (By the way, if you recognize this toy and would like it back, then please let me know) I just know I'll get right on top of that!

I'm confident that wasn't my kid singing "Jesus Loves Me" as loud as he could during church yesterday only to surprise everyone with the new "Can he fix it? Yes he can!" ending. Not me, no way. Because I would never allow my child to become so attached to a fictional cartoon character named Bob that he would equate him to Jesus. I am definitely not that mom.

And finally, I so did not spend two hours creating a layout, that still looks like I threw it together in five minutes, just to record the bizarre names Will has given to Mary and Joseph. Who would waste time doing that and then waste even more time posting it for her friends to see? Not me.

Gotta love Mondays! :)

And this is how the good news is spread

Mallory is special. I wish you could all know her.
For those of you who do, this story will not come as a surprise to you.

A few months ago Mallory decided that she wanted to start a club with her friends at school, a God Club. The idea of her club would be that during recess they would find a place to sit and talk about God and the Bible. Mal's idea. (Seriously, I never would have suggested asking first grade girls to give up their only free time of the day to sit and listen even more.) At first, several girls were eager to be a part of this club. Instead of all of them talking about God, though, the other girls would ask Mallory questions and she would answer. She always had a story from the Bible picked out to tell them as well.

(Keep in mind that I didn't know about any of this until after this club had met several times)

In time, the other girls grew bored and decided to go back to playing on the playground. With no other members in the club, Mallory decided to join them. They have since been playing "puppies" during recess. Whatever that is.

Then, before school this morning, Mallory told me that a girl from her class had asked her a question about the Bible. This particular girl, we'll call K, was not a member of the original group. So, either she had heard about the God Club where Mallory answers Bible questions or she just knew that Mallory is the friend to ask when you have a question.

K sought Mallory out.

K saw a picture in her Bible of Paul being bitten by a snake. She had never heard that story and wanted to know it. (My first thought when Mallory told me this was that Mal doesn't know that particular story herself.) Wrong. Without hesitation Mallory told K the whole story of Paul being shipwrecked, the snake coming out of the fire, and the people thinking he was a god.
You can read it yourself here

I listened to Mallory repeat in detail the story she told to K. I couldn't believe how easily and with such confidence she told it. To be honest, I didn't even remember all that she had said and I was pretty sure that we have never studied Acts 28 with her. So, I asked her how she knew all that. Mallory said that she had heard the story at church during the children's class. I knew that she loved going to this class, but now I also know that she really pays attention.

Then, Mallory said something that I'll probably never forget.

"You know, if I hadn't have gone to church to hear that story, then I wouldn't have been able to answer K's question."

She's only 7, but already so wise. A man at church prepared a lesson to teach to the children. One child listened well and told the same story to another child. Who knows where this chain of events will lead. My best guess? Heaven.

If we want to be able to teach others the word of God, then we must be prepared. How can we teach what we don't know?

"...Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect..." I Peter 3:15

Mallory prepared herself by first showing others a willingness and ability to share God. She made it known that she wants to talk about the Bible. She did not grow weary when others chose to play instead. She prepared herself by paying attention when someone else was sharing with her. Then, she patiently waited for someone to ask.

"...'I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.' And he took the children in his arms, put his hands on them and blessed them." Mark 10:15

Mallory and friends

The two shall become one

There was a wedding uniting two wonderful people.
Everything was perfect.

I was blessed to get to spend time with two of my favorite people, Adam and Casey...whose marriage just celebrated 1 1/2 years.

I even ran into my old friend, Kimberly...who is still looking very young and beautiful!

Jeremy and I reflected on our own wedding...one of our favorite days ever.

Has it really been eight years?

And they lived happily ever after in the Lord.

I love marriage.

Fa La La La La....

...the ER stinks.

In so many ways.

I should know... I spent most of Monday night there with Mallory. She developed the croup very suddenly while spending the night with my parents. My parents are so wonderful and my mom is so "on top" of things that she didn't even hesitate to call when she heard the barking. I met them at the emergency room about 30 minutes later and the four of us made that stinky place our home until sunrise. BUT the great part of that was that the donut shops were just opening up on our way home, so we got some right out of the oven.

YUM!

Mal's sick and I'm worried. Please pray for her. The croup is a big deal for her. She's battled it countless times in her short 7 years. It can go from bad to critical in such a short time....and that's usually overnight while we're sleeping. So, I probably won't sleep this week. We are going to attempt to proceed with our Christmas as planned, but I'm taking with me a big box filled with all of her medicines and breathing machine.

If I had gotten to mail out Christmas cards this year, then this is what they would have looked like. I designed them on time, ordered them on time, but then Kodak only shipped me 1.

One.

Who orders ONE Christmas card? Kodak says that I did, even though I'm pretty sure I typed in 50. Oh well. Those of you who are used to seeing my adorable kids' faces on your mantel each year will just have to settle for the computer screen instead.

Hope you all have a very Merry and good smelling Christmas!

My pride overflows

These kids are so talented...it's embarassing.

In case you couldn't understand this high quality video, they are singing

Awesome Underwear and Good Garbage

with Will's new underwear on their heads

Yep. I am so proud.

Just 3 new

I'm working at lightning speed trying to create a special scrapbook for someone else. It's fun, but it means less time for my own pages. I probably won't be able to post any new layouts until after Christmas. Hopefully, this will tide you all over until then. :)

Super small journaling reads:

Will has a slight obsession with cars. He will play with them all day as long as he has someone else willing to play with him. There is a very specific way, though, in which he wants to play cars. Each person chooses a car (he always gets Lightning McQueen) then proceeds to “talk” for them. Conversations always go like this:
“Hi. How are you? I Lightning Queen. I fast.” (pause while the other car responds)
Then he says the exact samething all over again. About 50 times per day.
“Hi. How are you? I Lightning Queen. I fast.”
Don’t even try to vary the conversation. It won’t work. Trust me.

Mallory knows this routine better than any of us...which led to this recentconversation with Daddy. After reading about Josiah the 8 year old king.
Mallory: How can an 8 year old be a king?
Daddy:Well, that’s how it works. His dad died, so Josiah had to take over. If I were king and then I died, Will would become king
Mallory: Will would not make a very good king(in her best Will voice ‘Okay, everybody play cars. That’s the law!’)pretends to have two little cars in her hand: ‘Hi!’

Super small journaling reads:

Jeremy reads the newspaper almost every Sunday. He usually spreads it out across the living room floor and patiently tries to read while the kids run, jump and laugh all around him. This Sunday was different. This Sunday Will sat down right next to his Daddy, picked up his own section and started “reading” too. After about a minute, Will looked at Jeremy and said, “Just like you Daddy.” Then, Jeremy’s heart melted.



I'm not that impressed with this layout, but it's a year overdue, and those stitched letters took me forever. So, I'm posting it:)

Super small journaling reads:
On the night that your Kindergarten class was performing Handel’s Messiah, you were forced tostay home sick. I wanted to make sure you were still able to have a special evening, so we put
together a Christmas Tea. We set the table with our Christmas china, lit holiday candles, & made some of your favorite treats. You created placecards for each of us and even added your own special touch to the paper napkins.

Have a Merry Christmas everyone!

Have a Blessed Thanksgiving!

I really do love my family. I know they are a blessing from God. Of course, there are many, many more people that I'm thankful for. At some point, I would run out of circles, though!

Right now Mal and Will are in the backyard preparing a feast for anyone who would like to come. My old rug will serve as the table and tablecloth and our porch chairs have been turned upside down for plates. It consists mostly of pinecones and pineneedles. The food may be...umm...tough? But the company is sure to delight! Be sure to say
"Happy Shanks-Yous-Gibbing" so Will knows what your talking about :)

Some things don't change

Did you forget about me? It's been a while since I've posted. Several people have asked Jeremy and myself to post some recent pictures. However, every time I sit down to write an update it seems like we get to go through another crisis. Then the update is outdated. I just can't keep up. We've been on such an emotional rollercoaster that I'm starting to feel a little numb. Do you ever get that way?

For me, it's gotten to the point that every time the phone rings I get tense. Before I've even reached the phone to answer it I've already prayed that everyone is safe. Trying to sum up everything that has happened lately seems a little overwhelming. Instead, I thought I'd write about what hasn't changed since the last time I posted. Because I'm the girly, need-to-make-it-look-pretty person that I am, I scrapbooked about it too :)

Journaling reads:
Our love for God and our desire to live for Him hasn’t changed. In fact, I’m certain our faith has grown because of the trials. Our studyof His word has increased & our prayer life has improved. Hmm..makes me wonder why I’m so afraid of trials if these are the results!
Jeremy is the same loving husband & adoring father that he has always been. He works so hard at providing for us and at keeping our focus on God.
Mallory is as sweet and thoughtful as ever...probably more so. She still loves her brother and has an unbelievable amount of patience with him. She still loves her school and works very hard at pleasing her teacher, her parents and God.
I am still in love with Jeremy (going on 8 years) and my precious kids. I still love staying at home with Will and volunteering at Mal's school as much as I can. I love God's word and I try to learn more from Him with each passing day.
Okay, so Will actually has changed a lot lately. BUT, he is still the same cute, fun-loving,active, death-defying, hilarious boy that we’vealways adored.
We still cherish our little family and crave getting to be together as much as possible.



Maybe someday I'll get around to writing about all the emotional highs and lows we've been through, but for now I'm going to just skip it. :)Jerry Seinfeld style. Now on to what you really came here to see: pics of the kids. Here are a few layouts that I finally finished.


Have I ever mentioned how SWEET my kids are? :)

Journaling reads:

Last night I caved to Mallory's pleas and allowed both kids to sleep on the floor of our room last night. Jeremy wasn't thrilled about the idea since it has never really worked well before and he had to get up early for work. My response was that Will is older now and I'm sure he'll be fine. My mistake.
Will was up every two hours crying because he wanted to sleep in bed with us. Jeremy absolutely won't allow that. He just can't stand to be kicked in his back while he is trying to sleep. So, I got up every two hours as well to put Will back on his mat and sing him back to sleep. By about 4:00 am I had pretty much had it. Will climbed into bed and snuggled up close to me. I let him. I just didn't want to get out of bed again. Then, I felt the sweetest little kisses on my shoulder. Will must have kissed me 20 times before he rested his head on my shoulder and fell asleep. (sigh) Maybe he was trying to say thank you for letting him stay there, or maybe he was just saying I love you. Either way, I will gladly forfeit 8 hours of sleep for 30 seconds of unsolicited Will-kisses ANY night! He's so sweet.

When I woke up that morning I noticed that Mallory wasn't on her mat anymore. She wasn't even in the room. I got worried about her, so I went on a Mal-hunt. I found her in the kitchen cleaning off the table and wiping it down. "Mom!", she gasped, "What are you doing here? You're supposed to be sleeping! Can you please go back to bed?" I quickly replied, "Uhh...yep. I sure can." About 30 minutes later I got up again and found a breakfast buffet laid out on the table for the three of us. Mallory used paper coffee liners and filled them with various things for breakfast. Then, she said, "Ok, you sit down and just tell me what you would like on your plate!" She's so sweet.

Mallory was Tinkerbell for Halloween:

Will was Bob the Builder:Now that Will is almost 2 1/2, I've finished his 2 year old layout:

Journaling reads:
Games:"aypay" where Daddythrows you around &flips you. you beg him to play every day. Monster chase where you, Mallory & I take turns roaring likelike a monster & chasing eachother aroundthe house. You prefer for me to be "it".
Toys: You have a slight obsession with cars. Not a day goes by that Idon't see you driving them around on the walls or windowsills.
Shoes: you have been obsessed with these shoes from the moment that you saw them! You want to wear them everywhere including your bed and the bath tub!
Books: I'm so glad that you love to read! The two books that you insist on reading at least once per day are Snug House Bug House and Cooking with the Cat.

Older picture, new layout:

This routine is old (goes back to when Mal was a toddler), but the layout and journaling are new:

Older picture, new layout:

Ok, these will have to do until I find some more scrapbooking time. I just bought a bunch of new stuff, though, and I'm dying to play with it all. So, the layouts will be coming more frequently (one can dream:)

Mary

You know who I think about a lot?
Mary.

I mean this with the utmost respect and reverence. Mary is one of my heroes.
I know the popular phrase is "What would Jesus do?"
But personally, I often think, "What would Mary do?"

I wonder what kind of mother she was to Jesus when he was young. Was he a typical boy when he was two years old? How did she discipline him? Was she confident in her ways or did she ever doubt whether she was a good mother or not? Did she ever cry from "mommy guilt"? Did she ever get frustrated or frazzled? Did she ever long for "me" time?

When I reach the end of my rope, I think, "What would Mary have done with little Jesus in this situation?" Sometimes, I wish Mary had penned the second "Guide to Parenting". I know God wrote the first, but sometimes I wish I knew more about the practical ways Mary raised Jesus.

Raising a boy is clearly way out of my league. 80% of the time I feel like I have no idea what I'm doing. The other 20%...I'm so busy cleaning up after his messes (physical, mental and emotional) that I'm not thinking at all. Just praying for strength.
I don't want you to think that Will is a bad kid. In fact, most people think he's fairly well behaved and sweet. But I'm his mother, and I am with him all of the time...not just when he's on his best behavior.

Take this morning for instance. Everything was going pretty smoothly. Breakfast was fed and the kids were playing. I was trying to write some emails when Will walked up to me and I noticed that horrible smell.

Me: Will, do you have poop?
W: Uh-huh
Me: Ok, lay down. (As I unbuttoned his little short overalls I noticed that they were soaking wet. Oh, and there was NO DIAPER on him) Will! Where is your diaper????!!!??
W: ummm...
I wiped what was left off of him and went looking for the bomb. I found a little trail of poopoo leading back to where he and Mallory were playing. (then my blood pressure started climbing)Me: You've got to be kidding me!

There were little poops all over the kitchen floor and carpet. I also found a yellow wet spot on the carpet where Will had been playing. Oh, and I found the poop filled diaper. My morning went from peaceful to stressful in about 1 minute. I started barking out orders to both kids to bring me various cleaning tools, chemicals and trash bags. My schedule for the day suddenly included mopping the kitchen floor and scrubbing the carpet. Neither of which did I have a very happy heart about. I ordered the kids to go upstairs and leave me alone so I could clean up the disgusting mess.

In the middle of my cleaning I began to think about Mary. Did anything like this every happen to her? What would she have said? Would she have freaked out and gotten angry like I did? Would she have yelled at Jesus? Would she have spanked him? I wish I knew. I wish I had her on the phone to calm me down and say something to the effect of, "He will turn out wonderfully. Despite the daily, or even hourly, chaos he will grow up to love God."

Then, I started thinking silly things. Like, is Mary watching me now? Is she giggling at my obsession with the moment? After all, she has perspective that I don't have. Is she thinking, "Well, if you had dirt floors, you probably wouldn't have gotten so upset." I can't wait to meet her someday. And, honestly, that is what keeps me going a lot of the time. I can't give up and give in to the devil's temptations. I have to control my temper and force myself to be at peace. I have to force my thoughts to focus on God and what he wants of me instead of dwelling on the tyranny of the moment.

I want to get to heaven someday, for a lot of reasons, one of which is to talk to Mary. And hug her.

He's lucky that he's just so irresistibly cute!


A rare moment of peace

Just two new

Two new layouts, but I can really only take credit for the first one.

This one was created by someone else, and I just added pictures and words.

Sweet Sunshine Black & Blue

New layouts. That's all.

Mallory hearts Will

Two layouts to share:and I'm happy to report that Will did not create another masterpiece while I worked on mine :)

Sledding is awesome!

You'll have to forgive how far apart my Colorado posts are and will continue to be. I'm getting them up as fast as I can, but I took about 400 pictures, so that will take a while.

On our first full day in Colorado we decided to go hunting for snow. We were all raised in Houston, so we rarely even see snow, let alone get to play in it. The house we stayed in just happened to have a small sled parked in the garage. We loaded it in the car just in case we found a place to use it. It didn't take long:) Our first stop was Loveland Pass.

Here we are just after getting out of the car. Thankfully, we all threw our coats in the back of the car because at this elevation it's COLD! I was struck by how quiet it was up there. All I you could really hear was the wind blowing. At first, we just played around in the snow. Snow is such a novelty to us that just touching it and walking in it was fun! We had a little picnic in the most beautiful setting you can imagine with some of our most favorite people in the world (Adam & Casey). So far, the day was perfect.
Then, we got the idea to try out sledding here. The mountain was secluded and looked safe, so the guys went back to the car to get the sled. Adam went first to try and figure out how a sled works. (None of us had ever ridden one before:) Here he is falling off:


The first patch of snow we slid down was pretty small. This picture gives you some idea of the size. If you look just past the third patch of land you can see where the mountain we were standing on drops off. Since there was a clear stopping point (the bare ground) there was little chance of sliding off the mountain. After Adam and Jeremy tried it out we let the kids have a bunch of turns. They LOVED it, of course.

Each video only lasts about 30 seconds. They're not great quality, since they were taken with my camera and not our video camera, but priceless nonetheless.
Will's ride:

The trek back to the starting point was difficult for the kids. The snow was about 4 feet deep and we weren't exactly prepared with snow shoes. Mallory did her best to help Will, but he usually ended up falling.

Here he is yelling, "Help!"
The hill wasn't that steep. However, the sled worked up a pretty good speed for Mallory which made her a little nervous. Listen to her scream at the end.
Mallory's ride:


I think she liked it!
Next, Casey decides to give it a go. I'm not sure you could actually call this a ride, though ;)
Casey's...uh...ride:


After we all got our fill of sledding down the small hill Adam announced that he wanted to try out the neighboring slope. We all thought he was joking. I forgot to take a picture of the whole slope, although it was so big I'm not sure I could have anyway. This picture was taken with me looking down towards the bottom of the slope. You can see from the way Casey is climbing up just how steep it is. If the picture continued to the left you would see that the slope continues pretty much straight up.It was MASSIVE, very steep and didn't appear to have an easy stopping point. Death was definitely an option. Or even falling off the side of the mountain. Adam was determined, though, so we all just sat and prayed...oh, and videoed.

Adam's death defying Ride



Once Adam proved that it could be done without serious injury, Jeremy just HAD to do it himself. It should be noted that it took a good 20 minutes just to climb up to the starting point of this hill. There wasn't a clear path, so we had to climb over s bunch of big boulders..with the sled dragging behind. Since we were at 12,000 feet breathing also became a little difficult. This picture gives you some idea of how difficult the climb was. Jeremy's just getting started here as he has to walk up to the far right corner of the picture and beyond.
Jeremy's ride:


Not to be outdone by my brother and husband, I got the urge to try it myself. I can't explain how exciting those 30 seconds were. I kind of felt like I was flying, albeit out of control :) If it hadn't taken so much to get to the top, I would have done it all day. Note: I was the first person to make it down without falling off.
Megan's ride:

Casey can ride after all ;) She goes the furthest and doesn't fall off either.

Casey's ride:


Casey's well deserved victory pose

It was exhausting to make that hike to the top and then out of the bottom of the snow bowl. We also had a good size walk back to the car to face. So, after a couple of times sliding down, we were ready to go home. Everyone agreed that it had been an awesome experience, though, and that we would definitely have to do again one day.