jellybeans in the bathtub

Yesterday we had some rip-roarin' storms come through the DFW area, and at one point, good ol' Forney was under a tornado warning, complete with yellow spinny circles on the radar thing on good ol' channel 8 (my favorite weather people in the metroplex), and tornado sirens going off here in town. When we knew the bad weather was headed our way, we got the the backyard all ready for the high winds; once we heard the sirens, it was off to the bathtub for us all, dogs included. I had no idea how I was going to amuse two toddlers and two crazy dogs for the time we'd spend in the bathroom, but at the last second I remembered the Easter candy: "Let's go sit in the bathtub and eat some jellybeans, pumpkins!" Even Dixie & Cappy (the dogs) got jellybeans, which kept them from getting too nervous at the sounds of the sirens. A handy tip: a crib mattress is actually a very good size for covering the bathtub. I was thinking we'd pull one of the big mattresses in, but then handy-dandy honey grabbed the crib mattress. Good thinkin', honey!

Nothing came of all the sirens & noise, at least not here in Forney. After about fifteen minutes, when the sirens were off, I went and checked channel 8, and it looked safe for us all to come out of our safehouse, er...bathtub. That's when honey said, "Hey, we can't get out until we have a picture!" So, here's our first official tornado drill picture:

I was reading some Job yesterday, and couldn't help but be reminded by the storms of the Lord's questions to Job toward the end of the book: Can you lift up your voice to the clouds, so that an abundance of water will cover you? Can you send forth lightnings that they may go and say to you, "Here we are"? Job 38: 34-35. Job's obvious unspoken answer (and ours as well) is a very quiet & humble "No, sir." Incredible that He who has lightening answer to Him knows all about me and my little family sitting and eating jellybeans in the bathtub.

ma: a review

In honor of MA's surgery tomorrow in the early am, I thought a slideshow of some of my faves of her would be in order...

Tales from the Crib

I'm crazy distracted this week because we found out yesterday that MA has to have tubes put in her ears on Friday. Excited because we hope this will help her chronic ear infections & general sickness, but nervous because, well, ya know, the whole surgery aspect of it...

So I'm just going to post a few funny things I've heard/experienced at the gym since I started working there a few weeks ago (I'm in the nursery, and when no kiddos are in there, the TV is controlled by my co-workers). Keep in mind that most of my co-workers are teenagers, and it's been ever-so long since I've worked with the good ol' teen set...

1 - As we were watching American Idol a few weeks ago, one of the contestants sang his sorry version of "Every Breath You Take." Josh commented, "Doesn't some old dude sing that?"

2 - Kelly was flipping through the stations, and stopped for a second on a channel. "Hey, that's Karate Kid!" I said with excitement. "I had his poster on my wall in jr. high!" She watched for about 30 seconds (it was during a training session in Mr. Miyagi's backyard), wrinkled her nose, and kept channel surfing.

3 - Kelly was (again) flipping. She stopped on Airplane. "My mom loves this movie," she said. Another 30 seconds, another wrinkled nose, and more channel surfing.

4 - Josh & Kelly were watching an A&E biography on Michael Jackson. They were showing scenes from his childhood. Josh said, "Hey, he used to be black! What happened?" Don't we all wish we knew, Josh...

back in the saddle again...

So it's official. We are now members of Community Life church here in town, which happens to be a southern baptist church. Which is funny, because honey is about as far removed from southern as one can be, and I don't think he's ever been a baptist...although he was dunked, so in some sense, I guess he is a good ol' baptist boy at heart. Me, I'm southern baptist from way back, so it's a return of the prodigal, in some strange sense.

My original plan was to fuss about how stand-offish and cliquish southern baptists "typically" are, but then the Lord went and taught me a lesson, so... I was having a hard time with our "community group," also known as small groups in some circles, called "cg's" by our church. I just felt like we were on the outside, not really accepted or even wanted in this group that's somehow supposed to fulfill the sense of community which we can't actually get it at church, cause church is too big. So, I was just feeling like an outsider....again....in a southern baptist church....which made me really fussy because I feel like I've already been through this way too many times. But we're committed to the church, for lots of reasons (one of which is their take on evangelism), and I had decided that I was going to just suck it up, and play nice, because we'd eventually find some folks that we click with.

But then last night at cg, one of the girls opens WAY up, and tells us about the SUPER hard time she and her hubby are having right now, which TOTALLY explains their stand-offishness.... And another girl goes into some difficult times she's been through lately. And it hits me like a ton of bricks: "Oh yeah...they're broken, just like me." They don't have it all together. They aren't being ugly. They're just hurting, bleeding all over the place emotionally. And yet selfish, small-minded me takes it personally.

Sheesh....when will I learn? Makes me think that maybe, just maybe, it's not about southern baptists' die-hard habits...it's about my unwillingness to extend grace and just plain old "time to warm up" to people who need it, just like I do. These lessons are good for me. Help me get outside my head, and remember that it's just not all about me...I'm afraid I forget that way too often. I give you a new commandment – to love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. Everyone will know by this that you are my disciples – if you have love for one another. John 13:34-35

A few recommendations

Over the last couple of weeks, we've watched a few really good movies, all with the lovely Emma Thompson as a common denominator. So today I really think that she might be my favorite actress. I have yet to see her portray someone that hasn't won me over: Beatrice in Much Ado About Nothing, Elinor in Sense & Sensibility, Professor Trelawney in the Harry Potter movies; and as of late, Karen Eiffel in Stranger Than Fiction, and Nanny McPhee in the same-named movie. So, if you haven't seen any Emma Thompson lately, get to it!

I'd post a few pics here and links and whatnot, but I'm tired, so I'm going to bed instead.

a walk in the park

Yesterday we had our 2nd annual Easter photo shoot. We went to one of our favorite parks in Highland Park, and had a ball. Here's a slide show of some of my favorites:

A giant thanks to Grammy for all her help!

Naked Feet

Spring is here, and yesterday found us hosting our 1st cook-out of the season, complete with hummus & aunties & uncles aplenty. I've been enjoying the freedom the season brings by wearing my flip-flops constantly, hence Miss K's question on Friday: "Mommy, why are your feet naked?"

Here are some pics of our adorable little fruit trees in the backyard (a red apple, an apricot, a golden delicious apple, and a peach):

Beautiful, no? Honey found them at Calloway's at the end of last summer for $5 each, so I was skeptical that they would survive...but survive they did, and now they are just so leafy. Makes me smile every time I see them! So our backyard was happy to host our party, complete with a rousing game of croquet for all the johnnies (honey, J, and N all graduated from St. John's College; a big event there every year is the annual croquet match versus the Naval Academy, so for them, croquet is quite exciting...I haven't figured it out yet, but maybe this will be the year?).

So we're all running around here enjoying springtime with our naked feet. Quite frankly, I wish I could say my soul was blooming with all the trees in the backyard, but it's not...it's feeling a bit naked itself, kinda stripped & worn out, like it's nearing the end of autumn rather than the beginning of spring. Last night I described it to Sha as "feeling kind of funky." But I know that that's the nature of things - our trees have to look dead in order to bloom again, and sometimes there are just dry seasons for our souls. I'm thankful that this doesn't mean that the Lord is any less faithful or in control, but just reflects my wishy-washiness instead. Thank you, Father, for the new life of spring, and the reminders all around that You're in the resurrection business.