Season of Lent

I am going to be removed from the blogging world for the next 40 days, and I'll tell you why....many of you are already very familiar with the season of Lent, others may have heard of it, and it may be a new term for some! I know for me personally, it was a new term to me 7 years ago, when I joined my church! So.....

The period of 40 days prior to Easter, the celebration of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ from the grave. The word "lent" comes from the Latin word for "lengthen," because the days of Lent occur during the springtime of the year, when the daylight hours increase. The period consists of 40 days because the number 40 has special biblical significance: Moses and the people of Israel were in the wilderness for 40 years; Jesus was tempted in the desert for 40 days.
Since the days of the early church, in the decades and centuries after the death and Resurrection of Christ, Christians have regarded the period of Lent as a time for repentence and reflection. It is invariably marked by fasting (going without food and/or water for a period of time), by giving up something during Lent (sweets; the sports page), and by taking on such habits that will increase one's devotion to Christ. (It was explained to me that everytime you think about that thing you gave up that you are longing for, you will think of what Christ did for you and therefore, be drawn more to him). Lent begins on "Ash Wednesday" and concludes on Holy Saturday (which is the Saturday before Easter). Also recognized in this season is "Maundy Thursday", which is the Thursday before Easter, when we celebrate the Last Supper that Jesus had with his disciples.

.......So we had "Ash Wednesday" service at church last night,

In a very visible way, Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of Lent, when we take stock and prepare ourselves for the journey toward Easter. Ashes remind us, with a shock, that we are God's creation, made for God, and not the other way around. Ashes remind us of the brevity of the gift of life, and the grace of eternal life in the heart of God. Ashes remind us that we are born to live, really live, before we die. Ashes remind us of a resolve to a Lent, and a lifetime, of a more authentic relationship with Jesus the Christ. For reasons like these it does not occur to us that we participate in a "strange" custom of ashes and dust. To the contrary. With hearts full of awe, we seek gold and God in the dust. "From dust we came, and to dust we will return"

For me, personally, altough it is a simple brief outward sign, the service and process are very powerful....to see many fellow Christians share recognition that we are so sinful and commit to prepare our hearts for Easter and to a greater commitment to following Christ's example. So, the picture above (an internet link, not anyone at my church!!) shows what the actual receiving of ashes looks like, physically, but to know what it feels like to find yourself closer to Christ in this process is very powerful.

So, all of this to say......I have prayed about it, fought it, went down kicking and screaming, but yes, Blogging and reading others blogs is out for the next 40 days......in years past, I have either given up foods (cokes, deserts) or commited to a 40 day devotion, and some years done nothing....but I feel a little more challenged by giving up blogging, because basically it is my hobby! So, pray that I won't give in!!

See you on Easter Sunday!

(By the way, be sure to read the funny stories under the post about 4 below this one titled "To play or not to play"....somehow it got out of order and is way down there and I can't figure out how to move it up!)

Nanna puddin!

I think Bo ate as many vanilla wafers as he put in the pudding!

Romantic dinner for 2, I mean 4!

As part of the "Love Dare" book I have been doing, one of the dares was to have a romantic "dinner for 2" at home that night....well, I really didn't need to get a babysitter, so I thought I'd just let Lane and Bo have their own "dinner for 2" upstairs, while we had our dinner in the dining room. Lane had so much fun in her preparations! It is something I plan to do again, because it worked so well for some mom and dad time without a babysitter. (we put a movie on upstairs, so they could just watch the movie after they ate). I highly recommend trying it!

Playhouse Disney

Just a few pictures from the "Playhouse Disney Live" show!

To play or not to play...

I have a couple of funny stories on the kids.....

I'll start with Bo. In the last month or so, Bo has become very observent of when his sister is in trouble or does something wrong, and he will say to me or Rob, "Lane's in trouble?" or "She's not being good...I'm being good, right, momma?.....I usually just turn to him and say every time "Bo, don't worry about Lane, just worry about Bo". Proof that the broken record works....the other day Lane was being cranky about not wanting to put her jacket on while she was sitting at the kitchen table waiting on the bus, so I just gave her a mean stare and laid the coat behind her. Bo looked at her, then looked at me, and said "Momma, I not gonna worry bout her, I not gonna worry bout Lane, I'm just gonna worry bout me!"


So, on to Lane. Rob and I have been going back and forth on making the decision to sign her up for softball this year. She has told us repeatedly that she doesn't want to play, but we really want her to try it and then make her decision. So, we have tried everything to talk her into it...I showed her pictures of when I played, we talked about other girls she knows that play, we told her how healthy it is (because she is into being healthy).....so, far no luck! She asked me when we were outside playing ball (Bo playing ball) what she would do with her chair if she played (because her favorite part is to get her chair set up, get her drink in the cup holder and a snack, and sit and watch him with 2 or 3 stuffed animals in her lap! Finally, the other night, we were reading books before bed and Rob brought it up to her again, she starts whining saying she doesn't want to play, and he says "you know you get to be in the dugout for a lot of the game", so she starts asking about that, and we proceed to explain, that there will be a cooler of water and little cups or we will buy her her own gatorade to keep in there with a little cup, and that she will get to play with friends while she is in there....did the trick, she started squeeling in excitement....if we had only known to leave the ball and bat part out of the conversation earlier and just talk about playing and drinking in the dugout!

Also, the other day, I got her dressed for school in a dress with leggings and a long sleeve shirt under it. She told me she did not want to wear that dress, but I just ignored it! So, when I got home that afternoon, we were leaving to go somewhere and she just had on her leggings and long sleeve shirt, so I said Lane let's find your dress, so we can go, we looked and looked and could not find it....finally she said, "Oh, it's in may backpack." Needless to say, she took that stinkin dress of when she got to school and wore those leggings and that long sleeve shirt that was too short (looked like a belly shirt, but didn't matter when it was under the dress!) and the leggings that were too big in the waist and she could barely keep them up. When I told that story to my friend, Amy, she reminded me that that was the second time she had done something like that...I forgot about when she put on clothes under her clothes that I laid out for her, so that she could take the ones I picked out off when she got to school and have on what she wanted! (Luckily I caught that by the bulkiness of the clothes!)

Here are some pics of Bo playing ball and the spectator... (she did get up and hit once!)

Ball player or not, she's a pretty little thing!!

The spectator has her snack and is in the shade!

Say a little prayer...

Please pray for my friend Summer and her family....some of you know her....she is a good friend of mine from OT school (she was in my wedding)....she has 3 kids under the age of 4 and her baby, Colette (7 months) started having seizures last weekend and they started her on anti-seizure meds and sent her home, with MRI scheduled for March 6th to determine if it is epilepsy or something else....well, just heard from Summer and she had more seizures last night, so she has now been admitted to the hospital for testing. I can only imagine Summer and Mark's fears. If everyone who reads this stops and says a little prayer for Colette, I would greatly appreciate it, as I know Mark and Summer would.

My Best Friend's Birthday

This was the the first of many Valentine's to come for Rob and I...actually our first official date...since we try to forget that first crazy date with Kendra and Chad! (I know the picture is small, scanning issues). As crazy as it sounds, when we look back, both of us say, that we started falling in love this night! So, as tommorrow is Valentine's day and his Birthday, I want to share a little about my favorite guy of the last 15 valentines....

Here are some pics from his "birthday party" last night...he had a meeting at work, and got home after everyone else was there (our families), so the kids wanted to turn out the lights, and we pretended to surprise him...they thought it was the greatest thing ever! Here is the cake we made...

My gift to him...

So here's to you Rob...

It is no coincidence that Rob's birthday is on Valentine's day......no it is actually extremely ironic! Rob certainly did not take any lessons from Romeo, cupid, or any other romance expert....he has been known to forget to get me gift for Christmas or my birthday (mind you, he only did that once, he learns quick!), and usually I find my gift before the occassion, because he just wasn't born with that knack of how to be romantic, adventurous, or surprising.....He likes to tell me every year that I won't get a Valentine's gift, because he doesn't buy gifts for other people on his birthday, but for 14 years he has lied!

I'll take the good with the bad.... He may never me the romantic husband every girl dreams of, but I am so blessed to be married to my best friend, as cliche as it may sound...Here are my top 11 reasons that I love my husband more and more every day:

1. He is my soulmate, God gave him to me and that is reason enough....

2. He is who I talk to about everything...there has never, ever, ever been a secret that I haven't told him (except that one time in high school, Rob you know what I am talking about...and I learned then that never again would I lie to him about anything!!)....

3. I love to spend every waking and sleeping moment with him (except an occassional girls night)....I will go with him to take the trash off if it means I can be with him....(I even get in an occassional squirrel hunt)....

4. I love to go to the Tiger games together, and I especially love to watch him watch the games at home.....I asked him the other day if when he is 70 years old, will he still stand in front of the tv and jump up and down like a 6 year old, but I promised him I will park his wheelchair right there in front of the tv if not!.....

5. I love that I cannot go to sleep without him at night...

6. I love to sit on the back porch and talk about life with him...

7. I love to go upstairs and read to the kids at bedtime with him

8. I love to go on little mini get aways with him (we usually do a night in Memphis for Valentine's and our anniversary, it has become tradition)

8. I love that little lips curled into his teeth way that he looks at me and the kids, as if to indicate he just can't get enough of us (I have never seen him give anyone else that look)

9. I don't always like it, but I love that he loves life through his squirrel dogs

10. I love that he has the kindest heart I know, and I love that he does that at his job, Crestview was blessed for 10 years, and now I believe that Atoka Elementary is blessed to have him!

10. I love his family!

11. Lastly, I love that I can rest assured that I will have his love as long as I live (and he has promised he won't put me in the nursing home by myself, he will be in that little twin bed beside me!)....

Happy Birthday Rob.....I know I am a needy wife, but you fullfill my needs more that you know!

I love you, best friend.....

(Christi took this picture at the Final Four..no, it's not posed!!)

Kung Fu Match...Ti Lung returns weekly!

It has become somewhat tradition to hold our Ti Lung vs. Monkey and Tigress match in the bouncy house in the dining room (it's an effort for some quality time with the kids, if you call quaility time play fighting!) It starts with the training session from Master Shifu (that's me!)...we do punches, kicks, and spins in preparation for the match...then comes Ti Lung (Rob) who tries to defeat all 3 of us.....and despite his efforts, Monkey and Tigress always come out on top! (I can't believe we haven't had any stitches or blood yet!) I guess we'll keep it up till that happens....

Random Pictures from the weekend...

Lane getting her workout in her robe!

Bo only fell off about 3 times...because like most men, he could only do one thing at a time..if he looked up for a picture he lost his concentration and fell off...if he talked, he fell off, if he looked up at the tv, he would stop walking and fall off!

I had to take a picture of these "Tarzan pajamas"...in case you are in the market for a pair, I know the lady who makes them, she is related to me and is married to a man named Carl! Rob and I can't help but laugh (behind his back) at these when he puts them on...it is walmart jogging pants and a turtleneck with an image of Tarzan sewed on the shirt....I don't know how he doesn't sweat profusely in them....anyway, when trying to find some tarzan things at Christmas, I came across some iron-ons on Ebay, so I ordered a couple....well mom was going to use one of the images on a pair of pajamas, but she could not find any solid color pj's, hence the jogging pants and turtleneck...then when she went to iron the image on, she did it backwards and ironed it on the pink pillowcase she was using over the top of the iron on....so he got a hot suit with a pink tarzan on it....at first he kind of looked at it a little funny, but now, he loves them! Thanks Ellie for a memory!

Fireside after bathtime...glad they pretend to be modest for the camera..anyone who knows Bo, knows he will streak with the best of 'em!

The guys fit right in!!