Bluebonnet Tradition

Every year since Lila was born, we have taken a picture of the kids among the bluebonnets. This year we went on our vacation during the peak of bluebonnet season. But, after we were home, there were still a few bluebonnets out - so we stopped really quick one day to take a picture. It was between lunch and naptime, so we literally hopped out of the car, took these pictures and then went on our merry way. Lila was thrilled. Wyatt was confused.

Lila thought she would help Wyatt sit still by giving him something to hold.

"What am I supposed to do with this, Mommy?"

Lila was happy to pose with the flowers!

I wanted her to lay down with her head propped up in her hands, but she was still holding the flowers - so instead, here she is "smelling" them.

Two years ago, my little girl developed a love for picking flowers (yes, even weeds).

She still loves to pick flowers. I let her pick just one more, and then we were back in the car.

For those who think, isn't it illegal to pick bluebonnets in Texas? I looked it up online and found out that was just a myth... so if that's wrong, well, that's my story and I'm stickin' to it!

Mother's Day Gift

Yesterday was Mother's Day. We had a nice relaxing day, but last night we had to discipline Lila (she didn't want to stay in bed at bedtime). It made me start thinking about parenting, motherhood, and the gifts that come along with raising children.

The Bible says "Children are a gift from the Lord." (Psalm 127:3) Does anyone know what this means? Is it because children say the cutest things? because they love us so easily? because they give us laughter and joy? Yes, probably. But then what about all the times they don't bring us joy and laughter?

I'm beginnning to wonder if there isn't something greater... that little glimpse we get as parents (especially moms) of how much God loves US. I think if we are honest, we all struggle with this concept. How can God love ME when I fail on a regular basis at holding my tongue, spending time with Him, loving, sharing, giving... the list can go on and on. We know all too well how unworthy we are of such love. We are amazed that God would love us through all that and still send Jesus to die for us. And we accept it because God's Word says its true. But do we really understand that love?

As a mom, I finally get a little window to God's love for me - because I have that love for my children. I didn't get it before. I admit it. But now, I'm beginning to understand. I would do anything for my kids... anything that was good for them, that is. Yes, I will deny them things that might hurt them. I will discipline them, even though I don't enjoy it, because I want them to obey God and desire to follow His will. To know that the world doesn't revolve around them, but Him. And when they are fighting with each other, I love them. When they cough right in my face or smear their runny nose on my shirt, I love them. When they pull out every toy in the house, making chaos where there was order, I love them. When they fall and skin their knee or are scared of the dark, my heart breaks for them. When they do something that I just told them not to do, I still love them. In fact, I can't think of anything they can do where my love for them won't exist. I may be disappointed, frustrated, even angry at times... but my love can coexist with all of that. It took root the moment they were created, and it cannot die.

Sound familiar? I sure hope so. God loves US this much. And as a mom, I am reminded of that gift every day. Thank you, Lord.

"I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge–that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God." Ephesians 3:17a-19

Can I Take Some Pictures, Mom?

This is a post I've wanted to do for awhile, but kept putting it off for other things. We have decided that Lila might choose 2 different professions when she grows up (based on what she likes to do right now): a negotiator/arbitrator OR an insurance claims person. Why you ask? Well, she is really good at negotiating.

Lila: "Mom, can I have 4 chocolate eggs for dessert?"

(Yes, we still have Easter candy.)

Me: "You can have one."

Lila: "How about three?"

The other thing she really likes to do is take pictures. And I mean, LOTS of pictures. Of everything. After she's had the camera about fifteen minutes, she has documented our entire household contents. Of course, I just delete them when she's done, but I thought I'd share a sample of what she takes... and some of them aren't too bad!

Kelsey has gotten used to having her picture taken, but she's keeping a wary eye open just in case.

Here's one she took of me and Wyatt the other day. She has started saying "Mom, look at the camera" (hmm... wonder where she hears that from?).

A picture of her artwork. I'd like to think that she put this on the ground just to take a picture of it, but that would mean I'm in denial about the usual state of my house. It's more likely she found it on the ground after little hands dropped it there!

Here's a picture she took of Wyatt while laying down on the ground.

This is what 10% of her pictures are like - a shot from across the room or a basket of toys or the coffee table, etc.

This is what 80% of her pictures are like - one thing, up close, usually not in focus but sometimes it is.

Maggie is also used to the camera by now.

She took a picture of all the books on the shelf, so there were about 3 more shots like this one.

Wyatt climbing onto the sofa. (This one makes me chuckle).

Me, washing the dishes.

Wyatt, wearing a "hat" :)

Uh-oh! Who was caught playing with sister's dollhouse?

This one was taken on our trip to AL. Wyatt has almost no interest with dolls when we are at home, but when we are in the car... "baby, baby!"

Lila's feet. I see a LOT of pictures of her feet too.

Maybe she will be photographer?? Or maybe she will be an astronaut gardener. That's what she told me this week she wanted to be. So who knows? In thirty years she just might send me a prize-winning picture of her Mars-grown tomatoes!

Alone Time

When we made plans to go on our cruise last fall, I mentioned to Lila that she was going to get to spend some time with Grandma and Grandpa on her own. She wasn't too keen on the idea then, so I didn't mention it again until a couple weeks before we left. This time when she heard she was going to get to spend a few days alone (with Wyatt) at Grandma and Grandpa's, she was excited! In fact, while we were there she asked us a couple of times when we were going to leave so she could have her "alone time" with Grandma and Grandpa! I was a little worried that Wyatt wouldn't be so enthusiastic, but apparently, he did great too. And no wonder! They stayed busy the whole week. My mom took pictures for me (which is why she is never in any of these). Here's a sampling of the things they did:

Colored. A LOT.

Lila even learned how to shave crayons and melt them between wax paper.

Just a cute pic of my boy. He loves to sit (and stand) on the "big" chairs.

They went and looked at the ducks down the road.

Played in Grandpa's truck bed.

Ran around!

The pond area that is down the road from my parent's place is very nice... they live just outside the city, so it has a country feel.

Lila found a little car down there that she could pedal.

Slid down the slide.

Watched the goats (owned by a neighbor).

Climbed the fence.

Climbed the tree!

Drove a car.

Went bowling.

Watched a video. (That's right, you rest when you can!)

Struck a pose, being silly.

Helped Grandpa mow the yard.

Wyatt took his turn.

Bounced on the neighbor's trampoline.

Lila helped Wyatt up the ladder... this was a playset at the neighbor's.

More climbing.

Success!

Investigated.

Dug in the dirt.

Watered the plants. (Lila said when she did this, she got "soaped" by the water.)

Watered the flowers.

One day they went to the Botanical Gardens. There was a treehouse exhibit that was very kid-friendly... lots of things to climb and play with.

Like a sandbox.

One treehouse was Oz inspired.

You can't have a garden without a watering can! :)

Cruisin'

Our cruise left port on a Monday, but since it was about a 6 hour drive from my parent's place to Mobile, we left Sunday afternoon. We couldn't embark until 12:30, so we decided in the morning to tour the USS Alabama (museum) that was docked nearby. In fact, we could see our cruise ship from aboard the battleship!

Here is Ben standing in front of the battleship before we began our self-guided tour.

Ben standing with very large missle shells.

This seems like a good seat!

On deck. At the front of the boat (where the little flag is), we could see an alligator in the water.

Ben, standing in front of the largest guns. I have to admit, I had more fun touring this ship than I thought I would. I don't think I would ever want to be on one out at sea though. It made me wonder how a battleship that is still being used might compare. We also toured an old submarine that was part of the museum, too. Then we were on to our cruise ship!

Here is a picture of our room. When we were standing in line to board the ship, I said to Ben that now I kind of wished we had gotten a room with a window. I remember when we booked our cruise we debated paying a little extra for an outside room vs. an inside room. So I was pretty happy when we got to our room and it had a window!! (I had not remembered correctly what we decided!) We enjoyed being able to see out and have natural daylight.

The ship had an 8 hole mini golf course on the top deck. It was a little breezy up there which added a challenge to our play!

Every night after we came back from dinner, our bed had been turned down, and a little towel animal rested on top. We got a different animal each night. We also got a new "FunTimes" which had the next day's activities listed.

Here is a picture of our boat docked at Cozumel. It's kind of hard to see, but I circled our room's window in yellow. What looks like a little row of black boxes toward the middle front half of the ship are the few rooms that had balconies. Our room was the 6th window to the left of the balconies, under the red line. We thought we had a good location: it was quiet and we didn't feel a whole lot of the motion from the sea.

In Cozumel, we went snorkeling. It was my first time and lots of fun. Sorry, I don't have any pictures to share of that... we did use an underwater camera but I haven't developed it yet. We also shopped a little bit, but then came back to the boat to eat lunch. Since we were in our swimsuits and there was hardly anyone on the ship, we decided to try out the waterslide a few times (Ben is at the top). I guess the curvy waterslide is something unique to Carnival Cruises. On days that we were at sea, there was always a long line to use the slide (usually kids).

Also, when we came back from snorkeling, there was another Carnival cruise ship docked right next to us - the same size/model of boat as ours. There was also a Royal Carribean cruise liner nearby that seemed huge in comparison... but no fun waterslide that I could see! :)

Another towel creature... a sea turtle.

A picture of the boat docked at Calica, Mexico. We got off the boat early to go have a Dolphin "encounter" - where we were in the water with dolphins and got to touch them and give them a kiss (at which point an employee would snap our picture and then try to sell it to us for $25). Um, no thanks, amigo.

Here we are standing in front of the Mexican shoreline at Calica. As you can see, there is nothing there. It was a gravel pit on the other side of the ship. Playa del Carmen was about a 10 minute taxi ride away and Cancun was another 45 min after that.

An elephant wearing Ben's sunglasses (the steward did that, not us!).

This was our last night onboard, sitting in the dining room. I would say that this was one of the things I most enjoyed about the ship - the really good food and getting to know people at our table. (Another thing was having somebody else clean our room twice a day!!) We sat at a table with four other couples (one of whom we had met while standing in line the first day... how random is that??). Besides the dining room, you could also eat on the top deck at their buffet for breakfast, lunch or dinner. Plus they had a grill (burgers), deli and mongolian wok. And a pizzeria that was open 24 hours.

We both really enjoyed our vacation. The weather was great. The food was great. The room was great. We hope to do it again someday... maybe next time with friends- for anyone who might be interested! :)