Nanny McPhee

We finally rented Nanny McPhee the other night and we really liked it. After I saw how horrible and disrespectful the children were, I was really curious as to what the nanny was going to do with them. I liked the way that she never raised her voice at the kids, but just gave them logical consequences for what they had done. It really worked especially well in the kitchen. And I saw how the kids stared to predict what the Nanny was going to do if they did this. I highly recommend this movie!

They are Married!

Well after a crazy 3 days in Austin, Karen and Scott are married and I got a text message that they made it to Hawaii about 10:40 last night and were on their way to get something to eat.

The wedding was beautiful! I have no pictures though because I could not find my digital camera. I finally found it after everything was over and it was in my backpack the whole time. Isn't that the way it goes? It was really good to see a lot of old friends at the wedding. There was a great turn out. The middle section of the church was full!

Karen decided to have an aisle runner down the middle of the church. It was white with little detail flowers. It was beautiful. One of the reasons she wanted the runner was so that the rose petals would show up on the maroon floor. But cute little Emily did not have a chance to drop the flowers. NatJ grabbed her hand to walk down the aisle and she was left with no hands to drop the petals. The kids were awesome though. Emily only took her shoes off once during the ceremony at which time I invited her to go and sit with her mom. She probably would have made it through, but it was hard for me to concentrate on the wedding and keep an eye on her.

There were so many people who worked so hard to make this day special for Karen and Scott! Thanks to everyone, I know it means the world to them.

Happy 4th of July!

Happy 4th of July everyone! We went to the Belton rodeo last night and Bryan got to see the bucking horses, barrel races, rodeo clowns and his favorite-bull riding. I haven't been to a rodeo in a really long time, so I enjoyed it. We got tickets from a friend of ours at church. A client had given them to him and he couldn't go. They were really good seats, we almost got mud and other stuff on us.

It was weird to be at the Bell County Expo Center to see it. I've only been to the rodeo in Austin and the arena is like half the size here. This afternoon we are going to a friends house for a big brisket meal and then tonight we are going to find some fireworks somewhere. Most of Belton is busily getting ready for the parade here. As we were coming home last night, we saw cars parking to reserve their place along Main street. Crazy! We are going to stay in from the parade, Jonathan wants to sleep in on his day off.

I hope all of you have a wonderful 4th of July!

Observations from a small town

Having grown up in the big city of Austin, sometimes I miss the big city life. But today as I was driving around my small town I made some observations:

Top 10 reasons to live in a small town:
10. Driving all the way across town requires a huge committment of 15 mintues.

9. There aren't very many restaurants to eat at so the decision of where to go is greatly narrowed. (Jonathan and I have a hard time picking a place so this is a plus for us)

8. If you feel lonely and need to see some friends, you can just take a trip to Wal-Mart and find a few to talk to.

7. Things like vehicle registration and anything else done in a government building have no lines, or if they do, they consist of one person in front of you.

6. I am direcitonally chanllenged and a small town has less places to get lost. (But it is also more embarassing when you don't know where something is!)

5. The time that you spend at the mall with a teenager is cut in half because there just aren't very many stores, as my niece Brittney says, "Your mall has issues!"

4. You can find just about everything that you need on main street (luckily our neighborhood is right off of it)

3. You don't get bored with just one street name for every street. They all have a regular street name and an FM number (people always have to translate into street names for me, those numbers drive me crazy)

2. There are two main starting digits to remember for phone numbers, so really its kind of like college when you give out your last four digits.

1. People are generally nice in a small town and the pace is a lot slower. Plus I guess this is where God wants us to be and he has blessed us with some wonderful friends!

Would you care to die on that hill?

I recently had the opportunity to serve on my first curriculum committee. We got paid extra because it was not in our contract and I got to have a say about what we are teaching. It actually kind of made me feel a little old and responsible. Music teachers who are of a like mind with me seem to get really passionate about certain songs and the opposite also hold true. We tend to be very passionate about songs that we think are rubbish. So I figured that we would go back and forth during the week arguing about songs and philosophies, but our curriculum coordinator started the week off with this thought. "Is that a hill that you want to die on?"

She made me think not only about the task at hand, but also about my own life. Too often I tend to get caught up in issue and get my panties in a wad, if you will, about stuff that in the whole scheme of life, doesn't even really matter. I heard a preacher a couple of weeks ago who was talking about a certain tradition in the Church of Christ that there is a lot of controversy over (Instrumental music). He was very closed minded about the issue and in my opinion was taking a tradition and turning it into something else. We tend to often find hills that we want to die on within the church. Where the kitchen is going to be located, how the service will be run, should we split into 2 services. I know that I am taking the liberty to speak my mind, but I don't feel like any of the above are sin issues. Do they really influence our walk with God, or do we merely let them influence our walk with God?

So the next time you are feeling passionate about something, think to yourself, "Is that really a hill that I want to die on?"

Top 10 Reasons I Like Summer

This is my first Top Ten, so give me a break, they might get better as I learn.

10. I have no excuse not to exercise, read my Bible, clean the house or make dinner; wait that might be a reason that I don't like summer.

9. I get to make dinner every night if I want to.

8. I don't resent Jonathan for not cleaning the house or doing the dishes because I have been home to do them.

7. I get to really get my house clean, even in the corners.

6. I have learned that sleeping late really just makes me more tired. So I have decided to get up when Jonathan leaves and get started with my day, then find time to take a nap.

5. I will finally get to have my nieces and nephews up to visit from Austin.

4. I can go out with my girlfriends to get a coke.

3. Belton Christian Youth Center for Bryan! He goes almost everyday, I just have to tell him that I need to run errands like Wal-Mart and he asks, "When are we going to leave?"

2. I have been perfecting the one song that I can play on the piano, "Oh, What a Beautiful Morning" from Oklahoma. On Friday I started learning a second piece, "The Surrey with the Fringe on the Top."

1. I have not spent all of my patience at school, so I am generally pleasent to Bryan. I also actually enjoy serving my husband when he gets home and I finally have the energy to spend quality time with him.

Are You a Hick or a Prep?

I saw the weirdest thing on my way home from Dallas Saturday night. It was a hummer with a horse trailer on the back. I know it is stereotypical, but I associate hummers with preps and I associate trailers with hicks. I wish I had a picture, I know that would add a lot to this post, but I was driving and I decided that it wasn't safe to climb in the back of my car to get my camera while the car was moving.

Sister Time

I went up to visit Karen this weekend. She had a personal shower Friday night so I got to go to that. It was a lot of fun! We had chocolate covered strawberries and a little wine. It is true what they say that strawberries bring out the flavor in the wine. Jonathan and I tried to find that out on our honeymoon, but strawberries were out of season.

We played lots of games at the shower that I probably shouldn't mention on the blog, they might make some grandmothers blush. And I also took some pictures that I probably shouldn't post, so I won't, but they are good.

Then Saturday we got to do what we do best, shop! First we went to Garden Ridge to look at wedding stuff and I bought lots of stuff. We don't have a Garden Ridge here and I hadn't been to one in quite some time. Everything was on sale! Then we went and picked up Scott and headed out for some furniture shopping. I found the sofa that I want, but I haven't gotten Jonathan's approval yet. I am working on that.
This is the color that we want (or should I say I want?)
We are looking at getting the large couch, oversized chair and ottoman.

It will be our second big purchase for our new house. We want something that is solid so that it will be easier to match for curtains, rugs, etc.

We also went to Wild Wings for lunch and it was very good. I had to keep my coke close so that I could recover from the spiciness, but I really liked it. I got a "mild" one and Karen and Scott's were quite a bit spicier than mine. We had to all trade a piece.

Then we rented a movie and recovered from our day of shopping. I left last night so I could get back to church this morning. Jonathan stayed home and had some little guy time with Bryan-they watched lots of movies! I really enjoyed seeing Karen and Scott. The wedding is so close and I am so excited for them!

I'm in Heaven!

Bryan and I were jamming to KLove this afternoon while I was folding laundry. I accidentally knocked him over with a white sheet while we were playing. He exclaimed, "I think that I died, I'm in heaven." He then started running around the house with the white sheet saying, "I'm in heaven, I'm in heaven." He told me that i needed to go and get a white one too so that I could go to heaven. I suggested that we take a picture of us in heaven and he said, "Yea and then you could write a story on your computer!" We have been talking about God a lot and when we will get to see Him. I can't wait until I can proclaim, "I am in heaven."

The Prayer of a Child

Nothing touches my heart like Bryan's prayers. I will try to remember the one that he prayed as he went to bed tonight.

Dear God
Thank you for this day and thank you for all of the people in the whole world. Thank you for my new school (Belton Christian Youth Center daycare). I had a lot of fun playing pool. Thank you for my family and thank you most of all for your blessings.

In Jesus' name
Amen

If we could all pray like a child.

Laundry

Why is it that there is always laundry to do. Lately I have been doing at least one load a day and there is always at least on waiting. I remember in college I would do laundry once every two weeks and every once in a while I would have to do it once a week. I know that there is more than me to worry about now, but still geez. I know this post was not life altering, but those are my thoughts for the day.

Oh how times have changed.

Bryan got ahold of my camera and went to town. When I was a kid, pictures were very expensive and we were not allowed to take lots of random stuff, but times are different now. Bryan doesn't even usually ask to print the pictures out, it is enough just to know that they are on the camera I guess. I had to pick some of my favorites from his 11 snapshots, oh to be a kid again.



This is my favorite, a picture of a picture!



On another note, Bryan says some really funny things. The other day after we went out to eat, Bryan and I were waiting in the car for Jonathan to get in. All of a sudden, he piped up that he better move away from the right side of the back seat. I asked him why and he said, "Its kind of grouchy over there!" I laughed so hard.

Eew Gross!

Jonathan came home last night with his first on the job injury. A forklift somehow jammed his ring finger on his left hand. He was in throbbing pain when he got home. I gave him a couple of advil and he soaked his finger in warm water. He then proceeded to poke a hole in his nail to relieve the blood. I thought about putting a picture on the blog, but I decided against it.

A Tribute to Nancy

When I started teaching 3 years ago, Nancy was my mentor. She was a great mentor always one step ahead of me and giving me little nudges when I needed them. When Nancy decided to move to the new school, I was a little sad that we would no longer be teaching together. But then I was blessed with the opportunity to go with her.

When Nancy got back from her Christmas vacation, she announced that she knew what she needed to do with her life (as if she hadn't already done enough)! She said that her mom is still able to be up and about and travel right now so she wanted to go and get to spend some time with her mom while she still could. She is retiring from 29 years of teaching and I am going to greatly miss her!

Here is a picture from her retirement party.

Lots of Updates

I'm sorry that it has been so long since I have updated my blog. Tomorrow is my last day of school so maybe I will have a little more time! Last weekend we went camping at Stillhouse Hollow Lake in Belton. It was only a short drive, so Bryan and I went and met a group from Hyde Park (my Mom's church). We had lots of fun and really good food. Ruth Ann made eggs and bacon for breakfast and we had Barbecue chicken for dinner. No hamburgers and hot dogs for us.

Here are some pictures from our adventure.


Here is Mom riding the jet ski, can you believe it?


The kids acting out the game of baseball stuffed animal style.


Mom getting some much needed sleep!

Can You Believe It

I have written two updates in one weekend, its like a record for me.

Jonathan and I had a date night last night and it was so much fun to get to hang out together like we used to pre-munchkin. We got some Chinese food and I really wanted to go to the movies, but Jonathan wasn't in a movies mood because it is so expensive these days. Then I admitted that I really only wanted to go for the popcorn. So we drove to the movie theater and ordered some popcorn (the concessions are outside of the ticketed area. But they moved the guy that takes the tickets and now he is right in front of the butter. You can't have movie popcorn without the butter! So I had to tell him that all I wanted was some butter and that we weren't watching a movie, he probably thought I was a dork, but let me through anyway. Our friends Tim and Emily have offered to take Bryan once a week so that we can have a date night. They are such a blessing!

Then we watched "The Weather Man." It had Nicolas Cage and I have always liked him as an actor, he seems real and not so glitzy like some of the stars. Anyway it was about a weather man who didn't actually have a degree in meteorology, he was basically a deliverer of lines. I won't tell you about the whole movie, in case you want to see it. It was rated R and it had very explicit language and some scenes that I could have done without. But you don't have to watch the movie to get this quote. Background: The main character was always trying to please his father and no matter what he did it didn't seem to matter. He was complaining to his father about how tough his life had gotten and his father said this, "The right answer is usually the difficult answer, there is no easy part about being an adult." I probably didn't get it just right, but it was something like that.

It really made me think, he's right. We complain about how hard our lives are, but we really only have one purpose, to serve God and that means serving others. If we could just get over ourselves and concentrate on that, maybe all of our decisions would be easier. I'm really preaching to myself!

For Scott

This blog entry is for Scott, who informed me this morning that I needed to update my blog. Well nothing exciting has been happening around here lately. I am counting down to the end of the school year, the kids are driving me crazy. They are irritable, the most common tattle this week was, "He's looking at me." And my response is usually "So?" I have been saying "Get over it," a lot in the past couple of weeks.

I also got a new bedspread for our bed. Our old one was just fine except that it is a down comforter and the temperatures have not been calling for extra warmth at night. Jonathan and I were using a thin blue blanket and a sheet and it just wasn't pretty so good old Wal-Mart came through. I found this sage green bedspread for only $25! It is thin and adds a little color to our very neutral room. As you noticed, I had to leave the purple throw pillows because I couldn't have a room without a little bit of purple in it.


I also put our wooden verse back up over our bed. This verse has been with us since we got married, it actually matched our bed which can be a hard thing to do. It has followed us from apartment to apartment over the last five years. But a couple of months ago I woke up in the middle of the night and started thinking about how we could both die if that wooden verse fell on us just right and I couldn't go back to sleep. We had to take it down right then. But I came back to my senses last weekend, it hasn't fallen down at any other place so why should it fall down here right?

I had a our choir concert this week and my kids did really well. We sang a couple of songs from the "Sound of Music." We sang a sappy song to make the parents cry, we also sang Syahamba and a piece called "The Journey." It is my favorite classical piece from Dvorak's New World Symphony put to words. Absolutely lovely. The flowers next to my bed are from one of my choir students. I also got some pink roses from another student. He is in fifth grade and I can tell that he they were from his mom, "I said thank you and tried to give him a hug, but he was a super cool fifth grader." It made me laugh.

We also had our carnival at school last night. Bryan was so pumped, he called it a party. The lines were very long and so after about an hour, I had the bright idea that we could go and play at McDonald's instead of wait out the lines. He fell for it!

The Reality Has Set In

Bryan has been living with us for about 3 1/2 months now. He has adjusted really well. He has stopped his whining for the most part, he is becoming more outgoing, and seems to be happier in general. He now asks to help around the house, smiles a lot and is a lot of fun to hang out with.

But this weekend we went down to see his mom and ever since we got back he gets sad every night and says that he wants to go back and live with her. I think that the reality has set in. This isn't a temporary thing and we do have a lot more rules than Mommy did. It breaks my heart when he gets out of bed at night and says that he is sad. The only thing that I can tell him is that I don't know when he will go back and live with his mommy. I keep telling him that we want him to live with his mom too as soon as it is a good time. He keeps asking me if it will be in a couple of days or weeks. I guess he wants me to commit to a time so that he can plan on it.

Please keep him in your prayers. I know that this is a very hard and confusing time for him.

Segway

Since I have not yet learned how to put links in my blog, here is the website for the coolest new thing...Segways

www.glidingrevolution.com

They are two-wheeled gliders that sense your balance and run on batteries. You simply lean forward to go forward and backwards to backwards. I had seen people riding them at Disney World and I was amazed by them.
Karen and Scott and Jonathan and I had a double date riding these and it was a blast. Karen and I haven't really gotten to go on a real double date yet, so it was some much needed quality time.

After we rode for all of 5 minutes, we all decided that we wanted one. But since they are 5K, that is probably not going to happen. Plus, you need to have someone to ride with so it would actually end up costing 10K. So it is a pipe dream, but still a dream. Keep Austin weird!

The Farm

We went to the farm last weekend and it was a little boy's heaven. Bryan had so much fun that he didn't want to leave. We went fishing, driving through the woods, hiking through the woods, got to see a dead rattler and see a baby foal (horse). Here is a picture of Bryan driving the riding lawn mower with Jonathan. Jonathan's grandpa has a picture of him and Jonathan when he was about that age too.

It was good to see his grandparents. We are worried about his Mimi. She was diagnosed with alzheimers about 5 years ago and its signs have been very minimal until recently. Mimi has started to see people in the field and in the house. She even accused Papo of walking with another lady outside. It is very sad to know what she is going through. She seemed fine while we were there, but she has good days and bad days.

Woohooo!

Did I spell that correctly? About 2 weeks ago Jonathan decided to stop by John Deer and see if they had any jobs in the diesel field. One of Jonathan's uncles works for John Deer and he has told us what a great company it is. 2 managers took Jonathan out to lunch to discuss the possibilities. They said that they did need a diesel mechanic, but that they needed him to go to school before he could start working for them. Jonathan told them about the diesel program at TSTC and they were very interested and said they might even be able to help him out with the schooling if he could specialize in bigger diesel equipment.

They exchanged information and the manager said he would get back with Jonathan. So he went back today and they said that they would be able to help him with school, but they aren't sure how much yet. Jonathan asked if there were any jobs that he could do now until he started school in the fall. He said that there was a spot that he was planning on filling this week moving tractors around. So he starts tomorrow!!!! No more pizza and normal hours. I am so thankful.

Our fifth nephew!

Our fifth nephew was born on Friday, March 24th at 11:30 PM. He was 19 inches long and 8 and 1/2 pounds. The coolest part was that he was born on his Mom's birthday!! The nurses couldn't believe it. His name is Christopher Farris Barefield and he is precious. Here are some picture from the hospital.

Mom, Dad and baby!


Bryan and baby


Me and baby!

This is the father's first baby and he is so cute with him. He is a proud father. Debi was doing great and was up and moving around the room when we got there. Bless her heart, she had to have him naturally because he came too quickly, but luckily he was out with only three pushes. Go Debi!

In case you didn't notice, there isn't a picture of Jonathan holding the baby. He said that he's not good with them, but I think that he thinks he might like him if holds him! Oh no, then he might even want one of his own.

Boys Will Be Boys

Since Bryan has come to live with us. Jonathan has had a great excuse to do all of those boy things that he might feel too old to do. Here are some pictures of them playing together:


Here they are racing remote control cars


Here they are racing computer cars


Here they are drawing the ultimate racing cars

What's This?

So tonight Bryan comes out of my room and brings me this box and says, "What's this?" I guess I shouldn't leave this stuff laying on the bed anymore.

I have been tagged.

Sorry it has taken me so long to reply to Chris's tag. Thanks Chris, I feel loved.

4 jobs I've had in my life:
1. Elementary music teacher
2. Elementary band teacher
3. Children's Choir director at a Presbyterian church (don't worry, I went forward)
4. JCPenney associate in the children's department

Notice a theme?

4 movies I could watch over and over
1. Return to Me
2. While You Were Sleeping
3. The Italian Job
4. Stepmom

4 TV shows I love to watch
1. CSI
2. Gray's Anatomy
3. House
4. Nanny 911

4 Places where I have lived:
1. Temple
2. Edmond, OK
3. Austin
4. ?

4 Places I've been on vacation:
1. Destin, FL
2. Connecticut
3. Disney World
4. Galveston

4 Places I'd rather be:
1. On a cruise
2. On any vacation

4 of my favorite foods:
1. Pizza (surprising huh?)
2. Peanut butter and banana shakes
3. Pancakes/waffles
4. grilled chicken

Great Weekend

My mom and Debi came up for the weekend to visit Bryan and we had a good visit! Friday night, I got in late from a convention in San Antonio and we got to visit a little. Then on Saturday we all slept late and had a lazy day. We had waffles for breakfast, sat around and talked, rented a couple movies and did some grocery shopping. Then Saturday night Jonathan and I got to go on a date. Taking care of a child makes us really appreciate our time together.

We went to see Firewall. It had Harrison Ford in it and I don't know the names of the other actors and actresses. It was pretty good, with lots of action. We were a little dissapointed by its abrupt ending. Jonathan said that they probably ran out of money and decided to end the story. I think that they hit the 2 hour mark and had to stop.

Sunday it was icy and church was canceled, so we slept late again and spent the morning talking. Then Debi took Bryan to McDonalds for some Mommy/son time and they really enjoyed themselves. When it was time for Debi and Mom to leave, Bryan got a little upset and said that he didn't want her to go. I hugged on him and we talked about why he was living here and how much his mom loved him. Then he was cheered up when we decided to "dogpile" some pillows in the living room.

Then we ate dinner and did some homework. I have been teaching him how to clean his own bathroom and he really takes pride in the fact that he does it. Thank goodness for bleach wipes! Then I told him that I had to go and clean my bathroom and he said, "Can I help?!" I said that I would love for him to help. That was a surprise. He helped me clean the whole house. We scrubbed the stains in the carpet, vacuumed, cleaned my bedroom, and he loved his job of emptying all of the little trash cans into the big one. He was excited every time we found another one that needed to be emptied. What a great weekend.

Thoughts From a Little Man

Well Bryan has been with us for about 4 days now. He has survived going to a brand new school, settling into a new room and living with two people who have never lived with kids. Tonight I was in the other room and I heard Bryan exclaim, "Oh Emmy, you're having a bad hair day." Followed by some exclamations about cute kitties. I assumed he was looking at my screne saver on my computer. I came back in the room and he said, "Hey Becca, why don't you have more pictures of me?" I said well I do have a picture of you as my background on my computer. He said, "Yeah, but you have lots of pictures of Nat J and Emmy and not lots of pictures of me." I said, "Okay let's take some." His favorite was this one. He got out all of his favorite stuffed animals and put them on his bed one at a time so that they would be in just the right place. Then we loaded it on my computer and he said that he wanted it to be my background, "Can you do that?" I said, "Sure" and put it as the background. He then said that Nat J and Emmy will probably want their picture back on there, but that he liked it this way.


Here is one of him and his mom. In case you couldn't tell he loves his new bed, thanks Pam!

Just For a Little While

We have been blessed with a guest in our home. Our seven year old nephew is going to stay with us for a little while. We are excited about him coming. We have started our preparations: new room decor that does not have pink flowers, new bathroom toiletries that won't burn the eyes, an evening schedule that might be more for us than him, but most of all prayer that this will be the best place for him even if it is just for a little while.

A Hamburger

As most of you know, I have not had a hamburger in about 10 years. I usually never crave them, but one time a couple of months ago I did have 2 bites of Jonathan's whataburger. I don't know what came over me, I just wanted some really badly. Then I recently discovered ground turkey meat. I have made things like lasagna and tater tot casserole and tonight I made myself a hamburger, or should I say a turkey burger. While I know that it is not exactly the original, it was good. Don't worry, I did make Jonathan a regular burger, I don't make him eat turkey all the time. And it is definitely healthy, it hardly shrank, which resulted in a big burger. Oops.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

Happy birthday to Karen
Happy birthday to Karen
Happy birthday dear Karen
Happy birthday to you!

Karen turned 28 yesterday!!!!

2006

So it is another year. The biggest change for me when a new year starts is writing the checks with the correct year or noticing dates printed with 06. This was an unusual New Years for us. For the 1st time in our 5 years of marriage, Jonathan was off work, but he was still hard at work. We took one our friends from church with us and we headed down to Austin. First stop was my mom's house where a music teacher and an airplane mechanic became electricians and plumbers. My mom got a garbage disposal for Christmas about 3 years ago and she always talks about how it would be nice to have it in. Jonathan said that he wouldn't mind putting it in, but he was unsure about the electrical side of things since it would involve wiring with the dishwasher. But somehow, armed with his friend Tim (the music teacher), he had a new confidence in his abilities.

Mom decided to go ahead and get a new sink because hers was really old and she might as well get it all done. So they set off on their project and there seemed to be many obstacles along the way, but after learning how to wire the dishwasher, install a switch, sauter a new pipe to the old one (which was leaking) and make a sink fit in a hole that was too big for it, the sink and garbage disposal are working!

Then the next day they headed over to Jonathan's dad's house to put a floor in their attic. That of course had its own obstacles, Tim made a nice skylight in Chris's closet and Chris didn't even know that he always wanted a skylight in his closet. They got about half of it done and will probably go back another weekend to finish the job.

Tomorrow is back to the grind at work, but I am going to enjoy my day off today! I might lay around and think of some resolutions that I should make, or I might just resolve to take naps all day, we'll see what my inspiration is. But I wish a happy and blessed year to all of my friends and family!

The Ancient Fertility Monkeys

About 3 years ago at our cousin's wedding (Kori and Steve), a gift was given by our other cousin (Jama). The gift was the most beautiful ancient fertility monkeys. As Kori opened this beautiful gift, she read the note that went along with them. It said that these fertility monkeys were being sold by a missionary at ACU to help him raise funds for his mission work in Africa. They were pagan idols that would aide in fertility process. As Kori opened these monkeys, she was speechless because they were so "beautiful."

Well Kori wanted to share the wealth of these fertility monkeys so she gave them to her sister for her birthday. Well Becki (Kori's sister) didn't want to keep them for herself either so she brought them to our family white elephant exchange. And Shara (who helped Jama pick them out) ended up with this beautiful gift. Again, the monkeys traveled afar to share their fertility power as they ended up on the other side of the Tome family at the white elephant exchange, and guess who opened them? Jama!

Update: The monkeys were actually bought at Big Lots for around $10 and so far no missionary has used Pagan idols to raise funds. There have been no babies created and the moral of the story is, if you give someone a very ugly gift, be careful because they might give it back to you!

5 YEARS

Sunday was our 5 year anniversary. It is hard to believe that it has already been five years. We went down to Austin and got a room at the same hotel that we stayed in when we got married. The room looked very similar to the original, but we couldn't remember the original room number. We got to the hotel about 4 from being with the fam and then got ready and went out to dinner. We went to Pappasidos and it was very, very good. It was a special occasion so we even ordered dessert. We forgot to take our wedding video with us (we usually watch it every year), plus it is on an ancient VCR tape and I didn't see a player there. We will have to get Scott to transfer it over to DVD for us. We are very thankful for our 5 years together and we are looking forward to many more to come.

The Man Room

Jonathan has not felt settled in our new house. I know that part of it still just hasn't set in that we get to live here, but he is also a little frustrated because he has not been able to use his "man room." For those of you who don't know, a man has two primary places in the house-the living room and the garage. Our garage has kind of served as our junk room these past two months and we finally got to clean it up a little this weekend. We of course still have a lot to do, but it is looking better.

Jonathan finally got to set up his tool cabinet. And it is very organized. I asked him if he was planning on keeping it this way and he said "Of course!" So I told him that I probably shouldn't use it that much. I did get a key from him and he thought that was a little unfair, but what if I need a hammer or something?

Christmas Tree dilemma

Since we stayed home this year, we actually got our Christmas decorations up over the Thanksgiving break. It was fun, I think that this is the first time that Jonathan has been home to help me (I usually do it while he is at work). We discovered that we have lots of little Christmas knick nacks (I don't know how to spell that word) that we put on our mantle and in our living room.

We bought a Christmas tree two years ago. It is about 6 feet tall and it looked perfect in our little apartment that we had. Well now it looks very small in our living room here. I guess that is a good problem to have and I think that it will just have to be small for a while. I let Jonathan put the lights on the tree because he is a perfectionist about that kind of stuff and I knew that if I put them on there, he would just redo them anyway. We do need a tree skirt now, so that is on my list for next year!

I have started singing Christmas songs with my kids at school and that really gets me in the spirit! One of my favorite little songs that I sing is called Jacky Jack Frost. The lyrics are

Little Jacky Jack Frost bites my nose,
Little Jacky Jack Frost stings my toes,
Little Jacky Jack Frost climbs the trees,
Little Jacky Jack Frost paints the leaves.

I try to always explain the lyrics to my kids when we sing songs, but that one is a doozy. Try explaining to Pk and 1st graders who have only every lived in Texas what frost and icicles are.

Oh on a good note. You know there is always a debate about Christmas celebration at school? Well I can sing Christmas songs because they are printed in our textbooks and the books were approved by the state. Isn't that awesome?

Thanksgiving

We had a great Thanksgiving. Ruth Ann and Chris and their fam came and spent the night on Wednesday. We had fun as Ruth Ann gave a pedicure to my mom, we watched a movie, and we all went to Wal-Mart in our slippers. Its always fun to have people come and stay with you. It was really fun to have a house too, there were places for everyone to sleep!

Then on Thursday we all got up, ate breakfast and started the cooking process. We had cooked a couple of things the night before, but we hadn't started until about 9:00, so we didn't get a whole lot done. Mom had come up to help cook. Since Thanksgiving was at my house, I felt like I needed to cook the turkey and stuff, but I needed my Mom's help. So she was in charge and Ruth Ann and I were her assistants.

We had a 22 pound turkey! Here is a picture.


In total we had 17 people at our house and we had a lot of fun. Quentin got to come up and I haven't seen him in a couple of months, so we enjoyed seeing him. My Aunt and Uncle came up too! Here is a picture of them.


I got to play my flute with my nieces, Kimmie plays the violin, Brittney and Marjorie play the flute too. We had fun making music together. The little ones got a little board watching footballl and watching us cook, so we put a movie on for them. Here is an adorable picture of them.


Overall, we had a great time and I am so thankful for my family. Karen and Scott, we missed you, but we know that you had a lot of fun!

Scott

Scott let us ride in his car, it was cool. Now I understand why Jonathan always wants a sports car. When we took off from a stop, my head was actually knocked back. Scott gave us the feel of a real sports car experience. We had a blast with Karen and Scott, here is a good picture of them (I even made Scott smile).

Smores

Then we made smores and Karen was druling over them!

The Worlds largest air mattress

After visiting our friends, we went shopping all day with Karen and Scott. We went to boy stores and we got to go to the world's largets Bed, Bath and Beyond. Then we stayed at Scott's apartment because it was a little bigger than Karen's. We were exhausted from shopping and ready for some rest. Scott went out and bought the world's largest air mattress, here is a picture of it and my reaction.

Fun Weekend

We got to go to Dallas this weekend to visit Karen and Scott. It is my birthday this Saturday so Jonathan and I had an early celebration and went to Medeival Times for dinner on Thursday night. It was really cool they had sword fighting, jousting, horse dancing and really good food. There was no silverware, so we had to eat with our hands-that was messy.

We had some time to kill before the show because Karen was still at work and we got almost all of our Christmas present bought, go Target!

Friday we got to sleep late, see a dollar movie and visit some computer stores that we don't have in Temple. Then when Karen and Scott got off work, we went out to dinner and rented a movie.

Saturday we got up early and went to IHOP to eat with some friends from college. Here is a picture of Julie and Casey and their little daughter, Bailey. As you can see, Bailey loves to have her picture taken.

Perks of Being a Music Teacher

We just had a new textbook adoption for music books. The stakes were very high for Texas and both companies really wanted our business. While I did not get to partake in the voting (there were three music teachers at my school and only 2 votes), the company that I was rooting for got the vote. Their textbook actually has some stuff that I might use. You see the books are in some ways written for people who don't know anything about music, and therefore do not cover the curriculum that I teach. But this book actually has Kodaly stuff in it. I have already used like three lessons from it.

Anyway, back to the perks. On Thursday, my ipod came in! MacMillan/McGraw-HIll bought every teacher an ipod that was in a district that got their books. I'm sure that the cost was included in the price of the textbook in some way, but its still cool. The reason they gave us the ipods is so that we can load all of the CD's onto it and not have to use the CD's anymore. We just search through our ipod when we need a song. It is way cool! I have started loading CD's on their and that is a process. It took me about 2 hours to do one grade level, but I know it will be worth it! Go MacMillan!!!

Fried Chicken

We have lived in our house for about a month now and my parents had not seen it yet. So yesterday they drove up from Austin and we had lunch. My Mom brought her electric skillet and we made fried chicken, mashed potatoes, corn on the cob, and salad. It was wonderful! And I think that I might actually be able to make my Mom's fried chicken now. I did discover that I really do need to get an electric skillet though. That way you can regulate the temperature that the chicken cooks at.

We had a very good visit. We sat around and talked after lunch and we gave them the grand tour. My dad checked out the air conditioner, hot water heater and approved of all of the ceiling fans. He and Jonathan watched some football and did the male bonding and he took a nap on our love seat-the most comfortable couch in the world! Thanks Mom and Dad, it was great to see you again!

Speaking of eating, we got to eat on our new table. It has a leaf in it that tucks away inside when you are not using it. It is called the butterfly design, and it is very handy. Here is a picture of it.


On the table are some roses that Jonathan got me the other day. I got home from work Friday night and they were on the table along with a card. The card was beautiful and said how much he appreciates me. I thought he was so thoughtful, it was very sweet. He started a new schedule at work, he works Monday-Wednesday, open-close. Then he is off for the rest of the week. So I got to spend Thursday and Friday nights with him at home. I was telling Mom, I don't know if he has ever been off on a Friday night since we got married. I feel very blessed to be able to see him on a more regular basis now.

Retreat

Jonathan and I got to go on a retreat this weekend with our young marrieds class at church. It was in a little town about an hour and a half away, but don't ask me what it was called. It was a beautiful facility; they had paintball, volleyball, baseball, paddle boats, and a hay ride. One of the best things about this weekend was that they had cafeteria where we ate all of our meals. We didn't have to clean up, and the food was really good! It was nothing like the places I have always "camped at." But I must warn you so that you are not shocked, that it was not a Church of Christ establishment.

We got there Friday night and played games and talked, most of us went to bed by 11, we are so old. Then Saturday we got up and had about 4 hours of a mini marriage seminar given by the parents of one of our couples in our class. It was very good. We talked about spiritual leadership, roles as husbands and wives, and money. Jonathan and I have declared a war on our debt! They had some good pointers about paying off your debt, and Jonathan and I are going to try to implement them over the next year.

We also got to ride out to the retreat with some of our first friends that we met when we moved here. In fact for a while, they were our only friends. They recently placed membership at our church and it was good to see them again. Here are some pictures from this weekend.

How do you loose a child in your own house?

Sorry it has been so long since I have posted. Lots has happened. Last weekend, I kept Christ and Ruth Ann's little ones, 2 and 3. Jonathan was supposed to be here to help me, but he had to go to his grandfather's farm to help clean up after the hurricane. The kids were very well behaved, I was just exhausted. Wow I gained new perspective because this is the first time that I kept both of them. Go Moms!

Emmy gave me quite a scare on their fist night here. I woke up about 11 and I looked over to check on the kids. They had both fallen asleep in the bed with me. Nathaniel was snoring away, but I didn't see Emmy. I made palates on the floor for them before we went to sleep, so I thought maybe she had gotten up and gone to sleep on her pallet. But I looked there with no luck. I began to look around my room, under the bed, in the closet, no luck. I went into the living room, still no luck. I looked in Jeff's room, I looked in the kitchen. Then I started to panic, "I lost their baby!" then I realized that I had not checked in the office. I opened the door and there she was curled up on the one corner of the fouton that was not covered with boxes. She had to have crawled over a fan that was taken apart and lots of boxes to get there. I grabbed her and hugged her. When I put her back to bed, I made sure to lock the bedroom door so that she could not escape again.

Sleeping Through the Night

For those of you who know me well, you know that I am the biggest scaredy cat. I have never lived by myself except for the couple of days that I lived in our apartment before we got married. So I have never had to sleep at home alone. Well Jonathan closes periodically and it seems to be happening more often lately. He had to close on Sunday night and I wasn't sure how I would do in a new house. I usually try to fall asleep for about an hour, then my mind plays tricks on me and I get really anxious and hot. Then I end up going and laying on the couch and watching TV and dozing until Jonathan gets home. Well I guess I feel completely safe here, I had no trouble falling sleep and I slept all through the night. I think it helps that I have a false sense of safety from our 6 foot fence that surrounds all of the house except for the front windows. So I guess the house is a keeper!

A Sweetheart

Today as I was driving to work, I realized how much I missed Jonathan. No he's not out of town, he sleeps in my bed every night, but I just have not gotten to see him for more than 20 minutes all week. He has been working a lot of hours. Don't get me wrong, the money is good, but I miss him. If he is not closing, he gets home around 10:30 or 11, but I go to bed at or before 10. I get up at 5:45 and am off to work by 6:45, while he gets up for work about 9:30. He did the sweetest thing the other morning. He got up and ate breakfast with me even though he hadn't gotten home from work the night before until like 11:30. What a sweetheart. The way that I knew that I was really missing him...I heard I Will Be There on K-Love. We played that in our wedding and I just started crying. I had to quickly change the station when the song was over, I needed something upbeat. Elementary kids get very worried about you if you are crying! Mix 94.7, a secular station (don't worry I will go down front on Sunday), provided a little rock and roll to get me back on track. I slapped on a smile and greeted all my kids.

What a Weekend

Sorry it has been so long since I have posted, thank you to my loyal readers who actually will look at this even though it has been so long. We closed on our house on Friday! We moved in over the weekend. A group from our church arrived at our apartment on Saturday morning at 7:30 and we totally unloaded and the beds were even put together at our new house by 9:30!

We also got to see Karen this weekend and meet Scott. He was very nice and even laughed at some of my jokes, so of course he is in. He seems really sweet. I hope he realizes that every time he visits, we won't be putting him to so much work.

Poor Jonathan, he has not rearranged the living room about 3 times for me. We finally had to put the piano in the office because we could not fit it and the love seat in our living room. It is kind of a small living room, but don't worry Dad, we are going to get a coffee table for this one.

My bathroom and kitchen are completely unpacked, but I can't say much for any other rooms. I know that it will be a slow process. It is still weird to come home to this house and realize that it belongs to us. I had a renters moment when we moved in. The blinds in one of the bedrooms got bent by a mattress and I looked at it and said to myself, "We better fix those or we will be charged." Then I quickly realized that the blinds belong to us! God has really blessed our lives with this house and we hope that we can find a way to use it for him. Or hopefully we can find many ways!