I Love You!

Those words melt me, and it is so sweet when it comes from my children. Joshua is now learning to say these words to me, and I LOVE it! He has been saying something a lot that sounds like "I know". Well, the other day I looked at him and told him, "I love you" and he responded, "I know-oo." Too cute!!! He's been trying to say it every once in a while since. Sometimes it still comes out "I know", but I really know what he's trying to say. ;-)

Rebekah has been super sweet lately. She is always asking me to hold her, and she has been extremely cuddly. She makes this little dog whimper when she's happy and content. It's really precious!

Bathtime!

The kids were having such a blast in the tub last night that I had to grab the camera and take some snapshots.

Preschool Fall Harvest Party

Today in lieu of a Halloween party Rebekah's preschool class had a fall harvest party. The kids could come dressed as farmers. This week they've been making and learning things that pertain to farms. The children had a fall themed lunch. Joshua snatched a couple apple slices in the process. One of the moms read The Sunflower Parable after they ate then they made a fall craft.

Here are some pictures from the party. My little farmer girl eating her lunch.


Ben also had on a John Deere hat. How ironic is that?


I picked up some matching overalls for Joshua and let him dress as a farmer as well.



Joshua started flirting with one little girl in Rebekah's class. He had this cute little smirk on his face and was trying to give her a kiss. What a little schmoozer! Joshua threw his hands up in the air right when I snapped this pic.


Rebekah makes her fall placemat.


While Rebekah was working on her craft I let Joshua play with the toy kitchen in the back of the classroom so that I could put my attention on Rebekah. Sometime in the midst of taking pics and helping her Joshua snuck behind me and walked right out the classroom door and started roaming the halls! I didn't even notice he was gone until a couple of staff members brought him to the door! My eyes popped wide open. The boy had been smiling and carrying on a conversation with whomever would listen. Everyone thought he was the cutest thing. Thankfully he was completely safe!

In God We Still Trust

I received an email with an attachment of Diamond Rio's "In God We Still Trust". How timely with the election just around the corner. I'm not normally a fan of country music, but this song has a great message that our nation as a whole needs to turn back to the Lord.

Be sure to scroll down the page to turn off the tunes player.

Come What May

Advent Films has put out a film called "Come What May". It is a strong Christian movie about students standing up for what is right. The movie's main focus is about law students presenting a case to overturn Roe v. Wade, but other elements of dating and faithfulness are presented in addition to abortion.

The amazing thing about this movie is that it is the first film produced by a group of 40 homeschooled students mentored by a few professionals. It is an extremely well-made movie in light of this, and it is free for the viewing for a limited time.

Halloween or Fall Fun?

As the end of October nears fall activities become prevalent, particularly surrounding Halloween. Many of these activities provide opportunities for families to get out and enjoy each other and make memories.

Most recently we have attended Boo in the Zoo and our playgroup party where the kids can dress in their costumes, look cute for pictures, and play together. We will also be attending our church's fall festival on Halloween evening as an alternative to trick-or-treating.

Saturday evening we took Joshua to my parents' on our way to Boo in the Zoo since he wasn't feeling his best. Before heading out we got a family pic because we are dressing as Goldilocks and the 3 Bears for the fall festival.

While at Boo in the Zoo Rebekah enjoyed the different activities for the children. One of her favorites was the inflatable slide.


Riding a pony...a piece of cake after having ridden a horse earlier in the week. Rebekah felt so comfortable on there, like she was an old pro at it.


Thursday was our playgroup party. Rebekah trying to whack the pumpkin pinata.


Playing "Pin the Nose on the Pumpkin"


The kids all dressed up.


The thing that I've been wrestling with is where to draw the line between what is celebrating Halloween and what is just fall fun. Growing up we avoided anything that had to do with Halloween because of the Satanic elements related with the holiday. While hoping to pass these values on to my children by teaching them we don't celebrate Halloween and participating in more fall functions and Halloween alternatives I've also lost sight of what I desired to teach. Out of my mouth I told Rebekah that we don't celebrate Halloween, yet we were attending functions which represent the holiday. These activities are not bad in and of themselves. In fact, they were are family focused and allow lots of clean fun, but I realized that I was confusing Rebekah in the midst. I was not living out what I was trying to teach her. While at Boo in the Zoo there were a few decorations that were clearly Halloween themed with bats, ghosts, and haunted houses. As we walked through the zoo Rebekah said with a spring in her step in a sing-songy voice, "Halloween! Halloween!" I realized then that I was telling her one thing while acting out another. What a confusing message she was receiving! So, for the playgroup party I told Rebekah that we were attending a fall/costume party, although our friends labeled it as a "Halloween party".

Most recently, I read a post from Melissa's blog that reminded me much of what I learned growing up about Halloween. That jack-o'lanterns and scary costumes were to scare evil spirits away and that much of what Halloween is about concerns the spirits of the dead and evil practices. This post struck home with me because I have not lived out what I wanted to teach the kids.

While I am confident that the fall festival is a great alternative to celebrating Halloween (it is a costumed event for families held on the evening of Halloween and is an opportunity to present the Gospel) I struggle with other activities that celebrate the occasion. This is not to say that I believe others are wrong to participate in such events, but this is an area where Darrin and I will need to put into prayer about what activities we will participate in the future. Are we willing to sacrifice some fun family things if they contradict what we are trying to teach?

Fireproof

Darrin and I finally got to go see "Fireproof" last night. What a powerful movie! You can see God's hand is all over this film. He is already doing amazing things in the lives of people, bringing them to Christ, working in their marriages, and drawing them closer to Himself.

While watching the movie I laughed, I cried, and everything in between. Sherwood continues to improve with each film, and I'm so thankful for their faithfulness to produce godly movies with an uplifting message that glorifies the Lord. Our need for Christ is laid out so clearly, not only for our marriages, but for our lives.

If you haven't seen "Fireproof" I highly recommend it. It may change your life.

Yee-Haw!!!

Tuesday Rebekah took her first real field trip with her preschool class. They went to the Mystery Dog Ranch. What a fun place it was! Darrin unfortunately could not get off work. He had a number of obligations that day and especially after being off a week for vacation he had to be at the office. My dad joined us, though, and my mom kept Joshua so that I could focus on Rebekah. We had a great time!

All the children dressed like cowboys and cowgirls for the day. I may be biased, but I personally thought Rebekah was the cutest little cowgirl there!



The first thing we did was take a hay ride to a trail where Indians used to hunt. There we looked for an arrowhead to take home.

You can barely see Rebekah with her white cowgirl hat next to my dad.


Horses would come up to us wanting hay off the wagon as we passed by.


Ms. Amy helps Rebekah find an arrowhead.


Rebekah shows off her prized possession.



Up close and fairly personal with the horses on our hay ride back to the ranch.


When we returned the kids, no, the parents made sock horses.


See? It's the parents doing the work while the kids watch!


Ms. Amy glues the eyes and ears on Rebekah's horse.


Giddy-up!


Rebekah poses with Bing and Ben, both of whom are in Rebekah's class at preschool as well as attend our church.


Next Rebekah rode a horse! Yes, a real full grown horse! I wasn't sure if she would actually follow through with it because she has always been very reserved and even a little scared around her Uncle Derek's horses, but she was so brave!


Look at the smiles on her face! She was hesitant at first, but she loved it!



The kids got to take two laps on the horse, so I led one lap then Granddaddy led the 2nd lap. Rebekah had so much fun that they let her take a 3rd lap since the child on the horse in front of us still had one lap to go.



After the kids finished their horseback riding they were free to play until lunch.



Watch out, Uncle Derek and Aunt Robin! You may have a new cowgirl on your hands next time we visit!

Rejection

Remember the days in school when a friend would get mad at another friend and say, "I'm not your friend anymore!"? Evidently, kids can be mean like that even at age four. We went to the mall play area today after doing a bit of shopping. When we arrived we saw one of Rebekah's old friends from preschool where Rebekah attended last year. Rebekah and this friend used to play a lot together, and when Rebekah saw her I encouraged her to go over and say hi. When Rebekah greeted her friend the girl told her she didn't want Rebekah to play with her and her friend. I sat on the bench nearby and heard the friend tell Rebekah that she could not get in the car with them. Rebekah started to cry. I went over to talk to them. Both girls told Rebekah that only they could play together as two friends. I asked Rebekah's old friend if she would be Rebekah's friend and she said no. After trying to coax her to no avail Rebekah began to cry again. I scooped up Rebekah and tried to console her. At that moment I felt like crying too. Those girls had rejected my daughter, my flesh and blood. It absolutely crushed me as much as it hurt Rebekah.

The dad finally came over and asked if the girls did anything to Rebekah. Evidently, this is a problem he is dealing with his daughter concerning other children as well. He tried to amend the situation, but I'm not sure if it helped much. Rebekah ran off to play after a while and later tried to approach the girls again. I don't think they were as rude, but Rebekah never felt like she was included, although she didn't get upset this last time either.

We have never had to deal with this sort of thing before, but I reminded Rebekah that whenever she has friends who treat her this way she can always come to me. I love her so much, and I don't want her to hurt this way. I know it happens; I just never imagined it would happen so soon.

On a happy note, while we were shopping Rebekah spotted a fairy costume that was on sale for 50% off. Rebekah rarely asks for anything and she wanted the costume so bad. She wanted it to play dress-up, so I got it for her. She has been so happy as a fairy this afternoon. She later came to tell me that she needed to eat some "fairy food".

Celebrating a Decade

It's hard to believe that it has been ten years since I graduated from college with my bachelor's degree in music education. I received my BM in May of 1998 from Carson-Newman College after four years of singing or playing an instrument, practicing, practicing, practicing, or studying music from the crack of dawn until 10:00-11:00 at night. Well, maybe it wasn't constant all day, but music was the life, and what a great life it was! I absolutely loved it all!

One of the highlights of my college life was being a part of the A Cappella Choir, directed by Dr. Eric Thorson (a.k.a. "Doc"), during my four years at CNC. (The first three song audio files on this webpage were pieces we did while I was in the choir.) I have many fond memories of the choir including our trip to Austria.

Every year at homecoming the various ensembles from the music department perform a couple of songs for the Music Sampler. Since Joshua was too little to sit still for the performance Darrin took him around for a ride while Rebekah joined me for the concert. She really wanted to come with me to hear the music, and she did really well listening and sitting still for the most part.

Because A Cappella is the mixed choir of the music department they perform last in the Music Sampler. They always begins their concerts with a double chorus piece or a piece that works well with the men and women across the sanctuary from each other before combining in the choir loft.



Once the choir members learn the music well they sit soprano, tenor, alto, bass. I always loved hearing different parts around me when we sang!


At the end of the concert alumn of the choir are welcome to join the present choir on the stage to sing the benediction, "The Lord Bless You and Keep You". This is always a favorite part of mine of the Sampler, to join the rest in singing, as well as to reconnect with friends who sang in the choir with me.

Following the Music Sampler I caught up with a number of friends, many of whom were ACAP alumn. We then headed to where the CNC alumni registration was held, eat some lunch, and find other old friends along the way.

Sarah was a fellow music education major and ACAP alumn.


While I talked with friends Rebekah and Joshua played and walked around, soon to discover the Chick-fil-A cow. Both the kids loved the cow, especially Joshua!

Excuse me, Mr. Cow!



While we were in line to get our lunch the cow walked over to us to visit the kids. After a couple minutes the cow started to walk away, and immediately Joshua started fussing at the cow to come back! This continued a number of times; Joshua did not want the cow to leave! As you can see, Joshua was mesmerized by it!


After lunch we found the tent where the class of 1998 was meeting for our ten-year reunion. It was so much fun seeing old friends again! A number of us gathered for a group picture, although the guys didn't join us.

Left to right: Carrie, Karen, Emily, Julie, me, Jill, Candace, and Jen.


It is amazing how we are all spread out all over the country now after ten years, but it was such a precious time to reconnect with my friends, and I hope to stay in touch with them through the years.