Meme

Edit: I just realized I screwed up the first question. I went back 14 years, not 10! Please reread the answer to this question.

I've been meme'd by Des! The rules of the game get posted at the beginning. Each player answers the questions about themselves. At the end of the post, the player then tags 5 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know they’ve been tagged and asking them to read your blog. Let the person who tagged you know when you’ve posted your answer.

What was I doing 10 years ago?
I had just graduated from college (not high school!) and was looking for a job. I was working at a church daycare part-time when I received a call from the principle from the school at which I was accepted to teach elementary music. I was also becoming more active in the young adult class at church since I was officially an adult in the "real world".

What are 5 things on my to-do list for today?
Touch-up mop in the kitchen and mop the master bathroom
Sweep and vacuum the house
Wal-Mart (just got back)
Clean out the tub where Joshua dropped a mason jar of potpourri while I was taking a shower this morning (yes, it broke)
Take the kids for a walk in the wagon this evening with Darrin

3 Snacks I enjoy:
Fruit
Chocolate & peanut butter
Crackers & cookies

4 Things I would do if I were a billionaire:
Give to the church
Give to charities
Build our dream home
Buy a car for Darrin to drive to work since gas is so expensive

5 Places I have lived:
Knoxville, TN
Chattanooga, TN
Jefferson City, TN
Ooltewah, TN
Nowhere else

6 Jobs I have had:
Babysitter
Cashier at Proffitt’s
Daycare worker
Music teacher
Mom
Nothing else

People I want to know more about:
Ellen
Jennifer J.
Jennifer H.
Michelle
Laura

New Words

Both the kids have been saying new things. Joshua's words are generally hard to decipher, but as parents Darrin and I have been able to figure out some of them. A few weeks ago I put Joshua in his high chair for breakfast. I pulled out a cereal bar and asked him, "Do you want a cereal bar?" Joshua replied with a 3-syllable sound then 'bar'. It sounded just like he was saying 'cereal bar'. He is also attempting to say Rebekah's name on occasion, and he is saying 'Daddy' very clearly this week. No 'dada' anymore. He also says 'up' when he wants to get out of his high chair.

Rebekah has also said a couple of cute things that have made us laugh or that are showing her growing mind. The other day she climbed up on top of Joshua's changing station and stood up then declared, "I'm a giant." Yesterday she was playing with her Little People set. She had the house set up with the different characters. A few of her characters are identical or are the same characters but look slightly different because they have come with various sets. She had 2 matching mommies, one of which she said was daddy, so I had to correct that. I found the daddy who has glasses. Darrin wears his glasses before bed, so she figured that since the LP daddy had on glasses he must be going to bed. Rebekah pulled out several of her characters and said they were Maggie and Mrs. LeeAnne, then she had to find a man (who managed to be a farmer) to be Mr. Bobby. Then she had two more girls who were Heidi and Mrs. Jessica. She found another farmer to be Mr. Brett. Of course, none of these characters would look anything like these friends of ours, but it was cute, and she tried to cram them all in the pink minivan which Rebekah said was our Honda Pilot. It was really cute watching her play.

Today Rebekah did and said another thing which I find so funny, although it's a trait that many children learn young that probably isn't such a good thing. This is not the first time she's done it, but Darrin and I found it particularly funny today. Rebekah has a new friend that we met about a month ago. Emmy lives up the street from us and is exactly one week younger than Rebekah. They have hit it off very quickly although they've only gotten together a couple times for a short period of time each visit. Emmy learned about friendship in church Sunday, and she put a bag of goodies together including fun sweet things like cookies, candy, and bubble gum, as well as crackers, a pencil, and other fun things for a preschooler. Emmy wanted to give her goodie bag to Rebekah. I had told Rebekah that when she got home from preschool today that she could have a piece of candy from her bag. That all changed this afternoon when Rebekah woke up Joshua in the car and kept making noise to keep him from sleeping on the way home from preschool. All afternoon and evening Rebekah would ask me if she could have a piece of candy. Each time I reminded her no. Of course, when Mommy says no what happens? She asks Daddy! Darrin asked her, "What did Mommy say?" Rebekah replied, "Mommy said 'no'." Then a moment later Rebekah told him, "Mommy said 'no', but you can say 'YES!'" with a huge grin on her face. The little stinker! And no, Darrin didn't give in, but I'm sure it was hard.

Mother/Daughter Date

So much of my time is put into Joshua and his needs that I don't get much time to just enjoy Rebekah and hang out with her. Many times Rebekah's actions indicate some level of jealousy, although she also adores her little brother very much. I decided it was time to have a date with my daughter and to give her some undivided attention.

Yesterday ToysRUs was having a Thomas & Friends playdate, so Darrin kept Joshua at home while I took Rebekah out for the day. We arrived ToysRUs in time to hear a story then Rebekah spent quite a bit of time playing with the train table and Thomas & Friends engines. She was so patient as she waited for other children to move their trains out of her way. In fact, she was so patient that I even encouraged her just to walk around a child because he was not moving anywhere.

One little boy who was playing was grabbing engines from other children, including Rebekah, and although the mom continued to harp on him then force the stolen toys out of his hands and made threats to leave the store and go home, she would give the child multiple chances, distract him to another area of the Thomas section or even the store, but never followed through on her threats. No wonder he pitched so many fits!

Rebekah played with the train table for a good while then decided to color a Thomas & Friends coloring sheet. Finally we decided to walk around the store a bit then head out for lunch. Don't you know who was leaving in the parking lot when we were? That mom and her boy! They were at ToysRUs long before we were, and the little boy was still throwing fits in the parking lot. I know I've failed as a mom many times and have learned through experience that you have to be consistent with your kids. I was so proud of Rebekah and her behavior at TRU. She was so polite, and she really had a nice time.

After leaving the Thomas playdate we headed over to Chick-fil-A for lunch. I had to keep encouraging Rebekah to eat because after one chicken nugget she told me she was finished and wanted to play on the indoor playground. After she ate she spent quite a while playing, climbing, and sliding. Rebekah looked tired after playing for about an hour, but she wanted to continue our day out together. We then headed over to the mall where we did some shopping and finally to Wal-Mart to do my weekly grocery shopping. After all that we returned home. I asked her before bed what her favorite thing of the day that we did was. Was it the Thomas playdate? Or was it Chick-fil-A? No, it was Wal-Mart!

Wedding Music

Here are the 3 songs that were sung during the ceremony. I had hoped to share the pre-ceremony music as well for those of you who enjoy string music, but it did not upload properly, but I hope you enjoy these songs. The sound quality isn't very great, but you get the idea.

This first song was sung by my sister Carrie and a college friend Josh. It is called "Father, We Commit to You".



After the vows I surprised Darrin by singing "I Will Be Here".



While Darrin and I took communion and lit the unity candle Carrie sang "How Beautiful".

Seven Years Ago

Today marks the anniversary Darrin and I were married seven years ago. It's hard to believe it has been seven years already!

Please excuse the quality of these pics. I was unable to scan them to our computer, so I took pictures of pictures in our album.








I've been having fun going back and watching the video of our wedding as well. In fact, Rebekah has enjoyed it too. One of the most memorable moments in our wedding was when I sang "I Will Be Here" to Darrin. He had no clue I was going to sing to him. It was really special. My sister Carrie also sang in the wedding in addition to being my maid of honor. We had a lot of music in our wedding. Surprise, surprise! A string quintet played much of the pre-ceremony music, and one of my friends, Ann Katherine, played the piano. Another college friend, Josh, sang a duet with Carrie and also played the piano during part of the reception. All the music was so beautiful!

I'm in the process of getting some video online of the pre-ceremony music as well as the ceremony itself. Once it is up I will share.

Happy Anniversary, my love! I'm so happy to be sharing my life with you! You are a wonderful husband and father, and I'm so proud to be your wife! I hope we have many, many more years together.

Anniversary Getaway

Darrin and I just got back from celebrating our anniversary. Monday, June 23 marks seven years since we were wed. Darrin is heading out Monday morning on business to Phoenix, so we celebrated a little early this year. Last night we went to our favorite B&B Whitestone Inn. It is located in Kingston, TN, about an hour and a half from our house, but not too far from Knoxville either. This was our 8th time visiting the Inn and our 5th time in the Hummingbird Suite.

Whitestone is Christian owned and the name is based on the Scripture from Revelation 2:17, "To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth." Paul and Jean Cowell are the owners. While we have never met Jean, Paul has been such a gracious host. In the past he took care of some problems we experienced, and he made sure that did not happen again. He always remembers us when we visit and makes a point to speak to each of his guests. Paul and Jean have a special ministry to pastors, ministers, and missionaries in that he discounts their rooms when they stay during the week. Being a pastor himself he gives sermons on Sunday mornings in the chapel there on the grounds and does weddings as well.

Upon arrival Friday afternoon we checked in and were greeted with homemade cookies, then I received a one-hour full body massage from Donna. It was so relaxing! What a great way to kick off the weekend! Darrin unloaded our luggage into the room while I got my massage. The massage therapy room was located just off from the entertainment lounge in the basement of the farmhouse, and the Humminbird Suite was off to the side from the lounge as well, and as I entered the door of our suite soft music filled the room and I found a bouquet of roses from Darrin on the chest of drawers!

From our room we had a beautiful view of the grounds, Watts Bar Lake, a small pond, the Lion and the Lamb building, and the chapel. Everything was just gorgeous!

After a shower we enjoyed a delicious and elegant 4-course gourmet dinner while overlooking the grounds from all the windows on the back of the farmhouse. For entertainment we listened to music played by a guitar and violin duo. It was lovely. For dinner we started with a flaky pastry with brie cheese inside and a strawberry sauce around it as an appetizer. Next was a spring mix salad then bread sticks flavored with garlic and other seasonings. The main dish was a choice of chicken, tuna, or steak. Darrin and I had the steak, called tournedos. It was topped with some sort of cheese I had never heard of. The sides were seasoned carrots and some sort of fried patty of a potato mixture that was delicious. For dessert Darrin had the Whitestone pie and I had chocolate cheesecake. Everything was so yummy! It was so nice to have an hour and a half or so to enjoy a delicious meal and to not be interrupted by a 3-year-old who wants to talk to us non-stop or to deal with a 16-month-old who needs us to meet his every need.

After dinner Darrin and I took a little walk on the grounds in the cool air. Yes, it was actually cool! I guess since it's in the mountains some it's cooler than at home, plus it had drizzled just a little while we ate dinner. It was really nice for a walk yesterday evening. We then returned to our room for the night.

This morning it was cloudy, but it was very pleasant out. And you know what? I didn't have anyone pulling on me for attention while I got ready. Darrin and I woke up so refreshed. The only negative thing was that I had the urge to nurse Joshua because I felt so full. Other than that I could have stayed at Whitestone all day! We enjoyed a delicious spread for breakfast - scrambled eggs (some with ham and cheese and some plain), waffles, bacon, ham, biscuits and gravy, and there was also cereal, muffins, and pastries.

After nearly 24 hours away from home Darrin and I felt ready to come back home to see the kids. Rebekah was so ecstatic to see us, and Joshua woke from a nap when we arrived home. Thank goodness he nursed right away! The kids have been hanging on us both this afternoon. They missed us and we did them, but it was so nice to have a kid-free night away to celebrate our 7th wedding anniversary.

Father's Day Weekend

Recently my Grandma was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease and Louis Body Dimentia. She has her bad days and her good days, and some days she is more coherent than others. I have been wanting to visit while she is able to recognize me and enjoy our family, and we finally got to go on Saturday.

I was not exactly sure what I would find when I saw Grandma. My parents had been filling me in on what to expect, but it's still hard to really know until you are there. Pleasantly, Grandma looked better than I was expecting. She was laying on the couch when we arrived. She needs assistance transitioning from one seat to another and to get in and out of bed, and she is unable to walk, so she uses a wheelchair to get around.

Grandma was quite coherent during our visit, so we were able to have good conversation with her, and she was able to enjoy the children. Rebekah sat in Grandma's lap for several minutes, which is nearly unheard of for her. She is not one to sit still for long unless she is tired, but Rebekah seemed to understand that Grandma needed her, and she cooperated for a few pics.

Rebekah found Grandpa's hat and immediately put it on. She is such a hat fanatic!


I managed to get Joshua interested in standing next to Grandpa, and he sat in Grandpa's lap briefly while playing with a car.



Rebekah asked my dad for a ride in Grandma's wheelchair.


On Sunday we spent Father's Day morning at church then we picked up ribs from Sticky Fingers and took it home to eat. Joshua always falls asleep on the way home from church, so we felt it would be best not to eat out for lunch. We gave Darrin his gifts, and he spent the late afternoon figuring out how to play his new bass fishing game for the Wii. We had a nice restful Sunday afternoon as a family.

And finally, here are a couple cute pics of the kids from last week.