Kicked out--again!

We have officially been kicked out of another babysitter...not because of Elizabeth's behavior (although sometimes I wonder how that hasn't been the case yet!), but because our current babysitter is pregnant. Our last babysitter got pregnant and had to drop us and now this one is pregnant and is dropping us. And all this has happened THIS semester!! Crazy. Luckily, we have found another one here in Gatesville. This woman has FIVE kids of her own. We're going to meet them this afternoon when Elizabeth wakes up from her nap.

This whole process has been a bit stressful. Mostly, I worry about Elizabeth moving from place to place and having to adjust to all these people she doesn't know and us having to adjust to them when we don't know them very well either. It's like we have to put all this trust into people only on the basis of recommendations and knowing that they're Christians. This is one worry I wouldn't have if I were staying home with her, which makes me feel all the more guilty for working. I know that kids are adaptable and that it's good for her to play with other kids (I mean it's only 2 days a week!) when both of us have full time jobs. Amazing, when you think about it. But I'm ready for things to be more stable for her. Hopefully, we can use this new person for a litle longer than the last one! And hopefully she won't get pregnant!

Let's give it to him!

This horrific event at Virginia Tech has deeply affected me. Perhaps it's because I, too, work at a university and know what a university atmosphere is like. The vibrancy and energy is contagious and makes college campuses such great places to be. And the relationships that I have with my students is so special and unique. How could someone have threatened that? Frankly, I'm quite angry at the killer (who you will note happened to be an English major). Of course, I am asking all the "why?" questions, but more than that I saddened that someone would do that to other people. I've heard and read a lot about this incident and noticed that all these people are calling in to radio shows and asking who's to blame. I've heard the incident blamed on the lack of prayer in school or taking God out of the classroom. I've also heard it blamed on the influences of video games and violent TV and movies. And, of course, I've heard the arguments against guns and having more gun control. In my mind, it didn't happen because of any of these reasons. This guy did not choose to do this because of the decaying American society and our values or because he was able to buy a gun or because he wasn't forced to listen to a prayer in school. All I keep thinking (and crying about and screaming out loud about and hurtin about) is that this guy needed the Lord. He needed the Lord! And we as Christians (me as a Christian) would do well to remember as we go about our days that people need the LORD!

People need the LORD! So, let's give Him to them.

National Sibling Day: Ode to Kim, Kurt, and Kellee

In honor of "National Sibling Day" (at least in 27 states, but why not celebrate anyway?!!), I wanted to tell my siblings (and you, dear reader) how much I love, appreciate, and admire them (and their spouses, too, of course!) for all that they are and all that they mean to me, together and individually. There are four of us:
Kim
Kara
Kurt
Kellee
Four kids that all begin with the letter "K."
Within 6 years of each other.
Siblings and Friends.
We had a lot of fun together since we always had people to play with. They made my growing up years so wonderful. I remember a lot of happiness because of them.
Here are the three of us. In this picture, Kim is 3; I am 2; and Kurt is about 6 months. I guess Mom liked red (and having kids!!)!

Aren't we adorable?!! Kim and I used to gang up on Kurt when he was little. There's even some footage of us dropping him on his head. We stopped that when he got a little older (and a lot bigger!). I'm in the middle in this one; Kim's on the right.

Here we are again. I'm on the left. Kurt is in the middle. Kim is on the right. I think Kellee must have been in Mom's belly! The three of us were really blonde when we were little; sometimes I wish I still were!! The (in)famous "Vote for My Daddy" picture.

Kellee's born! I love the bonnet! I was looking through some of my parent's pictures when I was home recently and found several shots from this same day. We took this at a local park near our swimming pool. Though this one became famous, it's funny to see all the other shots in which either Kurt or Kim were holding Kellee. I remember that I felt so "lucky" to be able to hold Kellee in that picture. I guess it was because she was such a cute little kid (and we shared a room!). I love this picture of us fishing. It characterizes our personalities so much:

Kurt is intent on catching a fish. He is patient and will wait, and wait, and wait. And he expects others to do the same.

I'm serious about fishing. I want to catch a fish to show everyone that I have caught a fish. But I don't just wait like Kurt does. I roll in the bait and toss it out again and again because I get bored just waiting. I want there to be ACTION!

Kim is participating (her reel is in the water) and being a good sport, but she's looking around wondering how long we will have to stay out here and fish.

Kellee is a good sport, too. She wants to do what all her big siblings are doing, but she's also playful and fun. Kim and I loved to play together growing up. Anytime we were out, people always asked us if we were twins. I always liked that!One of the several pictures we took at ACU. This one is in front of the administration building. Check out my knickers!!This picture was taken at Disney World (as you can see!). What's missing from the picture?!! Kellee. She was too young to take on the trip so my parents left her at home with some church friends. Now, having a toddler, I can somewhat understand why they didn't bring her, but I never understood back then. Poor Kellee! This picture is taken in our backyard. Because there were so many of us, we could play sports. We'd divide into teams of 3 and play baseball or kickball or board games. Many of my memories involve us doing things like this together. Swim Team.
What can I say? We were on swim team for a LONG time. We liked it a lot at first, and all of us were pretty good, but it got old as we got older. I think Kellee was 3 years old when she first started swimming. Wow!The lovely church directory picture. I was a sophomore in high school at the time. Can you tell this is the early 90s?!!Here's a picture when we were home from Christmas. This picture cracks me up. We are all so RED!! This picture was taken in Cancun. We had a great time there, too!

Kellee, Me, and Kim in Breckenridge, Colorado (2000).
"Sisters by birth; friends by choice."

I LOVE my siblings! May we have many more happy years together.

Kim: thanks for your leadership and example, your forgiveness and love, and your happy and fun approach to life.
Kurt: thanks for being such a sweet, humble person, someone who is liked and admired by all. Thanks also for your wit and your strength.
Kellee: thanks for your sweet, caring heart, your sensitive spirit, and the example you are to all of us "older" siblings.

I love each of you!

Crazy Texas Weather

Two days ago Elizabeth went swimming in her swimming pool. She had a great time. I wouldn't have gotten near the water because it was still a little frigid, yet her interest in the "wawe" (water), the "poo" (pool), and "swamming" (swimming) overrode any discomfort she might have felt. Here are a few pics from that day. Notice our green grass! (Too bad we all know THIS won't last long!)

And today the weather has dramatically altered......it is now......SNOWING! Amazing.

Shane is performing a wedding ceremony tonight, and the bride and groom will have quite a story to tell about how it snowed on their wedding day...IN APRIL!!

Good Friday Reflections

I always love Easter weekend. It's a time to reflect about Jesus' life, death, and life again, knowing that many others around the world are doing the same. Growing up, I didn't spend much time thinking about Easter (the death and resurrection of Jesus), although I did attend a sunrise service once in high school. I was more interested in the Easter egg hunt, hoping I would be the one to find the Golden Egg this year, the colorful Sunday dresses, and the lovely, and BIG, church hats. I enjoy Easter; it means a lot of things to me--bluebonnets, candy, parks, egg hunts, green, memories, family, love, sacrifice, death and resurrection.

I was going to take Elizabeth to Waco for an egg hunt today, but I've changed my mind. Not only is it a little chilly, but it's also Good Friday, and I don't know if I want to engage in that type of celebrating today. Maybe tomorrow, but not today. Have you ever wondered why they call it "Good Friday"? I'm not really sure. Did the people who put Jesus to death come up with that name? (If any of you know the origin to this name, I would love to hear about it.) I wish our church had a Good Friday service (although I'm not sure what many of our members would think about that--who knows? Maybe they would like it. They often surprise us.). I would like to attend one tonight. Maybe I will. When we were living in Kentucky, Shane and I attended a Good Friday service at a Catholic church. While there were some aspects of the service that were a little strange to me (kissing the cross, for instance), I really enjoyed the quiet, reflective service. There wasn't much rejoicing and celebrating going on, only serene contemplation over the death of Jesus, one that occurred on a Friday so long ago. The story of the death of Jesus was read, and we all left with our heads bowed. There was no talk of resurrection or life; I wondered what it must have been like to be a follower of Jesus during that time. How SAD these people must have been. Perhaps they were angry at the injustice. Or maybe they even questioned God and asked "Why?".

I hope that today we will all spend some time reflecting on Jesus' death: what it meant then, what it means now, what that day felt like for the followers of Jesus, and what it feels like for today's followers of Jesus. Perhaps reflecting on Jesus' death allows us to learn more about him...about God...and about ourselves.

Disciplining Elizabeth: Oh, what to do?

If I could characterize Elizabeth right now, I would say that she's sweet, chatty, talkative, endearing, adorable, funny, and independent, but if I had to think of one dominant trait right now (and I'm sure for a long time to come), it would be STRONG-WILLED. This child does NOT like to be told, "no"; she doesn't want you to show her how to do something; and she refuses to obey. I don't want to be on her case all the time, and neither does Shane, but I've heard that "consistency is key," which I take to mean, "Don't let up. If she does something wrong, discipline her." Well, this may seem good in theory, but in practice it means that we're disciplining her every second of her waking day.

Here are just a few things she does:
* Hits me across the face, after which I tell her in a firm voice that we don't hit mommy.
* Hoists herself onto a kitchen table chair and then from there up ONTO the kitchen table. Crawls around. Stands up. Walks around. Almost falls off. Does the same thing with beds, counters, toilets, bathtubs, and anything else that she can climb. I hope this child doesn't hurt herself with all her monkey business!!
* Gets into the drawer where I keep all the kitchen knives. Now we have safety latches on the doors, but it was really scary for a bit.
* Gets up on my treadmill that she KNOWS not to get on--because she could really hurt herself--in lots of ways.
* Runs away from us when we go outside (we don't have a fence--hey, we live in the country!!). If we're in the front yard, she wants to be in the back; if we're in the back yard, she wants to be in the front.
* Doesn't listen AT ALL. NEVER. As she sits in timeout, she says, "Me obey, Momma," but then she doesn't. She also says, "I awy (sorry), Momma," and she does it again.

I just don't know what to do. She is so strong-willed, fiercely independent, has to get her way or else she throws a fit, absolutely HATES to be told "no," and sometimes doesn't seem to like me very much. I feel sad about having to be so hard on her, and I'm kinda at a loss as to what to do. I'd love to hear some advice from anybody about what forms of discipline works for you (especially with a stubborn child like Elizabeth). I never wanted to spank, but I'm told over and over that it's the ONLY thing that works. I've done it; I admit. Does that make me a bad parent? Sometimes I think so. And I feel guilty for doing it, too. And I also understand why she hits me...in her eyes, I've "hit" her (even though it was a "spanking")--she doesn't know the difference. I feel a little defeated right now. I sure do pray for her and KNOW that God has made this beautiful child and that she is very special. I just want to do right by her.

Salute to teachers and a mention of me

My dad publishes a weekly column in the local paper where he lives. Recently, he paid homage to teachers by telling some of my story. If you aren't aware of some of the difficulties I had with speaking or if you are just interested in hearing what he had to say about me, click here for the full story.

I've been told that the above link has expired; maybe this one will be more permanent:
http://www.region10.org/StrategicCommunication/EducatorRole.html