PARTY OVER HERE!

Another New Year's Eve!

One of the things I looked forward to the most about

being married were all those romantic NYEs

we would be spending together.

Fancy dinners.....

Couple's parties with favors and stellar appetizers.....

That movie perfect kiss right at the stroke of midnight.....

Like when Ryan reached Marissa just in time.....

(Sorry, residual flashback from HH's obsession with The O.C.)

Seems I will be welcoming in 2011 hanging out at my mama's house,

in bed probably by ten,

with some MC's foot probably in my back,

while HH and the other MC rest up for the last weekend of hunting.

I wouldn't trade that for all the fancy parties in the world...

Happy New Year to you all!

May the love of Christ Jesus mark every one of your days

and may you choose to love Him back even more.

SUPERHERO MODE

The MCs were blessed with a large amount of costumes for Christmas.

Today we have been Batman.

We watched Batman Begins this morning.

We found a secret lair under mama's magnolia tree.

Right now,

we have swords made out of markers,

and are fighting our way through the sands of time with Dastan.

Overall, a pretty good day.

COMING INTO THIER OWN...

Where did we leave off?

Oh, that's right....a bird in my truck.

We spent Saturday evening putting up the Christmas tree.

I tried to have some order to the decorating, but it fell on deaf ears.

Much like the

"I wish TuTu and MooMoo were here to do this.

They could do it much better.",

and the

"You should see Nanny's tree. It is AWESOME!"

comments I heard.

My confidence is in Christ Jesus.....My confidence is in Christ Jesus....

The past week has gone by quickly.

The MCs are coming into their boyhood together and it's a bit overwhelming.

They witnessed Bella kill a possum in the woods,

while they held her by a leash,

and drag it up to the front yard.

They let a baby snake go right by my front door

and took turns picking it up.

There are army men EVERYWHERE!

A fist fight or two may have broken out.

I don't know.

I just don't know.

Hope you had a Merry Christmas.

We ate too much,

slept too little,

and have the trashed out house to prove it.

I hear ManTracker in the background.

MCs have control of the remote.

I am off to regain control of my house.

And hopefully my waistline!

Have a great week!

A BIRD IN THE TRUCK IS WORTH A LOT OF POO...

The past weekend HH abandoned us for the call of the great outdoors.

Really it was the call of his daddy and baby brother, but referring to it as the "call of the great outdoors" seems more masculine.
Friday was party central at the MCs school. MC 1 had a PJ & Polar Express party, a movie I am pretty sure shows up in the TEKS somewhere. (Texas Education joke. It's funny.... I promise). MC 1 had pancakes and sausage. Trust me, that is his kind of party. All the fun wrapped up and we were all home by 10 AM. Yes, I had to entertain my kids ALL DAY. We watched movies. The they cleaned their room. That took 2+ hours. They finished just in time for us to go watch my sister coach her basketball team. We don't want to talk about it. Moving on to Saturday. Around 10ish I was looking out the kitchen window, talking to MC 1, when I noticed a bird around my truck. Looking closer, it appeared the bird was trapped IN my truck. MC 1 and I go to check it out, and yep, there is a darling little blue bird in my cab. It is obvious he has been there awhile. Someone left a window cracked. You would think if he could get in through the window, he could get out. Not true. There we were out in the pasture, I in my robe and MC 1 in his pj's, trying to set the caged bird free. I open the driver side doors, and the bird does what you would expect. He goes to the other side. I tell MC 1 to open the passenger back door, which he does, and the bird goes to the front of the passenger side. I now understand why he was trapped. This bird is an idiot. The dogs had followed us out to the truck, and it was about this time that Bella spotted Mr. Bird. Next thing I know she has jumped in the front floorboard of the truck and is trying to navigate around the steering wheel to get a snack. I go into yell mode.

MC 1 Open the door! Open the door!

For some odd reason MC 1 began to panic and froze up. Not the kid I need in an emergency.

I am yelling OPEN THE DOOR! whilst having visions of the carnage in my truck should Bella actually get to the bird.

MC 1 is trying to be brave and open the door.

Bella is trying to navigate my front seat.

I know the neighbors wonder about us.

I know they do.

Finally, MC 1 gets the door open and Mr. Bird flies away, just as Bella breaks free from the steering wheel.

Then we came back inside.

How was your Saturday morning?

A CLICK AWAY

Today, I wrote over here.
I hope you will go read.
I pray the Lord speaks to you.
Have a great weekend!

THAT THING CALLED PECKING ORDER...

This is the MCs tree.

I decorated it for them.

Someone has redecorated it.

Notice the location of the cowboy ornament.

Now notice the location of the tractor ornament.
Someone desires to establish the pecking order.
In my best Chandler Bing impression,

Could it BE any lower?

I actually have video of the culprit.
However, he is sporting his undies only
and dancing to The Carol of the Bells as he decorates.
It really is funny, but he would hate me in a few years,
and the Bible clearly says not to provoke your children to wrath.
This would.
However, if I see you in person,
and I have my camera,
feel free to ask me and I'll show it to you then.

OFF PART 2

I blogged about feeling OFF the other day.

Today I came across this scripture.

Fits the idea even better.

"...Therefore let us cast off the works of darkness,

and let us put on the armor of light.

Let us walk properly, as in the day,

not in revelry and drunkenness,

not in lewdness and lust,

not in strife and envy.

But put on the Lord Jesus Christ,

and make no provision for the flesh,

to fulfill its lusts."

Romans 13:12-14 (NKJV)

THEY AND US

Compassion International has great gifts you can bless others with.

They matter to them.

They should matter to us.

Whether you give internationally or in your local neighborhood,

take some time, some cash, and some coinage and be a blessing to others.

They need to not only know Jesus,

they need to feel Him.

They need to see Him in action.

Church ... that is us.

1st

This has been a week of firsts...

MC 2 took his first (and seemingly his last until 20-15) hunting trip.

HH decide to bathe the cat in my kitchen sink for the first (and last time).

Seems Boudreaux is a tad psycho.

MC 1 is going to his first "school-friend" sleep over with people

we have not known for over a decade.

Any firsts for you this week?

BREAKING DAWN...

Boys have been up since 4:30-4:40ish.

HH opened their bedroom door and responded with
Uh-uh...put that up....you are not tying up the cat.

MC 2 came to me in commando.
Dude, why did you take you underwear off?

I didn't wear any underwear last night.

MC 1's response: And you laid NEXT to me?

All before 6:30 am.

Have a great Tuesday!

OFF

That is how I have felt over the last couple of weeks.

Off.

Many things felt off.

Marriage...off

Kids...off

Exercise routine ....off

Eating right...off

Extra pounds... firmly on.

I sat in my bathtub yesterday morning

and rattled off a good list of what was wrong,

what I didn't have,

and who I didn't have.

No tears.

Even my sensitivity seemed to be off.

Ever felt that way?

That life is just off?

I think for me,

when I begin to feel that things are off,

it is because I have put too much on.

Too much of what the world thinks.

Too much of what people say or don't.

Too much flesh (figuratively and literally).

I let too much cling to me or I cling to it.

By putting all that on,

the things I am called to have on,

as a believer in Jesus Christ,

get crowded out.

So today,

it is time to be off with the worldly stuff sticking to me.

Off with the random thoughts and imaginations.

Off with the fears.

Time to let the love and confidence of Jesus get on again.

Time to get my faith on.

Get my peace on.

My shoes on,

(figuratively and literally),

and run.

"Therefore,

since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses,

let us throw off everything that hinders

and the sin that so easily entangles.

And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us,"

Hebrews 12:1 (NIV)

LEST I FEEL PUFFED...

I hung out with fifth graders today.

I had lunch in the teacher's lounge.

I proceeded to dump my entire drink

on my shirt right in front of

every single teacher MC 1 has.

Yep....humility....deflates you every time.

THE EARLY BIRD GETS NO GLORY...

I have been up since 4.

I am attempting pancakes this morning.

I know.

Audie makes the best.

I have already told my self-esteem there will be no glory this a.m.

A Martha Heart is running a series of Heart Prompts.

Short and sweet encouragements for this season.

Have a wonderful Wednesday!