Sweet Sounds....

just came from my pantry.

Middle boy, Tanner Owen, is busy helping clean up from dinner and getting a Rubbermaid container to put the left over pasta in. He always gets two out. One for Kip to take to work and and one for him to snack on when he gets home.

I love this kid.

Although he is quite difficult at times.

And just a side story, real quick. When Tanner was getting ready to start kindergarten and people would ask him if he was ready he would always say "My mommy is going to home school me."

Which I wasn't. And to be honest, it wasn't even a consideration. But don't tell him that.

I waved to him as he boarded the bus and told him see you at 4:00. And I turned away missing him with my whole heart but also breathing a sigh of relief.

Don't tell him that part either.

Back to the pantry.

Sweet middle son, while searching for matching lids is singing...

"I'm coming back to the heart of worship. And it's all about you, Jesus. I'm sorry Lord for the things I'm made of. It's all about you, Jesus."

Oh, that makes me smile all the way down to my toes. "I'm sorry Lord for the things I'm made of." For this quirky middle son, it's so fitting.

I love it that a worship song is something that just spills out of his heart. And honestly, something that sounds like the wrong words is truly quite compelling.

So, as I type out this funny little scene, I sense the Spirit of God urging me to explore the ugly things that I have in my make-up. Pride. Vanity. Anger.

Oh Lord, I too am coming back to the heart of worship. And I am sorry for the things I'm made of.

Thank you Lord for teaching me through my precocious son. And Your Precious Son.

How you know you are stuck between a teenager and a toddler

This is for anyone parenting a teenager and a toddler.
Or if one day you might be a parent of a teenager and a toddler.

Right now Tatumn's (toddler) favorite movie is Finding Nemo. She loves it and laughs out loud at the funny parts. She can even do some of the lines form the movie. Although we try not to watch the beginning when Nemo's mommy becomes lunch. That part is a little traumatizing. It has to be for Tatumn , too.

Taylor (firstborn and teenager) just celebrated his 15th birthday. Deep sigh. He is now loaded up with gift cards that are burning terrible holes in his pockets. They must be spent. Firstborn teenager's favorite store is Hollister. (Please don't make ugly comments about this. We are working on it.) Because Taylor is learning (because his mean parents are making him) to be good stewards of his gift cards, we headed to the back of the store on a recent excursion to Hollister. The back of the store is where they have CLEARANCE items.

We found a couple of things marked down and I smiled to myself at my firstborns attempts to stretch his (gift card) dollar.

GET THIS, the shirt was marked down from $17.50 to $16.90. Now, I am not a mathematician and it took me a couple of seconds to check the numbers. Again. And I did a quick little figure in my head and realized it was marked down .60 cents.

Are.you.kidding.me?

Okay, so Taylor decides on a couple of things and we approach the checkout counter and thankfully the MANAGER is also the checkout dude. And because I can, I say "The markdowns in the back are rather insulting. 60 cents is considered a SALE?" He mumbled something that I couldn't make out because the music is seriously deafening.

And then I crossed the line between teenager straight to toddler.

And I said this " I know markdowns (buddy) I work at the Gap. And those are no markdowns."
And in my head I heard Marlin (Nemo's daddy) say "I know funny mister, I am a clown fish."

So, we paid and left. I felt smug and proud and I am sure my teenager felt embarrassed. But maybe not too much because you know what....

I let him buy a shirt for FULL PRICE.

Because I am that kind of mom.

I think it finally hit me

Today, Taylor had an away football game after school. So, the kids and I picked up Kip from work and drove to the game.
Kip asked me if I knew where the fields were.
And I thought to myself "I don't know where the middle school field's are."
Funny.
Taylor is in HIGH-SCHOOL.

It was all a foreshadowing..........

Tatumn has a stomach virus.

Not Fun.

For her....or me.

Stuck between a Rock and A Hard Place

That is right where I found myself this morning. I was awaken to a little hot head laying on me. Literally. Little Tatumn had spiked a fever during the night. When I told her to lay back down and go sleep, she answered back "love on me, mama. Love on me." So, she slept on me. Tummy to tummy we slumbered into the morning.
Then the fun stuff started. The ooey-gooey number 2 diapers.
That would dilemma numero uno.
The second dilemma for the day would be that the kitchen was EMPTY. The fridge BARE. The pantry SPARSE. I couldn't say empty because we have a walk-in pantry that holds a mini mart worth's of supplies. So, yes there was food in it but nothing that would make a complete meal. So, I had planned to do my Target, Sams, and Hy-Vee run today.
Because, remember me and Wal-Mart do not have a good relationship.
And this is where the rock and hard place comes in.
What is a mom to do when the other 3 children need juice and milk but the littlest one is having trouble with her diapers maximum absorption levels?
And because I have not shared this with the blog world because I am still trying to get over it. Tatumn had a blow-out of EPIC PROPORTIONS at Hobby Lobby last week.
And I was so afraid of it happening again. 3 big shopping stops would be a lot to handle on a normal day and I knew today my window of opportunity was small. Dangerously small.
So, I caved.
I drove to Wal-Mart.
I was full in spirit because we had a Great Day, yesterday at Bible Study. We are doing Believing God. So, yes I could Believe God for a stress-free and QUICK trip to WM.
Again, the shopping was fine. I even thought to myself "This must be a slow day for shopping at WM. Note to self. Thursdays are not too bad."
Halfway done with the personal hygiene list I caught a whiff of something VERY FOUL. Yes, it was. And I had forgotten Tatumn's diaper bag in the car because it was raining. Although, I had packed good and full just 20 minutes before. It lay in the front seat of my van, untouched.
So, after a quick trip through the baby necessities isle we rushed to the family bathroom. Armed and ready to tackle what lay ahead.
Except we were a little too late. And yes, it soaked through her pants.
More necessities needed. Jeans at Wal-Mart are only $5.00. Who knew?!
So, I mad dashed through my grocery shopping like a champ.
By the time I was ready ( please notice it was I who was ready!) my cart was overflowing. I am not kidding.
And then again. I stood in a long line. All the while the empty registers stood there vacant. Mocking Me. And the other thing, is that there were WM employees milling about. Doing nothing.
So, I found a man who looked like he was in charge. He had a clip board and a walkie-talkie. He may have been the boss. So, staying in line I caught his attention and asked to please open a new lane.
He came over to me and asked if I needed cigarettes.
I am not kidding.
I told him if this checkout process didn't move more quickly, I may take up smoking.
I really did.
He walked away.
And I said (out loud) this checkout process is STUPID. And Tatumn looked up at me with fever showing in her cheeks and asked what was stupid. I told her it was a bad word and I shouldn't have said it. And she said "it's okay, mommy's say bad words." No, it's not okay and I still need to hash it out with the Lord. So, I stood there convicted. And I waited.
Then another man came up to me and told me he would check me out.
Glory.
Although at that moment it wasn't victorious because I had lost my cool. In front of my daughter. Dang It.
Thankfully we made it home before the blow out hit.
Oh, yes it did.

Maybe she reads my blog?

I just received a phone call inviting me to a celebration rally for Senator McCain and Governor Palin on Monday. I am not kidding.

This morning I woke up way before my family did. Glory. And honestly my heart was so burdened that it would have been impossible to stay in bed another second. I needed to start dialoging with the Lord about some really big issues swirling around me. I have the honor of leading a Women's Bible Study on Wednesday mornings. I have been a part of this group my entire Christian walk. Some of the girls that were there to hold my hand and take baby steps with me are still present in this study. Some have gone out and proclaimed Christ in other areas but they are still my "girls". Now, again to the glory, there is a new group of girls coming on Wednesday's. Some brand new mommies, whom I so dearly love. There are new faces and with that new lives to know. There are struggles that I am familiar with, victories won, battles still being fought. Some are in the fights of their lives and their children's lives. Real life. Hard. As I sat pouring them out this morning to God, I told him how different these were from my first years sitting around a kitchen table. Those days our prayer requests were for potty training and first days of Kindergarten. I am not minimizing those petitions but after the phone calls and e-mails that I have received this week, I would gladly go back to those again in a heart beat.

Okay, back to Governor Palin. Which is the reason for the post. Thanks for hanging in there with me. So, I was online looking up some things for Bible Study and somehow I got to a Lifeway post introducing Beth Moore's new Bible Study. Its about Esther. And the title says something about it hard being a Woman. Then get this.....there was a promo for the video and the setting was...... you will not believe this......the setting was a replica of the Oval Office. (or something presidential!) I am not kidding, girls!

For such a time as this. That's when I heard the Lord's voice whisper "you are the chosen leader for such a time as this." The responsibility I feel for this group humbles me. Quickens my heart. Encourages to approach the Throne Boldly. And I am only a stay-at-home-mom.

Can you imagine the burden Mrs. Palin must carry? Not just the spotlight she has found herself in as of lately but the lasting implication that this nomination holds?

Beth Moore said something in our study on Wednesday that made me stop and intently listen. She was talking about God's covenant promise of love that will last for a 1000 generations. And she said "I think we are still in that 1000 generation." But then I thought, what about our children? Or the next generation after that? Is it soon that the covenant promise will have been fulfilled and the covenant lifted? What then, Lord?

Okay, about the phone call. It was a recorded message. I am pretty sure the entire tri-county area was invited. So, maybe she doesn't read my blog. That's okay. I still like her.

Okay, Mrs. Palin you now have my attention...

I have become a political junkie. I guess because I now consider myself a grown up, 4 kids will do that to you. I never used to care. I didn't see the need to educate myself on issues like taxes and the environment. In fact, and I am embarrassed to admit, in my first Presidential election I voted for Ross Perot. Somewhere between 1992 and 2008 a realization came to me that I needed to be aware what was going on in the political arena. And a conviction of my apathy was overwhelming. So, now I watch and listen. I am learning the lingo, which started out very basic. Like Republican and Democrat. Honestly, didn't know what or why there was a difference. Conservative and Liberal became more of my mantra. And as I have matured, I find myself leaning more to the right.

On Friday as we were driving to the lake we discussed this new candidate thrown into the Presidential Race. At first, I was shocked. I had heard her name tossed around but didn't really think a woman would be the choice. I am not a Woman Lib's kind of girl. I cherish being under my husband's umbrella of provision and protection. And I don't know how to change a tire, either. Both of those small facts about me would discount me from joining that group.

I have listened intently to any snippet of information about the Alaskan Governor. Trying to glean anything about our nominee for VP.

But it wasn't until I heard her speech last night that I feel like I heard her. And not about her. I like her. (I feel like Sally Field). She knows her stuff. She is strong but eloquent. A pit bull with lipstick. I liked that that, too. I loved the way she spoke of her family. The adoration she has for her husband was obvious and real. And her children are precious. Can you imagine starting on this road and in less than a week your oldest son deploys to Iraq? The littlest daughter is spunky and darling. Did you see her spit shine her baby brother's hair? I know they are not perfect, would we want them to be? I know I have learned some of greatest lessons from people who were real and honest with me about their mistakes and hard knocks.

I know, I would not have embraced my walk with Christ if I only saw perfection. If there was not an overflowing of grace and pardon waiting just for me, I am not sure where I would be today.

So, I sit here this morning praying for our country and it's leaders. November holds BIG change.

(I promise I will not turn this blog into political craziness. I just needed to vent a little)

A little Trim here and a little Trim there

Today was the day. It was a "first" for us. Now, it was not drastic because there is not much to be drastic with.

Truth is Tatumn's hair was begining to look like a mollet. We like to pronounce it MOLE-LEIGH. It sounds more feminine that way.

After some issues with breakage from rubber bands, I am for real this time boycotting pigtails. I cannot tell you how that hurts my heart. I am the mom who brought a bag full of hair pretties for my daughter to China. Now, that may not sound really amazing but you see in her pictures she was bald. No hair. And because I believed God would grow her hair into a fabulous bob before I traveled to China (in 6 weeks) I packed a bag of hair paraphernalia. I did. Now, I realize that portion of luggage would have been more fitted for something else, like souvenirs, but oh no.....it stayed occupied with unused hair pretties. Don't mock me.

So, after scrutinizing her hair I decided to cut off the length in the back to match the sides. Hoping that it will (someday) grow into that luscious bob.

Maybe by kindergarten.

A Fub Lovin' without the Labor Weekend

Our friends the Dwyer's invited us to spend the weekend with them at the lake. We could not pack the van and get there fast enough. We loaded up with enough food and supplies to outfit a small army, when in reality all we needed were our swimsuits, sunscreen, and yes a little bit of food. Because, you see, playing in the sun makes you hungry!
Our friends are younger and more daring than Kip and I are. So, they are like totally cool friends for our kids to hang out with. Jim made at least 10 sparkler bombs. Terri jumped off the "HIGH" dive and Terri's dad let each one of the boys drive the boat. From Friday afternoon until Monday night, there was no arguing, no fighting, no naughty spots, or spankings. There was also no cell phones, internet, texting, or t.v.. It was truly a good vacation.
Thanks Dwyer family!

The boys loved this paddle boat. Even the little girls got to go for a ride or two. The boys were great chauffers, too. They took Kip and I for a ride around the cove!
Love this picture! except Taylor wasn't in it. He slept in and missed our morning boat ride. Tatumn loved going "faster" on the boat. She never tried to take off her life jacket. Glory. I am not a big fan of water, although I love to swim and hang out at the Lake. It just scares me. I prayed from the time we planned this trip and all the way up to the lake for protection. I also realized I need to relax more. You may not know this but I am wound pretty tight.

Here are all the Crawford kids. We had spent the afternoon at a friend of the Dwyer'slake house. He travels to the lake by helicopter, which he lands on the roof of his dock. He has a GINORMUS boat that is LOUD. and FAST. And this cool slide (that he got off of EBAY) that shoots down 3 stories into the lake. Believe it or not, Tatumn and I took a ride on it! One trip down was all we needed but the boys kept slidding and slidding! And they also jumped off his 2 story dock! They have NO FEAR!!
Here are East and West taking a ride on the paddle boat! The girls had a great time all weekend. Tatumn was a little bummed when she woke up Tuesday and Clara was not downstairs waiting for her to have breakfast! Truth be told, the reat of the family was sad that Ms. Mora was not downstairs fixing another yummy breakfast for them! They got really spoiled by Terr's mom gormet cooking all weekend!

Now we are back in real life. Work. School. Bible Study. Birthday's. Homework. Cooking and Cleaning. Republican Convention. Blah. Blah. Blah.