Monday, December 10, 2007

Cowboy to the Max








These photos of Max were taken last summer (2006) at the Wrangler Junior High National Finals in Gallup, NM. I went and I slept in the back of my van, fed horses in my pajamas (tucked into boots), and took 2 showers the entire week. I was a dedicated rodeo mom. Let's just say I wasn't above wearing fake hair or the standard rodeo mom "do" - ponytail, visor and sunglasses. It was great fun and Max ended up fourth in the World in goat tying. Yee Haw!

Look ya'll, some pictures...






Hallelujah, I think I might get this figured out after all. Here is a montage of photos from Min's soccer adventure this fall. Soccer is a very interesting game for 6 and 7 year olds - much socializing and goofing around including the challenge of what body part you can get stuck in the net when it is your turn to play goalie. LOL!

Sunday, December 2, 2007

Ode to a Dormant Blog

Holy Cats. I can't believe how long it has been since I've posted! I've been busy, busy, busy! What with Thanksgiving and sewing and then sewing some more. I look around my neighborhood and I wonder, "Don't you people have anything better to do than to string massive quantities of lights and put no less than 3 giant blow-up Christmas thingys in your front yards?" I'm not bah-humbugging cuz Grace prayed and got me delivered from that. And now that Thanksgiving is over, by all means deck the halls...but what is it with the giant blow-up Santas and snowmen and Poohs?? I believe that Christmas brings out the inner redneck in everyone! Just please, please throw away your pumpkins BEFORE you string those lights...please. Okay, enough about that. So here are some of the latest happenings at our house:

Some funny stuff I've heard...
Med and Min have been on a roll lately - out of the mouths of babes...

Min: "If I swallowed a caterpillar, in a couple of weeks, would I fart out a butterfly?"

Med (upon hearing Min say that when he was an adult he was going to get a PlayStation and play it all day long - because his mean parents won't let him have one) said with a sigh: "Oh, Min - you'll grow up to be a proper adult."

And the cutest joke I've heard in awhile told by Med: A pit bull, a retriever and a chihuahua wanted to go on a date with a cute French Poodle. The French Poodle said that whoever could use the words "liver and cheese" in the most creative way would win a date with her. The pit bull tried first, "I like liver and cheese" he said. "Nope, not going to work," said the poodle. The retriever went next, "I don't like liver and cheese". "Nope, that's not going to do it either." said the poodle. Finally, the chihuahua said, "Leever alone - Cheez mine!"

A funny thing that happened...
Last Wednesday morning, I had filled the bathtub for Min and our kitten, Elvis, was curious and perched himself on the edge of the tub. I heard a loud splash and thought that Min had fallen while getting in the bath - I ran to see what had happened and found a very wet kitty dripping on the carpet and frantically trying to lick himself dry. Med said, "Wow, you never realize how skinny cats are until they get wet!" Elvis might have used up one of his nine lives because the water was fairly deep. You know what they say about curiosity!

An awesome thing I just read...
Our church is reading Max Lucado's new book 3:16 in conjunction with our pastor's sermon series on John 3:16 during Advent. I love it when an author can put things in terms we can "get". Not high and lofty thinking but more where the rubber meets the road living. In this quote he is talking about the word perish as in "whosoever believes in him shall not perish but have everlasting life."
This is what Max writes: "And perish...a sobering word. We'd like to dilute, if not delete, the term. Not Jesus. He pounds DO NOT ENTER signs on every square inch of Satan's gate and tells those hell-bent on entering to do so over his dead body."
What a picture! That just makes me want to shout! Can't you just picture Jesus with hammer and nails and a whole stack of signs. He was a carpenter - he hit those nails dead on, one blow of the hammer right after another, while Satan stood by screaming - furious as Christ defaced the very gates of hell. Can I get a Hallelujah??!!

Well, that is all for now, oh dormant blog. I need to go do some ironing because, apparently, the lady who does the ironing at our house has decided to take a vacation and my basket runneth over.

Monday, November 12, 2007

We Luv Ya Peyton

So Peyton may have had a bit of a rough go at it yesterday, but he still reigns supreme as the god of football around our house. Although I love to watch him play and I love how Buford relives Peyton's TN glory days, my favorite thing is to watch his commercials. Check some of them out here:
http://www.priceless.com/us/personal/en/extras/peptalks/index.html
You can even personalize one of these "Priceless Pep Talks" for a friend. These might be the funniest things since the "Real Men of Genius" Budweiser campaign. My favorite: I've got a Gut...you might want to just buy some bigger shirts...PRICELESS!

Wednesday, November 7, 2007

Oh Look! A Post About Sewing...

Since the beginning of my sewing experience/career, I've been blessed with many opportunities, awards, privileges, and successes. I've accumulated ribbons and trophies and had my work featured on a national television show (Dr Quinn, Medicine Woman). I have made wedding garments that had mothers and brides in tears because they were so thrilled. And I am, currently, about to start a new project that has me absolutely twitterpated. BUT as I think about all this today, something in my spirit just resonates with the apostle Paul, and I count it all as worthless in order that I may know Christ. I am grateful that He allows me plenty of failures and frustrations in the mix with all the successes. Opportunities for humility. The outfit that I can never get to fit exactly right. Getting a report that a bride struggled with a bustle I did on her gown. The opportunity to serve an elderly woman who I have to dress and undress in order to fit the clothes to her.

We all struggle with the fine line between being excited about a blessing and being prideful about that blessing. The Lord has been reminding me of that lately...lest I begin to think that I'm "all that and a bag of chips". And I guess I'd rather have Him remind me gently and have my heart respond than for Him to remind me with a 2 x 4! Because as a dear Bible teacher always says (I'll let you guess who!): "You can bend the knee or He can break your legs, but either way you're going down!"

So actually, I lied. This isn't a post about sewing at all, but rather one about pride. I just needed to be reminded again today...

My name is Pride. I am a cheater.
I cheat you out of your God-given destiny...because you demand your own way.
I cheat you out of contentment...because "you deserve better than this."
I cheat you out of knowledge...because you already know it all.
I cheat you out of healing...because you're too full of me to forgive.
I cheat you out of holiness...because you refuse to admit when you're wrong.
I cheat you out of vision...because you'd rather look in the mirror than out a window.
I cheat you of genuine friendship...because nobody's going to know the real you.
I cheat you of love...because real romance demands sacrifice.
I cheat you of greatness in heaven...because you refuse to wash another's feet on earth.
I cheat you of God's glory...because I convince you to seek your own.
My name is Pride. I am a cheater.
You like me because you think I am always looking out for you. Untrue.
I'm looking to make a fool of you.
God has so much for you, I admit, but don't worry...
If you stick with me
You'll never know.

~Beth Moore - "Praying God's Word"

Saturday, November 3, 2007

Most Likely My Favorite Photo of All Time



A couple of days ago, I was rummaging through some boxes of old photos. Real photos printed out on paper, in little envelopes with strips of negatives included...remember those? Back before the days of digital. Back before a crash of the hard drive could erase the photographic documentaries of my kid's childhoods. (Okay - just a few pictures - not a documentary. Especially given the fact that Halloween passed without me getting a single picture of my kiddos in costume. I'm a pathetic excuse for a mother but that's another post!) Anyway, I came across this picture, and my heart just melted. Max and Med...before Min was even thought of. This was probably in the fall of 1999. As you can tell, I was still in the throes of "Martha-ism" as indicated by the pumpkins arranged in order from biggest to smallest. I totally staged this photo-op and remember snapping several shots very quickly since Med wasn't one to sit still for any length of time. I can't even really put my finger on why I like this picture so much. Could be the cherub like smile on Max's face, the rosy, pinkness of Med's chubby cheeks, or the way her babyfine hair is blowing in the fall breeze. This just typifies fall - the way the leaves are scattered about on the still green grass in the warm Colorado sun. (Although I'm sure I spent the rest of the day raking up those leaves in a fit of yard OCD.) Most likely this photo is my favorite because it is one small success in my many mis-attempts at documenting our life in pictures - and the subject matter is just as yummy as pumpkin pie!

Thursday, November 1, 2007

Nicole with A Horse!

So I mentioned in my list of "Favorite Things" that I like Nicole C Mullen. I found her music at a crucial time in my spiritual walk and never get tired of it. Old stuff, new stuff, Christmas stuff...I love it all. This past September, at the Women of Faith Conference in Denver, I got to see Beth Moore and Nicole in the same day. I wasn't sure it could ever get any better. Then I saw this little video...Nicole has a horse in this video. Glorious! I can't list horses in my favorite things column because I do not own one...but Max does and I love them. I love to hug their necks and breathe in all that horsey aroma. I know there are going to be horses in heaven - just check out Revelation 19:14. I hope there's a whole stable full of them out behind my mansion. While we wait, enjoy Nicole's video...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4wfnTRCxwkA