A Bedtime Ritual

Nate has been playing this one particular game with the girls for a very long time. He pretends to fall asleep and they have to give him a kiss to wake him up. He snores and blows air and really makes a huge scene. The girls and I flew home from Houston a few months ago, and Nate was in the terminal waiting to help us with all our stuff. He saw us from a distance and by the time we reached him, he was plastered against the wall pretending to be asleep. Of course, the girls giggled with delight and ran up to Nate to "wake him up" with kisses.

This little game took a dramatic turn last week. We play this game with Jenna before bed. Jenna and I go upstairs to put jammies on, brush teeth, etc, and then we crawl in her bed and hide in her covers, pretending to be asleep. Last week, I heard Nate coming (he always clears his throat on the stairs so we know he's close) and I peeked my head out of the covers and busted out laughing. I saw something very similar to the picture above! Nate has taken to dressing up every night before he comes to "wake Jenna up." Parts of his outfit often include a princess tiara, sunglasses, a Cinderella or Snow White dress tied around his waist, a jump rope, a wand, and any of the girls' play jewelry. He really is a sight!

Just thought I'd share a little of Nate with you all. I hope Nate doesn't do this when the girls are 12, but I have a feeling the embarrassment is just starting.

Prayers and Heaven

During our bedtime prayers tonight, Jenna added on one of her own that was too cute not to share. It went something like this, "Thank you for Jesus. Thank you that Jesus loves us. When you say nasty words, Jesus doesn't like it very much and you have to go to your room and apologize. But Jesus loves us always. Jesus loves when we sing to him. He dances and sings too when we sing. Thank you for Jesus and his heart. Be blessed."

While we are on the subject of Jesus, Jenna constantly tells me that she is sad that we can't go to heaven to see Jesus. She knows that Great-grandpa Chase is there and thinks that it would be a cool place to go. I just tell her that He wants us to stay here and tell other people about how much He loves us, but she still doesn't get the heaven thing. She doesn't understand why we can't see Jesus either, but there's plenty of time to work on her theology!

Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to Tamara, Happy Birthday to you!

Today is my dear friend, Tamara's 30th birthday, and I just wanted to give her a shout out on her special day. She's a little apprehensive about being 30, but I've been telling her that it's coo1 to be 30! What more could we ask for? We have great families, jobs, and a God who loves us unconditionally! So what if she drives around in her SUV playing either Veggie Tales or Bon Jovi? Both are awesome and so is being 30!

I'll watch Bon Jovi unplugged tonight and think of you:)

A Star in our Midst

We are privileged to have a young man in our congregation who has a God given gift and uses it to glorify God. Manuel Romero is 18 years old and already has a Latin Grammy nomination under his belt. Currently, he is busy on the show, America's Got Talent, and is on his way to the Las Vegas callbacks.

This past Sunday, Nate interviewed him in church and we really got to see how much he loves the Lord, music, and sharing his gifts with others. We are so excited to see Manuel do well on the show (even though Sharon Osbourne criticized his microphone technique--whatever!) and are supporting him all the way! We pray that he will be a light in a world that is often known for darkness.

Check out his website. www.manuel-romero.com and watch him on America's Got Talent next week as he competes in Las Vegas! Now, of course, Manuel already knows what happened, but he's under contract and can't talk, even though we keep trying to find out!

Oh--one other thing to mention. Jenna might be Manuel's biggest fan. She loves to talk to him at church, but then gets all shy when she gets near him. We are listening to one of two cds in our car these days, the VBS cd-Avalance Ranch, or Manuel's new cd, Santa Maria. Part of the cd is in Spanish, and if you've read a previous post about Jenna and Spanish, you'll understand partly why she loves his cd!