Another slot in my DVD player is gone forever

Well, maybe not forever, but for a long time.

We have a DVD player that holds six DVDs at the same time in our van. Currently, and in this order, this is what we have in there:
1. Worship mix music made by Nate--lots of Lincoln Brewster and Chris Tomlin.
2. Paul Baloche--a great Christian songwriter
3. VBS music from two years ago--Fiesta
4. VBS music from one year ago--Wild Ride
5. Hannah Montana (not complaining about this one)
6. Wheels On The Bus (fun kid songs)

So yesterday we walked into the church lobby and saw THE table. It's the one we've been waiting for for a while now. The VBS table with the VBS cds available for sale. This year, VBS is called Power Lab and has some really great songs. I enjoy these songs just as much as the girls do and don't mind the fact that I will be listening to them for the next two to three years on a daily basis. We've already made up a fun dance routine to the first song:)

I just have to tell you that we've had the first two VBS DVDs in our car since they first came out one and two years ago. Now, I have to figure out which slot in my DVD player that I will permanently give up. If I were selfish, I'd get rid of the Wheels on the Bus, but if I weren't selfish, I'd get rid of one of my worship CDs. I definitely can't get rid of either VBS cd or Hannah Montana. And I"m not willing to get rid of my worship mix because I really love that one. So, it's down to Paul Baloche or Wheels on the Bus. I'll let you know what I decide.

Today

A few things in my world right now . . .

1. My parents are coming at the end of this week and we are all going to Disneyland together! Jenna, especially, is so very excited to meet the princesses and see where they live. This will be an awesome experience and we are REALLY looking forward to it.
2. I am working hard to find a new apartment for the next vicar. The current ones live in a place that I picked out and thought was nice. A few weeks ago, there was a prostitution ring busted and a guy arrested IN THEIR BUILDING who was wanted on criminal charges in another state. We can't have the new vicar living there! So of course, I am looking for nice places without criminals. Wish me luck.
3. I am enjoying my new job--teaching Saturday GED preparation classes.
4. I got home from the women's retreat yesterday. I was a co-coordinator and I think it went pretty well. You know when you have those moments with God when he tells you something that you've been trying to figure out for a while? Well, God told me that I have a bad attitude this past weekend, so I'm working on that . . . and I think I agree with him:)
5. Abby wants to do everything herself: change her own diaper, dress herself, brush her own teeth, get her own utensils, buckle her own carseat, walk by herself-she often refuses to hold my hand, and fix her own hair. As you can imagine allowing a two year old to do some of these things without assitance can be very messy and/or frustrating. My patience has been tested a lot lately.
6. My friend, Tamara, sent me a YouTube clip this morning of Bon Jovi and the All-American Rejects singing, "It's My Life." The subject line in her email was "a bright start to your day." She must know that God told me that I have a bad attitude and needed some JBJ to start my day today. She knows me well:)
7. Because my parents are coming, I will be spending the next few days planning each meal, cleaning carpets, working in the yard, and generally making sure that everything is ready for their arrival because my husband loves when they come and wants everything to look good and be perfect. He's obsessive about the carpets and the massive carpet cleaning starts in a few hours. So fun, so fun!

I can't believe she said that . . .

As I was getting breakfast ready this morning, a conversation between me and Jenna went like this:

Jenna: Mommy, can I wear my Easter shoes today? You know the pink ones with the sparkles?
Me: No, Jenna. We only wear those on Sundays now.

Looking over her shoulder with a scowl on her face, her hand on her hip, and her little rear end sticking out, she said . . .

"If you don't be good to me, you'll have to talk to the booty butt!"

I almost cracked up right there!! Where the heck did she learn that? I didn't know if I should laugh or scold her for telling me to talk to her butt.

I did both.

Odds & Ends

Nate left this morning to go to St. Louis to meet our new vicar (can you believe the seminary gives him a vicar?) and I am already bored. My house is picked up, the dishes are done, the laundry is in a good place, I have no work for Arlene, and my kids are in bed. I am thoroughly looking forward to The Bachelor tonight, but that's a whole other post.

So here are a few things in my world today:

1) I bought this new scrapbooking software. Tamara--I know, I can't compare to the scrapbooking goddess that you are, but I have to do something with the 5500 pictures on my computer. If I can't get my act together to get into this digital scrapbooking thing where you arrange pictures on templates (or create your own--but I'll probably stick with the templates) then I'll just have to resign myself to being okay just printing out pictures to put in albums. I REALLY want to be a crafty scrapbooker, but I am not. I hate crafts. I was so happy when our MOPS group banned crafts. That's just me. But I want to have a good record of our kids and our life together. I want to at least have albums, scrapbooks would be great even if they are faker digital ones.

2) The Bay Area has lots and lots of homeless people. It is very common to have a homeless person on all four medians at a busy intersection asking for food or money. When I take Jenna to preschool, there is this one guy who is ALWAYS at the median in the left hand turn lane right before her school. I always feel awful because I have no food to give him. (I don't give money usually, because I'm not comfortable with that). Every day, I see him and look around my car to see if I have anything to give him. I always figure that he doesn't want Goldfish crumbs, so I try to remember to bring some food from home. I never remember. But today I did. And he wasn't there. I even packed him a whole roll of Oreos. Oh well, I'll try again soon.

3) I've been feeling a bit isolated lately and am so happy that I get to go to my grandma's 94th birthday party in May. I hate not being able to get in the car and go to family functions. But I am really happy to be able to go to this one. It's been over a year since I've seen her and last time I talked to her on the phone she told me that she hoped she would see me before she dies. I have to go and want to go, she's my grandma, and I love her.

4) I was so proud of Jenna today. In the car, "Livin' On A Prayer" by Bon Jovi came on, and she said, "Mommy, I know this song and I love it. What's that guy's name? Jon Jovi?" So proud . . . So proud.

5) We just discovered Skype. It's awesome and free.

Baptized or Bathtized?

I came across the most hilarious thing earlier this week while my kids were playing in the bathtub! As I was busy straightening the bathroom up, they started pouring water on each others' heads. I didn't pay much attention at first, because they love to pour cups of water all over the place in the bathtub. Then I looked back and this is what I heard and saw:

Jenna: Abby, lean back because I am going to bathtize you.
Abby: No, Ja Ja (her name for Jenna)
Jenna: Come on, Abby. I'll be Daddy, and you be the baby.
Abby: Okay Ja Ja.

Abby leans her head back and Jenna pours water on her head and says, "Now you're bathtized into God's family. Yay Abby!"

After I laughed under my break, as not to interrupt this hilarous site, I wondered if Jenna forgot that Abby had already been baptized. Hmmm. . . And I also wondered if they are really interchanging the words "baptize" and "bathtize" or if "bathtize" is just the bathtub version of the baptisms Daddy does at church. I'll have to ask Jenna.

So today, there was a baptism at church and both girls happened to still be in church at that point. (Abby usually makes it to the sermon and then we take her to the nursery.) The conversation between them went like this:

Jenna: Hey Abby, that little baby is getting baptized just like us!
Abby: No baff (bath) Ja Ja (Jenna). Where the baff (bath)?

I hope one day, my children understand the real meaning of being baptized, but for now it seems to be a fun game they play in the bathtub.

Go ahead . . . I'm sure you are all thinking that I'm a terrible pastor's wife/mommy who lets her kids play baptism in the bathtub. Hey, at least they get that a baptism includes water!

I can't wait to share this story with them when they are 12:)

A Date with Daddy

Nate and Jenna went to the Giant's game yesterday and had some wonderful Daddy & Jenna time. As Jenna was getting ready to go--putting her hat and sunglasses on, Abby thought she was going too. She found her sunglasses and walked out the door and said,"Bye Mommy!" She was REALLY upset when she realized that she couldn't go. Nate only had two tickets and she was still recovering from the nasty stomach flu that hit her the day before.

The members of our church share season's tickets to Giant's games and draft for them each year. We have awesome seats, but due to the blazing hot sun and the fact that there's not much melatonin in either Nate or Jenna's skin, they moved to the seats with shade.

When I asked Jenna what her favorite part of the day was, she said cotton candy and Daddy. :)

Candy For Dinner?

We have this bowl of M&Ms and jelly beans that are on our kitchen counter. They are far enough where the girls can't reach it without getting a chair to swipe some. In the past few days, Abby has been working very hard to get her chair to the counter fast enough to be able to get to the candy bowl before I catch her in the act. But today, she tried a different approach. She quietly snuck over to the counter and reached up as far as she could. She got the edge of the candy dish and slid it to the edge. This is all while I am about five feet from her with my back to her.

When I heard the bowl being dragged to the edge of the counter, I watched her for a minute:) She kept looking back at me with this smirk on her face carefully watching me to see if I would catch her. When our eyes met, I said, "Abby, you can't have any candy. We are having dinner soon."
With that same smirk she said, "Abby numma nummas (M&Ms)?"
I said, "No M&Ms for dinner."
Abby said, "Chocolate dinner?" (She wanted chocolate for dinner.)
I said, "No chocolate for dinner."
Abby said,"Foot acks dinner?" (Fruit snacks)
I said, "No stinker--no fruit snacks for dinner."

All of this with a sneaky little smirk on her face. But oh so cute:)

A Lesson in Contentment

I lead a women's Bible study on Tuesday mornings, and today was the last day in our series on contentment. I am constantly amazed at how God continues to shape, mold, and teach me as I go. I have been leading this Bible study for six weeks (although I was gone a few for vacation) and just today realized what a gift I was given in terms of contentment.

Nate and I have been struggling with the issue of me going back to work for a while. To be frank, in order for us to make it financially out here, I need to work. I wish it weren't that way, I wish that every time I turn around a utility bill wasn't going up or that a gallon of gas wasn't getting closer to $4 a gallon every day. (We are currently at $3.79.) But we were told that before we even came here. We knew that most women worked and we knew that our decision for me to stay home with the girls wouldn't last forever and that we'd be tight for that time. But now it's time for me to jump back into teaching and there has been much to think about.

For weeks, I obsessed about what I should do. Should I teach full time at a public school and put my kids in daycare all day? Should I work at a Christian school where both girls could be in school/daycare on the same campus as me? Should I look for something part-time?

I almost immediately threw out the idea of working at a public school (although I could have made good money there) because I couldn't bear the thought of getting up super early to hand my kids over to another woman to raise (at least Abby). I just couldn't do it. There are women that are completely comfortable with full time daycare and I respect their decision, but for me personally, I just couldn't see myself doing that. Not with Abby being too young to even be in preschool.

I contacted all the Christian schools in the area, and not one had an opening for a middle school language arts teacher. I then gave up and told God that if he wanted me to work, he would have to figure this all out. Then I saw a job posting for the adult school. Long story short--it looks like I will be teaching a Monday-Saturday GED test preparation class in the morning from 9-12. Perfect. I can do part-time. Jenna can be in morning preschool and Abby can go to a babysitter for four mornings a week. Nate is home on Friday and Saturdays and can be with the girls then.

As I have been obsessing over how I am going to contribute financially to our family, God has been working up a plan that meets all of our needs. As soon as I gave the situation to him and took myself out of it, a great situation came up. Now, if I had my choice, I would always be teaching 7th graders, but I am excited for the new teaching road ahead and know that if God made that path straight, than it must be a good one.

I am content.

A Good Day Is . . .

1. When Jenna does not fight me about what she is going to wear. Usually she only wants to wear Easter type dresses and that doesn't work most days.
2. When my jeans have just come out of the dryer and they fit well without showing off my belly fat.
3. When Jenna agrees to take a nap and I get to take one too.
4. When Nate is home in the evening.
5. When I actually plan a healthy meal instead of standing in front of my pantry at 5pm trying to figure out what to make.
6. When Abby doesn't make some mess that is a pain to clean up. For example in between #5 and #6, she climbed up on the office desk, grabbed the black Sharpie marker that I thought was out of reach, and colored all over the computer monitor. Lovely.
7. When we get to take our "babies" (the girls' dolls--no I am not pregnant) for a walk around the neighborhood.
8. When I get to have coffee with a friend.
9. When I get to go to Target. I'll take this one with or without kids.
10. When my house is clean before I go to bed.

A Confession

A few weeks ago, I was so excited about Abby's progress in potty training. I wrote that she was all but potty trained and that I was so excited for diapers to be a thing of the past.

I jinxed myself.

While she was doing so well with potty training, she would go through a ton of diapers. She'd get a new one every time she went, so I decided to get her those Pampers Easy Ups--the ones with Dora on them. Since I got those for her, she has not gone on the potty. I thought it would be easier for her to slip them on and off and she wouldn't waste as many. But, she's quit all together.

So, I am confessing that my daughter is not potty trained like I said before. I am still buying diapers. And we are back to square one with potty training.

Lesson learned? Never change the routine of a potty training child and never write about it on your blog.

Tidbits from our trip to Houston

We just got back from a week long trip to Houston, Texas. We did our vicarage there and made some friends who have become our family. Here are some highlights from the trip.

-Perpetual sweat. 89 degrees and 89% humidity. When you live in the Bay Area where there is 0% humidity, this is quite an adjustment.
-A shopping trip to Target. This was great because #1 it was with Tamara, #2 we walked up and down every single aisle and got to carefully look at anything we wanted because #3 the kids weren't with us.
-Cindy's chocolate martinis. So yummy.
-Going to church and sitting next to my husband.
-Not being anyone's pastor (or the pastor's family). I am not the pastor, as you all know, so I guess Nate was just Nate this week and I was happy for him to be just Nate this week.
-Seeing our kids get to know and love Shelby and Seth (Chuck and Tamara's kids).
-An evening of excellent Mexican food, a good margarita, and a few hours of singing along to the Bon Jovi DVD.
-Watching Seth pin Abby under a large bucket. Her little legs was hanging out and she was crying so hard. I so wanted to go grab my camera because it really was a hilarious sight, but I would have felt guilty for leaving my screaming, scared child under a bucket while I snapped a picture of her.
-Visiting with Nate's aunt and uncle. They are so loving and giving and fun to be with. We love connecting with family we don't get to see often.
-Experiencing the friendliness of Texans. There really has to be something to Southern hospitality. People wave to you, they talk to you in stores--it's a phenomenon that I've only seen in Texas.
-The best pedicure ever--Really, this place (and I can't remember the name of it) tops all the other places I've been. Not that there's been many, but if I lived in Kingwood, I'd have a hard time avoiding that place.
-Going to the zoo and watching Seth chase ducks in the mud.
-The best part was just being able to spend time some of our favorite people in the whole world. They love us and we love them.