Bike Rider

This week has been beautiful. The weather is perfect. Finally, I am happy that I live in Texas. Autumn in Texas means afternoons at the playgrounds, hiking at the State Park, and evenings playing out front with the neighbors.

Tonight was no exception. After homework was done and rooms were clean, I took the kids to the playground to play. When we got home, Aaron was lighting up the grill for dinner (mmmm… steak!) and the kids immediately asked if they could go out front to play. On his way out the door (I didn’t even hear him), Carson said, “I’m going to learn to ride a two wheeler.” The kids took off down the street and Aaron and I set about finishing up dinner. About fifteen minutes later, I went out front to check on the kids. I saw Carson running around a few houses down and called him over to tell him dinner was nearly ready. “Hey, Mom. Let me show you how I can ride a two wheeler.” (I have to admit being skeptical because we’d never really spent any time teaching him how to ride a bike, and his bike has been out of commission since July.) He went over, grabbed Abby’s bike, hopped on, and… rode it. All the way up the street. Then did it again. And again. And again.

Gasp.

Apparently his daddy did the same thing when he was a kid, while I, on the other hand, took weeks to learn with hours of help from my dad. (Aaron says that technically, Carson did have help from his dad – genetically. Ha ha!)

At any rate, I was super shocked proud of my little guy!

School Portraits

My kids came home with their school portraits today. When I explained to Abby that we probably wouldn't be buying them because I had a rockin' photo shoot planned soon, she was like, "Awww, man! Can't we just get these instead? Please?!" Like, Mom, you're so uncool. Ha ha, oh well. As generic as they are, there's always been a special place in my heart for the old school photo, so even if I don't buy a thousand wallets that will never get handed out, I wanted to at least document these precious photos for all posterity.

Abby, Second Grade (Age 7)
Carson, Kindergarten (Age 5)

The List

When Aaron and I were dating, he took me to this little Mexican restaurant here in San Antonio. As we sat there waiting on our food, we began talking about all the things we’d like to do, places we’d like to go, etc. So, Aaron grabbed a pen, and right there on the paper placemat, we started “The List”. The list was put in the glovebox, and went with us everywhere. When we thought of something else, we’d add it, and then we’d mark things off as we did them. It was great!

However, somewhere along the way, our list got lost. Over the years, we’ve mentioned it now and again, but I guess the demands of life and small children distracted us. (That, and I always had a special place in my heart for that paper placemat.) But then on Monday, as I was finishing up some e-mails, Aaron came into my office and said, “Let’s get this list started again.” So we did. We talked and dreamed and wrote as much as we could think of on a blank notepad. It felt good. It was fun.

After our list was done, we went out to lunch together. I wanted to take him to a little Thai place a friend had taken me to. As the waiter sat us at our table, we both couldn’t help but smile as he set our drinks down on our paper placemats, to which we promptly transferred our list.

P.S. I think we’ll be adding a section to the blog with our list and our experiences, so stay tuned!

The Word

The other day I went "old school" and pulled out a random selection of about 10 CDs I hadn't listened to in a while. In this mix was a Sara Groves album, and this song has moved me so much the past few times I've listened to it. It's convicting, true, and powerful. Thought I'd share.

The Word
by Sara Groves

I've done every devotional
Been every place emotional
Trying to hear a new word from God
And I think it's very odd
That while I attmept to help myself
My Bible sits upon my shelf
With every promise I could ever need

And the Word was
And the Word is
And the Word will be

People are getting fit for truth
Like they're buying a new tailored suit
Does it fit across the shoulders
Does it fade when it get older
We throw ideas that aren't in style
In the Salvation Army pile
And search for something more to meet our needs

And the Word was
And the Word is
And the Word will be

I think it's time I rediscover
All the ground that I have covered,
Like seek ye first what a verse
We are pressed but not crushed
Perplexed but don't despair
We are persecuted but not abandoned
We are no longer slaves
We are daughters and sons
And when we are weak we are very strong
And neither death nor life nor present
Nor future nor depth nor height
Can keep us from the love of Christ
And the Word I need is the Word that was
Who put on flesh to dwell with us
In the beginning

The Word was
And the Word is
And the Word will be

First Day of School 2011

Well, today was the big day. The day that Abby started back to school... and this time, Carson too! The start of the school year has been all that they've talked about lately, and they were both thrilled to pop out of bed this morning to get ready. (Except Carson asked several times, "Why are we getting up while it's still dark?!") Aaron and I walked them both to school and when we got to their classes, they each went straight in. No tears! Not even from me. (I think that's the big miracle here. I knew they'd be fine.) They both have great teachers this year, Mrs. Miller (Abby) and Miss Chestnut (Carson), and we're so excited for this year.

Abby got to her class and walked right in. She gave her teacher a hug and a little present, and then begrudgingly stood for a picture before we gave her a hug and headed out. She is so glad to be back in school, and when we picked her up this afternoon, she said she loved her first day!

I wasn't sure what to expect when we dropped Carson off, but he went in and gave his teacher a hug and (more or less) said hi. Then into the room, hung his backpack, and went to his desk. No tears or uncertainties. He just sat down and the little boy next to him offered him a crayon and they colored together. So sweet. Then we gave him a hug and headed out. He was a total chatterbox when we picked him up. They got to read and go on a scavenger hunt and he met the principal and the librarian and the nurse and he made two friends (both girls, no boys, really) and he got to play on the playground at recess. They have RECESS! He was so excited. I'm so happy he enjoyed it so much!

After we dropped the kids off, Aaron and I walked back home alone and tried not to talk about how this was the end of an era or how quiet the house was going to be when we got home. Luckily, we had plans to meet Jason, Natalie, Jenn, and Galen for a "Boo-Hoo Breakfast" after we all dropped our kids off. It was great fun and a great distraction. After that, as Aaron and I drove around, then we had the sentimental talks about how not so very long ago, Abby and Carson were just babies, and so on and so forth. We smiled and laughed (and were tempted to cry), and spent a great day together shopping and going to a quiet lunch. It was really nice. But when 2:30 rolled around, we were just dying to pick the kids up and hear all about their day. It was so fun seeing their smiling faces when they walked outside! We talked and talked the whole walk home, then filled out the giant pile of paperwork, and had reading time, and started to get back into the swing of things for the school year.

Looking forward to a great one!

Back To School Dinner

This year we had our second annual back to school dinner! I got this idea from my friend, Jennifer, and our family loves this new tradition. It was a great time to pray for, encourage, and set goals with our kids for the new year!

Our verse for the new school year is...

I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.
Philippians 4:13

[Note: I know I am very late in posting this! Just went through my pics and realized all the things that I never got around to blogging.]

Close of Summer

It's starting to hit me that this time next week, I will be a mother of school-aged children. And home all by myself. All day.

So many emotions.

I won't dive into them all at the moment (I'm sure Monday or Tuesday you'll find me here crying! Ha ha!), but I'm doing my best this week to enjoy my last week with the kiddos home. We're having a lot of fun! Monday we went to the zoo, and yesterday we shopped for shoes and went swimming. Today has been cooking day, since Abby in particular has been very into cooking lately. (I walked in the living room other morning to find her glued to Barefoot Contessa on Food Network, and she sits down and makes lists of recipes she'd like to make from Giada de Laurentis' cookbook.)

More to come, I'm sure, but here are a few pics from the pool yesterday!

PS - Aaron is FINALLY reading Harry Potter with me! I'm re-reading the series, and then after his brother started reading the books and much NAGGING from me (he told me I was being a terrible nag), he's hooked. We've been reading together every night instead of watching TV.