Bikes, Braids, and Babysitting

BIKES: Our eldest 2 children now own tricycles (thanks to Mimi and Grandpa!)...and it's so fun to watch them ride them. About the cutest thing ever actually! And for you locals, yes, we know we broke rules at Botanical Gardens...but I don't think our kids were breaking any speed rules on their trikes...and I think tricycles should be excluded from the "NO BIKE" policy. Just saying.



BRAIDS: Ok, ya'll...give me some comment love because I did cornrows in Ava's hair. For those who have never met her...the amazing thing is not the fact that I have learned to cornrow...it's that she actually sat still long enough for 2. We'll see when she'll sit still for more...but I'm practicing. And if I do say so, I think her hair is looking awesome these days!


Ali took this picture of me doing Ava's hair. Ali LOVES to take pictures...and she actually has managed to get some good ones. Thank goodness for digital film, though, right?


This is just here because Kylah is quite possibly the cutest baby ever. And you just had to see her! She is still so zen. God knew I needed an easy baby!!



And for the BABYSITTING part...well...everywhere I go lately I've been asked...wow, you have your hands full...are you babysitting? Ummm...nope. They're all mine. And I am so BLESSED!

VIP Passes

So Pete and I got free tickets to a pre-screening of the movie Soul Surfer tonight...and I have a confession to make...I didn't want to go. Because my general impression of "Christian" movies is, well, let's just say not good. To be fair, I am kind of a movie-a-holic...so, to stack up as a good movie against all the ones I've seen is tough. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love the messages, it's just when the delivery is sub-par and we're supposed to get all excited about it...I just can't do it!

(I know, I know, my closest friends are saying right now as they read this...ummm, Emily, your favorite movie used to be Love and Basketball. That's my deep dark secret...not so deep and dark anymore...plus I've moved up in my sophistication...favorite current movie...The Chorus...boom...foreign film, I'm cool right?)

The one thing going for this film is that I am a sucker for underdog sport movies. Meaning, I cry at all sports movies...yes, all of them. I don't cry at any other type of movie, seriously. I don't even really like chick-flicks. But I devour any type of sports movie. Sometimes I cry in sport related commercials. (Disclaimer...I did used to be an athlete, so maybe it's the nostalgia, memories, whatever...)

Anyway, we went. We were waiting in the lobby of the theater with a bunch of other people and the head guy came in and was like, "All you waiting for the special pre-screening come this way" and this lady walks up to me and Pete and asks how you get free passes to pre-screenings of films. We felt cool, oh yeah! :) Totally worth it right there.

And then, wham...bonus...the movie was actually GREAT! Highly recommended. I cried. (But it was a sports movie.) And you know what, I now identify with the parents in movies. What in the world? You'd have thought I'd have realized I'm a parent by now, right, so that would mean I might identify with other parents.

Oh, and last random thought...the girl who plays Bethany Hamilton...AnnaSophia Robb...we almost named Ali that...but went with Aliana Sophia instead. Anyway...yes, our daughter has an almost movie star name (and we didn't know that when we named her, btw).

The fine print/post script/whatever you want to call it: The movie is about surfers in Hawaii, so there are bathing suits (ok, bikinis) in it. Just thought I'd save you a visit to screenit.com. If I hear one Christian judge, I mean complain, I mean "be concerned" about that and miss the whole point of the movie...man, will you hear my rant on this blog. I mean...just kidding, cuz I'd hate to judge back. Haha! No one's perfect, right?

Initial thoughts...

...on returning home from our trip to Mexico:

We currently live in a very clean mansion and I love good water pressure in the shower.

But in all seriousness...our trip was great! Pete and I have started a blog about our missions journey. And it's sure to be up-to-date because Pete has figured out he enjoys blogging and set up a lot of the pages on the new blog! Do us a favor and check it out here: Manna in the Desert, and then give us feedback...let us know if there are any ways you think it could improve! :) Also, we've been putting a lot of our story on the blog in various pages and more about what we'll be doing in Mexico! Enjoy!

Wow...a needed reminder...

I have no idea how many people actually read this blog...I don't blog too much, but it's kind of a new goal to blog more often (like once a week or so)...but more about that in a minute.

For those reading who don't talk to us IRL on a regular basis, we've made some life-altering decisions...as in, we're now missionary candidates with TEAM to Mexico! I'm sooooo excited and can't wait to share more of our journey because God has been doing some amazing things and answering prayer in some big ways, but for tonight, Oswald Chambers has been reminding me of the responsibility I have to obey God no matter what.

If, however, we obey God, He will care for those who have suffered the consequences of our obedience. We must simply obey and leave all the consequences with Him. Beware of the inclination to dictate to God what consequences you would allow as a condition of your obedience to Him. (Click the link to read the whole entry.)

All that because we had some meetings with TEAM last week, and I came away encouraged and excited from all of them except the missionary kid education one...in fact, I came away from that one thinking, "Oh, crap, we're going to screw up our kids!" But I guess we're all destined to do that in one way or another, right? Fallen people raising fallen kids...praise God for His redemption!!!

So...back to my goal to post more...we're going to Mexico next week (Friday)....NEXT WEEK. Yay...we'll take tons of pictures and I will return excited to share about what's going on in the ministry site we're hoping to become a part of...so, I think we're going to start a new blog just for our missions stuff...on which, I will post once a week...keep me honest, ok, everyone! :) That's the plan anyway!

New Blog Love

In case you need a new funny and honest and real blog to read...her latest post is a repost with the title "Missionaries probably shouldn't be jealous of strippers:
But sometimes they are."

Sing with me...

...(to the tune of the Mickey Mouse song):

J-U-D

G-E-M

E-N-T-A-L!

Here's the story...

So, about 2 weeks ago, we took a family outing to have Kylah's ears pierced. (She looks precious, by the way...but I'm lame and lazy about actually uploading pics, so you'll just have to picture the cutest baby ever, now with earrings, ok?)

In the store, because I'm a wimp about holding my kids down while others inflict pain, Pete was drafted to hold Kylah while the Claire's technician marked where the earrings would go. I started to browse the store with Ali and Ava...Ali, by the way, was in little girl heaven! Oh my, what have I done?

So, you know those loud-cell-phone-talkers that annoy you in public places? There was one in Claire's 2 weeks ago, and she decided to start telling whoever it was she was talking to all about her horror that someone would pierce his baby's ears and how could he do that and she would NEVER do something like that, it's just horrible...Pete couldn't hear her, but I could, cuz, remember, I'm "browsing" the store with Ali and Ava! I looked over at her and she caught my eye. I looked over at Kylah with Pete, turned back to loud-cell-phone-lady and said, "You think we're nuts, don't you?" I so wish I could have snapped a picture of her face at that moment...it was priceless...it was morphing from the horror she had previously been explaining in her cell phone conversation to looking at me and beginning to lump me into the "irresponsible parent" category she had lumped Pete into and then morphed into an embarrassed I just got caught judging someone while they were listening face!!! She looked back at me and shrugged and (with a still priceless, you're horrible face) said, "To each their own." I just looked at her and said, "Yep!"

Ah, I want to laugh just thinking of her face...did I mention it was priceless???

And then, there's another quick story of an adult who complained about kids reading their Bibles on their phones in church...ahhh...just smile with me, folks. I mean, the kids are reading. Their BIBLES! In church.

Two stories to remind us that we have freedom as we follow Christ...we have His word to guide us and then we need to offer grace to each other as we seek to honor Him within the boundaries of His revelation to us, but there is so much variation within those boundaries. Praise God for His creativity in making us all and for His grace in our lives!

Tomorrow, Tomorrow....

Hopefully, the pink cast will come off tomorrow...a "post-cast" picture will be up shortly...although I've been told that sometimes doctors can take the cast off, re-x-ray, then put one right back on. Really hoping that doesn't happen.


This is Ali the first day with her cast! Such a trooper.

For those who don't know...Ali broke her leg 6 weeks ago...running and falling, over nothing. She didn't cry, got right back up and fell again. We went through the day and she kept telling me her leg hurt, but wasn't crying. Finally, we took her to the ER, and there it was, a broken leg. It's been an interesting 6 weeks.