Seperating the Twins

Ok. Not really. But growing up in San Angelo not far from ASU (Angelo State) I was very familiar with the men's and women's highrises.  I went to church really close to these two buildings and could see them from the church play ground. From the time I was a very little, I called them the twin high-risers, or the girl and the boy.

This morning they took the girl (AKA the women's highrise or University Hall) down in a big way.  They blew her up, or in, or whatever happens when a building is imploded. Here is a clip from youtube. Sorta makes me sad. Goobye old girl! Wonder if the boy will miss her?

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Never Let Go

Here's is the deal. I have not blogged much in the last year. However I come to this blog everyday because of that little playlist over there.  It's my music. I don't own an Ipod (though both my kids do) and the stereo in our house is so old I'm not even sure it works. So this computer, this playlist is my music.
This playlist is so me. I love every song for one reason or another. I used to try to organize it but a few months ago Ijust put it on random play because there is no way I can order this collection. It's a crazy mix I know. Show tunes, country, Christian, pop, rock. Today I almost added a rap thing, but nah. (Tops Drop)  There would be even more on my playlist but I am limited to what they have on the web sight. They have tons of music on Project Playlist, but they don't  have EVERYTHING because it's free. You can't get everything for free!

Anyway, I love music. I can't play a musical instrument (beyond 2nd grade piano) and my voice is just so-so. BUT nothing touches me or speaks to me like music.


Today my hear t is heavy for two moms I know.  Both are facing very different, but very heart wrenching circumstances.  When I clicked on my playlist the first song was David Crowders Never Let Go (not to be confused with Matt Redman's You Never Let Go which I also love and is on this playlist.)

The words of this song just sunk into my heart. The unspoken prayers I have been sending up for these two moms are far from answered, but this song help ease the ache I feel for them.  We serve an amazing God. When we can not see him, he still sees us. He never lets go. He will hold these two ladies who are on my heart, and he will hold onto me, through it all. Everything. He can handle life when we can't. Amazing. Blessing. Healing. Saving. Easing. Completing. Empowering. Assuring.
Thank you Father!

Here are the words to David Crowder's Never Let Go. (It's #49)
When clouds veil sun
And disaster comes
Oh, my soul. Oh, my soul
When waters rise
And hope takes flight
Oh, my soul. Oh, my soul. Oh, my soul
Ever faithful
Ever true
You I know
You never let go
You never let go
You never let go
You never let go
When clouds brought rain
And disaster came
Oh, my soul. Oh, my soul
When waters rose
And hope had flown
Oh, my soul Oh, my soul
Oh, my soul Oh, my soul
Overflows
Oh, what love, oh, what love
Oh, my soul
Fills hope
Perfect love that never lets go
Oh, what love, oh, what love
Oh, what love, oh, what love
In joy and pain
In sun and rain
You're the same
Oh, You never let go
You never let go
You never let go
You never let go
You never let go


Be blessed today knowing wherever you find yourself, HE will never let go. :)

Too many thoughts for facebook tonight...

( Please realize I am preaching to myself here. If anything, I need to heed these words more than anyone I know which is why I felt the need to write it out. I in no way want to come across like I have the world figured out...FAR FROM IT!!!)

Here are some random thoughts that won't stop rambling around in my head.  I don't want to bore my facebook friends with them in multiple status updates, so I'm going to post them here. Then hopefully I can focus on the 300 other things I need to do before I go to bed tonight. :)

The longer I live the more I believe that no politician is ever as good or as bad as they are made out to be. There is bad in the best of us and good in the worst of us.

Hate is never a good thing.

Praying for your enemies is the best thing you can do for the both of you.

When I was a Sophomore or Jr at ACU (it's all a blur!) I switched my major from Political Science /Communication  to Education/Communication. A year later I was on a committee with one of my Poly Sci profs. He asked why I switched.  I explained that the more I learned about government and politics the more disenfranchised I became. For me, politics seemed too much of an ethical mind field. I did not think I could ever be a good mother and wife if I had to devote so much time to such an occupation / field. He laughed and said I might be right, that many Christians felt politics were "too dirty" for their lives. But then he said something that has sorta haunted me all these years. He said something like "Politics may be dirty, but if all moral, ethical people decide it's too dirty and steer clear of it, who does that leave running the country?"
Ouch.
Maybe that's why I am not a fan of bashing any political figure no matter what I think of them. They put themselves out there in a place  I was not willing to go.  Holding someone accountable and questioning them is just as affective ) when it is done in a respectful manner... actually I think it is more affective. (Or is it effective?)

I don't remember who I heard say "A lady never stoops to discuss politics and religion in place of service and salvation," but I think they were right.

Most people like to label others. Far right, far left, ultra conservative, flaming liberal, Pro, anti, for, against... HOWEVER both extremes have this in common. If you want to make them mad, just decide not to take a side or wear a label. Or to really rile them up point out the good in both sides. Don't do this unless you want to feel the full wrath from both sides though. (Ask John McCain about that! )

Nothing stirs up deep emotions faster than thinking my children are being taken advantage of or threatened.

I can be nice to most all people, but it's really hard to like some of them.

Nothing is ever as simple or as complicated as I think it is.

Rhett may turn into a weather man or a climate scientist because Mother Natures seems to reek havoc on his birthday parties. Last year it was a hurricane 100's of miles away that forced us to move the day before.. this year it could be rain. Poor little guy has been up by 6:30am the last two days watching the weather and giving us bi-hourly rain chance percentage updates. :( Please don't rain Friday night!!!

I loved walkng past the butterfly garden in the Panther Patch on the way to Rhett's class meeting tonight.   It makes me happy to think Rhett gets to see this everyday and know what his Mom was doing all those months and hours last year when she helped make it. I did have to hold myself back from going out there to put the umbrellas and flags up though. OY! Letting go has never been easy for me, but I am going to do it with a smile on my face. YES. I. AM.

Few things smell better than chocolate chip cookies fresh from the oven or worse than burnt chocolate chip cookies "fresh" from the oven. We have smelled both here tonight!

I'm sorta peeved that Katherine Higel gave away what will happen on Gray's on September 24th...but sorta excited too!

I am trying to decide which Twilight book is my favorite. It's too hard.  But I do know my favorite part to read...the almost end of New Moon. Will November 20th just hurry up and get here already! :)

I will never go to bed if I don't get up and get with it.

Night, night computer!

The things they say

Ok. Hello September! Can you believe it? Take a breath...

This blog is my place to write all those cute kid things down so I don't forget them. Lately (well for about the last year) I haven't been very good at that. SOOOO I'm going to start now with this post.

Ella Kate cracks me up about 200 times a day. The girls is just funny stuff.
Today she is starting back to Mother's Day Out and she and I both CAN NOT WAIT!

Yesterday we were at Home Depot having some paint mixed. She started talking to the paint mix man about pink being her color and "my Mom likes brown." (I was getting test samples of tan/taupe) As we were leaving, out of the blue Ella Kate waved and yelled back  "I won't be here tomorrow because I'm going to my school." The paint mix man and I got a kick out of that!

I was telling EK that she was going to have a new teacher this year for MDO "Oh that is so sad. Ms. Jerra is really going to miss me!"

Ella Kate is having fun telling us when we say a word "we don't say." For instance the other day I was driving to soccer and the water thermos tipped over, rolled across the van and started leaking when I made a turn. I said "Oh that stupid water bottle is leaking everywhere!"

"Mommy we don't say stupid."

"Sorry Ella Kate I should have said silly."

"No Mommy... we don't say silly. We say GREAT! That GREAT water bottle is leaking everywhere!" :)

Last night at the pizza place Ella Kate was getting her groove on in the booth and said very loudly "I'm shaking my booty, not my boobies. My boobies are too little. Mommy has boobies but we don't talk about boobies. We don't talk about anybody's boobies because it's not nice. Daddy do you talk about boobies?" OY!

I asked Rhett how school went the first day. "OK Mom I gonna tell you everything we did today but don't expect me to do that again this year."

Rhett on shopping with me in Ikea " I feel like I've been walking around inside HGTV for hours!"

Kolby on the neccessity of cell phones...

"What if I went with a friend out of town and we went to the mall and I got distracted and wandered off and then they forgot me cuz they aren't used to having another kid along and I got lost because I was still distracted and they went home to Waco without me. You would really want me to have a cell phone then. Right?"

You are STILL. NOT. GETTING. A. CELL. PHONE. Kolby Sue!

Happy Tuesday! 

First Day of School

They grow so fast!

Will I ever stop being blown away how much kids grow in one year? ESPECIALLY MY KIDS!!! These are pictures taken last summer at ACU and this summer at ACU. MY GOODNESS!

Nothing says summer like...

 

Almost 3 and full of 'tude!

EK will be three in a week or so! Can you believe that??? I have so many Ella Kate stories that I need to write down before we forget them. But for now I'm just going to post some of these pics taken to put on her "Dora" birthday invitations from Wal-Mart's photo center. Before you go thinking I am creative to do a photo invite, I must confess. They did have any Dora fill-in-the-blank invitations at any store I have been to in the last month. What's up with that???? So we did the photo ones. (The impromptu after VBS photo session to get ONE good picture could be a whole other blog post.) Since we didn't get that one picture, I made the collage above for the invitation. Below are the pics that didn't make the collage. I think we managed to catch the many sides of Ella Kate's personality in these pics. OH that girl!

OK that last one is a little scary. What a mess. We love her so much and thank God for blessing us with this funny, sweet, happy girl!
Happy Thursday!

Back on the net!

I'm back! (And I found fun new blog skins! :) Thanks Hot bliggity blog!

That little 7 day computer break was not as successful as I thought it would be. More on that later. Maybe. But suffice it to say I have decided that the computer is too ingrained into my life to quit cold turkey. Not even sure that would be good. But taking a break was good. I know I am on here too much at times.

A few random thoughts for this Wednesday.

Vacations are not only fun, but necessary. My family needs one. Bad!!!! Just need to figure out when, where and how.

Garage sales are hard work. Really hard work. But like vacations they are necessary to my sanity and well being. I have not had one in years and boy, does it show! I am overwhelmed with all we need to get rid of. Truly it is staggering. I have sold over $150 worth of just stuff on Craigslist this week pre-garage sale. It feels so good just to have that little bit of stuff gone. I have decided that I need to make myself have a garage sale every year to get rid of stuff. Every year.

Sleep. Can't live without it, but can't get all I need to do this week done if I get much of it. I really need a break from the mile long to-do lists! But such is life. Better than being bored. WHICH is now my least favorite word! Too bad my kids seem to love it so much. We need a better chore system around here!

VBS is also hard work. have you hugged a VBS volunteer lately?

Home Improvement. WOW. What a racket! We are in the thick of it trying to get our house "market ready." So much time and money goes into these houses we occupy. As a student of history, civilizations & cultures, I was taught to really learn about a people look to their architecture. Not just the great buildings either. Look at the every day dwellings of the common man. The details in those spaces will tell you so much about a people,what their society held precious, what they aspired to, and what they loved. So what do our homes say about our culture? HHHMMMM? Thoughts to ponder.

Lastly, is there anything in the world as refreshing as a cool swimming pool on a hot Texas summer day? I don't think so!

Happy Summer!

Unplugged

It is with great fear and trembling that I write this. My kids have challenged me to turn the computer off for one week. Yes, 7 days. No e-mail, on-line bill paying, on-line shopping, Craigslist, Facebook, or Bejeweled blitz. And no blogging. Not just internet...no computer. No typing. Nothing. Nada. YIKES!
It's not that I am letting my kids boss me around. It's something I have been thinking about quite a bit lately. And I can do this. Right?
I actually look forward to everything I will get done when I'm not here reading and clicking away. But I have become so dependent on this thing that I'm wondering how long the desire to do this will last. I'm gonna have to use the phonebook if I need a number. I am quickly printing my I-cal calendar so I will not forget everything.
7 days.
Fear and trembling.
Just wait until I think up a challenge for them! :)
Well, here it goes.
1...
2....
3!

My playlist

If you have the sound on and if you are reading this today, you are hearing one of my all time favorite songs! As much as I DO NOT like the Dixie Chicks politics, I LOVE THIS VERSION!!!
I have loved this song since I sang it in my 5th grade music program at Travis Elementary Thanks Mrs Bates! The Carpenters have a great version of this song as did The Tone Rangers in the movie The Break-up. (To bad that scene didn't actually make the movie.) Kermit the frog of course was in the top 40 for many weeks in 1979 with his version. :) I bet I listened to The Muppet Movie 8-track a million times when I was Kolby's age. But this is my favorite version, probably because the Dixie Chicks make me sound better as I sing at the top of my lungs! (My kids just shake their heads and pray no friends stop by when I'm in SING mode. Wonder why? )

I have been cleaning out a lot and I have noticed I clean faster and better if I have music going. This playlist has been blaring for days. And I love every song. Some remind me of people, events, or books.... Anyway, I hope you don't mind me sharing my weird wide range of favorite songs with you on this blog. Feel free to join in... oh I'm about the belt out the chorus.....

Have you been half asleep and have you heard voices?
I've heard them calling my name
Is this the sweet sound that calls
The young sailors
The Voice might be one and the same
I've heard it too many times to ignore it
It's something that I'm supposed to be

Someday we'll find it
The Rainbow Connection
The lovers, the dreamers and me!!!

Love that song! Hope you have wonderful rainbow filled day!

Last Day of School!

I lost my camera and could not take my traditional teacher pictures this morning. But I found it and took after school pictures. All three of my kids seemed to have grown so much this year! But especially KOLBY!


Our girl is getting so tall! Love these days and these pictures but they are pulling a bit at my Mommy heart.

In other news, we have had a really crazy week. The end of school is always nuts but then my Dad fell and had a terrible time until he was able to have surgery this morning. The surgery went well but he is off his feet for at least another 3 months. Considering he is just now starting to get around after his fall last October... Well this is not good news! But he is receiving excellent care now and we are happy for that! More later.

Happy Summer!

The Panther Patch is complete!

Since the end of last October, The Panther Patch has dominated so many parts of my brain...not to mention my to-do list! Today it officially opened. All the projects are finished. No more building. It feels SO good to be able to say that! It was a sweet morning...even the weather cooperated! Click over to The Green Panther if you want to see pictures.

I bet I took 200 pictures of the P-patch today! Here are my favorites!
The first is just fun, not even posed. It just happened.

Though I am fully aware it might not work out, I truly hope and pray that someday Ella Kate gets to go outside with her class at SVE and think, "My mom helped build this place!"

And lastly of all the hundreds and HUNDREDS of pictures I have taken over the last few months out in The Panther Patch, this is my favorite. As I was packing up today, a second grade class came outside to do their social studies lesson. When I looked over and saw them, it hit me. The Panther Patch is really complete.

After all the hours of freezing and then sweating, all of the PTA drama, the late nights searching and shopping on-line, all the e-mails and phone calls, after all the shoveling, and raking, and planting... The Panther Patch has finally become what we dreamed it would be, an incredible outdoor facility where teachers teach and kids learn.
What a great day!

Garden party

Tonight I have too many thoughts for Facebook so for the second time in 4 days I am blogging. (No. It is not 2005. AMAZING huh? )

Today I had a little afternoon party in the garden. We had cucumber sandwiches, thumb print cookies (Yes. The old recipe from Mac Eplin's in Abilene!) sparkling lemonade, pinwheels, iced sugar cookies, snickerdoodles, chocolate chips, sweet tea... Now that you are drooling, I have to say it wasn't quite as glam as it all sounds. Yes there were pretty flowers and lots of people came, but it was hot. Before anyone arrived I was sweating and hauling umbrellas and coolers full of ice. My make-up had completely sweated off by the time the party started. And I was worn out. It takes a lot to throw a garden party. But aside from the heat and my lack of makeup it was good. I was struck by all the memories of my grandmothers that flooded my mind as I hurried through my busy day.

My Nana Ruth was the first person to ever make cucumber sandwiches for me. Well they were really for her bridge club, but she let me have a few. Yes. She had a bridge club and when it was her week to host she cut fresh flowers and made little sandwiches and cookies. The ladies drank tea, and then sometimes coffee as the afternoon wore on. They laughed and spoke quietly as they discussed the news of the day and the plight of poor Mr or Mrs so and so down the street, bless their heart! And they played bridge. For the life of me I don't know how one plays bridge. Bridge club always looked fun, not really the bridge part, but the friends and little cookie part. I think I want a bridge club.

And then my Nana Naomi... (Had to call them by their first names since I called them both Nana. And yes I always loved that my grandmothers were named Naomi and Ruth!) Well Nana Naomi was a Garden Clubber. I think she played bridge on occasion too, but she was big into the Garden Club. I can remember her trying to teach me to make tiny arrangements at the tender age of three and four. Back then I was not interested. To this day, as much as I love plants, I am not good with them. But my Nana could grow anything. She always had beds and gardens and a ton of plants on plant stands all over her house. Today as I was buying bougainvilleas at the nursery to use as center pieces, I thought of Nana Naomi and how she would make tons arrangements for her Garden Club meetings. (You know I think they ate little sandwiches and cookies at the Garden Club too!) I remember that I was fascinated by how Nana always buried her banana peels and leftover fruit and veggies parts in her garden to "make the soil." I guess that is what we call composting now. Yeah I should have paid better attention.

Remembering my Nanas makes my heart smile. (Just realized I don't ever remember their make-up sweating off! In fact I don't remember them ever sweating...) I wish they were still here to teach me how to play Bridge and make flower arrangements. I wish they were here to love my kids and make them pudding from scratch when they don't feel well.

I wonder what they would think of me? Nana Ruth died when Rhett was three, but she hadn't been the Nana of my youth for quite a while at that point. Nana Naomi died a year and a half before I met Rob. Both Nanas were in their 90's and needed to go when they died. It's not that I feel they were taken too soon. It's just that I wanted them to be the age they were when I was a little girl forever. I want my spunky Nana Ruth here to play the piano and laugh as Ella Kate dances. I want my Nana Naomi to paint watercolors with Kolby. And Rhett...well they would have just eaten him up! Boys were so rare in our family. I want them to wear their housecoats in the morning, and go to town for a coke in the afternoon. I want to fall asleep with them watching "the story" and have a big night out on the town eating a steak finger baskets at the DQ at 5:30pm. Later we would play Skip-Bo or dominoes with Lawrence Welk, Love Boat or later Walker Texas Ranger in the back ground.

I like when little things in my life remind me of my grandparents. I wonder if it is any coincidence that on this, the busiest of days, my mind kept wandering back to my Nanas and a time in my life when things seemed simpler. When my biggest worry was whether I would have to take a nap in the afternoon or be put to bed too early. Maybe God wanted me to remember my Nanas today for a reason? Maybe. Or maybe He just wants me to learn to play bridge and join a Garden Club? :)

Either way I am loving the memories of my two sweet Nanas while thanking God that these two ladies were such a big part of my life. All these years later just the memory of them makes my day. Thanks Nana! (Both of you!)

Oh my

How long has it been since I blogged? OH. MY.
Since I never blog and no one really reads this anymore I feel pretty safe just thinking "on blog" tonight. Here are a few thoughts... (well, 8 to be exact)

1. The Panther Patch is almost finished. I love working on it. I am thrilled to see it all come together, love having kids out there planting, love organizing it and imagining all that can be done out there. Really love it. But I also feel like it is killing me. I feel like I have no energy, no brain, and no time left for anything else. As a wife and mom of 3, that is bad. Very bad. But I can not quit now. I'm almost done! (I've been telling myself that for two months) Please remind me never to work this hard on a project unless A. I am getting paid really well or B. It is for my own yard/house/kids.

2. I want to move. I really do. I just want to move. Across town or across the state.(OK, just across town!) I have moving fever. I am addicted to realtor.com and the tax appraisal district web site. We have been in this house 7 years. Is it possible to have the 7 year itch with a house? I love my house, but I still want to move it, add on to it, get a totally different yard and remodel 70% of it. Moving would be easier than all that. So I want to move. AND I WANT TO MOVE NOW!

3. Reality check. We are no where close to being ready to move. Moving will be hard. We have so much to do to get this house market ready... but honestly, it is not anything that we should not be doing anyway just for us to live here. I'm ready to try. What do we have to loose? It's not like we have to move, so we don't have to sell unless the price is right. I think I have almost talked Rob into getting serious about this. So as soon as the Panther Patch is finished, getting the house "market ready" begins. No rest for the weary!

4. I am a terrible blogger. I just don't want to blog. I don't know why. (Actually I have been blogging...you guessed it.. for THE PANTHER PATCH! Yeah. Just go over there if you need a Steph fix. That is usually where I am.) I don't know if it is facebook or what, but I can not seem to get in the blogging groove anymore. Remember the days when we blogged everyday or every other day? WOW. That was a long time ago! :)

5. During all this crazy busy life, my kids are growing so fast and changing so much every day that I can't stand it. It makes my head spin. Ella Kate, Rhett and Kolby have all 3 changed so much this school year! I have not been good at documenting it either. Sometimes I wonder who these big kids are and what have they done with my babies? I mean there are these little people who live here and say and do the funniest things. They think the biggest thoughts. They can bring out the strongest of every emotion in me and I love them so much that it hurts. It blows me away. EVERY DAY! And it goes so fast in retrospect! How do these LONG days add up so quickly into fleeting months and years? How do I slow it down? Do you ever think these things? This seems to be a constant theme in my life the last few years. I am beginning to sound like an old woman aren't I? ACK!!!

6. I miss people. I miss the friends I never see anymore because our circles don't cross. I miss my out of town friends. I miss my San Angelo, ACU and Fort Worth friends. I feel like an awful friend for not keeping up with anyone better. My calendar and mind are both so full that there is never time to see anyone for long. But my heart really longs to sit and visit, to linger, to laugh until I snort, to have so much to talk about that my body denies the need for sleep because my mind and heart are so full. I want to play games and and laugh so loud that the kids can't sleep in the next room and strangers would swear we were drunk from the sweet tea we are drinking. I MISS THAT!

7. I would love to sit here and blog about me longer :) but I actually need to do a few things before I crash for a few hours and start another crazy day tomorrow. The house looks like it threw up on itself. Should I really try to put everything away or should I just walk around with a trash bag and take it all to Goodwill in the morning. ALL OF IT! Would we really miss all this stuff so much?

OK off the computer I go. 1 2 3 and I'm off...

BTW
8. Happy Mothers Day!

Easter Weekend