I am Alive!

Hello, bloggerville.

I am alive. I have not fallen off the face of the earth, but my face has fallen off. Or maybe my brain has fallen out. Or maybe both....

All I know is that December has just began and already I'm tired. I walked into December with a full calendar, and I'm not sure I can make it through!

Since I'm in a tired, scrooge-like mood, I think I'll list five things that really annoy me. (Fellow bloggers, you can create your own list, too!)


FIVE THINGS THAT ANNOY ME AS OF THIS MOMENT:

1. Hearing people eat their food --especially cereal. (Which my husband likes to do right beside me on the couch!)
2. Clutter of any form....laundry, junk in the car, etc. The funny thing is that clutter follows me EVERYWHERE!
3. Being interrupted when I'm trying to tell a story. Mainly, it's my kids who interrupt. I won't tell you which one is the worst....nope, I will not divulge her name. It wouldn't be fair to suggest that one child is consistently doing this over the other kids. She can't help it. She's the middle child and needs her attention. But I won't give you her name.
4. Trying to create the perfect Christmas card with perfect pictures of my kids, showing how perfect my life is. Don't you guys already know how perfect I am? I'm SuperMom, remember?
5. Going to the grocery store....because I do this, like, every three days, and no matter how much planning ahead or stocking up I do, I still ALWAYS NEED SOMETHING ELSE FROM THE STORE.

Have a good day!

3rd Annual Highland Hayride!

My apologies in advance for my lack of knowledge in how to properly align text and photos. Blogger gives me indigestion in this way. I cannot figure it out. If any of you can help, I'd greatly appreciate it. The mis-alignment makes me cranky....

If you live in Waco and you haven't heard of Highland Baptist Church, you're obviously living under a rock. Not only is Highland known for it's amazing worship music, missions emphasis, and uncomplicated desire to glorify Christ...it's also known for it's annual Highland Harvest Hayride. Okay, so maybe I'm exaggerating a little about the hayride part. I'm not even sure we've given the event an official name, but it's my blog...my opinion...and my show, right? Highland Harvest Hayride it is....


Our lifegroup started this tradition three years ago, and each year it seems to grow bigger and bigger. This year we topped out at about 75 people, and we actually had to have TWO trucks and trailers to fit everyone in! The favorite pit stop during the hayride is the dairy farm....ooooh, that smell! We let the kids get up close and personal with the cows for a small taste of farm life, and several of us cinged our nose hairs by getting a little too close to the stench, er, I mean smell.



Following the hayride, we let kids roast hot dogs and smores while the adults feasted on homemade chili and cornbread. The whole event is a "back to basics" approach to fellowship and family....God's picturesque countryside, friends and family we dearly love, and most importantly NO TV, COMPUTER, IPOD, etc. (Kenny S., I forgive you for using your Blackberry...I know the "new" hasn't worn off just yet.) We all leave with dirty, exhausted kids, full bellies and desires to own a little piece of land in the country. (Thankfully, our gracious hosts, Bruce and Nellie, will open their barn to us next year--so we'll get our "country fix" once more.)


Just a few random thoughts from tonight's event:
1. Kesleigh, I always enjoy looking for your "runaway" children at these events.
2. Kim, please know that one batch of those brownies will never be enough. Not even if you've made them just for me....
3. Parents: if we find ourselves asking "Who does this child belong to?" every 5 minutes, we probably need to institute some sort of number system. I like how the farmers numbered the cows by tagging their ears. Maybe we could do that....
4. Kelly T.--did you nurse Patriot on the hayride? If so, you've got me beat. I've nursed my kids in every public bathroom and parking lot in the city of Waco. But I've not had the opportunity to nurse on a hayride. You should get an award.
5. Melinda, I enjoyed playing "woof-woof" with Sage. I'm glad to know that I'm not the only one succumbing to my child's rather odd sense of imagination.
6. Bruce and Nellie: I'm a city-girl, but your place is way cool!


Here are a few pictures from today's event....enjoy!





















Remember the gracious hosts I talked about? Here they are! Two of the most loving people I know. Thanks, Bruce and Nellie! We love you!
























With 30+ children present, it takes every man and woman to help us wrangle them all. You know what they say: It takes a village.....




















My precious children....sorry for the blatant display of favoritism. Remember, my blog.....my show.

The Selkes...(sorry for getting you lost. How'd you like the cemetery???) and the Konzelmans. (Amanda is the "butter voice" I described in an earlier post.) BUY THEIR CD!






















My Asian-sister-in-Christ, Julie and my side-conversationalist friend, Theresa.

Loadin' up.....and random kids......



















Okay, I had to show you this picture....do you see the man in the blue shirt? That's Mr. Potts, also affectionately known as the "baby stalker" because he loves babies so much! On the hayride, Emerie decided she would rather sit in his lap than mine. Several times I tried to get her back, and she would shake her arms at me telling me "no thanks." Can you believe it? Thank you, Mr.Potts, for being such a great hayride-babysitter!

I've got tons more photos, and I'll try to get them up in a later post! I'm behind in my bible study homework, so I better get to it! Blessings......

Trick or Treat

Oh, the dilemma of having multiple age kiddos during Halloween! Here's the scenario....take one very self-focused 12-year-old (aren't we all at that age?!) who wants to hang out with her friends and trick-or-treat door to door. The next in line and highly opinionated middle child is excited about the concept, but in reality probably won't participate in anything. The third and final precious pumpkin doesn't really even know what's going on and would rather stay home and lay on her snuggle blankie. So what are we to do? How do we make all the kids happy? Why do we have to do anything? After all, I've got a ton of laundry to do, and I'm certain the kids will want to help me fold clothes. They looooooove to spend time with me like that...folding clothes, doing dishes, making beds....did you know that my children are perfect, too? They are.

What we finally decided to do was to drag all three children to our church's fall festival for the first half of the night. Kellie-Laine brought two friends and I let them run a muck at the church...independent of us. Landrie was the typical observer and refused to play any of the games, but did become quite skilled at cutting to the front of the line to simply ask for candy. Emerie was her usual self...pitter pattering around, pointing at things, and smiling for any male who looked her direction. Thirty minutes later....the kids were ready to go home.

This was probably the most low-keyed Halloween ever! KL put her costume together using a pair of ladybug wings, and Landrie chose a princess dress from her dress-up closet (but absolutely refused to have her hair done or make-up applied). Emerie wore a ballerina skirt I had ordered some time ago. It was a pretty unremarkable night, and I liked it that way.

There was a rather annoying thing that occurred that night. Cody and I thought the universal sign for "Do not knock on our door for candy, you greedy little goblins" was to have your porch lights turned OFF. Apparently, this is not the case here in Waco. We flipped off the lights around 8:45 thinking we wouldn't be bothered any more, but we were oh so wrong. Not only did little devils continue to knock on our darkened door, their PARENTS actually escorted them up the darkened driveway since they couldn't see in the dark conditions. I kid you not. Not only that, but they were loud, and some didn't even put forth the energy to wear a costume.

Can I get an "Amen" here? I know I sound like a Halloween grump, but come on people. At least put on a football jersey...a simple wig will do...a sheet over your head...glasses? It's easy and it shows respect. Next year, I plan on driving all over the city of Waco carrying a large trash bag and stocking up on candy for next year....no costume. I don't need one. I'm going as a mom....a weary one, at that.