My normal

I'll take the challenge from Kim's blog and post my "normal":

Silas climbs into my bed for a "snuggle"
I hear Emma singing to Abigail through the monitor
Three cups of milk
Chocolate chip pancakes
PB&J in a zip-loc bag
"Get your clothes on please, daddy is almost ready"
Two out the door
TV on - "We're going on a trip in our favorite rocket ship"
Shower, interrupted
Drive thru and drop off - one more out the door
Clean diaper, find plug
Two hours
Drive thru and pick up
Speech therapy
Carpool
Snacks
TV on - time to make dinner
Daddy's home
Phonics time
Play outside and get dirty
Go inside and wash clean
PJs
Stories
Night-Night
Snack
Blog
Jon Stewart
Dishwasher on

Now tell me about your normal....

The master bath

I started to do some redecorating in my master bath today. Well, truth be told, I started several years ago when the wallpaper started peeling. Each time I took a bath, I would pull another piece of the wallpaper off. It had gotten to the point where the bathroom looked really bad! So this morning I woke up with resolve - get the wallpaper off and paint. Emma and Silas were my helpers. They went with me to Lowe's where we got a wallpaper scorer, empty spray bottles and scrapers. First, we scored the walls (my job), then they each sprayed the wallpaper with a mixture of hot water and fabric softener. After letting that soak in, we scraped the wallpaper right off. It was not really fun, but very rewarding. Good bye 10 year old floral wallpaper. We were able to get one side of the bathroom painted this evening:

The 3rd child

When I only had one child, I used to say things like:

"That is your 30 minutes of TV for this morning, let's do an art project" or "Let's clean up this mess before we get anything else out" or "We need to wipe off your face before we go out for our errands" or "What kind of a mother lets her toddler dig a giant box of candy out of her purse at 9:00 a.m. and eat it as they walk around Wal-Mart?"

Now that I have three, I say things like:

"Has anyone seen Abigail?" and "What is this wet spot in the living room?" and "Whatever your name is..." and "Where is that giant box of candy...Oh, here you go Abby".

The floral solution

I brought the flowers in from the garage this morning (mainly because every time I stepped out to get in the van my eyes started watering). I was just sure I could still enjoy some of the flowers if I were able to endure a few moments of being uncomfortable. With Silas asking 20 questions, I pulled out all the lilies and put them in a separate vase. That vase is sitting out on the front porch, sure to come back in with the housekeeper who will think they were lovingly delivered...

A funny thing happened on the way to the allergist...

Jeff sent me these beautiful flowers for our anniversary. May I say without bragging...aren't they gorgeous?

When we first got married, I got flowers every month on the 23rd. No kidding, I used to have about 50 vases. It went on for several years. Then Emma came and money got tighter and well, you know the rest. So this delivery yesterday was a special treat for me. It reminded me of those monthly deliveries that became so routine. I appreciate the flowers much more now than I did then.

Unfortunately, I am having to appreciate them from a little further off than I used to. When we got home from our date last night, I started having an allergy attack - eyes, nose, skin, throat - the whole bit. I quickly figured out it was the flowers and they were banished to the entry hall. By the time we headed off to bed, I was in search of eye drops and benedryl and Jeff had to put the flowers out in the garage. Not only did I have to give up my beautiful flowers...it also had a negative impact on the rest of our evening (do I need to say more?). What's a girl to do?

Back to Beaumont

My grandparents have gone back to Beaumont. The power is back on at their house and they were anxious to leave this morning. Pray for all those who have lost so much.

Today is my 8th anniversary. Jeff and I are going out tonight for dinner and a movie.

Hurricane Ike

Once again, a hurricane has hit Beaumont and the Texas gulf coast. Three years ago, Hurricane Rita hit Beaumont just 10 days after Katrina hit New Orleans. Not much attention was paid to the damage in Texas but it was substantial. This time, the damage was catastrophic. Galveston was completely wiped off the map...High Island, Bolivar Penninsula and Crystal Beach are all gone! The infrastructure of Beaumont is in shambles - all water must be boiled before consumption, the sewer plant is being run on generators, 50% of residents do not have power. Even when the mandatory evacuation was lifted today, the county judge asked residents to be aware that the town to which they are returning is not the same one they left.

My grandparents have been here for a few days. They came here after spending a week in Arkansas with other relatives. They are anxious to return but cannot go back until they are sure there is adequate food, water and medical care. While it is always hard to be displaced, it is so much worse when you are 85 years old. The kids have been entertaining us while we are all together....Abigail dances, Emma does gymnastics and Silas covers his body in Spider-Man tattoos....

Monday in NYC

On our last day in New York, we slept in and got ready slowly. We wandered a few blocks from our hotel and got a yummy breakfast. We were just 2 blocks from the Lehman Brothers headquarters so there were lots of young, well-dressed professionals who looked a bit confused about what they were supposed to be doing. After breakfast, we walked in front of the L.B. building and saw a crowd gathering. There was an artist who had sketched a picture of the CEO and was allowing people to write messages on it - employees in green ink and anyone else in black ink. He ended up selling that "piece of art" for $10,000.00. WHAT?

Anyway, we checked out of our hotel, checked our bags and headed to Central Park. After a bit of aimless walking...we took a lovely carriage ride through Central Park - past Tavern on the Green, the Carousel, Strawberry Fields, Sheep Meadow - it was beautiful. We grabbed lunch at Micky Mantel's and got back to the hotel just in time to catch our car to the airport. We had a long trip back but made it in around 11:00 p.m. We were glad to be home...

NYC - Sunday

We had one scheduled activity for Sunday - to visit the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. Both are now run by the National Park Service. Statute Cruises continually runs ferries between Battery Park and both monuments. We walked quickly around the Statue of Liberty then spent most of our time at Ellis Island. What a fantastic preservation of America's history. If you get a chance to see Ellis Island - do it! It is all at once inspiring and haunting. We spent several hours touring the different rooms. Once back in Manhattan, we took a rest then headed out to the South Street Seaport. During the morning, it is a working fish market. By lunch time, it is transformed into a tourist destination. We found a great seafood spot on the third floor and sat out on the balcony overlooking the Brooklyn Bridge. It was great food and an even better view. After dinner we walked to Ground Zero. We were surprised by the size of the space that is now a hole in the skyline. There is construction happening on the ground level - the beginnings of the Freedom Tower to be completed in 2012. The most moving part of the walk for us was when we came upon FDNY Station 10 - literally right across the street from the World Trade Center site. There was a beautiful memorial to all the men and women from that house who lost their lives 7 years ago. At the same time, there were men and women in that fire station ready to go at any moment and save lives. On our way back to the hotel, we entered the subway system right across from the WTC site. We had to walk several blocks (underground) to get to a working stop because the WTC subway stop is closed; however, you walk right past it and the gates are locked. I don't know what else to say...

NYC - Saturday

After a busy Friday, we slept well and got up late on Saturday morning. It was so nice to sleep until we wanted to get up and get ready with nobody knocking on the bathroom door. Our only obligation was to be at Chelsea Piers by 10:30 a.m. to board our scheduled harbor cruise. We easily navigated the subway and bus system and arrived to find a gracious staff and lovely table for two. Until the boat left the dock (at 11:00), it was a little hot - the ceiling of the boat is made entirely of glass so we could see the sights. After our first course, we headed out to the deck and watched as lower Manhattan passed by. It was really nice and we learned several facts about the city that we did not know before (Soho means "South of Houston Street", Tribeca means "Triangle below Canal Street"). After a short rest at the hotel, we visited the Metropolitan Museum of Art ("The Met"). It was a spectacular place - beautiful art and a stunning building. We both agreed that our favorite exhibit was 1st century Roman artifacts. We were shocked at the beautiful glass work done by the Romans - so sophisticated. Saturday evening we found Rockefeller Center and had dinner at the Rock Cafe. YUM!

New York - Friday

Last Friday morning, Jeff and I left for NYC. The 24-hours prior to departure was full of uncertainty because Hurricane Ike was bearing down on the Texas coast and our connecting flight to LaGuardia was out of Houston. We got up at 4:00 a.m. and headed to the Tyler Airport for our 5:20 a.m. flight. It got off the ground as scheduled. When we got to Houston, the airport a was a little crazy but our flight left right on time (and boy was it FULL). We landed in NY ahead of schedule, got our luggage and took a car to the hotel. Overall, a very pleasant day of travel. Once we checked in, we decided to hit Times Square (only about 6 blocks from our hotel). We ate at the ESPN Sports Zone (Jeff's birthday trip, remember) and wandered around Times Square. Very exciting, busy and "touristy". It is just as you would imagine - only bigger. After a little rest at the hotel, we headed out for a ride on the subway and a late dinner. At 5:00 p.m., we just happened to be at Grand Central Station so I snapped this shot of the people on the move. It was fabulous - no meals to prepare, no kids to bathe, no time we had to be in....

Caught between the moon and New York City

Jeff and I are having a wonderful time in New York City. We spent this afternoon at the 17th Street Pier. There was a fabulous seafood restaurant on the 3rd floor. We sat out on the balcony and watched the happenings on the Brooklyn Bridge. As we finished our bottle of wine (hey, we're in NYC with no kids) - the sun was setting and the moon peeked through just over the bridge. More stories to come...

Chocolate Chip Pizza

Abby loves chocolate chip pizza from Double Dave's.

Jeff and I are off to New York City...

The bounty

Tonight was the beginning of the bi-annual Children's Clothing Consignment sale. I love this event. Twice every year, two wonderful Christian ladies organize and coordinate a HUGE sale of children's clothing, equipment and toys. For picky shoppers like me, there are great deals to be found. I buy my kids' entire wardrobes and save a ton of money. If you have not been, you might give it a try. Be prepared, it is totally busy and there is alot of crap. But if you are willing to dig...there are great treasures to be found.

Studio Rambin

I was honored to take pictures for my friend Kim this morning. She had a sweet baby boy 5 weeks ago - Jonas Dean. I have a special bond to this little boy because I was at his birth, saw his first breath and took his first photos (a story unto itself). So today, Kim brought Jonas and we did a "photo shoot". While Kim and I were tying to get at least one good picture of Jonas, Abby and Kalleigh (Kim's middle daughter who is just 2 weeks older than Abby) were playing together. At one point they wandered off and neither of us really noticed for a few minutes. As Kim sat down to feed Jonas, I looked around for the girls. I found them in the bathtub - no water, just toys and toddlers. Abby was singing "clean up, clean up" and Kalleigh was loading toys into the bath caddy.

Sunday "in the park"

Abby loves to climb in the van
Abby and Emma use the back of the van as a "clubhouse"
Silas - hanging around

There are two things my kids love to do when we head outside. They love to play in the "common area" - a grassy part of our neighborhood that is not used by any of our neighbors so it is just like a private park for the kids and they love to climb around in the vans. I don't let them crawl around in my van because they are constantly getting into my stuff (change, lipstick, papers) but Jeff lets them loose in his van to play. Truth be told it may be more about the cleanliness of each van ...

A beautiful Saturday

It was a beautiful day here in Tyler. The temperature never went over 90 degrees. We kept hte kids busy and spent lots of time outside. One problem we have on Saturdays is that Abby usually wakes up early from her first nap then needs a short second nap in the late afternoon. That would not be a problem except that she wakes up from the 2nd nap in the worst mood.

It takes her at least 20 minutes to "wake up" and get happy.

Holiness

Last night I attended a class taught by the Honorable Judge Parker who is a member at Glenwood. He is teaching a 3 week series on the holiness of God. These are a few of my thoughts after class. When we, as Christans, become mature enough in our faith to gain any kind of understanding about the holiness of God...what happens next? In light of God's complete "opositeness" from sin and evil, don't we then despise and detest our own sin more as we strive to be holy? In light of God's complete "separatness" from human nature, don't we then come to realize that God is in total control and we have no control over God? In light of God's holiness, don't we then become overwhelmingly grateful for the cross and the grace offered there? If God is "holy, holy, holy" and we are dead in our sin...praise can be our only response when we acknowledge the vast chasm that was spanned in order for us to draw near to Him.

Photos

These are some of my favorite pictures from August and September.

My grandparents

My grandparents have been married for 65 years (of course they were both VERY young when they got married). They have lived most of their lives in Beaumont, TX but have also lived in Odessa and Oklahoma City. They brought three children into this world - Kit (my dad), Frances and Barbara Elaine. In 1974, they buried Frances and I was born. As they sit in my living room this evening, they have 5 grandchildren and 7 great grandchildren. What a blessing to have them in our lives. What a blessing for my children to know their great grandparents. God is good to provide us with elders to help guide our footsteps. Thank God for Arthur and Lyndall Owens.

Much ado about nothing

The storm has passed...literally. There was a lot of talk over the last 48 hours indicating that Tyler and East Texas was going to get pounded by the remnants of the hurricane. We've had a slow steady rain all day and hardly any wind. It was the best case scenario for us.
The mandatory evacuation has been lifted for the Beaumont area so my grandparents are going back home tomorrow. We will miss them but are glad they are heading back to an area that was not damaged.

A family affair

My grandparents arrived in Tyler this morning, safe and looking well. We grilled hamburgers and seemingly ate for two hours straight (it is a holiday). Now we watch CNN and the Weather Channel to find out what is coming next... from our friend Gustav.