A Blogging We Will Go

Tonight a group of 7 interns graduated at Gospel for Asia! Most exciting was the announcing of a marriage in exactly one month for two of the interns! Much to my dismay (because of my matchmaking prowess,) this undercover relationship slipped past my love radar!

Simon has taken to being able to parrott just about anything. A few weeks ago I had him repeat after me, " I... I... Love... Love... Mama... Mama..." We would do variations on this sentiment with others receiving his ever-prompted love. For some reason, Simon had recently taken to only "loving" Daddy. I would have him repeat..."I...I...Love...DADDY...he would always exclaim with smiles before I could place a name in there for him.

Tonight I was putting him to bed and of course it was only "I love Daddy." The next time I sensed a breakthrough, but this is what I got..."I...I...love...SPOT..." Hmmm...a fictional dog. I'm going to settle for "I...I...Love...DADDY AND SPOT AND MAMA."

Today I seem to be infected with a ditzy mood. I just left my friend Duska's home and almost left my keys there as well as the really fun red basket (Thanks, Duska!) But this beats all...I was calling earlier to schedule Simon's 2 year well-baby exam. The receptionist suggested a time during the week of the 7th. I told her that week would be hard for me to arrange childcare and to see if there was an appointment for another week. Hmm...The conversation went on for a bit longer until I realized there was no need to arrange childcare for SIMON'S Doctor's appointment. What was I going to do, leave him with someone and go by myself to his appointment. This might mean that mommy needs a little break, if my idea of a break (subconscious)is to go solo to Simon's doctor's appointment! Actually, the idea of sitting in a waiting room alone sounds restful.

My getting up early this week has proved 85% successful. My secret is to schedule something during my extra hour that I really look forward to and that I don't otherwise have time for. So, my coffee pot has been waking me up and I have been enjoying my extra hour with a couple of cups of coffee and some reading. This is bonus reading. Not required reading or devotions, just reading.

Mr.Duck

This is the duck that I've mentioned before. Ashley and Matt P's mother brought him to church the Sunday that we visited them. Simon loves the duck! He runs to retrieve it from the bathtub whenever the door is ajar.


WARNING:

NEVER PUT SIMON TO NAP OR TO GO TO BED WITH ONLY A DIAPER ON. EVEN IF
IT IS 120 DEGREES OUTSIDE, PUT A PAIR OF SHORTS ON HIM, ALSO.

TRUE STORY: TODAY I FELT SORRY FOR HIM AS IT IS SO HOT AND DECIDED TO
LET HIM NAP WITH ONLY A DIAPER. BIG, BIG MISTAKE. A FEW MINUTES
LATER I HEAR LOTS OF TALKING IN HIS ROOM. I WAS ALREADY NERVOUS ABOUT
JUST LEAVING HIM WITH A DIAPER ON, SO I OPENED THE DOOR TO CHECK ON
HIM.

SIMON WAS STANDING UP, GIVING AN AUDITORY EXPLANATION OF THE QUILT ON
THE WALL, MENTIONING THE STARS, TRAINS, ETC. I SMILED AT HIS
SWEETNESS. I ALMOST SHUT THE DOOR. ALMOST. I DECIDED TO LOOK A
LITTLE CLOSER TO MAKE SURE HIS DIAPER WAS ON. I SAW SOMETHING WHITE,
AND THINKING IT WAS A DIAPER, I DECIDED TO LEAVE.

BUT THEN, SIMON NOTICED ME AND SMILED, SO I WENT OVER TO SAY HELLO TO
HIM. AS I NEARED THE CRIB, I STEPPED ON A PERFECTLY CLEAN DIAPER. I
NOTICED THAT WHAT I THOUGHT WAS A WHITE DIAPER ON HIM (IN THE DARK)
WAS JUST HIS SWEET LITTLE WHITE BOTTOM AS HE HAS A LITTLE TAN ON HIS
LEGS.

HMMM....

SIMON SAID, "DIAPER?" "DIAPER, BYE BYE."

WELL, THE DIAPER ON THE FLOOR WAS DRY AS TEXAS IN JULY; I WISH I COULD
SAY THE SAME FOR THE CRIB SHEET AND BLANKET.

The last of the trip pictures

This top picture is of Simon and I in the backseat, where we hung out most of the time in the van. Simon is giving me a 'nose kiss' which he pronounces 'o kiss'. The headband is one Matt's mom passed along to me, it was originallly Matt's paternal grandmother's. Matt's grandmother's names were Thelma (maternal) and Louise.

Simon and I the last night before we came home in a hotel somewhere in Alabama. I decided not to even bother with a pack n' play on the way home. I think it's too much to expect Simon to sleep in between two queen beds where my mom and I each had a bed and for him not to sleep with me. The bed looks more fun to him, and there was plenty of room for him in my bed! We lined up 3 chairs next to it so he couldn't fall off. And, of course, he still had his lamby and blanket. (Who would have ever thought, Sarah, what depths of love that green blanket would bring?) You can tell that I am more than a little tired as we are about to finally go to sleep!

I think Simon looks like a little kid in this third pix, not so much baby. And I love the smile!

The 4th pix is from mine and Simon's view from the backseat. You can see two laptops and there is also a portable dvd player somewhere. That reminds me of the time Matt, Sarah and I took a very long roadtrip with no such media. Our only entertainment was a cell phone that we used to call just about everyone in the Address Book. You can see Dad's visor is down (so that he could see Simon.)

Simon will be two in less than three weeks!

Boots in their Natural Habitat

These are the boots that Simon loves to wear. He can walk easily in them now, so it is not as amusing as before when he would just stumble and giggle!

This is the garden at my grandparents--I didn't want to confuse anyone who might think it was my garden. :) On the contrary, my small amount of squash have died as a result of rabbits, neglect, and sun. The cucumbers are just barely hanging on to existence, but the tomatoes are thriving.

Simon will be two on August 4th--less than three weeks away! I have been trying to plan how we can celebrate this big day for us! It falls on the first Friday of August, when we have all night prayer at GFA, so we'll have to have some kind of gathering later that weekend.

We drove into the Dallas area yesterday around 7:00. Simon and I were very, very, happy to see Matt. Eleven long days without him! Matt gave us the wonderful gift of a very, very clean house and several completed house projects, and fresh flowers in a couple of rooms!

It was fun to see so many people and visit so many homes; nonetheless, it is fun to be home, also! Simon was able to spend lots of time with his grandparents as well as visit with both sets of great-grandparents and several cousins, uncles, and aunt (not plural yet until Ollie or Scott marries.)

It was an adjustment to leave the unseasonably cool (and pleasant) temperatures of South Carolina and to meet the hot and very humid temperatures of north Georgia and Tennessee. Agh, but the worst was the heat of traveling back from Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and finally Texas. But the transition was good for our bodies. I don't know how we could have adjusted to our current 103 degrees if we had traveled straight from the 80s of South Carolina (unseasonable) to our 103 here, deep in the heart of Texas!

Well, I must go finish assembling our fine dinner cuisine of tuna salad on whole wheat tortillas!

Here We Go

Pix while Away

There is more from whence this came.

You can see Sarah came up for a visit.

Simon didn't want to wear Nana's shoes, but I thought it would be a cute pix.

Simon practices for American Idol.

We watched Bride and Prejudice last night. Found a gold mine at McKays of Dr.Who and MST 3000.

Tigers Drive

Outdoor photo shoot this evening. Ollie drove up for the afternoon and left after dinner sometime. The weather here in SC and when we were in GA has been perfect for July. Seasonably cool.

My grandparents' flowers have truly rivaled the Arboretum. I told Grandpa that he should put a sign up on the street and charge admission to look at his yard! I think his yardwork is an act of love for Grandma since she loves flowers so much and is unable to tend them like she used to.

Two hours of weeding yesterday and I definitely feel the pain today.

Simon was chasing lightening bugs this evening.

My uncles taught Simon to pound on the table and say, "Beer." (Sorry, Matt)
Uncle Wayne always teases me that I don't let Simon eat 'real' food and that something horrible will happen to Simon is he grows up drinking skim milk and eating broccoli. I didn't offer Simon any of the sausage at dinner, because he normallly doesn't eat meat. I did give him a bite, expecting him not to eat it, but funny enough he liked it.

Simon had his first sip of Sprite yesterday.

Simon has had more ice-cream in the last two nights that I have (but I haven't had any so that doesn't say too much.)

We miss Matt terribly, especially when I call him and have to recount all of the terribly cute things Simon does...like when Alex was crying and Simon came up to him and said 'It's alright." Or when Simon would bring Alex a bottle or pacifier on Simon's initiative.

Kelly, Corey, and Alex

Alex and Simon sharing the back seat of the Camry after a crazy vehicle musical chairs thingamajig that I truly have no energy to explain. But what fun it was for them to be together in a car!

We saw the new Superman movie. Thumbs up, but I'm easy to please sometimes. Nacho Libre made me laugh much harder, though. I saw that before we left with Matt and Scott. Funny sitting next to Sayrah who had NEVER SEEN any of the Superman movies. But she knew about the whole Kryptonite thing somehow.

Kelly and Corey just moved a couple of weeks ago to Georgia, though they live minutes from South Carolina. Corey just finished his doctorate, and we are all proud of him and are rejoicing with them (Phillipians) as he will be a professor of Counseling at Toccoa Falls.

I heard a pastor comment once on the passage in Phillippians where it says to "Rejoice with those who rejoice, mourn with those who mourn." He said it was often easier for Christians to mourn with those who mourn that to rejoice with those who rejoice. Just a thought that came into my tired brain.

Missions Conference

Last weekend, thought it seems like last month, GFA hosted their Renewing Your Passion Conference at the Gaylord in Texas. The photos are of some attendees that we knew and we blessed to spend time with that weekend. There is cameraman Matt. Ah, how life changes sometimes. I remember when the first week of June was filled with videotaping Hilltop. There's not a pix of Matt and I together because we really didn't see each other. Even though we were staying at the Gaylord, which isn't comparable to Hilltop, we both felt like we had just 'survived' a week at camp as far as our energy depletion.

Top Ten Conference Highlights: worship, serving, visiting, teaching, helping, the Gaylord and all its craziness, especially the all night cafe, wireless internet pretty much everywhere, the in room coffee that was the best coffee I have truly ever made, quiet times on the balcony with the aforementioned coffee, mint oreos with the girls on the third floor, walking with Cathy in the morning, ... I think I may have mentioned more than 10. Notice the first five are not quite tangible so I guess that means they are more lasting.

Old News

I am sitting in a Starbucks in Clemson, South Carolina with my brother Scott. Hmm...wish they were actually brewing coffee, but it is closed. We are using the wireless internet though. Free internet. Nice.

Here are some old pix that I feel the need to post before posting present pics. Matt, Simon and I spent some time with Ashley and Matt a few Sundays ago. We went to church with them, had Panda Express afterwards which seems to be a tradition, shopped at World Market, and had ice cream a la Matt afterwards where he works.

My clearest memory of that day is Simon running up and down the sides of the stage, thinking the wheelchair ramp was a slide; Simon running on the stage with the biggest and cutest rubber ducky that I've ever seen, thanks to A & M's mom. A very nice day and Simon was a trooper until he crashed when we got home around 3 or 4 -- there's a pix of him sleeping on the floor.