Inspired

I've been reading the Mark of the Lion series by Francine Rivers which I highly recommend, by the way. I'm on the third and final book and I just have to say that I have truly been inspired. Her characters are so real and imperfect yet their conversations with the Lord throughout their daily experiences have grabbed ahold of my mind and won't let go. The books are written based around the time Rome destroyed Jerusalem and tells of believers who survive. Although, it is fiction, I know the times then were horrible when Christians were sent to the arena for the public to watch them being torn apart and eaten by lions. But the faith of these believers transcends me and I have found myself thinking about them during my day. What would Hadassah or Theopholis do? How would they pray? I have been stuggling with Levi. He and I are so much alike with strong wills of our own and I have found myself desperate in how to raise him, how to get through to him, how to teach him to obey. So I have been praying differently. I don't know how to explain it, I pray through my days often. But, somehow, it's gentler, more peaceful. Maybe it's the place from which I pray from, the solemn need for the Lord to do something in me and through me that will reach a two year old. Maybe it's finally a place where I have totally removed myself from the equation because I've come to realize that I can't do it. Believe me I've tried and read books about trying. The amazing thing is, although I can't put my finger on it, it's working. It's like Jesus is truly coming forth from my mouth and thoughts and hands through the Holy Spirit. I know it's not me. I am impatient and critical and negative and selfish, but in spite of me, Jesus is taking care of my two year old. He has heard my desperate prayers that sometimes don't even have words and inspires me to do and say things that are kind and gentle and compassionate and full of love. Thank you Jesus. All I can say is thank you.....

Close Encounters of the Stinky Kind

Episode #1:

11:00pm at night... I let Jasmine out to go potty before we head to bed but instead of going potty she darts out into the bushes at the edge of our rock yard which of course is open to the prairie behind us... I run out in my night gown yelling at her to stop which of course she doesn't and I can't exactly chase after her because I have no shoes on. Levi can run across the rocks with no shoes, but I, however, can not. So I stand there screaming her name to come back. And then... she turns toward me kind of stunned and coughing and I see something large running away... yes, a skunk! I'm furious and grab her holding her away from me to take her in to give her an immediate bath. Yuck, did she ever STINK! And we sleep with the windows open so now our house stinks, too. Thankfully, I don't think she got a full shot of whatever the skunk was firing because I was able to bathe her and get the smell out right away. Oh my goodness.

Episode #2:

Today I took Levi to the library for the first time for their Toddler story time and to get a library card and check out some books. It was great! We had a good time together. So on the way home I stopped to get gas. It was kind of an unusual "gas getting" time because I had to back in because all the other cars were blocking the entrance to my pump and then a man asked my help in reading the instructions at his pump. So it took me a few minutes to get mine going and I don't know if I was distracted or the pump was at fault but when the nozzle clicked to tell me it was finished filling my tank, I went to take it out and it shot out gasoline all over me! I was stunned and needless to say STINKY! I went to the cashier and asked for some paper towels meanwhile wondering what the heck had just happened. I seriously have never had that happen to me before and I hope never again. I came directly home and got in the bathtub but still can smell gasoline....

oh well, what are ya gonna do?..... hope you get some chuckles... :)

The World of Potty Training

Okay, so today is day 10 of the potty training saga. The very first thing I have to say is that I'm so tired of getting peed on!!! You know how boys are and mostly Levi is doing fantastic. It's just that our toilet seats have a gap between the seat and the base so most of the time he just pees right between them which of course gets me or the floor/wall all wet. Yuck! He's doing okay with the #2 side of things, although the first day he actually went on the kitchen floor (because we were letting him run around naked to make it easier) and Jason wretched and left the room. Thanks a lot, I said! So there me and Levi are cleaning up his poop. Even Levi said it was gross and of course I said, "that's why you go in the potty and not in the floor!" To be honest, it's hard to stay positive and encouraging for him. At this point, the last thing I want to do is be in the bathroom, but there we are every thirty minutes or so. My parents have been visiting this week, so mom is helping me out and I couldn't thank her enough! I'm getting a little bit of a break anyway. Most often, they are laughing at me because I'm saying things like "You are responsible for what comes out of your body, Levi, and you can't pee on me and all over the bathroom! It's yucky!"........ LOL......... Think happy thoughts for me..............

Aunt TT comes to visit!

Our good friend Tracy, otherwise known as Aunt TT, came to visit this past weekend. Her gracious husband let her come, leaving him at home with 6 kids. Thanks, Dustin! We had a wonderful time!

Here we are at a mountain-top lookout watching the sunset.

Tracy and I took a day to drive to Jerome and Sedona. We stopped in Jerome for lunch at a place called The Assylum. As you can see, we sat at a table with a great view and the food was delicious. Jerome itself was a little creepy, however. It's an old mining town that's basically stuck in the side of a mountain. We felt like we were driving through a foreign country!

Slopfest

The youth group at PCC hosted an outreach event called Slopfest where they play games in the mud. We took Levi and as you can see he had a blast!

Arizona Cardinals Game

Jason and I were given tickets to go see the Cardinals play their first pre-season game against the New Orleans Saints. Our realtor who helped us find a place to live here has season tickets so he and his wife took us along with their son and his friend. Other season ticket holders around them couldn't go so they were able to invite our youth minister and his wife as well as our youth intern and his sister to go as well. It was fun hanging out with all of them and getting to see our first NFL game, even if it was a pre-season game. We hope to get to go again at least one more time this season. They were fantastic seats and the indoor stadium, which is only three years old, was super nice. We definitely appreciated the indoor part of it considering it was 112 degrees at 4:00pm in Phoenix. The top picture looks far away but we were so close that we could feel the heat coming from the flames shooting up to the side of the tunnel the players were running out of. It was very exciting. Unfortunately, the Cardinals lost 10 to 17 to the Saints. Oh, well. Jason said they were just filling out the rest of their roster anyway.

Levi aka ET

This is Levi and Renae on the trampoline. Renae is the daughter of some friends of ours at church. Her and her mom helped take care of Levi while Jason and I went to Phoenix to go to the Cardinals football game. It was kind of a misty day so Renae put this hoody on him so he wouldn't get wet on the trampoline. He totally looks like ET! He had a blast and he looks hilarious!