I've been tagged...

Linda tagged me for this one-word-answer meme, and I know if I don't do it now, I'll completely forget....mommy-brain and all. So here it goes...apparently, I must answer each of the questions with only one word...yikes!

1. Where is your cell phone? lap
2. Your significant other? Husband
3. Your hair? Brown
4. Your mother? Fabulous!
5. Your father? Supportive.
6. Your favorite thing? Kids
7. Your dream last night? Disturbing
8. Your favorite drink? Dr. Pepper
9. Your dream/goal? Rest
10. The room you’re in? Kitchen
11. Your church? Welcoming
12. Your fear? Loss
13. Where do you want to be in 6 years? Content
14. Where were you last night? Sister's
15. What you’re not? Hyper :)
16. Muffins? Blueberry
17. One of your wish list items? House
18. Where you grew up? Austin
19. The last thing you did? email
20. What are you wearing? Shorts
21. Your TV? Friend (lol)
22. Your pets? dog
23. Your computer? Lifeline
24. Your life? Crazed
25. Your mood? Calm
26. Missing someone? friends
27. Your car? Minivan
28. Something you’re not wearing? Shoes
29. Favorite store? Super-Target
30. Your summer? HOT!
31. Like(love) someone? BEN!
32. Your favorite color? Purple
33. Last time you laughed? today
34. Last time you cried? Unsure
35. Who will repost this? Lisa?!

Okay...sometimes one word is really tough!! I kept wanting to qualify or explain my answers!!! So, I'm going to tag...everyone who reads this today! I've been so lax in reading other blogs lately, that I'm not sure who has already done this, so if you are here and reading this today...do it! If you've already done it and I didn't see it, leave me a comment so I can go check it out.

Why? Why is this so funny to me?

Okay, I had a proper post planned...I really did! But I just can't get this out of my head! I'll come back later when I can focus.....yeah, right. I'll be back...focused or not!

OH! And don't forget the giveaways going on! Just click on the pictures in my sidebar to get the information on the "Third Day CD, T-Shirt, Coupon" giveaway or the "Having a Mary Heart in a Martha World" book giveaway. There is some good stuff to be had people!

Again, why do I find this so funny????

Trying New Things

Hey everyone, I thought I'd try something new and do a little "Video Blogging" here every once in a while. I'm hoping that maybe I can just set up a camera and talk to you guys during the day when I don't have time to actually sit down and type out a post. Anyway, today was just a test run. I was testing both how long it would take to do a "vlog" post, and what quality video I could get out of my phone...you know for "on the road" vlogging opportunities. The preliminary video came out a bit glitchy, but not too bad. I won't know how it translated onto the blog until it finishes uploading, so we'll be watching the finished product together! Let me know in the comments if you like the idea of the VLOG, if the video quality was really, really, bad on your end, or any other ideas or thoughts you have about the whole idea! Okay, for better or worse...here goes test #1!

Adding to My Prayer List

I have some sad news to share. If any of you watched American Idol this season, you may remember Luke Menard. I always really liked him myself. Anyway, he has recently been diagnosed with Hodgkins Lymphoma. Apparently, he had moved to LA to start a career in acting after AI, but when he got the diagnosis he decided to move back to Nashville and continue working on his Christian album. You can read all the details and keep up with his story at his new blog. So, please add Luke to your prayer list and if you want to go and leave him an encouraging comment, please do that while you're there!

And while we're on the subject of Christian music, don't forget to enter the giveaway for the new THIRD DAY CD, T-shirt, and coupon here.

"Having a Mary Heart in a Martha World"

I just have to ask ya'll a question...

When you read the above title, did you think to yourself, "Well, I certainly don't need to read that, I'd most certainly rather sit with Jesus than do dishes in the kitchen any day!" I ask because that is exactly what I thought the first time I saw this book years ago, lol. But you know what? I was soooo verrrryy, verrryy wrong!! I needed this book like we need rain here deep in the heart 'o Texas. I'm not going to tell you that this book changed my life ('cause I actually have to, you know, make the changes my own self), but I will tell you that this book has opened my eyes to things I'd not seen before, and helped me understand some things that I had seen, but struggled to fully understand. I was truly amazed as I read this book how much I needed to read it...

It was interesting to me as I read that I kept thinking as I got into each chapter that each chapter could have been it's own book...and I needed to read each and every one! As I was reading a chapter, I'd start to think of all the things in my life that fit what I was reading so I could share them with all of you, but each chapter held a whole new set of them, and I'd never be able to share them all with you here! But here's the interesting part, there is one issue in my life at the moment that I've been struggling with, perhaps you can relate....

I have this thing that I thought I had heard from God (I have issues with knowing for sure if something came from God, or my own imagination. Sometimes I think it would have been easier to live in the Old Testament days when God actually spoke, or you know, wrote things out on the wall!!!) Anyway, as soon as I started to act on what I thought God had told me to do, things started happening. Things that made me question if I had actually heard correctly or not. And quite frankly, I've started to doubt what I heard. This book addresses exactly that! There is one whole chapter on listening to the Lord and different ways to know if what you are hearing is really Him. I still don't have it all figured out, but I'm sorting through all of it with the help of what I learned, and I'm feeling better about it how it's all going to work out in the end.

Are you like me? Do you feel like you aren't serving enough at church? Or you aren't keeping up well enough with your responsibilities at home? Or maybe that you should be doing something a bit more global for Christ? Here's what I learned from this book (in a very small nutshell). God does not expect me to do everything; if I take on everything myself, I may be denying someone else the blessing of obeying God in what He asked them to do (yikes! that one stung, didn't it?); God does NOT want me to do nothing; He wants me to do what He has asked me to do...no more....but most certainly NO LESS; if I will spend time with Him (at His feet, in the living room, like Mary), He will let me know what it is He is asking me to do; and the more time I spend listening to Him, the easier it will be for me to recognize His voice. :)

It's not about abandoning the dishes and the laundry (dang it!), and studying the Bible all day long. It's about spending special, quiet time with Jesus in the living room, and continuing to talk to Him, and listen to Him throughout the day when I'm in the kitchen with my arms in dirty dishwater, or standing over a hot stove, or scrubbing this morning's breakfast up from the floor, or in the laundry room knee deep in dirty socks and underwear, or....I could go on for days. You know I could. ;)

So, are you feeling overwhelmed with the demands of your life? Do you wish you could know God more? Are you just worn out? GO READ THIS BOOK! I tell you, it was like drinking that bottle of cold water right after finishing a 3 mile run. I just felt refreshed, encouraged, challenged, and supported when I read it. And I bet you will too. And as usual, the author has some fun giveaways that I get to share with all of you!


Contests:
She'll be giving away 7 copies of Having a Mary Heart. All you have to do to enter is leave a comment on Joanna's blog tour post (at the link below).

She is also giving away 7 copies of With This Ring, her latest release. To enter that contest, simply leave a comment on Joanna's blog tour post (same link) telling her which chapter of Having a Mary Heart was your favorite and why.

Easy and fun!

About Joanna: Joanna Weaver was voted the Most Promising New
Writer of 1997 at the Mount Herman Writer’s Conference. She has authored Having
a Mary Heart in a Martha World and written for publications such as Focus on the
Family, Home Life, Aspire, and The Evangel. A pastor’s wife for more than
eighteen years, she and her husband have counseled many couples, both those
approaching their wedding and those struggling in marriage. The Weavers live in
Montana and have taught young married classes and spoken on the topic of
marriage throughout the northwestern United States.


About Having a Mary Heart in a Martha World: An invitation for every
woman who’s ever felt she isn’t godly enough, isn’t loving enough, isn’t doing
enough.

The life of a woman today isn’t really all that different from that of Mary and Martha in the New Testament. Like Mary, you long to sit at the Lord’s feet…but the daily demands of a busy world just won’t leave you alone. Like Martha, you love Jesus and really want to serve him…yet you struggle with weariness, resentment, and feelings of inadequacy.

Then comes Jesus, into the midst of your busy life, to extend the same invitation he issued long ago to the two sisters from Bethany. Tenderly, he invites you to choose
“the better part”–a joyful life of intimacy with him that flows naturally into loving service.

With her fresh approach to the familiar Bible story, Joanna Weaver shows how all of us–Marys and Marthas alike–can draw closer to our Lord: deepening our devotion, strengthening our service, and doing both with less stress and greater joy.

You can also go and check out Joanna's blog, Joanna's website (Coming Soon), or if you want to read other posts on this book, or enter the above contests, you can check out the Blog Tour Schedule

And then you can go and Buy the Book!

I got a surprise!!!

Hello all! Sorry to be missing again....I'll update on why I've been gone later, for now, I just have a big old surprise for you all! I received an email today telling me that I could go here and listen to THIRD DAY's brand new album...in it's entirety....for the rest of the month....BEFORE it even comes out!!!! And I got this....



...to watch and share with you too!!! Doesn't it sound fabulous??? I'm so excited! And DAUGHTRY joins THIRD DAY on this album, ya'll!!! It just gets better and better doesn't it???

But wait! It gets even better! When I clicked the link to go listen to the new CD, there was an offer to Pre-Buy the new CD for just $7.99 (plus shipping) and with the CD you can get a FREE t-shirt and a coupon for a future purchase...so guess what I did??? I pre-bought TWO of them!!! One for me, and one for one of you!!! Do you want it??? Just go here and listen to THIRD DAY's brand new album and then come back and leave me a comment about what song you liked the best! I'll keep the comments open until I receive the goodies in the mail, so you've got lots of time to go and listen and make your pick. So, go, enjoy, then get back here and tell me what you think!!!

Oh, and you can always go and pre-order your own if you want to...or maybe even TWO! Hee-hee-hee!!! I'm on my way to go hang out with these guys some more...they make some really great music!

There's only one kid left!!!

So for my final kid update, I give you.....Jonathan!

I've been looking for a good picture of Jonathan to post here, so you can see my only curly-haired kid, but pictures of Jon are hard to come by. Mainly because Jon hates to have his picture taken, and you have to sneak up on him. If he knows you're coming, you get something like this....

Sometimes, you might get lucky and get a good partial, like this....

Yep, Jon is the "Wilson" of the family! (And if you are confused by that, you need to go watch some "Home Improvement" reruns.)

Lack of photo-opportunities aside, Jonathan did gymnastics again this year and was finally able to perfect his front-flip-landing on the trampoline. A feat which makes him very, very proud! I already mentioned in Maddie's Update that Jon did not win "Honor Student of the Year" in gymnastics this year, and he was quite upset about that. He plans to go back next year and reclaim his title!

Finally, you may recall that we had a pretty fabulous party to celebrate Little Dave's 3rd birthday last month. That, however, was nothing compared to the celebration that took place in heaven when Jonathan finally decided to ask Jesus into his heart!!!

Jonathan has been struggling with this decision for a few years now. He knew it was the right decision, and he knew that one day he would "probably do it", but he wasn't going to do it until he was absolutely sure that he wanted to serve God for the rest of his life. (Jon's not too big on serving....ahem!) So, when he came to me and told me that he had made the decision and had invited God into his heart all by himself...I'm telling you, the angel choir sang and the heavenly hosts rejoiced, and there was much dancing and carrying on!

So, that's my Jonathan update...and you can see that it was worth the wait, yes??? And in honor of this momentous occasion, I give you.....an actual, full-face picture of my Little Fella, whom you will now get to spend eternity with...WHOO-HOO!!

And the updates, they just keep on coming!

Sorry for the break in posting there. Life was happening around here....what else is new, right?

So, it's time to update on THE GIRL! Miss Maddie was again in a combination ballet/tap class and she had her recital in May as well....naturally....everything happens in May, doesn't it??? She made a beautiful mermaid, and she did a lovely job in her dance. I tried to video the dress rehearsal to share with you all, but I couldn't get in a good spot to tape it. They did a lovely dance to Jodi Benson singing "Home Is" from "The Little Mermaid" cartoon. She and a couple other girls in her class are being promoted up two levels next year! They will skip their Combo IV class and their Ballet I class and they will all start Ballet II in the fall. We are naturally quite proud of her and can't wait to see her concentrating only on her ballet.

Now, I think I mentioned in my "Benji" post that all three of the big kids took gymnastics together this spring. Because I didn't have a blog at the time, I've never mentioned that when Jonathan took gymnastics alone two years ago, he was awarded the Honor Student of the Year award. Can you guess who won it this year? Yep, Miss Maddie won this year! Jon really wanted to win again (they give one to a boy, and one to a girl) but I don't think they would give it to him again since he won last time. Regardless, we were all very proud of Maddie for winning this year.

Soon I hope to be posting some pictures of a sweet little girl missing her two front teeth, but for now, they are still hanging on...a bit sideways, but hanging on just the same!



So I guess that's all the Maddie news for now. Next up will be Jon, and he's got the biggest news of all! Stay tuned!

Continuing with the "Catching Up"...

Benji had a bit of a tough time at the beginning of this baseball season. His team wasn't playing well, he was frustrated, he felt that his coaches didn't really like him, and he just wasn't having much fun. He hung in there, however, and the year finished up quite a bit better than it started, and he seemed to enjoy himself more. This is one of the reasons that we put him in sports. It's important for him to learn to make the best of each situation and to work through it when he doesn't necessarily get along with someone in authority. This will be useful someday if he gets a job working for someone he doesn't necessarily like all that much!

I can't tell you how many times I saw kids moved from classroom to classroom, back when I taught in "real school" because they didn't get along with a particular teacher. I always tried to explain to parents that this was the prime time for a life-lesson, but the school I was in would rather just try to keep everyone happy than actually teach stuff like that....but I digress!

Anyway, Benji also got to do gymnastics this year with Jon and Maddie, and he absolutely loved it! He did really well and even got to do a few things that other class members weren't able to do. He doesn't have the prettiest form, or body-lines, but he has good balance, and he's pretty strong for such a skinny little kid, so he was able to do a lot of "tricks"....even if he didn't look so pretty doing them!

He is mostly into Freestyle BMX these days. He sets up stunt courses in the back yard and will be out there for hours riding and trying new tricks. His dream is for us to take him to New Mexico to an indoor BMX stunt park and let him go wild....I'd totally do it, too....if I ever won the lottery that is!

Anyway, the major event for Benji this past month is that he went from looking as he did in the above picture, to this....



...yes, my son has a metal-mouth, and his dreams of a pilgrimage to BMX mecca are now several thousands of dollars farther away....sheesh! Those of you with pre-teen kids....START SAVING NOW!!! And to President Bush, thank you, thank you, thank you. Your economic stimulus payment is the only way we were able to manage the down-payment on what will hopefully be a beautiful smile some day.

So, that's about all the news on Benji lately, but there will be more soon. He and his dad are heading out in a couple of weeks for a summer mission trip to San Antonio to work with an inner-city group there. I'll make sure that he posts something about it here for you all to see.

As for me, it's time to get back to the daily grind around here...ugh!

We Need to Catch Up a Bit...

So...as usual...I don't have a lot of time, but I miss you guys so much, I just had to stop in for a minute! I have so much to catch you all up on that it's going to take several posts, but in the interest of my mantra "kids first, then cakes, then dishes, and laundry only if there is no clean underwear to be found", let's start with the kids!!!

Lots and lots of stuff was happening in May, but the biggest event was the ending of an era here at the house of Kids and Cakes. There is no longer a sweet, blue-eyed, blonde-haired little two-year-old boy living here...we now have a sweet, blue-eyed, blonde-haired big ole' THREE-YEAR-OLD in da' house!!! That's right, little Dave turned three last month. On the one hand...WOO-HOO!!! On the other hand...sigh, sob, sniff... All you mommies understand, right?

Anyway, all my boys have dirt bikes, and little Dave is completely enamored by them. He walks around the house wearing his brother's helmet, and whenever Daddy has the bikes out for any reason, Dave gets that helmet and sits on one of the bikes and makes motorcycle noises. So what do you think we got him for his birthday??? Naturally, we got him his own motorcycle . My mom and dad gave him a "Harley Davidson" helmet, and I promise, you've never seen a happier boy in your whole life!

We took him to a local kids amusement park for his party and he got to ride to his heart's content. Once he got on the airplane's though, he just wanted to go from airplane to airplane to airplane switching colors each time...it was tough getting him off of that one!

I'm going to take a picture of all of my boys on their motorcycles and helmets, but for now, I thought I'd just share a little photo slideshow of pics from Dave's party with a couple of short videos of him riding his new toy. Watch at the very end of the video. He stops and smiles three different smiles because I'm standing there with the camera and he doesn't know I'm video-taping, he thinks I want to take his picture! When he watches the video, and it gets to that part, he talks to the screen and he says, "Okay Dabid, FMILE!!!" I really need to video him watching his video, it's almost more fun!

Happy Birthday David!!!