Child Survival Program

This is a short and powerful video from Compassion about the Child Survival Program. This is what Run For Compassion is ALL ABOUT. I can't watch this video without crying. We are so moved by what Compassion is doing through the CSP. The statistics are staggering. We are enjoying the perfect health of so many of our sweet little ones, but the mortality rate of children under the age of five just across the ocean from us is unbelievable. Please join with us in Run For Compassion, and if you're local here, you can partner in with your time as well! Now, watch...

Happy National Adoption Day!

Today is National Adoption Day. Let me state the obvious. We love adoption. It's a huge part of our lives. It's become a huge part of the lives of families around us. Our sweet friends the Feldmans finalized their adoptions of Catalina and Celeste Feldman today. This day is a day to remember forever for their family! I look around us at church and am in awe of what God has done, moving in the hearts of families we love concerning adoption. He continues to move. The adoption ball keeps rolling around us.
I pray Christian families are asking God what role they play in his ministry to orphans. I pray we are asking God what role we play as professed "Pro-Lifers." I wouldn't presume that adoption is for everyone, but please know that there are crucial roles for all of us. If we did our part, New Life Pregnancy Center and adoption agency would never be low on money. But they are. If we did our part as the church at large, a Christian family would never be deterred from adopting because of finances. But they are. I love my church so much! They are in the process of setting up an adoption fund for church members who want to adopt. That is the body of Christ working for His kingdom! It blesses me to see how much our church cares about adoption and these little ones! I could cry at any given moment thinking about it!
I hope and pray, as people see our family and wonder about us, (because they do wonder about us...of this I'm certain) that they see Christ, and they see that we are no better or nobler than anyone else. But we were called to adopt. We heard that call and we are so blessed because of it! We will continue to listen to the Lord's voice in how He may want to grow this family. It's all up to Him!
Praise God for adoption! Praise Him for these precious children added to our families! Praise Him for the birthparents who are being loved and exposed to the gospel through these families! Praise God for agencies like New Life! I am thankful for all of this that God and God alone has accomplished!
Most of all, praise our God for adopting us as His beloved children through the blood of His Son Jesus Christ. Adoption is the word used in the scripture for those who have put their faith in Him, and it's irrevocable, it's forever, it's permanent.
Let's celebrate adoption today!

Gospel Powered Parenting by William P. Farley

This is the best parenting book I've read yet. I know that sounds extreme, and I'm only through chapter four, but I love the approach to this book and everything about it so far. I feel like I can never say that about a book or writer! There's always a clause, a caveat, some kind of disclaimer. Maybe it's coming. But the title alone speaks accurately as to what this book is all about.
It's about the gospel.
The subtitle is "How the gospel shapes and transforms parenting."
Discerning Reader gave it this rave review.
But let me tell you why I like it...this book proposes that all we need for our parenting instruction is in the gospel. The heart of the gospel, if it drives us, if it informs our theology, if it shapes how we think, respond, instruct, correct, and live life as parents, is our complete parenting manual.
I feel like I could take a deep breath when I read this. I don't need a new method, I don't need to adopt someone else's style, and if our home is gospel-centered, I haven't missed the boat because I was caught unaware of the elusive methods of Godly parenting. It's all there, in the gospel.
However, what we need is to dive deep into the cavernous depths of what the gospel is and means. If you grew up in the church, you may remember the gospel message, when delivered in a sermon or somewhere else, tuning out, thinking "Yeah, yeah, I know this." I knew it was life-changing, but I hadn't done enough "gospel realizing" as Tim Keller puts it, to let it begin to soak in. I love how Farley says we don't need parenting books on technique because we act out of our theology, what we think about God and ourselves, and that is how we parent. What we need is right theology, an accurate view of ourselves before a holy God, and an ever-deepening grasp on what He did for us in putting all of our sin and thus His wrath on His Son Jesus in our place...His infinite love and astounding grace.This parenting book is covering the fear of God (and what that really means), God's holiness, His grace...and I'll have to keep reading to see how he extrapolates these things to parenting further.
He also continually shifts our focus of parenting as eternal. He says "Christian parenting is the process of preparing our children for the day of judgment." Our greatest goal for them is regeneration, where God and God alone gives them a new heart that loves Him and fills them with the Holy Spirit, giving them the power and desire to do what pleases Him. There is nothing, NOTHING, we can do to regenerate our children. But He points out that God chooses to use parents as the primary medium to evangelize our children.
There's so much good in this book, I can't write it all here. But I do highly recommend it, and would love to hear your thoughts on it also.
I'm discussing it with a small group of Godly women, and our discussion was as fruitful for me as the reading. God is using this book and other things to continually bring us back to the truth: Our lives need to be totally Gospel-centered and gospel-powered. There is such peace and joy in this!

This cute idea was not my own. They rarely are. I think this came from Kendra, or Ashley. Not sure which, but they both have a cute thankful tree in their house too.
I loved this idea! We really try to focus on thankfulness during this season. Well, we need it year-round, but thank goodness, there's a holiday that helps us in the discipline of thankfulness.
Our theme verse this time of year is Col 2:7
Let your lives overflow with thanksgiving for all he has done.
I do believe that thankfulness is a discipline that needs cultivating in our lives.
I'm appalled at my own absence of thankfulness in moments of complaining and irritation. I need to put on thankfulness, as we say so often around here.
So we love the thankful tree! The kids each have their own color leaves, and each night we write what they are thankful for today on them and put them on our colorful tree. Rusty and I write ours on the tree trunk. We are kind of the "trunk" of this family...and my hands were crippled from cutting leaves.
Some of my favorites have been, I'm thankful for "monkeys" "I like Emma" "doing homeschool" "a happy family and happy parents".
I love this new tradition! (Thanks for sharing Kendra and Ashley!) Happy Thanksgiving season, folks!

Leader of the Day

(photo above by Ryan Price Photography-check out his website! www.ryanpricephoto.com)
There are a million little tips out there that can help us run our homes smoothly. The more children we have, the more organized and creative we need to be to reduce the chaos. I love those little brilliant ideas that change your life. So in hopes that you all will share yours with me, here is one that we love.
I can't remember where I got this idea. I would give credit where credit is due, if only I could remember who it was due to. I think I read this in a magazine. Once upon a time, in a former life, I read magazines. I had more time to read for leisure then. I used to even have a subscription to Southern Living. Those were good times.
Anyway, I loved this idea and remembered it for years and we started doing it a year or so ago.
We have a leader of the day. Sun. is Treston, and Emma is Monday and Thursday, Jax is Tuesday and Friday, and Justus is Wed. and Saturday.
When you're leader of the day, you get the special priveleges, and special jobs.
For example you could choose the morning cartoon, or you would set the table.
Any special privelege opportunity that might arise immediately goes to the leader of the day rather than the kids squabbling about it.
I also grab the leader of the day when I need something done.
The Leader has daily leader jobs, such as gathering all of the laundry from all the baskets each morning and sorting it, wiping down a bathroom, and taking the sheets off of his bed to be washed (ensuring everyone's sheets get washed once a week).
The kids also get to spend their "nap" time (no one naps but Treston but they are supposed to be quiet and read in their room) in the play room.
The kids LOVE to be the leader, and it solves any dispute over who gets the special priveleges or chores. It's a great system that works well for us, so I thought I'd share it.
One day, and I don't know when, Treston will realize that he only gets to be the leader once a week, and he'll have to be okay with that until God adds another day to the week. For now, this system holds nicely.

Halloween 2009 slideshow

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Director of Planned Parenthood resigns, Change of Heart!

*This was a recent article in our paper. It seems the prayers of the faithful people on the sidewalk outside Planned Parenthood have been fruitful! This is AMAZING!

Planned Parenthood has been a part of Abby Johnson's life for the past eight years; that is until last month, when Abby resigned. Johnson said she realized she wanted to leave, after watching an ultrasound of an abortion procedure.

"I just thought I can't do this anymore, and it was just like a flash that hit me and I thought that's it," said Jonhson.

She handed in her resignation October 6. Johnson worked as the Bryan Planned Parenthood Director for two years.

According to Johnson, the non-profit was struggling under the weight of a tough economy, and changing it's business model from one that pushed prevention, to one that focused on abortion.

"It seemed like maybe that's not what a lot of people were believing any more because that's not where the money was. The money wasn't in family planning, the money wasn't in prevention, the money was in abortion and so I had a problem with that," said Johnson.

Johnson said she was told to bring in more women who wanted abortions, something the Episcopalian church goer recently became convicted about.

"I feel so pure in heart (since leaving). I don't have this guilt, I don't have this burden on me anymore that's how I know this conversion was a spiritual conversion."

Johnson now supports the Coalition For Life, the pro-life group with a building down the street from Planned Parenthood. Coalition volunteers can regularly be seen praying on the sidewalk in front of Planned Parenthood. Johnson has been meeting with the coalition's executive director, Shawn Carney, and has prayed with volunteers outside Planned Parenthood.

On Friday both Johnson and the Coalition For Life were issued temporary restraining orders filed by Planned Parenthood.

Rochelle Tafolla, a Planned Parenthood spokesperson issued the following statement: "We regret being forced to turn to the courts to protect the safety and confidentiality of our clients and staff, however, in this instance it is absolutely necessary."

The temporary restraining order contends that Planned Parenthood would be irreparably harmed by the disclosure of certain information, but does not bar Johnson or Coalition For Life volunteers from the premises.

As of Sunday evening, neither Johnson nor Carney had seen the complaint filed against them that prompted the restraining order.

A hearing about the order has been set for November 10.

Fall Family Fun Day 2009!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

We love FFFD! It's one of my favorite days in the Bacak fam.
This was our seventh annual Fall Family Fun Day! I can't believe it!
It starts in the pumpkin patch.
I love pumpkin patch pictures.
The colors are unbeatable.
Then there's caramel apples.
The caramel apples were best ever this year! I made the caramel sauce with the wrapped caramels in a bag and added half and half to it. It melted into the best caramel we've ever made on FFFD. I have fine tuned the caramel apples for the least amount of mess and sticky as possible, and have increased the caramel to apple ratio. Cutting the apples just makes more sense. Everyone got their own caramel bowl this year, which was brilliant.
The pumpkin decorating and carving is fun too!
Enjoy the slideshow.

Run For Compassion 2010

Our first Run For Compassion was last April, as some of you remember. It was a special time for this family as we gave our all for a cause that has moved us. We sponsored a Child Survival Project in Ethiopia from this run, and because of so many of you, sent almost $4,000, which was wildly exciting! Here is an excerpt from our Run For Compassion website about the CSP...

The Child Survival Program through Compassion is saving the lives of children. You can sponsor a child, beginning at age five, through Compassion. We do, and we highly encourage you to do the same! But the mortality rate is so high for children under the age of five, they have to live to five first. That’s where the Child Survival Program comes in. This is straight from their web site. Tragically, nearly 27,000 children under age 5 die every day, mainly from preventable diseases and related causes. Through the Child Survival Program (CSP), Compassion is battling for the lives of vulnerable children and their caregivers, providing: prenatal care ongoing health screening infant survival training for mothers and caregivers spiritual guidance and education Help save lives. It’s hard to sum up everything a Child Survival Project is doing in their work with children and mothers or caregivers, but in short, they are doing all that it takes to give them life, and not just physical life. Spiritual life as well. Your registration fee will not just possibly make a difference. It will make a difference. Lives will be saved and people will come to know Jesus as their Savior. What better reason could we have for running for Compassion? A couple of Christmases ago, my Mom and Dad decided our family was going to raise money for the Child Survival Program. My Mom’s life work is at New Life, a pregnancy Crisis Center and adoption agency in Houston. (Two of our kids have come from New Life.) She has given all she has to babies, born and unborn, and their mothers. It was not hard for my parents to connect to this work. So they gave us $50 and told us to make more money with that seed money. At the end of the year, we would collect our money and send it to a Child Survival Project. We did. It was exciting! God moved in us as He used us. So we got our $50 again this year. And the idea of a Run for Compassion was born. That’s where you step in to this story. Literally.

We are just as passionate about this cause this year, and more sure of what God can do through us, just simple, broken vessels for Him. We knew nothing about being race directors last year. Not one thing. But God did good things, despite all of our shortcomings. We have full confidence that He has a good work through this run planned for this coming April 10, 2010.
The planning has just begun. Basically, all we have is a date. But I have started assembling a team of precious girls who are going to help me this year, and make this successful and profitable for the Kingdom.
If you are interested in being on this team who raises sponsorship money, advertises, helps with race day logistics, works on the website, manages finances (that's not for me!), and collects prizes, let me know. We will have a chairman over each area of this race, and I would like for these chairmen, or chairwomen, to have a full committee so that no ONE person has to do all the work. It was amazing for us last year, but it was too much work for a few people. We need a team.
If you're interested in being a team player for Run For Compassion, let me know!
If you're interested in running, then get your shoes on! You can train to do the 5K or 10K this spring, no matter who you are! More to come on Run For Compassion...get excited!

H1N1 shots are in at the Amazing Dr. Bacak's office! FYI!

Advent Conspiracy!

I love this video! I posted it last year, but take just a minute and look at this inspiring and fun video from Living Water on what they call Advent Conspiracy. It's been a blessing for the Seay/Bacak family as we have heard God call us to deeper worship through giving in the Advent season and all year long.
Christmas is a special time of year. No doubt about it. But what makes it special for us, and what emanates from us during this time should tell the world what is hapenning in our hearts during Advent; adoration for our Savior, and a deeper drive to live like He did.
I hope this gets us started in considering what God has for us this Advent season!

The Flu Shot, and only in a doctor's house...

I've done a few posts over the years about the occasional strange hapennings of a doctor's house. Like having a urine specimen in your refrigerator, or your child's favorite toy being the pap smear stick thingy. (If you don't remember that post from years past, don't worry...it's not as creepy as it sounds. It's like a tongue depressor they use during pap smears. You've probably never seen one because, let's face it, we don't know what's going on down there. But they're harmless little sticks that once were Jax's favorite thing to play with.)
Well, only in a Doctor's house does a child get a flu shot in his sleep.
I know, how scarred are my children!?!! Rusty had brought home our shots (NOT the H1N1 shots- they're not in yet. Still waiting) over the weekend and we realized on Sunday night, after tucking all the kids in, that he forgot to administer all of our shots. So we decided to see who was up, and go for it. Emma, always awake, rarely asleep, was the first victim. She started hyperventilating right away, turning ashen in the face, and then quickly it was over, and she immediately went back to normal and said "that wasn't bad, Dad! I hardly felt it. That's the last time I'm going to freak out over a flu shot." Wow! That went well!
Treston, who has been getting in BIG trouble at night, getting out of his bed, and doing terrible, terrible things in the house, of course, got out of his bed. Normally, he would have been disciplined for this, but instead...Rusty gave him a shot. Come to think of it...I don't think he's gotten out of his bed since then? Maybe we're onto something. Treston takes shots as stoically as a Marine. He is expressionless. Doesn't even wince. He takes his band-aid and goes on his way. Last year, I think he even smiled. It's really remarkable.
But the other boys were out cold. Rusty, my dear husband, was convinced that he could give the boys their shots in their sleep and they wouldn't even wake up. I, on the other hand, thought this was the worst possible way to screw up our children. Can you wake up to your parent putting a needle in you, and ever recover from that? That's what horror movies are made of, right? It's like a scene from Alias.
But my husband was fairly certain he could pull it off. I adore this man. He is right most of the time. But not this time...
Jax woke up, screaming, crying, and disoriented. What in the world were his parents doing to him? And WHY????? It took me about 10 minutes of snuggling with him in bed to calm him down and get him to go back to sleep.
We obviously aborted the plan after that one. Justus got his later on, and he was fully awake. So I'm guessing only Jax will need the intense therapy later in life.
Needless to say, we ARE getting flu shots this year. I've had a lot of people ask me, so yes, we actually always get the flu shot. We will also all take the H1N1 shot. Rusty feels confident in it's safety. He says the flu is more dangerous than the shot, for sure! I understand people's concern over the fact that this flu strand is new and therefore the vaccination is new, but Rusty says that flu strands are really different each year, so every vaccination is different. It's not so different with this swine flu. Because we are exposed to it more than most, being that Rusty sees the flu each and everyday, (please don't cough on him if you see him with the flu!) and we go to the office often as well, if the vaccination becomes available to us we will get it. Luckily, God has miraculously protected us so far! We have been exposed many times already!
Just so you know, we do have the regular flu shot available at our office. (695-3570) We personally are thankful for flu shots and other vaccinations that have been a protection from diseases that kill. As far as the flu shot goes, we know we could still get the flu. But we're going to do what we can to avoid it! And of course, Dr. Bacak would say prevention method #1- wash your hands with soap frequently! And wash your kids' hands with soap! Anti-bacterial gel is nowhere near as good as good ol' hot water and soap. There you go! Stay well, people!

Spoons: My new office

College Station friends: A new day has dawned for us.
Frozen yogurt has been restored to us, after much waiting, anticipating, lingering in this barren land of strictly fatty desserts.
Spoons has opened! And this place is brilliant! It's a self serve yogurt shop, with fun toppings to choose from, and they just weigh it, and you pay it.
I love it! I went twice this weekend. Friday, on the Grand Opening, on a hot date with my husband, and then back on Saturday night with my sister.
I had to restrain myself from driving by on Sunday to see if they were open.
There are many choices, but I have a favorite already. Pistachio with Andes mints topping. It's like chocolate chip mint ice cream, basically, but it's only 100 calories per 1/2 cup.
I've decided I must do all business there from now on.
When I meet with college girls, we're meeting there.
It's my new office.
Why? Because Titus 2 says I should be mentoring younger women, and some versions of the Bible might imply to do that over frozen yogurt.
The owner checked us out on Friday, and he said this was a class project that took off! He got an alumni to be the investor, and here we are! Blessed with yummy frozen yogurt!
I might school my children there later.
See y'all there!
(This was in no way a paid endorsement from the owners of Spoons, like on the Biggest Loser when they do those oh-so-subtle commercials for products that will "help" them lose weight. This was completely inspired by my own excitment over pistachio frozen yogurt. But I am going to check with them to see if they'll pay me from now on...)

Butternut Squash and Sausage Soup

This soup is THE BEST! It just screams fall to me. I love fall. I love soup. I LOVE Butternut Squash. I think it's even on sale this week! Yee-haw! So here's the recipe...
1 large butternut squash, halved, seeds removed (see if a strong, capable husband or male will do it for you. Also, using Cutco knives has helped me a lot!)
a little olive oil
1/2 t salt
pepper
1/2 lb. sweet sausage
1 large onion, chopped
6 cloves garlic, minced
2 t sage
1/2 t marjoram
6 c chicken stock or broth
1 t cider vinegar or lemon juice
1/2 c heavy cream

Lightly coat the squash with olive oil. Season with salt and pepper. Bake in the oven until tender 45 min. - 1 hr. Scoop out the flesh. I sometimes do this in advance and keep it in the refrigerator.
In a large pot, cook the sausage and onion. Add the garlic, sage, marjoram, and cook stirring for 1 min. Add the cooked squash and chicken broth, stir, and bring to a boil. Reduce and simmer for 30 minutes. Then pulse in a blender in batches, or just buy an immersion blender thingy. That changed my life. I saw one on a cooking show and thought how cool it would be to have one and never have to pulse hot soup in a blender and burn myself again! Turns out, I had one in my kitchen all along. I got it for my wedding and didn't know what it was so I never used it. How crazy is that?
Finally, add the cider vinegar and the cream. Don't forget! I sometimes forget the cream and then get really mad at myself! How could I forget cream?
I have served this with a sourdough bread, made in my bread machine, and salad.
Be sure to invite me over for dinner when you make this, k?

Winkflash books for Christmas!

Yes, I definitely have Christmas gifts on the brain already!
And these books were a great deal for us last year!
You can make a photo book up to 100 pages for $19.95!
You may find books you like better, but none cheaper that I know of.
I gave them to grandparents as gifts last year, and they loved them!
I just finished our 2008 book last night, and I finished at exactly 100 pages.
It's not as cool as scrapbooking, with minimal backgrounds, fonts, creative
possibilities, but you know what, I got it done! And I have three more
books to make before the special runs out on October 24th, I think.
So get busy if you are like me! I'm photobooking at every possible free moment, which are incredibly few.
It takes a while to upload your photos on the site, but I let my run for like
two days, highlighting all of them, and it finally finished and I was ready to go!
For next year, I'm re-evaluating. I'm thinking about a new system...but for now,
these cheap books are too good of a deal to pass up!

Where is your treasure?

First let me say, I have not abandoned blogging. We are having serious internet issues. It's down every night, without fail. So frustrating!
During the day I could blog...if I didn't have a few other pressing matters around here!
So here is what I've been thinking about lately...
Matt. 6:21 says "Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."
This is a verse that should bring much self-examination.
I thought of this as I've been sitting on the sidelines of children's sporting events lately. Jax is playing soccer, and Emma occasionally competes in horse shows.
What happens to seemingly normal people when they're kids get on a field (or horse arena, in our case)?
The constant coaching and yelling and frustration from the parents, I want to just cry for these kids. And sometimes I want to punch these parents in the face.
And I'm embarrassed for the parents.
Now I know, this could easily be us. None of us is above this kind of junk.
How do we check ourselves to make sure we are not ridiculous, raving, sports parents?
The heart issue has to be where our treasure is.
And that question is "What makes us most proud?"
I read an article in the newspaper recently from a sports writer talking about how watching his son play football, he was the "most proud he'd ever been" of his child.
Wow. That stinks.
So what makes us "most proud"?
When do we want to beam, as parents?
When our kids score a goal, or when we see evidences of grace in their lives?
When they win, or when they are getting up on their own to read God's Word?
There's nothing wrong with winning. I'll be the first to admit, winning is fun.
And sometimes, we put a lot into our kids' interests and sports teams. It's nice to see them advance.
But it's fleeting...it's like the wind. It's not eternal. Col. 1 talks about setting our minds on what's above, what's eternal.
So I am checking my heart. What makes me most proud?
There is nothing in the world like seeing my kids grow closer to the Lord! That has to be our focus. Their spiritual development! Everything else can't even hold a candle to that. And if they perceive us as holding non-eternal things like sports us as so important, we are sending them a clear message.
That message is messed-up.
There's no time to re-read this or edit. I've got a day to start. It will be light soon. Hopefully I'll have internet regularly soon. Don't give up on me!

A drama-free slumber party...what's that?

We celebrated Emma's birthday with a slumber party.
I approached this idea with great caution. Why?
Because I went to slumber parties. If you did too, you know what I'm talking about.
This is what I know about girls...we're born mean.
Oh, you might think that's an exaggeration, but it's not.
We're born with the tendency toward gossip, forming factions that gang up on someone else, and with the innate ability from the age of three on to merely whisper and giggle with another girl and destroy her in an instant.
Am I right? Can I hear an Amen?
I noticed this when my own daughter started playing with a group of girls at a very young age, and it all came rushing back to me. Oh yeahhhhh, I remember this.
We are horrible, horrible creatures.
They could make a movie called "pre-school mean girls" and it wouldn't be too far off.
Why? Because we're sinners. Plain and simple. We're fallen and born with a sinful nature that is yucky through and through. There's no denying it.
And what is the root of this ugly behavior in girls? Looking back, why did I do what I did?
Putting others down in any form or fashion somehow lifts you up. Whether it's being funny at someone else's expense, or trying to exalt your friendship with one girl over another (also at her expense) so that you feel more popular. Exalting ourselves to make us feel better can look like several things, but it's always destructive.
Are we grown-up girls still capable of this today? Of course. We all have to be aware of this, even as we can disguise this more mature version of ugliness in us still.
We have to work at our friendships making sure we look after others' needs and feelings as best we can, and including others as much as possible.
I have also guarded against this junk with my daughter. I think because she's homeschooled she's slightly ignorant of the enormity of this business.
But I had this very talk with Emma before her party...making sure everyone feels included...no one feels left out...being sure to put others desires above her own...all that good stuff.
I think intentionally teaching our daughters how to be Christ-like friends from a young age will help them resist the temptation to be a "mean girl." And ultimately, their relationship with the Lord gives them the power to overcome sin!
I was so proud of the group of girls we had at our house for this slumber party!
There was no drama, no ugliness, no factions, and no "light as a feather, stiff as a board" (anyone remember that one?).
We had a sweet time of devotional on loving others like Jesus, and I had the privelege of hearing their sweet prayers. What a blessing! I can't wait to watch these sweet girls grow up into Godly, young women who honor the Lord with their lives.
So there WAS pizza, there WAS cake and ice cream, there WAS pin the tail on Emma's horse, there WAS a dance party in our pajamas, there WAS whispering in their beds, but there was NO drama and ugliness, and I was thankful for that!
Anyone, thoughts on how we train our girls to guard against our tendency toward this sin, and encourage them to love like Christ? Older Moms, wisdom to offer?

Happy Birthday Emma!

9 years ago today, after about 45 hours protest in labor, little Emma entered our world. She was obviously comfortable where she was, and didn't come willingly.
She was born at 2:55am at Northwest hospital in Amarillo.
She had the loudest cry of any baby I'd ever heard, and the biggest, most alert, blue eyes. They seemed huge to me. From the moment she was born, she seemed determined not to miss a thing (so sleeping was not an option, naturally) and it was as if she was sure she could tell us what to do and we would comply.
I remember bringing her home and having the revelation I think many young mothers do...about how much God loves us as a Father, how much my parents love me, and not believing how much I loved this new little person.
So of course, I cried, rocked and nursed her, and Rusty would tentatively say "Are you okay?" wondering where his even-keeled wife went, and who was this blubbering woman in the rocker?
I would sob "Yes. I just love her so much!" Sob. Sob.
Post-Partum. There's nothing like it.
So entered Emma into our lives, and what a precious life change!
We've watched her grow, from that super active, strong willed little one, into the little girl we know who submitted her life to the Lord and loves Him with all her heart.
Some of my favorite things about Emma:
1. How she loves God and His Word! (It's 6:30 and she's sitting on the couch right now doing her Bible Study book. What's better?)
2. The way she reads. She is a voracious reader, and that has been one of my great aspirations for my kids. She devours her library books, and then we must make an emeregency library trip when she's done.
3. She begs me for "homework" and lots of it. I don't seem to give her enough work, in her opinion. Clearly, she gets the "nerd" genes from her father. It pays to marry a brainiac.
4. She's so her own person. Maybe this is intensified because she's homeschooled, but she has always been an intense animal lover, seriously, since before she could talk. Her obsession with elephants came first,before she was two, then dinosaurs, then horses. That one stuck. And if you know my daughter, one of her great talents is being able to "run like a cheetah", and she'll gladly race you on all-fours. It's a little uncanny how quick she is. She's just Emma. Not a girl who likes princesses, purses, dresses, or pretty shoes, but can tell you anything you want to know about animals, habitats, and is what we call the "animal whisperer."
5. She's a little bit fearless. I think her desire and willingness to do what she does on horses, and then compete against a group of older, more experienced riders at horse shows demonstrates this. I love watching her in action! There is nothing sweeter to me than this girl and a horse.
So Celebrating you is our joy, Em! Happy birthday, love! I hope today is a memorable one.

Help me!

I would like to find the ultimate photo sharing, storage site. I'm on winkflash right now, but I can't really access my photos like I'd like. I want to be able to store them on a site, but then access them to put on my blog, e-mail them to myself, or do whatever I want with them. I also want to make super easy photo books that don't cost a fortune, and have high quality prints. Winflash is cheap, and I love cheap! But I don't think the quality is the best, and it takes forever to load them on the site. Does anyone have a magic site you can tell me about? I'm wondering about sites like photobucket and seehere.com, but it's hard to find answers to these questions just by looking at their site.
Help me! Someone out there must have an answer for me!

A crazy Mom would...

Emma and I just got back from her horse show.
It was great Mother-Daughter fun, and this horse Mom was tired, but thankful for the time we had together.
Sometimes it's the funniest things that end up being the most fun on these kind of outings.
Ours was an hour long game of "A crazy Mom would..." in the car.
We came up with about 102 answers to that question, which kept me awake while driving, in conjunction with some not-so-bad gas station coffee, and made us laugh outloud.
But here's my best answer to that question.
A crazy Mom would put her little girl in pageants.
Have you seen this show "Toddlers and Tiaras" on TLC?
Our DVR was broken for a while, and without anything conveniently waiting for us, pre-recorded, I defaulted to TLC. I think that's what I watched before the DVR. That, and "Little House" recorded.
This is one of those, drop your jaw, are you kidding? shows.
Highlights: fake teeth for the little girls, fake hair, spray tanning, Halloween level of make-up, and the saddest part of all, swimsuit competitions. (They don't allow g-strings, they said on one of the shows, just because it's hard to pull off without the perfect body. I couldn't sleep that night.)
The whole thing is a not-so-distant cousin to pedophilia.
I don't think that would be most parents' intent, but what in the WORLD are they thinking, sexualizing their little girls like that?
And that led to an interesting discussion I had with my Mom.
She is teaching soon to her ladies about ways that we sexualize our children early on. I think this is something we need to be very aware of.
How are we doing this, in our culture, and in our own families?
The obvious would be to put make-up on your child, dress them up like a hoochie Mama and teach them to dance around suggesstively in front of a panel of judges to be scored based on their hoochie dancing abilities, their bodies, and their facial beauty.
(Is this not obvious to them!?)
But what are more subtle things that we might be doing with our daughters that have become so accepted in our culture that we aren't aware of it ourselves?
I'm trying to be especially aware of this in the area of clothing for my daughter.
Any thoughts, Moms? Dads? Everyone else?
(Oh, and anyone who is feeling the tiniest bit defensive for pageant Moms, please watch "Toddlers and Tiaras" and then get back to me. If you are willing to go to bat for these pageant parents, I would love to understand why! Let's talk!)