My Summer Thus Far (part 2)

I know that these posts are a little out of order for you, but if you haven't read part one, then skip below to the post directly under this one and read it first.

Let's see.....I left off with "Personally, I am about to have a nervous breakdown. Then my phone rings......."

Well, my phone rang and it was Carlton on the other end....

C - "Is this not a house key on your spare set?"
M - "It is suppose to be....WHY?"(Hysteria is about to set in....)
C - "It is NOT working!"
M - "Did you lock all the doors?"
C - "YES, I locked all the doors. Then you called and I was going back in and this key does not work!"
M - "NO WAY!!" (other mothers around saying..."it's going to be okay!")
C - "How much time do I have?"
M - "Well, they are still playing all the pre-show music. Then they have production, and one woman sings before the girls go on."
C - "HOW MUCH TIME!!"
M - "About 20 minutes!!!"
C - "I am breaking the window then! BYE!"

Me....I hung up the phone and looked at those other mothers and said..."He's BREAKING a window! Oh my gosh....he is going to be so mad!"

Rachel looked at me and said, "You okay Mommy?"
Immediately my whole demeanor changed and I looked right at her and told her that Mommy was okay, and everything would be just fine. Then she skipped off to play with the girls!

About 3 minutes later Carlton calls and says...."How much time??" I told him that Dorthy was just meeting up with the Scarecrow, Tin Man and the Lion (as if you couldn't guess, production was a mini version of the Wizzard of Oz) then I told him he had about 15 minutes MAX. To which he replied...."I just broke a double paned window....I BETTER make it on time for her to dance!"

Panic sat in once again for I knew that he had our son in the car and was breaking ALL kinds of traffic laws on the way. I told him to call me once he got to the street the theater was on and I would run out and get the costume. SO when he called, I ran, and ran, and ran....then I ran back in, got to Rachel and one of the other mothers had already unbuttoned her cover up. The woman was singing her song, we slipped Rachel in her costume, snapped the back, the girls walked backstage, I met Carlton and Timothy in the hall, we stepped in the theater and the Baby Ballet class walked out on stage!

NOW tell me he doesn't love his daughter and wouldn't do anything for her! That is one incredible man I have. However, he then had to listen to a million questions from Timothy who was trying to figure out why he was driving like a maniac....because you see, we live at least 15 minutes from the theater!

Whew......what a night!!!!

Well, $234.64 and one week later, the glass has been fixed!

Now for another part of our summer.....let's see....oh yeah, we finally got a fence put up around the back yard. Now the kids will be wanting another dog. They have wanted one for some time now, but we have put it off because our last one, Pongo, a Dalmatian, was an indoor dog....but....we have decided that we don't want another indoor canine in the family, so we have been telling the kids that we needed a fence first. (I'll let you know when the dog comes!)

And now for the best part of all!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Rachel was in her room the other night and yelled...."Mommy, come look at my crack!" Did your eyes just get big and your jaw drop to the floor?? Because when I heard those words, mine did! As I got up and walked to her room I thought, "We have NEVER called it that, where is that coming from!" When I walked in, she pointed to the wall above her bathroom door and said, "See it, up there!" And sure enough there was a crack in the sheet rock that was about 2 1/2 feet long from the corner of the bathroom door on up in an angle. Immediately I knew what we were looking at......the foundation. SO I called Carlton in the room and started looking around the other doors and windows, and sure enough there were other cracks. Some big and some small, but lots of them. So we walked into Timothy's room (they share a Jack-n-Jill bathroom) and sure enough, there were cracks in his wall too! Carlton said he noticed the doors were harder to shut the other day. Well on this night, the two doors in his room would NOT shut!

So the next morning I called a slew of foundation repair companies, and over the next several days they all came out, shared their two cents, and showed us how much it would cost us to fix our problem. The problem being the corner of the house that Timothy's room is in, has "sunk" a whole 2 inches! Well, the cost ranges anywhere from $1850 to $5765. The cheaper cost was using the most simple way to fix the problem but has no warranty to guarantee the work. The most expensive amount came from Olshan (the leader in foundation repair) and it includes a lifetime warranty that can be transferred to a new owner if/when we sell the home. It also included coming INSIDE the house and drilling holes in the floors of the kids rooms. (Not something I am totally thrilled about, but then again I am not thrilled about the whole situation anyway!)

We will probably go with Olshan, but please make it a matter of prayer. There is an older gentleman in our church that was pretty set on us going with a man's company that he knows. And although he knows him, I checked him out with our friends from the Better Business Bureau and they showed several complaints filled against him (the older man's friend that is) SO we just don't want to take the risk. We have had too many problems with this house as it is and don't want to do anything to "risky".

Well, that's it so far....crazy summer huh?? The kids and I are at my parents until early Sunday morning. We will get up then and head on home. Carlton and the youth will be coming home Sunday evening late and I want to get home before he does.

Hope you summer has been better than ours thus far! :)

My Summer Thus Far (part 1)

Well, I tried to load some pictures to go with this post but for some reason I am having a tuff time with Blogger here at my parents house. I wanted to catch you all up to date on what's been going on so far this summer. I know that my cousin Melissa checked my blog everyday before school was out so I told my mother she is probably having "withdrawals"! LOL

Well, where do I start......I SO wish I had pictures....

Let's see......Ok...the first thing that happened after school let out....a TUBING TRIP! Carlton took a group of youth on an overnight trip to New Braunsfels (sp) and I actually got to go without the kids! It was a much needed trip for me. We had a blast.

The next couple of days I spent getting Rachel's costume ready for her first recital. Did I mention I wish I could have loaded some pictures! Well, this was an interesting 1st recital to say the least. The dress rehearsal was extremely long! The dads were told to be there for the Daddy/Daughter dance part of the rehearsal @ 6:30 so they could be on stage by 7:00. Well, they were all there, many of them against their will, however they didn't go on stage until 10:00!!No, I am not kidding. So you can guess that the daddy of this house was very frustrated! At this point he had been the only staff member in town since two staff resigned and our pastor was on a trip in the Holy Land! He had spent the day with a family that he was preparing his first adult funeral for that day and was suppose to meet with them the following morning! He was one pooped Daddy!

The next day, Saturday, was the recital. We hung around the house as much as we could, the leisurely got ready. I took Rachel and left the house at 5:45 to arrive at the theater by 6:00 for what I thought was a 7:00 recital. BUT I was ALL wrong! The recital started at 6:00! As I was pulling down the street to the theater, the line mother called me and said "panically"...."Angie, where are you!!! We are lining up!"

Me... "No way, are you kidding me....I thought it started at 7!"
Line Mom.."No, it starts in 5 minutes!"
Me..."Oh MY GOSH!!! I am outside, be in there in a minute...."

Then I frantically get on the phone and call Carlton to tell him to get there NOW! So, after me explaining to him that I had gotten the times wrong, we hung up and he got himself and Timothy dressed.

In the mean time I realized as we were getting out of the car that I had left Rachel's costume ON THE BACK OF THE CHAIR AT THE HOUSE!! I got on the phone and called Carlton....

C - "What...where is it???"
M - "On the chair......hurry....they are on after production!"

As I am running in, the other mother's start asking "where is Rachel's costume?" Personally, I am about to have a nervous breakdown. Then my phone rings.......

Okay, this has gotten long, and my kids are giving me fits right now, so I will have to finish this later.....hopefully tonight, but if not, then tomorrow....come back, and hang tight, it gets CRAZY.....broken glass...cracked walls......OH YEAH.....it gets CRAZY.....

How to DO the WHO do!

Hee Hee......that just sounds funny! AnyWHO......(i'm killin' myself here!!) LOL OKAY....enough with that....on with what I am here for today! A couple of you that read the post below wanted to know how we accomplished this great up do, so let me tell you, it was super easy.

Here's what you need:
1. Plastic cup (sized to match the amount of hair you have)
2. Your own hair (hee hee)
3. 1 scrunci

To accomplish such stylish do, simply brush some hair forward, place the cup in the center of the top of your head, bring hair up from all sides and secure with the scrunci!

On a small child you might try those little Dixie cups....would make for a smaller do, but would be just as much fun!

Now was that easy or what!!! So, now go make your WHO do!

Alligator!!!!

****If you haven't already....please read my Prayer Request below this one!

***UPDATE - - - just heard from the game warden's office....and the alligator is STILL on the loose....they are calling someone from Nuisance Control to come set out some traps!!!!

Oh my.....yesterday on my way home I saw police cars at one of the entrances into my neighborhood and I thought, "I wonder what happened...." THEN I saw the GAME WARDEN's truck....then I thought, "OH NO....it must be an alligator!!!"

And I was right!

I was watching the 6 o'clock news last night and there it was.....the story of the alligator sighting. BUT, they had not caught it! I noticed when I came back from the gym around 6:30, the game warden and one other truck were still out there! I watched the 10 o'clock news and there was no news about the alligator. I have checked the website this morning and have seen nothing. I called the game warden's office for our county and this is how the conversation went....

Me - "Hi, my name is Angela Pridgen. I live in the neighborhood in Nederland where the alligator was sighted yesterday afternoon. I was wondering if they were able to catch it."

Lady on Phone - "Did YOU see the alligator?"

Me - "No, I saw the police and game warden out there yesterday. Then I saw the story on the news. The game warden said he saw the alligator, but had not been able to get to it at that time."

Lady on Phone - interrupting me, "Well it is mating season, you are going to see them popping up all around. We only relocate them if they are a nuisance."

Me - Thinking in my head....ANY alligator is a nuisance! then saying, "I understand...I was just wondering if they had relocated this one!"

Lady on Phone - "Well, I don't know."

Me - "Okay, thank you!"


A lot of help she was!!! LOL

So, now I have emailed the news station and the sheriff's department to see if they can tell me anything! I WANT TO KNOW!!!! LOL

Wouldn't you??

"...all the love!"

Well dear blogging friends, I will officially be on my Spring Break in about 15 minutes! I will be away from my computer till next Tuesday!

WOOOOHOOOO......

Before I go, I would like to share a short story with you....more a conversation between Timothy and I last night after church:

T - "Momma, look at the cross I colored"

M - "I see, it is really nice!"

T - "Tell me what it says on the top again."

M - "It says 'He is risen'."

T - "Momma, you know we celebrate Jesus TWO times. One at Christmas when He was born and the other at Easter when He died and was risen."

M - "I know, but you know we should celebrate Jesus every day right?"

T - "Yeah....we also have the Easter bunny for Easter."

M - "Well, the Easter bunny is just something we do for fun. You remember why we REALLY celebrate Easter don't you?"

T - "Yes 'mam....Cause Jesus died on the cross."

M - "Yes, what else?"

T - "He was put in the tomb."

M - "You're right, what else?"

T - "He rosed from the dead!" (with lots of excitement!)

M - "Why did He do that for us?"

T - "Because if He didn't we wouldn't have all the love!"


How sweet! I love that God's message to us is so simple that even a 5 year old can explain it! Didn't He die for us and rise again for the love? The love that He had for us. The love He wanted to show us. The love that He wants from us!

That conversation with Timothy will be one of those I will remember for the rest of my life........I am sure of it!

Because of all the love!

Happy Easter my dear friends!

What kind of shoe are you??

I saw this on the blog of Lisa Writes.......I went on over took my 5 question quizz and this is what it said about me.... (BTW, Lisa is a cowboy boot!!)

You Are Clogs

You are a solid and down to earth person. You seek – and almost always achieve – a really sound balance in your life. You are stylish yet comfortable. Mellow but driven. Excited yet calm. You are the perfect mesh of contradictions. No matter what happens, you have the ability to stay well grounded in your life. People know that they can truly depend on you. You should live: In Europe You should work: At a company dedicated to helping the world

What Kind of Shoe Are You?

You can follow that link above and find out what kind of shoe you are. Then come back here and let me know

I would like to know one thing.....how does it know I am a clog after just 5 questions??

And what kind of clog am I .... a GARDEN clog, a closed back clog, wooden clog, or a fancy

Professional Brocade clog.

I am not sure, but I will tell you the funniest thing about finding this out today is that I AM WEARING a pair of CLOGS!!!!!! LOLOLOLOL They are old and brown and well worn! And I love them.

A VERY Embarassing Moment!!!!

Ok, I choose to share this moment with you all because.........well.........because I just think you all need a good laugh from time to time.

On Sunday, after church, we decided to go to lunch with another couple and their children. The hubby and I got there first, so I rushed in to hold us a table. We have 4 and they (counting the two extra they are housing for the moment) have 7. So we ended up needing a table with a booth right across from it so that we could seat everyone. Hubby got in line to order our food and I grabbed the kids to go find a place to sit. This is one of those "seat yourself" kind of places and it looked very packed from the outside, so I knew we needed to snag something as soon as we could find it.

After just a couple seconds we found our spot. I put my two precious children in the booth then sat at the table directly across from them and waited for the others to show up when ALL OF A SUDDEN, I felt that all too familiar feeling we all get during "that time!" You see, "that time" had just ended, so I thought! I know my eyes got as big as watermelons because I was wearing WHITE pants and I was stuck at this table!!!!! However, a major embarrassment was about to occur if I didn't get up and head to the ladies room immediately! SO, I grabbed a necessary item from my purse, put it in my coat pocket and told the kids, "Mommy has to go to the bathroom NOW....Timothy, please watch my purse Mommy will be right back!" (YES I left my purse on the table...I had to hold our spot! besides there wasn't anything in it except for gum and my debit card that had to be canceled the day before, which is a whole other story) I knew they were in eyesight of Daddy and he could "watch them" so I felt okay (not completely safe, but okay) leaving them at the table.

As I got to the restroom door, I turned around to find Rachel standing directly behind me saying, "Mommy I gotta go potty too!" So I hurried her into the bathroom with me. There was a line!!!! As soon as a stall opened up we hurried in.

***NOTE*** I DID NOT want to have Rachel in the stall with me, I knew this could get ugly, but I COULD NOT/WOULD NOT let her stay in a bathroom and me not be able to watch her.....she still touches everything!!!

I quickly put her on the potty to hear her say and grin while doing so, "I don't weally need to doe teetee!" ****wanting to scream now**** Anyway, I asked her to move to the front of the stall so that I could go. (hoping she would do like always and try to look out the crack of the stall to the people waiting in line) BUT NOOOOO, she was determined to see what I was doing!!

All I had with me that day was a pad of which to her looked like a diaper (Can you see where this might be going??) Well, as soon as she saw it she said, "Oh mommy, what are you doin'? Why you need that diaper? You not a baby!"

I immediately heard laughter from the women waiting in line and from the one in the stall next to me! And of course I too had to laugh but at the same time was turning as red as red can get! As we came out of the stall Rachel was still talking about "the diaper" As I was trying to "hush" her, one of the other women said, "I know your pain, I had a similar situation a couple years ago!" I don't know if this was the truth or if this poor woman just felt my embarrassment and wanted to "help me feel better".

I do believe this ranks up there as one of my MOST embarrassing moments!

What happened to my "bow head"?

What happened to my precious little "bow head"? I remember when Rachel was about 15 months old............I went to her room because she had gotten really quite in there, and opened the door to this::: I cracked up! She had put on that head band, then actually got a couple of those bows to stick in her hair. She handed that green one up to me as if she wanted me to "put on the finishing touches".

Then she ran off to find more, but all she could find was this purple headband. So we put it on too!

Once we were finished, she was happy! But these days, all she wants to do is "shwoop it back". This is what she tells me when I start to brush it. "No hair pretty's, I just want to shwoop it back!" So now we come out with this::

Still cute, but I sure miss the bows! :)

Excellence Award

A friend of mine from college that I reconnected with through blogging has given me this award. Her name is Liz and you can check her blog out here.

This is my first award! All I know is that I am to pass it on to 10 other blogs. That is really hard for me since I love all the ones I go to on a regular basis. I will list 10, but you can go to any of the ones on my sidebar....actually, I need to add some more that I have been "lurking!"


Here you go in no particular order:

Rachel Anne at Home Sanctuary

Lisa at The Preacher's Wife

Katherine at Raising Five

Janna at Reproductively Challenged

Angel at The Voice of Adventure

Alana at An Undeserved Life

Daisy at Our Family Blog

Lisa at Lisa Writes (a new one for me)

Brooke at The Mail Girl (although she has been a little MIA lately, heehee)

Bloggy Giveaways (my favorite giveaway spot!) (although I haven't won anything there yet)

There you have it........althougth there are many more!!!

Timothy's Sweet Teacher

I MUST tell you the sweet, thoughtful thing that Timothy's teacher did for him the other day.

Timothy has had this "thing" for a while now about giving me an astronomical amount of hugs and kisses before I leave him in the mornings. IF for some reason I leave and he doesn't think we have hugged and kissed enough, then he gets very upset and many times cries and runs after me......very disturbing at times.....

Anyway, the other morning was one of those times and this is what his sweet teacher did for him........she grabbed an empty jar that has a lid on it and told him to quickly blow all his hugs and kisses into the jar. Then she put the lid on it and told him that when I came to pick him up that afternoon he could give me all those hugs and kisses. (I know...I was amazed at this quick thinking, and sweet thought.)

SO, when I got there that afternoon to pick him up she said, "Timothy, don't forget!"....and she reached for the jar. Then she told me what had happened that morning. She handed him the jar and as she was helping him open it, she said, "Get ready to catch all those hugs and kisses Momma!" So I wafted them in, breathed deep and said, "Oh, I love these hugs and kisses!"

You should have seen the look on his face! It was one of pure joy and happiness!

I thank God for this sweet young lady. I thank Him for leading me to this place for my children! They truly love my kids!

Some funny stuff and More!

My Timothy is a character. He has had the most amazing and animated facial expressions since he was an infant! Last night he put some of those expressions to work along with his "I never meet a stranger" personality.

Wednesday's are the days I take Rachel to Baby Ballet. Usually, I drop Timothy off at the church with Carlton, they eat the family dinner, then Timothy heads to children's choir. But last night there was no dinner and children's choir has been put on hold until after the first of the year. So, Timothy went with me, which I protested, but lost and took him anyway. Besides, he has been asking when he would get to see Rachel in her ballet class.

We got there a few minutes early so the kids and I sat and waited. Then Timothy saw a little boy come out of one of the tap classes. He looked at me and almost giggled while asking "Why was that BOY in that dancing class with those girls?" I just looked at him and said, "I guess he wants to learn how to tap dance." Well I guess that was not enough explanation for him, because he got up and started walking over to the boy.........NOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!! Timothy, come back!!!!

Luckily I stopped him before he got there....I KNEW that he was about to go ask the kid! And just asking the kid would have been okay, but I knew by the way he asked me the question that it would come across as, "Why are YOU taking that dance class.....BOYS don't take dance classes!" and that would not have been nice! Especially since I see the boy's mother their every week, sewing sequence on sweat shirts and other things for him!!!

ANYWAY.....it just couldn't end there......After Rachel went into her class Timothy got bored and was playing with my keys!

I have a mini-swipe card on my key ring for the local gym that Carlton and I frequent. (okay, I go about 2 times a week.....if I'm lucky!) Anyway, Timothy held it up and asked (anyone that was listening) "Do any of you go to Exygon (the gym)?" At first no one answered, so being the persistent kid he is he said it again, but louder....."Do any of you go to Exygon?"

There was one lady that heard him the first time and grinned, she is usually kind of quite and to herself anyway, but she humored him and said, "I don't, but I probably should!" He grinned, and I (for what reason I don't know, other than to make her feel more comfortable) said, "Well, Mommy doesn't go enough!" And do you want to know what my darling little boy said???????

He said......"Yeah.....and that is why your belly is getting bigger!"

OH NO HE DIDN'T!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

OH YES HE DID!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Can you believe that?????? I had to laugh........it was either laugh or kill him!!!!!!!!!!!!

You see I know the truth.....my belly is not getting bigger, as a matter of fact it had gotten smaller, but here lately it has stayed about the same. I guess that's because I haven't been going to the gym regularly!

Thanks Timothy!

New Employee Assistance Program!

Today when I got to work there was an email from someone within our district that said this (along with some other details):

New EAP (Employee Assistance Program)
Effective January 1, 2008

District-paid benefit—no cost to employees!

The EAP plan covers limited mental health counseling, limited legal assistance, and limited financial assistance for employee, spouse, and eligible dependents.

Now, what does that tell you about the teaching profession! No wonder there were so many people dropping out like flies! Maybe now that the district is going to foot the bill for our mental health counseling, leagal assistance, and give us some financial assistance people will stay. Heck, they might even come back!

Oh, wait.......it covers LIMITED mental health counseling, LIMITED legal assistance, and offers LIMITED financial assistance.....well, maybe those that are in it will stay, but I don't think the others will be coming back now.

Anywho....just thought I would share that with you all!

My Man the EBAY Master

My man is the EBay master!!! Just yesterday it was decided that the kids and I will get to go on the annual ski trip!!!! At first I was a little apprehensive with the cost and the trip there and back......more the trip there and back than anything. But the Lord has provided a way for us to go, so the hunt begins for the clothes for such a trip. We live in South East TEXAS.....we don't just have heavy winter clothes hanging around! Much less clothes to ski in or play in the snow in. So I hunted Ebay this morning trying to find something for the kids. I went on this hunt with the intent of finding something CHEAP! I mean, it's not like they will wear these clothes forever or anything.....BUT......I came across this:

Go ahead....click on the picture and zoom in.....OH MY GOSH!!!!! It was TOO adorable to pass up! I just couldn't let it go!!!!! I HAD TO HAVE IT!!!!!!!! And I will not even be wearing it, but my little princess will look absolutely adorable in this because her daddy has some biddin' skills! It was coming down to the wire and I was about to loose it, and her daddy came in to save the day!!!! WOOOHOOOO!!!!!!! What an awesome daddy he is! And one day when she is much older and looks back at the pictures I will take of her in this suit she too will think he is pretty awesome!!!

I hope that is anyway!!

GO DADDY!!!

My Little Man on TV!

This morning Timothy's pre-K class was taking a small field trip to the South East Texas Food Bank. They were invited there by the Channel 12 news station out of Beaumont because their class/daycare gathered and donated something like 600 food items during the food drive that the station sponsored. We were told to set our recorder to tape that station some where around 10:50 today, that they would be live and there would be no way to get a copy of the shot.

Since this is Carlton's day off, and Rachel is home sick, Carlton was able to watch our little man's "show"!!!! He said at first you could not really see him, but then he noticed the camera's. Carlton said you could hear something (one of the kids talking) and then the reporter acknowledged him (our Timothy). She said, "Yes, you ARE on tv. Do you want to say "hi" to your Mom?" Then Carlton said he stood out, smiled real big, waved and said, "HI MOMMA!!" Then they asked him what he likes to eat and he said, "I like hotdogs and hamburgers."

Then they started talking about Christmas and told them that Santa was going to be so good to them since they were helping all these people and they asked him if Santa was going to be good to him this year and he told them "YES" grinning and shaking his head, then another little boy said, "Not me, I say a lot of bad words."

And that was the end of the segment.

Our little man stole the show!

"It's not working!"

You all know we have been WORKING hard with Rachel's potty training. Well, over the Thanksgiving holiday she did pretty good, until in-laws came that is, but since they have been gone she has done great. Anyway, yesterday when I was picking her up from the day care she told me that she had to go potty in "that" bathroom. It is a bathroom in the hall, that I had a feeling she just wanted to go into, but I obliged her anyway. She sat up there for a few seconds and said, "I tan't doe tee-tee." I didn't think she really needed to go, but I asked her if she was for sure and she replied with a head shake and "Yep, I tink my tee-tee is a sweep, it's not working!"

I thought that was funny, Carlton thought it was disturbing! LOL

Hee Hee Hee Hee

"I'm proud of you Mommy!"

For the past few weeks I have been putting off taking my car through the car wash. About 3 weeks ago I made a trip to see my mother and you know what that can do to a car.......the front was covered in bug guts and pieces! YUK!!! Anyway, every time Rachel passed by the front of my car she cringed and said, "Mommy, joos need to wash joo caw!"

Well, yesterday our district was let out early just so we could come back from 4:30 til 6:30 to meet with parents. SO, in my free time I ran some errands and one of those errands included getting my car washed! (Carlton was shocked!) When I picked up the kids from the daycare for some reason Rachel walked around the front of my car. (she never does that) In doing so she noticed that the bugs were gone and it led to this:

R - "Mommy did joo get joo caw washed?"

M - "Yes Rachel, I did! Please hurry and get in the car."

R - "Oh Mommy, I like it. I am so pwoud of joo!!!"

Then she ran around the side of the car where I was waiting and gave my leg a hug and a kiss. She can be so sweet! :) Oh, by the way...no timeouts yesterday, and she stayed dry all day at school!! WOOOHOOOO!!!!!!

"That's the girl I prayed for Momma!"

About 3 weeks ago Timothy had strep and I thought he might have an ear infection, so I took him to the doctor. While we were at the doctor's office we saw a little girl there with her mother and grandmother. Teaching special ed. I could tell that the little girl had Cerebral Palsy and was severly MR. Her mother was holding her up trying to get her to take some steps while she stood behind her. The little girl just looked around at everything in the room and showed no interest at all in what her mother was doing. Timothy took notice of this little girl. He watched her carefully then turned to me and said,

"Momma, what's wrong with her?"

I told him, "Well, Timothy, her body just doesn't work like your's and mine. She can't walk, or talk, or do any of the things you can do by yourself."

Then he said, "So is that why her Momma is helping her walk?"

I told him, "Yep, she is trying to teach her. She might not ever walk, but her Momma wants to show her how."

After that he just watched them a little longer and would look at me and grin from time to time. Later that night, when he was going to bed, he asked me about her again. When he said his prayers he ended with this:

"and God, help that little girl at the doctor's office to walk. Amen"

It put a lump in my throat. After he finished I told him that it was very nice and sweet of him to think about that little girl and that it made God happy for him to think about her and pray for her. Several nights later he prayed for her again.

Well, you may or may not believe this, but this Sunday, that little girl, her mother, her mother's brother, and her step-mother were all at church! We never mentioned to them that we went to First Baptist, or anything like that. Isn't it amazing how God works! WOW!!! They came with another family in our church that has a daughter that is MR and severly Autistic. They are neighbors of their's. The lady that is a member of our church said that the little girl's mother just popped her head in the window and said, "Can we go to church with you?" How amazing is that!!!!

When Timothy saw her, he said, "That's the girl I prayed for Momma!" Then I shared the story with them.

"Thank you Father for showing Timothy one way you can work through prayer!"

God Will Give You Balloons!

Hey all....cute story here. Last night Carlton and I both had some errands to run. So, we loaded up the kids in his truck and headed out. Carlton dropped Rachel and I off at the grocery store while he and Timothy went to LifeWay to get some things. While in the store, one of the attendants gave Rachel a balloon.

Before we left the house Carlton had taken the back window out of his truck and we were driving with all the windows down. (the temp was perfect here last night!) Anyway, on our way home Rachel was determined to hold her balloon herself. I tried to convince her that it might blow out since we had all the windows down, but she was determined so I left her alone. About halfway home Carlton needed to make a phone call so he rolled up all the windows and since the back one was still out it was pulling the balloon and the inevitable happened. The balloon flew out the back window and immediately she started crying.

The following is the conversation I heard coming from the back seat:

T - "Rachel, don't cry! Your balloon went up to heaven with God."

R- (crying) "I want my bawoon!"

T - "Rachel, God will give you a balloon. See, when you die and go to heaven He will give you one!"

R - (still crying) "but I want my bawoon!"

T - (heavy sigh) "Just a minute.....(pause)....(looking up and out the window) ....Dear God, Rachel's balloon went out of my Daddy's truck and came up to the heavens with you. Can you please give her balloon back to her, she is crying and sad. Okay, thank you God!"

T - (now turning to Rachel) Rachel, God said that one day when you die and go to heaven, he will give you a bunch of balloons!"

R - (still crying) "I want my bawoon"

T - "Okay Rachel, I have and idea. When we get home I have some balloons in mommy closet in the laundry room. I will blow one up for you, but you will have to hold it tight, becasue if you don't it will "super zoom"" (he has just learned how to blow up balloons, but not tie them, so when he lets go of them he says they "super zoom")

R - "Okay T!" (very high pitched and excited!)


When we got home I told Timothy I heard him talking to Rachel in the back seat and how sweet it was to hear him trying to make her feel better about her balloon. He looked at me, grinned, shook his head yes and said, "I know!"

HOW SWEET!!!!

Who is the Daddy...God or Jesus?

Last night after I prayed with Timothy, he asked me.....

"Mommy, who is the Daddy, God or Jesus?"

I told him, "Well, Timothy, Jesus is God's son so that makes God the Daddy?"

T - "I see...who made our house...God or Jesus?"

I told him, " Well, God made the people and the people made our house."

T - "Ok...(I could see wheels turning)....how did God make the people?"

I told him, "Well, Timothy, to be honest, I don't know. God can do all things and sometimes He does things that we can not understand. The bible says that he knit us together in our mommy's tummies."

T - "I know how He did it."

(Me holding my breath) "Really, how did he do it then?"

T - "Well, first he put all our bones together, then he glued our skin on!"


Wow, the mind of a 4 year old (to be 5 in October)!!!!!!

Consequences

Yesterday when I got home, the sitter told me of some things that Timothy had done that she had to put him in "time-out" for thoughout the day. After she left I was talking to him about those things and he was actually listening pretty intensely (as he does every now and then). After I had finished talking and told him that I just wanted him to tell me the truth, Timothy looks at me and says the following:


"Telling the truth is a good consequence. If you tell a lie that is a bad consequence. Just like if I hit Rachel, that would get a bad consequence, but if I help Rachel, that would get a good concequence. (a small pause) That is what my Daddy has been teaching me!" Then he shakes his head, grins very big, and raises his eyebrows as if to say, "See I do listen and I am learning!"

Aren't they cute!