Abe's 2!

2 years and 9 months ago Billy's sister called to tell us she was pregnant. For those who don't know, if one person in Billy's family is having a baby, someone else is too. Ben has a cousin (Billy's brother's little boy) 5 weeks older than he is and another cousin (Billy's sister's little boy) who is 5 weeks younger than he is. Merrie Cannon has a cousin (Billy's brother's little girl) who is 2 1/2 weeks younger than she is. So after we got off the phone with Debbie, I laughed and thought "I wonder who will be pregnant with her." I thought maybe Alison (Billy's brother's wife), after all, they only have 2 kids. Little did I know that about a week later I would wake up, crack open my morning coke, take a big sip, and almost vomit all over the kitchen. I knew at that moment who the lucky one was. Although I slipped to the drug store to buy a test, I didn't need one. I had felt those feelings 3 times previously.

We, well, I decided this baby's gender would be surprise and we spent 9 months trying to "figure out" if we were having a boy or girl. We already had 2 girls and a boy, so I didn't need anything, and since our rooms were full there was no nursery to decorate. I highly recommend not finding out. If I could do it all over again all of our babies would have been "surprises." (They actually all pretty much were surprises, we just found out the gender for the first 3.) Delivery is soooo much fun when you don't know - and your epidural works.

Baby Abe was born 3 weeks early - a mere 4 days after his cousin Aly was born. He has been my challenge. He exited the birth canal opinionated. He cried a lot - and still does. He didn't sleep all night until we moved him from our closet and a pink crib(MC was to be the last and I couldn't resist the pink crib when we had to buy a new one) - this happened to coincide with getting tubes, but I think he had a complex.

He loves Barney, ball, biting his sister, a bottle (he's been off it for months and still asks for one), his blanket, Barney, being rocked to sleep, cars, being outside, Elmo, Wiggles, and did I mention Barney? None of my kids hug me like he does. I mean a full on squeeze and you don't think he will ever let go - and he's done it since he was 6 months old. Passionate. That's what he is. Not easily redirected, focused on the task at hand - which normally involves getting me to do what he wants me to do.

We've asked him how old he is all day and he insists that he is 8. We tell him 2, but in true Abe style he is trying to convince us otherwise. Happy Birthday Abey Baby - I can't believe you are 2!

The Truth Shall Set You Free

I started a job as the part-time preschool ministry director at our church a few months ago. This week we have our missions conference and I am in charge of, well, the preschool programming. Since we have different volunteers in the classrooms each night, I am doing our Bible Story/Missions Moment time. We had a few more kids that we expected tonight, so I had to add a classroom and shuffle some kids around to even out the numbers. I was then scrambling to get my stuff and get to the room to tell the story, but I made it and thought things went well despite my frenzied state.

When we got in the car to come home, Billy asked Merrie Cannon if Mama had done a good job telling the story. She answered, "No, she forgot her Bible."

Below is a picture of the pile of random papers that sits next to my stove.



The other night as I was multi-tasking (aka cooking dinner, helping with homework, giving baths) I might have left things unattended on my stove and when I walked into the kitchen and found this:

Some of Ben's artwork on fire from the eye of the stove - not one peep from the smoke detector. Had I been getting something not on fire out of the oven, the neighbors would have known.

Should I even admit that the pile is still there?

W is for Worm

Each week a student in Ben's class is assigned the letter can. If it's your week with the letter can, you send in something for each child in the class that begins with the letter that they are studying for the week. For example, when it was Z week, I sent Zebra cakes for everyone. Last week's letter was W. Ben and I had discussed what he would take and he decided that gummy worms were a good choice. I forgot all about said "can" until late Wednesday night, and since it is COLD here in 'Bama, I put off going to the store until Thursday morning. Since we were running late on Thursday, I nixed the idea of going to the grocery store and decided I would run in the gas station so I could...leave my kids in the car (gasp). As we are walking out the door, Ben and I discuss getting the worms and he has a minor freak out. You see Gummy Worms start with the Guh, Guh, Guh and he was studying Wuh, Wuh, Wuh. I calmed him and told him that they would be fine, blah, blah, blah. Wouldn't you know this was all I could find...



If anyone tells him - I'll deny it. And anyway, how can you take someone who sometimes dresses like this seriously?

If you tell him boys don't wear tights, he will quickly tell you that yes, they do. Superheroes wear tights, and these are Anna Beth's orange tights with black cats on them, oh, I'm sorry did I type that? These are Superhero tights and Ben is ready to battle all evils that enhabit the earth.

1 Corinthians 13- Christmas Style

This was just sent to me in an e-mail. I think it's beautiful.

If I decorate my house perfectly with plaid bows, strands of twinkling lights and shiny balls, but do not show love to my family, I'm just another decorator. If I slave away in the kitchen, baking dozens of Christmas cookies, preparing gourmet meals and arranging a beautifully adorned table at mealtime, but do not share the true meaning of Christmas, I'm just another cook. If I work at the soup kitchen, carol in the nursing home and give all that I have to charity, but do not demonstrate kindness to strangers, it profits me nothing. If I trim the spruce with shimmering angels and snowflakes, attend a myriad of holiday parties and sing in the choir but do not focus on Christ, I have missed the point. Love stops the cooking to hug the child. Love sets aside the decorating to kiss the husband. Love is kind, though harried and tired. Love doesn't envy another's home that has coordinated Christmas china and table linens. Love doesn't yell at the kids to get out of the way, but is thankful they are there to be in the way. Love doesn't give only to those who are able to give in return but rejoices in giving to those who can't. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, and endures all things. Love never fails. Video games will break, pearl necklaces will be lost, golf clubs will rust, but giving the gift of love will endure. "And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love."

Merry Christmas!

Bowling Pictures

Spend the Night Parties

Anna Beth's birthday is tomorrow, so we decided to have a little spend the night party. We sent Billy and the little kids to my mom's to spend the night. We live in a small house, and also this gave AB time alone with her friends without having brothers and sisters bugging them.

3rd grade girls can be quite loud and obnoxious! It has been a fun night. We made ice cream sundaes, decorated pillowcases, and watched a movie. It's funny how spend-the-night traditions pass from generation to generation - I just heard mention of Truth or Dare. They are winding down now, and I think I am about to make them go to sleep (I know party pooper.)