Sprinklers on a Sunday Afternoon

Well, I've been a little lax in the blog department but finally some blogable material came my way this afternoon. At least twice a month we have dinner at my parents' house. Usually my brother's family comes as well but they were busy so it was just us at Grandma and Grandad's house tonight. We had a nice dinner and then it was outside for some sprinkler fun. I have to say watching my boys run through the sprinklers (Daddy spraying the hose) brought back some great memories of my own childhood. We could spend hours playing with the hose out in the yard. It's fun to see my own kids doing the same things I had so much fun doing when I was little. Rylee wasn't quite big enough to enjoy the hose but worked hard looking cute for Mommy's camera.

I am so proud of him!!!!!

So, my husband is a 4th grade teacher and he is a phenomenal teacher! And apparently I am not the only one who thinks so because he was named HIGHLANDS COUNTY TEACHER OF THE YEAR at the Summitt Awards tonight. I think the crazy wife was more excited than he was! It was so rewarding because I see how much he loves his students on a daily basis. He puts his WHOLE heart into teaching every single day. His students love him too and he gives teachers a good name every. single. day. I love him-Congratulations Honey!!!!

My First Latte!

Last Monday, I suggested we pick the kids up from school and then go get our favorite treats (Dairy Queen Large Reese's Cup Blizzard for him, Starbucks Grande Vanilla Latte for me). Anyway, Brady and his sweet tooth were all about sharing Daddy's blizzard while Peyton was all about having some of Mommy's Latte. So being the selfless mother I am I asked the barrista (sp?) at Starbucks if she could make Peyton his own little latte. She was more than happy to oblige and Peyton thoroughly enjoyed his first latte. As we arrived home and were getting out of the car I said to Peyton, "Peyton how about if Mommy picks you up every once and awhile from school and we go to Starbucks and have coffee and talk about our day?" You would have thought I had asked the kid if he wanted to go Disney World. He was so excited! Well, I don't think Daddy was thinking this idea was especially "manly" so he said, "Peyton, why doesn't Daddy pick you up and we'll go to happy hour at Chili's and talk about hot chicks?" It took Peyton all of about 3 seconds to say, "No, I want to go have coffee with Mommy and talk about my day." Score one for Mommy.

Comic Relief

God does provide what we need, at just the right time, doesn't he? This afternoon I got my feelings hurt pretty bad by an email I received regarding something at church and I was definitely upset after reading it. So anyway, I knew I needed to pray. . .open my bible. . .work on my bible study. . .something to help overcome the very negative feelings I was experiencing. Well, God soon delivered the solution to my mood-laughter. It first appeared in the form of my Brady, oh my Brady. He is certainly a budding artist!

He has already been permanently banned from using markers but he found Peyton's stash and had a ball. I was so impressed at how nice and quiet he was playing by himself in the toy room, too!

So, my second form of comic relief came in the form of a blog I came to find via Travis Cottrell's blog (Beth Moore's worship leader). The name of the blog is "Stuff Christians Like" and it is laugh-out-loud funny. He's around my age so a lot of what he says I relate to and he's a smart aleck, like me, and I always appreciate a fellow smart mouth. The blog is basically a list of funny stuff Christians do or say or just funny ways of looking at things. I am adding his blog to my list here so you can check it out for yourself. So far he's up to #131 on the list and my favorite (of the ones I read) was "Booty, God, Booty." Funny, Funny, Funny and oh-so life applicable! So here it is:

In Atlanta, my favorite radio station is V103, the “People’s Station.”It's a hip hop station that plays mostly rap and R&B. The best part of V103 is their morning show. Everyday when I’m driving to work they do what they call an “Inspirational Vitamin.” They read a Bible verse and play a gospel song or a clip by a charismatic minister from Atlanta. I honestly find it to be an uplifting experience overall. The thing I find most interesting however is how they wedge the Inspirational Vitamin into their normal programming. What often happens is that right before they transition to the spiritual segment of the show they play some sort of booty song. Let’s say, “I’m in love wit a stripper.” Then they do the Bible verse and then they go back to booty music when it’s over. The essentially bookend the Inspirational Vitamin with booty, following a fairly simple formula – Booty, God, Booty.
It’s easy to laugh at how insincere that Inspirational Vitamin seems when it’s sandwiched between hardcore rap songs, but to do so misses the bigger point – we Christians often live our lives the same way. Maybe God is listening to the broadcast of my day and this is what he hears:
1. Quiet time in the morning. Read the Bible, prayer, give thanks.
2. Go into work and act completely different and disconnected from God.Come home.
3. Spend time with wife. Read the Bible, pray.

Chances are, that to many outside listeners, the format of my life is just as out of synch as the people station’s “booty, God, booty.” It might not be as graphic or as neon, but the juxtaposition between who I am when I’m in “God mode” and who I am when I’m in work mode is pretty substantial.
I know you’ve probably heard this a million times before from other Christian writers, but next time you transition between two parts of your day, think to yourself, “Did I just go booty, God, booty?”
If nothing else, it’s a fun phrase to say.

To be honest I can't wait for the time when I can say to myself, "Did I just go booty, God, booty?" Come on, Robyn, you know you want to say it!

Disney Day Four-Fun, but Ready to Come Home!

Well, day four was fun. We went to Disney MGM and ate breakfast with the Playhouse Disney Characters: Jojo, Goliath, June and Leo from Little Einsteins. Then it was off to meet the Power Rangers and Mater from Cars. Then we went to see the Disney Playhouse Live show which the boys really enjoyed (they love Playhouse Disney shows). We then visited the Star Wars area and took a ride on the little flying motorcyle from Return of the Jedi. (Sorry all you Star Wars fans I can't think of the correct name at the moment) We then had to head home early because it turns out Rylee wasn't fussy because she didn't like her bed at the hotel, she was fussy because she had an ear infection. So anyway, we left there around lunch time and head back to take our little girl to the doctor. Overall, the trip was a success; although, we aren't planning on doing it again until Rylee is about 4.

Disney Day Three-Good Times. . .This Is Why We Do This!

What a great day we had on Thursday at Magic Kingdom. We went back for a 2nd day since we knew we wouldn't get to see everything there on Tuesday. We also got to enter the park an hour early because we were staying on Disney property. So anyway, by 9:30 we had ridden quite a few rides: Peter Pan, Dumbo, Winnie the Pooh, The Tea Cups, etc. By 11:30 we had pretty much ridden everything the kids wanted to ride and then we head for the Crystal Palace for lunch with Pooh and Friends. Great lunch and the kids, of course, loved Pooh. Peyton loves hugging them and kissing them on the nose. Brady wasn't too sure of all of them but at least he didn't scream like someone was killing him and even let Mommy get a few decent pictures. After a nap and a dip in the kiddie pool back at the hotel we headed back to the Magic Kingdom. We watched the Tiki Bird Show and Country Bear Jamboree. Then, unfortunately, rain cut our evening short but we did watch some of the SpectroMagic parade on our way out.

Disney Day Two-The "What Were We Thinking" Day

(Ok, a little late in blogging this because well, Disney charges for high speed internet access and on principle we just couldn't pay for more than one day of access.) Our Day Two started at about 12:45 am. That is when Rylee Jane woke up and stayed up until 2:45 am. And even when she finally settled down at 2:45 she wasn't totally settled but at least she wasn't wide awake. And as I am lying there holding my little girl, my oldest son wakes up and says "Daddy, I'm going to get sick." And that he did. So began our day two. Although, at about 5:30 my husband says from his side of the room with Peyton "Honey, I've got the timeline for this night all worked out when you get ready to blog this." So he's getting into the blogging thing too! So needless to say, at about 8:30 am I called my mom and took her up on her offer earlier in the week to come and get Brady or Rylee if we needed her to. Well, we were adult enough to admit we couldn't handle all three (especially since we were seriously lacking sleep) and my parents planned to come and get Rylee Wed. evening about 6:30. Until then I took Rylee and Brady and headed to Animal Kingdom as planned and Jon stayed with Peyton at the hotel. We had a pretty good day and saw what we wanted at Animal Kingdom. The boys enjoyed the Safari Ride and the DinoLand Play Area best.

Disney Day One. . .And I'm already exhausted!

So we're at Disney this week for spring break and just completed day one. It has been fun but already exhausting. We got up here, our friends from Indiana arrived, and we made it to the Magic Kingdom by about 11:00. Things went pretty well I'll admit but it was hot and by 4:00 everyone was done for the day. Our plans were to finish the day swimming at the hotel but those plans were thwarted by the rain so we had a little dinner then Mommy, Brady, and Peyton snuck in a quick dip in the kiddie pool. We got back to the room, got baths and now are listening to Brady kick the cabinet which is next to his pack n' play in an attempt to keep himself from falling asleep. Oh the joys of a two-year-old! Anyway, forgot the cord for my camera so I'll add pics from today later. Off to Animal Kingdom tomorrow! (So much for my no-blogging plans, uh Heidi?)

Mommy and Rylee enjoying the hot summer. . .er. . .spring day.












Peyton and Austin with Snow White & Dopey (and yes, Peyton's hand is where you think it is).

Austin and Brady on our way out-back to the hotel for dinner and rest.