David's Christmas Wagon

David got a dumping yard wagon for Christmas. It was the first time in many years that a wagon was under the tree, but I think it has been the most fun of all. David, Nick, Mike and Katie's boyfriend, Lo, all had a hand in putting it together. There was lots of male bonding while they had to drill extra holes, follow instructions and for some reason unknown to most woman it is required that if the pneumatic tires smell really bad you have to keep passing them around and say, "Wow, those smell horrible! Here, sniff them." I heard rumor of tire licking, but I'm hoping that was just fiction.

Now that the wagon is finished, the boys (all of them) have given each other rides, dumped one another in the floor, and had much amusment using the wagon. David was going to put it outside, but it is so much fun to watch them we've decided to give it a bit longer in the house.

Yo-Yo Ma

Katie and I got to see Yo-Yo Ma perform with the Nashville Symphony last night. Her school got some free tickets to distribute to students and she was fortunate enough to get a pair. We really enjoyed the opportunity. It was the first full performance I had the opportunity to see. I've been to a practice or two on field trips, but this was part of the classical series. The Schermerhorn hall is an extraordinary facility and so beautiful. Also extremely cold! All the performers were wonderful, but Yo-Yo Ma was a delight to watch as well as hear. No only is he a fabulous cellist, he is quite an actor as well. All in all it was a wonderful evening.

Why procrastinate about posting?

It seems like when it has been a while since I've posted that I keep NOT posting because there is so much to say. I think it might be easier ifI don't feel like I have to go back and cover everything that has happened.

For the moment I can tell you all is well (as far as life in general can be.) Katie's hair is a brilliant pink, Mike is in love with Twiggy, Nicholas is enjoying middle school and David and I are staying busy. More details when I can...

Thoughtful Living

I think that life is often times such a rush with so many unexpected events that we forget how to live thoughtful, intentional lives.

We don't think about what we are going to eat until it's lunch time and we run to get a burger because we didn't bring anything to work. Or it is supper time and we are standing with our head in the freezer trying to figure out what will thaw out the fastest.

We don't give much thought to our finances until the bills are due or the children need braces, or a car, or college tuition. We have some vague notion of a plan, but few of us actually take time to budget because it can be kind of depressing and we can't always have what we want when we want it.

Our spiritual life can fall into such a routine that we don't realize we have drifted from having a passionate relationship with God to just being a Good Person who prays before meals and doesn't cuss and everyone thinks of as nice.

Marriages become ordinary and we lose the thrill of knowing we are cherished and loved, maybe because we forget to show it.

We become fatter, poorer, weaker and lonelier one minute at a time until one day we look around us and hardly know ourselves. It can be quite a shock, and rather difficult to figure out how to correct.

So maybe it is time to stop wandering down the road with your eyes on the pavement and start looking up. Look around you and see what is really gong on in your part of the world. What assignments has God given you today? Start paying attention to your choices.

Start living a thoughful, intentional life.

Atlanta

We had a lovely trip to Atlanta last weekend. Mike got to see his girlfriend, Morgan, and we visited the World of Coca-Cola and the Georgia Aquarium. I think my favorite part of the trip was spending an hour at the hotel pool by ourselves. No crowds, no tickets to buy and we all had fun together. It is nice to be home!

Kenya update

Well, the latest deadline for our Kenya trip has come and gone and we have had to resign from the team. We are both disappointed, but were very glad we got to walk with the team as far as we did. Maybe we can make it next year.

I Hate Fleas!

Does anyone know of a good reason for fleas to exist? We have been battling them at our house all summer. I blame the cats since they are the ones who spend most of their time outside. We got a bit behind (read: lazy) about giving the pets their spot flea medicine, and before we realized what was happening they were everywhere. It is similar to dealing with head lice, for those of you who've had the pleasure. Treat the animals, vacuum and wash sheets daily, and brush them to get any stray fleas out. I hate it! Fortunately it seems to be getting under control, but it is a huge robber of time and energy. Oh, well. At least I've got more time to deal with it while we are off for the summer.

Have you ever...

Have you ever had one of those days where the foot that you sprained a month ago was still tremendously painful, so your daughter strongly encouraged you to go to the doctor when she saw you hobbling around? You said you'd go if they had an appointment and when you called they said, "We can take you right now." When you got there they took 2 rounds of X-rays and told you it looked like you broke your foot, but it was healing nicely. Then they put an Aircast splint on you and told you to take calcium supplements.

I had one of those days yesterday.

I guess I should have noticed sooner that sprained ankles don't usually hold on quite so long and they tend to start feeling better eventually. I just kept thinking I was being a big wimp and needed to suck it up and get on with life. I've now given myself permission to take a couple of days off and stay off of it. Just one of those days, I suppose.

You've all done the same thing, right?

Picture of the Kenya Girls

Katie and I are mailing out our letters asking for prayer and financial report for our trip to Kenya. I love the picture we took to put on the postcards.

If you would like to help us through prayer or finances let us know and we will make sure we mail one out to you.

Lampost

Well, the very nice people from Nashville Gas made it by the day after David's birthday and got the lamp working. Hurray! It looks very nice and is quite bright. Now we are making plans to put a small garden around it as David is concerned about it getting bumped hard enough to cause the mantle to break. Actually, I have lots of plans for the yard this year, but not sure exactly where to start. Time will tell.

Birthday time

Whew! It is whirlwind birthday time. Our friend, Jeff, had his almost two weeks ago but we celebrated with a yummy chocolate cake yesterday. Today is David's birthday and I have a strawberry cake waiting for me to frost it. Tomorrow is Mike's birthday (14!) and he hasn't told me yet what kind of cake he wants.

Unfortunately I haven't done a very good job planning celebrations this year. All David wanted was to get our gas lamppost in the front yard working. I called Nashville Gas today and they assured me it was probably no big deal and they would come out and take care of it today. But, alas, I pulled into the driveway and it wasn't on.

Mike has been very low-key about his birthday. He has a soccer game tomorrow after school, then he wants to order dinner from Pizza Hut. He's not having any kind of party, either.

I feel like I should be doing a much better job of this birthday thing...

Which is worse?

Rushing around so much in the morning that you put your pants on backwards or not even NOTICING it until you go to the bathroom around lunchtime?

(No, this isn't a hypothetical question. It is just another day in my life.)

My boss pointed out that no one would know if I hadn't announced it, but I figure why would I keep something that funny all to myself? It's not like anyone is going to say, "Wow, I really thought Nicole had it all together until that backwards pants thing happened."

Besides, how else could I explain my random bursts of laughter throughout the afternoon?

Spring Break "to-dos"

Okay, so we just can't do it all.

We still haven't made it to see Horton, but I'm sure it will be out on video by Christmas.

I gave up on cleaning the vehicles, but did get the house a bit spruced up.

There is one less box to unpack.

Our passports are in. My photo looks like Jabba the Hut

I finished up the taxes yesterday.

Katie's dress is hanging in the closet, along with the shoes to go with it. I still need to get it hemmed, though.

All in all, not too shabby.

Spring Break '08 (so far)

Well, here's an update on our Spring Break list:

sleep late and/or take naps (not nearly enough. Lots of staying up too late, though.)

*see "Horton Hears a Who" (not yet, but hopefully Saturday)

*read bunches of books (Yes! Katie and I have been quite busy ready. Unfortunately hers is for a book report that is due Tuesday.)

*visit our family in Huntsville (Yep. That is where I am typing from.)

*finally put up Katie's trim in her room (Did it Monday. It looks great!)

*throughly clean the vehicles (not yet)

*vaguely clean the house (hah!)

*finally finish unpacking (double hah!)

*put in passport applications for Katie and I (Done. She had to list her haircolor as purple.)

*play our new Wii game, Mario Brawl (lots, but more could be played...)

*finish doing the taxes (yup.)

*shop for Katie's prom dress (We've almost settled on just the right dress. More to come.)

Poo

How is it that the boys bathroom can have a generous amount of poo under the rim, and yet no one seems to know how it got there? Amazing.

Thankfully they will be getting a through lesson in bathroom cleanliness today.

Happy Spring Break!

Did you say Passports?

Yes, as a matter of fact I did.

This summer Mexico Mike has retired and Kenya Katie and Niki have been born. Our church (Belmont Church) is sponsoring a trip to help our missionaries in Kenya who run a K-8 school, Christ's Gift Academy, for about 300 children who have lost one or both parents to AIDS and other needy children in the area. Katie and I believe we are to go on this trip, although we aren't quite sure how it is going to happen. It will require gathering many intercessors and it will cost close to $4000 each for airfare, food and lodging, passports, shots and the like. We will send out support letters as soon as we can to ask for partners to help us go. Watch here for updates!

Spring Break

Hurray, it is spring break for us this week. Here are some things on our to-do list:
*sleep late and/or take naps
*see "Horton Hears a Who"
*read bunches of books
*visit our family in Huntsville
*finally put up Katie's trim in her room
*throughly clean the vehicles
*vaguely clean the house
*finally finish unpacking
*put in passport applications for Katie and I
*play our new Wii game, Mario Brawl
*finish doing the taxes
*shop for Katie's prom dress

We kicked off our celebration by going to Steak and Shake around midnight on Friday. It was wonderful! I'll let you know how the list progresses....