Saturday, December 15, 2012

Response to Tragedy

It's nearly 2am. I'm still awake, with my precious baby boy asleep on my chest. The only thing that would make that better right now is if my three bigger babies could fit next to him. My heart aches for those in Connecticut who would give anything to hold their child. Yet, the problem will never be solved in the media coverage, the political realm, the legal world, or the social and psychological analysis that will undoubtedly happen over the next several years. The why and what if, though inevitable, is futile. I put my son in a grave. And what I learned through loss is that God did that first. He buried His son. He is the only One who can truly fathom this pain and walk these families home to Him and His perfect love in a sin filled world. May this tragedy awaken us to sharing Him and His story.

Tuesday, November 13, 2012

Words From Today

Today my Aiden taught me how to make a "turkey pie." My favorite part of his recipe was "you need to bake the pie crust, not too hot and not too cold, about 50" and that "you should put the turkey in at about 30 and bake it for 30 minutes before putting it in the pie." I love that little chef, but I don't think I'm going to be having turkey pie anytime soon.

Anthony saw me grab a piece of leftover Halloween candy for snack today and said, "Oh! I want a Kitty Kat too!" He got his Kit Kat for snack.

Andon fell asleep in the van on the way home from Bible Study today. When I began unbuckling him, trying to keep him asleep, he opened his eyes wide and said, "Mama!" It was such a happy little look on his face, like he was so surprised to see me. He got very excited when I picked him up and carried him in the house. He was not as excited when I put him in his highchair to begin lunch. The crying was quickly resolved with a bologna sandwich.

Going through the nightly routine tonight I told Abby to go jump in bed and I would be in there in a minute. She was climbing in her bed and said, "Mommy are you gonna tuck me up???" It was so precious, I tucked her up.

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I love their minds, their imaginations, and their mispronunciations that will soon fade away. Now, it is past my time to be tucked up, I mean tucked in.


Sunday, November 11, 2012

My Road

I have tens of millions of blog posts floating around in my head. Of all of them, this one makes the least "sense" to write today. However, it is what God is calling me to write. I don't know why. Maybe it's because I have been dealing with another bout of depression recently. Maybe it is because someone else needs to read it. Maybe because it will help me heal a little more and this is the proper time to remove the band aid on this scar. Maybe because I have been wanting to write all of my children's stories out and I can't write their stories without starting at the beginning of my road.

It was the end of March 2002. Patrick and I had been married for less than a month. He was still in seminary, I had graduated. I was looking for a ministry position. I had been asked to come to First Baptist Church, Granbury, Texas,as their preschool minister. It was a part-time position, but I was very excited about it. I was scared about how Patrick and I would weave married life, ministry, school, and family into one big tapestry.

I was about to be an aunt. My brother and sister-in-law were expecting their first child. I've never been more excited about a life! I called him Doodle Bug. Our family had been praying for him for several years. I was going to be the best aunt ever.

There were complications. His mother became very ill. They care flighted her from Eastland to Fort Worth, where we lived. I met them at the hospital. They stabilized her for a while. I sat in her hospital room, cross stitching a baby sampler, for about a week. Eventually the decision had to be made to do a c-section to try and save both of them. She was twenty four weeks along. The baby was a boy. My nephew. He was beyond tiny, the tiniest baby ever to be in Cooks NICU at the time. Matthew Dean. Following the c-section, I sat in that same hospital room, begging God not to take his mother. Her blood pressure was dangerously high. My brother had to be with the baby. I prayed over those numbers on the monitors constantly for hours until they ever so slowly came down. He was born on April 5th.

On April 7th I became the new Preschool Minister at FBC, Granbury. I asked for prayers for Matthew. As a family we prayed. As a family we lived in the NICU waiting room. We sang "Jesus Loves You" over him. We dreamed of his future. We believed that God would heal him. For three weeks we believed.

God didn't heal him. Three weeks later Matthew died. Our family was there, in a room the hospital provided for us. I held him. I loved him. I was so mad at God for not healing him. I watched him breathe his last breath. My heart shattered into a million pieces. My faith in God broke.

We buried Matthew. My family clung to Jesus. I could not fathom the words of my brother at the funeral of his son. He still had faith in God. I secretly wondered if he was faking it, I knew I was. My husband begged me to not give up on God. I told him there was no God. I went to "work" at the church. I was a preschool minister, sharing the love of Christ with children and I did not believe there was a God. This lasted for several months. I went through the motions. This greatly affected my performance and ministry at this church. I was young and naive. I wish someone had reached out to me and told me to get some counseling. I wish someone would have recognized what a life shattering event this was for someone whose whole life was children. When you are called of God to work with children and one so close to you dies, if will alter your perspective and should never be swept under the rug.

Even in my disbelief I cried out to God. I yelled, I screamed, I wept. I swore I could never go through that as a mother. I told God to never give me a child if He just planned to take it from me. (He didn't agree.) It took years to work through some of this. Some of it, I still haven't worked through. Some of it, I never will work through.

Many great things did come from this. There are too many amazing positives to this story to write. I do believe in God. I do believe Matthew is in heaven, playing with my children. I do believe if I had not gone through this first, I would not have come out of my own loss alive. Matthew's loss is the beginning of my path to motherhood. I believe God knows best. I believe He is in control.

This began my journey of loss. I would have been the best aunt ever.

Wednesday, September 12, 2012

Two become One

This morning as I was getting in my van to take the big boys to school, I thought to myself, "I wonder how Patrick is doing, I wonder how his night went at work." Then, I started humming and then singing, "Good morning Beautiful, how was your night . . ." At that moment my phone alerted me that I had a text message. I picked up my phone and read this:

"Good morning Beautiful! How was your night? Mine was sucky without you by my side."

When God said, "and the two shall become one" He really means it.

Loving my husband a little more every. single. day.

Saturday, August 25, 2012

Six Years

Six Years and there are still days it hurts like it happened last night. Today has been hard for me. I cried for him.

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Happy Heaven Day Colin Michael! Tell Mema to make you some homemade ice cream for me. Whisper to Jesus that Mommy needs a little help to get through the day. I love you baby boy!

Thursday, August 23, 2012

Crazy Fast

There are days that this little girl takes my breath away with her beauty. God is so good to allow me to parent her. She has grown up so much this year. Crazy Fast!

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Wednesday, August 22, 2012

First Day of School

It's here! Time to go to school!

The boys are looking at their special placemats I made them. It has a prayer that says, "Father, help me as I go …
Your Son to serve,
Your love to show!"

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I think they are a Little excited this morning!!!
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My big kids and their backpacks.
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Anthony Joseph, 1st Grade, Miss Countryman
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Aiden John, 2nd Grade, Mrs. Hinds
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They marched off to their new classes. Abby cried and told us how "wonely" she was, so "sad and wonely" over and over. We felt so bad for her. We offered her a special snack before Mommy School, but she was still "sad and wonely." The longer she talked, the more I was worried she was going to be really disappointed in Mommy School. She wanted to know where my school was and how long it would take to get there. She wanted to know if she had everything in her backpack she needed for it. When I said Mommy school was at home she started crying again. We got our special snack and headed home.

If you remember, the night before I wasn't even prepared for Mommy school. I had No idea what I was going to do with her to start our school. I had planned to start with a letter a week of the alphabet as our theme, but I was starting that on Monday to coincide with our memory verses. So, I'm getting more and more nervous and she's getting sadder and "wonewier" as we drive. I prayed for God's wisdom and He blessed us greatly. First, Andon took a 2.5 hour nap! That was a blessing in itself! We also had Daddy to help take care of Andon if we needed him, since he was off work today. We started by coloring a "first day of school" picture.

Abigail Jaicee, 2 1/2, Mommy School
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I was amazed at her attention to detail! She was frustrated I only gave her four colors, she need a certain color for the sun. We talked about the different colors. She traced her name that I wrote for her. Then, she picked up a crayon and wrote an A all by herself.

Finally, I decided to do some "science" with her. We pulled out the water balls (actually floral water beads) and she played with them while we talked about the different colors. We sorted, counted, squished, rolled, bounced, and played with them for a long time.

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Mommy School lasted THREE hours!!! So much for planning a 15 minute time frame like I did with the boys! I love it! The only reason we stopped was for lunch and nap time.

However, this new little student was VERY excited to pick up her "boys" from school!
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The boys had an excellent first day of school! We all went to celebrate with a special snack at McDonalds.
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Tuesday, August 21, 2012

Ready for a New Year

Well our Backwards Bucket List is complete and the clothes are laid out for tomorrow.
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Abby, who is starting "Mommy School" tomorrow, insisted I take a picture of her new school clothes too!
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This is going to be quite an adjustment in our schedule. Abby has never known not having an older brother to play with her. Last year Anthony was in Kindergarten, but only for half a day. He went to school after lunch and Abby took a nap. They played together all morning. Of course she has Andon, but he's only ten months old, not walking, and is really into Mommy instead of playing tea party with her. This will be very interesting!

So, enter "Mommy School." I've done this with every child, around the age of 2. Aiden and Anthony loved it. I planned two days a week, usually Tuesdays and Thursdays for them. They were able to handle about 15 minutes or so at this age before they were done and off to play with a truck or two. That's what I was planning to do with Abby, starting by going to buy supplies together this Thursday, but she is so excited about starting "Mommy school" that I need to have something ready for tomorrow, Wednesday. I have a feeling I'm in trouble! :)

I'm excited that it will allow Abby and I to have some time together, when Andon is napping. I'm excited for the new things Aiden and Anthony will be learning this year! I'm hopeful that I will be able to accomplish more around the house, but not holding my breathe on that one. It should be a great year! I'm really looking forward to it!














Day 104

Today is the 104th day of Summer Vacation and school comes tomorrow to end it! We had no problems finding a good way to spend it!!!

First, we called Grandaddy and wished him a Happy Birthday! Happy Birthday Grandaddy!!!

Then, for our last day we had a family picnic at the playground
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Played on the swings
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Showed our displeasure of Mommy's attempts to get a picture of the offending teeth that are hurting!
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and completed our Backwards Bucket List! Instead of making a list of all of the things we wanted to do this summer, we made a list of all of the things we DID this summer! So much fun!
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Goodbye Summer Vacation! You were Awesome to the Bailey Family!!!

Sunday, August 19, 2012

Team Bailey

A quick run down of what Team Bailey has been up to the last few weeks!

Andon Josiah, 10 months old

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Andon
* crawling
* laughing big belly laughs
* standing while holding on to something
* letting go until he realizes he has done it where he then promptly falls to the ground with a shocked look on his face
* making happy baby noises but no words yet
* eating everything we put in front of him
* loves meat
* loves his Mommy
* starting to sleep a little longer at night, like four hours instead of two at one time
* chasing the cat every chance he gets
* trying to do everything his big brothers and big sister are doing
* has four teeth now, two on bottom, two on top
* loves to hug and cuddle
* is a very serious, contemplative child, especially compared to his siblings
* passed his hearing test at his follow up for his tubes in his ears, so thrilled to know he can hear perfectly!

Abigail Jaicee, 2 and 1/2 years old
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Abby
* loves dress up and shoes
* believes she is a Princess
* loves Dora
* knows most of her colors
* has started counting things
* loves to sing and is really good at it
* has a tan, not sure how that happened in this fair skinned family that uses SPF 50 sunblock like candy, but she does
* is excited about starting "Mommy school" when the boys start school this week
* loves dirt
* has no fear
* is two and her attitude shows it, the screaming, demanding, and "NO!" are grating on Mommy and Daddy's patience, pray for us and her!
* loves to be held, I need more time to hold her
* loves to listen to music to help her go to sleep
* has recently shown some symptoms that could be an indication of TRAPS, we are currently monitoring this, it's a big waiting game sometimes, praying we are wrong

Anthony Joseph, 6 years old
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Anthony
* is starting 1st grade on Wednesday with Mrs. Countryman
* has been my helper with the little ones for so long, I'm not sure what I'm going to do without him now, we are really going to miss him while he is in school
* is a great shot with a bow and arrow
* has conquered some amazing fears this year concerning water at the beach, in the pool and at the Waterpark. Then he was turned away for being too short (by 1/2 an inch, if his hair was dry he would have passed)
* is alot shorter than everyone else in his class, but is growing perfectly
* is dealing with a very frustrating medical condition called encopresis, something I think needs to be talked about more, so that families can get the help they need instead of living in shame, frustration, and hopelessness. Very, very basically that means "My six year old is not potty trained. He has a really hard time pooping." His colon is enlarged due to years of horrible constipation. He takes laxatives daily. There is so much more to this problem, but suffice it to say, it causes peers to tease him, adults to not understand him, and frustration in the entire family. We need prayer for Anthony's healing and wisdom to know how to help him best.
* loves spending one on one time with his Mommy or Daddy, we try to plan for this and put it on the calendar, his love language is definitely quality time
* is a Tiger Scout in Cub Scouts this year and I'm looking forward to what he will learn
* is still such a charmer, the adults in his life are constantly telling me they love his smile, I'm kind of partial to it too
* there is one adult tooth and one gaping hole in the top of that smile right now
* loves to know where we are going, what we are doing, and how to direct those around him, maybe he'll be an event planner someday
* is taking karate and he is really good at it, I'm so proud of how he listens and follows directions for the hour long class

Aiden John, 7 years old
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Aiden
* is starting 2nd grade on Wednesday with Mrs. Hinds
* still loves bacon, second only to people
* trained for and ran a 5K this summer with an amazing time, he is really enjoying running with his Daddy
* has a heart for helping people learn about Jesus
* loves to hear about missioinaries and other countries
* is a planner of his future, he is working on his restaurant, his children's names, who he will marry, and what he will be when he grows up (a football player, pizza maker, and a motorcycle driver)
* gets very excited about "Mommy Dates" he is fond of saying, "I don't care where we go, I just wanna hang out!"
* thinks everything is "adorable" right now
* sometimes loves his electronics a little too much
* is starting "eye therapy" to try to correct his lazy eye, give him depth perception, and they say a side effect is better hand writing! I'm skeptical about the hand writing!
* as part of that eye therapy he will start wearing bifocals sometime next week, he's excited because the frames are red
* is looking forward to being a Wolf Scout
* is a great shot with a BB gun and can't wait to go hunting with his Grandaddy and Uncle Mark, I'm concerned about that whole "sit in a blind quietly" part though
* is full of energy, sometimes too much

Patrick and Angie, the cute one on the left is about to turn 34 and that's me on the right and I'm 38
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Patrick
* is a creative and energetic youth Sunday School teacher
* is a passionate, involved, and crazy fun Dad
* loves eagle chickens
* loves his niece like she is his own
* is an amazing husband, who all too often, takes up my slack when he shouldn't have too
* is really good at his job and is making a difference spiritually in the lives of the people there
* over came a fear of heights to stand on The Ledge of Willis Tower, 103 stories up, I was SO proud of him!
* has guided our family to pray for one another and is forming us into Team Bailey, keeping God as our center
* makes me proud to be his wife

Angie
* loves being a stay at home Mom
* is about to start a new schedule where I only have two children from 8:30 to 3:30 everyday, I'm thinking it's going to be strange
* loves working with the children at church on Sunday nights
* loves working with the teenagers at church on Sunday mornings
* enjoys time alone in coffee shops
* wishes I had time to be more crafty
* wishes I was more organized
* has been dealing with a severe bout of depression recently, having several "elephant days"
* wishes I could figure out how not to be so hard on myself, how not to talk down to myself
* enjoys exercising and never thought I would say that, but I can tell a difference in my moods when I don't exercise, I love Body Gospel and I have muscles I've never had before!
* has lost 65 pounds since October
* would like a week away with just my husband

Leave me a comment and let me know you're reading! Sometimes I feel like I'm talking to myself in here! Much love from Bailey Inc!

Fathers, Phones, and Feelings.

I'm at McDonald's for some alone time. That means I get to think, blog, and use the bathroom without help. It's nice! Yet, even when I'm here I'm thinking about my four sweethearts at home. I look through pictures and compose blog posts. I notice how much they've grown and want to remember exactly what they are doing at this stage in their lives.

I was getting ready to start blogging and I saw a Father and a young girl, probably about three. The girl was eating ice cream. The Dad was attached to his cell phone. The Dad was so intent on his phone that he didn't notice when the girl got up and walked away from their table. She played throughout the entire restaurant for about twenty minutes, on tables, in the floor, and headed for the door a couple of times until she saw me give her that "Mom look" that says, "that's a bad choice." She smiled, a beaming smile that said, "someone noticed me!" She crawled up next to her Dad again. Her getting back in her chair must of jarred something in him, because he did look up and acknowledge her presence for a brief second. Then, he went right back to his love affair with that non-feeling electronic device. Lest you think I'm being too harsh on this Father, I am twice as guilty of doing this to my own children. That's why this scenario made me so very sad, I saw myself. I'm just usually pretty good about not doing it in public to them. Usually.

Then, another Father and his daughter came in, she's probably about two. They both had an ice cream cone. He's sitting in front of me, completely unaware that his actions are about to be spread out on the internet for all to see. Unaware because there is nothing more important than talking to his little girl right now. She has him enraptured. I want to give him a "blog award" for being the best Dad I've seen today. He's reading her a book right now while she finishes her ice cream cone. It's heartwarming.

(Sidenote: I just got the cutest smile and wave from that second little girl! She is one happy thing!)

Ironically one of my pet peeves in life is when people ignore children. I hate it when adults believe they can be rude and ignore a talking child. I hate it when children are not considered in the life of a church or an organization. Children are so often seen as an after thought or a "problem" to be solved. Their care is not accounted for, isolating not only them, but their parents. Our children are not only our future, but they are our present. We must treat them with the respect and importance that God places on them.

Matthew 18:10 See that you do not despise one of these little ones. For I tell you that their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father in heaven.

Sometimes what we hate most in others is a reflection of our own sin.

Lord, help me to remember that my laptop cannot love. Remind me that you did not call me to "raise" my phone. Show me when I fall short and ignore my blessings You have given me. Help me to be the advocate You have called me to be for those that cannot stand tall enough to be heard for themselves. Amen.

10 Months Old

I, Andon Josiah, am 10 months old today!
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And Mommy is crazy if she thinks I'm gonna sit still for pictures!
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Silly Mommy!!!
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Saturday, August 11, 2012

Dash

Happy Heaven Day Dash Liam!

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Thursday, June 14, 2012

Theoretical Thursday

My plans for Theoretical Thursday fell through because I could not find the materials I needed for the project. I had decided the day was just a wash.

I was sitting in my chair and everyone was peacefully at nap. Suddenly I saw something dark and BIG run across my living room floor. I freaked out! Then, being the "cool" Mom that I am, I thought, "Theoretical Thursday!" I grabbed a plastic cup and caught that thing! We wrote in our notebooks about the catch, theorized about what it was, and drew pictures of it. Then, we researched on the internet to identify our specimen. Unfortunately, we never did decide what he or she is, any ideas???

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Wednesday, June 13, 2012

Wet Wednesday

The Tools for Today's Adventure

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The Note

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"Daddy, Your house is under attack! Here is your weapon. Defend yourself out back!"

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The Setup
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The Duct Tape
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Waiting for Daddy to get home from work
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What's this?
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AND IT BEGINS!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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EPIC Water gun Fight! Thanks for the water guns Mimi!

Tuesday, June 12, 2012

Missed Days

I don't have a fun activity post from Monday or Tuesday this week. Mondays are Ministry Monday. I desire to teach my AJs to serve God and others. However, I wasn't prepared. I have learned without proper planning you don't accomplish anything. I was pretty disappointed in how activities went this week and am working to change that for next week. We did alot of house cleaning and the children did a whole lot of unstructured playing together. A little of that is fine and sometimes good for us. However, it backfired on us this week. All of that unstructured playtime made for some kids with very bad attitudes towards one another. By the end of Monday I was happy to separate them for bed a little before bedtime! I hoped that a good nights sleep would help.

Unfortunately, Time to Read Tuesday (a trip to the library) was suddenly transformed into Take Out the Trash Tuesday (clean your playroom) before lunch was even on the table. My littles were fighting so much with one another I knew a trip to the library would not be in our best interest. They were so shocked and sad! They had no idea our days could transform! I hate taking away fun things, but they did get the message. We were able to do a little reading together before bed. Oh well, there are good days and bad days.

Sunday, June 10, 2012

Super Sunday

It's rare that I write about Sunday. There are several reasons for that, the main one being we are so very busy. A typical Sunday is: get up at 7:30 at the latest, everyone has breakfast and then we get dressed for church and out the door by 8:30. It takes about 20 minutes to get to church from our home. Church lasts until a little after twelve. Then, we load the kids up in the van and come home for lunch. We eat and then it is nap time/rest time for the little people and sometimes the big people if we are really lucky. I usually work on preparations for Sunday night activities here. Then, we throw together a quick dinner if there is time and leave for church again at 5:30. I teach Team Kid for Babies through 6th grade on Sunday nights and Patrick teaches 7th through 12th grade students. We usually get out of church around 7:30 and home by 8. Bedtime is 8 during the school year and 8:30 in the summer. We rarely make it to bed on time on Sundays. If we didn't have that quick dinner before we made it to Sunday night activities we throw that in here along with preparing everything for the next days activities like clothes and lunches. Then, it's the bedtime rush and tucking in of my babies.

This Sunday was not typical. Andon wanted to nurse at 7:30, so I didn't get started on breakfast and getting everyone dressed as soon as I normally do. Also, I Always put all of the children's and my clothes out the night before, but I didn't on Saturday night. I had what I was going to wear picked out because I was signing and had to "test" my ability to move in it, but found myself scrambling to get clothes ready for the four monkeys.

We got out the door fifteen minutes late and to be frank with you I was beyond grumpy. I took it out on my children and my husband. Patrick and I fought all the way to church. I was supposed to do special music in church and I didn't get to practice. Patrick was late to teach Sunday School. We team teach the High School Sunday School class, but this week we also had the Middle Schoolers with us. Things were not going as planned. We got the children to their Sunday School classes and Patrick headed to class. Then, I went to the parking lot and sat on the swing in our church playground. I just needed some time to figure out what to do about my attitude. I knew I needed to change it, but I didn't want to. I remember a country song that had the lyrics, "I just want to be mad for a while." That's how I was feeling with no real reason or one thing to be mad about. I knew it wasn't right though and I began praying for God to give me peace and to change my heart. Soon I calmed a bit, went inside and practiced my song. Then, I went upstairs and joined Sunday School. After Sunday School I apologized to my husband for my horrible attitude and the way I treated him. (Later, over lunch, I was able to apologize to my children also.)

As a quick aside to my story, apologies are so important. Admitting that we are wrong is hard, but necessary. I don't want my children to grow up and say, "she never admits she's wrong." Instead, I desire them to see me as imperfect and relying on God's grace. That is the kind of example I want them to have. I don't have to have it "all together" in front of my kids. I want to teach them to admit when they are wrong too. That apology changed the atmosphere of my whole day. I became less burdened and my ability to hear the Holy Spirit increased. I was able to quickly plan for Sunday night, something I had been struggling with because my attitude was in my way.

Sunday nights are one of my all time favorite moments of the week. I love teaching Team Kid. Teaching children about Jesus has always been my passion, but did I mention that all four of my own children are in Team Kid every night? The stakes are higher now. Over the past year I've noticed myself holding back some when I teach.

See, I've always said, "if you teach them about being a missionary, don't be surprised when they become one." As I realized what I was doing I resolved to change it. This summer my theme for Team Kid is missions. Every Sunday night I am introducing a new country, new culture, and a new way to tell others about the love of Jesus.

This Sunday I was laying the foundation. I wanted them to understand that a missionary can have Any job in the world. We talked about what they wanted to become when they grew up. We discussed the different jobs that missionaries have. This particular Sunday I wanted to get across the point that we need more people to tell the world about Jesus and that person could be them. I definitely had an older girl "get it" and it made my night. We were watching a video of the different jobs missionaries could have and as the children watched I found myself watching them. I'm looking into such precious faces, unique personalities, and God given gifts. Four of them have been entrusted to me! How blessed I am! I found myself mesmerized and wondering about them traveling to be a missionary somewhere. I was looking at Aiden and Anthony in particular, because they are older and understand more of the lesson.

Yet, I always try to include Abby in the interaction as well. So, when it came time to ask them what do you want to be when you grow up, I started left to right, purposefully putting Abby as last on the right. Anthony wanted to be "Woody." This is his typical way of saying a cowboy. Aiden wanted to be a "football player, a doctor, and a motorcycle racer." I jokingly told him the motorcycle thing was Not happening while his Mama was alive. The other girls in the class gave their answers. Then, I turned to Abby, not sure what to expect, and asked her the same question. Without hesitation she said, "a baker!" I was shocked by her immediate response. When she turned one we played a game to see what she would grow up to be and she chose the cake decorating tools. My Mom (cake baker extraordinaire) and I have been amazed at her ability for decorating at the age of two.

I sort of have a photographic memory. When my little blonde haired, blue eyed epitome of innocence belted out, "baker," I suddenly had a "flash" to a piece of paper I had looked at sixteen years earlier. It was a job description for a Journeyman (a short term missionary) in Africa. On the description it listed as duties "bring others into the community center through cake decorating classes."

I don't know what the future holds for Abby, but God's already molding her to His plan. I think my two year old understood the lesson more than I thought she would. I think I need to start working my heart towards "if you teach them about being a missionary, don't be surprised when they become one."

Start children off on the way they should go,
and even when they are old they will not turn from it.
Proverbs 22:6

Saturday, June 9, 2012

Super Saturday

For Mother's Day the children each gave me a "ticket" for a trip with them. I loved it because one on one time is so hard to get. Anthony and I chose to go to the Children's Museum!

Ready to roll!
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We made it!
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We learned how to weave
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Playing the train conductor
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He was so excited I made his name
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The required chair picture
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Water
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Building together
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And we finished our date with a trip to Jason's Deli for a pb&j with a side of ice cream cone!
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