A few thoughts

Well, it's way to late for this mama to be awake, but I fell asleep on the couch at 8:30 tonight and when Marvin woke me up to go to our bedroom I couldn't sleep. So after tossing and turning I decided I need to get up and write down all the thoughts going through my head, hopefully it will help me sleep. Here goes nothing.....

Living in a different country changed my outlook on things. Sometimes I find myself being overly critical of the country I am from and sometimes I am overwhelmingly thankful. I have never been so thankful for the freedom we have as Americans since living in a place where that wasn't a part of life. I think back on the generations who have given their lives just so we can have freedom. Most of us as Americans don't understand what that word means let alone appreciate those who continue to fight for it. I am thankful that I don't have to show my id at every city I travel to, I can cross state borders without any checkpoints and heavy military presence. These are just a few freedoms that come to my mind right now. I want to thank those who have served our country or are currently serving our country for defending things we all take for granted.

Now there are some things that also really bug me. There isn't a day that goes by that I don't see a news story reporting on the increases of gasoline prices. Finally I think us American are starting to examine our lives but I think we feel entitled to this "American Dream". We want a house, 2 cars, a dog, kids and we don't want to pay too much for anything. The other day the president was pushing to start more drilling here in our own country for oil. You would think that lessening our dependency on foreign oil would be a good thing, but there were several criticisms to this plan. One of these was from those who don't want to see our coast lines become cluttered with oil rigs, they desire to preserve the beauty of our country. Now there isn't anything wrong with this essentially. To be quite honest I am sure I wouldn't want to look out my window and see a big oil rig, but I think it is very interesting that we as American would rather just have these things out of sight, we would rather clutter another country's shoreline and complain about how we can't afford gas. I have no idea if this is the solution, but attitudes like these shed a little light into why the world hates our country.

Okay on to a new subject, worship. Several things have been rolling around in my brain recently about this subject. I have been thinking a lot about a comment my father-in-law made that church isn't about entertaining us. I think he hit that point right on. I got to thinking about how my heart connects during worship and the songs that resonate with my heart usually aren't hymns, there are a few that touch my heart very deeply but in general it's the new stuff that really allows me to enter into Father's court. Now I was thinking about this and how worship has changed over the years. I think it is impossible to ignore this fact but at the same time I think we at times emphasize it too much and many times use it for our own entertainment. There is definitely a fine line. I saw an add on TV for a church that advertised that it was a lot of fun because the music was great, church should be more than a show. My heart is encouraged by the body and worshiping together and yes it is fun, but as I saw that ad I was convicted to challenge my heart to worship the King and not the experience.

Well it looks like my brain is getting tired. So it's off to bed. Hopefully I will be rested enough when my hungry little boy makes me get out of bed in the morning. Goodnight.

Fun Filled Father's Day

We had a great weekend filled with lots of family time. It seems like we are always going somewhere, but it was fun to hang out together as a family. The weather was beautiful Saturday and we enjoyed some time at the park playing Frisbee with some new friends. Calvin did great hanging out with new people while Marvin and I played. He does great around new people, stranger anxiety hasn't hit yet, but he still likes to know where we are. It helps when we are within eye shot. The rest of the day was filled with relaxing in the backyard and running a few errands. We really needed a Saturday like that.

Sunday we had a good time visiting to friends after church and then grabbed lunch with our old teammates. Our boys are only 2 months apart and it is getting more and more fun watching them together. Marvin even got to enjoy the US Open on TV and we ended the day playing a new game Calvin and I got him for Father's Day. Here are a few picture of our weekend.

A Sleepy Boy with his Daddy.

One of his few moments of rest during the day. I went to Target and left a sleepy boy with Marvin and when I got back this is what I found. I love this picture, unfortunately when Marvin moved him to his bed he woke up and didn't go back to sleep until bedtime. I even tried to lay down with him, but he just wiggled the whole time and then finally rolled over and when I opened my eyes I had a beaming boy 3 inches from my face staring at me. I couldn't control my laughter and decided it was time to give up on naptime.

Calvin's yummy fishing pole. I picked this up at a garage sale and it has become his favorite water toy.

I was so pumped to pick this swing up from Craigslist, its a great place to dry off after swimming.

My Big Guy

Calvin is now 8 months old and has become quite a sweet little man. He loves people so much, particularly kids. This morning we had an appointment to get our car looked at by the insurance company, we received some hail damage a couple weeks ago. While we were waiting there was another family in the waiting area with small kids. Calvin just adored this little 19 month old. If she would leave the little play area he would just watch her until she came back. He had a good time while we waited. It turns out we had quite a bit of damage, the adjuster told me that it was some of the larger dings he had seen. Yikes, it's times like these we are glad we have full coverage.
I was so pumped to find that swimming things were on sale at Dillons on Saturday so I picked up a baby pool and we tested it out today. Calvin had a good time playing with his spoon and yogurt containers in the water. I am glad to have a day where we can play in the sun. It gives us a few new things to do. YEAH for summer!

Our niece loves to watch Calvin on the computer, so I thought it was time to add a new video of Calvin. I took this today as he headed towards the empty roll of wrapping paper, who says you need expensive toys, this kept him busy for 20 minutes. As you can see from the video this is his new mode of getting from point a to point b. We have worked on getting off his belly but usually this doesn't work more than a couple of minutes because Mr. squirmy loves to roll over. I am sure it won't be long before he figures out a faster way to get somewhere.

A Fun Weekend

We are all exhausted, but we had such a fun weekend. My cousin got married this weekend at my grandparent's farm. It was a beautiful ceremony held in a place that has so many memories for several generations of our family.

My grandfather was raised in the same house he now lives in and I was thinking of how much history our family has in that house. It was where my great-grandparents raised 6 children and where they all grew into adults. It was where my mother grew up and a place this city girl always love to visit. Grandpa would always let us "drive" the tractors and allowed us to be apart of our family's history. I love that I can now take Calvin there and I hope that he too will have memories of grandpa's farm.

I think I have taken these special places for granted sometimes. In my mind I think that they will always be there. My paternal grandparents house is one of these places too. I have so many memories there too. It's this tiny little house but it is bursting full of memories. After my grandfather died my grandmother was unable to return home and part of my heart is grieving the loss of that special place. I told Marvin that I have eaten so many cookies around that table and I will never walk in to be met by my grandpa who always looks surprised when we came to visit, even if he knew we were coming. Even though it is hard that it will never be the same I am thankful for the memories and how they bring a smile to my face. Praise the Lord for Family!

Here are a few pictures of the wedding:

My Cousins (the groom and his sisters)

Calvin got to meet a few great great aunts & uncles.

It was a beautiful wedding and we are so thankful that we were able to be there for such a special day.

My grandpa (seated) with his brothers, sister and their wives. (My grandma is standing on the far right)

We also were able to catch a dear friend of mine from high school on her way through Kansas. It is aways fun to catch up with her and also comforting that regardless of how much time we have spent away from each other we can just pick right back up where we left off. Her kids are so fun, I wish we lived closer to them, but are grateful for the times when we have the opportunity to see them.