Saturday, September 27, 2008

Lesson in Faith

I got a big scoop of humble pie from Beckham. I try to always teach the kids that we can pray about anything and that God wants to hear from us and that he can do anything. If he can create the universe he can answer our prayers. It may not always be the answer we want but he knows what is best for us. Monte was in New York this week and was supposed to come home yesterday. Well, he called yesterday morning and said that his flight was canceled and that all the other flights were booked. The soonest they could get him home would be late Saturday afternoon. I told the kids that his flight was canceled and he was stuck in New York until Saturday. Beckham's response to the news was - why don't we pray that dad gets home safe tonight. I didn't want him to get his hopes up and be disappointed so I said - why don't we just pray he gets home safe. Beckham's response - No we should pray he gets home safe tonight. So from the back seat of the car Beckham said a prayer asking for his dad to get home that night and that he would be safe.

Beckham had faith that Monte would get home that night and he wasn't afraid to ask. I was the one that was afraid. Afraid that if we asked and it didn't happen Beckham would wonder why. Here I was trying to protect Beckham in reality he didn't need protecting. It was me that needed to reevaluate and learn a lesson from him. If God can create the heavens and the earth why couldn't he get Monte on a flight? My lack of faith seems silly if you think of it that way. Well, Beckham's prayer was answered. Monte got home last night. He even got home before bedtime (well, a little after but I kept the kids up).

Here's what I learned from Beckham: you need to have faith like a child, fear often holds us back from growing in our faith. I was afraid that if the prayer wasn't answered Beckham would wonder why. I need to get over those fears and ask what is on my heart.

Edited to say - It's not that I didn't think God couldn't get Monte on a flight. I knew He could I just didn't know if He would. I guess that is why it's called faith right? I needed to have more faith like Beckham.

Thursday, September 25, 2008

Night Under the Stars

Last Friday night (I know I'm a little slow blogging about it) we went over to our friend's for Movie night. Since the weather was so nice we decided to make it outside movie night. They have a projector and a screen so they hooked their computer up to it and we were able to enjoy Alvin and the Chipmunks under the stars. It was a lot of fun. We did it earlier in the summer but the weather wasn't as nice as this time. I don't know what it is about kids watching movies in different places but our kids seem to love it. We went to the drive in theater a few times this summer and they loved it. The first time we went the kids were a bit confused - where are the seats? where are we going to watch the movie? Um, on the huge white wall in front of us. And the seats are in the car. They thought that was so cool and kept talking about it all summer. It's sad summer is over but it is nice to be able to enjoy the outside without the sweltering heat and bugs.

Monday, September 22, 2008

Tender heart

Beckham is the most tenderhearted kids I know. He is always thinking of others and their feelings. Somehow Ainsley caught a bug and was sick this weekend. Beckham was so worried about his sister and just wanted her better. He even made her a card to help her feel better. It is so heart warming to see how compassionate he is. On Sunday he and I went to church while Ainsley and dad stayed home. As we were walking into his class he said - I wish sissy was here. Church is more fun when she is with me. he made sure his Sunday school class prayed for her.

He kept asking me when she was going to be better so he could play with her. And today when we drove to school he said, I'm sad sissy isn't coming. I love the fact that he loves and cares for his little sister. Don't get me wrong he has his moments with her but it's nice to know deep down inside he really cares for her.

Sunday, September 14, 2008

What's red, white & 8 feet tall


Lil' Red of course!! Friday I was at Tuesday Morning trying to find some cheap games for the kids (connect four, operation, battle ship - which by the way are harder to find then you would think) and in the clearance section I saw a box that had a bunch of college mascots on it. Out of curiosity I picked it up to see what it was and it was a University of Nebraska blow up yard decoration. My first thought was - mom would love this! My second thought - I could never buy that for her because I always make fun of people that fill their yard with that kind of stuff. Then I thought - but she would love it. She is such a huge Corn Husker fan - she loves everything Nebraska. My next thought - my dad would kill me if I got this for her. So what did I do? I called Monte and got his opinion. We came to the conclusion it was such a great deal. It was 75% off the original price. I figured if mom didn't want it we could return it. So I put it in my cart and proceeded to check out. While checking out I thought - should I really be getting this and feeding her Husker obsession? I thought, I can show it to her and let her decide. If it's too much my feelings wouldn't be hurt. (If mom is reading this she is probably thinking - is there such a thing as too much Nebraska? Dad is probably thinking - there is definitely a thing as too much Nebraska especially when it is 8 feet tall! When we took it out of the box and blew it up we were amazed at how tall 8 feet is!! When I bought it I didn't realize it would blow up to 8 feet. The only way it will end up in their yard is over my dad's dead body but since their great room has such high ceilings maybe mom could put it there on game days. Megan and dad I know I shouldn't encourage her. Even if they don't ever use it it was worth getting a good laugh when we blew it up and saw how big it was. And seeing dad's reaction! Priceless! He wouldn't even touch the box or carry it to the car because he wanted nothing to do with it.

My parents visit was short. They stopped in on their way back from the Navy vs. Duke football game. We had lunch and cake for my dad's birthday. The kids did a great job on his cake. Beckham came up with how we should decorate it all by himself. He thought it should have army men, a jet and American flags since Poppy was in the Navy. He wanted to put his helicopter on it but couldn't find it so we had to settle for the jet. Beckham was funny when we were decorating it he said "mom, Poppy isn't going to take my toys is he? How about he gets the flags and I keep the toys." We had a fun making and decorating the cake for such a special dad and poppy.

Friday, September 5, 2008

First Week of School

Summer's over and it's back to routine. Which by the way we are all welcoming. Summer was great but the last two weeks of summer the kids and I have needed some routine back in our lives. Both kids officially started school this week. Beckham is in a transitional Kindergarten class and goes 5 mornings a week and Ainsley is in the 3 yr old program that goes 3 times a week.

I think this is going to be a great year for both of them. Ainsley is going to love the social aspect of being around more kids her age and will continue to grow academically (she already knows almost all her letters). Beckham's class is going to be just what he needs. We didn't think he was ready for kindergarten and the preschool he has been going to started a transitional Kindergarten for kids that aren't quite ready for school yet. He only has 7 kids in his class including him and there are 2 teachers so the kids get lots of attention. The only issue we are going to have with school is Ainsley gets upset on Tuesdays and Thursdays when she doesn't go. She wants to go everyday which is a great problem to have.

They both LOVE school and their teachers. Beckham even asked me today why a kid in his class cries for his mom every morning. I told him - well, maybe he misses his mom. And his response was - I don't miss you. I was a little sad at that response but happy in a way that he likes school so much he doesn't mind I'm gone. It also shows me that he is becoming more independent and is growing up.

Lastly for the first week of school we made a pencil cake to celebrate the start of school.

Beckham and Ainsley's first day of school together






The pencil cake we made