SLO in Arkansas: September 2008

Monday, September 29, 2008

Fall

I just wanted to share some cute pictures of the family from the past few weeks. We have been enjoying the fall and are really looking forward to cooler weather this week! Silas got so excited he went out and dug a fire pit in our backyard. I am so glad, because that was one of our favorite things about the old house. It will take a while to get this one like we want it, but we have a pit for fire and sm'ores, so that works for me:) We are also getting excited about using our fireplace inside for the first time too. I am on the lookout for some fire place tools and a grate to put on the hearth in front of it to keep little fingers from reaching in. We ate dinner on the back porch last week after Silas grilled us some chicken. Dinner and the weather were just perfect! I love this time of year.

Tyson is growing like a weed. He continues to get into everything humanly possible too, which is to be expected I guess. We are entering the world of bumps, cuts and bruises though, which is not fun for me. He has already gotten several skinned knees this summer from falling in the driveway, and last week he pulled a lamp off a table onto his face, resulting in a cut on his eyebrow, lots of screaming, and some blood. Once the initial shock wore off, Ty was fine, but it made me realize that this is only the beginning. Thankfully it was just a little cut and nothing some kisses and Neosporin couldn't fix right up. Hopefully things will stay minor for a while, I don't think my heart can take a big injury. When Tyson was first born I used to sit there and hold him and touch his little knees that were so smooth and perfect, and think about how one day he would be a little tough boy with scrapes and bruises. It hurt my heart then to think about him getting hurt, and I just can't believe that day got here so fast. Luckily the little scrapes aren't as bad as they seemed back then, but I still want to do everything in my power to protect him and keep him safe. Unfortunately he is a wild man, and I think I may have several heart attacks during his childhood:) He actually busted his lip this morning on the laundry basket!

Just look at this face! How could you say no to this little fellow?!?!? He was all dressed up for church last week when I took this picture. He forgets to smile for the camera, but I like this face too. He is quite the little boy already, isn't he?

And one of my favorite pictures from last week when my parents were here visiting. Mom and I were shopping in TJ Max and found some cute Halloween costumes. We couldn't tell about the sizes, so we decided to try one on Tyson while we were there. He was not too happy about this plan, since the gorilla costume was really hot, and he had much better things to be doing like pushing our shopping cart around the store. It was a very funny moment, that ended up with my mom laughing so hard in the floor, and me trying to get my camera out of my purse to capture the moment, and lots of customers looking at us strangely since we were dying laughing and making a scene right in the checkout lane:) My favorite part was that once we got the costume on him, he ran off and started pushing the cart around, which was very funny to say the least since he was a little gorilla running wild with a shopping basket! Good times were had by all. We didn't even end up getting the costume, since I couldn't decide if it would be too hot for him or not. We are still shopping around for now:) Any good ideas on costumes for toddlers? He doesn't really like things on his head, so most of the outfits are out that have head pieces. Not sure what we will do this year. We are going to a Fall Festival at our church for Halloween instead of Trick-or-treating, so I have to get something he can wear around for a few hours.

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Here We Go

This is just a random picture of the baby:)

I have been so blessed by attending the Ladies Bible Class at our church this year, and we are only in the 3rd week! I find myself looking forward to every Tuesday and really enjoying the time spent with other Christian women. I am still new and getting to know the others, but it is very welcoming and I love it. The best benefit of all is my time spent actually studying the Bible and the blessing that is to my life. So many things have impacted me already from our study. I know it should not amaze me when God works in my life, but it is so awesome to see it directly happening and be aware of it daily!

The biggest thing God is challenging me on right now is my idea that in some way I am in control of things. Ha! I am a very structured person and a huge planner, and while this benefits me most of the time, it is actually a huge stumbling block for my faith, because I tend to forget that I am definitely not the one who is running the show. The last few years have showed me that vividly, as not much has turned out the way I had planned for it to. The absolute best part of that though is that everything is a million times better than I could have imagined it would be! Praise God:) And better yet, He has done all this in spite of my doubts and fears and frustrations. So today I am thankful that I am not in control, and boy does that take a lot of stress off right there!!! I am learning what it really looks like to walk by faith, and to step out into the unknown, and to actually embrace that uncertainty about the future, because trusting God is all that matters anyway. As long as I have that part right, everything else will be OK, no matter what.

I love this line from my Bible study book....The Frazzled Female. The author says "God wants you to believe Him first, without knowing the outcome of your situation." Wow. It seems so simple, but things like that are really hard for me. I need to have all the facts, have all my ducks in a row, and weigh my options before I can make a decision. I have a need to have some idea of the outcome before I can decide which path to take, so not knowing the outcome is really scary for me! Silas has been such a faithful example of this for me, and I am so thankful for that. He has such a strong faith that all things work for good in our lives, and always believes the best is coming. I used to make fun of him for being so optimistic all the time (unlike me who is very "realistic" so I thought!), but the truth of the matter is, he simply has a faith grounded in the fact that God is good and is in control no matter what our circumstances are, and instead of being stressed, he finds joy in that. Oh how I wish I was more like that. I am working on it though, little by little.

My mom bought me this daily devotional book that has been awesome in addressing this issue too. It's called Jesus Calling, by Sarah Young. Here is the page from September 17th.

" You will not find my peace by engaging in excessive planning: attempting to control what will happen to you in the future. That is a commonly practiced form of unbelief. When your mind spins with multiple plans, Peace may sometimes seem to be within your grasp; yet it always eludes you. Just when you think you have prepared for all possibilities, something unexpected pops up and throws things into confusion. I did not design the human mind to figure out the future. That is beyond your capability. I crafted your mind for continual communication with Me. Bring Me all your needs, your hopes and fears. Commit everything into My care. Turn from the path of planning to the path of Peace."

This was taken from 1 Peter 5:6-7, Proverbs 16:9, and Psalm 37:5

So I am committing out loud to work on letting go of my false sense of control, and seeking to trust more, and believe more, and have a stronger faith overall. I know this will not be an easy task for me. I also know that when you commit to something, you tend to get tested in that area, which can be tough! I am a planner, a scheduler, a list maker. I know that in itself is not bad, but the trusting in myself to make sure everything is OK needs to go. I'm scared to death, but excited to see what happens too:) Here we go......

Saturday, September 20, 2008

NEA District Fair

We took Ty to the fair this week and had a great time. He was too little to remember going last year in Searcy, so it was fun to watch him enjoy things this time around. And I remembered to bring my camera this year, which makes for better memories! The biggest reason to go to the fair hands down is for the food, and eat we did! Tyson's favorite part was definitely the roasted corn on the cob dripping with butter. Once little man got to eating on it, he wouldn't give it back, so Silas and I had to go back for another one! Apparently the buttery cobs make for excellent teething toys as well:) We also enjoyed sharing some hot dogs and fries for dinner, and topped things off with a wonderful funnel cake. It was all great, although I will have to admit the First Assembly of God in Searcy makes a much better funnel cake. So good in fact we might have to make the trip back to Searcy next year just to have one:)

Besides the food, the next best thing was the petting zoo. Tyson loves animals of all sorts and had a ball watching the little critters clamor for the food! He giggled away as the goats licked his hands and arms:)

He was also fascinated by the camel we found there. They stared at each other for a long time:) I got worried that the camel might start spitting or something crazy, but it was well behaved, thank goodness! Tyson loved the baby pot bellied pigs too. They were adorable!!! I wanted to bring one home right there. He enjoyed walking around and looking at all the lights and rides, but we didn't get on any. I figured this is probably the last year to get away with going to the fair for under $30, so why waste the money when he isn't actually asking to go on any rides. The carousel did look fun though.

Anyway, we had a great time overall. It was such a perfect night to go, and we actually wore jackets because it was so cool:) It made for a much more pleasant experience than the usual sweat fest. We are having so much fun with the kiddo now that he is old enough to know what's going on and participate more in outings and activities. He is growing up too fast though if you ask me. He turned 14 months old today actually. People ask us all the time if he is 18 months old, I guess because of his size. He is also turning into a mama's boy, which I have mixed emotions about. He loves his daddy to death, but he has really gotten clingy to me lately and cries when I leave the house to go to work. I hate that so much:( The flip side is seeing how excited he is when I get home. Thank goodness I don't really work more than 2 or 3 hours at a time, so I'm not gone too long. He also cut two new teeth this past week, so he is officially up to 6 now:) They didn't seem to bother him too much, which was good. Everything else is going well. Fall is just busy busy as usual.

Sunday, September 14, 2008

Tyson's First Haircut

We finally went and got Tyson his first haircut this weekend. It took a total of 2 minutes and wasn't that exciting really. I probably could have done it at home, but I didn't want to mess it up! It wasn't like a real haircut though, since the boy doesn't really have that much. It was more like a mullet removal of sorts:) I was tired of the back of his hair fluffing out like Joe Dirt all the time, so off to the barber we went on Saturday morning. He hated everything about the whole thing! He ripped the cape off of his neck the second the put it on him, he wouldn't hold his head still, and he kept trying to turn around and see what they were doing to him. He cried too. I managed to get one picture, but that was all I could bear since it wasn't a pretty sight, and over so fast. It will probably be a while until he needs a real haircut, so hopefully I can just keep the back part trimmed at home. He did receive a certificate for surviving his first haircut, and a sucker. I got to keep the first pieces of his little baby hair too. I guess it goes in the baby book. I didn't take any before and after pictures, because they pretty much would have looked the same:)

Anyway. The rest of the pictures are just cute ones of him from the last 2 weeks. He has started doing this dopey face for the camera, which looks pretty silly:) He is also finally cutting some new teeth, so there is lots of snot and drool lately. He hasn't been too horribly grumpy though, so that's good. This morning when I went to get him from the church nursery they told me he is like a tank, just bull dozing everything down in his path! They love him and thinks he's fun to watch. I guess that nickname could stick....Tank Orbison. Or Tyson the Tank. It sounds like a football player to me:)

We had horrible wind here last night from the last of Ike, and it drove me crazy all night long. It sounded like the roof was going to be ripped off the house, along with the shutters and everything else. It just kept waking me up every time I would get back to sleep. Then the power went out about 5 am and stayed off until 9 am, so we had to get ready for church in the dark, and I didn't get a shower! Thank goodness I had taken one last night before bed, but my hair was out of control. I pulled it back and tried not to think about it again:) Luckily the sound inside the house was much worse than what was actually going on outside, and there really wasn't any damage around our neighborhood. Just lots of leaves and small branches down for the most part. Tyson's little blow up pool in the backyard must have flown off to Kansas, since its not there this morning. Oh well, now I don't have to deflate it and store it.

The rest of our day has been lazy and fun. Silas went to shoot clay skeet this afternoon with a group of men from church, and I hung out on the couch and watched some Titan football:) Now we are making brownies, which are smelling delicious, and are calling my name at this very moment. Must go eat chocolate now!

Wednesday, September 10, 2008

Random Update

I don't really have anything specific to say, so I thought I would update on a couple of ongoing things in our life. The top picture is of Tyson on his first day of Mother's Day Out. He wouldn't look at the camera though, so its the best picture I got:) He had a hard time on the first day, and then did a little better the second day. He went back yesterday for his second week and had a great day!! This is such a relief to me, as it frees me up to work more during the day, and get a small little break from him as well. Don't get me wrong, I love being with little man, but I actually unloaded the dishwasher without having to put half of the silverware back because he pulled them out and sucked on them!!! And then I checked my email without him turning the computer off in the middle, and I went to the bathroom by myself, and I may have even sat at the table and eaten a plate of food for lunch. One taste of freedom like that people, and it's hard to not want a little more! And then I missed him really bad and was so excited to pick him up and bring him home and love on him for the rest of the day. So I am really glad he likes it there and is adjusting quickly. He is even managing to take a 45 minute nap too, which I did not expect:) So things are going well on the MDO front.

I started attending the Ladies Bible Class at our church yesterday as well. Its nice because on Tuesdays I can take him to school, then get to LBC, and then still work for a few hours before I have to pick him up at 2:00pm. I am very excited about the class, and getting plugged in at church with mothers of children too. We are doing a study called the Frazzled Female which looks good, and should be good at helping us rearrange our priorities to make sure the way we are spending our time each day is on the things that truly matter. I am looking forward to class each week!

We broke down and finally installed child latches on the kitchen cabinets this week. Tyson loves getting inside of them, as you can see in the picture. He also loves destroying everything and chewing on the doors, so we felt it was time. I hate the things because I can't get what I need as quickly, but they have helped in the areas they are supposed to, so I guess its worth it. He still has free reign over the Tupperware cabinet and a few others with barely anything in them. He tries really hard to pull them open, and then gets a really puzzled look on his face when he can't. Its funny:)

I have kept up with my running and continue to go 2-3 times a week, usually about 2 miles each time. It has helped to have a friend in the neighborhood go with me, as we usually chat the miles away and forget that we are actually running! I am feeling good and can tell that it is getting easier the longer we do it. Hopefully we will increase our distance soon. We are loving the cooler weather in the evenings too:)

The county fair is coming to town next week, so we have plans to take Tyson and soak up all the excitement it has to offer. The petting zoo and kiddie rides are our main destination, and of course Silas and I only go for the funnel cakes and turkey legs, so everyone should have a good time!

My work continues to plug along. Its not as predictable as I would like, but the flexibility is wonderful, so I will stick with it. We are finally starting to settle into a groove here with all of our activities, which feels good. Arkansas State Univ, here in town has started their football season off 2-0 and looks to have a good year, so we will probably become Red Wolf fans soon:) We hope to catch a home game in one of the upcoming weekends as well. Everything else is good here. Oh yeah, we are in the process of teaching Tyson how to call the Hogs. Its pretty funny! I know all of our extended family is going to hate this (especially the Texas folks), but what can we say, the boy is an Arkansan! Too bad our team isn't that great:)

Saturday, September 06, 2008

Water Boy

I put some of these pictures up on Facebook, but for those of you who don't check that, I will add them to the blog. Watering the yard is one of my favorite things to do, and I have done a lot of it since we moved in. My usual watering time is after supper, and after our walk around the neighborhood. Tyson usually hangs out in his wagon playing and watches me. Apparently he has been paying close attention to all my moves, and he decided to try them out for himself last week!

At first I just let him walk around the yard with me, and hold the hose for a second while I helped. This was not good enough for little man though, as he wanted to showcase his watering abilities to their fullest! He soon had taken over the hose and went to town.

At first I tried to be all worrisome and keep him dry, but that didn't last long. So then I tried to be all practical, and try to keep his shoes from getting soaked, but after standing in two inches of puddled water, that didn't last long either. So, then I saw how much fun my kid was having playing in the water and I just let him go to town:) He was soaked head to toe, kept falling down into puddles of water and sitting there, and was spraying Silas and I left and right every time we got near him. But at the end of the evening, Tyson had the time of his life, we enjoyed watching him have a good time, and lo and behold, my yard was thoroughly watered!!

Thursday, September 04, 2008

Labor Day at the Lake

We had a great time at the lake over the long holiday. I am so thankful the weather cooperated this time too! It was sunny and beautiful the whole time....couldn't have been more perfect:) We spent two days out on the water and it was wonderful. The water temperature was around 86 degrees and felt great. We got in some good tubing, swimming, laying out, and of course, eating. Silas did a little fishing and four wheeler riding as well. It is hard to take pictures while you are busy having so much fun, but I managed to get a few in over the trip!

Tyson fits in his life jacket so well and really likes it. He had fun floating around in his float, and just lounging on his back in his life jacket too. I am so glad he loves the water. He took a nap each day on the boat when we would just ride around for a while. The lull of the waves and the engine noise put him right out every time! He thinks he is the captain of the boat, and had fun "driving" with dad, and pushing the button for the horn:) Too cute.

I love this picture! We had the boat docked and he climbed out into our tube and went fishing along the shore! It looks so funny, like his legs are missing! My other favorite part is that he is fishing with a tiny little Barbie fishing pole:) He managed to catch several little fish with that thing and no bait! He sure had a good time:)

My boys. Tyson got his first ride on a 4 wheeler this weekend and loved it. That kid is an adrenaline junkie:) He loves all the big boy toys and does not seem too scared of anything so far. He is so cute riding around with the wind blowing his hair straight up on his head. We are so thankful to have such good friends that let us come up and stay on the lake. We are getting much more use out of the boat as a result! We are looking forward to heading back out this fall once the leaves start changing on the trees and the weather cools off. It will be nice to just ride around on the water and relax. We had a great trip, but were all exhausted once we got back. Playing hard really takes a lot out of you! Silas and I feel like we are getting too old to be tearing it up out there on the tube, but we just can't resist. It's great while you are out there, until you can't move your arms the next day!

SLO in Arkansas