Here is a fun family photo snapped at lunch the other day.

And here are a few quick stories from the past few weeks...

One night we went out for a family dinner at Chili's here on Baylor's campus. As we were getting ready to leave, I went to the bathroom while Jason was with Hannah. As I was in the bathroom I heard the fire alarm go off, which was VERY LOUD by the way. Immediately, I was concerned. As I walked out of the bathroom I see Jason talking sternly to Hannah, and I just knew that the inevitable had happened. Hannah had pulled the fire alarm on the wall! Jason didn't have time to stop her before she just pulled on the BIG RED handle. The noise was horribly loud! I took Hannah outside and talked to her about what happened and why it was wrong of her. I made her go back in and apologize to the manager. Unfortunately all the customers (which thankfully was only about 4 tables) had to leave the restaurant while it was taken care of. It also scared Hannah bad enough that it was a consequence in itself. Oh the joys of a 3 year old!!!

We had a church staff pool party and BBQ a few weekends ago. Hannah and the other kids really enjoyed swimming together. We have had Hannah swimming in a floaty bathing suit for awhile now and she does great all by herself. At the end of the night we were packing up and getting ready to leave. I had taken Hannah's floaty suit off and she just had her regular suit on. She went with me down to the pool to get our stuff together and she was talking with another kid who was still swimming in the pool. I turned around and she was standing on the first step in the pool. From across the pool, I yelled for her NOT to get in and I ran over to her. She stood there for a moment and then jumped in and immediately sank right to the bottom. Thankfully the husband of the couple who own the house (who happens to be a very reputable surgeon here in town) was standing right by and he reached in and began to pull her out. By that time I had jumped in to grab her. It was horrible to see her at the bottom of the pool with her big eyes just looking up at us wondering what just happened. Besides the fact that she disobeyed my instructions, it scared her really bad! I cannot teach her to swim fast enough!

Anyway, we have had plenty of natural consequences (and scary moments) lately in our house.

New Tastes

I have learned in the last week that one of the faults of mine in cooking for Hannah is that I don't often introduce foods to her that I don't care for myself. I should learn to branch out more, but it sure is hard to branch out of food ruts. Anyway, one of the foods that I don't serve much (or at all) is tomatoes. Now, I am not totally opposed to eating them on sandwiches or burgers, but I do not care for tomatoes by themselfs. So, up to this point, Hannah has only had the opportunity to eat straight tomatoes 1 or 2 times.
Last week, we went to a couples house from our lifegroup and they served fresh cherry tomatoes from their garden. After Hannah showed some interest in them at the dinner table, they took her outside and let her pick a basketfull of them. Would you believe that my child ate them like candy!? We ended up bringing a big bag of them home and she popped them like grapes.

She was delighted by this new food that she apparently loves. It was a good reminder for me too, that I need to branch out and allow her to try things that I might not care for. I guess she is not the only one that learns new things each day!

Great reading

So, while I was on the plane this past weekend on the way to California and back, I had a lot of time to read, think, and pray. It was truly wonderful time that I had to myself. I only took one book with me, "Don't make me count to three" by Ginger Plowman. I have read it before, but felt like I could benefit from reading it again. It was wonderful! The subtitle of the book is "A mom's look at heart oriented discipline" and this is just what I was needing a refresher on.

I was so encouraged to read the first chapter on "the high calling of motherhood." A few things that stuck out to me were -
"I got to read a couple of great classics today. Out loud. Move over Dickens, we have the works of Dr. Seuss. I was also able to dust, organize, clean, counsel, and cook. I kissed away the boo-boos and washed away the tears. I praised, rebuked, encouraged, hugged, and tested my patience, all before noon. Yes, my greatest accomplishment today was nurturing the precious children that God has entrusted to my care. Now, let's talk about my greatest challenge today...and every day. It is raising these precious children in the ways of the Lord. God does have an important job for me, and it does require much skill. It is my calling, my priority, my struggle, and my goal. I will rise to the occasion and accept the task at hand. I will love, nurture, and train my children the way that God has called me to do."

There are many days when I finish the day and wonder what I actually accomplished. The house is still messy, my to do list seems longer, and I felt like I didn't do much worthwhile. But, when I read these above words, I am reminded of the calling of being a mother and how incredibly much I do accomplish when I am just with Hannah. Loving her, teaching her, correcting her, and just playing with her. It was such a refreshing reminder from God.

I also read this-
"Train with this thought continually before your eyes: The soul of your child is the first thing to be considered. In every step that you take about them, in every plan and scheme and arrangement that concerns them, do not leave out that mighty question, 'How will this affect their souls?' Our ultimate goal in everything should be to point them to Christ."

WOW! I was overwhelmed when I read this. What an incredible and tremendous task that is. The refreshing thing about this is that I am only able to do this with God. I pray that this would be the first thing that I consider in all my dealings with Hannah. I was reminded anew about how very important parenting is by this one quote.
So, I am thankful to God for these sweet reminders this past weekend. I came back refreshed and renewed for the great task of parenting my sweet Hannah.

San Diego Fun

Here are some fun pictures from my weekend in sunny San Diego. I have to admit that after living through the Texas summers for so long, I actually got chilly in San Diego! It was unreal! The days were about 63 degrees, which is a full 30+ degrees cooler than it is here now. Anyway, the beaches were gorgeous! This is a beach that we used to go to all the time in Del Mar when we were growing up.

And this....was the view from the house where we celebrated Alair's graduation. It had a full 180 degree view of the ocean from the living room and patio. It was beautiful!

But, the BEST part of all was celebrating the graduation of one of my best friends! This is a picture of my mom, me, Alair, and her mom. Alair and I have known each other since middle school. We were daily prayer partners for years in high school and college. We used to call each other each day before school and pray...it was wonderful to say the least! Alair is an amazing, Godly, and caring friend that I am so very thankful for! She graduated with her marriage and family therapy degree from Bethel Seminary and I am so proud of her!

So, we had a blast celebrating with her and her family this past weekend.

Alair, I love you friend, and congrats on your graduation!

Our cutie

Sorry it has taken so long to post lately. We have had continual internet problems for about 2 weeks now. Hopefully we are up and running now. I had a wonderful weekend in California and was quite refreshed when I returned. I couldn't have been any happier to get back to cutie though! I just love her to pieces! I will share more about my trip and some great reading I did on the plane, but until then, here are some sweet pics of our Hannah.
Hannah loves skirts! I think she would wear them all the time if she could. She especially loves these fun, flowy kinds. Thanks for the outfit Gramma...as you can see Hannah loves it!

Off to cooler climates

I am off for a weekend in San Diego...by myself! Yes, I am leaving my sweet Hannah home with Jason while I suffer for the weekend. I checked the weather and it is a high of 66 tomorrow and a low of 63. It's going to be rough, let me tell you!
I am attending the graduation of one of my best friends, Alair. She is graduating with her marriage and family therapy degree and I am so proud of her! My mom is meeting me in San Diego, so we get to have a mother daughter/girls weekend to celebrate.
I don't know what I will do with myself on an airplane without a 3 year old. Maybe catch up on some sleep, read a magazine, or better yet....do nothing! While I will miss Hannah and Jason terribly, I think this time will be very beneficial for me at the moment.
So, I am off to the beach....YEEHAW!

Gym time

I have noticed lately that disobedience and exercise are linked pretty closely in Hannah. Not that this is the only thing linked to her disobedience (she, like the rest of us, struggle with sin regardelss of physical exercise)...but I can definitely see a connection. When she gets good outdoor time and sufficient exercise during the day, she is much less likely to struggle with outright disobedience than on the days when we are couped up inside without much of an outlet for getting her energy out. We have been trying to take a walk at the beginning of each day and then doing some sort of physical activity to burn off her energy during the day. I can definitely see how at this age, it is crucial for her to have this time. So, in my quest to get her some good physical exercise each day, I came upon a really cool opportunity last week. We have several gymnastics places here in town, but last week I found out that one of them does an open gym once a month. We went last Friday and it was awesome! It only costs $5 and the kids have free reign of the entire gym and all the equipment in it. Hannah loved it. Obviously some of the stuff was too big for her to use, but they had an entire preschool area with appropriate equipment for kids her size.
They have these really long trampolines for running and tumbling on, which were a blast. And if you think that I didn't try them...well, AHEM, let's just say they were just as fun for me!

Since they also do cheerleading at this gym all the floors are really springy so the kids just bounce as they run.

Here was part of the preschool area with a whole climbing structure and mini trampolines, bars, balance beams, a climbing wall, and so on.

This little zip line had to be Hannah's favorite thing. She got really good at pushing off of gliding and then dropping down and landing on 2 feet.

Anyway, I plan to attend the once a month open gyms with Hannah since we had such a good experience there. I love finding new and exciting opportunities like this to get out and get some good exercise for both of us. And while I know that this doesn't help with all the discipline problems we encounter, I am thankful to God that I have found that it does help some.