I am so excited for Mike. He graduated with his Masters in Software Engineering from SMU on Saturday. It has been a long two years and he did a great job. It has been tough at times going to school, working and raising a daughter, but he did it. I am so proud of him. However, I told him he has to take at least a year off before going back for anything else. Congratulations honey! I love you!
Well, we are all climbing the walls. It started Saturday night. Autumn got sick, then me, then Mike. And, I mean SICK. SICK we would never wish on our worst enemy. Now, the weather is bad. It was 80 degrees on Saturday and now it is 20. With icy roads. So we are stuck inside for another day. Thank goodness I had alreasy bought Autumn some Christmas presents because I busted one out yesterday. She was bouncing off the walls literally. I just decided what the heck and gave her a game that I had bought. It kept her occupied for exactly 8 minutes! It was worth the $4.50 that the game cost :)! I can't wait to get out of the house.
my family
my home
my church family
Jesus
my friends
all of the blessings in my life: there are too many to count
Happy Thanksgiving Week Everyone!
Hello friends and family, this has been such a busy season, but I think that we are back in business. Autumn had a great halloween and was a great flower girl in her Aunt Tasha's wedding. Now we are getting excited about the holidays, especially meeting her new cousin Weaver at Thanksgiving. Thanks for being pateint while we have been away.
Sorry I have not posted in awhile. This has been the busiest Fall in a long time. I'll be making some changes to the blog and be back soon... TTFN!
I just can't get over the media. I truly think that they want a story so bad they speak before they know anything. With reports coming out now saying that the death toll in New Orleans may not be as high as first assumed, it made me remember 9-11. I remember the 1st days after 9-11 the media was reporting death tolls as high as 7000. I checked on the internet too. The final death count ended up being just under 3000. I understand that that is a really high number, but the piont is that it is less than 1/2 of what was originally thought. In this day of instant gratification, people want information ASAP. The problem with that is I would rather not have the information at all than for it to be wrong. The media has this idea that they are speaking for the people and that the people have a right to know, but instead of taking their time and maybe not being the first to report they start spitting info and #'s out faster than we can take it all in. It's ridiculous. I found this article very interesting. "In the first week after the disaster, officials and politicians discussed the possible death toll relunctantly, often only after being pressed by journalists." That was the sentence that stuck out most to me. Gone are the days where we can turn on the news to see what is truly happening in the world. It has been replaced by a media that wants to be the 1st out with a story even if it is wrong and they want to cause nationwide choas and panic. That's news. No thanks, I'll pass.
Wow, I cannot even wrap my mind around what has happened in Louisiana, Alabama, and Mississippi. I really cannnot grasp the magnitude of this tradgedy. Heavenly Father, my prayer is simply that you help these people. The people helping, the people that have lost loved ones, the people that are displaced. I love my home, town and church. I cannot imagine losing it all. Please comfort these Americans. Lord, please be with all government agencies involved. Help them to know the right decisions to make. Give them strength to push through all the decisions and organizing that will be involved. Use this as an opportunity to teach Americans to work together and to give where they can. Help Americans to be patient with the disruption this storm will cause with gas. Remind us all of the luxuries we have in this country and to not take these things for granted. We get so used to our lives and we forget to thank you for all that you have done for us. I feel so small when things like this happen, but I know that my prayers are heard loud and strong. Thank you for all that you have blessed me with. In Jesus' name I pray.
Anyone who knows me knows that I watch a lot of reality TV. I especially like the shows that are contests like Survivor and Big Brother. And, my biggest pet peeve with these shows are when the contestants start praying to God about the game. I mean seriously folks, I think God has bigger prayers to listen to than "please, please let me win the veto or immunity or whatever." It also annoys me when a contestant states that they are going to play the game without lying or stabbing anyone in the back. Those comments are so ridiculous. I mean, if I were playing my brother in checkers Iwould not say "ok Ryan, I am going to play this game without jumping any of your checkers and on top of that I will let you know all of my moves before I actually make them." I also do not understand what makes these people form little clubs with their new best friends in the whole world. It is a game people and the OBJECT is to ELIMINATE everyone but yourself. I do understand that the experience makes you form a bond with people, but is it really surprising that someone you met a week ago would rather vote you off than have the target on themselves?! If I ever got to play one of these games I would hope I was smart enough to not trust anyone who was competing against me for 1 million dollars. It would not really matter for me though because as my husband points out I would be the first one voted off. Don't pretend you don't know why. I'm told that on very rare occasion I tend to be just a bit BOSSY! :)! Those are usually the first to go! I could try to hold it in for the first few days, but eventually if I did not boss I am pretty sure I would explode!
So I found out a little more about our neighbor. Apparently, she had 4 cats and one dog. They are doing an autopsy to see if she died in the tub and then in the days following one of her cats knocked in the hair dryer. She had the hair dryer sitting on a ledge next to her tub. They have ruled out homicide and suicide. She loved her animals so much that they think that she would have left a note about taking care of them. Anyway, it is all very sad. This is the last time I am going to write about it. From now on only happy blogging.
When Mike and I got home from church today we saw about 5 police cars right in front of our house and several people standing by the curb. I was very curious but my heart skipped a beat when I saw the crime scene investigation van. We pulled into the drive and a lady with a badge walked over to us. She wanted to let us know what had happened. Apparently the girl that lived next door to us (by herself and about my age) had passed away in her home. But then she went on to tell us that they were making sure it was only an accident. She was found in her bathtub and they think her cat must have knocked her hair dryer into the bath. They did not suspect suicide because her family knew her very well and she did not leave a note. They did say her back door was unlocked but that was normal because she had a dog that she let out to go to the bathroom. She asked if we had seen her. I had remembered seeing her pull into her garage the same time I did on Wednesday around 4:30. The reason I remembered seeing her is because I have only seen her a handful of times and we needed to give her money for a fence that she had fixed in between our houses. I never have cash on me so I always forget and when I saw her pull into the garage I thought to myself,"remember to get her the money." Her mom said that is around the same time she had heard from her daughter last because (it gets even worse) they had just been out that day for her daughter's birthday and that was about what time she would have been home. So as I saw her pull into the garage, that was the last time anyone saw her alive. When she did not return her mothers call by the end of the weekend her mother knew something was not right. I can only imagine what she saw when she went into her daughter's house. It breaks my heart that such a terrible accident could have been prevented. I know that most of the time I think that I am smart and I am not putting my life at risk, but I also know that there is always a thought "that would never happen to me." Just please take this tragedy as a reminder that we can never be too careful. And please remember to keep Kerri's family in your prayers.
We took Autumn swimming yesterday. She loves the water. She was very excited when we put on our baby's soups (bathing suits.) She is getting more brave every time we go!
I spent this past weekend in Baltimore with six of my friends from Harding. We had a great time. We spent time chatting, eating, shopping and touring. It was fun and exhausting. The visit reminded me what friendship is all about. It has been about 6 years since I have seen most of the girls but everything came back so naturally. I have more to tell and pics to post but that will have to wait. Mike is busy with school work and he is the one that helps me post my pictures. Hopefully by this weekend I 'll get them up. TTFN (Tata for now)!
For the past 4 Fridays Mike, Autumn and myself have spent the evening going to the mall. I know it does not sound like much, but we have a great time. Autumn has the routine down pat. First we eat, Mike always gets pizza and I eat Japanese. Autumn either gets Chick-fil-a or pizza. Then while I am finishing Mike and Autumn go ride the carousel. Autumn loves to go up and down and wave to me whenever she gets a glimpse. Next, it's time to stop by the indoor play area for little kids. It's new and I am so glad they put it in. After that we go to the bookstore and let Autumn look at the kids books while Mike looks around. On our way out we let Autumn get an Elmo cookie that has entirely too much icing. It is so nice to spend the evening together and it is so much easier than trying to go to a restaurant. I have really started to look froward to our little mall adventures.
In the spirit of the mini-series I have been watching, Into the West, I have decided to give Autumn a native american name. Here are a few to choose from, tell me your favorite:
Poops A Lot
Runs with Crayons
Eats with Hands
Plays with Food
Whiny Tiger Lily
Throws self on Floor
Cat tormentor
Princess Fuzzhead
I love shopping at Wal-Mart, but I don't want to live in it's backyard. Wal-Mart is trying to get a rezoning request so that they can build a new one right by our house. The vote comes down to 5 city council member votes. Everybody keep your fingers crossed. The vote is tonight.
I think that Autumn has a future career as a CIA of FBI negotiator. She is really testing my patience these days. Her favorite phrase lately has been, "How 'bout?" Then she proceeds to try to talk me into ice cream for breakfast or "chocolate chips" (which are just regular chips) for dinner. Plus, she is very polite about it all. She always says please, which is something we wanted her to say. Try teaching a 2 year old to say please when you want something, but please does not always mean you will get it. She also tries to trick us by saying "in 2 minutes" if you say no right away. No one told me that the tricks I used would eventually backfire! This kid is smart. I have to constantly remind myself that I am the grownup and I am in charge. Autumn has other plans. She thinks she is the boss. I have no IDEA where she got that from :)!!!
Last night was our 1st night of VBS (Vacation Bible School). Mike and I are "tour guides" for a 3rd grade group. It is our job to help them get to each station. Since I did not grow up going to VBS, I feel like I am experiencing it right along with the kids. It is really fun. Autumn will get to participate next year and I can't wait. This year, Autumn goes to a 2 year old class, but they stay in one class. She said it was fun and she got to play with "uncle Ryan", but she meant a little boy named Ryan. Apparently there was some smootching and hugging involved! Anyway, one little boy in our group was asking some BIG questions such as, Why do some people say the devil isn't real?, Why didn't the devil just stay an angel? and Can God do anything? It was so sweet to his his mind trying to take everything in. He was really keeping us on our toes. Can't wait to see what he asks tonight!
Happy Birthday to me, happy birthday to me, happy birthday dear meeeeeee, happy birthday to me! Oh, and happy birthday to Mike and my uncle Greg too!!!
Autumn had me laughing in church yesterday. She has decided that it is about time she start to sing along with the hymns. However, she doesn't know the words. But she sings anyway. Whenever she hears me sing a word that she recognizes she just repeats it very loud and long. It is really cute. We sing songs together at night and she is getting better and better. I love her so much at this age.
Well, the weekend did not go as we had planned. We did get to see our friend Kevin, his wife Jenny and their daughter Lucy. We drove to Abilene on Saturday and it rained the entire way. We also saw a really bad accident on the Interstate on the way there. Unfortunately, I looked and saw some things that I did not want to. Needless to say, I spent the rest of the drive gripping the handle on the door. Saturday was fun catching up with Kevin. We had not seen him in 4 years! So, for the rest of the weekend we were going to have a zoo animals theme. Autumn has really been into all the zoo animals lately, so we thought we would take her to the zoo and to see the new movie Madagascar. But, Mike and Autumn caught a cold so the zoo did not seem like such a good idea. When Autumn is sick she is so different than normal. I just have to say she is BAD, really BAD. Which I don't blame her because she doesn't feel well, but it is exhausting. So Sunday was spent indoors relaxing. By Monday afternoon I thought we could all use some time out of the house so we went to the movies. Big mistake. We had to leave 30 minutes into the movie. It was really disappointing. Not the movie, but how Autumn acted in the movie. We had been to a movie once before and she loved it. Oh well, our zoo tickets are good until December. I guess there is always next weekend! Life with a 2 year old cannot be planned except to expect the unexpected!!!
I am a very lucky woman. I am married to the best husband in the world. Autumn and I are very proud of Mike. He is such a hard worker. He has a full time job, he is getting his master's degree and still has time to take care of things around the house. Best of all, he puts up with me. He is doing great in school and has gotten all A's so far with only 3 more classes to go. And, he has started working out every morning before work and if you know Mike you know that he is not a morning person. But, his dedication has been such an encouragement to me. Autumn and I just wanted him to know how much we love him! We love you!!!
Autumn is at such a cute stage right now. I am really enjoying everyday we spend together. She is learning so much everyday. She is going through a phase right now where we have to say goodbye to everything before we go or when something is over. Like today, before we went to the gym she had to tell her chalkboard goodbye and all the stuffed animals on her bed. It's really cute even though sometimes if we are in a hurry I wish we could just do a "blanket" goodbye to everything all at once instead of naming each thing independently! She also has to tell all the characters in her show goodbye when it is over. For example when Maisy is over we have to say goodbye to Maisy, Eddie, Charlie, Cyril and Tallullah. With Sesame street it's goodbye Elmo, Bert, Ernie, Cookie Monster, Zoe, Grover, Big Bird and Oscar. Although I wish sometimes it could go a little faster (like bye-bye Sesame Street), I do know that these moments will not last long enough. Too soon Autumn will be saying bye-bye momma and be leaving to go somewhere with her friends and I will be wishing it would last just a little longer.
Autumn just finished her 1st year of Sonshine Bible School. It was a great experience for both of us. She really enjoyed her class and teachers. It was also nice for me to have 10 hours a week of freetime to get things done. It allowed me an opportunity to participate in WOW (Women of the Word.) I got to study the Bible with women of all ages and then have a lunch date with several stay-at-home moms. Anyway, it was a great year for both of us. Last week Autumn had her end of year program. It was a holiday theme and Autumn's class was Valentine's Day. They were supposed to sing The Barney Theme Song. It ended up that only the girls in her class would stay on stage and none of them sang. It was really funny. Autumn spent most of the time wiping her nose with the back of her hand and hugging a girl from another class. I can't wait to get the video of the program! We have lots planned for the summer and we are looking forward to it!
Okay, last weekend Mike and I ended up watching the dumbest movie called "The New Swiss Family Robinson." It had some of the worst acting I've ever seen (and that is coming from someone who watches a soap opera!). Anyway it did get me to thinking, in the spirit of Survivor, what would I want if I were stranded on a deserted island.
Here is my list:
1. The Bible
2. City on a Hill CD (Christian music)
3. something to play my music :)
4. If I could only have one food it would have to be Tacos
5. and now the bare necessities: a pillow, blanket, flashlight, and comb
What would you want with you?
1. Hearing Autumn say "I wuv you mama!"
2. The sound of the garage door going up when Mike gets home from work.
3. Hearing my mom say "Connie Hefner" when I call her at work.
4. The sound of the ATM machine giving you your money!
5. The sound of singing at church on Sunday mornings.
6. Hearing a familiar voice on the other end of the phone.
7. The sound of a quiet baby monitor telling me that Autumn is sound asleep.
8. The doorbell when I know a friend is coming to visit.
9. The doctor's voice telling me everything is fine.
10. The grocery clerk's voice telling me what my coupon's saved me.
11. Mike telling me that he's coming home from work.
12. The pilot over the loudspeaker welcoming us to our destination.
13. Theme songs telling me that my favorite shows are about to begin.
14. Autumn saying all her letters and numbers.
15. The oven timer telling me that dinner is ready.
What are some things you like to hear?!
Have you ever said, "Why didn't I think of that?" I say it all the time. The other day I was thinking about the invention of q-tips. I had been reading an article in my Parents magazine the other day that warned of putting q-tips in your ears. Now I know that we aren't supposed to put anything in our ears sharper than our elbows, but I use q-tips to clean out my ears everyday. So does my husband. We just clean out our ears, we don't go digging around. We never use them on Autumn because I would be afraid I would stick it in too far. Anyway, the article talked about how your ears produce earwax as a natural way of cleaning themselves out, similar to your nose. And, you do not need to do anything to clean them. It actually said that the earwax will naturally move out of the ear canal and slough off. That is disgusting! I am not just going to wait until stuff goes falling out of my ears. So, to read about how q-tips were invented click here. Be careful and Happy cleaning!
Well, yesterday was a very exciting day. Around 3:30 it started raining really hard and the satellite went out. Then it started to hail pea size hail. I knew my mom was on her way home from work too, so I was worried about her. Then the TV came back on, but they were announcing that all people between W Mansfield HWY and HWY 287 south of 1-20 should take cover immediately. They said it was a serious situation and that a tornado had been spotted in that area. If you know where I live, you know that meant ME! I was freaking out, I had to get Autumn in the closet fast. I called Mike on my cell phone and talked to him the whole time. I heard the tornado sirens going off. Autumn thought it was fun hanging out in the closet. I did NOT! Anyway, the storm passed very quickly and I eventually calmed down. Apparently, the funnel and rotation never touched the ground. The weather man reminded me that this is the first of many afternoon storms in the Texas springtime. Today though it is absolutely beautiful outside!
1. Mexican Food
2. Watching Autumn "read" her books.
3. Spending time with Mike.
4. The West Wing
5. The color red.
6. Going shopping with my mom.
7. A big glass of cold coca-cola.
8. Grilling out on the grill.
9. Days of our Lives: I've been watching it for almost 18 years
10. watching movies
11. The History Channel/National Geographic: it reminds me of school when you would walk in your class and see the film projector set up!
12. cuddling with Autumn
13. visiting with family
14. getting emails from my friends that are spread out over the US
15. learning from the Bible
16. country decorations for my house
17. the look of a freshly mowed yard
18. learning things from Mike that I did not know
19. chili's ranch dressing
20. reading a good book
21. toyotas
22. couches that recline
23. springtime in texas
24. Fall in New Jersey
25. Harding University
That's all for now, what are some of your favorite things?
Did you know that Benjamin Franklin invented lending libraries? I mean, we all know about the kite, but, I never knew about the libraries. I guess I have never really wondered about how and when they were invented. He loved to learn by reading and he and some of his buddies started a group that collected money and bought books. Then they lent the books out to the public for free so that everyone could enjoy the books. What a great idea! I love books and I am sharing the joy of reading with my daughter. We go to the library every Monday. On Mondays Ms. Dawn reads us several books and we sing songs and dance. Afterwards, Autumn gets to look at books and play with blocks while I pick out books we will take home. We even check out DVD's like Blue's Clues and Dora. I think that it is great that all this entertainment is free. Way to go Ben! This time I checked out a book called "Michael Moore is a Big Fat Stupid White Man." (Before anyone gets offended, Michael Moore has a book called "Stupid White Men.") My favorite quote so far is "There is no question that he (Michael) views his attacks on others (no matter how nasty or scurrilous) as a crusade, while others' criticism of him are character assassination and persecution." Should be a good read, and again it was free! Wonder what we'll pick out next week?!
Check out these sites, only if you have way too much time on your hands.
I especially enjoyed the What's New and Contagious Sighting Sections!
I wish history class would have been like this!
Who doesn't want to see a pictorial history of Michael Jackson's face!
John Michael would not have been a good name for the prince of darkness!
Don't you just love Dilbert!
Have a great week, Amy
We have put away our coats and brought out the shorts. Yardwork has begun. But, before the summer heat hits, there are 3-4 months of glorious springtime. The season is marked by splashes of color. It seems to happen overnight, the wildflowers are in bloom. It is a splendid sight. It reminds me that there is a God who knows His canvas.
www.photohouston.com/Scenic_Texas/Texas_wildflowers.html
www.interplaza.com/wildflowers/
Enjoy, Amy
1. She's right, it is yucky, yucky poo poo!
2. Man can live on chips and cookies alone.
3. Finding Nemo is still a great movie after the 1, 287th time.
4. Taking a 4 hour nap in the afternoon does mean that you will have trouble going to bed that night.
5. Sometimes burping in church is funny!
6. There is always time for hugs and kisses.
7. Having your boo boo kissed does make it feel better.
8. Daddy's driving does sometimes make you want to say WHEEEEEE!
9. There are times when the best reaction to something is to throw yourself on the floor and start kicking and screaming.
10. Time out is just as hard on mommy as it is on toddler.
My brother Ryan Inlow started a blog site and I have been reading it every day. I find it much more interesting than most things on the web. It helps me feel connected to him even though we do not talk everyday. It is kinda neat to see what is going on in his head from day to day. So, I decided to start my own blog. I don't know if I will write everyday, but I am looking forward to having my own little spot on the world wide web.
