our turn

We finally got our turn today! The snow was falling when I woke up this morning and continued all day. It was the perfect early birthday present because we had so much fun playing in the snow that for a little while, I got to feel 10 instead of 31!

enough

It snowed for just a brief time last week. The words to "Blessed Be Your Name" have been on my mind this particular month. When I looked at this picture, the starkness of winter with a reprieve of something beautiful, it reminded me of those words yet again.

birthdays

turning one

turning two

now three years old!

Hard to believe that tomorrow will mark three years since Grant was born. I had no idea what was coming my way...absolutely no idea how my heart would just open up the second he was born. I want to write about all the joy he has brought me, all the memories contained in three years and yet words can't seem to form. He simply captured my heart and I'm a goner.

it's time

It's already mid January and I have yet to decide what my goals are for 2010. I don't like the term 'resolutions' but I like the intentionality behind them. I like the idea of a clean slate, or even a mulligan if you will and all that it implies. Here are the goals that have been floating around in my head for a few weeks. I still haven't decided how committed I am to them, but at least committed enough to put them to paper:

1. Eat more 'real food'. I currently have a science experiment going on in my kitchen. I am trying to sprout some raw almonds. I already eat almonds every day. I love them. But, I am trying to sprout them because sprouted nuts give you more nutrients and are easier to digest. I am learning that we basically ruin all food in one of 2 ways: we either alter its form so much (ie. soy) that it becomes useless and even detrimental OR we don't properly prepare it and thus we lose out on many of its benefits. To help me in this goal, I got a juicer for Christmas. I have already increased my fruit and vegetable intake dramatically with my beloved juicer.

2. Read a book a week. I'm already behind on this goal. Last year I averaged a book every 10 days. And, being an oddly competitive person, I've decided I need to read more this year. But I have already sabotaged myself because my first book of the year: Sue Monk Kidd's 'The Dance of the Dissident Daughter' is really long, has very small font, and is way too thought provoking, thus slowing me down. It has however, helped me with a goal that I won't ever commit to paper: working out more. I have been spending hours lately on the revolving staircase machine just so I can read Sue's book.

3. Learn how to make tamales. I know, this is probably one of the most random goals to have. Yet, I've really wanted to learn for about 2 years now. So, if you have any suggestions on how I can accomplish this one, let me know.

4. Plant more. I have dreams of having a real vegetable garden, but I've decided its just not going to happen as long as we live here. We have too many trees. I am going to be thankful for the shade they provide and move on. However, I still want to try to grow something, it will just have to be in a container. Again, I need some direction on this and hopefully it will materialize in due time.

5. Start recycling. Uggh. Just taking out the trash is such a chore. I literally drive across the parking lot to the dumpster while Brad hangs out the back using all of his strength to hold onto the trash barrel. It's ridiculous. We have no pick-up service, so I will have to bag everything up and take it somewhere. But, its time. I can't keep pondering Genesis and Colossians and keep throwing out all sorts of things that could one day be a book or a shopping bag or who knows what else, plus I was raised better.

I could keep going and going. But that's precisely the problem - when I start thinking of ways that I want to live and act better, it becomes overwhelming. So, I'll start with just these 5. I think I can handle them, maybe not #3 - but, only time will tell.

And here are some pictures of my juicer!

Isn't the color incredible? Turns out I like carrot juice, especially if mixed with apple juice.

Some red carrots I picked up this weekend at the World Hunger Farm. I tend to go a little crazy with concoctions. For lunch today I enjoyed a glass of carrot-cucumber-lemon-celery-pear juice. Grant liked it too, so we took turns taking sips with a 'bendy' straw.

Christmas Memories

Our Christmas trip to San Antonio started off with a rough patch last week. The morning involved a call to poison control after Grant decided to make a science experiment with his medicines and a trip to the doctor for me to get 2 shots in an effort to keep sickness at bay. Thankfully, by the end of the day, we safely arrived in SA and were able to celebrate Christmas for a few days with both sides of the family.

I really enjoyed the Christmas season this year. And while I know it's not over yet (Brad keeps reminding me that the Christian calendar allots 12 days to celebrate Christmas starting on December 25!), I know it will be over soon and I'm already a little sad. We were able to make a lot of good memories this year and I felt like I actually slowed down and savored the season - and it made it so much more special to me this particular year.

Some of my favorite memories from this Christmas season:

1. Learning to make homemade marshmallows and enjoying them in hot chocolate - quite the indulgence. (by the way, I got a juicer for Christmas and believe me, I am in need of a juice fast to detoxify after the last couple of weeks - yikes)

2. Spontaneously driving around to look at lights - we did this a lot. We frequented a particular house in Waco that has got to be an award winner for tackiness. Grant would often ask to go see the house with 'the most lights you've EVER ever seen!'

3. Learning to appreciate the ups and downs of parenting. Example: I wanted us to try to be purposeful about observing advent with Grant. The very first night, I made us all hot chocolate from scratch. I set everything out in the living room. Grant comes in and we take out his Fisher Price nativity so we can set it up together and explain everything. He immediately (accidentally) spills his hot chocolate all over the carpet and I try for the next 30 minutes not to cry as I try to get it out before it stains. Sigh. We resume, but it's not quite like the picturesque version I thought would happen. This scene replayed itself in various ways throughout the month. Sometimes (or all the time) I just want everything to be perfect, but I keep learning to appreciate the moments as they come - in whatever package.

4. The Children's Christmas musical at church. The tripping over the risers, the one kid that belts out the words over the others, the little boy that keeps putting his choir robe over his head and hiding, the little girl that got whisked off stage just before vomiting on everyone - I mean, really - it never disappoints in entertainment factor.

5. See #3. After a couple of nights of telling him the Christmas story, Grant tells me one night, "Mommy, I'm tired of that story. Can I hear another one?"

6. Lastly, I will not forget that Grant stole Santa's cookies right from under the tree. We had a lot of fun making them. He even got to eat one or two. Then he seemed very uncertain about putting the plate under the tree... Sure enough, an hour later he was discovered in his room - the stolen cookies in hand with a very guilty look on his face.

Here are a few pictures from the past week:

Brad and Grant at our youth Christmas party.

Attempting a ginger bread house at the party. They are harder than they look, aren't they?

Grant was probably already plotting how he could keep all these to himself...why did he have to inherit my sweet tooth?

Opening gifts with kids doubles the fun. When I need to laugh I will look at this picture. I guess she is retaliating against all the boys in her life. Notice the pink hair dryer and red purse. Sophia loved all her girly girl gifts. Why did I think she'd like crayons and a coloring book?? I should have just wrapped up some of my old jewelry and nail polish. She makes me hope for a girl one day!

I know that our Christmas trips home are probably getting fewer - I'm glad we were able to be there this year, even if we did miss the 'first time in a 100 years' snow here in Waco!

ICE

Yesterday we all traveled to Grapevine to see the Ice exhibit at the Gaylord Texan.  It was a very festive day.  The hotel is amazing.  The atrium is huge and everywhere you look, there is something special to see.  The Ice exhibit was very impressive.  The theme was 'the Grinch'.  Because everything is made of ice, the temperature is only 19 degrees and so they give you huge parkas to wear inside.  One of the the neatest things was the slide room.  They had a big slide made entirely of ice.  There wasn't a long line for the children's slide and Grant loved it.  He went down several times and probably would have kept going for a long time if we didn't stop him.  It was a very fun day!

Grant's favorite part.  If you got a push, then you could go down super fast!

All bundled up in our bulky blue parkas!

You weren't supposed to touch the ice, but Grant really wanted to give the Grinch a hug :)

Our Real Food Journey

Today was another step along the way in our journey to eat better food. We visited Sand Creek Farm near Cameron, TX. We left with 2 gallons of raw milk compliments of their jersey cows, several cuts of meat compliments of their 100% grass fed cows, fresh homemade yogurt, fresh gouda cheese, and we almost left with a dozen fresh eggs. There is nothing I like more than fresh eggs. Unfortunately, I dropped them all over myself on our way out....quite the mess. We had been going to a farm near Abbott for our milk, eggs, and meat but decided to try this place since it offered more.

I have to say that we owe most of this journey to the influence of what I like to affectionately call 'our hippie friends' Bailey and Christine (Since you read my blog, I guess that one's out of the bag. Trust me, I mean it as a term of endearment). Bailey works for The Movement Dallas and he and Christine offer a wealth of wisdom about eating healthy and organically.

We've been listening to them for some time now, some of it going in one ear and out the other, putting some of it to practice but then abandoning it and so on. But for me, everything changed in early October. Brad and I were driving back to Waco from a trip and we were talking to Bailey on the phone. I told him that I felt awful all of the time. I always felt that icky feeling when you're too full, I felt exhausted everyday right around 4pm, I didn't even enjoy eating anymore. He told me yet again what I should start eating. And this time, I actually took his advice.

I'd be lying if I said I took it 100%. And yet, over the past 2 months, I can tell I've really turned a corner. And amazingly, I feel SO much better. My energy is steady all day long and I just feel good. I'm even sleeping better - which is so wonderful.

The thing is, eating organically takes a lot of effort, not to mention a shift in your economic priorities. In Waco, we don't have access to a lot. Not only that, but it takes time to re-shift and learn better alternatives for snacks and meals and re-train yourself away from junk. So, it's a slow journey. I have a long ways to go (case in point, I ate a bunch of marshmallows straight out of the bag last night - pretty sure a marshmallow is as processed as it gets), but once you really start eating better, you literally feel in your bones why its so important.

Some of the things I've come to love over the past couple of months:

• Enfusia. We started drinking it in Feb and I can't go without it. It's the best tea and chock full of antioxidants. I only drink Enfusia and water. Cutting out diet cokes was the best thing ever.

• Eating fresh eggs and drinking raw milk - even the difference between fresh eggs from the farm and organic eggs from the store is quite significant.

• Snacks like sliced frozen bananas, raw almond butter, and coconut milk with a dash of cinnamon.

• Roasted vegetables. I can stop making them. My current favorite combo is brussel sprouts, red onions, and sweet potatoes tossed in olive oil and sea salt. Once roasted, toss with a little white wine vinegar.

• Garden of Life vitamins. They offer raw vitamins and Brad immediately felt so much better once he started these.

Hopefully I'll look back on this post in a couple of months and realize how much further I've come. But for now, I'm happy with my progress and grateful to have started this journey. If you want to learn more about this subject, we recently watched Food Inc and I loved it. I've become a documentary lover, and I know they all contain some sort of bias, but this one was so well done. It summarizes the shortcomings and dangers of our food industry in such an articulate way. Also, I really liked Nina Planck's book 'Real Food'. It's very straightforward and easy to read. Here's to more happy eating!

preschool talk

We went to Christmas on 5th at Baylor tonight - lots of fun but very cold. There was a live nativity (Grant was especially enamored by Mary and Joseph), pony rides, a petting zoo, hot chocolate and cookies, and Santa. It was an evening of funny conversations.

Grant was very excited to see Mrs. Claus and Santa (aka my co-worker and her husband). He climbed right up on Santa's lap and said, "i want a pogo stick and norman wants a car." I have no idea where the desire for a pogo stick came from - i think it was something he saw on an episode of Little Bear...

The dialogue on the way home:
Grant: "mommy, why you being franky?" (franky = cranky)
Me: "i'm not cranky, you're cranky"
Grant (very indignant): "why you being ugly to me?"

And then, this:
Grant: "hmm, why are there 2 santas? one gave me a candy cane and one didn't. why are there 2 santas???" I can't believe he has already found a flaw in the whole santa conspiracy - he's not even 3. He said this because we saw Santa at the Bass Pro Shop in San Antonio a few days ago. I'm surprised he didn't ask why that Santa didn't have a wife...

poetry

reading some of ee cummings tonight. love this one. makes my day turn around a little bit:

i carry your heart with me (i carry it in my heart)
i am never without it (anywhere i go you go, my dear; and whatever is done by only me is your doing, my darling)
i fear no fate (for you are my fate, my sweet)
i want no world (for beautiful you are my world, my true)
and it's you are whatever a moon has always meant
and whatever a sun will always sing is you

here is the deepest secret nobody knows
(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud
and the sky of the sky of a tree called life; which grows
higher than the soul can hope or mind can hide)
and this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart

i carry your heart (i carry it in my heart)

thanksgiving holidays

As our usual tradition, Brad took some time off from church before Thanksgiving. It was so nice to be away for an extended time and I was reminded over and over again of all that I have to be thankful for. Some of my favorite things from our trip:

1. Getting away with Brad for 2 nights to Fredericksburg. We stayed in a really neat cabin on a creek. It was close to town, but you felt like you were in the country.

2. Getting to spend a whole day with just my mom while Brad kept Grant. We cooked and went shopping and just talked and talked. Those days are rare, so they are very special.

3. Spending an afternoon with my dad, sister, and all the kids. The weather was perfect, the kids had a ball, and we all got to catch up.

4. Going to a movie! Haven't done that in months. We saw "The Road" and it was incredible. See my earlier post about the book. I loved it. I didn't think they could pull off a movie, but they did. Very dark, but a great story.

5. Getting to shop at La Cantera - I love that place. You don't realize how fun it is to shop at a mall until you live somewhere that doesn't have one (or hardly has one - no offense Richland Mall).

6. Going to the ranch with Grant - he had so much fun. Every experience is always so new to him and I love that.

This was how we spent our Fredericksburg vacation - sitting on the porch reading and drinking hot tea - it was perfect! And, I highly recommend reading Beloved - it was so good!

Grant made lots of Thanksgiving crafts. He actually wore his hat while we ate our Thanksgiving meal - it made me laugh every time I glanced down the table and saw him!

Riding Charlie at the ranch - I kind of miss the days that we had him and Gus! The last picture is ridiculous and I promise it was not arranged. Grant discovered he could un-snap his shirt and then thought it was hilarious to keep taking it off. I don't know what we are going to do with him!

Our Dog Hall of Fame

We had dinner at church last night. For some reason, the conversation turned to our history of dogs. The person I was talking to was basically joking around at our expense, commenting that he was surprised we'd been able to keep up with Grant for this long based on our previous experience caring for things. Ha ha, so original. It's not like we haven't heard this joke before. But, it got me wondering if we had pictures of all our dogs, so today I went looking through our files.

First of all, though, let me just say that I have no idea how a puppy this cute can turn into the monster below.

sweet, innocent Norman on his first day home.

one word: slobber. i HATE it. i am still mad at the breeder for vehemently denying that french mastiff's have a slobber problem. i get slimed almost every day and it tests my temper.

kind of scary, right? notice the poor 2 year in the background that got knocked over in his way. norman is all bark, no bite. he is actually a sweetheart. and daily grant professes his love for norman. norman takes a lot of abuse from grant, but is always very kind about it. he is a 'gentle giant'

Winston and Moses. I loved both - Moses was so sweet. Too sweet for Brad, that is why he decided to sell him after 6 weeks. And yes, I had to leave the room during the exchange because I was crying too much. Winston was a little pistol. He was all personality. His sister Lola is still alive and well at the Herridge ranch.

Solomon. We had him for a couple of years until he was stolen by some road workers. He never replaced Samson but he was a good dog, a very good dog.

Be still my heart. I still miss Goliath. Jessica painted a picture the day that Goliath died and it hangs over our bed. He was the thorn in Brad's side, but my little joy. He was the best gift I've ever gotten (thanks to Dolores) and I know I could never have another pug like him.

Not pictured: Samson, Brad's first dog that was fiercely loyal to him. Samson loved Brad probably more than Brad loved Samson. He was a huge German Shepherd, very regal looking. He and Goliath were best pals. They made a funny match, but they loved life on the ranch. They went 'roaming' on a daily basis. I have no idea how many miles they covered each day, but I know they loved it and I loved seeing them run in from the pasture each night.

Not pictured: Napolean, the black pug that I owned for 4 days before returning. Apparently dogs can be hermaphrodites...

WOW. Quite the trip down memory lane. I guess we will always be a dog family, for better or worse!

thanksgiving

I woke up today and the leaves had fallen. As we walked next door to church, a leaf literally fell on my head. All the colors today seemed muted, the sky was overcast. It was the quintessential fall day (plus perhaps 10 degrees). For some reason, it all made me very excited about Thanksgiving. It turns out this past week was an unusually good one and I'm still full from it. So in preparation for Thanksgiving, these are some of the things I'm grateful for:

1. Spontaneous dinner drives. When we lived at the ranch, we drove to Whitney every Thursday night to go to Tres Hermanos Mexican Restaurant. Now that we live here, about once or twice a month, we get the urge to drive to Clifton. Once there, we go to China Wok and then to the city park. This week was perhaps the prettiest drive we've had in a long time. Something about a 30 minute drive through the country and dinner in a small town is very rejuvenating...

2. Life in a parsonage. While I dream of having our own house, I love walking to church on Sundays. I love having kids knock on our door - to borrow our bike, to play with Grant or Norman, whatever the case. It's that feeling of knowing your neighbors and it feels safe. And I love our wooden floors. Even if it wakes me up from sleeping, I love the pitter pat of little feet roaming through the house.

3. Getting to be home with Grant at this age. It's full of so much joy. Brad and I were talking the other day about how we never fully appreciated previous stages in our lives. I am trying desperately to savor this one moment by moment. This week he peeked out of his room after nap time and then he opened the door and ran out to give me such a big hug that he knocked me right over. He thought this was so funny that he wanted to do it again and again. And I let him.

4. Books and friends and real food and good conversations. More on these later, but enough said for now.

Playing golf this week. Three hours of bliss.

Re-Entry

After having the swine flu all week, we finally made our re-entry into society on Saturday. Good thing, because life in the cave was getting very wearisome. We tried to take it a little slow, but still packed in a lot. We took Grant to his first Baylor game. He was excited, but confused. He kept asking us where the candy and cars were - as if we were going to a parade instead.

Once we arrived, he was very intent on checking out the field. However, his attention span is as long as a grain of rice. He was quickly playing with the 3 toys that I brought, lining up his cars on the seats, and having a grand time running back and forth between me and Brad.

It took 2 1/2 years for us to get him to his first Baylor football game. We need to start making up for lost time. As expected, he said his favorite part was "Bruiser, the Baylor Bear!"

After the football game, the Bowlin's came back to the house and we all got to rest before going out to trick or treat. We met up with the Cash family and headed out. Grant's costume was a little too big, but I think he made a pretty cute pirate.

Olivia had been talking about her costume since August, so it was fun to finally see her very fancy blue butterfly costume -- she looked very pretty! The little boys debuted as a caterpillar and a hot pepper. I only wish I had gotten a picture of Josiah, who had the best costume by far for a 2 1/2 year old boy with his muscle tee, tattoos, sunglasses, and bandanna. I still laugh just thinking about it.

Making a stop along the way to assess the goods and have a tootsie roll. All in all, it was a fun night with friends and another great Halloween. It's so much fun to experience holidays once you have kids - I think we enjoyed it almost as much as Grant.

Ranch Fun

With so much rain, the ranch is in bloom. If you didn't know better, you'd think it was springtime. We took a trip down to the river and found 3 waterfalls coming off the edge of the cliff (you can kind of see them in the last picture) Poor Joshua - he needs to be a bit bigger to hold his own in these cousin pics.

It was a perfect day for the boys. Grant was quickly covered in mud and having a grand time throwing sticks and rocks for Bosque to catch. Sometimes the difference between boys and girls is so striking. Sophia wanted nothing to do with this and kept walking gingerly about, trying to keep dry.

A Giraffe In My Car!

Last Friday was one of my favorite days this year.  Brad and I had planned to play golf with mom.  Grant loves to golf, the weather was absolutely perfect, mom was here visiting, and we had a free afternoon.  Sadly, we called the course and they had a tournament scheduled for the whole afternoon.  Hmmm, I was determined to spend the day outside.  I've always wanted to go to Fossil Rim Wildlife Park in Glen Rose.  So, we spontaneously decided to have a little road trip.  We picked up mom at the ranch and headed out.  Glen Rose is such a gem.  Brad graciously took Grant to the park for a bit so Mom and I could shop on the town square.  Then we headed out to Fossil Rim.  They have 9 miles for you to drive through and see the animals.  It is a beautiful piece of land and full of all kinds of animals.  Grant had a ball.  He loved feeding the animals. 

They had a children's petting zoo area.  The goat was apparently starving.  We're lucky he didn't come over the fence.

Mom and I at the top.  It was so great to spend quality time together.

The highlight was feeding the giraffes.  They had about 6 of them wandering around.  Good thing I just got my sunroof fixed!  He made myself right at home in my car.  It was quite an experience!

I love Grant's expression.  He wanted to use up all our feed in the first 5 minutes.

I definitely recommend this place.  It ended up being a longer road trip than we anticipated, but it was so worth it.  Spontaneous days are hard to come by, and I was so glad for this one.  Couldn't have asked for better weather, better company, or a better adventure!

Pumpkin Patch

Don't you just love fall??

thankful

What a great morning. Jessica and I had a lot of fun at the art show. Sadly, the rain came and cut our day short, but we met some great people and were able to sell a lot of our new pieces. More than that, it was just another day in the life of our friendship. Another memory. It's almost been one year since we decided to start making art together. It's been so fun to have a real hobby - something to escape to. And, I'm constantly amazed by Jessica's talent - I'm always learning new things from her. Perhaps more than that, though, its meant hours and hours of just talking while we work. And that's the best part of friendship.