Prayer

there have been times in the recent past when I have been questioning some aspects of my spiritual life.....not a crisis of faith, just and exploration and clarification of my faith I guess. One of those aspects is prayer....specifically what is the point of intercessory prayer. You see I am quite content, most of the time, in praying "Your will be done, Lord" or "This is what I would like to happen, but may Your will be done no matter what the outcome"....and I truly do believe that His will will be accomplished....so I wonder sometimes, why do we "pray for people"...like our prayers will change God's mind about the outcome of the situation? He knows what will happen...and I do believe that it will be best no matter what, so why should I bring my selfish desires or self-centered human viewpoint and requests to him, when I am usually fine (in the long run) with how things turn out? Yet, in spite of these thoughts, I also still have the desire and feel the need to pray for others, sometime with specific requests, sometimes with the trusting "Your will be done" and sometimes both. I do believe that prayer "works" and I also acknowledge that there are many different kinds of prayer, so of course there are many reasons to pray. I love a quote from the movie "Shadowlands" where C.S. Lewis says something to the effect of "Prayer doesn't change God, prayer changes me" and I do believe that. I have also purchased a book that I need to read by Philip Yancey about prayer that I think might help put my thoughts in perspective. Anyway, the main reason I am making this posting is to make note of a recent blog post by one of my favorite bloggers, MckMama. Her posting this evening touches on some thoughts about intercessory prayer that I dont want to forget about, so here is the link.
I havent read this through thoroughly, so I dont know for sure how much of it makes sense to me and how much gels with my beliefs, but I dont want to lose the link to the blog entry. So dont worry, I am still praying, I still believe in it and I still pray for people, especially dear family and friends. This is just an exploration and clarification of my beliefs. Thanks

just one more

here is a picture my friend Katy took of us on the hayride at the pumpkin patch.

just for the sake of comparison

Apparently we did a lot of different things at the pupkin patch this year from last year, I guess just because he is so much more able this year....but here are a few of last year's pumpkin patch pictures compared with this years:

Amazin Acres, year 2

For the 2nd year in a row, we made the trip to the local pumpkin patch, Amazin Acres. The weather was pretty much the same as last year, chilly, rainy, windy, and cloudy. You can see several different configurations of coats and jackets because the weather couldnt decide what it wanted to do. This year was even more fun than last year since this year Jack was able to do so much more independently. He had a great time with all the fun activities. These pictures are kind of out of order because I am having trouble getting them moved around....sorry.

Goofy face!
See my pumpkin?

An attempt at a Family Picture

I'll have to look to see if we took a similar picture last year...

and I think the scale is off a bit (just look at where his feet are in comparison to the bottom of the scale), because last time I measured him, he was close to 36 inches...

This is what Daddy decided to do with our pumpkin this year!

Baby Pumpkin

Getting to know the scarecrows

Another cute pumpkin pose

Trying to get a cute picture of mother and son....oh well!

We are warming up in the corn maze

Having fun on the tire swing, can you hear him saying Whee!

Duck races!

Father and Son Pumpkins

my favorite picture of the day

moo cow!

Randomness....

This picture is from our nature walk yesterday. I figured that the beautiful weather wasnt going to last much longer, so we took off on a walk, and stopped to say hi to a sweet older neighbor....and kinda got stuck there for a while. She got into a story about the neighbors cats and feeding them and calling animal control etc, and Jack honestly wasnt interested, so he decided to play in the yard instead. He was giving me some of the CUTEST poses, but I didnt want to be rude and walk away from her to take a picture, but here is one I managed to snap.
Jack has started spending more time in his room, of his own choosing. The other morning I saw him sitting in the rocking chair with this bog book, and it reminded me of that Lily Tomlin character, I think her name was Edith Ann? The little girl who sat in the huge chair....anyway..

Pictures like this of him enjoying reading make my heart so happy! I have always been a big reader (just ask me sometime to tell the story of how I was grounded FROM reading.....if you havent heard it already) and I love that he enjoys books too! We need to get to the library more, and maybe that will keep me from buying him so many books!

Speaking of reading, forgive me, but I had to take this video last night. He has gotten very interested in our mini laptop ever since he discovered that there are letters AND numbers on it! Maybe I need to get him a toy laptop for his birthday or christmas, then I can type on mine in peace!

Oh, and speaking of him playing in his room, earlier in the week we thought we might be having some weekend guests who might need our guest room (EEEK!). That room had turned into the catch-all room/office and we really couldnt see much of the floor or bed, so it was going to take an act of God to get it cleaned...and well, it DID. Jack wasnt really interested in the mess in that room, and decided to play in his room instead. Next think I knew, he had closed his door and was contentedly playing and reading for almost an hour and a half! I checked on him every 5 minutes or so, but I knew there wasnt much that would be dangerous in there at all. Now, I wont say that the guest room looks perfect, but when we showed it to Josh he went "WOW" I joked that I didnt even realize there was carpet in there until today! But at what cost...well, by the time I was done, the hallway and diningroom were full of boxes and trash to dispose of, and Jack's room was pretty much demolished. Every book was off the shelf and most of his puzzle were scattered around the room. Thankfully, his room is put back together a bit easier than the guest room, so I didnt sweat it too much!

This picture is from a few weeks ago, but I just now remembered to pull it off the camera. Does he look guilty enough? He's going to be addicted to wheat thins just like his daddy! Josh left them out the other day afte snacking on them during Jack's naptime. Jack walked into the bonus room a little bit before we did, and this is what we found when we joined him. Sneaky little thing!

Jack has started noticing sizes....big vs little animals, pompoms, leaves and pine cones, etc. I am working on getting BIG and LITTLE into his vocabulary, but right now, thanks to his animal toys, all big things are DADDY, medium things are MOMMIE, and little things are BABY.

As I mentioned in an earlier post, part of our bedtime routine is to read and Bible Story and listen to a song related to that story. These are part of a little Bible Story book and CD set I found at Walmart (and later at a discount bookstore for 1/4 the price....oh well). Josh has gotten Jack clapping along with the song, and his rhythm is pretty good. It makes me laugh because he is so intent on clapping, if anyone else is NOT clapping at the time, he gets a little bossy and says "Mommy, cap" while demonstrating for me, just in case I dont know how to do it. :)

Jack is starting to say more and more phrases....he's started getting good at saying "big ball" or "big swing" and the other day he was hauling elmo around and when I suggested that they watch some "Baby Einsteins" while I cooked dinner, he ran into the bonus room, plopped Elmo into his football helmet chair and declared "Elmo sit here" I was pretty impressed! We're making progress.

five? really?? um....ok.....

Over the months we have developed a bed time routine:
get into PJs
brush teeth
read a Bible Story and listen to a Bible song
Say prayers
Give hugs and kisses
Find Passys and get in Bed
The little prayer that Jack "says" at night (really he folds his hands and listens while we recite the prayer) is a combination of a prayer that I said when I was little and one that a little toy of his recites:
"Now I lay me down to sleep
I pray the Lord my soul to keep
May Jesus watch me through the night
and Keep me in His blessed sight."
Lately, to get a little bit more participation during prayer time from Jack, we have asked him what he wants to pray for and what he wants to thank God for.
The first night, after we asked him "What do you want to thank God for?" he answered "FIVE"
Josh and I looked at each other with puzzled expressions, looked back at Jack, all the while trying to figure out what he must have meant....but couldnt figure it out, so that night we thanked God for "FIVE".....ooooookayyyyyy
The next night, when asked "What do you want to Thank God for?" He again answered "FIVE" so after more confused expressions and wracking our brains for what he could mean....we thanked God that He is SO smart that He made numbers and math and helps us understand these things......grasping at straws here people!!!!!
Then last night he again answered "FIVE" when asked what he wanted to thank God for.....and we asked him, "What do you mean Five? Why do you only want to thank God for Five?" Jack looked up at us and said "Four.....Five" and then it dawned on us, that it was all in how we were asking "What do you want to thank God FOR???
Get it????
FO(U)R......FIVE.....
he's been learning his numbers and I guess it's just (almost) automatic now that when he hears FOUR (or FOR) he will say FIVE.....which is funny since FIVE is the one he most often skips when counting anyway.....maybe that's why he wanted to thank God for it.....he feels bad for skipping it all the time! :)

where did he go?

my baby I mean....I think Josh would get tired of my saying that over and over every day....if he weren't saying it occasionally himself......
just look at how big he is....these were from last week when we ventured out for some fresh air between downpours. He is 22 months old and weighed in at 30.8 pounds the other day at the dr and I measured his height today at 36 inches (granted that was with his toy tape measure, so who knows how well I actually measured him....but it would have to be pretty close) 2T shirts are getting too short for my long waisted boy, but 2T pants are still a bit too long (fit well in the waist though!) so I am getting him 3T winter shirts and just rolling up the sleeves if needed at this point. I figure they will fit eventually. People are usually shocked when I tell them that he isnt even 2 yet. Is he officially too big for me to call my "Baby" anymore......too bad! I'm not sure I can eliminate it completely from my vocabulary yet!

What was I thinking??

Not sure how this video will turn out since it was taken with my phone....

the other day we met Auntie Raychie at the outlet mall in Lebanon. He was very, VERY interested in those contraptions in the the food court where you put in a quarter (or two or THREE) and take a 1 minute ride in a helicopter or car etc. Raychie was smart enough to face him AWAY from that area during lunch, but as soon as lunch was over, he really REALLY wanted to get a look at them. Usually he is happy just to sit on them with the sounds and blinking lights etc, but for some reason I decided to put in the quarters and give him a real thrill. He thought it was pretty cool....and thankfully he was also ok with only getting the real deal with one ride, and just sitting in the other vehicles. But NOW whenever we enter a store that has these things it's like he has a radar that immediately finds this contraption and he HAS to ride on it!!! thank goodness he is still content with just sitting in the thing....wonder how long that will last?

Hide n' Seek

someone needs to teach this kid how to play hide n' seek......

I know, I know, someone should teach his mommie how to take a video too! :)

He just makes me laugh! I first discovered this new version of Hide n' seek when he figured out how to open these sliding doors to the living room. He would "hide" (of course I almost always can tell...the giggling gives it away if nothing else...) and I will play dumb and say

"Jack, are you in the kitchen???"

and he would reply with his sweet little voice "No!"

"Are you under the table?"

"No!"

" Well, where are you???"

Then he will burst out with giggles and hugs!

He is also enjoying knocking on the bathroom door when I go in and decide I need a little privacy. This morning I was drying my hair in the hall bathroom, and he started knocking on the door, when I opened it up, he giggled, and then quickly closed the door again....so he could knock again....a few times later, I started going through the good ol' knock knock joke "Knock Knock, Who's there? Cargo. Cargo Who?"and then he piped up "BeepBeep!" He knew the punch line without even knowing the joke!

feep, fing, fovel

any guesses what those mean in Jack's Language?
His vocabulary is growing by leaps and bounds....WAAAAY too many words to list now....and some words are still a little hard to understand sometimes, like the ones listed above. I'll realize what they are in context, but if he says it out of context I have to really think about it. He is also saying more phrases like "No Maggie!", "Hi Daddy" and "Crackers, Please" and "I see, I see!" and my personal favorite "Big Hug!" and "Love you!"
I'll be honest, when people ask me if I miss teaching, I'll almost always say NO! I LOVE what I am doing and I feel good at it (most of the time), as opposed to being so stressed out about paperwork and frustrated with classroom management and struggled with feeling very inadequate as a classroom teacher.....It's just such a hard job with so many different things to juggle at once, I often felt like my best just wasnt good enough....BUT I did enjoy some aspects of teaching such as lesson planning and constructing, brainstorming different ways to teach the new skills, and seeing the kids get so excited about learning something new and the "aha!" moment when a struggling student finally figures out a concept. Lately I have been rediscovering those fun aspects while parenting. As I shared (um...or maybe bragged....) earlier about Jack knowing his ABC's and their sounds....we are also working on numbers colors, shapes and broadening his vocabulary even more. I have been making some fun little bingo and memory matching games to play with him...and we are having the best time!!! I'll let him decide which game we play, he will let me know if he doesnt want to play a particular game, and sometimes we just talk about the pictures. It's really exciting to see him love learning and to use what hes learned. So maybe there is still some teacher left in me after all, even 2 years out of the classroom!
oh, still wondering about those words?
feep=sheep or sleep, fing=swing, fovel=shovel...apparently he is having some trouble with initial s-blends and diagraphs... which is a little puzzling since he says "shoes" so beautifully! :) I think I remember that those come later in speech development anyway....so I'm just enjoying listening to them right now. :)
ps-I guess we REALLY REALLY need to watch what we say (or watch on TV!)....this afternoon I was taking some pictures with my phone, and I accidentally erased one. I said "Shoot!" (really, I did.....that's as naughty as my language usually gets.....) and Jack repeated "SHOOT!" and then grinned at me. He's such a mess!

Fun in the kitchen

This child LOVES to help! If I am trying to get him to do something and he's not really "feeling it"....if you know what I mean....I just have to rephrase my request as "Mommie really needs help with this...can you help?" And most of the time he is eager to do as I have asked....just hopes this tactic doesnt lead him to think his mother is completely helpless and unable to do anything on her own!

We have a little step stool that I have been letting him climb on so he can help me make his lunch. I have to be careful now though that I put the stool away in the laundry room and close the door...because I think he has figured out how to unfold it and push it around the house....the other day I found him on the top step of the stool in the middle of the kitchen!! Eek! Just look at how grown up he looks there!

Sorry this one is so blurry, but it still gets the point across, he can "Swiffer!" Josh just took the extension rods out of the handle and it is just the right height for Jack. We just need to make sure to watch him, because a swiffered wood floor is slippery....and he still misses quite a few spots! :)

Last night he got it in his head that Elmo needed to sit in Jack's high chair at dinner time (instead of Jack, mind you....) and he wanted to feed Elmo some milk from a sippy cup. I thought it was too cute not to get a picture!

Papa John comes to town!

While MiMi was traveling home to Korea, Papa John came to see us here in Cookevegas! Woohoo! We had a fun time visiting. Jack cracked me up because he decided to show Papa John all of his toys....ALLLLLL of them! He got out every single toy, brought it over, showed Papa John how to play with it, then left it and went to get another one....eventually ALL of his toys were across the room in a big pile around Papa John.

The pictures above are of the 2 guys walking around Ruby Tuesdays while we were waiting for a table. Mental Note, Dinner and Ruby Tuesdays close to bedtime just isnt a great idea for a 21 month old....he did....okay....but its just too dim and boring and quiet and snobby for him. The food was fantastic!

We were so proud of Papa John braving the drive in to come for a visit!

Some firsts, and some lasts....

I actually wrote this a few weeks ago, and for some reason never posted it.....so enjoy...a few weeks late!
As for "firsts" from today:

First time to wear long sleeves this season

(btw he totally posed himself like this....he knew I was taking a picture with my phone and I tried and tried to get him to smile at the camera, but he would only look away until after the picture was taken, then he grabbed my phone to get a look....)

First substantial venture out and about town without the stroller or diaper bag (it was in the car...just too lazy to go back to get it...)....no crisis!

First time to eat in a restaurant without a highchair, bib, sippy cup or placemat....(again, because of the lack of diaper bag)-He did great and charmed everyone he could in the restaurant

First time (that I know of) that he followed more complicated and fairly abstract directions like this:

I was packing up his diaper bag in the hallway and I asked him "Jack can you go in your room and get a diaper and bring it to Mommie?" He paused, thinking, for just a moment and then ran off....and returned to me with his diaper! woohoo! I was testing him and he passed! Now that I think about it though, there have been several times where he will sneak passy out of his room, and I have asked him in the kitchen to go say bye bye passy and he will run into his room and do it! It is just exciting to me that maybe I dont have to follow up on every single thing I ask him to do, I can start trusting that he really does it....

As for a "last" from today:

We ate for the last time at one of my favorite locally owned restaurants called "The Soup Kitchen" which is closing its doors on Friday. Their food was so good and based on the crowd of people in the restaurant business was hopping...thank goodness we got there a few minutes before noon or we might still be waiting for our food!

Today was also the first and last time I will order Jack a sandwich with swiss cheese....he must take after his mommie in that he doesnt like swiss cheese...he made an awful face and spit it out...thankfully his aversion is just based on taste unlike me who was scarred by my dad telling me rats ate holes in the cheese.....but I also dont like the taste either....

It was also our first and probably last taste of Sonic french toast sticks....long story....but they were pretty gross.....at least I thought so, even though it looked like he enjoyed the one I gave him in the back seat....

Thinking about the Soup kitchen....I know that I have heard about a few friends up here who's husbands jobs were suffering from these hard economic times, and of course I had noticed the rise in grocery bills and gas bills etc, but it seemed like our small town was pretty insulated from the recession....but as I was driving around in some neighborhoods I hadnt really been in much since we moved 6 months ago, there are several empty store fronts.....kinda sad.