It only took five months but my little man is finally added to this here blog...introducing Three Girl Circus and One Little Monkey (thanks Shelby)!
I can not believe that I have not blogged in almost two months. I have so many posts to catch up on. Be back soon!
The heartburn....swollen ankles.....doctor appointments.....
...sleepless nights.....nothing to wear because of the 'baby weight'.....
...craziness and noise of having four children....and a hundred other inconveniences in the world's eyes...
Yep, it's all worth it!
After reading the President's address to school children yesterday and asking a couple of questions to Mara's teacher, we decided that Mara would indeed watch the speech live at school. I talked to her this morning and told her that she was going to get to hear the President of the United States talk to her today. I reminded her that his name is President Obama. Her response?....."Momma, that's kind of like Joe Mama!" Ok, that teaching moment was over so I just told her that I was excited that she would get to see the President today.
When she got home I asked her if she saw the president today. She said yes, so I asked her what he said to her.
Mara: He said that you never know if you can do something unless you try.
Me: Wow, that's awesome Mara. So we should always try our best, right?
Mara: Yes, I think I want to try skating.
Me: So what else did the president say?
Mara: Mom, when can we go skating?
Me: Mara, what else did the president talk about?
Mara: I really want to try skating.
Me: Do you remember what the president looked like?
Mara: Ummm....
Me: Do you remember his name?
Mara: Ummmm.... I don't know Mom, can we go skating now?
So evidently the President talked about skating today...or so my five year old thinks! Aren't you glad that there was so much controversy over a speech about skating.
I'm sure you all have heard about President Obama speaking to school aged children this coming Tuesday. Our school district is showing the speech in the classrooms but giving parents the option whether or not to have their children view it.
Evidently this is nothing new...Carter, Reagan, and George Bush all gave a speech to school children. Their addresses were on video tapes that were distributed to the schools. When I was in school (I sound like my dad now!), we didn't have a tv in every class room and the internet did not exist SO not every child in school was able to view those addresses.
With our current technology, all of the school children will be able to watch President Obama's speech live. That is an awesome opportunity for our children. About seven years ago I was able to see George W. speak in person at an NRB conference. Regardless of what I thought about him as a president, it was a really neat experience to see the President of the United States speak in person.
I would love for my child to experience a live speech from our president, but I do have a couple of problems with the situation.
First of all, Mara Lin's teacher has replaced me as the smartest woman in the world. I hear at least five or six times a day, "Ms. Cockrell says..." Mara really looks up to her and is very influenced by everything she says. (That's a good thing when she's trying to teach Mara to read or write or count.) A couple of questions on the government's list of suggested discussion questions both before and after the speech can be turned political very easily. I don't know Mara's teacher's political views but even if they were the same as mine, I would not want her to be influencing my child whether it be conservative or liberal....that's my job.
And finally, I do not trust President Obama to not have some hidden agenda with his speech. He seems to have a hidden agenda with everything else he does...one example being his healthcare plan to federally fund abortion....but I digress. I really don't want to get into a political debate here, I am just simply trying to figure out what is best for my child.
The government is releasing the entire content of the speech on Monday. I am waiting to read that and to talk to Mara's teacher about whether there will be any discussion in the classroom before I decide whether or not Mara will be viewing it at school. I'd love for Mara to see this speech and to see it live, but I am leaning towards opting out. If I do opt-out then we will watch the speech together Tuesday night as a family.
So that's my two cents. I would not advise any parent to opt their child out of watching the speech or advise any parent to allow their children to watch the president's speech. I would only advise every parent to be informed and choose what's best for their own family.
4 Like arrows in the hands of a warrior
are sons born in one's youth.
5 Blessed is the man
whose quiver is full of them.
They will not be put to shame
when they contend with their enemies in the gate.
My little girl is a Kindergartner. Can. Not. Believe. It.
Monday was registration day when we got to meet her teacher for the first time. Here's Mara with her teacher...
She is very sweet, warm, caring, motherly, etc....makes the transition for this momma a little easier!
After meeting Ms. Cockrell and hanging out in her room for a little while, we got to go on a Mommy date. I don't get to spend much alone time with the girls so this was a real treat. (Nana had Emily, Becca, and Sam...Sam screamed most of the morning and Becca Sue got two time-outs from Nana....so thanks just doesn't seem a good enough word to say to Nana!)
We started out at Starbucks to talk about where else we wanted to go...
She got her very own Mocha Frappuccino!
She decided that she wanted to go shopping so we went to the dollar store to pick out some cheap toys. Then ended the morning at Chuck E. Cheese...as much as I hate that place, I really had a blast with my girl. She talked, and talked, and talked, and talked. I needed a nap when we were done!
The only problem now is figuring out how to keep time from flying so fast!
Up next is first day of school pictures...
Ok, it's time to catch up with the blog posts. The last post was photos from May; here's some from July.
This is the amazing sunset we watched as we waited for the fireworks to start on the 4th. Man, God's an awesome artist!
Then the glow sticks came out...
Two-thirds of the girls loved the fireworks, but Mara was very unimpressed. She wanted to see them closer. Oh well, she did love doing "fireworks" at the house though.
So if it were six weeks ago I'd say "Happy 4th of July", but since it's not...I'll just say "Happy August 14th!"
I guess since Mara Lin's fixing to start Kindergarten (in 11 days to be exact), I should probably go ahead and post pictures of the Preschool graduation from back in May...Oops!
Here's Emily walking in a waving to me. The younger classes just came out and sang a few songs. She is normally really shy when she knows that someone is looking at her, but she really did good singing all of the songs and even doing a few motions.
Then the graduation. The kids sang a few songs and then told everyone what they wanted to be when the grow up. Mara wants to be a ballet teacher. Then they got to ring the bell. Here's Mara ringing the bell...
And yes, I might have shed a tear or two when she walked out in the graduation cap looking oh so very grown up. I'll blame it on the hormones though since I was about 36 weeks pregnant!
And of course the other two had to pose for daddy too. I love this one of Emily...very artsy!
And here's the girl who grew up over night....
Stay tuned for first day of Kindergarten pictures in eleven days!
Scared you, didn't I?!
You thought I had forgotten the url to my blog, huh?
Let me just tell you that life is kicking my booty. We're surviving but not really having fun yet. Sam is a fabulously easy-going baby, but a 5 yr old, 4 yr old, 3 yr old, and a newborn....yep, kicking my booty!
I have lots of pictures to share from the last month that I've been gone but will save those for separate posts so it looks like I'm blogging again.
Along with life inside my own house wearing me out, our church family has been dealing with a lot lately too. My pastor's father (and close family friend) passed away about three months ago and then shortly after that, we found out a sweet, sweet close friend has colon and liver cancer and is now going through chemo. As if that's not enough, my pastor's 17-year-old son died three weeks ago from injuries sustained in a car accident.
God has showed up amazingly within our church family.
I've definitely been saddened, disappointed, and even angry at God, but I know that God's will for my life is to be sanctified, be joyful always, pray continually, and give thanks in ALL circumstances (1 Thes. 4:3, 5:16-18). I exist for His glory, and even though it is hard to say, my children also exist for His glory.
I hold my children up to God with open hands wanting only His glory. I definitely could not have said that three weeks ago, but seeing my pastor praise God through the pain and wanting only His glory has taught me that God was waiting on me to surrender my hold on my children. They are not mine, they're God's. My single desire for their lives is to bring glory to God!
It's so good to be back blogging...putting my thoughts on 'paper' and helping to work through them in my own head. God is good and we are immeasurably blessed!
