Anniversary (and Hannah) fun!

Yesterday, John and I decided to celebrate our (today's) wedding anniversary by taking our 11-year-old along for the date--at the waterpark! We went to an inexpensive waterpark across town and had an absolute blast! Of course, when I woke up this morning, my legs were complaining at the numerous trips up the waterslide, not to mention my lower back a little achey due to the not-so-sensational front flip I made off the diving board. What in the world?? You'd think I wasn't 14 years old anymore! ha!

Anyway, John and I took turns watching Hannah or playing with her while the other one went solo for a bit. During one of the times when Hannah and I were in a very crowded shallow pool, we good-naturedly grumbled about how much we were getting jostled around by other swimmers. "Hey Mommie," H said. "It's like the Bible story where the woman touched Jesus so she could be healed." I nodded. She continued, "All those people were jostling Jesus and touching Him every second, and yet He knew when that woman in particular touched Him. Can you imagine that?" We both marveled at the memory of the story, and of a God who knows us all by one simple touch. Or one simple prayer, for that matter.

~~~

Other Hannah conversations:

While quizzing Hannah on her personality, I had to explain what aimless meant for one of the questions. This in the resulting convo: T: Aimless means you don't have goals. But you have goals, right? H: Of course I have goals, Mommy! T: Great! What are they? H, with a puzzled look on her face: Um, I'm not sure... So there ya have it. Life and times with a energetic, if slightly-unfocused 11-year-old girl! ha!

[Note: Hannah, upon hearing the above story, said in a mild, huffy voice, "Well, I sure don't like how you ended THAT story!"] ha ha!

~~~

Hannah, upon discovering the the water in her water bottle had turned quite tepid after only a little time in the hot sun: "Ugh, I will spew this lukewarm water out of my mouth--that's what Jesus did, you know!" She then proceeded to give her girlfriend riding along with us an infomercial on what "lukewarm" meant, and why Jesus would rather us be hot or cold. Nice little sermon on the way home. Thanks, H!
 
I LOVE how often Hannah applies spiritual meaning to something that's happened during her day. God is good.
 
All for now,
Tricia

Quite a Pear--Happy Anniversary

Happy Anniversary to my sweetie! 13 years, woo-hoo! Here's the card I created earlier today for John. This year I was kinda lazy in the card department when it came to John. I got him Father's Day and Birthday gifts, but no cards (sorry, sweetie! blame it on the economy!!??) ha! So I knew I had to do SOMETHING for our wedding anniversary today.

Anyway, I like the subtle baby blue and dark brown colors of this Zentangle. And I think I'm starting to get the hang of shading.

All for now,
Tricia

Sunbeams

Okay, guess I'll do one more tonight. I was encouraged by my auntie's and sister's (in-law) fast responses. ;) I call this one Sunbeams.

Unfurled

Well, here's another zentangle I created. I worked with lots of tangles (patterns) I've never done before and then colored it. I've been studying my Time to Tangle with Color book I recently got and having a blast. I especially like the one big "coil" pattern that goes through the entire middle of it all. My first time to draw it and it turned out pretty neat! Hope you enjoy!
All for now,
Tricia

All Tangled Up!

Okay, so you know me, always watching out for the next craft technique to come down the pike! A friend of mine told me about "Zentangling." What in the world is that? Well, to the founders, "tangles" is just another word for pattern. So they came up with a cool way to showcase lots of patterns together and, while it sometimes looks awfully "busy," can still be a whole lot of fun to create. I think the Zentangle "purists," prefer strictly black and white, but I personally like BnW plus a little color to make them pop!

The above photo is my second or third attempt. I looked up Zentangles online and there are tons of them everywhere! Lots of creative people out there, I tell you! I'm glad to have found it because I'd kind of reached a plateau with my card-making. I still enjoy it to a degree, but I think I was ready for something different.

Anyway, on a more personal note, we are having a nice summer. We found out John will be teaching part-time at Southwestern Adventist University this fall--audio and video production. He'll also be teaching business speech communication at Tarrant County College again too. It's a lot of work, but after last year, we are glad to have "too" much work than not enough. His teaching is in ADDITION to the usual 30+ hours he works for Dogster (now called owned by Say Media). So he will be a very busy man. But as I said, we are grateful!

Hannah's enjoying her summer. She spends the bulk of her time swimming, reading, watching free episodes on hulu.com, swimming, running errands with me and her daddy, playing on the computer, occasionally meeting up with a classmate or two, and oh, did I say swimming? ha! It's nice to see that she still loves to swim and it's such good exercise. She's also, much to her dismay, doing some schoolwork in a workbook we purchased. We wanted to make sure she doesn't forget what she learned in 5th grade, so she works in the book once or twice a week. She has a prettttty good attitude about it! ha!

I can tell she's getting older, as she does not play with her toys as much as she used to. And as she used to absolutely LOVE playing with her neighborhood children, she seems to want a little more alone time, or "me" time. I think some of that is because they are three years younger and she gets tired of playing Barbies all the time! She does still enjoy one little girl who is almost nine, because that girl will sit and just talk and visit and is a little less rowdy than the others. My Hannah girl is such a mixture of John and me. As long as she maintains a good balance of alone time and being sociable, then I'm happy with that!

More tangles to come! (I know you're waiting with bated breath! ha!)

All for now,
Tricia

Danger Zone!

(Photo credit: Found at www.indiana.edu/~nehrigr/bird-intro/slides/killdeer_9661.html)

"It's okay, little Mama bird, I won't harm your babies!" The killdeer swooped higher and higher, showing great acrobatic feats as she squawked loudly, protesting as I drew closer to her nest. I felt so sorry for her. I knew she was desperately trying to take care of her "children," and was worried for their safety.

However, I couldn't stop thinking that she was a little to blame. Killdeer, sweet little birds like the one shown in the above photo, lay their eggs right out in plain sight for all to see. She had, whether she realized it or not, placed her own family in danger. Mama bird then showed her dramatic side:  Act I included her "broken wing" act that these plovers are so famous for, where they pretend they are wounded when anyone comes close to the nest. Pitiful cries complete the act and if she captured your attention, she considers herself worthy of an AAA (Aviary Academy Award)!

This protective little mother made me think of my own maternal skills. Do I unknowingly place my "baby bird," in harms way? What would this look like?

Here are a few things I will do to keep my sweet daughter out of harm's way:

1) Be careful what I let her watch on television or movies. When I was little, we used to sing, "Oh, be careful little eyes what you see, oh be careful little ears what you hear..."

2) Remind her to choose her friends wisely. Especially as a preteen, I need to make sure that Hannah, my little social butterfly, is careful with whom she becomes close to. I mean, I definitely want her to get to know all types, all ethnicities, all ages, all races, and so on. But I especially want her to think about who her closest friends are, for her to choose those who lead her closer to God and not farther from Him.

3) I need to be careful what I watch. I need to make sure I'm not a hypocrite, and watch or listen to media that is not adhering to principles I stand for. She's watching me. She's watching her daddy. And she will make choices based on what we DO so much more than what we TELL her to do.

4) Watch my language. I'm not just talking about curse words (although that counts too). I'm talking about curbing my negativity. I will sometimes realize too late what's coming out of my mouth is just "blah negative blah negative blah." And I cringe. I have to go to her (actually did this today) and tell her, "Hey, I didn't meant to focus on just the negative. I'm sorry. That was wrong." I don't even want to say how often I have to do this.

I must watch my language in how I talk about people as well. Do I air someone's dirty laundry in the privacy of my own home, where little listening ears can hear? If I do, I need to realize that she is listening to me talk about someone else. She is listening to me, basically, judge someone else with my tone or attitude, and that's not what Jesus does. When the woman who committed adultery was thrown at His feet, His loving, caring ways won her heart. He "chased" off her accusers by writing their sins in the sand. Then He said that He did not condemn her, but to go and sin no more.

This makes me recall the last part of the song I quoted earlier, "Oh be careful little eyes..." The rest goes like this: "For the Father up above, is looking down with love, Oh be careful little eyes what you see." Isn't that great? It's so true. He's looking down with love. Not condemnation. Just longing for us to keep His ways and follow Him.

I want to do my best to keep Hannah from all the above mentioned "danger zones," and many more out there. I long to place her up high, in the "shadow of the Almighty," as much as possible. I will "mount up with wings as eagles," the same eagles who build their nests in tall trees or cliffs. A high place. A safe place. That's where I plan to be.

Won't you join me there?

Disobedience and Blessings

So awhile back, Hannah came to me and said this: "I don't know if I'm going to heaven for sure, Mommy."
A bit taken aback, I asked her why. "Because I have been disobedient to you and Daddy sometimes. I don't obey like I should and I forget to mind you." [I must make a note right here to say that this child never tries to sass or talk back to us. She simply seems to "forget" our instructions to her and has gotten into some trouble because of it.]

I assured her that that is just part of growing up and asked her why she thought it meant she wouldn't go to heaven. I mean, she knows the basics: Believe in Jesus as our Savior, that He has forgiven our sins if we confess, and we are made clean. Sounds simple because it is. But she still worried. Then she connected the dots for me: She reminded me that I had read II Timothy 3:1-6 to her, a verse that talks about what society, or the world, will be like right before Jesus comes again.

"But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God--having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with them" (NIV).

She said that since she has "disobeyed" us, or not listened as well as she could have to our instruction, that she is worried she won't go to heaven. Well, my goodness, I re-assured her that it is GOOD that the Holy Spirit is working on her heart, her conscience, to do better. But I reminded her that this particular verse is describing people who do not not seem to care about spiritual things or going to heaven. They have no regrets about their lifestyle and do not think they need a Savior.

I think I helped her to understand. At first I thought she was pulling my leg, or being dramatic, but her eyes were a bit red-rimmed and I noticed a little glisten in them as well. I realized she really was concerned. After we talked for a good while, I think she felt lots better. I'm so glad she cares about things to do with God, and that it's important to her.

But you know, it goes both ways. I mean, that we as parents should treat our children with kindness, with decency, with respect to their feelings and needs. I observed a scenario the other evening at Borders that made me cringe.

A mother was looking at books and her daughter told her she had to go to the bathroom. "Just a second," was the mom's reply. For like, seriously, several minutes. The daughter, probably about 8 years old, did not harangue her mom, or whine, she just stated very clearly that she really needed to go. She finally reached a point of desperation where she said, "Mommy, it's about to come out. I really gotta go." With total disdain in her voice, the mom said, "Well, go ahead and let it come out right here. I'd like to see that." The little girl pleaded once more, for the mom to just let her go on her own. The mom finally agreed and the girl ran off quickly.

Now, I understand as a parent myself, maybe this little girl has a habit of being dramatic, or of bugging her mom. But I wonder how hard it would have been to just go with her. Or to just let her go by herself in the beginning. It made me about to go crazy to listen to this exchange; I wanted to wop that mom over the head. Her tone, her stance, her words--none of them were kind or caring. Just a lack of decency and respect. It made me sick. It also made me remember that the above verse. We owe so much to our children, simply because they are gifts from above. The Bible says they are a blessing. How do we treat this blessing day in, day out? How do I treat it?

All for now,
Tricia