Kayci's turn

Kayci asked me to post 2 things on the blog tonight...a picture of a ghost she drew, and a picture of her in pigtails (she did them herself, bow and all).  :)  

Mobile Noble 2: The Need For Speed

It's official. As of today, Noble is no longer "commando crawling" and has started crawling for real. It's so weird because just yesterday he was sliding himself across the floor and today it's like he's been crawling for a month. And he's getting faster with every passing hour.

It's a lot of fun to watch, and we're excited to share it with you:

Ruin Me

This struck a chord in us today, thinking of how we sometimes get lost in our plans for our lives and forget to seek God's will.    On that note, we attended our first Dave Ramsey class this evening, and feel encouraged that we're growing up when it comes to our money--or lack of.  We'll get it, with a little work and a lot of prayer.  Anyway, here's the song:  

Ruin Me

Woe to me I am unclean
A sinner found in Your presence
I see you seated on Your throne
Exalted, Your Glory surrounds You

Now the plans that I have made
Fail to compare when I see your glory

Chorus
Ruin my life the plans I have made
Ruin desires for my own selfish gain
Destroy the idols that have taken Your place
'Till its You alone I live for,
You alone I live for. (repeat)

Bridge
Holy Holy is the Lord Almighty
Holy is the Lord!

Holy Holy is the Lord Almighty
Holy is the Lord!

Repeat chorus

Curious?

The Rest of the Story, as Paul Harvey Would Say

I thought that last picture might pique your curiosity...

It's Friday afternoon, and we're leaving for Houston at 4:00.  So, I'm frantically trying to get packed and kind of clean the house...you know, Mommy stuff.  Noble didn't sleep long this afternoon, but he was very excited to get down on the floor to play while Mommy ran around.  He started out in the living room with Kayci's Barbie computer...I heard it turn on, Barbie said hello and Noble said "BaBa!"  Oh Dear God, he said Barbie before Mommy.  We'll pretend like we didn't hear it, okay?

So, I have to keep a close eye on him because as soon as I turn my back, he does the electric slide.  The kid knows where ever exposed outlet is in the house (exposed as in not covered by furniture, we don't have open outlets you safety freaks).  Anyway, on our "to do" list this weekend is purchase & install the outlet covers that cover the entire outlet, plugs included.  (We gave our old ones away...never really needed them with Kayci, but that's another story.)  After he loses interest in Barbie (really, don't we all eventually?) he starts the slide, into the dining room.  I have to say, he's starting to respond to my "no!" when he gets too close to the water cooler outlet or the Roombas.  We do this for a few minutes, he scoots, I no, he smiles and tries to con me, I no, he retreats.  Finally, he makes me smile by retreating for good, into the hallway.  I'm done in the kitchen and ready to pack, so bedrooms seem to be a safe zone.   Here's what I found about 30 seconds after he entered Kayci's room--pardon the focus, but I grabbed my iphone and it has its limitations (but you didn't hear it from me!).  The first pic is actually him falling down when I walked in and surprised him.  Little Mr. Mischief didn't let a Mommy stand in his way for long...

You saw what happened next. I put him in the crib with some toys so I could finish packing. And by the way, Boy--here's something else for the list.



Mobile Noble, indeed.

The boy is a meat eater.

Yesterday Kristi, Noble and I had a picnic out on the hill behind our house at lunch time. Kristi had gone to our favorite barbecue place, Big Daddy's (not the same Big Daddy's that you find in Houston). I got a chicken baked potato and she got a rib plate (Big Daddy's has the best ribs I've ever eaten, by the way.) Noble was trying really hard to grab some food - any food - from the plate, so we handed him a rib to see what he would do.

The photos speak for themselves.

All about Kayci

Kayci's forever saying, "let's put that on the blog."  Like you guys care about every single little thing that happens.  But here are a few special items that we just have to share...

1.  The Brenham Banner-Press:  We FINALLY started taking the paper.  I was way excited, too, about finally being plugged in to what's going on around town.  Well, the Banner-Press is a lot like the Iola Register...every police call is in there, etc.  It's definitely a small town paper!  As it turns out, that has its advantages.  Saturday morning we had to run back by the house to grab the laptop.  I noticed the paper was in the yard so I picked it up.  I planned to just recycle it, but for some reason opened it up and we all started looking through it.  On page 4, there was a big section called "Brenham ISD Student News."  A certain name caught my eye...

Krause Elementary School

By ELLIE MEYER, KATE ROBERTS and KAYCI PHARAON

We are all in Mrs. Bolcerek's class.  We know that if we be good and study hard and pay attention we can get to go on some field trips later this year.  We need to show respect too.  That is our character trait this month.  

Kindergarten sure is lots of fun!  There are so many fun things we do at school...

It goes on from there, but you get the gist.  Apparently (this is what I got from Kayci), Kayci and a couple of her friends "wrote" this with the lady in the computer lab.  The second sentence is all Kayci, but the rest is definitely obviously assisted.  But hey, she made the paper!  She will tell you this is the second time this year she's been in the paper--she SWEARS the back of her head was in a picture with Sparky the Fire Dog.  Daddy doesn't believe her, as the head in question was blond.  :)

2.  Kayci made a 100 on her first "real" spelling test!  

3.  Yesterday, Kayci got in the car all excited about them calling her name on the speaker.  I haven't talked to Mrs. Bolcerek yet to get details, but I think I understand that Kayci was chosen (it's a drawing) as a Star Student this week, so she gets her picture taken and gets to have lunch *on the stage!* with the administrators.  She's stoked!

4.  I got a work phone call yesterday just as we came in after school.  I normally don't take work calls at that time, but I really needed to hear what this teacher had to say.  Well, Kayci kept interrupting.  And interrupting.  And interrupting.  She wanted my attention, and she finally got it, and I was grumpy.  I sent her to her room to clean up (what she was supposed to be doing anyway!) and to give me a minute to just breathe and get over the grumpy.  Well, after she made her bed she came and asked if she could draw.  I said yes, and after a while she headed into our room with a piece of paper and tape.  To my pillow, she taped a picture of the two of us smiling, with red crayon hearts coming out of the Kayci drawing and heading toward the Mommy drawing.  It was very sweet, and touched my heart.  She had written "Im sore for bng so men."  (I'm sorry for being so mean.)  Aww...even if I was still mad at that point, no way could I have stayed that way!  She's either very sweet, or very smart.  Crap, she's both--we're in trouble!

5.  Last one...she was very excited today that she and a friend got to "water paint" during center time.   You can't really read it, but she wrote a sentence:  "I see a spider."  This one is already hanging up on Kayci's wall of fame in our office...she was so proud to show it off to Daddy.  :)  

This Day in History...

It's Saturday, October 18th.  

One year ago today (it was a Wednesday, though), we found out that Noble was a...well, a Noble. :)  Remember the picture of Kayci with the big sister shirt, "it's a boy!" balloon and the knowing smile?  

Eleven years ago today, James proposed.  Come on, you remember...Senior year.  Let the Good Times Roll!  50 yard line, halftime...10 minutes later, I quit crying enough to say "yes!"  And the rest, as they say, is history.   I'll never forget at our rehearsal dinner, Dad telling about standing there talking to some guy, the punchline of "the funny thing is, that's my daughter."  

Today in the car one of us said, "do you know what happened one year ago today?"  And Kayci, God love her, would have brought me to my knees if I hadn't been sitting already.  She said, "If the kids left for Taiwan one year ago today, that means they could come home today."  Soon enough, Bitty, soon enough.  

Here's a quick pic of the littlest Bearkat...I'm sure Daddy will post some pics of the kids with Sammy.  

Noteworthy...

This is definitely worth mentioning in the blog, for those of you who know me well.   Noble & I went to College Station to deposit my paychecks and pick up some fall clothes for the family.  First we went to Old Navy and found tons of stuff that I liked, but I restrained myself and bought just a few basics for Noble.  Then, we went over to Target and...wait for it...spent NOTHING.  Didn't buy anything--not even from the $ spot.  I know, I know, I can't believe it myself.  

Breakfast party!

The cupboards are bare, and Daddy wasn't around this morning, so Bitty and I decided that we'd get around early and go to the donut store before I took her to school this morning.   We left with plenty of time to spare (very rare occurrence around here) and headed over.  The first thing we noticed was Jennifer's truck in the parking lot, which meant that Savannah and Jessica were inside.  Kayci restrained herself, though, and didn't jump out until the car actually stopped.  (Kidding, kidding, we're very safe.  Well, we try--don't want to tempt fate.)  Anyway, we ended up having breakfast with the Scheffler's, then Jennifer & Rachel came in, then the Headleys.  It was a lot of fun--an unexpected little gathering in the middle of the week.  The best part for Kayci?  Lydia and Rachel loaded up and rode to school with us.  It really is the little things in life...

This morning I'm grateful for our little life, and the little things, and for being able to be happy and grateful for the little things.  :)