Long Time.....

Hey, I know it's been a few days. We had a good weekend. We stay busy but I like that. Today however, we kind of chilled. We had our playgroup Halloween party this weekend which was fun. It's gotten colder here which is nice. I've spent my afternoon on the phone...I hate that. It's such a waste, especially since most of it was on hold. In fact, I am still on hold....YUCK. Anyway, we had a good weekend. I'll write more later.

Sunshine

I just got a phone call from a friend telling me her mother passed away tonight. They were friends from our church in NC. Mary always used to sing, "I've got sunshine on a cloudy day...." I thougth to myself, now she's really got sunshine. It makes me sad to think that a family has lost their mom and their grandmother, their sister. This family has gone through a lot, the father died about a year and a half ago. I can't imagine the pain they've felt. I remember when my grandmother died, it was so sad but Papa was still here so it was almost as if that pain was pushed down. Then when he died, it just felt so horrible because I was dealing with both deaths. As I think about Mary's life tonight, she loved missions and she would always do competitions for VBS and she did a big dessert auction to raise money. It was crazy how much money that woman could get for a pie (she did have a great auctioneer that played dirty, no nose scratching if you know what I mean). She had so much spunk to her. I'm also reminded that life is fleeting. It makes me sad that at some point, I'll have to deal with the death of a parent. I can't imagine how that must feel. It also makes me realize that life is short and that I want to be a peaceful person. It's too short to have regrets and what ifs. I want to live life being honest with others so that I don't let things build up and get the best of me. I don't want to be angry or bitter. I don't want to have ugly things to say about people, I want to let petty things go and hold on to what is important. If you think about it, pray for Mary's family. She left a strong legacy for them and I know their hearts are broken tonight.

Great Omaha Steak Deal is no more

It appears the Omaha Steak deal is done....I guess they were giving away a lot of $25 giftcards. I hope some of you got to take advantage of it.

One more before Night Night....

Tonight Addy and Keegan and I took a walk (Levi was reffing). We went to see some Halloween decorations. Texans go all out for Halloween. I've never seen anything like it. Addy is pretty timid with that kind of stuff. She likes it but doesn't like it if you know what I mean. So, as we're walking there, she starts kind of cowering away. I looked over at Keegan who is jumping up and down so excited and said, "Keegan tell Sissy not to be a scaredy cat." To which Addy replies (in a very grown up tone), "Mom, I'm not scared of cats, just Halloween decorations." I stand corrected:)

GREAT Omaha Steak Deal

Okay so it's been a while since I posted about a GREAT deal. I was reading a blog today and found out about this deal. I've always secretly wanted to try one of these and now I have...woohoo!! Okay so here it is if you're interested....
1. You go to this link. You don't have to have Geico, you don't have to switch to Geico. It just gives you a username for their website...they will email you within a couple of hours with a link to a gift card code. It is for $25 to Omaha Steaks. Check your spam folder, mine came within the hour.

2. Then go to this link. Let me know if it doesn't work for some reason. It should say something like, poncey76@hotmail.com has shared yada yada with you. Type in your email address. You'll get an email confirmation right away. And in that email, there is a link to start shopping. After you get your code from step 1, use that link to order the burgers (described below0. It will automatically give you the 12 free 4 oz. burgers. The 12 free won't show up in your cart until you check out, so don't panic.

3. When you get your gift card code and go to the link through the step two link, you'll be at the Omaha Steaks website. In the left hand sidebar, click on the link for "burgers/brats" etc. Scroll down until you see the option for "eight 5 ounce steak burgers" for 12.99. Add that to your cart, then checkout. (Note: apparently the $12.99 option doesn't work for everyone, if you get through the next step and it doesn't work, go back and get the $14.99 option. It will cost you $2 more out of pocket, but you'll get that much more meat.)

4. At checkout, enter your address and info. You should see your burgers for $12.99 and the free burgers. They ask for payment....they added $13 for shipping but don't worry, that will come off once you enter that BIG ole' code from your gift card email. Before you enter your credit card (or paypal - one of the payment options is "pay by paypal" if that is easier for you), enter your gift card code and hit "apply" or whatever the button says next to that. That should take your total down to roughly $1.98.

How cool is this??? I'm excited to get my burgers in the mail...cooler and all!! Let me know if you do this deal!!

The Fall--NOT the season

Today I took the kids to their music class. We had to go to the restroom. Keegan discovered the button on the water fountain and wouldn't leave it. I went to get him and turned the corner. My foot hit some water and started sliding...it was kind of like slow motion (and I'm totally okay about being laughed at). My left foot started sliding (and yes I left skid marks) and I couldn't catch my balance. I am holding Keegan by the way, an extra 27 lbs. My right leg just gave way and it looked like I was doing a herkie (sp). It was my first herky or however you spell it. The lady at the desk looked up and saw me sitting on the ground in a herky and got a rag and came over. She cleaned up the water and made sure I was okay. There wasn't a lot of water, and my kids were both dry, thankfully. Anyway, I ended up filling out an incident report just in case. I'm fine, just embarassed, it's been a long time since I've fallen in public.

Pumpkin Carving

We carved a pumpkin with the kids over the weekend and went to a fall festival thing at a local business. We had a lot of fun. I'm blogging about it because I have to show you this picture. At some point, Addy gave Levi a sticker, can you find it? Well, obviously Levi forgot about it and was so into his pumpkin carving. I laughed as I took pictures because I knew he had no clue he had a little yellow sticker right on his forehead. I thought I'd share:) Addy enjoyed watching Daddy carve the pumpkin but was grossed out by the gooey "hair." Keegan could have cared less, he was playing on the swingset the whole time. I also included a picture of the fall festival at the nursery. They had a great time.

Date Night- Steve Fee Rocked

Okay so Levi and I had our date night tonight and we went to hear Steve Fee, Meredith Andrews, and Phil Wickham. We actually went because of Phil Wickham. Steve Fee rocked the stinkin' house. He was awesome. His spirit and passion and level of intensity was so cool. It really was awesome just to be there and get to worship with a totally different group of believers. I got tickled when he played, "We Shine." Fusion played his song, "We Shine" at camp. We did the fist pump and everything. I thought Jonathan came up with that but apparently, it's a Steve Fee thing because he was rocking the pump. Levi and I had a lot of fun. We stayed for a few of Phil Wickham's songs. He was good. His voice is killer good and super clear, it's really kind of freaky how good his voice is. We're old and tired so we headed on home.

Catalyst 2

I love Catalyst. We had a good service today. It started off as one of those days were I just kind of felt unsettled. I think Levi felt the same. When we walked in the theater (like 2 min. before start) there were 2 people in there...for real! By the time we finished the first song, there were around 50 in there. It felt much better:) Levi is still teaching from James. James doesn't play. He tells you like it is and doesn't care. Today talked about how rich some of the people were while there were innocent people dying. Levi gave the background of how rich and corrupt these landowners were. He talked a little about hoarding vs. saving. The point is where is your trust and where is your focus, on temporary (monetary) things or in the stability of a God who loves you. It's much more important to leave a legacy of trusting in the Almighty then to leave a legacy of wealth. I think it's cool that Levi tries to think practically when dealing with scripture and he said he kept coming back to where is said, "moths will eat your cloths." He said we might not be "rich" but most of us are rich in clothing. He challenged us to clean out our closets (especially winter) and bring it next week. It will be cool to see what everybody brings. I really liked that. We are not rich but we have things to give. We also have time and if we see a need and can meet it, I should. I'm going to try to live practically in that this week.

While we were singing today, I looked around at our crowd. It was so cool to see all different life stages, backgrounds, etc but to see everybody worshipping in one voice. I love Catalyst!

Parenting

It's hard to parent sometimes. It's hard to discipline. I want to do what's right for them to make them into responsible, respectful, loving beings. It truly does hurt me more than it hurts them (well maybe an equal amount). It's hard when you know your kids intentions but you still have to punish for their actions because they have to learn there are consequences for their actions. For me, I'm having to figure this all out. I caught myself tonight wanting to belabor a point because I was embarrassed by my kids' actions. I don't want to do that, I want to discipline them for the action not my embarrassment. Does that make sense? I also have to remember that kids are kids and it's my job to help shape them and teach them.

My kids truly are sweet beings. I was talking to a friend today about Addy and how her nature is to step back and be non-confronatational (most of the time). I don't want her to get pushed around so I try to watch out for her. She definitely has to have a level of safety and security before she let's loose. Even though, she's usually pretty mild mannered. Tonight she did something WAY out of character. I honestly think she was caught in the moment and got carried away. I hope she's learned from that experience.

And a bit of randomness, today we were in Sam's. This lady passed us that had red hair and it was obviously colored. It did look more like a burgundy. So, as she passed us, Addy says (in a not so quiet voice), "Mommy, look at her pink hair." I just tried to smile and tell her to keep those things to herself or whisper them to me. It was quite obvious that she really liked the pink hair. And a note on Keegan, he points for everything but he is starting to make words. He can now say bird and bed which sound very similar but are very different:)

Normal

Just enjoying an easy morning. We've had a good week, not too eventful. Addy played in her soccer game last night and did a lot better. She actually looked like she was having fun. I think she might be too young yet. I got tickled because there's all these 3-5 year olds running around the field. I look down to the other team's goal and they seriously have 4 kids in the goal...literally in the goal. Their strategy was to barricade the goal so a ball could not get in. Funny stuff!! Levi was in Oklahoma City all day yesterday so it seemed like a long day. Nothing much to report. I'm trying to get caught up on reading all the blogs I read and laundry...fun stuff around here:)

5 stinkin am

Okay I know there are those of you out there that enjoy waking up early. I am NOT one of you. I am NOT!!! But today I joined your ranks. I have really super missed my friend Xuan since she started teaching again. And I have missed the gym (that's a lie but I need to miss the gym). So, we met at the dreaded gym at 5:20. Our plan was 5am. I got there at 5:20 which was a huge success for me. We decided to do the treadmills since I missed the class, fortunately Xuan is a late being like myself so she too missed the class. I enjoyed our time chatting and sweating. We got to catch up which has been long overdue. I will admit I laid back down. I was afraid I wouldn't be able to go back to sleep but I did. It was like I had this bad dream. It was obviously dark when I left and it was still dark at 6:30 when I pulled back in. I felt like I dreamed it but I didn't. I bet I could make a lot of money if I could somehow market that. You can get exercise out of the way but it's like you slept right through it. Hmmm! Anyway, I was proud of myself for at least one day of early rising!

So I'm on a roll.....

I'm blogging a lot...I'm catching up I guess. We went to the Callahan's tonight for our first monthly gathering as Catalyst. We had a great time. Chris, Shari, and kiddos are awesome hosts and we have so much fun there. There was a great turnout and everyone looked like they were having a great time. The food was great and it never got quiet:) The guys hung out inside and watched the game, the ladies sat outside by the beautiful pool and talked. It would be nice to be able to have womanly conversation and not worry about the kiddos diving in the pool. I'm not complaining...and if I didn't have kids, I probably wouldn't be where the kids were. Just wanted to clarify....I know it's the stage where they are. I'm ready for more families with young kids to be at Catalyst...okay selfishly for right this second. It would be nice to have some other kid mommas up in the Barbie room with me. Levi did hang out for a while with me which was great. I'm making it sound like I was stuck in a room...I wasn't. I'm being overly dramatic. Shari and I spent some time outside letting the kids play. I like being around someone with older kids, I like hearing how they interact and hopefully will glean wisdom from that. So, I digress...you get the picture. I came in for the last part of the game and it looked like everybody was having a great time. I'm so glad. I love that Catalyst is accepting of everybody. I don't feel like I have to be something that I'm not. That is so free-ing.

Catalyst

Another great Sunday at Catalyst...it was great to see the theater feel full. Levi spoke out of James and talked about being a do it yourself Christian as opposed to an as you wish Christian. Basically living life submitting to God and seeking His input in our decisions instead of having a plan and then double checking with Him...kind of like an afterthought. We got a lot of compliments on the music. I realize that I'm the kind of person if I hit a bad note or if something doesn't go right, I kind of freak out inside myself and get way off focus. I caught myself doing that today and really had to pray that God would refocus me on the words that we were singing. We had more kids today which was awesome. It was a great day!

On the way to church Addy asked me about a friend of ours. Her name is Carla and she can't speak. Addy asked me why she couldn't speak words. I told her that God made Carla that way and that she was very special. She then said, "Why would God do that?" Then she told me that wasn't very nice of God to do that. I didn't quite know how to respond. I told her that God made each of us special and different. I told her that she could pray for Carla. So in the backseat, I heard her say, "Dear God, please give Carla words to speak." I was kind of in a rush so it took me a while to process. I want my kids to always know they can talk to God about stuff they don't understand and things they don't think are nice. I want there to be an open line of communication between us (as parents) and with God. It was a cute way to start my day.

Week

Ready for a random bloggy recap??

This week has been good. It felt a little more laid back which was nice. We went to the Little Gym one day for a playdate which is always a lot of fun. The kids just run around and the moms tend to spread out and watch each other's kids. That was the only playdate we did this week, except for our preschool.

We had Sue & Jeff over for dinner on Wednesday night. We had a lot of fun with them. They are both so much fun. Sue brought a delicious pumpkin cake..yumolicous!!

Tuesday was our 8th anniversary. We actually celebrated the Saturday before. Heidi & Jason (our friends from my mommy group) kept the kids so we could go out to eat. Heidi has a great book that gives date ideas. We did some questions from that book, I think it was called "A Trip Down Memory Lane." It was really neat. We spent time talking to them afterwards. Levi and Jason talked a lot which was really neat.

We did our family night at SpringCreek BBQ and then walked around Firewheel. It was nice. Addy loves her some Popcorn Papa. Speaking of Addy, she did a soccer scrimmage this week. I hope she gets some of Levi's athletic ability. She kind of stood in the middle of the field...at one point I think she bent down to pick flowers. In hindsight I think she might be a little young for soccer but she's so darn cute out there in her little outfit.

This week, everyone has thrown up except me...knock on wood. I was afraid we were going to miss our Couple's Game Night because Levi got sick yesterday. It passed and I think we're all okay. We had a great time with our friends and we learned a new game that is now a fav of our's.

Today Catalyst peeps did a serve project at Sharing Life which is a place that does food, clothing, and other help. It's a great organization. I didn't go (obvious reasons-KIDS). And Levi didn't go either, he was reffing. The cool thing about Catalyst is that we do not want to be a church that relies on Levi and/or Jonathan to "do" everything. It's neat to see our people get excited and have a vision to go after something. It's neat that things can still get done (and done well) without them. A guy in our church Jono is our Serve Coordinator, he has a great relationship with Sharing Life. He's also got some other things lined up after Sharing Life. It's neat that he's just taken this"job" and run with it. It's cool to have a church with people who will see a need and meet it. We've seen Catayst do that in many different situations. That's so cool I think that's part of teaching people to become self sufficient christians...okay that sounds weird. I mean doing things because they're growing and doing things motivated by Christ not by the church or guilt or expectations of anyone other than Christ. Hope that makes sense. I have to admit I kind of felt weird about neither of us being there but I've had to work through that. I felt weird because of expectations of the pastor doing everything and being at everything and I worry about what people think or say. I really want to fight that (in myself). I don't want to put expectations on Levi and I or Jonathan & Meagan or our people for that matter. I think in myself I've always felt like everybody should be at and support everything. I see things a little differently now. I can remember going to church twice on Sunday, Wednesday for youth group, Thursday for "gym night" which turned into game night. And we usually did something on the Saturday too. That's a lot of going. Maybe part of that was being a teenager and being able to keep up wtih that schedule. I can see how people would get worn out. I can also see how people would be inwardly focused with their group of church friends. I think there's a balance there and I hope at Catalyst people feel free to be involved and connected and to serve with their fellow Catalyst people but also to be in their community loving people too.

So, how's that for random???

Dinner

We are really encouraging our Catalyst Family to connect with each other and giving them the opportunity to do so over meals. I am all over this. I love having people over, I love going to people's houses. I am social and I love it. It also keeps the house picked up which is always good. We have a list of people from church who want to be invited and who want to invite. I am about 1/2 way through that list and it's been so cool to connect with these couples outside of church. I love being in a home and just sharing with them. So cool!!

Evening

Just recapping the last couple of days. Life is crazy and hectic and we all have so much going on. Tonight we had band practice. We're singing a song called "Healer" which has a crazy background but it's an awesome song. There's a line that says, "You are my portion." We teased a little bit about that word because it sounds like buffet language. I thought about it and I started really liking that word. What it said to me was that Jesus is the right amount at the right time. He knows what we need and He's it. I really like that song. You can check out some of the music from the Fusion site. I've been meaning to upload the youtube of our acoustic set. I really liked that week.

I've been thinking about that verse in the Bible that talks about bearing each other's burdens. That's a lot easier said than done. It's messy. It hurts. It's hard to bear a burden without taking ownership of the burden...at least for me it is. I'm trying to bear my friend's burdens. I want to be that kind of friend. I want to listen without having the answers (which is hard for me). I want to be what they need me to be but also be a Truth speaker...that sounds mystical. I just mean I want to be able to be honest and straightforward at the same time as being a compassionate listener. I hate it when my friends hurt. I want to be that friend and at the same time I want to have those kinds of people around me.

8 Years

Today is our 8 year anniversary. That is so crazy to me. We celebrated this weekend and did some "date questions" that caused us to reflect on past memories. It was really cool. We had a great time talking and reconnecting. In some ways, 8 years have flown by and in some ways it seems like we've been married forever. It's hard to remember back to not being married. So, woohoo for 8 years and we're looking forward to many more to come!

The Walls Are Closing In

Does it ever feel like the walls are closing in? Like you can't gain any ground? I am feeling that way this afternoon as I type this. I almost didn't type this but I'm going to. I'm just needed to get it off my chest. We paid a major vehicle repair bill this summer. We knew Addy's medical bills would come in but thought they'd be a couple of thousand dollars. Well, we got some of those bills and it looks like it will be twice as much as we thought. My van did this crazy thing this weekend (yeah, the one we just spent a lot of money on). We've had to visit the doctor for one child and may have to visit for the other shortly. I feel like I'm suffocating financially. We are frugal, we budget, we have followed a plan so that we would not be suffocating...but we are. I don't understand it and it makes me mad. Levi was reffing 3 days a week, I was tutoring 15- 18 hours at night. We never saw each other and we were always tired. We've cut back on that and refocused ourselves to spend more time as a family and as a couple which has been great. I knew that staying home with our kids would be a sacrifice and it's been okay so far and if there's one thing I know, I know we will be okay. I know that God will take care of us. He has done so in amazing ways. I've got to focus and rely on that. I know we'll be okay. I know we can make payment arrangements for the medical stuff and we'll be okay. I just needed to get all of that out before I exploded. Thanks for listening.

My Age

Okay so if you read my previous post and the comments from my husband and wonderful friend...I said I was 33. I AM NOT!! I am 32. Can you believe that I added a year to my age? Who does that? Thank you Levi & Andrea for your reminders that I am younger than I previously posted!!
Funny stuff!!

Friends- Past Present Future

When I think back on my life (thus far), I have been blessed with friends. It has been easy for me to make friends for the most part and I'm thankful for that too. When I moved here, I realized how important friendship really is to me (I knew it but I think I took it for granted). I joined a playgroup here and that really helped me because I again had an instant network of friends. It's hard to develop friendships that go beyond chit chat because normally there are kids everywhere so you might be mid-sentence and have to rescue your child or someone else's. There are a group of us that do a mini preschool together so we get to connect a little more. This past week, some of us were sitting around talking (while our kiddos were playing, yes we were watching them) . I realized that our conversation was not superficial, we were talking about our kids and their personalities and our struggles as moms and women and wives. We were talking about hurts that we experienced. I realized that these were women that were my friends not just moms in a playgroup. I am so thankful for them.

As our church has grown, I've met some wonderful friends that way which has been SUPER!! A lot of them are younger than us and are kidless but love us and our kiddos which means more to me than they know. One couple just found out they were pregnant with twins....woohoo...I am so excited for them. That got me thinking how cool it's going to be ot journey through parenthood with them. I thought of another couple that we've met who is older than us but we have so much fun with and how they can help mentor us through parenthood. And not just parenthood but the different stages of life. I'm excited about that for Catalyst.

I was talking to a friend from our church in North Carolina last week and we started talking about Addy's accident this summer. She shared that her child had been in a similar accident and how hard it was for her. Even, 3 months after that accident, I found myself tearing up because it was really traumatic for me. It was so good to hear her story and that she understood and knew exactly how it felt. For her, that was 10 years ago but in talking about it was still fresh. I was so glad to hear from her.

I am going to my 10 year college reunion in a month...I know you didn't think I was that old did you? I could be one of those really smart kids who graduated college at 15. I'm not..I'm 33 so it's that 10 year reunion time. I think back to those days and I had a wonderful group of girl friends, we were called the Yo Yo Mamas. That's a story in itself but I love those girls and I am so excited about seeing them.

I guess I'm just reflecting on how important it is to connect with others and for me it is vital. God tends to put the right people in our lives for the right reason and purpose. I think that's so cool.

WOOHOO for Levi

Levi and I are going on a cruise in January (I know how excited are we, especially b/c it was a gift). We are PUMPED!! Anyway, we knew we both had passports...but had no clue where they were. I looked everywhere I thought they might be...no luck. We had a billion boxes in Levi's office closet. That was our last hope. Levi just went through them and found our passports...yeehaw!! Passports are like $100 or so so this saved us a couple hundred. I do have to figure out how to change my last name...hopefully that will be easy enough. Yeah for Levi!!

Check In

Just checking in. This week is half over and we're in October...how the heck did that happen? Goodness:) Let me fill you in on the week. It's been good. Levi and I are revamping our time which is a good thing and we've had a good week. Monday night we did a pastors and wives cookout with some friends in McKinney. We had a great time getting to know some other pastors in the area. It was fun. That morning the kids had their performance week for their music class. They both got in front of their class by themselves and sang a song (okay so maybe saying "sang" is a stretch but they both enjoyed the microphone very much). I was so proud:)

Tuesday we ended up taking Addy to the doctor because her cough will not stop. The doctor thinks she has asthma...which makes me really sad. Now she's on antibiotics, allergy meds, and a nebulizer until we can kick the cough. I feel so bad for her. The doctor said she can still go and be active so we headed to her soccer practice and then to Chickfila for our family night. We had a great time. I went out for a late Mom's Night Out at Snuffers. It was good to be with my mommy friends and just talk. Xuan came so we got to catch up which is sometimes hard to do with all the munchkins around.

Today I met my new friend hotmommy for lunch. I think we might share a brain...we've got some major connections going on. We had a great time and it's good to realize that the world isn't as big and disconnected as it sometimes feels. Thanks girl...can't wait to get together again.

It's been a good, full week. Tonight we're having some friends over and are looking forward to that time too:)