Life With The Stanfords

"That's My King!"

 

He lives! He lives! Christ Jesus lives today!
He walks with me and talks with me along life's narrow way.
He lives! He lives! Christ Jesus lives today!
You ask me how I know He lives?
He liiiiiives within my heart! (If you're Southern Baptist, you have to draw out "lives" for a few beats.)

I LOVE JESUS! Did I say that too loud? I don't usually get all evangelical on my blog. It's mostly "life is just so daily" musings. But this is the season of great rejoicing for all people. We celebrate Jesus' death and resurrection all year, but especially this month.

You'll notice my blog has taken a particularly "religious" turn this month. Oh, how I hate the word "religious". It has taken on such a negative connotation with people. Let's just say I'm wearing my faith on my sleeve this month.

All the songs on my playlist have to do with the life, death and resurrection of our Savior, Jesus Christ. There's a little something for everyone on there. You can get your gospel on with Kirk Franklin and Fred Hammond, rock a little with Third Day and chill out with Jadon Lavik and others.

I hope you'll take a few minutes and play the S.M. Lockridge sermon in the upper-right hand corner. I heard this sermon for the first time last year and just loved it! It knocks my socks off. There is another great sermon by the late Reverend Lockridge called, "That's My King!" Please go here to listen. Amazing.

Last of all, if you don't know my Jesus, find me. I will be happy to introduce you to Him. He is THE Way, THE Truth, and THE Life. No one gets eternal life except through Him.

Enjoy this wonderful season soaking up God's grace and mercy. Oh, what love!

You weird kids crack me up!

 

Quick post today. Just want to say again, "My kids crack me up!" Claire came in today and told me that Ethan came to her crying, "I miss Catfish!" Claire said, "What?" Ethan said, "Owen squashed my caterpillar that I named Catfish with a red boat!" Oh my, a caterpillar named Catfish. What a mind!

I was at the computer (shocker) and heard Owen right outside my window playing some sort of homemade drum kit singing, "Star Wars the Clone Wars. Oh, Star Wars the Clone Wars!" You'll just have to make up your own melody to those lyrics.

I love, love, love my weird little peeps.

Chance, indiscriminate, unplanned, or...

...the ever-popular "random", if you will. Have you noticed how popular the word "random" has become? Don't get me wrong, I love it. It goes far in explaining "I don't really feel like explaining" stuff. Kind of like "whatever", which I also love.

Anyhoo (another popular blog word), here are some random pics from my family this week. Enjoy.

Mousse and hairspray? What do you think? Too much???

 

Look, Ma'! A lizard!

 

Have you ever smelled clover flowers? I hate what clover does to my yard, and yet, if we could just bottle this smell, we would have Spring Eternal.

 

Do you think Owen adores his big brother? Yeah, I think so.

 

Claire has decided to go into Witness Protection as Ellie Mae Clampett to hide from her sixth grade research paper on computers. I think I'll go with her.

 

Some random, and otherwise, funny things heard this week:

Owen to Miss Hannah (the babysitter): "Do you go tee-tee before you go to sleep?"

Ethan to me as he was about to get swats: "That's no fair. Owen bit me as hard as a cow!" (I don't remember a time when Ethan was bitten by a cow. Anyway.)

Blythe, on my mystery date: "You were eating pondue, huh?"

Claire to me: "Why don't you write my research note cards for me?" LOL, ROTFL!!!

Have a great weekend!

Spring Sewing

Just finished my second Spring sewing project. I bought this pattern and fabric when Blythe was a baby. Blythe missed out on this outfit, but that's O.K., she's getting an outfit from fabric I bought for Claire when Claire was five. If I ever finish ripping out seams, that is. My seam ripper and I are best friends right now. Dang - I hate rippin' seams.

Anyway, at least this outfit was easy and fun to sew. It's reversible, too. The pattern is Simplicity 8948. Look how sweet:

I love the covered buttons.

I really like the back of it, too.

 

This is such a classic baby pattern; one you can't find "store bought" anymore. And again, it's my favorite kind of sewing - low investment, high return.

More cute sewing to come (I hope)!

Evelyn Daredevilyn

Our baby girl is 15 months old now. She is too big for her britches and too smart for her own good. Evelyn knows more ways to get in trouble than any baby I know. She's very creative about it. For example,

She likes to stick her fat little finger down into all of my lipsticks - not the ugly colors, just the ones I actually like.

She likes to climb up on top of our kitchen table and eat whatever's there OR paint/color/mark whatever's there.

She thinks it's fun to spray Clorox Clean Up on her clothes. The girl likes polka dots.

Climbing up onto the top of the boy's bunk bed is one of her favorite pastimes. She's just making sure her mama's heart is working. It is.

The number one favorite activity of Miss Evelyn Kate, though, is swirling her hand around in the toilet. This wouldn't be too bad, except that we have two boys in the house who don't always flush. Yeah, ugh! Don't you just love Clorox Wipes?

Anyway, this hobby of Evelyn's got her into a little trouble yesterday. When she's splashing around in the toilet, she gets water all over the floor. While I was on the phone, she must have wiped out on the wet bathroom floor. She was wailing.

Evelyn had fallen and cut the inside of her mouth with her teeth. I don't know what she cut the outside of her mouth with, but it left an almost perfect semicircle right under her bottom lip. I had to put on my game face again.

We went to the ER and came home with two ER teddy bears (that makes three in our collection now). We also got two more prizes. A pretty, pretty ER bracelet:

And three pretty, pretty stitches:

Evelyn was a trooper. She hardly cried at all. I wish I thought this would prevent her from playing in the toilet again, but I am a realist.

Now I'm wondering who's going to get the next ER teddy bear. I'm betting on Ethan, Blythe or Owen since they're all into climbing really high in our trees now. Evelyn could beat them, of course, since she knows how to get to the knives now. Any wagers?

Mystery Date Part Two...

When last I blogged, Jade and I were heading down the interstate to dinner. Where? I don't know. We exited College, which was a good sign. There are tons of great restaurants around there. We turned right on Corporate Blvd., an even better sign. Mansur's and Sullivan's are both on Corporate Blvd. - really nice restaurants. 

We passed up Mansur's, so that wasn't the place. Finally, Jade told me we were going to The Melting Pot. Wahoo!!! I love that place. The last time I was there was right before I met Jade - about 10 years ago. The Melting Pot is a fondue restaurant - so much fun.

We were led toward the back of the restaurant. I thought they were going to seat us by the bathroom. That is not cool. I glanced into the back room and saw beautiful paper birds hanging from the ceiling. I thought to myself, "I want to eat in that room!" I love bird motifs. Much to my delight, we walked right into the bird room, and...

Complete shock! My family had conspired to give me a surprise 40th birthday party!

My actual birthday is in December, but so are most of the rest of my family's birthdays. So my 40th birthday came and went without any fanfare. Or so I thought.

So many thoughts raced through my head at one time:

Cathy, my friend the longest, was there with her husband, from Houston!

Janna, my brother's wife, was there from Arkansas!

Nichole, Jade's sister, was there from New Jersey!

My church friends were there!

My sister, Candice, was there!

Where are my kids???

I have never been so surprised in my whole life! My family had been keeping this secret from me since December. They are sneaky, I tell you. I'll be keeping my eye on them from now on.

My sister was the mastermind. She's the best sister ever (even without the party)!

Look at this gorgeous invitation she made:

My sister knows me so well. The decorations were perfection. My stepmother, Gay Nan, cut out all of the beautiful birds hanging from the ceiling:

Look at this adorable banner!

Look at my cake! (That picture cracks me up)

You cannot believe the wonderful presents my friends and family gave me. Every single one was perfect. Doug and Cathy gave me the cutest lunchbox. Cathy made a list of 40 memories she has of me and her. I've been looking at that list every day since. Priceless!

My friend, Suzie, couldn't be there, but she sent me a purse hanger for when I go out to eat. Have you seen those? They're silver, and you use them to hang your purse from the table, so you don't have to sit it on the floor or hang it from your chair. So cool!

 

Michael and Brigitt gave me some "faw-faw" smelling stuff from Victoria's Secret. It smells like apples. I love it! Oh, and a beautiful pearl bracelet.

Jade's family had already given me a birthday present, but they brought me the most awesome chocolates (they're almost gone already)!

Michael and Sharon brought me a David Arms print.

I love his art. I cannot wait to frame this and hang it in my house!

My sister and her husband bought me the most beautiful bird box from Anthropologie filled with soaps and adorable little ceramic dishes.

And here are my loving parents, Dad and Gay Nan. They gave me this party. Wow.

 

Ya'll, we had the best time ever! Eating fondue is so much fun.

We were all dipping our food and trying all the fondues and talking and laughing. It was just perfect. My two favorite things are eating and talking with people I love. I got both for my birthday! What an amazing night.

My husband is beyond description. He stood in front of everyone and spoke to me. I wish I could tell you everything he said to me and about me that night. The sweetest things you have ever heard. Why does God love and bless me so much? I am not worthy.

Candice made a CD for everyone to take home with my top ten favorite songs on it. She tricked me into giving her this list a couple of months ago. Actually, it is impossible to pick just 10 favorite songs. There are too many good ones.  How awesome is this?:

I will never forget this night as long as I live. My friends and family are my greatest gifts. It was the best party I've ever been to, and it was mine! I was so honored. I am so loved. Thank you, God. My cup runneth over.

  

"Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy..." --Philippians 1:2-4 

Mystery Date Part One...

I forgot to tell you guys, but a few weeks ago, Jade told me that he wanted to take me on a mystery date. He told me to buy a nice dress and not to worry about the kids. He was going to have someone pick them up so I could relax and get ready!

Girls, I was giddy. I felt like I was in high school and the captain of the football team had asked me out. I didn't know how to act. I just kept smiling and giggling.

Well, Saturday night was the night for our mystery date. Sure enough, my sister, Candice, arrived at 2:30 p.m. to pick up all the kids and take them to her house. My house was so quiet. I cut my fingernails AND my toenails. I even had time to take off the four-month old polish on my toes and repaint them. This was indeed a special night.

Jade and I left around 5:00 p.m. and drove to C.C.'s Coffee for some cappuccino. C.C. stands for Community Coffee, which is basically the state coffee of Louisiana. It tastes better than Starbuck's, I promise. My favorite flavor right now is White Chocolate Raspberry.

Anyway, my night was already complete because I seldom get to drink fancy coffee. We could've just called it a night right there. But there was more to come.

We drove downtown to the State Capitol grounds to walk around and enjoy the beautiful weather. I felt a little conspicuous in my silk dress and high heels, but if you know me at all, you know it didn't bother me long. I think this dress got shorter after I tried it on at the store, and when I put on heels, it drew up even more. Maybe I can sew some lace around the bottom before I wear it again.

The capitol grounds is where Jade proposed to me. The first time we ever went somewhere together we rode here on his motorcycle. So, it's kind of a sentimental spot for us.

It's always odd to go back to that place and think about all the things that have happened to us since that night. Babies, moves, life.

The state capitol grounds are so lovely. Lots of people have their pictures taken there, and we saw several people doing just that. Here's a picture of a bust of George Washington in front of the State Capitol:

Here's the dedication and some fierce toenails:

Our state capitol used to be the tallest in the nation. I'm not sure if it still is. Huey P. Long, a very colorful character, made sure it was the tallest when it was built. Huey was our governor for a long time. Movies have been made about him. He's just one in a huge cast of colorful Louisiana characters. There are some really good books about Louisiana politics. I'm not sure you would even believe them if you don't live here.

Here's another popular character in Louisiana - the nutria rat.

I say that sarcastically, because nutria rats are eating our coastal wetlands into extinction. They are not indigenous to Louisiana. Do you ever put Tabasco sauce on your food? Mr. Edmund McIlhenny, creator of Tabasco sauce, imported nutria rats to his plantation in New Iberia in 1937 to breed them. When a hurricane destroyed their cages, they escaped to the bayous and multiplied to about 20 million. Needless to say, they're a problem here. People get paid to kill them. Residents have also been encouraged to eat them. Several cook-offs have been hosted to try to make them an attractive meal. And here's what I say to that, "Eeeeewww!" As if crawfish weren't grody enough.

But I ramble. We left the state capitol grounds to go eat dinner. I had no idea where we were going. I was just enjoying being with Jade. Ya'll, he is so fine. Here he is in his suit:

I hoped we were going to eat somewhere really cool. Before Jade and I got married, he thought Applebee's was a nice restaurant. Since then, he has learned that "nice restaurant" means different things to different people. At this point, I trust him to pick a truly "nice restaurant". He was wearing a suit after all. So, where were we going??? Stay tuned...

Most Christlike

Ethan and Blythe have been participating in Upward Basketball and Cheerleading. Their awards ceremony was last weekend. You should have seen little Blythe on stage doing her pom routine. Here's a picture from earlier in the year:

I wish I had a picture from the Awards routine, but it was too dark. She was so cute, and she did a really good job of keeping up - for a five-year old.

Ethan had a really good basketball season. He had never played basketball before - hadn't even held a basketball - when the season started. I was really worried about how he was going to do.

His coaches were so sweet. They were always encouraging and positive. Their investment did wonders for Ethan's self-confidence. Ethan got better as the season continued. Toward the end, he could even dribble the ball!

Ethan always looked forward to getting his stars at the end of the games. Each player got a different award, like Best Effort, Most Sportsmanlike, Most Improved, and the highest award - Most Christlike.

At the awards ceremony, each coach gave out their Most Christlike Award for the year to a player on their team. We were so proud when Ethan's coach called his name! He got to go up on stage and get a certificate. It was very exciting!

It's so nice to get these little affirmations about my kids every now and then, because this is what Mr. Christlike normally looks like:

Would it be wrong to carry this certificate around with me for the rest of his lfe and show it to him every time he is not Christlike? That wouldn't be very Christlike, would it? Perhaps I will let the Holy Spirit handle that for me.

Redneck swimming...

Well, last week it came a toad-stringer. That's what my Daddy calls a lot of rain. It rained and then it rained some more. And it left us with a big ol' pond in our backyard.

 

My kids naturally assumed they would go swimming in it. Their Papa naturally agreed. I naturally stayed out of it. It was really damp and in the low 60s - not good swimsuit weather. Right?

     

Right. The neighbor kids brought their mini trampoline over so everyone could bounce into the ditch.

   

Doesn't that water look inviting???

 

I'm trying to remember a time when this would've been really great for me. You know, jumping into dirty, muddy, cold, ditch water with grass clippings all in it. Brrrr! I'm gettin' the heebie jeebies just thinking about it.

 

But gosh, that picture makes me smile. They don't know yet how totally disgusting that water is. They don't care how itchy and cold they're going to be when they're done. They're utterly free. And happy.

 

And I will be too, once I get all those tiny, little grass clippings out of every nook and cranny in my house.

Oh, a silly hat, a silly hat...

When Spring gets here and school really starts to be a grind, when you just can't force yourself to count by two's one more time, when reciting the 72 phonograms of the English language gives you a nervous tic, you gotta break out!

You gotta make a silly hat!

So we did.

The hardest part of this craft is finding a grocery store that will give you some brown paper bags. Then you just roll up the bottom of them and staple them to fit your child's head. It's easier to let them decorate them beforehand, though.

And if your kids are like Blythe, who thinks, "If a little glue is good, then a lot must be great!", you might want to monitor the gluing on of embellishments. Three days later, her glue still wasn't dry! And I keep finding pom-poms in the strangest places.