Starting college?

Have you noticed all the going-back-to-school commercials targeted at college freshmen and their parents that have cropped up in the past few months? I've started to see a trend that not only encourages but also sanctions the irresponsible and risky lifestyle of college students that the media has been so fond of portraying. The latest Target commercial, for example, features a student's mother (in all her maternal naivete) buying her son a bed comforter (which he subsequently uses to hide the fact that he's making out with a girl at a football game), a dorm-sized refrigerator (which he packs with Red Bull and other dangerously overly-carbonated drinks), and a desk lamp (which he uses as a blacklite to pimp out his raucous dorm room party). The last scene of the commercial shows the son calling his mom up, seemingly to report what a good student he's being.

Now, I went to a Christian college. My roommates never had boys sleep over. I never went to parties featuring beer kegs or drinking games. I got in trouble during my freshman year for overspending on my debit account, and I gained way too much weight on french fries and other junk food. So I'm not saying that I made the best choices as a college student. But the idea portrayed in these commercials that parents should stay blissfully ignorant while unleashing their irresponsible kids on the world to sew their wild oats is just absurd! I'm a big supporter of kids going away to college (because I've seen so many people my own age who lived at home during college or didn't attend college at all and now are living dead-end lives), but I also believe that with so much freedom comes a butt-load of responsibility. I think it's unfair for adults to expect and encourage kids to live irresponsibly during the first big test period of their lives. So to all my friends starting college this year: MAKE GOOD CHOICES!

Saying goodbye to Lucy

After three and a half years of having Lucy as a part of our family, Matt and I have decided that it's time to find a new home for her. We've been realizing over the past few months that we haven't been very fair to her in terms of giving her the amount of attention, play, and exercise that a lab really needs to thrive and have a happy life.

I'm sad that we're giving her away. She's been a terrific dog for the kids--she's gentle and unobtrusive and she lets the kids get away with anything! She's obedient, easy to train, and very apologetic when she does something wrong. She never messes with anything that's not hers. Really, we couldn't have asked for a better dog.

But I'm also happy because she'll be going to live with my sister-in-law's family. My niece and nephew fell totally in love with Lucy when we lived in Jersey during June, and my sister-in-law and her husband are really looking forward to having a dog again (especially one who's already house-broken). They have a huge fenced-in backyard where Lucy can run free and since they've owned dogs before, they know what having a dog entails.

We've been talking to Abbie over the past few weeks that Lucy is going to live with her cousins, and that we'll get to see her once in a while. I think she understands. Still, I think she is really going to miss her. I think I will too. Thanks for being a great dog for us, Lu, and we hope you love your new home!

I love Shepard Smith.

Wherein I gush with parental pride

I am so proud of my daughter. It is exciting to see her personality emerging and the goodness of her heart being expressed throuh her actions.

She loves to share with her little sister. Although sometimes this is problematic (say, when there's an extra Easter basket or rice heat pack to share), Abbie is getting really good at making sure Karis has a toy to play with. Whenever Karis cries, Abbie is the first to bound over to her, coo "Oh, Karis!" and give her a comforting hug and kiss (before commanding, "Mommy, feed Karis!"--ha!)

Abbie has also been practicing doing very grown-up things lately. She's working on getting her baby doll into a nap routine; she puts her in a diaper, nurses the baby, then puts the baby to sleep in Karis' bassinet. Then she announces to me in a whisper "Baby sleeping." The best part, of course, is watching her sit in my rocking chair and nurse her baby. I must be raising her right!

And then there's her frequent desire to pray. As a family, we've always prayed before meals and before bed, but recently I've added prayers once or twice a day for sick people in our church, or just people who are on my heart. Apparently, this has inspired Abbie. Sometimes in the middle of a meal she'll reach out her arms to Matt and me and say "Pray!" Then we all hold hands, bow our heads (yes, she bows her head too) and thank Jesus or tell Him we love Him. Sometimes I'll say, "I love you, Jesus" and she'll add "SO much." !!!!!!!!!!! I love that she understands who Jesus is and knows that she can talk to Him anytime she wants. (So to all the nay-sayers against infant baptism--yes, my 2 year old has indeed been brought into the grace of God and is becoming a disciple of Christ.) She challenges me to grow closer to the Lord, too...and to have faith like a child.

What can I say?

This is the question that has kept me from posting during the last few days/weeks. I'm now married to a high-profile man (relatively speaking) and I have no idea who's reading my blog, and if or how much my opinions, frustrations, disagreements, ramblings, etc. will "reflect" on him, and in what way. I feel like I should just lay it out there: this is my blog and the opinions I express are wholly my own. If you're reading this to spy on my husband, you've come to the wrong place. And if you read something that insults you or ruffles your feathers, talk to me about it--don't go to him.

Don't get me wrong--I love Dingmans Ferry. Everyone we've met has been friendly and hospitable, and we've felt very welcomed. The area is much more remote than I'm used to, but it's beginning to grow on me. The more I see of it (one of the church guys took Matt and me off-roading in his Jeep on Monday--SO awesome) the more I fall in love with the area. I've seen more deer and turkies than I have in years, not to mention the family of Canada geese crossing the road in a straight line and the tiny turtle sunning itself on a rock. It's really charming.

And the parsonage is surprisingly wonderful. It's so much bigger than our Wilmore house, with so many closets and kitchen cabinets we barely know what to do with them!

I guess I just needed to lay my cards on the table. Ever since I said some negative stuff in a previous post about Matt not getting commissioned for ordination (which I changed after hearing indirectly from a blog lurker through Matt that it was a touchy subject and I shouldn't bring it up), I've felt hesitant about expressing my opinions, especially if they're negative. Especially about the UM church. And believe me, I have a LOT of disagreements with the UM church! However, I believe that the Lord called Matt to be a minister of the Gospel through the UM church, at least for this time in our lives. And when we got married, I promised Matt that his people would be my people.

But I digress.

Bottom line: I like it here. I love the church and the house, and I'm really looking forward to serving DFUMC as a layperson while seeing how the Lord uses Matt's gifts and talents for His glory and the Church's edification. However, I reserve the right to express my opinions in this blog, and respectfully ask that anyone reading/lurking would respect that right without assuming that what I think/say reflects negatively on my husband in any way.

Thank you for reading. I look forward to you journeying with me (although silently, which seems to be the case for many of you!) as I continue to grow as a person, wife, mother, and daughter of God in the coming months.

My Review of Nature Babycare Diapers 30 Ct - Size 4

Toys R Us

Nature babycare is the result of many years of intense work and development. The first award winning ECO-friendly high-performance diaper, based on new green technology, protected by a Swedish patent. The diaper is soft, thin, comfortable, & the ultra-thin construction gives a non-bulky fit,...

Nature Babycare Diapers 30 Ct - Size 4

WOW--no blowouts!

Mom of two under 2 Pike County, PA 6/27/2009

 

5 5

Pros: Highly Absorbent, No poop blow-outs, Snug Fit

Cons: Stiff

Best Uses: Infants

Describe Yourself: Parent of Two or More Children

My 6 month old daughter was leaking through her cloth diapers at night, so we had been using Pampers. Unfortunately, every SINGLE time she pooped, the Pampers leaked. So gross. I decided to give Nature Babycare a try. AMAZING! Highly absorbent, and absolutely no poop blowouts (the leg gussets contain the mess while not being too tight). I'm thrilled that this chlorine-free, biodegradable diaper is comparable in performance to even the most expensive brand of traditional disposable diapers. From now on, when my baby's not in cloth, she'll be in Nature Babycare!

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End of Intermission.

In some ways, our short stay here in Jersey has been sort of like the intermission in the Beatles' movie Help!



Here's a brief wrap-up of what's been going on with us during the past few weeks:

1. We sold our house! In other words, we've officially been homeless for two weeks now. Let me tell you, it was a weird experience closing on a house via overnight mail!

2. We bought a minivan. But when you see me driving around in a 2009 grey-blue Honda Odyssey wih leather seats and power everything, don't write me off as the average soccer mom. According to Matt, our kids will never, EVER, play soccer. :-)

3. Staying up late, sleeping in late. We may not be healthy, wealthy, or wise, but we sure are rested and quite happy!

4. Abbie has finally grown out of her bedtime separation anxiety. Now when we put her to bed, we sing a few songs, pray, then tuck her in and say goodnight. And she goes right to sleep! Relief.

So our intermission will come to an end on Sunday when we caravan up to Dingmans Ferry to move into the parsonage. Woot!