Let Your FAITH by bigger than your fear.

Dear Aslan,

You may be wondering why I am only a picture on the phone right now, but I have my reasons.  You're only 2 years old and you won't understand what's happening in the world right now and you probably won't remember this time next year.  For the next few weeks, the world has stopped and I'm not with you to tell you about it.  Here's why.

Taylor and I made a commitment to go on a mission trip with our church to New York City. Taylor raised money by only asking for money for Christmas.  He gave up trying out for basketball at school, so he could go on the trip.  We wrote letters to friends and family asking for prayers and donations.  About a week before the trip, we were able to pay for our parts in full, which was a blessing in itself.

Reports on the news kept saying that New York City was a hotbed for the  COVID-19 or the Coronavirus as it's commonly called.  Pictures of people wearing masks and gloves bombarded us every time we turned on the news. I asked Taylor on a daily basis if he still wanted to go on the mission trip. He would always say yes.  I gave him one more chance to step out gracefully the day before the trip, but the response I got was, "Mom, I'm not afraid! Let's go!"  accompanied by a teenage eye roll and some Kansas City Chiefs Superbowl Champion flair.  

So, last Saturday morning your brother and I headed out to New York with 13 other of our friends in Christ. We spent all day traveling and made it to our final destination around 6:30 New York time that evening.

In a city that never sleeps, it seemed a bit concerning.  I had prepped Taylor for a busy time.  Streets would be full, taxis and cars would honk a lot and public transportation would be standing room only.  The sidewalks would be packed and the restaurants and other tourist attractions would be busy.  That wasn't the case. 

New York felt like a ghost town in more ways than one.  I had only been there once before, but it was nothing like I remembered at all.  On our first day of sight seeing, we didn't really get to see much of anything.  The places where we wanted to look around were empty.  The Freedom Tower was chained off with signs.

We could only see things from a distance and had to keep our distance from everyone else.

Wall Street was even empty except for one corner souvenir shop.

Later that day, we ended up in Times Square after a brief walk in Central Park.  That could have been the perfect opportunity to share Jesus with so many people, but there was no one to be seen.  Even Broadway was dark and that broke my heart since I'm a big fan of theater, music and the arts. Taylor didn't seem to mind, though.

We ended up eating at a place called Junior's which is famous for cheesecake.  We all sat around the empty restaurant laughing and talking and having a good time with the servers who were there and smiling, trying to keep spirits up for a little bit longer until they had to shut their doors to the public the next day.  I remembered going to Junior's on my trip before and having to wait to get a seat.  We walked right in and were taken straight to a table.  This kind of service was unheard of in such a popular place like this.

The best part of my day was a sermon that we heard in the morning at a smaller church.  It didn't matter that size of the church, the message was clear and it was about missions.  We cannot fear what we do not now.  We were called to serve even in tough times and we are meant to share the love of Jesus with everyone.  The overall message in my opinion was "God's got this."  When I walked out the doors that afternoon, I was ready to serve in any way that I could.

So, the next day we all got up and went on our first mission: Going to Jackson Heights to teach English as a Second Language and help the community in any way we could.  The subway and the bus we took were pretty much empty except for our team, but that didn't stop us.  We went into the community center, got our assignments and were ready and waiting for anyone that showed up to learn English.  I was fortunate enough to be placed in a classroom with six ladies in a citizenship class.  Teaching is my thing, Mr. Aslan, so I felt right at home helping these ladies learn what they needed.  The men that went with us were not as fortunate to get to hang out with our new friends, but they(including Taylor) did an excellent job cleaning and sanitizing the center for anyone who was going to come in that day.

We spent the rest of the day walking around the community, going on a scavenger hunt, cleaning the park in the community, and taking a prayer walk.

Your brother had no problems going up to someone who didn't even speak his language to try to ask for help with scavenger hunt items.  He had no fear in that category.  He also had no fear when people came into the community center that evening and talked to whoever he could despite the language barrier.

The plan was to stay in New York for 5 days, but due to the city shutting down everywhere( as well as at home), it was decided that we take a flight home the next day. 

 Our mission team agreed that it was the safest and reasonable thing to do, although most of us thought that our work in New York City wasn't done, yet.

Looking back, I was one of those people on my team.  I didn't get the chance to share with anyone while I was in New York, but this is what I'm coming back with.  In the short time that we were in New York City, I did get the chance to fellowship with fellow believers.  We talked, we laughed, we shared with each other.  Some of us ate cheesecake.  Others of us ordered food we couldn't find anywhere in our small town of Kearney, MO.We even played a crazy card game together.

Most of all, Aslan, I saw who your brother is.  In between bathing in hand sanitizer ever 2 minutes, your brother is fearless.  He has no problems talking with anyone, anytime, or any place. Even before we got on our first plane on our way to New York, he was talking to the lady in baggage claim who was from Jordan.  He talked with the leader of Urban Nations, he talked with complete strangers in the church we attended.  He showed grace to everyone he came into contact with, but at a social distance of 6 feet or more, of course. You may not get to see how fearless he is  everyday since he's a lot older than you, and is on his own mission to leave home after he graduates high school, but it is one of his best qualities.

Through all of our trip this verse ran through my mind on a daily basis: "For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, and of love, and of self-control (2 Timothy 1:7).

So, remember that even though you're a few more miles away from us than I want you to be, we are staying away to protect our family.  I get daily updates and phone calls with Facetime and Zoom.  We'll be together again, soon, little lion cub.  

I just want to you to know that your brother and I were trying our best to show the love of Jesus to people in an area that fear has seemed to seep into their daily lives at this time in our country. 

Keep smiling and we'll see each other in a few more days.

Love,

Mama 

P.S. We all did learn a valuable lesson from our friend, Amanda.  Just because you are behind a New Yorker, don't follow her everywhere. Find a laugh everywhere you go.

O-M-G

Two days back from vacation and I finally have a chance to sit down and recover (and not fold the million loads of lake laundry)/The eight day vacation was somewhat relaxing(during naptimes).  I finished 3 books, made dinner and ate some yummy food on Chopped nights.
So, now that vacation is over, it is time for me to make a list of some things to remember.  If you plan on vacationing at the Lake of the Ozarks, please take note.

13. Thank your youngest sister-in-law for teaching your oldest child new phrases such as OMG.
12. When meeting your caravan at Bass Pro Shop, be sure that they have left before you and not returned to their house three or more times for missing items.
11. If you rent a lake house and decide to rent a boat, make sure that the lake house STILL has a dock.
10. If afore mentioned boat is all ready rented, DO NOT under any circumstances, trust Craigslist.
9. When vacationing with 14 people and expecting a fish fry, be sure that at least 2 people(male and/or female) are willing to clean and skin any catfish that is caught.  Blank stares and pointing are not acceptable.
8. Be sure to make nice with the neighbors who were terrified of the previous renters.  They can (and did) call the cops on you on your way to Big Surf Water Park.
7.If one drain is clogged in the lake house, it won't be long before several of the other sinks start leaking--kitchen, bathroom, etc. etc.
6. DO NOT attempt to potty train any child( let alone 3) under the age of 3 in the lake house.
5. If you do attempt to continue the potty training of three children, make sure the washer and dryer are working for the several thousand mishaps.OOPS!  Some snakes don't make it to the toilet.  In fact, some snakes slide all over the floor and have to be cleaned up by an ill fated vacuum.
4. On the day of returning the rented boat(not from Craigslist), do not freak out about using a dock that was next door unoccupied until that day.  If they haven't said anything for the past three days, chances are they still don't care on the fourth day.  In fact, the people occupying the house probably won't even answer the door.
3. Do not attempt to modify the way Hand and Foot is played.  For some relatives, change is not good.  Red threes were not meant to be thrown on the floor!
2. On the return trip home, make sure all tires are good.  Be sure to notice any bulges that may cause your steering wheel to wobble.  Trust the person that lives out in the "country" to take you to Orscheln's to get a tire change.  Apparently, not all Walmarts have a tire center.
1.  Finally, be sure to update your GPS so it can find your lunch destination on the way home.  If you don't, you may cause bodily harm to the passenger and or driver of the lead car in the caravan.

And that my friends, was the last vacation of the season.  Taylor starts school next week and Josiah the week after.  What am I going to do with all the time on my hands??? I think I got it covered. :o)

Ides of March 14 days early

Can I have a do over?  This is how my day went. 
Got the boys ready and took Taylor to preschool.  Then, I stayed and talked to his teachers and a friend of mine until 9:30.  Whoops, I did have some errands to run. So, now, my three hours to get stuff down with one kid just got knocked down to 2 hours.  So, Josiah and I cruise to Babies R Us because we are trying to locate a potty alarm for Taylor.  I tried to explain to three teenage guys what I needed.  Note to Babies R US human resources: please find employees that know a little bit about children BEFORE you hire them.  I'm pretty sure I was talking to three deer caught in headlights.  Long story short, Babies R Us does not have potty alarms.  Then, we went to Kohl's and I finally found the right size shirt I've been looking for for a birthday present since December.  At least I got something accomplished. 
After Kohl's, Siah and I head over to Target to get a couple of items.  I got in line and realized I forget something, so I get back out of line to look for it.  They didn't have what I wanted, so back to line I stroll.  I get in line and the powers that be person tells the cashier break time right before it is my turn to check out.  There was NO ONE behind me.  Could she have waited until she scanned my two items?  Apparently not.
I look at my watch and it's 11:15.  SHOOT!!  Gotta get back to Kearney, so I'm not late picking Taylor up.  Josiah and I drive home, no problems.  Which is amazing since I have to drive down 152 in Liberty around lunchtime.  We get home, I get out and hear SSSHHHHHHH!  Guess what, I have a tire losing air.  Not just any tire.  The same exact tire I had patched the day after our lovely snowstorm last week.  So, after assessing the situation, I take Josiah inside to go potty. At this point I take off my jacket and look down.  I forgot to change my shirt this morning!!! I'm wearing my pajama shirt. Wow, that would have been embarrassing if I ever unzipped my jacket.
Now, back to Josiah.  Um, his Elmo potty seat is nowhere to be found in the bathroom.  And, apparently, there is an invisible vortex that sucks him into the toilet when Elmo is not on the toilet.  Only the toilet at home, though.  I look all over the place and cannot find it.  He goes to the bathroom anyway.
I take Josiah back outside and go pick up Taylor a little early in case my tire goes completely flat. TOO LATE!  The tire is flat, flat., flat!  I drive the 2 blocks anyway and get Taylor home.
After the boys go down for naps, I decide to put the spare on myself because that's the kind of girl I am.  I get the jack out, the tire ready, and call Brad to ask where the four way is.  He has no idea.  NOT HELPING . . . and the jack needs hydraulic fluid.  So, its a bust.  I go inside and clean up my desk.
Brad comes home from work with a four way and a jack, thanks to my dad. The four way isn't metric and the jack won't raise the car up enough to get the tire on.  Another call to dad and a 4 x 4 later, the tire is on.
We eat dinner and then decide to take a few things to the storage unit.  We get to the storage unit type in our code and get "Access denied, LOCKOUT."  Luckily, the owners answered their phone and got that taken care of.
So, if I was a drinking girl, I might sidle up to a strawberry margarita on the rocks, no salt.  But, I'm not, so I will settle with a hot shower and a good book.
Beware the Ides of March.  They might just bite you in the behind when you're not looking!

Mr. Big Shot

Well, that was an exciting doctor's visit. I had been refusing all week to tell Taylor that he was going to get shots at his doctor's appointment this week. I thought that since he had gone through blood tests and flu shots that this wouldn't be a big deal for him. Oops, I made a mistake.

As we are driving in the car, I tell Taylor that he MAY have to get some shots today. His reply: "No, I don't need a shot. Shots hurt. I don't like shots." All right, noted little guy. All the way there he was trying to convince me that he didn't need shots. It didn't work.

The nurse calls us back to get the typical height and weight check(Third percentile, by the way. He's still on the chart. Whew!) The first words out of Taylor's mouth are "Am I going to get a shot today?" The nurse just smiled and said I'm not sure, I'll have to check. He makes small talk with the nurse. She laughs and tries to keep the shot conversation to a minimum. She tells Taylor she has to "go check" to see if he needs any shots and leaves. He plays around in the room for a little while and the nurse comes back. She peeks in the door and proceeds to tell me that he needs 4 shots today and has he had a flu shot? Um, four shots in one day is good for us. Just because he is 5, doesn't mean he needs a shot for each year he is alive. And I don't need that guilt riding on me.

The doctor comes in and does the usual health history type thing and uses the word "immunizations" several times. The good doctor doesn't use the s-h-o-t word, he says. Pretty sure Taylor didn't pick up on that. He did pick up on the fact that the doctor left the room and we did not leave. He did not want a shot, let alone 4! He even tried "hiding" by covering his eyes as he sat on the bed waiting. Maybe if I hide, they can't give me a shot.

The nurses came in and Taylor told them point blank: "I don't need a shot. I'm strong and healthy. See? No shots for me." The nurses did their best. I had to hold Taylor down by his arms. The nurses had him by his legs. His little face turned bright red as he cry/screamed I don't want a shot!. Apparently, there was a struggle with his legs. I couldn't tell you because I turned my head and closed my eyes when the needles came out. Some mom I am, huh?

After the nurses were all done, they said they would bring him some treats for doing good. The nurse brought Taylor four suckers. He grabbed those right away. He refused a bag of chocolate chip cookies because he didn't want a shot. She tried to give him 4 stickers(including Spiderman and SpongeBob) and he didn't want those either. Poor guy was very adamant about not wanting anything because he didn't want a shot. He couldn't stop crying. The little guy had been traumatized.

Well, any good mom knows that ice cream and milkshakes cure just about anything. So, I stopped at Sonic and got him a chocolate milkshake for his troubles. I think the picture says it all:

Half a Decade

Taylor turned five over the weekend. That's a whole hand! He has decided that since he is five, he's going to try to buckle his seatbelt by himself and pee standing up. Not sure how that second one is going to work out considering he has to stand on a footstool. I see lots of bathroom cleaning coming on in the near future.

Taylor's birthday turned into more of a birth-weekend. Saturday was his actual birthday. He got to plan our day. So, he chose to go to Chik-Fil-A for breakfast. Mmm, chicken and biscuits, yummy for me. Then, he got his pictures taken at Target with all his Toy Story stuff. I'd post a picture, but I'm pretty sure there are copyright laws against that. After he was all pictured out, we went to FunRun. Apparently, everybody and their brother(including Josiah) was at Fun Run that day. Taylor was all over the place. He did wait for his brother to climb the big stairs in the Batman slide before he went down the slide, though. Such a good big brother(even if he didn't want for him to slide down with him).

Boys at Play!

Saturday night we went to On the Border, commonly known as the Purple Chicken Place by Taylor. Don't ask, it's a long story. He found Nana and Pa there and ate dinner with them. He got a cool fish backpack filled with two shirts and Ramone and Doc from Cars. He was very excited about his new cars. . . and his clothes.

After the excitement of his actual birthday, Taylor went to bed , but not before I got his 9:11 P.M. birthday picture playing with his new Toy Story toy Mom and Dad got him for his birthday.

He woke up ready to go to his birthday party at the roller rink. Before that, I had to attempt to make a Buzz Lightyear cake. I had strict orders to not forget the wings, Mommy! How did I do?This lovely creation took me all morning. I was a heathen and missed church, but I did go to Sunday School. So, hopefully that counts.

Finally, after a quick little nap for Josiah, we went to Liberty Rolladium. Unfortunately, my camera was acting up, so I didn't get too many pictures. But, I did get this cute little "couple skate" picture with his long lost friend, Averi.

He told her she looked beautiful. Such a little player, that Taylor.

While Taylor was putting the moves on Miss Averi, Josiah was strutting his stuff on the rink. He totally is Mr. Independent when it comes to skating. The cutest thing is he will stop wherever he is on the rink and just start dancing to the music. I didn't get pictures, but some random guy at the Rolladium did. Didn't quite getting him dancing, but still cute.

Thanks random guy with a camera that works!

The birthday party ended with Taylor putting his handprint on the birthday wall, at the very bottom where he could reach. So, if you ever go to Northland Rolladium, look for his dark blue handprint at the very bottom of the wall. You better hurry, though, it's about filled up and will be painted over very soon.

And so ends the birthday andventures of Mr. Taylor. He'as all ready talking about how old he will be next year! Sigh.

And the Home of the . . . Chiefs

A free look at the newly renovated Chiefs stadium AND free parking. Only had to pay for food. Heck, yes, let's go. Of course, when it comes to the Chiefs(as you may recall from an earlier post), the James gang includes Brad's family. So, even though Brad's mom was fighting back horrendous pain from shingles, she managed the car ride to the stadium and the walking all over the new grounds. First, we walked out and actually looked at the stadium. The Hall of Fame names that were placed all over the stadium we're replaced by an LCD screen that wrapped all the way around the stadium.
This was also the first time that Josiah and Taylor had ever been to Arrowhead . . and they probably won't return for a few more years. I'm don't think they are quite ready to have beer spilled all over them in the heat of the moment.
This was the best I could do for a picture together. YOU try getting a two year old and a four year old to look at you and smile at EXACTLY the same time. They don't pay photographers enough for that!

So, after we took a sneak peek at the stadium we headed up to the eighth floor. We weren't allowed on the ninth floor--no press pass. The windows were from floor to ceiling and you could get a perfect view of your fall,er, uh, parking lot. This didn't bother Taylor, Dee, Josiah or Brad at all. On the other hand, Eddie and I being the more "cautious" of the group thought it was better off if we stood behind them while they looked down. I mean, someone would have to grab onto their shirt if they fell through. Right? Right.

After the lovely view, we walked on to get some food. Hard to believe we were walking on carpet the whole time and there were loveseats and couches in place. We felt a little out of place in our jeans and T-shirts, but got some good food. Even though, I didn't get it, but sampled Brad's, I would highly recommend the brisket burger. Yum!

Dinner was followed by a walk through the Hall of Honor otherwise known as the "Taylor, don't touch that!" portion of the evening. Brad finally put him on his shoulders for a much safer and cost-effective tour. I'm sure when it is less crowded, it will be much easier to enjoy.

We finally sat down to watch an open practice of the Chiefs. Unfortunately, this was cut short by a four year old that kept asking, "Let's get ice cream, Dee!" Promises, promises. So, we went back to the food court to look for ice cream which we thought would be easy. Apparently, not. Taylor pretty much had a meltdown because he was prepared for ice cream. So, I asked one of the food court employees and he practically sent us around the entire stadium just for a frosty malt. I believe the oldest grandchild is awfully spoiled.

The other little guy is awfully onery. Look at him trying to sneak in a drink of Dee's water. Those big eyes are going to get him into lots of trouble someday.

The trek around the stadium wasn't all that bad. I looked on the wall beside me and the stadium had put up pictures of last year's high school state champions. So, being as I live in one of those towns(Go Bulldogs!), I noticed a picture of purple and gold football players. I did a double take when I read the name of the school. The lovely people who put the pictures on the wall and had the names printed spelled Kearney- K-E-A-R-N-Y. That's permanent, folks. They spend 325 million on renovations and they don't have time to proofread?! Too bad I didn't get a picture of that.

The Chiefs looked pretty good since they were playing against each other. Too bad that didn't rub off last night against the Eagles. But you know, this family, they just can't get enough of football. It's like seeing a bad car wreck, you just can't help but look. I guess it's time to prepare myself for the season. This means bolting down anything that can be pelted at the TV and reminding my lovely husband that some things you just should not say out loud when little ears are in the room. Oh yeah, and if anyone sees my house catch on fire or the roof cave in, please make sure you ask the authorities to go in and check on my husband. He'll be watching the game and won't notice a thing.

The Weekend that Was

Oops.. overbooked. That's how I would describe the past week. It all started with a little thing called Saddle Ridge Ranch, aka VBS. I was the co-director of the preschool department and ran back and forth between three different classrooms to make sure everything was going according to planned. The first day it was not. This was the the day there were 23 4-5 year olds and about 12 kindergarten students working on crafts with not enough help. Needless to say, that got changed really quick. I'm pretty sure we were all exhausted by Thursday, which was a good thing since that was the last day and the Parent's program. It was Josiah's first program and Taylor's third. Those two are complete opposites when it comes to being on stage. It was fun to watch and I couldn't help but giggle.

Also, during VBS week, Josiah's birthday fell smack dab in the middle of it. So, rather than do his party on his birthday, which would have been way too much, we decided to do it at the park on Saturday. Josiah thanks for being born in the summer so I can have outdoor parties for you, but please remember to tell the weather NOT to be 95 degrees with a horrendous heat index. I would appreciate it if you would lobby for the Kearney pool to open in the very near future.

Oh, no , the fun didn't stop there. On Sunday, Brad and I went to the Chicago/Doobie Brothers concert at Starlight. Pretty sure we were the minority (age wise) in the crowd. We could smell the Geritol and Ben Gay everywhere. Also, pretty sure the encore was the best part of the show when the Doobies and Chicago played together. That is A LOT of instruments crammed onto one stage, but it was amazing.

So, now you think, hey, it's Sunday, the weekend's over. Right? WRONG. Brad took Monday off and we headed to DCI at Staley High School that night with Taylor. Josiah got to stay with Nana and Pa. DCI is a drum corp show and Taylor did pretty well until after intermission. He was so thirsty and kept saying I'm tired. Apparently, I missed the fireworks when I went to go get hot dogs because people were not the most polite when it came to seats. It's a high school sports stadium, folks. Find a piece of the bleachers and GET OVER IT!

We were on our way home at about 10:30 that night when my mom called to tell us that my brother-in-law was going to the ER because he was throwing up and having some major head pain. He stayed in the hospital until today after having a CAT scan, MRI, and CT. They all came back normal. So, finally it is Wednesday and I can't wait for the weekend to get here to do absolutely nothing. . .unless, of course, my sister-in-law decides to have my very first niece this weekend. I'd be okay with that.




P.S. Photobucket and I are having some creative differences, so you'll have to check out Facebook for the pix and video.