A wonderful trip

My Aunt Janet (my Dad's sister), my cousin Rachel, and Uncle Jeff

 

Beautiful Kentucky farm

 

Isaiah, my cousin Luke, and Micah

 

The long drive home...

 

more old friends

 

 

 

This horse, who's name is Popcorn, played Seabiscuit in the movie.

 

Monday...

My Aunt Janet, and Uncle Jeff arranged for a tour of a horse farm called Old Friends.
It is for retired race horses, and is the only farm that will take stallions.

 

I love this picture because it shows how much my cousin Luke and Isaiah are alike. They were inseperable, and I am convinced that if we lived closer, they would be best friends.

 

Micah feeding a millonaire.

 

This just made me laugh. This poor boy never won a dime, and is the son of the famous racer, Seattle Slew.

 

more horse park

 

 

 

 

The Horse Park

Sunday morning we headed to the Kentucky Horse Park. We spent all day there, and all the kids loved it.

 

 

 

There was even a hunter/jumper show being held there this weekend, so we caught some of that as well.

 

Rachel's cake

This cake deserved a post all it's own! My cousin Rachel made it.
And it was perfect.
And delicious.

 

My family.

Once we checked in to our motel, we headed over to my Aunt Janet, and Uncle Jeff's house.
We were treated like royalty.
Seriously.
The kids swam, we ate steak, and visited with family we hadn't seen in over 11 years.

 

This is my cousin Willy (Steve's son) and my uncle Jeff (when I was little, I used to tell my friends that he was in ZZ Top)!

 

My uncle Steve (my Dad's brother)

 

Brody LOVED their pool. All the kids did. At one point Micah asked me if people in Kentucky lived like this every day!

 

And so it began...

Our first major stop was the Louisville Slugger Factory and Museum.
Apparently after 6.5 hours in the car, Brody had to use the bathroom.

 

 

They were all thrilled that I wanted to take pictures.

 

Fun with the props.

 

After this, we got in the car again, and headed another 1.5 hours east, to Lexington, our destination.

We're Home!

We got in last night about 9:30pm, and the kids stumbbled in to their beds....
Most are on their way to school, and later today Brody starts preschool!
He is very upset about this. He only wants to go to kindergarten, not preschool.
Pictures of our incredible weekend are on their way....

The land of Jack

Daniels that is.

We are headed to Kentucky. Leaving dark and early, around 3am. Hope to be in Louisville by 10am eastern time, to hit the Louisville Slugger Factory and Museum. Then it is on to Lexington, to a gathering of family we haven't seen in much too long.

Good times are sure to be had by all. Looking forward to sharing my "roots" with my children.

Pictures soon....

On being "you".

As I was vacuuming out my car this morning, I was thinking about some blogs I read. That lead me to start thinking about what I would say to my kids, if I knew I wasn't going to be around anymore.

Morbid, I know, but stay with me here.

I get so tired of people saying things like, "That doesn't sound like you."
What SHOULD it mean to be you? To act like yourself?

Here's what I think:
Acting with conviction for that, and for whom, in which you believe.

I wasted too many years believing things like, Christians couldn't be environmentalists, and could only vote republican. I made the choice to let others define who I was. And what's worse, believing something else entirely.

Years wasted, afraid of hurting feelings, and stepping on toes.

Being "you" means embracing what and whom you believe in, and acting on it.

Who I am today, who "you" are, may not be who we are tomorrow, but I am convinced that it does indeed sound just like me.

I mean, seriously,

How could you not smile looking at this little tree frog?

Without flash...

 

With flash...

 

Do you see it?

I was sitting on the couch, looking out the window, the second one in the picture, when I saw something. My first thought was, "Is that a baby turtle?" I know it makes absolutely no sense that a baby turtle would be on the deck rail, but clearly I have had lots of experiences with baby turtles recently.

 

An adorable frog. And I have no idea where he came from.
But, he was smiling at me.
And that made me happy.

 

determination

 

do you remember the last time you had THAT look of determination on your face?
it's about the fight.
and breaking through.
and winning.
and quite possibly football could teach us a thing or two.

disappeared.

Me: Brody, where are your crackers?
Brody: I disappeared them.
Me: Where?
Brody: I DISAPPEARED THEM!!!
Me: Where did they disappear to, Brody?
Brody: Under your bed.

This time.

"How this time, we listened to our hopes, instead of our fears."

-Michelle Obama (at the Democratic National Convention)

Getting ready to step on some toes...

The wife of our pastor in Washington had this on her blog the other day, and I had to post it here, if for no other reason then to be reminded myself.


Warning : CONTROVERSIAL TOPIC ABOUT TO BE DISCUSSED

Traditionally, the term "pro-life" indicates one's strong stance against abortion. It draws a deep line in the sand and proclaims that one is an advocate for the unborn. It announces that one stands in direct opposition to the liberal, "pro-choice" camp. For evangelical Christians, abortion is often a bottom line issue. Meaning, traditional pro-lifers vote based on which candidate opposes abortion. Other issues take a back seat.

I am a Christian. I love Jesus and try to follow hard after him. I am a leader in my church and am married to a pastor. And, I believe we need to re-draw some lines in the sand.

I contend that being "pro-life" means more than advocating for making abortion illegal. Being pro-life means supporting health care for children across America. It means objecting to loss of innocent life (whether American or not) in war, believing in second chances for those condemned to death row (there is a dramatic increase in death sentences for the poor) , and being committed to education so we can reduce the numbers of abortions that occur every year in the United States. Jesus cared about the marginalized, the oppressed. He campaigned against injustice. So should we. I wonder if it has become easier to oppose ideologies than to actually love people.

We have had a "pro-life" president for the past 8 years. The abortion rate in the United States has not decreased. Perhaps the key to reducing abortions lies in Jesus' own commandment, "Love your neighbor as yourself." Interesting that Jesus' greatest commandment did not involve the wielding of power through politics. It instead encouraged his followers to care for people, to put forth kindness above all else, to make a difference through personal relationship. I wonder if it has become easier to oppose political ideologies than to actually love people, to actually get our hands dirty. What if Christians agreed to adopt the millions of kids whose lives end through abortion?

What would happen if Christians really got serious about caring for the marginalized, the oppressed, the sick, the orphans? What would happen if we moved out of the suburbs and into the city?
What would happen if we cared more about injustice than our 401K?
Jodie Howerton

I'm not very good at this.

Being a responsible parent.

My kids bring home papers from school, and I roll my eyes.

The other day Emily brought home a paper from one of her teachers. This particular paper deserved more than an eye roll. It was one of those papers in which the teacher is making some sort of false effort to get to know your child.

Seriously.

Spend ten minutes with her, and you will know more about her than anything I am going to write on this silly paper.

But, of course, I fulfilled my duty, and answered the questions, which were:
What are your child's strengths, and how do they view school?

So, I answered.

"She is a truth seeker, who views school as a necessary evil in which she is forced to only learn inside the box."

Emily happily took her paper to school.

And clearly I won't receive the Mom Of The Year award.

Football Jamboree

The official start to football season took place today!
The boys were all so excited, and a bit nervous too.

 

Isaiah is number 41, and played running back on offense, and safety on defense.

 

And when he broke through the tackle, no one could catch him. :)

 

Call me MacGyver.

A while back my kids broke my bedroom door.
And by broke it, I mean that if you were inside, and the door shut, you were locked in.
This has happened numerous times, because Brody loves to slam doors. It has never really been too much of an issue, because when any one would get locked in, they would just push the intercom button on the phone, and some one would come let you out.

Today, while I was on the phone with a friend, Brody followed me into my room, and proceeded to slam the door.

No big deal...

Only no one else is here.

I rummaged around the room and found an old pocket knife. It took me thirty minutes to get the door handle off.

But I am free.

And Brody is busted.