I know I am saying something...

Do you ever feel as though you are speaking and nothing is coming out? I have been trying to talk to my children all morning and it is as if there is only air escaping from my mouth. I must be really tired and cranky today. I would really like to vent here, unfortunately my mother reads this as well.

I went to a Girl Scout deal last night and had a great time. It was a lot of fun. We went to plan the calendar for the upcoming year. We had a lot of good ideas and some crazy ones. I did get a great recipe, though. Its called Summertime S'Mores. You take graham crackers and line them up on a plate, tray or whatever will fit in your freezer. Then get a box of chocolate ice cream and cut it into slices like bread. Put the slices on the graham crackers. Spoon some marshmallow cream over the top (like a real marshmallow) and then cover with another graham cracker. Freeze and eat. They are sooo good!!

My Day

Lauren

This is how people think of Lauren. Rough, tough, rather be in boys clothes (in fact, she sleeps in her brother's outgrown boxers). She wants to be a rock star general when she grows up. We have had several conversations about how she does not want to be a girl because boys get to do fun stuff. I have had to explain that she can do anything that a boy can do except be a father and pee standing up. Even then, I figure she'll work on the pee thing. We have talked about girl race car drivers and girls in the military and that soon there will be a girl President. If she works hard enough, she might even be the first girl President. We have a poster that show all the space shuttle missions that had a Girl Scout on them, so she could even go into space. We have read about Marie Curie and talked about scientists. We have also read about Sacajawea and how she was the one who led Lewis and Clark. She thought that was funny.
Now I have not tried to turn her into a pretty princess, I figure I would let her be the person she wanted to be. This, by the way, makes my sister VERY sad. She has twin boys and really needs to have a girl that she can do hair with and nails, etc. My brother's daughter loves softball and cannot stand to get her hair done. My sister is out of luck!!

Or, so we thought.

This afternoon, there was a repeat of the Oprah Winfrey show that had the Jonas Brothers on. For those of you who are out of the loop: the Jonas Brothers are the latest, greatest singing group out there for the preteen/teen crowd. Lauren Loves them. We went to the Texas State Fair to see them live. It did not matter that we stood so far back that we had to look at a screen as we melted in the Texas heat. We were there!!! We have their bonus CD that comes with a DVD of a live concert. Well, as we watched Oprah, she was talking about two young ladies who had emailed her show repeatedly asking for a Jonas Brothers segment. The message finally got through. Oprah even arranged for a surprise for the girls. At a concert the girls had gone to, the Jonas Brothers called them onstage and told them that everyone was going to the Oprah show. It was hilarious to see the look on the girls faces. As I was laughing, I looked over and saw Lauren crying! Her brother began to bother her and she kicked him. I actually had to say " if you are going to cry and get emotional because those girls got to see the Jonas Brothers and go to the Oprah show, I am going to turn the TV off!" My sister laughed at me.

I might have a girl after all!

Well, I have news. You could call it good news in a way. After a lot of praying and talking and yes, crying, we have decided that Clark will NOT take the job in Kuwait. I recently went to a talk by Steve Ray, who wrote Crossing the Tiber. He spoke about showing our children that we prayed and believed in God, not just saying it. This was a great teaching moment for that. When we told the children that we had prayed about this, they asked "What did you pray?" Clark explained that he asked that if this was the job God meant for Clark to take, that some of the stress and anxiety would be lifted from us. And that if this was not the path for our family, that God would show us a very definite sign. We got that sign Wednesday night and sent the email that night to the company saying that Clark was not taking the job. I am not going to tell you the signs we received because they are rather private. We did share them with the children and that we are putting our future into God's hands and believe that He will provide for us until the right job comes along. Aaron started with tears of of relief and Alex jumped up and hugged Clark. Lauren was a little more introspective. She snuggled up and asked a lot of questions and signs and prayer, etc. All in all, I think it is the best decision for us all even though we continue to search. So, keep us in your prayers and thank you for all your thoughts.

New Job

Clark has been offered a job. We are happy about that part, but the rest of the story, to quote Paul Harvey, is very nervous making. It is for a company that has an office in Kuwait City, Kuwait. They have a military contract that means that Clark will have to take trips into Iraq to the bases there. He will be there for about nine weeks and then home for three weeks. It all depends on the rotations of the other employees or when his side trips are. We have never been apart for more than a week in the last 18 years. It will be quite an adjustment for all of us. We are going to wait to tell the little guys until the trip is only a week out. We are making arrangements now, though. Aaron is really being a bigger guy about this. We are going to do our best to not have him be "the man of the house". Clark and I have really talked about this. He has set up a support system of guys for Aaron if he needs to talk or hang out with the boys or whatever. We are really trying to be positive about this, but Clark does NOT want to go. However, as this is the only job offer he has to date, he is going to take it.

I have been praying about it and trying to get him to do the same. It is just hard for Clark to not be in control of everything at all times. He cannot just put this into God's hands and let it go. He wonders why I am not more upset and I have tried to explain it to him. I have to have faith that God is doing what is best for us and will always be there for us to rely on. I guess you could say that I am at peace with the idea and am moving forward to help my children adjust as well as they can. Please keep my family in your prayers as we go through this part of our lives.

There are so many other things that I can say about this, but I have a friend who can now read very well looking over my shoulder so I will have to finish this later.

Birthday Pictures

This is THE edible arrangement.

The snickers cake. He even had the pieces planned so the we all got a ton of frosting.

Clark cheating at the water fight. The balloons were gone very quickly and then the hose was brought out.

Half of the crowd at my house. The other half was grazing in the kitchen.

Birthday Milestone

Aaron had his 13th birthday on the 7th. Yes, I said 13th!! I now have an official teenage son. I am not sure that I am ready for it. It was different when Heather turned 13. She was living with her mom at the time. It didn't seem so hard then. With Aaron, it is hard!! He is about 6 inches taller with these HUGE feet! I think he will get to six feet easily.

We had family over on the day of his birthday and he had a lot of fun. He asked for an edible arrangement from my mom and ate it all in two days without much help. I expect a few complaints about stomach problems. He chose a Snickers cake and ice cream.

The next day, he had friends over for a day of games and food and food and food! There were 11 boys and one girl as well as Lauren and Alex in my house. We would have had more, but it was a last minute plan and we couldn't get a hold of some of his friends. He was sad that a couple of really good friends weren't there, but we told him that we could have something with those friends later in the week when it could be just the two of them. They had a pocket tanks tournament which Lauren played in. They ate a weird concoction that Clark made with spaghetti and chili. They had a water balloon fight and then they played Trivial Pursuit. Alex had fallen asleep for the water balloon fight, so we had a mini one after everyone had left for him. Aaron had one friend spend the night, which was a surprise since I thought we weren't having any. Aaron said he had a great time which was good because with Clark out of a job, money has been really tight. I was worried that we would not be able to do anything for his big day which would have made me very sad. The worst part is that Aaron would have understood.

Oh, well. He is a great kid!!