Mercy VS Compassion

Here's a funny little story that's been happening as of late...

During the school year, my kids were learning different stories from the Bible. The story of Moses was one of their favorites and they covered it extensively. Ryan loved talking about baby Moses in the basket, and when the teacher announced to all the classes that they were going to watch the movie "The Prince Of Egypt", Megan was so excited. I'm not sure what made her so excited, except the fact that we already have the movie and she had watched it dozens of times as one of her favorites. But of all the stories both of the kids learned about, nothing has taught us as a family more than the story of Jonah and the Whale. Mrs. Lea is obviously a great Bible teacher, because both of the kids would come home talking about what they had learned with great excitement. When I commented to their teacher how much they were enjoying learning from her during their Bible class, she told me that they were going to be watching the Veggie Tales Movie by the same name. Since Ryan had latched onto this story so emphatically, Jonathan and I decided we would buy the movie to add to our family collection here at home. The kids have watched it incessantly. It is absolutely one of Ryan's favorite movies ever! The movie chronicles the story of Jonah, and highlights two elements in the story that my daughter latched onto very quickly: Mercy and Compassion.

One day, after watching the movie, we were eating lunch, and Megan proudly informed me that she knew the difference between compassion and Mercy.

"Really?" I asked, "Why don't you tell me?"

"Well, COMPASSION is when you see someone that is hurting, and you feel bad for them and want to help them out" Megan stated. "And MERCY is when you give someone a second chance, even when they don't deserve it".

I was so proud of her, she'd learned it from an animated tomato and cucumber, but it had seemed to grasp her heart and she had learned an important lesson in life!

Or so I thought.

Her next statement has had me in stitches laughing every since.

"So, Mom, that means that when you get mad at me, you just need to show me more MERCY and give me a second chance!"

Jonathan and I have heard this statement from her right in the middle of discipline numerous times! It seemed for a while that she was using it as a means of getting out of trouble...or at least trying to. She'd get the "talk" after getting into trouble about doing something wrong, and under her breath she is whispering, "You just need to show me a little mercy and give me another chance". As of recent days, I think she is finally getting it, but we've had to explain to her that showing mercy to her does not give her a reason to behave badly to begin with...she must still obey the rules, use her manners, and be kind to others.

I've even gone as far as telling her that I've shown her enough mercy every time I warned her to stop doing something (a sassy mouth, talking back, etc.), and by the time I have come to the point of punishing her, it's too late!

But still, she reminds me, she needs compassion and mercy from me.

How often do I act like this to my Heavenly Father? How often to I disobey him, and go my own way. And when my own way leads to disaster, it's always HIM that I beg to show me mercy and compassion and "get me out of this!"

I'm so glad, that I have a God who loves me that much, because it is never a question, he readily gives me mercy. It's the reason I'm HIS CHILD. It's the reason I have an eternal home. It's the reason I am where I am today.

So, it's also the gentle, loving, probe of the Lord that turns my thoughts to that fact every time I'm in a position to disciple one of my children. As I hear myself saying "It's because I love you and want the best for you that I have to teach you this lesson", I also hear a whisper in my heart from God saying the same thing to me.

Praise the Lord for COMPASSION AND MERCY!

BARRETT BEACH VACATION

So, as it turns out, we got a last minute beach vacation from this past Sunday to Wednesday. Well, it was half vacation half work for Jonathan, we just tagged along. The kids were so excited to learn that our hotel had bunk beds for them to sleep in...they struck GOLD! The hotel was just the right size for us, and it had 1 and 1/2 baths, and a full kitchen. We did our best, lubing the kids up with Sunscreen, but for poor Megan, we didn't reapply soon enough and the tops of her ears got burned pretty bad. By Tuesday, we had to go find her a big hat so she could stay outside. They aren't bothering her now, but they sure look painful. Anyway, we were able to spend some time with Jon's parents since they've moved down to Foley, and it was great to be able to see their new house. They had us over and cooked shrimp for us, and it was delicious. I think the kids would have lived down there if we'd left them, because they certainly didn't want to come home! Megan had big tears pooling up in her eyes Wednesday morning as we left, and I wasn't sure we'd make it outta Orange Beach without some serious protests happening. Ryan didn't understand what was going on until we pulled into the driveway at home to which he immediately began crying as if someone just killed puppies in front of him! He kept screaming "NO, I WANNA GO TO THE HOTEL". It was really sad and broke my heart. Jon says there will be another opportunity to go down because when the job progresses a bit, he'll be needed again. I'm just hoping that it happens before the middle of August when Megan has to start school! Below is a slide show and you can see just how much fun it was!

RYAN FINALLY GOT HIS PARTY!

Since we were out of town camping on Ryan's actual birthday, we weren't able to hold his party on the same weekend. Then, life gets in the way, as it often does, and between weddings, parties, beach trips, etc, it was already the month of May and we finally were able to schedule the party. He'd been looking forward to his "SuperMan" party for months. It was a little hard to find SuperMan stuff in all the stores since the release of the new SpiderMan 3 movie has all the toys stocked with SpiderMan and no Superman...and the thought crossed my mind to have a Spiderman party instead, but I just had to give Ryan what he really wanted. After all, SuperMan is his guy!

All in all, it was a great party. We held the party at home. I played it smart and bought all the supplies at the dollar store and saved the money on the SuperMan themed plates this go round. I did get him a SuperMan pinata, and luckily it stayed in tact and survived the game, thus providing a nice decoration for his bedroom! I came up with a couple of crafts, & games, since I didn't have anything to distract the kids. As the guests arrived, I let them all make their own "SuperHero capes". It was great! I found flower sack napkins at the dollar store, and set them out with some markers and let the kids decorate them. Tie them on, and UP, UP, AND AWAY! Then, a friend let me borrow their mini moon walk (aka "jumpy thing"), and we labeled that as the "leap small buildings in a single bound" stop of the party. And we had a "USE YOUR X-RAY VISION" game where there were objects placed in paper sacks labeled "RYAN'S SUPERMAN PARTY" and each object started with the letter on the bag. Each kid reached their hand in and felt the object and then tried to guess (use their x-ray vision to see) the object. It was a great game for the older kids, but the younger ones lost interest (as I thought they would) The party games ended with the pinata, which was a blast for the kids and no one got hurt, so no video's to send in to America's Funniest Home Video's this year! The cake was PHENOMENAL, a la Cassandra. It looked as wonderful as it tasted! Then Ryan opened his gifts and made out like a SUPER HERO! He got a lot of cool toys. It was a wonderful party, and I'm glad we were finally able to "clear our schedules" to have it! hahaha

Here's a slide:

Megan Graduates Kindergarten!

On May 17, 15 years to the day after I graduated High School, my baby girl graduated kindergarten from HillDale. For weeks leading up to the graduation ceremony, the classes rehearsed continuously and the teachers were able to convince the kids that the songs they were learning were a "secret". Whenever I would ask Megan about it, she absolutely refused to talk about it "because the teacher said not to!" I was amazed at how well my 6 year old was able to keep a secret, because up until the actual ceremony, I had absolutely no idea what they were singing! Both of the K5 classes were so adorable, and I can't wait until my DVD of the graduation ceremony comes in!!! I am so proud of Megan. She got straight A's on her last report card, and was one of the top in her class. I sure hope that she continues to love learning, because I am afraid that one day in the VERY near future, she will have more book smarts than her father and I and we won't be able to help her with her homework!!
After the ceremony, we stuck around to take several pictures, and then went out to eat with Jon's parents (Granny & Big Daddy) to Red Robin. It was a great night!
Here is a slide of graduation night:

LOOK, IT'S "JEANU"!

HAHA! I'm dying laughing at this pic posted below! My longest and dearest friend, Kellye, knows that I have always had a "thing" for Keanu Reeves. To me, he's just a nice, handsome, fine speciman of a man to look at. Well, she put her photo shop program to good use, and LOOK! I'M WITH MY HOTTIE! HAHAHA!

THANK YOU KELLYE! I LOVE IT!

FUN IN THE SUN DAY AT HCS!

This post is all about RYAN!

His class had "Fun In The Sun" day at school yesterday, and they were able to use the big water slide that HillDale Church had purchased. Yep, if you've seen the big one from Sam's as you walk in the store, THAT'S IT! It was so much fun, and the kids had a blast! No surprise, Ryan was a little scared to go up the big slide at first. But in his defense, it was a bit of a steep climb! He was perfectly content with going down the smaller slide that was a little more his size. Once he got used to that, he was ready to try conquering the big one...and after a few slips, and a few more times of "getting stuck at the top", he finally did it! Once he went down the big slide that first time, THERE WAS NO STOPPING HIM!
I'm seriously trying to find a way to earn a few extra hundred $$$, because this thing would be a BLAST to have at our house all summer! My kids would take wonderful naps everyday! I think it's time to clean out the attic, and sell all the baby stuff to fund the slide...what do you think????

BEACH BABES BASH 2007

I had the most amazing weekend! I was feeling really, really guilty when it came time to leave last Thursday. Megan had come down with a Stomach bug on Wednesday and got sick at school! JUST MY LUCK! She ended up having to stay home from school on Thursday when we left, and thanks to some lucky timing that her Granny happened to be on vacation this week, Regina came over to keep her for me so I could leave as planned! (BIG HUGE THANKS!)
So despite a little "mommy guilt" for leaving (which I would have anyway, but it was heightened since I had a sick kid), off I went and had a great time.
There lots of memories I could share, but as was stated in an oath before leaving Birmingham "What happens at the beach STAYS at the beach"! Ha!
Here's a few pics of our awesome weekend! A BIG THANKS TO RHONDA FOR PLANNING IT ALL FOR US! I truly hope that it becomes a yearly tradition, and one day we are some hip old ladies partying at the VIP MARTINI BAR! (insert laughter here)
I LOVE YOUGIRLS!
Kodakgirl

Daniel & Cynthia's Wedding

Jonathan was a groomsman in Daniel Isom's wedding on April 21st. We had the Rehearsal dinner the night before, and I dieted all day in preparation for it! By the time dinner arrived, I WAS FAMISHED! Everything was great! Saturday, Jon had to be at the church by 2:30 pm to begin pictures, so we decided to take a drive out to the Odenville/Ashville/Branchville area just to look around and see what kind of housing developments are coming along out there. We feel like the Odenville/Moody area is the place we'd like to move out to one day, but who knows where the Lord will have us. It was a nice drive, and at one point I told Jon that I felt like I was on vacation because we seem so far out in the country and I didn't know where we were at! I dropped Jon off at the church at 2:30 and took the kids home for a nap, so we could be rested up and ready to party at the reception. The kids were dressed in their Easter clothes, so look closely and you can see what they wore on Easter since I didn't even take pics that day!
Daniel and Cynthia had a beautiful wedding, a phenomenal reception, and the food and dancing was absolutely fantastic! The kids had a great time, and even though it was 10pm before we made it home, we were so honored and proud to be a part of it all!
Here is a slide of a few pics from that weekend as well:

McWane Center & Easter

After we got home from our amazing camping/scenic drive trip, We decided that we were still on family vacation, and skipped church on Sunday to go to the McWane Center. After all, it was a rainy day, and we needed some indoor fun. The kids love going here, and thanks to a wonderful Christmas present, we have a yearly pass that will allow us to go as much as we want! This time we took in an IMAX movie called Hurricane On The Bayou. Ryan did better than I expected, but he fell asleep mid way through it. Megan was bored with it. I found it very interesting, as it recounted the events leading up to Hurrican Katrina, and reasons why there was so much damage. The premise of the movie is to restore and save the Louisianna "WetLands" that usually provide a buffer to strong storms, thus saving the cities above it from taking a brutal hit. Unfortunatly, the wetlands are diminishing, thus the reason Katrina was so catastrophic.
OK. Enough environmental lessons. It was an interesting film. We enjoyed our day, as we always do. This was a wonderful Family Day/Weekend!
A few weeks later, it was EASTER! And my silly-headed self didn't even take pics! It was once again, a cold, rainy Easter sunday, and I didn't get any pics of us at church with the kids dressed in their Easter best, and standing in front of the flowered cross. It was a crazy day! But, it was still a good day. We ate lunch at my Mom and Dad's house, and all my family, Mamaw, aunts, uncles, cousins, and siblings, all came at some point during the day. It's nice to get together with family.
Here is another slide show of pics from these two events:

Camping at Guntersville For Ryan's Birthday

Ok, so I'm finally getting around to posting a few things....

On the weekend of Ryan's Birthday (March 30), we took another Camping trip up to Guntersville State Park. Guntersville is our absolute favorite place to go! We like the layout of the campgrounds, we love the fact that the deer come out at night and walk around the campsites looking for food, and it's nice and quiet. We had planned to stay Friday through Sunday, but after watching the weather forecasts, Saturday night had storms predicted, and 100% chance of rain on Sunday....just our luck! We got to camp around lunch time on Friday, and had a full day of fun. Megan and Ryan both caught their first fish, we played at the playground, went into the nature hut where Megan made a new friend, Bella, the cat of the lady that worked in the nature hunt. We grilled hot dogs Friday night, S'mores for dessert, and Jon cooked an awesome breakfast Saturday morning. After another fishing trip to the pier, we decided to pack up and take the long, scenic route home to save us from a repeat of our last camping trip! We drove up to Buck's Pocket after leaving the campgrounds, and there were lots of pretty mountains to look at. Ryan and Dad nearly stepped on a snack that scurried across the path that led back, so after that we were all looking for snakes with every step we took! We drove up to DeSoto State Park, and found lots of scenery there, then we went to Little River Canyon, where tons of people were milling through the water and even swimming in the river below the falls. The kids loved walking among the rocks and watching the Water Fall. And to end our scenic trip, we stopped at Noccolula Falls. I had never been there before and always wanted to go. I found it surprising to learn that the falls are named after an Indian Princess who jumped to her death on the day of her arranged wedding because she was in love with someone else and her father was forcing her to marry into another tribe as a peace offering. CRAZY! Since it was so late in the day, we didn't stay long, and only walked around on the upper half, but it was really nice. We fed the ducks swimming around, and shielded the kids eyes from the "duck love" we witnessed...after all it is spring time!
All in all, we had a great time. We are trying to plan another camping trip for the end of May, and hopefully it won't be RAINY! We'll see!
Here's a slide show: