My Ebenezer

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So, this is a first for me. A video clip in my post of Carter getting busted. I used my cell phone to take it so it’s not very clear but you should get the main idea. When he left the playroom to go and play with the Christmas Tree, he failed to notice me sitting on the couch behind him. I couldn’t pass up the opportunity!

And if you can’t see the video clip below, as I can’t, here is the direct link:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3wHKgcXzMGA

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3wHKgcXzMGA]

I fear I am warping my child’s sense of time. How many times a day do I answer him by saying, “Just a minute” or “in a minute”? Too many to count. Poor kid doesn’t know if a minute is really a minute or an hour. Unfortunately, sometimes when I answer “just a minute” I forget and that minute turns into a day or more. Oops.

Anyway, now Carter has learned my trick. I’ll tell him to put something away and he’ll say, “in jus’ a minute”. I’m eating my own words. In more ways than one.

Sometimes my mouth reacts faster than my brain – those of you who know me IRL won’t find that surprising at all. There have been a few times lately where I have issued verbal warning and regretted it later. We were at Chick-fil-a (oooooh! my new favorite drink there is half lemonade and half sweet tea – yummy!) and he kept using his feet to push his high chair away from the table. I said, “Carter, if you do that one more time you won’t get to play on the playground.” Of course, he did it and then I was stuck enforcing my consequence even though I really wanted him to be able to play. I know it is a very minor thing, but daddy-o and I had to do what we said we’d do. He didn’t cry but was very disappointed. Ugh. You should have seen his sweet little face. After that, he didn’t move his high chair again for the rest of the meal so I got him an ice cream cone.

Anyway, it happened again last night. Were running late with dinner so last night it was eat and then bedtime routine and sleep. But he kept playing with his food and we’ve been trying desperately to break that habbit. So mouth got going before my brain could engage and told him if he put his whole hand in the casserole again he was going straight to bed. And he did. And he did. And he WAILED in his bed. I caved after 10 minutes of him screaming and sobbing, “I no break rules again”! I felt like I was torturing him. He had to stay in bed, but I did go back in and sing to him for a little while and he calmed right down.

All this has me thinking about God. How many times does His heart break as He watches us suffer the consequences of our own behavior? I feel like it is easier now than ever before for me to blindly follow His direction. Now, if only I could carve out a little more time to spend with Him so that I could get that direction……

It’s funny how I am already looking forward to a year of “seconds”. Everything we do with Carter is a first; we missed his first two years so everything to us is new. Only a couple more months and we’ll have had them for a whole year.

Last year, we took Carter to the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo. I think it was the first thing we did that was really big. And if you haven’t been to the HLSR, you have no idea HOW big.

There is a huge carnival with really good rides, and TONS of stuff for the kids. Way more than I could write about here. In my pre-married life, my favorite part of the whole rodeo was the concert. The whole thing lasts for about 2 1/2 weeks and after each rodeo, there is a concert by a major performer. You would be amazed at how quickly Houston Rodeo concert tickets are sold out. People stand in line for a lottery type system. Anyway, I’m digressing. Some of my girlfriends and I went a few years in a row to see Clay Walker. (I don’t care who you are, he is HOT!) The thing is, is really doesn’t matter where you sit because they have monitors everywhere. I think the best tickets we ever had were cheap and considered “obstructed view” but they were great. We were behind the place where the bull riders come out.

So with Carter we didn’t go the actual rodeo this year, just the carnival and kids area. But I’m thinking this next time around he’ll be old enough to enjoy it and who knows? Maybe we can even stay for the performance! I can’t wait to go back, anyone know if Clay will be returning in 2007?

I swear I am not being paid for this post. I’m just astounded at the price difference between  my current auto insurance and Geico. By switching, we can save $400 every six months. Okay, so when I factor in the discount we get for our home owners’, the savings is really only about $250, but STILL!

So, anyone have any horror stories about Geico before we switch?

Well, we started our first tradition, at least what I hope will become a tradition, by putting up our Christmas Tree the day after Thanksgiving. Carter hung some of the decorations and was SO EXCITED when we plugged the tree in and he saw all the lights.

You’ll see pictures below of the kids playing on Thanksgiving Day and Carter helping daddy put the decorations outside. I’ve got a lot more to say about our weekend, but I’m afraid you’ll have to wait. I’m out of time this morning but may try to post again when the kids are napping. Until then…

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We had so much fun over the long weekend. Carter especially enjoyed helping Daddy put out the decorations!

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"Samuel took a single rock and set it upright between Mizpah and Shen. He named it Ebenezer (Rock of Help), saying, This marks the place where GOD helped us."

1 Samuel 7:12 The Message

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