Sunrise

Did anyone see the beautiful sunrise this morning??

It was really amazing!

When Luke saw it, he said, "Wow...if I was God, I would have made a sunrise as pretty as that one too!!"

Psalm 19:1 -- The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of His hands.

Praying this . . .

My Lord God
I have no idea where I am going.
I do not see the road ahead of me.
I cannot know for certain where it will end.
Nor do I really know myself,
and the fact that I think I am following
your will does not mean
that I am actually doing so.
But I believe that my desire to please you
does in fact please you.
And I hope that I have that desire
in all that I am doing.
I hope that I will never do anything
apart from that desire.
And I know that if I do this
you will lead me by the right road
though I may know nothing about it.
Therefore will I trust you always
though I may seem to be lost
and in the shadow of death.
I will not fear,
for you are ever with me,
and you will never leave me
to face my perils alone.

- Thomas Merton (1915-1968)

More Snow???

For the third time this winter, it is SNOWING!! This is getting a little crazy!!

Today we woke up to snow, drove to school in the snow, worked in the snow, ran into Walmart in the snow, picked up the kids at noon in the snow, drove home in the snow, built snowmen in the snow, and now, late in the day, it is STILL snowing!!

Here's the latest measurement --

We went out after we got home and stayed out for 2 stinkin' hours!! I was seriously contemplating Googling the symptoms of frostbite when we came in!! It didn't seem that cold while we were out in it until the end.....then it was way cold!!

The boys had a blast and I was determined to make the best snowman ever. We strategized and planned and I quickly realized that my dream of the perfect snowman probably wasn't going to happen!! It was harder than it looked to make it just right!! The thought might have crossed my mind that I should have done a little research to figure out just the best way to make it work!! (I can take the fun out of just about anything!!!) :)

Anyway, here are our best attempts --

Me...trying to get the rolling action down!!

Landry is delighted at the progress we're making!!

And here are the finished products --

I've learned that we aren't a very crafty family (which I already knew) and that we were going to have to get creative with what to put on these guys! I ended up in the produce drawer of the fridge and used carrots for his eyes, a shriveling jalapeno for his nose, and some celery that was on its last legs for his smile. I'm guessing fresh celery wouldn't bend into a smile??!?

We then got a little over-ambitious and decided to make a snow family! From left to right, they are Scott, Alex, Parker, Luke, Landry, and me. Yes, I did make myself a little taller and thinner than I probably actually am, but I was the one creating!!

At first, the ideas for decorating were just a-flowing. You can't really tell, but Parker's guy has legos for his eyes and mouth because Parker loves Legos! My girl has blue marble eyes because my eyes are blue (which ironically, one of the marbles kept falling out....I'm sure that's a metaphor of my life in some weird way!!), and I'm holding a mini-back-scratcher which doubles as a broom!! How clever, I thought!! My mouth is actually a snake (which I hope is NOT a metaphor of my life!) that is from some Indiana Jones Lego thing!!

We went downhill after that!! Scott and Luke have pretzel eyes...no correlation at all....and out of sheer desperation, I grabbed some bark from the flower bed and made Alex and Landry's eyes!! Everyone has a carrot nose and we threw out some balls because we play a lot of ball!! This is the point where I cannot feel my fingers or toes!!

The saddest part of this little tale is that I looked out the window just a few minutes ago and our big snowman has already lost his top 2 layers!! WHAT???! All that work?? So much for the perfect snowman!! :(

A very little bit about Christmas!

Christmas of 2009 was a good one, though a different one!

It seems kinda weird now that it's mid-February to go back and post a pic of everything that got opened! So, here are a couple of highlights from the times when I actually had my camera. Of course, Christmas Day, the time spent with family that you only see once a year.....my camera decided not to make the journey!! :(

Christmas morning . . . . Santa actually came?? Impressive!!!

Apparently, that was the only official Christmas pic I uploaded!! Maybe I'll go back and revisit the pictures and add some more!

This is something that Parker got from Nana and Poppy. . . . the Lego Agents Command Center. This bad boy had over 1000 pieces in it and Parker pretty much sat down and got busy on it immediately. A couple days later, here are the results --

Parker is definitely a builder!! Yay!!

And a funny from Christmas. . . . when we got all the decorations down from the attic, we started to hang up the stockings and Luke's felt a little funny. I was a little nervous because of my issues with mice in the attic once, so I peeked into his stocking and found this - -

A little 3 Musketeer from last Christmas!! It's the gift that keeps on giving!!

Landry wanted to know if he could eat it!! :)

Alex is a ...... teenager????

Can it possibly be that my sweet, little, giant of a newborn baby is already 13 years old??

Sadly, it is possible!!

Alex turned 13 on December 16. He opted for a family party instead of a big, crazy party, so we went to Chili's to have the fun! Nana and Poppy, BigPa and Grandma, Reagan and Ms. Estes were on the guest list and here's how it happened:

The table ...

Opening up a gift....I have no idea what it is but Luke thinks it's hilarious!!

Reagan and Alex showing off a common 13-year-old gift this year....the ipod touch! Reagan had managed to score one of these for his birthday also!

Here are the goofy boys as they sang Happy Birthday! Alex was adamant that he did NOT want to be sung to but, of course, they knew we were celebrating a birthday. It worked out perfectly because we said it was Reagan's birthday too, which it pretty much was, and being embarrassed together is not nearly as bad as doing it alone!!

Reagan was totally getting into swinging his napkin until he saw me with my camera! He then covered up his eyes as though we wouldn't be able to tell who he was!!! Silly boy!!!

All in all, it was a very fun get-together and not having to clean up was an added bonus!!

Alex is an amazing young man with a deep, thoughtful side and a carefree, clueless side!! He is a huge help to me when I need him and can usually be counted on for a good laugh. Things have certainly changed since the doctor handed me that heavy baby over 13 years ago, but I wouldn't change any of it! Love you Alex!!

Thanksgiving 2009

Thanksgiving......let me think.....what were we thankful for???

We were thankful that Meagan and Lexie were here and we got to spend lots of quality time together!!! We took lots of pics of the kids together and my plan was to use something from those to send as Christmas cards. Since that didn't happen, here are the pics and just imagine them on a cute Christmas-y card with the words..... Merry Christmas .... from the Bagg Family .... Scott, Kristy, Alex, Parker, Luke, and Landry

This was our attempt at taking a picture while looking into the sun!! I think Lexie's face shows how that worked out!!

Happy Thanksgiving!!! :)

Our Loss....Heaven's Gain

Due to my very severe lack of blogging lately, I'm going to attempt to get semi-caught up.....starting back in November.

November 13, 2009

As I was dropping off Luke at school, I got a call from Scott , his voice heavy with emotion and the words, "My Mom died."

At first, I thought I must have misunderstood. Bernadine, though fighting gallbladder cancer, was doing well. She had done amazingly well. But I hadn't misunderstood. Bernadine had indeed, gone to Heaven and while it was sudden and unexpected for us, we know that it wasn't a surprise at all to the God of the universe.

Bernadine was an amazing person, wife, mom, and grandma. She juggled many hats throughout her life and managed them all well. It was a true honor to know her and to feel her love for our family.

Scott and I went to New York to spend time with the family and attend the services in her honor. The funeral was beautiful and was a really neat tribute to her life. It was a great time with the family and a huge shout-out to everyone that helped us out with the kids....my Mom and Dad, Emily, and the Rothenbergers. We could not have done it without you....thanks!!

Oh Happy Day!!

Today was an amazing day!!

We had the day off, thanks to the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. We had no plans, just a lot of laundry and a rented movie!!

Not long after I had gotten up, Luke came to me and said, "Mom...go get your Bible...I'm ready to ask Jesus into my heart!!" Have you ever heard better words??

We sat down on the couch and read some verses, talked about sin, and why Jesus came to die for him. He was so ready...knew the answers proudly!! (We have been talking about this for weeks, maybe months.)

I was reminded, yet again, of the simplicity of salvation. Through a child's eyes, it all makes perfect sense. May it always be so for Luke!!


Matthew 18:3 "I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven."


Thank you Jesus, for the gift of salvation!!

Merry Christmas!!

It's been a fun, busy week but this song has been playing over and over in my mind and definitely reminds me of the real reason for this amazing season!!






Hope everyone has a great Christmas!!

Guess who??

I think even with the horrible quality of this picture of a picture, you can still see the obvious resemblance of a certain boy in this house and this little Scotty boy:

Them there's some strong genes!!

Happy Halloween 2009!!

Yes, the weather is freezing cold and we're listening to Christmas music, but here's our Halloween recap!!

This year we had a clown, 2 ninja's, and a Batman. The weather was perfect, the Harvest Festival was super fun, and a good time was had by all!!

This is the only pic I got of all of the boys, and our cousin, Justin the Jedi joined in. (wow...nice use of consonance/alliteration!)

Luke and Landry, aka Ninja and Batman -

Luke sliding -Reagan and Landry. . . Bacon and BatmanBatman -

And the bestest friends on the face of the earth!!

Future NFL star. . . . probably not!!

Seventh grade football . . . those words conjure up some amazing memories for me now!!

Haha!!

Alex played his first season of football this year when he entered the 7th grade. He had literally been waiting his whole life to do it! It was something he's always wanted to do! The excitement and anticipation was almost more than we could take!!

But, of course, that leveled off eventually!! And it finally took a nosedive!! :)

Seriously, he had a great season and and a lot of fun! Alex isn't what you would call an overly aggressive kid, so football gave me a bit of a challenge in that area. He really wanted to hit somebody really hard . . . but it just didn't happen that way much!! He really wanted to make a lot of really great tackles . . . but it just seemed a little more difficult when you were actually called on to do it!!

(Totally not trying to diss Alex AT ALL, but I want to document this next part for my horrible memory!!)

Alex kind of got a reputation with those of us in the stands as being a "last responder." He was really good at running up on a pile of players after the runner had already been safely tackled and he would often give someone a little push or a little slap on the helmet, as though it couldn't have happened without his final touch!! It was hilarious to watch!!

So, it is safe to conclude that Alex is a fairly non-aggressive football player!! Oxymoron?? Maybe!!

When asked if he'll play next year, he says no. But I wouldn't be surprised if he did! He had lots of fun and really enjoyed it, for the most part.

Here are Alex and Reagan at the last game . . . I asked them if they could smile and this is how they responded:

Never underestimate the power of #88 and #89!!

What makes you Gouchy??

From Luke --



Translation -


I was gouchy because I did not get enuf sleep.


He definitely comes by that naturally!!

Projects, projects

School has been going really well so far this year. It's hard to believe that in three short weeks, the year will be half over!! Crazy!!

I haven't been posting much because I couldn't find the cord that connects my camera to the computer; thus I haven't been able to upload anything!! The funny thing is that the cord was right here in the office all the time! Awesome organizational skills I have!!

Anyway, Alex and Parker did a couple of cool projects a few weeks ago and I wanted to document them here.

First up, Alex had to do a model of how blood flows through the heart, showing the oxygenated and deoxygenated blood. I was really proud of Alex as he did this project pretty much without any help. I really like things like this because I think the kids get a much better idea of how it actually works than just doing in on paper. After he did this project, he had a great understanding of how the heart works.


Parker has been studying Mesopotamia for a good part of the year and he was presented with a list of projects to create and he chose to build a Mesopotamian Ziggurat. The funnest part of this project was to see people's reactions when he told them he was building a ziggurat....definitely not something you come across every day.


Being the insightfully creative person I am, I sent Parker to spend a couple of days with his Poppy so that they could, together, create the ziggurat of their dreams!! And boy, did they not disappoint!!

This was really, super cool when they finished it and I was surprised at how Parker just jumped right in and wanted to learn about this ancient structure. He has a great time learning/building this little project.

One of my favorite parts of this project was the very end when Parker got out the Sharpie to draw on the lines and write a cool title. His first attempt was crazy . . . all over the place and not neat AT ALL!! So, we covered that up with his picture of the model they used and started again! The next time was a little better until he starts writing in big bubble letters right in the middle!! Then he finished it off by writing his little-known nickname - PK - under his real name!! PK?? Seriously?? It almost sent me over the edge, but I kept myself in check and let him express his creativity!!??! His teacher's reaction?? FANTABULOUS!!

Good work guys!!

Happy Birthday!!!!

Belated birthday wishes go out to two of the finest people you will ever know.....my Grandma and BigPa!!

(This isn't actually at their party, but it's such a great picture!!)

Their birthdays were actually on October 2nd and October 11th and my mom and Debra gave them a surprise 79th and 80th birthday party on Sunday, the 11th! It was so fun to watch as especially BigPa was completely surprised!! Several people spoke about good memories and special times with them. I had the privilege to speak about what amazing grandparents they are to me. . . . . I once again retold the story of BigPa's cat-like reflexes as he squashed a mouse (or rat, depending on who's telling the story!!) in my garage a few years back! That story never gets old!!!

I gave a little insight into their generous hearts as I told them about how just a couple of weeks prior to that, Parker had been sick and when they heard, they immediately wanted to bring some chicken noodle soup by. In true BigPa and Grandma fashion, they brought soup, made with Luke's special noodles and extras in case we needed them, two different kinds of cornbread, two cartons of ice cream, and hot fudge to boot!! They are and always have been so over-the-top with their giving!

Many times when I offer my appreciation to them for whatever they've gone out of their way to do for me, the response I usually get is. . . . "Glad to!" I know that they mean that when they say it, for they are always happy to help. It's never a burden, never an imposition; they truly are glad to!!

BigPa and Grandma - - - I cannot tell you how many ways you have blessed my life and the lives of those I love!! You are truly the best and I love you!!

(sorry so belated!!)

Pastor talk

Today was an exciting new day for our church. A new pastor took the helm at our great church!! While this means a lot of things to a lot of people, it was different for me because a member of my family has been the pastor at Grace for as long as I've been alive!! That's pretty wild when you think about it!! I'm looking forward to the future of Grace in the hands of Bro. Donnie, a non-Williams/Martin family member!!

When Landry got up and going this morning and realized it was Sunday, he immediately said, "Is today the day that the new pastor comes??" I answered yes and he said in a little voice, with his hands raised, "yay!!" Evidently, he has big plans and high expectations for Bro. Donnie!!

And on the way to church, we were reviewing Luke and Landry's verses when Landry pipes up, "I know a verse!!" So, I said, "Tell us...what is it??" To which he responded, "No man can serve two PASTORS!!" After I cracked up laughing and someone corrected him, I thought to myself....there might be some truth to that!!

Good times ahead!!

Princesses...according to boys

I have so much fun stuff to blog about . . . BigPa and Grandma's birthdays, Alex and his school projects/football adventures, and other important stuff I'm forgetting.

But this was a bit of insight I gleaned tonight from Parker, Luke, and Landry.

They were being silly, calling each other Scary Potter, Princess, and other equally charming names. The whole "princess" term made me wonder how many of the Disney princesses these crazy boys could name.

So, I asked . . . tell me the names of the princesses.

And here they are . . . all they could come up with!

1. Snow White

2. Cinderella

3. Girl with the long hair

4. Fiona

5. Queen of England

I wonder if Disney has thought about marketing the Queen Mother? She'd make a great princess!!

All in a day's work

I thought it might be interesting to occasionally share something that I've learned as I work with my students. Because I teach (and I use that term loosely) several different subjects, I am always being reminded of things that I remember learning when I was in school, or I am constantly learning new concepts or new ways to teach concepts.

So, this is the problem for the day. This comes from some Algebra 3 work that a student and I worked through today. Read slowly and this is totally doable!!

Find 2 consecutive natural numbers such that the difference of their reciprocals is 1/4 the reciprocal of the smaller number!!!

Let me know what you get!!

A wonderfully boring Saturday

Aaahhh...another Saturday! I love Saturdays!!

Here's a peek into what's happened around here today.

Saturdays are great for playing. Football usually reigns for Alex and Luke, but Landry has his own ideas of fun.

Take this guy. . . Perry Medic, I believe.

Get it.....PerryMedic.....paramedic!!

He's been around for a long time but now it is Landry's turn to grow his imagination with this guy. (Landry took this pic)


According to Landry, today has found Perry flying in his rocket ship for a long, long time and he was really, REALLY tired. He needed a nap and the best place for that was in Luke's bed. So, Landry carefully bedded Perry down, took apart his rocket ship, and surrounded him with it. My favorite part of this was that Landry had found Parker's glasses cleaning cloth and deemed it a perfect blanket for Perry!!


Since Landry seemed interested in helping all the tired toys get their naps, I suggested to him that "Baby" might need a nap too. He happily agreed and went and found Baby and promptly wrapped him up in a blanket and put him to bed with Perry!! Here's Baby sleeping (Landry also took this pic!)

Baby, who has never been named anything other than Baby, has been a part of the family since Alex's first (I think!) birthday!! So, he's almost 12 and is really aging well!! It's so funny to see how the boys have played with Baby through the years. It definitely brings out their nurturing side!!

At least, until Baby wakes up from his nap and everyone has moved on to football. They are having trouble finding the right football to play with so Landry offers up Baby!!

"Hey guys....we could use Baby as the football!!"

That is so wrong!!

As for other exciting-ness. . . we pretended we were at the Barber Shop!

YUCK!! I hate this job!! It is so almost worth paying the $50 bucks every month to get it done!!

And, on another exciting note, I had a little run-in with the Bleach today!!

Those used to be Luke's long sleeved shirt on the left (that I had dug out now that the weather is cooler!!), Luke's boxers, and Scott's black sweater vest. He's going to croak when he sees that!! There were other casualties, but I just grabbed these first!!

I hate bleach!! It is a useful and necessary part of my life, but it is so dangerous!!

So, that's another exciting Saturday in the books!! The best thing about this weekend?? It goes on for an extra day!! Yay for Columbus!!

Kids Speak

Here are a couple of funnies from the last week or so . . .

Landry, while sitting at the bar . . . "I always lick the bar first before I eat!" (WHAT??!!)

Parker, while waiting for our good friend/chiropractor Dr. Todd to adjust him . . . "All of a sudden, I'm feeling the need to go green!" To which I reply, "meaning??" And he says, "you know recycle more, turn off the TV, take a shower instead of a bath, unplug your phone charger when you're not using it, MOM!"