The Landers' Life

Lions, Tigers, and Bears...Oh my!

5/10/10

Yeah, well, I don't have a picture of a bear...but take my word for it that we did see one when we went to the Montgomery Zoo last Friday.

I picked Jake up from school at lunch time, and we traveled the infamous Hwy. 82 (that we so often do) to meet Jim there. We had not seen him since last Monday, and boy, were we excited! Jake talked the whole way about holding the lions, missing his daddy, and running to catch the elephants. He called the animals his babies and almost went without a nap because he was in such huge anticipation.

But fortunately for him he passed out cold after I told him at least three times it would be a while before we got there. After all, he definitely needed as much energy as possible to see...

a mommy buffalo and her newborn baby...

a white tiger...

his daddy...

a lion...

an otter...

whatever lives behind this fence...

and a herd of elephants.

He also played on the playground, found several water puddles to stomp through, and got majorly hot and sweaty. Of course.

Oh! And he managed to pose for my camera a time or two. Lucky me!

For Mom, With Love

5/9/10

To know my mom is to love her.

Her personality exceeds welcome, friendship, giving...love.

Born in Montgomery, Alabama in 1946, she was the 4th of 10 children. Her childhood was extremely poor. She shared coloring with her siblings at Christmas and worked harder than I probably do in a week by the time she was 10. Her dad was an abusive alcoholic - and if you asked her, she would probably tell you what she remembers most about him is being afraid. Her mom loved the best she could - loved as much as she could, given her circumstances.

My mom was born into Christ at the age of 15. She will tell you that His love is the best she's ever known.

Several years later she married my dad. And then several more later, my older sister was born. My mom says she would cry while she watched her sleep because she was unsure of the kind of mom she would be. She was also certain she was inadequate to become a mom for a second time, but God was certain she wasn't.

For as long as I can remember, her affection has overflowed and her selflessness precedent. Our home was clean, we ate home-cooked meals 5 out of 7 days each week (maybe more), and we were taught respect, compassion, please, thank you, yes ma'am, no ma'am, to give everyone the benefit of the doubt whenever possible, and to love God with all our hearts and all our minds.

She has said many times that she's "not perfect" - but I don't believe her for one minute. To me, she is beauty. She is sacrifice. She is warmth. She is amazing. She is the best mom I'll ever know. She's the mom I strive to be every day. And if I do half the job she's done, I count it as success.

Her children arise and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her: Many women do noble things, but you..., Mom, ...surpass them all. (Proverbs 31: 28-29

Things That Make You Go...Hmmmmmm

5/6/10

Well...

I debated on doing a "serious" post in recognition of the National Day of Prayer. It's a big day for Christians everywhere. I had it all planned out and was going to confess before you that I just don't take the time as often as I should...to pray. I also planned to tell you that something huge on my heart today is my desire to make more time to be quiet...to make my requests known to God...to give Him thanks more for what He does in my life without me even realizing it. To make time for Him and to be with Him, even when I'm at my weakest or can't concentrate. To realize that it doesn't always have to be me using just the right words, but just to think out loud to Him and share with Him...not necessarily in some perfect form. I know that may sound selfish...to pray about something that I want for myself instead of praying for our country, the flooding in Nashville, the servicemen and women in far away places. But I know with all that I am that it's something I need to do so that I will pray for those things.

And then...

Then I debated on sharing how I wet my pants in my own driveway when I got home today. I just knew you'd be dieing to hear that one. I mean, seriously. How in the world does a grown, 33 year old, woman lose control of her bladder and pee in her own driveway? I'm still sort of hoping it didn't really happen. But I'm pretty sure it did. Unfortunately. Wetting my pants is nothing new for me. I was a big time bed-wetter and even wet my pants at a Red Lobster in celebration of my 16th birthday because I laughed so hard (yes, I said 16th not 6th). Can we say embarrassing?! And since I carried Jake, it's even worse. I can't emphasize this phrase enough...when I gotta go, I gotta go!

Between the two, there's one that's most important. But the stress from the paragraph above alone has led me to give up on doing either one.

So I decided to just ask Jake what he would like to pray about, and this is what he had to say...

How...

5/5/10

do...

You...

eat...

a...

popsicle?

He's been at it again -

5/3/10

getting creative with his bath toys.

These are actually new ones.

I found them last week out of the blue and couldn't resist buying them.

I assumed he would be ecstatic because they were transportation-themed.

I assumed right.

And just so you know, we made a second trip to Target tonight. We also went to the mall. I'm steadily spoiling the mothers in my life, and tomorrow will be no different. I've talked my friend Kelly into taking a road trip with me (and Jake, of course, since I'm officially a single parent for the next three weeks) to Birmingham to get a few things there that I can't find here. I'm so excited that I can hardly think about anything else...like getting Jake to bed on time tonight. I usually tend to do this (let him stay up later than usual), though, when Jim is out of town. It's because he keeps me company...and busy...and smiling.

Helicopters, Firetrucks, Automobiles, & What we've been up to lately

5/2/10

I can't believe that these last few days have come and gone (all four of them that have flown by since I last posted). They've been fun. It makes me sad to see them go...especially since Jim will be leaving tomorrow for three weeks. He'll be teaching at Maxwell AFB...but his students won't be the kind here at U of A. They'll be other USAF Captains who are about to start doing the job that he's been doing for almost four years now.

I also had to say "Goodbye" to my mom yesterday. She came to visit on Friday and stayed overnight (This helps explain how I spent my Thursday evening. I was cleaning - making my house livable and un-embarassing - before she got here Friday afternoon.).

I went to work Friday morning and then to have my eyes checked (It had been three years, so I was definitely due). I came home to my mom waiting for me on our back porch...Jim and Jake were not far behind me. We all had dinner together - Jim's BBQ that my mom had picked up on the way here. It was absolutely delicious!

After dinner, Jim and I went out, just the two of us. We ran a gazillion errands, one of which was a stop at Movie Gallery to rent some movies. My mom and I managed to watch two over the next 24 hours.

On Saturday morning, we grocery shopped and took Jake to Big Trucks, Little Hands. It was an event put on by the Junior League of Tuscaloosa to help raise money for charity with the idea of giving kids a hands-on experience with all kinds of vehicles that they're fascinated by. They had a helicopter, tractor, dump truck, ambulance, two firetrucks, bulldozer, police car, and that doesn't even name them all. It was like a transportation candy store for Jake.

He got to meet a helicopter pilot...

and push every button possible inside a firetruck. This was definitely a hit. He especially liked the huge ladder they had raised up on top.

And even though these pictures don't say so, he also blew the horn of a big rig (more times than the crowd appreciated, I'm sure) and shook hands with a raccoon.

He ate suckers and chocolate and jumped inside an inflatable slide.

It was a windy day...but he kept saying, "I wike wind, Mommy." He also liked watching the bags of garbage be lifted from the ground by a crane.

And after all the playing was exploring was done and we were as windblown as we could possibly, we went home and had a relaxing afternoon...

which is exactly what we've done today. We went to church this morning, stopped at Bojangles for a late breakfast, came home, played a while, and then took naps. Since then we've watched it rain and realized we have no idea where our small group is meeting tonight.

So I guess we'll go to Target.

My New Project

4/28/10

So I mentioned this past weekend that I wanted to go to the bookstore and purchase one of author Amanda Blake Soule's books. I definitely went to the bookstore - actually we (meaning myself, Jim and Jake) went to both of the ones we have here in town. I didn't find either of her books at one (they were out...or maybe it was because I couldn't get to one section because someone else was hogging up the space in front of the racks...probably the latter, come to think of it), but I did find The Handmade Home at the other. I sat for I know at least 30 minutes while Jake played and Jim browsed around absorbing anything and everything I could about the projects she gave detailed instructions on how to make. I ended up not buying the book...I really wanted to see them both before deciding. That's the bad news. The good news is, the small amount of reading and looking through her book that I did, gave me an idea - an idea to make a quilt using Jake's outfits that he wore as a baby and has now, obviously, outgrown. I immediately got crazy looking on the Internet, finding a pattern, looking at ones that others have done, and dragging out and emptying the storage bins that have been full of things from his days as an infant that I just haven't been able to part with.

Since then, I've been cutting...

ump-teen...

itty, bitty squares of fabric.

I've also been to a quilt shop that's literally 5 minutes from our house to look at fabric to finish off the centerpiece of the quilt.

I've never ever tried to make a quilt before. But honestly I try to block that thought from my mind. Believe it or not, my expectations for the end result are still super high. After all, I am ruining perfectly good clothing. (Eek!) My one hope when I'm done with all the work is that I have an awesome keepsake to carry around with me as long as I live, and when I look at each square, I'll be reminded of the baby Jake once was and the memories we made when he wore that...or that.

So I'm not sure how long this will take me, but it's moving pretty fast. Mostly because I've figured out that it doesn't take long to do as long as you have the right tools and also because I'm working like a mad woman to get it done. I literally can't wait to see it finished! And I can't wait to share more pictures of the progress.

With that said, I'm off to go make a few more cuts before calling it a night.

Lions, Tigers, and Bears...Oh my! 5/10/10

5/10/10