This Whole Monkey Bar Thing

We got to keep Avery this past weekend.  While she was here we decided to take her to the park where we took her mama and her uncles when they were her age.  She loved it and had a great time.

At one point though she saw the monkey bars.  She said with a sad voice that the kids at school could do the monkey bars but she couldnt. 
So Poppa said "Well, I will teach you."  He attempted to show her while she hung there. 

 However, she wasnt really into it.  What I mean is, she wanted to be into it.  She attempted to try it.  But basically her fears were holding her back.  He continued to reassure her that he was there and would catch her if she fell.  But it resulted in her just saying.  "I cant"  (Insert sad voice)   :(

We moved on to the climbing wall, where she was also fearful.  She would do it but only this high.

 I remember when she didnt even want to swing.  She was scared of that too.  But now she swings well.  Again, not too high...

 We ran, and played and had so much fun.

She decided we should play JAIL.  Poppa was the prisoner and she and I were the jail keepers.  Believe me, if she grows up to be a warden, you DO NOT want to be a prisoner.  I am not even kidding.

After a while Mark and Paige showed up and brought Bella with them. Avery was really happy about that.

 

She mentioned the whole monkey bar thing to Mark and he, like Todd, said he would teach her. This time she got a little braver and braver.

 She would let go and squeal in fear, then reach out and grab the next bar, let go, fearfully squeal, and grab the next one.  Little by little letting go of her fear.

 She made it all the way through!  SUCCESS!!!!

 I was so proud.  She was proud too.  She mentioned something before we left;  she may need to help some little kid learn how to do the monkey bars since she knew how to do them now.   :)

As I was thinking about this later, I realized this monkey bar thing has many comparisons to our lives as adult Christians.  We sometimes just dont think we can do something.  Maybe its something that God has shown us to do or we feel that we need to do.  However, its way way outside of our comfort zone.  Its like God is right there with us.  He's right there.  His arms are outstretched ready to catch us if we fall.  He is guiding us, coaching us, compelling us forward.  Right there, never leaving us alone in it.  But we are afraid.  Afraid of what might happen. 

• WHAT IF I FALL
• WHAT IF I FAIL
• WHAT IF I GET HURT
• WHAT IF YOU DON'T CATCH ME

He is right there assuring us that He's got us.  But it takes letting go of where we are.  It takes reaching forward to the next place, and letting go once again to get where you want to be. It takes risk, trust, and faith, little by little letting go of our fear.  But once we just give it up, and go for it--
Once we do it we find that we dont fall.  Or even if we do fall, we land on our feet, and start again. 
As a matter of fact, after we move on to a new place, turns out we may get the chance to help somebody else who is attempting to move forward too.

Morals

 After we got the tree down and the decorations put up, Josh decided to chop it up and burn it in my fire pit.  I was skeptical that it would burn.  Boy was I wrong.  That thing flamed up so high and burned up!  Thats a little scary.

 Moral of the story is... Things are not always as they seem.

One day during the holiday Avery was out back and Mark would throw the ball on the roof and Avery would try to catch it.  One time though, She was waiting for the ball to come back...

 and waiting, and waiting...

And waiting--- It never came back...

It just stopped rolling and found a resting place.  But not to worry,  Uncle Mark to the rescue!

 Only, he missed

 And Josh missed too.

 And they missed again and again.

Finally they got it and the ball finally came down.

The moral of the story is...  Good things come to those who wait, with a little hard work and determination.

Christmas 2013

This year our Artificial tree that I have had for more years that I probably realize lost some sections of lights.  So because of that plus the fact that I waited much later than I normally do to put a tree up, I decided to use the artificial one for Cornerstone Kids to decorate and get us a real tree this year.  So we headed out to Maries Trees and chose one I liked and brought it home.  

 I decorated it up and was pretty pleased.

While the boys were both in one weekend we took advantage of it and had them help us get outside lights up.  They were so great to help.   (OH how my house needs painting)

Christmas Eve we did a little Cajun Christmas thing.  It was just little presents.  I bought them all and the whole thing was a surprise to all involved.  It was a hit though and we plan on doing this again next year too.  We had gifts like a razor.  Todd stole that from Mickey and he hasn’t let anyone forget it.  There was a box of chocolates.  Charlie ended up with that.  There was a bag of Rolos and a few other things like that.  There was a canister of mixed nuts which Avery ended up with.  That happened to be the “surprise” Grand Prize because there was a $5 bill hidden underneath the lid!  Turns out though that the prize Josh ended with was more of the Grand Prize.  It was UNO cards!  We played UNO I don’t know how many times after Christmas until he went back to school yesterday.  I was joking the other day that with the cool weather we have turned our outdoor activities from croquet to indoor UNO!  We even got Todd to play a good bit.  He hates games! :(       But he has fun once he lets himself play.  :)

We still have Christmas all together on Christmas morning.  Yes, Casey hauls all of their stuff from Monroe to our house. The boys bunk in together and we have a blow up mattress too.   My little living room needs to be stretched for sure.  But it is fun.  This year Mawmaw was with us.  You know, the more the merrier! 

 
 I was pretty excited about this gift I got for Mawmaw.  I asked her to give me a couple of Pawpaws shirts.  She never asked why.  I was glad she didnt.  She gave me two T-shirts.  I had them made into these memory bears.  The lady who did them did an AWESOME job.  They had a "B" for Bill on the chest and a sweet little poem attached that made us cry.  The red one was for her and in this picture she is looking at the one we had done for Avery.  These bears are so great.  If you need one, contact Southern Designs.

Todd is opening his Tool Chest here.  Mawmaw is in the background still holding on to that bear.      :)

 Mark liked his watch.  He asked for a watch.  However it was on a LONG list of tons of other things he asked for.  Funny thing about this is that one evening Paige sent me a text telling me that she had gotten Mark a watch and hoped I hadnt, or something like that.  I texted her back "Too Late!"  Yes I already had gotten him a watch.  Funny thing is...  She sent me a picture of the watch she had gotten him.  ---  The EXACT SAME WATCH.  Not kidding.  Out of all the things he asked for, Not only did we get him the same thing, it was the exact same watch!  Craaazy!  She ended up returning hers and getting him something else which I was thankful for.  He loved his watch, AND what she got him too! :)

Todd got me this beautiful and sooooooooooooo comfortable chair.  Mawmaw is enjoying its comfort here. Todd did GOOD!  AND he completely surprised me.  He picked it out himself.  That was pretty brave!  It is perfect! I had no idea!  So neat to be totally surprised. 

This is Averys bear made of Pawpaws LSU T-shirt.

 Here Avery is trying out her new skates!

 Todd got right to work on getting his tool box all put together and in place!

Oh I love his smile!

He was smiling, and so were the rest of us.  It was a great Christmas. 

So Thankful

These are some more pictures from Thanksgiving.  Mark and Josh had a little kick ball match.  (Their version)

Casey and Avery did a little spinning.

Paige and Mark played a little piggy back.

Thanksgiving was full and fun. 

What a great time to be Thankful.

We are thankful.

Mostly though for God who loves us so.  With all our faults and failures, all our trials and weaknesses, he will always be there to hold us up.  He is a good God.  We are thankful.

Finally A Thanksgiving Post

Oh my computer!  Its been giving me troubles.  Takes FOR.EVER to get things loaded.  Can you say frustrating????
Anyway, I got it going finally.  :)

These pictures were taken at Thanksgiving.  We enjoyed each other and yummy food, then after lunch we went out back and enjoyed each other out there.

 Avery did a little yard work.  Of course she had ulterior motives.  She had a plan.

 She got Mark involved too. 

They raked lots of leaves into a big pile.  Then she said "Nonna, watch dis!"
She backed way up, took off running and then jumped

 right into the pile!

She had a good time playing in the leaves.

She even got the baby doll involved. :)   I did by the way take the baby in shortly after this.  I have had that doll that my Aunt Eva Marie made for me since  I was 10 years old.  You know, that's been a few years.

Mawmaw and her grandsons.  Well the Vidalia ones anyway.

 It was certainly a different Thanksgiving without Papaw but we were thankful to be able to be together.

Well maybe, if my computer cooperates I may have a Christmas post soon...

Hope you all had a great holiday.  We did.