McCain/Palin Rally! (Not McPain, Paul!)

Jonah and I joined some other friends from church today and attended a McCain/Palin rally at TR Hughes Park in O'Fallon. We had a good time sweating, waiting, sweating, waiting, and then saw the actual candidates heads for maybe 1 or 2 seconds?? (because of the huge crowd there..around 20,000) But we did it mostly happily to show our support and let everyone know there are still people out there who care about conservative issues. To be honest, I had not been overly excited about the upcoming elections because McCain wasn't my first choice. I liked several of the nominees, but wasn't completely sold on any of them...until McCain went and made my week and picked a socially, and fiscally conservative FEMALE! Now I would never vote for or against someone because of their gender, but I just think this was a brilliant move on his part for all the reasons everyone has been talking about.

We felt like big, gross, sweaty goo balls after about 15 minutes there but managed to get a cute pic of the kids. David Jackson took some pictures of us that I hope never see the light of day..I'm sure I looked ridiculous. I was jumping around getting into some country song and then I heard the artist say somethink like "I want to look for ticks on you!" Good grief...as if we needed to appear any more redneck-ish.. DJ better not have videotaped me dancing to that.. HEHE! Anyway, they weren't a bad band..just would have been nice to have something in addition to country music as Dana from Mamalogues twittered.

We not only got to see/hear McCain, Palin, but Jim Talent, Governor Matt Blunt, Mitt Romney and Mike Huckabee too! It was awesome to hear all those people at one setting. It was also kind of cool watching the Secret Service scoping out the woods too..and I'm nearly certain that we followed and were followed by Governor Blunt on the way home..there was a caravan of brown state trooper SUV's that drove like they were carrying someone important. We waved like dorks just in case.

I prepped Jonah on who we would see and what he should say if we happened to be close enough to see them today. Of course, that didn't happen, but he asked, repeatedly, for about two hours, "where's John McCain? where's John McCain?" as if they were personal friends. When John McCain finally did appear, Jonah asked "Who's John McCain?" like he had never heard of him..so much for all the prep work. Gonna sleep good tonight.

Memories from a decade ago

In moving, I found our wedding proofs and went through the box. We weigh more now than we did then, and Lesh has more silver strands now, but we still fit together as good as we did that day.
On November 21st, we will celebrate our 10th wedding anniversary. They have been blessed years..we have come through some challenging times, times of growth, and seasons of supreme blessing and joy. He was my best friend then, and he is still my best friend. I loved him then, but I love him now so much more.
I'll write more about that later, but wanted to share the pictures.

That was the most delicious cake ever..from La Bonne Bouche on Olive. It was chocolate cake with a chocolate mousse filling and some raspberry in there too. Scrumptious.

Hat boys

The boys are loving their hats this week. http://www.flickr.com/photos/jonahandjude/sets/72157607001522596/

Cool kids & dad

Jonah found this hat and came out with it on. He and Jude were gettin' down to the DNC live music.

This expression is killing me.
Cheesing..
Like father like son.

Living with MawMaw

(This is not my child...no, we have not bleached their hair out.)

Jonah (and Jude) were a bit naughty today (well..everyday.) My kids, like all other children in the world, seem to really get a kick out of misbehaving and squealing like piglets as soon as I get on an important phone call. (You know..the kind with bankers, accounting firms, attorneys, and such...where you have to read out figures between howls and cries for candy and every other forbidden thing because you are on the phone and they know you won't punish them while someone else is listening...so you say in the most contrived, calm tone you can muster, "Just a minute dear and mommy will help you." Then you get off the phone and get the contorted, pinched, monster face and they run from the room, shrieking all the way, for cover.) Yeah.. that kind of phone call. Anyway, I disciplined him and explained to him that frightening his whiny, little two year old brother with bear sounds while I am on the phone is neither polite or appreciated.

In an effort to cheer him up after said discipline..and from mother guilt for being on the phone to begin with, I let him know that his Mawmaw was coming to pick him up so that he and Jude could spend some time with she and Pawpaw this evening. He got a little red in the face, and I saw some independence rising up in him as he began to speak faster..ultimately letting me know that he wasn't coming back home. I guess that is the first time I have heard that, as a mother,..sure it won't be the last..it smarted my heart just a bit. But then I reminded him that he likes to snuggle with me every morning and a few other things that I thought would help him realize how much he enjoys living here. He didn't relent. Jude kept squealing and Jonah started crying complaining that Jude's cries hurt his ears. They hurt mine too..my head more. Two squawling kids and one tired, overworked mom. That's when a nanny would sure be nice.

Alas, time, and food heal make things right with the world, at least most of the time...I fed him his favorite chicken and cheese quesadillas, pineapple and even gave him some watered down sweet tea and he was all chirpy again. I asked again if he thought he might want to stay at Mawmaw's house and he admitted he wanted to live with me. (relief) I even got a kiss as he left with her.

I enjoy how easy things are, emotionally, when children are this age. Parents of teenagers are always telling me they wish they had these days back. I have made a commitment to myself to take it one day at a time and live in the moment...it's difficult..between my responsibilities, the whining, fighting, crying..and yes, even noisy phone calls. However, a deep breath and a prayer are highly under-rated. God does give us enough grace for each moment..we just have to decide to accept His help and go on.

Flashback

You have to go check out http://www.yearbookyourself.com/. I created these there. Crackin' me up.

"Bad Bone, Doo Doo Doo Doo!"

My dad is in the habit of teaching Jonah important songs like Working at the Car Wash Blues and the likes. Recently, he was inspired to teach him Bad to The Bone and of course Jude picks it up..with his special little version. He is now singing "Bad Bone, Bad Bone, doo doo doo doo!" It's so cute..I wish I could capture it on video. In truth, my video camera is not handy..I need to go find it..it's somewhere in the garage or in the Armada. Things are everywhere since the move.

Jonah update: He NEVER stops talking or singing. It's cute. It's annoying. It's sweet. I'm thrilled he loves to search out answers and express his joy through singing. I just wish he had a volume dial so that I could listen at a lower level sometimes. Jude is picking up the singing bug and is able to sing quite a few of the songs we sing at church.

The boys continue to speak to EVERYONE in public...especially in retail stores. At church, most folks want to speak to them and regularly do, so the boys think that our church = the public. I have tried to reign them in at times because some people just don't want to be bothered by anyone. 75% of the passersby are friendly right back and enjoy the banter with my little people, but there are others who are just rude..they completely ignore the fact that the little people are speaking to them. Jonah always seems confused when this happens. I started to tell him that they didn't hear him one time..then I thought.."well that really isn't true." They were most likely just ignoring them because the boys are young, and they don't want to be bothered to stop and talk to a kid. Age-ism? I think so. If an adult were addressing them, they would most likely respond in some way. It kind of gets my goat that they are so rude and don't care about hurting Jonah's or Jude's feelings..but some people are just not very compassionate..that's not news.

Anyway, I haven't been quite sure how to address the issue with my kids..Jonah especially. I don't want to lie and tell him that they didn't hear him. I could say that they must have been in a hurry and didn't have time to talk, but the truth is, they could have said a quick "Hi!" and "I need to run!", but they didn't. Simply, they are exhibiting rude behavior. I think he is old enough to understand that now. I point out rude behavior on his part, so I think it's okay to identify it in others..especially if it confronts us. People aren't perfect, and Jonah, at four, is learning that.

Preacher's sons

My heart goes out to Pastor Greg Laurie, (in Southern California) for the loss of his son. He died in an automobile accident last week..I'm just now hearing about it. Then today, we received word that a fellow pastor in Republic, Missouri also lost his son tragically in a shooting. At the end of May we had heard that the son of the pastor of the First Assembly of God in Wentzville had lost his son to cancer. It seems like a pattern in some way. I pray nightly for protection and health and salvation for my two sons, and pray that I never have to experience the loss of either of my children. I cannot imagine any worse hurt. I have followed the blog of a young woman who lost her young daughter in a drowning accident last year. She has expressed how therapeutic it has been to blog/journal about her loss. Praying that God's comfort is thick and real to those who have experienced such heartache.