Wreck 'em, Tech!!!

In case anyone who reads this blog doesn't know, my Red Raiders are 10-0 and playing like I've never seen them play before!! Dear Hubby and I have season tickets and have been going to the home games and cheering our hearts out! And no, we were not part of the enormous group that rushed the field after the Texas Tech/UT game...but we watched it and screamed at them to get off the field before they cost us the game!! Ha ha!!!

Anyways, everyone in our house is Red Raider crazy these days....and then the kids discovered, while eating breakfast yesterday, that they can even cheer for the Red Raiders while partaking of their poptarts...check this out!!!

A Taste of Things to Come

So, today was the school "Thanksgiving" lunch for kindergarten and 2nd grade...Dear Hubby was going to have turkey and all the trimmings with both kiddos today. On the way to school this morning, A asks me - "Is it sandwich turkey or turkey thanksgiving turkey?" I told her thanksgiving turkey. She freaks out. "On the bone and everything?" I told her, no, they would cut it off the bone for her...

After a minute of silence, A then tells me she won't eat turkey anymore, that's it mean for them to kill a turkey. I asked her why it was mean.... "Because the turkey is scared and then they kill it..." "Don't you think the pig or the cow would be scared, too?" - after it came out of my mouth, I realized it was probably not my brightest move.

A's response - "The turkey is smaller, Mom..."

Whew....for now. I have no doubt though that the day is coming when she will tell me she will no longer eat meat at all. So here's my question for any of you out there - at what age will it be appropriate for me to allow her to stop eating meat and become a vegetarian? I posed that question to Dear Hubby - he said high school. Thoughts, anyone?

Everybody Cut Footloose!!!

A was in her first vocal recital last night at the Cactus Theater...she and 2 other girls were the finale for an '80's themed recital...singing their version of "Footloose" - mind you, these are 7 year old little girls who have only been rehearsing together for about 3 weeks!! This youtube video links you to the show! A is in the middle!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fW0JS_ecp74

Light the Night

So, last night, the Stevens family participated in their 3rd annual "Light the Night" at our house....we really struggled for awhile in our married life to figure out how we feel about Halloween and what we want our kids to get out of it. So, after listening to how lots of other people had done it and praying alot, we decided to try this idea of "Light the Night"...

Basically, we set out with the purpose of being the biggest and brightest lights for Jesus that we can on Halloween...all in our own neighborhood with families on our street and kids that go to the same school as our kids. As Dear Hubby puts it, how often do you get the chance to be Jesus for people and they actually come to you? So we set up on our driveway, put up lots of fun lights (this year, Dear Hubby actually put up our Christmas lights on the house, too!), and figure out ways to serve parents and kids who are out and about...we (and when I say we, it was actually 5 families from our church together) served hot chocolate & lemonade & water, we cooked hot dogs on the grill for whoever wanted one, we popped popcorn in a popcorn machine, we made cookies and brownies, we gave out candy...we TALKED to people, we engaged with them, we loved on them a little bit, all in the name of trying to teach our kids about serving people, about being lights, and how God can use every opportunity for his glory - even though Halloween is considered a "dark" holiday, God outshines any darkness. The kids get a pep talk about what we are trying to do and they work so hard, making sure everyone feels welcome...and we let them dress up, too, and join in on the fun, all in the name of Jesus, amen! Ha ha!!!

This year, from what I can determine from the amount of candy and stuff we had left, we served over 175 kids and their parents....and we had so many tell us they remembered us from last year or the year before and how much they looked forward to it. I know in my heart that when God is present in places like this, it can touch people's lives...so that's our prayer, always...God, just let us love on these people like you love them - no conditions, no costs, just openly and with abandonment.

Saving the planet one fake fur coat collar at a time

So, my daughter has a deep and profound love for all things warm and fuzzy and all things cold and scaly...basically anything she classifies as an animal. After quizzing her about bugs and spiders, I found they don't necessary qualify for the same level of intense adoration, but she likes them, too.

I've known this for awhile, but over the past 4 to 6 months, it has been taken to a whole new level. She's on the verge of being an animal activist, seriously. at 7 years old. She is drawn to t-shirts about saving animals, she has watched just enough Discovery or Animal Planet to know that there are people out there who are harming animals for what she deems to be no good reason. She is quizzing her Poppa on his hunting habits to make sure he isn't killing anything that he doesn't plan on eating. Where she got it, I honestly don't know...we recycle, we talk about being good to our planet, but we aren't what I'd call hard-core PETA members or anything.

And then...Friday. A needed a new winter coat. I had found some at Old Navy on sale that I thought were cute, but was shopping around, trying to be thrifty and smart...so we went to Target with Grandma. We came across another coat I liked but I was describing the Old Navy coats to Grandma to get her opinion. The moment it came out of my mouth, A was snapping her fingers and telling me how it was...I told Grandma that the coats had fur around the hood. A's words, as she waved her finger in the air...."Uh uh, Momma...no fur coats for me. I don't want anything on my coat where they killed an animal for no reason."

I sat in stunned silence for a minute and then had to desperately try to keep the laughter from bursting out...I gently tried to explain it wasn't real fur, it was fake fur and that no animals died in the making of those coats....it didn't matter to A...."I don't want it to even look like it might be real...people shouldn't kill animals for no good reason, Momma."

Alrighty, then....you go, girl....you stand up for your beliefs, even if it's one fake fur coat collar at a time.

Receding waters...

So, after 8 and 1/2 inches in 24 hours and lots of hype about the "100 year flood", the waters have receded off of the roadways and parking lots and seem to be mostly contained in low lying areas and parks, etc. There were lots of cars that were flooded and some buildings, too, including Tech's football stadium, but overall, it seems to be on the upswing and looking better...

A & W, in the meantime, enjoyed a very chilled-out day of playing MarioCart, watching TV, and just hanging out together. During the summer, they went through phases where they got on each other's nerves, but for the most part, they had alot of fun being together...there was a shift in how they interacted with each other...ever so slight but I could detect it. In the past, A would pretty much control everything - what they played, how they played it, she'd even tell "W" what to say when they were playing cars or polly pockets or whatever. W seems to have shifted ever so slightly towards making up his own mind. He's not as keen on taking orders from her and he isn't hesitating to tell her so...at this point she still has the upper hand because she'll just outmanuever him with her mental gymnastics (that's my kind way of saying she manipulates him with mind tricks)...but every week I see him catching on a little more and more...before long, he will no longer be the little brother who will do everything she says.

It's alot of fun watching them interact....I can't help but wonder what their relationship will be like when they are all grown up. Hopefully, they'll get along well enough to decide how to care for me in my old age!

Bring on the Rain

So - Lubbock has received around 7 1/2 inches of rain since midnight and they expect possibly 2 to 3 more inches over night....What? SCHOOLS HAVE BEEN CANCELLED for tomorrow due to flooding(great, there goes our bad weather day in the middle of September!)...on the news, they are saying this is the worst flood in Lubbock in over 100 years. Hubby's boss was driving home from the Tech Wesley and his car was carried away by flood waters, ending up with a foot of water in his car and likely totaling it with water damage. We are all fine...no danger of flood waters at our house, we are up on a hill...but there are places in the city that are being flooded out. I'll keep this updated.

So where is this rain coming from? Supposedly Tropical Storm Lowell? What happens if Ike carries over to us? Yikes.

Those of you in Ike's path, we are praying for you. A & W prayed for all of you tonight...especially Aunt Jan. I was moved by A's prayer - "God, keep Aunt Jan warm and keep her heart warm with you." Amen.