MOM

When our wee ones were little and beginning to talk...for them to say this word would be music to our ears. We get so excited when they start playing around with sounds and babbling ma ma da da. When you can tell that they have called you mama for the first time because they have associated that word with you and not any moving object that happens to pass by them is worth picking up the phone and calling da da about. When that sweet child is so excited to see you and comes running to you squelling mom, it melts your heart.

So what happens????

Why is it that a short time later when you hear mom it is no longer a melodious sound to your ears but usually being yelled because the sibling is antagonizing them in some way. How can it get to the point that you have heard MOM yelled so many times in one day that you look at your children and say "I've changed my name, it's no longer mom". (yes, I have done this) My two are now 12 and 9 and it seems like they can't start a sentence with me without saying MOM first. It is driving me CRAZY! We are the only two in the room and they don't usually have the habit of talking to themselves, so why do they feel it is necessary to say MOM every time they have a question or want to state a fact? thin about your conversations during the day with a co-worker or a friend. If you said their name when began each statement, question, or announcement; you would find yourself alone a lot more. I long for the days when it was an excited sound rather than a word now punctuated with huffs and grunts.

The new "men" at the Craig house

We have had some additions to the Craig house.  A few weeks ago when Emma and Nolan got home from school, Todd pulled Emma aside and introduced her to her new best friend...Steve. He told her that she and he would be spending a lot of time together. Although he provides limited entertainment, he sure seems to have captured Todd's attention. Since he's been here I have only been able to interact with him 2-3 times. Todd and Emma are fascinated with him and are constantly with him. Todd even called me the first day he was at the house and went on and on about how nice he made everything smell!!

I guess it's time to meet Steve....doing what he does best.

Our other new addition is Willie...the water heater. A few weeks back we could tell that the hot water was not lasting as long as it should. Accusations were flying as to who was using all the hot water because some members of the house were left in cold showers. It was all about timing, no showers could be taken back to back or when the dish washer was being run. In a family of four who only have several hours after school and until bed to get things done, it was getting tricky. We finally broke down after assessing that it wasn't able to be fixed economically and bought Willie.


We are all clean, warm, and happy again.

Better late than never...

Well...Emma's birthday was actually about one month ago, she turned 9 this year. Nothing like dragging out the party until a month later to really make you feel like you've been celebrating a long time. Emma did a duel party with her friend Emmy from her class. This year was Club Libby Lu!!! We had everyone over to my moms house for cake, ice cream and presents.

(the cake is supposed to be a replica of eye shadow. They picked the two colors they liked and the "toilet brush" is the applicator)

After the frenzy died down a bit, we headed to the mall to Club Libby Lu. If any of you don't have girls this age let me explain what it is (other than a way to see money fly out of your wallet - according to Todd). You get a Libby du, you can choose from several different hair styles, makeup, nails, and then you follow the Libby Lu girls and do two dances for the parents or whomever might be passing in the mall and stops to watch.
These are the two birthday girls before their Libby du's.

This is a picture of the girls after the du...

Here are more pictures from the party...

Me and my Boogaloo

Falling in Love...Again

This was the theme for the Marriage Renewal Weekend that Todd and I went to through our church. It was held at the Marriott Shoals Hotel and Spa. 

Friday

We arrived Friday night and our speaker was Wales Goebel. This is a man that I had heard of all my life growing up; but had never had the opportunity to hear him speak. His message this weekend I feel was two fold. He spoke to us about how to have a Christian marriage (how to help safeguard ourselves from the things that could come between us as a couple and what the Bible says our responsibilities are to each other) and also spoke to the men about how important their role in the family is, not only to their wives, but their children. This man with his thick southern drawl spoke the word of God in such a loving but powerfully direct way. On the way home Todd said that he was so impressed that this soft spoken man had such a strong message. It was like an iron fist in a velvet glove.

After the message...we played a getting to know you game. We had to find another person in the room who had the same physical trait as us, such as blue eyes, or was born in the same state as you etc., I think there was about 25 questions in all. Then came the NEWLYWED GAME. There were 4 couples who were picked to play and Todd and I were one of them. Anyone who truly knows Todd can guess that he used the time for entertainment as opposed to actually answering the questions correctly. We came in last with only 10 points but the rest of the weekend we were told that we added a lot of comedy to the game.

Saturday

We had a continental breakfast and then Wales spoke to the group. Again, convicting you in love with the word of God about your life and His plan for us as married couples. We then had a Men only/Women only session. We had the opportunity to write down any question that we had about marriage or men and a panel of four men were there to answer our questions. It was an insightful time into how a man perceives things. We then had our breakout sessions. We had four to choose from and could attend two of them.

Jim Doggett spoke on listening and other rare, exotic habits. The Lost Art of Listening

Dr. Howard Eyrich spoke on How's Your Glue? (We attended this one)

Dr. Dave Matthews spoke on "M" is for Money, Honey

Bobby and Jan Parks spoke on Sexual Intimacy is for Lovers (We also attended this one)

We had about a 5 hour time frame that was "free". I would love to say that Todd and I drove around to see the sights, went on a walk, or spent time going over some of the "for thought" questions that were provided...instead we spent the afternoon napping! Let me take this time to say that this is the first time Todd and I have been away together in 9 years. After 5 years of getting up in the middle of the night to check Emma, we had a lot of sleep to catch up on.

We then had a candlelight dinner which consisted of:

Pan Seared chicken Breast with Tarragon Vinegar Sauce, Roasted Vegetable Couscous, Southern Chocolate Cake, or Banana Carmel Torte. 

Wales continued his talk about marriage and then we were free for the evening.

Sunday

We again had a continental breakfast and then had a worship time with Wales concluding his talk. Todd and I had lunch with our friends Robert and Lee and then headed home to pick up the kids from the G-parents house.

It's so hard to pick out my favorite part of the weekend...finally getting away with Todd alone or the wonderful message that Wales delivered that weekend. I guess it had to be when Todd (whom I had to coax into the weekend) leaned over to me and kissed me saying what a great time he was having---he was so glad he thought of it!!!

Matt Man...

I got to the ER a little after lunch time and walked in just in time to prick Matt (I guess all my prior experience showed). Ashley was telling me that it took 2 nurses and a Dr. to hold him down the first time they pricked so all in all he did real well. Mom and I stayed at the hospital for a while and when they said he would probably be going home we went to the house to get things ready. We did a quick diabetic shopping trip (diet sodas, water, sugar free jello/pudding, and other snacks that were within a 17-20 carb range). Matt started out on 3 units of insulin with each meal and 9 units of Lantus at night. What is absolutely blowing my mind is that the Dr. didn't give a carb ratio for meals so that the insulin would work effectively. I gave Ash a few words of wisdom on how to count carbs (cheat by getting nutritional information from restaurants) and we tried to keep his count at about 30-40 per meal. I think the reality is hitting him that he can no longer just go and eat whatever he wants. In between meal snacks are only for when he is low.

They have another appointment in two weeks so hopefully they will start the sliding scale ratio (take insulin based on what you eat - not eat based on the amount of insulin) and counting carbs.

matthew after I pricked him

Ash giving a shot

Diabetes - Round 2

My sister Ashley called me today and told me that her youngest son Matthew, 8 years old, was just diagnosed with type 1 Diabetes. My mom left immediately to drive to Nashville and I started working out things with friends and hubby to take over my responsibilities with entertainment night and the Hannah Montana concert (movie) that we had purchased tickets to. Matthew is now the second child in our family to be diagnosed.

Please keep him his family in your prayers as they start their transition into the world of Diabetes. I'll keep you updated as things happen.

Alison

Lock In

I'll add the pictures as soon as I get them downloaded from my phone.
Nolan had his first lock in this past weekend. Our church has a fairly new "club" called the 56 club, for the 5th and 6th graders. I offered Todd up as one of the men who would spend the night at the church and mediate the night. I can't believe that after all this time I've found out something new about Todd. He has never been to a lock in before. Growing up it seemed like we had them every 3 months or so and it was a great time. As I began explaining what a lock in was and what all they were going to be doing during the night he just looked as puzzled as ever. He kept saying "They don't sleep?" "What do they do all night?" Well this is a little of what happened. Everyone arrived at 8:00 pm with a bag of salty or sweet treats for the night. They started the night with relay races. You had the girls vs. boys, various teams, and the 5th vs. 6th graders. Benny got up and gave his testimony while juggling and telling jokes, they ate pizza, had more races, and then at 12:00 the girls went upstairs to the Fellowship Hall and the guys stayed in the gym. The girls had dance revolution going on, a spa for nails set up, snacks, video, cards, and much more. They guys had basketballs, footballs, xboxs and Playstations, videos, and a ping pong table. Only one boy has fallen asleep at night the three years that they have done this and I think a handful of girls. Todd was wiped out when they got home at 7:00 am and Nolan headed straight for the 360 to start playing. I'm pretty sure I'll be the one attending next year while Todd stays at home, I guess you have to get hooked on lock ins while you are young!