Archive for February, 2008

We made it back from San Francisco! It was a quick trip, but good. We are all still exhausted, though. It will take a few days to get back into some sort of a routine again.

Jay started his new job today, and the kids and I were outside waiting (and blowing bubbles!) when he drove up this evening. It is the first time in over a year that he has gone to work and returned the same day! I know things aren't going to be extremely easy (we are all going to be adjusting for a while), but I am just so amazed by God's blessings and the way he looks out for us!

Eliza has been learning to pray, and she actually seems to have a little better understanding of the concept than does James. James wants to recite something, not have a conversation with someone he can't see (although if he could see God, he'd probably want to talk his ear off!) Eliza also likes to say the same thing, and it usually starts something like this: "Dear God, thank you for Mama and me and James and Daddy-he's far, far away and we miss him. (turns to me) What else, Mama?" Tonight, though, she changed it slightly: "Dear God, thank you for Mama and me and James and Daddy-he's here and we love him."

James has also been excited about Daddy's new schedule. As we were outside blowing bubbles and waiting for Jay, two women walked by and James began to speak to them. They never stopped, so he ran after them, talking until he had finished what he was saying. Here is what he said: "Hey! My name is James! We're blowing bubbles. That's my family over there: Mama and Eliza. My Daddy's at work, but he's coming home today. He doesn't have to fly away in an airplane again for a really long time!" I guess he understands pretty well. I'm not sure the ladies really wanted to know, though.

I was trying to sew a patch on James' Cubbies vest, but the kids were being wild, jumping on beds and fighting with each other. I just wanted to finish what I was doing without having to get up and get on to them, so I yelled to them from the couch, and James came running up a second later:

• ME: Can't y'all be good for just one minute?

• JAMES: OK. (pause) And then we can be bad?

It's probably a good thing I don't have to deal with them for the next couple of days!

James and Eliza both enjoy trying to make up knock-knock jokes, but usually they aren't very good at it. They say something really silly that makes no sense whatsoever, or they look around and start naming the things they see. But Eliza actually (accidentally) came up with a pretty good one:

• ELIZA: Knock-knock.

• ME: Who's there?

• ELIZA: Banana.

• ME: Banana who?

• ELIZA: Banana-na-na boo, boo, you can't catch me!

Of course, immediately afterwards she came up with something very nonsensical again, but she had it for a moment!

Wow, it has been a while since I last updated. We have some exciting news: Jay has taken a job at UALR (where he used to work) that will keep him home! We are so ready to be through with the whole traveling thing. The job is a management position in the same department he worked in before, and he is pretty excited about it. He starts Feb. 25, just a week and a half away! He is in Philadelphia this week, teaching a course, and I miss him (especially since Valentine's Day is tomorrow and his birthday is the next day), but it won't be long now!

Next week is going to be an interesting week. I am actually going to San Francisco for 3 days! I will be accompanying a friend from college, Ana, and her 2 kids as they fly from Memphis (where her family lives) to their home in San Francisco on Wednesday. Ana's mom passed away last week, and they were in the process of trying to move into a new house in San Francisco when they got the news. Ana's husband, Steven, a former roommate and good friend of Jay's, has already returned to CA, and Jay will be joining him Saturday, flying straight from Philadelphia, to help him move as much stuff as they can before Ana and the kids and I get there on Wednesday. Then Jay and I will return together on Saturday. I am excited about going to California, as I have never been further west than the great state of Texas. I am also glad that we are able to help out some friends! Our kids will be staying with Mammy and Pappy, which they couldn't be happier about.

James is such a booger! His teacher told me that she wanted him to start learning how to write his name, so she offered to help him. She was going to hold his hand and help him draw the letters. She said that James told her, "That's okay, you can do it. You do a great job of writing my name!" Eliza, on the other hand, has no qualms about writing. I turned around from the computer at my parents' house today to find her making "notes" in my brother Benjamin's "Physics for Scientists and Engineers" textbook. Thank goodness it was in pencil!

The kids have been so wild lately, I don't know what I'm going to do if it doesn't start staying warmer soon. As soon as spring is here, out the door they will go! I guess they must be feeling a little stir-crazy. I know I am!