When we were expecting Isaac, I decided to read the scriptures to him. So each afternoon, I would take a break, open the Word and began to read. I'll always remember the day I realized that in order for the little baby I was carrying to hear me, it was necessary for me to read out loud. Duh- must have been the pregnancy hormones, right?
My friend Patti was telling about a mother that was "homeschooling her baby in the womb." I couldn't help but giggle at the thoughts of science, math, and grammar. But once again, I am reading passages from scripture out loud (so our little one is hearing them this time!) This afternoon, when I took a break to prop my feet up and rest, I turned on Baby Einstein's Mozart for him to hear. That's when it occurred to me that maybe I am "teaching" our baby before he even arrives. Moms, we do so much more teaching than we realize! We teach our little ones of all ages every day. I wonder... if maybe the things they see Mommy do and the things Mommy says are not of greater importance than all the subjects that we "teach." Now that I think about it- maybe I am "homeschooling" my baby in the womb.
January 31, 2009
January 29, 2009
Preggie Belly
Okay... I realized this afternoon how totally ridiculous I look! (No Cowgirl! I am not posting a photo!) I've been doing an exercise program called "Preggie Bellies." When I looked in the mirror this afternoon, it occurred to me that the program has a very appropriate name. You can check it out at http://www.preggibellies.com.au/
Seriously, I'm one of those unique women that loves being pregnant. Besides that early "morning sickness" and an occasional pain here and there, I just really enjoy experiencing the miracle that God designed a woman's body to perform. Every time I feel him kick or move around, I wonder what he's like. We'll find out soon enough. For now, I will "treasure and ponder.
"But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart." Luke 2:19
Seriously, I'm one of those unique women that loves being pregnant. Besides that early "morning sickness" and an occasional pain here and there, I just really enjoy experiencing the miracle that God designed a woman's body to perform. Every time I feel him kick or move around, I wonder what he's like. We'll find out soon enough. For now, I will "treasure and ponder.
"But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart." Luke 2:19
January 28, 2009
School Stuff
Isaac and I just started something recently called "Taking Care of My Body." It teaches Christian principles for stewardship of our bodies. Our lesson was about whole grains and how God provided manna for the children of Israel. We had such a discussion ... and then he ask me, "Why don't you ever bake us bread anymore? Your bread is better than anything we get at the store." That did it for me... why haven't I been making bread? Maybe I got out of the "habit" while morning sickness was so bad. So off to the kitchen we went to mill some spelt and make cinnamon rolls. Delicious! Plus the aroma was just wonderful. Thanks Isaac!
January 27, 2009
Major Nesting
Talk about nesting! Isaac helped me take apart our beds and strip all the encasements off. We washed, vaccuumed, and reassembled .... but with new mattresses and box springs! (Thanks hubby!) Isaac had a ball jumping and playing on his mattress before the new one was deliverred. Now to put together the crib....
January 26, 2009
WBIR Tour
We went on a great field trip this week to tour WBIR TV.
The children even got to be on TV for a moment.
What is it about children and escalators? They were all asking their moms to ride...so we took a "group ride" down and right back up.
Lunch at Chick-Fil-A. Uncle Tim even treated us to an ice-dream. Boy was it good.Now I am craving another!
January 25, 2009
Brrr...
It is so nice to have Eddie back home from a New Holland Meeting in Nevada. To pass the evenings, Isaac and I tried to plan special treats and outings. One evening, when we visited Nana and Poppy, the tempertatures had been in the single digits. I was still surprised to see their lakes were frozen. It was in the 60's in Nevada!! 
January 21, 2009
I could not agree more. Be sure to check out Pamela's thoughts at http://blog.achristianhome.org/2009/01/20/inauguration-day-2009/ .
January 19, 2009
Finally!
WASHINGTON – In his final acts of clemency, President George W. Bush on Monday granted early prison releases to two former U.S. Border Patrol agents whose convictions for shooting a Mexican drug dealer fueled the national debate over illegal immigration.
Bush, responding to heavy pressure from Republican and Democratic lawmakers alike, commuted the prison sentences of Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean. The two guards from El Paso, Texas, each were sentenced to more than 10 years for the shooting, which they tried to cover up. They will be released within two months.
Opposition to their convictions, sentencing and firings has simmered ever since the shooting occurred in 2005.
"After four years of fighting this, it's taken a toll on me and my daughter, and really the whole family," said Joe Loya, Ramos' father-in law, who has received tens of thousands of supportive e-mails and spent much of the past two years traveling the country to speak about the case. "We wouldn't give up. ... I knew sooner or later God would come through — that finally it would happen."
He said his daughter, Monica Ramos, called from New York after learning the news that her husband soon would be released from a federal prison just outside Phoenix.
"She could hardly speak," Loya said.
The border agents' case became a rallying cause for conservatives concerned about border protection. On talk shows, people sympathetic with the agents argued that the men were just doing their jobs, defending the U.S.-Mexico border against criminals.
Bob Baskett, Compean's attorney in Dallas, cited widespread congressional support from the bipartisan congressional delegation from Texas. "I think the president did the right thing," he said. "An awful lot of people did an awful lot of work to get this done."
David Botsford, a lawyer for Ramos in Austin, Texas, said he had been guardedly optimistic that the commutations would be granted because of the support from Congress and the thousands of people who had sent letters of concern. The president has shown "he's a compassionate man," Botsford said.
Rep. John Culberson, R-Texas, who called the agents' convictions a "grotesque injustice," said he and other lawmakers initially had hoped to have the agents pardoned. "When it became evident there was resistance at the White House to a pardon, that's when we shifted gears to ask for a commutation," he said.
Culberson helped gather signatures from 31 of the 34 current members of the Texas congressional delegation and two former delegation members for a letter asking Bush for the commutations. Culberson hand-delivered the letter to the White House last week.
"I was beginning to really be concerned that with literally only hours left in the president's term, this might not happen," he said. "With this one decision, President Bush has done more to improve his popularity than any single thing he could do."
Rep. Silvestre Reyes, D-Texas, applauded the president's decision: "I do not condone the actions of these two men, but I believe the mandatory 10-year sentencing guidelines used in this case were excessive."
Compean and Ramos were convicted of shooting admitted drug smuggler Osvaldo Aldrete Davila in the buttocks as he fled across the Rio Grande, away from an abandoned van load of marijuana. He remains in a low-security prison in Fort Worth, Texas.
The border agents claimed at their trials that they believed the smuggler was armed and that they shot him in self defense. The prosecutor in the case, a U.S. attorney who was appointed by Bush in 2001, said there was no evidence linking the smuggler to the van of marijuana. The prosecutor also said the border agents didn't report the shooting and tampered with evidence by picking up several spent shell casings.
White House officials said Bush didn't pardon the men for their crimes, but commuted their sentences because he believed they were excessive and that they had already suffered the loss of their jobs, freedom and reputations.
Bush, responding to heavy pressure from Republican and Democratic lawmakers alike, commuted the prison sentences of Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean. The two guards from El Paso, Texas, each were sentenced to more than 10 years for the shooting, which they tried to cover up. They will be released within two months.
Opposition to their convictions, sentencing and firings has simmered ever since the shooting occurred in 2005.
"After four years of fighting this, it's taken a toll on me and my daughter, and really the whole family," said Joe Loya, Ramos' father-in law, who has received tens of thousands of supportive e-mails and spent much of the past two years traveling the country to speak about the case. "We wouldn't give up. ... I knew sooner or later God would come through — that finally it would happen."
He said his daughter, Monica Ramos, called from New York after learning the news that her husband soon would be released from a federal prison just outside Phoenix.
"She could hardly speak," Loya said.
The border agents' case became a rallying cause for conservatives concerned about border protection. On talk shows, people sympathetic with the agents argued that the men were just doing their jobs, defending the U.S.-Mexico border against criminals.
Bob Baskett, Compean's attorney in Dallas, cited widespread congressional support from the bipartisan congressional delegation from Texas. "I think the president did the right thing," he said. "An awful lot of people did an awful lot of work to get this done."
David Botsford, a lawyer for Ramos in Austin, Texas, said he had been guardedly optimistic that the commutations would be granted because of the support from Congress and the thousands of people who had sent letters of concern. The president has shown "he's a compassionate man," Botsford said.
Rep. John Culberson, R-Texas, who called the agents' convictions a "grotesque injustice," said he and other lawmakers initially had hoped to have the agents pardoned. "When it became evident there was resistance at the White House to a pardon, that's when we shifted gears to ask for a commutation," he said.
Culberson helped gather signatures from 31 of the 34 current members of the Texas congressional delegation and two former delegation members for a letter asking Bush for the commutations. Culberson hand-delivered the letter to the White House last week.
"I was beginning to really be concerned that with literally only hours left in the president's term, this might not happen," he said. "With this one decision, President Bush has done more to improve his popularity than any single thing he could do."
Rep. Silvestre Reyes, D-Texas, applauded the president's decision: "I do not condone the actions of these two men, but I believe the mandatory 10-year sentencing guidelines used in this case were excessive."
Compean and Ramos were convicted of shooting admitted drug smuggler Osvaldo Aldrete Davila in the buttocks as he fled across the Rio Grande, away from an abandoned van load of marijuana. He remains in a low-security prison in Fort Worth, Texas.
The border agents claimed at their trials that they believed the smuggler was armed and that they shot him in self defense. The prosecutor in the case, a U.S. attorney who was appointed by Bush in 2001, said there was no evidence linking the smuggler to the van of marijuana. The prosecutor also said the border agents didn't report the shooting and tampered with evidence by picking up several spent shell casings.
White House officials said Bush didn't pardon the men for their crimes, but commuted their sentences because he believed they were excessive and that they had already suffered the loss of their jobs, freedom and reputations.
January 18, 2009
I'm Back
I've taken some time "off" from my blog.... Not sure whether I should try to catch you up on life here at Hill Haven or just jump right in. 
2009 has found us busy with the preparations necessary to welcome ... what are we going to call him?.... Little One into our lives in a couple of months. Isaac and I are working diligently with our school work. He's doing an outstanding job. It is exciting when the end comes into view. The completion of history, math, music, literature and several other subjects are approaching. If all goes well, he should have this year complete by the time his little brother arrives.
Today, we made a trip to visit with Papaw Monk so that Mamaw Sue could attend Sunday morning service at her church. I must admit when it came time to dress and leave the house there were other things I would have rather been doing. But oh the blessing Isaac and I would have missed if we had not been obedient to what we both felt the Holy Spirit had told us to do.
I sat in Papaw's floor watching him play checkers (rather competitvely too!) and thinking about how many times Granny sat in the floor playing whatever my heart desired. My grandparents have given to me and now to my sons the gift of a legacy. I'm so thankful that Isaac has had the opportunity to have a relationship with his great grandfather and that I have been given the opportunity to witness the legacy they built one year at a time.
Psalm 103:17 But the mercy of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear him, and his righteousness unto children's children...
2009 has found us busy with the preparations necessary to welcome ... what are we going to call him?.... Little One into our lives in a couple of months. Isaac and I are working diligently with our school work. He's doing an outstanding job. It is exciting when the end comes into view. The completion of history, math, music, literature and several other subjects are approaching. If all goes well, he should have this year complete by the time his little brother arrives.
Today, we made a trip to visit with Papaw Monk so that Mamaw Sue could attend Sunday morning service at her church. I must admit when it came time to dress and leave the house there were other things I would have rather been doing. But oh the blessing Isaac and I would have missed if we had not been obedient to what we both felt the Holy Spirit had told us to do.
I sat in Papaw's floor watching him play checkers (rather competitvely too!) and thinking about how many times Granny sat in the floor playing whatever my heart desired. My grandparents have given to me and now to my sons the gift of a legacy. I'm so thankful that Isaac has had the opportunity to have a relationship with his great grandfather and that I have been given the opportunity to witness the legacy they built one year at a time.
Psalm 103:17 But the mercy of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear him, and his righteousness unto children's children...
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