Correction:

Not that anyone cares, but I can't believe I didn't put the Cheesecake Factory down for favorite restaurants! So, scratch Macaroni Grill and put Cheesecake Factory. Dulce De Leche cheesecake, mmmmmm.

I've been tagged!

8 shows I watch:
None. Really. Several years ago I decided I was too addicted to t.v. and so I slowly weaned myself off. Plus, I don't like reality shows and I don't have cable. If I had the Travel Channel, Animal Planet, and all those goodies... but wait, there's a reason I don't get them. I know my self too well! I am currently watching 24 on dvd and loving it. I am now on season 4. I still miss Arrested Development, Friends, and Alias. All of which I would still watch if they were still on...

8 favorite restaurants:
-Bangkok Cuisine
-Esparza's (in Grapevine - does that even count?!)
-Freebird's
-Le Madeleine's
-Macaroni Grill
-Silo ( I can afford it maybe once a year...)
-Water Street Oyster Grill (Corpus)
-Chick-fil-a

8 things that happened today:
-slept really well (unusual)
-went to doctor
-had another good sonogram
-heard Seth sing "Joy to the World" very sweetly to everyone in the office
-was non-queasy enough to actually cook lunch - thai food
-took a great nap
-continued re-reading Breaking Dawn
-showered AND shaved (major bonus!)

8 things I look forward to:
-being finished with Christmas shopping
-making toffee and wassail for the holidays
-seeing Seth's face on Christmas morning
-really showing instead of looking "thick"
-being through with morning sickness
-reading another good book (any suggestions?)
-seeing a movie with Kyle
-going on vacation (maybe...)

8 things I wish for:
-godly children
-a long, loving marriage
-to make more close friends here this coming year
-my Kaufman friends to move here. Sarah too.
-our house in Kaufman to sell
-healthy pregnancy
-energy to keep up with my children
-cute shoes that fit my wide feet

8 people I tag:
-Sarah
-Laura
-Colleen
-Amanda
-Kelly (she hasn't posted since June. Maybe this will guilt her into it.)
-Sheridan
-Camille
-Stacy

Cerclage

Thanks to those of you who have been praying for me today. I had my cerclage put in (they stitched my cervix shut - for those of you not familiar with it) today and all is well. I am a bit sore but not too bad. I will be on unofficial bed rest - doctor said to have a very lazy weekend and to not drive or lift the baby. This is actually the first time I have been awake for the procedure, which did not take that long. Still, since my feet were up in stirrups and there were at least five people in the room, I am glad I lost all sense of modesty after having children. Funny what seems okay and what doesn't. I will still not wear a bikini - I feel way too exposed. Today - no biggie. Go figure. Anyway, just wanted everybody to have an update. I will be able to now truly relax and enjoy the pregnancy now that I know baby isn't going anywhere!

Fun over pizza

I decided to film a "game" Friggs and his mom were playing over dinner a few weeks ago. As with many videos, by the time you grab the camera, the funniest part is over, but it was still worth posting. The game goes like this: Seth makes a silly face and noises and Mom has to copy him. We're easily amused.

Letter to Santa

Friggs wrote his first letter to Santa this past week, so I thought I would post it for all to see. He was so excited and even got to give it directly to the mailcarrier, who promised him she would make sure Santa got it. I held his hand and helped him write each word as he dictated what he wanted to say:
Dear Santa Claus,
I'm going to give a sticker to you. Thank you for coming to our house in your sleigh. We will leave you some cookies and milk. I want to get my family presents and my presents. We will also leave you a Dr. Coke. Santa Claus loves Dr. Cokes. My name is Seth Stringer. My family names are Grammy, Papa C, Claire, Colten, Laura, Uncle Andy, Dad, Uncle Beth, GloGlo, and Pa. I would like a big polar bear to sleep with. Also, a play motorcycle and a helicopter for my own. Please get my cousin, Claire, a new tape measure- I already have one. Please bring my brother a new booster seat and a piano for his own. Also, Blake needs a new bib and some books. Please get my mom a new washrag, cause she doesn't have enough. My mom's name is Mom Stringer. My dad is Kyle.
Love,
Seth
P.S. I forgot Maddie, Roger, Katie and Gavin.

We though it was cute how he had to mention everyone by name. He was concerned for some reason that Santa would forget them if he didn't.

Pregnant - For Reals

Yes, we are pregnant again! Apparently we got pregnant directly after miscarrying the false pregnancy. We have had a sonogram and there is a little peanut in there with a heartbeat! I am 8 1/2 weeks along now and feeling quite horrible - the real reason for not posting much. I started getting sick at week 5 this time. I think that's earlier than usual, but I'm not sure. Anyway, I am of course quite thankful for the awful hormones that let me know everything is as it should be. So far I feel just like being pregnant with Seth and Blake - not throwing up, just wishing I would so that it would be overwith and I would feel better. I usually start feeling better about week 17. Praise the Lord for phenergan! I get my cerclage Dec. 5, this time they'll do a spinal. I'm used to just general anesthesia, so I'm a bit nervous, but I reckon I'll get over it. My due date is June 26!

The Haircut

So, for the first time since I moved down here I switched hairstylists and used someone here. Seriously. Since January I have been driving back to Ennis for a cut and highlights. Was it successful? Not really. Back to square one. Getting the message across about what you want is so hard sometimes. Especially if you don't have a pic, which I didn't. But really, I think the most amazing thing is how we women view ourselves versus how we really look in the mirror. Here's what I mean. I don't love my haircut but I admit is well within acceptable range. Not a big deal.

This is what I asked for (I thought):

This is what I imagined my hair looked like, this is what it felt like after she cut and styled it. She kept using the word "feather" which scared me, and it felt very top heavy.

This is what it really looks like after I styled it. Not really Farrah Fawcett hair. I felt like it looked so much worse until I took the picture. Then I realized - it's just a haircut. She did thin out the bottom too much. You can't really tell because I'm pulling it all forward, but half of it is gone. Anyway, I don't really know why I am posting all this. But there you have it, you are welcome to see the neurotic thoughts about my hair.

Halloween and other happenings

Okay, sorry for the blogging drought. We have just had too many things going on. Plus my inherent laziness. Anyway, without further ado, may I present halloween pics:

Batman and the fat little dragon.

Princess Claire (seriously, isn't she just a beautiful girl?) and Batman.

Side view of the dumpy dragon. Amazingly, he did not complain about his hot costume. He looked so cute toddling around I could hardle stand it.

Mom and I went to a B&B in Fredericksburg and had a great time. We shopped, ate too much chocolate and ate at really nice restaurants. The next day we hiked to the top of Enchanted rock. It was a lot of fun, but work! It is 38 stories tall. I didn't feel so bad about the chocolate after that... We hadn't been on a girl's trip since I had kids, so it was really great to get away.

Dancing montage

We frequently turn up the ipod and jam out as a family. Very stress relieving. Very fun. While Kyle and I are not stupid enough to be caught on film, this is the latest of the boys dancing. Well, Scoot tries, anyway.

The Boy Who Cried Poop

We went camping this weekend in Winnsboro with Kyle's family and had a great time. Perfect camping weather. The trip home took a little more than 2 hours longer than it should have, making it a grand total of 8 hours. A part of that reason is Friggs. We're headed south on 35 out of Dallas and Seth says "I have to poop!" in a very urgent voice. So we quickly get off and find a gas station and Kyle takes him in. Nothing. We get back in the car and head down the road. "I have to poop!" yells Friggs and we go through the same thing again. After much trying, he has results. Yay, we're done. Wrong. Ten minutes later: "Dad, dad, I have to poop again!" So Kyle, irritated by now, slows down and gets over and starts to exit. "Never mind, it went away!" Ten minutes later, "Dad, I have to poop, now!" By now Kyle is so frustrated, he says "How bad? Bad enough to poop on the side of the road, buddy? Because I am NOT getting off this highway again. Friggs agrees. I am thinking this is not a good idea because we are not out in the middle of the country, but hey, no one has asked me. Kyle pulls over next to an on ramp, so there is maybe a five foot scrap of grass with cars zooming by on both sides of us, pulls down Seth's pants and tells him to poop. Amazingly, Friggs could not poop under such conditions, I mean , could you? Good Grief. Ten minutes later, back on the road Friggs announces "I feel sick. My tummy hurts." I ask him if he needs to throw up. He says yes. Kyle feels that he is exaggerating and I have now planted the idea of throwing up in his head and he just needs to get over it. Kyle, not believing him at all, says, and I quote, "If you need to throw up, throw up in your hands." I gasp and say "Kyle Stringer, don't you say that! That is so mean." I suggest pulling over, a notion that is laughed at, so I find a walmart bag and hand it to Seth, thinking he was probably fine, but just in case. We told him to close his eyes and go to sleep. Not two minutes later Kyle and I are talking about something, and Friggs says, "here, Mom." I turn around and he hands me the bag half full of vomit! We never heard him or anything. I said, "Poor baby, I'm sooooo sorry. Kyle, how could you? We are now officially the worst parents in the world." Kyle, still frustrated, says, "oh yeah? Well, you know what happens to the little boy who cries poop? He vomits in a bag, that's what!" I think hearing himself say that broke the tension and we all started laughing about the whole thing. Friggs felt fine after that. Kyle has since repented of choosing the highway over his child's bodily functions.

Trip to Mom's

I took the kids to Mom's for a few days last week to meet my friend Sarah, and her two kids, Logan and Ellyse. Logan is Seth's dearest friend and they had such a good time. Here's a pic of them fishing with Papa:

Seth cast his own line and hooked and reeled him in all on his own. So proud.

Also, meet Jane Ross. Lesser known sister of Betsy, perhaps? I don't know, my kid names things so weirdly. It's a ribbon garter snake that we found at Mom's and I caught for Seth. We also caught a brown skink, and they now live together in the bug house quite peaceably.

The weekend

Last weekend our friend Kara came into town to see us from ACU. She was Seth's favorite babysitter in Kaufman and I got really close to her when we worked with the youth group. Now she is a junior in college (good grief, I feel old). So, she came and we spent the day hiking Panther Canyon at Landa Park in New Braunfels, wading in the Comal Springs, feeding ducks and fish, and enjoying being outside. That night we did the touristy thing and went to the Riverwalk, which I always enjoy. We looked at the Menger hotel, the Alamo, bought too much candy for Seth at the candy store, ate ice cream, and had a great time just wandering around. Here are the pics:

Sorry, Mom

My mom asked me point blank to not share this story, asking "Is nothing sacred anymore?!" but I just have to because it was so funny. Seth likes Daisy just fine, but Blake and Daisy are the best of friends. Their favorite activities include: licking, being licked, sharing food, sharing toys, chewing on each other's toys, and chasing each other. The other day Friggs and I were at the library and Kyle, in all his wisdom (sorry, babe) decided it was a good and acceptable practice to leave Scooter and Daisy alone together in the living room while he fixed something on my car (thanks, babe!). He comes in and checks on them every couple of minutes and everything's fine. The last time he goes and checks on them, he opens the door to hear intense giggling. The kind only babies are capable of when they think something is hilarious and they are laughing so hard they are out of breath. He steps into the living room to see bits of fluff scattered about. Hmmm, odd. Wonder what that is. He looks over and sees Blake crawling across the floor, the rear end of his diaper completely gone and shredded, and Daisy alternately barking with excitement, tugging on the back of his diaper, and licking his bare bottom. They were having the time of their little lives. Kyle was glad it wasn't a poopy diaper. So gross. So stinkin' funny. I arrived just in time to see the evidence:

The Gospel According to Seth

This is what Friggs told me in the car today. By the way, I promise we read bible stories daily and talk about Jesus all the time! :
"So, Jesus died on the cross for us (at this point, I'm feeling warmed and proud, maybe even a little smug, because, hey, my kid talks about Jesus because we're good parents who teach their kid...) but that was after the pirates came. Yep. The pirates came, and they fought, on the ocean with their ships. And then Jesus died for our sins on the cross. But then he got back up. That's when he made the grass and water and stuff like lizards. After the pirates had left. Then he went to heaven."

Loss

I'm not exactly sure how to write these words down, and I know that I don't want to, but Kyle and I are no longer pregnant. I started spotting on Wednesday so we went in for a sonogram. They did not find a 7 week fetus, only an egg sac. We were told that we might be pregnant, just earlier than we thought (no explanation as to the bleeding). We were sent for blood work and then sent home. Things continued to get worse and I miscarried this morning. Based on somewhat intense research on medical sites on the internet, I believe I had a blighted ovum, or a false pregnancy. That means a fetus never formed, only the egg sac. It will raise your hcg levels and make you think you are pregnant, but you won't have any other symptoms, like nausea. That definitely describes my experience. Kyle and I are heartbroken, of course, but I truly feel a God-given peace through this. I know he is carrying us through. I am so grateful to be with my two little blessings Seth and Blake to remind me how much I have to be thankful for. Thanks to those of you who have been praying for us, please continue to do so.

The Insights of Friggs

Today, Friggs was being silly and forcing Blake to wear different hats and laughing at him. Kyle was standing there enjoying the moment when Seth said, "Bean is funny and he doesn't know it. He's just like God." Kyle:"Okay........." Seth: "Yeah, people don't think God's funny, but He is." What in the world?! Later that evening we were talking about how old different people were. He asked how old Uncle Andy was and we told him "35." Friggs said, "Wow, that means he's got a lot of teeth." So, you might have noticed that Seth calls Blake "Bean." Have I blogged about this before? I don't remember, so read it and act very suprised and interested. When he was born we said he was a fat little butterbean. Friggs took that and ran with it. He almost always calls him "Bean" or "Scooter Bean." I really don't know why it stuck or why we nickname our kids so oddly. We usually call him "Scooter." In other news, I am 7 weeks pregnant now and have still not had any morning sickness. I have definitely never made it this far before. Yay!

Pregnant!

Yes, I'm pregnant! It is such a blessing. I am six weeks along, my due date is May 3. It was planned, but we were both a little flabbergasted at how quickly it happened. Our usual experience is "Want a baby in a couple years? Start trying Now!" Blake and the new baby will be 20 months apart. A good distance I think, even if I might have two in diapers for a while. That's the exact distance apart as Roger and Andy. We are so blessed to not have to chart, have surgery, or take fertility drugs this time! God is Good! We found out on Labor day and I think I hyperventilated a little bit. I mean, really, I weaned Blake three weeks ago. Mom and Chuck came down this weekend to go tubing, so we made Blake this shirt and he was wearing it when they arrived. They didn't notice it right away, but when they did they were ecstatic. This has been a pretty big week for us. We also got a puppy on Sunday. We have been looking online at different adoption sites for about a month, and she popped up. She is dappled daschund and schnauzer mix. She is more daschund looking, I think. Anyway, I went and picked her up yesterday and got home just in time to suprise Friggs as he woke up from his nap. He was really excited, but I think Scooter is actually more interested in her. She really likes them but is a little scared of Friggs, as he is still learning how gentle to be with a puppy. We named her Daisy. Kyle actually likes this for a girl's name but I don't like it enough for my child, so this seemed like a reasonable compromise. She is really cute, or maybe so ugly she's cute, but she is cuter than the pics. She was very wary of the camera. Pray that I won't get my normal all-day morning sickness! So far I feel good.
Meet Daisy!

Read The Shirt !!!!! ????

How do you tame the Tasmanian Devil?

You've gotta love those moments as a parent when the teacher pulls you aside. I mean, really, is there anything better than that moment? Well, it happened for me on Sunday when I picked up Seth from Sunday school. It wasn't that bad, really. The teacher just asked me if Kim and I could work on Seth's ability to sit in a chair. Not that he's unable to do it, but that he is having trouble maintaining contact between the chair and his buttocks for more than 9 seconds. I already knew this, of course. The sad thing is, we do work on it. This poor, exasperated teacher doesn't realize she's dealing with an improved version already. She actually told me that she has to sit next to him during the little worship service they have so that she can keep him in his seat. He is a total spaz. Have you ever seen a room full of kids, all sitting and watching a puppet show? You know how there's usually one kid, not in his seat, maybe in the corner of the room, doing jumping jacks? or perhaps spinning around and flailing his arms? chanting? Yeah, that's my kid. At least we have a year before kindergarten. Somehow, with God's help, Kim and I will be able to transform our "Tasmanian Devil"- I hope. Most likely, we'll be working on this one for a while. After all, it is my fault. My mom has countless embarassing home videos of me doing pretty much the same stuff he does. And a stack of report cards with "Needs Improvement" checked by the "Pays Attention" box. I have watched some videos at my parents house that are literally painful for me. I think, "Why didn't someone just tie me to something?" The worst part is, in some of them, I'm like 8. Seth's only 4. I need to take action now. I think next week when I drop Seth off at class, I'm going to hand the teacher a bungee cord. When she asks what it's for, I'll just nod and say, "Oh, you'll figure it out."

Birthday pics

Well, here are the promised cake eating pics:

Here's the first taste of sugar/chocolate in his little life!

He didn't act very excited. It was more of a hushed reverence. He looked like "Sweet manna! Where have you been?" And then he went to town on the cake.

I love this pic because I think he's in sugar shock. He just paused in the middle of eating and stared into space for a good while. He drooled. Then he went diligently back to work.

Had to share this one! The next week I let the boys watch a movie together - the first time Blake has been even remotely interested in Baby Einstein, I might add. I love this stage because Blake finally can interact with his big brother and it is his favorite thing to do, even at the high cost of occasional attacks and frequent mishaps that result in bodily harm.

Happy Birthday, Blake!

It is hard to believe that Blake turns one today! This year has flown by. I don't feel like I really got to savor his first year like I did with Seth. I cannot imagine life without our Scooter. He is snuggly, playful, and easygoing. It is so fun to see the boys finally play together now that Blake is old enough. He adores Seth and is usually a participant in whatever weirdness Seth concocts. I love watching them and knowing that they will always be best friends and I was around to watch the beginning of it. Anyway, here's a nice montage of the first year:

Two days before!

Two days after!

Two and a half weeks old. My friend Stefanie tooks tons of beautiful pics. If you are in the Dallas area, you should use her. She rocks.

Angry Troll

Lion head, courtesy of Friggs

His usual expression - a big smile

A toothy little grin!

His one year pics are awesome and were taken by Wes Yoakum while they were down for a visit. There are many good ones, you can check out the rest here.

Sooner

Every year, the third week of July, I drive up to Ardmore, Oklahoma to be a camp counselor at Sooner Youth Camp. It is hot, muggy, buggy, and there is no A/C. I wouldn't miss it for the world. Really. I even tried to go last year when I was 34 weeks pregnant, but they wouldn't let me. I started going there as a camper when I was in high school and I have been going back as a counselor for six years. Hopefully next year Kyle will be able to join me. Apparently they require week long proof of a husband before doing away with "Hey, Bennett!" Really, they do know my name, I think they just like teasing me and are avoiding change - two strong themes of camp, I think. Anyway, this year I also got to teach 14 and 15 year old girls' forum - which I love doing. They were great this year, lots of questions. Much better than staring in silence. These were my girls this year. Five thirteen year olds. Yikes. They were actually very sweet.

Some of my Fave girl campers - all Twilight fans, of course. If you haven't read it yet, you need to.

Two fellow counselors, Tiffany and Talan. Everybody dresses up a little in the evening, in case your wondering why we're wearing dresses. In a random side note, I think Talan is one of the prettiest girls I've ever seen. She is just always so cute and sweet, too.

Okay, this makes me feel supremely old. These are the Sharps. Bryan, the dad, was my youth minister growing up and he is director of camp. I used to babysit his three kids. One of which has graduated from college and the youngest is headed there. Jonathon, Jared, and Jennalee, from left to right. It has been a delight to watch them transition in adulthood and count them among my friends.

I love Sooner. It is always the best singing I hear all year and such a spiritual lift. I love circle devo at night under the stars. I fully expect "My God and I" to be sung at my funeral!

For the Record

For the record (Sarah!) I know I said I would post every day until I was caught up, but I have misplaced my camera and therefore all the new pics. And who wants a new post without pics? Like this one. It's so boring you can hardly stand to read it.

A Week at Grammy's

Well, the kids got to go to my mom's for a whole week while I was a counselor at camp (more on that in the next post). They love it there. Well, Seth does, I'm not sure Scooter really cares where he is, although he does adore Grammy and Papa. Kyle took them on Saturday and arrived all ready for work, Seth too. I love how Seth imitates everything his daddy does, work gloves and all. They spent the day clearing out brush.

Kyle left on Sunday and Friggs had a whole week of learning to read and write, fishing, playing outside, feeding all the animals, and generally being in grandkid heaven. Here's a cute pic of him and Papa after fishing. He wanted to eat them, so more than once, Papa cleaned and cooked little bitty fish! Now that's love.

This is Friggs and Scooter driving the golf cart. Scary thought

Here are some bonus pics of Blake, because, hey, he's cute.

Posted by: Kim

Back, by popular demand...

Okay, okay. So it's been awhile since my last post. We have had a lot going on, but really I was just waiting for Kyle to post since he's funnier than I am. But, he is still procrastinating (Hi pot, I'm kettle...) so, there will be a new post every day until I get caught up. For the 4th of July we went down to Corpus and spent the weekend at Andy and Katie's. We had tons of fun. On Friday we went and picked wild grapes because I am down to my last jar of homemade jelly.

This is a picture of Kyle, who had scaled the grapevine up into the trees so he could reach more grapes and pull down some vines for us.

Maddie, Claire, and Seth taking a break from picking. They have the best time together, I am soooo thankful we are close enough to see them more often now. Blake and Gavin just chilled and talked to each other from strollers. We also picked some prickly pears so I can make a batch of that jelly, too. That afternoon we did one of my favorite things: crabbing. We cooned for rock crab with Roger and Beth, Mark and Tamra Blankinship, Andy and Katie, and all the kids. It was a zoo. The men were more successful in the crabbing department, as the women mostly herded children. I attempted to crab, and got only one, with Blake in a baby float attached to me by a rope. He looked like baby Moses floating in the reeds. He seemed to like it, though. Just for the record, I am aware that crabbing + baby = stupid. But, a girl's gotta try. Saturday we went to the lake with friends and just relaxed. It was an awesome weekend.

We are constantly both dumbfounded and tickled at the directives and proclamations that pop out of our mouths concerning Seth. Here are a few recent ones:
- Do not rub your steak on your leg.
- Do not throw your brother.
- Do not shove rods through rackets.
- Do not ride your brother like a horse.
I know, I know, I steal all his fun.

Posted by Kim

Cleanin' out my cabinets

Scooter playing in the tupperware cabinet.

Posted by: Kim

Yeesh!

Seth is not very fond of drawing so one thing Kyle does to encourage him is to draw with him sometimes. I often make him draw, but since I screw up stick figures, I figure Kyle's in charge of drawing with him. So, one day this week after Kyle goes back to work after lunch, Seth shows me some pics that Kyle drew. I asked about the first one. He said it was "Blake as an alien." Okay, fine, cool, whatever.

I asked who the second drawing was of and he said "you." I said, "Nooo, that woman's short and fat! I'm not short and fat." He looked at me like I had said something very wrong, and while laughing, replied, "Yes you are!!"

He also showed me the picture that he drew of me. While it is a great effort, I couldn't help note the similarity between myself and the alien in the bar in Star Wars :)

Praise God Anyway

Alright, Praise God anyway, but the house in Kaufman is not selling. Bummer. Without going into boring detail, they came back with some ridiculous ideas about the appraisal and what needs to be fixed and such and it would bring the price down way too far. So, we will rent for a year and see how the market is doing. So, the good news is that I no longer have a crazy week of packing. I know God is taking care of us , who knows what He has up His sleeve! We had a wonderful time in Arkansas with our friends. I'm sure we'll write more on this later, but for now I shall recuperate from the 10 hour car trip today.

posted by: Kim

Craziness!

Praise God, the house in Kaufman is finally selling!! It's not selling for all that it's worth, but since we bought it as a foreclosure, that's okay, we still make money. So, don't expect a post for a couple of weeks, look at our crazy schedule: Today, take boys to Mom's and spend night. Wednesday, come back, pick up Kyle and friends, head to Dallas. Thursday, head to Arkansas to go on yearly vacation with college friends (Yea!!!!!!). Drive from Arkansas back to San Antonio on Monday. Pick up boys from Mom on Tues, continue on to Kaufman. Close on Thursday!! Come back and unpack. Then hopefully lapse into unconsciousness for a week or so. Obviously, the logical thing to do when closing on a half full house in a week and a half would be to cancel the vacation. Nope. Not gonna do it. It is one of the highlights of our year and we try to never miss it. Totally worth all the hustle afterwards.

Happy Anniversary

Nine years ago today I married my best friend. I am blessed to be married to someone whom I admire and respect, not to mention that he's handsome and makes me laugh all the time. Not only do I love him, but I'm IN Love with him, something that is unfortunately rare for this point in a marriage. We have so much fun together. I would love to say that it's been 9 years of wedded bliss, but really we could have killed each other the first couple of years! That might seem weird to mention on an anniversary post, but I have a point - some couples go through many years together without their marriage being tested, so they don't really know if their marriage is strong. We had some really tough things thrown at us the first few years, but God carried us through, and we're stronger than ever. I take comfort knowing that whatever comes, we can lick it. Here we are, nine years ago, all starry eyed and cute.

We had a Bennett family get-together with all my dad's family for my grandma's 90th birthday party. Notice Scooter is totally nude. The boys had been swimming. It was great to see everyone, my dad's brothers and my cousins, some of whom I hadn't seen since high school. It's so weird how everyone has grown up or gotten older; my uncles have grey hair now. Sometimes I'm just struck by the fact that to me, my dad is frozen in time at 47, and I wonder how he would look now, if he would have mellowed some with age or gotten crotchety. It's so strange that Kyle never got to meet him. At least with Andy around I get to see remnants of my dad in a smile or a glower, just certain expressions he has.
Okay, on to happy... here I am doing one of my favorite things - dancing. I think Chuck got a pic of us mid-spin. Mom, Chuck, and Kyle and I (kids too) went to a Mayfest in Anhalt, a little nothing town north of San Antonio. They had a complete German band, and it was all held in a beautiful old dancehall. We also ate Pot Roast and potatoes there, served family style to everyone. There were probably 150 people there or so. They played waltzes and polkas and I got to dance. We had the hardest time finding places to go in Dallas that were dance-hall/family atmosphere and not just a bar. Seth got out there and danced his little heart out. I even took Blake for a spin. We had a blast.
Here is the cake I made for Seth's 4th birthday party. Yes, my child wanted a Jet fighter cake. He loves living close to the Airforce base and seeing the planes overhead all the time. This sucker was hard to make and did not end up perfectly. At one point, I actually called my friend Jaime and said, "Okay, I have icing in my hair and on my boob, and I'm gonna roll this cake in a ditch and burn it. HELP!" She calmly suggested putting the cake in the freezer for a couple of hours before trying to ice it. It worked. Seth wanted a strawberry cake, which was a little too moist to ice well. It kinda looked like the plane was bleeding at first. Oh well, it turned out looking fine.

One last pic - here I am instructing Friggs on the intricacies of wearing lizards as earrings. I have another one in my hand and am in the process of putting him on my other ear. I love having boys!!

A Birthday Wish

For as long as I can remember, my greatest earthly desire has been to be a mother. There was a time, not too long ago, when I worried that I might never have a child after having lost Samuel. For four years we waited, prayed, cried, trusted, doubted, and hoped; we ran the full gamut of emotions. I made it my goal to live and breathe aloud in prayer 2 verses: “Then the Lord your God will make you most prosperous in all the work of your hands and in the fruit of your womb.” Deut. 30:9, and Psalm 37:4 “Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart.” I prayed them; I believed them. And in May of 2004, I gave birth to the most precious baby I had ever laid eyes on, Seth Marshall Stringer. God has given me the desires of my heart and for Seth I am most profoundly grateful. Seth is smart, witty, a great problem solver, the hardest little worker I know, totally a silly spaz, and a cheerful little man. I am honored to be his mom. With Friggs I get to build forts, catch lizards and snakes and bugs, pretend to be a whale shark or dinosaur, and save the world. Here is my birthday wish for Seth: just as Jesus took the few loaves and fed the five thousand, may He take my efforts as a mother and turn Seth into a mighty warrior for God.
This last Christmas I made a video of Friggs for my mom, so I’ll include it. Just know that it only goes up through the fall so it's not totally current, and it's 4 minutes long, but hang in there for the dancing montage - it's worth it. Many, many thanks for those of you who prayed Seth here. He is quite excited about turning 4 this week!

Future blackmail

I thought it would be fun to include a recent picture of Scoot. Kim and I both find this picture hilarious. Isn't it great? It will be perfect to pull out on his first date and show to his girlfriend.



Also, look at Kimberly and Seth on a "roller coaster". Kim considers it a perk of having small children to be able to ride the kiddie rides. Seriously, she won't go near a REAL roller coaster with me, but she gets all excited about a eight-mile-an-hour ride at Sea World. At least now she can ride them without shame, "Oh, no, I don't like this ride- look, I have a little boy with me." Well, don't let her fool ya. She's having more fun than Friggs.