Welcome to Kelly Martin's Blog! Here I share my stories from my blessed life as a wife to a super-talented man, Jason, mom to my precious kids, Lucy, Jack, and Connor, and friend to my amazing girlfriends who inspire me every day!

Thursday, October 28, 2010

Sneak Peek

Lucy and Jack both had their Halloween Parties at school today - only Lucy's class got to dress up. (Not that I expect the teachers of the older toddlers to want them to dress up ;-).

So, after some quick alterations, this morning, to Lucy's "ballerina costume," she was dressed and ready to go to school. I snapped some quick pics that turned out to be pretty cute.

Not only does she get to be a "ballerina" but a "princess" one, as I scored this sweet little blue ballet dress - with none other than the "Disney Princesses" front and center - at Play it Again for a grand total of $1.25. Only downside was it was a size 6X, so I had to take in the back and take off quite a bit of sleeve width. Lucy was very concerned I was sewing her dress, but I assured her it was just like Olivia's mom does in the story when she makes her a new, better soccer shirt. Then she was fine with it ;-)


Here's our little "princess ballerina."

Thanks, Baba, for the glittery "fancy nancy" shoes!





Lucy turned exactly three and a half years old this week!

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

No!!!!!!!!!

We had an "incident" Sunday afternoon, and let's just say Lucy is lucky Mommy's anxiety medicine helps keep her composed...

Jason was at a business meeting during the afternoon, and both Jack and Lucy decided they didn't need naps this day - argh! I was switching over some loads of laundry, and I realized it had become eerily quiet in the house...never good when they're both awake, right?!?

I went to my room first, because that's where they've recently enjoyed escaping to, and I find Jack and Lucy on the bed...they've thrown all of the folded clothes I had in piles off the bed (remember, I was doing laundry)...and Jack is painting my footboard with nail polish, and Lucy's bottle is upside down on the comforter, leaking into the crack at the footboard.

OH...NO...

The only good thing about this scenario is that it was clear nail polish, although the probability of Lucy selecting the two bottles of clear admist all the colored polishes is just beyond me how I lucked out there. Especially since she's my "Fancy Nancy" lover, and her favorite page in the "Ooh La La Beauty Spa Day" book is the one where her mom has to choose a nail polish color from the variety of ten colors, all of which are painted on Fancy Nancy's fingernails. Lucy LOVES this page, and we have to spend several minutes naming the nail polish colors, selecting our favorite, and discussing which color looks best on her hands!

Anyhow, my point is thank the Lord it's clear, because again, Jack was painting our sleigh bed's footboard!

The room reeked of that strong "nail polish" smell, and I quickly wiped the footboard down, but those marks are here to stay.

As I collected the bottles, I kept repeating, "No!" louder and louder. You should have seen their faces...

I sat Lucy down and began firmly lecturing her about what she had done wrong, and I have to say our dialogue took a surprising turn...

Me: "Lucy, you made a very, very, VERY bad choice when you went into mommy's drawer and got out the nail polish..."

Lucy: deer in headlights

Me: "You know you have to ask permission, and you chose to be sneaky. I am very disappointed.

Lucy: head drops a bit

Me: "Mommy's bed can not be fixed... You made a very bad choice, Lucy!"

Lucy: "But God is always with me."

Me: stunned and unsure how to respond...brief pause

Me: "Well, yes, Lucy, God is always with you, but he wants you to make GOOD choices. If you aren't sure what choice to make, you can always ask God for help, and he'll help you make a good choice."

My anger tempered by our new thread of discussion, I reminded her NEVER to get into my nail polish again, sent her to her room, and took away her "coins" she had been enjoying keeping in her pocket this day.

Fast forward hours later in the day, after dinner. Jack had been repeatedly doing defiant things like shouting, "NO!" and running away when you told him to do anything. So, he was repeatedly visiting time out. On his third or fourth visit, Lucy walked over to him and softly said to him, "Jaaaaack, you need to pray to God to help you make the right choice."

Like our preacher says, "If I'm lyin' I'm dyin'" Can you believe that girl?!? Almost makes my streaked footboard worth it ;-) Nah, that's pretty worth it ;-)

I just wonder exactly how Lucy applied the "God is always with me" lesson in her own thinking...Was she implying that since God was with her that He was partially to blame as well? The whole, "my friend made me do it" excuse... or could it be she was smart enough to try to deter the line of discipline that was taking place and throw a curveball into the equation...something to take my mind off her bad behavior?... :-)

Ah, three year-olds...

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

Obedient Enough?

Last month, I began attending Bible Study Fellowship, which is an international organization that's been around forever, where groups gather together once a week for worship and a pretty intense bible study. BSF studies one book of the bible per year; this year is Isaiah, and we're study it verse by verse. I've never studied the bible quite this thoroughly, and I'm really enjoying how much I'm learning.

Interestingly enough, my favorite part of the entire program is the children's classes - which Jack attends although Lucy misses out because she's in MMO on Wednesdays. In these children's classes, the sweet little babies/toddlers/young kids, learn the same message as their mom's are learning that week. Their nursery teachers sing them hymns, and pray, individually with each child each week. A scripture verse is even taught to them. Not that they memorize it, of course, at such a young age, but the idea is that a child is never too young to hear God's word. I love it! And when our new baby comes I can even transition to the "nursing mother's" group so I can keep attending despite my new position as milk supplier - or as I refer to it, the new "cow" of the family.

Today were were looking at the beginning verses of Isaiah, chapter 6, where Isaiah saw the Lord in a vision while he was in the temple. When presented with this amazing scene - seraphims flying around the Lord, whose robe was flowing through the temple, voices shaking the building, smoke filling the room - Isaiah realized and confessed that he was a sinful man. Basically, when face to face with God's glory, he did what I think many of us would do - realize we are ruined, sinful people, if not for the Lord's grace and mercy.

But the point I want to make, and question I am now wrestling with comes from what happens next...After Isaiah confesses his wretchedness, one of the seraphim touched a hot coal to his lips, and with God's grace, removed his guilt and forgave his sins. The Lord then asked "Who shall I send as a messenger" (to speak the message to the wicked people of Judah.)

Isaiah immediately responded, "Here I am. Send me."

He didn't ask what the job would entail; he didn't ask for how long he'd be serving the Lord; didn't try to determine if he'd enjoy it or not; (I like how Melissa put this) didn't reply that this wasn't his "gift-set"...

Isaiah just volunteered, Send Me!

It made me think of my friend that serves for hours each week at the Care Center Food Pantry; another friend whose career is working to do good through the Care Center; my friend who is a mom of three and volunteers to get the children's craft supplies ready for Kids Cove; a neighbor who recently passed away who spend hours making quilts for sick people in the hospital, and I could go on and on. People who just Go! Serve! Whether it's fun or not, convenient enough, whatever...

Obedient service is the response to God's grace; it's not what we do to earn God's grace. So, here's my train of thought. Last year I voulnteered in a 4th grade classroom each week as a reading tutor. When the school year began this year, I decided to not tutor this year because of the difficult pregnancy I was having. And after two years serving as a Storyteller in Kids Cove at church, I also decided to take the year off from this service.

And so, now I'm trying to figure out if this makes me disobedient in God's eyes...??? On one hand, I can say, there's nothing physically making me unable to serve in these capacities - it's just not ideal for me, not pleasant for me while pregnant. And that sure doesn't seem like a good enough reason when we study and think about what people went through to serve God and spread His Word.

I can't escape the word, "sacrificial" that keeps coming to my mind. We should give to God sacrificially, serve Him sacrificially, "love God and love others" sacrificially...

I think of my mom, who after my recent struggle with anxiety and depression, agreed to postpone her schooling next semester so she can, among other things, come to Huntsville often, stay with us and help with the new baby, Lucy and Jack, and provide love and support for me - this pretty scared mom of (will be) "3"... Going back to school to earn her degree is so very important to her right now, so it's certainly sacrificial what she'll be doing for me...

But back to the question..."How obedient is obedient enough?" Not that as Christians, we are aiming to do just enough, but I mean, how obedient do we need to be to be pleasing to God?

Do I need to waddle myself straight back into the classroom, or down to the Food Pantry, despite my being pregnant?

During the sermon today at BSF, I wrote down this questione: "What is God asking me to do?"

Is it that right now, God is asking me to grow this new baby, continue to raise Lucy and Jack, provide for my family as "mom" and "wife."? Is that being obedient enough?

What am I sacrificing right now, so that I may serve God better? ...

It's a tough thing to think about; is it tough because it makes me consider I'm not doing enough? Or is it just "tough" in of itself, because it requires sacrifice?

Ugh! Do you see how my head is spinning?

Well, if you have any thoughts you'd like to share on this idea, please do!

Monday, October 11, 2010

Golf League Party

Even though Jason's unable to continue the yearly "Golf League" that he once was when it was "just lucy" at home, everyone is kind enough to include us in the end of the season festivities.


Here's the current group:

Eric, Tony, Josh, and Jim

Jim and Jamie Moore hosted, and we had a great time enjoying the crisp Fall weather, and some great football on tv...





Jack practiced sharing with sweet Hastings...



Lucy loved being "babysitter" ;-)


Josh and Jack took some time to just chill:


then toss the ball around...

And look where Jack threw it?!? Just kidding...but somehow it did get on the roof, and not long after, Josh did too...



Great party!

Thursday, October 7, 2010

Botanical Gardens

Enjoying our Fall Break, my friend Molly and I took our kiddos to the Botanical Gardens. The treehouses are just wonderful, and Parker, Molly's oldest, was a wonderful tour guide ;-)

I love these great photos of all the kids!


Playing on the ladder:
(This was after lunch and an oreo dessert for Jack; it's all over his cheeks :-)





And my favorite:

Lucy and Parker loved the pulley!



Some more "melt-your-heart-Jack" pics:





Petting the turtle





One of the few pics Lucy let me take of her; she was just far too busy playing to even look my way :-):



Love this one of Parker!




And waiting till the end of the day to try to get a picture with the kids was not great timing, for sure!



Jack was sure to let us know when his energy was all used up:


We're loving this Fall weather!!!!!

Quick Visit to Atlanta

The kids are on Fall Break this week, so my friend Tiffany and I loaded up our crew and headed to Atlanta to see Lady, enjoy a change of scenery, and check out the Children's Museum.

Upon arriving, they had to check out Uncle Ryan's drum set...



And Uncle Ryan even came from UGA to see the kids! We love Uncle Ryan!


In the morning, we ate breakfast together...


And then we headed out to the museum...






Lucy and Audrey especially loved the great play kitchen they had set up:



They even participated in the music show!


Fishing was a favorite activity, and Tiffany and I just loved the little raincoats that were provided!





And we painted...

played in the sand...



Claire even ate the sand; it was time for lunch!


We had a great time in Atlanta, but I think Audrey got her fill of best friend, Lucy. The girls slept in the same room - it had two twin beds. Audrey was ready to call it a day, but Lucy simply could not keep her mouth shut. Here is one of many dialogues I heard while standing outside their door, debating how to handle my chatter-box child:

Lucy: "Audrey? Audrey!? Audrey!!!!!"

Audrey: "Lucy, I"m trying to go to sleep..."

Lucy: "But, Audrey, I'm talking to you. Audrey?"

No Answer...

Figuring she'll try another form of communication - perhaps Audrey would like a song...

Lucy, singing loudly: "Lullaby, and good night, in the sky stars are bright...

Touched by her sweet attempt to sing to Audrey, I did let her finish the song - she sang three verses! geez! - but then I went in to tell Lucy to pipe down. She did not give up easily, and it was several rounds of this, both girls getting to bed late each night. So, among other things, we learned Lucy can not sleep with anyone else in the room, unless they want to stay up for hours listening to her sing. ;-)

Saturday, October 2, 2010

Good Morning!

So, in my attempt to slow things down a bit - RELAX more - we enjoyed a morning of doing "nothing." I found myself spending a minute or two on Facebook while Jack and Lucy roamed the house and played by themselves. I kept hearing loud thumps coming from my room, and this is what I found:



Both kiddos playing in the shower, banging the door open and closed, open and closed...


Lucy loves to clean...fine by me ;-)



Jack had grabbed my Gardenia Body Spray, and sprayed his hair (as he sees me do to Lucy with the detangler...)

And then Lucy tried to "squeegee it out" ;-)


Jack didn't care for that...

See that spot on the right...that's loaded up with gardenia spray...at least he smelled pleasant all day! ;-)

It was 9 am before we even started to get dressed - very nice! ;-)