Images

As my girls are getting older, I am more aware of the "images" that the world produces. They are scary. I was talking to a dear friend the other night about what she wants to look like, and I get so frustrated because I know that those "perfect looking" women aren't real - they are the product of Hollywood or the magazine company. Why do we (as Americans) think that the perfect look is a size -2, blonde, big chest, and perfect skin? None of it is real. The young people in our country certainly believe it is real though! Don't believe me? Just ask someone over the age of 10!!!! What can I do to prepare my daughters for the real world and dealing with unrealistic images? I pray often for guidance in parenting because it is NOT EASY to raise children these days (not that it ever was, but the Internet, TV, movies, and magazines sure make it harder). Mark and I saw this interesting clip one day, and I'd like to share it. It is something that every pre-teen to adult needs to see....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iYhCn0jf46U

Scary, huh?

Camping in Jacksboro

Okay, I am frustrated with Blogger tonight because it won't let me arrange my photos in the order that I want them :( So...the pictures are not in order, but oh well. We had a great camping trip to start off spring break in Jacksboro at Ft. Richardson State Park with some old friends. Mark's friend from childhood and his family came to Texas for a wedding in Austin, so we got to see them for a few days of camping before they headed to Disney World. We had a great time camping, so here are a few pictures from our trip.

You can see that Jacob is a little hesitant to go up close to the ledge - I wonder if it has anything to do with his fall last spring in this same lake!!!!

The hammock is always a fun time for everyone!

I love this picture!

The Jones and Taylor clans - can you believe Jeff and Mark have that many kids?

The tree was a big hit too!

Can you tell that Morgan is more than frustrated with Jacob? She just wanted the hammock all to herself for just a little while. Did he cooperate? NO!

Jake is the male version of Haleigh!

Jacob's mad face - not too appealing, huh?

I just love my kids!

My kids are very unique, and Jacob and Haleigh have this "touching" thing. Some of you may have even been the victim of Haleigh's ear holding! Haleigh LOVES EARS. Every year when it comes near her birthday, she would say "this year I am going to stop holding ears". When she was about to turn 8, she decided that she was never going to stop holding ears. That's okay with me, I guess. Jacob likes to touch skin - any skin, but he is now on this neck kick. He really likes to tuck his hand under necks because he says it feels so warm. Jacob spends a lot of time in our bed because he wakes up almost every night and makes his way to our room, but he starts off in his room. This is how I found my handsome little boy the other night...he didn't even take off his clothes. Isn't he just about the cutest thing? Man, he is growing up so fast.

Okay, so the day I have been dreading has finally arrived. Morgan is now as tall as me. She has hit a growth spurt here lately, so now she has reached me. It will only last for a little while, I'm sure. She will be taller than me by next week! Her legs are already longer than mine. My pant length is petite or regular, but she wears a long. Nice, huh?! I actually thought it would happen sooner, so I guess I should be glad that it took this long.

Haleigh is such a character. The other day she was talking about something she did at school. I told her that she is just so much more awesome than everyone else. You know what she said? She said, "I know, I really feel sorry for everyone else because they are not as cool as me". Wow. She really likes herself! I never have to worry about her self esteem :)

On a sad note, we lost one of our dogs. Cookie went missing the other night just before bed time. We couldn't figure out what happened to her, but we found some evidence today. IF YOU GET QUEASY, DON'T READ ON. We found one of her legs in the back yard today. Our neighbors dog was victim to a coyote that has been coming around while we are out, and we think that the coyote also got Cookie. Lightning is sad...he looks so lonely. Here's a memory of better times.

well....long time...no blog

It's a first for the Taylor family...we are suffering with our first bout of the flu since we have had kids. Jacob has the flu, Mark is showing serious signs, and now Morgan is running a fever. Nice. Do you know how much flu medicine costs? Even with a co-pay? A LOT. It really stinks. If the flu is the worse we have to deal with right now, bring it on. We have a couple at church who lost their baby boy. He was one of a set of triplets, and he had fought his entire 7 months of life. His body just wasn't strong enough. What a devastating time for the family - please offer up a prayer for them. They were blessed with five beautiful boys - one of which is now with God. I am so thankful for the healthy children that I have.

On a nicer note, tomorrow is Mark's birthday. He will be 36 - what an old man. I cannot believe he is that old. 36 doesn't seem as old as it used to be though! I just still imagine Mark as a 20 year old I guess! He acts much younger, huh?!

We are still here

No, we didn't drop off the face of the planet - our computer fried :( We have no internet access at home, so no new pictures or posts. Sorry. Hopefully we will be back up and running soon - either we try to fix the problem we have or we have to buy a new tower. I guess it will depend on our tax return! We are still here though!

basketball, basketball, and more basketball...

I think what I need to get is a really nice camera. I guess I need to start saving some money because I need better pictures of my kids playing ball. I will give you what I've got, but don't judge my pictures! The lighting inside the gyms stinks! Yesterday marked our first 3-basketball game day in the Taylor family with Jacob playing now too! Mark is still coaching Haleigh and now Jacob. We turned Morgan over to a new coach this year - she is feeling a little weird with someone other than Mark, but I am hoping she ends up liking it okay. She really wants to quit, but I think yesterday's game boosted her confidence a little. She is so worried about messing up and disappointing someone (her coach), but we tried to reassure her that he is sort of a "yeller" in general and that it is not solely focused on her. We'll see how it goes, I guess. If she can't handle it now, she really won't be able to handle it when it comes Middle School time. She had a great game though and played great defense. She even scored 4 points, so she was really happy. Her coach even told her at practice that she has the best looking shot, so that's a plus for her (and it make her smile)! She needs that kind of feedback - not the other!

Okay, we'll start off with Haleigh's game since it was first. She did great. I was a little worried about her being able to keep up with the bigger girls (the 4th graders) and the full court, but she did awesome. She was all pumped up about being able to steal the ball this year. She loved it, and she said that it was all she thought it would be. She had A LOT of steals, and she scored 6 points. Her team won 30-10. Way to go Haleigh! After looking at all the (many) pictures I took trying to get good ones, I realize that the gym Haleigh plays in has the best lighting, so that is why she has more pics...


Getting warmed up before the game...

Is her shot going to go in? It did!Her fast break! Nothing but the goal in front of her.
Half time rest and pep talk from the coach.

Whew - she was worn out.

Last minute talk before the final quarter.

Morgan's game was next, and I only got one picture that was even half way decent. That is her at the top trying to intercept that ball that went by. Her team played Springtown, and you can always count on their coaches to make the game more interesting. Their coach was a crazy screamer. The girls on Morgan's team were starting to feel sorry for the girls they were playing against. They also won by 20, and I already told you about her points. She took a few other shots that were awesome looking, but they decided to pop right back out instead of going in. She did great, and I we are really proud of her defense.

Jacob's game was next, and so cute. I had forgotten how much fun that pre-k and K games can be. The kids don't really have a clue what is going on, so their coached get to be on the floor with them. Here is Jacob throwing the ball in to one of his teammates (they are co-ed at this age).

I am open man!

Wow - that quarter really was tough!

Good game! We won this one too!


On a totally different note, Haleigh was in a wedding a week ago - here is a picture of her with the bride, Emily. What a pretty flower girl she is!

Time...do you have enough to consider my thoughts?

Well, Christmas has passed, and a new year is upon us. I didn't post any pictures of Christmas, and I don't think I will because I have so many pictures, and they don't really mean anything to you guys. However, we had a great Christmas with our family and friends - the only thing that would of made it better would have been my family from Colorado being here too (or us being there). I am just glad that we were able to be with them for Thanksgiving this year. My family, like many of yours I'm sure, draw names for Christmas gifts. My little sister Rebecca had me this year. She's not actually "little" anymore; she will turn 27 on January 1st, but I still think of her as little. The box that came from her was little, so I knew it was jewelry. I'm not really a jewelry person, but I was willing to give it a chance! When I opened it on Christmas Day, this is what I saw...

It is not a watch...it's a bracelet with several different watches on it. At first I was a little baffled. Why would she get me this? She told me she was getting me something that she saw a while back and thought it would be a good gift for me. Huh? As soon as I opened it I said "It's what I never have enough of". Well, the funny thing is, as soon as I saw it, I knew it was THE perfect gift for me. The reason this gift is perfect for me is because I speed through my life without slowing down. In a weird way, this bracelet is a reminder to me to slow down. Remember my near death experience I wrote about? Well, I have only shared with a few people that I really carry a lot of the responsibility in that situation for it being a near death experience for me. I was rushing to get to the post office because I needed to pick up a package. The post office closes at 4:30, and I have to work until 4:00 with a 20 minute drive to the post office. Do the math - I had 10 minutes to spare, but I was still following the van in front of me way to close. If I was following the "2 or 3 second rule" it would not have been so stinkin scary for me (or as near death). I cried for a long time after that near accident, especially when I was with Mark at home. I realized that my rushing could have cost my husband a wife or my children a mom. Am I willing to give that up just so that the kids could have had their Crocs that particular day? Would my kids care more about getting their Crocs that day (even though it would've been the 3rd day in a row I didn't make it to the post office), or would they rather have their mom? The answer was easy - they wanted their mom. Funny thing, when I made it home, they only asked about me. Was I okay? They didn't even mention their package? I never did make it to the post office that day, and they were okay with that.

Why am I in such a rush?

What is so important that it can't wait a few minutes or even a few days?

Why do I feel the need to rush, rush, rush?

Why can't I sit still?

Why do I always have to be doing something?

What am I afraid of? Running out of time?

My resolution for this new year is this --- slow down and enjoy my time. Enjoy the time I have with my family, enjoy the time I have with my friends, enjoy my time alone with God (be still and know), enjoy sitting and reading a book without feeling like something else needs to be done, etc.

I have worked on that a little this break. The first few days at home without school was hard for me. I was thinking that there is no way that I can be home for 2 weeks without something major to do. What were we going to do if we weren't planning lessons, packing lunches, catching the bus, etc. Well...I was determined to do something I wanted to do. I have read four books, and not really cared about what I am going to teach when I get back to school. I have spent time at the movies with my family and not cared about cleaning the house. I have slept in with my kids in my bed...that is a true gift. Baby steps that will hopefully lead to more that I can give.

I am thankful that God works in mysterious ways - I think He somehow led my sister to get me that bracelet as a reminder. I will wear it often to remind me of my time - it is important to those in my life (my husband, my kids, God, my church family, my friends, my family, my students). I will spend my time more wisely, and I will not rush through my life.

Happy New Year.