I just wanted to post a few links for anyone who's been reading about the Melinda Bautista trial. She is accused of shaking 10 month old Madilyne Wentz to death while providing day care services.

Here is a link to my first blog posting

My next post

Missing records nearly derail murder trial

Bautista trial back on track

What is the fifth commandment??? Anybody know without looking? We have been studying the Ten Commandments in our bible study class on Wednesday nights. I am guilty of not knowing them all by heart. I have been able to remember the prior one's we've studied each week. So now I'm up to five :p The fifth commandment is to honor thy Father and Mother. Now that sounds all fine and easy right? That's what I thought... WRONG! There is a lot more to this commandment than I realized. I'm not really going to get into it in depth because I know not everyone will agree with my take on this commandment from God, but I do want to take this opportunity to honor my Father and Mother.

My life of 25 years so far has been full of many terrible things. I know that without God in my life I would blame all of the terrible things on my parents. I would be angry and resentful. I would have a terrible relationship with my Mom and Dad as well as my Husband and Children. I know this because before I came to know Jesus that's how I was. I was angry with my Mother most of all. I blamed her for all the hurt I felt. I was angry with my Father for not being there for me when I thought he should have been. I did not honor my parents. I described the horrible things I'd been through to my husband and I blamed my parents and this tainted his view of them. Every time I would talk to my mom or get a letter from her I would end up dredging up all the bad things I'd been through and be crying to my husband about what a terrible life I'd had. It made him angry too. I was spreading my poison.

Then Jesus came into my life and changed all of that. I hate using those phrases because I know it makes people roll their eyes and sigh thinking "oh here we go she's gonna start preachin'," but it's true. I just told you how I was before... It wasn't my own idea to suddenly have a change of heart. God did it. He showed me something that I was unable to see before.

My mom made lots of mistakes. I used to be angry at her for it. Why? She's human just like me. I make mistakes too. It's not like my mom woke up every day thinking, "hmmm what can I do today to make Kristie's life miserable." By me being angry with her it's like I was saying that's what she did every time she made a bad decision. It's ridiculous.

I was driving home from taking Brett to the doctor today and all of this hit me like a ton of bricks. I am so thankful for each and every mistake my parents made. I praise God for every heartache I endured. If things had gone any differently I wouldn't be who I am today. Not only do I get to learn from my mistakes but I get to learn from my parents mistakes. All the times they tried to tell me when I was younger I didn't listen. I thought I knew best, and I could still be traveling that road of denial today if God hadn't shown me the error of my ways. I know people will disagree with me but this is true to my heart. It's always through struggles and trials that we become stronger and develop character. God gave me the parents I have knowing they would fail at times and make mistakes. He made me a parent knowing I would do the same.

I was never able to think of the good things my parents did for me. My mom used to sew Barbie clothes from the scraps of material she had leftover from quilts and other sewing projects. I loved all the clothes I had for my Barbies. My mom used to sew me dresses for church. I was always so proud of my pretty dresses. I was the only girl so I got to go with Mom sometimes just me and her and I always felt so special. Best of all, every time I talk to my Mom either on the phone, on an instant messenger, in a letter or an email she never fails to say I Love You. It's a silly thing you might think, sure it's just three words... But I don't have any doubts that she loves me.

My Dad is one of the hardest workers I know. Sometimes I know this can be a bad thing but he is always working for the ones he loves. He works hard to provide for them and make them happy. He's such a creative guy. It makes me laugh cause he always has a new scheme or plan on how to make extra money. My Dad is a handsome dude! It's really funny because in his office he had a picture of me and him and people used to always say what a nice wife he had :p Now either I look really old or my Dad is just that good lookin' that people thought I was his wife... I'm gonna go with the second one :p My Dad is not a quitter. When he sets his mind to do something I guarantee he'll get it done. He quit drinking, smoking and chewing tobacco in 1992 (I think that's the right year) and he is still free of those things that used to hold him back.

I often mention the faults of my parents in conversations about parenting. I don't do it to belittle my parents but to show what I've learned from their mistakes. Our lesson on the fifth commandment showed me that I need to have a more respectable approach to these types of conversations and guard what I say about my parents in order to honor them. No one wants all of their mistakes drug out for all to see. I'm sorry Mom and Dad for the times I've made you look bad to others. I thank God to have you both as my parents.

PS I won't go into the in law aspect but I'm also going to try harder to show honor to them as well.

Last night I was having some trouble getting Emily to eat her dinner. Sometimes she complains when I make stuff too spicy... I like spicy and so does Chris and sometimes I go overboard. Well we had fettuccini, chicken and broccoli. She likes all that stuff but she wouldn't eat. She told me it was too spicy, but I didn't make it spicy at all this time. So I knew she was just making excuses. Anyway it was really frustrating me and I didn't handle it very well, I ended up yelling at her and I'm sure making her feel bad. Later that night as I was laying in bed I was thinking about how I could have handled it better. I should have explained to her that if she didn't eat good food then her body would be weak and she would keep getting sick. She's been sick a lot lately and almost missed school a few times. Then that got me thinking about how I act as a parent.

Have you ever told your kid to do something "because I said so." I know I do this a lot. It is just easier to command obedience "because I said so," than have to explain yourself. I never really thought about it but yesterday I was listening to this Christian radio station and they were talking about parenting and it got me thinking. How would we like it if someone came along and told us to do something "because I said so?" I don't think I'd like it very much. I would like a reason for why. Wouldn't that be better parenting? Instead of just commanding obedience to explain why? I mean I know that sometimes after explaining a child is still not going to understand or they just don't want to do what you're asking them so they refuse to see your point of view, and that would be the time to bring out "because I said so."

Now I just had this epiphany last night so I haven't had the chance to really try it out on Emily, and it's going to take some practice but I'm really excited to see if her behavior towards me changes at all because of this. She's a good girl but I do notice she is in a bad mood a lot lately. She has been sick of course but there's no reason a five year old should walk around with a sour face all the time.

And most importantly... I think if I can start practicing this ulterior parenting method we will have a closer relationship and she will be able to talk to me about anything. Also I think she will be less likely to bow to peer pressure if she expects a reason for having to do something. I mean isn't that what we as adults need when we make decisions. We need reasons why we're going to do something. I think my children should understand why I'm asking them to do something. I'm rambling now so I'll sign off. Everyone smile and hug someone you love. It's a good day :D

As a mother there is never a dull moment. Life is full of drama! This is my latest LOL moment. Brett got himself stuck under the table...

Now he has a runny nose and he was really trying to get out so notice the yummy bubble LOL I can't stop laughing...

Now don't think I'm a mean mom cause I was taking pictures instead of helping him up. He wasn't hurt just mad... Besides I was laughing too hard to really do anything besides take pictures...

So he finally makes it up and then realizes he forgot his toy...

So he goes back for the toy getting stuck again... This makes him madder than ever...

So he finally gets his toy and struggles back up giving me the evil eye the whole time...

After snapping these last few pictures of Brett I turned my camera on Logan and judging from this picture he obviously did not want his picture taken LOL

Don't make this boy mad :p

This is so cute I had to post it. I am trying to get Brett off the bottle so I only give him sippy cups right now. I just started this today so we will have to see how things go at bedtime tonight. He didn't cry very much today at naptime but he sat in his playpen giving me the evil eye until he just fell asleep sitting up with his face pressed against the side of the playpen. I took some pictures it is so cute :p

Yesterday before we headed off to church I had Chris snap a couple pictures. It was supposed to be just me and Emily but Logan was getting super mad so we let him in one of the pictures... And he didn't even smile :p Little stinker.

I was just sitting here looking at some of the pictures I have on my computer and I thought it'd be fun to just post a few.

This is a picture of my and my older brother JR when we were just little munchkins...

This is Chris and his sister when they were little munchkins ;)

These next few are some of the really cute ones I just love of my oldest daughter Emily when she was just a toddler. She is almost 6 now... I can't believe how fast the years have gone by...

Emily in the tub :p

Emily in a box :p

Funniest picture of Emily EVER! LOL

Emily 3 years old.

Emily 4 years old

Emily's Kindergarten school picture 2005-2006 School year.

Now let me dig up some Logan pictures... Probably not many of him as a little baby on this computer but lets see...

This is Logan at about one year.

I took these two photo's the morning of Logan's second birthday :D

This pic is too funny... Logan is laying on his belly watching TV... Chris does this same thing LOL

Poor Logan I have the least number of pictures of him... Probably cause the little stinker will never hold still long enough for me to snap a shot. Next are some of Brett.

There's nothing quite like a new baby :) Brett just a couple days old.

Brett started losing all his hair hehe he looks so bald here.

From bald to chubby :p

This is the most recent picture of Brett I have on this computer.

Now I have some other miscellaneous pics to add just because :p

Ya I don't look happy but I was ready to pop and it was cold outside :p

I don't get to take many pictures of Chris but here we are when it was just the four of us... I think this was taken April 2003

And this is the last one just cause I'm so ready for SUMMER! This is me and Emily on our vacation to Florida. I think this was taken 9-11-01 which was mine and Chris's two year anniversary.

It's great to get a day off during the week :D Taking Thursdays off was the best idea Chris has ever had! ;) Emily got to go play at her friend Lauren's house yesterday. She had to come home early because she had a fever though :( She seems fine today, her eyes still look a little weak but I'm gonna bundle her up on the sofa down here and make her rest.

Ok now one of my serious addictions is watching American Idol and The OC... I know why I love American Idol but I can't believe how addicted I am to The OC. It's a lot of drama I guess. Everyone needs their weekly dose of drama and I don't watch daytime soap opera's so The OC is it for me. Now the show is full of teenage drama mostly but surprisingly not a lot of sex, which is a good thing because I hate tv shows that promote promiscuity. Anyway I was really disappointed in last nights episode because that is ALL that it was about. Not really worth watching. I don't care about the sex life of Seth and Summer I want drama! :p

I haven't spoken to my brother recently but my Mom sent me these pictures of his foot. KIDS NEVER PLAY WITH ANYTHING EXPLOSIVE!!! I know my brother, JR will probably never enjoy fireworks again. This is horrible and it's been weeks since his accident so I'm sure there's been some healing and it doesn't look as bad as when it first happened. In case you're new here my bro was planning on exterminating critters out of their holes on a golf course. Unfortunately he was using home made firecrackers or something like that to do it. Originally the police said he was building a pipe bomb, but he informed them otherwise. This looks like it really hurts. My poor bro :(

My boys got haircuts today :D I even thought in advance to take before and after pictures. Logan is looking soooo good now, he was like the shaggy dog LOL poor guy. You can finally see his ears! You can really see the bandaide on his owie :p Emily pushed him off the couch. You can't tell much difference in Brett but he was so cute. He was so good sitting there in the chair. I think he actually liked getting his hair cut. He almost fell asleep :p So here are the pictures of the boys. I didn't want to leave Emily out, she finally lost her tooth the other day so I am adding a picture of her showing off her missing tooth.

Here is Logan before his haircut LOL he looks like a little girl :p

Here is Logan After his haircut. Handsome DUDE! ;)

Brett Before his haircut.

You can't really even tell he got a haircut. This is after.

Now here is a picture of Emily fooling ya'll by looking oh so sweet :p And one of her showing off her missing tooth.

Additional postings on this topic

Additional postings on this topic

If there were a picture of innocence...

This would be it!

These are pictures of Madilyne Wentz.

Wow! Back in January I posted a bit on my blog about Melinda Bautista.(click on the name for a link to the post) She is the woman "accused" of being responsible for the shaken baby death of little Madilyne Wentz. Ok I am still getting comments on this post. A lot of people are telling me I should "hold my tongue" and "not judge" and they are probably right. I am sorry for making it seem as if Melinda Bautista is already been judged guilty. My original intent of the post was to show my dismay on the fact that it has taken this long for a trial to take place. I mean come on! Not only for the victims sake and their family, but surely the accused and her family would like for things to proceed and be done with.


Anyway take a look at some of the comments and put me in my place. I am more than willing to admit my wrongdoing. I stand firm in my belief that Melinda Bautista was the caretaker for Madilyne Wentz and she was "responsible" for her safety and well being. Even if she did not commit this terrible crime she is still in part responsible for it happening at all. Shaken Baby Syndrome is not an accident. She could be innocent and I am probably partial to the family of the child since they are local and you can't help but feel angry over the wrongful death of a baby.

On another topic... In my profile just the same as in everyone's profile who uses blogger, my astrological sign and zodiac year are listed. I did not personally do this myself. I place no hope or faith in horoscopes or astrology. All my hope and faith is in God and he is the one I look to for answers not my horoscope. Just wanted to make that clear.

All that is said in regards to the email I received today... Posted below

KristieSue,
My Bible - The International INDUCTIVE STUDY BIBLE ( New American Standard Bible) tells me as a born again Christian I am not to have anything to do with horoscopes. Deuteronomy 18: 10-14. "There shall not be found among you anyone who makes his son or his daughter pass through the fire, one who uses divination, one who practices witchcraft, or one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer, or one who casts a spell, or a medium, or a spiritist, or one who calls up the dead. For whoever does these things is detestable to the Lord: and because of these detestable things the Lord your God will drive them out before you. You shall be blameless before the Lord your God. For those nations, which you shall dispossess, listen to those who practice witchcraft and to diviners, but as for you, the Lord your God has not allowed you to do so.
I went to your sight for another reason but the first thing I found was your horoscope.
As for the other reason - You are quick to tell Jan that she was not present so she could not know the truth. Seems to me KristieSue that you were not present and do not know the truth and yet you have judged and convicted this woman and you are doing it to a woman who is your sister in Christ. I do not know this woman nor the victim's family so I have passed no judgment but I know that the Lord has laid this woman on my heart from the day it was printed in the Altus Times of her arrest and I have been praying for the woman and her family. Everything I have heard about the arrest is hear say but I have been told the woman is a born again Christian and has witnessed to other prisoners in jail and they accepted Christ into their lives. The only thing I can do is follow what the Lord has laid on my heart and pray and let God take care of my sister in Christ. He is the All Knowing One and knows the truth.
You are very young and if you are truly my sister in Christ I feel I should admonish you to be careful with your tongue.
Jewell,
Altus, OK

This is testimony of a mother who went through something like this. I read this today and cried. Just wanted to share it.

Food for thought
The following was written by Ben Stein and recited by him on CBS Sunday Morning commentary, Sunday, 12/18/05.

Herewith at this happy time of year, a few confessions from my beating heart: I have no freaking clue who Nick and Jessica are. I see them on the cover of People and Us constantly when I am buying my dog biscuits and kitty litter. I often ask the checkers at the grocery stores. They never know who Nick and Jessica are either. Who are they? Will it change my life if I know who they are and why they have broken up? Why are they so important? I don't know who Lindsay Lohan is either, and I do not care at all about Tom Cruise's wife. Am I going to be called before a Senate committee and asked if I am a subversive? Maybe, but I just have no clue who Nick and Jessica are. If this is what it means to be no longer young. It's not so bad.

Next confession: I am a Jew, and every single one of my ancestors was Jewish. And it does not bother me even a little bit when people call those beautiful lit up, bejeweled trees Christmas trees. I don't feel threatened. I don't feel discriminated against. That's what they are: Christmas trees. It doesn't bother me a bit when people say, "Merry Christmas" to me. I don't think they are slighting me or getting ready to put me in a ghetto. In fact, I kind of like it. It shows that we are all brothers and sisters celebrating this happy time of year. It doesn't bother me at all that there is a manger scene on display at a key intersection near my beach house in Malibu. If people want a crèche, it's just as fine with me as is the Menorah a few hundred yards away.

I don't like getting pushed around for being a Jew, and I don't think Christians like getting pushed around for being Christians. I think people who believe in God are sick and tired of getting pushed around, period. I have no idea where the concept came from that America is an explicitly atheist country. I can't find it in the Constitution, and I don't like it being shoved down my throat.

Or maybe I can put it another way: where did the idea come from that we should worship Nick and Jessica and we aren't allowed to worship God as we understand Him? I guess that's a sign that I'm getting old, too. But there are a lot of us who are wondering where Nick and Jessica came from and where the America we knew went to.

In light of the many jokes we send to one another for a laugh, this is a little different: This is not intended to be a joke, it's not funny, it's intended to get you thinking. Billy Graham's daughter was interviewed on the Early Show and Jane Clayson asked her "How could God let something like this Happen?" (regarding Katrina) Anne Graham gave an extremely profound and insightful response. She said, "I believe God is deeply saddened by this, just as we are, but for years we've been telling God to get out of our schools, to get out of our government and to get out of our lives. And being the gentleman He is, I believe He has calmly backed out. How can we expect God to give us His blessing and His protection if we demand He leave us alone?"

In light of recent events...terrorists attack, school shootings, etc. I think it started when Madeleine Murray O'Hare (she was murdered, her body found>recently) complained she didn't want prayer in our schools, and we said OK. Then someone said you better not read the Bible in school . the Bible says thou shalt not kill, thou shalt not steal, and love your neighbor as yourself. And we said OK.

Then Dr. Benjamin Spock said we shouldn't spank our children when they misbehave because their little personalities would be warped and we might damage their self-esteem (Dr. Spock's son committed suicide). We said an expert should know what he's talking about. And we said OK. Now we're asking ourselves why our children have no conscience, why they don't know right from wrong, and why it doesn't bother them to kill strangers, their classmates, and themselves. Probably, if we think about it long and hard enough, we can figure it out. I think it has a great deal to do with "WE REAP WHAT WE SOW."

Ehhhh? What's that? You talking to me??? I am totally deaf... I have had the worst cold, flu or whatever it is for the last week. First it was just and ear infection in one ear and that was bad enough. I could hardly hear it was so plugged up. NOW I have an ear infection in my other ear so I am like totally deaf! I gave in and made me a doctor appointment but I can't get in until tomorrow. I am such a great wife that I went ahead and let Chris take the appointment for today at 4:00 and I settled for the 2:20 tomorrow. :p

It all started last Tuesday. Brett and Logan were really sick so I stayed home with them and caught their bug. I was sick Wednesday but I made it through a whole day of work. Thursday Chris and I took Logan and Brett to the doctor because they just weren't getting better. The Doc hooked them up with some antibiotics YAY! Now all three of my kids are on something that I have to remember to give them and Logan has to take his FOUR times a day. That is such a pain. Anyway back to the story. Logan really had us worried because he started getting sores on his mouth and in his mouth. When he was a baby he had the same thing and it hospitalized him because it went into his throat and was causing him to not be able to breath. He is looking better though Thank God :)

So Thursday night I was in horrible shape. The whole right side of my face was just killing me. I couldn't hear and I couldn't breath half the time. We don't have insurance on me and Chris yet so I was really trying to avoid a doctor visit. Friday I went to work but closed early after picking Emily up from school. I was feeling a bit better Saturday just a little deaf which is good because that is when Chris caught the funk! I had to run the paintball field all by myself! He was so sick he just sat in the van with the heater cranked up. Thankfully I have some good friends who were nice enough to help me out a little. It was a fun day of paintball even though I didn't get to play.

Poor Chris is sooooo sick. Sunday we all missed church and with me being sick and having to take care of Chris and the munchkins I am surprised I am still alive :p Chris missed work yesterday but he was nice enough to keep all the kids at home and I had a peaceful day at work. Now here I am I woke up last night with another ear infection in the other ear and I'm deaf as can be :p I made the doctor appointments so hopefully Chris can get some good antibiotics and get to feeling well again. I hate seeing everyone sick and I hate being sick and Holy Cow you should see my house. It's like mass chaos... Pizza boxes here, dirty clothes there, dishes piled high in the sink. I need to hire a maid just to come clean it up for me :p

In spite of being sick I must say I feel really HAPPY. I am blessed with so much I just feel so giddy. That could be the DayQuil but I still feel happy :p God is good and I don't deserve his blessing but he keeps on showing me how much I'm loved. Take time today and tell someone you love them :D

I have a crazy neighbor... Does anyone else have a crazy neighbor??? I mean like officially, certifiabley nuts??? Ok all our neighbors are really annoying but the one across the street is a total wacko. He used to be normal, I know this because we went to school together. He's done way too much crystal meth and it's totally ate up his brain. I can't tell you how many times I've been woken up by him screaming at someone, or being arrested. He'll be out in his yard burning brush and just start going off about something. He lives in his Mom's house but she doesn't live with him. She is a caretaker at a local nursing home so she lives there and just comes every so often to check up on him.

Ok so last night right as Chris and I were heading to bed we heard a loud bang. We were like "what the heck was that?" Our basement doors blew open in the storm we had the other night so Chris went downstairs to see if that's what we'd heard. It wasn't. So we finally just went to bed. So I'm laying in bed and I hear this pounding... It's weird, not like a knock and I can't tell if it's coming from our house or not. Chris gets up and looks around... nothing... so back to bed we go. Then we hear a horn honking... honk honk honk... Chris's work truck has an alarm on it because it is always full of product and sometimes money from machines so we immediately thought it was the alarm on his truck going off. We jumped out of bed and raced to the window.... We have a perfect view of our neighbors garage with the door open and him inside his truck doing something we have yet to discover.

Now the last time our neighbor went to jail I do believe he also lost his drivers license. His Mom and Dad took his truck away from him for a while and just in the last few weeks I've noticed that it has been back at their house. Well apparently they moved it into the garage and he doesn't have keys to it because I'm assuming he has no license to drive.

Chris and I sat at the window and watched our neighbor beating on his steering wheel with a hammer... Then he'd fiddle around under the dash... I thought he was trying to hotwire the car. I was almost right. He was messing with the wires to get the lights to come on and was messing up and causing the horn to start honking. He was beating on the steering wheel to break the lock so it would steer... OKAY!!!

Then I see him start to push his truck down the driveway... He was trying to push start it. In case anyone doesn't know you can push a standard and pop the clutch or something and start it without a key. I think that's right it's been a long time since I've drove a standard. Anyway he gets his truck into the middle of the road and it stops. THEN he comes to our house! It's midnight! He knocks on our door... Chris answered the door and the whole time I'm freaking out. I did not want Chris to answer the door. Anyway when Chris opens the door our neighbor says "uhhh Adam?" Chris was like "ummm no" so then our neighbor says "Ohhhh Chris ya uhh could you come give me a pull start on my ranger out here?" WHAT THE HECK??? It's midnight why in the crap did he come ask us??? We aren't friends with him and we don't talk to him. So Chris makes some excuses and after much begging from our neighbor Chris finally decides to just go do it and get rid of him.

As soon as Chris walks out the door I called the cops. I'm not trying to be a busy body or anything but I just knew he was going to flip out on Chris when he couldn't get his truck started. So I called the police and told the dispatcher what was going on and that I absolutely didn't want our neighbor knowing I had called the police. So they sent a cop out. Chris had pushed our neighbors truck down the hill and it still didn't start. When I looked out the door Chris was talking to the cop and our neighbor was walking back up the hill. So Chris said goodnight to the policeman and came inside. Well when he got up to the cop car he starts screaming at the cop... calling him a terrorist and saying weird stuff like "I'm an American you bleeping terrorist." Anyway he cussed and screamed at the cop for like five minutes and kept yelling "Get out of here! I'll kick your butt blah blah blah." And get this... The cop drives away...

Ok right there I lost all faith in the local Police Department. WHAT THE HECK??? Our neighbor was obviously messed up in the head either drunk or on something and he just drives off??? So then I was like ya I'm not going to bed tonight. All I could think was our neighbor was going to come over again and he is insane. So I watched out the window. He kept coming in and out of his house. Everytime he would walk outside though the police would drive by. It wasn't making much sense to me. I was wanting them to just arrest him so I could go to bed. Well finally he walks out into the street and two cops pulled up and got out to talk to him. They put him in handcuffs because he was belligerent. I couldn't hear all that they were saying except when our neighbor cussed at them and screamed his head off. Well they didn't arrest him! I couldn't sleep all stinking night because I just knew he was going to be mad and know I had called the cops.

Anyway it's daylight now and I have my shotgun close by... or neighbors truck is still down the hill and I just know he's going to come knocking on my door later to ask me to help him get it started. Ya Right! I will totally not answer the door, and I'm now totally freaked out about leaving the house with him right next door. Scary neighbors suck!

Yay! And now it's clean :p

I'm going to clean my desk :) Here's what it looks like now.

What a night! We had some crazy storms and multiple tornado touchdowns within a 50 mile radius of us. Our town must be like a geographical safe zone because the storms always seem to just miss us. I'm not complaining though believe me.

After church yesterday we took the kids to another town and went to Bass Pro. We never go there to shop cause stuff is unbelievably overpriced, but the kids love to go look at the critters and the indoor waterfall and of course, ride the elevators. So we spent all afternoon in Springfield. Our main purpose in going was to take Emily to the doctor. She has a sinus infection but was well enough to go to school this morning. She is soooo wanting to have perfect attendance, especially since she is now the only one in her class to hold this title. She's very proud.

Anyway we got home and I went to church by myself last night. It was peaceful :p When I got home we were watching the news to see how bad the storms were going to be. I am from Las Vegas so I don't like thunderstorms in Missouri... Well around 9:30 pm the power went off, so I had to track down candles and flashlights and find the little battery powered radio. I was actually in the middle of doing this when the power went off. We listened to the radio for an hour or so and the storms were popping up everywhere. One storm went North of us but there were some really strong winds coming our way. There were two storms to the South West of us going North East so I was sure we were going to have to make a run for the basement.

We finally piled Emily and Logan into bed with us, the power was still off but I was listening to the radio. The power came back on so I decided I'd go watch the news and stay up just in case. Well I woke up to Chris saying to me "Some watchdog you are" LOL I fell asleep and the tornado sirens were going off and a tornado had been spotted 8 miles South West of us. I can't believe I slept through it. The sirens went off like a minute after I woke up so we didn't have to go to the basement. I know that there were a lot of towns around us that were hit either by strong winds or an actual tornado. I am thankful we were missed but sad for those who weren't so fortunate.

We're having some serious weather tonight. There are tornado warnings for all of Southwest Missouri. I'm so thankful we have a basement. It will be even better when we get the house finished and all our bedrooms are in the basement. I'm not a big fan of storms so I know I'll feel safer knowing we won't have to jump out of bed in the middle of the night to scram downstairs.

We had to quit playing paintball today an hour early because it started storming. We headed out to the field early because we had a ton of stuff to set up. Chris bought a bunch of used stuff from Matt at Springfield Paintball and we brought it all out to the field to put in the store. We rearranged the tables inside the paintball building and set up some displays. The floor was totally disgusting... It rained last weekend too and there was mud and paintballs everywhere. We got it all cleaned up just in time. Everyone showed up and played till it started raining.

We took the kids to Springfield last night. We got Logan a new car seat. It was so funny, we were in Walmart and he sat in like three different seats, trying them all out before he decided which one he wanted. :p I should probably get Emily one too... It's more like a booster seat. I know lately they've been making a big deal about making sure kids stay in a booster seat until they're like 100 pounds. Logan's seat was kinda falling apart so we thought it was a good time to get him another. Chris brought his keys and checked all his vending machines while we were at Walmart and the kids got to play but we didn't win any stuffies... we have enough of those anyway.

I don't have a lot more to blog about so I'm once again adding a picture that's totally off topic :p This is my Mom and my brother JR. I got an email from my mom saying he is doing pretty good. He got his stitches taken out of his hand today. There were 100 of them and apparently it was really painful because they were touching nerves. They still haven't done the skin graft for his foot. He will have to be in the hospital again when they do that because they will be removing skin from his butt :p Gonna have a sore bum for a while :p No more playing with fire.

Oh boy... I just wrote out a whole post and then something stupid happened and it got erased... So I have to try to remember everything and rewrite it... I hate it when that happens.

I spent all day without internet yesterday AND I'M STILL ALIVE.... That's amazing. I don't open the store on Thursdays and the router for our wireless was messed up and the IP didn't get around to fixing it yesterday so... no internet. I had to watch The OC all by myself :p

Wednesday night was great at church. We had two extra kids in our class and everyone was having a good time and we had some really good discussion about the third commandment. We didn't actually finish our lesson because we were talking so much but here is what I got from it.

We're supposed to love God and honor him and to take his name in vain is not honoring. In short, taking Gods name in vain refers to the abuse, misuse, blasphemy, cursing, or manipulation of the Lords name. Kind of like when my sisters used to call me Suey... Now I don't mind the nickname Suey cause Chris calls me that but when my sisters called me Suey they would make it sound like the pig call... "Suuuuuueeeeeeyyy" That bugged me... I'm sure everyone has an example of someone misusing their name.

Now here is the section I don't really agree with... It's not that I'm twisting scripture to make it fit my needs cause I'm NOT but here I'll just show you and you can decide for yourself. Here is a quote from the lesson we used, "Sometimes people substitute words (euphemisms) for the name of God. For example, "Gee" or "Golly" is sometimes used in exclamations."

I don't really agree with that statement. The reason is that I don't associate "Gosh" "Gee" or "Golly" with God. When I pray I don't say... "Dear Gee or Dear Golly" You get my point? So if I don't use those words to refer to God then how can they be a substitute? I did used to say Oh my God and now say Oh my Gosh and Holy Cow and Oh man so maybe I am just using those words to substitute for the word God. Ok I am but I'm having a hard time seeing how the scripture says we aren't supposed to do that.

Here are some of the scriptures...
II TIMOTHY 2:19: "Let everyone who names the name of Christ depart from iniquity."
Ok so I get this one. Christians should do their best to depart and separate themselves from bad things or iniquity... Saying Holy Cow isn't bad though.

ROMANS 2:21-24: "You who preach that a man should not steal, do you steal? You who say, 'Do not commit adultery,' do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? You who make your boast in the law, do you dishonor God through breaking the law? For 'the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you,' as it is written."
I get this one too because when we are not practicing what we preach then we are trashing the name of God and making him look bad.

LEVITICUS 22:31-32: "Therefore you shall keep My commandments and perform them: I am the Lord. You shall not profane My holy name, but I will be hallowed among the children of Israel."
Again keep the commandments and don't make God look bad.

Matthew 22:40 Christ asserts the proper attitude we should have towards God: "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment."
And once again love God.. I really don't see how this makes saying Golly and Gee a bad thing. I could be wrong and this is all my own personal convictions. When you have kids I think it's really important to explain to them WHY it's not ok to say Oh My God and that it's not the same thing when you say Oh my goodness or holy cow. Emily came home one day saying Dammit... and we don't curse at all at home so we had to have a discussion. Apparently her little friend at school had been saying it and that's where she picked it up. So we explained to her that we don't use that word and why and that if she ever hears another word that she doesn't know she needs to ask us before using it. She's come home with other words but they've all been ok to say but she knows to ask first. I asked Emily the other day if her friend was still saying bad words and she told me that she told her it wasn't a good thing to say so she'd stopped.

So my final answer is that no it's not bad to say oh my gosh, holy cow and oh my goodness. I don't think it's the same thing. But like I said it's my conviction and just like some people think women are supposed to ALWAYS wear dresses because the Bible says for women to dress modestly, I think it's a personal preference. I don't feel guilt for wearing pants and I don't feel guilt for saying Holy Cow... Now if the Bible said for us not to use substitute words then I would have to change my opinion.

Ok now totally off topic I am adding a picture of Brett. :p He has the longest eyelashes...

I don't have much to blog about today. It's been a pretty boring day. We're studying up on the third commandment at church tonight. Do not take the name of the Lord God in vain. This should be interesting because I am all the time hearing people say you shouldn't even say Oh My Gosh or Oh My Goodness or Good Lord... I say all those things but I don't ever say Oh My God... so we'll just have to see I don't really have an opinion as of yet but I'm sure I will after church tonight.

I took these two pictures of Brett earlier and they really crack me up. He's too funny.

DON'T EVER TAKE JUICE AWAY FROM A BABY!