New Seasons

I was reminded this past weekend, by a very wise man (Mr. Jack Mears, notice I didn't say "old"), that I have not updated our blog in a while. Well, here I am...updating. :) We have had such a wonderful fall season. It was filled with lots of new things:

1) Laura Beth started reading fluently. She reads everything she can find. One week in early November, a "light switch" turned on and she was off. We are THANKFUL! Also, she has begun to learn some words that I didn't learn until I went to college (Rostal, caudal, dorsal, and ventral! All you speech pathologist, neurologist and scientist know that language...and now my kindergartener knows it!)

Laura Beth practicing her montesorri methods on her 2 year old sister's toy. ha!

Julie Ann with her "thinking cap" on while Laura Beth teaches her "school."

Steve and Laura Beth playing "war" the card game. Note Laura Beth's Cheetah ears. A common accessory 

Laura Beth and her good friend, Kathryn.

Laura Beth and Gage at his birthday party in September. (Gage is my sister's son).

Sporting the MSU tattoo that Bampa gave her.

Friends at the Fall Carnival.

2) Julie Ann is such a joy to be around. She is constantly saying, "Daddy, you so happy? I make you so happy." It's really sweet. She is "potty trained" during the day. We are THANKFUL! She is also VERY tall! She is way bigger than her friends. She continues to love dance and playing with her big sister.

Julie Ann and Ann Thomas (My sister's daughter). They are the same age (Born 4 weeks apart).

Sporting her MSU tattoo that Bampa gave her.

Julie Ann with James (Kathryn's (as formerly mentioned) brother). These two are 2 weeks apart in age. 

3). As for us, Steve has had a crazy busy fall with football games with the youth, football games with MSU....Side note: He taught Julie Ann and Laura Beth to say, "No Rebels. Go Bulldogs!" It's annoying. He has also been really busy with loving the Lord and the people He created. We are overwhelmed with the Joy we find in serving Him. We have met some amazing new friends this year in our neighborhood (literally, across the street and just next door). As for me, I have been in organized chaos since school started back. I am the speech therapist for 3 schools, 3 very different schools. I work at an elementary school, a junior high school, and a training academy (for a local residential facility). Just in the last week and a half, I met two children, 1st grade and 3rd grade, who had never heard about a man named Jesus. They really had no idea who I was talking about when I said that I was getting excited about celebrating Jesus' birthday soon. My heart was broken, but it was also very excited to get to share good news with students who NEED to hear it. Below are some of our church youth girls at different functions. I love them so much.

All together, these are the HIGH points of the fall season. We have had some "lows" too. Our sweet Grandma Mears went to be with the Lord. We miss her very much. This among a few other hardships have been difficult. However, God has reminded us even when things seemed slightly "out of control," He is constant and sovereign!

So, Winter...Christmas...NEW YEAR, HERE WE COME!!!!

Grandaddy Mears: Thanks for the reminder to keep my blog updated. We enjoyed you being with us a couple of days. Just seeing you brings us so much happiness. :) Hearing you talk about life and loving people is just a wonderful added blessing!

-------------------Below are just some pictures we took at the pumpkin patch.  :)---------------------------

First day of Kinder

Wow, the last time I update this blog was Laura Beth's last day of Pre-k. Uh, well....I'm just proud that I got these pictures of her First day of Kindergarten posted. :)

 This is when I am telling her that she gets to go through Car Rider line. :) 

Last year, Laura Beth BEGGED to be in car rider line. I brought her to school everyday with me since I worked at her school. This year, at her new Montessori School, she gets to be a car rider. She is super excited about it. NOTE the following reaction to learning that she can be a "car rider"...

Montesorri is very different than Laura Beth's previous school, but she LOVED it. The only thing she noted that was really different from her last school was the room style. She stated, "Mom,  I think I will need to give Mrs. Jenkins some toys from my room. She doesn't have any toys in her room." ha. 

In other news: Julie Ann has been using her little potty consistently for several days now. She is so proud of herself. I am proud of her too. She loves her new dance class, too (those pictures are posted by my friends on my Facebook. Second kid probs)

Before I started updating this blog excerpt, I was updating THE Mears Calendar for the fall. I cannot believe how fast the days fill up. From church, PTO meetings, football game fellowships (Go Rebs!), and dance, my days are filled with opportunities to serve/worship the Lord.  

Another Chapter Ends

Tomorrow is Laura Beth's last day of Pre K! I really feel like she is just so big "all of a sudden." The other day she said, "Mom I think I like boys now." WHAT?!?! I asked her what she meant. She said, "I think maybe I like boys." I just said, "Ok. I like them to. I am thankful God made them." I felt that probing further (i.e. "Which boy?" "why?" "Is he a christian?"...) would just make the whole idea more intriguing to her and well...she's too young to be intrigued by all that. I am pretty sure her comment was a general statement that she isn't repulsed by boys anymore. In that case, it's fine for her to "like boys."

Julie Ann is so big too. She tells me ALL the time, "I can do it." and "I got it." etc. Her favorite song to sing is from Sophia the First's "I'm not ready to be a princess." She sings it pretty well too. ha! She is 2 years old and wears a size 8 shoe! (not sure thats a petite princess foot. ha!) She is so fun to be around. Her personality is so invigorating. If you see her,  your mind and body just says, "play with me," "love on me," "talk to me." ha! AND She is busy, busy, busy!!!

We are very much in love with our girls. Here is a little video of Laura Beth's Prek Fun Day. Enjoy.

"May the Fourth Be with You"

Well, the 4th was with me. I turned 31 on the 4th of May. It was a wonderful day. My very good friend Hollie made me a cool new camera strap! Steve is excited that he gets to wear it to. (hear the sarcasm) ha. I also got 7 packs of gum from one of the youth girls who asks me for gum every time she sees me at church. ha!

In other news....

Laura Beth finishes Pre K in just a couple of weeks. She has grown SO much in this first year of school. She had a WONDERFUL christian teacher who shaped Laura Beth's knowledge and her ability to work with other students in her class. This week we had to start using grown up shampoo and conditioner on Laura Beth's hair. You know your daughter is getting "big" when she is using the same shampoo and conditioner as you use at 31 years old. She scored her first soccer goal at Upward on my birthday!

 She loves BALLET too. I find her "chasse-ing" across the McDonald's floor and basically any open space. She will be in toe shoes before I know it. Her routine this year is a "tap" routine. Next year, we think she will do ballet only.

Laura Beth has stated that she is ready to have her ears pierced! Oh my. She also loves to put "play" eye shadow on and clear lip gloss. I even heard 2 new songs coming from her lips this week. (Wait for it....) Justin Beiber's "BAby" (I have no idea where she heard this) and "Bralyn and Parker sitting in a tree. K-I-S-S-Y-N-G." (Note the misspelling) When I asked her what the rest of that song was, she didn't know. When I asked what the song meant, she said it means you say 2 people in your class names'. The next time she sang it, she sang 2 girl names. Whew! I have to explain why the song was not appropriate, but I am thankful for the opportunity to explain WHAT IS appropriate. Some of Laura Beth's sayings now are:

"Look mom! It's a ____. I have wanted one of these FOR YEARS." 
"I know it'll hurt a little to have earrings, but I think I'm ready."
"When I am 7, I am having a pet party and getting a dog."
"Hey girl. Whatcha doin' girl?" (When she sees her 5 YEAR OLD friends)
"Can I spend the night with ______?"

I mean,  WOW! In just a short time, she has gone from princesses to popstars.

Julie Ann is so big too. Her daddy has taught her to say "gorgeous eyes" and "sugar lips." Both of those sayings have the corresponding facial expressions (pretty eye blinks and lip puckers). Julie Ann loves to play soccer, dance, do flips, ride scooters, ride tricycles, draw, and basically ANYTHING that Laura Beth does. Did I mention she loves stickers!

 I am only able to type this blog entry because we are in the car for several hours headed to texas to watch Lauren Kelly graduate from Southwestern Seminary. We WILL take a picture together at her graduation. We desperately need a new picture together. I am so thankful to call her a friend and more than that, a sister in Christ.

Still here.

Yes. We are still here. I can't believe how terrible I have been at this blogging thing. I guess 7 months away from blogging isn't so bad, right? Okay, so maybe thats just terrible, but I promise to do better  you're lucky I can write today. ha!

As I sit here typing, I am thinking about all of the things I SHOULD be doing. Ugh.

However, we have had several milestones occur and I thought I would update. Steve and I had an anniversary on April 8th. We have had a wonderful 7 years together. Then, Laura Beth turned 5 and yesterday learned to tie her shoes all by herself. She is VERY proud of herself. Every time I turn around she is on the floor, untying and retying. It's pretty cute. Then, Julie Ann is HUGE. She is 3 feet tall at just one week shy of 2 years. I'm a little sad, because I predicted she could wear 2T clothes this summer, but many of them are too small already :(  $$.

This weekend we are going to have a huge Crawfish boil for My dad's side of the family (a reunion of sorts) combined with Julie Ann's birthday party (a shabby chic tea party). I can't wait! However, Julie Ann must get well before that happens. She had croup last night. She seems fine in the day, but that crazy hoarse voice and bark cough at night is super scary. Doctor has her fully medicated and she should be back to normal in no time.

I guess I have been estranged from the blog because I am FILLED UP with the Lord. May sound crazy to some, but to me this is a good thing. We have been seeing some wonderful things happening for the Lord. Sadly though, we have also seen how sin has ravished lives/creation as well. Thank God for His perfect plan and His love and grace for His people. Another reason I haven't been blogging is because I have been posting on instagram and facebook. I don't feel the need to repost pictures here on the blog after that. I think most of my "followers" can see our family pics/adventures through those other social networks pretty well.

Something that I think I could share at this point would be how my child committed her first crime in life. Yes, if taken to the extreme, she broke an earthly law. More importantly she broke a biblical commandment.

 "Thou shalt not steal" is a commandment that Laura Beth hasn't intentionally done in her life, until this week. She tried to steal a toy from the church Sunday morning. I explained that stealing was wrong. I further explained that lying to mommy by saying that she was "given" the toy was wrong. She put it back and we were done with that... Or so I thought. However, Laura Beth had more deception in her heart than I realized at her old age of five years. :( Later that same night, after Sunday night church, I picked up Laura Beth from class. She was oddly grabbing herself (you know the "I have got to go to the bathroom" kind of thing). I asked her to stop and go to the bathroom. She did. Then, she comes out of the bathroom continuing to do the "motion" of needing to go to the bathroom. I inquisitively go to check what is wrong. This is how it went:

Me, "Laura Beth, are your pants too big?"
Laura Beth states, "No."
Me, "Then why are you holding your pants like that? Here let me see."
I reach for the skirt waist band.
Laure Beth shouts loudly, "Don't look in there!"
I laughed out loud and ask, "why not?."
Laura Beth states, "There is something in there."

Suddenly, I realized. She had been trying to keep a toy from falling out of  the bottom of her cart wheel shorts. Laughter turns to crushing disappointment. She stole the toy from the church and knowingly rebelled against me (her earthly authority) by trying to hide her sin.

Do my words sound harsh?

"She's just 5 years old" some would say.

"It's not that big of a deal" others might add.

 However, to me it was another realization that her heart is of the same origin that mine is/was at birth. She was born into sin. This was her first time to steal. I hope it will be her last. (It probably will be the last time given; the shame she bore when confessing her sin to God, then to her children's minister, and stating that stealing is something she doesn't want to do again. Now, before you judge my punishment, understand that this is God's example of repentance). God has given me the responsibility through the Holy Spirit's guidance to help shape my children's hearts in order for them to know the maker of the universe, the ultimate authority and judge. What a task! I am burdened to prepare my own thoughts and actions to model what I am teaching her. God help me to be the person (mother, wife, teacher, friend, daughter, sister, etc) that brings you glory in all the circumstances you put me in.

No pictures to post, as noted previously...social network has overtaken my incentive to post pictures here. Maybe I will save a few pictures this summer for the blog. I'll make it happen I'll try to make that happen.

Oh Snap!

Laura Beth recently learned how to snap her fingers. It was like a magical moment when her finger met her palm and NOISE was heard. She was so excited. Now, I catch her snapping all the time. She wants to be "bigger" (older really). Every day she wants me to "weigh" her (she really means MEASURE) to see if she has grown. She frequently tells me that she is so much bigger and she should just go to first grade (like her cousin Hannah Claire, I presume). She has even told me several times that she thought she was big enough for 6th grade (and naturally I am thinking, "Who told you about 6th grade?"). 

It's obvious, Laura Beth is getting bigger. She is even asking some hard (for us to explain) questions about God and Jesus (we haven't quite gotten to Holy Spirit yet). Here are a list of her current questions. She asks them at very random times in the day almost every other day. I think she asks every day because the answers we give her are HARD for our humans minds to sometimes understand and except. It's hard for us to believe what we can't SEE:

1. How old is Jesus?
2. Where is heaven?
3. How does God take me to heaven? Do we walk?
4. Where is Jesus, I can't see him?

Her questions have made me feel very convicted about "Truth" and how I can help Laura Beth understand this truth at 4 years old. Every time I answer the above questions for Laura Beth, many more questions begin to form (which is a good thing). All together, I don't want God to be like a fictional character to her. I want her to understand who He is, His power, and His sovereignty. 

18 months = illness

Well, it does in our house. 18 Months = the beginning of illness for sure. When Laura Beth was 18 months old, she was sick every week (or every other week) for 6 months. NOT EXAGGERATING! She contracted Swine flu, Stomach Virus, Ear infections, Strep, Hand Foot and Mouth disease, teething (fever= no school) for several of those weeks, several colds, Croup, and a "fever virus" (Fever for 7 straight days, no letting up). I am sure I am forgetting something she had, but it seemed like we caught everything that was out there, except RSV. So far, Julie Ann has been fairly healthy. She has had a couple of colds and RSV one time. However, NOW she has turned 18 months (last Thursday) and Yes, on her 18 month mark, she contracted a stomach virus. It was not good. We all ended up having it over the last weekend. We thank God for healing, modern medicine, a home for comfort, and His eternal promise: He takes care of His people today and one day there will be no more sickness. Even in sickness I am reminded that God holds all things together for our good and His glory...even if the next 6 months with Julie Ann are same as Laura Beth's 18-24 months.