The Beginning of the 30's

So, I am now officially 30. I can't say I feel any more mature, wise or responsible, but I have now entered the decade that seems to be defined by these words. I celebrated the momentous occasion by going on a surprise getaway with my boyfriend. He had pre-planned all of it, and I just got to go along for the ride. It was AWESOME! I hate leaving our kids, but I do love getting to spend some one-on-one time with my favorite person. It feels like these are the only times that I can focus all my attention and affection on him. I love the way it feels when we rediscover how much we like each other. Anyway, we had a fabulous time in Santa Fe, New Mexico. The best parts (that can be mentioned on a blog :) were the awesome Mexican food and getting to be in the beautiful, snowy mountains. The one other notable thing we did was finally create our "Bucket list"--ya know, the list you are supposed to have of the things you want to do or accomplish before you kick the bucket. Pleasant thought, right? But we both liked the idea of coming up with these 'goals'. We each brainstormed five, and then decided to combine them into our "Top 10 list". Some of them are serious and spiritual, others are silly and fun. So, here it goes....the Bucket list for Dawson and Michelle Skow:
1. Live to see all of our children come to Christ, be baptized and have a growing faith
2. Go on a mission trip to a foreign country
3. Take swing and salsa dance lessons
4. Live to see our children happily married to godly people, and become grandparents
5. Live out in the country
6. Learn to and go scuba diving
7. Have a healthy and active lifestyle, and be happy with the conditions/size of our bodies
8. Die having a reputation of being overly generous (with our time, money and resources)
9. Become finacially free--without debt and with adequate savings
10. For Dawson to become a songwriter, and for me to sing those songs with him :)

And to end this thoughtful blog entry, some pics of the trip...

Our Little Snow miracle

Yes, that's right! There was snow in College Station, Texas this morning!!! I had the delight of waking up this morning by a kiss on the cheek from my sweet son, saying to me "Mama, let's go play in the snow!" This was the first snow that Ellie has ever seen. She wasn't nearly as excited as her Bubba, but we all had a good time. Just wanted to share some pictures....
"Funnest thing ever"--throwing snowballs at Daddy

All bundled up!

Our miniature snowman :)

Indescribable Joy

You know those moments when your cup overflows, and your joy just spills out through your tears. I was blessed to have another of those moments tonight. It was my turn to put our precious daughter to bed. We started out by reading two 'princess books' and then I prayed for her. After I was done, she asked, "My pray?" (I'm going to try to convey her sweet, two-year-old words through as much phonetic spelling as possible) So of course, I said sure. She starts out emphatically-"Un God" (her version of Dear God) and then closes her sweet eyes, bows her sweet head and then starts to whisper a long strain of inaudible, unintelligible words. As I listened to her, my heart swelled with joy--almost so much, it hurt. I knew that even though I couldn't understand a word she was saying, that God knew exactly what she was telling Him. There is nothing in this world more pure and beautiful than the prayer of a child. Eventually, she said "ahmin". And she looked at me with that, "aren't you proud of me, mama?" face. I tried to explain to her how happy it makes me when she prays. Of course, we wrapped up our bedtime with some good renditions of "Patty Cake" and "The Itsy Bitsy Spider"--or as Ellie calls them, "Pie Cake" and "Bug". :) Thank you God, for allowing me to be the mommy of my two unbelievably beautiful and precious children. I could never deserve them, or the joy they bring me.

Bodily Functions

Before becoming a mom, I never thought that my life would be so preoccupied, even revolve around, bodily functions. But as many of you moms know, when you have a child, their bodliy functions--spitting up, burping, tooting, peeing, pooping, etc--become a big part of your life. You obviously clean up after them; you observe, dissect and even sometimes journal about them; you even talk about them...sometimes during casual dinner conversation. Well, in light of this truth, I have to say that I now find myself blogging about them. I apologize to those who are still sensitized to this subject, or even feel that they are above such topics--but I must announce......ELLIE POOPED IN THE POTTY TODAY!!! Yeah! Hooray! Praise the Lord! We have been waiting for this event for months now. My sweet girl has loved sitting on the potty for quite awhile, but she has never--until this day--done anything while sitting there. FINALLY-this morning, the potty miracle occured. From all of the celebratory shouts in our house, you would've thought we won the lottery. :) Even her Bubba was excited for her, and joined in the jubilation. Of course, this is only one isolated event, but at least we've made progress. I just felt it appropriate to make note of such a landmark. :)

My Little 2 year old

Our beautiful daughter Ellie had her 2nd birthday a little over a week ago. It was a grand time. We spent her actual birthday together as a family, celebrating at Chuck-E-Cheese for lunch and then ending the day with cupcakes and a few family gifts. Then the next day, we had the birthday shin-dig, with mostly just family, and our best friends. The theme (since apparently you can't have a kid's birthday these days without "the almighty theme") was "Cowgirl" and she was definitely the cutest little cowgirl I've ever seen. We had a great time. I just can't believe my baby is already two. Times flies when you're having fun! Some pictures of the blessed event....
Big times at Chuck-E-Cheese
Concentrating on blowing...
Cutest cowgirl in the West
Awaiting the cake
Receiving 'Princess attire' from her Auntie Leah
A site I thought I would never see....my daughter, dressed up as a princess AND LOVING IT!

A Shining Light

There are some people in this world who are exceptional, for one reason or another. I think we would all like to believe we are among these few, but for most of us, we are doing good to maintain an "above average" status quo. The truly extraordinary ones always stand out from the crowd naturally, without effort. I feel very blessed that I have come into contact with several of these extraordinary people in my life. One of these people was Jill (Jarvis) Attebery. It almost seems like the extraordinary gene runs in the Attebery family, and that to marry into it, you must possess it too. Well, Jill did. I knew her from only a handful of encounters, through ABS retreats or her random visits to College Station. But even though our time together was limited, she left an impression on my life. She was truly a light for Christ. Her personality was full of life, joy and laughter. And even though God had gifted her with so much talent and natural ability, she was still so humble and servant-hearted. Jill left this earth to be with God this past Sunday, and her body was laid to rest today. My heart has been so heavy for her husband, Scott, who is himself a truly extraordinary man, and her newborn son, who obviously has no choice but to grow up to be extraordinary. Please join us in praying for the Attebery family. Only God's strength and mercy can carry someone through a tragedy like this. Please God, hold Scott in your loving arms and may that sweet baby boy grow up to know the spirit of his mom, through the legacy she has left on this earth.

Football and pumpkins

We have been loving our Fall weather. It is a great time of the year for being outside and just playing as a family. This year, I feel so blessed to have the time to actually enjoy the season and cherish our time with the kids. Here are some pictures of some recent fun times....
Yes, Dawson is wearing Caleb's helmet. :) It's the Aggies vs. the Aggies!

The cutest thing ever seen in a helmet...

Enjoying some pumkin patch time with our favorite cousins...(despite the serious faces, there was fun to be had! :)

Getting ready to carve "Jack"

Having fun with the pumpkin goop!

Sonogram

Thank you to all of you who were praying for us and our sonogram. I have to admit I was very anxious about it, and wasn't really able to sleep much the night before. I think it's just because the longer you live, and the more babies you have, the more tragedy and sadness you become aware of. Thankfully, our sonogram went great. The baby measured perfectly, and all of her little parts looked good. And yes, we found out that it is a sweet, little girl!! We are VERY excited about having another girl, and so is Caleb. Surprisingly, when we asked him whether he wanted it to be a boy or a girl, he said, "I like having a sister. I want to have another sister!" So, he was happy about the results. Ellie doesn't seem to understand or care, but I know she is gong to love having a sister, especially so close in age.

Our First Camping Adventure

After years of owning camping equipment, and saying that we want to go camping, we actually did! And it was the best family event EVER! We had so much fun, and the kids did great! Here are some of my favorite pictures from the weekend in Somerville.....
The beginning of the adventure....


Having a blast in the dirty lake...


The start of a successful fire (and I promise Ellie really did have fun :)...


Having fun the next morning--both kids slept like a rock in the tent--Praise God!


My FAVORITE picture of the trip--my angel picking me a flower!

Sweet prayers

I've never blogged twice in one day before, but I felt like this definitely deserved an entry. My sweet son has a nightly routine, which includes praying and singing with both Daddy and me. We take turns and one of us reads, prays and sings with him, and then the other (after putting Ellie down) comes in and prays and sings with him a second time. Children's prayers are precious, no matter what the content. Caleb's prayers are usually a list of names of family and friends that he thanks God for and then he might ask for something, and then sign-off with an 'I love you God, Amen.' But tonight's prayer was a little different. It touched my heart so much, that immediately after saying good night, I wrote it down. I tried to remember most of it word for word. I promise that none of this was prompted or even suggested. Here's my little boy's prayer for tonight:

Deary God-
Thank you for Mommy's shirt.
Thank you for Jesus.
Thank you that Mommy looks like a princess.
Thank you for.....(i missed some of this list--trying not to cry about the princess comment)
Thank you for the people who don't have blankets, or food or people who don't have a house.
Please help them.
Help give them curtains and sunglasses and sisters.
And thank you God for my toys.
Thank you for Santa Claus and my clothes.
I love you God,
Amen.

*One of the many reasons why being a mother is the greatest thing in the world. And I am so blessed to have two little angels of my own.

My AMAZING husband

I have to brag on my incredible husband!! This weekend, Dawson willingly and happily took care of our beautiful children so I could get away with my mom and sisters for a girls' weekend. It was so much fun! And I was so appreciative to him, especially since many men aren't brave enough to take on this intimidating task. However, it was the treatment after I got home that overwhelmed me. As the evening was winding down, I was on the phone with a friend, and I noticed Dawson walking back and forth to our room, seemingly trying to hide things. I was curious, but Dawson is not unaccustomed to strange behavior. :) Anyway, when I get off the phone, Dawson comes in, turns off the t.v and all the lights, and leads me to our room. (don't worry, i am editing) I walk in to our room full of candles and "spa music" and then realize he made me a bubble bath in the bathroom! He even straigthened up the bathroom, so the mood wasn't ruined by the piles of clothes and toys!! The rest of the evening included a foot rub while I was in the bath, as I told him all about my weekend. And then a full body HOUR long massage after the bath. It was heaven!! I kept thanking him and asking him why he was giving me such royal treatment, and he said he just wanted to welcome me home. Anyway, I know this is sappy, and maybe too personal to be blogging about, but I just wanted to tell the world what an awesome husband I have!

Lipstick and the bedside table!

So, I hesitated a little bit in writing this particular entry because of it's questionable nature. But I figured my mother-in-law doesn't really read this, and I think the only man who might occassionally see it is Dustin (who I think knows me well enough not to be shocked by the following material), so here it goes. A few days ago, Ellie found some old lipstick in my bathroom drawer and proceeded to give herself a make-over while Mommy was in the other room. It was cute, so I didn't get too upset. But then this morning, she got into something a little different. It was about 8:30am and I was typing at the computer, looking for campsites at Somerville, and I heard Ellie spitting behind me. Well, I turn around and see her with the KY Jelly bottle in her hand, and gook all over her face. Apparently, Ellie thought this jelly she had found on the bedside table was somehow related to the grape kind in the refrigerator, and she had squeezed some in her mouth. It wouldn't have been so bad if this hadn't been the KY WARMING gel....ya know, the kind that is supposed to tingle, but actually burns like the dickens. Needless to say, my baby's tongue was on fire! I quickly grabbed a big glass of water and poured it down her, while wiping her tongue profusely. She seemed to be fine. And I couldn't help but laugh hysterically, while trying to answer Caleb's questions about the questionable jelly. It was a great Mommy moment!

Fun Times

Our little cowgirl! Ellie is enamored with Bubba's horsie right now. She loves wearing his boots and his hat, and going for an afternoon ride. Of course, she's very Hollywood too, so she needs her shades, even indoors.



And then there's the mud monster! Now, I will say that Daddy was the one who was supposed to be supervising this child while he was in the backyard. But I'm also not the kind of mama who minds dirt and mud. So, I thought it looked pretty cool when he walked INSIDE to show me this new look. Personally, I think that it is way better for a kid to be outside playing in the mud, then to be cooped up in the house watching Disney channel (which, oh my gosh--that damn disney channel is about to drive me crazy!!! I hate those stupid shows and Caleb loves them!) Please forgive the vulgar language, but I have very strong feelings about it. :)

God Bless Burger King

O.K--so we are officially now on the "one income budget" and well, it sucks. It basically means we can only afford the bare necessities(and of course, by 'necessities', I mean cell phones, cable, internet and a variety of groceries--so I completely recognize that these aren't really necessities and i should just spend some time in Uganda or Haiti and I would have a much different perspective....but I'm speaking of "American middle-class necessities") anyway, and so this means no eating out or trips to Target. I have had a little bit of a hard time adjusting to this way of life, but at least I have been trying. Of course, until yesterday. Now, I have completely justified myself because I believe that pregnancy cravings should trump any and all logical thinking. Right? If you want a large bowl of ice cream for breakfast, then you should have it. Or, if your craving fast food, then it's o.k. to spend money reserved for your utility bill. :) So, I had been craving a yummy, greasy hamburger for days. And I had overlooked this craving for many meals, and instead eaten the leftovers in the fridge, or the can of refried beans in the pantry. But by Sunday night....my strength had dwindled and I found myself driving to Burger King. I had NEVER eaten a burger from this place, mainly because I didn't grow up with Burger King, so I just always opted for Sonic of McD's. But oh my gosh....Burger King has changed my life!!! If you haven't already, you have got to go out NOW and buy their new Steakhouse burger. It is life-changing! It was soooo good!!! So, I know this may be the pregnancy hormones talking (or typing) but I'm trying to tell you this is the best burger ever. God bless Burger King!

Our boring life of joy and happiness

Well, there is not a lot to report here at the Skow Hacienda. "Stay-at-home Mom" (which by the way, I HATE this title....so I've got to come up with something better) life is not the most "exciting" thing that's ever happened to me, but definitely the best thing. I am loving being with my kids. They are so beautiful and so funny. So, I just wanted to share a few recent pictures.

Yee Haw!!!

Summer Fun

I don't know why I always think that Summer will slow things down. Summer is fun, and even sometimes relaxing, but nothing about it is slow. The days seem to go by so quickly, and especially when we are traveling. This past weekend we got to visit our best friends in Dallas. We had a great time, talking and swimming. The kids had a blast in their pool. Caleb is becoming a good little swimmer, and Ellie is just a water bug. She has no fear--which of course multiplies my fears. Here are some cute pictures of the water babies. (The cute blonde is my best friend's son....destined to be Caleb's lifelong best friend :)


Both of the boys had Spider man goggles.....so cute!

I couldn't ask for a better daddy for my children......he is amazing, and a great swim coach! :)

Seein' the relatives

Our latest Skow adventure included a jaunt across Texas. We started out travelling to Menard, Texas (a tiny town close to Brady) to celebrate Dawson's Poppo's 90th birthday. It was an awesome celebration with EVERY member of Dawson's family in attendance. All five Skow children, with all of their children and grandchildren were there, along with friends and extended family. It was a grand celebration. One of the highlight's was when Poppo stood up and recited a poem to the crowd that he had memorized in the 3rd grade....which would've been around 1938!

After Menard, we were off to another thriving metropolis, Ft. Davis (very west and very south Texas). Dawson's other grandparents live there. We had a great time, riding horses, bottle-feeding baby calves, playing with goats, eating ice cream out of an old train car.....it was awesome. The best part of the whole trip, aside from eating the best Chili Relleno in the WORLD at a little place called the Cueva, was just spending time with our loved ones. We shared lots of great laughs, long talks and just quiet time under the West Texas stars. Here are a couple of pictures of my little country bumpkins....

Making Memories

We took a day trip to Galveston this weekend. It was awesome! We went with our family--Leah, Clint, Jackson and Sawyer. The kids had a blast. They loved playing in the waves and digging in the sand. Even at Galveston, with it's brown water, seaweed covered beaches and overcrowded scene, there is something majestic about the ocean. To see and be a part of one of God's grandest creations is a pretty cool thing. It was a day for memory making!

Free at Last, Free at Last...Thank God Almighty, I am Free at Last!

Yes, in the words of the great Dr. King--I am free at last. I turned in my keys and my Bryan High ID yesterday. My teaching life is officially over....or at least on hold for a few years. You would think I would be elated, or at least relieved, but for some reason, I'm not. I'm not sure what emotion I'm feeling. I guess it still hasn't really sunk in that I am no longer tied to that school. For 6 years, that is who I have been--a teacher at Bryan High. And for 23 years before that, that is all I can remember wanting to be "when I grew up"--a teacher. Needless to say, it is completey bizarre to NOT be a teacher. Now--I'm just a mommy and a wife. (as if "just" is appropriate?!?) Wow-- new chapter--even if only commemorated by a stupid blog entry. :)

(But as I leave the education world, another Lively girl enters it. This is my baby sister's college graduation...soon to be a 3rd grade teacher in College Station--with my Mom at her side, with 32 years of teaching 1st grade, and my middle sister, starting her 2nd year as a 6th grade math teacher in Bryan. It's in our genes! :)

Reminded

Just in case you haven't taken the time lately....the Bible is really full of some good stuff. It's so tragic that I let my Bible go untouched some days....too many days. But today I was reminded that it is a supernatural book. It holds within its pages life--true life. Praise God that He lets us have one or more, in different translations and a variety of colors. :) These days I feel like I am realizing more and more just how terrible and painful this world can be--but at the same time, God's glory seems to shine even brighter in contrast. wow.

New addition

So, Dawson and I still aren't sure whether God wants us to have more children yet. Some days, I'm sure that I am meant to have more babies--I have easy pregnancies, I love being pregnant and I absolutely ADORE our children. However, there are other days when I'm sure I can't even handle the two angels we already have! Therefore, we decided to get a dog! We figured if we can handle two kids and a puppy, then maybe we can handle three kiddos someday. :) Our newest baby is a miniature schnauzer. She is seven weeks old and she is from Paris......really. (Paris, Texas of course) Her name is Maggie and our kids LOVE her. In fact, when we were coming home from church on Sunday, Caleb announces from the back seat, "I love you THIS much, Mommy." He says this as he stretches his arms out as far as they can go. I told him thank you and that I loved him that much too. He then says, "I love Daddy that much too." I say, "Me too, Doodlebug." He then adds, "But do you know who I love the best of all?" I smile to myself, because I am sure that my holy son, who just finished with church, is obviously about to tell me that he loves God the best of all. So I confidently ask, "Who?" And without hesitation, Caleb, just as confidently responds, "My puppy!" :)

Ellie

and

Caleb

18months and 4 years

My two sun-kissed babies....I know they are gifts from God, but it is pictures like these that remind me how angelic they are. (Even though tonight, when Ellie offered her Bubba a good night's kiss, he offered her his foot, instead of his lips!!) No, really, sometimes, I can't believe how extraordinary my children are. (I know all moms feel this way, but that doesn't detract from it) I am so humbled that God has given me these two beautiful, wonderful children. I don't deserve them, and all of the other millions of blessings that God gives me. I am so thankful!! OK--I'll stop gushing. Just can't wait to be with them more!