A Crutch For My Writer's Block

I've been leaving my camera out on the counter - partly because of laziness and partly because it's handy for wacky and/or adorable moments. So tonight I give you photos. They're not brilliant but they're going to help me write some sentences.

This is Annabeth eating her first sprinkled cake donut.

This is Jackson with a milk mustache.

Here's another one of his marvelous 5-year-old facial expressions. Pretty impressive sentences so far, huh?

This just makes me laugh.

The Sir begged me to take a picture of him and then he did this. It takes intensive coaching to get him to smile normally.

My dear Fitzes. I will get in trouble for posting this but I don't care because I'm just so HAPPY to have them around!

These are two of my dear friends, Angela and Alicia. They were our college students when we worked at First Irving. We got to spend last weekend with them and it was so great.

Later that night I found three people on their iPhones/Droids/Blackberries in my living room.

Here's Annabeth enjoying some books. Notice how large her hair is. My mom had fixed it last.

Today was picture day for Annabeth at MDO. *High five for remembering.* Notice that Annabeth is using one of Jackson's hand-me-down Cars sippy cups. I always wonder if her teachers feel sorry for her when I send the boyish cups to school.

I got a phone call at 1:43 from the school saying, "This is not an emergency, but Jackson bit through his lip." He had a little accident on the playground. Bless his heart. He was pretty unsettled because of the drama of losing his front tooth a couple of months ago, so I picked him up early. Thank God there doesn't seem to be any damage to his teeth. We got a vanilla shake and I let him do pretty much anything he wanted after that. Movies, Wii, Jello and snuggling on the couch were in order. By the way, it looks much worse in person.

This is the cute red bench my hubby bought me on our last date night. It was even his idea. I had joked with him about forgetting to get me the one thing I wanted for Valentine's Day, which was a Snuggie. (Walgreen's was sold out, y'all.) That guilt trip obviously served me well. Thank you, Homegoods, for this wonderful purchase and for the $30 discount for a missing screw.

The tree in our front yard is just now losing it's leaves. It's so weird. There are new leaves budding next to old ones that are getting ready to fall off. (So apparently this is called a Live Oak and it is named that because the leaves never go dormant. Hooray for Wikipedia and knowledge!)

This is an outfit my mom bought Annabeth. I probably would not have picked this out, but I'm so glad my mom did because I nearly fell over from how cute she was in it. And she was thrilled to wear her pink bow. By the way, the first thing she said to me this morning was that she needed a bow in her hair. I believe I have succeeded thus far as a mother.

Uncontainable Joy

Unable to contain his joy...

this is Jackson Jones in a nutshell.

Look, it's me in a nutshell!

First Day of Spring

Is it Sunday night already? We had such a lovely weekend. Our sweet babysitter, Sara, was home for spring break and she offered to stay with the kids one night. So on Friday we went to Fleming's with Kay and Jerrell and had a great time. Four hours passed by in a flash. Then we stayed up late catching up with Sara and hearing all about college life at DBU. It made me miss my old roomies.

On Saturday I had breakfast with a friend from church named Erin and I got to hear all about her trip to India to serve the girls at As Our Own. It was three months later, but better late than never! It was a blessing to hang out with her. Then I met up with my mom and sister and we did a little spring shopping at City Center. One of the delightful members of our trio was having a very honest day and we laughed a lot.

We had a really wonderful morning at church and then took our kids for a quick bite of pizza at this place called Russo's. I've decided that New York style is my favorite. We all took naps and then spent a lazy evening at home. Well, Curtis wasn't very lazy. He has been power washing our white house and making it gleam. Speaking of gleam, the Super Moon last night was amazing! I felt like we should've been watching E.T. during it.

I was enjoying some tea after my nap while Curtis "supervised" the children in the back yard. Little did I know that Annabeth had gotten into some water in the nice outfit she'd worn to church. Curtis just took it off her and let her play in her onesie. She was like a little ice cube but she had so much fun.

Ahhhchooo!

It took me a second to realize what was going on here.

The water must not have tasted good.

I'm Thankful For...

Dinner last weekend with Janelle and Sunni and our men at Mi Cocina.

Nail polish on my toes and the hope of tanned summer feet.

A carpet of soft green grass in the back yard and a boy who loves playing in cold water.

Goode Co. BBQ's chicken sandwich that you can only get at the rodeo. And a great date with my hubs.

A big white dog who sleeps on the floor next to me even though I step on him all the time.

The prayers of the saints.

Lunches with friends and family visiting from out of town.

The mind of Christ.

Finding a pack of Conversation Hearts from Valentine's Day and Jackson reading them to me.

Taking him up on "Kiss Me."

My husband making me laugh all the time.

The fact that he is living out his purpose.

Annabeth yelling "Mine! Please!"

How she loves pink and always points the color out when she sees it.

When she says "yesth."

Aunt Melissa and Uncle Colin's permanent residence in Houston.

My sister conquering her fear of changing diapers.

Answered prayers.

An impromptu girls night out.

Gospel Friends.

My big boy loving rocking with me at night.

How we can take him almost anywhere now.

"Our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all." 2 Corinthians 4:17

A God who loves me enough not to leave me this way.

Hillsong United

Curtis and I went to see our favorite worship band last night. These are some things we might have tweeted (and a couple that I did) if we hadn't been so busy singing with our hands in the air.

(I know this is a dumb post but I've been blogging for nearly 5 years and IT'S ALL BEEN DONE.)

(You can find us on Twitter as @AmandaMoJo and @JonesCurtis. FYI, MoJo is for Moore Jones, not like Austin Powers mojo. That's what happens when you have two of the most common last names in America.)

@AmandaMoJo So excited to worship Jesus with @JonesCurtis and @HillsongUnited tonight!

@JonesCurtis However Joel Houston's hair looks is how I'm gonna grow mine out.

@AmandaMoJo @JonesCurtis What if he bics it?

@AmandaMoJo Joel Houston kinda looks like a Spirit-filled Kurt Cobain. Or maybe Eddie Vedder. #childofthe90s

@AmandaMoJo There's a dude on stage that looks like Weird Al. I bet only 10% of the people in this building know who that is.

@AmandaMoJo I wonder if that crazy-dancing guy has ever knocked one of his bandmates down.

@JonesCurtis Yeah, he actually broke a guy's leg.

@AmandaMoJo Really diverse crowd. I love this city.

@AmandaMoJo The girl in front of me is recording this whole thing. A voice that only God could love (mine) is gonna ruin her YouTube videos.

@AmandaMoJo So glad we learned the Aftermath songs in two weeks.

@AmandaMoJo Had to take my necklace off b/c the bulbousness of the beads was keeping me from putting my hand on my heart. Apparently I do that a lot.

@AmandaMoJo I love that the God we worshipped tonight is the Ancient of Days, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God who led Israel out of Egypt.

@AmandaMoJo I imagine the end of "With Everything" will be playing at the Second Coming when Jesus comes riding in on a white horse. #FaithfulandTrue

@AmandaMoJo I'll stand with arms high and heart abandoned..." What a great night of worship. http://yfrog.com/gyjfdqxj

Aftermath Tour Blog 6th March 2011 from Hillsong United on Vimeo.

Cherry Coke With a Side of Grace

The kids went to preschool today and I spent the morning in a nice, quiet house. I took my time getting the laundry folded, making beds, and putting toys back in their places. I had to get ready for a board meeting at LPM, but I didn't have to rush.

I thought about it being Rodeo Day at the preschool and I hoped that Jackson wouldn't be the only one in his class not dressed like a cowboy. Or if he was, that he wouldn't care. He had a pair of boots when he was a toddler, but his feet were too wide for them and I could hardly wedge them in. He would need the Stride Rite version of cowboy boots and I just didn't feel motivated to buy them for a one day thing. This is heresy in Texas but what can I say? I dressed Jackson in a t-shirt with guitars on it and explained that at the rodeo there are country music singers and they play guitars. So there! We were legit!

On my way to the meeting I decided to stop by Jackson's future elementary school and pick up his kindergarten registration packet. I called Curtis and told him what I was doing. "I'm about to go in our kid's school for the first time. Take this in with me!" I'm not sure he really went there mentally or emotionally. In fact, he didn't.

I pulled up behind a dad carrying in a special lunch for his kid. I didn't know where I was going, so I followed him happily. I was smiling and in a good mood. He opened the door and there it was - the inside of the school! My eyes took it all in. I guess I expected it to look like my old elementary but it was much lighter inside.

I stood in line behind the dad at the front desk and when it came my turn, I said, "Can I have a kindergarten registration packet, please?" The ladies behind the desk were very nice and explained how this would work. I said, "Okay, thanks so much!" in an overly chipper tone and waltzed out of the school. Happily. Cheerfully.

Halfway down the sidewalk my throat started getting a wicked lump in it. No! And my nose started to sniff uncontrollably. I made it to my car before my eyes gave it away. Before I was out of the school zone, I was crying like an idiot.

People, I could not have been more shocked. I wasn't even thinking sentimental thoughts and it just hit me. I can only imagine what kind of blubbering fool I'm going to be when he actually starts. Maybe I'll get it out of my system before then. Curt will probably be the one having a public catharsis. He's been known to go years between crying sessions and then let it all out in front of large groups.

The only thing I could do was call my mother. We talked about how maternal love is so deep in your subconscious that it can just smack you upside the head out of nowhere. Actually, we discussed it in more elegant terms but I can't remember how my mom said it. She told me she had cried the same tears the first time she went to my school back in the day. It's a good thing I really like my mama because emotionally, we are the same person.

Later when I picked up Jackson the first thing he said to me was not, "Why wasn't I dressed like a cowboy?" but "Why didn't you come to Rodeo Day?"

Ugh.

"Baby, I had a meeting today. I'm so sorry. I didn't know I was supposed to be there."

"Why didn't Daddy come? No one was there for me."

Shoot me now.

I thought he was going to start crying. I felt like dirt. Lower than dirt. Pond scum.

I knew parents could come, but I did not grasp that this was one of the events they should come to. Like, last week there was a petting zoo that we could come to to take pictures. And this week - at least for my child - it was a should scenario.

Help me, Jesus. I just ruined my son's childhood.

We got in the car and Jackson asked if we could get frozen yogurt. That would require getting my very-fragile-after-school toddler in and out of the car an additional time, so I remained silent. "Mommy, can we go to Sonic?"

Yes! What do you want? A banana shake? Certainly! A little cheeseburger? Why, yes! With a Cherry Coke and a side of grace for Mommy? That sounds perfect.