If These Walls Could Talk ...

I've decided to start a new "segment" to my blog!

To me, my life feels very ordinary and unexciting, which is why I have such a hard time coming up with things to post. But I'm going to challenge myself to take pictures of the everyday, normal things that happen around our house, and share them.

Please note: Most of these photos will NOT be photographically perfect! In fact, they may be downright awful (GASP!) in terms of composition, exposure, etc. etc. But you know what? They're snapshots ... they're memories ... they're LIFE!! :) And I love my life!


If these walls could talk ...

they would tell you about the mess Ella makes at every single mealtime, and how Ben and I try to outsmart each other on who gets stuck cleaning her up.



If these walls could talk ...

they would have you take a seat to watch one of the 10 or so "shows" that Avery puts on for us each day. She is better than Cher ... more acts, more costume changes, lots of stage presence!



If these walls could talk ...

they'd tell you how Ella really got into listening to my (or I guess I should say Avery's) ipod and loved jamming to the kid-friendly music ... in one ear only.



If these walls could talk ...

you would learn about Avery's awesome imagination, and how she has turned her cozy coupe car into a space shuttle!



If these walls could talk ...

they would ask you why in the world is it that when little toddlers find clean underwear, they always put it on their heads??

Filling My Tank

On Christmas morning Ben said, "Your present is that I'm taking the girls to Grapevine at the end of January to give you a break." Like a crazy woman, my first reaction was not ecstasy. I guess it was because my whole life revolves around those three people, and I wasn't sure what do do without them.

Fast-forward several weeks. I cried ... hard ... as they left. Like I said, I'm a crazy woman, I guess. It took all my willpower to let them go.

And then ... presto! I heard they arrived safely and all was well in the world! I had three amazing days of rest, uninterrupted work, beautiful weather, girl time. (Seriously, "Christina Conklin" hasn't laughed that hard in forever. And just so we won't forget it, girls: "To ancient times and distant music!" "Yodelay...he...hoo!" Wasn't that just soooo healing for the soul?)

Aside from the quiet time, the best part was that Ben hired a cleaning crew to come over the first day they were gone. So not only did I get a spotless house that I didn't have to clean, but it stayed that way for three whole days!!!!

It's so funny how something that I really thought I was dreading could turn into such a gift. (Oh, and just so you know, I could turn this statement into an analogy for some of life's circumstances ... but I won't this time!)

As I type now, they are on their way home. But thanks to my wonderful, generous husband, my tank is refilled and I am ready to take on life again. (Now, poor Nemaw's tank right now is probably another story!)

Snapshots of Christmas Day

Early in the morning ...

Avery helping Ella with her stocking. (We had to wake Ella up. See her big yawn?)

the Leapster was one of the two things she REALLY wanted

Ella got her own babydoll so she doesn't have to borrow Avery's anymore

What was Santa thinking with this noisy drum set? ;)

trying out gifts: See the necklace, apron, and new scooter?

dressed in her new ballerina dress dancing with her new dance partner




Later that day at Mimi's house ...

so many presents!

Ella didn't quite get it this year, so Avery helped her a lot.

taking a break to show off

This was IT! This was what she wanted and Santa didn't bring!
Little did she know it was waiting at Mimi's house!

Christmas Eve

My family came over on Christmas Eve, and we had such a great time visiting with each other and sharing in the enthusiasm and magic that the girls brought to the evening. We tried to get some pictures after church to commemorate the evening.

the 4th or 5th try with the tripod

Ella thinking: I don't want to sit in this chair and pose for a picture!!!!

Avery: I do!!

Wow! Got them together!

LOVE

The Spirit of Christmas

Avery decided (all on her own) that she wanted to leave a letter for Santa to pick up when he visits our house tonight. She knew exactly what she wanted to tell him, so she asked us to help with spelling, and she wrote from her heart.



"Thank you Santa for helping me learn the spirit of Christmas. Avery 2009"

Here Comes Santa Claus!

Finally .... after four and a half years ... Avery sat on Santa's lap!! Remember this post last year?

This year not only did she sit on his lap, but she told him what she wanted for Christmas (a watch), and even gave him a hug afterward.

Ella settled herself onto his other knee with no problem, and was so fascinated with him, she just popped her thumb into her mouth and wouldn't look away.

I think Avery's willingness this year in large part needs to be credited to this guy:


Arty is his name. He's our Elf on a Shelf and he watches over the girls from a different spot in our house every day. By night he uses his magic to fly back to the North Pole and report their behavior to Santa. Avery is enamored with him, she is fascinated by him, she is ... well, she quite frankly is obsessed with him.

We're really going to miss him when he has to go back home after Christmas.

Thanksgiving in Pictures (and a few words)

We had an absolutely wonderful Thanksgiving this year in Grapevine! With a house filled to the brim with people, Lynn and Barry were the perfect hosts. Here's a recap of some of the fun things the girls did:

made a gingerbread house ... and of course, sampled the mortar!

helped cook, clean, and prepare the table

shared pie ... yum!

roasted s'mores over the campfire

played outside and enjoyed the amazing weather



got dirty and then joined in a one-man naked marching band after bath



rode the "tractor"

had a fantastic time with family!

Halloween

Halloween was SO much fun this year! From the moment Avery woke up, she wanted to know how long it would be until she could take a nap. That's because we told her that after her nap, it would be time to put on her costume. In Ben's words: You could cut the excitement in our house like a knife.

Avery and Ella both loved their costumes. I was a bit worried that Ella might not want to wear her antennae, but I was so wrong. I should have known that if Avery was wearing one, Ella would want to wear one, too!

It was a great night, and we had so much fun experiencing it through the girls!

our two cute little bugs

getting some energy before trick-or-treating at the Franks' house

the group - it's our annual tradition

Avery saying, "Trick-or-treat, please!"

Ella really got into it once she realized people would give her candy for saying, "Ticky-tick." After they handed her a piece, she would stand there and want them to open it for her.

showing off her stash

one sucker just wasn't enough

Happy Halloween from the Conklins!

Recap of October

Wow! How in the world is time flying by so fast?? October was a whirlwind, so I thought I'd give a recap of some of the main things that happened with the girls.

Ella (18 months now) spent the month trying to keep up with everybody. Now that she is walking, she has this new little determined personality emerging. She knows what she wants, and gets frustrated when she doesn't get it. At the top of her "wants" list is: being anywhere mommy is, and playing with whatever Avery is playing with. Here she is dancing with Avery:


She is growing so fast, and my formerly tiny little girl is now in the 50-75th percentile for her age. One of my favorite things about this age is how even though she doesn't speak many words, she understands almost everything we say. When I tell her it's time to change her diaper, she heads straight to her room. If we ask her to do or get something, she does it. She speaks the basic beginner words and she also babbles and repeats our sounds constantly. She's a chatterbox! She also has decided to begin signing! She has wonderful manners, and is great at saying please and thank you in sign language. Here's something we see a lot at our house:

Sometimes we get a special little sneak peek at what the terrible twos may be like with Ella, but it doesn't happen often. When it does, well, we chuckle and know we can handle it. We survived Avery's at that age (and if you knew Avery then, you know what we mean!) This is Ella's "I dare you to catch me" look:
While Ella is no longer technically a baby anymore, she is our still sweet and cuddly angel.


Avery was super busy last month! She is loving school and has made some special friends. Every day she talks about Antonio. "Antonio is my best friend. Antonio stood beside me in line today. Antonio played with me at the playground." We were beginning to wonder who this Antonio is. When we went to school for Avery's Open House a couple weeks ago, the very first thing her teacher said to us was, "Avery has quite the crush." Come to find out, they call each other boyfriend and girlfriend, say they are going to get married, etc. Wow....we are in trouble aren't we?!? Well, I got to meet Antonio last week, and was able to snap a picture of the two lovebirds.


I entered Avery's picture (just for fun) into a contest for the cutest kid in Cy-Fair contest. Well, she made it to the top 15 out of hundreds, and was invited to a photo shoot for the cover of Cy-Fair magazine! This is what she wore to the shoot:


It was a lot of fun, and she felt very special. She is going to be in the Nov. issue somewhere, so everyone who lives in the Cypress area, look for a free copy of Cy-Fair magazine in a few weeks!!!

I admit that right now there is more fighting than peaceful moments between the girls, but I can already see what a sisterly bond they have. Ella looks up to Avery, and Avery can be very protective of Ella. Unfortunately, I don't have many pictures of them together (my computer crashed and I lost all of my recent stuff), but here's a glimpse of what I do have. My two favorite girls....

Are You Listening?

I've been slacking on the blogging, but that's OK, because I don't think too many people read this anyway! ;)

Well, if you're looking for an update on the girls, this is not your post. This is not going to be about the millions of times a day I say, "Are you listening to me?!?" to Avery (or Ben!) that you parents, teachers (and wives) can relate to. This one is about something similar that was put on my heart to write about. Listening to God. (I wonder if he gets as exasperated with us as we do with our own children?)

No, no, I am absolutely not an expert on this listening to God subject, and I will never claim to be! But I've been learning a lot, and this morning I got the strong feeling that I needed to share. That's the difference between my past, and what I am now learning to do ... listen and obey. In the past, if I was experiencing something, and I got the "feeling" to share it, I would talk myself out of it, telling myself no one cares and it's really not that interesting. Here's the thing: It doesn't matter what I think; it matters what He thinks.

So for me, that's how I've been learning to listen to God. He's always spoken to me (and to you, too!) I just didn't realize that's what it was. It's those thoughts that pop into my mind that are loving, or humble, or tell me to do something nice, maybe even step out of my comfort zone. Yep, that's God! I thought it was my voice thinking these things ... you know, the good part of my conscience or whatever. So it was a lot easier for me to ignore them, or talk myself out of doing them, because who cares if I blow my own self off, right?

I'll never forget how one year (in junior high, I think) I saw a new girl sitting by herself in the cafeteria. Having been a new girl myself once upon a time, my heart went out to her, and I got this huge urge to go sit down next to her. I am so ashamed to say that I didn't do it. Maybe if I had realized it was God giving me instructions, I would have been more willing to follow through. Who wants to disobey God on purpose??

Anyway, through some amazing bible studies and discussions with equally amazing women, as well as sermons from our gifted pastors, I've learned that this is actually God's voice. He puts his will on your heart.The tricky part is recognizing it, listening, and doing what He wants you to do. Remember, I said I am not an expert! There are many, many times that I know I either don't hear Him, or don't obey. But that's OK, because He is a loving God and knows that I am not perfect.

So, if you're one of the 3 people that actually read this blog, you know my decision to quit teaching was one of the ways I listened to God. And because I knew it was coming from God, I had complete peace about it. I didn't have to stress and worry that I might be making the wrong decision. I didn't have to second-guess myself. It was what I wanted, but it was because God put it on my heart. Try making your next decision that way. Give yourself time to listen and He will speak to you. If you're not sure if it's Him speaking, or if it's your own wants and desires, then be patient, the time is not right. Keep listening, and He will reveal it to you.

If you're bored, quit reading. If you're not, then here's one more example: Yesterday I was supposed to meet a woman I didn't know to take some maternity pics for her. We planned to meet at a park about 40 minutes away from my house.

While I was waiting for her, I noticed a car pull up and park in a handicapped spot. I watched for a good fifteen minutes while a man about my age struggled to get himself out of his car, set up his wheelchair, adjust his cushions, lift himself onto it, wheel himself to his trunk, tie his legs together, put on his gloves, and probably do some more things I didn't even see because I didn't want to look like I was staring. He did all of this completely on his own. I would have had the urge to help him, but he had a friend there that had come in another car. This friend waited patiently without helping him, so I know he wanted to do it independently. (I'm convinced this was a God-thing, too, him having a friend there and letting me know he didn't want help, or else I probably would have embarrassed myself by going up to him.)

OK, so short story long, the girl I was supposed to take pictures of never showed up. And I wasn't upset at all. I just kept thinking about this guy. Then it popped into my head that I should leave him a note to let him know how much he inspired me. What? Only a total nerdy freak would do that! As I walked to my car, my mind kept repeating three lines that I would write in a note, if I was going to leave him one. Of course I wasn't, though, because that would just be weird....like I was stalking him or something.

Well, I got in my car, took a deep breath, and did it. I wrote the note ... but where would I put it? He couldn't reach his windshield wipers, so that would just be cruel if I put it there! Whew! I was off the hook! Nowhere to put it! But then I got the thought that I should try the license plate holder. Not only could he reach it, but I knew he would go there to put his equipment back in his trunk. Low and behold, after I stealthily crept as incognito as I could over there, the paper fit snugly and securely just under the plate.

OK, so the moral of this (probably lame) story is that it was God who put those ideas in my head! Only He knows what we need. Maybe that guy was having a bad day; Lord knows life must be incredibly difficult and isolating as a parapalegic. I don't know what his story was, and honestly it was none of my business. I will never know if the note I left him made an impact on his day, or if he immediately threw it away. It doesn't matter. I heard God's voice - I got the thought - and I didn't talk myself out of it.

How many times a day / a week do you have these "thoughts"? God speaks to all of us! Are you listening??