I'm How Old???

Last night John and I finally both had some time to just sit and talk (actually I guess we made time since it was 1:00 in the morning and we both were so tired). Things have just been busy and by the time night rolls around we're tired from a long day and we just want to watch a little tv and then go to bed. It felt wonderful to talk though.

During our conversation we starting talking about a woman at our church. John said she was 27 years old and I quickly said, "No, she's my age - I remember asking." John just looked at me and said, "That is your age." And it hit me. I'm 26, almost 27 years old. I usually forget that that's how old I am. I keep thinking I'm only 22 or 23, and even that seems old since I feel like I'm barely done being a teenager. So all I could do was laugh and say "Oh, that is my age, isn't it?" I should clarify that I do not really think 26 is old - I don't even think 40 is old. It's just so much older than I feel I should be. As I told my dad once, old age is relative to me. The older I get, the older "old" is. It is always at least 30 or 40 years older than what I currently am. =)

When we were at the hair salon yesterday getting John David's hair cut, I looked over at the clock and noticed that the hour hand was going rapidly around. In one minute's time, the clock had gone a full 12 hours. Isn't that a perfect picture of life - passing us way too quickly? I hugged my babies a little tighter after that. =)

Here's a good story that John's mom sent me earlier in an email and it goes so well with this post.....

The older I get, the more I enjoy Saturday mornings. Perhaps it's the
quiet solitude that comes with being the first to rise, or maybe it's the
unbounded joy of not having to be at work. Either way, the first few
hours of a Saturday morning are most enjoyable.

A few weeks ago, I was shuffling toward the garage with a steaming cup of
coffee in one hand and the morning paper in the other. What began as a
typical Saturday morning turned into one of those lessons that life seems
to hand you from time to time. Let me tell you about it:

I turned the dial up into the phone portion of the band on my ham radio
in order to listen to a Saturday morning swap net. Along the way, I came
across an older sounding chap, with a tremendous signal and a golden voice.
You know the kind; he sounded like he should be in the broadcasting
business. He was telling whom-ever he was talking with something about "a
thousand marbles." I was intrigued and stopped to listen to what he had
to say.

"Well, Tom, it sure sounds like you're busy with your job. I'm sure they
pay you well but it's a shame you have to be away from home and your family
so much. Hard to believe a young fellow should have to work sixty or seventy
hours a week to make ends meet. It's too bad you missed your daughter's
"dance recital" he continued. "Let me tell you something that has helped
me keep my own priorities."

And that's when he began to explain his theory of a "thousand marbles."

You see, I sat down one day and did a little arithmetic. The average person
lives about seventy-five years. I know, some live more and some live
less, but on average, folks live about seventy-five years.

"Now then, I mul tiplied 75 times 52 and I came up with 3900, which is the
number of Saturdays that the average person has in their entire lifetime.
Now, stick with me, Tom, I'm getting to the important part.

It took me until I was fifty-five years old to think about all this in
any detail", he went on, "and by that time I had lived through over
twenty-eight hundred Saturdays." "I got to thinking that if I lived to be
seventy-five, I only had about a thousand of them left to enjoy. So I went
to a toy store
and bought every single marble they had. I ended up having to visit three
toy stores to round up 1000 marbles. I took them home and put them inside
a large, clear plastic container right here in the shack next to my gear."

"Every Saturday since then, I have taken one marble out and thrown it
away. I found that by watching the marbles diminish, I focused more on the
really important things in life. There is nothing like watching your time
here on this earth run out to help get your priorities straight."

Now let me tell you one last thing before I sign-off with you and take my
lovely wife out for breakfast. This morning, I took the very last marble out of the container. I figure that if I make it until next Saturday then I have been given a
little extra time. And the one thing we can all use is a little more time."

"It was nice to meet you Tom, I hope you spend more time with your
family, and I hope to meet you again here on the band. This is a 75 Year old
Man, K9NZQ, clear and going QRT, good morning!"

You could have heard a pin drop on the band when this fellow signed off.
I guess he gave us all a lot to think about, I had planned to work on the
antenna that morning, and then I was going to meet up with a few hams to
work on the next club newsletter..

Instead, I went upstairs and woke my wife up with a kiss. "C'mon honey,
I'm taking you and the kids to breakfast." "What brought this on?" she asked
with a smile. "Oh, nothing special, it's just been a long time since we
spent a Saturday together with the kids. ! And hey , can we stop at a toy
store while we're out? I need to buy some marbles....

Spikey

After weeks of being frustrated (not to mention slightly embarrased) about how John David looked when I pick him up from school I finally know why! In the mornings I comb his hair and he looks very nice when I drop him off. It was unbelieveable how crazy it would always be by 3:00. Today I found out that in the morning when his class goes to the drinking fountain, he puts water on his hair and makes spikes. Great....Why do I even bother combing his hair? I just have to laugh. =)

School Pictures

Well, I knew I wouldn't be ordering any school pictures since the day they were first taken. When John David came home I asked him how he had smiled when it was picture time. He laughed and told me that he made scary faces. He proceeded to demonstrate his "scary face" and that's when I knew the pictures would be goofy looking. =) They weren't as bad as I thought but I still didn't order any. I just took a picture of the proofs so I could put it here on the blog.

Super Kids

I have no idea what this pose is all about but they both struck it at the same time and wanted their picture taken. They both love getting their picture made and always want to see it as soon as it's done. Two HAMS!!!

John's New Wheels

Mimi gave John Papaw's truck last week so here he is looking proud. He loves his new ride and drives it everwhere. It's been nice to each have our own vehicle and I know John loves driving Papaw's truck and feeling a little closer to him.

John David Rides

John David went with John to the Bible Quiz tournament this past weekend at Southwestern. He had so much fun with his daddy and the quizzers. They ate at Texas Roadhouse in Abilene on the way home. This picture is of John David riding on the saddle.

A Funny Memory

Yesterday, I took Julia to McDonalds for a Happy Meal (John David was at a Bible Quiz meet with John). While we were there I saw the signs for the monopoly game that is going on right now. I couldn't help but smile to myself as I remembered our own family's experience playing that game.

When I was in 6th grade we lived in Irving, Texas. My mom LOVES games and the McDonald's Monopoly game was no exception. I remember driving through every McDonald's within a 50 mile radius of our house in order to get as many game pieces from various locations as possible! Hashbrowns in the morning had a gamepiece and drinks and large fries had them in the afternoon after school. People probably think I'm kidding but we really did drive all over the place just for this game.

One day when we ordered, Mom pulled over in the parking lot so we could look at our new pieces and see if we had any monopolies yet. We had several we were working on, one of which was the green set. We were only missing Pennsylvania. I tore back the gamepiece and lo and behold there was Pennsylvania! We were hooting and hollering so loud! One of us spilled a coke all over the floor of the van and when we started to clean it up mom just said, "Don't worry about it! We'll just buy a new car!!!" Well, smart one that she is, Biggie decided she better check the rules once more before we all went in McDonald's like crazy people. Good thing she did because it turned out that we actually had Pennsylvania Railroad. =( It was ok though - driving a coke-stained van wasn't too bad. And what a fun memory we made!

When I Grow Up.......

John David had a school assignment to decide what he wants to be one day and to draw a picture to go with it. He wrote, "I want to be a judge because they have hammers." I had to smile....

A New Toy

My parents sent a package to the kids yesterday. It was filled with toys and "Happy Cow Chocolate Milk" (from the company where my mom works). One of the toys was this Blue's Clues Bubble Wand. Julia waited all day to do bubbles and she was so excited when it was finally time. It was raining outside so I sat on the couch in my church clothes and blew bubbles for John David and Julia.

A Growing Girl

Aulora has finally grown enough to wear her "going home from the hospital clothes". Yea!!!

Uncle Maka & Aunt Kara

On Thursday we went to Midland so John could help Mimi with a few things and so he could bring home Papaw's truck. For lunch we went to Abuelo's with Mimi and Matt and Kara. Julia loves her aunt and uncle!

Barley Girl

After much thought, I now know what Aulora's special name will be. John David has always been Mommy's Darling (although Daddy has tried to teach him that he's Daddy's Favorite instead), Julia is Mommy's Angel, and now I know Aulora's name.

When I was little, we would say something was "weet" instead of sweet. One day my dad said something (I don't remember what) was so "weet" (aka "wheat") it was barley. That saying stuck in our family and we still say it even today. So Aulora will be Mommy's Barley Girl because she's so wheat she's barley......

Sweet Sisters

I can't wait for all the girl stuff I will get to do with my two dolls. I'm so glad that they will always have each other as friends.

Papaw's Funeral

Papaw died on September 19th just after the sun rose. We last saw him the night before when we took Aulora to meet him. He was able to dedicate her that night right there in his hospice room. We will be posting more about that later.

John and Matthew did both the funeral and the graveside service. They did an amazing job and I know they made their Papaw proud. They actually based what they did from one of Papaw's own sermons that he taught them the week before. The funeral was sad, since we will miss Papaw so very much, but it was very special. I think Delana, our Pastor's wife, said it well when she said that she had never been to a funeral before where she felt so blessed. Papaw left us with a wonderful legacy and I'm proud to be part of his family.

Julia and God

After we had Papaw's graveside service, Julia was walking aroung with Aunt Kara. When Julia spotted this statue she wanted her picture taken with God. So apparently God really does live in Texas.

Just For The Record

Daddy would like to set the record straight and say that "As for me and my house, we will cheer for A&M."

Sleeping Beauty

Here's that baby girl sleeping again. I'm sure someday she'll do something else, but for right now I'm enjoying this. =)

Peter Pan and Woody Join Forces

Tuesday night was dress-up night here at the Sullivan house. Oh what fun...

Big Sister Julia

Here's Julia holding her baby a couple of nights ago. Both of the kids love to hold her and touch her. They think it's hilarious if I hold Aulora up and pretend that she is talking to them. I can get them to do just about anything if Aulora tells them to do it!

John David and School

John David still likes going to school. Getting up in the morning is sometimes hard but when I drop him off he still always runs to get to where his class is lining up. He has finally stopped complaining about naptime. He now takes advantage of it and falls asleep every day. I guess he IS getting smarter. =)

I'm posting a picture of his school - Cornerstone Christian School. Only the main building is in the picture. There is also a gym and a cafeteria building. John David's classroom is in the main building. Hopefully I'll get a picture of his classroom and his teacher soon.

We weren't seeing too many happy face days until recently. This week he's had a happy face every day! I told him that if he gets one tomorrow to make it a perfect week then we'll have to have a really special prize. I'm not sure what that will be yet. He would be thrilled with dinner at Cici's or a toy from the Dollar Store though. He's not hard to impress. =)

One day this week I was a couple minutes late to pick him up and he was already in after school care. After I got him and we were in the car he said, "Mommy, that was the coolest class! They don't make you do any work at all - you just get to play!" One day I'll have to let him stay in after school care just for the fun of it....

Dr. Carrizales & Aulora

I had my check-up with the doctor today and took both Julia and Aulora with me. Here's a picture of Dr. Carrizales holding Aulora. She's my favorite doctor so far and she's the one who did the c-section. All is well and both of my baby girls were angels while we were there. The ladies in the office already adored Julia and they were swooning over Aulora today. Daddy, get the sticks ready.. =)

All Dressed Up

Yesterday was our first day back at church. It was nice to be back and even nicer to actually be in a service since I'm no longer the children's pastor. Wow - now I get to dress up three dollies for church. Life is just such fun!

A Special Day

Aulora Grace Sullivan

Three weeks ago Aulora Grace made her surprise debut. She was 4 weeks early and only 5 pounds and 4 ounces. When I went in for my routine doctor's appointment, I was told we needed to have a c-section right away because the amniotic fluid was so low and the baby could die. So after driving to the church to pick up John and then taking Julia home to Steve and packing a bag we hurried back up to the hospital. Aulora was born at about 1:15 pm that Monday.

Both John David and Julia were very excited about their new baby sister. John picked up John David from school and brought him up to the hospital. Julia came that night when John's family got there. The kids didn't get to see Aulora that day because she was in the NICU, but we showed them pictures of her.

After a 1 week stay in the NICU, we were finally released to go home! The doctors wanted to keep Aulora longer but I begged them to let us go so we could get home and then go to Midland to see Papaw, who was not expected to live much longer. We went home on Sunday afternoon and on Monday morning we headed to Midland, where Papaw was in hospice waiting to see his new great-grandbaby.