Posted on 12 December '11 by mellieb, under Uncategorized. No Comments.
Thanksgiving
As the Thanksgiving holiday approaches, it is a great time to reflect on things I am thankful for. There are so many “things” to be grateful for in my life, but there are a few that are extra special. I am very grateful for my family. I feel so very blessed that God gave me such a wonderful husband who is generous, compassionate, selfless, honoring, patient, funny, loving, and a joy in my life. Then on top of that God blessed me with 4 beautiful children–Ashley who is sweet, honest, gentle, has a great work ethic, beautiful, athletic, patient, and fun to be around. Olivia who is smart, witty, energetic, compassionate, sassy, artistic, has an eye for photography, and beautiful. Phillip who is funny, a quick learner, sensitive, compassionate, good with little kids, handsome, musical, and a fantastic brother. And then God blessed us with our Emily who is sweet beyond measure, funny, always makes us smile, smart, entertaining, generous, loving, and full of joy. I am blessed beyond words with these gifts the Lord has given me. I am grateful for employment, food, a home, a car, clothes, and all the things to help us live in this world. But the thing I am most grateful for is the sacrifice of Jesus for me…a sinner who deserves nothing. A failure who can’t even do the most simple things that are asked of me. A human who strives to be in this world that really is not my home. A woman with so many faults it is amazing anyone would love me. I want to be on my knees in gratitude to the Lord for choosing me to be part of His plan, part of His Kingdom, part of His family. I am forever grateful for the hope He has given me, for the peace of eternal life with Him. I am so thankful for a church that teaches His word and challenges me to change. Thankful for a church family that truly is a part of my extended family, that supports and encourages one another in love. In this world full of hard times and so many pulls against a relationship with our Creator, I am thankful that I have Jesus in my life and that my family is learning and growing in Him. Praying that everyone has a very blessed Thanksgiving and can spend time reflecting on what you are grateful for in your life.
Posted on 23 November '11 by mellieb, under Uncategorized. No Comments.
Sports moment
So today was Ashley’s first cross country meet…..ever. She has been really good at going to summer practices and running or biking a little more often to condition her body for this new sport. She is using cross country to get ready for basketball, but I think she is secretly liking it for what it is, running. She definitely has the body build for it and if she can just get her head into, then the mental part will help her when her physical part starts to falter. On Thursday she came home with her uniform and when she modeled for us, I have to say I almost choked up. She just looks like an athlete!
So this morning Ken drove her to meet the team and I followed shortly after. After giving Ashley a quick pep talk, she joined the group of JV girls and they stretched a little and then nervously chattered amongst themselves. About 5 minutes before JV girls started, the Centennial group moseyed over to the start line and huddled up. Soon a cheer erupted from the huddle and about 30 girls were jumping together and chanting encouragement for each other. While some of the other teams were sprinting to warm up, Ken and I watched as the Centennial girls rallied together to be a unified team. It was a wonderful moment. Then the gun went off and tons of girls just took off from the start line. Ashley started off at a nice pace. We tried to keep up with her as much as we could, but pretty soon she was just a speck in the distance. Ken and I walked across the field to get a spot to look for her coming around the top of a hilly incline and after about 20 minutes we could see her. She had her sunglasses on which made her easy to spot. I did choke up when I saw her and could barely yell “Go Ashley!” as she passed by. Her form looked very natural and her stride was really good. It was a proud mama moment for sure!! She came back into view and we could tell she was giving it her all. We barely made it to the finish line to see her cross….28:33 for her first 5K. I had tears and Ken said he had tears. How very proud of her we both were and are still. She has pushed herself very hard to get to this moment and I know that she has the potential to actually letter in cross country. She will have to bring her time down to under 22:00, but I know that she can do it! What a joy it is to watch your child go out of their comfort zone and push themselves to a place they didn’t know that they could. She has done more than I know I could do and I can not wait to watch the next meet and see what she can accomplish! Nice job Miss!!
Posted on 28 August '11 by mellieb, under Uncategorized. No Comments.
Summer, where did you go?
Hard to believe that we are less than a week away from school starting! As I look back on the summer, I am perplexed as to where it went!! The month of June went by at such a nice, slow pace, but as soon as we hit July….bam, it was gone. I feel like I got a lot done the first few weeks of break, but then laziness set in and it went downhill from there. I was going to go to the park with the kids a lot and hit the zoo a couple of times (we went once). We were going to play board games and create things that could potentially be given as Christmas gifts. We did get to purge and got rid of a TON of stuff (thanks ARC for coming to get it). I was going to work on math skills with Emily and make sure she and Phillip read lots of books this summer. Hmmm…..what DID we do? I guess we just enjoyed the laid backness of summer. Staying up late, sleeping in, not having an agenda, playing things by ear, lounging on the couch all day with a good book, eating lunch at 3, milkshakes and smoothies daily. Lots of fun memories even though we didn’t travel far from home.
Now as it is the week before school I am looking ahead to a year with a sophomore, an 8th grader, 6th grader and 2nd grader. I know the year will be over before we know it and Ashley will be in her junior year and Olivia will be starting high school. Soon they will be thinking of leaving home to begin their lives really. I love watching them grow up , but long for the days of snuggling and giggling. We do have quite the adventure this year with Phillip starting junior high. Apparently he has graduated to being Phil, but I don’t think mom can change from calling him Phillip. Ashley is going to be very involved in sports this year with 3 different ones she is signing up for. Olivia hopefully will find some activity that she will want to do. It is so fun to watch them tackle school and succeed! I am very proud of each of them not only for their scholarly abilities, but more so for their character and the reputations they have established. I think this will be a great school year for the Bates kids and a rewarding year for the Bates parents. We will keep you posted….
Posted on 23 August '11 by mellieb, under Uncategorized. 1 Comment.
Blessings
Every Sunday after a convicting sermon at church, I decide THIS is the week that I change everything! This is the week I: start exercising, getting up early to enjoy the quiet times and to read my bible, stop sitting on the couch being lazy, make a schedule to get into a routine for housework & meals & planning, spend more time with the kids playing & talking & listening, spend more time with Ken telling him how much I appreciate and love him….etc.. What a way to set myself up for failure! But today after having those same thoughts, I realized how much I take all my blessings for granted and that hopefully that can be a motivator for me in making some changes. The obvious blessing I take so casually is my salvation and the gift that the Lord has given to me in new life and redemption. If only every time I took a breath I would remember that. And my kids, how much joy they bring to my life, but I seem to only realize the anguish and burden and inconvenience they bring to me. Housework and all that goes with laundry, cooking, cleaning….yuck, yet what about the fact that I HAVE a house and clothes and food and extras (like books, movies, photographs, etc.). Work and how it is such a chore to get up in the morning and get ready (along with the kids), make a lunch( or 2 or 3 or 4) and then plod off to school to work with someone else’s kids all day in an unforgiving job that pays not that great compared to everyone else working there. But I overlook the fact that I have a job in these times we are in and that I can walk to work saving us gas and wear and tear on our car. And that Emily goes to the same school and I get to see her ( and even got to be in HER classroom). That I work amongst several Christians who encourage and strengthen me. And then how can I forget my husband who for the last 24 years has been my biggest fan and loved me despite me. Who says kind things to me and gets either no comment back or a lashing because I don’t know how to accept a compliment. My husband who is so generous and kind hearted that he would give me anything and often does give me whatever I want especially when I don’t deserve it. Who provides for his family in so many ways yet all I can see is what he isn’t doing and feel obliged to tell him so. So many blessings that I truly don’t appreciate and at times don’t even see or care to see. How hurtful that must be to our Creator who gives us so much and asks for such little in return. So I do hope that this week I will make myself aware of all the many blessings the Lord has graciously heaped on me and take the time to not only savor them, but thank Him and others who bless me daily.
Posted on 19 June '11 by mellieb, under Uncategorized. No Comments.
Working mama
So I have been working full time now since January 3rd. What an adjustment that has been!! I feel very honored to work in the position I am in. My official title is Extended Resource Room Paraprofessional (in other words an aide that works with special needs kids). It is exhausting, rewarding, frustrating, encouraging, difficult, touching, and so much more. One thing for sure about working with these kids is I come home and am so very thankful for my own children that God has blessed me with. I have the utmost admiration for parents of special needs kids. I have them for 7 1/2 hours a day, 180 days a year, but those parents have them 24/7, 365 days. I love that I can work at the school where Phillip and Emily attend and that I am privileged enough to be able to spend all morning each day in Emily’s classroom working with one of “my” kids. I am grateful for this job that the Lord provided for me along with medical benefits for myself, dental for Ken and I and a few other great perks that go along with full time work for the school district. I am extremely blessed to work alongside some wonderful ladies who make my days full of joy. I am not sure where I will be next year with all the budget cuts and truly hoping I don’t HAVE to work because Ken will have an awesome job by then, but for now I am truly enjoying this special gift that God has bestowed on me and trusted me with. If I can make a difference in just one moment of one of these kids lives, I can find joy in my heart.
Posted on 22 March '11 by mellieb, under Uncategorized. No Comments.
Emilyisms
Well today was Emily’s 7th birthday. I have been telling her for months now that she has to keep using her built in car seat until she turns 7. When she would ask me (repeatedly) to only use the big seat belt in the van, I told her that the police would not be happy about that and she & I would get in trouble. I told her I would double check about how old and how big you have to be to not have to be in a car seat anymore. So for her birthday dinner treat she wanted to go to Carl’s Jr. She got into the van and after I got in and started backing out of the garage she asks me this, “Mom did you talk to the cops yet about my car seat?” Gotta love that kid. 
Posted on 3 February '11 by mellieb, under Uncategorized. No Comments.
Definitions a la Emily
While driving past the cemetery the other day with Emily in the car, she looked out her window and said “there is the garden for dead people”. Ken and I just looked at each other and tried hard NOT to laugh out loud since we hate to squash any hope of further comments like that. She then went on to say that she thinks it is a better idea to put people in a box and throw them to the bottom of the ocean than to bury them in the ground.
Posted on 23 January '11 by mellieb, under Uncategorized. No Comments.
Posted on 4 December '10 by mellieb, under Uncategorized. No Comments.
Emilyism
A few weeks ago I had purchased a shirt for Emily that had 3/4 sleeves. When she tried it on, she kept trying to pull the sleeves down and I explained to her that it wasn’t a short sleeve shirt or a long sleeve shirt, that the sleeves were called 3/4 ones. She wrinkled her nose and then got that “aha” moment and said “Oh, they are capri sleeves!”. Love that girl!!
Posted on 20 November '10 by mellieb, under Uncategorized. 1 Comment.
