"Rhodes' pictures" updated

Just a message to tell you guys that I have attempted to get my Webshots pictures caught-up. I have pics posted through the end of January now... whew! That was a lot of work getting them all out there! Sifting through the tons of pics we have and choosing which to post and them name them.... but they are out there now. Here are the January pictures. You can see other albums by clicking on "Rhodes' pictures" in the sidebar. Enjoy!



January 2007

The right weekend to be in Dallas!

This past weekend, I took a trip to Dallas. I had planned it to get out of Minnesota and warm up a little and since tickets to Dallas are CHEAP (relatively speaking) and I have friends there, I decided Dallas was the place to be. And *yipee*, I picked the right weekend! While I was gone, the high for the weekend was O degrees and the low was -17 degrees (that does NOT include wind chill)!!!! I took Greyson but had left Ben and Madelyn at home. With the exception of the routine excursion to church, they huddled inside the whole weekend. With those temps, I don't blame them! So, now you ask, "what did you do in Dallas?" I was visiting some friends (AKA my sisters-in-law and mother-in-law). One of Ben's sisters lives in Dallas and the others drove in. We had fun visiting, passing Greyson around, painting pottery, watching movies, making meals, dyeing our hair, and going to a high school musical. We had a great time! Here are some pictures to enjoy...

Hanging out at Hobby Lobby - There was a LOT of stuff I wanted

but didn't have room to bring home!

Steph made us a FANTASTIC pasta dinner!
And Christina got the china out for us.

Stephanie gave Greyson a bath!

At Paint Yer Pottery - this was so much fun!

At the high school musical during intermission.
Brandon, Christina's husband, was the music instructor/sound guy.

Highlighting our hair - it hurts to be beautiful!

The only snag in the trip was the flight back from Dallas. I was scheduled to take the 5:30 pm flight non-stop to Minneapolis. We boarded and left the gate on time but as we got out to the runway we pulled off to the side and watched other planes pass us by for about 20 minutes before the captain came on and told us that there was a warning light that wouldn't turn off. They were getting input from the mechanics back at the gate and would try again. 10 minutes later they said that didn't work and we were going back to the gate (ugghhh!) so they could give it a try. So back to the gate to sit for about 10 minutes before they announced that we needed to de-plane (double ugggghhh!!) and that a replacement plane was on its way to arrive at 8pm. As I got off the plane I called NWA and asked what my options were. They basically said that the plane arriving at 8pm was my only choice. So, now I was stucking sitting at the gate for almost an extra 2 hours.... As I was walking back into the gate area, I realized that I hadn't eaten in a few hours so I headed to the food court area. I was surprised to see most of the food joints closed except Taco Bell. It was obvious that the manager had caught wind of our delay and had required his workers to stay on to serve us - the workers were obviously unhappy. So, I got a taco combo and thanked them for staying open. There were a couple of other families with small children waiting too, so we all kinda clustered in the same area and talked and let the kids play together. Thankfully, the plane arrived at about 8:30pm and we were able to board about 9pm and took off without incident. Unfortunately, when we arrived at MSP at 11:30pm, with everyone itching to get off and get to there destination, the jetway (the ramp that extends to the plane) wouldn't connect to the plane (ugghhh again!). We sat there for 30 more minutes waiting for that to get fixed! It was quite interesting watching the jetway go back and forth trying agian and again... and again! The captain even announced, "This is quite comical from the cockpit. Not sure if we have a dumb jetway driver or if there really is a problem, but we will get you off and on your way as soon as we can." Finally, I was able to get off the plane and get home... I'm actually quite fortunate, with all the flying that we have done, we haven't had a major delay like this in a very long time.

Unfortunately, as soon as we got back from Dallas, Greyson started acting sick. It took a couple of days to set in but today he started running a fever and had to come home from school. Now, I have to try and keep Greyson as comfortable as possible and attempt keeping the rest of us from getting sick!

Psalm 8 - Brings back good memories

1 O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!
You have set your glory above the heavens.
2 From the lips of children and infants you have ordained praise
because of your enemies, to silence the foe and the avenger.
3 When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars, which you have set in place,
4 what is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him?
5 You made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor.
6 You made him ruler over the works of your hands; you put everything under his feet:
7 all flocks and herds, and the beasts of the field,
8 the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea, all that swim the paths of the seas.
9 O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!

As I read Psalm 8 the other night as part of my New Year's goal, it brought back some great memories - memories of a church and its people in Burtonsville, MD, Liberty Grove United Methodist Church. I attended this church with my family from the summer of 1991 to when I left for college in 1994. One of my favorite things about attending this church was that I was able to sing the adult choir. I loved it! I loved the people too. The adults greeted me with open arms and let me sing with them every week. This is where I learned the little that I know about singing and also where I learned things about what it meant to be an adult from the wonderful examples that I had around me. Anyway... It is wonderful to think about those days. Out of all the songs that I learned in that time (probably about 150 - one a week for 3 years), one song in particular stands out to me - a song named "The Majesty and Glory of Your Name." Ever since I learned it, I can sing it from memory. I have sung it many, many times in my life. Many times in bathrooms, from the bathroom in my parents' house to the shower stalls in my college community bathroom to the shower in my own house. There is something about the echoing bathroom that makes every song sound great... However, this song has touched my soul, it has taught me and reiterated over and over to me things about God. It has placed me in awe of God, humbled, and at other times given me much needed encouragement. I hope that you, too, are touched by its words.

The Majesty and Glory of Your Name (Fettke)
When I gaze into the night sky and see the work of your fingers,
The Moon and stars suspended in space.
Oh what is man, that you are mindful of him?

You have given man a crown of glory and honor
And have made him a little lower than the angels.
You have put him in charge of all creation
The beasts of the field, the birds of the air, the fish of the sea.
But what is man, what is man?

O Lord our God, the majesty and glory of your name
Transcends the earth and fills the heavens.
O Lord our God, little children praise you perfectly.
And so would we, and so would we.
Alleluia, Alleluia, the majesty and glory of your name!

First video (although, a little out-dated)

I just found that Webshots lets me upload videos and then post them on my blog. This isn't a very high quality video but it is a cute one! It is from the beginning of August. Incidently, I think this was the last time we washed our car...



Madelyn washing the car

Good first day!

Along with my first day back to work, yesterday was also Greyson's first day at daycare (or school, as we call it). Here is a picture his teacher took of him with a new little friend, Mia. And there is that snake again!! For those of you that remember, Madelyn also liked the snake (see pic below). Greyson has the same teacher as Madelyn did at his age so he gets to play with the snakes too! It seems that the babies like them alot. They are the rubber kind that won't break off in their mouths and they like to chew them. I think they fell good on those teething gums! I always teased that she was flossing with it...

Anyway! I seriously think something is wrong with me! I had a great day yesterday! I didn't get all emotional or anything. I guess I'm just really comfortable with where Greyson is and how he is going to be taken care of. Not that much has happened at work while I've been gone. Getting back into the swing of things hasn't been hard at all. All of my emails have been opened and I have tasks ready to be worked on. It's nice to see the co-workers again and catch up on what life has been throwing at them. Yesterday and today I have been pretty sleepy in the afternoons... why aren't there cots to take catnaps in?

Madelyn is also doing pretty well. In general, life didn't change for her at all yesterday. She went to daycare during my maternity leave just as she does when I'm work - T, W, Th. So, going to school for her yesterday was in the same routine. However, she did ask "Mommy, what you doing?" when she saw that I was all dressed up and putting on makeup. And when I said that I was going to work, she looked at me puzzled. I guess she doesn't really remember me getting ready for work before. I was almost always in bed when she and Ben left in the morning.

I say that Madelyn is doing pretty well, instead of great, because she is seriously in the "terrible two's". She is throwing fits at the drop of a hat. She knows what she wants and doesn't give up easily when we say no. She pushes her boundaries constantly - always looking for a way to get what she wants. And she is a sneaky booger sometimes! She will wait until you aren't looking to do whatever it is and then act like she didn't do it! Hmmm... the downfalls to having a smart kid. We have a beanbag that she sits on when she is disobeying us or when she starts throwing a fit. It works most of the time but sometimes it takes sitting on the beanbag 3 or 4 times before her attitude changes. I keep saying the same thing to myself lately to get through the "not so cute" moments - consistency and patience! However, there are plenty of "cute moments" too. Madelyn got two VeggieTales DVDs for Christmas that are compilations of the songs on their other DVDs. We have some much fun watching them with her! She loves them and the songs are so cute. We all have our favorite ones. Ben's favorite is Endangered Love. Madelyn's favorite is My Hairbrush, and my favorite is I Love My Lips. You can check these out on YouTube if you're interested.

Going back to work...tomorrow!

It has finally come... the first day back to work. I don't know how to feel about it. I like the work that I do and really like the people that I work with but... it is work. It has been really nice to be home and be able to have some one-on-one time with Greyson (Madelyn continued her 3 days at school every week) the last 12 weeks. It has also been nice to be able to make a "real" dinner and get the laundry and some household chores done every week. With work in the mix, it turns into a time crunch to get all of that done without sacrificing time with our children. And I'm only going back part-time, 24 hours/week. I don't know how families with 2 full-time working parents do it.

I have been pretty sad lately. Along with the emotions of going back to work, I am suspecting that I have been in a hormone down-swing. It is the normal "hair falling out, near tears" stage of being post-partum. I think that is one reason why I have been a little overwhelmed with the idea of life getting even more complicated with going to work. Although, have something else to spend mental energy on may be good for me.

I finished reading Jada's latest post a little while ago. It resonated loudly with me. I have also felt a lot of pressure to be a "stay-at-home mom" (SAHM). I know quite a few stay-at-home (christian) mom's and most are convinced that being a SAHM is the "right" thing to do, but they don't push their beliefs on me, or haven't recently anyway... But I'm not convinced that it is the "right" thing to do in all situations. It seems to me that this day in age, it is harder on moms to stay home because some many moms don't. Being a SAHM takes lots of support - from watching each other's kids when one kid has to go to the doctor to letting them play together so that they learn how to make friends. When you aren't plugged into a network of SAHM's, staying home with your kids is hard. On the other hand, it seems that so many women have so much to offer society in the work place. I am an engineer. I love problem-solving, technical work. If I chose to stay at home, I would not have the same outlet for this type of work and would get dull in my field. I truly feel that that would be a waste of my skills that GOD has given me. I haven't ruled out staying at home if the need arose. My family comes first, not my work. This is why I'm working part-time currently - to keep my skills sharp and to dedicate more time to my family. Not only because we have small children but also because I have a husband who works full-time and is in school (not to mention VERY involved in our church!). Something had to give and I didn't mind stepping back a bit from the full-speed-ahead rat-race. I enjoy the time with my children! But I also enjoy my time at work....

So, now I guess I know better how I feel about going back to work. I am looking forward to it. I'm looking forward to reconnecting and digging into a new set of problems to solve. I'm ready to use the skills again that I use so rarely at home and so abundantly at work. Wish me luck!