Grandpa Bates is Home

Monday evening, Rob's grandfather Ron Bates, went to be with Jesus. He was a wonderful man, father to three boys, husband, teacher, brother, grandfather to many grandchildren and a servant of the Lord. He loved his wife Charlotte more than anything and the two of them lived an amazing, happy life together. Their love for each other is only a love you read about in fairy tales, but their's was real and everyone who met them could see this. He was a very skilled man, especially when it came to woodwork and carpentry. He made amazing furniture for members of the family including rocking chairs for little ones, desks and a beautiful table he gave to Rob and I as a wedding present in 2001. His wife Charlotte is living here in Florida and she misses him dearly. She has problems with her memory and is having trouble remembering that her beloved husband is no longer with us here on earth. After visiting with her today, she is encouraged knowing that she will meet with him again in heaven someday.

We will miss you Ron Bates, but we'll see you again when we're all called home to be with our Heavenly Father. We love and miss you!

Gotta Love Sears!

I saw this great idea from a friend who uses Sears for her family's photos (thanks Sarah!). Sears has these neat numbers that you can get a picture taken with for every year your child ages. I didn't do it last year, but I thought I'd try it out this year. Last year, I got Avonlea's picture taken at Sadie's and they did a fabulous job. She sat on top of a cupcake with one candle for her first birthday. It's amazing to think how big she's getting! Lincoln smiled away for his photo shoot, but surprisingly, this is the only good photo that turned out. The pics of the two kiddos together were okay, but not good enough to purchase. Anyway, these were the three that we got and they turned out pretty cute! =)

This was last year's...

Reminicing

As the kids are napping today, I thought I'd get some things cleaned out in the garage. I came across my old teacher's bag that I hadn't even cleaned out from over a year ago. I remember my last week of teaching. I remember it being stressful with exams being passed out and needing to be graded. I had to have almost my entire classroom cleaned out, taken down and packed up. I had a substitute teacher coming to take over for me the rest of the school year and I needed to make sure she was trained and ready (I left in December) and I just remember the way my house looked. I had PILES of laundry everywhere, dishes that hadn't been done for probably a week! I had NO time for my daughter (who was being taken care of by a dear friend of mine). I had no sleep and I literally had no idea how I was going to make it my last week of teaching sixth and seventh grade English. I remember crying one night months before that asking the Lord to show me what He wanted me to do. I was contimplating staying home with my daughter who wasn't even a year old yet. She was getting to the age where I wanted to start teaching her how to do things (colors, shapes, numbers, manners, who Jesus was, sing songs, etc.). I remember praying and praying and praying about the decision to stop teaching. It was SOOOOO hard to leave my students and a profession that I had poured my heart and soul into, but I really felt that the Lord was leading me a different way. I had read some books like: Celebrate Home by Angie Peters and The Stay at Home Mom Book by Donna Otto. I also read So You Want to be a Stay at Home Mom, but I can't remember the author. I had to do my research to find out what I was getting myself into!! I knew there would be sacrifices (lowering our grocery bill, not going out to eat often, no clothes shopping, etc.), but I knew it would be well worth it in the end. The Lord provided for me to leave my beloved students and be at home with my daughter and a year later, here I am.

Amongst my findings in my old teacher bag, there were tons of grading pens, paper clips, my final exam answer key, EZ Graders, loose coins and a Christmas card with a Target gift certificate that I never opened (how sweet). I also found loose pieces of paper with different names on them. It took me a second, but I figured out what they were. They were baby name suggestions for when I was pregnant with Lincoln. I had placed a baby name box in my classroom and had students put name suggestions in the box a few weeks before I left. There were definately some creative names! I'll be sure to put them in LC's baby book. =)

The one item that did bring tears to my eyes was a card that a student made for me. I had been so busy that last week that I hadn't taken the time to read every card and note the kids made for me. (I was lucky to get my exams graded and final grades completed!) The note was from one of my sixth grade girls and it was just really encouraging. She thanked me for teaching her and for helping her gain a new attitude for reading (she never used to enjoy it). It's things like this that keep a teacher's passion going. I think the Lord knew that I needed to read this today.

We Made it to the Big Time! =)

So, I've never been able to figure out how to post video on this thing, but here's a little video Rob, Avonlea and I did for American Housing (our builder for our house rennovation). Avonlea got a fun, little part at the end.

Just click on this link.

You have to scroll down to our family and click on Rob and Kelli Bates.

Have fun!

Christmas Leftovers, etc.

"Rain, rain go away. Come again another day. Little Avonlea wants to play. Rain, rain go away."

I woke up Saturday morning to this cute sight!

"...Happy Birthday to Jesus. Happy Birthday to you!"

Bates Christmas 2007

Mommy and Avy

Future Buccaneer!

I make this diaper look GOOD!

Ladies, eat your hearts out!

"Quack!"

Sad, little puppy

PS: I know I can't be the only one with some leftover Christmas pictures getting developed

(or am I?). =)

Pancakes, Pancakes

Avonlea and I have always had a fun time cooking and baking together. She loves helping to add ingridients, stir things and try new foods. Friday we went to the library and checked out some books. A friend told me about the book Pancakes, Pancakes by Eric Carle (love this author!). So we checked it out and made pancakes together. I've been trying to gear our learning together towards themes and books that support that particular theme. Not that we learned about pancakes all week, but it was just fun! =)

Rob and I enjoyed a nice, romantic evening out last night while Avy and Lincoln played at the Donovan's. We went to The Cheesecake Factory...yummy! You can't go there with the intention of eating all your dinner. You HAVE to save room for the cheesecake. You owe it to the cheesecake because of how delectable it tastes. Rob's mom is over in China right now and whenever she comes home, this is usually one of the first restaraunts she hits. She loves the Portabella mushroom burger. (Only 5 more months Judy!)

Rob and I enjoyed going to one of the local outlet malls today and Rob got some much needed work pants and shirts. I got a pair of fun shorts and a headband and Avonlea got a pair of pink Converse sneakers. She didn't want to take them off once I tried them on her so the store clerk let her wear them home. It's 6:00 now and both of my kids are napping, although they're about to wake up. They just don't know it yet! he he... We spent the whole day there and neither of them napped so when they fell asleep on the way home, we figured, eh...we'll let them sleep for an hour. Needless to say, they're definately always in bed by 7:30/8:00 and tonight might be a late night. Avonlea has a new fascination with Finding Nemo (the movie) and she's only watched a small clip on tv once, but we may take a trip to Blockbuster tonight to rent it and have a Bates family movie night. =)

TTFN...Ta Ta For Now!

A January Afternoon at the Beach

The kids and I decided to take a little trip to the beach yesterday. It was around 4:00, both kiddos were up from their naps and Kelli desperately needed to get out of the house. It had rained all day yesterday so I tried to think of a fun outside place to go where the kids could get dirty or wet and it didn't matter. We got in the car and drove down to the beach. It was just perfect outside (low 70s) and a little overcast so we didn't need sunscreen and we weren't sweating. It was breezy and we were the only people out at this particular beach with the acception of a small wedding party. It was cute to watch a young couple get married just down the coast. I watched them take pictures and thought of the day Rob and I got married 6 1/2 years ago. Ahh, memories!

Anyway, the kids played in the sand (it was hard to keep Lincoln's hands clean so he didn't eat it), building castles. We played on the nearby playground and yes, we fed the seagulls. Now, I'm a native Floridian (born and raised) and every Floridian knows that you DON'T feed seagulls (they're annoying and aggressive)!!! I guess you could say we broke the rules. We had some old bread and Avonlea and Lincoln love feeding birds and ducks so due to the fact that no one else was around, I let them feed the annoying birds. They had fun and Lincoln couldn't stop laughing. No, we didn't do any swimming. The water was COLD, but we did put our feet in and did a little splashing as the waves rolled in.

Needless to say, it was a fun afternoon. Happy Friday everyone! Enjoy your weekend.

Giving God the Glory

My mind is always turning and churning after leaving Bible study and that goes for this morning. We were discussing how to glorify God in all we do. Yes, friends, this means when we're tired at the end of the day and have a dishwasher to load/unload. This means that we must glorify God when we're helping our children clean up their toys, when the bathrooms need to be cleaned, when there's dinner to make, it's 5:30 and you are praying that #1 your kids will entertain themselves for 30-45 minutes so you can prepare it and #2 that you will actually find something edible to eat. This means we must glorify God when bills have to be paid and finances are tight, when there are errands to run and kids are screaming in the car, when the Lord hands you someone to be compassionate to and you pray that you don't loose it because they're not someone you "click" with or have patience for at that moment. God calls us to glorify Him through ALL things, not just the things we want to or have time for. I don't know about you, but I find that I'm constantly having to remind myself to glorify the Lord in all I do. It's not something I think about ("Gee Lord, as I scrub these pots and pans, please take glory in this").

The Bible also speaks about HOW we are to give God glory (this one can be difficult at times!). In Matthew 6:2 it tells us that we shouldn't boast about the good deeds we do to glorify God, but we are to remain humble so that God can reward us. I Peter 1:24 says that the glory of man will fade, but God's glory will live on forever. Sometimes, we do a good deed and we're waiting for that pat on the back or the "Atta girl!" when that's exactly what God tells us not to do. God wants to reward us in heaven, but by boasting, we're robbing Him of that joy.


There's a quote by Sheila Walsh that I like. It says:

"I want to know for myself what God says. I want to know the things that make Him happy and the things that break His heart. I want to know how to live a life that will please Him. How can I do that if I don't study His words to me?"

WOW!!! That phrase hits home for me when I find myself not reading my Bible as much as I should.

Two more verses hit me this morning:

I Peter 3:3,4 - "Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as braided hair and the wearing of gold jewelry and fine clothes. Instead, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God's sight."

One of the opening questions in our devotional said, "Which would you rather be known as - a strong, self-reliant, independant woman, or a quiet, submissive woman completely dependent on another?"

It's hard to read that quote and make a decission, but it sounds to me (according to I Peter 3:3,4) like God wants us to be the latter. That's so hard in these days isn't it ladies? Proverbs 31:10-31 also tells us the women we are to be (not that it's easy!). As women of God we are to have a strong character, great wisdom, many skills and great compassion. We are to be women that fear the Lord.

In today's society, with media beaming, telling us who we are to be, it's difficult to be that Proverbs 31 woman. One thing that our Bible study mentor mentioned this morning though is that we're not in it alone. When we stand in darkness as a light for Christ (when all the other women are participating in something that wouldn't represent Christ well), God will give us the strength to stand alone for Him. He will get us through our trials and we will be stronger and more wise because of that trial. We MUST remain steadfast and loyal to our Heavenly Father.

I wish you all a Jesus-filled day! =)

Happy 7 Month Birthday Lincoln!

I can't believe my baby boy is 7 months old today! It seems like just yesterday when he was born. This morning, I decided to let him try one of those Munchkin food nets. You know, where you put a slice of fruit/veggie in it and they can chew on the net tasting the food but they don't get big chunks out. He tried some cantelope today and after a few sour faces, he really liked it. He's crusing around in his walker and has mastered backing up and turning around. You can call me crazy if you want but I really think he knows what he's saying when he says "ma ma". Yes, that's right folks! Rob won't admit to it because he's never there when he actually says it, but it's usually when I'm feeding him. He looks up at me and he'll start saying "ma-ma-ma-ma". We talk back and forth all the time, but it's usually always at this time when he'll say nothing but that "word/babble". Anyway, to each his/her own opinion. =)

Avonlea's potty training is still going strong. We have an accident usually every 2-3 days and mind you, she's not trained at night (we have dry pull ups most of the time during nap though). I really thought it would be such a disaster, but things turned out okay and she's so proud of herself. I'm a pretty happy Ma-ma as well.

This morning Avonlea and I made valentines. Yes, it's a little early, but I like to get a swing on things so that it's not the week of Valentine's Day and we're scrambling to make cards and get them in the mail. Here's a picture of Avonlea and I sitting out on the porch making them.

Now that things are getting put away/unpacked and cleaned up, there's so much more time to enjoy with my kids. It's nice to sit out on the porch now and watch Avy play not worrying about broken glass along the house or nail/screws left in the dirt. The porch used to be filled with storage bins of my teacher "stuff", maternity clothes, kids' clothing and just everything. Now that we've cleaned the porch off, it's so nice to sit outside doing crafts with my kids, eating lunch and just enjoying the nice weather. Which has me wondering, did we Floridians have a winter this year? I think we got 1 week of cool weather and that was it!!! That's alright. That leaves me with more time to start our spring garden. I had planted tomato plants months ago and they're not growing well. I think there's too much lime in the soil. I'm going to try and get it tested this weekend to find out what the real problem is. Then, we'll get started on carrots, lettuce, broccoli, summer squash, string beans and peas. Rob built these great planter boxes for me to plant veggies in so now all I have to do is fill them with soil, a little fertalizer and plant the seeds. Avy has really taken a liking to watering and caring for our plants, a hobby my dad and I have always shared together. My dad has an amazing garden and he can grow just about anything. Rob's mom also enjoys gardening and likes more plants and flowers. Hopefully with these two examples (and myself) in her life, she'll have somewhat of a green thumb.

Have a fabulous Friday everyone!

Kelli FINALLY Updates!!! Hooray!

Trying on Mommy's shoes

Cat nap with Daddy

This face says it all!

HO, HO HO!

Avonlea and her drum. She couldn't put it down.

LC in his walker. He can really cruise now!

Can this kid be any cuter?

We took 6 pictures of this same pose hoping one would turn out okay. This was the best one. :)

The Linkster opening up a gift. His favorite part was eating the paper.

Yes, I know it's been a long time since last blogging. My deepest appologies. :)

The Bates family had a wonderful Christmas this year and although things were a little different this year (no outside lights up, no major decorations inside, we got our tree up late, boxes were everywhere and construction dust was still found in places around the house), we counted our MANY blessings the Lord has given us and enjoyed every minute of our time together as a family.

The kids really enjoyed Christmas morning at home opening gifts. Avonlea actually got the hang of it this year and was able to contemplate who Santa Claus really was. That was fun. She is really into musical instruments and anything Little Einsteins so she received the dolls (Annie, Quincy, Leo and June) from my parents and we gave her some musical instruments (just play ones of coarse...a recorder, she got two drums, a tambourine, a xylephone, etc.). The funny thing is that the one gift she really wanted (and asked Santa for) was a trumpet (like Quincy from Little Einsteins). Well, I found one online, but somehow my information was entered wrong (it was only my fault) and long story short, it never got sent out, leaving Avonlea trumpet-less. By the time I figured out that it hadn't been shipped out, it was too late and no one had any plastic trumpets anywhere. I was stuck. Luckily, Avonlea never mentioned anything about it Christmas morning. I was off the hook. Phew! Anyway, the important thing that Avonlea did learn was gratefulness for her gifts. I think she said "thank you" for every gift and loved giving hugs after opening things.

We also sang "Happy Birthday to Jesus" on Christmas morning before breakfast. We stuck a candle in Avonlea's French toast and she got to blow it out. It was sweet. The past few years that Rob's mom has been teaching in China, I have been in charge of the Christmas breakfast cinnamon roll tradition (homemade cinnamon rolls mind you...not Pillsbury!). Well, this year, my dough failed to rise (I think it was too cold in our house and too humid outside...temperature matters in this case) and Pillsbury had to do. Rob was a good sport and I promised him another try at the homemade rolls sometime this month when I get a chance.

Robbie and I really enjoyed just sitting back and relaxing a little during this Christmas vacation. We usually hop a plane and get over to London, but this year we had to lay low financially with all the rennovations going on. It was really hard on Rob not seeing any of his family, but we had a fun time talking over the computer (Skype is awesome for those of you who haven't tried it and it's FREE!) to our family over in the UK. Having the time off, we were able to unpack (again) boxes in our garage, move bins off of our back porch and get the house in working order again since we're finally finished with the house rennovations (praise the Lord!).

Avonlea, Lincoln, Kelli and Robbie updates...

- Avonlea is now using the potty on a regular basis at home, but we haven't worked up the courage to not wear a pull up on outings quite yet. She's had too many accidents outside the home.

- Lincoln still has his two bottom teeth and loves to chew on anything he can get his hands on!

He also enjoys his walker and can pretty much get anywhere in the house now with the floors being wood and not carpet. He loves his new-found freedom.

- Rob went to the Bucs playoff game today with some buddies from work (we lost to the Giants...tear, sigh). Season is over for the Bucs, maybe next year.

- I am enjoying being home with the kids and not having to jet out of our house at 8:00 in the morning due to construction workers. I'm also in the process of finishing up a preschool curriculum that I wrote to help in teaching a few children (and Avy) as I begin to take in 2-3 preschool-age children next month to help with some bills. Avonlea is such a social child and I think she'll really enjoy having playmates during the day. The childcare program will be run on a teacher's annual schedule (off on summers and holidays) and parents won't have to pay. I know a lot of daycares and preschools make teachers pay for those times, but I won't. That will give me some time off as well to regroup and still have some one on one with my own kids. I'm also going to have hours that are early in the morning and not so late in the evening (again, teacher's hours). Wish me luck with this! :)

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and New Year! God Bless you in this new year of 2008.