Big Seth is the Big Uno!

Yes that’s right, Seth turned 1 yesterday. It’s crazy that are year ago we were in the hospital wondering which of his brothers he’d most resemble. As I said in my last post, I REALLY love that kid. One of my favorite parts of the day is going in his room in the mornings to get him out of his crib. He’ll flash me that cheesy smile, put his hands in the air, and wait for me to snatch him up. When I do his head instantly goes to my shoulder and he rides that way into our bedroom so he can tell his Momma good morning.

One of his favorite things to do right now (unfortunately) is to keep a close eye on the baby gate blocking the stairs. If it’s open, he flies to the bottom of the stairs and starts making his way up. It makes me QUITE nervous to have him crawling up like that, but I’ll chase him for a second as he laughs and giggles. Then about half way up I’ll reach down and yank him up.

Below are some pics from his birthday party we had for him on Saturday. It was a fun way to celebrate our son.

Seth, happy birthday monkey. I love you very much and I cannot WAIT to see all the ways you’re going to grow in another year.

 

 

 

 

Just like that…

Christmas is over. Call me a Scrooge, but I get annoyed when Christmas begins in September. You know what I’m talking about. You walk into Wal-Mart to get school supplies and you have to walk past the inflatable Santa’s to find the backpacks. Ridiculous!!! Nevertheless, I’m always sad to see it go. This year was especially fun.

Levi really got into the whole Santa thing. He made his own decorations around the house, got all excited about our Christmas tree and the lights in our yard. Christmas Eve we watched The Polar Express while eating popcorn and drinking hot chocolate. He left a note for Santa asking him for a football helmet, which Santa delivered along with a truck for Titus and a walk-behind toy for Seth to go along with the 10 bajillion gifts the boys got from Nana, Poppy, Aunt Karen and Uncle Greg, Gram, Grandma and Grandpa, Aunt Jennifer and Uncle Peyton, Aunt April and Uncle Jeff, Aunt Chelsea and Uncle Doug, Great-Grandma and Great-Granddaddy, Great and GrandMoe, and Mama and Daddy. Our toy inventory was raised by approximately 500%!!! In addition to toys, Christina and I cashed in on a new espresso machine, a kitchen cabinet-mounted CD player, the Perfect Pushup, and generous amounts of cash.

Nevertheless, I’m sad Christmas is over. The gifts were great, but I loved when my side of the family came to Houston on the 21st to eat, open gifts, and ride the church bus around town looking at Christmas lights. We then all went to San Antonio, stayed at a hotel on the Riverwalk, and spent Tuesday at Sea World. It was one of the best Christmas’ our family has had together.

I also loved going to Belton to be with Christina’s rather large family (large in number, not in size). We spent an afternoon at Putt-Putt golf and games riding go-karts, bumper boats, swinging in the batting cages, putt-putting, and playing video games. It was a blast.

For me, that’s Christmas. I thoroughly enjoyed my gifts, but I loved being with family even more.

At least Wal-Mart’s back to normal.

What were your Christmas highlights, Blogland?

Rubbing Elbows

One of the cool things about living in a big city is the prospect of seeing celebrities. Thursday night Christina and I went to see A Christmas Carol downtown. The play was incredible and it’s always fun to be in the theatre district at night. The highlight for me, though, came during intermission. Christina was one of a thousand women waiting to use the bathroom, so I meandered around for a bit. As I waited I saw a rather large fellow walking my way. It instantly clicked who it was – ROGER CLEMENS! I couldn’t believe it. He got right beside me and all I could do was point at him and say, “Roger Clemens!” He looked at me and I extended my hand. “Cory Jones,” I said. He shook my hand (with his pitching hand no less), and said, “Nice to meet you Cory.” I’m pretty sure he meant it.

I don’t do well when I see celebrities. I once saw Nicholas Cage in New Orleans while walking through the French Quarter with my buddy Matt Wilson. Matt noticed him first. We were with our high schoolers from 3Chopt in Richmond and I wanted to make sure they saw him. So I ran past Nicholas Cage, his wife and friend/agent/publicist/person-no-one-cared-about and pointed him out to our teens. They thought the sight of me running like a school girl was more entertaining than seeing a celebrity.

Those are the only two celebrity sightings I know about. I have a sneaking suspicion that I’ve passed a number of famous people and didn’t even know it. Any celebrity-sighting stories from Blogland?

Thoughts

Christina’s grandmother died last Friday and her funeral was Wednesday in Oklahoma City. The Jones fam loaded up and drove from Houston to OKC Tuesday and back Wednesday. It was quite a haul, but well worth it. Being with family is always fun, even if it is for a funeral. Some thoughts from the weekend:

1. Christina’s grandmother instructed her children to use the savings she had left to pay for hotel rooms for the entire family making the trip to the funeral, and for a special meal together. That was how she wanted her life to be celebrated – by a coming together of those she loved most. If that’s not a communion analogy I don’t know what is. We come together each week as the family of those loved by God to remember Jesus. The McCarty family spent their time together laughing, sharing old pictures, telling stories, hugging, crying, catching up, all the things a family does when it comes together. I feel that sometimes we miss the point of communion when we treat it as though it’s the only time of the week we have to be alone with God. We have all week for that; communion is community, a coming together of the body of Christ. I sometimes wish we did it a little differently.

2. Christina’s dad, Mac, has now lost both parents. I spent a lot of time thinking about that the past couple of days. Obviously, he is now of the age that he no longer relied on his parents the way a young child does. He is now a husband, father, and grandfather. Nevertheless, it HAS to be a strange feeling when both parents are gone. I couldn’t help but wonder if he felt at least a twinge of uneasiness over this. I wonder what it will be like when I’m in that position. What will it be like when my children are there?

3. On the way to and from the funeral Christina read two books aloud. First we read “90 Minutes in Heaven.” Not what I expected, but it was very appropriate and reassuring as we traveled to a funeral. On the way home we read Francis Chan’s “Crazy Love.” I explained to a friend that we had been taking some small steps forward in our faith. “Crazy Love” shoved us over a cliff!!! Read it. It’s conversational in tone, much like Francis Chan’s preaching style. But it will force you to consider how you go about living out your faith. Great stuff.

4. I’ve just ordered multiple books from Amazon. Typically I only get one at a time for fear that the rest will just sit on my bookshelf, never to be opened. But I gave in and got “Jesus Wants to Save Christians” by Rob Bell, “The Great Emergence” by Phyllis Tickle, and “Same Kind of Different as Me” by Ron Hall. I wish I read faster than I do because I’m EXTREMELY excited about all these books. Any other suggestions from Blogland?

I pray you’re all having a great holiday season. It snowed in Houston yesterday. Yes, you read that right. Unfortunately we were on the road and missed it. We did pull over once so I could use the restroom and I flung a snowball at the car just to remind myself what it felt like.