Ian and the working mom

Yesterday when I left our house for my first day of my new job, Ian and Caden were still asleep (Nate and Kyle have been at my parents' house since Saturday...they come home tomorrow.) So, Ian and Caden woke up to Mike taking care of them, which is unusual. Then, Mike put Ian down for a nap after lunch and imagine the poor little guy's confusion when he awoke from his nap to find Tristan, a very sweet, bubbly teenager from our church who is babysitting for us this week. He still looked confused when I came home a little while later. Well, this morning, I had to be at work an hour later. Ian wasn't asleep when I left. He was clinging to my right leg and leaning against the door I was trying to open and screaming and crying real, BIG tears. Mike was just getting out of bed, so he was trying to coax him to go to our bedroom...it wasn't working. I had to PRY the sweet child off of me and close the door quickly. I could still hear him when I was getting into the van to leave. I never imagined that this would be so hard on him, but then I realized that I have ALWAYS been the one to take care of him during the day. When I came home this evening, he was excited to see me at first. Then he turned totally grumpy. I have one more day of work this week, then I am off until Monday. Hopefully, he'll forgive me. I sure do love this kid!

working mom

I started my new job today...you know the 30 minute commute, stuck-in-traffic-type job. I am working in the float pool for the Warren Clinic doctors' offices all over this area...I get to lounge on a floatie in a pool all day...haha. No really, this just means I am on the substitute list for the front office positions and since there are TONS of offices, substitutes are always needed...I actually am a Patient Service Representative, or something like that. Why this job is such a blessing and a real gift from God is because I can tell the float pool manager what days I want to work and she will only call me those days! When we go on vacation at the end of July, I just tell her that I'm not available those days. Starting next week I will be working 4 or 5 days a week because Andrew, a teenager from the youth group of our church in Maine, will be living with us! We are super-excited to have him stay with us! It will be fun showing him around Oklahoma! Anyway, he will be watching the kids in the afternoons from 2ish-5ish when both Mike and I are at work. This job truly is a testimony of God's provision for our family! Just two weeks ago, my friend Nadia (who also works in the float pool and helped me get this job) encouraged me with these verses... Psalm 5:11&12 But let all who take refuge in You be glad; let them ever sing for joy. Spread Your protection over them, that those who love Your name may rejoice in You. For surely, O Lord, You bless the righteous; You surround them with Your favor as with a shield. I praise God for His shield of protection around my family and for His constant provision, even when things seem so impossible! That's MY GOD!!!

Kyle's cute mispronunciations

a couple of days ago to Mike: "Come on daddy, let's go play frowsbee" (frisbee)

tonight at dinner: "mmmmm....Mommy, I like kiweed" (kiwi)

Happy Father's Day

We had a wonderful weekend celebrating Michael! I am so blessed to have a husband who LOVES our kids. The boys think he is the best in the world! I think he is the best also. The boys are so blessed to have a father who loves Jesus, who really gets on the floor and plays with them, who reads them countless books, who built them a cool play set, who puts together bikes, blows up pools and floaties, tickles them, and who genuinely LOVES spending time with them. Nathanael even made up a song for him...it's at the end of this video we made for him for the big day! (It's kind of long, so you don't have to watch the whole thing...what is funny about it is how they start out all calm and sitting nicely and end up all over the place...it makes us laugh!)


My parents were here this weekend. It was so nice to actually see my dad on Father's Day and not just call him! My mom and I made dinner last night and then we made this for dessert! It's a GIANT oatmeal chocolate chip cookie (Michael's favorite) decorated by the boys with chocolate frosting, candy letters, and sprinkles!

Caden liked the cookie cake also...before I knew it he had bent down and swiped his little hand through the frosting! What a cutie!

The boys had tons of fun playing on our patio in this little pool!



Here is my dad with Caden...they have front row seats to the action in the pool!


Tonight we went to a nearby lake to check out the beach. It turned out to be really nice and clean! So, the boys got in and played for a little while. They had a great time! It's not the ocean, but we'll take it!





So, thanks for reading this long blog! We really had a fun weekend as a family and I just wanted to share it with you!

Thomas recall

Just saw this on the news and then got an email about it as well. What a bummer!

Ruth Graham

I just saw this article about Ruth Graham. I read a biography on her a few years back. She really is an amazing woman. She has left quite a legacy.

DVR-less

When we first got cable here in Oklahoma, we got ALL the channels because of a promotion. This also included DVR (record TV, pause TV, rewind TV), which is SUPER. Anyway, because of budget cuts in the Lowry household, we have gone down to basic cable. So, this morning we had our first DVR-less breakdown. Kyle needed to use the bathroom and wanted me to "pause" what they were watching (this is something that we often would do with the DVR). Anyway, he was not very happy about the loss of this luxury. Oh well...if he only knew what it used to be like when I was little...you know pre-cable days, when running the popcorn popper would make the TV all static-like. Wow, how times have changed!

screaming Caden

Well, Caden has become quite the screamer. This last week has been an odd one. It's like his entire personality has changed...he just doesn't seem real happy, which is SO unlike him. He hasn't been eating well or sleeping well. Right now, he is beside me on the floor with the hiccups and saying "a buh buh buh hiccup a buh buh buh hiccup buh buh". The "B" sound is new today! Kind of fun...until the screaming starts up again and it WILL, for sure. Oh well...hopefully my sweetheart with the HUGE smile will be back soon!

Matt and Seb

Our first "Maine" guests just left. Matt and Sebastian are on their way from New Mexico back to Maine! They stopped and stayed with us last night. It was GREAT having them here, although it was very short. They pulled into town last night while me and the kids were at SportsCamp. Mike, who took the night off from work, brought them out to the church so they could see our new church home. It was really awesome to see them and it made me miss Maine! When Seb said "idear", I felt a little homesick or something! Here is a picture of them just before they left!


They still have like a LONG WAY to drive, so if you think of it, please pray for their safety!!

So, who will be our next "Maine" guests?

my funny Kyle...again

Tonight after SportsCamp, Kyle says to me, "There was a boy in my class tonight that smelled." I said, "Oh, what did he smell like?" He said, "hot dogs...he smelled like a hot dog...you know how they're kind of brown or something." I said, "So, did he look like a hot dog or did he smell like a hot dog?" He said, "He SMELLED like a hot dog (like, duh, mom)" me thinking...oh, I see ??? As I am typing this, I can't believe that I actually had this conversation...too funny.

I love this kid!

This week is SportsCamp at our church. We were getting ready to go tonight and I told Kyle to get his socks and shoes on. This is how he comes out of his room...

Seriously...he is the cutest kid ever!! Just seeing this again makes me laugh almost to tears (and it also tells me that I probably need to wash whites!)!!! (You can click on it to make it bigger...get the full effect!)

self-discipline

I've been having some intestinal issues...probably because of my past c-sections. So, this week Mike and I are doing a 7 day cleanse where you take two herbal supplements (actually each supplement is a packet of 5 capsules!) at morning and night. It's supposed to clean out your digestive system as well as all toxins in your body. Mike didn't really have to do it but he is for moral support...what a good hubby!! We can only eat really, really healthy food...like no flour of any kind, no dairy, only one serving of fruit/day (except bananas, grapes, or citrus fruit), no sugar...etc. So, basically you eat lots and lots of veggies and a little chicken and fish. We can have almonds and pecans. We also can have whole wheat pasta and whole rice (which is what I already use, so that wasn't too hard for us!) We are allowed 2 cups of coffee/day, but no cream or sugar. We sweeten our coffee with rice milk, which actually is naturally sweet...I actually may keep doing that even after the cleanse! We just finished day 5. Sunday is the last day! I am happy to say that I have done very well on this thing! God is really using it to teach me discipline...I have been praying more, in the Word more, as well as memorizing scripture. I don't think I have EVER done something for seven days that I have tried to do. I know that many times I have tried to give up Coke, work out 4/week, eat better, etc., but it's never happened! I was ready to cave tonight, but popcorn (actually air popped [thank goodness for that random popcorn popper wedding gift that I never thought I'd use:) --it saved the day!!], not microwaved) with butter (on the okay list) and a tiny bit of some butter toffee sprinkle-on stuff hit the spot!! (probably not supposed to use, but I can't have chocolate which really is entirely unfair) Yippee for buttered popcorn! Although, tomorrow we are going to see my parents for the weekend...I have a feeling we are basically going to be fasting! Oh well...I really do feel good and I think my intestines feel good too. I guess that some people recommend doing these cleanses two times a year because of all the toxins in food these days. Probably not a bad idea...I know it's been good for me! If anything, it has helped me realize how much "unhealthy" food I eat and how much money I waste on buying Cokes or getting fast food! So, good for the body as well as the "pockabook" hehe!! (if I said pocket book here in Oklahoma, people would look at me like I was NUTS!!)

2 Timothy 1:7
For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love, and of SELF-DISCIPLINE.