It makes God happy. . .

My son told me this in the car yesterday while he was singing a christmas song and I couldn't help but pass it along. I know the difference it made in my life when I learned the emotions of the father over me, and I pray that my children will know it too.



I did, however, have to explain to him that not everyone has to sing in order to make God happy. He was telling his friend Seth that he had to sing the song. :)



Then tonight, he wanted a snack before bed and I told him it was too late. He proceeded to tell me that Jesus said it was okay. Hmmmmm. At least we are considering Jesus in our decision-making process.

So, in honor of our singer friend Anna Grace. . . .

Another trial and test. . .

Well, the whole family is adjusting to having a baby brother. I know, it's been 8 mos, we should all be adjusted by now. However, it seems to change so dramatically as time passes. I have yet to consistently sleep through the night, and maybe that's why this was so traumatic to me. Either way, I feel like we have passed into a new threshold. Benjamin now has to play with his trains on the table. Samuel loves them and can't be content looking at them. He has to touch them, and further more, he has to have them. Since setting up the train is hard work, something had to be done. This was mommy's quickest and safest solution, and thus far it has worked. Yesterday we did have to have a conversation about standing on the table and jumping off. That is generally against the rules, but besides that it has solved our temporary problems. As a mother, how do we really navigate the joysand frustrations of siblings? Though I love my sister dearly now and always have, we didn't always get along so well. If you get it figured out, let me know. Until then, I will continue to pray and put some things on the table while "learning" to share other things. Lord, give us grace. . .

And here's to the family. . .

Well, here we are with our ever-expanding Kansas City family. I know, it sounds really funny, but all the sudden the Lord is growing our circle of people and He is calling us to minister in a way new and exciting. This past weekend, Benjamin, Samuel, and I took our first ministry trip. We went to Wilmore, KY with John and the above team and spent the weekend praying over the house of prayer there, ministering and encouraging those folks, and teaching the word of God to all who wanted to hear. It was very exciting, and though I only participated in most of those things vicariously, I still had such a wonderful time. I was blessed to be blessed. You know how that goes? You go attempting to do something wonderful for the Lord and you come back with so much more. At a post-trip chili dinner last night, I told the team how grateful I was to them. They loved my children this past weekend, and in turn loved me. How precious! The Lord has been so good to us and he is beginning to yoke our hearts with more and more people who want to partner with us in sharing the gospel of the kingdom. It is near and he longs to see us more and more each day! I can't wait.

We are mobile!

Though slow and sometimes difficult, Samuel has just decided that it is time to start getting around on his own. At this point in his little life, it usually means either going to the room where mommy, daddy, or brother are OR it inevitably means heading quickly towards the spikey plant that we just had to bring inside. It's so very interesting mommy! I thought you all might like to see the first few movements!


P.S. By the way, this was at like 5:30 this morning when the kids got up really early due to the time change!

Did that really happen?

Okay, so here we are at home, my two sweet boys and myself. I am getting ready for a meeting at the house this afternoon, picking up random items lying about the house so guests can walk through. I go to pick up the pea pod costume my youngest had worn on Halloween, and there was a sizable bug holding tightly to it. I decide I would learn from my dear husband, be humane, and take the LARGE bug outside to be free. However, as I got to the back deck and attempted to set the even LARGER bug free into the world it stubbornly held on to the pea pod. So, as any practical thinking person would do, I shook the costume lightly to convince the bug to let go. Convincing did not go as well as planned, so I then decided a firm yet quick shake was the only way. As gravity would allow, I looked down and the bug was no where on the costume. As I continued to look, the HUGE bug was also no where on the ground. Hmmm, one might ask, where then is the GIGANTIC bug? Upon further looking of the costume and the surrounding deck space, my rational brain convinced my emotional, beginning to panic, brain that the ever-increasingly large bug had somehow jumped off the costume, off the deck and somewhere into the grass where I just couldn't see it. :) I went back into the house and stopped to ask Benjamin if he saw a bug anywhere on me. He looked all over my front half and didn't see anything. I thought, is he saying that, or would he really tell me if there was one? I turned around and he exclaimed with joy, "There it is! Right there mommy, on your back!" As luck would have it, this absolutely HUGE bug had stuck himself to my back in such a way that all I could do was swipe at my back. It then proceeded to stick to my finger, only to be flung onto the wall. See above picture. As we were back into the house now, I had lost all sense of grace for this particularly large bug and decided that his time was up. After taking a pic, Benjamin took a shoe to the wall and the bug, laughed hysterically, and continued on his merry way. As funny as he thought it was, I was obviously traumatized and I thought you all should know about my lovely morning and the bug.

Are they cute or what?

Okay, so I figure as a mom, I reserve the right to think that my children are the cutest in the world. I guess that is our job, to make sure our children know their place in the world and to remind them and to us, they are amazing. Nonetheless, this evening we went to the good ole' baptist church down the road throwing a fall festival, fun with candy, costumes, and chili. What more could you want? Benjamin had a ball, and though Samuel had had a whopping 40 minute nap all day, he fared quite well. I figure there was too much to look at to be cranky. Anyway, we had loads of fun, and though I don't have anything insightful to say about the experience, I felt like you all needed to know how cute my kids looked. Isn't that my job?

P.S. If I was as cool as my friends Kayla and Candace I totally would have done a slideshow. My brain seems to be a bit on the down side tonight . . . . Love you ladies!

Has it really been 15 years?

This morning Benjamin and I went to our weekly bible study, BSF. It is this great, nondenominational, international bible study that I have gone to for several years now and cannot seem to get enough of. It has taught me more about studying the bible on my own than any study I have ever done. Enough of the advertisement, but I did see someone there who got me thinking. I grew up in Fayetteville, AR in a fairly large Methodist church. Central UMC is a great place that strives to teach the word of God in a straightforward and honest way, so as to impact the world with the message of Jesus Christ. However, like all human institutions it has it's own set of shortcomings. This morning I ran into a woman who had taught my confirmation class in 6th grade. Her daughter is my age and 15 years ago we were friends. I realized that this woman had taken her time and energy and taught me the word of God at a young age. However, for me it was an age of transition. One of leaving something in order to venture into something else. One of those growing up years. It is also the year that I got baptized. She showed me truth in the word of God that I hold to today in all circumstances. Thank You Mrs. Emilie. I'm glad to know you are living in the KC area and I am ever grateful that you took the time to teach me the heart of God that I may want to pursue it more.

The Happy Harrigan Pumpkins

Well, here we are. The Harrigan's enjoy a good dose of fall fun, and in that spirit we decided that we needed happy pumpkins. We are not all that into the scary side of things, so we don't want spooky pumpkins, but we can all enjoy a smile in the night hours. Ben, Sam, and I went to a pumpkin patch yesterday for play group and happened to come home with a pumpkin for each member of the family (excluding the "extended" family on the property). And after a 90 second jump on the super highway of information, my dear husband came back with several designs for our new and improved family. I cleaned out the insides, Benjamin doodled back and forth between helping and playing, Samuel desperately wanted to play in the inner slimey goop that comes out of the middle, and John did wonders with the knife. Here is what came from it all. Maybe in some totally cheesy way the Lord will show his light through us the same way.

The Family expands. . .

Well, this past weekend we all went to Conway, AR for the wonderful wedding of my brother and now sister-in-law. For weeks we've been talking about the next time we go to Arkansas we are going to Will and Kelly's wedding. For as much as we know about weddings and being married, the best part to my dear three-year old is that after the wedding you get cake. Most major events are defined by whether or not you get cake. So, needless to say, this was an exciting event. I wanted to remember how wonderful my wedding was, but how amazing my marriage has been. I wanted to thank my husband for being so amazing. I wanted to share my joy about the new marriage in our family, and lavish all with prayers and joy. It's such an amazing time to be grateful for what you have and excited about the years to come. As much as I have grown to love my husband more in the last 8 years, I can't wait to see what we will be like in 8 more. Congrats Will and Kelly! Sorry I don't have a picture of the two of them, I was relegated to the women's area so you can see a picture of the three women in the Hightower Family now, myself, Kelly, and Erin. Aren't we a match made in heaven?

Are they really growing this fast?

So here are some developmental milestones. Benjamin fed Samuel dinner for the first time. He has since repeated the action at breakfast today and "helped" with dinner tonight. It's a new fascination and since he is fairly accurate about it, and since it helps me get something else done, I don't mind it so much. Nonetheless, I felt like it was worthy for publication.

By the way, it looks like chocolate pudding they are eating, but rest assured, it's only prunes.