I'm a Ford Man!

We got Lincoln his very first Power Wheels Ford F-150 yesterday. Ben assembled it last night, while I put on all the decals. Lincoln loved sitting in it last night, so this morning we automatically assumed he would like driving it himself. Boy, was that the ultimate wrong assumption. This morning after church, we went to the abandoned parking lot across from our apartment complex & put him in the truck. Here's the first picture where he did not realize that he was pushing on the pedal. He was pretty calm, collected, & clueless:

Then when he finally realized that he was the one making it move, he panicked & tried to jump out of the truck. From then on, it was screaming, crying, & basically an all-around fit that wanted nothing to do with the truck. Yippy skippy. So we had to use a lure. Here's Lure #1, Lincoln's "night-night" (stuffed animal elephant) driving:

That didn't work very well because Lincoln just looked at the elephant & said, "Elephant go fast." It was like he was cheering the elephant on, but still not wanting to go near the truck.
Here's Lure #2. Get a kick outta this one:

Yeah...I think the weight limit for the truck is 65 pounds. Ha. It was like trying to squeeze into a pair of size 2T jeans. So we were left with nothing else to do besides force it. We knew he would enjoy it if he just tried it out again, so we sat him in there & ran around the parking lot with him clapping & hollering. He finally started to laugh!
Here's him stopping for a break to pick his nose:

And we even got a smile out of him in this one:

All in all, he enjoyed his first day with the Ford. Maybe tomorrow will be even better.

big brother lincoln...

Take a look at these photos. If you are in a grumpy mood & need a lift, check out Lincoln who is smiling from ear to ear. These were taken this past weekend while Ben took Lincoln to Six Flags in St. Louis. He had a ball, as evidenced by his grins. He looks like such a big boy...and big boy indeed. He will become a big brother in February! I am nearly 3 months pregnant! We are thrilled of course, & are looking so forward to meeting the new Baby Cissell. I heard the heartbeat this morning at the doctor's office, & it was swift, consistent & the rate was 170. Please join us in praying for the baby's health & wellness during this pregnancy. We would really appreciate it.

We are happy that by the time the baby arrives, we will be all moved into our house & settled. And speaking of the house, we will be moving in on August 16. Yea! We are more than ready to move on from this chapter of our lives living in this apartment...it has been humorous, challenging & claustrophobic all at the same time. What could be better!?!

I hope you, friends, have a peaceful & joyful week.
We'll chat more later.

My new favorite song comes from this guy?!

Let me give you guys a brief summary of what several of my evenings have been like for the past few months. MONTHS, I tell you. As many of you may not know, one of my favorite TV shows is "Friday Night Lights". Sure, go ahead, gab all you want about cheesy melodramas filled with teen angst, boyfriend jealousy, & football games (hello, I'm a Texas girl whose high school won the Football State Championship, wait, I digress), but I am the Queen of these shows. I'll take the pride over the bashing. Back to my story: I heard a song in one of the episodes that I adored, but could not find who the artist was or what the song was called. Hours I sat (okay, maybe not hours) with my laptop open, watching the same 3 minutes of the episode, headphones in, trying to hear a lyric, just one comprehensible phrase of a verse, of this song that was barely considered "background music." I mean, this song was so faint & quiet it was nearly impossible to decipher anything the singer was saying. Two nights ago, I wake up Ben at midnight. Did I say wake up? What I really mean is shove him & say, "Hey, put these headphones on & see if you can hear what this guy is saying in this song..." This was not the first time I had done this to poor Ben. Poor Ben indeed. So my tired, grumpy, just-being-woken-up-husband put on the headphones & what does he say?!? Wait for it, wait for it...he says, "I'll tell you sir...Rhondi, he's saying I'll tell you sir." Those four little words. I'LL TELL YOU SIR. Those were the only understandable lyrics "we" could identify.

About 10 minutes later, victory was mine. Willis Alan Ramsey. He only recorded one album in 1972 which had my song on there, "Angel Eyes". I nearly cried when I saw it. Only because this meant that I could call off the search & finally let it die. I had a vision of what the singer would look like...really sexy, scruffy, maybe some remnants of a beard, clearly a catch. But I was not prepared for this guy. Why would I be? I was not even a blip on the world's radar in 1972.

Here are 2 lessons to be learned from this little sweetheart of a story of mine:

1. Marry someone with really good hearing.
2. Don't judge an album by its cover.

We'll talk to ya.

It's just like, it's just like, a Mini-Mall!

My sis forwarded me this video & I almost peed my pants. All I have to say is this: this dude is black & owns a flea market. You would think he could rap a little bit better than what is displayed here. And on a further note, my brother-in-law, Todd, AKA "T-MO", who is a white suburbanite salesman, can blow this guy out of the water with his rapping skillz. True dat.

Remember, it's just like--a MINI-MALL!!