Another Shooting!

My parents live near Discovery Middle School where a shooting of one ninth grader by another took place last week. Today, another shooting happened within miles of their home. This time it was at the University of Alabama in Huntsville.

Apparently, a female professor at the university was denied tenure today and opened fire during a faculty meeting killing 3 and injuring 3 others.

It used to be (with the Colombine shooting) that parents were afraid to send their kids to high school. Then with the Virginia Tech shooting, college campuses became vulnerable. Discovery has brought the middle schools and junior high schools into the violent school category.

I really hope I never live to see an elementary school shooting by elementary school students.

What I've Been Looking At

I have not been on this blog much lately because of the pain I've been experiencing. It takes longer to do everything so when I sit down, I don't always want to think about what to write.

Here are some things I have found around the web this week that have captivated me:

Tragedy strikes a middle school a few miles from my parent's house.

Kelle's birth story. This blog post is long, filled with beautiful photography, and shouldn't be read without a box of kleenex nearby. It chronicles the emotional roller coaster of having a baby and learning to accept, love, and be blessed by her birth.

My former pastor's nephew tragically passed away.

The government has your baby's DNA. That's a bit scary.

Two Years Ago Today

This day two years ago both my parents and my in-laws were waiting as my due date for String Bean came and went. I remember going to the OB that day and being told that I was not in the least dilated, the baby had not dropped, and they didn't suspect I'd be going into labor any time soon.

6 days later, I was induced since there was still no sign of an impending arrival and String Bean had gotten too cramped to do much moving anymore.

After 26 hours on pitocin and zero contractions (and saying farewell to my father-in-law who had to get back to work), I was wheeled into the operating room and we welcomed String Bean into the world. She was worth the wait!

Date Night?

Lets see...the last time Mr. Bean and I went on a date was Christmas 2008. Can any of you other parents relate?

Indianapolis

We are in Indianapolis visiting my parents. They claim Indy is the half-way point between our houses, but I know we are getting the better end of the deal driving-wise.

As you read this post, we are at the Indianapolis Zoo. I'll be sure to tell you all about it when I get back. We are excited to meet with Grace and her husband Chris who live in the Indy area. Grace was one of Mr. Bean's former student employees at the college.

This is going to be a fun weekend. I hope you are having a great weekend. What are you doing now that the kiddes are out of school?

Christmas Traditions

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When I was a kid, one of our Christmas traditions was to put a train around the base of our tree. We also had a birthday party for Jesus every Christmas Eve. When Christmas morning would arrive, we would have to wait upstairs until everyone was dressed, beds made, hair combed, etc. before we could go down. We all went downstairs as a family and opened stockings before breakfast. For breakfast, we would have a bread/cheese/egg/bacon casserole my mom calls "12 for Breakfast." After breakfast, we would open gifts. Besides the trains which haven't been up for years, this is pretty much what I expect this year as we visit my parents.

Mr. Bean's family grew up doing the Advent candles and singing carols every evening of the Christmas season. When we go visit that side of the family, we enjoy this tradition and sing heartily my favorite carol, The Boars Head Carol, which is especially brilliant when sung in the shower at full volume.

This year is String Bean's second Christmas. We haven't yet started any family traditions of our own. One I am considering is the Jesse Tree.

I'm curious what traditions you remember fondly each year or from childhood. Help me explore what's out there as we start our own family traditions in the coming years.