Pullin' Up

Curry has two new tricks.
First, he has perfected the crab crawl. It's a mix between crawling and sitting. You can tell that he wants to be walking, but he gets stuck with one foot on the ground to wald and one foot back to crawl. He puts his hands out front to balance and scoots on his rear end across the floor. It's great.

Second, Curry James can officially pull up. He stands up all the time. On the couch, on the bakers rack, on our chairs, on the tub, on your pants leg, on anything that isn't moving (good for Skip and Sandie). What a guy. Can't wait for that first step with out any training wheels.

The Good the Bad and the Frozen

Last weekend was really a big deal for the Petal Skippers. For the most part it all revolved around our student ministry's disciple now weekend. What a great two days. We get to be around a bunch of our students all at once. We have a lot of our friends in ministry come to help out. Shout out to Emily Wilson who stayed at our house and to Grant Stegall who is officially too old to stay in a host home (but not too old to have a very handsome baby boy).

So the weekend went great. Everything was just right...Until 11:05pm. The students left the church around 9. The leaders stayed a while longer. Everybody left at 11:00, which is when someone accidentally ran over our gas meter as they left the house. We're talking 911, two firetrucks, evacuate the house, until 1:00am when the gas man showed up to plug the line. Skip had it the worst. He got separated from us when we left the house, and anyone who knows Skip can guess how we was handling the firetrucks all by himself.

Jessica B., Emily, Lins, Curry and I toughed out a night in the polar ice cap of Petal as it got really cold (30). We survived. Mom and Dad came to Petal unaware of our chilly situation to support me because I was preaching in "big church." After the sermon we ate in the fellowship hall with the boy scouts and then retreated for our igloo. Lins and I left the older Skippers with the cute Skipper for about an hour. When we got home, no one had moved. All three were still huddled around the open oven - bake at 350 for one hour and add sprinkles.

So, our hometown hero today is the gas man and the three guys with the backhoe. Because of those fellas we'll be warm tonight. Somebody get them a medal.

PS - Dad took some good pictures of Curry. They are on the blog.

Curry's in the Army Now

Curry is official "scooting". This is very comparable to crawling, but without the tummy lifted up off the floor. It's very similar to the army crawl, where you mostly use your arms and elbows and drag your feet behind you. It's really pretty cute to watch and he can get around really well. In fact, Ben put him in the floor in the den yesterday morning, and he scooted right over to where I was in the kitchen. He told me he wanted to help make breakfast. He can also go from scooting to sitting, and its not a surprise anymore to find him in his crib sitting up playing or just looking around. Needless to say, our lives are becoming quite a bit more exciting!

How Many of Me?

My good friend Dana Reed sent me a website to check out. It tells you how many other people there are in the US with your same name. Surprisingly, there are only 3 other people named Lindsay Skipper. I always knew I was special! There are only 4 other people named Ben Skipper. The best part - there's only 1 Curry Skipper in the US and we've got him! Oh goodness, he is so cute!

If you want to see how many of you there is, go to www.howmanyofme.com and let us know what you find out!

Passion Conference 2007

A handfull of the CBC college crew (and Charley) have been in Atlanta for the Passion Conference. We have heard some really challeging sermons from Louie Giglio, Beth Moore, Fancis Chan and John Piper. We've bumped into some really good old friends and we have been led in worship by just about everybody who has a cd out (exaggeration). We've had a ball and every baby I've seen makes me miss mine (both the big one and the little one). See you all in Petal.

2006 Highlights

The last sunset of 2006 was pink. It was a good end to a good year for the Skippers in Petal. As we drove home from our family vacation, we reflected on the highlights of 06 and the hopes for 07. We agreed that Lins would author this blog, but as 11:00pm approaches, we’re up for a team effort and then some sleep (we’re road weary from vacation).

First let me say that it has been a great year together. Lins has sported a cute short haircut the whole time and both dogs have gotten more rotten with each passing month. So here are the highlights.

January – Ben attended the Passion Conference in Nashville with some of our college students and I stayed home, with our little bun in the oven. The beginning of the year found me halfway through our pregnancy and beginning a new addition to our home. We broke ground on our new master bathroom addition.

February – We helped with a few Disciple Nows and my Granddaddy turned 85! My mom and dad also celebrated their 33rd anniversary. Way to go Pops and Kat!

March – We planned our last getaway before the baby came and headed to Natchez for a weekend to the pilgrimage. We stayed at a precious bed and breakfast – The Wensel House and really enjoyed the old homes. We worked hard on the bathroom and appreciate all of our friends who volunteered free labor. We couldn’t have done it without you!

April – The bathroom was finally finished, just in time to get everything set up and cleaned up for our little man to arrive! We also worked on the nursery and Lins and her mom made all the bedding, etc. CBC celebrated its 80th anniversary and Ben went to the Smokies with Paul & Charley Tynes and Austin “Fancy Pants” McMurry for a backpacking trip.

May – Ben went with our church to Nicaragua again and really enjoyed his trip. I prayed the whole time he was gone that the baby wouldn’t come without him! Curry was due on June 5th, but we had no idea that he would come a week and a half early! We celebrated our 5th anniversary on May 26th and while we were at a movie with our friend, Scott Norris, we timed contractions and headed to the hospital that night.

June – June was filled with lots of sleepless nights and getting used to having a newborn. Curry brought us so much joy and we got to dedicate him just a week after he was born! Ben had several church trips that kept him busy and we missed “daddy” a lot.

July – BEN TURNED 30! He got to celebrate his birthday in Belize on a mission trip that was really a blessing to him. Jody Hawkins was married to our friend, Julie Adams and we were really glad to be a part of that.

August – More trips (Big 7, College Rafting Trip, & Believer’s Bash), and Curry is cuter than ever. At the end of the month we squeezed in a trip to Destin for several days with Pops and Kat and got to stay in a beautiful home thanks to Tom & Jackie Usry. Ben got to snorkel everyday we were there and it was really a wonderful vacation.

September – Lins went back to work at CCS. CBC had a Labor Day Retreat with several other churches in Petal and had a great time at Camp Garaywa in Clinton. This was also Curry’s first youth tirp and he really had a great time. Granddaddy Skipper passed away and his funeral was appropriately on Labor Day.

October – Curry’s first Halloween and the Skipper’s attended the annual CBC College Costume Party as a pumpkin patch. Curry continues to steal our hearts as he smiles and coos and grins his toothless grin.

November – Ben spent the first weekend hiking in the Smokies with Daniel, Trevor and Aaron. It was really cold but they are tough! Then came the month of weddings! Julie Roberts and Matt Fondren finally got married and it was beautiful! Curt and Felicia got married and all of the Skipper/Persons clan gathered to celebrate/help/cook, etc. The wedding was fun and the seeing the family was a great blessing. Curry celebrated his first Thanksgiving and went to his first National Youth Worker’s Convention in Charlotte, NC. Stroo & Robyn got engaged while we there and we were so glad they went with us! We also took our “Manny” along – we love you Carlos!

December – December is always filled with Christmas parties and an elf invades our home every year. I stay up late decorating and wrapping presents and Ben is always sure that I come from the North Pole. Curry was the cutest Santa ever and he loved it all, especially the lights. We celebrated Christmas in Shuqualak and Curry got a Radio Flyer Wagon from Granny and Granddad, lots of toys from Uncle Curt and Aunt Felicia, and a really cool backpack from Uncle Jim that we put to use on our vacation in the Smokies. Pops, Kat, Uncle John and Aunt Courtney joined us and we had a restful getaway.

Curry is Crawling (sort of)

Curry is starting to scoot around. This is not a new trick for him, just a development of some old skills. He was born a wiggle worm, and right off the bat he was bulldozing across his crib or our bed. He would dig his feet in and push his big ole head across the bed. Then, he learned the magical art of rolling. Stomach to back, back to side, anything anywhere...Curry could get it by rolling and stretching those chubby little arms. That was then. Now he is a big boy. Yep, on Christmas Vacation in Wears Valley, Tennessee in a cabin with Aunt Cokie, Uncle John, Pops and Kat Curry has begun to crawl. Welcome to the ranks of the four-legged rug rats little man. He can't wait to show Granny and Grandaddy. It's not much yet, and he won't crawl on command (he's not a circus baby), but you've gotta start somewhere.