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Those shoes...

2011-10-19T09:34:00.000-07:00

So Caroline loves this pair of Grace's old shoes. They were really cute years ago when I bought them but they are looking rough these days. Yesterday she put them on and I asked her to change because those had seen better days. Her response was, "mommy, these shoes remind me of God's love for me". Hmmm, I had to ask, "how is that, Caroline". She very confidently explained. "well when I see the rainbow on them, it reminds me He will never flood the earth again." Soooooo, she wore the shoes! Who can argue with that reason?

A new start...

2011-10-19T09:31:00.000-07:00

I am up for trying to blog again! I really just want to have a way to jot down all the happenings in our lives. There are some that are heart breaking and some that are full of joy. This is the place I will share so that one day we can look back and have a glimpse of how God has used this world to prepare us for our forever home with Him.

Is this a nightmare?

2011-01-13T20:57:00.000-08:00

So I think I am living a total nightmare. I keep thinking I will wake up and this is just a horrible dream. I think my heart is where my head is - just not sure what is happening. The Monday night after Christmas we got a call that my brother was life flighted after being in a car accident while on duty. He never regained conciousness and died 8 days later. He was 39 and a great guy. I loved him and he loved me - our family loved him and he loved us. It is just so bizarre to imagine he is gone and will be gone for the rest of my life. I am suddenly an only child that has to watch my parents in total and complete despair. Their hearts are broken and they will never be the same. John's kids have lost an earthly father, Melissa has lost her husband, my kids lost their fun uncle and I lost my brother that I shared my whole life with. It is hard to process and I am not sure I want too. My gepaw died just 2 weeks before the accident and we were all very sad but he lived 92 years. He watched his children, grandchildren and great grandchildren grow. My brother will not even see his oldest child graduate high school. It is a different kind of hurt when someone so young leaves so unexpectedly. It is stunning. It is chilling and it is gut wrenching.

I am not sure what I am suppose to do but I will trust the Lord to lead me.

Jesus in mine...

2010-02-02T11:55:00.000-08:00

I hear from upstairs,
Judd -"Hi, Jesus"
Caroline - "Can you play with me"
Judd- "Come to my house, Jesus"
Caroline- mumbling.......Judd- mumbling
Judd- "give him to me"
Caroline- "Jesus is mine!"
Judd- "No, Caroline, he is mine"
C- "Mine"
J- "Mine"
C- "Mine"
J - "Mommy, Caroline is being selfish and not acting God's way"

A "Jesus" figure found its way in with the doll house people. Not sure where he came from. Glad they welcomed him but we may need to revisit the Jesus is for everyone lesson!

Homework...

2010-01-27T17:25:00.000-08:00

I think helping with homework is way harder than doing homework. I am sorry mom for all the times I made my 5 minute homework take 2 hours- will Grace ever utter those words???

Waiting on a bug...

2010-01-25T11:07:00.001-08:00

We noticed a stink bug on the window outside Grace's room - great fun for pre-schoolers! The bug crawled a little too high for us to see him so Judd had to think of a way to get him back down for "observation". Taping the window and calling him didn't work, it actually is probably the reason he ran away- he moved on to lure him with friends. He had Caroline go gather all his bugs. They then lined them on the window seel thinking the outside bug would want to come play with other bugs. They waited and waited and waited... so long that I think they forgot why the even started playing bugs to begin with that morning!

Getting back...

2010-01-12T13:08:00.000-08:00

This entry is just so I can check it off my to do list! I so want to blog for so many reasons but I can't seem to get myself started - it is as if I can't find "THE" thing to start with. Not sure why I think it has to be something big but this is my attempt to take the first step. There is just so much that goes on here that I know I will treasure any sort of journal/blog I keep in the years to come. This will be my reminder that although we aren't always productive (so it seems to me) we are learning new things everyday and it is the cumulation of daily living that makes life rich!

Broken Promises - March Fourth!

2009-03-21T11:46:00.000-07:00

My little man broke his promise! He promised me he would be three forever but he turned 4 on March 4th. He has the coolest birthday, 03-04-05 and it is the only day that is a command - March Forth! On his actual day we took him to ride the train in Herman Park and to see the dinosaurs at the science museum as he calls it the zooeum. We had a fun family day. He got the coolest dinosaur egg. It is just an egg you put in water and over a few days it breaks out of its shell and hatches into a t-rex. It was way cool even for the grown ups around here.

To celebrate with friends and family we had pizza and cake after church. His birthday dreams came true when his Grandonna delivered him a blue dinosaur cake! He has been dreaming of that for months. He did miss having pizza with his friends at his party because he felt it necessary to sit at the cake table and protect his dinosaur cake! Silly kid! Here are a few pics of the boy that melts my butter! He has promised to stay 4 forever for me now but I think that promise will expire in another 12 months. Is there a support group for mommy's of little boys that just keep growing?

We have been busy around here so I will start to update more often!

Caroline joins the choir...

2009-02-22T20:02:00.000-08:00

I am sure there is a law against driving a car and using a video camera at the same time but I had to turn on the camera and capture this... I hope it makes you smile. Be sure to turn up your sound!

Surprise ...

2009-02-09T05:28:00.000-08:00

I came home Friday night from getting my highlights (the secret is out, this is not my natural color) and there was a party at my house! It was a surprise birthday party for me and I was clueless! I had no idea at all. Some of the girls I had talked to that day even and no one even gave a hint. The could have said, "hey dress up tonight" or "clean your house" or anything that would suggest something big was happening. Nothing! Not a peep. It was awesome to spend some time just hanging out with girlfriends and gabbing for hours. My hubby was the party organizer and had my favorite, Pappasitos for us to munch on and some yummy very chocolate cake. BTW.......girls who were here I found all the fajita fixings in the frig. Sorry they didn't make it out for the party. Just think of all the calories you avoided!

The event coordinator, aka my hubby, left for the night and spend the night at my parents with the kids. So sweet for him to do that and he is so calm about all the details. I had made my hair appointment just the night before because I had no idea about the party. He never said a word. He just went along with my last minute planning. He then called the hair place after I made my appointment. Then had them change it to an earlier time so I would make my own party. He patiently waited for me to suggest I make an earlier appointment once he came home early on Friday. When I called they knew the whole story. They said the only time they could see me was 4:20, which was really the appointment Darrell had already made for me. I could have never been so calm and patient. He amazes me!

It was a honor to spend time with such great girls. I know that time is a luxury, especially at this chapter in our lives, and so to have so many gathered together to celebrate with me was such a gift. My birthday isn't until the 10th so today I must live it up... as tomorrow I will offically be in my mid 30's!

So fun...

2009-01-30T19:06:00.000-08:00

I came back! I did come back from my cruise although it has taken me forever to post anything since I got back. I had a great time! Ashley and I had such fun. We had plenty of relaxing and a ton of fun. We decided that should be an annual girls trip and the more the merrier - so girls start planning now! It was a great time and I can't wait to go again. The kids did great with daddy and daddy did great with them too! If you need a vacation go on a cruise- it will spoil you!

Check out Ashley's blog and pictures about our trip. www.the4bakers.blogspot.com/2008/12/i-went-cruisin.html I am sure there is a way to put in a link but I need to learn how to do that first. For now you can just cut and paste.

Yikes, Ike...

2008-09-28T13:57:00.000-07:00

Hurricane Ike, I am sure we will be talking about him for years to come. We left town before he got here. We headed to Dallas. D's office has a place there where they work from during disasters. He worked and we tried to stay busy. I was happy to leave because Judd freaks just at lightning so I think a hurricane would have sent him over the edge. The kids and I ventured out to Dallas with a vacation in mind - not what I think of as a great vacation destination, but since we were there we went with it. My childhood friend, Debbie, joined us since she is a local there in Dallas. We went to the Dallas Zoo and the coolest McDonalds EVER - it was like the Rainforest Cafe but with an indoor playground. Debbie and I also got to take Grace to the American Girl store which was fun, fun, fun. You can read more about that on her blog at http://sweetgraceellen.blogspot.com/2008/09/american-girl.html. We visited with lots of family and friends in Dallas and had a great time. We even got to go to a birthday party for a friend that had moved there.

It was just a bit creepy having a good time while knowing what Ike was doing at home and to the millions of lives he disrupted. We returned home to lots of trees down and a mess of a neighborhood but we were spared the wrath of Ike. Our house actually looked better when we got home than when we left - thanks to our neighbor who cleaned up the debris and mowed the lawn! Hurricanes have always scared me and Ike just further confirmed that fear!

Can you do this...

2008-09-02T05:48:00.000-07:00

Check out the youngest citizen of Roth, TX. She is full of entertainment these days.

It's Fall Yall...

2008-08-25T14:39:00.000-07:00

I certainly doesn't feel like fall outside but the fall schedule has begun. Today was the first day of school and so bedtimes are earlier as are wake up times. We celebrated the start of school with our annual trip to Waffle House on the eve of the first day. Grace is in first grade this year. After only her first day told me her teacher this year is the best one she has ever had - that is saying a lot because she has had some great ones in the past! Judd tried all weekend to convince us he was 5 and he too needed to go to school. I hope he is that excited when he really is old enough to go. Caroline, well, she is happy with whatever. Enjoy the pics but I wouldn't recommend Waffle House - next time I am taking my own utensils! It's not the cleanest place.

Check out the picture of our backyard blooms. I love them. They are beautiful and really require nothing from us other than a few cuts every few months!