Girl Power x 4

the end of November

2011-12-01T09:13:00.004-06:00

Am I the only person that sometimes "just wakes up in a bad or grumpy mood"? My husband says it's an excuse. People just don't wake up in a bad mood... he says.

Whatever. I do.

BTW... he also thinks hormones are only in a woman's head.

So yesterday, I woke up in a totally bad mood. Just really grumpy. Didn't want to go to work - and I love my job MORE than home BTW. The people there are much nicer than at my house.

I kept thinking of people that are so worse off than me, trying to talk myself out of said bad mood. I was asking God for Bible verses of patience to come to mind. I was thinking of all the homeless people and those without loved ones... still trying to get rid of my feeling-sorry-for-myself morning.

Let me just share here that I'm really bad about putting gas in my car. WHY don't I have one of those husbands that always makes sure his wife's car is full of gas?? This awesome husband also checks the oil, makes sure the tires are good, washes her car.... Doesn't everyone else have that husband?? I mean, while we're all dreaming, he could also do the laundry, bathe the children, clean the bathroom, mop the kitchen floor DAILY...or EVER.

Going back... as I leave work on Monday, and since my car has "5 miles left, PLEASE REFUEL!!" on the electronic dashboard, I decided to stop for gas. I jump out, put my debit card in the pump and open my gas door... ummm... open my gas door... push on it again and again and again. I'm thinking yes, this is the same way I've pushed this stupid door every time I put gas in my car for the last three months I've had my car... Gas door won't open. After standing there for what seemed like an eternity, looking ridiculous to every MAN that this has NEVER happen to, BTW none of them offered to help this stupid-lady that can't get her gas door open, I go into the store and tell them to cancel the transaction - wanting to say SHUT UP to the MAN cashier behind the counter.... as I'm thinking Can I make it home?? It's less than five miles but the traffic is horrible with all the construction... it's sure to take 20 minutes... Making the escape route plan of which way to go home IN CASE I run out of gas....

AHHH... made it home. GOD IS GOOD. I am thankful for the little things. Christmas tree lights won't work, oh well, let's go get some more - in the truck - which DOES have gas (and an opening gas door). Go to Target, get the lights... get home, put them on the tree... they don't work right... take them off the tree...

I love Christmas time, it truly is my favorite time of year. BUT... when your husband works for UPS... it can be... (what's the nicest word I can think of without offending...) challenging. I often start to feel like I'm very alone in this parenting role and should I need my husband home at any time between now and Christmas, I should send a package to myself and route it through his center. Although, that wouldn't even work because he works out of another building. Maybe I should move to that area so I could see him?? I'll just send him a change of address card via UPS so he'll know where to send his laundry and get a meal.

I know. Boo Hoo. As I'm asking for God's divine intervention in my bad mood... I'm going back and forth on how other's don't deal with this and that...blah, blah, blah.

Oldest daughter is insecure and having personality/boyfriend/who am I today/depression/normal 21 year old thing issues... Six year old daughter hates to go to bed, hates to get up, can't decide if she wants to be 16 or 3 depending on who she's with and what kind of attention she's getting. How about just be six?? Whichever she chooses, she does LOUD well... 16 and 14 year old daughters FIGHT. There's so many things I could say about that. But really... that's all they do. Seriously. My birthday was last Saturday, so if you want to come to my pity-party it has been extended.

So I get to work (which, BTW, did I tell you I LOVE MY JOB?!?!) I open my email and BAM.

My very good friend at work, Cheri's, father passed away over night.

Alright God, you got my attention. I immediately went into protective, my heart hurts for my friend, what can I do?, how is she?, how are the boys?, I'm so glad she spent Thanksgiving at home, how is her mom?, she just told me yesterday a story about her Dad...

OMG how perspective comes.

Philippians 4:13 says "But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.

I have friends posting lots of blessings and thankfulness on their FB pages. I always know (but need reminded) "this too shall pass" but some days it doesn't seem soon enough.

One of my favorite Kenny Chesney songs says " So damn easy to say that life's so hard, Everybody's got their share of battle scars, As for me I'd like to thank my lucky stars..."

This week begins the season of Advent. It's a season of anticipation, of expectations, of longing, of truth, of hope, of peace... I pray my heart can be in a better place as the season continues...

a long time...

2011-11-04T14:55:00.012-05:00

A long time... that's what it's been since I've blogged. That's what 2011 has been. Some days seem just that... a long time. I won't lie, 2011 has been a personal journey in a transitional year... I lost my 19 year old nephew to heroin. I lost my pastor, friend, and boss to a brain bleed an un-diagnosed leukemia ten days later. My youngest daughter started Kindergarten... which means I also lost my every day dear, sweet, Nanny to time and money constraints. My husband's job has changed several times this year, none for the better. My pastor, friend and mentor discovered she has breast cancer. I gained ten pounds.

And, as most personal journeys go, God wants to speak to me through these moments. He jolts me awake and prepares my heart to listen to where and what my personal journey is suppose to show me. Transitions are uncomfortable and... essential.

In Isaiah 43 the prophet proclaims on behalf of the Lord, "Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you. For I am the Lord your God."
God makes no promise that life will be without it's challenges. The protection that God provides is God's abiding presence in the midst of transition and change.

Summer's Here!

2010-06-14T12:02:00.006-05:00

Summer is here and we're so excited! Last week started off with Landry's recital and MacKenzie to 8th grade cheer camp at SMU. It was a busy weekend, but we survived!

Kenzie came home on Tuesday and was wiped out. She had a blast, but needed a few days to recover.

We're on the 25 day count down to Candi's wedding. All four girls are in the wedding and then we're heading to Padre the day after for a week of vacation. We're are so blessed to be able to take a summer vacation this year. Landry's been in swimming lessons for the past week. She's become a little more afraid of the water, or maybe it's because her sisters want to basket toss her in the air - that may be why she doesn't want to swim with them!

Looking forward to VBS in a couple of weeks. Landry is attending, Sydney and MacKenzie are volunteering. I've been helping Ken pack for the Kenya Mission trip. They are leaving on Wednesday. I wish I was going! Some day I will. It's an entry on my bucketlist.

Clean FREAK

2010-03-04T13:20:00.004-06:00

Why every time I trade cars with my daughter, do I feel so compelled to clean her car and fill it up with gas?? Some day I think she'll figure out this happens EVERY time we trade cars and trade once a week. Or especially when she's on "e" and has gone mudding or something. I don't even clean my own car as good as I clean hers. Today it wasn't even empty or really dirty. I guess I just wanted to be nice. Maybe I'm secretly thinking that my actions will rub off on her and I'll see some *pay it forward* in her as she gets older.

I'm not sure why I think that will happen, it hasn't happened with my husband yet. When we were dating I use to clean his house (hell, I still clean his house) just to do something nice for him. We were only dating! I clean his truck sometimes, too. OK, maybe my kids are right, maybe I'm just a "clean freak" as Sydney likes to call me. I've read all the self help books that tell me I shouldn't pick up after my children, I shouldn't make their beds (only on Fridays) or their lunch or put their laundry away when they are 19, 14 and 12. Or for that matter, 47.

Truth is, it's much easier to do when they aren't around. Plus, I'd like a little of it to rub off on them. "Not gonna happen".

Oh well, they sure are lucky to have a clean freak for a mom (or not, who knows?)

May all your days be circus days...

2010-02-25T10:58:00.004-06:00

I love my job. I'm so blessed to be able to share in the lives of so many awesome people involved in our church and the Creative Learning Center ministries. Today is circus day at CLC. All the children dress up in their favorite circus outfit and they parade around the gym for a few minutes. LuAnn serves as the ringmaster introducing each class. It's so great. It's just a little reminder of how lucky I am to be a part of this wonderful church.

The past two weeks the preschoolers have learned about the Olympics. They ice skated on wax paper around the gym. Then they each received a gold medal on the podium and were told how proud everyone was of them, while our National anthem played in the back ground. It's been very patriotic around here with children chanting "USA, USA, USA!!!" several times a day.

Some days it's hard to remember that we need to celebrate the little things. God is SO good!

Crazy summer

2009-07-28T10:52:00.004-05:00

So, no vacation for us this summer, but it's been nice all the same. I can't believe the girls are getting so much older and all the things they participate in. It's such a crazy life. Actually when they all danced - minus Landry of course - it was much crazier with all the dances, practices, competition, hair and make-up perfectly done, blah, blah, blah. Now it's dance for Landry - although we took the summer off - so it's been swimming lessons for Landry, swimming lessons for MacKenzie and Sydney, volleyball, cheer, diving.... Candi takes them to Six Flags - which Landry has decided she LOVES this year. The Texas Parachute is her favorite. Last week we went bowling, saw the movie "UP" did a lot of cooking - Mackenzie is destined to be a great cook.

...And I started walking/running again. It's been years since I consistently worked-out or took care of myself, so I decided with a week off, I was going to get back in the groove. So I went to the gym (Bally's) and guess what? They were closed. Not just closed, as in "we'll be right back" but the huge neon sign was removed from the building kind-of closed. Not a good sign for someone that had to take months to motivate herself to get there. They say 75% is getting in the door, and now the door was LOCKED. So instead of going home and spending the day complaining about the gym being closed, granted we can still drive to Irving, but getting there is 20 miles and I'm just not that motivated - yet. I went to the middle-school track and walked/ran three miles. I did some sit-ups and push ups and spent some "me" time. It was awesome. Then guess what? I continued on that trend for five days of the week. The last few days I got very discouraged because my knees hurt horribly. I'm hoping they are just in complete shock and nothing is really wrong. Lord knows, I don't need any excuses. But today they feel better and I plan on testing them with some walking/running tonight.

So in some ways it wasn't a very productive vacation. But in some ways it was the most productive I've had in a while.

Can you belive it's almost August??

VBS week

2009-06-29T12:23:00.005-05:00

I love VBS week! It's been so fun to have Sydney, MacKenzie and Landry all at the church, watching them work and play. It's crazy loud, there are people EVERYWHERE, the teachers are stressed, the children are endlessly full of energy and all the while everyone is thankful and learning about God.

MacKenzie and her class...

Sydney and her class...

Sydney and Landry being goofy...

And more goofy...

It was an awesome week. I'm so proud of my girls and how they have become little VBS counselors.

This week MacKenzie starts the summer volleyball league and continues tumbling and Landry continues swimming lessons. She's gotten pretty brave in the water. We have to watch her VERY closely now because she thinks she's a better swimmer than she actually is!

What a GREAT summer!

End of School - On To Summer....

2009-06-23T09:33:00.006-05:00

Why is the end of the school year SO full of things to do? Cheerleading activities, volleyball wrap up, register for this - register for that, can the girls go on this trip or that trip, oh and don't forget to study for 100 finals... Katy's school year at UNT ended in mid-May, which was a month before Sydney and MacKenzie. I guess that was a good thing, but it included moving Landry to MacKenzie's room to make a room for Katy to move back in. NOW that it's all done, it's no big deal :)

They are definitely busy - hopefully - happy girls this summer. Katy's already been to the river with friends. She's working her third year as a lifeguard at NRH20. She works a lot of hours, but I don't think her partying is suffering too badly. MacKenzie had a trip to NASA the week before school got out. Sydney's been on an RV trip with a girlfriend and her family (which Sydney politely calls "wussy-camping". MacKenzie went to SMU cheer camp the day after school got out. This week MacKenzie's gone to Galveston with Danny and the boys. It's also VBS week, Sydney is teaching and Landry is attending. Next week MacKenzie starts the summer volleyball league - and oh yea, last week she attended a volleyball camp all week. Landry started swimming lessons yesterday and those will last four weeks. I'm hoping to get MacKenzie and Sydney to take a couple of weeks of lessons as well, although to a 14 year old, swimming lessons are pretty LAME.

That sounds like a ton of stuff, but with four girls it's not too bad. I'm thankful we are able to have them participate in various activities. Hopefully the older three will get to visit Grandma Janet at some point and spend a little quality time.

Landry had her dance recital in June. She was a hoot. It was a long day, so there aren't many pictures - she was a pretty tired little girl at the end of the day.

Of course our Angel family, Candi, Larry and Fawn spoiled her rotten - as usual. We are SO blessed to have them in our lives.

We saw many friends from all our years at the dance studio during the recital. It was great to catch up and hear how all our "little" dancers are doing, where they are attending college, etc.

It's been a great summer so far.... It's getting plenty hot, but we should be use to that, right??

Keep in touch and let me know how you are doing this summer!

St. Patty's Day, Spring Break and stuff

2009-03-24T11:34:00.005-05:00

Happy to report we survived Spring Break.

MacKenzie didn't get a part in the play, but made the crew. She was happy, then backed out due to a cheer try-out time controversy. She DID make cheerleader, as did her two best friends, so all is right with the world - when you are in 6th grade.

We had Landry's pictures made the day before the tooth fairy came. Funny how that worked out ;) The first try didn't go so well, but the we tried again in the afternoon and she acted like a model at her 100th photo-shoot. Crazy girl.

The dentist went well. She wasn't too happy the same day, but has bounced back with a vengeance! She didn't understand why she couldn't SEE the tooth fairy, but happy she got $3.00, since of course, she's three years old.

We're now into Spring and ready to start cheering, volleyball, going to baseball games - Woo Hoo!! - and getting ready for the summer.

We had a great St. Patty's Day, complete with corned beef and cabbage. We all wore our green and talked a little about our heritage. It was a good day.

I'm going to start some courses in social counseling, I'm excited to be doing something for me - other than being mom.

Bob and I are looking forward to a weekend in Austin full of Longhorn baseball in mid-April. It couldn't get here soon enough! We need and deserve a little Mommy/Daddy time.

We may do some backyard remodeling work the next few weekends depending on the weather. Bob wants to enlarge the patio, so we'll be leveling and moving rock. Hope our backs aren't too old to handle it!

Not much else to report. Katy survived Padre and needs to make the most of school for the next few weeks. She's having withdraws getting back into the swing of things. Sydney - well - she's just "Sydney". Not much else to say if you know her.

More to come. Happy Spring!

Baby teeth... uugghh!!

2009-03-03T10:22:00.005-06:00

Many months ago I wrote about baby teeth. I don't remember if I shared the traumatic experience of Landry falling down the bleachers at a football game and knocking the two front teeth into her gum. None broke and I'm certain it was more traumatic for me than her. Until now.

After three visits to three dentists this week, two have come back with the same conclusion, the right front tooth needs to be pulled. First of all, just let me share, I was "in shock" with the first visit. I think if the doctor could have pulled it right then, he would have. They say the gum is infected and therefore could cause the permanent tooth, which is forming, to become infected.

After the initial shock, we got two other opinions and have become more comfortable with the thought of having a snaggled tooth little girl for the next 4-5 years. BUT the thought of being there and watching, doesn't appeal to me at all. Having her *somewhat* asleep is four times the expense of not -- however, it may just be worth it. Another mom story from hell, if you ask me.

On to the older ones......

MacKenzie is trying out for the play at school this week. She's really nervous, but I think she's SUCH an actress. I've been the source in talking her into the audition so I'm hopeful it's not a horrible experience and she makes at least SOME part.
She's trying out for cheerleader the week after. This has been the current source of our money and time sucker for the last month with extra cheer practice and the big motivational speeches. I'm certain Daddy is secretly hoping she doesn't make it, due to the funds. However, it's such a huge honor and ego boost for an 11/12 year old. I think she needs it as much as she wants it.

Sydney's name on her Facebook for the last week has been "Sydney no phone :(". She decided I wasn't warranted in the fact I asked her for her phone after a particularly smart elect comment... So we had it turned off. Surprise, surprise, she's decided who is the boss after a week of no cell phone.

And then there's Katy... Why is it no matter how great your life is when you're eighteen, you think it's horrible?? Never until you look back years later, you decide, wow I had it pretty good then. She has a car with insurance and paid cell phone, plus lives in a dorm with a meal ticket, plus comes home every weekend to be a crazy party person, but still, life sucks. I would love to have her problems. She's doing great in school (Can't imagine why with Tuesdays and Thursdays completely free to do whatever). Anyway, her lucky boyfriend comes home this weekend from Pennsylvania, so life will be good again until a day or two before he leaves. Then she's off to Padre with her girlfriends. Life should suck so bad for the rest of us.

They are all wonderful girls with truly different personalities. We're so very blessed to have them and all their problems.

Christmas and Vacation...

2009-02-12T10:25:00.000-06:00

We had a wonderfully blessed Christmas season. My sister and her family were here from France, it's been two years since we've seen them. They stayed with us in our tiny house and were able to make it through the week! Claire and Landry got to be the best of friends.

Then it was on to Landry's birthday #3!! Where else, but Chuck E. Cheese?? Ahhh the joy to be three years old with all those problems (like being terrified of this gigantic gray furry mouse).

And then on to vacation the third week of January. Never again will I venture off to spend 15 hours in the car with my family - one way. It was a nice ending to family road trips. I have sworn them off. Actually not completely... only promising to not go more than ten hours on a one way trip. Makes sense to me. The weather was beautiful. We got hot and were peeling off the clothes on the slopes, but there was still plenty of snow.

It's been an awesome start to another year. I'm looking forward to the spring and some warmer weather with less little runny noses and when sinus headaches disappear.

More updates soon :)

Settling into Winter

2008-12-16T09:29:00.000-06:00

It's been a while since I've blogged. A good friend of mine mentioned it and I thought..." you know, I should do that more..." It gives some stability in my crazy life.

So the last few months have been interesting... Katy's at college and can't stand her roommate. therefore she's home more than she's there. Which makes no sense in the monetary value of college itself. She is a really great writer... reminds me of myself MANY, MANY years ago. She's not real focused there, but every time she writes, she gets more influence and compliments, making her second guess her current path. She goes out too much, stays out too late, and makes me worry endlessly. I've heard that's what 18 year olds do. I'm so proud of her each and every day, I can't hardly stand it. It's so interesting to watch the progression and the direction she will choose.

She took Sydney for a girl's road trip a few weeks ago. They went to Grandma Janet's wedding in Arkansas and had a great "Thelma and Louise" time. I was proud they were able to attend, but more so they were able to go by themselves, together. Such a big sister/little sister, now we've become friends moment in our history.

Sydney is struggling with her personality and who she wants to become. Middle school is such a beating. For kids as well as parents. They can be such mean girls. I continue to struggle with disciplining her all the time - taking away everything she owns; talking, pleading, and negotiating doesn't work. I can't imagine where high school will take us, but I think that's when Katy made a turn in the right direction.
(I'm praying!)

MacKenzie still struggles with living in the shadow of Sydney, but more so, she has a difficult time adjusting to the medication for her seizures. We've made several changes and two doctors later, but each medication has many side-effects. It seems (the research says) anger is a small side-effect as opposed to the actual problem (the seizures themselves). Well... they don't live with MacKenzie, do they? I'm beginning to think a little spacing out might be good as opposed to this.

I know... not so fast... but her seizures have never been on a large scale. It's what they 'could be' that we try to alleviate. We're all a work in progress, I suppose.

It's almost Landry's third birthday! I can't believe it. She seems much older than three already. She can really converse with anyone and has a very strong independence about her - which Katy is quick to confirm that is my fault. "Mom only raises independent women". Could be worse. They could be boys! Just kidding.

Bob and I are hanging on. This time of year is difficult for many reasons, but we're looking forward to the next year and working to make it better each day. UPS is such a difficult company to work for... however, it has provided for us over the years, even if it almost dragged us under it. We've been doing some counseling, continuing to work on communicating (it's work!), even had a few date nights. We've had some distractions, some moments of enlightenment, and some down to earth heart-wrenching clarification of exactly who we are and want to be. I am reminded that God never said it would be easy.

Anyway, more on that later. I'm going shopping. Talk to you SOON. FaLaLaLaLaLaLaLaLa

Out with the old, in with the new...

2008-09-24T10:26:00.000-05:00

You would think that would be a title to a post for the New Year. Or at least for spring cleaning or something. I guess this is "Fall" cleaning. Katy has made the move to UNT, therefore making room for MacKenzie to get her first real "own" room. Sydney & Mack have shared a room FOREVER, although even when a room is free they sleep in the same room by choice! So now since there is a "free" room (hardly with the cost of college!) we're moving all the girls around, repainting, selling/buying furniture, new bedding, etc. Fun but comes with a price tag - doesn't everything??? I will post some pictures as we get settled...

Busy summer, now into FALL...

2008-09-22T15:07:00.000-05:00

It was a busy summer, and now we're into a new season - FALL! YEA! I have to say, I'm ready for something besides 100 degree heat :)
The girls have started their new year with a bang. Katy's off to UNT. It's really strange to be the parent of a "child" in college. Strange and pocket-wrenching. Sydney is in 8th grade - the oldest grade in middle school. Kind-of like being a senior on the pre-teen level. She's hot stuff - just ask her. MacKenzie is a middle-schooler now in 6th grade. She's adjusting well. And little Miss. Landry is holding her own as princess of the house. She goes to school on Thursday and dance on Monday. What else do you need? She's quite a little conversationalist.

Sydney and Mack aren't playing softball this season, so we're a little lost with our weekends. With no drill team events, cheer event and no softball - it's a little weird having SO much extra time. Not that I'm complaining, I'm just somewhat use to being busier. Mack is playing volleyball, but it doesn't start until next week. It's given us some time to get use to school, which has been nice. Sydney decided not to cheer - but then was sad she didn't try out. She's looking for her next "thing" and not really knowing what that is.

We're planning Halloween (reading up on Raggedy Ann and scarecrows) planning a ski vacation (WOO-HOO) looking forward to Thanksgiving and Christmas (I think it all has to do with the cooler months).

Tell me what you and your are up to....

Graduation and on to summer...

2008-06-23T10:02:00.001-05:00

We survived graduation. It was wonderful - but long - a little stressful - but great all at the same time. I thought I did well with trying to get everything Katy wanted together for her family graduation party. If only I could stop the wind from blowing, it would have been the perfect party. We had beautiful white table clothes with over sized sunflowers in vases on each table, all of what lasted maybe 10 minutes - before anyone else got to see them. Pretty hefty price tag for ten minutes. So, she was of course, sad about the tables, but seem to get-over it quickly enough. We had about 50 people or so, a great turn out. Not everyone she wanted to come showed up, but it was nice for those that did. She seemed to enjoy my video, it got a little too long toward the end. I just couldn't decide on what pictures I wanted to use! I have lived and learned from the first graduation! Syd and MacKenzie have already voiced their opinions about their own videos.

It was exhausting, but wonderful.

The next week, we had Landry's recital... That was a week ago and she sings "The Good Ship Lollipop" more now than ever before. She was wonderful of course. We DO have Sydney's first recital to compare to, which of course she didn't dance and cried ALL THE WAY THROUGH.

<

She was great and thinks she's the biggest star ever. Candi was so determine that Landry be a dancer - I think it's paid off! I'm just ready for a new song.... On the Good Ship Lollipop is endlessly playing in my head!

With two very busy weekends, I was ready to do something - or nothing - when this weekend rolled around. I found a hot air balloon festival listed in the paper and thought that was just the ticket. Bob's never real interested in doing things like a balloon festival, so I decided to take the girls on Sunday when Italy was playing Spain for the last spot in the European Cup. (Italy ended up losing on penalty kicks).

The Dallas Morning News is a pretty big newspaper for a large metropolitan area and the pictures of the Balloon Festival looked BIG and FUN. I wasn't very excited about driving 45 miles one way with gas at $4.00 a gallon, but I was willing to check it out. Can you see where this is going??
We get to this place, which when you aren't exactly sure where you are going - takes FOREVER. And there are about four people there. Not a hot air balloon in sight. The vendors - of which look like they are from a bad carny movie - are sleeping in their booths. I wouldn't even allow the kids to get a corny dog from them - who even knew how long ago they had been cooked???
They had a NASA booth, one that you walked through - it was closed up, I'm tguessing for lack of patrons.

It was sad, irritating, embarrassing, worthless and funny all at the same time.

I'm certain my negative-central husband got a big kick out of it - but oh well. It's something the girls and I shared and we can laugh about it for years to come. I can hear them now, "Remember when Mom took us out to the "Balloon Fesitival...." HaHaHaHaHaHa

So, I'm thinking I'm ready for a little bit bigger get-away. We're not able to fund a real vacation this year, but we're getting away to a friend's lake house for a week in July. I'm looking forward to no phone, no laundry, the stars, the crickets, etc. Of course, the girls have to come, but we'll just see how that goes... Solitude is for when we're older. (That's what I've heard anyway).

Prom... Graduation... Medical updates...

2008-05-15T10:48:00.000-05:00

Prom was fantastic. They all had a great time. "Better than I could have ever imagined" was the exact quote. Great! Now we can move on to graduation and make a decision about college!

We got (almost) all the graduation invitations out this week. Glad to have that done. Hope I didn't forget anyone!

MacKenzie has started her medication for her seizures and we're adjusting to a new lifestyle with remembering to take it and watching for symptoms, etc.. We decided to go with Topamax, which is a different medication than both doctors suggested. With all the medications you have to start with a low dosage and work your way up over several weeks. We're in week two, so we double the dosage starting today. We'll see how it effects her. I had thought the medication was making her sick to her stomach, but that may have been a virus of another sort. Regardless, she's feeling better than she had been. What a relief! No effect on her "episodes" yet...

We had a visit to the ER with Sydney a week ago. We thought she had Appendicitis after a couple of days of vomiting and severe pain. Turns out she had a horrible UTI. So I've been to the hospital once a week for the past four weeks. I think I've seen enough of them for a while.

I'm starting to plan a graduation open house for Katy. Starting to plan is an understatment, I've actually been thinking about it for quite some time. Hopefully it will be beautiful outside and I won't have 100 people INSIDE my house.

Katy surprised me with an early Mother's Day gift and gave me Kenny Chesney tickets. I'm not sure how she pulled it off, but it was wonderful! She gave me four, so we took Katy and Sydney. It was awesome.

We're off to UNT tomorrow for a tour. Hope for the best!

Birthdays and such

2008-04-29T15:50:00.000-05:00

It's been a long, beautiful spring month. Both Sydney and MacKenzie's birthdays are in April, so it's always a busy (poor-er than usual) month for our house. This year Sydney had her 13th birthday party with her BFF Taylor. They had a party in the church gym and it was awesome. Funny at first with middle school boys on one side of the gym and the girls on the other, but they eventually warmed up - some too much! They danced and sang. We had a disco ball and Katy and Matt played DJ. Then the next night we had MacKenzie's 11th birthday at Pump it Up! Big fun there as well.
Wooo Hooo, Glad it's another year before that happens again :)

TAKS testing is this week. Blahhh. My kids think I am their personal breakfast chef during TAKS week. They are old enough and get up every morning making themselves breakfast, but for some reason during TAKS week, we have to go to bed early and get up with a full course breakfast. If that makes them so much smarter, why don't we do it all the time? I didn't ask them that!

If Katy can make it through her senior-itis, she may just graduate from high school in June. I ordered the invitations today, so I'm really hoping it happens. She is terribly bored with the whole "school-thing" and really isn't even focusing on college at the moment. Prom seems to be the MOST important thing of the week/month. It happens May 10th. Maybe afterward we can look at what she is able to do next year!

We recently found that MacKenzie is suffering from Absence Seizures. After a month of tests, prayers and questions - not necessarily in that order - her EEG was abnormal and suggested she has a form of epilepsy called Absence Seizures. I have come to learn WAY more than I care to about the brain and medication for such seizures. We will go next week for a second opinion before we begin any medication, because there are so many conflicting opinions and side effects to the mediations. I am happy and surprised we were able to get another appointment with a neurosurgeon so quickly. These seizures are very new, I don't think it's been happening for very long. I also think the seizures may have dropped off in frequency in the last month, so I'm not SO worried anymore. Absence seizures are really weird things. The person stares off and you "lose them" for between 5 - 30 seconds. They can happen hundreds of times a day. The person dose not have any recollection of their seizure or what happened during that time. I can be having a conversation with MacKenzie and I just lose her. It's really strange. During the EEG, the doctor could reproduce them by having her hyperventilate. That was crazy. After further discussion with Mack, we discovered she does it quite frequently while running during softball practice. She also recalls moments of "blanking out" during school.

HOWEVER, there are many blessings to be thankful for! These seizures normally (80% of the time) go away in adolescence, typically before age 14. There are no long term or permanent effects. The downside are learning difficulties, while trying to concentrate, but those can be overcome with medication. Also, we'll need to keep a constant eye on her while swimming until we're 100% into the medication.

Kind of ironic how the month has been an up and down swing. I was really worried and freaked out about the seizures when we first discovered them. That lasted for a bout one day. Then I had an overwhelming sense of peacefulness about it, I really just "knew" it was going to be alright. Since then, I've dealt with MacKenzie and the doctor appointments with a calm self regard. Much different from how I would have handled something like this, say ten years ago. Maybe it's my AGE!

Anyway, that's our April 2008. I think we made it through with flying colors. And now to think our sixteen year wedding anniversary is in a couple of days. Another "wow" moment for us. Who would have thought Bob and I could make it SIXTEEN years!?!

God bless you all. I trust your spring season has been as blessed as ours.

A New Leaf....

2008-03-31T11:36:00.000-05:00

It's been so long since I've blogged.

That got me thinking, it's been a long time since I've done a lot of things... Like exercising. Why is it so hard to get back into that habit? So I'm turning over a new leaf. I'm going to throw myself back into the exercising habit. The plan was to get back into it after the first of this year. Well, now that the first quarter is over, I think I can begin. I did have a fractured foot, which would making running on the tread mill difficult to say the least. So, TODAY I will begin. I woke up a little too late to begin this morning... so THIS afternoon will be the start.

Journaling... I need to start journaling again. I tried to take a spiritual discipline class over Lent, but something got in the way, four out of six weeks. That is terrible. One thing I did learn, in one of the classes I attended, was to write down SOMETHING everyday. I'm trying to start that.

I've been saying I need a hobby for a while now. I've found that I actually have one - besides my girls. It's cooking. I never thought of cooking as my hobby, but lately I think it is. I realized this, the other day when I told Bob I needed a challenging recipe to make for dinner. I really enjoy making new recipes.

I still need another outlet in teaching myself something new. I've always wanted to learn to knit. I've made that a goal for this year.

I better just stick with my exercising, journaling, blogging and cooking for today. It is almost noon. AT least the blogging got done. I'll let you know about the other three...

Too long

2007-09-26T11:24:00.001-05:00

Wow... It's been an eternity since I've written. All the way since vacation - and I need another one already :) Let's see...

I made it though August and Katy's 17th birthday. She got a car. That was huge. GREAT. Now I can stay up even longer waiting and worrying even more.

I've almost made it through September and the start of school. That's pretty big with three girls in different schools this year.

We've started the Fall season of football, volleyball and softball. That's pretty awesome - I'm just ready for some cooler weather.

Landry (20 months) had a horrible accident at the first high school football game. She fell hitting teeth first from one bleacher to the next. Her teeth recessed into her gums, chipping the end of one. It was bad. We spent that weekend finding a pedi-dontist and having her looked at - not an easy task. It's not too difficult to find weekend doctors these days, but a dentist - and then a pedi-donist is a totally different story. We were blessed, finding a WONDERFUL one. Amazingly, Landry's gum roots weren't damaged and the doctor said they would grow back down at their own pace. They have grown a lot during the last two weeks.

We've been to all the girls mini-schools and curriculum nights this past week, meeting all the teachers and finding out what they expect out of the school year. Katy is applying to colleges and looking into where she whats to go next year. Isn't that crazy!!

We're getting back into the swing of school and sports and thanking God daily for all our blessings. I hope you all are well!

Vacation Overload

2007-07-25T13:07:00.000-05:00

My list of great vacation happenings...

~ My car made it 700 miles there and 700 miles back
~ I spent many hours in the car with my family and never (severely) lost my temper :)
~ I spent five days with my best friend... laughing
~ The sun was shining for the three days on the beach
~ Landry didn't get stung by a jellyfish
~ We took LOTS of wonderful pictures to remember our vacation

My list of no-so-great vacation happenings...

~ My car didn't act like it was going to make it, sputtering up every incline for 700 miles both ways
~ I spent many hours in the car with my family
~ I spent five days with my best friend ~ so now I miss her terribly!
~ It rained all the 700 miles there and most of the way back
~ Katy, Sydney AND MacKenzie got stung my jellyfish - more than once
~ Sydney accidentally deleted all the vacation pictures in the digital camera before they were downloaded

That all said, it was a great vacation. My wonderful husband drove me absolutely mad procrastinating about getting the car repaired until we got home. After we actually made it home and the repair bill was over $1100, he said "See, now if we would have done that during vacation it would have ruined it for all of us". True enough, but so would sitting on the side of a two lane road (with no shoulder) with four kids in tow in the pouring rain, hundreds of miles from home. Sigh...

Now we're back to REAL life... the teenager begging for a car (all in good time),
issues at both jobs (at least we HAVE jobs), the preteen wanting to go, go, go (which is translated to spend, spend, spend)... I need another vacation and I've been home less than a week :)

Vacation recovery is always a challenge. Thank goodness I am so fortunate to experience it.

Hurry up and wait

2007-07-11T12:36:00.000-05:00

We're off on a short little vacation in a couple of days... and to say the least, the girls CAN'T WAIT!!! We're going to the beach in Alabama to visit my best friend Aimee' and her crew. It should be fun, minus the 600+ miles in the car. Honestly, I'm even looking forward to the car trip (I know I'm officially now a nut case). It's sometimes a challenge just to get the six of us, 7 miles to church, so why on earth would I look forward to a 600 mile trip with everyone in the car TOGETHER? Note to self: Look at this post in a week or so... I love having my family all together -- yes, even in the close quarters of "the car". I guess I see the days ahead when Katy's off to college and we're not taking family vacations anymore.

We're excited. It's been a challenging week, but I'm not certain of the last one that wasn't. It will be fun to hang out with my BFF and all our kiddos.

I'll write when we're home -- and you remind me of how excited I was about the car trip :)

Water,water, everywhere...

2007-07-02T15:30:00.000-05:00

I don't think I can remember the last day it DIDN'T rain. This is really strange weather for Dallas, Texas. By now, we normally can't wait for the weather to turn cooler and we're praying for an "under 100 degree" day. We haven't even reached 100 degrees this summer. Don't get me wrong, we are all thankful. But the Lord has answered a lot of prayers simultaneously, turning our two year drought into a daily flash flood. We live near Grapevine Lake, which has had many boat ramps closed due to low water during the past two years. Now we have one boat ramp open, due to the high water. They say the lake level is 26 feet above the normal levels. We took the girls out there this weekend for a little history lesson...

Rain, rain, go away, come again another day :)

Moving right along...

2007-06-26T09:43:00.000-05:00

It's been a really strange weather season in Texas since around April. We have been in a drought for the last two years and God has blessed us with the last two years of rain -- in three months. Normally by this time of the summer, the girls are tired of swimming, it's too hot to go outside and they are already bored. This summer has been a little different. MacKenzie is at camp this week, getting drenched by the looks of it. They will have a great time, none-the-less. When there is rain there are -- MUD FIGHTS! When I dropped her off yesterday she had a small meltdown. It is already difficult for me to leave my kids anywhere - but she had to make it somewhat harder. I cry at everything! Bob has always taken Katy to the airport when she travels somewhere - I just can't bear it. Isn't that the craziest thing? Anyway, I think MacKenzie was tired - we didn't go to bed in a very timely manner on Sunday night :( And then she didn't see her name on any of the bunk beds and when we finally found an open bed she was FAR away from ANYONE she knew. She cried and hid her face in the pillow and wouldn't talk to me. And what happen? SuperMom saved the day - and without even crying or getting upset:) Seems her name was on a bunk bed - next to her friends she had requested, but another little girl had taken it, without knowing. I don't think she or her mom were very happy at having to move, but she did. And MacKenzie was somewhat better, but the damage had been done. I am certain she is getting along fine now, but I still have that little worry in me. I guess that's just a "mom-thing".
And the best news of the weekend LANDRY USED THE BIG GIRL POTTY. Headline news, get the horns out and celebrate! Yes, I know it's a little too soon for all that, but my goodness, she's not even 18 months yet! She went again yesterday, so maybe we are on to something. My loving husband is happy to tell me this is just the first of many ups and downs in the potty-training department. Sometimes, he's just too realistic for me!
Yes, that was good news in itself, but maybe even better news was that I worked on finishing my kitchen back splash and it's 95% done. Here are some pictures...

It has been difficult finishing it, but we're about done. I'm happy with it. Turned out to be a much bigger job than I anticipated. But, what isn't?

Crazy people

2007-06-19T15:51:00.000-05:00

Everyone tries to keep their blogs upbeat for the most part, don't you think? Who wants to go around and read a bunch of complaining or unhappiness? We definitely get enough of that turning on the TV or the radio or driving down the street.

Even so, this story needs to be told... I think many people have heard the story of Baby Kaleb in Tampa. There have been news stories (even in Dallas) about the response via MySpace that Kaleb's family has received about their tragedy. Kaleb was 5 months old last month when his babysitter injured him through shaken baby syndrome. He has been in PICU since May 9 fighting for his life. You can read Kaleb's story at http://www.myspace.com/kristyreynolds
I can't imagine anything happening to my children. My heart just aches for this family and what they continue to go through. The doctors do not hold much hope for Kaleb, but miracles do happen with the power of prayer. Please say a prayer for Kaleb and his family.

And on to more crazy people in my life... I've just found out that Katy's Dad has spent all her grandparents college fund savings trying to get his new business venture off the ground. One reason (of the many) that this is SO annoying is that for many years I have ignored the fact of non-payment of child support and lies and horrible behavior in knowing that her having the college fund would "make-up" for it in the long run. Bob and I never anticipated sending her to college,because since she was a baby, her grandparents have said they had that "taken care of".
It's a very horrible eye opening experience for all of us, especially since she just started driving and has been looking forward to getting her own wheels as well. Welcome to the real world, right? I just wish she didn't have to contend with the real world until after college. I was really praying for that, for her.

Aww, well. We'll figure something out. This verse helps me to remember who's in charge...

Trust God from the bottom of your heart. Don't try to figure out everything on your own. Listen for God's voice in everything you do, everywhere you go. He's the one that will keep you on track. ~ Proverbs 3: 5-6

Ready... Set... SUMMER!!!!!!!!!!!

2007-05-16T15:34:00.000-05:00

The end of school is always busy, but this year seems to be more so (gee, I wonder if it's because we have a toddler to add to the mix?) This week we have 6 softball games scheduled - after the season was suppose to end LAST week. These are all due to make-up games due to rain outs and it doesn't include MacKenzie's team playing in an end of the season tournament on Saturday. Add that to cheerleading, a drill team picnic, volunteer training, lifeguard training, PTA dinner, end of season party, dentist appointment, parent meeting to learn next year's duties, two school assemblies and "trying" to work full time and why should I be surprised I can't keep my sanity - or my gas tank filled? (Not to mention the new driver in our house NEEDING to go SOMEWHERE all the time :)
I was sad to hear our elementary principal has accepted a job elsewhere. He is on the fast track to success and much too good to hang around here for too long. We were blessed to have him for four years and now he's off to middle school. He has done so much for our school. MacKenzie has one more year in elementary and I thought we could make it - but maybe not. We are wanting to move north, toward Denton, but have decided to wait until Katy graduates next year. She says to move now, but I don't really think she wants that.
So ... I'm off and running to my next appointment. Write more soon...

Stepped on a pop top and broke my flip flop...

2007-05-03T14:53:00.000-05:00

Yes, Jimmy Buffett was in town, how did you guess? My (15 year) anniversary present to my husband (and mostly) to myself was to go to the Jimmy Buffett concert last weekend. Of course the greatest thing is to watch all the parrotheads before the concert. We got there three hours early and still had to park on the "back row" ~ we are talking about the parking lot. Our seats were really good, but as the title of this post indicates, Bob "stepped on a pop top and broke his flip flop" BEFORE the concert started. He jumped out of the truck and into a rut ~ we were parked in a field after all.

His ankle immediately swelled up to look like an elephant hoof. Great way to start out the evening. Then of course, our seats were on the OTHER side of the stadium and down (and back up) about 100 steps ~ but Mr. Hobble and Mrs. Crutch voyaged on!

I made reservations at the Westin (IT WAS THE ONLY HOTEL AVAILABLE BOB) which was in a word... awesome. Definitely one of those "100 things to do before you die" . The Westin has recently decided to promote their Heavenly Bed. Kind of reminds me of The Princess and the Pea story... but not. If you have never slept on one, write it down on your to-do list ~ you won't be sorry.

Next year we've decided to rent an RV and stay for a day or two ~ not that we'll be much closer to the front, I think some of those people come a week ahead. Renting an RV turns out to be pretty inexpensive. I checked on it when we got home and told the girls that was our next vacation venture. Katy immediately left the room, Sydney said "You're kidding, right?!?!" and MacKenzie was ALL for it... When can we go???

We had a great time despite the ankle injury. Mr. Hobble was a trooper ~ he wasn't going to let his 20 lb. ankle ruin his time, or mine.

It's crazy that it's been 15 years since I married Mr. Hobble. I love him like it was only yesterday and I would do it all over again. :)

Some days just aren't bubble days...

2007-04-25T09:44:00.000-05:00

You think you have it - whatever "it" is - all figured out and then BOOM - you find out some days just aren't bubble days. Landry didn't like baths until we found out just how fun bubbles can be. Then at the mere mention of "bath" she would start running to the bathroom yelling "bath, bath, bath, bath, bath" which was of course much more fun than her running away from the bathroom yelling "No, no, no, no, no, no".

And after we got the Elmo Cherry Foam Soap for Easter, WOW... bath time was really fun!

But as with all things, the new wears off and it's turned back into just plain old boring bath time.

So this is Landry's "Just what do you think is SO funny Mommy????" look I received at last nights bath time.

I of course, thought she was darling - she, however, was DONE with bath time.
Awww... well, maybe another trip to the store with a new and improved bath time toy will change her mind.

SO Blessed...

2007-04-20T18:30:00.000-05:00

Do you ever feel SO blessed? I am having one of those moments (days) when I have an overwhelming since of bless-ed-ness in my soul. There is so much tragedy in the world and so many people that are faced with heart-ache and hard times -- how could I ever complain? I know that thought goes away and I feel just plain - justified for complaining, but why?
I have been blog-hopping today and my heart has been truly touched by Heather's story. Please go over and read it. Another blogger BooMama has set up a special site for Heather. Her blog is great as well. If the Lord leads you to help in Heather's fight, please listen and help. If not monetarily, then please send your prayers up for this wonderful person.
I am also praying for all the families touched by the horrific Virginia Tech tragedy. God please put your arms around those needing you ~

today and always.

Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying,
"I am the light of the world.
He who follows Me, shall not walk in darkness,
but have the light of life".

~ John 8:12

The 21 Day Challenge

2007-04-18T10:14:00.000-05:00

As you know (I'm guessing you know, since you're reading this blog) I work at a United Methodist Church and attend a different church. Most years on Easter and Christmas my family will attend the church I work at, as well as our "home" church. This Easter we attended Fellowship on Good Friday and FUMC Grapevine on Sunday. I was most intrigued by the sermon research I had done for Ken's Easter sermon, so I wanted to 1) hear and see the effect and 2) have my family hear and see Ken's sermon as well. Ken got an idea from a pastor in Kansas and decided it was perfect to try at Easter with our congregation and guests. The Rev. issued a challenge to his congregation to go 21 days without complaining. He based the challenge on Philippians 2:14, “Do everything without complaining or arguing….” On Easter Sunday, we gave away close to 3000 orange wrist bands and he instructed us to move the band to the other wrist each time we caught ourselves complaining. Every time you complain, the 21 days starts over. The idea is that a new habit is formed in 21 days. I may never know.

So this idea has really taken off, you cannot imagine the stories and emails we have received in the last week. People (myself included) are really amazed at how much they complain. At first I had faith that I could accomplish this task. After all, I am the cheerleader (no pun intended toward Sydney) for our family. I am the one always saying "It will be OK", "Look at the bright side" ETC.ETC.ETC.

After two weeks, it's not looking so good. I am still on day one. In my defense here are some things to look at...

1) It is humanly impossible for a mother to not complain. Have you seen my kids rooms? Asked them to help with the baby? The dishes? The laundry? Their homework?
2) It is impossible to watch girls play softball without complaining. If it is not the umpire making a bone-head call, it is the coach not paying attention or forgetting how to pitch.
3) It is physically impossible to drive without complaining. I've heard this concept is worse in Europe. God bless them.
4) I have a 15 month old baby that does not sleep through the night and a 45 year old husband that can sleep through a train crashing into our house. Enough said.
5) I have four girls.
6) I started that last one and was going to list all their activities, but really I can just stop there.
7) We live in Texas, with Texas weather... if we can't complain about the weather, what do we say to each other?

So for now, our entire staff does not complain, but they look as though they are going to rip someones head off at the drop of a pin. Keeping all the complaining inside, can really mess you up!

If nothing else, I never realized how much I complain. My entire family doesn't have their wrist bands on anymore, they have given up. Bob never put his on.

So... I think about my words more carefully now. I don't think I'll ever make 21 days, but I'm still trying. Want to join me at Day One?

Tweenie birthday parties and SPRING!

2007-04-15T10:27:00.000-05:00

My two middle girls are about to turn 10 and 12. Their birthdays are 2 years and 4 days apart... YES, there was at least two years that are a blur of spit-up, late night crying, no sleep, no money (TWO in diapers- what was I thinking?). Gone are the days when I could get away with birthday parties TOGETHER, that is so passe'. So now I must plan two birthday parties in a week - each trying to out-do the other. Do you sense a little sibling rilvery? Not to mention throwing Easter into the mix. Of course, both girls are playing softball and one in playing volleyball, which makes scheduling somewhat of a hassle. My oldest HATES her birthday being in the Summer, but my goodness, it is a blessing. So what do you do? Gone are the days of Chuck E Cheese and we've had enough of Main Event (at least three parties in past years- of our own- not to mention those attended!) I'm all for the backyard party, which both seem to be leaning toward (with a little strong arming from mom :) The weather is ALWAYS a concern. You know Texas weather is so....emmm... challenging. My girls are pretty funny. They think they are SO big. Big enough to make their own decisions and say NO too many times. But mom is still suppose to take care of all the real details -- like invitations, plans, etc. etc. etc. We're having two parties this week in my backyard, within 24 hours of each other and neither of them has decided what kind of cake or cookie cake they want. At 10 and 12 you do not dare pick one out for them... but it looks like that's the point I am at. I hope I don't mess it up too bad. Wish me luck!

Makeover Hell & Europe (?)

2007-03-25T13:57:00.000-05:00

So last week was Spring Break at our house. That meant the little girls were home along with Dad, who was on vacation. And the big girl was in Europe. At least we kept our life-saving babysitter (God bless Candi) for Landry, so there was some sanity saved. (That and I went to work everyday :) Bob worked and worked and worked and worked on the house. Our house is over 30 years old, so there are many things always needing repair. Isn't home ownership wonderful? It's expensive, too! Seems that everything needing replaced is no longer available (i.e. the same wood is not available for the outside, they don't make that type of plumbing anymore, or light fixture replacement lens - so you have to replace the entire thing). It's very frustrating. Of course, there isn't enough time in the day (or week -- OR money) to get everything done we would have liked to... but it sure looks wonderful. A fresh coat of paint does wonders for a house. It's like a makeover for a woman (I need one badly).

And then there's Katy, whom was blessed enough to go to Europe with some classmates over Spring Break. She even got to see her Aunt Tiff while she was there. Talking to Katy about Europe is seeing life through the eyes of a (very smart) child for the first time. She is descriptive and intelligent in her explanations and stories. She's had a difficult time readjusting to American life so quickly, but if anyone can pull it off, she can. Now it's three days since her return and she's off to San Antonio for a National drill team competition. The Europe trip was planned and being paid on long before we knew of the San Antonio trip, so we were just unlucky in the way the days fell closely together. So my world traveling daughter is on the road again. She'll be back on Sunday, exhausted and with I'm certain, a butt-load of homework. Awww.... the joys of being a teenager.

Bob and I have endured many home makeovers in our 15 years together. Mostly little things, but they are always challenging because of the frustration level of 1) having a house full of kids (which causes...) 2) not having enough money or time to do all the things he wants to do. It's helpful to remind myself -- or you can remind me too -- that we don't (and shouldn't) always see eye-to-eye on every-single-little-thing or how it should be accomplished. ....Aren't the trials and tribulations of parenthood and marriage grand? I think I'm glad Spring Break has come and gone :)

Baby babbles

2007-03-20T14:08:00.000-05:00

Isn't baby babbling wonderful? I LOVE IT! I truly do. Landry can say a total of (maybe) six words now, but of course, she's the smartest 14 month old there ever was. She no longer walks anywhere, she runs. She use to say apple juice for EVERYTHING. At a basketball game a few weeks ago, a mom leaned over and said, "Wow, she's so smart, she can say apple juice really well". I said yes, proudly, but then divulged that everything from pacifer to spaghetti to poopy diaper is "apple juice". That was the only word she knew at the time. Now, she can say things that sound like "dog", "Dad" (of course), "MaMa", "bubble", "bird" and what we think sounds like "NeNe" for Sydney and "ZZ" for MacKenzie. Oh and "Dora" and "Aire" (Claire).
She gets REALLY mad when she's told no -- that is still true for my 16 year old, so I'm quite use to that, just not the face with the bottom lip and ALL the tears. It almost makes you laugh, but that will really piss her off more. She loves being outside. She got use to running around barefoot this weekend. She had what we call at our house "orphan feet".
Babies are just so awesome.
Our neighbor, Angie, is pregnant with her first baby. Hopefully, her morning (all-day, everyday) sickness will subside very soon and she can begin to enjoy her pregnancy. She has about three weeks left in the first trimester, so hopefully she'll be feeling better soon. I remember all the un-knowns and wonderful feelings that first time around. It's funny how that can be so wonderful but the fourth can be just as wonderful because you know what to expect.
I am very blessed to have a happy baby this time around. I have indeed been blessed with the not-so-happy baby, but of course, I loved them just the same. It's just a little nicer on mom to have her happier :)
Here's to happy babies & babblings...

Rah, Rah, Rah

2007-03-12T10:37:00.000-05:00

So... I have been blessed into the parenthood of another cheerleader. Sydney made 7th grade cheerleader at Cross Timbers last week. I think she was more surprised than anyone else. She had been preparing herself for the worst. 40 girls tried out for 18 positions. There was going to be a lot of tears no matter what. I was glad the tears weren't at my house! (Although I am sorry for the girls that did not make the team). Life will be (forever) changing at our house...

It is hard enough to be eleven years old, but being the younger sister of a seemingly perfect older sister has been difficult for Syd. Making the cheer leading squad will give her some much needed self confidence.

We had a few heart-to-heart, knock-down-drag-out, encounters at our house last week. It seems I am the hardest, meanest, parent in the whooooole entire world. There is such a fine line between knowing how hard to push your kids and letting them give up because something is too difficult. I never want my kids to feel like they can't do something. Bob and I are very blessed to be able to give them the means and encouragement for them to do and be whoever and whatever they want. My sixteen year old hates me. She says the only reason she does anything is because I make her. So as I'm writing this and I'm thinking, I guess that's not such a bad thing. I don't want them to go out for cheerleader if they don't want to... but I don't want them to do nothing either.

However, I think Katy just wants to blame me for her over indulgence in doing too much. SHE wants to audition for drill team officer and I think it's a bad idea. I would never say "Don't do it" but I do think it will over take her life (more than she realizes).

Thanks for listening. If you have any pointers for walking that fine parenting line, I'm certainly open for advice.

My pretty little princess niece...

2007-03-10T11:33:00.000-06:00

I have the most awesome sister and brother-in-law in the whole entire world. They are absolutely tremendous. They walk the walk, they talk the talk, they do everything right. Do you know any perfect people? Most likely no, as there aren't that many out there. Not only do I know them, but I'm related to them! Can you imagine? Yes, sometimes it can be somewhat annoying, there's no way I could ever live up to what they have already accomplished. They are missionaries in France, teaching the word of God to those that don't know Him. Isn't that the most incredible occupation you can imagine? I am still trying to figure out what God wants me to do while I'm on this earth. They know what they are suppose to be doing!! They are doing and living the life the Lord has chosen for them and they are right where they are suppose to be.

And of course, perfect parents produce the perfect child :) I have an incredibly fabulous two year old niece named Claire. We miss them every day.

I am so thankful to have them in my life. God has blessed me by just knowing and having them in our family.

I hope you are blessed with someone so incredible in your life.

Why do tragedies happen to teenagers??

2007-03-05T15:34:00.000-06:00

It has been a difficult week at Grapevine High School. Over a week ago a 17 year old baseball player, Chris Gavora, was warming up in the pitcher's cage. He was pitching and a freak accident occurred when a ball was hit two cages over and went through the back of two cages into his cage, hitting him in the back of the head. He was taken to the hospital and had immediate brain surgery for hemorrhaging. He lived for three days before giving in to his injuries. The teenagers have banned together in an effort to survive and somehow make sense of this horrific event. Of course, it hit me all too close to home by bringing up many memories of Rob's accident, now 17 years ago. In fact, Chris' death was on February 25, the same day as Rob's accident, February 25 (1990). I don't think anyone remembers that date as I do, but I am somewhat of a date freak. So, I've sat for about a week now thinking and praying about the lives accidents such as these change and how strange life really is. There is a whole world of "what ifs" and "what was" that we will never know.
Katy was at the game when Chris got hit. She did not really know him, but has come to know him through his friends telling stories and sharing his life. There was a wonderful story in our paper about him giving his organs, which have in turned saved six lives. His parents did not know he had signed up for organ donation, but now they feel very blessed that he had.

Here is Dallas Morning News' columnist, Kevin Sherrington's article... (you might want to grab a tissue first)...
Gavora’s Life Was a Gift
In the last weeks of his 17 short years, before he would die tragically from an injury in a Grapevine batting cage, Chris Gavora saved the lives of six people.
He saved them as surely as if he'd pulled them from a lake or a fire or the rubble of disaster.
A 54-year-old business owner and father of four kids.
A 27-year-old software engineer.
A 14-year-old boy.
A 29-year-old single mom.
A 10-year-old Arkansas boy.
Chris gave them, respectively, his pancreas, his liver, his kidneys, his heart.
We know a little about Chris from tributes and memorials rendered in the last week and at his funeral Saturday. In the seven months he'd lived in Colleyville after his family moved from Virginia, he left classmates memories of a normal kid distinguished by a set of dimples and a love of baseball.
But he was more than that. His parents, Bill and Jill Gavora, indicated as much in the statement they released last week.
"He loved life, and people," they wrote, "and cared deeply for the welfare of others."
Here's how you know: At a poignant and what proved to be prescient moment, perhaps moved by an organ donor awareness event at Grapevine High School three weeks ago, Chris told his parents he wanted to be a donor.
He never knew the people his gesture would save. Even now, the public doesn't know much about them. The recipients and their families have justifiable reasons for remaining anonymous. Hard enough just thinking someone else had to die in order for you to live, much less acknowledging it publicly.
But one family figured it could help the greater good to tell the story, and here it is.
Brad Walker, 35, received Chris' lungs. Diagnosed as an infant with cystic fibrosis, Walker had long ago outlived his doctors' prognosis. They told his parents he'd be lucky to see 10.
But he managed his illness and didn't show many outward symptoms. Made a life for himself. Grew up a rabid Oakland Raiders fan in Albuquerque, N.M.
Lives in Keller now. Loves cars, video games, his girlfriend and her daughter, and his black Lab, Sable.
But in the last two years, said his sister, Tracie Campbell, it was clear the disease had worn through his lungs.
His situation became critical in January. He checked into the hospital and didn't come out. Doctors called his prospects "day to day."
He all but died the third week of January. On the morning of Feb. 25, he turned for the worse again. Doctors told his family they were putting him on a ventilator, a desperate, perhaps even frivolous attempt to squeeze another day out of his fading life.
But only the day before, Chris Gavora had died from the head injuries sustained by a batted ball. Campbell, who'd traveled from Chicago to be with her mother and brother, had been following the story of the Grapevine baseball player like everyone else. When doctors told her a potential match was available with a 17-year-old male, she put the facts together even before officials told her.
And she was all but overwhelmed by the confluence of events.
"Had it not been for the timing and the match," Campbell said, "Brad would have died."
Walker has already had a second surgery since the transplant. He faces some difficulties, but doctors tell the family his prognosis is good.
Even still, he's not as fortunate as others. The 54-year-old diabetic who received Chris' pancreas has already gone home to his family.
All that doctors promise Walker is a chance to live another 10 years or so, and maybe by then they'll have another miracle for him.
Chris' miracle will do. Walker's sister and mother believe that merely accepting it is not enough. They want everyone to know their brother isn't anonymous. They want the public to see the face of organ donation, to understand what signing a card can mean for those waiting on the unthinkable.
Above all else, they want the Gavoras to know how grateful they are. So Campbell wrote them a letter.
My family is so sorry for the loss you suffered ... To me, your son Chris is a hero. He saved my brother's life.
We'll always feel a place for you and Chris in our hearts.
Nothing eases the pain from the loss of a child. Not the kindness of strangers, not platitudes, not even time.
But when there's no understanding why, you'd like to think maybe the Gavoras could find some small consolation in the six lives their son saved.
"I hope they will," Campbell said, softly. "I hope they will."

God bless Chris' family and friends and all of us whom have endured horrible tragedies in this life.

Super Bowl commercials...

2007-02-06T13:52:00.000-06:00

So... I was really excited (as most of us were) that Peyton Manning made it to the Super Bowl. I'm not a big Bears fan, so it wasn't difficult to pick my favorite. I was 90% certain had Colts had what it took -- until the opening kick-off, then I had my doubts. After they recovered from the initial shock of a 92 yard touch-down return, all was well. The game was "ok" as far as games go. Then the commercials came. When are you suppose to go to the bathroom during the Super Bowl ? I decided, it was during the game - not the commercials. I had to see what 2.6 million could do... Turns out, not much. There were some funny ones... I think my favorites were the Bud Light - But he has Bud Light , Doritos, Bud Light - Rock Paper, Scissors and Kevin Federline. Kevin was awesome because he was making fun of himself. There was controversy around his commercial and he even got more publicity than he should have. Crazy man - but smart at the same time. Good angle for Nationwide. ANd the Doritos commercial was submitted in a contest. That is cool. So I thought all the hype was more fun this year than it has been in the past. Maybe that is because my boss is doing a sermon series on the commercials and he himself got some publicity... Ken challenged the congregation to watch the commercials and find how religion or God is in them. Interesting angle for him too. We got some news coverage, which was fun. So this week we're working on remaking a Super Bowl commercial. Stay tuned to find out how it goes...

LOTS of snow

2007-01-22T11:32:00.000-06:00

WOW! We had a GREAT time in Colorado. Many family stories to tell for the rest of our lives. The trip there was an event in itself. It is suppose to be a 13 hour drive without stopping. We made it in 17 hours. The last 100 miles took us the extra four hours. As we passed through the blizzard of the century (for us Texans anyway) we made nervous jokes to break the silence and prayed ALOT. It snowed two feet in two days. It made for great skiing, even though getting to the top of the mountain was somewhat challenging the first couple of days.

It was cold - but not as cold as you would think. The first day we went skiing was unbearably cold. When we returned we found out it was -31 wind chill at the top of the mountain ( I don't think that's taken on the chair lift - THAT was even colder). We said - well no wonder we were so cold. The rest of the days we were even warm when the sun was shining. That was great.

We were so blessed to be able to ski for FOUR days. We were only suppose to go for three, but the girls begged for that last day. How wonderful. We were even more blessed to find a sitter that was God-sent to care for Landry. The first few days Grandma Pat was our blessing. The last few days (Grandma had to go home with Aunt Allyson & Ashton), we found (actually God sent her to me) Miss Diana. She babysits in Pagosa and she is SO AWESOME.

Of course there were those moments of fighting in the car, not doing homework and the trials of getting ALL the layers of ski clothes on... but they were all worth it.

We ran into someone Bob use to work with at the ski lodge - now that was weird. He is a wonderful man and somewhat of a mentor in Bob's life, so it was really nice to spend some time with he and his wife.

Now... we're back to reality. It's been a difficult couple of weeks getting back into the swing of things. The girls have fallen somewhat behind in their school work and I feel so responsible. BUT, we all knew the task of leaving and missing some school. God reminds me, it will all work out and it was worth it. We needed that time away.

Thanks for sharing!

Vacation... Here we come...

2007-01-09T15:13:00.000-06:00

Do you go on vacation? Every time we've been blessed enough to take a real vacation, we promise to take more frequent ones. It never happens that way. Many people have "vacation resources" which we aren't lucky enough to have. You know like flying for free, staying with family or friends, mom or grandma's free condo... Stuff like that. We are going to Wolf Creek, Colorado to stay for a week and go skiing. We are so excited, we just about can't sleep at night - I don't think that's REALLY Landry's excuse, but we're going with it. I have to say, I'm not REALLY looking forward to thirteen hours in the car with my four girls... They can't hardly be in the same room without arguing about SOMETHING. So the car trip, could be interesting. I've said before, my loving husband is somewhat short on the patience side, so we'll see how far we get before he says "I'll turn this car around right here". It might be something more like "I'll let you out right here".
But, those are what memories are made of... right? I have some not-so-desirable memories of vacations with parents fighting and one letting the other out on the side of the road - with her four year old child, somewhere between Texas and Florida. One of those memories, I'd REALLY care to forget. The mere mention of vacation from then on was very tabu in our house. There were separate vacations after that. Then separations, period. Wow, enough of that, back to MY families' vacation. It's been almost three years since we have been on a family vacation. I can't believe it's been THAT long. It's difficult to travel in a party of five - now six. These past few years we've been lucky enough to send our children places - we just don't get to go :( Plus, we had a baby, which somewhat puts a kninkle in your travel itinerary.
So we're off to the slopes! A friend at work told me this morning they are bracing for a big snow storm in Colorado, much like the one they had between Christmas & New Years. I got somewhat panicked. After looking on the web for every travel forecast I could find, it looks like there will be some snow, but not too bad. I'll let you know! Wish us luck :)

2007 are you kidding me???

2007-01-01T15:29:00.000-06:00

So, where does the time go? Why does it go faster the older you get? I just can't believe it's 2007. A friend of mine recently said, she just got used to writing 2006 on her checks. Last year on New Year's Eve I went to the hospital to have an emergency c-section at 9:45 PM. Landry was born at 11:46 PM. We didn't do anything quite so exciting this year. It is Landry's first birthday, so we had cake. She will have quite a party all her life. She won't ever be left with "there's nothing to do tonight".

I know I've talked (written) about how my children have such different personalities, but I have to brag about one of my children - after all, that's what blogs are about, bragging and complaining, right?!?! All three older girls got Target gift cards from one of their grandparents. MacKenzie HAD to go to Target right away and buy Landry a birthday present. Now Landry is JUST A LITTLE BIT SPOILED. She had nine presents at home for her birthday, just from us! And it is just one week after Christmas. I don't even think she's seen all her Chsirtmas presents yet. She's just a tad bit overwhelmed. But MacKenzie insisted. I did talk her into buying a small present and spending the rest on herself. Her Aunt Tiffany gave her a Rachel Ray kids cookbook (GREAT gift) that she loves! So we looked for other Rachel Ray cookbooks.
We found one and she wanted to buy it for me. Again, I had to insist that she buy something for herself. (I bought the cookbook for me ~ that helped). So a very proud moment for mom. Now, the other two -- that's a totally different story. They spent their money on the season 2 of Lost. To me, that is just a waste of money. Oh well. Happy New Year 2007 to you all.

Sick Christmas of 2006

2006-12-28T09:45:00.000-06:00

WOW, it's been a really long time since I've blogged... Over a month, I see. Thanksgiving and Christmas are crazy in our home. Working for a church, it's our busiest season. Our pastor calls those parishioners (that only attend church twice a year) the Poinsettia & Lilly crowd. Anyway, the church is a busy place over the holidays. People seem to need God and some find him over the holidays. And since my poor husband works for UPS, we don't really see him from Thanksgiving to New Years. When we do see him he's snapping at us and down right grumpy. We try to be more forgiving considering he's working 16 hours a day for the two weeks prior to Christmas. HOWEVER, now it's three days AFTER Christmas and his mood has not lightened. Thank goodness we're blessed with an upcoming ski vacation. Hopefully we can find our peace and serenity once again - after the 12 hour car ride with four children of course. THAT I am not really looking forward to.

So back to my crappy Christmas... It seemed I was going to make it through alright. Every year I start to get a bad attitude, since I am the lone ranger in planning, buying and wrapping everything for all of our family. This includes at least one meal at my house and planning one or two meals elsewhere. Last year I was pregnant at this time and very tired of all the hustle & bustle. This year I have a one year old -- talk about tired! Yes, I have figured out why people have children at a younger age. Being 40 and chasing a baby along with a 16, 11 and 9 year old -- and taking care of my husband is exhausting to say the least. First of all, I lost my debit/Visa card one week before Christmas. How have we become so dependent on these things? What can you not live without? Debit cards and cell phones - crazy, huh? Not to mention, I washed my cell phone two weeks ago and had to replace that as well. A good freind suggested next time, I take a soft cloth and wipe it down instead of washing it in my jeans pocket :) So I have to replace all the contacts in my cell phone and I never know who is calling me. I have to say, I did not realize how dependent I was on phone numbers - there are many I do not have written down in any other place. So, that really sucked. Back to the debit card... I had to write like five billion checks, which takes much longer and some places don't even take checks anymore. Plus, It's more difficult (for me) to keep track of my spending. We were already off to a "not-so-great" start. As Christmas was about three days away, I thought if that was the worst thing that happened, I could make it. THEN the baby got sick -- (here's where the music goes dun,dun,dun). Croupy cough, runny nose, can't breathe so all she does is cry. Can't suck on her pacifier, so she cries more. Doesn't want ANYONE but Mommy. Mommy has presents to wrap, last minute presents to BUY, lots of food and preparation. Blah, blah, blah... It all comes to a scretching halt. THEN Mommy got sick (louder DUN, DUN, DUN). Daddy is still snapping at everyone, he's a complete zombie because he's worked SO hard the past month -- this is the man that loves his job (!?!?!?) I don't know about your house, but in mine, when Mommy gets sick the earth stops revolving. And when it's on Christmas day - that just sucks.
So now, we're somewhat on the mend. The rest of the girls have scratchy throats, but seem to be fighting it off. Not that they would if they had to go to school - but it is Christmas break!
In the mean time, I feel like The Little Engine That Could... just trying to get to January 12 for vacation. Hopefully we will all be well!
I should take pictures of Landry in her beautiful Christmas dress before all the decorations are down. She has a matching bow, bloomers, socks & shoes. Then I can look back and say "Oh that was the Sick Christmas of 2006, when she didn't even wear that dress - I took the pictures in January when we were all well!" No... I think I'll pass on that.
Oh well, another Christmas season has come and gone.

Hopefully next year we will be well. We are still so very blessed, even through our trials and tribulations.

I hope your Christmas was full of love (and health!)

Hannah Montana ROCKS

2006-11-21T12:31:00.000-06:00

Do you know Hannah Montana? She is awesome. It's really difficult to find a good show for your kids to watch these days. Even Disney comes out with some "ify" kid television. If you can't trust Disney, who can you trust? So here's a show about a preteen (I have two) who in her secret life is a pop-star. She hides it from everyone so she can live a real life as a pre-teen. I know the last part is a little bit over the top - who would hide it? But Miley is lovable, funny and truthful.

This is the real-life daughter of Billy Ray Cirus. That in itself is kind of funny because if you have a preteen (or close to) you remember Billy Ray Cirus for the one hit wonder of Achy Breaky Heart. Poor Billy Ray, he actually did more than that, but that's all I remember of him. Anyway, back to his wonderful daughter, Miley Cirus.

I took my girls (minus the baby, of course) to a Hannah Montana concert this past weekend. It was Sydney & MacKenzie's first-ever concert, so they were pretty pumped to begin with. Mind you, I didn't even tell them we were going until four hours before -- because I wouldn't be able to handle the "How long until we go...." questions.

Katy's first concert was the Spice Girls in 1998. WOW how things have changed (thank goodness!)

It was actually the Disney 10th Birthday concert, so Nothin' But Strings, B5, the Jonas Brothers, Aly & AJ were there too. They were all good, a GREAT kids concert. I was really impressed by the Jonas Brothers. You might think of them as the Hansen Brothers - which would be a shame because they are much better. You can check them out at Jonas Brothers

Back to Miley... she's great. I can't say enough about her and the Hannah Montana show. I am so glad to see something I am not afraid for my kids to be watching AND they still enjoy it. So check it out... mom might just like it too ;) Hannah Montana

What happened to Halloween??

2006-11-01T11:15:00.000-06:00

I love Halloween. It's so fun to all the children dressed up. The most fun are the children that are about three years old,walking from house to house, wondering what the heck is going on. But just as most things have gone by the way side (isn't that a funny saying?!) Halloween has gone too. Every year we get less and less Trick or Treaters in our neighborhood.

I think it's great they are giving families an alternative -- but I do miss Trick or Treating as it use to be. We had a great time this year. Our neighbor (my husband's other half) Danny, smoked fajita meat on the smoker and it was delicious! We hung out & played with Landry as the kids came and went.

Hope you had a great Halloween!!

I just read a post from a friend that we should be Catholic. Not that I don't have enough religious controversy in my life, I work at a Methodist Church, attend a Baptist church - pretending itself to be non-denominational, and I'm married to a truck driver that needs all the religion I can hand him on a daily basis, so why not be Catholic?!? The reasoning behind this is simple - they have the day after Halloween off - EVERY YEAR! Now there is reasoning. I had been saying we needed to change Halloween where it's like Thanksgiving. It can be the last Saturday of October every year. Why does it have to be October 31st? Thanksgiving is never the same date and we do it just great every year. It's just not fair to any of us, trying to get sugar loaded kids into bed and then up at the crack of dawn the next day. It's certainly not fair to the teachers :( So I say, change it! Next year it won't be dark outside until much later with Day-light-savings time being changed to the first weekend in November. This has good and bad. Some kids don't want to go out until it's dark outside.

So another observation, I was not rude, I handed the candy over, BUT -- I am not kidding you - I had more adults trick or treating at my house than children! And to top it off, they didn't even say "Trick or Treat" ! They just walked up and opened their bag! Several thoughts went through my mind, but I didn't say anything. We even had one parent holding their own bucket, holding their child, who was holding a bucket - ? A little confusing, but isn't Halloween for the children? Can't you just eat your kids candy -- do you really need your own bucket? I only had two out of four kids trick or treating and I have enough candy at my house for the Macy's parade.

Seriously, these people really need to a grip - or at least some manners. I remember teaching my kids to trick or treat, going with them from door to door, "What do you say?" (trick or treat) "What do you say now?" (THANK YOU and Happy Halloween)

So, I guess I was a little put out with some of the Halloween experience this year - but the kids were cute, the company was great and the fajitas were wonderful!

The Big 4 - 0

2006-10-26T16:42:00.000-05:00

So, my best friend is 40 today and as that means a lot for her, it means one thing for me, it means I will be 40 in 30 days. We always thought it was neat our birthdays are exactly one month apart - the only thing that's neat about it now is that she will be 40 before me! I have another wonderful friend (I know - I'm SO blessed!) who also recently turned 40 (last week). Not that her turning 40 depressed me, but her gorgeous photos (of herself) and her gorgeous boyfriend on his to-die-for Harley and her telling me she bought herself a Corvette for her 40th birthday -- just about did me in.
I wouldn't trade my children or my husband (most of the time) for anything but let's just say I had a tad bit of green blood running through my veins for a day (maybe two). I want to be thin and have energy again. Maybe getting rid of this stupid cold and getting four hours of uninterrupted sleep would help - you think? FOUR hours - I didn't even write EIGHT.

So for the past three days I've been looking for the perfect 40th birthday gift to send my far away best friend. We have been friends for ... 30 years. OH MY GOSH, now I feel old. Well, we can't exactly say 30 because she hated me in 6th grade. Then we ended up being best friends before high school ended. We have some amazing and some not-so amazing stories that we share. It's unbelievable to me that we're turning 40. WOW, where does the time go? So in my frenzy to find the perfect gift, I began to wonder what I would want for my birthday - if mine was before hers. I thought... I would want to sit down with a bottle of wine and my best friend and have a girls night out (in). When I told Bob this story he looked at me wide-eyed with mouth open assuming the next sentence out of mouth was going to be, "So I bought a plane ticket and I'm going to Alabama for the weekend - you have the kids". It was pretty darn funny. No, instead of causing my husband heart failure, we took a picture of me with a glass of wine, and I sent Aimee' a gift, wine, my picture and a note to call me. It will have to do for now.

So happy BIG 4-0 (just the sound of that is so tacky) to my bff. I have 30 more days before the ax comes down on me :)

What Time is it Black Cat?

2006-10-25T10:47:00.000-05:00

My office is next to the gym inside the church. When it rains (or it's under 40 degrees - yea right) the preschool children play in the gym. Today, they are playing What Time is it Black Cat? which is a variation of What Time is it Mr. Fox? -- Black Cat exchanged for Halloween. So let's just say there is NO insulation in the walls in this church/gym. Every 3 minutes - YES 3 minutes - they yell "What Time is it Black Cat?" at the top of their little lungs. Last year they played Mr. Fox and we emailed each other from our offices around the gym asking Mr. Fox to find his silly watch. I wish you could hear their sweet little voices because they are having so much fun. Thankfully I don't have a major project going on or a deadline staring down at me, so today is a good day for Black Cat - if there is such a thing. I think 3 years old is the most perfect age. You might remind me of this post in two years when Landry is pulling my hair out. 3 year olds are potty-trained, they can tell you what they want or where it hurts, they are eager to learn and explore, they don't talk back, THEY SLEEP THROUGH THE NIGHT, right!?!? Aww, to be three...

I went to a seminar a few years ago where they had us play children's games like this one. We also had to thank each other and give ourselves credit for the accomplishments we had made. When you are 3 years old, you get so much celebration for the smallest things. I went into the restroom today when a 3 year old happened to be in there with her teacher. She got at least 5 "atta-girls" within a 2 minute period! 5! When is the last time you gave yourself a celebration for an accomplishment? (Not in the bathroom-mind you) Some days just getting all three girls to school on time deserves a big TA-DA -- but I don't give myself one. In the absence of others giving you credit, give yourself the credit. Have a celebration. A pat on the back is not over-rated. We deserve it. And it makes people feel so good to receive recognition. Why is it so difficult to compliment and recognize all the good in the world, but so easy to criticize and berate? Sorry to sound like a self-help book, but jeeze, we live in such a crazy busy world. Getting through each day deserves a TA-DA in itself.

Anyway.... I think I'll go see if Black Cat thinks it's time for lunch :)

I love Baseball

2006-10-23T09:41:00.000-05:00

Some people (mostly women) think that's weird. I have loved baseball since I was in high school. I don't just love it, I'm consumed with it. Not ALL the time, but when it's World Series week, I can't get enough of it. It doesn't even matter that my team isn't EVER in the running.

This year I'm fascinated with Ivan Rodriguez and Kenny Rogers -- since they use to play for my will-never-make-it-to-the-play-offs team. We thought we had to trade them because 1) they wanted too much money and 2) Kenny had a run-in with a story-hungry photographer. So now all of us die-hard Texas Rangers fans can watch two of our ex-players win the World Series ( I know the Cardinals could actually make it happen - I just doubt it). I hope my girls have a love of sports the way I do. An added bonus, it makes my marriage a happier union on the weekends ;)

So GO Tigers! And until next year Texas Rangers. I will miss Buck, but maybe, just maybe 2007 will be our year!

High School Football

2006-10-19T09:07:00.000-05:00

I never really participated in high school activities when I was younger. I really missed out. I think we always want to make our children's lives better than our own (what kind of parents would we be if we didn't??) I try to be available to my girls 100% of the time - sometimes to a enabling level I suppose. They get really use to mom being just down the street. There have been days I've made numerous runs to different schools with forgotten homework, tennis shoes, lunch money, field trip permission slips, order forms -- the list goes on and on. But I don't mind. #1, because I AM right down the street and #2, if I was a GREAT mom they wouldn't forget those things in the first place, because I would remember before they got out the door. Granted we're all too busy and things will always be forgotten. When they were younger we were WAY to busy participating in too many activities. Those activities have been slimmed down for several years. Now they are replaced with different activities. School itself keeps kids too busy. Projects and homework take up many hours at home each week. Then if they are involved in other activities, say drill team, softball, volleyball and cheerleading for instance, it leaves a lot of room for "forgetfulness". I DO think there is a great need for involvement. Busy kids stay out of trouble. I wasn't much of a busy kid. I went from one activity to another - once it got too difficult I changed -- or just quit. What kind of message does that send? It is difficult to find the happy medium. I think being involved in extra activities keeps their minds active with their activity-- instead of falling into trouble. Also, you have to make good grades to participate - so that helps! Middle school and high school are tough.
We are really enjoying Katy's high school years. She is in drill team (all those years of dance paying off). We go to the games on Friday night -- Friday Night Lights has nothing on us. Landry even enjoys it.

A baby that can take a nap in the middle of a high school football game is a trooper indeed!
This is her in between the bleacher seats - on the ground - sound asleep during the game a couple of weeks ago. When she woke up, she was good-to-go for another four hours! That is a power nap - she gets that from her Daddy :)

It so fun to watch all the kids that Katy has grown up with, some in band, some cheerleading, some quarterback and receiving! Then there are those that I don't see, the ones that aren't participating and I wonder where they are. They are missing out on a terrific part of their growing up. Hopefully, they will be as lucky as me and experience what they missed growing up through their children's eyes when their older. Being a parent has and continues to be a blessing each and every day. Go Mustangs!

My One-Second of Fame

2006-10-11T09:27:00.000-05:00

Have you had your one-second of fame? I had not... until today. Yesterday I ran an errand to Grapevine Mills Mall to get my babysitter a gift card, for YESTERDAY was her birthday. That was a God-thing in itself, because I had this "feeling" her birthday was in October. I didn't actually know when it was. All last week I had meant to ask her but with mornings as crazy as they are, that never happened. Then Monday night, the "feeling" got stronger and I dug through some papers, which I knew listed her birth date. Wal-ah - at 9:00 PM on Monday night, I had confirmation that Tuesday was her birthday! Of course she would be at my house by 7:45 AM, so there wasn't a lot of time to prepare. At least it wasn't the day-after her birthday, I had a ton of time to prepare! I have a box of cards (yea me!!) so I had the girls sign a card and we decided what type of gift cards I would purchase the next day on my lunch hour. God made lunch hours and fast food for busy working moms to get their errands done.

Which all brings me to my one-second of fame. We actually had RAIN here yesterday. We have been in such a drought that any rain at all is a blessing. Yesterday it stormed for several hours. So knowing I had to run errands I had my umbrella in the car (this is unbelievable in itself).
As I was leaving the Mall a woman takes my photo with this giant camera and says she's from the newspaper and ask for my name. She says she loves my umbrella (smiley faces) and says "Isn't the rain great?!". She says she's been waiting in this location for quiet some time, but everyone is umbrella-less. Great short conversation and I'm on my way. Today my picture is on the FRONT page of the Star Telegram. It's a fun picture because it is at the Rainforest Cafe entrance at the mall.

So that's my one-second of fame. Thanks for sharing. Say a prayer for more rain, more time-appropriate "feelings" (God-things) and thank God for lunch hours and fast food to help us make it through.

140 Years is a LONG Time

2006-09-28T08:43:00.000-05:00

This past weekend was the First United Methodist Church of Grapevine's 140th Year Celebration. The staff and some guests dressed up in 1866 attire and we had horse drawn carriages and a pot luck lunch. There was one service instead of the normal three, in which 1,200 people attended. Grapevine Mayor, William D. Tate spoke as did several prominent church and community members. It was a great day and much history was learned by many. Being the pastor's assistant it was a very busy day for me with a very busy month leading up to such an event. It was wonderful to have my family there to share in the event. Here are some great pictures I want to share...

Me & Whitney dressed in our 1866 dresses!

Katy was beautiful & very helpful in greeting & welcoming!

We had a tremendous time! Afterward, Whitney sent her dress home with the girls & I, so they could play dress up! Here is what they looked like...

Aren't they cutie-pies! Thanks for looking! I suggest dressing up for all exciting events like this! It made our celebration so much more fun!

Sisters are a funny thing...

2006-09-20T13:33:00.000-05:00

There is very little "in-between" with sisters. My sister and I are ten years apart and did not grow up very close. So I never *really* experienced the "sister-thing". If you are reading this you know I have four girls. They experience the "sister-thing" every minute of every day. We are blessed with a wonderful house, but sometimes the quarters can get a little close with six people under one roof. Especially five being women (bless my poor-husband's heart). I consistantly ask the good Lord to give me more patience as my girls are ALWAYS argueing about something. If I ask for something to get put away or picked up off the floor, the answer is always "It isn't mine, it's HERS", "I didn't so it", "It's not my fault", "I did it last time", etc. It's exhausting really.

But something strange happened within the past few days. The two closest in age, Sydney (11) and MacKenzie (9) started getting along. Yes, it was surprising to me, too. I wasn't alarmed at first, I knew it wouldn't last long. But now it's going on DAY THREE. This morning when there was no fighting, I really started to worry. Mornings aren't usually (shall I say - never) our best time together. I had thought last month as they started school, maybe this would happen since they are going to different schools this year - Sydney started middle school, MacKenzie is still in Elementary and Katy is in High School. Yes, it makes for a interesting car-pool morning. But for over a month of school, the argueing and bickkering was still very much happening. However, for the past few days they have been *playing* together. Playing school, jumping on the trampoline, playing with friends, reading together, playing school -- all TOGETHER. Taking up for each other when one gets in trouble.

It makes for those "parent moments" when you realize how wonderful it is for them to have siblings. You know? I often think about children that are "only children". They get all the attention from BOTH parents all of the time. I do have to admit sometimes I am stretched to my limit trying to share time between my girls. Especially when Bob is working too many hours or when one (or all) of them only need MOM.

But, these moments of mom-hood I wouldn't trade for the world. Some how, some way, God finds a way to stretch me and I hope none of them ever feel neglected or left out. The sharing and even the fighting will help them grow into wonderful women one day. Yes, there is a reason God gave me all girls and at THIS particular moment, I am loving it.

Can you Believe it's Been FIVE Years??

2006-09-11T09:19:00.000-05:00

You know what I'm talking about without me even saying "it".

I read the newspapers over the weekend and reflected on where I was and how I found out. I remember vividly calling my husband at work on my cell phone after dropping MacKenzie off at day care. I remember driving all the way to work listening to the radio in disbelief as everyone was trying to find out what the heck was happening. I remember walking into my office and everyone gathering around the TV in total silence - not knowing what to think, say or do. Calling a friend and us wondering together if we should go pick our children up from school. Going home that night, hugging my children and my husband tighter than the night before. Tucking the kids in bed tightly and watching CNN with Bob in more silence. Going to church, holding hands with people around me as we sung patriotic songs and crying together with my family.

All this morning the radio has played 9/11 songs - those written about 9/11 as well as The Star Spangled Banner, America the Beautiful, Amazing Grace. I am very emotional today. I hold a giant place in my heart for those effected by this tragedy. Sydney said this morning that two of her good friends would not have moved here if not for 9/11. In some way it effects all of us.

I have more Faith, I am more patriotic, I am less quick to anger than before 9/11 five years ago. I give more attention to the news, to our military, to those fighting for our right to freedom. I talk to my children about our freedom and those that have died for it. The song Alan Jackson sings, Where were you? says so much. One of the lines is of course Faith, Hope and Love are some good things He gave us, But the greatest is Love.
I hope you will reflect today and say a prayer for all of us.

Remodeling is NOT a family-affair

2006-09-05T11:47:00.000-05:00

Don't misunderstand, I love my husband. But remodeling is not something we can do together. We have proven this to ourselves again this weekend. I have known this for years, but somehow I had forgotten as we have stayed away from the "r" word for quiet some time. After being married for fourteen years we have tried our hand at many remodeling items. To our defense there are many things "wrong" with our house. Many times the remodeling sna-fus have not been totally our fault. So we don't actually "agree" to jump right into a remodeling event - instead we jump in without really discussing it- wrong choice #1. First of all, I wanted to repaint the kitchen cabinets. I'm just really bored with the color and we need a change. Men don't really understand "need a change". I think their definition of "need a change" would be: the baby's diaper. We did discuss the idea of painting the kitchen cabinets and he quickly worked to talk me out of it. He is normally right about these types of things, but since I "needed a change" I quickly worked for another solution. How about taking down the wallpaper and re-texturing the walls? We had talked about this several times prior. Didn't sound too difficult and at-the-time I thought since my neighbor had done the same thing recently I would have a how-to person right next door. That in itself became a major conflict. It's great to have someone to give direction, but when this person is your next door neighbor and Mr.ToolTime himself not-to-mention your husband's fulltime partner-in-crime -- it can become a problem.

Anyway, back to the subject, I stripped the wallpaper on Friday and that was fairly easy so I was excited to get started. Then fear set-in. My husband says I'm the perfectionist of the family, but in truth it's him. He cannot complete dinner much-less a home improvement project without totally ripping it apart and telling me EVERYTHING that is wrong with it. When he makes gravy at Thanksgiving - and oh my gosh it's the best gravy EVER - he spends literally hours making it perfect. So all of a sudden I thought, there is no way whatever I do is going to be good enough.

So Saturday, I did nothing. Totally wasted the day. Actually, Katy got her "need a change" bug at the same time and decided she and her best friend, Nikki, were going to remodel the hall bathroom. Nikki painted a wonderful piece of art for Katy's birthday and Katy decided to theme the bathroom around it.

I was fine with it - the bathroom needed a change as well and more than that - teenage girls need home improvement projects just like mom does :) This already was too much for Dad to handle. I read somewhere that men are afraid of color. This is totally true for my husband. This was true before he only wore brown and drove a brown truck for the past 18 years, but it's even more so now. So needless to say, he wasn't thrilled with the gold and bright blue the girls picked out for the bathroom. It came out beautifully. Some touch ups need to be done, but I think it's great.

Even the little sisters like it - they say it's a big girl's bathroom now. If I thought we had problems with long baths before (Katy - not me), I definitely will now. Anyway, that whole event was going on in between the texturing event in the kitchen which happened late Sunday and all of Monday. At some point I guess Bob decided this was all my project, so he offered a lot of advice :) but no help. And then Monday night he told me he didn't like it at all, which REALLY hurt my feelings, but oh well. What was I going to do at that point? I couldn't stop, I couldn't take the texture off the walls. We were 3/4 finished so we just kept on. Sydney & MacKenzie helped somewhat and I think that aggravated him even more. He cannot stand "messy" home improvement projects. Children painting is not his idea of "fun".
So now it's done, not painted, but the texture is on. The fun painting part will come next weekend.

My new family motto : Families that can make it through home improvement projects will only be stronger.

I remember now why there are years in between these events.

On a better note, a even better weekend project was that Bob got some flagstone rock and made an awesome sidewalk and patio in our backyard. It is going to be beautiful! I am really excited about that and I'm looking forward to spending some qt in the backyard.

Eleanor Roosevelt said: People grow through experience if they meet it honestly and courageously. This is how character is built.

We built some character this weekend!

As long as I don't paint the kitchen bright blue - I'll let you know how the painting goes next week :)

Baby Teeth

2006-08-24T12:56:00.000-05:00

I had forgotten how tired a mom gets when she stays up all night with a teething baby. Bless her heart, she wasn't miserable or anything (Landry- not mom) - thank goodness. She just couldn't sleep. Almost like she had insomnia or something. I think I could take a nap right now. Our girls got their first teeth before they were six months old. Landry is almost eight months old and the first one appeared Tuesday. I am certain the next one will be there tonight and then maybe another two before the weekend is over. When you have nine years between babies you tend to forget things like baby teeth. It is funny how you forget the little *unbearable* points when they are babies - only to remember the wonderful moments of parenthood. Although, you tend to forget some of the wonderful moments as well, when you have a house full of older children.

Landry started waving bye-bye a few days ago (I KNOW - teeth AND bye-bye all in one week! How much can one mom handle?!) She does the "backward hand - almost when you quit trying" bye-bye wave. My girls work SO hard to get this little baby to wave bye-bye. And then it's as if she's a circus animal, "Look! Look! Look what Landry can do!!" All those little-bitty firsts that you tend to forget as they grow, talk back and ask for stuff all the time :)

Gosh, she just started really sitting-up (not spitting-up... sitting-up) a couple of weeks ago. Now we're on to almost-for-the-most-part crawling, a bye-bye wave and her first tooth. I don't think she's too into crawling. She's started pulling up on EVERYTHING. The dishwasher, the couch, the kitchen chairs, her toy baskets, her crib. Bob lowered her crib mattress last weekend and God love him - he lowered it to the lowest level. From the highest to the lowest. Not that there are two levels in between to save my aching-back. Why? So he doesn't have to do it again of course. He was pre-thinking. Saving time - for later. I wasn't too happy and wanted it raised. But then two days later Landry starts standing up in her crib EVERYTIME I go to get her. So once again, he's right. (Happens to me a lot) So it looks like eight months is the turning point of not-quite-a-baby anymore and I miss it already!! Even though we had not planned on having another baby (no-kidding? Nine years in between the last) I always had thought about it. So KNOWING the next little-bitty baby in the house will be many years down the road brings a little tear to my eye. Almost like those last moments of being pregnant did in December. I loved being pregnant. Even the swelling and the nausea and the unbearable figure. Knowing that God is creating a miracle inside you is a wonderful, unbelievable feeling.
Wow. So even though I am incredibly tired today, I am still a little sad my baby is growing up so quickly. Having this miracle in our lives has taught me to cherish each and every moment and it has given me the opportunity to reflect and treasure the moments with my older girls - about my older girls. Those"when-you-were-little" conversations that we otherwise would not have. Life is so, so busy. It is so awesome that God has given me this miracle to remind me to slow down, watch and enjoy it.

Whew! What a weekend...

2006-08-22T12:27:00.000-05:00

Katy's sweet sixteen birthday party has come and (thankfully) gone. We had about 55 kiddos from 5pm to 10 pm. It was fun, but A LOT of work. I am thankful for Aunt Trish & Uncle Jason for their generosity in letting us take over their backyard. Landry stayed at Chris' house and I missed having her there! It was wonderful to have been able to give Katy & her friends the attention a mom should - but it was difficult being SO busy and missing Landry.

Sydney & MacKenzie got to participate, although I think they were bored most of the time. They wouldn't have missed it - but they weren't really *in the action*.

So now we're back to our *trying to get in the school groove* mind-set. Monday was difficult. I think Katy & I had after-the-party fatigue - even though we had Sunday, it didn't help in recuperating. And Sydney, is having a hard time adjusting to the rules of home for middle school. Anybody else been through this?? I know I made it through once - obviously Katy made it to her 16th birthday so I didn't strangle her in the times I thought I might :) But my goodness, Sydney is her own special little person. She thinks it's her way or the high-way. I've been trying to explain that works for MOM not for her!

*One day at a time*. Now I'm on to getting in the groove of this PTA position that snuck up on me. I was *nominated* (Is that the word for a bunch of ladies sitting around and saying "OH I know who we can get to do this") for homeroom representative coordinator. Man, that will look good on my mom resume. So far I think I've got that position, box-top committee chairperson and drill team mom - that inself is too much. All three girls are going to different schools, plus Landry is 8 months old. Do you think that's too much when your husband works 60 hours a week? Not to mention the 40 I work. Thank the Lord I am blessed to be able to work 16 of those from home - although sometimes that is MORE difficult. I can still hope and pray everyday that UPS will find a way to make Bob's life easier. Yes, they are paid well, but are they really? Not for the amount of work they do.

So we're looking forward to starting another season of softball (Sydney) and football season starts in two weeks - although the drill team (Katy) has had practice beginning at 7AM for 6 weeks now. MacKenzie has decided she's the volleyball player and she's really good at it! The VB Fall season starts in October. Bob's decided out of all of this he doesn't have a soccer player - so I'm really hoping Landry likes soccer :)

I'm also really hoping to sign up for a bible study this Fall at church. Looks like mom needs some time for herself (WHAT?!?!) But Landry doesn't cooperate too well with the nursery yet - she's just a tad spoiled. And you know as soon as I sign up, it will be on a night that we have softball or something. Oh well, God will let me know when the time is right. Once again *One day at a time*.