Look who is 5?!?!?

I seriously cannot believe that my first born is 5 years old! Where did the time go? Of course this pic is of him at around 6 months but it is our all time favorite!
What a wonder this little boy has been and continues to be. He loves dinosaurs and superheroes and, above all his momma and sister. He is so totally in love with our pool - something that thrills C and I since we both love the water so much!! He is very stubborn and wants things his way, but he is working hard on taking turns and letting other people win - even at Heigh-Ho-Cherrio. My most favorite things about my son is his sense of adventure. He bravely takes on each day with a sense of courage that I wish I could muster. I love how he isn't afraid of showing affection towards others. He also thinks that every rock he finds on the playground is a fossil and that he must being it back for his momma. Needless to say, there have been times that the washing machine has washed more rocks than clothes....According to his teacher, I am his favorite person. This doesn't sit well with Dad but we both know that the time will come when Daddy will be #1 over Momma (at least in public). For now, I enjoy putting him to bed because that is when I get to sing him his special song. Right now, he still asks for it so I push through my weariness to take him in my arms and sing to him. when I first started singing it, he fit nicely in my arms. Now, he takes up my lap and then some! I do not look forward to the time when he will not let me sing to him - but I WILL sneak in and sing to him after he has gone to sleep!!
One thing that is really showing now is his faith. They found a worm on the playground at school. K took it upon himself to guard the worm. One classmate stepped on it and Keegan yelled, "Stop it! You are hurting on of God's special creatures!" (Luckily, the worm was fine.) He sings Christian radio songs and asks me questions about God and Jesus. He always asks "Why?" and I try my best to answer him or find out the answer.
I am beyond excited about getting to spend the summer with this amazing boy. I am going to be present in the moments with him since he starts Kinder next year. I know that this will bring on some changes in him and I pray that they are for the better. But I look forward to seeing how the gifts that I know God placed in him come to life and change this world for the better. He truly is a blessing and I could not imagine my life without him, my sunshine!

Here comes summer!!

Woo hoo!! We are seriously on the tail end of the school year. With both my husband and I being teachers, I was so super excited about this summer - would be the first one in FOUR years that I would not be teaching summer school!! But, then we got the news that my DH will be working for the overwhelming majority of the summer on curriculum development....boo!! This is also the summer before K starts kindergarten. I really wanted this summer to be fantastic for all of us...guess it will just be me and the kids. A will still go to her daycare which will give me time to work with K on stuff to prepare for school next year. To help me get jazzed about the change in plans for the summer, I decided to create a bucket list of things I want to to do this summer.
To start our summer, C and I will be taking K to Walt Disney World...just us and him. Miss A gets some alone time with her grandparents. C and I decided many moons ago that we wanted to do something special for our kiddos the summer before they start school and that something is Disney World. C and I are not telling K anything about it...though we are planting seeds in K's mind about it. He will not know what we are doing until we get there. Since we are flying, we don't know if he will be more excited about his first plane trip or Disney. Now that our trip is a few short weeks away, we are getting super excited. I decided that I wanted to use a Disney travel agent and boy and I glad I did! She is amazing!! She made all of our reservations - including meal reservations!! Be sure to contact Elyssa at http://mickeytravels.com/.
This is our motto:


After we get back from our trip, we have two weeks of swim lessons. K is super excited! He loves his swim teacher. This will be A's first year. Pretty much, her class is 30 minutes of non-stop crying from the random dunking that the little ones get. The purpose of this class is to teach the little ones how to save themselves if they ever fall into the pool and no one is around to save them. It was rough when I had to be the one in the pool dunking K for two years. For Miss A, she gets daddy - hopefully.
As for the rest of the summer, it will be filled with so much activity! There are crafts, adventures, and serious cooking (one item is to find the best ice cream recipe) that will be going on so be sure to check in and see what we are up to!!

Call for prayers

So, there are two precious children and their families that I know of that are struggling with illness right now. Both are patients at Children's in Dallas.Both are under the age of two. And they need prayers of healing - BIG TIME!! One is a little girl that was diagnosed just this week with a malignant neuroblastoma. One is a little boy that has had an aggressive asthma attack. As a mom, I am brought to my knees in prayer for these two precious children and pray for them throughout the day. I feel so very, very grateful that I have two healthy children but know that can change in an instant. We had a terrifying experience with K when he had just turned two.
It started with K running a high fever. He woke up around 5 in the morning and we got up to give him some medicine to try to control the fever. While C was holding him, I went into the bathroom to put the medicine away and get a cold washcloth. K went into hysterics because he wanted me to be with him (he tends to want mom when he is not well). Next thing, C is shouting, "Oh God!! His eyes are rolling back!!" I rushed in to see K starting to have a seizure. C was completely freaking out. I yelled at him to go call 911 and I place K on his side on our bed and started praying over him, asking for God's angels to protect him. I was familiar with what to do in case someone is having a seizure since one of the kiddos in our church is epileptic. I knew not to restrain him but to stand by to make sure he didn't fall off the bed. C also called my parents, who lived behind us at the time and they quickly rushed over. The seizure lasted about 2-3 minutes (longest of my life) and completely knocked K out. I called our preacher and asked for prayers. He said to keep him updated. The paramedics arrived within a few minutes of our call (I was bummed..K loves firetrucks!) and started checking him out. But K was so totally knocked out that he was no responding. His vitals came back fine. The head paramedic said that they could transport him to Children's in the ambulance but that, since K's vitals were strong and steady, we could easily transfer him ourselves with the extra cost of an ambulance trip. I also called the answering service for our family doctor, and she quickly called us back (we LOVE Dr. Callie!!). She said that she would call ahead to Children's to give them the heads up that he was coming so that we didn't have a long wait in the ER. So, we did. I sat next to K in the back with a trash can (he had thrown up when he came around). He was still crying and upset. We tried to keep him as calm as possible out of fear of another seizure. We arrived at Children's ER and I whisked K in to get checked out. We did not have a long wait at all. I cannot tell you how calming and fabulous the nurses and doctors were. While we were sitting there, our preacher walked in. The feeling of relief that washed over me cannot be described. We dearly love our preacher. He was one of the first to visit us after K was born. He baptised K. He feels such a connection to our boy. And, here he was when we felt so scared. Keep in mind this is about 6 o'clock in the morning. For him to get out of bed so early and come over meant a lot to us. He talked to K and then we all prayed. He stayed with us when the doctor came in to update us. The doctor said it was a febrile seizure. Basically, due to the fit that K threw, his body temp skyrocketed. The seizure was his body doing an emergency shutdown in order to protect itself. by this time, K was his usual self. He was checking out all of the medical equipment, playing with an inflated surgical glove, and munching on a Popsicle. We were released and headed home.
My biggest fear was that this was the first sign of epilepsy. To date, this fear has been unfounded. Come to find out, febrile seizures run on both sides of our family. C had one when he was a toddler. So, we try to always keep K's fevers down and keep him calm. He had a few neurological twitches for a few months afterwards but that was just his body booting back up. Freaked me out.
This incident made me extremely grateful for many things, above all the health of my children. As a parent, the last thing you want is for your child to suffer. The inability to control it was so frustrating. But, then, I realized. I am not meant to be in control. God is the one in control and I must trust in him.
So, here I am, praying for these two children. I know that God has his healing hands upon them and that he is with them. I lift up my prayers for these children and their families. If you could, take a minute to do the same.

When is it time to let go?

So....I have had a struggle of sorts over the last year or so. The struggle has been when to know to let go of a longtime friendship. When you have been close friends with someone since childhood, when do you let go? For me, that is a question that I am having problems figuring out.

Let me back track....Susie and I met in middle school and were close friends. Then, she started hanging out with a different group of friends when we started high school and we drifted apart. Slowly, we rebuilt our friendship and it was going strong. In college, we were both super busy with school and jobs and lived in two different towns. But, we would make time for a call to check in and it felt like we had been talking the entire month instead of every few weeks. We would visit and were each other's maid of honor at each of our weddings. Everything was going good until Susie got pregnant unexpectedly with her first child. I noticed something was up whenever I got back from CO and Susie and her husband came over to drop off our key since they had been the pet sitters for us. They quickly dropped of the key and left - not the usual chatting and seeing how the trip was...odd...very odd. I just passed it off that they were tired. No biggie. A few nights later, we had invited them over to dinner at my parents house with some good family friends. There, in the middle of dinner, Susie's husband announced they were pregnant. I was speechless with hurt. I quickly ate my food and left the table and went upstairs. I was so incredibly hurt....deeply hurt....not because she was pregnant but because she didn't tell me first...I was merely one part of the crowd...well, she took it that I was upset that she was pregnant and I wasn't. See, at this time, C&I were trying to get pregnant. It ended up take us over a year and seeing a fertility specialist in order to get pregnant. Now, keep in mind that I work at a school with pregnant teenagers....I was surrounded by people who were pregnant and really didn't want to be. That was tough, but Susie being pregnant wasn't hurtful for me. She was the ONE person in the world that I could honestly rejoice for her in this blessing. But, no. She didn't trust that I would be happy for her and that hurt. She didn't want to tell me by myself I guess out of fear of what I would do. And it was that lack of trust in me that hurt me so deeply....but I brushed it aside and got on with being there for her during a very difficult pregnancy. As time went on, we would see each other occasionally but our friendship was never the same. It got to the point that when she went to the hospital for emergency surgery, I found out from one of her co-workers. She said that she didn't want me to be worried when there was nothing that they knew and then she had the emergency surgery and there wasn't time to call. Again, hurt. Around this time, I noticed that whenever I would call Susie, she would be too busy to take me call. If I really wanted to talk to her, I would have to wait for her to call me and the conversations were usually one sided on her part - no questions about me or my life. So, I stopped calling since I felt like I was interrupting her life. She would call me every so often when she was driving to school since that was the one time she was by herself. I understood and wasn't hurt by it, just adapting to it. When I left for maternity leave with my second child, things stopped. No visit at the hospital. No visit to see me or the baby until three weeks after the baby was born. No phone calls. When I returned to school, no more morning phone calls. I just figured she was super busy. Since it had been about 5 months since we had talked, I didn't feel it was right to invite her and her family to my son's bday party. I felt like asking them to spend money on a present when we haven't had any communication was wrong. Then, came my birthday. No usual happy bday phone call. Then came Susie's bday. I sent her a text (we were out of town) to tell her happy birthday and her response was "Thanks". Hmmmm..... So, I festered with hurt and anger and sadness until, one day, I had enough of carrying all of this within me. So, earlier this year, I sent her an email and let it all out. Her response was that she felt like she was the only one doing the calling and I explained my side. So, every so often, I'd send her an email. She never sent one to me without it being a response to an email I had sent. When we were heading out for a trip, I sent her an email asking about information about the area we were going to since that is where she had gone to college...no response. I sent an email to her last week just checking in....no response. We invited her and her family to to parties we are hosting at our house, both of which have been "declined".

Ok, so I get it. I am no longer wanted in her life. While I wished she felt like she could talk to me honestly and openly, she doesn't. I just get the silent treatment. I do not know what I have done to so wrong her nor am I given the opportunity to apologize. I have prayed about this and have talked to various other people and know that I will be ok. But how do I convince that middle school girl inside of me to let go? How do I comfort her tears and tell her it will be ok?

VBS - Day 2

Out word for day two was Compassion. We talked about the story of the wounded traveler. Our preschool kiddos really had a great time with this one!! We had a lot of activities with band-aids!! And, as many people know, preschoolers LOVE band-aids!! They got to put them on each other, pictures, and themselves - without the pain of an owie!! As our craft, we made stick puppets. Man, do these kids love puppets!! They wanted to play and play and play with them. I'm so going to have to get sticks so we can make some puppets at home - K would totally dig it!! The highlight from yesterday was when we were sitting around talking about ways that we can help our parents and show compassion. One little girl replied that her way of helping her parents was, "I wear panties!" I just cracked up!! As a friend pointed out, this is a big time help in the money department when they get out of diapers and into undies - so true!! Another highlight was when my mom was doing story time and she pretended to be sad. One of the little girls went up to her and gave her a hug - so cute!! At least they realize that the smallest person can be a help!

The only rough part about VBS week is that our house suffers. It isn't a total mess but needs to be vacuumed every other day (with two labs, it's a must). But we are all so tired by the time we get home, it just is not getting done. But, I figure this week, God has different plans for us which means the mess can wait!

But I must admit that I am looking forward to being about to cook real meals!! These from the freezer chicken nuggets and fish sticks are, thankfully, only for a few more days!

VBS time!!

Yesterday was Day 1 of our church's vacation bible school. And this is the first time in three years that I have no been in charge of it. I had to step down from my commitments in December after A was born since I knew that my plate would be full with family, work, AND my Masters classes. So, I have really enjoyed being on the outer parts of this VBS. I helped coordinate the decorations and am running the pre-school version. I feel so blessed to have three other women whom I admire and love to help me. My mom teaches the story section. Dale J. handles the snack portion. And my awesome friend Cheralyn A. does games. I handle the crafts. We have 7 kiddos in our pre-school and we are already having a blast. Two of our kiddos are part of our Korean congregation. While they may not speak much English, they can certainly GET DOWN during the music time!!
While I can say that I am worn out from Day 1, I am so looking forward to Day 2!! Day 1 was all about gratitude. I personally have so much to be thankful for and am truly at a loss when I try to think of ways to say thanks sometimes. but, in a nutshell, I am thankful for the path that my Father has set before me and that he continues to walk with as I travel it.

Life's transitions

Neither C or I slept much last night, and it wasn't because of the storms. His uncle has been on hospice for colon cancer for a few months now. We got a text around 10:40 saying that his bp was declining and his feet were cold. I prayed right then for Aunt D and Uncle S. I prayed mainly for God to be there with them during this time of transition. While we are all saddened by the loss of Uncle S, we are so grateful that he struggles no more, that his pain is over, and that he is free from the confines of his earthly vessel. He had a great smile - one that would make his eyes crinkle up to the point where you couldn't see his eyes. He was a bit of a codger but he truly loved his family. We were blessed to be able to see him a few weeks ago and introduce him to Miss A. He was so frail and so tired. It hurt to see him in such a shape. He has always been such a strong person so this was a shock for both C and I. We were glad that we got to see him and spend some time with him and Aunt D before he passed. We just pray for Diane and the kids for some comfort. But I realized this weekend that I hate cancer. I know no one likes it, but I truly hate it. I hate how it robs people of their vitality. I hate how is brings fear into their hearts. I hate how it steals people from families. I know that God has been with S & D during this time. I know that God's heart was breaking during the declining of S's health. Now, it is our turn to have our hearts break for a bit. God is rejoicing in having S in His kingdom while we are left to feel the void of his death. I know that we will see God so many times during our healing time. This past week also brought news of a very good friend who was diagnosed with breast cancer. It is small and localized which is a complete blessing. But, still, cancerous. This friend is a complete ray of sunshine. She has been through so much heartache with a previous marriage but found her Prince Charming a few years ago. Her husband is such a fantastic man who cherishes her and treats her like a queen. She has a completley amazing son who always makes her smile. She is just a precious woman! Unfortunately, she does not have health insurance. Her doctor is contacing some foundations to see about getting her some support for her medical treatments. I pray that she is guided to the right people and does not have to add finiancial woes to her plate of troubles. But, I just wanted to say that I hate cancer.

What we are giving up for Lent

I truly love the Lenten season. I think it is my favorite holy season. This year, we are doing something a bit different. Instead of our usual "giving up" for Lent, we are adding things into our lives. We want to bring our family closer together and closer to God. Each week, we will add in something new to our lives. This week, Chris and I are starting to pray as a couple. We did this a few times during our study of In Love and War by John and Stasi Eldridge. (Excellent book for couples!!) We really could tell a different in our days and nights whenever we did this. We got out of the habit and have both missed it.
Next week, we will add in the habit of simplifying our stuff. This is an effort to make our lives easier and free up more time by getting rid of stuff. Then, we will add in a family walk every night. We also want to give more. Not of money but of ourselves to people who need help. I feel like we give a lot of ourselves at church through the things we help with but I just don't see how we are giving of ourselves to our neighbors who may need some help.
So, what are you doing for the Lenten season?

The Giggles at Bedtime

So, last night, C put K to bed. I was doing some reading for school and missed out on the going to bed routine. I went in after my reading to check on him. He was still awake - as usual! He asked me to tell him a story. A few nights ago, I got tired of reading books to him, mainly because he chooses the same ones over and over and over and over again (mind you, he has shelves full of books!!) So, I told him a story about a little boy named K who was very special because he could make his mommy, and his daddy, and his sister laugh. He was also EXTRA special since he could also fly. I now realize I have created a storytelling machine!! He only wants me to tell him stories now. These stories have to include Batman and a very ugly witch (his arch nemesis) at some point in the story. Who knew Batman loved Hawaiian Falls as much as K does! Anyways, I walked into his room and saw that he was still awake. He turned and looked at me. I started trying to sneak in quietly in a very exaggerated way. He started cracking up and asking my why did I do that. Well, he was laughing which got me to laughing. We both laughed - belly laughs - for about 5 minutes straight. It was hilarious!! His laughter just cracks me up! There are many things that make me laugh (one involves extremely small backpacks), but there are a very few things that light up my soul. K is one of them. Is there a word to describe such joy and love and blessedness and praise that he makes me feel in the very center of my being? If so, I have yet to find it. I guess it can go back to the meaning of his name: little fiery one. I always took that to mean that he would be a big ol' ball of spitfire. But, reflecting on it now, I can totally see in a different way: his fiery light warms my soul. While he does have many spitfire moments (3s are definitely worse than 2s), he truly makes me happy. I am so looking forward to the days when A becomes her own little person, and we see God's work in her. But I am quiet content to sit there and hold her and enjoy the moments.

Sunday Lunch

It has become a tradition in my family that we go out to eat after church. This saves someone from having to cook right after church. Plus, it really has become a great family time. Yesterday was no exception.
My nephew decided on lunch before my parents had left the driveway. He chose Steak N Shake - a family fav. We had not been in a while so we were all looking forward to it. What made this a special lunch for me was that we had company join us. The Smiths and the Palmers ate with us. Now, these people are like my second family. They have known me since before I was born and are very important to me. They always make me laugh and a such a joy to be with. I think it is so cool that M. Palmer babysat me. I babysat J. Palmer. M. Palmer and J. Palmer and J. Smith all babysat K. They can't wait to babysit Miss A! They have been there for the good times and have helped me through some rough times. I feel so very, very blessed by them. M and J regularly join us for lunch so have J and C come too was a thrill!! We all had a great time at lunch. J shared his fries with K. Ok, he shared a few fries and K took a few more! We oohed and aahhed over everyone's shakes. We shot straw wrappers at each other. And we laughed!! I kept thinking about lunch all day and what a great time we had. It made me realize that God doesn't just put people in our lives randomly. He plans not only the places but the exact times. It is so very humbling when you feel his grace through others. Just by them being there, the Smiths and the Palmers graced us. It was more than a good time. It was a God time for me.

New Blog

I made a new blog to go along with my Homemade Gourmet Business. Check it out and let me know what you think! www.hgandme.blogspot.com

Wondering what my password is......

I know....I have been neglecting my blog for way too long. But I have been busy. Still have a 4.0 in my masters classes (three more semesters left!). K is now 3 1/2. If he makes to for, it is only by God's grace - seriously!! Hmmm...what else...Oh yeah - our family welcomed a beautiful baby girl in December!!

So, everyone asks questions about her. Is she sleeping through the night? (Mostly) Who does she look like? (Everyone says K though a few say me) Is it fun having a girl? (YES!! Hello!!! The clothes!!) Can I take her home? (NO!! Waited to long for this one!)

A has a very special place in both sides of the family - the only girl. I was thrilled to learn we were having a girl. But then, the pressure hit me. I certainly do not want her to have to go through all of the body image issues I have dealt with - who does?? Plus, I want her to be strong yet caring, smart yet always thirsting for knowledge. I feel so blessed that she has such wonderful people as her grandmothers. She has three of them. They are all different but filled with overflowing love. She also has so many men in her life that adore her, namely my father and K. He told me last night that he wanted me to give A to him so that he could hold her. He said he was strong enough! He truly loves her in way that is beautiful. I so want my children to be close to their siblings. Neither my husband nor I was and we both feel like we missed out. Any suggestions you have for keeping the love between kiddos is greatly appreciated!

My favorite part of the day is when I pick her up from daycare. It takes her a second and then she sees it is me. She gives the biggest smile and starts wiggling. - melts my heart! Then here comes K, fighting pirates or stormtroopers, and he stops to give my legs a squeeze.

Ahhh...blessed!

What?? Fat Tuesday already??

Goodness, it really seems like Easter gets earlier and earlier! Honestly though, I don't mind. I truly enjoy the Lenten season. Our church kicks it off with an Ash Wednesday service. It is C's favorite service and one of mine too. Our ministers have us write what we are giving up for lent on a card. We then pass in our cards and a few of the members take all the cards outside and burn them, along with the palms from last year's Palm Sunday. The ashes are brought back inside and mixed with black paint. Then, each member gets to draw a cross with the paint on burlap. To me, it is so comforting to see our three crosses looking back at me during this season. Yes, even K gets a little cross! I do wish the service was in the morning so I could wear the cross on my forehead all day. To me, it is such a powerful reminder of the cross Jesus suffered on for little old me.
And, of course, C and I have to rack our brains to figure out what to give up for Lent. There are so many things that we have given up previously that just are not a part of our lives anymore, like TV. so, this year, we have decided that as a family, we are giving up on going out to eat, even if other people are paying. I really want to take this time to focus on how our family shares meals. Plus, I have totally missed cooking in my kitchen!! I do believe that the dinner table keeps the family together. We did not eat together as a family often when I was growing up since Dad worked and Mom had work to do at home. I'm not meaning this to dis my parents since I know they did it for me and my brother. But I cannot tell you the joy that my soul takes on when sharing meals with family and friends. I think it plays in part to our desire to have a large family. I always cook more than enough food so we have a pretty stocked freezer. I just want to be able to get my family into the habit of dinners together.

Our Halloween Excitement

Our day started off with breakfast and just taking it easy around the house. Momma had a Spa Party at her house during nap time. I got to go get pampered while C enjoyed the quiet time. If you have never tried Beauticontrol products, I highly recommend them, I used to sell Mary Kay and loved it. But these products do so much more with less steps. Plus, I really like Nancy, my consultant. They have some great products for people with dry skin including a bath soak that Nancy's grandson uses to help with his severe eczema. Anyways, had a great time getting pampered and visiting with friends. I also made a sale for my Moocher Munchies business. One of the gals placed an order so that she can have some snacks when her family comes to visit for Thanksgiving - yeah!!
After the party, I got my guys and headed up to a Fall Carnival at our friends' church. K had a great time one the bounce houses. His favorite part was the cotton candy!! That was a mess to clean up! After all that fun, including winning some goodies at the cake walk, we headed to Monterrey's for some dinner. While waiting for our food, the friends that we had just seen at their church walked in - how funny! It is always better to have friends that like the same eateries as you do!! We visited and ate and then headed over to our church to set up for Trunk or Treat. I truly love this way of trick or treating as we get to come together as a church family and have a great time. We had so many families come through!! It was fabulous to be able to serve our community. So many churches are moving from the north side of town, where our church is and we live, to the south side of town, where more affluent families live. We, as a church, have decided that the community we are called to serve is right where we are. So we are staying!! After all that fun, we trudged our tired Batman home, ready to crawl into bed. C had some unloading to do in the garage, so I went and got K dressed for bed. C came running into K's room and told us to come out to the garage. We had a visitor!! We went out and stood in the doorway to the garage and met our visitor - a birdie! The poor little thing was trying to fin the way out and would only fly above the garage door! I went and got a loaf of bread to try to coax it the right way but that wasn't working. Suddenly, it flew start for me and K in the doorway. We ducked and the bird flew INTO OUR HOUSE!! I screamed. K went looking for the bird to give it bread. C starting chasing it down. Luckily, the dogs were already outside but the cats were somewhere in the house. I set out to find them and shut the doors to the bedrooms. The birdie flew into K's room where one of the cats was. I quickly grabbed for Daisy and put her into the guest room. The birdie then flew out into the dining room. I called my parents and told them to come right over. Then, our other cat caught the bird in her mouth!!! Somehow the bird got loose and C grabbed the cat and put her in the guest room. Now the birdie was freaking out and flying all over the house!! Mom and Dad got there and just started laughing. First a snake, now a bird!! It kept flying from the back of the house to the laundry room and into the dining room. C opened up the front door to try to coax it out but nothing was working. And poor K is trying to chase down the bird to give it some bread!! Eventually, Momma was able to block off the birdie's path to the living room. It went around her and went straight for the laundry room again. Daddy was able to block it from going that way and it flew out the garage door. We were all happy that it found it's way. Then we wondered if it had left the garage or was still in there. I ventured out and, sure enough, it was still in the garage! After a few minutes, we were able to get it to fly out of the garage and into the world. After all this, we took about an hour or so to calm back down. What an adventure!
FYI - We checked the next morning. No dead birds in the yard - yeah!!

You know something's up when they are a little too quiet...

So, I was making fabulous dinner last night and K was in his room playing. After a while, I realized that he was quiet. A little too quiet. So, I head back and open his door. He is quietly sitting on the floor reading his books. It was so nice to see him reading!! C and I have prayed that he is a lover of books like we are. I smiled a smug smile and went back to work. Much later, as I was getting ready for bed, I went into our bathroom to brush my teeth. That is when I noticed what he was doing before he went to read. K loves to climb into our bathroom cabinet and get stuff out of my drawers, especially my brushes. This time, he found a new favorite draw - my "Monthly" drawer. The ground was covered with tampon parts. He must have had a GREAT time unwrapping them, pulling the string, and then discarding them for a new one. Needless to say, I am going to have to find a new place to put my Monthly stash and resupply it.

Fabulous dinner: Totastic Frito Pie
1 bag of tater tots
1 bag of fritos
1 bag (2 cups) shredded cheddar cheese
1 large onion chopped
3-4 cans of chili or 5-6 cups of homemade
Salt and Pepper

Put enough tater tots to line the bottom of a square baking dish. Bake according to instructions (mine were at 450 for 20 min). When done, sprinkle with salt and pepper. Then sprinkle with about 1 cup of cheese. Then put a thick layer of chili on top. Bake for 15 minutes at 350. When done, sprinkle on fritos, cheese, and chopped onion (in that order) and put back in oven for another 5-7 minutes. Serve.

Can I have a vacation from my weekend??

We had a super busy and fun weekend. Friday night was a total blast with friends for the Kreative Whimzey party. The turn out wasn't as high as I had hoped but the people who came made it fun. I seriously think that we need to do that more often!! Saturday started with just K and I in the morning as C had to go work on a job for his new business. I asked K what he wanted for breakfast. "Tater tots." He told me, very definitely. "And chicken nuggets." I asked just where were we supposed to get chicken nuggets and tater tots for breakfast. He replied, "Nanny Pops." That is what he calls my parents' house. I called over there and explained to Momma what he wanted. She laughed as she has never served him tater tots. But she did ask if we wanted to come over for breakfast with her, Grandnanny, and my nephews. Sure thing!! I made bismark pancake and topped it with strawberries and bananas. She made scrambled eggs. K had a great time being silly with his cousins but he was getting grumpy so I took him back home after we ate. When C got home, we all piled up and headed out to M's 4th b-day party. This is really the only time K gets to eat McDonald's. He had such a fun time!! It was a good time for us too. Got to meet S (yes, he is freaking cute!) and visit with friends. There is just something about getting parents together, especially moms, that makes a good time even better!! I will admit that I part of my was jealous with all the cute girlie stuff M got. I cannot wait to meet the blessing that God has in store for us. I hope that one of our future kiddos is a girl just so I won't be outnumbered!! But, also, a girl would really change our perspective on things since they are said to be so different from boys. Anyhoo, we went home to get some stuff for our next party and K took a nap in the car. We headed over to my friend Dede's house for a pumpkin painting party. It was so fun!! I only knew Dede so got to meet some neato kids and their mommas. K had a fun time just being around so many toys. We took the kids outside while we carved the pumpkin. K wanted no part of sticking his hand in the pumpkin to pull out the insides - no thanks!! He wouldn't even touch it when it came out!! The kids seemed to completely enjoy being outside rides on some of M's toys and just being kids. We left there and headed over to Cedar Hill to meet C's family for dinner. I was completely tired and kinda grumpy and had hardly eaten all day. Nothing seemed to be going through the band. Made for a grumpy me! K completely enjoys his cousins. I guess they are just big toys to him right now. Luckily, they think he is funny and everything he does is cute. Even if it is his mac n cheese covered hand on their shirt sleeve!! We took C's grandmother home and then, finally, got to our house. I will say that it took about a minute for me to fall asleep - so tired!!
Sunday was church. My friend J and I took our boys around to the different Sunday school classes to invite them all personally to the Trunk or Treat that our church is having on Halloween night. It was such fun to see K as Batman and L as Superman. K kept calling him Super Batman. I was so pumped because K wore his mask!! He has never let us put it on and kept it on before!! Awesome!! After church, we went to have lunch with some friends of ours. They made fabulous fish. We had such a great time with them, but we always do!! After lunch, we headed home for nap which K did NOT want to take. He eventually fell asleep. The project for the afternoon was C and Daddy hooked up our new fridge to the water line so that we could have a working ice maker. After two trips to hardware stores, success!!! We now have water and ice!! Such a luxury after YEARS of not have it! We had a yummy dinner with the family before heading home for sleep. The rain was loud, but I slept so nice!!! This morning, all I wanted was to stay in bed forever!! Maybe next weekend!!

Happy Friday!!

It is such a good day!! Sun is out, students are working, and I get to blog!! YEAH!
We have such a busy weekend ahead of us. Someone asked what we were doing after church on Sunday. I replied, "Napping." They asked me or Keegan. I said, "Both!!"
Tonight, Friday, my friend Leslie and I are hosting a party for our friend Kelly. Kelly is the mom of 4 kiddos (teenage girl, twin 3 year old boys, and an 11 month old boy). When Kelly returned to work after her maternity leave, she was laid off. So, she decided to turn her love of embroidery into a business, Kreative Whimzey. I think that is a totally cool name since her intials are KW too!! She does the best embroidery work!! She has done a few things for K. I am most impressed with her attention to details. We had her embroider K's name on his back pack. She went so far as to match the green thread she used to the green on one part of the backpack!! I love hosting parties. I finally get to use all those fancy dishes that I have in my china cabinet. Plus, I get to hang out with some fun people and help my friend Kelly do what she feels called to do.

Saturday will be an awesome day. We get to to M's birthday party!! We haven't told K yet because he would keep asking/telling us that he wanted to go. He loves birthday parties, especially if there is a slide involved.And we finally get to meet S!! We have enjoyed seeing him in pics but know he will be cuter in person - yes!! And R has great taste in cakes so I know it will be good!! And I get to visit with R & J!! We so need to go to DJ's or b'fast sometime!! We will then head home for naptime (yes!). The we have a pumpkin party to go to. I am excited to see K meet some new friends and hang out with some old ones. I am making a rice krispie Halloween "cake" - new recipe so I am excited!! After the party, we will come home and watch the Netflix movies for the weekend. Since we do not have cable, we tend to watch movies more. So, we opted to get Netflix. Each week, the mail brings us one kiddie movie and one movie for us parents. We try to use one night to have family movie night which is usually Friday. But, since I'm having friends over, looks like it will be Saturday night. Maybe I can make pizza rolls!! Yum!!

Sunday will be church and, hopefully, lunch at a friend's house. I am hoping the weather Sunday afternoon is nice so that we can take the dogs to the dog park or, at least, for a walk. This rain has them going so crazy with extra energy!!

Well, hope you have a fantastic weekend!

YES!!

I can get to my blog from school!! I can update!! I can post!! Oh, blogging, how I have missed you!! Tune in tomorrow for updates!!

Our funny little boy

So, this morning was a true adventure. K has finally learned that is it fun to sleep in on the weekends. He will get up and come get in bed with us and sleep for 2 more hours - YEAH!! So we had a pretty lazy morning. We started getting ready for church. I took my shower first and got ready while C and K took their shower. I went into the kitchen and noticed a funky smell - the pile of dishes in our sink - UGH!! I got to work and got them washed of and put in the dishwasher (yes, I double wash!). C called me back to the bathroom and said there was something I had to see. I walked back and they were both out of the shower drying off. C pointed towards the shower and told me to look in. There, in the middle of the shower, was a turd. Specifically, a K turd. We both died laughing. We are starting to introduce going in the potty but with no luck. Whenever he asks to go tee-tee on the potty, we immediately take him. We see this as step one. We have told K that if he goes in the potty that he will get candy and have even shown him the bag of candy. We decided that this was not a candy rewarding action since it was not a complete touchdown in the potty. C was shocked when he first saw it. He thought it was a huge water bug!! Nope. It was last night's dinner from Cheddar's!!

Why I love Mr. Clean Magic Erasers

1. The fool who put in our tiled floors in the kitchen and guest bath (before we moved in) put down white grout. Yes. White. It shows dirt super easy and has completely grossed both C and I out. Then we discovered that the MEs worked wonders, cleaning the grout in a matter of seconds. It also proves to be a great stress reliever - have no idea why.
2. I am a big fan of buying used kiddie toys, especially the plastic play stuff. After having discovered some fun things at a garage sale, I brought them home and cleaned them first thing off the bat. They had been attacked by some rabid crayons but those war wounds soon came off with a quick clean of the MEs. They also get dirt off those plastic toys that have been outside and gotten dirty.
3. I am still getting used to my cooking pans. We have a love hate relationship sometimes. MEs work great at getting the burnt gunk that sticks to my pans.
4. I am a lover of Pampered Chef and have found that the MEs work wonders at getting them super clean without the use of soap!!
5. I dislike any scuff marks on doors and door frames. MEs can get those scuff marks and dirt off super fast which totally feeds into my tidiness.
6. The same fool who put down our tiles chose tiles that was bumpy. So dirt and gunk get stuck in the depressions in the tile and cement themselves in. With a quick scrub of the MEs, they are gone!!
7. My beloved PC baking dishes leave black scratch marks on my kitchen sink. The MEs make quick work of making the disappear.
8. The can get dirt, pen, and crayon off my refrigerator in a matter of seconds.
9. They get my counters super clean after a red Kool-aid spill.
10. They removed permanent marker!!