Olympic question

There has been a lot of talk about the leaders of countries boycotting the Opening Ceremonies for the Olympic games in Beijing due to China's treatment of Tibet. This completely ticked me off. why do these world leaders decide that now is the time to take a stand?? Why not take a stand when they got into office? Why have they not spoken about it before?
I usually don't tell others who I vote for but I voted for Hillary in the primary. I agree with her view on education and abortion legislation. But I do not agree with her stating that Bush needs to boycott the OC. He is not there showing his support of that country. He is there showing support to the competitors who represent the US. I have a former student who is captain of the US boxing team. He has literally been working towards this his whole life. It means so much to him that he will be representing the US. If I could afford it, I would be there supporting him. I feel that, like our troops in Iraq, the more that our support is shown for their dedication to what they do, the better they will do. I am seriously rethinking my vote. Add to the mix that ALL presidential canidates have said that the President should boycott. Can no one make their own decision? I honestly have no clue who I will vote for. It all depends on the next few months, I guess.

1st trip to the zoo

During our hiatus from blogging, we went to the zoo for the first time. For Christmas, my parents gave us the best gift ever - a family membership to the Fort Worth Zoo. I truly believe that this is the best gift to give. It requires not dusting, feeding, or finding a place to put it on display. Plus, it's something the whole family can enjoy. We got one for our friends the Brinkmans. Their birthdays are all within one week and we thought we'd spend that much on three gifts.
We played hooky from church the last weekend in March. Chris and I switch off teaching the 3 & 4 year old Sunday school class at church. We would start teaching again in April so we took the time to enjoy our gift.
We got there a little before the zoo opened and got a front parking spot. Chris had a great time putting on the canopy to the Radio Flyer wagon that Granny got K for Christmas. You could totally tell it was our first time to the zoo. We had the wagon AND a stroller. We realized that K has so much stuff that there would be no room for him in the wagon! So off we went to get our membership cards. After the couple of minutes that took, we entered the zoo and went straight to the primates. The big gorilla was not happy about having people check him out in his room. He kept coming up and banging on the glass. The best part what when he would go over to his door and look at the zoo keepers with an expression that said, "Ok. I've done the horse and pony show. Can I go play now??" The keepers did not have his breakfast ready so he had to wait. He just sat there blowing air out of his lips - totally not into this! K really paid attention to the animals. Once we pointed them out, he would follow them around with his eyes. We headed out doors to check out other animals and the gibbons were totally enjoying their play stuff. They were jumping and soaring all over the place and K was enthralled by them. When we got to the top of the primate exhibit, the orangutan was in his room playing with a blanket. There was no one else around so we were able to get K right up in the window. The orangutan noticed K and came right up to the window and put his hand on the glass. K's eyes were so big! It's like the orangutan was checking him out too!
We met up with the Brinkmans and headed out again. We got to see the new baby giraffe - so cute! K just loved watching the animals. He thought the cheetahs looked like Fat Cat. We also went into this neat exhibit they have. It's basically a walk in octagonal cage full of parakeets and cocktails. For $1 you can get a Popsicles stick with birdseed stuck on it. It was so cool to have the birds flying about and landing right on the stick you were holding out! Keegan really wanted to touch one but he hasn't quite learned you have to be gentle. (God bless Fat Cat. She is happy to let him tug and bat at her while he is learning.)
We both took lunch to the zoo and sat down to eat. It was such a fun time. Madison is getting to be such an independent person. And K just smiles at her! I think he might be smitten!!

Oh and, Rhonda, you are totally invited to the scrapping times!

Where HAVE we been?

Yes, I am ashamed to admit it. I lost my zest for blogging. I guess part of me felt like no one was posting comments so then no one was reading. Seriously, who else thinks that my life is so funny besides Chris (Because he has to)? Then I realized I don't do this for other people but for me. My mom said that all this blogging will really pay off when I start my summer scrapbooking. I'll have all these cool little entries to remind me of things that happened over the past year.
The biggest news is that Chris got laid off about a month ago. We were kinda freaked the first day. After the shock wore off the next day, we realized that this was all part of God's plan. He would take care of us. Once we realized that, we were good! Chris started working part-time at Best Buy. He's pumped because of the employee discount (as am I). He will start April 14th as a permanent sub at an intermediate school teaching 5th grade Math. He has talked about teaching for a few years now and this is a great chance for him to get a taste of it.. If he likes and feels called to it, then he will go to the alternative certification classes this summer. It will be nice when he is on the same schedule as I am. If it isn't his thing, then he'll do some major soul searching and praying and then see where that leads him.
On the Keegan front, we bought our first pair of REAL shoes. We figured since he is taking a few steps around the furniture that it was time to invest. We took him to Stride Right to get his foot measured. He wears a 4 1/2 wide since his foot is chunky. He looks like such a big boy!! And we went ahead and bought a big boy carseat that does rear-facing, front-facing, and booster. He really likes it! We swear he just sits there and sings along to the radio. Granted, he looks like such a big boy in it! The bad habit that he has picked up is that he has learned his to arch his back when he is upset. That little trick won't go on much longer. I'm not much on whining or throwing fits.
As for me, not much is going on. School goes on for 11 more weeks. Can't wait for summer vacation. I am planning on scrapbooking at least 1 day a week with my mom and whoever else wants to join in. I kinda feel like a bad parent but I realize that I need to continue to take Keegan to Miss Becky's for a few hours each day. There will be things I need to get done that will take double the time if he's with me. Plus, he does not need to get out of the habit of being with her during the day. At least that's what I keep telling myself!

Saturday, in the park.....

We had such a great day on Saturday. The fun started with meeting the Dees gals at Mike Lewis park around 10. They were having the grand opening of the trail linking Lewis with Waggoner park. The trail is 1.7 miles long one way. They city of GP did a great job of making it a fun family time. They had 5 stops along the trail to get your trail guide stamped. Each station featured a different city group: Prairie Paws, Joe Pool Lake, Parks and Rec, Uptown Theatre & the coming soon Market Square, and City Services. At the end of the trail, you showed your stamped booklet and you got a T-shirt showing the Good Link which is the name of the trail. We are so excited to be adding to our GP T-shirt collection! While we were at the opening ceremonies, complete with a speech from Ruthie Jackson, we ran into Jerry from our church. He had his cutie puppy, Goldie. She is a blond lab mix. We started the trail after Jane had her bottle. So glad we had a chance to rest now that I think about it. I needed all my energy for the trail! We had a great time walking the trail. We took our time to enjoy an easy pace and each other's company. We got stopped by the camera guy for the GP cable channel. He interview Rhonda ("Nature is pretty") and Chris. It was funny when he told us to be on the look-out for the interviews on cable channel 16. None of us have cable!! We all had to pull out our shades when Mr. Sun came out. Mr. Keegan was such a Cool Dude!! Mazie can playground on her mind so she asked repeatedly when were we going to the playground. She felt like we needed to go to the playground immediately. Don't blame her a bit. So, we headed for the playground in Waggoner. One funny part was when we got our stamp for Prairie Paws. The ladies were asking everyone if they had their poop bag. What they were handing out was bags for dog owners to put dog poop in. We just cracked up over the responses we could have given them. "No, I went before I came." So funny! When we finally got to the playground, Mazie was in her element. She was fearless!! She climbed up the "rock" wall. She would walk up to any kid and just start talking and playing. It was so fun to see her so filled with joy. Keegan and Chris headed over to the swings since that is about all he can play with right now. He loves the swing. He loves to lean over and watch the ground pass under him as he swings. Chris did take him on the slides and to the part of the park that is for 2-5 year olds. Keegan crawled a bit but was more interested in seeing how the sticks tasted. After the playground, it hit us that we basically had to do the whole trail over again. My feet were tired but I was looking forward to the challenge. We were all so glad that they handed out trail mix at the stamp stops. Mazie is totally my kind of gal. She went for the chocolates first, then the raisins. She really didn't care for the rest of the mix so she played Hansel and Gretel. She picked up the seeds and let them slowly fall from her outstretched hand. Cracked me up. When we finally got back to where the cars were, we had a bit of an obstacle course. The Kid Fish had started and there were cars everywhere!! The road was reduced to where only one car could get through since cars were parked on both sides of the road. It was so packed, we couldn't even get through the line of cars to our car!! Crazy!! But we did get to the cars. Total props to Supermom Rhonda for getting the double stroller folded AND put into the trunk of her car. So impressed!! We then headed over to grab some romantic Mexican food at the GP standard, Don Juan's. Best burritos EVER!!! We got it to go and then took it over to John's school to eat lunch with him. He was working hard and needed some comic relief, which the kids provided. It was hilarious to see Mazie and Keegan playing. Keegan loves to crawl and chase people and be chased. Mazie would run and stop and look at Keegan. He would squeal and start after her. She would run to the other side and they start all over. So funny!! Can't wait for our next adventure with the Dees!!

Why did you let me down, Little Debbie? Why?

So, we had a perfect plan for what to do for the Valentines goodies for the kids at Keegan's daycare. I had my teacher's aid stamp the kids' names on labels in really cute Mickey Mouse stamp letters. I had the brilliant idea of taking the labels and putting on those cute Little Debbie brownies made for Valentines. They are heart-shaped with pink frosting - so cute!! Yesterday, Chris looked at two Targets for them but no luck. I went to Tom Thumb and CVS on my way home from working out and no luck. They were not to be found! I was running late getting home so I figured I would just go to Albertson's after bell practice.
What was I thinking!! 7:30 at Albertson's the day before Valentine's is crazy!! I finally decided to just make my own heart-shaped brownies the easy way. I got little tin foil pans that were heart-shaped, a roll of premade brownie dough, pink frosting, and red sprinkles. They actually turned out pretty cute. And good!! I made two extra for Chris and I. Whenever I open my bakery, they will be the special of the day for Valentine's Day!!

Oh what fun!

Well, Keegan is once again proving to us that he is a blessing from God. You can just tell that he doesn't feel 100% by looking at his eyes but he is still moving right along. He was running a fever Sunday night and woke up crying at 1 am Monday morning. He had a 6 oz cup (yes, cup! We are bottleless, cup only people now!) and went back to sleep. I was worried about him so I just put him in bed with us. He, of course, slept perpendicular so I had trouble getting comfy (he has pointy toes!!). But, after such a horrible night, he woke up in such a happy mood. That made us smile even though we knew he was not feeling well, he still made us feel better.

Our Lent adventure had begun!

We attended our church's Ash Wednesday service last night. I was not in the best mood after spending 2 hours waiting at the eye doctor's office. Chris and I both look forward to the Mardi Gras supper that is served before the jazz service. I was so afraid that I would miss them both. I almost missed the dinner but Chris saved me a plate. I got out of my car in such a foul mood and that made me even more mad. I love getting to church early and enjoying the fellowship of my church family and I was missing it!! But, as soon as I walked up the ramp and the door opened, it melted away. There was Chris looking out for me and he had our sweet little boy in his arms, trying to get him to take a nap. It just made everything else seem so non-essential. I was able to just calm down and enjoy being there. Dinner was FANTASTIC! Carla did an outstanding job on the sausage jambalya. Yummy!! By the time the service started, my entire being was energized. It was such a great service too. We have a jazz band come in and provide the music to our hymns. I almost started crying. I was standing there singing along and Keegan was snoozing so soundly in my arms. It made me think of this time last year while I was pregnant with Keegan. So much hope and anticipation filled me then. We would never have believed how much he changed our lives and filled them with life. Keegan did wake up during the service and was in a fantastic mood. He kept smiling at Sally, one of our favorite people. We also took him up to the altar to have ashes put on his forehead too. That also made me cry since it symbolizes so much. After the ashes were placed, we went over to the side where they set up two large panels of burlap with black crosses painted on them. Before the sermon, our preacher gave us slips of paper that we were to write what we were given up for Lent. His son took them and put them in a coffee can and burned them. He then took those ashes and mixed them with black paint. We used the black paint to paint crosses on the burlap panels. Everyone at the service did this. They will take the panels and hang them in the sancutary during Lent so we can see that we are not alone during this time. It reminded me again of last year when we painted our two crosses and a tiny cross. This year, we painted two crosses with the inner crossbars angled down to a smaller cross. We left feeling so filled - just the way we need to be.