My Wonderful Life

The Rest of the Family

2011-09-29T13:00:00.000-05:00

Ok, I'll try to do a brief update about what's happening with the rest of the family. Dave has been working hard at work and with our church. As an elder in our church, he has been called on to help us get through some very difficult times. Along with the rest of our leadership, he has led our church well through stuff that none of us expected or would ever want to go through. God has shown himself faithful during this time and we continue to look to him to see what he has in store for our body.

I have been spending most of my time taking care of the kids and the house. Just trying to keep up with life, which I find is not always easy. I am trying to get some sewing time in here and there. I have lots of projects in my head just need to sit down and work on them. And I have lots of projects sitting waiting to be finished. Need to get on those.

In May, Steph walked across the stage for graduation from college. It was a fun time and so neat to be able to be there with her as she celebrated such an accomplishment. I was about a week away from my due date, so we were all very thankful that Nathan didn't show up early and prevent me from being there. She has had a busy year trying to figure out what God has for her. She has been obedient to his call and grown in so many ways. We are so proud of the way she has allowed God to move in her life. Right now she is finishing up a class to be able to get her undergrad degree and has started working on getting her teaching certificate. I'm excited to see where God leads in the next year.

Elizabeth was in kindergarten last year. She attends the public elementary school in our neighborhood. We have been very happy with it. She has really blossomed in the last year. She has made many new friends and really enjoyed school. She is now in first grade and doing really well with her reading. She loves books, especially if they have animals in them. She continues to love animals. Since my last post, Hamsty died. It was a tough loss for her, but she continues to play with Stache and spend time working on training him.

James turned 4 this past summer and started his 4th year of Kid's Day Out. He can always make us laugh and will do something over and over again if someone will keep laughing at him. He loves to try to do things to make Nathan smile. Just this week James was running around acting crazy. Nathan started laughing at him and James said, "I've never heard him laugh like that." You could tell he was happy about that. Even though most of the time he is doing something crazy or silly, he also is so interested in God. He talks about God all the time and often answers questions I ask him with "because that's what God wants" or some variation of that. I'm interested to see how God uses him.

So, that's a brief synopsis of where we are and what's been going on. I'm hoping to be better about keeping the blog updated. We'll see how that works out.

We're Still Alive

2011-08-07T15:01:00.002-05:00

I can't believe how long it has been since I blogged. A lot has happened and things have definitely changed around our house. Since the last time I blogged we've had a few new additions to the family.
Elizabeth got a fish tank and fish for her birthday last August. I tried to get a good picture of the fish, but it wasn't working. And I wasn't willing to spend the time to see if I could get it working. So, here's a picture of the fish tank at least.We also got a hamster. This is Hamsty. He was a Christmas present for Elizabeth. Can you tell she's just a little bit into animals.And our most important new addition: Nathan Alexander. After a not very fun pregnancy, he was born on May 20, 2011. He was a big boy at 9 lbs. and has brought so much joy into all of our lives in the last 2 1/2 months. So, as I said, things around here have changed. There has been lots more going on. I will be back in the next post to update on the rest of the family.

The grass is growing...

2010-04-27T08:05:00.003-05:00

St. Patrick's Day Shirts

2010-04-02T08:45:00.002-05:00

I realized as I just looked back over the blog that I've done two posts without pictures. Oops. So, here are a few pictures for y'all. I made some St. Patrick's Day shirts for Elizabeth and James.
I don't know how they ended up posed like this, but I love this picture. Elizabeth being silly.

James being MUCH more serious.

Really?? A month?

2010-04-02T08:19:00.003-05:00

I don't know how it's been a month since I've put anything up on here. We are still living, but that's the reason I guess. We've been busy trying to keep up with life. Trying to get stuff done, keep up with everything around here, and make the days count for something more than just stuff.
This week was kindergarten round-up at Elizabeth's elementary school. So, Dave, Elizabeth and I went up on Wednesday morning with a completed registration packet and turned it in. And then took a short tour of the school. It's been an interesting week for me. It's been a week of thinking about what we do as parents and what our job is. I've been thinking about it with Elizabeth and talking about it with Steph. What can we protect them from, what should we? I think we have the power to protect them from a lot more than we actually should protect them from. Don't get me wrong, we protect our kids from a lot - overall I think we're fairly overprotective. But we also think it's important to let them make decisions (that are age appropriate) and allow them to be affected by the consequences of those decisions. For an example: If Elizabeth wants to wear a dress without pants underneath when it's a little chilly, I tell her that I think she's going to be cold and I think she should wear pants, but that it's her decision. Sometimes she listens to me and changes what she's wearing, sometimes she doesn't. And if she doesn't, sometimes she's cold. We feel like if we don't let them make these kind of decisions when they're little, how will they know how to make the big decisions when they get older. But sometimes it's hard. I don't like to let any of my kids suffer consequences. Sometimes I want to make the decisions for them, because then they won't be cold. But then they don't learn - how to make good decisions, how to handle discomfort brought about by a decision they made, how to rely on God to give them what they need when they're in a tough spot.
And isn't this how God teaches us? We have free will and the choice to make the decisions that we want to make. Sometimes we make the right ones and sometimes we don't. But when we don't, we can always turn to him. He doesn't necessarily rescue us from the situation that we're in, but he always loves us through it. And often it's in those tough times that we become more like Christ. And ultimately, that's my goal for each of my kids - that they become more like Christ.
So, as they continue to grow, we'll continue to protect them from some things (they don't have the choice of whether they play in the street or not), and we'll continue to let them make some decisions and handle the consequences. But, we will always be there, loving them, caring for them, making sure they know that no matter what the world says to them or how the world hurts them, they have a safe place to come home to where they are loved unconditionally - most of all by the God of the universe, but also by their parents.

On the road again

2010-03-01T20:02:00.004-06:00

Yes we went on another trip. This past weekend, we headed to an EV Free Church Meeting. Our church took the entire elder team and some of the leadership to the meeting. It was an amazing weekend.
The meeting was great - we heard some great teaching, we had some much needed time for ASC (our church) to get together and pray, plan, and talk, and we got to catch up (and be encouraged by) a former boss of mine. I am always encouraged when I step back and look at what is going on at ASC. Sometimes I feel like we get so involved with the day to day, week to week part that we (or I) lose sight of what God is doing among us. I get so caught up in the logistics or the problems that I see, that I forget to see the AMAZING things God is doing through the church. So, as we stood on the stage Friday night and received a certificate that said we are an official church now (instead of a church plant), I smiled as Alex Mandes prayed about the way God has used the chaos at ASC. I smiled because it's so true. ASC is nothing like any church I've ever been involved with, and there's a lot of chaos, but there's also a lot of people's lives who are being changed daily. I am thankful to be at a church where the community is real, the members are diverse, and the body is a family - we don't look anything like each other, we have different backgrounds and we live in different neighborhoods - but we all love Jesus and want to see him glorified and that's what makes us family.
Our family stayed a little longer than the rest of the group to catch up with friends that live in the area. We saw my maid of honor and her husband and met their baby; some good friends that we did ministry with several years ago; my mentor from several years ago; and a group of friends that we used to be in Bible study with. The time was encouraging and refreshing. It's fun to share the joys and hardships of life with old friends.
I am so thankful for a great weekend; for an amazing church that is led by godly people; for the good friends that we interact with regularly and ones that we don't get to see very much; for people who have poured into our lives over the years, allowing us to pour into other's lives; for good talks with Steph; for fun playtime with the kids; and for some yummy food that we don't get to eat regularly.

Ski Trip

2010-03-01T19:40:00.002-06:00

Last weekend, Dave's dad took us to Ruidoso for a ski trip. It was lots of fun. We were not sure how the kids were going to do with the whole skiing thing, but they did great and loved it.
I started skiing when I was 4 years old and it is one of the few sports that I really enjoy and am good at. So, seeing the kids learning how to do it and enjoying it was really neat for me.
We decided to give Elizabeth a private lesson the first day we were there. She did great and loved it - the next day she was ready to take another one. So, we set her up with the same teacher - West - and she did another hour with him. She was able to ski by herself and stay pretty much in control.
We wanted to at least let James try it out and get a feel for it. So, we let him ski between our legs. I thought we would do this a few times with him and that would be it. But, he loved it so much that we kept going. We would get to the top of the lift and he would say - "let's do it again." When I was growing up we would always say when we got to the top of the lift, "tips up" and I got James to say it. So, every time we would get close to getting of we would say "tips up" and he would lift his ski tips up to prepare to get off the lift.
I have some video of them skiing that I will try to get up soon, but here are a few pictures from the trip.
The two little ski bunnies.Dave and Page

Poppy, Page, Dave, James, & Elizabeth

Elizabeth and Dave

James and Page

Christmas Part 2

2010-01-13T09:46:00.004-06:00

We spent Christmas morning at home with Granmama and Beto and then ate dinner with them. Here are just a few pictures of the day.
James loves his new car - he plays in it all the time.
Nothing like some new dog treats - so exciting.

I got a new sewing table, well the promise of a new sewing table. Dave made me a little tiny miniature one out of cardboard and bolts. Very cute.

Dave got a picture that I took at the farm earlier in the year. This will probably hang in the living room once we paint it.

Elizabeth got some stilts - she hasn't really mastered the art of walking with them yet.

James got an Elefun game - these are the nets before they were put together.

There was a little harmonica playing.

The boys blew up James' new punching bag.

And then James played with it.There was a little latch-hooking going on (I think that's what you call it).

The kids with Granmama and Beto as they opened one of their presents - Christmas pictures of us and the kids.

Elizabeth got new crocs - so exciting. And she's modeling some of her gum that she got in her stocking. :)

It was a great day. We had a birthday cake for Jesus, but I didn't get any good pictures of it. We are most thankful for the gift of Christ that was given to us so long ago - the most precious gift of all.

Christmas Part 1

2010-01-07T09:47:00.004-06:00

We celebrated Christmas with Steph on Christmas Eve.
James got a Little Drummer Boy book that he is a big fan of. Elizabeth got a book that she decided she needed to open with scissors instead of just tearing open the wrapping.

I got a Christmas puzzle.

Dave got a metal sign.

James and Elizabeth got a game.

Steph got pj pants that I made for her.

And a quilted stocking.

After Steph opened the stocking, James put it on his foot and then asked where the other one was.

Crazy Bath Hair

2010-01-07T08:45:00.005-06:00

A Conversation About Sewing

2009-12-04T08:48:00.003-06:00

Elizabeth was hanging out with me while I was sewing this week. She came over to me, wearing a regular t-shirt, and we had the following conversation.
E: Mommy, why does Granmama sew regular sleeves like this (indicating a full seam sleeve on her shirt) and you always just do ribbon? (I have made her several pillowcase dresses which just have ribbon over the shoulder, MUCH easier than a regular sleeve)
Me: Because Granmama is a better sewer than me.
E: How old are you?
Me: 30 about to be 31
E: How old is Granmama?
Me: Mmmm, 63 or 64.
E: Will she live longer than that?
Me: Probably, yeah.
E: Well, maybe someday you will become an even better sewer than Granmama.

Maybe, just maybe. (Not very likely, but one can dream.)

It's Pouring

2009-11-20T08:57:00.001-06:00

And so Elizabeth and James sit on the ottoman and look out the window. And Elizabeth says to James: "It's like if God took a really big thing of salt, except it's water, and pours it out. Does that explain it?" And James says, "yeah." And there you have it. Need anything explained, just head on over. I'm sure Elizabeth has a good explanation for you.

Matching Dresses

2009-11-18T15:24:00.003-06:00

Back in August I made some dresses for our sweet friends with a matching for Elizabeth. It's taken us this long to get a picture of all 3 girls wearing them. But, we finally did it. YAY!

Is this thing on?

2009-11-18T14:59:00.002-06:00

This video is not great quality - sorry about that. And I'm not even sure you can tell what James is saying, but turn up your volume and see if you can make this out:

1. He blows into the microphone.

2. He says "Hewwo, hewwo"

3. He says, "Check 1, 2, check, 1, 2."

Saturday night after church we were hanging out getting ready to leave. James picked up Dave's microphone from the box of music goodies and started doing this. He cracks me up. Think he's been to too many band practices in his two years? :)

New Blog

2009-11-12T11:40:00.001-06:00

I've started a new blog that will have all my crafty stuff on it. That way if you're not interested in my crafty stuff - you can just come here to see about the family. If you want to come see what I do when I have free time - check out the new blog - My Crafty Side

Happy Halloween

2009-11-01T17:18:00.002-06:00

Pumpkin Patch

2009-10-28T16:28:00.001-05:00

This past weekend we made our annual trip to the pumpkin patch. Apparently this pumpkin patch is getting much more popular than in years past. It was crazy busy, but we still had a good time.Elizabeth climbing on the hay that is unstable for climbing on.The hay shuttle that takes you to the under-the-street tunnel that gets you to the hayride.The kids loved watching the chickens.Dave and Elizabeth on the hayride.James and Page on the hayride.

On the hayride.

Hanging with the goats.

James' Quilt Top - Done

2009-10-28T14:11:00.003-05:00

Actually the quilting is done too. Now I just have to cut it and bind it. Woohoo!

Pumpkin Carving

2009-10-27T21:30:00.003-05:00

We carved our pumpkin tonight. And by we I mean Dave. He's pretty much the resident pumpkin carver. Elizabeth usually helps him clean out the seeds. This is the first year James has been old enough to care. And he pretty much takes after me - he walked around the whole time saying "ewwwwww". Yep, I just like to sit back and watch and take pictures.

Elizabeth wanted a bat carved into the pumpkin, so that's what Dave did.

Blogger's Quilt Festival 2009

2009-10-12T16:26:00.004-05:00

Amy at Park City Girl is hosting an online Quilt Festival.

Here is my quilt that I am entering. I am actually still working on hand-sewing the binding on this quilt, but I am very happy with how it has turned out so far. I made a little bitty practice quilt to practice my free-motion quilting, but this is my first "full-size" quilt to do it on. I had major issues with the thread breakind, but got it done. This quilt is for someone who just graduated from college - her favorite color is blue. My mom helped me cut and sew the quilt top together. I'm hoping to get this done by the end of October, just got to get all that binding done. For those of you who hand-bind your quilts, do you use a thimble? My fingers are already hurting and I'm not even a quarter of the way done. Would love your tips. Thanks for stopping by!

Halloween Dress - Done

2009-10-06T10:52:00.002-05:00

Not the best picture, but it's done. I'll try to get a better picture at some point. I used the tutorial at Nap Time Crafts (with a few modifications) to make this Halloween pillowcase dress.

October Sewing Goals

2009-10-06T08:38:00.004-05:00

So, here's what I'm trying to get done in October - it's a lot, but I think I may be able to do it.
I finished the dress that I was making for Elizabeth using this fabric, now I need to get her bow made. I made 2 already to go with the dresses that I made for our firends' girls. I should be able to get this done at our Mommies Group crafting night tomorrow night. Yay!Make a Halloween dress for Elizabeth with this fabric and that super cute trim. I would also like to make a bow to go with this dress.I finished quilting this quilt and would like to get it trimmed and the binding done.And this little bad boy I've been working on since before James was born. I'm planning on getting it done this month. Yesterday I finished embroidering all the appliques. So, I have to finish sewing the quilt top, quilt it, and bind it.I would love to get this quilt top finished this month - this is definitely a stretch, but my mom is helping me with it, so maybe we can finish it. And this quilt is done except I didn't put a label on it. I would really like to get it labeled.

Baby Blanket

2009-10-02T12:33:00.004-05:00

My cousin and his wife had a baby this week. I wanted to whip up a little blanket for him since we will get to meet him this weekend. The front is regular cotton and the back is super soft, brown fabric. Hope it keeps Baby Tippit warm this winter.

I found a fun blog this morning that has Sew & Tell Fridays. Hopefully I will have some more projects to be able to post over the next few weeks.

Diz

2009-10-01T08:50:00.001-05:00

James has been calling Elizabeth "Diz" for quite a while. But, just in the last week he has changed it to "Lizabif". It's so cute when he says it. He just went following after her, saying "Lizabif". I love that my kiddos have siblings.

What do you say?

2009-09-29T21:06:00.002-05:00

I have so much to say and yet don't know what to say at all. We lost my mother-in-law a week ago. So, what do you say? What do you say when your husband has lost his mom at 32 years old? What do you say about a woman who poured herself into her family and did so much to make my husband the amazing man that he is? There's so much to say and yet I have no idea where to start. I'm still processing. Still trying to figure out what all this means and what do I do with it? I'll be back as I continue to process through this.

Not much blogging...

2009-09-18T16:17:00.004-05:00

I've still been doing lots of sewing. A few weeks ago we had a birthday party to go to for our close friends' daughter. She turned 2. She is James' best friend. Her mom and I were pregnant together and the two of them love to be together. I decided that I wanted to do something special for her birthday and had recently seen a tutorial for a pillowcase dress on Nap Time Crafts. So, I made one for her and a matching one for her baby sister. I also made one for Elizabeth that matches. We haven't gotten a picture of the 3 of them yet, but hopefully soon. Here's a picture of two of the dresses.

First Day of School

2009-08-27T14:29:00.002-05:00

The kids started their Kids Day Out program last week. Overall they did pretty well. James had a hard time when we dropped him off, but they said he settled down and had a pretty good day. Elizabeth was a little bit upset when we dropped her off, but also had a good day - even talked to her teachers some in story time. That's a big deal. Here are our first day pictures. We got them all dressed in their new outfits that they picked out (well James had a little help from us) and they looked WAY too old. I couldn't believe how big they both looked.

We had trouble getting a picture of both of them. This was the best we could do.

Happy Birthday Sweet Pea!

2009-08-26T13:36:00.003-05:00

Happy Birthday Elizabeth. Five years ago, Daddy and I welcomed you into this world. From the moment we found out we were pregnant with you, we were so excited. We couldn't wait to meet you, to hold you, to love you. I can't believe that it has already been 5 years since you were born. That morning that you were born was an amazing time for us. You made it clear very early that you were a Daddy's girl. When the nurses took you to weigh you and clean you up, you were screaming. Whenever Daddy would talk you would turn your head towards his voice and stop crying. This happened several times and we knew from then that there was no hope. You and Daddy would have a special relationship, unlike any other. And as a certified Daddy's girl myself, I couldn't be happier. I love our relationship, but it makes me smile to see you and your Daddy.

In the last year you:

- have gotten very good at drawing - your favorite thing to draw is dogs.

- have come out of your shell even more - you are now willing to talk to your teachers at KDO and answer questions in circle time - a major accomplishment.

- have learned to read a little bit - you enjoy sounding out words in your Bob books.

- have made it clear that you are going to be an animal lover for life - you can't get enough of animals - especially dogs and cats.

- took dance for the first time and enjoyed it, even getting up on stage and dancing in your recital.

- also were in Kid's Choir for the first time.

Overall you have grown up in many ways. Your thoughts and questions are challenging and make me think about things that I never have.

As Daddy and I watch you grow, your personality and passions become more and more clear. You have a heart that loves to help. You enjoy doing things for people - helping them out with something, making them things, giving presents. You are passionate about life. You are a girl that does things full on with lots of energy and emotion behind what you are doing. You are very cautious of people you don't know, but have learned to overcome that when necessary. You struggle with being scared of things, but have also learned how to handle that in positive ways - distract yourself, sing your Bible verses about fear, pray.
You decided this year that you wanted to become a Christian and so with Daddy's help, you prayed a prayer of salvation. You understand that sin is things that we do that are wrong and that Jesus came to die so that we could be forgiven of our sins. You believe in this. We can't wait to see how God uses you as you grow up and learn more about what it means to be saved from our sins. As you learn truly what the grace of God is all about and choose to follow him, we know he will use you in amazing ways. He will be able to accomplish so much through you. Happy Birthday Sweet Pea. We love you!

Taking Care of the Family

2009-08-15T08:24:00.002-05:00

Last week Dave and I headed to some friends' wedding a couple hours away. My parents watched the kids Sunday afternoon and evening. They spent most of the time at their house, but then headed to ours to let people in and start a Bible study at our house. We got there a little late. Apparently when they got to our house, Elizabeth brought my dad a marker and paper and proceeded to tell him the things he needed to do to take care of Stache (our dog) and James. So, here's the list she gave him - I think she's about ready to hold down the fort by herself. Well, maybe not quite yet, but maybe once she turns 5 in a few weeks. :)

James
1. take care of bloody nose (he had just had one on their way to our house)
2. change diaper
3. watch so he doesn't pull pet tails
4. be careful is he messes up stuff
5. help if he gets hurt
6. no eating playdough
7. watch in front yard
8. feed when hungry
9. help when needs help
10. watch curtains so he doesn't them down

Stache
1. don't let him bite door
2. train for dog show
3. give him water
4. give him food
5. don't let him chase Meko
6. don't let him on the blanket when watching t.v.
7. scratch his ears when he can't reach them
8. pet him
9. let him outside when he wants to
10. get him in a safe place when might hurt him

Pay It Forward

2009-08-10T15:38:00.003-05:00

A few weeks ago I was browsing through my blog list that I look at regularly. I was over visiting Unplug Your Kids where Sarah has great ideas on activities for kiddos that get them away from the tv, computer, etc. and doing experiments, acitvities, all kinds of fun stuff.
Well, she was participating in a little pay it forward project and I was one of the first 3 commenters, so I get to participate too. Fun.
Above is what Sarah sent me from a recent trip to France - a beautiful bookmark and postcard and a cute little stone that you can spray perfume on and put in your drawer (like a sachet). The stone says Amitie which means friendship. I also love the envelope with the fun French stamps on it - so cool.
Now, my job is to pay it forward. So, I will send a little something to the first 3 people who comment on this blog post. If you comment, please be willing to pay it forward to 3 more people. If you don't have a blog, that's ok. You can do it in person or I think it would be fun to do on facebook or something. Anyway, just being willing to pass along something nice to 3 more people. Please only US residents. If you comment, make sure to put your email address or some way for me to contact you to get your address so I know where to send your package.
Thanks for visiting my blog!

Free Motion Quilting

2009-08-10T15:22:00.002-05:00

I have been very excited about quilting lately. I’ve been working quite a bit on it and really enjoying it. As my post last week showed, I have several things in the works. My mom and I are working on a couple of quilts together. I have gotten excited about the idea of free motion quilting them after watching the Old Red Barn Quilt Along. There's one major problem with free motion quilting - I'm a perfectionist and the thought of it terrified me. But, I decided that I really wanted to try it out and see if I could do it. I also decided that I didn't want my first attempt to be on one of these 2 quilts my mom and I working on - there has been quite a bit of time and money put into these quilt tops and I wanted to practice on something first. But, I also didn't want to just practice on a scrap. It's very hard for me to practice on something that isn't going to be used. With two little ones running around, I don't have much time to sew, but when I do, I want it to count. I went to my favorite fabric store and looked at their sale section. I wasn't really sure what I was looking for, just something that I could use that would be simple, but still useful. I found some blue fabric with cats and dogs on it and realized that it would be PERFECT for Elizabeth. So, I bought a yard of it and another fabric and decided to make her just a little blanket. Well, I free motion quilted it. I read and watched the tutorials several times at Old Red Barn and Oh Fransson and then I just did it. And I loved it. I loved doing it and I LOVE the way it turned out. It isn't perfect, for sure, but I'm ok with that (a huge step for me). I finally realized that this is handmade and nothing handmade is ever going to be perfect. So, now I'm really excited about getting the other quilt tops done so I can quilt them. I'm definitely a convert to free motion quilting. Now, I have to bind this blanket for Elizabeth and I'm thinking she'll use it for rest time at Mother's Day Out this year.

I have been working on this and Elizabeth has seen it. She asked me who I was making it for and I said it was a secret. She thought on that for a day or two and then said, "Mommy, I think I know who the secret is for. I think it's for me because it's blue and has dogs and cats on it." Bingo - I knew it was perfect for her as soon as I saw it.

The Reception

2009-08-05T21:58:00.007-05:00

The wedding reception was very fun. We had a great time. My husband's family knows how to throw a party and they go all out for weddings.
Dutch (the ring bearer) and Elizabeth sitting in the big chairs. James and me at dinner.The 4 of us all dressed up.

James looked super cute in his tux. Unfortunately we didn't get many pictures of him in the whole thing, but the vest and bow tie still look pretty cute.

Dave and me.

I know this isn't a great picture, but I had to put it up because Dutch and Elizabeth spent a ton of time together. Dutch was always hugging Elizabeth and they played together a lot. It was really cute. Too bad they don't live closer to us.

These 4 cousins played together a lot of the reception, including attacking Dave at one point. From the left is Zeke, James, Elizabeth, Dutch, and Dave.

Aunt Ali and Elizabeth - this is potentially my favorite picture that we got. I'm not sure why, I just think it's so sweet. These two love being together. This picture makes me think of Ali and her Mini-Me.

My parents made the trip to join in the festivities and help us with the kids. It was great to have their help. I don't think we could have done it all without them. Here they are dancing with the kids.

While people were eating dinner, there wasn't much dancing going on. So, the kids had the whole dance floor to themselves. They definitely took advantage of it - they ran around and kept falling over and were just generally being silly.

My brother, Evan and me.

Uncle Richard dancing with Elizabeth. Uncle Richard loves playing with the kids and they all have so much fun.

Dave with his baby sister - they love to dance together.

Elizabeth thoroughly enjoyed her cake.

The parents of the bride (and my wonderful in-laws), Mike & Joyce.

Uncle Evan and Elizabeth dancing. I think she was whispering secrets to him - which obviously were funny.

This is Dave's dad, James, and some other family member named James. I'm not exactly sure how he's related, just know he has the same name as James.

Dave's mom and Dave.

My parents took James back to the hotel to get him to bed, but Elizabeth really wanted to stay til the end. We told her she could stay. Well, it wasn't too much longer til she was fast asleep in Uncle Evan's lap. I think all the festivities totally wore her out.

And Richard and Ali make their exit. It was a beautiful wedding with a fun, rockin reception - just what they wanted. We were glad to be a part of and celebrate this wonderful day with them.

We love you Ali & Richard - may God bless your marriage!

Getting Ready for the Wedding

2009-08-05T21:50:00.004-05:00

Dave's sister, Ali got married at the end of June. The wedding weekend was very fun and very exhausting. We had a great time and were so thankful to get be so involved in it. It's a blessing to have siblings that want you in their weddings. So, Dave was a groomsman, I was a bridesmaid, Elizabeth was the flower girl, and James was the honorary ring bearer. It was lots of fun.
The morning of the wedding Elizabeth and I headed over to Ali's house to get hair and make-up done and get ready.
Elizabeth and Ali getting their hair done. These two are so alike in so many ways. As you can tell, they look a lot alike, but their personalities are very similar also. Elizabeth got her hair done, then it was time to eat some lunch. Poor thing, she really wanted to lie down, but I kept trying to keep her up so that she wouldn't mess up her hair.

Elizabeth hanging out with Aunt Ali.

Elizabeth got her make-up done. I wasn't really too excited about it. The make-up lady asked me if they could do princess make-up - a little bit of blush, some sparkles, and lip gloss. I said sure. Well, it ended up being full make-up, even mascara, but oh well. These things don't happen everyday.

The bride and bridesmaid having a little pre-wedding toast. We just hung out in the bathroom at the church while we waited for the time to come.

Joyce (Dave's mom) and Ali both looked beautiful.

Elizabeth was ready to walk down the aisle.

Since I was in the wedding, I didn't get any pictures of the actual wedding. It was beautiful and the ceremony was very nice. Dave and Steph wrote a song and Dave and Amy (my brother's wife) sang it during the wedding. It was really neat. I think Richard and Ali really liked it. I am uploading the video of the song right now. Hopefully will have it posted soon.

Not much blogging going on...

2009-08-05T21:46:00.004-05:00

But a lot of sewing. I've been really bad about blogging lately, partially because I've been sewing a lot. I'm totally on a quilting kick at the moment. I am going to try to get caught up on some blogging, but here are some previews of what I've been sewing.

Happy Birthday Bubbo!

2009-07-22T16:58:00.004-05:00

Happy Birthday James! Two years ago today, Daddy, Elizabeth, and I welcomed you into our family. We loved our family when it was just the 3 of us, but you immediately brought more joy and laughter. You have been a blessing in our family. Your smile, that always come so easily, lights up our life and makes every day more fun. You know how to make the whole family laugh and have done so many times in the past 2 years.

In the last year you have learned many things:

- how to walk

- how to talk in sentences

- how to climb on EVERYTHING

- how to count to 10

- how to sing

- how to follow your sister around and imitate all that she does

- to enjoy reading books and you now have many favorites (Goodnight Baby; The Going to Bed Book; Red Hat, Blue Hat; Peepo; and others)

There are other things you learned, but these are some of the big ones.

You started Kids Day Out this year and thought that it was so fun. You have also made some friends, your favorite one is Zoe.

Your Daddy and I can't wait to see what God does with your life. From very early it was clear that God made you unique. You have a joyful heart that loves to have fun. You have an adventurous spirit that isn't afraid of very much. You will do just about anything and go just about anywhere. You love people - new ones that you first meet and ones that you've known your whole life. These are things that when you use them to serve God, will glorify Him in amazing ways.

You are a blessing to us sweet boy and we can't wait to see what the next year holds in store. We love you!

Dog Show

2009-07-10T14:58:00.002-05:00

The dog show was in town this week. Since we have a girl who LOVES any kind of animals, but especially dogs, her Granmama wanted to take her. So, we went down on Wednesday. We had a good time. Unfortunately we didn't get to see the judging of the cairn terriers or the agility stuff, but it was fun anyway.
James, Elizabeth and Granmama watching the dogs. James checking out the dogs.

James and Elizabeth being silly.

And I fell in love again. When we were looking for a dog last year I was researching what kind to get. I found Norfolk Terriers and thought they were super cute. They are supposed to be great with kids and other animals. We saw some at the dog show and they are absolutely adorable. Now, don't get me wrong, I love Stache, and right now he's totally my hero. But, I would love a little Norfolk. The problem??? They are EXPENSIVE! So, I don't see one anytime in my near future. But, if you happen to have one hanging around, you can send it my way. Or if you were trying to figure out a birthday present for me, well now you know. :)

This isn't a great picture, but you can kind of see how cute they are.

No Rabies

2009-07-08T18:52:00.002-05:00

We got the call today that the bat that was in our house did not have rabies. We are so thankful to God that this ended here and we don't have to make decisions about if anybody gets shots. I am thankful for this experience although it was difficult. It has made me more dependent on God and that is always a good thing. Thank you for your prayers!

Sleep

2009-07-07T22:48:00.003-05:00

I'm not sure how I managed to miss this on the last post, but yesterday was the first night that James went to sleep on his own. I rocked him for a while and was a little frustrated because he was obviously exhausted and just wouldn't give up the fight. So, after about 15 minutes of him lying in my arms with his eyes just barely open, I laid him down in his crib, left his lamp on and his door cracked and left the room. He made a slight cry and then stopped. We have done this before and have always ended up having to go in and get him, because we have never been willing to let our kiddos "cry it out". Well, we left him in there, because he seemed content and after 30-45 minutes things got very quiet. I went up and checked on him and he was sound asleep. He just did it again tonight, so we may be on to something. This makes me very happy and gives me a little more freedom at bed time.

Settling Down

2009-07-07T20:48:00.002-05:00

Well, things are starting to settle down here. We spent a somewhat restless day yesterday dealing with the bat issues. Got Stache to the vet for a rabies booster as recommended by our dear vet and friend Dr. Kyzar. Was reminded once again how much I love him as a vet. He's so comforting and calm and it's always nice to see a friendly face, especially when going to the vet with 2 young kids and a dog can be a tad bit crazy.
Dave got 2 calls today - one from the health department and the other from an animal control officer letting us know that the bat has been sent for testing and we should have the results tomorrow. I have been very impressed with how on top of things they have been. The animal control officer also told Dave that most of the bats recently have been coming back negative, so that's good news.
Dave has been great about handling all these calls and stuff. I am again thankful for a husband who protects and cares for our family - it is a blessing.
We headed out to the water park today with Steph. It was a fun couple of hours. This was the first time in quite a while that we have done anything other than the kiddie area. Elizabeth has finally gotten over her fear of the water and LOVES it. So, we did the wave pool and the lazy river. Both were lots of fun. I don't think I could have done these by myself and Steph, as usual, was a huge help to have. She and Elizabeth went way far into the wave pool by Elizabeth's request and had a blast. Then in the lazy river James sat in my lap and Elizabeth sat in Steph's. We finished off our time with a few minutes at the kiddie area. It was a great time and a good way to stay cool in this crazy heat.
We started a new Bible study tonight for our church. We had a good turn out for our little church - 7 adults. The Bible study was on marriage and we talked about marriages we have been exposed to - what we've seen that works and doesn't. It was a good starting night and the group seemed to mesh well. I'm excited for this study. Dave and I both have a passion for marriages and seeing people in godly marriages. Tonight was also a good reminder of what's important - commitment, selflessness, putting God first. And reminded of some things I want to do in our marriage - ask Dave what I can be doing better as a wife, putting him first, speaking his love language (words of affirmation), and remembering the things about him that I fell in love with. The group is a good mix of stages - we have been married the longest at 8 years, one couple married 4 years, one couple getting married in December, and one man dating a woman who lives in another city and probably getting engaged relatively soon. I'm excited to see what God does with this group.
Now, off to put the kids to bed.

Batman

2009-07-06T14:20:00.002-05:00

I know, I know, I haven't posted anything about the wedding. I will, I promise. It was amazing, so much fun, and exhausting. We spent most of last week trying to recover from the weekend.

We had a fun 4th of July weekend, topped off with a crazy Sunday evening, Monday morning.

We got the kids to bed around 9:00 last night and Dave and I sat down to eat some dinner. This isn't normal for us - we usually all eat together, but we weren't really hungry when the kids ate and we didn't expect it to take so long for them to go to sleep. So, we're sitting at the table and all of a sudden Dave starts saying, "Oh my gosh, oh my gosh!" and runs into the bathroom and closes the door. I have no clue what's going on, so I run in there with him. Turns out there is a bat flying around our kitchen. Nice.

We're not really sure what to do, but decide we definitely need to get Elizabeth's door closed. I have read articles on how bats can bite children while they sleep and their teeth are so tiny that the kid doesn't even wake up. We go upstairs and close her door and then find the bat in the laundry room, which is upstairs. Dave closes the door and we think we have him trapped. We call around and find out that Animal Control will come pick it up if there was human contact. We don't know if there was human contact or not, but it's a possibility since the bat was upstairs where Elizabeth's room is.

It was an interesting process of going through what we need to do, researching, talking to several people, and praying. My mom prayed on the phone with me last night, because I was fairly scared - mainly about the possibility that Elizabeth could have been bitten. Then Dave and I sat down and prayed.

For me this was the first time that I have had to really sit down and deal with something potentially life and death with one of my children. I know that the odds are incredibly low that the bat even got near Elizabeth, but we don't know for sure. So, as we prayed, I told God that I knew she belonged to Him and that he has plans for her. That I trusted that all of her days were numbered before any of them came to be (Psalm 139:16). And I told Him that I trusted him. And I do. I really do. Was I scared? Heck yeah! Can I even fathom the pain and heartbreak of losing a child? Definitely not. But do I really and truly believe that God loves Elizabeth WAY more than I do and that he will protect and provide for her and take her home in his timing? Yes, I do. I struggled throughout the night with fear and anxiety. Something that as a mom I haven't really had to deal with much. But every time I felt that fear creeping back in, I told God - I trust you. It was a difficult night. Exhausting both physically and emotionally.

Animal control got here about 11:15 just as Dave and I were trying to settle down and get some sleep. The guy came in and looked all over the laundry room and couldn't find the bat. Great. So, it either got away - not good, or it's roaming the house somewhere - also not good. Dave and I decided to sleep in the living room because of the very real possibility that the bat was camped out in our bedroom.

About 2:45 I was awakened by a strange chattering noise and see our dog, Stache, standing over something at the entrance to our living room. I figure it's the bat and call Stache to come over to me. I don't want him to get bit, forgetting that he's probably the safest one of all of us, since he's current on his rabies vaccines. I wake Dave up and we sit for a moment trying to figure out what to do. Next thing we see is the bat slinking (best way I can describe it) up the hearth of our fireplace. VERY creepy looking. Dave throws a sheet on it and eventually gets it captured in a container. I am EXTREMELY thankful for Dave. He did something that he wasn't too thrilled about to protect his family. I can't even think of what I would have done if he hadn't been there and been willing to take care of us.

The bat was picked up this morning by Animal Control and taken for testing. We will find out the restults in a day or two. We have talked to our doctor, who is not concerned since there is no evidence of a bite on any of us. We will wait to find out the results of the testing on the bat to make any hard and fast decisions on whether we will be getting shots.

I know that plenty of parents have to deal with much more serious issues than this, but I am thankful that I serve a God who cares about my fears and concerns. He is a God who comforts me where I am and holds me close to him no matter what.

The next few days will be ones of waiting and praying and trusting. We trust God to show us the best plans for our family. If you would like, we would love for you to join us in praying for wisdom for us and the doctor as we make decisions.

Sorry if this post seems rambling, just trying to get thoughts down without enough sleep. Hopefully tonight will be better.

Our Month

2009-06-25T08:06:00.004-05:00

We are getting ready to leave town for Ali & Richard's wedding - woohoo! We have been busy getting ready and participating in all the fun activities that go along with a wedding. It's been a fun time.
Before we left, I wanted to give y'all a brief overview of our last month or so. Here's a few things that have been keeping us busy.

Trimming trees Doing a little repair work on the roof.

Elizabeth had her first dance recital.

We had a friend's wedding in Houston.

The kids and I went on an overnight trip with Granmama and Stephanie (and met Amy) for a memorial service. We got to stay in a hotel - fun.

I helped host Ali's bachelorette party.

The kids and I went to a cousin's reunion with Granmama and had fun playing with cousins.

Elizabeth had swimming lessons and thoroughly enjoyed them.

And the rest of our time has been spent trying to find ways to beat this crazy heat.

Roller Coasters & Costumes

2009-06-03T14:52:00.002-05:00

There's so much going on right now and so much I want to blog about... But, I'm having trouble finding time to sit down, upload pictures, and write.
I did want to get this onto the blog though, because it's big, really big.

The kids and I went to Sea World this morning. I think I've mentioned this before on here, but Elizabeth is terrified of costumes. Because of this Sea World can sometimes be problematic due to the large costumed creatures (Shamu, penguin, dolphin) wandering the park taking pictures with people. Today she saw some when we first walked in and calmly asked me to go by them quickly. This is huge for her because she often really starts to panic when she sees them - whining, crying, just generally flipping out. So, for her to stay calm was a big deal.

She had talked on and off about this little Shamu roller coaster that they have. We have asked her several times if she wants to ride it and she quickly answers no. Today she brought it up all by herself and asked if we could go look at it and see if there were a lot of people waiting in line. I said sure, trying to act like I wasn't shocked that she was even considering riding on it. We went over and checked for height on her and James and found out that James was too short but she was tall enough to ride by herself. I explained that James couldn't ride it and I couldn't leave him alone, but she could ride it alone if she wanted to and she said she did. I'm sorry, WHAT? I couldn't believe it. But, she did it all by herself. She looked so tiny in the little Shamu car, but also seemed very grown up sitting there getting ready to ride her first ever roller coaster and by herself. (Of course I decided not to take my camera today, because I just knew it was going to be another regular trip to Sea World. Argh!) How did she get old enough to do this or to want to do this? She rode and said it was scary. She doesn't seem like she wants to ride it again until she gets a little older, even with Dave or me. But, I am amazed and proud that she got on it alone and did it. She is definitely growing up.

Crafting

2009-05-20T16:03:00.002-05:00

Did a little crafting this morning.
Elizabeth doing spin art with the salad spinner. James was supposed to be doing finger painting. I guess that is what he did, I just didn't think the canvas he would choose to paint on would be his face. Silly me, you'd think I'd know better than to think my almost 2 year old wouldn't cover his face in paint. :)

Happy Mother's Day

2009-05-08T14:29:00.004-05:00

In honor of Mother's Day I wanted to say a little bit about the two moms in my life.

My Mama has taught me a lot over the years. She has taught me that my first love above all else should be Jesus. She has taught me what true respect and godly submission look like within a marriage. She has taught me that you can be a strong woman and a godly woman at the same time. She has taught me what it looks like to love your children with the love of Christ - unconditional, committed, sacrificial. And she has taught me that God truly changes you if you allow Him to. There are so many others, but these are the things that I have learned the most from.

The other mom in my life is my mother-in-law, Joyce. She has been a true blessing in my life - one I am aware that not all daughters-in-law have. She has loved my husband well and taught him many things. She has taught him to be loving, caring, tender, and giving. She gave of herself constantly while Dave and Ali were growing up so that they could become the people that they are. She has loved me, welcomed me, and made me feel a part of their family. She has told me that she thinks I'm a good wife and mom - words that are invaluable to me. She has loved my children and I am glad to have them call her Grandma.

So, thank you Mama and Joyce for all you have done in our lives - mine, Dave's, and our childrens'. You are amazing blessings to us and we thank God for you. We honor you today.

While the Cat's Away...

2009-05-06T17:04:00.002-05:00

Elizabeth has been at the farm with Grandma and Poppy this week. I left her in Houston after a shower for Aunt Ali. She was supposed to come home today (Wednesday) but is going to end up staying an extra day.
Sunday we didn't have much going on, so decided we would go have some fun time with just James - a rare treat.
We took him down to the train by the zoo and then to the park.
Recently he has been calling everything a train - cars, trucks, etc. So, I was so excited to get him on the real train. Well, the whole time he called the train a truck. Oh well. "Choo choo"

Checking out the river Chillin along the river. I love this picture.

I think James is missing Elizabeth. Today I took him to the park and he was very interested in the other kids. Including following a couple of the older girls around some.

Elizabeth, on the other hand, doesn't seem to be missing us too badly. Every time we talk to her she talks for a few minutes then says, "can I let you go?" We are trying to comfort ourselves with the fact that we have raised her to be secure and safe in our love and know that she can go places and have fun and then come home when she's ready. But, we'll definitely be ready to see her tomorrow. We are also very thankful that she has grandparents who love to spend with time with her - on both sides of the family. What a blessing.

Intentional

2009-04-27T21:35:00.003-05:00

Intentional: done with intention or on purpose

I have been trying to be more intentional with the kids lately. Making sure that instead of just going through life with them, I am setting aside time to focus on them. You would think that as a stay-at-home mom, I would have plenty of time to just sit and play and focus on them. And I do have time to do that, sometimes it's just hard to do it. I sit on the living room floor for a minute to play and then realize that there are dishes in the living room that need to be taken into the kitchen. Then the kitchen needs to be cleaned. And it never stops. If I don't make an effort to be intentional, I can go through my whole day - spending lots of time with the kids, but not much time focused on them. I don't like that. I think it's important that they have time to fill themselves and they learn to play alone and with each other. And there are defnitely things that I need to get done throughout the day and people other than the two kids that I need to focus on. But, I want to be intentional with my time with them.

So, on that note...Elizabeth and I spent the day together. We took James to school and then she got to pick the activities for the day. So, we went to the zoo, she went to lunch with Dave, we got Frosty's at Wendy's, went to Chuck E. Cheese, then went and picked up James. It was great to have one-on-one time with her. I really enjoyed it.

Elizabeth at the Strawberry Patch

2009-04-11T15:54:00.003-05:00

Here's a video of Dave "interviewing" Elizabeth about our trip to the Strawberry Patch. We had nicknames for the trip - hers was Tag.

Turbo Tube Slide

2009-04-10T21:54:00.003-05:00

James just discovered the Turbo Tube Slide on our playset this week. He can't get enough of it.

From Dave

2009-04-08T15:37:00.002-05:00

Dave's family has started a little email update that people reply to. It helps us all keep track of each other. So, here's what Dave put as his update last week. Just thought I'd pass it on, b/c it has a couple of cute kid stories in it.

Espanol de Courier

I taught James how to do this today:
"give me five" - he slaps my hand a few times
"Back side" - he slaps either my hand or his own hand a few times
"in the hole" - he either covers the hole with his hand, makes a fist (a hole), or tries to stick his fingers in my hand, the correct method.

Page is closing the doors on the towel business - the economy is just too rough. Plus we never advertised (did you even know about the business?) and we made enough money to pay for her super-duper sewing machine.

Elizabeth is getting pretty smart. Today I got a little frustrated that she was talking loudly in the hallway when I specifically asked her to be quiet, James was trying to SLEEP. So I explained to her that I was sorry I got frustrated, and she said, "Daddy, well I got frustrated too, when you asked me twice to be quiet and I heard you the first time."

Kids are great!

It's Not for Decoration

2009-04-01T11:39:00.002-05:00

Last night Dave and I had a rare treat. We both got to lie in bed with Elizabeth before bed. Usually I am putting James down or he's crawling around being crazy while we're attempting a calm relaxing time reading books. But, James had already gone to sleep, so I got to join Dave and Elizabeth for bedtime. Dave read a VeggieTales book about how God made all of us special. When he finished I asked Elizabeth if she knew a way God had made her special. She said no. So, I told her a couple of ways that I thought God had made her special - he hass given her heart that likes to help people and a personality that is very passionate. We talked about it for a minute or two. Then Dave said that God gave her a pretty nose. I asked her what she thought about what we had said - whether she thought they were true. She said that mine was but, "not what Daddy said. I use my nose for smelling, so it's not pretty because it's not for decoration." Dave and I thought it was too funny not to share.

Dinner with the Fam

2009-03-23T22:01:00.003-05:00

This is a late post, but I still wanted to get it up.
Back in January we went to dinner with the whole family. It was a yummy dinner and great time for all of us to be together. Here are a few pictures from the evening.
Evan doing something random with his napkin - maybe trying to make Amy disappear??? I'm not really sure. But, I'm sure in some way entertaining Elizabeth. James spent most of the evening digging in to Dave's garlic mashed potatoes. He LOVED them! He also entertained us by wearing these sunglasses Amy had in her purse and making weird faces.

Aunt Amy talking to Elizabeth, probably explaining something to her. Amy decided not to teach this year for a variety of reasons, but as my mom said once - "you can take her out of the classroom, but you can't take the teaching out of her." She is always willing to explain in whatever detail Elizabeth wants any question Elizabeth asks her. Teaching is in her heart, no doubt about it.
This picture just makes me laugh. It looks like my mom is crying and putting Evan in his place. In reality she was laughing hysterically. Just think it's a cute picture.

Elizabeth coloring.

Evan and Amy.

Most of the family. For some reason the waiter who took the picture decided not to include James in it. He took a picture with my dad's camera and did the same thing. Bummer, but I still like the picture, just wish James was in it too.

James and the Wallaby

2009-03-23T15:20:00.000-05:00

Here's a video of James laughing at the wallaby at the rodeo. Just thought it might brighten your day!

You'll Shoot Your Eye Out

2009-03-23T14:06:00.000-05:00

I prevoiusly mentioned that Elizabeth got a BB gun from Beto for Christmas. She definitely was not too sure when she first opened it, but enjoyed shooting it once we got it out.
On a sidenote - I asked my parents what the likelihood would have been for me to get a BB gun for Christmas when I was 4, the answer was a huge ZERO! Just as I suspected.
Beto and Elizabeth opening it up. Dave and Elizabeth shooting.

Beto made this target for her - here she is pointing to where her shot went in. And James was checking it out too. We of course made sure that everyone was behind the gun when it was ready to be shot. Elizabeth took this to a whole other level and would yell and scream if someone even said they were shooting next and James or Stache were near or behind the target. She does learn safety rules well and quickly.

More shooting.

Learning about the gun.

Most of these pictures were taken the 2nd time we got the gun out. She shot more with Beto the first time, but I didn't have my camera.

Rodeo

2009-03-09T15:08:00.005-05:00

Ok, thanks to my cousin Meredith for getting me back into the blogging world. Sorry I've been slacking.

We went to the rodeo a few weeks ago. It was lots of fun.

Here'a a picture of all of our boots.
Elizabeth wanted to ride on the pony. So, we paid for $7.00 for her to ride on this pony named Tex that was hooked up to this carousel thing. It was a pretty neat contraption. I just thought it was funny. She was so excited to be on it. The saddle even had a seat belt thing. Are you kidding me? This girl has ridden Savannah bare-back at Grandma and Poppy's farm. But, she had fun.

Our favorite part of the rodeo was the petting zoo. I was very surprised at what a good variety of animals they had. This wasn't just your ordinary - 2 goats and a sheep petting zoo. They had all kinds of animals - goats, sheep, pigs, llamas, wallabies, chickens, ducks, deer, etc. The kids had so much fun. I knew Elizabeth would have a great time being the animal lover that she is. But, James really enjoyed it too. He thought the wallabies were hilarious. He laughed hysterically every time one started to hop. It was so much fun to see the kids enjoy the animals so much.

Elizabeth feeding a couple of goats.

James with a deer.

Page and James with a goat.

Close-up of Elizabeth feeding a goat.

James with his wallaby friend.

Ceiling Fan

2009-02-07T15:19:00.003-06:00

For Christmas I got Dave a ceiling fan for our living room. It's something that he has wanted for quite a while. With help from my dad and his dad, they got it up and it looks great.
Dave and my dad working on it. Showing off their work.

As you can kind of see from the previous picture, the wires were just hanging out of the way when Dave and my dad finished.

So, we brought in Dave's dad to help with the electrical part.

Poppy and James working on the wiring.

The finished product with the wires covered. Thanks to both of our dads for their help. We really enjoy the fan.

Can You Hear Me Now?

2009-02-07T15:04:00.003-06:00

Dave got a new mixer and speaker this week. So, of course we had to try it out Thursday night.
Dave playing bass with his mixer. The new mixer and speaker.

Elizabeth trying out the microphone. She had just been riding her bike.

James trying out (or eating) the microphone.

Because this is my blog and I get to choose what goes on it, I'm going to spare y'all the videos of us testing it out - specifically me singing... Hopefully you can get the idea with the pictures.

Let's Rodeo

2009-02-06T17:27:00.002-06:00

Today was Rodeo Day for Elizabeth at school. This is a new outfit and boots that she got this week. James also got new boots, but you can't see them very well in this picture. We're going to the rodeo this weekend, so hopefully I'll get a better picture of both of them. Thanks Granmama and Beto for funding the boots. Our Little Cowgirl

She thinks my tractors... well, maybe we shouldn't go there

2009-01-28T11:48:00.003-06:00

A couple of years ago, Grandma and Poppy gave Elizabeth a little tractor for her birthday. It has 2 speeds. When she first got it, she was not very good at driving it and so we only let her use the low speed - 2.5 mph. Well, at some point the gear shift got broken, so she has only ever driven it on the slow speed. While Dave was off for Christmas, he fixed the gear shift. Here she is trying it out (with James) on the fast speed - 5 mph.

James' Stats

2009-01-28T11:44:00.001-06:00

We took James to the doctor for a well check last week. He weighs 25 pounds and is 33" long. That's just under 50th percentile for weight and just under 75th percentile for height. I actually think he typically weighs a little more than this, but the appointment was after a week of him having a stomach virus.

Christmas Dinner

2009-01-28T11:32:00.003-06:00

Dave took pictures of our Christmas dinner. Since he took them, I thought I would put them up on the blog for him. It was a yummy dinner. I wish I was eating it RIGHT NOW!
Green Beans with bacon & shallotsOyster Stew

Goose

Creamed Corn

Ham from Bill Miller's and Rutabagas

Apple Pie

Christmas Morning

2009-01-07T16:12:00.006-06:00

We spent Christmas at our house. It was nice to stay home all day.
Dave reading out of Luke. Both kids got dogs that bark and move around. Notice Elizabeth also is still holding Pony-Pony from the night before.

Singing Happy Birthday to Jesus.

Opening Stockings.

It took James a little bit to understand that there was stuff in the stocking, but he finally got into it.

Elizabeth put one of her My Little Pony combs into a box and put it under the tree for me. She was so excited to give it to me. So sweet.

James was VERY into opening presents. I didn't think he would be interested this year, but he really was. He was big on getting every piece of wrapping paper off of the packages.

But, his favorite activity of the morning by far was sitting or standing on boxes. He did on just about every box that was out.

Elizabeth hanging an ornament from Granmama and Beto on the tree.

James and Granmama opening his ornament.

Elizabeth got a BB gun from her Beto. Here she is opening the BBs. She seemed very unsure of the gun when she opened it. After she shot it though, she became more interested. More on that in another post.

James on another box.

Elizabeth got a dog training for children DVD and some dog treats for Stache. She is now working on training him.

Opening presents can be SUCH exhausting work.

James on yet another box.

Granmama, James, and Uncle Evan opening these super cool trucks that Aunt Amy and Uncle Evan bought for him.

Evan got Guitar Hero: World Tour for Christmas so we played around with that.

Elizabeth playing the drums with Aunt Amy.

Amy and Evan.

James helping Granmama play drums.

Christmas Eve

2008-12-31T13:05:00.005-06:00

Our church didn't have a Christmas Eve service this year, so we went to church with my parents then out to dinner.

We started a tradition last year that the kids open their presents to each other on Christmas Eve. I like the idea of this because it makes their presents special and they don't get lost in the hub-bub of present opening on Christmas morning.

Elizabeth got James a walking-popper thing. My parents have one similar at their house and so Elizabeth knew that he would love it and he does. James picked out a horse for Elizabeth. I set him down in front of the shelves of stuffed animals and let him pick one out. This is the one he picked. Elizabeth loves it and has named him Pony-Pony.

Dave played guitar while we sung a few Christmas carols.

Grandma gave the kids these reindeer antlers which they decided they needed to try on.

And then Elizabeth decided Dave and I needed to try them on so she could take a picture of us. Oh, and Pony-Pony had to be in the picture too.

This picture doesn't look like, but James actually thought the antlers were pretty funny and kept trying to put them back on when they would fall off.

Baby Jesus Basket

2008-12-30T19:33:00.002-06:00

We started a new tradition this year that I read about somewhere. We had a basket that we prepared for Baby Jesus by putting "hay" (actually strips of paper) into the basket. Several times throughout December we each put a handful of hay into the basket and talked about a gift we have either given or been given. We prepared the basket so that on Christmas morning Baby Jesus could be placed into it - the greatest gift we've ever been given.Baby Jesus in the basket under the Christmas tree. This was a neat tradition that I think we will continue. It got us and the kids a little more focused on Jesus, which is always good.

Christmas at the Farm

2008-12-30T16:45:00.004-06:00

After our trip to Houston, we made a trip to the farm to celebrate Christmas there. The kids had just a few things to open. :)
James was VERY into opening Christmas presents this year. Me showing off my new hat and Academy gift card from Dave's parents. I'm trying to get into running, but that's for a whole other blogpost.

James showing off my new headband.

Elizabeth opening a thing to make bead necklaces.

The kids opening presents.

James riding in this little truck he got. He loved riding in it and getting pushed back and forth across the living room.

The kids were worn out from the busy weekend. James fell asleep with his new guitar.

Christmas in Houston

2008-12-30T16:22:00.002-06:00

The weekend before Christmas we went to Houston to celebrate Christmas with Dave's dad's extended family. This is something that we have done almost every year and we always have a lot of fun.
James' first time on a real swing (instead of a baby swing). Elizabeth almost immediately started playing with her cousin Dutch. Dutch is Dave's cousin's son. Dutch and Elizabeth spent most of the evening playing with each other. It was fun to watch. Dave is one of 17 grandchildren on his dad's side and grew up very close to his cousins. It's neat to see the next generation starting to form relationships. Elizabeth and Dutch are the oldest of the 5 great-grandchildren. Dave's Grandpa has passed away and his Grandma wasn't able to be with us for Christmas, but I know that they would both love to see their great-grandkids playing together.

Every year Santa (in the form of Dave's uncle) comes to Christmas. Elizabeth is TERRIFIED of Santa, as she is with anyone in just about any kind of costume. We tried to prepare her for it and I even explained that it was Uncle Raymond dressed up as Santa. But, she still totally freaked out when he got there.

Here's a picture of how she spent most of the time that Santa was there - in her Daddy's lap in the other room.

Or in her Aunt Ali's lap. Super cute picture if only Elizabeth didn't look so pathetic.

We tried to get James to sit in Santa's lap, but he wasn't too sure. He would let me get close enough to get a family (minus one) picture with Santa.

Poppy & Grandma with Santa.

Grandma, Elizabeth, & Dave.

The 4 brothers - Uncle Bernard, Uncle Mark, Uncle Raymond aka Santa, & Poppy aka Mike.

We were able to coax Elizabeth out of the other room once Santa left and there were presents to be opened. Dave's aunts, uncles, and cousins are always very generous. The kids had lots of fun opening presents.

Christmas at Sea World

2008-12-30T15:52:00.004-06:00

A couple of weeks ago we went to Sea World for their special Christmas shows and stuff. It was really neat. I had never been at Christmas before and we really enjoyed it. It's something we'll definitely go back to. When we walked in there was snow coming down in the entrance. Very cool. We went several friends. It was a beautiful day and we all had a great time.
Elizabeth, James, & Dave in front of the big Christmas tree. All 4 of us.

Page, James, Elizabeth, & Dave with our friends Nova, Karen, & Aidan.

We went to the Polar Express 4-D experience. It was really neat. They even had real snow come down in the theater. Elizabeth wasn't sure about watching it because she had watched Polar Express at school and been scared by some of it. I asked her to stay in there with us at least until it started. She wasn't too sure but did a good job and ended up enjoying it. The part that scared wasn't a part of the show, so that was good.

Dave and James getting ready for the movie. James enjoyed chewing on his glasses more than wearing them.

The boys and young kids went up into this massive playscape thing. They had a good time. Elizabeth didn't want to go up so she stayed down with the girls.

Our friends Jody & Zoe with James & Dave.

James watching the Shamu show. When Shamu first jumped out of the water, he said "Whoa."

James was totally worn out and feel asleep on the way home after eating some snacks.

My Birthday

2008-12-28T14:15:00.003-06:00

Earlier this month I turned 30. I have had friends that have really struggled with turning 30 and the thought of it has never really bothered me. What was interesting to me though was that the thought of not being in my 20s anymore did bother me a little bit. The 20s were a big decade for me - I graduated from college, got married, bought a house, had a daughter, moved and bought another house, and had a son. It's unlikely that any other decade will have quite so many accomplishments in it. While I look forward to seeing what God has planned for me this decade, I look back with fondness at what he did in me this past decade. I am so thankful for His faithfulness to me.
I had a very nice day. I got several nice presents from family and friends and Dave worked extra hard to take care of the kids so I could relax. My mom made me a french silk pie.

And my sweet friend, Stephanie, baked me a carrot cake to help celebrate at church that night. It was her first ever cake from scratch and it was yummy.

Wedding Reception

2008-12-28T13:57:00.002-06:00

James was sick the day of the wedding so he spent the whole reception sitting in someone's lap - very uncharacteristic of him these days.

Elizabeth on the other hand spent almost the entire reception out on the dance floor. She had so much dancing with Kasia and anyone else who cared to join her out there.

Kasia, Dave, and Elizabeth dancing.

Elizabeth dancing with Beto.

Elizabeth dancing with her Uncle Evan.

The Wedding

2008-12-28T13:29:00.001-06:00

For the wedding Elizabeth had her hair done by a professional. She was not at all sure about this. When she first started having it one, she looked pretty miserable. Then her Aunt Amy gave her a mirror and she perked right up and spent a good portion of the rest of the time looking at herself in the mirror.

All dressed with her hair done. Front.

Back. Elizabeth with the flower girl, Kasia, and her Aunt Amy.

Elizabeth hugging her ring bearer pillow with the bride, Kim.

Elizabeth and Kasia scattering the rose petals down the aisle. Kim decided that it would be good for both girls to scatter the petals and it worked great. They did them one at a time which made it last forever but it was very cute. They also had rose petals left when they got to the front of the church, so they wanted to keep going. We assured them they could finishing scattering them when they went back down the aisle at the end of the wedding. Elizabeth did a great job walking down the aisle. She acted like she'd been doing it her whole life.
Page, James, Elizabeth, and Dave after the wedding.

Elizabeth and Beto talking.

Aunt Amy, Elizabeth, and Uncle Evan

Elizabeth with her Daddy

The Rehearsal Dinner

2008-12-03T18:25:00.004-06:00

A couple of weeks ago Elizabeth was a ring bearer in a wedding. The wedding was her Aunt Amy's brother Eric and his new wife Kim. We were concerned about how she was going to do - whether she would walk down the aisle or not. She is shy and can be anxious, so we weren't at all convinced that it was going to go well. She did a great job. Here are some pictures of the rehearsal and the rehearsal dinner.
Elizabeth with Kasia the flower girl. Page & Dave at the rehearsal dinner.

Elizabeth being silly with Uncle Evan - there's a big surprise. Elizabeth told me this week that everyone in our life is silly - she's just about right.

Elizabeth with her bunny ears and Uncle Evan. Aunt Amy's mom and sister bought these bunny ears for Elizabeth, James, and Kasia.

Elizabeth and Kasia in their bunny earsy.

James is quite a handful these days. He was crazy at the rehearsal dinner - getting down, running out of the room, etc. This picture pretty much sums up his evening - always keeps us on our toes. :)

Christmas PJ's and book

2008-12-03T18:03:00.002-06:00

We have a tradition that every year on Thanksgiving night the kids get new Christmas pajamas and a new Christmas book. It's hard to find matching Christmas pj's in their sizes. So, these aren't my favorite, but they work. The new book this year was Merry Christmas, Curious George. James wasn't too interested in the book. Although he did find a book that he wanted to read by himself.

Cousin Scarlett

2008-12-03T17:57:00.002-06:00

Over Thanksgiving we stayed over at my parents house. My Aunt & Uncle, cousin, his wife and their daughter came down from Dallas. And then my brother and sister-in-law were over too. We had a good time spending the weekend with family. My cousin's daughter Scarlett is 13 months old. She is such a cutie. Elizabeth was really sweet with her. And she and James played together some also. Here are some pictures of Scarlett and Elizabeth. We didn't get any of Scarlett and James.

Knitting

2008-12-03T17:53:00.001-06:00

Last week my mom taught my sister-in-law Amy and me how to knit. Amy wanted to learn because she is making a sweater for their dog, Baxter. And I figured since we were sitting there doing it that I might as well learn too. Here is a cute picture of Elizabeth sitting in Granmama's lap while she starts my little scarf.

Our Little Shining Star

2008-12-03T17:47:00.002-06:00

The Friday before Thanksgiving was Feast Day at Elizabeth's school. Her class dressed up as Indians in outfits that they had made. So, here's our little Shining Star - her Indian name. She dressed up for our Thanksgiving dinner also.

Oh Christmas Tree

2008-11-19T21:29:00.003-06:00

So, I know I may get some flack for putting up our Christmas tree so early. But, here goes. We LOVE Christmas. I could put up our Christmas decorations in September and be perfectly happy. I'm doing good to wait until now. And actually, it was Dave's idea to put it up this early. He brought the tree in on Sunday. Elizabeth and I set up the tree yesterday and then we decorated it as a family this evening. It was fun. Elizabeth loves to put the ornaments on the tree. We all get ornaments every year, so she loves getting to see her ornaments again. James did pretty well. His favorite activity was trying to climb into the box of ornaments. Thankfully none of them got smashed.
James & Elizabeth - James trying to grab the ornaments and Elizabeth trying to put them on. James still trying to grab ornaments.

Page hanging an ornament.

Elizabeth putting up an ornament - not sure what that face is about.

Dave hanging an ornament.

James looking at the tree.

Love this picture of the two of them.

The whole family. James was looking at the camera until the last second. Oh well.

James

2008-11-19T21:13:00.002-06:00

James now gives kisses all the time. He loves to give kisses to people. And if you give him a stuffed animal, he will almost always kiss it first thing.
When we pray before meals he has started folding his hands. This is pretty funny because we always hold hands when we pray. He has been folding his hands and then saying something that isn't really clear. Today when he said it, it sounded a lot like "pray".
He walks all over the place and doesn't like to be in one place for very long. He's definitely keeping me on my toes.

Elizabeth

2008-11-12T16:27:00.002-06:00

On Monday Elizabeth wore a ring to school - just a plastic ring with a big blue jewel on it. She asked if she could wear it and I said yes, but just let her know that it might get lost. She said ok and off she went with it on her finger. She got home and took it off and said, "I wore my ring to school to be fancy. I'm done being fancy for today."

Elizabeth LOVES animals. She is always either talking about them or playing with them. Some of the ones that she plays with are imaginary - her baby puppies, kittens, and a few others. She usually is tending to them because they are sick. She always trying to do things to take care of them and make them feel better - including giving them shots. I asked her what she wanted to be when she grows up today. She said she wants to train animals so they will get along with other animals. I'm guessing that this idea came from watching her Grandma's favorite show with her, "The Dog Whisperer." So, I'm guessing either an animal trainer or a vet. She then asked me what I did when I was old enough to be something. I told her that for the majority of the time I've been a wife and a mom - just what I always wanted. What a blessing!

Horsin' Around

2008-11-12T16:06:00.004-06:00

Grandma & Poppy's neighbors got a new horse recently. This is supposed to be for Elizabeth to ride once he's been trained. His name is Romeo.
Romeo and James getting a bite to eat. :) Poppy, Elizabeth, Romeo, & Page - he is a beautiful horse.

Elizabeth feeding Romeo.

Poppy feeding Romeo.

Elizabeth riding Savannah.

Yeah, she's riding bareback. She could ride Savannah all day long if we let her. She LOVES it.

James & Elizabeth on Savannah - I'm so bummed this one was blurry because it would have been such a cute picture.

Another one that's not blurry, but that's not nearly as cute.

James riding Savannah. He will tolerate riding her, but isn't the fan that his sister is. At least not yet.

The Borski Boys, plus Romeo.

Elizabeth feeding Savannah.

Feeding the Goats

2008-11-12T08:27:00.002-06:00

Elizabeth James & Dave

Elizabeth, James, & Dave

James getting the food out - was he getting it for the goats or for himself? Hmmm....

Four Wheelin'

2008-11-12T07:58:00.003-06:00

Four wheelin' at the farm a few weeks ago.
James & Poppy Yes, we actually got the whole family on 1 4-wheeler. It was a little tight, but fun.

Elizabeth & Dave

James & Dave

Feeding the Cows

2008-11-03T11:39:00.004-06:00

We fed the cows at the farm. This is the first time James has really been very interested.
James & Poppy

This is the first time we had been to the farm with Elizabeth in a while. She has been twice by herself since we all had been. It was so neat to see her out there. She was totally in her element. She knows how to do everything and is willing to tell you how you are supposed to do it. It was so fun to see her. We are starting to realize that her love for animals goes far beyond a typical child's interest in animals. She definitely has a passion for them. Maybe we can get her into Future Farmers of America. I'm not sure if they let 4 year olds join. :)

Elizabeth showing her cousin Shai (who is 12) how to feed the cows.

Elizabeth, James, and their great-uncle Ben.

Most of the calves are pretty skiddish and won't let you get close to them. But, this little guy was really sweet and would let you pet him and feed him.

Page and the calf

Visit to Grandma

2008-11-03T10:04:00.002-06:00

On our way from Houston to the farm, Dave, James, and I stopped to visit Dave's Grandma (his dad's mom) in the nursing home. Elizabeth had gone back to the farm with Grandma & Poppy the night before. It was a very nice visit - the longest we've had with her in a long time. We went to the dining room and sat with her as she ate lunch. It was great because James quickly became the hit of the dining room. He walked around saying hi to people and smiling. That fear that his sister had of older people? Yeah, he doesn't have that. :)
James, Dave, & Grandma James was very interested in Grandma's wheelchair.

We must have worn James out that morning. We got in the car and grabbed lunch. Here he is eating his hamburger.

About a minute later I looked back and I couldn't see the hamburger at all and James was asleep. We later found the hamburger on the floor.

Granny

2008-11-02T21:38:00.006-06:00

So, I know I promised I would be better about keeping up to date with the blog, but things have been crazy.
Two weeks ago, Dave’s Granny (his mom’s mom) died. So, we packed up and went to Houston for the funeral and to spend time with family. Then went to Grandma and Poppy’s farm for the weekend. It was a difficult time of saying goodbye, but a good time with the family and a fun time at the farm.
Dave grew up just a few blocks away from his Granny so he has many fond memories of her and the time they spent together. When Elizabeth was younger, she was scared of older people – anyone who had white hair. She would see an older person in the grocery store and start crying. We never knew where this fear came from, but she was never afraid of Granny. So, I always told Granny that meant she wasn’t old. She would just laugh and say I guess not. Granny will be very missed by her family.

Granny with Elizabeth in December 2004.

Granny with Elizabeth in July 2005. This was the stage where Elizabeth was scared of older people, but not Granny. :) Granny with her great-grandson, Aidan, her great, great-grandson Nolan, James, & Elizabeth (great-grandson and great-granddaughter) in November 2007.After the funeral the whole family went out to Granny's and spent time together.

Granny's four children - Betty, Ben, Joyce (Dave's mom), and Kitty.
Granny's grandchildren - Allison (Dave's sister), Mark, Luke, Calgary, Bill, Dave, Johnny, Lisa, Travis, Megan. Elizabeth is just running past - she's not a grandchild.

Granny's great-grandchildren - Abishai, Brittany, James, Aidan, Justin, Ashley, Candace, and Elizabeth. Two of her great-grandsons couldn't make it so they are in the picture Candace is holding - Kyle and Ben. There is one great, great-grandson that I didn't get a picture of - Nolan.

They had a bonfire, which both kids thought was very fun.

James and Poppy playing with fire. :)

Elizabeth loved playing with the dogs.

James hanging out outside.

Waffles & Feathers

2008-10-16T10:07:00.002-05:00

So, waffles are a huge deal in our family. My dad makes INCREDIBLE waffles. They are one of my favorite foods and definitely my favorite thing to eat for breakfast. It is kind of a thing that my dad and I have - I'm his waffle eating buddy - I always keep eating them with him, even when my mom and brother are finished. So, when Elizabeth was old enough to eat waffles it was very exciting for us to be able to introduce them to her. She loved them and was (and is) always ready to go over to Granmama & Beto's house for wapples (what she used to call them). Well, Sunday morning James and I went to my parents for breakfast (Dave and Elizabeth were in Houston visiting Dave's Granny). I decided that it was time to introduce James to waffles. So, here are some pictures of him eating his first waffle. He ate them, but didn't seem super thrilled about them. Maybe he just needs to try them a few hundred more times. :) This face isn't for the waffle. He's getting to where he makes this face when he knows the camera is about to flash.
Elizabeth and Dave came over when they got home from Houston. Elizabeth started getting dressed up using stuff that Granmama has collected for her grandkids. She put all these feathers in her hair. She looked so funny.

Kid's Choir Program

2008-10-16T09:54:00.003-05:00

This semester Elizabet has been participating in Kid's Choir at my parents' church. I think it's been a good experience for her and one that she has seemed to enjoy overall. Last night they had their little concert. She seemed overwhelmed to be with all those people and spent a good deal of her time looking around. But, we were so proud that she got up there and did it. This is a huge step for her. She did sing some and did some of the hand motions. And we commented that there is no way she would have gotten up and done this last year. She has definitely come a long way in terms of being comfortable with people.
Elizabeth having a snack before the program. Singing - she's in the center of the picture.
Hanging out.

Here's a little video during the program.

Playing Outside

2008-10-12T18:11:00.002-05:00

Stephanie & Elizabeth

Stephanie & Elizabeth climbing up the rock wall

Static from the turbo tube

James on the turbo tube

Burp Cloth

2008-10-12T17:48:00.004-05:00

Our pastor and his wife just had their 5th baby boy. Here's a picture of the burp cloth I made for Baby Bishop.

Pumpkin Patch #1

2008-10-09T13:25:00.004-05:00

We went to the pumpkin patch today with our Mommies Group from church. It's always a good place to get some cute pictures. We'll be heading to the big pumpkin patch this weekend with Dave, but here are our first pumpkin patch pictures of the season. I love fall, what can I say?
James loved playing with the pumpkins

Elizabeth

Elizabeth picked out some pumpkins for different people. But, we decided we would just get little ones instead of the big ones. And we didn't get our big carving pumpkin, because we decided to wait til Dave could be there. Pumpkin carving is something Dave does with the kids, so we figured he should be there to help pick it out.

James

Elizabeth posing on the hay bales

James & Elizabeth - I couldn't believe I got them both to look at the camera - quite an accomplishment these days.

James, me, & Elizabeth - all 3 looking at the camera - wow.

James enjoyed climbing on the hay bales.

Band Video

2008-10-06T20:19:00.002-05:00

Dave informed me that the other video I put of the band was an intro and the whole band wasn't playing until the very end of the video, so here's another video.

habla espanol?

2008-10-06T19:54:00.002-05:00

Tonight Elizabeth and Dave were reading books before bed. They were reading one that has a bunch of pictures with the names of the item underneath. They got to a picture of a tv and the name was television. So, here's the conversation that they had.
D: television
E: What's that?
D: television, it's a tv
E: Is television spanish for tv?

Fall Retreat

2008-10-06T16:12:00.005-05:00

So, I knew I had been a little lax in my blogging, but I realized how bad it had gotten on Friday. I called my brother and he said, "you ARE still alive." I asked if there was a question and he said, "well, you haven't been updating your blog, so I thought you might have died." So, I'll try to be better. If for no other reason than at least you guys will know we are still alive. :)
We had a great weekend on fall retreat with the Campus Crusade for Christ group from UTSA. We are involved with a church that partners with Campus Crusade to reach students on the UTSA campus. We are good friends with the campus director and his wife and they had asked us if we were interested in going on retreat with them. We decided that we would go and we are both so glad we did. It was a great time. This is a retreat put on by Campus Crusade so there were several schools there. UTSA had the 2nd largest group behind A&M. There were probably around 200 students total there. We went to Camp Tejas near Giddings, TX. It was a beautiful weekend. We met Dave's parents in Giddings and dropped Elizabeth off with them so she could have a weekend at the farm. She had a great time and it made it a little bit easier for us to only have 1 kid to keep track of.
Dave ended up playing bass with the band, "None to Perish". They led worship for the whole weekend and did a fabulous job. It was fun to see him up there playing with them. He had a great time although he is concerned that his fingers may fall off from all the playing. They are a serious band and had lots of practice sessions, but it paid off, they were great.

We had a good time getting out of our daily routine and getting to enjoy the fun camp atmosphere. It was a blessing to spend time with the college students. , worship the Lord, hear good teaching, go canoeing, and enjoy God's beautiful creation.
James had a good time. He is walking a ton now, so he enjoyed walking all over the place, hanging out with Mommy & Daddy, and getting loved on by the students.

James & Ben
James & Steph
Steph & Page
Overall it was a refreshing weekend to spend time in God's presence, with each other, and with friends. Definitely a blessing.

In the Word

2008-09-25T10:10:00.002-05:00

As parents our biggest prayer for our kids is that they would believe in Jesus as their savior so that they can have a personal relationship with Him. We try to incorporate God's word, prayer, and just walking the Christian life into our lives as much as possible so that our kids can see it. We desire for them to see in us an authentic relationship with the God of the universe that affects everything that we do. So, when we start to see fruit in Elizabeth's life it is a huge blessing. While there is still much that she doesn't understand, she is starting to understand God's Word a little bit better. Yesterday she was looking through one of her Bibles (The Right Choices Bible, thanks to Christy for the recommendation). She was looking at the pictures trying to find the hidden grasshopper in each story. She came to the picture of the burning bush and she said, "is that God talking in that burning bush?" She then came to the picture of where Moses' staff turns into a snake and she said, "did that snake come from a stick?" Wow, what joy it brought to my heart that she has heard these stories and is remembering them. She also was playing church yesterday with her stuffed dogs and told me she wasn't sure what she was going to preach on. :)
While we are far from living the perfect Christian life, I am thankful that our kids are seeing God at work in our lives and the people around us and are hearing God's word on a consisten basis. Praise the Lord!

Walking and Talking

2008-09-23T21:58:00.003-05:00

So, last night James stayed up very late because he took a late nap due to school. He got a litte bit delirious and all of a sudden started walking. He had gotten to where he was taking 2-3 steps and actually choosing to walk more often before last night, but last night, he just all of a sudden decided he was ready. He was walking back and forth from Steph to me to Dave and he just kept doing it. He was being silly sometimes and purposefully falling, but overall he was walking really well.

He has also gotten really into pointing to things and "talking" about them. When we drive now, he spends a good part of his time pointing at things outside the car and babbling about them. It's really cute. He also now says "ba" when he sees a balloon.

Here's a video of James walking last night.

Wii Fit

2008-09-16T21:51:00.002-05:00

I've been looking for the wii fit since it first came out back in May (I think). Well, I finally found one last week and bought it. It's actually a fun little game. I'm not expecting it to make me look like a body builder or anything, but I figure if I can use it consistently then that's better than what I'm doing now, which is nothing.
An added bonus is that Elizabeth loves to play it. Her favorite thing to do is the running. You are supposed to put the wii remote in your pocket and run in place. Elizabeth didn't have pockets so she had us put the remote in her apron and then she ran around the living room. She carried her puppy, Rowdy, with her while she ran.

Trip to the Park

2008-09-16T21:41:00.004-05:00

James, hamming it up for the camera. Elizabeth
James was so excited about going down the slide.

Playing Outside

2008-09-15T21:19:00.008-05:00

Granmama & Beto gave Elizabeth some 3-D chalk for her birthday. So, last week we decided that we needed to try it out. See if it was really 3-D. It was ok. I wasn't overly impressed, but there were some of the designs that looked kinda 3-D through the glasses.
James
Stephanie wearing the 3-D glasses and Elizabeth
James using the chalk
Stephanie and James
Elizabeth making a river so she could be a fish in it and we could go fishing for her.
Stephanie, James, and Elizabeth Elizabeth - that blue chalk got all over EVERYTHINGStephanie & James

James and the Dishwasher

2008-09-15T20:58:00.003-05:00

James loves playing in the dishwasher. We pretty much can't have it open when he is awake. He sees it open and starts crawling for it right away. We usually don't let him get this far in, but this time he made it all the way into the dishwasher.

Happy

2008-09-15T15:33:00.002-05:00

I was doing my Bible study today, which was pretty interesting. It was talking about how in Christian circles we've kind of gotten rid of the word happy. We use blessed and joyful, but we're afraid of the word happy. Beth Moore was saying that sometimes God just makes her happy. She did clarify that blessed and joyful are despite circumstances, different from happiness, but she said God still likes to make us happy - not all the time, but sometimes. I thought it was a good point. One I obviously like since I'm a fan of being happy. :)
One of the questions was "what is a recent situation where God has give you happiness" or something like that. Now, I'm an optimistic person and overall my life is good, so I'm generally happy. But, one thing I thought about is something kind of new so I thought I'd share it. My answer was "spending time with Steph." There are lots of other instances where I've been happy recently, but I have been having so much fun with my new friend, Stephanie.
Stephanie and I met a little over 8 weeks ago at church. It was her first time and so we talked for a few minutes. From the first day, God gave me a heart for her. If you've ever experienced that, you know that it can't really be explained. I just, out of the blue, loved this girl that I barely knew. It's been so neat to see our friendship develop. God has knit our hearts together and I am truly blessed to have her in my life. She's a college student, so her schedule is pretty flexible and we've been spending a lot of time together. Dave has appreciated it too, b/c he has been REALLY busy at work lately and he knows that's hard for me. So, when he is having to work or go out of town, I've been spending more time with Steph, which makes it easier for Dave.
It has been such a blessing to have Steph in our lives - loving on her, watching her love on our kids, hanging out, doing puzzles together, helping her answer some questions she has about her Christian walk, Dave's been teaching her guitar, and just having fun together.
Dave said this weekend, "I think your life is fuller since Stephanie's been it and therefore it makes all our lives fuller." And I agree.
What a great God we serve to give us friends that touch our heart, help us learn, help us grow closer to God, and make us happy.

Hooded Towel

2008-09-15T14:03:00.002-05:00

Here's a picture of a towel that I embroidered for a Tiny Tot customer. The baby's name is Amrit which means "shares his meal with God." The link to Tiny Tot's is a blog I have started to keep up to date with my business. It is in the very beginning stages. I have so many pictures that I need to put up and just haven't had time to do it.

James' Quilt

2008-09-15T14:00:00.003-05:00

Both kids were at school today so I spent about an hour doing sewing projects. I got all of James' quilt squares cut out. Now, all I have to do is embroider them, sew them all together, sew on the border, then quilt it. No big deal. Yikes!

Anyway, here's a picture of the quilt squares laid out like they are going to be. It's exciting to start to see what it's going to look like.