From the Eyes of a Child

reversing roles

2009-07-31T00:52:00.003-05:00

Well, I sit here in the hospital with my mother. I think back to the numerous times she sat with me. I have had two broken arms (same arm), a messed up wrist that required being in the ER, a wreck that was too close of a call, (she has always said, I talked God's ears off, so He decided He wasn't ready for me yet!), two knee surgeries (same knee), an ovarian cyst removed, a concussion, and 3 babies. WOW! I think I have frequent flyer miles or some reward system. She never complained, she was always there, she got a little mean at times, she made me eat, drink, walk, do whatever the Dr. says, sleep, rest, she motivated, she insisted, she was calm, and she didn't go home until I did.

Well, we don't know exactly what is wrong with her yet. Lots of tests are being done and we will keep testing until we figure it out. I have been up here as much as I can. With my girls that has been limited. I saw in her eyes she needed me here, so I ditched my children onto Laken (you are such a sweet, life saver and poor Daniel!) and I am here camping out. I have had to make her shower, eat, drink, sleep, rest, get up, motivate her, be quiet (not too easy for me!), and I have had to get mean with her. Boy, how time changes. I can tell she is dependent upon me. My dad is here and is trying so hard, but bless his heart, he is annoying her. I know so many times I was so glad Kirk was by my side, but when my mom got there; I knew things would be alright. I can sense that in her.

I don't know that I am ready for this. I am supposed to be dependent on her, I am still the child. No. No. My time has circled. I am now the adult. I am now making decisions. I am now looking out for her. It's not easy. I am truly saddened. Their are some passing of the batons I just didn't realize were already here nor was I ready to stick my hand out and receive it.

So, I am up typing in the peace and quiet, nothing but the sound of the fan, clock ticking and a small sound of a snore from a finally resting child. I occasionally lean over and take a peek to observe and then go on about my business. I won't sleep well, and I know I will be up several times through the night. I am the caretaker - and I shall play my part.

Nothing compares.....

2009-07-21T23:34:00.003-05:00

As we were getting ready to go to the beach that we had talked about for weeks, we were staying at a hotel for one night. We had been at Fiesta Texas all day and were exhausted. When we got to the hotel, the kids saw the pool and were begging to go swimming. Little Tater saw the pool and was amazed. She was so excited and thought it was the beach. (it was an extremely nice pool - especially for a cheaper hotel!) I kept telling them that we weren't going swimming at 10:00 at night b/c we were headed to the beach. the next day. They kept crying - "please, look at the pool, mom, let us swim." I replied, "I know that pool is nice, but wait until you see where we are going tomorrow."

As soon as I rolled those assuring words off my lips I immediatley thought about how God feels towards us as our Father. We want things, we are awed by things and places, we need this, we cry for that. I can just hear him - "But Amy, this is nothing. Wait until you see Heaven." For the first time in my life, something that had always been unfathomable - hit! That is really sad to say since I have been a christian for a long time. However, I see through different eyes as a parent. We can fix our eyes on what we think is great and some things are beautiful. We do have some wonderful things here on earth - if the beach is earthly, what will Heaven be like?

So, when you are having that bad day, or your house won't sell and you are moving in 3 weeks; have no stress, wait until you see where we are going tomorrow.

hello strangers!

2009-07-14T01:28:00.002-05:00

Since my last post is about St. Patrick's Day, I guess it has been a long time since I have posted. ya, think? Well anyways, Facebook has taken over in the keeping up with things, but I guess I miss my old "journaling!" I want to use this blog to write about the daily things that happen that allow me to see God working in my life. I will change the title and header and all that when I get a chance; 1:00am on vacation is not the best time! I will start next week with my first post. It will be about all that is happening in my life and an update on our family. Then I will make the transition! Hope all of you are well and will come back to my page to check it out. I will send a notice letting you know I updated!

See you all after vacation......

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

2009-03-17T01:03:00.001-05:00

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Taytum Turns Two!

2009-02-22T15:01:00.002-06:00

My Little Girl is Two! It seems it was just yesterday we were celebrating Valentine's at home because we had just come home from the hospital. She has grown up so fast - and is getting bigger every day. She talks all the time (she gets that honestly!). She wants to potty train (mommy is not ready) and she is asking to sleep in the big bed (again mommy is not ready!) She wants to be so big like her sisters, but mommy really wants her to be baby...... We had a party for her Friday night since I had to cancel it last weekend. Both grandparents were going to be here for her original party, but with the way life happened, we kept it to some close friends. She was so happy to have birthday cake - that is literally what she asked for!

Posing so big and two for the camera.

On her actual birthday, we took her to Chuck-E-Cheese. She is an official fan now and wants to go "eat pizza and play" all the time; as she says it.

Happy Birthday, My Beautiful Not - so Baby Girl!

plans can change in one phone call!

2009-02-12T22:45:00.002-06:00

Well, this is how the week was supposed to go for me:
Monday - stay home
Tues - work on Taytum's b-day party
Wed - (I know it should be church, but) Syd had a game
Thurs - go to town to get rest of stuff for party; eagerly await for Mimi and Papa from Lubbock
Fri - grandparents' day at 7:15am, Valentine parties at 10:30 and 2:30, go home and have Taytums 2nd b-day at 6:00pm
Sat - go to Austin, eat out for Valentine's day - pasta of course
Sun - run my first marathon

However, this is how the week has gone!
Mon - go to town to get some b-day stuff
Tues - drove two hours to Marble Falls to honor mother-in-law at a ladies' dinner. got in a hail storm got home at midnight!
Wed - Syd's basketball game
Thurs morning (2:00am) get call from mom. my dad's business is burning down 12:00pm - leave for Lubbock (Idalou)
Fri - cancelled party maybe next weekend?
Sat - go home and then drive to Austin or may stay in Idalou
Sun - run a marathon or drive home from Idalou

WOW! a phone call makes such a difference in our lives. we never know what is on the other line when we simply say, "hello." This has been so sad for us. My grandpa started this business and built this shop in 1948. Then my dad has worked at it and partly owned and when my grandpa passed away completely owned this business. It is our family, our whole lives were this shop. Please pray for my dad and his company as they travel the upcoming journey.

The Latest!

2009-01-22T22:19:00.003-06:00

Well, Kirk has been gone for two weeks........so, I am stressed, tired and a lacking patience. However, Alayna has been in Lubbock at my parents' house all week. She went down to Lubbock with some friends last Friday and has stayed the whole week. She is a lot like her mommy - loves being gone and doing big things! It has been easier only having two children.

Alayna has learned to ride her bike without training wheels. She is fast and fearless, so we are going to have to invest in a helmet.

On Tues Syd was trying to help me out and got a roast that I was warming up out of the microwave. She managed to get it out, but she spilled it trying to put it back. She burned herself from her neck down to her waist. It is healing nicely, but is still scary! On a brighter note, she wanted her haircut, so I gave in. It looks really pretty and she looks so grown up.

Taytum is wild and crazy. She thinks she is 5 years old. She talks so well for an almost 2 year old. Everyone thinks she is 3. She mimics big sisters and loves to do what they do. She loves to dress up, talk on phones and is constantly making us laugh.

I am preparing for my marathon. I am 4 weeks away and I am getting rather anxious, nervous, scared and ready to get it over with!

Not much else is happening. We also have Taytum's 2nd b-day coming up. I bet that will be my next post. So off to grading papers and trying to get everything done.

Where has time gone????

2009-01-07T23:22:00.003-06:00

Time is already flying! Here we are in 2009 and I haven't even posted Christmas yet.....

Here is a pic from Christmas with my family. Somehow, my mom managed to buy 13 matching pairs of pjs for 13 grandkids ranging from 13 to 9 mos. They were cute, but it was hard to get a good pic. Here is a pic of Syd at age 4 in front of our tree and AJ at age 4 in front of our tree. They are wearing a nightgown that was mine and I had taken a pic in front of my grandmother's tree. I am trying to find the one of me, so I can frame it with my girls' pictures; and yes, Tater will have hers at 4! (One great priveledge of having all girls....)

Cheers! To a new year. We are celebrating new years with some sparkling cider.

And then on a 80* new years day, what else can you do but go outside and make pyramids!

Happy New Year's to you all! May God bless you and your families beyond what he did in 2008.

The Polar Express!

2008-12-23T08:27:00.008-06:00

All Aboard!

We took the girls to Palestine, TX to ride the train on the Polar Express Tour. It was a wonderful experience - and one we hope to do again; make it a tradition. We arrived at the train station and it was decorated nicely. It was a pretty train station as well. We waited in line for the train and it came blasting its horn and steam releasing, just as in the movie. Then we boarded the train and the adventure began.

Here is the train as it is rolling in. After we boarded, the train took off and then the servers came and gave us hot chocolate and nougat candy. (Taytum's new favorite!) Then they read the book over the loud speaker as the servers showed the pictures up and down the aisle. The train took us to the North Pole where Santa and his elves were waving hello. We took some pics from the train, but was a little disappointed when we didn't get to get off for pics with Santa. We left the North Pole and then sang Christmas Carols. Then the big surprise: here comes Santa Claus and he is delivering silver bells on leather straps. (These were true bells and make a beautiful sound and they look just like the ones in the book!) Then the conductor came by and punched letters into the tickets. And we were back at the station.

Here is Taytum getting her ticket back. She and Alayna were all smiles and laughs. They had the best time. Taytum didn't even cry when she saw Santa this time!!!! (3x later, the man is getting a little too much.....)After leaving the train, they had some food and a set up to watch the movie. So - one funnel cake later and a bit of the movie, we were on our way home. No better way to begin the Christmas holidays, and no better way to put you in the Spirit of Christmas.

Here's to a great evening well worth the money spent; definitely give it two thumbs up! We'll return with more after Christmas. Merry Christmas to you all and may you enjoy the blessed time with your families. I can't wait to exchange blogs and see all the wonderful presents and all the excitement that lies ahead in the next few days.

Dallas ROCKS!

2008-12-19T21:51:00.002-06:00

I ran the Dallas White Rock Half Marathon last week. It was fun and so neat to do something that 15,000 people participated in! Two friends that I run with ran it with me, but I was joined by some family members as well. My brother and his wife (she ran the full marathon and totally rocked it out!), Kirk's brother-in-law ran the marathon and did amazing too. Kirk's two cousins and one of their husbands ran the half too. When you are waiting in a huge pack of people, there is an army fligh over, and you are being broadcast on ESPN, you begin to build up some wild adrenaline and feel so huge. We loved it all and are glad we did it. Now we move on in our training for the big marathon day in February.

2008-12-03T22:40:00.001-06:00

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Happy Fall!!!

2008-11-01T21:19:00.003-05:00

Happy Fall Everyone!!!

We went to Marble Falls to visit our new baby cousin, John Alan. Stan and Holly had their baby boy last Saturday. We went to a pumpkin patch there in Marble Falls. We took a ton of pics and had homemade pumpkin icecream. It was divine!

A little recap of what's been going on. Went to Lubbock for wedding, previous post. Then I ran a 1/2 marathon last weekend. For Halloween we had a kitty kat, a cowgirl, and little red riding hood. I haven't uploaded that pic yet. Sydney has a birthday coming up in two weeks. We are going to go to Sea World on the 16th.

2008-10-22T21:57:00.002-05:00

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Here are the pictures from the wedding Sydney was in. She did an amazing job. She was so beautiful; it makes me scared to think we have to go through 3 of these things!!!!

We had a great weekend in Lubbock. It was so good to see so many people that we have not seen in a long time. Kirk and I are really getting the "Lubbock Blues." Since Sydney and I were so busy with all the wedding events, Taytum and Alayna were able to spend a lot of time with Mimi and Papa. They sure were rotten by the end of the trip. Hopefully next time we come we can visit Green Lawn and see the rest of you folks.....

Junk Mail????

2008-09-23T21:20:00.002-05:00

I go check my mail, and as usual, junk, junk, bills, oh wait; two letters to me - and it's not my b-day. WOW! One is a thank you note from my aunt, a nice surprise. The other one is addressed to me, but no return address on the envelope. Curious and excited, I tear into my letter. It is a newspaper clipping. I read the headline - "Amazing Fat Fighting Tablet Triggers Rapid Weight Loss...Even if you Cheat!" Then I notice a sticky note on the paper clipping that says, I tried this and it really works, give it a try Amy.

Now I am beyond curious. I search the envelope, marked from Santa Anna, CA. Nope, don't know anybody from there. How did I get this? Does somebody know me, and I am not thinking or what? This clipping looks like a real newspaper article and it has mutual funds stuff covering the back. Yes, I go on to read the article. It is worded a little too cheesy for synical journalists. It is too supportive and not - giving the facts. I can tell this is an "advertisement." It talks about all the diet pills that are hard to swallow and make endless promises. This is a chewable easy to eat pill - THAT IS THE SIZE OF A MINIATURE REESE'S CUP!! What, that is not easy to chew, that is a Bite. Then at the end when it gives you all the ordering info, it says, "this is according to the company when we contacted them." Remember, this is a journalist writing the article.

All in all, it is a new type of junk mail. The paper is obviously too perfectly cut for someone to have cut it out. It is obviously not written by a newspaper staff. It is very deceiving in its appearance and I can tell this has probably "captured" a lot of people who are desperate to try anything, because they think this is real and legite. Boy, does this not sound like us and satan. He sends us so much "junk mail" that we bypass as truth. We believe what it says and we buy the false product. However, if you take the time to "read" and really look at the package; it is obvious that this is false hope. We are so desperate that we are gullible to all of satan's gimicks. Satan knows our weaknesses and he will challenge us at any extreme. Don't be fooled by those deceiving promises and great testimonies. Throw junk mail away!

Back to School

2008-08-31T00:36:00.004-05:00

August has been so busy, but has been great. We started school at Bosqueville. It is a small 1-A school, but allows for us all to be on the same campus! I love it..... Here are some pics of school and other odds and ends.

Here is Alayna putting her things in her cubby and then "working" at her table as everyone arrives. She is loving Pre-K and is being so big. She has all ready turned into quite the big girl.

Sydney was so happy to be back in school. She could not wait for it to start. She was an ol' pro to first day of school. She found her desk and then could not wait for us to leave.

Little Tater did not do so well. She has cried a lot this week. I hope it is just the transition. I hope she gets better soon. She does not cry when we leave, but she is fussy all day long. But I get to "sneak" peeks at her when she does not know I am looking. Her teachers are great and are doing their best to make her transition faster.

End of summer.....

2008-08-23T21:20:00.003-05:00

Well, it has been a while since I blogged, so here are a few pics of the last month! Unfortunately but very much needingly, it has been raining for two weeks. We got 4" in one our, so yes a lot of streets and places flooded. Today was the first day without rain, so of course, we were out on the lake. Here is a pic of Alayna sticking her head out the window while getting ice cream at Baskin Robbins.

This is Kirk and Tater at our waterpark. I took the picture and did not really look at her posing like her Daddy. She thinks she is so big and mimics everything anyone does!

This pic is what happens to Kirk and I about 4:45! and what do our children do, take pics of us....

The last two pics are of all the granchildren on my side. There are 13, so out of 20 pic, not one has all heads in the pic, looking at the camera, somone is not crying or being goofy. You take what you can get! The last one is of course my three princesses. They have all grown up in so many different ways this summer. It makes mommy proud and sad at the same time.

and yes, first day of school on monday, pics to come sometime next week.

I owe; I owe; so off to work I go.....

2008-08-13T22:50:00.002-05:00

Well, summer is officially over for me, the first day of orientation. Last year at the big 4A school we had a week long of useless info. Today in my small 1A, we met for lunch at a steakhouse, they took all 7 of us on a tour and then to the tech lab to get our emails and go over a few internet things, and then we'll see you tomorrow. And all teachers are back tomorrow. WOW! only a 1/2 day of new teacher orientation. "I think I'm gonna like it here...."
However, Kirk left this morning for market until Sunday night; Syd comes in my room at 7 to tell me she threw up down the hallway, the other two kids are just now getting over a virus and have snot running down their noses. It all happens on the first day back, but " I will survive, I will survive...."

I am really looking forward to the small town small school atmosphere and will love the slower pace of life. Did I mention because only 10 kids are signed up for speech, I will not have to teach this in the fall. What, an extra conference? "I think I'm gonna like it here!"

God's Promise

2008-07-24T22:13:00.002-05:00

Ok, so this is a little long, but I will try to get the point across in a brief space!

My friend had gastric bypass surgery. She wants to run a marathon in honor of her losing over 100 lbs. However, she wanted me (the "athlete") to run it with her, so she would be more motivated and things are always easier with a friend. Well, after debating, being negative and hating myself, I felt obligated to give her her wish. So, I am two weeks into training for a marathon that we will run February 15th. (What a way to spend valentine's right???)

So come Wed, I am having the most horrible day of my life. My children were all moody, cranky and crying; I was moody, cranky and crying. I do say I was at the bottom of the barrel. And at that point, a barrel would have been nice! I was fighting with Big J- and my kids, it was awful.

Finally at 7:15 I decide to go run to get my running in for the day. (yes, I did not feel like showing my redened madened face in public at church.) As I go outside, dreading the heat and the running, Big J- tells me I better run then b/c it is going to rain soon. I take off doing my timing and working on all that we are supposed to for our "training." I round the corner of our street and yep - raindrops; fast, hard, many raindrops. "God, what are you doing to me, I was already down, did you have to add rain?" I dig down deep and remember them saying at our meeting, we will run in rain, sleet, snow; we must train. "OK, God, I am in training. I am determined. I will run the race. I will fight the fight, but God, I am down and I need you to do this. I have nothing left in me and I am beaten. You will have to get me through this!" I make it around the corner of our subdivision and I look up in the sky and see it - a promise, just beaming beautifully at me. The biggest, brightest rainbow I have ever seen in my life. "Ok, Amy, I am here. You are not alone, I will never leave you. I will carry you and I will get you to the finish life. It will be ok, and the sun will shine tomorrow. I promise!"

Oh, I have never felt such peace in life. It was a different peace. I ran the rest of my time and just focused. I couldn't listen to my music, I couldn't look at the houses and my watch, I just looked straight ahead and focused. This has so much more meaning than the marathon. I just had to be training for the marathon to see that I was at my bottom or I would have never seen His promise. This is our spiritual walk: testing, obedience, endurance, questioning, recognizing, hitting the bottom and in the end - peace in being lifted up.

If you have been keeping up with my blog, you know how God has been at work in my life. You know that he transforming me and "training" me. All I have to do, is stay on course and run the race and follow through with my training. How awesome is that? He has made a promise!

and the winner is............

2008-07-23T12:58:00.002-05:00

Ok, i took the five people who responded and wrote all your names on a piece of paper. i included you busy suzanne - if you have time to be blogging at 8:30 in the morning, you have time to read a book!!!!

i then drew a name out of a cup and JILL O'BRYANT, you are the next winner in the Skizzer book contest!!!

Yea! Let me tell you what you will win - you will be receiving the book in the next few days. Read it, sign it, and play the game yourself. Then ship it off to the next person. Be sure to tell me when you are playing the game, so I can track it on my blog for those that did not win.

Congratulations!!!!!

Game Time!!!!!

2008-07-20T22:57:00.004-05:00

A friend of mine started a book game for bloggers. I have read the book and am now having a contest. To compete in the contest, you must comment that you are interested. I will give you a number to all commenters. Then on Wednesday, I will draw a number and notify the winner! So comment that you want to play and then check back on Wednesday to see who the lucky winner is. I will then mail the book to the WINNER and then they will do the same as they read the book.

Now that you know the game, here is some info on the book. It is titled "Skizzer" and is written by A.J. Kiesling. She is a Christian writer, but this is her first non-fiction book.

Summary: A lady discovers her sister is missing. While trying to find her, she has to dig and research their past to figure out where she is. While she is researching, she uncovers lots of "issues" and skeletons in closets that she was not aware of.

It is an awesome, easy and fast reading book. I love how the author puts subtle christian values and ideas throughout the book. It is interesting and hard to put down once you start!

Detour in Direction

2008-07-11T18:02:00.003-05:00

As Kirk and I were talking one late night with his sister and brother-in-law, R-man told us this story:

Sometimes God uses decoys to get us to do what he wants us to. He used two coffee mugs on the table to make his point. Look at these two mugs. These represent two different things. I notice the black mug immediately and am attracted to it. I think, ok, this is what God wants for me. So I head towards the black mug. Right when I get to the mug, I find it's gone! What? I thought I was doing God's will for me. Where is my black mug? However, off on the other side is a blue mug. Where did that come from? I never saw that mug. Then you realize that the blue mug was next to the black mug when you first noticed the black mug. Since you were so attracted to the black mug, you never took notice of the blue mug. God knew you would need a "decoy" to get you to the place where he wanted you. He used the black mug to attract you to that direction and then changed the course for you.

R-man had no idea how this was so true in my own life. We were talking more about church and religion, but this was true for my professional life, too. We live in China Spring school district. We love it and are so happy with our kids going to school there. I have wanted to get a job there, but there are never openings. When there was an opening, the HS principal's wife got it before I got the interview. I kept getting frustrated. I want to be at China Spring! Then I get a call from another school five miles from our house for an interview. I then discover that the principal is a guy I knew in college. I took the job - only as a second choice. However now things are a little more clear and I realize this is the best for me and my family. It is a 1-A school, I will be teaching 8th grade English/Reading and speech. They have a daycare for teachers' kids, a preschool and Syd is exciting about transferring. We will all be at one school, I can see Tater's room from my room, I will be able to see them during the day and hopefully eat lunch with them sometimes, and attend their parties and such. I was at a school with over a 30 minute drive and I had 130 papers to grade. The work load was overwhelming epsecially with my youngins. I am so excited to get to take my kids with me and home with me. No drop offs here and there and extra stops on the way home. Pay-cut, yes; but more valuable in other ways!!!!

China Spring was my black mug and Bosqueville is my blue mug. Isn't it great that God is in control? We have no idea what is really BEST for us, but God does........

whew! is life busy or what.....?

2008-06-17T23:30:00.002-05:00

ok, we must all be BUSY because it takes us a while to blog! we are finishing our VBS tomorrow night. i again took on the task of heading it up. it has been really fun and the kids are having a great time. i will post a pic later.

the kids are leaving next week to go to the beach with my parents - hmmm? life with one kid, what will that be like?????

hope all of you are having a great summer. oh, and we have been out on the boat lots and lots and lots. all is well and it is proving to be well spent money and providing lots of time to take friends and their kids out on the lake. that is what we wanted it for. however, kirk did get a wet vac for father's day; he needed it to clean out the boat. again - his gain of owning a boat!

Red White and Blue

2008-05-31T13:06:00.003-05:00

Well, let's see for an update. For Memorial Day weekend, we played out on the lake (you did not see that coming did you?) with some friends, we went car shopping. Now that is a story.....

I wanted a suburban (again) when I went back to work. Never got it. Then Kirk gets a boat and our van cannot pull the boat, so guess who got a suburban? Horrible time to get a suburban, yes; but you can steal those suckers now b/c nobody in their right mind wants to get one! We did get a nice one with great mileage and our payment only went up $75 than from our van. We are all happy, but there is the gas thing :(

I am finally free from school - still do not know about a job in China Spring. I do know I am going to soak up the summer. We had graduation last night - 433 kids. Checked everything out this morning and I am officially OFF for the summer! Now I am working on VBS in two weeks.

All is good and am looking forward on getting caught up on all that I had put off until summer. If you are looking for a cheap summer trip, come see me. I will take you out on the boat. We are only 1 1/2 hours from Dallas and Austin, so come on; there's lots to do.

has it been that long????

2008-05-18T23:29:00.004-05:00

Well, I guess it has been a long time since I have posted. Here is all that has happened in the last few weeks.....

Sydney was in her first musical put on by the first graders. It was called "Go Fish" and was about odd-ball fish trying to fit in under the ocean. She and two of her best friends were "clown" fish. She did well and it was a cute show.Then we celebrated AJ's 4th b-day. She got to go to Wolf Creek Lodge with Kirk's parents and cousin Ellie during the week, then we had her party this weekend. She wanted a bowling party, so yep, that is what we did. She loved it and the kids had a great time!

Never thought I would buy a bowling cake.......

Then after having the boat in the shop - TWICE!!!! We finally got it working and were able to take the whole family out on Lake Whitney. My brother has a RV - and that makes for a great day on the lake when you have little children. So here is Syd and cousin Preston on the intertube.
Then here is Big J- saucering behind his own boat. It is hard to see how big his smile is; but trust me, he was HAPPY! I hope we will have lots of pics to post from our lake scenes. We had an extremely busy weekend and there is so much going on during the next two weeks as well. I will post more later; hopefully quicker than I did this one!

the boat saga begins....chapter 1

2008-04-23T00:56:00.003-05:00

God spoke, but I think his message was unclear! Here we go on what will be numerous stories I am sure. Kirk found a boat that he loved. It is a '93 and blue. It is in great shape and it was a great price. I was hesitant on an older boat b/c it will break down more. Big Johnson as he likes to be called insisted and justified with it doesn't matter the model, year or else on a boat; they all break down, it is part of owning a boat. I told him to do whatever, it is his deal. (you know it was more words than that!)

So, he got the boat on Tues, we take it out on Friday night. We have 4 kids with us. We tour our lake for the first time and BIG J- decides to open her up (full blast) to see how she does. SHE DIED! We are in the middle of the lake, sunset, winds pick up and down to barely 60'. Big J- as you know him is steaming. I don't have to say "I told you so," b/c his anger is more than enough. (yes, i have learned to filter). Little AJ blurts out - "great now we are going to have to swim." and proceeds to ask if the boat needs more batteries.

I am dying inside - the kids are shivering and we have to get towed back to our trailer! It was an ordeal and the boat has been in the shop since Sat morning. I hope Big J- agrees with his own sermon about boats breaking down. At least we paid for the thing and do not owe on it; so any extra money can go to its tune-ups and break-downs!!!!

Final thought: on Sun on the way home from church we pass a boat on the highway and AJ says- "Daddy, remember our boat? It break down. Where is our boat daddy? why it not at our home?" and the nshe cries over the silly thing. Yes, I could not filter that - I lost it. He simply replied, "thanks for reminding me." and the n smirks at me with the look - "are you happy now?"

however, whenever we get the boat back to running, I will post some pics of this infamous THING! (and to those of you who are observant - I couldn't sleep!)

6 word memoir

2008-04-19T23:52:00.005-05:00

Jennifer Binkley tagged me this past week with a simple blog tag. Following the directions has been complicated enough because I honestly did not understand everything I was supposed to do. I also could not think of anything...Yes, I was speechless!

1. Write your own six word memoir.

2. Post it on your blog and include a visual illustration if you want.

3. Link to the person that tagged you in your post and to the original post if possible so we can track it as it travels across the blogosphere.

4. Tag at least five more blogs with links.

5. Leave a comment on the tagged blogs with an invitation to play

Trying to come up with a six word memoir was more than complicated. Why 6? Five words was really easy, but this was hard. Plus trying to come up with one that held a lot of meaning was more complicated. So here is what I have:

Live Well, Laugh Often, Love Much

As I was trying to come up with something, I kept seeing these words that I have posted in my kitchen. Then I ordered this hanging to add to my kitchen that matched. As I was out shopping this weekend, I saw frames, rugs, pictures, all sorts of decor with these words. They must mean something to me. I am all about living life to the fullest. It is such a short life - but live it well to gaurantee a long eternal life. Laugh often - we need humor, fum times, we need to be the giddy little girls sometimes. Have you ever tried to make people laugh? Love much - where would we be without all the loves in our lives? But we must recognize, we would not be here not have that eternal life, without God's Much Love!

So there are my six words to live by! I tag Mel, Kristie, Jenni Hale, Sue and Jill

when GOD speaks; LISTEN!

2008-04-07T00:05:00.004-05:00

I have a lot of thoughts, but let me see if I can organize them and get them to where you can understand them.

Kirk, who grew up on lake LBJ has suffered for 10 years without owning a boat. When in Lubbock, he was miserable due to the lack of water. Now that we have been in Waco for starting 3 years where there are lakes everywhere, he definitely wants to get a boat. However, those things tend to cost money. Kirk has always dreamed, wished, desired, wanted - however you want to put it, he wants a boat.

Then God has gradually been talking to Kirk. Just things happening at our church (good, on the move much needed things) and Kirk has had a change of faith and has matured even more than he already was in Christ. But Kirk still wants a boat.

We have been looking on craigslist everywhere for a boat. We decided to put Kirk's inheritance money from his papa, who taught him to ski and fish into a pot for the boat. We also added our income tax return to that pot. We have the money, but it's just finding the right boat. We keep looking. Kirk is also frugal and hates to spend this money on a "luxury" item.

Today it all broke out. Kirk found the boat we have been "dreaming" of, right boat, year, make, size, and dollar amount. But it is in Dallas. We would have to wait until baseball practice is over and miss church to get it. We call the guy back to tell him we are on our way and it had sold (in an hour)! Frustrated that we missed the deal, we headed on to church. We went to eat at Panda Express, and Kirk's fortune cookie read "Don't pass up a good oppurtunity." We laughed hard and for a long time. Kirk is still mad that he did not purchase that boat without even going to look at it. Later on after we had the kids in bed and had spent lots of time transporting things into the attic, we turn our tv on and oddly enough it is on Joel Olsteen (SP?) We watched it for a while b/c I have a student who imitates him. Then he out of nowhere makes this comment: If God gave you a dream, then you have to have enough faith to accomplish that dream. He would not give you a dream if he did not want you to achieve it.

Now, I am not promoting good ol' Joel, but it was just how it all played out. What is God telling us? We don't know, but we are listening a lot more than we were before. I love how God puts messages out there for us to read in other places than the Bible. He talks to us more than we know or realize. We just have to be listening. "When he calls my name, I will hear him. I'll be somewhere, listening for my name."

EASTER 2008

2008-03-24T00:44:00.001-05:00

Make a slideshow - it's easy!

spring break fever....

2008-03-17T21:56:00.002-05:00

last week was my spring break for midway. it was nice to have some days home with the kids. brought back way too many memories and got my mind spinning with thoughts of staying home again :( i was able to go up to syd's school and eat lunch with her and do some things up there. then playing all day with tater and aj was a real treat. depsite all the students telling how boring i am, i thought i had a lot of fun!

this week is syd's spring break with china spring. we went to lubbock for the weekend. it was nice seeing you again sue, and so soon! we left syd and aj at my parent's for the week. kirk is staying home with tater all week. scary - today they brought the lounge chairs in from outside and watched movies and ate popcorn, biscuits with honey, crackers and i was too scared to hear what she ate for lunch! he is having a lot of fun though, so i am happy. tomorrow they are going fishing - if it is not raining. tater also knows she is by herself and she is milking it for all that it is worth. in between eating and movies, she played a lot in the other girls' rooms. after hearing all the "fun" stuff she did today, i asked if he took any pictures. he did not and looked at me like, "why would i do that?" i informed him of that is what you do when you are at home with them and you see something fun!

of course easter is this weekend. we are going to marble falls. yes, there will be more pics than you want to see - but i cannot wait to see all of yours.
until then..............

happy 40th anniversary!

2008-03-03T23:11:00.000-06:00

We went to Lubbock this weekend to celebrate my parents' 40th wedding anniversary. We rented a small room and invited a few friends to celebrate with us. We tried to keep it low-key, but with 12 grandkids locked up in one room and to keep one secret, well we tried. The best part of the whole party was our gift. My parents have a story:

My dad was just back from the navy (21years)

My mom was a SR in high school (17 years). They met and 3 weeks later were married. I am not kidding. They got married at my dad's house on March 1st. My dad's mom did the whole wedding from flowers to food to even videoing the wedding. My mom's mom was forced to go to the wedding (you could imagine!) She got married on Friday and then went to school on Monday. I would faint if I had a student do this and I would kill if I had a daughter do this. Anyways, God had a plan and it is still in progress. They have been happily married for 40 years, and what an example they are to us. We still learn from them - and we also learned what not to do!

They had my brother two years later (19 years old and my sister at 20) I did not come along until my mom was 24. That is so insane and we laugh at them and mock them continually; however we are so thankful and fortunate for this union.

Needless to say, with all the effort of my grandmother, they never had pictures made. So we took the video (vintage) to KK's and had a DVD made of the wedding and got some still shots for them as well. I posted a picture of them with the print we had made.

You can tell from this picture where I came from - neither one can deny me.......

Tater is ONE!

2008-02-12T20:53:00.000-06:00

Our Precious little Taytum turned the BIG ONE on Friday, the 8th. We had her birthday party at our house on Saturday. It was 70* and it was a beautiful day for our little Tater Tot! She had so much fun and she absolutely loved her cake that I made for her. (that will be another post) I cannot believe how big she is and how fast time flies 3rd time around. It literally seems like a few months ago we were just coming home from the hospital. God has been so good to our family and has blessed us beyond what we could imagine. I thank Him every day for our beautiful gifts that He has given us.

what i did not learn in my education classes

2008-02-04T22:49:00.001-06:00

we say the kids (teens) of today are problems and are messed up. i, for the past several years, have been sheltered to what is really going on out there. teaching at lubbock christian was such a blessing, that i now know i took it for granted. being in a HUGE school and having kids from all walks of life, i am exposed and being reintroduced to the public school system.

yes, there are some great kids out there. however, there are some facing more than i would ever want to face in a life time. despite their behavior, weekend fun, and their laziness; these kids are CONQUERORS! right before christmas break one of my students lost her autistic brother. he never woke up one morning. then another student who lost her older sister in a carwreck last march lost her middle sister two weeks ago. that is two sisters in less than a year. then this past thursday another student went home from school to find dad had committed suicide.

what is going on? i am not kidding when i say out of 129 students probably 15-20% have "normal" homes. that means a mommy, daddy, and they some-what get along and that kid is some-what sound. it might be less than that. the same kid who lost his dad, his mother is in a coma and has been for 11 years. does that explain rehab and probation?

my heart is aching for these kids. they need so much love and as seniors are way too cool to say it or even dare act as though they appreciate it. what an inner struggle. it really has put things in perspective for me especially after being home for 4 years and only being around church kids.

this is definitely not what i was expecting as teacher. i am thankful i am not a new teacher experiencing this. it seems minute, but when you see how easily and tenderly the other students are affected, it really knocks you out for a while. please pray for today's generation. they are tough little suckers, but as we know as women: you can be strong for only so long, then you break!

Reality strikes again

2008-01-28T23:12:00.000-06:00

Here's the situation - Kirk is out of town from Wed - Sun. I am going to San Antonio for two birthday parties. My parents are driving up as well, so I diligently pack us on Thursday and get everything ready because Mimi will allow me some FREE time! All I have to do is leave school (sneak out early at 3:30), pick up the kids, load the car up, stop for a bite to eat and cruise our way into San Antonio and be there in plenty of time to visit and enjoy a little bit of Friday night. That's easy, right?

Reality happens: I get a call at school from the nurse. Sydney has lice! WHAT? Boy did this sneak up on me. Now the whole story has changed. I don't get to leave early, I pick up the kids (it's already 5:00pm), and as soon as I get home, I load up the car. A friend calls me from Wal-Mart - she graciously picks the shampoo up for me. I feed Taytum who is screaming and meet my friend to exchange money for loot. It is now 6:15! Kids are screaming, so we might as well eat. We get home at 7:00 and now I have to start the bathing and combing process. I one at a time bathe them and shampoo their hair, not Taytum's. Then comb through all their hair (Syd has a ton...) and then I put a movie on for them, lay Tater down for a nap and go and wash my hair. We load up at 9:45 and head for San Antonio. Yes, it is a 3 hour drive, but if you read my previous blog, I am obviously one for staying up late. It turned out to be a good weekend, but at 11:30 pm Monday night I am just now finished washing sheets, changing sheets, washing coats, backpacks, hair bows and all the works. What an ordeal. This was such a WOW experience, but I don't even have to mention what kind of mom I felt like for not even noticing she had lice. How do you miss that? She is good to go now and no lice no nits. However, I do know where we get the term "nit-picky," and that - I will no longer choose to be!

As for the pics, Syd is a girl after her mommy's heart and loves basketball. AJ fell sleep with her shoes and socks on; too bad they are on her HANDS! And Tater, well another girl after mommy's heart - digging in the fridge!

Ode to Sue

2008-01-16T21:43:00.000-06:00

Jill mentioned that I should write an entry about adventures in the world of Sue. So, I am only going to mention "ideas" of stories. If you lived in Katie Rogers while we were there, I am sure you will know the story to these topics..... these are in random order as they pop into my head. i am sure i will leave off many, and these are in way meant to offend others that were there!

Ramen Noodles
Meeting guys who were coincidently from Tatum
grapefruits at pledge week
saran wrapping jill's door
garage sales (other people's belongings)
stinky feet
clowns
pledge
canon in d
cankles
lingerie in a girls' dorm?
saran wrapping toilets
belting burgers up through a window
scaring people and getting chased by nathan b
our first outing with nathan and mabbie
doug/trent (lisa we got some stories for you)
master follies - which one?
skipping the entry test our freshman year - where were we? ok, i was there, where were you?
Kettles - can you really get kicked out of there? YES!
Denny's - for accepting us when Kettle would not
bacon
vienna sausages
spending the night at kim's
all nighter's in the dorm
staying up til 3:00 am and then kim and i going to class at 7:30, but what, your first class is after chapel?
dorm duty
getting dorm duty for cleaning dishes (wich was our oiriginal dorm duty) in our room sinks

exam night (what was that tradition)
deep blue something
poky cows
being called intimidating - what us?
Gosh, there are so many more. Mel and Jill, help me out!

what great memories and laughs and i am so glad we did not have digital cameras back then. we would be in trouble!

2008-01-12T23:40:00.001-06:00

Make a slideshow - it's easy!

what irony of the education system

2008-01-11T09:49:00.000-06:00

i am so excited that i have stayed caught up on my blog lately. and i even took the time to put a cool new background. besides using time that i should have been doing numerous other things, i took the time to play and do what i like to do.

then it hit me. why don't i upgrade my blog at school during my conference? great idea......kinda! i can get to my dashboard to add a post, but i can not access my blog page to read it and to read all of yours. the dashboard is not blocked, but the actual blog page is blocked. i cannot even check my email from here.

that's ok, i can still do all the updates.

what happens to life with 3 girls.....

2008-01-08T23:50:00.001-06:00

what happens to life when you have three girls?

1) you have great beauty and posing moments

2) you can only survive with a little help from soda - yes, the poor youngest needs the most!

3) you get a spider-man with a big pink bow (sticking out through the hole in the mask!)

you never know what will happen - but you do know there will be a fight, there will be screaming at each other, there will be tears, there will be food, and then there will be friends, aka: sisters

Happy New Year!

2008-01-03T21:42:00.000-06:00

I just wanted to wish you all a Happy New Year. We went around and asked the family what all they remembered from 2007. Of course, when you ask a 3 year old that, you know you will get some wild answers. But I am glad AJ remembers me!
Here are some of the highlights, looking back:
Shelly - the cat, now MIA
added Tater to our family
volleyball championship (Midway)
football championship qualifier (China Spring)
organized my first VBS
trips during the summer
Sydney's first T-ball and basketball game
hospital trips to the ER
being flooded out of our own lake
loss of family members, Kirk's Papa, Terrel Oats
and Amy's Grandmother, Doris Page

I know there are so many things that I am leaving off my list. These were some of the things that we mentioned as a family.

We love you all, we pray for you and your families and pray that your year is blessed and full of love. I do hope to keep in touch with you all better and to update my blog more often. I want to find more time to do those things that I love to do, but never find the time to do.

Have a great 2008!
(who can resist, it ryhmes!)

Twas the week before Christmas

2007-12-16T22:35:00.000-06:00

Twas the week before Christmas and what is there to do:

Finish Christmas shopping
wrap presents from shopping
China Spring is playing for State Champs on Saturday night
Finish school out for me - do you know how hyper seniors are to finish the semester!
School parties
Finish shopping
Wrap all the presents from shopping
Bake cakes for teachers
Get goodies for my parties
Finish shopping
wrap presents from shopping
make cookies for Christmas parties
Pack to go to Lubbock
Get to Lubbock
Be back in Marble Falls by Wednesday

and of course, somewhere in there Santa has to visit!

So through the stress of it all - we try our best to make it the best Christmas ever and make it memorable for the kids, and give them all that they could have!

of course, we float in the water like nothing's happening and we have absolutely nothing in the world to do......

2007-11-19T00:25:00.000-06:00

my precious three

2007-11-19T00:18:00.000-06:00

forgot to add pics from a while back. i am also on kirk's computer and he only had this one. trust me there are more. i will add them soon!

hi, this is my blog

2007-11-19T00:00:00.000-06:00

ok, so i am behind. since my last blog, suzanne has become pregnant, lisa has short hair, jenni has decorated her house for christmas and cleaned it (and if you have ever seen her house at christmas, it looks like a magazine!) several of you have been on dates, dinners, and coffees, the binkleys have had a complete soccer season; so what have we been doing?

syd is playing basketball. do you know what 1st graders playing basketball looks like? and no i am not coaching, but i did get mad at the second practice at what the coach was telling them on how to shoot, so i got up off the floor where i was "being a parent spectator" and took over. i know you are all having a hard time imagining me doing that, but i did handle it nicely. the coach had a phone call she had to take and i "volunteeered" to step in.

aj is not of this planet. that girl is a hoot. she is notorious for getting food out of the fridge, take a few bites and then put the eaten left overs back in the fridge. who's kid is she????? i asked her the other day why there were eaten tortillas in the fridge. she responded, "because that's where tortillas go, mom." what knowledge and innocent smart mouth at the same time. when we asked her what she wanted from santa, she told us a boyfriend. she is so close to a clone of me it is beyond scary! she is highly involved in cheering - we go to two or so games a week. between volleyball,china spring football, midway football, baylor, tech and texas football, our kids know football and cheers. she is also learning soulja' boy. now that is a sight i will have to upload for you when she gets good at it. (it could be a while......)

tater is 9 mos old, pulling up on everything. she makes noises on command, has 4 teeth and eats only table food. she spits baby food back out at us. she is developing a little personality now. i am going to say her sisters better treat her right because she is going to be mean and have a little temper. i would not mess with her! plus, she is going to be bigger than aj (probably in a few months). i am debating on our christmas tree. she will be all in it and pulling things off - will it be worth it when we are not going to be here hardly any of that time anyways.

i know this is a long update, but hey, long time no type.....
oh, yeah - as for me and kirk - all is good, busy, hectic and way crazy. but we survive and would not trade it for anything else

back to life......

2007-10-07T00:52:00.000-05:00

I'm back!!! I know it has been forever since I posted. I promise I am trying. I do get on and check your blogs, so keep checking mine. I will do better.

Work is going good. I am getting back into the swing of things. I have 1 six weeks under my belt; only five more to go. It has been good, except the grading. I have to grade 127 papers at a time and that is a hoot......

We made our first trip to the ER and got our first stitches. Alayna fell Friday night after a game and sliced her finger open. She got three stitches in her ring finger. We are glad and fortunate that only her finger was messed up. She bounced back quickly, but tells us about the whole ordeal every thirty minutes or more.

Syd is starting basketball (mommy's sport) and I am so excited. She did her run at t-ball, but now for the good stuff. Kirk is staying out and letting me take over now!

Tater is a big almost 8 mos old. She is pulling up and crawling everywhere. She is attracted to cat food. (It would be easier to just move the cat food, but it is in too good of a spot and I refuse to move it.) So, I am constantly moving her away from it.

Other than that all is well. I got a new camera for my birthday (10/18). I will be 33. These are some pics I have taken on it so far. I will add some more as I take some - yea for me, bad for you. You all will have to bear through my playing and figuring out my camera. I am excited b/c I love to take pics and now I have the equipment to do so.

Add more later, just finally getting a moment of peace to myself (1:01am) so updating to let you know I am alive and well.

so much can happen in such little time!

2007-08-19T14:44:00.001-05:00

Well, it has been a while since my last post, so here is an update on all of our family.

Big J - he is still with Brighton and loves his job and his area. He does not have to travel hardly any since we have moved, but everywhere he drives is at least an hour drive. He is getting boat fever bad and I am sure he will have a boat before I get my new camera.....

Me - Well, I am going back to work! I am going to be teaching Sr. English at Midaway High School. It is a 4A school and it is huge.....I have to walk three flights of stairs to get to my room. I think it will be a great place to work and other than getting up at 5:30am, I am really going to like being in the classroom again.

Syd - She is ready to be in the 1st grade. She ask every day when she starts school. She is so excited. She is worried about math. I told her, she will be fine. She is worried because she doesn't know how to multiply. I told her many 1st graders don't even know what that means, so she will be ok.

AJ - She is staying with the China Spring's high school principal's wife. Her name is Amy as well. She has a three year old boy and keeps another three year old, plus my two. She loves going to Miss Amy's house and loves being around the other kids to play with all day. She is getting wittier and smarter every day. She "cutes" herself out of a lot of trouble.

Tater - She is 6mos old. She is sitting up, eating food (wants to eat nothing but table food), and is getting bigger everytime I look at her. She had a Dr. visit and the Dr. told us she was to big to carry in the carrier thing. She told us to get the next size car seat for her. I have never had the Dr. tell me a child was too big for something. She wears 12 mos size clothes with a few 6 mos stuff. She is a big girl and she wants to be as big as her two sisters. She is quite nosy - no not liker her mother! and she is going to be into everything when she starts crawling.

That's mainly it for the whittle's. Our world is so different right now, but it will only be a few short weeks before that is our normal routine. So don't complain if the blog is not changed frequently. I barely have time to shave my legs! Do keep us in your prayers as we make all the changes and adjustments.

hello allergy child

2007-07-26T11:43:00.000-05:00

Syd and AJ spent a week in Lubbock at my parents' house. It was a real treat to only have one kid. I was able to get so many little task done that have been piling up on me. I met my mom in Abilene on Sat to pick them up. Sunday night AJ was congested and running a low fever. Then on Monday night, she is running a 102.6 fever and can hardly breathe. We went to the Dr. on Tues morning and were there for three hours. I am thinking this is allergies from being in Lubbock and then coming back to humidityville. Next thing I know, they are taking x-rays, doing a breathing treatment and talking about admitting her to the hospital. I felt pathetic as a mom. How did it get to this? Fortunately, they decided to not admit that it was bronchitis; but to watch it closely. It is scary to see a child not be able to breathe! We take breath for granted. So three sleepless nights later, I think she is finally doing better. I still have to take her back to check her progress, but last night we got scared again when her fever rose up. I just pray the rest of us stay healthy and can avoid this. They also want us to take her and have her checked out for asthma. So, after having three children with no earinfections - no tubes- and no serious problems, we are about to be introduced into the world of asthma and allergies! Here is a picture of her doing a breathing treatment. It was so sad to see. I hope she gets over all this soon. I NEED SOME SLEEP!!!!

TAGGED

2007-07-11T00:02:00.000-05:00

ok, I got tagged, so here it is.....

1) What were you doing 10 years ago?
I had just got married in June. I was a newly wed, what do you think I was doing?
2) What were you doing one year ago?
We had just moevd to Waco. We had no neighbors, no friends, no church home. I was playing with my children and was pregnant! It was over 100* every day. It was a long miserable summer. What a difference a year can make!
3) What are 5 snacks you enjoy?
1- chips and hot sauce/queso
2- chocolate
3 - sundried basil tomato wheat thins
4- chocolate
5 - trail mix
4) What are 5 songs you know all the lyrics to?
1 - Breakfast at Tiffany's
2- Baby got Back
3 - Karma Chameleon
4 - any cartoon theme song
5 - many 80 songs........
5) What are 5 things you would give your money to if you were a millionaire?
1- my LCU loan
2- my dad's shop
3- pick a charity
4- kids' college funds
5- kids' wedding funds!
6) What are 5 bad habits you have?
1- popping my neck and knuckles
2- smacking gum
3- singing out loud
4- popping bubbles with my gum
5- eating chocolate
7) What are 5 things you like doing?
1- playing with my kids
2- playing out side (any sports)
3- scrapbooking
4- taking pictures
5- talking
8) What are 5 things you would never wear again?
1- stirrup pants
2- socks that go up to your knees, but you roll them down above your hightops
3- claw bangs, or bangs teased out into a fan looking thing
4- short shorts
5- dorothy hamil haircut
9) What are 5 favorite toys?
1- kareoke (sp?) machine
2- picture editing programs on my computer
3- dvr on my satellite
4- ipod (itunes)
5- cell phones

now it is my turn....... i tag jill, suzanne, brooke and brandi

Summer time blues.......

2007-07-02T23:12:00.000-05:00

hello world of bloggers!
I am finally getting things settled down, until Wednesday. Our VBS was great and was a wonderful success. So many people pitched in and made it happen wonderfully. I praise God for using Debra and I to put together a VBS in such a short amount of time - and I feel like Joan Steffen on Decorating Cents, "and we did all for under $700!"

I know it is summer, but it has not felt like summer at all. The sun has not made an appearance in several weeks. It would be nice to not see rain in the week's forcast. We have received over 30 inches of rain. Our lake is up 22 feet and that is having let water out on earlier rainfalls. It is crazy to drive over the lake where you normally see a play park and the whole thing is under the water. Our lakes are closed until August; but probably later b/c we are still receiving rain. So much for spending the summer laying at a beach area two minutes from our house and soaking up the sun. Now we just stay in out of the rain and if does stop raining, humidity is between 70-100%. That means frizzy, frizzy hair......

All is well with our family. Everyone is healthy and going strong. We are finding other things to do with our time. What a difference a year makes. Last year we knew no one and stuck to our own selves. Now, having neighbors, friends, and a church family is great. It does seem to load the days up b/c now we have too much we want to squeeze in each day and month.

Hope all you are doing well and enjoying summer. Feel free to come and visit. Just don't expect to hop into the lake!

hi, my name is amy and this is my blog page!

2007-06-01T02:00:00.000-05:00

I am alive and I am going to get better about posting on my blog. Right after VBS is over. Our VBS starts Mon and is over Wed night. I am excited for it to start, but of course, nervous for it to go smoothly. Here are a few pics I have taken of the girls. Our little girl is now the oldest and yes, graduating from Kindergarten. It was amazing to see how much she had "grown" in one year. She started off the year scared of being dropped off, then ended the year, with "let me out here, you don't have to go to the door."

Then there is AJ. I should write a book about this child. Her b-day was last week. She is a big 3! Since we were having her party after her actual b-day, we told her she pick anywhere she wanted to go and we would take her. McDonalds it was! She kind of looks like the little Shrek toy. (I did not know they were doing green things or I would not have put green pony tails in her hair!!!!!) This is the bike she wanted. She had one from Sydney, but she would not even try to ride it, much less, sit on it. When she got her bike that night, she rode the thing around our neighborhood, which is exactly one mile around. That stubborn toot.....Kirk said she looked like Napoleon Dynamite.

What a cutie what a cutie. Tater is so big and is trying to reach for toys. We call her billy goat, b/c she is always eating at her hands, fingers, clothes, toys, whatever she grasps in those tiny fingers, she chews on it. It's cute to watch her eat her dress on Sundays. It gets laughs from people sitting around us.

The three of them together. Can you take too many pictures of your children? NO WAY, JOSE.....here is one of many, many, many more to come.

long time no blog!

2007-05-22T01:46:00.000-05:00

hey, all! i am stil alive..... the past few weeks have been hectic. we had aj's party on sat. i had all of my family here. she wanted a diego party at the zoo. it was good and the weather cooperated nicely. now we are moving on to syd's kindergarten graduation. she is so excited. she is like a senior and has kindergartenitis. she thinks she is ready for high school now. tate is growing so fast. she is trying to roll over and is reaching out for things. she eats like a horse and is growing daily.

i am currently working on vbs at our church. what a job! i appreciate all the vbs's i have ever attended so much more after planning one! however all will be over with within three weeks. i am excited to get summer started and to have syd home with us everyday. the summer will bring many fun times and lots and lots of things to do. i have some great pics to post soon. i will do a better job of keeping up!

check in with you all later.

it just sneaks up on you

2007-04-05T00:37:00.000-05:00

Well, I have to say I did real well for three days. I was fine on not craving chocolate, or being tempeted by candy and morsels, and all that.You all must have been praying hard for me! Anyways, I messed up without even realizing I was eating or shall I say, drinking chocolate. I hate milk, but every now and then, I crave it. However when I drink it cannot be plain, so I load it down with chocolate powder. So there I was, drinking chocolate milk. THat ruined it for me, so I decided to not give it up totally. I don't eat the things that are "bad" for the hips and gut. I figured though; that I probably should have the milk.

It did make me think - how the devil sneaks in on us daily. I do not ever have to worry about murdering, adultry, stealing, and some of those "BIG" sins. But the devil has a way of sneaking in all those "little" sins without us even know we are sinning. Every time I drink my chocolate milk, I think instead of the things I need to work on like gossiping and some other things we do daily without hesitation. Chocolate milk was once what crashed me and ruined my efforts, but it is also the exact thing that keeps me on the right track. What irony.

Therefore let me sum up: Eat chocolate, one should not deprive the soul, but have the strength to stand strong! I will still refuse to eat a chocolate bunny.

The day I gave up chocolate

2007-03-28T01:30:00.000-05:00

Ok, not only has it been a while since my last post - but come on three kids. And I can officially say, I have gone off my rocker. Life has changed and routines are different and yet, I look in the mirror and think, "What has my life come to?" Please do not get me wrong, I find so much joy in my kids and husband; I would not trade anything for them. They are what makes me me, these days at least. Well, the reason for my title: again, looking in the mirror, I see I need to lose more baby weight, 8 pounds from this pregnancy, 15 pounds from the second pregnancy and about 10 from the first. YOU CAN DO THE MATH! So, I am working on my diet, but to do that, I know I am going to have to give up chocolate. Now, I do not eat candy bars or eat tons of cookies or sweets, I eat chocolate. My favorite are bittersweet morsels. They are sweet going in, but bitter once they land on the hips and stomach. I think - I know I have been eating more due to trying to survive life lately. So that has lead me to give up chocolate. There is a hook; though. I can have a bite of sweet at Easter and or if I am at an event. I cannot eat all the little candies my family has in sight everywhere. I am being realistic. Every five pounds I get a reward: CHOCOLATE! and maybe a new outfit........ So, I will need to draw willpower and strength from you all.

Please send encouraging thoughts. (most of you have my email address, or leave a comment)
Please pray for me ( I wish I was kidding!)
Please tell me there is a patch for this.

I heard on the Today show today it takes 21 days to break a bad habit. YIKES!!!!! I can say, I said I was going to give up chocolate today, and I did that - I gave it up today. We will see what happens with tomorrow.

And while my hands are jittery, my head hurts (from thinking about chocolate), and I am excited to lose weight, I will talk about my coke problem another time.

Until then, here's to looking at you chocolate.

Valentine's is all about LOVE

2007-02-19T22:21:00.000-06:00

Taytum Lynn - going home from the hospital.
Kirk and his three princesses.....
Our first Valentine's day with our new one.
What a day of love!

We finally had our new baby girl! Taytum Lynn was born February 8, at 6:07pm. She weighed 8 pounds and 6 ounces and was 20 1/2 inches long. Parents are glad she is fianlly here, Big Sister Sydney is a great help, and Big Sister Alayna is now recognizing her and is working on being a big helper. We are now our complete little Whittle family. Things are going good. She is a big eater so nursing has not been a problem, except that is all I feel I get done during the day is feeding a two week old. Once she gets on a better and longer eating schedule and sleeps for longer periods in the night, all will be great. We are blessed with happy healthy babies that grow up to be beautiful girls!

time to have the baby

2007-02-03T23:06:00.000-06:00

We've made it and we can see the light. Only five more days until the baby girl arrives. We have had several moments when we thought "this is it!" However, we endure each time. So as usual, I will probably make it to my inducement date on the 8th. I go to the Dr. on Mon and will get all the facts. Pray that we go into labor on the 7th and beat the date. I have long horrible labors, so I would love this on to be shorter and easier. We are progressing by ourselves this time, so I am still hopeful for a "nature" calls delivery vs. the many many many levels of pitosin(sp?) I normally go through.

Of course when all is done and are back home I will post pics of our new one and of the proud big sisters. Hope you all will come back to see them. It seems so long ago and it seems like it has been more than 9 mos, but we are finally here. YAHOO!!!!!!

Anybody got any labor inducing ideas, email them to me. We have done several of the top notch ones - I cannot walk anymore, eat anymore, and some others are not helping either (you know which other one I am talking about.....) so any fresh and tried and true methods, let me know!

Merry Christmas and another reality check!

2006-12-20T22:20:00.000-06:00

Here are my Ninny and AJ. Trying to get the best picture is practically impossible, but aren't they all cute?

Hope everyone has a great holiday - time off. We are travelling to Lubbock and will hopefully see snow! I am ready to be in cold weather. I am excited to see children's face light up when Santa comes and to watch them play with all of their presents.

On a side note, here is my reality story for this week:
Yesterday morning, I stumped my 4th toe against the ladder to Ninny's bunk bed. It hurt horribly. It went numb for a while. I could feel myself getting sick to my stomach. (I have a high pain tolerance and transfer pain when something is wrong) I told Big Johnson that I thought I broke my toe, please look at it b/c I cannot reach it nor see it up close. He looks at it and twists it and rplies, it is not swollen or bruised so it is ok. I am bearing the pain......

I leave the house at 9:30am and return at 6:45 pm. I have been on my feet all day long finishing up all shopping, getting a haircut (one luxury) and going to the Dr. My legs are swollen and in pain, and I still cannot feel my toe. I go to my room to take a hot bath (a must for me when exhausted) I get in the tub and hold my foot up to get a glance at my toe. It is black and blue and red. I call Big Johnson back in to look closer for me and give me an update. He gasps at the sight (hopefully of my toe, not me in the tub!!!!) He calls my sister-in-law who is a pa. When I get out of the tub, I have an ice pack, pillows to elevate my legs, a glass of water with tylenol and finally - his sympathy. Yes, it takes a broken toe that is black to get sympathy from a man; ok, plus direct instructions from our family dr. helped me out too. I don't care what it took, I milked the evening for all it was worth. I still cannot put full pressure on my foot, but I am proceeding with life. One eveneing "off" and "pampered" was all I needed to be renewed!

2006-12-05T23:30:00.000-06:00

three cuties!
alayna, ellie and sydney take a time out from thanksgiving to give us a pose. ellie is their cousin, but here is what all our pictures will look like - three girls......

kirk and i took a week long trip to las vegas the week after thanksgiving. he had to work at the cowboy christmas during the rodeo finals, and i got to tag along.

here is me and my man - he's cute and he is chocolate! we toured the m&m factory, of course, i would tour anything that makes chocolate. it was a blast.

this is the only place kirk could find to take his picture. remember we are in vegas - in front of a woman with her boob hanging out! that was as close to a showgirl as he got.....all the decorations for christmas were beautiful. we had lots of fun, but walking 5 miles everday 30 weeks pregnant was a little strraining, but well worth the pain.

What you should not do while pregnant - and what you don't want to hear!

2006-11-26T23:59:00.000-06:00

For all of us who have ever been pregnant, you know there are just some things you do not want to hear, experience, or whatever it may be. We do silly things, we do stupid things, and we do things simply because we don't want to change everything about us for nine months. Ironically, we get away with mood swings, atttitude, fattiness, and all that other jazz - simply because we are pregnant.

Here are a few things I have experienced lately that I thought I would share with you all - because you have been there and you UNDERSTAND!!!!!

1) I have been glued to the Biggest Loser. I record it each week on our DVR. I have been amazed at the people and their stories, but like any reality show; you want to know who is getting voted off each week and what drama is happening this week. While watching one episode, Kirk looks at me and says this, "Man, after you have this baby, we have got to do our own Biggest Loser." This is not exactly what I wanted to hear at the time I was 26 weeks pregnant. Then I am thinking I have 14 more weeks to go, thanks a lot!

2) While 27 weeks pregnant, I am in Lubbock visiting my family. I am at the mall (not at my will) with 8 kids. Anyone would be stressed! I forgot something I desperately needed to do, so I run across the parking lot to go back and do it. BOOM!!!! I splat flat on my belly. I bruised my knee horribly, (still can't bend it totally) I broke the face on my watch, I had black streaks all over my shirt, and I had scratches on my belly, arms, and legs. After getting up and talking with my mom and sister, I am in the car a frantic mess. I call Kirk (my support system and coach) who is hunting with my dad and brother. Instead of answering my call he texts messages me HUNTING!!!! Again, this did not go over well either!

3) Last weekend, I was having horrible pains in my back and all down my left side into my groin. I also had not felt the baby kicking all day. I called the Dr and she sent me to labor and delivery to get checked out and make sure I am not having contractions. I got to the hospital at 5:00pm, only three hours late. I had to wait for Kirk to get home. We take the kids to some friends and wait for them to get me hooked up to all the monitors. Everything is ok, but of course, they want to keep me for observation. Kirk then ask the nurse how long I will be there. She responds with a look and says, a while. Kirk who has purchased tickets to a playoff game, ask me if I am ok and if he can leave to go to the game. He assures me by telling me he will pick me up on his way home, since I will be there a while anyways. Kirk leaves at 6:45pm. He picks the girls up from our friends' house and takes them to a game in Round Rock. At 7:45 I am released from the hospital. I have to call this same friend and ask her to come and get me because my husband is at a football game. Yes, this really happened.

4) Ok, all of these have been about kirk, but here is my own. I was eager to hit all the holiday sales, but I am in a town that does not have all the stores I need. So my sister in law Holly and I decide to go to Round Rock at 12:00am because their outlet mall is opened all night with major sales! We shop all night at the outlet stores, then we arrive at Walmart at 4:45am. We hit Target and many more stores trying to beat the rush and get all the items on our list. We knocked off quite a bit, got a lot of shopping done, (not all Christmas, but hey....) and returned to Marble Falls at 8:3oam. It took three hours for my legs to unswell and for me to feel them. Then I decided to treat myself to a pedicure and manicure on Sat. Needless to say, I felt the results on Sun.
What will we go through for a little girl fun?

So, here is my life. I have 8 to 10 weeks left. I will update you on any other great pregnancy moments. As for now, I hope to survive Christmas and then I really need to get going on a nusery. We will need some type of corner or niche to put the baby in.......

our happy halloween

2006-11-03T11:37:00.000-06:00

We had a tremendous halloween this year. From carving pumpkins to trick-or-treating, every thing was great! This is AJ, Big Johnson and Syd on a hay ride. One of the realtors in our neighbor hood had a hay ride, free hotdogs and drinks, and lots of treats for the kids. If our neighborhood went this out for halloween, I am scared to see Chistmas!
Here are my trick-or-treaters. AJ was a kitty cat (or a tiger as she called herself) and Syd was a fairy. I did not get the picture, but Syd was eating some of her candy and lost her 2nd tooth. What a story to tell about the benefits of eating all the candy. AJ really got into the swing of things. She would run to a door and hold her pumpkin out and then just look at people with those little "kitty cat" eyes. Then she would say thank you real loud and run back to us. I think she got more candy b/c she was so cute and funny. I did not upload a picture of her backside, but she was so protective of her tail. And she is so little, she was just adorable.
Here are my cat and fairys' beautiful faces. They were so fun this year. We had an amazing time. Syd said this was her best halloween ever. I have our neighborhood to thank for that. It is a squared off subdivision of 5 streets. Everyone sat out on their porches and waited. Many decorated their garages, porches or had tables set up with decor for all the little ones. I was amazed myself. I do agree with Syd that it was one of our best halloweens ever. Now on to Syd's birthday in two weeks and then on to Thanksgiving and Christmas and then prep for the baby. And we wonder where our time goes........

Long time no write:

2006-10-26T20:55:00.000-05:00

Ok, so it seems forever since I have posted, so here is one. Not too much going on to write about. Kirk, I mean Big Johnson, has been out of town this week. It makes for a long week; especially since I have to get everyone up at 6:30am. Most mornings, I leave Alayna asleep and enjoy decaf cappucino while watching a little of the Today show. Not this week. I would have taken a big coke, which I drink too many being pregnant. Which, about the pregnancy. We are already down to survival. I still have food preferences and there are a lot of foods that disgust me still, so it is eat whatever I can. But I do have to have one coke a day. I know there are those of you who are freaking out about that. But like I said, it is survival and I NEED one to live and function each day. BJ will be home Sunday night. We are going to carve our pumpkins then and get prepped for Halloween. Here's a warning: there will be lots of pictures posted after halloween, so be ready.

This will probably be my last post until then. I am not finding time to write lately. I don't know what I am doing with my time, but boy, it is gone!

tormenting my children - or is it parenting?

2006-10-03T12:35:00.000-05:00

ok, i parenting has its ups and downs and it is not the same with each child at one time. while it might be up with one kid, it is down with another. thus, bringing on more complications. let,s start with syd, who now is calling herself ally. ally had a busy weekend and refused to go to sleep on sun night. it is hard enough that our church doesn't have service until 6:00pm, so it is normally 7:30pm before we are home. then you start the supper and baths and all that good stuff. after falling asleep at 10:45pm, we knew mon would be a hard day for her. sure enough, from the time she got home from shcool, she was fussy, winey and flat out miserable to deal with. we made her go to bed at 7:45pm. she fussed even more. it was so hard to not read her a story, sing her a song, or do anything special to get her down. we hardened up and said, "don't worry, you will thank us for this tomorrow." and yet, at 6:10 this morning, she was bright and cheerful. i pray we have a better day when she gets home today. i do not want to go through that again.

now i will move on to alayna. she was fine. she is easy to deal with. her personality is a little more easy going and she is FUNNY! we had just finished supper and we were all going to go outside for a little bit. she ran into the bathroom and climbed into the bathtub. (she does this regularly to hide and play in the faucet.) thinking she was going to turn the water on like in the past, i hollered from the kitchen for her to get out of there. she stayed. i went to her and started pulling her out of the tub. she screamed the whole time. i spanked her for throwing a fit, she screamed more. then she said, "net, mommy." i finally figured out what she was talking about. i, get this, put her back in the tub and she gets her little fishing net (a bath toy that you can fish up fishies with) and she runs outside. not only do i feel horrible for all that just happened, but then i am extremely amazed at how she thought to use that fishing pole thing as a butterfly catcher. strike two for me....

then there is the little one growing inside me. as sweet and innocent as she is, i swear she is going to come out my throat and not the usual way. she is so high up in my chest it is killing me. i pray she drops and she drops tons.... i will love the relief of her off of my neck!

all in all, everyone was all smiles this morning. we'll see what happens this afternoon.

here's to you big johnson

2006-09-26T13:26:00.000-05:00

ok, my husband was reading my blog for the first time last night. he did not know my blog's name, how to spell it, or how to get to it. i walked him through step by step. then he had some "comments" on all i have blogged. he asked why i had written what i had and how did i decide what i would put on there. i did the explaining of how it is like everyone says, a diary you leave for the public to read. well, he read it and wept....... he asked where his picture was and why i did not have a family photo on their and well - many other curious questions.

answers: for some reason, i never have pictures of kirk and i. i guess we take so many pictures, we exclude ourselves from them. most of the pictures we are in are with our children. the ones we do have of ourselves are so ridiculous i would not want the public to be able to view them. and as for me especially, i do not like being in pictures b/c it is sad when panaramic view is required to get the job done!!!! (remember i am preg so feeling extra fat is a constant right now)

so while i do not have a decent picture of kirk - i mean big johnson (the name he has chosen for me to refer to him as) i will make extra effort to take one and upload to my blog. simply said; kirk will no longer be. from now on, he is BIG JOHNSON. i do not even know where he came up with that name. i think it was clothing he wore in the 80's. which is scarier, the name of clothing from the 80's or the fact that my husband wants to be referred to as it?

either way, i will end with this - farewell my love, hello vintage wear!

Girls - Girls - Girls

2006-09-22T00:08:00.000-05:00

Well, we had our first sonogram today! and as we guessed and figured - it's another girl. Of course, we would have liked a boy, but we are more than glad to have another girl. God has blessed us so much and we could not ask for more. Sydney was a little sad at first, but she immediately overcame her sadness and began drawing pictures for her new sister. That is all she can talk about now. Alayna is still clueless. One minute she says, "No girl, I want bwuther." Then she says, "I big sister and litl sis." She will catch on and understand soon. Despite all the roller coaster emotions, we are excited and are starting to work out all the details. Our new precious girl is healthy and growing well. Everything looks as it should.

This is the Real Life

2006-08-29T11:16:00.000-05:00

have you ever noticed....

Have you ever wondered why we do some of the things we do? I was noticing some things I do as I was cleaning house yesterday.
Why when vaccuuming will one just simply not stop and pick up that little piece that can't be suctioned up? One will run over that piece fifty times, lift the vaccuum cleaner up and try to get it that way, but we simply won't pick it up. Determination, I am sure.
Why when taking clothes from the dirty clothes hamper to the utility room, does it have to be in one trip? One will attempt numerous times to pick up that pair of shorts or underwear in order to make one trip. If it falls off again, one will simply kick it across the floor to the destinated place. Again, determination!
Why when taking that big load out of the dryer, again we feel the need to make one trip? One will scoop and scoop and scoop and scoop, but hey, we made in one trip; only to be frustrated when you drop the whole load because you tripped over another load anxiously awaiting its turn.
Why is it that one will spend a whole day cleaning, and when all is done will sit down and admire the DETERMINED work? We relic in our accomplishment and even count how many days until we won't have to clean again. Then children come home from school, husband comes home and living begins. Then you spend the next cleaning up your fresh cleaned house.

first glimpse of baby

2006-08-24T23:28:00.000-05:00

We had a Dr. visit this morning. I did not get to do a sonogram, though. We will do one in September. I will be 21 weeks when I do one, so this is new to me. My Dr. in Lubbock did one every visit, so we got to know what sex and all that from the earliest we could tell.

The Dr. was could not get a heart beat on the doppler thing. It was scary because I was by myself and she is telling me she cannot find a heartbeat. There went my heartbeat with the words. She had this little portable ultrasound machine. She picked up a picture of the baby quickly and the heart was beating advidly. I was so relieved. Now my heart was beating again. This machine was too little to see details, but I did get to see the baby! It just seems to make everything official and then all those emotions start coming out. Anyways, the baby was moving wildly throughout the whole ultrasound. That is why she could not hear the heart because the baby was moving too much and too fast! Now my worries really set in. I have two crazy monkeys already, now I have one learning from them from in the womb. I'll have my work cut out for me. I am more excited and can start feeling some heavy movements now, so today has been a good baby day. Then reality sinks in when Kirk comes home at 4:30 and the kids are watching tv and mom is knocked out on the couch. Yep, back to normal for now.....

Time flies.....

2006-08-23T23:13:00.000-05:00

ok, you can tell it is school season. everyone is busy and we all seem to be getting behind on our blogs. sydney's tooth fell out. alayna keeps pointing to her teeth and wants us to feel hers. she is also working on potty training. i want to wait until after labor day, but she does everything, but puts the diaper on herself!

i am finally feeling better. i go to the dr tomorrow. i hope i get to do a sonogram, but i do not think i will. i pray we hear "it's a boy!" that would definitely be an answered prayer.

we are getting on our school routine, but time goes before we know it. we are having to put the girls to bed so early that we feel like we are missing so much of their time.

other than that, we are still adjusting to life in a new place. we are starting to meet people and not feel so secluded to "us." the house next to us sold and they have a two year old also, so we are very thrilled about that.

we are busy, but just trying to keep up with the same - o same - o. hope to see some of you soon.

This is the Real Life

2006-08-14T14:31:00.000-05:00

Milestones that make moms happy!

Well, not only is Sydney starting kindergarten, but we have crossed some other grand milestones. Sydney's first tooth is loose. She is excited and hopes that it falls out before school starts. We are working on it, but no give so far.

Alayna has given up the binky. We were wanting to get rid of the binky and have her potty trained before the baby came, so one down and one to go. She has been wanting a dora doll. (Everything is Dora) I told her she could have the dora doll or she could have binky. She gave me the binky, I gave her the dora doll, and we are without the binky for three days; naps and all. Now if we could get to the pottying down, we would be all clear.

As for mom, as sad as I am my oldest is off to school, I relic in two other events - no binky and losing a tooth.

Yes, we are all smiles....

Full of personality

2006-07-12T00:01:00.000-05:00

here are my blossoming sweeties. here is to a day of playing dress up and taking pictures. Alayna is wearing a Peter Pan hat and belt and some gloves from a Kim Possible costume. The wooby and binky top this outfit for the perfect dress up outfit. Sydney is sporting a leotard, but you cannot see it because her latest hobby is taking pictures of herself. she takes a lot, so thank goodness for digital days - she would waste a ton of pictures.

real life

2006-07-11T23:53:00.000-05:00

ok, i am starting to feel better. it seems i am more sick from 9-12am and then from 5-8pm. haven't figured out why, but that seems to be the routine. we went to six flags this past weekend. sydney and i went to see aly and aj in concert. (disney singers that are singers) we had a blast. it was wonderful bonding time. mom got to teach syd how to "attend a concert" she wanted to hold her ears, she would not scream and got tired of standing. i - the opposite. i enjoyed myself way too much, but was worth it.
we are getting ready to go on vacation in two weeks to the mountains. i am excited and cannot wait to be in the COLD!

men and pregnancy

2006-07-06T00:15:00.000-05:00

ok, to begin i am not complaining of my husband. he is great help and does more than i could ask for; but how much do men really understand pregnancy. i have been sick, but i am not a throw-up person. i always wish i could b/c i know i will feel so much better afterwards. on sun afternoon i felt horrible. we were all laying on our bed discussing our plans for the afternoon. i looked at everbody and said, "i'm gonna throw up!" so i rush to the bathroom and start the dry heaving that leads to the greatness of first trimester nausea.

kirk first comes in there while i am leaning over the toilet and responds with "honey, i can't believe you are throwing up, you never t hrow up. sydney, go get mom some crackers and juice." i spew more at the sound of food and look over my shoulder at my husband leaning against the counter impressesd and my 2 year old scared crazy and confused and then my 5 year old holding crackers. i realize this is real life - i am a mom.

after all is said and done, i did feel better and my husband rubs my shoulders and is excited by my drama. he comments, "wow, when was the last time you threw up? i think it's been 9 years. oh, that is a sign that this is a boy. i can feel it!" then the nausae came back. is this really the comfort i get? all that we go through and we get they can FEEL it, it's a sign. do i even have the nerve at this point to disappoint him and tell him it is more than a 90% chance of being a girl. can i crush his ego and excitement.

i was the topic and highlight of his entertainment. and if for some odd reason this is a boy - i dare to imagine him there after. needless to say, i have felt worse than ever. getting out of bed and brushing my teeth seem to be a hassle. my 5 year old is taking care of the 2 year old and i feel even more guilty. i cannot wait for the next three weeks to be over. hopefully this stage will pass shortly! and i wish men could experience pregnancy, so they could feel it....

My Precious Girls....

2006-06-29T21:02:00.000-05:00

Here are some pictures we took of the girls this past weekend. Sydney just returned from a week at the beach. She had an awesome time. Alayna caught on real quick that she was getting all of the attention, so so milked that cow dry!
I got a new laptop yesterday, so I am playing on the computer and have realized I have wasted more than enough time. But it is fun. We are looking forward to the weekend and then of course the 4th of July. I am sure I will have more pictures then.

This is the Real Life

2006-06-22T13:30:00.000-05:00

ok, so i am cooking dinner, the girls are in their rooms playing and of course daddy is about to come home and see how nice and smooth things are run while he is gone. he always misses the dramatic moments and does not understand my stress! about that time alayna comes in the kitchen and says momma stuck. i look down at her and she has a roller brush (the smallest around) stuck in her hair. sydney thinks she will help so she pulls the brush. alayna screams and i take her into the living room to get it untangled. it is a mess! kirk walks through the door expecting everyone to run to him and yell daddy's home! instead he comes in to screaming and chaos.

with a water bottle, detangler bottle, a knife and scissors we finally get her hair untangled 30 minutes later. i did not have to cut her hair - thank goodness the brush was at the root of her head, but we did pull out clumps of hair. her hair is very thin on the left side. needless to say, the casserole cooking was dry, we missed church, and i ended up with the headache!
i have a picture i will upload it later.

This is the Real Life

2006-06-21T17:21:00.000-05:00

This is the Real Life

I wrote a comment instead of adding to my blog. I am going to need work at this! I am trying to keep up, but we are gone a lot. I am waiting for things to settle down here and get more organized. Well, if you read my comment, you know that things will not settle down here. Now I have to reaarrange my whole house to lose the 4th bedroom. Miss interior decorator, I need you to have a hayday at my house.

Later gators

2006-06-12T14:27:00.000-05:00

Here are my precious girls. This was taken at Six Flags - our first trip of many!

Joining the Bandwagon

2006-06-12T13:49:00.000-05:00

Ok you all! You have finally convinced me to join the technology world and get going on the blogging. I like to keep a journal and I constantly send emails telling all the wild and crazy things that happen to me on a daily basis, so I figure this is perfect for me!

Can't wait to truly get going on this.