Taytum Turns Two!

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!

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!

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????

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!

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!

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.

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Happy Fall!!!

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.

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????

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

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.....

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.....

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

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............

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!!!!!

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

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.....?

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

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????

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!