THIRTEEN THINGS I THINK ARE SUPER COOL RIGHT NOW

1. Nickelback...can you say YUM! They are all gorgeous & they sound amazing!

2. Keeping with music...I have also discovered Fergie. My husband loves her for reasons other than her vocals but the girl can sing!

3. Big sunglasses...I can't wear them because mine are prescription (STOP...I know I am old!) but they are super fun!

4. Desperate Housewives...it is finally back on track...who will get married, who will split up? Will Gaby & Carlos get back together?!?! Hmmmmmmmmmm

5. Gaucho pants & babydoll t-shirts...a girl's best friend:)

6. Sushi...it is NOT all RAW people! Try it...if I can learn to love it so can you, I promise!

7. Gaudy jewlery...I say, the bigger the better. Fake is just as fun:)!

8. Wedge heels...I LOVE THEM! I have one pair and I want more.

9. Saturday night church services. It is SO much easier if you have kids. And the preacher doesn't have to rush for the next service!

10. Movie taverns...eat, drink, & watch a movie.

11. My girlfriends & I going out for a prom night...you laugh but it will be a riot!

12. Chaise lounge chairs. I love them....my next couch will have one!

13. Forever 21 baby clothes....Shayden can dress just like me...so cool:)!

Blessings abound...

Things are slowly settling down. And by settling down...I don't by any means mean SLOWING down...just getting back to the normal level of chaos that we are used to:). All but a few boxes are unpacked, our house is beginning to look & feel like HOME...it is a GREAT feeling! I walked in today & just felt HOME...I had to sit down & thank God for that. I wanted to sit down & just enjoy being home...it was a GREAT feeling!!! We still have many things we want to get done...I even want to get the downstairs bathroom painted before Shayden's birthday party...we'll see:)! And our new neighborhood decided to have a community garage sale THIS weekend so I even get to try to get rid of all the stuff we decided we didn't want...whoo hoo!! That was nice of them:! (If anyone reading this lives nearby & wants to add some stuff...call me.) We got our pool key in the mail today so I guess I have to go buy a swimsuit...ugh!!! We plan on hitting the pool most days this summer so if you are in the mood to swim...give us a buzz,..we would love the company!!

This blog is not without a favor. I have a prayer request for all of my prayer warriors out there. I was chatting with one on my bosses this evening & it came out that he has been diagnosed with cancer & will be seeking treatment at MD Anderson in Houston. I was very disturbed & upset to hear this. I have grown to like him a lot in the last year. It is early stages & he is seeking experimental treatment...please pray for complete healing and peace for him & his family. His name is David! I told him I would get my prayer warriors on the ball!!!

Thanks guys!! Have a fabu week!!!

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Surreal,,,

My life seems so surreal right now. I drove home to a beautiful new home. I pulled into a driveway & walked through a GARAGE:)! I walked up the stairs of my new home to see my shoes in the closet (thanks to my FABU hubby!) Tonight there is a tornado watch & we don't have to worry about driving into town. Brad is across the street,..talking to NEIGHBORS...real people. I, personally, think they seem a bit odd but hey, they are neighbors, right?!?!? I am loving our new home...we have been here three short days & I just feel like I am home. I loved my old house...it was great, but I love being in town. The country was nice but I like being able to order Chinese food or grab something besides Sonic:). I like living a block from the park...heck, I like having SIDEWALKS:)!!!

To top off the new move, Shayden decided to start WALKING...yes, walking! I got her ready for bed on Sunday night & was going to let her "walk" to brother (aka teeter for two steps & fall into his arms:) & she just took off!! Bishop & I just gawked at her in shock!! Of course, we tried this for awhile & her absolute favorite thing to do is toddle over to Bishop & collapse in his arms...they would both crack up. It was the most beautiful thing to watch! The only sad thing was that my mom & dad AND grandpa had JUST left. They commented on the way out the door that she would take off soon...they just didn't know how right they were!!

I am still trying to get used to things. I am searching for a preschool for Bishop & trying to figure out where things are. I have decided that I don't like the local Wal-mart so I will try to do my grocery shopping when I go to work on Wednesdays. That was random but oh well...

The dogs are adjusting...for the first day, Shadow just sat in the dining room chair...I don't think he knew what to think. Shelah just lays in the living room by the couch...it is the only familiar furniture:). We are getting close to unpacked...it will be a LONG process. There is so much we want to do but my main goal is to have it "organized" by Shayden's birthday party which is the 16th of June & all are welcome by the way!!!

I should go...I need to do laundry...

Thanks for all of the prayers...they have been felt. Thank you to all of my fabulous helpers...I could not have done it without you....I felt like the luckiest girl in the world on Saturday!!

To Brad...you have been amazing...more than amazing. You have done SO much for me...you are my rock on earth. I love you more than I could ever put into words...

LOOOOOOOOOOOONG Day....

A day in the life of a stay-at-home mom....

6:00 - Brad's alarm goes off for the first time.
6:15 - Brad's alarm again...
6:30 - You guessed it...Brad's alarm again:)
7:00 - Brad FINALLY gets up & on this morning (this is not normal people!) goes & fixes Bish a waffle
7:15 - Shayden starts to stir in the next room so I go & get her bottle ready

By 8:40 somehow we are all ready to go...

9:02 - We drop off Bishop at his class & headed to Jenn's to get her
9:20 - We got everyone loaded & headed back to the church for Bishop's field trip
9:23 - Stop at Sonic for necessary caffiene
9:30 - Pick up Bishop to drive to Gainesville for a field trip to the zoo with 45 other 3 & 4 year olds
10:15 - arrive at zoo & spend 2 FABULOUS hours looking at giraffe's & bears...whoo hoo:)!
12:15 - We head back to Justin to grab lunch
1:15 - Eat lumch & have about 20 minutes of adult conversation
2:00 - arrive home & put Shayden down for a nap
I spent the next two hours SCRUBBING the master bath & packing boxes...OH...& let's not forget LAUNDRY
4:00 - get ready for work...grab kids & head to Mc'D's
4:45 - arrive at work & am bombarded by 10 kids ready for crafts...whoo hoo again:)
8:30 - arrive home after entertaining 40 kids at McD's...parents, I am NOT a babysitter...they are still YOUR responsibility!!!
9:00 - get kids to bed...whew
9:05 - type ridiculous blog because I don't want to go fold clothes...:)
9:30 - I'm off to pretend to fold the clothes while secretly watching Jericho...:)

Good night...HA...in like 2 more hours...

*sigh*

:)

Flash Flood

Wow. I guess if you have never been in a flash flood then you don't realize how scary it is. I was scared to death. When I got home from picking Bish up from school, I turned on the weather & there were storms with rotation in them all over the metroplex. Being the chicken that I am & yet being smart enough not to stay at OUR house, I drove into town to hang out with a friend. As the afternoon wore on, we decided it was safe to go home. In theory we were correct....
There was a traffic tie up in the five short miles between our house & Jennifer's (thank you Jenn for putting up with us, by the way:). We soon realized it was because there was water over the road. Some cars were crossing it, others turned around...Brad went across, I turned around. Brad got scared...he realized the new saying around here, "turn around, don't drown" made sense. I was smart but was also now 45 minutes from home instead of five. What should have taken me five minutes ended up taking me an hour and a half??!! I was so terrified. It was pouring down rain & there were wrecks everywhere and water was creeping up on the roads. I was wondering if I was even going to make it home the back way. Bishop was crying, I was crying, Brad was freaking because we couldn't get home...it was horrible. PRAISE GOD that Shayden stayed asleep. Lesson learned...ALWAYS have a spare bottle in your car...ALWAYS have a bottle of water...and ALWAYS go pee before you leave...!
We survived & when the storm with tornados hit later, our house didn't blow away so...WHEW & THANK YOU GOD:)!!!

It was a wild day...certainly NOT your typical Tuesday afternoon...I think I have decided I prefer ordianary:)!

Have a FABULOUSLY, ordinary Thursday my friends:)!!

Not for sale...

I have a mild obsession with bedding. Now, if it were brand new & luxurious bedding then one might think that was normal. It’s not. I have had the same pillow case since I was a child…& quite honestly, it was my parents so it is left over from the seventies. If you have EVER been to my house, you have seen it…it is green & blue & basically obnoxious. It has faded & is VERY thin but I refuse to give it up. The pillow inside of it is worse. It is not even really a pillow at this point. It is some ratty old stuffing inside of a case. I also have an attachment to my very old down blanket. I have had it since I went to college. It has survived several duvet covers & is now just a blanket. It is so worn out that there are places without feathers…just two pieces of material sewn together…it isn’t even all that warm anymore but I refuse to part with it too. The other blanket on our bed is a Cabbage Patch blanket…not from the recent Cabbage Patch craze but from the one when I was a child. It is ridiculously thin & looks ridiculous on a married couples bed but Brad & I actually FIGHT over that one...yes, fight. It has been washed so many times that it is super soft so we both want it. This is all sad I know…I have no idea why I have such attachment issues with my bedding. We will get new bedding to go in the new house but I can promise that all of these will go too. I let go of the duckies…the junky old pillows & blankets ARE staying…!!!

You guys are laughing again, aren’t you….*sigh*…

Blessings Abound

If you can watch the Home Makeover show without crying then you are STRONG! We are not regular watchers because it is just horribly heartwrenching to watch. But tonights episode is based out of Lawton, Oklahoma (thank you Elizabeth) and we drove by when they were working on it so we wanted to see the story behind it. It is absolutely heartbreaking...it literally makes my heart ache. I pray that their spirits have been lifted in their new home & that God will continue to work on & through them.

So often we take so much for granted...I am guilty. We are SO very blessed...it is in watching shows like this that I realize that we are so lucky. So, thank you Lord for all of the blessings that I take for granted...walking, talking, seeing, hearing...a loving family...we are SOOOOO blessed!!!

These pictures were taken today...Bishop being the great big brother that he is took Shayden for a walk up & down the sidewalk in front of Mom & Dad's house. A sidewalk...I can't wait to have one of those where I live....

Happy Sunday!!

GLORY TO GOD!!!

Fabulous Friday

I haven't blogged on the house in a while because it has been such an emotional roller coaster. One minute things are fine, the next...disaster. It has been quite stressful & very draining. I had no idea that buying a house was this traumatic. At the moment, things seem good. We should close on this house on Thursday, and close on our new one next Thursday. Keep praying...we haven't signed on the bottom line yet!!

Some things have changed since we started this process. We are not getting anywhere close to what we were asking for our house. (Thank you Countrywide & FHA....I hope you don't believe in Karma...:) That has been our nightmare...but thanks to my wonderful parents we are proceeding anyways. Since we aren't making the amount we thought, we were not going to be able to afford a new house. They decided we needed to be back in town & wanted us to move so they stepped in & are helping more than I can ever thank them for. I don't even feel like they should but my very unselfish parents told me, "You will inherit everything we have when we die...we have it to give so why shouldn't we get to watch you enjoy some of your inheritence?"

If you thought people like this don't exist anymore, I am here to tell you THEY DO. They are amazing, selfless people who have done nothing but encourage not only me, but Brad, and many of my friends throughout the years too. So, thank you MOM & DAD...I don't deserve you guys anymore than I deserve such a loving & forgiving Heavenly father. The best thing I can do is try to show my children the same unconditional love & support that you have shown me....I know you learned it from two pretty special people too:).

I love you....

FRIDAY FEAST

Appetizer: What is your favorite kind of bread?

I am not a huge bread fan BUT I ate at an Italian joint last week called"Pazzo" and the bread they served with marinara was VERY good:)!!

Soup: When was the last time you bought a new pillow?

It has been a while...we have memory foam pillows though so they last awhile!

Salad: Approximately how many hours per week do you spend surfing the ‘net?

I plead the fifth....more than I probably should...

Main Course: What’s the highest you remember your temperature being?

That would be a question for my mom....I don't remember stuff like that!! Bishop had 103 once & I freaked!!

Dessert: Fill in the blanks: When I ____________, I _____________.

When I drive, I SING:)!

When I shower, I SING:)!

When I am bored, I SING:)!

And if Sanjaya can make it to the finals on AI, then I should try out:)! HA!!

SHE IS STANDING...but she doesn't know what to do next:)!!

My Boo...

Princess Buttercup with her people...

Bishop is a cheeseball....just like his daddy!!

Gun control...

I want to start out saying how very sad I am over what happened at Virginia Tech...it truly put a black cloud over this week. I ache for everyone involved. I am praying for the families that have lost a loved one, for the college students who will live in fear for a long time, & for the the family of the gunman. I can't imagine what they, too must be going through.

In light of what happened, many people are already jumping on the gun control bandwagon. They scream that we need stricter laws & this wouldn't have happened. Don't fool yourself. This did not happen because a college student could go buy a gun. It didn't happen because people are allowed to own guns. It happened because we as a society have removed Jesus Christ from our society...it happened because parents have decided that any kind of punishment that hurts our kids feelings or their bottoms is bad. I have family members that refuse to tell their kids no because they think it is negative. My mother, a teacher here in Texas, was informed that teachers shouldn't use red ink to grade papers because all of those red marks make the students feel bad. We are trying to hard to make sure our kids don't get "damaged." Somewhere in trying to protect them we have forgotten to teach them that bad things happen, people WILL make fun of you, people WILL make you feel bad. But instead of blowing away half the school, you dust off your bruised ego, you turn to Christ for strength, and you move on. The only thing gun control does is take the guns out of law abiding citizens hands. The good, responsible people who just want to protect themselves lose out. The criminals will ALWAYS have guns.

I realize that this may hit a nerve with some people. I am from Texas & was raised around guns. My dad started teaching me to shoot at age 5. I was taught that they are weapons & they ARE dangerous. My dad looked me in the eye & told me that I had better not pull a gun out unless I was ready to use it. I will teach my kids the same thing...I want to know that if someone breaks into my house in the middle of the night, I will be able to protect my family...

Whew...stepping down now...

As usual, Elizabeth takes better pics with my kids than I do:)!

PRAYER REQUEST

I just got a call from my friend, Robin. Many of you know her. She had a prayer request & asked that I post it on my blog because she knows lots of mommies read it. Her girlfriend, Kristin, is pregnant & due in June. She went to the doctor last week & found out that it has a chromosone disorder & will only survive a week after birth. The doctors said that sometimes they could last a year but due to another heart issue that he suspected things would be very bad. She said that Kristin is taking this very hard...understandably so. Please pray that God will work in this situation...and give Kristin & her husband & their entire family some peace & acceptance. God is the only one that can provide "peace that surpasses all understanding."

Thank you blogging friends...Robin knew that many of you would be prayer warriors & wanted me to post it....that makes me realize how blessed I am to have all of you!!!!!

The End of an Era...

The ducks are gone. If you have known me for any amount of time, you know that my bathroom is COVERED in little yellow ducks. I have had a duckie bathroom for a VERY long time...since I was at Tech. The duckies were apart of my college culture if you can believe that. When Jodi & I lived at Indiana Village, I had a bulliten board on my bathroom wall and it was filled with pictures of ducks that people had colored, drawn or seen. There was the infamous "Hurt Duck Hotline" picture from Katie. She was poking fun at me for calling the city when I discovered a duck at the resorvoir had a coke plastic ring around his neck. And who could forget the dead duck picture from Juan who thought my bathroom was a little out of control:). I had duck Christmas lights around the mirror....it was fun. After Brad & I got married, they decorated our little tiny apartment bathroom...Brad even allowed me to paint the bathroom duckbeak orange. Then we moved ot our house now & he allowed a muted shade of orange but he still allowed all the ducks to stay. He even let me add more...:)!! But yesterday, I took them down. They are now safely tucked away in garbage bags with garage sale stickers on their heads:(. Brad rejoiced when I told him that the ducks would not be joining us at the new house. I told Jodi & there was a little sadness in her voice....it truly is an end to an era...which means we are getting old but that is a whole nother blog:). I kept a few special ones...Brad's devil duck, the pink evian duck Jodi drank lots of water & sent off for, the duckie painting & flower pot also Jodi's handiwork. The little Ernie doll that sings "Rubber Duckie" went to Shayden who thinks it is pretty cool...at least I can smile about that...:)

Stop LAUGHING...I am truly a LITTLE crushed about it:)!!!!!

Please pray...

It is late & I don't feel like going into lots of details...

Satan is attacking...we are having trouble with our house deal. It is nothing ot do with contracts or money....basically we are getting screwed by the system. I have prayed all along that we are doing what God wants us to do & maybe this is His way of halting something that is wrong. Or maybe it is Satan trying to mess up a good thing. I don't know....

I DO know that God is in control & has all the power. Please pray that all of this can be solved quickly...that we can all find a peace in this situation...that it all works out...

Thank you....I pray that I can get some sleep...

Hillary

A man died and went to heaven. As he stood in front of St. Peter at the Pearly Gates, he saw a huge wall of clocks behind him.

He asked, "What are all those clocks?"

St. Peter answered, "Those are Lie-Clocks. Everyone on Earth has a Lie-Clock. Every time you lie, the hands on your clock will move."

"Oh," said the man, "whose clock is that?"

"That's Mother Teresa's. The hands have never moved, indicating that she never told a lie."

"Incredible," said the man. "And whose clock is that one?"

St. Peter responded, "That's Abraham Lincoln's clock. The hands have moved twice, telling us that Abe told only two lies in his entire Life."

"Where's Hillary Clinton's clock?" asked the man."

Hillary's clock is in Jesus' office. He's using it as a ceiling fan."

If you plan to support Hillary Clinton in the next election, please do not tell me. I am not sure that we could remain friends & I know about it....:).

I'm kidding...

...sort of....

It was Col. Mustard, in the library, with the Candlestick...

We are dorks. I mean, we already KNEW that, but now it is offical. Nick & Shelly came over last night & we sat around playing Clue. Yes, CLUE...the board game for eight year olds. For the record...it was THEIR game:)! It is quite complex...I played it when I was a kid & it seemed a lot simpler then:). Though I was confused throughout...I WON!! It really was Col. Mustard in the library with the candlestick. And do you want to know what is worse...I had a good time & want to play it again:)!!!! Maybe we should bust out Operation & Life:).

It has been quite a day & it is only 2. We got up early to go watch a parade. Two of our friends have little boys on the same T-ball team & they were in the parade. I think it lasted all of 2 minutes but we held our signs proudly & cheered anyways:). After that we hit a couple of neighborhood garage sales. It would have been nice to know which house we were going to get...we could have decked it out today. Instead we bought Shayden some shoes, a dress, Shyanne a shirt & Bishop a light saber. Whoo hoo:). On the way home, we stopped at a furniture tent sale & then stopped off at a friends neighborhood get together. We were crashers:).

Now, we are both playing online poker & it is just NOT my day:). I have lost it all so I am going to put the kids down for a nap & take one myself. I must get rested for ladies night....:)

Happy Saturday!!