Junior League Holiday Market

I've disappeared because I LIVE at the Marriott on the Waterway.  Starting Wednesday, we began preparing for our annual Holiday Market.  We have 34 committee members, 123 merchants, and close to 10,000 shoppers :)  This is our biggest fundraising event for the Junior League.  I was the Building and Operations Chair this year so I spent a lot of hours with the Marriott people and Freeman, our convention services company.  It's been a great show and lots of fun hanging out with some of my favorite people...and just a "little" shopping.

The ticket booth...

The shoppers...

Some of the ladies on the committee...

Prayer for our Nation

Heavenly Father,

We come before you today to ask your forgiveness and to seek your direction and guidance. We know Your Word says, "Woe to those who call evil good," but that is exactly what we have done. We have lost our spiritual equilibrium and reversed our values. 

We have exploited the poor and called it the lottery.

We have rewarded laziness and called it welfare.

We have killed our unborn and called it choice.

We have shot abortionists and called it justifiable.

We have neglected to discipline our children and called it building self esteem.

We have abused power and called it politics.

We have coveted our neighbor's possessions and called it ambition.

We have polluted the air with profanity and pornography and called it freedom of expression.

We have ridiculed the time-honored values of our forefathers and called it enlightenment.

Search us, Oh God, and know our hearts today; cleanse us from every sin and set us free. Amen!

-Billy Graham 

Get out and vote for McCain!

"Twas the night before elections when all through the town,

Tempers were flaring, emotions all up and down.

I, in my pj's, with my dog in my lap,

Had cut off the TV, tired of the political crap!

When all of a sudden, there arose such a clatter.

I peered out of my window, saw Obama, his boys and his flatter.

They had come for my wallet, they wanted my pay,

to give to the others who had not worked a day!

He snatched up my money and as quick as a wink,

Jumped back on his bandwagon as I gagged from the stink.

He then rallied his henchmen who were pulling his cart,

I could tell they were trying to rip my country apart.

On Freddie, on Fannie, on Biden, on Ayres.

On Acorn, on Pelosi, He screamed at the pairs.

They took off for their cause, as they flew out of sight,

I heard him laughing at our nation, who wouldn't stand up and fight.

So I leave you to think on this one final note,

If you don't want socialism, GET OUT AND VOTE!

I didn't write this, but it's really clever!!

A night with Jack...

no, not Daniels :)  Jack Ingram!  We went to a fundraising event for some local dentists who went on a mission trip to Mexico, noticed the needs of the children, and opened a dental clinic there.  We all can relate to the discomfort/pain of a tooth ache, and now these little ones can have regular check ups to keep their mouths healthy and feeling good :)

Back to Jack...it was a private concert on one of the dentist's ranch, just a little over an hour away.  He sang, the girls listened, and the men watched the Texas and Texas Tech game (GREAT GAME)...

Mom and Cherrie watched the girls...it was my first time away from Kameron for that length of time...she cried a lot :(, but fell asleep in the swing around 7:30...thank you Mom and Cherrie for watching the girls :)

Kyle and I 

Jack Ingram

Our picture with Jack...thanks to Jenni for being brave enough to ask!

Little prints...

Today we had our Halloween playgroup at Becky's...it was awesome!!  THANKS BECKY!!  She gave out lunch, gift bags and had a lady from Precious Prints come over and take foot and hand prints of our children on different pottery pieces. Thinking of their little prints, and how fast they grow, I was reminded of a poem I heard in a parenting class Kyle and I took two years ago...

A Child is for Molding

I took a piece of plastic clay,

And idly fashioned it one day,

And as my fingers pressed it still,

It bent and yielded to my will.

I came again when days were past, 

The bit of clay was hard at last.

The form I gave it still it bore,

But I could change that form no more.

I took a piece of living clay,

And gently formed it day by day,

A young child's soft and yielded heart.

And molded it with power and art.

I came again when years were gone:

He was a man I looked upon.

The early imprint still he bore,

But I could change him then no more.

Anonymous  

"Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it"  Proverbs 22:6

Erin's foot prints...

Brooke's...

Kameron's...

When Brooke saw Kyle this morning, she said "You're scaring me dad" and Erin said, "Dad, I like your suit!"...see below.  We went up to Kyle's office to trick or treat and eat pizza...we've done that the last three years and always have so much fun :)

Disco Daddy and Brooke...

Through the night...

I know I said Kameron's an awesome baby...she must have heard me, and wanted to prove again that she REALLY is (she didn't have to!)...drum roll somebody please, Kameron slept 12 STRAIGHT hours last night!!  She is 11 weeks and 1 day old :)

I started nursing her down at 6:30, put her in her bassinet at 7:00 and I'm writing this blog (she's still sleeping :) ) at 7:00 this morning!

She had been creeping towards all night for awhile...8 hours at 8 weeks, like my other girls, sometimes 9 (that was our longest stretch until last night)...and occasionally a set back, just 3-5 hours...but, last night she did it!

Thank you Kameron!!

7:00 pm - 7:00ish am

Yours

As the election approaches, I'm consumed with thoughts of who our next president will be...it's such a critical time in history and the two candidates are taking our country in two very different directions (morally, economically (here and abroad) and culturally...impacting not just Americans, but the rest of the world...

So this song talks about how everything is God's...this election, America...the whole world...this song is AWESOME, SO TRUE and something you can count on for sure!!

Yours, Steven Curtis Chapman: (it's on KSBJ)

I walk the streets of London 

And notice in the faces passing by 

Something that makes me stop and listen

My heart grows heavy with the cry

Where is the hope for London?

You whisper and my heart begins to soar

As I'm reminded

That every street in London is Yours

I walk the dirt roads of Uganda 

I see the scars that war has left behind

Hope like the sun is fading

They're waiting for a cure no one can find

And I hear children's voices singing

Of a God who heals and rescues and restores

And I'm reminded 

That every child in Africa is Yours

And its all Yours, God, Yours, God

Everything is Yours

From the stars in the sky

To the depths of the ocean floor

And it's all Yours, God, Yours, God

Everything is Yours

You're the Maker and Keeper, Father and Ruler of everything

It's all Yours

And I walk the sidewalks of Nashville

Like Singapore, Manila and Shanghai

I rush by the beggar's hand and the wealthy man

And everywhere I look I realize

That just like the streets of London

For every man and woman, boy and girl

All of creation

This is our Father's world...

Kameron...

she's awesome...seriously, the best baby...happy, CONTENT, engaging, snuggles, and sleeps (a lot)...I'm enjoying getting to know her...I tell people she's my wing man, cause she goes everywhere with me...tomorrow she's going to Great Day Houston to do a promotional thing for Junior League...we're headed out at 6:45 am for a 9:00 taping...hope she does well :)!

Okay, well, I hate to admit it, but we just did her 2 month appointment last week...just a little late cause I totally forgot about her appointment...a good friend made me feel better by confirming that I would have never done that with a first child, not even a second, but a third, well things like that sometimes happen....

Here's her stats:

10 lbs, 15 oz (50 %)

23 in 3/4 (75%)...

of PURE perfection!!!

sleeping on my shoulder at the festival today...I love you, baby Kameron!

SonKids Fall Festival

SonKids, the girls' preschool, had a Fall Festival today...it was SO much fun for everyone :) Erin and Brooke, with some exceptions, really enjoyed today...they rode a train, played lots of games in the gym, and ate way too much candy!!  We paid for it this evening...but, it was worth it!!

Erin LOVED the train...

Brooke did not...

Erin and Tyler have the SWEETEST relationship...

and Drew and Brooke are already a little "too cool"...

They all look like they've had a long day, and INDEED they have :)!!

Cupcakes and Costumes....

Cha Cha and the girls...

The girls helped make chocolate cupcakes with their Cha Cha last night. They put orange frosting on their cupcakes and designed pumpkin faces on each one...they had so much fun making the cakes and spending time with their D and Cha Cha.

Wendy and Tinkerbell

Erin and Brooke got to wear their Halloween costumes to school today. They love Peter Pan and had been planning for months to be Wendy and Tinkerbell. Mimi made Erin's Wendy dress...she spent many hours sewing and took so much care to make the dress look and fit perfectly!! Erin loves her dress and fits the part well...she is the mother hen of her sister and cousins just like Wendy is of the lost brothers and Peter Pan. Brooke also plays the part well...she is fiesty just like Tinkerbell :)!! Seeing all the little ones at school today in their costumes was so much fun :)

Pumpkins stink!!

Last year Erin cried while we carved pumpkins...she would gag and say "it's making me throw up"! It's SO funny to hear her say that...she's got a keen sense of smell and has said that phrase on numerous occasions...at the Houston zoo, certain things I cook, and when she walks up to my bed to tell me good morning (morning breath, not so pretty :)  )...I have to digress and quickly mention another funny story about her smeller...recently, we had company over and she gave the person a hug and asked with a curious look on her face "what animal is in your mouth?"...wow, I still laugh really hard when I think of her saying that and the expression on her face as she leaned over to look in the person's mouth...

Back to crying last year and carving pumpkins...even though Erin was all excited about picking out her pumpkin and carving a face on it, the smell was so unbearable to her that she stood inside at the window and watched Kyle carve it from a distance and when I asked her for a picture next to the pumpkin this is what she gave me...

Last Halloween...

What a difference a year can make!! She helped Kyle carve the pumpkins and didn't mention the smell, she even helped pull out all the yucky stuff inside :). Brooke ran around, Kameron slept, Kyle carved the cat, on the left, and I did the witch, to the right.

It's obvious, we used stencils :)

Erin wanted her pumpkin to be a scary witch...

Brooke wanted a cat :)

Hang out with your kids while you can...

The preschool days, before your children are in kindergarten, are HARD work!!...but, my mom says (and I know she's right) that you should hang out with your kids as much as you can while they still want to hang out with you...

So, when I dread cleaning up their messes or think of how I'm too tired to play with them, I hear my mom saying, "enjoy them, it doesn't last long"...it changes my perspective and I instantly feel so incredibly thankful that I get to stay home everyday and spend this precious time with my three girls (while they still want to spend time with me, cause they think I'm the greatest!)...

Kameron sleeping, thankfully she likes to do this a lot :)

Erin and Brooke painting...they later painted the table and it's now a light pink :)