more talk...

Haven't blogged lately...is it possible that I've been too busy to blog or check email.  Yes.  So, here's a desperate attempt of finding something to talk about other than all the 'stuff' I've been up to.  

Erin watches TV in the car from time to time...okay, too much TV in the car...so we're trying to fit some Veggie Tales (Christian stories with a moral) in the middle of all her princess/fairies movies...one that she likes to watch is Jonah. 

Erin: Where is Jonah?

Me: In heaven.

Erin: He died?

Me: Yes, a long time ago...

Erin: but he's broccoli...

Me: No, he's a daddy...a man, who looks like a daddy...

So, there's an ongoing theme to her conversations as of late...death and heaven...I think in preparation for Good Friday and Easter (a lot of showing and telling of the resurrection eggs), this has been on her mind.  

my inquisitive one...

Brown Bag with Michael W. Smith...

Rachel and I went to Chick-fil-a's brown bag with Michael W. Smith in far away Houston...west Houston? :)  We got there early so we could have good seats...but had to leave only ten minutes after he went on because our little ones had had enough...they sat from 10:45 till 12:45 in their seats with strict orders to stay under the umbrella :)

the stage from our seats...

Michael W. Smith

Yes, thanks to Rachel we were safe in the sun...all five babies under the shade of an umbrella :)

The crowd we maneuvered through with a double wide (stroller)...thankfully, it was a very friendly crowd :)

Erin's soccer pics...

chasing the ball with her sidekick, Tyler...

dribbling with Joe...

first game, just scored, and looking for some crowd reaction...

just found it and eating it up :)

again, her sidekick...

this is why she plays...for the snacks!

saying the Y pledge...

getting it down the field...

thinking "soccer is kinda boring, you just go up and down the field"...

group huddle... 

Erin's goes back n' forth in her feelings towards soccer.  Last week, she was all about it, but the week before we were telling her to keep her finger out of her nose!  Just plain bored out there :)  Kyle and I are enjoying watching her and can't wait for Brooke to join her next year.

Conversations with Erin...

Erin is asking some tough questions lately....ones that I've considered not telling her the whole truth on. For instance, last weekend we were driving in the car and Brooke was in the back seat chanting that she didn't love God...so Erin started asking me questions...

Erin: "Mom, Brookie doesn't love God...Doesn't everyone love God?"

Me: "No"

Erin: "What happens to people who don't love God when they die?"

Me: "They don't go to heaven."

Erin: "then where do they go?"

Me: "Uh...they're separated from God"...(thinking she'll stop here, but she doesn't)...

Erin: "What is that place called?"

Me: stalling, "What place?"

Erin: "the place where they're separated from God!" (duh)

Me: honesty is the best policy is what I was thinking when I blurted out, "hell".

Erin: "what's that place like?"

Me: "it's a place where they don't feed you and you're always thirsty"...

Erin: closes her eyes and starts to pray, "Dear God, I love you and will you please give Brooke something to drink when she's in "ell"...

Imagination Play...

at 6 in the morning...I love it!  The girls really make me laugh with their imagination play.  This morning, before school, and now thanks to daylight savings, before the sun comes up,  I heard Erin telling Brooke to get her nap mat and bring it to "school".  A few minutes later I walk into the dining room or "school" to all the "kiddos", Winnie the Pooh, a cat, a raccoon (not pictured...on the other side of the table), and a baby, lying on place mats or nap mats for their afternoon naps...Erin played a "kiddo" while Brooke, the teacher, told the class a story....

Miss Brooke and her pupils :)  Did you see the playground they set up on the taggie?

Principles to live by...

This year we have been studying the Life of Moses in BSF, Bible Study Fellowship...Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy.  You'd think there wouldn't be a whole lot of application from reading most of the Pentateuch...but there is.  Our leader has given us so many principles from these books to live by...here are a few from this year:

God is at work in the dark times as well as in the light times.

God speaks to ordinary people on ordinary days to follow His extraordinary will.

God's plans are greater than our greatest disappointments and discouragements.

Discouragements and defeats are not meant to keep us down, but to turn us to God.

You win when you submit and follow God, if you fight God, you will lose every time.

There is only one way to be saved, and it's God's way.

Questioning God's provision and care reveals our lack of trust and our self-centeredness.

Obedience to God, brings God's blessings.

The closer you draw to God, the more others fall away...Moses went to the mountain top alone.

Worshiping and serving God must be a priority and must be done properly.

Having idols in our lives brings destruction to us and everyone else.

Tolerance doesn't mean we tolerate sin.

Disloyalty to God results in great judgement from God...He wants all of you, not a part, and He wants you all the time, not just sometimes.

Obedience to God is required to have intimacy with Him.

Blessings and punishments are both promises from God.

The Christian life is a battle ground, not a playground. 

God will NEVER fit into your schedule, you need to fit in His.

Complacency is the enemy of our character and spiritual growth.

All complaining angers God.

That last one was yesterday's principle and it hit hard.  That's all I do...it's how I start conversations...the remedy?  gratitude...be grateful in everything.

Next year we are studying John...it's said to be the greatest love story in the Bible...consider this your invitation...

A glimpse...

of heaven, our precious baby Kam. She's six months old now and smiling and laughing with her is so fun...it makes me so grateful and really makes me think of how awesome God is...

I caught her smiling at me yesterday at Panera Bread while I was laughing at a story a stranger was telling me...Kam's very interested in me lately and I'm starting to think a little separation anxiety is setting in...we were called out of church twice on Sunday because she was 'inconsolable', but upon my arrival, both times, she was fine...hmmm. Next Sunday, we'll have more data and will be able to confirm :)

We went to the doctor today and here's her stats (she got 3 shots and not a tear)!

Weight: 14 lbs and 11 oz (25-50%) holding steady on her curve!!!

Length: 26 3/4 inches (75-90%) going to be tall, but maybe not as tall as last visit suggested :)

Head: 17 inches (50-75%) she'll be smart just like her mom!!

"Mom, Brookie's on the shelf"...

that's what I heard Erin yelling from upstairs while I was downstairs feeding Kameron.  I put Kam down and ran upstairs, thinking she had climbed onto the bookshelf, but this is what I found.  

Brooke looks like a life-size toy on a shelf...

She had climbed up onto the built in shelves in the game room closet.  When I got up there, she casually said, "mom, I can not get down".   I did the responsible thing and said, 'hold on one second while I get the camera'...ran back downstairs, got the camera, and took the picture.

Our 8th Anniversary!

It's our 8th Anniversary and time has flown by!! We have been so blessed with a beautiful family :) and many years of wedded bliss!!


We met on a quasi blind date...met once and a couple of weeks later went to a Phi Delt Smoker...Kyle's fraternity's rush party, January 28, 1998...and yes, we smoked cigars for hours.


I can't scan pictures, tried all afternoon, so sorry for the formatting and thumbnail pics! Our first date, see below... I'm on the far left and Rachel's a blonde, far right...our best friend Kelly is in the middle :) (If you click on them, they're bigger)

Kyle and I at a late night fraternity party...Bird's Nest...not the safest place in good ol' Waco, Texas...
Kyle and I at our sorority's first function, our initiation dinner...believe it or not, my parents took the picture...nothing says 'aren't you glad you get to date me?' then having your second official date with the parents :)

College Spring Break in The Bahamas...good times...Kyle won a rapping contest on the beach and everyone was impressed :)
Just before we got engaged, Kyle came to visit me while we were in PA visiting my sister and her family...went to Blue Knob to ski...it was 4 below and no central heating in the ski lodge...not a happy time...not much worse than being cold...
One of our first Halloweens' married...when you would dress up instead of dressing your children up...oh wait, Kyle still likes to buy and dress in costumes every Halloween...we had Ginger then and loved her so much...RIP!
Kyle and I at Spence's wedding last May....I've discovered that I don't take enough pictures of just him and I since we've had children...note to self, do that more :)

25 Random Things....

this is something I should be good at...

1.  I love my life...

2.  My girls, they're silly and they fight a lot...reminds me of my sister and I when we were young...

3.  My husband is just like Erin...random in actions...can be talking about something important and catch Kam out of the corner of their eye and impulsively start to kiss her...

4.  I was up for the majority of last night...from 2 on...uninterrupted sleep is overrated...

5.  My mom and dad are like the calvery...they usually show up in just the nick of time...

6.  There was a small earthquake near Seattle today...called my brother to ask if he felt the quake...

7.  Getting old really is reflected most in my skin...time for botox...

8.  Laundry is fun when you see how fast you can do it...

9.  I worry less these days because I trust God more...

10. I love my friends and yes, you know who you are because lately I like to tell people how much I like them...you should try it more and then it wouldn't be so hard...

11. I LOVE Fox news, but don't watch it as much since we have a new President...

12. Lately, I've noticed that I haven't met a stranger...I talk a lot more to people than I used to, guess I've got a lot to say...

13.  I need a new kitchen...green tile, corian and a porcelain sink (and a refridge with no filter) got to go!

14.  I only listen to KSBJ...never thought I would be so unhip...

15.  My husband is officially sterile...

16.  Kyle did back flips in my back yard last week and still has a weird knot on his arm from falling on it...

17.  Sometimes I actually get concerned about the economy and try to spend less...

18.  Reading "What in the World is Going On?" by David Jeremiah...

19.  I love my Sunday School class and my church...

20.  Kyle got a new car and was so excited about it, he cleaned out the garage...

21.  Going swimming this afternoon...

22.  Thinking about changing my hair color...

23.  Don't care for grocery shopping, mostly because it's so cumbersome with little ones...

24.  Love holding Kam...love it!

25.  One word that describes me today, grateful!

That was easy...took two minutes!  If you read this do it...it's fun :)

Birthday Girl :)

Erin has been so excited about her birthday. She has been asking almost every day for the last couple of weeks if it's her birthday today...so on the morning that it finally arrived, Erin came downstairs and said to her dad, "Good morning Dad, it's the Birthday Girl". That's what she called herself all day...don't chase the Birthday Girl, give that toy to the Birthday Girl, the Birthday Girl's hungry...

She loved her party...her family, her friends, a Sleeping Beauty birthday cake, and a princess bounce house.

Erin before the party...

The cake...

Bounce house fun :)

Kam and Papa hanging out at the party.

Brooke playing in the castle.

Loving that she's 4!

I can't believe she's 4...she's such a blessing, our miracle, a pure joy, and forever our little girl. We thank God for her and pray His richest blessings on her life.

Up From the Grave she Arose!

yes, I found myself singing out loud my favorite Easter morning hymn as I walked down the stairs this morning.  

Erin started with a positive strep culture last week, then Brooke on Monday, and Tuesday night I started to complain to Kyle that I wasn't feeling well.  I went to bed, had chills, felt achy, and spiked a fever...my throat wasn't sore yet, but we felt pretty confident I had strep...considering my exposure (wet slobbery exchanges with Brooke...they're sweet kisses, don't get me wrong, but they are WET).  

After a high powered antibiotic shot, 48 hours of a non-stop (102.5-103.5) fever, a night sweat that felt like I got in bed straight out of the shower, and yes, a throat that looks like cottage cheese, I am finally better.  I thought about posting a picture of it, but I'm grossed out and I didn't want to post all those beautiful white blisters on my tonsils to the world wide web.

I have to close this post by saying I'm so thankful for my family.  Kyle, Cherrie, and my parents have helped watch the girls and take care of me, and believe me, that is NO easy undertaking. Thank you, thank you, thank you...I've told you all, I don't know what I'd do without you.